{"id":1191,"date":"2008-04-18T22:31:41","date_gmt":"2008-04-19T05:31:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nandyala.org\/mahanandi\/archives\/2008\/04\/18\/presents-from-pooja\/"},"modified":"2008-04-23T12:05:17","modified_gmt":"2008-04-23T19:05:17","slug":"presents-from-pooja","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nandyala.org\/mahanandi\/archives\/2008\/04\/18\/presents-from-pooja\/","title":{"rendered":"Presents from Pooja"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Arusuvai
\n<\/center><\/p>\n

“Oh my! She shouldn’t have to” I thought while opening the parcel.<\/p>\n

Aachari, garam and jaljeera – three types of masala powders, all homemade. Hazelnut chocolates. Stainless steel pepper mill and saltshaker. And a greeting card.<\/p>\n

When I first started food blogging, I knew it was something I would enjoy, but I had no idea how much fun it could be. Neither a sweet talker nor a social butterfly, essentially a social hermit and a solitude seeker, I have never expected neither attention nor affection. But that’s exactly what food blogging has brought to my life. It has been an Arusuvai kind of experience. (Arusuvai<\/a> means six tastes in Tamil and refer to theepu<\/em>-sweet, karam<\/em>-hot, kassappu<\/em>-bitter, pulupu<\/em>-sour, uppu<\/em>-salt, tuvarpu<\/em>– like umami, a special taste that one gets from raw vegetables and herbs.)<\/p>\n

Without a doubt, one of the best aspects of this arusuvai experience has been the surprise gifts that led to special relationships. It happened again last week. Pooja of My Creative Ideas<\/a> has sent me a friendship package. I\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2ve been following Pooja\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s writings since she started<\/a> her blog. Cheerful personality, creative nature with childlike innocence. It’s impossible not to be charmed by Pooja’s passionate flair and delightful exuberance.<\/p>\n

Thank you dear Pooja<\/a>, for this special arusuvai friendship package!<\/p>\n

Here is what I have come up with Pooja’s Aachari masala (pickle masala powder). I’ve put together six tastes in an attempt to create an Arusuvai experience, and it has turned out to be a memorable success.<\/p>\n

\"Cucumber-Mint
\n<\/center>
Cucumber-Mint Relish with Pooja’s Aachari Masala
\n~ A Convergence of Arusuvai Friendship<\/center><\/p>\n

Recipe: <\/strong><\/center>
\n
1 palm-length cucumber (Moroccan\/Indian variety), cut to thin rings
\n2 sprigs fresh mint \u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u20ac\u0153 leaves plucked
\n¼ cup – kokum water<\/a>
\n¼ cup – limejuice
\n1 tablespoon – jaggery gratings
\n½ teaspoon – Aachari (Pickle) masala
\n¼ teaspoon – salt<\/center><\/p>\n

In a cup, take kokum water<\/a>, limejuice, jaggery, aachari masala and salt. Mix with a spoon for few minutes until jaggery dissolves.<\/p>\n

In a shallow serving bowl, place cucumber rounds and mint leaves in layers. Pour the juice. Top with mint leaves. Refrigerate or place in a cool area for about ten minutes. Serve as a light snack or as a side dish to main meal. Munch on a piece of cucumber and mint. Then sip a teaspoon of juice. Sweet, sour, bitter and spicy with some tuvarpu (umami), this cucumber relish will be truly an arusuvai experience.<\/p>\n

Kitchen Notes:
\nAachari Masala (R\/C Pooja<\/a>) – Dried red chilli, fennel seeds, fenugreek seeds, mustard seeds, Nigella seeds and garlic. Skillet roast in few drops of oil. Add salt and powder them together to fine.
\n<\/small><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“Oh my! She shouldn’t have to” I thought while opening the parcel. Aachari, garam and jaljeera – three types of masala powders, all homemade. Hazelnut chocolates. Stainless steel pepper mill and saltshaker. And a greeting card. When I first started food blogging, I knew it was something I would enjoy, but I had no idea […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[153,220,29,34,14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1191","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cucumbers","category-kokum-amsool","category-lemons","category-mint","category-personal"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nandyala.org\/mahanandi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1191","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nandyala.org\/mahanandi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nandyala.org\/mahanandi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nandyala.org\/mahanandi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nandyala.org\/mahanandi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1191"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nandyala.org\/mahanandi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1191\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nandyala.org\/mahanandi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1191"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nandyala.org\/mahanandi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1191"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nandyala.org\/mahanandi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1191"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}