Thursday, December 27, 2007

An aimless meal with an awakening!

There was no direction.. no aim.. I just chopped the cauliflower.. not even in nice shaped florets. After all I just had half a head of cauliflower...
All because I torn between making a vegetable preparation or a stuff paratha. Finally the mind latched on to a proper roti-subzi combination, then came the struggle of making either a curry based subzi or a dry one. With a frustrated 'tsk', I flung the knife down and drifted towards making a dough for rotis.
Not satisfied with the idea of rolling out soft fulkas, I absently added a bit of chopped spinach , salt, some turmeric, cumin-coriander powder to make a stiffish dough. Covered it and then decided to once again apply my mind to the (at that time) insurmountable problem of dealing with the roughly chopped cauliflower.
Hmm... roll the sleeves...
Chop 1/2 an Onion ( a big size one)
Open a can of diced Tomato (fresh would have been a far better option, but I did not have any on hand)
Placed a kadhai on the gas
Now what?
Add 2 tbsp oil
Stare with a blank expression , then on an impulse, grab the 'panch phoron' bottle and add approximately 1/2 tsp to the now hot oil.
Add a dash of Turmeric (approx. a little less than 1/2 tsp)
pitch in the onion , saute for a while, add the cauliflower, mix well. Cover and cook. Add the tomato .. cook.
I kept checking at regular intervals for the 'doneness', I don't like my cauliflower all mushed up in a unrecognizable mess.. I like it when it has a slight crunch to it!
Just the way i like it!! Added a bit of cumin - coriander powder and very little garam masala ( no measures, sorry, used 'andaz') salt , red chilli powder, water to make a gravy. Covered and cooked for another 2-3 mins. Finished!!!
Quickly re- knead the dough, make small portions... by this time I had decided puris would make a nice combination with this subzi.
Placed another kadhai on the gas.. with guilt nagging me, poured as little oil as possible.. Rapidly rolled out small discs of the dough and deep fried them with a few of them turning out cluris , oh well, I can always eat those!
Let out the usual yowl, " Dinner Ready!!"
Surprisingly, this combination turned out really well! The Husband grinned and happily started tucking in, all the time his eyes seemed however, to search something.. I wondered, as I put the first morsel in my mouth, if I had missed out salt.. no... that was just fine. Cocking an inquisitive eyebrow at him, I asked, " 'sup?"
"Where is the camera?"
"Huh? what for?"
"Don't you want to blog about this? it's very tasty!!"
"Oh!!"
So hastily swallowing my morsel, I washed my hands and grabbed my camera, clicked pictures and then dashed back to my dinner plate!
The keen observer, made a comment which made me realise something... he said, " happy now that you have another recipe to blog about? Your face shows it!!" And then it hit me (like a sock full of wet sand, I might add) my aimlessness in the kitchen was because I did not think of blogging ! I have been away too long!!! Shame on me!! Getting caught up in the daily routine I compromised and neglected doing something I love!!!
All these days I made just the regular stuff and sometimes recipes from other blogs ( that is another post to thank all of them!).

I hope I won't be as laid back now, especially since it is almost the year end and a new one is just around the corner!!!

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21 comments:

Kamini said...

I know exactly what you mean.The cauliflower looks very nice and homely. The puris look good too.

amna said...

looks pretty good for such an aimless dish :)

sunita said...

Mansi, I do that ever so often...for a while,I could see myself in the kitchen...love your dish.

KonkaniBlogger said...

Hey, Nicely written post..Its like u read my mind when I'm cooking most of the time..Happy holidays..

Namratha said...

This is too good to call an aimless meal!! Good one Manasi :)

Seena said...

Very healthy meal and nice combination!

Swati said...

Loved reading up your article...
Nice post!!

Shilpa said...

That looks so good for aimless meal. I love the color of those puris. I think I will try them too :).

Rajitha said...

ha ha..now that is something!! ur husband had to remind you :)...a very happy new year to you and ur family mansi :)

Anonymous said...

Hi Manasi,
I was wondering why no additions to your blog for almost 3 weeks. So the wait has ended. Too good.I will try it today as I have cauliflower.Happy holidays and Happy New Year to you and your hubby.
Kulkarni

Rajesh &Shankari said...

I love cooking like that ..with no plan. You know Manasi, they come out the best.
Good hubby to remind you to take pics LOL

Anonymous said...

Sometimes the greatest meals are 'aimless ones'. I enjoyed the description of how your creation came to be.

Cynthia said...

Dearest Manasi, this is such a lovely post! and your husband is so considerate and loving!

Happy new year to both of you.

Linda said...

Gobi surprise looks really yummy Manasi!

Wishing you and hubby a happy new year and lots more fun in the kitchen for 2008 :)

Anonymous said...

hey mansi. I loved reading out your blog, just read it out to my husband and he liked it. I was in the same situation today, but doubt i can write it such a nice way. I liked the puri's< Happy New Year

Archana
http://www.archanaskitchen.com

Seema said...

Hey! That loks great dish... If without much though, you whipped up such a delicious meal.. i can guess the outcome with all your mind, heart & soul in cooking..But i know what u say.. somedays we all go through this!

Anonymous said...

Wonderful write up Mansi.Even I do mindless,no interest cooking sometimes and yes do get surprised if those dishes come out tasty. I start thiking something but end up with something else.Palak puris are look good Mansi.Will make them next time whenever I can.

Mansi said...

nice, both os us made something with cauliflower today:) just like our names!! hehehe


Happy and a healthy 2008 to you too girl!:)

Manasi said...

Hi Kamini, Thank U!!!

Hi Nags, I was surprised it did ! :)

Hi sunita, I guess it happens to all us us once in a while, eh?

Hi Maya, hhe, gr8 minds think alike?!;)

Thank U Namratha!!!!

Hi Seena & Sugarcrafts, thank U!


Hi Shilpa, Thank U,let me know how u like the puris.

Hi Rajitha, yes!! he had to, hit me liek a wet sock full of sand too!!

Hi Anon, Thank U ! HAppy nw year to u too! Let me know how the cauliflower turned out!


Hi Shankari, thank u!hope I do nopt need any more reminders! ;)

Hi Jerry, Thank U so much for ur kind words!! Happy new year to u!!

Hi Cynthia, Thank U! He is smiling ear-to -ear!! Happy new year to u too!

Hi Linda, thank u so much!! happy new year to u too!

Hi Archana!! thank U & ur hubby so much!! and hey, ur blog rocks too!

Hi Seems, hank U!! but sometimes these unplanned capers are surprising!!

Hi Madhavi, Thank U ,hope u like the puris too!

Hi Mansi, gr8 minds!! heheeh!!!

TheCooker said...

Nice post....you are too funny.
I was wondering where you've been.

Happy New Year to you and yours.

Unknown said...

The food looks great but I specially agree with you that blogging about food makes me look forward to cooking and also feel more creative, overall I enjoy it more.
Thanks for sharing and dont stay away too long this time:-)
X M

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