With the never ending pandemic around and after what india faced during the second wave…( received this as a forwarded message) here are the winners of the 2021 Covid awards of the year
Dolo 650 Lifetime achievement award.
Tocilizumab Best debutant immunosuppressant of the year
Remdesivir Best debutant antiviral
Itolizumab Promising face of the year
Bevacizumab Best medicine in a comic role
Methyprednisolone Best medicine in a supporting role
Mucormycosis Best actor in a negative role
Pulmonary fibrosis Best background artist
Limcee and Zincovit The best action in kids category
Random Blood Sugar Most fluctuant dancer of the year
Il6 Promising test of the year
Ferritin Ddimer Best comeback category
CRP The most consistent performer of the year in all categories.
Picked this one up from drafts..it states my life as a mother when Rhea( daughter) was a year old…
A quick post!! What with a one year old clinging to you everytime you pick up the phone to post something and then you are left wondering what was that you wanted to type??maid woes??new house rants??weight issues?? And then you feel post about this phase called being a mom!!!
Rosy and cute as it may sound..I am sure all parents out there especially mommies have been there done that so here I go
Yeah that’s how Rhea sleeps…
Even to this day…
Me, currently summarised in one word!!
Yup that’s me!!
Sleep dear sleep where art thou??!!
And this is what Rhea does..
Everyday I find myself mashing potatoes, lentils and rice for her, with a bit of spices for flavour and madam just refuses to eat and when I sit down with my diet food grumpy and starved she goes waaaaaaaa wanting to know what’s on my plate or wailing away until I pick her up!!
Ahhh so now the story makes sense🙃
Hanging on there…
Until next time, to all the mommies out there, sleep while you can..😴😴😴
Komorebi, theJapanese expression for the sunlight as it filters through the trees..
Bliss!!!
Trying to keep up with my morning walks… As I walk away at my home town Bangalore..can’t help but admire the beauty of this city….the place where I grew up…as the morning sun shines through the trees..the warmth and the sound of the birds fills me up with joy..even more a reason to wake up early, a beautiful way to keep oneself fit and sane in these trying times!!
During my Internship, we were posted in a government hospital for about 2 months, so the routine was that all friends would meet up for breakfast at this awesome place called Halli manne ( literally translated as village house, it’s still there in Bangalore) where they used to dole out fluffy idlis and other yummy breakfast items, they had a huge variety to offer..
My friends used to try out every item on the menu..I was determined to do the same but god knows why I used to end up ordering one Idli and one vada with sizzling hot sambhar and this continued for the whole two months we were posted there, everyday breakfast was the same, yummy hot Idlis and I never tired of it..
The Idli family😉
This trend continued even during my post grad days, when my friends used to order Pooris, Dosas and Poha, I used to stick to my staple of one Idli one vada again and again,so that’s when I realised I have an never ending connection with the humble idli..humble Nee..humble idli..😉 given the fact that idlis is also a diet food so my calorie count was in check( remember I am on an eternal never ending diet)
So much for my love for idlis..
Oh and even the day after I delivered, I was given Idli and milk so now you know, Idli rocks!! Annnddd I am hungry typing soo much about idlis, I want one plate right now!! 🤤
So if ever you come across this humble everyday staple in the South of India, grab a hot plate with sambhar and let the magic work…have a great weekend all..🤗🤗🤗
When I graduated to medical college, I used to take all my friends especially the North Indians to this awesome place in Bangalore, street food of course.. Idlies are served in posh restaurants to the humble thela wala ( street vendor)
Idli vadas
The chutneys are something to die for..ahh the endless number of times I have visited this place in bangalore, Commercial street, an elderly couple doling out the most delicious, soft, mouth watering idlis paired with chutneys of two colours, a white one made of lentils and a red one made of fiery hot red chillies and tomatoes..
Vadas and the typical chutneys served at Bangalore.. We have a red tomato chilli chutney…white peanut chutney and green mint chutney…the missing Idlies were gobbled up by me.. 🙈
Chutneys itself need an entire post to be described..you have soo many to choose from!! We have restaurants serving small small lemon sized idlis to huge ones called “Thatte Idlis” with different chutneys..
Minature Idlies.. Pics courtesy: Hebbars kitchen
Huge “Thatte” Idlies..Thatte means plate in kannada language Pics courtesy: Hebbars kitchen
So I am imagining myself standing in front of this cart waiting for my turn for steaming idlis, served really hot hot hottttt with the chutneys in tow..ahh I have lost track of the innumerable visits to that place !!!
Speaking of idli love let me share with you another personal story..
It dates back to med school, me and my husband who was “Just a Friend” back then!! As usual I was craving for Idlis from the cart, so he took me there, rather I forced him to come along.. Being the hygiene freak that he is, he was cringing when I insisted on having a plate of Idlis, he let me have my fill though..
So the story goes like this wherein I am blabbering away something and the vendor passes the plate of hot idlis!! Too hot for me to hold and my husband ( who was still just a friend) took out his handkerchief and placed the plate on it and held it for me till it was cool enough for me to eat and I literally ended up eating it out of his hands while still chatting away!! Awww that made me melt indeed..(soo kiddish you might say but yup that’s me Nee and what do you expect I would do??!! All of 21 and experiencing this ha ha ha so that was a sign of love blossoming..) Poor hubby still tags along cribbing and grumbling when I tell him I wanto eat idlis from the vendors..
As I was searching for images I got to know there is a world idli fay too.. Every year, March 30 is observed as World Idli Day, a day dedicated to this delicious, fermented healthy food.. Now that’s also news to me.. Wow!!!
Home made goodness with coconut chutney
More about the Idli love in the next post…Until next time drool away, grab a hot plate of Idli sambhar and let the magic work…have a great week ahead all..
Today post is a very hungry one..Yes my hunger for the staple food in South of India..The Humble Idli!!!😋😋 Why humble??🤔Cause it is the cheapest food!!!
Easiest to make ( I guess only South Indians consider it easy to make) Like rajma chawal is a delicacy for us Southies, Idli is a delicacy in the North..( Speaking entirely and purely based on my experience)
So what is an Idli??!!💁 For my Non Indian friends, here is a link to the description about one of the awesome food South India has to offer..
My love story with idlis dates back to my childhood, when my mum used to give me and my brother 1 rupee on Saturdays ( somedays even she needed a break from cooking and we, a chance to gorge on outside food) So, those were the days when idlis used to cost us just 25 paise each, so 4 Idlis for a ruppee was an awesome deal, shared between me and my bro with the most amazing and tastiest chutneys!!🤤
Ohhh soo in love with Idlis!!!
Idlis in India is available at breakfast and dinner in high end restaurants and as street food too.. The taste of the Idlis sold in the carts is totally awesome and entirely different compared to the once sold at restaurants and hotels which boast of it as a rice dumpling steamed and simmered in spiced broth and blah blah blah, it’s a basic rice ball that’s it!!! 🤨😱😳😩
Coming back to my story, my mom used to pack 2 idlis with mint chutney for school..ahhh a memory I still can’t forget!!😍 A friend of mine amused me by having it with ghee and sugar, so you see, idli can be eaten with groundnut,coconut,mint chutneys..sugar..soaked in milk..with spicy lentil powder mixtures..with vegetable sambhar and the list is endless..
Have Idli with sambharHave it with variety of chutneys!!
The next memory I have as I progressed to high school is of buying it from a small eateries called Sandarshinis for 1 rupee, the prices had increased by then.. My brother’s love for idli sambhar and vada surpasses mine!! Every Saturday after the routine NCC drill in his school he used to treat himself to 2 plates of Idli Vada sambhar!!
💸The prices kept increasing from 25 paise in the 1990s to 1 ruppee in 1994 to 5 ruppees in 1998 to the current 30 ruppees for 4 idlis.. (street food prices) The hotels charge anywhere from 50 to 150 ruppees for a plate.. Idlis are mostly served in pairs cause no one can eat just one😋
In short, Idlis are the most basic and the most easily available and loved breakfast item that has ever been discovered to us South Indians!! More about my idli love in the next post.. Until next time… Enjoy hot Idli sambhar with cool cool chutney!! 🤗🤗🤗
I am soo obsessed with cuisines from across the world so felt that what may seem a daily routine, normal food to me might be a delicacy to someone in another part of the world.. Hence sharing with you a very simple, humble if I may call it so, a staple everyday meal kind of a dish..Lemon Rice! !
Lemon rice straight from my kitchen!!
Give me lemon rice every single day and I can have it for ages…trust me I seriously can.. Traditionally a South indian dish it has evolved along the way with additions and twists in various states of India to suit each ones palate.. It can be had as a breakfast item made from leftover rice or as a starter dish at lunch or as an evening snack where rice is replaced by puffed rice and as a dinner item..( I am sure people all across the world don’t believe in wasting food hence rice is reused in some form to make it fresh again and consumed..)
Lemon rice is such an amazing dish that it is served as Prasadam in South indian temples… Along with its counter part, Tamarindrice called as Puliogare and curdrice..
Yes… Festivals are incomplete without these yummy dishes.. In India on any festival or auspicious occasion, you will find these delicacies being prepared as pooja prasadams… There is something about these prasadams distributed at The temples especially, The lemon rice / tamarind rice taste out of the world.. You just can’t get that taste when the same dishes are made at home I always wonder why??!!🤔
The elders say it’s the pooja/ God’s touch..as in food which is cooked as a prasadam is never tasted before offering,so it’s told that the divine grace goes with the cooks excellence in cooking the offering…I really till date don’t understand that cause I still can’t cook that way🤔🙄 Lemon rice is also a favourite for long distance travels..back in the days when train travel was the most convenient, large families used to pack up lemon rice for the long journey..
I remember travelling from Bangalore to Mumbai..Bangalore to Shiridi and lemon rice accompanied me on every single journey…given the fact that it has lemon hence it prevents rice from getting spoilt..
The dish requires just Lemon and the usual spices found in a South Indian kitchen.. I love to eat mine with Papad..Potato fry..Chips.. Omlette.. Chicken ( fry and gravy form) and the list is endless..
Lemon rice complete with Green Chillies..Curry leaves.. Jeera.. Mustard.. Groundnuts.. Turmeric gives it the typical yellow colour..
Here it is served with chicken kabab.. My daughter loves this combo.. The tangy taste mixed with spicy chicken is simply yum
Chicken kabab!!
Thus this amazing everyday staple food, rules the lives of every South Indian household.. Do let me know if you have tried this dish..
7 years on WP and still at it..on and off but still at it…sometimes filled with rants and thoughts from my everyday life to forwarded messages which amused me.. From sharing my little cooking recipes to full on b…..g about people, it has been a looong journey for me…
I started WP as I was bored..at crossroads stuck between making a career in the medical field and taking a break from continuous studying…so at my first ever job while still preparing for my post grad exams, I remember writing posts in between seeing patients, I used to and still type them down from my phone…completely new to the blogging world and the technological aspects, I learnt the basics gradually…What started as a hobby and a portal for expressing myself served as hope to when I was really low.. Reading blogs from across the world.. Travelling through places virtually.. Reading about the different cultures, traditions and lifetyles is still exciting…
Once I started my journey here I learnt so many things..it was kind of an adventure for me..the more I read and enjoyed my fellow bloggers post, I realised it is indeed a bright happy world out there.. So with an on and off effect am still here trying to keep up.. Trying to share my musings and thoughts, learning and evolving in the process..
I also made soo many new friends across the world, I enjoyed reading their posts, comments and replying back..soo much for WordPress,so thanks again guys..it is not just a blogging platform it is a boon in disguise!!
