Roasting, Grinding, Rejoicing

On Friday, after I got back from the gym, I felt restless, Mi. So I did what I do best. I got busy in the kitchen, because ya know, there’s always a long list of must-do’s at the top of the to-do’s. Oy, which reminds me, the amla is patiently waiting in the fridge.

So jennyway, I thought I’d grind some almonds while heating the milk for my coffee, since there was khoya in the fridge and I wanted to make badam sweet. Couldn’t use the khoya when Vidur was here and can’t keep it indefinitely until his next visit.

Gosh, remember the khoya we used to get from old Hyderabad those days? It used to be a sweet fest at home!

After I ran the cup of almonds in the grinder, I thought why not add a cup of flax seeds also? And I did. Of course, the milk was hot enough and ready to be coffee-ed. I made the coffee, enjoyed a sip, burnt my tongue, chided  myself for the 200 millionth time, then laughed.

I looked at the sunshine on the utensils in the kitchen sink, but naaah, I wasn’t getting started there. I thought, since I am on a grinding spree, why not get things ready for the dosai-idli milagai podi? Yep, we’ve been out of the powder for almost a month now.

How did I manage when Vidur was here, you ask? Well, we both gorged on the coconut chutney and alternated it with mango ginger pickle so didn’t miss it. As for Sury, he was traveling quite a bit and it didn’t pose a problem.

So I got the ingredients together and roasted them.

Yes, yes, I smiled, thinking of you breathing down my neck to get the chana dal in that perfect golden color and giving off that delicious aroma. And yes, I popped a few in my mouth. Yikes!

Then, while getting the sesame seeds, I noticed the two packs of melon seeds and decided to roast them as well. The two packs of flax seeds followed, because nicer to roast and grind than directly grind. Plus, easier storage.

All through this, yes, I did allow the coffee to cool a bit but enjoyed it nevertheless.

Once done, I was pretty pleased with myself to see the roasted grains cooling. I decided to get some work done and later, grind.  Enjoying the aroma all over the house, I found myself humming – which meant YouTube playlist on, and I got to work.

The day progressed pretty much routinely. I had a break during lunch and spent a pleasant hour with L before returning to what I was doing.

After Sury returned, I went to the kitchen to make coffee, and while the milk heated, decided to quickly grind the dosai milagai podi, since I was planning on making dosai for dinner. I decided to make the sweet the next day, since it was Saturday and anyway, Sury wouldn’t have it at night.

Made the coffee, then decided to finish grinding. So imagine my shock when, just as I was about to mix it all up together, the mixer grinder ground to a halt. Not really a halt, since the bush was spinning – but the jar’s blades didn’t bother to move. I had just roughly hammered the pieces of jaggery and added them to the jar to powder them. Oh well.

Now what to do? I remembered I had two hands with fingers and adding everything in a laaaaarge bowl, got to mixing it. I used the rolling pin to powder the jaggery and adding it too. Whaddaya know? Podi ready.

This reminded me of years ago, when I participated in  our condo’s cooking competition and decided to make moong laddu. The mixie had conked off just after the first round of grinding. I had used the same rolling pin to grind enough to make ten laddus. Do you remember how Vidur won a prize for his dish? Hahaha.

So now, I gotta add “repair mixie” to my next week’s list. Hmm. I suppose I could buy a new one since this is almost 10 years old. But if it can be fixed with Rs.50 or 100 why would I spend Rs.4000 on a new one, eh? Invariably it is the bush which wears out.

At the end of the adventurous day, I have to acknowledge and appreciate our mixie. Because, mission accomplished no? It didn’t leave me hanging, no?

Life is good, Mi. It would have been better had you been there to amp up the laughter.

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