The City of Pearls and Biryani

Our dreams are more than just some random thoughts about the day we had or things we aspire. I feel they originate somewhere deep inside our sub-conscious. Sometimes bewildering us when we wake up. For the longest time after I graduated from school, I would dream about the pretty red brick building of my alma mater. The scenario would be totally different, sometimes centered around my college life and friends but the place would be the school always. The long corridors, the lovely swings, beautiful grounds, pretty church, the staircases and railings which we were never allowed to touch. I close my eyes and can still hear clearly “Hands off the railings”. Moving on, what I am trying to say is that we may move on in life but a little part of us; somewhere deep down, holds on to these tiny little details which at one point of time were an inseparable part. Off late whenever I dream about day to day stuff (these days it's mostly how I have spilled something and now need to clean-up) rather than it being my current place of stay - more often than not it’s the first home after marriage in the beautiful nawabi city of Hyderabad. 

I came to Hyderabad with a lot of preconceived notions and apprehensions. A lot of stereotypes that one usually associates with south Indian states. I knew absolutely no one in Hyderabad. And one always hears about how once you have lived in Mumbai you cannot like any other city. I had a lot of friends in Mumbai and over the years a lot of familiarity with surroundings and a lot of independence. All this change was obviously hard to digest. And to add to all the troubles, to quote Monica Geller, I now had to live with a boy.

I still remember my first drive from Hyderabad airport to our home. The airport area road in Shamshabad which leads to Outer ring road is one of the most beautiful and picturesque roads I have ever seen. Smooth as butter with pretty flowers on both sides and those lovely boulders high up balanced on each other in a queer manner. It was definitely not love at first sight but a very pleasant first encounter with the deccan city.

In fact, Hyderabad was a lot of firsts for me. Do you know, I had never ever had an authentic biryani before I came to Hyderabad? Guess my happiness at landing directly into the biryani bowl of India. And not just biryani, let me tell you – Hyderabad is any food lover's paradise. Everything from variety to portions is perfect. Portions are infact gigantic. Mountains of rice, neatly stacked noodles and them layers of meat. Plus, the city is a perfect blend of the old-world charm and the new Cosmo. In the old city towards and nearby the Charminar you will find the old joints which continue to pe popular and have thronging crowds, Shahdab being one of the best. The best time to go towards old city is after midnight, cut the traffic and the crowds. Enjoy the twinkling lights with a plate of fruit cream. The city is also home to a lot of beautiful café's each with their own USP. There's one which has swings instead of chairs. Another which has an entirely outside seating with trees, greenery and beautiful canopies. One with Bollywood inspired décor and menu. One with Game of thrones style – with Iron chair and Hound’s Chicken and all. Ufff. Major Missing. 

Just your usual plate for two ;)

There are places of historic importance too. So many museums and palaces. Old markets. Lakes. Gardens. Hidden Lakes. Dams. Shilparamam (which is like Dilli Haat and my absolute favourite y

) and Ikea. Oh everyone wanted to visit Ikea. And I should know, because we visited all these places at least 4 to 5 times with different set of guests and visitors. Oh, and Ramoji Film City. Omg. That’s your desi Universal Studio but trust me much better. If you have any queries on the tour contact me, we know the ideal times, rides, unmissable shows, the best lunch place and everything else. Did you know I played Basanti from Sholey in one of the ongoing shows? Much to the embarrassment of the husband and the guests accompanying. Hubby and I would swear that who-so-ever comes next, we are not going back again. But then we would and somehow always have fun. Hyderabad doesn't have many quick weekend getaways. But it compensates for it by the resorts. There are numerous resorts scattered in all directions of the city. Towards Secundarabad and around. So, you check yourself or a group of friends into a resort and just unwind. They come equipped with private villas, pools, also water parks. Horse riding, games, fruit pickings – Oh juicy mangoes and chikoo. 

Film City

Golconda Fort

Hussain Sagar Lake

Hyderabad was also a lot of cooking experiments. Some successful and many disasters. A lot of learnings. So many house parties. I just loved cooking in my pretty little kitchen. You must understand, I was just out from a place which I shared with 6 other girls. The kitchen was untidy most of the days to put it mildly. I had to sit for long hours in café to bring my thoughts together, in case I wanted to write or read peacefully. Or just get away from boyfriend fights. So, a whole house all to myself was a kind of happiness I just can't explain. Of course, there was a husband, but he just occupied a tiny place in front of his Xbox. So, all in all Hyderabad kind of started to grow on me. I missed Mumbai obviously, but my work trips keep them pangs in check. 

Cooking up a storm

I loved the way everyone in Hyderabad calls you “Amma” irrespective of your age. Or how people are so disciplined and follow rules. How in temples the priests do a nice little pooja for you. The small stalls of flowers and coconuts just about everywhere. And the fresh smell of sambhar brewing while you are on your morning walk. The strong cup of filter Kappi. The irani chai and biscuit. Ladies in crisp cotton sarees in summers. And the general cacophony of an unknown language in the background. By the way do you know Hyderabad has its own typical dialect. An endearing mixture of Hindi, Urdu and some tapori kinda slang. You can listen to two people conversing in this language for hours and not get bored. It is so so beautiful and funny at the same time.


We also got in touch with the Kashmiri people of Hyderabad and I must say it was the best decision ever! Because after we did it there was no boring weekend like ever. Firstly, so many Kashmiri peeps outside of Jammu always gives feels of a different kind. Plus, we celebrated all festivals, some of which we hadn't even heard of before. So, our social calendar was suddenly booked with Navrey, Ashtami, Kaw Punim, Ganesh Chaturthi and if nothing else then Potluck lunches and dinners. And if not food then kashmiri musical nights. And if not that then game nights playing and fighting over Mafia and Dumb charades. And there was sports every weekend – football, badminton, cricket followed by coconut water and breakfast (not me though, I would be sleeping peacefully at home). But what I did not sleep on was making friends with these cool Kashmiri kids. The common love for Kashmiri food and gossip played cupid and slowly we fell in love with each other's company. What followed was a beautiful time filled with many outings, vacations, house parties, sleepovers, scandalous girl's night outs and a lot of fun! And all that went by a little too quickly and soon it was time to leave. 

Leaving anywhere after a long time is emotional. But a place you had this much fun is more of a challenge. Plus, I sorely missed leaving the home we set up with so much love and a lot of DIYs, host to so many people and such lovely memories. I also miss the crazy girls and the fun times we had. Truth be told, I also miss the Biryani. 

Crazy Ones

 Dates with this one!

And just to re-iterate, Hyderabad is an experience which most definitely should not be missed. It is a very livable city with beautiful weather. No, it's not too hot. Only April, May and little bit of June. After that lovely monsoons all the way down to October. Plus, its safe. In the widest sense of the word. No eve teasing, no staring, no passes. People just let you be. Even aunties won't give you a look down. Never had to think twice before booking a cab at 10 in the night. Of course, they will cancel or disagree to go to your destination but that’s it. A very nice place to visit or stay or shop. So much to buy really. Ikat. Ponchampally. Pearls. Spices. Pickles. Bangles. Ikea Stuff....... And much more.

Pretty Things

Until next time.
Au revoir.

Love: 

Sepo

Quarantine Cooking – Chicken Momos

Momos hold a very special place in every street food lover’s heart. So, it came has no surprise when entire social media was filled with pictures from experiments with the momos during lock-down. Being a big momo fan myself, I decided to dive in and try a dozen. Luckily my insomnia helped me to get hold of a slot for minced chicken online. It was decided, chicken momos were happening in my kitchen. After a mildly successful experiment when a lot of people wanted first-hand experience, I decided to take my time and write about it in detail. At the start of the year, I had taken a resolution to write atleast one post per month, so when the opportunity presented itself with an easy update to the blog – I grabbed it with both hands. Yea, I am cheap like that. 

Anyhow, if you are here just for the recipe, do scroll directly down because I will probably ramble about for a paragraph or two before coming to the point. However, if you are as bored as a panda without a bamboo, then feel free to continue reading my momo timeline. 

I clearly remember when I ate momos for the first time. It was in Delhi roughly around 2006. I had never even heard about them but my sister sweared by them and how good they were. I hated them at the first bite. I was bewildered why someone would eat this raw-ish ball of flour and that burning-my-mouth-chutney. Fast forward few years with the influx of students from Ladakh, momos made their way into every corner of Jammu and my heart (and stomach). Back in college we had momos every day. Yep. I am not exaggerating; our canteen had in-house soya-filled dumplings and spicy watery chutney. They were fabulously drowned with bottles of cold drinks. And if some day we missed out on eating them in college, we had this epic joint called Momo Hut. It was a very shady place, always dark inside but they served the best-est mutton momos. I have never had amazing melt in the mouth momos ever after that. Sadly, the joint is closed now.

We have successfully Indianized momos - tandoor momos, fried momos, kurkure paneer momos etc etc. While all of them taste good, for me – those mutton momos hold the highest place. Closely followed by these chicken momos I had in Mcleodganj. Third place is for kurkure paneer momos. So, with the decision of making momos at home came a big responsibility of atleast matching up to the big guns and the big expectations from ahem the husband. Thankfully it was not that bad. 

Now I did a lot of improvisations to my recipe. You can choose to follow the same or like me watch atleast 5 videos of the recipe and then follow little bit of everything.

Chutney
This is the most important step. Because what are momos really without that fiery chutney. You will need :

10 Red Dry Chillies (soaked in water for atleast 2 hours)
4-5 Garlic Pods
1 Teaspoon Sugar
1 Teaspoon Oil
2 Blanched Skinless Tomatoes

First take the red chillies & garlic and grind them till the chillies are finely done. Next add the sugar and oil. Lastly add the tomatoes and grind everything to a smooth paste. The consistency of this chutney will be a little watery, you can choose to cook it a little. Just a simple saute saute till the consistency becomes of your liking.

I kept the chutney as-is though, as it reminded me of the canteen-ki-chutney. You can also skip the tomatoes for that schezwan chutney like flavor. 

Stuffing
Chicken Mince (Cup full)
Pepper (2 Teaspoon)
Spring Onions ( 1 Cup including the greens)
Finely chopped garlic (1 teaspoon)
Salt (swad anusar)

Mix everything up and done. As easy as that.

Dough
All purpose Flour (1 cup)
Ragi flour (1 Tablespoon)
Baking powder ( 1 pinch)
Salt (1 pinch)
Water (well, obviously)

I know what you must be thinking, what is the ragi doing in there? That’s a futile attempt for my conscious to make it a little healthy. Knead the dough until it is soft and spongy. Let it be for 15-20 minutes before using.

Now that all ingredients are ready, let's start.

1. Make really tiny balls with the floor and bhelo it into small sized rotis. Make sure to keep the edges thin. 

The balls, momo base and raw momo chilling side by side. For some reason gas lighter is also in the picture.

2. Now add the chicken mince and seal like you would close a Gujiya. 

The Chicken Mince

3. Once all momos are stuffed, you will need a steamer. Here’s an interesting bit of information - I don’t have a streamer. But that wasn’t going to stop me. 

4. So I made a jugaad of sorts with a patila of boiling water and a colander. 

The jugaadu steamer

5. If you too don’t have a steamer, don’t forget to brush a little oil on the colander (I forgot, and it broke 5 out of 12 momos).

6. Keep the setup covered for like 10 mins. Keep checking. Turn the momos to other side. Keep for 5 mins. Switch of the gas. Let it rest. 

And Voila, you are done.

I was a little skeptical about adding the raw chicken, but it was cooked splendidly. 

Do try and let me know. 

Love:
Sepo

P.S Apologies for the abysmal quality of pictures. In my defense, while cooking, I wasn't aware I would write and post about it.

Dieting or Die (eating)

Sometimes I think about all the times I mindlessly ate Pizzas bursting with cheese, sandwiches drowned in mayonnaise, bread with a thick layer of butter, unlimited momos, desi chowmein suitably sprinkled with harmful MSGs and ajinomoto, pakoras fried in oil of a very questionable color. Ahh the reckless days of youth.No one to guide you to say - A moment of the lips, forever on the hips.

Although in the prime of youth one can afford the luxury of eating all the junk but the issue is that it forms a habit and you start to develop the taste. And man! Nothing tastes as good as unhealthy food. Nothing is as addictive as the taste of fat. Don't get me started on the withdrawal symptoms of unhealthy food - the sudden urge to eat an entire box of caramel salted ice cream at midnight is real.

Now sometime back, I undertook a challenge to eat healthy at least during the weekdays. Little did I know that it would lead to a road full of contradictions and confusions. Just like in any department, marketing plays a huge role in the health industry (if I may call it so). Ever since I started to Ahem increase in size, I observed a very peculiar scenario - every other month, one or the other food item is promoted as a healthy super-food. You just have to have it in order to stay fit and lose weight or you must be stuck in a rut of trying-to-lose forever. Now you may not pay heed - but you will spot this super-food everywhere - Newspapers, Instagram, Hoardings or some actress with enviable abs will be seen promoting and swearing by it.

At one point of time it was the egg whites. Yellow was the enemy. Chuck the yolk, everyone said. Unhealthy fats, heart diseases, diabetes - the list of bads was endless. I remember reading about how whipping up an omelette of 6 egg whites (with veggies, of course) was the ideal breakfast and whites of boiled eggs was the ideal pre-workout meal. Then some years back there was another theory about how the yolk is super loaded with essential nutrients. People with Vitamin D deficiency (which is like every other person) should definitely have an egg a day (with the yolk intact!). For a person like me who loves the yoke, no amount of egg whites satisfied me or my appetite.

Next boom was about Blueberries. Apparently packed with antioxidants - which fight everything from aging to acidity, it was the ultimate breakfast food. Whether or not its local to where you stay was not taken into consideration. It just had to be had as-is or in a smoothie. And that reminds me of the smoothie trend. Nutri bullet sales skyrocketed like nobody’s business because of this. Smoothie bowls of distinct colors garnished with fruits and myriad of seeds was the ultimate Instagram-able breakfast food. Although why no one stops to ponder on how these non-native fruits and ingredients are burning a very gaping hole in our pockets is beyond me! My tryst with blueberries ended quickly when I spotted them in a supermarket priced at some Rs 550 for 250 grams.

The liquid diet cleanse was really big at one point of time (or maybe still it) . Everyone from Beyonce to Jacqueline were seen endorsing it. RAW came up with 5 to 6 liquid meal packs which took care of all the necessary nutrients. Mornings with citric, mid morning and lunch with cold soups, afternoons and dinner with light on the stomach concoctions. For one tiny bottle at a time, the prices sure were exuberant. Flavor infused waters were another rage. But many people counter argued that apart from flushing out toxins the liquid diet can hamper the body by making it loose essential vitamins etc.

Then came avocado. And everything else took a back stage. Suddenly everyone’s favorite snack was avocado toast. Yours truly inspired by all the coverage this vegetable fruit got, shopped for my very own first Avo. No prior experience ensured that I pick up the wrong (unripe) one. I was expecting buttery creamy taste but could hardly swallow my bitter toast. I wondered why the world was going ga ga over this shit which was probably just a distinct cousin of the karela. But soon I made amends by learning the right way avocado from a dear friend. And now avo toast topped with fried egg is my favorite breakfast.

To make matters more complicated than ever there is this new section of people who only eat gluten free and vegan. The list of foods they can eat is minuscule as compared to the ocean of food they cannot (or choose not to). I am sure what they eat is healthy and beneficial. But how do you suddenly make a drastic change from what you have grown up eating to something totally different. And how can you be suddenly lactose intolerant after years of gulping bottles of milk. My kashmiri brain took a somersault when I read you are not allowed to have dairy. Everything else is fine but no dahi? For a kashmiri a person who does have curd is a freak. After paracetamol, good old zamdodh (curd) is the ultimate cure for all ailments.

Amid all the madness, I find dietitian Rituja’s voice pretty sane. She insists on eating local and seasonal. Backed with scientific significance (and Kareena Kapoor’s body), I really like how she encourages good eating habits by not making them scary and complicated. I feel half the battle is lost right when you complicate a diet with ingredients that either cost a bomb or need to be specially sourced. Then prep time also matters. When I come home tired from office and have a Martha Steward kinda recipe to attend to, I would rather just Swiggy or Zomato thinking just this one time. But soon enough it forms a habit and leads to a post like this one :)

So for now I am taking heed from Rituja and taking baby steps towards eating better. No fads, no super-foods only ghar ka fresh khana. And some avo toast once in a while :)

Stay healthy people!

Love:
Sepo

Being Kashmiri :Yakhin (Mutton Yakhni) and Thool Razma

The first installment of this post can be found here.

Since I last wrote about Dum Monjj I have been cooking up a storm (like literally!). We have tried almost all types Kashmiri food - Greens, pulses, dried veggies and non vegetarian delicacies. But if there is something that is almost never tried in our house hold is anything that has yellow based gravy or for that matter yogurt based. And that's because the boy absolutely detests anything and everything that is not fiery red. He loves to have his food insanely spicy and twists his face at the very mention of something yellow or white. So I have never really prepared mutton kaliya or Yakhni or tscchat rass (soups).

But this time I had to really put my food down. I had been craving Mutton Yakni since long time but instead of just eating I was also craving to cook it. So I did what had to be done and Yakhni was made. Might I add with aah-mazing results. So I decided that something so good must be documented for proof and well, for future reference. Plus someone looking to make some yakhni can hop on here too.

It's almost winters everywhere. There is that slight nip in the air. Mornings have you reaching for that cosy shawl and evenings for your favorite blanket. The falling leaves bring a strange kind of re-assurance, a promise of new beginnings. The bare branches of trees, although forlorn are still beautiful. The onsite of winters makes way for turtlenecks, oversize pherans, hot water bottle, naar josh (Kangri) and comfort food. The first bite of Yakhni with baatt myound (morsel of rice) was this perfect winter comfort food. So without any further delay jumping straight to the recipe.

Ingredients:
1/2Kg Mutton
Any Refined oil
About 400g of Yoghurt
4-5 cloves
5-6 Green cardamoms
1 Cinnamon Stick
A pinch of black jira
2 Black cardamoms
Asafoetida
Fennel powder
Dry ginger powder
Dry mint powder
Fresh coriander for garnish


Steps:

1. First  we deal with the mutton. Now originally the recipe simply involves boiling the meat in spices. But I like to fry the mutton a bit to get rid of that raw-ish looks. So in just about a spoonful of oil with a little hing (Asafoetida), I stir fried the mutton till it changed its color to umm un-raw.

2. Now add crushed black cardamoms, some salt, about two spoons of fennel powder and half a spoon of ginger powder.

3. Next add enough water to just cover the mutton and pressure cook for about 2 to 3 whistles.

You can have the broth as soup by the way.

4. Now in a thick bottomed vessel, add beaten dahi with grounded cinnamon stick, green cardamom, cloves and jira on medium heat. You can add whole spices as well instead of grinding them but I like to keep my gravy neat.

5. Keep stirring the concoction until you can no longer feel your arms or the curd starts to thicken and bubble. At this point add a kriscch (deep bottomed ladle) full of oil. Now don't be stingy with the oil. Unless your yakhni has that floating layer of oil on top, it is even yakhni?

Bubble bubble you beauty

6. Check your meat now, should be cooked and tender by now. Take the meat pieces and mix with the yoghurt gravy. You may add some broth from the cooked mutton and let everything cook together for 10-15 minutes. Add dried mint and mix well. Once the gravy starts to thicken, take off from heat and garnish with fresh coriander. And your yakhni is ready!

The fruit of labour

Enjoy with white rice and some spicy green chutney.

From Left - Corriander/Raw Mango chutney, Thool Razma and Yahkni. And rice ofcourse

Thool Razma you ask? Also called cranberry beans they come inside a pod like peas. They are adorably shaped like an egg, hence the name "thool" which means egg in kashmiri. These are seasonal and available for a limited time. So we kashmiri's buy them in bulk, invest in the labor of shelling them and then freeze them for later use. These beauties also make long distance travels to places where they are not available like Delhi, Hyderabad and even overseas. There are many different ways of cooking them up. I have an easy peazy one pot recipe for all lazy people like me.

1. In a pressure cooker heat up some oil. Add some jira, few pods of garlic and grated ginger.

2. Once the oil becomes fragrant add onions and fry until golden brown.

3. Now add red mirchi powder, dry ginger powder and fennel powder. Give a good stir and add tomatoes.

4. Next add some salt, wait for the tomatoes to get mushy. Now in go the Thool ramza. Mix them a bit with the masala and add water.

5. The rajma should be done in 2 to 3 seethees especially if you are using frozen ones like me.

6. Finally add some garam masala and cook until the gravy thickens.

And that's all folks.

Close-up

Love:
Sepo.

So the 50’s Called

The 50s was a glamorous time. The world recovering after the Second World War, was trying to put its best foot forward. Economy, style, glamour everything was making its presence felt. While the men were very suave in suits and hats (very Rhett Butler), the ladies weren’t that far behind. With their bright pouts, flowy dresses, narrow waists (achieved by the much hated corsets) women had the world at their pointy peep-toes. When Marilyn Monroe breathlessly hummed ‘Happy Birthday Mr President’, people were in awe of her beauty and splendor. Also of her dress which the legend has it was so tight that it had to be sewn while she was in it. The said dress was auctions for $4.8 million in 2016. The irony is that in spite of her huge popularity and fandom, Marilyn was highly underpaid and was constantly involved in legal hassles with Fox over her pay scale.

The point is under all the glamour, there was a very dark underbelly. This consisted of a very sexist and chauvinist society, which undermined women wherever possible. I got hold of few ads that released around this time. To state that they are appalling would be an understatement. If you don’t believe me, have a look yourselves.

See what I mean?

Woah, talk about someone walking all over you.

Because good girls desire domestic appliances

Saved the best for the last. So Mornidine controlled the symptoms of morning sickness..so that breakfast can be had. Rest? What rest?

So after this very interesting visual, y’all must be thinking that we the women have come a long way. Definitely there are tremendous improvements that have taken place but the patriarchy system was not as easy to dissolve as one might think. Some things have got passed on from the old times and stuck like glue to our heads. Today women are flying planes and heading offices, they mandate equal respect and pay-scale. But some people still perceive women behind the hearth of domesticity. It doesn’t matter how hard to work, how important your position is, how mean a workout you indulge in, how many miles you run – if you are not quite the domestic goddess you might as well forget ever other achievement of yours. Now there are many women out there you accomplish all of this feat with aplomb. Many a times I read about these “superwomen” who wear these invisible capes and handle it all right from the boardroom to the bedroom (and the kitchen of course). More power to these women but just because they do it, it does not mean every women out there can or wants to do all of it. The real issue however sprouts when there is no choice and people just automatically expect it out of you.

I was recently out of town for office work. And that’s when I had this astonishing discovery to how misogynistic a society we live in. After the usual pleasantries, the very next question every other person asked me was “So, you are here, who’s taking care of your husband?” I answered dutifully the first few times, about how my husband is a very accomplished cook and can easily manage on his own. But as the frequency of this question increased, I was irritated to no end. I mean first of all, what goes inside my household is literally out of bounds for intrusion. Secondly even if some is very curious about it, it still is extremely wrong to assume and imply that I am responsible for cooking and taking care. And lastly why is the fact that guys can fend for themselves so difficult to digest? When paying the bills, maintaining the home, buying the groceries – every responsibility is equally divided why not the kitchen chores? What is it about the kitchen that seems to drive most of the men miles away from it and the activities associated with it.

While I do love cooking, I hate it when it’s implied or forced. I cook to unwind and enjoy the whole exercise of cutting, chopping, sauté’s and stirs. So once in a while when I am not up it we either order in or my husband cooks if he is up for it. For us, there is nothing wrong or special about this scenario. And no I don’t consider myself lucky that my husband cooks for me. This is simply what a marriage or any kind of relationship should be like. Division of labor. It is just so wrong to have this prejudice, what bothers me the most is that it mostly comes from educated gen X, gen Y gen Z and even the millennial. It may sound selfish but I think every person deserves some “me” time irrespective of his/her gender. Things like cooking/taking care/ etc etc should be done with love and not under a feeling of compulsion. After working for 9-10 hours continuously I sometimes crave some time to catch up on my reading or continue that Television series or simply laying on the bed. There is no way in hell I will allow anyone to make me feel guilty for this.

Or for eating khichdi when sick. So I had brought lentil/rice concoction for lunch to office when under a serious bout of cold. The moment I open my box this colleague of mine comments – “Oh so you are sick, your husband will also have to eat khichdi”. I was like “Whaaaaat”. I wanted to hit him with my snot covered handkerchief but somehow restrained myself. He also once made a hullabaloo when I accidentally exchanged husbands and my tiffin’s in a way that both of us had two same sabzi’s instead of two different ones. Like I got two boxes of pumpkin and he got two boxers of beans. The very next day the pesky colleague wanted to know how my husband reacted. I was again like “Whaaaaaat”. And if you must know too, husband did not even notice. He assumed I was feeling extra generous with the beans! While we are taking about office, one more gossip about a colleague who commented on a girl getting onsite opportunity, oh and yes she was married - “What she will do there, why they are initiating her visa. She should be with her husband and take care of him”. This time I was like “Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat”. Also I wonder why people have this huge fixation with “taking care of the husband”.

I try I provide level headed answers and examples whenever I am encountered by questions like these (which are plenty may I add). I hope my answers will give people a new perspective and they might start to think in a new and better direction. How much it actually helps is debatable but I try and do my part. We have come far from what women were subjected to and perceived to be. I am sure we can overcome this too some years down the line. Meanwhile we also need to break stereotypes like it’s the Men who should always pay the bills or do the heavy load work. Division of roles and responsibilities all the way :)

P.S When I read the whole thing I wrote for proof read, I realized it’s more like a rambling and less like a decent piece of writing. But as many of you may have observed I have had a very long dry spell on the blog. So this post is still going up, quality of content be dammed! Will try to improve and better my writing in the next one for sure.

Amen

Love:
Sepo

Being Kashmiri And Dum Monj!

Recent shift in events have made a chef of sorts out of me. So while earlier my time was spent in reading gossip stories or series binge watching, it’s now replaced by recipes and subscription of various cooking channels. I have always enjoyed cooking, but only when it’s done leisurely. Cooking under pressure gives me jitters. When the time available is less, cooking seems like a chore rather than an unwinding exercise! Chopping and cutting drains out every ounce of energy you possess. When I found myself in this situation, I quickly switched on my Kashmiri brain and subscribed to Chandra aunty. Chandra Aunty has a Kashmiri pandit cuisine cooking channel on youtube and it has now become my favorite pastime!

Traditional Kashmiri recipes involve no onions or garlic (in some cases no tomatoes even!). You can pretty much do the math on how much time can be saved by Kashmiri style of cooking. Just put in the right proportion of spices, few sautés, some close lid cooking and you are done! The dishes can be made spicy or non-spicy based on your preference. Red base dishes can be made with fiery Kashmiri chilies, yellow gravies are made with turmeric and given a distinctive taste by the use of schonth (Ginger powder) and baidhyan (fennel powder) plus there is a myriad of yakhni’s which are cooked in yoghurt based sauce.

Schonth and Baidhayan

Now everyone knows the irrevocable love Kashmiri’s have for mutton. The traditional spread of mutton dishes (which form an intrinsic part of the wazwan) is quite well known and easily available almost everywhere. The taste may not be up to the mark but at least names like roganjosh, kaliya, yakhni ring a bell. A Kashmiri bell! What most people don’t know is the fascination Kashmiri’s have with some special vegetables. They have their zu (which roughly translates to jaan in hindi) in monj (Knolkhol/Kohlrabi), hakh (collard greens) and nadur (lotus stem). It’s not that these are the only vegetables we like, hell we like vegetables so much that we even cook fruits like ‘em. So don’t be surprised to see apples cooked with bringals on our tables. Quinces or bum chooth as we call it is again a very special apple dish. Then we also cook up plums with potatoes or ghaad (fish) or spinach. Aah the sweet sour taste of cooked plums! And don’t get me started on our lure with dried up stuffs, drying vegetables was a necessity in the valley because of harsh and extreme winters. As the valley was cut-off, there was a dearth of fresh vegetables, hence all the drying up veggies started from September. Even though Kashmiri pandits do not live in Kashmir anymore, the love for hoek suen (dry veggies) remains. So you just name it and we will dry it! – Bringals (wagan hacch), bottle gourd (aal hacch), turnips (gogji hacch), tomatoes (tamatar hacch), morels (kangucch), fish (hogaard), water lily/lotus stems (Bum) and the list goes on.

In this picture we can see tomatoes, bringals & turnips

 Coming back to monj, hakh and nadur. The immense popularity of these vegetables can be attributed to the fact that they are a part of quintessential Kashmiri comfort food. Sadly they are not so readily available outside of Jammu and Kashmir. And if by some good deed done in your previous birth you do manage to find them your Kashmiri soul will dance away in hallelujah. I recently had this stroke of luck while grocery shopping, I could not believe what I saw and shouted at the top of my voice whilst turning around to hubby – Moonnnjjjj. Only hubby was nowhere nearby and I literally scared the living hell out of the person behind me with all my shouting! Now to give you an idea moonj usually looks something like this (picture added below). However the ones we got at the store were devoid of leaves. So we decided to make dum monj out of them which does not necessitate the need for leaves. Contrary to usual monj preparation which does not use many spices, dum monj is an elaborate dish usually prepared on special occasions like marriage, hawan or any other time you feel like drowning yourself in oil and spices.

Monj with sabaz sabaz hakh!

There are many online websites, blogs and even you tube channels through which one can easily get access to popular Kashmiri recipes. But it is difficult to find recipes for some typical dishes which are not made often. I could only find a handful of recipes for dum monj, so that’s the reason I decided to document the recipe on my blog. Maybe it will help me build up dwindling traffic of my sad little blog!

So, here goes.

1. First of all wash and cut the monjh. Traditionally it’s made into thick circular slices, but I choose to cut them into cubes because well no reason, just like that. The upper part of monj known as monj gab has a very respectable position, it is like the chicken leg piece of monjh.

2. Next step is to fry the pieces. Since this recipe involves thick pieces, deep frying is recommended. I just shallow fried as my pieces were small.

3. Once all the pieces are fried up, take about two tablespoons of oil on medium heat and add 3,4 cloves, a small piece of cinnamon and asafoetida or hing. Now reduce the heat and add two table spoons of Kashmiri red chilli powder and about one spoon of ginger powder. Make sure to add masala’s on low heat or else you will end up burning the spices and also have a sneezing fit. This is a very critical step because how your dish turns out will depend on this step. Raang kadun as it is known is Kashmiri, it should look fiery red. I did not have Kashmiri chilli powder so my dish did not quite make it to the mark in looks department.

When your oil is at right temperature, the masala's will bubble away beautifully

4. Now that the the masala’s have been added let them be for a few seconds and then add two cups of water. Now increase the heat and let the mixture come to a boil.

5. Add fried monj now and cover the lid. Let it cook for around 5 to 10 minutes until the gravy thickens and monj softens. Check the monj at regular intervals using a spatula, just like you would check a potato. Do not overcook.

6. Serve with plain white rice and sabut moong ki daal for a wholesome kashmiri meal.

I have not used any baidhayn (fennel powder) or garam masala in this recipe because I did not have any. Not sure if it is used in the recipe per se but mine turned out just fine without them too. Also would suggest to make it atleast 2-3 hours before eating as all the spices really infuse together and the gravy thickens naturally by then.
Adding a picture of aal yakhni (Bottle gourd) which I made, because I am just obscenely proud of it. Recipe for this can easily be found online.

Love
Sepo

Upheaval by the Inflation

According to a latest update, people are seen to be crying their eyes out while cutting onions. And it is not just because of the Sulfenic acid. The price of onions is apparently what is driving the middle class to tears. While the onions, tomatoes and pulses keep fluctuating and getting normal, what we as a user fail to notice sometimes is the gradual increase in costs. Household articles, groceries, public transport etc. is way more expensive than what it was few years back. The thing is we get so engrossed in our everyday day lives that we forget to sit back and see the happenings around us. Moreover the concept of super market shopping deters us to actually check the price of the stuff we blindly toss into our shopping baskets.

Picture Courtesy - blog.doctoroz.com

I had a revelation recently when while ordering Aashirwaad aata from my local vendor on phone. I asked him to quickly send across Rs 35 wala 1 KG bag of aata, he quickly corrected me to say its for Rs 46 and not 35! I actually started caring about these things when I first started cooking and buying my own groceries (roughly some four years back). At the very start the aashirwaad aata was probably costing Rs 35 and the same cost is somehow just truck on my mind. Blame the supermarket shopping for this! While I waiting for the Bhaiya to bring over my aata I did a quick recap of the things whose prices have rose right in front of my eyes. A few examples from the formulated list is presented for your analysis below.

SNo	Item	Before Price (2011)	After Price (2015)	Percentage increase
1	Auto Meter (Mumbai)	Rs 12	Rs 18	50%
2	Aashirwaad	Rs 35	Rs 46	31.42%
3	Amul Butter	Rs 24	Rs 32	33.33%
4	Amul Cow Milk	Rs 15	Rs 22	46.66%
5	Mutton	Rs 260	Rs 440	69.23%

These are just a few of the things I remembered and the numbers are definitely scary. Inflation is fine as long as our salaries also increase with the same percentage and curve. Sadly in most of the jobs it is not the case. So we the mango people continue to bear the brunt of the huge hole in our pocket after the 5^th of every month. And this is only considering the fact that you really only on home cooked simple meals. God save you if you are fond of eating or drinking out. Not only will the food and drinks be overpriced (A drink like Old Monk will also be sold at two times its price which by the way is Rs 100) the additional cost of VAT and service tax will increase your bill amount by atleast 30%, if not more!

Picture Coutesy - www.telegraph.co.uk

 I salute people with families, children, their education, clothes, food, bills… the list is endless. Just like our expenses and woes.

 *Long Sigh*

Love:

Sepo

Some Keen Observational Theories

1. The closer you are to a person the harder it is to tell them the truth – an honest opinion you have about them. On the other hand the closer a person is to you, higher is the chance of you venting out all your accumulated anger on them.

2. Some people get up in the morning, open their cupboards and wear the first thing(s) they spot. Irrespective of whether they are event appropriate or matching with each other. Now we are not expecting you to be dressed up to nine, looking like diva’s or studs. But green colored pants with purple Tee, red colored polka dotted pants to office and a tight fitted top struggling to stay on a plump frame is not a sight for the sore eyes.

3. While we are on the subject of clothes another important point. Leggings are not pants. Yes, even if you are a proud owner of a 26inch waist. They were made for kurta’s and look horrible with tops and shirts.

4. There are some people who go grocery shopping and forget one very important article every month. We are talking about the DEO here. Small word big benefits. Coz, sitting in cramped spaces with air conditioner blowing the same stale air, trying to breathe through your elbow or hair in public transport ain’t no fun.

5. When you finally get that motivation to join gym and one week down the line you start feeling somewhat fabulous about yourself – people will start commenting on how fat you look. Well, that drives you right towards those creamy macaroons and Dutch truffles.

6. An observation based on the above point. People criticize you when you are thin, they will criticize you when you are fat, and they will probably find something wrong with you when you are actually pretty alright. Listen to the people who matter, ignore the rest and do what YOU like. Just do your thang.

7. After a particular age you just loose interest in making new friends. You become content with the close set of fools you have managed to keep over the years. Friendships often sprout during those carefree phrases of live. Once responsibility kicks in, you’d rather make acquaintances rather than friends. That said, some rare exceptions are always there.

8. You start developing a “taste” for things. Now this can be anything ranging from clothes to furniture to alcohol. While in your teens and early twenties you are ready to experiment, as you mature you’d probably invest and explore something that you are familiar with!

9. However hard you try, innumerable promises you make – People still drift apart. In spite of all the wtsapp, skype and vibers long distance things rarely workout. And for those it does work, well congratulations!

10. Even though you may not realize it and in fact hate using SMS and texting lingo it still reflects in your writing. I just had a hard time understanding why MS word refuses to acknowledge “yourself’ which in my writing flow I had spelled as “urself”. OMG. I gave myself the biggest palm-slap after realizing my mistake.

11. The more you stay alone, the more impulsive and short tempered you get. Adjusting, patience and compromise become pariahical qualities.

12. A heart felt compliment makes everyone happy, no matter how old. So go on and don’t hesitate to make someone happy.

13. When women go on criticizing and complaining about themselves, all they are looking forward for to is some reassurance. "You look great" or "You are awesome" are some acceptable answers. Go not agree with her on this one. Its as simple as that. And men say women are hard to understand.

14. There should be at-least one that thing in life for everyone doing which makes you happy.

15. Lastly, everyone should watch F.R.I.E.N.D.S atleast once. If you aren't, you are definetly missing something really special in life.

LOVE:
Sepo!

It's Still Not The Time for GoodBye!

Image Coutesy - allindiascoop.com

I don’t think Maggie has ever been considered to be a junk food. It is something that we would ideally put in the category of what is popularly known as the comfort food. The popularity of Maggie can be understood by the fact that Nestle holds around 60% share in India markets. Ever since I can remember, the evening snack has always been the quintessential yellow packets of goodness. In the 90s life was simple. Pizza’s, burgers were conspicuous by their absence.We saw them being devoured through recently introduced cable network. But the only relation we had with them was of fascination. For us the-kids-of-90s Maggie was arguably the only guilty pleasure. Maggie also had a strong foot hold in foot items that are a part of relief and emergency like mountaineering etc.

We induced variety in it by adding vegetables trying to emulate the prototype on the cover.But mostly it was just cooked in boiling water. Though it was never done in 2 minutes, no one complained. Maggie meant a whole lot of different thing to hosteliers and bachelors. It was like a knight in shining armour, a saviour and a necessity to say the least. A lot of late night chit-chats were centered on Maggie. Study sessions were supported by numerous cups of coffee and bowlfuls of good ‘old Maggie. No-mood-to-cook days were efficiently taken care by the thought of Maggie hai na..

Then nestle won another round of hallelujah from the lazy bums all across when it’s introduced the cup noodles. Just add garam pani and you are done. Now there was no need to even switch on the gas burner. Because the hot water was procured from the geyser. It just couldn’t get any better.

But it did. Soon after they came up with vegetable aata noodles. Got Madhuri Dixit on board to make us believe that it’s perfectly ok if your kids don’t eat the regular chapatti and vegetables. As long as they eat these “healthy” noodles there is no reason to fret. It’s not like we believed that Maggie was the ideal food, we all knew at some level that it is a very unhealthy substitute. But we chose to brush it aside until something jolted us into action.

That jolt came in form of a very disheartening news of Maggie constituting lead contents which were 17 times the permissible limits. It takes our body roughly around two to three days to get rid of these toxins. Just imagine, noodles cooked in 2 minutes (well actually more than 2 minutes) eaten in less than 10 minutes and we feel that’s that. But the sheer amount of work our digestive system has to do to digest the maida, flushing off toxins etc is mind boggling. Especially when there are negligible nutrients involved. Just like Shakespeare would have said – Much ado about nothing.

The subsequent ban on the sale of Maggie has invoked a mixed state of reactions from people.While some are showing their anger and aggression by burning packets of Maggie, others are expressing their disappointment by sharing their fond Maggie memories on various social networking sites. There is also a section of people who are unaffected by the whole hullabaloo. For them it doesn’t make any difference. Having been eating Maggie for year’s altogether, they feel the new revelation of lead will do little harm. A college student from Delhi jokingly says “By now our bodies are so used to the lead or whatsoever content is there is Maggie that it hardly matters”.

The future course of action also varies hugely. Some people have entirely sworn-off from Maggie and the likes (knor, sunfeast, wai-wai etc.), others feel that it is only a matter of time before Maggie comes back with a bang (and with a popular celebrity endorsing it). We may recalls that the same kind of scenario happened with cold drinks and Cadbury chocolates some years back. With pesticides content found in the former and worms in the latter. After a gap of 2 months however, both the products were back with top film-stars and cricketers backing them. Most of the people therefore feel that Maggie will surely come back after the hiatus.

Nestle’s global chief executive officer, Paul Bulcke, said in an official statement: “We have been in India for over 100 years. We are part of India. Trust of consumer is shaken because of some confusion and we want to restore that.” Nestle maintains that Maggie is safe to be had but the huge over cry has forced them to withdraw the sales.

Meanwhile while the samples of noodles are tested and retested the die-hard fans of Maggie are left with no other option except reminisce. Personally, Maggie invokes memories of me and my sister fighting for who gets more share. Preparing our own maggies to see whose tastes better. Ordering platefuls of Maggie over assignments in college canteens. Relishing coffee and Maggie from Nescafé's. Ban or no ban, it goes without saying that Maggie has and will always be close to our hearts and stomachs.


LOVE
Sepo

The Inverse Relationship Between Salary and Expenditures

Come 25th of every month and you will find me cribbing and crying over the money I spent. The absence of money in my account makes me take my most financially sound decisions ever. Like last month I invested in a fixed deposit. What’s all the more depressing about the end of month period is that I get most of my bills during this time – the phone, internet and the most dreaded one- credit card bill. Now I am a credit card apprentice, it only been like a month or two. I still haven’t got a hang of using it. I flick it out at any opportunity only if it is just to pay for my overpriced coffee.
With the multiple digit bill playing a havoc on my mind and no money left to invest or shop. I am left with no other option other than to write about it.


The tragedy is that all my interests and hobbies are somehow associated with spending money. The guy who said “best things in life are free” was probably kidding himself. Or like Blair Waldorf once said, the person who said “Money can’t buy happiness didn’t know where to shop”. I am obsessed with shopping. Clothes, shoes, accessories, groceries you name it and I will buy it. Plus eating out is another activity I love. Trying out new cuisines at expensive restaurants on weekends seems like a perfectly harmless expense after a tiring week at office. My new found love affair with gourmet cooking means more shopping for expensive ingredients. And don’t get me started on the online shopping websites. While browsing Facebook the ads on the right hand side somehow force me to click on them. The harmless browsing somehow results in love for a fabulous piece of clothing. Your resolve for not buying it and closing the window doesn’t help because after this the ad think you loved will magically start popping up in every website you visit. The only available solution is to buy that shit and get it over with.


Book shopping for my Kindle is another pinch to the pocket. Now any sane person would know that reading a book takes on an average around 2 to 3 weeks of time (considering the fact that you only get to read a few chapters every night before sleep). So ordering them one by one every month sounds a good decision rather than buying all 5 together. Well, who will make me understand that! Knowing all this I will probably repeat the same thing next time as well. All these expenses however come back later to bite me in the arse later.


Trust me to also turn a simple activity like writing into a money spending spree. I suffer from a condition where by I just cannot write in the four walls of my home. My creatively is at peak in some nice café with soft music and strong coffee (Yes, the overpriced one). So most of my writings and posts are written from the air conditioned premises of this pretty little café I have managed to nail down in my vicinity. I take about 4 to 5 hours for a fully accomplishes piece of writing together with research/pictures and stuff. In order to keep the waiter away from forcing the menu card and giving me askance glances, I have to keep ordering coffee and appetizer tit-bits. So on an average lets day I write about say 8 articles per month, you do the math of how much this writing jig costs me!

Though a bit on an over spender scale none of the guilty pleasures described above are in any way illegal or overtly crazy. What I mean is that it’s not like I am indulging in gambling or investing in risky dealings. Still my spending and expenditure kicks the arse of my earnings. The major blame for this undoubtedly has to be the mind boggling inflation. From vegetables to apparels the rates sometimes give my head a spin. Simple things like a chewing gum which used to cost 50 paise during my childhood days is now for Rs 5. The cute little girl from utterly butterly delicious Amul has not changed but the price sure has hiked from Rs 14 to Rs 36. Alphonso mango is sold at Rs 50 per piece, I repeat PER PIECE here in Mumbai. Starting cost of simplest of the clothes on an average is Rs 1000. The cost of a cup of coffee is Starbucks or barista is enough for an entire month of coffee supply for your home. The rent you have to pay every month burns a huge hole in your pocket. Unless you take home a very fat cheque the chances are you are as disturbed as me.


Sometimes I feel one job is definitely not enough for survival. And I am strictly talking about survival not a lavish lifestyle. For lavish lifestyle you either have to find one of those fat pay-cheque jobs or doing multiple jobs or if you have a strong luck then maybe try for a lottery.


Love
Sepo