Last night I found myself picking up my son from school and back home around 5 PM with no plans for the dinner meal whatsoever. That meant it was time for a "fridge-cleaning dinner"- pulling out all odds and ends and putting them together creatively. (These often end up being my favorite meals, better than the planned ones.)
Roz Chast, one of my favorite cartoonists and writers, wrote a great little essay on fridge-foraging dinners and how everyone has quirky little names for this common phenomenon. I had fits of laughter reading this one. Some of my favorites: trash panda, having weirds, and anarchy kitchen. I could probably add a Marathi expression to this list- urla surla, roughly translated as leftover bits.
Anyway, last night, I found half a packet of soy chorizo from Trader Joe's, a couple of boiled potatoes (left over from Diwali puff pastry samosas), half a tomato (from a kid making a sandwich, probably) and bits of cheese. There was a can of pinto beans in the pantry and a packet of whole wheat tortillas. (Whenever I take the time to grocery shop and stock the kitchen with basics, it always pays off mid-week.)
I heated a pan and simply sautéed the soy chorizo with diced potatoes and tomato. It is spicy and greasy enough that no more oil or seasoning is needed. Then I added a rinsed and drained can of pinto beans. The mixture went into tortillas with a bit of cheese and we had quesadillas ready for dinner in barely any time at all.
In my home we call it, "ShiLa saptami"!
ReplyDeleteI love that term! ha ha
DeleteHi Nupur, am so happy that you are regularly posting! i love your blog and visit it often (sometimes browsing old posts) so wanted to say thanks for taking the time to post!
ReplyDeleteThanks for reading along, Kejal! I need to browse some of my old posts myself, I never remember what I have posted.
DeleteMy husband introduced me to a term, "Dashamicha Gopaalkaala." Not quite sure what it means exactly but I am guessing it's something to do with leftovers?
ReplyDeleteHaha that's a great term and not one I have heard myself in this context (every family seems to have a unique term for the common business of finishing leftovers.)
DeleteAnyway, dashmi is the 10th day of the lunar cycle, and gopalkala is the treat made and offered to Krishna- it is a mix of poha, yogurt and assorted things. So my guess is the term means a mish-mash of leftover ingredients like in the gopalkala made on dashmi. Awesome!
I too had not heard this term before. Since gopalkaala is made on Krishna janmashtami - (ashtami - 8th day of the lunar cycle), using it on a dashmi (10th day) would be using leftovers.
DeleteYes, Anon, you nailed it! Your theory is much more solid than mine!
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