Mumbai ki wo pehli baarish

शायद बचपन में ही बारिश पसंद थी मुझे. बस. स्कूल से लौटकर अगर बारिश आ रही हो, तो खाना खाने से पहले बारिश में भीगना तो बनता ही था. अपने घर की हरी भरी बालकनी में मैं जमकर बारिश का मज़ा उठाती. क्यूंकि घर पहली मंज़िल पे था और मालती और चमेली की बेल काफी हद तक प्राइवेसी दिला देती थीं, मैं बारिश में ऐसे नाचती और नहाती की जैसे कोई देख न रहा हो! अंग्रेजी में कहते हैं न "dance like nobody is watching you" बस वैसे ही.

फिर पता नहीं कब बड़े हो गए.

जीवन में कितने सारे नियम बन गए. बालकनी से ज़्यादा देर तक नहीं झांकना. अच्छी लड़कियां ऐसे नहीं करती. सरे आम बारिश में नहीं नहा सकते. अच्छा नहीं लगता. और न जाने क्या क्या.

जैसे जैसे जीवन की व्यस्तता बढ़ती गयी, बारिश महज़ चाय पकोड़े लेकर बालकनी या खिड़की से बूंदों को देखने तक ही सीमित रह गयी. कभी कभी मैं और पतिदेव बारिश में लोधी गार्डन जाते सैर करने, और बेहद खुबसुरत अनुभव होता वह.

मुंबई ने इस सुखद अनुभव में भी ज़्यादा नमक डाल दिया.

मुंबई की वो पहली बारिश आज भी मुझे याद है...

मैं मुंबई कभी आना नहीं चाहती थी. दिल्ली ही मेरी सब कुछ थी. लेकिन जीवन इतना परिवर्तनशील और ज़िद्दी है की अक्सर जिस चीज़ से हम दूर भागते हैं, वही हमारे जीवन का एक अभिन्न अंग बन जाती है.

खैर....मैं मुंबई आ ही गयी.

संयोग तो देखिये, हम मुंबई में जिस दिन आये उसके अगले दिन ही बारिश ने दस्तक दे दी. मानो हमारा स्वागत कर रही हो.

मुंबई की बारिश दिल्ली की बारिश से काफी अलग है. न बादल, न आंधी, न गर्जन. बस ये तो कहीं भी, कभी भी, कैसे भी शुरू हो जाती है. दिल्ली की बारिश कुछ मिनटों में शांत हो जाती है. लेकिन मुंबई तो ऐसे बरसता है, मानो किसी ने पानी का नल ही खोल दिया हो. आप रुकें भी तो कितना. इसलिए यहां के लोग बारिश में भी चलते रहते हैं. रेनकोट, छाता और जूतों के सहारे. मुंबई नहीं रूकती।

कुछ दिन तो सब ठीक चला. सामान दिल्ली से नहीं आया था तो पतिदेव रोज़ दफ्तर छोड़ देते और शाम को लेने भी आ जाते. पर एक सप्ताह बाद मेरी गाड़ी घर के सामान के साथ आ गईं. फिर तो मुझे एकेले ही दफ्तर जाना था.  सोचा, जब ओखली में सर दे दिया है दो मूसल से क्या डरना!

वो सुबह मैं भूल ही नहीं सकती.

अपनी गाड़ी से मैं दफ्तर के सामने वाली पार्किंग में उतरी. हाथ में फोल्ड हो जाने वाली एक प्यारी सी छतरी, दिल्ली से लिया हुआ मेरा अच्छा सा महंगा बैग, सुंदर सैंडल्स पहने जैसे ही मैं गाड़ी से उतरी और पार्किंग के निकास की तरफ बढ़ी की एकाएक झमाझम बारिश शुरू हो गयी. बचने का तो सवाल ही नहीं उठता था. खुली पार्किंग में ऐसी कोई जगह नहीं थी जहाँ मैं पांच मिनट सर छुपा सकती।  लेकिन रुकने का फायदा भी कहाँ था. बारिश कौनसी रुकने वाली थी और दफ्तर के लिए वैसे ही देर हो रही थी.

अब सोचती हूँ, शायद रुक ही जाती तो यह कड़वी याद न बनती.

मैंने छतरी खोली और चलना शुरू कर दिया. चार कदम भी नहीं चली थी की बारिश से मेरी छतरी पलट गयी (बाद में समझ आया की मुंबई वाले इतने बड़े बड़े छाते लेकर क्यों चलते हैं). हवा इतनी तेज़ थी की लाख कोशिश के बावजूद वो छतरी ठीक नहीं हुई. जब तक मैं कुछ सम्भलती, मैं बुरी तरह भीग चुकी थी. बारिश के पानी से बैग और जूतों को दूर रखना चाहिए. यहां तो मेरा बैग और सैंडल्स बारिश के पानी में डूब चुके थे. चश्मे से कुछ नहीं दिख रहा था क्यूंकि बारिश ने उसे भी नहीं छोड़ा.

उस दिन हिंदी  फिल्मों की हेरोइन की तरह मैं भी बारिश में खूब रोइ. बारिश की बूंदो में मेरे आंसू भी घुल गए. मुंबई आने के निर्णय के लिए कभी ईश्वर को कोसा,  कभी अपने पति को, और सबसे ज़्यादा स्वयं को. पर अब पछताय होत क्या जब चिड़िया चुग गयी खेत!

आज मुंबई में रहते हुए ये मेरी छठी बारिश है. बारिश से मेरा नाता आज भी वैसा ही है. बस अब उतना रोना नहीं आता. बारिश के लिए बैग, जूते, कपड़े सब अलग होते हैं. बड़े बड़े छाते होते हैं.

बारिश से दोस्ती तो नहीं हुई, लेकिन इस दुश्मन से झूझना अब सीख लिया है. क्यूंकि मुंबई में रहना है तो बारिश का डटके सामना तो करना ही पड़ेगा.

पर मुंबई की वो सुबह, वो बारिश और वो आंसू मैं कभी नहीं भूल सकती.

Easy wholewheat flour & ghee biscuits (eggless)

Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine myself baking biscuits! But, as someone wise once said, "necessity is the mother of invention." Well, I can't really call this an invention. But necessity is what turned me into a good cook and now I am experimenting with baking.

The culprit...err...the credit for this transformation goes to the overprotective father in my house - Mr. Hubby. Ever since he became a dad, he surprises me with his awareness levels regarding food safety and health. One of the first things toddlers begin to snack on is biscuits. But, when I enthusiastically bought packets of various Glucose and milk biscuits Mr. Hubby said little S won't be given all this. As I grumbled in frustration, Mr. Hubby asked me to have a look at the ingredients. I couldn't argue with him on this one as I did notice the amount of vegetable oil and maida. "If you are so keen on feeding him biscuits, why don't you bake at home?"

This awakened the Mother India inside me. So, last weekend I did debut on the biscuit front. I did keep it simple though, for I didn't want little S to outrightly reject my labour of love. When little S did savour them with pleasure, the Mother India was elated, for the biscuits had the goodness of wholewheat flour and desi ghee! This is how I made these yummy biscuits.

Ingredients

Wholewheat flour (Atta) - 1 cup

Vanilla Custard Powder - 2 tbsp

Clarified Butter (Desi Ghee) - 1/2 cup

Powdered Sugar - 1/2 cup

Salt - a pinch

Milk - 1/4 cup 

Baking Powder - 1 tsp

Cardamom Powder - 1 tsp

Method

1. In a mixing bowl, take wholewheat flour and desi ghee and mix well to form a crumble. 

2. Add the powdered sugar, cardamom powder and mix well.

3. Add the custard powder and mix well.

4. Slowly add milk and bind the mixture together to form a soft dough. 

Note : Do not over knead the mixture else the biscuits will come out hard. Use only as much milk as the dough requires. There is no compulsion to use all the milk. 

5. Roll the dough into a thick roti. Using a cookie cutter (I used the lid of my baking powder!) cut discs in shape of your choice.

6. Line the discs in a greased baking tray. Keep some distance between the discs.

7. Preheat the oven at 180 degrees. Bake the biscuits for 20-22 minutes at 180 degrees at convection mode. Remove once the biscuits become golden brown and let them cool on cooling rack for 15-20 minutes. If you press the biscuits, they will appear tender. However, don't be tempted to over bake. Once the biscuits cool down, the texture will be just fine. 

Next on my wish list is Good Day biscuits. Let's see when that happens...

The lazy chef's quick Misal Pao

After my first encounter with Misal Pao, I was sure I would never ever eat it, leave apart preparing it someday and blogging about it!

A day after we landed up in Mumbai, I ate Misal Pao in the breakfast buffet of the hotel we were staying at. My first impression was - something watery with just few lentils for the sake of formality and lot of namkeen and onions compensating for the lack of lentils. The next time I tried my luck was  during snacks time at the office cafeteria and needless to say, I was equally disappointed. "This dish is not meant for the Dilliwalla" I concluded and wrote it off. 

However, I often wondered what is so good about Misal Pao that my Mumbaikar friends can't stop going gaga over it. So much that a friend of mine has named her blog after the dish!

Anyway, the ice breaking happened few days ago, when Mr. Hubby declared that he had developed the taste for the dish. Now let me tell you, he is thousand times more finicky about food than me. So, when he appreciates a dish, I do pause and take notice. "It's about the preparation. If it is prepared well, it tastes awesome!" Apparently one of his friend's wife is a pro at the dish. 

Few days back, I was at a restaurant near my office for a quick bite and as I was glancing through the options that they could serve me within the next 5 minutes, my eyes fell on Misal Pao. My scepticism was obvious, considering my earlier experiences. But, being the typical Indian wife, how could I not decode the mystery of Misal Pao! So I ordered one plate and to my utter surprise, it tasted so good! The humble sprouts added to the body while the crispy farsan and the chopped onions played sporty. The right dash of lemon juice added well to the romance! Perhaps it was indeed about the preparation style!

Now the only milestone left was to prepare it better than his friend's wife, and going by his reaction to my maiden attempt, I am sure it was a job well done! 

Since I am a lazy cook, here's a simpler version of the recipe that I managed in 15-20 minutes while the toddler was enjoying his afternoon siesta!

Ingredients (Serve 4)

Mixed Sprouts - 250g (The main advantage of this dish is that it makes it easy to feed protein rich sprouts to otherwise fussy eaters!)

Onion (chopped) - 2 medium,

Green chillies (chopped)- 4

Tomatoes (chopped) - 3 large

Dried Coconut, grated - 1/2

Oil - 1 tbsp

Asafoetida - a pinch

Whole cumin seeds - 2 tsp

Salt - to taste

Turmeric powder - 1tsp

Coriander powder - 2 tsp

Red chilli powder - 1tsp

Misal Pao masala - 2-3tsp (The most important ingredient!)

Water - 2-3 cups

Namkeen

Lemon juice

Pao

Method

While most recipes I saw on Youtube involved preparing the sprouts and gravy separately, I have decided to play quick and easy by cooking everything together in my pressure Handi. However, to each his own!

1. Heat oil in a pressure handi. Add asafoetida, cumin seeds. 

2. When the seeds splutter, add chopped onions and green chillies. 

3. When the onions turn pink, add the grated coconut and cook on medium flame for 2-3 minutes.

4. Add turmeric powder, coriander powder, red chilli powder, salt and Misal Pao masala. Cook on low flame for 1-2 minutes till the spices are cooked.

5. Add the chopped tomatoes and mix well. If the masala sticks to the surface, you can add a bit water at this stage. Cook the masala till it leaves oil on sides.

6. Add the sprouts and mix well.

7. Add water generously. Mix well and adjust seasoning.

8. Cover the lid and cook it till 1 whistle. Allow the steam to escape and open the lid.

Serving

Add some lemon juice to a bowl of the Misal and garnish with namkeen and chopped onions. Your Misal is ready to romance the Pao!

Of Sambhar and memories...

For us Delhiites, the very definition of South Indian food begins and ends with Sambhar. Be it Dosa, Idli, Vada or Utappam, we like to pamper ourselves with Sambhar. I remember during college days, me and my bestie Surbhi would often hang out at Madras Hotel in Connaught Place for some awesome Masala Dosa and Sambhar. The USP of the outlet was its "to die for" Sambhar. The servers or Anna as we called them would serve us generous helpings of Sambhar till our tummies would feel like gas balloons. I remember once we were so full (in the tummy, not in the heart) and sleepy after the meal that it was a tough walk from Madras Hotel to the bus stop from where we had to catch the bus to home (Delhi metro was non existent those days)!

My fondest memories of Sambhar are from my childhood, when my papa would prepare lip smacking sambhar with dosa. I still remember we had this special big tawa/griddle exclusively for preparing dosa. Even though kitchen was mom's baby, Sambhar Dosa was entirely papa's department. 

How Papa, an otherwise non cook material learnt to prepare the perfect Sambhar Dosa is also a very interesting story. Apparently, once during a long wait for bus at the bus stop, papa started chatting with a roadside Dosa stall owner. While the bus came way late, it gave papa enough time to learn the art of preparing the perfect Sambhar Dosa. So perfect is he with his dish that often his boss would drop by our place for savouring Dosa Sambhar. While mom would happily don the hat of an assistant that day, papa would be so full of zeal on being the head chef! Since we were a family of 6, the batter would be prepared in a large vessel in huge quantity. After the day long fermentation, it was time to savour the Dosa and Idli.  There was also a giant pressure cooker bought just to prepare enormous quantity of Sambhar.

Despite a Sambhar expert available at home, I never bothered to pick up the skill, being the lazy chef that I am! Even after marriage, Dosa Sambhar to me meant a visit to the popular Dosa joint in the WEA market in Karol Bagh and pampering myself to Dosa and unlimited Sambhar.

But, as they say, necessity is the mother of invention...

After we moved to Mumbai, the spicy North Indian style Sambhar became a luxury. I still remember the first time I had Sambhar in my office cafeteria. I walked up to the server and asked him if they put the sugar by mistake in Sambhar! Pat came his reply to my horror, "M'am that's how Sambhar is to be, how else?" Oh My God! For the Delhiite used to spicy Sambhar, this was nothing short of a cultural shock! Not willing to give up that easily, I tried my luck with few more joints so called "popular for their South Indian food" however, the ordeal repeated each time. 

At the cross roads, the foodie in me had just two options - either to forego the joy of relishing sambar or learn to prepare Sambhar as per our North Indian preference.

I decided to take things in my stride and became a pro at preparing Sambhar, thanks to my mom in law.

Sharing the simple and easy Sambhar that saves my day each time I have the craving to eat South Indian food.

Sambhar

Ingredients (for 4 portions)

• Tuur/Arhar Dal - 150g (soaked for an hour) (I have learnt a simple measurement rule from my mom in law - a fistful dal per person)
• Water
• Vegetables (Bottle Guard, Pumpkin, Onions, Tomatoes, Potatos, carrot, french beans) - Diced in mouthful size pieces (Sambhar is the best way to use the leftover grocery in the fridge!)

• Salt - to taste
• Turmeric - 1tsp
• Tamarind - to taste (deseeded and soaked in water for half and hour)
• Sambhar Powder - 2-3tsp
• Oil - 1tbsp
• Onion - 2 chopped
• Red Chilli Powder - 1tsp
• Rai/Black mustard seeds - 1tsp
• Asafoetida/Hing - a pinch (aids digestion)
• Jeera/Cumin seeds - 1tsp
• Curry leaves - few

Method -

Wash the soaked Arhar  Dal and drain out the water

In a pressure cooker, take all the diced vegetables, add the Arhar Dal and water. The water should be half index finger level above the vegetables.

Add turmeric powder and salt. Close the lid and pressure cook. 

After the first whistle, keep on low flame for 2-3 minutes and turn off the stove. Remove the lid and mash the vegetables a bit with the back of a round spoon (this will give a rich, thick Sambhar. You may skip the mashing if you like your Sambhar to be watery)

In a separate kadhai, heat oil. Add the asafoetida, rai, cumin seeds and curry leaves.

When the rai and cumin seeds begin to splutter, add the chopped onions and sauté.

When the onions turn golden brown, add the sambhar powder and sauté.

Next, add the red chilli powder and sauté till the mixture leaves oil on sides. 

Add the mashed vegetables and water and mix well. Finally, mash the soaked tamarind into a homogeneous paste (you may also choose to blend in a blender) and add to the Sambhar.

Give the mixture one nice boil. 

Tadaaa! Piping hot Sambhar is ready!

For the Onion Utappam

Ingredients

• Dosa batter - I am a lazy cook and allow myself some shortcuts in the form of readymade Dosa batter from the South Indian store nearby!
• Spring Onions - 2-3 chopped
• Green chilies - 2-3 chopped
• Salt - to taste
• Asafoetida - a pinch
• Oil - 1tbsp

Method 

Add a pinch salt and asafoetida to the readymade dosa batter for a good flavour and easy digestion.

Mix together the chopped spring onions and green chillies and keep aside.

In case the batter is too thick you may add a bit water to dilute else skip the step. The batter should be flowy for crisp Utappams.

Heat a tawa/griddle. Spread some oil.

Once the oil is smoky hot, with the help of a round spoon, spread some batter on the tawa. The technique is to pour a spoonful batter on the tawa and make circular motions with the round spoon, reading the batter from centre to edges.

Spread some onion chilli mixture evenly on the utappam. 

Smear oil and once the other side looks brown, change sides.

Once both sides are cooked, the Utappam is ready to be served with Sambhar.

Aloo Parantha simplified

My parantha preparing skills are directly proportional to the number of years I have been married!

Though I always loved to savour stuffed paranthas prepared by my mom, I never bothered to try my hand at them....till i got married. One lesson cooking teaches you is that "practice makes one perfect!"  And when the family is typical North Indian foodie, there is virtually no escape from cooking! Over the years, it has been an interesting journey - from joining two separate dough discs with stuffing spread between them to effortlessly managing all sort of stuffed paranthas. My heart swells with pride when my mom in law says I have become a pro with Paranthas. Finally! All married women will understand what that means coming from the MIL herself! 

Being a lazy cook, one thing that gives me jitters is elaborate recipes. Often I have skipped recipes by merely glancing at the long list of ingredients. Having spent decent amount of years honing my culinary skills, I can say that a good recipe is not one involving elaborate ingredients but the right quantity of the right ingredients. For just like too many cooks spoil the broth, too many ingredients mask the flavour of the key ingredients!

Sunday breakfasts is incomplete without hot paranthas. Here's the way I prepare Aloo Paranthas, albeit my simple way, sans any elaborate ingredients.

Ingredients (for 3 adults having 2 paranthas each)

Potatoes - 3 (boiled and peeled)

Onions - 1 large (chopped coarsely)

Green chillies - 2-3 

Red chilli powder - very little (as per your preference)

Coriander powder - 1 tsp

Green coriander - few sprigs, finely chopped.

Salt - to taste

Asafoetida - a pinch (aids digestion)

Ajwain/Ova/Carom seeds - 1 tsp (aids digestion)

Wheat Flour - made into a medium dough. Also, some loose wheat flour for dusting

Refined Oil - for cooking

Method

Mash boiled potatoes in a bowl. The potatoes should neither be hard boiled nor very soft as it will be a herculean task to manage the paranthas that way. A simple tip I have learnt from my mom in law is that the softness of the dough should be in perfect harmony with the softness of the stuffing to get the perfect paranthas. If the dough is too tight vis a vis the stuffing, the stuffing will escape the paranthas whereas if the dough is too soft, you will have a nightmare rolling the paranthas.

Add chopped onion, chopped green chillies and chopped coriander.

Now add the spices - salt, red chilli powder, asafoetida, carom seeds, coriander powder and mix well into a homogeneous stuffing.

Take a ball of the dough (I take a little larger than the normal ball I take for chapati, since a lot of stuffing has to be accommodated). A little larger than the size of a boondi laddoo, I would say. Roll the dough into a small circle using a rolling pin.

Place the stuffing in the centre and centre and spread a bit taking care to leave enough distance from the sides. Now the quantity of stuffing is subjective. Depends on how much stuffing can you manage without tearing the paranthas while rolling. I say, start safe and increase the quantity as you gain confidence.

Fold the sides keeping the stuffing in between. Dust some dough on the disc and with hands, press lightly to expand as much as you can.

Now, using a rolling pin, lightly roll the parantha till it reaches the side of a chapati. Take care to roll lightly, else the parantha will tear and the stuffing will escape.

Avoid this

That's better

Heat a tawa/griddle and place the parantha on it. Cook both sides well, smearing oil (Punjabis are very generous with oil however, I prefer low oil paranthas). 

When the parantha gets a nice golden brown colour, take off the flame. 

Paranthas are the most favoured North Indian breakfast. Serve with curd/raw mango pickle/Mint -Corriander chutney or just a generous dollop of homemade butter!

Bon Appetit!