Around The World On Your Plate

Ingredients: 1 cup toor daal cooked 1/2 cup onion chopped 2-3 medium tomatoes chopped or pureed 1 teaspoon garlic minced 1-2 green chilies slit 1-2 red chili broken 1 tablespoon oil or ghee 1 sprig curry leaves 1 teaspoon mustard seeds 1 teaspoon cumin seeds 1 teaspoon turmeric powder 1 teaspoon red chilli powder Salt to taste Cilantro to garnish Method: Start by pressure cooking 1 cup toor daal in 2 cups of water.  Heat ghee/oil and add mustard seeds and cumin seeds and let them splutter. Now add green chillies and red chilli and curry leaves. Next add onion and garlic and saute well.  Once the onion and garlic are cooked, add the tomatoes.  I use both fresh and tinned tomatoes and even the puree for this recipe.  Next add turmeric powder and red chilli powder and mix well.  Cook until oil separates from the tomatoes. Next add the cooked daal and mix well.  Season with salt and simmer on low heat for a few minutes. You can adjus

Ingredients: 1 teaspoon ( or to taste)  Chinese 5 spice powder  1 teaspoon garlic (crushed) 1-1/2 cup mix vegetables (snow peas, carrots, green peas, beans, broccoli, bell pepper) etc 2 cups cooked noodles (4 ounce) 2 spring onion chopped with whites and greens separated 1 tablespoon oil 1 tablespoon soy sauce Salt and pepper to taste Method: Heat oil in a pan and saute some garlic until slightly brown. Next add spring onion whites and saute well. After that add in all the vegetables of your choice, I am using 1-1/2 cup of frozen vegetables. Stir fry until almost cooked and add soy sauce and  five spice powder and mix well.  Add in the cooked noodles and mix well. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Garnish with spring onion greens and serve hot. Note: Five spice powder is a combination of 5 spices in equal proportions that is star anise, cloves, Szechwan pepper, and cinnamon. If you are not used to spices, use about 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of 5