Oggarane Anna with a twist

Which is the most entertaining event in India? is it the soap operas? no; movies? no; IPL? no; Elections? Yes; We have "Shehezada", "Monkey", "Joker","Hitler","Mussolini","Idi Amin" and what not...It is entertaining nevertheless a disgrace that we have handed over our future and the future of our country to people who are not debating the issues that need their attention but are engaging in name calling, one-upmanship and blatant populism. We have so called leaders who trivialize a violent crime like rape, openly threaten people to vote or to loose water supply and worst of all accuse an esteemed institution like EC of partisan politics. Some times it surprises me as to how we have survived all these years despite the negativity but then 'men may come and men may go but' India will go on for ever like it has always been.

Now for some Ogggarane Anna. When ever there would be some left over rice from the previous dinner, my mother, Ajji and Ammaji (both my gradmother), indeed all the women folk in the family would make this the morning after. The underlying current of patriarchy would become striking on such occasions. The  servants were the first in line for Oggarane anna. Any thing more would be for the women. The next in line would be children. But men folk almost never ate something like for breakfast. It was always fresh-hot breakfast for them. How much ever we deny the under currents of caste and patriarchy has always been a part of our life. So much so that Pranoy  Roy was calling Karnataka a 'CASTE'-nataka. It took me a while to realize he is right indeed. Caste back home determined what we eat and how we eat and where and when we eat too! So much for a state that boasts of itself as the Silicon Valley of India.

Oggaraneanna is Chitranna-coconut + onions.  To make it a little more healthy, marginally so ,I added a handful of spinach too. So here is Oggarane Anna

We will need,

Rice(cold, left over preferably) 2 cups
Peanut oil /Coconut oil 1-2 tbsp
Mustard seeds 1/4 tsp
Jeera 1/4 tsp
Urad dal 1 tsp
Channa dal 1 tsp
Curry leaves a handful
Hing a generous dash
Green chillies 3-4 (adjust according to taste)
Onion 1 small chopped
Turmeric a dash
Spinach washed and chopped  2 cups (loosely packed)
Coriander washed and chopped a handful
Salt and lemon juice to taste

Method:

• Heat the oil in a wok. Throw in the mustard, Jeera, Urad dal,Channa dal, curry leaves and Hing. 
• Once the spices sizzle, throw in the green chillies and onions. Saute till the onions are soft.
• Increase the heat and throw in the spinach . Saute till the spinach is wilted.Remove form heat and allow it to cool down.
• Once slightly cooler, stir in the rice and adjust salt and lemon juice. Finish with fresh coriander.