Those Delicious Letters - a year and half

It has been more than a year since my book Those Delicious Letters was published. After last October (Oct '2020) , I never got back the mojo to promote it and I didn't do anything. Really nothing. I am thankful to the many reviewers who reviewed it on their blog, Instagram, media et.  I am sorry I was not able to reply to many of them or thank them for their kindness.💓

This holiday season, Dec 15th being the global publishing date (August 20th, 2020 the original date), on a whim I checked the book rating on  Amazon, and guess what ? 

Those Delicious Letters - Amazon.in -- The darn book has a rating of 4.3 with effing 241 reviews, 97% of which is organic. I am a chhota mota author and that is a lot of reviews for me!! Yes, 3% of the initial reviews are from friends and few readers, whom I had coerced to  write one 😝, soon after the book was out. But rest all were folks who read it without me forcing them to 😍

Those Delicious Letters - Amazon.com -- 4.4 with 177 reviews

Those Delicious letters - Goodreads - Goodreads rates it at 3.88 with 225 ratings and 83 reviews !!

Of all the reviews, the one most precious is a review written by my Baba. I am not sure if he read the book in its entirety, we did not have any discussions over the content or the plot line. The book was not in one of the genres he would read. The font was not big enough and though my mother mentioned that he sat around with it in the month of last September, I doubt that it held his interest. It was my Mother who actually read the book  as I would have expected her to.

But that is not important. What is important is Baba was very excited about the book and would religiously tune in to all the lives I did as part of book promo last August-September. He shared all my book posts on his own FB wall (something I was very embarrassed about at that point). He was excited about the web series offer asking details that even I had not asked my publishers.

And then he wrote a review on Amazon.in. I DID NOT ask him to write it just because I thought it would be difficult for him to post a review on a platform other than Facebook! He didn't even tell me that he had posted a review. But there I found it one fine day much later.  Notice how he has put in a sales pitch about discounted price and no delivery fee 😂😂

My Baba was not a foodie at all. He had no love for food unless it was a Bengali mishti. He did not like cooking and found the whole process highly over-rated.  Many a times when we would urge him to learn some cooking, he would say he could make tea, buy his mishti from stores and put together a Doodh-Pauruti-Gur for dinner, that is all that was needed for him to survive!!

When I got an offer for my first book from Harper Collins, he was happy but could not fathom how "me" of all people could write a cookbook. "Tui physics ar engineering pore ranna r boi likhbi keno bujchi na" !! Maybe he was worried about the kind of recipes I would unleash on the world. Or "Ranna r Boi" was not a thing he felt was worth writing, though once the book was out he championed it the most.

So anyway, I had really wanted to write a novel which was not a "ranna r boi", a cookbook, and show it to him. I don't know why as a 40+ woman, I felt like I had to prove my literary merits to him but I am so very thankful that I could do that and he could be a part of the book even if for a short time.

Thanks to all who read it, enjoyed it, loved it and shared your stories with me. I am so glad that I could spread a little happiness and cheer through my books.

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D is for Dim Kosha and Dhokar Dalna

The A-Z series that I had started is still very much in its fledgling state. With each letter I am even more confused with the wide array of dishes that deserve a place. Thinking of D, I made Dim er Devil, Doi Maachh, thought of making Dhokar Dalna but skipped as it was too much work and then finally decided to give Dim Kosha the place that it so rightly deserves. Well, at least I think so. I love eggs, simply love, love them and when it is the letter "D", Dim or Eggs are in the forefront in my dictionary.

This time the Dim Kosha was made with "Haansher Dim" or Duck eggs. The husband-man has this uncanny fondness for Duck Eggs. It might be something about the town he is from, for anyone who is from there reserves a certain reverence for "Haansher Dim". Now my family was not keen on Duck eggs and it is Murgi ke ande in round wire baskets sold by Maulbi ji  which were staple in our home, so this longing for Duck eggs took me long to understand.

The first time I had Duck Eggs was when I visited my in-law's house in this laid back town which is few hours away from Kolkata and has an abundance of lush greenery.I could sense that the whole family was very excited about Haansher Dim and the kosha that would follow. The husband-man was brimming at the possibility of finally treating me to this delicacy.The way they went on about it, you would think it was some expensive caviar from France, but then really who likes French caviar? There was some uncertainty about the "dimwala" running out of duck eggs and finally when the guy rang his cycle bell around 11 in the morning, everyone ran to the gate expecting a miracle.

When I saw the eggs, they seemed pretty ordinary to me albeit larger. There was nothing ordinary about the Kosha that followed though. It was out of this world and the yolks of those eggs were more creamier than I could imagine.

Come what May...

May has been a happening month so far.

Both in good ways and bad. But we won't discuss the bad. I am trying to be in peace with the fact that --"If things are not in my control, I better not break my head trying to control them". Is that a saying or did I just make it up ? If I made it up, that will be my first quote. Get used to my wisdom people. So what if I don't live by them.

So, first May and even April was good because we could finally tide over winter, watch buds bloom, hear birds chirp and not wear heavy jackets to dinner. One who has never worn a fur lined double layered jacket and been strapped inside an overheated car day in day out, will never know what bliss it is to not wear them.

Spring in my Backyard

I would say the month was good because of just that one single reason. Period.

But then something more exciting happened. I went to Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni's reading of  her newest novel, "The Oleander Girl" in the city. I am not much of a city goer but sitting on a public transit bus which was crawling at a pace less than a snail and watching the skyline outside change from  a backdrop of slate grey pink to pitch dark, I had a liberating experience. Yes, I was getting painfully late but it was okay. I was going for myself alone. I had no one to answer to and no phone calls if I did not make it on time.It is rarely that I ever go anywhere for myself  and very rarely is it done without a certain goal in mind. Just to risk a work day evening to travel 120 minutes for the sole purpose of  listening to a favorite author ? I have never ventured that far before.

And meeting the author was worth the experience.Strangely I have never wanted to meet authors before. I love or not-love them through their books.It is their written words that conjure a image in my mind and I don't think meeting Agatha Christie or P.G.Wodehouse or Bani Basu or even Chitra Banerjee in person would alter anything.

But this time I wanted to go and I am so glad I did.I felt so enriched just by hearing her answer questions about how she writes, how she thinks in different voices and gets into the skin of the characters, about how she draws characters from mythology and her gem of an advice to new authors."Read," she said. "Read, not merely as a reader but as a writer".

OMG, and did I just say Voice ? Voice ? Two years ago the only voice I knew was that coming out from my own larynx and here I am throwing about ideas on "voice".

Then of course there is my book, of which I received my first few author copies. The afternoon I saw the familiar Harper Collins logo on a hefty cardboard box just outside the door, I panicked and went inside the house without even trying to drag in the box.
Should I just ignore it and pretend that this whole thing never happened ?
Should I just think of it as a dream and forget it ?
Should I just say "Whose darn package is this" and post it back at the return address ?

Only after 15 minutes of sweaty palms and racing heart, did I muster enough courage to tell the husband that there was a package at the porch and it might be my book. And even then I could not dare to look at the book, to leaf through its pages, to make sure that it indeed was the one I had written. Of course after the package was opened and the books glanced through, the grim reviewers in my home shared prophecies.

"There are only two color pictures. Spot Books have so many nice pictures. This is boring," said the 4 year old LS.

The 9 yr old, voracious reader, wanted to read it but I said "Later".
After a quick glance through the pages she gravely asked "But will people in US understand it?"
I remembered Chitra Banerjee's advice -- never underestimate your readers.

The husband-man(referred to in the book as H-man) said, "Your publishers are astute to have done the book in paperback".
After a scathing pause he tried to explain, "That way if something goes wrong and the need arises to hit the cook on the head out of frustration, no one will be hurt much. A Hard cover could have been far damaging".

I won't say anymore right now. Writing the book was really fun and I am really happy the way it has turned out but this now is the scary part.

The book is up on Flipkart for pre-order at a special price. So now it is your turn. Go ahead and order.

Pre-order from Flipkart

Shorshe Kashundi Murgi -- Chicken in Mustard Sauce

 

This had been a hectic weekend.

Wrapping up the final touch up for the book; the fonts, the typos, the excitement, the elation and then the depression.

Until Saturday night I was on a high. Half of Saturday night had been spent online, working with my editor in India and chatting more working while she corrected those last little things. I went to sleep around 3:30 AM Sunday morning and by the time I woke up late on Sunday, it was like I had downed several tequila the night before. And this, when I don't drink and have never really experienced a hangover.

If you have had a baby, painted, created music, worked on a project that sapped your soul, written a book, did anything that you loved so much  --- you would understand what I am trying to say. My editor summed it up as "Post partum depression". And she was right. That is what it felt like. There it was, "my baby", the one I nurtured, fed, gave my everything, going out into the big bad world. No longer did I have any control on her fate. She was now left on her own, to chart her own path and be what she wants to be. I will be there to help, standing by the sideline, my heart in my mouth, but my work is done.

I really, truly hope you all will welcome her like your own and be kind. For everything else I will be here.

And if all this talk sounds too cheesy, wait, for there are sharper things in the next para.

So anyway to quell the butterflies in my tummy I made a Shorshe Murgi yesterday night. Again. That pungency and hot green chilli will help clear my sentimental sinuses, I thought.

Since I have made the homemade Kasundi, this dish has become easy peasy and I have done it couple of times in just the last few days. My Ma did this with mustard and garlic ground together to a paste with little yogurt. She added some grated coconut if she had some. I, the new BongMom with a can of coconut milk always in her pantry, used that instead. The result was really good and if you know me, I don't brag. Okay, okay, but only sometimes

Now instead of homemade, if you have a bottle of store bought Kasundi , go ahead and use that. The only thing I worry is, that the quality of your Kashundi will control the dish then. If that bottle is not pungent enough, you can make a little shorshe bata(mustard paste) and add that to supplement the bottled kasundi. Whatever you do, go by the taste and smell and you will arrive at your  destination...err at your Shorshe Kashundi Murgi.

So raising a toast to my parents, my daughters, the husband, my friends, you guys and everyone who bore the brunt of my writing, with this " jhanjhalo shorshe murgi". For my excellent editor and her team, I owe you this and more.

The book goes to print tomorrow. Amen.

Shorshe Kashundi Murgi

Marinate about 3/4-1 lb of chicken in
1 tsp ginger-garlic paste
salt
turmeric powder
1 tsp Mustard oil

Now if you have bottle of Kashundi or you have made Kashundi from my post, USE THAT.
That is the best option.

If you do not have that, which is a shame, make a mustard paste as follows
Soak
1 tbsp Mustard seeds
in a tbsp water for 30 mins

Make a paste of
the mustard
2 fat clove of garlic
1 tbsp yogurt
2 green chilli
salt to taste 
with a splash of water



Heat 2 tbsp Mustard Oil for cooking

Temper the oil with
1/4th tsp of Kalonji
5 slit green chilli

When the kalojeere sputters and the chilli hisses add
2 tsp of ginger-garlic paste 
Note: I add homemade ginger-garlic paste. You can add minced garlic or just garlic paste


Cook for half a minute and add the chicken pieces.
Sprinkle some more turmeric powder.

Saute the chicken pieces till they loose their raw color and turn golden yellow
If the chicken is releasing water , wait till some of the water dries up.
This takes about 10-15 minutes

Next add
3 tbsp of your Kasundi
OR
the mustard paste you made
Note: When using store bough Kasundi depending on its pungency you may have to use more. If it is not hot enough, you need more green chilli too


Mix well and cook for couple more minutes

Add
1/2 cup of thick  Coconut Milk (more if you want more coconut flavor)
1/2 cup Water
salt to taste
5 more slit green chili

Mix well and  then cover and cook till chicken is done. Taste, adjust and reduce the gravy till your desired thickness. Should be on the thicker side. Drizzle few drops of mustard oil to finish.

Serve with steaming white rice. Sniff. Sniff.

I need a hug. And some tissue.


Similar Recipes:

Another version of shorshe chicken is at Deepasri's blog

Come, have Chai For I have News to share

For the longest time I have wanted to sit cozy and gossip over a cup of chai. Legs drawn together, feet tucked under, sitting close, a cup of warmth in my hand, speaking in hushed tones.javascript:void(0) About what ? I have no clue. I have friends with whom I talk mostly over the phone. We discuss everything from Romney to the Jupiter and Venus in the night sky. The sad part is none of them have the time or inclination to spend time over hot cups of tea. Now if we are talking dinner that is another story.

So my wish remains unfulfilled. Largely. Except for a couple of folks. But even with them it never happens like it did for my Mother. Every afternoon Ma would change into a crisp cotton saree for summer or a rustling silk for the winters.She would dab some of the Mysore sandal talc on her nose, tie up her long black hair in a plait and then put a kettle of water to boil. Some days a neighborhood aunt would drop by. On others Ma would go over. They would share stories over those cups of hot chai which I was not privy to. "Ja porashuno korte bos (go, get along with your studies)" was what they said if I lingered longer.

Naturally I nurtured a secret hope of such evenings, maybe even grander ones, once I was in charge.It is yet to happen. So when this thing--- that I have been desperate to tell you all along--- happened I wanted to sit right besides you, feet tucked under my pajamas,a cup of tea in hand.

And no it is not what you are thinking. No. Not at all. Okay, what are you thinking anyway ?

But I am eternally grateful to you for what happened. For your kind words, for your belief in me, for reading me, for telling me that you liked what I wrote. This wouldn't have been possible without you.

For like you, a very nice editor from Harper Collins (India) read my blog. And last year around summer she sent me a polite mail asking if I would be interested in writing a book. First I gulped and then decided it was one of those spams like the Nigerian government promising to transfer billions to my account. Turned out it wasn't. This was really, truly, a real life editor from Harper. She wanted me to write a book based on my blog, a food narrative along with my recipes. I was so struck by the wondrous nature of the whole thing that I of course said "Yes". Only a month later I realized what I had done but by then the contract was signed. The deal was sealed. And I was going to write a book. THE BOOK. The Bong Mom's Cookbook.

So I have been writing a book. It has been nine months. Given that number I now treat it like a third child in my womb. I have been putting my everything into it. My love, my emotions, my thoughts, my life. In fact I am so attached to it that I am having separation anxiety and am yet to hand over the manuscript. Every day when my girls are finally in bed, the dishwasher is humming a Dadra, the crickets outside have given up chirping, I sit on the black poang, open up MS Word and pour my heart into it. I am also dead scared (very unlike a third time new Mother is wont to be) and that is the reason I had kept it in my heart though my mind itched to share it with you long back.

But now I need your support, your trust in me, your wishes and your blessings. Send me all your good vibes so that I can do my best. Please, pretty please.Else my toes are going to curl up cold and the gestation stage might get longer than that of an elephant.

The Book: The Bong Mom's Cookbook
The Publisher: Harper Collins India
What is it about : More of a Food narrative than a cookbook per se. In short mine, yours and everyone else's life in food with recipes thrown in. More details as I write the book.
When: Will let you know as the thing happens

Now that you guys are in the loop trust me you are going to hear of my third baby as much as you do about Big Sis and Li'l Sis. And then don't come back and tell me that irritates the heck out of you.

There's an whole army of talented bloggers whom I owe big time for this whole blog thing. Almost all of them are on my reader you see on the left.

Thanks Miri, Mandira, Manisha, Indo of Daily Musings, Sra, Vani, Nupur of One Hot Stove, Mallika, Happy Cook, Cham, Sig, Sailu, Anita, Linda, Jaya of DesiSoccerMom, Supriya, Jaya of Spice and Curry, Soma, Pree, Sharmila, Eve's Lungs and Kalyan for being there and sharing your food.  And Cynthia I owe you big time for helping me through the jargon of the contract language.Then there are those who do not blog anymore but had set up the path like Indira of Mahanadi, Inji, Asha, Mallu Girl, Sunita and Vee. I think half of my book is going to be just Acknowledgments.