Langar

Raw materials.

The Semi-Chef

(Final product photo missing due to obvious reasons)

Take one
Played badminton till 10:30 in the night ,had dinner at MiniY’s place .Night out was mostly consumed by least count followed by Dumbsy with movies like R****** ki J****** enacted by TeaofKap and SK’s (Hindi-challenged) interpretation of desi philums using dustbin as his favorite prop .
And then yours truly throws a lavish invite ..guys lunch at ma place tomorrow.
Sas3 and Manchi were visiting Galore ,so invited the Panchtantra gang (you know those five… they come in package ).In totality ,number of ppl to cook for – 13 +2 =15!!!!
Night mares starts , author though now a “ok types” regular cook , has no prior experience of cooking for more than 4 people at a time .
Nightmare ends , with MiniY and Preety lady offering the much needed potpourri bid.

From MiniY’s Kitchen – Sambhar , Aloo fry with assistance from Preety lady , D , SK, and TeaOfKap -the one who owns a Logon ,a 2 bhk flat ,goes for swimming n gym daily .(Punch ! Punch!)

From author’s Kitchen – Lobia , Gobhi fry , Raita with help from rt g, rt g‘s friends Sravs n Mads.

@Author’s Kitchen
The cutting starts at 11:45 am , cooking commences only when Bebo brings Mirchi at around 12:15 .The author who fully owns responsibility n credit for Lobia ,kept optimizing the ingredients .
Cooking ends at 1:30 , phew ! it takes a lot to prepare a dish for 15 people .Loads of cutting , stirring and washing .

Then comes curd ki baad , unknowingly everybody bought curd .Guest , host(S) almost everybody. we collected 10 cans.
Later on it was disposed as return gifts to people who are proud owners of refrigerating units.

The feast was awesome, especially MiniY’s Sambhar .And author’s(with hideous track record on kitchen front in past) Lobia was also a thumbs up ,errr am I assuming or was it really ?
In short it was a fun Friday afternoon lunch . Thanks to all for making the Langar sucessfull.

Mom will be happy .Seems even Bro gave a nice feedback about my able-to-cook edible- food-with-interest skill .

Take two
Nandi hills 60 km drive from Bangalore happened the next day. It was hot and strenuous ,only the modest trek till the hill top made the day. Let photos in next post do rest of the writing .

PS1: No point of being made of honor , when miles away . I am missing all the fun .
PS2: Strangely I have never covered a fully fledged i.e a to z north Indian wedding. I have mostly slept through them .
PS3: This time I won’t .

Tiffin bombs

Has Mohini read my post? Mohini “the dabba wala “ aka my food supplier for past 1 and half years.

9 July 1:00 PM , The hungry me (the breakfast devoid one)makes usual call to the security to verify if my Tiffin has come ,
Security guy : "Nahee madam, abhee tak dabba nahee aya"
Me: "Agar aye toh upaar pent house pe bhejh dena."

1:10 PM , I call the source and yell /crib ,why is my lunch not here yet?
Mohini:" Oh sorry ,ajj tiffin nahee bhej payengay"
Me :" Hmm , apko pehale btana chahiye thaa na."

The hungry me (the breakfast devoid one) puts down the receiver! And curbs the hunger with “free” office food . To add to the misery ,encounters stones , long hair while chewing.

Same episode repeats the next day, I call the source again and
Me: "Abhee tak lunch nahee aya mera"
Mohini:" Meine apko bolana , abb lunch nahee bhejeinge hum"
Me:" Lunch nahee bhejeinge matlab?"
Mohini : "Very casually says, ab se nahee bhej paengay, resource nahee hai, sorry ."
Me: Long pause

I felt as if my mom has called me and told “kid I am no longer going to cook for u or feed u.Make/Find ur own way in life.
What puts me off that Mohini dint even informed me regarding this sudden ceasing of lunch supply , rather it was during my daily verification calls I get to know this news in a very casual way.
Why is it this way ,that when it comes to customer care we always try to give our best .But when we are in the customer’s shoes , the vendors don’t care!

As they say “ jo hota hai achhey ke liye hota hai”

I actually started cooking quite frequently before being ditched and also published a post .Later that, kind off helped me to come over the feeling of being a loyal customer yet being ditched !
Have technically learned(amateurish types) to cook for survival years back , it was just that never loved it nor was required to practice it .
However , now we are practising it and I confess, have actually started loving it .:)
Ma & Pa are happy coz I have finally developed an interest for this art and further reduced my dependencies .
Me too happy :d, no wonder we click the pic for every dish.

See and say Yummmm


Click on the pics to see the zoomed version and detailing about the garnish.

Poha, Koshimbeer(the curd thing, raita kinds with peanuts powder), Paratha(guess the Map :P, to me looks like a Stingray without the tail ) , aloo curry, Thalpeeth(pic missing , will upload later) ......what not .

PS1: haha and u thought me writing about the blasts?
PS2:I can expect a bomb squad soon , I often leave the weekend dabba(the typical 3 storey steel one) in front of the flat.
PS3: Can this heading cause me trouble? Whatever.
PS4: My MP3 player has gone for a toss, no music bhoohoooo…already 3 days ,no music.
PS5: Long time no Arzzes ,kada? here u go

इश्क गर शायरी का राज़ होता
तो हर दिल शायर ना होता
मोहबत तो सब करते हैं , ग़ालिब
फनकार कुछही में बस्तें हैं

PS6:Yes , by your's truly , not Ghalib .
PS7: Hehe was typing words and doing ctrl+space, seems like in few days, will switch from Microsoft Outlook to Eclipse IDE to compose posts :D-Occupational Hazards .

Of Jamun, Saree & Media

My first.
I screwed up my first TV interview. There could have been a far better and more accurate answer for what I do on weekends ,Damn it!
I bought my first Saree ever and was desperately hoping that somebody marries(somebody else) so that I can inaugurate the attire. And yes ! we have found two occasions (thanks to the ppl around who all r of marriageable age).
Of cooking:-
Yes ,we have been cooking a lot .Since ppl around me -my x-roommate Neel and my new roommate –R are great cooks.(Mom will be happy)
Following is the outcome:-


Yummm and the story how it happened goes like this .I have sweet tooth , I badly need something sweet after dinner .Especially if we (the girls gang) are having these extended night gupshup, that too on Tanky top of our terrace .When the clock strikes 12 my cravings go on peak, the crib starts –“I want chocolate ice cream ..Neel please go and bring.....Plzz I so badly want it ” and all she says is - Dear get urself a boyfriend he will bring it for u at any peak hour !(pause) ,sigh !
Cravings are contagious. They take different course with different intensity depending on the host. This time the host was Neel (as ppl are aware of her demanding and huge appetite).
She badly wanted to eat Gulab jamun on one fine day at night around 9 PM.None of us wanted to go out of the house. Were too lazy to even get up from the bed . Upaar se there are no proper sweet shops, no vehicle around. We kept lying in a false hope that Almond house would travel on its own to Mayuri lane.
Suddenly we got a call from Miss S .She wanted to visit us and stay overnight –“Lightning strikes ,clouds disappear , an angel appears” .We requested, pleaded for Gulab Jamuns and arrangements were made. We kept waiting.
After an hour Miss S calls again- “ Lightning strikes , dark clouds reappear , angel dis-appears”.Her plans are changed , she is going home directly. Of our request she promised to fulfill the next day.(long pause) (cry)!
Neel got all psyched.She said “ I want to eat now at any cost , we are going to cook it ourselves”. What about the ingredients ? She went out to the local kirana @ Mayuri lane and bought it.
Preparations started I made the dough, Neel made the chashanee.
“ Lightning strikes , dark clouds reappear ,Demon appears”.
Oh no! The manufacturing date of the Jamun mix looks very old……this seems to be expiry date ! naheeee ……..common ,check the best before .I almost scanned the whole packet and finally somewhere in the middle of those cooking recipe miniature instructions , found the best before , phew ! three more months left-“ Lightning strikes ,dark clouds disappear , an angel appears”.

Preparations continued .The Jamuns were ready finally and were a success -as they say “sabar ka phal meetha hota hai”.In the back drop there were dinner preparations –Rice, Dal, Bhindi fry , ghee and achar. I learned and made (yes from A to z by yours truly )the south Indian style dal – Tomato Pappu and this is how it looked

At the expense of this

PS0: GJ credit moslty goes to Neel.

PS1: We ate around 6 each.
PS2 Watch this space , more yumm stuff going to come , hehe a potpourri of Northy and Marathi dishes (courtesy my new roomy ).
PS3: wasn’t I suppose to write on my North -East trip? I actually don’t remember the stats or
PS4:Lazyyyy……, I am so Lazyyy……I have no enthu ..oouuu! ( Junta observe !, it’s the lonely , I am so lonely song ) :D
PS5: what else.
PS6 : Hey btw ,this new debutant –Jane tu fame –Imran khan ..me totally Fida.
PS7: Got a fundoo idea !! next post – “My incomplete posts”.