Mumbai Sightings!!!

Seen in an autorickshaw, it reads " Trust in God. I don't drive fast" and the small writing in hindi to the right, declares the reason behind the impeccable behaviour "Mummy manna karti hai na", which means "Mother has forbidden me from doing so!!!".

Mangalorean Beans Bhajji

Ingredients:

250 gms French Beans (Chopped in to 1/2 inch pieces)
1 small onion (chopped)
1 tomato (chopped)
1 green chilly (chopped)
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
2 tbsp freshly grated coconut
Salt to taste

For the tadka:
1 tbsp oil/ghee
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp urad dal
1 red chilly (dry)
7-8 curry leaves

Method:

1) Heat oil in a pan.
2) Add the mustard seeds.
3) Once the mustard seeds pop, add the urad dal, red chilly and curry leaves.
4) As the urad dal changes colour add the chopped french beans, chopped tomato, turmeric powder, chilly, onion and salt. Mix well.
5) Add a little water and cover and cook, stirring occasionally till the beans are cooked.
6) Add the scrapped coconut and mix well.
7) Remove from the flame once the coconut is well cooked.
8) Serve as a side dish with rice and dal.

Mangalorean Chicken Sukka

Ingredients

200 gms boneless chicken
1 onion ( finely chopped)
2 tbsps ghee

For the red masala
6 dried chillies ( 3 madras and 3 bedgi/kashmir) (roasted)
1 tbsp coriander seeds (roasted)
tamrind paste ( as per taste)
1 tsp turmeric powder

For the white masala
1/2 coconut (scrapped)
6 pepper corns (roasted)
10-15 fenugreek seeds (roasted)
4 cloves of garlic
1 tsp of cumin seeds
1/2 small onion

Method:

1) Heat a little ghee in a pan and add the onion slices.

2) Once the onion has become translucent put in the scrapped coconut, keep tossing to ensure that it does not burn. When the coconut starts changing its colour remove and keep aside.

3) Put the ingredients for the red masala in a mixie, add some water and blitz it till it turns into a fine paste.

4) Clean and cut the chicken into small peices and marinate it in the red masala for about 15-20 minutes.

5) Heat the ghee in a thick bottomed pan, add the chopped onion, fry till it turns crisp and brown.

6) Add the marinated chicken, cover and let it cook on high for about five minutes.

7) Add salt and let it cook on simmer till nicely done.

8) For the white masala, grind the roasted coconut and onion, fenugreek seeds, pepper corn and garlic and cumin seeds and grinds coarsely. (Optional: add 1/2 an onion at this stage).

9) Add the white masala to the chicken and mix well.

10) Simmer and cook till done.

11) Serve with rice, sliced bread or chappati.

Lasoon Chutney (dry)

Ingredients

6 Bedgi Chillies (dry)
1 Pod garlic (medium size)
1/2 copra
1 small piece Jaggery
Tamarind
Salt to taste.

Method:

1) Dry Grid all the ingredients.
2) Store in air tight container.

Butter Garlic Pepper Crabs

This is a variation on my other crab recipe and the burnt garlic flavour goes very well with the crabs, try it for yourself.

Ingredients

10 small Crabs
10-15 large cloves of garlic (coarsley ground)
1 tablespoon pepper (freshly ground)
25 gms butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 lemon

Method:

1) Clean the crabs and keep aside.
2) Heat Pan and add the butter.
3) Add the olive oil.
4) Add the garlic paste and fry till the raw smell disappears, infact let it turn a little red in colour.
5) Add the pepper powder.
6) Add the crabs and a little water, keep spooning the pepper garlic mixture over the crabs.
7) Turn the crabs over and continue spooning the sauce over the crabs.
8) Now cover the vessel and let it cook in the steam for a while.
9) Add lemon juice, stir well and remove from flame.
10) Serve hot with Naan,chapatis or pav.

Senorita goes to the market...

Sunday lunch has always been a highlight in the Sen household as the entire clan tends to be at home if all of us are in town. I remember going to the market with my mum when I was little (my mum maintains that though I have grown physically, mentally I'm still a three year old, but I digress). We would go to the vegetable market, the fish market and then as a special treat to a juice shop and indulge in tall glasses filled with freshly squeezed sugarcane juice (the machine was at the entrance of the shop and the juice would be squeezed right before your eyes) mother-daughter bonding at its best, I say. This brings to mind an incident that happened when I was about six or seven years old. My mum and I were in the market to buy some fish. After a while I got distracted by the antics of a cat that was roaming under tables on which the fishes were place and was quite absorbed in watching it that I didn't notice my mum move away to make place for another lady who was also buying fish from the same vendor. After purchasing what she wanted the lady turned to leave and I started walking away with her, it was only on hearing my mum call out to me that I realised my mistake !!!

Now-a-days we normally buy vegetables and fish from the vendors who come to our place in the mornings. However this morning my dad decided to go the market and I decided to tag along as it had been years (over a decade) since I had been there and my dad is absolutely great when it come to bargaining, I decided it was time to learn this life skill, given the fact that I may soon have to strike out on my own (more on this at a later date). After dressing for the occasion in rolled-up pants (my dad) and capris (your truly) we arrived at the fish market and at once my senses told me that this place has not changed an inch in all these years. The entrance to the market smells like a bouquet of fish, chicken, meat, vegetables and is and has always been was a little too much for my delicate constitution and I almost passed out as the smell hit my nostrils. I thank my  stars that I practiced holding my breath as a child and this came in useful just now as I sprinted into the market while holding my  breath, lest I faint or worse puke. What is really funny is the fact that once inside the smell normalises and you are able to breathe normally. Don't for a minute think that this is endemic to the Mumbai fish market, the entrance to the fish market that I visited while at Singapore smelled worse that I almost turned back.

So there we were inside the fish market looking at the catch of the day on display. The entire atmosphere is quite electric and buzzing with activity. Normally the womenfolk sell the fish which their sons/ husbands/ brothers have caught earlier in the day. The way they dress is quite a sight, all of them decked to the nines with their hair in a bun, their nau-wari saris in a kashti and with enough gold on their person to make you wonder if you accidentally stumbled into a wedding. Just keep your ears open as you get to hear some interesting conversations. My dad has a very unique technique of buying fish. He does a kind of recce of the entire market place, wherein he notes what kind of fish is available and what are the general price levels like. He then zeros in on a few shops where he feels the fish is good and the price reasonable are proceeds to haggle. The trick is to state almost half the price and you need to do it with a poker face(display half a smirk and all is lost, either they will abuse you or see through your ruse and dig their heels in). Once you realise that she is willing to lower the price pretend to walk away and all hell break loose "Aye Bai", "Aye Raja", "Oh Madam","Oh Bhau" "Oh Dada" they call out to you. Then you walk back and haggle some more and normally you will get it at the price you first quoted. I observed the seasoned player in action and soon we had bought crabs, prawns and pomfrets and decided that we have collected enough and decided to call it a day. By the way the pic that you see here is Butter Garlic Pepper Crab made by your truly, for the recipe refer to my other blog!!!

Good News India !!!

In a time when all we seem to read in the newspapers are Scams ranging from Army rations to Spectrum, what I witnessed today has established my faith in the Indian Government more so in the Indian Postal Department. I had gone to the Post office this morning to cash some NSCs (National Saving Certificates) that I had purchased some years back and being very sceptical about government offices was expecting to be shuffled from desk to desk before I could get my money back.

I arrived at the counter and was instructed by the clerk to fill in the discharge details at the back of the certificates, which I did but unfortunately with a green pen which was the only pen I could find in my bag(something in my head kept going that using a green pen was taboo, but I did it anyway). When I presented the certificates to the clerk blew his top and literally threw the certificates at my face, at that point I felt that I was really lucky to be a woman as I am sure he would have manhandled me had I been a man. He was like, "Are you an accountant, who asked you to fill in the details in green ink ??"(I wonder what he would do to me if he realised that I was in fact a CA). I apologised but he continued ranting "Sorry is not enough, speak to the In-charge, I am not paying this".

I spoke to the In-charge, who said, kindly instructed me to write out the details in blue pen, accordingly I wrote out the details in blue pen, but being the ass that I am at time, I wrote over the green, so there I was holding a discharged certificate with instruction in green that have been overwritten in blue. When the clerk saw this he literally hit the roof, he was like, "What is this ?? ( accompanied with a look that said, are you mad or something), all this overwriting it looks like someone forged it". I will not pay out based on this. He took the certificates went and conferred with the  In-charge for a while. Then he came back and handed back the certificates along with a blue pen and instructed me to fill in the details on the left hand side of the certificate. When I returned the certificates he calmly explained that he had to answer to his superiors and they would not look kindly to such mistakes and he took the certificates away and within fifteen minutes the In-charge called me and with a smile handed me my cheque. In fact if I hadn't messed up in the first place I think my cheque would have been handed to me in five minutes... faster than any bank (nationalised or private). Their efficiency and diligence has left me floored, humbled.

The working conditions at these government offices are far from comfortable. However in the thirty minutes that I spent at the post office what I witnessed was a sense of camaraderie, they were laughing, smiling, joking and helping each other get the job done to the best of the abilities. I overheard the In charge tell another customer "We are here to serve you, of course we want you to come back to us". I for one will go back to them and soon...