Meme-10 things I miss most about Mom's cooking

Garam Masala came up with a great meme to honor our mothers. We keep blogging about so many of mom's recipes yet when we are down we remember certain dishes that have not only touched our palates but also our hearts. When I miss my mom, I try to make dishes that she would make for me. I know I am trying to get closer to her through her recipes(which is not always possible being in USA). However much I write these recipes down and follow them to the T, how come they don't taste like hers?

Here are some of my favorite dishes and combos. They taste good only when she makes it but when another experienced cook makes it, it is never as good. Is it the love that goes into it...

10. Keerai masiyal, vatral kuzhambu and paruppu thogaiyal combo.
9. All her homemade juices- she has a huge food-mill and used to make juices from everything from orange to tomato. I sure did not appreciate them earlier but now when she has stopped making them (my parents have type 2 diabetes), I think of all the effort that went into making those juices and how much I chose to drink the craze of that time, Coke in PET bottles (**sigh**).
8. Ennai kathrikkai curry
7. Drumstick milagootal and milagai pachadi (yum)
6. Radish sambar
5. Mysore pak (so soft and delicious)
4. Sambar saadam- this is a sort of south Indian version of Bisi bela bath. It tastes great with her next speciality...
3. Urulai roast curry- she uses a lot of oil for this but even when I do the same thing, against all my better judgement, I never get the same yummy crust.
2. Green jackfruit curry- I love it so much that I have named my blog after it. I have never succeeded in making it properly, so I have never posted about it in this blog. When my mom makes it, I will sure write about it.
1. Chinna vengaya araichu-vitta sambar- This is her speciality. She makes the masala with ground coriander seeds, fenugreek, gram dal and coconut. It tastes especially yummy with any spicy curry.

Above all, I salute her for being so unrelenting in her efforts at cooking, never saying once that she was not well enough to cook for us and making tiffin everyday of the week at 3PM for us as growing kids. Even now, when we have the means to have a cook come in everyday, she chooses to do all this and more. Thanks amma for being an example of how a mother should be! Now following in your footsteps is the hard part.

Thanks Garam masala for coming up with this meme. It feels great to put down emotions on paper. If any of you want to write-up about your mom and her cooking, consider yourself tagged.