Aloha!

It's been a while I wrote and today I as I begin another chapter I find it hard to reconcile with my old posts. Just went through one and I already hate it. Is this mine! Did I write this ever! Disbelief hitting me hard. On the flip side, I am told that it's quite normal to disown our own writings after a while. When we wake up to another day our views, our ideas and our capability to see and conceive things change. We evolve everyday and I like to believe it's for the better. 

I think, I should leave it at that and move ahead from there just as I have had from the pre corona times. It goes without saying that it had been an extraordinary times. A time of despair, lack of hope and loss of loved ones. People fell sick, people lost their job and people died. It was happening everywhere and no amount of riches could save people from the claws of death.  How devastating can it go! 

I too went through a harrowing time. I resigned from job after my father fell ill and after months of sleepless nights and earnest prayers he survived just about. As a primary caregiver it's been very exhausting emotionally. I was hoping for the best, trying to give in my utmost and gathering blessing from all around in hope of good times. And we survived the bad time. People were dying everywhere and we are indeed blessed to have passed through all of it. The dream board really paid back. 

One day at a time.

This too shall pass.

Gratitude. Kindness. Prayers. 

to be contd...

Bengali style ghugni and a nutritious nostalgia

Yesterday being Sunday was the day when I was supposed to wrap up my pending job from the week. In spite all  my effort to extend the sleep time, I woke up at seven in the morning. Life is so strange -

on working days I struggle to wake up in the morning but on holidays my eyes are wide open at the wee hours of dawn!

So, I woke up around five in the morning, lazed on the bed till seven and when I finally found myself sipping the first tea of the day it was already eight. It was around this time my mother found out that 'mashi', our cook, would not be able to come since she has to attend a mourning in the family. Such days are a gift! When she is on leave, mom is at her best delivering some extra ordinary moments with some lovely, delicious food. So, I was quite elated but on the second thought I decided to take up the cudgel in my own hand and proudly declared that I would cook myself.

We decided on a simple Bengali platter - teto dal (lentil with bitter gourd), kochur loti (a typical bengali vegetable), mach bhaja (fish fry), mutton curry and ghugni. Today, I will only talk about ghugni though. Ghugni is a delicious, easy to prepare, nutritious food made from white peas or matar seasoned with some enigmatic Indian spices. It's nutritious, filling, cheap and is extremely popular with the students and the office goers.

For me ghugni is more than just a food. It's a nostalgia! One of the fond remembrances was the times when we were served yellow matar ghugni, with chopped onions and fresh lime juice, in a friend's house. After a sprightly play session when our hunger pangs used to be at the top, we found ourselves delving in it like we had not eaten for days. This is not an exaggeration of any sort. We did not miss any opportunity to visit that friend in anticipation of having to eat it. On retrospect, it was more of a camaraderie than real likeness for the food. This is probably because it was not cherished in our home as much. We were always eating either poha or bread or parantha. It was much later, when we were all grown up and had developed our own tastes, that we started to like it. Meanwhile my mother also whetted her culinary skills and mastered her own recipe of ghugni.

Ghugni was extremely popular back then. The easy availability of the not so expensive ingredients had made it a household favourite. What is more interesting - it used to attain a ritualistic significance during the Bijoya Dashami day when we were suitably contained in the food. After the idol immersion of Durga, there used to be a surge in eating ghugni. As a part of Bengal's most revered ritual we visited the elders and touched their feet. They, in turn, would bless us with all their heart and give us money as a token of love. And then the most exciting part - they would serve us with bountiful nimki, nakel naru (coconut laddu) and ghugni! Although, most of us no longer engage in such sweet little things nowadays but remember those beautiful moments with much fondness. Now coming to the recipe:

What you will need for ghugni

White peas (matar)Ginger (chopped)

Garlic (chopped)

Onion (cut into cubes)

Green chili (chopped)

Tamarind pulp

Coriander leaves (chopped)

Potato (cut into half inches cubes) (optional)

Tomatoes (chopped) (optional)

Coconut slices (optional)

Turmeric powder

For ground spices (masala)

Cumin seeds whole
Coriander seeds whole

Dry red chili whole

Bay leaves

Garam masala powder (optional)

Soak the white peas over night or at least 5-6 hours. You may add a pinch of baking soda to help the peas swell nicely. In a pressure cooker add the soaked peas, the potato cubes, cut onion, ginger, garlic, turmeric powder and salt. Add double the water of the matar. Close the lid and wait for one whistle and keep it aside till the pressure releases.

In a wok put mustard oil. Add cumin seeds, bay leaves and allow it to sizzle. Pour the seasoning into the pressure cooker. Cook for 7-8 minutes more. The consistency should not be very thick or too loose.

Meanwhile heat the cumin, coriander seeds and the whole red chilies. Grind them nicely and store in an air tight container to retain as much flavour as you can. (You may add garam masala powder as well.)

Sprinkle 1 tea spoon of ground masala and 1 teaspoon of tamarind pulp in the ghugni, bring to boil and close the lid. Here, you can add garam masala powder.

Serve this delicious ghugni with some finely chopped onion and coriander leaves. Sprinkle a dash of masala and tamarind pulp on the top and enjoy it guilt free. I eat it with bread toast with generous spread of butter (The Big Fat Surprise) on it or just simple hand made roti (phulka). This is mostly the case, when I am very hungry and want to eat some sumptuous comfort food. It definitely suits my needs, fills my tummy and calms me down in times of cranky hungry moments. Some other times, you will find me eating it outside, with friends, along with some nicely done aloo tikka. So, do look out when you come across a ghugni stall in front of Vardaan Market in Camac street in Kolkata. Trust me, that place sells the most amazing ghugni in the city.

Thank you for visiting. Do try and let me know and also, share your own recipe.

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Living with chronic acne and my Sotret experience

If you read through my blogs you will know how paranoid I am with my chronic acne condition. It’s been there since my preteen days and never quite left me. I could always relate to those commercials that had a pretty girl, with a forever surprising look, who wakes up every morning to new breakouts. That was exactly my story (except the pretty part) but sadly no OTC med could cure me of my breakouts totally. In subsequent days, I was made to believe that my acne will go away once I become older. However, things got worse over the years. Much later, a few years ago, my routine blood workup detected under active thyroid gland and low vitamin D level. I was started on Levothyroxine and on Vitamin D replacement.

My daily care routine to keep off acne 

And my pimple saga continues

Almost two years have passed since and I am doing fine except for the acne part. I can tell you it’s most annoying to live with something that makes your life less extraordinary. It’s not worth to live with a constant pain of not being able to get rid of an apparently benign medical condition. There must be a cure and I must see the end and I decided to see a dermatologist.

The first visit

The doctor heard me out. He sat through my ramblings, examined my face and asked for a few blood workups and started me on medication. These are new blood workup for me.

LH (Luteinizing hormone), FSH (Follicle stimulating hormone), Prolactin, Testesterone, TSH (Thyroid stimulating hormone)

He also started me on:

Mizoz ER (Minocycline) antibiotic x 1 month

D Acne Foaming Facewash

UV Acne Sunscreen

Deriva BPO Gel

Asked me to stop all kind of cosmetic and market products

Asked me stop all natural products (yogurt, honey, facepacks, eggs, besan etc.)

After 3 weeks of first visit:

I was feeling much better inside and out. The itchiness had reduced, the cystic pimples dried up. A few fresh bumps did show up but those were of harmless kind and subsided soon with Deriva BPO gel. The only disappointing thing - the acne had started to leave dark scars on my face.

On the second visit after 4 weeks

My doctor told me that I look better. My general pathology is reasonably good. Meanwhile I also did ultrasound to rule out PCOS and it was normal too. He then asked me if I am pregnant or planning to get pregnant because he wants to start me on a medicine called Sotret which pregnant women cannot take since there is high risk of serious birth defects. 

Sotret is Isotretinoin molecule prescribed for treating severe nodular acne and is supposed to be very effective with my kind of chronic acne. I was bit apprehensive but then I was willing to go to any extent to get rid off my acne. 

So, on the second visit I was started on:

Sotret 20 mg OD x 1 month

Emolene hydrating cream

So, he started me on Sotret 20 mg once daily and asked to drink profuse water along with it. With all the goodness Sotret comes with some noticeable changes and my side effects got prominent pretty soon. Within 3-4 days my face got noticeably tan, skin dried up, lips, throat and eyes were considerably  dehydrated. This is inspite of applying the moisturizing cream 2 times at least. I also started applying eye lubricant.

After 3 weeks of second visit:

I am on the third week of Sotret now and have not been too much cranky as many on Isotretinoin complain of. However the hyperpigmentation, dry skin and withered look continue to pull me down off and on.

My third visit is pending on the third week of July. Will keep you posted. 

Family time and mom's food - the best things in life!

Only a few days left before I get to meet my sister, brother-in-law and niece, which means I have to outdo myself in speeding up things. So much work and so little time - cleaning the house, clearing the unwanted stuffs, sorting out stuffs in office etc. It’s huge but then it ends in a sweet note. I will get to meet my niece after three years. She has grown up really fast and in three years time she has turned into a beautiful young lady. Last time when I met her she was elevenish and still a child. Now she is a teen, a millennial kid, and has her way of things.

Meanwhile in the house the repair work is still on and father is always high right from the morning till five in the evening. Ours is a thirty plus old three storied house. It's looks younger though. We have seen our parents sweating on it since forever and it's very close to our hearts. The ground floor was occupied by tenants till recently and was never been done nicely. It used get touch ups once in a few years. But the ordinary floor design and white washed walls couldn't really enhance it's look however much we tried. So, once the tenants left we decided to do a bit of a makeover. So, the repair work is still on and the workers have just finished laying the floor tiles in the living rooms and are working on the walls now. In a day or two we will go to the tiles shop to choose anti skid tiles for the kitchen. We had the glossy tiles in stock and it wouldn’t be wise to put them in the kitchen. So, we have to buy more tiles for the kitchen. I am keen on buying wood finish vitrified tiles but my mom doesn’t approve of it. She thinks it will lend a dampening effect to the room. It makes good sense actually and we have finally decided on the matte finish tiles for the kitchen.

By the mid week of July, before my sisters' visit, the major repair work going to be over and they will get to have a glimpse of what it would look like once it's finished. So, we will have a lot of talking to do and considering the fact that it’s very hot here now it's a good idea to stay indoors and have some silly fun! My niece has recently developed a liking towards movies. So we might quite as well turn up in a movie hall some day and have a dinner date or two with Mainland China or a good Biriyani house in the city. However, my mother would want us to eat at home. She has a long list of bengali delicacies that my sister doesn’t get to eat much there. Sister is a wonderful cook herself but nothing compares to “maayer hather ranna” (food cooked by mom). Mom's food is the best ever thing on earth and she will most certainly pamper us with some delicious bengali dishes. A few of the dishes that we are expecting:

Various bengali fish recipes (kosha/ korma/ sorshe bata/ kalo jire/ gorom masala, doi)
Aloo jhinge posto
Kalo jirer torkari
Mutton kosha
Ghee aadar aloo dom
Vegetable dishes (torkari)

So, I can tell you that you will get to read about some wonderful bengali recipes from me in the following months after a stint of limited blogging time in the month of July.


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How to make easy chicken biriyani at home

After a stint in vegetable recipes we decided to go non veg in a grand way. We hadn't had biriyani since long, courtesy: the meat scandal, and the lull was so intense that we arranged for the array of exotic biriyani ingredients in the wink of an eye. The biriyani that we usually prepare at home and love eating too is moghul inspired, different from what my elder sister prefers. She makes biriyani with gravy and strong pudina (mint) flavour, something close to Hyderabadi gharana. My younger sister and her family love mughlai biriyani though, and one of the purposes of their visit to Calcutta could very well be attributed to this fact alone. She is an excellent cook herself and has her own recipe for biriyani which she claims is easier than mine. This I will only be able to confirm once I try it out myself. 

The biriyani pot

So, we decided to prepare chicken biriyani at home on a super summer weekend day. It's my favourite and my mothers’s too. One thing I must tell you about my mother here. She never fails to amaze me with her ability to buy the best of things. Her eye for detailing with regards to making any food perfect is just impeccable. So when I told her that I was going to prepare biriyani the next day she laid the best in front of me. Needless to say, biriyani requires an elaborate preparation and the right kind of ingredients enhance the taste to a great extent. So, once you decide to make biriyani at home - just be totally into it. 

The biriyani recipe that I am going to share today is easy, delicious and requires less prep time. (This is Calcutta style biriyani and is special in the way it contains boiled eggs and potatoes, something you will never find in biriyanis from other regions.) We finished cooking in an hour time and allowed it to rest for one more hour and there we were! Although the wait seemed really long it was worthwhile in the end. I decided to forgo the dessert and swapped it with another help of biriyani. Perfect choice! 

What you will need:

A heavy, thick bottomed pot/ handi/ container with a heavy lid that sit perfectly on it

Basmati rice (800 gm)

Whole biryani masala

Chicken (15-18 pieces)

Curd (hung in muslin to drain out excess water) (300 gm)

Onion (4 large)

Ginger (100 gm)

Garlic (8 corns)

Lime juice (2 fresh limes)

Eggs (8)

Potato (cut into half from the middle) (optional)
Plum (aloo bokhra) (optional)

Oil and Ghee

Salt, sugar

Khoya kheer (dried and thickened whole milk) (50 gm)

Milk (2 cups)

Saffron (5-6 strands)

Rose essence (1 tsp)

Kewra essence (1 tsp)

For biriyani masala

Cardamom buds (8)

The marinade

Cinnamon stick (2)

Clove (8)

Mace (3)

Nutmeg (1)

Black peppercorn (8)

Caraway seeds (Shahjeera) (1 tsf)

Dry red chili (2)

Bayleaf (optional)

Fennel (optional)

Star anise (optional)

For the marinade

Curd

Ground masala

Red chili powder

Lime juice

Ginger, garlic paste

Chicken being marinated

Onion juice (optional)
Salt and sugar

For the smoked flavour (dhungar):


Natural charcoal (Kath koyla)

Ghee
Cloves, Cinnamon stick

Steel / copper/ bronze bowl

How to prepare the beresta (crispy golden brown onion slices

Deep fry the onion rings in a deep pot till it turns golden brown

How to prepare saffron milk

In a bowl add a few saffron strands, teaspoonful of kewra, teaspoonful of rose water and ghee to 2-3 cups of warm milk. Keep it aside for 30 minutes till the saffron leaves a beautiful yellowish colour.

Saffron milk

How to prepare the masala (spice mix)

To be able to come up with a decent biriyani you will need a very special masala. Although this is easily available in the market I prefer to prepare it at home the same day. This adds much freshness and flavour to the rice.  To prepare the masala you will need to heat the whole spices for a few seconds and then grind them on grinder. Store it in an air tight container to trap the flavour.

Basmati rice 3/4th done

How to cook the biriyani rice

Pre soak the basmati rice for 30 minutes. Put a few whole spices (cardamom, cinnamon, cloves) in water and bring it to boil. You can also tie the spices in a muslin cloth and drown the potli in the water. Add salt, fresh lime juice and little white oil before adding the pre soaked rice. Cook it till it’s done 3/4^th. Drain the water and allow it to cool.

How to marinate the chicken

Beat the curd and add ginger, garlic paste, onion juice, lime juice, the masala and red chili powder and allow the chicken to sit in the marinade for 3-4 hours. 

The beresta

The chicken being cooked

Now, the steps to make chicken biriyani

In a pot/ deep container/ handi deep fry the onion rings till golden brown. Remove from oil and plate 

aside. 

Fry the previously boiled potatoes cut into half from middle with little salt and keep aside. This step is optional. 

Add ghee in the same oil and add the chicken with the marinade. Cook till the gravy thickens and the chicken gets tender. Remove the chicken pieces. 

Add more ghee in the gravy and prepare a bed with an evenly spread out semi cooked basmati rice, then put a layer of chicken pieces and fried onions, boiled eggs, potatoes, plums and grated khoya and then a layer of rice again. Continue to make more layers till you use up all the rice. Spread more fried onion rings on the top. 

I did not have khoya kheer at home. So I used kheer sandesh (a bengali sweet made from thickened milk).

Pour the saffron milk slowly on the top and close the lid with a heavy lid and make sure the vapour doesn’t escape the pot. You can also seal the sides of the lid and the sides with foil paper. Allow the pot to cook on very slow fire for 20 minutes. You may have to sprinkle more milk/ water to moisten the biriyani. Allow an hour of standing time before serving.

The almost done chicken biriyani with eggs

Now, the last bit - adding the smokey, tandoor effect to the biriyani. (You may also decide to skip this altogether.) 'Dhungar' is tricky but quite fun. It infuses the food with a smoked, burnt flavour and adds a uniqueness that we keep trying to figure out after eating tandoori food at restaurants.

For this, burn the natural charcoal (kath koyla) on oven till red hot. Put it on the metal bowl. Add ghee, a few cloves, 2 cinnamon sticks. When you see white smoke coming out remove the lid of the pot and tuck it immediately inside. Remove after 2 minutes. The smoked charcoal can overpower the original biriyani flavour if kept for long. So watch out!

To enjoy this delicious Calcutta style chicken biriyani with all its oriental flavours you must eat it hours after you finish cooking. Plate it with a piece of half potato, an egg and a chicken piece. Serve it with raita, onion, tomato salad, fresh lime and green chillis. Eat it guilt free and keep wondering how you managed to pull it off so well!




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Poshan Abhiyaan and fighting malnutrition with Horlicks and Mr Amitabh Bachchan!

Horlicks, the iconic brand from GSK Consumer Healthcare has recently announced the launch of “Horlicks Mission Poshan” with super star Amitabh Bachchan supporting the government’s Rashtriya Poshan Abhiyaan (Nation Nutrition Mission) to fight under nutrition in our country. “Horlicks Mission Poshan will focus on the first 1000 days of a child with the objective of addressing malnutrition, stunting and infant mortality. Amitabh Bachchan will be part of many activities planned all-round the year including a 12-hour live Telethon and awareness camps across schools and villages.”

Amitabh Bachchan who spearheaded the campaign faced hard criticism soon after this despite all good intentions. This is not the first time though that he has faced critiques. Being the greatest star of the Indian film industry, Amitabh Bachchan has been a soft target since forever. We have closely monitored, disproved, condemned and trolled him for everything he does or he does not. After the Bofors scandal the star has wanted to distance himself from all kinds of discourses and controversies. He has tried his best to guard himself and his family from debates but in vain. He has been heavily criticized for his silence over Mumbai flood in 2015. He has been trolled for his poor choice of endorsements. (He has once refrained from endorsing Pepsi after facing scathing criticism). He has been ridiculed for his childish rants over his lost followers in twitter. More recently, he has been criminalized for his silence (and later an irresponsible comment) on the Kathua rape case.

At times, I feel that we are too hard on him. He may be the biggest star but he too has the right to his life, to be silent as and when he decides to especially in this age of post truth polarisation and alternate facts where our existence is too vulnerable too futile. However, this time it is different.

The choice of Mr Amitabh Bachchan to be associated with Mission Poshan is extremely plausible just like many others. The Pulse Polio campaign (2002) endorsed by the star has been a huge hit followed by his support for Swachh Bharat (safe sanitation and anti open defecation - 2016). So, it's no wonder that our government chose him to a part of Poshan Abhiyaan and he is the campaign ambassador of Mission Poshan of Horlicks (May 2018). Mission Poshan is a venture of Horlicks, a pricey malted "health drink" full for unhealthy sugar (carb) with a tagline: "a trusted bottle of Horlicks has been an indispensable part of the Indian household cupboard for the last three generations." 

It's surprising that with this kind of regressive standardization of health science we are "here to fight the malnutrition in our country”! Horlicks is harshly criticized for propagating unsubstantial health claims in commercials. It is harmful with high sugar content and is labeled as empty calorie by the health scientists. Several nutritionists and health campaigners have disapproved of this and voiced their opinion.

“Amitabh Bachchan’s association with Horlicks can be harmful. Sugar has no nutritional value whatsoever. It is a major cause of obesity and there is increasing evidence that added sugar increases the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome and fatty liver,” says Dr. Aseem Malhotra, an internationally known campaigner for healthy foods.

"Promotion of Horlicks stating that it helps kids in gaining height, weight, brain development and the healthy immune system is inappropriate as these claims are scientifically unsubstantiated,” said Dr J.P. Dadhich, a paediatrician in Delhi.

Denunciation is but the hind side of super stardom and Amitabh Bachchan has relentlessly swerved it. But this time it is a different battle altogether. It's the future of our children - the health of the millennial we are dealing here. Corroborating with Horlicks, Poshan Abhiyaan has actively defied science of food and this is when the world is restructuring the health science and India has dissociated  itself from the campaign objective. A whole lot thing is happening all over the world everyday and the health advocates are coming up with new purpose and new ways to healthy living. It's very important that we remain well informed about pro health choices for the people of India will neither forgive its government nor Mr Amitabh Bachchan for any negligent and disagreeable choice concerning the health of our children ever.

Photo copyright: Flickr

A date with a rainy day

Today has been a non yielding day in more ways than one. No work (pre decided holiday which had nothing to do with the forecast), no chores, no writing and nothing at all precisely. All through the day I found myself utterly silly doing nothing but jibing on the long to do list that I was supposed to tick off by this weekend.

It all started in a happy note when I woke up to a beautiful toned down sun. My nephew turned twelve today and we were overwhelmed by the fact is he is already there. The sky gotten absolutely dark by seven in the morning. The wind was rapturous and almost swept the palm trees to the ground and sometimes on the other side to the wall.

I couldn't hold myself back and started musing as I used to as a child. 'Mashi', our cook, passed me the second cup of steaming black tea which I found still holding after many minutes. I was completely contained in the scene. An euphoria that failed me in recent times. I have developed this crafty little thing recently that helps me barter all the liberating things (very conveniently) with erratic work hours, back logs, inundations and other ilks. But on other occasions I find myself procrastinating on the same stuffs! It's funny how I have become an ace on making excuses these days.

So, several minutes later I decided to do something productive. This was when the phone rang and I indulged in an engaging chat session with my sister. Much recharging that was, I decided to clear off the remnants of the recent repair work and discovered a wee leak on the staircase faucet from the recent drilling of the electric work. This discovery (although it was actually 'mashi's') was the only tangible achievement of the day.

Around this time, the lovely little girl showed up. She is the daughter of our house help who accompanies her mother and sits through as her mother helps us with the chores. I fondled the little one for a while. Meanwhile the rain almost flooded the balcony and the plants were cleansed of all the grime. Loved the green color on them today. So supple, full and so green.

Rain never quite stopped today and I had to come inside as it started to get really dark by six in the evening. And to my surprise, my mom decided to prepare khichuri (a mix of rice and lentils in equal portion in mostly running consistency) - the ultimate rain food for the bengalis. What better end could have been to a perfect rainy day! Khichuri, dim bhaja (omlette), ghee (clarified butter), achar (pickles) and papad (poppadam)! Heaven!

To end this memoir I would like to share an open birthday note that I wrote to my nephew earlier in the day hoping that he would understand what I meant many years later when he actually grows up.

Dearest Golubabu,

Happy 12th birthday from all of us here. Did we tell that we love you so so much and will do so no matter what! (you are giggling, right?) 

The day you learn to forego minecraft, morse code, roblox etc. and understand that life is as good otherwise we will cherish your growing up more. You have such big heart. Aka and you are appreciative of nature and animals more than any of us in the family. Be kind, be curious. Grow your own plants at home, nourish them, touch them, see them grow each day. Kindness is beautiful and sharing your little acts will attract more such. Do share whenever and wherever and inspire us with your brilliant ideas.

Meanwhile here we are going to cherish your growing up like never before. 

Much love, 
Mishti
01/06/2018

Photo copyright: MouD


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