isabella's first birthday - 'clan' get-together 5th June 2010

Get-together of the 'clan' to celebrate the first birthday of the youngest member - Isabella.

Long slow boring drive to Norwich through some of the flattest but now greenest landscape that is Lincolnshire. And the worst part - the asparagus bunches that were being sold in some of the roadside 'stalls' were more expensive than in local shops!! One would have thought that with little food miles for these spring vegetables, they would be a bargain. But no.

Are there any PYO (Pick your own) farms where one can go and pick vegetables on the A17 and A46? Needs investigating. Hmmm ... will definitely break a boring journey to acceptable chunks. No dearth of farm shops though along the route. Freshly picked vegetables and fruits on a warm summer's day - ahhh!!!! life is full of little pleasures that one can dream about.

The warm weather held. Children had a lovely afternoon of games and fun. Children? Ladies and girls had fun too.

jelly treasure hunt with mouth - no hands!!

hoops all around

the grown up boys - keeping pace with the girls

even more merriment for the audience!

grandfather grandson - sharing a moment in time together

I may be the youngest but .....

But even better was the food as usual. Started off on arrival with home made potato samosas and lamb samosas with mint chutney and a chilli chutney. Cousin Fiona made the samosas using a Gordon Ramsay recipe, home grown mint chutney was the creation of my uncle, Bipin Dada, and mother made the green chilli chutney. Samosa pastry was delicious - just like the ones made in India. Not the filo pastry that is used by restaurants, supermarkets and countless others. Those made with filo pastry cannot be classified as real samosas - so say the 'connoisseurs' in the family. At least the children are being 'educated' as to what can be classified as a real samosa.

Children had an early 'tea' at about six in the evening - still find difficulty with Yorkshire dialect - the word 'dinner' is used to signify the lunch time meal and 'tea' for the evening meal. Anyway, a wonderful child friendly spread that even the adults nibbled - ham sandwiches and jam sandwiches in the shapes of dinosaurs, mini sausages, hot dogs in buns with tomato ketchup, cucumber crocodile speared with cheese and pineapple cubes, heart shaped jam and white chocolate biscuits, apricot cookies, pink and white layered coconut 'ice', a range of cupcakes including egg free chocolate ones, Swedish rosette cookies, hula hoops, quavers, bacon bites, orange, strawberry and lime jelly boats in fresh orange shells and the grand finale - a beautiful castle cake with pink icing. Birthday baby too enjoyed the spread - she has eight teeth and is only a year old!!

never smile at a crocodile .....

crocodile getting ready to ......

Dinner for the adults was a grand affair. Auntie Sue and Uncle Bipin Dada cooked the Assamese meal. Here follows the menu :

Masoor daal with tomatoes and green beans

Urad daal assamese style - maati daal

Chicken with potatoes

lamb curry

potato and tinda fry

ladies fingers with dried green mango powder - bhindi with amchoor

sea bass fish curry - masor tenga with tomatoes and potatoes

tomato and red onion salsa with coriander, fresh lime juice and finely chopped fresh green chilli

after the babies were in bed!

the dessert 'trolley'

Tomato and Red onion salsa

No definite measurements - make as much as you want. As long as the ingredients are the freshest possible. Most Assamese meals are accompanied by little portions of salad or relish and some are sometimes seasoned with raw mustard oil - a rarity in this country. Feel free to use extra virgin olive oil but the salad is simply delicious even without any oil - totally healthy and fat free if one desires. The heat of fresh chillies make this salad utterly delicious and is a must. Forget the oil, remember the chillies. Can serve upwards of four people as part of an Indian meal

Ingredients

500 grams sun ripened or vine ripened tomatoes - chopped

200 grams red onions - chopped finely

1 bunch of fresh coriander - chopped finely

4 fresh red or green chillies

sea salt to taste

fresh lime juice - for this amount, at least one, more can be added to taste

1 tbsp mustard oil or 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil - optional

Method

Mix all the ingredients together gently and serve as soon as possible.

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end of the weekend partying ....

Auntie Sue, as I have mentioned in previous entries, is a fantastic cook. She has mastered Assamese cooking and will make many a native Assamese woman cringe. We never fail to recall how on one of her visits to Namti, Sibsagarh in Assam, many years ago, she was lucky enough to have sampled red ant eggs (amloi tup) scrambled with duck eggs. It made her sick and then the family dogs licked up the vomit!! Yaaaarghhhhh!!

dinner thursday 13th may 2010

Dinner for three

Sautéed green beans and potatoes flavoured with cumin seeds (jeera)

Masoor dal with tomatoes

fried sea bass, Assamese style

chicken cooked with yoghurt and spices

rice

mango pickle

Simple pleasures. Younger daughter, GG's favourite daal. She refuses to eat anything else when this daal is on the menu. I love green beans - Spanish / Mediterranean touch coming in with the olive oil and a garlic and chilli mix from Sardinia! Our hairdresser, Helen, has been spoiling us with a lovely garlic and red chilli flake mix with parsley and salt that she found in Sardinia a few years ago. Every time she goes to Sardinia, she brings back this fantastic mix for her family and some of her friends. My sister-in-laws are also after this mix - sorry sis-in-laws, you know you can taste this when you visit us as this mix is rarer than gold and I cannot share what little I have. Lately Helen has had some difficulty in finding stockists of this mix but she has found an alternative company - but it is not the same. Hope that she finds the old company again on her next trip in a few weeks time.

Recipe for sautéed green beans and potatoes flavoured with panch phoran

Ingredients

200 grams fresh green beans, cut into 2 cm lengths

1 potato, peeled and diced into 1 cm cubes

1 onion, roughly chopped

1 tsp garlic and red chilli flakes mix (use equal quantities of garlic flakes to chilli flakes and dried parsley)

1 teaspoon turmeric powder

1 teaspoon cumin seeds (jeera)

2 tbsp mild olive oil

salt to taste

Method :

• In a sauté pan, heat the oil and add the cumin seeds. Stir them around for just a few seconds only so that the seeds release their aroma and flavour the oil.
• Lower the heat to medium. Add the onions and fry them stirring frequently until they turn a golden colour - five to ten minutes depending on the heat.
• Add the turmeric and the garlic and chilli flakes mixture and stir it around for a few seconds only. Do not let the turmeric burn.
• Add the potatoes and stir fry it for a few minutes until they are cooked slightly and coated with the oil and spice mix - you will see that the edges of the potatoes turn slightly 'transparent'.
• Add the green beans and stir it around in the pan for a minute or two. Add salt to taste.
• Cover the pan and cook on a gentle heat until the beans and potatoes are cooked. Stir every few minutes. The green beans should have a slight 'bite' and the potatoes well done.
• Remove from heat and transfer to a serving dish.

Masoor daal (red lentils) with tinned tomatoes

This lentil dish can be made with either fresh tomatoes or tinned tomatoes. In England, most of the year the tomatoes are not as flavoursome as the ones in Spanish or French markets, even the vine ripened ones. Tinned tomatoes make a pleasant change and they are always in stock at home. The spice mix, panch phoran, used in this dish is available at most Indian / Pakistani / Bangladeshi grocers and a small packet will last a while without the worry of the spices losing their flavour as the spices are whole. The spices have to be tempered in hot oil - this allows the spices to release their oils and flavour the whole dish.

Now there is a very quick way of cooking this dish - all in one go! I tend to temper the oil first and add all the other ingredients and pressure cook it. Others tend to cook the daal first and then temper it afterwards. Is there a right way? Much heated debate ensues in our house about whether the daal should be tempered before it is cooked but I find little difference in taste cooked either way. Will give both methods - my way and husband, NG's way. Ingredients remain the same. Mine first!!

Ingredients :

1 cup masoor dal, (red lentils) washed and left to dry for a few minutes in a sieve

1 tin / can (approx 400 grams) of chopped plum tomatoes (Napolina or Valfrutta)

1 tbsp sunflower oil (or vegetable oil)

1 tsp panch phoran (five spice mix)

1 tsp turmeric

salt to taste

2 - 3 cups water

handful of chopped coriander - optional

lump of butter or home made ghee - optional

Method 1 : My way !!!!

• In a pressure cooker, heat the oil till nearly smoking, remove from heat and throw in the panch phoran and let it sizzle and crackle for a few seconds. This is the secret of flavouring. The mustard seeds release their flavour in the hot oil and lose their pungency to nuttiness. The mustard seeds (the few that are there!) will jump around so beware.
• Return the pan to the heat. Add the washed daal and turmeric and stir it around for a minute or two so that the grains get coated with the oil and the turmeric.
• Add the chopped tinned tomatoes and 2 cups of water. Stir. Cover with the lid and cook under pressure for a few minutes only - difficult to give a time as different pressure cookers take different times and only you know your cooker best. We like our daal to be totally 'dissolved' so that the grains melt and are not recognisable individually. And no use of blender either. No two tier daal for us!!
• Once the pressure has been released, check the daal and the consistency. Add more water if the daal is too thick. The texture should be like that of double cream or a soup - not a broth.
• Add salt to taste, bring it the boil once more and then remove to a serving dish.
• Add coriander and / or the butter or ghee and serve.

This way, there is only one pan to wash up! Brrr perfect for winter.

Method 2 : Husband NG's way

• In a pressure cooker, add the daal, two cups of water and turmeric and cook under pressure until the daal is cooked to your liking. We like it mushy! not upstairs, downstairs daal. Let the pressure drop and remove the lid.
• In a separate pan, heat the oil till nearly smoking, remove from heat and throw in the panch phoran and let it sizzle and crackle for a few seconds. This is the secret of flavouring. The mustard seeds release their flavour in the hot oil and lose their pungency to nuttiness. The mustard seeds (the few that are there!) will jump around so beware.
• Return the pan to the heat and add the chopped tomatoes and stir it around for a few seconds.
• Add the daal from the pressure cooker and bring it to a boil. Check the texture of the daal - it should not be so thick that you can stand a spoon in it or too watery to be able to swim in.
• Add salt to taste. SImmer for a few minutes.
• Remove from heat.
• Add the coriander and / or butter or ghee. Transfer to a serving dish and serve.

Two pans to wash up and a lid as well!!

Variation : temper with curry patta as well.

No chillies? Nope. Children have had this dish since they were babies and I do not like this with chilli anyway. Add chillies if you must, either when tempering or when the dish is ready to be served - whole dried red chillies or chilli powder or chilli flakes or whole green chillies or chopped green chillies - whatever takes your fancy. I remember taking this dish to work and sharing the food with a few colleagues. Shafqat, a colleague from Pakistan / Uganda loved it but asked - Can I add some chillies to it? as it was not 'spicy' enough for her. Of course you can.

Just pure heaven in this daal as GG says.