Tomato Chutney

There are many dishes that I have experimented with...but this has proven to be the most popular and hence I would like to share it with you all...

Tomato Chutney (Can be served with Idli/Dosa/Paratha/Rice/Anything you want to have it with!)

Ingredients (for 3-4 ppl):

4 tomatoes
6-7 green chillies (or to taste)
1-1.5 tbsp hing/asafoetida (most important)
1/2 tsp haldi/turmeric powder
2 tbsp chana dal
1.5 tbsp urad dal
1 tsp mustard seeds
2-3 tbsp oil
1-2 tsp red chilly powder (adjust qty with green chillies)
1-2 tsp sambar powder (optional)
salt to taste

Method:

Wash and cut the tomatoes into big chunks. Wash the green chillies and slit them vertically in halves and keep aside. Heat oil in a pan and add the chana dal first and saute for a while, once it is halfway towards browning (approx. 1-1.5mins) then add the urad dal and saute for another 1-1.5 mins or until both of them seem just a minute away from browning. Then add the mustard seeds. Once they splutter, add the hing/asafoetida, haldi/turmeric powder, slit green chillies and saute for a few seconds. Then immediately add the tomato chunks, sprinkle the salt to taste and add a little water if necessary (it may not be necessary if the tomato itself is very juicy). Mix this a little and then let it cook on medium heat for 8-10 mins or until the tomatoes seem almost cooked. Just when you are about to close the heat/stove or even just as soon as you close the stove, add the red chilly powder and sambar powder. Mix this mixture a little so that these powders blend into the mixture. Now let this mixture cool and then grind it in a blender or with a hand blender. Serve hot/warm with the desired variety of food as mentioned above.

Sweetheart

The gentle smile blooming on your lips,

With joyful bliss lifts my heart,

That untouched concern in your eyes,

What do I say...You are my sweetheart.

Your silent prayers for my soul,

What more could I need while being apart,

And when I think of you...and the good ol' days,

What do I say...You are my sweetheart!

सुनसान धडकनों की चाल में...गुदगुदी सी जगा जाते हो,
शराबी मन को...नशे के जाम पिला जाते हो,
हवाओं में समाकर...मेरी नम आखों को छू जाते हो,
कभी यूँ ही...मुझमे आकर मुस्कुरा जाते हो,
फ़िर बड़े ही प्यार से...अपने प्यार में छोड़ जाते हो!

Thoughts...

Knock Knock! Whose there?
I am a thought...you better beware,
I aint someone who comes and goes,
I am someone who stays and grow!

I explore, I find,
From the farthest corners of mind,
I create, I master,
Things which do quite matter!

Well! I'm abandoned as a spare,
But you still beware,
I will always be there...
Knock Knock! Whose there?

Do I Really Miss...

"I miss you!" or "I miss that day...!" - How many times do we mean these words....or do we even know what these words really mean. Maybe yeah...maybe no...but who cares as long as the feelings are felt...the words are spoken...the message is conveyed!

Sometimes...no...most of the time....we wanna tell the other person how much we miss someone...our beloved...the apple of our eye...the dearest from the realms of our heart! Similarly, how we miss an event or a moment in our life...! We want that gratification so many times of someone 'understanding' our feelings of missing that special someone...we want someone to acknowledge and respond to these feelings of ours and take us to an area where we feel a safe haven for these feelings of ours...a recognition or attention-seeking and attention-getting of sorts.

In fact the word 'missing' itself...is probably the hypocritical or sub-conscious process of seeing your feelings or emotional requirements rather demands or ego needs being unsatisfied; and then we expressing these in emotional terms. We 'miss' someone, something or some event...as we want it to happen over and over again to satisfy our emotional demands or ego needs most of the time. More often than not, it has less and less to do with pure feelings.

Basically, as we unravel this layer of the words 'I Miss...', I think it is mostly the fact that we are not able to rise above our attachments and start living in the profoundness of the moment at that time...and not live in the moments of the past (memories) and the moments of the future (fears, dreams and anticipations). Well...there is a lot that goes on and goes in...

More soon....

That thing called LOVE....

So many times....i have discovered...and re-discovered that love is more than poetry....more than you and me....more than the heart, the feelings, the smiles, the happiness, the chocolates, the roses....even the things we do 'only' for the one we love!

"Love is habit" I had quoted long long ago...a habit formed by the heart or the brain or the part of the brain that calls itself the heart (one more write-up on this coming up!). Most of us do these things because it is deep within us we certify, gratify or whatever you call it...ourselves for feeling a certain way or doing a certain thing for someone. We may whitewash ourself and the world around us by saying that it was not something I thought of...it was something I said or did only and only for this person I love...be it parents, spouse, lover, fiance, sibling, friend or randomly anyone on the street.

But the truth is that it is WE who decide....let us love this person...and then subsequently....let us do this or say that for this person we love or rather have 'chosen'to love. This choice that we make....or are made to make by 'love ;-)' is actually the warmth, comfort, fuzziness, compliance or whatever synonymous word or feeling you may want to associate with the feeling of approval you get from within you for feeling that or doing this.

Nevertheless...it fuels us, motivates us....the only simple difference is we choose to externalize this motivation, this source of adrenalin rush, this push of courage...we name or factor to love. Ladies and gentlemen....behold the power of the universe within you, steered by your brain and your sixth sense...that is most popularly and well-utilized and well-acknowledged by this externalized...most powerful emotion in the world called...LOVE!

Time to pull up the socks...Just when is it the right time!

Right here...right now...all the time...it is never too early or too late to start the journey! Who defines when the journey supposedly 'becomes' correct or incorrect or as the cynical world likes to call it WRONG. The deal is ladies and gentlemen....not to get judgmental of the outcome, or the actions, the audience, the non-audience, the circumstances, the environment, the surroundings, so on and so forth....and for that matter even judgemental of your own self and your conscience.

Maybe life should just be a flow of fluid thoughts turned into actions that keep you comfortable and breathing normally. As the cliched concept goes...if you are going to do anything 'Wrong' (supposedly - more so according to yourself)...then you will feel it surely, definitely....100%. Your heart rate will increase, you will start doubting other unrelated actions of your own, you will feel angry or irritated or sad for no reason, or react that way for a not-so-important or strong reason.

So every time you do something or relate to someone that or who respectively, convinces you without the above-mentioned side effects, and makes you feel safe inside, makes you smile inside, makes you lighter and feeling self-worthy and self-confident of reaching the skies - non-apologetically....trust yourself, be there for yourself...like that rock solid support you always looked for. Because the truth is that if you are not going to be convinced to stand up for yourself...then who else will be interested. Lets face it...almost no one. Not even your own parents, spouse, siblings, friends or the world....the world we all are so desperate to prove ourself to.

So honey...spring up on your toes...right now....the time is now....now or never....this moment....this very moment is the most perfect time....the absolute time in the history of your life when your destiny is waiting to tread on a new path. A path of self-fulfillment, a path of contentment, of truth, of perseverance, of real and reliable happiness and smiles...a path of you and your footprints on the sands of time. Do it now...because you never know...someone out there is watching you...waiting for you to inspire them, waiting for you to change their destiny, waiting for you to find 'YOU' so that they can discover themselves....

NOW!

A Wandering Mind...

Sometimes...I wonder! Why is it that we have options...choices...! Are choices empowering...or are choices limiting!?? Limiting us to the options they provide...limiting us to the perspectives the provide...maybe even limiting us to the life they provide.

Have we ever gone beyond...beyond those choices...and done something totally different. Life for example, presents us with such situations every single moment. Situations with great possibilities, amazing potential and possibly giving us a liberating future. Lets explore this a little more with an example...

I have holidays from college...and I have two options..either I go meet my family - parents, brothers and sisters, uncles, aunts...or I go meet my old pals from school...take a trip with them to some place...which option should I choose...

Some want to be with family...some with friends...but how many of us actually choose a third...unknown option. An option...whose path unfolds with only the moment passing by...with this example...that option could be...maybe setting out on a backpack with no money...on a countryside journey...or resolving to become the best swimmer/boxer/circus artist/just anyone you can be in that time...

Ever wondered...what if life was made of that third...unknown...adventurous choice...wonder on friends...will come back with more to explore...soon!

Happy exploring of your own until them :-) !!