Weekend Chronicles- with Bread Pakora

Quite an eventful week it turned out to be. 

First came the earth-shaking excitement of a 5.9 magnitude earthquake in the middle of the work week. Nobody could figure out what was responsible for our jiggling PowerPoint, shaking building and electricity blink during our weekly meeting. Of the various explanations put forth, the first one was that a plane had crashed into our building; afraid of a WTC repeat, most people prepared to jump out the windows (thank goodness everyone in the group is scared of heights- even if it is just the 4th floor).  Then we moved on to an equally outrageous subway explosion (the lines do run under our building) and a relatively sensible truck-crash with our building's loading dock (that happens to sit right below the conference room). The truck story also assumed explosive proportions by speculating that it might be a gas-tank truck: the one which brings huge cylinders of oxygen, nitogen and other medical gases to us. It was a breathless-with-fear South American colleague that mentioned an earthquake. The excitement that followed was astronomical!  The rest of the meeting, we brainstormed whether we sat on  dynamic earth plates, if End of the World Prediction included August 2011 and   whether to evacuate or not!!

The Sweet Fruits of Summer: Black and White Wednesday

My vegetable patch has been a late bloomer this summer, and a slow one. It isn't producing nearly as much, or as often as I'd like it to. But whatever I get, is precious. And I always archive my harvest in pictures. Here's my first attempt at documenting my trophies with black and white photography! This tomato was the star of my salad, while the pepper went into the aloo-shimla mirch ki sabzi.

Sweet Fruits of Summer:
A bell pepper; and an heirloom tomato.

Posting for Black and White Wednesday

Daily Dinner (9): A Festive Thali: and Chana Masala my way.

Back in North India, you'll often hear the saying that the month of saawan, along with cooling Monsoons, also ushers in the festive season. Almost every week from now on till summer, we see an array of festivities, and an alternating pattern of Fasting and Feasting. As a child, I waited anxiously for the first rains - looking forward just as much to an uninhibited soaking in those much-awaited showers as to the other fun things - Mehendi on my hands, fragrant mogra in the hair, a home-made swing in the doorway leading out on to our terrace and tons of goodies from my mom's kitchen. Everything came alive  during the rains; and I loved the smell of summer-baked earth and new grass. Then came those vendors with baskets on their bicycles selling all sorts of seasonal delicacies- phalsa, jamun, fire-roasted bhutta with tons of lemon and masala and sand-popped popcorn.

Echoes of Silence

I skipped along, marching step for step.                                    

My tiny hand curled around your finger tight.                            

Innocent and bright-eyed, happy and free,                                            

Every time I looked up at you,                                                 

I saw you smile down at me.                                                                

A vision flashed across my eye, I didn’t care,             

Two year birthday, Rakshabandhan....and Besan-ka-Laddu.

Time flies...literally. Can't believe I started writing this blog two years ago today. I haven't really marked any milestones for my writing till now. But today, as I sat here penning my thoughts, I realized that my first post on this blog also celebrated the festival of Rakshabandhan. A nostalgic look back, and I realize that I wrote down the recipe for Paneer Nargisi exactly two years ago. So let me begin by thanking you all for your readership and support. I've made many new friends through this blog, and have gained a lot of exposure in the blogosphere. It couldn't have been possible about you all.

Another co-incidence is that my recipe for today is a Mithai (sweet) - just what we need to celebrate both a festival and a birthday.

When life hands you lemons.....For Chalks and Chopsticks

   I've been a silent reader of a food-fiction event called Of Chalks and Chopsticks for a very long time now. I'd like to say that I've pretty much read every piece of writing that appeared on this platform. I've even made up a bunch of stories; and imagined myself winning kudos from all those awesome writers in this group. If you haven't heard of me till now, that's probably because you can't get in my head. Today, my heart won. This is my first entry to celebrate the revival of Of Chalks & Chopsticks. Hope you like it...and if you don't; I'll just make Shikanji out of all the lemons you throw at me!

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   Nimit gazed up at the sky. And sighed. What was it- like maybe his millionth sigh. He'd been sitting out here in the scorching sun for hours...it sure felt like hours. He'd tried reasoning with Malini through closed doors...and porch screen...and then through the kitchen window. He'd even threatened to break down the doors if she didn't let him back in. She just turned on her heels  and went about whatever she was doing on the stove.  

   

Two of a kind- Koftas Baked & Fried

Ever heard of a saying: 'Necessity is the mother of invention'. Never did it ring so true  for me as this past month. Just about two-weeks of a restricted diet was wrecking havoc on my sanity. How long can one survive on moong-dal khichdi and bland, soupy lentils- I ask you. So as soon as the doctor mentioned returning to a regular diet- I was escatic.Except 'no fat, and low spice' rule sort of dampened the enthusiasm a bit. I realized that I'd have to come up with some way of keeping abreast with family food, along with taking care of my delicate digestion. 

A July update; and sweet welcome to August.

This past month was a god-send in terms of catching up with my reading. I was on complete bed rest for the first two weeks, and up and about with restrictions for the other two. Between hours of wait time at doctor's office and the luxury of chauffered drives to those visits, I managed to browse through numerous magazines. Then after I got my fill of day-time soaps and started to get antsy, A even drove me to the library to replenish my reading. Of the four books that I picked up, I actually finished three (and a half)- a pretty good feat considering that of late, I have really fallen behind. Now that I am back to work, reading times will again be few and far between. Till then, here is what I read.