Tulika, Author at Obsessivemom

23/03/201215/04/2017

Burritos, Indian style

I seem to be doing more and more food posts but somehow each time I take exercise seriously.. I spend a lot of time thinking of food.
However, this one’s for the kids. It was part of Hrit Naisha’s ‘holiday homework’. Yes that’s the kind of stuff they get to do. Didn’t I tell you their school’s lots of fun? We’ve made it a number of times since then and they love it.. specially the fact that they do much of it on their own.

So pesh hai Burritos, Indian style.

Take some sauteed cabbage, grated cucumber and carrots and mix them together in a bowl. Add salt, a wee bit of pepper and a generous amount of grated cheese.
Oh yes keep an apron handy. If your child is a thorough professional like my daughter, he/she might refuse to work in the kitchen without one.

Spread the mixture onto a ‘tortilla’ (roti)

Roll it up

..and it’s done.

22/03/201215/04/2017

Standing tall.. and green

This week’s Thursday Challenge : “GREEN” (Fruit, Vegetables, Animals, Clothing, Vehicles,…)

The mountain mist rises from beyond green trees
Last year at Nainital

21/03/201215/04/2017

Your best friend is injurious to your health

BAN THEM?
Picture courtesy Google

That’s what some UK schools seem to be saying.

I came across this innocuous little piece in the Pune Mirror this morning, sourced from The Sun. Some schools in the UK are banning children from having ‘best’ friends. Instead, the kids are being encouraged to play in groups.

Their logic: Protecting kids from heartbreak resulting from fights with best friends.

Ridiculous or what? And how very manipulative.

Who knows Indian schools might be gearing up to follow suit. In fact I find the practise of shuffling sections each year quite strange. To me it seems a very unsettling idea for the kids. Oh yes I understand the whole thing of letting them mix around but changing sections each year means they have no permanent friends. How healthy is that?

Don’t some of our best childhood memories include that one ‘Best friend’? — the one who’s watches your back while you pick raw mangoes or ber (or amlas), the one who warns you of the teacher’s approach while you’re busy mimicking her, the one who home delivers notes when you miss a class and the one who braves your mum when she refuses permission for a night out. Life without a best friend? What life would that be?

As for heartbreak.. well the sooner kids learn about it the better they get at handling it. Besides what about values like commitment, sharing and standing up for someone — values that a best friend teaches you best? Most importantly, what about love? About learning to love someone with passion, with deep feeling, that comes from years of shared togetherness?

Kids will end up with a scores of acquaintances, who they’ll term ‘friends’ without understanding what a true friend is. Sad.

18/03/201215/04/2017

While at the gym

Pic courtesy Google

The other day at the gym there I was eyes glued to the treadmill timer, praying for my five minute run to come to an end before I ran out of breath and this gentleman on the machine next to me says, “So you’re all Marwaris, na?”
“Whaaaat?” panted I.. my hand going to the speed button involuntarily to slow down, “Sorry?”
“Your group.. you’re all Marwaris, isn’t it?’
“Mmmm..” mumbled I wondering “Am I in a group?” I’d never really given it a thought.

Over this past year the gym has become a happy place for me. I look forward to going there each morning. I love the workouts and Yes, I do like the company too. The ‘group’ the gentleman was referring to is a bunch of women ranging in ages from 18 to 65 including college girls, housewives, some working women, a doctor and a few grandmums thrown in for good measure. I don’t think we have anything at all in common other than that we all share our achievements and enjoy our workouts. Even there, we have totally different levels, different targets even different concepts of a ‘good’ workout.

What bugged me was this idea of bracketing people just because they seem to be getting along.. pretty annoying.. what’s worse – based on region/religion… please that’s so unnecessary.

When I was working in Mumbai we had another girl from my hometown in the office and everyone assumed I’d be best pals with her. However it was my hostel ‘gang’ who I gelled with best.. who were from the other end of the country, not that it would have mattered.

And so dear gentleman-at-the-gym.. No we’re not Marwaris but that’s not the point. There really is more to each one of us than belonging to a region and there are other things that bind people rather than region/caste/religion.

16/03/201215/04/2017

Yet another soup

After weeks of red soups with carrots, beets, onions and tomatoes finally a friend offered some respite – a white vegetable soup. The recipe is typically ‘me’.. no fancy ingredients, no fancy cooking.

Maggie masala cubes 4-5 (which I was surprised to find are stocked even by our neighbourhood general merchant)
Chopped vegetables – Cauliflower, beans, peas, carrots, corn. Recently I added baby corn too.
Oats 2 tbsps
Vinegar (optional)

Take water in a pan.
Let it come to boil.
Add 3-4 Maggie masala cubes. The cubes are salted so taste the soup and check if you need more.
Put in the vegetables.
Let them cook. You can let them remain crunchy or cook them soft depending on how you like them.
Grind two tablespoons of oats in a mixer with a little water. Add the oats to the soup.
Keep stirring as the mixture comes to a boil.
Simmer for a few minutes and serve.
You can add a dash of vinegar too.

Incidentally my first ever blunder at work was getting the spelling of ‘recipe’ wrong. It would have gone unnoticed except that it was in the masthead. Gosh! Never will I forget this spelling.