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...

My mother would make Moar Kuzhambu (spiced buttermilk soup if you must) when she had yogurt that had gone too sour for eating.  I make paneer (Indian Soft Cheese).  Boil milk, after 5 minutes, stir in the yogurt and a tsp of lemon juice or vinegar.  Turn the heat on to a low and stir milk occasionally until the whey looks fairly clear and all the solids separate.  Drain onto a cheesecloth and use.  You can save the whey also to mix chapathi dough, cook daal or even rice.  I use this paneer in Paneer Butter Masala or veg burgers. I had Burger Buns, Barely sprouted Moong beans, Potatoes, Cucumber and the usual fixings for a veggie burger.  I had to make my son his fortnightly  Burger Lunch. Mung beans tend to be a tad soggy despite using little water for cooking.  Adding Pottukadalai powder helped dry up the patty.  A much healthier options than using bread crumbs for this purpose. I made the first batch of patties at 6.30 am and the ...

I am on a new quest this month.  Making a different lunch every weekday for my son's lunch box.  No repeats for the entire month. July 2nd  Rajma, Roti Text book preparation of Phulkas and Rajma.  Both the kids love this.  Ash had it for breakfast lunch and dinner. July 3rd  Spinach Cabbage Pie July 4th   Idli+Shallots Sambar July 5th  Chickpea Burger - made into a Murtabak for the adults, I used the left over pie base for the bread July 6th  Ragda Patties - recipe from Tarla Dala l.  I used a cheese filling instead of the mint mix. \ July 9th Pizza - base from French Loaf, sauce and veggies to taste.  Lots of Amul cheese. July 10th Vada Paav with a Paneer+Sweet Potato vada to increase the protein levels, again base recipe is from Tarla Dalal;  Definitely make the Dry Garlic Chutney she recommends.  We had the regular vada paav for a evening snack. July 11th  Chinese Fried Rice + Onion Rait...

My sis had twins!  Delivered at 32 weeks, each baby barely 1.4 kgs now and no bigger than the baby monkey's i see around IIT but mom and babies are doing well and together since yesterday!  I am sooooooo thrilled to finally have a baby girl in the family! Between her and work I have no time to write out or take pics of my bento inspired menu for the week: Breakfast Idli Sambhar Dosa, Peanut chutney Dosa, Tomato Gojju Vegetable Utappam, Peanut Garlic Powder Idli Sambhar Lunch Box Roti, Aloo subji Utappam, Aloo tikki, Sweet Karamani Sundal Fried rice,  with Knol Khol, Beetroot, Methi Leaves, Carrot and Paneer Multigrain Waffle sandwich with Lentil Patty Red rice, Karamani Kootu, Beans Bananas Apple, Nuts Cookies and Dark Chocolate Mixed Nuts Moong Sundal Snack Egg Sandwich Bhel Puri Chana Sundal Moong Sundal Makhana Kheer Dinner ...