Fancy Doi-Muri-Aam -- return of the Mangoes

I wasn't really in a mood to write anything today. And then I cam home in the afternoon and found a blissful silence, not an uncanny one like this but a total peace and quiet which is very very rare in my home. The Dad was back from his trip and had taken the kids out for groceries. I had moments to savor on my one, to sit with my feet curled up and enjoy one uninterrupted cup of tea.

But that was not to be for there was a lone mango in the fruit basket. I could have used it up later but No, I had an inane desire to eat doi-muri-aam right then, even before the tea, before anybody came home.

Doi-muri-aam crawled out from crevices in my memory and beckoned like no other. You see unlike most Bongs whole love Dudh-Muri(Milk & Puffed Rice), Dudh-Bhaat(Milk and rice) etc. I hated anything mixed with milk. So during the heat of summers when mangoes were in plenty and everyone was finishing their meal with dudh-bhaat-aam(milk + rice + mangoes) or dudh-ruti-aam(roti instead of rice, all other same) I preferred my Mangoes just by themselves.

The only concession I made was for chire-doi-aam(beaten rice aka poha with yogurt and ripe mangoes) and occasionally doi-muri-aam(puffed rice with yogurt and mangoes). I loved chire doi aam so much that every Tuesday during the summer month I tagged along with Ma to do Joi Mongolbar, a ritual that involved some praying and largely surviving the day on choicest fruits of the season. Lunch for Joi Mongolbar was always Chire Doi Aam, with sandesh and other summer fruits like lychees playing along.

Today the lone mango brought back my cravings but it had to be quick so I settled for muri instead of chire.I gulped it down after clicking a few pics and sighed in delight. When the girls came back, they demanded mango lassi, seeing the yogurt stained glasses. Instead, I told them about muri-doi-aam. They showed no interest whatsoever.

Fancy Doi-Muri-Aaam

Take a parfait glass. Drizzle some honey on the bottom and along the inner surface of the glass. Scoop pieces of sweet mango and put on the bottom. Follow with scoops of thick, hung yogurt(yogurt strained for 3-4 mins should be fine). Heap more mango pieces on top. Sprinkle some crispy puffed rice for a bite. Garnish with craisins if you wish. Mix with a spoon and enjoy.

In the non-fancy version, which a normal person would rather do, you procure a big bowl, throw mangoes, yogurt, puffed rice, honey or sondesh and mix all of the above in no particular order. Proceed to eat with fingers. Licking is allowed.

In other News, read about return of C&C @When My Soup Came Alive

Check out some wonderful salad recipes here.

Chicken 65 -- near perrfect

Chicken 65

Chicken 65 has lately become a very popular appetizer across almost all  Indian restaurants. We had first had it only in restaurants in southern part of India, mainly the ones specializing in spicy Andhra food. There are several funny trivia stories about the naming of this dish, which may or may not be true. My recipe of Chicken 65 is  about 10+ years old and is still one of our favorites. The last step in the recipe gives it a kick and makes it moist even when using low oil. Try it.

Jump To Recipe

While there was much furor going over nothing and people were discussing gender issues and such, I had a very basic question to ask.

Why paint a child's nail ? Kohl rimmed eyes and kala tikka, I can understand. They are not makeup. There is scientific evidence that they ward off evil eyes.Or, maybe not. But neon pink nail paint ? What the good will it do ?

I have chipped nail polish on my toe nails from six months ago. The last time I managed to go to a nail salon, there was a 7 year old sitting besides me getting a pedicure. I cringed. Not because my toes could scar a 7 year old (ok, that is a possibility) but the fresh beautiful feet of a seven year old does not need pedicure.Period.

My 7 year old has had nail paint on her toes twice. Once she was at some friend's place and beyond my control, the second time she begged that I let her put on the only shade of nail paint I have. I let her because I had to finish some very important work and I knew if I let her do it she won't ask again. The nail paint has almost dried out and she has never asked since.

If anyone has to make a statement why nail paint, I say.

Before we delve into the recipe for Chicken 65 let me tell you Chicken 65 is NOT my birthright. My Ma never made it, nor did her mother or her mother's mother. Ok you get the drift, right ? My Ma-in-law never made it either. No one in my family has ever made Chicken 65 unless I go back five generations ago, at which point I have no clue. But by the theory of extrapolation I can safely say, even they did not make Chicken 65.

Heck, I did not even taste Chicken 65 until I moved to Bengaluru in my twenties. My first Chicken 65 was at this place called Krishna Chinnai in Koramangala. They had red plastic tables, blue or white or maybe even red plastic chairs, potted palms whose fronds bristled your bare arms resting on the greasy red tables in anticipation of the food.. We always went there for dinner, after dark, so beyond this I did not see. The food as I remember was hot, spicy searing hot andhra biryani, fiery hot chicken 65 and everything else with loads of kari patta and chili. That inspired us to go back there more often.

Here in the east coast of US, in the suburbs of NYC, where the assimilation of all Indian cultures is much more than I have ever seen in a single Indian state, Chicken 65 is always on the menu of an Andhra restaurant and on the charts in most Indian restaurants. The chicken looks red, as if the gulal from last Holi hasn't rubbed off them. I feel queasy. Sometimes they are double or triple fried in the stale hot oil of the fryer and I have second thoughts on my order. And yet I cannot get over those spicy hot morsels of Chicken.

Theory no.1:The story goes that an English traveller visiting Kerala in 1965 asked a chef to make this dish. The traveller expressed his contentment at the result and left, whereupon the bar staff tried the remainders, having never seen anything like it before. The result certainly was good and Chicken 65 was born, there being no other name for it.

Theory no.2:As legend has it, in all the country liquor bars, the favourite ‘food fight’ is: who can eat the maximum number of chillies? It is a symbol of machismo to be able to eat the most chilies. An enterprising hotelier capitalised on this and cooked up the dish Chicken 65, denoting that 65 chillies were used for every kilogram of chicken. Some chefs believe it is called so because of the 65 ingredients used in making it.

Theory no.3:It was the 65th. item on the menu of a restaurant at Palghat

4 years back inspired by fellow bloggers I made my first chicken 65. It was delicious. Over the years though I have refurbished my Chicken 65 recipe, bits from here, a little from there and slowly the dish started coming out as I expected it to. I shunned the red food color and the MSG(ajina moto), I adjusted the chilli when the kids wanted their share. Finally I can say I have a Chicken 65 that is almost perfect. People like it, the kids love their version, we love it. What more can I ask for ?

Shubho Nabo Borsho -- Happy Bengali New Year

Wishing all of you a very Happy New Year

I have not cooked anything special for New Year tomorrow. We celebrated today by ordering Thai Take Out. Tomorrow we will go to the nearby Guruvayoor temple and eat tamarind rice, if they have any that is. No wonder they say the earth is flat.

The day the Lord created hope was probably the same day he created Spring. ~Bern Williams

The flip-flops finally get their chance in the Sun

You can't see Canada across lake Erie, but you know it's there. It's the same with spring. You have to have faith, especially in Cleveland. ~Paul Fleischman


And I am not even in Cleveland

Yesterday the twig was brown and bare;
To-day the glint of green is there;
Tomorrow will be leaflets spare;
I know no thing so wondrous fair,
No miracle so strangely rare.
I wonder what will next be there!
~L.H. Bailey