Cooking Lesson: Mixed Vegetables

I went to a little cooking lesson today.

Here's a delicious, slightly spicy, vegetable side dish
that Sunita taught us.

Have your spices at the ready.

You'll need just a few spices: remember, the fresher, the better
(and toasted is much nicer, too!) 

1/2 tsp cumin seeds,

3 tsp ground coriander,

1/2 tsp red chilli powder (to taste)

1/4 tsp garam masala*
(*see recipe at the bottom of the post, or use ready-prepared from your spice aisle)

You aslo need to prepare some ginger & green chillies.

Spanking fresh & pungent

Peel or scrub and chop about 2 inches of ginger 

and wash and chop 2 - 3 small green chillies

(to taste - always important!).

You need to make a satiny-smooth paste of these two ingredients,

and at home I usually chop the two coarsely, 

then whiz in my small food processor.

But in Sunita's kitchen, 

she had her (strong, young) helper bash and grind the aromatics with a

sil-batta,

which I don't think I'll be bringing home in my suitcase,
but only due to its immense weight.

The sil-batta requires some old-fashioned elbow grease -
good for bashing out those frustrations.

It produces a silky paste when used properly

You need to prepare 1 cup or so of each of your vegetables,

such as

cabbage, cauliflower, green pepper,

green beans, peas, carrot, & red onion.

Cut into rough chunks of similar size.

Small batch cooking

Now, heat about 1 tbsp of oil or ghee (clarified butter..mmmmm budda!)
in a karahi.

(or wok or heavy-bottomed skillet)

Heat oil until hot, but not smokin'

Once your oil is ready,
add about 1 tsp of the ginger/chilli paste
(save the rest in your fridge for a day, or your freezer for one month)
and stir.
Now add all the vegetables that you prepared earlier
(except the red onion),

taking care not to splatter yourself with the boiling oil.

Stir fry them until they are just catching a beautiful shade of umber.

Look - a rainbow of veggies...just like Mum taught us!

Now, add 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 cup of water,

cover and simmer until tender enough to your liking

(about 2 - 3 minutes).

Cover nice and close to the veggies.

While those babies are cooking,

finely dice 1 - 2 tomatoes (it's up to you), 

take another piece of prepared ginger, about 1/2 inch

and slice into thin batons, like fine matchsticks,

and finely chop 2-3 small green chillies (yes...to taste!).

About the chillies...include the membranes and seeds, 

unless you need a very mild dish.

First make thin slices of ginger,
and then slice those into matchsticks.

When you are happy with your vegetables,

set them aside, and heat 1 tbsp oil (or ghee),

in the same heavy pan you used for the veg.

Once the oil is not, but not smokin',

add the spices/seasoning you assembled earlier

(1/2 tsp cumin seeds,

3 tsp ground coriander seeds,

1/2 tsp red chilli powder (to taste),

~1 tsp salt, and

1/4 tsp garam masala).

Give that a stir for a few seconds, until you smell the fragrance, 

but it's not burning!

Now,

add the red onion, ginger batons, and green chillies.

Stir fry for a minute, or until you can smell the freshness of the seasoning.

Add 1 tbsp roughly chopped/torn cilantro, and the finely chopped tomato.

Simply stir fry until the desired texture of the vegetables has been achieved,

which, is totally up to you.

Add the veg that you had set aside earlier, and mix lightly,

integrating all ingredients.

Garnish with some torn coriander/cilantro leaves.

Oh so yummy, soothing, & nutritious!

This recipe looks long & involved,

but, it's really quite quick and simple...give it a try.

Garam Masala

You'll need:

100 g cumin seeds

10 g piece of cinnamon stick

10 g whole cloves

10 g whole black peppercorns

5 g mace

5 g ground nutmeg

5 g star anise

5 g pipli (if you don't have it, just leave it out)

Toast all the spices in a heavy-bottomed pan, just until they become fragrant.

Now grind (I use a coffee grinder, solely for grinding spices) them, in batches,

mix well, and store in an air-tight container.

You can skip the toasting step, 

but the garam masala will taste better and last longer, if you don't.

Play with the flavour to your liking.

Roses (not so wild) in India

I wanted to share the roses

 that brightened my day

while I was walking home earlier this afternoon.

When we arrived in early October.

the rose bushes had all been chopped back.

"Oh too bad," 

I thought, as I didn't expect to see them bloom.

Well, here they are, 

just in time for Christmas!

They are in the most beautiful shades.

This beauty was tinged with mauve.
Most unusual.

Unfortunately, there weren't any identification tags.
I guess that means I can name them myself.

First Blush

It's so encouraging to see more buds on the way.

Lush Flush.

This just might be my favourite...

But, this one reminds me of a cozy fire.

Alabaster touched by a sunset

Sweetness & Promise

Mais, j'adore rouge!
And it's so Christmassy!

I'm only sorry that I couldn't take more photos to share,

but, 

I could only ignore the piercing whistles of the hopping security guard for so long.

Taj Mahal? Yep...it really is all that!

It really was worth traveling about 10 hours

on mostly bumpy, slow, harrowing roads.

And arising with the moon and the stars.

And queuing in the chilly, damp, dark air.

Not your average ticket office.

We arrived at the ticket office full of anticipation,

which we could sense was shared by all around us.

My view from the queue in the forecourt.
Most of the buildings are made of this red sandstone.

Foreigners and Nationals pay different rates of admission to many places in India.

And women queue separately from men.

I ended up in the shortest of the four lines, 

although that didn't seem to make any difference in the long run!

Here's a look at the bazaar,  in which I was waiting, along the other direction.

Homeless mother sheltering in an alcove.

As I may have mentioned,

there are wild dogs all over India, 

in prolific number,

here's one with her pups,

nestled beside us in line.

Terrible photo...but, all of a sudden,
out of nowhere,
there were camels strolling by!

I whiled away the time chatting with giggling Nursing students from Shimla,

who were as excited as if they were about to see the boys from One Direction.

The Taj Mahal elicits just that sort of giddy expectation.

Security is taken very seriously here.
Visitors are only allowed a bottle of water, camera, and small handbag/wallet.

At last, we were free to wander the beautiful grounds 

and make our way to the marble wonder.

I wanted to rush to the foreground of the massive marble dome

and greedily drink it in before the tourists cluttered the view.

However, the tour guide sensibly slowed us down,

to show us the details of so many other aspects of this monument of love.

The Great Gate - quite impressive just by itself.

Like the beautiful marble tomb, 

the Great Gate is meticulously inlaid
with precious and semi-precious stones, 

and calligraphy.

You may notice that above the entrance way are eleven small domes,

these are echoed on the other side of the building,

and represent the 22 years that it took to build the Taj Mahal.

Okay, okay...I know. I was the same way...let's get on with it!

But, before we go in...just look at the sun rising - spectacular!

The sunrise that will light up the ever-changing marble tomb.

Here we go.....our first glimpse!

I actually had goose pimples.

Ethereal splendour

A study in symmetry,
although, perhaps you can see that the four minarets
bow slightly outwards,
so that if there was an earthquake,
they'd fall away from the central tomb.

Here's a look at how the light changed the view of the light-refracting marble

during the short time we were there:

Shortly after sunrise...

About 15 minutes later...

15 minutes after that...

...and about an hour and a quarter after sunrise -
vibrantly sharing its splendour.

Now we'll have a look at some of the details.

(Click on the photo to get a better look.)

Here you can see the scale of the building,

as those small dark objects at the base of the central arch 

are people.

And the filigree that you can see in that arch

is inlaid with precious and semi-precious stones,

such as:

 lapis-lazuli, turquoise, agate,

coral, sapphire, crystal,

onyx, jade, cat's eye,

bloodstone, goldstone, carnelian, & garnet.
(The finial on top used to be made of solid gold...alas, it's now brass.)

Here's a closer look at that inlay.

Looking way up from the ground beneath.

Some of the beautiful inlay and carving.

The colours are deep and rich.

The coral was truly amazing.

Inside the tomb,

(where cameras were banished)

our guide lit a flashlight at one end of a coral bloom,

and the entire piece lit up like a flame.

It just glowed.

Here's a look at one of the minarets in the morning light.

I love the way the tracery lights up the bas relief and stone inlay.
It would be interesting to see the play of light
throughout the day.

I am a sucker for symmetry,
and the Taj Mahal is consistent to that style throughout.
Here's the view from the marble tomb.

Just another view of the beauty.

Striking Mughal architecture throughout the grounds.

Of course, we mustn't forget the less famous buildings.
The mosque is only open for prayers on Fridays.
This structure stands to the left (facing) of the tomb,
and across the way,  is an identical structure...natch.

Breathtaking, balanced views whichever way you turned.

Lush and vast greenery all around.

The grounds are lovely and serene...as you'd expect.

It was terribly hard to bid adieu!

The Local Banyan Tree

I'd like to introduce you to quite a character.

A grand old soul.

This wise old fella has seen a few things in his time. 

He has seen the heyday of the British Raj.
He is over 150 years old!

Banyan trees are really quite something.
Given time, 'our' tree could grow to cover a city block.
Check out this one near Kolkata!
Cool, huh?

The roots that you see falling down from the tree
were started by fig seeds deposited by birds.
The figs then grow down from their host,
with some eventually taking over
and strangling their host tree.
Although the host
could also be another structure,
like a bridge.

To my mind,
banyan trees seem to have oodles of personality.
Not quite like the Whomping Willow,
but not too far off.
They almost demand respect.

Perhaps that is why our friends were told,
as children,
not to walk under a banyan tree,
as they house the spirits of the dead!

Village Fete...Indian Style

We recently attended a fun fair put on by the local ladies' group.

Here are the ladies,
stunning in saffron saris,
judging the stalls.

It was really quite fun!

A couple of local beauties
awaiting the Fancy Dress Competition.

Because the community is small, 

the fair had a nice, homespun feel to it.

Centre Stage...
all ready for the stars to shine.

With local children proudly showing their many talents.

There were dancing girls....

And dancing girls & guys....

and dancing dudes!

For those who dance to a different beat,
there was a poster competition...
these are some of the gifted artists
from the Hearing Impaired School...

...and a fancy dress competition.
Each competitor had to do a bit of public speaking,
getting into his or her chosen character.

And people of all ages

stopping to sample the local dishes,

Chef deftly extruding the batter
for his sweet & sinful jalebi -
a clear crowd favourite.

After the jalebi has been fried until burnished & golden,
it's immediately plunged into a sugar syrup,
until unctuous & tooth-achingly sweet!
Fairground food all the way through.

while catching up on gossip.

What more could you want?

Oh...and I won 10 rupees on the Tambola!