23.7.09

brokeacity.

















Above: this is what I look like when I run out of beer.

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Ah, the good ol' days. Beer. Terraces. We are sooooooooo broke-ass city at the moment, definitely unusually so, almost funnily so. It reminds me of a bad spell in college where I only had five dollars left in the bank, which I needed to get at, but the ATMs on campus had a minimum $10 withdrawal so I couldn't get it out. I had to borrow five dollars from someone to deposit into my bank account, and then withdraw my last five dollars. Cue violins, drizzle, and some shitty Grey's Anatomy montage music.

(I'm pretty sure I know what I bought with my last five dollars: eight boxes of Kraft Mac 'N' Cheese, eight packages of "Oriental-flavor" Ramen, and a jar of Prego. I don't believe I consumed a single green vegetable during my time spent in the Florida education system.)

It's not as bad as that right now, and we know The Poorness will end in a couple or three months, but for a while we have some serious bargain eating to look forward to. Tonight's dinner cost about 3 euros and was almost Thoroughly Repeatable. I fucked it up a bit by not exactly following what is undoubtedly an excellent Madhur Jaffrey recipe: one of my significant modifications to it was the only thing wrong with it. Here's what should have happened:

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roasted cauliflower masala with raita (in progress).

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1 large head of cauliflower, cut into 1/4-inch slices for eG-style roasting
walnut oil to coat
1/8 tsp nigella/kalonji seeds

1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
4 cloves garlic
2-inch piece of ginger, peeled
4-8 tbsp ghee, depending on your conscience (the original uses "vegetable oil")

1/2 tsp ground turmeric
2 canned Roma tomatoes, chopped
1 tbsp fresh coriander leaves, chopped
1 fresh green chile, chopped
2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp garam masala
2 tsp salt
1 tbsp lemon juice

Directions: Heat oven to 250C.

Puree onion, garlic, ginger, and oil in food processor. Add to wok and fry carefully for 5 minutes. Transfer to saucepan, add last nine ingredients and turn to low, let simmer for 35 minutes.

Meanwhile, coat cauliflower lightly with walnut oil, sprinkle with salt and nigella, and roast, turning every 10 minutes until nicely browned (usually 30-40 minutes).

Add roasted cauliflower to sauce, serve with raita.

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raita.

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1 cucumber
500gr yogurt
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/8 tsp nigella seeds

Grate cucumber. Stir yogurt briskly until smooth. Add cucumber and cumin, salt, and pepper to yogurt and combine. Sprinkle with cayenne and nigella, serve.

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