Butter Matar

For me, peas are always on the grocery list, right after tomatoes, onion and potatoes. At any given time, I have at least 2 packets in the freezer. However, while trying to come up with a menu, it is the last thing that comes to mind. It is constantly neglected and, as is true for all things that are as taken for granted as the peas are, their presence is sorely missed in its absence. Making the heart grow fonder and all that. When I say neglected, I don’t mean that it is just left freezing in the icebox, not at all. It makes it’s appearance in all sorts of dishes. A dash here, a dash there, a whole lot elsewhere. However, it is more of “I think some peas would be good in that” than “I want to eat peas tonight” thing. And it is quite unfair.

Unfair because fresh tender peas, with its sweetness, is an amazing star in its own right. It doesn’t take much to coax it to come into its own. A dollop of butter helps, but then what wouldn’t taste good with some butter in/on it?

Which is why I say, second to potatoes, the most under-valued vegetable has to be peas (Matar/Watana/Watano). Think about it. When was the last time your inventory didn’t have the requisite packet of frozen peas in them or when was the last time you used that packet? Can’t really have been that long, if you cook Indian on a regular basis. And yet, quite like the potato, it is never given it’s due. Of course, the potato stopped getting any sympathy from me the day it decided to forge an alliance with a certain someone whose name rhymes with Aloo. Don’t get me wrong. In these times of brand development and media-franchising, I understand potato’s need for some PR-giri. “Jab tak rahega samose mein aloo, tab tak rahega Bihar mein Laloo” is the wrong way to get it, though. The right way would be to hire Amitabh Bachchan as your Brand ambassador. If I were the Peas’ PR, I would have Amitabh Bachchan saying,
“Matar mein hai dum, kyunki calories in mein hai kam!”.

Pssst, hot news today, Maya Pips Mulayam.

Meanwhile, back to the erstwhile peas, enjoy with soft rotis or Dal-Chaawal while I sit back and congratulate myself for not falling to the obvious Butter-Mutter-Matar wordplay trap.
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Grind, using a blender or a mortar/pestle adding water as needed

Garlic, 2 cloves
Ginger, 1″ piece
Green Chillies, 4-5
Cilantro/Coriander leaves, from 4-5 sprigs

In a skillet/kadhai, heat

Butter, 1 tbsp

Add,

Jeera/Cumin Seeds, 4-5

When they change color, add

Garlic-Ginger-Green-chillies-cilantro paste from above
Peas, 1 cup defrosted, if using frozen or cooked till soft, if using fresh
Salt to taste, keeping in mind salt from the butter

Mix and cook on a low flame till it all comes together, and peas turn fragrant with the paste about 3-4 minutes. Finish with

1 tbsp butter

Yum!

Hanuman!

We spent the weekend moving our stuff to our new apartment. In between the pain of doing so and lamenting the foolishness of hording hazaar stuff when basically living a nomadic life, we came across the DVD for Hanuman that we had picked last year in India. I bought it with the intention of watching it with Aayush and somehow never got around to doing it. The DVD made a reappearance during the upheaval of moving and seemed the best thing to do to cut through Aayush’s boredom. A boredom he was choosing to dispense by unpacking everything we were packing.

So, I put it on and Aayush, a dutiful son that he is, promptly started watching in rapt concentration, the one in which he doesn’t blink. Of course, I started sneaking a looksee with him and there it was. A large demon with a very ugly face, uprooting people , throwing them into the fire, crushing them under his feet, eating them. My first thought was that the DVD was too violent for Aayush. I mean, Aayush is too young to watch stuff like that, isn’t he? Close on it’s heels, was the observation that Aayush still wasn’t blinking. The second thought right behind first one was the fact that everyone in India grows up hearing/reading these stories. The good -evil business, more to the point dev-rakshas business of Hindu mythology is drummed into our brains right from childhood. There is always a big war before the evil is vanquished and Indra Dev can go back to being the King of Devs again only to almost loose the throne to another evil character, leaving the triumvate Brahma-Vishnu-Mahesh to come up with another avataar. Yes, I was an avid Amar Chitra Katha reader. The point is that it never seemed violent to me before nor did I grow up with a violent streak.

I am realising how much you are influenced as a parent by your environment. If we were in Iraq/Afganisthan, the kid would actually have already seen much worse. If we were in Africa, I would be much more worried about where the next meal will come from. If we were in India, the thought would never have entered my mind. I shrugged off the thought, the packing duties and spent the next two hours watching the movie with Aayush. He spent the two hours thereafter trying to mimic Hanuman flying. The next time he watches it, he will rake around in his toy bin till he comes up with something that resembles Hanuman’s Gadha. The phrase, “Don’t you want to be a strong/brave boy?” has been replaced with “Don’t you want to be like Hanuman?” Right now, Hanuman is as cool as Elmo and I will gladly take it. More importantly, Hanuman is now a approachable figure as opposed to the figure on the altar. He is his friend.

Just for the moment, the God-fearing side of me is very happy to see him sit cross-legged on the floor,fold his hands in prayer by aligning them perfectly instead of just clasping them.

Apparently, it is much cooler when someone on TV does it than when I or S do it. Aaj kal ke bachche, I tell you.

Rava-Coconut Barfi

Some of the readers of this blog just pointed out to me that I have made the biggest goof-up a food blogger can make. Post a pic and not type out the recipe. Yes, I did that. Not only did I do that, I also did it 6 months ago without realizing that the recipe and the post was never updated. I own up to it because other than deleting the post, I really have no other way to deny it. I cannot delete the post because [sigh], it is part of the Jihva-Diwali round up. I am trapped and only because I have no other excuse or a simpler way to write it off, I admit to the transgression, apologize profusely and type out the recipe. Thanks for the polite requests and defer brickbats, if any, to another post ‘cos Anoushka’s listening. Can you find her?

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Roast

1 cup rawa

on a low flame, stirring constantly, till it changes color to a faint pink. Like everything else,it chooses to go from the light pink to burnt brown in that second that you turn to your kid to tell him for the umpteenth time why he can’t have juice before dinner. As soon as it changes color add

1 tbsp Ghee

and mix. My mom does this when she makes rawa laddoos and it seems to fluff up the rawa. I do it because I am a good girl and I do everything my mom tells me to do and because I like quirky things like that.
You need to be quick here. Add the ghee and think about my quirkiness and you will end up with burnt rawa.Add the ghee, mix, raise heat and add

1 cup shredded coconut (fresh is good and recommended, dessicated can be substituted)
1 cup Milk

Let it come to a boil and keep stirring till the rawa absorbs the milk. If you don’t keep stirring, the rawa settles down on the bottom and lumps up. Not good.Add

1/2 to 1 cup Sugar

Equal amounts of rawa:sugar is recommended. Depends on how sweet you want it to be. For me it depends upon how I feel that day. If a pair of pants I really liked at the store didn’t fit that day, I go low. If not, all the way.You know it by now, stir, stir, stir, until the mixture starts leaving the sides of the pot. At this point, it helps to know that this is better done in an non-stick type of pot which prevents things from sticking. It starts leaving the side and forms into one big ball. A more knowledgeable person would tell you that this is the soft ball stage of melting sugar, but since I am not that person, I will refrain. Immediately pour it on to a cookie sheet/ tray or the serving plate that didn’t fall on to your head. Spread it evenly across, top with

chopped pistachios

Why pistachios? Because I like them and it looks pretty, thats why.

Cut it into small squares or diamonds or rhombuses. If you use fresh coconut,they tend to be on the softer than the average burfi and taste more juicy.

Enjoy.