Hello,
Last weekend saw us wave a heavy-hearted good-bye to parents. Phew! One month passed in a rush! Of course the week preceding it was crazy, what with the shopping trips, packing woes & travel preps. And the food was no different, my father-in-law is a foodie too, so it felt amazing to indulge him with his favorites.
The journey to the airport is always poignant; doesn't matter if traveling for your own trip or picking/dropping family, it always makes me pensive. Once done with ticking off of mental checklists, I simply de-clutter my thoughts & settle down to stare at the road. Haven't I mentioned, staring at miles of winding road is one of my habitual quirks?
In my defense it's not just mindless gazing; actually it's my 'Alice in Wonderland' moment, I find a white rabbit & just follow on. This time 'the rabbit' which caught my attention were the 'twirling date palms'!! Yeah you heard me right, trees which twirl! It's a simple scientific explanation, remember how you feel clouds racing with you as you undertake a long drive? It's a similar optical illusion where the date palms, flanking the road leading to Abu Dhabi airport, felt like they were twirling as the car raced past them. Maybe due to the circular way the branches are framed or it's just my fertile imagination, whatever the reason I was captivated by the mirage and just let my mind revel in nature's glory :)
On the journey back I did exuberantly tried to explain my latest find with hubby; he just smiled indulgently at my antics, those were my distraction tactics as I know he was sad to see parents leave. The feeling of returning to home without the buzzing of loved ones is indescribable, which prompted me to comprise the menu for this week of my hubby's favourites to cheer him up.
One of the must dish or rather vegetable is 'Bhindi' or 'Okra' or 'Ladyfinger' can always pep his mood. Be it simply pan fried to a crisp perfection with loads of savory spices or a tender-cooked semi-dry gravy. Opting for the latter, was thankful to find some fresh & tender variety in the supermarket, which is essential for the flavour of the gravy. Owing to the fact that they are exported, freshness is never guaranteed & tender baby ones are sighted once in a blue-moon (hard facts but have to get over them) Below recipe is something found in a local newspaper, with a few tweaks (undoubtedly) from my side :D After trying it for the first time, my dear better half had happily decreed, that henceforth bhindi gravy has to be made this way ONLY (happy to oblige)
To begin you need is about 250-300 gms of bhindi/okra washed & rinsed dry. Chop them in half inch pieces, Heat about 2 tbsp oil in a pan fry the bhindi, on low heat till the sticky sap goes away & the vegetable is 3/4th cooked. Remove on a plate & cool. Heat 2 tbsp oil in the same pan, crackle a few mustard seeds, add 1 medium or 2 small chopped onions, 2 medium tomatoes finely chopped, 1 tsp ginger-garlic paste. Saute till onion-tomatoes are mushy & raw smell of the G&G paste goes away. Add a few tsps of water, before you add the following spices - 1/2 tsp turmeric pd, 1 tsp chilli pd, 1 tsp coriander pd, 1/2 tsp garam masala, 1/2 tsp amateur (dry mango) pd. Stir well for about a minute and finally add the fried bhindi. With a light hand get the masala to coat the bhindi pieces, cover for about 5 mins & let it cook completely. Before serving sprinkle a tsp of crushed kasuri meethi. Bon Appetite!
The week went well as we settle back to our regular routines & this weekend we were happy to catch the latest offerings at the box office, we even challenged ourselves to catch a hindi movie in a theatre! Something which we had stopped after hubby had been mortified watching Dabangg 2 (seriously we were that distressed)
Let me clear the air, while we prefer English movies, we like any ardent Indian do watch & love hindi bollywood movies, it's in our DNA can't miss those :D but prefer to see them on TV since all latest movies get premiered on TV in a month or so.
Have a great week ahead for folks in middle-east & the rest of the world enjoy the Sunday, have a great week from tomorrow!
Cheers!!!
Last weekend saw us wave a heavy-hearted good-bye to parents. Phew! One month passed in a rush! Of course the week preceding it was crazy, what with the shopping trips, packing woes & travel preps. And the food was no different, my father-in-law is a foodie too, so it felt amazing to indulge him with his favorites.
The journey to the airport is always poignant; doesn't matter if traveling for your own trip or picking/dropping family, it always makes me pensive. Once done with ticking off of mental checklists, I simply de-clutter my thoughts & settle down to stare at the road. Haven't I mentioned, staring at miles of winding road is one of my habitual quirks?
In my defense it's not just mindless gazing; actually it's my 'Alice in Wonderland' moment, I find a white rabbit & just follow on. This time 'the rabbit' which caught my attention were the 'twirling date palms'!! Yeah you heard me right, trees which twirl! It's a simple scientific explanation, remember how you feel clouds racing with you as you undertake a long drive? It's a similar optical illusion where the date palms, flanking the road leading to Abu Dhabi airport, felt like they were twirling as the car raced past them. Maybe due to the circular way the branches are framed or it's just my fertile imagination, whatever the reason I was captivated by the mirage and just let my mind revel in nature's glory :)
On the journey back I did exuberantly tried to explain my latest find with hubby; he just smiled indulgently at my antics, those were my distraction tactics as I know he was sad to see parents leave. The feeling of returning to home without the buzzing of loved ones is indescribable, which prompted me to comprise the menu for this week of my hubby's favourites to cheer him up.
One of the must dish or rather vegetable is 'Bhindi' or 'Okra' or 'Ladyfinger' can always pep his mood. Be it simply pan fried to a crisp perfection with loads of savory spices or a tender-cooked semi-dry gravy. Opting for the latter, was thankful to find some fresh & tender variety in the supermarket, which is essential for the flavour of the gravy. Owing to the fact that they are exported, freshness is never guaranteed & tender baby ones are sighted once in a blue-moon (hard facts but have to get over them) Below recipe is something found in a local newspaper, with a few tweaks (undoubtedly) from my side :D After trying it for the first time, my dear better half had happily decreed, that henceforth bhindi gravy has to be made this way ONLY (happy to oblige)
The week went well as we settle back to our regular routines & this weekend we were happy to catch the latest offerings at the box office, we even challenged ourselves to catch a hindi movie in a theatre! Something which we had stopped after hubby had been mortified watching Dabangg 2 (seriously we were that distressed)
Let me clear the air, while we prefer English movies, we like any ardent Indian do watch & love hindi bollywood movies, it's in our DNA can't miss those :D but prefer to see them on TV since all latest movies get premiered on TV in a month or so.
Have a great week ahead for folks in middle-east & the rest of the world enjoy the Sunday, have a great week from tomorrow!
Cheers!!!
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