Navratri Recipes: Green Peas Sundal

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Another day during Navratri and another sundal to offer the Goddess. The Sundal this time is made of fresh peas and is another super quick recipe. You could make this as a quick afternoon snack when the children are home from school and it is also very healthy to boot! This is a far cry from the commercial and suage and salt laden biscuits and sweets that are usually eaten.

Green Peas Sundal

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups fresh or frozen green peas
  • 1 tsp mustard seeds
  • 1 tsp urad dal
  • 1/8 tsp asafoetida powder
  • 4-5 curry leaves
  • 1 tsp green chilli paste
  • 2-3 tbsp grated coconut
  • 1 tbsp oil
  • Lemon juice to taste
  • Salt to taste
  • Coriander leaves to garnish

Method:

  • Soak the frozen green peas in hot water for 15 minutes and then cook them in a microwave or the stovetop till the peas are cooked, but still retain their green colour. Drain and keep aside.
  • Heat the oil in a pan and when the oil is warm, add the mustard seeds and let them pop.
  • Then add the urad dal and let it start to brown. Next add the asafoetida powder, curry leaves and green chilli paste and stir for a couple of seconds.
  • Now add the boiled and drained green peas and season with salt. Stir for a few minutes.
  • Then drizzle the lemon juice and add the coconut and stir well to mix into the peas.
  • Garnish with coriander leaves and serve warm or cold as a salad or snack.

In My Hands Today…

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By Gaslight – Steven Price

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London, 1885. In a city of fog and darkness, the notorious thief Edward Shade exists only as a ghost, a fabled con, a thief of other men’s futures — a man of smoke.

William Pinkerton is already famous, the son of a brutal detective when he descends into the underworld of Victorian London in pursuit of a new lead. His father died without ever tracing Shade; William, still reeling from his loss, is determined to drag the thief out of the shadows.

Adam Foole is a gentleman without a past, haunted by a love affair ten years gone. When he receives a letter from his lost beloved, he returns to London in search of her; what he learns of her fate, and its connection to the man known as Shade, will force him to confront a grief he thought long-buried.

What follows is a fog-enshrouded hunt through sewers, opium dens, drawing rooms, and seance halls. Above all, it is the story of the most unlikely of bonds: between William Pinkerton, the greatest detective of his age, and Adam Foole, the one man who may hold the key to finding Edward Shade.

Navratri Recipes: Chana Dal Sundal

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Since it’s the festival of Navratri going on, I am making some kind of Sundal every day as an offering or neividhyam to the Goddess. Today’s Sundal is a simple and delicious Sundal made out of Chana Dal. This is easy to make and took me less than 10 minutes to make (without taking into account the soak time). This is a definite keeper for me.

Chana Dal Sundal

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups chana dal
  • 2-3 tbsp grated coconut
  • 1 tbsp oil
  • 1 tsp mustard seeds
  • 1 tsp split urad dal
  • 4-5 curry leaves
  • 3-4 dried red chillies, broken
  • 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
  • 1/4 tsp asafoetida powder
  • 2 tbsp lemon juice
  • 1 tsp grated ginger
  • Salt to taste
  • Coriander leaves to garnish

Method:

  • Soak the chana dal in hot water for 1-2 hours.
  • Cook the chana dal in the same pan it was soaked in with 1/4 tsp turmeric powder, salt and 1/8 tsp asafoetida in enough water on the stove till it gets cooked, but still retains it’s shape. Remove from the flame and drain and cool the chana dal.
  • If you plan to use the pressure cooker, just cook it for a max of 2 whistles. Remove from the cooker when the pressure goes down and drain the chana dal.
  • In another pan, heat the oil and when it warms up, add the mustard seeds and let the seeds pop.
  • Then add the urad dal, remaining asafoetida, curry leaves, grated ginger and broken dried red chillies and stir for a few seconds.
  • Now pour in the drained chana dal and stir well to mix everything for a few minutes.
  • Switch off the flame and add the lemon juice and grated coconut. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve as a salad or side with a south indian meal.

For more Navratri Sundal recipes, here are some other recipes:

In My Hands Today…

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Tail of the Blue Bird – Nii Ayikwei Parkes

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Sonokrom, a village in the Ghanaian hinterland, has not changed for thousands of years. Here, the men and women speak the language of the forest, drink aphrodisiacs with their palm wine and walk alongside the spirits of their ancestors. The discovery of sinister remains; possibly human, definitely ‘evil’; in a vanished man’s hut brings the modern world into the village in the form of Kayo; a young forensic pathologist convinced that scientific logic can shatter even the most inexplicable of mysteries.

But as events in the village become more and more incomprehensible, Kayo and his sidekick, Constable Garba, find that Western logic and political bureaucracy are no longer equal to the task at hand. Strange boys wandering in the forest, ghostly music in the night and a flock of birds that come from far away to fill the desolate hut with discarded feathers take the newcomers into a world where, in the unknown, they discover a higher truth that leaves scientific explanations far behind.

2019 Week 40 Update

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This week was both remarkable as well as unremarkable Unremarkable because it was the usual week from Monday to Friday with nothing really happening.

On Saturday, for the first time, I did something out of my comfort zone. I went for a citizen’s panel where, along with other Singaporeans we will debate about an issue which is close to my heart. We will also come up with a report and hopefully the government will implement some, if not most of the suggestions. We had to sign a non disclosure agreement, so I can’t say much here. But it was a very enjoyable, if intense session and I learnt quite a bit from the other participants who spanned various industries and came from different aspects of life.

Yesterday marked the start of Navratri and this week is slightly restful week for me, without much happening. Next week is another hectic week and then two weeks after we start the O level exams!

I for one, just want the exams to start, so we can count down to the four weeks it will run. After that, it’s time to holiday! Can’t wait!!

Have a wonderful week folks!