365 Days and 50 Easy Indian Curries!

Under the weather, try Moong Dal, our first share from 50 Easy Indian Curries (Smith Street Books, March 22) by Penny Chawla, the self styled 'curry queen' of Sydney.

Moong Dal

Serves 4–6

Moong dal is a staple in every Indian home, and will be made differently depending on which part of India you are in. If you’re feeling under the weather, you can't go wrong with a bowl of moong dal, as it’s easy to digest and very nutritious. According to traditional Indian Ayurvedic medicine, it also balances the body’s elements.

Ingredients:

210 g (1 cup) moong dal (skinned split mung beans), well rinsed

1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric

sea salt

Steamed basmati rice or paratha

Moong dal temper (Ingredients):

2 tablespoons ghee or peanut oil

1–2 dried red chillies

1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds

1/2 teaspoon fenugreek seeds

1⁄8 teaspoon asafoetida

1 Asian shallot, thinly sliced

1 sprig curry leaves, leaves stripped

Instructions:

Place the moong dal in a saucepan and add 800 ml (27 fl oz) of water. Bring to the boil over high heat and skim off the froth that rises to the surface. Stir in the turmeric, then reduce the heat to medium–low, cover, leaving the lid open a crack, and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 35–40 minutes, until the moong dal is soft and broken down. Add a little more boiling water if the mixture starts to stick to the base of the pan or is becoming too thick. Add salt to taste. Remove from the heat and set aside.

To make the moong dal temper, heat the ghee or oil in a heavy-based frying pan over medium–high heat. Add the chilli, cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds and asafoetida. Shake the pan for about 30 seconds and as soon as the chillies start to darken add the shallot and curry leaves. Cook, stirring, for 2–3 minutes, until the shallot starts to brown.

Give the dal a stir and thin with a little boiling water if necessary. Pour into a serving dish, top with the temper and stir until just combined.

Serve with steamed basmati rice or paratha.

(* Reproduced with permission from 50 Easy Indian Curries (Smith Street Books, March 22) by Penny Chawla, the self styled 'curry queen' of Sydney. Photo copyright: Emily Weaving)

Our venture Mediterranean Work & Play is in the news via 'Future of Work Briefing'.

We shared with Matthew Parsons of Skift some 'preventive medicine' for burnout that 'Mediterranean Work & Play' offers with stays in Occitanie, France, from Toulouse to Perpignan...

Read more in Travel Outfits Offer Solutions to Companies for Pandemic Worker Burnout (Skift, January 14, 2022)

Share your comments on LinkedIn...

Into The Woods, want to wander off off Paris, here's a map of natural parks and wooded areas around Paris.

Carte des Bois via Enlarge Your Paris

10 plus years after Slow Planet and In Praise of Slowness , Carl Honore now brings us 30 Days to Slow (November 2020, Carl Honore)  his step by slow step guide to a saner life.

He is continuing his take on The Hare and The Tortoise, that little fable from all the way back to 1668.

It seems that Carl Honore 'Slow Planet' which I mentioned in Do revolutions start on Friday? back in March 2008 is no longer live.

I did my best to incorporate some of that thinking into Mediterranean Work and Play, my new venture.

Quiet launch today, on a snow day, of Mediterranean Work & Play, for those craving Epicurean remote work.

Our new venture's first 'bubble' will be in Southwest France.

Think 50 miles circle around Toulouse.

Please pass the cheese!

(* Map reproduced with permission from A FIELD GUIDE TO CHEESE by Tristan Sicard, Artisan Books, Copyright © 2020. Illustrations by Yannis Varoutsikos)

Get green on wheels on the Berlin Wall Trail...

In these Covid times, Berliners like others have had to change their leisure and vacation patterns and rediscovered what is to see in their backyard.

To help you discover all that's to see around Berlin, the Brandenburg Tourism Office has now reissued their English version of the Brandenburg map. It shows 62 highlights around Berlin with a short explanation and website on the back. 

A taste of what to expect from the Map notes:

"The Berlin Wall divided the German capital and separated West Berlin from the territory of the GDR from 1961 to 1989. On a cycle tour along the Berlin Wall Trail, you can still see the remains of the former border installations. Stop off on your 106-kilometre long round trip in Potsdam, where many of the city´s attractions have great stories to tell. If you look closely, you can see that the Glienicke Bridge was painted in two different colors, testifying that the bridge was divided between east and west and that captured spies were exchanged in its center. The route along the border section in Brandenburg´s capital is approximately 15 kilometers long. In New Babelsberg, you cycle past villas steeped in history and the Media City, where leading DEFA films were produced during the GDR period. From there the trail leads back to Berlin."

Recommended start/finish: Glienicke Bridge, Potsdam or Brandenburg Gate, Berlin

Anreise: RE1 to Potsdam, S-Bahn S7

Don't Get Lost thanks to Signposts: Grey beam against a white background with 'Berliner Mauerweg' logo and watchtower to the left.

Total length: 160 km, approx. 56 km through Brandenburg and 15 km through Postdam.

(Screenshot of Berlin to Potsdam trail map above)

Check PDF here for the Full Map of Brandenburg Cycling Trails, besides Berlin Wall Trail.

Get Green on Wheels for Green Day # 275

Somewhat Related: Loire Valley in the Slow Lane, Cycling the Loire from the Atlantic to Sancerre (April 30, 2010)

(* Photo courtesy of the Brandenburg Tourism Office, Map copyright Terra Press GMBH)

Get a bird's eye perspective, book a tree house at Loire Valley Lodges near Tours (France)

Want to take a break from Zoom world, Loire Valley Lodges offers 18 tree lodges sprinkled around a forest with no WiFi and spotty cellphone reception. They opened in July 2020.

Each lodge opens onto the forest and the sky thanks to large windows.

Green Lap of Luxury for Green Day # 274

( Photo: November 4, Autumn Sunrise on terrace of  lodge Via Nilo, via Loire Valley Lodges Facebook Page)

Manchurian Candidate, Not Exactly! from from Saladish by Ilene Rosen with Donna Gelb (Artisan Books, 2018/Photographs by Joseph De Leo )

Browsing through books I received in Spring 2019, I realized this bright red choux fleur recipe had failed to show up here, now corrected.

Not-Exactly-Manchurian Cauliflower

This is a simplified and not-fried version of Gobi Manchurian, an Indian restaurant favorite of fried cauliflower seasoned Indo-Chinese style. Try to find a head of cauliflower that still has its leaves.

Serves 4

Ingredients

1 head of cauliflower, cut into medium florets, core reserved and tender part sliced, leaves left whole

One 6-ounce can tomato paste

2 teaspoons molasses

2 teaspoons cumin seeds, toasted and ground

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1⁄4 cup flavorless vegetable oil

1⁄3 cup minced jalapeño

1⁄3 cup finely minced fresh ginger

1 large garlic clove, finely minced

4 or 5 scallions, thinly sliced on the diagonal

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

Flaky salt

        Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F.

2. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the cauliflower florets, return to a boil, and cook for about 1 minute, until the florets are just tender. Drain thoroughly and transfer to a sheet pan to cool.

3. Whisk together the tomato paste, molasses, cumin seeds, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, ¼ teaspoon pepper, and 3 tablespoons of the oil in a small bowl until thoroughly blended.

4. Heat the remaining tablespoon of oil in a small skillet over medium heat and sauté the jalapeño, ginger, and garlic for a minute or two, until soft and fragrant but not browned. Season to taste with kosher salt and pepper and add to the tomato mixture, whisking to thoroughly combine.

5. Put the cauliflower florets in a large bowl and toss with the tomato mixture, rubbing the mixture into the florets’ cracks and crevices. Taste and add more kosher salt if necessary. Spread out on the same sheet pan and roast for 15 minutes. Rotate the pan and roast for 10 minutes more, or until the florets are tender and browned, even charred in some spots. Meanwhile, toss the slices of core and the leaves with oil and kosher salt and pepper to taste.

Roast on a separate small pan just until browned, about 7 minutes. Let the florets, core slices, and leaves cool.

6. Transfer the cauliflower florets, leaves, and slices of core to a bowl, add most of the scallions, and toss to combine. Transfer to a platter, drizzle with the olive oil, and scatter the reserved scallions and some flaky salt over the top. Serve.

(* Excerpted from Saladish by Ilene Rosen with Donna Gelb -Artisan Books- Copyright © 2018 /Photographs by Joseph De Leo.”)

Have not offered a 'Green Day'  on Tuesdays in a long while.

Today, I make an attempt at getting back in the fray.

Would be Discards Turned into Snacks.  You will be able to explore that and more with Sustainable Foods: A Mottainai Mindset thanks to a Live Webinar from the Japan Society (New York) on November 10 at 6:30 PM (Eastern Standard Time).

Here's a brief introduction:

"In Japan, the idea of food sustainability is nothing new. As far back as 1804, Japanese company Mizkan Group harnessed the concept of upcycling by using sake by-products to create an entirely new vinegar. Today, Japanese company ZENB is following in those footsteps, incorporating parts of vegetables that are usually discarded, including cores, seeds and stems, into their plant-based snacks. At this talk, Seiko Nakano from Mizkan Group and Christiane Paul from ZENB discuss their innovative, wholesome food production strategies, and join Brian Kateman for a panel discussion about the future of food sustainability. As cofounder and president of the Reducetarian Foundation, which advocates for reducing the consumption of animal products, Kateman is a leading voice in the realm of environmental and food sustainability."

Registration required here, Event is Free.

Green Day #273

(* Illustration courtesy of 'Japan Society')

Ride without sweating

Read about giants of cycling and classic races thanks to Bloomsbury 'Summer of Cycling' 2016 (offer good until July 31)

(* this is not a sponsored post, i'm just a fan of this sport)