"When bright flowers bloom Parchment crumbles, my words fade The pen has dropped ..."

Monday, December 20, 2010

Egg rolls

With my exams over and few days left before flying to India, I decided to try out something different from the usual sabzi roti for dinner. Since my hubby loves eggs I decided to make every bong's favorite snack egg roll. Oh we bongs love to devour egg roll. Every lane of every colony in Kolkata has a stall of these mouthwatering egg rolls. And they are too easy to make at home. 
So I started with 4 parts of maida , 2 parts aata, you can change the ratios as needed, more or all of maida will make it more tasty while more of atta would make the roll more healthy). Add a little of melted butter for moyan and a pinch of salt. Kneed the dough as you would for paratha. Adding a little of buttermilk or milk would make the roll crisper. Keep it aside for an hour or so covered with a muslin cloth. Make roti balls and roll the individual balls into round parathas. Beat eggs (I used 5 eggs for 7 parathas) in a bowl. Add green chilies, corinader , chopped onion. Now what I did was, I cooked the paratha a little without any oil. Then adding a few drops of oil in a non stick pan, poured 2-3 spoons of egg batter in the same shape as the parathas(actually my hubby did this part for me). Then I kept the half cooked paratha over the egg. Flipped it around when the egg side was done. You can directly put the paratha over the egg without cooking the paratha before. Or you can first put the paratha on the pan with a little oil, while the lower side is being done pour 2-3 spoons of egg batter on the upper side. Once done place roll on a flat surface with the egg side up. Add julians of cucumber,onion chilies in the center and pour some tomato sauce. Roll the paratha and cover half of it with kitchen paper. Your mouthwatering egg roll is ready to be served and hogged.
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Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Life is beautiful

There she sat in the park watching her daughter Ananya play with Deep. Suddenly her eyes were flooded with tears. Today Payal was the happiest woman in the world, a sweet daughter , a loving and caring husband and a respectable vocation what else can one need in life. But ten years back she would have never dream t of such a life.

Born to a very orthodox family, Payal was the fifth daughter in a row. Because all were expecting a boy atleast this time, she was welcomed only by her mother. Within a year of her birth, her mother was again rushed to the maternity ward , but this time it was boy. Being the youngest daughter didnt help her much. Her mother was always occupied by the tantrums of her baby brother. The elder sisters were responsible for cleaning and feeding her and yes they showered all their love on her. But somewhere something was missing. At the age of two she got her first polio attack, no one would have a guessed what a meager fever would turn into. Three months later she landed up with a crippled leg. Things changed much after that.Her name became the irony of her life. She was confined indoors , could not run and play with her friends. Her only friends were her books. Thanks to her mother who fought for her to get her admitted in the same school as her brother, she surpassed all in studies. At the tender age of ten she wrote her first poem and never looked back after that. Payal dedicated her first novel to her mother.

And then one fine day, she had gone to one of her colleague's birthday party. Shy and introvert Payal sat at one corner admiring people laughing chatting dancing. And there in another corner sat Deep sketching the shy girl. For a flick of a second their eyes met and Payal felt her heart leap. The next second he was gone. Two days later they again met, this time in a local train. Accidently or intentionally they took the same train to their office. Friendship bloomed between the two. But Payal started drifting apart when she felt they were getting emotionally bonded. No she did not want to blemish his life. He was the only son. How could she mar the dream of his parents' .. the dream of a perfectly fit daughter in law. Neither did she want any pathos from Deep. She was resolute to live life on her terms with her head held high. But it was agonizing to keep away from him, to decline his requests to meet, to not pick up his calls. Days passed and the affliction of separation bore a mark on her. She had deeply loved him. Then one day Deep stood at her door knocking. He looked lean and tired. She could not help but beckon him inside. Payal's heart skipped a beat. She felt like hugging him tight, crying her soul out with her head on his broad shoulders. But no she could not afford to be weak. She stood there tight lipped waiting for Deep to speak out. And Deep spoke with a voice as wet as his eyes , "Payal.. accept me as a part of your life. May be you can live without me but I can not.". Somehow she could no more restrain herself. She dropped her head on Deep's lap and started weeping like a baby. She could never believe someone so good and adept like Deep would want her as his wife. Really love knows no bounds. And to her surprise Deep's parents accepted her with all their hearts. Perhaps they knew more than anybody else what would give Deep true happiness.
Ten years had passed since then. Payal gave a deep sigh. "Life is really beautiful" she murmured to herself. "Ananya would rise to the peak. She would carve a niche for herself ".. as Payal's mother had always dreamt for her, she dreamt the same for her daughter.
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