ADA LEBU DIYE ANKHER ROSH

Ankher Rosh or Sugarcane Juice is a childhood favourite..... "laal shalutey mora ankh guli chokhey bhashey...".... On my monthly or  bi-monthly visit to Shyambazaar with the mother, we would have either a glass of Ankher Rosh from the shop at "Town School er Goli" or Mango Shake from that Juice Centre in front of the National Variety Store .... The Kolkata style Mango Shake has milk powder, mango pulp and sugar in it.... and what did Ankher Rosh had? Well, only the juice and sugar may be... I do not remember! Now-a-days, I do not even dare to have any kind of drinks from the roadside joints neither do I allow the mother .... I categorically tell her to avoid.... I do not excuse myself for this change in me either.... In fact, I do not see much of these "Ankher Rosh Wallas" in the Kolkata streets these days.... who either were stationed at a particular location or moved around ringing a bell attached to their "thyala gari". However, our health conscious mother had this weakness for outside juices.... may be because a wonder called a mixer-grinder-juicer entered our home quite late.... till then only "doi er ghol" and "lebur shorbot" happened at our home! Once it arrived.... I used to prepare mango shakes in it! Also Complain Shakes in the summers was common in our home!

The brother never accompanied us to such shopping ventures... he hated.... he utilised the time calling all his neighbourhood friends and create ruckus at home.... gifting more work for me and mani..... Yet, we got "Malanchar fish or chicken cutlet, Amritar Doi & Chitrakut or Sen Mahasayer Darbesh or Fariyapukurer Telebhaja for him"...... I never thought he will grow up in to such a responsible son though I do not like his over protective nature when it comes to the mother!.... Now that I wish to get the mother here in the island... he gives conditions that someone has to assist her both ways.... I say come on.... our mother brought up us single handedly, daddy only knew his office and friends .... a very much independent lady who has the energy of a 35 year old at 70.... off course I am proud of it!..... 

Referring to Ankher Rosh or Sugarcane Juice, I am talking about the early 80's to the mid 90's Kolkata! .... Besides an occasional Ankher Rosh, there was a regular Ankh or Sugarcane Sticks story.... During the season.... we had a fixed "Ankh wala" visiting our neighbourhood.... On our school holidays or even when we were at school.... Mani would buy sugarcane sticks for the three of us.... daddy never had it in fear of the ordeal of tearing it. It was only during the special prayer meets that she would tear the skin and cut it into pieces.... a real tough job using a "boti"..... Cristine does the same for me with a knife.... so thankful I am to her! In those days.... the teeth were strong.... now I cannot even think of having sugarcane from scratch.... I either buy the juice or if I prepare the juice at home.... Cristine cuts the sticks for me.... We should always give due credit to people!

This island sells Ankher Rosh / Sugarcane Juice just the way it was sold in the 80's Kolkata.... no extra add ons.... then why did I name it ADA LEBU DIYE ANKHER ROSH?.... In between Kolkata and this island.... there is one place where I had Sugarcane Juice just this way... with added lemon juice and ginger extract!.... "Akki Mumbai janta hai ki woh mujhe bahut pasand hai".... I loved the big bad city of Mumbai back in 1999.... Chutu asked T to take me to the Crossroads.... Oh my God! Kolkata was way backward then.... I was lost standing in front of a Ritu Kumar studio.... now you have a Satya Paul at Kolkata too! A girl from the northern part of Kolkata will definitely find 1999's Mumbai far ahead of it.... and it is till date... Now tomorrow's Kolkata will jump onto me with the choicest words.... I do not care at all.... I cannot pretend! Then I found Kolkata very "centric".... we had to go to the Park Street area for every thing.... specially for the "humble" North Kolkatans.... South Kolkatans always take an upper hand in all matters... though the major part of historic Kolkata is in the Northern part! 

Anyway, at times I do ask the husband... "let us shift to Mumbai... we can buy a flat at the Kandivali East or Navi Mumbai with our savings....".... Boss says "S .... you have not seen this island in 1999.... commuting to office will be tough for me... be it in a car or in the train.... life expenses are same while the salary will be less... no point".... Well he is right! 1999's Mumbai was much developed... the financial capital of India after all.... even in places as far as Borivali.... there were a beeline of restaurants and they met my standard of cleanliness.... specially the Gujarati ones... they were all vegetarian and oh so clean!.... Though I like these kinds of food like dhokla, khakra or thepla... I cannot digest a heavy dose of them.... I think Bengali stomachs are not made for too much of gram flour consumption... we prefer rice flour... but I loved their concept of cleanliness as compared to the standard of normal eateries in Kolkata... If Kolkatans accept the truth, they will agree with me.... commoners cannot visit themed restaurants every other day... 

Anyway, I was super elated to have "machi free"... haha... fly free ADA LEBU DIYE ANKHER ROSH in Mumbai.... I still remember the taste.... Perhaps people of this island consider sugarcane auspicious... I find it planted at almost every home or at the roadside! They consider Pomegranate & Sugarcane plants auspicious, I guess! After my workouts, I do have sugarcane juice from this uncle's shop... I cannot have it often.... sugarcane has high sugar content... it is good if you are not a diabetic.... always go for fresh fruit juices instead of those soda waters... no Rujuta Diwekar has not offered me a job in her office.... since she prescribed mangoes for even the diabetics... mango loving "petuks" like me and Joy were the first to hit a like on her post... Today I had a monthly appointment with my doctor.... the sugar level has dropped .... I am happy and asked old doctor Chang... "can I have dates doc?".... He told weekly once or twice 2-4... I was so happy that I sat with a big Murtabak and Ginger tea at a food court.... Oh! I have grown old my readers.... I could have half of it... the rest I packed for Cristine.... The ginger tea was too sweet to my taste bud... I am not used to anymore.... so I had my own in the evening... sugar free... flavoured Darjeeling with ginger & lemon! 

While having that bliss called Murtabak which is like our "moglai porota".... I got ample time to think about the surrounding.... what to do with some overbearing people? Ok fine.... I will ignore.... may be they are quite younger than a veteran like me.... Then I thought of calling Ramdev Baba.... can you please teach me some mudras on how to swing in air without any support? I mean I cannot sit under a tree and get clicked.... standing reveals I am a dwarf.... bored with the sofa.... just seeking advice for an alternative pose! Before sharing any picture in the social media, I have to check with the profile pictures of at least hundred people, even of people who have not changed their pp for years.... my question is why? Its silly... I never claim myself to be a saint.... but I stopped visiting "Kapila Ashram", that famous juice centre of north Kolkata near Bina cinema hall after 1991.... because I have started practicing self restraint at a young age... Off course I am loaded with a stupefying amount of ego! Rest who I keep how far and near is up to me just as some people should learn to what length they can go to insult people... no text book offers this lesson.... not even a Deepak Chopra! .... I am too self-respecting to be a "hyangla".... I am a greedy only when it comes to food... be it "shutki, ilish, patha".... I am too skeptical about hitting a like on most of the posts around.... this brainless does not get the meaning and hence gets allergic to.... I love to play match game with very few like this uncle of the juice centre... he looks good in a black and white t-shirt!

Cristine could not prepare the ginger-lemon tea properly. I need to show her the right amount... It is a Monday evening here.... the son has his Biology examination tomorrow.... the mother cannot guide him on it, neither he will allow nor his mother's Biology teacher could teach the subject properly.... he was more interested in eyeing the girl students' shirt button ...... and was extremely biased that a teacher cannot be!.... Ask my buddy Nabendu Saha who told me "S after the 10th boards... I will take him to an undisclosed location and hit hard".... haha... my friend Nabendu Saha is a magician... you can check his Face Book page @ Magic360degree.... Not all girls would entertain such nasty creatures ... neither all the boys have the ability to score high in the class.... are they liable to discrimination? Some of the teachers I really cannot respect in my life!.... Why I had to mention this all of a sudden? Because this space is meant for my life's tales.... because "majority" of the girls have to face tumulus storms at every turn of their lives.... because not that academically sound boys are made victims in a classroom! 

I took Nabendu's name because the handsome loves my husband a lot... he always says that he knew T will go far because the 22inch frame is too courageous... he dared to take up a fight in the football ground with the he-man of our class Sujit Shukla who was a Karate Champion! I remember the incident and burst into laughter.... off course my husband was the loser but he never lost his spirit... rest I cannot go public with! Now that he has a wife and kid... I ask him to stop it... "heropanthi bandh kar nehi to cigar... chai chor kar Twinkle ki husband ki tarha kheera juice peeney lago aur gym jao".... no he will stick to his "porota-mangsho" and will not touch ADA LEBU DIYE ANKHER ROSH though he loved homemade juices once... it is for the rest of the three in the family... 

The readers need to stop being nice to me and force me to proceed to the recipe! Some other day I will tell you the story of another Biology teacher... she started as my colleague in a new bee school, then went to be a Full Bright Scholar and now is the Principal of Garden High School, IISER Kolkata!.... Ratna di are you there? .... Not all teachers can be called a teacher... they either build us or break us... By the way "kya aap bhi pan parag ke shaukin hai?".... then stop... Sujit Shukla an addict left us a couple of years back!

INGREDIENTS : 

Sugarcane Sticks : 3-4 [If you get cleaned, cut... your labour is saved]

Lemon Juice : 1/4small cup
Ginger Extract : 2tbsp
Sugar : 2-3tsp [optional]
Black Salt : 1/4tsp
Water : As Required


PROCEDURE :

We need to take out the hard skin of the sugarcane sticks. Then we will wash them and cut into smaller cubes. We will discard the harder segments in between.... Wash again.

The normal juicers may not help us to extract the juice of sugarcane cubes. I used a blender / grinder.

Attach tight the cover and blend at hight speed for 3-4 minutes with intervals.

We have to pass it through a strainer little by little.... we will extract maximum of the juice as we can.

Now add the lemon juice, ginger extract, sugar, black salt and water.... Stir till the water dissolves. Strain again before pouring on to glasses....

Serve chilled adding one or two ice cubes in each glass.