Those who are with me in Instagram already know what I cooked last Saturday.... I enjoy sharing my stories there although only some of my trusted friends are there with me besides few new, unknown! "yeh 'intu' aur 'pintu' bahut trouble deke rakkha hai".... However, I am not bothered, no point... I enjoy sharing stories of my life... a major part of what concerns food! There are two aspects of this kind of an attitude. A laid back character cannot excel.... only fighters with self pride reaches somewhere... for that they might have to spend sleepless nights or chain smoke perfecting things. The rest are the mediocre us who day dream, dilly-dally with life, fear or refuse to take part in any race and someday meet the end of their life in silence. I will never recommend my kind of a life to anyone but will say that we are one of a kind.... If you are an extreme case of a loner like me... you will be happy in your own company without the need to please every other person you do not require to. Yet, to get what we wish for, we must do something to nourish that what will yield for us! Look at my orchids! They got less productive last year and I was sad! That is when a gentleman in a nursery suggested me a spray specially meant for orchids... see they seem to reach heights now.... that makes me happy! If I want them to make me happy, I have to do something for them.
I really wish to plant few more variety of orchids, space is a problem. Can you see the ground floor flat on the other side? They come with bigger balconies in this island... I wish to rent one but the husband never will. We disagree in almost all matters. Among the few things we agree upon... is our likeness for Netherlands. We wished to relocate there in a picturesque suburbs.... the husband frequented there as a bachelor on his trips.... Yesterday afternoon, we hammered a nail to that wish too. The rest of the story do I wish to share in Instagram sometime soon.... how much of a sick I got yesterday and why we agreed upon the fact that I need a Cristine 24/7 at this juncture of life, that he will not pay nearly two lac rupees of stamp duty to buy a flat here, that he will keep smoking knowing that I have a problem with it since childhood & I am concerned about his health, that I will keep enacting drama which he hates, that finally he has to get me a flat with a terrace garden in a condominium in the close vicinity of CC2 and Baguiati.... ahh! Thats how this home works!
Just when I am planning to prepare some "mushurir dal er bori".... I get jealous of the sprawling bungalows of the "bahargaon walas".... I keep wondering how they manage homes... cleaning part mainly.... when do they clean home, garden and then party every weekend! My good friend Sarnali has to say something about it.... S, every weekend there is a get together.... there has to be a minimum of fifteen dishes which the host family start cooking from Tuesday! I burst in to laughter, "dosh mile dur theke borof kete ashbey shob, korte to hobey... borofe energy barey naki rey? Tui ki ooi bhoyei paliye eli?".... Sarnali is a nice girl... quiet, loves to read, does not like too much of talking, not a party animal somewhat similar to me... Please do not take it personally whoever is reading it.... each one of us are different...These days, I take invitations from homes where I can take few shots of drinks and go to sleep until the husband carries me back home. Yesterday noon, I drove 6-7 km and collapsed. This happens if you get almost everything at the opposite side of the road.... After buying his "shokher gari".... the husband is not leaving it to my hands at night time.... My reaction is like "ken aro shokher gari, bari nei ghar nei nijer... utko shokh joto".... However, I never get tired cooking what they love.... a CHICKEN IN SPICY PRAWN PASTE in this case!
My health condition and the diminishing energy level is what bothers me. May be energy is something I never had in me.... as the mother says I had always been a lazy brat. The benefits of having a Cristine is this, with the leftover patishapta batter, she made those beautiful crepes.... did I train her well or not?
I may not be happy with the size of my rented space, the cracked lines in the kitchen tiles but you will see me preparing "bori, achar, pithe-puli" in that given space! Its all about passion.... what you love doing! Another ten to twelve years of wait gets me a custom made kitchen by 'Veneta Cucine' but I prefer my home to be done by Nirmal Halder kinds who would listen to my instructions.... that 'Hathkargha' home of Dehradun fascinates me.... Handicrafts is something I love way too much! Here too the husband has to disagree saying 'S hand crafted items are hard to maintain... that too in your retired life.' Since, he has told I can enjoy drinks prepared by one of his trusted friend Sanjoy K Mondal sooner, he will safely drive me back home.... I served my boys' favourite chicken ... this time it is CHICKEN IN SPICY PRAWN PASTE with "atte-suji wale poori".... It will be called favouritism if I do not say I simply love Sanjoy's home decor ideas and the lively greens they grow. They might have gone nearer to the border to rent a 2000sq.ft. space, but every inch of that has a tasteful touch! I am not fond of his wife's temperament as much as her two giant sized kids.... she will not think twice to show you the door if you call them pets! Their Duggu however is my champ ever since we met some eight years ago. I am busy this week planning what to take to their home, what to prepare for those visiting me!
I talk less of food here, nah? I do not have much knowledge of it you know.... the weather is pretty fine... I was thinking of going out .... then I remember I have to colour the shining silvers and call Ipsita to settle on the movie we will be going for tonight! What is the son doing I do not know... I see him going for volunteering works which is part of their IB Curricula, I growl at his choice to learn Fencing of all things.... I was in Kolkata when the men decided on it never bothering to ask me. Since the husband told not to interfere in his son's life... I call good friend Piali whenever in utter distress and say... "can you ask Tinni what actually is going on in school?".... There is a Parent Portal whose password I manage to forget each time I am furnished with... The son complained to his favourite Chitra Maam and Pavan Sir that his mother is always on the net.... What else can she do if one does not share with her anything? My mother perhaps knows the names of all of my brother's colleagues!
Coming to the non vegetarian side dish with chicken, the idea popped in all of a sudden. I do taste different kinds of sambals but too unwilling to buy the readymade pastes or to prepare an authentic one at home. Hence, I went ahead with few fresh prawns, dry red chilli, ginger, garlic and few more! As the family say, it was tasty... I had the poori with 'Priya's' very sour, South Indian Style whole, too young mango pickle... I may have a small piece of chicken tonight with brown rice. Yesterday, I felt like it is my last day on earth until I had a good sleep in the afternoon and went for swimming around 8pm! We should be thankful for each day of our stay here and at times a mere mortal seems like God... in my case it is the Swimming Coach Joe!
INGREDIENTS :
Chicken : 1kg [medium cut]
Fresh Prawn : 3-4 medium sized
Red Chilli : 6-8 [choose as per your preference]
Garlic Clove : 6-7 [de skin and wash]
Ginger : 2-3 inch 3-4 pieces [de skin, wash and cut small]
Onion : 2medium [de skin, discard ends, wash & slice]
Vinegar : 2-3tbsp +2tbsp
Tamarind Juice : 3-4tbsp
Mint Leaf : 12-15 or a handful
Turmeric Powder : 1/2tsp + 1/2tsp
Salt : As Required
Oil : 4-5tbsp
PROCEDURE :
Wash the chicken pieces thoroughly and marinate with 2tbsp vinegar, turmeric & salt. Keep aside for 45 minutes.
Soak the washed dry red chillies and deveined, cleaned and washed prawns in 2-3tbsp vinegar mixed with water solution. [what kind of English is this? poor]... I cook well but... have some trust.
After a pretty 1/2 an hour, microwave it at high for 4-5 minutes.
Discard the shell of the boiled prawns. Take the chillies, prawns, boiled water, ginger pieces and the garlic cloves in a blender and blend them to a smooth paste.
With readymade tamarind packets available in the market, making a tamarind juice is not a problem.
Heat oil in a wok and add the sliced onion.
Once they are fried to golden brown, we will add the spicy prawn paste.
Then I forgot to click the next steps. Ok, keep stirring for 2-3 minutes. This magic wok requires less oil.
Add the chicken pieces, stir at high heat for 2-3 minutes. Add the marinade and cover cook at low heat for 15 minutes checking in between.
Open cover and add the washed mint leaves leaving some for garnish. Let cook for 5 minutes covered at low heat.
Add a coffee mug of water and let cook for 5 minutes at low heat. Open cover and add the tamarind water.
Let cook at low heat for another 3-4 minutes. We should be done.
Transfer to a serving bowl and enjoy with steamed rice or roti, a dal which was "motor dal er tok" in our case and a vegetarian dish like this ridge gourd and potato with roasted white sesame seed paste [tilbata diye jhinge aloo]
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