Spiced Yogurt with Adai (lentil pancakes)

Around here, weather is still the big news. Even after applying "flinty Chicago toughness" to DC for a year, the federal government had to close for 3 days in a row. The schools are out till the day after Presidents Day. Keeping high energy kids under house arrest is probably the toughest part of the deal. Thankfully we still have power and a warm place to stay which is not the case with a lot of residents in the area. Thanks all of you for checking up.

cleaned once a lot more left by the new one to be cleaned again

In a space of 2 days here we are in the midst of another snow storm, seriously Mother Nature is the boss if I ever I had any doubt. While the other one was orderly and well organized with the sun coming out the minute the snow stopped falling and making the landscape look absolutely magical when the sun reflected on the pristine snow (we will leave aside the shoveling part for now). This one on the other hand is one ugly storm, the difference is the blizzard conditions with snow blowing all over and the violently swaying trees laden with snow is scary to watch. Snowmeggadon, snowpocalypse all seem appropriate terms to describe the conditions we are under now.

Shoveling snow is a workout like no other. The high calorie foods we tend to consume while caught indoors were all burned pretty easily. Shoveling out a 800 sq feet area of driveway and walkway definitely gave the feeling of having run a marathon. The upper arm workout while throwing the snow over the ever growing mounds sure makes one sleep without a stir at night.

it is beautiful alright

From the next post on I promise to not bore you with any more snow talk but there is snow still falling and I can't think straight.

this new one which started yesterday, sure is messy with drifting blowing snow

Adai - it has come to this, family plays a guessing game trying to figure out what went into the mix when the adai got made. The composition changes and this time it had toor dal, moong dal, urad dal, steel cut oats and whole ragi. The ragi adds a good bit of nuttiness to the dosai. Avial - mixed vegetable in a yogurt coconut base is by far the best accompaniment for Adai.

The protein filled adai with the vegetable filled soothing yogurt is indeed a perfect match. With not enough time on hand and not enough vegetables, plain spiced yogurt is all I could come up with. Add a few sauteed shallots if you wish. Almost similar to this neer poosanikai thayir kuzhambu but with a lot of ginger and you know why.

Spiced Yogurt
Ingredients
1. 2 Cups Yogurt whisked
2. 1/2 tbsp coconut grated
3. 3-4 green chilies (control for heat)
4. 1 tbsp ginger grated
5. salt to taste
6. seasonings: cumin, mustard seeds, one whole red chili, curry leaves
7. 1/2 tsp ghee

Method
1. Dry roast the coconut, ginger and green chilies and blend to a smooth paste
2. Whisk it into the yogurt.
3. In a small pan heat the ghee and the let the cumin and mustard splutter, add the red chili and curry leaves, cool and pour on the yogurt.