Kathal ki Dum Biryani!!

Do you struggle with the word Biryani? Do you think that you need to buy the ready made Biryani Masala to make a proper biryani? For me both these answers are a straight No. Read on if you wanna join my club.

Kachche Kathal ki Biryani

Almost 400 gms of cut and cleaned Echor / Kachcha Kathal / unripe Jack fruit. Boil it in water along with some salt and turmeric, till its 50 % done. Using a pressure cooker may not be a good idea.

7 onions chopped and fried till brown

About 300 gms good long grain rice, soaked for 1 hour

Masala For the Rice

2 tbsp Oil

A nice mix of whole Garam Masala-

·       1 star Anise

·       1 cinnamon Stick

·       2 to 3 cloves

·       3 to 4 Green cardamom

·       ½ black cardamom

·       2 big leaves of tez patta (bay leaf)

·       1 tsp of Shah jeera

A lot of water and salt to taste.

Masala for the Jackfruit

2 heaped tbsp curd

3 tbsp oil

All the Whole Garam masala as mentioned up for the rice preparation.

3 tbsp Ginger and garlic paste

1 tsp turmeric

1 tsp Coriander powder

½ tsp Cumin powder

½ tsp Chilly powder

A few shakes of freshly grated nutmeg and cinnamon separately.

2 big pinches of cashew nuts and 2 more of raisins

A big handful each of chopped mint and coriander leaves

3 slit green chillies, or to taste

For Assembling

2 tbsp ghee                                                                    

2 steel containers with lid

1 small pinch of real kesar and warm milk

Procedure-

During biryani making, its best to keep all ingredients out and handy. Also this same process could be used for any other Dum cooked Meat or veggie biryani.

First in a kettle boil a litre of water.

Get a big sauce pot and put it on heat. We would make the whole spice tadka for the rice first, before proceeding for other stuff.

Pour in a few tbsp of oil. Once it heats up, drop in all the whole spices; and on low flame cook till it is fragrant.

Carefully pour in the hot water on the tadka and salt it generously. Add some more cold water and bring it up to a rolling boil before adding the soaked rice. Cook the soaked rice on a rolling boil for 5 to 7 minutes. It should be about 50 to 60 percent done. Drain it out on a plate and let it air dry. I mostly just take my spider ladle and drain out the rice from the starchy water onto a bowl. Then I quickly topple it out on a flat plate and let the rice air dry for a few minutes. Repeat with the remaining rice. The second batch of rice should be kept to air dry on a separate plate.

So by now, you have fried onion kept in one corner . Rice half cooked and air drying in another.

Lets start making the jackfruit masal now.

In a wok/kadhai heat some oil. Once hot, temper in the whole spices along with a sole red chilly. Wait for it to get fragrant.

Add in the cashew nuts and raisins and fry them lightly in this flavour ful oil on low to medim heat.

Now beat the curd with all the dry masala powder, and set it aside.

Now one after another, we would add different elements to the wok and get it frying.

·       The first to go would be a big pinch of fried onion along with the ginger garlic paste. Fry till we get rid of the raw smell of ginger and garlic.

·       The next would be the curd mix along with all dry spices. Cook it till oil separates out of the masala.

·       Now would be perfect to add 2 big pinches each of mint and coriander. Add in the green chilies too for an added kick. 

·       Adjust salt and sugar and this stage. And, add in our already cooked jackfruit to pan fry in the masala and absorb its flavour.

Taste again for salt and sugar, and adjust accordingly. 2 big pinches of sugar was good enough for me. you can even omit sugar, but I highly recommend adding it to lessen the tang of homemade curd.

Now its time for the assembly.

·       You have the jack fruit prepared.

·       You have onions fried.

·       You have half cooked rice

·       You have chopped coriander and mint ready.

·       This would be the right time to create the saffron mix. Just warm up a few tbsp of milk in microwave and drop in a few strands of kesar on to it. Let it bloom and get flavourful.

Now all you need is to set up a steaming station- gas or electric. 

Generously put ghee on the steel containers you choose to steam the biryani in. Put a thin layer of the most uncooked rice of the lot you have made earlier, in the bottom of the pan. Top it all with jackfruit masala. Now an even layer of onions needs to be followed with an even layer of chopped herbs. Top it all with rice once again.

This is where you need to be creative. Get a proper layer of fried onion on top. Now another generous sprinkle of herbs. Now get that saffron milk and spoon it all over the while rice. 

Close the lid, and let it steam for 30 minutes.

And when you open that lid once done, you will be transported to another world it self. Biryani is a soul food, which is made and perfected with love. Make it to believe it.

Cheers!!

Fat to Fit- Basics about Intermittent Fasting!

A random picture of my tomato vines!

I don’t much know or care about these ‘they-s’ we always refer to, but they say that in winter you make your summer body. It could be ‘you’ who can agree or disagree, but I am going with it for the simple reason that soon the warming protection of an over the top jacket is going to go, and we would end up with a flabby arm in a sleeveless dress, showing unflatteringly. So here is our ‘Lets Lose Weight Together’ winter series to get you up and tidy for the coming seasons!

Now if someone isn’t familiar with our earlier series, than a link is embossed for you to check it out. That series did pretty well on my blog, and if emails are to be believed, many came forward to tell me how it helped them achieve a good weight. That time, a couple of years ago, natural sciences told us that 2-hour-eating pattern was the healthiest way to life!! But as Darwin stated, evolution happened in the sector of natural sciences; and scientists claim that they have found a better solution of weight loss in the form of intermittent fasting. Now I am as confused as you are, but more and more I read about IF, I become more and more certain that it must be a healthy pattern of eating. Now let’s give it to our ancestors, in the name of religion, they did devise this healthy alternative lifestyle in the way of Ramadan, where you fast for most hours with just a small period of time allotted to feasting. But the non inclusion of water is still a problem, and that gets eliminated in the Intermittent fasting pattern of eating. Similarly, in our Hindu tradition, especially in Bengal, we have ‘uposh’ till the time we offer our prayers to Ma Durga, which is exactly what we do in Intermittent fasting. We fast till 11 am, and then start eating and continue eating till 9 pm. The only way ‘uposh’ is different to our fast is that, we don’t start our day eating deep fried dough and potato curry!

So, I have decided to test this scientifically proven method of eating and write about my journey for the others to get benefited from. I start today, that is the 12^th of February, with a 12 hour fasting to 12 hour eating window. I have always had little meals, which lately weren’t so little which obviously led me to gain a couple of kgs. My idea is to lose just about 3 to 4 kgs, following this way of eating, and then be able to maintain this for the rest of my life! But then again, you never know because losing and gaining weight is so much a part of the recent lifestyle, that we are prisoners of. Yet, I am confident that by Holi, when the sweaters go away, I should not feel too bad about looking in the mirror, especially since I have not exercised seriously since the smog hit Delhi.

My eating pattern would look a lot like so-

Waking up at 6.30 – 7 am to 500 ml of lemon and ginger steeped water.

By 7.30, to have a cup of coffee, that I am not too happy of having on an empty stomach, but really, I cant do with out it anyways. I don’t add any sugar or milk to it.

8 am – a brisk walk for 30 minutes, followed by some fresh veggies shopping for the day. I try to buy things, to be eaten just in that day.

9 am- I will break my fast with a bowl of fruits

By 10, a fibre -rich breakfast

1 pm, a fibre rich balanced lunch which should have all components of nutrition, including carbohydrates.

4 pm – 100 gms of fruits once again

6 pm tea and a handful of roasted Bengal gram, or chana chapta jor garam

8 pm – dinner which will not include carbohydrates, but is large portions of vegetables and lean protein.

By 9 pm, I stop eating, only to have a cup of warm cinnamon water before bed time, about `10.30 types.

By 11, I should snooze!

Now, this is wat I am going to be following, and by no means I am a nutritionist who can try devise meal charts for people apart from family. Yet, if you so wish to follow me on this journey, then please do write in a comment to encourage me to go further up on the road! But before you do, you need to know of these pointers-

• 1.       I do this 12 hour fasting for a week, and then I would gradually increase the time to hit a ratio of 16:8 hours!
• 2.       For the first 2 days, I will have some sort of carbohydrates in the night, and then would I try to eliminate it and see how much I feel hungry the next morning. Again, all this pattern of eating should definitely include my comfort. And so, I will take it as it goes, and write about it the next week.
• 3.       Sugar, I can eliminate, and so I will. But I would continue having some processed stuff, especially wine, because I can’t dine without wine! And no point trying.. HIC! HIC!

So, here you go. Extremely candid confessions made. Now lets see, how we fare on this pattern of eating. Cheers!!

P.S. - no recipes this time.. 

LLWT- 2 with Skinny Chicken Parmesan

Let’s Lose Weight Together Part 2 (LLWT-2)

Now for a quick update on my diet, I did follow it religiously from Monday through Saturday. Obviously the hostess that I am, I couldn't say no to entertaining guests on Friday, and hence made an easy healthy meal of homemade chicken parmesan, served on boiled daliya/bulgur wheat, and the banana chocolate cake from the below post for dessert. Luckily for me, the guests were health conscious too, and they loved the idea. By Friday, I have lost 1 kg on the scale, and the 2 hour eating habit has kicked in majorly. Saturday however kind of disturbed me off the path. I had a team lunch where in I had 2 slices of pizza and 1 cucumber. Dinner was late and almost after a big party, which didnt really go very well with me. I got sick and hardly ate anything on Sunday or Monday. Basically it was a stomach bug and thankfully due to timely medical intervention, I am back to eating normal since today. 

So for now I am gonna stick to week 1 and let my body adjust back to its routine. In the meanwhile, here is the recipe of Chicken Parmesan. It is a wonderfully easy recipe involving very few ingredients. I Indianised this Italian classic and read all about my experimentation here. Also, I am extremely sorry for not clicking a pic for it. I am borrowing a picture which resembles mine from the net, and thus I declare no interest or ownership on the same. But yes, it did look a lot like this, just a bit less of cheese on top. This recipe is so simple, that even after having a busy friday at work, I could put it together in no time. I had made the Marinara Sauce a night before, and that really sped the process manifolds. However, you can easily make this dish with a store bought jar of Marinara Sauce, and I bet it would still taste this awesome! 



Ingredients

4 chicken breasts cut in equal portions
Bread Crumbs
Fresh Garlic crushed
Salt and Pepper to taste
Homemade or store bought Marinara sauce (I followed a recipe from the internet, but instead of canned tomatoes, used fresh tomatoes and cooked a bit longer)
Parmesan Cheese
Gruyere Cheese

Method

Marinade the chicken breasts with salt, pepper and crushed garlic; and set it aside for 10 minutes. 

Now coat the chicken breasts thoroughly with bread crumbs and pan fry it in a little oil, but on a high flame. The idea is to not cook the chicken fully, but to get a crispy coating on it. 

In an oven proof pan, smear on a few dollops of marinara sauce. Place the crispy chicken breasts on top of it, in a neat row. 

Cover the chicken with more sauce and garnish on top with grated cheeses of your choice. Dunk it in a preheated oven for 20 minutes until the cheese is melted and the chicken is fully cooked through. Let it rest in the pan for a few minutes and then serve it with the carbs of your choice. 

I served mine on a bed of boiled daliya, along with a fresh cut salad on the side. Cheers!!

P.S. - In case you need the recipe of indianized Marinara sauce, comment below!

LLWT- 1 with Healthy Sugar Free Muffins!!

Let’s Lose Weight Together Part 1 (LLWT-1)

Sawan ka mahina – the rainy season is here. I don’t like it at all. This is the season my restaurants suffer the most in terms of business. This is the time when water seeps inside electrical equipment, leaving my base kitchen fridge less. The microbes are everywhere, everyone is either sneezing or coughing, or throwing food that was made in the morning, but gave way till the afternoon reached. So, my point being; I hate the season. There is absolutely nothing to like in the muddy water logged city that I live in, while it rains. The incessant traffic jams on the road doesn’t help either. After each shower, there is an addition of a pot hole on every road I travel. And not to mention, the abrupt waterfall and extreme panic of coming home to a flooded living room, just because the rain was too steep, and the drain pipe couldn’t handle the pressure. Sigh… I can continue complaining for another 2 pages.

But I assume, you aren’t reading to hear my rants about the Gaon I live in!! I guess you are reading to know the secret behind why I started abusing India’s most loved season, under the title ‘Let’s lose weight together.’ If you ever get the connection, let me know too... It might help me to understand why I am so erratic these days. But if you don’t, just continue reading as I am getting to the weight loss journey, starting now.

Thanks to my work, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to lose the extra kilograms that I gained since last year. My biggest problem is that I stress eat a lot, which makes it tremendously difficult to lose the weight. Obviously treading the weight loss path alone is rather difficult. So I had a genius idea to involve each one of you reading this article today, facing similar situations in life to come together, read and get inspired; and inspire me in the process.

A typical day for me starts with an action packed morning, leading to a stressful office day; lounging on to a traffic led evening- where I leave office to pick up my son and head back home. The night time sees me a bit relaxed, with family; either cooking a treat, or drinking a storm. My biggest challenges are these two aforementioned situations. It’s rather easy to reach up for a bottle of wine to unwind from the stressful day. And maybe, I did manage to gain all these extra kgs thanks to this one weakness in me. After consumption of alcohol, our bodies start experiencing a great depth of hunger. To satiate that hunger, we start off on the munching path which just piles on calories after calories in our body, unwanted and unreal. I can’t control my family’s urge to stack up deep fried farsaan in the cupboards. What I need to control is my urge into reaching out on to those snacks every now and then. So before, the issue mounts up to become a problem, let’s snip it in the bud. I am guilty of following this easy rather comforting lifestyle since a few months now. But better late than never. So here is my goal that I want to fix for me today, for the coming week.

Firstly, I am gonna restrict drinking high calorie drinks like wine completely. My voice has been soar for sometime now, and I need to get it back to sing my little guy lullaby. So for the next two weeks, if I drink, it’s either gonna be brandy with hot water, or just water. No wine shall pass through these lips, till my voice is back to normal.

Secondly, no deep fried food for the next two months consciously.

Thirdly, I need to get back into healthy 2 hour eating habit. 3 litres of water each day is not a problem for me at all, but if any of you are skimpy water-drinkers, please note that as well.

Obviously, these are difficult to follow in my life as I have too many distractions around me all the time. But the idea is to start amending any cheat I do with the next meal. So the amends for each chaet on the each goals would be-

Only twice in the week would I drink. And if I consume wine, then just once. Also, 2 glasses of water for each drink. Which would definitely cancel out the negative with a lot of positive.

Deep fried food should be accompanied with a lot of salad, before and after.

If ever I miss eating in the 2 hour mark, I will try not to eat 2 meals at the same time, substituting that meal with a lot of water.

So an ideal meal chart for me for the week would be-

Early morning – 500 ml lukewarm water followed with a bowl full of fresh fruits.

Intense activity                 (exercise)

Breakfast- a healthy combination of whole carbs with vegetables/egg. Eg-1 whole wheat veg sandwich or a roti-egg roll or oats upma with a lot of veggies and curd.

Mid-morning- Green tea with a healthy snack. Eg- 1 cream cracker biscuit or rasted chana or 5 pcs of soaked almond or this low calorie muffin.  

Lunch- would be a good mix of vegetables (cooked and/or raw) with whole carbohydrates. Eg- salad with ‘1 or 2 roti or boiled daliya’ and 1 - 2 bowl veg with 1/2 bowl curd/dal. If I choose to eat non veg, then I will cancel the carb and take 100 gms chicken/fish with 1-2 katori veg and salad.

Evening- green tea with 2 cream cracker biscuits or green tea with a small bowl roasted channa

Dinner- same as lunch just that I will try to go skimpy on the carbs. Eg-1 wheat chapatti with 1 or 2 bowl veg and Salad; or 50gms chicken/ fish with 1 or 2 bowl veg and salad.

Bedtime if hungry- 1 cup toned milk.

So I am aiming at following this diet for the next two weeks. It’s doable, in fact very easy too. But 1 of the weekends, I would like a treat of something sweetish that doesn’t harm my body so much. I will try to eat it more as a meal in itself as the mid-morning/evening snack, rather than an after meal dessert. Plus the sweet craving family of mine can’t be deprived of sweets for a whole 2 months, just because I am attempting to eat healthy. I know their urge in indulging into some sweets would lead them to a sweet shop, and that would be a nightmare for me. So here is a simple muffin recipe, which is refined flour free, butter free and most definitely sugar free in the most un-chemical way possible.

Ingredients

 ¾ cup whole wheat Flour

1 egg

½ cup Milk (any kind of Milk would work- coconut, almond, soya etc.)

2 tbsps. Maple Syrup or Honey

1 tbsp. Veg Oil

½ tsp. Vanilla Extract

¼ tsp. Baking Soda

Pinch of salt

2 Medium Bananas, roughly mashed

A handful of Dark Chocolate Chips

Method

It’s a rather easy way to make these super healthy muffins. All you do is combine all dry ingredients together in a bowl- flour, salt and baking soda in a bowl. Add the chocolate chips and coat it well.

In a measuring jug, dump in all the rest of the ingredients- egg, milk, honey, vanilla, oil and crushed banana. Mix well.

Now just combine the wet to the dry, and the batter is ready to be baked in a preheated oven of 180-200 degrees Celsius, for 15 minutes, or as long as it takes for a wooden toothpick inserted in the centre to come out clean. Cool and enjoy this treat for a day.

Basically the idea is to not starve you of your craving. If you crave something sweet, eat this. This batter will make only 6 muffins so it’s perfectly portion controlled.

So a best of luck to me and to you if you are with me in this ride. I starting today, and I have goal of losing 6 kgs within the next 2 months. Cheers!!

Have You Heard of Anaaj??

Have you heard of Anaaj? I am guessing the answer would be a simple yes! Anyone who understands, Hindi- India's national language would know that it simply translates into 'grains.' A lesser number of people would be able to join the dots to know that it is something I am concerned with, for now. A few would know of what it means and what it doesn't for me. But only a select handful would know what triggered and got the concept started. Today's agenda is to let those hands open up so that I have a little more than handful of people who should become a part of my journey through the neat kiosks of Anaaj.

Daliya Aur Daal ki Bhuni Khichri!!

It all started with a walk down the famed Park Street. It was a rainy day in Kolkata, and I saw an array of stalls on the street selling food of unimaginable variety. There was Biryani, noodles, Chaat, tandoori and what not, but in every lane I turned; I saw a couple of humble carts carrying big aluminium vessels, full of 'Khichri' a dish made with rice, lentils and vegetables. At first, I did think why anyone would want to buy khichri and eat it on the streets, but in came the lunch crowd; and sure as hell there were many who stood by the stall devouring this simple dish. I asked one of them- jhola bearing, bespectacled gentleman- eating the dish as to why does he feel the need of buying a simple dish like khichri, which can easily be ignored. His answer was real, ‘it’s cheap, fills me up and is wonderful for my tummy; then why shouldn’t I?’And he is right. If you look closely, you will know that it is a very balanced meal full of nutrition to fuel your day with energy. It’s light on stomach and takes care of tummy conscious bongs in a way that compares to the gentle caress of our favourite thammi (granny). Cut to North India, where the revered Bhaskor Banerjee of the Piku fame created unimaginable jokes on everything digestion related. And here I stand today, as the madhatter who dared to sell khichri in her corporate based QSR concept- Anaaj- Pulses & Grains.

The First Customers!!!

Anaaj- Pulses & Grains is a concept based quick serving restaurant (QSR) that I intend to build as a chain. Launched on December 4^th, we are 2 kiosks strong; and we intend to soar up and high with many more concepts and kiosks in the coming months. The ‘Pulses & Grains’ concept is conceptualised keeping in mind the needs of a corporate world, where we sell food for the need, as opposed to food for the want. Now you can and should ask what is this want and need? Well, for that I made this poster-

It’s simply the fact that you might indulge in everything sinful and calorific for days, but at the end of the third day, your body and mind will seek the comfort of a home-styled light Indian meal. After all, it’s human to go back to the comfort of the food you have grown up eating, over anything else. So I am the mad-hatter who sells khichri in North India. And it’s no simple feat. Starting from teaching my hard core north Indian Chefs to cook the perfect Bhuni khichri to letting the cynical customers know the value of a light Indian meal; it wasn’t an easy path. But well, who exactly wants their lives to be a bed of roses. A few challenges here or there is what makes life colourful.

Balancing the dieting!!

I took the challenge heads on. In my first kiosk, I stood selling food for a month, interacting with customers, understanding their need to get it incorporated in my menu. I discussed each and every interaction with my staff to understand all that they can do over the wishes of our patrons. We started with a few things, and then with valuable inputs from everyone connected to the name of Anaaj, expanded it to an expansive menu of over 50 items. Today, each and every dish is something I am proud of. All dishes are carefully recipe developed, keeping in mind the articulation of my kitchen staff. Today Anaaj family is 12 members strong. And all of these 12 members are finally proud of the fact that we are the only Indian Restaurant which serves curries with a layer of love instead, of a layer of artery clogging, demonic oil. We recently launched #AnaajCurries, and trust me if you had our Chicken Angara, you would know how a gravy can be made magical with minimal use of oil, but maximum use of flavour. I have things like Palak Khichri in my menu, directly inspired by my stay in Mumbai. I have Dum cooked Biryani in my menu, with a taste of Hyderabad in it. And I also experiment with the North Indian staple- parantha (flat Indian bread, stuffed and roasted) filling it up with unusual things like Sattu or Chicken or a mix of roasted veggies which I call- Sub Subz ka parantha. I have experimented with things like Dalia- broken wheat on the menu. I intend to get out many more such forgotten grains or recipes which are extremely healthy, but forgotten completely in the mad rush of this generational life.

Chicken Chawala without a layer of floating oil!!

I am developing another concept now. All I want to say is wait for it to hit the market as it would also be super interesting, and very healthy. This time, it would be a bit more celebratory and a little less mundane. At this stage all I want to say is that we are here, and we are here to stay!  Cheers!!  

Alu Angara!!

Left Over Wow - Layered Methi Biryani!!

A young mom’s biggest tension in life is to get rid of the huge amounts of leftover she gets left with. My child however so I wish, refuses to eat many things that are staple to his growth. But I ain’t one of those moms who is going to quietly make those left overs my own dinner. I spice and spruce it up and make it a bigger than life thing for the full family to enjoy. This post is an idea which pretty much stemmed out of this very emotion.

So I harvest these young fenugreek leaves, about which I wrote in my earlier post- 

Growing Your Greens- Fenugreek!!

My son is extremely happy to have parathas made with fenugreek the first day. The next day too he devoured these bitter microgreens with ease and I was beyond happy. So I sowed the seeds again and this time when I harvested, I decided to try a rice dish instead. I was in a mood to prepare a wow dish, but had a big bowl of left over rice in the fridge with some hard boiled eggs which was very rudely denied by my little guy the previous night. So to serve him something healthy yet fenugreek-y, I took some carrots and ripe pumpkin to make a curry where the spice used was just these fresh microgreens from my balcony. Then I transformed the curry into a layered biryani adding in some hidden flavours. If you are positively curious about the dish now, then you should definitely read on to the next page to get possibly the most amazing yet so very simple- Layered Methi and Subz Biryani. 

Ingredients for making the Fenugreek and Veggie Curry

2 medium carrots cut in ½ inch pieces

150 gms pumpkin cut in big ½ inch pieces

Harvested fenugreek microgreens. I didn’t really weigh or measure it, but it would be approximately 3 big handfuls.

2 tbsp of mustard oil      

½ tsp cumin seeds

1 bay leaf

1 dry red chilly

Salt to taste

A pinch of Turmeric

Sugar to taste

To be ground-

2 to 3 fat cloves of garlic

2 small onions or a big one

3 green chiliies

Handful of cilantro leaves

For layering-

Cooked Rice (stale or not, nothing for guessing what i must have used!)

A boiled egg sliced

A couple of spoonful of mango and chilly pickle with mustard oil (I used a homemade mango and chilly pickle. I had followed Alpana Habib’s method of pickling. She is a famous celebrity chef from Bangladesh, whose food is quintessentially Bengali. But for this recipe, any other hot and sour and sweet pickle would work as well. I love to use the oil mixed with juice of the pickle so it is a good idea if you are buying a pickle, buy the one which is preserved in mustard oil)

A dash of milk

Sliced onion fried- barista (optional)

Chopped cilantro

Now head on to SmartIndianWoman.in for the detailed recipe.

Cheers!!

Note-

I didn’t use fried onions because it’s extremely tedious to cut fry and drain it, just for a weekday lunch to be carried to the office. But if I was to serve it in a party, I would do these extra steps willingly.

To make it completely vegetarian, just omit the egg part and you are good to go.

Turning 30 With Kochur Loti (Colocasia Stems)

Is age just a number? Or does it signify something… For sure I am getting older! This year I would be celebrating my big 3 with a child who is a big 2. I don’t know if it’s the number, but I surely think it’s a bigger issue here. I chose to settle in matrimony at an early age, and as a result, my life took a fast turn into a calm sunset. Lots of my friends are still living off tinned, packaged food, while I make gourmet domesticated stuff that I grow in my garden. Flirting with fenugreek and spinach is all I do to perk up a boring week evening. And nothing can lift my mood up and beyond than a simple glass of chilled iced scotch coupled with jazz in my ears. Really, I am still in my 20-ies. But these are the things I work hard for, the good luxuries of life.

Why do you think I am ranting about age today? Well, it stemmed out of nowhere literally, but when it did, I was completely flummoxed and out of words. It all started on a fateful evening. I decided to drop in unannounced on a friend who was a birthday girl that day. In the morning when I called to wish her, I heard her recount all amazing plans for the weekend and the birthday; and I severely felt left out as I didn’t fare in any of the plans she recounted out to me. So, after my busy day in the kitchen, I picked up my little guy from school and barged in to her apartment. There I met a girl for the very first time- Miss X. I casually told her my name and she brightened up to tell me that ‘I have heard so much about you, so good to finally meet you.’ Here was Miss X, of whose existence I had no idea at all; though she regularly featured in my friends various parties and get-togethers. But she knew me by my name and I didn’t. That got me thinking, why it is that such a good friend of mine never involved me in her plans, but talked about me to everyone she met. She is still single, has a happening life in the metro. She can go to Agra at a moment’s notice. Somehow I don’t have that luxury anymore. I have matured into a place where I plan each day in the morning, and follow it immaculately all throughout. I cook, I write, I garden, I work and then I drink my favourite and off to sleep to wake up to this very routine again. Boring is it? Don’t know! Am I too busy to notice? Don’t know again! Am I enjoying this? Well, in a very strange fashion, yes I am.

I am enjoying being in this routine. We do party, but our parties don’t have night clubs or discos anymore. And somehow, we have grown to like such a quiet elegant life. Merits are plenty too.  We eat healthy each day, and so eating out or ordering in is special and is done to make memories. We spend our days thinking about designs of new furniture or some other thing like a new dish or a new crop to grow. And my little guy, he is in the centre of it all. We have grown old. And it’s good to agree, feel and act like your mental age. After all, I conclude- Age is just a number!

Today’s recipe is nothing else. It’s an ode to mature tastes. As a child everyone hates colocasia. It’s an acquired taste, just like whiskey. A matured palette can differentiate the finer nuances of the taste. The itching fades away as our throat becomes bolder to fathom more calcium oxalate than before. Today I made this dish to be served in a potluck. I packed it in colourful dabbas, and the picture is testimony to that. But really, the dish can’t get simpler than that. Now, I created this curry with colocasia stems, but you can easily substitute it with cauliflower, following exactly the same steps as shown below.

Ingredients

500 gms Colocasia stems, washed peeled and cut in 2 inch size pcs

To be ground to a fine paste

·         2 tbsp of black mustard seeds

·         1.5 tbsp poppy seeds

·         Green chillies to taste

·         Pinch of salt

·         Very little water

P.S. I don’t strain the paste to remove the black shells of the mustard. You can if you so wish to. The old kakimas (aunties) always blamed the shorshe shells for their husband’s poor tummy. Though I feel otherwise, and blame the mustard oil instead.

2 to 3 tbsp of mustard oil (I know it’s quite less, but if you use this efficiently it will give you amazing results)

A pinch of ginger paste (to enhance the mustard flavour)

1 tsp of onion seeds/ nigella seeds

Water as per requirement

Salt, sugar and turmeric as per taste.

Method

Wash and drain the stems well and in a steaming pot, steam it in a microwave/steamer with some water. Steam on high power for 5 minutes. Let cool, strain and discard the water which would now be filled with calcium oxalate- the culprit that causes the itching. Let the stems drain out completely and come back to room temperature.

Once it’s cold to touch, smear on the mustard and poppy seed paste evenly. Mix in the ginger, salt, turmeric and a tbsp. of oil. Marinade in it for 30 minutes or so.

In a non-stick wok, heat a tbsp. of mustard oil till smoking hot. Splutter in the onion seeds and tip over the marinated stems.

Cook it on low to medium flame, stirring it occasionally till its soft and cooked through. This will take about 15 to 20 minutes. To aid it to cook faster, partially cover the wok with a lid, but make sure to toss every now and then to incorporate air. This will help in uniform cooking.

Salt it generously as it would be served dry with steamed rice. As an optional step, do balance the taste and pungency by adding some sugar and mixing it well in the dish. Just 2 big pinches of sugar would do the trick.  

Once you are happy with the texture and taste, switch off the gas and drizzle on a tbsp. or more of raw mustard oil. This is optional, but highly recommended as it takes the dish up to a new height where no one will understand wat exactly hit them. Serve piping hot with steamed rice.

Cheers!

Equality & A Dinner Plate!!

Equality is a difficult thing to achieve in life. I almost always feel it’s utopian in nature. This month the new government celebrated #SaalEkShuruaatAnek on social media. I personally got 2 messages from our tech savvy Prime Minister’s office. Won’t lie, it did feel nice to see my name and his signature on a virtual piece of paper. But between all this shuruaat, have we got the basics right? Basics of equality, have we even got it in our heads right. I am not talking about the villages here. I am a hard-core urban girl, born and brought up in big capital cities. My family comes from a background of scientific research and education; and yet I don’t see an iota of equality anywhere I look around. Its saddening when I see a new age, educated couple not celebrating their first born girl child’s rice ceremony, but goes all out ga ga in celebrating their 2^nd born son’s special day, with gifts of silver showered on guests. It’s saddening to see an MNC employee trying for a 3^rd child after 2 daughters. It’s saddening to see a family break down over ego clashes where a wrongdoer doesn’t want to accept his mistake, as he is the first born son who wasn’t taught to be humble to his baby sister. These are the problems that plague the Indian society of today. Somewhere our education system has failed miserably, and there is no two ways about it.  When I look at my toddler, I see a new generation coming up. They need to know the truth, the bad and the ugly; so that in future they understand the “Right”.

Being equal is a right. And a right that has to be applied well. I can’t help but be saddened at whatever is happening to the girls around me. But, I can and I will preach and try to drill into you the importance of equality in your daily diet.

“When equality is found between food intake (calories taken in to the body) and physical exercise (caloric expenditure) a maintaining of body weight occurs.” Sourced

Equality doesn’t have to be socio-political in nature. In fact at times we need to be more open to the word than not. It’s a balance that we seek between all aspects of life. And food stands first on the order as that is what makes or breaks your health. Remember, we were taught health is your greatest wealth in life!

Personally I believe in keeping an equal balance between all nutritional content of my family's intake- carbohydrates, protein and fibres. But I know, at times it’s a difficult thing to achieve and that’s why I have a few pointers to help you out with. When you are out travelling on work for a month or so, or when you are constantly too busy to cook a healthy meal for yourself, it is these times of constraints when you need to practice the following points. Trust me, I write with experience. Recently I stayed 3.5 months in a hotel, and it was then that I came up with this plan for myself. I did not gain any weight, in fact lost some. But that didn’t mean I didn’t have calorie rich spaghetti in cream sauce with extra bacon on the side. Or my favorite biryani with a rich gravy. And I even got the chefs to make bong style cocktail samosa/shingara. I devoured it all with many glasses of wine, vodka and even some scotch. So you get the picture. I ate a lot, but intelligently so. And I want you to do the same as well.

1. The first on your list is to make sure u eat every 2 hours without fail, equally dividing your food intake throughout the day. Get a small jar full of walnuts, almonds and raisins. Munch on a handful of these once every day. I used to get the hotel staff to send in some nuts right in the morning with breakfast. It was the best way to ensure my family gets a handful of nutrition every now and then.
2. Soups are your best friend. Experiment with new kinds every now and then. Try to stay away from the cream soups. But if you absolutely have to have it, then have it as a full meal. I used to order a clear soup every evening at 8pm. It was to fill me up enough so that by 10 pm, when I sit for dinner I don’t over indulge.
3. Make sure that one of your meal is light and steamed at least in 2 days. Idly is my first choice, but a Chinese style steamed fish is great too.
4. Now comes the balance part of it. All your meals have to have equality in it. For a grown up sedentary life, you don’t really need a lot of carbohydrates, especially if you like to indulge in sweets now and then. So equality doesn’t mean equal amounts of every category, but that you need a good balance which should equal to your capability of spending it all. If you sit for longish periods of time, then all you need is food that burns down itself. A salad with a light vinaigrette or sprouts salad with every meal would do it. As a tip always have the salad first. When you are hungry, even the most tasteless of the lot will look as delectable as biryani. Tricking your mind into believing this would lead to a thankful body. And if you are too lazy in making a salad, then have 2 heaped spoon full of Isabgol- Fibre supplement. It would help as well, though it’s not as tasty as a salad maybe, but it would keep u at the right track.
5. Instead of rice or brown rice which is quite tasteless to me, have daliya no 4. Its long grain broken wheat, which goes wonderfully well with any curry of your choice. Some hotels give out the option to customize menus, especially when they know you are giving them revenue for a month. Use that to let them get a pack for you to have for the stay. And do the same in your house too. Replace rice from your daily diet, and have the healthier whole version of grains instead. This small step will lead you to a long step towards healthy balanced eating.
6. Now let’s tackle the bar. Here the equality is of the utmost importance. Equality between the liquor consumed and water taken during a period of time is really the key to be sane while drunk, and especially if you are prone to severe hangover. No one really likes to drink water midway having a drink. And I hear you, I myself don’t like it much. But, before you start drinking, have 2 glasses straight of water. Hear me out, hear me out. I am telling you it works! Have 2 glasses of water just before you start to have your drinks. And then there is no stopping you. To have more flavor as well as more water, take a lot of ice along with your drinks. Trust me that helps too. I at times have wine on rocks. I love it because it keeps my drink really cold and mellow at the same time. But it’s my taste and a lot of you might not even like to try it. So don’t! But have that couple of glasses of water before you start. You will definitely thank me the next morning.
7. Make your breakfast the biggest meal of your day. It should start with a bowl full of fruits but can end with anything really. Even a pc of cake had in breakfast would be much easily digested than a chapatti in dinner. So indulge as much as you want in the breakfast. Pancakes are my favourite indulgence. What’s yours?
8. Don’t get overly bitten by the WHOLEWHEAT bug. Trust me if the packet of your cookie or pasta tell you it’s whole-wheat, doesn’t mean it really is. It might just be 30% and rest be gluten rich all purpose flour mixed with many other preservatives and stabilizers and other artificial stuff. Instead eat your pasta at times but eat the real stuff. And have a big portion of salad with it. Trust me tats the only thing that will work.

Being equal in your perspective towards life is a good thing. A practice that will lead you up in your life. Socio politically, I really can’t do much. I can’t go up to those guys on the erring side and make them understand their deed. They are pretty much incorrigible in nature, and feel no guilt as they have absolved themselves off the wrong they committed. But I am more concerned about your plate of food instead. Maintaining an equality in what you eat and don’t, will really go a long way in keeping you away from health disorders. Even if one person feels and practices these little pointers mentioned up on the note, I will deem this article to be extremely successful.

Do let me know in a comment below how you keep your family healthy. Its always a pleasure to read your thoughts! Cheers!!