Sesame seeds laddo / Til ka laddo / Ellurundai

  
   Ellurundai / til ka laddo is a traditional Indian sweet. In South India, we make these laddoos with black sesame seeds and considered as poor man's delicacy in olden days. But not anymore. Nowadays, people don't make it the traditional way and you don't get it in the sweet shops also. Making the laddoos the traditional way is a bit difficult now as we need the traditional pestle and mortar for pounding. Instead we make do with the mixer grinder now. The traditional way of making tastes so much better without any doubt. But when you crave for these laddoos even the substitute tastes great. So for those of you with a sweet tooth,this one is a must try. Here comes the recipe.

INGREDIENTS:

1. Black sesame seeds: 1/2 kg

2. Jaggery / Karuppatti: 1/2 kg

3. Fresh coconut: 1 no

METHOD:

1. Clean and roast the sesame seeds till nice aroma comes and let it cool.

2. Grate the coconut and Karuppatti and keep them ready.

3. Divide the sesame seeds, jaggery and coconut into 2 or 3 equal portions. Put one portion of the sesame seeds in the mixer and grind till coarse.

4. Add one portion of the jaggery into coarsely ground sesame seeds and run the mixer for a few more minutes.

5. Now roast one portion of the grated coconut till it turns light brown and nice aroma comes. Add it to the ground sesame seeds and jaggery while it is warm (not very hot). Run the grinder till all the ingredients are well mixed.

6. Repeat the process till all the ingredients are used.

7. Put all the portions of ground ingredients in a mixing bowl and mix them well with a spoon.

8. Take small portion of the mix and shape into laddoos while still warm. If the mixture becomes cold, it can be heated up on a low heat.

9. Cool the laddoos and store them in a container. The taste improves after a day or two.

10. One must keep in mind that while running the grinder the load becomes more. Take the portions according to your grinder's capacity.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing this BM#69

Pickled bitter gourd

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   The pickled version of bitter gourd is my final post for the topic of shelf life dishes. It is a very good substitute for spicy and oily pickles and therefore very healthy. One doesn't need to add too much spice or oil to prepare this sweet / bitter, tongue tickling dish. It can also be stored for months in the refrigerator. 

   This one is always available at my mom's place as my father likes it very much. During summers, my parents prefer ragi , bajra, dalia or any millet varieties of porridge with curd and pickled bitter gourd for breakfast. It can also be served with curd rice. A very simple and easy to make dish. I learnt it from my mother. Here is the recipe.

INGREDIENTS:

 Bitter Gourd - 2 nos

Tamarind - a lemon size ball

Jaggery / sugar - 2 to 3 table spoons

Green chillies - 4 nos

Turmeric powder - 1/4 tea spoon

Oil - 1 table spoon

Mustard seeds - 1/2 tea spoon

Curry leaves - A few

Salt to taste

METHOD:

1.Wash and cut the bitter gourd into 1/2 inch circles. Slit the green chillies.

2.Heat oil in a pan, add the mustard seeds and let them splutter. Add curry leaves and green chillies. Saute for a minute. Now add the bitter gourd and fry for 2 minutes.

3.Take out tamarind juice before hand and add a cup of water to it. Pour the juice into the bitter gourd. Add salt and turmeric powder and let it boil. Reduce the heat and cook till half done.

4. Add jaggery/sugar, adjust water and cook on slow heat till water dries up and it looks like pickle. (not too dry nor watery)

5.Cool and store in a dry jar and use as required.

6. Chillies, tamarind and sugar can be adjusted as per one's taste.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing this BM#69

Curry leaves podi

   
   Though I was not planning to make this podi as it is difficult to get curry leaves in Rajasthan. But when we moved into our new house, the first thing I did was to see the backyard for any chance of finding a curry leave tree. Wow! Indeed their is one. So the first thing that came to my mind was making this podi for this month's BM. This goes very well with softly cooked plain rice and ghee and not to forget the nutrients it provides being rich in iron. So here it is.

INGREDIENTS:

Curry leaves : 1 handful/ bunch

Toor dal : 2 table spoon

Urad dal (black or white) : 2 table spoon

Red chillies : 3 nos

Oil : 1 teaspoon

Hing/ Asafoetida : a pinch

Salt to taste

METHOD:

1. Dry roast both the the dal and the red chillies.

2. Wash the curry leaves and let them dry naturally for a few hours or under the fan.

3. Heat oil in a pan and fry the curry leaves till they are crispy. 

4. Add salt and hing to the roasted ingredients and grind to a coarse powder and keep aside.

5. Now grind the fried leaves till coarse. Add the coarsely ground dal powder and run the mixer for a few more seconds. Can use push button at this stage. The end product should be coarse. 

6. Serve with hot rice and ghee.

For more recipes on shelf life, check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing this BM#69

Peanut Butter

    

   I'm sure, those who have already made this would agree with me that this is one of the easiest, quickest and tastiest dishes without any argument. This one is a favourite in our home. It gets over as soon as it appears on the dining table. It is always on the top of shopping list planned or unplanned. So I was looking for a recipe to make it at home. I went through many of them and finally made it in my way. Most of them are same barring a little change in sweetening agent and grinding. It came out so well and every one liked it and now is very much in demand. Here goes the recipe.

INGREDIENTS:

1. Ground nut -1 cup

2. Any vegetable oil - 1 tablespoon

3. Honey - 1 teaspoon 

4. Salt to taste (1/2 tea spoon approx) 

METHOD:

1. Roast the ground nut in a pan on medium heat till the outer layer is brown and black spots starts appearing. Let it cool to room temperature and rub the nuts with both your hands lightly to remove the skin.

2. Put the cleaned nuts in a mixer grinder and run the mixer using the push button for a few minutes till the nuts are coarsely ground.

3. Add oil, honey and salt and grind further till the required consistency (fine paste or with granules for crunchy texture). I made one with granules.

4. Store in an air tight container. No need to refrigerate for 15 to 20 days (it will vanish before that :)

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing this BM#69

My most beautiful penstand!

     "Abi's real schooling has started", I said when he was asked  to bring an old CD and an invitation card. We were skeptical about Abi doing any art work except for colouring (he can mess with colours as much as he wants). He cannot sit and listen or follow any instruction/ guidance for more than 10 seconds, for he thinks he knows everything!! In fact within minutes of you trying to teach him something, he will turn around start trying to teach the same thing to YOU!

    We sent the CD and the card and waited to see what are they going make out of them. Meanwhile raksha bandhan came. He did not bring any craft work home, which surprised us because we thought those things were for making rakhi. We tried asking Abi what did they do with the CD and card. But as is his habit, he wouldn't say a word!

     Then PTM happened and we came to know that they are going to make something for janmashtami with that. Then the day before janmashtami, Abi brought a pen-stand made in school and said, "Happy janmashtami naani, I made this for keeping my pencils"! Kudos to his ma'am who has made them all and could make children like Abi do craft work. We tried to find out which part of the work Abi did in making the stand without much success. 

I am sure it is a lot more of ma'am's effort and less of the children. But in the process Abi has learnt so many things like using old things, following instructions, keeping pencils in a stand and most of all he was so happy to show us something that he made. This is the first time he has made something with the help of his teacher and brought it home. So precious. Now is the time I think that even I can sit and have fun doing these craft works with him.

Bravo !!!!

    We must warn the class teacher about his shyness on stage, I said. So that she can leave him out and choose somebody else. One fine day after coming back from school Abi sang something. I think he did that by mistake because he does not like to discuss his school activities at home. It really takes a lot of effort to find out how he spends his day there. After a lot of coaxing he said, they were taught  some song and dance steps. When I asked him which song, after much pondering he came out with half a sentence of the song, " mere pyareeeee......!".

    Since raksha bandhan was nearing, we thought that children may be doing some activity for the festival in the school and  this song may be connected to that. Next day we pestered him more and he reluctantly showed us a dance move, blushing and feeling so shy the whole time. So it was confirmed that Abi is taking part in some dance programme. This made us all nervous, because in his last 2 stage appearances, he looked so frightened and pretty much cried through the whole song, without moving one step! So I said we must warn the concerned teacher just to save her from disappointment.

     Meanwhile we received a note from the school that Abi is taking part in a dance item and it is only in house affair and they are not inviting anyone. After discussing all the pros and cons we decided not to tell the teacher anything and let Abi take part in the function and see if there is any change in him as this is only for kids. The D-day arrived. Abi was sent in home dress (jeans and t-shirt) as per the school's instructions. We waited for his school time to be over like over eager parents waiting for some entrance exam result.

    Finally the result was out.....Yes!!! He did it!!! That too on a stage without crying (though we could not see). His ma'am explained that he did hesitate a bit in the middle, and stopped. But with a bit of coaxing, he took his time and completed the song. Our joy knew no bounds.We congratulated the teacher for her effort and told her about Abi's previous performances. 

Bravo..... my child. Slowly but surely you are getting rid of your fear/ shyness. So proud of you!

Umpteenth Time...

   Planning, packing, moving to a new place, hunting for a house, unpacking, finding a good school, applying for admission, buying new uniform and books, preparing abi for the new environment, settling down and adjusting to everything new around you... phew! Have I left out anything?  This is what is happening with us right now. Our daughter has been transferred. Although, this is not something new for us as we have been doing this since 1979! With so much experience, one might think we should be able to move easily (as a few of my civilian friends used to say).  But believe me, we still find it difficult and tiring (apart from getting emotionally drained out) more so with age catching on. This, by the way, is the reason for the long gap since my last entry.

   I look back at the golden days (when I was much younger). Whenever hubby was posted to a new place, I used to be excited and look forward to meeting new people and making a new place our home. No school hunting was involved then as my daughter was in a boarding school. Of course parting with old friends was always difficult but we part with the hope of meeting again somewhere as Army is a small world.  But with time the excitement is all gone. I cannot figure out any single reason for that. 

   We are temporarily settled now, quite comfortably. The place is a little away from the city and Abi has to travel for about 25 minutes (one way) to school, which is the biggest disadvantage. The place has its own beauty, quiet, charm with hardly any noise pollution away from all the chaotic activities which one goes through in a city (typically old people' mentality!).The surrounding hillocks staring back at us when we stand in the balcony makes one realise how small is mankind in front nature's majestic beauty. Equally strong are the plants and trees trying to survive in the rocky terrain proves that they are the real fighters / survivors.. 

 For the time being, we are enjoying our stay in the campus surrounded by greenery and waiting, albeit halfheartedly, to move soon ... yet again.

View from our balcony