Healthy bites - the nutty, fruity banana cake!

Have you lately immersed yourself in the wonderful aroma of freshly baked bread or cake at home?  It is such a blissful experience - a near heaven on earth!  As the oven warms up, the tantalising aroma slowly spreads through the home, awakening the olfactory organs, and making one think of warm and pleasant treats!  

Baking in itself is such a lovely experience - it always amazes me that a few ingredients mixed together and kept in the oven can magically rise, brimming over at the edge of the dish, filling you with wonder and excitement and ofcourse, leaving you waiting eagerly to bite into the spongy, sweetened texture!

   Last week, we had some over ripe bananas at home - that none of us wanted to peel and eat.  So, I decided to make banana bread.  When I looked at several recipes, I realised banana bread and cake are made more or less in a similar manner.  With walnuts and other nuts added, it tastes simply amazing - a nutty, fruity delight!  And ofcourse, with my penchant for using healthier alternatives to plain flour (maida), I used wheat flour to increase its nutritive value.  Needless to say, the home smelt warm and inviting with the aroma of freshly baked cake - the bananas and cinnamon doing their bit in creating the magic.
  
 My younger daughter rushed in home from play and announced "Ummm, something smells wonderful!"

RECIPE
I studied several recipes, and tweaked them a bit to suit our tastes. This cake is mildly sweet, as we like it that way.  Increase the quantity of sugar if you need it sweeter.

Ingredients:
- 1 1/3 rd cup of flour - I used 3/4 cup maida & and 2/3 cup of wheat flour
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon powder
- 1/2 tsp grated lemon rind
- 2/3 cup brown sugar
- 4 tbsp butter (I used 2 tbsp butter as I had only that much; and added 2 tbsp of rice bran oil)
- 1 tbsp thick curd
- 2 eggs
- 2 ripe bananas
- 1/2 cup of broken walnuts, macadamia nuts, flax seeds (use whatever nuts you can lay your hands on)

Steps:
1. Pre-heat the oven to 180 C.  
2. Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl
3. Beat butter and eggs for 2 minutes; add brown sugar and beat some more (I used an electric hand beater)
4. Fold the dry ingredients gently into the wet mixture and mix together.  
5. Add the nuts to this. 
6. Grease a baking tin with oil and pour in the above mixture.  
7. Bake in oven for 30-35 minutes - (Check that knife inserted into the middle comes out clean without any batter sticking to it)   

Notes:
1. The cake batter almost resembles the 'appam' batter - a South Indian sweet, fried in ghee/oil. It smells and tastes like appam too - thanks to the bananas and wheat flour. 

Follies and learnings from the garden!

The snake gourd - male flower 

When I first spotted the beautiful, white star-fish shaped flowers on my snake gourd plant, I was super thrilled! And having read about hand pollination, I was all ready and eager to try it out, hoping to help the plant in its natural process and dreaming of nice, long green snake gourds hanging down the plant.  Only at that time, I didn't know there was a difference between bisexual and uni sexual flowers.  When I saw two of them, I assumed they were bisexual flowers (like the chilli plant) and that they just needed some help. So, I picked up one of the flowers and tried transferring the pollen to the other flower (but both happened to be male flowers and I clearly didn't know about it!)  Having done my bit, I waited eagerly and looked at the plant every morning hoping to see the vegetable growing.  After 3 days, the flower dried up and fell off the plant, leaving me utterly clueless, wondering what had gone wrong.  Only much later, after I read up some information on gourds, I realised my folly -I had tried pollinating one male flower with another - no wonder things didn't work!

Some plants like the chilli,  produce bisexual flowers -that is, both the male and female parts are present in the same flower.   Thus pollination is not hard here - with a slight shake of the stem, the pollen gets released.

A better view of the gourd!

Some plants, like the ridge or snake gourds, produce uni sexual flowers; that is, separate male flowers and separate female ones.  Here again, the plant always produces male flowers first.  They need the help of the bees or butterflies for pollination to occur.  Or in some cases, human intervention is required in the form of hand pollination, where pollen from the male flower is transferred to the female flower by using a brush or placing the male flower over the female.

The female flower - with a gourd like structure at the base

I also learnt to identify the male and female flowers.  Male flowers have only long stalks but female flowers have a small-sized gourd at the base of their stalk which later grow into the actual vegetable.

Female flower of ridge gourd

Finally, I did help my snake gourd plant after the female flowers appeared on the plant.   Now, I am eagerly waiting for the gourd to grow to its full size.  And despite all the stumbling and mistakes made, I find that the entire process is a truly magical experience!

Handling of women - 2 stories from the Mahabharata and Ramayana

Recently, I was reading this book called A handbook of Hindu Mythology that contained anecdotes from - yes, you guessed right, Hindu mythology!  While reading it, two stories stood out - not for their actual content but more for the tacit meaning that they implied. 

The first is the story of the Pandavas and Draupadi trying to cross Mount Meru to reach the heavens. As we all know, only Yudhishtira made it to Swarga.  The first to fall was Draupadi - her weakness was that she loved Arjuna more than her other 4 husbands.  Now, it was but natural that she loved Arjuna more - after all, he was the one who rightfully won her and she actually did spend a few hours extra as his wife than as wife to all the brothers. (time lapse between Arjuna marrying her and then taking her home to present to mother Kunti).  But no, Yama does not consider that.  So, Draupadi falls first.
The other brothers also had some weakness or the other - Sahadeva for being smug about his knowledge, Nakula for being vain about his good looks, Arjuna for being jealous of all other archers, and lastly Bheem for being a glutton.   Now, when Yudhishtira reaches Swarga and finds that Draupadi and his brothers are in Naraka, he asks Yama to take him also there as he does not want to forsake his beloved brothers and wife.  Yama smiles and tells him that they will indeed have to spend some time in Naraka for their imperfections after which they would then join him in Swarga. Yama also tells Yudhishtira that he will also have to go through Naraka for the one white lie that he uttered (Ashwathama hatha kunjaraha). 
Now this is what struck me as ironical - this man, known for his righteousness and virtuosity and known as Dharmaraja for being the upholder of dharma, had to pass through Naraka for uttering a white lie but what about his terrible treatment of his wife?  He looked upon Draupadi  as a mere commodity and traded her in the game of dice.  Is that not a greater misdeed than the white lie he uttered?   Should he not have been punished for this wretched act?  If he had to stay in Naraka, it should have been more for this reason than for the white lie.

The second story that caught my attention was that of Surpanaka approaching Rama in the forest and asking him to be her lover. Rama refuses saying that he is married and his wife is right there with him.  Well, that was fine (though I actually don't agree with the second part of his sentence) but then he cheekily tells her to approach Lakshmana saying "he has no wife here".
I found this atrocious!  Did Rama mean that as Lakshmana's wife wasn't around, he could take on Surpanaka or anybody else as a lover?  How could that great soul revered as "Eka patni vrata"  even think of suggesting such a thing?  Knowing his brother was also married, should he not have told Surpanaka that as both of them were already married men, they could neither of them oblige her?  If  only Rama had done this, the whole course of the Ramayana would have completely altered - Lakshmana would not have cut off Surpanaka's nose and ears and nor would Ravana have avenged his sister's humiliation by carrying away Sita!

Summer Holidays - Play all day!

Medhini doing her bit!

Manasvi cleaning the windows!

The schools are closed and the girls are enjoying their summer vacation.  The summer break is truly a time for relaxing and enjoying life.  As children, I am sure all of us used to  look forward to this 2 month break and spend our time playing all day long with friends and cousins.  I can see the same happening with my 12-year old elder daughter.

The neighbourhood that we live in has a lot of kids pretty much the same age as Manasvi.  So it is day long play time for her.  If I need to see her, it can only be during mealtimes - she has a quick breakfast and is out of the house; she is back home in time for lunch.  My otherwise slow eater of a daughter now finishes her lunch in record time and rushes out to join her friends.  The next time she is home, I can set the clock to 4:30 PM - tea time.  After a cup of milk and raiding the larder for a tea-time snack, she is back on the street to play Lagori, Kings or any other game that she and her friends are keen to play that day. After a long day of play, she is tired and strolls back home by 7:00 pm, picks up the TV remote, and chants out loudly -"Ma, I am hungry....what is for dinner?"   We followed this "heavenly" routine for two days, but of course, there is always a villain in every happy situation and this time, it came in the form of MOM.   I laid out a few rules to be followed -

1. A small chore to be done everyday -this could be cleaning the bookshelf /cupboard, cleaning the windows, watering the plants, washing the school bag...  this way, I hope to get her involved in all forms of labour and not resent doing certain jobs.

2. Spend more time on reading books  and a little less on watching TV

We have been able to follow this routine and it is a win-win for both of us.  Manasvi was especially thrilled today while cleaning the windows.  Our neighbour watched her do the job and was all praise for her.  He appreciated her effort and wished his own grand daughter would try and emulate her.  Manasvi's face lit up with pride while her Mom's face beamed with satisfaction and of course, the glass that she was cleaning took on a brighter shine!

Having fun while performing the chore!

Television - bane or boon?

In Class 9, we were asked to write a composition on the topic of television - whether it was a boon or a bane.  As I remember, at that time, I could think of only the benefits of having and watching television, especially since  we didn't have a TV at home till I was in Class 7.

Our neighbour was the first person who bought a TV in our locality  - they had a Bush TV- black and white model which itself was a big thing then. We would all - my brothers and I, and other friends in the neighbourhood- climb over the compound wall, enter their house through the rear door and sit and watch TV in their house for hours together.  Their living room would be filled with people -sitting on the sofa (balcony seats that we rarely got), the side bench (sometimes)  and the floor (most often) and all eyes glued to the TV set.  Suddenly, and frequently, there would be cursing and heavy sighing when the transmission was interrupted and  Doordarshan posted any of the following signs -  "Sorry for the interruption" or "Adechanegaagi kshamisi" or "Rukavat ke liye khed hain" depending on the programme we were watching.  Sometimes, we would end up watching the above sign(s) for even 20 -30 minutes, cursing the "Television guy" all the while and hoping and praying for the programme to resume.  Now I really wonder how we managed to sit through patiently - I guess it was better than having to come back home and study! 

When we bought our first TV - Solidaire colour TV - my happiness knew no bounds.  I would sit and watch any programme that was being telecast -even the one that was meant for farmers! 

Now, the tables have turned. With my girls always glued to the TV sets, I can only think of the TV as a bane.  Even now, as I am writing this, I can hear my younger daughter watching Chhota Bheem while her older sister is silently devouring all the dishes being served by the Master Chefs in Australia!  Controlling their TV time is my number one activity. And ofcourse, as is universally seen and accepted, when the cat is away, the mice will play!  So it's time for me to ring the bell so my girls know that the cat is still around!

The past tense is perfect!

English, as a language, can be bewildering to a 4 year old, I guess. But kids seem to find a way to master this language easily, - in their own, uncomplicated way!

The case in point is my younger daughter who will turn 5 next month. As a 2-year old, she did not know a word of English. When we visited her cousins in the US who spoke mostly accented English, she was left speechless (literally!). But not for long...within a couple of weeks, she picked up the language and much to our amazement, she was able to have a conversation with her cousins!

Now, over the last couple of years, her vocabulary has improved considerably. (when I was her age, I didn't know even a quarter of what she knows now!) She has coined new words to address the past tense of certain verbs - actually, the way she puts it makes more sense.
Put becomes "putten", (I have putten all the toys inside), cut turns into "cutted" (She cutted the cake), bite turns into "bited" (Oh, I bited my tongue), buy becomes 'buyed' (She tells her sister sternly - don't touch this box, Appa buyed it for me!). By the same logic, see does not become "seed " but becomes "sawed". ("Did you see the book?", I ask her. She replies, "Yes, I sawed it".)

One of her hilarious constructs was when she hit a mosquito, and then she told her sister proudly "Akka, I died off the mosquito!"

Hopefully, when she reads this at some point, she will take it in the right spirit - I don't want to be "hitted" by her!

Happy moments while clearing the wardrobe!

Does your cupboard have a rack of clothes that you used to wear once upon a time? These garments don't fit you anymore but you still retain them in the fond hope of wearing them once again - after you have shed those extra kilos that have found their way uncannily onto the hip region - the place from where it is most difficult to reduce the flab!!

Oh well, I have such a shelf too and once in a while I love rummaging through these clothes - the dark blue pair of jeans that I used to wear in college, the light blue pair that I bought using my first stipend, the skirt that I wore during that memorable New Year's party...the list goes on. Every time I check to see if I can squeeze into those, I end up letting out a loud groan and a pitiable sigh and then fervently hope that things will look up by the next cleaning session.

But today, when I was doing the wardrobe cleaning, I was in for a lovely surprise! I was able to get into the blue jeans that I'd bought using my stipend. I was super thrilled! The slight difficulty that I faced while buttoning up did not dampen my spirits. I had finally inched my way to the long cherished dream! YES, I had to share the good news! My daughter was watching TV (as usual) and I proudly announced to her the background of the jeans and my being able to fit into them now. She heard me out and I was waiting for her to congratulate me on my super human effort. She raised her eyebrows and commented "Oh, you were so fat even then!!"

There, that did it - my bubble of happiness and pride burst instantly!! In the light of my daughter's rather caustic remark, I started having second thoughts about my 'so called' achievement. But not for long - the happiness at being able to fit into the old pair of pants engulfed me again and left me with a smile on my lips! Hurray!