There are weekends
when you don’t want to cook.
You feel
that there are other important things you must do.
You want to
read.
You want to
do gardening.
You want to
sort out your wardrobe.
You want to
tidy up all the shelves.
You want to
write.
You just
want to cuddle up and watch TV.
Anything but
cook.
Around lunch
time, you feel hungry.
Go out for
lunch? No, you don’t want to dress up.
Home
delivery? No, too junky.
Frozen meal?
No, something fresh, please.
Fruits? No,
something substantial.
You long for
real home-cooked food. Something that
lifts up your spirits.
Finally you
wander to the kitchen hoping for a food fairy to do some magic.
And then you
become the food fairy and fix something nice and easy in not more than 15
minutes.
Here is one
such food fairy-inspired meal that is quick and easy to make:
You will
need:
1 cup rice
½ cup moong
dal (yellow lentils)
½ tablespoon
oil
½” cinnamon
stick
2 cloves
2 cardamoms
½ teaspoon
cumin seeds
1 bay leaf
6 peanuts
(or any other favourite nuts or raisins)
1 onion,
chopped
1 tomato,
chopped
½ teaspoon
turmeric powder or 1 pinch saffron
3 cups water
Salt to
taste
Method:
1) Rinse the rice
and dal twice with water.
2) Add 3 cups water
to rice and dal and leave aside. (This may be done in advance if possible.)
3) Heat oil and add
cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, cumin, bay leaf and peanuts. Stir.
4) Add onion. Stir.
5) Add tomato. Stir.
6) After 1 minute
add the rice, dal and water.
7) Add turmeric
powder or saffron.
8) Add salt. Stir.
9) Bring to boil.
10) Cover and cook
on low heat for 10 minutes. (You may go back to whatever you were doing
here.)
Serve hot with yogurt, cucumber slices, and papad or pickle.
Bon appétit!
