Ambur Mutton Biriyani

This post has been featured in BlogAdda's "Tangy Tuesday Picks" this week.

When it comes to Biryani the first thing that comes to our mind is "Hyderabadi Biryani". In case you don’t know what biryani is all about? Well, it is a South Asian mixed rice dish with its origins among the Muslims of the Indian subcontinent. It is a very popular recipe in the subcontinent. Everyone just love biriyani irrespective of gender, color, race, religion, region, language. Biriyani has somehow united the entire subcontinent in its own way. No doubt that Hyderabadi biryani is one of the most popular dishes, not only in south India but across the country. The dish is basically from Mughlai cuisine, and is quite a challenge to prepare, as it has some unique ways of spicing it up. Apart from Hyderabadi biriyani there are also different other varieties of biriyani which are equally tasty. One of my favorite is  "Ambur Mutton Biryani".

Ambur is a town in the Vellore District of Tamil Nadu, India. It is located on the banks of the Palar River on the Chennai-Bangalore National Highway. The place is quite well-known for its biriyani. I have been preparing Ambur Mutton Biriyani for quite some time now. It was Mr Viswanaathan Ramaseshan who introduced this recipe to me. Soon, I became a fan of it. I just thought to share this amazing dish to everyone.

Ingredients required (Preparation for 4 people) {

1. 500 grams Mutton
2. 500 grams Seeraga Samba Rice (One can use some other rice as well. But Ambur briyani comes out really well with Seeraga Samba Rice. Samba is a variety of rice grown in Tamil Nadu, also some other parts of India and Sri Lanka, and has a small ovular grain, compared to the long grain of basmati rice.)
3. 2-3 tablespoon of refined oil.
4. 50-100 grams of Ginger-Garlic paste (Freshly prepared, highly recommended)
5. 2 sliced onions
6. 2 Tomatoes, chopped (I prepared it with and without tomatoes. Without tomatoes also it is equally tasty)
7. 10 – 13 Dried Red chilies ground to paste 
   
8. Few pieces of cloves, cardamom and cinnamon sticks
9. Coriander leaves
10. Mint leaves
11. 2-3 tablespoon of card
12. Juice out of one lemon
13. Salt (According to taste, preferably 1 to 2 tablespoon)

Instructions:

1. Soak the rice in lots of water. Set aside.
2. Heat oil in a pan
3. Add spoon of curd. Add in the Cinnamon, cloves and cardamom. Fry for 10 seconds. Add in the garlic paste. Fry for 2-3 minutes on medium flame.
4. Now, add in the ginger paste. Fry for 2-3 minutes until the raw smell of the ginger goes off.
5. Add in the chili paste, mutton, the mint and coriander leaves, chopped onions, tomatoes, salt, curd and lime juice. Add in a cup (250 ml) of water. Mix well to combine.
6. Cover and pressure cook everything for 5-6 whistles on medium flame. Switch off the flame and wait for the pressure to release naturally.  
   
7. Add in the soaked rice to the mutton gravy. Add in extra water, salt if necessary. Cook of another 3-4 whistles on medium flame. Switch off the flame and wait for the pressure to release naturally.
8. Open the lid and gently fluff up the rice to mix. Serve the mutton biryani hot.  
   

Grab a copy of my debut book Story of Tublu from Amazon or Flipkart. It is a Contemporary Fiction novel, published by LiFi Publications Pvt Ltd. The book has its share of drama, that entertains; humor, that makes one reminisce; love, friendship and emotions that defines the amazing journey that is, life.

Yummy Spicy Quick Oil-Less Chicken Recipe

More than the age factor it's the finance that  influences people to follow healthy diet. There are people in the age group of, say 25-30, who are very cautious of eating healthy food, whereas there are also people  above 50 years who are not at all concerned about cholesterol, overweight, and similar stuffs. The only thing they are concerned about food is the taste. Well, they have many other things to worry, and health is the least priority. 

Some  health conscious people believe that eating meat, that too occasionally, let’s say once a week is not that harmful. It actually depends how we consume the flesh. Deep fried stuffs are obviously not the preferred ones by such community. Actually, too much oil is not considered healthy. People try out many recipes where they use less oil. But it is widely believed that preparing chicken or other meat with less oil can not taste good. Well, I know a style of cooking where we can make yummy chicken without using a single drop of oil. Actually, the approach is perfect for preparing pork, but it’s a delight with chicken as well. Also, the porky affair is kind of controversial, better to stick to chicken.

Chef : Jahid Akhtar

Recipe Servings : 4

Recipe Cook Time : 10-15 minutes

Ingredients:

1/2 kg chicken

1 large onion

2 big potatoes

2 tomatoes

Some Garlic

Few pieces of Ginger

Chopped green chilies

Salt to taste

Chopped coriander for garnish

Method:

Prepare Ginger-Garlic-Green Chili paste.  

Peel the ginger and garlic. Add them to grinder or blender together with the chopped green chilies. Grind it into a paste. When grinding process is almost done add water to it. 

Put few pieces of chicken in a small pressure cooker and let it be there for a couple of minutes in very low heat. The chicken pieces are capable enough to produce some kind of oil by itself. Put the chopped onions and saute it till it turns slightly golden brown. Then put the chopped tomatoes and mix it well. Put the remaining chicken and potato pieces. Lets the stuffs burn in lower heat. Add salt to it, and not other spices. I prefer a small amount of cumin powder though. Mix it well. The recipe would already produce a thick gravy by now. Let it burn for a couple of more minutes in low heat. Once it becomes really dry, put the ginger-garlic-chili paste water in it. Mix it well. Close the pressure cooker lid. After 3 or 4 whistles, turn the gas off. Wait for sometime till the pressure cooker settles by itself. Open the lead and put chopped coriander for garnish. It’s done. Yummy, hot and spicy, oil-less thick chicken gravy is ready to serve. It is just heavenly with rice. Don’t feel embarrassed if you overeat extra amount of rice with this extremely appetizing recipe.

Grab a copy of my debut book Story of Tublu from Amazon or Flipkart. It is a Contemporary Fiction novel, published by LiFi Publications Pvt Ltd. The book has its share of drama, that entertains; humor, that makes one reminisce; love, friendship and emotions that defines the amazing journey that is, life.

A Memorable Mutton Briyani

Biryani is a mixed rice dish usually prepared with intense and aromatic spices, rice and meat. It is a rather complex dish, not only because Briyani is little complicated to prepare, but also for the fact that many claim their briyani as the original one. Also, there is no specific recipe for it - the dish changes from place to place, people to people. In India, briyani is not just a dish, it’s a tradition, kind of a cultural expression. Historians believe that the dish could have come to India all the way from Persia via Afghanistan. Briyani is also quite popular among the vegetarians, the preparation is more or less the same, just instead of meat they mix vegetables.

After living in Bangalore for more than a decade, I can easily claim it is the land of briyani. Bangalore is a cosmopolitan city, and one can find people from each and every part of India, that too in huge numbers. Briyani has gone deep into the food culture of Bangaloreans. The situation is similar to 'Momo in Guwahati’. There’s just momos’ and monos’ everywhere in Guwahati. There, one can’t run a restaurant without serving momo. Momo is just so deep into the food culture of  the people of Guwahati, particularly youngsters, college-goers. Biryani is to Bangalore what Momo is to Guwahati. One can find almost any kind of briyani in Bangalore. Apart from the usual Chicken, Mutton, Egg and Veg briyani, one can also find varieties of Fish and Prawn briyani as well. They serve briyani in almost every restaurant in Bangalore, be it big, small or roadside restaurants. Briyani in any form is an absolute delight. Every briyani is heavy on flavor, the moment we put a spoonful inside, it fills our mouth with rice aroma.

Along with the tongue people also have emotional attachments towards the briyani of their origin. Some of the most popular briyani as far as Bangalore is concerned are recipes of Lucknow, kolkata, Kerala; but nothing can compete with the Hyderabadi briyani. It is a brand. Hyderabadi briyani also comes in different flavors - Hyderabadi Dum briyani, Boneless briyani, Chicken fried briyani and many more similar stuffs.

Okay, enough of briyani gyan, I think now I should shift gear towards one of our memorable Mutton briyani. The incident happened about seven or eight years ago. During those carefree days, on one weekend I and Anjali went out in the evening. After little bit of shopping we thought of having dinner outside. We were at Koramangala, one of the most happening place in Bangalore. We knew about a very famous briyani restaurant there, but were confused to locate it. I called one of my friends and got to know we were pretty close to the restaurant. But my friend suggested us to avoid the place, as on weekends it’s usually overcrowded.

Despite the warning we visited the restaurant. We found that the place was not just overcrowded, it was chaos. I asked the manager how much time it would take. He replied that it would take about an hour. Looking at the crowd I felt the manager was quite generous in his response. The aroma of briyani was heavy in the air. It seemed Mutton briyani was a specialty over there. We decided better we order a takeaway rather than waiting. Even the takeaway took quite a time. The moment someone handed over our parcel I was more than delighted. The polythene bag was heavy, we had ordered two plates of Mutton briyani.

We took an auto back home. It was 10 in the night. The weekend rush was bad. I was holding the briyani bag, the wait was getting desperate. We reached home. I put on relaxing, homely clothing. Switched on the TV. Anjali brought the plates and spoons from the kitchen. Happiness around, we were all set to relish the tempting Mutton briyani. I cut open a packet, put some on a plate. The pleasant smell of briyani instantly rose to my face. I dipped into the packet with two fingers, searching for Mutton pieces. I found one and took it out. But I was puzzled to find it to be a big piece of potato. I took the whole briyani out. No Mutton pieces, only giant potatoes.

I wondered they’ve wrongly given Kolkata briyani. Well, one unique thing about Kolkata briyani is that they also mix potatoes, big pieces, along with the meat. But in our case there were only potatoes, no meat. My heartbeats started to accelerate. And then I thought, they might have kept all the Mutton pieces in the other packet, together. I immediately opened the other one, only to find potatoes and potatoes, no meat at all. I and Anjali stared each other in discomfort. I thought to search for the restaurant number and call them. But that would have been stupid, I guess. Without much of an option we both ate the briyani with heavy heart. It was delicious, but we missed to bite some flesh, missed to chew on the mutton bones that night.

Grab a copy of my debut book Story of Tublu from Amazon or Flipkart. It is a Contemporary Fiction novel, published by LiFi Publications Pvt Ltd. The book has its share of drama, that entertains; humor, that makes one reminisce; love, friendship and emotions that defines the amazing journey that is, life.

Tin Fish

During our college days, the hostel was more than a home for us and we were pretty much addicted to the place. I loved to remain in the hostel, doing nothing. Life was so cool, the place created happiness and serenity. Now what to say about our hostel food? I think it’s more or less the same story everywhere. But no matter how the food was, everyone used to eat gracefully. Every year our hostel warden kept changing and they all preferred to visit only in freshers and farewell nights. Also, they usually showed up when most of the guys were in their normal state of mind, before the party got wild. Many of the hostelers were confused to see a stranger in the hostel premises and after knowing he was our Super Sir, the guys simply disappeared. Everything related to our hostel including our canteen, was managed by us, the hostelers. Every month the guys used to choose a new mess secretory and the entire responsibility of the mess was with him. The best thing about our hostel mess was that it was more like a home. Many were not satisfied with the regular food and desired for something extra.  The canteen guys were aware of such demands and they always used to keep boiled potatoes, raw onions and green chilies. Such luxuries were usually limited to the seniors. I remember a few such seniors who always used to yell at the canteen guys, 'bring boiled potato, fast', 'fry the boiled potato with onion and green chilies, and get it fast'

Boiled potatoes were in great demand and it lasted only for a limited time. Whosoever wanted to worship boiled potato, had to eat early. After the boiled potatoes were finished, guys used to ask for fried green chilies and onions. When the onions also got over, the chilies became highly demanding. My good friend Bhushan liked the 'Onion-Chili' fry to such an extent that when he was our mess secretary he introduced the recipe as part of the main course. Well, it took many of us by surprise when we had to finish our meal with dal and onion-chili fry. Apart from those yummy extra eateries, we also had the luxury to prepare some customized special food like chicken, egg amongst others. Sometimes a group of guys used to contribute money for their special meal. Usually one of the hostel cooks prepared the delicious cuisine, but some of the guys had a chef in them and they participated enthusiastically. Such exclusive meals were usually relished a little early or a little late from the usual mess timing, just to avoid the public assault on the food. 

Gradually I also became habituated to such exclusive meals. That was the time when I tasted Tin Fish for the first time. Some of the shops near to the college used to keep Tin Fish and it was quite popular among many of the hostelers. Tin fish preparation is very simple and takes only a few minutes. It’s utterly yummy and I became its fan in my first encounter itself. I remember, those days one tinned fish cost 50 rupees and usually we used to contribute 10 rupees per head in a group of five to enjoy our splendid meal. Those days some of us were regular Tin fish eaters and we had become addicted to it. We usually used to prepare it with boiled potatoes. Years later, nowadays also I prefer to keep Tin Fish in our refrigerator. My wife also loves it a lot. Sometimes when we are tired or there’s nothing to prepare, we usually end up making Tin Fish. The recipe is very simple and can be prepared in ten to fifteen minutes.

1. Heat cooking oil in a pan in low flame.

2. Meanwhile chop an onion and some green chilies, add them and saute till golden brown

3. Quickly chop one or two tomatoes, add them and mix properly

4. Add turmeric powder and salt, stir for a while. I usually add boiled potato or green papaya or pumpkin in it. In case of papaya and pumpkin, the recipe will take a little longer. But last time I prepared Tin Fish with only tomatoes.

5. Stir it for four to five minutes till the tomatoes get fried properly

6. Add the tuna fish along with 1/2 cup of water and cook covered for a few minutes.

7. Add freshly prepared ginger-garlic paste and mix it thoroughly

8. After a few minutes add freshly chopped coriander leaves

That’s it and done. You will get aroused with the tempting aroma and once you grab a bite, I bet the prepared Tin Fish won’t last for long.

Food On Credit

It seems food and credit has an age old association. I remember during my childhood days how my mom used to buy the groceries for the entire month on credit. Every month she used to make payment for the previous month. Quite often she used to take me for her horrific monthly shopping on Sundays. By the time we returned home, Sunday was already gone. But after my 8th grade I think I was no longer useful enough for my mom, as far as her marketing was concerned. When I joined engineering college it didn’t take us much longer to fall into the trap of credit. The Dhaba close to our hostel and the cigarette shop used to maintain register for almost every hostel guys. No one ever had to worry about our food and fag. Every time when we used to receive money from our parents it used to vanish in the first or at max 2nd week of every month. But it was never a problem as those registers never disappointed us.

Years later the story remained the same. Even now days also as soon as I receive my salary it disappears within a couple of weeks, mostly in making the payment of previous month dues and not to mention about my dreadful EMIs. Over the years I've become very much dependent on my credit card and usually I don’t carry cash with me. Well, I really hate going to ATM’s and because of this lousy habit I had encountered some annoying moments. Many times it happened that my wallet went completely void without even a single penny. In such situation when I use to visit any ATM, the machine usually would be out of service. Ultimately I’m able to withdraw cash in the 3rd or sometimes in the 4th ATM I visit. Earlier it was ultimate painful as the distance between 2 nearest ATM’s was huge. But now days situation has changed. There are hell lots of banks and hell lot of ATM's, but only my account always remains deprived of currency.

I remember one incident that happened few years ago. It was a Friday night and I came home little late from office. It rained cats and dogs that night. At around 10:30 PM my wife started to prepare food. All of a sudden she realized that there was not enough gas left inside the cylinder to continue the flame. We had a private gas connection those days with a single cylinder. We decided to order food from outside and collected few restaurant menus piled up in some corner of the house. 

"I don’t have a single penny with me. Do you have cash with you?" I asked my wife.

"No, I don't have cash with me. Why are you such an idiot? You always carry the card with you. Why the hell you didn’t withdraw money?"

I looked outside the window and it was quite impossible to go out in such terrible rain. Ours is a residential area and the nearest restaurant was quite far. Also in those days I didn’t have any vehicle. Out of desperation I started to shake the cylinder. Obviously, it didn’t work. It was already 10:50 PM and I tried my luck to order food online. That was for the first time I tried such a thing. Well, I used to do a hell lot of things online but food was something new for me. I was so delighted when I came across some websites through which we could have ordered online food. But most of the sites had only cash on delivery option. Then I came across one which claimed to deliver food till 11:30 PM. The website specifically mentioned that they deliver food even in drastic weather condition and on top of that the option of online payment was also there. We were so hungry and we ordered hell lot of things. I was so happy, such a rainy night with completely empty stomach. I was already mesmerized with the tempting smell of the food we just ordered. At around 11:30 PM all of a sudden the phone started to ring.

"Hello Sir, you have ordered food through our website"

"Yes, I did"

"Thank you for using our website Sir. Actually we are extremely sorry to say that at this point of time we will not be able to deliver your order"

I was totally demoralized "Why, what’s the problem?"

"As you are aware Sir, it’s raining very heavily in Bangalore at the moment"

"But in your website it’s clearly mentioned that you guys deliver even in drastic weather condition"

"Yes sir, we do. But at the moment as you can see it’s raining very heavily. Your money will be credited to your account in 2 to 3 working days"

What a KLPD that was. Fortunately we had bread inside the refrigerator and had to satisfy our hunger with bread and pickle.

Well, that was several years ago and after that we ordered online food countless number of times. I always prefer to pay using my credit card rather than cash on delivery. Old habit dies hard you see. From last couple of years whenever I ordered food from outside, most of the time I did it online. The online food industry is quite matured enough these days and it's only improving day by day. It's a competitive market and such companies often come up with exciting offers. Few days back I came across FoodPanda and instantly liked it. The website looks simple yet so attractive. They are fully operational in all major Indian cities and they have tie up with a wide range of restaurants and several other forms of modern eateries.

Well, I always prefer Indian food and sometimes pizza's for a change, but my wife enjoys continental food a lot. Whenever we order food we usually end up in some kind of a controversy. With such a great food ordering website like FoodPanda, we no longer require to waste our time browsing over the internet for ordering food of our choice. Right from authentic Indian delicacies to all forms of mesmerizing Pizzas, from SubWay to RollMaal, from Chinese to various other continental foods, one can order just anything from FoodPanda. Apart from 11 AM to 11 PM Toll-free customer care service they also have a live chat in their website. My experience with FoodPanda was really awesome and I frequently visit their site to look for latest exciting offers.

Singara Bhujia

There used to be a small dhaba close to our hostel. Well, it’s still out there at the same place and every time I visit Guwahati, I just love to visit the college campus. The entire campus and also the dhaba as well, always uses to evoke hell lot of nostalgia out of me. I just love to stroll all around the hostel premises every time I visit there. My hands automatically light a cigarette, irrespective of whether I really wanted to have it that moment or not. It seems my body doesn't have any control over my subconscious mind that time and I always sit in those steps, even if I'm all alone. We used to spend hours gossiping in those steps during our hostel days. After few minutes, I usually go to the dhaba which fed us all those years and I miss it more than our hostel mess. I usually get extremely delighted to see some familiar faces at the dhaba and it feels really great to know that those guys still remember my name. It’s been a decade we passed out from college. 

The dhaba’s main business was in the evening and they didn't bother much about breakfast. Well, most of the guys used to have their breakfast at hostel itself or at the college canteen. But still, the dhaba guys at least had some sympathy for the extreme nocturnal ones and also for those frequent class bunkers. Tea was always available there and also those cake pieces. Aha, how can I forget those brown colored cubic shaped medium sized stuffs? Well, people call it Goza out there in Assam. It’s prepared with Maida flour and after its deep fried, the cubes are submerged in sugary syrup for hours. It tastes horribly sweet like hell and I always struggled to finish it entirely. Eggs were usually available and guys used to have it in every possible forms like boiled, omelette, single fry, double fry.  If we were lucky enough and the nearby shop was still open, we used to buy Maggi and asked the dhaba guys to prepare it. We also had the luxury to have had customized the Maggi recipe with eggs, onions, chilies and vegetables. 

In the evening everyone used to have a great time out there. Paratha/sabji was extremely popular evening snack, along with the Maggi and yes, Goza was always available.  We were fortunate enough to have tasted a unique and very innovative snack out there. Not only in that dhaba, but that particular snack was extremely popular in the entire college campus. I never ate that thing before joining college and after I passed out, I didn’t find it anywhere else either. Well, I’m talking about “Singara Bhujia”. Don’t get confused with the term Singara, as in no way it’s different from the great Indian Samosa. Singara is the same damn thing and only people call it by that name in this part of the world. I remember few times I tried it out at home, but it’s been a long time. It’s much more than a snack for us, as it’s quite capable enough to generate hell lot of nostalgia.  

I will take the pleasure to share this remarkably yummy snack with you guys.

   1. Take two pieces of Samosa and mash it using your hand.

   2. Fry some chopped onion and green chilies

   3. Don’t wait for the onions to turn completely brown and before that, just break two raw eggs and put the          inside stuffs into the frying pan.        

   4. Mix it properly and put some salt as well.

   5. Don’t wait for the egg to become just too hard and before that, put the mashed samosas in the pan.

   6. Mix it properly for a couple of minutes.

   7. Put some freshly chopped coriander leaves and mix it properly for another minute.

Just eat that damn thing hot. The very first spoonbite will make your mouth extremely juicy. It will develop your appetite instantly and I’m pretty much sure that your plate would get empty in less than a minute. Shit! My mouth is already filled with water. I think I better plan for a "Singara Bhujia" right away.

Let's Have a Tea Break

Tea is one of the most traditional drinks and it’s extremely popular across the world. I think tea is the second most popular drink on earth, next only to water. There are many varieties of tea available in the market. Even though, the basic concept remains the same, but across the world people prepares it little differently. I’m pretty much used to two types of preparation, with milk and without milk. Without milk it looks so glamorous and not only the looks, but it tastes quite awesome as well. Particularly early morning, few sips of Black tea is capable enough to refresh us instantly. It feels like consuming the Caffeine in its purest form. It goes quite well with few drops of lemon juice and many people calls it by the name “Lemon Tea” Oh! The aroma is just magnificent. Actually Black tea goes quite well with many other flavors, like ginger, black pepper, mint, etc. So it can be kind of compared with vodka, as far as the mixing is concerned. Black tea is extremely popular in the North East states of India and particularly Assam.  Well, to be honest I never ever had Black tea in my entire life and whatever I had all these years was purely Red in color and in our state it's popularly known as "Laal Saa" I’ve no idea why the hell people call it Black tea? Black coffee is understandable, but black tea is confusing, as it’s no way black.

I remember those train journeys during my engineering days. There’s a train, popularly known as BG Passenger which starts at 5 AM from our hometown and reaches Guwahati by 9 AM. The same train used to return from Guwahati at 5 PM. Those were memorable journeys, as we used to travel in groups and we even used to taste almost every possible eateries that passed by our compartment. After the holidays were over, most of the time we usually used to travel by the 5 AM local train. Even though, it was quite painful to wake up so early, but the train was very convenient and specially the timing, as we could have attended our lectures on the same day. Many people working in the government sector usually travel by that train on a regular basis. The very first thing I used to do, as soon as I used to get into the train was to have a "Laal Saa" There used to be so many Chai Walas all around with different flavors of tea. While travelling early morning, I was not very much tempted with all those yummy foods. Actually in local trains people usually use to avoid the washrooms and use it only in case of emergencies. Well, I just tried to avoid any sort of emergency situation while travelling, as early morning I'm very much vulnerable in that case.

Once I moved out of Assam, I always kind of missed the tea culture out there. In our place one can find a tea stall in almost every nook and corner and in almost every stall they also serve Black tea, as well. I still remember my 1st day in Bangalore, when in the evening I just wanted to have a cup of tea. I kept on searching and couldn’t find any tea stall nearby. I was very much frustrated and then later, one of my friend told me that tea’s available in any of the bakeries in Bangalore. Even though, the tea tastes quite good out here, but the fun and luxury of having tea in a tea stall, is very different. In some of the bakeries they even serve black tea and many people calls it "Sulaimani tea" here in Bangalore

A couple of months back, a new caterer was introduced at out office cafeteria and I was very much delighted to see “Laal Saa” out there in the counter. I asked the guy "Boss, ek Red tea dena"  "Please get me one Red tea"

The guy replied "Sorry Sir, no Red tea. Only Black tea and Lemon tea"

They use to serve tea in small and transparent glasses. I asked him "It’s purely red in color, but why you call it Black tea?"

The guy smiled and said "I don’t know Sir. People call it Black tea so we also call the same"

Again I asked "What about lemon tea? How it is different from Black tea?"

They guy replied "Both are same Sir and we only put few drops of lemon it it"

Now days, every morning I regularly have lemon tea at our cafeteria. But in the afternoon by around 4 PM, I usually have craving for a normal cup of tea, I mean tea prepared with milk. Tea is a research topic since centuries and over the years many doctors and scientists claimed tea to have health benefits. Some research suggests that drinking tea without milk is good for a healthy heart and cardiovascular system.

Imli, The Tamarind

Well, it’s a pod like fruit and is used very extensively in cuisines across the world. Oh! I love those tamarind chutnies and pickle so much. Out here in India, people usually know it by the name Imli. Tamarinds are generally very sour and when people put it inside their mouth, their face grimace from the sour taste. When ripe, it tastes unusually sweet as well. The sweet and sour taste of Imli can mesmerize anyone, especially people who are addicted to sour things. It looks so damn tempting whenever someone uncovers it by removing the protected shell, especially when it’s totally ripe. Some people find it so attractive that they feel like eating plenty of them, but as soon as they put the first piece inside their mouth, it horribly stimulates almost all the organs. One piece of Imli is capable enough to make our teeth extremely sensitive towards every possible eatables for the next couple of days, especially those hard stuffs which we have to crunch. But whenever people look at any ripe Imli, particularly in it's half nude state inside the pod, they get very much tempted. 

Now, Imli got a very special significance in Bollywood since a long time. As a child, I was very much influenced by the true Imli knowledge. Last weekend after lunch, I simply browsed through the TV channels. I stopped at an 80’s Bollywood movie and enjoyed a relaxing moment for a while. After sometime, one typical scene appeared. Well, the daughter in law showed some extra interest in having Imli and in no time I understood that's actually a happy moment for the family. During my childhood days, I was such an expert in those kind of Bollywood facts, that I couldn’t stop my mouth and always used to showcase my talents. While sharing my knowledge, I never bothered about the kind of guests and quite often my parents had to feel the embarrassment. I still remember that on few occasions, my Mom didn't even allow me to watch TV along with some of the guests. Well, the Imli theory doesn't always bring happiness and particularly when the concerned lady is an unmarried one. In that case, her obsession towards Imli could be very vulgar and parents wouldn’t hesitate to change the channel in front of the kids.

I remember one incident when I was in my 6th standard. We went for a family picnic at the banks of the mighty Brahmaputra, along with several other families. Most of the kids were very much interested about the big tamarind tree nearby. We could see a plenty of attractive looking pod-like fruits hanging all over the tree. Few of the girls simply went crazy and they even tried many desperate attempts by throwing stones at the goodies. I and few of my friends were older enough and already started to feel the North Pole - South Pole attraction. We thought that was a great opportunity to show our talent and immediately climbed up the tree. Oh! as a child I just loved to climb trees, but also as I climbed higher and higher, my heartbeats used to accelerate as well. That was a big damn tamarind tree and we plucked hell lot of pods. Later, people enjoyed those fresh tamarinds with salt and green chilies. It was so tempting and also the smell was simply magical, but I was so much influenced with the great Bollywood Imli story that I didn’t dare to taste it. 

Time passed by and several years later when my wife Anjali gave me that good news, I was so much happy. But I was also little confused, as I never noticed her eating Imli. One day, as I was about to go to the market, I asked her "Should I bring some Imli for you?"

She replied "What will I do with Imli?"

I said "I think you would feel better if you have Imli"

"Are you mad? Go and come back soon"

Well, Anjali had craving for so many things those days, like Ice cream, fish, etc. But I really missed those Imli. I remember one day when she was kind of determined to have Ilish fish(Hilsa). We went to a fish market but couldn’t find any Ilish there and then we visited a different market. That was a tough day and even after few hours of extensive search, we couldn’t find even a single piece of Ilish fish anywhere. Later we went to a well known mall where they still sell wide varieties of fish. But, what the hell? We didn’t get it there as well. Anjali was so upset that moment and she even discussed about the tragedy with few of the customer care executive out there. They politely apologized for the unavailability of Ilish fish and said that the supply was inadequate for the last few weeks. They took her number and said they would call her as soon as the very next Ilish supply comes. After a few days, they actually called her and Anjali prepared the typical and yummy Ilish fish recipe with mustard, that day.  

A little bit of Cookery

For the first time when I arrived in Bangalore, I was so mesmerized with the typical kind of cool weather out here. Even though it’s been almost a decade, but I still remember how I felt about the weather that time and it almost felt as if I directly arrived into heaven, all the way from hell. Well, before coming to Bangalore I was in Delhi for quite a few months and I hope Delhiites wouldn't curse me for this, as I’m simply comparing the weather. For the first couple of months, I stayed at a hostel in J.P Nagar 6th Phase and it seemed, the place was mostly occupied with students and job seekers. Initially, I was so much amazed with some of the food items on the street. Well, the first one is Gobi(Cauliflower) Manchurian. To be honest, I never came across that food item earlier. I was so much confused, yet quite delighted to see those red color things every here and there, while they're being fried on those big utensils. Initially I assumed them to be pieces of chicken. As my pocket was at a very pathetic and miserable condition that time, so I didn't bother to explore much. But then one afternoon, I just wanted to taste those damn chicken pieces and approached a vendor and asked "Boss, chicken plate Kitna?" How much for a plate of chicken?

The guy simply smiled and said "Boss, chicken nahi, ye gobi hai, Gobi Manchurian" Dude! it's not chicken, it's Gobi Manchurian.

That was a huge KLPD for me and simply wondered "what kind of dish is that?" I wanted to try that out and the price was also quite reasonable. As soon as my tongue encountered the first piece of gobi, it created some kind on an ecstasy inside my mouth and also deep within my soul. It was crispy and slightly juicy. Oh! The taste was simply out of the world. It all started that time and even today, I’m a big fan of Gobi Manchurian. I’ve no idea about the origin of the dish, but one could find it in almost every nook and corner of Bangalore.

The another popular food item out here is Chicken Kabab. One of my initial observations in the city was "one would find a Bakery and a wine shop within every 50 meters on the streets of Bangalore." Also the wine shops are meant not only to buy liquors, but one could also gulp as much quantity as they can afford, out there as well. Outside every wine shop, one could find someone preparing yummy fried chicken kababs in the evening. Even though, quite often my pocket had to face some kind of an embarrassment those days, but somehow my loyalty and affection with Old Monk remained intact. That time the market was gradually recovering from the recession phase and I hoped that my dream to taste all sort of kababs in Bangalore would soon transform into reality. Once my pocket turned little better and that too with those chicken kababs all around, my relationship with the monk got stronger and stronger day by day. Also, I was getting kind of obsessed with those kababs and the obsession was somewhat similar to the kind, I had with Momos during my college days. 

After I tied the knot, the monk must have been quite disappointed with me, as I couldn’t able to worship him on a regular basis. But my devotion continued over the weekends with my close and nearby friends. One day, I applied for a Life Insurance policy and I had to undergo a thorough medical checkup for that. Everything was perfectly fine, but the insurance company increased the yearly premium by Rs 500 and the reason they gave was that my cholesterol level was somewhat higher. I assumed that to be a silly excuse and was very much irritated with their attitude. After some flow of emails, I actually cancelled that policy. But my wife repeatedly insisted for my master health checkup and she was quite shocked with my reports. That time I got quite serious and started to work out a bit. I even consulted with doctor and according to his consultation, my relationship with old monk and fried kababs was jeopardized. Those roadside kababs look, as well as tastes very yummy. But the guys repeatedly use the same oil again and again, not sure for how many days or months.  I completely stopped to consume them and unwilling though, I had to dump my good old monk as well. Later, I tried to get spiritual with some budget scotch brands and even though it took sometime, but ultimately I was able to gain spirituality with them. Sometimes, but very rarely though, when I get very nostalgic, I would spend some quality time with Old Monk, along with some of my good old, old monk fans. 

Last weekend, I was missing those fried kababs so much that ultimately I decided to prepare at home itself. The recipe is quite simple and would like to share out here.

1. Ask the guy to cut the chicken in smaller and medium pieces

2. Also buy a kabab powder along with the chicken

3. Marinate the chicken (1/2 KG for a small packet of kabab powder) with very small amount of water.

4. Also mix one egg with it and again marinate it for a while

5. Mix ginger/garlic paste to it (I prefer fresh one)

6. Put it inside the refrigerator for around 15 minutes.

7. Deep fry the chicken pieces in either olive or refined oil in low heat for around 15-20 minutes.

Oh! It tasted much better than the kababs from good restaurants. I think, along with other important factors, good cookwares are also very important to create such kind of a magic. If you haven’t visited magickart yet, you should definitely have a look at it. Well, magickart.in is the leading online shopping portal in India for Kitchen appliances and Cookware. With their exclusive collection of Cookware, Bakeware and Kitchen Appliances, now days one could quite easily be able to create a wide variety of magic inside their own kitchens.

Healthy Breakfast

Sometimes all of a sudden my wife becomes very conscious about her regular diets. Forget about breakfast, even at dinner she use to take Daliya during those few days. That time I usually have the feeling that might be her favorite dress doesn't perfectly fit her any longer. Being a doctor, she use to give me all sorts of healthy diet gyaans and always try to convince me to go for a master health checkup, but I’m too lazy or maybe I just want to hide away from the reality. Few times I had to forcefully try out Daliya for dinner, as I didn't even have the option, so that I could have cooked my own food. Now what more to say about Daliya? In simple words it's horribly yuck and sucks like hell. 

Even though it’s extremely difficult for us to manage time to enjoy our breakfast at home during the weekdays, but Anjali somehow manage it sometimes. She really enjoy corn flakes a lot, but it’s kind of torture for me. I still remember how I survived my childhood days with that pathetic smell of milk and I think that’s enough for a lifetime. She also likes oatmeal a lot and my goodness! It looks so ugly and even the taste is so terrible. I’ve seen in TV and also in some magazines that oatmeal is one of the best healthy breakfasts. Sometimes I get very disappointed with my tongue and wonder "Why it has to be so stringent?" Later my wife suggested me to try Masala Oats and it tastes much better than its earlier version. But still I feel so miserable whenever I had to put those damn things inside my mouth and I usually try hard to bypass the tongue in between.

I usually have breakfast at office cafeteria and they have quite limited stuffs out there. I’m already matured enough to take care of my health and try hard to eat healthy. Sometimes I take only fruit bowl from the counter for breakfast. Even though I like fruits a lot, but only fruits at morning time irritates my tongue a bit and I again go to the counter to get myself either dosa or idly vada. So I had to avoid fruit bowl, or else I end up consuming much more than my normal breakfast capacity.

Every morning whenever I look at those fruits at the cafeteria, every time I look at those corn flakes and oatmeal at home, I get to worry a little about my health. But on every occasion I somehow convince myself that it’s better to eat something rather than starving. 

I’ve been consuming idli vada since so many years and it’s high time I should look for other alternatives, as I fear that very soon I myself would turn into some kind of a giant idly.

Momo

Momo’s might have traces of its originality in Tibetan regions, but it’s one of the most popular dish in the entire North East India. Steamed momos are extremely delicious and one can fill them with any minced meat of their choice. Even though Veg momos are also available and some people do eat them, but frankly speaking they really sucks. Momos are intensely magical with minced pork, but the meat could be quite controversial for many of us. But one don't have to worry much, as even with chicken also it’s quite yummy.  

Momos were more than just a food for many of us. I think it was more of a kind of addiction, as during our college days we didn't have to think beyond momos, whenever we used to go to the city, specially for some evening snacks. In Guwahati one would find Momo restaurants in almost every corner and in any part of the city. We can compare Momo with Dosa out here in Bangalore, well only in terms of availability. Even though there are few highly recommended Momo restaurants in Guwahati, but now a days whenever I use to visit that place, I just go to any random restaurant and totally rejoice at every place.

Our hostel was at outskirt of the city and the college bus used to go to the city after every hour. The evening bus was mostly very overcrowded and on the way we usually used to ask our friends from different hostels "Hey Dude! Where are you going?"

Most of the time the reply used to be "Nothing, just want to have some Momos"

Some of the guys were too lazy to give a long reply and they usually used to smile and simply replied "Momo" Short and sweet, isn't it?

Momos are usually served with a fiery chili and tomato chutney. Some restaurants even used to give complimentary soup and that almost felt like a Diwali bonus. We usually used to have momo at the famous "Momo Ghor", but some of my friends say that the place has lost its reputation now a days. During our college days they used to charge Rs 18 per plate and most of us used to have one plate and 2 extra pieces and the total bill used to be Rs 25. After having one plate and 2 pieces, we usually used to skip dinner at hostel. But some of my friends used to have 2 full plates and some even three plates. 

Momo is highly addictive, just like Old Monk. If you try Old Monk for few successive sessions, no other brand would be able to satisfy your quench. Similarly if you try Momo as an evening snack for few days, definitely you wouldn't be attracted to any other snacks after that. But you have to be little careful, as gulping excessive momos on a regular basis, that too for a prolonged time, would yourself make you look like a momo.

The Memorable Earthquake

I was born and brought up in Bongaigaon, a town in Assam. Our house was located at a distance of 1 KM from the town’s main road, a place named Dolaigaon. I still cherish those golden days, when everyone seemed to be so simple and approachable. Despite the frequent minor differences among some of the matured ladies, the entire neighborhood was like a big family. I remember the usual evening power cuts during my childhood days. Whenever there was a power cut in the evening, we used to come outside our house. Pretty soon, most of the people in the locality would gather out there and everyone used to stroll in the nearby lane. It was definitely the best time of the day, as so many people strolled together and everyone used to gossip. I immensely enjoyed those power cuts, as we had the opportunity to take a long break from our boring study. 

Those days, it was quite difficult for anyone to maintain any kind of privacy for too long, as most of the people had a pretty good social network. The social networking that time was very much similar to today’s kind of social networking. The only difference is that, instead of the "calling bell" sounds at the front door, now a days we used to hear some beep kind of sound or some pop ups or some red color notification on our mobiles/computers. During my childhood days, there was literally no chance for any of the families in the neighborhood to avoid any of their festivals and not throwing a party.

I remember the Bihu and Mahashivratri celebration at my childhood friend, Bhupen’s house. Bhupen’s father was a true follower of Lord Shiva, so he celebrated Mahashivratri a little graciously. Oh! The Poori Sabzi, was so delicious and on every occasion, I used to have countless number of poori’s.  On one such occasions,  I think I was in my 8th or 9th grade that time. I and my elder brother, who is 3 years elder to me, went to Bhupen’s house. My father was not in the house that time and my mom decided to stay back along with my sister.

As soon as I entered Bhupen’s house, I was totally enchanted with the mesmerizing  smell of the Poori Sabzi. To be honest, that was the best Poori Sabzi, I ever had in my entire life. That evening also I had countless number of Poori's and we returned home with our overloaded stomach. I and my elder brother used to share the same room and once he left for the engineering college, the room was entirely mine. After we came back to our room, my brother got busy with his studies and I just lied down on the bed. All of a sudden I felt a minor earthquake and out of panic, I immediately got up and shouted “earthquake, earthquake, everyone come out of the house”

Within no time, my mom, brother and my sister were outside the house. I expected most of the neighbors  to be outside their respective houses, that was the usual scene whenever any  earthquake used to occur. But I was very much surprised not to notice anyone there. My mom said it must be a very minor earthquake and even she couldn't feel it properly. So, we all came inside the house and I, along with my brother entered our room. After a few minutes, again I felt the tremor and that time it was quite bigger, as the floor and the walls of our room started to shake.

I was so horrified and screamed "earthquake, earthquake, everyone quickly come out of the house" That time also, in no time, everyone was out of the house. I said to them "Have you guys felt the earthquake this time? This time it’s much bigger than the previous one" 

Everyone looked very confused and even I was also surprised, as apart from us, the entire neighborhood were inside their houses. 

Soon we came inside and out of confusion my mom asked my brother "what happened to him?"

My brother replied “nothing, I noticed him, when he was secretly having those white fluids at Bhupen’s house."

My mother again got confused and asked "what white fluids?"

"BHANG BHANG ..." he screamed.

(Some form of marijuana, prepared with milk )

My mom was so shocked to hear that and without saying anything, I immediately went to sleep. I was so horrified and wondered how my father would react, the next morning. My father is a very religious person and to my surprise, he didn’t say a word to me that morning. In fact, he didn’t speak to me for the next 2 weeks.

Sinha, the hefty eater

Our college and the entire campus were at the outskirts of Guwahati city. There were a few dhaba’s within the campus but everyone had to go to either Panbazar or Maligaon to bite some yummy stuff. Panbazar is at the heart of Guwahati city and is quite far from our college campus and Maligaon is at a distance of some 5-6 KM. The “Ritz” restaurant in Maligaon was quite popular among us. We really enjoyed the food out there and it also had a wonderful bar. I and few of my friends used to visit that restaurant quite often, usually in the first week of every month when our pocket was in a little good shape.  The most popular dish out there among us was “Chicken Butter Masala and Butter Nun” , wow! it was so delicious and my mouth is already filled with water. I don’t exactly remember the price but I very well remember that for one full plate they used to give 8 huge pieces of chicken.  Whenever we used to go as gang of four we usually ordered half plate of chicken butter masala and 5-6 butter nuns, but on  few occasions we had 2 pieces of chicken  per head as well.

Sinha was a real foodie guy and was never satisfied with one or two pieces of chicken even though the pieces were big enough. He was the kind of guy who could finish a full tandoori chicken without much effort. One day Sinha was on his way to hostel and he was quite hungry that moment. As soon as he reached Maligaon and came across the Ritz restaurant he couldn't resist himself and immediately got down from the bus and entered the restaurant.  One waiter approached him and asked for the order.  Sinha had a close look at the menu for a few minutes and order one full plate of chicken butter masala, one full plate chilly chicken and 3 butter Nuns.  

The waiter asked Sinha “Sir, are you expecting some friends?”

Sinha replied “No, what’s the matter with you?”

The waiter said very cutely “I think the food you ordered would be too much for you”

Sinha was little embarrassed and replied to him with a smile “you don’t have to take tension and better concentrate on your work”

Sinha enjoyed his meal graciously and took his own sweet time. He felt little uncomfortable whenever the waiter who took his order used to stare at him each time he passed by.

Sinha  took more than half an hour but still had to finish 3-4 pieces of chicken and his tummy already became a tight balloon. Initially he thought to parcel the remaining food but the waiter’s glances didn't allow his inner soul to do so. Later he thought to leave the remaining chicken pieces just like that, pay the bill and leave from there. All of a sudden the waiter passed by Sinha and starred at him as well as his plate and gave a cute smile. Sinha’s ego was badly hurt and he took it as a challenge. He took few more minutes and unwillingly tried to finish the stuffs. He was almost done and just one more chicken piece to go. By that time his tummy reached the threshold level and could have bursted any time. 

Sinha was not sure what to do? His prestige was at stake. He gave himself some more time and somehow managed to finish the last piece.  What a relief ! Sinha paid the bill and just before leaving had a look at the waiter and made a proud smile. As soon as he came out of the restaurant he wanted to have a cigarette but he didn't want to take any risk as anything might have happened that time.  His stomach could have bursted or the stuff inside it could have passed through some alternate route.