Vendakkai Curry

A simple recipe. Best suited for those office-rushing times in the morning when you can't make up your mind about what to cook.

Bindi - 1/2 kg
Red Chilli powder - 1 tsp
Turmeric - 1/2 tsp
Pepper Powder - 1/2 tsp
Sambhar Powder - 1 1/2 tsp
Dry Mango Powder - 1/2 tsp
Vendayam - 1 tsp
Mustard Seeds
Urad Dal
Oil - 1 1/2 tsp
Salt to taste
Coriander Leaves

1. Wash the bindi and pat it dry with a towel. Keep aside for 5 mins.

2. Heat oil and let mustard seeds pop. Throw in the daal and wait for it to turn brown. Now add all the masalas. Wait for 2-3 mins.

3. Add the bindi to the masala and saute.

4. Cover it now and steam it for about 5 mins. Stir occasionally.

Don't forget to add the salt and coriander leaves int he end!

:)

Slumdog Millionaire

If you have no idea what I am talking about. Read this. For the accolades this movie has won, I feel it is overrated. I mean, look at Rang De Basanti or even Lagaan. Potrayal of India in its 'true' colours has surely won the hearts of many across the globe, it seems! The typical Bollywood style, hero finding heroine, the villian of a brother, a famous host degrading a 'slum' boy in a show and later misleading him. Frankly, the second half is not upto the mark. Anil Kapoor, in my opinion, has not acted as brilliantly as SRK says he has. Running away from a brothel after shooting a goon, staying in a hotel - 3 kids in a hotel!.

Anyway, good thing being - it is nominated for the Oscars. I am definitely not waiting with bated breath. Hmm, on second thought, for Rehman, yes.

Onion Chutney.

2 Large Onions
1 tbsp Coriander leaves
A small piece of tamarind (broken and soaked)
1 1/2 tsp red chilli powder
1/2 tsp Ginger (finely cut)
1/2 tsp Cumin seeds
4-5 Curry leaves
Salt (Rock Salt preferably)
1/2 tsp Oil
A little Water

Seasoning:
Oil
1 tsp Mustard Seeds
1 tsp Cumin seeds
A pinch of Asafoeteda

1. Heat the Oil and grind all the ingredients mentioned above (except Seasoning) to make a thick coarse paste.

2. Heat Oil and add mustard seeds to it. When you hear it sputter, add the Cumin seeds and the asafoeteda.

3. Pour it over the already ground misture and mix.

Serve with idlis, dosas, upma or even roti

The only Chemistry I know of.

It all started where we all begin. The two-minute meal. Maggie. (Which is NEVER cooked in two minutes!) It gave me immense pleasure to realise I can make something edible and not poison myself. I used to actually be scared of lighting the stove when I was a kid, thanks to the Indian Cinema which showed a trillion women, especially daughter-in-laws dying in a kitchen. Indian too. But the joy of cooking, now, pervades all that. The fear of mortality too! :D



Cooking, in my opinion, is purely an experiment. Which slightly deviates from science though. How? The ingredients may be constant but why does the same recipe used by two people yield two differently-tasting dishes? I have no definite answer to this but somewhere along the line, I think proportions actually make all the taste. My grandma, of course, begs to differ. She says all the attention you pay to the veggies , the love which you put in and your zest for cooking, make the food special and yummier. For instance, the three daughters of hers have never ever been able to replicate her style of cooking at any point. Because she has no recipe! It's all in her head and she never measures anything before she tosses it into the tawa.

I wish to master the art like this someday!

But until then, bring on the guinea pigs, Momma awaits you all!

Thus, I begin an entire line of recipes in this blog. From now. :)

All of this will be dedicated to the makers of Maggie. Nestle, was it?

Tweet Tweet!

My own page to vent! Muahahahaa!

This is where I write, to think not.

To worry not.

To piece all arbit stuff.

Tarararantara!