Ipsita Banerjee's Blog, page 17

'H' is for Hunger! A to Z Challenge Day 8

When I left for college back in 1989, I had never lived alone. I so looked forward to the big adventure. We also did not know a soul in Pune, the city where I was studying. So I had no one to watch over me nor did I have anyone to run to if I was feeling miserable or hungry or whatever. Pune was, also, in terms of distance almost as far away from Calcutta as you could get. It was a 40 hour train journey with us having to change trains once. Flying was not to fashionable those days and was expensive. That said a flight was two and half hours and the airport in Bombay  was almost five hours away !  I guess that's why I picked the place. College was a varied gamut of experiences. That was also when I learnt what it was to be hungry. Two reasons: 1.       I never had enough money. Don't get me wrong. My parents ensured I had enough. But you know how young adults have no budgetary sense? I used to save most of my money for petrol. Because I believed I had to be able to reach wherever I was going. I knew I could always drive over to a friend in the AFMC and she would give me food from her college canteen. Food that was wholesome and filling and dirt cheap. Only that particular canteen was at the other end of town. But that designated 'petrol money' never lasted...I would end up using it for other things and then mid-month realise I was broke!2.       Our hostel had no decent canteen. After going to college from a home environment where food is always available and something you take for granted, it was a surprise when I suddenly found I had to fend for myself, which meant cooking! I tried a dabba wala but the food was so spicy that within a month I had mouth ulcers! I had a roomie then, a Kenyan girl called Jane who nursed me, making me drink cooled soup and bland food and one Kenyan dish which involved boiling cabbages which smelled disgusting but did not taste half bad! So that left me to cook for myself and that meant shopping and cleaning and all kinds of stuff and THAT is a whole new story altogether!

Getting back to hunger. Sometimes, I think it is good for the soul. I learnt not to waste. I learnt to appreciate plain bread dipped in tea. I learnt to shop, I learnt to cook. I learnt to share and cook for others. I learnt no one could ever become poor by sharing food. I learnt to drink a bottle of water and go to sleep feeling 'full'.
Most of all I learnt to adjust and live with things I could not do anything about.
And that's a big lesson. 

"G" is for Garlic. A to Z Challenge Day 7.

Ah, garlic. I can add it to almost anything. It's like the bacon of the vegetarian world!
Although a lot of vegetarians will argue with me on this.
In many communities, garlic is considered 'non-vegetarian'.
I wonder why. Is it because of the strong aroma?
Whatever...

There are few things as versatile or flavour-enriching as garlic.

The next time you are having a grill, take a whole garlic and add it to the oven rack. not only does the aroma spill over, you can also eat those cooked pods of garlic. And it is delicious!

Or

Take a cup of plain yoghurt. Add garlic seasoning, fresh ground black pepper and some black salt to taste. Blend well and serve with chips or khakra!

Or

Chop three tomatoes. Crush two pods of garlic. Add the juice of half a lime and salt. Add some chopped chillies if desired. You can have it as a salad or over toast!

And the vampires will not bother you either!

'F' is for Fish! A to Z Challenge Day 6.

As a true-blooded Bengali, how can F be anything but Fish!? We eat all kinds of fish, tiny ones, big ones, medium sized ones, bony ones, boneless ones and we do not spare the head or the tail either!

Having said that, I must admit, I am not a big fish eater.

Hence, even after I got married, I couldn't cook fish to save my life. I had some idea about the basics of how it is cooked but the actual deed was done by the maid.
Then one day my father-in-law was dropping by for lunch. He wanted something light, like fish curry. 'Macher jhol'  as we know it, is a very light, mildly spiced fish curry. No problem.
Except that the maid was not there.
So what? I thought. I'll do it, big deal!
So I got the fish, fried it with salt and turmeric and made the gravy with cumin and ginger. Just the way it is done.
I was pleased as punch.
Later, much later, when we were alone my husband told me that that was the worst fish curry he had ever tasted! The fish hadn't been fried properly and hence smelled fishy and the gravy was too watery and had too little salt!
"But Baba never said anything, he ate it quite happily!" I argued.
And stopped.
Fathers are like that aren't they?
I remember when I was at school we had learnt to make 'aloo dum' which is a spicy Indian potato dish. I tried it out at home and served it at the dining table. My dad had it first and said it was lovely. Every one else had so much to say: not enough salt, too much tamarind.... Etc etc. Dad never complained. When I was learning how to make chapatis my rolling pin churned out long misshapen rotis. Everyone laughed at me. My father told me, "well, everyone can make round rotis, you can make the funny shapes!" Now I make perfectly round rotis and wish there was some one to make misshapen ones for!
For both my fathers are now gone.
And there's no one to love me (or my cooking) that way any more.
I guess F is for fish. But F is also for a father's love that turns up unexpectedly and gives solace.

'E' for Egg. A to Z Challenge Day 5.

It was one of those days in Chambers. All of us had been working against a deadline, my Senior was not in a very amiable mood and I was frantically looking at the clock as I was supposed to go home and make dinner. Needless to say, it was well past 11 PM.
A colleague sensed my restlessness. When I said I'd be making eggs (that's all that there was at home), he suggested a recipe for egg curry. I ultimately managed to escape and went home and tried it. Yummilicious!

So here it is: Egg Curry with a Twist.

Ingredients:

Eggs: 4, medium sizeMilk: 1/2 litreFresh Coriander leaves: a bunchGinger: a thin sliverGreen chillies: 2/3Oil for cooking: 1 tspSalt to taste.Directions: Pour the milk into a saucepan with the sliver of ginger and bring to boil. When it is boiling reduce heat and simmer stirring occasionally and thicken the milk. While the milk is thickening, hard boil the eggs. Peel the eggs, coat with a little salt and fry in the oil till browned on all sides. Don't forget to keep and eye on the milk! Make a paste of the coriander leaves and the chillies. (Increase or decrease chillies depending on how spicy you want it!)By now the milk should have thickened considerably, it should not be watery and yet not too thick. Keep stirring and add the green paste. The gravy should be thcik but runny, not congealed. Turn off the heat if you feel the gravy is too thick. Add the fried boiled eggs and salt to taste.Serve with plain steamed rice. Nice with rotis or paratha too, but the spouse loves it with rice!Enjoy! 

'D' is for Diet. A to Z Challenge Day 4.

I am happily overweight. With a 5 foot height and a stout disposition, it is not difficult to look fat.
And although I love my body, once in a while I look at myself in the mirror and think I see a ball!Take this: we are lying in the sun in a lovely beach. The breeze rustles the trees... the beer has hit the spot and I'm drifting off, book on my lap. My daughter is happily taking pictures of anything that moves. Or doesn't.  We return from the holidays and I look at the pictures. Yikes! What is a beached whale doing in the picture...? It even has my sunglasses and book! One friend encouragingly said, "don't worry, photos always make you look fatter...I'm sure it wasn't so bad."Another said, "Exercise, exercise, after all you are over 40, you should go swimming or something..."And then one said, "DIET!" 
That is the most frightening word I have ever heard.
I have friends who diet, I have friends of friends who are perpetually on a diet. They frighten me. I admire their amazing will-power to bypass the biriyani at the five star buffet and drink only clear soup! I have sat through a delicious meal while the hostess nibbled at some fruits while we devoured the dinner cooked by her! I have watched someone chew through two huge bowls of chopped cucumber and tomatoes and then start on dinner and pretend it is a 'lifestyle choice'!
I have never, for the life of me, been able to go on a diet. I love my food too much! I remember the one time I tried. This friend recommended the Atkin's Diet. It sounded like a lot of fun. Lots of protein: meat, eggs, fish chicken and no carbs! Wow. All my favourite things, I thought. Two days into the diet I was craving rice.... by evening I had polished off all the bread in the house and was thinking of making chicken pulao! No no, diets are not for me. I do not like feeling deprived.So I eat whatever I want and I am happy......But I do have one policy... that helps me to more or less maintain my weight and not bloat out of control: No second helpings. No matter how delicious the lamb is, you do not go back for seconds! Try it!?

'D' is for Diet

I am happily overweight. With a 5 foot height and a stout disposition, it is not difficult to look fat.
And although I love my body, once in a while I look at myself in the mirror and think I see a ball!Take this: we are lying in the sun in a lovely beach. The breeze rustles the trees... the beer has hit the spot and I'm drifting off, book on my lap. My daughter is happily taking pictures of anything that moves. Or doesn't.  We return from the holidays and I look at the pictures. Yikes! What is a beached whale doing in the picture...? It even has my sunglasses and book! One friend encouragingly said, "don't worry, photos always make you look fatter...I'm sure it wasn't so bad."Another said, "Exercise, exercise, after all you are over 40, you should go swimming or something..."And then one said, "DIET!" 
That is the most frightening word I have ever heard.
I have friends who diet, I have friends of friends who are perpetually on a diet. They frighten me. I admire their amazing will-power to bypass the biriyani at the five star buffet and drink only clear soup! I have sat through a delicious meal while the hostess nibbled at some fruits while we devoured the dinner cooked by her! I have watched someone chew through two huge bowls of chopped cucumber and tomatoes and then start on dinner and pretend it is a 'lifestyle choice'!
I have never, for the life of me, been able to go on a diet. I love my food too much! I remember the one time I tried. This friend recommended the Atkin's Diet. It sounded like a lot of fun. Lots of protein: meat, eggs, fish chicken and no carbs! Wow. All my favourite things, I thought. Two days into the diet I was craving rice.... by evening I had polished off all the bread in the house and was thinking of making chicken pulao! No no, diets are not for me. I do not like feeling deprived.So I eat whatever I want and I am happy......But I do have one policy... that helps me to more or less maintain my weight and not bloat out of control: No second helpings. No matter how delicious the lamb is, you do not go back for seconds! Try it!?

'C' for Crabs. A to Z Challenge Day 3.

After I had been married for less than two years, my father-in-law assumed office as the Chief Justice of Andhra Pradesh. So off they went and settled into a large palatial mansion which had more rooms than even our extra large family could fill.
Of course every vacation we would visit them. And often, other cousins and relatives would drop by too!
On one such vacation I remember it was quite a full house with a lot of cousins, nieces and nephews running about. Good fun.
Now I was, at that stage, a weird cook. I could make a good pork chop or Apple pie but was pretty clueless about basic curry or daal. Those things never interested me. But apparently people thought otherwise for one fine day a brother-in-law went out to the market in the morning and returned with a fairly large quantity of fresh crabs. "Ipsita will cook it for lunch," he announced happily.
My husband looked at me uncertainly, he was aware of my limited culinary skills. I quietly went into the kitchen where a huge bowl of raw crabs greeted me.
I was aghast. But also too proud to admit I knew nothing about the damn things.
So, from the kitchen itself ( yes, there was a phone in EVERY room) I dialled my mother in Calcutta.
She must have sensed my disquiet. For, very patiently she told me how to clean the creatures, how to take out the rich buttery layer and keep it aside and use it for flavour and told me a simple recipe to cook crabs Bengali style.
I'm happy to say it turned out very well and had every one raving at the dining table at lunchtime.

Since then I've learnt how to make simple and complicated Bengali dishes, I am quite adept at things like shukto and muri-ghanto and the like. I can also make crabs in many ways...I can steam them with butter and garlic or bake them or even make crab cakes.

But the most enduring recipe is the simple kakrar jhol that my Ma taught me that day.

'C' for Crabs

After I had been married for less than two years, my father-in-law assumed office as the Chief Justice of Andhra Pradesh. So off they went and settled into a large palatial mansion which had more rooms than even our extra large family could fill.
Of course every vacation we would visit them. And often, other cousins and relatives would drop by too!
On one such vacation I remember it was quite a full house with a lot of cousins, nieces and nephews running about. Good fun.
Now I was, at that stage, a weird cook. I could make a good pork chop or Apple pie but was pretty clueless about basic curry or daal. Those things never interested me. But apparently people thought otherwise for one fine day a brother-in-law went out to the market in the morning and returned with a fairly large quantity of fresh crabs. "Ipsita will cook it for lunch," he announced happily.
My husband looked at me uncertainly, he was aware of my limited culinary skills. I quietly went into the kitchen where a huge bowl of raw crabs greeted me.
I was aghast. But also too proud to admit I knew nothing about the damn things.
So, from the kitchen itself ( yes, there was a phone in EVERY room) I dialled my mother in Calcutta.
She must have sensed my disquiet. For, very patiently she told me how to clean the creatures, how to take out the rich buttery layer and keep it aside and use it for flavour and told me a simple recipe to cook crabs Bengali style.
I'm happy to say it turned out very well and had every one raving at the dining table at lunchtime.

Since then I've learnt how to make simple and complicated Bengali dishes, I am quite adept at things like shukto and muri-ghanto and the like. I can also make crabs in many ways...I can steam them with butter and garlic or bake them or even make crab cakes.

But the most enduring recipe is the simple kakrar jhol that my Ma taught me that day.

'B' for Beef. A to Z Challenge Day 2.

When I first thought of this post, 'B' most certainly was for bread, for baking.. for who can resist the aroma of fresh baked bread? But the recent ban of beef in Maharashtra changed it all.The more I think about it, the more irked I get. I lived in Pune, Maharashtra for the five years of my college life. I practically lived on beef. When I could afford it. You see, we lived those years on a dwindling budget. The beginning of the month saw us eating at cheap restaurants and by the end of the month we were reduced to one meal  a day of maggie noodles or eggs and bread. As one friend lamented, "We have two menus in college. You can have bread and eggs or you can have eggs and bread!" Oh yes, those were the best years of my life. I also discovered beef. I say 'discovered' because although I had eaten beef often enough, it had always been in the sterile atmosphere of the Clubs in Calcutta in the form of steaks and the like. I had never cooked it, much less roamed the dingy meat markets to buy it! Beef is a very versatile meat. It can be cooked it many ways and it was the cheapest meat going around. With boneless beef priced at 16 rupees a kg while chicken was 35 and mutton 48, the thought of cooking chicken or mutton never crossed our minds!And when we had our birthday money or our family members visited or we were celebrating, guess where we went? "The Place" and "Zamu's" for the yummiest steaks  and  "Jaws" for juicy beef burgers! 
So when I heard beef has been banned in Maharashtra, I felt saddened. I just don't understand the reasons for such a ban. I'm sure there are many. Do they hold water?
One, I am sure, is faith. The bottom line is that I do believe that everyone should be allowed to exercise their freedom of choice when it comes to the food they are eating, no matter what their religious inclination is, or isn't. Beef is a meat consumed not only by Muslims and Christians in India but also Hindus. My father, who was one such Hindu, was of the opinion that the kitchen has no manner of association with the puja room. As a result, we were never told that we should never eat something or the other. Not for religion...
I wonder what the stats will be like. I wonder how many students, like me, lived on the meat because it was easily available and cheap. I wonder how many livelihoods have been affected. How many small eating joints will have to shut down and sell 'vada-pao' instead? Not that I have anything against 'vada-pao', but who wants a bun with a potato ball and mint chutney when you are in the mood for a juicy burger with cheese and mayo?

P.S. I found this article today, that is 3rd April and feel I have to share the link here. So relevant, so true. http://www.firstpost.com/india/im-veg....

'B' for Beef

When I first thought of this post, 'B' most certainly was for bread, for baking.. for who can resist the aroma of fresh baked bread? But the recent ban of beef in Maharashtra changed it all.The more I think about it, the more irked I get. I lived in Pune, Maharashtra for the five years of my college life. I practically lived on beef. When I could afford it. You see, we lived those years on a dwindling budget. The beginning of the month saw us eating at cheap restaurants and by the end of the month we were reduced to one meal  a day of maggie noodles or eggs and bread. As one friend lamented, "We have two menus in college. You can have bread and eggs or you can have eggs and bread!" Oh yes, those were the best years of my life. I also discovered beef. I say 'discovered' because although I had eaten beef often enough, it had always been in the sterile atmosphere of the Clubs in Calcutta in the form of steaks and the like. I had never cooked it, much less roamed the dingy meat markets to buy it! Beef is a very versatile meat. It can be cooked it many ways and it was the cheapest meat going around. With boneless beef priced at 16 rupees a kg while chicken was 35 and mutton 48, the thought of cooking chicken or mutton never crossed our minds!And when we had our birthday money or our family members visited or we were celebrating, guess where we went? "The Place" and "Zamu's" for the yummiest steaks  and  "Jaws" for juicy beef burgers! 
So when I heard beef has been banned in Maharashtra, I felt saddened. I just don't understand the reasons for such a ban. I'm sure there are many. Do they hold water?
One, I am sure, is faith. The bottom line is that I do believe that everyone should be allowed to exercise their freedom of choice when it comes to the food they are eating, no matter what their religious inclination is, or isn't. Beef is a meat consumed not only by Muslims and Christians in India but also Hindus. My father, who was one such Hindu, was of the opinion that the kitchen has no manner of association with the puja room. As a result, we were never told that we should never eat something or the other. Not for religion...
I wonder what the stats will be like. I wonder how many students, like me, lived on the meat because it was easily available and cheap. I wonder how many livelihoods have been affected. How many small eating joints will have to shut down and sell 'vada-pao' instead? Not that I have anything against 'vada-pao', but who wants a bun with a potato ball and mint chutney when you are in the mood for a juicy burger with cheese and mayo?

P.S. I found this article today, that is 3rd April and feel I have to share the link here. So relevant, so true. http://www.firstpost.com/india/im-veg....