End of the month blues

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February has flown past, leaving in its wake a dozen planned projects, book to read, software to catch up, foods to cook.

Maybe I should make my march list fewer and simpler.

This past sunday was Sivaratri and I had fasted most of the day and concocted the usual sweet potato dish for prasadam ;

Sivaratri Sweet Potato
  • Boil 2 sweet potatoes, peel, chop coarsely add it to 1/2 cup of thick jaggery syrup.
  • Garnish with a handful of freshly scraped coconut.
I had quite a bit leftover; This made todays breakfast very interesting.

Amaranth Seed Sweetpotato kanji

  • Cook 1 cup amaranth in 2 cups water and 2 cups milk for 15 - 25 minutes. Add a handful of raisins when you start cooking.
  • Add 1 recipe of the sweet potato dish mentioned above and mix thoroughly.
  • Ladle onto cereal bowls, top with fresh milk and enjoy.
Both my DH and son enjoyed this.

BTW I had not realised Amaranth is just Thandukeerai, a sure fire in my mom's arsenal. I used to love eating Thandukeerai Masiyil and Vatral Kuzhambu. My son loves Vatral Kuzhambu (yes, the boy who complains daal and rice is hot loves this very spicy dish), maybe it is time to start preparing this combination for him.

I modified The Spice Is Right's Methi Chana for lunch today. I substituted sprouted, semi-cooked black-eyed peas for the Chana, 2 fresh tomatoes of the disintegrate-when-cooked-long-enough variety and leftout the besan thickener altogether.

I have to wait a day to figure out how it turned out. I am fasting today - Tuesdays in the Tamil month of Maasi are dedicated to Lord Vaideeswaran, the celestial doctor. At the end of the month, I am supposed to make a pilgrimage to the Vaideeswaran Temple and offer Salt and Jaggery. The symbolism is, just like salt and jaggery melt away, may the illnesses afflicting my near and dear ones also melt away.

Hmmm. I suppose no one has ever noticed it takes quite a bit of time for jaggery/salt to melt away when just left out. Perhaps that is why one suffers through the illness before getting cured. These sudden bouts of rationality always get me in trouble with my elders, especially MIL. Besides, I am sure Gautham's frequent bouts of colds and wheezing is par for the course at his age especially with my genes.

Coming back to my list for March, GIMP, getting started on .net certification, Pre-School Website and Naukas project, if it comes though should cover it.

I also need to spend some time making this blog more readable.

Comments

Anonymous said…
I am looking for amaranth seeds in Chennai or in Vellore. I was wondering if you knew the name of the seeds in Tamil and in which store I could find them?

Thank you for your help.

Regards
Trini
11:25 pm
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