PREP TADKA MAARKE!!!!!

Hello!!!! I am very much alive...... It was my comp which ditched me & kept me away from catching up with the happenings around, for sometime..... I had to (oops! sorry, My hubby! No credits taken).... My hubby had to get few things changed in it, to get it back fixed & working.... He feels really bad & hurt, to see me without my Computer..... as I start drooping around, not knowing what to do..... ;-)

Now that it is back & since I had no challenges I was desperate to attempt, for my Craft blog, I thought it was time I posted here to save my nose..... ;-) Seriously, I felt ashamed looking at the archive, which showed just one post each for the months of April & May.... I really felt... "Chullu bhar paani mein dhoob maroon"..... I am sorry.... I know I am being unfaithful to this blog & all my supporters, who have made me grow till date... with my preps for consumption & postings too..... I thought at least to face myself, I had to post today......

So here I am with preps I thought would make an entry (last minute again! Shame! Shame!) to the Dal Event @ Veggie Platter....... I was looking forward to post since many days for this event, but it kinda got piled up... So here I am with Three Dal preps....... TODAY!!!!!


DAL TADKA!

This is a popular prep at my in-laws...... Very simple yet divine...... Goes well with both rice as well as rotis......

Ingredients :

Toor dal + Masoor dal - 1/2 cup ( I keep a mix of both)
Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp
Red Chilli Powder - 1/4 tsp
Salt to Taste

For Tempering -

Green Chilli - 2, finely chopped
Onion - 1/2, finely chopped
Tomato - 1 medium, finely chopped
Oil/Ghee - 2 tsp
Cumin Seeds - 1/4 tsp
Asafoetida - a pinch

Method :

Cook the dal with the above ingredients as usual/ pressure cook..... Whip it lightly & keep aside...
Heat oil in a wok & add the cumin seeds...Allow it to splutter & add the green chilli, onion & tomato.... Stir fry till the onion turns pink..... Add asafoetida & stir for half a minute... Now add the whipped dal into the tadka..... Mix well & allow it to cook further for 5 minutes, covered.... Depending on the required consistency, add water...... Usually dal fry has a thicker consistency..... Now serve it hot with your rice or roti accompanied by any other dry sabzi......

Well I served it with Bhindi Bhoonjiya for the dry sabzi that day...... prepared similar to the Aloo Bhindi Bhoonjiya minus the Aloo (Potato). Savor!!!!!

Mango Dal!

I just wanted to try something different from the usual, hence added few pieces of raw totapuri mango, with the dal.......

Ingredients :

Toor dal + Masoor dal - 1/2 cup
Raw mango - 10 chunks (optionally peeled)
Onion - 1 medium (finely sliced)
Green Chilli - 2 small (slit lengthwise)
Garlic - 3 cloves (minced)
Tomato - 1/2 chopped
Methi Seeds - 4 to5
Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tsp
Red Chilli Powder - 1/4 tsp
Salt to Taste

For tempering -

Mustard Seeds - 1/2 tsp
Curry Leaves - 1 twig
Asafoetida - a pinch
Oil - 1 tsp
Cumin Powder - 1/4 tsp
Coriander Powder - 1/4 tsp
Dry Red Chilli - 2 broken

Method :

Pressure cook dal with all the above ingredients & once done, lightly whip the prep with a whisk & keep aside...... Now heat oil for tempering in a wok & add all the ingredients in the order from mustard seeds, curry leaves, dry red chilli, asafoetida, & the masala powders..... Stir fry for a minute & add in the whipped dal mixture....... Let it boil for 2 minutes & then savor it hot with rice..........

Few months back, my gardener did the garden.... Changing the soil, adding manure & sprayed pesticide..... And just recently I saw, few tomato plants in few of my pots along with the flowers in them, which were the original inhabitants of the pot........... I was like WOW!!!! There were quite a handful, which were raw.... I called Kuku & we both marked them together...... But later, we forgot......

One morning as my maid left, I went behind her to close the door & saw her leaving with two tomatoes...... I asked her "from where?" & she replied "from your garden" & I was like "What???" My tomatoes I forgot about & my maid was happily savoring them... I asked her to spare them for a minute at least, to let them pose for few captures as a memory of my garden tomatoes..... And willingly she did & left one for me too..... So here are the captures.....

Are they not cute & glossy..... I felt so proud to see them grow in my pots.......

And after that day, whenever she found one in the garden, she plucked them for me..... I felt good.... One tomato, I sliced into rounds for a simple salad & the other I used in my regular dal....

U can see the bits & pieces of my garden tomato in this simple regular dal, which I prepare for my daily lunch.......

Hmmm.... So that's a lot of Dal stuff...... These are my last minute entry to the Dal Event @ Veggie Platter.......

That is it for now...... I would be back soon, & I see to it that I keep up to my schedule this time.....

UNTIL NEXT, KEEP THE FAITH!!!!

FAVORITE FLOWERS IN MY GARDEN

As I have mentioned in my earlier posts, I have lovely flowers at my "ASRA" gardenia.

I am adding a few more to the already existing..... in a new form......
Some Jasmines & Nandi Battalus..... (ನಂದಿ ಬಟ್ಟಲು)

White Jasmines are grown in abundance in the southern regions of India. One can see many species of the same family. Various kinds of them exists. All different in their looks & appearances & also differs in aroma. My favorite is the traditional (ಮಂಗಳೂರು ಮಲ್ಲಿಗೆ) Mangaluru Mallige.

But there are Kaadu Mallige (ಕಾಡು ಮಲ್ಲಿಗೆ) which are wild as the name signifies. There are also sooji mallige (ಸೂಜಿ ಮಲ್ಲಿಗೆ) where the petals are sharp & pointed as needles, There are Dundu (ದುಂಡು )Malliges which are round in shape, there are single petaled & multiple layered too. There are just doubles sometimes. They look beautiful & pleasing when they bloom in our gardens & the air is very fragrant too.

Hmmmm.......... And the Nandi Battalus, that I own in my garden are confusingly Nandi Battalu. Because as far as I understand Nandi Battalu is non fragrant. But the one that blooms in my garden are very fragrant because of which one of my friends said that it was not nandi battalu but it was Sugandharaja (ಸುಗಂಧರಾಜ). Anonymous left a comment on my post saying that they were Nandibattalu & not sugandharaja. So I thought, let me just let it be..... I did a severe R & D on the net, but in vain. I did not find a pic of my kind. Somebody must be knowing something about it, if so please throw some light...........

This is 'THE' nandi battalu, non fragrant, that I know & is even in the net. No trace of the above flowers though.

Be it whatever, they are all divinely white in color. They are all the ANGELIC white.

I'm sending this post for the Flower Fest by Manisha.

LALBAGH FLOWER SHOW

This year we had been to Lalbagh to view those beautiful flowers & their wonderful arrangements.

It had been a long long time since I had been there. May be the last was when I was in 1st PU. Since then got busy in an affair with Kuku, my parents objection to that, then love got arranged & I sailed for 15 years in love with him & being married. I look forward to many more.

This time I saw them all, again, with many more additions of course. People just await this particular flower show in Lalbagh every year. Now I understand, why? I am a romantic who enjoys every bit of flowers.

With the annual flower show @ Glass House, Lalbagh entertains Bangaloreans & others with varieties of local & international floricultural presentations.





Me & Kuku. " Dekha Jo Tuje Yaar, Dil main Bhaji Tanpura" LOL!!!!

SOME UNKNOWN BEAUTIES

There are many unknown flowers in this world. Many of which specimens, are unknown to man till this date & few of which I am not aware of. But I find them all beautiful & extremely exotic. Only God knows the names of his creations.

Many of these are supposed to be wild specimens. They are "WILD" but exclusive creations.



This violet flower resembles the traditional 'gramophone'.

This particular flower that I photographed was on my way back to B'lore from Kushalnagar. I've no words to express the beauty of this creation. I had not seen such a flower till day. Again a wild brand i two colors. My hubby had stopped by for water & this specimen caught my eyes. I found this on the rocky hill at the side of the road.



It resembles the 'fancy firework', the 'jasmine drops' in specific.