Memorable-Meals on A Well-Lit-Path

உப்புமா | Rava Upma or Rice Uppumavu

Mon, 31 Aug 2015 00:00:00 +0000

Though it was a product of the grain belt and specifically from my home town, I didn’t grow up with Cream of Wheat on the breakfast table. We were a cold-cereal-and-milk family (to the best of my recollection), with oatmeal and raisins dusted with brown sugar on Sunday evenings in front of the Wonderful World of Disney.

Later, voyageur trips into the Boundary Waters between Minnesota and Canada introduced more variety of hot breakfasts, including homemade combinations of grains, or Canada’s famous Red River Cereal (a favorite of my trekking companion Bruce Hooke). To these we would add whatever dried fruits we had along, and some nuts or pepita seeds or sunflower kernels, sometimes a handful of couscous to lighten the porridge, a dash of salt, a dash of sweetener.Tasty. Sustaining.

Ferment!

Tue, 04 Aug 2015 00:00:00 +0000

The ancient art of food preservation was left behind with new invention, and has slowly returned to favor as we recognize, with some chagrin, that these novelties can cost more than their worth.

As I describe our space-age engineering in this way, the word rings true: novelty suggests triviality, connotes superficiality, a side-show trinket, a toss-off. They won’t last; they can’t last; we cook ourselves as we cool ourselves, we burn ourselves out as we speed ourselves up; the math only works if you ignore time.

Seitan - Home Production

Mon, 22 Dec 2014 00:00:00 +0000

What a great feeling, to tend to yourself. Each time you go closer to the earth, or closer to the source of the things that are needed, the sense of security and self-sufficiency grows. When we are safe, when we are fed well, we are not as susceptible to the kinds of negative whispering so prevalent on the Internet and cultivated in the news. Hope! And pass that hope on to others.

Vietnamese Pho, Straight Up

Mon, 27 Oct 2014 00:00:00 +0000

I am attracted to new languages. Not for the reasons one might imagine – desire to visit another nation, or make some kind of business, or win a language stamp, like an “I’ve been there” label plastered proudly on my luggage. No, I love languages because they allow me into a previously-unimaginable part of myself, which is a previously-unimagined facet of my (or our common) humanity. Some dive into the sea, some fly into space: I mine myself for the ore of my Self, and the more words you know, the easier it is to name emotions and ideas that were always whispered, never said. When I discover something new, I discover a new me.

Ful Medames

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 00:00:00 +0000

There are many kinds of comfort food: something sweet to treat your child; a slice of watermelon split right there in the field on the hottest late August day; the right tea when your aches have caught up to you, or a choice coffee when the day hasn’t yet.

Over the past few days I have been over-engaged with the stuff of the world, in control of things at work (and so, of course, they were in control of me), and out-of-control and out-of-sync with the hidden workings of my country, learning more than I really wanted to know… and certainly more than those in the shadows wanted to reveal.

Rijsttafel

Sun, 23 Sep 2012 00:00:00 +0000

That was many years ago.

One of my last meals on the island of Java was on a side-street of Yogyakarta. It was near the warung where stayed the first two months of our journey, before being sponsored by the owner of the research center and his wife; before borrowing their bicycle for trips into the surrounding desa; before climbing the volcano in the night; before the relationship had ended.

Parupu Pura Shaadam

Mon, 05 Mar 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Another fine recipe from Julie Sahni (Classic Indian Vegetarian and Grain Cooking, the title a mouthful in itself), this rice preparation from southern India is a delicious complement, hot or room temperature, to South Indian Sambar (skipping the idli). Like many vegetarian Indian meals, the dish is high in protein, combining roasted ground gram beans and basmati rice, a healthy dose of traditional southern Indian spices, and your call on how much blast-furnace red pepper heat to include.

Sabzi Korma & Bengali Masur Dal

Mon, 26 Sep 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Ok, that is actually two memorable dishes rolled into one splendid meal. Probably against my “rules”… but I make ’em, I break ’em.

I often write out the recipes in these posts, so I can look back and find them easily, and share them with friends. Usually I have touched up an original from somewhere or other, or the dish is my own invention; or, if I have taken it from somewhere or another, credit and a link is provided. In this case, however, there is nothing for it but to buy Julie Sahni’s impeccably good taste and kitchen sense, bound in a single volume as Classic Indian Vegetarian Cooking. I wouldn’t dare touch one of her recipes: everything I have tried has come out perfectly. Wow.

Coconut Chutney

Sat, 07 May 2011 00:00:00 +0000

This mild, sweet/spicy chutney is delicious! And using dry organic coconut, available in most grocery’s organics section, it goes together in a matter of minutes. I usually have the ingredients on hand, and finish this off while the papadam oil is heating. The flavors combine well with rice and gram bean idli.

Ingredients: coconut, kuri leaf, black mustard, masoor dal

Soak for 10 min in warm water, drain excess	1c	Grated, organic coconut

heat oil on medium-high til hot, add spices and fry briefly, until chilis darken	2 T 1 t 1 T 2 6-8	Oil Black mustard seeds Masoor dal (orange lentil) Dry chilis Fresh kuri leaves (opt, sliced)

add drained rehydrated coconut, then use garlic press to crush in ginger; stir for a few minutes to heat through, add salt, and serve !	1"	Fresh ginger, peeled & pressed Salt, to taste

Yum!

Flash-Fried Thai Basil Tempeh

Sat, 02 Oct 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Thai basil is key, though fresh picked salsa pepper & blackened dry chili add the depth needed, ginger some breadth, to make this dry-fried dish so tasty. Added zucchini gives the plate moisture. I couldn’t take my face out of the bowl!

Collected ingredients:

a dried chili, blackened in fry oil
scallions (whites first, add greens later)
ginger
salsa pepper (medium heat)
tempeh, deep-fried to bring out nutty flavor
cooked garbanzos (adds a little fullness to each bite)
shitake mushrooms
zucchini
thai basil and scallion greens
salt to taste

It’s fried in the “right” order, above: infuse the oil with seared flavors, add main protein to coat and season, then mushrooms and softer veggies to retain their “spring” and freshness. Make it sizzle, but not darken, and sift some salt from your fingers until it’s just right!

Idli, or How to Steam A Breakfast Batter

Fri, 03 Sep 2010 00:00:00 +0000

I would be hard pressed to say if that delicious south-Indian dal sambar was an accompaniment for these idli, or if it’s the other way around. Maybe they are meal partners: the sambar is a delicious medley of spices and vegetables and cooked pulses, while the idli provide a pillow-like staple of ground gram beans and creamed rice (laced with kuri leaf) that give the soup some staying power.

Well, whomever accompanies whom, this morning meal is one of my favorite memories of our trip through Tamil Nadu and surrounds, a close second to those spectacularly delicious tiffin meals of the same region.

South Indian Sambar (for Idli)

Mon, 30 Aug 2010 00:00:00 +0000

This is one of my favorite dishes from Tamil Nadu - a simple stew, really, but with these delightfully unplaceable flavors from the combination of spices and leaves. Serve it as a soup if you wish; however, the classic accompaniments would be rice and gram bean idli in the morning, or dosa in the evening. The idli dough is fermenting tonight, so it will be just a bowl of this great fresh soup and a few papad with lemon pickle. Ah, and a glass of wine, to celebrate a memorable meal.

Chai

Sun, 29 Aug 2010 00:00:00 +0000

We ate little at Ramana Maharshi’s ashram: certainly little compared to the standard American Diet. Steamed, fermented rice cake (which I grew to adore and now make at home); a splash of some pulse - a lentil or a dal; a dusting of some spice, poured over a plate of sewn leaves. That was breakfast, that was lunch. I think it was dinner, too, or something similar.

It was wonderful. I have never been overweight, and yet the weight of all those calories flowing through me was palpable in its sudden absence. My mind was lighter (yes, India and jet-lag had something to do with that; but the affects continued for a month at least), and my physical frame was lighter.