Tuesday 27 February 2018

ALOO NARKOL KUCHI DIYE GHUGNI



What was I doing the last two days? I was going through some expert comments on Sridevi and her character assassination, how karma served her etc. etc. I really could not digest the fact how people can be this cruel and heartless.... it was not even 48 hours that she died.... The dignified people quoted their mothers on how could and why Sridevi married a person who was already married! The humans cannot be expected to behave like robots, though I do not approve of a free society where we are at the liberty to go to extremes! I only wish people do not do character dissecting at the time of death! That is when / where / why Pain is Sublime .... If you are me, you will turn pain into a pleasure and cook ALOO NARKOL KUCHI DIYE GHUGNI and have a big bowl of it. I do not claim my philosophy of life to be followed, but it feels extremely disgusted of people pointing fingers at the character of a deceased person within a day of her death as if they are flawless, God's own child on earth.... I sincerely hope these kind of elements are as caring towards their mothers in reality as much as they are vocal about their "mom" in social media.... Posting in a saree .... its my mom's gift as if the husband never gifted anything ever... come on write about the details of a saree following the group rules.... discuss on Sridevi's contribution to mainstream cinema; of the mother in Sridevi who was much excited about her daughter's debut next... Take lessons from her life that there is no wrong in looking like a 50 year old @ 55..... 

Then it is us... the fans who constantly pressurise our matinee idols to look slim, trim and perfect! You see I am no where near these dignified people dissecting a deceased person .... after 4-5 doses of vodka with lime over the weekends, I tell my boss at this home with eyes fixed on one Arjun Rampal may be on screen.... kya body hai yaar!... haha! Come on, keep your parents in the temple of your heart and scold them too! I scold the mother every now and then.... if your son cannot stop doing "maa maa" after six years of marriage.... how can you expect otherwise from people? How can you have best of both the world? She in turn still has to regret about why the daughter did not take up the part time teaching job she got in a college in a far off, remote place in Nadia district called Bagula.... 20-22 years back the place was a "gondo gram".... perfect to start with what I loved doing then.... Why I did not? I was too eager to marry .... some one was gifting me Chanel to Christian Dior to Swarovski to Swatch too much then... hihi! The mother had to lose the tug of war! Why the mother has to bring up something that makes me feel guilty now a days... that I forgot all about my subject! 

Why did I leave the job I was doing in this island?.... I strongly felt being used as a stop gap and assigned to take reading and spelling classes is kind of wrong with me which will not help me grow .... furthermore a Speech & Drama teacher should not be a dull and lazy character like me! Why do I respect the boss of this house?.... He tirelessly keeps on saying... S take a shift and go back to Pluto & Aristotle, I have downloaded for you! Why did I say the above lines! .... To warn the youngsters, do not be a "mistaken identity" like me.... even a "mediocre" can be "something" if they focus on the right things at the right time in life... we cannot rewind an entire life and start afresh! ..... As far as dissecting the people who  bring their mothers in social media too often out of the context..... they should know I am not jealous .... I am not that kind! Had I have a bit of self pride or competitiveness in me.... I would not have been such a worthless sitting at home! The DSLR is crying for some fresh air and I say.... Cristine lets take the picture just like that.... I am feeling tired after all the cooking! There goes my supremely tasty with poor picture quality Bengali chaat dish ALOO NARKOL KUCHI DIYE GHUGNI!

There must be other similar recipes as this ALOO NARKOL KUCHI DIYE GHUGNI or Dried Yellow Peas Curry with potato and coconut pieces that you may come across Google search..... but as I say, we do not need to see each other's way of cooking when it comes to the authentic, heirloom recipes! They will be near similar one way or the other! Ghugni is something we eat either with luchi / poori or with pao or just as a chaat! It has to be topped with chopped green chillies, onions and coriander leaves! We do both the vegetarian and non vegetarian version of it! Authentically, we do ghugni with yellow matar / dried whole yellow peas? and the non vegetarian version was done strictly with minced mutton! Gradually with time, we started using minced chicken and kabuli chana / garbanzo beans too. Somewhere I read ghugni with mutton fat is popular among Bengalis.... though it was not done in our family, neither the mother let us eat it from outside! 

The first thing I will do on my next visit to Kolkata is to buy some mutton fat and prepare pakora with it.... just craving for it! ..... Though the mother gets my home cleaned so that the daughter can enter there peacefully..... I do not run to the parental home the next day. I will first settle my home that was made with the husband's hard earned money. I always tell the mother .... one cannot build a strong home if they keep on doing "mummy-daddy" at all times after marriage.... every thing needs to have a balance... relationships too! I have seen broken homes because of such behaviour. One little sis... if reading my post will get severely upset to know that I accuse both of them for the unpleasant turn of an event.... I cannot help it.... I am not a people pleaser! What I can do is to share this ALOO NARKOL KUCHI DIYE GHUGNI for such "petuk".... foodie people.... and for everyone who love spice in their life... ohh! I meant food... haha.... Bowlfuls of this spicy bliss with generous amount of tamarind juice and dry roasted spice powder are also for those who are busy with character analysis of Sridevi.... instead take a look at her career graph.... the empire she built starting at childhood from nothing.... and do not tell me your hearts did not beat faster at the sight of any other men except for your husband or vice-versa ... not all lies are gullible! The truth is she was heavily exploited by her own, right from her childhood!



INGREDIENTS : [for the dry roasted spice powder]

Cumin : 1tsp
Coriander : 1tsp
Fennel : 1tsp
Dry Red Chilli Powder : 4-5
Green Cardamom : 2-3
Clove : 3-4
Cinnamon Stick : 2-3 1inch stick
Bayleaf : 2small

INGREDIENTS : [for the ghugni / yellow pea curry]

Potato : 2medium : [washed, peeled and cubed]
Coconut Pieces : 1/2small cup 
Dried Yellow Pea : 2small cups
Onion : 2medium [peeled, washed, sliced] + 1small [peeled,washed,chopped]
Green Chilli : 2-3[washed, chopped]
Coriander Leaves : A sprig [washed, chopped]
Garlic Paste : 1tsp
Ginger Paste : 2tsp
Tamarind Juice : 1small cup
The dry roasted spice powder
Bayleaf : 1
Cumin Seed : 1/4tsp
Dry Red Chilli : 2-3 [halved]
Turmeric Powder : 1tsp
Salt : As Required
Oil : 3-4tbsp

THE PROCEDURE :

Take the dried yellow peas in a bowl and wash. Soak in hot water for at least 5-6 hours or overnight. You can boil it in two ways. Either pressure cook it at low heat up to 2-3 whistles adding 2 coffee mugs of water, salt and turmeric or boil in a vessel for a longer period. I boiled them in a vessel this time until they were soft and not mashy.


Dry roast the spices required for the spices needed for the spice powder and dry grind them.


Prepare the tamarind juice too adding water to the tamarind, reserving it quite for sometime and passing through a strainer.


Heat the oil in a wok and temper with the cumin seeds, halved dry red chillies and a bay leaf! Add the sliced onions and fry.


Add the ginger and garlic paste and stir for 2 minutes or so. Add the cubed potato pieces rubbed with little amount of salt. Stir for a minute.


Add the coconut pieces now and stir for a minute. If you are using pieces of fresh coconut, they are to be fried and added later.


Add the boiled peas now to the wok and fold in well. Cover cook at low heat for 12-15 minutes. Add water in between if required.

Once done add the tamarind juice we have prepared and the spice powder too to the curry.


We will boil the curry further for 2-3 minutes and switch off the gas. We will top it with chopped onions, green chillies, coriander leaves and serve with pao, luchi / poori or have as it is!




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