As a little girl my dad read this to me almost every night. To this day, this poem is still my favorite.

In winter I get up at night
And dress by yellow candle-light.
In summer quite the other way,
I have to go to bed by day.

I have to go to bed and see
The birds still hopping on the tree,
Or hear the grown-up people’s feet
Still going past me in the street.

And does it not seem hard to you,
When all the sky is clear and blue,
And I should like so much to play,
To have to go to bed by day?

-Robert L. Stevenson

Yesterday I received in the mail something I foresee becoming very near and dear to my heart, very quickly. I got quite possibly the most in depth, and also most intimidating Indian cookbook I have ever seen; Lord Krishna’s Cuisine: The Art of Indian Vegetarian Cooking.

With over 500 recipes it was hard to choose where to start. So naturally I started on page one. Naturally, as soon as I started reading I thought of something else to look up, and hopped all around the book trying to take it all in.

Today for lunch I got a chance to finally make one of the recipes. I figured a dal would be the way to go–a perfect dish for a light and refreshing lunch. This mung dal soup with tomatoes caught my eye, partly because it was the first I turned to, and also because I had all the ingredients on hand.

So, I followed the recipe. It was simple, quick, and beyond delicious. For those unfamiliar with Indian ingredients, this book goes into detail about all the spices, herbs, dals, vegetables, rice, etc.

Move over Joy of Cooking, I think there is a new #1 in my kitchen!

Preparation Time (after assembling ingredients): 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 1 1/4 hours
Serves: 4

• 3/4 cup split moong dal, washed, without skins
• 7 1/4 cups water
• 3/4 teaspoon turmeric
• 2-inch piece cinnamon stick
• 3 tablespoons ghee or vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons coriander seeds
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
• 1/2 tablespoon sesame seeds
• 3 whole cloves
• 4 green cardamom pods
• 5 black peppercorns
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1-2 seeded hot green chillies, cut into large pieces
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 medium-sized firm rip tomatoes, coarsely chopped
• 3 tablespoons minced fresh parsley

Directions:

1. Combine the mung beans, water, turmeric, cinnamon stick and a dab of the ghee or oil in a heavy 3-quart nonstick saucepan over high heat. Reduce the heat to moderately low, cover with a tight-fitting lid and boil gently for 1 hour or until the dal is soft and fully cooked.
2. While the dal is cooking, warm a heavy iron frying pan over low heat. Add the coriander seeds, cumin seeds, fennel seeds, sesame seeds, cloves, cardamom pods and peppercorns. Dry-roast , stirring occasionally, for 8-10 minutes or until the sesame seeds are golden brown. Remove and set aside.
3. Take out the cardamom pods. Remove the black seeds and put them with the other roasted spices. Discard the pods. With and electric coffee mill or a stone mortar and pestle, reduce the spices to a powder. Add enough water to make a moist paste.
4. When the dal is cooked, remove from the heat and take out the cinnamon stick. Add the salt and beat with a wire whisk or rotary beater until the dal is smooth.
5. Heat the ghee or oil in a small frying pan over moderate to moderately high heat. When it is hot, add the chillies and the moist spice paste. Stir-fry for about 30 seconds. Pour in the sugar and stir. As soon as the sugar turns a rich reddish-brown, toss in the chopped tomatoes and sprinkle liberally with water. Fry for about 4 minutes or until the tomatoes are reduced to a puree. Remove the pieces of chili and pour the spiced tomato seasoning into the dal.
6. Bring the finished dal to a boil once more, turn off the heat and cover. Let the seasonings soak in the hot dal for 1-2 minutes. Add the minced herb, stir and serve.

About a month ago I bought a six pack of jalapeño plants from the nursery. I have never tried growing chillies or any vegetable for that matter. I am pretty new to the whole gardening thing so I was a bit unsure of whether or not any chillies would actually grow on my little plants. Yesterday to my surprise I noticed a little jalapeño sprouting towards the back of my little pot. I can’t even explain my excitement–and it looks like some more are about to come in as well!

Now I just need to do my research on harvesting these babies!

A couple days ago I invited one of my oldest friends, Dolores, over so we could explore my new cookbooks, and make delicious meal together. We dove right into 5 Spices, 50 Dishes, picked out two recipes and decided a trip to the Indian market was in store.

The first we picked out was a black eyed pea curry recipe. It was in a thick coconut gravy sauce, with just the right touch of spice. The second recipe was a butternut squash dish with green beans and cashews, simmered in coconut milk. It was tasty, but I wasn’t quite as wild about it as I was the black eyed pea curry.

As if two dishes wasn’t enough to eat, we went all out and bought a 10 pack of naan at the Indian grocer, and decided to make samosas and saffron rice as well. I had some puff pastry dough in the freezer, so we threw the samosas together quickly, and they turned out to be probably my favorite bit of the whole meal. The puff pastry was light and crispy, which went well with the spicy potato and pea curry I put inside of it. Dolores and I smothered them in the mango ketchup I made a few weeks ago, and were in pure heaven. Next time I make them I plan on making the dough, so will wait until then to post the recipe.

We ate like kings. We blasted Mohammed Rafi out of the iPod, and practically licked our plates clean. It was a joyous occasion and I really can’t wait to have another cooking extravaganza!