CURRY AND SPICE: TIL BADAM

This lady is whimsical you know, though not it is an all of a sudden decision, since yesterday afternoon she stopped taking her blog posts to different food groups here and there. I finally could say good bye to the tiresome job at least for quite sometime now.... Am I following the footsteps of Bianca? Not really, I will keep the blog alive, I love to cook and share..... and yes, love to write! Do I have a garden like her that I get to spend the entire day there, somedays cleaning and picking, somedays with a book completely detached from the world or am I an OCD like that beauty who single handedly manages a big home with a garden, irons the clothes too staying in a country where helps can be hired at a cheap rate? Our mother has OCD, she is losing weight fast, I scolded her too hard.... the brother did send me the photographs of the Lakshmi Pooja at their home! I too have an OCD syndrome, given my lazy nature and Cristine's denial mode to improve her dusting skills, I have given up on it! You see her father has undergone a brain surgery yesterday, she lost her work permit.... we are unable to send her before Saturday.... yet she insists to prepare the men's lunch in the morning.... She does all the pastas, noodles and sandwiches.... I do not interfere! I just cannot have sandwiches and burgers... unnecessary heavy feelings.... ahem, as if "dal-dal er bora, kopi-pata bata, shutkir bhorta, kancha-kolar khosha bata shada bhaat diye" are not! Haha.... I say cheers to all who grew up on "kochu-ghechu-bora-tora".... they must have eaten piles of rice grains just like me and licked their fingers at the end.... developed a tummy like me..... oblivious of making thyself attractive.... urging others.... please come to me, hug me, kiss me, do not leave me....

I will eat right .... do a nose job... wear high heels... what is called falling onto the feet of people begging... Aha! we must sit together for a cuppa at some point in life, as I believe that some faces describe their selves... that they are plain, simple, do not mince words just like me.... if only the science & mathematics books were not there in between and the "gerua" colour! Anyway, I do not know most of the peoples' food preferences, only in flashes do I get to know.... I very much wished to blog about a kochu-chingrir dalna today, even the deceased soul of Sukumar Ray would have loved it.... then I felt that its Diwali for majority of the Indians, some parents are forcefully making their kids look weird.... that reminds me that there must be some celebration in the other parts of the world.... kids get me melt away all my frustrations if not a celebration, I have nothing to do with ghostly beings! A TIL BADAM is best suited on a day after Sukumar Ray's birthday who contributed immensely for us kids to grow up healthy!

The monkey at this home does not read what his mother fancy, he forgot identifying Bengali letters, mumma still debones his "ilish pieces".... at least he should not give up his roots altogether! His snack box is packed with the TIL BADAM I prepared yesterday and apple.... that is one good thing that they eat fruits of their choice as snacks on a working day. On a holiday, you cannot feed them fruits! Aren't my men weird? They are! You see, what a queenly treat I get from Cristine, OCD syndrome has to take a back seat! It comes forth when Cristine goes on a holiday, very few can make me happy with their cleaning skills..... I lose some weight doing so, I do not know why a kind of mental lethargy is eating me up and why I am allowing people who have not done anything for me ever or will never do, having so much control over me! If I am not a silly nut, who is? If I am in a self destruction mode, who can save me? If you are keen about homely vegetarian dishes, try this healthy TIL NARKOL POTOL too and enjoy it with steamed rice or chapati!

Anyway, I may not have a swing in the garden where I can sit quietly with a book and get lost in it but an avid reader can create such an ambience anywhere! This is the major reason why at the moment I took such a decision to stop visiting food groups with my recipe posts.... With strict social media rules, one has to maintain time gaps between shares.... doing that my life has become a hell..... Say... I am at an important juncture of a story.... all of a sudden, I remember I have to post in that food group or this.... that is disturbing and absolutely uncalled for.... the pleasure of blogging was going, the amount of reading got minimal which definitely will make me even poorer a writer! How I regret of not practising to write when I should have.... everything improves with practise.

This easy, sweet snack recipe of TIL BADAM .... that is a medley of roasted white sesame seed, roasted peanuts and jaggery does not require much practice, it is that simple. I just added some cashew nuts & pistachios to it! Ask me where did I taste it first? It was in Kusadasi.... a small township in Turkey with lots of history.... Ancient Roman to Byzantine architecture! There we were taken to curio shops to buy carpets, goodies like lokum, baklava, handmade soaps, very exclusive Iranian saffron and this TIL BADAM .... Trust me, I myself was too surprised to find something homely there.... I mean before we knew Southern India, we tasted "tiler naru".... Now that we live in an island with a considerable population of Southern Indian origin, we get good quality "tiler naru to badam tokti to even muri bars".... haha! It was silly to ask the store attendants to share the recipe of it, tasting a little from what on display, I screamed literally.... "husband... this is nothing else but gur diye til badam"..... So, do it with me in few easy steps for your family and visiting guests or take it to homes you are visiting instead of store bought sweets.... it will emanate happiness.... within you and then you spread it! Shall we?

INGREDIENTS :

RAW SKINLESS PEANUT : 1SMALL CUP
WHITE SESAME SEED : 1/2SMALL CUP
JAGGERY : 4-5 TBSP
GREEN CARDAMOM POWDER : 1/4TSP
CASHEW NUT : 7-8 HALVED
PISTACHIO : 7-8

PROCEDURE :

Take the raw, skinless peanuts and the white sesame seeds in separate plates.

Heat a wok on your gas stove, add the raw sesame seeds and stir at low heat for a minute or two. They will be light brown in colour and not burnt. A step very crucial and to be done carefully!

Store it on a plate and add the skinless, raw peanuts to the heated wok. Again, we have to toast them very carefully without allowing them to burn. Gently stir them at low heat for 2-3 minutes and take down.

Add the jaggery and a medium sized cup full of water to the wok. Let boil at low heat for quite sometime allowing the mixture to get sticky.... Somewhere in between, add the green cardamom powder.

Add the roasted peanuts first and fold in very well. This will take 1/2 a minute or so!

Now add the roasted, white sesame seeds and stir for a minute or so. Rolling the peanut & jaggery mixture on the roasted white sesame seeds would have been a better idea but it did not make any difference!