While there are enough blogs to give you recipes and ideas, what am I doing here just chatting away about food( mostly) like this blog is a place for me to express all the self-indulgent stuff that we do? Well, the truth is I am only writing all this up for people who can relate to me because I know there are so many people who do not express but like to read things And feel some sort of connection with the world out there. It is always nice to know that there are people who like us and also do things similar to us no matter how ludicrous we are. And this blog is kind of helping me do that. (Not that I have found a million friends/readers already but whatever little there is makes me feel happy beyond words)

So, here is the new post on our Love for Dal.

Who doesn’t love a warming bowl of good ol’ dal? If you don’t, then I am going to assume that you belong to a different planet. Ever since I started to cook, dal is what I make often enough. One, because it is so easy to cook. Two, it is deeply satisfying. Not many foods work so well like this. It is either easy to make but not wholesome or takes a while to cook a rather delicious meal. But these little beauties blend beautifully with any meal.

Can I just take a moment to tell you a few Indian ways of consuming dal? First of all, dal is available in different forms. (Click here to read more) But what appears predominantly in my kitchen is the ever so adequate paruppu sadam/Plain cooked Dal with rice, Or a Sambar or a kootu/curry with coconut all of these associated with south India. Next to that, is a simple North Indian style Tadka dal where we rip a large piece of roti/chapati to dunk into it. We don’t eat like birds as we are greedy ol’ pigs who try to tear and stuff. Besides these, we add dals to vegetables to make stir fry curries or occasionally end up with deep frying goodies like a proper masala vadai or medhu vada on auspicious days.

Now, now I must get to the point! I was always fond of eating food made in clay pots and I still do. My mother makes some scrumptious lassi that is stored for a while in a clay pot before drinking. If you are a beginner, try drinking water stored in clay pots to start with or simply buy a matka kulfi to understand better. So, Last year I decided to buy a good clay pot from India and start experimenting. The first thing I made was dal and much much goodness it was. It takes longer than usual to cook in a claypot which is why I don’t use it often for now but it is certainly worth cooking if one has no attention-seeking toddlers at home. I am hoping to experiment with my claypot more next year but for now here is a picture of my first ever dal in a claypot or a Man Paanai as it is fondly called in Tamil.

So, have you ever eaten from a clay pot?