Introducing a brand new blogger – Swati of the Weekend Epicurean …. and easy Mixed Dal

All those of you who’ve encouraged me, please say hello to Swati, media person, executive producer, woman of today and Weekend Epicurean. Swati and I know each other through a dear friend U, and when she expressed her desire to start a food blog, i  told her of my tryst with blogging and how much i had grown personally from this little space i share with so many of you. When i told her of the joys of writing and finding your niche in this space, of meeting people and making friends, it didnt take her long to start her own blog.

Please stop over and send her your wishes!! Goodluck Weekend Epicurean…. may you have a beautiful journey.

Now for a an easy recipe for the blazing hot summer’s when the last thing you want to do is stand in the hot kitchen…. this recipe pretty much needs no babysitting, and is full of wonderful flavour. Makes a working night dinner with some hot steamed rice. Ok, if you are feeling indulgent, then roast some papad and add some pickle… but i ain’t going to stand in the kitchen longer than i have to light the flame under the cooker!!

Mixed Dal (serves 4)

2 tablespoons each tur (split yellow pigeon peas), Chana (split husked chickpeas), Masoor (red lentils), Whole moong (green gram with skin) and skinned moong

1 medium onion chopped

1 medium tomato chopped

1/2 teaspoon ginger garlic paste, or 1 pod garlic and small knob of ginger, roughly chopped or crushed

pinch of hing (asafetida)

pinch of turmeric

1 teaspoon of dhania jeera powder (or mix half tsp of each together)

2 slit green chillies or 1 teaspoon red chilly powder

1 1/2  cups of water

Salt to taste

Take all the ingredients for the dal except the salt in a pressure cooker and add the 11/2 cups water to it. (leave out the tadka stuff). Cook it for 2-3 whistles, let the steam release, mash well with the back of a ladle or with a dal masher.

For the tadka/ popu/ seasoning:

1 tablespoon ghee (or oil but it isnt the same minus the ghee)

1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds, cumin seeds

10 curry leaves

2 dried red chillies

In a small tempering pan, heat the ghee or oil, add the cumin and mustard seeds and allow to splutter, add the dried red chillies and wait till they change colour to bright red, add the curry leaves now and take off the heat. Add this to the cooked and mashed dal. Mix well. Serve with plain steamed rice or rotis.

Can you tell I love happy colours?

Am back from a wonderful holiday…time spent with family (so what if they are the in laws) and a short trip to Udaipur…. i also had the chance to meet the very friendly Tejal… we yakked and yakked and the only reason we stopped was because i had to leave…and yes… i love shopping… but i did really very little of it… this is it!

hey!! don’t judge me…. i went to gujarat and rajasthan… its like sending someone to vegas for a holiday and telling them not to gamble!! plus i have friends, who always get me stuff when they travel…and it was all calling out to mama to take them home mostly for gifts…and reasonable…and i came back with no extra piece of baggage cos i stuffed it all into my bags because i didnt buy much in the first place…

my shopping list in the order of when and where i bought it

• assorted chai (at the airport cos the flight was delayed by 3 hrs and i was bored the flavours were unique)
• hand crafted coloured glass jewellery at tara’s in ambawadi, ahmd
• one kurti from tara’s in ambawadi, ahmd
• small handmade potlis (bags) to gift jewellery and stuff from tara’s
• 2 cushion covers from tara’s
• 4 kurtis and 2 harem pants from anokhi, ahmedabad
• banana shaped erasers and rainbow hued pencils from pintoo store in ahmd
• cloth covered notebooks with hand made paper from shop near the city palace, udaipur, rajasthan
• wooden and lac thorans with camels and elephants from shop near the city palace, udaipur, rajasthan
• wooden and lac birds and animal decorations from shop near the city palace, udaipur, rajasthan
• 5 pairs of hand embroidered jootis and chappal, shop near the city palace, udaipur, rajasthan
• 5 terracota foot scrubbers from nathdwara enroute to kumbhalgarh fort, rajasthan

the stuff i bought for my SIL and niece is not on the list… this is what i brought back…

Another year comes to a close… Adieu 2009

The most lasting feeling  of the year 2009 is that it went by too fast… i just cant get over the speed at which it whizzed past…. seems like just yesterday i was bidding farewell to 2008….

I’ve not been too regular with blogging this year… because of work, travel, health and other things that make this life spin around… also, everyday cooking was reduced to just one meal a day because of my bad shoulder, that was sort of the death knell of creativity…at the end of a day, with an aching shoulder, the last thing i wanted was to cook something interesting, relying on the mundane and easy (and the already posted!). And when i did actually make something blog worthy, it ended up not being photographed.

Three significant trips this year have been to Ahmedabad, where i discovered the older parts of the city, Kerala and experiencing Jew Town earlier this month, and the most beautiful and yet humbling trip trekking upto the Valley of Flowers with K in July…..These three have been unforgettable ones…. As i discover places, old and new, they’ve each taught me something new and have a lot and put me back in touch with myself…..I’ve done a year end post on Random Thoughts

K and I have started on a business venture that is one step closer to following our dreams… so far, its been great to see the hard work pay off, but there’s so much more to accomplish in the new year… Wish us luck my dear friends….

I’ve no regrets or disappointments with this year…. but hope that the new one, will be better, brighter, happier more successful and safer for us all as we say farewell to 2009….

I wish you the love of friends and family,  much laughter, peace, love & joy, the friendship of true friends and the courage to face all else that life brings with it……cheers to everything that 2009 was and all the hope that 2010 brings.

Happy New Year….. Lets have a good 2010

Merry Christmas!

To all of you who stop by here… family, friends & readers of this blog……. a Very Happy and Blessed Christmas. May the peace and joy of this season be upon us and with us always….With much love and thanks for reading Escapades………

Arundati

Its that time of the year again……..

So, I’ve done the senti post…. I’ve also done the total recall post….all i can say now is… Damn!! where did one more year fly by? Were we flying at each other’s throats, or having so much fun that we didn’t notice?? Whatever it was…. it was damn good!! So my darling K (I will spare you the indignity of squirming from all the mush), whatever hit me on my head that i realized, in that one moment, of having known you all those years, that i wanted to spend my life with you, i just wish it had hit me earlier! Love you Sweetheart… Happy Anniversary!

Bambi – RIP

I guess no one will now know the love and spirit that she had. I am heartbroken beyond words to give you the news that Bambi got run over this morning by a motorist and succumbed. thanks to everyone who read this and spread the word to help find her a home.RIP sweet little girl…

does anyone want love in their lives?

This cutie with the most soulful eyes, hence she’s called Bambi, is up for adoption. She is a roadasian (meaning Indian dog found on our Indian roads). She is also very loving and fond of Parle G biscuits. She’s been given her anti rabies and deworming shots and will be bathed and ready for a home. If you or anyone you know lives in hyderabad/ secunderabad, is agnostic to breeds, are interested in adopting an Indian pet best suited for the Indian weather, who is resilient and who can make your day, everyday with love and licks, please leave on note on my blog or email me at arundati(dot)rao(at)gmail(dot)com

Deccan Chronicle uses images without permission……. post updated with the reprinted picture and response from DC editor

DC dutifully reprinted the picture. Not quite acknowledging they “used” it without permission, but a picture with my name credited. here it is….

here’s what happened………….

I’d been reading about images and content being used in print media without permission, taken from blogs, online resources and especially pictures taken from online photo sharing sites. at Diwali i noticed pictures from two fellow bloggers being used in the Times of India supplement, i intimated the bloggers and they will take whatever action they deem fit. This morning, I was quite shocked to see one of my pictures being used in the TV guide supplement of Deccan Chronicle in a recipe for Hara Bhara kabab, taken from my flickr stream.

While I am quite flattered that one of the largest circulated english dailies in India thought my picture was worthy enough to print, i am absolutely shocked that they do this without any attempt to seek permission to use the image, compensate and credit the owner of the picture.

I wonder if the editors even know of this practice, or are actually endorsing it. I’ve written to A T Jayanti who is the editor of DC in hyderabad. Am awaiting her response.

there is a blogpost by Twilight fairy that talks of how she dealt with her pictures being published without permission. the issue has since been solved, thanks to her following up of the matter.

Update: the editor of DC was quick to respond. Jayanti wrote back with thanks of bringing this matter to her notice, saying there was no explanation for having used the picture and the “young team” knows it is plagiarism and they know its unethical (pray then, if they know it is, why do they do it?). Also with her sincere apologies, has promised to republish the picture in the next edition of TV Guide with credit given to me.

Everyone said this was normal for newspapers to take pictures off the internet and use them and that i shouldn’t make much of it, and just let it be. I am glad for the fact that I didnt. The question in my mind is this, is an apology enough? Plus lets just see if they keep their word and actually republish the picture with credit to me….

Starting over….this time with pictures

After a lot of dilly dallying…. here is 365 days of mine. After words, here i hope to post pictures of the various things that fill my world. Tell me what you think!

Back to the Pavilion and some comforting Noodle Soup

It was a superb impromptu vacation. To see a part of the country you didn’t know what to expect from. It was so wonderful and exciting, that i even forgot to fuss over turning a year older!! We had a lovely time, i came back with fabulous memories, a tonne of photographs, the joy of having met a dear friend and gratitude for my namesake who graciously opened her home to K and me. Also came back with severe sun burn (the skin on my neck is still peeling) and K is a little under the weather! I hope to blog about all the places we saw in a while. for now, let me just say, much as i had a fabulous time, coming back home after literally sleeping in a new bed each night was so wonderful!

For now, since K is down with a cold and little bit of fever post this hectic trip and the weather in Hyderabad has pleasantly cooled off to welcome the not so heavy rains, i decided to make a simple vegetable soup / broth with noodles. i never quite liked chicken soup even when i was a meat eater, preferring to have the vegetable version of it always. now that i am vegetarian, i am a little  amazed at the flavours the soup takes on. I’d like to feed this soup to all those people who think vegetables and particularly soup made from them will only be tasteless.

Noodle Soup

This is a real easy and simple soup and can be made with any veggies you may have at hand. Plus its kind of like and open and shut case. Just toss everything you need into a pot (I used a pressure cooker), let it all cook and simmer for 15-20 minutes while you go and refresh yourself after a hard day’s labour and dinner is ready!

Noodle Soup (Ingredients make for 2 Large servings)

1/2 cup diced onion

1 cup ripe tomatoes, diced

1 cup vegetables of choice (i used florets of cauliflower and diced carrots)

21/2 cups water

salt to taste

1/2 tsp butter or olive oil

1/2 tsp finely chopped ginger and garlic

5-6 black peppercorns, crushed

6-7 fresh mint leaves, chopped

1 cup cooked noodles, i used the flat instant variety

method: heat the pressure pan and add the butter / olive oil. add the onions and other veggies and saute till the onions are just changing colour. add the ginger and garlic and saute another few seconds. add the tomatoes, water, crushed pepper and salt to taste. cover and cook till the vegetables are just cooked. i cooked it under pressure for one whistle.

open the cooker and check for seasoning. add the cooked noodles, add the chopped mint leaves and simmer about 2-3 minutes. Serve hot.

If you want more liquid and less noodles, adjust accordingly.

Leaving…. on a jet plane

K and i are taking off on a trip… we’ve needed this break but K sprung it on me as a surprise…. the valley of flowers and Dehradun is on the itinerary …. i dont know what else….i will turn a year older before i am back…will see you soon!!