Moong Daal Halwa for Diwali

I'll keep this short, because I have pretty much lost my arm stirring this dish! I am so glad to be back with a bang for Diwali! Moong Daal Halwa (or Seera as we call it in Gujarati) is one of the richest and most laborious desserts you'll make. Of course I did not realize how hard it was until I had started! I asked my mother for the recipe, and she kept asking me in reply if I was sure I wanted to do this on a weeknight, after I return from work.

I am glad, though that I decided to soak the daal and still make this dish! I pushed through a dark, wet evening to prepare, photograph, and of course taste-test a bowl-full before sitting down to type up the recipe.

Remember to save Moong Daal Halwa for when you want a rich, traditional Indian dessert, but don't save the cooking for the last minute. If you are like me and thought carrot halwa was the stirring champion of all desserts, well this beats it, but in the end it is so worth the effort.

When it comes to Indian desserts, good things come to those who stir!

I used:
1 cup split yellow moong daal
2 cups warm milk
8-10 tablespoons ghee (clarified butter -- this is how you make it)
1/2 - 1 cup warm water, as required
3/4 cup sugar
a couple pinches of freshly ground cardamom
a tiny pinch of saffron

My method:
1. Soak moong daal in water for about 6 hours before you plan to cook, or better: overnight.
2. Drain the daal and grind it into a thick paste in the blender, keeping just enough water to create a thick, rough paste.
3. Melt the ghee on medium heat in a big non-stick pan.
4. Add the daal and stir continuously, until it turns to a faint brown.
5. Add the milk and keep stirring, so that the milk cooks off.
6. Cover for a couple of minutes or so, and then stir again! The goal is to not let the dal stick to the bottom of the pan. If it feels too dry, add more ghee.
7. Dissolve the saffron in some warm water. Pour it in and stir some more.
8. Once that evaporates, add the sugar and cook on low-medium heat till the ghee separates from the halwa. Taste to make sure the daal is cooked thoroughly. If it is not, you have to cook more. If it seems too dry you can add a little more milk while stirring. Also, try covering it for a couple of minutes at a time without letting it burn.
9. Once the halwa is finished, mix in the ground cardamom.
10. Garnish with slivered nuts of your choice and serve hot or cold.

I can't wait to share it with our family & friends to celebrate. There are no fireworks, but we've created a warm mini-Diwali with diyas around the house and in this pouring Seattle rain, we're determined to make the best of it!

In the past I've said that I wish America would do more to celebrate Diwali. Well! I am proud to acknowledge that this year, Obama started the first official Diwali ceremony in the White House. Maybe one of these days it'll be a national holiday ;)

Happy Diwali & Happy New Year!

Summer Sangria & School Lunches

This has been the Summer of Sangria for us, to the point that I exhausted our liquor supply. I have been making them since the first market peaches in early July. Seattle, Pipitone Farms from Rock Island have had some of the best peaches in recent weeks. It's September and our markets still have incredible peaches, with two or three weeks left in the season, so bottom's up!

Today they're also my way of getting a word in about local politics. State alcohol prices have been raised recently, to cut the deficit, and in Washington only the state can sell liquor. We enjoyed plenty before the price hike, but what a bunch of BS -- taking booze away from the little guys, in the hard times, while this state maintains some of the highest salaries for public officials.

School days are also here again. I will be happy if they put our booze money toward healthier school lunches! The Child Nutrition Act expires on September 30th 2009, and it only gets reviewed and reauthorized every 5 years. My local co-op, PCC Sound Consumer is where I learned more about it. You can support healthy school lunches by writing to your legislators and by signing this petition at Slow Food USA.

The Farm to School initiative gained quite a bit of momentum last year when I wrote about it and Washington State fared well because all of us spoke up. This year though, the funding for it was cut, so only 12 schools, instead of 25 as originally approved may have fresh, healthy lunches.

We in America still too often feed kids the worst food available. Washington State prides itself on its local food, with many year-round farmers' markets even in Seattle neighborhoods. What if the highest paid state officials take a salary cut to give our children healthier lunches?!

I wasn't planning to say it with sangria, but these can really get the conversation going. Below is my recipe for Peach Sangria. To a fruitful summer!

I used:
2 thinly sliced peaches
1 tablespoon freshly chopped mint
1 bottle dry white wine
4-5 teaspoons sugar (more if the peaches aren't sweet, or use simple syrup)
2-3 tablespoons Grand Marnier
1/2 cup orange juice
a small pinch of salt

My Method:
1. Toss the Grand Marnier, peaches, sugar, salt, and mint in a cup, then let it sit for few minutes till the sugar melts.
2. Transfer it all to a pitcher, add the orange juice, then add the wine, then stir and chill.
3. When ready to serve, fill up your glasses with ice and generously pour, spooning out the peaches as needed.

Pike Place Market in Summer

From a few recent trips to Pike Place Market: I love the colors of the market and here is this summer's homage, in a film that captures beautiful color. These were shot with two different kinds of Kodak Portra over the last two weeks. Hover over the shots to see their titles.

Soaking Seattle Sunsets

I've been joking lately that I found a new motto ... "Writing is great, but there's so many words ..." it's something that Eddie Vedder said in this (must-see!) short clip by Danny Clinch, that I'm in love with.

I'm struggling with words right now, but photos have never been more satisfying ... expressing through images has always been easier for me ... I hope you enjoy some of these shots from the beach at Golden Garden park by us as much as we did ...

Radish Mint Raita

I won't even explain why it's taken me so long to share this simple post, but you should enjoy this raita while you can still get fresh radishes and mint! I'll write more stories about raita another time.

I used:
2 cups thick (Greek-style) yogurt
1 bunch radishes, thinly sliced (I used a tiny mandolin or you could try big shreds.)
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon mint leaves, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
a couple pinches red chili powder
salt to taste

My method:
1. Toss the radish in salt & cumin, and set aside.
2. Break the lumps of yogurt and beat until it is more like a thick sauce.
3. Add everything and toss. Taste and adjust the salt.
4. Serve right away or refrigerate until serving.

I was so excited when I had bought the first bunch of radishes this spring, that I came home and shot this polaroid!

Oven Roasted Aloo Gobi

The other day I saw one my favorite modern Indian chefs in NYC, Suvir Saran, make this roasted cauliflower dish on the Martha Show. In my own home I do a similar dish, but with potatoes and a shortcut -- I skip grinding the spices. At other times and for many Indian dishes, I would do it all from scratch as that's why Indian dishes are so intense in flavor.

My Oven Roasted Aloo Gobi, however is soul food -- a tasty, every day side dish with no fuss and which doesn't need any fuss. You get the same slow-cooked Indian flavor without the grind ;) which to me is a big deal these days as I'm constantly running out of time. Who isn't!

We like this recipe so much. When you make it, the home smells so amazing that it may lead your neighbors or guests to think that you are making some complicated feast. Plus, I could never get my hubby to eat slices of onions in anything, but in this the onions perfectly caramelize in the oven, along with garam masala and oil. He loves it!

I used:
1 small head of cauliflower, cleaned and chopped into small chunks or florets
1 big yellow onion, thinly sliced
6 small red potatoes, chopped to approximately the same size chunks as the cauliflower (or try Yukon Golds!)
1.5 teaspoons garam masala
1/2 teaspoon dhana-jeeru powder (a blend of ground cumin and coriander seeds)
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 big black cardamom pods, whole
3-4 tablespoons olive oil, enough to drench everything
salt to taste
a handful of cilantro leaves to garnish

My method:
1. Turn the oven up to 400 F ( C)
2. Toss all the vegetables in the oil and spices
3. Lay everything evenly in a big baking pan, big enough to make sure nothing is over-lapping, else it won't cook well.
4. Stick the pan in the oven and shake it all up to move it around every 20 minutes or so. Keep an eye on it, as you don't want the onions to burn before your potatoes cook. It's finished when it looks like it: the potatoes will look nice and crispy, and onions will look the worst, but will taste great! It should all be finished in about 30-40 minutes.
5. Garnish with cilantro and serve right away, with whatever else your heart pleases. We recently had our Oven Roasted Aloo Gobi with rajma, rice, papad, pickle & raita -- and raita is the recipe I will publish next!

Baflo -- A Green Mango Drink

In the summertime in India, I grew up drinking baflo. It's popular in Gujarat and made from green mangoes. Baflo packs a fresh punch of flavor unlike anything else you'll taste. The raw mango is tempered with raw Indian sugar and cumin spices it up. It's a thick drink enjoyed cold which cools you off and helps prevent heat stroke, too. I finally found green mangoes here in Seattle, and the weather was warm, so the time was right!

Make sure your mango is green i.e. raw on the inside. Most Indians will use raw mangoes to make pickles -- Indian pickles that is, the delicious sweet, salty, & spicy relishes. Lots of mangoes can look green on the outside, but mango for baflo or for a pickle must be green when you cut it.

Baflo is made differently by different families, and measurements will vary based on the mango's size and tartness, too. Here is my approximation for baflo like I savored in the hot summer.

I used:
1 large green mango (1.5 lbs), nicely washed
9 oz jaggery (also called gud, i.e. Indian raw cane sugar)
1 teaspoon finely ground cumin
1.5 teaspoons salt
approximately 12 cups water

My method:
1. Boil the mango in a steamer or a pot, till it is completely cooked from inside. You can check by inserting a knife to see if it feels soft, else let it cook longer.
2. Let the mango cool for a few minutes, then take the peel off by hand and discard the peel.
3. Take all the pulp off the pit and put the pulp in a blender.
4. Heat up the jaggery in a cup of water, till it all melts nicely.
5. Add the jaggery syrup to the blender, then add salt, cumin, and purée.
6. Add the rest of the water, mix, then adjust the sugar and salt based on the tartness of the mango.
7. Once you have the taste you like, strain the mixture through a fine sieve or strainer.
8. Pour your baflo in a bottle or a jar which can close tightly, then chill it in the fridge.
9. Serve the drink once it's really cold and/or with ice cubes. It will have a thicker consistency than regular juices, so serve in small amounts. This drink should keep well in the fridge for 5-7 days.

A Dirty Bloody Pomtail

I'm feeling dirty-bloody full of anti-oxidants as I write this! Not that we don't eat enough vegetables, but it's always good to up your anti-oxidants in drinks too, right?! Oh whatever! the wonderful warm and sunny days have inspired me more than anything. I also have to say that all the lovely readers and fellow bloggers, who've left me some kind words, have kept me going. So we're drinking it up, to an early summer and all things good!

Kidding aside, all the nutrients you get from drinks like pomegranate juice are excellent for your body. I enjoy mixing my own drinks at home. In summer it's more fun to make juices from fresh fruit, but something like a pomegranate I don't know if I ever want to juice, so I'm using Pom, especially in summer slushies or cocktails. You can read all the wonderful health benefits and facts that yes, you should care about on their site. Now let me get more into the details of this drink.

The name, Dirty Bloody Pomtail comes from little more than Pom and Bloody Mary Sea Salt from my favorite local Secret Stash Sea Salts. I'm not a Bloody Mary kinda girl, but I love this salt because you can have the good flavor of a Bloody Mary in so many ways. It's made up of Fleur de Sel sea salt, sun-dried tomatoes, celery salt, cayenne pepper, and other spices. The Bloody Mary Sea Salt really kicks up this drink with uncommon layers of flavor. I've used Secret Stash sea salts to rim the glasses of many other drinks as well. You may have seen another of their salts featured here, I have to say they have turned me into quite a salty mouth :)

It's up to you if you want to add alcohol, one of us added a Russian vodka and the other one did not. I'm not telling you who had which :) but we both enjoyed our drinks.

I used:
8 0z. Pom pomegranate juice
12 oz. seltzer or plain club soda
a couple pinches of Bloody Mary sea salt
2-3 teaspoons of sugar (or a simple syrup, if you have it handy)
slices of lime and sprigs of fresh mint for garnish
2-4 oz. of your favorite vodka (optional, or spike it as you like)

Method:
1. I used a big measuring cup with a spout to dissolved sugar in the Pom first.
2. Add the salt, the vodka, and taste for sweetness. If you like it sweeter, add more sugar.
3. Add seltzer and serve right away with mint and lime. Or you can chill the above mixture then add, seltzer, salt, and garnish right before serving.