Gudi Padwa
Today is Gudi Padwa, the Maharashtrian new year festival. We eat neem leaves with jaggery on this day. The neem leaves don’t feel bitter anymore.
Food
Posts from the food category.
Break bread
When I feel stupid, which is very often, I read. Its a perfect cure for an ever present malaise. But anxiety and loneliness is a bit more of a struggle. Its only in fleeting moments and glimpses, but it often feels crushing. The cure, is ancient. Bread, lavash, pita, tortilla, dosa, bao - it comes in many names, grains and forms. Making it usually involves effort. And time. It will not be hurried....
Identity
In the rabbit hole of food related videos, some of the most fascinating ones I watched are about butchering a whole animal.Its a process that is almost hypnotic- the butchers knife making precise cuts, finding muscle seams and reducing waste to a bare minimum. Each muscle plays a definite part - a small cog that makes a whole. Each muscle defines part of the animals mechanics - how it walks, how i...
Paapaji
Paapdi. Fine diced red onion. Finely chopped coriander/cilantro. Uncomplicated and unpretentious. This is what my grandpa ate, when me and my older brother were wolfing down misal at our regular haunt all those years ago. He sat by himself, kept an eye on us, but allowed himself the little indulgence of eating paapdi. “Hey ghya Paapaji. Ajun kanda deu ka?“. Paapaji - that is what the folks at the ...
Pizza
These images represent a major victory and a minor one. A major personal victory to create something that is aspirational, mastering of some craft. Minor one - to understand that fermentation is a gift of nature that can be used to stunning results. Mother nature is the true artist, we are just cooks.
Bus Chai, aur kya
No matter how good or bad the day is going, looking forward to the morning Chai and earning that evening Chai after a long day has a charm of its own. It's some incentive that drives you but doesn't show up in our bank statement or payslips.I always thought it's such an innocent wish in life, a small cup of Chai, at subconscious level drives our behaviour and eventually has impact on bigger things...
Day 13 - This n that
I am too immersed in book today to think or observe things to write about for the ongoing series. It’s about cooking, women and the misogynistic view of the country they staying in, and how it affects them deeply. It’s supposedly a thriller, but the repetitive cooking and descriptions of how the food taste etc is a bit overwhelming for me. I don’t like cooking much and do it for survival. I like a...
Day 11 - Miso
It all started as usual with KDramas. The journey into Korean food, finding out about ramen and sushi(actually gimbap in korean which we thought as sushi), ordering from Daily Sushi, finding out about other korean cafés in Bangalore. It all happened because of the crash landing(#iykyk). As Indians we are also expert in jugaads. Instead of wasting money in hifi places everyday we will slowly think...
Books of 2024 : Book 13
The Stationary Shop of TehranPicked this book on our recent visit to Blossoms. It is a love story. The review has a spoiler so don’t read further if you are planning to read the book. It starts really really well. It is a story of a young girl and boy living in Tehran. How they meet on their visit to a stationary store and how their love blossoms in the turbulent times of Iran. At this point I was...
Lemon yellow
Angoori rasmalai: because one big rasgulla isn’t nearly enough fun! The smaller, bite-sized angoori rasmalai likely originated as a refinement of the classic rasmalai…..Check out my today’s monochrome composition at https://www.instagram.com/jaeejadhav