Flowers nearby

Come February, L square with its golden trumphet tree with tabebuia in full bloom comes to my mind. It was a delight to see those bright yellow flowers all over. Years later, everyday on the way to office, i would glance longingly at a short roadside trumphet while the cab would speed by.

Peace Lily or Cobra Plant

The building next to our PG had this peace lilies. They have also kept this indoors in our office. Wilts soon when it is completely indoors.

Euphorbia - locals call it phorbia - Am not a fan of this raw flesh coloured flower...

Cute purples and pinks

The cut flowers were in a nearby bouquet shop. If i happen to return from office early, i would inhale the vehicle fumes and cross the road twice just to savour the fragrance of rajanigandha (tubrose) for few moments. There were lots of gerberas, arranged in baskets

Baby's breath Gypsophila

Pink Asiatic Lilies

Pristine white Gladiolus

Gladiolus or Natal Lily

Yellow daisies

Reminds me of James Steerforth calling DC as Daisy. It was a library book, that some one didn't return for years and that was the first novel, i read during my 7th std summer holidays. I would have read it some 8 times, picturing a cute piscean school mate as Emily and school pupil leader as Steerforth.

Almost like a large blue thaatha poo minus yellow core - Aster Sun helenes

Table Roses



Jolly good yellows



Pumpkin orange rhapsodies



Titilating crimson reds

On the way to Agra, we had our breakfast at a motel, where 2 idlis, one tiny scoop of rava upma, sambar coconut chutney 1 vada cost Rs 100+. Mom had a heart attack seeing the rate, the quality and quantity.  But, these vibrant kaleidoscopic veggies, motley of tableroses with the humming bees all round made it up.



Lovely lemons, malachite chillies, peppy carrots and fiery scarlet chillies



Kothavaranga Paruppu Usili Parangi Murungai Keerai Poriyal

Kothavaranga, Poosanikai, Carrot, Thakkali, Poosanikai

Pachai Payiru Vellam, Moong dal soup, Carrot, Parangikai Poriyal, Kothavarnag Paruppu Usili, Murungai Keerai Poriya, Curd, Ribbon Murukku, Poosanikai Sambar

Last meal for this week, before i leave home this evening. Mom had chopped all the vegetables, so cooking time was very less.

• Started with ellaichi flavoured, green moong dal mixed thoroughly with crushed jaggery with a topping of raisins and cashews sauteed in ghee.Kept a little for the end
• A bit of moong dal water and kothavaranga water to make a soup with a dash of corriander and and cumin powder.
• Today being Sunday, wanted something orange to suit the day. So fresh sweet carrots slices
• Parangikai Kootu, Kothavaranga Paruppu Usili and Murugai Keerai Kootu
• Poosanikai Sambar Sadam
• Ribbon Murukku
• Fresh curd

The best part was soothing, salt-less fresh curd rice towards the end. Sheer ambrosia.

Tamatar Paneer with Shobanjana Parantha

Tomatoes, Corriander, Paneer, Cashews

Shobanjana (Murungai Parantha) Tamatar Paneer

Without onions, i was wondering, how to get the paneer gravy consistency, till my Odiya colleague suggested cashew paste, just 5 cashews and paneer was simply yum! Ideally keerai should not be had at night. Mom said, tomorrow is there to cleanse up the alimentary canal.

I will have to start from home at 7 pm tomorrow and i will not have time for making paranthas, not even dosas which will make me feel thirsty later. So it would be idlies with corriander chutney, since pudhina chutney would make me hungry in the middle of the night.

Strawberry Kanne! Vinveli Penne!

"Read not to contradict and confute, nor to believe or take for granted; nor to find task and discourse; but to weigh and consider" - Sir Francis Bacon Sr.

Strawberries instantly takes me to "Autobiography of a Yogi". Paramahamsa Yogananda says, how his guru Yukteshwar Giri, predicted that, he would relish the very same strawberries when offered in America, which he had disliked initially in Kashmir years ago. Another story told, how a saint predicted, the date on which the king would eat previous day's gruel, which happened as predicted. So does this mean, you can predict the kind of food that you would eat, eagerly or in disgust? It is another thing, that after reading yogi's autobiography, i made mom fry my poories in ghee. Sheer ambrosia it was. It is so difficult to just weigh and consider and not believe what you read.

I had read in wholesome and unwholesome combination that milk should not be mixed with fruits and the only healthy milk shake was dates milkshake, since the rasa virya vipaka were same. I thought, i could add honey as at least, if not milk or curd. And then this site told me that not even honey could be added. So i proceeded to eat strawberries, as it was, without any honey or without milk. I could not eat more than 2 strawberries and finally decided to make a smoothie, much against combinations. I just prayed, that this strawberry milkshake, should not harm my body and savoured the delicacy to hearts content.

 

Goopshimbi Kakamanci Shobanjana

Kothavaranga Cluster Beans Goopshimbi

Kakamanci Manathakkali Keerai Black Nightshade

Shobjanjana Murunga Keerai Drumstick Leaves

Kothavaranga Parupu Usili

Kakamachi Manathakkali Keerai Black Nightshade

Dessert Dates Chikkis, Kothavaranga paruppu Usili, Manathakkali Keerai poriyal, Murungai keerai Sambar

Dessert Dates Chikkis, Kothavaranga paruppu Usili, Manathakkali Keerai poriyal, Murungai keerai Sambar, Curd

Kothavaranga Cluster Beans (V-PK+)

Kothavaranga Paruppu Usili is my favourite.

Kakamanci (Manathakkali)  

Shobanjana (Drum stick leaves)
As mom was plucking the drumstick leaves, a part of the whole branch broke off. So i was wondering, whether to make drumstick leaves or manathakkali keerai. Finally decided to make just keerai sambar and make the rest of the murugai keerai tomorrow.

Staying away from home in a PG, my serrated tongue (Vit B2 - niacin deficiency) and curled up nails (Zinc deficiency) made me re-think about food that i mindlessly ate when work rather when there was a gap between these perpetual meetings. Much against my no drug policy, i popped in multivitamin B-Cosules.I ordered a fruit bowl after speaking with my dentist sister. I was under the impression that winter was almost over with January. For a vata pitta person like me, my bones shook me inside out, i was cramped, especially in the evenings and nights. This is what happens when i forget my ritucharya. I bought 1 kg of ghee, hope the joints and bones don't make its presence felt, all nights with dry chill winds. Our festivals - deepawali, kaarthigai deepam in winter with its oily unguent sweets are so very scientific.

I was thinking whether it made sense to come home taking so much trouble. Only after seeing the kitchen, i realized how mom was eating. She didn't have oil to light lamps, leave alone cooking. She bought curd and milk just because i was coming home. So this day, i made everything with ghee, since, no cooking oil was there at home. Now, i have definitely drop in once a while to make sure, she is, rather both of us, are eating well. Next week, i have to buy groceries, especially, pulses, oil when i come home and not stop with just fruits. Even when i could cook in my dupleix, before i shifted to PG, cooking and eating for just self made no sense, and i would starve, being so lazy, to cook, that my house owner started keeping food in the kitchen for me. There ought be someone to cook for.

I have a question, i remember reading in a book, that oil bathing on sunday made one lose luster, similar other prohibitions are there for monday and thursday. In a way, it makes sense, since sun, moon and jupiter are the luminaries. But for an predominantly vata type of person with extreme dryness, would it make sense not to self massage with oil just the body with oil on sunday, monday or thursday?