Thursday, March 11, 2010

Dal, Spicy Spinach and a Food Demo!


The other day I was craving a nice simple and easy Indian meal so I made dal (rich in protein) and spinach and ate it with rice. Jasmine loved it as well, in fact dal is a great weaning food after about 10 months.

Ingredients:
  • 3 cloves garlic chopped
  • 1/2 head of cauliflower chopped
  • little salt
  • toor dal 1 cup
  • little turmeric
  • sambar powder (can be found in Indian grocery store- famous in South India)
  • 4 curry leaves
  • teaspoon mustard seeds
  • 2 green chilis
  • 1/2 onion chopped
  • 1/4 chopped tomato


Method

1. add dal, cauliflower, tomato, little onion, little tumeric 1 clove garlic to pressure cooker and cook till you hear two whistles.
2. fry mustard seeds (let pop) onion, curry leaves, garlic, green chili in canola oil, then add some sambar powder- more if you want it to be spicy
3. mix fried onions and spices with dal and boil 5 - 10 min add coriander/cilantro to garnish.


Easy South Indian Spinach

Ingredients
  • 1 bag baby spinach (or fresh, any kind of spinach works)
  • 1/2 red onion chopped into slices
  • 3 cloves of garlic chopped
  • little salt
  • a pinch of cumin seeds
  • pinch of turmeric
  • little urad dal
  • 1 green chilli
Method:

1. Heat canola or olive oil in pan, then add cumin, urad dal, chopped garlic, chilli and onion and fry till onion starts to brown.
2. Add Spinach and stir fry on med/high heat, cover and cook for 5- 10 min
3. It is then cooked - so fast and tasty

Enjoy this wonderful healthy vegetable, rich in Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin K, Niacin, Zinc and Iron.

Finally I met the Marketer for my Local Winston Salem Whole foods through twitter and I did my first in store demo today for fun, I talked about herbs and spices we walk past and never use, lemongrass, lime leaves, Herbs De Provence, Mirin, Sesame seeds and leeks, it was a fun experience. Maybe I will do more in the future!

Fellow foodies and food bloggers, go and spread the word about cooking and using fun ingredients!

Love you all




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47 comments:

  1. Sounds good, I've been craving Indian! I want to hear more about what you were demo-ing at whole foods. Do you sell herbs?

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  2. The dal and the spinach sound so good! Congrats on your demo, how fun!

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  3. Ah your demonstration sounds like so much fun! I wish I lived near so that I could have seen you in action. Look how gorgeous you are!
    Everything you make is so full of flavor. I am so impressed.

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  4. Michelle no I don't sell herbs I just wanted to inspire folks to try cooking with things they wouldn't normally use
    5 star foodie: thanks so much
    Bridgett: oh you are too kind

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  5. Mmm...dal and spinach. Sounds delish.

    Good job on your demo.

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  6. Congratulations on your in store demonstration, what a great opportunity! The soup does sound rich in vitamins, I sure love all the healthy ingredients, although I had never heard of Dal before. I'm going to have to do some research on that one! :)

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  7. Dal is a great source of protein. The spinach looks good! Congrats on the demo! You're such a go-getter!

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  8. loved the dal and the spinach...really comforting foods and my all time fav with hot white rice

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  9. I am sure everybody loved talking with you and learning about spices and ingredients that might be new to them. How fun! Congrats!

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  10. I love hearty Indian food like this 2 dishes you prepared. Your demo sounds fun and how wonderful that must be to share food knowledge with complete strangers! :)

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  11. This looks so healthy...and delicious! I bet the demo at Whole Foods was a blast.

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  12. I love dhall and yours looks so good Rebecca! its good to know something so good is so healthy too.

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  13. Looks delicious--I love Dal and the spicy spinach looks wonderful.

    Congrats on the demo. Too funny, I have been doing the healthy store tours and cooking demos at Whole Foods twice a month--it is a lot of fun. So many good questions from people. Hope you do more!

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  14. Love your dhal soup. I would love that with paratha. That looks like so much fun to demo. Well done, Rebecca!

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  15. Hey Rebecca, congrats on your first demo! Did they asked for more? hehe... Oh yeah, you better be more prepared. Btw, I love the dhall. Looks so creamy yummy!

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  16. What fun doing the demo, Rebecca! Congratulations!
    Love this soup. It's so healthy and full of flavors!

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  17. Well done at the Palak Dal! You look great at the demo.
    Do check my palak dal-
    http://enrichingyourkid.blogspot.com/2009/10/spinach-and-lentilpalak-dal.html

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  18. Dear,
    My toddler son's favorite food is dhal with some veggies. He loves to have it almost everyday.
    I haven't tried leek before. I should give it a shot!

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  19. congrats on the demo that sounds like such a blast! I love the looks of your dal and spinach!

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  20. You look really cute..Congrats in your demo..

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  21. Do you call your spinach Saag or Palak, some other areas I know have even other names for greens, but I know I love this! I think I have all the ingredients, and to think tonight was going to be wraps, lol!

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  22. Lov dal and spinach combo...looks delish...

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  23. Delicious, these are my daughter's favourite kinds of foods - and I love the little silver vessel.
    Congrats on doing the foodie demos!

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  24. Congrats on the demo! That's so great Rebecca. And your dal with spinach sounds delish! Have a great weekend!

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  25. I would love to talk fun and different ingredients with you. Congrats on your demo! Some girls at work and I share different foods, she brought me some rapini just today. I brought her some of my dal, and Korean sushi.(not on the same day) It's fun!

    Your Dal looks fantastic...I can smell the goodness from here.

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  26. usually have this dhal with either spicy potato fry or pepper chicken or mutton fry.. miss it. have to try your version soon. you hv a nice blog

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  27. Jenn: thanks so much
    Laurie: its like lentil soup lol
    fresh local and best: aw thanks great to know you
    sushma: oh you can;t beat it
    cottage cozy: it was fun lol
    3 hungry tummies so true
    Bo thanks
    Zurin: thanks
    Deb: oh I need to get tips from you!
    Mary: oh I want paratha as well
    my little space: i may do more lets see
    Barbara: thanks
    Shirley: thanks for the link will check it out
    cool: oh you wil love leek and your son has good taste
    doggybloggy: thanks
    peachkins: aw you are too kind
    Chef E not sure what its called he he
    vrinda: thanks
    Natashya: clever daughter!
    ReenI thanks
    Lyndsey: how cool to share food at lunch
    aartee: thanks and thanks for stopping by

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  28. How fun for you doing a demo. I hope you get to do more.
    The dal and spinach looks delicious.
    Mimi

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  29. Hey-that's SO cool Reb!! So proud of you.
    I love daal-chawal and a simple curry. I add a little 'ghee' to Adi's bowl-makes it so tasty!!

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  30. Good on you. What a great idea. BTW, I love the plate in your flapjack post. Stay well

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  31. thanks Mimi
    Sweta oh your so sweet, get blogging again miss ya!
    kitchen butterfly thanks so much

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  32. Good to know about the dal being a good baby food weaner! I'll have to remember that for when I have kids.

    It looks so delicious! And the demo sounds so cool. that is like my dream job.

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  33. Hi Rebecca, that spinach sounds really good-I have some organic spinach in the fridge, so I might try it. By the way, you look so nice and sweet in your photo at Whole Foods!

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  34. How fun to have a demo at Whole Foods. Good for you!

    The dal and spinach look delicious.

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  35. thanks so much Joanne
    Stella very kind of you
    Kim: oh it was cool

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  36. Agreed! Simple and yet homey Indian fare! I love dahl ... many Malaysians love dahl on their roti!

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  37. Dal is a regular dish in Indian cuisine.It is cooked differently in different parts of India.Dal is healthy and delicious.Love the spices you add and also like the spicy spinach with the flavor of garlic and cumin.Congrats on your demo!

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  38. I love your demo photo! Im always looking for new ways to prepare spinach!

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  39. That's fun! I'd love to see what you said about lemongrass!

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  40. Dahl and roti love it
    alwaysa winner: yep my hubby is Indian lol
    figtree: oh hope you like it
    Ann: Thai food!

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  41. love the combination of the cauliflower, spinach and indian spices. I am big on Indian fusion cooking and this demo looks fabulous. Would love for you to check out my site as well. Best regards,

    Sasha

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  42. One of my favorite combinations dal and spinach. Congratz on the demo, you look great!

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  43. I'd like to cook more Indian food. Thanks for the recipe. Congrats on doing your first demo at Whole Foods! That's so cool!

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  44. The demo sounds like fun.. Bet you were great.

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  45. How fun! I wish you could come up to my Whole Foods!!

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