A RUSTIC FEEL FOR SOMETIME AT HOME

We had sporadic rainfall in the past few days. We happened to call a person to cut off dry coconut leaves and twigs. And what you see below is what came down. I wanted these to remain in our house forever. It gives a feeling of being in Kerala. When rain splashes on these it is awesome to watch. But somehow it had to be disposed it in a day's time.

I love the smell of wet earth and the sight of all these lying on it when rain dresses the earth. But somehow we got almost the whole place covered with concrete and granite. Now we have lots of smooth space for our feet to comfortably walk around. There are no stones that hurt our feet neither do we have mud or small water puddles. But I still miss the beauty and smell of wet earth and the natural feeling that it offers.

Nature is so beautiful when it is random and left random. We humans tend to organize constructing things on it. But we lose the rustic beauty of nature in the process.

NUTTY EGG BHURJI

Egg Bhurji is one thing that my daughter loves having once a while. It’s that way with any food. Too much is bad. I do this for her on Saturday morning immediately after I sleep like a log till 9 am. Saturday is the only day I get to sleep so. My wife also makes egg burji for her, but my daughter prefers mine as I am liberal in frying it up more and getting a fried tan on it. That makes it crispier. That is what many children prefer. Nutty egg bhurji is a variation of the normal egg bhurji. Here’s how I went about.


Place the pan on a medium flame on the stove. When the pan is dried of all water, pour very little oil…well that’s my approach as am very conscious on using excess oil. You could be a little more liberal with oil if you are fine with well fried food. Do not use mustard. Instead break 5 cashew nut halves into small pieces and put them in. Leave them in the low flame and keep sautéing, by shaking and tossing the contents with a wooden spoon, so as to evenly spread and avoid burning. Once the cashew pieces turn a little brown, drop in about 10 dried grapes and keep sautéing for 3 minutes. Grab a bunch of corn flakes and put them in. If you can find the Kellogs cornflakes with the mix of nuts in them, that will be the best. Do not use any other corn flakes mixtures. Sauté the contents for 3 minutes and remove the contents into a separate plate.

Place the pan again on a medium flame on the stove. Pour oil as per your preference, but limit to a maximum of 2 and half teaspoons. Drop in a pinch of mustard seeds and wait for them to burst and settle. Break two hen eggs and pour them in. Do not allow the egg to settle and start mixing and shredding immediately. A fried tan layer may get created on the bottom of the pan. Please do not hesitate to scrape the fried tan that has stuck to the bottom of the pan. Getting the plan clear of the egg tan is a good approach as that approach fries the egg pretty well. Spray half a teaspoon of pepper and sprinkle salt in small amounts so that we could progressively taste and see if the right amount of salt has set in. Continue sautéing until most of the egg shreds have the brownish coat.

Drop in the fried cashew nut, grape and corn flake mix into the pan and sauté well again. Empty the contents into a bowl. The Nutty Egg Bhurji is ready for you. Relish it with roti or toasted bread and a cup of hot coffee. If it is raining outside, don’t hesitate to sit close to a window at home and have this watching the pitter patter. You will love it.

THE NIRANAM ORTHODOX CHURCH

You should ensure that you don't miss this piece of still water below. I liked the green plankton coverage over the water and the trees lining up the water on both sides. I wish I took a boat and slowly went down that bend right at the far end. But I did not see any boat this time. May be I will do it next time.

A GREAT MIX OF GOLD AND MAROON - THE MYSORE PALACE

A PIECE OF TIBET IN INDIA AT KOPPA, MADIKERI