Yesterday I got a call from Swiss television asking me if I’d like to be the equivalent of a “Nielsen Family” for the Internet.

The idea is, they’d send me a program to load on to my computer, and I wouldn’t have to do a thing after that.  The program would keep track of the sites I visit, how long I spend at each site, how often I go.  And then send the info to the company.  And I “wouldn’t have to worry about a thing”.

The goal?  To make the Internet… better, somehow.

Isn’t that a great idea?

Dal Makhani – Madhur Jaffrey

1 C whole urud dal (dried black lentils)
1/3 C red kidney beans (dried)
4 t peeled and finely grated fresh ginger root
4 t crushed garlic
2 medium sized tomatoes, grated or finely chopped or small can
2 t chilli powder, or to taste
2-3 t salt, or to taste
6 T unsalted butter
1/2 C whipping cream
2 t garam masala
bunch fresh coriander

Wash the beans and drain. Cover with water and leave to soak overnight. Drain.

In a large pan, combine the beans with 2 1/2 quarts water and bring to boil. Cover, turn the heat low and simmer gently for 3 – 4 hours or until beans are tender.

With a potato masher, beat or mash about half of the beans until they form an exceedingly coarse puree.

Half the beans should remain whole. Add the ginger, garlic, tomatoes, cayenne, salt, butter, cream and garam masala. Cook gently for another 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Serve with a final dollop of butter and a sprinkling of coriander leaves.

—————————

A few notes:

1.  When I make it on top of the stove, I put in a lot of milk towards the beginning of the process rather than using any cream at all.

2.  If you want to freeze it/some, do so before putting in all the spices, etc.  Otherwise you lose flavour. 

3.  When I made it in the slow cooker (see photo below), I ended up leaving it on for… 24 hours.

3a.  If using slow cooker, be sure to boil the kidney beans for about an hour beforehand.  The skins of kidney beans contain a toxin which needs to be destroyed by high temperatures.

4.  Eat with naan or chappati or some other soft asian bread.  This can be a complete meal.

5.  Be sure to let it cool down before eating.  It can be VERY hot (physically).

6.  Oh.  You can mash it or use a hand blender.  I don’t know if it was the 24 hours’ cooking or the blender, but what I ended up with was pretty creamy.

I can’t control myself anymore.

The whole album is perfect.  I love it.  It’s absolutely perfect.

(Here‘s a video.  Just an example.  On the American Amazon, you can hear bits from each song.)

There’s Cream.  There’s Bowie.  There are tons of references and influences and allusions.  But, most of all, it’s just perfect.

How do people so young make such beautiful things?

His moves on issues including the death penalty, guns and religious group funding have upset some liberals.

“Liberal” in the classical sense, yes.

He also voted (yesterday) in favour of the FISA Amendments Act.

The guy is Bush.