Out Of The Garden

our tiny tabletop tree ~ complete with clementines and christmas candy

When I moved to northern Michigan, I knew I would miss the proximity to the Indian and other Asian grocery stores that I loved so much. Now, nearly two years later, I have learned to handle this minor inconvenience. I shopped around town and discovered ghee and a few other staples at Meijer’s supermarket — who knew? Meijer’s even boasts an expanded produce section — think bottle gourd and small brinjals and greens of every description — once I even found fresh methi there and I nearly cried!! I found a Latin American store which sells rice and tapioca flours, dried chiles and cumin, and many great veggies such as chiles, cilantro and limes which are cheaper and fresher than the supermarket variety. I grew my own Korean radishes in the garden for making kimchi. The one thing that eluded me was curry leaves.

Then I happily stumbled upon NJ’s Grocery in the tiny village of Lake Leelanau, on the beautiful Leelanau Peninsula. NJ’s is a sweet little hometown grocery store, offering the usual everyday groceries, produce, its own small meat counter and deli, and… homemade Indian cuisine!? How lucky could I be? Just a half hour’s scenic drive up West Bay from work there was a tiny Little India awaiting me, complete with a few dals and spices on the shelves. One look at the dishes on offer and I knew someone must have access to … ahem … the elusive curry leaves. Of course I am not shy, so I asked 🙂

Rosie, the kind lady in the kitchen, was good enough to sell me some of her stock of lovely curry leaves — albeit frozen — which I otherwise would have no hope of obtaining. This is what I have been using in sambhar and other dishes since I arrived in the north woods. Then I traveled back to Boston for Thanksgiving last month. I ventured out with little m on a shopping extravaganza. From Patel’s in Waltham I scooped up bags of Haldiram’s cornflakes mixture (dear G’s fav!), some of my fav Gujarati fafda, a few harder-to-find spices, and about 10 packages of dreamy looking fresher-than-fresh greener-than-green curry leaves to carry home with me.

precious cargo ~ fresh curry leaves and the tasty podi they made!

Back in the north woods, I immediately cooked up several sambhars and curries absolutely loaded with my fragrant find.

chicken curry with curry leaves galore!

I froze a couple of packages, but I can *get* them frozen now. I searched and searched for the perfect way to preserve my bounty. Finally I decided on this tasty-looking recipe from Sangeetha of Spicy Treats. I made it tonight and it is absolutely divine! I followed Sangeetha’s recipe with few changes — I increased the garlic, reduced the red chilies, and forgot the jeera! 😦 Nevertheless, I was so happy with the way the toasted curry leaves ground to a fine powder with the fragrant dals and hing… the first time I have made a podi that came out so soft and … well … powdery! Thanks for the great recipe, Sangeetha 🙂

the fresh curry leaves podi with rice and ghee… mmmm

Of course, I saved a couple (ok, a few) packets of curry leaves from the deep-freeze because… I now am sufficiently encouraged to try my hand at ISG’s famous sambhar powder!

the yummy curry leaves rice with ginger-lime rasam from Anushruti’s Divine Taste ~ another delicious recipe!

pinks and gibby are sleeping by the fire ~ all is cozy in the north woods

Continuing this little story, we set off from New Hampshire on a rainy morning, and drove south into Massachusetts. Turning west, we picked up the historic Mohawk Trail. Avoiding the highway was best for kitties and driver alike; we made several stops along the way. The first was Erving, a small town in western Mass. Like many such towns, it lives alongside the railroad.

small town in western massachusetts

cute little antique and lunch spot in erving

various piles of cargo along the railway at erving

We ventured off the Trail to visit the hamlet of Shelburne Falls, home of glacial potholes. Here, the Deerfield River tumbles over a dam at Salmon Falls. As it was early spring, there was plenty of runoff. My photos did not capture a pothole. Still, it was a sight to see, all that water — and a pretty little town in the foothills of the Berkshires to boot.

salmon falls and glacial potholes at shelburne falls

history of the spot

the deerfield river tumbling down to the potholes creates plenty of white water

deerfield river racing out of the potholes to join the connecticut river, then onward to the atlantic

Continuing from that small detour, we arrived at the famous hairpin turn coming down into North Adams. Of course there are myriad hairpin turns in the world — the thing about this one is that you don’t expect it unless you have heard of it, and if you haven’t traveled in the western part of Massachusetts, you probably wouldn’t have. This turn seems to spring up out of nowhere and affords some lovely views!

hairpin turn at north adams ~ rainy road

view from the side of the hairpin turn

view into the valley at the hairpin turn

*in* the clouds at the hairpin turn

The rest of the drive was too rainy to stop for photos. We continued off the beaten path, until NY Route 7 carried us across the Hudson River via the Collar City Bridge. Faced with the outskirts of Albany, we stopped for the night. Kitties were mighty perplexed, as you can see.

miss daisy trying to hide under a bed, only there was no ‘under’ — just a platform base

pinkie ventures forth from the closet — supper is of utmost importance to pinks 😉

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Upvas Fasting Mix Dosa ~ An Experiment

One thing I knew I would miss in moving away from a major metropolitan area was the *shopping* — food shopping to be more precise — my favorite haunts for Indian and other Asian groceries, to be exact! To comfort myself, I stocked up on numerous items. For example, I am probably good on methi seeds and Korean chili powder for the next oh, 20 years or so 😉

fasting mix ~ has anyone used this??

I purchased this Upvas Fasting Mix by Deep Foods. I had NO idea what to do with it, but it was inexpensive, came in a small package, and looked too good to pass up (yep, I am a sucker for marketing — and I know it). Just look at that green, serene figure meditating on the lovely light-colored flour, bathed in yellow sunlight. You just *know* something good will happen to you if you cook with this, right? Right! Maybe you’ll find inner peace — maybe you will create WORLD peace! Yep, that’s me… a dreamer to the end.

Shortly prior to moving, I visited King Arthur Flour in Norwich, VT with my good friend A. There, I purchased a sourdough starter and carried it to Michigan in the cooler. When I landed, I fed the starter and made two batches — one for me and one for dear G. Now that I am here in the new little home, there is no need for two starters — today we combined them into one and freshened it up.

The fascinating fasting mix moved with me amongst the other goodies, all the way to the north woods. I searched and searched for a way to use it. This morning I found a recipe on Deep’s website. Rather than fried bread (that would negate all that good stuff that fasting is supposed to do, right?), I decided to try dosai with the freshened sourdough.

To make dosai, a cupful of starter went into a bowl, along with a cup of that Upvas Fasting Mix and about 1 1/2 cups of water. Happily, after an hour or so, the neglected starter came to life and the dosa batter bubbled. I added only a pinch of salt before cooking. The dosai came out as mine usually do — looking like a mess!

looks iffy ~ tastes great!

I added a bit more water to the very last of the batter for a ‘paper dosa’…

crispy super-thin paper dosa from fasting mix

They all tasted properly dosai-ish nonetheless, and I am happy to know the sourdough is working yet. A simple potato palya (modeled after this lovely recipe of Prema’s) with plenty of onion was the filling, and that was my supper for work tonight.

And whew, the work day is over and so is this post 🙂