Rotis with Stone Ground Wheat Flour and Kale with Toor and Chana dal

I have always wondered if some fried foods are considered more equal or less junky than others. I would never associate ulundu vadai (black gram fritters) with junk food whereas french fries would always be associated with junk food. Not all fried food are completely bad and none of them are good to be consumed on a daily basis. So if I do end up eating fried foods everyday am I not the one who is solely responsible?

Lot of Indians were in the news, Bobby Jindal who is trying to become the leader of the other party talks so fast that I had trouble keeping up with his delivery the speech hid the whiz kid who so impressed everybody, Dr. Gupta who apparently turned down the position of Doctor in Chief, Vijay Mallya the guy who pooh poohed "Be Indian as Buy Indian" as old fashioned is the knight in shining armor to rescue the Gandhi memorabilia on auction and who can forget the Slum dog Millionaire awards. Perhaps all good things.

The thing I am most afraid of is it is becoming clear that our law makers do not have the guts or ability to set right the country's ills and it starting to stare at us from the front pages of the newspaper. The speaker of the house cancelling events to make nice with one half of Brangelina and the supposed leader of the free world and his team having a war of words with the drug abusing talk show host is enough to send shivers up your spine. If this is somehow supposed to inspire confidence that these people are in charge?

The economy is hurting us in different ways. Here is something that I think I have complete control over namely my grocery bills. Not to say I did not have these methods at my disposal before, just that I did not pay close attention to them. Now with the saving and shopping judiciously the order of the day these things are taking a life of their own. When I was too busy there was just enough time to run in and grab everything I wanted and rush out, shopping smartly was the last thing on my mind. At the checkout, stood and watched in awe as the smart shopper in front of me got close to $150 wiped off her bill with various coupons and cards. I would resolve to do something about my shopping habits but nothing changed. Well now with time on my hands being that smart shopper does seem a definite possibility. Clipping coupons helps but it also makes you buy over priced stuff. Paying attention to the fliers from the local grocery seems to the best way to cut costs. They have coupons that give a $10 or $5 off if the purchase is more than an certain amount which seem to work out better than coupons for a specific product. Also there are items that are on sale each week. Just a little extra planning can help save $20 or so every visit. Moreover even organic items are on sale on certain days of the week.

When things get to me I to head to the nearest swimming pool. On days that the weather or the news or whatever gets to me the dip puts me in a better frame of mind. If you are into swimming, running, walking or dancing I bet you know what I am talking about.

Stone Ground Wheat Flour
The wheat flour that Indian grocery stores carry is called atta and is also labelled as whole wheat flour, it has a slightly yellowish tinge and is pretty fine and smooth. There is no bran - look here. The last time around I found a 25 lbs bag of stone ground whole wheat flour for the price of 20 lbs of atta. Though a bit reluctant to buy that large a quantity, what if it was a disaster, I picked it nevertheless (see above). Fast forward, the texture of the flour is a bit coarse but the rotis or chapatis made out of the flour are so soft. They do not get hard or chewy the next day which is not the case with rotis made of atta. If you like a slightly smoother texture you can always sift the flour. I have not tried it but just a thought. Following Kay's method of leaving the dough to rest for 3-4 hours or soaking as she calls it gives even better results.

Stone ground Wheat Flour Rotis
Ingredients
1. 3 Cups Stone Ground Whole Wheat Flour
2. 1 tsp salt
3. 1 tsp oil - amended - 1 tbsp yogurt or yogurt whey
4. 1 cup of water

Method
1. Mix the flour, salt and oil.
2. Add water bit by bit and make a pliable dough
3. Let the dough rest for at least an hour but preferably for 3-4 hours/
4. make small lime sized balls and roll it out into circles about 1/4 inch thick.
5. Heat a griddle and transfer the rolled out dough onto it. Wait for a second and turn it
6. Let it cook on one side till brown spots appear
7. Flip and apply slight pressure till the rotis start to puff
8. Remove from the heat. apply a bit of ghee or spray of oil if desired.

Kale is a green that I have not tried before. One look at Sig's Chickpeas and Kale stir fry is all the encouragement I needed. I had not soaked chickpeas so decided to use a combination of toor and chana dals.

Kale with chana and toor dals
Ingredients
1. 1 bunch Kale washed and chopped
2. 1/2 onion chopped
3. 1/2 cup toor dal
4. 1/2 cup chana dal
5. 5 garlic cloves chopped
6. 1/2 tbsp sambhar powder
7. 1 tsp turmeric powder
8. 1 tbsp lemon juice
9. salt to taste
10. 1 tsp oil

Method
1. Cook the toor and chana dal with a bit of turmeric and a drop of sesame oil
till soft. (should not be mushy)
2. Heat a pan add the oil when hot add the onions and garlic and saute till soft.
3. Add the kale and let it cook till wilted (will be still a bit crunchy)
4. Add the sambhar powder and salt
5. Add the cooked dal and mix
6. Add the lemon juice.

Serve with rotis or as a side for rice.