PENNED DOWN : the Unseen Magic of Native Life

The magic of native life
Is unseen and unknown
The mind is far from all the strife
And nature chimes a single tone.

The quiet resonance of water
Gracefully washing over my feet
Tempts me to sit beside her for many an hour
And the virtuous air around me, I devour. 

Happy is nature, when man could care, 
He has moved away and forgotten nature
She still continues to maintain her flow 
Thro the evenings and Brightness
Touching by the banks, Painting the leaf and the skies 
With all the Colours and their radiance

~Divya Hegde

FOOD : Accompany Me!! : Instant Cauliflower and Carrot Pickle

Pickle.. and my mouth waters... Kuch Teekha, Kuch Khattha, Kuch Namkeen, Kuch Meetha,... when all these come together.... it's perfect for Accompanying anything that is laid out on your Thali. Most people have their signature pickles... This is prepared by My Mother in law, But even Tastier, by Her Sister. I remember she gave this big box of Cauliflower pickle for us, on our way to Cochin, just as another accompaniment for the Chapathi's, and by the time we reached and spent a day in Cochin, i had a severe stomach burn, cause I had finished the entire box of This Pickle just like that, depriving my husband of the same. He had this shocked look with 'How did you manage to gobble up all of it' written all over on his face.  Its quite Instant... hardly takes time.
No Indian Household goes without a Jar of Pickle ... I suddenly decided to do this up, for my Mom and Dad who were coming to Konstanz finally, and I was going to see them after a full 6.5 months. Also another reason was that, Raghu had bought 2 big cauliflowers' because it was 'Sasta' and i had no clue what to do with them. I made sabji's, Rice, and what not.. and still had One Cauliflower left... So this pickle.

You will need :
Cauliflower-sliced finely and real small
Carrot chopped finely
Chilli Powder-on how spicy you want it to be
Turmeric
Ginger-3"x3" piece sliced finely
Mustard seeds - 2 tsp
Oil - i used a  little extra- like about 6 spoons (use coconut oil, all the better)
Salt
Lemon Juice
Hing- Im very generous with this

So, You wash the cauliflower and carrots and allow them to dry. Put them in a bowl, add Lemon Juice and Ginger into it and mix. Add salt.
In a small pan, add oil, allow to get hot. Add mustard seeds and let it sputter. Add the Hing and allow to cool slightly. In the same Oil, I added Turmeric and Chilli Powder. (Add them when the oil is not really hot, so that they don't get burnt and you don't lose the red color). I give it this mix a light whip in the Blender, so that the Mustard is slightly Coarse. Add the same into the Cauliflower carrot and Ginger mix and mix well. Check for salt and Lemon. If you think you need more of it, add it and allow it to all come together for about 2-3 hours.
You could also add many more veggies into this, Like : Peas, Amla cut finely, Raw Mangoes finely chopped,    tender Turmeric stems, etc.

FOOD : EuroGrub : Gnocchi (No-chi)

Something I was thinking while i was back in India... when i wasn't really introduced to this. Was basically comparing it with our traditional fresh pasta, where the dough is kneaded with egg and salt and the fresh pasta was ready. Was trying to re-adapt the same, by adding potato into the Flour and egg base, and was sure that it would churn out into something definitely interesting, cause ultimately anything with Potato is 'Bliss Anyday'. But this time when I got to Germany, i realized Gnocchi is something exactly what I was trying to attempt.
so getting down to making the Gnocchi :
You will need
For the Basic Gnocchi:
2 boiled potatoes
Flour (adjust till it becomes a nice soft dough)
Egg white-1
Salt
Olive oil-1 spoon

Mash the Potato real fine. Add egg white, flour, olive oil and salt, and make a soft dough. Now by Soft, I don't mean really soft, something that you can work on. Make sure it's not hard.. Make Little balls of it and roll it thin into 3/4" dia long ropes. Cut them into 1.5" bits and keep them aside.
Even better, if you can pick up a ready-made packet of Gnocchi.

For the Sauce :
Mushrooms-7-8 sliced
Beans-halved and cut
Butter 4-5 spoons
Flour 1 spoon
Milk 1 cup
White Wine 1/4 glass
Oregano
Garlic 4-5 pods finely chopped
1/2 Onion slit lengthwise
Pepper and Salt
Gouda Cheese

In a pan, add 1 spoon of butter and saute the mushrooms and beans with a little salt. Add half of the Garlic chops and onion and let it be on the flame till they are just about done. Add the white wine and let it evaporate on high flame. Let the beans not lose its crispness. Keep aside.

Meanwhile, in another Pan, add the remaining butter. Once hot, add Flour and immediately mix well, so that no lumps are formed. Add the milk, remaining garlic chops, salt and pepper. Mix well, remove from flame and then add the cheese. Add the cheese once its out of the flame, otherwise it may stick to the pan.
Put it back on the flame, add the sauteed veggies, and mix well.

Meanwhile in a pot, boil water with a little salt in it, and add the Gnocchi once the water starts boiling. The gnocchi will rise to the top like in within 2 minutes..  Remove and add to the above mix and mix well. Check for salt. Your Gnocchi is ready.

For the extra zing, Add oregano over it. If you want it more elaborate, Assemble in a Casserole, top it with cheese and Bake for a while. Serve with some Red wine!

FOOD : Nudeln : Schezwan

I remember my boss's son back in 2005, who never ate spicy food ever, enjoyed these noodles soo much. That cute little thing was enjoying the nudeln, with his nose and face all red due to the spice. This is like my own version of Schezwan, which i particularly like, cause they kinda do turn out very close to what is available in the restaurants... of course minus the Ajinomoto. I don't really cook Chinese too much at all, not sure why tho, but I do try the noodles.

you will need
1 packet of Hakka Noodles-available at all stores
Chilli flakes (i powder the red chillies in my blender and have it ready most of the time)
5-6 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1" ginger, finely chopped
1 cup Spring onion finely chopped
Vegetables(Carrot, tender beans, cabbage-all cut lengthwise and real fine)
1.5 spoons of soya sauce
Salt
Oil

Method:
Boil the Noodles separately. Add oil while doing so,so that they Dont stick to each other.

In a wide bottom pan/Wok, add about 5-6 spoons of oil, keep on a medium flame, add the garlic cloves, ginger, and now increase the flame, and immediately add Spring Onion, and keep stirring constantly. Add the veggies if you intend to, and give it a good stir, and mix well till they are kind of cooked but not fully. They should be crisp and not soft. Add the Chilli flakes at this stage and also the soya sauce and give it a good mix. Add the noodles, salt and mix well and allow on the flame (reduce the flame now) for some time. For a slightly crunchy texture, you can add roasted and ground peanuts here. I like them. Mix well and serve. :) pretty simple a meal, specially when you are in a tearing Hurry and Rush!!

If you like the egg noodles. you can break 2 eggs once you finish adding the Spring onion. Give it a mix and scramble them. Then you can add the Chilli flakes and proceed with the remaining.

For chicken, Add shredded Chicken (cooked) after frying the spring onions. the rest of the procedure remains the same.