Indian Dinner

Hibi really likes this meal, and it's becoming one of my favorites. Last night we had Lentil Saute with Indian Flavors, Indian sauteed cabbage, and brown rice.

Here's how to make it.

Start rice cooking (brown rice takes longer than white rice to cook). Bring to a boil two cups of water, add 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1 cup of rice. Stir until the water comes to a boil again, then lower to a bare simmer and cover. Let cook for...?...I think about 40 minutes or so.

Bring a saucepan of water to a boil. Add 1 cup lentils and boil until lentils are tender, about 30-40 minutes.

Chop one onion (yes, I know traditionally Indian cooking doesn't use those.....if you don't want them, use asafetida instead, or not at all). Saute at low heat in 1 tablespoon of olive oil until done and somewhat browned, about 12 minutes. Add 1/2 teaspoon curry powder and two cloves minced garlic. Cook until aromatic, about 1 minute. Add the cooked and drained lentils and cook until warmed through. To make a saucier lentil saute, add some water and cook for 5 or so minutes. You can add chopped mint to this dish if you wish.

Meanwhile, shred half a head of cabbage and wash thoroughly. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a skillet and add one tablespoon minced fresh ginger, 1 teaspoon garam masala (a spice mix), and 1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds. Laugh while the mustard seeds pop all over the place, or just add the cabbage before they begin popping. In any case, add the cabbage and cook until nicely wilted and smells wonderful.

I like to put all these on a plate, in separate thirds, and add a dollop of plain yogurt in the middle. They get mixed as I eat it. Yum! It's completely vegan except for the yogurt. I suppose you could use soy yogurt but Hibi doesn't care for it.

Almost there!

Man, I am exhausted. I'm getting too old for this! But it's a good exhausted. We closed escrow on our house on Thursday (yay!) and the seller is now in the process of moving out. He's supposed to be out by 5 pm tomorrow and we move in on Monday! We went over this afternoon and he showed us all the ins and outs of how the house works. We are all so happy to finally be HOMEOWNERS!

On Thursday evening, we were invited by a family from the church to come to dinner, then go to The Grotto to hear one of the daughter's high school Christmas concert. The Grotto has a big Festival of Lights every year and I'd wanted to get over there to see it this Christmas season, but I probably would have let busyness keep me away. I'm so glad this family invited us to come with them because the place was beautiful and the concert was wonderful. It was nice to get away from packing for an evening, too.