BEING A BIG LAZYBONES

Forgive me..it's been ramadan..I've been busy with a hundred and one jobs that need doing..I don't know where the time flies...I just can't resist....simply must bore you people with an account of my typical ramadan day.

@3 AM..
At the unearthly hour of 3am in the night(when it's the best part of snuggling deep into your quilt and your dreams are at their most exciting point...TTTRRRRIIINNGTG....TRRIINNNGGG...the alarm rips through the chill night..but I snuggle deeper into my quilt..(who wants to wake up at that time??)N (my hubby) gives me a shove ..Resh..wake up..it's time to get Suhoor (a predawn meal we have during ramadan) for us..."mmm..yess..just five more minutes..then I'll get up" N keeps poking and prodding me till 3.30am when I finally give up and roll out of bed and into the kitchen..all bleary eyed.
Getting the food ready( this meal varies from house to house..for us, suhoor means steamed bananas and steamed rice cake-puttumpazhampuzhungiyathum-in local speak..along with hot tea) for the kids and hubby takes about ten to twenty minutes only..then begins the process of waking up the rest of my family(including hubby dearest, who promptly turned over to sleep the minute i left the bed..MEN!!) who are equally adept at clinging onto their precious sleep .Finally by 4 am, all are sitting around the table having their foodand trudging back to bed after the morning namaz(prayers)..while I am clearing the table and washing up, which gets done by around 5.15.
Now comes the hard part...the kids have to get up by 6 am if they have to be ready for the schoolbus (which comes around by 6.45am)..so if i go to bed now..it's a sure bet that I won't be able to wake up on time ...so that means 45 minutes of sitting around in the dark, twiddling my thumbs..while I would much rather be sleeping(sigh!)
So i sit at the computer and surf the web till 6am.
@6AM
Wake the kids up, poke and prod them..cajole them into uniforms, walk them to the busstop..and back home by 7 am.
@7AM
Wide awake now..No point in going to bed..so, I start cleaning the house,putting it back in order .
@8AM
I walk into the kitchen and start preparing food for Iftaar -the evening meal, which is when we break our fast. Samosa, Unnakka, Dateballs, meatballs, kababs, pies..anything goes..Pathiri(thin soft rotis made from rice flour ) and Mutton Kurma are my husband's and kids' favorite dish..this is mandatory for everyday of Ramadan.
@1.30PM
Work in the kitchen finally gets over ..and I have a quick bath, pray and run around doing other chores(like picking up the laundry and drycleaning, buying vegetables and groceries, etc,etc etc...)
@3.45PM
The kids come home and it's bedlam for the next twenty minutes!
A long list of complaints ..fights..tears..playground stories..an assignment ..a project has to be done...umma..listen...all three want to talk at once..and I am in a hurry to get them out of sweaty uniforms and socks..Make them wash up..and change ..then checking their bags and books for homework and stuff...playing with them in the garden..till the arabic tutor comes
@5PM
Prayers ( in relative peace) since the kids are studying with their arabic tutor, then into the kitchen again for last minute adjustments to food.
@6PM
The kids are back from the tutor and racing to play outside..and I am racing against the clock now. Have to get them ready for going to the mosque with their dad by 6.20pm.
My husband started this new routine this year..of going to the nearby mosque to break their fast with some water and dates , offer prayers there, and then come home for a propermeal. It's been a good idea..the boys have been really enjoying doing grownup things, and learning how to do things in the proper traditional way
@6.30PM
They are all back home , by which time I have also broken my fast with water and dates and offered evening namaz(prayer) So we all sit around the dining table, eating the meal I have prepared.
@7PM
Like storm clouds gathering, I can feel a headache creeping up ..By the time I finish clearing the table and cleaning up..I'm all tired and drained..All I want to do is curl up in a corner and sleep which is exactly what I do for the next one hour.
@ 8pm
Wake up again, do namaz(prayers) ,put the kids to bed, and get a drink for N and myself..put my feet up and chat for ten fifteen minutes..by whichtime I'm nodding off again..(and so does N !!) ..So, by around
@9PM
we both wearily drag our tired bodies into bed and zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
till it starts again....

PATHIRI
Ingredients

2 cups Rice powder(Roasted)
3 cups water
salt -as required

Method

1. Boil the water. Add salt .

2. Add the flour to the boiling water and stir well in a simmering flame.

3. Cover the dough and keep it to cool.

4. Once it has partially cooled knead the dough thoroughly, wetting your hands freuently with a little water. Make sure that no lumps are formed inside.

5. Make small lemon sized ballsfrom the dough .

6. Dust the balls in some rice flour and roll it out using a roller pin.

7. Heat a tawa till smoking hot. Keep the pathiri on it and flip it to the other side once the pathiri starts forming bubbles, like a phulka. Press the pathiri occasionally so that it will become soft and layered.

8. Once both the sides are done, remove it from the tawa.


Tip:
After each pathiri...wipe clean the tawa with a dry cloth so that the charred flour doesn't stick to the next one.

Serve pathiris either dipped in medium hot coconut milk or with coconut milk on the side as an accompaniment