My Cooking Holiday...

As they say, lets start from the very beginning...

Here I am, barely four days away from my self imposed exile from the corporate world... my parents decided to relocate to our hometown in Mangalore and I decided to go along...

When I started off on this journey, it was with a great sense of relief that I've taken some decisive action... even though the decisive action was in the form of quitting without another job in hand (something that I'd promised myself never to do very early on in my career)... but somehow this decision seemed right... so I stuck on with it, in spite of several temptations...

The minute I resigned I booked myself into a holistic healing programme at an ashram outside Pune, thinking that I'll relax for a bit and think what I want out of life....but now as the time to go there is around the corner I have started developing cold feet ... to be honest who am I fooling, I'm just not the kind who will appreciate the sitting around waiting for massages, yoga and restricted food intake... If there is one thing that I know about myself its my undying passion for FOOD...

Give me four square meals and all is well in my world... I like all things about food, right from making it from scratch... to the serving it to fellow devotees... to attaining seventh heaven on tasting divine food... the kitchen from where the food came be damned... 

It occurred to me that given my feelings on the subject I could take a cooking vacation, I remembered reading about it on the internet a few lifetimes ago, yeah...learn to cook exotic food while on holiday... seemed like a super plan, a few google searches later I realised that cooking holidays are still mostly targeted at the western tourist willing to spend in dollars and better still in pounds and there was nothing for an Indian looking to enjoy a similar experience...

Not one to give up... I soon hit on another plan... why not take a cooking vacation in my own home... with my Mum as my instructor.... it helps that she is the bestest Mangalorean cook in Mumbai... my friends who drool at the very mention of her Neer Dosas and Curries will vouch for this....

So next week will see me arrive in Mangalore on my birthday, no less and I intend to chronicle each tentative step on what has now officially been christened.... My Cooking Holiday....

Mangalorean Pomfret Curry

Again my mum's recipe

Ingredients:

2 medium sized Pomfrets (clean, cut into 4 pieces each and keep aside)

A little more than 1/4 coconut (grated)

a handful of roasted coriander seeds

8 dry red chillies (4 Madras and 4 Kashmir)

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

Tamarind (a ball the size of a small lemon, soak in water)

1/2 tsp cumin seeds

1/2 tsp black peppercorns (roasted)

1/4 tsp fenugreek seeds (roasted)

1 large clove of garlic

1/2 onion (chopped)

Tempering (optional):

1/2 onion -finely sliced and fried till it is crisp and golden brown.

Method:

1) Grind the coconut, coriander seeds, red chillies, tamarind, turmeric powder, black peppercorns, fenugreek seeds and water into fine paste. Every now and then add a little water to the mixture. 

2) The finer the paste the better the curry.

3) Once the paste is ready add the garlic, half onion and cumin seeds and grinds for a further 30 seconds. Do not grind for longer as we don't want the garlic and onions to get all mushy, that will kill the flavour of the other spices.

4) Place the paste in a pan and add water to it to make a nice gravy.

5) Let the curry come to a boil.

5) Once the curry starts to boil add the fish pieces and let it boil till the fish is cooks (about 5-10 mins).

6) Let it simmer while you fry the onion slices in a little oil (fry the onion till it is golden brown).

7) Add the fried onion to the curry and cover.

8) Serve hot with rice.

P.S.: The tempering is optional and is usually done when we have guests for dinner, but I like it so when I cook my curry usually has it :)

Neer Dosa

For all those who are die-hard fans of my mum's Neer Dosa, I hereby give you the recipe. The second reason why this is being documented is that I seem to have a memory of a goldfish or more close to home, seems to have developed a Ghajini complex whereby things that are not written down are forgotten. I figure I do not have enough surface area over my body (or the pain threshold) to have the recipes tattooed so have resorted to writing it down here for my own sake.

Ingredients:

1 cup kolam rice

2 cups dosa rice (you will get this in your local shop)

 1 onion - Chop half of it, the other half will be used for oiling the tawa.

1/4 coconut (grated)

Salt

Oil

Method:

1) Wash the rice and soak it water overnight.

2) Discard the water.

3) Grind the rice, onion, coconut in a mixer till it is a fine paste (I mean really really fine, put a drop of the batter on the tip of your index finger and rub it against the tip of your thumb, it should feel like paste).

4) Place in a bowl, add salt and water to make it a fairly runny batter (it should look like coconut milk at this stage only a little thinner).

5) Heat a dosa tawa (I really cannot help you here, this tawa is a speciality from Mangalore, and I don't think it is available anywhere else, you could try your local Mangalore stores, they sometimes keep this tawa or you could try get pally with your friends from Mangalore so they bring you back one on their annual pilgrimage to Mangalore).

6) Dip the onion that you reserved earlier, cut side in oil and run the cut surface all over the tawa, this way the flavour of the caramelised onion gets infused in the oil and ultimately the Neer Dosa.

7) Take a ladle full of the dosa batter and pour on the tawa. Since the batter is runny it will spread all over the tawa, there will be a few gaps, pour some more batter over them, but ensure that you don't put too much batter (else the dosa will be too thick). The best Neer Dosa look a lot like crochet handkerchiefs.

8) Cover and let it cook for about 30 odd seconds

9) Uncover and fold the dosa like you would fold a handkerchief.

10) Remove from the tawa and keep aside.

11) Serve with coconut chutney (refer earlier post for recipe).

Tip:

1) The dosa should not burn, it should only cook for 40 seconds tops, the whiter the dosa the better the cook you are :)

2) The onion is optional, you can eliminate the onion that you put in the batter. Instead once the dosa is ready, you can put sugar and grated coconut before you fold the dosa, I assure you it is a hit with kids.

P.S.: I don't have a picture at the moment, it will follow.

Coconut Chutney

This chutney is perfect with dosas, idlis or as a side dish at meals. The tempering is optional and the chutney tastes just as good without it.

Ingredients:
1/4 coconut (grated or cut into small pieces)
4 dry red chillies (I used 2 Kashmir and 2 Madras varieties)
1 inch piece of ginger (lose the skin)
Tamarind (a marble sized ball soaked in warm water)
Salt

Tempering: (Optional)
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp urad dal
1 red chilly
a few curry leaves

Method:
1) Blitz the coconut, chillies, ginger and tamarind in a mixer, till it is a fine paste.
2) Place in paste in a bowl and add salt
3) Heat a little oil, add the mustard and let it splutter.
4) Add the urad dal to the oil
5) Add the chilly and curry leaves
6) Pour the tempering over paste and mix well.
7) Serve with dosas or idlis or as a side dish at meals.

I'm back...

Ladies and Gentlemen... boys and girls... I proudly announce that I'm finally back to my old self, the clothes loving compulsive shopaholic... 

For the past few years I had renounced shopping so much so that I almost hated it... what with only stepping into shops when I had to buy something and walking out again without making a purchase... as nothing I liked fit... but today I out-did myself and shopped till I dropped and  I'm as pleased as punch as everything fits just right... 

The last time I was so happy after shopping was in 2010 in Singapore... after that I went into denial and just stopped shopping. I think it has a lot to do with the fact that I piled on a few extra kilos and I just couldn't bear the thought of going into shops and not fitting into any clothes... now London has helped me shed the extra weight I was carrying around and I've managed to drop a couple of dress sizes as a result of which I can fit into a better array of clothes... and to say I'm loving the feeling is an understatement... I'm relishing every moment right down to trying the dresses on again as soon as I got home (something that I haven't done for a long long time) and it helps to have R as a flat-mate as she has the patience of a saint and she lets me prance about the flat parading my new purchases... the fact that she was my partner in crime also helped matters :-p

It all began with R asking me if I would like to go to Lords Cricket ground as she wants to buy some cricket memorabilia for her cricket crazy family followed by some shopping and I said "OK, I'll go with you, just to give you company"... famous last words...

Everyone goes to Lords to see the place where it all began, its almost like a pilgrimage to them, but what did R and I do, we shopped... and then shopped some more and between us spent enough money that would have easily fund my rickshaw travel for close to six months back home in India... but its all towards a good cause... the proceeds will go towards maintaining the mecca of cricket and I know a number of cricket crazy  people who will approve of the charity work we did this morning...

Coming back to my story, the minute I hit the stores...right from the Lord's cricket ground shop to Zara (I think I just changed loyalties from Aldo to Zara...I'm going to be Zara girl from now on) it was like everything was just right for me and everything I liked just fit :-) it was like one of those magical days where everything just falls into place, my wallet is also a lot slimmer as I spent an indecent amount of money but I'm feeling good and retail therapy is finally working its magic on me again.

Since there is still another thirty minutes to go before this day ends I'm thinking I might as well ask God for the one thing that has kept eluding, Erm, you know what I'm referring to God, so what say??

One month on... attacking showers, becoming a laughing stock and other stories...

Time flies, it feels like yesterday that I landed in London and now I'm already halfway through my stay here :-(((. As you all know, London is a city that I love and the more time I spend here the more I love London. Its almost like we have a connection, something that goes beyond the boundaries of time and space, like I've known London from a previous birth, every time I come here I get a feeling like I'm coming home, it doesn't feel like an alien city at all, it envelopes me in a bear hug like someone welcoming a dear family member...sigh, I could go on for ever...

Thankfully I've now moved to the company flats at Paddington (P.S. my new apartment is on the 15th floor and is nice and quiet, a welcome change from the chaos at St. Paul's) and have settled down  nicely into a routine that I quite like. Everything I need is now two minutes away from my apartment complex. I've finally started cooking full fledged and quite like the independence of running my own household. You notice that I've used the word thankfully to start this paragraph, this is because I'm grateful to move out of my previous apartment complex as I've become something of a legend in a 'laughing stock' kind of way, and how did I do that??? you ask, well, smart old me, locked her self out of the house, not only did I lock myself out of the house, I kept my apartment keys in my hand bag, and where do you think I kept my hand bag, I locked it in my suitcase (it has one of those Made in China locks - the self locking variety'. So absolutely shamefaced I had to go to the reception fetch the spare apartment key and then had to bring my suitcase to the reception where the manager brought out the tool kit and the set about breaking the lock, after struggling for a few minutes he called the maintenance guy and the two of them set about trying to break the lock. The whole episode provided much comic relief to the other guest who tripped over one another as they rushed about to call their partners/friends/ children to see the 'Einstien who locked her suitcase with her keys in it!'.

That aside, it has been a really eventful stay so far, the work is challenging and while I've worked hard, I've also managed to find time to make a few new friends and travel around the countryside like my life depended on it. I've finally managed to scratch off item no 5 on my things-to-do-before-I-die list - Visit Stonehenge. More on that later and I've also done the touristy hop on - hop off bus tour of London. As an add on bonus I also visited Bath and Salisbury.

Stonehenge - To be honest the feelings after seeing Stonehenge was 'Thats it!!, is this all, shouldn't I be feeling like part of some magic!!!', but sadly it just became one more item to scratch off my list and proved to be a damp squib. It really hurt when it became another thing that I will add to my list of 'Been there, done that, none the wiser for it'. 

It is really funny that I should feel this way as I've always wanted to go to Stonehenge for the better part of my life. In my head it was like a pilgrimage that I had to do, I really looked forward to it but sadly like most things in life that I've longed for when I finally saw it, it proved to be a disappointment... Thankfully I did Salisbury Cathedral and Bath on the same day,  the stunning Salisbury Cathedral, the Magna Carta and the beauty of the city of Bath compensated for it and I arrived back in London a much happier person.

Moving on to the attacking showers, well I'm a very wary person when it comes to plumbing and related gadgets. I hate it when I'm faced with the stylish faucets that ultimately just dispense water but have such a smug look, almost as if goading me with a 'Chala kar bata, toh jaane'. I'm sure you know what I mean as everyone one has at least one story to tell about a tap that just wouldn't work, no matter what you did and how after you have conceded defeat a five year old who had been watching the proceedings with great interest came forward waved her hand in front the tap and as if by magic the tap worked, making you feel like a gigantic ignoramus. The shower in question is in my friend S's apartment and for the life of me I could not figure how to get it to work. I stayed overnight at her place one weekend and that is how I came face to face with my nemesis, It has two lever one small and the other slightly bigger. I gingerly turned the big lever and a blast of cold water hit me before I could say 'Oh ah'. Quickly I turned it off and fiddled with the small lever and again tried to work the tap, again with the same result and at the end of it I accepted defeat and quietly had a cold water shower and stepped out....

Happy Birthday !!!

Happy Birthday to me!!!!