SOLD MY CAR!

Isold my little red car (Alto Lxi) yesterday.According to N, it was time we sold it, before it's price goes crashing down. O.K., fine, we had been talking about this for the past six months on and of, but it still was a wrench to see it being driven off by some other guy!
So what? you might say- What's the big deal about such a tiny car? But it was special to me, sentimental fool that I am..It was my very first car- my very own!
So great was my agitation (which I had carefully hidden bebeath a pokerface)that, instead of pouring dosa(pancake) batter onto the hot griddle, I poured sambar (curry!) on it!!Can you imagine? N was in splits, laughing and teasing me about that!!
Anyway,now that my depression has worn off, we are on the lookout for my new car(so much more fun than greiving ,no?)Hopefully, by this time next month, I 'll be tooling around in a shiny new swift! Toodle-oo!


DOSA AND SAMBAR
Ingredients:

Dosa-
Pachari (raw plain rice) 1 cup
Rose Ari(parboiled red rice) 1 cup
Ponni ari(Iddli rice) 1 cup
Uzhunnu(black gram dal) 1 cup
Boiled rice 1 tbsp
Salt 2 tsp
Sugar a pinch
Sodabicarb 1/2 tsp
Water as needed

Method:

1. Soak all the rices and dal overnight.

2. Put all ingredients in a blender or grinder. Add just enough water so it can be ground well.

3. Grind for at least 20 to 30 minutes till everything is well blended and the batter is thick.

4. Remove to a covered container and leave for fermenting .( at least 6-8 hours)

5. Heat a griddle, pour one spoonful of batter onto this, then spread out in circular motions till you have a flat pancake.


6. When golden in colour, add half a tsp of ghee, spread on it, and remove from griddle.

7. Serve hot with sambar ,chutney,or....have you tried chicken curry with this?just great!!


SAMBAR :

Ingredients:
toor dal 1 cup
onion, chopped 1
tomato, chopped 1
drumsticks, chopped 2
Brinjal ,chopped 2(eggplant)
Carrot , chopped 1
Potato ,chopped 1
Green chilli ,slit 5
Turmeric powder 1 tsp
chilli powder 1 tsp
coriander powder 1tsp
Asafoetida powder 1/2 tsp
Salt to taste.
Tamarind paste 1/2 tsp
Coriander leaves a handful(cilantro leaves)
Cumin seeds 1 tbsp
oil 2 Tbsp
mustard seeds 1tbsp
red chillies 3
curry leaves 10
A pinch of asafoetida/hing

Method:
1. Cook the dal with turmeric, onion and 1 cup water until soft & mushy and keep aside.


2. Add the chopped vegetables and some more water, if needed, and cook till tender. You could use a pressure cooker..saves time.

3. Add the powders & mix well. Cover and cook for 2-3 minutes before adding the tamarind paste. Cook for another 2 minutes.

4. Heat oil, add mustear, let int splutter, then add curryleaves, red chilly, and a pinch of asafoetida.

5. Add to sambar,along with coriander leaves, stir, boil, then serve steaming hot.

AND LIFE GOES ON...

Life goes on...pretty much as usual.. still on my diet...(sigh) ..with occasional lapses (ummm..okay...not occasional...make that every two days...but what can I do when that choclate cake grins wickedly at me?)
hmmm..then, I started going for yoga...the day after i started, the instructor informed us that she would be on a vacation for the next one week, so please come back in a week's time....boohooo...think of my state..I had stretched all my muscles and my whole body was a mass of aches , which might have eased of if I had been able to continue uninterrupted...but now...
I could do it at home..no?Ugh..don't get me started on that story...The minute I change into my sweats and roll out my yoga mat, someone will ring the doorbell or the phone starts ringing. Sheesh!I think the whole world is in on this conspiracy to not let me slim down!!
One motivation for me to lose a few kilograms is this....the other day, me eldest,Junaid was sitting and watching me get all dressed up to go for a party, and I asked him.."why so quiet?what are you thinking da?" and he replied.."Umma, you look so beautiful when you get dressed like that...but you need to be a bit more thin..that would make you so glamorous!"OOOf!Out of the mouths of babes....what words come tripping out!glamour, indeed!Then I decide...if not fo me, let me do this for him....so here's to you , my darling junu...let's see if you can motivate me to lose afew kilos!~

Today, I'm posting this easy recipe for American chopsuey...an instant hit with the young and old alike..I must say that it's one of my star creations...it looks so colorful!!

AMERICAN CHOPSUEY

Ingredients:

noodles 1/2 packet
Cornflour 2 tbsp
Oil to deepfry
Onion 1 chopped
Capsicum 1/2 sliced as thin strips
Carrot 1/2 sliced as thin strips
Garlic 1 tbsp chopped
Ginger a pinch
celery 1 tbsp chopped
Cabbage 2 tbsp shredded thin
Chicken 1 breast piece or
other boneless piece cut as thin strips
Water 2 cups
Ketchup 1 tbsp
Pepper 1/2 tsp
salt 1/2 tsp
sugar a pinch
Ajinomoto a pinch
Egg 1

Method:

1. Boil and drain noodles. Spread on a flat surface and sprinkle 1tbsp of the cornflour onto the noodles.

2. Deep fry in hot oil till golden in colour and crisp. Keep in an airtight box.

3. Saute all the vegetables in 2 tbsp oil. When soft, add all other ingredients except cornflour. Boil.

4. When chicken pieces are well cooked (5 minutes)add cornflour. Let it thicken a bit, then turn off heat.

5. Just before serving, fry the egg (bull's eye).

6. To serve, arrange the fried noodles on a platter, pour steaming hot sauce over this, then place th fried egg on top. Serve immediately.

Tip:
1. You could fry the noodles a day before if you want...just make sure you keep it in an airtight box, so it will still be crunchy.
2. The ajinomoto is optional,if you want, you can add half a chickenstock cube. I also add a dash of red chilli powder to make it more palatable for us Indians!