Third of January, 2021

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 Lots to say but it's past midnight and I just warmed up my tea. So there's that to get through.

I ate a roti rolled up with a slice of cheese and strawberry jam. Ate a bowl of spicy potato topped with daal and some thetcha. I love thetcha. Thetcha is a Maharashtrian chutney made with spicy green or red chillies, salt, and garlic. These are the basic ingredients but there are some slight variations. I love this a lot. My favourite way of having this is with hot rice and ghee. 

Speaking of chutneys and powders, there are so many varieties you find in Gujarati and South Indian households. I like the nutty, spicy and savoury ones that one generally has with rice, rotis, idlis, dosas, etc. But they can be smeared on bread in a pinch or even used as a dry rub marination. I have given up non-veg but my friend, who's from Hubli originally but is now in Bangalore, has a pudi (powder) which has cumin, curry leaves, tamarind, chillies, hing, and a few other things that are divine. My friend herself is a great cook and I think her bisibele bhaat ought to feature in a premium cookbook somewhere. But the bisibele bhaat with that powder is soul satisfying.

Anyway back to her pudi (and she gets batches of a lot of these great things from Hubli)...I think they would make a great dry rub for rohu pieces for a crisp, flavorful fish fry. I had once used it to season a plate of mushrooms and some potato wedges. 

It was tasty.


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