Another enjoyable walk very well organised by Johannes Rigal, again with a series of inspirational assignments. This time, the walk went from S-Bahnhof Frankfurter Allee along Frankfurter Allee and Karl-Marx-Allee to Alexanderplatz.

IN PROGRESS

The photos are currently in chronological order and I will have to select a few and group them later.

Main purpose bird watching. Heard a lot, saw some, did not get many photos, except of the usual swans (of which there are many at Urbanhafen). I actually find them quite boring, yet not as easy to photograph as one would think.

Nearly back home, I was treated to a lengthy concert by a robin.

Primary purpose annual meeting of IACE DE.

Then katamaran to Cuxhaven. Also visit Bremerhaven while there.

Other things to do in Hamburg:

Walk via Holzmarkt to Sandperle.

Check out NABU’s birdwatching events and pick a lake to walk round.

This exhibition in Deichtorhallen.

And definitely this exhibition in Bucerius Kunstforum.

Perhaps this in Hamburger Kunsthalle.

Recommended restaurant: Hotpot & Grill Restaurant Spicy.

Recommended Indian restaurant: Pabla Sweets.

Recommended fish restaurant: La Sepia.

Recommended ramen restaurant: YUME.

Recommended Greek restaurant: The Greek.

Recommended Korean restaurant: Seoul 1988, Karolinenviertel, Karolinenstr 1

Recommended traditional fish restaurant (traditional is not really my thing, but if they know how to cook fish, it is worth giving it a try): Fischereihafen Restaurant.

More photo tours from the book “Hamburg Fotografieren”

Recommended Café: Café Himmlische Versuchung

Another recommended Café: Hadley’s, Beim Schlump 84A, 20144.

Hiking Alstertal, e.g. between S Bahn Ohlsdorf and SBahn Poppenbüttel.

I try to eat spinach one way or another at least twice a week, and since apparently, raw spinach is not than healthy, I am always looking for variety in ways to cook it.

Here is one way:

One bag of spinach (for example 100 g baby spinach, in this case from Rewe) (of course always bio), rinsed and dried in the salad spinner

1 tsp sesame oil, toasted or regular

1 tsp soy sauce

1/2 tsp miso paste

2 garlic cloves, minced or very finely chopped

1 tsp toasted sesame seeds

Mix the miso paste, the soy sauce, and the garlic together.

Gently heat the oil and stir in the spinach. Add the miso paste mix and stir gently till the spinach starts to wilt.

Sprinkle with toasted, black sesame seeds before serving.

What was I thinking? Also in view of the fact that, reading the description again, I can see that this retreat is for photographers in a league that I will never attain (I would not even go as far as calling myself a photographer), I will stick to my old promises to myself: never to visit USA again, and never to fly again.

Main purpose: photo workshop in Santa Fe organised by Strudelmedia.

ABQ Balloon Festival – all one needs to know here.

Contemporary art in Albuquerque here.

Contemporary art in Santa Fe here.

IN PROGRESS

24 April:

25 April:

26 April: Leipziger Straße/Lindenstraße area, from Galerie Konrad Fischer to Berlinische Galerie

Map of the route here.

The event on InterNations here (please sign up if you want to attend).

Tentative list of galleries to visit (clustered if they are on the same address:

1. Galerie Konrad Fischer; 2. Galleries Shahin Zarinbal, Sweetwater, and Klemm’s; 5. Buchmann; 6. Max Goelitz; 7. Galeries Barbara Thumm and Carlier Gebauer; 8. Galeries Nordenhake, Soy Capitán, KOW, and Persons Projects; 9. Galerie König; and 10. Berlinische Galerie.

IN PROGRESS

This fluffy, delicious and healthy vegan quinoa biryani with chickpeas and spices has all of the flavor of a regular biryani but it is packed with nutrition.

Prep Time15minutes mins

Cook Time30minutes mins

Total Time45minutes mins

Course: Main dish

Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients

For the quinoa “rice”

• 170 g quinoa (rinsed thoroughly in a fine-mesh strainer)
• 532 ml water
• 1 inch cinnamon stick
• 3 green cardamom pods
• 3 cloves
• 2 g caraway seeds (black cumin or shahi jeera. Use cumin seeds as a substitute)
• Salt to taste

For the kala chana biryani sauce

• 5 ml oil (any neutral oil, including avocado oil, sunflower oil, grape seed oil, etc.)
• 1 large onion (finely chopped)
• 1 heaping tbsp ginger garlic paste
• 237 ml tomato puree (preferably made with fresh tomatoes, but you can substitute canned tomato puree)
• 1 g turmeric
• 1 g paprika
• 5 g ground coriander
• 1 g dried mint (use 2 tablespoons if using fresh mint)
• 2 g dried dill (use 2 tablespoons if using fresh dill)
• 178 ml vegan yogurt
• Juice of ½ lemon
• 14 g fried onions (divided)
• 168 g dried kala chana (black chickpeas)
• 2 heaping tbsp biryani masala (tweak the amount according to your preference)
• ½ cup cilantro (finely chopped, plus more for garnish)
• Salt to taste

Instructions

Make the quinoa rice

• Add 2 ¼ cups water to a saucepan. Add cinnamon stick, black cumin seeds, green cardamom pods, cloves and bay leaves to the water. Add salt to taste.
• Add the washed quinoa to the water with spices and bring to a boil over medium heat. Lower heat to a simmer, cover the saucepan with a tight lid, and let the quinoa cook 12 minutes. Turn off heat and let the quinoa stand until it has absorbed all the water. Then fluff it with a fork.

Make the biryani sauce

• Cook the kala chana in advance until tender in the Instant Pot (35 minutes on high pressure), or in a stovetop pressure cooker or in a saucepan covered with two inches water.
• In a larger pot or Dutch oven, add a teaspoon of oil. Add the salt with salt and ground black pepper. Saute until the onions brown. If the onions start to stick, add some water and scrape up any brown bits from the bottom of the pan.
• Once the onions have browned, stir in the ginger garlic paste and sauté for a couple of minutes.
• Stir in the tomato puree and mix well with the onions. Add turmeric and cayenne and mix it in.
• Stir in the ground coriander, dill and mint. Let the sauce continue cooking for 5-10 minutes over medium high heat, stirring frequently, until it has darkened visibly and most of the moisture has evaporated. Add the vegan yogurt and lemon juice to the pot and stir them in.
• Next add the kala chana followed by the biryani masala. Let the sauce come to a boil, lower heat, and simmer for a couple of minutes. Add a little more water, no more than ½ cup, if the sauce is too thick. Check for salt and add more if needed. Stir in the cilantro and half the fried onions, if using. Turn heat down to the lowest point and mix everything well.

Assemble the biryani

• Layer the cooked quinoa over the biryani sauce in an even layer. Sprinkle the remaining fried onions over the quinoa, and a bit of dried mint. Cover the pot with a tight lid and cook over low heat for 15 minutes. Turn off the heat and let the quinoa biryani stand 10 minutes before serving.