The Journeys That Aren't

This is an offshoot of whatever I had been rambling on my digital media ventlets, that travel is not a journey anymore. We make trips today that fail to become journeys like they used to once; when we travelled by train, and to be more precise when we travelled sleeper class.

Flashes of images that describe my train journeys best are huge tiffin boxes or what we used to call carriers, loaded with food for every meal during the journey. These are the ones who swore by home-food or the ones who believed the pantries in the train served unpalatable food. Then, there were these playing cards and a couple of other board games that my mother used pack for us, apart from the huge stock of maagazines which she used to pack for herself.

My dad was briefly working in Faridabad and Chandigarh when we were kids and since our grandparents were in Chennai and Madurai, our journeys were never less than 48 hours by train. Train was the only option we had, given the resources we had back then and not to mention sleeper class is what we always travelled. The fun with sleeper class coaches are those windows. My brother and I used to constantly fight for the 'window seat' and prayed very ardently before every journey that there be no other kids in our compartment to share those windows with us!

Everytime, my mother left the northern city to take a vaction at her mother's place, there has to be this 'teary eyed scene' of leaving my dad back for the next couple of months. Of course, this scene repeated itself on our journey back, crying about leaving her mother back. Once we boarded, we used to get gifted with a bag of Uncle Chips or Ruffles Lays, a Reader's Digest, a Tinkle, a Gokulam and a Champak from the HigginBothams store at the railway station.

As the train left, began our eat, sleep, play routine. If we travelled from the north to the soutth, then we had those Frooti treats too. Sometimes, my mother used to carry a huge carton of it only to surprise us now and then, whenever we became too unmanageable for her.

The whole highlight of a train journey is it's scope to give us new friends. Friendships that very rarely travel beyond your respective destinations. As I grew up and I realised the rareity and preciousness of train-friends, I decided to click photographs of everyone I befriend on a train. I still have a seperate folder in my computer and small album of hard copies for my train friends. It is small, obviously because as I grew up blame it on our improved finances, change of priorities and lack of time, our train journeys had reduced to almost none at all right now. Even if I did today, sadly, the joys of sticking your head out of an open window in a sleeper class mean nothing to me anymore. I make sure I have a first class coupe or 2-tier berth only so that I can sleep well during the Trip. It is indeed not about the journeys anymore.

Baby Corn Pilaf/ Pulav

This is just like any another Pilaf except for the vegatable I sue, there is broadly no much difference in this recipe. But I like to experiment everytime I cook. In this case, the only scope for experimentation was with the tempering. While I made the Beet Pilaf with a South-Indian tempering, I tried this one with a more North-Indian one.

The difference between a Pilaf, Fried Rice and Briyani is the first has no 'masala' (either freshly-made or store-bought) added to it, while that is the key ingredient for a briyani. Fried Rice, as the name suggests, is where steamed rice is stir-fried with the desired vegetables or broth.

I always prefer making the Pilaf, as it brings out the taste of rice and vegetables more distinctly. To my skills, it falls more into the category of comfort food. Just temper, cook your desired vegetable, add rice, cook, garnish and ready to eat. It's done in a jiffy and if you are like me who depends on the rice cooker, it's just a lot more easier whithout you even having to be around.

Ingredients:

Serves Two

10 Baby Corns - roughly chopped to 1/2 inch in length
1 medium sized onion - chopped lengthwise
1 tbsp Ginger-Garlic paste
2 tbsps Ghee (clarified butter) or Olive oil or a combination of both
5 green chillies chopped lengthwise
2 cups basmati rice soaked in water for 30 mins
4 cups of water
1 bay leaf
seeds of 1 green cardamom pod
2-3 cloves
1/2 tsp grated Nutmeg
salt to taste

Method:

In a large skillet, heat the ghee/ oil and temper with the bay leaf, cloves, cardamom seeds and nutmeg. Stir briefly and drop in the onions and saute till they turn transparent. Add the ginger-garlic paste, green chillies and saute briefly. Throw in the baby corns and stir-fry till they are cooked. Add the rice and mix well. Pour in water and mix in salt. Cook till all the water is absorbed. Garnish with Cilantro and serve hot with a spicy sauce or a yoghurt based dip/ raitha or simply plain yoghurt.

Leeks in Tomato Broth

This is the first time, I've brought in this close cousin of Onions into my kitchen. They sure behaved well and treated us to heaven.

Depending on the consistency you make it to, it can be served as a broth, soup or even a dip.

Ingredients:

Serves Two

2 average sized Leeks - shoots and roots removed and cut into roughly 1-inch quaters/ squares
1 large tomato - roughly chopped into quaters
1 cup tomato puree/ vegetable stock
2 cups water
1 tbsp Olive Oil
salt and pepper to taste
2tbsps Butter (optional)
Genrous amount of Parsley




Method:

In a saucepan, heat the oil and saute the leeks until they turn a shade paler. Add the tomatoes, salt, pepper and saute till the tomatoes liquify. Pour in the tomato puree or vegetable stock and water and simmer till it reduces to reach your desired consistency.

Since I was looking for a broth-consistency, i reduced it to half its quantity. If you want the consistency of a dip, then reduce it a quater of its quantity and puree it. For a soup, just reduce to half its quatity and puree it.












Finish it by stirring in 2 tbsps of butter(optional) and garnish with ample amount of parsley.

Leeks in Tomato Broth with Baby Corn Pilaf and Garlic-tossed Cayenne Peppers

Burnt Garlic Rice

This is a dish I happened to try over the past weekend at a Chinese/ Thai restaurant. Heard about Garlic rice, a common in my mom's ktichen, but 'burnt' garlic rice was a new flavour to rice that I tasted that day. It was indeed nice. But I really wished there was a little more of the garlic flavour, I really expected it to stand out. So, here I tried making it to the taste I had expected it to be.

Ingredients:

Serves Two

2 cups of Basmati rice - soaked in water for 30 mins.

4 cups of water

1 cup garlic coves - cut into jullienes

salt to taste

Extra-Virgin Olive Oil

Method:

Cook the rice with water and salt to taste; and keep aside.

In a large skillet, heat 1 tsp of oil, add the garlic jullienes and fry till they get burnt a little.

Add the cooked rice and mix well. Serve hot with a sauce of your choice.

Wine Reduction Sauce

This is an amazing dip for a snack or a sauce for pasta. Although, it goes best with proteins like meat and sea food, why should non-veegies have all the fun? I tried this dish for the first time, and much of my apprehension, it turned out well. I had it with rice and spicy side-dish. To call it a success at my home, is an understatement.

Ingredients:

Serves Two

1 cup Wine - white or red, depending on what you are cooking (I used non-alcoholic white wine)

2 cups vegetable stock or warm water

1 cup shallots, minced or coarsely ground

Extra-Virgin Olive Oil

salt and pepper to taste

1 tsp lime juice

1/2 cup fresh herbs like parsley, cilantro, basil, rosemary - finely chopped or 1 tbsp dried mixed herbs

Optional:

2 tbsps butter at room temperature

1 tsp light soy sauce

1 tbsp garlic paste

Method:

In a saucepan, add about 1 tbsp of extra-virgin olive oil. Once hot enough, add the minced shallots and garlic paste; and saute till the shallots change colour. Now add the wine and simmer till it reduces to half its quantity. Now add the stock and repeat the same. Once the stock too has reduced to half its quantity, add the lemon juice, herbs, salt and pepper and mix well. The stock is already ready. But to get that velvety texture, you could add 1-2 tbsps of butter before finishing and mix well. Also, if you are intending to get an Asian flavour out of it, add a tsp of Soy Sauce. Serve hot.

Burnt Garlic Rice, White Wine Reduction Sauce, Chill-tossed Carrots and Potato Stir-Fry

This can be had with pasta or even rice, as I just did.

Pasta In Arabiatta Sauce

I spent almost whole of my college days feeding on Spaghetti in Arabiatta Sauce from the Pizza Hut on Radhakrishnan Salai, Chennai. Even after tasting far better and more authentic forms of the same dish, I haven't been able to get over it. And after sudden craving for it, I decided to make it at home with relying just on memory on how it tastes. Trust me or even my husband, when we say it tasted just the same. Also, this is an excellent dish for even toddlers to enjoy. Mine did.

One rule of thumb before you begin to try any Italian dish, do not attempt unless your kitchen store has stocks of extra-virgin Olive Oil, wine (I use non-alcoholic), fresh basil, garlic and cheese. Else, forget matching upto the authentic taste.

Ingredients:

Serves Two

Cooked Pasta (I have used Spaghetti) - about 4 cups

For the sauce:

7-8 Sun Dried Tomatoes. You get these in the supermarkets,else have it home-made. Mash them all with a masher or just run it through a blender to coarsely grind them into a semi-solid mass.

3-4 tomatoes coarsely run through the food processor. It shouldn't be like a paste, but like a thick pulp

2 tbsps Tomato Puree

2 medium sized Onions, finely chopped

4-5 garlic cloves crushed or finely chopped

10-12 fresh Basil leaves, torn roughly

1 and 1/2 tsp or even less Wine - white or red, preferrably red for this dish

2 tsps lemon juice

Extra-Virgin Olive Oil, Butter (optional)

1 cup grated Parmesan Cheese

chilli flakes

Salt and Pepper to taste

Method:

In a large saucepan, add 2 tbsps of olive oil and 1 tbsp of butter (if you want to skip the butter, substitute it with olive oil). Once the oil if hot enough, throw in the onions, garlic, chilli flakes and saute till the onions turn transparent. Add the fresh tomato pulp and the puree and simmer till the raw flavour of tomatoes is gone. Now add the sun dried tomatoes and basil; and mix well. saute till the oil seperates. Now add wine and stir till it bubbles. Now pour in the lemon juice, salt, pepper and mix well.  Finish it with 1/2 cup grated cheese and close the lid, so that the cheese melts. Add the cooked paste and mix well. Garnish with the left over cheese and some dried mixed herbs if you wish to and serve hot with garlic bread.

Beet and Coconut Pilaf/ Pulav

This is a purely experimental dish I tried today for lunch. I don't remember where I had tasted this dish earlier, but I did like the fisrt time I had it. I vaguely remember to be at some roadside joint. Nonetheless, it is a huge success at home now and my husband is looking forward to a repeat sooner.

Ingredients:

Serves Four

2 cups Basmati rice soaked in water for about half an hour

2 medium sized beets, grated

1 large onion, chopped lengthwise

1 cup grated coconut

a few sprigs of curry leaves

 3-4 ginger chopped into jullienes

7-8 garlic flakes

1 tbsp Cumin seeds

1 tbsp split chick peas (chana dal)

1 tsp mustard seeds

a dash of aesofatida

7-8 green chillies slit into two lengthwise

oil/ ghee (clarified butter)

salt to taste

water

Method:

In a large saucepan, heat about 1 tbsp of oil and let the cumin seeds crackle. Add the onions, giner, garlic, chillies and aesafatida; and saute till the onions trurn transparent. Now drop in the beets and salt to taste and stir fry till the beets become soft yet crunchy. Now drain the rice, add it to the beets and mix well. Pour in about 4 cups of water and close the lid. Let cook until all the water in absorbed.

Meanwhile, in another pan, heat about 1 tsp of oil and let the mustard seeds splutter and add the chickpeas and fry till they turn golden. Now add the curry leaves and toss. Add coconut and mix well. Briefly saute everything together and remove from flame.

Once the rice is cooked, add this tempered coconut to it and mix well. Serve hot with a spicy curry and raita (yoghurt sauce).

Beet and Coconut Pilaf with Spicy Potato Stir-Fry and Spring Onion Yoghurt Sauce

Okra And Eggplants In A Tangy Tamarind Sauce/ Gotsu

This I think is the best combination for most of the South-Indian breakfast dishes, be it Idli, Dosa, Pongal or Upma.

Ingredients:

Serves Two

7-8 Okras chopped to about an inch in length
3-4 Eggplants chopped into small quaters
2 medium sized tomato finely chopped
1 finely chopped onion
1 cup tamarind pulp
1 cup tomato Puree
1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tbsp chilli powder
1 tbsp Sambar powder
1 tsp mustard seeds
5-6 fenugreek seeds
3-4 dried red chillies
a few sprigs of curry leaves
a dash of aesofatida
salt to taste
Sesame oil
Cilantro

Method:

To a saucepan, add 3 tbsps of sesame oil. Once hot enough, add the mustard seeds and let crackle. Add the fenugreek seeds, chillies and lastly add the curry leaves and aesofatida as the chillies turn browner. Now drop in the onions and saute till they turn transparent and add the giner-garlic paste and tomatoes. Saute till they tomatoes liquify and add the okras and brinjals. Toss briefly and pour in the tomato puree and the tamarind pulp. Add turmeric powder, chilli powder, sambar powder, salt to taste and simmer till the oil seperates on top. Check whether the okras and eggplants have cooked. Else simmer for a little longer. You might have to add water, if its too thick.  Serve hot, garnishing with a handful of fresh, finely chooped Cilantro.

Spicy (Ven) Pongal

There are different recipes for this dish, manily based on the amount of lentils and pepper used.The recipe below is how we as a family like it.

Ingredients:

Serves Two

2 cups Parboiled Rice
1 cup split green grams (pasiparuppu/ moong dal)
2  tbsps black peppercorns
1/2 cup ghee/ clarified butter
1 tbsp split cashewnuts
10-12 curry leaves
2 tsps cumin seedser
wat

Method:

Mix the rice and grams together with seven cups of water and salt to taste; and pressure cook on medium flame for 7-8 whistles. Now once the rice - lentil mixture is cooked, in 1/4 cup of ghee, temper the cumin seeds, peppercorns, cashewnuts and once the cashew nuts turn golden, add the curry leaves.  Mix the pongal well, mashing it all a bit in the process. Add the remaining 1/4 cup ghee just before serving. Serve hot. It is best had with Coconut Chutney and/ or Okra-Eggplant Gotsu (tangy tamarind sauce).

Roselle

My husband and I have been able have enough this beautiful flower, Hibiscus Rosa-Sinesis. I had a fairly large shrub of this back in Bangalore which bore white flowers. Now, here I have them in three colours - the traditional red, orange and yellow. All of them, giving a pretty sight every time I walk into the tiny garden of mine. Above here, I have displayed one of those beauties.

Tomato and Beet Mocktail

This is a dish inspired by a television cookery show. It was not a bad idea afterall to make a mocktail entirely using vegetable juices, although Tomato isn't strictly a vegetable but a fruit. Going simply by the taste, my husband called it a liquid salad :-)

Ingredients:

Serves Two

1/2 a large Beet cut into quarters
3-4 tomatoes
7-8 Basil leaves
salt to taste
1 tsp pepper powder
Juice of 1/2 a lemon

Method:

Puree the beets and keep aside. Now blend smoothly the tomatoes and basil seperately with some salt. In a mocktail glass, first add the beet juice to about half of it. Now with a spoon gently add the tomato-basil juice to form a layer on top of the beet. Now drizzle some lemon juice on top and sprinkle some pepper powder. Garnish it with a basil leaf in the centre and some castor sugar on the rims of the glass.

Spicy Eggplant and Chickpea Kuzhambu/ Stew

This is nothing but a variation of the traditional Kara Kuzhambu.

Ingredients:

Serves Two

1 cup Chickpeas - the variety that's deskinned and split (kadala Paruppu/ Chana dal)
1 cup tamarind pulp
5-6 medium sized Eggplants cut into quaters
1 cup shallots
2 tomatoes finely chopped
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tbsp red chilli powder
1 tbsp sambar powder
7-8 curry leaves
3-4 dried red chillies
1 tsp mustard seeds
5-6 fenugreek seeds
2-3 tbsps of Sesame oil

Method:

Add sesame oil to a saucepan, and let rhe mustard seeds crackle once the oil is ready. Add teh chickpeas and fry till golden brown. Now add the fenugreek seeds, red chillies, aesofatida and curry leaves. Once the chillies redden, add the shallots and saute till they turn transparent. Throw in the chopped tomatoes and saute till they liquify. Add the Eggplants and tos briefly. Now add the tamarin pulp, water, turmeric powder, chilli powder, sambar powder, salt to taste and mix well. Simmer till the oil seperates on top, stirring in between. Check for the desired consistency. If you want it to be thicker, then keep simmering until the excess water is absorbed. Traditionally, it is supposed to be in a semi-thick stew-like consistency. It shouldn't run.

It is best had with a bland steamed or coconut based dry curry or a thick chutney (thovayal) and deep fried or toasted Papad.

The picture above has the kuzhambu described in the recipe on steamed raw rice with steamed and tempered cabbage on a bed of Parsley, mint-coriander-green chilli-cocnut chutney and deep fried papad.

Seen It A Million Times

This post is a randomn chase of my thoughts that ran wild after reading a article of journalism ethics (widely abused) with regard to the recent snap of a snake that bit a Pastor, leading to his death eventually.

This has rekindled the debate on whether to act on such an event or simply click it because that's your job. On this note, how could we forget the photograph that won a Pulitzer for shocking the entire world and churning those deigestive fluids in the gut?

The sadness is more in this photographer's suicide note than in this picture.

"I am depressed ... without phone ... money for rent ... money for child support ... money for debts ... money!!! ... I am haunted by the vivid memories of killings and corpses and anger and pain ... of starving or wounded children, of trigger-happy madmen, often police, of killer executioners ... I have gone to join Ken (his dead friend and collegue) if I am that lucky."

This award-wininng, head-turning picture of his did leave the whole world beresk on the ethics of a photojournalist. Obviously, like any debatable issue, this picture too has two justifications. One being, how could he probably have clicked it, rather than helping the child out. The other being, how he actually hepled child in the process.

Isn't there a similar picture from India, which impacted the country in a quite a large scale. It was during the Gujarat riots and it was indeed the picture of a humble tailor pleading with his hands folded. How I ever forget that face? Would any Indian who stood through historic period of India, forget it?

This picture of Qutubuddin Ansari, in contrast to the previous picture of Kevin Carter, has only done good to the subject. He did recieve the help he intended to get while pleading through this photographer, Arko Datta's picture.

Arko Datta, is also famous another picture, which fetched him the World Press Photo Of The Year Award. This time, the misc-en-scene, being the other major disaster in India, the Tsunami.

This photograph was taken on the shores of Cuddalore, a coastal town in the Southern state of India, Tamil Nadu. If that tsunami of December 26, 2006 could tilt the Earth to few couple of centimeters, it sure has shaken that many lives.

Just like Qutubuddin Ansari, there is the Afghan Girl photograph that is one of the most famous Magazine covers of the National Geographic. Shot by Steve McCurry, this photograph of Sharbat Gula is most suitedly called 'The Afghan Mona Lisa.'

Another photograph in the current affairs that sparked several debates accorss the Press circles , is the the Time's cover on Breastfeeding.

While one section of the society was busy talking about the ethics about a photograph like this (damn the taboos) to cover a magazine, the TIME Magazine, there was certainly another, mostly mothers discussing about the pose. Well as most of us would agree, this obviously is not how a mother would her kid. Where is the attachment-factor? - was the question in their minds. But surely did breakthrough a handful of taboos - breastfeeding in Public, extended breastfeeding and most important of them all, having a graphic photograph for a Magazine cover.

Talk about photographs and Mothers on the same line; and if your mind is racing in the same direction as mine, you would certainly be flashed with this image from the Great Depressionin the United States called the Migrant Mother.

 Nothing could explain Depression better. This iconic photgraph has indeeed become synonymous to depression in the years the followed.

Talk of the United States and BOOM! That Pulitzer Prize winning photograph comes in front you. I still remember the first few images that were flashed on the BBC when I was in my Eleventh Standard. We didn't have a cable connection to view channels like the BBC and hence I was beckoned by the old couple who were staying in the house below ours to watch the horrying sight. Being adolescents with loads of innocence, my brother and I feared what we thought was the beginning of a probable World War. This image by a New York Times reporter, truly can create the impact.

 Having said so much about this photograph of the collapsing twin-tower, I do feel the need to bring up the photojournalist, Bill Biggart, who died capturing those moments. He might have been a notable photographer previously, but the last images from his camera did make him extremely famous. He seemed to have clicked till his last.

The above photograph were the last ones that Bill Biggart had clicked as he died below the crashing towers.

It's not a Mushroom, it's not a cloud....

What goes around, comes around, right? It was the US that started it all with their attacks on Japan's twin cities, Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The photograph above shows the effect of the atom bomb dropped at Nagasaki, which was more powerful than the one dropped at Hiroshima.

Talk about war photographs, and there are several that have left strong impact in me. This is yet another lung-squeezing photograph that won the Pulitzer Prize. This 'Napalm Girl' photogrpah just completed forty years of having shot for the Associated Press during the Vietnam war on June 8.

The nine-year-old girl in the picture, recalls having ran shouting "too hot.... too hot..." With Napalm bombs accidently dropped by military planes burning her clothes off and killing two of her cousins, she tries to run away in this photograph. I can't hold my trears trying to imagine this happen to one of our kin. Tragic moments.

To break the tragedy, comes this picture of Einstein sticking his tongue out.

I have this image several times in several places, several pages, several articles but haven't bothered to find out more on the image. I have read about his snobbish side in my school textbooks, but his Beatnik side, only thanks to this photograph.

On the stream of thoughts alongside photographs of famous personalities, there was this image that lay strong in my mind. It is the picture of the Cuban Revolutionist, Che Guevara. The original black-and-white photograph later got its red version thanks to the colour he stood up for. But isn't this a very familiar image for most of us, red or not? Little wonder that it is believed to be the most famous photograph ever taken and the most reproduced in the history of photography.

Well, there is nothing that can describe the feeling when you are reminded of the ghastly attacks in Mumbai and the painful television reporting that followed. The Breaking News Phenomenon that completely took over 26/11 terror attacks might have although given the news-hungry media a lot of footage, but this image from a CCTV at the CST of the only attacker captured alive is what plays repeadtedly whenever you talk of either a terrorist attack or a terrorist.

This was the only event I followed so closely after the 9/11 blasts and was equally affected. This image, something we see almost every fortnightly (blarringly exagerrated) on any Indian news television, is probably the most viewed, used photograph taken from a Closed Circuit Camera.

Sometimes or rather all the time, such terrorist attacks makes me wonder their starting point. Was it because India and Pakistan are two different countries now? May be, may be not. But this is definitely, something I believe. May be we should have just been brothers and sisters like older times. Technically, we still are but more like the brother and sister who have been married off, having a family of their of their own. Either, we have to accept the fact that we both have different families to fend for or, we should have just not got married at all, so that the brother and sister stay together in the same space.

So how was it getting the brother and sister married off to different spaces, here I mean the times when India and Pakistan were partitioned? Tough.

Although, there might be several images that the repetoire of Internet might fetch you, it is this image, this photograph that sums it all up for me. The Genocide that followed the partition and the emotions in the air parting their land, family et all.

Dwelling on this emotion of love and what a partition could probably do it, I can just write enough on long-distance romantic relationships. I have been away from my then boyfriend working in differeny cities and the now husband too for a brief period and I write a book on how painful it can be. The first kiss you share, when you meet up, can make you fall in love all over again, no matter how old the relationship or you are. This is one such photograph of the recent times that caught my, actually most of our, attention.

It surely made headlines only because it was a same-sex kiss. I just saw love and the long-distance having cut short.

Today, social network sites seem to rule the internet. Its not enough if you can click good photographs, get them publishes, win awards, they need to go viral on the networking sites to actually make it big. And one such picture that touched my heart was of the just-born's hands that got tucked into the surgeon's palms during the delivery.

The baby had to be given aneasthesia for the doctor to be able to take his fingers of the baby's tightly clenched palm.

Last but not the least, I would like to share this image currently seen on the Indian Rupee Note, is the one that I have seen the maximum number of times.

This photograph was shot just a couple of hours before Mahatma Gandhi was assasinated. It is sad that this widely used image was not seen my Gandhi himself.

There might be plenty of famous photographs other than the ones that I have shared here. Also, a few of them here might not even as famous as the rest. Nevertheless, this post is just a humble attempt to put together photographs that have had an impact in my life.

Oats Upma

Ingredients:

Serves Two

1 cup Instant oats

1 cup mixed vegetables - beans cut into diamonds, green peas, carrots diced

1 Onion chopped lengthwise

1 tsp mustard seeds

5-6 curry leaves

1 green chilli finely chopped

1 tsp finely grated ginger

Salt to taste

water

oil

Method:

In a saucepan, blanch all the vegetables and keep aside. In a pan, heat a tsp of oil and mustard seeds. Once they splutter, add the curry leaves followed by the onions and saute till transparent. Add the chillies and ginger, tossing briefly. Pour in about 1 and 1/2 cups of water and bring to boil. Add oats, blanched vegetables, salt to taste and mix well. Close the pan for 2-3 minutes. Stir well and remove from heat. Garnish with cilantro, if required and serve hot. This tastes best with chutney or a dip of your choice.

Chole Masala Powder

There is always that little pleasure when you use home-made masala powder. And why not, when freshly ground masala is only going to make your dish tastier. You can always make in large amounts for furture use. In that case, please multiply the following proportions accordingly.

Ingredients:

Coriander seeds - 3 tbsps

cumin seeds - 1 tbsp

1 tsp - black peppercorns

3-4 cloves

1 inch Cinnamon Stick

seeds of 2 green cardomom pods

3-4 dried red chillies

Method:

Dry roast the ingredients one by one as each spice reddens differently. To avoid charring, either roast each seperately or add to the pan in the following order:

cinnamon stick

Peppercorn

Cumin seeds

Coriander seeds

dried chillies

cloves

cardomom seeds

Roast well till all the spices redden equally.

Spread them on a wide plate and let cool. Once at room temperature, grind them to a very fine powder.

Note:

If you are intending to store this powder, keep the following points in mind to retain its freshness and an increased shelf-life:

Store in an air-tight container.

Always use a dry spoon.

Before grinding, ensure all the spices have reached room temperature, else lumps might be formed  which decrease its shelf-life

Chole Masala/ Chickpea Curry

Ingredients:

Serves Two

1 cup Chickpeas - soaked overnight in plenty of water

1 cup tomato puree

1 medium sized Onion - finely chopped

1 tbsp + 1 tsp Cumin seeds

1 bay leaf

1 inch Cinnamon Stick

1 tbsp Chilli Powder

1 tsp Dried Mango Powder

1 tsp dry Ginger Powder

1 tsp Poppy seeds

1 tbsp Ginger-Garlic Paste

4-5 Green Chillies - finely chopped

1 tbsp Chole Masala Powder

1 cup cilantro - finely chopped

Salt to taste

Oil

Water

Method:

Pressure cook the chick peas with a tsp of Cumin seeds, a Bay leaf and an inch length of Cinnamon stick. This adds a little flavour to the chickpeas.

In a pan, heat about 2 tbsps of oil and temper 1 tbsp of Cumin seeds and poppy seeds. Once the cumin seeds begin to change colour, add the onions. As the onions become transparent, add the ginger-garlic paste, green chillies and saute briefly. Now add the tomato puree and stir. Add chilli powder, mango powder, ginger powder, chole masala powder and mix well. Add 1 cup of water and simmer till oil seperates on top. This is a sign that all the spices have blended well.

Add the cooked chickpeas to this gravy and mix well. Add salt to taste and cook for another couple of minutes until oil collects on the top. Garnish with cilantro.

Serve with hot Puris, a deep-fried Indian Whole Wheat Bread, Rotis or Pilaf.