Treats from around the globe

This post is about two treats.. 

The first one, was served to us as dessert at a Christmas party from work just before the holiday break..

San enjoyed it. I stayed away as Strawberries (most berries for that matter) create a violent reaction in my body. The presentation of these mini sweets was truly amazing. They got such detail into a 1 inch cube...

The second treat was something I happened to see at Walgreens. It was an alltime favorite snack in childhood days.  Pala Cholai Varuval (பலா சொளை வறுவல்) as we used to call it! My grandpa used to get us freshly fried Jackfruit chips from a store in Mylapore. It would still be hot when we ate it. Absolutely delicious. Grandpa was not a big fan of eating on roadside stalls. The one exception he made that I can remember is this. Jackfruit chips were extremely seasonal in Mylapore and we would devour it in no time.

With a lot of high hopes, picked up this packet only to find out that the fruit had gone stale. It was fried but it had a very bad smell and totally spoiled the experience and now the memory of those "freshly fried" Jackfruit chips from Mylapore is haunting me. 

Looks like we have to wait for the next India trip to get that tastebud gap filled!

Transitions

The MIL has been in India as of the last week. Time moves so fast. It has been a full week since we saw her off at the airport.

This time the kids were all grown up about saying their goodbyes and promised to behave in her absence. They are holding at around 75% of the promise and going down rapidly!

The adults have transitioned as well to the new routines. I have been left without a Yoga partner and have missed the MIL giving me the usual sermon about either not waking up early enough or pushing myself too hard in the room. The new Yoga studio is motivation in itself and have been going regularly just to keep up my promise to the MIL!

San is back in the kitchen working hard to impress the kids the last few days..

On Monday she made Okra curry with Okra that was not ripe enough. Not her fault because that was all the Indian store had, but the little one was brutal.

She could become a judge on the Iron chef program or "Chopped" where she gets to deliver the bad news. The comments and critique were even too hard for me to handle! San put on a brave face and came up with a Tindora Curry the next evening.

The little one said "Before you put it on my plate, I want a taste. I cannot trust your cooking!"

This is what happens when we have grandma letting her sit on the kitchen counter top, encouraging her to taste things as they are being made. On the bright side she did have a taste and say "It is delicious!" and that made San's day! Seriously, with critics like this at home, things are getting a little out of hand.

Today, I made sweet Pongal to celebrate Pongal. She did not have a problem with the taste of the pongal but with the smell of my hand as I took it to her mouth. "I don't like that strong temple like smell in the Pongal!". She was right!

Actually the smell was from the "pachai kalpooram" (edible camphor) that was crushed with my fingers to season the Pongal. The smell was in my hand not the Pongal. We should use the little one at airports instead of sniffing dogs and we will probably make a fortune if we got a cut on what we find!

We are now down to a new but interesting routine.

Wishing each and everyone of you a happy Pongal!!!

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Karthigai Lights and Christmas Deepam

In our house we have a tradition. On the day of Kaarthigai Deepam (the day we light oil lamps and pray to lord Kaarthikeya and eat Pori Urundai's), we also put on the Christmas lights. The Kaarthigai day in the US also coincides with my star birthday in India as they are around 12 hours ahead and overall turns out to be a great experience.

In summary, I get to eat pori urundai's every year for my Birthday!

The oil lamps come back in the next two days but the Christmas lights stay on till the New years!

This year daddy Narayanan aka limpy Narayanan was given an ultimatum by the kids. Either get on the ladder and put on the lights with help from mommy and the kids or go hire someone to put on the lights, NOW!

With a lot of help from the three of them, the lights were up after an hour..

We also celebrated with the kids lighting lamps (or switching on battery operated lamps that look like real lamps)and placing them inside and outside the house!

Good eats..

Notice daddy's slight paunch. 15 days of eating, limping and no calorie burning and trying on pants a tad smaller on the waist can do that!

A full moon night as always for Kaarthigai and this year it coincided with an eclipse in many parts of the world. The moon as seen at 400mm and ..

and back lighting our house..

We had one busy day. Children's party in the morning. Lighting up the house in the evening!

This special day was made possible thanks to isolation from the internet. We are now planning to cut the internet cable on festival days as a policy!

Hope those of you who celebrate Kaarthigai, had a great day yesterday!

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Bread Bhajji (பிரெட் பஜ்ஜி) Do it Yourself

Ever wonder what to do with the few slices of bread that always seem to be left over in small batches?

You can take them and make bread bhajji (and Bread Upma with the crumbs, but that will be another video for another day).

Very simple.

Batter : 1 cup Besan, a little bit of hing (asafoedita), 1/2 spoon salt, 1/2 spoon chili powder, pinch of turmeric powder, just enough water to get it thick (real thick)

Slice bread after removing edges, soak in batter, fry!

Hope you have fun making Bread Bhajji.

The last bit where I show how to make bhoondi is the pre-requisite for making Laddoos! So if you got that part right, you can make Laddoos at home. (have successfully made Laddoos at home, if you can believe it).

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South Indian Crispies - aka Javarisi VadAm

If you have guests for dinner and you are still cooking, one thing you can do is to get some papads, or Javarisi vadam's (made from Sago or Sabudhana), pop them in the microwave and give them as an appetizer of sorts.

This is a videoblog of how to make Javarisi VadAm from scratch.

Ingredients (or proportions)

For 1 1/2 cup Sago, 7 cups water, 2 medium size Indian (or Thai) short Chili's, 1 spoon salt, 1/4 spoon of Asafoedita (aka Hing), one small lemon

Also required : Saran wrap or plastic sheets, some oil to smear on the sheet if you are not using Saran wrap.

You can have fun giving the kids squirrel/Crow watching duty while the Vadam's dry in the sun.

Hope you enjoy making and eating Vadams!

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