There and back again

No, this is no hobbit tale but a promise to myself that I do not want this place to die. I have been neglecting this space for long and though I have tried few posts in between, I could not find the enthusiasm to continue blogging.

Now, after a long gap, I have started recording the chronicles of a new member in my family and though I regularly update 2 well known forums, I was thinking of starting an independent journal.

First I thought of starting a new blog, but then the idea of reusing my primary blog stuck me - I do not see any other new posts coming here in any foreseeable period, so may be if I keep updating this place with the happenings in Jai's world, may be I will start writing more and more and may be I will start blogging again.

With out further ado, let me introduce you Jai - the Tuscan Wine 1.3 MJD 'Active' Fiat Grande Punto

Chicken in gravy with cashew nut

Ingredients:
Chicken - 1 kg (1 inch cubes)
Onion - 3-4 big (thinly sliced)
Potato - 1 big (peeled and chopped to 1 inch cubes)
Tomato - 2
Curry leaves - few
Ginger - 1 inch piece, chopped fine

Garlic - 7-10 cloves, chopped fine
Mustard seed - 1 tbsp.

Coriander powder - 1 1/2 tbsps.
Garam masala - 2 tbsps.
Chili powder - 2 tbsps.
Salt - to taste

Milk - 1/2 cup
Water - 2-3 cups
Oil- 4-5 tbsps.

Ghee - 1 tbsp.

To marinate:
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tbsp.
Salt - 2 1/2 tbsps.
Black pepper (coarse grind) - 3 tbsps.

To make the paste:
Ginger - 1 inch piece
Garlic - 10 cloves
Cashew nut - 25 full roasted cashews (without skin)

Clean chicken and cut into 1 inch cubes. Add the turmeric powder, salt and black pepper and mix well. Keep aside for 15-20 minutes.

Take a big wok with thick base (cheenachatti) and add oil and ghee (if you do not count calories, and love the taste of ghee, substitute oil with ghee). When the oil is hot, add mustard seeds and wait till they splutter.

Add onions and sauté them till they are golden brown. Add curry leaves, chopped ginger and garlic and sauté them for half a minute. Add tomato and sauté till the juices start to flow out and tomato starts to become pulpy.

Add coriander powder, garam masala, chili powder and salt and sauté for half minute. Add the cashew nut paste and sauté again for half a minute. Now add milk, followed by water. Wait for half a minute, and then add chicken pieces and potato cubes. Make sure there is enough water to cover the chicken. Close the wok with a lid and cook over medium flame.

PS:

1. It took about an hour for the chicken pieces to get the flavor fully. Best is to prepare it an hour before the serving time, and let the chicken pieces get the full flavor of the gravy.

2. Thanks to Tys for the push - without that, this post might not have seen the daylight :)

Happy New Year

We wish you and family a Happy, Prosperous, fun filled and peaceful New Year.

Regards
Anoop and R

Confession (?)

D'vali-2010, originally uploaded by -xh- aka aNoop.

It is a strange feeling when you come back to your blog and realize that the place which meant so much in the past is now like a ghost town... I walk through the by lanes, looking at the dusty store fronts and musky glass panes, the discolored walls and peeling pains.. and I feel sad...and a twinge of pain, some where in my heart. my dear blog, I do miss you. I do.

The Silence of Rain

The rain I know when I was a kid, is different from the rains at Bangalore. The rain here sounds harsh - the sound of rain falling on roof tops, the sound of rain lashing on windows of high rise buildings - this sounds nothing like the rain I have grown up with, or I have fallen in love with - but still, I love this rain too.

Rain has a life of its own - calm and wild at the same time, serene and harsh at the same time - I think it is the duality of its nature which makes it more interesting.

Have you ever tried to listen to the silence of rain? No, you can’t try it in a city - when you sit inside your car with rain drops falling on the roof of your car, which is stuck in the traffic jam for last one hour, listening to the silence of rain will be the last thing in your mind, usually.

Get out and go to an open field, or to a hill, or to a river side - the whole picture changes.
The moments when you are alone, with rain playing the harmony for your company - moments like that are best to listen to the rain and enjoy the silence of rain.

There is silence behind every sound. Listen to the rain - the sound it makes when the drop falls on the leaves, on the ground, on the water puddle - listen to the sound of the wind - take all in, and concentrate. Filter out everything around you, and listen only to the sound of rain drops falling around you - enveloping you in a soundscape of its own - and reach for it - grab it and wrap it around you - and when you are fully immersed in it, the silence behind the sound will draw you in - the silence that allows the rain to sing.

PS: this post was triggered by this song

Spicy Aromatic Chicken Curry

Marriage have made me lazy - the weekends which were a flurry of activates are now very less - most Sundays we laze @ home. Sunday cooking is something I love, and many a times, I improvise or come up with new recipes. ( Touch wood, no one ever fell ill after what I prepared :))

Chicken - 1 kg, cut to medium / small pieces
Onion - 4 medium size, thinly sliced
For the masala:
Coconut - 1 whole, grated
sun dried red chilies – 6
mace – 1
Black cardamom – 1
Green cardamom – 4
Bay leaf - one small
star anise -1
cinnamon bark – a small piece ( around 5 cm length)
Thyme - a small pinch
Fenugreek seeds - a small pinch
clove - 4 nos
coriander powder - 1 table spoon

Put the grated coconut in a heavy based non-stick pan and dry fry it over medium flame till it turns dark brown. Put the flame to low and add all other ingredients and keep it on the flame till you get a nice aromatic smell. Let it cool and then make a fine paste of this using your mixer-grinder - do not add more water than required it to make it a fine paste.
Clean the chicken and cut it to medium / small pieces. Mix the chicken well with this masala and a handful of curry leaves and marinate for an hour.
Heat 4 tables spoon oil in a wok with heavy base, add the onions and sauté them till they become translucent. Add the marinated chicken pieces along with the masala and add 3 cups of water, cook the chicken in high flame for fifteen minutes (keep the wok covered while chicken getting cooked)
After 15 minutes, remove the lid and adjust the water level and cook for another 15 minutes on medium flame. Sprinkles curry leaves just before the chicken is taken off the flame.
Goes well with ghee rice / plain rice/ Idiyappam (nool puttu) / appam etc.
PS: if you need the dish to be more hot, use only sun dried red chilies – don’t use chili powder or green chilies.

Flower Power

Went to the annual flower show @ Lalbagh last saturday - the crowd was very less, and I could click some snaps of the flower show (last time when I went there, I did not even get inside the gardens after I saw the crowd)

Some of the clicks:

From Lalbagh_Flower_Show_2010

From Lalbagh_Flower_Show_2010

From Lalbagh_Flower_Show_2010

From Lalbagh_Flower_Show_2010

From Lalbagh_Flower_Show_2010

From Lalbagh_Flower_Show_2010

From Lalbagh_Flower_Show_2010

From Lalbagh_Flower_Show_2010

From Lalbagh_Flower_Show_2010

For more fotos click here

ps: feels good to be back here - and I hope, I will not be taking another break soon :)