Back to some basics and alternative grains - Ragi Rotti

Are you all now well versed in writing 2018 in the year column :-)? I am not, it usually takes me over a month before I start to hear the warning bell ring in the head telling me that a new year has come. But I am noticing that with each passing year and the rarity of hand written notes, it is taking me longer to get used to writing the new number. Ready or not, here is 2018 and well on its way to being a entire week old too. Hope the new year is treating you well and vice versa. I hope you are all keeping up your resolutions for "a better you" if you are the resolutions person. Mine are more 'make it today, break it tomorrow' types :-)

I alluded in my last post that I was doing some experimental cooking, some of it was driven out of necessity. Growing up I had never heard of the nut allergies or gluten intolerance that seem to be so prevalent now. I am a person that grew up eating and enjoying everything vegetarian and edible. On one of the regular annual visits to the doctor where I was whining about that eternal problem of the expanding waist line, she suggested (I think more in the way of getting me off her back than anything) that I stop eating any wheat or wheat products. Looking at my incredulous look she made it sound more gentle than it had the first time by saying that I might want to reduce the wheat in my diet. Thinking back, I am convinced that what she was really telling me was to cut down on the portions and start spending some of those calories by way of exercise :-).

I get it that the medical professionals have to be political in some of these situations and make their professional advice sound less harsh and not as a personal attack on how I choose to live my life! The risk of being overly diplomatic especially with people like me is that their advice gets misconstrued to my personal advantage which is exactly what happened here too. I took what I liked from her expert advice, discarded the rest and twisted some of her advice to what I wanted it to be :-). Poor doctor and then I go back to her again in a year with the same complaints!! I remember the elderly doctor we had in Mysore when we were little kids, I am sure he had no such qualms about sugar coating his treatment or dispensing his advice gently. He infact had pushed the needle into my arm when nammamma had taken my feverish little brother to him for check up and I had simply toddled along side. Why he was giving a shot for a common clue is a question I have asked my physician sister, but..:-). We both survived the experience without any lasting harm :-)

So buoyed by my physician's advice, also because I have been seeing many friends and relatives start talking about gluten allergy and intolerance, I came home resolved (see what I mean by me being a resolute person, I have these multiple resolutions going all through the year and don't need Jan 1st to tell me it is time) to eat less gluten, cut down on bread and wheat in other forms. Instead of taking my doctor's advice for what it was, I decided to erase wheat out of my plate and replace with something else that was equally delicious (and possibly have the same effect since I wasn't reducing any quantity!!). That is how I landed on my other favorite grain aka raagi or finger millet. This is called poor man's food in many rural areas in India especially rural Karnataka. I love raagi mudde and so does DD. Give us both a platter of hot raagi mudde and pour  ladles of spicy bassaru, we will happily GULP it. But BH is in a different category. GULPing is what he cannot do and chewing a raagi mudde is not a pleasant experience. So, I usually make rice on days we have raagi mudde at home.

I will be honest that when I first tried my hands at raagi rotti, the edges tore and there were cracks all over the rotti surface, not a beautiful presentation. But over multiple trials I have perfected the ratio of water to dry flour and some kneading techniques to roll out a puffy, layered and perfectly soft rotti. Here is the recipe with all my tips and tricks written down. Oh, before I go on I want to clarify that rotti is not the 'pat on a griddle' type of rotti (ofcourse you can make raagi rotti similar to akki rotti which is one of the dishes that gets instant attention because of its popularity in Karnataka) but this one is more like 'rolled flat with a rolling pin' type of roti/rotti. BH fell in love with these soft rotis, so now we make this very often at home. It works perfectly for any meal of the day and stays soft even when it gets cool making it a great candidate for lunch boxes or travelling. I have made this for dinner and carried left over in my lunch box and they remain soft.

After all the elimination of wheat and re-introduction of raagi, if you thought I will be posting a Before and After picture, it is not happening. Mainly because Before is still the same as After :-). The expanding waist line is not going anywhere except in circles. That is a story for another day.

But all jokes aside, raagi is traditionally considered a super grain and also due to its low glycemic index, it is released slowly into the blood stream making it a great food choice for diabetics as well. If you are looking for gluten free options but love your rotis and leavened breads too much, this is a great replacement for the wheat rotis that are so common. One of my little nephews was recently diagnosed with Celiac which instantly removes wheat and all gluten sources from his plate :-(. It is plain hard for the mom to tell him he can't have his favorite pooris in lunch box anymore. We made these raagi rottis when he came home last time and my little nephew loved these hot off the griddle with a smear of tuppa (home made ghee/clarified butter), brought a big smile to the mom's face and made the aunt's day :-).

Note on pictures - As you can clearly tell these are pictures from different days, it goes well with any kind of side dish. Also there are 2 different batches of raagi hittu or flour and the color in one is brown-pink while the other is darker tending towards black but both tasted delicious.

What do you need to make raagi rotti? 
Makes 5 standard size rottis
1 cup water
3/4 cup raagi flour + 1 Tbsp for dusting
1/8 Tsp salt (optional, skip it if you prefer)
2 Tsp oil (divided use)

How do you make raagi rotti? 

• In a sauce pan, add water, couple drops of water and salt (if using) and bring it to a gentle boil on medium heat.
• Add dry flour as the boiling starts and reduce the heat to low. 

• Do not touch the flour at this point, let the water continue to boil and soak the sides of the dry flour. 
• Once all the dry flour looks wet, with a stick of a strong ladle (I use the wood churner called kadegOlu), starting from the center of the heap using a circular motion, mix the flour with the water briskly so there are no lumps and everything comes together. 

• Switch off the stove, cover and let it rest for 2-3 mins, this dough doesn't have to get cooked completely as in raagi mudde since it gets cooked again on the griddle. 
• Take a wide plate and add a tsp of oil and scoop out all the dough on to the plate and leave it for just a minute so you can handle the dough with your hands. 
• Knead the dough using the palm and fingers of your hand as you do with wheat flour dough for rotis/bread for about 3mins to get a soft, non breaking pliable consistency. 

• Break the dough into equal sized portions and roll them into balls. 
• Use a wet paper towel to keep the remaining dough balls moist while you are working on one rotti. 
• Take a ball on your rolling surface, dip it in dry flour, flatten it slightly and using a rolling pin roll them into a uniformly thin rotti. Use a light hand and you will see this dough spreads easily into shape. Use dry flour to dust as needed.

• Heat a flat griddle/tawa and shake off any extra dry flour from the rotti and place it on the hot tawa. I always roast these on medium flame to give it time to cook. 
• Once the underside of the rotti starts to get some bubbles, turn it over. Cook on both sides until you get light brown spots on the surface. 
• This rotti puffs up easily with a gentle press with a soft cloth or a flat spoon. 

• Take it out and smear a light dab of ghee before serving. 
• These stay fresh and soft for a day. Serve it with any dry or gravy side dish of choice.

Notes: 

• What I have described above is one way of making lump free dough. If you feel uncomfortable with this here is an alternative way to ensure no lumps are formed: Mix a Tsp of flour in the cold water along with drops of oil and salt and bring it to boil. Lower heat and start adding dry flour in spoonfuls and continuously mix until all the flour is used. Proceed with the next steps in the recipe instructions above. 
• 3/4: 1 ratio works well for most batches of flour, sometimes it make take a couple of spoons more or less depending on the quality of flour. Pics show the consistency of the dough, the idea is to get there by adjusting the water as needed. 
• If the dough feels very soft and watery when you have used up all of the 3/4th cup, add a bit more dry flour, mix it in cover and cook. If the dough feels very tight while mixing the first time, add a couple of spoons to make it softer. 

Hunise gojju or Puliyogare gojju - a homemade gojju to make that authentic Puliyogare

Hello all, sorry I went AWOL once again since the last post. But in my defense, I have not been too far away from blogging or food, on the contrary have been cooking up almost a storm especially during the long Memorial day weekend we had recently. If you follow me on fb or like sattvaa page you would have seen all the drool worthy pictures of elaborate meals that was going on in my kitchen. And those of you who visit here often and are generally familiar with what goes on in my life, yes you guessed it correctly, DD was home for the long weekend and hence all the extra cooking and eating. It was a last minute trip and she was happy to be home as we were to have her home. Other than a few small outings, three days went by in a flash and all three of us resembled a sloth after it has eaten a good meal, slower to talk, slower to walk.. you get the picture :-). We are now trying to become active in an attempt to lose part of those abundant calories we hoarded up in a matter of 3 innocent days:-) and hoping that they don't like us too much and make a permanent home in unwanted places.

To that end and also to celebrate our first summer weekend without rains, we hit the trails yesterday and today. It felt wonderful to be back amidst the lush greens, beautiful mountains and scenic lakes. It definitely helped in reducing the guilt feeling of eating all that unnecessarily extra calories last week :-) although it would take many, many honest hikes before it ever begins to even out. Weather is cool and skies are not blue yet, I can only imagine how much more gorgeous this view will be when summer is truly here but I am thankful for the cooler temperatures as I huff and puff up the mountain. This picture doesn't even come close to what it looked like or felt like from atop the ridge but that is the best an electronic gadget can do, enjoy.

So last weekend, one of the pictures I posted was that of the ever popular rice dish from Karnataka - Puliyogare. Also known as puliyodharai, puli sadam, pulihora or tamarind rice in other parts of south india. I made the gojju at home as I sent some of it off with DD so she can mix it any time with rice. The response and request for the home made gojju has been overwhelming ever since I posted the teaser on fb. I had no plans of writing a blog post because I am sure there isn't much in this simple hunise gojju (aka tamarind gojju) as we called it at home. Also, there were no pictures of the 'making of gojju' at all and a blog post is not a blog post without the step-wise pictures, agree? But here I am writing about it a week and half later partly as a way to record it on the blog and partly to help all of you who requested for the recipe. And yes, I did make another batch earlier today so I could take some pictures of the process for visual aid purposes :-).

If you are a South Indian, you will start nodding your head at precisely this point. All of us south Indians (bear in mind that there are exceptions to the rule always, but majority is what I am talking about here :-)) are in love with tamarind rice, no matter what it is called in local dialects. This tangy, sweet, flavorful rice is a staple at home, temples, weddings and all other occasions. It is easy to put together and always has an appeal whether you are making it for lunch box or for a get together. Some of the best tasting puliyogare are available in south Indian temples, not just in south india but here in US. Go visit Pittsburgh temple if you haven't and you will agree with me on this :-). The instant pickle and puliyogare in that temple kitchen have a way luring you to the temple as does the deity.

Temple puliyogare is very saatvik, devoid of too many spices, almost always hot rice mixed with a tamarind+jaggery paste and scantily dressed with a seasoning of peanuts, mustard and some dals. It always tastes divinely delicious. While this is one end of the spectrum, there is the other end with artisan puliyogare where purists scoff at you if you were to add peanuts directly into the rice, they handcraft this coveted rice recipe with roasted, deskinned, and halved peanuts before they are approved to go into the rice :-), and again this tastes delicious too. The one place I stand clear of puliyogare is at Indian restaurant lunch buffets, they just can't get it right. Some versions (especially Andhra Pulihora) have a low/no sesame seeds and adds green chilies to the seasoning, this is more of a 'make it today and eat it now' variety while nammamma's version always had freshly roasted and powdered sesame seeds. Sesame seeds in puliyogare is an association that my neurons have made and without that, puliyogare is not puliyogare for me :-). Puliyogare and mosaranna (curd/yogurt rice) is what you need to have if you are trying to befriend a true blue south indian, there is no going back after eating this made in heaven match.

Growing up, I can't remember a time when this gojju was out of stock in our kitchen. I remember it even from the days when there was no refrigerator and the gojju was packed in a dry box and kept in a cool, dark corner of the kitchen. Instructions were clear not to dip any wet spoons into it so we didn't spoil it. It was a very sought after dish not only to whip up a yummy puliyogare on a whim but also doubled as a side dish for hot chapati/roti or served as a lip smacking side with a bland pongal/huggi. It was omnipresent and omnipotent, we only had to be creative to use it in all the different ways and there was no dearth of creativity where food was concerned :-). Eat it with some cool mosaranna in summer and you will be a life time fan of this delicious combination. Nammamma used it as a quick go to when the vegetable basket was empty or one of us needed a lunch box and she was running late. All she had to do was mix it with some cooked rice and viola.. a delicious  puliyogare would be ready to go.

Now I said earlier  it was a simple hunise gojju right? A little explanation is needed as to why I called it 'simple' while you can make an exotic puliyogare with it. In its bare, bare form hunise gojju is literally that - a gojju (semi solid gravy) made with tamarind, salt and jaggery. Obviously this doesn't make a puliyogare as we all know. So the gojju needs other spices and flavors added to it. Many people I know make and keep just the thread bare gojju as its shelf life is longer but nammamma usually added the spices and flavors into the gojju itself as it would also serve as a side dish. Also the point of making the gojju is to have this instant mix on hand and if you have to spend time on roasting and grinding spices later, it is not much of an instant mix, is it? My quantities are much less than what she made and usually gets over in a few batches of puliyogare, so i am not too worried about the shelf life. I will point out where to stop if you are planning to make just the hunise gojju. You can add the spice powder just when you are mixing it with rice.

Since I made it to send it off with DD for her lunches, I made the full blown version but packed the seasoning separately so the peanuts and dals retain the crunch when mixed with rice. While store bought mixes serve the purpose, home made version always is tastier because of the love that went into preparing it, definitely devoid of preservatives and is more flavorful.

Keep a container of this gojju in the refrigerator and I promise you will reach out for it for uses you wouldn't have thought of. Puliyogare is always a preferred travel food as it not only stays good for a couple of days but gets better as it ages :-). BH's favorite way of eating puliyogare is with a side of tangy yogurt and I put the blame/credit for this way of eating on Bengaluru Kadamba (a restaurant famous among other things for their puliyogare) which he frequented during his early working life. I sometimes like to eat it with some chopped onion or just a bowl of seasoned yogurt rice.

What do you need to make Hunise gojju?
125gms tamarind (I used half of the 250gms package I get from store)
6-7 cups water
1/2-3/4 cup grated jaggery (adjust the amount based on the tang from tamarind and your own liking for sweetness)
3 Tbsp saaru pudi
1 Tbsp Red chili powder
3/4 Tsp salt (adjust to taste)
2 Tbsp oil
1/4 Tsp turmeric powder
6-8 curry leaves
Spice mix:
1 Tbsp chana dal
2.5 Tbsp sesame seeds (I prefer to use black sesame just for the enhanced color, you can use polished if this is not available)
1 Tbsp coriander seeds
1/2 Tsp fenugreek seeds
1 Tsp black pepper corn
1/2 Tsp cumin seeds
2 small dry red chilies (optional, ok to skip)
2 Tbsp grated dry coconut (Kobbari)

Seasoning (quantities depend on how much rice you are mixing with gojju):
1 Tbsp oil
chana dal
Urad dal
Peanuts
Curry leaves

Pots & Pans: 
Use a thick pan made from non reactive metal. You do not want to use cast iron or iron pans for making tamarind gojju. Use dry spatula to enhance the shelf life of the product.

How do you make gojju?

• Remove seeds and any thick veins from tamarind and loosen up the block. Tamarind I get here is very hard and made into a block to make exporting easier, so I like to open it up a little before soaking in water. If you get freshly dried tamarind, go ahead and use it as is. 
• Put the cleaned tamarind in a bowl, add about 6 cups of water and let it soak for atleast 6 hours. I always soak it overnight. 
• When it is soaked and soft, using the power of your finger and hands, squeeze the life out of tamarind and collect all the juice. I like to squeeze it over a sieve so the clear juice can be collected. 

• Add another cup of water and make sure you get all the juice possible :-). 
• Discard any remaining pith, seeds etc. 
• In a seasoning pan, add chana dal and start to dry roast it. Give  it a head start and once it starts to turn light pink, add the remaining ingredients except for sesame seeds and dry coconut. 
• Once the dal turns golden and you can smell the aroma of fenugreek & coriander, add sesame seeds and roast. Make sure you are stirring frequently. 

• Once sesame seeds start to pop (takes about a minute or less depending on the heat), switch off, add dry coconut and mix. Let this mixture cool on the side completely before making a powder of it. 

• Now pour the strained tamarind juice into the pan and heat it on medium heat. 

• Let it come to a boil before adding turmeric powder. 
• Let it keep boiling until the liquid reduces by half, thickens and loses the raw tamarind taste. It took me 20mins to get to this stage. 
• If you want to stop with a simple hunise gojju - version 1, add salt here, switch off and let it cool before storing. If you are following along to make spicy puliyogare gojju, read on.
• Add saaru pudi, salt and jaggery at this stage and let it cook for a few minutes. 

• You have reached hunise gojju - version 2 here, you can switch off, let cool and store. This version is great with chapati/roti etc as well. 
• If you are continuing as I did, add the powdered spice mix and mix it in. 
• As the mixture would have thickened, this is the stage where bubbles pop in and out of the pan, be careful around them and reduce heat. 
• Once the mixture reaches a dropping consistency, add oil, mix it in well and let it cook for 1-2mins before switching off. 

• Gojju usually thickens as it cools. Cool completely, store in a dry, airtight glass or porcelain container. If refrigerated, it lengthens the shelf life and also retains the flavor. 

How do you make Puliyogare?
Below instructions are for 1 cup cooked rice:

• Cook rice with a couple drops of oil so the grains are separate. 
• Spread cooked rice in a wide plate so it cools down. 
• Add 1 Tbsp gojju (adjust the quantity based on taste, it depends on the quality of saaru pudi and other spices you have used). I like to add gojju on the hot rice so the flavors release into the rice. But do not mix at this stage. 

• Add seasoning on top of the gojju, and let rice cool down completely.  

• Mix everything together with gentle fingers. Let it sit for an hour atleast before eating. 

• You may need to adjust/add salt as you add rice. Taste test and decide. 
• Puliyogare tastes best the next day. 

Notes: 

• Quantity of tamarind above makes enough gojju to serve puliyogare for 18-20 people or 3 people 5-6 times.
• I used my home made saaru pudi (linked above), you can use a store bought one or your favorite. Fresher the powder better the taste. 
• I added Kashmiri red chili powder which has a vibrant color but not very spicy. Adjust the amount of this or skip it altogether if you wish. 
• Jaggery is entirely your taste, we like our puliyogare to be sweet, sour and flavorful all at the same. Puliyogare is never spicy hot. 
• Don't worry too much over the consistency of the gojju, key is to make sure there is no raw tamarind smell and to make sure it doesn't burn at any stage. 
• If it gets slightly over cooked or gojju turns hard, nuke it in the microwave for 20-30secs before adding to the rice.
• I like to add a couple spoons of grated dry coconut while mixing the rice. This is optional and can be skipped.  
• I always make seasoning on very low heat so that dals retain their crunchiness for longer time after mixing in with rice. 
• Long storing can impact the flavor of puliyogare, if you feel your gojju is slightly lackluster, bring it to life by adding freshly ground sesame seeds. Dry roast a tbsp of sesame seeds, powder it and add it while mixing puliyogare. 

Vegetable fried rice - a continental favorite

Happy Women's day all you wonderful women out there!! More love, more empowerment to all of you. I am grateful for the influence and impact of several women in my life. I also want to acknowledge the role of many men that simply allowed me to be 'me'. If it hadn't been for a father who never once held me back from doing what I wanted to do, if it isn't for a husband who always supports every "crazy to good" ideas I come up with, if it isn't for the 2 brothers that never treat me differently because I am a girl (I know this for a fact because they never spared me in fights and treated me like one of their own:-)), I am sure my life would have been vastly different. I realize that my life is not the norm everywhere, wishing all the girls same opportunities to spread their wings and grow.

Finally spring break is here :-) and DD is home after more than 2 months. While it may not be spring break for all ages and in all parts of the world :-) I am sure you will share my joy this week. Lotsa love, food, laughter and stories..this week at home. For us, spring break seems to be here triple fold as DD came home with two of her friends. Home seems to be fuller, more alive and happier :-). The girls are having fun doing things on their own, driving in and around PNW and braving the unusually chilly weather.

I don't know how many of you notice the change in eating patterns when kids come home from school. With DD the change is very visible, almost 'in my face' kind of thing. There is no longer any fuss about the food, everything amma makes is delicious and she is almost always hungry. Looking at 3 of them this week has me really sad at whatever the school cafeterias serve as food. Even the simplest of the dishes make them happy and contented.

This fried rice is possibly one of the simplest recipes I have blogged but DD's explicit instructions this time is to make sure I blog it so she can use it when she starts to cook :-), so here I am, the dutiful mom catering to her wishes.

Long time ago (think a decade and half ago) when the Indian food diaspora was not bursting like it is today, all we had access to as quirky teenagers and 'acting' grown up young adults was Indian food at home and outside home. This was the time when the nation's obsession had not gone completely international on the food front. The number of restaurants was very small and the food choice just seemed like an extension of what we normally ate at home, forget the fancy American, Italian, Mexican food. One would go to a hotel (that is what we called them when we were kids) to eat a dose/dosa that had taken an oil bath or a plate of mirchi bajjis that you would not make at home on a daily basis.

But even in those days, one international (??) food had made its way surely into the food scene. Everyone from small road side cartwallahs to decent and trendy restaurants served a genre of food called Indo chinese food. This included the manchurians, crispy, spicy noodles and the very distinct fried rice. I have not visited china (unless you count the couple of lay overs in Hongkong :-)) and am not an expert at anything China, but I have a lot of friends, colleagues from the Chinese community, I would think that makes me somewhat of an authority :-). Indo-chinese food was and continues to be a craze in India even though people are getting exposed to other cuisines. What we know of chinese food in India is really a very Indianized version of the food, many dishes being unheard of and unknown in mainland China :-). But that is the beauty of good food, right? it evolves, morphs and adapts to suit the palate of the people that enjoy eating. I am pretty sure there is a cook's license akin to a poet's license and the creative freedom sets you free.

In any case, not being someone that frequented restaurants, my first bite of the Chinese fried rice was at a hotel infront of my office in namma Bengaluru. BH would stop during lunch time if he happened to be in my part of the city and we would try and catch some time together in the midst of schedules, projects and the deadlines. He being more worldly wise and definitely having visited this place many times before took me there for lunch one day and ordered the veggie fried rice. Crunchy vegetables exuding sesame oil flavor was a new taste on my tongue but I enjoyed it thoroughly. I was full by the time the bowl was half empty though. Those days, restaurants didnt encourage customers to take home the left overs and sadly I had to let it go waste :-(.

We didn't stock the necessary ingredients for making the rice at home in those days and so it became one of the frequent orders when we dined out. I make this often at home as we all love it. I wonder why it had stayed a restaurant food for such a long time given the simple ingredients list. We have a south indian joint here in town and he serves veggie fried rice along with his chettinad specials and dosa/idlis :-) and it is pretty good. So here is an easy to whip up and lip smacking vegetable fried rice.

What do you need to make fried rice? 
1.5 cups short grain rice (I used sona masoori)
2 Tbsp soy sauce
1.5 Tbsp chili sauce
1 Tsp white vinegar (optional but recommended)
1/8 Tsp black pepper coarse ground
1.5 inch ginger made into a paste
2-3 cloves of garlic made into a paste
3/4 cup finely chopped green beans
3/4 cup finely chopped carrots
1 cup thinly chopped cabbage
2 Tbsp finely chopped onion
1/4 cup finely chopped green onion
1/2 cup finely chopped assorted colored pepper (I haven't used any this time)
1 Tsp salt
3 Tbsp oil (preferably sesame oil for that authentic flavor)

How do you make fried rice? (as you will see, it is very easy and simple :-))

• Get the vegetables chopped and keep them ready
• Wash & soak rice for 20-30 mins 
• Heat 6 cups of water in a big pot and bring it to a gentle boil
• Drain the water from the soaked rice and add rice to the boiling water. Add a couple drops of oil and stir it in. 
• Lower the heat to medium and let it cook for about 10-12 minutes or until rice is just about done. 
• Switch off and drain all the water out. I let this water cool completely and use it to water my potted plants (nammamma said that it actually helps bring out the flavor in the curry leaves plant and I follow the advice)

• Run cold water on cooked rice, fluff it up with a fork and let it cool
• Heat a big wok and add sesame oil. Let it heat up almost to its smoking point. 
• Add chopped onion and saute for 30secs. 
• Add ginger and garlic paste followed by finely chopped carrots & beans
• Let them cook on high flame for a minute, add cabbage and half of the spring onions. 
• Stir the vegetables constantly on flame and let them turn slightly tender.

• Add the sauces and vinegar to the vegetable mixture along with salt. 
• Add coarsely crushed pepper. 
• Add cooked rice and stir them together. 
• Taste test and adjust spices & salt to your liking. 
• Garnish with reserved spring onions. 
• Serve hot/warm.

Notes: 

• BH and I added 1/2 Tsp/per serving of a green chili chutney to make a little hot for us
• The girls scrambled a couple of eggs with a dash of salt and pepper and added it to the rice. 
• A favorite way of serving this fried rice in India is along with a side of gobi manchurian, I didn't make them this time :-)
• Vegetables in this rice are cooked al dente and retain a crunch.
• Using a wide wok and keeping it on high flame is key to a well blended fried rice.
• Make sure rice is cooked so as the grains are separate and fluff

Quinoa salad with a creamy dressing - no boring stuff here

"You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view.. until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.." - Atticus Finch from To Kill a Mocking Bird

I was reminded of this quote recently during President Obama's speech as he spoke for the last time before making way to the the new presidency. "To Kill a Mocking bird" was one of the very first English reads I remember from my school days. It was still the days when I had no exposure to racism, had no idea of the outside world. I was barely older than Scout when I read it the first time but Finch and Scout's characters have stayed etched in memory. I have read the book multiple times since then and it never fails to fill me with warmth and hope. For the past few days my fb feeds are inundated with news of the inauguration and the aftermath with the protests all over the country. If you are following the swearing in of the 45th president of the largest democracy in the world, I am sure you are familiar with all the happenings. I am an eternal optimist for myself and my children and I hope that the current divisiveness gets replaced by love and hope very soon.

Today's recipe is a salad, I can guess what you might be thinking when I say the word salad. Back home in India, the word salad always had the negative connotation of being 'ghaas phoose', (roughly translated as a muddle of greens with an implication of not being tasty). Things have evolved greatly and salads have become the mainstay in most cuisines around the world because of the mostly healthy ingredients that go into them. You can choose to make an unhealthy salad if you wish :-) but generally and by definition salads are good for you. A salad is a 'put together' of various different ingredients with different texture, shape, color and taste. Infact "salad bowl" was the popular metaphor used to describe this country of mine and referred to the scores of immigrant population that have come in, stayed and made America their homes, it referred to the uniqueness and individuality each of us brought thus enriching the country as a whole.

If I went back to my childhood self and asked, "which salad I liked most", my answer would be "sautekaayi kosambri" because kosambri was the only dish akin to salad that I knew. Most regional indian meals have a salad - kosambri, kachumbar, raita which is generally raw vegetables served with a mild seasoning as our ancestors recognized the benefits of eating raw & fresh before jumping into any processed, cooked food. These are light on the digestive system and provide you the goodness of the raw vegetables. My salads are usually very plain and simple, if I am putting together an indian version (kosambri), then it has got to have a sprinkle of grated coconut, a seasoning of mustard and asafoetida. If I am fixing a non Indian version, then it is mostly a dash of lemon juice, some fresh cilantro, black pepper and salt. I am not into heavy vinaigrette, mustard or other choice favorites when it comes to salad dressings. Lemon and a bit of olive oil is my preferred dressing to enhance the freshness of the salad.

Today's salad is an exception as the dressing here is really 'dressy'. I found the recipe for this dressing on my pinterest board from gimmedelicious.com. Ah, that is another one of my favorite down time activities, to troll pinterest boards for recipe inspirations and minion jokes (my favorite by the way :-)). While most recipes are forgotten a few minutes after I glance over them, some stay on coaxing me to try until I give in. This dressing didn't need too much coaxing either as it uses my favorite avocado (called butter fruit in India). I skipped garlic, omitted greek yogurt and kept it minimalistic to bring out the most of avocado flavor. I love how this fruit gives you all the buttery richness without the inherent drawbacks of eating real butter. It is good cream without the unnecessary threats of fat and calories. How can you not fall for that offering? So I did try the dressing recipe and was hooked on completely.

Guacamole is a staple at home as we like to roll the roti up with a generous serving of guac for dinner on most days. I like to add chopped avocadoes in salads all the time. The only trouble with it is that they get oxidized and turn black by lunch time making the lunch box somewhat unappealing and unappetizing. Even with the accompanying lemon juice, the pieces lose their color within a couple of hours. When I saw this dressing, I jumped for joy as it has avocado but finds a way to not spoil the looks of the salad. The dressing is what I call 'stripped down guacamole', it has avocado, black pepper, lemon and cilantro but omits onions, tomatoes and jalapeno. To officially make it a dressing, some olive oil is added. The resulting dressing can also be used as a dip or spread.

I prefer packing a lunch from home every day, lunch box has been an inseparable part of my student life and continues to accompany me in adulthood and my working years. I find it healthier, more economical and definitely easier to carry lunch from home. Exceptions are the days where I am meeting someone for lunch during work. Last year there were a few months in the 3rd and 4th quarter of the year where work was upto my nose and beyond and I had no energy to plan or visualize a lunch box. So, I tagged along with a friend who knowing my love for salads promised that she would help me discover a new salad place. It is a local chain called Evergreen that promises fresh salads. The place is almost always packed if you go there during lunch time and still I found them to be very efficient. They have an assembly line (just like Subway if you are familiar) and keep passing the container down the line as you go on adding ingredients. But unlike other salad bars I have been to, at the end of the line they pour the contents from your bowl onto a chopping board, chop them up and convert into a coarse blend before returning them back to the bowl and handing it over to you. This makes the ingredients come together and helps to have the flavors mix better. I picked up my inspiration for blended salads from this place and have been experimenting with them ever since. The avocado dressing helps to blend and bind the contents of this salad.

What do you need to make quinoa salad? 
Serves 3 people
1/2 cup uncooked quinoa
1.5 cups water (or use vegetable broth if you have)
Salad veggies (these are the ones I used today, you can add bell peppers, raw mangoes and any other vegetables you like): 
1 cup chopped cucumbers (I used English cucumbers and chopped them with the skin)
1/2 cup chopped carrots
1 cup cooked black beans/garbanzo beans
1 cup chopped tomatoes
1/2 cup chopped apple (I used a small sized one and peeled and de-seeded it)
for the dressing: 
1 ripe avocado
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1.5 Tbsp lemon/lime juice
pinch of salt
1/4 Tsp coarsely powdered black pepper
1 Tbsp pure olive oil (use extra virgin if you like the aroma)

How do you make quinoa salad? 

• Take a saucepan, add quinoa in it and roast on low flame for 2 mins or until you start to hear faint popping sounds. Stir a couple of times for even roasting. 
• Add water into the saucepan and bring it to a boil. 
• Reduce the flame to low, cover and cook for 8 mins. Switch off and let it stand for 2 mins before fluffing it up with a fork. 
• Add the cooked quinoa to the salad bowl and let it cool completely before adding the rest of the ingredients. 

• Add the chopped vegetables and the beans into the bowl and mix gently. 
• Take all the dressing ingredients except for the black pepper to a food processor or blender and make a smooth paste. Adjust consistency by adding olive oil to your preference. I like the dressing to be thick and creamy and less oily, so I stuck to the above measurements. 

• Fold in the dressing into the bowl, add crushed pepper and mix gently to bring it all together. Use all or as much of the prepared dressing as you like. Anything remaining can be enjoyed as a dip with crackers, chips etc.

• Taste and adjust lemon, black pepper etc as you like. 
• Cover and refrigerate for an hour to chill before serving. 

Notes: 

• I used canned black beans, so washed them in 2 washes of water and drained all the water. 
• Tomatoes are a must for me in salads not only for their nutrients and splash of color but also the taste and freshness it imparts. Cherry or grape tomatoes halved are best in salads if they are in season, else use a fully ripe but firm, meaty tomato that holds shape when tossed in the salad. 
• Add a handful of pomegranate seeds if you have them handy, adds color as well as crunch. 
• I wanted a wet salad this time and used 1.5 avocadoes in the dressing. You can vary the amount of dressing you add depending on your taste. 

Gongura Pulihora (Spicy seasoned rice with sorrel leaves) - Summer comes to a close and a new year begins

We are literally baking here for the past few days, temperature is at its northern tip as far as PNW is concerned and us poor folks pampered year long with moderate temperatures are now whining and complaining as loudly and as often as we can. At our home, this is the time of the year we seriously think of getting an air conditioner but by the time we get off our seats and put the thoughts into action, the weather would have changed and temperature gotten normal :-), so has been the story for last 5 years and the same continues this year as well. I don't feel justified spending money on something that I would use for a minuscule percentage of the year, also we spend a big part of the day in air conditioned offices as the week starts where everything is cool and nice, so the AC has been just a passing thought until now, maybe as the glaciers start to melt and the heat becomes unbearable in a few years, we will give it some serious consideration :-). Until then, let me enjoy the abundant sunshine and the naturally available vitamin D. The plants and flowers outside seem to be in complete agreement with what I say. 

I have turned into an infrequent blogger recently and had not even checked the blog for comments or the facebook for reactions in a while. As I logged in today after a couple of weeks of inactivity, a very pleasant surprise awaited when I saw the FB likes is now up beyond the count of 1000. A small but definite milestone and surely a nudge for me to get back to active blogging :-). I promise I will do the best, thank you all for visiting, stopping by to say hello and spreading the word. The recipes I blog about are very close to heart and the stories that go with it are from personal experiences, it makes it all the more fun when strangers stop by to read it. I am in my 5th year of blogging, I do this mainly for my own selfish purposes using the blog space to chronicle the happenings of my life and to document the recipes I cook at home. The pictures are by no means top class but I hope they support the story I write around the recipe and most of all they are fruits of hard work. I feel genuinely happy when this little space gets some TLC and attention.

As I was looking at the stats on my pages, I also saw a few discussions about a recent episode of plagiarism. If you are active in the food blogging world, you probably have read/heard about it by now, I have been just slow to catch on. I don't intent to shame anyone personally but this blogger apparently became popular with hits in the scale of 100,000 on her youtube videos and the website within a span of mere months. Days of instant gratification and personal glory, right? Turns out that most of the recipes were lifted word by word from some of the well established food blogs without so much as an acknowledgement. With the modern tools and easy access to content at fingertips, all you need for a starter kit is a laptop, browser and some good search key words. What gets lost in this crazy craving for popularity is someone else's hard work and effort put into creating the original piece.

Food blogging is a strange world, if you were to take a recipe there isn't much that any of us are creating afresh but the presentations are morphing, the need to have food appealing to eyes is now a well recognized fact.  The recipes by themselves are mostly handed down from generations and enjoyed by many people. Outside of small variations,personal taste differences and the trend of fusion, the core of a recipe is generic across geographies. So if they are all the same, what is plagiarism in the food blogging world? Plagiarism is when you lift content (recipe, pictures, presentation) from another blogger's space without due permission, plagiarism is when you reproduce another blogger's content without any acknowledgement and claim it as your own. Every food blogger worth his or her salt has painstakingly spent time to document what is in the family for ages, been generous to share the recipes with everyone. You will appreciate the effort that goes into each blog piece only if you are a blogger yourself. Just to put things into perspective, it takes me about 5 hours on an average to get a blog post out from the time of cooking, picture taking, processing, thinking of a context to present the content, actually writing the blog, proof reading and publishing it. Some days, it just doesn't come together at all no matter how hard I try while on other days it flows like an easy normal delivery. I do it only because I am passionate about it. So if someone is using the content or pictures from my blog, I would expect them to have the courtesy to acknowledge it. What was heartening about this particular incident was that there was active protest from the bloggers that literally brought the plagiarizing youtube channel and the website down but what is not so good is that this youtube channel is back in business within the week claiming that all non-original content has been removed. I sincerely hope that is the case. Please help food bloggers by identifying stolen content if you see one.

Other than the high temperatures, for me personally it feels like summer is over with DD heading back to school and starting another year. Can't believe the little girl is no longer a little girl but a fine young lady we are extremely proud of. Her summer though short at home was eventful, full of new adventures, memorable with lot of life lessons. We mostly stood on the side lines as she ventured into unknown territories and faced challenges as she always does - with a smile on her face. For me, acknowledging the fact that she is growing up is easy but letting go when needed is the most difficult part and I am trying my best to overcome my urge to try and guide her every so often. I intend to keep at it and hopefully become good decent at it in a few years decades :-)

Both times when she came home from her new adventures, DD was so happy to come back to the familiar kitchen, her own old dining table and have home food. I made this gongura pulihora 2 weeks back when she came home after a 7 weeks stay away and took it to the airport as we went to receive her in the afternoon. The first thing she noticed was the aroma as she climbed into the car and as a spoon full of rice went into her mouth, all she said was, "Ummm..". I made it again a few days later since she liked it so much and even after a week of home food, she was happy to polish it off clean.

This pulihora is a Telugu version of puliyogare or tamarind rice and replaces tamarind with sour sorrel leaves. The tangy rice with the freshly roasted and powdered spices makes it a delectable home coming recipe. It is simple to make, genuine in flavors and brings that comfort feeling when you eat it. Gongura or sorrel leaves are the pride of Telugu cuisine, if you like these tangy leaves, you can get them easily in the stores (Indian or Asian groceries are the best places to find these) during summer. We make pachadi, pappu on a regular basis but the pulihora got added to the repertoire recently. If you are craving for something spicy and South Indian, if you love rice, this is a heavenly eat. It is easy to put together and tastes better as it ages (best eaten the day after or a few hours after making it). You can roast the gongura leaves and store them in refrigerator for later use.

Happy Independence day to all my fellow Indians and people of Indian origin across the globe!

What do you need to make Gongura pulihora? 
1 cup gongura leaves
1 cup cooked rice (use long grained rice such as sona masoori)
1 Tsp salt (adjust to taste)
1 Tbsp oil
Spice powder: 
1 Tbsp chana dal
1/2 Tsp urad dal
1/2 Tsp fenugreek seeds
1 Tsp white sesame seeds
1 Tsp coriander seeds
1/2 Tsp cumin
2-3 dry red chilies

Seasoning: 
1.5 Tbsp oil
1 Tsp mustard
1 Tbsp chana dal
1 Tsp urad dal
2 Tbsp peanuts
5-7 curry leaves (optional)
1 dry red chili broken into pieces
1/8 Tsp asafoetida
1/4 Tsp turmeric powder

How do you make Gongura Pulihora?

• Pick gongura leaves from the stems and discard the stems. 
• Wash the leaves in a couple of runs of water and spread them on a dish cloth or paper towel to remove all the moisture. Or pat dry the leaves if you are in a hurry. 
• Heat a Tbsp oil in a wide pan, add the leaves and fry them until they wilt and become a single soft mass, takes about 3 minutes on medium heat. 
• Switch off and take the cooked leaves onto a plate. This can be put into a zip lock bag and stored in the fridge for upto a month. 
• Cook 1 cup of rice in 2 cups of water and a drop of oil (oil helps to keep the rice grains fluffy)
• Once cooked spread the rice in a wide plate or mixing bowl and let it cool. 
• Dry roast all the ingredients listed under 'Spice powder', start with the dals & fenugreek and once they turn light pink, add coriander, cumin, sesame seeds and red chilies. Roast them until fragrant and the chili crisps up. 

• Let the mixture cool, then grind it to a powder with a slightly coarse texture. Add this on top of the rice along with salt. 
• Add the cooked gongura leaves on top of the rice. 
• Heat oil for seasoning, add mustard, peanuts, let them roast for 30 seconds. Add the dals, asafoetida, turmeric powder and curry leaves (if using). Stir it with a spoon and roast until the peanuts start to pop and the dals turn golden. 

• Pour the hot seasoning on top of the rice. 

• Once warm enough to handle, gently bring everything together with fingers. Don't put a lot of pressure or the rice will turn mushy. 
• Taste and adjust salt, gongura as needed. 

• Let this rice sit for atleast 30mins for the flavors to mingle together before serving. 

Notes: 

• The leaves can be roasted like described above and stored in the refrigerator for weeks. You can pull out the required quantity and use it in the pulihora, pappu or pachadi. 
• Spice powder can be made ahead of time too and in larger quantities but I prefer to make it fresh. 
• Add cashew nuts in place of or in addition to the peanuts for seasoning if you like. 
• The tanginess in Gongura leaves varies with the variety, taste the rice and adjust if you need more tang, do not add all the leaves at once. 
• I like to use whole leaves in this recipe as they look pretty in the final recipe, if you don't like it, go ahead and chop them before frying in oil. 
• Letting the rice to rest for a half hour is very important for the flavor to come together, allow time for this.