Hello in there...

It was a day in March. The winter was slowly ready to give way to the wonderful Spring. I got ready for office as usual and was on my way around 9am.Surprisingly, I was the only person that day waiting for the bus on the stop. I was sitting on one of the chairs on the stop and facing the direction of the bus, lost in my own thoughts.

After a few minutes, an elderly lady, about 70 years of age, came to the stop and slowly took the seat near me. In an automatic reflex, I turned a little in my seat, so that I don't show my back to her. She touched me and said with a smile, "I'm moved by your act. I like it very much that you've done this. It makes me happy." For a second, I was confused what she meant. Then she explained, "As I came to sit near you, you turned to face me. I meant that. It doesn't happen always in life. It was so kind of you to do so." I was left with no words and so just smiled back at her.

She continued, "Do you understand what I mean?" She wanted to make sure I understood the German she spoke. I replied, "Yes madam, I understand what you mean. I just don't know what to say. Thank you". She reiterated, "No no, it is me who must thank you! You made me feel respected. You made me happy.You just made my day.". Then, our bus came and we talked a little along the way. She got down at the same stop as I did. She must go in the other direction. We wished each other a happy day and parted. I walked to my office, pondering over this incident. It was amazing to me, how a very small act of kindness can bring such happiness in someone's life. I felt a kind of contentment and peace. I don't know how her day was, but her compliments definitely made my day!! :-)

Where I wait for the bus...

It is almost three months now. I met her again today. She came and sat near me, like the same way she did on that day. I immediately recognized her and was very happy. But, she didn't look like she identified me. I spoke to her, "Good morning madam. Do you remember me?"
She replied, "A very good morning. I.... I'm sorry. Have we met each other?"
I said, "Yes madam."
She asked me, "Are you one of my neighbours?"
I said, "No madam. I fear not. We met once at this same place. Once, when we were waiting for the bus."
She said, "Oh! Is it? I'm sorry, I don't recollect. Yes, when I travel, I meet quite a few people. Nowadays, it is getting hard for me to remember everyone."
I replied, "It is ok madam. No problem. I understand. Since I saw you again, just wanted to talk." and smiled.
After a few seconds, she asked me, "When we met, was that a good memory or a bad one?" I replied, "Of course, it was a good memory madam!" She laughed and said, "Thank God!"

Then our bus came and we got in. On the way, she asked me where I lived, if I travel the same way every day and things like that. When it was a few minutes before our destination, she said, "I must confess you one thing. It could happen that, when we meet another time, I forget you again. Please remember, it is not my intention to do so." I smiled and said again, "I understand madam. Please do not worry. Even if you forget me again, I would come and talk to you!!". She said with a smile,"Oh! That is very sweet of you."

We had an apartment in the city,
Me and Loretta liked living there.
Well, it'd been years since the kids had grown,
A life of their own left us alone.
John and Linda live in Omaha,
And Joe is somewhere on the road.
We lost Davy in the Korean war,
And I still don't know what for, don't matter anymore.

Chorus:
Ya' know that old trees just grow stronger,
And old rivers grow wilder ev'ry day.
Old people just grow lonesome
Waiting for someone to say, "Hello in there, hello."

Me and Loretta, we don't talk much more,
She sits and stares through the back door screen.
And all the news just repeats itself
Like some forgotten dream that we've both seen.
Someday I'll go and call up Rudy,
We worked together at the factory.
But what could I say if asks "What's new?"
"Nothing, what's with you? Nothing much to do."

Repeat Chorus:

So if you're walking down the street sometime
And spot some hollow ancient eyes,
Please don't just pass 'em by and stare
As if you didn't care, say, "Hello in there, hello."

[Source: A song by John Prine, lyrics from here]

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Kohlrabi Dhal Curry

Spring is in full bloom here!!! The days are sunny, yet a slight bit cold... Flowers smiling with different colours in every corner... The first time I landed in Germany was in April 2008 (three years back!!). It was a beautiful Spring and I immediately fell in love with the place. Those initial days are sweet memories. My husband used to take me around to places nearby. I enjoyed every bit of it. With nothing to do(I mean, with no job), relaxing my days at home, trying my hands on cooking and experimenting with my husband... :D Just Nostalgia!!

I've been out of Bloggers world for more than a month now. I had a little setback in health. So I had to take rest and hence the break. I'm fine now. I felt really happy when I saw some comments from my blogger friends who took notice of my absence. Thank you very much dears. It is touching to know that I have been missed :-) To be honest, I really missed blogging and the pleasure of it. My dashboard is full of new exciting recipes, which I'm yet to check out one by one.

Now, I would like to share with you, something I tried out this weekend. It is a simple Daal curry, yet with a vegetable, which is quite new for me - Kohlrabi. I never knew it until I saw this veggie in Germany. Usually, I'm not yet brave enough to give a try to an unknown vegetable. So, Kohlrabi had never been in my shopping list. Once when we visited Umm Mymoonah's home, she introduced me to this vegetable. So, I tried this simple Dhal curry and it came out really well.

Preparation Time: 30 mins
Serves: 4
Ingredients:
Mysore Dhal - 1/2 cup
Moong Dhal - 1/2 cup
Kohlrabi - 1 or 2
Onion - 1
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Sambar Powder - 1 tsp
Green chillies - 2
Garlic - 3-4 pods
Hing - a pinch
Flat Parsley leaves - a handful, finely chopped
To saute:
Red chillies - 2
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Urad dhal - 1/2 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp

Method:
Wash the dhals and take them in a small pressure cooker. Cut onion into slightly big pieces. Remove the stalks, leaves and skin of the Kohlrabi and then cut it into one inch cubes. Add the spice powders, green chillies, garlic, hing and parsley leaves along with the cut onions and Kohlrabi into the cooker. Add required amount of water. Close the cooker and let them cook for about 2-3 whistles.

Heat oil in a small sauté pan. Add mustard seeds and when they splutter, add the other items and sauté. When the steam has been released, open the cooker lid, add the sautéd items and give a sitr. Enjoy this Dal with hot steamed white rice or chapathis.

Note:

• Depending upon the type of Dhal you use and the size of the Kohlrabi you have taken, the amount of water needs to be adjusted.
• If you do not have parsley leaves, you can add curry leaves while sautéing too.

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Vaazhai Ilai

I know, it's quite some time now since my last post. Had been busy again :-( In the meantime, I got some photos uploaded and with it, wanted to share some memories with you. This time, when we were in India, during our stay with my in-laws, one fine day almost everyone in the family was present at home. My mom-in-law found it to be a perfect day, for which she had been planning for quite some time. She and her assistant were busy bustling in the kitchen right from the morning. I was busy with packing stuff and kept wondering what they were up to. In a short time, what awaited us on the lunch table took me by surprise. Yeah, it was a full pleasant surprise indeed!! We had a feast arranged for us in a plantain leaf!! I was full with glee :-))

Plantain leaves are a typical tradition of South Indian cuisine. In olden days, food prepared was usually served in a cut, cleaned plantain leaf. A typical lunch would consist of a few rounds of short servings of rice, each accompanied with an array of curries. Eating from the leaf somehow adds a flavour and aroma to the dish. Nowadays, plantain leaves are mainly found in dinners during weddings or other festivals. Even in recent times, they are substituted with use and throw plates. Nevertheless some families still stick to the plantain leaf tradition. In Hindu customs, position of the various curries on the leaf is also significant.

Be it the aromatic Biriyani in an Islamic wedding or the beautiful array of vegetarian curries in a Hindu wedding, I just love feasting on a plantain leaf. My mother-in-law shares this liking too and so, she made this treat for us exclusively!!

The various curries you can see here are (clockwise): Mango pickle, Cabbage-Carrot poriyal, Keerai (Spinach Daal), Paavaikai theeyal (Bittergourd), Aviyal (a medley of various veggies like drumstick, brinjal, beans, plantain, etc.), Banana, Pappad, Rice with daal curry and Rajma kootu.

My first round was with dhaal and ghee over rice. Second round was with sambhar. The third with morkulambu (yoghurt gravy) and the final one with rasam :-) Yet there was Payasam too... No no no... Kannu poda koodadhu... :-D

I was so reminded about this on seeing the uploaded photos, that I craved for something like that. Though I'm not able to make everything like her, I just prepared a spicy garlic curry. We enjoyed having it along with beans poriyal. Since, a beans poriyal is relatively simpler to make, I'm just providing the recipe for the poondu kulambu below.

Preparation Time: 30 mins
Serves - 4
Ingredients:
Onions – 2 medium sized
Garlic - 10 to 12 pods, preferably large sized
Tomatoes - 2
Chili powder – 1 tsp
Turmeric powder – ½ tsp
Coriander powder - 3 tsp
Salt – as per taste
Tamarind juice - extracted out of a lemon sized ball
To sauté:
Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
Urad dal – 1 tsp
Fenugreek seeds - 1 tsp
Curry leaves – a few
Green chilies - 2 or 3

Method:
Chop the onions and tomatoes and keep aside. Slit the green chillies lengthwise. Soak tamarind in warm water and extract about one cup of juice out of the it.
Heat oil in a heavy bottomed vessel. Add mustard seeds and when they splutter, add urad dal, fenugreek seeds and curry leaves.
Add the chopped onions and green chillies and saute until onions turn transparent. Now add the tomatoes and saute again. When tomatoes are cooked, mash them slightly. Now add the turmeric, coriander powder and chilli powder, salt and let them cook. Take care the spices dont get burnt. When the raw smell goes off and spices are cooked, add the garlic pods along with the tamarind juice. Now, keep in simmer and cover with a lid. Let the gravy cook for a few minutes in simmer until it gets thick. The garlic when cooked would be soft and it takes in all the tangy spiciness of the gravy. It would taste excellent. Enjoy this spicy poondu kuzhambu with freshly steamed white rice.

The ingredietns and the measurements given below are of my judgement. Please adjust to your palate accordingly. I'm sending this as an entry to the A.W.E.D Indian Cuisine, guest hosted by Taste of Pearl City. Though I'm late by a day, I sincerely hope she accepts :-))

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Orange Walnuts Loaf Cake

It is quite a while since I ever baked anything and I felt like baking this weekend. When I was writing my previous post, I realized that today is the last date for the Tried and Tasted Event for Aipi's US Masala. Ooops.. time really runs very fast, at least faster than me!! Sigh sigh... I had bookmarked a lot many recipes from her blog, but didn't really try out everything. So, I decided to bake something from her blog. But what?? As I browsed through, wowww - the gorgeous Orange Olive Loaf Cake just made the pupils of my eyes widen... this is it!!

I bought some oranges from the Kleinmarkthalle. I was thinking of what to substitute for the egg. Once I had tried a loaf cake with silken Tofu and it was quite a success. Silken Tofu gives the cake a moist, heavy and soft texture. Anyways, I decided to experiment again with it. With lots of hope and the other ingredients ready, I just started mixing up the dry ingredients. Suddenly, we remembered we were planning to attend an event today and we just could not postpone it. So, I got ready and we went out. I was quite saddened that my baking prospect had to be abandoned.

Somehow, we managed to return early in the evening :-) Though very tired, I happily continued with my baking. The result is what you see here. The sun didn't wait for me and it has set. So, I could only photograph it under our electric lamp.

The original recipe can be found here. The following are the changes I made:

• Instead of the 1 egg in the recipe, I used 1/4 cup of silken Tofu. I whisked it along with the sugar.
• I added a handful of chopped walnuts - something crunchy in the soft cake. It turned out to be a great idea.
• I had no corn starch in hand. So, used 1/4 cup more all purpose flour.

Do I need to say how it tasted?? Even while baking, the kitchen was filled with a warm orange aroma and I just couldn't wait for the cake to get baked and then cool down. When I tasted the first piece, it just melted in my mouth. It was so soft and very light indeed. I mean, it was not as heavy as I imagined. My husband easily made three pieces vanish at once. The softness along with the walnuts was heavenly. The Tofu has proved to be a reliable winner once again. You see, it is just a pleasure, to see your efforts yield good results.

Heartfelt thanks to Aipi for the wonderful recipe. I'm sending this to Priya's Tried and Tasted for Feb, 2011, owned by Lakshmi of Kitchen Chronicles and originally started by Zlamushka.

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Paneer Tawa Masala

Last week was quite sunny and I had hopes of Spring, but in vain. This week, it is winter again and gloomy :-( One evening,  as I was returning home from work, I was scratching my head about what to prepare for dinner. It has to be easy, yet tasty. Something hot and spicy would be very welcome. Suddenly, bulb glows!! On reaching home, I directly hit my laptop and browsed. Yes, I had everything for the dish ready and get set go!!!

Since I had a pack of Paneer sitting in my fridge, my first thought went to Aipi of US Masala, as I remember seeing some interesting recipes in her site made with Paneer. The original recipe can be found here.

It was hot, spicy and tangy and a relish to the taste buds. The addition of Pav Bhaji masala has been the key, I guess. I used concentrated tomato paste, it provided the necessary tangyness and so, I cut out on the lemon juice. My husband brought home some oriental Parathas and it proved to be the perfect combo with them.

I hope, you too try this dish and enjoy the distinct flavours melt in your mouth. :-) I'm sending this as an entry to Tried and Tasted Event hosted by Priya of Mharo Rajasthan, owned by Lakshmi of Kitchen Chronicles, originally started by Zlamushka.

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Muffins over the window!!

Wondering what the title of the post means?? Just read through...

It was in the Spring of 2009 that we shifted to this apartment. Thank God, till this day, we are quite content with our apartment. Our little flat is cozy, bright and just enough for the two of us. Above evreything, I love it for the serenity of the locality and the green sorroundings.

In front of the building, the carparking space is studded with trees and they are the ones which add beauty to the apartment, keep the air fresh and in summer lend the much needed coolness. Living on the second floor, we used to enjoy the greenery through our windows. In autumn, the bright colours would be vibrant. In winter, though the trees had shed their leaves long ago, some fruits would still be hanging on to the branches. On snow fall, a little shot of snow would be deposited above each of these fruits which gives it a muffin(with frosting) like appearance. Yeah... do you get the meaning of the title now?? I used to observe this on every snow fall and my heart rejoices at the sight of it. Unfortunately, not all good things last forever, I guess.

Last week, suddenly they put on a notice that they have planned to fell the trees. I have no idea, what the house administration tries to achieve by felling these harmless trees. There is no information about that. On talking to one of our neighbours, we got to know the following: we cannot do antything about this now. But, in Germany, there is a rule that, for every tree that is cut, must a tree be planted. Sounds good, eh? Yes. Here, you can plant any tree as you wish. But, if you plan to cut it down, you must first get permission from the state, promising that you would plant another tree somewhere sometime. So, our neighbour added that, the admin has planned to get some thinner trees sometime during autumn this year.

Two days back, they started work when I was leaving for work. It took the workers hardly ten minutes for cutting one tree into pieces. Their main work is to collect the woods in a wagon and clear the place. When I returned home, it appeared as if nothing has happened and there is a vast emptiness now.

This brings back a childhood memory to me. Once when we were living as tenants in a small town, the houseowners had a cow. She was called Laxmi and I used to play with her, feed her grass and straw. She was also fond of me. One day, they had sold her away and I cried the whole night. I could relate it to this situation. Though I've grown up now and I don't cry, I somehow feel sad for those trees.The smell of raw wood is still lingering... I hope and pray that they really plant some trees as soon as possible and bring back the greenery to our apartment. Just wanted to write in their memory :-)

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Peas Broccoli Soup

The past two weeks had been quite hectic. I got a change of project and so, had loads of work at office. Weekends went busy too. Things are getting normal this week and I'm hoping for some relaxation. So, last week, I could spend only little time in the kitchen and didn't get to try anything industrious.

One evening, after a tiring day of work, I made this wonderful soup, thanks to Taste of Pearl City. It was easy to make and very relishing. It had the mild aroma of mint and the goodness of the green vegetables, combined with the flavour of garlic and pepper.

The original recipe can be found here. I followed it almost exactly, but with the following changes:
- I used just one potato, so the soup was light and apt for the evening hour.
- I had only a small amount of peas, so I replaced the rest with about 5 to 6 Broccoli florets. Adding broccoli gave the soup an extra kick and taste.
- I topped the soup with some crispy Croutons and pine nuts.

The soup was itself creamy, but those who would like more richness can add a spoon of cream on top. Along with garlic Baguette and Italian herbs Baguette, we just felt like it was one of the perfect dinner menus. :-)
I'm sending this post as an entry to US Masala's Bookmarked Recipes Event.

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It's Award Time!!

Yipppeee.... I have been pampered with awards again... :-) Recently, Priya of Now Serving has given me the following two awards.

Awards are a means of appreciation and recognition. Thanks a lot Priya for your kindness and thoughtfulness. It's a great honour. 

 

Slowly, my blog is growing and along with it a kind of commitment too... I hope to come up with more interesting posts in the future, just praying time could permit!! :-) 

I pass on these awards to all my dear followers and readers, for their wonderful comments and support. Kindly accept this token of love from me :-)

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Strawberry Marmelade

Saturday is our usual shopping day. The day when we buy groceries for the following week. Sometimes, we think of finishing the grocery shopping during the weekdays itself and relax on Saturdays, but it just doesn't work out. This week too we did all our shopping on Saturday only.

In Frankfurt, one of my favourite destination is Kleinmarkthalle, where I could get fresh fruits and vegetables of good quality, direct from the farmers. It is just like the weekly markets or so in other places, only that, this market is indoor and it is open 6 days a week. Though the prices are pretty higher than a supermarket, I think, it is worth the quality. This time, we found fresh strawberries and grapes. The grapes were damn sweet. The strawberries were bright red, fresh and smelled great. I thought of making something out of these wonderful berries and suddenly, the idea of making a jam. This is my first ever attempt at preparing a jam and it was not as difficult as I thought it would be.

Ingredients:

Strawberries - 500g
Jam sugar(jelly sugar) - 250g
Lemon - juice of half a lemon

Method:

Before you get into the preparation, get some suitable air-tight glass bottle(s) and sterilise it in hot water and keep ready.

Wash and clean the strawberries. Remove the leaves and cut into small small pieces. Take this in a heavy bottomed vessel and add jelly sugar to it. Mix and let it stand for an hour, so that the sugar dissolves by itself. Now, cook this by stirring continuously. Remove the froth formed as and when required. Allow the mix to boil for a minute or two and then add the lemon juice. Keep stirring continuously and allow to boil for at least 4 more minutes. Do a jelly-trial once or twice and when the trial succeeds, remove from the heat. Fill it into the bottle(s) and close the lid. Turn upside down and allow it to rest on the lid for a few minutes. Store in a cool place.

Enjoy this home-made jam with bread of any kind. Goes well with Croissants.

Jelly-Trial: Take a small quantity of the mix and put it in a plate. After some 5 seconds, check for the required consistency. If it is jelly like, then it means DONE!!

Note:

• When buying jelly sugar, take care of the ingredients, if you intend to refrain from things like gelatine. The jelly sugar I used here contains pectin from apple, which gives the jelly like consistency.
• I have read that the skin of apple and normal sugar can be used instead of jelly sugar, but I have not tried it myself.

I'm sending this as an entry to;

• Anyone can Cook event of Taste of Pearl City.
• The Veggie/Fruit a Month -Strawberry event by Pari of Foodelicious, originally started by Priya of Mharo Rajasthan recipes and
• Smita's Cooking With Fruits Event.

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Coconut-Blueberry Muffins

It is after coming to Germany, that I absolutely developed an interest towards baking. There are many reasons behind how and why I developed this interest. But, the main one is my own self-pity. Do you want to know why?? Here is my sad story. Those who do not want to read through, just skip the next two paragraphs.

Tortoise coil rolls!! Flashback.

When I was a child, I was fond of eggs. I used to enjoy this healthy food in every form - as omelette, boiled eggs, bull's eye, scrambled eggs, egg curry, cakes, macarons, etc, etc.... As I grew up, sometimes, after meals, I had a strange kind of stomach pain. After about one and half years of treatment for ulcers, etc. it didn't subside and I opted for my own judgement. Based on trial and error, I finally found out that I had developed an allergy to eggs!! It is still a mystery to me, how I got this allergy. But then, after all, I lived in India and I absolutely had no worries. I had a thousand options other than eggs and this allergy was never a pressing problem for me.

Tortoise coil rolls again!! Flashback ends.

It is me now, landed in Germany. I was safe for some days, as long as I remained at home. When I went out and had to eat in restaurants or in office canteen, only then, I realised - it is not just a problem, but a curse :-( When I eat out, mostly I opt for vegetarian food, and you know what? Every pasta has egg, Gnocchi has eggs, fried cheese(like cutlets) has eggs... Ooopss.. I was frustrated!! In office canteen, only salad!! Apart from that, as I go shopping, I see an array of cakes, sweets, struedel and lots of other inviting items, which I never saw in India. I could only drool on seeing them and taste them in my imagination. I realised, before I get into any kind of depression, I must take some initiative.

This is how I started searching in the internet for cakes, that could be made without eggs. I must admit, I was astonished to find a lot of good recipes. I had a good working oven, and thus started trying my hands. Of course, I get some bad results now and then, but they dont stop me from trying further. After all, my husband gladly agrees to be subjected to my experiments :-) I've made a few cakes from Madhuram's egglesscooking and there, she provides a lot of tips for suitable egg substitutes in cakes and muffins.

I'm going to present here, one muffin recipe, which I adapted from Women's Weekly - Cooking Class Cakes. It was quite simple and called for just one egg. So, I replaced the egg with Flax Seed powder. I had no raspberries, so used blueberries instead. The result was pretty good and we were satisfied. Here it goes...

Ingredients:
Self raising flour - 2 1/2 cups
Butter - 90 g
Sugar - 1 cup
Buttermilk - 1 1/4 cups
Dessicated coconut - 1/3 cup
Frozen blueberries - 150g
Flax seed powder - 1 tsp

Method:
Take the flour in a large bowl. Chop the butter and gently fold into the flour. Add sugar, buttermilk and dessicated coconut to the flour.

Whisk the flax seed with about 1/4 cup of water and add to the flour mix. Now, add the blueberries and gently fold until just combined.

Preheat the oven to about 180C. Grease a 12 hole muffin tray with butter and arrange the muffin cups on them. Divide the mixture into the cups. Bake for about 20 minutes. Check if it is done. Stand for a few minutes and turn on a wire rack to cool.

It makes about 12 muffins. For flax seed powder ratio, please refer EgglessCooking - Egg substitutes. I followed exactly how it was mentioned there.
I'm sending this post as an entry to Priya's Now Serving : BEST ‘WESTERN’ DESSERT EVENT and to US Masala's Bookmarked Recipes event

 

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