Potato Masala

Millions of Americans love to sink a fork into the mealy, fluffy pleasure of mashed potatoes at Thanksgiving. (Sorry turkey. It's really all about the sides.) The rest of the year, potatoes are treated as a bother. Who takes time to cloak them in foil for baking? Or they are branded with a scarlet C - CARBS! However the real health risk may lie in the way they're commonly consumed - as sky-high mountains of fries or prairies of hash browns, loaded with grease? Egads!

As children, we ate baked potatoes once a week, as a side dish with barbequed beef. It was my dad's contribution to family meals. My mom used them in potato masala. On occasion, she paired the masala with dosa (a sour crepe made of lentils and rice flour). However, we usually ate it with chapathis (whole wheat flat bread). If you want to reignite your passion for potatoes, consider trying her potato masala recipe included below. It provides flavor, which we all crave, without all the grease.

POTATO MASALA

2009 Cardamom Kitchen LLC All Rights Reserved

Serves 6 to 8

INGREDIENTS

2 tablespoons canola oil

1/8 teaspoon black mustard seeds

1 tablespoon urad dhal

2 cups diced onions

2 tablespoons minced ginger

1 small jalapeno, cut lengthwise

1 cup chopped tomato

3 cups thinly sliced Russet potatoes

3/4 cup water

1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin seeds

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 tablespoons chopped cilantro

INSTRUCTIONS

Heat the oil in a saute pan on low heat. Add the mustard seeds and cover. When mustard begins to pop, add the urad dhal. Cook unil the urad dhal turns brown.

Increase the heat to medium. Add the onions, ginger, and jalapeno and stir. Cook until the onion become translucent.

Stir in the tomato and cook until it begins to soften.

Add the potatoes. Cook for 3 minutes.

Add the water, salt, turmeric, and stir.

Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low. Cover and cook until the potatoes are tender (about 15 minutes).

Remove the jalapeno. Gently stir in the cilantro.

An All Peerkangai (Ridge Gourd) Meal

AN ALL PEERKANGAI (RIDGE GOURD) MEAL

I decided to make Sunday an all peerkangai day after dilly dallying with the question ‘what to cook?’ nibbling at my mind for a long time. The fresh stock of Peerkangai (Ridge gourd ) in the refrigerator wooed me into taking this decision. Peerkangai paruppu with a mango thrown in for the tang, peerkangy chutney for the spice and peerkangai bajji to crunch, accompanied the staple hot rice . With sips of hot jeera rasam in between, we did enjoy the peerkangai meal after all!


PEERKANGAI MANGAI PARUPPU
Ridge Gourd & Raw Mango with Lentils
INGREDIENTS :
Ridge gourd (Peeled and cut into cubes) – 1 cup
Raw Mango (Peeled and cut into cubes) – 1 /2 cup
Tur dal (Reg gram or split pigeon peas) – ½ cup
Moong Dal (Green gram dal) – 1/2 cup
Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp
Salt – 1 tsp
Oil – 2 tsps
Asafoetida – 1 pinch
Mustard seeds – ¼ tsp
Green chillies (Chopped) – 2
Fresh coriander leaves – a small bunch
METHOD:
1. Scrape the rough ridges of the ridge gourd and cut them into cubes.
2. Peel raw mango and cut into cubes.
3. Wash both dals and add the cut vegetables and turmeric powder.
4. Pressure cook with 3 cups of water.
5. When all the ingredients are cooked, mash them together with the back of a ladle and add salt and blend.
6. Heat oil and add the mustard seeds.
7. When it splutters add the asafoetida powder and the chopped green chillies.
8. Add the seasoning and chopped coriander leaves to the dal.

Now the delicious Peerkangai mangai paruppu is ready. Instead of using mango, the juice of one lime can be blended into the cooked dal just before seasoning. Relish it with hot rice and a teaspoon of ghee or with hot rotis

PEERKANGAI CHUTNEY
Ridge Gourd Chutney
INGREDIENTS:
Ridge gourd (Peel Scraped and cut into slices) – 1 cup
Mustard seeds – ¼ tsp
Urad Dal (Black gram dal) – 1 tbsp
Red chillies – 6
Asafoetida – 1 pinch
Tamarind – the size of a marble
Salt – ¾ tsp
METHOD:
1. Scrape the hard ridge off the gourd, and cut the gourd into small cubes.
2. Heat oil in a pan and add the mustard seeds.
3. When it splutters add the black gram dal and roast till it is golden in colour.
4. Add asafoetida and the broken red chillies.
5. When the chillies become crisp add the cut ridge gourd and sauté.
6. Decrease flame and cover with a lid.
7. Cook until the vegetable becomes soft, stirring it now and then.
8. Turn off fire and cool the ingredients.
9. Add tamarind and salt and grind it in a mixer.
10. Remove the chutney when the vegetable becomes smooth and the dal is still coarse.

PEERKANGAI BAJJI
Ridge Gourd Bajji
INGREDIENTS:
Ridge gourd – 1
Besan or Bengal gram flour -1 cup
Rice flour – ½ cup
Spice powder – ½ tsp
Asafoetida- 1 pinch
Salt – ¾ tsp
Curd – 1 cup
Oil – for frying.
METHOD:
1. Scrape ridge gourd and slice it into moderately thick rounds.
2. Blend all the other ingredients with little water to make a thick batter.
3. Heat oil in a pan.
4. Coat the ridge gourd slices with the batter by dipping them into it.
5. Drop the batter coated vegetable slices one by one into hot oil.
6. Turn them now and then to get an even golden brown colour when fried.
7. Drain on tissues and enjoy the bajjis with sauce or chutney while still hot.

Note from Dibs: The peerkangais here in Syndey are literally giant sized and are more than a foot long! I often feel like Bhima carrying a peerkangai from the Market! It is called 'Sin-Qua' here, and found in the section for Chinese Vegetables!!

LED Downlight Q & A

Q
Hello Peggy,

I read with great interest your blog on Kitchen-exchange in regards to LED lighting. I will be remodeling our kitchen, dining room, and living room and would like to use LED recessed lighting. This will be new construction so I will need the fixtures as well as the bulbs. Can you help me locate a supplier that deals with (California title 24 compliant) this product?

Thank You,

Denise

A

Hi Denise,

You can do that yourself by going to the Cree web site and asking them who offers their LED, LR4 & LR6, downlight products locally.

There is also a new LED downlight series by Juno that offers similar illumination quality (competition is good).

You can find both companies with Google.

You'll need to buy matching fixtures and lamps that have a GU-24 base (Bi-pin connections) to be in conformance with CA Title 24.

Remember: There are lots of cheap LED downlight lamps out there and only a couple, at this point, that really do a good job.

Good luck with your project and let us know how it goes.

Peggy

P.S. Downlighting is only one way to light rooms.

You need "layers" of lighting to achieve the wonderful effects that really good lighting can create.

By themselves downlights create cones of light. They are best for TASK lighting (counters, desks, etc.).

You still need AMBIENT lighting. That's the fill light that takes our eyes and throats out of the shadows and makes people look as great as surfaces and objects.

Then there is ACCENT lighting, for when we want to highlight an object or surface for an unexpected punch of strong light.

Finally, DECORATIVE lighting encompasses the fixtures and lamps with artistic flair that become a focal point in a room (even though they may not actually light it very well at all).

A well conceived lighting plan will take all of these elements into account, as well as the activities that happen in the space.

Good ambient lighting is the hardest to create in most spaces, but the most important next to task lighting.

Conclusion: A smattering of downlights on your ceilings, the sole lighting scheme in so many homes these days, provides lighting roughly equivalent to hanging an arrangement of flashlights from your ceilings (Think Halloween and the flashlight under the chin). Not a very flattering way to light yourself, your family, or your guests.

To learn more about great lighting from my favorite lighting designer (and teacher), see RandallWhitehead.com.