My Fridge, a Mid name Meme and Noodles

Asha has tagged me to show my fridge.

Top Rack:Curd, Butter, Savoury Preserves and Pickles, Middle Rack: Milk, Pulikatchal preserve, leftovers , Bottom Rack: Vegetable Tray, Coriander and Greens Case, Marmalade. Not seen in picture is a chill tray with fresh cream.

Freezer with Grated Coconut, Copra, Fruit Pulps, Tamarind Pulp and Tomato Paste

Savoury Preserves, Syrups, Coffee Dicoction, Flavourings

Mansi tagged me for a Mid name Meme more than a month back. I scratched my head for many many days before managing to come up with this. 😀 – “Ask Lakshmi to write it”. 😀

Latha Rukmini is my maiden name. Since I don’t have a middle name I choose the name Rukmini.

R – Risk

I strongly believe that without risk there can be no gain. I take and have taken risks – big ones – in every aspect of my life.

U – Unabashed

I don’t feel embarassed or guilty about anything from kitchen disasters to preparing indulgent food to expressing my opinion or ignorance. I find embarassment or guilt to be emotions of no use or constructive consequence.

K – Kindness

The one characteristic that draws me most to people is Kindness.

M – Management

I place a lot of importance on effective management of time and skills. I believe that to live life to the fullest, one must use time and skills to the best extent possible.

I -Independence

I like being independent and like to give others their independence. Lakshmi says, “Well, almost”

N – Negativity

I shun negativity in all forms – negative thoughts or negative actions. I am a die hard optimist.

I – Indispensable

I believe that nothing or no one in this world is indispensable. People adapt to change and the world is driven by the sheer will of people to live well.

My daughter has been bugging me for long to post Noodles that I prepare. I find this recipe so basic and simple that I really find it pointless to publish 🙂 . Here are my Noodles.

Take half a pound of Noodles and cook in enough water and salt until al dente or firm and chewy. Saute 1 tsp of ginger and garlic and 2 pieces of red chillies in some oil. Add finely sliced vegetables like red peppers, cabbage, carrot, baby corn, onions and saute till they are cooked. Add 6tbsp of tomato puree, salt and basil and simmer for a few minutes. Take off gas and toss in the noodles.

I will be on a short blogging break because of a tadka that I accidently poured on my feet. See you in a while with Deepavali preparations.

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Fantastic Four MEME

Raaga has tagged me for the Fantastic Four MEME. So here goes some random facts about me in “fours”:

4 Places I’ve lived:

1. Chennai
2. Mumbai
3. Bangalore
4. Delhi

As you can see I have been bred in urban India.

4 Jobs I’ve had:

Four Jobs???!!!

I have had only one going by the technical definition of a “job” before being bitten up the startup bug (as they say in the software circles). I am listing work that I have done in the past and loved the most:

1. Summer Camp Coordinator

Amma and I had a blast conducting a two month summer camp for 100 children from age 5 to 15 at the BHEL Officer’s Club. At the end of it we had a massive exhibition of paintings and handicrafts and a three hour long cultural with dance, drama and music.

2. Volunteer with Sarbani’s Weekend Social Sessions for Children with Autism

Sarbani is one of the few people to have influenced my perspectives I learnt how to engage with children by observing her. Each weekend during the third year of my degree in psychology would be spent volunteering at her weekend social skills and integration session that would be a massive amount of fun – from playing all day long in sand pits to making a wall sized collaborative painting.

3. My two Internships during my Masters one with Concerned for Working Children and the other with Azim Premji Foundation. Amongst many interesting things I will always cherish these two for:
   • All the trudging across a few dozen villages spread across Karnataka – some of the Tandas would be accessible only by foot
   • All the Jolada Rottis I have had and the zillion conversations I have had with wonderful people who seek a contented heart
   • The irrepressible spirit of working children and their trade union
   • The many cups of tea flavoured sugar syrup I have gulped in the name of “chaya”
   • All the endless search for villages traveling in Jeeps, Lorries and Bullock Carts

   And of course for all the search for a decent “private enough” place to relieve myself

4. Coordinator – Resource Center, The Banyan

The Banyan is the first and the only NGO I worked for. This is the only “JOB” that I have had. The Banyan transforms the lives of women with mental illness once homeless and invisible. More than 2000 people in the past decade have traced back their steps into a life, some by reuniting with their families all over India and some by taking up employment.The best thing I cherish about this job was the fact that it involved a whole lot of travel to places as diverse a Vellore and Guwahati. I had the opportunity to meet fantastic individuals who do so much to empower people. One of them was Krishnan at Akshaya Trust.

4 Favorite places I’ve holidayed:

1. Danolti

We drove on a road that wasn’t a road and had no parapet – so getting there was an adventure in itself. I have had the best tasting spring rolls ever at the small hotel where we stayed. In the early 90’s Danolti was still a fairly remote place. We were literally the only tourists around – we trekked a few kilometers every day, ate and slept.

2. Bharathpur

My brother is a bird fanatic – he can’t get enough of birds. We’ve drove down to Bharathpur religiously each migration season during the six years that we stayed in Delhi.

3. Church on Belur-Halebid trip

The Belur-Halebid trip by itself was phenomenal, we also went to very remote places that don’t find a spot on tourist maps. My best memory is of boating around this submerged church on the way to Hassan.

4. Badami

I went to Badami when I was five and my dad made me solve a dozen puzzles that the artists had left on these Cave temples. The magnificence of the sculpture at Badami is burned in my memory like no other. You must head to Arun’s blog to read more on Badami.

4 Favorite foods:

There used to be a time when I was quite taken in by food that looked and sounded exotic, but here’s what I consider heaven right now

1. Idli with Mulaga Podi – IMHO, People who dont like Idlis dont know how to make Idlis or haven’t had Idlis that are qualified to be called Idlis.
2. Rasam – We’ve posted tons of Rasam recipes – a few of my favourites are here, here and here.
3. Vethal Kozhambu with Groundnuts and Small Onions – Small Onions don’t taste this good in any other dish.
4. Roasted Nuts or Snacks made out of Nuts / Chocolate Brownie (for which I have been fortunate to discover a low fat version) – I refuse to choose one among these two.

I have stronger opinions about what I don’t like – Semiya payasam tops this list and there isn’t anything like a good semiya payasam.

4 Places I’d rather be:

No answers – I love being where I am, doing what I do and the way I do it.

Update: Since my amma’s pestering me with sad smileys, I’ll add MY AMMA’s PLACE in Bangalore to this list. In fact I love going there, perfect holiday – according to Satish I keep eating all the time when we go to Bangalore.

4 Bloggers I’d like to tag:

1. Bharathy from SpicyChilly
2. Srivalli from Cooking for all seasons
3. Mandira from Random Ramblings
4. Suganya from Tasty Palettes

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