The title may sound like the name of a dish I would want to share with everyone...but this one is a bizarre case..of an attempt to make chicken biryani--which totally turned otherwise...
A Saturday I was waiting for as had promised a friend I'd make chicken biryani for him....so I was excited...excited to try something new---
and this is what happened---the chain of events...
1: Go Shopping
How great I am at grocery shopping, well that's how it goes--
- Gets into this chicken shop. (PS- Had always accompanied my dad, so was not really aware of what is the quantity to be taken....) I asked the vendor...
Me: Bhaiya...chicken hai....(Ofcourse it was like everywhere)
Bhaiya: Madam, aap ko kaisa chahiye....
Me: Clueless.....Ahhhh , Mujhe biryani bnana hai, kaunsa chalega...(Saw two guys laughing on that....but who cares)
Bhaiya: Boneless, leg piece, koi bhi le lijiye...
Me: (Boneless sounded descent so I opted for it)...ahhhh...Boneless!!
Bhaiya: Kitna chahiye...
Me: After a lot of thinking....I said....250 grams...
The vendor chopped the pieces and I almost felt it was an achievement in itself to be able to buy chicken...
2: The 2 hour ordeal
I marinated the boneless chicken pieces in almost everything I found in the kitchen...I have always been a good experimental cook...so having faith in my instincts...there went curd, cumin, grated ginger, garlic, green chillies...pepper--I think the entire kitchen was in that bowl--
How much rice...well I have never known that estimate...so I soaked some two bowls...for two of us...(that was a lot).
After an hour of wait, I kept the pan on the induction...and started putting the ingredients, one after the other like an expert chef (of-course assuming myself to be one). I kinda always assume I am on Khana Khazan LIVE when I cook
I don't know what happened after that..
As if the chicken came to life...for it did not wanted to be killed and cooked....added water, steamed...but nothing happened...not even a piece could be cut into two...
Frustrated---I added more water and then rice into the pan---
Induction plays tricks with you, if its low, you can hardly make out that your dish will cook or not, if its high...well I have many such incidents, the house has been on fire.
But after two hours of juggling with biryani, or should I put, with the dish I wanted to make...it finally looked as if it is ready--
PS--it didnt look like biryani at all...to me it just looked like a khichdi with chicken pieces!
My friend, meanwhile was waiting for his turn to taste something I'd been boasting about for days---
3. Aftermath
I clearly told him........eat at your own risk...!
But keeping someone hungry till 11 is an offence, especially when you have invited the person---
So he took like a plate full of whatever that thing was---I call it chicken khichdi...and he said amazing..
I was instead busy matching the expression in his eyes to the words from his mouth :D
Is it, I said?
and I took the first spoon--
and then for the first time in life...I thanked god...for the fact that there was a chutney that helped me engulf it...
It was as if demons had come inside the pan and squashed everything...the taste was tangy, salty, peppery, sweet too for some reason (whooh...I added cashews to it).
I think I had 7 spoons in total, I finished the entire chutney, that was a blessing in disguise as it was required to engulf those 7 deadly spoons of waste--
and seeing him eat, like 2 plates ...I was wondering man...it is not good..it sucks...
I am a disaster ...
I am sure had Osmama had this Chicken Khichdi....he would have bombed India there and then...!!
We finally had like two bowls of butterscotch ice-cream after that-
For me to revive from the cooking aftershock, and for my friend, probably to forget what he just ate....!!
Morals 1. Never try to be an expert while cooking, if you do not know anything, google it...call your mum 2. Experiment only on close friends ( Glad, I did just that :D) 3. If ever you are trying to impress somebody with your cooking skills--- don't take the risk, order from a nearest restaurant ;)
Sunday,
I so thought of you...
The preconceived notions of spending you ideally...
crossed my mind... when working late hours...
And then you knocked! Knocked at the doors of my mind.
And I wake up to a day,with filtered sunshine...holding an umbrella of clouds I have barely got out of bed, but I know... I am not letting you go, that easily...!!
Somehow, I can never give up on the hardcore--Feminist.... that I am...
8th March 2012--- amidst Holi and International Women's Day...got so confused...that I preferred to sit back and read something!!
How would an ideal Women's Day in a country like India be?
Especially...on an occasion like Holi, where going out on roads alone is forbidden...because wolves are out there ....you can't think of walking alone at odd hours....if you do that..you are odd for that matter...!
You can't wear short dresses---(WE ARE NOT Talking about the one's who can)...but I am sure a million would just wish to wear a beautiful skirt on a sunny day, or a pair of shorts with a bright t-shirt...
Every mother, says this to her adolescent daughter at some point---" If you will not cut your wings....you will fly, and dare you do, because if you will you would be outcast-ed, relatives will not accept you, no one will marry you (as if it is her only aim), worst case you could be raped, if you'd not stop....Stop to dream, aim".
And so she sits back....!!
And with time, she learns to put aside...everything...her desires, dreams, dresses she wished to wear...and she kills the 3 D's in life......
To the hypocrite society....that boasts off change...!
Travel or speak to someone very basic....and you can so conclude...that we are running 30 years behind when it comes to being just to the womenfolk...!
A friend in London tells me, its all OK there...
Life is fair
Life is hassle free
Life is smooth,
Everyone is an equal, girls/women/females party all night...do whatever they want...and as he tells me this....I picture the story here....
Out all night....yeah yeah...in your dreams,it might be !
All fair...looks like fair when you view it from the upper circuit/strata of society....but the system....our way of dealing with this issue has been unfair otherwise...
And the more I think...the more I feel miserable because I cannot go door to door and change mentalities....
So , today ....when I should be rather sitting with my girlfriends and grabbing a piece of Blueberry Chesse Cake....I am sinking and sulking with thoughts of disgust and despair...!
I enjoy the freedom I have....always had..but somehow it would have been better if we all did....if all the birds were free...and not caged, chained...!!
I am not a fairy to paint the town all white and pure.....
so here I end...!!
This one's a song....that so describes US!!
and wouldn't be any better than Billy Joel telling us....."She's Always a Woman"!!
I started seeing FRIENDS, probably from 7th standard.
Back then....It was funny, but totally coudn't get the gravity of it.....probably was too young to get emotionally attached to it. I loved Joey the most....probably he was the only one whose jokes I could decipher and laugh upon ....;)
During college.....when everyone started seeing it..I was almost done with all the seasons....
and for some reason, I never bothered to ever watch it again...
And then....time took a roll, life moved on, until now, when there's a set job.
I am totally enjoying this new financial independence... which is no where in comparison to the meager TA I used to get during Masters....and it does makes you feel awesome!
I normally do not practice work from home, so coming back to my den, is always a good feeling, I just pick a book to read, or if there is an urge to pen down something, I do that....or just watch some random series in my hard disk.
When it comes to series....
Dexter is done for now...though it is totally one of a kind....but for Dexter, I'll write some other day...
Modern Family is OK now with season 3....
Stopped watching How I Met Your Mother...It's more of like How I met all the Crap in my Life.....;)
The Big Bang Theory is slowly approaching towards an emotional madhouse...
Two and a Half Men has lost its sheen without SHEEN.....Kutcher is a Katchra :D
Sherlock is just a 3 episode season....Can do nothing about it!
So I found the ten seasons of FRIENDS in my hard disk....and thought why not...See it again!!
Season 1....Ah ya it goes....
Season 2...Interesting
Season 3....Was wondering i have almost forgotten what I watched way back...
and so on and so forth...
Last night, I just finished the 10th season...and realized I so did not wanted it to end...
Nothing like FRIENDS has been ever made, or I suppose would be ...infact every series somewhere follows the same concept, format.....and when you analyze them, they all fall apart in front of FRIENDS
It will always be an epic...!!
And somehow, after so many years, of growing up, having an extended family of people I'd be dead without apart from my parents....I so can relate every person I am close to with FRIENDS....
Ross..His character grows with time, but the situations make a perfect comic of him....and well, you so feel like saying,...such a miserable character...he is...but he totally is the best actor amongst all....and Ross is close because I have a Ross in my life too....the best friend you can't do without....you would need him...in every pitfall...and every rise...because you are so emotionally connected....!
Ross's Dental Bleach "the white teeth/date incident"
Joey...How you doin/? the casanova with no brains....some phrases like a " moo point" or his attention deficit disorder....or the Fuzzball Table...or the baby chick and the BABY DUCK....:D...I can go on and on about Joey...makes me wonder do I have a Joey in my life....No...there is no one..and so it was just Joey....there was a series just based on JOEY after FRIENDS got over...but it could not reach the zenith that FRIENDS did.
How you doin?
Chandler...witty, the unlaughable jokes...the one who acted cold..but was the warmest of them all....the humorous office incidents.....the inseparable bond with Joey...Monica....
There's a Chandler that exists around..someone who worships work, but when it comes to humor...can make your stomach burst laughing with his witty, silly jokes...and how much he acts cold, we all know he has a huge warm heart!!
The pink bunny "Chandler"
Monica-- the control freak...everything neat and tidy, organized....so much that it gets on to her..like a Disease...leading to many hilarious situations...and I so love the bond Monica and Chandler share....and the girl gang....Monica and Rachel....so reminds me of the only bestest girl friend I have....she being the monitor of everything I do....guarding my personnel interests...at times diving straight into them, and how much I hate intervention, I totally cannot proceed without her consent.....guys especially!! I doubt my decisions, but I can blindly count on hers on personnel issues....
The big fat Monica
Rachel......I think she brings class to the ensemble....with GUCCI, Louis Vitton and the Big Fashion World....I ain't a big Rachel fan though, but I am sure every guy has had a huge crush on her....
Always messed up.....Rachel!!
Phoebe..... I so love Phoebe...and Smelly Cat...:D
Smelly Cat, Smelly Cat,
What are they feeding you?
Smelly Cat, Smelly Cat
It's not your fault
They won't take you to the vet
You're obviously not their favorite pet
Smelly Cat, Smelly Cat,
It's not your fault
From her background, to the way she is, weird, mad but so full of life....Phoebe makes the entire scene crazy....and everyone who knows me, closely, knows I am their Phoebe....but I assure...I'll never sing Smelly Cat... !!
Phoebe and her songs!!
FRIENDS past few months, was like an all new watch, and I could relate to it in someway or the other....finishng the last Season, was so nostalgic and I wished my group of 5 favourite people were around.......
The series ends with Walk On by U2......one of my favourites!!
Dedicated to my FRIENDS... for a run for money time and life time of memories...and for moments yet to come...
