Wahoowa, episode III: The worm has turned

One of the great pleasures of the last decade or so of my relationship with Mom has been her discovery of UVA men's basketball, the only sport she has ever willingly sat down and watched with me, without having to be coaxed into it with a back rub. Mom's fandom reached its acme on April 8, 2019, when UVA beat Texas Tech in overtime to win its first and only national championship. Since then, well, we haven't won a single NCAA tournament game, culminating in our First Four pantsing this week by a mediocre Colorado State team, in a game in which they shot 55% and we shot 25%, including missing 19 consecutive shots at one point. In the wake of that fiasco, ESPN loudmouth Stephen A. Smith (you can insert what you're thinking of for the "A") called for Coach Tony Bennett to be fired "strictly because of being boring." Once again, I say I missed my calling in life if you can get paid the big bucks for quality takes like that.

 

Even before that game, UVA pissed down their leg in blowing a six-point lead in the final minute of regulation in their semifinal game in the ACC tournament by, among other things, going 1 for 5 from the free-throw line (also known as the "charity stripe," though not so much when this year's UVA team was shooting foul shots), and fouling former UVA player Casey Morsell while he was shooting a three-pointer. For context, Morsell shot 123 three-pointers while he was here and made 25 of them, which is 20%. Morsell, of course, drained all three free throws, while UVA was clanking theirs at the other end of the floor.

 

I refused to watch the game, which started around 9:30 PM, without knowing the result, as UVA is, admittedly, a "boring" watch, failing to score even 50 points in four of their last nine games (they rank 209th in offensive efficiency, and dead last in tempo, out of 362 Division I teams). But Mom woke me up yelling at the TV during the dreadful last minute of regulation. When I texted her to keep it down, this is what I got back:

 

Mom was certainly right about one thing: They embarrassed the crap out of themselves, and UVA fans everywhere, in the tournament. It looks like my days of being able to watch at least one sporting event with Mom are drawing to a close. Wahoowa. 😒

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Meera Sodha's Daily Dal was a pretty early recipe I posted on UaKS. This is a different version from Ruby Tandoh, of Great British Bake-Off fame, which Tandoh says is "very loosely based" on Sodha's recipe. I think this version is a little more flavorful and has the huge bonus of cooking all in one pot, so this is a worthy update, especially if it reminds you to make this easy, tasty dish more often.

 

Red Lentil Dal with Lime
(Daily Dal 1.5)

Adapted from Cook as You Are (2022) by Ruby Tandoh, who adapted it from Made in India (2015) by Meera Sodha

Time: ~50 minutes

You can substitute ½ teaspoon ground cumin for the cumin seeds; stir ground cumin in with the other ingredients in step 3. It’s okay to leave the mustard seeds out if you don’t have any in your pantry.

2 tablespoons (28 grams) ghee or olive or vegetable oil or coconut oil
1 teaspoon cumin seeds (see note)
1 teaspoon brown mustard seeds (see note)
Up to 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper, to taste
1 medium onion, diced (~1 cup)
1½-inch piece of ginger
4 garlic cloves
1½ tablespoons (22 grams) tomato paste
275 grams (~1⅔ cups) split red lentils (masoor dal), picked over and rinsed
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 teaspoon garam masala
½ teaspoon turmeric
700 grams (3 cups) water
1 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt
2 tablespoons lime juice, from 1 juicy lime
Cooked white rice and/or flatbreads (like naan), to serve

    1. In a large skillet, sauté pan, or saucier, heat the ghee or oil over medium heat. Stir in the cumin and mustard seeds and red pepper. Sizzle briefly—but don’t burn—then stir in the onion. Reduce the heat a notch or two; sauté, stirring occasionally, until the onion is very soft and golden but not browned, about 10 minutes.
    2. While the onion is cooking, grate the ginger and garlic on a Microplane. When the onion is ready, stir in the ginger, garlic, and tomato paste; sauté until the tomato paste is a deep brick-red, a couple of minutes, to build flavor.
    3. Stir in the lentils, tomatoes, garam masala, turmeric, and water. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a steady simmer. Cook, stirring often, until the lentils are soft and falling apart, 20 to 25 minutes. You should have a fairly thick, stewy mixture.
    4. Stir in the salt and lime juice; taste to see if you need more of one or the other or both. Serve over rice and/or with flatbreads Serves 4.