Your favourite dish- Day 6 of #100happydays

It was a restaurant I often visited before I became a parent with practically no time to call my own. I hadn’t been intending to go there, but when I found myself outside the place, I couldn’t resist walking in and ordering what had then been my favourite dish. It arrived looking exactly as it did ten years back- even the plate was a clone of the earlier ones. I sat back, savoured the vision, then took a deep breath and dug in……

Happiness is ordering what had been your favourite dish, and realising you make it much better now. 

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The purpose of festivals

Sharad Poornima.

The full moon night when the moon is closest to the Earth. People believe that if they offer a milk based dessert to the moon before consuming it, they will be blessed with good health in the coming year. In the days before high-rises and pollution, many families would have, what amounts to, a moonlight picnic dinner on Sharad Poornima. Whether the moon actually blessed the food or not, we do not know, but everyone sure had fun.

And shouldn’t that be the whole purpose of festivals?

I did my bit, and make something sweet for the kids.

“The easy confidence with which I know another man's religion is folly teaches me to suspect that my own is also.”
― Mark Twain

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This is the fourth year that I am going to be a part of NaBloWriM. The Plan is to elaborate on a quote that touched my heart- let's see how far this takes me. If I can tie it in with the writing prompt, so much the better!

What you see....

I’d made some really good plum chutney the other day, and wanted to take a picture to post on a food group. I poured it into a pretty bowl, spread out a cloth that would compliment the colour, and started shooting. I took seven pictures- all were well composed, perfectly exposed and well lit, but none of them came close to capturing the colour and luminosity of the dish.

On an impulse, I decided to go against everything I have learnt, and shot against the light. The photograph was perfect.

Sometimes, the smallest shift in perspective, ends up changing everything.

“What we see depends mainly on what we look for.” ― John Lubbock

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This is the fourth year that I am going to be a part of NaBloWriM. The Plan is to elaborate (in 100 words) on a quote that touched my heart- let's see how far this takes me. If I can tie it in with the writing prompt, so much the better!

The mind works

It was a vegetable I have never cooked, but the moment I saw it, I knew I had to bring it home. While paying for it, in one moment of clarity, I felt the taste of a dish I haven’t had for over a decade. Without even knowing what the vegetable tasted like, I resolved to make something similar.

On getting home, I started trying to identify the vegetable using google. On an impulse, I typed in the name of the dish I got the taste of, and it was just that.

Isn’t it strange how the mind sometimes works?

“Coincidence is God's way of remaining anonymous.” 

― Albert Einstein, The World as I See It

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This is the fourth year that I am going to be a part of NaBloWriM. The Plan is to elaborate (in 100 words) on a quote that touched my heart- let's see how far this takes me. If I can tie it in with the writing prompt, so much the better!

Is that the way.....

For a 50^th birthday, a friend ordered a birthday cake from a designer cake boutique that charges the earth and promises to deliver heaven. When she went to pick-up the cake, she was appalled. Instead of something pretty, or even quirky, what she got was something straight out of a horror show. Lipsticks dripping blood, skulls made of gold, a frying pan. Even a bow tie if you wanted to kill yourself!

Her disappointment was apparent, but the baker was unrepentant. She was an artist- you had to take what she gave. Is that the way to run a business?

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Disclaimer- this is NOT 'The Cake'. This is what a customized cake should look like!

Are you sure?

“Are you sure you want to eat that”, I asked Thing Two as he reached for the Jalapeno Poppers at a fancy restaurant yesterday. “It might be a little too hot for you.”

He ignored me, and popped it into his mouth. And then reached for another. And yet another. He liked them so much, we actually ordered a second plate just for him.

Since he is such a fussy eater, I took the trouble to find the recipe, and made Jalapeno Poppers for him today. He refused to touch a single one. Who says kids are not fickle eaters?

Often turn out Right

Yesterday, on a whim, I decided to surprise the Hubby by baking him a birthday cake. I gathered all the ingredients before realizing that the expiry date of the baking powder had passed two years back. Too late to do anything about it, I left it out altogether. The cake, naturally, didn’t rise, but it smelt good otherwise.

Today, in a fit of inspiration, I cut the cake in half, and sandwiched a layer of Nutella and banana slices in between. It was delicious.

Things don’t always turn out as we want them to, but they often turn out right.

This is very normal

“I cannot eat this”, said my son pushing his aubergine curry away. “It is too hot.”

“Wait for it to get cold”, I told him.

“Not that hot”, he corrected. “The other hot. Chilli hot.”

“But I didn’t even put any chillies.”

He was not buying that, and finally let himself be partially placated after I sprinkled sugar on the offending curry. Minutes after finishing dinner, he wolfed down an entire packet of fiery hot jalapeño flavoured wafers.

“And you don’t think this is hot?”, I asked him.

“Not at all”, he replied with a smile. “This is very normal.”

Chai, the cup that cheers

The world may know it as “tea”, but in it’s country of origin, chai has a tradition all its own. None of that “light-tea”, or “black-tea” nonsense. The only way to prepare chai is by boiling a pot containing milk, water, tea-leaves and sugar on a high flame.

Want to make it extra special? Throw in cardamom seeds, ginger slices or basil leaves (or all three) into the masala chai before bringing it to boil.

From the guy selling vegetables from the footpath, to the ladies gossipping after finishing their chores, chai is the closest thing to heaven for everyone.

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There are words, and there are words. Some words can be easily translated, others need to be described.  In April, I’ll attempt to capture the Soul of 26 'Indian' words in a  drabble of exactly 100 words.