Journalist Report
01/30/2013
Melanie Newfield
A culinary guide to Mars part two
When I began to sort my way through the pantry, I realised that I probably
wasn’t the first person
to make curry on Mars. Among the 10 different varieties of chili in the
pantry (powders, sauces and
dried) was a substantial bag of Indian chili powder. As well as the chili
powder, on one of the
highest shelves I found a labelled container of moong dal (split mung
beans). While possibly part
of the standard Mars supplies, it was more likely that this combination
indicated previous curry
enthusiasts at MDRS.
For my first Mars curry, I decided to use the moong dal. I like to speed
up dal cooking, and so at
lunchtime I put the dal in a bowl and poured boiling water over it. By
dinner time it had softened
slightly, although I still found it quite slow to cook. My favourite dal
is masoor dal(split red
lentils) which seem to be the fastest cooking. It’s not a matter of taste,
it’s just that I’m
impatient for my dinner!
I made a tomato-based spice paste (that is, a mix of spices, onion and
tomato) and used the
combination of tomato powder and diced tomato that is rapidly becoming my
staple. The spices were
one of the most typical combinations – turmeric, cumin, coriander seed and
chili. Coriander seed is
one of my favourite spices, and it is also just about the easiest to grow
in the home garden. Most
people I know who try to grow coriander report that it is very difficult,
because it always bolts.
Coriander does tend to do this whenever the temperatures fluctuate – but
all is not lost! It can be
left to go to seed and then the delicious seeds saved as a home grown
spice. Possibly something to
try in the greenhab now that I think about it.
I added green beans to the curry and served it with rice. I also tried
making up a little of the
dried sour cream since I haven’t made the yoghurt yet. I was muttering to
myself about the balance
of spices – as I tend to never be quite satisfied – but I was very pleased
with the green beans.
They went really well with it. It turns out I had wildly miscalculated on
the volume of dal,
cooking enough for twice the number of crew members, but there was quite a
demand for seconds.
Plus, we were pretty tired after the filming the following day, and we
made good use of the
leftovers.
The only thing that didn’t work so well from that meal was the sour cream
– at the end of the meal
it was still sitting on the table largely untouched. But the sour cream
was to have its moment
later!
Today we got home rather late after visiting some of the geological
features in the local area. We
were cold and tired and it was the perfect opportunity for a nice hearty
soup. So I grabbed the
dried leeks, dried sliced potatoes and potato powder and made leek and
potato soup in 10 minutes.
This is where dehydrated vegetables come into their own. At home, I grow
almost all my own
vegetables, and most of my recipes effectively begin: go into the garden
and pick your vegetables.
I wouldn’t be managing a 10 minute soup at home. Plus, there are two large
tins of potato powder
open, and I thought I should use some.
The soup needed a little extra something, and so I finished the jar of
“cozinhe” (dried parsley)
and stirred in some sour cream. That really did the trick!
Tomorrow, I’m thinking about the three enormous containers of dried
spinach. Either it’s so popular
that huge quantities need to be stocked, or it’s not the favourite
vegetable of the MDRS crews. But
I had an inspiration – there’s a particularly delicious Indian curry made
with spinach puree –
saag. I think there are just enough spicy sprouts in the greenhab to top
off the curry, so that
will be an exciting moment for me tomorrow.