.....In Ahmedabad.....Poha with Beans

Generally when I think of a new post it is with some recipe in mind - some new dish or an old one with a new twist...but today I just felt like putting down some thoughts ...

Have been here in Ahmedabad for a week now - and boy is it hot....that is the first thought that comes to mind...there have been no rains here at all and it is almost end of July - so everyday all of us look to the hopeful skies, and after seeing the gray clouds hovering above us, we all predict ( like the weatherman ) that today it will rain...and just like the weatherman - the Gods, and heavens, and rains prove us to be wrong....so there we go taking cool showers, sitting under fans or a/c's and eating ice creams - all in a desperate attempt to cool off....

The past week has evoked a mixed bag of emotions...on the one side my mother-in-law ( who we call Ma ) has not been well - but her spirits are so high, she is a very strong person and is bearing up very well ...and does not let us feel down either...it is an education spending time with her...she is still as involved in life ( people, recipes, events ) as ever....
I admire her a lot, she has been a good mentor, advising without preaching or judging...and always letting us be...allowing us to live our own lives, gently guiding us if she felt it was required....I could go on and on....but it suffices to say that I feel she is a great lady...and I am very proud and honored to have her as my mother-in-law....

From thoughts of Ma ....automatically my thoughts move on to one of her passions...cooking....she loves to try out different recipes, any new dish makes her very curious to figure out the ingredients and how it was made....
Under her guidance her cook ( at 3B, as this place is more fondly referred to as ) ....churns out dishes which could be compared favourably with any fancy restuarant chef's...

This week we had a quite a few...some dishes are complex and some simple - but all absolutely delicious ....a couple of days back, we had poha but with a healthy twist...it was made with moong beans and matki (moth ) beans...instead of the usual potato...
I thought I would try it out once I get back to Mumbai...but decided to put down the recipe...( is it cheating a bit to put down something I have not as yet made myself...only observed and eaten?...well...nyways never mind...)

Sweet Appam

When we were kids mom used to make a lot of the typical Karnataka dishes both sweet and savoury...but slowly our cuisine changed incorporating a lot of Mumbai cosmopolitan flavours and tastes, our neighbours were a mixed lot and it was from them that she picked up new dishes, recipes, masalas etc...

Many of the south dishes are time consuming to make, most involve soaking, grinding etc...earlier most of our veg curries included coconut which had to be ground to a paste with other spices ( so the first step is to grate the coconut before even grinding)...and me and my brother and sister were pressed into service ...we had the old stone grinder ...where in we had to sit on the floor and rotate the oval stone in one hand over the base which had a flat portion and centre hollow...not sure I am explaining it properly enough - and do not have a picture of the same...suffice to say that it was not an easy task...but according to Mom it would not taste the same if ground in an electric grinder...
Even our idli and dosa batter were ground the same way...

Later we started using the electric grinder for all our tasks - age and lack of time contributed to the change ..I think....

But as I mentioned all these south delicacies reduced to quite an extent and our general fare was quick and easy meals....

Recently we moved from our apartment ( due to redevelopment of the building complex ) to another part of Mumbai...our new apartment was quite close to a cousin's place - my Dad's nephew V....his wife (A) is a very lovely lady who still makes all the traditional dishes of Karnataka and since we are now close by she drops in at Mom's place often with some dish in tow...
Mom relishes all of them...and it tempted me to try it out too...one of them being the sweet appam.

Savoury Tomato Seviyan

Savoury Tomato Seviyan

A hot breakfast had been an everyday affair at my parents place....and we are all breakfast eaters ...can not imagine starting off a day without it...not so much hubby & his family...he did not prefer to eat anything ( at least before 9 or so )....
So he would look on in disbelief  when I would sit with a full plate of whatever even if I had to catch a very early flight or train or anything else...."it is like almost night time, ( this at  3 or 4 in the morning )...how can you eat"...but as I said once you are a breakfast person - you are hungry no matter what the time it is...cannot just have tea or coffee and leave...

And that is why, after I got married I would prepare a hot breakfast like powa, upma or idli, dosa, dhokla etc...only on weekends...another reason of course was on a regular working day it would be a big rush to cook early in the morning, and since I would be the only one eating it, it did not make it worthwhile...
Whereas on weekends both of us could have and it satisfied the second criteria of timing - I would prepare it leisurely and we could have it at 8:30 or 9...at a more "civilised time" according to T....

Rice Kheer

Rice Kheer

This plan happened in a very roundabout way...in the morning I started thinking about breakfast, lunch, dinner etc...as in what to prepare...what to organise..what I need...what I have...and such...

I had made some dosa batter...with rice, udad dal, ( the whole process...of soaking, grinding, fermenting etc..) ...had then proceeded to make dosa, sambhar, chutney for lunch a couple of days back...and had some leftover batter...so as I said in my thoughts was to use that up...and decided I would  steam it & voila we have dhokla....that decided on, was wondering what else with that...when hubby suggested kheer( hmmmm )....good idea - rice kheer goes really well with it....and that is how this post came about...made it ...took some pictures ...and decided to put it down...

With re. to kheer or payasam ( as we call it down south...er Southern part of India ) ...there are a lot of options, we make it with sabudana, rice, dal(s), vermicilli ( think I have covered most of it ) but with dhokla normally at my in-laws place it is made with rice...so that was what it would be today...

This is another very simple recipe ( my favourite kind )...and the end result ...awesome....and can be had just by itself, or with dhokla as we plan to later...or it could be served as dessert after a meal...any which way it is delicious...

Whole wheat Coconut Banana Mini Muffins

Mini Muffins

What again ??? This cause I was making my upmteen banana muffin or bread and also my third almost in a row coconut baked something....also have been using coconut quite a bit in other stuff, the most recent being the papad with coconut kosambari ( happala kosambari )....though according me to that does not count - it was a savoury ( spicy ) dish and not to be put in the same mould as a sweet one....

But as I said recently I had made a carrot cake ( which had been given a no. 1 star by my sister's work friends ), a coconut marbled cake / bread ( both recipes still to be posted ) and now this banana mini muffins with coconut...
well what do you do .....when you find a gem of a recipe you have to try it out ...right :-)

Well so here I am making this simple, very healthy ( whole wheat, no butter ), with some of my favourite ( banana, coconut ) ingredients...and very little sugar...so yes I am really thrilled...the occasion ...did not really need any...but had one handy...our friend was to pay us a visit ...it was not a sure thing...but I had to be ready  for him ???

The Amazing Papad...

Papad is one of the most amazing discoveries ( as I like to call it )...it really makes a great addition to any menu be it a main meal or a snack...it can be had in so many forms...though like all yummy things it is not considered good for you ( due to it's high salt content )...so be sure to have it in moderation ....

Well I am done with the general surgeon warning part of it - so here goes ...back with the high praise for this food item...
It can be had just plain roasted or fried  or in various other forms - some of which I decided to make a note of below...

When I thought of writing a post on papad, hubby was of the opinion that it was too simple to put down, but I was convinced that it is too beautiful to omit...not the plain form of roasting or frying ofcourse (that is known to all - I hope )...but some more elaborate methods of having it...which is not too difficult to prepare and hence is part of it's charm...

Pumpkin Soup

Pumpkin Soup

Rains and more rains....after a very very veeeerrrryyyy long wait the rains finally arrived....and did they come down....started in the night and continued the whole morning...darkening the skies and casting a gloom over the day and our plans...

Had some errands to run....and some other things to take care of - so had decided to set out early in the morning - so as to avoid the traffic and complete all the jobs as planned...well that was totally taken care of by the rains...not that we were complaining as it was long overdue...causing the temperatures to shoot up...and a real possibility of water shortage due to the scanty rainfall we have had till date...but as I said this put a scrimp in our plans for the day .....so decided instead to spend the time enjoying the rains while staying indoors warm & toasty & dry...

Would have loved to have bhajiyas & hot tea with a good book and a fireplace ?!?.....well in lieu of that decided to go in for hot steaming soup and garlic bread...good book very much present ...fireplace very much absent :-)...anyways guess you have to make do with what you have...which reminds me of this saying... which is rather apt for the current weather...

"If  you think sunshine brings you happiness, then you haven't danced in the rain"

So with that thought (though not dancing ) let us proceed to make the soup...and enjoy the rainy day....

Spicy Curd....& Carrot Raita

I love curds in all it's forms...eaten plain or sweetened ( if thickened a bit it is like shrikand )  or made into chaas ( buttermilk ) which is  how we currently tend to have it ...just water and salt and all churned up (simple )...or sometimes we spice it up a bit with chillies or ginger or sometimes a pinch of chaat masala...

It is so versatile and we generally have it in some form of the other...sometimes I make a raita with either boondi or some veggie which could be potato, onion, spinach ( already posted ), cucumber, carrot...each one as delicious as the other...or sometimes I make curd rice...and had with pickles & or papad it can serves as a light meal.

T's cousin is the one who introduced us to spicy curd, it is so simple to make and yet it is like a good dip to use, we even have it with handwo ( which is another of her speciality, she is an awesome cook and also grows some veggies and herbs )...
I used the same to make my carrot raita and we thought it was just amazing...so decided just have to write this down...
So with big thanks to A for her handwo, spicy curd, brownies and loads of other yummy dishes, I am posting this....

Peanut Butter

Peanut Butter

When in Rome....as the saying goes

I have found this to be quite true of my eating patterns...while I was in US, was quite enamoured of their crackers ( as they call it ) ...here we call it biscuit...and now some have started calling their products cookies( ? ) ...anyhow...

So some of my favourites were Oreos, Graham crackers ( Nabisco's )...and the very light with a delicate salty flavour Club crackers in it's original form...and it's varieties, honey flavoured, and puffed etc...and also Wheat thins ( with it's varieties )....every trip to the grocery store would see me stocking up on them...so as to have them as my tea time snack...
But when we settled back here in India...all of those favourites were replaced by those available here...one of my current favourites is the toast made by Britannia, and biscuits like Hide-n-seek, Bourbon ....

Coming back to old favourites...the reason why I meandered into the crackers lane...was cause I saw a recipe for making peanut butter and felt a wave of nostalgia come over me...this was something else that I used to relish with the above mentioned crackers or bread ( ... do not have it here though it is now readily available )

Anyways decided to make it at home, checked out a few different recipes...and got 'cracking' on it :-) ....ok so not that funny...never mind...