Pineapple sweet and sour (khatta)

What happens when you wake up with a blocked nose and your head spinning and a slight numb body ache? don’t you feel like tucking back into the sheets and not wanting to draw your thick curtains that still prevent the Sunbeam bunnies entering your room and basking you in the morning glow? Last week when my hubby came home after a business trip with his runny crimson nose I was sure that we wouldn’t be spared and would have to go through our generous share of the flu. It is often a mystery why we get plenty of things we never really want especially the flu and the nagging cold.

Staying just a few hundred yards from the sea shore, the air is always slightly chilly and often windy. After the morning alarm buzzed this Monday morning I reluctantly woke up but a good thing I learned as part of my yoga training is to stretch my self a bit to relax the stiffness in the main muscle groups. It feels so much better after a of couple of deep breaths and relaxing over a morning cuppa with a hint of cardamom, Cinnamon & ginger.

Biding adieu to father and son I felt like stretching myself again and grabbing a left over cuppa from the teapot and getting myself ready for my virtual tour of the magical world of culinary delights. It is so fascinating to see varieties and ideas that flip with a click and almost magically or should I say gastronomically u get to decide the day’s menu, and the most important after school snack box.

After being pampered staying in a serviced apartment close to three years in Beijing I decided to get hold of the broom and ground myself into reality. I have great regards for those who at the same time cook, clean and manage their household chores in spite of having a demanding job, Kudos and cheers to them for the hard work they put up to, to keep the family smiling. Juggling between Asian countries where we are pampered with a trained housekeeper and Australia, where things fell apart and managing all alone hit me hardest where it hurts most. I am glad that I have started enjoying both aspects and good to know that I still am pretty adept with the broom.

Last week when my hubby came back from his business trip, I wanted to prepare something authentic Odiya and I prepared this pineapple katta (sweet and sour) that is often a part of our extensive cooking palette.

The recipe is as follows

Ingredients

2 cups pineapple cut into chunks
½ cup sugar
1 tablespoon pancha putana
1 tablespoon grated ginger
1 teaspoon roasted cumin powder
1 teaspoon paprika powder or roasted chili powder
Salt to taste
Few curry and red chilies for seasoning

Handful of raisins

Method

Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a pan. Add the pancha putana and when they start to crackle, add the curry leaves, red chilies and grated ginger, Sauté and add the pineapple chunks. Cover and simmer for 5 minutes till they are slightly tender. Add sugar, cover and cook on a low fire for 5 to 7 minutes till the pineapple are cooked and liquid is dried up. Season it with salt, cumin powder, raisins and paprika. Remove and cool.

Goes well as a side dish and can stay in fridge for a week.

Incidentally for the flu the best advice I have is fill yourself up with fluids, the safest and the best water and rest. Nothing else comes as close. Chicken soup and panadols are the next best thing and frankly have never been a great fan of needles to take the flu shots so cannot comment.