A lunch early last week.
Cauliflower steamed and tempered. My take on a thoren/varai. To retain that freshness. A soft yellow coating of turmeric, fresh snow white grated coconut.
Half a Butter nut squash leftover from Onam prep. Steamed first as I do not like trying to cut through pumpkins or any squash. Cut them into cubes, lightly fried with onions, garlic, chilli powder.
Brinjal kuzhambu/gravy.
Rasam.
Mor/spiced buttermilk satham.
Pani Puri. Golgappas.
Street food.
Potato, onions, crunchy chickpea flour noodles (sev),
stuffed into
crispy fried puffed dough balls (puri) drenched in
chilled sweet, sour, spicy mint flavored water.
Cool (literal) Burst of Flavours.
Was supposed to be an evening snack.
Ended up being dinner as the family over ate.
Simple Lunch Fare.
Fashioned from Leftovers.
Sambar Satham. Spiced lentil stew rice.
Mor Satham. (Spiced buttermilk, yoghurt rice).
With leftover sambar, old rice.
Relished with leftover vathal kuzhambu (dried vege gravy) and banana chips.
The Saga of the Slices..
As if the dumplings weren’t enough..
Had seen the Toasties episode on Masterchef. @khanhong’s crispy parmesan crown.
Needed to try that. Had also drooled over @jamieoliver’s decadent cheesy toasties with a crown.
Attempted toasties. Stuffed the insides with grated tasty and parmesan cheese, chopped green chillies and spring onions.
Sprinkled a little chilli powder onto crown of grated parmesan.
Didn’t turn out as I’d expected but tasted supremely delicious. Spicy cheesy filling with crunchy crispy crown.
Such Fun as Miranda’s mum would enthuse.
Vegan dumplings.
Remember, @ammiskitchennz, how I mentioned I too had decided to make momos or potstickers or dumplings.
Confession time.
My heart, thoughts were in the right place
Until I got to the freezer to get the spring roll pastry out,
And I spied store bought frozen vegan dumplings.
Added oil to pan, placed dumplings and let it cook on one side, then added water, cooked covered on high until water evaporated, removed lid, turned heat to low, and cook for a minute or so.
Made a dipping sauce with light and dark soy sauces, brown sugar, chilli flakes, garlic paste, chopped spring onions.
Delicious.
Returned chives, cabbage, tofu, carrots to the fridge for when I would make potstickers from scratch.
I had 6 photos of dumplings arranged strategically around the dipping sauce. Finally, settled for 2 shots.
Poornima. Full moon.
The day after Onam.
Uppuma for prasadam. Roasted semolina, with light spices.
With puli inji after Puja. Ginger pickle.
Roasted brinjals. Mashed. Lots of sliced onions, garlic, tamarind, green chillies.
Signature pineapple dish.
Courtesy husband on a Sunday.
With hot rice and leftover dishes.
A belated Happy Onam. For Monday.
Onam Ashamsakal.
On Saturday, I was casually asked what our plans were for Monday.
Replied ‘No idea, why?’
Lockdown has caused days to merge one with the other.
Onam. Thiru Onam.
Sadhya. Banquet in Malayalam.
Short of veges and fruit,
Quick dash on Sunday to Fruit World as Monday would be the first day back at the office in Level 2.5 – PPE, masks, gloves, social distancing, elbow hugs.
No mango, no yam, no white pumpkin/ash gourd, no green bananas.
There were yellow bananas, unripe looking green, and not the green I wanted.
A full day of Work at Work.
Then Home.
Rembered Onam 5 years ago, with friends and family. Prep had begun in the morning then. (Photos included).
Onam 2020 with the family was a prayer, then a dinner Sadhya comprising
Red parboiled rice,
White basmati rice.
Sago, potato crisps.
Nendran unripe banana chips. (Store bought).
Parippu. Lentils with ground spices and coconut in ghee.
Mor kuzhambu butternut squash. Ground spices, coconut, green chilli, yoghurt base. Replaced mango with squash.
Varutharacha Sambar drumstick. Ground roasted coconut, spices in a lentil stew.
Rasam. Light lentil soup.
Puli inji. Ginger, green chilli pickle.
Thoran cabbage. Dry dish with coconut, spices.
Potato mezhukupurati. Stir fried with spices, coated with chilli powder and coconut oil. Replaced raw banana with the versatile beloved potato.
Kumara erissery. Couldn’t get elephant foot yam so used the humble orange sweet potato. Ground coconut and spice paste, with roasted coconut.
Young coconut pradaman. A dessert of tender coconut with jaggery and coconut milk.
Disclaimer. Unable to remove the blue Kathakali mask from the wall, so used the black mask instead.
Apologies for the myriad replacements.
Onam Ashamsakal, Happy Onam.
#lockdownsimplemeal #minimalisticmeals #recyclefood #leftovers #NoJudgementPlease is this even a hashtag? #servelovegive #cookwithlove #cooknoairs #vegetarian #vegan #eggless #mykitchen #simplefood #kitchendiaries #comfortfood #bitesbybavani #bluffsbybavani #inmykitchen #kitchendiaries #onam #sadya
Saturday dinner part 2.
As per no one’s request, except mine, for wanting to try something different,
Made tiny Puris, Deep fried Puffed bread with wholemeal flour.
Had made Potato and Paneer curries in the afternoon.
Reminisced about Lucky Garden Rocky Restaurant Chappati uncle’s green mung lentils curry and sliced onions in sweet tangy chilli sauce. Way back in the 70s, I believe.
Sliced onions, soaked them in a sweet tangy chilli concoction.
Watched some Youtube videos on Folk songs in Malayalam and Kannada,
Bliss – Beautiful music in beautiful languages with beautiful food – Puris, potato, paneer, chilli onions.
Disclaimer. My puris misbehaved during the photo shoot. They sunk.
Saturday dinner part 1.
As per Daughter #2’s request, from the Tik Tok video she’d forwarded me via WhatsApp,
(What a family, spot on with communication)
Marinated paneer with yoghurt, chilli powder, garam masala, then fried it with finely chopped red onions.
Disclaimer, finely, as in my dictionary.
Used the remaining paneer to make a paneer curry for lunch, featured in previous post.
Took a tortilla, heated on pan, slapped on some butter, added fried paneer, only had capsicums in the fridge and no lettuce, so piled on some sliced capsicums, folded into a soft taco, and handed it to be devoured.
Poured over filling, a sauce of yoghurt mixed with pani puri chutney.
Photo shows taco in various stages of Handover, not hangover, as it cannot stand upright.
Bavani’s Happy Place 