Dear LPG,

After all that Christmas cooking I had a little rest but, I like to keep my promises and, in preparation for Indian Republic Day, yesterday was the day I ventured into the culinary unknown once again.   Well not actually unknown because I always have the recipe to hand, but after more than a year of monthly national food preparation, I don’t think that I know any more about following recipes than I ever did.  

I always take a quick look at the theory in preparation for the practicalities of following them and the ingredient gathering was a bit of a challenge.  My lack of knowledge started with knowing what moong dal is and I was also a little unsure about ghee, while I can truly say that I had no idea what hing is at all, but Catford has some shops where all these ingredients can be found and they were really good at referring me to others if they did not have what I needed.

Recipes which include ‘cups’ as a measurement have always worried me a little but I chose a teacup and measured meticulously because I did not want to make too much.   I had no problem soaking the rice and moong but I was a little worried about putting such a small amount into a pressure cooker because there just did not seem to be enough liquid.  But the cooking time was short.  I have never been quite sure how to sauté something so I looked it up online (►►►) and having watched the video and not wanting to make a total mess of the cooker, I decided a stir-fry action would have to do.

Then I opened the pressure cooker and it is fair to say that some of the contents had stuck to the bottom of the pan in spite of my having timed it to the second.  The rest of the recipe was strait forward although I added the contents of the pressure cooker to the frying pan and I think, having watched another video that it needed another little pressure cooking session. 

It turned out a different colour than expected but it tasted nice.  I do have to say that I felt a bit bad about the pressure cooker I borrowed because the tasting was followed by a lot of scrubbing before I felt able to hand it back.

I have just worked out that Serbia celebrates Statehood Day on February 15^th and one of the dishes that they hold dear is a breakfast dish called Burek.  With that information I have opted to have a go and I will let you know how I get on…

CB, Lewisham

CB has found a few versions of the recipe for Burek…

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