Comfort Food - Tenga Dal

UK should definitely register its Winter Flu as a certifiable weapon of mass suffering. Every year, come September, there is a deluge of cold and flu sufferer sniffling and sneezing their way through life. I myself have suffered through a particularly bad one last year which lasted for 18 miserable days. Apparently there was a bad viral strain doing the rounds last year. This year, it was my husband's turn to  suffer, and when you are sick, your taste buds off, nothing feels better than some good old comfort food. Comfort food by definition is a bit tricky, it depends on geography, family traditions and most importantly, taste buds. For example, my grandmother's roast chicken is the ultimate comfort food for me. An awesome dish, but a bit tricky to make when you have a fever. So since last year, I have been making my own comfort foods, borrowed heavily from my grandmother's cooking. A taste of the home but with no fuss.

First up is the Tenga mogul dal, or lentil soup. Nothing else will do for me when I have a running cold. Like all comfort food, this one too has a story. In Assam, lemon or lime also known as Kaji Nemu is an essential part of your lunch or dinner experience. The Kaji Nemu especially has a most aromatic smell and for me it is the most exotic accompaniment to any dish. When I was a child, this was often made at home with the fruit and the leaves used from our own lime tree in the back yard. I have since jazzed it up a bit for a bit more grown up version. Depending on your larder, this will either be kitchen essentials or something warranting a special shopping trip. For me its the former, so its an easy dish to cook.


What you will need

1 cup dal (you can use mogu or mosur)
A slice of lemon
1 stalk of lemon grass
A couple of frozen lime leaves (I get this from a local Chinese store, its not Kaffir leaves, just regular lime leaves. Although you can use Kaffir leaves as well)
Green papaya (optional)
1and 1/2 teaspoon regular cooking oil
Panch phuran or kalonji (optional)
Garlic

I rinse the lentils once and put it in a pan with 2 cups of water, papaya and lemon, lime leaves and lemon grass (also sliced into 1 inch pieces). I put this on medium heat, lid on for about 20 minutes. If you are worried about the water boiling over then partially cover the pan. After 20 mins, the lentils should be soft enough. Give the whole thing a good stir. This ensures that all the flavours get meshed in well.

If you want, you can fish out the lemon now and add a little water if you prefer a more soupy texture. The magic ingredient is actually the lime leaves, the moment you add this, this dal becomes a show stopper.

At this point I generally decant the cooked lentils into a bowl and in the same pan add the oil and panch phuran or nigella seeds and garlic. Once the seeds start popping, I add the lentils back in and season with salt as per taste. And your dish is ready. For me, the lemon and lime combo is a bit of heaven when I am down in the dumps.

Where to eat- 4Rivers Smokehouse

Since we are on the subject of food, let me introduce you to the sandwich from heaven otherwise known as the Southern Pulled Pork sandwich from 4Rivers Smokehouse. In Scotland, its a bit difficult to get a good man sized smoked meat sandwich, so I didn't waste time heading off to the 4R. I was craving some comfort food after a long flight and went a bit crazy with the amount I ordered.

Everything on the menu looked good and we finally settled for a bit of everything: smokehouse prime ribs,  southern pulled pork sandwich and the messy pig, pulled pork with slaw, jalapeño, pickles and smothered with 4R sauce. For sides we selected the sweet potato mash (loved it), smoked jalapeños (a bit meh), french fries (perfect), corn on the cob (sweet and tender) and a huge blueberry cupcake.

The eating area is an open patio with old fashioned fans lazily going round, and since the portions are so huge, there are take away containers kept on the side in which you can pack and dash if need be.  Am quite proud to admit that we managed to clean our plates. I won't lie, it was an effort resulting in a most ungracious waddle back to our car. But it was worth it.

My verdict, if you want a burger, go for Five Guys, but if its man sandwiches you crave, especially a melt in the mouth pork one, then it doesn't get better than 4 Rivers.

Joe's Stone Crab, Miami

There's some sense in shunning touristy eating joints and gunning for a local gastronomical meccas when you are holidaying, but when a restaurant becomes an institution, you just have to go, touristy or not. And that was the case with us when we went to Joe's Stone Crab in Miami. Now this is a place notorious for not taking reservation, but, it is still jam packed with people patiently waiting for their turn to eat the famous stone crabs. A word of warning, dress up, really. I went there after a day on the beach and an afternoon hauling faux Cuban cigars (America has a trade ban with Cuba, hence all Cuban cigars are not made in Cuba but in-store factories in little Havana). So when we landed up at Joe's, the hubby was in wrinkled cotton shirt and shorts and I was in a sun dress circa 2008 and rubber flip-flops. And we were surrounded by a Pucci-Cavalli mass. And there's a difference when Europeans do designer beachwear, the vibe is more casual and boho-luxe. But the Americans, boy when they play dress up, its the every piece of hair in place kind. It's very disconcerting. I took comfort from the only thing I had going, a hot pink-red lip courtesy Georgio Armani Lip Maestro, this is something that every lip girl should try, the texture and lasting quality is amazing. And the fact that I still fitted into a dress bought five years ago.  

Back to the restaurant, our wait time was somewhere around 30 minutes, pretty reasonable for a weekend I think. We we were ushered into the bar area, which was jam packed with fellow would be diners. We somehow managed to order our cocktails and squeeze into a corner and people watch. The hubby was a bit bemused by my fashion policing, especially my reaction to a pair of Louboutins on the spindliest legs and the knobbiest knees possible. Seriously ladies, baggy knees don't do a Léger dress credit. The cocktails were okay, I had better ones out on the Miami street, but the stone crabs, ah they were the jam. I didn't fill up on breads and starters which was just as well because the stone crabs are huge. We weren't very clear about the helping and ended up ordering for four people, but, nothing was wasted, trust me. One of the most helpful trick when you over order is to take some time out in between, sit, relax, sip your wine, and then, go for round two or three, as may be the case. 

For me, this was a stand out meal and I highly recommend a visit if you are in the area. Just make sure that the restaurant is open. Stone crab harvesting is legal only from the 15th of October to the 15th of May. And please dress up, not in a bandage dress, you are going there to eat, but in something that allows you to tuck in well.