Notices by Ganga (lifetimecooking@mastodon.au)

I love this, and it reminds me of my time in France, where I spent many weekends in Paris.

https://frenchglimpses.substack.com/p/15-parisian-habits-that-will-change

#Travel #FrenchFood

Oh those nights in Hong Kong and in the various China Towns of the world, eating noodles and congee and salt and pepper tofu, and wonderful silky eggplants. Simple dishes are tasty and elegant, in a way that sometimes we forget. Paring back to basics gives such good dishes.

I just love noodles with whatever I have in the fridge.

For this dish I make a basic Ginger Scallion Sauce (we call them Spring Onions, but it doesn’t sound as good). The sauce is useful in the kitchen and is one of my pastes, purees, powders, stocks and sauces that commonly grace my quiet kitchen bench.

It is useful in so many ways – into soups and broths it goes, over rice with some deep fried tofu and shredded vegetables, drizzled onto bok choy with or without noodles, smeared on sandwiches.

Once you have the sauce, all you need for this recipe is some noodles and some veg. That’s it. And variations are endless. Make it as simple or as fussy as you like.

#food #FromTheArchives #FromTheKitchen #Noodles #AsianFood #Vegetarian

One of my first tastes of India, in India, indeed smack in the middle of South India, was of a pickle that was hot, sour, salty, all at once. I grew addicted to that taste. While most non-Indian people love the Sweet Mango Pickle, I am a devotee of Green Mango Pickle.

It's fairly easy to make if you can get your hands on hard, green mangoes – make sure that they are really green, and not a half ripe sweet mango.

Mustard seeds – whole or ground – are a feature of many Indian pickles. Not only do they taste good, adding a pungency, they are anti-microbial so certainly help in pickles and other preserves.

#IndianFood #Food #FromTheKitchen #FromTheArchives #MangoPickle #IndianPickles

There is a tradition in various parts of the world to add salt and some fat or oil to tea and/or coffee – from Indian Ayurveda to Nepal to Mongolia and other parts of the world. We make an easy version of this sometimes using our Italian style stovetop coffee making equipment - adding some cracked cardamom pods to the coffee grounds, and adding a touch of ghee and a pinch of salt to the cups.

Cardamom is good in coffee, even without the oil/fat/ghee.

#FromTheKitchen #FromTheArchives #IndianFood #Coffee #Vegetarian #Food

Behold! The fruit of the pomegranate 😄

200g of pomegranate arils. Medium pomegranates sell for around $6 atm, and this one was LARGE. (Pic in thread.) Even more 💰 for "seeded" pomegranates.

The taste of this one? Sweet, with a tang. It would have probably benefited from more time on the tree, but it is my first ever pomegranate so am still learning how to judge the ripeness.

Still, it is very nice and I am making a week's worth of chia puddings to go with the pomegranate.

There are lots of things to make with pomegranates, and I'll be making some throughout the pomegranate season. Particularly Middle Eastern dishes.

#fromTheGarden #FromTheKitchen #GrowYourOwn #WhatIAmCooking #food #Pomegranate

@seanbala One of the sad things about India and sandwiches - when I have ordered one in a cafe and I am with Indian friends, I get a fantastic one. If I am on my own I get a much inferior version. It has even happened in a top hotel - I ordered one when with friends, and loved it so much I ordered another later that day. Completely different sandwich 😭 These days I'd have the gumption to send it back, but I was new to India then and didn't feel brave enough.

@seanbala Exactly. Do you make your own tho?

One of the best sandwiches: Bombay Sandwich

https://chutneylovers.substack.com/p/bombay-sandwich-street-food-packed

#IndianFood #links #Food

@morph thanks. That is exactly what I did - I wonder what it was that made you think I hadn't? Using supermarket garlic is wrought with all sorts of problems - including that they are treated to not shoot and can introduce a range of soil diseases. I was just "talking" here on masto about that the other day.

Growing your own garlic is expensive in the first year - I paid about 75c per clove which will turn into a garlic head, and that is assuming that all grow to maturity.

The savings come in subsequent years when you save cloves from your harvest for the next crop, reducing the cost to $0 (apart from any manure etc you might need to purchase).

Good morning all you gentle people. Happy Monday!

It is hot today so I am about to head outside and plant the remainder of the garlic before the sun comes over the trees.

It should be straight forward as I worked out a good method in yesterday's planting. (I thought I might be planting too deep, but I read afterwards that deeper is good in warmer climates.)

Be really kind today, if you can. I saw some aweful comments online over the weekend (not just here). Redress the balance. Make sure people feel seen, and feel heard and understood. Every now and then take a moment to smile. Take deep breaths when you are tempted to say something out of character.

RE: https://mastodon.green/@peterdutoit/116202867121125679

it's a pity Australia doesn't have any high speed trains! Point 8.
( @timrichards )

All good points, nevertheless.

@seanbala @LoganFive Great choices. Both get cooked fairly often here too. I hope you make it home in good time. Best wishes with whatever is happening there.

Aama Vadai (also called Paruppu Vadai or Masala Vadai) is a traditional South Indian snack that is made during Tamil New Year and also Ramnavami. Made from a mix of lentils and spiced with chillies, asafoetida, curry leaves and coriander, it is a delicious snack. It is also a very popular street food snack in South India.

Aama means tortoise in Tamil. But never fear, they do not contain tortoises, it is named this way because of the hard crispy outer shell of the vadai.

They are delicious.

#Food #IndianFood #FromTheArchives #FromTheKitchen #Vegetarian #TamilFood #lentils

@morph

@morph Yes. Yesterday nearly hit 46C here. We have also had 47, altho above 45 is rarer.

I remember when we used to say above 32C is rare, then above 35 is rare.

Good morning all you beautiful people. Happy Sunday on a long but extremely hot weekend.

I woke at midnight with a beeping fire alarm grrr. I couldn't get back to sleep, so I've started a thorough clean of the kitchen, sorted out some things, done some life admin, sorted out the food for today (mostly, and subject to change of mind), blah blah blah.

The kimchi jars are bubbling along nicely. I got them labelled finally, while I was doing stuff.

Only 6 more days of extreme heat (37C-45C) before a slight cool change 😩 😶 🔥 The citrus trees already have burnt leaves from last heatwave.

I'll look for more blue banded bees this morning when i water the garden.

Take care in the heat, everyone. Stay hydrated. Be extra kind - people will be grumpy in this heat.

You can never have too much spice, right? How it brightens up your life.

Eggplant Pachadi/chutney from Andhra Pradish

#IndianFood #food #FromTheKitchen #FromTheArchives #Vegetarian #AndhraFood #Eggplants

As an afterthought, and thanks to #Ottolenghi's recent newsletter on how to boost vegan flavours, I added a little nutritional yeast to the tahini-miso sauce. SO GOOD.

I mixed some last night with rice, to taste test it. It was AMAZING.

@sumisu3

I picked up a new jar of tahini from the Afghan shop today. So to celebrate I am making this dip/sauce/dressing.

3-4 tablespoons Tahini
2 tablespoons light miso
2 tablespoons warm water (or more to get to a good consistency)

Blend and enjoy! Thin with water for a sauce to use over rice, other grains or vegetables, or use as a salad dressing. Yum yum.

EDIT: Can add lemon juice and/or garlic.

#FromTheKitchen #Tahini #Miso #Dips