Patta Gobi Mattar - A new appreciation

Approximately one year ago when Pranav would ask me to make patta gobi mattar I would stare at him in disbelief and ask "Really?" By far my favourite dish, it consists of cabbage, green peas, and not much else. Perhaps the reason why I didn't like it was that until now, I haven't been able to make it very well. Since moving back to Toronto from Kingston I have prepared this dish on numerous occasions and each time has been better than the last. I think I may finally have it down to a science. 

Another reason I've grown to like it is that if there are leftovers, they make the most delicious stuffed parantha. At Pranav's request (as usual) I used them - the leftovers - to make his breakfast one morning. I shaped two very thin chapatis from my atta, spread a generous amount of the patta gobi mattar on one, added a little salt, covered it up with the other chapati, pressed the edges together and flattened it out with my rolling pin. After that, I cooked in on my non-stick in the same way that I prepare all other chapatis and paranthas. So here it is, a simple recipe that I've grown to appreciate:

Patta Gobi Mattar (serves 3-4)

• 2 cups of chopped cabbage
• 1 medium tomato (chopped)
• 1 medium onion (sliced)
• 3/4 cup of green peas
• 2 cloves of garlic (chopped)
• 2 tbsp of canola oil or any other vegetable oil
• 1 green chili (chopped)
• 1 tsp of whole cumin seeds (jeera)
• 1 tsp of coriander powder (dhania powder)
• 1/2 tsp of turmeric powder (haldi powder)
• 1/4 tsp of red chili powder (lal mirch powder)
• salt to taste

Start by heating the oil on medium high in a non-stick or any other kadai. Then add the cumin to the hot oil - it should crackle on contact. Add the onions and stir to combine them with the roasting cumin, then add the garlic, chili pepper, and cabbage. Keep stirring to combine the ingredients, then add the spices. Next add some salt and the tomatoes. Thoroughly mix the tomatoes into the cabbage, then cook the dish while covered for 3-4 minutes on medium heat. Add the green peas and properly combine everything. This is a good time to check if you need more salt, then cover it up again and cook for 3-4 more minutes. The dish should be ready at this point, but if you enjoy a softer texture then you can continue to cook until that texture is achieved.

Sometimes I add 1 tsp of grated ginger to this dish and that gives it another layer of flavour. I normally add this at the same time as the garlic. If I prefer a drier texture, then I leave out the tomatoes. Hope it works out for you if you decide to give it a try. Good luck and good eats!

My new toaster trick

I'm a huge fan of the open-face sandwich. What? The open-face sandwich is something that I'm going to credit my father with inventing, although I highly doubt that he was the first one to do it. It consists of very humble ingredients: bread, butter, cheese, onion, tomato and black pepper. You put those ingredients on some crusty bread, stick in the oven until the cheese gets bubbly, and you're done. My oven is never empty, and not because I'm always baking. I use my oven to store large cooking vessels that I can't keep in my lower cabinets. This is very inconvenient for making the open-face, which I crave almost daily. 

Lately however, I have managed to mitigate this problem - all thanks to a little trick that my uncle mentioned to my mother, and which in turn was mentioned to me. I can't believe that I never thought of it before, but its very simplicity is what makes this idea so awesome. Turn the toaster on its side. Yes! That's all there is to it. If you have a toaster with wider slots then all the more awesome for you because you can add generous toppings to your bread. Here's what I do:

I begin by spreading a light coat of Becel on my favourite bread (rye with caraway seeds.) You can use regular butter, or garlic butter as well. Then I add some cheese - cheddar, havarti, mozzarella, whatever I'm in the mood for. Next come the onion and tomato which I like to slice in thin rounds, and a dash of black pepper. Now for the fun part - put the loaded up slices into the toaster (which is on its side) and get to toasting on your favourite setting. You'll have to help the bread into the toaster using a knife or other utensil. When your open-face comes out it will be not only beautiful but deliciously crispy. Just a quick note, keep a plate in front of the toaster because when the bread flies out, something will have to catch it. 

My Dollarama Charging Station

The finished look!

My mom and I went to Dollarama today to pick up a toy for Anoushka the cat. A brief word about Dollarama - the name is very misleading. Nothing costs a dollar anymore. Prices have increased by as much as 300% in some cases, and while that isn't a large sum of money to pay, it is proportionately a huge spike. Nevertheless, to Dollarama we went and as I wandered the unlabelled aisles looking for pet supplies I came upon a tile of fake grass. I recalled a segment of Pure Design in which my favourite designer created a charging station using a simple wooden box. Inspiration struck, and when I eventually located the craft aisle, I was able to procure a wooden tissue box suitable for my project. I didn't find a toy for Anoushka (at least not something she doesn't already have) but here's how I made a simple and attractive charging station to keep my wires tangle-free.

Charging Station (Total cost $4.52 including taxes)

• 1 grass tile ($2.00)
• 1 wooden tissue box with sliding bottom ($2.00)
• a drill to make holes in the tissue box
• green paper (I had some at home)
• good glue
• scissors
• 15 minutes of your time

1 inch hole drilled along the bottom of the length

The first thing I did was to drill two 1 inch holes in the tissue box. Hole #1 goes in the middle of one of the lengths (this will be the back) and hole #2 goes in the middle of the removable bottom of the tissue box (this will actually be the top.)

I cut the green paper to the exact measurements of the removable bottom, and also cut a hole in the same place as hole #2 so that the charging chords could pass through. Then I used a few dabs of glue to stick the green paper onto the removable bottom. 

Maybe it's a toy after all.

With the removable bottom (now covered in green and with a hole in the middle) slid into the box, it was easy for me to determine how much grass to use, so I cut it accordingly. The grass tile had fairly large spaces between the rows of grass so there was no need to cut a hole or pull out of any of the grass inserts. After lining up and cutting, I simply dabbed some glue onto the bottom of the tile and placed in on top of the green removable bottom (now the top.) This way, if you look closely at the charging station, you don't see any wood between the rows of grass - just green. 

I let it dry for about 10 minutes before feeding any wires through the holes, and then set it up in our bedroom. It looks totally awesome. If anyone tries this, please let me know how it works out. You can always make more holes, or make them bigger if you have more wires. Enjoy!