Life 'n' Such

Picture above: chat made with leftover sprouted moong curry.

I am going to lot of weddings these days (one perk of being home, lots of parties, lots of weddings, lots of foods)!

And its not the same ol’ paneer, chicken, mutton. These days desis have gone ‘conti’ (that’s how my sis’in law calls continental food ). There is pasta, pizza, salad bars, and the list goes on and on.

All this is great, but my heart skips a beat when my eyes fall on our traditional desi ‘chaat’ stall, with our bhaiyaji dipping one after another puris in khatta mittha chutney! I rate chaat counter at weddings as Yum-O Paani puris, sev puris, dahi puri, ragda patties. Yum – Ooooooooooooooooooooooo

So incase you dear friend are in some cold or exotic location, where you do not have access to a chaat wala bhaiyaji, I have this super easy super healthy way to make mittha chutney. Courtesy, my mom!

(Do not worry, I will also give you options for different ways you can have some chaat in your life) After all, isn’t that whats life’s all about? Something sweet, something hot, something spicy, something tangy.

Here you go.

Ingredients:

Dates, good arabic dates, not dried out completely (khajoor)
tamarind or tamarind concentrate (imli)
Jaggery, (gud)
Spice mix: salt, red chilli powder, black salt, dhania-jeera powder

Method:

Put everything in water, and let it soak for half an hour. Then boil it for sometime. Add spices in it. Let it cool a bit, then using a blender, grind it. And finally strain out the fiber. Done.

Note: Quantities to be used are about a handful of each of the main ingredients, and for the spices, start with 1/2 tsp of each, and then mix, and add more of anything you desire, according to taste.

I had previously said that I would list the possible ways you could have chaat, not necessarily the usual paani puri, etc. But easily found at home ingredients, like chick peas (chole), kidney beans (raajma), or others. Basically, chop up tomatoes, onions, cucumber, cilantro, green peppers etc, add the boiled beans to it, and salt, black pepper, lemon juice (if you like add a ‘tadka’ of mustard and cumin seeds in little oil. Drizzle some of the chutney on this, and sprinkle some crispy ‘sev’ and voila, a healthy nutritious snack is ready with at-home ingredients!

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Almost the end of another year, seems it passed by so quickly right? Not much happening at Lifensuch’s end, but look around and so much has rolled past, phew!!!!!!! Hard to keep up. New year almost here, any plans dear friends? Or just hang around and chill out at home sweet home? Let me know, if you do plan to do something fun. I plan to be home and watch TV, the old fashioned way to welcome new year. Take care, be good, and stay safe!

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Reconnect, Reuse, Recycle, Reduce, Respect. Arent these words so important nowadays? I saw most of these words in some photo today. Makes an immediate impact huh?

Well, I did add the Reconnect to the list. Actually, I woke up this morning, and I started emailing and calling my friends. I would rather prefer seeing them and spending time with them. But atleast talking to them, or seeing an email also makes me happy.

I talked with Komal, and then Shilpa (Happy Birthday Shilpa). Then tonight I also bumped into a batchmate from good old engineering days. He was with his family and his daughter was so cute! It was lovely seeing them all. Last week too, I bumped into another school friend. Happy times.

So reconnect, I did.

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We visited my dear brother and his family recently (miss you Tara!). And my dear sister in law Tehrat, made yummy dinner for all of us. She marinated chicken with Kraft barbecue sauce, and made pasta in cheese sauce with vegetables. They ordered yummy salads from a cool place, forget the name.

Here is the recipe for the sauce for the pasta, which is almost like the Turkish Beshamel sauce (on this blog, you will find the recipe).

I do not have the exact measurements, but the best part is, you really dont need exact measurements and you cannot go wrong with this recipe. The only part to remember is to keep stirring constantly, so you wont end up with a lumpy sauce.

Ingredients:

unsalted butter, a few tablespoons
chopped garlic, or paste
cold milk and all purpose flour stirred well
oregano or any italian seasoning (optional)
red chilli flakes (more or less, for a spicy kick to the pasta)
cheese grated (cheddar, mozarella etc)
boiled pasta water (reserve some while straining the cooked pasta)

Method:

First fry the garlic in the butter till golden, add the spices and quickly add the milk-flour mix. Now cook stirring constantly until the sauce thickens, and the flour-y taste disappears. Add more milk if needed. Add a little reserved pasta water too. Get it to a gentle boil. Then, add the grated cheese at the end. Add salt after tasting. Cheese contains salt, the seasonings also have some salt in them.

Bon Apetit!

Tip: You can add some sauteed vegetables to this, and some pasta, to create a hearty meal

Tip: I was changing channels on TV when I saw on MasterChef India, the chef was giving a tip on cooking pasta, he cut the pasta in the middle, and said that if there is a white line inside, then it is al-dente (which is how pasta is supposed to be), where as if there is no line, then it it overcooked. I should try it next time.

No Comments | In: Appetizer/Snack, Food, Other, Turkish | | #