Day 1 of Lock-down

It's Gudi padwa in Maharashtra today, the ushering of a brand new year.

Yesterday, I was thinking about the Covid situation and wondering that what kind of Padwa will the people of Maharashtra usher in this time? Everywhere there were news of distress, increasing count, increasing fear, careless people and helpless strays. Wherever I looked be it media, or social media nothing could spell misery in more capital letters. A major part of Maharashtra was already under lock-down so we were already aware that there is chances of the situation getting extended. And in the evening our PM declared a 21 day lock down. Much needed and very much anticipated move. The moment I heard it, I told myself this is it. Either this will consume you or you consume these 21 days to make a better version of yourself.

I thought of ordering some essentials from the popular delivery apps only to realize all the online market suppliers were cancelling the orders. There was an acute panic as more people realized this. And then there was news that the society was being put under lock-down as well – no exit, no entry beyond stipulated hours. There was panic and we went out to check if anything was open.

This was the first time I came out of home in a week. And the look of my area had changed. It looked like a dead town- the one we see in apocalypse movies. The sun beating down, a few police on the road, a few bikes and even few essential stores open. One realizes the proportion of the situation only after looking at these empty streets. I came back with two bags of essentials, exhausted, derailed, still panicked thinking what will happen if I don’t get food or essentials later on. I had decided in the morning that I am going to cut down on the amount of food consumed, be aware of how much water I am using, unnecessary electricity usage to be cut and so on. When I was out on the road to get some medicine, a young shopkeeper at the store told me, “we now need to eat one less chapati than we did, eat less portion of rice than we did. In Italy people are already eating food once a day”. I couldn’t agree more with him while thinking if this guy who is not highly educated understands the need of the hour, what part of it does the higher educated class not understand? His words touched me.

The meal was already planned for today. I had parwal at home which had to be cooked. And with the onset of the hot days a light meal would be good. Especially after running around for the essentials under the fiery sun, the exhaustion was evident. So made potol posto which is light on the tummy and is a feel good factor for me.


Preparation Time: 15 minutes

• Parwal - 250 gm 
• Potato - 2 medium
• Poshto (Poppy seed) - 50 gm
• Methi (Fenugreek) seeds- 1/4th tsp
• Fresh Coconut - 1/4th cup
• Green chilli - 2
• Mustard Oil 
• Salt and Sugar as per taste

Procedure:

Varhadi is a dialect of Marathi typically spoken in Vidarbha region of Maharashtra. Vidarbha is the north-eastern region of Maharashtra and is known for its extreme climates - round the year dry weather and  also known for its boldness. This region primarily consists of Amravati and Nagpur. Here  there are two cuisines  "varhadi" and "saoji". Both these cuisines are particularly spicy, and not meant for the faint hearted.

Saoji is a community which is known for its super spicy non vegetarian food. Varhadi cuisine is a little milder than its counterpart saoji, but it is still on the spicier side. A typical morning in Nagpur would start of with a plate of "tarri pohe",which is served with a thin gravy that is spicy and hot. It is garnished with shev and coriander. Lunch would then comprise of many types of bhaats like - "gola bhaat","pithla bhaat" etc.. Unlike other Maharashtrian cities, rice is pretty staple here and part of both lunch and dinner. The Varhadi or Saoji non vegetarian spicy preparations go very well with these rice dishes.

Now you might be wondering how come me being a Bengali, I am talking about Varhadi cuisine. Well to tell the truth until this day I was not even aware of the cuisine name let alone the recipe. I have a very good friend who is a certified and a passionate chef. Since mom is visiting me now, he offered to drop by and prepare a very traditional Maharashtrian preparation for us. He didn't tell me what dish he was about to make, just gave me instructions that I should soak some 10-12 odd dry red chillies in hot water for half an hour before he arrived. And of course clean and keep the mutton aside.

He arrived at my home with a small blue tupperwear container. When I peeked in it looked like a fresh masala paste with a very unique aroma. I couldn't quite place it as to what was giving that different aroma, but it certainly didn't smell like the usual masala that goes into a mutton curry. Then began the cooking. The soaked chillies had to be made into a paste. Mom offered a lending hand and made the paste with the help of sil batta. It is a rectangular shaped rough unpolished stone with a cylindrical, movable stone on top is used to make wet/dry masalas and chutneys in Indian households. All my childhood I have always seen my mom making masala paste with sil batta. But I am devoid of that expertise and rather lousy at it. But I do admit the taste and texture of a sil batta based masala paste and that made in mixer grinder is very different.

Once the chilli paste was done, the actually cooking started.  I noticed the change in look and feel of the gravy base when the secret paste was added. The flavours were very unique and appetizing. Nothing I had have before. The color was also on the blackish side, which is signature to this cuisine. Finally it was kind of a picnic feel when we all sat down on the floor, placing all the food on top pf newspapers. The whole house was already smelling of the secret masala. I had made Indrayani rice to go with the mutton. Its a special kind of fragrant rice found in this part of the country which I like better than basmati. It needs to be cooked with a little more than required water to give that mushy texture. A dollop of ghee and the mutton tasted like a piece of heaven. It was not until we finished our food that my friend finally gave away the name of his recipe - Varhadi mutton. He also said, this preparation is so very traditional that its hardly found commonly in Pune. Nonetheless here is his special recipe for it.

Picnic style serving on a newspaper

Preparation Time : 30 minutes

1. Clean and wash the mutton. marinate it with salt and red chilli powder.

2. Take all the spices mentioned under Varhadi masala and make into a fine paste with required water. Consistency will be like the picture



3. Soak the dried red chillis in hot water for about half an hour
Tip: If you do not have the specific red chilli use any variant of spicy dry red chilli for this

4. Using sil batta grind the chillis to a fine paste
Note: You can always grind it in mixer, but the texture from using a sil batta is finer



5. Chop the onions and the garlic finely

6. Take a wok, and heat oil. When the oil is smoking add the onion and chilli paste. Add the ginger. Fry it till the onions are softer.

7. Add the Varhadi masala to it and cook till oil separates.



8. Switch off the flame and add the curd so as to not curdle it. Notice the rich dark brownish color the masala base acquires. Hence at times it is also called kala masala.



9. Add the marinated mutton. Fold in. Cook for 15 minutes on medium flame.



10. Take a pressure cooker and cook for 5-6 whistle or till the required time for mutton to cook.

11. Open the pressure cooker and transfer the contents back into the wok. Cook till oil floats up for about 5-10 minutes.




Serve with Indrayani rice, Basmati rice, sweet pulao or any other less spicy rice. If it is Indrayani rice add some desi ghee on top to accentuate the flavours of the mutton when had with the rice. Have a garden salad on the side.




Cuisine reference link

It was a nice November evening. Not too cold but a pleasant nip in the air. I felt like making something which was warm and hearty. And I remembered I had those beautiful bok choy in my freezer waiting for me to pick them up and use it in something.

Bok choy is a superfood vegetable.This was the first time I had ordered bok choy from the online grocery store. I had seen it many a times while scrolling through the vegetable list but would always wonder how to incorporate it in my food. Finally decided to get it anyway and then think about ways to cook it.

When it finally arrived, the mild-flavored, juicy green bok choy looked like an invitation to experiment in the kitchen. The recipes on the net claimed they paired up perfectly with earthy mushrooms. Fortunately I also had some fresh mushrooms in the fridge. I felt I was in the mood of some nice warm soup.

It was perfect - a nutritious, comforting and flu fighting brothy garlic mushroom bok choy soup for a cold Pune evening. It is a healthy, easy, quick recipe to feel good all year long. You can either leave it as a vegetarian soup or add chicken, shrimp or other vegetables and make it a loaded one.

Preparation Time : 20 minutes

Dear Readers, it has been a very very very eventful year for me so far both in terms of personal and professional fronts. Things have been keeping me on toes for a while now. And amidst all this I was also moving from the previous rented apartment to my very own house. Getting a house is a very big milestone. And past one week has been super hectic due to all the moving and setting up of the new space. The plumbers, carpenters, electricians, cleaners etc are dropping in so frequently and randomly that my house feels like it is a busy highway instead of a home.  But now I have become used to them. Like a family we all coexist in the same space happily ever after. They mind their own business while I mind mine.

It was actually a good week to move in with Holi (festival of colors) falling in the week. It gave us a nice opportunity to mingle with the few families who have moved in the premises as well. So far around 20 families are there. So the Holi celebrations started with Holika Dahan on Wednesday evening, a day before Holi. According to Hindu mythology, Holika sister of demon king Hiranyakashipu, was sent by the king to kill his own son Prahlad, as he had opposed his fathers evil desires. Holika had a magical shawl which could protect her from any fire. So the king instructed his sister to sit in the fire with his son so as to kill him. But as she did that, the wind blew away the shawl from her and covered Prahlad. Thus Holika was burnt alive and Prahlad was saved. This ritual basically marks the victory of good over evil.

So on Wednesday night all of us gathered in the parking area where the Holika was lit. All the ladies participated in the puja and the guys helped. After this there was an introduction session. So all of us introduced ourselves. It was a fun session, where senior citizens took the cake with their funny quips and statements. We retired to our homes with a promised to return next day for playing Holi.


The Holi day was a great respite for me, as for one whole day I didn't have to see the face of any workers in my house. Life almost felt as if it was back to normal. My apartment is on the tenth floor hence it almost serves as a vantage point to check out whatever happens below. I am not very fond of the idea of getting all colourful and wet. The last time I played proper Holi was probably in standard 9. So this time when the plan was to meet for Holi, I was not very inclined towards it.  Till 11.30 AM I saw only a couple of ladies and mostly kids playing below. So I was very happy that I can safely skip it. But woe behold the society people came to invite door to door when the turn out was low. Eventually we went down. But honestly, the next half hour was pretty much fun

I felt that the house truly becomes yours when you do something in the house that you absolutely love. And nothing can be a bigger love for me than cooking. The first experimental dish in the new kitchen and now the house seems to be more mine than ever. The possibilities are infinite and the journey is endless. Hope and wish to continue in the same spirit in the coming days.

One of my friends knows about my passion for cooking. And he himself being a master at this art gave me the most unique gift for homecoming. A large portion of Salmon and a ton of fresh Italian and Thai herbs. I don't know how he thought of it, but this was the most amazing gift I could have wished for. I knew for the next few days I had to make something to do justice to these ingredients and I was totally tempted to try out something I have never done before. Thus began a series of 3 experiments all of which turned out amazing.  I am posting one of them here today.

The ingredient list might look long but the dish takes under 15 minutes to cook. And you can always add or take away a few of the ingredients here and there as long as the basic flavour quotient remains same.

Preparation Time : 10 minutes

Happy new year dear readers. The last year passed away so quickly and so many positive things happened that I feel really grateful to God and the people around me who have been a constant source of support and inspiration. I usually don't make any resolutions because I don't want myself to be limited to certain boundary. My things usually evolve as and when they come up. This way it works better for me I have seen.