Dum ki Lauki

The bottle gourd is high on my list of favorite vegetables.
However, when I tell people how I like to eat it, they usually look at me like I'm a total nutcase.
I like my bottle gourd boiled. No salt. Nothing. Just boil it and give it to me and I will eat it. Whats more I will be grateful and happy.

Now try that with my husband. I guarantee he will have ordered a pizza so fast your head will swim.

And so I conjure up ways to introduce this harmless, almost tasteless gourd into his diet. For you see, the health benefits of it are many.

According to Ayurveda this particular gourd (aka opo squash or calabash) helps to:
1. Alkalize the body
2. Cool our bodies in the summer months
3. Detoxify (high fibre and liver cleanser)
4. Acts as a diuretic

And while I do suppose the best way to get these benefits out of it would be to eat it the way I do, or possibly make juice out of it ... let us for now focus on getting the good stuff into the picky eater.

Dum ki Lauki 

I discovered this recipe in India Cookbook by Pushpesh Pant and modified it to a point where it might seem more appropriate to call it "inspired by" as opposed to "adapted from". The original recipe calls for Garam masala and dry ginger powder (soonth). It also does not include the dry mango powder (amchoor). The proportions of the spices added are different too.

I have used:
1. A 10 inch long bottle gourd cut into bite sized pieces
2. Coriander leaves (Cilantro) - Chopped fine
3. Green Chillies - 2

Spices:
1. Cumin - 1 tbsp
2. Fenugreek Seeds - 6 little grains
3. Coriander powder - 1 tbsp
4. Grated Ginger - 1 tsp
5. Asafoetida - 1/2 tsp 
6. Turmeric - 1 tsp
7. Paprika - 1 tsp
8. Dry mango powder - 1 tsp 

How I went about it:

I took my trusty ol' frying pan (kadai) and added cumin seeds to 1 tbsp of hot oil. Followed this up with the grated ginger and asafoetida.
Fifteen seconds after the ginger and asafoetida, I added the gourd and stirred them around.

Then came the spices.

With everyone in the pot, I covered the whole thing with as tight-fitting a lid I could find and turned the heat on as low as possible. It was ready in about 30 minutes at which point I added the chopped coriander leaves and tossed them around once again. 

Grilled Asparagus with S & P

This is one of the simplest and most delicious things you could do with Asparagus.

The first time I made it was when I was a grad-student doing quick-improv cooking. However, I soon learned that this is in fact one of the most popular ways of serving up asparagus!

All you need is Asparagus, salt, pepper, and oil (Olive oil or Sesame seed oil work best)

How it's done...
1. Adjust your oven rack close to the broiler and turn it on low (LO).
2. Wash and trim the asparagus and arrange them, non-overlapping, on a cookie sheet lined with aluminum foil.
3. Drizzle oil over the asparagus and hand toss if you'd like (just so long as you re-arrange them to not overlap)
4. Broil for approximately five minutes on low, and then crank up the heat to high (HI) and give it a few minutes.
5. Get it out of the oven, and sprinkle salt and pepper. Grated Parmesan cheese would also be fantastic! 

I eat these straight out of the oven... by itself... But on looking over other recipes, I find that these would taste wonderful on a bed of polenta. It also makes an excellent side-dish.

This is what I am nibbling on... Grilled Asparagus topped with coarse grain salt and freshly ground black pepper.

:)

Classic Bundt Cake

Cleaning out the house had me gone completely mental so I was thrilled at the prospect of a night out with the girls... giggling, overeating, talking about things that mattered and other things that really didn't.

In fact, I was so delighted that I decided to bake a cake for us to have for dessert.

We would all go to Big Star and eat, after which I would invite them home for some bundt cake with sliced strawberries and chocolate sauce. I had imagined much gushing and praise. Not over the cake so much, but more over the herculean task of cleaning out six years of ... well... crap.
A woman would get it. A woman would appreciate me and the sheer perseverance it took... over weeks....
Okay, so I really wanted to be appreciated... but I made the cake out of love... and excitement.... and anticipation.


You can see something coming, can't you?
Well, I didn't!

I pull the cake out of the oven at around 2pm and log into my email to announce dessert - when I realize our girl's night out now includes the most undesirable element of all - BOYS! THREE WHOLE BOYS!
So dismayed!

I slice the cake into smaller bits, because now we have more mouths to feed.
That too boy mouths! The hungriest kind.

My woebegoneness aside, this cake really is delicious. It is almost exactly the same as featured in The Family Baking Book, except I've decreased the amount of sugar and butter.