When summer gives you tomatoes, make tomato bharta

It was hard for me to give up my little veggie patch in my old home, but was thrilled to find a little patch in the new place as well.

The previous owners had planted just tomatoes and when we moved in the tomatoes were starting to ripen. Since then we have been harvesting some tomatoes every week.

I recently posted on Facebook asking for recipes for using some of the tomatoes and one of the readers - Christina Roy- posted a recipe for Tomato bharta.

I tweaked it a little bit by roasting the tomatoes and the garlic, caramelizing the onions separately and then mixing it all together.

The outcome was amazing.

We used the bharta as a dip for a cocktail party we recently hosted for a friend's wedding. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of the party, but here is the menu:

Thank you kitchen!

It was unusually quiet on the blog last month, but it was frantic at home. Things flying, toys being put in boxes. Spices, food jars, some that even I didn't recognize, being evaluated to see if they would be moving.

Yes, we're moving houses, moving the kitchen one house to another in Ann Arbor.

Before we pack our bags and move, I want to say thank you to my kitchen that has sustained us for six years.

This is place where I brought my two sons home, pureed, mashed, froze and fed them their first baby food. This is the place where cupcakes, cakes and popsicles were conceived, experimented, baked and eaten.

This is the place we called home, with crayon marks on the wall, scrape marks from bumps and toys; with familiar corners, comfort zones and mess. Yes, it was a warm, messy house. 

Making moong dal murukku at home

My kids love murukku or chakli. It's a snack Aswin grew up with and I discovered during my college days. So it's a household favorite. Every grocery trip to the Indian store, we pick up a few packs.

My five-year-old's taste has evolved from hesitating to take a few bites to now crunching through a full chakli. The two-year-old, on the other hand, still thinks it is too spicy. So, I had mentioned to my MIL in a conversation last yer that I want to try making it at home.

I was excited when she brought with her ground moong dal and a murukku maker when she came back this year. The murukku maker belongs to her kaki, and I was touched that she passed it on to me.

So, one Sunday afternoon, when the kids were taking an afternoon nap, we got together for a murukku making session.

I followed her steps and was so thrilled when the murukkus sizzled on the hot oil, doing their happy dance.

They came out light, crunchy, and non spicy.

I had a glass of milk and hot murukkus ready for the kids. Lil A chomped through a few and Tiny M took a few tentative bites and declared, "these are not spicy."