*SS Lentil Curry - *Survivor Style

I am a fan of Indian, Punjabi, Ayur and Pakistani food and would try out various restaurants to sample their fare. The places can range from the likes of The Taj and Bombay Palace to neighbourhood restaurants (Saffron, Khana Peena, Ludhiana Station) and of course the legendary Nasi Kandar places (Pelita, Bistari, Kayu, Devi's Corner). Why, I would go to a "hole-in-a-wall" place if the food is really good. I just love going mamak, and even when I travel, I would hunt for a place that can offer me a good vindaloo just to whet my tastebuds so that I won't miss KL too much. In Tokyo, near my former affiliate office, and in Wales, in the middle of nowhere, I had managed to locate an Indian restaurant with dishes to burn the tongue and warm up my insides when it was freezing outside.

Now that I have to go easy on milk, oil, salt, sugar and white flour, eating out is no longer a breeze. My immune system is just beginning to pick up and I have to be mindful of where and what I eat. A normal place which used to be okay for a capati and dhall, can sometimes give me acute diarrhoea if perhaps the food had been reheated or not properly covered.

The solution? Eat at home. And why not, my Indonesian helper is keen to learn how to make curries as she says she has not eaten roti canai, capati or tosai before coming to Malaysia.

I prepare a lentil curry base very simply by omitting that bit about saute-ing the onions and spices in oil. Initially I changed from Mazola or Carotena to Olive, then to Grapeseed. Now I omit the oil totally from my lentil and dhall curries. And it tastes as good, no one can tell the difference ( or maybe they were just too polite). It tastes fine to me and until my taste buds tell me otherwise, I think I am quite happy with this cooking style.

Recipe for simple lentil or dhall curry:
Ingredients:
1 cup uncooked dhall or various lentils, washed and boiled until tender. Do not drain the water, the goodness is all there.
1 large onion, chopped
4 pips garlic, chopped
Thumb-sized ginger, shredded fine
Half Thumb-sized turmeric, shredded fine (supposed to be anti-tumor)
1 cup tarmarind juice ( dissolve I dessertspoon of Adabi Tamarind Paste sold in tubs)
2 heaped tablespoons curry powder
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
Assorted whole spices - piece of cinnamon, 1 star anise, pinch of cumin seeds, pinch of coriander seeds
Optional - 1 cup coconut milk (use M&S , no cholestrol they say). I prefer to use fresh coconut milk, if at all.
Shredded coriander leaves ( "sejemput" is what my mum would say -is a "scoop" - using fingers
be the English equivalent, I wonder)
A small pinch of aalt or salt substitute

Method:
1. Put the pot of tenderized lentils on the boil. Add Tamarind juice and let boil for 2/3 minutes
2. Throw in all the ingredients above, except for the coconut milk and coriander leaves
3. Let simmer until the ingredients and lentils have blended and form a thick concoction
At this stage the aroma would be quite yummy, especially the smell of the cumin seeds
wafting out of the pot
4. If you plan to serve this "neat" ie without any other additions like cubed potatoes or assorted
vegetables, it is fine to add in the coconut milk and salt
5. If this is to be used as a base for dhall or lentil and vegetable curry, then add in the cubed
vegetables (carrot, potatoes, pumpkin, cauliflower, tomatoes, green apple or green mangoes,
whatever you fancy) and only add in the coconut milk when the vegetables are tender
6. Add salt or liquid aminos to season.
7. Garnish with coriander leaves when serving


This simple dish is absolutely delicious with home steamed rice idli or ragi puttu. For carnivores( sorry, can't resist this as I am off meat for the moment - since Hari Raya Puasa), you could add mutton bones, or beef bones which would give the gravy an even richer taste.

Lentil Curry is really a life saver and I resort to it when I run out of fresh ideas to cook. My maid will add meat to her portion ( she has no reason to stop being a carnivore). Sometimes I take it as a soup, and have it with a plateful of stir-fried or steamed green vegetables with a good wholemeal bread, pitta or capati. It is quick, nutritious, rich with proteins and very economical to prepare.

I would shop for ingredients in Brickfields at Sitharam's or Malliga Enterprise. One can get carried away shopping for indian groceries there, and I just love the Ragi Puttu on sale after 7pm that I even bought a Puttu Maker!! I figured that after making my 20th puttu, I would have recouped my investment. This gadget now keeps the Idli maker company in my kitchen shelf. As I need to go easy on cakes and pastries which requires dairy products, my baking trays have been forced to go into early retirement, so I needed new tools to make my new dietary practice easier to follow.

Not everyone will be thrilled with my modified recipes but my friends have not noticed the difference so far. Maybe they are also keen to eat more healthily?