Chappattis at home

This section of the blog wouldn't be complete without a post on chappattis. These are the flat, round breads that go with pretty much any Indian meal. If you're skint, or out of rice, or both, they do quite well instead, provided you cook enough of them. They do, however, take a little practice. I suggest a dry run before seeking to impress your dinner guests, if you have never cooked them before.

Equipment

Scales with a measuring bowl
A sieve
A mixing bowl
Some free, clean, working surface
A rolling pin
A frying pan (or, in an ideal world, a 'tava')
A cooker (1 ring needed) with a grill.

Ingredients - 8 chappattis

225g chappatti flour, or make your own, 3 parts brown to one part white flour
extra flour for dusting
110ml water, approx.

Method

Measure out the chappatti flour. Sift it, through the sieve, into your mixing bowl. (I don't know why this works, but I always get better results when I do it). Add the water, a few drips or a good splish at a time, and work the flour and water together with your hands. Eventually, you will end up with sticky fingers and a wet, sticky dough. Rejoice! This is what you want.

Dust your working surface with flour, and knead the dough for 4 minutes. At the end of this time, neaten up your dough, and leave to stand for 15 minutes, to rest.

Divide your dough into eight pieces. Flour your hands, and roll into balls. Flour the surface again, if necessary, and flatten, and then roll out into flat discs, approx 15cm in diameter. As each is ready, place to one side, but don't be tempted to stack them. They will stick together, and you will need to start over.

Heat your pan onto a high heat, and turn up your grill to the max.

This is the bit that requires a little hand-eye coordination. Each chappatti gets 30 seconds on one side, and then a further 30 seconds on the other, in the pan, and then 10 - 20 secs under the grill. If you have the temperature right, you will be able to tell when the pan has driven the moisture out of the dough by the change of colour, and they will puff up pretty much immediately under the grill, and turn unevenly brown.

Serve immediately.

You'll never save a fortune cooking your own chappattis. They are readily available in packs of eight for about £1.50. The thing is though, your own chappattis don't need packaging in a 'protective' atmosphere, and don't come stuffed full of chemicals to extend their shelf-life. If you really must have convenience (and there are times when only convenience will do) then make some in advance, wrap them individually in foil, and freeze them. When you want them, they go into the oven, still frozen in their foil, for 20 mins at a medium heat.

Best wishes, 2ndRateMind.

Easy Lime Pickle

Well, reading through my last post I realised how unfair it was to suggest serving Dhal with lime pickle, and not tell you how to pickle limes. So here is one recipe for lime pickle, to rectify matters.

There seem to be as many ways to pickle limes as there are chefs, but some involve soaking limes for a week and then leaving them in the sun for a month, and such like requirements of dedication. This recipe seems to make a respectable pickle, allows you to vary the heat according to taste, and requires only a bare modicum of cooking. I hope you enjoy the results as much as I do.

Equipment

A sharp! cooking knife
Chopping block
Fridge
Cooker (1 ring needed)
Large saucepan
Large mixing bowl
Cling film
Sterilised preserve jars (4 of a decent size will be enough)
Sterilised seals
Sterilised jam funnel

Ingredients - makes 1.2kg approx

12 limes, chopped into 1cm cubes
2 tablespoons salt
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon garam marsala
2 tablespoons chilli powder (or 3 for firey hot)
6 fat cloves of garlic
2 large onions, finely chopped
2 teaspoons black mustard seeds
1 inch piece of ginger, finely chopped
2 tablespoons cooking oil or ghee
600ml vinegar (approx; malt, white wine or cider)

Method

Mix the chopped limes, sugar, salt, chilli powder, garam marsala, crushed garlic and chilli powder together in a large mixing bowl. Cover with clingfilm, and leave in the fridge overnight.

Dry fry the mustard seeds in the bottom of the saucepan until they have started to pop. (30 secs or so). Add the oil, the ginger and the onions, and fry gently until the onions are soft. Add the lime mixture and, on a low heat, cook for 15 mins or so.

Add the vinegar and bring to the boil. Turn the heat back down, and simmer for an hour. Stir frequently, and make sure the mixture does not stick to the bottom of the pan and burn. During this time your mixture will reduce in size by about a half. You are not being cheated - just concentrating the flavour!

At the end, allow to cool, and spoon into sterile jars. Seal.

You can eat immediately, but like many preserves, this one improves with a little keeping. 3 weeks or so should do it, if you can wait that long.

There are no artificial preservatives in this recipe, so once you have opened a jar, store in the fridge and consume within 10 - 14 days.

As regards cost, when I recently made this recipe it cost me £5.20. That includes the premium I pay for buying organic where I can. Buying the same amount of branded pickle from a supermarket would have cost over £8.00.

Enjoy.

Best wishes, 2ndRateMind.

Store-cupboard Standby - Easy Dhal

Dhal - lentil curry - is cheap, nutritious and convenient. For all these reasons it is a staple in India, and Indian cuisine is among the best in the world. It's a perfect standby, since all the ingredients (except, maybe, the onions) live in the store-cupboard pretty much indefinitely. This version is not entirely authentic, but it is tasty, veggie compatible, and very easy.

Equipment

Small frying pan.
Mortar and pestle or spice grinder.
Cooking Knife
Chopping board
Measuring cup
Garlic crusher
Cooker (1 ring needed)
Half-gallon cooking pot.

Ingredients - 4 generous servings

2 tablespoons oil (sunflower, olive, whatever) or ghee
4 onions, medium, chopped.
1 cup red split lentils
1 cup green whole lentils
1 cup dried soup mix, or yellow split peas
3 cloves garlic, crushed.
1 teaspoon cloves, whole
1 teaspoon green cardamoms, whole
1 tablespoon coriander seed
1 tablespoon cumin seed
1 teaspoon cassia bark, or cinnamon.
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 tablespoon crushed dried chillies (or more, to taste)
1 200g block of dried coconut, cut into small pieces
Quite a lot of water, as required.

Method.

Dry fry the cumin, coriander, fenugreek, and cassia for thirty secs in a hot pan, to release the flavours. Remove, and grind in the mortar and pestle or spice grinder.
Add the onions and oil together into the bottom of your cooking pot, and fry gently until translucent. Add the garlic, spice mix, cardamoms, turmeric and cloves, and fry gently, stirring to coat the onion.
Add the lentils and soupmix or peas, half a litre of water, and the divided coconut block. Stir well, to dissolve the coconut, and then bubble on a low heat for at least an hour. Check and stir frequently, and add more water as required to maintain the consistency you desire. Towards the end of cooking, add the crushed chillies, tasting as you go, to bring the fire up to the level you prefer.

Serve with any or all of the following: chappattis, hardboiled eggs, boiled basmati rice, lime pickle, a garnish of fresh coriander leaves.

Enjoy.

Best wishes, 2ndRateMind.

Fellow Bristolians can get the ingredients - in the exact quantities you require - from here:
http://www.bristol.vegangroup.co.uk/locations/137.html

An agenda for change

We are, someone once said, what we eat. If so, then we ought to eat things that are good, and nutritious, and ensure everyone else gets the same chance. But this blog is not about saving the world, except as a by-product. It is about good food that doesn't cost the earth in terms of resources, and doesn't send anyone into overdraft status at the end of each month. It's about supporting local producers, local farmers, and local shops. And saving a few pounds by doing so. It's a win-win situation - quality food at budget prices. You just need to cook it yourself, and, by doing so, satisfy both conscience and that primitive need to provide for yourself and those you love. The recipes that follow, and I plan one a week, each Sunday, are tested and documented by me, and as such, pretty much fool-proof. If a fool could mess them up, be assured, I would have done so. But if they succeed, the end of the process is tasty meals for you, a thriving economy around you, and humanity existing within the global ecological carrying capacity of the planet.

I have a dream, and it's contented, well-fed people. The rest of politics would seem to follow pretty much automatically.

Best wishes, for now.
2ndRateMind, Bristol, England.