Deligious Indulgence

I've been on a diet for two weeks and all I've lost is two weeks.

Totie Fields

Now this, is something that I always believe in. I have always been fighting my wits out with all those who talk about cutting down on their appetite to lose inches or to look good. Celebrities have never been able to inspire me to go on endless diets. I cant plan my food cycle. I always listen to my cravings :) and I would never, ever give up or compromise on food to look slim. Although I would like to add I ain't that fat *evil grin*

Being a lady and now a wife, I am often asked this question "can you cook?" but what they mean is, "can you really cook?" & I don't blame them for questioning me. I have been cooking for a long time, say when I was in my 7th class. But that side of me never was revealed, except for a couple of people. Of course I come across as a better cook now but my experiments and my food-gasms never end. Even a bhindi ki sabzi (okra) tastes different every time I cook, but worth eating every time. 

Looking and following at how mum cooks, I have certainly picked up on a lot of basic stuff from her, but then came Google & my converting from a vegetarian to a non-vegetarian.I am a gujju but not the "sugar loving", "sweet food eater" or the "rotli daal bhat shaak" (staple diet in short) person. Yes, I take the pride in saying I live to eat and hell yeah, I can cook!    

Now that summers have kicked in, I really wanted to eat mangoes but not JUST mangoes. Something that makes the entire mango-ride worthwhile. So again, like everyday, I searched for something and some other link caught my eye and from there I wandered elsewhere. And I then, FINALLY, knew what I wanted to make. Spicy Urad Dal, Mint & Peas Pulao & the very-expensive-but worth-eating HAAFUS mangoes :D 

I take absolute delight in cooking and it helps destress too. So my power mode was on, I was in my zone with music playing on my phone and me dancing away in the kitchen. The recipe is so easy and the end result was more than satisfying. Yes I add my touches here and there in the recipe, but that's just to adjust the dish according to our taste. 

Yes, I want to show what I enjoyed, relished, gorged, dived and razored through. THIS meal, I wanted to go on and on with it. I did not want to stop. But I did, when the food went up my head and gave me an almost, spiritual connect with it. 

The recipe is here for you to try - Damn easy and an absolute delight. Unfortunately I do not have the recipe source on me since I simply copy pasted it in a word doc (yeah i save my recipes)

Spicy Urad Dal

Ingredients:

1 cup urad dal (black gram dal)

3 tomatoes, pureed

10 cloves of garlic, minced or grated

1-inch piece of ginger, grated

1 tsp garam masala

1 tsp red chilli powder

1/2 tsp turmeric

2 tbsp butter

1 tbsp oil

• Pressure-cook the dal along with the ginger, red chilli powder, turmeric and some salt until tender and mushy.

• Heat the oil,add the garlic and stir quickly for about a minute. Add the tomatoes and cook until they express the oil.

• Add the cooked urad dal and garam masala powder and stir together. Check for salt and add more if needed.If the dal is too thick, add some water.

• Simmer for about 15 minutes on medium-low heat.

• At the very end, add the 2 tbsp of butter. Stir in. Turn off heat.

• Garnish with chopped coriander leaves.

Mint - peas pulao

Basmati rice - 1 cup

Mint leaves ( cut finely ) - 1 cup

Peas - 1/2 cup

Onion ( big ) - 1

Ginger - a small piece

Green chilli - 2

Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp

Clove - 2

Cinnamon - a small piece

Bay leaf - 1

Salt - as needed

Butter - as needed

• 1. Cut onion lengthwise.

• 2. Cut ginger, green chilli finely and grind to a paste with mint leaves.

• 3. Soak rice in water for 15 minutes, strain and set aside.

• 4. Melt butter in a pressure cooker.

• 5. Add clove, cinnamon, bay leaf, onion and fry for a few minutes.

• 6. Add peas, rice, ground paste, chilli powder, fry till raw smell subsides.

• 7. Add 2 cups of water, salt , cover with a lid and cook.

• 8. When cooker whistles twice, switch off the stove.

 Yes there were additions to all this. The sweetness of haafus mangoes & sudden but lovely weather change in Ahmedabad. I was high on the food, cool breeze, ice candy and Sesto Sento's music along with Mr. S of course :)