Friday, June 29, 2012

Sensing through Eyes

A Hundred Years of Solitude  came to my mind. Ursula manages around the home without her eyes. She knows where things are placed, more accurately than those who can see. My periyamma, is a simple loving mother from village and she wonders who invented this laptop, that am glued to almost 20 hours a day. At home, I fuss over the little little things of trivial importance, be it the arrangement of food, clothes, books, furniture, colours, smell. After alighting from train, i remembered Gita's upside down Ashwatta tree - 15.1 urdhwa mula adhah shaka. Mind, what keeps it sane, functioning? Senses, what keeps it sensing. What is the moving force - for the limbs?

It had poured in Chennai. Mayor elections, municipal bodies, well, mere posts to contest. Am praying, Delhi Metro's disabled friendly trains should run in Chennai, all over India. Trains were delayed inordinately. Once I alighted, it was as if, entire earth's population had accumulated on the platform, no space to move. I could move only in the narrow gap near the train, covering my nose. Some one shitting, in the halted train mindless of the injustice to fellow human beings. Gate's Toilet 2.0! Hope that is the solution to my train agonies. Whenever I go to Delhi by train, am forced to survive on sips of water, starving, 2+ whole days, to avoid going to loo.

So, it was a cesspool, everywhere. So dirty, that one would cringe stepping on the puddles of dirty water near Platform 5 of Egmore Railway station. I knew there was a vehicle conveyance path, so that one would not have to climb up those stairs. Looking at me, no one would know about L3 malunion or right hip's total hip replacement or my atrophied right leg. Even if I call a battery car, unless, I ask a police guy's help, those vehicles would say, it is only for old, and they would not take the luggage, etc. So I would walk till the very end of the platform to figure out where the path was and drag my trolley myself. I can't afford what the coolies need. Worse still, if it is an old coolie. I would feel bad, he is lifting, so much weight, nor can I afford whatever he demands. Am penny wise, pound foolish. After grinder stone for idly mavu, and luggage, my L3 screamed its presence. But this time, in the crowd, i thought, i have to take the stairs, rather than wading through the ocean of people on the platform. Wish railways had given an indicator of level path ahead to cross the platforms without taking the overhead platform bridge. I was at level 2 of upstairs when i saw the level crossing so near. Indian Railways! IRTS!

There I saw her. She was a stout lady, with a huge bosom. She wore a thaavani with semi transparent bluish blouse. If her legs were normal, she should not have weighed less than 80 kg, but she had legs, half the size of her thick arms. She was dragging, propelling herself with her hands to climb up each step, so dirty, wet, blackened. I was there with my trolley and 2 bags, climbing one step a time, praying at each step. The lady who was with her, just watched as she dragged herself in all that dirt. Her thaavani slightly came out of its place, after the 1st set of stairs, she instinctively reached to cover herself. My throat felt strange. She was keeping her bare hands on trash, her rear end totally soiled along with her dress.

I reached platform 4 and climbed down, trying to forget her. There was a creep, tailing me. Its always these railway creeps, that make me board an auto without bargaining, just to escape from that place at night. Outside, near the entrance opposite to Vasantha Bhavan, something hit me. It was the pointing stick of a blind guy. Would he have minded my hands on his arms, as I tried to help over those 2 steps. I get wild, if any Samaritan, touches me, even when they try to help. I would not mind holding them for support, but I can't let some random xyz holding my arms. I saw he had a lady with him, so I moved on. Near the busstand, as I saw anna (congenital physical defect - else, I would not have hurried to reach outside to ensure, he does not lift my luggage) Only then, the couple bumped into me again asking for auto and I saw both of them had pupil-less grey clouded small eyes. I begged anna, please help them board first. But anna said, their destination was nearer while mine was an hour away. He said, he would help them board the auto, paying my auto fare, while he struggles to make both his ends meet.

Eyes! God's gift indeed; 100% functioning spectless eyes, god's abundant mercy. And here I am abusing my eyes, forgetting my dincharya, forgetting krishna, fussing over temporal beauty of small small things, viewing the world in fine libran's beautiful glasses. Now I understand the relation between Surya and Shukra. Now my eyes are really seeing.

I realized my nethramritham from kottakal has expired last november itself. Here whenever possible, I grope around closing my burning eyes, like Ursula for the things I fussed at home - obsessive order and arrangement of things. Need to connect with genuine NGOs now.

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Annanas and Dadima

Apples, Pineapples, Pomegranates
Dadima from Namakkal

Dadima

When she first told dadima, i exclaimed what! hope you didn't mean granny? Ever since, my BAMS friend told me dadima was vata pacifying, i have started to ignore the rates. I either go straight to Koyembedu fruits market or trichy market to bargain and buy at least 2kgs for 200.  When dad was alive, he would peel mosambis and separate pomegranates and make me eat in the afternoons. It would be laced with nicotine smell of his fingers, but his love made me ignore the cigarette smell.

Wish there was a way of knowing the colour of pomegranate seeds inside without cutting. One should not judge a book by its cover fits dadima the most. And if it is perfect crimson red, i get into wondering, hope they have not injected colours. They say, growing pomegranate trees invites kubera into home. So we planted a tree in our home. Wonder when carpenter uncle will bring us home grown pomegranates.

And according to healing essences of flowers

Punica Granatum is a symbol of fertility, pomegranate restores self-nurturing and regenerates fertility on all levels, helping to identify long-buried emotional needs, especially in relation to the mother, childbearing and creative issues.
http://www.imagejuicy.com/images/plants/p/punica/4/

source from net

I didn't take this picture, can't find the link, but i copied this picture along with others when I prepared a ppt of 42 healing flowers staying awake the whole night. I was searching for a perfect picture amongst 3.47 lakh odd pomegranate pictures. This flower essences ppt with 43 slides is a visual treat, that i can't help showing to select guests at home.

Pomegranates are more relation building than Cadburys Rum and Raisins. I had two friends in hostel, where it was ritual, sharing a pomo, after a late night assignment. Pineapple juices after fractures and surgeries. More about pineapple after I cut them.

Utlimate Amla


The other day, I heard in one of the VIHE ayurvedic lectures, that India does not grow that much Amla to substantiate Dabur's chyavanprash exports. My yoga teacher said, don't drink Dabur Honey. Perceptions. Trust is the basis of life. A doctor can cure a patient with a shirt button, another may die eating amlas, if they don't believe it is healing. For me amlas are synonymous with Chithappa, he buys so many amla candies, or keeps fresh amla at home all the time. An amla a day, keeps doctor away.

Benefits
from forum
and this

Amla Thokku
Nei paruppu, Pudhina Chutney, Amla thokku, Beetroot poriyal, Semiya Payasam, Mulangi Sambar, Rasam, Curd

Incidentally, yesteryear's heroine Amala is one of my favourites. She was bubbliness incarnate. One of my favourite scenes is in the movie Agni Nakshathram, where Prabhu catches Amala red handed trying to smoke in a party. Amala hides the burning cigarette in her jean pocket and Prabhu tells Amala towards the end after saving her face in front of her dad - Anjali, un pant pattika podhu! The way Amala jumps around is ultimate.

And I simply love the song Ninnukori varnam from Agni Nakshatram. A decade later, when music ma'm taught us Ninnukori varnam, starting with ga ga ri, I was on cloud nine as we all practiced in unison; in varying speeds, i felt mohanam was the most mesmerizing raga in this whole world. Mohanam indeed!

The last meal with Hridayagandha - Cilantro - Coriandrum sativum

Beetroot, Radish, Tomato, Carrot, Corriander Leaves


Menu (anticlockwise)
Yummy fresh mango slices
Pomegrenate Seed with Jaggery
Gaajjar ka Halwa
Dhaniya Chutney
Crunchy Beetroot poriyal
Pudhina Chutney
Radish Sambar
Whole Green Moong Dal Sundal
Crispy murukku
Curd

Health benefits
Corriander - benefits ayurveda and this
Beetroot, soup recipe

I started this day with Pomegranate juice and so added jaggery to make a yummy sweet dish from the pomegrenate seeds. And a tiny carrot was somehow well hidden all these days in the fridge, so ghee dripping carrot halwa sweetened with gur.  Some prefer onions and garlic for corriander chutney, i prefer little coconut. Some put pepper, i put chillies. Ultimately, no matter how healthy the dish is, if it is not tasty, one should not eat it. Taste is king. No wonder ayurveda divides food based on 6 tastes. Nothing can be so cleansing as fresh mint and corriander chutneys for glowing skin. At home, sukku malli kapi is an essential part of our happiness. Jane Austen would prescribe apple pies.

Back to Pudhina, i thought lemon juice would keep the chutney green, but it didn't; and the top layer oxidized so quickly, though, the chutney below the top layer was still refreshingly green.

My colleague prefers beetroot halwa, my roomie likes beetroot with fresh green peas, my cousin likes with raitha. I prefer it scrapped and sauteed not more than a minute. That with chappathis is too good. There is no end to beetroot's incarnations.

A kapha would be satisfied with one sweet dish. But at times, variety is the spice of life. My tummy was full, just after pomegrenate, carrot halwa, and few mouthfuls of sambar sadham and I ended up drinking plain curd with corriander chutney. And the corriander chutney raita was so cooling and satiating. My last meal at home, how quickly time flies by!

Pudhina - Mentha arvensis - Mint leaves

Pudhina Coconut Pottukadalai

Pudhina bath flavoured with Lemon and Crispy Murukku



Health benefits
Ayurvedic properties and Uses 
Pudhina Recipes and this

It was The Great Gatsby which introduced me to Mint Juleps. Mojito Blast in Pizza Hut for 85 + don't forget the ohSoLittle VAT and other taxes! I could have made at least 45 Mojito blasts with 5 rupees Pudhina from market. Only this evening, am going to make idli mavu, to make mom's life simpler. So it was sugandha pudhina bath for breaking fast. Nothing can beat soft steaming kanchipuram idlis with fresh mint chutney, next is ghee laced crisp dosas and pudhina chutney. Would try Mojito or Juleps on some hot summer afternoon without ice, not now.

Yes'day after we crossed the arch, there was this Bhairavar sannithi, hidden by shops, near market with a sculpted dog in front of the deity. I was missing temple on tuesday and was glad to have darshan of Subrahmanya Swami and light lamp, unexpectedly in the middle of market. The best part of trip was 1/4 kg uthiri mallipoo for 10. Living in a prohibited defense area, our infrequent buses from chathram takes little more than hour to reach home and i didn't realize how 1 hour flew by, as I sat savouring the divine fragrance of jasmine flowers while making a mini garland - 50:50 - for God and kesham.

6 months later
Pudhina, Curry leaves, Hridayagandha


Kothumai-Kambu-Arisi mix dosa - Corriander-Curry-Pudhina Mix chutney

Pudhina Paneer

Pudhina, Corriander, Curry Leaves, Ginger Paneer

Pudhina Paneer with Soft Crispy Chappathis
Ajwain Parantha with Pudhina Paneer with cashew paste
Wonder, how long it would take to get disinterested in food. Did i really miss mom or home food that i travelled unreserved on Friday night for 4 days Christmas leave. With my feet's odema matching  kurma prushtajaeishnu prapadanvita thanks to 10 hours sleepless sitting travel in bus. Tears accumulated, the moment i boarded the Salem bus, thinking am going home after a month. Anyway, mom as usual, has work to do even on weekends. I let myself in, unlatching the door and slept like a log till 11:23. She had gone out to buy vegetables for me. I like cooking, as long as it is not an everyday chore, but rather an option.

Living alone, mom does not make usual idli mavu, rather makes a multigrain dosa with kambu (bajra), kelvaragu (ragi), wheat. Am glad, at least, she has stopped the 2 Rs Ration rice for food. At least she buys vegetables, when am home. Else, it will be the same old kathirika or whatever else is the cheapest. When I told my brother that i am going home, he said, he would warn mom about impending storm. This afternoon, Mom told me that my brother had told her, that tsunami is coming home.

Nutrition is only 25% in the food we prepare, the rest in the happiness we share with family back home. Wonder, when i would stop giving too much weightage to food and its presentation.

 

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Aromatic Girinimba -Murraya koenegii - Curry leaves

Curry Leaves Brinjal Drumstick Leaves Tomatoes
Brinjals, CurryLeaves, Drumstick Leaves, Tomatoes

Meals for mom
Menu (anticlockwise)
Delicious Condensed milk kheer
Wholesome Moong dal with jaggery
Karuvepuillai thuvayal
Murangai Keerai Poriyal
Brinjal Sambar
Murukku
Curd

I mostly use the vegetables I don't like on Tuesdays. So, it was brinjal sambar today. In fact, today I can add lots of garlic, small onions and tamarind to thuvayal for mom, since she likes them tangy. This lunch was exclusively for her. There were surprisingly 3 packets of milk in freezer, so kheer. At the rate at which it is solidifying, in 1 hour from now, it will become palkova, in the low flame. I read somewhere in lalkitab, that people with certain planetary placements should not make palkova or paneer. Wonder why? For the next few days, till the leaves get over, it is going to be karuvepuillai dishes. Here is a good writeup on Karuvepuillai.

Last month, my mentor told me, he frames his questions with flower bouquets. His colleague frames questions with ATM while interviewing. That got me thinking, why these anchor words, a façade for what, why this attachment to these things? Am super excited since learning, what a person's mind will repeatedly think about in loops, kind of draining mental energy, while reading about buddh placement. While it is easy to discern the broad areas and particular aspects of draining thoughts, am yet to figure out link between the words a person would utter or project and his genuine thoughts. There are very few, who express in words, what they really, actually think. Fewer still, who have the discipline to translate those words to action.

Monday, June 25, 2012

The Apple of Her Eyes...

After Apple Picking Apples
For Nutrition


What if Newton was sitting under a lemon tree instead of apple? What if apple had not come between Adam and Eve. What if apple didn't flash in Steve Jobs' mind!

"It is remarkable how closely the history of the Apple-tree is connected with that of man." -- Henry David Thoreau, Wild Apples

............
And I keep hearing from the cellar-bin
That rumbling sound
Of load on load of apples coming in.
For I have had too much
Of apple-picking; I am overtired
Of the great harvest I myself desired.
There were ten thousand thousand fruit to touch,
Cherish in hand, lift down, and not let fall,
For all
That struck the earth,
No matter if not bruised, or spiked with stubble,
Went surely to the cider-apple heap
As of no worth
 ...........
Robert Frost, After Apple Picking
 
When it comes to apples, i would prefer eating something fresh and crunchy, no matter how chilled the juice, fizz or milkshake is, or how yummy the pie or cake is. Living in central tamilnadu, the freshest apple I can get is probably 3-4 months old. The hardest part is removing the wax. I just scrapped with knife. Some suggest lemon juice and baking soda as scrubbing solution. While friends pick apples from trees, back home, I just savour the mangoes, the precious few, spared by birds, that mom picks from the garden, ripe mangoes that have fallen on the ground, at the slightest gust of wind. King of fruits! you should see the number of stones that school boys throw at the tree. Out here, the ripe mango that struck the earth, is still worth a kingdom. In fact some stammerers hunt for bird eaten fruits to regain their voice. The scent of apples; I am drowsing off.

Shobanjana - Moringa oleifera - drumstick leaves

Milk Jaggery, Murangai Keerai Chappathi, Moong Dal fry
Sigru/Shobanjana, Coconut, Tomatoes


Menu (anticlockwise)
Sweet mangoes
Moong dal payasam
Murangai Keerai Sambhar
Murangai Keerai rasam
Curd
Murungai Keerai Poriyal
Murungai Keerai Vadai

Am overwhelmed with murungai keerai, no matter how healthy it is. Would consider touching them, only the day I leave home on Thursday. One thing, mom always tell me is that, whatever you serve, serve it with a sprinkling of love. Prasanna atma, indriya manah - as per Sushruta.


There was no idly mavu, rava, nor dal soaked for adai, so ended up with murangai keerai rotis for breakfast. Yes'day carpenter uncle who lives in our home came, dumping loads of apples, drumstick leaves, curry leaves. I have used only 1/3 of the drumstick leaves he plucked from our garden. He comes home very rarely. He is the very picture of unctuous Uriah Heepish uncles who call me madam or chinnamma.

Sunday, June 24, 2012

Thiruvannamalai Sri Ramanashramam

குறள் 364: (Source)
தூய்à®®ை என்பது அவாவின்à®®ை மற்றது
வாய்à®®ை வேண்ட வருà®®்.
Purity (of mind) consists in freedom from desire; and that (freedom from desire) is the fruit of the love of truth.
Flowery creepers all around the ashram
It was a charming girl Usha who first took me for Thiruvannamalai girivalam in 2005 and in 2009, it was my OBHR professor who suggested i could mail Sri Ramanasramam and spend a day or two. So that is where it all started and every year, I pray, i should spend few days with Maharishi. This time, mom came with me. Mom saw his painting in the temple and said that her dad looked like Maharishi. This is one the few places, where you can expect the unexpected, be it persons or events.

Peacocks flitting everywhere...
Charming, peaceful place to sit and meditate, with peacocks walking around, colourful flowers including nagalingams, veda recitation, bhajans and pooja, devamritham served thrice a day ultra punctually. It is an ocean of warmth, bliss and tranquility.

Skandashram
On the way to Skandashram
Unlike earlier visits, for the first time, this June, we saw the Pathala Shiva in Thiruvannamalai well lit and cleaned with Maharishi's serene photo.

Virupaksha Cave
We reached Virupaksha cave after climbing down from Skandashram. It is an eerie mixture of calmness interspersed with vehicle sounds far away. One can sense some kind of silent sound out here echoing Maharshi's subtle presence. We spent some time, sitting in prayer, reading books about Maharshi written by his devotees.

The Silent Teacher

The state we call realization is simply being oneself, not knowing anything or becoming anything. If one has realized, he is that which alone is, and which alone has always been. He cannot describe that state. He can only be That. Of course, we loosely talk of Self-realization for want of a better term.

That which is, is peace. All that we need do is to keep quiet. Peace is our real nature. We spoil it. What is required is that we cease to spoil it.
- Bhagawan Sri Ramana Maharshi

Mandookaparni - Bramhi leaves - Vallarai -Centella asiatica and Pashanabhedi - Omavalli - Plectranthus amboinicus

Coconut, Cabbage, Tomatoes, Gourd, Omavalli, Vallarai, Pudhina, Coriander Curry Leaves




Menu (anticlockwise)
Sweet Kesari with fried cashews and cardamoms
Vallarai Omavalli mixed green Milagu Chutney
Crunchy Cabbage Thoran
White Gourd Sambar
Mango Slices
Fresh Curd

Nothing can beat a simple sambhar nicely mixed with melting ghee. Periyamma, makes the best sambhar podi.With cabbage, I always prefer crunchy kerala style thoran, in coconut oil. And the finishing with curd was so heavenly. None of the cup curds sold in shops have that delectable fragrance of home made fresh yoghurt.

Mom plucked some Omavalli and vallarai this morning. Am wondering if brahmi and vallarai are exactly the same. Froggy vallarai mandookaparni and stone breaking omavalli pashanabhedi! Funny but fitting names! Hope the combo of all green things - pudhina, curry leaves, corriander leaves, vallarai and omavalli don't create a havoc. Vallarai is cooling, while omavalli relieves cold. I should have known, not to mix, by the contrasting feel of the leaves. I could not have made 3 different green chutneys in tiny quantities and waited for 20 minutes between eating each of them separately to manage its varied effects. Anyway, this is the last time with this odd combo; need to tell mom, not to pluck them on the same day. I need someone to cook for; without mom, i would not lift a spoon, skipping breakfast rather than cooking something. They say, every thing edible is simultaneously both a medicine and poison, it is the quantity, quality, timing, combination, seasonality etc that makes it fit.

Last Sunday, it was yummy vegetable pulao in fragrant long basmati rice, with loads of green peas, carrot beans and soya nuggets, and it was perfectly cooked and unsticky. And swami and amma came home lunch. But it does not seem like Sunday and I realized it is June 24, only now. Hardly four more days before I leave home, only 4 more days of good food!

Saturday, June 23, 2012

For grandmom

Brinjal, Snake gourd, Curry Leaves, Tomatoes, Sabre Beans

Vadai Payasam



Menu:
Paccha arisi Pal payasam
Yummy mango slices
Nei Paruppu
Podalangai Poriyal
Kathrika poriyal
Ullundu milagu Vadai
Avarakkai Sambar
Kathrika Puli Kolambu
Curd

It was for dad's mom and mom did all chopping and cooking, with me just assisting here and there. Am not a big fan of brinjals, but mom is. Thanks to my sister comparing cooked brinjal seeds to tadpole eggs in 12th standard. Avarakkai sambar is one of our common favourites.

The earliest memory, I have of grandmom is in our village Mahadevi. She was born in Ooty hills. She used to tell andrendaBatchi prince stories. She would make delicious kuli-chatti-panyarams, (KCPs in our home) and had a distinct kai manam. I preferred the salted ones with thick coconut chutney, to the sweet panyarams. She was caring, quite sensitive and she liked kathripoo (violet) coloured saris.

Friday, June 22, 2012

Solanum nigrum - Manathakali - Kakamanci In a Jiffy...



Kakamanci - Manathakkaali
Manathakkali Keerai and Radish

Moong dal, moong soup, carrot, coconut curry leaf chutney, keerai, sambar, mangoes

Was up till 2 am and first thing in the morning, missing my physical routine, was working on my brother's marketing thing. Suddenly, net connection went off and when i saw the actual time; I had just 20 minutes before mom would expect her lunch. Thankfully, mom was also late and it was a needless hurry with me missing my usual svasthavritha VIHE lectures while cooking.

Menu (anticlockwise)
Moong dal sweetened with jaggery and a sprinkle of fresh coconut
Moong water soup with digestive cumin pepper
Fresh Carrot slices
Coconut curry leaf chutney
Manathakkali keerai poriyal
Radish Sambar
Sweet green mangoes
Curd

Periyamma had got coconuts and plucked keerai from village. Seemed so much, after cooking it fit only 2 cups. Wanted to make something with beans for friday, but radish I had kept aside for mooli paranthas, would not last another day, something is wrong with the fridge. Radish, carrots etc ought not be peeled off since that's where maximum nutrients are located, but could not help peeling, given the state of radishes. Learnt radish, cabbage should be used minimally for vata constitution. Wanted to make maanga thokku, but the green mango, turned out to be cloyingly sweet inside. Wanted to make pesarattu, but ended up adding soaked moong dal to adai mix and the left over for my sweet tooth.

My cousin dropped in just as I finished my moong before curd, thankfully, I had saved a ripe mango for dinner. So he had mom's share of sweetened moong and sweet mangoes cubes. Communication gap + his to attending to Chief Guest. He said the camp was over, when i called him after preparing lunch to donate blood. I had not expected him home, since he said, he can't leave his 15 colleagues. Only 50 donated blood in camp it seems. Anyway, his lab in thillainagar is 40 minutes away, i can always drop to his lab. Thillainagar means a bluemoon pizza for me.

Kakamanci yet another lazy day

Manathakkali coconut curry, Tangy Mango, Pumpkin seeds fried in ghee, Venpongal


Months later, i told my dentist sister that my nails are curving up slightly. She said, zinc deficiency, so i added crunchy pumpkin seeds fried in ghee. Wanted to see, how the pumpkin seeds tasted. They were crispy and yummy, guess, while am at home, i will polish off the rest.

Thursday, June 21, 2012

Murangai Keerai and Titkalabu

Tomato, Ginger Mango, Drumstick Leaves, Sorakka

Mango, Sundal, Murangai Keerai Sambar, Sorakka Kootu, MangaInji Thokku, Curd
Menu (anticlockwise)
Delicious Mango slices
Channa sundal
Murangai Keerai Sambar
Sorakkai (titkalabu) kootu
Tangy Maanga Inji Thokku
Fresh fragrant Curd

Am a big fan of mango, ripe or unripe. Who is not! My favourite is ripe mango, next is spicy mavadu, and then comes tangy manga inji thokku. You can mix thokku with plain rice, bread, chappathis, or just eat it just like that. Sweet, spicy, tangilicious. Am concerned that this mango is so ripe in just 1/3rd of its original size; but it is one of those very rare mangoes, that didn't get jammy around the seed, nor mushy on the side, as it fell from the tree. Normally, if 2 fruits fall down, only 1/4th is eatable.

Vitamin A, and instantly papaya, carrot, pumpkin and all orangish yellow fruits would come to my mind. Never realized that murangai keerai was so packed, 3.8 times more Vit A than carrot, 7 times more vitamin C than oranges according to wiki.

And nothing is so fulfilling as thayir sadham, the aroma of fresh curd is simply heavenly. That along with inji maanga thokku is ultimate finishing. But my tummy was full, after just ghee laced sambar and one mouthful of thokku sadham that I resorted to having curd with jaggery for dessert.

On tuesday, mom was telling me that I was doing too much for a white haired lady. I reminded her that cooking food for her was just centimeters compared to her thousands of kilometers. Anyway, she plucks all the green things in the morning for lunch and I just cook and serve.

Thinking about guruvar, reminds me of my nephew Akshay Guru (July 15), who has a Hamsa Mahapurush yoga. Guess, the year before last, when guru was in his swakshetra meena, many babies who also had it as a kendra, ended with this yoga. Tomorrow, at 10 am, am going to meet his father, my cousin (Dec 15) in hospital's blood donation camp. Hope my Hb is at least 12, then i should be able to donate. For years, he has been donating blood once every 3 months. Mine was around 11 point something, so close to 12, when i checked it last time. My batchmate (Apr 24) who had guru in her 7th house, married a guy months junior to her and her first baby girl also had Hamsa Mahapurush yoga. Nothing can be so engrossing as astrological connections for mother, father and the children falling in place.

The most amazing information I learnt was that, even if a girl is expecting her periods the next day, she can donate blood, according to doctors in LSTV on Blood Donation Day. There was this talk on how the contribution of girls in voluntary donation (not replacement) of blood was only 6% in India as per WHO report. I was thinking, they are wasting time, are they not aware, that 60% of Indian women suffer from chronic anemia. But after listening, i realized, to be able to give blood is such a boosting factor, makes you feel good and strong. But most important is that forces you to maintain good health.

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

For Good Night's Sleep

Cardamom flavoured milk
Fragrant milk with divine cardamoms, a pinch of turmeric, crushed ginger and jaggery. Almost payasam in silver tumbler. More than this milk, it is hanuman and skanda nama for a peaceful night sleep.

No matter, how much I cook, lazy me always beseeches mom to make this for me. And mom never says no.


I used to wait for a long time for fresh cow's milk to drink in the silver tumbler. But at last gave up, only in villages, we can get fresh cow's milk. Have to be content with pasteurized packet milk. After reading about maggots in milk pipes, in a case study, in Daft's Managing Organisations, i try not to think about the conditions in which milk is processed. In that case study, the guy had a dilemma on meeting strict time schedules on sending milk trucks. Cleaning the maggot infested pipes meant missing the delivery deadline.

Decades ago, when we used to go to our native village for summer holidays. We had a nameless white cow in the shed. Around 3:30 pm, a milkman would come and milk the cow. After selling most of the yield, there would be a little left for us. I would drink a little of that warm milk without boiling, without sugar. Granny had an aluminium litre can and she would tell me not to put spoon or ladle inside it, since that would alter the volume.

Then, for mattu pongal, we would feed sweet pongal to the calf and cow and lead the cow till a small temple under a tree in the middle of the mud road. It was in my 4th standard summer holidays, i was still puny and leading a huge cow was quite scary for me, but that cow meekly came as I held the rope tightly. The next cow encounter was decades later for a gomatha pooja in Kodumudi Chandramoulishwarar. I had to bow my head even before cow's rear end, after feeding it a banana. Wonder who created these rituals!

Agathi Keerai - Sesbania grandiflora - Agasthi and Bitter gourd

Bittergourd, Tomatoes, Carrot Beans, Pumpkin
Prathamai

Menu:
Ambrosial green moong dal with crushed jaggery
Agathi keerai coconut chutney
Split moong dal khichadi/mand
Wholesome pumpkin poriyal (kootu would be too much for 2)
Pavakai kolambu (sauted in ghee; coconut paste; and it was no longer bitter)
Crunchy carrot beans poriyal
Fresh Curd


I used liberal doses of omam, ginger, zeera in khichadi and kolambu for my cold. Only now, I realized my sis's digicam is still with me and hence this blog. I was chopping vegetables, listening to melodious songs from Mega TV. Typically, i place the lappie on the thavalai listening to audio lectures as I chop and cook. Last time I placed the lappie near the cooker; cooker went off with a loud bang; thank god, the lid didn't blow up and my lappie was saved. These days, am addicted to a series of sixteen lectures of 1.5 hours each from VIHE. I sleep listening to lectures, i wake up listening to lectures. Amazing ayurvedic information in amusing brijvasi's english. He said 20 lectures, but only 16 are available in vihe site. Agreed, i have to listen to same 1.5 hours lecture, thrice at times, since am doing other things as well. Ayurvedic quest intensified, after finding that my batchmate was an ayurvedic doctor. She runs away saying, i ask too many questions, when i pick up some fruit etc to eat, wondering about timing and combination and effects. Need to find a mp3 player that has decent speakers, that i can use 16+ hours a day at a stretch, while cooking and bathing.

Last year, there were so many mangoes (which our neighbour said, was much less compared to the previous year's yield). This time, hardly 1-2 ripe ones falls for my dinner every day. Unripe ones fall off now and almost everyday, it is inji maanga thokku. And most of them are squirrel bitten or god knows what bitten. But lemons grow in decent numbers. So it is lemon juice all the time.

Only yes'day i learnt about amavasya agathi keerai connection. I wanted to taste some agathi keerai, so I kept aside some keerai for today and was shocked on how bitter the chutney was, when tasted separately. But it went well with khichadi and there was no bitterness when eaten together.

P.S. I used to happily peel carrots. Only recently i learnt that its nutrients are present just beneath the skin and hence, carrots should only be washed. On the other hand, am wondering, what i might end up eating along with the peel.

6 months later

BitterGourd, Tomatoes, Ginger


Bittergourd with Jaggery and Ellaichi, Soft yet crunchy ghee rotis
Woke up pretty late at 9 am and saw there were 2 bitter gourds. Mom said, there was a set of vessels to cook without changing the colour of vegetables. Could bittergourd be so yummy - jaggery and ellaichi did the trick. :-)

This time, it was Swami Sarveshananda's Katha Upanisad, that am listening to for months, while cooking went on in the background. Those who are beyond all this hoopla over food and specific taste likings, have their subtle intellect in control over their wandering mind. Realized the importance of rituals only now - training the intellect to take its rightful place over this beautiful mind.

A year later
Pavakkai pitlai, Murungai keerai, Pal Arisi payasam
 Saturdays are for bitter things, if i happen to be at home. Mom said no jaggery, with very little oil, it was still yummy.

Sunday, June 17, 2012

Astisamharaka - Pirandai - Cissus quadrangularis - Veldt Grape

                          (on the way to Virupaksha Cave on Thiruvannamalai hill)

Pirandai (Veldt Grape| Cissus quadrangularis)
Sanskrit: asthisamharaka,
Hindi Nallar
Telugu: Nalleru
For ayurvedic pharmacological profile

Few Uses:  source
  1. heals bone fractures, relieves pain of back and spine
  2. cures digestive ailments - kills worms, cures piles, constipation, dysentery
  3. in post menopausal osteoporosis, irregular menstruation
  4. analgesic in eye and ear diseases
When mom first made a chutney using pirandai, i said, am not going to touch it. I said yuck to Aloe Vera too. Now am learning about Mudakathaan keerai, kodukaanpali, valaarai, all green things, that grow in wild on the road side, backyard. Why buy exotic medicines packaged, nature provides it all, right at the door step. But many cement the soil, or throw trash all around.

There are many recipes on web, few are:


A year later, pirandai has become dal chaval especially after a good rains.