Gravied Drumsticks - Recipe from Sukham Ayu (Simple Lunches -25)

Losing a wallet or a purse is a traumatic experience. It almost happened to me couple of weeks ago. As I sat in a meeting I realized that my pocket had suddenly gotten lighter. I finished the meeting replaying everything I did from the time I left home till I reached the office. I kept going back to the previous night's events. I had left my wallet upstairs after paying for something on the internet even though I also vaguely remember taking it before leaving the house that morning.

Pushing aside that thought I had convinced myself that it was at home. I rushed back home all the while hoping it was still safe upstairs on my bedside table. It was not there. I called my friend at the office and asked her to check around my desk. Not there. Then I began the unenviable task of calling all the credit card companies and banks to cancel or block the cards. I finished the task and could not sit idle so decided to go back to the office and do something useful - talk to the security guard and also to look in the parking lot to see if it fell out of my pocket.

Let me digress a bit. What in the world has happened to women's pant pockets?. What used to be fairly deep pockets have somehow been made to be shallow pieces of cloth suitable for holding nothing.

I made it back to the office again, driving up and down on the interstate without a license and thinking that had that to take care of as well. Anyway I drove within speed limits and following all traffic rules. I made it back to the office, went down on my hands and knees and scanning the parking lot and finding nothing.

Walked back into the office and to my seat and found the wallet sitting at the back of my chair in the wedge between the backrest and the seat. I heaved a big sigh of relief and sat down to steady my nerves. That was easily the most nerve wracking couple of hours of my unexciting life. Phew and Thank God.

But another colleague of mine was not as lucky. She had her purse stolen while she was at a restaurant a popular and a very busy restaurant. Her bag was taken from an empty seat beside her by what she suspects is a group of people and within an hour debit and credit cards were used in several grocery stores, gas stations and other stores in the same zip code. Remember they had pretty much everything, car keys, house keys, license with address and everything. She complained to the cops who were not very eager to listen to her or help her. A crime that no crime solver rushes to solve.

Add to this she is getting married actually tomorrow and leaving the country afterwards for a 3 week trip. She was finishing up her last minute purchases and hence had pretty much all her cards with her. I shudder and can't imagine the stress she was under. This happened last Friday and at her surprise bridal shower yesteday she seemed to have taken it stride and dealt with it. Here's Wishing her a Very Happy Married Life.

I am not really sure what one can do to be more careful. But keeping an inventory of what is in the wallet might certainly come in handy. Only when I found the wallet and opened it to see what is in there did I realize the number of different cards that are in there.

Note down the card numbers and the phone numbers to call. The first thing these card companies or banks ask for is the credit card numbers yes of the card you are calling to report. Are we supposed to remember these and have them at our finger tips? To be fair after I got past that the process was hassle free and I got my new cards within the week.

Have you been in a similar and do you have any tips to deal with such a situation?

Frozen thawed drumsticks

Moving on to the recipe,
Getting fresh drumsticks back home was not that big of a deal and they are available throughout the year. But here I make do with frozen drumsticks. In all fairness I do not miss the fresh ones. Even if I see fresh ones I do not bother to buy them. They are usually dry and wonder how long they sit out. Fresh or frozen this recipe works magic on either kind.

Recipe Source: Sukham Ayu

Gravied Drumsticks
Ingredients
1. 2 -3 cups of chopped drumsticks
2. 1/4 cup of cooked peas (dried peas soaked, my addition)
3. 1/4 cup of chopped red onion (optional, not in original recipes)
4. 1 cup of tamarind pulp from a small lime size piece of tamarind
5. 3-4 garlic cloves crushed
6. 1/2 tbsp of red chili powder (I used 1/2 tbsp red chili powder and 1/2 tbsp of Kashmiri chili powder)
7. 1 tsp turmeric powder
7. seasonings: cumin, mustard seeds, a tiny bit of asfoetida and curry leaves
9. 1 tsp oil (recipe called for ghee)
10. 1/2 tbsp jaggery (optional, my addition)

Method
1. In a kadai, heat oil and when hot add the seasonings, when the mustard starts to pop add in the onion and saute till translucent. add in the garlic and saute for a minute.
2. Add in the chopped drumsticks, add a quarter cup of water, cover with a lid and cook till the drumsticks are cooked.
3. Now add the turmeric powder, chili powder and mix it in well.
4. Add the tamarind pulp and another 1/2 cup of water and let it cook till the raw smell is gone completely.
5. Add salt and the jaggery, check for taste and add more chili powder if required. Turn off when desired consistency has been reached.

Serve with rice, dal and yogurt.