Guest Post - 10 : Today's Guest - Viji (My Mom), Mother's Day Special Guest Post

Today, we have my Mom as our guest. She holds Masters Degree in Sociology. She is a home maker. She is very good at building relationship with people, so she is loved by all our relatives and friends. I'm happy to introduce her to all of you on the occasion of Mother's Day. Let us hear from her now...

Nithu : Tell our readers about you.

Viji : I am a home maker. I got married when I was just out of my school final and It was only my husband who encouraged me to pursue my studies. I have two daughters. Elder daughter is Bharati, who is already known to you all through her guest posts and younger daughter is Nithu, this blog's owner.

Nithu : What makes you feel happy about your daughters?

Viji : The one thing, I always proudly say about my daughters is, both of them are talented in writing as their Father. Their articles were published in some magazines too. The other thing, as a Mother what I've observed is, I have never heard them saying that they didn't like a dress or jewelry which I selected for them. They would always accept my selection and I'm too proud to say, till date I've been the one who is choosing their traditional dresses like salwars and sarees. This make me so happy.

Nithu : What are your interests ?

Viji : As most of the women, I love to cook. Apart from that I like sudoku and Cross words. Long time before, I learnt type writing and tailoring. I love reading magazines too.

Nithu : When did you start to cook and what was your first dish?

Viji : Actually, I stayed with my uncle's family in Kumbakonam and I did my schooling there. Only during summer holidays, I used to visit my parents. And it was one such time, my mom fell ill and there was no one in the family who knew cooking. So, I had to take that responsibility. I was only 11 by then. With few instructions from my mom, that day I prepared Poricha Kuzhambu and Thenga Thuvayal, which are my Dad's and brother's favourites.

Nithu : Do you have any interesting incident from your kitchen.

Viji : Yes, I do remember one incident. Those days, we don't have facilities like internet or phone and if we want any recipe, we had to rely on magazines or friends. One of my friends gave the recipe for Mysore pak. I was not sure where I went wrong. Everything got messed up totally and the contents stuck to the pan. I could never forget this and I had no guts till today to try Mysore pak again.

Nithu : I guess, you would be more or less at the same age to all my blogger friends Moms. So, as a representative to all the moms, what would you like to say to us?

Viji : Nothing Much...Please keep your parents and in-laws happy and spend some time with the elderly people in the house. After all, old age is the second childhood, which seeks for all the attention from the loved ones around.

Nithu : Thank you Amma. Ok, tell us what do you have today to share with us?

Viji : Today, I am giving you the recipe for "Kumbakonam Kadapa", a traditional side dish for Idly and Dosa.

Nithu : Why did you select this ?

Viji : This is one of favourites of my family and more over, this is the famous dish of Kumbakonam, where I was born and brought up.

Ingredients :

1.Moong dal – 3/4 cup

2.Potato – 3 no (cooked and cut in to pieces)

3.Big onion – 1 Cup (Finely Chopped)

4.Tomato – 1 (cut in to pieces)

5.Green chilly – 2 or adjust to your taste

6.Bay leaf – 1

7.Cinnamon – 1

8.Cloves – 2

9.Fennel seeds - 1 tsp

10.Curry leaves – Little qty

11.Turmeric powder – 1/4 tsp

12.Coconut - 1/4 Cup (Grated)

13.Garlic - 5 cloves

14.Poppy Seeds - 1 tsp

14.Salt - As required

15. Garam Masala - 1 tsp

16.Oil – 1 tbsp

17.Corainder - for garnishing

18.Lemon Juice - 2 tsp

Method :

1. Pressure cook moong dal with turmeric powder till soft. Keep aside.

2. Add a tsp of oil in a pan. Then add poppy seeds, green chillies and coconut. Fry till coconut turns slightly brown.

3. Grind this to a fine paste and keep aside.

4. Now, in a pan take the remaining oil. Heat it.

5. Add the fennel, cloves, cinnamon and bay leaf. Fry for 2 minutes.

6. Add onion, garlic and tomato. Fry for 5 minutes.

7. Add water, garam masala and salt. Add potato. Allow the contents to boil well.

8. Now, add the cooked Moong Dhal and again allow to boil well.

9. Add the ground mixture and allow to boil, till the contents thicken.

10. Switch off the stove and then add lemon juice. Granish with coriander.

11. Serve hot with idly or dosa. (If Kadappa is thick, dilute with little water).

Nithu : Thank you so much for your time and the lovely recipe. Also, I take this opportunity to Thank you for everything you have done to us. We love you :-)

Viji : Thank you Nithu for giving me the opportunity to meet all your friends through this Guest post. Hope to meet you all soon sometime through another traditional recipe. My prayers, wishes and love to you all.

Dear Friends, Hope you all love this traditional recipe from my mom. She couldn't send the picture of her recipe as her camera is not working properly. I clicked the picture here. But, she was not satisfied with the picture...anyway, you try the recipe and you'l know the actual look and taste :-)

If you are interested to be featured as our blog's guest, please do mail to nithuskitchen@gmail.com.