Top: Tabbouleh and caprese salad in a muffin cup, basil leaves.
Middle: Indian potato, pea and tomato curry on a bed of rice.
Bottom: Blue and green grapes and sour skittles!
Today’s bento is a little heavy in carbohydrates, as I had some stuff left over from the weekend that I didn’t want to throw away entirely. But I still managed to include something from all of the basic food groups: carbohydrates, proteins, fats and Skittles*
And because I’m a good girl and know my foodgroups, there is also milk and chocolate banana Pocky hidden under the fork in the lid.
It’s a steep learning curve with my Indian curries, and I feel like I’m still at the bottom. One, I Never Get It Right. Two, if I do get it right, it’s a)not repeatable and b)won’t taste as good as it did fresh when warmed (I have a sneaking suspicion this will be true for most curries). Three, I’m going to stay away from premade curry mixes and make my own mix from now on. I can’t ever tell what is in those premade mixes and they *never* taste right. So I’m going to buy the supermarket’s supply of christmas spices in August, unless somebody can direct me to a better venture…
Help is very, very appreciated. Also, is there anywhere I can get Ghee in a non-metal container smaller than 1 litre?
On the plus side, yay for weekend shopping and coming home with fresh supplies of British and Asian candy!
*) Whaaat? *looks innocent*
You know, I’m quite embarrassed to admit that I have no idea what exactly tabbouleh is.
Did you make it yourself? If so, can you share a recipe?
Tabbouleh is a salad recipe from the middle east. It’s really easy to make and rather fresh and tasty in summer!
There are some recipes online but I wasn’t happy with any of them so I’ll just post a short writeup of my own.
First, cook couscous or fine bulgur by putting it in a bowl, pouring hot water on just so all is wet, but no excessive water is there, add a little flock of butter and salt, stir and let it rest for 10 minutes or until it has soaked up all water and is soft.
Then mix it with crumbled feta, chopped tomatoes, chopped mint and parsley (you are supposed to add enough parsley to make the mixture mostly green, but I’m not such a big fan of parsley so mine is still yellowish), and chopped salad onions or green onions (optional).
Drizzle on lemon juice, olive oil, and freshly ground pepper. Salt to taste.
Then the fun part starts: Wet your hands a little or put on rubber gloves, and start kneading the salad with your hands! It needs a nice massage so the flavours can mix and be soaked up by the couscous. If it’s nice and sticky, but not doughy, you did it right.
Chill for a bit before serving, and enjoy!
;)
Found you through the LJ BentoLunch community. I hope you don’t mind my jumping in with my $0.02, but I’ve been cooking Indian food since I was tall enough to reach the stove, and I love sharing my tips.
Indian curry is really simple, as long as you avoid the generic “curry mixes” you find in regular grocery stores like the plague. If you are hesitant about mixing your own spices, head to an Indian grocery and pick up some boxes of particular types of mixes (I’m fond of Shan brand’s achar ghost (lit. “meat spices”), which is rather good even on vegetarian curries. Their vegetable curry masala and haleem masala are also good).
I’m not sure what you mean by supply of christmas spices, but if you want to mix your own curry spices, absolute must-have staples are cumin powder (also sold as zeera in Indian stores), coriander powder, chili powder, turmeric, and garam masala ( you can mix your own from cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg, but I find the effort isn’t worth it). Nice things to have on hand to supplement that are fenugreek (methi), bay leaf, allspice, ginger, brown and green cardamom, mustard seeds, cloves, dill, caraway, and mace.
The secret to developing the flavor of the curry is to cook the onions in a tablespoon or two of oil on med-low heat for a very long time (ten to twenty minutes) until they are browned, then increase the heat and throw on the spices and fry the spices in the hot oil to develop their flavor. Only cook them for about 20-30 seconds, else they will burn!
Thank you so much! This sounds like very useful advice. And yes, I meant cinnamon, cloves, ginger and so on by christmas spices. I found that the few times I attempted to mix my own curry, the flavour has been much more authentic than with a premade mix.
But the broiling is a neat trick, I haven’t heard of that before! I’m definitely going to try this next time and report back with my experiences.
;)