Rajma Chawal (Kidney Beans and Rice)

soak Rajma (kidney beans) in water overnight or for 4 to 5 hours:

cook in pressure cooker on medium for about 30 minutes:

then rinse under cool water. lift top to make sure no noises or steam is still coming out: 

beans are done:

in the meantime, cut onion, ginger and garlic. if you don't have garlic use garlic powder:

cook onion, ginger and garlic in olive oil. add green chile for flavor: 

beautiful browning:

then add two to three karchis (big spoons) of crushed red tomatoes:

also add red mirchi and garam masala:

rajma cooking nicely: 

add tomato mixture:

then cook for 5 to 7 minutes on low and you'll be done:

cook rice a little differently this time. cook rice to water, 1 to 4 ratio. add a little olive oil: 

boiled ajwan (carom seeds) and lemon in water. supposed to help with bloating, cleansing, etc. never tried this before so let's see if it works:

hope everyone is surviving the Venus retrograde. thankfully, some rich people lost money yesterday. yesterday was not a fun day internally, I was feeling depressed but thankfully I spent time with a girlfriend and we vented and talked and drank beers. Today I'm having cramps so I'm getting my period. In preparation, I am brewing tea to help with cramps. My Punjabi BFF makes this tea very strong: she takes a handful each of ajwan (carom seeds), fennel seeds, cardamom, black cardamom, and black tea leaves and dumps everything into the water and later adds milk. A very strong yummy tea. My version has less of everything.  

#pmshealing

Please note: you have to brew the water with all the ingredients for at least ten minutes on medium/medium low before you add the tea in (I used a Ceylon/Orange Pekoe tea bag today). This helps the water absorb the ingredients and creates a beautiful aroma. Then when you add the tea let it brew for a while. Mine is still brewing! Then if you want you can add some milk in the pot but I like to add mine once it's in the mug. 

after trying this at a friend's house, I was eager to make it at home. delicious and refreshing, plum watermelon juice:

so I drove to the University today to take care of all the issues that have been plaguing me. I spoke to the Director of the program and she said she is going to take care of everything for me.  I look forward to the issue of how many physics prerequisites I need to take resolved by the end of this week. If anything else comes up, we will have a conference call. A black cloud has been partly lifted off of me. And what a hot day. #vocelli for dinner 

delicious smoothie this afternoon: mango, strawberries, blueberries, a little orange and very little pineapple juice and four cubes of ice. simple!

not to be morbid or anything but it seems like in society, you have to date or be in a relationship or be married or be a slut or you have to kill yourself. and I'm not saying that from a love/passion perspective. in any case, we should keep the desire to try to love another alive if only not to kill ourselves. for whatever reason, we have to keep our mojo alive.  #Venus Retrograde 

Update: I'm gonna have to keep the capital one credit card. sigh. see what the system does to you. 

on a happy note, I just learned that being independent means you know what kind of food to make for everybody, meaning you know what food they like and makes them happy. epiphany lol 

What would we do without books. I can't imagine it. #Reading Byron Katie #feeling calmer 

Aloo Bengan (Potatoes and Eggplant)

beautiful aloo bengan cooking. cook covered for a while. the potatoes have to be very soft before adding masalas. but you can add a little salt to release the water:

We used bengan bharta masala for expert chef preparation. However, Hyderabadi bengan masala works better. We don't have any right now: 

Poke the eggplant and potato to see if it is soft. 

The potato is not done yet but this is a good time to add the masala:

sprinkle a lot of masala on top and continue to cook very low covered:

excellent result:

#gotmyperiod
#marketing
#apple cake and chai 

So I'm in shock. After talking to my sister and friend, both doctors, I learned that active women over 30 need 2,200 calories a day!!!!!!!!!! Oh my god. I don't know why I read these ignorant articles on the Internet. Since I'm not very active, I need like 1,600 calories a day. I've been around 1,500 to 1,600 calories per day: http://healthyeating.sfgate.com/average-daily-calorie-intake-women-5067.html

I had a dream last night that I made a massage appt at this place at 1pm and I was still waiting at 1:47. Angered and frustrated, I opted to cancel. I was told that I had to pay a 19% cancellation fee if I opted to cancel. WHAATTTATAT??!??!?!?!!! And this was after I was at another location of this plaza/office building where I ran into an Indian lady who wouldn't stop talking to me. My mom called in the middle and I told her about this lady and my mom got really mad and said this lady never paid her for the suits/saris? she stole from the boutique. And then this lady was like following me around the office/plaza and I told her my mom was gonna call her. good god.