Sunday 15 April 2007

WFF 9 : Dill Mangta... sai bhaji and more!

The other day when I made Besan dal, I mistakenly said that it should be served with a methi pulao (fenugreek rice). Oops! My bad! The friend who gave me the recipes (including today's, which I'd distorted to my convenience) kindly pointed out that it would be better for Sai Bhaji, aka Sindhi Palak, a spinach dish I definitely didn't do justice to, as it has just come to my attention that it doesn't look one bit like how the Sindhis do it! Eeek!! (hides face in shame)

Nonetheless, for my efforts, I'll post a picture!


How to
: Would you really want to learn it from me? haha!! :)

UPDATE:

Ingredients (quantities to adjust to taste): 3 tbsp channa dal (soaked), a few cloves of garlic (crushed), ginger paste, green chillis, 1 chopped onion, 1 potato (optional), 2 big tomatoes (chopped), 400 - 500g spinach, a pinch of turmeric.

Fry garlic in some oil, then add chopped onion and ginger paste and spinach, fry until fragrant. Add turmeric, channa dal and tomatoes and fry for a few minutes. Add potato and about 1/2 cup of water and transfer everything to a pressure cooker and cover. Cook until channa dal is soft. Add salt to taste and whisk. Garnish with dill weed and serve with a pulao and yoghurt..

Body Count: 0

I still had some duck leftover from the little I used last week on my mini tartlets, and made these Hachis parmentier aux petits pois et canard. Hachis parmentier is pretty close to a cottage pie, except that pre-cooked leftover meat is usually used, and in recent years, adventurous chefs have replaced the usual beef with other meats, and the potato with other floury vegetables. In my case, I wanted to inject some colour into the dish and made it with a base of garlic, olive oil and potato mash, confit de canard in the middle and a broccoli & garden pea topping, garnished with shallot chives and a pea.


Lastly, a desperate attempt at eating light before heading home - a Chinese tofu stir-fry with baby corn and straw mushrooms. The sauce consists of oyster sauce, light soya sauce, water, corn starch and Chinese cooking wine, I believe, THE generic gooey stir-fry sauce. And of course, loads of crushed garlic!



Why do I want to start eating light? Some people being the way they are, ie, ill-mannered, on previous trips home, I've had a few of them telling me in my face that I'd put on weight (yes, of course, I no longer weigh what I did in 1995 when I was still a teen, idiots!), in varying degrees of tact and of indiscernible good intentions. While I know deep down that I shouldn't care what people think, negative remarks on my weight, no matter how unjustified, tend to make me self-conscious, and the last person to say something like that to me had his business card scribbled on and deposited in a very strategic location with an unambiguous exhortation to call for services I have no guts to elaborate on in a food blog, haha.

So no matter how confident I feel now, I hate to admit that the onset of a holiday mood has brought back in full force a habit I thought I'd dumped - snacking on chips. Sigh. I guess I'll have to stick to wearing black, heh heh..

27 comments:

FH said...

Hey S! I don't know how the authentic Sai bhaji looks like but I love the sand castle presentation you made there.Looks good to me.

I know I told everybody I won't comment om weekends but I just had to tell you it's looks good!:))

My son flooded my master bath 2 hrs ago.There was an inch of water on the floor and just cleaned up the whole bathroom and it started leaking thru the ceiling downstairs,cleaned that too!!Man! What a Sunday!!Just sat down and saw your update:)

Good to see all the goodies here.I made some Egg curry for lunch,got nothing for dinner!!;p

Bong Mom said...

Hey Shilpa
That Sai Bhaji presentation is so unique. Have never seen anything like this before

I though you are on vacation from this weekend. When is your trip ?

Anonymous said...

wow the toufu!!!

i realised i should not come to your site early in the morning... and the best is, im in the office. totally hungry now!!! :(

hehe.. i realised u do alot of nicenice decorations for your cooks/bakes. very nice!

Victor said...

>the last person to say something like that to me had his business card scribbled on and deposited in a very strategic location with an unambiguous exhortation to call for services I have no guts to elaborate on in a food blog...

Hahaha, I think you deserve a Colourful Award for that.

WokandSpoon said...

Can't believe that people can be so rude about the weight issue. I say, as long as you're healthy, you're fine! And er...I'm not sure using corn starch can be defined as "eating light". hehe! The tofu looks ultra yummy though!

cheesewithaspoon said...

Shilpa! I'm back from a short break :-) . Most definitely going to try that tofu recipe -- I have all the ingredients sitting right here in my pantry and fridge!

People at home are ABOMINABLE about not just weight but absolutely anything they feel like telling/asking you. In theory I am in favour of frankness and openness but there is a fine line between frankness and rudeness that they cross too freely. And you're right, even if you know you should be happy with yourself whatever they say, it's very hard not to let it bother you. My own trick is, whenever someone makes a mean comment to me, I remind myself -- silently, just inside my head -- of all the reasons why I would not want to be them. It's actually quite easy in most cases :-) .

Sharmi said...

hey Shilpa, I liked the presentation. it looks so professional. Nice entry!!

cheers
sharmi

Mishmash ! said...

I liked ur Hachis....presentation :)looks like resturant style :)
hey, ...i sign off as SHN but my name is not Shaheen, thats another blogger ;) thought I will tell u that ;P

Shn

bee said...

gooey stir fried sauce looks great. i love what you did with that business card.

Sia said...

he he he...who knows how authentic sindhi curry looks like?does it really bother me? nope... u post ur recipe and if its veggie i will try it happily;)
Some people being the way they are, ie, ill-mannered, on previous trips home, I've had a few of them telling me in my face that I'd put on weight (yes, of course, I no longer weigh what I did in 1995 when I was still a teen, idiots!), in varying degrees of tact and of indiscernible good intentions.
ha ha ha... u had me LOL:) idiots...what do they expect? to look like those 0-sized models?;) he hehe... i dont care as long as i am fit and fine and healthy;)
hugs to u sweetie:)

Shilpa said...

Thank you everyone for visiting me! :)

Hey Asha, thanks so much for the consolation! heh heh, sandcastle! that's cute, i didn't look at it that way! :) waaah, i'm so touched that you made an exception for me re your weekend abstinence! :) Oh no, how did your son do that?! If the ceiling leaks, that's pretty scary!! Good luck dear! I hope it doesn't cave in on all of you!

Hi Sandeepa, hehe, I did have a hard time thinking of how to make the sai bhaji attractive, so a lot of thought went into the presentation! 2 more weeks before I go back! Yessss!

Hi Etel, heh heh, admit it, you're addicted to blogging! Only addicts log on before eating breakfast! :) Or are you surfing at work because you have nothing much left to do after tendering your resignation? :) thanks for your compliments, but i'm still learning lah...

Shilpa said...

Eh Victor, no lah, I can't accept all the credit, I had an accomplice, haha!! You know, come to think of it, I remember that when that lowlife said I'd put on weight, he seemed to have very dilated pupils, meaning I suspect he was on something! Aiyah, S'pore being so strict, why didn't I think of reporting him?!?! Imagine the joy I'd have had hearing he kenah "rotan" (cane), hahaha!!

Thank you so much, wokandspoon! I totally agree, and I don't think I'd put on THAT much weight to look like my arteries are in danger of clogging, so obviously these people have a bone to pick with me! Hmmm, is corn starch harder to shed than fat from cheese? Ugh. I'm not in the habit of counting calories!

Hey cheesewithaspoooooon!!! Missed you!! :) Well, you didn't miss much, though! :) You get such rubbish back home, too?! Huh, and you'd think people would have evolved! Sigh, it must be me, though. I think people get a kick out of annoying me because they know I get easily annoyed about my weight, so I'll try hard this time to laugh it off! :) Your tactic's great, except I have difficulty keeping the thoughts to myself, haha!

Shilpa said...

Dear Sharmi, thank you! :) It means a lot to me because I still have a lot to learn about photography and how to decorate my plates with food! :)

Oh gosh, Shn, you're making me blush there! :) haha, thanks! I'm so sorry I'd been calling you Shaheen all this while! I thought I saw other bloggers addressing you as Shaheen, so I joined in! :) Sorry, sorry! So who's Shaheen?

Heh heh, thank you, bee! Apart from my accomplice (who suggested what to scribble and where to put the card) not many people applauded my move! :)

Heya Supriya, awww, you deserve a giant hug, too.. :) Yes, it's veggie, and actually quite easy if you have a pressure cooker.

[RECIPE]
Ingredients (quantities to adjust to taste, ok?): 3 tbsp channa dal (soaked), a few cloves of garlic (crushed), ginger paste, green chillis, 1 chopped onion, 1 potato (optional), 2 big tomatoes (chopped), 400 - 500g spinach, a pinch of turmeric.
Fry garlic in some oil, then add chopped onion and ginger paste and spinach, fry until fragrant. Add turmeric, channa dal and tomatoes and fry for a few minutes. Add potato and about 1/2 cup of water and transfer everything to a pressure cooker and cover. Cook until channa dal is soft. Add salt to taste and whisk. Garnish with dill weed and serve with a pulao and yoghurt..

I think I'll copy it and update my post later!

Yes, absolutely, I think I'm in even better health than some of these idiots, so don't know why they are so concerned about my extra kilo or two! ;-) Evolution takes longer than I'd thought!

Roopa said...

Hi shilpa,
lovely presentation, jumped on your blog from the desimoms site.
nice being here

Anonymous said...

No need to hide your face lah...you already so expert in cooking all these indian good eats! I think I need to dig a hole and bury myself liow. I like indian curries a lot but only eat out as a result. :O

The tofu dish looks like mapo tofu!

Oh ye ye ye, I know what you mean. Pple(or just S'poreans?) just like to talk and ask hor? I get such "weight" qns too and HATE IT! So when they say "wah, you put on weight hor!"...I say "izit?" . When they say .."wah, you lost weight hor?"...I also say "izit?" ....hahahha

You made me so guilty snacking on chips! :O ...I've been snacking more and more often...scared man!

Anonymous said...

shilpa, Sai bhaji is something I have been wanting to learn since ages...had tasted it at one of my sindhi friends ages ago, your dish is gonna take me back to my most cherished memories shared with a dear friend of mine.Thanks for sharing!! Happy Blogging:)

Sia said...

thanks for the recipe shila. it sounds very easy to make... err...did u say dill "weed"? he he he...

Anonymous said...

ooo.. I AM an addict.. wahahaha.. I've been blogging since 2001.. So.. Ya. :p

waiting for your new entry!

eastcoastlife said...

ahhh... was enjoying the Indian song and trying the peek-a-boo scene with hubby. hehe...

aiya... eat first and worry later lah! Dun care what people say lor. Although most of the time I tell people I'm on a diet, most of the time I have broken it. hehehe...

Shilpa said...

Hi Roopa, thanks for visiting me here, too! :) Arrgh, I wish I had more time for Desi Momz! :(

Hey Tiger, aiyo, thanks for all your kind words! :) Can't blame you for eating curries "outside", lah, most of them are very time-consuming! Err, there was no chilli in my tofu, so still can consider it mapo or not?

It's a relief that you also get such weight comments, I thought it was just me, 'cos my sis doesn't kenah them even though her weight also fluctuates! But your response is good, should show these ppl that you don't care. I'll try to follow your example! Actually, it's not the fact that ppl tell me I put on weight that bothers me as much as HOW they express it. It's not just S'poreans, my uncle's Indonesian wife is also a major culprit, although her own a** is as wide as a truck! mwahaha!
Aiya, just keep snacking as long as you not going back to s'pore, heh heh!

Shilpa said...

Hi Lera, I hope you have a pressure cooker for this! :) I didn't use one, so I was too lazy to cook the channa dal and used canned chickpeas instead, so maybe that's why it doesn't look like the real thing! :) I hope it tastes like what you had at your friend's place! If not, here's another recipe:

http://www.sindhi.org/kitchen.htm

Happy blogging to you, too!

Hi again Supriya, thanks for coming back! Yeah, I've heard dill also referred to as "dill weed" sometimes, so I thought it was the norm, heh heh.. I wanted to say "leaves", but since they don't really look like leaves, I said "weed"! :)

Shilpa said...

Hi again Etel, wah really?! I didn't even know blogs existed in 2001! :) you mean after all this time the novelty still hasn't wore off for you? haha.. patience, dear... not sure when i'll write another entry, got a lot of leftovers, so no need to cook for a few days! :)

Halo ECL, hahaha, got hide your eyes behind the scarf and all that ar? Hey, there's also a video version of the song on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-d4XvJkfMH4

Isn't the dame absolutely gorgeous..learn a few moves from her! haha! As for the guy, I just love him and that voice of his, attended his concert in October and managed to shake hands with him! Waaaah...

Thanks for your advice, will try not to get upset this time if someone says I'm chubby! :)

You need to go on diet for what? Look so skinny leh... :) but my mudder-in-law oso liddat, it's been 4 years she's been saying she's on a diet, but in private, we know she eats a lot of prohibited stuff! tzk tzk..

Chris Sim said...

Woa... you also got background muzik? Nice... Quite IT savy hor you.

Unknown said...

i nearly died laughing when i read the paragraph with ill-mannered pple.

i better be well mannered when you come visit :-) haha... i can suddenly hear you say: si ki na!

Melting Wok said...

yay..more entertainment..song n food n shilpa's musings hehe :)) wah..ur hill of rice reminds me of nasi kunyit (turmeric rice) yummy..and the mapo tofu/sichuan tofu looks great !!..

Shilpa said...

Chris, no lah, where got IT savvy? Heh heh, just copy code and paste only what..

Keropok, haha, as log as you don't say anything about my weight, you're safe! :)

Darling MW, heh heh, I hope your speakers were not at full volume! :) Funny, suddenly the player doesn't seem to be working in my Mozilla browser, but it works on IE! I wonder why... as for the rice, there was turmeric, too! Oops, did I forget to post the recipe?! Getting old and forgetful, haha!!

Anonymous said...

The tofu not spicy only mah...but it looks like mapo tofu(the ingredients, texture...) without the redness of chilli ;p