The AHA Moment!

“I believe that the ability to laugh at oneself is fundamental to the resiliency of the human spirit.” 

I will let you on to a secret about me...I suck at parallel parking...so here's how it all played out - I was driving out to a Yelp Elite event in Palo Alto...on a busy road...magically I got a parking right by the restaurant on the street...I tried very hard to parallel park straight but was unsuccessful...so kinda sorta gave up and left my car with it's behind slightly sticking out...there were these bunch of teenagers sitting and drinking boba tea who had this amused look on their faces, I looked at them and then looked at my car and I could have walked away feeling shitty and judged but then I looked at one of them - winked and smiled and said - I sucked at it right! They started laughing with me vs. laughing at me...I left that encounter with a note to myself -“What other people think about you has nothing to do with you and everything to do with them. If I base my self-worth on what everyone else thinks of me, I hand over all my emotions to other people and become dependent on a source outside of myself for validation. Then I wind up chasing after something that I have no control over, and should that something suddenly place its focus somewhere else, or change its mind and decide I am no longer very interesting, I end up with a full-blown identity crisis...SO.NOT.HAPPENING. A true AHA! moment - I am badass and I don't need anyone else to tell me I am badass...

While I was having my AHA! moment I was also cooking up a storm - I made my Detox Cabbage Soup and made a south-indian version of my khichdi. It was super yummy and I had it with a karela pickle from the Indian Store ( Grand Sweets and Snacks - Pavakkai Thokku). 

South Indian Khichdi - Ven Pongal

What you need

1. 1 Cup Quinoa (washed in cold water and soaked with dhuli/skinless moong dal 1/2 hr in hot water I boiled in my electric kettle)
2. 1 cup  Dhuli/yellow Moong Dal 
3. 3 cups water ( I like my Khichdi to have a nice mushy consistency...add lesser water if you want it dry)
4. 2 tsp Ghee
5.   Mustard Seeds, cumin seeds, Hing (asafoetida) - I used more than a pinch, Whole Black Pepper (most of it roughly crushed, keep some  whole for the garnish), curry leaves, a slight pinch of turmeric (optional)
6.  salt to taste

To Cook 

1. Turn on your Instant Pot to Saute. Add your ghee....add hing, cumin seeds and mustard seeds. When they splutter, add turmeric and crushed black pepper and curry leaves.
2. Add the moong dal and the quinoa  to the instant pot and give it a stir 
3. Add  Water 
4. Put the IP on Rice Mode
5. When done open, Natural Release - add salt to taste

Enjoy with a pickle, sambar or chutney and remember your awesomeness and don't let it rest on someone else's opinion of you!