Tuvar Lilva Khichdi (Pigeon peas and Rice Mix) - Gujarati special

This is Gujarati special food that we all grew up with. (with this recipe 1/3rd serving of rice and peas is 14g carbs, 2g fat, 2g protein) and (Kadhi: half cup serving 2g carb, 2g fat and 1g protein) The one roasted papad is about 33 calories.

Ingredients:
1 pack of Tuvar Lilva (you can get from Indian grocery store) or 2cups fresh Tuvar beans.
2 cups of rice. (For Khichdi usually people use the thicker rice but Basmati is ok too.)
6 cups water.

For Tadka: aka To temper (adding a kick/flavoring to it)
1 or half tea spoon Jeera (whole Cumin seeds), 1/3 cup unsalted butter, 1 oz (28 grams) garlic butter (I had Garlic sauce dip from Papa Jones so I used it) You can use the regular garlic too and mix in the butter. Salt to taste, pinch of Hing (asafetida),  1 medium onion chopped (if you like), Turmeric power half a teaspoon, red chili powder half a teaspoon, or as per your taste

Method: (I like to use pressure cooker)
1. Heat the pressure cooker pot on the stove and add the Cumin seeds, Hing and butter, garlic butter and onion. Let it soften a bit.
2. Add all the spices and cook for a minute or two.
3. Add the Lilva/Pigeon peas and rice and water and mix.
4. Let it cook for 10 minutes or so until you hear 3 whistles of the pressure cooker. Turn off the stove and let it cool. DO NOT attempt to open when it is HOT, that would be dangerous. You must let it cool off completely. Then open the pressure cooker lid and mix so the peas and the rice mix well.

Eat with the Yogurt Kadhi and roasted Urad papads.

For Kadhi:

1. Yogurt 2 cups, 2 cups water and 1/4 cup gram flour (Chickpea flour) mix with salt as per your taste and bring it to boil. Completely lower the heat.

2. In a separate pan, Add: 1/2 teaspoon Jeera (cumin seeds), red or green chilli pepers, Hing, 1 teaspoon crushed garlic and 1 tablespoon or two ghee (clarified butter or unsalted butter), if you have curry leaves a twig or few leaves will be ok. Let this heat up for a minute or so and when it crackles add it into the boiled yogurt mix.

3. Add fresh green cilantro leaves to garnish.

Roast a papad to go with this meal. I microwave the papad.

Enjoy!
Kalpana

Unsalted Roasted Chickpeas and Peanuts Chikki - (with Jaggery powder)

by Kalpana Christian Sharma (KC)

Healthy(Low saturated fat) Dates and Nuts Wheel/bar/square/ball (Khajur and Sukha Meva) Snack: by KC 

Servings 32  calories per serving : 93

·         0.50 cup (30g), Sliced Almonds,

·         0.50 Cup, Raw Cashews

·         0.50 Cup, Pistachios

·         0.50 cup (28g), Peanuts - Unsalted - Dry Roasted

·         50 gm, (1/4 to 1/2 cup) Roasted unsalted Channa (chickpeas) 0.35 cup(s), Sesame Seeds, Raw

·         0.50 cup(s), jaggery powder (available from Indian stores)

·         1 tablespoon, Ghee (clarified unsalted butter) or used melted unsalted butter

·         2 tbsp(s), Water 

·         200 g, Baking Dates (Pressed Dates) 1 cup

·         30 g, Chia Seeds (1/4 cup or so)

     Method:

      1. Mix all nuts (except Chia seeds) and lightly roast just for few minutes. Keep it aside.

      2. In a heavy bottomed pan put the ghee/butter and warm up at a medium heat; add jaggery powder and water. Let it cook up a little. Add the date paste in it. Keep mixing and stirring about 3-4 minutes total.

      3. Now add those lightly roasted nuts and mix well. You can let it cool a bit or use gloves to hold and press it in your hands to shape it in to 4 tight cylinder shapes if you want to make round wheels.

      4. Spread chia seeds in a plate and let those cylinders roll inside the plate covering all the sides with chia seeds.

      5. Cut them into around 32 wheels. Let it cool and store in an air tight container.

     (If you like, shape them into 32 balls and roll them in the chia seeds. Or for square shapes pour half the chia seeds an
      2inch deep plate or square cake pan, flatten the mixture and top it up with remaining chia seeds. Let it cool and cut 
      into 32 squares.) 

                          

Nutrition Facts
Servings 32.0
Amount Per Serving
calories 93
% Daily Value *
Total Fat 5 g	8 %
Saturated Fat 1 g	4 %
Monounsaturated Fat 2 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 1 g
Trans Fat 0 g
Cholesterol 0 mg	0 %
Sodium 4 mg	0 %
Potassium 86 mg	2 %
Total Carbohydrate 10 g	3 %
Dietary Fiber 1 g	6 %
Sugars 7 g
Protein 2 g	5 %
Vitamin A	1 %
Vitamin C	0 %
Calcium	3 %
Iron	4 %
* The Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet, so your values may change depending on your calorie needs. The values here may not be 100% accurate because the recipes have not been professionally evaluated nor have they been evaluated by the U.S. FDA.

By Kalpana Christian Sharma© All rights reserved.

An Eternal Raksha-Bandhan, one glance at one part of my relationship.

Today, Indians, brothers and sisters throughout the world celebrate Raksha-Bundhan, literally translated as (Protection Knot), a relationship between a brother and a sister. They are glad for every brother who is there to protect a sister in any way. Usually a sister will tie a small threaded bracelet on a wrist of a kind, caring brother, pray for his protection, put a piece of sweet in his mouth, and in turn a brother will bless her with a blessing and give whatever gift he can afford. Happy Raksha-bandhan to all brothers and sisters with a gentle reminder that we all need protection, even strong brothers, from evil one; so even when and where no one is there to protect us, there is One Brother who is always there to protect any one and He is not ashamed to call us His brothers and sisters (Hebrews 2:11) God took on human flesh, fought the devil, and took the blow for us all at the cross shielding us from the just wrath and offering us eternal protection from death and freedom from sin as He rose from the dead and victoriously walked out of the grave; He offers His eternal protection. Yeshua Messiah, my Brother, and Lord God, my Refuge, an ever Present help in times of trouble. (Psalm 46:1) 

I was able to see later in life that even as a young girl growing in India, when my brother used to bully and fight with me, I would cry and then I remember a still small voice trying to get my attention. Then one day, I read in a Baalwaadi (Children's magazine in Gujarati) a story of a little girl who had no brother. She was crying and then she read in the Bible, Jesus saying, "For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother." - Matthew 12:50 I didnot fully comprehend that but I liked it and thanked Jesus that I had a good brother in Him. Later in my teenage, I am glad He invited me to tie a protection knot to Him 39 years ago. Even then I did not understand fully what was going on but as I started reading Bible, praying, learning and growing in the knowledge and grace of Him and of life, I slowly started to realize the eternal bond and His gracious invitation. I enjoy His protection. You can call on Him anywhere anytime in any situation. Tied in eternal Raksha-Bundhan of Yeshua, my Brother. 

Kalpana Christian-Sharma (Mrs.)

© All rights reserved.

Fathers' Day 2017 - Dawoodmama (Uncle Dawood) in the 1970s Nadiad, Gujarat, India

                                                                              Dawood mama!! (Uncle Dawood) 

I am glad that sometime back, someone posted this old picture of Dawood mama on Facebook. This gentleman, Dawood mama lived in Gujarat State of India where I was born and also where I lived during the early years of my life. He was not related to me, nor was he even married, nor did he have any children but I have few sweet memories of him and I am sure many others have similar memories of him too. So I want to talk about him on this Fathers' Day. He was a joyful man of prayer, was kind, compassionate and helpful. I am talking about the 1970s.

Yes, Dawood mama had a heart full of joy! He loved God, sang about Jesus, loved the children and was helpful to people in the community.  Many notorious youngsters used to tease him calling him names, his name was Dawood (David) but they teased him calling him Dawood "tapeli" (pot), but for me and few others he will always be Dawood mama!

Dawood mama and his elder brother Uncle Joseph were orphans, in Nadiad, Gujarat, India, and they were raised by missionaries in the 50s and 60s. Those missionaries eventually left. We saw uncle Joseph in wheelchair always and the story goes that when uncle Joseph was an able electrician, he had climbed an electric pole for some repair work and some naughty ones turned the switch on, which caused uncle Joseph have a shock, fall down and he got paralyzed. Dawood mama looked after him too. Dawood mama used to do menial work and especially quilting work for people and infact any other housework. He would go house to house and sew rajaai (Quilts) for families. He looked so full of joy even as he walked around he sang; he loved to sing hymns all the time; even as he did his work with his whole heart; even when he knew he was teased; he would stand up to the bullies, but not fight back, it used to hurt him. I felt bad for him. Some good elders would confront those bullies and tell them to stop bullying Dawood mama. I was glad someone would stand up to the bullies because Dawood mama was gentle and kind hearted and I liked seeing him happy and singing. See the photo up here? No matter who was getting married, he would dance with joy like this! 

One incident that I remember happened in the mid 70s when my brother and two of us sisters lived on our own, some time of the year as our parents were abroad. One week Dawood mama came and stayed at our house to do the quilting work. I was so happy to see him joyful, singing, telling us stories and working. He would read the Bible and pray for us and with us. One weekend on a Friday, my sister wanted to leave my brother and me at home and go to our village to stay for the weekend on the farm house with our granny and her friends. Dawood mama did not think it wise and necessary for her to travel alone and leave us young kids back by ourselves as well. He too had errands to run for others. Dawood mama was aware of the danger on both sides. So he requested her to not go but she was adamant. After so many requests, Dawood mama warned her that if she left he was going to go to the terrace and pray that the only and very transit bus going to the village that evening, will get spoilt so she would not be able to go. As a small kid I laughed to see as to who was serious in what was going on. Lo and behold, at about 5pm my sister went to the bus station and I smiled as I saw Dawood mama go to our terrace to pray on his knees; I peeped and saw him crying out to God. And in few minutes he came back wiping his eyes full of tears. In an hour or so, my sister came back home disappointed but laughing, because the transit bus had got spoilt and she and all the passengers were told to get off the bus; she could not go. We all laughed as Dawood mama firmly said, "See how God answered my prayers? Did I not tell you I was going to pray precisely for that and that you will not be able to go? There are some risks beta (child), not worth taking!" (what a kind man!)

This man must have died long time ago because I never heard of him after I left India in the late 70s. But his sweet memories are fresh in my mind every time I think of him. His smiling face, making people smile, always joyful, rejoicing, praying, and helping people with sewing work, quilting and any other work that was available. He sang well and did not care if people thought he was out of his mind. When so many people teased him with funny names, he would feel bad, stand up to them but also entrust his case in the hands of the One who judges justly, who cares for the orphans, widows and the foreigners.  What a remarkable character! on this Fathers' Day I want to thank God for this kind good man, Dawood mama, who took care for us even for those few days and exemplified what truly good godly men are like. Thanking God for Dawood mama's life, for his beautiful soul, and his joyful, helpful nature. May God raise many a Dawood mama in today's world!

Happy Father's Day to all godly men, caring fathers, and such characters who show us that the world is a safe place because of them. And there are women too who take on the role of both parents, we thank God for them too. 

In Christ,

Kalpana Christian Sharma (Mrs.) 

copyright  ©

Mothers' Day 2017 - Mrs. Kantaben Dineshrai Sharma

Mrs. Kantaben Dineshrai Sharma (Pic of her younger years)

We are thankful to God that in 2017 one of our parents is still alive, that is Bharat's mom, Mrs. Kantaben Dineshrai Sharma. She is Kantaba to most of us and to our kids she is "Daadi India", 

She lives in India. 

The first time I met her in 1989, it was a general greeting time but she saw that her son had chosen a girl to marry. They liked me in the first meeting and considered me very beautiful, ahem!!!  As we got to know about each other, living far away from each other, me in Kenya and she in India, at some point we did have our differences come in between as we both have different religions; she is a strict vegetarian and we are not that strict although we lean more on veggie side. But over the years we have learned to accept and love each other. She says she is happy her son chose me to marry instead of the other girls he knew.

Though a very dedicated and religious strict vegetarian Hindu, Kantaba has been open to other religions. She has gone to temples, mosques and churches to worship as many moderate folks do in India. They are respectful of all religions and faiths. She respected my stand when I told her that I do not have idols in my home and she did not bring any. I continue to pray for her.  

I had informed my in laws that I may not be an ideal daughter in law they expected but I will a good friend to them. Despite our differences, she is a good mom in law. A very talented and a really good cook, and says she treats me the same way she treats her daughter.   She would buy any clothes she thinks I look good in and sends, be it western or eastern type; and has not mandated ever to wear traditional clothing. She has accepted me and girls for who we are. Whenever she or my mom would visit my house, the kitchen cabinets would change as per their liking and I had to learn to adopt to that. They both loved to cook and bless me.

One more thing I am grateful for is her wisdom in cooking especially during pregnancy time. Because I had nausea and vomiting for nearly 3-4 months during the time I expected Narita and frequent heartburn almost all 9 months, I was so scared the second time but Kantaba was wise in that area and gave me food and especially vegetables like zucchini, green gourd, and the likes cooked without oil with dry chapatis without oil and that did the trick. Oh, how relaxing it felt to not feel nauseated or vomit. 

She made sure that Bharat went to college and got a degree. She has been the strong willed, and a disciplinarian in their home. She has been through a lot in life and life has taught her to mellow down and accept things as they are and as they are not.

I know this would be a big deal in some cultures and so I share with joy. Because girls were treated as second class citizens and not welcomed for many decades, I took a stand always and hoped and prayed for girl child/ren so we could be the change we were hoping to see in the society, by accepting a girl child/ren with love and nurturing and caring for as if we would for sons. There would be no difference in how we raised them, both would get equal opportunities and attention. Laddu or pedas would be distributed for girls birth too,  (these are Indian traditional sweets given at good occasions and especially at the birth of the boys).  So after the birth of our first born darling daughter whom we all welcomed with both hands as we had prayed for a girl; so just when I had found out that I was pregnant with the second one, we did not know if that was a boy or a girl, and we did not even want to know; we waited for that surprise from God. At that time, when even some of the dear ones thought and hoped for a boy, I put my foot down that God can give whatever He wants, boy or girl and Bharat had said before he does not mind having even 7 daughters; At that particular time, this understanding mother in law of mine said in Gujarati, "Biji Chhokri hashey ney toh e pehli thi pan vadhaare chadiyaati hashey"= "(If the second one will also be a daughter, she would rank even higher than the first daughter)"! beat that! Ah! What a support and blessing to receive from a mother in law who is of Hindu faith and yet loved having girls,when majority of the people regardless of the religion they follow still hope for only boys, and many in her culture choose not to have girls. This was a huge deal for me. I am ever grateful to God for her this heartfelt solid support. We all welcomed our second born baby girl surprise with both hands as well. Both girls have blessings and excel in all their endeavors. 

We as a family are thankful to God for allowing at least one grand parent Kantaba to live at this time; our children feel happy to know that they still have one grand parent that is alive, and loves them dearly. As we miss those who are not with us, like my mom and dad and Bharat's dad, we are happy for Kantaba to be living. God bless her with good health all the days of her life and provide for her and continue to draw her to Himself in a personal way. 

We wish Kantaba and many more like her a happy Mothers Day. 

Kalpana Christian Sharma, (Mrs.) 

© Copyrights protected.    

My little tribute to Mr. Vinod Khanna - who once upon a time was a charming Bollywood Actor

-----Vinod Khanna----

This post is different from my other posts. The reason? Well, I am not much into celebrities nor do I write on them. I stopped watching movies in '79 with only few here and there. This is the first time I am writing that too on an Indian yester years' celebrity (Once India's heartthrob) whom I would describe as an "eye candy" namely Mr. Vinod Khanna: A handsome man with good physique, an action and a romantic hero, talented, portrayed as confident, fearless, emotional, compassionate; and with good comedy, and good attitude. Few weeks ago the news of his sickness and the image of his frail weakened body popped up on social media. People were shocked to see that weakened body, as we are all used to seeing the much in control and cutie guy on screen who fought all the way. Many prayed for him to get well but God in his wisdom ended Vinod Khanna's painful last days on earth and yes we sadly read in the media that this once very liked actor now passed away on 27 April, 2017, at the age of 70, due to cancer. (My dearest nephew Nikunj Sioni, 24 years, too died on that day in 2008 so I will remember this) This is also different because some joyful part of my childhood is connected with this and learning of the demise of the very liked Vinod Khanna leaves me mourning like as if he were my relative or a cousin. Cousin, yes, because many of my cousins had two favorites at that time, Amitabh Bachchan and Vinod Khanna. We had choices of Dharmendra, and Rajesh Khanna as well. Many liked Vinod Khanna and talked of him. So many boys and men tried to look like him by following his hair style, clothing style, his talking style etc..

Personally for me, I remember that while playing card games in the summer vacation in a small village of India, my cousin and I used to say "Vinod Khanna" as a cue for a diamond card that we wanted one another to throw. Vinod Khanna had a habit of clenching his teeth most of the time whether he was angry or happy, so my cousin came up with that bright idea to use his name to cue our partner to throw a Diamond card, because in Gujarati you clench your teeth to say "Charkat"or "Chokdi".

I enjoyed his action and romantic roles because for me at that age, Shashi Kapoor though a darling was too soapy, and Amitabh a famous angry young man was too serious for life, but Vinod Khanna played happy go lucky fellow; with action and romantic scenes the charming actor was just fun. Vinod Khanna had a sweet personality of his own that people admired. Mera Gaon Mera Desh, Haath ki Safaai, Muqadar ka Sikandar, Parvarish, Zameer,  AAA (Amar, Akbar, Anthony), Hera Pheri, Kudrat, Jurm, Qurbani, The Burning Train were some movies that he did a superb job in. (the ones I have seen)  Although he would do negative roles, his good roles attracted. While I would think of deciding between Amitabh and Vinod, my cousins would say more positive things about (Vinny) Vinod Khanna and some of my friends also said that even in Muqadar ka Sikandar Rakhee loved VK and looked great with him. I liked what my dear ones said and enjoyed watching Mr. handsome Vinod Khanna. Though I do not agree with few of his life choices nor do I approve of it, Vinod Khanna's movies and memories thereof is a joyous part of mine and many others' growing up stories. I am here to talk good memorable things about him.

As I said, I had stopped watching movies in the 79, my teenage, because I was told in India that when you become a born again believer in Christ you must stop watching movies as it is a sin. I found that strange and was not too happy about it but followed that advice and gave up singing movie songs and watching movies. Before that I had watched some good ones. I must say as much as I understand that it can be an obsession and some things may not be worth watching, I also learned a lot: "To believe in God, to be positive in life, (portrayed through good dialogues), and how to never give up; life is difficult but we continue to laugh and smile in our pain, good always wins, trust God, and eventually we will overcome." I believed in love and solid committed friendships. Indian movies are emotional so it awakens an emotional side of you for good. So I thought there was something strange being told not to watch good stuff like that in movies; although not all that we see in movies is good. Then I went to Kenya to join my parents, just in couple of months in 1979; there my christian believer mentor taught me balance and corrected that odd thinking by teaching me that it is not a sin to watch movies, I can watch it for enjoyment or if I want to learn good things from it, yes, I can watch movies with a biblical world view and see what is wrong and what is not.  That seemed a great idea and we did watch few movies here and there. But for a long time even after that I had chosen not to watch movies often. Then lo and behold, I have been married a man who loves watching movies.  He has showed me some good movies. Bawarchi (Chef) being one of them that just reinforced my passion of cooking and serving others. Now after Vinod Khanna's death, in my 50s, I heard some of his best songs, and I was like, wow! this guy did such beautiful famous songs that we have heard and I did not know that they were his movies. So as a tribute to him, I want to watch his old movies, as a relative would want to keep the memories alive. Thinking of good times and thanking God for this talented actor.

Many of Amitabh and Vinod Khanna duo movies were fun. The two did a superb job of being friends/brothers on screen. I was happy to read the tribute big B wrote on VK, I did not expect anything less as that was what we witnessed on screen, growing up.

I also read another blog by an Amitabh fan on Vinod Khanna and it resonated much of what the writer was saying. We all loved the fight scene in AAA (Amar Akbar and Anthony) where we thought Amitabh was going to do Vinod Khanna's "Dhulai" (beat him up) but the way it went the other way round, was remarkable and is a very liked scene till today. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2IzAEM4k9E

His melodius song, "Wada karle Saajana" (Promise me my beloved one) in Haath ki Safaai was my favorite growing up and many more. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FF7tUQ95BJE

In the early 80s, It was sad to see him leave the fame and his bright career and join "Osho Rajneesh" to become a monk. But wait a minute, that shows his heart searched for something bigger than himself, even with all that fame, good repute, and money, he still searched for God. How many of us would leave the career at it rising super well to be a gardener/janitor of a mortal human being who died! How many of us would do that for the real loving, just, caring God who sustains us all, whom no one has seen and who never dies and lives forever? Like my best friend says, "The very breath that we all breathe is in the very hands of the Everlasting God, He can take it away any minute He deems fit!" I wish that before his death dear Vinod Khanna ji was able to make peace with the Real Everlasting eternal God. That is my prayer.

The other thing I learn from his life is that he was influential. Like I mentioned above, many followed his hair style, his clothing style, or the way he delivered his dialogues with much poise and confidence, and his action/fights brought excitement! His romantic ways of pursuing a girl onscreen brought smiles to girls in real life. And his on-screen rock solid friendships were something people imitated for real. Need I say that many followed Rajneesh too because of him! Are believers in true God really that influential to lead others to true God?

Anyways, let's just say for now, isn't technology a blessing that today we can watch our loved ones or people we admired, who are no more with us, on You tube, videos, and find that joy in our hearts and smile on our faces. Yes, Vinod Khanna is no more but having watched his acting in movies remains a happy part of my childhood and growing years and his yaadein alive with us all! We thank God for his life and his choosing to entertain us all by joining Indian cinema and doing a fine job. We pray for comfort for his family.

In closing I remember this last song's lines from Mukadar ka Sikandar. As much as life is beautiful, "Zindagi toh bewafa hey, ek din thukarayegi, Maut mehbooba hey apne saath le kar jaayegi, mar ke jeene ki ada toh duniya ko sikhlaayega."= "Life will betray, learn to love death, teach the world how to live by dying" Smile in your pain, face difficulties with joy! Bye bye, Mr. Vinod Khanna! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFymMLBt0VY

Blessings,
KC - Aka Kalpana Christian Sharma.