Friday, July 25, 2014

Things that I am loving/missing today

Dear Readers,

After taking a break for almost seven months from blogging, I have decided to make a come back for sometime. As you all know, its a lot of commitment and I don't want to disappoint my readers with any random post.


Shivratri ki shubhkamnayein: 

Its the Hindu festival of Shivratri today. In India we celebrate by fasting and worshipping Lord Shiva. 100s and 1000s of devotees, called kanwariyaas, bring back water from the upper reaches of our holy river Ganga and offer it to the shivlings in their local temples. The devotion is palpable when they walk on the streets chanting various slogans and bhajans in praise of Lord Shiva.

I am fasting as well. The things that I miss the most today are not that I am at home today and not at work, not having a great time in summer in NYC outdoors either, but being with family at home in India. Fond memories of my mother making numerous vrat dishes for us come back flooding, whenever I look back to the growing up years in my home town and Delhi. A few of them included, kuttoo ki pakodis, saamak k chawal (both sweet and salty), boiled and roasted potato chat, tapioca pudding (sweet and salty), roasted dry fruits, makkhaane ki kheer and so on.. You can easily google these and see for yourself what these dishes are and look like.

Things that I am missing this week:

To reminiscence a very fond memory from summer vacation at my granny's place in Delhi, I bought the broken wheat/dalia from Indian store in the city on Wednesday.

Soaked roasted dalia/broken wheat
My granny used to make her own dalia at home by grinding the whole wheat grains on a manual stone mill every summer that I spent with her. She used to break pounds and pounds of wheat to give to my mother and aunt for taking back home, in addition to making it as porridge (both sweet and salty) for us kids. 

To remember those fond times and my granny, I made an attempt to make upma from dalia yesterday. It was a piece of cake and so delicious that I cannot have enough of it ever. See recipe at the end of this post. 

Dalia Upma
I also made fresh mint coriander chutney to go with the upma. My mouth is watering even at the thought of it while I write this post. 

Working out:
I have taken up the 30 days ab and squat challenge. My cousin had shared this one on fb and the timing matched my downtime from work. I am now doing a 10 minute cardio combined with the exercises given in this challenge. 



Of course in the evening, I am continuing to do yoga and pranayam for 30 minutes every evening. 

Taking a downtime:

After having busted my butt for more than an year by working in NYC, I am now enjoying a break to take in all that this city has to offer in summertime. Also it has given me a nice chance to think about what I want to do in my career next as an individual, professional and together our next steps as a couple. As you all can imagine, its a little overwhelming.

I will try my best to be more regular from now on..


Have a rocking weekend folks!

As always please feel free to send any comments and feedback on pallavibharatgmaildotcom. 

Dalia Upma:


Soaking time- 15-20 minutes
Total stove top time- 15-20 minutes

Now, to make the 'Upma' to serve one,

Get Ready with:


Broken wheat/dalia - 1/4 cup or 1 small bowl
Table salt- 1/2 -3/4 tsp
Oil- 1 tbsp
Mustard seeds- 1/4 tsp
Urad dal- 1/4 tsp
Bengal Gram dal- 1 tsp
Ginger, a one inch pc, chopped fine
Green chillies- 2, slit across
Big onion- 1 chopped
Thin and slightly sour butter milk - 3/4 cup or enough to soak the rava (optional). I just soaked it in plain tap water
Curry leaves- A sprig
Frozen mix vegetables- 1 small bowl (optional)

Method:
Soak dalia for 15-20 minutes in water and salt, enough to cover and the liquid stays 1 cm above it. In the meanwhile chop the onions, ginger, chillies and coriander. After the dalia has soaked well (press the grains to check whether they are fully hydrated and soft), heat a tbsp of oil in a non-stick kadai, splutter mustard seeds, brown the urad dal followed by the bengal gram dal. Throw in the ginger bits, chillies and onions in order and sauté until the onions are translucent and partly cooked. Say for 2-3 minutes in medium flame.

Add in the soaked dalia  Stir gently to combine. Close the kadai with a lid for 5 minutes keeping the flame low. Stir the dalia at intervals, twice or thrice during this phase and close to lock the steam in. Open after 5 minutes. The dalia will be sticky at this point. Keep stirring at intervals, adding curry and coriander leaves in the open kadai, until the stickiness wades off and the rava is cooked with the seasonings infused well enough, for around 8-10 minutes. The Upma shouldn't be too dry as well. There should be a tint of moisture when you feel it between your fingers.
Serve hot with mint coriander, tomato onion or coconut chutney. Enjoy :)