10 things I love about my hometown

This post has been in the pipeline for a while now. I can't believe it has taken me such a long time to express my thoughts on my beloved hometown, Mysore. 

My hometown is where a piece of my heart is. Even after being away for more than a decade, I still have an incredibly powerful connection to Mysore. I never had to leave the city in order to appreciate it. It is where I grew up, went to school, met my best friends, spent countless summer holidays with my cousins, embarked on my career path, graduated from professional college, forged innumerable happy memories with my family and friends, the place I left behind when I got married and the place I keep itching to get back to whenever the opportunity arises. It is at the crux of all my childhood memories. It is an integral part of me. 

JSS Dental College & Hospital

To give you a bit of background, I was born in the United Kingdom where I spent my early childhood followed by a few years in the Middle East before my parents decided to settle down in India for good. At the time, almost all my extended family were flocking to Bangalore which was (at the time) considered a great place to live in. But my parents made the unconventional decision to move to neighbouring Mysore, a much smaller and quieter city located about 150 km away from Bangalore. I was an eight-year old girl with missing teeth and pigtails when I arrived in Mysore for the very first time. 

Railway Station

Although it is the third largest city in the state of Karnataka, Mysore to me has always seemed quite compact. It is a city that is well-planned, uncrowded and has an inherently laid-back vibe. The cultural and historical ambience of the city embellished with music, art, paintings and dance exhibit the influence of the Vijayanagara Empire and Wodeyar dynasty thus earning the sobriquet 'Cultural Capital of Karnataka'. Mysore is renowned for its grand palaces, majestic temples, beautiful gardens and colorful festivals which imparts an old world charm to the city. 

When describing Mysore, the words hip or cool will probably not come to mind. The urban youth may likely find it a dull place to live in but I personally wouldn't have it any other way. 

Chamaraja Circle

When it comes to leisure, the city has always had plenty of spacious family-friendly restaurants, iconic hole-in-the-wall eateries and quaint ice-cream parlors. I fondly remember enjoying meals at Dasaprakash Paradise, Jewel Rock, Grand Maurya, Olive Garden, Southern Star, King's Court, The Green Hotel, Roost, Royal Inn, Metropole and Nalpak with my family; The Old House, Dosa Point,  Downtown, Bombay Tiffanys, Indra Cafe Paras with my siblings & cousins; Dolphin, Penguin, Big Bite, Hotel RRR & Vinayaka Mylari among many others with my college friends.

Penguin

Dolphin

Vinayaka Mylari

Bombay Tiffanys

Indra Cafe Paras

The Old House

There are enough cinema theatres which is how I remember spending most of my weekends growing up. Catching the latest Hindi blockbusters at Woodland & Lido theatres, English flicks at Sterling theatre & Tamil movies at Rajkamal theatre brings back a lot of memories. And if you were wondering, I reserved watching Kannada movies in the theatre in Tumkur (and seldom Mysore) 😀

Rajkamal Theatre

One of the grooviest places that my friends and I would hangout was at Planet X. We would go bowling, go-karting, check out the gaming arcade, dabble in billiards and mini golf and end the evening with snacks beverages and dinner. Those were some real good times!

Planet X

For the longest time, Mysore didn't have any pubs, breweries, clubs, discos, lounges or any such happening hangout spots. Even good coffee shops and cafes were a rarity. The first shopping mall opened only a few years ago and the first-ever McDonalds made an appearance not too long ago. 

But having said that, urbanization has finally struck the city and Mysore has been changing at a frantic pace. It is becoming an active location for IT companies, BPO firms and is the first choice for a short weekend getaway for people living in Bangalore. In recent times, it has been getting rather crowded on weekends (and more so on long weekends). New apartment complexes, shopping malls, multiplexes, fast food chains, trendy bakeries, swanky hotels and specialty grocery stores seem to be mushrooming left right and center. The traffic has increased substantially from how it was when I left. My worst nightmare will be Mysore transforming into present-day Bangalore *shudder* I fervently hope that unfortunate day never comes.

SAPA Bakery

Here are 10 reasons why I love my hometown:

Recipe of the Month: Spinach Masala Pongal

Pongal is one of my all-time favourite comfort foods. It is the South-Indian cousin of the well-known Khichri/Khichdi which is popular throughout North India and Pakistan. 

This humble dish of pressure cooked lentils and rice with subtle spices and fried cashew nuts is not only flavourful but hearty and balanced too. Aside from rice, you can make it with poha (beaten rice flakes) or even millets. Not counting the days when I'm sick, I can devour bowlfuls of this golden-yellow hued dish topped with homemade ghee on any given day. My mum knows all too well my hankering for pongal so she makes it a point to make it for me whenever I'm in Mysore. My husband on the other hand, isn't as much of a fan so the occasions where I made pongal at home in Singapore had started to become few and far between.

My mum passed me a neatly handwritten recipe for this Spinach Masala Pongal a long time ago. It was so long ago that I didn't even remember that it existed. I was rummaging through my cookbooks one day, and came across the recipe. I thought why not give it a go and tested it out that very night. Out of habit, I changed the recipe to suit my own preferences. The original recipe called for sliced eggplants and garam masala which I thought were weird additions so I skipped both. I also decided to incorporate some coconut milk for added flavour. I wasn't expecting to get much of a reaction from my husband for this dish so I was shocked when he came back for seconds and even asked me to make it again. Since then, this Spinach Masala Pongal has featured as a staple on our weekday dinner menu. I even pack it in our lunchboxes to take to work. He likes it with garlic pickle but I prefer it as it is.  

During the first trimester of my twin pregnancy when I had a lot of food aversions and was retching a fair bit, this was the one dish that I could wolf down without any problems. I made it a ridiculous number of times back then. 

I made it for my in-laws last month in Singapore and then made it again for my parents and cousin at home in Mysore a few days ago and it got an all-round big thumbs up 😊

The cover photo isn't great but don't judge the recipe by its cover (tee...hee). This is a really yummy one-pot meal so I hope you make it for your family and friends. Who knows, it might make a regular appearance on your lunch/dinner menu too.

Baker's Corner: Mini Jammy Cakes

After what seems like eternity, I am in India. Hooray! I'm introducing my little ones to my hometown, to the house I grew up in, to my friends and family, to our culture and traditions and to everything that makes me look forward to going back home 😊 The tots were a dream on the flight from Singapore to Bangalore and were equally good on the drive to Mysore which took place immediately after. Not a peep out of either of them throughout the long journey. I must thank my lucky stars✌😅 

In the coming weeks, they have quite a number of things lined up - their cradle ceremony, getting their ears pierced, their naming ceremony and their uncle's wedding. It is going to be an eventful first holiday for them as it is going to involve considerable travel and meeting a lot of new faces. I hope it doesn't upset their routine too much *fingers crossed*

It was hubby's birthday last month and as preoccupied as I was with the girls, I still wanted to bake him a cake. I didn't have much time to browse through my numerous cookbooks so I grabbed the first book I laid my eyes on and settled on a recipe that looked easy to make. It was a recipe for these Mini Jammy Cakes. I'd never made mini cakes before so I thought I'd give it a go. 

From start to finish, the whole process took less than an hour and the cakes themselves were quite good. I reduced the quantity of sugar in the recipe since my in-laws were around (they prefer their desserts mildly sweet) so they were able to enjoy it too. The recipe calls for ground mixed spice and since I didn't have any ready made spice mix with me, I made my own using cinnamon powder, nutmeg powder, ground cardamom and cloves. From what information I found online, cardamom is not typically found in ground mixed spice but I heavily recommend that you use it because it gives that lovely perfume to the cakes. But then again, not many people are crazy about the flavour of cardamom in their desserts so it's your call. This is a great dessert to whip up for tea time or when you have guests coming over.

I'll probably feature one of my mum's and MIL's signature dishes in the coming weeks while I am still here so keep a look out for that.

Hope you try this recipe folks
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A Tale of Two Babies

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The natural state of motherhood is unselfishness. When you become a mother, you are no longer the center of your own universe. You relinquish that position to your children.

- Jessica Lange

I wanted to do a post on motherhood but as you can see, it has taken me a while to do that.

My fraternal twin girls arrived on November 10th 2014 and since then, life has been nothing short of a crazy roller-coaster ride. Each day has been a constant cycle of feeding, burping, changing diapers, playtime and naps. Looking after two babies at the same time is a round-the-clock job and I never imagined that I would get any time to myself in the near future. But turns out that my daughters (who are nearly 5 months old) are not terribly difficult to care for and as long as my husband and I stick to their well-established routine - they fill up their tummies, look forward to playtime, interact with us, enjoy their baths, sleep well and are seldom cranky. So far so good. I fervently hope things stay the same.