Sharing the excitement

I hadn't been blogging regularly, but I had been cooking. I was mostly cooking the same stuff that I'd already blogged about. When I did make new stuff, I forgot to take pictures. When I did take pictures, I forgot to load them to my laptop. And when I did load them to my laptop, I figured I didn't have the time to blog after all. Now since some of you have been missing my posts and have urged me and encouraged me to start posting again, I feel totally enthusiastic about writing here again. Who knows, I may be a regular after all!

I had a recent mishap in the kitchen when something I was frying exploded in my face as I was trying to turn it over. Fortunately, in addition to a proficiency badge in Cooking, I also hold one each in Firs Aid and Ambulance Man (slightly more advanced than First Aid). And more fortunately, S is a clinical pharmacologist and knew exactly what medication to use. A week ago, my face was part burnt and I had a series of burn marks on my face. Today I am much better and about 95% of the scabs that formed on the burns have fallen off.

Now, I shall share with you some of the things I've been cooking from your blogs.

There's this lady we all know. She lives in a cold and rainy port town with a beautiful view of the port and the mountains. While she shares pictures of lovely Seattle, she also puts up some very classy pictures that can make you drool. I don't cook any meat and yet when I look at the pictures she puts up, I feel I absolutely have to try them out. I bought a packet of fake chicken legs and I will try some of her chicken recipes soon. I had planned to recreate Sig's Chilli Chicken with paneer, but I decided to make it with Soya chunks. I followed her recipe for most part. I omitted the tomato ketchup and added some cornflour mixed in water to the dish. It was so tasty that I ate most of it from the pan. Thanks Sig, this is a keeper recipe.

I talk with great pride about adding new vegetables to my repertoire and one such vegetable is the very humble cluster bean. Last year, just as the season for these vegetables passed us Delhi/NCR folks by, Anita put up this wonderful recipe. I never did care much for these beans, but her pictures made me want to eat it right then. This year as soon as the beans came into season, I asked Anita if I could pick up a small amount of the Goda masala she'd made, as by her own admission, it would make or break that dish. She graciously agreed and handed it to me when we met briefly in August. It just so happened that I never seemed to find tender cluster beans. When I finally did, I made it for dinner when S was returning from one more of his trips. I can't tell you all what a comforting meal it was. Thanks Anita. The recipe and the masala are both much appreciated and I'm forever grateful.

I served the nutty cluster beans with some varan-bhaat. I started following Nupur's recipe as it seemed closest to the varan Amma used to make when we were kids. But I got distracted while adding the curry leaves and ended up with a tempering of mustard, red chillies and curry leaves. So I ended up with a cross between Dali-saar and Varan. No one was really complaining. Thanks Nupur.

My namesake, Arundathi, took some of this stuff to the Chennai food bloggers' meet. I thought it was normal mor kuzhambu with tomatoes instead of ash gourd. Then when we were discussing a party menu, she decided to make this again. I was intrigued. Though I never did ask her even once how this dish was made, I waited for her to post her recipe. I made it that very weekend. And it was a hit. S declared it "the best yogurt based dish I'd ever made. We had it with rice and vazhaikkai karumadhu just as we would have had normal mor kuzhambu (even with some yelai paruppu on the side). The next day, I made some instant idiappam and we had those for breakfast with the leftover tomato mor kuzhambu. I know, now, why she considers such a great party dish. It is bound to be a hit. The colour of this dish and the flavours are so nice that everyone will end up licking their fingers, plates and bowls. Thanks Anu.

Masala Tendli-Vangi Bhat

I can eat any amount of Brinjal. And I think I can safely say that S can eat any amount of Ivy Gourd(Tendli/Dondekai/Kovakkai/Kundru). Fortunately, it is not as though we dislike what the other adores. And this recipe is a perfect lunchbox item for the two of us. Little treats for both of us, and just one item to make and pack.

I don't even remember where I got this recipe from. I've been making this in summer as it is a nice variation from the usual roti-sabzi routine.

1 cup Basmati Rice, washed and soaked

1/2 cup Brinjal, diced

1/2 cup Ivy Gourd, sliced

1/4 tsp Asafoetida

1/2 tsp Ginger Paste

1/2 tsp Turmeric Powder

1/2 tsp Cumin Seeds

2 Medium Onions, chopped

1 tsp Green Chilli Paste

1 tsp Oil

1 tsp Cumin Coriander Powder

1/2 tsp Pepper

1/4 tsp Clove Powder

Salt to taste

Heat oil in a pressure pan and add the asafotida, ginger paste, turmeric powder and cumin seeds. When the cumin sees crackle, add the onions and green chilli paste and fry for 4-5 minutes. Add the ivy gourd and the brinjal pieces. Drain the rice and add this to the vegetable mixture. Add the cumin coriander powder, pepper and the clove powder along with the salt. Add 2 cups of hot water and pressure cook for 10 minutes or 3 whistles.

Serve with some curd or raita on the side.

This makes for a great Sunday lunch too. Not too much effort, but a great resultant dish. What more can one ask for?

Spring Onion Jhunka

Another acquired taste. Spring Onions were not freely available in Madras at one time. I remember attempting to make Chinese food merely because I’d found a bunch of spring onions. Now they’re freely available everywhere. And I couldn’t be happier. But there was a time when I hated Jhunka made with spring onions. I think it was merely because Amma would use up “my” spring onions to make “her” dish, that too an Indian one. When I look back, I realize what she must have gone through. Imagine when your daughter, in all her enthusiasm, picks up a bunch of spring onions, which are “exotic” to some extent and then goes back to being her normal lazy self, quite forgetting the bunch that’s beginning to wilt. What would you do? I think I’d make Jhunka!



1 bunch Spring Onions
1 tbsp Oil
¼ tsp Mustard
¼ tsp Asafoetida
1 tsp Chilli Powder
1 tsp Turmeric Powder
2 tbsp Gram Flour (Besan)
Salt to taste



Separate the whites and the greens and chop the spring onions finely.


Heat the oil in a kadhai. Add the mustard seeds and when they splutter, add the asafoetida. Add the onion whites and fry for a few minutes. Add the greens, salt, chilli and turmeric powders. Add the gram flour and cook for a couple of minutes. Serve hot.

I find this one of tastiest and easiest ways to use spring onions. I make it very often when these beauties are available in abundance. This pairs very well with rotis but tastes even better if you use it as a stuffing in a grilled sandwich. So, the next time life hands you spring onions, you know how to make jhunka!