Bhuna chawal...finally!!!

Its been a crazy month - and I didnt even realize when it slipped by...i only have my weary bones as a testament...

The bhuna chawal as the name sugggests is rice which is browned or bhunoed (gawd the liberties i take with the queen's language!!)

Ok..here's the bhuna chawal as promised...
2 cups of basmati rice - soaked for atleast 30 minutes
2 small onions - sliced
1 tsp of Sugar
Whole garam masala - 4-5 cloves, 1" cinnamon, 3-4 bay leaves and 4-5 peppercorns.
5 tbsps Ghee
Salt to taste

Heat ghee and add sugar to it - let it caramelize - once brown add the whole garam masala - let it splutter and add the onions - saute till dark brown - add the rice (without water) - now saute the rice for a couple of minutes and add 4 cups of water. Cook on an open pot till water reaches boiling point - cover it after that - with a weight.
The rice should be ready in 10-15 minutes. It will be a light brown in color. Yup - it smells awesome.
The perfect combi with Sayee Bhajee and boondi raita..
Ahhhh yes...i need pictures.
But dont let the absence of pictures stop you...go on..
PS - Nupur - i hope you havent given up on me and do check in to read this..
Maybe we should do an RCI on Sindhi Food and that will put me in the circuit for good!!

And the sindhi in me awakens...saayee bhaji

Its time I spoke about Sindhi cooking. Actually my mom's cooking. I first realised I loved food on my mother's kitchen platform. Like all moms, mine is a wonderful cook too. And she makes the most amazing khana. Nothing fancy. Dal chawal and subzi roti - but finger licking good. Infact everytime we have a family jamboree - my mom is comissioned into making dal.
So I used to sit at the platform and watch her cook - and one thing she taught me was never - never ever never - to kill the original flavor of whatever was being cooked. In my mom's book - the cardinal sin is to make your bhindi taste like your gobi. So all the food I learnt to cook and eat was low on masalas, low on oil, steamed, healthy and so so so yummy.
Anyway - this one started about sindhi cooking and thats what it will be - by all means.
Here is my all time favorite sindhi recipe - its called saayee bhaji (and not sai bhaji as in 'sindhi sai') Saayee means green and this one allows you to be as green as you want to be.
Here goes -
2 bunches of palak - washed and roughly chopped
1 bunch of methi - cleaned, washed and roughly chopped
a few sprigs of dill /suva (optional - I find the flavor really overpowering.)
1 1/2 cup of channa dal - soaked for alteast 2 hours
2 potatoes - chopped inot 1' pieces
Handful of cluster beans/ gavar
2-3 small brinjals - chopped into 1' pieces
3 tomatoes - chopped
2 medium onions - chopped
2 tbsps garlic and 2 tbsps ginger - grated
Turmeric - 1/2 tsp
Dhania - 1 tsp
Tamarind paste - to taste - if its a really good concentrate like tamcon then 1 tbsp should be more than enough.
Salt to taste. 2-3 tbsps of oil
One large pressure cooker.

Heat the oil. Toss in the garlic and ginger - saute till the garlic emits a nice aroma - dont brown it - add onions - saute till translucent. Add tomatoes, all the vegetables, the soaked dal, the sukha masalas. Toss it a little. Add a glass of water. Shut the cooker and cook for 3 whistles.
Open the cooker and blend it. You could use a hand blender or a good old fashioned wooden mandira. The consistency should not be too smooth or too rough - it should be like a dal with some bits of sabji.

This goes best with bhune chawal. I'll post that recipe soon. However, plain chawal would do well too. But i like it the best with pav - or with a nice crusty french baguette.

And yes, the next time I make I'll take some pictures to add to this. I have just discovered that pictures are an integral part of food blogging. Theek hai, I'll learn. And till then - try this and slurp.

And this you must try...Pudina Puris

I made this for breakfast on sunday and was applauded. I cant take the credit for the original recipe (Thank you Tarla Ben!) but here goes

Pudina Puris
2 cups of maida
2 table spoons of ghee
1/2 cup of mint / pudina leaves
1 green chilly
1/2 tsp of jeera / cummin seeds
1 tsp lemon jiuce
Salt and Sugar to taste (but please dont omit the sugar - it adds to the taste)

In a mortar and pestle, pound the pudina, green chilli and cummin.
Add this and the ghee to the maida along with the salt and sugar. Rub it in nicely and knead the dough with a little water.

Roll and fry, on medium heat. These puris turn out khasta (slightly crisp) and taste fantastic with a cuppa chai. I tried them with mango pickles and it kills the flavor of the mint - so that was a bad idea. It tastes great just as it is.

Are they fattening - of course they are!! Are they worth it - of course they are!!!

to evacuate or not....

We had a fire in our office building - and what do you think we should have done - Evacuate, of course!!! Did we?? Nah!!! We rationalized - its a small fire - we'll be able to contain it - dont panic - dont worry - and all that.
Should there even be a question in our minds about evacuation? It raises two very fundamental issues - one, yeh hum log office attendance , productivity ko human life ke aage rakhte hain.
And two, isnt this what we always do in life - neglect doing the obvious till its too late.
In a relationship, which is obviously abusive - here the response options range from - but 'he really loves me' to 'where will I go' to 'he has a problem and I will help him get over it' to 'i love him and cant live without him'
Hello?? What about loving yourself? Lekin bhai - evacuate? This is not what I learnt - this is not strength and courage of conviction and fortitude and all things high and lofty.
How can I evacuate on people??
Hmmmm...yeh to duvidha hai.
But like a building on fire - some people are on a path to self destruction - I think its only fair to yourself to pause and choose - do I want to burn with this person - or will I evacuate?

I wanted to cook in my new kitchen and i am - and how!!!
sometimes prayers are answered in the most unexpected ways. i dont know whether i like this answer - and like my grand ma say's 'banda beshukra hai'
ok - here's the recipe of a fantastic dip i made for new year which elicited whoops of delight and made the effort worth it
1 cup of dahi / yoghurt - one big dabba of nestle / britannia
half cup of cheese spread
5 -6 cloves of garlic - grated
salt / pepper to taste

Hang the dahi for atleast an hour - blend dahi and cheese - add garlic, salt and pepper. And viola!!

This tastes amazing - the creamy texture of the dahi and cheese with the zest of garlic.
Goes well with any finger foods (chakhna - heh.heh) and wafers, nachos - you name it. Is fantastic even with a roti or paratha.

happy new year!

This is my first blog in the new year....
The House with a capital H is finally ready and we hosted our first dinner on the 31st. Couldnt cook - which was a shame - still have ambitious plans of cooking for an army though...
some time soon..
and another year has gone by - its been exactly a year in bangalore...
i remember swearing to myself that i wont leave Mumbai - chaahe kuch bhi ho jaaye..
and then one day---i think it was somehere when i was crossing over from harbor to western at bandra and trying to get into a train - and managing to get a foothold that i changed my mind.
It looked like the story of my life - just managing to get a foothold and that was not enough for em anymore - i wanted more.
i wanted time, i wanted space and i wanted a home - Bangalore seemed like a culmination of it all - and in a lot of ways it has been.
Do i want to spend my life on a foothold - thoda andar, thoda baahar - whether it is a local train or a relationship or a job or just life - or do i want to get off the train and find another way of getting to the destination?
I dont know, i still havent gotten there - but i know that the ride is so much more fun now - now that i am not doing it mindlessly...
Like Osho says, full awareness ke saath - and like Rajnikanth says - Maaaend eet!!