Aloo Palak

Ingredients:
1 bunch spinach - chopped (approx 1 big bowl)
1 Potato - semi cooked
1 tomato - cooked, with skin removed
2 chillis
2 pods garlic
1 onion - chopped
1 spoon Jeera Dhania powder
10 Cashews - soaked in water
Garlic, ginger - minced Garam masala
Ghee, Salt, Turmeric

Method:

• Keep the chopped spinach, potato (cut into cubes) and tomato in seperate vessels and cook in cooker (1 whistle).
• After it cools, peel the skin of the tomato. Blend the tomato + soaked cashews in a blender. Keep it aside.
• Using the same blender, blend the spinach + chilli + garlic together. 
• In a pan, put 3-5 spoons of ghee. After it heats up, add ginger, garlic, dhania, jeera and chopped onions. Saute for 3 mins. Add turmeric. 
• Add the pureed spinach and tomatoes. Cook for 2 mins and stir well so that they blend together. Add salt and garam masala as per taste.  
• Finally add the potato cubes and mix well.

Switch off the flame and here your are done. Aalu Palak suits best with Chapati/Roti and alike.

(Note: After cooking spinach, remove excess water in it and use it if the gravy looks too thick. even otherwise, do not waste the water as it has the grean leafy nutrients in it. ;) So use the remaining water in preparing chapati dough).

Beetroot Halwa

Another Healthy-Bhi-Tasty-Bhi recipe down here: 

Ingredients:
Beetroots(2-3 large beetroots): i.e; 2 large bowls of grated beetroot
Sugar: for 2 large bowls of beetroot take 3/4th bowl of sugar (Note: if you love sweet then you can take beetroot:sugar in the ratio of 2:1)
Milk powder: 3 spoons (optional)
Ghee: Around 8 spoons
Dry nuts for seasoning (Cashew, Badam, Dry grapes) & powdered Elachi for aroma.

Method:
Grate the beetroots and cook it in cooker (without adding water). 1 whistle is more than sufficient. If possible switch off the cooker even before it makes its 1st whistle. After it cools down a bit, try to remove the excess water in the cooked beetroot. Remember not to squeeze as that will spoil its structure.

In a pan put 4 spoons of ghee to roast the dry nuts (Cashew, Badam, Dry grapes, Elachi) until they turn golden brown. Keep them aside and to the same pan add 4 spoons ghee and add the cooked grated beetroot. Stir on medium flame for 5 minutes. Then add sugar + milk powder to the pan. Stir so that they mix well. Once the sugar melts you will notice the content becomes a little watery. So, you will have to stir occasionally until all water evaporates (on medium/high flame). The consistency should become like that of Carrot Halwa - took me around 20 mins of stirring. Once done, turn off the flame and add the roasted nuts.

You can serve the halwa hot or refrigerate it and serve chilled.

(Note: If you think you added too much sugar and halwa turned out too sweet then you can alter it by adding some grated kobri at the end and stir for an additional 5 mins.)

Vanakkam!!!

The journey from Bangalore to Chennai was a smooth one. It was 6:30 in the morning and the bus driver began to scream that this was the last stop and everyone started alighting. We got down the bus and noticed that we were in front of a huge messy market near Chennai Bus Station.

We were supposed to call Puttu Mama (Adarsh's uncle) who was then to pick us up in his car. As luck had its part to play, we found that our mobile phone was switched off due to low battery. Before we even began to look for public phones, a group of 4-6 auto drivers came towards us and greeted us "Vanakkam". They tried to converse with us in broken English/Hindi. All they knew was "yes", "no" and a few other Hindi words which almost meant the same.

We assumed that they were trying to get us into one of their auto rickshaws and so we avoided them. One of them came closer to us and was showing us his mobile. I was not at all comfortable with the whole idea of chit-chatting with auto drivers so we simply indicated that we needed no taxis/autos and began looking for phone booths. Only then it struck to us that they were actually trying to tell that there were no public phones nearby and so one of them was offering his mobile phone for us to make the call.

Let me tell you, all these years, friends told various stories about Chennai/Tamil Nadu. I heard that no one there responds to strangers if they talked in English or any other language than Tamil. Tamilians were in romance with their mother-tongue that they would reply (if at all) only in Tamil. We thought they would not be so helpful to people like us who understood very little Tamil. 

And here, we get to see a group of auto drivers trying to help us and offer their personal phones to make STD calls!!! Yes, we had to call back to Ujire (my in law's place) and get our uncle's phone number as our mobile was switched off and thus had no access to contact numbers. We told that we will pay back them the cost of the call and made phone calls back home, took our uncle's phone number and then again dialled back to Puttu Mama informing him about our exact location so that he could come and pick us up.

By the time we hung the phone, we realized that the driver's balance had become zero. He had a very low balance remaining in his pre-paid phone, yet he had offered us help. Upon that, he simply denied the cash we offered. With his Rajini style and his mixed Tamil-cum-English words, he intended to say that it was a small help and wanted nothing in return. We felt guilty that we used up his remaining balance and could not repay it.

Helplessly, we stood there waiting for Puttu Mama. We were expecting him in 10 minutes and it was almost 20 mins of waiting, and there were no signs. We did not want to make yet another call from the driver's phone and so we simply continued to wait.

Nearby, was a huge hotel and we thought we could get some help in making calls at its reception. The reception was huge, and there were 2 men dressed in black suits. I told them my situation and requested if I could use the reception phone to make a local call. The brute reply that came out of the sophisticated receptionist was: "Sorry Madam, we cannot help you with this. We cannot let you make calls nor charge you for it". Phew... and there it ended. I walked out with thoughts of the extreme behaviour of the helpful average auto driver at one end and the posh-yet-blunt receptionists at the other.

After waiting for another 10-15 minutes, we felt that it is no point waiting for this long, as our uncle could be waiting at some other end trying to find us. So we decided to use the drivers phone one last time, but right away pay them back the cost of all the calls. Since that driver had no more balance remaining in his phone, he looked for other drivers and came back with a mobile phone so that we could make our call. Our uncle was waiting for us somewhere close by and we could spot him. After returning the phone, the drivers again denied to be repaid and we had a deeper sense of guilt now.

We had to repay their gratitude somehow. So Adarsh took out a sweet box out of his bag. We gave a box of our favorite Dharwad Peda to them and immediately we could see the expressions on their faces and a sense of relief on our faces too. They were delighted at it and a bigger crowd of auto drivers gathered in seconds and finished the sweets in no time. We soon sighted Puttu Mama and hopped into his car with a feeling of satisfaction and smiled at each other at the whole episode.

Heerekai Chutney

Well, I would like to call it fibrous chutney because its made of vegetable's skin and thus very fibrous and healthy. Its called heerekai sippe chutney - more famous as samandha in south kanara.

Ingredients:

1 big bowl - Heere kai sippe (thick skin of ridge gourd)
2 spoon coconut gratings
1 spoon urad dal
1 green chilly, 1 red chilly
tamarind - 1 small lemon size
a pinch of asafoetida (ingu)
2 spoon oil
salt to taste

Method:

(1) Semi cook the skin of ridge gourd and keep it aside. (can be cooked in cooker or in a pan with closed lid).
(2) Take a pan and put 2 spoons oil. Add urad dal to it. Once it turns brownish, add green & red chilly. Add asafoetida powder. Switch off the flame and then add coconut gratings.
(3) Mix (1) and (2) in a blender/mixie to form a consistent paste. Add water as needed.
(4) For seasoning: add mustard seeds and some urad dal in oil/ghee.

And there you go! Who said "all that tastes good is not healthy and all that is healthy tastes bad!" In this case: its healthy bhi... tasty bhi!

Serving suggestions: Serve it with curd rice or Dosa/Chapati/Idli.

Now you must be wondering "I use the fibrous peeled skin. well and good. But what do I do with the vegetable!!!" No worries. It can be used in making Dose. Follow my Khara Dose recipe here which shows you how to do just that.

Spicy Spaghetti

Today has been a lazy day... lazy to cook rice, but all excited and geared up to try some experimenting with spaghetti. I searched for some good recipes in the internet, but most of them wanted chilly sauce, vinegar, multi-purpose sauce and many other varieties. In my kitchen, you can simply find 1 bottle of tomato sauce and soy sauce. I have not tried other varieties of sauces for the simple reason that we seldom cook Chinese/Italian food and the sauce will be kept unused for months together and wasted ultimately.

So the below recipe is my own version of spaghetti, more suitable for Indian taste buds. Try it out, and i bet you will enjoy the new taste.

Indian Version Spaghetti Ingredients:

1 onion - chopped

1 bowl carrot - cut into match sticks size

1 bowl shredded cabbage

1 bowl capsicum - cut into thin long slices

1 small bowl onion springs - cut diagonally

1 spoon minced ginger & garlic

1 large bowl cooked & strained Spaghetti

1 spoon soy sauce 

1 spoon tomato sauce

4-5 spoons of oil

salt and white pepper - as per your taste.

Method:

Preparing Spaghetti:

Take approx 1 litre of water for around 100gms of Spaghetti. Bring the water to boil. Add a little salt. Once you make sure that the water is boiling, add spaghetti and cook for 6-8mins, stirring occasionally. Cook uncovered. Blanch with cold water, strain & keep aside.

Actual Preparation:

- Use a thick bottomed large wok and make sure to work on a high flame. Put 4-5 spoons of olive oil (or any oil that you prefer).

- Once the oil is hot, put ginger/garlic. Saute briefly and add onion.

- Add carrots, fry for a few seconds and then cabbage & capsicum.

- After they are semi-cooked, add soya sauce and tomato sauce. Stir well.

- Add pepper as per your taste requirement & a pinch of salt if the cooked spaghetti hasn't picked enough salt.

- Put the strained spaghetti onto the wok and mix thoroughly for 2 mins. Switch off the flame and then decorate with the aromatic onion springs and finally serve with love :)

Note: You can improve its taste by adding a little multi-purpose sauce and a spoon of vinegar if you have it in your kitchen store.

Its an easy and simple recipe which will for sure make your family crave for more and more.

Nostalgia

“Wow! Matching earings, matching bangles… you look gorgeous. ಏನೇ special ಇವತ್ತು?” ಎ೦ದು ಆಕೆಯ friend ಕೇಳಿದಾಗ ಏನೋ ಒ೦ದು ರೀತಿಯ ಜ೦ಭ ಆಕೆಗೆ. ತನ್ನ೦ತ ಸು೦ದರಿ ಬೇರೆ ಯಾರು ಇಲ್ಲ ಎ೦ಬ ಕಲ್ಪನೆ.

“ಏನು ಇಲ್ವೆ – ಹಾಗೆ ಸುಮ್ಮನೆ” ಅ೦ತ ಹೇಳುತ್ತಾಳೆ.

“Look she is blushing” . ಉಳಿದವರೆಲ್ಲಾ ಕಿಟಿ-ಕಿಟಿ ಎ೦ದು ನಗುತ್ತಾರೆ.

---೦---

ಇಬ್ಬರು ಹುಡುಗಿಯರ shopping ಕಥೆ ಇದು…

ಎಷ್ಟು ಈ salwar-ಗೆ.

900 madam.

500ಕ್ಕೆ ಕೊಡ್ತೀರಾ?

ಎನ್ madam? Handmade work ಇದೆ ಇದ್ರಲ್ಲಿ. 800ಕ್ಕು ಕಮ್ಮಿ ಬರಕ್ಕೆ ಆಗಲ್ಲ.

ಹೊಗ್ಲೀ 600ಗೆ ಕೊಡಿ...

ಇಲ್ಲ madam. 600 ಬಿಟ್ಟು ಬೇರೆ ಯಾವುದಾದ್ರು price ಹೇಳಿ. ಕೊಟ್ಟು ಬಿಡ್ತೀನಿ.

ಹೌದಾ, ಹಾಗಿದ್ರೆ 610ಕ್ಕೆ ಕೊಡಿ…

ಹೀಗೆ ಸ್ವಲ್ಪ ಹೊತ್ತು ಚರ್ಚೆ ನಡೆಯುತ್ತದೆ. ಕೊನೇಗೆ, ಹುಡುಗಿಯರು 700ಕ್ಕೆ salwar purchase ಮಾಡುತ್ತಾರೆ. ಆಗ ಅವರಿಗೆ ಎನೋ ಒ೦ದು ತರಹದ satisfaction.

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ಒಹ್ ಹೊ. ಆ T.V ಗೆ 40,000 ಬೆಲೆ ಏನು! ಹಣವನ್ನು ಜೋಪಾನ ಮಾಡಿ wardwobe-ನಲ್ಲಿ ಇಡು ಮಗಳೆ. ಹೀಗಿನ ಪರಿಸ್ಥಿತಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಮನದಲ್ಲಿ ಏನೊ ಒ೦ದು ತರಹದ ಭಯಾ. ಎಲ್ಲಿ ಕಳ್ಳ ಬ೦ದು ಹಣವನ್ನು ದೋಚಿಕೊ೦ಡು ಹೋದಾನೋ ಎ೦ಬ ಭೀತಿ.

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ಹೊರಗಡೆ ಗುಡುಗಿನ ಸದ್ದು. ವಿಪರೀತ ಗಾಳಿ. ಮಗಳು ಮತ್ತು ತಾಯಿ ಇಬ್ಬರು terrace ಕಡೆ ಓಡುತ್ತಾರೆ. ಸ್ವಲ್ಪ ಹೊತ್ತಿನ ಮು೦ಚೆ ಬಟ್ಟೆ ಒಗೆದು ಒಣಗಲು ಹಾಕಿದ್ದರು. ಗುಡುಗು-ಮಿ೦ಚು ಬರುವುದನ್ನು ನೊಡಿ ಬಟ್ಟೆ ತೆಗೆಯಲು ಓಡಿದರು. ಸಹಜವಾಗಿ ಎದೆ ಬಡಿತ ಏರಿತು. ಮಳೆ ಶುರು ಆಗುವ ಮುನ್ನ, ಬಟ್ಟೆ ತೆಗೆಯಬೇಕೆ೦ಬ ಕಾಳಜಿ ಇಬ್ಬರಿಗೂ.

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ರಾತ್ರಿ 11:58. ಹುಡುಗಿ ಇನ್ನು ನಿದ್ದೆ ಮಾಡಿಲ್ಲ. ಕಳೆದ ಒ೦ದು ತಾಸು T.V ನೊಡುತ್ತಾ ಕಳೆದಳು. ಮನದಲ್ಲಿ ಏನೋ ಸ೦ತಸ, ಹುರುಪು. T.V program ಗಳಲ್ಲಿ countdown ಶುರು ಆದವು. ಹೊಸ ವರುಷಕ್ಕೆ ಹೆಜ್ಜೆ ಇಡಲು ಇನ್ನು ಉಳಿದದ್ದು ಬರೀ 60 seconds ಗಳು. ಮನೆಯ ಸಮೀಪದಲ್ಲಿ ಎಲ್ಲೋ ಕೂಗಾಟ-ಕಿರುಚಾಟ, ನಗೆ ಮತ್ತು music ಸದ್ದು. ಜಗತ್ತಿನಲ್ಲಿರುವವರೆಲ್ಲ ತಮ್ಮ loved-ones ಒಡನೆ enjoy ಮಾಡುತ್ತಾ ಇರಬಹುದೇನೊ ಎ೦ಬ ಕಲ್ಪನೆ ಈ ಹುಡುಗಿಗೆ.

ಛೇ! ನಾನು ಎಷ್ಟು ದುರಾದ್ರುಷ್ಟವ೦ತೆ. How unlucky of me. Everyone is enjoying this special moment, and I think I am the only one who is sitting between a 4 walled room and doing absolutely nothing. ಹೀಗೆ ತನ್ನನ್ನು, ಮತ್ತು ತನ್ನ ಪರಿವಾರವನ್ನು ಇನ್ನು westernized ಆಗಿಲ್ಲವೆ೦ಬ ಕಾರಣ ಹಿಡಿದುಕೊ೦ಡು ಬೇಜಾರಿನಲ್ಲಿ/disappointment-ನಲ್ಲಿ ನಿದ್ದೆ ಮಾಡಲು roomಗೆ ಹೋಗುತ್ತಾಳೆ.

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ಸ೦ಜೆ 7 ಗ೦ಟೆ. ನಾಳೆಯ ಪರೀಕ್ಷೆಗೆ ಇಬ್ಬರು ಸ್ನೇಹಿತರು group-studies ಮಾಡುತ್ತಿದ್ದರು. Phone ring ಆಯಿತು. Question Paper leak ಆಗಿದ್ದ ಸುದ್ದಿ ಕೇಳಿ ಇಬ್ಬರಿಗು ಖುಷಿ. ಕೂಡಲೆ ಎಲ್ಲಾ ಪ್ರಷ್ನೆಗಳನ್ನು ಒ೦ದು ಕಾಗದದ ಮೇಲೆ ಗೀಚಿಕೊಳ್ಳುತ್ತಾಳೆ. ಎನೊ classಗೆ ತಾವೇ toppers ಆಗಿಬಿಡ್ತೀವೇನೋ ಎ೦ಬ excitement ಇಬ್ಬರಿಗೂ. ಮರುದಿನ ಪರೀಕ್ಷೆಯಲ್ಲಿ question paper ಸಿಕ್ಕಿದಾಗ ಇಬ್ಬರೂ ಮುಖ-ಮುಖ ನೋಡಿ ನಗುತ್ತಾರೆ.

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ಮೇಲೆ ಕ೦ಡ೦ತಹ feelings ಬರದೆ ಸುಮಾರು 2 ವರುಷಗಳಾಗಿರಬಹುದು. ಆ ಜ೦ಭ/ satisfaction/ ಭಯಾ/ ಕಾಳಜಿ/ ಸ೦ತಸ/ disappointment/ excitement ಇವೆಲ್ಲಾ Singapore ಹವಾದಲ್ಲಿ ಇರುವುದಿಲ್ಲವೊ, ಅಥವಾ ಮದುವೆಯಾದ ಕಾರಣದಿ೦ದ ನನ್ನ ಮೇಲೆ ಕೋಪ ಮಾಡಿಕೊ೦ಡು ನನ್ನನ್ನು ಬಿಟ್ಟು ಹೊಗಿದ್ದಾವೊ, ನಾ ಅರಿಯೆ.

ಇ೦ತಹಾ ಹಲವಾರು feelings ನನ್ನೊಡನೆ ಸುಮಾರು ೨೦ ವರುಷ ಇದ್ದವು. ಆದರೆ, ಈಗ ಬೇರೆಯೇ ತರಹದ feelings. Responsibility/ maturity/ freedom/ technology ಇವೆಲ್ಲಾ ನಮ್ಮ ಜೀವನದಲ್ಲಿ ಆಕ್ರಮಿಸಿಕೊ೦ಡ ಕಾರಣದಿ೦ದಲೋ ಎನೊ ಗೊತ್ತಿಲ್ಲ, ಆ ಹಳೆಯ ಅನಿಸಿಕೆಗಳು ಬರೀ ನೆನಪಾಗಿ ಉಳಿದಿವೆ. ಸ೦ತಸ, ಸ೦ಕಟ, ನಗೆ, ಮಜ ಎಲ್ಲಾ ಈಗಲೂ ಉ೦ಟು, ಆದರೆ ಬೇರೆಯೆ ತರಹದಲ್ಲಿ.

ಕೊನೆಯದಾಗಿ, ನೀವು ಏನೇ ಹೇಳಿ… ಈ Novemberಲ್ಲಿ  commercial streetಗೆ ಹೊದಾಗ bargain ಅ೦ತು ಖ೦ಡಿತಾ ಮಾಡೇ ಮಾಡ್ತೀನಿ... ... ಪರಿಸ್ಥಿತಿ ಕ್ಷಣಿಕವಾಗಿ ಬದಲಾದರೇನು, shopping ವಿಷಯದಲ್ಲ೦ತೂ, ನಾವು ಹುಡುಗಿಯರು ಅಷ್ಟು ಸುಲಭವಾಗಿ ಬದಲಾಗುವುದಿಲ್ಲ!!!

I Can, I Will...

Some of you might have heard about this diet called GM Diet (General Motors Weight Loss Diet). It is a seven day diet program. It is planned in such a way, that it cleanses your internal body and flushes away the impurities within your system. This program is targeted to those who want to lose weight.

During the diet, you need to follow the plan given in their website. You will basically live on fruits, veggies, milk and water for these seven days (for vegetarians). Non-vegetarians however have other options. For more details you can refer to this link:
http://msync.org/health/GeneralMotorsDiet.html

I thought why not give it a try. I do not want to loose any weight. I am however keen on cleansing my body. I am sure it will give a feeling of well being at the end of seven days.
To keep the spirit high, I thought why not blog my experiences :)

Key Factor: Drink atleast 10 glasses of water during this diet program

Day 1: Only fruits:
Eat as much fruits as you want (anything except banana).
So we went to the market and got Apples, Pears, Lychee, Rock Melon, Watermelon & Oranges. I think this will be sufficient for today. Actually I am feeling a little tired already. May be my body is getting prepared for it. :) I will get back with more updates tomorrow.

Day 2: Only Veggies:
For breakfast, eat one large boiled potato. Rest of the day, eat any raw/cooked vegetables of your choice.
I had 1 potato for breakfast. I prepared soup for afternoon (a simple mixture of tomato gravy, onion, capsicum, cabbage, & carrot gratings - cooked with very little salt).
(Check out in the above link for recipe of GM Soup). Also had 1 hour of cardio workout at the gym.

Day 3: Fruits + Veggies (except banana & potato):
I woke up this morning and I knew something was wrong. Man! I felt so weak and dizzy. I drank a big glass of water with glucose and rested for a while. :)
Then I began my day with apple, pears & carrot. For lunch I had watermelon, peach, carrot, cabbage & tender coconut. Dinner was beans, cabbage, tomato, pears & lychee.
You know what, life becomes so boring with only raw fruits & veggies. I realised it just now. I want some junk food. But I cant quit now :P

Day 4: Eight Bananas + 3 glass milk:
Aww finally some change. I was bored of eating only fruits & vegetables. Today I can eat banana & get some calcium out of milk. Also, I will prepare the GM wonder soup for lunch. Hope this day goes on smoothly. Will be back with more updates.

Day 5: Rice + Tomato:
You should feel lucky today to enjoy a bowl full of rice. Drink extra water today to flush off the extra uric acid produced in your body.

Day 6: Rice + Vegetables:
Again today you get to eat 1 bowl of rice and any amount of cooked/uncooked veggies. It was really tough for me to eat plain rice. So I had to break the rule. I ate curd rice with pickles. Hehe. I know, during a diet, pickle sounds a little junk. Afterall, rules are made to be broken :P

Day 7: Rice + Vegetables + Fresh Fruit Juice:
This is your last day of diet, so refresh yourself with fruit juice - as many as you want. Eat one bowl rice and (un)cooked veggies.
In the morning I did not find enough time to prepare juice. So I simply ate apple and drink lots of water. hehe. Let the processing happen in my stomach :P For afternoon I will be drinking kiwi & grape juice, also a cup of brown rice. For dinner it will be some veggie salad and fruit juice again.

Anyone wants to join me, start it rightaway. Lets walk towards feeling better :)

Adi is trying to distract me with Indian sweets, snacks and other junk food. Its right in front of my eyes. But i will not give up. :P
I know I can & I will succeed. Hehe :)