Black-Eyed Peas with Methi leaves

Young Author's Day and a Blog
It was Young Author's Day in DD's class yesterday and really glad was able to make it, it was great fun listening to the stories that these kids had made up. There is a great number of future authors for popular fiction, no doubt about that. Visiting activities at her class have always been fun and relaxing. The only thing they are during weekdays mornings and extreme planning has to go into being able to go. What amazed me most was the patience and respect that they gave to each author who was reading the story. Nobody made a sound or talked to their friends sitting next to them. It is little wonder that there are so many authors in the US and the book stores are filled with so many titles.

Well the downside (or is it upside?) of blogging is that everyone in the house wants to do it too. DD has been bugging me for a while now about starting her own blog. We made a deal that she has to come up with reasons to start her own blog and a name for the blog. The reason was made up in no time, the blog was going to house her poetry and fiction collection and she had a name ready "Cherry Blossoms". After much debate and going back and forth decided it was ok for her to have her own blog but I control the password but the typing and posting will be done by her.


I hit the last batch of Methi leaves that I had planted some time ago and wanted a special dish. NPR Kitchen Window had an article on Crete: Ancient Diet with Modern Message caught my eye, about how they eat the food produced from their land and sharing it with others a little like home. The recipe for Black-Eyed Peas with Fennel sounded like something I could try, but with Methi leaves in place of fennel. Guess any leafy green would work fine. Very few ingredients but very very tasty.


Recipe Source: NPR's Kitchen Window




Black Eyed Peas with Methi
1. 1/2 cup of Methi leaves (chopped both the leaves and stem)
2. 1 Medium Red onion Chopped fine
3. 1 1/2 Black-Eyed Peas soaked overnight
4. 3 garlic cloves chopped
5. 3 green chillies slit lengthwise
6. 1 tsp sambhar powder
7. 3 Red tomatoes chopped
8. 2 tbsps Tomato sauce
9. seasonings (cumin and curry leaves)
10. 1 tsp oil and salt

Method
1. Cook the Black-Eyed Peas on the stove pot till soft.
2. In a pan heat the oil and add the seasonings and the green chillies.
3. Add the onion and saute till translucent
4. Add the garlic and saute for a few minutes.
5. Add the chopped methi leaves and saute till they wilt.
6. Now add the tomatoes and saute till they turn soft and mushy.
7. Add the sambhar powder,salt and the tomato sauce mix.
8. Add the BE peas and cook till the liquid evaporates.

Serve with rice or chappathis.

Happy Mother's Day and Bell Pepper with Wadis

Happy Mother's Day


Present by DD2 (made in her painting class)

Bell Pepper with Wadis
Saw them on Mahanandi , read Anita's description of them and their birthplace and again watched Manisha's pictures. Well could not resist any longer. Went to the grocery store and asked for Wadis the shopkeeper thought seriously for sometime('what is this women asking for and in which language' is probably what went through her mind). I am not a Hindi speaker (blame it on the politicians in my home state, they thought we would be disadvantaged if we learnt Hindi as the 3rd language besides learning the 2 required ones) but thankfully she did figure it out. She gave me a box of 'Spicy Masala Bari' no wonder I did not find them when I searched for them high and low. It looked like choclate chip cookies for sure and DD2 wanted to taste it, try as I might she would not part with it, without a taste. Taste she did and then gave it back to me. It was SPICY.

I did not feel like potatoes and did not have egg plants, Bell Peppers is all I had and wanted to cook the Wadis. The smell when they were being cooked was something to savor and the taste was fantastic too. Thanks for the intro to a truly tasty find.

Recipe's original idea from Mahanandi and Mad Tea Party


Bell Pepper with Wadis

Ingredients
1. 3 Bell Peppers seeds removed and cubed
2. 1/2 red onion rougly chopped
3. 5 garlic cloves minced
4. 1/2" ginger grated
5. 3 tomatoes roughly chopped
6. 4 Wadis broken
7. 1 tsp cumin powder
8. 1/2 tbsp Corriander powder
9. 1/2 tsp sambhar powder
(did not add too much chilli powder then the kids won't touch it, the wadis were spicy by themselves)
10. 1 tsp tumeric powder
11. tamarind pulp about 1/4 cup
11. Salt to taste




Method
1. Heat oil in a pan and fry the Wadis till they turn brown, set aside.
2. Add the onions and fry till translucent.
3. Add the garlic pieces and ginger and saute for a minute
4. Add the tomatoes mix them, cover with a lid and cook till they turn soft.
5. Add the powders and mix well.
6. Now add the bell peppers and saute for a few minutes, add the wadis
7. Add the tamarind juice and salt, cover and cook till the bell pepper is soft.
8. Open the lid and saute for a few minutes till the moisture is gone.

Serve with Chappathis.