I sugared the salt...

... and then I salted the tea. True story!

My aaji's gift of love

I was making dal for the kid and realized I was running low on salt. Like any normal person I have five different kinds of salts in my pantry but I use a mix of kosher and iodized table salt for day to day cooking. I replenished the salt in the container and went about my business. Read: unloaded the dishwasher, chopped some veggies and washed some dishes. By then the dal was ready except it needed some salt. So I added some and tasted. It tasted the same. So I kept adding the salt by pinches so as not to over salt. I added a pinch and tasted. No difference. I  added some more and tasted. No difference again. This went on for a few minutes and I started doubting my taste buds.

 
I decided to taste the salt to check if I could taste it in the raw. You get where I am going. I had added sugar to the salt dabba. Now, a sensible person would have chucked the sugar at this time which is what I was about to do. But then, I tasted the sugared salt a bit more and it just tasted sugary to me. I figured it would be ok to add it to the sugar dabba instead of wasting all that sugar.

In the evening, we all sat down around the table for left over pizza and tea. You get where I am going by now, right? The sugar in my tea was heavily salted!

 

And yes, I chucked the whole mix. That is my mishap in the kitchen for the week. What was your most recent kitchen mishap?

 

It is rant time on DSM

Well, what do you know? I kept my word and am on schedule for the fb rant thanks to the dark, wet, rainy morning we have today in the sunny state of Texas.  We are spoiled here with warm skies and 70^o temperatures in December.  It puts us (at least me) in a foul mood when the skies are cloudy and the weather turns dull and wet.  Contrary to what Indian poets and imaginative types would have you believe, this desigirl does not share the romantic associations that are imparted to the rainy season of the Indian subcontinent.  For me, rains always bring about images of dusty roads turned to muddy mush, damp clothes, and dark homes lit in the middle of the day with yellow fluorescent bulbs.

Keeping with the theme: a B&W for Susan.

So you will have to excuse me if I am not in the best of moods when it starts to rain even though my adopted country’s concrete and asphalt roads don’t get muddy and the only thing to fear while out and about is flash flooding.  There are no damp odors emanating from clothes or bedding. No traffic jams to navigate through, no potholes to jump over, not even open drains for the kid to float his paper boat in.  The only redeeming feature of the rainy season in India is the sweet, earthy smell that we fondly call gili mitti ki mahak (smell of wet dust).  But I am denied that in the land of concrete and grass lawns, perhaps because I prefer to stay indoors when it pours and curse and rant about the bounty of water falling outside my window.

B&W breakfast with a hot cup of tea to chase away the blues.

This brings us to the fb rant that has been long time coming.  Over the years, I have added and then edited, deleted and hidden from view friends, bloggers, and relatives for various reasons some of which are listed below.  And on gloomy days like today, I still manage to get irritated because people constantly find new ways to up the ante. 

The game fan:  I played Lexulous, the fb version of scrabble, for a couple of months with a vengeance. I was hooked on it all the time.  So believe me when I say, I understand why you play Farmville, Mafia Wars and other assorted games.  Just don’t inflict your friends with imaginary acquisitions of sheeps, horses and planting of crops.  Go work on a farm instead of bragging about that fictional crop you harvested.  And please do not feel obligated to announce your general knowledge quiz score. That is just sad.

The “I have 400+ friends on fb dude and I don’t remember if we were friends before you unfriended me so I am sending you another friend request”:  Yes, we know you like ‘friending’ people for personal glory. I just won’t be the one that tips your friend count from 499 to 500.  

The You Tube linker:  We all love a good tune but not all of us have the time to listen to ten songs you post on your wall every other day.  Spare us your refined taste in music and stop cluttering our walls.

Leafy goodness of kale for Susan's B&W



The quotable quotes person:  A long time ago, when I used to work in a small office, our bosses’ sanctimonious secretary used to send out thought of the day to the rest of us.  All we did with them was snicker behind her back and smiled politely at her when asked if we read it.  She never got the message but I hope you have. 

The religious, the political and the dietary fanatic:  I do not care what your religious, political or dietary preferences are.  Do not ask me to forward, subscribe or endorse your belief system by sharing them on my wall.  On the same note, I have blocked or hidden some of your posts if they contain graphic pictures, misleading photographs or poorly sourced articles intended to sway me in your direction.  It does not make me appreciate you or your cause. It just makes me think of you as a bully who deserves to be ignored.  You are entitled to post what you wish on your wall. I am entitled to complain about it and block it on my wall.

Cryptic word of the day:  If you have something to say, just say it. Don’t make people guess it by sighing on your wall (*sigh*), posting colon and two close ended brackets for a smile or a ‘Yay’.

The juvenile, delinquent language users:  My nephews, nieces and younger cousins in their teens substitute the word ‘da’ for ‘the’ and continue other sordid trangressions on the English language even when there is no word limit or messaging restriction on fb.  I wince and bear it because I realize they think it is cool and hip to write that way, they are young and they don’t know any better.  But there is no excuse if you are an adult who does not comprehend what the problem is when corrected.  

The ‘Like’ button err…. liker:  Yes, I know it is hard to comment on just about every post your 300+ friends post every day.  You do not have to show your presence by hitting the ‘like’ button every time, all the time.  To me that is just a shallow gesture to register your presence.  I would rather have your thoughtful comment once in a blue moon. That is not to say I do not hit the ‘like’ button occasionally. I do when I am in hurry or when words cannot express how much I liked that particular status.  

Kale in color.

That my friends, is my short list of things I have been complaining to my friends on fb for a while.  Since I was in danger of being unfriended by them, I decided to vent out on DSM and save the few friends I have left.  Do you have a rant about the social media you would like to share?  Feel free to do so in the comments below or write a post and let me know.  I will add your link to my post below. It feels good to let it all out.  I know I feel good, even though it is still a gloomy, wet day.  

Roasted and ground 2:1

It is the middle of August and I have yet to post something for my own event, B2B – Spice Powders. So here is my first entry to my own event, a simple, basic spice used in almost every Indian kitchen.

Ever since I can remember, one day of the year in our house, my mother devotes an entire afternoon to making dhana-jeera powder and garam masala. Breakfast is a hurried affair of make-your-own-omelet, as is lunch (khichdi, a spiced porridge of rice and lentils). Once the mundane morning chores are over, the measuring, roasting and grinding of spices starts.

Aromas of gently roasting cumin, cinnamon sticks, bay leaves, peppercorns, cardamom and cloves gradually rise from the cast iron karahi, envelop the tiny kitchen, waft through the door to fill our entire house and gradually make their way to the front door to descend the stairs and into the street. The neighborhood auntyji drops by, taking in the whole spices and trying to gauge the recipe. She is too proud to ask for a recipe, the acclaimed cook that she is. My mother is too modest and unpretentious to turn her down but clever enough not to volunteer unless asked. So, the recipe remains a family secret or rather my mom’s secret.

The invisible man

I am an invisible man in a foreign land. When I say invisible, I don't mean the invisible man from H G Well's story of the same name or even the unnamed hero of Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man.  I am not complicated like that, nor do I have existential issues. No, my dilemma is simple one. The people I live with are my son, Suresh and daughter-in-law, Tulsi. I do not care much for them but I am stuck living with them. I don’t like their museum like house with its modern furniture made of angular lines and hard surfaces, the dark brown walls and white crockery that reminds me of a hospital.


I know my son asked me to stay with him out of a sense of obligation after my wife died. I agreed because I had no other option. He was always close to his mother than he was to me, not that I blame him. I was never the ‘involved father’ like these younger generation boys with their fancy strollers and carriers.

In my time, it would have been considered outright laughable if not ridiculous to be so involved with your kids. My wife took care of the house and the kid; I went and earned a living. Life was simple, with clear demarcations, not like the hodgepodge of today. Our fruit basket had only fruits in them.  My son's otherwise neat house has this one big bowl on the kitchen counter that catches everything from stray fruit to phone and iPad chargers. Just looking at it drives me nuts but I restrain myself.  "It is none of my business how they want to lead their lives," I try to reason.

The photo cue

My son is nothing like me. He helps his wife in the kitchen, they clean the house together and I am sure when they have a kid, he will get up in the middle of the night to bottle-feed the crying infant. I mean what do you expect when they call each other Sur and Taal (Rhythm and Beat)? What is wrong with calling each other by their full names, Suresh and Tulsi? How hard is it to pronounce two more syllabels?

Sur is the proud owner of a fancy camera that he carries with him everywhere. Taal encourages him, pointing to all manners of objects to be photographed. He twists his body into uncomfortable positions to make her happy but I suspect he doesn’t much care for the things he shoots. I just don’t know what the big deal is in shooting a clump of fresh pulled garlic or a zuchini. If you have seen one, you have seen them all. Why go around taking pictures and wasting film?

Apparently, the two of them have a food blog and all this photography is for that purpose. Taal also spends a lot of time in front of the computer researching food and re evaluating her diet. When I first arrived here from India, there was not a drop of milk to be found in the fridge. “Pappa, Taal is a vegan,” Sur had explained when I had asked for some milk.

“I thought vegetarians drink milk,” I had asked, confused.

“No Pappa, there is a difference between vegetarians and vegans. Vegans don’t eat any animal product, including milk,” he had said with a faint irritation in his voice. He had explained how Taal was against exploiting animals for their milk, eggs or meat. It was the strangest thing I had ever heard but I kept my mouth shut. It was a good thing too because I soon realized that Sur and Taal experimented a lot with their diets.

Black and White Wednesday with Elephant Garlic

Another Wednesday, another b&w photograph. Thanks to Susan's weekly event, I am at least keeping this blog current.

These giant elephant garlic were a regular offering at our local CSA farm till the crops gave in to relentless over 100 degrees heat and some unexpected rain showers. Despite their size, the elephant garic is milder in taste to the regular garlic and actually are a varient to the species that belongs to the leek family. It was still fun to use these giant pods for cooking and as a substitute for garlic they made for interesting flavor.

Size matters

Elephant garlic (for Susan)

Put on your chalks and chopsticks!

Ok, I was going to title it ‘put on your writing caps’ but putting on chalks and chopsticks sounds so much more interesting. Aqua’s brilliant conception deserves no less. Now if I was only more respecting of deadlines the last two times when Sra and Sandeepa hosted the event. Nevertheless, once I managed to post my overdue fiction, I was overwhelmed at the kind, encouraging and appreciative response to it from some of you. I couldn’t ask for better friends and visitors of DSM.

After the still pending part 2 of 'It takes two to marry...' I had vowed to finish all future stories in one single post. I am proud to say I have managed to stick to that resolve. However, two of the above mentioned supportive friends, namely Sandeepa and Harini, wanted a part 2 to ‘To stalk a brinji’. I insisted that I was done with the brinji and Sandeepa duly conceded and I quote her here, “...I know there won't be a second part because this is how the author wants it to end but since I know the author personally I can always demand my kinda endings, can't I ;-) Not that the author has to listen or anything!!!”

Well, the author listened not because of her nagging but because Harini’s idea of writing the story from ‘Uncle’s’ point of view appealed to her. There still will be no part 2 to the brinji but the author is working on Harini's above mentioned idea. This also brings the said author, me, to announce the third edition of the revived  'Of Chalks and Chopsticks' event which is being hosted this month here at DSM. If you are new to this blog or not aware of ‘OC&C’, it is all about combining your writing chops with your eating chops. To put it simply, OC&C is about writing an interesting piece of food fiction. It may or may not have a recipe but it has to reference food. For examples check out my food fiction page or a previous roundup of the event on Sra’s blog.

The revived event also has a photo cue for you to get inspired and fire up your imagination or get you stuck on the photo and leave you totally uninspired to come up with anything (whichever way you choose to look at it).  But if the above photo sparks the writer in you, here are some basic rules, penned by Sra, with one additional rule by me, to follow before sending in your entry.

1. Spin us a yarn - an original one, based on the above photo cue. It could either be based on a real incident or could be something completely imaginary. Explore any genre: humor, romance, mystery, paranormal etc.

2. The story you write has to have some food - it doesn't have to be a recipe.

3. There is no word limit on the story you write, but it has to be written in one single post.

4. Posts written for this event CAN be shared with other events.

5. Please link to this post and Aqua's original post mentioned above.

6. It is recomended but not required that you add the above photo to your post. If you do, mention this link in the caption since I own the copyright to the photo that I took.

7. Post your story and the recipe between now and August 10 and mail it to me at: jayawagle@gmail.com

Include the following details in your mail:

1. Name and URL of your blog

2. Title and URL of your post

So, grab that chalk, or pen or laptop or desktop and start writing.

At the expense of shameless self promotion, if you haven't already clicked 'like' on the DSM page on facebook, please do so and stroke my ego.  The badge is right there on the top left hand corner or here is the link to DSM on fb.

Of eggs, onions, strawberries and hot dogs

She heard his audible sigh as he passed the dining room. She was busy taking pictures of juicy, fresh strawberries she had picked up that morning at the farmer's market. "How does he not get it still?" she wondered. She had been blogging for over a year now and as she had gotten more involved with her blog, she had started experimenting more with different cuisines, with photography techniques and with social media. She spent a pretty good amount of time on twitter and facebook and she had a respectable following.

How could she not get addicted to this wonderful medium? Living in a foreign land, this was her way to connect with people from all over the world. She had made friends, shared her frustrations and joys with them and a lot of times learned from them.

Just the other day, Supriya had taught her how to use manual mode on her point and shoot camera. She hadn't fully understood the technicalities of aperture and zoom, but she was excited and eager to experiment. The strawberries were the perfect subject.

She knew she sometimes got carried away and neglected to attend to everything else. Hence his deep sigh of resignation.  She realized she had been at it for almost an hour. It was past breakfast time and he was probably hungry. Come to think of it, she was hungry too.

Anatomy of an onion and the contest winner

                

Breakfast on weekdays is a staid affair in our house. He eats his at work (eggs), I eat oatmeal with raisins and the kid loves his cheerios with raisins and milk. Weekends are pretty much the same except on the days when the house doesn’t need cleaning, the laundry is done and folded away and the lawn has been mowed the day before. Then, I like to make the ubiquitous Maharashtrian breakfast of kanda poha, except I make the pimped up version, Indori kanda poha, complete with all the fixings of sev and onions and pomegranate seeds.

Last weekend, while prepping for the aforementioned poha, as I chopped in two the unnaturally big onion, I was struck by the even concentric ridges and the smooth, shiny, beautiful red of the onion. I cradled the half cut onion in my palms and admired the beauty of its contours. This is what I captured with my humble point and shoot digital. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

My favorite!

On a parting note, the Coming Clean call for entrees received a total of one entry from M who blogs at Eating Matters. I am not the least bit insulted by this obvious rejection of the simple call for clicks by the foodie community. For now, I will just assume that none of you had a corner in your kitchen or pantry worthy enough to be photographed and put up on the blog. Except of course M, who gets a second link for being the only participant and for having a smashing, minimalist pantry.

The neat ridges and the smooth texture

On the subject of links and entrees, I was touched by how many of you liked my piece of fiction and suggested a title for it. I stand corrected on my assumption that I was being ignored. There were more suggestions that I expected and I had a tough time deciding the winner. Here are the nominees:

Nupur’s Coming Home, a title liked by a lot of you.

Srivalli's suggestions were in sync with Nupur's: Homecoming and Healed Heart.

The spin offs on curd rice with Fresh curds for a fresh start, rice plate with a clean slate and curd rice for the soul, the first two suggested by SS, and the last one by Sweet Artichoke.

Some titles suggested and inspired by Scarlett O’Hara and the positive ending of the story: Tomorrow is another day, A positive Attitude and Hope, suggested by Vaishali , Bangalore Baker and PJ, in  that order.

Two along the lines of fire and rebirth: Rise of the phoenix and Coming back to life, suggested by Cool Lassie and Aqua respectively.

And the lone category of witty title: Links that matter, because it highlights the bond between mother and daugheter as well as the prize of the contest, suggested by who else but the witty and word wise Sra.

A vote on fb yielded no majority votes so I picked a title that tickled me with its tongue-in-cheek intent. Without further ado, ladies and gentlemen, the winner is Sra whose Soup came alive is redolent with much more tongue-in-cheek sentences and titles like The links that matter. In keeping with my promise, starting from this post, Sra’s blog gets linked for the next nine posts I write.

Speaking of which, the next post is my review of Ruth Reichl’s Garlic and Sapphires, which was due on the first of this month and by the time gets posted will be late by two weeks.

Don't forget to send in your entrees for the Back to Basics event.

A parting shot

Coming clean

A peek into my pantry

Much has been said and commented about my pantry space, so here’s the proof that I do occasionally clean it, well every three months or so.

All clean and shiny 

Canned goods and some libation

 Notice the uniform containers (dollar store) and the neatly stacked snacks.

Mustard, cumin, fennel, cinnamon, red chili...

The seving platters on the top rack.

Another close up.

                                    

The final look.

Do you have a kitchen/ pantry nook you are proud off? Send me a click by June 30 and I will post a link here. Don't forget, the caption contest.

Some of these pics are off to Nupur's What's Lurking in your pantry? 

The year errr… nine months in review

In an ideal world my last post of the year would have also been my 100^th post. But my world is anything but ideal so even though I was reaching hard for a century, I fell short by four posts.

As I write this post, there has been a second helping of snow in Texas. Technically, this is the third time it has snowed but the first time it was just for a few hours. The second time we had snow flurries the whole day and when it stopped the snow stayed on the next day. We had enough to make a snowman and have a snowball fight. Of course, we didn’t do it cause it was cozy and warm inside.

But I digress. Coming back to my eight months in review that starts in the month of April. I remember it was the beginning of spring and I felt it was a good day to start a blog. Of course, like all things I do in my life, I did not give it much thought but jumped right in.

Sabudana Khichdi

I was on a high after having mastered the art of making sabudana khichdi from a friend just days ago. I was making it every weekend and felt like sharing the secret to a non-sticky sabudana khichdi with the world. The picture was taken as an afterthought on the dining table, with my son’s toys scattered around.
A few other random recipes followed, some with pictures, some without. I was yet unaware of all the other amazing food blogs out there.  I just went exploring through the ‘Next Blog’ button. That is how I chanced on Dips’ Centaur Cooks. Through her, I found Vaishali’s wonderful, passionately vegan blog, Holy Cow, Recipes from a Vegan Kitchen.

Following few comments led to Supriya’s tasteful Red Chillis and the Holy Grail of Indie blogs, Jai and Bee’s Jugalbandi. Jugalbandi's monthly photo event was one highlight of my monthly posts as I tried to take better pictures every month. I am most proud of this one:

My aaji's teapots

Of course, RC’s Food World blog aggregator introduced me to a whole new world of blogging. One blog led to another and soon I was chasing blogs like one tries to count the stars. In the end, I had to curb my enthusiasm and detox myself of the wonderful but addictive world of blogging.

Mint Chai and a book review

By then I had also found the world of food events and there came a time when everything I posted was with the intent of entering in an event. I become obsessed with it to the point of exhaustion. You just have to look at the months of June and July. I was in full swing, with every post geared towards an event.

Batata Ros

Thankfully, I got out of that phase quickly. Now, I do enter a few events but I don’t stress myself out.

August was the result of my putting on a few pounds and logging my eating habits for the whole world to see.
By the end of that month, I was spent and two pounds lighter. I was also learning to relax with my posts and not try to force myself to write.
September was the month to brew some old memories and long forgotten recipes, not to mention two cathartic rants.

Sevainya Kheer

October saw fewer posts but by then I was no longer worried about posting something every couple of days and was taking my time with each post.

I had discovered Sra’s witty blog When my soup came alive and Manisha’s Indian Food Rocks the previous month. It was Diwali time by then and a total of my seven posts had either Diwali recipes or an entry for Sra’s unique The Write Taste event. Rock on Sra!

I would have completed the 100 post mark in mid December if I had been more active in November (only 4 posts!). But I was busy with going back to school (College for non USA reader), my final papers and presentation.

Moong dal dosas

I even missed my monthly book club review, This Book Makes Me Cook, that I had been religiously doing every month since July. It is a wonderful group of bloggers, headed by Simran of Bombay Foodie, who choose and review a book at the end of each month. We also try to create a recipe based on the book. If you would like to join our book club, drop a line to Simran or any of the other members and we will welcome you with open arms.

Gingered tomato soup

December started with only 10 posts to go and a steely resolve to hit the century.  Of course, the gods of fate conspired with a fun filled family holiday spent visiting children’s science and history museum and planning for my son’s fourth birthday.

So here I am, at the end of December, with four more posts to go but no more days left in the month.

It was still worth it though, making friends over the blog and meeting them on FB. Finding out about networked blogs (Thank you Vaishali) and trying to take better pictures of the food.

I will be remiss if I don’t mention a very witty blogger and now a good friend, Ann of Split Pear Personality. I met her through the book club (correct me if I am wrong Ann) a few months ago. If any one can make a recipe read funny it is Ann. Check out her left over Shepherd's Pie or the Counterfeit Appams.
Last but not the least, a special mention goes to Sangeeta of Banaras ka khanna, who despite personal adversity cooks delicious, regional foods from her kitchen in Delhi and puts it on her blog for the world to benefit from. You are a hero Sangeeta. Keep on blogging and smiling.

This brings us to the end of my post which is being shipped off hurriedly to Srivalli’s Best of the Year, just before the deadline ends.
Hopefully, the next two weeks will see me hit the century post.
Here's wishing everyone a very happy and prosperous 2010.

Roasted Red Chili Peanuts

Bowl: Ikea

Place Mat: World Market

Peanuts: Sprouts Farmers Market

Taste: Spicy hot!

Entry: Jugalbandi's Click: Bi-Color event