Indian Spices 101

I went shopping with my friend, R, today to the great big Indian store near the Hauptbahnhof, or main train station, in Frankfurt. I wanted to buy all of the ingredients to make her yummy dal and for our future Sambar instruction. It was a big huge store that has things from all over- India, Africa, Sri Lanka, Thailand, I need to go back so I can spend hours there poking around and looking at every jar, package, bottle, green vegetable (they have Winged Beans and Bitter Gourd!) and piece of equipment (mortar and pestle? rice cooker? tiffin? fabulous pots and pans?).

Here is what we bought:
1 jar Mango Chutney in Olive Oil
1 package Tamarind
1 bag Toor dal
1 bag Moong dal
1 package dried Curry Leaves
1 bag FRESH Curry Leaves (to be stored in a jar in the freezer)
1 package Garam Masala
1 package Haldi (Turmeric)
1 package Ground COriander
1 jar Hing (Asafoetida)
2 pieces Fresh GInger
1 package Brown Mustard Seeds
1 package Chutney Podina Masala (mix of salt, mint, dried mango, pomegranate seed, chili,      
        coriander,black pepper, musk melon, caraway, nutmeg)
1 package Sambar Powder (toor dal, black gram dal, coriander, chili, cumin, turmeric,
       mustard, fenugreek, asafoetida, ginger, curry leaves, salt, oil)
1 package of Halwa (Indian style- wheat flour, jaggery, cardamom, cashew nuts, coconut oil)
AND A GREEN PAPAYA!!! so now i can make green papaya salad with the real thing.

Incidentally, an amazing blog about cooking South Indian food striving to be healthy while still tasting really good with a dash of crazy thrown in, is Sinful Curry. Check her out. Most recent post, pumpkin dal. looks so good.

However, I am starting a fast on Monday and will not be cooking anything. Green Papaya Salad today, a Butter Lettuce salad today, and then no eating. Nic makes her third dan test in September in Tae Kwon Do and she has a five day fast before a 12 hour day of meditation next Saturday. In solidarity, I said I would fast as well. I think it is time for a cleanse- I like to do two or three a year. We borrowed a juicer, so I may post a few delicious juice recipes, however, next week shall be dedicated to making things other than food and to starting my next course in school.

I am trying to have a different relationship with this fast- different meaning, not for weight loss, or to make myself different, healthier, better, something other. We'll see what actually comes up. But it seems to be a part of my no dogma, no habits of self hate campaign, to do this differently than almost every other fast/cleanse I have done. (Except the wilderness fast, which was a whole other thing.) So, instead of bam, no more eating today, we looked into the fridge and saw beautiful strawberries and peaches and lettuce, and the green papaya and thought- we'll only eat fruits and vegetables raw until all of these beautiful things are gone. Then we'll start the fast. So, already kindness- towards our vegetables in the fridge, our wallets, and our bodies is present. May all bellies be healthy and free from suffering.