November's CSBS

Apologies for the delay - with the help of my good buddy Niall, I cheffed for the Green Consumers' Network Earth-friendly Veg Night two Tuesdays ago, but I left my camera there at my friend's house and didn't get it back until the subsequent meal. Blogging about the 1KFTFFF has also kept me quite busy, as you may have noticed.

Last time, I was feeling a little guilty about my veg night offerings. Everyone liked everything, but the last-minute canned tomatoes and well-traveled chick peas and coconut milk made me a bit uncomfortable. Plus, I kind of slipped up and used some (decent) eggs from my CSA in the Pad not-quite-Thai, forgetting that just because I'm not as vegan as I once was doesn't mean that I don't have to follow CSBS protocol. Thus, this time, I resolved to shift ever closer to local and seasonal ingredients.

Sometime until about November 10th, everyone was talking about "Indian Summers" and wondering when the cold would hit. Then, it did, so Niall and I opted for something warm and hearty. We also wanted to keep it simple, given that it was a school night. Here's what we came up with:

The usual hummus recipe (yeah, I know, not local, but it was a special request and appears to have become tradition), this time with some spinach blended in. The taste didn't change much, but the color was nice, and it was probably a bit healthier. Served with sliced bread, carrots, celery, cucumbers, and bell peppers.

Niall's carrot/ginger stew. Stir-fry a bit of onions and garlic, then add in a bunch of carrots, ginger, water, and maybe a sweet potato or two to increase the creamy factor. Simmer for a while then blend it up and season with salt and pepper. Nice and warm, goes down easy, and has a nice kind of kick. Almost certainly good against the cold. And...uh...VERY easy to digest, yaknowwhattImean?

(one benefit of cooking soup: napping opportunities)

My lentil soup: admittedly not the prettiest thing I've ever cooked up, but definitely among the most delicious. Again, sauté some onions and garlic, add in some potatoes, carrot, and celery, fry for another minute or two, then add in a bunch of lentils and slightly more water than is necessary to cover them. Drop in a few cubes of your favorite vegan bullion (or use stock to start with) and cook for 30 or so minutes, checking every now and again to make sure the water hasn't boiled off. When pulled off correctly, the potatoes absorb the broth and turn out all creamy and delicious, nicely balancing against the heavy graininess of the beans. Squeeze a little lemon juice into the soup for some extra awesomeness and you're good to go.

And...that's all!

Astute enough to notice the unusual decor? This time, rather than dining at our usual headquarters (known as the "Un-awkward Warehouse"), we gathered at friend and dependable member Bohemian's house in order to warm it. After the nice meal, we hung out and I taught everyone a card game ("Oh Hell") that I learned this summer staying with my family out west. Ever tried explaining the rules to a card game in a foreign language? When there are people who don't know the difference between Ace, King, Queen, and Jack present? It's a chore, but once you've mucked through it, very satisfying in that hey-we-all-share-the-basic-elements-of-humanity way.

In any case, Bohemian, congratulations on the new place and the completion of all repairs.^^

Oh, and happy Thanksgiving, everyone. I thank you for reading and caring about me even though I'm so far away. There's a song lyric that has been more meaningful to me for the last five years than just about any other, and now seems like a decent time to share it:

"I do not exist," we faithfully insist,
Sailing in our separate ships and from each tiny caravel.
Tiring of trying, there's a necessary dying,
Like the horseshoe crab in its proper season sheds its shell.
Such distance from our friends,
Like a scratch across the lens,
Made everything look wrong from anywhere we stood.
And our paper blew away before we'd left the bay.
So half-blind, we wrote these songs on sheets of salty wood.

(MewithoutYou, "Messes of Men")

Hope all is well with everyone!

Team Happy Bear Cooks: Mike's Garlic Shoots

As the point of the whole 1KFTFFF was to help Hansik popularize Korean food, we Happy Bears figured that we ought to supplement our packed eating schedule with a bit of cooking, too. After all, though everyone deserves to be introduced to all the wonders of Korean cuisine, not everybody is fortunate to live close to a Korean restaurant. While we can't deliver to everyone in the world, the least we can do is spread the word.

Andy and Anina have both already posted about their contributions: Gosari (Fern Bracken) and Yeongeun (Lotus Root).

I myself contributed two dishes, both of them quite easy.

First off, a very simple salad I learned from my friend Mina, the chef of the weekly "Vegetarian Dinner for the Earth" at my local branch of the Green Consumers Network. Just take a sweet cabbage (단배추, pretty similar to a Napa) and chop it up into chopstick-friendly chunks. Then, make a sauce of perilla oil, perilla seed powder, and salt. Once you've matched the proportions to your preferences, pour the dressing onto the leaves, then mix with your hands, squeezing everything with just enough pressure that the sauce evenly coats and permeates the cabbage, but not so hard that you crush them into a mush. The result: a rich, oily, and yet light salad that fits right in with the sweet, salty, and pungent side dishes around it. Unfortunately, my coworkers were busy cooking and my hands were busy squishing, so I didn't get any pictures of this one.

Second, another one of my favorites: sautéed garlic stems (마늘쫑 볶음). These were complete news to me the first time I tried them, but I immediately fell for their savory simplicity. To get started, chop the stems up into pieces about 1.5 inches long; again, just right to be picked up with chopsticks. Fill a frying pan with just enough water to cover them, then boil for about two or three minutes, just to soften them up. Move them over to a colander, drain out the water, and heat up a bit of sesame oil. One it's warm, drop in the garlic stems, and, if you are a big garlic fan, slice up a few bulbs and drop those in as well. Lightly brown the outsides of the stems, and before they get too droopy, pour in a bit of soy sauce. If you've got a sweet tooth, now's the time to add the sugar. Either way, once the liquid has mostly cooked off, remove the stems from the pan and sprinkle them with sesame seeds - for extra punch, crush them as you sprinkle, as this will release more flavors, in addition to making it easier for your stomach to absorb all the goodness.

That's all! Serve with rice, soup, and other side dishes for a splendid meal.

Garlic stems pre-sauté


The finished product

Also present:


Seasoned bellflower/balloonflower root (도라지 무침)


Don't recall exactly, but this looks to me like 시금치나물 (blanched spinach with garlic and sesame oil)


A bit of fresh fruit. We were lucky to find local figs in the market the previous afternoon.


All the side dishes in one shot! Those are Tanya's tiny little sweet-n-spicyy anchovies in the top-left, a mayo/sunchoke/carrot/cuke salad at top-center, and my cabbage and perilla salad at top-right.


The spread, including Greg's spicy oyster and mushroom soup!

We were truly happy to be able to share our food with one another and with the translator, driver, and TV crew who worked so hard to make our food tour possible. Thanks, Hansik and KBS^^

October's CSBS

It's been several months since I was responsible for one of the veg nights. I was supposed to run one in September, but we decided to turn it into a potluck for someone's birthday party, which then got canceled at the last minute, at which point Mina took over and did her usual thing. This week, though, it was all me. And Niall, my Irish coworker/sous chef.

I had no real idea what to make. Having done a few theme meals before, - Indian with Mathan, Italian on my own - I thought about trying to find some other cuisine to work with. Being that we're on a break from school this week (not entirely sure why), I asked one of our Japanese teachers, Yuka, if she'd come help out. She said yes. I asked her what she'd like to prepare, figuring that she would have some awesome Japanese veg dish in mind. She suggested a barley and bean salad. I was a little surprised, but...sure, whatever. As for the other stuff...everyone always requests hummus, I wanted to get back into lentil soup, and I've been making some pad thai-ish stuff with the happy eggs I got from my CSA, so I figured I'd throw that in too.

Nowadays, we usually have about five to seven people at the dinners. Nice and cozy, and fairly easy for the cook. This week, though, was exam week at a lot of colleges and grad schools around, meaning that people had a bit more freedom too shift their schedules around. So, fortunately or not, I was cooking for 12. Have a look:

This picture doesn't exactly show it, but I had to load my panniers, backpack and manpurse to just about the bursting point. Good to know for future biking trips though - with another bag or two, it looks like it probably wouldn't be too hard to carry a supply of simple food for a few days.

2 mile ride to the GCA hangout (i.e. "The Non-Awkward Warehouse")

Item 1: Barley and Bean Salad.

You need: Barley, assorted beans, chives, parsley, garlic, salt, pepper, oil, vinegar
You should: Prep the beans (I used kidney and garbanzos) by soaking the night before, then pressure cook several hours in advance and set aside in a colander so that they regain a bit of their firmness. Cook the barley, rinse it off, chill it a little with possible, then mix together with the beans. The original recipe called for 1/2c barley to 3 cans of beans, which I thought was a little ridiculous. I tripled the barley and doubled the beans. Added in a half cup each of the chives and parsely, though more would've been OK, then mix up the dressing separately and add on. I also had a million sprouts lying around the house, so I dumped them all in. I'm sure you could throw in any leaves you wanted for even more excellence.
The verdict: Awesome. Koreans are often pretty finicky about their rice, and though barley is a traditional crop here, people rarely eat it without mixing it into rice. Also, considering how bean-heavy the salad was, I wasn't sure how everyone would take it. Nonetheless, good reviews all around. Another friend to whom I gave some leftovers told me it was the best thing I had ever made. It takes a little planning, but all-in-all is not that difficult, and is one of those great "toss in anything you have and it'll probably work out ok" recipes.

Item 2: Thai-style lentil soup.

You need: 2c Lentils, 2 cans of tomatoes, 2 cans coconut milk, garlic, ginger, cumin, coriander, turmeric
You should: Cook the lentils for about 25 minutes in one pot while you work on the sauce in another. For the sauce, briefly sauté a bunch of minced garlic and ginger, then, before they get too smoky, add the tomatoes (the recipe called for jalapeños too, but I couldn't get any), stir in the coconut milk, add a bit of each of the Indian spices, and let it simmer for 15 minutes. Once it's all melded nicely, mix it into the lentils and cook them together for another 20 minutes, or just let it simmer til the rest of the meal is ready to go.
The verdict: Everyone seemed to like the dish. The consistency was awesome, and the acidity of the tomatoes and the creaminess of the coconut went together nicely, though it all came out a little bland for my taste. We did drop in more easonings and even a spicy pepper near the end to try to adjust the taste, but it wasn't quite enough. Maybe a bit more ginger in the sauté, even a bit of onion? And a splash of lime juice at the end? Easy enough to make in big batches, and nice and warm and smooth going town, but it needs a little work.

Dish 3: Variation on Pad Thai

I wasn't sure if I was going to need to make the this one or not since I don't have too much experience cooking for twelve. After churning out four big bowls of salad, a giant pot of lentils, and two plates of bread and toast, for some reason, we felt like we'd need more. So we went for it. It turned out to be completely unnecessary, but...

You need: Noodles, bean sprouts, garlic, ginger, onions, tofu, shiitake mushrooms, eggs, oyster sauce, Thai spice mix
You should: Slice the tofu into strips and sauté on its own until it gets a little crispier and chewier, then set aside. Sauté the onions, garlic, ginger and mushrooms, while getting the noodles started on the other burner. Boil the noodles until they've got about five minutes left, then add in the bean sprouts. After five minutes, if you can, remove only the bean sprouts, and mix them in to the sauté. Cook for another minute or two, then toss in the eggs (already beaten) and scramble for a bit, adding in the noodles at the very end. Sprinkle in the oyster sauce - just a little, it might be stronger than you think - and a load of salt and pepper and Thai spice mix.
The verdict: Everyone said they liked it, but personally, I had some reservations. It wasn't quite as good as the stuff I've been making at home recently. The oyster sauce was a little too salty and there wasn't quite enough Thai kick to it. Should've used even more seasonings and crushed up some peanuts as a topping. That said, I love adding bean sprouts in with noodles - it cuts down calories, adds protein, and also slips a little crispness into the noodle mush. Plus, it's easy to get organic bean sprouts and they require much less work to grow and process than noodles do. Anyway, I have a feeling this will become a decent dish after a few more tweaks and iterations. In any case, not too bad for something that started as a way for me to empty out the fridge...


Not pictured: hummus. You probably all know how to make it, but, anyway, here's how I do: (excuse the preceding/ subsequent excesses of colons:)

You need: chickpeas, olive oil, tahini, garlic, onion, salt, pepper, other spices
You should: soak the chickpeas the night before. Pressure cook 'em for about 10 minutes; while that's happening, sauté up some garlic and onions. When the chickpeas are done, strain them, but don't throw out all of the liquid. Blend up the chickpeas, tahini, olive oil, sautéed stuff, salt, pepper, and whatever spices you want (this time I went with chipotle seasoning from home, but cumin and lemon also work well). Add in water and blend until you get it to the desired level of fluffiness. Sprinkle with a little more spice and oil on top.
The verdict: Thankfully, hummus is a novelty here and nobody knows how blase' it is or how hard it is to make one that will actually impress anybody. It always goes over well at the veg nights, though, and I think it's now kind of become expected that I'll bring some. This time, I added in more water to fluff it up and get a little more mileage out of the beans. I still want to move my cooking a lot more towards local ingredients, though. Maybe next time I'll try it with perilla seeds and oil? Or make my own tahini.

Not pictured: toast.

You need: Bread.
You should: Slice. Insert into toaster oven. Plug in. Turn dials. Don't burn.
The verdict: I think I've mastered this one.

Soooo..........

The eaters, clockwise, starting with the peace-sign dude:
Bohemian (nickname), dude I don't know, Ok-bin, Niall, Gyeong-ho, Yong-seong, Bo-mi, Su-jeong, So-yeong. Mi-na is in the back behind the counter, I'm behind the camera, and Il-mi is running late.

Time to chow down^^

The 대구녹색소비자연대 Goes 국제적인

(The Daegu Green Consumers Alliance Goes International)

Back in December when I first started attending the DGCA's weekly vegetarian meals, it was an all-Korean affair. There were small hints of globalization here and here - some American folk music on the record player, pasta salad on the menu - but, by and large, domestic dominated. Not because of any prejudice or lack of desire to open up; just because the group didn't advertise much and because of the cook's preferred dishes. Oh, and nobody there speaks much English.

For better or for worse, my arrival initiated the process. I brought a friend along on my second trip, went alone on the third and received a request to cook the following week, and along with two vegan pals of mine, served up dinner on the fourth, introducing the group to the wonders of hummus, baba ghanoush, and lentil soup. The meal, while challenging the taste buds of a few of the regulars, went off well, and ever since then, my friends and I - or, when I'm out of town, just my friends - have been guest cheffing about once a month.

Recently, Mina, who coordinates the Tuesday dinners, asked me if we could make it offic, and change the name once a month from "Vegetarian Dinner for the Earth" (지구를 위한 채식밥상) to "Mike's International Vegetarian Dinner." She said that it had been a year since they had started, they all knew each other too well, she was getting tired of cooking the same old meals (which are always awesome, if you ask me), and thought things needed to be shaken up a bit. Unable I refuse to help an activist in distress, I happily volunteered myself and my friends. Now, the deal is: Three nights out of the month, Mina will cook her usual excellent vegetarian dishes using local, organic ingredients from one of the cooperatives that supports our group; on the third Tuesday of each month, though, I'll suck up a little bit of guilt about extra carbon* and imported food, and do what I can to prove to the group that vegetarian cuisine can be exciting, varied, delicious, and even downright hedonistic.

Thinking that the inaugural meal would probably set the tone for ones to come, I decided to internationalize the meal thoroughly by bringing along two co-chefs: Mathan, my neighbor, coworker, and friend from Tamil Nadu, India, and Niall, my coworker from Gallway, Ireland.

Here are the three of us, hard at work:

And here's what we put together, for a cost of less than five bucks a person:

In no particular order, the dishes are:

Rajma Masala (Kidney bean curry)



Fried rice with bell peppers



Tomato and onion chutney

Coconut chutney; Indian rice; raw onions with cumin powder and lemon juice; raw cucumbers and tomatoes; and cilantro.

The meal was met with near universal acclaim. Those who had been to India recognized the taste, and those who had only been to Indian restaurants in Korea recognized our superiority. Some fell for the beans, some for the rice; for me, it was the coconut. Even Mathan, who spent his first twenty-five years eating authentic Indian cuisine, said everything tasted as good as what he and his other Tamil friends make when they miss home. There was one woman, who had never tried Indian food before, who wasn't a huge fan, but I'll just win her over with something else next time.

We subdivided the labor, with Mathan assuming responsibility for the fried rice and tomato chutney, me for the bean curry and coconut chutney, while Niall did duty as a double souz-chef. Thus, regretfully, I can only present you with two recipes.

First, Rajma Masala, adapted from this recipe:

1 cup of (pre-cooked) beans, 1 tomato (not quite diced), 1 onion (diced)
3 cloves of garlic, about an equal amount of ginger, 1 or 2 spicy peppers, minced
1 tsp cumin seeds, 1 tsp coriander powder,, 1/2 tsp cumin powder, 1/2 tsp garam masala, 1/8 tsp turmeric, salt

(I don't pay much attention to spice proportions, partially because I don't want to bother with measuring and partially because stuff always comes out fine anyway. The important thing with Indian, I find, is to go really easy on the turmeric.)

1) Fry the cumin seeds over a medium flame for a minute or two in the cooking oil of your choice, then add the onion, turn the flame down, and give it five or ten minutes to get soft and translucent.
2) Add the garlic and ginger and cook for a minute or two.
3) Add the chilis, tomatoes, and all the spices except the salt. Roast for a minute or two.
4) Add the beans and about a cup of water. Salte to taste. As the water boils out, mash in the pan so that it becomes a little thickery.
5) Once the water has boiled out, you're ready to serve.

This recipe will give enough for about two people, if you have rice and something else on the side. I like it so much - particularly the rich, creaminess of the beans and the bite of the little chunks of ginger - that I could probably eat the whole thing myself. For the group, I tripled the recipe and added about an extra cup of beans to make it a little more hearty and filling (never a bad idea when you're cooking for ten).

Second, the coconut chutney, passed to me by word of mouth from Mathan's mother in Tamil Nadu. I don't quite remember the proportions, but something like this.

1.5 coconuts, cut into fingernail-sized pieces.
3 hot chillies, cut similarly
10 cloves of garlic (could be wrong on this), and about half that much ginger.
Tamarind (about equal to garlic)
2-3 tbsp split chana dhal
A few pinches of salt

Combine in food processor with a good amount of water. Keep blending and adding water as necessary, until it becomes a kind of dense, grainy cream, much heaver than Baba Ganoush. This chutney has a really interesting flavor: creamy and rich from the coconut, a little crunch due to the dhal, spicy thanks to the chillies, and a deep tang courtesy of the tamarind. It's amazing if you have time to chill it and let the flavors settle together before serving.

So, that was that. The next event will likely be held on the 9th or 16th of May, depending on whether or not I go out of town for our school's sports week. So, I've got at least a few weeks to think about what to serve. I'm thinking of trying my hand at bean burgers. If you know a good recipe, or have another suggestion, let me know!

May you all soon enjoy a delicious, home-cooked, eco-conscious meal with your friends!

DGCL's CSBS at my house! Almost!

Sometime back around December, as I must have mentioned, I started frequenting the "Daegu Green Consumers League"'s Tuesday-night "Vegetarian Dinner for the Good of the Planet." Each week, we gather at "The Warehouse" (the name of the meeting place), and a woman named Mina cooks a meal for us. There are about five regulars (I now count myself among them) and another five or so who come from time to time. Nobody else - except my buddy/neighbor/co-chef Suzie - is a vegetarian, but everyone tries it once a week in order to reduce the strain they know meat-eating places on the planet.

Last week, Mina went on a trip and wanted to cancel the event, but I wasn't gonna let that happen. Instead, I coerced Suzie into helping me host. So, we invited the League over for dinner. Here's what we made:

An unplanned leftover salad (my creation)! Mini sprouts, baby greens, lettuce, carrots, cucumbers, old bell peppers, a few kinda squishy cherry tomatoes, a beet I didn't know what to do with, and roasted perilla, pumpkin, and sunflower seeds. Dressed with olive oil, white wine vinegar, and some Italianish herb mix so kindly procured and exported by my mom.

Croutons made with multi-grain sesame bread, olive oil, and just a hint of salt and pepper. All credit to Suzie for these.

Suzie's pumpkin/carrot soup, with just a hint of curry.

Potatoes Donatella-style. I learned this from my host mom in Padova in 2005. Just cube the potatoes, swish them around in a mixing bowl with a bit of oil, salt, and rosemary, and then roast them for an hour. Suzie added a little twist: steam the potatoes first, so that they're a little squishier on the inside, but still nice and crispy outside.

I also woke up at 6 that morning to makee a giant pot of chili in the slow cooker - kidney beans, black beans, tomatoes, tomato paste blended together with an onion/bell pepper/garlic/red pepper powder sautee. It came out tasting OK, but was a little ugly, so there's no picture.

For dessert:

Some fresh fruits (yes, unfortunately, mostly imported, but all bought at about 11pm the night before from the shelf of past-expiration date stuff that the store was going to throw out anyway...) that we used to make:

Low-energy CHOCOLATE FONDUE, the heat source for which was just 3 tiny little candles. Amazing.

And here's everyone having a great time:

This was my second time co-hosting the event with Suzie. It's a bit stressful in the moments beforehand, trying to whip everything up in the one-hour gap after work and before everyone shows up, but it really winds up being a blast making good food for your friends - particularly if you can make stuff they're not likely to have tried, even if the ingredients are all available.

Ah, also, the whole meal cost just about 5 bucks a person, and that's counting about five servings of leftover chili, too! I deceive you not!

Mina's out of town next week, too, which means that the 지구를 위한 채식 밥상 is coming to my place.

The menu is:
-Suzie's roast sweet pumpkin appetizer (uncharted territory for me.)
-Indian style cabbage curry (I made a test batch today - easy and delicious^^)
-Thai style curry with potatoes, coconut milk, and whatever other vegetables are available when I swing by the organic shop tomorrow (also going to be a bit of an experiment).
-Mixed-grain rice, perhaps with some sweet potato slices mixed in for good measure.
-And perhaps, if everyone is lucky, my patented peanut-banana-soy milk-powder of roast grain supershakes.

Can I just say, nothing beats food with friends?

Brought to you by an excess of eggplants and tomatoes

The top five questions people ask me when they hear I'm vegan are, more or less, in no particular order:

1) Don't you miss cheese?
2) How do you know plants don't have feelings?
3) Where do you get your protein?
4) Why?
5) What do you eat?

These are all difficult questions to answer*, but number 5 may be the hardest. Usually I say, "Everything except meat, dairy, and eggs. You know...Fruits. Vegetables. Grains. Nuts. Seeds. Funghi. Beans. Spices. Sauces." But, understandably, the answer still seems lacking, and probably comes across like "everything you surround your meat with and eat more or less reluctantly, minus your favorite stuff."

I suppose a better strategy would be to just mention something nice, simple, and tasty that I've prepared or eaten in the past day or two. Describing a specific meal probably does more to counter the sense that vegetarianism requires extreme discipline and asceticism, and might even be a bit alluring if done right. In fact, while looking up recipes, I found a blog called "What the hell does a vegan eat anyway?"** which addresses said topic.

(Indeed, in terms of convincing / coercing people to eat less meat, it's probably better to mention one good vegan meal and tell them how to make it than it is to mention 20 non-meat ingredients they could use to cook something for themselves, if only they knew how).

Actually, now that I think about it, there's no need to even mention something I actually ate recently. Why not just mention, say, one of my staple dishes, or a one-off that turned out particularly well? Something tasty, easy, and that doesn't feel like it needs meat to be complete. I could of course still pretend that I made it recently, to make it seem simple and concrete.

I submit, for your approval, an eggplant + tomato curry that I whipped up with produce I just had lying around, most of it on its last legs:

How to do it:

(Please forgive the lack of quantities and times. I don't pay much attention to either.)

- Mince garlic, chilis, and ginger and fry with some onion. If you have cumin or mustard seeds, fry them too. If you don't, add some ground cumin after a few minutes.

- Keep an eye out. Pour in a bit of water (1/4 to 1/2 a cup) if it looks like it is drying out.

- Add in the eggplants. Mine were cubed, but I'm sure strips would also work. No need to peel. Cover to keep the steam in.

- Continue adding water (1/4 to 1/2 a cup at a time) if it gets too dry.

- Once eggplants get pretty soft, drop in some tomatoes.

- Add tumeric, curry powder, ground cumin and coridander, garam masala, salt, and/or pepper to taste. I also happened to have some coconut powder, which I threw in.

- Depending on your preferred texture, you may also choose to mash it up a bit. Watch out for squirts of scalding cherry tomato juice.

- For some extra fat and protein, crush up some seeds or nuts and sprinkle them on top. Cashews would probably be best, but peanuts grow better here.

- I ate my first serving with mixed-grain rice (brown, black, sticky, corn, halved peas and beans) and my leftovers with some polenta, also left over. The third serving was accompanied by some steamed sweet pumpkin slices and half a sweet potato.

Voilà! I served some to my neighbor Mathan from Madurai (a city in Tamil Nadu, just a hundred km or so from Sadhana), a real authentic Indian person. He said that it was great but could use a little tamarind extract to thicken up the flavor and counteract the spiciness.

A very nice meal, with lots to recommend it! Lots of spice, lots of veggies, lots of flexibility (carrots, potatoes, pumpkins, peas, etc would probably work fine), very little oil, and can be made in about 30 minutes if you've got the routine down.

Give it a try.
___________________________________________________

*Because,
1) People don't believe me when I say "not really." But it's true.
2) Generally nobody who asks this questions actually believes that plants and animals experience feelings the same way, or is asking it with plant welfare in mind. They are more likely than not trying to make my beliefs appear inconsistent, and make themselves feel justified. It's hard to answer a disingenuous question like this.
3) People, again understandably, don't believe me when I say that the above is enough.
4) "Environmental and ethical reasons" is too short and accusatory, but anything longer than that generates awkward silence.

**Actually, I'm not a huge fan of the blog. The meals are a little complicated and imposing for my tastes and, frankly, reek of BOBOhood***. I like my food simple, and with as many local ingredients and whole foods as possible. I suppose, though, that even these meals can seem simple, provided you keep the right stuff on hand and go through them once or twice. Also, I don't use my oven much.

***I realize I am a BO(urgeois) BO(hemian) in many ways and a hypocrite in some others. I also realize that you all probably realize this about me, and also that you realize that I also realize this about myself, and that I therefore probably don't need to point out that I realize it, too.