Friday, December 19, 2008

Dal Chapathis and My Beloved City! - Simple Lunches 16

Home Away From Home! That is Washington D.C. is to me and my family. I do not take kindly the disparaging the city gets from politicians of all stripes. Now you know why the republican VP candidate did not endear herself to me. Sorry for bringing her up if you have already forgotten her and moved on but not so fast she might still be able to haunt us in the years to come! Bush and friends made the exact same mistake by calling themselves outsiders when they had more connections to the city than many of us would ever have even if we lived here for a few more life times. I sincerely hope the incoming Obama folks don't do it. They fought tooth and nail to get here, so they better take the city for better or worse.

For those of you not clued into US Politics. It has become a tradition of sorts to run as an outsider and call DC all kinds of names and portray yourself as an "outsider" meaning you are not part of the establishment. This apparently endears you to the rest of the country. "DC" say that in the most demeaning way possible and that's is how politicians refer to the place but fight tooth and nail to get here. What I resent most is the equating DC to everything sleazy, though the city and its people have nothing to do with the sleaze. It is the lobbyists, cronies and advisers brought in by these people from different parts of the country who are the sleaze.

The city is planning its biggest bash ever soon, so folks treat the city gently when you visit. I like the gentleness of this city when compared to say New York City for instance and the way it does not take itself seriously with so much power surrounding it. You could go down to the mall on a bright sunny or for that matter an overcast gloomy day for a game of soccer or tag or whatever. If you packed a picnic lunch no worries, you can pick a perfect spot and just hope the picnic tastes as good. You would never know you are walking in one of the most powerful places in the world. But you might not be able to take in the city and relax if you are visiting during inauguration, the city is just about to be packed to the brim.


Photobucket
Happy Holidays!


Visiting the city during the Holidays is always a joy. The Capitol Hill and White House Christmas trees and the decked out Union Station are all fun places to visit. If it is a moon lit night even better :)

Photobucket
Dal Chapathis

Just like writer's block,I get cooker's block (!?) now and then. It happened to me a few days ago. Lunch time was nearing and all I could think of was dal and I wanted a one dish quick and easy meal. The usual dal and rice did not sound appetizing. So the next best thing was to combine dal and wheat flour with some spices. I did not expect them to turn out as tasty as they did. The addition of the dal made it a lot easier to roll them out. These dal chapathis can be served as an evening snack with a dash of cream cheese. No side dish was required really but I made some onion/tomato/green chilies(sauted) raita.


Photobucket
Simple Lunches - 16 (Dal Chapthi, Onion - tomato raita and sliced cucumbers)




Ingredients
1. 1 Cup toor dal and red lentils (masoor dal) cooked with a pinch of turmeric and a dash of sesame oil
2. 1 1/2 cup of Wheat Flour
3. 1/2 tbsp sambhar powder
4. 2 tsp cumin seeds
5. 1/2 inch piece of ginger grated
6. salt to taste
Method
1. Mix the Wheat flour, sambhar powder, ginger, cumin seeds, salt along with the cooked dal and knead to a dough resembling chapathi dough. Sprinkle water if required.
2. Now take small lemon sized ball and roll them out into chapathi circle.
3. On a hot tava, cook the chapathis on both sides, spray a dash of oil/ghee if required at the end.

Serve with yogurt or raita.


17 comments:

  1. The dal chapathi looks so good!! Protein+carbs rolled into one, with veggie and yogurt on the side... wow! that's one filling meal!

    ReplyDelete
  2. very healthy chapathi. i am yet to try this one.. looks yummy

    ReplyDelete
  3. All in one... My kind of dish, Indo! BTW, do you remember the seeds that you send me way back? They're growing something that looks like chard. Do you think maybe I got chard seeds? Anyway, will talk to you when I get back from vacation! :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. ISG, dal chapati sounds wonderful and easy!

    I love DC -- I could go on about my limited political interest but to me, DC is the place where my son first discovered his love of history. I should bring him again.

    When I do, we shall meet perhaps, for a picnic on the mall :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. ISG, what bash will be held in DC? Is that the one for Obama's inagural ceremony? Sorry I am not aware, taking a guess here.

    I like the idea of mixing the daal while making the dough.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Dal chapathis looks good. Nice recipe. Very different one to try this weekend. YUM!

    ReplyDelete
  7. aw..simple or whatever..it looks yum indo...I can understand your sentiments on the city!

    ReplyDelete
  8. The pictures of the White House are cool with it all lit up.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Dal chappathis looks very good, proteins packed chappathis with veggie n yoghurt on the side makes me hungry..

    ReplyDelete
  10. I keep getting this cooking block every now and then.. :( Loved your simple yet delicious meal.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Kay, yes it was a filling and a very tasty meal at that.

    Mahimaa, you got to give this one a try, you won't be disappointed.

    Kalai, when I sent you those seeds I had used up all my chard seeds and look a lot bigger than the nightshade seeds. The Chard has thicker almost pink stalks and the leaves grow close to the ground with no branches, but if the plant you have looks like a regular plant with stalks and leaves, it is not Chard. Let me know what they turned out to be finally.

    Cynthia, Thanks and Happy Holidays!

    Linda, well ofcourse. Picnic on the mall would be wonderful :)

    RC, that is the one. They are expecting 2-4 million people on that day alone. The big crowds I have seen is during the Cherry Blossom Festival, but even then it is 1 million over a 16 day period, nothing on this scale.

    Sukanya, they are indeed YUM.

    Srivalli, exactly! They taste good that is all that matters.

    Geri, thanks! It is the Capitol Hill in the background.

    Priya, your hunger will be satisfied in no time if you venture into making these.

    Uj, cooking block is good! It is a reason to get creative.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I agree.. i love loitering around in DC and we've had quite a few picnics there. There's always a nice energy there.

    My friend used to make these dhal rotis when we were in Univ and I absolutely loved them.

    ReplyDelete
  13. wish you and your family a wonderful 2009, dear indo.

    ReplyDelete
  14. I know what you mean! If you don't like a city/country somuch, please don't live there, right? I feel the same about Bangalore with people constantly complaining about how bad the city is, then "please leave" I want to tell them. Especially the non-Bangaloreans who never bother to even learn basic Kannada but want to complain.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Dal parathas sound delicious, btw! :) Hope you are doing well. Happy holidays and advanced happy New Year to you and your family, ISG!

    ReplyDelete
  16. I've never been to DC! Reading this makes me want to visit!

    Happy Holidays to you and yours dear Indo!

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for stopping by. Appreciate you taking the time.
Comments embedded with links, spam and in poor taste will not be published.