Sunday 6 September 2015

Oats idli and Tomato chutney (also the dove eggs have hatched)

Ever since I discovered how to make oats idli, it has become my favourite.   It is easy to make and healthy, though my brother seemed amazed that there is something called oats idli and my father made a snarky remark that idlis seemed to be made nowdays of everything but rice and dal.  I also learnt to make tomato chutney one day in desperation when I discovered that the idli podi was over and my mother was in Chennai and I can get the podi only in December (It is a different story that I finally made the podi myself after asking my mother for the recipe and making sense of her instructions.  I think I added tad too much sesame seeds but my cousin's wife, who is visiting me, appreciated it very much).  So I trawled through the net and experimented with various recipes before settling down to make it with onions, tomatoes, and coconut milk (and no garlic).  I made them today for my visiting cousin's wife and she appreciated it very much.
The dove eggs hatched on Thursday and the mother (or the father? The sexes look identical in case of laughing doves) is busy nursing them. 



Today she (or he) has left them alone for couple of hours. When she (or he) returned there was an orgy of frenzied feeding.


The parent has gone off again to scrounge for food and so it continues. The nest which seemed perfect for two eggs and one adult dove is becoming increasingly smaller with the two growing chicks and one nursing parent.
The dove parent has become quite tolerant of me.  Initially, it showed a tendency to fly off but after I sealed the balcony and left it strictly alone, it has sort of accepted me. At least the bird is quite okay when I go close to take a peek at the babies or water the ferns.  But if the pigeon, their upstairs neighbour, dares to approach anywhere near the parent flies into a rage.



 

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