Making Paneer

With the help of Google and YouTube, I was really excited to learn how to make Paneer. Paneer is a type of Indian cheese with a very plain taste that doesn't easily melt like our regular American or Provolone cheeses (man, I miss cheese). Since its used in a lot of different Indian vegetarian dishes and I have never seen it in the States, I wanted to be able to make it when we return home. Surprisingly, its super easy to make!

First, bring your milk to a boil (I used 1 liter).

When milk begins to boil (before it starts to boil rapidly), slowly add lemon juice (about 3-4tbsp) and stir with  heat on low.

Milk will start to separate into curds(cheese) and whey (milk liquid) {ahh, Little Miss Muffet FINALLY makes sense now!}. If the milk isn't separating you might need to add more lemon juice. Once separated, turn off the heat.

Using cheese cloth or any other thin type of cloth, strain your cheese.

Rinse the cheese with cold water to remove any lemon taste. While still inside the cloth, squeeze out excess water from the cheese; the more excess water you squeeze, the harder the cheese will settle. You can wrap the cheese in a cloth and form into a block shape if you wish by placing two flat and heavy surfaces on either side. Let it sit and cool for about 30 mins. You can use it for cooking immediately or else store in the refrigerator.

Our 1 liter of milk made about 100 grams of paneer (not very much) so don't feel bad when you look at the finished product and think somebody stole your milk! Its normal :-)

We used our paneer to make paneer paranthas, just like my previous onion paranthas.

Enjoy!

Kavad Yatra

If you were in Northern India right now, you would see an unusual amount of orange color in the streets. Men (and some women and children) crowd roads and highways annually to fulfill a type of pilgrimage dedicated to the Hindu god, Shiva.

Not properly a pilgrimage but more of a journey (Kavad meaning the tent-like structure that is carried, Yatra meaning journey), hundreds of thousands of saffron-wearing devotees make the journey from their respective home cities to Northern India's holy cities of Rishikesh and Haridwar. The trek begins every year on the first day of sawan (monsoon) and lasts for about two weeks (this year's is July 16th-29th).

During the journey people carry kavads, elaborately decorated structures made of bamboo, many of which look like tents because they are so large in size. The kavad should not touch the ground at any point during the journey. Once the traveler has reached the Ganges river, he or she fills jugs with the river's water and places them at each end of the kavad, making it much heavier that it already was. Then the journey begins back to each person's respective home temple dedicated to Shiva. Some travel in groups, others alone.

Some devotees travel by train, bus, motorcycle, or bike, but most of them travel by foot, some also without shoes!

The most interesting part of this Yatra, for me, is that these travelers happen to be passing right through the city I live in! I don't know if its a good thing or a bad thing...maybe just more of an interesting thing. Along the journey there are many checkpoint areas where travelers can rest and find something to eat or drink provided by various temples. Many of these checkpoints are in our city. The not-so-awesome part about being a 'checkpoint' city is that many of our roads are blocked now so that the travelers can do their traveling in peace, making for very congested streets nowadays. Also, I constantly hear a voice on a loudspeaker directing traffic and travelers. Day and night, day and night.

Abhi and I went around the city trying to get some good footage of the orange-ness, here's what we got:

 butt shot!

a pretty big kavad 

This is a drive-by of one of the rest areas in our city.

Dooooosaaaaaa

I had the pleasure of eating one of my favorite types of Indian food the other day, DOSA. Its not easily found where I live because its mainly a South Indian dish. Dosa is a thin layer of cooked batter, filled with masala potatoes, then formed into a long roll. Its served with sambar (soup-like and sour) and coconut chutney. There are a lot of varieties of Dosa, but this potato-filled one is the most common (I think).

Yellow liquid: coconut chutney + Brown liquid: sambar + Roll: dosa = delicious!

Flies. I Hate Them.

Yes. Flies. They're horrible. I don't know if its the strange way they feel when they land on you, or how when you swat at them they just keep coming back. It might be the way they all swarm in packs and there can never be just one. Maybe its because flies always seem to surround things like roadkill and cow pies, so when they land on you its like a huge offense, "ah! the flies are mistaking me for dog crap, do I really smell that bad?!" (Yet no matter how many showers I take or perfume I apply, I still smell like a rotting animal to flies). OR is it because we've all heard the tale that every time a fly lands on us it leaves a piece of poop behind (don't tell me I'm the only one that's heard it)?

For some reason, India has a whole-stinkin-lot of flies. I can't quite figure out why either. (Free-roaming cows and cow patties, anyone?) And its not until I notice how awesome the weather is outside and have the hugest desire to sit outside with a good book or crossword, that I'm reminded of my dear old friends, the flies. I tried doing what most people do and just ignore them. After all, what can they really do to me, lick me to death? But after three or four have taken land I just can't handle it anymore, those tickly legs and extending tongues, yuck. My hands start the swatting routine that doesn't end until I finally decide to retreat and go inside.

I've seriously considered (and still am considering) buying this neat device that looks like a small tennis racket that has electric wires running through it and is used for killing mosquitoes; except I'm after larger prey: those damn flies. I would have a hay day relaxing outside, daring any fly to com near me. BUT, as luck would have it, my in-laws have much larger, non-murderous hearts than I do. They would rather not kill any living creature unless absolutely necessary; that includes flies, and that also includes their daughter-in-law doing any unnecessary harming. So for now, kya karu (what to do)?

Call me a complainer, a whiner, cold-hearted, or even a hater.
But seriously, I hate flies.

Piaz Ka Parantha

Since I've come to India my mother-in-law has taught me a thing or two about Indian cooking. One thing I've learned to cook, though don't particularly enjoy making is this piaz ka parantha (aka onion flat bread ). It tastes really good but can be a little tricky to make. Here's how:

Step 1: Gather your necessary tools

Top  pan (tava), Right tongs, Bottom board and rolling pin

Step 2: Mix wheat flour and water to make dough. Roll into balls. (see above picture)

Step 3: Chop onion into small pieces and add red chili powder, salt, and green masala powder (I don't exactly know what makes up the green masala, maybe I'll update that later).

Step 4: Roll the dough ball slightly and add a heaping spoonful of onion mixture.

Step 5: Fold the dough closed (like a  Chinese won-ton or dumpling) so that all onion pieces are inside the dough. Again roll the dough out flat (preferably in a circular shape), being careful that it doesn't break because of the onion.

Step 6: Cook on flat pan on high heat, about 1 minute per side, flipping 2-3 times. Once one side is cooked and flipped, add ghee (clarified butter) to each side and cook for a few seconds.

After the dough is fully cooked, you're done! You can eat it lots of different ways; plain, with butter, with plain or sweet yogurt, with pickled mango, the list goes one but I haven't tried any other ways... :)

There's no final picture (maybe because I was in such a hurry to eat?) but it pretty much looks like the picture above.

Its Official, I'm A Resident of India

After much trial and tribulation, I now hold an official document claiming my residency in India. No, this doesn't mean citizenship and no, this doesn't mean that I'm staying longer than planned. This only means that I can stay as long as I want in this country (or at least until my 5 year visa expires) without any hassle and hullabaloo from the Indian government.

You see, India's foreign tourist policy says that you can only stay in the country for a maximum of 6 months before they boot you out, and you can't return for another 2 months. This presented a teeny bit of a problem for Abhi and me, seeing that we won't be going home until my 6 month period has passed.

We've done a lot of traveling and jumped through many-a-proverbial-hoop to get my Indian 'T' (Tourist) visa changed to 'X' (Marriage) visa. This was all so that I could then qualify for Residency in India, register with the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO) and thus, stay with my hubby as long as necessary here in the Land of Indians. Got it? If you're a little confused, none of this really matters anyway, all you need to do is congratulate me on my new Indian residency status! :)