Sunday, May 10, 2009

Mom's Green Cauliflower Masala - A Mother's Day Special!


A mother always has to think twice, once for herself and once for her child.
- Sophia Loren, Women and Beauty

I'm dedicating this post to my Mom for Mother's Day! There have been a few random thoughts floating around in my head for the last few days, whenever I thought about Mother's day. Those thoughts were mainly about my mom and on what to gift her for Mother's day. The more I thought about it, the more I decided to come up with something original. And then a couple of days back, as I was driving to work, I slowly started wondering why not for this mother's day I dedicate a post for her! Though all mothers deserve recognition and appreciation throughout the year, I thought when there is one such special day created called Mother's day completely dedicated to mothers, I should use this opportunity to write a special post for my mom and make her Speciality-dish to let her know that she is special today! So, this is going be a long post :)

I read this quote somewhere - The moment a child is born, a mother is also born! I undeniably think that a mother's qualities are already built inside a woman, but comes out only when she becomes a mother. From then on, her role of motherhood becomes everlasting. I think mothers make the greatest impact in our lives, especially in girls' lives. No matter how "grown-up" we all claim to be, there is always something that we learn from our mothers in every stage. I'm a mother now, and I can understand how much hard work and dedication is required to raise a family. I've also learnt that being a mother never gets easier, but it just gets different in every stage! Things that didn't make sense a while back, make sense to me now. In today's fast paced world, in spite of having everything that I need in my finger-tips today, and having so many amenities all around me like Cell phones, Internet, Car etc., raising my only child has been a challenge for me everyday. And, I always get amazed how my mom was able to bring-up four kids those days without complaints! She has incredible patience with kids and is a very good listener - she's never tired of listening to our ramblings and daily musings, a good friend to all of us - yet strict when needed! Most of all, she takes interest in our individual activities - whether its education or career, music or dance , cooking or shopping, or even when we have nothing else to do but chit-chat! She's been a part of everything. Even now, she continuously encourages me to sign-up for music, dance and meditation classes that I left back as child. I think she still watches her middle-aged children for signs of improvement :)

As I type this post, I'm able to recall all her special qualities. My mom has this great determination and inner-strength that makes her very special to all of us within our family. We 4 sisters are hardly 2 to 3 years apart in age, and we all of us pretty much grew up together demanding attention simultaneously. Its amazing when I think how she managed during some of those hard-hitting days when we used to fall sick one after the other, when we all had exams around the same time, and when we relocated frequently due to dad's official demands. To me, taking care of our individual health and education needs, managing the household, while giving the same amount of attention to all of us, is too much to handle. But she did it without flaws and I've often heard her say that she never ever had any regrets in her life that she had to bring-up four girls with very little help and I've always admired her perseverance! This is one thing that I think all mothers need to possess. Oh, I have to share this! My mom is very good looking! We all have heard countless compliments from friends and relatives while growing up and those compliments continue till date :) She is very fair, slim and looks much younger for her age. Believe me, she was named as her college's "Beauty Queen" during one of her college years! She still has her annual magazine that has her name and title :)

Now we all sisters are well educated and established, and have taken different directions in our lives. But I'm sure we all still think about her in the back of our minds and try following her foot-steps in our day-to-day lives knowingly and unknowingly. I'm sure she had given up many things for herself, to make us become who we are now. But after saying all these great qualities of my mom, I'm asking to myself - Do I have all of her qualities ? Frankly, not all of them. I still have a long way to go in some aspects, but I'm also getting better in some aspects. As I work on it everyday, I have a big hope to become a great mother like her one day!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY TO YOU AMMA AND TO ALL MOTHERS!

Moving to the recipe, today I made this Green cauliflower Curry that is Mom's speciality. Honestly, I've not tasted this dish anywhere else till date. When I think about some dishes that has mom's special touches, this one stands-out for sure. It has an incredible flavour and tastes quite unique than other cauliflower dishes. This is an ideal dish if you are looking for a change from your regular gobi sabjis for Rotis. Green , luscious and the fresh corriander flavor is the highlight in this dish. Hope you all like it too!

Ingredients:
  • Cauliflower - 1 medium flower
  • Onion - 1 medium (chopped finely)
  • Shredded Coconut - 4 tbsp
  • Green Chillies - 4 small
  • Fennel seeds - 2 tsp
  • Garlic - 1 pod
  • Curry leaves - about 10 leaves
  • Corriander leaves - 1/2 cup (chopped)
  • Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp
Procedure:
  • Cut/break the cauliflower into medium size florets and wash them thoroughly.
  • Make the following to a smooth paste - Coconut, 1 tbsp of the chopped onions, garlic, curry leaves, corriander leaves, fennel seeds and G.chillies. Set aside.
  • In a large pan, heat oil and season with cumin seeds. Now add the remaining chopped onions and fry in high heat for 2 mins.
  • Add the cauliflower and fry for 4 - 5 mins in high heat. Add the paste, salt and 1 cup water and mix well.
  • Cover and cook in low heat for 10 mins or until the cauliflower is completely cooked. Increase the heat and saute until it becomes thick.
Serve hot with Rotis or Rice.

32 comments:

Gita Jaishankar said...

Great post Sujatha, your mom must have so pleased on reading this post :)

Parita said...

Lovely post dear..dish looks yummy, happy mother's day :)

Mahimaa's kitchen said...

great recipe as usual... very different one.. moms are so sweet. i love my mom so much!

Pooja said...

Lovely post..Happy mothers day :) The dish looks so delicious that I'm tempted to have it right from your pic!

ST said...

Great and Lovely post dear...Dish looks yumm...Happy mothers day...

Finla said...

A beautifully written post.
Happy Mother's Day.

Cham said...

Beautiful tribute to ur lovely mom! Happy mother's day U and ur mom! Mom's recipe rocks!

Dori said...

It's a very nice post for your mother... and her cauliflower looks delicious... Happy Mother's Day!

Indhu said...

lovely post.. and a delicious dish :)

chef and her kitchen said...

MOM's are the BEST......
Loved the colour of green colour of Gobi..

Anonymous said...

Touching Post Sujatha..what you wrote is totally true.a special day is such a great thought..
what a great way of celebrating Mothers Day !! cheers
btw,your cauliflower looks real yummy..would like to try soon !!

Saritha said...

Happy mom's day to u

curry looks great....

notyet100 said...

lovely post,.:-)

gtyuk said...

delicious cauliflower, happy mother's day! oops belated wishes :):)

Laavanya said...

It was so nice to read about your mom... she sure is special. My mom is also like yours.. very strong and motivational. I can't even begin to come close to how capable she is.

Love the cauliflower curry.. i've only made a potato green curry like this - must give this a try.

Unknown said...

Nice entry.. looks delicious & perfect..

Padma said...

Nice to see ur comments in my blog Sujatha ... was nice reading ur post ... even though it's late it's better not to miss ... wishing you also a Happy Mother's Day!!!

Ramya Vijaykumar said...

Wow, this is a very delectable dish, happy mothers day...

Trupti said...

lovely post.. Belated Happy Mother's Day !! Masala looks very delicious

Pavithra Elangovan said...

Lovely post.. i will try it out in this combination next time.. Love the cauliflower always

Vikis Kitchen said...

Mother's day special rocks dear.
Unique cauliflower recipe. I should try it soon.
Moreover I am hosting an event called 'The potluck - chicken' . It is my first time to host one. Expecting your suggestions , support and yummy dishes . Hearty welcome dear.
http://elitefoods.blogspot.com/2009/05/announcing-event-express-potluck.html
Thanks.

Sujatha said...

Thanks you all for your sweet words!

Laavanya - nice to know about your mom too! Moms rock :)

Vicky, I saw your potluck chicken event.. I surely will contribute something soon.. I love chicken dishes, and I can't wait to make one for your event :) Happy Hosting!

Kalai said...

Quick and delicious dish.mm...I'm going to try this recipe with Broccoli.

Deepthi Shankar said...

Mom's are always soo special .. I loved this recipe too

ARUNA said...

i love any dish with cauliflower!!!

lissie said...

great post..enjoyed reading it!
very good recipe...

A_and_N said...

This recipe is so new to me!! Lovely post.

lata raja said...

very nice way to acknowledge all that she has been to you.lovely post and great recipe.Happy mothers'day to you too.

Chitra said...

nice post sujatha,first time here i guess, blog looks neat:)

Shreya said...

what a lovely post! great cauliflower masala recipe. will surely try this:-)

delhibelle said...

that is such a sweet thing to do for your mom. this recipe is just so lovely,flavourful and healthy.

Suparna said...

hi sujatha,
Nice Mother's day dedication post ...this recipe looks more tempting coz it's unlike the regular ones ..I'll make this one sometime would love the green tinge on the cauliflowers too :)
TC