Recipe Wednesday - Tomato Garlic Ginger Rice

1 Tbs. oil (we use canola)
1/2 Tbs. mustard seed (I'm sure you can omit this if you don't have it on hand)
1 red onion, chopped into big bite-sized pieces
1 head of garlic, chopped
1 finger worth of ginger (index finger length) - peeled, chopped
7-8 Roma sized tomatoes, chopped into big pieces
2-3 c. cooked rice (to your preference)
Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat.  Add mustard seeds.  Once they pop, add onion and cook until almost tender.  Add in garlic and ginger and continue cooking until onions are tender.  Add tomatoes and cook for a couple of minutes.  Mix in the rice, heat through. 

As you can guess, this is strong on garlic and ginger but that's what gives it the flavor.  I really enjoyed this when Biju made it up.

Recipe Wednesday - Poori

I made these up for the first time last night to go with our Chick Pea Curry. 

1.5 c. whole wheat flour
pinch of salt
1/2c + 1/4 c. water (slowly add the last quarter cup as needed)

Heat small pan w/ oil - enough to cover

Mix together and knead.  Pull off small bits and roll into balls (ping pong ball size or smaller).  Put a small drop of oil on and roll flat.  The shape of this should be a small circle - do not fold as you did for the chapati.   Submerge the disc and cook for a minute or so on each side.  Drain on paper towel. 

Best served with veg. curries.

Recipe Wednesday - Chapati

If anyone has ever eaten Indian food, you've likely eaten some Naan.  For those who don't know what Naan is, it is almost like a tortilla that you tear into pieces with which to eat the curry.  There are many other tortilla-like breads that Indians use to eat besides just Naan, though.  One very easy and quick "bread" is the chapati. 

I came home from India in February with some recipes from my mother-in-law and as much as I want to make all of them, I've been a little chicken.  I'm worried I'll completely ruin everything.  I got brave one afternoon awhile back and tried my hand at making chapati.  It was sooo easy.  It helped that I watched Mom make it in her kitchen, though, so I took a few pictures to help those of you who may be visual learners.

Mix together until it forms a soft dough:
3c. whole wheat flour
pinch of salt
1 1/4 - 1 1/2 c. water (Add the last 1/4 cup or so slowly to be sure you need it.)

This recipe seems to be quite forgiving.  I wanted to halve this recipe and my brain went on vacation around the time I was figuring up my measurements.  I added too much water so had to add more flour little by little.  It still worked out in the end. 

Pull off a small bit of dough (think ping-pong ball or a bit smaller) and pat it into a circle, about palm size.

Apply a little bit of oil (you could use a silicone brush for this, but I just used the back of a spoon to spread it around) and fold twice - into a triangle.  Roll out the triangle.

The first couple of Chapati I didn't roll out thin enough and they ended up a bit dense.  As I went on I figured out the feel of it and the final chapatis were much better.

Apply a bit of oil to one side, lay that side to the heat and cook (over mediuim heat).  When you start to see air bubbles, spread on a bit of oil then flip to cook the other side. 

You can continue to flip/apply oil as long as you need.  (Don't go too crazy with the oil, it really doesn't take all that much.)

Serve this w/ a curry OR..... you can eat it with jelly, or PB&J!  It's pretty good that way.  It's actually how my boys ate it while in India.

Alex munching on a warm chapati, plain.

India: Baby Goats and a Train

We spent most of our time in Kerala with Mom's side of the family but we did have a nice little visit with Dad's side on one afternoon.  Mary Auntie served us the usual tea and cake but she also made up this scrumptious snack - I wish I could remember the name.  She made a batter that cooked into some sort of pancake/burrito and then filled it with a sweet filling.  Coconut and jaggery and some spices.  Also served was a cool drink, two different types of bananas and some papaya. 

We got to visit with Biju's grandfather, along with some other aunts and uncles and cousins. 

The family had some baby goats that were just 2 weeks old.  As you can imagine, that was a big hit with the boys!  Bino Uncle had taken his camera (my second set of batteries were dead by this point) so got some great shots. There were several, so I'll try to limit my choices to share with you.

We then took a walk.  We crossed some railroad tracks (the same ones we would later be traveling on as we headed back to Bangalore), peeked into a little creek, then came back to the tracks to watch a train pass.  It was pretty sunny/hot so we walked along with umbrellas.  I also got to use Bino's camera for the first time! 

Waiting for the train to come.  (I actually have a great photo of the train passing by but Blogger won't let me upload it.  So sad.)

Our attempt at a family photo.  Bino took several shots and this was the best we could do.

The big boys gave the little boys a ride back up the steep hill.

India: Sugar Cane

This is actually a post that should have been put up 2 years ago but never was.  So I figured since I posted about Jack Fruit on Tuesday, I'd post about Sugar Cane today!

Biju noticed the cart coming down the street with the sugar cane.  This was obviously not something seen everyday so he wanted to be sure we all got to try some!

Biju grabbed Ajay and went downstairs with Mom to pick out which cane we wanted.  You see the long canes?  Those are the "full" pieces.  All those shorter pieces are the stems and other discarded scraps.

Ajay enjoyed munching on some popcorn while Echachan peeled the cane.

Here is the cane stripped down.

Chopping it into tiny pieces to chew on.

You chew on the pieces to get the juice out then spit the rest.  Even Alex, at almost 11 mo. in this pic, enjoyed a little taste.  I was afraid of getting splinters in my mouth but never did.  It was a very odd feeling.  If you ever get the chance to try sugar cane, do!!

India: Jack Fruit

Have you ever seen a jack fruit?  Those bad boys are huge.  They grow in our family's backyard (and all over India) so one day, Great Grandma got out the knife and hacked one down.  Here are some photos of how she cut it down, how they cut the fruit (along w/ a video), and how it was served.

Amachee tying the hooked knife to a very long stick.  Ajay very interested in what is going on.

Reaching up to cut the jack fruit down.  It made a *thunk* sound as it landed.

See how big that thing is??

The white stuff on the stem is a sticky, glue-like substance secreted by the fruit.

After Great-Amachee cut the main fruit into sections, Amachee and Echachan cut it into bite-sized pieces and took out the many seeds.

Part of the jack fruit was cooked up that day.  The other part was left to ripen a day and we ate it plain.  I tasted it the first day and couldn't believe it was the same fruit the second day.  First day didn't have much flavor, second day was quite tasty!

It may not look very appetizing but this jack-fruit mixture along with a beef-curry (with big chunks of coconut) was DELISH!!

India: Water Wells & Chickens

I know I dropped a picture-bomb on you yesterday so I should warn you - today's post is a bit picture heavy, too.  I hope you don't mind!!  It is just so hard for me to filter out pics when each one seems to say so much. 

As mentioned in a previous post, you never really know who Alex is going to take to.  He took to George Uncle right away but he pretty much shied away from everyone else.  Mainly the women.  The funny thing is that Ajay did this exact thing when he was younger.  He wouldn't go to many women.  It drove Nana and the aunts crazy that he wouldn't have anything to do with them but he would go directly to Papa and the uncles!

Since Alex wouldn't go to anyone other than a select few, Biju's grandmother was over the moon when he let her pick him up just so he could look down inside the water well!  The boys got a kick out of looking down the well and helping to bring the bucket up.  (Just so you know, they don't use the bucket for most things.  The well is connected to a pump so the house has direct access.)

I didn't get a shot of Great-Grandma holding Alex by the well but he let her continue to carry him for a little while longer.  She took him over to look at the motorcycle since she knew that was a point of interest for him.

I love this shot - not only did I get Alex bonding with Amachee but you can see Biju showing Ajay the well in the background.

Puuuuullllllllll!

Take it out, look at it, pour it back in.  You can see the net they use to cover the opening.  This allows access to the well in addition to rainwater to go in yet keeps the leaves and bugs out.

After experimenting with the well they got to experiment with some of the chickens around the place!

There are quite a few chickens around the house but only two of them sleep on the "back porch." They are the most gentle hens, and they are the ones Annyamma (spelling??) Auntie and George Uncle offered to the boys to pet.

As you might guess the boys were a bit timid.

George Uncle even hid this hens head so Ajay would feel more comfortable petting her - knowing she couldn't peck at him.

You look so comfortable with them, Biju, do you want to get some of your own??

Getting bolder and bolder....

Aha!  You're holding it!!

India: Cricket & Badminton

There was a lot of cricket and badminton going on while in Kerala.  Biju and Bino played together and they also played with the boys (our boys and the cousins). Here are some shots I took over a three day period. (The games took place at two houses that are right next to each other.)

Taking a break from game playing to pet a neighborhood kitty.

Stacking up some bricks to use as wickets.

The bat is almost as big/heavy as he is!

Alex got a heat rash so we tried to keep him mostly in the shade - and he really dug those grapes! 

Can you see all those tiny red dots all over?

The boys loved cricket so much in India they had Daddy make some wickets for our backyard.  (Sorry, no pics so far of them playing cricket in our backyard.)