Tevye is coming to town!

For reasons beyond my understanding, there is a severe lack of good theatre in Delhi. In case you didn’t know - Delhi is home to the National School of Drama (NSD), the premier institute for dramatics in the country.

Bombay and Calcutta (or whatever they are calling them these days) have a strong theatre scene despite the competition from equally great regional cinema. Good Hindi movies are rare (unless you go back to the 70’s) and good Hindi theatre even more so. There is also a dearth of original playwriting in Hindi (and maybe the audience or lack of, is to blame) and most of the plays that I have seen have been translations from other regional languages or, more commonly, from English.

As a teenager I regularly got to watch plays, both in Hindi and English, produced by the dramatics society of the students of IITD. Some of them were directed by the noted theatre personality Faizal Alkazi; everything from the music to the set design and performances, was very professional. That is where my love for theatre began.

It’s Party Time!

The Party is not over yet! The previous two posts and the comments there have piqued my curiosity. And it’s getting the better of me.

While admitting that poori-bhaji is a national (if not yet international) favourite, I cook it infrequently in this seemingly health-conscious age. I am always reminded of it on the day of Ramnavmi, when I see neighbourhood kids (mainly girls - they are revered on this day only ) flitting from one house to the next and their growing piles of poori-halwa and chana.

I am getting the feeling that some of us may have deprived ourselves too long! So, I implore all of you to join in the party and make some poori-bhaji for a change. You could start with a longer walk in the morning or burn it off later in the evening as you go shopping this weekend or the next.

The rules are simple:

• Cook poori-bhaji this week (Aug 12-Aug 19), write a post about it (with or without a recipe ), how you enjoyed it, maybe a picture of the meal and/or the family enjoying the meal.
• Too hot to fry? Go out and get some! The portion will be right, and you don’t have to fry ‘nothing’! Write a post about it, and how you really enjoyed it!
• Link to this post (which will be updated next week to include my poori-bhaji. Of course, I have to make it again; these pics are from months ago!) You may, if you like, use a Pingback and it will automatically show up in the comments here. Or leave a comment here which will lead us to your post!
• Don’t have a blog? You can still join the party; just leave a comment here about how you enjoyed your poori-bhaji! Feel free to provide links to any pictures you may have posted on a photo-sharing site such as Flickr or Photobucket.

Never made poori-bhaji before but would like to join in the party? Here’s the simplest of recipes to get you started! There are suggestions for variations too.

If a health condition prevents you from enjoying these foods, we understand. Responsible cooking and eating comes first. Always.

It is also India’s Independence Day this week, on August 15. Another reason to celebrate! I hope all of you (Indians as well as those of other nationalities) will join in!

Update: Aug 15

Food Glorious Food

I just know this is going to be one of those rambling posts…don’t go away!

When I went to grad school in the US in the late 90s there was much that impressed me. Common knowledge of everyday science was not the least of them. We didn’t get hungry – we experienced a sugar-low; we didn’t need a cup of coffee or tea – but our bodies were craving caffeine. The chemistry behind food and digestion was common knowledge. I, on the other hand, had never thought of food or hunger in this manner ever.

Fancy cafés just outside the Campus walls were great places to hang out and enjoy that giant cup of java, and a mammoth cookie. There was no Starbucks where I was! And I was in Manhattan! Kansas .

When I returned four short years later, I had modified my teenage dream (though not a teenager anymore) of owning a bookstore. I now dreamed of a bookstore with a café.

A Delhi Summer - On the Streets

It is not easy to sum up an old city like Delhi, with all the layering, in one post. And I am not planning to attempt it.

In this city of 10 million people there is no getting away from the crowd. There are people everywhere, and they continue to pour in – from smaller cities and the villages. The biggest influx into Delhi was in 1947, during the Partition of the country, when many Hindus and Sikhs from West Punjab (now in Pakistan) sought refuge.

It is only natural that a city 3000 years old has imbibed influences from all over the world, and these are reflected in its culture – art and architecture, language, and of course, in its cuisine. The Persian influence is prominent in the Mughlai cuisine, though the Punjabi flavours predominate today. But whosoever came and settled here had to deal with the hot and dusty summers.

An Amaltas in all its glory

Not that that is an entirely bad thing. How else would the mango be so sweet? While the temperate world revels in its fall colours, we have a green green spring followed by the vibrant summer. The sun makes our greens shine, the reds brighter, and the yellows sunnier. Who can rival the Gulmohur (Delonix regia) or the Amaltas (Cassia fistula), when it comes to a show of colour?

The King of Fruits

Thawed, sliced Amrapali (from my Dad’s trees)

Summer is peaking in Delhi and there is, on the Web, a lot of hot air around the most beloved of our fruits, the Mango. On it being exported to the US. On Hapoos vs. the Rest. All the heated debates and discussions are rooted deep in our love, bordering on reverence, for this most delicious of fruits. The Mango is believed to have originated in India, and the best varieties still do! There is no debate over that

The mango is no ordinary fruit; it is woven into the warp and weft (literally!) of this ancient country and its customs. Torans made out of the leaves of the mango tree adorn the doorway of Hindu homes on auspicious and religious occasions, and are included into many of the associated rituals. The tree and its fruit are symbols of fertility and abundance, love and devotion. It is also referred to as Kalpavriksha or Kalpataru, the mythological wish-fulfilling tree.

Babur, the first Mughal emperor, called it the ‘finest fruit of Hindustan’. The beautiful mango tree with its evergreen fronds was frequently featured in the beautiful Kangra school Miniatures.

fruit laden Amrapali (in my parents’ garden)

The beautiful mango is the inspiration for the ageless Indian motif, the ambi that weaves its way into sarees and other textiles. The ambi was later modified into the elongated Kashmiri badam (almond), better known all over the world as the Paisley motif, after the Scottish town where machine-made copies of the exquisite Kashmiri embroidered shawls were manufactured in the 19th Century.

Yahoo! India Content Thieves

I write to support Ingi Pennu’s campaign against plagiarism. Plagiarism is a serious violation. Violation of our trust in each other. And violation of laws as well.

But, first I had to get the full story. Since the portal in question is in Malyalam, a language I do not know, it took a bit longer to find the beginning of the thread. But I like to get to the bottom of things. I used the Web. I Googled -”Yahoo! India Content Theft.” One thing led to another - Global Voices, DesiPundit, PlagiarismToday…Well Copyright Violations had a lot of posts on this, starting at the start. With screenshots.

It seems Yahoo!India, to provide easy content, looked for the easy way. But easy is often not the right way. Good things take time. Good wine takes time. Good Scotch takes time. Good writing takes a lot of time. It don’t come easy.

Yahoo! India (through Webduniya or not) decided to simply lift content from Surya Gayathri’s Malayalam blog (and a few non Malayalam ones as well!), rearrange few sentences, change a few photographs (more about this in a minute!), and viola, they had ‘new’ content.

But they forgot who the ‘Person of the Year’ was! I am. Before they could sit back and revel in their new ‘expansion’, the cat was out. The content was stolen! Oops. After knowing how quickly Kavya Vishwanathan was found out for a few stolen paragraphs that were in printed books! Its On The Web, Stupid! Big OOPS.

And those pictures - well methinks those are lifted as well. I should know. One of them is mine, from my much cherished early posts - A Simple Potato Curry from the Fields of Uttar Pradesh! Try it, it’s really worth ‘copying’! But seriously, plagiarism is no laughing matter.

I have the power. If you like easy, you must be willing to pay for it. With bad publicity. Ill will. The buck stops with Yahoo!

We all make mistakes. It takes greatness to say sorry. Say you are sorry, Yahoo, and all will be forgiven. We have been friends for too long.

Another One Bites…

I debated if I should. I must. Tell you. Though you are sure to discover it anyhow.

treasured clips

There is a new blog. You could call it old, though. Did you read one of my earliest posts here on Adai, the other Dosa? If you did, then you may remember I mentioned a certain CY Gopinath and his wonderful writing. He used to write a most delicious column on food in TOI back in the early 90’s when TOI was still readable (they were always sloppy it seems; look carefully at the pic in the ‘dosa’ article, it is upside down!). And since you probably know by now that I was a Dravidian in my previous life and not this one, his descriptions became the source of many of the South Indian staples I continue to make even today. His writing style conveyed trusted authenticity of the food he shared wrapped in wonderful stories.

Those of you who were in Kindergarten at the time, and limited by their reading skills (or lack of them), can rejoice. CYG has decided to re-publish his writings as a blog! There are no two opinions - it is amongst the best food writing there is! And the tone is truly Indian. It’s a treat. Apparently, I had something to do with it - he came across the mention on my post and decided to start Gopium (great name too)! Ahem…so feel free to send a tiny “thank you” my way too.

The trouble is, he’s on a roll - as of this moment there are 16 very delectable posts out already! You have lots of catching up to do. Read this one on Kashmiri cooking to know why there are so few Kashmiri recipes here!

And, you are very welcome.

Tags: food writing; C Y Gopinath; Gopium; TOI

Three Things…

First Lakshmik (Veggie Cuisine) and then Shaheen (Malabar Spices) tagged me for this meme. I always need lots of time for the ‘meme’ stuff - thankfully, unlike in real life, for a blog I can take the time to think up witty one liners what I think are witty one-liners. So here goes:

3 Things that make me laugh
Watching Friends
Watching Seinfeld
Watching Friends again… and again and again. (I know, that adds up to a lot of TV. They also say laughing is a good thing. So there.)

3 Things that make me cry
Watching our Saas-bahu serials from the K-factory (looking at those decked-up conniving women with an inch thick make-up makes you want to pull your hair out. And that is very painful. So I don’t. Watch the serials, I mean.)
Watching movies like Stepmom - a totally different kind of crying. Not painful, but feels like something’s stuck in your throat.
Chopping onions. Not very original. Or witty. But true.

3 Things that scare me
There you have me. I’m not really scared of things other than being put on the spot! In the limelight I mean. Like that will happen! So, I’ll say I don’t scare easy. I hate cockroaches but I am not scared of them - I can always stomp on them (yuk).
But I am mortally afraid of riding a bicycle, with good reason.

3 Things I love
Reading the Sunday papers (especially The Hindu)
Delhi’s Four-seasons Climate, always sunny!
A good cup of tea

3 Things I hate - too strong an emotion, let’s make that - I can’t stand
Dealing with corrupt officers (I can’t offer bribes you see. Big problem.)
muggy-cloudy weather for too long (London is not for me!)
Roaches/ Salman Khan

Step into My Parlour….said the Spider

Morning cuppa..the sun’s not up

Will you walk into my parlour?” said the Spider to the Fly,
‘Tis the prettiest little parlour that ever you did spy;
The way into my parlour is up a winding stair,
And I’ve a many curious things to shew when you are there.”
Oh no, no,” said the little Fly, “to ask me is in vain,
For who goes up your winding stair can ne’er come down again.”

“I’m sure you must be weary, dear, with soaring up so high;
Will you rest upon my little bed?” said the Spider to the Fly.
“There are pretty curtains drawn around; the sheets are fine and thin,
And if you like to rest awhile, I’ll snugly tuck you in!”
Oh no, no,” said the little Fly, “for I’ve often heard it said,
They never, never wake again, who sleep upon your bed!”

Said the cunning Spider to the Fly, “Dear friend what can I do,
To prove the warm affection I’ve always felt for you?
I have within my pantry, good store of all that’s nice;
I’m sure you’re very welcome — will you please to take a slice?”
“Oh no, no,” said the little Fly, “kind Sir, that cannot be,
I’ve heard what’s in your pantry, and I do not wish to see!”

VCC Q3 2006, Voting Has Begun!

Many of you out there already know about the Virtual Cooking Competition (VCC) that was started by VKN at My Dhaba. The third (quarter) edition entries are currently in and all of you can participate in voting for the entries of your choice. The theme for VCC Q3 2006 is Festival Foods (any cuisine).

Check out the delicious spread here and decide the wining entry. I am off to cast my vote!