CURRY AND SPICE: BORBOTI ALOO R TORKARI O DAL POROTA

Until yesterday afternoon, I knew I will blog about this platter today. It was done and served about two weeks back ; I felt today is the day to get it to the blog! Then I came across something and got skeptical.... should I or should not? Then I felt.... if I have decided I will go ahead with it, I will... "ghar tyara!"If my readers have watched the movie Sonata directed by Aparna Sen ..... you can identify me with a particular character trait of the role played by Aparna herself ..... I am not comfortable or say I have severe allergies towards "unwanted" touches..... "wanted" ones I welcome.... BORBOTI ALOOR TORKARI O DAL POROTA should go ahead today! Now, my touches too can be considered unwanted by others.... they can react and I do not mind that.... Even I do the same to my husband .... shout at him..... your "adorer manush".... dear people need not be my dear ones and a vice versa is welcome! It makes me think the ordeal of a woman, a kid as young as three years old when they are raped.... animals are in a better position than women.....

I see a couple of male protagonists around me who share so many sincere posts every five minutes, you will not see them sharing a single post on women's ordeal, may be it is not that much of an issue to be bothered of. Uff, how much I wish to share my selfies every other day in social media, no point you know unless you have a pointed nose, doe eyes, lips like orange segments, skin as smooth as that of an eggplant.... haha that proves how much I love egg plants!

No one on this earth is born to see the wrinkles on my forehead, the silvery head is turning bald now.... I never knew some love me so much so that they are praying hard for my total hair loss.... Well, do I have a nose at all?... or two holes instead?....How the mother laments till date... "koto tel malish korlam tobu holona naak".... I scold her harder... you should have used clips instead!.... So, being "jealous" of the "fairer" people of both genders is quite but natural for me! To the people who have a different notion of me, accept the truth... I am a "mean".....the sad self does what suits my nature, something I love! I go for long, brisk walks and click without knowing anything about photography! Back in 2011, someone told me S buy a DSLR and learn photography from the internet not knowing perhaps I cannot operate the keypad properly! I do not see such people around me anymore only because of my "unapologetically truthful" nature may be! When they construe me as "Saddhi Devi Maa".... I appear as something else, what, what, what?... I cannot call myself a "nagin"... either.... I am scared of my "Sher" protagonist friends Joydip & Suchandra Kundu .... far from being a sparrow or a parrot either!

Well, lets get it simple and admit .... "I am miserable at hiding feelings".... loss of people close around will increase with every passing day! I do not mind as long as I get to see and relive my childhood memories on my walk way .... "Bokul Phool".... a little girl saw her mother collecting this rare flower on yam leaves... a shot freezed for ever! "Batabi Lebur Jhar".... have you ever tried pomelo with toasted chilli flakes, black salt and two drops of mustard oil?... try!.... and then a "Babui Pakhir Basha?".... perhaps! This is how I freeze loving moments, hence keeping loved ones closer to me! It helps you know... does not invite controversies or flaks... unless you are storming in to their homes... If you are self respecting you will not do that.... you will not exercise your authority on people if you were being denied of it! There are better ways to keep them by your side to which people should not have a problem... even if they have... you should not care!

To the males.... beware of women like me.... once you get "us" home, you will know your freedom is gone and you are mine!

It is always wise to do some weight trainings after a cardio! Before entering the gym, one should not have eaten anything for the past two hours at least! Yesterday was an exception... I hardly follow rules.... I had a cup of "teh tarik" without sugar and my favourite cookie! Milind Soman is sure to ban me from his page.... No I did not like his recent profile picture .... I respect the Ironman in him, the feet that crossed miles .... his "bare chest" is for his cutie girl friend to enjoy! Then I do some circuit training and floor exercises .... finish off and have a healthy lunch too.... "soto ayam" sans the yellow noodles.... chicken stew kind of! All my efforts to avoid carbs to get slimmer ends up there... where?... You will see later in this post itself.... a recipe share full of carb!... BORBOTI ALOO R TORKARI O DAL POROTA!

These days what I see around in my country of birth worries me, angers me so much so that I feel like blogging about breads, cookies, cakes, sago mango or chilli crab, if only I was a master cook, sigh!.... I feel like screaming "jei deshe ashi shotangsho manush ashikkhito.... shei deshe dharma o rajniti niye lorai kora aproyojonio".... a country where the basic needs of the illiterate majority are denied, not today but for decades... what is there to fight over religion and politics?

I follow a page called "Milaap".... and can feel how fortunate I am! Till date I have not made any financial contribution as I have reservations about transferring money to unknown funds.... see if you can rise above the self-centric me! I am not a good soul who does not usually forget "foul mouths" meted out to her.... family to her is not always the kin! Wrong doers forget.... victims like me do not..... I do not disown but decide alone who to hug how tight and when! Anyway, you cannot turn your face away from your mother, in this case your motherland.... so a BORBOTI ALOO R TORKARI O DAL POROTA is a natural choice!

I am not fond of borboti or long beans!.... and you know how difficult it is to feed my men a vegetarian bowl.... it is like doing three sets of thirty planks, I can manage only ten in a day! There had to be some South Asian flat breads to pair with it and off course chicken alongside! Borboti or long beans were used to be fried with potato sans the spices or used in mixed veggies in the family earlier .... I did not like any!

This island supplies you fresh LONG BEANS, not every week do I travel five metro stations to get my favourite "echor & mocha".... green jack fruit and banana blossom.... the husband is allergic to wet markets.... Yet, the wife cooks mutton biryani for him and his monkey!.... May be she has a weak point or may be he has a great point in him.... who knows? .... Remember autobiographies are also novels with "little truth in it."....

So you know in between kettle bells, soups and a mutton biryani dinner .... lies the secret of having a "wonder physique" like me.... "58kg @ 4'11" height".... I do not like people similar to me.... you will have biryani once every two months! In between the above four steps.... there were few others.... I feel tired but satisfied this morning.... shall share the recipe soon, "fotu" ready! Though tired, I very much wished to share this particular platter today... BORBOTI ALOO R TORKARI O DAL POROTA.... Yes, I spiced up the borboti to make it lovable, mothers are not always the best! Dal Porota is not an authentic Bengali thing, do not create a ruckus .... spell it paratha.... thats it! The morons had the veggie dish only when allured with a chicken curry ... else one would have had the dal porota just like that and the other with pickle and raita! I indeed live with difficult people, life is yet beautiful!

If you can digest my trash, you can take a look at the following recipes too, just click on the headings:

MASALA CRAB

STIR FRY PANEER

INGREDIENTS : [for the long bean and potato veggie]

Long Bean : 5-6
Potato : 2medium
Tomato Paste : 1/2small cup
Chilli Powder : 1tsp
Cumin Powder : 1/2tsp
Coriander Powder : 1/2tsp
Garam Masala Powder : 1/3tsp
Turmeric Powder : 1tsp
Salt : As Required
Dry Red Chilli : 1
Cumin Seed : 1/4tsp
Baking Powder : A pinch
Oil : 2tbsp

INGREDIENTS : [for the dal porota]

Boiled Masoor Dal : 1medium cup [red lentil]
Whole Wheat Flour : 1coffee cup
Chopped Coriander : 2small cup
Carom Seed : 1tsp
Cumin Seed : 1tsp
Chopped Green Chilli : 2-3
Chopped Onion : 1/2small cup
Turmeric Powder : 1/2tsp
Salt : Little
Ghee : 3tbsp +1tbsp for each flat bread

PROCEDURE :

Let us do the vegetable dish first!

Peel and wash the potatoes, cut half and then cube as you wish... good if cut lengthwise.

Discard the two ends of the long beans.... "accha ashh charanor ingriji ki?".... You see I never got more than 60% in English. Cut them lengthwise and wash.

Take the potatoes and long beans in a bowl. Add salt and turmeric, mix well.

Heat oil in a wok and temper with cumin seeds and halved dry red chillies. Add the tomato paste and stir for 2 minutes.

Add the dry spice powders except the garam masala and salt... stir for half a minute!

Add the marinated vegetables, fold in well. Add a pinch of baking powder to retain the colour!

Cover cook for 8-10 minutes stirring in between! Add the garam masala, fold in well and cook furthermore for 2-3 minutes. We are done! Transfer to a serving bowl!

For the dal paratha dough, take all the ingredients along with 3tbsp ghee in a bowl.

Mix well and knead well till we get a soft and smooth dough! Add more of the boiled dal if required but not water, we lose taste that way.

Keep covered for 15-20 minutes before you knead again for 1 minute or so. Tear off tennis ball size portions and roll out round parathas with help of a rolling pin.