“Freedom…You've gotta give for what you take”

Thursday, March 13, 2008

All we have to do now
Is take these lies and make them true somehow
All we have to see
Is that I don't belong to you
And you don't belong to me
Freedom
You've gotta give for what you take

I’m Back!! I know I was gone a while but work life has been ridiculously busy. I mean I was in NJ last week…working from home and I barely got time to make dinner or spend time with Bhatji. This week I am back in DC and I was finally able to finish a big project…well at least for now so I decided to blog a lil. I missed it so…..and I love my new foodie bloggers world for leaving concerned comments/emails regarding my whereabouts. I am doing well folks just been crazy busy at work.
This past weekend Bhatji was in Houston for a bachelor party and I was left home by myself. I decided to venture out into NYC to meet up with a friend for dinner and a movie. Boy did I pick a crappy weekend to make plans in the city. It was raining cats and dogs and my friend was caught up with work for longer than she had planned. I think NYC is fun but a lil chaotic at times…and let me tell you, adding rain to that equation means more chaos. First she was at a different theater than I was…which meant that one of us had to walk to the other theater. And I noticed that the movie we wanted to see had already started at the theater I was in so I had to walk 11 blocks to meet her. Generally I love walking…especially in NYC where blocks mean nothing because you are surrounded by tons of people doing the same thing. But in the heavy rain 11 blocks felt like miles and miles. Anyways I made it in time to catch the next showing of Step up 2. Adi and I loved the movie…not because of the story line (yea don’t expect plots from dance movies) but purely because of the dance sequences in the movie. Adi and I are both dancers and after the movie, we even contemplated going out to a club. But that idea went out the window when we realized that it had not stopped raining. So we just grabbed dinner and went home. On Saturday I cleaned the apt and cooked up 5-6 meals for Bhatji’s week. I made the usual dhal, beans upkari, saru upkari and even made a pasta dish. Then I remembered Sia’s ode to potato event that I have yet to send an entry for. I had 4 large potatoes remaining so I decided to make my moms recipe of a simple spicy potato bhaji. Bhatji has mentioned in the past how much he loves that dish so I called up my mom and got the recipe for Spicy Batata Bhatji:

Ingredients:
4 or 5 medium/large potatoes
4-5 curry leaves
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 tsp sambhar powder
2 tsp chilli powder
½ tsp cumin powder
1 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp garam masala
1 tsp curry powder
Salt to taste
2 tbl spn olive oil

To make:
Boil the potatoes till soft. I made slits in the potatoes and placed them a large microwavable bowl filled with water and heated in the microwave for 10-12 minutes. Let it cool, then peel and set aside. While the potatoes are cooling, in another bowl add all the powders: sambhar powder, chilli powder, cumin powder, garlic powder, garam masala, curry powder and salt as per taste. Once you peel the potatoes, quarter them and throw in the bowl with all the masalas and mix. Make sure the potatoes are coated well with the masala mixture. In a large pan heat the oil, add the mustard seeds and cumin seeds and heat until they splutter. Add the curry leaves and heat for a few. Add the potatoes and cook on medium heat for 10-15 minutes or until the potatoes are completely cooked and softened. Serve with rotis or a side dish with rice and dhaal.

This recipe is going to Sia’s ode to a potato event
Well I am not in NJ to eat alongside Bhatji this week but I hope that he is happy with the fridge full of goodies :o) Oh and can we say SPRING IS IN THE AIR!! Woohoo….I can feel the days getting warmer and my winter blues melting away. Until the next recipe…keep smiling :o)