Indian Chole

Made my version of chole:

1/2 can low sodium garbanzos

2 small boiled potatoes

Tiny yellow onion

Over half a can of diced tomatoes

Butter flavored cooking spray



Spices:

With a mortar and pestle I ground up some quick pan-roasted mustard seeds (about half a teaspoon) and added them to pestled coriander (about same amount) and pestled pan roasted cumin (at least a full tablespoon). To this mixture I added in a pinch of turmeric, some cayenne and some dried chili pepper.

I diced up the potato (next time it will be a slightly smaller dice and I will let the potatoes fry up crispy first) and added it to the onions (which I had browned in a liberal amount of the butter cooking spray), chickpeas, and tomatoes (with juice). With the spice, the whole concoction simmered for less than ten minutes.

I ate it with tostada shells and prepared hummus, no utensil. Yum. The roasting cumin seeds (not the freshest to start with, although they had been kept in a cool, dry place) made the kitchen smell heady. A whiff up close was overwhelming, but the kitchen (and rest of the house) had a nice, smoky, bready smell. I liked the smell of the ground mustard seed, also kind of cereally. 11/30/2011

ebb

4 oz alchohol on an empty stomach...Sometimes too many humans sap my energy.  I have sapped my own energy.  Where is chloe this holiday season?  She has greedily gone into lonely songs and is dancing there.  Workin' off those turkey enchiladas that were bomb.

Favorite Ethnic Foods

Indian cuisine, Native American cuisine, West and South African cuisine, Jewish cuisine, German cuisine, and Filippino cuisine are probably my favorite ethnic food groupings. Indian, because I love curries (although Thai has some phenomenal curries), the flatbreads, and the colorful history. Native American because I live in the American Southwest and am fascinated by flatbreads and foods cooked with, or on, ash (piki bread a good example). There is something to be said for the dry climates that make foods seem to be tough in reflection of said clime. African cuisines for the colorful history, the starches, and the stories. Jewish cuisine, because Jews have lived in every location and take the traditions of those places and spread them via the food. Also, because much of it is rich and reflects dietary philosophies (and religious beliefs). German, because I’m German, and while the smell of sauerkraut takes away my appetite, spaetzle is one of the best foods ever. Because what is it? A starch. Oh, golden carbohydrates! Filippino food? Such a conglomeration!

Packaged Meals

I'm addicted to the Panang Tuna from Trader Joe's.  The lemongrass red curry pouch that the tuna comes in is fragrant and amazing, especially served over rice.  I feel energy returning immediately upon preparing this hearty dose of protein.  I've tried the red and the green (both retailing for $1.69 here in Mesa) and can't taste the difference, so I just stick to the red.  When I'm working full time, that is going to be my lunch, because I don't get hungry again for hours. 
I've also tried the potsticker tv dinner (with rice, broccoli, and carrots) from Fresh and Easy, which was delicious in its own right.  Somehow, even microwaving them doesn't seem to make the potstickers dry and tough, a situation I don't seem to be able to avoid with other brands.

Springerles

When I was a kid, I didn't like springerles. My sister hated anise so much that she would vomit it up, whether by choice or not I can't be sure. This was rather unfortunate, because she liked to help my mother roll out the cookies with the special carved springerle rollers. One was from my grandmother, one was from Knott's Berry Farm, and the third, a rectangle with four of the images carved into it, from a catalogue. It took my mother two days to make the cookies. On day one, she would mix the egg yolks separately from the egg whites, until the whites formed stiff peaks and there were no more bubbles. She would then combine all the ingredients, knead them, and then roll out the shapes. Then she let the dough dry out, covered, overnight. I didn't particularly like them--they weren't very sweet, and anything that reminded me of a medication I used to have to take that tasted like the worst kind of black licorice, was to be shunned. Apparently, the more air they get, the more brick-like and better they are. These days I think of them as digestive biscuits, or hardtack, because of their consistency. The anise helps to settle the stomach, and if not overdone, is very delicate. Odd in such an indelicate, hard-working cookie.

I inherited making the springerles even though my sister is more the baker, because I can handle anise, and it's really the only connection I have to my mother's family. My mother inherited the springerle making in much the same way, because her sister was married and had children so young. She was the domestic in their family, and my mother was not.

When my mother first took up the tradition, she mistakenly did the yolks and whites at the same time, which made the cookies too yellow. She had to buy baker's ammonia in a block from the drugstore and then pound it into powder. Apparently, this lends an ammonia scent to the kitchen while they are being mixed, but which fades after they are cooking. My mother ended up having to replace the baker's ammonia with baking powder after the druggists stopped carrying the ammonia. In Germany, something called hartshorn is used (the baker's ammonia) still.