CURRY AND SPICE: DESI PANCAKE WITH LEFT OVER RICE

I do not like people who avoid rice inspite of loving it. I mean you do it at your home but not when you are at our place. I am fond of those who ask me for more servings and yet more. That earned me a 'boudi' to mother to grandmother title .... Nowadays, I see whoever visits our home just try to skip the rice part... arey what is this? The grandmother's favourite girl will definitely feel a high to force feed people... "arektu khao noyto amar matha khao"... to which the senior gets irritated and asks me to stop forcing people. What he does not take into account is that not everyone on this earth is like his wife who never hesitates to jump onto food wherever she is... no amount of acquaintance is required for me to enjoy food ... who cares about people when I get to see my good friend, food ... only one home is an exception where I wish to limit myself to a cup of coffee or tea and nothing else. The sensitive, egoist self will throw a question... "give me one good reason why I should have one morsel of any grain there"... I have no intent of disrespecting anyone's feelings however!

Rest, I can sit on a "khatia" and eat if only the environment and the serving plates are clean. What is disheartening is that someone named Sanjoy Mondal has stopped eating, he was one of our guests last Saturday and the amount of rice to be cooked was calculated in accordance with his food intake. He is a good cook, foodie and a dedicated football player.... the last passion perhaps made him to quit excess food and substituting two meals with herbal shakes or smoothies whatever. The maximum amount of rice stayed as a leftover until Sunday, facilitating me to the idea of DESI PANCAKE WITH LEFT OVER RICE for lunch and a cumin-turmeric rice for dinner. The husband has some reservations having stale steamed rice, so I turn them into fried rices and this time into a pancake. It was our lunch yesterday with the left over chicken curry, some fruits, I had to have a heaven called "Tomato Khejurer Chutney".... also love and truly so that Garlicky Mint Coriander Chutney... This morning, I had one reheated leftover with my black coffee.

Do not try to dissect me... so whimsical I am... All of a sudden around 8pm yesterday, I went for a swim. Not every Sunday do I wish to walk long for a chaat plate, specially when you are disappointed with your husband. Yesterday, I requested him to accompany me to the nursery... within 3 km of distance we have about 5-6 nurseries. I went to my old favourite shop and got busy chatting and taking tips from the Bangladeshi brothers there... the husband fled the spot which made me sad... although I knew that he will come back in time. Thereafter, I had to go for some groceries which triggered his irritation... weekends mean beer, wine, nuts, television to him. I am pretty sure that had it been a trip to an electronic shop, he would have been fine with it. Back home... he hurriedly took out the lovely baby greens that the flowering Orchid branch broke. I was into tears .... what was hurting me was he been too harsh in handling the greens.... in fact, I did not find softness at any corner of their home even before marriage... except for his sister, no one knew how to speak softly or to be appreciative although it is my husband who possesses a golden heart.

Anyway, after the incident, I did not retaliate because I am not his father that I can sustain strong reactions like throwing and breaking utensils to food everything... such people live a queen's life but I cannot do all these to be one... not in my nature. I knew before marriage this is not the environment I am looking for, I cannot gel into the family.... however, I am a self centric, only my own good concerns me. Totally done away with the matter of trusting a guy, I felt T is the best bet. Whether I was right or wrong is still a question mark... perhaps I was wrong, you actually get married to a family as they say! Believing that you do not get everything in one life, I stayed cool and prepared those homely, egg free pancakes with left over rice for my family. I felt it will go very well with a potato curry or meat curry.

We can have this DESI PANCAKE WITH LEFTOVER RICE at any three major meals of the day, I wished to present it to you as a breakfast platter. You are not as unwise as I am and may want to have the carb intakes in the morning. Whatever you may call me, I have to have some rice with whatever I have cooked for dinner sitting with the family. I remember back in 2013-2015-16, I used to have carbs only thrice a week and thus I did away with my tummy that my entire family used to laugh at. Now, I have regained it and not bothering much... not much time is left on this earth, food gives me the necessary high. It is also true all the diseases originate from the excess fat in the tummy... it is dangerous. Now you choose what to do with your life. Come on, we do not have this amount of leftover rice every other day, when we have do good use of it and do not throw... I just remember the mother used to serve me leftover rice done with butter seared beetroot, carrot, beans, green peas for breakfast during the study leave session before the 10th board examination ... food of my choice was served every two hours so I study... her only wish was to see a lot of degrees beside her kids' names ... we did not live up to her expectations.

I will not say sorry this time because I do not know if I feel sorry at all, but she till date says... "koto asha chilo toder niye"... her daughter was in the "Kurchi" world already, unable to find a Prithu... they do not exist at all... they definitely do not kneel down with a bunch of flowers on social media and act silly.. Its a beautiful, wet & cool day today, perfect to go for a long walk... but the son is at home who is down with cold.... its their spring break. I think if I am not into some fruitful job of earning some money for the family, I should not freak around every other day just to get together with some, discuss people and show off the husband's wealth as compared to others'... it's disgusting.... I knew people who tried to give me big talks once on why I am so public about my relationship with my in-laws... I cannot give it back straight on face... what I did was subtracted those fake elements from my life....

Once I started a food blog.... their problem started with me... they went on telling people that my food is spicy... not to follow my blog... I was the one to cook 3 dishes if I was asked to get one food item for a potluck. They actually have no right to speak on my relationships, they left their new born baby with the in-laws and freaked around the world with the husband for months... I just cannot understand or believe how mine and T's requirements be more important than the need of a child who needs our warmth and care .... if we have given birth we must behave responsibly unless otherwise required for a job call. I see many helps or small time workers here who leave their kids back in their homeland and work here day and night for some extra money.

I categorically told T I do not wish to keep any kind of relationship with those toxic elements and he respected my wish... he is nice you see and deserve me to be bit more experimental in the kitchen... more so because he never demands anything.... Hence, instead of serving him the stale rice, I mashed it lightly, prepared a batter with refined flour, semolina, fresh mint and coriander, chopped onion & green chilli, added some cumin seeds & chaat masala towards the end, mixed and cooked those pancakes.... and voila it tasted so good. I am a spice lover and may be so I gave a thumbs up to the batter only when I added the cumin seeds and chaat masala to the batter. Unlike my mother or grandmother and all the similar yesteryear ladies, I do taste my food before the final step except for when I am cooking for my God Family!

INGREDIENTS : [FOR THE RICE PANCAKES]

COOKED RICE : 2 COFFEE MUG [I USED LEFTOVER]
REFINED FLOUR : 2 MEDIUM SIZED TEA CUP
SEMOLINA : 3-4TBSP
CORN FLOUR : 1TBSP
MINT LEAF : 12-15
CORIANDER LEAF : 15-16
SLICED ONION : 1 SMALL SIZED TEA CUP
CHOPPED GREEN CHILLI : 2TBSP
CUMIN SEED : 2TSP
CHAAT MASALA : 2TSP
SALT : AS REQUIRED
OIL : 1/3TSP FOR EACH PANCAKE + 1TBSP FOR THE BATTER

INGREDIENTS : [FOR THE GARLICKY MINT-CORIANDER CHUTNEY]

MINT LEAF : A HANDFUL
CORIANDER LEAF : A HANDFUL
GARLIC CLOVE : 2-3
GREEN CHILLI : 2
PLAIN YOGURT : 2TBSP
BLACK SALT : 1/4TSP

PROCEDURE :

For the garlicky mint-coriander chutney, wash the green chillies, fresh coriander & mint, garlic cloves and add to the blender. To it add the plain yogurt and black salt. Blend at high for a minute or until it turns onto a fine paste. We are done... I love it ... a little less that the Bengali style chutneys.

For the left over rice pancakes, I mixed together the refined flour, semolina, cornflour and salt as required. I added water as required to prepare a runny paste.... may be similar to an idly paste.

To the batter, I added washed coriander and mint leaves, sliced onion & chopped green chillies.... I adjusted the salt. I did not like the taste, found it bland.... felt a bit down.

Thereafter, I took half of that amount of rice on a plate and lightly mashed. The rest was made into a cumin-turmeric rice later at night.

Now, a idea popped up and I think I did it right to add some chaat masala and cumin seeds to the batter... it definitely tasted better. Add 1tbsp oil and mix very well.

Heat a non stick pan on gas stove. I chose a smaller one to my benefit, avoiding to work much. It was 2pm and the hungry son was hovering around the kitchen. Else I was thinking of clicking a better picture.

Add 1/3tsp oil to the heated pan. Add 2 medium sized serving spoonful of batter. Let cook one side at low heat. When we are adding the spoonful batter, the heat should be minimal. While cooking, it should move between medium to low. It takes 2 minutes or so for one side to cook.