Flip-flops

Drop of rain to soothe the plain
A touch of feather on the leather
A tinkle to a twinkle
A bag of gold spun out of a dream hold
And a  wish just right for that dish!

Cravings

Like right now I want some absolutely delicious chocolate fudge and I have nothing in the fridge except a shrivelled up Obattu, chocolate and caramel syrup!! Ok I am going to eat up the Obattu now, but the mind is still not satiated... would a chilled beer take the heat of this blasted weather and maybe numb the need for sugar?
I don't know I got to keep trying they say..

The other day I was gasping for breath in that isolated box where I work. I was craving for just fresh clean air, some good company and yes some very good food. Oh and speaking about food, nothing like a craving for Richie's lamb biryani!!Yummmy...


There are times one can't help but crave for the rain. You can smell the bacteria in the earth and the air getting stuffy and squeezing out a just a little bit of the rain to satiate you.

A smile from June 2011

I walked into the Yam store with a tune in my head, finally I had given my 21 year old classic to be restrung. I did not remember a thing except for “Every good boy does fine “, a mnemonic to remember EGBDF and FACE, the notes on the frets. But I was happy, as a child I was too flighty, today I felt surer of myself, more stable you know.


Jimmy was sitting facing the wall and playing somebody else’s guitar. He was the sales guy who was fixing it for me, by night he played at bars or taught a few unfortunate few. Oh no his music was not bad or so I figured from that little bit of interaction. It’s just that he loved to talk and fleece you off money. God , who would pay 100 bucks for re-stringing a guitar and have to listen about his five sisters, a Nepali distant cousin who looked like me, his stint with music and his stay at Bangalore. Well I do not look like a Nepali from any angle if you ask me, but well for a nice cup of tea, I would go to any extent of nodding my head.

And then he walked in, just so out of character from everyone in that store. Have you seen an Indian priest, well that is how he was dressed. A white kurta, dhoti, nammam on his forehead and the sacred thread. Well I imagined the thread. The only thing incongruous were the neat pair of Nike floaters he was wearing. He walked in and gave me this huge grin as if he knew for like a thousand years. I smiled back, anyone would have. Then I followed Jimmy man to the back of the store to pick up my guitar and all that while I could feel his shiny diamond eyes bear into my back. Jimmy got the guitar out and asked me to check. I turned to find a place to sit and try my hand at strumming and there he was smiling down on me. He turned to go and then turned back again at me and smiled. I smiled and he was gone.

I could not decipher the smile that day or the week after that.

Leaves

It was a cold autumn evening, if it can be termed autumn in india. It was more like the few days before spring began and winter ended. Her soul felt empty as empty as the road next to her. Not a soul was around, nothing could be heard except maybe the occasional rustle of the leaves on the trees on the footpath. She walked aimlessly, had no where to go really, no one was waiting back home. She had all the time in the world and nothing to do besides kicking stones around.

She started chasing a tiny bluish grey pebble, which flew from one point to another creating a racket, a racket that only a tiny pebble can. Her skin seemed to have got back some color with every leap the pebble took and suddenly it fell into a heap of leaves. You should have seen the dismay on her face. She fell down on her knees and started raking up the leaves.

“Anna, where are you? Can’t you answer young lady”. She could hear a faint yell, but the leaves, the musty moist leaves smelled divine and more importantly she had lost her a tiny brooch somewhere there. She would have to find it before she answered that yell or she would have to really sleep in the tiny store room tonight. It was getting dark and she really could not see much. “Ouch” she cried. Something had pierced her palm and warm blood trickled out of her palm which she quickly licked away after pulling out what belonged to her. “Coming” she screamed back!

Ah, she touched something cold and smooth and pulled it out with a grin. She did not want to kick it any more. She was going to take it home with her, slide it into the aquarium. No, she would put it in the sole flower pot in her balcony along with the others. Oh well, she strained her ears harder, but could not hear a sound. If only she had come back home early that day, if only she had left the medicines within her reach, Mamma would have been up and about, baking Anna's birthday cake.

Beetroot, tam style... and my own twist

Well this was way back when I ate it, the taste just lingered on. We had gone for a holiday to Kodai, my parents, bro, sis and me. I had just finished my 11th exams and ofcourse had faired pretty badly. Well if you expect a teenager to be interested in her studies, you must be out of your mind! Somebody please remind me when my son reaches that milestone.

We stayed in this lovely guesthouse of Mahindra's with fruit trees all around. It had an awesome library, so between studying, sight-seeing and eating absolutely yummy food, I would read my road to heaven. Well I was almost there, among the clouds atleast.

Oh but I am forgetting the objective of this blog. You know I hate beetroot, well normally I do. Dad used to force down slices of beetroot sprinkled with lime juice into my throat. But for this one dish, thank the whole tam community for this, it almost made me fall in love with beety roots!

From what I have tasted, this is what I have conjured, I am sure I am missing a few ingredients and adding stuff that I like, but I manage to get the taste and more, nevertheless... my Recipe for your tired tongue :-)

Ingredients
Grate beetroot, could be just 1 big one. Grate or grind half a coconut to get say 1 or half a cup.
Wash a handful of curry leaves and keep them ready, you never know who might just chew them up.
Chop a little piece of ginger into very tiny pieces as an ode to Hopkins and his fetish for fingers!
I love peanuts, so I will add these as well, 1/4 cup is good. You could skip this if you are not pro-peanuts or peanuts symbolize something else alltogether. We would need some mustard and pepper corns too for the seasoning. You could use a green chilli or more to spice it up. A little oil and a tbspn of ghee would just clinch it.

Action time
Now pull out that battered yet shining warrior, well frying pan of yours. Pour some oil, don't overdo it as you are going to anyways mix in some ghee later. Once that heats up throw in the seeds, mustard and peppercorns, gently I mean. Toss in the curry leaves, ginger, sliced green chillies and peanuts and wait for a minute or more for them to turn a little crisp. You can then place the grated beetroot in the pan and fry for a bit. Now is a good time to add that tbsp. of ghee. Well while you are at it and in a slight hurry, add most of the grated coconut as well, keep a little for garnishing it at the end.

From here, its all about frying upto the point you think you can deal with it, longer the wait and the stirring, the crispier it gets. Just before taking it off the pan you have to add the left over coconut shavings and mix it in along with some salt. If you want you could add a teeny weeny bit of ghee again to light up your belly.

Well I am done explaining, let me know if you do take on beetroots my way. And if you have any wisecracks coming my way, spit them out. The next time, if I am upto it,  I will write about how they cook beans in Ooty, but for that I will have to get the beans from there specifically.

A simple recipe for Pork Roast

To make some absolutely yummy pork roast with minimal effort, here is how you would do it.
Wash the boneless pork clean and then marinate it with ginger garlic paste so that its evenly spread over all of the pork. Add some dark vinegar to it. For instance to 0.5 kg pork you would add 2 tbsp. of vinegar. I also add a pinch of turmeric powder for its antiseptic properties.
Once you are done with your marination, which could be for 20 mins to a couple of hours you could start cooking.

Put in a little oil in a heavy bottomed pan or a pressure cooker. Pork has enough fat to keep it going so watch out on the oil you pour. You could choose sesame oil for this dish or stick to the oil you have at home.
Start by adding a tsp or more of sesame seeds, again depending on the meat you intend to cook, sliced green chillies to tingle your taste buds, strips of ginger and some garlic pods if you have them around. Play around with ginger and garlic depending on the flavor you like more. I prefer ginger for this dish.

All right you are all set, go ahead and add the pork and chopped onions and start frying. If its a cooker you are using, after frying it for say 10-15 minutes you could add the Soy sauce of your choice. I prefer the Indonesian soy sauce with pork. It adds to the sweetness of the meat.

Well after that all you got to do is add like a quarter cup water and cook for some time by closing the cooker lid. After 1 or 2 whistles, get it to cool down. Fry the pork further until dry, without the lid ofcourse by adding some salt and black pepper. Umm can you smell the pork or what!

We are done really and all you have to do is place it in a nice bowl for serving. This could be part of a main course or just picked upon with some nice poison of your choice.

If you are the herby kind, then there is a slight deviation here -
Use red wine vinegar instead of the ordinary dark one and go for rosemary...oregano too if you like it.

Down the corner there is but a tiny trying lane

If the story be told,
He was a very happy man,
He was famous, he had riches,
He had family and friends and what is coveted most,
A love so deep, there was no need to defend.

But like history always has it way,
Sorrow must seep into the brightest of all days.
He lost his love, that being the smallest of all his miseries
The sunny soul just decided to stop everything and lose its ray
It was not even a gamble one could blame it on
A mirror with a crack to continue it may

While the body hovers around for comfort like a new born
Down the corner there is but a tiny trying lane
The only escape, with much pain
But for that the lost needs to be sane.