Food

Hot garlic sauce with capsicum and cauliflower

This is a vegetarian dish, but you could add a non vegetarian component and the recipe would hold beautifully.

Cauliflower- 450 grams after cleaning
Capsicum- 2 large, diced
Onions – 1 medium sized, finely chopped
Spring onions – the greens, about five stalks
Tomato sauce – 8 tablespoons
Chilli sauce – 2 tablespoons
Star anise – 2
Green chillies – 3, finely chopped
Ginger- 1 tablespoon, finely chopped
Garlic – 2 teaspoons, finely chopped
Corn flour – 1 tablespoon
Sugar – a pinch
Soy sauce – half a teaspoon
Red food colouring – 1/8 teaspoon
Magi cube – if large, then one
Salt to taste
Oil

Method
Break the cauliflower into bite size pieces and wash it. The best way to get the crawly insects out(if any) is to soak it in salt water. Chop the capsicum into thumb nail sized dices and mince the onions.

In a pan heat oil and add the star anise. When the oils are released (the aroma hits your nose) add the chillies, garlic and ginger and stir fry this till they are lightly brown. Now add the tomato sauce, chilli sauce and soy sauce with the Maggi cube and two cups of water. Bring this to a boil. Add the cauliflower and cook for a minute. At this stage the food colouring could be introduced.

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Faith

Doing, Doing, DONE? –  12th week in ordinary time – Matthew 7:21-29

The Sermon on the Mount now draws to a close. From a literary perspective it ended with the ‘golden rule’ in Matthew 7: 12. However, from a pastoral view it draws to a conclusion here. Remember that the Chapters and verses were added to the Bible as late as 1551 by Robert Estienne also known as Stephanus, who added verse divisions to his fourth edition of the Greek New Testament, while en route between Paris and Lyons, France.

This last section of the Sermon on the Mount addressed a growing issue in the community of St Matthew. There was a clear dichotomy between thought and behaviour which perhaps threatened this growing community. While they professed their faith in the Lord their motivations have now become questionable.

While this questionable behaviour flows through the text it is highlighted the most in verse 28 and 29. The crowds were astounded at the Lords teaching because he taught them with authority. This authority was not merely one that came from an office he held but by the fact that his words and deeds matched.

Here in lies the warning to the disciples of the first century Judeo Christian community; they are warned not to slip in to the same mould as ‘their scribes’( verse 29) but remain true to Jesus. It is evident that Matthew’s community too had scribes who had now joined the fold from Rabbinic Judaism but their inauthentic lives would stand out when matched with the Master should they not fall in line.

The text of today can be divided into two sections. Verse 21-23 contrasts ‘sayings with doings’ and verses 24-27 contrasts ‘hearing and doing’. In both the sections, the doing is the proof of the pudding.   When we do a bit of self-introspection we realise we have a set of assumed beliefs, what we think we believe which may not match our doings. We may say we believe in being honest and in truth but should we be faced with challenges then this belief is simply compromised. The question Jesus is asking us is; do our beliefs truly shape our practices?

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Food

I grow ridge gourd in my garden kitchen and cooked with potatoes, this makes a fabulous dish.How you cut your vegetables is crucial to the overall taste of this dish and of any other dish. Perhaps what is not know beyond the kitchen is that the fibers of this vegetable are used to make the loofah sponge. This vegetable lends its self to soups and i dare say goes very well with stir fries. It also blends very well when cooked with dal. 

This dish calls for all the vegetables including the ridge gourd to be sliced very thinly. Lumpy food is very unappetizing to the eye. This dish is simple and easy too cook and uses every day ingredients that are freely available.

Ingredients
Ridge gourd – two, the length of your palm
Onions – one, very large and thinly sliced
Tomato – one, very thinly sliced
Potato- one, very large and very thinly sliced into semi circles
Mustard seeds – one teaspoon
Curry leaves – one sprig
Green chillies – two, finely chopped
Turmeric powder- 1/4 teaspoon
Chilly powder- 1/2 teaspoon
Coriander powder- one teaspoon
Ginger garlic paste – one teaspoon
Salt to taste
Oil

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Art/ Heritage

LUCA SIGNORELLI: Apocalypse or the Destruction of the World, 1499 – 1502, Fresco, Chapel of San Brizio, Duomo, Orvieto

 ‘But in those days, after that suffering, the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.’ (Mark 13:24)

 Italy in the early sixteenth century was ridden with not just disease and war but with a sense of spiritual paranoid. The Apocalyptic hysteria meddled minds and perturbed souls. This was best exemplified by the prophecies of Girolamo Savonarola, a charismatic Dominican friar. He staged ‘bonfires of vanities’ along with ‘hell-fire sermons’. He warned about the end of time and the great battle between the spiritual and temporal which would usher in the Last Judgement. Regarded Antichrist, Savonarola was burnt at stake in Florence on May 23, 1498.

Was Signorelli inspired by Savonarola? Perhaps yes. This is observed in his paintings in the Chapel of San Brizio, Orvieto. In order to illustrate the ‘Apocalypse’ the artist had to make do with the narrow but beautifully proportioned space on the inner side of the Chapel portal.

We are greeted with a heightened sense of absolute drama. The painting is surmounted with a group of cherubs that seem to blissfully wrestle with a ribbon plaque. At the centre stands a little winged creature holding high the herald of the ‘Opera del Duomo di Orvieto’ (O.P.S.M – the institution that promotes, manages and administers the work of the construction of the Cathedral).

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Food

Seer fish also called Surmai or king fish – five large pieces
Green mango – one small bowl, smashed
Onion – one large, chopped finely
Pepper Powder – two teaspoons
Turmeric powder – 1 teaspoon
Chilly powder – 2 teaspoon
Curry leaves – 2 sprigs
Mustard seed – 1 teaspoon
Coconut oil
Coconut milk – 1 large cup
Green chillies – 3 slit

Method

Wash the fish and smear it with pepper powder, turmeric powder and salt. Pour oil in a pan and fry the fish.

Pour oil in a pot and when the oil is hot add the mustard seed. The seeds need to crackle. Now add the slit green chillies, chopped onions, chilly powder and fry all together. Add the smashed green mangoes, curry leaves and fry.

Finally add the coconut milk and lower the flame to ensure the milk does not split and curdle. Add salt to taste. Now put in the fried fish, do not use a spoon to mix as the fish may break. The best thing to do is lift the vessel and swirl the curry till the fish is immersed in the gravy, when you see that it is about to come to a boil remove it from the fire.

Enjoy

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