CHINGRI DIYE GATHI KOCHUR DALNA

Many a thing are disrupting the peace of mind, I was literally eating up the head of my man. As I went through the indecency of people in social media .... wondering how is it possible to behave differently in public and in private... I found the otherwise rigid myself enjoying half bare bodied men and women throughout ... haha... at least they are selling themselves .... Who are those Satans who stood in front of a girl's hostel and asked to hand over the girls to them or demanding shutting down of certain business houses ... why?.... Those girls or businessmen have come from a place which is not in the good book of one side of the radicals.... I am pretty sure it is the same in the other side too! Can we trade hatred with love? I see "highly educated" people spreading filth and instigating violence all through social media giving birth to more of enmity! Any such nonsensical post forwarded to me was sent to my garbage bin, I refuse to even read some. I turn to the husband and say it is our faulty education system that furnish degrees and do not teach us compassion.... the basic quality required to be called ourselves human. Why not? A majority of the educationists are spreading rumours, breeding hatred.... nothing but extremists, radicals will be produced by them. Those radicals who will create ruckus in both sides of the border.... 

I thought I am in the top rank of the idiots who stood stupefied in Rakhal Sir's Physics and Chemistry class or in the Biology class always unable to answer.... Rakhal Sir yet loved me ... I do not know why... The disregard between me and the Biology teacher was mutual... he discriminated the students, kept dirty eye on the happening girl students, abused the back bencher boys in front of everyone! Well, I do not fall in the category who enjoy unknown males  praising a woman's body parts... grapes are definitely not sour in this case. Ratna Ganguly Biswas di... if you are reading this, I love you... wish I had got a Biology teacher like you! Yes, I will stick to 'my' definition of a "qualitative woman" till death! I perhaps got 28 or 35 in Mathematics out of 100 in the 10th board test, got tensed about how to clear the final boards.... was able to clear with a percentile of 55 or 59 may be ..... I remember the hapless face of our mother on the result day.... we were making a quiet exit when our T who was noting down each one of our total marks obtained stopped us. I was tired and sad, more for my mother.... got such pissed off with T that I did not visit his home for months. I did not like him looking at my mark sheet.. haha! Now he is the one I turned to yesterday saying "Boss I do not feel like mingling with anyone & everyone and take part in blunt discussions, its getting difficult for me".... All his humour comes out on a weekend... that too on his wife.... "dudin Arundhati Roy shoriye Tarapada Roy poro".... I am reading Twinkle Khanna actually, hopefully Mr.K will not exercise his karate stunts on me! 

I do not have a problem with people having a different opinion than mine, I am unable to get along with people who spread hatred, filth, violence in public when the need of the hour  requires one to remain level headed. So far the author has taken us to an Ayurvedic Retreat in Kerala where the leading lady meets her ex-husband with his new, hot stuff wife.... It is not an easy, pleasant sight for the protagonist you can understand .... lets see where the read takes me to.... off course not on a fairy tale ride. In a real life situation, it cannot be an all kiss scenario praising on how lovely they look together.... I mean one should have this much of self respect for oneself not to! One can only wish the best and move ahead in life. I sincerely hope to get back soon with the twosome blogposts .... in fact all my fish posts are two on a plate.... it makes clicking easier for me who is poor in this area... You can see I do not find it necessary to hide the real self, neither you should. I just request people to stay calm and decent in public! I wish I could blog about a scallop & asparagus seared in butter or crispy fried squid rings today not showing any mercy to the radicals sitting on both sides of the wired fence. Then, I cannot cook them at home and a prawn serves my immediate purpose.... I believe if you cannot behave in public, you have not learnt the basics of life. Actually, the mother's distorted self haunts me often.... I could have shown her some love later ..... when I realised the blunder I made with life and tried to pursue my interest in Journalism or Anthropology, it was too late. Is anybody there? You can do those fashion parade after you reach somewhere in life. My brother could have, but he engages more in irritating me. I just wished to tell my Mani in public that I could not fulfil her dreams.... but I try to recreate her recipes in my den... this time a CHINGRI DIYE GATHI KOCHUR DALNA ..... prawns and taro yam cooked together with usual Bengali spices..... a non vegetarian side dish.

Oh yes! the men love their veggies when prawns and meat are thrown into them. I prefer smaller sized prawns these days and stick to what I feel .... bigger prawns do not seem that tasty when you get the ability to buy them on any date of the month! The son is at home today.... he is under an examination schedule which I got to know from Piali... my friend... to whom I can say... "duto zedi ghorar jonyo amar chulgulo pekey gelo shob...".... actually the first one was discovered at age sixteen at the grand parent's home few weeks after I left that 'Benglish' school for ever. Yesterday, the husband taunted or mocked whatever.... "wife do not struggle to speak English".... quite in contrast to an yesteryear friend cum senior, now famous Anindya Chatterjee who used to scold me and Chandrayee while chatting at our lawn.... "aai akaroney ingrizite katha bolbi na".... Because our professors Mahim Babu and Kalipada Babu were always in praise of his excellent command over Bengali.... that the "Bethuner Bangla Department er Didira".... read out Anindya's essays to their girls... I lost all confidence during the Bengali examination... faired average and phew gone with the wind was my wish to pursue Bengali Literature. 

It was this T and few others who went to Iva Miss and reportedly told her that her blue-eyed girl did miserably poor in Bengali.... I was upset when she told me this... and confessed sobbing inconsolably that I have exam fear... I hate to meet targets... A toast to that unique "Bongofied" eye glasses of Anindya or his determination to live his dreams .... here is  a CHINGRI DIYE GATHI KOCHUR DALNA! I do not bother whether a West Bengal origin Bengali eats yam or not, neither will I go public bragging ... "you know I know Anindya from the days when he expressed his dislike for doshta-pachter chakri, that he had high regards for one DSO r didi who held secret meetings at Presidency".... I keep myself away from any such thing and get my men their loves for a Sunday dinner. If they eat my spicy treat with yam and smaller prawns... I do not mind. The thing is that I had to have chia with banana.... the lunch yesterday was heavy.... with no amount of exercise for the past two days, I could not think otherwise. This morning too it was dalia idli for all of us which I tactfully push into their stomachs in between a biryani, burger and prawn curry day!

Life could have been all good if I could close my eyes to the nuisance that amounts to the retarded growth of two nations.... can we stop injecting poison into young minds and let them grow to understand we are just pawns in a bigger political game where the heads are always shaking hands at the cost of our lives. I am cowardly and wish my son not to return to the fire.... neither the ones who have arrived here... my intention will always be to indoctrinate.... "consider yourself the daughter & son of the world society and do not allow petty minds to conquer the good in you." I have to wrap up... needs to make  preparation for some fish kachori for the family and take some fish tikki and sweet potato filled kachori for someone I am meeting for a lunch date tomorrow. Who told you that I am not an escapist? All of these 48 precious years... I have escaped from anything that can cause hurt to me... my mother has not taught me to face the world... However, I learnt some authentic Bengali, family recipes as this one from her... she from her mother... I take pride in each one of them including this non vegetarian sides using usual Bengali spices, taro yam and smaller sized prawns!

As I am about to shut myself up and share the recipe, I am into another cuppa... this time a relaxing Chamomile tea with ginger cookies... I never can get rid of my 3-tier belly... no point spending a single dollar on the slimming apps... in my case!

INGREDIENTS :

PRAWN : 300-400gm [medium or smaller sized]
TARO YAM / GATHI KOCHU : 10-12 [smaller sized .... nearly round or oval do I prefer]
GINGER PASTE : 1tbsp
CUMIN POWDER : 2tsp

CORIANDER POWDER : 1/2tsp
RED CHILLI POWDER : 1/2tsp
TURMERIC POWDER : 1/2tsp + 1/2tsp + 1/2tsp
CUMIN SEED : 1tsp

CORIANDER SEED : 1TSP
DRY RED CHILLI : 3-4
BAYLEAF : 1
GHEE / CLARIFIED BUTTER : 1tbsp
TAMARIND JUICE : 1tbsp
SUGAR : 1tsp
OIL : 4-5tbsp [we use mustard always]

PROCEDURE :

Dry roast some coriander seeds, cumin seeds, 3-4 dry red chillies for 2-3 minutes, coarsely grind in a blender.

To be on the safer side put on your kitchen gloves. Wash the taro yam under running water and take on a heavy bottomed vessel... fill with water as much as the yams needs to be covered or little more. Put on the heat and boil covered at low heat for 12-13 minutes.

Switch off gas stove and let cool. Drain the water and peel off the skin with your fingers. It gets easier after boiling... your gloves must be on.

They are a little slippery now. Rub with 1/2tsp turmeric and salt. Heat oil and fry them until brown in batches.

Meanwhile, we have de shelled, washed and marinated the prawns with salt and 1/2 tsp of turmeric powder.

While the fried taro yam are resting on a plate, we will discard the marinade from the prawns and lightly fry them.

In a bowl prepare a smooth paste with cumin powder, coriander powder, 1/2 tsp turmeric, red chilli powder, ginger paste and salt. The mother definitely uses a secret ingredient that she does not share with me. In the last visit too, I loved her's.

Temper the remaining oil with a bayleaf, cumin seeds.

Oh! I hope the tempering did not burn, hurry up add the spice paste. You remember na we need to slow cook when it comes to "maa-dida-thakumar" ranna!

Stir fry the spice mixture at minimal heat for 2 minutes, add the fried taro yams now... Fold in well and stir for a minute.

Add a coffee mug of water, bring to boil keeping the heat at lowest.

After some 5-7 minutes, add the sugar and fried prawns, slitted green chillies, tamarind juice, adjust the salt if only required. Let cook for 3-4 minutes.

Add the dry roasted and ground powder, mix well, switch off the gas stove.

Transfer to a serving bowl.... garnish with ghee / clarified butter! Enjoy hot with steamed rice with a dal, meat curry, some salad alongside!