My First MeMe & A Summer Cooler

When Richa of 'As Dear As Salt' tagged me to share 7 random facts about myself, I started thinking of what I would write. Talking about oneself is something that we are all taught, as kids, as something bad. At first, nothing came to my mind, but slowly as I kept thinking, I thought of a few things, and so here I am...Thanks Richa ! After all its not often that I get a chance to speak about myself. ;)

1. Before getting married, I was teaching French for almost a year in India. Yes, along with my masters degree in Commerce, I also have an advanced diploma in French and am pretty fluent in spoken & written French which is considered a very romantic language.:)
2. I did not own any cookbooks until very recently, and even then I do not have any on Indian cooking. The two books I got, I found at a public library book sale which feature American cuisine. All the recipes that I know are either my mom's or my MIL's.
   
3. I am almost a neat-freak! Why 'almost'? Well, though I do like things neat and organized, there are days when I can overlook everything, and then get up one morning and start cleaning like crazy. I like my kitchen to be clutter-free when I am cooking...cannot cook with a hundred things on the kitchen platform. I also like things well planned...groceries, dinners, outings. I cannot do things well at the last minute. My husband has almost gotten used to this craziness, and I really torture him with this habit of mine :))
4. I love watching 'Gilmore Girls'! Just love the 'mother-daughter' relationship and their girlie chatter.
   
5. I absolutely love to talk on the phone....can talk for hours together and will still be fresh for another conversation. My dad always tells me how his phone bills have gone down tremendously after I got married an sympathizes with my hubby ;)
6. As a kid, I dreamed of becoming a Teacher, and would play 'teacher-teacher', all by myself, for hours together. I also had co-ordinated my wardrobe with my class teacher's wardrobe. Since I was in a convent school, most of my teachers were Christians and would wear skirts and dresses. So I would come back from school, slip into a dress I thought was close to my teacher's dress that day, wear my sandals and live my dream...of course, somewhere in between my mom used to make me take off my sandals, as it was a big no-no to wear them in the house.
7. Lastly, no one in my family knows that I have a food blog. My husband is the only one who knows about it...so everytime I have to come up with some real good excuse to ask more details about a particular recipe, as my mom and MIL are always wondering why I am asking so many questions. It feels good to be a little mysterious ;)

Thats all...i have unveiled a few facts about myself and for a little fun, I am going to ask you guys to guess my sunsign...I am a true ......... can you guess ? :)

I would also like to know more about Swapna, Manasi, Priyanka, Deepa, Suganya and Laavanya. Play along only if you wish to...no compulsion at all :)

I now leave you with a simple yet perfect summer cooler--- Jal Jeera. We just love this drink and so a few days back when my hubby suggested that we buy some ready made jal jeera powder, I was not keen on the idea. Basically, I think its very uneconomical to buy ready made masalas as they all taste the same and by the time you use up the entire packet, the masala has already lost its flavor and aroma. So I prefer making them in small batches at home, whenever possible. I found this recipe for Jal Jeera online and made just a few additions...Enjoy!

Ingredients: (makes 3 glasses)
Jeere (Cumin seeds) dry roasted and powdered 2 tbsp
Mint leaves 4 tbsp (I added more because I like it, but you can stick to 2 tbsp)
Cilantro leaves 1/2 tsp
Amchur powder 1 tbsp
Black Salt 1/2 tsp
Lemon Juice 2 tbsps
Cayenne pepper 1 tsp
Salt according to taste
Water
Boondi to garnish

Method:
In a mixer, make a paste from Cumin, Mint leaves, cilantro, amchur powder. Then add the remaining ingredients except water and boondi.

Before serving add about 2 tbsp paste to each glass, add chilled water and stir. Check for taste and if required add more jal jeera masala. Finally, sprinkle with some boondi and cool off with this great summer drink.

Mattha --- Spiced up Buttermilk

'Mattha' brings back a lot of memories...all the weddings that I attended over the years, always curious to know what the menu would be, and hoping that it were a traditional Maharashtrian fare, mainly for two main reasons; the first one, that the sweet dish would be 'Jilbi' (Jalebei) and the second being, there would be several 'vaatis' (katori/bowl) of 'Mattha' to wash down the heavy and spicy meal! And then of course, there would be 'Masaale bhaat', 'Aluchi paatal bhaaji' (Patra leaves curry), 'Varan-bhaat', 'Hirvi chutney'...ok, I think, that makes it more than two reasons :)
'Mattha' is basically buttermilk with the addition of certain condiments. On hot summer days, as well as any other day, my mom would churn out fresh buttermilk, which we call 'taak' in Marathi, from 'saayicha dahi' (yogurt made from cream)-- the source for 'loni' (butter) or from regular 'dahi' (yogurt). We used to have 'taak' for lunch or sometimes even at teatime, when it was too hot to drink a cup of tea. This 'taak' used to be flavored with different spices and condiments like cumin powder, hing (asafoetida), at times, both, and sometimes a little ginger and at other times, just salt and a little sugar. And then there was 'Mattha', my favorite version of 'taak', which has a certain combo of condiments added to it. Thus, a typical Maharashtrian meal will always include 'taak' or 'mattha' at the end, whether it is a festive one or just a regular meal.
The 'Taak' that I used to have back at home, in India, was so rich and creamy because of its source-- Buffalo's milk! Unfortunately, there is no 'buffalo milk' here in the US, so we resort to the ready made store-bought buttermilk, which comes from cow's milk. Furthermore, this buttermilk is generally cultured buttermilk, which means that bacteria is added to milk to make it. It does not come out of the churning process that is used to make butter; hence the taste and texture don't match up to homemade buttermilk. The sacrifices one makes after coming here.... :( On the positive side, though, 'taak' or buttermilk, whether cultured or homemade, from cow's milk or buffalo milk, is said to have a cooling effect on the body. It also helps in digestion of food and hence, normally consumed at the end of the meal. I once read an article which said the benefits of buttermilk are so many, that Ayurveda prescribes buttermilk over yogurt! So drink away...
Coming back to 'Mattha', it is easy to make, very soothing and very Maharashtrian! I always have buttermilk at hand and summer lunches are never complete without this chilled and spiced up cooler. Since this is a maharashtrian recipe, it is going straight to Nupur for the RCI-Maharashtrian cuisine event. Enough said, now lets get to the recipe...

Ingredients:(the measures given here are just to give an estimate)
Buttermilk 2 cups
Ginger paste 1/2 tsp
Green chilli paste 1/2 tsp (adjust according to the spiciness of the chilli)
Sugar 1-2 tsp (depending on how sour the buttermilk is)
Salt
Cilantro

Method:
Pour the buttermilk from the can into a bowl. If you are using store-bought buttermilk, add a little water to thin it out. Buttermilk can also be prepared at home from yogurt. For a rich and creamy taste, use full fat yogurt.
To the buttermilk, add the ginger-chilli paste, sugar, and salt. Mix well and check the taste. It should not be too spicy or too sour. The right flavor is, sweet with a hint of spiciness from the ginger & chilli and a little sourness from the buttermilk itself. Garnish with chopped cilantro. 'Mattha' is ready to be served.