Beginnings

Vibrant colors, deep earthy aromas, the sheer generosity of food and spirit that leaves you wanting for more. In Indian cuisine one finds a mezze of various flavors and colors - spicy, creamy, smooth and crunchy combined with rich reds, greens contrasting with white come together in a medley of complex tasting notes.
And now that I have got the PhDiness out of my system I shall move on.
Indian food always has the memory of food slow cooked and lovingly prepared by mom and grandmom, of recipes handed down from generations to generations, of comfort and intense longing. I mean pickles has become the synonym for the diaspora desperate to catch the whiff of the home they have left behind[And she cant seem to get it out from her system].

So its my turn to embrace that tradition of long calls back home, of noting down recipes on post-its and recreating food that smells of home or most of the time at least. The time was right - it was the end of the month of kartik which meant balijatra back home and waking up early to go sail boats. And those times for me are best celebrated with an old fashioned Matar Curry and Rice. A staple in Oriya cuisine and a personal favorite it could not have been a better introduction for a simple curry lunch and the blog.

Ingredients:
1 cup dried yellow peas
1 medium onion
4 cloves garlic
1 inch ginger
1 slitted green chilly
1 small tomato
2 tbsp oil
2 tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp garam masala
a pinch of amchur powder
salt to taste
3 cups water

Soak dried peas with 2 cups of water and leave it for around 6 hours or overnight. Pour into a pressure cooker along with salt and turmeric. Add water if necessary. Cook for 3 whistles or until slightly hard on the outside but giving way to smoothness once you bite into it. Keep it aside.

Chop coarsely ginger and garlic. Blend with 2 tbsp of water.

Heat oil. Add a slice of onion - if it sizzles then the oil is hot enough. Add the sliced onions. Fry till brown. Add the blended ginger-garlic paste. Stir for five minutes. Add the slitted chilly and press into the paste. If you dislike too much heat deseed the chilly and add. Fry the paste for 10 more minutes.

Add in a tbsp of water to prevent sticking.

Sprinkle all the powders except the garam masala. Add salt to taste. Cook for 5 minutes. 

Add the peas along with the water. Stir in the garam masala. Simmer till the aromas are released for about 15 minutes. 

Serve hot with plain steamed rice.