Vangi Bhath - More Than One Way to Eat Rice!

You know what the Chinese and the Indians have in common? RICE!! It's our STAPLE food. We eat it with everything. 

We Indians ESPECIALLY LOVE mixing it with SPICES and VEGETABLES to make it more flavorful and different. The spices make the STAPLE food more interesting to eat. 

Here's a signature rice dish from Karnataka (a state in Southwest of India) called Vangi Bhath. It's made with a special blend of spices called Vangi Bhath spice powder (which include coriander, black gram dal, cumin, red chili, Fenugreek, cloves, and cinnamon), eggplant or brinjal, curry leaves, peas, cashews, mustard seeds and of course, plain white rice. 

I love eating Vangi Bhath with a little bit of YOGURT!

Quick Tips:

- To make the rice dish, simply follow instructions on the back of the spice powder packet. 

- These packets are available at most Indian grocery stores such as Subzi Mandi or Patel Brothers. 

Even a Tuesday Can Be Special!

"You're only as old as you think you are." If this statement is true, then I think I am in my 20s and sometimes I feel like I'm in my 20s. And you know what, people think so too so who am I to tell them anything different.

Hello everyone! Yesterday was the day I graced the world with my presence. People from the wood works sent me happy greetings including an international call from my hometown in India.

That Smile is Priceless and for everything else, there's MasterCard!

I thought as you age, birthdays become more ordinary. I stand corrected. I was greeted in the morning with a card and presents from my parents...which was unexpected. 

Then, my friend Harchint treated me to lunch at this Thai/Vietnamese restaurant called Lemongrass. And before the words came out of my mouth, he read my mind and ordered dessert: Mango Guava Cheesecake. It was comprised of three layers of sinful sweet bliss: mango cheesecake on the bottom, guava cheesecake in the middle topped with perfectly whipped mango mousse sprinkled with toasted almonds. If a picture is worth a thousand words, I wonder what the picture above would be worth? I blew out the candle and savored every bit of that cheesecake. And don't worry, I let my friend have some too; I'm not that selfish.  

My extraordinary Tuesday finally came to a close when I took my parents to see the movie, Million Dollar Arm with Jon Hamm (from Mad Men), Suraj Sharma (from movie, Life of Pi) and Madhur Mittal (from movie, Slumdog Millionaire). It's based on a true story and beautifully directed. I recommend everyone to go watch it.