“And I, in time, will come around, come around. I always do for you”

Tuesday, February 5, 2008

Suppose I said
you’re my saving grace?
Would you want me when I'm not myself?
Wait it out while I am someone else?

Yes I am back…with a looming cough but doing much better. No fever or weakness. I am also back in DC for some work this week. I miss Bhatji. I know I just got here last night and I am probably going to be seeing him this weekend…but still you can’t help missing your better half at any given point when he/she isn’t with you. I am however glad to see my folks again and get some much needed mommy time in :o) Yea that’s right I’m an overgrown kid and I am proud of it hehe. By the way did you all catch the super bowl game on Sunday? I’m not really a football fan but the game was soooo good that I found myself cheering for the Giants. It also helped that Bhatji and I were surrounded by 15 other Giants fans at an awesome super bowl house party at one of our friends places in NJ…so you couldn’t help but get into the game <- more on that later.
Last week I had updated my blog with the Indian republic day foodie event sponsored by Creative Pooja but due to my illness, I was not able to elaborate on the recipe or my memories of Indian Republic day when I was in India. So I guess today’s entry is a part deux of the previous post and more. I went to a Catholic Convent school in Mysore and even though we would technically had the day off in celebration of Indian Republic day, our school would have a mini parade where there would marching competitions…..yes that right…marching competitions. Not fun! But then we would have volley ball tournaments, An Indian game called coco (sp?) involving a lot of running and then we would be released early from school :o) My friends and I would go to the near by street vendors and gorge on samosas, spicy toast or sour gooseberries. Ahhhh the sweet, innocent days of childhood. Well anyway this year with all the love and encouragement from my new foodie community, I was to recollect those days and come up with an orange, white and green foodie blog entry. I had written about the spicy rasam, okra bhaji and rice as my entry. Here is the recipe for the simple okra bhaji/upkari:

Ingredients:
5-6 okra cut in small pieces
1 tsp of mustard seeds
3 dried red chilies
3-4 tbl spns of water
3 tsp of cooking oil
Salt to taste

To make:
Heat the oil in a pan and add the mustard seeds. When the seeds start to splutter add the red chilies and cook for about a minute. Throw in the okra and cook stirring occasionally. When the okras start giving off the gummy consistency, add the 3 or more tbl spns of water, cover and cook for about 5-6 mins. Add the salt and stir in well and serve hot with rotis or rice.

Okra isn’t really my favorite veggie but it’s very healthy and so I try to include it into our dinner plans often. This is such a simple and quick dish and Bhatji seems to enjoy it. Give it a try and as always…let me know what you think. Until the next blog entry…keep warm.

PS (Ms. Pooja…I hope you are doing well. I’m sorry to have sent you the “sick bug” through the net ;o)
PPS (Congratulations to Ms. Shenoy on her engagement and upcoming wedding. Can’t wait to celebrate with you this summer)