Dinner@Home - Squid, Spinach & Dhal

One of the things I am happiest about this year is the fact that I travel much less than the previous year, which means escaping the office a 5 and having the evening to yourself. No late night arrivals from the airport, no half-dead weekends spent recovering from the hectic week before, and, best of all, no living out of a suitcase ( I hate packing and unpacking).


Less travel has also allowed me to cook more often, especially on weekends. Nowadays my routine after work often involves a stop at the market nearby, picking up whatever caught my eye and then going home to prepare dinner.

Last week it was the fresh squid that caught my eye, and I decided on oven roasting them two ways - one with a ginger-shallot paste and tumeric, chilli powder and coriander seeds, and the other, simply in a combination of Maggie Seasoning, black pepper and a little sugar. I also added some cornflour to help crispen the squid and absorb the liquids.



The squid was wonderful, fresh and tasty, and crispy from the oven. We ate this with white rice, spinach simply stir fried with garlic and dried squid.

We also finished out leftover dhal from our Indian dinner on Sunday, recipe from Ruta Kahate's 5 Spices, 50 dishes, a truly wonderful (but by no means complete) introduction to simple Indian cooking.

I added carrots to the dhal, and curry leaves crispened in the tadka that topped the simple stock+lentils mixture.