Kids are in Kerala! Tuna Salad offers summer help

Diya and Rayan left by the 13th of May and Emirates carried the angels to God's own country for them to open a new chapter of their lifes and they are blissfully unaware of it all. Both of us were very emotional and managed not to bring down the tears.

Kungfu and I got back..slept and headed to work in the morning. Everything seems same, until I reached the Gallery folder in my phone by around afternoon to see their pictures clicked at the airport. I miss Diya & Rayan.

Oh yes, I have Abhilash and Lakshmi visiting Dubai by this weekend, looking forward to meet and spend some time with them. Abhi mentioned he looks forward to some Arabic food, so I discussed with Kungfu about how we plan the only Saturday evening we will have with them :)

Felt like something told me from within, I must make salads our staple in everyday cooking, it makes all the more sense during summers and I couldn't resist but start with my favourite Tuna Salad. Here is what I put together for this simple, yet delicious Tuna Salad:

1 can of Salad Tuna
3 cups of chopped Lettuce
2 cups of chopped Spring Onion/ Scallion
4 table spoon of sliced Kalamata Olive
3 table spoons each of Bell pepper’s green and yellow
2 table spoons of chopped Shallots
2 table spoons of freshly chopped Dill leafs
2 table spoons of freshly chopped Mint leafs
1 table spoon Lemon Mayonnaise
1 chopped Green Chilly
4 drops of Tabasco sauce
2 drops of Soy sauce

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl. You will have enough space to fold the ingredients well in a bigger bowl. Refrigerate for 10 mins and serve chilled.

Amalgamation of thoughts and White Pomfret to Shallow Fry !

Former few days (since I wrote here) I've felt stifled about how and what I feel.

All's well and still very portentous, deep inside me I'm waiting for that unknown moment to take place and then I feel I'm not ready just in case I will regret for life.

I can still sense the uncertainty, and amidst by unpleasant feeling my source of recreation is Diya & Rayan and the giggle, laughter moments with them.

We had an awesome time last evening and I know I'll miss more now, both Diya and Rayan.

Cut to Thursday; I observe I'm completely charged to see my plans will turn into actions soon. Small things like a walk in the morning in the park, or may be finally knowing the gym timings and shopping for the gym wear, or starting with-my plan-of-eternity-music-lesson, precisely Guitar.

I find myself still sitting on my plans forever, I need to get progressive! Fridays and Saturdays are weekend here in UAE and I've nothing ventured, nothing gained so far! It's Been Quite A While!

Connecting all that I have mentioned and then keeping it aside, it's time I unwind and recollect my Fish Fry experience:

Friday was day for some White pomfret; "Paplet" in marathi (Maharashtra) & konkani (Goa) was a last minute entry to my friday lunch menu, a friend of mine got it and I had planned a simple dal, rice, coconut chutney and fryums for lunch.

A quick cleaning (as it was pre-cleaned and cut), washing and draining off the excess water. There the white silvery pomfret was all set to be marinated the Kerala style.

White Pomfret Shallow Fry Recipe:

I needed teaspoons of : 1.1/5 of Red Chilli pwdr, 1/2 Turmeric, 1/4 Fenugreek pwdr, 1/2 Ginger paste, 1/2 Garlic paste, 1/4 Black pepper pwdr, a dash or two of Basil and Thyme in dried form, 1/2 Olive oil (vegetable oil optional), 1/2 Lime juice, Salt to taste.

Mix all curry powders along with herbs & salt, add the lime juice followed by the Oil. Leave for 3-5 mins.

We are set to marinate now, slit the fish in appropriate distance (say 4 mild slits in a medium size fish), to ensure the fish is marinated well and also that it looks appetizing when ready!

Slit and apply the marination and don't miss the inner sections of the fish. Once all marinated well, place the tray in the freezer of a refrigerator for 8-10 mins, remove from freezer & keep in the open section of refrigerator for another 4-5mins.

Now remove the tray and start shallow frying in a hot oil. Don't close the pan with any lid as you will not get the crispiness you are looking for.

Serve on a cleaned Lettuce leaf on a serving plate. Now you have a perfect twist to your dal, rice weekend's simple noon lunch!

Kids and The Fluffy Kerala Style Upma...!!!

Kids are stress reliever's and I've been lucky with kids everytime.

I first met Diya and Rayan few months back here in Dubai, I love them more everytime I see them next, I see myself getting excited when I know I'm meeting them in sometime. The never ending stories by Diya of what had happened since we met last, what Ummi (their mom said, did etc) and Rayan conveying in his language how he got hurt while hopping on the couch and so much more with all that giggle and unlimited hugs and kissess takes me to a different world, of Diya and Rayan of course.

Diya last evening mentioned she would soon go to Barbie School in India & Rayan will visit Ben10 School when we stepped out of KFC, chicken popcorn in KFC will always remind me of 'em until it appears in their menu and after that too.

These kids soon would be back in India for good, and I will miss them like hell as I have been missing Krishna, Ishaan, Sanjana, Sasha and more of them.

Quickly need to pick gifts for these two little darlings...!

In the morning:

I didn't want any lunch-lunch meal but some light snacky lunch, and thought of Upma. When I think of Upma I have very clear of picture of two South Indian States in front of me; Kerala and Karnataka. May sound funny but that's how much Upma's from these two states have influenced me. Since childhood I'm used to the Fluffly and Flowly Upma made at home and thats how Upma (Uppmaavu) is for a Malayali. Cut to Bangalore and the Upma's you get when you order in the darshini's (the Shanti Sagar's, Shiv Sagar's and the Sukh Sagar's) or even in a Kannadiga colleagues tiffin is the cake like Upma. My first thoughts were that these guys don't know what an Upma is like, later realised this is what an Authentic Upma for the state is like.

The Fluffy Kerala Style Upma is great with mashed banana or just the Upma without an accompaniment; I went ahead with my prep:

Few mustard seed, 2 tea spoon oil (vegetable, olive preferrably), 1 large onion chopped, 4 green chillies chopped finely, an inch long ginger root chopped (grated, if you like), a sprig of curry leaves washed and free of water. A standard tea cup of rava (Sooji or Semolina, Sameed in Arabic) roasted and kept aside. Chopped Cashew nut and (or) Almonds (adds crunch to the final Upma). 11/2 tea cup water.

Take a pan, heat some oil when hot enough (not smoking) add mustard and when it cracks let the onion go in the pan, saute for 2mins or less on medium flame, now add curry leaves, ginger and chilli. Saute them well and add the roasted Rava, mix well.

Now is the part which differentiates the state Upma's so distinctively.

Start sprinkling water little at a time and mix the rava and the mixture simultaneously and stay on medium flame. Keep repeating till the Upma in progress is still fluffly and the ratio of Rava to Water is 1:11/2 cups and ensure there are no lumps.

Mix very well the free flowing Upma and go on to add cashew and almond or grated coconut if you like. Close and keep under simmer for couple of minutes. The Fluffly Kerala Style Upma is ready, again!

Laziness equals to quick Khichdi for meal...

Woke up with great difficulty (laziness), and for some reason first thing which crossed my mind was "Rice for lunch", it's too difficult to keep away from rice for almost a week.

Tea was ready and by then I soaked some rice and dal...chopped ginger for both khichdi (primarily) and also for my morning tea....it's a bliss to have ginger tea.

While sipping away my tea I remembered it's a friends birthday, called and wished her on her 33rd Birthday and didnt let her forget she is Thirty Three...we both had a good laugh!

I had tasted varieties of Khichdi during my childhood days, all that from my multicultural neighbourhood. Maharashtrian, Gujrati, Rajasthani (Marwari), Uttar Pradhesh(i), Madhya Pradesh(i) versions too I remember...However I still don't know what an ideal Khichdi should be like.

A Khichdi has multiple variations in the way it is pronounced and in it's appearance, however the primary ingredients would always be rice, pulses and spices. Now for the comfort food (purely my version-don't blame if doesn't look familiar to you) Khichdi:

1 medium sized bay leaf, 1 tea spoon cumin seeds, asafoetida pwdr, 8-10 peppercons, 1 onion chopped, 2 green chilies chopped, one tomato cubed, an inch long ginger root finely chopped, coriander leaves finely chopped, small pieces of khopra (dry coconut).

Heat some oil, throw in a bay leaf, few cumin seeds, pinch of asafoetida, few peppercons sauted all of it for around 30 secs, add ginger mix once followed by onions for 2mins, ginger garlic paste (made by me, both stored in seperate containers), tomato. Mix and saute for another 3-4 mins on medium flame. Now simmer the flame and add the khopra, let the coriander go in, also add chilli, turmeric, garam masala pwdr, salt and a spoon of curd. Mix well close and keep for 2-3 mins, wash soaked rice/ dal combo and add to the mixture. Stir the mixture well add warm water and as it boils close the cooker with it's lid, place whistle and leave it for 3-4 blows.

I'm happy with what I had for lunch with some raita! 

How it started...

Ever since I discovered Kungfu's love for food, I decided we must try and cook together or atleast watch and taste what each one of us could cook.

Shemeer is whom I lovingly call Kungfu, I do that when I see him without the hair-raising-hardening-gel on his needle straight hair and they are free and bouncing in the air. My closest buddy and guide of life !

When we initially got to know each other, of course we went around town and he was more of a city guide and we were around eating, drinking and talking of food. Most of the conversations would sum up with our cooking experiences. We at times met over weekend to cook some lunch or dinner or both.

He has his share of experience of tasting quite a few Filipino, Afghani and Pakistani dishes...to talk about and give me some idea on what to order when we made our visits to supermarkets, restaurants and cafeterias. I've no complains of what I've tasted till date, also my own experience of staying initally with Filipino girls in Dubai and these girls loved to cook and serve, which has been awesome and memorable to me.

We are not heavily into cooking, but definitely deeply into eating (Read: Tasting). We manage to visit restaurants and try something unusual (like the Liver, Prawn, Beef rolls etc in a petrol station cafeteria, I'll speak more of this in days to come).

I think thats quite simple to do...!!!