As a child I remember, my father always asking us when we were sad or sulky, what happened, what you want, what can I do to make you happy? And he used to always come up with answers or rather solutions to our crazy, problems. He used to always be happy and continues to be positive, in any circumstances. And he always encourages us to maintain a positive and happy outlook in life. Thus, all my siblings: my Akka, Pari and Tammu always have a positive and happy outlook towards life!

Growing up, I realized how important it is to be happy in life and hope to raise my child as a happy kid!

At the start of this year, we as a family sat down and each of us wrote a wish list, what we want this year. My daughter and I wrote a long list, however, my husband simply said: I want to do things that make me happy. I was in awe of my husband’s thoughts. What a wonderful and true wish!

 Did you know?

The International Day of Happiness is celebrated worldwide every March 20^th. It was founded on June 28, 2012.

 Since the beginning of this year, I have kept a ‘Gratitude/Happiness’ journal wherein I try to jot down one event/ thought that has made me happy or rather grateful.

Here are some of my entries.

•  Am grateful and blessed to live close to my parents place. I can hop in and lap up their love and attention whenever I feel like/want to…
• Wow, my passion is to read books. Am I not lucky to have access to many libraries which have wonderful books?
• Surrounded by my wonderful ‘team’ members at workplace, I love to interact with each one of them.
• I feel blessed to have a wonderful and supportive family – whom I can trust and share my ups and downs.
• Helping somebody in need, partaking some food to the hungry, or helping somebody, get a job. It is a surreal feeling. Then, I wish I could help more people to achieve their dreams. Or, if I can at least make a small difference in the lives of the needy…I feel blessed.
• Every morning, I love our morning ritual, of sipping a hot cup of coffee, drowsily, together with my husband.
• Watching my daughter narrate her school events, animatedly – such innocence and playfulness make me a carefree child again!
• Sitting and hearing my parents, telling me about their ‘everyday routine and some gossip. Or hearing stories about their past days narrated my in-laws.
• When I cook a dish and it turns out tasty – I feel elated. Literally on top of the world!
• Sheer pleasure: when I cook and capture an aesthetic food photo which I can admire for hours at a stretch. Here is one such example – Traditional Andhra Drumstick curry.

 And now I would like to share the recipe for the traditional Andhra Drumstick dish, which happens to be one of my favorite curries. My mother makes it the best. In reality, I never thought I could cook this dish like my mother. However, I tried it last year, on Dec 27, which happens to be my marriage anniversary. On the positive side, my husband loved it. Consequently, I was very happy that he liked it as this was my first attempt at preparing this dish.

 This authentic dish is a perfect healthy pile of tasty drumstick greens cooked perfectly with a hint of coconut, spices and seasoning!

Earlier I had posted the recipe for drumstick leaves curry on my blog.

Traditional Andhra Drumstick curry

Ingredients

3-4 drumsticks cut into 3-4 inch pieces

1 tablespoon tamarind pulp

A pinch of turmeric

1 teaspoon jaggery

1 teaspoon mustard seeds

1 tablespoon rice flour

2 teaspoon sesame seeds powder (or ground nuvvula podi)

2 tablespoon grated coconut

2 red chilies

A sprig of curry leaves (karve patta)

Salt

For seasoning:

1-2 red chilies (broken into pieces)

1 teaspoon split black gram (urad dal)

1 teaspoon split chickpeas (chana dal)

1 tablespoon oil

Directions:

Soak mustard seeds, rice flour, sesame seeds powder (or ground nuvvula podi) and grated coconut in 4-5 tablespoon of water.

Grind this to a smooth paste along with broken pieces of red chilies.

Add more water if required. It should be a slurry in consistency.

Heat a wok/kadhai or pan. Add drumsticks, turmeric powder, jaggery and tamarind pulp to it.

Add ½ cup water to this. Cover with a lid and let the drumsticks cook on low flame. Once cooked, ensure there is some water in it.

Add the curry leaves and the ground paste to it, slowly, stirring continuously. Now the curry will thicken.

Switch off the flame, as soon as the curry thickens and keep the kadhai aside.

For seasoning, heat oil in a small pan. Add the dals. Saute for few seconds. Add the chillies. Switch off the flame.

Add this to the prepared curry and immediately transfer to a serving bowl.

Savor this uniquely flavored traditional drumstick curry coupled with hot rice and a dab of oil!

 Thus let us be happy and make this world a ‘happy place to live in’!

 Looking for ‘guidance’ or inspiration to be happy, check these ‘happy’ sites:

https://projecthappiness.com/

http://www.actionforhappiness.org/

http://www.wemakehappy.org/#projects

http://www.happycounts.org/

  ‘Sukham sagam balam’, a saying in Telugu, which means ‘Happiness is half of your strength’.

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