Jhunka / Chick pea flour pudding

Jhunka
Ingredients:
chik pea flour/Besan Flour :4 tblspns
Onion medium sized : 2-3
Coriander leaves: 2 cups
Green chillies 3-4
mustard seeds: 1 tblspn
salt


Method:
Heat oil and add mustard seeds. Once they splutter add chopped green chillies and fry them. Now add finely chopped onion and fry till onion turn golden brown. Now add salt and then besan flour and stir mixing all the ingredients till the flour changes to light brown. Add finely chopped coriander leaves and cover the lid for 2 minutes. turn off heat and julka is ready to serve with Chapati or Rice flour Rotis/bhakri.
With puri the same can be made like a gravy. once the flour turns light brown, add 1cup water and let it boil. The water mixes with the flour and turns into a thick paste.

Magge Koddel - Cucumber gravy

Ingredients
yellow big cucumber / mangalore cucumber /Mugge(konkani) - 1/4 kilo
Dried Beans (black eyed beans)- 1 cup
Red Chilli 3-4 (To be fried in a 2-3 drops of oil )
Grated coconut - Half shell
Tamarind - 1/4 table spoon
Garlic cloves - 15 OR Chopped Onion - 2 OR teppal -6
salt
Soak the seeds in hot water and let it be for an hour. After which cook the seeds till they are soft(not mashed).
Peel the cucumber ,discard the seeds and cook the diced pieces in 1/2 cup water.
Grind the chillies, grated coconut and tamarind together to a smooth paste.
Add the cooked seeds to the cooked cucumber and bring to boil. Now add the ground masala and salt and cook for 10 minutes.
Heat oil in a separate pan and fry smashed garlic till golden brown and then add it the curry.
Instead of garlic cloves, Teppal or onion can be used in the same way.
Magge Koddel is ready.

Kanyadaan!

Almost a year since 'grihasti' I realise now what is kanyadan. In simple words it is parents disowning their daughter and the girl's journey to find a place for herself in a new house and make it her own home. Be it love marriage or arranged this is the case...!

not so bad Upma and Uppittu

Well ... the title might have hinted what I intend to write here... Trust me.. I hated upma all my life but now I guess I can have it atleast once a week.

Ingedients:
Rava / cream of wheat / cream of rice -1 cup
onion 2
tomato 1
Ginger garlic paste -1/2 tsp
Turmeric - 1 pinch
Sambhar/rasam powder - 1 tblspn
Urad dal -1 tsp
Chana dal -1 tsp
Jeera/cumin seeds- 1 tsp
Ghee 2 tblspns
Mustard seeds 1 tsp
Curry leaves 5-6
Coriander leaves chopped 2 tblspns
Grated coconut - optional - 1/4 cup
green chilli 2
salt 2 tsp
sugar - optional 2 tsps
lemon juice 1/2 tblspn (amchur powder can also be used.)

Pour rava in a dry pan (without oil ) and fry it for 5 minutes on a low flame until rava turns slightly golden. Keep stirring as rava gets charred very soon. turn off heat and pour the contents in another vessel.
set aside 2.5 cups of water in a different vessel for heating.
Heat ghee and add mustard seeds. once they start spluttering add urad dal, chana dal and cumin seeds. once the seeds are fried add ginger garlic paste. fry for a minute. Add curry leaves, chopped onion and tomato.fry for 2 minutes. add sambhar powder, turmeric, the heated rava and mix well. fry for a minute and then add the hot water. simmer and cover it with a lid.cook for 5 minutes. add lemon juice and grated coconut on top before serving.

Note
Rava to water ratio is 1:2
Any 2 items of cut vegetable like cabbabge,capsicum,fresh green peas,diced potato,beans carrot can also be added while frying onion for a more colourful look and healthy breakfast.

Tause Idli - Cucumber Idli


I love any dish with cucumber. Cucumber pachadi, cucumber hulela, cucmber idli, cucumber uppittu... !! my mom makes lotsa varieties with cucumer alone and I love all of them. And if Im visiting home then cucumber idli will be the breakfast item always! this time she had made it little special by cooking it in 'Haldi Paan'.

Ingredients :
Rice 2 cups
Cucumber 3
grated coconut 1/2 shell
haldi paan
salt
sugar

Soak rice for an hour or 2 and drain water and leave it for dyring on a cloth for an hour or so. once dried grind the rice to a coarse powder(rava).

The baking vessel what you see in the picture is a little misleading so let me explain that as well. We had purchased a cookware called AMC and it has a pair of bowl which can be used as an oven to bake stuff. we need to place water in one bowl and place the grater as a grill/support and then cover the set up with another bowl. we can bake cake also in the same set up.

Heat a pan and pour the peeled and grated cucumber. keep stirring it until the cucumber leaves out water and then add salt and sugar. mix the rava and grated coconut in it and keep stirring on a low flame for 10 minutes. When all the water is drained out turn off heat and keep the mixture to cool a bit say (for 5 mins). Now place the mixture onto the leaves and fold the leaves from all sides so that mixture doesn't pour out. and place it in the baking vessel. stack the filled leaves side by side and then cover the lid. cook for 15 mins. serve hot with butter/chutney.

To make Idli the ingredients remain the same. No need to heat the mixture before filling it in the leaves. It is cooked in normal idli vessel without the leaves.
keep the baking vessel ready and then mix rava and the rest of the ingredients in a pan and immediately place it in idli bowls and place it in the pan.
Cook for 20 minutes.
Note:
In the first method, the heating is done to remove the excess water from the mixture. if this is not removed then the water will drain from the leaves leaving the muddo very dry.
In the second method, the baking vessel has to be set and hot only then the ingredients are to be mixed.

Role Reversal

"Maaa.. I'm getting late... I will not have breakfast. I dont like your upma anyways....!! " I yelled tying my shoe laces. I can hear mom running around in the kitchen packing lunch box for me. She also pours hot milk in a glass and comes towards me.. I frown picking up my school bag and stomp! "I dont want milk ma...." Her eyes widen as if to eat me up and she makes me drink atleast half glass. I grumble all the way and complain to my dad. Dad has dug his head deep into the newspaper to have a mute ear to all the morning chaos that happens at home.

I pull up my sock, grab the lunch box say a grumpy bye to everyone and run to catch up with my friend who has been waiting all along for me, to go to school.

years later in MY kitchen

"Gosh..I had snoozed the alarm 3 times before finally throwing myself out of the bed rushing to start the usual morning chaos.....!!! switch on the geyser, pick milk from the bag hanging on the door knob,put rangoli,think of breakfast menu, pack lunch, get ready yourself...." I was late so made upma today! but somehow it didn't turn out well and I was scared that my husband would say "I will not have breakfast. I don't like your upma anyways....!!"
It is amazing how Time rules our lives and makes the past look like a delightful dream!
I'm thankful as my hubby is a real sweet heart and always appreciates my effort and not the final outcome![:)]
it is a bonus bonanza for me if my efforts result into very good outcomes!

Karate Kodambo / Bitter gourd gravy

I love bittergourd for one good reason that it is bitter.. :)
my family loves bitter gourd in any form. The traditional form of this recipe requires 'ambado'/ 'Amate kayi'. since I did not have them I used tamarind instead.
Ingredients
Bitter gourd 2
Urad dal 1/2 tblspn
Coriander 2 tblspns
grated coconut 1/2 cup
Tamarind juice 4 tblspns
Jaggery 3 tblspns
Red Chillies 4
curry leaves 4-5
Oil 4 tblspsn
Salt

Bitter gourd should be cut into thin small slices. Thinner the better. Last I happened to dice it into small pieces and the gravy was too bitter.
Heat 1/2 tblspn oil and fry coriander seeds,urad dal and 3 red chillies separately. grind it with coconut and tamarind.
Heat oil and put mustard seeds once they splutter add 1 red chilli. once the chilli is fried add curry leaves and all the bitter gourd , cover it and let it be on low flame till the gourd turns into a dull green colour which would take about 10 minutes. do not add any water during the process. the gourd should be cooked in oil only. now add salt and jaggery and let it cook for 5 mins. Stir it once in a while so that it doesnt stick to the pan. Now add the ground masala and 1 cup water and let it boil.
turn off heat and serve hot with rice/chapathi.
If left over this gravy can be eaten with bread next day for breakfast.

Tomato Chutney

Not all my family members eat non veg.. For breakfast this Sunday, I had to prepare veg and non veg separately which is a little tiring. with guests at home, cooking both varieties is a pain. So made bread omlette for the eggies and the super fast tomato chutney. one of my friend is a great cook and when I used to stay with her before marriage, she would make this chutney occasionally on sundays. So this recipe is picked up from her.

Ingredients:

Tomatoes medium sized 2
Cumin seeds 1 tblspns
Chilli powder 1/2 tblspns (optional)
Pepper 1.5 tblspns
Sugar 1/2 tblspns
salt

Heat oil and put cumin seeds in it. Once it changes colour add the finely chopped tomatoes, cover the pan and leave it on low flame. let it cook for 2-3 minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer it till the tomotoes are cooked well. add 1/2 cup water to the same and once boiled.
This tomato chutney has a tangy sweet and spicy taste and gells very well with bread/toast. I havent tried it with dosas. Will update once i try.
When i tried it last time i could not find pepper powder so I had put pepper corns in oil once jeera was fried and then put the cut tomatoes. It tasted very good but i happened to bite a corn and I was all flying after that. So I had to remove each of the corn from the chutney before serving. So this time I put powder and it was awsome!

Fast Dalitoy - Yellow Lentils gravy

Tell me one GSB who doesnot like the traditional dalitoy..! I remember when we were in Udupi for samradhane(feast on occasion of some puja), our family and our next door family would go to the temple, reserve seats for each other and drool until the food was served. I agree that my mom and grand mom were a good cooks but the food served in the temple was a delicacy.


This dalitoy is a slight deviation from the traditional dalitoy.


yellow lentils/toor dal 1 cup
green chillies 2-3
ginger garlic paste 1/2 tblspn
mustard seeds 1/2 tblspn
coriander finely chopped
cumin seeds/ powder 1/2 tblspn
coriander powder 1/2 tblspn
ghee/ oil 1 tblspn
salt
tamarind juice 1 tblspn


While placing the dal in the cooker, add a pinch of haldi, drop of oil, jeera seeds/powder and coriander powder.
heat oil/ghee, put mustard seeds, once it starts spluttering add green chillies .once the chillies are fried add ginger garlic paste. mix well with the oil and then add the cooked dal,tamarind juice and salt. let it boil for 2 minutes and then add finely chopped coriander leaves and turn off heat.
serve it with hot rice.

Ridge gourd Chutney (Ghosale sira chutney)

My mom is a great cook too and a health freak. she has such a good figure even now that I look like her big sister. She must have plucked hair from her head making me eat all the healthy stuff she prepares.
She makes Ghosale sira chutney (Ridge gourd skin chuntey) which I just adore. I started cooking when I came to Bangalore to work and one day I brought ridge gourd, removed the ridges and make the usual upkari with grated coconut. and with the ridges i thought I could make chutney. Directly ground the ingredients and the ridges. it tasted so bad that i could not ‘repair’ it! all went to the drain. It was then i called helpline mom and asked for the recipe. The main point was that I had to fry the ridges..!!(too long a story for a simple chutney isn’t it..:))well, here it is
Ingedients:
Grated coconut -3/4th cup
Ridge gourd (medium size) - 1
Cumin seeds -1 tblspn
tamarind juice 1 tblspn
pepper 2-3
oil - 1 tblspn
Asafoetida - 1 pinch
green chillies 2-3
Salt

Method:Heat oil in a pan and put split green chillies and cumin seeds. Once it changes colour put the ridges only and fry it. let it for 2 minutes and then put 1/4 glass water and cover the pan with a lid. let it be on low flame for 10 mins.turn off the heat and let it cool.Once cooled grind it with the rest of the ingredients.Heat 1-2 drops of oil and hing(Asafoetida) in it and add it to the chutney. (my mom says hing phullenu ghalka which in literal English translation means ‘fluff up Asafoetida’)
Ghosale sira chutney is ready to serve

Note:if the ridges are not cooked well then it gives a not so good raw taste.

Intro to Crunch-Munch

Never knew blogging could be such an addiction. After marriage the major difficult task I faced was cooking. Cooking a simple dinner would take hours and the exhaustion after that would wreck any good mood following! I would call up mom before cooking and ask for the in-detail recipe and note it down. still while cooking it some more doubts would crop up. So instead of calling up on mom decided to check the internet. I must admit here that I am very much impressed and inspired by Shilpa of Aayi's recipe. the way she has written about cooking the simplest meal with pictures is very good. for example, some months back frying chapati/roti was an alien thing to me no matter how many times my mom told me the correct way, I would mess it up. Finally Aayi’s recipe helped me. When so many foodie blogs are there what is so special in this blog one might wonder! well, my intention is to try and post fast to cook meals which would be beneficial to the blog visitors as well as to myself at a later point in time.
So here is my try ... ! Crunch Munch it is!!

Buddha

Some days back I was just browsing through Flickr to see some different from usual errr.. actually weird photos clicked by camera crazy people and happened to come across some pictures of Gautam Buddha . The serenity of Buddha's face captivated me instantly and suddenly I felt myself more relaxed. I browsed more and saved various pictures of Buddha on to my PC for later viewing. Ever since then I have been constantly looking and reading about Buddha. I happened to read one thesis written by someone from Oregon university; The thesis says all about Gautam Buddha's initial days and why he left his wife, about his preaching .... in the end it says "Buddha attained Nirvana and to celebrate the day Indians celebrate Deepavali, the festival of lights!" I was a bit surprised by what was written. We celebrate Divali for a totally different reason. Anyways who is to correct the Oregon university professor!!
Today I was a little disturbed and I knew the easy way to cool myself. So pushed the halt button to my work and started browsing for Buddha pictures and was surprised to see lots and lots of Buddha statues in gold, across the east Asian countries. Buddha led an example for simple living, he renounced from all the worldly pleasures of mankind and went in seek of peace. Why do we have so many statues of Buddha in gold or any pricey material? Well certain questions dont have an answer, even if they have there are subjected to individuals perception and cognitive content!!


Did it really serve the purpose?

Was just reading my own blogs today and realised how silly and immaterial old posts seem! Either my attitude towards the subject has changed as I 'grew up' since I had written them or because it really is drivel!
Anyways, I Intend to write more of gimracks as I cant think of anhthing but that now!

Decibel pinnacle !!! 'No Sound Horn'

Honk of cycle , scooter , bike , Rickshaw , car , bus , tempo , truck , Rickshaw’s tampered silencer, heavy generator, public party music, wood cutting, public announcements, FM, people talking laughing and guffawing, phone ringing, hitting of keyboard by a software professional… aaaaaaaaaaarggg…raising decibel levels has created a volcano of ear fluid within the fort of my ears.

Peak time, congested road, vehicles stacked miles behind the traffic signal. Necks craning to see the color change from red to green. The moment the signal turns green, everywhere there is honking. Oh yes..! everybody has had a tired day and wants to get back home or wherever as soon as possible. Honking doesn’t mean that vehicles closer to the signal would give way to the ones at the far end of the stack..! everybody is moving, nobody intends to be on the road for long, stuck in a traffic. Then why honk. It wound not aid in anyway.

'Sound horn please' was a sign usually found on the rear end of trucks. But the note has to be rephrased to ‘NO SOUND HORN unnecessarily’ and put on the rear of every vehicle!
But who would put it in the rear of every rider's head.

Birthday Or Mother's day ?

Yesterday was my friend's birthday... ! Coincidental get together, cake and camera and cheers..! not many of us(us as in the gang of gals' members) were there.. But my friend's mom had come to town to be with her daughter on her birthday. Since the B’day gal was there at home itself we could not throw a surprise party and since the lazy bug had bitten us, we were not very enthusiastic about going out. So we brought the cake in the B’day gal’s presence, cajoled her to light the candles herself and set the table... ! camera clicking, we all clapping and cake licking..and the carnival ends.
All throughout the birthday celebration aunty was there watching us, smiling, singing along..! she watched us go crazy on our silly jokes. She watched her daughter enjoying the day, receiving wishes, gifts and phone calls since midnight. She was silent and smiling . That’s when I watched her… and it felt weird that we were celebrating. Why do we celebrate our birthdays? To commemorate that we were born on someday. We forget that mothers brought us into the world undergoing a great deal of pain, trouble and anxiety. I don’t even have equivalent words to explain the pain they would have gone through , probably I can’t even mention about it until I give birth myself. And on the birthday we celebrate our arrival into the world with friends! Aren’t we missing out on wishing the mothers and leaving a congratulatory note?
Shouldn’t we be spending at least a day, especially birthday with our mother?
On my birthday I think of how old I am, and how I had celebrated my last birthday, who all did not wish me last year, all the statistics of wishers, wishes and gifts I have received over the years. Of all the permutation and combinations of who all I had wished on their birthdays but dint get wishes from them on my birthday. I try to rethink and recollect the B’day celebrations of my first years but nothing much comes to my mind. But mothers have all the memories of our childhood right from our very first birthday. Not even once have I thought about the fact that my mother was the one who brought me into this world and I should be congratulating her and being with her, making her feel that the pain she had gone through years back this day, is worth it. Birthday is in fact Mothers’ day. They also should be receiving calls, gifts and wishes! I don’t need to pick someday, which is irrelevant to her and celebrate it as Mother’s day. It gives me a sense of pride and gratification if I celebrate my birthday with my mother. Yes! it is like sharing the lime light but should we even think about it of all the lime light and other sacrifices that they have done for us?

Tuesdays with Morrie

This is from an old blog...

I finished reading this book called Tuesdays with Morrie. . The ending is so touching.. I almost cried today in the bus when reading it. It reminded me of my grandpa who was suffering from cancer and after I came to know that I never got in touch with him. It was in 8th std when one day I came home from school and mom broke the news to me that he is suffering from cancer. I just said Oh! And then came to my room and cried.
I was the youngest among the cousins and my grandpa’s pet. If we wanted a treat from him I was the ambassador. I would find a suitable time – after lunch when he sits and chews paan. At that time I wud go and make paan for him and pester and butter him up for treat... our treat meant going to the town and having the then famous 'Gadbad' ice cream at the usual joint. He likes kittens a lot.. he had a huge belly which when he sat on the chair would create a concave structure between his chest and his convex belly , a gap enough to place a kitten. That ancestral house had cats, dogs, cows, buffaloes, bull, hen, cocks and even peacocks and peahens at some point. Everytime the cat gave birth to kittens we 5 cousins would select a pet and claim it to be our souvenir. I would place the best looking kitten in his concave structure and he would just love it.. and tat was the time.. I would broach the topic and after a lot of Yes and NOs he wud finally agree. I visited him only once after I came to know that he had cancer. That was a month before he died. I entered the house and saw a thin bony structure with sunken eyes sitting on the easy chair which had pillows on each of its arms and near the head rest. It was my grand father. I cud not recognize him ,There was no concave structure. His belly itself had become concave. He did not even have the strength to move his hands or legs. Or even nod for that matter. When I went close to him... There was a faint smile on his face which he brought after so much of effort. Somebody had to help him stand with major weight of his body falling on them. He wud either sit on the easy chair or on the bed. I did not speak to him much as I was scared. I went straight to the kitchen where my grany was preparing his lunch. rice boiled and mashed to a fine paste. When he strong and fine he wud throw his lunch plate away if at all rice was little softer than the ‘standard’. I just wondered how things change. After his lunch two people helped him lie down on the bed. And granny brought a cup of oil and she started rubbing him on his stomach. He had intestinal cancer. He had been operated also but since te malignant had spread all over the operation was a failure. I was sitting in the hall not having enough guts to enter the room where he was lying. But he wanted to see me.. talk to me..he asked granny to call me in. I came in. and stood in the corner. G pa raised his fingers inch above where it was and motioned me to come long his side. I looked at granny... She too nodded her said and asked me to sit next to him. And then she asked me to take some oil and apply it on his feet. I took the oil and rubbed his cold feet. The pain was killing him inside. He would wail all night crying in pain. Granny and my 2 cousins could never sleep. Whole night they would take turns to apply oil and ease his pain... but that would never do. He wanted to kill himself before the pain killed him. He tried to commit suicide one day. One afternoon he went to the yard where in a shed the pesticides were kept. He was opening the bottle when one the cousin saw him and stopped him...!I rubbed his feet and he wailed. He asked me to come close to him. I bent over and saw his sunken eyes. I got so scared that I suddenly jumped out of the bed and came out. After that I went to the fields and sat near the pool and cried cried. Until my cousin came and asked me to come inside. I went home but not to THAT room. Later in the evening when I had to return I went to his room to say good bye. I saw his back was to the door and was half asleep and wailing..so I sneaked into the room and touched his feet superficially so that he doesn’t wake up. More than he waking up I did not want to see his sunken, hollow cheeks . I came out as quickly as I could from that room and I went back to my place. That was it. I never saw him again.!

Today when I read the book it reminded me of my grand pa so much. In the book Morrie tells how much he needs human attention. He is lying on his death bed and waits for someone to come and talk to him; rub his feet. Even my grand pa wanted that. Not from somebody else but from me.. I was his best grandchild. He loved me.. I too loved him. but I was not the good grand child. !After reading that book I feel I cud have atleast rubbed his feet,at least kissed him on the cheek, said a proper good bye. NO. I did not do any of these.. I feel so sad about it. I regret what I did not do..!!

Bad cold makes me feel old

Sun arose tardily putting all its might to rip apart the monstrous grey clouds, to take a peep into the woods
devilish engulfing clouds bullied the rising sun blocking the laser sharp rays as much as they could
I let the breeze brush my skin, sneak into my ears, ruffle my hair and blow my mind
Mean that I am , enjoyed the cloud’s dominance and savored the cold weather
I drove for quite long, now down with bad cold and almost caught fever!

:(

Weekend Wimbledon

Everytime I happen to watch the tennis matches, only the finals, as they are held on a weekend.. but this time I have decided to watch every match that is played. I want to watch non famous people play.

Resolutions broken..so far
1. To stop biting my nails
2. To maintain the tone of my voice irrespective of the situation or mood. In other words to control my emotions.
3. To execute the above resolutions successfully .. [Sigh]

Will I ever be able to that????

Cheaters caught red handed at the gas station

This incident happened sometime in the last week at the HP gas station (southern end of Brigade Road).

There were 4 people in the station and two of them asked and re confirmed the quantity of fuel we had asked, at least 3 times, took the money and set the digital meter for the same. At the same time there were two guys near the rear end of the car. We found that fishy we thought it is best to check on the person fuelling the car . Apparently that guy had kept a big empty Castrol can behind our car and was pouring all the fuel into the can instead. no sooner we had gotten out of the car than the person who was fuelling removed the nozzle from the can and stuffed it in to the car inlet, and asked another guy to reset the digital meter on the board . We asked him what he was doing and why he was doing, He had the audacity to say that the fuel in the can was for the ‘other guy’. After yelling at them for the treachery, they reset the meter and put the fuel worth what we had asked.
The dodgy act was so well co-ordinated and incessant even after catching the guy red handed. This doesn’t seem like the first time they are doing it. The station is one of the busiest as it is near Brigade road and hence it makes it easier for them to cheat the customers, I guess even more after dusk.
Suppose you are alone in the car and want to fill fuel then you really have to have super power to note the meter settings, keep an eye on the guy who is fueling at the rear end of the car and also simultaneously watch the car dashboard. the last can be avoided if you raise the panes and lock the car before you step out.


Fixed by fixtures;Moved by gestures

why is that we are forced to opt discomfort over convenience, fearing the society?
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