Homemade Ganesh with Clay

I made bala Ganapati with clay today for Vinayaka Chaviti festival tomorrow. The decorations are with kumkum, turmeric and rice powder. Eyes are whole urad dal (minapa pappu) and the laddu is dotted with skinless, split mustard seeds. It’s a simple vigraham, still looks divine to my eyes.

Vinayaka Chavithi shubhakamnaye! May Bhagavan Ganesha bless us all with peace, happiness and health!

Bala Ganesha with Kumkum and Pasupu Decorations

Sachin and Family’s Clay Ganesha

Vaijayanthi & Arvind Family’s Play-doh Ganesha

Rashmi and Family’s Clay Ganesha

Vinayaka Chaviti Celebrations at Rashmi’s Home From UAE

Narayan Swamy and Family’s Clay Ganesha

Sireesha and Family’s Play-doh Ganesha

Chaitanya and Family’s Rice Flour and Sugar Ganesha

Thank you Sachin, Vaijayanthi, Rashmi, Narayan Swamy, Sireesha and Chaitanya for sharing your Ganesha with us.
-Indira

Garden dreams – When they come true, it’s a glorious feeling.

One of my lifelong garden dreams has been growing turai at home. This summer, beautiful turai vines smiled with pretty yellow flowers and it has been turai tanmayam ever since. Total number of turai harvested so far was around 60 from four turai vines. Garden goddess is in good mood, it’s the only reason I could think of for this blessing.

Turai is such a lovable vegetable with succulent, white flesh and delicate, sweet flavor. Tender turai doesn’t take much time to cook and digests easily, nourishing the spirit. We love our turai and we have been cooking many great turai recipes to our hearts content for the past one month.

The following turai recipe is Vijay’s creation. Tasty turai, little bit tomato and some chana dal, cooked together, it was a good meal and a simple solution to overwhelmed brain with excessive turai.

Homegrown Turai

Turai with Chana Dal
(for 2 or 4, for 1 or 2 meals)

3 fresh and tender turai, arm length each
1/4 cup chana dal, soaked in water for about two hours
2 semi ripe tomatoes
4 green chillies, finely chopped
1/4 teaspoon, turmeric
1/2 teaspoon, salt or to taste
For cumin tadka: 1 tablespoon peanut oil,
pinch each-cumin and mustard seeds and few fresh curry leaves

Peel turai ridges. Rinse the vegetable well. Cut into bite-sized pieces.
In a heavy pan, heat peanut oil. Add and toast cumin, mustard seeds and curry leaves to fragrance.
Add the rehydrated chana dal to the skillet. Saute the dal to pale red.
Add tomato and cook to soft.
Add turai pieces. Sprinkle turmeric. Mix well. Cover and cook the turai for about five minutes or until the pieces become soft.
Stir in salt. Sprinkle a tablespoon of grated coconut if you wish. Cook another couple of minutes and turn off the heat.
Serve the turai with chana dal warm with rice, chapati or bread for a light and tasty meal.

Turai with Chana Dal ~ for Meal Today

This is a video of the beerakaaya plant from my garden. Filled with pretty, yellow flowers and long, ribbed vegetables, beautiful beerakaaya vine is a sight to behold during peak summer time.

Beerakaaya Harvest for this Week

Sing Jana Gana Mana. Salute, Jai Hind. Enjoy chocolate or biscuit with friends.

We fondly remember the days when we were kids attending the Independence Day celebration at school. Though it was small and just a single piece, receiving that simple sweet for us young minds was a sure cause of celebration.

At our school, Swami Vivekananda Vidyalaya at Nandyala, children are getting a chance to enjoy some of the traditional sweets like jhangri and laddu on special occasions. This Independence Day children enjoyed jhangri.

Happy Independence Day to Beautiful Bharath!

One of the cute young girls enjoying Jhangri on this 15th August ~ from Swami School, Nandyala.

Bottlenose Dolphins in the Galveston Bay

Last weekend, we went to Galveston, a small island in the Gulf of Mexico. It’s about an hour drive from my home. We spent time watching bottlenose dolphins and on the sea on a free ferry ride. The weather was balmy and the beaches were crowded. Still it was fun, thanks to brief rain and cooling breeze. I packed some boiled peanuts to snack. Shell and eat, within minutes they were gone. Salty and succulent, they were the perfect snack for a beach day. Being from the India, I think we are destined to crave boiled peanuts.:) They are very addictive.

Boiled Peanuts ~ for a Beach Day

For those of you, who would like to engage your tastebuds in a salty succulence with delicious boiled peanuts, here is the recipe.

2 pounds, raw, fresh peanuts
2 tablespoons, sea salt
Big pot or pressure cooker and a colander

Wash peanuts in plenty of water. Take them in a pressure cooker. Add salt and enough water to cover them.
Close the lid and on medium-low heat, pressure-cook the peanuts to tender. Slow cooking produces excellent results with soft and salty peanuts.
Pour the cooked peanuts in a colander and drain the water. Cool for few minutes.
Break open and enjoy the tasty boiled peanuts. Yum!

4 oz jar of red chilli pickle

Red Chilli Pickle:

Last week I prepared an Andhra style, red chilli pickle with ripe, red Serrano chillies. The pickle is all natural ingredients, stone-ground, and extremely hot. It tastes great when applied in small quantity on breakfast items, to spread on sandwiches, or to spike up the sauces. The detailed recipe is here. I am offering 5 jars of pickle for those of you interested chilli fans who would like to try.

4 oz jar for $ 9.99 (includes shipping).
Update: Soldout. Thank you!

Scarlet Rose Mallow Flower

Texas Star Hibiscus (Hibiscus Coccineus), also known as Scarlet Rose Mallow or Swamp Hibiscus, is a one of a kind, native perennial plant. Hardy in warm areas, this hibiscus is known for its maple like 5-lobed leaves and star like 5-petal blooms. The big, bright red blossoms last a day, with new flowers quickly taking their place. This hardy perennial is a butterfly and hummingbird magnet.

I have this plant in my garden since last year and I am very pleased with its low maintenance and high blooms appearance. After seeing the flowers this year, many of my friends wanted to have this plant in their garden. I shared the seeds with them. I have some more seeds for sale for those of you interested in native plant gardening.

Seeds sprout easily in soil or in containers with enough sunlight and water exposure.
Once established, the plant does not need much care or water.
Dies down in winter and comes back again in late spring from seeds.
Profuse, pretty blooms from July to October.

Scarlet Rose Mallow (Hibiscus Coccineus): 20 seeds for $4

Scarlet Rose Mallow Seeds

Homegrown Zinnia Bouquet

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On summer break. Will be back in August.
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We planted a small fig plant (Celeste) last March. It survived the unseasonably snowy winter last year and has grown into a healthy looking bush with plenty of branches. Thanks to the pleasant spring season we had this year.

The branches are filled with fruit now and I see at least 40 to 50 figs in various stages of development. They started to ripen since June last week. Everyday I would see 6 to 7 ripe figs for the past one week. I leave one or two ripe fruits for the birds, and pluck the remaining for us.

We are eating them raw right away, because these luscious ripe figs are tasty, delicate and juicy. They have soft skin that splits with ripeness emitting a fruity aroma and sweet honey like nectar. I had the pleasure of eating fresh figs at my grandparents home in Nandikotkur when I was little. But never thought it would be possible here. This happy occasion reminds me of our Yogi Vemana Padyalu recitals of childhood.

Floral Expressions with Peruvian lilies (Alstroemeria)

Peruvian lilies or Lilies of Inca are pretty flowers. They are inexpensive here in Houston, and I buy them sometimes. I like how they instantly bring spring sunshine like warmth to the home.

Happy, flower filled July 4th weekend!

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Special Book Sale

Wanted: Food writers for Indiaphile website.

My deepest condolences to Dr.Sinha’s family. May God bless him and his family during this time and always.

Seema Chintakaaya
(Koduka Puli, Jungle Jilebi, Bilayati Imli, Pithecellobium Dulce, Camachile, Makhaamthet)

I found these dried seema chintakaayalu at Canino Farmers Market, Houston. Here they are sold under the name Camachile fruits, shelled from the pods and partially dried.

In Nandyala, India, they were my childhood delicacy and we used to eat them fresh. They are readily available from trees lining the village fields and roads and on sale at the roadside stalls and public markets. The fresh, green pods ripen to pinkish red pods and that signals snack time not only for humans, but also for monkeys, parrots, and other creatures. The mature pods have whitish-pink flesh around shiny brown seeds and the soft flesh taste sweet and tart. We love this nutritious, nature’s snack and it’s a delight to find them here in Houston again after over a decade.