My first half Marathon ..

I ran a half marathon today thereby accomplishing one of my resolutions for the 2014. I have been assiduous in avoiding tobacco and if I were to get below 180lb; I am at 182 currently; I can seriously move on to my stretch goals!

I stayed last night with Ravi, Sudha, Svathi, Akshya, and Coco the dog, at their house near Philadelphia. It was Ravi that re-introduce me to running by getting me to take part in Relay Marathons. Since then I have been to at least three of them. In fact two years ago, I was supposed to run the 1/2 marathon but fell terribly sick 2 weeks prior to the run with a cough so bad, it seemed my my lungs would be expelled out of my body!

This year, I took better precautions. I ate well, I exercised regularly, I took care not to run in inclement weather, and finally I rested adequately. Despite all this, I was not fully prepared. I had 6 weeks of preparation with the longest run being 7 miles and here I was trying to run 13 miles! At least I had run 7 miles the previous two Sundays and I had been averaging 17 miles each week.

I started the run very conservatively running an average of 12 minutes 10 seconds for the first couple of miles. But very soon it was clear that the time taken for each mile crept up by 5-10 seconds till I was averaging 13MPH by the 10th mile. But I am proud that in all this time I ran steadily without a break. Even when I had a Gatorade from the stalls on the side, I ensured that I ran slowly. The eventual Marathon winner blew by me around the 9 mile mark! I had run 9 miles and he had already completely 22nd mile! I lost sight of him very soon.

Around 10 miles, my toes and knees started hurting. I stopped tightened my laces and started again but the final hill and my pride proved to be my undoing. I refused to walk up the hill which was a good half mile long. I tendons around my left knee hurt so much I had difficulty even walking. So I limped the last 1/2 mile till I saw the end point when I jogged slowly to the finish. I finished with a time of 2 hours and 50 minutes! My knees hurt but I am glad I did this.

This sets me up well for my stretch goal. I am signed up for Marine Corp Marathon this fall. Wish me luck.

Jannavi's Chili Paneer

Three days of making rasam had warmed me up. I was ready for some serious cardio. So my next question was what would Maalini like and her mother suggested Chili Paneer Curry and M loved the idea.

My general rules

• Wash all vegetables before use. 
• Cut fine; unless otherwise specified (when in doubt cut it finer). 
• Always add less salt, it is always easier to add more at the end. 
• Lastly I prefer having all my ingredients in place before cooking to avoid looking for things in a hurry.

Ingredients

• 6 tblsps of olive oil or canola oil (Jannavi prefers the former, I used the latter)
• 20-25 cm cubes of Nanak Paneer
• 4-5 strands of Coriander leaves, cut.
• 4-5 curry leaves.
• 1.5 tsps of Jira.
• 0.25 tsp of Hing (asafoetida).
• Two handful of Kasuri Methi.
• One large onion, cut long and slender *
• Two Capsicums, cut inch long and slender *
• 0.25 tsp of turmeric powder.
• 0.50 tsp of salt. **
• Two tblsps of soy sauce

Recipe

1. Heat oil preferably in a non-stick pan and add paneer. Separate the cubes if they stick to each other.
2. Using a fork, turn over each cube. Roast each side till they nicely brown. Do not over do as the paneer tends to feel tough to chew.
3. Once complete, set the paneer aside
4. Heat some more oil, add Jira, and roast it (if there is left over oil from cooking paneer, it is OK. Add a couple more spoonfuls of oil).
5. Add hing, curry leaves, kasuri methi, and coriander. Heat till you see incipient signs of charring.
6. Add Onions, salt, turmeric and cook on medium flame for 3-4 minutes 
7.  Add Capsicum and toss them
8. Add Paneer and Tandoori Masala
9. Cook (do not cover the dish) for 4-5 minutes, longer if you like your vegetables cooked more. If you cover the dish, then the Capsicum tends to lose its bright green color (presentation matters)
10. Add Soy sauce at the end and toss the entire dish.
11. Pour it in a serving dish.

* Do not cut onions and capsicum into small pieces.
** Taste to see if you need more salt.

Jannavi's Tomato Lemon Rasam

This recipe, like the previous one, started with a question posed to the expert, Jannavi - How do I spread my wings a little bit and try for some variety? What follows is a recipe for tomato lemon rasam that can serve 3-4 persons.

My general rules

• Wash all vegetables before use. 
• Cut fine; unless otherwise specified (when in doubt cut it finer). 
• Always add less salt, it is always easier to add more at the end. 
• Lastly I prefer having all my ingredients in place before cooking to avoid looking for things in a hurry.

Ingredients

• Two handful of pressure cooked dal of your choice; I used Masoor dal. *
• 2 tblsps of ghee **. If you do not have ghee, cut 1/2 an inch from a stick of unsalted butter.
• 2 Roma tomatoes, cut.
• Half an inch of ginger, finely cut. **
• 4-5 strands of Coriander leaves, cut.
• 4-5 curry leaves.
• 1.5 tsps of Jira.
• 0.25 tsp of Hing (asafoetida).
• 0.25 tsp of turmeric powder. **
• Two handful of Kasuri Methi.
• 0.50 tsp of salt. ***
• 3 tblsps of lemon juice.
• 2 tsps of Rasam Powder. **
• 3 cups of water. 

Recipe

1. Pour ghee in a flat bottom pan and set it on a medium fire.
2. Once the ghee melts, add Jira and roast it.
3. Add hing, curry leaves, kasuri methi, ginger, and coriander. Heat till you see incipient signs of charring.
4. Add tomatoes, turmeric, salt, and small amount of water. Close the vessel with a lid and let it simmer for 3-4 minutes.
5. Add cooked dal.
6. Add 2 cups of water and let it come to a boil.
7. Add rasam powder. Pour the powder so that it does not clump.
8. Add the 3rd cup of water and let it come to a boil.
9. Add lemon juice.

Take it off the fire and pour it into a serving dish.

Customize to suit your palate

1. * 2 handful, 3 cups of water serves 3 persons easily
2. ** Add a spoon more of ghee if you like the smell.
3. ** use 1 Green chili and 0.25 inches of ginger for a milder taste.
4. ** 1 spoon of rasam powder if you like milder taste.
5. ** 5 tblsps of lemon juice if you prefer it tangy.
6. *** After adding water, taste to see if you need more salt.
7. **** 4 cups of water makes for a runny rasam.
8. ***** Add 1-2 strands of cut coriander at the end to bring out its fragrance.

Jannavi's Milagu Rasam

During the past 4 days and five nights, Jannavi has had fever, chills, body pain, head ache, congestion, and a cough. She fell to a combination of over exercise, under nourishment, over work, and an unknown virus. She demurs at this description of her ailment.

Jannavi's illness made it necessary for me to flex my cooking muscles. These muscles had severely atrophied as I have not cooked in decades. Even if I am the only one to say so, I was not a bad cook. I remember clearly that my room mates used to look forward for the days when it was my turn to cook.

Now I wanted to make Milagu Rasam; growing up, it was part of one's diet during any illness, minor or major, Besides Jannavi wanted it badly.

I started by asking the expert, Jannavi; how to make milagu rasam. As I was out of practice I made notes on the process and then I decided it write it out formally for future reference. I hope she does not fall sick, but this allows me to be more self-sufficient during her travels. Besides I am not good at improvising. What follows is a recipe for Milagu rasam that can server 3-4 persons.

My general rules

• Wash all vegetables before use. 
• Cut fine; unless otherwise specified (when in doubt cut it finer). 
• Always add less salt, it is always easier to add more at the end. 
• Lastly I prefer having all my ingredients in place before cooking to avoid looking for things in a hurry.

Note If I cook often and blog about the dishes, one fact would you would notice; the ubiquity of Kasuri Methi in all of Jannavi dishes.

Ingredients

• Two handful of pressure cooked dal of your choice; I used Masoor dal. *
• 2 tblsp of ghee **. If you do not have ghee, cut 1/2 an inch from a stick of unsalted butter.
• 2 Roma tomatoes, cut.
• Half an inch of ginger, finely cut. **
• 4-5 strands of Coriander leaves, cut.
• 4-5 curry leaves.
• 2 green chili, cut (Thai hot pepper) **
• 1.5 tsps of Jira.
• 0.25 tsp of Hing (asafoetida).
• 0.25 tsp of turmeric powder.
• 0.5 tsp of coarse ground Black Pepper (I prefer ground over whole). **
• Two handful of Kasuri Methi.
• 0.5 tsp of salt ***
• 3 cups of water ****

Recipe

1. Pour ghee in a flat bottom pan and set it on a medium fire.
2. Once the ghee melts, add Jira and roast it.
3. Add Black pepper, hing, curry leaves, kasuri methi, ginger, and coriander. Heat till you see incipient signs of charring.
4. Add tomatoes, turmeric, salt, and small amount of water (you could rinse the dish containing the diced tomatoes with a little water. I did). Close the vessel with a lid and let it simmer for 3-4 minutes.
5. Add cooked dal and turmeric.
6. Add three cups of water and let the mixture boil.

Take it off the fire and pour it into a serving dish *****

Customize to suit your palate

1. * 2 handful, 3 cups of water serves 3 persons easily.
2. ** cut the amount of Green chili, Black Pepper, Ginger to suit your taste. The amount specified above would clear sinuses.
3. *** After adding water, taste the concoction to see if you need more salt.
4. **** 4 cups of water makes for a runny rasam.
5. ***** Add 1-2 strands of cut coriander at the end to bring out its fragrance.

Resolutions for 2014

Achievable goals

1. Get below 180lb
2. Run a 1/2 Marathon
3. Stay Tobacco free

Stretch Goal

1. Get to 170lb
2. Run a full marathon

India Trip 2013 - Part 10 (As tourists in New Delhi)

I lived in Delhi for most of my life, first attending high school, and then going to college at Delhi College of Engineering, or DCE as it used to be called. Jannavi has always been to Delhi with me to visit my parents and in here eyes it was a hot and dirty city from which one flees to the cooler comfort of Bangalore. There was no concerted effort on my part to showcase Delhi as a beautiful place, as a place to visit, even though it is part of the most popular tourist tour of India, The Golden Triangle. Even I had never seen Delhi through the eyes of a tourist. I decided to rectify it this time.

Chor Bizarre

When we expressed this desire to our host at Thikana, he recommended a site called Delhi Magic. I browsed through the various options and was amazed at some of the more novel ways of seeing New Delhi. We chose the "see all of Delhi in one day option" and I walked over the agenda made up of 4 parts. Our guide, a personable man named Rajesh Chawla, arrived promptly at 9 in the morning and we started at 9:30AM with a trip to Qutub Minar complex and followed it by a tour of the Old Delhi area consisting of Jama Masjid, Sheesh Ganj, Red Fort. During the drive, Rajesh explained the oral history and later written history of Delhi. Delhi is known to be home to anywhere from 7 to 11 cities with the latest city called New Delhi (and also known as Lutyens Delhi) and the current Old Delhi being the second oldest city. There is just so much to see in Delhi.

We took a break for lunch at Chor Bizarre, a famous Kashmiri eatery in Old Delhi. Rajesh recommended a delicious lamb dish that is a specialty of this restaurant. The 3rd part of the trip was a quick drive through the New Delhi area with stopovers at Central Secretariat, Parliament, Rashtrapathi Bhavan, Vijay Chowk, Raj Path, and India Gate. The day ended with a visit to the Humayun's Tomb. Rajesh informed us that this tomb was the template for the more famous Taj Mahal. We hardly did justice to the city and we knew we needed several days to take in the sites. Our guide was very knowledgeable and assisted us in hitting all the important spots and imparting to us several arcane but interesting details that we were never aware of before. It was perfect.


We came back to the B&B and freshened up for dinner in Gurgoan, at the house of Suresh, my classmate from college. During college years, we were a gang of five. Two others classmates, Sandeep and Sanjay, who also lived in Delhi were there for the dinner. We connected with the fifth member, who lived Fort Wayne, Indiana, via a video skype call.The dinner was very nice and our hostess Archana had made so much food, I yearned for those days when I could eat 20 rotis. Yes, I ate 20 rotis and lost a eating competition, but that is another story.The party broke up just before midnight and we all went our ways.

The next day started slowly as it was the last day of our vacation. We got a head start on our packing for the return trip and let Maa sleep late to get a good rest. After a late breakfast, we went to Delhi Haat, located on the other side of Ring Road, near AIIMS. After dropping off our purchases back in our room, we took the Delhi Metro to get lunch near Chandni Chowk in a narrow street called Parathewali Gali. The stations and trains were clean and ride was smooth although it was very crowded., so crowded that we were concerned we would not be able to get out at our destination. Sandeep and his wife joined us much to our pleasant surprise. The small restaurant served more than 40 varieties of Parantha, a form of flat bread from the Indian sub-continent. We tried an assortment of 5-6 of the most popular ones with the highlight being Rabri Parantha, bread stuffed with rabri, a sweet dish popular in North India. Maa in particular did justice to the meal.

With a heavy heart that we could not eat anything more, we said our farewells to my friend and went back. Food seems to be a central theme during our trip and although it was the last day we still were not done. One would also think that after such a heavy lunch we would not have much space for another meal. Our flight was scheduled to leave at 3AM which meant that we could eat an early dinner with plenty of time left. For the last meal of the trip, we went to an pizza place, called Pizzeria Rosa, in Hauz Khas Village. The spicy Guava cocktail was a great way to round up the India trip.

What more is left to say that I have not already said in the 10 pages that comprise this travelogue. A great trip comprising some of the most popular places in Northern India, great weather, family, old friends, new friends, and great food.

We made it safely home although we left our hearts behind. We know will come back.

India Trip 2013 - Part 9 (back to New Delhi via Jaipur)

Raji, Navin, Inchara, and Harsha left at 4AM for Jodhpur and made good headway. Navin, as a result decided to add a trip to Mehrangarh Fort to their agenda. He wanted to zip line, but the group proved too timid without its backbone, me! After seeing the fort, they caught their flight and arrived in Bombay to find that their flight to Bangalore was delayed by several hours. The team decided to extend their vacation by going to Juhu Beach. When they finally arrived home, it was nearly midnight.

With Mohan back in New Delhi

The three of us left at 5AM, on time, and made good time. Our driver, named Mohan, was friendly and we felt comfortable conversing with him and we learned a lot about him and his family during the long drive. Since we were in an Innova we made up so much time that we were in Jodhpur around the same time Naveen and the rest were heading to the fort. For a few minutes, we thought of joining them at the fort, but we knew how far we still had to travel and we continued further to Jaipur. The roads were smooth and we made it to Devi Niketan at 3PM as expected. We picked up our passports from the Admiral and said our goodbyes again and made one detour before heading back to New Delhi. Jannavi purchased some saris and suits from a local store. With me pressing her to make purchases really fast, she is confident that the seller over-over-over charged us! She says she will never go shopping with me. Wish I were that lucky! We left Jaipur around 5PM and found that most of the road was dug up and being rebuilt. As a result the 3 hour road trip ended up being 6 hour road trip. When we reached the B&B, it was past 11PM.

Good night, we have a packed agenda for the next day.