Barley & sweet potato medley

Barley is a very nutritious and fibrous cereal.  It's great for controlling sugar levels in diabetes patients and I have seen my grandparents drinking barley water as a palliative.  However it did not occupy a place in my cooking until I ate barley risotto in a restaurant in Central London.  That set me thinking about how I could use this at home.....  So here is my own Barley and sweet potato medley :)

Before you begin:
1 cup barley, boiled and drained
1 cup peanuts, coarsely powdered (in a mixer-grinder)
1 large sweet potato, peeled, washed and cut into 1 cm cubes
1/2 tsp turmeric
2 green chillies, finely chopped
1 inch ginger, finely chopped
1 tsp cumin seeds (jeera)
2 tbsp refined oil

Salt and coriander to season

Good to know:

• Barley should be boiled until it is cooked right through but still retains some firmness.  (Al dente).
• You may use pumpkin or squash instead of sweet potato.  Potatoes don't work as well!
• The sweet potato I buy in London cooks very quickly, please use your own experience as a guide

Making the Barley medley

Gently mix the boiled & drained barley with crushed peanuts and set aside.

Warm the refined oil and toss cumin seeds into it, followed by ginger and green chillies.  Saute for 1 minute.  Now add cubed sweet potatoes, salt and turmeric.  Mix well and cook for about 5 minutes or until the sweet potato can be easily sliced with the back of a knife.  Now add in the peanut coated barley and mix gently so as not to mash the sweet potato.  Leave covered on the gas for about 5 minutes until the flavours are well distributed.  Season with coriander and serve hot.

Mixed Dal Fry

Dal-roti or Dal-chawal is that most basic but amazing food for the soul.  It ranks up there with Thair chadam and potato roast, yum!  Once, while pondering over what to add to the humble Dal, I spotted the 10 bean mix I'd purchased from Waitrose.  What a punch of protein that would pack! And what if I tossed in my favourite spring onions for some colour?  And so the Mixed Dal Fry was born :)

Before you begin:

1 cup moong dal, boiled with 1/2 tsp turmeric
2-3 spring onions, finely chopped
1/2 cup mixed cooked beans like Rajma, Cholay, Black eyed Beans, Butter beans etc.

1 tsp Jeera
1/2 inch ginger, finely chopped
2 green chillies, finely chopped
A blob of unsalted butter

Salt, Half lemon and Coriander to season

Good to know:

• Butter makes for great tasting dal, and you can use just a little to keep down the calorie count :)
• If using tinned beans, I prefer to boil then for about 10 minutes to make them fresher and softer
• Spring onions are more nutritious and have fewer calories as compared to regular onions
• I always slightly overcook dals, to make sure they are easy on the stomach
• Always prefer fresh squeezed lemon to bottled lemon juice

Making the dal:
Warm the butter and then add jeera, ginger and green chillies, in that order, stirring for a minute or so.  Medium flame works best at this time.   Add the chopped spring onions and saute for another minute.  Now add the boiled moong dal and mixed beans.  Add salt to taste and let it boil together for about 5 minutes.  Switch off the gas and season with coriander and fresh squeezed lemon juice.  Let it sit for about 15 minutes before serving.

If you plan to serve the dal much later, then put off seasoning with lemon and coriander until you are ready to serve the dal.

Why this blog?

My dad always says to me, cooking is innovation :)

He is a grateful and appreciative diner. And he can just about make himself a pretty awful cup of tea in the morning! Not a problem, considering, my mum is a fabulous cook :)

Like most of us, I began cooking after I left home and had to fend for myself :) Necessity is the mother of invention and all that blah!

Along the way, I have had a few "ooopsy daisy" moments but on the whole, All iz Well! An appreciative husband and niece are proving a great source of encouragement. The food is getting tastier and, most importantly, i am experimenting with the recipes!

Some experiments are a result of a running out of a particular ingredient, others are just a desire to add my own little twist to the dish :)

Initially, I was a stickler for recipes; I wanted to be guaranted an edible end product. However as I begin to understand each ingredient better and analyse why we cook in a particular way, it has become easier to adapt the recipe to my preferences. And then there is a Eureka moment and something new is created :)

This blog has been created to record these Eureka moments. To share these with my fellow bloggers, but also remind myself of how I made something "that day when it tasted amazing"!

To good food and happy memories :)