Making Pongal..

Today I am going to share the recipe for making pongal. Why pongal? It’s not even Pongal time! Oh well, I was a bit sick last week and the only think I landed up making was pongal and pepper rasam, to beat the fever and cold! Recipe for pepper rasam will follow soon, for now pongal it is! 

Ingredients:

1 cup rice

½ cup moong dal

¼ cup toor dal

50gms peppercorn

1 spoon jeera

A pinch of turmeric powder

Salt to taste

Ghee, if you like

Cashew(optional)

Add the rice and dal together and rinse them thoroughly to remove any dirt. Add 3 to 3 ½ cups of water in the bowl. Pressure cooker them for 7-8 whistles. How many whistles depends a lot on the cooker that you use. So, the rule of thumb is to keep it for 2-3 more whistles than what you would while cooking regular rice.

Once the steam is out, transfer the contents to a cooking pan/tawa. Add a pinch of turmeric and mix well. Meanwhile, add the jeera to the pongal. As you stir, ground some peppercorns and add them. It is always better to add ground pepper corns than pepper powder as it gives a better flavor. Add salt to taste.

Finally, heat some ghee in a separate pan and add the cashews. Once they turn golden brown, you can add it to the pongal and stir. Note: if you are cooking pongal because you fell sick (like Yours Truly), avoid the ghee and cashews. Your aim is to get well soon and not gobble up high fat ghee ;-)

Vethal Kozhambu

Vethal Kozhambu, or simply called Vethakkozhambu is one of my favourite gravy. It is a spicy, sour, tangy gravy with a slight tinge of bitterness. It is best eaten with rice, but what I love to do is to store it over-night in the refrigerator and use it as a side dish with curd rice. It tastes absolutely delicious. So before I make you drool (myself included), here is the recipe

Ingredients

Tamarind - golf ball sized
2 tablespoon gingely oil.
1 spoon urad dal
1 spoon toor dal
3-4 medium sized brinjal or a few tindli
2 spoons vethal kozhambu powder
Salt to taste

Soak the tamarind in a bowl of water. It is good to heat the water slightly as it will soften the tamarind faster.
In a pan, add the gingely oil and fry the vegetable until it is almost turning black. Remove the vegetables and set it aside.
Fry the urad and toor dal in the remaining oil until brown. Add the tamarind water and let it boil till the smell of tamarind fades away completely.
Add the vegetable now.
Add two spoons of the vethal kozhambu powder and stir well to avoid lumps.
Reduce the flame to sim and let it blend and cook well.

Tip: If you do not have the vegetable, you can also add plain papad after it is fried. Fry the papad normally and break it into small pieces. Add the pieces finally after the vethal kozhambu powder is added.

Making Sambar - Tam Bram style!

Being a Tam Bram (a fancy way of calling Tamil Brahmins) I am expected to know how to make sambar. People assume it is passed on through genes, like how a German can drink beer or Irish can make potatoes.. and well perhaps it is! So here is the much in demand sambar recipe for all my friends out there.

Ingredients

1 cup Toor dal
1 large tomato, cut into medium size
2 capsicum, cut medium size
Lemon sized ball of tamarind
1 spoon mustard seeds
1 spoon jeera
2 spoons sambhar powder
1 spoon cooking oil
a pinch of turmeric
a pinch of asafoetida
Salt to taste

Wash the dal, add a pinch of turmeric and boil it with water. You can use a cooker to boil it fast. The dal should be cooked in a way that you can mash it.
In a small bowl, soak the tamarind. Best to heat up the water a little to soften the tamarind.
In a pan, add the oil and once it is heated, add the mustard seeds and jeera. Add the tomatoes and capsicum. You can replace capsicum with any vegetable.
Squash the tamarind until it completely mixes with the water and add the tamarind water. Let it cook well until the smell of raw tamarind fades completely.
Add salt.
Add two spoons of sambhar powder and strir well to remove any lumps.
Drain the dal water into the pan and cook well.
Mash the dal completely and add.
Reduce flame to medium and let the sambhar cook well.
Finally, add just a pinch of asafoetida.

Sambhar ready!

Indianized Tomato Bruschetta

Ingredients

3 Full tomatoes, finely chopped

1 Medium sized onion, finely chopped

1 large green chilli, chopped

1 spring onion

4 cloves minced garlic

2 tablespoons butter or 1/4 cup olive oil

1 French baguette

1 cup mozarella cheese

Salt to taste

1. Melt the butter or add olive oil in a frying pan. 

2. Add the garlic and onions and fry till golden brown. 

3. Add the chopped green chilli and later the tomatoes. 

4. Once partially cooked, you can empty the finely chopped spring onions and mix well. 

5. Add salt to taste. To give it the 'Indian' colour, you can sprinkle some turmeric powder. 

6. Let the mixture simmer to spread the flavour of the tomatoes. 

7. Meanwhile, cut the baguette horizontally, about 3-4 inches wide. 

8. Spread some butter (optional) and toast. 

9. Once the tomato mixture is cooked, divide it equally over the baguette slices. 

10. If you have an oven or microwave, you can add the cheese and broil it till it melts. In the absence of those, just melt the cheese using a ladle only till it is semi-solid and pour it over the tomato mixture. Let it cool down.

Strawberry Dessert

Ingredients

• 1 (10 inch) angel food cake
• 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 (8 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed
• 1 quart fresh strawberries, sliced
• 1 (18 ounce) jar strawberry glaze

Directions

1. Crumble the cake into a 9x13 inch dish.
2. Beat the cream cheese and sugar in a medium bowl until light and fluffy. Fold in whipped topping. Mash the cake down with your hands and spread the cream cheese mixture over the cake.
3. In a bowl, combine strawberries and glaze until strawberries are evenly coated. Spread over cream cheese layer. Chill until serving.

Trains...

I recently heard the news of a friend's separation and was going through how I felt about it. Initially there was a pang. We all want happy endings - not our own version of happy ending but what we see in movies, read in fairy tales and come to believe. After I sorted out the pang, I sat down to think about them, which is when I came up with the analogy of trains.

Like trains, or train tracks, we all have a single line - our life. If you have ever travelled in a train, and have seen how the tracks run in and out of each other, you will soon realise how our lives are no different. We all have our main line, we meet several lines that come into ours, and we also part from several lines. The continuous dance of railway lines joining and parting from our track is rather fascinating. You can watch it all day long..

There is nothing unusual about meeting or parting with lines. It is just the way it is. And for the train to run smoothly, the right line has to meet at the right point and also part at the right point. any mistake, we get derailed. There is nothing sad about letting go of lines. They arrived, served a purpose, took us that far in our journey, and now it is time for it to leave, so we may journey forward.

Everyone has their our lines that meet ours at some point and part at other. In the end we all have our our source and our own destination. We simply cross paths. Some of us may share the same source and destination, but we start and end at different times and follow different paths. For example, there are three trains connecting Chennai to Hyderabad. All three start and arrive at different times and completely different tracks. But they all reach the same place.

At the end of the day, all we have is the journey to savour. The joy of travelling and excitement with which we look forward to the destination, while enjoying the journey. So.. Happy Journey! :-)

Experience God..Fall in Love

Stop. Before you laugh over the title and decide to leave this page, just pause. My teacher once said that we can either trash the gyan she gives or just pause for a minute, consider it and then choose to keep it or trash it. So, I ask the same of you. Pause. Consider. Choose.

Many have talked endlessly about the experience of the infinite. We even discussed in class what Peak Experiences mean. According to definition, it is a term used to describe a transpersonal state of immense joy, euphoria and harmony with all. And then, my teacher (Wise One she is), said something. That got me thinking.. how do I get one of those? Have I experienced one of those states that connect me with God?

And then I wrote this..

I see God..

When..
I share a light joke with my dad and see him laugh,
I sit near my mom's feet and hug her legs,
My head in her palm resting on her lap..cheeks against her toiled hands,

When..
My dog cuddles up near me when I least expect,
A friend remembers to bring back a souvenir from his travels,
A cousin calls to say 'Thanks for being there',

When..
I spring out of the couch to open the door for him,
Our noses rub and eyes lock,
And share a smile that conveys what no word can,

When..
The window screens rain drops trickling off mango leaves,
Silent peace that connects a car ride,
Genuine bonds that says 'I'm here for you',

When..
I experience 'ah-ha' moments discovering my Truth,
Feel words are just never enough to share what I feel,
And Gratitude that causes misty eyes.


Love and immense Gratitude.. these are the only two things that I can think of when I look back at my life. Love for those who have nurtured me, smiled and walked with me, loved me and accepted me. Gratitude to them and also those who hurt me for they have, in some twisted way, shaped me. Thank you.

I am no great saint, no great philosopher. But I do know love and can say thanks from the bottom of my heart. So, this is the path that I carve for myself. I believe it has helped me to not just say 'Hello' to God but also hug Him. And I hope someday it will help me become One.