10 Things I Miss of Mom’s Cooking - MEME

This is my very first meme and it is “the best” time for me to participate in this meme. Not being able to have any home made food, not even Indian food for that matter, makes this a perfect time to think of, not 10 but 100, of Mom’s dishes. Thank you very much Nav for tagging me.

The most important thing that I miss about my mom is the patience with which she used to cater to all the different needs of our family. Never did I hear her say I can’t do this. I wish I can have at least 50% of that patience.

I try to imitate my Mom’s cooking style and I keep asking her for recipes. Most of the time these dishes turn out good. I like everything my mom makes, but following is the list of my most favorite dishes.

Kanda bachali Kura: This is more like a dal (pappu) made with a classic combination of kanda and bachalikura. This dish is usually made for functions and special occasions. I have never tasted anything like hers anywhere.

Majjiga Pulusu (Kadi): This is like my Mom’s signature dish with sorakaya (Kaddu) and ground masala. The best part of this dish is the small chana dal vadas that she makes to put in the kadi.. Awesome.

Kandi Pachadi w/ Vankaya Pulusu (Toor dal chutney w/ Eggplant stew): Another classic combination and I can still smell the sautéed kandi pappu (Toor dal). Eggplant is my favorite vegetable and this is one of my all time favorite eggplant dish.

Vegetable Bath: Vegetables with rice and home made masala powder. Never had anything like this outside of my house.

Vankaya Banda Pachadi (Eggplant chutney): As told earlier, eggplant is my fav. veggie and this is another one of favorite. I used to help my mom (sometimes…;-) grind this chutney with mortar and pestle. I am planning to buy a mortar and pestle just to make this.

Karappusa (Sev): My sister likes the thicker kind (janthikalu) and I like the thinner version of the same thing. My mom used to make both to cater to our likings.

Boondhi Laddu: My mom’s boondhi laddu are so good that family and friends have asked her to make them for their special occasions. They are juicy and fresh even after 10days of making.

Thokkudu Laddu (Bandar Laddu): Another one of my favorite sweet. Can never get enough of them.

Masala Vada: Deep fried chana dal patties with spices. She makes them for festivals and also during sravana masam (Mangala Gowri and Vara Lakshmi vratam season).

Gongura pachadi/ Pandu mirapaya pachadi/ Pesara Avakaya: None of the bottled pickles taste like the fresh home made pickles. Just awesome.

I also want to mention two of my Mother-in-law’s dishes. She makes the best Gulab Jamuns (from scratch) using khova and sooji (semolina). They just melt in your mouth.

She also makes the best Jonna roti. Watching her make the rotis is fascinating. I don’t know how many years of practice it will take for me to learn the technique.

Trip to China

Next couple of weeks I am going to China on business. We (my manager and I) booked our tickets almost a month ago, but I froze my mind not to think about the impending trip. Honestly I am nervous and anxious to make this trip because of 2 things.

First one being 14 hours at a stretch plane journey from London to Shanghai. You might think that coming from India after taking 18-20 hr long flights, I have no right to complain and I should have got used to it. Truth is, after 18-20hr flight, you see your family who pampers you and you can take complete rest for at least two days. Now the thought of going to work right away, after almost 24hrs travel, itself makes me sick and squeamish.

Second big dilemma is you know what.. food. According to my husband who was in China two months ago, Chinese add sea food in almost all the dishes (I’m praying to god that he’s just kidding). I don’t like surprises on my plate (after 20minutes of explaining to the waiter about getting the ONLY vegetarian dish). I just hope they understand that vegetarian meal does not include eels, scallops and anything with toes that crawls/swims. I really really hope that I come back from China with a different opinion, may be all this is just stereo typing.

While I’m gone, I’m going to miss my husband very much and also talking to my sister on phone everyday. My husband has been training me about what to drink, how to keep passport, money, documents safe and other things for the past one month. He’ll miss my nagging and the food (hope he doesn’t end up getting take out everyday and completely forget about me).

I made myself a list of recipes from fellow bloggers that I should make as soon as I come back. (didn’t want to forget.)

1. Luv2cook's Ginger shortbread cookie bars – They look just yummy and delicious.

2. Giniann's Spinach koftas – They look like a really healthy alternate to the regular ones.

3. Nupur's Frankie – I meant to make this long time ago.. will definitely make it when I come back.

4. Lakshmi’s recreation of Gokul Chaat - Her picture itself was yummy and I could smell the chaat from Koti. Definitely will make it many many times after I come back.

5. Indira’s Spinach Basil Pasta – Looks healthy and appetizing.

6. LG's Egg puffs – One of my favorite Indian bakery favorite. Another one of “will make it many many times recipe”.

7. Santhi's Soybean fritters – Healthy snacks is a must try. Will try to shallow fry them.

8. Jadebeauty’s Buddha Delight – Hope to get something like this on the trip.

9. Sailu’s Butter Paneer Masala – Just looks mouth-wateringly good.

10. Gattina’s Nutty Potato & onion mini-burgers – Recipe looks simple and pics look too good not to make.

Will be back to blogging in 15 days.

Dsai Szen (Good bye in Chinese)...... for 2 weeks.

Memories and Tamarind Rice

Yesterday for some reason, I was feeling really home sick and nostalgic. I was thinking about school days, movies we watched and most importantly the food.
When I was in elementary and middle school, our school used to take us out on a picnic every year. (We joke about my sisters picnics even now be'cos they went to "Hyderbad Zoo" continuously from LKG to 5th-6th classes.. I think the whole class remembers each and every animal and where each cage is located..)
I still remember discussing and planning with friends for hours about what food and activity (frisby or a board game) we were going to bring for the picnic. We would then go back home and tell our moms to cook our menus. I would for the most part take something made with rice cos I was picky eating with fingers (my sister on the other hand always insisted on some kind of Indian bread like chapathis or puris with a curry). My mom used to make a variety of rice items like lemon rice, tamarind rice, vegetable rice, yogurt rice for picnics.
My favorite among all these is tamarind rice. Tamarind rice is just yummy and it tastes even better the next day.
Tamarind rice is also a must in our house for all the festivals.

Here is my mom’s recipe for Tamarind rice:


Ingredients:
Cooked Rice - 2 cups
Tamarind paste- 4tbsp
Peanuts - ¼ cup
Chana dal (split bengal gram)- 1tbsp
Urad dal - 1tbsp
Red chilies - 4
Green chilies - 4
Mustard seeds - 1tsp
Curry leaves - 8
Turmeric - pinch
Asafetida - pinch
Salt - to taste

Method:

• Heat 2tbsp oil in a pan, when hot add mustard seeds, peanuts, chana dal and urad dal, red chilies and fry till the dals turn pale brown.
• Add green chilies, curry leaves, asafetida and turmeric. Fry for another minute.
• Now add the tamarind paste and ¼ cup water.
• Let the mixture simmer on low flame for about 12-15minutes till the mixture thickens.
• Cool rice completely. Add 1tsp oil and a pinch of turmeric.
• Add the tamarind mixture, salt and mix well. Make sure not to mush rice.

I like my tamarind rice with a dollop of yogurt. Yummy…..

Mango Custard

This is an idea my mom gave me, when I told her that I have 2 yogurt containers full of mango puree. It takes about 2 minutes to get all the ingredients together and about 15-20 minutes to cook. Very simple... very delicious

Ingredients:
Mango puree - 1 cup (2 ripe magoes, peeled, diced and pureed)
Sugar - 1/4 cup (or according to taste)
Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp
Custard powder - 4 tbsp (I used Brown and Polson custard powder)
Milk - 1/4cup
Cashews and raisins (fried in 1tbsp ghee) - optional

Method:

• Mix custard powder with milk and stir well to make sure that there are no lumps.
• Add mago puree, custard-milk mixture, sugar in a pan and on medium-low flame cook for about 10-15 minutes.
• Mixture will come together into a pudding consistency. Add cardamom powder before removing from heat.
• Add the fried cashews and raisins (if using). You can serve this warm or chilled.