@Julie – Thanks!!! Yep, she was born December 3rd…the first four weeks were a sleepy blur, but she’s letting me get a little more sleep now. She’s been a real treat.

Congratulations. Hope you are feeling good, eating well and getting enough sleep 🙂

Thanks for the congrats!

@Beatrice – thanks so much! I did maintain a vegetarian diet, although not vegan, throughout my entire pregnancy. We tend to eat a pretty well balanced diet with lots of protien from beans, lentils, soy, yogurt and lots of fresh vegetables. I did make more of a consorted effort to make sure I was getting enough protein, and I took an iron supplement (though I wasn’t deficient). Rajat was thrilled b/c I started eating eggs again too.

@fresh365 and Nikki – Sambar is sort of an all spice of South Indian cooking. It’s kind of like garam masala is for North Indian cooking. You can use it to make a lot more than just sambar. We use it to flavor many South Indian style kuras (stir fries) and kootus (stews). Everyone has their own recipe for making sambar powder, but it generally consists of ground coriander seeds, cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds, dried chilis, toor daal, channa daal, mustard seeds and dried curry leaves. If you find yourself near an Indian grocery store, my family has a preference for 777 or MTR brand sambar powder.

@Jeff – I can’t even imagine trying to break down the taste definition by the TYPE of bean! Kudos to you if you can find a way to describe say a kidney bean versus a black bean. Btw love your other blog.

@Deeba – Thanks so much! Yes, Surya is our first…still getting used to the sleep deprivation.

As far as describing a bean..hmm..what type of bean? I have been in a bean mood lately so been experimenting with all different types.

Love the flavors and a great use for my containers full of lentils!