Spicy Avarakkai (broadbeans) Curry

As I sit here watching the election results, several things go through my mind. First of all is the high turnout of voters. The other more serious thought is of the hopes that were raised by the Obama candidacy. The promise of taking the high road and hopes of a better standard in governing. Unlike President Bush who promised to unite and pretty much split the country and pushed it so much to the extreme right. The millions of young people who were inspired to campaign and hope that he will elevate the status of America in the eyes of the world and change the dangerous course America has been taking the last few years. I only wish their hopes and aspirations would be elevated.

As voters we have done our job, now it is the new President who should do his.

Visiting the voting place and standing in line (and in my county it is like the UN with people from pretty much all over the world) with all those people who take their duties as a citizen seriously gave me a sense of jubilation much like a highly anticipated party. The number of people I saw there was much larger than the previous few elections I have voted in. The kids were off from school so it was like a holiday almost.

With overcast skies and rain expected later in the day, called out for something spicy and hot. The curry turned out exactly right.

Serves: 4-5
Ingredients
1. Avarakkai - 4 cups (stringed and cut in half)
2. 1/4 cup shallots chopped
3. 4 -5 garlic sliced
4. 2 juicy medium sized tomatoes
5. 1 tbsp tamarind pulp (optional)
6. 2 tsp turmeric powder
7. seasoning : mustard, cumin and curry leaves

To Blend
1. 10 small onions
2. 1 tbsp coriander seeds
3. 1 tsp cumin seeds
4. 5 red chilies (2 hot and 3 kashmiri chilies)

In a bit of oil toast the coriander, cumin and chilies remove to blender, saute the onions till brown. Cool and blend to a paste with a little bit of water

Method
1. In a pressure pan heat oil and add the seasonings and then the onion and saute till translucent.
2. Add the garlic and saute a bit and then add the turmeric and mix. Now add the tomatoes and saute till they get soft. Add salt
3. Now add the beans and saute for a minute or two.
4. Now add the blended paste and required amount of water (if you want it dry add only 2 -3 tbsp of water)
5.If adding tamarind add it now and mix (I did not add any because my tomatoes were sour)
6. Check for salt and close the lid and cook for 1 sound or about 5-6 minutes.
7. If too watery once the cooker cools open the lid and saute on medium heat for the desired consistency. (I wanted mine with a bit of gravy)

Alternate Method
1. If not using pressure cooker, precook the beans with a bit of salt and continue with the method described above.

Goes well with both rice and rotis. We had ours with rotis.

Feeling LEFT out but ...

Vote I must and so must you. If you live in one of the safe red or blue states you would understand exactly what I mean. As a safe blue stater and living in one of the most liberal counties in the country the outcome of our voting pattern has been predetermined a long time ago!. This means one thing, Democratic canditates take us for granted and the Republican don't even bother campaigning here. But just across the Potomac river the voters are courted and dated like they are royalty. If you sense a bit of envy maybe thats what I feel. They live in one of the so called battle ground states. So the parade of presidential canditates happens every other day. VA has been slowly trending Democratic with the growth of the high-tech industry in the Northern Virginia suburbs and the Democrats have been hoping they would go Blue in this year's Presidential election. Obama has made more trips these 2 years than I can count while we just a few miles north did not warranty a stop over even a single time :(

There is a silver lining in all of this, we have not been bombarded with numerous advertisements like these battle ground staters. The few that we have seen I have not paid much attention. DD has been paying more attention and analyzes what each candidate has been saying in their ads. With the sense of fairness only a 10 year old can muster her analysis has been that McCain ads have been very negative without highlighting what positives he has, whereas Obama's have shown what great things he can do/done and is not very negative about the opponent.

After the intial silence, the last few weeks we have seen a spike with the "Spread the wealth" ads. Obama is supposed to have said this to "Joe the plumber". This particular one has me gritting my teeth as well. Does McCain suggest that it is ok to spread the wealth from the bottom to the top but the other way around is not acceptable? The number of times these rich guys have gone before congress to bail them and their failing industries has been greater than the number of years Bush has been in office. Started with the airlines, the oil industry even though they have declaring record profits quarter after quarter, the Wall Street, now the auto industry and don't forget the subsidies rich farmers have been getting all this time and this entitlement is pretty much untouchable. So the workers at the bottom whose wages have been stagnating while their bosses have been getting richer and richer and not without a big helping hand from the so called evil government cannot and absolutely have wealth spreading from the top to the bottom. This alone would be considered Socialism? Well I don't get it!

There are many things I don't get about one candidate or the other but there is a clear choice to be made in which direction we want the country to head. The choice is in each of our hands.