To her with love

Today is 3rd of June. Two years back , this day Aru was with Meenal. It was her birthday and just 2 days later was Aru's birthday. Since last few years they had been celebrating both of their birthdays together on the same day. They had outed the whole day, had a beautiful candlelit homemade dinner. But today Aru is all alone. He has just returned from the Village hospital. Tired and exhausted he lies on the cot of his small quarter. He tries to dose off, but thoughts keep propping up. They had loved each other so much , rather he still loves her. But he is not destined to be married. He has more important aspirations. and he never blamed Meenal for leaving him. On the contrary he is very happy for her. Ma told him two days back that Meenal is getting married by the end of the year. The boy is an architect by profession settled in Pune. Good for Meenal , she does not have to leave her job.
Meenal and Aru were neighbors. They had grown up together. Although Aru was 3 yrs elder to Meenal, they were friends. They had never proposed each other but they and their families knew about their unfathomable love. Nothing could have gone wrong between the two, and nothing actually did. Meenal just after completing her engineering got a job in IT at Pune. She was waiting for the day when Aru would finish up with his medical studies. Love although unspoken was dreaming big in her eyes. But for Aru, life was moulding a different shape. With the complete of internship in a rural area, the truth dawned on him , the truth of how badly he is needed in these rurals. The plight of villagers suffering and dying because no doctor would come to a village , brought tears into his eyes. He decided to give up all his riches and luxuries of urban life for these poor souls. He was sure his parents would understand, and yes they did. But to tell Meenal was an agonizing pain. And she cried and shouted and yelled, but nothing could make Aru stay back. He never wanted her to come with him. Why should she sacrifice all for him to get nothing? No , he was happy that she parted ways. Two years have passed since then. Remembering all the nostalgias , Aru doses off.

The next day he wakes up to rural fresh air and chirping of birds. Suddenly last nights' thoughts make him sad. But then he rememberes he is here for a cause, he loves this village, its people their innocence. He loves it when he heals and cures them.This is a transcendental happiness.
After getting ready he reaches the small 2 room hospital.There is a hue and cry. The only nurse of the hospital is carrying tiny bundle in her arm. As Aru approaches the nurse, he is taken aback. It is an infant hardly a week old. Someone had left her on the door of the hospital. The moment Aru takes the baby in his arm, she smiles.Oh the moment is so divine. Aru gives a peck on the forehead and whispers "You are my Meenal"..

Read More

Pomfret in tomato gravy

My husband simply loves fish and thanks to him after marriage I have started devouring fish like never before. previously it was mostly him cooking fish, but recently I have started trying my hand in all possible fish recipes. We bengalies are fanatic about fish(except me.. I never liked fish atleast before marriage) and only fresh water fish is preferred.So we usually get Rohu and Hilsa (every bong's favourite.. we call it ilish), and have tried various concoctions with these. A day back we bought lovely looking pomfret. Now hubby and myself both have tasted pomfret but never have known how to make it. So the sunday was dedicated to the lovely pomfret and my cuisine unbelievably turned out very tasty. So heres the recipes for all those pisces lovers.
You need to have:
4-5 pieces of pomfret
2-3 gloves garlic and a little ginger, grate and pound them.
tomato puree
2 tablespoons curd,
chopped chillies , coriander.
Smear the fish with turmeric, salt a drop or two of oil and a drop or two of lemon jiuce. Keep it aside for half n hr or so(you can keep it for less time). Fry the marinated fish pieces till golden on both sides. Now for the gravy, heat oil in a kadhai. Add cumin seeds and small stick of cinnamon. Let it crackle , then add the pounded ginger garlic. Fry for 2 minutes now add chopped tomato or tomato puree, chillies, salt turmeric. Fry til oil separates add the curd. Fry for a few more minutes. Add jeera powder and if you want really hot then red chili powder, a pinch of sugar. Fry a few more minutes , making sure that the masala doesnt burn off. Now add a cup of water.Let it simmer for 5-8 minutes. Add the fish pieces after 8 minutes keep it on simmer for another 5 minutes and switch off the oven. You can restrict the water amount as per thickness of the gravy. garnish with chopped coriander and serve with steaming rice. Enjoy!!

Read More

Caramel Pudding

What do you call a person who hates milk? Well whatever it is called , my dear hubby is one such person. I have to trick him constantly with milk recipes. Someday I prepare a shake the other day I end up making kheer (although I do not know how healthy it is). So now a days I very frequently make the dessert of Caramel Pudding which seems to be a healthy alternative.
All you need is:
2 eggs, 2 cups milk, a slice or two of white bread, 1-2 drops of Vanilla essence , 2 - 3 tablespoon sugar for pudding , 2 tablespoon sugar for caramel
For pudding:
Bring the milk to boil. Add sugar.Keep it on low flame for sometime stirring frequently so that the milk reduces in volume, the denser the milk the tastier is the pudding (but if are on diet just boil the milk , do not reduce). Allow the milk to cool. Once cool, beat the eggs , add the bread slices (diet freaks please use wheat bread) , a drop of vanilla essence and churn in the mixture twice. The bread gives a wonderful texture to the pudding.
For the caramel:
Melt sugar on low heat, I usually add some drops of water to make it manageable. Once the sugar turns deep brown remove from heat and pour in a mould or container (the one in which you will make the pudding)
Now pour the pudding mixture in this caramel coated container. Steam for 30-45 minutes on low flame. Insert a fork and check if pudding is set. Cool the pudding. Once cool place a plate on the mouth of the container and turn over and low you have the delicious pudding ready.

Read More

Days of Udaans and Buniyaads

Today unknowingly (or maybe knowingly) I watched the silliest TV program. The program was all about mistrusting your spouse or girlfriend/boyfriend. Watching the program become unbearable for me only after few minutes, where hidden cameras and objectionable questions were peeking into the very personal life of a person. So this the state of shows and programs today. When at a single moment we have more than 200 channels to surf through at the click of a button , we hardly have any viewable programs.

Gone are those days, when we children waited for the Sunday to come. After all the homework and studies for the whole week, Sunday was a day of sheer TV watching and playing. The Sunday started with a steaming glass of milk and Rangoli. Then came the mom's sunday special breakfast with Ramayan/ Mahabharat followed by Junglebook or the likes. Afternoon were Regional Awarded Films with English subtitles, again in the evening a good sweet romantic movie or an art film. The dinner was definitely accompanied with the much awaited Surabhi. Who can forget the sweet Renuka Sahane and the debonair Siddharth Kak not to mention the Sawaal Jawab to top the pie. Weekday evenings were a fun too with family drama like Lifeline, Udaan , Buniyaad and many. All had a message to convey.I still remember the serial Udaan inspiring me so much that at a point I had decided to take IPS. There were educative programs like Turning point , Bharat ek Khoj , The world this week, etc and crime thrillers like Bomkesh Bakshi , Tehkikat , comedy like Ulta Pulta , Dekh Bhai Dekh,

children shows like Fairy Tales , Shaktimaan , duck tales and on and on and on ...... Who can forget the Swami of Malgudi Days, Pankaj Kapoor of Karamchand,Bhishma Pitamah, Krishna aka Nitish Bhardwaj of Mahabharata. They were the household names then. The cute ads of "Humara bajaj", the famous "Jalebi" ad of Dhara , "Kuch khas hai zindagi" cadbury ad till date bring a smile on our face. And how can we forget the small films of "Mile sur mera tumhara " , "Ek enek aur ekta"... Oh the days were so packed up with all these. Even the 15 min news was so much welcomed with newsreader like Sunil Tandon, Rinni Khanna.

Today we have loads and loads of Saas Bahu soaps where it takes no time to fall in love and no time to fall apart,where a single person gets married uncountable times, where the ladies don designer sarees and designer sindoors and cook, and where every third day the cast changes. The soaps never end and the 100 yrs old dadi never dies. We have reality shows bombing our drawing rooms and real life. People get married in shows and get divorced the next day. News is 24 hours and full of सनसनी news with no news. I sometimes wonder what will be the state of TV programs another 10 years or so. I wish (and I know all of us wish) that we could get the golden days of Doordarshan back, when there was just one channel and and just few hours of programs.

Read More

Bhapa doi.. (Yogurt pudding)

This recipe is again from my Ma's kitchen. She says she had read it on the can of a condensed milk. A very quick and simple recipe for people like me who have a sweet tooth.

You need to have:

A can of condensed milk, A container (around 500 gms) of plain yogurt. 1-2 cardamom pods

Desired:

pistachios (pista) , almonds , raisins

To do:

Hung the curd in muslin cloth for 10-15 mins. Now add condensed milk , a pinch of cardamom powder and whisk till completely blended. Add cut almonds pista. Ma adds a little of rose water and a drop of pink food coloring. This gives a beautiful look and fragrance. Steam it in a steamer or cooker for 15-20 mins( like we steam dhoklas). This can be baked in an oven as well at 350 degree F for 30 mins(but I have never tried it really). Check it by inserting a fork. Once done, cool it in fridge for 2-3 hrs. And your bhapa doi aka Yogurt pudding is ready.

Read More