I'm realizing ever more clearly with each rented place we live in the
importance of a good kitchen to living sustainably. Kitchens are an
afterthought in most urban rental dwellings. They are small, and poorly
ventilated. To contemplate major canning and baking projects in our
current kitchen in the heat of summer is almost unbearable. We may try
doing our canning in the common room kitchen. It is not much bigger but
the heat will be there instead of sitting in the center of our apartment.
I'm just not sure the thought of hauling everything up and down 3 floors
is any more appealing.
I was thinking some more about Jeff's comments about flatbreads and
remembered something we used to do pre-children. We lived much more
sustainably then because we had way more time. We raised two colicky
babies through infancy completely alone with no help from family or
friends and on a very limited income. We are still recovering and only
gradually remembering and regaining the energy to do our own from scratch
again.
Anyway this was a favourite flatbread from our more sustainable days.
Chappati
2 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup hot water
2 tbsp oil (the original calls for melted ghee, but I always used
vegetable oil)
Sieve the flour and salt together (I only ever mixed them together with a
fork or whisk). Knead for about 10 minutes until no longer sticky. Cover
and set aside for 1 hour. Divide the dough into 12-14 balls. On a floured
surface roll each ball into 6 inch rounds. Preheat the grill to very hot.
Heat a frying pan over a medium heat and place a chappati on it. Cook the
chappati for 2 minutes until brown spots appear. Turn and cook the other
side in the same way. Take the chappati and place it under the hot grill
for a few seconds; it will puff up. Turn and cook the other side for a few
seconds until it puffs up. Place the chappati in a dish and brush with a
little melted ghee. Cover and keep warm while cooking the others.
If I remember right, after the first few times we skipped the puffing
step. I believe we also stopped buttering the finished chappati.
You can get into a nice rhythm rolling and cooking at the same time rather
than rolling out all the chappati at once.
We would make these to go with a meal of rice and dal. The dal would be
runny and we would take a chappati and mix the dal into the rice then
scoop up a mouthful with the chappati. These would be very inexpensive
nutritious and tasty meals. Variations on the basic theme formed the basis
of our diet.
I would also mix rice and barley instead of having just plain rice, and if
I'd been cooking for myself alone would have sometimes used all barley
instead of rice. Most people don't like the flavour and texture of barley
on its own, but for me barley is comfort food.
Polenta type foods are also ones I consider sustainable and adaptable to a
variety of grains. But I'll wait and see if anyone is interested in this
type of post before writing anymore.
sph
Sandra P. Hoffman [EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.flora.org/sandra/
----------------------------
The one small garden of a free gardener was all his need and due,
not a garden swollen to a realm;
his own hands to use,
not the hands of others to command. --Sam Gamgee
