Amusing Observation of Life

I have always been keen to see what is happening in my surroundings which also makes me an avid people watcher. It is always interesting to see what people are doing and making inferences from just the visuals. A hobby I think I have developed during my childhood were a fair few hour were spend sitting on a high stool in the grill veranda over looking the road. As kids we are naturally curious and so it was fun to just see people going about their business, checking out clothes, and anything unusual.

Generally, in the morning I walk in the house or in the garden for my daily exercise. Yesterday it was grey and drizzling on and off. I noticed the people across the road taking their car out of the drive. Now where can they be going in this lockdown? Ah he gets out and open the boot. Out comes some gardening tool from what I can see. Their gate into the back garden is open and I can see the grass is knee high. I thought oh is he planning to cut grass in this wettish weather? When I return back to the front of the house (for I walk back and forth) I see him with a lawnmower outside the boot and a petrol can. So maybe he is going to fill her up and cut grass. But surely cutting wet grass is not the done thing as it will wreck the mower. Believe me it gets clogged and heats up and conks out as I have found to my irritation.

Back the next round of walk and oh what is this he is lifting it to try and put it in the boot. Now this is interesting so I stop walking and watch. He tries to put it mover facing into the car and the handle sticks out. The handle of the mower is set pretty high so difficult to fit in. Next, he calls his wife to give him a hand. Then they lift the mower up together and try to put the mower in handle first but of course this again is hindered by the high handle. So out comes the mower and set down. The back seats are dropped down to make more room in the back. In goes the mower again but now they find that while the whole mower gets right in but the handle is too high for the mower end to be placed flat on the floor of the boot. The petrol can and the top of boot cover is in the road outside. The man holds up the mower and starts hunting for something to fit under it to hold it at that angle. I am thinking why is he not undoing the handle as that is detachable or even adjusted to a lower height.

I am all but yelling in my head what are you doing? Let the handle down! Or use that petrol can …. Put it under the mower and it will hold the mower in place. 

The wife has disappeared into the house. Is she looking for something to use as a wedge? Oh no look! She comes out and gets into the back seat of the car and holds on to the mower handle to keep the mower in place and in the car. The man puts the petrol can and the back cover of the boot into the boot. Gets into the driver’s side and drives off. I resume my walk shaking my head at the logic of it all.

ANZAC Biscuits

Anzac biscuits are associated with the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) which was established during World War I. It is believed that these biscuits were sent by wives and women's groups to soldiers abroad because the ingredients do not spoil easily and so the biscuits remained good to eat after time it took to transport them.

While there is evidence that soldiers on the Western Front in France and Belgium received oats-based biscuits there is little information regarding their consumption by the ANZACs troops.

However, these biscuits became popular and named ANZAC biscuits becasue they were sold at fetes, galas, parades in Australia and New Zealand to raise funds for the war effort. At that time, they were referred to as “soldier’s biscuits” and later called ANZAC biscuits.

We discovered these when we moved to Australia. It was only a few years ago we tried making them and since we enjoyed the taste and the thought behind making these biscuits it has become a regular bake for ANZAC Day in our house.

Ingredients

• 2 cups of rolled oats
• 1 cup of plain flour
• ¾ cup of desiccated coconut
• 2/3 cup of sugar
• 1/3 cup of golden syrup / honey
• 125 gm of unsalted butter
• 1 teaspoon of baking soda
• 2 table spoons of water

Method

• Put all dry ingredients in to a bowl.
• Put the golden syrup and butter in a small pan and heat gently till the butter melts and mises with the syrup.
• Then mix pout the wet warm mixture into the bowl of dry ingredients.
• Mix well with a spatula first and then with your hands.
• Preheat your oven to 160 C.
• With your hands shape the mix into palm size biscuits or you can use any mould to shape your biscuits. Try and keep the thickness of the biscuit between 1 and 1 ½ centimetre to ensure even and quick cooking.
• Place the biscuits on a tray lined with grease proof paper.
• Cook in middle of the oven for 10 mins till golden brown.
• Allow them to cool a little before removing them from the tray and leaving on a rack to completely cool.
• The store in a closed container.

Thavala Dosa

Right… back to my love for dosas. I saw a new recipe put up by my friend on Facebook for thavala dosa. I was happy to see it was a quick one where I did not have to do any soaking or prepping the day before. Generally, this is what stops me from making dosas from scratch as I think I want one and of course since I do not have the batter ready I cannot. If I buy the readymade batter then it is possible to make it immediately or else, I have to go out to eat. This recipe did turn out all right even for an amateur like me. The recipe makes dosas for 4 people and since we are only 2, I saved half the ground mixture for another day. In fact, the second time I added a teaspoon of cumin seeds in the batter and it tasted lovely. The sourness to the dosa comes from the yogurt and there is no need to ferment the batter. I also found that making the batter a little thinner than the original recipe was better as you got lacy dosa. The texture is similar to oats dosa.

Ingredients

• 1 cup rice
• ½ cup tuvar dal (pigeon pea lentil)
• 2 tsp black peppercorns
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup sour yogurt
• A few curry leaves

Method

• Mix the rice, tuvar dal and peppercorns in one bowl. These ingredients have to be ground in the dry grinder of the food processor. The flour should be ground to the consistency of coarse suji / rava. (A tip – I tried to do the grinding in the bigger mixer which I use for wet grinding in the hope that I could do the lot in 2 halves. Not a wise idea as it was not getting anywhere near the consistency I wanted. So, had to change to smaller portions being ground in the dry grinder. Also, it requires a fair old whizz to get to the right texture.)
• Put the flour in a big bowl. Add cumin seeds and salt.
• The curry leaves can be added whole or chopped finely (I prefer to chop them).
• Add the yogurt and stir to mix the ingredients.
• If necessary add water to get the consistency required.
• Let the batter rest for 15 – 30 mins.
• When ready to make preheat the non-stick frying pan or tawa.
• Add a few drops of oil and since the pan is warm you should be able to spread the oil drops by just moving the pan.
• Ladle the batter on to the hot frying pan. You can spread it with the back of the ladle or just pour the batter in circular motion from centre to outwards.
• Drizzle a few drops of oil on top and cover the frying pan with a lid.
• You will see the edges lift off the pan as the dosa gets cooked. Flip the dosa and cook on the other side for a few minutes.
• Then serve it with coconut chutney or idli podi or with potato sabji like I did.

Adai Dosa

           

One of my all-time favourite food is dosa, dosa in any form, plain or masala, regular or rava. For many years in UK going out for a dosa was a rare treat. As more Indian places to eat opened there were a few which served some of the basic dosas. You could be the readymade mix in which you added water to make the batter and make at home which was too time consuming as I found out once. I was so tried after making so many dosas which disappeared faster than I could make. These were just masala dosa where I am not sure I got the potato filling right either. If this was such a chore where the batter is more or less ready-made, I could not even contemplate doing it from scratch.

Now that I do not work, I have been trying out recipes and making them from scratch. Yes, my blog has many of these and in the last couple of years I have tried new stuff but not updated my blog. The other day I needed to do one for Rice Peas and my spark to blog got reignited. I have a number of friends who are expert in making dosas of all kinds and the most basic one is made with rice and urad dal (black gram lentil without the husk). The proportion of rice to the dal is 1: ½. Take one cup of rice and half cup urad dal in a bowl. Add a few fenugreek seeds and soak all over night. Then grind the rice and dal mix without adding water to a fine paste. Remove to a bowl and add water to make a batter. The consistency should be such that you are able to pour and spread with a spoon. Add some salt according to taste and set aside for a few hours to ferment. I generally grind and prepare the batter in the morning if I wish to make dosas for dinner.

Having learnt to do this and finding it was not too onerous as doing things a bit at a time suits my working style now, I thought I would like to try something new. Hence the venture into the unknown with adai dosa.

Ingredients

• Half cup Tuvar dal (pigeon peas lentils)
• Half cup Moong dal (green bean lentils without the husk)
• Half cup Urad dal (black bean lentils without the husk)
• Half cup Masoor dal (red lentils)
• Half cup Chana dal (Bengal gram lentils)
• 1 cup of Rice
• 2 teaspoons Fenugreek seeds
• 1 table spoon of chopped coriander leaves (optional as I have friends who do not like it)
• ½ teaspoon chilli powder (optional as one of my friends puts it)
• Salt to taste
• Oil to cook and I use it sparingly so about a table spoon is enough.

Method

• Put all the lentils, rice and fenugreek in a bowl and wash with cold water to remove any dust or extra starch. Drain the water and then fill the bowl with fresh water till it covers the contents plus another centimetre.  Cover the bowl and leave to soak overnight.
• In the morning drain and leave the water to one side. Grind the soaked dals, rice and fenugreek seeds mixture in a food processor. The batter should feel smooth to touch.
• Remove the batter in a bowl and add that left over water a little at a time to get the batter to single cream consistency so you can use a ladle to pour in the pan and also use the back of the ladle to spread it in the pan.
• Cover the bowl and leave to the side in a warm space so that the batter can ferment. As stated earlier I leave the batter for 4 hours at least.
• When you are ready to cook add salt and coriander leaves.
• Stir the batter to check the consistency. If the batter feels thicker you can add a little more water to loosen it.
• Get the oil out in a small bowl and a spoon.
• Heat the frying pan on your hob. Usually cast iron flat pan is used for making dosa and I do not have one. For one thing I cannot lift it as its too heavy for my wrists. Instead I use a good quality non-stick frying pan and it works just as well.
• Once the pan is hot put a few drops of oil and rotate the pan to let the oil cover the surface. Since the pan is non-stick this is enough.
• Take a ladle full of batter and put it in the middle of the pan. Using the back of the ladle and circular movement from the centre outwards spread the batter into a nice circle. Its ok if it is not all evenly spread. The thinner bits give the dosa its crispy bits.
• Put a few drops of oil on top and cover the frying pan with a lid so the steam created helps the cooking.
• When you see the edges getting crisp coming off the pan you can turn the dosa over. Often people find cooking one side is enough however since I am a novice at this, I prefer to turn it over and make sure it is cooked all the way through.
• Once cooked flip it back and fold it over and serve.

Serving tips

I sometimes make the potato filling and or sambhar (thick lentil soup is the best way I can explain to people who are not familiar with Indian foods) or coconut chutney or all of them. You can also have it with savoury pickles like gongura or ginger pickle or tomato chutney.

Left over batter can be put in the fridge and saved for another day. It can be kept for 2-4 days. Just make sure you leave it out of the fridge for a few hours to bring it back to room temperature and get the fermentation going again.

Rice Peas

My all-time favourite Jamaican dish first encountered when I visited Jamaica years ago. Of course, it is part of the meal where you can have fish and veggies along with it. But I love it on its own and yes some of my Jamaican friend will say its is not totally authentic but one makes do with what ingredients one can get and cooking skills. And as long as you enjoy the dish what else matters? This makes enough for 4 – 6 people. If you are like me and eat it just as a complete meal then it will serve 4 but if it is an accompaniment it will stretch to 6.

Ingredients

• 2 tins of red beans (you can go for dry beans which then you have to soak overnight and cook)
• 1 can of coconut cream (you can have milk it you want to make it less creamy) plus same amount of water.
• 1 cup basmati rice washed and kept aside (I use a 225 ml cup)
• 1 medium onion or a couple of large shallots finely chopped
• 4 medium chopped green chillies or if you can get it and are adventurous 1 scotch bonnet pepper – this should just be added whole)
• 4 sprigs of fresh thyme (half teaspoon of dried thyme if you cannot get fresh)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil (or coconut oil or vegetable oil)
• Salt and pepper to taste.

Method

•   Open the beans tins and wash the beans of preservative juices and set aside.
•   In a pan put the oil, onions and chillies to sauté on medium heat.
•  Once the onions begin to soften add the thyme in too.
•   Then add coconut cream and the water to the pan and bring it to a simmer.
•  Add the red beans in and bring it to the boil. Boil for a 10 mins. 
• Add the washed rice and stir to make sure all the beans and rice and onions are mixed.
• Add salt and pepper to taste.
• Bring to boil, then cover the pan with a tight lid and lower the heat to minimum.
•  Leave to cook till you see all the liquid just about absorbed. Turn off the heat and keep the lid closed for another 5 mins so the liquid is completely absorbed.
• Then serve it as a side to any veggies or fish or meat.