NOTES FROM A MALLU KITCHEN

Have you ever, while having your bath, looked down at the soap suds in your hand and remembered the bubbles you used to make when you were small ?
Have you ever, at that realization , tried to blow a soap bubble , just to see if you can still muster a good enough respectable bubble?
Have you ever, at that point...felt that soaring sense of joy when you find that you were as good as before..no...,much more of an expert now?


This is what exactly happened to me last week....which prompted me to have a bubble blowing contest for the kids at their bath time!
Did you know that you can blow surprisingly large bubbles by looping your thumb and first finger into a bubble blowing wand!
Great fun, the kids loved the contest..though there were no winners...since all the bubbles started popping the very second we finished blowing them!!The bickering continues to this day as to who the winner was..each claiming preposterous sizes for their bubbles!

Anyway, the popping part led me on a search for proper bubble blowing liquid on the net...and here's what I found!
An easy to make recipe for bubble liquid...
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1/2 cup of dish detergent (washing up liquid)

5 cups water (soft water is best - if your water is very hard consider using distilled or bottled water)

2 tablespoons glycerine (available at the pharmacy or supermarket). You can substitute light corn syrup (not golden syrup!)

Mix the ingredients together very carefully, so that you they don't get too bubbly. Pour into storage containers and, if possible, leave overnight to blend.
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Bubbles have always held a fascination for me...They're so delicate and ethereal..with no colour at all...yet with millions of colours when they catch the sun's rays..Such pretty little things...I don't think there's any one around who doesn't like blowing bubbles...
Another thing that holds a total sense of enjoyment for me is bubble wrap.
Find some bubble wrap and pop the bubbles, and you will understand what I'm talking about if you haven't done this before..
A weird and wonderful, almost hypnotic game of popping as many bubbles as you can...it invariably ends when all the bubbles are gone from the wrap and you look ruefully at the bubble wrap...Thinking.." did I really pop ALL these bubbles?Now...
Why DID I do that?"



Enough of my wild ramblings..I thought of posting the recipe of Batoora and channa (chick pea curry) as Today's special!

CHANNA BATOORA

Ingredients:

For channa:-
Chick peas 1 cup
Onion(chopped) 1
Tomato(finely chopped) 1
Green chillies 2 nos
(finely chopped)
Ginger-garlic paste 1 tbsp
Chilly powder 1 tsp
Coriander powder 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder 1/2 tsp
Chaat masala powder 1 tsp
Cumin seeds(Jeerakam) 1 tsp
Oil 1/4 cup
Salt 2 tsp
Coriander leaves for garnishing

Method:

1. Soak the chickpeas overnight.

2. Pressure cook it, along with the onions, tomato, green chilly, and ginger garlic paste, till done.

3. Heat oil in a pan . Add the cooked chickpeas, plus all the other ingredients.

4. Cook, till the gravy thickens.

5. Garnish with coriander leaves.Serve hot.


Ingredients:
For batoora:

Maida 250 gms
Baking powder 1/2 tsp
Soda bicarb a pinch
Salt 1 tsp
curd 1/4 cup
sugar 1/2 tsp
Bread 1 slice
Milk enough to mix the flour

Oil to fry

Method:

1. Mix together all the wet ingredients.

2. Soak the bread slice in this, then beat well, so it crumbles and mixes well in the wet mix.

3. Add the dry ingredients, knead well till you get a soft and smooth dough, then keep aside for 2 hours under a wet cloth cover.

4. Make medium sized balls off the dough.Roll them out to thick big poories.

5. Deep fry them in oil.

6. Using a slotted spatula/spoon drain the bread and transfer to a paper towel to absorb excess oil. Serve hot with channa or any other curry of your choice.

Tip: Can also add a teaspoon of sesame seeds or chopped coriander leaves to he dough at the mixing stage for added visual effect.Also, use as little milk as possible, since if you add too much, the dough will not rise.