Ring Ring Ring… That’s the imaginary phone ringing. “Hello” says Mittu, pretending to pick the call.
Now this is when I start listening, cause unlimited fun comes from these phone calls. I wasn’t disappointed.
“That was grandma”. Said Mittu to me. “Oh How is she?” I asked.
“Not good. She fell down and broke her hand”. “I am so sorry, how did it happen?” I asked.
Mittu : “Grandma fell from the top of a mountain!”
Me: “Huh!!! What was she doing up there?”
Mittu: “Grandma doesn’t like her kitchen since there is no fan in there. So she went to the top of the mountain and finished her cooking there. When she was bringing the food to the table, she stumbled over a chair and fell flat.”
Me: “How did she get the table there?”
Mittu:”Oh, grandpa carried a ladder and a slide on one hand, and the table on the other.”
Me: “A slide and a ladder!!??”
Mittu: “Yeah, Don’t you know how difficult it is to climb a mountain!! Ladder makes it easy. And slide is so that you can come down pretty easy and quick.”
Me: “Yeah, that’s really clever.”
Mittu:”Now, I gotta go and see grandma in the hospital. Hope they have a spare hand to replace the one that broke.” And off she goes in her scooter to our sofa (the hospital apparently). She talks softly to her grandma and reports that things are fine.
In the background, my son is now picking up another imaginary call. I bet that is going to be fun too!
You have no idea how difficult it is to keep a straight face during these conversations. A hint of smile in your face and they run away, accusing you of mocking them. I am storing my laughter and would go to the bathroom and laugh it till tears roll from my eyes.
All this happened while I was making Kumbhakonam Kadappa for Radhika’s Blog Hop Wednesdays.
Another edition of Blog Hop Wednesdays and my blog for this week is the awesome Bon Appetit by Priya Sreeram. I had chosen at least six recipes before finalizing on this Kumbhakonam Kadappa recipe. Hop on to her place for a menu with so much of variety that its confusing to choose one!
Ingredients:
- Potatoes : 3 medium
- Moong Dal : 1/2 cup, uncooked
- Onion : 1, chopped
- Garlic : 2-3 pods, chopped fine
- Green Chillies : 3, chopped fine
- Curry leaves : 1 sprig
- Mustard seeds : 1 tsp
- Water : 2-3 cups, adjust according to the consistency required
- Oil : 1 tbsp
- Salt to taste
- Roasted Bengal Gram : 1 1/2 tbsp
- Fennel seeds : 1 tsp
- Coriander seeds : 1 tsp
- Coconut : 1/4 cup, scraped
- Tomato : 1 medium
Method:
- Wash the dal and potatoes. Skin the potatoes, dice them into big cubes.
- Pressure cook potatoes and dal with enough water (about 1 1/2 cups) for three whistles.
- Once done, mash the dal fine, but keep the potatoes a bit chunky. Keep aside.
- Grind together the items under the list for grinding.
- Heat oil in a pan, add the mustard seeds. Once they splutter add the curry leaves, onion, chillies and garlic.
- Once the onions turn brown, add the ground paste and fry for 2-3 minutes till the raw smell goes off.
- Add the mashed dal and potatoes. Add 1-2 cups of water and cook for about 10 minutes.
- The consistency should be fairly thick, but not too thick either.
- Optional step : Heat 2 tsp oil in a pan, add a chopped onion and 2-3 chopped green chillies. Saute till onions are done and pour on top of the prepared curry.
- Serve with dosa or idly. Serves 6 – 8.
Note:
These taste the best with dosa or idly. With rice, it tastes no different than a dal.
And does anyone have a grandma who goes to cook in the mountains because they don’t have a fan in the kitchen?
Linked to:
- Blog Hop Wednesdays
- Hearth and Soul Hop
- Susan’s MLLA, hosted by Cathy this month
They are really yummy I make them too…, and of course a lovely write up…
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That’s really cute ….and the lentils looks so yum ….nice combo …
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Yummy dal & a nice story.. First time to u r place.. Following it..
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wow…am so glad u visited my space…i jus loved this conversation ur daughter had with her imaginary phone call! i jus love such stories:-) Lovely blog u have. Happy to follow you on Twitter Rajani
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loved reading tring tring along with trying to smell the dal
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enjoyed reading the conversation..as much as the daal…:0
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Lovely read, and the lentils look yum!
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lovely conversation & appetizing dish :)
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Super dish and I loive potatoes!!!!
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I would love to keep yourlittle one company on one of his phone calls :) Love the dal!
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what a sweet exchange with your little one! :) lovely post dear
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That looks so simple to make… And I loved your blog post starting off with the little conversation with ur kid.. Sooo cute.
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I too love this one, looks very delicious.
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tht’s really so sweet of ur kids – hope these simple pleasures of life bring u joy always. I could almost imagine the conversation happening before me and yes even I have been party to some wierd in a fun way sort of imaginary phone calls. It is difficult not to burst in to peels of laughter else u r scorned off – wowee- such unadulterated joys of life !!!! Thank you for the sweet words rajani- the dish looks yum but I loved the phone calls :)
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dish looks good Rajani…thank you for commenting on my post….and I won’t give up on the Khandvi…will see it on my blog pretty soon:))and I was wondering how I can follow ur blog?I am not able to see any google follow or facebook like!!
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Don’t you ever stop writing something like this Rajani. Things so simple such as this always unwinds a lot of people by putting a smile on their face. You do not know I guess the wonderful job you are doing btw. the kadappa rocks. My hometown’s signature recipe.
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lovely post !! and yummy dish too :-) Loved reading the conv again n again.. brought a smile to my day dear !
Cheers
Kalyani
Join me in a 100-day Global Food Festival here
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sounds delicious…really tempting
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What an interesting conversation. Yeah really hard to keep a straight face.
Yummy curry..
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Super inviting kadappa, makes me drool..thats a super fun conversation..
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lovely post…nice recipe and pics
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What a fun conversation! I too have a hard time keeping a straight face. Once my oldest son cracked the toilet tank. He came and told me that there was a little leak but soon it would be big. When I went I asked him how it happend and he said he wanted to know how it work so he removed the lid, but it was heavy and he dropped it on the tank and that made the crack. He was so earnest, and I knew I should scold, but I had an overwhelming desire to laugh, so I put my hands over my face. He thought I was crying (I might have been because I was working so hard to keep from laughing) and he patted my back and said, “don’t cry mommy, I’m sure Daddy can fix it”. which made me laugh harder, so I had to let him know I wasn’t crying. :)
Your soup looks delicious! Thank you for sharing the recipe with the Hearth and Soul Hop.
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dish is simple but tempting
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This kadappa dish looks delicious, nice one with rice and roti.
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