Karaichu Vartha Dosai

Yesterday evening, when I had to make a quick decision of what to make for the rest of the family coming home after activities, I decided to put the remaining dosai maavu to use.

What is Karaichu Vartha Dosai?
It means - you mix different kinds of flours, dissolve them in water and make dough out of it to make dosai. I added wheat flour/atta, maida and rava to the left over dosai maavu (which was not enough to feed more than 1 person!) and made dosai with it! I then garnished each dosa with onions, green chillies and curry leaves sliced super-thin. When I turn the dosa with the garnishes upside down and turn it back up, it was gratifying to see all the onions roasted well!

This can be fixed quickly, provided you have people who love to eat it. My sons reject the dosa with any topping, so I did not put the toppings on for them. Surprisingly, they were so hungry and they did not crib about the different color and texture compared to the regular dosa.B was also hungry, so thankfully, he did eat the dosa with some approval symptoms!

Then I decided to blog about all the dosas it reminded me of. After all, dosa is one thing I can eat any number of times a day. And it is unfair that I have not blogged about it!!

1. My Ammamma's (grandma) karaichu vartha dosai. I cannot make the same kind of dosai she used to make. The maavu used to be so watery and she would just pour it over the tawa and not spread it. It was awesome.
2. Khali dosa of Kadambam, Bangalore. There were 2 dosas in one order - thin and tasty.
3. Dosa from Brindavan Hotel, Bangalore. Kind of homely. Different from Sukh Sagar ones.
4. Amma's in Virginia used to serve Onion Chilli Masala Dosa. When I was pregnant with the first one, we were in Virgina then. I used to go there on weekend evenings to have that. I used to abbreviate the name as OCMD. The ones I made today were close to be called OCMD missing the masala part. OCD! I am not referring to Obsessive Compulsive Disorder here.

Readers, would love to hear about the yummiest dosas you have had in your life!

Adventurous dinner

After work, I went to pick up Nikhil and Nithin from the baby sitter's place. It was time to take him swimming again. Life has changed all of a sudden so much. Up until last week, I had the luxury of not having to worry about managing the younger one when the older one goes to an activity. But now I am alone with 2 kids till B comes back from Kuwait tomorrow.

I know , you guys are going, thank God, she will have to stop this 'alone with 2 kids' dialogue at least tomorrow! Ha Ha Ha! I think I am enjoying all the sympathy and attention I am getting from people for this reason!

Back to the story! It was a new instructor, a giant man, who looked to me exactly like the genie who appeared when Aladdin rubbed his lamp. He snubbed at me when I went to him with my usual 'please deal with my kid like this..' and told me 'lesser said the better'. Having convinced my son who watched me from far away, that I DID warn the instructor about not letting him under water too much, and feeling sheepish, I waited with Nithin on my lap. The class really went very well. The old man knew his way to work with kids.

The class was over and I was super hungry when we started our ride back. I was tempted to go to my favorite restaurant (Devi vegetarian) for dinner. I asked myself.
"Am I crazy venturing to go to a restaurant all alone with these 2 kids?".
The younger one I know would play with the water on the table, try not to sit in the high chair and for all you know, when I get my food in front of me, who knows if I can even eat once piece peacefully! I know B would not dare to take them.

On one side, was this fear. On the other side, were my hunger and the "yummy-veggie-South-Indian-food" thoughts.

I looked to Nikhil for some courage.

I tried to entice him. "Nikhil, do you want to eat pooris"
He replied quickly : "Yes, yes, yummy"

That was it. I will deal with the problem when it comes. There are 2 people now in the car wanting to eat out.I am going to Devi. Period.

We parked a bit far and walked when the wind almost blew us down. It was cold and so windy.
I kept my fingers crossed. We placed our order and the food came.
Contrary from usual, Nithin also did some good job with the food. Nikhil ate his pooris as a good boy. I ordered a dosa which was served in an oval plate as big as new born baby! Everything was good. And I thought 'everything is going so well. Ek coffee order karne ki gusthaakhi karoon? '
And I did. Nikhil got his usual mango lassi.

We left the place contented and not stressed out. Mission accomplished. Thank God for the adventure well done!