Barium Meals : Medieval Torture

Who says medieval torture is only medieval? Barium meals are just as bad. I should know having ingested 5 glasses of flavoured chalky stuff recently. Arrrrrrrrrgh !!!

Humiliation

Besides the n number of things I need to confess, this is the one that humiliates me the most. David Lodge just made the confession a little easier.

***

He taught them a game ... in which each person had to think of a well-known book he hadn't read, and scored a point for every person present who had read it.

**
'What d'you call the game?' Melanie asked Philip.

'Humiliation'

***

Now how difficult is that? There is no time. No leisure. I feel intellectually redundant. All this must change, and soon.

I am making a bid at amelioration by "Changing Places" with Lodge, but I hope I don't end up on square one what with the holidays coming to an end. Boo hoo. Where did Diwali go ?

Otherwise, I wait (not so patiently) for good friends to return. Come back, will you? Patience is an expensive commodity, and I cannot afford to run out of it.

Arbeit Macht Frie ? I sincerely doubt it !!

Mushroom Fried Rice

Yippee....it succeeded !!!

The President is Coming

Written by Anubav Pal, and directed by Kunaal(numerology anyone?) Roy Kapoor, The President is Coming is a superlative theatre experience. One of the best performances I have come across to date. The script was scintillating and investigated all the cliches our culture imbibes. It was critical, yet sympathetic. Profound, yet comic. It truly makes you laugh at 'us'.

* * * * *

Belling Bell Pepper Rice

My latest culinary triumph is Bell Pepper Rice. Apparently, this is of Thai origin, but its claim to fame is its simplicity. A few spices, a few bell peppers, and some rice....and voila, you have a meal !! I fear I shall subject my poor husband to this on a daily basis once my infatuation with food wears off.

My Experiments with Food !!

I don't really know what has come over me, but I do find that I am spending a lot of time in the kitchen.

Chocolate Coffee Cake, Chocolate Coffee Mousse Cake, Walnut Cake, the one and only Black Forest soaked in oodles of rum, Chhole Bhature, Sambar, Chilli Paneer,Schezwan Paneer, Rum Chocolates, Mysore Masala Dosa, Sada Dosa etc. etc.

The downside is that at the end of one of my cooking sprees, I am so tired that I rarely taste what I cook or bake. So much for my experiments with food....

Dosa

Golden brown and ever so crisp, this Dosa recipe beats any restaurant preparation.

Ingredients : Boiled rice 2 cups, Normal rice 2 cups, Cooked rice 1 cup, Urad Dal/Black gram beans 1 cup, Toor Dal/Yellow lentils 2 tbps, Sago 2 tbps, Methi seeds 1 tsp, Salt 2 flat tbps or to taste.

Method of preparation :

Clean, wash and soak the boiled and normal rice. Soak the urad dal, toor dal, sago and methi seeds together. It is important to soak the dal and rice separately. Soak for eight to twelve hours.

Finely grind the urad dal, toor dal, sago and methi seeds.Do not add too much water. If a drop of the urad dal batter floats in water, then it is done.

Coarsely grind the rice along with a cup of cooked leftover rice. You may need to add some water while grinding the rice.

Mix the rice and dal batter. Add two flat tbps of salt (or to taste). Beat vigorously till you see bubbles rising. Cover the batter and let it ferment for ten to twelve hours.

Post fermentation, the batter more than doubles in volume, and is light and frothy. Use this batter to make the dosas.

To make the dosa, heat a non stick pan and spread a big spoonful of batter on it. Add some ghee. Cover the dosa for about fifteen to twenty five seconds using a pan lid. Remove the lid, fold the dosa, and serve hot.

* Refrigerate the batter if it is not to be used immediately.

Paneer !!!

A simple and quick cottage cheese recipe that my mother relies on when she is short of time.

Ingredients : Paneer 200 gms, 2 small tomatoes, 2 small onions, 1 tsp ginger garlic paste, 1 tsp garam masala, 2 tbps chilli powder, 1 tsp Corn/Rice flour mixed with a little water (optional), 2 tbps chopped coriander (optional), 1 tbps oil, salt to taste.

Method of preparation : Soak the paneer in salt water (warm water if the paneer has been refrigerated) for a few minutes and drain. Grind the tomatoes and onions to a smooth paste and keep aside. Heat the oil in a vessel and add the tomato, onion, ginger and garlic paste to it. Stir and let it cook for a few minutes. Add the garam masala and chilli powder. Add the corn/rice flour mixture and some water if the gravy is too thick. Now add the paneer and stir well. Add salt to taste. Mix well, and let it simmer for a few minutes.

Garnish with chopped coriander and serve hot.

* You may vary the quantity of the spices to suit your palate
* You may substitue tofu for the paneer
* You may add boiled peas to the above recipe to give you Mutter Paneer

My Life and Hard Times

To whomsoever it may or may not concern

Ho hum....life has been more or less hectic. A ton of tests and a good friend's leaving for Vizag....it feels like I've weathered a storm. And after the storm came the fall. A rather rough one on Colaba Causeway which has resulted in three painkillers a day besides a torn chudidar. One moment I was perfectly alright, and the next I was kneeling as if in prayer, and my left knee took all the brunt. Sir (Capt. S. Raj...I call him Sir) and Caro literally picked me off the pavement and bundled me into a cab after I had rested some on a stool provided by the kindly neighbourhood paan wala.(Pssst....Sir seems to be acquainted with some rather weird people, useful though they may be). All protests of "I am alright, and the torn part is not visible, and we can make it to Churchgate" were shot down with alacrity. Sir saw me to my door lest I manage to damage myself further. A good thing too considering that the swelling and pain are yet to abate.

Ever since I have been suggesting potential PhD topics for psychology enthusiasts. What do you say to a study of the correlation between the way you tumble and the level of embarrassment? You could create your own made to order tumbles with orange/banana/apple peels/other things more or less rotten + your choice of public/private places + incredibly embarrassing post trauma questionnaires. e.g. "How do you feel about the fact that your b** was sticking out when you fell?" Generally horrified when I disgrace myself in public, I seem to be untouched by the tragedy on Saturday. It was just too neat. Hence this train of rather non productive ratiocination. Sadly, it has no takers.

Else, I've been doing a "Rudali" over the answer scripts that my students have presented me. In response to "The lawyer was five and twenty" a student writes, "It means that he was twenty five, or it could also mean that the lawyer was five years old before he was twenty years old". Argggggggggggggggggggh......I need a mental asylum. The horror...the horror !!!

Otherwise, I am perfectly happy with my life and its hard times....

Love,

Pallavi

P.S. - Do not forget to wish me on the 13th as I turn old and grey and remain as unwise as ever. I hope my 43" Plasma T.V. is on its way.