rak-a-tak

nobody at work today b-c today is board meeting. so i have not much to do other than wait till 6 for my $5 massage. going to tell the lady not to crack my neck this time, i think ive had enough of that. sometimes she does it very gently and it feels good but sometimes she really gets a real bone crunching pop, and that cant be good.

nyways, last nite made some fabulous paneer and dal. first that involved hopping a minibus to the super-mondo-market and buying some ingredients which, if they were all available, would have been: tumeric powder, cumin seeds, cumin powder, coriander powder, ginger, garlic, onions, a bell pepper, 2 tomatoes, cilantro, hot green chilies, yogurt, white vinegar, a half gallon of milk, and a cheesecloth.

couldnt find powdered coriander, only seeds, so improvised the mortar and pestle from a glass pepsi bottle and a coffee mug. no cheesecloth either, but they had some pretty large cloth coffee strainer tingems, which did the job. so then i came back and got down to cooking on my 2 burner electric souped up hot plate.

making paneer:
boil milk, then add vinegar while stirring till the whey separates well, then strain through cheesecloth (or t-shirt, whatever), and then stick it in the freezer for a half hour or the fridge if you are not in a rush. if you are making paneer with peas, save a bit of the whey/water as it adds a nice flavor, otherwise toss it.

my favorite way of cooking it up:
slice one medium onion (per half gallon of milk used) into long thin slices. dice 4 cloves garlic, abt the same amt of ginger. slice one medium bell pepper into long thin slices, and one tomato into 8 or 10 sections. once the paneer has cooled and hardened, chop it into 1"x1"x0.5" cubes.

heat up a generous amt of oil on high, toss in 1-2 tbsp of cumin seeds, let em brown for 20 secs, then toss in the ginger and garlic and diced hot green chilies, stir up for 30 secs, then toss in the onions, cook em up good till they are pinkinsh brown, then toss in 1 tbsp of cumin powder and 2 tbsp of coriander powder, stir it around for a minute, toss in 1-2 tbsp of powdered tumeric, some salt, and the bell peppers, stir around for 2-3 minutes, toss in the paneer and the tomato, stir around for a minute or two, not long just to heat up the paneer. throw a good bit of chopped cilantro on top once you take it off the stove, and then think of me and eat it up.

lentils: boil them with some cumin seeds till about done. then sautee some diced ginger, garlic, onions till pink/brown, add powdered cumin and coriander, sautee till the spices get all browned and full of goodness, then throw in the tomatoes and everything sizzles up for a minute or two, and then toss into the lentils and let em cook for 5-10 minutes. throw some chopped cilantro in at the end.

well as best as i can tell every girl i have ever dated has really been in it for the food, so dont underestimate the power of them spices. thats why they cut them out at the ashrams.