HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! Wishing you all a very wonderful 2017!!
I woke up on NYE, reflecting on how it was a wonderful 2016.
When I say wonderful, it was, with some complexity. It had its ups and downs. And when I say wonderful, I meant that I chose to focus on the wonderful things. I tried to focus on the positive things. I learnt how to heal myself and look at what I had in front of me. I learnt that there’s no right way of life, no right way of living, or a perfect life. Perfection is a perception. It’s what we make of it.
There were unanswered situations, uncontrollable chaos and all sorts of emotions when least expected. There were numerous amounts of time when I wanted to go into my own little melancholic cocoon. Instead, I built an armor around that strengthened me. The craziness of this year has taught me to understand, live, and accept life and its situations. Not quitting halfway, nothing ever given up. Small victories, small successes celebrated. Finding the extraordinary in the ordinary. Taking pride in what we do, what we are, and who we are. Life is an ongoing lesson that has taught me to be resilient.
So, it has been a bloody wonderful 2016. Let’s not wait for some magic to happen in 2017, because LIFE itself is magical. Let’s make things happen.
Let’s love ourselves more, respect ourselves and others. Stay humble. May we gather strength to deal with challenging situations. May we open our arms to love, happiness and change, and believe that it will all stay. Welcome 2017!
And here’s to a healthy start to the year with one of my favorite daal dishes that I make often. A friend of my hubby gave a beautiful bunch of fresh home grown kale, and the only thing she asked was to come up with a dish that her kids would love. Something other than kale chips or smoothie. This is one of the dishes that came to mind immediately. It’s healthy, easy and the best thing. The kids love it. It’s quite a flavorful basic daal which can be had as a soup, and it works well as a side with roti, and I love it with rice.
- 1 cup toor daal
- ⅓ cup channa daal
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp cumin seeds
- 2 pinches of asafoetiday/hing
- 6-8 garlic crushed and chopped
- ½ red onion thinly sliced
- 20 cherry tomatoes or 1 large juicy tomato
- 1 tsp chili powder or more
- ¼ tsp turmeric powder
- 3 cups packed washed and chopped kale
- 1 tsp salt
- toasted pinenuts, cilantro for garnish
- Wash and cook toor daal 2ith 3 cups of water in a pressure cooker or pot until completely cooked and mushy.
- Wash and cook channa daal in a separate pot with 2 cups of water until it is al dente or just cooked through but still retains it's shape.
- In a non stick pan, add oil and keep it on medium high heat. Add cumin seeds asafoetida and the garlic. Reduce the heat and fry for 30 seconds before adding the red onion. Fry the onion, add the tomatoes and increase the heat. Add the chili powder, turmeric powder and salt. Fry for 2 minutes until you see the oil ooze out. Add the kale and fry again for 2 minutes. Add the cooked daal, 1 cup of water and boil for 5 minutes. To get a creamier daal, grind ½ cup of cooked daal and add it to the cooked kale. Turn off the heat and serve with rice or roti.
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This recipe is wonderful!
Nice post Asha!
Such wonderful post Asha! Lovely pictures as always and this is one simple and nutritious daal dish! I am trying this out tomorrow with my fresh bunch of Kale that I just bought! Never had kale Indian style! Thanks for another simple and yummy recipe!
Beautiful post, Asha! What a lovely and comforting dish to start off the new year. Many blessings for 2017, keep being awesome! Xo
Asha, that daal looks fantastic and I’m not a fan of kale. I’d eat that with a big spoon!
Happy New Year!
Life is magical and so are your photos! Seriously lovely post Asha! I need more corn recipes in my life and this one fits the bill perfectly with its soul warming flavours.
The daal looks so delicious and comforting! I am a fan of kale too, so this combination is perfect for me.
Not sure that my comment went through…
This dish sound so comforting and it’s so colorful and vibrant! I agree wholeheartedly with everything you have said!! Here’s to continuing on with gratitude in 2017!!
Your positivity is contagious! Beautiful post Asha!
Lovely post Asha! I am with you on what you said about this year and your feelings. I will read this post when I am down, to bring me back up. Enjoy the little moments in life.. that is what it is about. Love your daal and how healthy it is, and ofcourse the shots are beautiful as always!
As I get older, I learn more and more to focus on the positive. You’ve summarized this so well, and it sounds like the downs of 2016 only made you stronger. I hope you have a phenomenal year, Asha — you deserve it! And this dish is the perfect use of that gorgeous kale. This dish looks so comforting and the perfect way to start the new year!
Nom! Asha, you definitely have a way with good, nutritious food that looks absolutely heavenly with your styling and photography. Look at that gorgeous kale! 🙂 You never cease to amaze me, my friend. Thank you for sharing your thoughts on 2016 as you have a definite way with words. Being an eternal optimist, I tend to embrace the positive and always search (and find!) the silver linings during challenging times. However, your post has truly inspired me to be even more positive this year. Warmest wishes to you and yours for many blessings and much happiness in the New Year! xoxo
Love daal! And love adding dark, leafy greens to it. Kale is perfect. Heck this recipe looks perfect — thank you. And Happy New Year!
Happy New Year Asha! Daal and some steaming hot basmati rice with a side of pickle is so comforting on rainy/cold days. Leafy addition of kale to Daal makes it even more better.
I started giving kale yet another try and so far it’s going good. Got to try the daal and that picture of kale .. GORGEOUS!
Never thought that I could use kale to make daal! Love it. Happy New Year and Chinese New Year!
I couldn’t agree more with everything you said!! ?Beautiful post, Ash!!
Focusing on the positive is always a good thing!:) Happy New Year (even though the 1st month already has passed) ! Our best wishes for you and yours sweetie, for a year full of health, joy and happiness!
The dish looks fantastic but since we can’t find toor daal here, we’ll use some garbanzo beans instead:) The taste will be different but we bet it’ll work (right?)!:)
Sending you lots of hugs,
Mirella and Panos