Recipe: Curried yellow split peas

I've thought for a while that it would be fun to have my own food blog but I'm quite sure I wouldn't have enough material to keep it going for very long. If I did have such a blog, however, it would feature recipes that are (1) vegetarian (2) calling for easy-to-find and inexpensive ingredients that are (3) healthy and (4) require little preparation or clean-up -- my idea of the four cardinal virtues of any recipe. Some of my friends and acquaintances blog about their cooking adventures (Mind your Peas and Cukes, Cafe Liz) and I also enjoy reading blogs of people I don't know (Fat Free Vegan). However, I'm pretty sure that a project on that scale is not for me. So, with no plans to make it a regular thing, I figured I would post a recipe I made over the weekend to scratch the itch. Essentially, it is a vegetable curry but I dumped legumes and rice right into the curry to make a one-pot meal with plenty of protein.

Curried Yellow Split Peas

Ingredients (in order of use):

• 1 T neutral oil (add a pat of butter for an extra rich taste)
• 1-inch piece of ginger, diced
• 2 onions, diced
• 2 tablespoons of your favorite curry powder
• 6 carrots, diced
• 1 lb yellow split peas (or dal, if you have access to an Indian grocer)
• 1 c brown rice
• 1 can chick peas 
• 1-2 potatoes, diced
• 1/2 package of creamed coconut or 1 can of coconut milk
• 1-2 tablespoons salt
• 1 bag frozen cauliflower florets
• cayenne pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Before you start, set up an electric tea kettle to heat 8 cups of water.
2. In a very large pot, saute the onion and ginger together in the oil until the onions are translucent.
3. Add the curry powder and diced carrots and keep sauteing for 5-10 more minutes.
4. Add the yellow split peas, brown rice, can of chick peas (along with the water in the can - why not?), diced potatoes, coconut, and the 8 cups of water.
5. Bring the whole mixture to a boil and simmer for an hour, stirring occasionally. Check on water levels, as well. You can add more for a thinner dish or boil some off for a thicker dish. Make sure the split peas are cooked before continuing to the next step.
6. Stir in the frozen cauliflower, salt, and cayenne and then turn off the heat (the cauliflower needs almost not time to cook so it will bring your dish down to eatable temperature and cook all at once). Adjust the seasoning. When in doubt, add more salt or curry powder.
7. Serve with plain yogurt.

Variations:

•  You can add any vegetables you like; these are just the ones I had at home. I think mushrooms and frozen peas would be good additions. Mushrooms would go in with the carrots or shortly thereafter and peas at the very end with the cauliflower. 
• I didn't have any available, but sauteing a handful of fenugreek seeds along with the onions and ginger would probably have been a good variation.

Albert Memorial

This memorial was built to commemorate Albert, the husband of Queen Victoria. For a short, informative podcast on Victoria and her relationship with Albert, I recommend this "Stuff You missed in History" episode: http://castroller.com/Podcasts/StuffYouMissed/2410217. This picture is a view of the entire Albert Memorial, in all its floridly ornate glory. The gold statue in the middle is Albert. The four white statues surrounding him closely represent sectors of the economy (agriculture, manufacturing, engineering, and commerce), and the four surrounding the whole memorial represent four continents (Europe, Asia, Africa, and America).

 A bit closer...

 Top of the memorial

 Albert

 Europe

 Asia

 Another shot of Asia

 Africa

America

Hyde Park

 Marble Arch, the northeast corner of Hyde Park

 Pick-up soccer football. This park (and Regents Park, too) was mostly grassy fields.

Geese

Red-nosed duck?

 More water fowl

Victoria and Albert Museum

Side Entrance to the V&A Museum:

Mordu admiring an 11th century Egyptian ewer that looks like glass but is actually hewn from a clear stone:

The Ardabil carpet, considered one of the finest Islamic carpets in existence (dates to mid-16th c.). Lit only on the hour and half hour to preserve its colors.

One of several tapestries depicting the acts of Peter and Paul that were designed by Raphael to hang on the walls of the Sistene Chapel:

Medieval sculptures of animals bearing heraldic banners:

The earliest known free-standing bookcase was designed for Samuel Pepys in 1666. This bookcase is nearly identical to that one:

 A medieval staircase from France:

The hall in which this picture was taken is called the "Cast Courts." It contains life-size replicas of some of the world's most famous pieces of art and architecture. This is a replica of Trajan's column in two pieces. Take a look at the person below for a sense of the scale:

In the restoration section of the Cast Courts, David and the School of Athens lie side-by-side:

The Jewelry Hall:

A 19th century mosaic of Rome. The tiles are made of glass.

 Close-up of the mosaic:

Flattened trumpets hanging in space:

Sunday adventures coming in the next few posts

Today we had beautiful weather: 55 degrees and sunny! We rode the tube to the Camden Town station and then wandered through Regents Park, Hyde Park, and the Victoria and Albert museum. I have broken the day into several posts, all of which should be available on this blog (though the order has gotten a bit jumbled):

• Regents Park
• Hyde Park
• Albert Memorial
• Victoria and Albert Museum
• Piccadilly Line to Cockfosters

Regents Park

 Saluting the statue

 

Ready Money Fountain

Jubilee Gate

One cool dude

 Ducks

 Queen Mary's Garden - very Alice in Wonderland-ish

Piccadilly Line to Cockfosters

After a long day meandering through Regents Park, Hyde Park, and the Victoria and Albert Museum, we had to take two trains to get home. Our first train was the Piccadilly line in the direction of Cockfosters. And yes, every time we heard this is the Piccadilly line to Cockfosters in a British accent, we cracked up. I didn't say we were mature.

Food not in our Apartment 2

Where are we?

England? Great Britain? The United Kingdom? Yes, yes, and yes.
For an explanation of the difference between these three, and "a whole lot more," check out this 5 minute video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNu8XDBSn10

Food not in our apartment

This is available for sale at our local Sainsbury's grocery store:

In case the subtitle is difficult to read, let me transcribe it: "more mushy, still lovely; in water, sugar & salt added." I should note that at 13p per can, this is one of the least expensive items in the store. The small green V in the lower, right-hand corner means "suitable for vegetarians." If you meet a vegetarian canine, please let us know.

Turing meets Kipling and a guide to British newspapers

Commuting back and forth on the London Underground, or Tube, we have occasion to pick up cast-off copies of various newspapers that people leave behind on the train. (And yes, The Sun really does have a nudie pic on page 3.) This evening, it was The Daily Telegraph and this was the article I read on the way home:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/9093910/How-did-the-leopard-get-its-spots-Codebreaker-Alan-Turing-was-right-all-along.html

To orient me to all the British newspapers, Mordu shared the following dialogue from an episode of the BBC comedy Yes, Prime Minister:

Hacker: Don't tell me about the press, I know exactly who reads the papers: the Daily Mirror is read by people who think they run the country; the Guardian is read by people who think they ought to run the country; the Times is read by people who actually do run the country; the Daily Mail is read by the wives of the people who run the country; the Financial Times is read by people who own the country; the Morning Star is read by people who think the country ought to be run by another country; and the The Daily Telegraph is read by people who think it is.

Sir Humphrey: Prime Minister, what about the people who read The Sun?
Bernard:  Sun readers don't care who runs the country, as long as she's got big tits.

A train pulling into the Colindale Station. We live at Golders Green which is a very similar-looking stop.

Foods in our Apartment

1. Currants: Like raisins but smaller and sweeter. Haven't seen raisins in the supermarkets.

2. Red Leicester Cheese: tastes a bit like mild cheddar, pronounced "Lester."

3. Set Honey: Thick and sweet and very flavorful, scrumptious on sandwiches, toast, or in tea; the only other time I have had this kind of honey is when it was a gift from a family friend who keeps his own bee hives.

4. This is just run-of-the-mill malt vinegar and I confess to purchasing it only because of the tag line on the bottom: "Cheers up chips!"

5. Schnitzel by Tivall: I've missed my favorite Israeli brand of meat substitutes. Luckily, you can but these in Jerusalem London.

Finally, internet!

Setting up internet in our apartment proved non-trivial, to say the least. After extensive research (thank you, Mordu!) we decided to go with a plan offered by the company 02 (like the gas). All told, from the time we had collected the information, decided on a plan, tracked down a store, banged on the storefront to draw the employees out of the back room to let us into the store to do business (a story in and of itself), it took more than a week to set up, but tonight we are finally on! Not having internet did have its advantages. In the evenings, we kept each other company instead of running off to our own computers (indeed, right now we are both staring at separate screens) and at night we went to bed at a very reasonable and regular hour. Will trends continue? That remains to be seen...

Mordu: Are you really going to make me take this silly picture of us enjoying our new internet?

Rachel: Yes, so you might as well smile.

Royal Air Force Museum

Last Sunday, Mordu and I looked around for a short daytime adventure and discovered that we live 3 miles from the RAF Museum. We walked over which gave us a chance to see some parts of the city we might not have otherwise. Here are some pictures from the museum:

A reconnaissance bomber plane with a sky blue under-belly:

Two "boat planes":

Planes with fierce names like "vampire":

And less fierce names like "chipmunk":

Planes with various animals painted on them like this one with a kangaroo:

And this painting on the nose of a B-24 bomber:

And this one:

Maybe we should fly the planes?

We also saw various models of ejection seats:

And walked through a Short Sunderland of the kind flown during WWII and the Battle of Britain:

We saw an autogyro helicopter (click on the picture of the sign to enlarge it if you want to read the text):

And various squadron badges:

Including this one used by the US Navy, which Mordu particularly liked: