Moong dal soup

Moong dal soup with crushed pepper, ginger, tomatoes, chopped coriander leaves, garlic, celebrating cold and caugh, a gift received from the mountains! It's fun to sit with a cup of hot ginger tea and sipping soup. Achooooo! 💞

A handfuls of moong dal, cooked with 3 cups of water. I have roasted a few garlic pods, a small piece of ginger, crushed pepper and salt. Two small ripe tomatoes. Cook it for one whistle, when it reaches normal temperature, pour it into a soup bowl, garnish with chopped coriander leaves. If you like add more hand crushed pepper, it helps you fight cold and caugh during winters. 

Aloo parathas

Breakfast, I was thinking about it as soon as I got up, made a cup of oats porridge for myself, still unwell.  Leftover kneaded atta came for rescue. Quickly boiled few potatoes made a stuffing with chopped onions, crushed ginger, dhaniya jeera powder, a little dry red chilli powder, turmeric powder, a few thinly sliced green chillies, 3 tablespoon chopped coriander leaves, salt.

By the time potatoes were cooked in the pressure cooker, removed and peeled and smashed them  along with onions. Added a handfuls of black raisins. That's the secret or surprise element in the parathas.

Divided the dough into twelve pieces and filled stuffing into it, then it was a marathon of rolling parathas while cooking them in tawa, with a dash of ghee.

Preserved one potato for Marco, made parathas for him without raisins, salt and masalas, adding a little butter, he polished his parathas. So we all with masala chai, butter and pickle. Yum!

Lauki raitha (Bottle gourd)

#Lauki (bottle gourd) raitha,  I have paired  lauki raitha with mixed vegetables rice,

Wash, peel and grate lauki, cook the grated lauki in one cup of water until tender, extract excess water, I drink the stock, spread the cooked lauki in a serving bowl , let it cool, add thick curd, a pinch of heeng powder, red chilli powder, jeera powder and garnish with chopped coriander leaves. Adjust salt. 

I have added a tablespoon of boiled potatoes, it gives a grainy texture to the raitha.

Served it with mixed vegetables rice.

Mixed vegetables rice

#Lunch #mixedvegetablesrice, I have soaked the #basmathi rice for about 20 minutes and added less water to it and kept for 1 whistle.

Pour oil or ghee in a preheated kadai add whole spices like #jeera, #saunf, whole peppercorns, star annise and bay leaves, once they emit aroma add chopped #onion, #garlic, saute for a while, add #potatoes, #carrots, #beetroot, #beans, #peas, #tomatoes, mix well, let it cook in its own juice for about 7 to 8 minutes in medium flame. Gently mix in between so that they don't get burned at the bottom. Add salt. Mix in

Spread the rice in a plate or tray, let it cool.

Mix in one portion of cooked vegetables and rice, mix in keep repeating until the rice and vegetables get over, adjust salt, garnish with chopped coriander and serve with raitha of your choice. I will be serving it with #louki (#bottlegourd) #raitha.

Long beans (payar) and beans thoran

Beans and long beans thoran

Ingredients 

15 beans

300 grams long beans

2 tablespoon coconut 

1 green chilli 

1 tbsp coconut oil

1/2 tsp mustard seeds

1/2 tsp broken urad dal, I used the black broken ones

1/4 tsp jeera

1/2 tsp chana dal

Salt as required 

1/2 tsp jeera powder

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

1/2 tsp coriander powder

1/4 tsp red chilli powder

Method 

*Wash, trim and chop beans and long beans into small pieces.

*Make a coarse paste out of grated coconut and green chilli.

*In a preheated pan pour oil, add mustard, urad dal, chana dal, jeera and broken red chilli. Allow mustard to splutter.

*Add chopped beans and long beans. Mix well, let it cook in medium flame for about 5 minutes. 

*Now mix in turmeric, jeera, coriander and red chilli powder and give a toss.

*Cook further for about 5 to 6 minutes or till the vegetables are tender and evenly cooked.

*Adjust salt, add coarsely ground coconut paste, add a few curry leaves, mix in, off the stove.

*Serve as a side dish with rasam, sambar. I like it with phulkas and steamed rice. 

snake gourd/chichinda pudalangai kootu

The one vegetable which is quite easy to grow in our backyard garden is snake gourd/chichinda/ pudalangai, we used to get very long ones in Trivandrum, but in Vietnam and Bangalore the most common ones are very short, soft and soft.

So here, I have made pudalangai kootu using soaked moong dal, little grated coconut and thinly chopped snake gourd or pudalangai.

Ingredients

3 medium sized snake gourd/chichinda
1/2 cup moong dal
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp coconut oil
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp urad dal
2 tablespoon grated coconut
1 green chilli
1 red chilli broken/small guntur chillies
salt required

Method

* Wash,deseed and chop the snake gourd into small pieces.

*Soak moong dal i water for about 15 minutes, drain the water, keep aside.

*Make a coarse mixture out of grated coconut and one green chilli in a mixer.

*Preheated pan add coconut oil, mustard seeds,urad dal and red chilli, Wait for the mustard seeds to
 crackle,

*Now add soaked moong dal, turmeric powder 1/4 cu water and let it cook for a few minutes, once its bit soft added chopped snake gourd. Mix well.

* Close lid and allow moong dal and snake gourd to cook well, at about 4 minutes, open the lid and gently mix the vegetable. Make sure its not getting burnt at the bottom of the pan.

*Once the snake gourd is tender and moong dal is cooked well add coconut coarse paste, mix well, garnish with curry leaves and serve hot with pepper rasam or sambar and rice.

Jeep trails to Coorg

Jeep trails coorg 12th and 13th October 2019

Organized by Bangalore Jeep Club(BJC)

We embarked on our journey to be part of jeep trail to Coorg at 5.30 am to catch up with fellow jeepers at Dhruvathare restaurant on Bangalore - Mangalore highway about 145 kms from our place. After taking a few pictures of our Jeeps and spending some time talking to each other, we had a delicious breakfast buying coupons at the first floor.

 

Mr. Nikhil Jaspal, the FCA trail boss briefed us after our breakfast.The briefing gave details about the trail route, position of crew members, sweep cars and a car with a one-man shutter-bug called Abhishek armed with his drone and a simple mobile phone. 

Narayan who loves his black Jeep Compass is a compulsive house keeping guy with an eye for detail, started giving the JC a good dusting and this prompted me to take out my make-up kit for a last minute touch with the lipstick!! Big boss Jaspal with an eye of a hawk did not miss this sight !! 

At about 9.30am the trial was flagged off.

We took state highway via Arakalagudu and Holenarasipura and reached Kasaragali homestay for lunch. We were welcomed by a cup of refreshing kaffir lime juice. It was time to get introduced to all the fellow Jeepers, many like us their first trail and some seasoned trail veterans. While each one gave a brief introduction, there was hunger pangs for many as it was past 1.30pm

But luch had to wait for a group photograph. Ignoring the blazing sun, as a family, everyone stood for the moment. And then finally, the the lunch bell sounded and all made a bee-line. When one is hungry, everything taste so good. Isn't it?

Then we headed towards our first off road driving towards Patla hills, a trailer of  what was to come the next day. No fuss for the Jeep, just consumed the dirt track like "makhan" to reach the top of Patla Hill. A breathtaking view of the valley on all sides from the top and engulfing clouds was an exhilarating experience. All the mobiles and cameras were busy capturing the exquisite lush scenery.

Reluctantly we drove down after spending some time there and headed towards Bisle Ghat viewpoint which was equally mesmerizing.

We then drove to our homestay Jagate Mist for a much needed break and were welcomed with piping hot coffee.

The event for the evening was a campfire dinner and party time. The night that followed was one of the trail highlights. We celebrated Narayan's birthday and were overwhelmed with the arrangements from a beautiful cake to dedicating a lovely evening to him.

We both felt  blessed, amongst our extended family of enthusiastic Jeepers. The warmth and affection from our fellow Jeepers and their families was heartwarming. We sang, danced and had fun. A simple setting under a starlit sky, quaint atmosphere, a brilliant campfire, the fog slowly coming down, and picturesque pale-yellow moon made the dinner heavenly. It will be etched as a beautiful, ethereal night in our memory for years to come.

We drove back to Jagate Mist home stay at about 10.45 pm, the rooms were comfortable, and we had a good overnight stay.

Waking up to the fresh earthy, muddy smell of rain and a bright day, I spent some time in the property taking pictures of the two friendly puppies who posed for my camera, wagging their tails. The surrounding was quite beautiful facing a mountain, the trees and plants all around. We checked out of our room and headed towards Kasaragali homestay for breakfast.  Yet again a splendid spread, good food and finished with coffee from the gardens. This is Jeep Life! Good friends, families, simple but loving food, great camaraderie and a great machine - The Jeep.

While a group of Jeepers went nearby for a photo shoot, we spent a little time in Kasaragali homestay meandering a small patch of paddy field, the plain lawns on a bright sunny day, a photographer’s paradise!

At about 9.45 we all left for our 2^nd days adventure, off-roading to Mandalpatti. On the way we had a small break in a bridge above a small stream making the entire ambience beautiful.

The Mandalpatti trail was quite challenging but doable. After all, the limiting factor was not the machine but the mind of the driver. Narayan was enjoying the tough drive. We reached the first level where other Jeepers have parked their Jeeps. Two 4x4 and one 4x2 Jeepers went further to the top of the Mandalpatti peak.  Spending some time, we drove back giving way to commercial jeeps and motorbikes.

We reached the downhill and waited for others to join. For lunch, catering service was organized by Bala. It was really a very sunny afternoon, temperature raising up and 2.15pm on the clock. The caterer suggested a beautiful location nearby stream. Once everyone reached downhill, we headed towards the stream. Carrying and helping the caterer, we trekked on the large and small rocks, shaped oval, round, by the banks of the river stream and each one found a rock to rest their bottom and settle for lunch. Hot steaming delicious food was served in eco friendly palm plates.

 

After lunch, I went and dipped my legs in the stream water, the cool refreshing water took away all the tiredness of a thrilling drive.Tiny mud colored fish playfully pecked my  feet giving me a foot spa in the mountain stream. Sitting on a rock, enjoying the nature, lost in the splendid surroundings, we family of Jeepers spent a memorable afternoon.

It was time for us to bid goodbye. A quick briefing by the crew and we started our walk towards our Jeeps, a sense of fulfillment and gratification engulfing each one. We thoroughly enjoyed the warmth, affection and brotherhood of the Jeeper's family. We wish to thank every member of the Jeep family who made this event possible. Look forward to many more weekends with such vibrant and enthusiastic team. Our special thanks to Bala, Anil, Amritha and Nikhil Jaspal. We appreciate Abhishek who took all the pain to capture the beautiful moments of Jeep trails.

Signing off

Jayanthi Narayan

Bangalore