You all may not be too interested in this, but I'm fascinated by this cool link that shows some topographical maps and 3-D images of Harappa.
http://www.harappa.com/3D/1.html
Harappa was one of two major cultural centers of the Indus Valley civilization that flourished around 2500 BCE. The other major cultural center was Mohenjo-Daro (in the current Sindh province of Pakistan). Harappa is in current Lahore.
Despite the numerous seals found at Harappa with proto-Dravidian and proto-Sanksritic markings, archeologists to date have been unable to translate the words. It is also interesting to note that it is unclear as to what brought the civilization to an end.
I'll post more about the Indus Valley civilization later, but until then, check out the site. :)
Monday, March 19, 2007
Monday, March 12, 2007
Experiments in the Kitchen
So, I've decided that I'm bored with my cooking, so I've been trying new recipes these days. I found a good recipe for pot stickers (gyoza) - http://japanesefood.about.com/od/tempuraappetizer/r/gyoza.htm
Today, I had to figure out something to do with the eggplant I had bought with the high hopes of making shaak... but since that never happened, I made baba Ghanoush. I started with this base recipe - http://www.aubergines.org/recipes.php?eggplant=47. Then, since I don't know what all spice is, and didn't want to go buy it, I improvised a bit. (eh, word of advice, don't take "all spice" to mean that you need a lot of spices - the 2 or 3 things I had other than salt worked just fine).
For dinner today, I made stir fry with tofu - it was pretty good, so I'm going to branch out into some other tofu recipes. I should look for Quorn/mycoprotein here... :)
Oh, the other thing that I've been experimenting with is making sushi. It's not too difficult, except I can't figure out how not to over cook the sticky rice... will keep trying :) Over cooked rice aside, it's pretty easy to make, and you can fill it with anything you want. I don't like the fish thing, so I usually put cucumber, avocado, imitation crab meat, and/or cream cheese (or, as it's called here, a "Seattle Roll" - seriously!) Plus, can't go wrong with the wasabi - makes for a fun evening! Oh cool - I was looking for a picture of sushi, and found this recipe - http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Cucumber-and-Avocado-Sushi/Detail.aspx. I'll have to try the 1:1.5 ratio of rice:water to see if that will result in perfectly cooked rice.
Ok, I'll keep posting here if I have recipe ideas for you guys to try. Don't forget, asparagus and cantaloupe are back in season and tasty as ever! :)
Today, I had to figure out something to do with the eggplant I had bought with the high hopes of making shaak... but since that never happened, I made baba Ghanoush. I started with this base recipe - http://www.aubergines.org/recipes.php?eggplant=47. Then, since I don't know what all spice is, and didn't want to go buy it, I improvised a bit. (eh, word of advice, don't take "all spice" to mean that you need a lot of spices - the 2 or 3 things I had other than salt worked just fine).
For dinner today, I made stir fry with tofu - it was pretty good, so I'm going to branch out into some other tofu recipes. I should look for Quorn/mycoprotein here... :)
Oh, the other thing that I've been experimenting with is making sushi. It's not too difficult, except I can't figure out how not to over cook the sticky rice... will keep trying :) Over cooked rice aside, it's pretty easy to make, and you can fill it with anything you want. I don't like the fish thing, so I usually put cucumber, avocado, imitation crab meat, and/or cream cheese (or, as it's called here, a "Seattle Roll" - seriously!) Plus, can't go wrong with the wasabi - makes for a fun evening! Oh cool - I was looking for a picture of sushi, and found this recipe - http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Cucumber-and-Avocado-Sushi/Detail.aspx. I'll have to try the 1:1.5 ratio of rice:water to see if that will result in perfectly cooked rice.
Ok, I'll keep posting here if I have recipe ideas for you guys to try. Don't forget, asparagus and cantaloupe are back in season and tasty as ever! :)
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