Sunday, April 17, 2011

Batter banter...




The pan getting hot on the stove, dropping a few drops of oil on the hot pan, sprinkling a few drops of water and standing a few inches away for it to splatter in gay abundance and then you start your magic with the ladle.
How geometrical are your senses, I mean in drawing a perfect round with the batter on the pan? Well there it shows, ‘Not bad’ you think.
Within a few seconds there is your plain pan cake or DOSA ready.



The interesting thing about what goes into making this batter, the same rice, urad dhal, methi seeds ground mixture can work wonders in different pans!


Take for instance, the pan with small round hallow ‘dents’ in it, pour a spoon full of this batter and lo! You get round dumplings.  You can give it your own local name, no one will mind!




If  you need a change then chop some onions, coriander, ginger, a few green chillies and some coriander leaves and voila… onion dosa is ready!



If you want the dosa of a special kind, then stuff it with potato dry curry and once again you have a Masala dosa here!



Savour these with your own sauces or chutneys which come in different hues!



Friday, April 15, 2011

Shree Ramanavami



What is so special about this festival? It is the birthday of Lord Rama, the celebrated hero of the famous epic, ‘Ramayana’. It is enthusiastically celebrated as Rama Navami.

Celebrations begin with a prayer to the sun early in the morning. At midday, when Lord Rama is supposed to have been born, a special prayer is performed.

On this special day, huge pandals are erected in the adjoining grounds of the temples and a ten day music festival is held wherein renowned artists are invited to perform. It is a great hit and a treat to the local community to attend the concerts free of charge.



Talking about festivals, can we forget the food? Special delicacies are prepared on this day to offer to the Lord and the most popular ones are the Kosambri( a mixture of pulses, cucumber, raw mango, fresh coconut, coriander leaves, lemon juice and salt), paanaka (lemon juice with cardamom powder, saffron, sugar) and neer majjige (seasoned butter milk).

Talk about summer in India and the food that is offered during this special day has also got to do with the season and the day this festival falls on!

Think about savouring lemon juice, buttermilk and the munchy kosambri on a hot summer day! Jai Shri Ram!