...Nosh Farmaiye !

Awadh...the region of which modern day Lucknow was once the capital of, has always been known as much for its tehzeeb as it is for the Awadhi cuisine. Amongst the many anecdotes that my grandpa share with me, one that I still remember...in bits in pieces was about this person who is fascinated by the words "nosh farmaiye"...the Lucknow way of saying bon-appétit, that he hosted a gala feast and invited a truck load of people, just so that he could say - NOSH FARMAIYE...

For those who know me, know of my relationship with food. Yes, I do have a relationship with food. My journey from quantity to quality has been a long an arduous one, I admit. It was futile to talk about quality being in a hostel, the equation there was all about eating enough of any decent stuff in front of us to be able to avoid the next serving of food-like thing they gave us at the mess.

This behavior took a much steeper turn towards quality when I left the country a few years back... Around the same time, a funny thing happened. I found out that tossing up a few things together in the kitchen, in the hope that something worthwhile turns out at the end as apparently the best way to switch-off from the work-mode I found myself always stuck in.

This blog is a collection of some of those experiments and the stories behind them.

Nosh farmaiye….

Orange (oil-free) Cake!

Home baked bread...

Momos !!!

Bhuni Hui Keema - Kaleji

Crab Masala - Chettinadu Style (@Karaikudi)

I am sure all of us are well aware of the greatness of the female of the species, our species to be more precise. Also conveyed nicely in the quote - "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned". But I think the real sense of the meaning comes true when the woman isn't scorned but is hungry AND is pregnant!

So on one fine Saturday morning sometime in the past 7-9 months, I get served a deman along with tea and Parle-G! It was short and simple...

"I MUST HAVE CHENNAI-STYLE CRABS TODAY"!

See, what men sometimes don't realize in the first 2 trimesters - they realize well by the third one - and that is, most things during pregnancy aren't up for discussions in the lower or upper houses. They are ordinances that are automatically converted to law and must be carried out in letter and spirit within 2-4 hours (sometimes under 30mts also!) of being enacted (read - spoken).

And so started my search for Chennai style crabs in the land of steamed seafood pots and soft-shell crabs. Fortunately, being in New Jersey - I was close to the real birthplace of the Indian civilization - and almost everything Indian is available within a 20 mile radius.

The above picture is from Karaikudi in Central Jersey, the guy there quickly understood the situation and we were served our custom-prepared crabs despite Saturday afternoons being buffet-only affair. I think he acted from experience...

...attempt at Dal - Baati - Churma :)

If there was one place where something so dry, literally, as a vast stretch of nothing but sand, but still had the mystique, the warmth, the simplicity and of course, a cuisine to die for - Rajasthan it is! But long before my first visit to the state, it was in Lucknow, more than 15 years ago, that I had my first taste of this famed Rajasthani combo of Dal-Baati-Churma. I still can vividly remember how much "ghee" that thing demanded! With dishes with names such as "Palang-Torh"...not much is left to imagination about how seriously people in this princely state take their food.

And then there was - GHEWAR!

Folks, there are Indian sweets and then there is ghewar. Resembling something like a sweetened, edible version of a honeycomb - this unimaginably awesome treat is a trap unto itself. Long before Lays came up with the caption of "..betcha can't eat just one..", people familiar with the phenomenon called ghewar had fallen victim to the food-trap of not being able to stop after one helping.. What have I not done to get my hands on a box ghewar !?!?

In place where water is precious resource and dry red chilies are often the base ingredient in meat dishes, it will be unjust to not mention the illustrious "Lal Maans". I am still to find a simpler recipe for a mutton dish!

Now, about the picture that you see above - A common condition for Indian expats is a combination of 2 things - explored-all-Indian-restaurants + nothing-in-fridge-is-interesting, this leads to a reaction, usually from the hungrier of the two between the husband/wife - known as... I'd @#$%^% make something different!

Moral: ...some things should NEVER be cooked in western appliances! But it wasn't that bad. Especially, the churma :)