Paratha and Dhal

Today is 24th May. A month ago on 24th April, I was in my 6th day in the hospital. The final day where I was released. And it takes that long, a full month for me to finally feel relieved that the side effect from the thing that infected me [until today they fail to name the thing that infected me - no conclusive diagnosis]. Whatever it is, it was such a wake-up call. I have never been that sick before, have never been hospitalized, and have never been febrile that long [almost two weeks].

 

Nevertheless, after what happened to me, I feel a little reluctance to eat outside. I don't feel safe anymore to eat at stalls or restaurants, unless they are graded with "A" in terms of cleanliness [A Malaysian system to grade restaurants]. And as most fast-food restaurants are graded with "A", that's my only choice. By fast food I do not mean McDonald or KFC. I'm trying to eat healthy, so I opt for Sushi King all the time.

I like mamak food. Mamak Restaurants by definition in Malaysia is:

1. 24-hour restaurants

2. sell Indian cuisines - paratha, chapatti, fish head curry, etc

3. everyone in Malaysia [well, almost] loves it as it has that certain ambience to hang out there as long as you want with food you can afford.

So what am I trying to say here? I'm saying, now that I feel a little reluctant to eat outside, I try to cook things that I eat at mamak stall. Like this Dhal below. I can't remember why I want to eat it, but I Googled for the recipe and this was what I had for dinner today:

Ingredients:

1 cup of lentils

2-3 cups of water [depending on your preference of the broth thickness]

1 tsp turmeric powder

1 medium potato [diced]

1 medium brinjal [diced]

1 medium carrot [diced]

Few cloves of star anise, cloves, cinnamon sticks

3 cloves of red onions [thinly sliced]

2 cloves of garlic [thinly sliced]

Few curry leaves

1tsp mustard seed

1 tbsp oil

Salt and sugar to taste

Steps:

1. Boil lentils in 3 cups of water until it is soft.

2. Add turmeric powder. Stir and add potatoes and carrot.

3 Boil until carrot and potatoes are thoroughly cooked.

4. Add brinjal and cook for another 5 minutes.

5. In a pan, sautee the onions, garlic, star anise, cloves and cinnamon sticks, mustard seed and curry leaves for a few minutes, then add into the other ingredients.

6. Add salt and sugar to taste.

7. Remember to always stir the mixture because lentils burns easily.

Enjoy!

p/s: Could not find Atta flour to make my own paratha, so those are store-bought ones. :P