Short break until Jan 2011

Thanks so much!

It has been a very hectic couple of weeks at work, and so will it be the next several weeks until the end of December 2010. I am traveling a lot, and therefore have no energy at all to post anything new here. I come home only during weekends, and those two days are really hectic with all the cleaning, cooking, washing and of course resting.

So, thanks everyone for all the wonderful comments. Have a wonderful rest of 2010, and see you all in the coming year 2011.

ತುಲಸೀ ಹಬ್ಬ/ವಿವಾಹ – ಉತ್ವಾನ ದ್ವಾದಶಿ – Tulasi Habba – Nov 18th 2010

This year ತುಲಸೀ ಹಬ್ಬ/ವಿವಾಹ – ಉತ್ವಾನ ದ್ವಾದಶಿ – Tulasi Habba is celebrated on November 18th 2010, Thursday. All the details for doing this pooje have been posted on the blog. Links for all the slokas, songs to be sung, and pooja procedure can be found at the following link:

• Pooja details

P.S: I will be missing this festival this year, I am traveling to Minneapolis for work on Sunday and will be returning back on Friday night.

Bisibele Bath – With a Twist

Can you guess what’s the twist without reading the next few lines, just by looking at the picture above?

At my work, one of my colleagues had brought a dish with cracked wheat. She is also a vegetarian from North India. The dish was very good, and she said it had cracked wheat. I knew cracked wheat is good for health, however had never brought the same or even tried it. So, on Monday when I visited the local Indian stores, I saw cracked wheat and brought a packet.

I am sure you all know where I am going with this dish right? Everyone in my house loves Bisibele Bath. However, I prepare this rarely because it is too filling, and sits in your stomach like a cement. All the rice, dal, vegs makes it too heavy in calories. So, when I tasted this dish from my colleague, I told her I could try making Bisibele Bath, and I did it yesterday. It was quick, easy, and I was able to put all the ingredients in the pressure cooker in 10 minutes.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup cracked wheat (ಗೋಧಿ ಅಕ್ಕಿ)
• 1 cup toor dal (ತೊಗರಿ ಬೆಲೆ)
• 1 cup vegetables ( carrots, beans, capsicum, corn)
• 3/4 cup sprouted moong dal (ಹೆಸರ ಕಾಳು)
• 1/2 tsp tamrind pastes, 1 tsp tomato paste
• 3 tsp bisibele bath powder
• salt to taste
• For seasoning : oil, mustard seeds, hing, curry leaves, haldi

Method:

• Wash the dal and also cracked wheat. I used frozen vegetables, so there was no chopping work.
• Put this along with all the ingredients listed other than the seasoning into the pressure cooker.
• Add 4 cups of water, and salt and mix well.
• I kept this for 5 whistles on the gas stove.
• Once the pressure cools down, add the seasoning to the bisibele bath. I wanted this to be healthy, so didn’t add any seasoning. Trust me, it did taste good.
• Serve with Raita. Enjoy a healthy and tasty bisibele bath with a twist.

P.S:  No onion or garlic in this dish makes it an option to be prepared on the days you are fasting, like Thursday’s, Saturday’s, or even Mondays when I have seen many ladies fasting.

Also, since this dish is so healthy now, with no oil if you don’t add seasoning, no rice, I cheated a  little bit and added spicy mixture on top. It does make a difference. Way to stay healthy..

Any suggestions for what this should be called? I would say “Cracked Bisibele bath”. When I came up with this name, everyone started laughing, which again is healthy, since the more you laugh the longer you live.