Sat_Apr_13_04:01:15_PDT_2019

Weekend Dog Blogging: Puppy At Heart

Of all the thousands of pictures we have taken of Dalu, this is one of my favorites. It captures the quintessential personality of Dale- innocent and child-like, yet dignified; a little bewildered by the big bad world around him. Although Dale is nearly eight years old (middle-aged in doggy terms), people still stop us in the street and ask us if he is a puppy...this happens almost every day.
Dale gets groomed every other weekend and they often send him home sporting a colorful printed cotton scarf like the one he is wearing in the picture. I think the scarf looks absolutely adorable on him, but V insists that it makes him look like the neighborho od goonda (thug) and keeps saying, "kya, Dalu Bhai", and "kassa kai, Dalu Dada" to him! The poor puppy!

To celebrate RCI: Maharashtra, I tried three Maharashtrian recipes from my fellow bloggers...

Sabudana Khichdi, a stir-fry of sago pearls and peanuts, is a typical Marathi dish that most people really enjoy. However, a bad batch of sabudana (or a less than perfect technique) results in a gummy dish that is the stuff of nightmares. Imagine my delight when I came across a recipe that replaces sabudana with Israeli Couscous, pearl-like toasted pasta. I had to try it! I followed the recipe quite closely, except that I made the khichadi in a mixture of 1 T oil and 1 T ghee, as I normally do, instead of all ghee as is traditionally done.

Can you tell that this khichdi is made with anything other than sabudana? The taste is a little different (as expected) but the result was delightful. Kudos to Evolving Tastes for being so creative!

The next dish is a snack: Cornflakes Chivda. Chivda is like a savory trail mix, with some puffed crispy grains, nuts, and raisins. I have never met a chivda that I did not like! However, the cornflakes chivda is India is made by deep-frying cornflakes, which is why I never tried making this, at home. TC's recipe is wonderful: using store-bought cereal, and only a little oil for the tempering. The fennel seeds in the recipe are really important, IMHO. It is amazing how a bitty teaspoon of the fennel seeds transformed the taste of the chivda.

Just like the Cooker's son's teacher, I "can't get enough of it"! I have made two huge batches of the cornflakes chivda already. The first time, I filled boxes to take as small home-made gifts to two beloved friends in NYC. The next time, we were invited to a last-minute lunch party, and I had no time to get the customary hostess gifts like flowers or wine, so I showed up with a box of freshly made cornflakes chivda! The feedback was great :) Thank you, Cooker ji, for a delicious recipe; it is a keeper.

The third recipe represents a baby step forward in my growth as a home cook. When I first started cooking, it was easy one-dish meals. Then the traditional Indian dishes, then learning how to put together simple menus for entertaining. Now I am able to handle most stove-top cooking, and learning to bake, but there are some categories of cooking that still intimidate me: pickles and jams being two prominent ones. So when I read Manisha's post about the No-Oil Lemon Pickle, with crisp instructions and beautiful step-by-step pictures, I summoned up my courage and decided to take the plunge! I followed her instructions precisely, and this is what the pickle looked like right after it was made:

Every day, I walk around the apartment with the pickle bottle, trying to find the sunniest spot to cook the pickle in. Ever y other day, I stir the pickle with a dry blunt knife, then stand over the sink, licking the knife clean :) The pickle is now only two weeks old, and needs to cook for a couple more months, I think, especially since I am not able to provide it with full-on sun all day. But last night, we tried some as an accompaniment to a simple dinner of khichdi-raita, and it was already delicious! V announced that it "tastes like lemon pickle" (ya think?). I am just so thrilled that I now have a bottle of my own limbache lonche and that when friends visit, I will be able to scoop some into a little jar for them to take home. The little things that money can't buy! Thank you, Manisha, for being such a wonderful teacher.

Reminder for RCI: Maharashtra...Entries for this event are being accepted until 6:00 am (CST) on June 26th. When you post your entry, please don't forget to send the e-mail with the link! Due to time co nstraints, I am *completely* unable to accept any late entries, sorry about that. Thanks for your enthusiastic participation! It is going to be a treat to put together this round-up.

See you on Sunday with the V of Indian Vegetables! Entries for this event are due by Saturday night.