Holy Guacamole by the Ganges

Birthdays when I was a kid were simplistic affairs. It was the 70's. The most glamorous birthday song I had ever heard was Johnny Walker singing "Happy Birthday To You" on Binaca Geetmala. It was a good thing that we hadn't watched the movie and there was no YouTube to see the song. Other than Johnny Walker and Joy Mukherjee no one seems to enjoy that birthday party, not even Saira Banu in her parrot green saree and complicated hair do.

Anyway even watching that movie would have had no effect on my parents. They are Bongs and Bollywood is not their forte, at least it wasn't until cable took over. Birthdays in our home meant a silver bowl full of paayesh studded with plump raisins, a new dress, touching feet of elders, blessings that wished for a long happy life, limp ten rupee notes shoved into reluctant and eager hands and a special dinner of yellow pulao, cholar dal, doi maach and chutney cooked by Ma.Most years a couple of my neighborhood friends would join in for dinner when Ma would invite them casually with "Aaj raat e amader barite kheye jas"(Have diner at our home tonight). They would come, their hair neatly tied in plaits, their hands clutching some book by Russian authors wrapped clumsily in a red paper and they went back happy with no expectation of a return gift.

Nothing about those birthdays had to be pre-planned. The only point of contention was whether it was Cadbury's Eclairs or Parle Orange candy or Ravalgon chocolates that would be taken to school. In fact the high point of my birthday between the age of 8 to 12 was distributing candy in school. We spent many a days discussing, which other girl I would take, other than the best friend of course, with me doing the rounds of other classes. Also when we went to other classes, which girls we would ask to come out and share the sweets with. This was a difficult task since every other class had a sister, a cousin or a friend of my classmates and they expected to be called out.

Birthdays thus seamlessly fitted into our daily schedules and we got an year older just like that.

Now stories of birthday parties in India scare me. Apparently kiddie parties are handed over to event management companies and it involves an emcee and bollywood dancing. Yikes !! How do you celebrate a kid's birthday party wherever you are, would love to hear.

A few days back the littlest one turned a year older. She wanted a cake, a party and a teapot. So a party was had, at our home, in the backyard.Sprinklers were turned on, water guns were used in full force,water balloons were filled and busted in a matter of seconds and much fun was had. I decided to cook most of the stuff at home and it wasn't easy given that there were 40 grown ups with 20 kids amongst them. I had some pointers from Indo last year and I tried to keep the menu simple. I also outsourced some stuff like shingara(samosas) and vegetable chops. It is not me who fries a batch of 50 samosas with nary a glazed look in her eyes. Those things are better left to professionals.

But I did cook huge quantity of mutton in 4 batches in my Pressure cooker. The fact that I decided on the Mutton Rezala, made it easier. I marinated the huge quantity of mutton with all the spices a day ahead.The mutton soaked up all the spices with 16 hour of marination and cooked fast and was very flavorful. Then I made the Goan Shrimp Curry. Again the spice paste, the star ingredient was made at least 2 days ahead and on the day of cooking making the gravy was easy peasy. Then I made a Fulkopir Roast with Coconut, the recipe was part Ma's and part from my FB readers. It was a big hit.

One of the things that eased the load on day of cooking was making the wet masala pastes , the dry masala powders all in batches through out the week. I had also fried huge quantities of chopped onions and made a paste of them two days before the actual cooking. Using this fried onion paste shortened the time of cooking and there was this one less thing to do.

It was a fun birthday party and Little Sis loved all the attention. I have no picture of foods from the day obviously so what I am going to share instead is the Guacamole that I made as a dip for the starters.

Choose ripe, fresh avocados. How to choose, I don't know. I just bought them some days ahead and the were right on the day.

Peel and de-seed. Check this to see how to cut an avocado. Scoop out the pale green innards. With a back of a fork mash it up.If you want it chunky you can keep it this way. You can also pulse it in a blender if you want a smoother version

Add the following

few drops of of Mustard oil(optional, I like it)
some lime juice
throw in some chopped red onion
finely chopped green chili next
a sprinkle of cumin powder
some tangy chaat masala
salt
a pinch of sugar
and lots of fresh corriander.
Just go with your instinct with the quantities and adjust spices etc. according to taste.

Mix everything together and cover tightly with a cling wrap. I refrigerated for a day and it was good. The acid in lime juice helps in keeping the color intact(else it tends to go brown) so be sure to put enough of it

Serve with pita breads, chips or with Pametini, oven toasted Italian bread; my current heartthrob

A pot of Okra Sambhar

She had an inkling of it for a while now.But never uttered a word. Why bring the climax in the middle of a beautiful life story, she thought. If I can just avert my eyes a little, to the left, I can pretend I never saw it.

Hadn't she been doing this all her life now, her life after marriage that is. When he would drop the wet towel right there on the middle of her Jaipuri bedspread, leaving a damp spot, she would pretend she did not see it. She had told him umpteen times to put the wet towel in the hamper, the deep blue one, not the pale green one in the right where his yesterday's jockey underwear should go. But did he listen ? No.She therefore chose to look away, to not really see what was happening around her, to build up a make believe life. But it suited her so why does it bother you anyway ?

How else do you think she could cope with the fact the he let out guttural rolls of laughter watching "Comedy Circus" on Sony ? A show she detested with its loud, raunchy jokes and canned laughter. Or that he picked his aquiline nose when Stephen Colbert came on Comedy Central ?

Twenty one years ago when Paritosh kaka had introduced the tall, bespectacled man as a prospective match all she had thought of was Soumitro.No, no, not her boyfriend. Soumitro Chatterjee, the filmstar, the poetic brother-in-law of Charulata, the intelligent detective in Feluda, her childhood hero.The gangly young man, lean with sharp eyes looking out of the 4x6 photograph with the hills of Hollywood behind him had reminded her exactly of Soumitro.Later that evening when Ma had asked if she liked the boy, she had nodded in agreement, dreaming of watching a Kurosawa together or sharing a packet of Jhalmuri while discussing Ray's Teen Konya.

It turned out he had never heard of Kurosawa and thought Satyajit Ray was all a big hype of antel (intellectual) Bangalis.She didn't take it to heart. She just pretended that he had not said those words , that Kurosawa was never screened in any of the 18 theater multiplexes in her small California town.

Although when he said Alu Posto was a bland paste of poppy seeds which only farmers from Bankura ate to keep themselves cool in scorching heat, she took serious umbrage and did not talk to him for one whole day.But then her mounavrata had't really bothered him much and she finally consoled herself that it wasn't really necessary that two people should have the exact same taste in everything.

Gradually she had learned, it was much easier to pretend things she did not like never happened around her.

She had thus set up a good life for herself, a rhythmic routine that started with Kellogg's Strawberry and ended with half a glass of Chianti. There was a Lexus in the driveway, a Honda Accord lonely in the two car garage. The dining table was from Etan Allen shining in the afternoon sun while she scooped kalai er dal and alu posto, rice from the cereal bowl sitting across the kitchen island. On the sofa table sat a framed picture of her son, grinning just like his Dad with the Sather Tower at UC Berkley rising in the far back. Weekends were always busy with a party at one or the other Bengali homes in the area; where heavy scent of Dolce Vita swirled through deep maroon Tassars and light gray Bangalore silks; platters of chicken biryani, mutton rezala, cholar dal and bhapa doi competed with loud laughters and border line lewd jokes.

It was a good life, she had finally decided.And then today she saw her again, right there on his Facebook page, left accidentally open on the iPad he had been browsing. He had forgotten to sign out when he rushed to take the client call on his blackberry. This was the same girl that she had met at his office party last Christmas.

In her early thirties, petite, her long ear drops shining many colors in the light from the chandelier. " Hi, I am Ranjhani", she had said, a lilt in her voice, a slight emphasis on the "jh" in her name.But it was her ear drops that had caught her eyes and that is all she could remember now. When the dangly ear drops, Ranjhani, popped up on Facebook Chat with the question "Dinner tonight ? 7-ish sounds good ?", she should have just looked away, left, past the window to the corner where the towel lay in a heap.
Instead she pretended she did not see the Towel and typed, "My place. 123 Barn Owl Ct.". And then she signed him out.

For a while she wasn't sure what she had done. She yanked the charger out and sat with the white cord wrapped around her palm. She had never done anything like this before, never taken any momentous decisions except the one 21 years ago.

She sat there for a long time, time unfathomable, time beyond measures. Only when the vertical blinds started throwing long shadows and the big toe on her left food started pricking with pins&needles, did she get up and go to the kitchen. Carelessly she threw the charger cord in the vegetable basket and took down the okra and the bag of green lime.She washed the Toor Dal in several changes of water and pulled out the packet of MTR sambhar powder from the recess of her spice drawer.The okra she washed and chopped, not noticing its slimy strings drawing lines on the chopping board. She heated oil in her big stock pot.Lost in herself she threw in the mustard seeds which danced and fizzed, grumbling loudly.Next went the curry leaves, all dried and limp on their stalk. She didn't care.Once she had the okra sambhar going on the stove she juiced each of the limes carefully in a big bowl. The lime was sour and her lips puckered up with their severe tart-ness.

By the time it was 6:30 in the evening she pulled out her Accord from the garage. When the GPS lady instructed to take the first right turn, she saw her again, in her long hoops with little pearls hanging like grapes driving a Mini on the other side.

The okra sambhar, caustic sour waited patiently on the stove top.

********************************************************************************

This is my entry for this month's Of Chalks and Chopsticks hosted by Jaya and started by Aqua. The cue for the Fiction was the above photo in the post which Jaya had given us. I have explored hitherto unexplored territories in my fiction and I hope you like it.

This & That of Summer Vacation

This summer, being the Type A parent that I am, I had been a little worried. Big Sis might not have fun I thought. The scenario was something like this.She did not want to join a summer camp; her very good friend, the little neighbor girl left for India the day after the vacations started; she would be home with Little Sis and the nanny and nothing on TV except basic cable translated to PBS kids.

She will start whining and start off with "I am getting bored..." every afternoon I get back from work, I told all and sundry who cared to listen.

Instead last week she told me "This is the best summer vacation ever".

Harbor at Sonderborg, the small town about 3 hrs from Copenhagen

Indeed summer has been fun and busy with a lot of things happening that wasn't really planned for. First, there was this show that the kids put up, a very casual "stage-in-the-basement" kind of thing, in lines of something we ourselves did as a kid every summer. There were dances to Tagore's songs where the little ones had mismatched steps and when one did a twirl the other just looked on but they looked immensely cute in their red-bordered sarees doing whatever they did to the tunes of "Dhitang Dhitang Bole".

Next, they did a drama, Sukumar Ray's "Obaak Jolpaan". Given that the age range of kids in the drama was 5 to 8 , we Mothers had ruthlessly shortened the dialogs to make it easier for them. The kids did the drama so well that it was hilarious. And they all had loads of fun doing it too.

Pretty Windmills all around

The day after the "function", we went for a week's vacation to Denmark. D was on work there for 2 days and so we all decided to tag along and spend a week. Again being the Type A kinda Mother I was little hesitant and worried about food etc. for LS because the none of the hotels that we had booked had a kitchenette.

Ice Cream on the Boat

I shouldn't have worried at all, for there was ice cream all around and LS thrived on it. Also kids are more adaptable than we think and LS nibbled on hot dogs, pasta, Thai chicken, Indian butter chicken(this was horrible), Greek gyros and that was fine for her. In fact she was much more happier and active with the very little eating that she had to do.

The Little Mermaid

Big Sis was at the right age to enjoy what she visited. She had been reading some of Hans Christian Andersen's works and was really looking forward to see the Little Mermaid. The castles now turned into museums were also a source of great interest to her as were the many canals along which we took a ferry ride.

The Canals of CopenHagen

The Elephant Parade in CopenHagen

The Old and the New

On a rainy Morning

Back from the vacation, BigSis is off again on a sleepover, this time at a very good friend's home who is also a family friend. The little one cried her heart out because Sis will be away today. Tomorrow when BisgSis is back the regular sisterly fights can begin.

Hopen Hagen

Chalks and Chopsticks -- Roundup

At last it is here. The Chalks and Chopsticks round up that you all probably waited for and then politely gave up.

I will not bore you with lame excuses and sheer tales of my laziness; instead dig in and start on a wonderful journey of food and tales. If I have missed anyone's entry please do let me know and pardon my incompetence.

Next edition is at Jaya's. Hop over to see the rules she has for you.

"‘Vivek took permission from my hostel warden and would come to teach me English as well as the other subjects. He was doing his engineering those days and we would sit in the common room. I was comfortable being taught by him. His only demand was that I served him omelettes and tea."
"Omlette" -- by Bhagyashri who blogs at Searching Self

"With a sigh, Sunanda picked up the now empty cup and froze.
The bright, dark circle of soy stared up at her from the
lovely face of Gauhar Jaan*.
Sunanda gave a small sigh and closed her eyes in silent resignation."
"Hot & Sour Vegetable Soup for 'Of Chalks and Chopsticks'" -- Sharmila who blogs at KichuKhon

"Office theke phire ese chabi ghuriye ghore dhuke, juto chhNuRe khule, kobjike ghoRir fNaas-mukto kore, gaa dhuye, rannaghore giye burner jwalai. jol fote. Miss Marple-er boite lekha achhe, rolling boil howa chai. apekkha kori. aaNjla kore cha pata dhali. Second-er kNata 3 baar ghoRi prodokkhiN kore asa matro sada cup-e chhNaknir gaa chNuiye sonali srot naame. ami se sroter theke chokh pherate parina."
"Kintu sobar chaite bhalo" -- by Kuntala who blogs at Abantor Prolap . Kuntala blogs in Bengali but her story was so apt for the theme this month that I requested her entry.

"In the here and now, it’s another coast, another pot of tea. Shrugging at the undissolved sugar in the first attempt, one turns to a potpourri of mild spices – cinnamon and star anise – and the tang of lemons, to add a kick to the warm and properly sweetened new brew."
"Citrusy Sweet Tea, Y'all!" -- by R&R who blog at Tadka Pasta

"The mugs had held fond fancies, but she had squashed them with her penchant for practicality. Didn’t find a glass to mix her smelly Ayurvedic medicines in? Resort to the mugs. Didn’t find another mug to bake her one-minute microwave chocolate cake in? Use these....In her case, a one-pot meal involved putting a few tablespoons of rice into dal or curry heated in the mug and eaten with a long-stemmed spoon in front of the TV. Constipated? Drink mugs and mugs of hot water, alternating between the two. "
My Mug Shot and Masala Chai -- by Sra who blogs at When My Soup Came Alive

"She woke up when Ma's alarm went off but stayed still and pretended to be asleep. As soon as the toilet door closed behind Ma, she jumped from her bed, ran to the kitchen , took a small bowl, poured out some tea, drank it steaming hot (sieving the leaves with her teeth), washed the bowl, placed it back on the utensils rack, ran back to the bed and just pretended to be asleep again. Yes, in four minutes."
Tea-her first love ---by DR who blogs at The gift of Life

"After dinner, the kids were in their rooms, she and Saurabh sat on the sofa reading and quietly sipping their cups of satisfying cocoa. This was their late evening ritual for over a decade, it always allowed them to catch up together no matter how busy the day was. Today she looked troubled until her husband interrupted her thoughts by quietly saying, “She needs to find herself a little, it will happen. I know an accomplished musician who at her age wanted to spend her life behind closed doors, locked away from the world”."
The Cup Of Solace -- by Rinku who blogs at Cooking in WestChester

"Gradually, it became a routine for both the two ladies to sip their morning cup of tea in their respective balconies around the same time and chitchat. They both used to look forward to their "Me Time" together in midst of clear skies, piping hot cups of tea and lovely conversations. On days when the weather would be cold or windy or it would rain heavily, they would sit sipping their respective ginger teas and wave to each other and share a smile or laugh.
Both were totally addicted to their morning teas. "
Just One Cup Of Tea -- by Rujuta who blogs at the World According to Rujuta

"Another love of his was coffee. He would often tell Aarti that his life would have been an utter waste had he never tasted this enchanted drink. He loved to pour the decoction into his favourite white ceramic glass with a floral print on it. He would add an extra spoon of sugar and sip it away making a *sluuuuuuuuurrrrrrrrrp* sound. He seemed to enter a transcended state, whenever he sipped from that cup. It looked like he was sipping from an eternal cup of bliss. That would irritate Aarti. Aarti hated coffee. She was more of a tea person. "
Eternal Cup of Bliss -- by Deepthi from Topsy Turvy Life

"It was still dark outside as Naina strained the two cups of tea and walked towards the picture window. She loved this time of the day, sitting by the window, reading a book and sipping her cup of tea. It was calm and peaceful, no jarring sounds of the television and no hustle bustle of daily chores. There was hardly anyone on the sidewalk except an occasional runner jogging past or an early riser walking the dogs."
To Stalk a Brinji -- by Jaya who blogs at DesiSoccerMom

"By the time she returned to her rocking chair with the coffee, the wind had picked up, bringing with it the earthy smell of wet mud. On the terrace below her apartment, she spotted Mrs. Joshi collect the papads she had left out in the sun. In the balcony opposite her window, she saw the maid hurriedly gather the clothes left to dry out on the clothes line. The people on the streets too were casting anxious glances toward the rapidly darkening sky and hurrying along. "
Indian Espresso Coffee -- by Aqua who blogs at Served with Love

"I remembered the baby eggplants I had purchased the previous day at the market. They looked so fresh and cute that, I could not ignore their baby voices crying ‘buy me please!’ So, what could I make with them? Yessss, Gutti Vankaya - a traditional Andhra Pradesh recipe for stuffed eggplant (or brinjal as it is called or even aubergine) fry."
Eggplant -- by Knot2Share who blogs at A Space to be Me

"The Chinese Breakfast.


Okay, so I was hungry. Thanks to the gastronomical disaster, which was my cousin's five-year anniversary lunch yesterday, I was terribly heartsick about any "bangalibarir dupurer nemontonno"{non-bongs, read luncheon to celebrate aforementioned anniversary} and decided to not eat anything, just to get rid of the taste of stale Fish Tandoori from my mouth."
Panu and the Earlymorning Foodpost -- by Panu who blogs at Presented by P

"The only time she softened was when Manju took out the coffee mugs, the ones with pictures of two little girls smiling out of the cup, hair blowing in the wind and something written in English all around. They were Mashima's grand daughters. Every New Year, Mashima's son would send a coffee mug neatly snuggled in bubble wrap and ensconced in a colorful box. And every year the mug had a picture of the girls in different stages of their life."
For a Cup of Tea -- by BongMom who blogs at Bong Mom's CookBook

Vegetable Chop or Bhejetebil Chop

Vegetable Chop or Bhejtebil Chop(sic!) is another popular snack from streets of Kolkata

My Mother having grown up in the mofussils, where everything from rosogolla to chingri'r chop(shrimp cutlet) was made at home, had an uncanny fear of Kolkata street food. Actually any street food.

All through the 80's, she stymied my attempts at street food with a vengeance that matched a NRI mother who washes her hands with Bisleri and rubs Purell before a meal at Flury's. She thought anything cooked and served along the streets could bring nothing but cholera, jaundice and disaster. My school days were thus spent, longingly watching the alu-tikki and chole chaatwala serving myriad of school girls in badly washed steel plates. All I was allowed to buy, once a month, was a packet of spiced up potato chips in a transparent plastic packet or a bar of Golden ice cream from the yellow ice cream cart.

It was her good fortune that we did not live in Kolkata or its suburbs where phuchka and telebhaja(fried stuff) by the road side was easier to find than a S23( a bus) in service. On our annual visits to my Dida's home in Kolkata, my Ma would ease a little and allow an alur chop here and a phuchka there. Those brief sojourns were so rare that the taste of those treats ached my memory until we came back to visit Dida next year.

My Ma however compensated for this behavior of hers by cooking a lot of those things which we were denied outside at home. She would make shingara, dim er devil, khasta kochuri and bhejetebil chop all through winter.

Once the Northern winds started blowing and it was time to take out the napthalene scented hand-knit sweaters and Kashmiri shawls; the deep red beet, flame orange carrots and green peas flooded the vegetable market.Those were the days my Mother made vegetable chop, lots of it. With the freshest and sweetest of beet and carrots, those chops would be delicious. If I am allowed to be totally honest, I will say that I still missed the chops fried in stale oil, dusted with grime and carrying the germs of cholera but my Mother's vegetable chops were the best you can do in a clinically hygienic condition.

Now while I had the vegetable chop down to the last peanut theoretically, I have always made it when my Ma is visiting us. Only that means she cooks the beet, the carrots, the potatoes, makes the stuffing, fries the chop while I eat them. My Ma thinks they are good for the kids, a good way to make them eat veggies she will say and so makes them quiet frequently while she is here. Once she had boarded her flight, I just make a stew with the same vegetables.

Last week however I made vegetable chops just by myself. I did not even think "kids", I only thought about myself and okay a little about the husband and how it will be nice to have some vegetable chops for breakfast for a change.

It is pretty easy and though involves some frying in gallons of oil is not too bad for you. You are eating vegetables you see. Yeah, keep chanting that. With some planning you can cook the vegetables beforehand and make the croquettes and refrigerate them for 4-5 days. That way you can fry up some as needed and enjoy them with a cup of chai.


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Vegetable Chop

I think this recipe made about 24-30 vegetable chops but I can never be sure. Also my chops were smaller in size than standard

First lets make the Bhaja Masla

Cumin Seeds -- 1/2 tsp
Fennel seeds -- 1/2 tsp
Corriander seeds -- 1/2 tsp
Clove -- 6
Green Elaichi -- 3
Cinnamon -- 1/2" stick
Peppercorn -- 12
Red chili -- 2-3
Bay leaf -- tiny

Roast the above on stove pop, cool and then grind to a fine powder. Do not char. Note: If you are feeling extremely lazy pop in toaster oven instead of stove top roasting. You can store this powder in a air-tight jar for months.You can use it to sprinkle on chutneys and make more chops.

Second --- We will work with the veggies, good stuff here.

Now we will chop the following vegetables in chunks
2 medium beet ,
2 carrot (if carrot is the thin kind use 4 else 2 should be fine),
2 large potato

Cook the above vegetables till they are mash-able. I usually cook them in the pressure cooker. Note: Sometimes I grate the beet instead of boiling it and then cook it while making the stuffing.

Once cooked, drain water and mash the vegetables. It is okay if the texture is little grainy and not totally smooth
Note: My Mother used to grate the beet and have her veggies a bit coarsely mashed, there shouldn't be any bite-able veggies but they can be a notch lower smooth.

Now heat a little oil in a Kadhai/Frying Pan

Roast 1/4 cup of halved peanuts, remove and keep aside

In the same oil add
2 tbsp of minced or grated ginger
3-4 green chilli chopped in rounds

Next add
the mashed vegetables,
3 tsp of Bhaja masla,
1/4-1/2 tsp of red Chili Powder,
salt to taste
sugar if needed

Saute the mashed veggies, mixing with the masala till the excess water dries up and the veggies come together, leaving the sides. Add 1 tbsp of finely chopped coriander leaves/dhone pata if you wish.Also add the roasted peanuts. Check to see the spices are right.
Note: If needed add 1-2 tbsp of bread crumbs or maida for binding.

If you have grated your beet instead of boiling it, add the grated beet to the pan before adding the mashed carrots and potatoes. Once the beet is cooked, add the mashed carrots+ potatoes and spices and follow the previous step.

When this mixture cools, grease your palms and fashion croquettes out of them. Add a golden raisin to each.
The usual shape is oblong or oval but I have made small slightly flattened balls.

Third -- Lets do some Coating

Vegetarian Coating

Make a batter of 1/3 cup of chickpea flour/besan + 4-5 tbsp of water. The batter should be thin, thinner than the pakori batter.

Dip the croquette/chop in above Besan mix, roll in seasoned breadcrumbs. Refrigerate the croquettes/chops for an hour. You could refrigerate these for about 4-5 days in a closed container. Only don't forget about them and go on a vacation. They need to be used sooner than later.



Egg Coating

I prefer this breading more than the former. I dredged the balls in all-purpose flour, dipped them in egg wash(2 eggs beaten with a tsp of water) and rolled them in bread crumbs. I then refrigerated them for a few hours/overnight before frying

Finally -- Now is the Frying Time

In a Kadhai heat enough oil for frying. Once the oil is hot, check if it is right temperature by putting a tiny piece of bread in it.

Roll the croquettes lightly again in seasoned breadcrumbs and fry in hot oil till golden brown. Remove with slotted spoon and keep aside in a plate lined with paper towels to drain excess oil.
Note : If you had added besan as a binder you might get a scent of besan in the chop. In that case fry a little more at medium heat till it is cooked through.

Sprinkle some chat masala or beet noon and serve with some ketchup and a salad of onion, cucumber.

Notes: First time Vegetable chop makers please read the note

1. There is two kind of Bhaja Masla that Bongs make. The one in the recipe is how my Ma, her Ma, me etc. does it. The second kind is one where Cumin Seeds + Dry red Chili is roasted on stove top and then grind to a powder.

2.The besan coating for the chop should be a VERY thin coating. It SHOULD NOT be thick as in a Alu Bonda/Vada.

3. If you do not like besan coating you can make a thin batter of white flour + water. You can also do dip in egg wash and then roll in breadcrumbs like here in Maacher Chop

4.My Ma-in-law grates the beet instead of boiling and mashing all veggies, that gives a nice texture to the chop.

5.Many people say that drying the mashed vegetables takes considerable amount of time. To avoid this, drain the carrots, beet and potatoes well and only then mash it when they cool a little

Updated on May15th, 2013: -- Recently I made a version of this same chop where I deviated from being completely niramish. To the mashed veggies I added some crispy fried onions(from a box). Also for the coating I dredged the balls in all-purpose flour, dipped them in egg wash(2 eggs beaten with a tsp of water) and rolled them in bread crumbs. I then refrigerated them for a few hours/overnight before frying. I clearly prefer this method.

For a Cup of Tea

The Mashima* at 37B/1 was very stingy. Miser might be a better word to describe her. She complained about everything, about the corners not being swept, the brown stain not being scrubbed well from the teapot, the Rin bar getting over on the 28th instead of the 31st and about how much tea Manju drank throughout the day.

And the last one wasn't even true. But Manju kept quiet. The money here was good, Mashima's son who lived in Dallas made sure that Manju was paid well. And why only Manju ? He made sure that the cook Sarla's Ma, the watchman, the driver everyone got a good salary. Last time when he was here, he even gave Manju a perfume. It smelled of forest woods and dead flowers. One whiff and she would be transported to the tree laden haven of her childhood where the scent of new leaves mingled with wild flowers.

But Mashima was very unlike her son. As Manju swept the floors and scrubbed the bathroom, Mashima hovered along side always keeping an eye that Manju did not pour more bleach than necessary, did not run water for too long. And when Manju dusted the glass cabinets, carefully wiping the golden rimmed tea cups, the coffee mug with the blue windmill, the terracotta cups with white paisley pattern, Mashima sat at the dining table reminding Manju to be extra careful because they were all very expensive.

The only time she softened was when Manju took out the coffee mugs, the ones with pictures of two little girls smiling out of the cup, hair blowing in the wind and something written in English all around. They were Mashima's grand daughters. Every New Year, Mashima's son would send a coffee mug neatly snuggled in bubble wrap and ensconced in a colorful box. And every year the mug had a picture of the girls in different stages of their life.

Mashima never drank anything in those cups. Neither did she ever serve anyone in those.The cups and mugs in the glass cabinet sat just by themselves, supercilious and a tad bored .

"There is a story wrapped around each of them. Those cups are my memories", Mashima would say. The golden rimmed china was her wedding gift from an Aunt in England who is no more, the mug with the Eiffel Tower was from her honeymoon in Paris, the black tall mug with the warli painting was what her son got her on his first job and the New Year coffee mugs was her grand kid's life in front of her.

"If you ever drop any of them, I am going to fire you", Mashima would threaten, drinking her morning tea from a chipped plain white cup with a rounded bottom.Manju drank her tea from a steel glass.Wrapping the edge of her sari around its warmth, she took a long sip, making a sharp sound with her lips. The tea was lukewarm and not sweetened at all. Mashima had been stingy with the sugar yet again.With a sigh Manju poured out the tea from the verandah, onto the downstair neighbor's potted tulsi plant.

Really with tea like this, there was no reason to work here anymore. But she couldn't do without the money either. And then there were the afternoons for which she pined.

The afternoons, when Mashima would go for a walk and her evening gossip sessions at the nearby park, Manju would let herself in to do the dishes and sweep the floor for the last time in the day. This was when Manju would put water to boil in a kettle, pour a generous amount of milk, add spoonfuls of sugar and stir in the tea leaves. Lovingly she would peel a knob of ginger and pound it in the mortar and pestle, to put in the boiling tea.

She would then pour the pale brown liquor in a cup carefully chosen from the glass cabinet after much deliberation.

Sometimes when the day was cloudy and there was a wind rustling over the horizon Manju chose the one with blue windmill, on especially hot days she picked the cup with the smiling sunflowers. But most she loved to drink from the mugs with the two girls on it. She would sit in the verandah with the cup in her hand, staring at the two smiling girls and think of the long limbed, dusty haired, brown girl playing in her village where the scent of new leaves mingled with wild flowers.

As the tea grew cold, Manju sat, counting the days until she would next meet her daughter.

****************

*Mashima -- though it means aunt, elderly ladies in Bengal are respectfully addressed as Mashima

This is my entry for the Of Chalks and Chopsticks event started by Aqua and hosted by me this time. The photo cue for the fictions was here. I will be doing the roundup next week so if you are running late, please send in entries over the weekend.

Cherry Pie Pudding -- a child's play

Looks a gorgeous mess but it IS delicious

It has been 12 days since Big Sis's summer vacation started. In these 12 days there have been picnics, movie at the theater(Judy Moody), umpteen library visits, one piano recital, friends staying over for one weekend and one sleepover. Only the sleepover did not culminate in sleep because it was Big Sis's first and she missed her little sis terribly. So around midnight we got her back.

But other wise her sleepover was really fun because it started early in the morning and it was spent with a lovely 15 year old girl, whom BigSis adores. The 15 year old is the most perfect 15 year old I have ever seen in my life, why else would she agree spending a day and night with a 7 year old tell me ? On her day out BigSis picked up some great cooking too. Sleepovers with fifteen year olds come with lots of advantages, I tell you.

One of the dishes she learned was this Cherry Pie Pudding. She wanted to do it all by herself this Saturday and that is what she did. It is the perfect dish for a child to make.No chopping, No cooking, No heat, No difficult steps. All I had to do was get three things

1. Graham Crackers

2. Jell-O instant Vanilla Pudding

3. A can of Cherry Pie filling (You will get this at the super market)

and she was set.

Top it with the fact that it is delicious.Everyone who had it loved it and for this summer this is going to be on the menu when I am having people over until Big Sis rebels that is. But even then it is so easy that I can do it by myself.

Help your child make it this summer too and you won't regret it for sure.

The Pudding is done in 3 easy steps

In a square baking or serving dish arrange the graham crackers in a single layer. Break the crackers to fit in to the corners and edges.

Using Jell-O instant pudding mix make a pudding. The instruction is right on the box but let me tell you here.
To 2&1/2 Cup of cold Whole Milk add 1 box of Jell-O instant pudding Mix. Stir for 2 minutes. Do not wait for it to set. You have to use it before that.

Once it is mixed pour half the pudding on the graham cracker layer. Smooth the surface and top it with one more layer of Graham Crackers. Pour the rest of the pudding on top of this layer.

Top with a can of Cherry Pie filling. Chill in the refrigerator for at least an hour. Serve cold.

Black Bean Salad -- one more light Lunch

The whole of winter we rarely ever see our neighbors except little neighbor girl of course.

Come summer everyone creeps out of the woodwork.There is weight that has been lost, pounds that have been put on, hair that has changed color and in some cases babies that have sprouted.I wouldn't even have recognized the same people in a different surrounding.

Last week on a balmy summer evening, we had a neighborly potluck dinner to get acquainted with the winter changes, to exchange smiles and discuss updates before we all go into hibernation again.

One of the neighbors had got a Black Bean Salad which was very refreshing and perfect for the weather. It was a new thing for me too given that I had never made or tried a black bean salad before.

I made it on Sunday for a Monday Light Lunch. Usually my weekday lunches are pretty light. I also like them better if they can be made quick. This served both purpose.

This is all you need. Feel free to substitute and add anything that goes.

Drain and rinse a can of black beans thoroughly. You can also use dried beans which you then have to soak and boil.

Chop up the following very fine
1/2 of an apple
1 jalapeno
1/4 of an onion
1/4 of a green mango
Note: Add or substitute with anything else you like. Also if I am saving this for next day I will not add onion until tomorrow.

Put all the above in a big bowl, add salt, add chaat masala, squeeze some lime juice and mix.

Dump the rinsed beans in the same bowl and mix again. Adjust for salt and spice.

Add a handful of cranberries.

There done, refrigerate and have this for lunch tomorrow. You can add avocados, julienned carrots to this one and use it as a filling for a wrap the next day.

This post also joins Light Lunch series at Red Chilies.

Now for some of you who had inquired about feta etc. in India here is a list of stores where you can get cheese et al in Indian Metros. These were inputs from my FaceBook readers, thanks to them. To update this list please leave a comment.

I stay in Hyderabad....I get them in Hyper City
Yesterday at 9:34am · LikeUnlike
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Nature's basket
Yesterday at 9:34am · LikeUnlike
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Dorabjee's in Pune
Yesterday at 10:04am · LikeUnlike
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Parmesan, bottled herbs like oregano, thyme, et al are actually quite common. Even small Mom and Pop supermarkets these days stock bottled Parmesan shavings.
Feta is probably a little more difficult to find but in Bombay, a slightly more up...market food shop like Spinach or Godrej Nature's basket will have it. And yes, as someone else mentioned, I have seen it in Hypercity in Bombay as well. (Unfortunately cook for an army every time I go back to India so I have looked!)See More
Yesterday at 10:09am · LikeUnlike
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In Kolkata....Babar Ali in New Market
Yesterday at 10:14am · LikeUnlike
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Natures basket. Sante at bandra. Spencers south city at cal. Most big city super markets have them
Yesterday at 10:30am · LikeUnlike
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Most Hypercity outlets and slightly "upmarket" grocers keep them these days.
Yesterday at 10:51am · LikeUnlike
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In Pune in Dorobjees and some cheese farms like ABC farms
Yesterday at 10:57am · LikeUnlike
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Hypercity in Bangalore.
Yesterday at 11:10am · LikeUnlike · 1 personLoading...
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You can try flanders dairy products available at their Lodhi Road outlet. Check out www.flandersdairy.com for contact details. They really have a great selection.
Yesterday at 11:30am · LikeUnlike

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Could try the Street at the Park and Afraa, City Centre in Kolkata
22 hours ago · LikeUnlike
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It is available in most of the mega metros where imported stuff are available. In Kolkata one can get it in Spencers south city mall, or in La protina near deshapriya park other than in new market. Alternatively, Foodfood channel of Sanjeev Kapoor showed making feta with paneer soaked in voinegar for 6 to 8 hrs....and then washin it thoroghly under running water....parmessan and other varieties as well
21 hours ago · LikeUnlike
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You can get anything from Panchetta to Foigras to Feta in India...Just gotta have the will...there are are a few dairy farmers in Goa who supply some of the upscale hotels and locals in the area with their cheeses which include aged Parmesans and flavoured fettas.... like anything in India its who you know....
19 hours ago · LikeUnlike
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spencer's south city calcutta

Pasta Salad -- for a Light Lunch

Near my home there is a place called Tuscany.

Beautiful rolling hills, wind rustling through the olive branches, bales of golden hay rolled up in meadows....

Okay, Cut, Cut...That is the other Tuscany

Repeat again.

Near my home there is a place called Tuscany, the Italian Gourmet Food store. BigSis loves the pasta there. I love it too but she loves it more so lets blame it on her.

The other day I got a cold pasta salad for myself from the same place. It was a very simple salad, pasta, tomatoes and red peppers tossed in olive oil and with a generous sprinkling of Feta. It was really very good. I don't sing glories of vegetarian food just like that.

Big Sis wanted a taste and then she finished almost all my share. Not so good.

But I thought, "Hey, if the kid can eat Pasta Salad at Tuscany, she can sure eat one at home. That means so much less work for me. For the next 10 years or so until she goes to college, that is what I am going to feed her. Simple, light, almost healthy Pasta Salad. That leaves me with an enormous amount of time for blogging about food that I don't need to cook. Yippee."

So I searched high and low and settled on this recipe. Only I did not have mushroom OR bell pepper OR green onion OR black olives.

That did nothing to dampen my spirits. I had Grape Tomatoes AND Baby Spinach AND more lovely Grape Tomatoes and more tender Baby Spinach.

So in a big bowl I happily poured some Olive Oil, the EVOO...glug, glug, glug

Then I splashed some Balsamic Vinegar...splash

Added some Garlic Powder, Pepper powder, Sea Salt, bit of Sugar, some Parsley Flakes...sprinkle, sprinkle, sprinkle

Whisked together.

Meanwhile cooked Pasta according to package directions and a minute extra. I had Farfalle.

I had also roasted some of the grape tomatoes earlier, they were sweet.

To the big bowl which had Olive Oil etc., I added the cooked Pasta, the roasted as well as some fresh tomatoes and baby spinach. They were tossed and turned till everyone was happily coated with the dressing.

I wanted to add sausages too but totally forgot.

I then let it chill in the refrigerator. While serving a generous sprinkle of Herbed Feta went on top.

Everyone loved it. And after two meals of that BigSis said "I love your pasta salad, but can we not have any more of it?"

This one I am sending to Red Chilies to share with her for a Light Lunch, her brilliant series for June. I absolutely love light lunches as that is what I cook for us all through the week. I am looking forward to see  more light lunch ideas through out this month at Red Chilies.

Kancha Aamer Chaatni -- Mango Chutney

Remember my rant about nail paints some weeks back ? Remember me as the Mom who does not like kids to indulge in such pleasures ?

Well, after a long, long time I went for a pediacure last week. Other than work, I don't go out much without the kids so these ventures are very notable in my life.To achieve the said task, I went to work an hour early and then left an hour early so that in spite of my detour I could be back home in regular time.(I am okay if the Dad is home but in this case he was traveling). And then at the salon I could not enjoy my solitude and kept thinking of how I could have used up this hour at home instead. Talk of the perils of a working Mom.

Now either the salon people were very very diligent or my feet really needed work because even after 45 whole minutes I was sitting there having a hard time relaxing while this young girl kept rubbing one thing or the other on my feet and attempting small talk. Finally, while she tickled my toes with gooey aloe-vera, I had to tell her to hasten the process so that I could go home. Only, I did not say "go home", I said I had an important appointment, as if.

The young Chinese girl was very affected by my suggestion. She kept saying I should relax and enjoy but clearly those things were going above my head. As soon as she finished with the nail paint I scooped my bag, paid and ran, ignoring suggestion to sit and let the nails dry.

The moment I reach home, what do my two girls notice ? Ta-Da my toe nails. And they don't take it well. They keep asking about the garish pink nail color and why I didn't bring it along. They want their nails painted the same garish pink nail color.

I don't want to indulge and so I say "You can paint your nails when you are big".

The little one jumps at this prospect hoping to become B..I..G the next day and thanks me profusely.

The older one asks, "Big as in college ?"

I say, "Yeah".

She says, "By that time you will be old". This one forever seeks pleasure in my turning old.

I say, "So?"

She says, "If you are old, you will not be able to enjoy my nail colors. So don't you think you would like to see them now"

Me, "Yeah, Good try"

The green mango chutney or the kaancha aamer chaatni is something I adore. I have blogged about it here with full explanation. Here is a quick recap.

Wash and roughly peel 1 raw green mango. You don’t have to take out the peel very smoothly

Chop them up in small pieces(cubes)

Heat Mustard Oil in Kadai/Frying Pan

Add 1/2 tsp of Mustard seeds and 1 Dry Red Chilli. The mustard seeds will sputter and dance so use a splatter screen.

As soon as the mustard seeds start sputtering , add the chopped mangoes

Add a pinch of turmeric powder and sauté the mangoes

Saute till the mangoes turn a nice yellow because of the turmeric and soften a little.

Add salt and about 1-2 Cup water. Water should be enough to cook the mangoes. The chaatni should be thick and so add water moderately

Mix and cover and cook till mangoes are almost done. With the spatula check to see if the mangoes have softened.

Add about 2/3 Cup of sugar and mix well. Bengali chutneys are usually sweeter and so a little more sugar might be added if desired.Add a little more water.

Cook and reduce the water till you get a thick consistency and the mangoes are soft but not mashed up.

Roast about 1 tsp of panch puran/paanch phoron till you get a nice aroma, cool and dry grind it. Sprinkle this powder on the chaatni. More on Paanch Phoron.

Note: There are small variations to this which you can try.

1.Use Jaggery instead of sugar.

2. Instead of Paanch Phoron Powder use Bhaja Masala.

3. Instead of Paanch Phoron powder, roast Cumin seeds and Dry red chili, cool, grind to a powder. Sprinkle that on top. Thanks to Ushnish Da  for reminding.

4. You can use raisins in the chutney along with the mangoes. Sra says she likes that.

5. Add more water and cook mangoes till soft but not at all mashed up so that the chaatni is more liquid with pieces of mango

Roasting couple of Dry Red Chili on fire for Bhaja Masla #3.

Salmon with Cilantro -- Mexican really

Salmon with Cilantro | Mexican Style Salmon

I first had this dish at a Mexican restaurant in suburban Maryland. It was beautiful with high notes of fresh coriander aka cilantro, jalapenos and lime. I do not know if it is an authentic Mexican dish or a creation of the chef at this restaurant as I have not had it at any other Mexican place. This recipe of Salmon with Cilantro in Mexican style is totally my take on the dish. It tastes delicious and that is all that matters

Jump To Recipe

Summer is here upon us, all with its 90F+ temperature and I am lovin' it. As usual summer gets me extremely hyper. With first signs of warmth I start planning outdoor weekend trips which eventually leads to fun weekends but very very tired weekdays.

A couple weeks back we took BigSis and Little Sis to the Philadelphia Zoo. This was LS's first zoo visit and she was very excited. BS's school had a class trip to the same zoo later in the month but we were not sending her there so she was excited to visit the zoo before any of her class friends. The trip was really nice if you can overlook LS's throwing up in the car, there not being enough backup for the incidence which actually happens too often and us stopping at a Wal-Mart off the road to buy clothes, tissue, wipe etc. for LS. An hour long drive took us 3 hour with all the fiasco and the fact that every other parent in the tri-state area had decided to visit the zoo over the same weekend.

Though LS had fun running and jumping around I don't think she was awed by all those animals except the Peacock which kept crossing our path. Oh, and the tiger did scare her.

Over the long memorial day weekend we went to a music event organized by a major Indian publishing group. The arrangement was unprofessional, the seating deplorable and choice of venue very inappropriate.The Food as promised on the website was nowhere in real site.Fortunately the music was very good.

There was a three hour concert by Pt.Shiv Kumar Sharma and Hariprasad Cahurasia. I am not much of a music connoisseur and I have never heard them live. It was a wonderful experience to say the least, would be better with more peace and quiet around. Next up was Shaan and he wooed the crowd as expected. BigSis enjoyed the entire show including the Santoor recital and is now a huge fan of Shaan. LS fortunately slept through the classical rendition and was ok for most part of the later until Dad took her home.

Now few weeks back we were visiting our friend in a neighboring state and food connoisseurs that they are, they treated us to a lovely dinner at a Mexican place. This was not your usual run of the mill Mexican chains that dot the map of USA but was more of an authentic Mexican place. We had a Chicken Mole, my first mole time and I didn't really care for it much. Then came the salmon with cilantro. It was beautiful with high notes of fresh coriander, jalapenos and lime. We were in love with that salmon.

Now usually if I love something in the restaurant I don't try to cook it same way at home, instead I just go back to the restaurant to eat it. In this case though it would mean a 3 hour drive each way.So since the meal we had 3 weeks back, I have been trying to re-create it in my kitchen almost every week.

I am not totally successful. It is close and tastes very good but never perfect like the dish we had. I do not have their recipe and this is totally my creation with huge inputs from D of course.  Also since Mexico is a hop, skip and jump from India (no ?), I have used some Indian spices in the recipe. If you make this dish leave your inputs and idea to make it better. I will <3 you for that.

I am cool or what, I used my first ever heart sign so very casually. And here I did not know what "xoxo" meant until BigSis explained it all. Sigh.


Read more...

Alu Potol er Dalna

Alu Potol er Dalna | Potatoes and Parwal in  Curry

The Dalna in Bengali Cooking is a gravy dish where the gravy is thicker and richer unlike a jhol where the gravy is soupy and runny. In this Alu Potol er Dalna recipe, I have shared a rich gravy made with potatoes and potol/parwal/pointed gourd. This recipe is niramish/vegetarian. In a non-veg version of this same dish, you can add shrimp or prawns.

Little S loves bandhakopir tarkari or cabbage sabzi. Only she calls it "Baba Kopi". This makes us laugh because "Baba"=Dad in Bengali.
She does not like Fulkopi or Cauliflower as much as "BabaKopi". Also she refers to Cauliflower as "White Broccoli".

And then she calls Swami Vivekananda -- Ferdinando.

Otherwise her Bengali is impeccable.

The Dalna in Bengali Cooking is a gravy dish where the gravy is thicker and richer unlike a jhol where the gravy is soupy and runny. For evey jhol there is an equivalent Dalna. So if there is a Alu-Kopir jhol there is the Alu-Fulkopir Dalna, for a Alu-Potol er Jhol there is an equivalent Alu-Potol er dalna, so on and so forth.

The Dalna can be Niramish, which means vegetarian with no onion or garlic or can be Aamish with not only onion and garlic but sometimes fish being added to it. Also almost always dalna has a phoron of Whole Garama Masala and is cooked in Ghee or White Oil but it might vary a little amongst families.

I made the Alu Potol er Dalna yesterday after years. Potol/Parwal or Pointed Gourd is a summer vegetable back home. No one pays much attention to it after first few days of its arrival in the summer market. After that it is just one more staple summer veggie.

Here Patol/Parwal is expensive, not in its best form and seen occasionally in the Indian Grocers. Me buying Patol is same as someone buying Celery sticks in the heat of Mumbai.Does not make a whole lot of sense except for making mundane Potol a very fancy vegetable for me and cooking it as a special Sunday meal.

I made a Niramish Alu Potol er Dalna, no onion to chop always tips the scale for me. We really enjoyed it with some Rice and for once did not miss the mandatory meat or fish that is on the Sunday lunch menu.


Read more...

Alu Potol er Dalna

Chop the ends of the Potol/Parwal and then scrape the skin.Chop in halves. I had about 10 potol/parwal

Heat Vegetable Oil in a wok and fry the potol with a pinch of turmeric till they are a pale golden. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on a paper towel.

Heat some more Oil in the same wok

Temper the Oil with
a pinch of Hing/Asafoetida(optional)
1&1/2" tin stick of cinnamon
1 small Bay Leaf
4 small green cardamom
4 clove
2 Dry red Chili

When the spices sizzle add 1 medium potato peeled and chopped in quarters. Sprinkle about 1/4 tsp of Turmeric Powder and saute the potatoes until they start taking on a pale golden color

Take 2-3 peeled whole tomatoes from a can or 1 big juicy tomato and blend to make about 1/4 cup tomato puree. Add the tomato puree to the pan.Add 1 tbsp of grated Ginger OR 1 tsp of Ginger paste

Add a little salt and fry the tomato till the raw smell is gone. If you are not the smelling type, check to see if the oil is separating from the masala. This will take about 6-8 minutes at medium heat

Time for the masala.
Mix
1/2-3/4 tsp of fresh ground Coriander Powder +
1/2-3/4 tsp of Roasted Cumin Powder
1/4-1/2 tsp of Kashmiri Mirch or Red Chili Powder

in little water and this.

Alternately, you can mix the spices with 1 Tbsp of yogurt and add the masala paste.

Note 1: I roast coriander seeds and grind them to a fine powder. Ditto with Cumin Powder. My Ma however uses jeere bata or cumin paste in this recipe. You can do that too. I also use Kashmiri Mirch so use Red Chili Powder according to taste.

Note 2: In a variation of this masala you can do this --> Dry roast 1 tsp Coriander seeds + 1 tsp Cumin seeds + 1/2 tsp Fennel seeds + 1 Dry Red chilli til fragrant. Cool and grind to a powder. Mix this powder with 1 Tbsp of yogurt to make a masala paste. Add this masala paste.

Sprinkle a little of the tomato juice or a little water and fry the spices for about 5 minutes. This is called "kashano" in Bengali or "bhuno" in Hindi and a lot depends on this step. You need to fry the masala till the oil surfaces and the masala takkes a deep red color. Don't try to hurry it. I have done that and there has been a difference in taste.

Add the lightly fried poto/parwal and gently mix everything together.

Add 1 cup of warm water. Add salt to taste. Cover and cook till potatoes are done. Potol/Parwal should be done by now. Remove the cover and reduce the gravy to your desired thickness.

Add about 1/4 tsp of sugar for an authentic Bengali taste.

Adjust for spiciness, add a little ghee and garam masala powder if you wish. Keep covered and serve hot with rice or chapati

Have a Ha-Tea Weekend

...drinking Tea and reading a book in a rocking chair by the window. Mine will definitely be an antithesis to that but a girl can always dream.

The two cups in the picture were my Mother's day gift from BigSis and Little Sis, who rather whose father knows about my cup fetish too well. There were also lovely hand made cards and a home made brunch. The books, Orhan Pamuk's "Museum of innocence" and "Best food writing 2009" were picked up by me at an amazing price when Borders near my home was going out of business.

While I am going slow with the Pamuk, I am enjoying the short essays in "Best Food writing". It is a lovely collection and though I cannot say I love all the writings, some of them are true gems. Apparently this collection goes back a few years, so you will find one for every year going back to god knows when.Try to get your hand on a copy if you enjoy food writing and love essays on food as much as food itself.

Edited to add: I am hosting this month's edition of  "Of Chalks and Chopsticks" started by Aqua.

The Picture: The Picture that you see in this post is what will be your cue for this month's entry. For details about this whole concept check here

And here are some more rules, shamelessly copied from Sra's blog:

1. Spin us a yarn - an original one. It could either be based on a real incident or could be something competely imaginary. Explore any genre: humour, romance, mystery, paranormal etc.

2. The story you write has to have some food - it doesn't have to be a recipe.

3. There is no word limit on the story you write, but it has to be written in one single post.

4. Posts written for this event CAN be shared with other events.

5. Please link to this post and Aqua's original post mentioned above.

Post your story and the recipe between now and June 30 and mail it to me at: sandeepa(dot)blog (at)gmail(dot)com


Include the following details in your mail:

1. Name and URL of your blog

2. Title and URL of your post

Dal, Bhaat and Omelette or Strawberry

No, no, not me.

My wife.

Yes, the one on the far right, with the expensive camera around her shoulder. She is the Food Blogger. At least when our nosy neighbor asks her "What do you do?", that is what she says with a toss of her head. Our neighbor is stumped, I tell you. These people, our neighbors, they do not have a modern outlook. All they know is to eat dal, bhaat, maacher jhol. And they also speak Bengali at home. What is this ? How can you advance if you don't speak English all the time ? This is modern world, no. But who will tell them ?

They ask me, "If your wife is a food blogger, why do you do all the cooking in the house ?". "Arre Baba, I only cook dal, rice and chicken curry, my wife she makes rhubarb clafoutis", I tell them. Those moron neighbors look at me like they have never heard of rhubarb. People can be so closed and backward in this part of India, it is like you are in the forests of Congo or something.

But to tell you the truth if I don't cook, what will the kids eat, what will I eat ? I cannot live on Hollaindaise sauce all my life can I ? Or a Blueberry Flan or even a Rhubarb Clafoutis ? My wife, she cooks only that from expensive books with glossy pages and bright pictures. Shiny kids with golden hair and a fairness that hurts, smile out of them. In the book they smile at the strawberry muffins set out on plates in a green meadow.


Now my kids are not like that. They have black hair that catches the warm sun and they eat mangoes with juice straining down their brown elbows.I tell them to lick it up, like I did sitting on the branches of the mango orchard in my Grandma's village.

My wife does not like mangoes.She makes strawberry creme fraiche for them.She is very very talented.She also knows all the right places to get out of season imported fruits. In the heat of Indian summer she manages to get strawberries. Yes, they don't look plump and juicy and don't taste that good but so what ? Also I have to agree that it is very expensive and it is hard for me to pay every month for all this, but what can I say ? She is so creative, I need to support her Food Blogging, no.

The neighbors, the ones who do not know a rhubarb from a rabbi, tell me "Oh your wife must be making good money in blogging. Always she is buying celery sticks from Reliance Fresh , never kundru from the our local vegetable seller".Arre what money, who will click on those Google ads to give money ? Money minded they are as if everyone does things for money only. Did Van Gogh paint for money ? Did Steinbeck make rich in his life ? No, na. So ?

Now what can I expect from such morons whose only aim to cook, is to eat that food. They don't even know what "plating" is.

See, after my wife makes the creme fraiche or whatever it is, she does something called "plating". She puts the food in very beautiful plates, the ones we are never allowed to use for dinner and then arranges them with pretty flowers and napkins and silver candlesticks. Now I don't know why candlestick is necessary for food but it all looks very pretty. We watch from afar. The baby, the 3 year old wants to lick the creme fraiche but I hold her tight. My older child says he is hungry. I tell him to go do his Math homework till Mommy finishes work.

My wife then starts taking pictures. Sometimes she gets on a step ladder and click pictures from top, at other times she sets up the camera on a tripod. She changes the camera lenses, places the plate on the ledge our balcony, lets it hang precariously and balances herself to take a closer shot.I stand there, my heart going "thud-thud", fearing that those expensive plates can fall 5 floors down. If my wife was born a few decades back, Satyajit Ray would have been very proud of her.I look at her with admiration.

My wife takes like thousand pictures. In between she downloads them on her laptop and edits them.Too much work she does.

I know the kids will soon ask for dinner. So, I start getting dinner ready, I wash the rice and the lentils and then put them in the pressure cooker. I chop onions, peeling their magenta skin carefully and then slicing my knife through them. I like cooking our meals, it gives me a lot of satisfaction to see the kid's happy faces as they enjoy my chicken curry.

My wife used to cook before, 'before" as in before she became a Food Blogger. She would make charchari, jhinge posto, tyangra maacher jhaal. But now she only makes things we cannot even pronounce well. She says they picture better.Also everyone makes dal, shukto and chicken curry. What is so great about that ? It is all your middle class Bengali upbringing, she scorns.

All is well, I think. If she started taking pictures of our everyday food, we would never get to eat anyway. And anyway everyday she is so busy, where is time to cook ? In between Twitter, Facebook and her blog she can only make those things that she can blog about no ? Let her make creme fraiche and pour billows of shaving foam on it to make it look better. Who cares ? I am feeding the family, no. I am liking it also, so what is your problem ? Everyone cannot be a Food Blogger, can they ?

Only today I am late and don't have much time so I will make dal, rice and omelette. My wife likes omelettes with onion, green chili and tomatoes.I don't think she will eat the strawberry creme fraiche, what with the foam and the shriveled berries it might be actually poisonous. Tomorrow she can write how decadent and delicious it was, how her family enjoyed it and post pretty pictures of them with candlesticks around.


This is my entry for Of Chalks and ChopSticks, a food Fiction event started by Aqua last year. After a period of dormancy it is hosted this time by Sra. This time Desi Soccer Mom suggested there should be a photo cue and the picture Sra had showed a camera, some strawberries and a man's hand holding the camera.


Since I generally like to do timepass, I enjoyed writing a food fiction after a long time.Any resemblance to people in real life is totally unintentional.

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Omelettes are my all time favorite food. I can write lengthy paeans on it. If I did not have kids and did not have to blog, I could survive on Omelette alone. Toast & Omelette for breakfast, rice-butter and omelette for lunch, Roti rwapped around an omelette for dinner. Perfect, happy life and then came the vegetables and spoiled it all. Arrrrrrrgh.

To make an omelette like ours, crack an egg into a bowl. Add 1 tbsp of Milk. Beat with a fork till frothy. Add chopped onions, chopped green chili and chopped tomatoes. Add salt to taste. Mix. Heat Oil on a fry pan. Pour the pale yellow egg mixture and swirl the pan around a little, so the egg mixture makes a circle. At low heat cook till the omelette looks flippable(check the edges, should look done). Slide a spatula gently under the cooked side and flip. Cook the omelette on the other side.

Goan Shrimp Curry -- Bong Mom's version

Nightime Photography -- Bad. The Curry -- Too Good

** Note to Myself: Update with better pics taken in daylight

I have never admitted this before but I think on some days, I expect a lot from BigSis. With the little one throwing her signature tantrums, the Dad having fun with erratic schedules and my PMS stretching to a month, I forget that BigSis is only a 7 year old. And a very mature, good hearted 7 year old at that.

If I think of my 7 year old self, I remember nothing. On trying hard I see a shy girl who thought "Ekkuze Me" translated to "going to pee". Yes, I was that dumb.

Fast forward to BigSis who in spite of having her moments is such a huge help when she sees Mommy has too much to do. She packs her lunch bag with her snack the night before, fills up her water bottle for school, dresses herself in the morning without much help, does all her homework without being asked to and acts pretty responsible most of the time.

She is also extremely generous with her stuff and doesn't complain much if LS scribbles a horrific A on the pages of her brand new diary. She eagerly shares everything with her little sis(who btw finished her didi's box of tic-tacs hiding behind a couch) and if I give her a chocolate for snack at school, she brings that back to split with the sis.

She even wrote a limerick about her sister

My sister was very very small
All she could do was craw and crawl
Now she can walk
Now she can talk
And she does not remember that at all

The biggest help in the last few days has been letting LS sleep in the crook of her arms at night. For that I can tuck them in and come away to finish off my work. Else I would be lying there for all of 30 to 60 minutes and praying to the Universe while LS tossed and turned.

And yet when she gets buttons of her sweater wrong, skips her piano practice and climbs on her Dad's shoulders, we tell her "Tumi ar boro hole na(you haven't grown up at all)", always forgetting that she is only 7 after all.

I made this Goan Shrimp Curry on a recent weeknight. Don't ask me why I would do such things but things happen. I based this on the Goan Chicken Curry from Anjum Anand, but since that was pretty mild I hiked the Red Chili in this one. If you are a wimp when it comes to Red Chili, go with the alert and stay safe.

Also inspired by a recipe of Shrimp Curry my sis-in-law had sent, I used Coconut Milk to make the gravy and added few Curry leaves for flavor. That totally took the taste to a whole new level. It was creamy, rich with a lightly sweet coconut taste and bursting with flavor. Everyone who had it loved it. It tasted very close to the Bong Prawn Malaikari and you realized how Coconut smudges borders.

I called it Bong Mom's version simply because there are so many variations out there and I am no Mario Miranda to vouch for its authenticity. I insist that you make it this Saturday, that is tomorrow, come on now.


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Goan Shrimp Curry

Make Goan Red Spice Paste

5-6 Dry Red Chilli(Heat Alert: Go with 2 if you have a weak palate)
1 tsp Roasted Cumin Powder
1 & 1/ 2 tsp Roasted Coriander Powder
3 cloves
6 black peppercorns
1& 1/2" piece of cinnamon
9 large cloves of garlic peeled
1 tsp tamarind paste(skipped)
1/4 tsp- 3/4tsp sugar (according to your taste, you can skip too)
3/4tsp salt
a splash(1-2 tbsp) of white vinegar
Put all of the above in a blender jar and make a paste with minimum or no water added.

Note: Instead of the Roasted Cumin and Corriander Powder you can use same amount of Cumin & Corriander seeds.

Prep Shrimp

Peel and devein shrimp Or buy a pack of raw de-veined shrimp

Toss 20-25 shrimp in salt and little turmeric powder and keep aside for 10-15 mins.

Go make the Shrimp Curry

Heat White Oil in a large saucepan

If you are frying the shrimp, saute them now till they turn a light shade of yellow. Remove and keep aside.Note: You can also add the raw shrimp to the gravy and cook it later

To the same oil, add 1 large onion sliced or chopped fine and two hot Indian green chili sliced, cook until browned.

Add the Goan Red Spice paste and cook for 5 minutes. Your nose might tingle with the sharpness of the chili.

Add 1/2 of a large tomato chopped, salt to taste and cover and cook until the tomatoes have softened and reduced. Uncover the pan and cook the tomatoes further in their juice for 6-8 minutes, stirring in between till you see oil separating from the masala.

Add about 1 cup of unsweetened thick Coconut Milk + 2/3 cup of warm water. Throw in a few curry leaves. Add salt to taste and adjust for sweetness, hotness etc.. Let the gravy come to a boil.

Add the shrimp. If the shrimp is already fried cook for a couple of minutes at low heat till the gravy thickens. If the shrimp is raw, cook till shrimp looses its raw color and looks pinkish-white and cooked. Note: Too much cooking will make the shrimp chewy and rubbery so there be careful

Remove from heat, cover and let it sit for 40-45 minutes. Warm and serve with White Rice. It is superbly delicious.