Friends, Nostalgia, Family and Sweet Potato

Past week or so was alone at home. Got in touch with a few of my old friends who I have not  met for about 19 years. Just hi how are you on FB till now. When one of them coincidentally told me that I have not ranted my cynicism on the blog for some time now. And so here I am again... but here I am because something happened today. Had been feeling nostalgic for the past couple of days and wanted to go back in time. Today kind of did!

Wife and kid were away in Bangalore and it was parrtttttyyyy time :-)...well not really.. that's what I guess all married men would like to do and think when their wife goes away from home.

Actually the bubble really bursts when you your life life still goes on -- morning maid, a hurried breakfast which is usually coffee (filter of course :-)), a couple of hurriedly made toast which are usually somewhat brownish black in color and juice if one can find any. Then close the house ... ya it becomes a house more than a home :-)...then rush to office ..work work gossip gossip, lunch at the office cafeteria or sharing colleagues lunch boxes ...then one comes back to the house. and then starts the eternal question of what to have for dinner as through out the day one has not had much food ;-).

So this was the routine I had been following for sometime. Though am a good cook (I hold a degree in Hotel Management and used to stay alone for a better part of my life, which ensured that I start cooking and also in my growing up years used to see my dad and mom cook fantastic food), these were some days when I just did not want to cook and eat alone.

But kya karen...paapi pet ka sawal tha..and my stomach was growling and threatening to stop functioning. So.. in order to appease my stomach had to eat..lest I start spending more time in the loo :-). So the fisrt 2-3 days, cleared up all the food in the fridge. Leftovers basically..my wife is a good cook ;-).

From Pepsico Quaker Upma

Then started the days of reckoning..no food in the house...so started a hunt..and hallelujah!!! i found a few packs of these ready to eat stuff Quaker has come out with these ready to eat Upma and Poha. Ready in three minutes. Good stuff..finished all packs at home except the one you see here.

Was planning to make this today.

THEN this strange feeling of nostalgia enveloped me. And kinda had a flashback. Don't blame me for this...the weather in Delhi today is such...that it brought back memories..memories of me standing behind my dad in the kitchen. Mom sitting in the balcony. And I eagerly waiting with wide eyes for the pressure cooker to open, the green chilies to be cut and the sweet aroma of coconut oil when roasted enveloping the entire house...Yes! am a mixed breed..part Tamil Part Kannadiga Part Mallu and Part Delhi...ukhaad lo jo Ukhaadna hai :-)..so I like coconut oil ..lots of uses for that too.

Nostalgia and memories makes one do a lot of things.. in a trance.. I went out all the way to Vasant Vihar..got Sweet Potatoes ..and came back. Time was kind of standing still.

Somehow went back to the past..saw my dad washing the sweet potatoes, putting them into the pressure cooker, lighting the gas, cutting the green chilies, pouring the coconut oil into a small pan, heating it up, adding the cut chilies and salt, frying them up for a couple of minutes..the pressure cooker whistled thrice..and voila everything was plated up..

From the kitchens of my dad

It took me about 8 minutes to finish this off..all the while I was this 4 feet tall 8 year old, slurping away with a smile!

Yep, this is something which Hotel Management does not teach us. These are recipes that life and parents teach us.

Oh by the way just for general knowledge, sweet potatoes are a great street food here in North India. They roast them add some chat masala / a mixture of spices and squeeze a lemon and give it to you. A must try if you are ever in Delhi in the winters. How does it look? click here

So signing off for today! :-) need to rush to the airport..mu house to become a home today again :-) Wife and kid are back.. NOW it is party time!

The Indian Fridge..Ahh Nostaligia

My first brush with a pot was when I was a little kid...our kiddy gang used to go for morning walks and adventures into JNU and "Priya ke Pahadi".  Priya ke Pahadi it was called as these were small hills with a few ponds in between them and were next to the Priya Theater.

For those who came in late..hehe pun intended..Priya is now PVR Priya in Basant Lok, Vasant Vihar. The Priya ke Pahadi is where the huge 3 air-conditioned malls stand now and India's biggest car manufacturer Maruti is located..Nelson Mandela road, Vasant Kunj

Now that history and gyaan given..let me get back to Pot :-)..Within these pahadi, there was a tree which looked like a Cock..there go your dirty minds on a wild run again..

Cock as in the rooster..see pic below..and imagine it in a shape of a tree..

Cock AKA Rooster

We used to call it Murga Paed or the cock tree.. and under this tree there used be a pot which was kept by the workers who were blasting the hills and the rocks with dynamite..(guess this was to make those roads which now take us to Gurgaon and the place which we now know as Vasant kunj)...OK guys am NOT that old

And we kids used to walk that 5 km walk one way..through the bushy brushy jungle..wade through the ponds just to drink that sweet water from that pot..FYI Pot here is NOT grass, ganja, marijuana..it was a clay pot.

The next time I got a pot was in college..had a bachelors pad in Bangalore.. and I being from delhi used to cold water from a fridge..got the pot in Bangalore..aah those were the great days

So what made me go back in time? My wife asked me to get a pot! and this one has a tap too..the only difference..the pots which I had earlier were filled with water from the earth ..a hand pump..this one is RO water..but the sweet earthy taste and smell of the water and the quenching of the thirst still takes me back in time

The Indian Fridge