Papeta par Ida

There are days that seem to never end. Today was one of those days. It become excruciatingly so when I realized that I had put it off too long and I really did need to buy Medha some new pants. She's been going around looking like a tangewali. When used to describe someone who has nothing to do with a horse, it means that their trousers or pants are too short. At least, that's how it's used in my family! While we waited for her Science Project pictures to be printed out, we went to the Kohl's next door to remedy this terrible oversight on my part. In less than a half hour, armed with several fleece pants that she needed and matching jackets that she didn't need, we joined the line at the cashier. One woman was being served, next in line was a woman and her daughter and then us. 10 minutes and our status hadn't changed. It was the same story in the other lines else I would have jockeyed to another cashier. Another 10 minutes and Medha couldn't bear it anymore.

Let's go, Mumma! I don't care if my pants are short! I have enough for this week. Maybe we can do this another time.

Ah! I have raised her well! I threw the clothes down and walked out of there, hand in hand with my daughter. Both of us feeling immensely relieved! How do they do it?! I mean on a weekday, a schoolnight? How do they shop for teeny tiny stuff that no-one needs? Stuff that will be put away in a drawer or returned? Just because it's on sale?!

We were so hungry that we stopped to eat some overly processed but delicious and juicy kosher hot dogs at Sam's, picked up our photographs and came home! What I really wanted to eat was papeta par ida - eggs over potatoes - but there was none leftover from the batch I had made on Sunday.

Papeta par ida, also pateta par ida, is a Parsi dish that is quite like a fritata - spicy potatoes that have been doused with well-beaten eggs. I've had this for breakfast, brunch and lunch at a Parsi friend's home so I am not entirely sure when this is served. We usually make a brunch out of it as it is very filling and rather satisfying! A Parsi friend of mine had once told me that my papeta par ida was as good as her mother's!

Papeta par ida

Eggs over spicy potatoes

• 4-5 medium red potatoes, diced into 1 inch pieces
• 2-3 tbsp oil
• 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
• pinch asafetida
• 2 small Thai chillies, chopped into two pieces each OR 3-4 long finger hot chillies, chopped into 1 inch long pieces
• 6-7 kadipatta leaves
• 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tbsp grated ginger (optional)
• salt to taste
• 1/4 cup finely chopped cilantro
• 3 whole eggs and 3 additional egg whites

1. Heat the oil in a saucepan.
2. Add mustard seeds and when they pop add asafetida, followed by the chillies, kadipatta, turmeric powder.
3. Then add the diced potatoes and some water, if you decide to use less oil.
4. If you are using ginger, add that too. Followed by salt.
5. Cover and cook on a medium flame until the potatoes are done.
6. Sprinkle the chopped cilantro all over the potatoes. Mix it in if you wish. I like to leave it on top.
7. Add salt to the eggs and beat till they are nice and fluffy and pour into the saucepan.
8. Cover for a few minutes to allow the top layer to cook.
9. When the eggs have set, your papeta par ida is ready to be served!
10. Serve with toast, plain parothas or naan.
    

Notes:

• Take as many potatoes as you will need to make a nice layer of potatoes in your pan. I usually take one extra potato cos I lose about as much while they are cooking. Like so:
  
• If you would rather use 6 whole eggs that really is up to you. I usually take one whole egg and one egg white per person - yes, Anita, that extra yolk goes down the drain.
• The other famous version of this Parsi dish is bhida par ida or bhida par idu. Eggs over spicy okra which is also very addictive.

We usually cut this up into quarters, with one quarter reserved for the hungry little girl as a quick healthy after-school snack.

Squeeze an Egg

Have you squeezed an egg lately? No?! You just don't love your eggs enough, I say!


Like your chicken? Then go ahead and bend its bones!


Science Fair this week.

Outdoor Winter Skating

The Steinbaugh Pavilion in downtown Louisville that rocked with music in summer during the Street Faire is now converted to an old-fashioned outdoor skating rink. Called WinterSkate, it's organized by Boulder Creek Events and this is its fourth year in downtown Louisville. There is Holiday music, of course, and free horse-drawn carriage rides in the evenings.

We went this afternoon but the real magic is in the evenings when it is all lit up.


Oops! There were falls galore! Lots of giggling and laughing!


followed by some bonding...


There was a very talented young girl on the rink and she stunned us with some really graceful moves.
WinterSkate is open seven days a week and it is open till midnight on New Year's Eve. Medha 's already making plans for her New Year's Eve. Dream on, I say!

On our way home, we stopped at Harper Lake to watch the sun set. The house below is on the short trail leading to the lake. How lucky are the people that live there!

The colors were muted compared to the shows the skies have been putting up for us lately. But it was beautiful, nevertheless.


It really has been a wonderful holiday week, topped off by a spectacular Sunday.

How was your Sunday?

Sambar with my eyes closed

Mumma, will you please write down this recipe? So that when you're dead, I will still know how to make this?

A compliment, I think!

Perhaps it comes from all that talk about my Mom's nankatai, not knowing which recipe was the one she used and how the only way to figure it out was to try both and hope that one of them was it. Either that or it's the prolonged morbidity that has prevailed in our conversations lately!

So many bloggers start their blogs as a legacy of recipes and memories for their children. Others because they hit a wall looking for accurate pictures and descriptions of ingredients and homemade Indian food. Many others use it as a tool to share memories with family and friends far away. Me? I wish I had something even remotely as endearing. But no, I just wanted to figure out how Blogger worked. This was back in March of 2003, and food & family was the easiest topic to blog on. It didn't matter whether anyone would ever read what I had to say, I just needed to figure out what the hype was all about.

I've never really conformed and our life path after marriage certainly hasn't either. However, once there was a child in the picture, a lot of things changed because we didn't want our child to bear the brunt of our lifestyle. But she remains different as do her thought processes, shaped as she is by our attitudes and outlook. Sometimes, a tad too mature for a 9 year old. Other times, too naïve.

So when she asked me to write down the recipe, I wondered whether that could be the new meaning of my blog. And my inner core shuddered. But, like I said, when there is a child or there are children, one's perspective changes. I don't know that my entire blog or all the recipes, anecdotes and thoughts are for her - it's really for me and it's perfectly alright to be selfish on some fronts, I think - but this recipe is definitely for her. As is the backup of all my recipes. My blog, though, remains mine and a release for me and me alone.

One Pot Sambar

• 2 tsp oil
• 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
• pinch asafoetida
• 1/4 tsp fenugreek seeds
• 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 Thai green chilli or 2-3 finger hot pepper, sliced vertically into two
• 2 sprigs of kadipatta
• 1 red chilli, broken into 2 pieces (optional)
• small ball of tamarind fruit pulp, about the size of a dollar coin
• 1 can of Hunts organic diced tomatoes
• 1 cup tur dal (split pigeon peas)
• 3 cups water
• 3 heaped tsp MTR Sambar Masala
• salt to taste
• cilantro for garnish, optional

1. Heat oil in the pan of your pressure cooker
2. Add mustard seeds and when they pop, add a pinch of asafetida, followed by fenugreek seeds.
3. Add green chillies and kadipatta. Be ready with a splatter screen if these are wet or damp.
4. Add the turmeric powder and the red chilli, followed by the diced tomatoes. Add about 1 can of water, too. This way the can gets rinsed out, too!
5. Add about 1/4 up to 1/3 cup water to the tamarind fruit pulp and heat it in the microwave for about 10-15 seconds. Mash the tamarind pulp till you have a thickish paste. Discard any fibers or seeds. Add more water if needed.
6. Wash the tur dal in a couple of changes of water and add it to the pressure cooker, followed by 3 cups of water, tamarind paste, MTR sambar powder and salt.
7. Cook under pressure for at least 3 whistles. Sometimes I forget and let it go to 4 without any problems! Or cook for as long as it takes for tur dal to cook in your pressure cooker.
8. Allow the pressure cooker to cool before you open it. Remember that it is still cooking in the built up pressure and you want to make the most of that. Plus it is wise to be safe.
9. Stir well, adjust for salt and sambar powder, if required. If it is too thick for your liking, add more water and adjust the seasonings again.
10. Garnish with cilantro and serve hot with rice or idlis or dosa.

We love this sambar so much that we can be found sipping on it, rather like soup. It's quite perfect for this cold weather!


Notes:

• If you aren't sure if 3 tsp of MTR's Sambar powder is the right amount for you, start with 2 tsp and once you have opened the pressure cooker, do a taste test to see if you need more. I used only 2 teaspoons until recently as Medha could not handle the spice.
• I have used a lot of sambar powders, and made my own, too. But for a quick sambar, I think MTR wins in taste and flavor. MTR spice mixes can be found in any Indian grocery store. Remember that you want the Sambar Powder and not the Instant Sambar Mix. Avoid the latter!

If you don't yet have a pressure cooker, I would exhort you to consider buying one as a Christmas gift for yourself. Think about it: it takes 20 minutes to cook something that would otherwise take at least an hour, if not more. It's taken me almost 2 hours to cook 2 cups of dal in a stockpot in Boulder, which is over a mile high in altitude. So much fuel and time wasted, not to mention the added frustration. You can cook directly in the pressure cooker or you can get inserts or containers that fit in the pressure to place different items. Target and Kohl's have pressure cookers in their cookware aisles or you could buy online from Amazon. I have only recently started cooking meat in the pressure cooker and it's so tender that I wonder what that mental block was all about! At least give it a thought!

Update: I am sending this to the lovely Linda, who is the host for JFI: Toor Dal.

Udon Noodles on my Mind

Is there anyone who hasn't thought of noodles this month? I know I have been rather obsessed.

My body went through contortions to capture images of noodles. I told myself that some of the positions were actually yoga. I was too lazy to set up my tripod and the light was failing fast so I set the exposure to 1/20s, put the camera on a 10 second timer, composed the shot and told those overstretched twisted muscles to be still, inhaled, pressed the shutter and held my breath, and slowly exhaled and relaxed but only after the camera had captured this...


and this...

Not bad for tripodless work, eh?! Of course, I used neither - actually there were hundreds I didn't use - as my entry for CLICK. Some of you might remember, of course, but for the benefit of those who don't, I sent this in.


I have had this packet of Udon noodles for quite a while now. I've been going back and forth on trying to figure out what to do with them. Do I try and deconstruct Siamese Plate's delicately spiced udon noodles in a white sauce? Or do I try Tao's udon noodles in ginger sauce? And then there was Nupur's udon noodle curry soup. And, Tea's Zaru Soba.

I decided not to think about it and as soon as I did that, I knew exactly what I wanted to make as the Friday night special chez Manisha. There was one catch though: I had to use what I had in the house since I have sworn to finish all the fresh produce in the house before I allow myself to go grocery shopping again.

Udon Noodle Curry

I used Nupur's recipe for reference and adapted it to the ingredients at hand.

• Organic Udon noodles, 1 packet (3 x 3oz)
• 1 tbsp oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 and 1/2 tsp Thai green curry paste
• 1 cup sugar snap peas, sliced at an angle
• 1 red bell pepper, sliced
• 1 orange bell pepper, sliced
• 1 yellow bell pepper, sliced
• 1 portabella mushroom cap, diced
• 3/4 cup coconut milk
• 4 cups water
• 3 tbsp tamari sauce
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1/8 cup roasted peanuts, lightly crushed
• cilantro for those who wanted it

1. Cook the udon noodles according to the instructions on the package, but don't cook them completely as they will cook further when added to the soup. Drain and keep aside.
2. Heat oil and sauté the onion and garlic until the onion starts turning brown.
3. Add the green curry paste and fry for a few minutes until your kitchen smells like heaven.
4. Add all the chopped veggies and stir fry for a few minutes on high heat.
5. Add the coconut milk, water, tamari sauce and sugar and stir well. Add salt if desired and simmer for 10 minutes or so.
6. Add udon noodles and cook until they are done.
7. Turn off the stove, add lemon juice, garnish with peanuts and cilantro and serve immediately.

This was a complete meal by itself! We slurped on the soup and sucked in the noodles. These noodles have quickly taken the slot of my favorite noodles. They are smooth and firm and absorb the flavors of the sauce they are in.

This made enough for two meals for the three of us. And I am quite thrilled because I get to eat it again soon!

Notes:

• I used what is labeled as tamari sauce - thanks Bee! - and was pleasantly surprised at how different the flavor is from regular soy sauce. But upon reading further, I think what I have is improperly labeled shoyu sauce as one of the ingredients is wheat. Tamari does not contain wheat. But it was not a problem as the flavor was mild and not in the least overpowering. Unlike soy sauce. Which is why I used 3 tablespoons of it! If you use soy sauce, use less of it than I did tamari sauce.
• I used Thai Kitchen's Green Curry paste but only after sending my apologies to Pel. One of my conditions was to use whatever I had on hand! And I wanted to make this a vegan dish.
• Medha is not yet a fan of Thai food. She danced all around the kitchen saying tikhat! tikhat! when I gave her some soup to taste. Once she had calmed down, she asked me if I had added the same stuff that is there in the Thai Green Curry her father and I love so much. I can't quite put my finger on it but I think she does not like the combined flavors of kaffir lime, galangal and lemon grass. She finds it too sharp. It's not the green chillies because she's been doing rather well with spicy Indian food. She drowned her noodles in Sweet and Sour sauce. Yes, that orange colored thing that no-one should keep in their homes.
  
• To make this richer, one could add more coconut milk.
• Most of the soupy part was absorbed by the noodles by the time we were done with dinner. So I might just add some more coconut milk and water and adjust the seasoning when I serve it again.
• Plating food in an enticing way is not my forté. Nor do I have a variety of dishes and bowls to dress them up on. I guess what I am leading to is: please ignore the peanut skin that made its way to the bowl in the previous two pictures. It's not supposed to be there!

If you haven't yet voted for CLICK! Reader's Choice, please head on over and do so before voting closes on November 26, 2007. And don't forget to come back here and be nice to me, I'm a judge for the event!

Update: I am sending this to Suganya for her Vegan Venture event.