Tomato and Herb Chutney - Indian Style

My last post - April 10th, 2012
Today -June 26th, 2012

My Last post - Today = Approx 2.5 months(75 days).
I hope someone keeps me accountable.

Anyways, it all looks like I've lost my blogging mojo these days. I need to get recharged for the very same reason. If I had a genie asking me for 3 wishes right now I would ask for - creativity , creativity and allergy relief. Ok! let me not go further about the third point.
But the first 2, yes.

I guess everyone goes through these low period times, when the brain just slows down, takes a nap, refuses to wake up. I am exactly in that phase  for sometime now. So what do I do now?

Should I just swim across the Caribbean and go to Venezuela?
Should I just buy a puppy or a cat ?
Should I just gorge on a dozen donuts from Dunkin?  Should I go on a shopping spree? (Oops! Hubby would not love that! Will ya??)
Should I paint?
Should I steal my neighbor's TV for the fun of it?

OK I guess I'll stick to the 5th one, 'coz the 4th one might just irritate my hubby, all others would be so easy to do, it wouldn't do anything to recharge my brain, would it? ;))
That's about all the hoopla about loosing my mojo.

But for now you can take a note of this 'so insanely addicting that I wanna make it again and again' tomato herb chutney.

Ingredients:
Tomatoes - 6
Almost a handful each of Basil, Cilantro and Mint (If basil isn't available, worry not, use the other 2, It still should taste wackily good !)
Salt to taste
sugar- 1 tbsp (or more)
turmeric - a pinch

To Roast and Grind:
Coriander seeds - 1.5 tbsp
Sesame seeds - 2 tbsp
Chana Dal - 3 tsp
Saunf - 2 tsp
Red Chillies - 4 to 5
Tadka:
Oil , mustard, hing, curry leaves

Method:
Wash the tomatoes ,herbs, line it on a plate neatly. The plate should be a white one, with a navy blue rim. And then click it, just like I did.
Skip the above step. (except washing y'all!)

Roast and fine grind the ingredients mentioned above in a mixie. You can increase the number of red chillies as per your taste.

Now take a pan, heat some oil.

 Fry the tomatoes, herbs until done. Add a pinch of turmeric, salt and sugar. (Amount of sugar depends on the amount of tartness you desire).

Once this tomato mixture cools down a bit, add this to the same mixie having all the roasted powder. Run the mixie again enough to keep it a lil chunky or smooth chutney if you desire. 

now put the chutney back into the same pan, check the taste, adjust the ingredients, cook for a minute or two again on medium heat.

Once it is done, make the tadka and pour it over the chutney.

It tasted wonderful with dosas.

If it isn't so addicting like I earlier mentioned, don't blame me, OK? I guess your tomatoes weren't so good as mine. Gotcha!!!

Did I mention that my son is having his summer vacation, and he's so much enjoying the summer camp in his school right now?? There, see I just mentioned it. See now I know how to reboot my brain. Join summer camp.  The solution always lies in my own blog.

 I better call Miss Lisa and register myself for the summer camp in my son's school before there are no more seats left.

Have fun you All!

Love,

Ashwini.

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(SOON as in sometime in near future, not too soon soon, OK! May be next week also, or the next to next week.)

Luv,
Ashwini

Science in Positive Thinking

You always feel dull , frustrated , low when you aren't able to accomplish something that you desire, or cannot complete your work on time.
What do your loved ones tell you then?
"Don't worry, think positive, Everything will go well."
All of us have been hearing this 'think positive' , 'do positive' and many more adjectives for the word 'positive'.. I have been  coming across the same 'positive thinking' concept in different ways in the last few years.

I had read a book few years back , something about how to be successful and how to get where you want . Don't remember the title and author though. Bad at that! So basically the author conveys that if you want to achieve something or anything , think positively about it, keep picturing the happy end result in your mind , keep telling yourself that so and so will be done, or that you will do it. Then all the forces in nature works towards completing your work, meaning you will be able to achieve what you want.

Lately my mom, aunt and few cousins have been attending the 'New Energy ' Meditation classes. The concept in this class is almost the same. A person needs to think positively or picture what he wants during meditation. For eg: If you want to get rid of your migraines, you need to keep picturing yourself rid of the headaches. It's not just thinking, you should make believe that it is gonna happen. My mom who has been suffering from migraines has lesser headaches now. And its not just sitting cross-legged and closing your eyes to meditate, but you can also meditate as you do your own work. Like when your washing dishes, or cleaning, keep telling yourself that you are not gonna have headaches anymore. It isn't necessary that you meditate in your own favor, it can even be done in favor of others. So much in the power of mind.


I try to meditate.
Few seconds into it....
I breathe...
Breathe...
Dishes..
My baby's smile...
Dinner...
Skype...
Novel...
I breathe..
Hubby...
I breathe..
Wow.. I've  gottu work more harder on my meditation. It's so difficult to get the mind in control. Does this happen to you?


Few days back I completed  my favorite author Dan Brown's 'The Lost Symbol'. So in this book Brown speaks about Neotic Science which deals with modern science meeting mind and associated stuff. A scientist(a character) in this book researches on neotic science which is probably a very complicated thing to understand. She discovers that every thought has a mass. So if many people think the same thing, the totality of mass of such thoughts creates a force and works towards happening of what was thought. Something similar to what happens in mass prayers,  mass meditations and group healings. Of course the story in this book is fictional. But I'm just stressing on the principle what the author intended to convey in this episode.

My intention is anyway to convey how powerful  positive thinking is. So many books, so many people tell the same thing- to think positive, not to give up, keep up the will power and the world/nature will eventually work in your favor .There is so much of science behind this positive thinking. But of course it goes without saying that thinking positive alone does not materialize into anything . Hard work and belief in oneself should manifest our positive thoughts.

So think +vely always.

Buckle Up, Get set, Go....

Disclaimer: The above thoughts are mine and mine only, based on my findings in books and experience and thoughts from people I know.