LOCK-DOWN U.K. DAY 40

Day 40 Saturday 2nd May

As I said yesterday, we have wallpaper and we have paint, so we couldn’t really delay applying it to the bedroom walls and ceiling any longer. At this point I should say that I do not like decorating. I’m not sure why. I think a bit of it is the mess, and confusion that goes with it. A bit of it is that I don’t think that I am very good at it and can see all the mistakes that I made. Possibly a bit of it is that I don’t really like things changing around me.

After the ceiling collapsed we didn’t have a lot of choice. I suppose we could have boarded the door up and forgot about it. The ceiling and the walls above the picture rail are now painted in “White Mist”. It is, as the name sort of implies, a very pale shade of grey. It does look good, and is a great improvement on broken plaster. Tomorrow we tackle the wood work, and hopefully on Monday get round to papering the walls. Then all we have to do is paint the walls, choose a carpet, get the carpet fitted, and move all the furniture back in.

After that we decided that a take-away was in order. What we would really have liked to have done was walked round the corner to Chennai Dosa, our local Sri Lankan restaurant. It is probably more like a café than a restaurant. A bit like this place. The food is good and it is cheap, a starter, a main and a Cobra for each of us, and the bill is usually not much over £20.

But we couldn’t, so we did the next best thing which was to have the food delivered. The food was good, as it it always is, but the quantities were enormous compared to the restaurant meals. We ordered a vegetarian thali each, one would have been enough for both of us.

Chickpea and Cauliflower Curry

(from a Michelin Starred Chef)

I found this recipe by Angela Hartnett in last weeks Guardian. She has been publishing a series of quick and easy dishes that are described as Angela Hartnett’s midweek suppers. This is the first one I have tried, not so much because I didn’t like the look of the others, it is just that this was the first vegetarian dish in the series. I decided to make it for lunch today. My Veggie Wife thoroughly approves of it and so do I. It is dead simple to make. All the ingredients should be available at your local supermarket, if you don’t already have them in your cupboard.

I served it with naan bread (bought from Tesco’s) and a slightly chilled Hook Norton Bitter

I’ve included the ingredients and the method below.

Ingredients

(Serves four to six)

1 whole cauliflower
3 medium onions
4 cloves of garlic
½ tsp chopped fresh ginger
2 tsp ground coriander
2 star aniseed
½ tsp ground chilli
4 curry leaves
2 tsp garam masala
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tin of chopped tomatoes
1 tin of chickpeas*, drained
2 tbsp of chopped fresh coriander

Method
Remove the stalks from the cauliflower and cut into large florets. In a pan of boiling water, add the cauliflower and cook for five minutes. When ready, drain from the water and place back in the pan. Cover so it stays warm.

While the cauliflower is cooking, cut the onions into small pieces. Squash the garlic with the back of a knife to make it easier to peel. Chop until nice and fine.

In a pan, add a touch of butter, plus the onion, garlic and ginger, and sauté until golden brown.

In the same pan, add the dried spices and cook for a further five minutes.

Add the tin of tomatoes and  chickpeas and stir well. Then add the cooked cauliflower. Top up with 100ml of cold water and bring to a simmer for five to 10 minutes until the cauliflower is cooked.

Finish by adding the chopped  coriander. Serve on a warm plate.

*garbanzo beans if you are American.