Making Masala for Life

Dhal, on paper, should be the easiest thing in the world. Its a lentil curry; boil up a few lentils, fry a few spices and onions and hey presto; Dhal!

Its not like that though. Dhal is an art form. It needs love and slowness.

Yesterday I took the time to make a dhal for my house mates. The last five weeks have been hectic. I have grabbed meals on the run, takeaways and not eaten enough to sustain the level of activity I have been engaged in. Yesterday evening I wanted slowness. I wanted dhal.

I started with chopping the onions... slowly. If you fry the onions too quickly you can sour the taste of the whole dhal. No rushing just watching over them and lowering the temperature as required. A good 15 minutes later and the spices were ready to go in. Then the fresh garlic and ginger paste followed a few minutes later by tomatoes.

I waited and watched and then I waited and watched some more. The oil was not separating from masala. After a few minutes I realised there was not enough oil to begin with. In a little bit more went and then watching again. Then that beautiful moment of fullness when the mad mixture that is a masala becomes one.

In with the lentils and within a few minutes that beautiful chocolate shade of  Tarka Dhal emerges. It looked like it was going to taste amazing!

In with the guinea pigs and us piggies are all happy after our shared meal!

Sometimes life rushes by. My life has been reflected in my food consumption; rushed and unloved. Taking the time to slowly prepare food can be a luxury. Slow down the tempo and breath. I took the time to cook for friends last night. They may have viewed it as a loving gesture from me but for me it was a gift to myself. The gift of slowness and love. The gift of dhal.

The best laid plans...

This week began with all the usual enthusiasm that Mondays bring in my world - a time to start afresh, the first day of the rest of your life, yaddy yah yah! Well Monday's activities were put off for another day -  sure isn't there always tomorrow? Couldn't really get warm all day, no matter what I did. Went for a run Monday night and never even broke into a sweat. Had some yummy Aloo Palak and finally I felt warm.

That night I woke up several times feeling pretty restless. I got up a few times to drink some water, thinking it might be that I was a little dehydrated that was keeping me up. Third time I awoke I knew it was more than a bit of restlessness. Something was wrong, really wrong. Gut-wrenching pain and dashing to the toilet. I am a notoriously bad patient and in light of this it was obvious that I would accuse the nearest sentient being of attempting to poison me. Why think logically that I could have a stomach bug when I could blame the nearest person of murder most horrid!

The next morning the accused was sent to the pharmacy to get me an arsenal of medication to get me through the worst of "poisoning". There the accused was told that yes there is a vicious bug going around. Conveniently let off the hook, he arrived back quite smug. I was in serious pain. I took 1000mgs of paracetamol but was still in pain some time later. I reached for the back up supplies... the stuff I keep hidden from everyone. God only knows the Solpedeine/Nurofen addicts of the world would only be pounding on my door if they knew about the bad boys I keep hidden at the bottom of the sock drawer. 

Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the bathroom...

Physical pain abating, the puking began with a fury. 3 litres of 7up, spinach and god knows what later, I finally came up for air. (It is never a good idea to puke into a bowl with a measure on the side). I put the bowl down, swatted the dog away and blew spinach/puke from my nose. I wiped the tears from my eyes - these were forced out due to the pressure of the puke coming out - not cause I'm soft or anything! I felt so good that I cleaned up everything, in the bathroom after depositing the contents of the bowl in the toilet. 

Bad choice of reading material

Horrible cramping pain persisted until this afternoon and now I'm feeling relatively fine minus about a stone of weight! My hair looks a bit big for my face and my clothes are hanging a little looser, but seem to have gotten through the winter vomiting virus fairly unscathed.