En ulagam - Food Blog and more

Dealing with Goons - We are there with you Inji !

2008-06-05T16:01:00.001-07:00

Well all of us by now know as to what our dear Inji is going through for reporting a act of plagiarism by kerals.com.

We are absolutely there with you Inji and if these goons need to be taught some manners so be it.

I was shell shocked at a site where highly absurd things are being said about her.

PLEASE ALL POST YOUR VOICES IN YOUR BLOGS AGAINST SHIVAKUMAR.

Remember we made Yahoo apologize. Lets all do just the same. Please make a post on your blogs against Shivakumar and Kerals.com for allegedly practising plagiarism and threatening innocent people with demeaning comments.

Indians/Chinese cause the food crisis ??

2008-05-11T09:05:00.000-07:00

If this comment had been made by some irresponsible guy on the street I would just brush it aside as some creep who is ignorant of what he is speaking. But the President and The Secretary of State saying such unthoughtful comments without any statistical backing - That is sheer arrogance and height of stupidity.

I wish these idiots would see the statistics from their own country regarding wastage. Just like when Hillary made undue comments about Gandhi - she was made to apologize, I guess The Bush guy should also apologize !!

What do you think ? Is there any statistical study been done ? I would like to know your comments about this.

Over 41 billion pounds of food have been wasted this year (http://www.secondharvest.org/).

According to a 2004 study from the University of Arizona (UA) in Tucson (http://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/news/ng.asp?id=56376), on average, American households waste 14 percent of their food purchases.

Fifteen percent of that includes products still within their expiration date but never opened.

- Official surveys indicate that every year more than 350 billion pounds of edible food is available for human consumption in the United States.

Of that total, nearly 100 billion pounds - including fresh vegetables, fruits, milk, and grain products - are lost to waste by retailers, restaurants, and consumers.

-According to a 1997 study by US Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service (ERS) entitled "Estimating and Addressing America's Food Losses", about 96 billion pounds of food, or more than a quarter of the 356 billion pounds of edible food available for human consumption in the United States, was lost to human use by food retailers, consumers, and foodservice establishments in 1995.

Source :http://www.soundvision.com/Info/poor/statistics.asp

The authentic Chettinad kitchen - Paruppu Thovayal

2008-04-21T23:30:00.000-07:00

Ever since I ate in the Karaikudi restaurant in Chennai a decade ago, I have been addicted to Chettinad cuisine. The excuisite addition of different spices, the elaborate preparation method is to be experienced to appreciate the cuisine.

Chettinad means land of Chettiyars, the community that thrived in the Sivagangai district of Tamilnadu. During the 19th and 20th centuries, they went abroad for work and were the flourishing community. They spent the money earned abroad well on architechture and food. They used teak wood from burma for their mansions. The intricate carvings on the vasalpadi ( entrance), use of pillars inside the homes is typical and a trademark of chettiar homes. They also built several educational institutions, palatial mansions and huge wedding halls. ( Source: Wiki )

Recently the government of Tamilnadu has identified the historical importance of their architechture and lifestyle and promoting visit to Karaikudi and the sorrounding villages as part of tourism.

Though I dont belong to that community, I find many similarities between our cuisines. For a long time I was hoping to find a food blog from someone who knew chettinad food inside out. I was exhilarated when I found Solai Aachi's blog who is from Chettinadu. Aachi has started her blog to help out her newly married daughter. Today I tried a really simple paruppu thovayal from her blog which is very simple but filling and nutritious.

Check out aachis' nenju elumbu kozhambu, chettinad chicken, fish fry.

With just 3 ingredients, its one of the easiest recipes.

More about Chettinad cuisine and Karaikudi

Taste of Yellow - Saffron Milk

2008-04-19T17:36:00.001-07:00

The Livestrong Foundation raises awareness about cancer and was started in 1997 by Lance Armstrong. LAF has raised $181 million to support cancer survivorship programs. May 13th is the LiveSTRONG day.

Barbara of winosandfoodies has started a cooking event where we cook something in yellow, for spreading the awareness about cancer. Barbara is one of my heroes, with the undeterred fight she has put up with the disease. We admire you Barbara and wish you a complete recovery.

I had a lot of ideas for the event but with time constraints I made Saffron milk. Saffron is the spice derived from the flower of saffron crocus. The stigma of the flower is the spice and not the flower itself and is red in color. Saffron, which has for decades been the world's most expensive spice by weight. When saffron is dissolved in water or milk, it leaves a deep yellow hue. ( Source: Wiki )
To prepare saffron milk -

Soak a pinch of saffron in a tablespoon of warm milk

Powder 3 cardomom along with 2 teaspoons of unrefined cane sugar, tablespoon of slivered almonds.

Heat the milk over low flame. When the milk is boiling add the cardomom powder and the soaked saffron.

Drink warm.

This is my entry to Barbaras' Taste of yellow.

Happy New Year !

2008-04-13T18:41:00.000-07:00

Varusha pirappu spread - Spread on the New Year !
Vadai, sambar, arisi-thengai paal payasam, mango-vepampoo pachadi, kathirikai poriyal

Punthandu nalvazhthukkal to all !

Metal - Click - Stainless steel plate

2008-03-30T11:40:00.000-07:00

My entry for the Jugalbandi's Click-Metal Event.

Sunday lunch on Stainless steel plate

This photo was taken for lunch on Sunday. One of the lunches I really enjoyed. White rice with brocolli dal, gongura pachadi, bittergourd fry and rasam.

Its served in a stainless steel plate. They are commonly used to serve food in Indian homes.

Arusuvai friendship Chain - Warmth before the Spring !

2008-03-28T21:25:00.000-07:00

The Arusuvai Friendship bug has bitten me too. Its so inspiring to see how a simple gesture started by a few ladies, Latha, Bharathy and Bhags, spread its wings far and wide around the world. Kalai of Samaithuparkalam extended the friendship to me with a lovely lovely package with a card ( She has such a lovely handwriting ! If handwriting is any indication she is a very very organized person ! ), the secret ingredient, some idly podi and best of alll beetroot halwa. I have not eaten such tasty beetroot halwa in a longg time. I was very hungry when I came home and got this package. Could not appreciate more, the sweet melt-in-your-mouth halwa !!

Where is the halwa you ask ? As tasty as it is, its not easy to photograph - to feel better after the failed photo, I needed something to comfort. What better than buttery halwa ?

By the way, Can You guess the secret ingredient ?

Thank you Kalai for being such a sweetheart !!

Wholegrain pancakes with oats

2008-03-27T13:38:00.001-07:00

When Indira mentioned that jazzing up oats is like dressing pig I had a hearty laugh.. How true !!! When Shankari told me about her designer oats I told her I just didnt beleive it.

Recently my friend R gave me a recipe for oats Dosai. She said Revathi it will be like oothappam. Very soft and nice. I tried it and it was a gloppy caramelized blob. I am sure I messed up the recipe.

Then I came across a Homemade wholegrain pancake mix on the King Arthur site, which had oats, whole wheat flour and unbleached all purpose flour. On a whim I tried it. I made two changes - Omitted the oil completely and powdered the oats completely since I was using steel-cut oats. You have to make it to beleive it !!!

Now I still beleive the oats cannot be dressed but can be disguised and I will give the designer oats and oats dosai another shot !!!

Some flour facts :
Bleached and Unbleached flour : Bleaching is the process in which the wheat flour is bleached with oxidizing agents to make the flour more whiter and to increase the gluten-content. In unbleached flour the oxidization naturally happens to wheat flour over time, hence more expensive. The calorific value and the glycemic index of both the flours is the same - however chemicals used as oxidizing agents for bleaching flour.

Wholewheat and all purpose flour : All purpose flour are heavily processed and the nutrients are added later. The fiber is almost completely ripped off. Wholewheat flour has a lower glycemic index compared to APF and also much higher fiber content.

Now other things are done to the flour like enriching, and bromation. Bromation also increases the gluten-producting potential.

Nutritonal inforation of whole wheat flour and APF

Wholegrain pancake mix - Not a drop of oil !

2 cups unbleached All purpose flour
3/4th cup whole wheat flour
2 cups powdered oats flour ( use quick oats or steelcut)
1 tablespoon brown granulated sugar
1 and half teaspoon baking powder
half tsp salt
half tablespoon baking soda

Mix everything in a clean dry vessel and store in an airtight container. When you want to make pancakes, add a cup of the mix to one cup of liquid ( a little less than a cup )

Liquid can be
- just water
- half cup water with half cup of buttermilk and 2 egg whites (or whole egg)

I have used all these combinations and all are equally good. The pancakes are fluffy, soft and filling. Use buttermilk, egg whites for the pancakes and drizzle blueberry mapple syrup to make it a complete wholeshome breakfast
This pancake mix goes to the Wholesome breakfast Event hosted by Mansi.

Berry Banana Smoothie

2008-03-13T12:01:00.001-07:00

Long time ago, when I browsing through blogs, I came across a yoghurt smoothie - This smoothie fit my bill perfectly for a breakfast - Calcium and protein for the yoghurt and all the other good things from the fruits. Besides this is quick to do even on a week day. Sigs' MBP is a perfect event to bring this yoghurt back into my blog limelight.

Check out for more of TBC's smoothies. She even has a tofu smoothie.

Here is the ingredients of the smoothie. I added blueberries and cut down the milk.

Berry Banana Smoothie - Ready to be whipped

Berry Banana Smoothie

This goes to Monthly Blog Patrol. This month its hosted by Sig - Mixed Drinks.

Maanga paasiparuppu kootu ( Mango moong dal )

2008-03-08T22:09:00.001-08:00

I had not posted for a few days now, not because I am not cooking but I am cooking everyday simple dishes that are uncomplicated and quick. But I dont make Mango moong dal that often.

With some weekend time on hand, I turned to this dish today.

Maanga paasiparuppu kootu with zucchini fry

Incidentally this is my fathers favourite kootu. Kootu is any dish with a dal in it in which the dal is not mushy. Indira's recent post on Mamidi Pesara Pappu brought back memories - so I did it today.
I did not pressure cook the moongdal and cooked it to a stage where it still had a bite to it and did not mush.

Moong dal also goes by these names. Payatham paruppu, split green gram, paasi paruppu, Pesara pappu

Maanga paasi paruppu kootu

1. Boil half a cup of Moong dal with a tsp each of turmeric, chillipowder ( or sambar powder ) and two cloves of garlic with a cup and half of water.

2. Peel a raw mango. Dice into quarter inch pieces. We need about a one fourth cup.

3. When the dal is almost done ( you will know this by mushing it in between your fingers it wont mush but if you bite it will be soft ), add the mango pieces

4. Cook until mango are soft and all water is absorbed

5. In a separate pan, heat tablespoon of oil and when the oil is hot add tsp each of mustard, cumin, few curry leaves and a dash of hing.

6. Add the seasoned oil from above to the mango dal mixture.

Enjoy with rice. A dollop of ghee is a must for this dish.

Saw this in the indian stores today. Reminded me of the chiclets back at home -

Quick Bread for Quick weekday Breakfast

2008-03-01T08:34:00.000-08:00

Quickbread are bread which does not use yeast and are leavened by baking powder and baking soda. They dont take much time to rise like yeast. Banana nut bread, corn bread, muffin are all quickbreads. ( Source : wiki ).

I am not at allll a baker, in fact I have bought a packet of yeast and its sitting in the pantry for a while waiting for me to make Ashas muffuletta.

This is my entry to Suganyas healthy breakfast .Besan dosai, which I blogged a couple of years ago, is also a great breakfast and will suit this event.

With absolutely no oil, no eggyolks, whole wheat flour I am not claiming that this will be the most fluffiest quickbread you have ever had, but it certainly is filling, indulging and a great snack. I can carry a couple of the slices to have it on my way to office as a breakfast or to hold my hunger till dinner.

This recipe is for my SIL C, who is trying to eat healthy.

1. Get the dry ingredients together.
half a cup of whole wheat flour, half a cup of all purpose flour, 3/4th tsp salt, 1 tsp baking soda, half tsp baking powder

2. Get the wet ingredients. This should be a cup
Puree one medium size apple, two ripe bananas. Add two egg whites and the sweetener
Sweetener: I have used different sweeteners, 3/4 cup refined sugar, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/3 cup home-made palm sugar syrup with two tsp gulgand.

3. Mix the dry and wet ingredients until smooth. You can any nuts if you want to. Pour into a loaf-pan. Fill only three fourths.

4. Place in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for 50 mins.

5. Cool, slice and store in ziplocs.

Ready for oven-Gulgand-almonds quickbread

Quickbread with Walnuts.

To give character to this bread you can put different set of ingredients,

walnuts or slivered almonds for texture
raisins
gulgand ( reduce the sweetener way down )
grated carrot

I started using the applesauce in this kind of bread after seeing jugalbandi's Oatmeal raisin cake.

SRA has tagged me for a meme Seven random/wierd things about me. I am sure Ravi will do a greattt job at writing 70 wierd things about me.

1. Sometimes when I leave my apartment, I wonder whether the stove has been switched off. A while ago, we went to visit our friends in Santaclara for a potluck. While we were near the Santaclara freeway exist, I raised this doubt that I was not sure whether the stove was off and made Ravi drive back all the way to Fremont to confirm that the stove was off indeed.

2. When I am home alone I need the TV on the entire night. Either Food Network or HGTV should be running. Nothing scarry.

3. It requires lot of motivational speech from Ravi and some self-motivation not to freak out during flight journeys. I closed my eyes and prayed hard most of the flying time in a helicopter in Hawaii.

4. I love to eat sambar rice with apple, rasam rice with bananas.

5. I dont drive on freeways. An accident scared me enough to select "Avoid highways" option in google maps any time I drive. I ended up driving for almost double the driving time for the Bay Area Foodies meet.

6. When I was a kid, I had the habit of saying bye to the plants and trees in my home if I am going away for a few days. Recently when I went to India, I spoke to all the plants in my apartment about my vacation. Unfortunately there was a family emergency and Ravi had to leave suddenly to India too and the plants did not the survive two months.

7. I am always at extremes. I will be eating minimally processed, organic fat-free, low-carb, not-spicy food one day and soon you will find me stuffing a jacks' spicy chicken sandwich !

I am not sure how many of you are already been tagged as this meme has been around for a longgg time. Do it if you wanna

1. Ashwini
2. Shaheen
3. The taste-tinkerer
4. A-Kay
5. The-Cooker
6. Paajaka
7. Sreelu

Sandwich with roasted bell peppers, eggplant and zucchini

2008-02-18T19:54:00.000-08:00

I love to try new cuisines. Over the years in US, I have grown to love italian, american, mexican and thai cuisines. It was totally not the case when I first went to restaurants here.

I was petrified seeing the super sized plates filled with unknown flavours. Mexican platters used to be my nightmare. Ravi loves mexican so he was excited to take me to mexican restaurants and introduce the cuisine to me but the strings of chicken in the guey cheese sauce with blood red sauce made be feel puky - just seeing the enchiladas. Ravi had this novel idea of not sharing food - his justification was he ended up eating more because I made him eat my order and his too. So I felt sooo guilty for wasting food but there was noooo way I could finish them.

Over the years, the foodie in me emerged and I tried all food that came my way. But I never could try any of this at home. I have this strongg inhibition not to try anything beyond indian cooking at home. In all the six years I have tried thai curry twice, pasta twice.

But seeing other bloggers ace in international cuisines, I always had the urge to try them. Finally I broke out of my shell yesterday and set up a minimalistic italian-pantry. The first dish I tried is a sandwich with roasted bellpepper, roasted eggplant and roasted zucchini. If you are like me, its the perfect recipe to start.

Minimalistic italian pantry

Grilling peppers : Spread the slices of pepper srayed with olive oil on a aluminium foil and place them directly in the top most rack in the broiler mode for 7 to 9 minutes. Take it out into a paper bag and close the bag. After 10 minutes, peel the skin off.

Grilling eggplant and zucchini : Slice the veggies and sprinkle italian seasoning and brush balsamic vinegar and olive oil over the veggies and sprinkle black pepper. Grill/Bake in oven at 400 degree for 15 to 20 mins

I grilled the veggies over the weekend and refrigerated.

Oven grilled bellpepper

Eggplant, zucchini - dash of italian grilled seasoning, balsamic vinegar and olive oil

Assembling the sandwich :
Brush a side of the bread with the vinegar and olive oil. place slices of grilled veggies and top with mozarella cheese. Top with a slice of bread. Place the sandwich on a grill/pan and place a heavy weight and press. I placed my stone mortar over the sandwich. Leave it over medium heat for 6 minutes. Repeat on other side.

Grilled sandwich

The taste was simple and just the way I loved it. I could have used a better cheese -I bought kraft fat free mozarella - a huge mistake, it tasted like rubber. I have this sandwich for lunch from a sandwich shop and they use brie - it is sinfully tasty. Also I would have liked to have more balsamic vinegar.

Last weekend, seven bloggers from bay area met and we had a blast. The cooker is starting the sprint about the meet - Check this out

Malabar spinach - Bachalakoora - Another andhra delicacy

2008-02-11T22:30:00.000-08:00

When I was preparing this dish today, it suddenly occurred to me why I had not blogged about this recipe.. It is in the top 5 of Ravi's favourites and a typical andhra preparation. These days I dont cook much for myself. Its either kichdi with some veggies or soup and veggies as I am trying to get on a diet. I am not forcing Ravi to do the diet thing with me - its a sheer torture for him given his work load and study load. I added a handful of spinach to my soup for lunch and prepared bachalakoora for him for dinner.

Greens are little heavier on the digestive system so at my home in India "No greens for dinner". I dont remember my mother ever serving any kind of greens for dinner. Naturally even now I refrain from eating greens at night.

This spinach preparation is very interesting. Usually the tamarind added to any curries is ripe ones but for this dish raw tamarind juice is added. Raw tamarind unlike the ripe ones cannot be deshelled. So it is crushed with the shell and made into a coarse paste with salt and stored. Just before using a tablespoon of the paste is diluted in water and the extracted juice is strained of any shells and added to the spinach curry.

Malabar spinach is the indian variety of spinach - very different from the actual spinach we get here in US. Its leaves are broader, thicker and slimy. The berries of malabar spinach are violet/indigo in color - we used to crush the berries and use it for April fools' day -

See here for the image and more information

Three cups chopped malabar spinach
Four green chillies chopped
half an onion chopped
Juice of one tablespoon raw tamarind paste (Optionally use regular tamarind paste )
Oil - 2 tbl
half cup - Boiled channa dal ( half boiled )
Turmeric half tsp
chilli powder two tsps
For seasoning - Mustard, cumin - half teaspoon each

Heat oil and when the oil is hot add mustard.
When the mustard splutters add cumin, green chillies and onions.
Saute for a few minutes.
Add chopped spinach and saute for 5 minutes. Spinach cooks in its own water.
Seperately boil half cup channa dal for 5 minutes
Strain the water from the channa dal and add the dal to the sauteing spinach
Add juice from the tamarind
Add salt, turmeric and chilli powder
Cover and cook until most of the water is absorbed.

Raw tamarind

Raw tamarind paste

Malabar spinach

Malabar spinach with Channa dal

Hash browns - Quick, nutritious breakfast

2008-02-09T16:51:00.000-08:00

Potato is the most mistaken vegetable around. It seems to be considered as the ultimate enemy for dieters because of the greasy preparations made with it and the ever blamed carbohydrate content. French fries, mashed potatoes are loaded with carbs and fat. However if properly treated potatoes are one of the most nutritious veggies.

From wiki: Potatoes contain a number of important vitamins and minerals. A medium potato (150g/5.3 oz) with the skin provides 27 mg vitamin C (45% of the Daily Value (DV)), 620 mg of potassium (18% of DV), 0.2 mg vitamin B6 (10% of DV) and trace amounts of thiamin, riboflavin, folate, niacin, magnesium, phosphorus, iron, and zinc. Moreover, the fiber content of a potato with skin (2 grams) equals that of many whole grain breads, pastas, and cereals. In addition to vitamins, minerals and fiber, potatoes also contain an assortment of phytochemicals, such as carotenoids and polyphenols.

Hashbrown can be prepared without a drop of fat, thus giving us all the nutrients without the added grease. The ones I tried in restaurants were soaked in fat but it really does not need all that.

All good things are simple - Just shredded potatoes, salt and pepper and 15 minutes hashbrowns are ready.

did you know - The mature fruits of pototo plant are toxic !!!

Shredded potato

On the hot tawa

Spread and Pat with a spatula and allow to cook on medium flame.

Jonna kudumulu - Andhra Corn Tamales

2008-01-28T21:07:00.000-08:00

Corn is a popular grain used in Indian villages. I think the use of corn is fast fading away from Indian Kitchens. Mokkajonna Kudumulu is one corn preparation famous in Telangana border regions and very nutritous breakfast. I googled for more details about Kudumulu - but could not find any. Have you heard about mokka jonna kudumulu ?

I have never heard of it until I knew Ravi. I personally have been able to appreciate andhra cooking as done at ravis' home as much as I devour my moms' cooking. Sans the spicyness ofcourse.

Before marriage, I thought there is not much difference between Tamil and Andhra household. But there is an amazing array of differences. Andhra - I find is heavily influenced by aryan culture and Tamilnadu deep into dravidian culture. I found this underlying difference in all the traditions, customs and habits of the Andhraites.

Culinary-speak - Tamilians start with sambar and end with buttermilk. Telugus start with powder/pickles/ chutney, dals and finish off with thick curds. Any veggie curries or sautes' are mixed with rice before starting on the liquid course. Ofcouser sambars, charu and rasam is still enjoyed - but I discovered its very impolite to pour sambar over rice for the first course. For Tamils it will be impolite if its not done that way !!! Tamilians love all that is diluted and easier to pass thro the oesophagus.

Another culinary tradition I was surprised is - Puliyohara or Tamarind/Lemon Rice. For Telugus, its like an important dish in parties or when you have guests at home. On the other hand people from TN find it very rude to serve tamarind/lemon rice because its said to be made with left-over rice.

So at my household, if ravi absolutely loves a dish, I do an andhra preparation. If I absolutely love a dish its done as per my moms way. Same goes for festivals too - I make it a point to celebrate Ugadi and Tamil New Year so neither of us feel missed out.

All this is based on my personal experiences and not generalization in any way. Coming back to mokkjonna kudumulu - Mokkajonna means corn and kudumulu refers to a steamed dish. Though the name may be really difficult to pronounce the actual dish is very very easy. Fresh corn is ground without any water and steamed in the corn husks. Corn idlis anyone ??

For RCI-Andhra, Ravi and I prepared this dish with frozen corn that we get here in US but it did not come out right. Its because of the water content in the frozen corn.

When I went to India Ravis' mom prepared this dish for us to show how it is to be done. The recipe is darn simple. Just grind the corn without any water to make a paste. Take a big blob of the paste onto a cleaned corn husk and make a patty out of it. Pile up the husks randomly. Alternatively it can also be done in a idli steamer.

Tastefront, its not soft like a tamale, but much more firmer and harder than idlis. It just tastes little bit bland with the natural sweetness of corn. Like the taste of ragi mudda. Just basic but very comforting. And the side dish determines the kind of taste for the dish. Eaten with sugar it tasted like dessert, with fish curry it would be savoury. For reasons beyond my brain, its eaten with Ridgegourd curry. I personally did not like the combination. I would rather have it with sugar. Or probably pickle or fish curry.

Dry indian yellow corn

ground corn

arranged in the corn husks

Steamed corn - Kudumulu

Thank you Sailu, for coming up with Taste of India. Really appreciated when FBD is going down.

Any Guesses ??

2008-01-24T22:13:00.001-08:00

This is really an easy one to guess. But then we have enough of them in life !!

It is sundried bittergourd. Thanks for playing it with me.

Fried sundried bittergourd

Sundried bittergourd

Bay Area Bloggers Meet

2008-01-21T11:10:00.000-08:00

Shankari and I were thinking about meeting together after our intermittant chats and a looonngg 2 hour phone chat..

Somewhere down the line Shankari came up with the idea of bunch of Indian food bloggers meeting in bay area and we were so excited about it. She coordinated with other bloggers around here and boooomm

WE ARE GONNA MEET !!!!!

Are you blogging about Indian Food, living in the bay area and want to say hi to those unknown faces behind those blogs, here is a chance !!!!

Ofcourse there are some rules to participate- Shoot an email to indian.cooking@gmail.com. More details here at shankari's blog. Thank you dear for coordinating this.

Looking forward to some fun !

Nellikai Pachadi - Gooseberry Thokku

2008-01-19T16:31:00.000-08:00

Call it thokku, pachadi, chutney. I tried gooseberry pachadi today and pleased with the results. We have run out of home-made pickles that comes from India. I referred to Jeyashree's Recipe and Indira's recipe .
As you all know by now, I suck at write ups. So here is the result in pictures.

Three pounds of frozen gooseberries. For information about gooseberry refer wiki

roasted cup of red round chillies, tablespoon of fenugreek and 5 tablespoons mustard - Cool and grind this in a coffee grinder - (Spice mix powder)

Gooseberries steamed in idlicooker for 10 mins

Remove seeds and grind into a paste

Heat a cup of oil, Add slices of 10 garlic. Add the gooseberry paste and a teaspoon of turmeric

Add the spice powder, 4 tblsp salt and approximately 1 cup of sambar powder. Continued to saute for 30+ minutes. Then add quarter cup oil seasoned with two tablespoon mustard.

Cooled and bottled.

Disclaimer : The quantity are approximate. I kept adjusting the sambar powder and salt until I got the right taste.

Fish in Banana leaves

2008-01-09T19:17:00.000-08:00

Ever since I saw this grilled Trout I wanted to have it with the side salad. However I dont have a grill. I had to rely on the conventional oven but then cooking fish does not take a lot of time. The fish I used was Canadian Mackerel - It was very fleshy. I had 2 fish - Used 2 different types of rubs to suit our individual tastes.

Thank you Sig for the recipe !

Stuffing

1 long green chilli - chopped
5 curry leaves,
3 slices of onion
2 slices of lemon

Rub the outside of the fish with a thick paste of red chilli, turmeric, salt and lemon and stuff with all under stuffing.

I rubbed another fish with pepper powder, cumin powder, salt and lemon and the same stuffing except the chillies

Wrapped them in banana leaves and enclosed in aluminium wraps just like Sig blogged. Left the fish packets for an hour to marinate before popping them inside the oven at 450 degrees for 15 minutes. Then opened the packet and broiled it for 4 minutes to crisp up the skin. I served with a simple garden salad with corn with a home made yoghurt dressing.

It was very filling - I think it would make a good lunch than a dinner because it felt a little heavy.

We finished the salad with a sorakai halwa ( Duddhi, Bottlegourd ). Grate 1 bottlegourd and saute with one teaspoon of ghee until most of the water is evaporated. Use a low heat. Add 2 and half tablespoon of sugar and keep sauteing until more of the water evaporates. Add another 2 teaspoon of ghee and keep sauteing until all the water evaporates. The whole halwa will roll like a ball without sticking to the pan. Sprinkle a couple of pinches of cardamom powder. Serve with crushed almonds.

The taste was very very good. But I might not do it often because for one bottlegourd it took almost 3 tablespoon of sugar. Ravi and I shared it.

Addicted to having a job !

2008-01-07T22:46:00.000-08:00

This is supposed to be a food blog. But bear with me on this one.

For more than 6 months now I have been thinking of quitting my job. Why ? Just like that. I just want to take life easy and not follow a routine. I have been working for such a long time to keep myself in status in the US of A. I felt liberated when we got EAD. It was such a nice feeling after years of feeling bonded and slogging like a slave. It was the usual run of the mill life of a software engineer on H1B. 24 hour phone support, product deployment at wee hours or midnights, constant torture from consulting company. So when I got the news that I got EAD I screamed my lungs off !!

I was more than happy to quit my job and move to a new city and start fresh. I took a software job again but with a work life balance. After more than 2 years now I have the freedom not to have a job but I am just not able to let it go. My friends and parents are constantly telling me that my mind will be a devils' workshop if I am idle at home. My mom swears that I cannot be at home after that comfort feeling of having a job. Ravi is scared that I might eat his brains off if I am at home.

Dressing like a professional, being in the midst of go-getters, participating in meetings and see your ideas valued is a very nice feeling. Seeing your programs in action is exciting. Many days after a dull start at home, I had felt my day brighten up because of my job. Because of the change in atmosphere around me ! Personal tensions, worries ease out a bit during the day. Lets face it - To see money in the bank is a nice feeling. It also makes a lot of sense that a woman should be able to support herself and her family.

On the other hand, I feel so sad not find anything to eat when I come home tired after work. I keep asking myself - why do I have to slog so much and not have a fresh cooked meal at home !! The long commute is also not very enjoyable. Having done the same thing over and over again, I am not enjoying my work anymore. I would love to try volunteer work, attend yoga classes, go to photoshop class, finish off my tanjore painting and cook more !

But are these just lame excuses to loathe around at home doing nothing ? Are my dear ones right that I will start sulking and see the grass greener on the other side ? Or am I just addicted to having a routine job ?

Anyone identifying with me ??

Rain rain go away ! Come again another day!

2008-01-06T20:44:00.000-08:00

We had a storm this weekend here in the bay area. But by any standards much much lighter version than those that we have in India. Rain back home is an experience - the battering noise against concrete, the coconut- and palm trees swaying in the fierce winds, hissing of the winds and water rolling and flowing - Its such a beauty.

This is the blissful part of rains in India

But having saying that, its a totally different story from the other side of the window. Its a nightmare getting back from school/college/office. You have my condolences if you traveling in the state-owned buses. Like a true martyr you would be trying to defend yourself from the water dripping in from all sides. With some luck the windows might close. The streets will be flooded with just 15 minutes of lashing rains because of the failed drainage system. The flooded roads just makes the unclosed manholes and other dangers invisible. Not to forget that all sorts of dung would be by now mixed into the flooded rains. For those of you who think I am exaggerating see this video.

So for us with such adventurous experiences this recent storm in the bay area was childs play !! Really.. Seeing the local news covering close ups of branches falling, power cuts and fallen waste bins minute by minute as if it was an emergency was like comedy to me.

I went to office without an umbrella and truly enjoyed the faint reminder of the indian rain here. We had friends over on saturday and had mirchi bajji and samosas with hot tea. Then we got a good movie and watched over dinner. I bought fish and a lot of goodies for cooking over the week. I prepared it per Sig's recipe - that is another post.

Here is what I bought to cook over the week from Coconut Hill goodies from kerala is their speciality.

Purchase for the week - Drumstick leaves, plantain, banana blosom, green tamarind, sprouted channa, uppu manga( Mango in brine ) and rosamatta rice. I forgot to include snakegourd, fish and malabar spinach. I think I bought way more than I can cook in a week. Lets see.

Kanji Uppumanga - Inspired by Shn - Mishmash's Kanji & Payar

Last but not the least after the mirchi bajjis and samosas I had to have something light for dinner. I made a light gruel with the broken rosamatta rice and relished it with uppu manga. (Mango slices in brine ) - Heavenly..

Revisiting My Blog

2007-12-31T10:19:00.000-08:00

( This post was inteded for Nupur's event - I guess I am late. But nevertheless )

I started the blog for quite a few reasons

1. Very Inspired by Indira of Mahanandi
2. My passion for food
3. To engage myself while Ravi is busy with his MBA.
4. To record some family favourites especially low-cholesterol dishes

I remember the evening when I was searching for some telugu recipe and landed at Mahanandi. Looking at the karela neatly arranged on aluminum foil Ravi exclaimed "Now this is what I call passion, not the blog but the quest for perfection !!"

Then I wondered, can I too do this, after all food is something I love deep down. It was the time when Ravi was deeply engrossed with MBA and I had nothing to do except a full time job where I could work from home. Probably a month later I registered en-ulagam.

I have been blogging a little less than two years now and made a few good friends here. My passion & creativity for food continued to grow with food blog events. I became even more busy than Ravi.

Bloglife 2007 has been very good. Here are the highlights

I got into the next level of personal association with some blogger friends. I was thrilled to exchange pictures, learn about their families and talk about non-food related subject. I felt like having a pen friend.

Recorded some family favorites and my favorites. I just cannot shortlist. Every dish I created was with lots of love for what I did.

Inji's loud and clear voice about "Plagiarism". She took my request to announce a Anti-Plagiarism day and we all made a post against yahoo. It was covered by the press.

Anandavikatan responded to my pointing out about a copied image from Saffronhut. They apologized and included acknowledgment to the image in their next print version. I felt very cool.

Starting Tamilcuisine with Prema was a very good learning experience. It taught me how to and how not to relate to people - I have to thank Shaheen, Prema and Inji. Thanks to Kanchana and Jasmine for pitching in .

I achieved 100000 magic number of visitors to my blog

My proud acquiring for my blog my irumbu kadai ( cast iron pan) from my mom.

Last but not the least, I was able to pull away myself from participating in blog events. It took too much of my energy, was becoming kind of addiction and with blog events propping up almost every day, it turned out my menu on the real life table was getting dictated by blog events. I had to stop it somewhere. Thanks to work pressure, upcoming india trip, I was able to achieve this.

2008 Bloglife I have a few things to do :

Take a back up of my recipes posted.
Learn food photography tips and tricks
Record more of amma's specialities and the other recipes listed below
I love to host the site on my own web server, I have the know-how to do it but I dont know whether I will have the time. Lets see.

These are the recipes on my to-blog list:

Ammas' specialties

Mutton potato drumstick kuruma

Keeraithandu mochakottai karakozhambu - Spicy kozhambu made with stem of greens and fieldbeans

Pacharisi thengai payasam - Coconut-Rice-Kheer

Paruppu urundai kozhambu - Kozhambu made with lentil dumplings

Thengai paal sadam - Coconut milk rice

Mullangi yera kozhambu - Shrimp radish kozhambu

Nethili kuruma - Sardines kuruma

Beetroot halwa

Gulab jamun

Sambar powder recipe

Rasam powder recipe

For Ravi

Hyderabadi biriyani

Erra karam dosa - Dosa smeared with red chilli paste and sprinkled with spiced powders

Ravis grandma's Idly karam - I like this one better than my moms'

Mokkajonna kudumulu - I got this recipe already need to post it. Indian cousin of tamale.

Healthy stuffies

Kalyana murungai - I dont know whether I will even get this greens

Keezhanelli urundai - That is what we eat back home when we had jaundice - another greens

Veppa urundai - Neem leaves paste - for de-worming

Seeraga kashayam - To relieve that bloated feeling made with roasted cumin

Nochi ilai aavi - Steaming to relieve sinus block with this leaves.

See you all in the New Year !

Wishing you and your dear ones Good Health, Happiness and success in whatever you do.. Happy New Year !!

Homemade Organic Shampoos - Going Brown !!

2007-12-26T23:03:00.000-08:00

I am on a hunt for natural - chemical free products. Thanks to Suganya of Tasty Palettes, I switched to Seventh Generation products a few months ago. I have been researching on organic shampoos without much success. Manufacturers are trying all gimmicks to cheat customers with words like "all-natural", "botanical extracts", "pure plant extracts". They even dare to put the organic label on the bottles and then disclaimer that no human eyes can read - Certification from Belgium, European standards etc etc

Aritha - Soap nut and the seed inside. The nuts are size of marbles

Shikakai - Acacia Concinna
Image source http://www.aminet.or.jp/~zen/hena/maha/img7/shikakai.jpg
Wiki : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shikakai

Dried Shikakai pods have been used for centuries as a hair cleanser. It is a mild cleanser relatively low in pH and does not strip the hair of natural oils. So it was obviously the choice for cleansing hair in olden times. Washing hair is a elaborate routine back home. Shampoos were strict no-nos at home. I hated shikakai - hair was not like those models on TV, the silky wavy hairs I longed for !! With shikakai it was nowhere close to those shimmering shampooed hair.

I would run around dodging my mother because shikakai also causes irritation when it gets into eyes and my mother got them in my eyes everrry singglle time and I would be crying and yelling at her.

I longed for the shampoos because the model on the TV advertisement was always smiling when washing her hair - shampoo never irriate your eyes. So I thought !!! Finally my mother gave up and I remember using Egg shampoo ( I think it was Pond's) the first time. I loved the squishy yellow fragrant precious liquid and when my mom started scrubbing my hair I was all smiling with my eyes widee open ! And before I knew it got in my eyes and there I was crying and wailing - only this time my mother was yelling at me !!!

This time around when I went to India I got shikakai powder - homemade. PRECIOUS !

The shikakai pods are similar to tamarind pods. A fine powder of around half kilo of these pods along with a tablespoon each of rice, fenugreek, a handful of dried hibiscus flowers and a few sun-dried lemon peel - Makes one heck of a hair shampoo/tonic.

Aritha is also a natural hair cleanser. It is called soapnut in english, soapukai in tamil - so you get the idea. They are dried berries enclosing a seed inside. They lather with water and can be safely used on hair. Since soapnut strips hair of oils it should be used in lesser amounts and works fantastically with shikakai powder. Gently crush the the nuts to break them open and remove the seeds. Grind them in a clean dry coffee grinder and store air tight.

Aritha/soapnut berries are found here in US in the indian groceries. Alternatively you also get Hesh Aritha powder. Mix with 3 tablespoons shikakai powder to 1 tablespoon soapnut powder in little water and work up a chemical free lather.

If you have strained water from rice ( starchy water drained after cooking rice ), then use it as a conditioner - This water contains nutrients and is considered an excellent conditioner for hair.

Shikakai & Aritha powder paste - Herbal shampoo - Closest to getting organic

Aritha powder - Coffee grinder does the job.

Multigrain Idly - Ragi idly

2007-12-12T19:54:00.000-08:00

Inji was right. After not blogging for a longg time, now when I sit to do a post, I am at a complete loss.. dont know what to type other than the recipe. Really BLANK !!!! OK. I am not going to try much - so straight to the recipe in pics.

One cup ragi & one cup idly rice - Soaked for 4 to 6 hours
One cup ural dal - Soaked for 4 to 6 hours

Ragi other names : Fingermillet, kezhvaragu

Soak cup of rice & cup of ragi ( and a cup of urad dal separately )

Grind rice & ragi to a smooth batter. Grind urad dal to butter consistency and add to the rice and ragi batter . Mix well with hands

Store the batter in a dark place for 6 hours. Store in a dark warm place. ( I place the batter in my conventional oven after pre heating). The batter ferments and rises

Add a tablespoon of salt to the fermented batter, mix well and pour in idly moulds

Idlys - steamed for 10 mins

Ragi idly with coconut chutney and banana with honey

See more idly making tips here...

I use ravi brand idly rice. Idly rice is parboiled rice that is boiled with the kernel intact. This process of boiling rice not only imparts flavour to the rice but also much of the nutrients of the kernel is absorbed by the rice.

Comparing to regular idly, ragi idlys ferment quicker and are fluffier. Tastewise I found no difference.

You can also make dosais with the same batter - again no difference tastewise.

If you have not heard about Jenita...

2007-11-23T12:32:00.000-08:00

This is about Smalin Jenita a 23 year old girl from Tamilnadu, India - a immigrant on dependent visa - allegedly tortured. This soon to be mother, now seven month pregnant, had met with a grave car accident, here in the US, that left her partly paralyzed and incoherent because of brain and spinal cord injuries. She is stated to have been in coma for a few months before she regained consciousness. The parents' side say that she has been pushed out of the speeding car.

The Highway patrol however have included the case as an accident. The guys' sister was also injured in the crash. The accident happend in July and Christy Danius ( the husband ) returned to India in September, after which her father went to US and brought her daughter back. She is getting treated in India now.

If at all the guy and his family were responsible for this accident and the plight of Jenita, they MUST be brought to justice. No matter what and in whichever geographic location he is in the world.

But US police force is not dumb and they dont take such matters lightly. A few years ago one of my friends got a deep wound while working in the kitchen - there was a lot of blood and 911 was called - The police launched their own investigation even without a filed complaint. The victim and her partner was thoroughly questioned and only when they were convinced did they label it as an accident.

There are quite a few questions to be answered in this case :

1. Why would the guy put his life and the life of his sister in danger to harm the girl ?

2. Why did the parents not go to see the daughter in coma ? Were they even informed ?

3. Why did the guy abandon the girl in September and return back to India - after which the hospital authorities had to file for petition for a guardian and get her father there ????

4. If at all he has returned back to India why is he not yet arrested, even after complaints from the girls father ?

5 . Does the No. 1 tech company that he works for ( in case he is still working there ) taking any action ?

6. Why did the father along wtih the hospital authorities not file a complaint in the US itself ?

If the guy is genuinely innocent then he deserved heartfelt sympathies where his wife has been gravely injured, his unborn baby had been in danger and his sister too injured. But if it is not the case then such inhuman acts should be punished with the capital punishment so that NRIs should not think that they can leave the foreign country where the crime has been committed, bend rules in India, let people forget the case with time and get ready to pounce on another life with "another wedding" .

Newspaper articles regarding this issue:

Story of Jenita - US side of the story

NRI reduces wife to wreck - Story from Indian newspapers