Adventure in the air

Blessed are those who can speak and understand different languages beyond their mother tongue!

Atleast the language spoken in places you visit more often. I've experienced this problem much earlier when I got married and joined the defence fraternity. But what we experienced recently with my sister's air travel was nothing less than a nightmare.

After a month long vacation with us, my sister was going back home to Coimbatore. It took a lot of convincing from us to make her agree to travel alone by air. She was insisting on train travel as she was not comfortable travelling alone by air for two reasons. One, she doesn't know the language and secondly the check in procedures.  She was very worried about how  she was going to communicate, in case required!

To cut short the long story... We thought we could circumvent the problem by booking a direct flight and wheelchair assistance , so that the assistant can do the check in things. So we did that.  Web check in and a wheel chair booking also done. All possible assistance given including meal and an empty water bottle (to fill water inside the airport - ensured she doesn't have ask anyone for anything).

The flight was supposed to go halt in Bengaluru for half an hour but onward passengers were not required to deboard the plane.

As the saying goes, Man proposes and God disposes.....

Her flight reaches Bengaluru and there was an announcement asking all onward passengers to get down and board another flight which was going to Coimbatore.  But... she didn't understand the announcements - which were in Hindi and English!! So, very sincerely, since we had told her not to get down, she refused to deboard when the flight staff asked her to!!  Finally, when they insisted, she called us and we spoke to the crew member and asked for a  wheelchair, which they didnt have. Then they had to be shown the ticket again which showed wheelchair assistance booking. Then  they ran and got a wheelchair. 

With a lot of high voltage drama, she finally made it to the coimbatore  flight! She couldn't have managed to go home but for the wheelchair!

PS: I've told her to watch some Hindi serials to learn Hindi.

Happiest day... Successful kitey day !!

Both the kids dread and feel happy about Sunday.

Dread because they have to recite the tables to Nanu, happy because papa will be home (sometimes mumma also).

Today began in a typical Sunday mode for kids.

Didn't want to get up from the bed, no breakfast and only reading a book in the bed. It was the usual for us. 

Nothing was planned for the rest of the day. By the time they finished their breakfast it was around 11 am.  After all the lazing around, Gannu went to dig his tunnel and 'Abhi (the elder one), reluctantly sat with his mother to do some school business.

Suddenly Gannu came running to us and said, let's fly a kite!! I sent him to Gaurav (who can never say no to kids). Gannu armed with kites and the roll (without the dangerous manja) reached the terrace with papa and bhaiya. 

After struggling for what looked like ages, they managed to FLY THE KITE!!!!! Abhi, mumma and me joined the mission. Abhi was flying the kite most of the time. This was the first time for Gannu and his joy knew no bounds!!!!

Just as they were getting comfortable and enjoying themselves, another kite crept up behind ours and tried to cut our kite! Without the manjha, everyone got worried about how to enter a kite fight.. but, with some natural talent, Abhi managed to veer the kite away and save it tactfully!  Most of the time Abhi was flying the kite with the help of Papa and Gannu was the cheer leader. Even though he could hardly fly the kite, he was so happy. He kept saying today is the happiest day.

Thank you mera Thanedaar

It's a chilly and windy morning. Children are attending their online classes thanks to the weather god and local administration. I too sat in my comfortable seat with a cup of hot tea and was scrolling down some old and gold album of the kids. It just took that one short video of my 'Gannu', (my younger grandson) to make me write this post. 

  It has been a few years since I last posted in my blog. I have been wanting to write but somehow I couldn't bring myself to do it. Thanks to my Gannu for giving me that much needed motivation or push to write again.

Back to the video:

It was covid time. All of us were under self-proclaimed house arrest and making videos and clicking photos of our little ones' activities. On one such evening, the conversation between Nanu and gannu goes like this ---

Nanu:   What do you want to become when you grow up?

Gannu: I want to become a thanedaar.

Nanu: What will you do if you become a 'thanedaar'?

Gannu: I'll catch the bad people, stop them from wrong doings and of course regulate the traffic.

Now, 4 years later, thinking about it, the third point made me laugh because just yesterday, the traffic here was so bad that their usual 35 minutes drive from school took about an hour and a half to reach home and they missed half the time of their hobby classes. As the memory of that time popped into my head, I had to write about this today itself! 

As each one of us experiences the growing traffic menace everyday,  in today's progressive times, why the little one mentioned about the traffic at that time, I don't know. 

So much forethought!!!!!

Wish we had more Thanedaars like mine!

Roasted Cherry Tomatoes Soup

   Abi loves tomato soup. Its winter and our kitchen garden is flush with cherry tomatoes. So we decided to try a different version of tomato soup, a bit richer and made from cherry tomatoes. In fact this soup can be a full dinner, if served with a slice of garlic bread or buns of your choice. This one is my third and final post for this week.

   So the recipe is like this:

Ingredients:

1. 100 gms cherry tomatoes

2. 1 carrot 

3. 1 onion

4. 5 to 6 garlic pods

5.1 medium sized tomato 

6. Handful of basil leaves (tulsi)

7. Oil, salt and pepper

8. 2 to 4 cups of water

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees C. 

2. Slit the cherry tomatoes into halves and cut carrots to the same size. Put them in a bowl, add salt and pepper and give it a good mix. Lay it out on a baking tray such that they don't overlap with each other and roast for at least half an hour.

3. Once they are roasted, cool and make a paste in the mixer grinder.

4. While the cherry tomatoes are roasting, plunge the other tomato in a pot of boiling hot, salted water for a minute. Take it out, peel and chop. 

5. In a hot kadai, add a tablespoon of oil, add the chopped garlic and onion and saute till onions are translucent.

6. Add the tomato carrot paste, chopped tomatoes, basil leaves, salt, pepper to taste and 2 to 4 cups of water depending on the consistency you like. 

7. Bring to a boil and then cover and simmer for about 25 to 30 minutes. If the soup becomes too thick, some more water and salt pepper can be added. 

8. The soup is ready and can be served at this stage. But if pieces of tomato in the soup is not preferred then the entire soup can be blended using a hand blender or mixie.

9. Top it off with a dash of cream and the roast tomato soup is ready! 

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Coconut apple soup

Coconut apple soup is the second one in the series of soups. As the winter is approaching, I am on the lookout for soup recipes. Since children and hubby get bored quickly with regular soups, I asked my hubby to look for soup recipes. I told him about the BM theme also. He immediately said you must try something new and I will be the guinea pig. He was more than happy to look for the new recipes. So the search began.

 This one is one of my old recipes ( learnt it when I joined a cooking class in the '80s). I was not making this often as the availability of good coconut was a problem then and slowly forgot about it. So I experimented on him first. After his and kids approval, I am sharing this with you all.

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

1.Apple: 1 no

2. Carrots: 2 nos

3. Potatoes: 1 no

4: Coconut milk (thin): 200ml

5. Curry powder: 1 teaspoon

6. Oil: 1 tablespoon

7. Salt &pepper: To taste

8. Lime juice: To taste

9. Fresh cream:  As needed (Optional)

10: Water: 2 cups

Method:

1. Heat oil in a pan. Add peeled and chopped carrots, apple and the potatoes. Saute them for 3minutes without browning them.

2. Add in salt and curry powder. Cook for another 2 minutes. Then add water and coconut milk. Cover and cook on low flame till the vegetables are done stirring occasionally.

3. Cool and blend it in a blender till smooth and creamy and strain the soup.

4. Before serving, heat the soup, adjust seasonings and lime juice. Top it with fresh cream and serve.

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Drumstick leaves soup

   Drumstick is one of the most favourite vegetables of my husband. He never gets tired of it. I can comfortably feed him one dish made of drumstick every day. He not only likes to eat but also loves propagating it to others to include this in their diet given its high iron content. Wherever we move, he plants this tree there successfully.

 Of late there is so much talk about the goodness of this vegetable including its leaves. Not many people know about drumstick. We South Indians eat the vegetables and the leaves. But my Punjabi friends use flowers. But in Rajasthan, most people are not aware of this vegetable barring Sindhis. So when I made soup with the leaves, my staff was surprised and asked me what kind of dish I was making. I try to teach them how to use drumstick and its leaves and its benefits.

This soup can be made in a jiffy. Not many ingredients are required but it makes for a very healthy soup. This is my third and last post for this week. Here is the recipe.

INGREDIENTS:

1. Drumstick leaves: 1 small cup

2. Onion: 1 small

3. Garlic: 3nos

4.Ginger: 1-inch piece

5. Tomato: 1 medium

6. Cornflour: 1 teaspoon

7. Ghee/ clarified butter: 1teaspoon

8. Jeera powder: 1/2 teaspoon

9. Salt & pepper: To taste

10 Water: 3 cups (250 to 300 ml approx)

METHOD:

1. Heat ghee in a pan. Add crushed garlic and ginger and fry till the garlic turns golden brown. Then add the chopped onions and fry till it is translucent. Now add the grated tomato and cook till tomato is done.

2. Add the cleaned drumstick leaves and saute for 2 or 3 minutes, taking care not to burn till the leaves start shrinking. Add salt and water. Cover and cook until the leaves are done on simmer.

3. Strain the soup. Mix the cornflour with half a cup of water add to the soup. Let it boil for a while. Add roasted jeera powder and pepper and serve.

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Ladyfinger curry

   Whenever I say Bhindi curry, my North Indian friends used to stare at me in disbelief. They would ask me about the recipe too. Back then they could not even visualise the dish. But now it is not so anymore. Thanks to the internet, anybody can make any dish if they want.

   Back home almost in every house, this dish is made. Even on special occasions like local festivals and marriages 'vendakai puli kolambu' (that is what it is called in our part of the south) is made. Marriage means like it was in the olden days, not the present days where everyone is competing with everyone to show who can spend more. In our house, I and my daughter love this dish with plain rice. Abi likes a different version of vendakai kulambu.

     Now let me take you to the recipe.

INGREDIENTS:

1. Ladyfinger: 250 gms

2. Shallots: 1/2 cup (cut into two pieces)

    or the normal onion: 1 medium (cut into big pieces)

3. Green chillies: 3 nos

4. Tomato: 1 no

5. Tamarind: size of an amla

6. Jaggery/ sugar: 1 teaspoon

7. Turmeric powder: 1/2 teaspoon

8. Salt: To taste

9. Oil: 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon

10. Mustard seeds: 1/2 teaspoon

11. Curry leaves: 1 sprig

TO POWDER:

1. Channa dal: 1 tablespoon

2. Urad dal: 1 teaspoon

3. Coriander seeds: 1 1/2 tablespoon

4. Jeera: 1 teaspoon

5. Methi seeds: 1/2 teaspoon

6. Dry red chilli: 2nos (as per taste)

7. Coconut: 3 tablespoons

METHOD:

1. Wash, dry and cut the ladyfingers. Peel the shallots and keep aside. It can be used as a whole also. If using onion, then cut them into big pieces.  Chop the tomatoes. Soak the tamarind in water and take out the juice.

2. Roast all the ingredients mentioned in 'to powder', except coconut. Let it cool and grind them into powder (like garam masala). Keep aside.

3. The coconut can be added to the roasted ingredients just before grinding OR it can be added at the end of cooking. If grinding the coconut, then water can be added and grind to a fine paste.  

4. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a pan and fry the ladyfingers till it changes its colour. Add salt and saute for a minute. Now pour in the tamarind juice mixed with a cup of water. Let it cook for a couple of minutes.

5. In another pan or kadhai, heat a teaspoon of oil, add mustard seeds, curry leaves, onions and green chillies. Saute them on medium heat till the onions are translucent and then add chopped tomatoes. Cook till the tomato is mushy. Add ladyfingers, turmeric, ground masala (with or without coconut), salt and jaggery. Adjust the consistency by adding water if needed. Cover and cook till the vegetables are cooked.

6. If using coconut in the end, then this is the time to add it. I have followed this method. Add grated coconut and mix well.

7. Remove from heat, garnish with coriander leaves. Serve hot with plain rice.

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