Recipe - Poricha Rasam

Poricha rasam

This is a rasam I learnt from my mother-in-law. It is called poricha rasam as tamarind is not used in this rasam. We usually prepare this rasam in a  Iyachombu (ஈயசொம்பு) ( Iyam is an alloy made of tin and aluminium and rasam made in this vessel is said to taste better)

 Ingredients:

  

Tomato (தக்காளி) – 2

Toor dall (துவரம் பருப்பு)  – ½ cup

Turmeric powder (மஞ்சள் தூள்)  - ¼ tsp

Salt (உப்பு) – to taste

Asafoetida (பெருங்காயம்) – ½ tsp

Lots of coriander leaves (கொத்தமல்லி) for garnish

Curry leaves (கருவேப்பில்லை) – 2 sprigs

Ghee (நெய்) – 1 tsp

Mustard seeds (கடுகு) – 1 tsp
Jaggery (வெல்லம்) - 1 /2 tsp

To be ground to a paste

Coriander seeds (தனியா) – 1 tbsp

Channa dall (கடலை பருப்பு) - ½ tbsp

Pepper  (மிளகு)– 8 nos.

Jeera   (சீரகம்)- 1 tsp

Red chillies (காய்ந்த மிளகாய்)  – 2

Oil (எண்ணெய்)  – 2 tsp to roast above

Cut tomatoes into quarters, put in the vessel, add water, salt and haldi and let it boil till the tomato pieces are cooked.

Pressure cook the toor dall and keep it aside.

Add oil to a kadai. Add coriander seeds, channa dall, pepper, jeera one after the other and roast well, Finally add the red chilles and switch off the stove. Let this cool and then run it through a mixie adding little water to make a paste.

Add this paste to the boiled tomato water, let it boil once and then add the cooked toor dall. Add water to bring it to the consistency of rasam. After adding water, just let the rasam boil once.

In a kadai, pour a teaspoon on ghee and when hot, add mustard seeds. When the mustard seeds crackle, add it to the rasam. Add the jaggery.

Add a few sprigs of curry leaves and a lot of coriander leaves.

Relationships

 

How far are people ready to reach out in helping their kith and kin financially - Over the decades

Here are some illustrations

Scenario I – Year 1990

Ramu and Somu are brothers, sons of Seetha. Ramu is in need of money to complete the construction of his house. Though both the families are middle-class, Somu happens to have some spare money at that moment from the sale of some shares. Ramu is not aware that Somu has money to spare and he is trying other sources. Seetha is aware of Ramu’s need, but advises Somu not to give money to Ramu! When Ramu’s family gets to know of this, it creates a huge rift between the two families. Finally, Somu does give the money to Ramu but the relationship is not set right.

This could have alternatively been dealt with in three different ways:

1.      Seetha need not have interfered in her sons’ affairs

2.      Ramu need not have made an issue of the fact that Somu did not volunteer to help

3.      Somu could have voluntarily helped when he first came to know about Ramu’s need.

But people do not act the way others want them to, but in the way they wish, which is but natural!

Scenario II – Year 2000

Brothers Ramesh and Mahesh are a close knit family and stay in the same area in Coimbatore.  Ramesh had taken a fairly big amount as loan from Mahesh over a period of 2-3 years when he had had a tough time with his kids’ education expenses. Now Mahesh’s daughter is about to be married and Mahesh could definitely use the money if Ramesh returns it. Ramesh keeps quiet about it. Mahesh is confident that Ramesh will return the money, does not even question him and keeps the relationship intact.

One of the following things would have made the situation different:

1.      Mahesh could have demanded Ramesh to return his loan

2.      Ramesh could have voluntarily returned the loan

But people do not act the way others want them to, but in the way they wish, which is but natural!

Scenario III – Year 2010

Vinay and Uday are cousins. Vinay is holding a very good position in a private bank for the last two years. Uday wants to do engineering, but his parents are not able to afford it. In spite of being only a few years elder to Uday, Vinay voluntarily comes forward to sponsor his cousin’s education as he is a deserving candidate doing very well in studies.

What could have happened is this:

       Vinay could have turned a blind eye to his cousin’s needs. After all, his cousin is not Vinay’s responsibility.

 

But people do not act the way others want them to, but in the way they wish, which is but natural!

Over the decades, people seem to have become better in helping their blood! 

Makes us hope that humans are becoming better and better!

Temple visit: Tirupathi over the Seven Hills

Like many of my earlier trips, this was a package day trip organised through A.P. Tourism. I personally feel that AP tourism has a better influence at Tirupathi than TTDC or ITDC. The trip was thanks to Anil and Indu or should I thank Sathi Aunty who wished to visit Tirupathi in the first place and I was given a chance to go with Aunty and Indu! 

We left on our journey at 5.40 am from T. Nagar temple and reached Lower Tirupathi at 9.30 am after a stop for breakfast and a change of tyre in Puthur. We then took the AP tourism local bus to reach the main shrine up on the hills. The bus crossed all the hairpin bends and we reached Mel Tirupathi at about 10.30 am. The way the driver handled the bus at these hairpin bends was admirable! We were asked to wait near the shops for some of the co-passengers who wanted to offer their hair and do mottai (tonsure). We did some small shopping by which time, they were back and we were lead to the 300 rupee ticket queue which was part of the package. It was almost 12 noon by then and the guide informed us that we should be out by 1.30 pm after darshan.

We stood in the queue which moved at a snail’s pace and finally reached the sanctum. The usual pushing and rushing began there and then we were able to see the Lord finally.

It is no wonder that people come here again and again despite the rush and “jarugandi”. What a sight the Lord was! I was second-time-lucky to have Nethra darshan, the earlier one was about 4-5 years back. Nowadays with the devotees not being allowed close to the deity, we were able to look at the Lord right from the point where we started walking into the inner sanctum in front of the deity till the point we turn left to move out. It was Nethra darshan as it was a Thursday.

The Lord was dressed simply in a dhoti and angavasthiram with his diamond-studded crown and hands and feet covered in silver kavasam. The namam was a slim one so that we could have the darshan of his nethram - eyes. There were absolutely no flowers on the deity. Devoid of any flowers, he looked rather smaller than usual, but I was very very happy to see the Lord clearly without the covering of flowers. Of course, it is a great pleasure to see the Lord in alangaram, but this simplicity was stunning! The total darshan lasted only for about a minute, but the Lord’s appearance got registered in my mind permanently. With many jarugandis around, we were pushed out too soon. 

We then proceeded to Vakula matha’s sannidhi where many people were offering coins into the glass covering around Vakula matha. In front of Vakula matha there was a small hole in the wall and we peeped through it to find that it offered a sight into the kitchen were prasadams were being prepared. It makes one wonder whether Vakula matha is sitting there and supervising the food prepared for her son, Venkatachalapathy. I have never noticed this in my earlier trips to Tirupathi. We then put our offerings in the Srivari Hundi and proceeded to receive the prasadam.

On our way out, we noticed the huge statue of Krishnadevaraya who has done so much for the temple standing in a praying posture along with his two wives.

After eating the Thayir saadha prasadam, we came out to do a little more shopping and then took the bus back down the hill.

After lunch, we left for Tiruchanur. Here the crowd was not much, but the pushing was similar to Mel Tirupathi. Goddess Padmavathy was in direct contrast to the Lord - in full alangaram decked with flowers and jewellery.

We also had darshan of Radha Rukmini sametha Venugopala Swamy and Balarama Krishnar at this temple.

It was about 4.45 pm by the time we got into the bus, but a few passengers were hanging out at the temple for a very long time, delaying our departure by another hour. Finally we left Thiruchanur by 5.45 pm and reached Chennai by 9.30 pm.

Though some people may call this a hectic trip, I feel that it was an excellent deal travelling by an air-conditioned bus, with the food and darshan taken care of.

Thank you Anil, once again for this wonderful opportunity!

Eventful Friday

 

Last weekend, for a change I finished making breakfast, packing lunch, etc before going for my bath. As soon as I entered the bathroom, I saw a dear old cockroach sitting in the corner. Hearing my movements, the poor fellow got disturbed and started running around. He tried moving in different directions but was not very comfortable. Like we all do, I also thought, “I am scared of him, but the actual fact is the poor thing must actually be very scared of us huge human beings!”

With thoughts revolving around the cockroach, I finished my bath to find the dear cockroach climbing up my leg. Did we have a telepathic connection? May be! I shook my leg vigorously to throw him off and Wham! I slipped and fell. What a fall it was! I scraped my waist, back and the back of my head - medulla to be exact - on the tap. For a second, I did not understand what had happened, but thank God, I was not concussed. I screamed for my husband, Ranga and managed to get out the bathroom. My back was scratched badly and the back of my head was slightly swollen. I also had a burning sensation on both these areas. As the injury was on my head, I did not want to take the risk of leaving it as it is and went to the doctor on the way to work. The Doctor told me not to worry as long as there was no nausea or giddiness.

I went on imagining about all that could happen if a person got injured on his head and reached my office. As I took out my office keys, I realised that my house keys were not in my bag. I promptly called up Ranga to check if I left it in the car. Ranga checked the car thoroughly and said it was not there. I tried to recollect myself locking the house, but all I could recall was seeing the key pouch on the dining table. Getting really bothered and thinking at worst it could be the effect of the injury on my head, I called up one of my neighbours to check if the house was locked at all. 

Thank God, it was locked alright. In the meanwhile, Ranga told me to call up the doctor to check if I had left the keys at his clinic. But the doctor could not find it there. I called another neighbour on the ground floor and requested her to check if my keys were lying around somewhere near our block. The poor lady made the effort to check all around and the staircase too. But no luck, the keys were not there.

I could do nothing other than pray that the keys did not fall into wrong hands continued with my work. In the evening, I called my neighbour up again to find out if she had some good news for me. But no such luck!

With no house keys and not fit enough to travel on my own, I waited for Ranga to pick me up in the evening. As per his instructions, I purchased a new Navtal lock for 300 bucks, just in case. My sister Jayashree had come to see me and was waiting along with me for Ranga to turn up. As we were standing in front of the shop where we bought the lock, I told her, “I will be satisfied only if I check the car myself for the keys”

Ranga came and parked the car; I was about to open the car door and noticed the key pouch lying silently in the shallow space between the front glass and the bonnet. The poor thing had been lying there quietly all through the day though Ranga drove the car to many places. Being the same shade of black as that of the space, it was thankfully not visible to anybody other than yours truly!

Though it was a very eventful day, I was thrilled that I had not lost the keys and of course a big “THANK YOU” to the Almighty for the mildness of my injury.

Nostalgia

1, Ranganathan Road, Nungambakkam – part III

The concluding part of description of the great place where I grew up.  I wish I can go back in time and see the place as it was earlier!


Veli maadi – the backyard was called veli maadi. This again was one of our favourite place and we have had many moonlight dinners here. On the veli maadi we had stairs leading to mottai maadi and below the stairs was the place where the maid used to wash the vessels.

My Paati was so finicky about cleanliness that the maids had a tough time with her. But one look at all the vessels neatly placed upside down for drying will show that her fuss has paid off!  Paati’s strict instruction was that the vessels have to be dipped once again in plain water after the maid cleans and only then dried. I remember that initially this work was done by my eldest sister and later on, it was transferred to my second sister and so on!

Paati showed the same strictness in washing clothes. The maid had to rinse the clothes atleast three times, but the bucket should be filled only half with water as water wastage is very wrong according to Paati. To this day, I shout at my maid if she wastes water!

 
Veli maadi was the place where clothes were dried most of the time.  The left corner of veli maadi had a hand pump and during water problem, we used to take turns and pump water to fill up big drums and undas! Opposite the hand pump were two overhead tanks and I remember Paati slipping and falling there once, fracturing her hand!

Mottai maadi – From the veli maadi stairs led to mottai maadi. Again the steps of mottai maadi was one of favourite spots of Sundari to have coffee. We used to do some bird watching from that spot too as some rare birds used to come seasonally to the trees in pakkathu school. Mottai maadi was a huge place, covering the entire area of our house on the first floor. We have spent many summer nights sleeping in mottai maadi and the Sun waking us in the morning! We used to take the transistor to hear songs on vividha bharathi and Appa and I used to hear a lot of old songs then due to which I developed a great liking for old Tamil movie songs!

On the way to Mottai maadi there was a side maadi which had very low walls. Paati used to do rain water harvesting here. Just before rains, Paati used to clean this place and close the drain so that rain water collects here. When it is full, she used to open the drain and collect the water in buckets from below!

Sundari and Jayashree were very keen on gardening and had many plants in mottai maadi. We had panneer rose, saamandhi, jaadhi poo and vegetables like onions, tomatoes.

Mottai maadi was used by us also for studies. I remember doing my homework there many days and also revising before the exams sitting on the chimney in mottai maadi.

Mottai maadi has heard gossips from different groups of people, the elders in the family, we sisters and our cousins, various guests and friends of ours!

As soon as I finished schooling, we had to shift to another house as this house was sold by the owners and it was demolished and made into a commercial building

I miss this house even today and will miss it always!