The food thread

A simple winter pickle, does not last long, a fortnight at most.
Fresh vegetables coated with crushed mustard seeds, salt, mustard oil, turmeric powder, a pinch of rock salt.
 

Attachments

  • 20230107_133319.jpg
    20230107_133319.jpg
    266.5 KB · Views: 37
Last edited:
If you are diabetic, take care, as potassium has its own side effects.
There are 'Lo Salt' items available here, KCl instead of NaCl, and mixes in different proportions.
I'm not diabetic, and fresh produce is 50km away so I eat it about once every three months. A lot of my food comes from the freezer or out of tins. I'd start a veggie garden but being a redhead staying in the sun too long has its own downsides. I have planted a few fruit trees though, and grew potatoes last year.
 
Member
Joined 2014
Paid Member
Bill, if you leave the beans soaking too long, just leave them longer until they become bean sprouts 😁 Besides, standard split bean dhal here is the same price as whole mung beans.
We have whole mung, split mung daal (dehusked) and chilka daal (split with husks) to cover all possibilities. I like to soak until the shoot is about 3-4mm long minimum but never fully studied at what point the nutrients are optimal. I can also recommend urid bean which heathen here just calls black mung.
Also, if you reread my post 633, you’ll note that all 4 ingredients have used elevated heat to cook them and not relied on acid cooking or other method.
I had misread that slightly. Note I am from UK so putting things in the sun is hardly 'elevated heat' here :p
 
putting things in the sun is hardly 'elevated heat' here

and some are even finished in a dehydrator.
Put them in the sun for a day or two and it qualifies as sun dried. Dehydrators would be used in climates like ours where tomatoes do well growing just not so well drying outside with the exception of a couple months a year.
Hope that clarifies.
 
This winter pickle is made with ingredients with high residual moisture, and a spice mix approaching pickle.

A chutney is to be consumed within a week, and making it involves grinding together of the ingredients.
Those are sweet or salty, not very spicy, taste comes from the ingredients...coriander, mint, chili, lemon, ginger, mango, raw papaya, coconut, curry leaves, to name just a few.

A proper Indian pickle is made out of dried (or drier) ingredients, and is preserved using oil and / or vinegar. And has many spices.

That winter pickle is just a mildly spice coated version of the vegetables in season, quite crunchy, good with daal, rice, or parotha. Due to its high moisture content, it should be consumed within two weeks, and stored in a cold area, in winter it is okay, but similar pickles are made with nearly ripe mangoes...those stay in the fridge, as mangoes are a summer fruit here in India.

Bill, you are the one with the wife from Rajasthan?
Look up misal and usal, both are from Maharashtra State.
Misal, one version at least, has beaten curds, sprouts, sev (extruded fried noodle like thing), chopped onions and chilies. Can go fancier in terms of contents.
It can be served cold, common snack in its state, and may be called a salad of sorts.
 
Pav bhaji here today, courtesy a neighbor... and sambar left over from take out dosa, with rice.

We sprout beans by washing them, and leaving them wrapped in a wet cloth in a sieve, so the excess moisture drips off. A support under the sieve, if needed, to allow the water to drip out.
Takes up to two days, depends on the beans and the season.

Black urad daal, with a few Rajma beans added, slow cooked till tender, served with a topping of a spoon or so of butter, eaten with a hot roti / naan....mouth watering delicious..
 
Last edited:
1673455188511.png

That is a net image of misal, or Poona Misal. Beaten curds, sprouts, thin sev, ganthia, spicy chutney, etc.
Ganthia is a cousin of sev, the shape and recipe are slightly different.

1673455265115.png


That is usal pav, white dried peas curry, with sev added at the time of serving.
The bun is dipped into the spicy curry, and eaten.
The curry is wiped off with bread, or eaten with a spoon.
The name in Gujarat is sev usal, also served with the Pav bread (small square buns).
 
Last edited:
1673455492227.png

Pav bhaji is potatoes, peas, tomatoes, and whatever the cook has handy, and in season.
Some cooks mash the ingredients, and it is mildly spicy compared to usal.
And no sev, which is sometimes but not always part of usal, though essential in sev usal.
The bhaji (vegetable preparation) is eaten with the Pav bread, hence the name.
You take a chunk of Pav, wipe or fold some bhaji in it, and eat. Finger food.

Images off the net, not my work, just to show the dish.
 
Member
Joined 2014
Paid Member
Pav bhaji here today, courtesy a neighbor... and sambar left over from take out dosa, with rice.
And people wonder what the portugese did for India :D
We sprout beans by washing them, and leaving them wrapped in a wet cloth in a sieve, so the excess moisture drips off. A support under the sieve, if needed, to allow the water to drip out.
Takes up to two days, depends on the beans and the season.
My wife showed me this method and I realised that a tupperware microwave rice cooker I have (which is useless for rice) was a much better solution so I use that now. I can soak and germinate two types of beans at once
Black urad daal, with a few Rajma beans added, slow cooked till tender, served with a topping of a spoon or so of butter, eaten with a hot roti / naan....mouth watering delicious..
We make it for lunches during the week as it's quick and easy to rehead.
 
Member
Joined 2010
Paid Member
That may be by brand or state not "DC". I found a reference to Bacardi 151 discontinued. Bur Don Q 151 is readily available in my state booze system. Yeah, not the same, but by the 2nd glass do you care?
View attachment 1129037 View attachment 1129038

I can't find it on the West Coast. Neither the higher octane Stoli.

I've been toying with the idea of setting up a lab fractional distiller in the patio to up the Costco 80 proof vodka to something more "intolerable".

it should be legal, huh? After all, I've already paid the appropriate taxes on the alcohol... I'm just "purifying it" for health reasons... ;-)

Nothing like DIY booze...
 

PRR

Member
Joined 2003
Paid Member
Bacardi quit the 151 biz, tired of being sued for burns. Not just drinkers, also bystanders. Hospitalized a month with 3rd degree burn.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacardi_151

LiquorLand 686 Benicia Road, Vallejo, CA 94591 lists 2 of 3 sizes of Bacardi 151 as "available". Old stock or old data?
https://liquorlandshops.com/shop/?p...ebcb23014bc2723a06cb23fc34b6a4b1233e82984bb82

If you accept other brands (redistilled Costco??) then you have choices. Including a premium-priced rum with "California" in the name:
https://www.spirithub.com/products/stark-spirits-craft-distillery-stark-california-silver-151-rum
Stark California Silver 151 Rum $61.00
NOT available in: AL, AK, HI, ID, KS, NC, NH, PA, UT, VT, VA, WA
From Virginia, ten bucks cheaper:
https://www.spirithub.com/collections/all/products/virago-spirits-151-high-proof-rum
Virago Spirits 151 High Proof Rum $50.00
NOT available in: AL, AK, HI, ID, KS, NC, NH, PA, UT, VT, VA, WA
"Chicagoland area"
 
Last edited: