Showing posts with label Fish. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fish. Show all posts

Tuesday, 21 September 2010

365 days of life on an island - part 1

If you are caught off guard by time and do not notice the duration of the events happening around you, its time to take a look down the memory lane. People usually refer to this phenomenon as time flying even though I feel it should be referred to as time running. But then again, its me who is saying; who gives a damn? Its been a year so soon and I still remember all those parties just before I left India  even though I was almost knocked out in all of them. This post is dedicated to all those who have been a part of my life over the past 365 days. 

Day 1: In spite of gulping down 3 pegs of Red Label and 2 cans of Carling, I couldn't sleep on the plane and after watching a couple of movies, it was time to land and pass through numerous checks at Terminal 5 in Heathrow. I practically didn't realize that I had passed through immigration even after 3 days. The next scene resembled a movie in which I was running to gate 1 to catch my flight to Glasgow and made it with just under a minute left to close the doors. I sat down still gasping for breath and I heard the pilot saying "This flight has been delayed for an hour due to technical difficulties. Sorry for the inconvenience". Oh crappppppppp. Nevertheless, I finally reached Glasgow and was greeted with rain. Little that I realize that it was a sign of things to come.

Day 5: First day in Strathclyde and attending a class after more than a year. Felt great to see a lot of new faces. Little did I know that there were some unique characters and one very irritating homo sapien in there. I still pity the dude who realized this only recently. 

Day 6: After days and days of house hunting, finally moved into a house and actually a very beautiful house. I was more excited about the KFC and the McD in front of my house than civic amenities.

Day 15: All the emergency supplies had got exhausted and it was time to get down to some real cooking. But wait, it had got late to go to college and had to make a run to the class. Being a person who is always on time, I find it weird to have 100 odd eyes gazing at me as if I was tricked into confessing something like Tom Crusie  makes Jack Nicholson into blurting out the secret in the movie A Few Good Men(1992). However some do it on purpose for grabbing attention and the faking it girl managed to do it everyday to attract the attention of the opposite sex. Well that trick never worked and in the best case, repelled the male species away from her zone of existence.

Day 25: The leaves had started to wither away and the incessant rains had made commuting very discomforting. It literally used to rain everyday and the presence of strong winds not only made the life more difficult but brutally murdered my umbrellas. The deadlines for assignments had started approaching and it was time to slog day and night. Managed to call a few friends and family members that day and exhausted the credit on my calling card.

Day 85: I walked into the kitchen to make some breakfast and when I looked outside, I saw that the weather was very gloomy and it was raining as usual. No wait, there is something unusual about the rain and it looks white. Oh wowwww, it was the first time I had seen a snowfall and was very excited. I ran out out of the house bare footed to have some snow flakes on my tongue. After getting back to my senses, I realized that my feet had gone too cold and had to run back into the house. The next 2 days saw almost everyone posting pics about the first snowfall and it was a beautiful sight in the beginning.

Day 99: Back after a trip to London. Thanks to Mr & Mrs Spoke for the great hospitality and taking us students around in the city that houses murky water Thames. To quote a dialogue from one of my favorites movies, Snatch "Yes London. You know, fish, chips, cup of tea, bad food, worse weather, Mary-fucking-Poppins, London". Well I couldn't find a more apt description of the city even though I could add 1 more adjective, insanely expensive.

Day 102: It was happy new year time and I woke up from a bad hangover from the previous night's new year party. But then again, I didn't have any other better work to do and so went back to sleep to avoid the hangover. Being a person who always tries new remedies for hangover, I realized that sleeping again was not a remedy and instead a big mistake. I have tried everything from coffee, green tea, curd rice, banana milk shake, drinking litres of water, working out to all the desi remedies including a crazy thought of even jerking off (oh boy, it just feels like a bomb exploding in the head, please don't try it). But trust me none of them work and the only way to avoid hangover is "to stay drunk".

A new year calls for a new post. With some of my readers asking me to make my posts shorter, I'm taking their suggestions and ending this here. However, the story is just 1/3rd over and still a long way to go. I will try to complete it before I head back to India next week. Chronicles of the land of Kama Sutra and drunken revelations are some of the posts that you can look out for in the near future.

Friday, 17 September 2010

Do you smell what I'm cooking?

Its been almost a year since I left India and boarded a very congested and uncomfortable British Airways flight to Glasgow. The anniversary special will be covered in a different post before I make a short trip back to  ನಮ್ಮ  ಬೆಂಗಳೂರು . My bags were packed with all the wanted an unwanted kitchen utensils and all possible cooking ingredients and other powders of different colors and smells. Even today, I recognize them only by their colors and not by the actual ingredients in them.

I still remember the hype that was given to cooking before I left. I was taught and made to execute some of the basic dishes as a test and failing in it only meant that I couldn't survive here. In fact a lot of hype has been given to cooking in our culture and potential brides are supposed to have this prerequisite or a so called qualification or competency listed on their CVs when the grooms come for a one on one (Well this "one on one" is actually done with the elders' supervision with everyone anxiously waiting for the outcome and is often the one that happens on the first visit and not on the first night :D). Even though it is now getting tempting to deviate from the topic, I shall pull myself back onto the right track. 

Survival of the fittest is probably the best phrase to use and one has to learn to cook or cook up a good story not to cook, either way has to end up cooking to survive in this open world. I have seen a lot of updates on FaceBook and on the prehistoric social networking site we all used to use called as Orkut, regarding updates by wives cooking dishes for their hubbies. Even though I totally respect the love and the sweetness behind those gestures, I have now realized that cooking is probably one of the most enjoyable and easiest things to do. I wouldn't want to sound like a person blowing his own trumpet but these are some of the dishes that I have involved in over the past year.

Vegetable Sambar
Rasam
ಕಾಲು ಸಾರು
Chilli Mushroom
Mushroom curry 
Chilli Paneer
Panner Butter Masala
Veg Dopiaza
Kadai Vegetables 
Puliyogre
Raajma 
Channa Batoora/Poori
Kofta
Dosa Chutney
Lime Rice
Upma
Jeera  Rice
Capsicum Rice
Egg Fried Rice
Numerous ಪಲ್ಲ್ಯ s involving all sorts of vegetables
Palak Paneer
Aloo Palak
Veg Biriyani
Egg Biriyani
Egg Curry
Pasta
Spaghetti

Chilli Chicken
Chicken Curry
Lamb Curry
Beef Curry
Beef Olathiyathu
Butter Chicken
Kadai Chicken
Red Chicken
Hyderabadi Chicken
Pudina Chicken
Coriander Chicken
Chicken Chops
Methi Chicken
Kheema balls curry
Chicken Biriyani (2 variations)
Lamb Biriyani
Fish Fry

Butter Chicken

I might have probably missed out on some but these are the ones that spring to my mind. Even though I used to get help from Silent while cooking some of the dishes, at the end of the day I turned out to be just fine. I feel cooking is a great stress buster as well and if at all you hate someone, call them home and serve them a dish with 10 chillies and when they run to the toilet, make sure you have not only removed the toilet paper but also the flush tank doesn't work. I can guarantee you that a revenge like this will be very smelly and I advise you to keep a room freshener by your side.

People who have eaten my dishes can second me on the fact that I'm really a very good cook. Even though I have cooked all of the ones mentioned previously, I call every one of my dishes as "Yummy dish". It is not only because it is yummy but also if it is not, it will still be yummy. For all those wannabe brides or newly married girls, cooking is actually easier than "faking it" in the bed and for all those who have already tried it , well you do know what I'm talking about. For all those cooking virgins, you have no idea what you are missing out on and I sincerely suggest you to take it up even if it is just as a hobby. From Gordon Ramsay to Sanjeev Kapoor and from vah-chef to the roadside chatwalas, men have always been the best chefs and if at all you want to prove your manhood to your wifes/girlfriends/boyfriends, try cooking them a tasty aromatic dish of your choice and let me know of its outcome :).