Dudhi na Muthia

How have you been folks? Hope you are enjoying the good side of this lockdown and resting up. I am enjoying it every bit a much needed break first time in my adult life where I need not worry about anything.

It is such an unprecedented time. I was planning to log regularly during the last month but I did not want to be clocking hours. This opportunity is not going to come often. I will make a separate post on how we dealt with the past month and also show you a collage of our meals. However this post is about how we grabbed our least favourite vegetable and tried to create new recipes out of it.

If you haven't been following me on YouTube go check it out. It's still very raw because I am shooting with one hand while I am cooking. Right now even editing videos is not easy for me as I laptop battery needs replacement, it completely dead. The other laptop has driver issues and does not connect to WiFi. No choice but to wait until I can step out to fix it.

Inspite of it thanks to the phone here I am posting on the blog, social media and YouTube. Hope you try out some recipes while staying at home. Stay safe, stay strong!

Ingredients

500gms Dudhi or bottle gourd
2 cups atta
2 tablespoons besan
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon red chili powder
1 tablespoon green chili paste
1 tablespoon ginger paste
Salt and sugar to taste.
Juice of 1/2 lime
Handful of chopped cilantro

1/4 cup Oil

For tadka
1 tablespoons of black til or whole sesame.
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
Handful of curry leaves if you have.

Peel and grate the Dudhi or bottle gourd. To the grated Dudhi add all the ingredients except oil. Knead well. Add 2 teaspoons oil and knead into the dough. Coat the dough lightly with oil.

Let the dough rest for 10 mins. After the dough becomes smooth pinch of small parts of dough with oiled hands shape into rolls. Place them on an oiled steel sieve or jaali lid. Meanwhile in the pressure cooker or steamer heat water to get steam build up. Once you have enough steam and have finished rolling the dough. Put the sieve inside the steaming set up. If using a pressure cooker put one pan and put the sieve over it. Steam for 20 mins. Cool completely. Once cooled slice into bit sized muthia.

Now prepare for tadka. Heat remaining oil in a kadhai, use more if you like. Splutter mustard seeds and sesame seeds. I like using whole sesame seeds which are black as they are more nutritious than polished white. Add curry leaves if you have. Add the spiced muthia into the kadhai. Stir fry till they get golden crisp edges. Serve warm. They taste delicious as is. If you insist on a dip then make mint cilantro chutney to go along.

I did not use all the muthia for one time as we are a family of two right now. I divided the muthia into three parts.

1. Served as dinner with potato airfries and tomato soup.
2. I made Muthia and Methi pulav.
3. Rasila Muthia a wonderful curry with muthia, potatoes and coconut masala.

Both 2 and 3 are on Talkative Anjali. Go watch.

Lime-Mint-Pepper Tea

It was a lazy evening. I was feeling fatigued after a hectic week and a busy day even though I was at home. At lunch we had Dry Fruit Kheer which had resulted in a good late afternoon nap.

When I woke up it was dusk and a little chill in the air called for some refreshing tea. I had used up the milk for the kheer leaving us no milk for tea. Though I could just go down and get it I decided instead to make a spiced n flavored black tea.

Ingredients

1.5 glasses of water

1 lime

1 teaspoon dried pudina/ mint

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/4 teaspoon tea leaves

sugar to taste

Boil the water and sugar. Add the mint/ pepper/ tea leaves one by one and boil for 5 mins as it turns a pretty gold. Squeeze the lime into tumblers. Strain and fill the tumblers with the tea.

We enjoyed this tea thoroughly. The cheeselings were nice to pop into the mouth between sips of the refreshing drink. The smells of citrus and mint and pungency of the pepper are a sure shot way of relaxing with aroma therapy, the Ayurveda way !

Cheers!

Kora Cha

update 16th June 2012: This is how my grand Mom, Yesubai would serve Kora cha; in a glass

This morning I jumped out of bed it was already 6.00 am and I am running late for work. I did not have milk at home so made Kora Cha/ black tea for myself with ginger. Hufff...hufff... just managed to get my company bus. On the way we passed through the fog filled fields some of the fog was on the roads too. It was really thick this morning the thickest till now. The ride was quite dreamy. I felt as if I was going on a holiday.

No way ...No way with all the high profile visits in the last two days at work. The president of a southwestern European country inaugurated the Learning Center on our campus and the other a Finance minister of an Isle in the Atlantic had lots on his mind. Its been bussssy.

I was able to post for the last two days as I had drafts ready with me. So for this one the mugshot will come later (OMG, it took me more than 5yrs to add the pix here!) however for now sharing the picture of bed linen I embroidered in the last lonely six months here. Aleast something to do with bed if not with tea!



I got thinking on the bus. How about a post on Kora Cha. This type of tea is made in every Koli home as milk is not abundant in Thal. It is a sweet fragrant tea brewed early in the morning used through half the day. I remember the tips my grandma gave never wash a china cup with detergent. It affects the taste of the tea. It should just be rinsed in hot water to clean after use.

Alright straight to the tea now.

Ingredients
3 teaspoons sugar
1 cup water
1/4 teaspoon tea (any strong flavoured tea)
few strands of fresh or dried Lemon grass
1 bit piece of ginger mashed

First boil the water with sugar. Later add the tea and brew. Lastly add the lemon grass and ginger and boil. It should not be boiled for more than 5 mins or steep it in the tea. Strain and sip the fragrant spicy tea in your best china but remember never clean your tea cup with detergent. Yet another culture thing when drinking tea you got to pour it out in the saucer and sip it with a noise like bruhhhh..bruuuuhhh to show you appreciate it to one who made it for you. Smile.

 The remains of a brilliant tea...