The weather can't seem to make up its mind. It's cold one day and broiling the next. Today, for a bit of variety, it's cloudy, and I miss the sun. I don't think I could live in one of those countries where the sun disappears for months on end. I need the sun in order to feel alive and to want to do things. It isn't surprising at all that ancient cultures worshipped the sun, it's only surprising that we stopped.
There was a super blue blood moon a few days ago. I remembered to look up at it at 9 pm, while I was trudging home after a very long, tiring day. I looked up while waiting to cross a busy street. Other people saw me looking up and looked up too. We all stood there for a few minutes, strangers, staring up at a red moon.
I have two dogs I feed every morning. They were starving and sickly when I started, but they're doing much better now. It's the best part of my day, when I get down from the bus and they dance up to me, wagging their tails. I love watching them eat; it makes me realise how much I enjoy feeding other people.
I haven't cooked much of note, lately. I haven't had the will. I try to feed myself nourishing food. I shop for fresh winter produce: thick red carrots, crunchy spinach, downy cauliflowers, but they are still wilting in my produce drawer as I drink cup after cup of coffee and eat a grape. I'll do better.
Over the weekend, I made these chillas that even picky A raved about. To make them, I chop up equal amounts of spinach and fenugreek leaves, as much as my largest bowl will hold. I add a finely chopped onion, some garam masala, toasted sunflower seeds, a teaspoonful of oil and a pinch of salt. I then dust this with a miserly amount of besan, and allow the leaves to leach their liquid into the besan, dampening the whole affair. I then slow-fry them on my cast iron pan, which is currently the only kitchen pan I need or want, until the leaves turn crisp. A and I ate these all weekend, hot from the pan, breaking off pieces in silence. Then he left and I went back to drinking coffee and eating grapes.
Note: For the chillas above, I did add some leftover grated carrot, but I don't recommend it. They seemed too aggressively sweet. We're going for subtle and leafy.
