Day 87A-Bangkok's Baskets of Beans

Last Sunday, I visited JJ or the Chatuchak market in Bangkok for my mini fix. We reached there at about 3pm and stayed for 3 hours because the market closed at 6.30pm. The 1st 20 minutes was spent on the phone with our Thai friend, SuWan, trying to locate where the other was in this crazy maze. We never found each other. For the rest of the time I was mainly squatting at a tiny stall, buying up enough minis to make my own mini mart.

I have learnt very soon after I started this hobby that miniatures were very much a part of Thai culture since ancient times. This is due largely to their beliefs and religion.

One of the first things a foreign visitor to Thailand notices soon after arriving in the country are the spirit houses which are present at the front of practically every house and business. Miniature temples or houses, these spirit shrines are a way of honouring and placating the spirits of ones ancestors or even the spirits of people who used to live on the property. By keeping the spirits happy through offerings, it is believed that good luck will be ensured for the house or business where the spirit house is located.

Do you know that the Thais even have house warming parties for their spirit houses? So of course, they furnish these houses with miniature furniture, exquisite dancing dolls and even food.

Only the best for their spirit houses and as much money as the host can afford for the party to do honour to the spirits. A robbery, a fire, or a spouse running away is a sure sign that the owner had skimped on the house-warming!

I believe that it is largely due to this rich and enduring tradition that handmade miniatures in Thailand, even those thrown in baskets or bins in heaps are truly well made and undeniable things of beauty.

I am sure Thailand must be the country with the most miniature houses per capita.

As I have mentioned earlier, on this day for about 2 1/2 hours, I bought enough miniature to make my own market place. So I need to split this day into 3 posts. Each post dedicated to 1 stall.

Today's post is about my lentils, beans and peas stall in my yet to build bazaar. This bazaar will be filled with colourful stalls meandering between my houses in the desert land of Rajasthan.

If you look at the 1st picture, they are of the 60 mini baskets of beans, rice, lentils and corns that I bought for 500 baht which is about S$20.00. Of course I could not get all 60 into the picture but they are there. Each basket is filled to the brim with real produce, immortalised in lacquer and standing at 1" high and slightly less than 1" wide in the most perfectly weaved baskets made of cane.

And of course, in my usual strive to be as real as I can, here are the more popular lentils, beans and peas of my stall:

Urad Dal (whole and Split)

Also called Black Beluga Lentils. Whole Urad dal/dahl is used more like a chili or stew than a soup or dal/dahl. These lentil-like beans have black skins covering creamy white interiors. Whole urad dal/dahl derive their strong, rich, earthy flavor from the black skins and have an uncanny ability to absorb flavors.

Considered the hardest to digest, this dal takes a long time to soften and stomach and because of its dense nature, often calls for a lot of spices and falvourings.

Mung dal/Moong Dal (whole and split)

Whole moong is actually a bean or pulse and is known as 'sabat moong' . They are small green beans fairly used in India, China, Thailand and Japan. Sprouted, they are called "Tow Gay" in Hokkien, which is my dialect group. This dal is ons of the most basic in northern India. Small and kidny shaped, this dal is available as whole green mung beans with skin on (saabut mung or green mung dal), green split mung beans with skin on (chilkae vaali mung) and yellow skinned and split mung beans (dhilli mung or yellow mung dal). All these are considered asy to digest, especially the skinless yellow variety.

Boiled with chunks of sugar crystals and coconut cream, Fafa makes the most fantabulous green bean soup dessert with these beans.

In India, Moong dal is used to make delicious dals and curries. Innocent as they look, these beans can be extremely fattening.

Rajma (Red Kidney Beans)

The kidney bean with its dark red skin is named for its visual resemblance to a kidney. The kidney bean is also known as the red bean, although this usage can cause confusion with other red beans. Red kidney beans (Rājmā in Hindi and Punjabi) are an integral part of the cuisine in northern region of India. These are available everywhere in supermarkets and apparently, Indian bazaars.

Over here, red beans are also made into soups and pastries and other mouth watering desserts. Not so long ago, I was actually addicted to breads made with these beans.

Lobiya/Chawli/Black Eye Peas

These are a subspecies of the cowpea, grown for its medium-sized edible bean, which mutates easily giving rise to a number of varieties, the common commercial one called the California Blackeye being pale-colored with a prominent black spot. Quite popular in the west especially South America...it is often used in Indian Cooking as well. In North America, they are most famously known as a pop group with a lead singer called Fergie.

Not quite as easily digested, lobiya must be cooked well and for a long time with carmainative (gas-reducing) spices like ginger, garlic, ground asafoetida or ajwain seeds.

*burp and other offensive noises & smells. Yes, I emit them just from doing this post.