cook .. me ?? what ?? where ??

I had a feeling that things were ominous..

First it was a few friends wondering if i would cook with them at school. Sharing an apartment with 3 others meant that someone needs to be a good cook among the 4 of us.

Lets see where that heads...

Then a dear friend recommended my pasta making abilities to a friend. And a day later I was typing a detailed recipe for pasta.

Coming home, the circle completed.. mom had to step out for some work to finished.. and I was handed the "responsibility" for dinner.

The item on hand was Pau bhaaji. Something that I had recently tasted in Jaipur.. and had cleaned out the plate and my finger.. now cooking the same dish was like reaching out to an unusually high benchmark... (read "yummiest food in india is still not in the restaurants")

The yummiest food in India is still not in the restaurants

While the restaurants serve out some really "exquisite" fare in terms of food, the best of the finger licking yummy like hell food is still dished out on the outside of the restaurants.

And I say this with all due respect to all the chefs and hoteliers. In fact, I am a patron of some of these places myself. Some places that I love going to for a good meal. But its the tack in the mouth experience that I head out to the road side joints for.

In hindi they are called "thela" or stalls. Down south in Chennai, the stalls are popular as "kayanthi-bhavans" which literally translates to "seek by hand" place.. or self service places.

Delhi and its surrounding places now elgantly called NCR or National Capital Region today have the latest and snaziest malls holding the hippest of joints. And yet, the by-lanes leading to these malls have all these thala wallas (thela guys) who serve the lip smacking "junk" food that a foodie like me would love to gulp down. Gol gappas, momo's, bhel puris, pizzas... the list can go on, you get the point.

Drive down the road from Delhi to Jaipur, and you have so many dhabas lined between lovely mustard fields. And the love and affection that the dhaaba owners serve you, can overwhelm you.

Now one doesn't normally associate Jaipur with food. But if you know someone who has grown up in Jaipur, like my friend Sukesh, you would be in a position to unearth some treasures. Incredible as it may seem, Jaipur held my taste buds three days in a row. Lassi (sweet butter milk), daal kachori, alloo tikki (potato cutlet), paani patasha (a.k.a. paani puri, gol gappa, puchka, etc), chhole poori. Wow.. I couldn't stop eating. One of the best experiences was sitting at a four crossing, looking up the residence of the royal family on a small hill near by and wiping out the pau bhaaji clean. This was served on the crossing by a thela waala known around jaipur. The chart toppers without doubt - daal bhaati and choorma. Even a trip to the nearly deserted fort of Nargarh (where Rang de basanti was shot, scenes of dropping into a pond from a wall above, etc) yielded a taste bud winner - channa chor garam.

The next time i visit any city, I will remember to keep notes on the best thela waalas. Because a city isn't visited until its cuisine has been tasted.

hunting bathtubs..

Which is one thing that evokes the most number of questions in our minds...?

Life... and its nuances... its bits and pieces...

So what is life??

Is it a series of goals and achievement/failures... or is it a string of quests of the human mind... or is it as animals live it... survive your early years... go to procreate... pass on your genes and then just pass on...

The last few weeks have made me feel one thing about it... whatever else it may be... is sure includes a bunch of mysteries to figure... puzzles to solve... equations to measure and understand.. Or at least try to measure and try to understand...

I am no philosopher with profound thought processes... but whatever my little brain can fathom... life is about what you make of it... what you want it to be...

The last few months have really been like the swings of a pendulum... swinging from the zeniths of extacy to the nadirs of agony... back and forth. There have been moments when I wanted nothing more from this life and moments where I wanted nothing more of this life.

I believe in a supreme power - god...almighty... whatever one chooses to call it - and i trust his ways... though most times i dont understand them. And this new year, while I hunt around for bathtubs, I trust he will help me find them or eliminate their need.

Just as I finish this post, I see these words somewhere... "Expecting life to treat u fairly because you are a good person is like expecting the lion not to attack you because you are a vegetarian"

Wonder if this is true. I hope not.

Happy new year..

A brand new day all set to dawn..

A whole new path to tread upon..

New dreams to dream, new promises to keep..

New steps to walk, new jumps to leap..

But it’s still old me and still old you..

And I’d like to wish you too..

With no worries and troubles to cope..

A Happy New Year full of joy and hope..