Friday, September 18, 2009

Cockeyed Notes

I yearn so much for you that it makes me go red with embarrasment.
Everyday I shamelessly look forward to the day I will meet you again.
The thought of having you for a full day, dawn to midnight, after a lonely week sends me so giddy that all other thoughts look petty and are forced to make way for you.

And when you do walk in, the music in me reaches a crescendo, deafening my senses.

Oh Friday, here you are, at my door-step today. How much I missed you!

Monday, September 07, 2009

Bottles, Dals and Kitchen decor!

Most of my pet-jars in the kitchen seem to have one or the other kind of dal. Some white, some round, some cut, some yellow, some small, some large. I don't have a clue what half of them are. Thanks to this great fact that you can't substitute one type of dal for another in any Indian dish, I ended up with all these varities. And with each visit of parents, one more new type gets included!
This weekend, as I washed and dried all the bottles under the sun I decided to do some dal-sorting. Most of the dals were beyond their expiriy date. Some jars even had a small, yet, thriving eco-system in them.
Idea! I had 3 pretty-OK shaped bottles. Few nice looking but not edible dal packets. And some time to spare.
So came up with these for my kitchen window sil :-D
Felt they looked nice!

(click image for an enlarged view)

Want to try? Its too simple to be explained in steps. So here goes some tips:
  1. Ensure that the jars are perfectly dry before you begin this!
  2. Take care to use a funnel to put the dal through narrow-mouthed bottles.
  3. Masoor dal gives a vibrant look to it. Use it in plenty.
  4. I used an old packet of rock salt for the white portion. Salt/Sugar can also be used.
  5. I even stuffed a few dried-red-chilles near the top of the bottle.
  6. You can add ANY stuff from your kitchen here. Don't stop at dals. I have added even a saunf layer!
  7. And yes, you might have to sacrifice some of the good green-gram and other dals which you use frequently. Don't depend ONLY on the stuffs which have outlived their expiry dates!

That is it, I guess :-D
My attempt doesn't look all that neat. But I got so excited with the idea that I had to-had to-had to blog it :-p