Cooking&more

Here's one more recipe from my in laws kitchen...here we live in a place where the old world charm of doing things from scratch isn't forgotten..so no store bought flours and instant mixes, everything is homemade, just as grandma made it. Of course, its much more easier and faster to buy a pack of frozen food and reheat it, but the fun of cooking from scratch and the satisfaction of knowing exactly what goes into your plate far outweighs the effort. In most kitchens drumsticks are generally relegated to one of the ingredients in sambar or curry or dal, sort of like a side character in a multi starrer, but in this dish drumsticks are given a place of their own. Drumsticks are cooked in a rich creamy gravy of rice, sesame seeds and coriander with a hint of cumin. But I guess I better stop rhapsodizing and get on with the recipe 3 drumsticks 6 tbsp uncooked rice 4 tbsp sesame seeds 1 tbsp coriander seeds 1/2 tbsp cumin seeds 4 green chillies 3 cloves garlic salt to taste Oil for

Its been months since I posted here, well the truth is I am in India, and before coming here I had planned on making something new everyday and posting it here. I am learning a lot of new dishes at my in laws place, but somehow never got around to posting them. But today I saw my mother in law make a curry that was so easy to prepare and so tasty, that I couldnt help, but post it. The photo unfortunately is missing, as we polished it off before I could get hold of a camera and take a snap. 2 cups Okra cut in halves 2 cups ridge gourd peeled and cut in 1 inch chunks 2 tbsp jaggery grated extract of small lemon sized ball of tamarind 1 tsp urad dal 1 tsp mustard seeds 1 tsp cumin seeds 2-3 red chillies salt and chilli powder to taste oil for tempering Heat oil in a kadhai, add red chillies, urad dal, mustard seeds and cumin seeds, when seeds begin to splutter, add ridge gourd, okra, salt, chilli powder, tamarind extract and jaggery. cover and let it simmer until well cooked and all flavo