So how’s the packetless diet going? Well I am still alive. Seconds after writing that post and publishing my decision to follow the diet, I realized what trouble I had gotten myself into. I excluded a woman’s most fundamental right for mental and physical well being. I excluded pani puri. Wait… maybe I could eat it if I made it at home, which is very painful, but what’s a few hours of hard work against a cruncy puris, topped with boiled potatoes & chana, dipped in yummy, tangy, minty paani? But then I realized that by banning processed items like rava and maida (the two main ingredients in making puri) I had locked myself out of any hope. Remember this diet also doesn’t allow Maggi. It’s a terrible diet really.

Seriously though, it has been manageable. I have been a good girl and have been cooking breakfast, lunch and dinner at home. Simply because if I don’t cook, I starve and that’s not doing good things to my temper as everyone around me tells me. In moments of temptation, I always turned to mangoes and thanked God for creating them, each time. And it has worked. Oh and home made curd so kicks Amul Masti dahi’s ass! Also, I am raiding the local subziwala’s every single day for the freshest, bestest haul of vegetables and fruits, two times a day. Well, I like to take the quality of my supplies very seriously.

Coming to the bottomline, I have figured out one loophole by now. That is my diet can include vadas and french fries. How many diets can boast of something like that, huh? As long as I make it at home!!! With a full time job and a toddler at hand, I will probably never get the time, that’s another story. The thought itself is propelling me forward. Wish me luck!

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When people say “Ooh I love my veggies” when the only “veggies” (how I hate that word) they’re eating is onions and tomatoes, it just makes me want to thrust a brinjal or two in their face. I hate brinjals, btw. Nothing against onions or tomatoes, I too use them quite a bit, but in my world they’re faux vegetables. I think they enhance a lot of preparations, but by themselves they kind of fall short. Sure you can live on onions and tomatoes, but then please don’t say “I love my veggies”. At least not in front of me, okay?

So, the other day I prepared this curry that used to be a regular affair at home. No fancy masalas, no overpowering flavours, just a simple homely everyday kind of dish this. Goes perfectly with phulkas or parathas.

For making doodhi chana nu shaak (for 3 people), you’ll need:

1. 1 medium doodhi (lauki), peeled and chopped into 1/2 inch cubes (roughly 2 cups of chopped doodhi)
2. 3/4 cup chana dal (bengal gram dal), soaked in lukewarm water for 15 minutes*
3. 1/2 tomato, cubed
4. 1 tbsp oil
5. 1 tsp rai (mustard seeds)
6. 1 tsp haldi powder (turmeric powder)
7. 1 tsp mirch powder (red chilly powder)
8. 1 tsp dhana-jeeru or coriander powder
9. Salt to taste

Heat oil in a kadai and pop in the rai, haldi, mirch and dhana-jeeru. Add the doodhi cubes and soaked chana dal. Add 1.5 cups of water, salt and close the lid. Let it simmer for about 20-25 minutes. Adjust water and salt and cook till the dal is tender but still intact, not mushy.**

Add tomatoes and let it simmer for another minute or two and that’s all. It really is this simple.

*You can soak the dal first and then start the chopping of vegetables, so that it’ll be soaked and ready when you’re done cutting the vegetables.

**If you can cook the dal in cooker perfectly with the exact water and whistle ratios so that it gets soft, but not mushy, then you can further reduce the cooking time. The doodhi hardly takes 5 minutes to cook. You can just add the cooked chana dal once its cooked.

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