The smile train

In the hope that November the 4th gives us something to smile about :-), I am writing out this post early.

My cause for the week is the Smiletrain. I met two wonderful, dedicated doctors at the Indian consulate reception last year. They volunteer their time for free to get these surgeries done all over the developing world. Its a relatively cheap surgery but makes a big difference to the kids who would otherwise grow up teased and abused. Take a look at some of the pictures on their website at www.smiletrain.com.

Menu for the week is in the works so if you have a special request, let me know. Its for dinner on friday the 31st. Mom will have returned so I can make friday work again. I'll check into Halloween Indian food if such a thing exists. But won't it be nice to come home to a good dinner after all that trick or treating with the kids?

For those looking ahead - next week is for the Shelter Network.

Diwali!

This week we celebrate Diwali - the festival of lights. Its the ancient Indian (actually Hindu, but everyone celebrates it) festival marking the victory of good over evil. We mark it with diyas or lights, food, and fireworks (of a very minor kind given the long arm of the law). Sometime this week our block on Bernal will glow at dusk with the light of a 1000 tea lights thanks to our cooperative neighbours.

For us its timely that we can make an award in Anu's memory and have something good come from a personal tragedy. Thanks to your support we are making two awards - one the family traditionally supports every year, and a new second one to a bright young scientist that includes your contributions. Aruna will make the awards at the Neuroscience conference in DC in November.

The menu for this Sunday Oct 26th is most likely as follows. Pick up as usual at 6:00. Dinner for 4. This is the last week to contribute for science.

Butter chicken curry (my low fat version)
Chaote squash sauteed with mild spices
Beetroot raita - (a lovely halloween red! And a sweet taste that kids love)
Kheer - tapioca or semolina
Basmati rice and Naan bread
And an appetizer I haven't figured out yet.

Dinner for four October 19

Thali is thriving :-) and I hope I can keep this going for a while! Please forward this link to your friends.

A quick reminder, the cause for this month is science. The thali's are for 4 to go and are a complete balanced meal. The suggested donation to the cause (you write the check directly in most cases) is $100 for dinner. And 100% of that goes directly to the receipient. I get to cook something nice and feel good about it!

The debate yesterday featured a question on why the US is lagging behind in science. The candidates talked about how they would put money into the system and Obama came up with some $$$ for college too. Hopefully good things will happen on the education front in the next 4 years.

We tried out the recipe below from Sanjeev Kapoor's site this weekend. It was a success and is going to be on the menu for Sunday Oct 19.

Other menu items

Bhindi - okra slit and stuffed with dry spices
Palak paneer - Indian cheese in a spinach gravy
Raita
Kulfi - Indian ice cream
Rice and naan

HARA MASALA MURGH
Chicken cooked in green masala
Preparation Time : 30 minutes
Cooking Time : 30 minutes


Ingredients

Chicken 10 drumsticks
Fresh coriander leaves 1 cup
Fresh mint leaves 1/2 cup
Green chillies, slit 6
Coconut, 1/4 cup
Cloves 4-5
Almonds 15
Yogurt 1 1/2 cup
Salt to taste
Oil 3 tablespoons
Green cardamoms 4
Onion , chopped 2 medium
Ginger paste 1 tablespoon
Garlic paste 1 tablespoon
Coriander powder 1 tablespoon
Cumin powder 1 tablespoon
Fresh cream 1 cup (I didn't do this part)


Method

Grind the coriander leaves, mint leaves, four green chillies, scraped coconut, cloves with a little water to a fine paste. Grind almonds to paste. Marinate chicken with green masala, yogurt and salt for half an hour Heat oil in a pan. Pound green cardamoms and add to the hot oil. Add chopped onions and sauté till brown. Add ginger paste, garlic paste and sauté till brown. Add marinated chicken and sauté for a while. Mix almond paste with the remaining marination. Add slit green chillies, coriander powder, cumin powder and mix well. Add the remaining marination mixture. Add stock and mix. Adjust salt. Cover and allow to cook for two minutes on high heat and then lower the heat and cook till done. Lastly add fresh cream and remove from heat. Serve hot.

October Blues

We are in the mood for comfort food. So here's the menu I anticipate for October 12 (Sunday). As always the Thali for 4 is to go, and you write a check directly to the cause of the week.

Carrot coriander soup - mild soup with a dash of ginger
Chole - chick peas in a moderately spicy gravy
Palak paneer
Ratna's famous chicken curry
Nan
and rice

And most likely tapioca kheer for dessert


Today, October 9, is Vijayadashimi, the day of victory when we
celebrate the triumph of good over evil. Take a look at http://www.durga-puja.org/dussehra.html for information on both culture and food.

Photo of Chole from madhusvantalu.wordpress.com

October dates

October 5 is taken!

Dates open are Oct 11, 17 or 18 (for pick up around 6:00)

For the love of science

This month's dinners are in memory of my sister. As most of you know, Anu passed away a few October's ago on her way back from the annual Neuroscience meetings.

My post is a bit late this week - was going through the 65 applications for a travel award set up in her name. Late stage PhDs and Post Docs are eligible for the award. Most of these truly brilliant scientists spend 16+ hours in their labs working on basic science that change our lives - but for very little money at this stage of their careers. The average salary for a post doc is about $30,000, which means many make far less. PhD students get small stipends that they live on because you can't get another job when you are working 16+ hours in a lab already :-). They do it for the love of science.

In the (latest?) Newsweek Robert Reich (former labor secretary for the US) says that the lack of money put into higher ed and basic science has slowed down the process of discovery. So, any $$ generated from Thali will go towards a second travel scholarship for one of the 64 applicants left on our list, so that im our small way, we can make a difference. You can write out your checks to the candidate Neuron (where Anu was a senior editor) helps us select. Its not tax deductable (unless you can think of an easy way to make it so). Think of it as your contribution to findings a cure for Autism, Muscular Dystrophy, memory loss and Alzheimer’s - among a host of neuroscience research applications that impact us all.

Not only was Anu a brilliant scientist, she was the best chef in the family. She could recreate most dishes she tried in her travels. I have inherited a bookshelf full of cookbooks from all over the world. And will try out some of her favorite dishes this month.

Menu for SUNDAY dinner (I am working today and tomorrow so have moved it to Sunday this week)

Indian salad - bhel puri (a meal in itself)
Sauted Thai long beans
Chicken curry
Eggplant in yoghurt sauce
Naan
Brown Basamati rice (just got it - supposed to be tasty and low on the glycemic index)
Kulfi - homemade Indian icecream

Let me know if you are interested in this thali for four, for Sunday Oct 5.

On a lighter note - Anu was a SNL fan and would have appreciated these skits. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQ5QbP-SrpQ

And to end on a food note. Anu switched to brown rice when she discovered she was diabetic. Its much healthier than the fluffy white stuff I love. Cooking brown rice is a challenge because it can taste raw and chewy. Anu recommended soaking it in water in the am before going to work, and then cooking it in a pressure cooker. I do the former with brwn/red rice (soaking it for a few hours) but then cook it in a regular rice cooker.

Micro credit

This week's dinner is taken! And I believe its for Kiva.

What does Kiva do? It loans (not gives) entrepreneurs a bit of money to get them started on their road to independence. The whole micro-credit movement got a lift with the success of the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh and Muhammed Yunus's Nobel prize. What's unique about entities like Kiva is that it allows us here to give $25 each and pools it together for the entrepreneur at the other end. And arranges for repayment of the loan. BusinessWeek had an interesting article about a 25 year old travesing Kazaksthan as he monitored Kiva's loans. I'll try to post the link later.

Refreshing when you consider the billons of dollars now being set up to bail out the banks. These micro loans are for people at the other end of the food chain.

Its a busy week at work so I'll keep this short and end with a recipe for walnut raita - tasty and high on the omega 3 stuff. I first tried it at a friends' place, but its now a staple for my daughter.


Ingredients:

2 cups of walnuts
1/2 bunch of coriander leaves - chopped
one medium cucumber-grated
2 green chillies-slit
1/2 to 3/4 a carton of natural yoghurt (Pavel's)
salt, cumin powder, chille powder to taste

Method:

Chop the walnuts and dry roast for a few min.
Beat the yoghurt, add everything else to it and mix well.
Needs to be eaten fresh so don't store it!


Note: Pavel's costs a bit more (Molly Stones) but tastes far better than all the others I have used for raita.