The Father, the Son and the...

(Project Courtesy: S's school)

Before anyone thinks I am a diehard feminist, what with my food blog being “Bong Mom” and the other one called “Desi Momz”, let me do my father’s day post fast and fast means right now. Not that I don’t want to be a feminist but at this point of life I would rather steer clear from any of the “the isms” and expend my energy in something else.

Also before the men folks in my house who randomly skim through my blog and who might even kindly generate some revenue by clicking on the super exciting ads that I have entrusted google to put on my page get mad and leave huffing and puffing let me sing my paean to them. Since I am under pressure I am not going to say anything unpleasant about them, no nothing, zilch, nada…. It’s going to be all praises and goodness and this post is going to ooze sweetness as if I am an honeybee on a good will mission.

Sorting by first name, I would start with my Dad or Baba as I call him. He did a pretty good job as a Dad I think, one look at me and my blog and you would know.
But what I would really like to highlight is his role as a grandpa or “dadai” as the little one calls him. If there ever was an award for “Best Grandpa” he would win hands down. He does things for my little one that I would have never ever imagined he would or even could.

Next is the “other” dad, the hubby’s Dad. Now since you don’t know much about D you can’t really judge whether his Dad did a good job or not and you shouldn't believe whatever I say. But since this is supposed to be a “feel good post” let’s give the man his credits and leave the rest for D’s blog if he ever has one.

Now comes the in House Dad who can “make or break” it. Since he waits patiently while I click and edit my food photos and does not complain if he has to chew on stale sabzi while I save the exciting dish for next day so that I can get my coveted “day light” photos …I better say stuff which I would never admit verbally.

How good a Dad he is only S can say. What I see is how much he puts in to do his share of Fathering. The fact that he changed the smelly poo-poo diapers more times than I did, that he took turns to stay up at night to cradle a colicky baby, he took a week off from work to settle S in her daycare, that he takes care of S’s morning routine and drops her off at school , that he always spends part of his evenings with her playing or fighting whatever they choose -- proves that he had a major contribution in raising S to be the 3 year old that she is.

The fact that I cannot gloat in the glory that I alone toiled as a Mom while Dad was only at work is pretty bad by itself. That I can never tell S “You know your baba did not know to do the diapers” does nothing to boost my ego either.
It also makes me pretty boring because I cannot regale her and the crowd with stories like “Only once I had asked your Baba to feed you and instead of the formula he gave you Cinthol Talcum Powder instead”.

So S will never get to hear such entertaining stories and I will not get to be the all sacrificing filmy “ma” but she gets a great Dad and that’s a darn good thing, I say.


Leaving you all on this sweet note for a short break… see you all again next week with some Bengali Food posts.

Till then enjoy the pics.

A month or so back a very close friend of ours (the only friend who knows this blog exists), packed their bags and left for India. They wanted to be close to their family, they said. They were happy leaving, but we were sad.For us, they were like family. On the last weekend with them we tried to drown our disappointment by doing what a true Bengali would have done in such circumstances...yes eating of course.

Lebanese food in the above place in Silver Spring, Maryland. My first experience in a Lebanese restaurant. Food was very refreshing but a bit too tart for my liking.

Gam bhulane ke liye (to drown our sorrows), we had these colourful liquids at a Thai Place nearby. Food was very good but the pics terrible so have nothing to show.

We miss you K, M and little M who ws the perfect sister for my S.

Vatali Dal and Bombay

Mumbai holds a special place in my heart, not the hoity-toity, dazzling Mumbai of the rich and famous, but Mumbai of the far flung suburbs. Mumbai was the first place where I got my taste of independence, my first pay check and a place where I had lots of fun.

When I decided to take up the job in Mumbai instead of the one I got in Kolkata after graduating, my Baba was perturbed and very much so. He finally came around because of my Ma but accompanied me to settle me down in the big bad city. Once there, he again got his fits, the PG's weren’t good enough, the small one room apartments asked for a huuuuuge deposit, the trains were crowded and he almost put his foot down and wanted me to go back with him. Thankfully my workplace was not in one of the posh areas of Mumbai but was in Borivali where it was still possible to rent a one room flat with the meager salary that the company paid me.

So there I was happy with my new found independence, a one room flat shared with a roommate, a cute red clix stove and some friends. Since we were still in the training phase of the job and the work place had a pretty decent roof top cafeteria, a major amount of the day was spent in deciding on the menu, eating and the chatting over tea or coffee with colleagues who were more friends than anything else.

Also since I tend to gravitate towards foodies in general and tend to gel with them better, I found a very good friend in J a girl in my training batch but from a different college. The first thing we would do every morning on reaching work was, go straight to the cafeteria and then intently study the board where the breakfast, lunch and snack menu would have been written down every morning. We would argue over not only what we should eat but also what some of the other friends would eat.

I still remember every Friday would be Biryani for lunch and after having a plate each, me & J would share one more plate of that Biryani. Wednesday it would be fried mackerel or bangda. Now I didn’t like the smell of mackerel so I would order a veggie plate for myself but would insist K (another good friend from college) to take the fish. Then we would ask him for our share of his fish since a solely veggie dish would be really hard on us.

Once a month we had to travel all the way to Church Gate and then on to some place to go to the bank to get our salary cheques. Don’t ask me why we never changed our bank account to a place nearby, but we all loved that once a month trip. I remember we would wistfully look at the Taj from far and decide to come back for only tea there once we earned enough. We would then satisfy ourselves with alu bondas, vada-pav, singdana and maybe Frankies roll at the station after buying loads of those books sold at a very cheap price just outside ChurchGate.

I have never gone back to Mumbai since and I have never had so much carefree fun ever in life so heres for "Bambai, meri Jaan"...

I have never really tried creating a authentic Marathi dish at home other than the Kolhapuri mutton which my Ma makes and which is awesome. Searching around I saw this recipe for a Dal at Mumbai Masala called Vatali Dal. I found it interesting as it used Bengal Gram which we Bengalis use to make Cholar dal and it also satisfied Nupur’s A-Z of Indian Vegetables – its V this week.

Since its Nupur who is hosting both RCI-Maharashtra and also A- Z, I thought she would not be offended if I sent her one Marathi dish that served both. RCI was a the brain child of Lakshmi of Veggie Cuisine.

Here’s my Vatali Dal, pretty tasty and different from any Dal I ever had. My version was dry as I was not sure how it should look like. I followed the recipe from Mumbai Masala Magic to the tee. Any Mumbaiyaa comments on the look and feel of the Dal are welcome.


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Vatali Dal

What You Need

Split Chana Dal /Bengal Gram ~ 2 cups
Garlic Cloves ~ 2-3 crushed cloves
Green Chilles ~ 2-3
Sugar ~ 1 tsp (optional)
Mustard Seeds ~ 2 tsp
Hing/Asafoetida ~ 1 tsp
Turmeric powder ~ 2 tsp
Salt
Oil ~ 1tbsp
Shredded Coconut ~ lots for garnish
Corriander leaves ~ lots for garnish

How I Did It

Wash and soak split chana dal in water for 3-4 hours
Drain and grind along with chillies to make a coarse paste, with very little water.
Heat Oil in a Kadhai/Frying pan
Add mustard seeds. When they start spluttering add asafoetida, turmeric powder and crushed garlic. Tip: Cover pan to prevent mustard seeds from dancing around your kitchen
Add the ground dal, salt and sugar
Stir till the water dries out. Keep stirring, keep a watch that it does not stick to the bottom
Cover and cook.
Garnish with grated coconut and chopped coriander leaves.



My entry for RCI-Maharashtra

Trivia: Zunka Bhalar Kendras(Centres) were opened across Mumbai by the state government during the 90's to provide employment to youth and provide food at a very minimum rate to poor people. Zunka is a chickpea flour based gravy and bhakar is a roti. I don't think these stalls are functional anymore.

Salmon Kabob and Happiness

Sunshine on My Shoulders Makes Me Happpy…… - John Denver

No it is not that easy it seems. Being Happy in today’s world is actually pretty tough. At least that’s what I felt hearing some of the happiness discussions on NPR. There’s a Economics of Happiness, Happiness Gurus and also it seems it has recently dawned on people that “Money can’t make you Happy”. Wasn’t that something we were taught in most middle class Indian homes? It’s another thing that we chose to believe or not believe it. So there were surveys done to show that once you reach a basic sustenance level, money doesn't have much effect on happiness and it has done nothing to improve the happiness of Americans over the last 30 years.

It got me thinking ? What makes me Happy ? I am talking about happiness with my being and not happy on an occasion.
I am not sure but I feel I am most happy when I am not comparing myself, my situation, my child, my whole being with some one else and am satisfied with my being. Now its not always possible to be satisfied. As we go along life, there are dreams that don't come true, aspirations that are not met, heartbreaks that do not mend. But we need to make adjustments around these to be content and satisfied. As the auto-driver in B'lore would say "Swalpa adjust mari"

However in my case the moment someone very subtly compares me or my situation with the Joneses the happiness quotient takes a dip, it’s a fleeting feeling, but its there.As soon as someone rubs it in the issues in my life that I am sensitive about and ruffles up my sense of satisfaction, the adjustments I had made peace with goes kaput.

But I am trying to make peace with it and what I feel is “Satisfaction is Happiness”, a state of mind where you are contented, satisfied and confident to be satisfied--- you are happy. Now how you define your satisfaction may vary but if you try to be satisfied with your present situation you certainly feel happy about yourself.

Talking of satisfaction, I think food and cooking triggers the senses and induces happiness. A home replete with the fine smell of cooking, the joyful hissing of the kettle on the stove top, the crackle of the hot oil, the pop of the spices in the oils is what I think is a happy home. This blog says -- A secret to happiness: "Be a storehouse of happy memories." And good memories associated with food are always happy memories.

But there are certain food which triggers your mood in certain ways.
The Upanishads say that food we consume gets separated in three parts. The solid part that is absorbed nourishes our tissues and waste products, the liquid part nourishes mostly waste products like urine, sweat and the subtle part nourishes the mind. So what we eat has a very strong influence on our mind.

Ayurveda divides food into three categories by their Gunas, a Sanskrit word which means quality or nature

Sattva Guna
Most vegetables and fruit and grains come in this category. This type of food is supposed to promote longevity, positive outlook, steady moods and contentment

Raja Guna
Foods that are not in natural form. Foods like egg, garlic, onion, meat which generate heat and induces activity. The foods cause heat in the body and gives rise to irritability and anger. This type of food in moderation might be good and healthy for people with active life style but does not constitute part of diet of a Yogi.

Tama Guna
Food like junk food, very rich food, food which is heavy to digest. These kind of food induces depression and sadness and does not do anything to promote the finer senses. These type of food should be avoided as it does not benefit neither the body nor the mind

Not only the kind of food we eat but the way we eat is also important. Instead of rushing through a meal and having TV dinners, a relaxed sit down dinner, eaten slowly in a calm atmosphere with an attention and gratification for what you are eating helps to boost the mood.
(References: Living By Design) )

So next time when you are feeling down instead of stuffing yourself with junk, think of the food that brings back your happiest moments, choose something that is light like the Dal & Rice you had first cooked, cook it up and feel the joy.

Now Sattvik food would be the right choice but for me the prospect of surviving on veggies and fruits alone does nothing to my happiness. I love my fish, meat and eggs in moderation and cannot give them up as it will cause me more sadness than happiness. So though I would not want to survive on a "Yogi" diet, I do feel that "Light food", which is not heavy to digest, not too much laden with oil and grease does help to keep the mood positive. So “Going Lite” is the the Right way to go

I saw these Kabobs at Cynthia's Tastes Like Home and they seemed gorgeous. When I asked for the recipe she was very kind and generous and asked me to mail her for the recipe. Now I know all Bloggers are very busy and so was a bit hesitant to bother her. But she was so sweet that she urged that I mail her so she can e-mail her recipe. It was a perfect recipe and though I played around with it a little it's a keeper. Since Cynthia did not give me exact measurments which is not really necessary I too took the liberty of not measuring out. Play with the ingredients, go by your instinct, make the dressing, choose a fish (I chose salmon while Cynthia had Mahi-Mahi) and grill. Its that simple. With little oil which is just used to brush on, no frying and with fish like Salmon rich in Omega-3 this is definitely very light and healthy.

My "Tangdi kabab" err... "Salmon kabob" entry for Coffee's "Ghaas Foos" MBP -- Go Lite.



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Grilled Salmon Kabobs

What You need

Salmon (or fish your your choice) ~ cut up into chunks. I prefer to sprinle a little salt on them
Bell peppers - green, yellow, red, orange (or any combo of colours you can find) ~ cut into large squares. I used only green
Red onion ~ cut into chunks
Canned pineapple (optional) ~ cut into chunks

Dressing for kebabs

Garlic
Thyme -- I used rosemary, next time shall use Thyme
Hot chilies
Green onions (white and green parts) -- I used red onion
Ginger Paste
Salt to taste
Canola oil -- I used Olive Oil

Skewers

Metal or Bamboo Skewers.
Soak the bamboo skewers 1/2 hour in advance in water

How I Did It
(in mostly Cynthia's words)

Cynthia said "In a mortar with pestle or a food processor - with the exception of the oil, grind all the ingredients together including the salt, (which should be to taste). It will look like a paste." I used a food processor to prepare my paste
In a bowl, pour out the ground ingredients
Add enough oil to moisten the paste, almost like a sauce. This will be the dressing for your kabobs
Start putting the fish, red onions, peppers and pineapple on the skewers - you chose the colour combination you want.
When you have finished threading all the skewers, fire the grill
Taking the sauce/dressing, liberally, season the kebabs, on all sides. Use a brush, its easire that way
Depending on the kind of grill you are using, you can put foil at the tips or bottom of the skewers so that they do not burn.
Place skewers with kebabs on grill and until fish is cooked and you see the nice charred grill marks on the edges of the kebabs (baste the kebabs with the sauce as each time your turn it).

So I didn't really get nice grill marks because my skewers were on a stand but it tasted fantastic and thats the important thing.



Are you Happy ? What makes you a Happy Person?

Trivia:Consuming salmon is considered to be reasonably healthy due to the fish's high protein and low fat levels and to its high Omega-3 fatty acids content