Myriad Musings

My sister sent me a ton of hummus - a 500g Ragu bottle worth to be precise and I accepted with trepidation.  I have made hummus in the past and found it simply boring until I hit upon the idea of adding fresh home made panneer to it.  My sis batch was even more bland than mine if possible. This time I am trying another trick:  Pickling vegetables a la Debbie of Smitten Kitchen .  I had to change the recipe of course.  I am getting the stuff ready close to midnight.  No to matchstick cutting, certainly yes to mandolin grating.  Gau had used the last of my distilled white vinegar to try and make a bouncy ball out of Raw Egg and I had completely forgotten to replenish my pantry.  Make do with Apple Cider. I  mandolined carrots, beetroots and chopped onion and capsicum.  I put carrot in the bottom, then onions, beetroot and finally capsicum.  I heated 1 cup apple cider vinegar with an equal volume of water and about 1 teaspoon o...

I woke up, reluctantly, at 6 am today, spent time pressing Gau's uniform, waking him up and still managed to get him out of the house at 6.50 am with a roti in his belly and complete, packed nutritious meal :)  DH mocked me when I announced this at home.  But seriously about 40 minutes to make and pack lunch is awesome no? Theplas are a kind of Gujarathi roti (flat bread).  The dough is prepared exactly like roti, except for the addition of yogurt, chili powder, turmeric powder, hing and sometimes vegetables and/or greens. These Theplas have amazing staying power, and travel well. Paraphrasing they stay fresh for a long while, so good to take when you are travelling. I had made the dough for Methi Theplas yesterday, and I had also soaked chana (chickpeas) plannning on Roti, Chana for lunch.  But at 6.15 I decided I lacked the time to chop lots of onions, tomatoes and garlic and still get the chickpeas cooked and ready.  I made a paneer hummus instead....

I buy healthy foods like I used to shop for accessories in my college days.  I just pick random ingredients with all good intentions  of making something deceptively rich and artery clogging, but actually healthy and frequently forget about it after the first disastrous attempt.  Kollu or Horsegram was one such victim; I made kollu thuvaiyal, my co-sister's recommendation, the first time and no one could tolerate the taste, least of all me.  Kollu rasam hardly needed more than a spoon of Kollu. The Kollu stayed forgotten in the recesses of my pantry. I love hot spicy milagaipodi with idli/dosa, sometimes even with rice, but the store bought variety don't quite pack a punch and have a strong hing taste.  I decided to make horsegram version which does pack a punch, an awakening (for the kollu) if you will, tasteless on the tongue to "Wow!  What was that?" It seems to be a day of side-dishes.  I have not given up making Gau lunch he finishes with joy,...