Main Masterchef Banna Chahiti huu/Chahata huu

Essentially this show in India is an International Format show, which started in 2010

I was under an impression that the show is about food, but no the show is also about people (read Akshay Kumar and his Punjabi fans). In the last season the show was back sans the celeb host, and Vikas Khanna the cute chef from NY, did a splendid job of conducting the show.  But even then the show was more Drama than Food

From the serpentine queue of people hundreds were chosen, and the contestants broke into pangs of emotion, throwing pans and other stuffs in the air. Pheww…it reminded me of the Prestige Cooker ad when I was a kid, that went “phek do yeh kadai, yeh frying pan, yeh pressure cooker, le ayoo…….”

The dramatics or the mellow-dramatics often went beyond that to say how desperately he/she wants to be the Masterchef for this season…

I really want to add here that all the selected ones look and cook like pros and definitely have a story….                                     

Hence this one is a word of advice for a dear friend who is super excited and is participating in the show this year to cook up a story before she really cooks up the cuisine.

Since the Kolkata auditions are scheduled tomorrow, I dare not divulge the secret of who she is right now, for her sake, or for mine aswell (so that I don’t get killed). But I promise to share the recipe as soon as I can. So for now we will call her Miranda, owing to the orange that she is wearing today.

So Miss Miranda, is quiet excited since the last few days, and putting in all her efforts to decide what she will prepare and how she will present it.

The technical hitches are quite a few given the fact that she need to reach the venue sharp at 9…so she needs to wake up at say 4 am in the morning and prepare as she has decided a host of stuffs for the gastronomical delight of the judges.

This includes fish, chicken, rice, some kind of roti/paratha, desert, chutney ….

She needs to buy a great looking plate, and think about presenting the food in a great way…and also shop for the best ingredients.

Anyhow for now I end the ordeal by wishing Miss Miranda good luck.

And a easy…Tropical Chicken recipe for you to try

Ingredients

·         4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts,

·         Salt & Pepper to Taste

·         2 tablespoons olive oil / Amul Nutrilite

·         1/4 cup dry white wine, or rum

·         1/2 cup heavy cream

·         2 tablespoons Mustard Paste - Mild

·         1 teaspoon dried Kasuri Methi/ Fenugreek leaves

Directions

• Sprinkle chicken breasts with salt and pepper. In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add chicken; saute until cooked through, 10 to 12 minutes, turning once. Transfer to a plate; keep warm.
• Pour wine/rum into hot skillet; cook, stirring, until reduced by half, about 1 minute. Whisk in cream, mustard, and Kasuri Methi. Cook, whisking, until thickened, about 2 minutes.
• Pour any accumulated chicken juices from plate into sauce. Right before serving, drizzle cream sauce over chicken

Bengali National Food

We have already spoken a lot about the multi ethnic influence on the cultural landscape of Kolkata.
Chinese play a very important role in this arena. Around the 18^th Century, the Chinese emigrated from China to work at the Calcutta port and Madras Port.
Today the unofficial estimates put the number of Chinese in Kolkata anywhere from 5,000 to 200,000. The Chinese have significantly contributed to the socio-economic fabric of the society. Today a majority are engaged in business leather products, mainly show shops lining Bentinck Street, dentistry, beauty parlours and of course my favourite restaurants. Kolkata is the only city in India to have a Chinatown today.
The Chinese Community from Canton settled at Chinatown Tangra, a place on the eastern fringe of Kolkata post World War II. Dentistry &Leather processing and shoe making was their primary business. However around the mid-seventies many tannery owners sold off their  business, and tried establishing themselves as restaurateurs. And as a results the food loving  Kolkatans fell for Chinese food (say Tangra Type Chinese).
The Macher Jhol Bhaat eating bengali is hugely influenced by the Chinese Food. Nothing works better on for family dinner or lunch than a bowl of Sweet Corn Soup, Fried Rice and Chilli chicken. Today we can easily say that Fried Rice Chilli Chicken is the Bengali National food. J
Inspite of dingy lanes and stinky joints Tangra rocks with some great joints like Beijing, Kimliloy, Kimling, Big Boss, Kafulok, China Garden and many more
Ingredients:
500gms Chicken breast skinned and boned
Salt to taste
1/2 Tablespoon White Pepper +1/2 Tablespoon Black Pepper
1 cup white cooking oil for deep frying
2 Medium Red Onions, diced in medium size
½ a pod of Garlic, about 7-8 flakes roughly chopped 
Enough Corn flour for coating chicken pieces + 2 eggs
6-8 green chillies, deseeded and chopped diagonally
½  Cup water
¼ Teaspoon of MSG(Aa-ji-Nomoto)
¼  Cup Dark Soya sauce + ¼ Cup Light Soya sauce
2 Teaspoon corn flour mixed in ½ Cup Water
1 Tablespoon white Cooking Oil
Instructions:
Cut the Chicken into 1 inch cubes or bite size pieces
Keep in a mixing bowl and sprinkle with little salt and half of the Pepper powder
Set aside for 15 minutes
Now mix Corn flour + eggs to coat the chicken pieces
Shake off any extra corn flour
Heat 1 cup white oil in a Wok and deep fry the chicken pieces in batches
Fry till they turn into nice Golden colour
Drain the oil and keep aside
Now remove the oil from the Wok (Retain for future frying)
Add 1 tablespoon cooking oil and heat
Add the Onions, Garlic and chopped chillies and fry quickly for 30 seconds on high heat
Add the deep fried Chicken pieces and stir for another 30 seconds
Add very little salt, rest of the pepper and MSG crystals
Stir and fold well by shaking the Wok in a forwardly motion and cook for 30 seconds
Now pour in the Soya Sauce (both the dark and light sauce)
Cook for 2 minutes
Now pour in the Corn flour mix at the centre of the Wok
Wait for 10 seconds and then fold well to coat all the chicken pieces nicely

Chilli Chicken is ready to go with a plate of Hakka Chow Mien or Mixed Fried Rice…Try in the Bong Style Chilli Chicken as authentic as it can be…

Roshogolla or Khirmohan

Roundels of white spongy sweetness that melts in your mouth…

No not roshogolla…its Khirmohan the elder brother to our celebrated roshogolla, that originally was born in Orissa.

Yes centuries before Nobin Chandra Das, of Kolkata made his own roshogolla, the neighboring state of Orissa had already mastered the art. Probably during the period where Bengal drew heavily from the culinary delights of Orissa and in many rich Bengali households in Kolkata employed “Ude Thakurs” Oriya Brahmins as cooks; came the secrets of roshogolla. Yes Nobin babu popularized the misti had gave hands and feet to it.

Around 1868, he modified the recipe of the roshogolla as he wanted to extend the life of the sweet which was originally highly perishable. As a result of his modification, the roshogolla became a lot spongier than it originally was but it remained non-perishable for quite some time, which made it easier for Nobin Das to market it as a product at his small Bagh Bazar shop. Subsequently, K.C. Das who was Nobin Das's son began to can the rasgulla which resulted in the widespread availability of the sweets. Another confectioner from Phulia also finds mention when we are talking about the origin of Roshogolla.

In Orissa, Roshogolla was served since centuries. In fact, it is an age-old custom inside the temple to offer roshogolla to Lakshmi in order to appease her wrath for being ignored as the siblings had gone out on a trip, on the last day of the eleven day long Rath yatra(chariot festival). Historians have referred to the origin of the 600 year old rosogolla to the Puri Temple ritual. So Roshogolla is as old as the Rath Yatra in Puri.

There are various versions of the sweet available across.

In Orissa, the Bikali Kar roshogolla is particularly famous and available all over the state. The other variant is the Pahala variant available in Pahala village between the cities of Cuttack and Bhuvaneshwar.

The roshogollas in Pahala are a softer version, more creamish in colour than white, and not as spongy as the Bengali ones. The Pahala sweet sellers say that one reason why the Bengali roshogolla is tougher than theirs, is that the Bengalis want a longer shelf-life for their product. They add arrowroot powder to their roshogollas. In Pahala, they mix shuji with chena while making of roshogolla. To this is added cardamom for flavor. A dough is made, it is rolled into little balls, and dropped into boiling sugar syrup. The sooji is used to hold the chenna together in the sugar syrup.

There are other versions available like the ones in Jagery available both in Kolkata and Orissa. Also with time several other forms like saffron, black current, strawberries came into being.

With time Roshogolla acquired popularity in Bengal. Today in every nook and corner of Kolkata you will find a sweet shop. And suggesting the best amongst them is like suggesting the best momo in Tibet.

However KC Das, Nakur Nandy, Bhim Nag, Balaram Mullick, Girish, Suresh at Bhawanipur, Maity at Ballygunge and many many more serve delicious Roshogollas keeping the sweet tooth of the Bengalis intact.

So today I share a Chocolate Roshogolla recipe

Roshogolla is essentially a simple five step procedure.

1.        Make the chana, using whole milk and lemon.

a.       Bring 1 lts, full fat milk to boil string constantly.

b.       Add 2-3 spoon full of lemon. Wait till the chana separates from water.

c.       Strain it through a muslin cloth.

d.       Put cold water over the strainer and wash away the lemon from chana

e.        Drain all water

f.        Keep the chana aside

2.       Kneed the chana with cornflour/arraroot

a.       Kneed the chana for about 2 minutes roughly to make it greasy

b.       Add 2 spoon full of arraroot

c.       You can also use 2 spoon full of suji – however if you add suji it will not be fluffy.

d.    Add 2 tsp of cocoa powder and 2 tsp of chocolate syrup - for chocolate roshogolla

d.       Kneed with all ingredients till its greasy and make the dough

3.       Form small balls with the dough. Mak esure there are no cracks in the roundels.

4.       Make sugar syrup. Boiling water and sugar

5.       Boil chana balls in sugar syrup.

So u have it ready…try it…

Park "Food" Street

"Food Street" and "The Street that Never Sleeps" or Park Street owes is origin to the South Park Street Cemetery.

As early as 1784 the map of Kolkata points out to the current Park street as “the street to the Burial Grounds”. So technically speaking the South Park Street Cemetery is the key to the beginning of the Élan and Aura that we witness even today.

In 1792 the street was renamed again as “the Street to Deer Park”, deriving its name from a deer park of Sir Impey, the chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Kolkata, located at Middleton Row, the present day Loreto House & Loreto College location. It’s from here that the current name Park Street came into being. Later however the street went through many name changes. In 1832 the street was renamed again to The colonial Residential Street, where the whites started settling in and around the area. The growing economy and strategic geographical location led to enormous growth of Population. With rise of population Park street started developing further towards Park Circus. In the early 20^th Century big mansions were build turning the street in a colonial boulevard with western grandeur.

The earliest buildings on the street were of the Asiatic Society, build by Captain Lock of the Bengal Engineers and  completed in 1808.

The other landmark buildings that find mention was the San Souchi Theatre, opened in 1841 and was sold in 1844 to Arch Bishop Carew, after it was gutted by fire in 1843. It’s here that today stands the prestigious St Xaviers College. Other old buildings that find reference between 1900-1940 are the mansions like Queens Mansion, Park Mansion, Karnani Mansion among others.

Even long after the British Raj was gone, Park Street retained its aura with an unforeseen Élan. It was not just a stretch of road that housed all the top quality restaurants and lounges but much more than that. Park Street became a major witness of the cultural shift that Calcutta was experiencing during the 1960s and the 70s. It was no longer a place reserved only for the elites. More and more middle and upper middle class Bengalis had started to come out of their closet of conformity and they dared to inhale the fragrance and odor of Park Street, soaking up the dimmed neons and jazz music of its innumerable restaurants and lounges. Many noted musicians had played at popular night spots such as Trinca's, Blue Fox, Mocambo and Moulin Rouge. Even today much of Kolkata Night Life is centered around Park Street in spite of unwanted incidents of violence.

Mrs & Mrs Flurys established a tearoom called Flury's & Trinca's in 1926. A decade later, Mr Trinca set up another tea room across the road and christened it Trincas. It was only after Puri and Joshua bought the place in 1959 that it metamorphosed into a night club. Famous singers like Usha Uthup, Gautam Chattopadhay laid the foundation of rock and pop from hereon. In the meanwhile Flurys, became a popular joint amongst all age groups and till today serve the best cakes and pastries. The tea room bears testimony to legends like Satyajit Ray and many others. In 1956 began another heritage restaurant Mocambo, by an Italian chef. Even today the eatery is famous for its landmark Fish Muniere and Devil Crab. In 1967 came The Park, first of the chain of hotels, with 150 rooms. Later with time the in-house night clubs Some Place Else and Tantra took over as the most happening night spots of Kolkata. In the map of Park Street emerged with time many big and small eateries all distinct with its flavor and trademark cuisine.
All memories of dining out in my childhood is connected to Park Street. Be it Chinese at Waldorf, or continental at Mocambo or the famous Iranian chelo kebab at Peter Cat or the fantastic ice creams of the Indian Hobby Center. Park Street definitely holds a huge place in Food Map of Kolkata.
So my tribute to one of the 1^st tea bars in the country, Flurys with an effort to recreate their famous Chicken Omelette – of course my way

• Sauté Chicken Sausages with mushrooms and American corn in a pan with little butter and pepper. Keep aside
• Beat eggs till fluffy. Add finely chopped onions, jalapenoes and a spoon of cream cheese; season with salt and pepper.

Heat Butter in a pan and pour the beaten eggs. Once the omelette has set and puffed slightly, carefully flip.

In a small bowl, combine chicken vegetable and cheese dressing. Stir well to coat.

Spread the chicken mixture over the omelette, sprinkle cheese on top, followed by  chopped tomato. Turn off heat and cover with a lid, allowing the cheese to melt.

Fold omelette in half, and serve with coriander garnish and french fries

**compiled from various sources available in Public Domain

Jhale Jhole Ambole...Ami Bangali

We talk about the traditions of tok, jhal, jhol, ambol, chachari and chachra today, prepared with the help of traditional bothi, kuruni, hata, khunti, jhajri and of course our hadi, kodai and dekchi.

So yes this is not French, these are terms used in a day to day Bengali kitchen even today. Much of the names of items like tok (sour), jhal(hot), etc have a direct link to the taste of these.

Historically, caste has always been weaker in Bengal then in other regions of India. Across the state you will find the richest and the poorest having very much similar kind of food. A traditional Bengali lunch starts with sukto and ends with chutney and misti.

Calcutta was an extremely cosmopolitan city during the British Raj, with large communities of Jews, Armenians, Chinese, Anglo-Indians and many others. 350 years of British presence and Kolkata being the capital city, attracted people from all over the world. The Chinese, Tibetans and even people from other parts of India came and settled here. In the early 19^th Century a westernized Bengali Babu class emerged who got exposure to European Education and lifestyle (clubs, parties)  and were not adverse to exploring other cuisines. Hence we today talk about the influence of History of the cuisine of Bengal.

The Nawabs – Dhaka being the center of trade activities, during the Delhi Sultanate of Turkish origins, developed a certain Mughlai Khana with distinctive nawabi rich sauces and beef. Later the Nawab of Bengal under the Mughals moved to Murshidabad from Dhaka, and here too the food influence with richness of spices continued. Much later during Nawab Wajid Ali Khans exile in Metiabruj, came hundreds of kitchen staffs. Later on his death these specialist workers dissipated into the population, starting restaurants and food carts all over Bengal and propagating a distinctly Avadhi legacy into the western parts of Bengal, especially the burgeoning megacity of Kolkata. Avadhi food however was slightly different from the traditional Mughlai, with lighter spices and more use of aromas like keora jal.

The Europeans – Bengal had been under various European influence including the Portuguese and the British. Portuguese introduced lots of fruits and vegetables which were brought from other parts of the world. The Cashew plantations in the coastal areas to prevent soil erosion in just one of them. Apart from that there was also Ranga Alu, without which our sukto can,t do.

Then there was Jews who started off the famous Jewish bakeries in Kolkata, which still serve mouthwatering things in the New Market area. Cakes, Pastries became famous with the advent of Baghdadi Jews in the city.

Further to these were the chops and cutlets now a definitely Bengali snack borrowed from the English.

Even sweets in Bengal has huge European influence on it.

The Widows- Traditionally the Bengali widows were ill-treated and were left at the mercy of fate. The food that they ate was devoid of any “heating” elements like garlic and onion. Ginger however found place in the vegetarian cooking style of Bengal. So did a little sugar, ghee, and some spices. Milk Products & expensive nuts etc was also scarce. And what came out was far from basic and rudimentary. its deceptively simple preparations drew upon Bengal's vast larder of vegetable options and were often elaborate to the point of fussiness. Cooked with elaborate precision and served with equal refinement - multiple courses and an intricate formality about what goes with what and in which sequence - it formed an enduring base for a rich and varied cuisine. Leftover cuts in particular, such as spinach ends or vegetable peel, are transformed lovingly into magical preparations. The origin of Panta (rice cooked the day before, soaked in water served with green chilies and onions) and Muri (puffed rice) also came from the widows. However later muri became the local regional snack with huge popularity in form of Jhal Muri

The Bengali region is riverine. Fish is one of their staple foods. The other is rice. So they love fish. Most of them who live overseas just can't do without fish and rice. They make about every vegetable with fish. So they take it everywhere. More than forty types of mostly freshwater fish are common, including Rohu, Katla, Papda, Koi, Magur, Tangra, Shinghi, and several varieties of our favorite Prawns – Chapla, Kucho, Baghda & Golda.
Worth mentioning in this context is a subtle difference between Bengalis of India, "Bangal" and "Ghoti" are used as social sub-groups indicating the ancestral origin of a family. Families who migrated from East Bengal are Bangals and those whose families originated in West Bengal are Ghotis. The term 'Bangal' as used here has little relation to actual geography, since most members of these groups all now live in India. The term is used freely and not considered derogatory within this social class. There are many a differences found in the cultural events like the Bangals celebrate Lakshmi Puja on the fifth or sixth day of Durga Puja while the Ghotis celebrate it on the Kali Puja Day. Similarly in food the Bangals love Ilish and the Ghoti love Ching-ri (Prawns),

Hilsa is the national fish of Bangladesh, and extremely popular in West Bengal, Orissa, Tripura and Assam. It is a sea fish but it lay eggs in large rivers. After being born the young Ilish (known as Jatka) then swim back to the sea. They are caught before they swim to the sea. Ilish is also caught from the sea. However, those caught from the sea are not considered to be as tasty as those caught from the river. In India hilsa is found in the Rup Narayan, Ganga, Mahanadi and Chilka lakes. However Illish of Padma in Bangladesh in the most famous. Although this year there has been a lot of heartbreaks over low catch and high price  of the Bengali favorite.

It’s said that Hilsa can be cooked in 108 distinct ways. Baked, Smoked, Fried, Steamed, cooked in a mustard gravy, with egg plants are just a few among the variety.

Today we make a Bengali signature Bhapa Illish

Method:
1. Grind the 100 g mustard seeds with the 2 green chillies.
2. Prepare a marinade of 2 tsp curd, ½ tsp turmeric powder, ½ tsp chilli powder, mustard-chilli paste and salt. Marinate the fish in the marinade for half an hour.
3. Pour 2 tsp mustard oil over the fish. And some whole green chillies.
4. Steam the fish for about 15 minutes, till it is cooked.

Boys of Wasseypur

The band of Wasseypur boys has done enough to impress me.

The sizzling, action packed real/reel drama and an end to end Darwinian propagation of the “survival of the fittest” theory left me thinking and rethinking about the entire story. The film is soaked in blood and revenge and has stellar performances by each and everyone in the film. Not a moment can I have the movie off my mind. To me it’s truly an Indian Cinema, reflecting the chaos, ethos and pathos of the people in Bihar Jharkhand area. No fancy shots, no flamboyance. The movie is all real and on the face, with well integrated with facts and fiction. Though the residents of the town have raised objections, the film has been successful in attaining critical and commercial success.

I was fascinated by a lot of factors personally.

The first and foremost the story spanning three generations and with generations changes styles, ideas and ideal of the gangsters. The story revolves around changing nature of business and vengeance across 3 generations

The influence of Bollywood on the styling of the icons was also remarkably portrayed. We see a Faisal and a Definite sporting Amitabh Bachchan and Salman Khan looks. There is extensive light on this throughout and a clear objection as well when Ramadhir Singh mulls that one reason he has stayed alive for so long is "kyonke main cinema nahin dekhta"

Also the focal point of the movie definitely was tracing the history of Mafia in India and also the trade and operations of organized mafia through unions. It’s also interesting to note that English speaking polished people also became a part of mafia with changing times.

The look and feel of the cinema came real with creating a live small town aspirational Faisal Khan whose innocence was crushed and pushed into vengeful violence. In his hand the movie achieves maturity. Loved the way Faisal shows off his Pager. And Huma Qureshi breaking into a dance when the wedding is finalized like a wannabe Madhuri Dixit of the small towns.

Also with the movie came across a new genre of Bollywood mothers far from the teary eyed “Nirupa Roys” of the world. She is the one who coax her sons to take revenge and happily takes the bullets that killed the villains as perceived by her.

It’s also remarkable how the protagonists move on in life after the loss of their loved ones.

I dont understand the technicalities of the movie..but loved the music...Sneha..u rocked with "tar Bijli" ; "kala" and my favourite "frustio nahi mora" (maybe my caller tune for the next few days) songs.

So inspite of the all the bad things that’s circulating about the film, I loved it. How does it matter if all these things actually happened in Wasseypur or not? Why do they have to be real? I have never been to Wasseypur and so I do not know if all these are true. But I respect the artistic impression of truth. Violence has been sprinkled with enough comic reliefs which are nice breathers and make the movie more watchable.

Kuddos to the team – each and every one.

And finally some litti chokha to celebrate wasseypur

For the Filling – Mix Sattu - 1 cup + Garlic( chopped and fried till golden) - 4 cloves +Ginger( chopped and fried till golden ) - 1 tablespoon + Green chilies ( chopped ) – 2 + Coriander leaves chopped - 2 tablespoon +Aamchur - 1/2 teaspoon +Spring Onion - Finely chopped 2 tsp +Thyme ( Ajwain ) - 1/2 teaspoon + Pickle masala (achar) - 3 teaspoon + Mustard oil - 2 tablespoon+Salt to taste

Add 1/4 cup water to make the stuffing moist and easy to fill. Keep aside.

For the Dough –Add yoghurt 2 cups and ghee 2 tsp , in atta 2 cups. Mix lightly with finger tips with water knead it into stiff dough. Make balls out of dough of 2.5" to 3" diameter in size with hand.

Process-

1.     Stuff 2 to 3 teaspoon sattu filling in the center of each balls and close it from all sides.

2.    When all the littis are stuffed, put a tawa on the oven and coat it with a little oil. When the tawa is warm place littis all acoss

3.    Heat till one side is brown and black spots come on the litti surface. Then turn over the litti and heat on slow flam for few more minutes until that side is brown as well.

4.    As the tawa starts heating further add spoon full of ghee on the tawa and keep turning the littis till both sides are well cooked.

For Chokha-Crush together boiled alu + Salt + roasted Brijal + salt + pepper + green chillies + mustard oil

A perfect snack…try it out

Vijayi Vishwa Tiranga Pyara

On the eve of Indian Independence day, what else did you expect me to write about.

How many of you remember studying the fundamental rights during school. I loved that tabloid size small civics book that we studied during ICSE.

To reiterate our Fundamental Rights include Right to equality, Right to freedom, Right against exploitation, Right to freedom of religion, Cultural and educational rights,Right to Life and the most important where you can move to the courts in case of denial of any of the above rights Right to constitutional remedies.

But reading them and writing about them feels weird in today’s context. Yes many a times our constitution has been amended to incorporate changes. But reading and even reiterating all these make us all feel funny. Almost nothing in the list of our rights is implemented and ensured.

Just take for example the right to equality. While there are reports of rampant female infanticide which has taken the sex ration to a dismal level of 940 females per 1000 males, the basic literacy rate as per 2011 census is 82% of an Indian male while only 65% for a female. Even today ensuring education to the poor and backward classes is a mammoth task. So no way do we see human beings as equals. Hence the question of implementing other rights do not exist.

So the question is where do we stand? What does a free India mean for us. Is buying and hosting a flag on independence day enough? My heart goes out to kid on the traffic signals selling “plastic flags” just before Independence day and republic day. Again Plastic flags that costs almost nothing but pose huge threat to our ecosystems. And educated people are naïve enough to buy them and proudly place them in their cars or in the living rooms. But it no time the flags lose their significance and lands up in the garbage van. And it finally adds up to the huge waste under which our cities are already crumbling.

And who is to be blamed for the crumbling nation. Only we only us. How long will we take to stop littering our streets? How long shall we use the corners of every street as an extended toilet? How long will we colour the nation red with rajanigandha? How long will we take to stop taking shortcuts and bribing our way out? How long will we buy liquor in black because it’s a dry day on the 15^th of August?

Just putting up a façade and buying small plastic national flags won’t do. We need to move ahead. Do our bits. Each one of us will have to live up to our motherland and not let the sacrifices of thousand men and women go waste in earning us a free country. Small thing go miles in making the country a better place to live in.

Having said this, there are great works happening in all spheres of life and that what I say Hope is all about.

So todays special is a full on Tiranga Lunch that I Plan to make tomorrow. Will definitely upload pictures once I am done with my experiment.

The idea is to make 3 separate items and serve it with the tri colour arrangement.

Item 1 – Simple crisp long grained steamed rice (this will form, the white central part of the tri colour)

Item 2 – Methi Saag Bhaja (for the green part)

·         Pick leaves of methi, cut finely, wash & drain.

·         Take roasted peanuts, chopped garlic, dried red chili.

·         Heat oil in pan then add jeera , dried red chili and hing to crackle in oil. Add chopped garlic. Stir well

·         Put roasted peanuts. Fry it. Lastly mix fenugreek leaves, mix well, stir fry on low till the . Add one table spoon ghee.

·         Let it simmer for few minutes.

Item 3 – The Orange Devil Chicken

·         mix 6 tsp tomato puree + 2 tsp red chili paste + 2 tsp ml vinegar and keep aside

·         cut 400 g boneless chicken in long thin strips. Wash add salt and pepper and keep aside.

·         after an hour add 6-8 tsp dhosa batter and mix well. Deep fry the chicken in batter and keep aside

·         in a kadai heat some oil add 2tsp roughly chopped garlic + 2 tsp roughly chopped ginger  and fry till golden

·         add onions cut in chunks. Stir till the onions are transparent.

·         add red and yellow bell peppers (optional)

·         now add the ready fried chicken

·         mix well

·         add the mix of sauces already prepared

·         mix 1 flat tsp of corn flour in cold water and add to the kadai.

·         add salt and sugar to taste

·         cook on low flame.

·         garnish with oregano flakes

Serve the food with loads of love and hope and of course imagination that in turn makes it worthwhile. Will upload pictures for sure.

As Promised : Uploaded on 16th August... Used  Prawns instead of Chicken and hence was spared of the pain to deep fry them. Turned out to be pretty nice. :)

Cricket Vs Mary Kom

So when is the T 20 Cricket starting?? Will Bhajji be a part of it?? What about Yuvi?? Whom is he dating these days?? Loads of questions and loads of excitement and loads of expectations.   So did we have our expectations from the battalion of Olympic superstars? For the first time ever 83 athletes were send who participated in 13 games. So 6 medals in all. Have they let us down? No we have let them down, time and again. So where was Mary Kom say 2 months back? Do we know? No we don’t. But we know where did the cricketers party after the last win and we want to know all the gossips of their personal life.
So we as Indians care about only cricket as a sport. No matter how many time Mr Anand wins the World Championship, no one will care to pitch for him in the Rajya Sabha. No one will care for anything till cricket is knocked off from our heads. And who has made cricket popular? Hockey used to be our national games right? So what made cricket so big. Cricket clearly began with the Britishers. It was seen as a mark of colonial superiority if Indians were participating the game. Till even the 70s cricket was not too popular in the interiors of India. India enjoyed two international highlights. In 1971, they won a Test series in England for the first time ever, surprisingly defeating the Europeans in their own game. This was a great morale booster for country which has grown up believing the superiority of lighter race.  In 1983, again in England, India were surprise winners of the 1983 Cricket World Cup.

From here on the success story began. With the invent of television and with active participation of many great legends of Indian Cricket, the sport reached new heights. Then with years came IPL, the ultimate money maker.  

But why dont we win at Olympics. We have so much of talent in our country, then where is the problem.Apart from infrastructure, inadequate training, funds, sponsorship what clearly lacks in the intent and the will. And most importantly the Political Will. Besides the above, another most important reason is the discouragement and disinterest showed by parents and teachers to their children’s interest in sports and games. Interest of the youth naturally comes with encouragement and success. 

Now that boxing is getting popular because Akhil Kumar and Vijendra Singh are winning honours for the country. Sushil Kumar has made grappling popular whereas Saina Nehwal has coxed many girls to wield racquet. Everyone wants to be a part of winning team.   Indian Sports in a unique chicken-egg situation where there can't be talent and victory without money and there can't be money (Sponsorship) without victories. Hence the onus is on government to encourage other sports too and its also the role of Media to bring the stories of struggle and success of other sportsmen too, from the grass root level.   Lets only hope that Mary Kom will not have to run from pillar to post to get her kids in school, and will we remember the trouble she faces with regular power cuts. In an interview she says "fighting five years without any good diet. No supplement, no eggs. No breakfast. Just lunch and dinner, vegetable only and rice. Sometimes when the relative I am staying with in Imphal, when he gets salary, then we get meat. Once a month, yes, exactly." 

So here’s for my hero “MARY KOM”, her favourite  Pork Chilli recipe

• Heat oil in wok and saute dried chilli with garlic till aromatic.
• Before garlic turns brown, add sliced pork and stir well.
• Add sugar and dark soya sauce.
• Once pork is cooked on outer side, add water gradually (ensure that water continues to boil)
• Add salt, pepper and chinese cooking wine.
• Cook till gravy reduced before dishing up.
• Serve with fried onions and garnish with chopped spring onions

Political sisters

In India, there are no rules with regards to joining politics.

Actors being Indian can very well by their choice enter politics. Their being or not being actors do not definitely bar them from joining Politics. They are citizens of this country and are as eligible as anyone else. However its strange that no stars come and join politics in their hep and happening days.

There can be two things that can prompt the entry of Film Stars. While being a film star, if you are not constantly in the news, or in the gossip circles, maybe you long to be back in News and crave for that fan following once again. And with hopes of gaining a sizeable votebank and naturally the power that comes with it. The other and the more “nice to say” reason could me “I want to make a difference, I want to serve my country”. But low attendance of celeb politicians do show the grim picture of recruiting celebs in parliament.

Film stars turning to politics is essentially a South Indian phenomena. CN Annadurai, a great mind of his time made Cinema a Political movement. Also there was NT Rama Rao who rose to stature and made Telugu Pride a national issue.

Yes even today we have cinema stars with imagination and intellect. But do they have time for Politics. Say an Amir Khan or a Konkona Sen Sharma, or maybe a Vidya Balan will they be involved in long boring parliamentary sessions? Will they take notes on how the discussion will affect the lives of people who voted for them? Or will celebrity politics remain a way for political parties to integrate a popular face in their dwindling campaigns.

Having said that Mr Shinde no ways has the right to tell Mrs Bachchan that "This is a serious matter. This is not the subject of a film,". To which Mr Arun Jaitley and others in the opposition reacted sharply

Now after all the drama in the Parliament, Mr Shinde escaped the question for sure. He appologised saying “"If she is hurt by my comments, I apologies for that. She is my sister."

Now that was smart.

But having celebrated Rakhi just a few days back, we rather ask Mrs Bachchan to forgive him J

So here is a Moong Dal  Ladoo for the sisterly love J. But not a sweet on ethough.  ;)

Ingredients

·         1 cup moong dal (dhuli)

·         1/2 tsp red chilli powder

·         3/4 tsp garam masala

·         2 tblsp mint chutney

·         2 tblsp tamarind chutney

·         chaat masala

·         salt to taste

·         1 tblsp coriander leaves

·         250 gms radish (grated)

·         water to soak dal

Process

·         Soak 1 cup dal overnight.

·         Drain excess water and grind to a fine paste.

·         Add salt, red chilli powder and garam masala.

·         Mix well.

·         Make small balls and deep-fry till they are golden in colour. Keep these balls on a plate.

·         Garnish with radish (mooli) lachha, mint chutney, tamarind chutney, chaat masala and coriander leaves.