Swiss Chard Paruppu (Dal)

The population for the planet is projected to be 9 billion in 2050. Wow that is a lot of people! At the rapid rate farm land is getting converted to suburban housing, food insecurity will be more the norm than the exception. Though my observation is based on what is happening here in the US and India, new reports about development in countries like Brazil, China it is pretty much the same story in most parts of the world. It is either housing or food! Fear of food insecurity has prompted China to buy/lease land in Africa and South America to keep its supply of food.

Switching back to my backyard and several others dotted along suburbia there is plenty of land which is where the food revolution should start. IMO, this is where city planners in cahoots with the corrupt government officials and developers have played havoc with people's lives for generations to come. Recently there were news reports that had the fire chief complaining about the narrow streets and the difficulty of getting fire trucks into neighborhoods because the roads are very narrow. The fire department which is usually part of the planning process was kept out. Left to the developers everyone would be living (and some are probably already living) in their own version of hell in the suburbs in the years to come. Just like wall street there are many villians waiting to take advantage of people with grands visions of the American/Indian/Chinese dream.

If there is will most planned developments would be child and garden friendly. Eliminate the huge yards which encourage lawn growth with dumping of fertilizers and pesticides thereby polluting the streams, creeks and eventually affecting the marine life. Instead provide land for common gardens where vegetables,flowers and other vegetation can be grown. This benefits the young, old, middle aged, everybody and teaches kids at a young age the cycle of life.

Well the speech has nothing to do with my backyard garden. I did not have any lofty purpose when I first started planting vegetables just that it made me happy. I had to share the produce, sometimes the whole plant with the wildlife that abound around here deer, rabbit,racoon, groundhog, you name it we had them eating my plants. We erected a fence and when the fence was not enough some deer netting to keep the smaller creatures around. But these days I harvest most of what I plant, the taste has been nothing short of spectacular. It is easy to differntiate when garden fresh ingredients have been used and when vegetables languishing in the fridge have been used.

My latest obsession has been growing Swiss Chard. It has been the most rewarding. I have harvested them twice already this spring. I have found that growing them in pots works better than in the ground. Trim the leaves and leave the plant alone. They regrow till early winter. With the batch from 2 weeks ago I made some Swiss Chard sambhar and the from the leaves harvested s few days ago made some simple dal. The fresh taste without the metallic taste which is usually the case the store bought greens was something to be savored.

This will be a submission to the Swiss Chard Challenge hosted by me.

Swiss Chard Paruppu
1. 4 cups of chopped loosely packed Swiss Chard leaves and stems (or choice of any greens)
2. 1/2 cup moong dal + 1/4 cup Toor dal washed
3. 1/2 red onion chopped
4. 3-4 cloves garlic
5. 1/2 tbsp sambhar powder
6. 2 tsp turmeic powder
7. seasonings: mustard, cumin, curry leaves, red chili
8. salt to taste

Method
1. In a pressure cooked add ingredients 1-7 along with 3 cups of water and cook for 3 whistles.
2. Let cool, open the lid, add salt.
3. heat 1/2 tsp of oil in a separate pan and season with the mustard, cumin, curry leaves and chili and pour over the dal.
4. Turn off heat.

Serve with chapatis or rice.