Of volcanos and vermicelli

It has been three weeks since my school started and I have managed to ease the class into my weekly schedule or rather into my weekend schedule.  It is only one Saturday class this semester, so the workload is much less and I have more time to blog (hence the three posts last month).
 
A friend asked me recently how I liked studying in my late 30s.  She looked surprised and a bit disappointed when I told her I actually enjoyed going to college.  Truth be told, I enjoy it more now than I did when I was younger.  I understand concepts much better, I like the open interaction with my teachers, I like that I am more informed and get to voice my opinions without fear of incurring disfavor of the teacher.  

The fact that I get to spend half a Saturday learning about plate tectonics, volcanos, rocks, minerals and fossils may sound boring to some.  But I was lucky enough to have a professor who knows all there is to know about the earth and all its layers (and still manage not to know how to text, not that that is important) and also manage to teach in a way that makes it enjoyable.

Of course, just because I enjoy sitting in class amidst igneous and metamorphic rocks, studying relative dating methods doesn’t mean I enjoy the food they dish out in the campus cafeteria.  So, I carry food with me, lots of it, to sustain me through Steno’s Laws and studying folds and faults of the Earth.  I usually eat an apple or a pear with some almonds for breakfast while jotting down lecture notes. 

During the mid-morning break, with the fruit digested and stomach rumbling, I reach for my lunch which usually consists of a couple of slices of crusty bread sandwiched with almond butter and pepper jack cheese, some potato chips and another piece of fruit.  On rare occasions, when I am better prepared, I cook quinoa or vermicelli (semolina pasta) with lots of vegetables the day before and it sustains me better than the bread and cheese sandwich.  Sometimes, I also add some peanuts to the mix, just because I like it, but it is totally upto you. 

There are no hard or fast rules for making this.  You can add just onions or add broccoli or potatoes if it suits your fancy.  It cooks in one pot and makes for a great lunch on weekdays when I don’t have any left overs from the night before.

Here’s how I make it:

Take about 2 cups of chopped veggies. I used zucchini, carrots, broccoli and onions.
Chop them into thin strands.
Set aside half a handful of frozen peas and corn, unless you have the luxury of fresh ones.

Toast 1/4 cup of semeiyan lightly and keep aside.

In a wide pan heat 1 tsp of oil.  Add a teaspoon of cumin seeds.  Wait for them to sizzle before adding the chopped vegetables.  Cook for about five minutes on medium heat adding a teaspoon of red chili powder and salt in between.

If you want to add peanuts, add them with the cumin and cook for a couple of minutes before adding the vegetables.  

Chop about 1/4 cups of tomato and add it to the veggies.  Cook till soft and pulpy before adding the vermicelli.

Gently mix with the cooking vegetables and roast for a few minutes.  Add 1/2 cup of water, adjust the salt (the water should be slightly salty), add a pinch of sugar and cook till the vermicelli gets plump and water is all used up.

Turn off the heat, garnish with chopped coriander if you wish.  I usually omit this step if pressed for time or too hungry to dig in. 

Enjoy hot off the stove or cold in your lunch box the next day.

What is your favorite lunch box preference?

Vermicelli Kheer (milk pudding)/ Sevainya/ Shevayachi kheer

As promised in my previous post here’s the recipe for Vermicelli Kheer with pistachios and golden raisins and delicately flavored with cardamom pods. In Marathi vermicelli or sevainya is pronounced with an ‘H’ in front of the ‘S’. The taste remains the same.
Let me correct myself. The taste of the vermicelli stays the same but depending on how much elbow grease you are willing to put in boiling the milk, the taste of the kheer changes from good to delicious to decadently rich. On the few occasions that I make it, I like to take the time and effort to cook it to a consistency where the milk starts turning yellowish from all the boiling and the spoon starts picking up the soft layers of cream with every swirl.

Ingredients:
1 gallon or about 3 liters of milk
1 cup of sugar
1 tsp of ghee or unsalted butter
1 ½ cup of vermicelli
6-8 pods of cardamom, powdered
1/2 cup of golden raisins, pistachios and cashews (or any other nuts of your choice)

Method:
In a small kadahi or wok heat a teaspoon of ghee. On low heat toast the vermicelli until it is golden brown. Be very careful not to burn it. Take off the heat and keep aside.

In a heavy bottom pan, bring the milk to a rolling boil. Turn the heat to medium and keep the milk on a gentle boil. It is very important that you stir and scrap the bottom of the pot every five minutes.

If the milk starts sticking the bottom and you ignore it, it will eventually start burning and you do not want to taste burnt milk in your kheer. So ladies, just for this one, do not multi task, concentrate on the milk at hand (in the pot).

In about 30 to 40 minutes, told you lots of elbow grease, the milk will have reduced to 1/4th of the original amount.

As you keep stirring and scraping the milk, you want thin layers of cream (malai) floating in the pan. The more layers of cream you have, the richer your kheer will be.

At this point add the toasted vermicelli to the boiling milk. Add the sugar and the raisins.

Keep the kheer on a gentle boil, still stirring so the vermicelli doesn’t stick together. The vermicelli is done when it plumps up, about 10 minutes.

Check the kheer for sweetness and add some more sugar if desired. Turn off the heat and add the powdered cardamom and toasted pistachios and cashews.

As the kheer cools, it will get thicker so decided how thick or runny you like it and boil the milk accordingly. In my house, we like it thick like a custard.

Garnish with additional cashews and pistachios before serving.