Sunday morning

Yesterday was Sunday and as soon as we were out of bed, wifey told me that she was going to make Shakshouka

“What is Shakshouka?”

“You can have a look when I make it”

“I mean is it something edible?”

“Don’t  be so naïve, I am  making it for breakfast so obviously it is edible”

Well that narrows it down a little bit, but I was still curious about this Shakshouka.

On Saturday night I saw her browsing through her baking book. Was she going to bake something?  

“So tell me, is this Shakshouka something you put in the oven and take out after half an hour?”

“Keep guessing . . . . . .”  and she sauntered into the kitchen garden, while I went about my usual task of making the morning chai. (yes I like to call it chai instead of tea) The word chai itself gives it a special taste.

Wifey called out from the garden “honey can you pass me that scissors? I want to cut one of the capsicums”

“What? you are going to cut my babies today?”

 “Yes I want only one”

“Wait a minute, I did not click it today. Hold on, let me get my camera. . . .  .”  and  I dashed off to the bed room to get my camera.

While I was fiddling with my camera I realised that my chai was undergoing that extra boiling effect. Now it was not my cup of tea.

So I took the pan off the fire and went to the garden with the camera and the scissors.   

In case you are wondering about those green leaves in the chai, those are Tulsi (Basil) leaves. I always put in one or two Tulsi leaves .. . . .  . . good for health they say.

Coming back to the Capsicum, from the time we planted them I have been recording the weekly progress of its growth and yesterday was the third Sunday.

This was how it looked on the first Sunday

It may be surprising for many to note that the capsicum grows upright and does not droop down like most of the vegetables.

This was how it looked on the second Sunday.

In case you are wondering why I click only on Sundays, it has got nothing to do with the Sabbath day. It’s just that my weekly off falls on a Sunday and on the other days I am not around when there is enough light to click.

And this is how it looked on the third week before the axe. . , I mean the scissors snipped off one of them.

I realised that wifey needed only half of the capsicum.  So why not photograph the other half to know the inside story.

And the first half went in here. . . .  . . .  in the Shakshouka    

Wifey kept the Shakshouka in front of me and said “do you like what you see? ”

Chutney

I tried making the traditional chutney (with some changes) and now all at home are of the opinion that  I am the chutney expert.

So come Sunday and the first thing that I have to do (after my morning tea) is to make the chutney.

This is to go with the breakfast which could be Idli or dosa or appam or uttappam.

One of the reasons why the family likes this chutney is the green colour.

Adding the ingredients in the right proportion is the trick.

Grated coconut is the base, to which I add a few pods of garlic, a little shaving of ginger, a few bulbs of the small onions (commonly known as the sambhar onion) a little bit of imli (tamarind) , one long green chilli, a few leaves of pudina (mint) and lots of curry leaves (yes that is the secret ingredient that makes the whole chutney go green) Of course salt to taste.

Grind all these together in a mixer by adding a little warm water till you get a good paste.

The final step is to do the seasoning with  rai (mustard seeds) and one or two dried red chilly, a few curry leaves and lo behold the chutney is ready.

This is not as green as my usual chutney.
I had to click this before it was set on the table (along with uttappa)

Now don’t ask me how to make uttappa. That is my wife’s department.