A saung for all seasons

Anything of immense value and goodness does, at times, run the risk of being taken for granted. Applies as much to ghar ka khana as it does to human beings. I talked about tambali and khicdi in my 3 week old posts. Here's a third candidate-something that is uniquely konkani, and a dish that loses its allure if made too regularly.! ROLL OUT THE CARPET. RING THE BELLS BLOW WHISTLES. FOR THE GRAND ENTRY

BATA SAUNG!
I remember being fed this even when i was 3. And now, 35 years later, i had it for lunch. After a long gap. This was staple fare all along-turned into an exotic culinary creation post marriage (neither sabiha nor i could ever get this right-we would always err on the side of caution and turn it into a very mellow sabji. we just gave up after 2 ill fated  attempts at making saung)
Mellow is a good descriptor for all that saung is not. Saung's like a Dabbang compared to lets say that movie where Rani Mukherjee walks in a funny way-Black!
Yesterday's attempt was a good re-start. Here's how it's made:

1. high cholestrol coconut oil-heat karo
2. add mustard seeds and karipatta
3. finely chopped onions -2 or 3-fry till they reach the tipping point-pink to brown
4. 8-9 kashmiri chillies-YES or 5-6 bedgi chillies-red ones of course. fry till they just abt change colour. and release that wonderful aroma
5. cool this concoction.add imli pulp to this. grind it to a coarse paste
6. add it to medium sized chunks of batatas
7. add water to subdue the teekhapan-at least momentarily
8. have it a few hours after you've cooked it. next day is even better

At your own risk, you can try having this regularly. Eno, Pudhin hara, Gasex etc will then be your bosom pals.

When food moments are good moments

There is a moment in the George Clooney starrer "Up in the air" when Clooney tries to "pep talk" his brother in law to be (who has just developed  committment phobia and chicken feet about marriage-a day before!) , in seeing the brighter side of a married life. While the rest of the movie is IMHO quite mediocre, this moment itself is worthy of 5 stars. "Think of the happiest moments in your life. Think of what you were doing then- were you alone or were you with somebody?"
As a market researcher who hunts for insights and hot buttons that make relationships (between brands and consumers) click, this one scene surely had depth! Real happiness dwells in a "we" world, however solitary or self centred the person might be.
And somehow, i don't know why- a lot of happy moments are linked to food -again in a collective sense.

When you prepare a meal for a loved one (like i did a few hours ago:-))
When you savour the simplest of meals with loved ones (i made khichdi !)
When a loved one intuitively prepares just the meal that you were craving
When banter over food makes the world look a lot warmer and kinder than it seems

Back to "happy moments linked to food", why are the two so closely connected?

khichdi: Three Syllables for Summer

khichdi: Three Syllables for Summer: "First blog entry. A million thoughts. Lack of clarity. And suddenly while i drink my good old cup of wagh bakhri adrak tea, the eureka worm ..."

Three Syllables for Summer

First blog entry. A million thoughts. Lack of clarity. And suddenly while i drink my good old cup of wagh bakhri adrak tea, the eureka worm crawls out. And grows...
When i was a kid, i learnt that i was not just a hindu, but a CSB as well. A Chitrapur Saraswat Brahmin. Still do not know what their place in the universe is, but I know for sure they are not the only TSCs (Three Syllable Communities). As i grew older, i realised, there were many others - GSB (Goud Saraswat Brahmins), CKP (Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhus), SOBs-so many of them-and not just restricted to the communities mentioned here.
My post here is about the CSBs though-and about a very special one- my mommy. And her contribution to my ever growing love for good veggie food. Yes, a special recipe- not one she invented-but one that has been passed thru the generations. I of course got this straight fm her, and will always associate this with her - no matter the true origins of this dish.
Here goes- three syllable again- TamBaLi-that's the family of special "cold" cocounut based curries so suitable for summer. Not only are these yummy, they are also a fascinating way to recycle veggie parts that are usually discarded... Read on...

Three syllables for Summer- TamBali
1. Grind together some coconut gratings, red chillies and salt to a coarse paste
2. Add one of the following to the above paste- each bullet head results in a distinct TamBali:

      - hing
      - radish leaves
      - pumpkin leaves
      - ginger/onion (first add ginger, then onion later)
      - tendli leaves
      - skin of turai!
      - garlic

3. Grind to a fine paste

4. Put the paste in a vessel and add sour buttermilk  to form your tambali

5. If needed, garnish with shreds/ slices/ bits of the veggie that went into the tambali

6. Serve with Hot Rice and Ghee

This is what it looks like- you can garnish with coriander leaves and / or tadka of mustard with curry leaves