The below is a piece of writing, and not real. The story is my entry for the theme ‘Food with fiction’ for Blogging Marathon.

“You would make me the happiest person on Earth if you accept my proposal (of marriage). I want to be with you for the rest of my life. Can we start a new life together?  “, he asked her almost 2 years back. She had said yes, but he wasn’t sure whether he was the happiest person on earth now. He wasn’t even sure he was happy.

“Two years of working together, one year of friendship, four months of whirlwind romance …And now its fights everyday! About everything! What went wrong?! I used to be crazy about her, but now she drives me crazy.” He thought dryly.

A year into marriage, he realized the whole thing was not what he expected. The tiny demure woman he loved is now a raging demon he avoids as much as he can. “If I drive, its rash driving. If I watch TV, then I am neglecting her. For anything and everything, there is a way of doing things and it’s always HER way. Everything should be done a certain way and its the end of the world if it doesn’t.”

“It’s end of the world for me anyway”, he thought as he drove aimlessly. After today’s fight, he was sure she would have left their home. May be he should not go back to check!

He knew not how, but he was there in the beach now. He parked his car and walked towards the waves. For a second he considered walking right into the ocean. “It’s too big. It will drown out all my problems.”

He sat there watching the waves. Not thinking anything. Just looking at the waves.

He had no idea how long he was there. It was dark when his phone beeped. It was a message from his wife.

“You would make me the happiest person on Earth if you accept my apology. I want to be with you for the rest of my life. Can we start a new life together please? ”

He couldn’t help but smile. He took the phone out. He knew it was going to be a long call. He knew they had a lot to talk. And he knew it was better over the phone than in person.

And above all, he knew that everything was going to be fine now.

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And while they sort out their problems, let us have a look into the protein rich dosa kind of pancake here. Pesarattu is an Andhra specialty and its served with upma.

Though ideally it’s cooked in a lot of oil, you can skip/reduce it when using a non stick pan. Now that makes it healthy, a good source of protein and a perfect dinner for sports enthusiastic kids. I am sure Pradnya would agree with me.

Sending this over to Pradnya’s place where she is serving Nutritious Food for Sports Enthusiasts for Valli’s Kid’s Delight, this month.

Recipe Source : Cook’s Hide out. You can check out the recipe for Upma there. I will be updating it later here.

Ingredients:

• Green gram dal, whole  :  2 cups
• Rice                                       :    1/4 cup
• Green chilies                     :    4-5
• Ginger                                  : 2″ piece
• Cumin seeds                      : 1tsp
• Salt, to taste
• Oil
• Onion                                  :    1, chopped fine
• Jeera , to sprinkle on top

Method:

1. Soak whole green gram dal and rice overnight or at least for 4 hours.
2. Grind the dal along with the rice, chillies, 1 tsp jeera, ginger and salt. You can use an Indian electric grinder or Indian mixie/ blender for grinding. Make the batter as smooth as you can, though it might still be a bit coarse.
3.  Heat a tawa. Add a ladle full of the prepared batter and spread it like a dosa. Sprinkle a bit of jeera and finely chopped onions on top. Press lightly with a spoon .
4. Take one tsp of oil and pour all around the pesarattu. Cook till the bottom is done and flip over and cook the other side.
5. Serve hot with chutney of your choice.

INGREDIENTS FOR TOMATO CHUTNEY:

• Onion                     :           1 big, chopped roughly
• Tomatoes             :             2 medium, chopped
• Red Chilies           :             3-4, per taste
• Garlic                    :             2 pods
• Salt
• Oil

METHOD:

1. In a saucepan, saute the chopped onions and garlic in a teaspoon of oil over medium heat until the onions turn pink. Add the tomatoes and the chilies next. Cook for another 3-4 minutes, until the tomatoes are cooked.
2. Wait for it to cool down and then blend in a mixie with salt as needed. If preferred, you can prepare a seasoning with mustard and urad dal seeds. Heat one teaspoon oil and add the mustard seeds. Once it pops, add urad dal to it till it turns golden brown.

Coconut Chutney:

• Grind together 1 cup coconut, a handful of roasted gram (2-3 tbsp pottu kadalai), 2-3 green chillies, 1/2 tsp tamarind paste (or a small ball of tamarind), salt as required. Add ons can be : 1/4 cup coriander leaves, 1/4 cup mint leaves, a small piece of ginger, 1/2 cup of sauteed onion and tomato mix etc
• If desired, we can season this with mustard seeds, curry leaves and urad dal.