India calling....

I love it when there are changes in life, but when "the time" really comes close, I start thinking about how my past has been and anxious about what the future holds for me. It is one of those times now. Its been a year since I came to the US, and there have been no major changes till then. Well, then its time that something changes - moving back home in a couple of days.

This is the second time I'm getting back to India after spending a year in the US. The US soil has treated me well and I would really miss this place and the family and friends that I would be leaving behind.

Those driving tests at the DMV, the goof-ups while just starting to drive, the not-so-hot weather, the grocery-shopping evenings, those pointless walks down the streets, the peaceful sleep at the library, thinking hard on what to blog about, the yummy Chipotle and Thai food, the bagels, those no-cooking days, the bus-rides, playing indoor ping-pong,ice-hockey and basket ball, the jogs at the park, the evening tennis, the late nights and late mornings, and many more wonderful times would always be cherished. The past year has been a very good break, and its time to get back to work. Here comes an end to all the laziness and lethargy, and am so looking forward to those busy times.

There are going to be a lot of changes and am going to make sure that I blog every bit of them.

India....... Here I come......

Bisibela bath

Bisibela bath(made by my mom) with potato fry - my second favorite dish.

My mom is a specialist in this dish, and all of my friends and family who have tasted hers, say that hers is unbeatable. So, here I am, to prove that I can make it too, as tasty as hers and assure you that its not a big deal.

Those were the days when I thought making bisibela bath was an ordeal, when I got the paste that they sell in stores, which you have to mix with cooked rice, dhal and vegetables. I wasn't quite happy with the taste. Thats when I read some recipes and tried doing it, and came out exactly like what my mom makes, and took the same time it took with the ready-made paste.

This is how I make it....

(Ingredients highlighted in blue)

Rice, toor dhal in the ratio 1:1/2 - Rice and dhal can either be cooked separately or mixed together. I have tried both, and both works. I prefer cooking them together, as the final mixing becomes easier. Cook it in such a way that its neither too flaky(like briyani) nor over-cooked.

Tamarind(lemon sized) - Extract it using water.

Roast and grind the following - In 1tsp of oil, roast 2-3Tbsp corriander seeds, 5-6 red chilis, 1Tbsp channa dhal, 1Tbsp Urad dhal, 1/2tsp fenugreek, cinnamon(1 inch piece), 3-6 cloves and grind these with a little coconut. You can also avoid the coconut if you prefer to, it doesn't hamper the taste.

Small onions(20 approx) - Peel them and fry them in 1tsp of oil till golden brown.

Vegetables - Bell-peppers, beans, double-beans, carrots, peas, potato, cauliflower, zucchini, ash gourd and anything else that you want.

I generally take a pressure pan or pressure cooker bottom depending upon the quantity. Take the tamarind extract, add the ground paste and salt and when it starts boiling, add the cut vegetables in order depending upon the time it takes for each one to cook. For example, I would start with potato, followed by cauliflower, beans, carrot, then bell-pepper, zucchini, peas and onions will come in the end. Cook covered, making sure they are not over-cooked.

Once cooked, add dhal in case you cooked it separately, if not, add the cooked rice-dhal slowly and mix well. Mixing some ghee with the rice enhances the taste, so if you can afford, please do. If you can't, never mind, the dish is still going to taste real good. Garnish with cilantro and cashew-nuts roasted in ghee. Serve with potato fry, raita, papad or chips.

Tips:

1. Make sure the tamarind extract in which you boil the vegetables is not too watery and that the rice isn't over-cooked. I once ended up doing it and it screwed the entire dish.

2. Cinnamon, cloves and small onions are the major taste giving ingredients, the rest of the vegetables you can use whatever is available.

Happy eating :)

Every trip is an adventure!

This is a long pending post, at-least glad that I sat down to write it now. Going to keep it short, sweet and simple :)

We had been to the Wenatchee River to do white-water rafting, a couple of weeks back - a great experience by itself. We had our own apprehensions, both of us being non-swimmers. Luckily enough for us, we finished it all fine without having to fall off the raft.

There were 4 people in our raft(including us) and our guide was Swoony, who instructed us and steered our raft with ease along the rough waters of the river. The river was running lower than usual, which worked out advantageous for us.

Swoony in action

Swoony struck conversations with us every now and then. Someone asked him if he rafts through this river everyday, when he said from May until September he works as a rafting guide for a couple of different companies, working on the same river. He also works at a cafe close-by. When it is off-season here, he goes to Thailand and does the same kind of work there. Of-course, he gets paid comparatively lesser, but he says he likes to go to different places.

He steered the raft as though it was the first time he was doing it. Such was his eagerness and enthusiasm. Every time he did something, he explained to us why he did it and also talked about how the river used to be at different times of the year.

Half way through our journey, we stopped at some place, where they gave us sandwiches and fruits. All the guides of the rafts waited until we were all done, and they ate what was remaining, after which they did the clean-up and we continued rafting again.

I asked him if something(don't remember what), what he replied made me forget what I asked him in the first place. He said,

Every trip is an adventure, every meal is a banquet, every tip is gratitude.

I fell flat. How could he do the same thing over and over again, yet have so much enthusiasm, eat a very simple meal, yet appreciate it so much and not show faces irrespective of whether someone tipped him or not?

For me, it was lesson learnt. I am a person, who gets bored very easily, but I understood that getting-bored is not an excuse anymore. Enthusiasm is the need of the hour. More than what you do, its all about how you do it. After all, all of us ultimately want to be happy and satisfied. Then its better to stop brooding and start loving what each of us do on a daily basis.