Catching Lightning In A Bottle - Winthrop H. Smith Jr.

Irani Chaai, Mahim

By the time I started appreciating the Irani restaurants there were only a handful of them left in the city. Sadly, over the years, their numbers have only dwindled. Naturally, I was delighted to read about this new eatery that has come up in Mahim. People have given favorable reviews on Zomato so this weekend we decided to visit. My only worry was whether we will be able to get a place to sit because by all accounts it is a small place.

When we landed there the place looked small but still capable of seating about 18 people - going by the fact that there were about 18 people in there presently and no tables were unoccupied. In a matter of seconds a gentleman came out to inquire about how many of us were there and then informed us that we would be able to sit down in about 5 minutes. Sure enough we were perusing the menu in a couple of minutes.

I had done my homework on Zomato so without much ado we ordered Cheese Masala Omelette, Berry Pulao and ice-cream soda. The waiter looked totally crestfallen as he informed us that they had run out of ice-cream soda. Funnily enough, I don't remember the last time anyone told me that they have run out of any beverage or food in a restaurant. We laughed and ordered lemonade instead.

Soon the waiter deposited a plate containing a huge Omelette with 4 breads (the kind served with Pao-Bhaji in Mumbai). The omelette could have been hotter but I couldn't find fault with its taste. There were chunks of cheese in it and I tried to work out for how long I will have to walk to work off all those calories. :-) Didn't stop me from gobbling it up though. "I will worry about the calories later" I told myself. The lemonade was a mild version of Limca, but without its burp-inducing fizz.

Cheese Masala Omelette

Apparently, the berry pulao is prepared only on Wednesdays and Sundays. Compared to the other items on the menu, it is a bit on the pricier side. It is basically a rice preparation, cooked in mild spices, its taste a happy mix of sourness (because of the pomegranate seeds) and sweetness. A huge piece of chicken (not boneless though, to my total chagrin!) sat right in the middle of it. I tore off a piece of it with some trepidation but it was tender and well-seasoned to my great relief. The pulao is a bit on the drier side but if you are a rice-lover and like your rice mildly spiced, this one is worth a try.

Berry Pulao

On our way out the owner asked us how we liked the food. We said we liked it very much and he smiled, folding his hands. I also don't remember the last time any restaurant owner has asked me about my experience. That's one thing about these mom-and-pop eateries and the reason why I feel that more of them should come up in this city. Looking back at the restaurant I found that every table was occupied with happy diners.

Looks like this one will survive and thrive. That's great news because I plan to go again to try their chicken cutlets, mawa cakes and that ice-cream soda :-)

Spot The Spelling Mistake!

लोकसत्ता व्हिवाच्या २० जानेवारी २०१७ च्या अंकातल्या 'चेरीस पाव ते फिश कटलेट व्हाया बन मिरची' ह्या मनस्विनी प्रभुणे-नायक ह्यांच्या लेखातून घेतलेली गोव्यात करायच्या खादाडीची ही लिस्ट:

- मडगाव-पणजी रस्त्याला लागून असलेल्या 'आगाशी' गावातला चेरीस-पाव (बीफ चालत नाही आणि पोर्क आणि प्रोन्स आवडत नाहीत म्हणून चिकनवाले चेरीस खावे लागतील)
- पणजीतलं रस्सा-आमलेट
- पणजी चर्चवरून चालत पुढे गेलं की उजव्या हाताला केफे भोसले लागतं तिथले बन्स आणि मिरची भजी
- जवळच असलेल्या केफे सेंट्रल मधला मश्रुम समोसा
- त्याच रस्त्यावरच्या केफे आराममधली बटाट्याची कापं आणि कांदा भजी
- पणजीतला १८ जून रस्ता, 'चायपानी' नावाच्या स्टोलवरची बोंडा भजी
- मिरामार सर्कलवरून पुढे गेल्यावर डाव्या हाताला संध्याकाळी लागणाऱ्या डिसिल्व्हाच्या स्टोलवर मिळणारी फिश कटलेट्स (हा खरं तर बीफ कटलेट्ससाठी प्रसिद्ध आहे म्हणे. पण बीफ खाता येत नाही म्हणून फिश कटलेट्स)

अगदी आत्ताच फ्लाईट पकडून जावंसं वाटतंय :-)

I have stopped listening to the FM channels. Barring a few exceptions, as a rule, the RJs talk non-stop non-sense. You get to listen to a few songs if you are patient enough to sit through multiple breaks containing banal repetitive ads, without having murderous thoughts. The male RJs behave as if they have been appointed with the express purpose of flirting with the female callers and the way the female RJs talk can only be described as cooing. Not to mention that every channel claims that their female RJ is the most beautiful or most loved RJ of all. I definitely have better things to do with my time.

So these days I have taken to listening to various podcasts. I have mentioned BBC History Hour podcasts a couple of times on this blog before. I remain a loyal fan.

Then there are the No Sleep Podcasts. These are basically horror stories from Reddit site. I devoured Season 1 at breakneck speed and now am onto Season 2. If you like this genre, give these podcasts a try for sure.

The newest set of podcasts on my phone are from the Archaeology Podcast Network. So far I have listened to 3 of their podcasts and just loved them.

I wish I had explored the option of podcasts long time back. Would have put a lot of my time to good use.

Supernatural, S12, E09

There was absolutely no need to give me such a fright. I swear I would have died of cardiac arrest or heart attack or whatever it is that people die of when their heart stops beating - if Dean or Sam had been taken by the Reaper. I don't have such affection for Mama Winchester but then little Sammie would have been heartbroken if she had died - again.

At first, I was puzzled as to how the Winchesters managed to appear dead. But a split second after the car lights died, I realized that either a Crossroads Demon or the Reaper must have been involved. Shame on Crowley for not helping. What I didn't understand is why Castiel couldn't erase the memory of all those who were involved in arresting Sam and Dean. I am not quite sure if he has all his powers with him anymore. He looked positively cute though when he emotionally said that he didn't want to see any of the Winchesters die. Me neither pal, me neither.

Of course, kudos to the Brits for coming to the rescue when they did. But I am not too thrilled about Mary joining hands with them. There is something decidedly shifty about them. And I am not even talking about their accent :-)

This was the best episode of this season, in my humble opinion. I am not too worried about the issues on cosmic scale that the Reaper said would be caused if the promise made to her is broken. If the Winchesters and Castiel are together, they will manage to tide over anything. As for the rest of the humanity, I am sure we will muddle along - despite it being just a few minutes to the midnight on the Apocalyptic Scale.

The Good Man Jesus And The Scoundrel Christ - by Philip Pullman

Product I Liked - Gits South Indian Breakfast Kit

I am not a fan of ready-to-eat Indian food because I believe that Indian food doesn't naturally lend itself to this format. There is a peculiar smell and taste attached to any such packaged food, which I suspect could be because of the added preservatives. Normally, I don't go to grocery stores without a list of items to be bought - saves a lot of time, not to mention the calories. But last weekend I was roaming about the aisles of Food Bazaar with the specific aim of locating any new food products in the market when my eyes caught sight of the South Indian Breakfast Kit from Gits. The kit contains 2 packets each of Dosa mix, Idli mix, Sambhar mix and Upma mix. All for Rs. 120. I bought one.

Since the Upma is relatively easy to make (!) I chose that first. The experience with the first packet wasn't very good. I had put in plenty of water as per the instructions but the mixture dried up pretty soon and the green chilies that I added later on didn't get cooked at all. The result was a tasteless lumpy mix.Yuck! I was better prepared for the second packet though. I added the chilies to the water before turning on the gas so they got cooked through. I not only added a bit more water but kept stirring it continuously and turned off the gas while the mixture was still a bit wet. This time the end result was much better - though, obviously, not as good as Umpa prepared from scratch using fresh ingredients.

I used one Sambhar packet when I made Upma the second time around. On its own, the gravy is a bit salty, at least for my taste. But if you mix it with Umpa, both taste better. You have to add veggies like tomatoes, drumsticks etc as per your taste as the Sambhar mix doesn't contain any vegetables.

The Dosas made from the batter turned out to be pretty good. Of course, there isn't much that can go wrong with Dosa batter - except maybe the proportion of salt. I made tomato chutney as an accompaniment. Just heat oil. Add cumin seeds, mustard seeds, asafoetida, chana dal (if you want), curry leaves, turmeric, onion (finely sliced)., salt and green chilies (finely sliced). Once the onion is translucent, add finely chopped tomatoes. Once they are cooked add chopped coriander leaves. Let the mixture cool down a bit and then grind it to a coarse paste using blender. I like this chutney better than the coconut one.

I am yet to try the Idli mix but judging by the Dosa mix, I guess it should be okay.

All in all, I think this breakfast kit is a must to have in case you need to rustle up a healthy breakfast in no time.

So, Sanjay Leela Bhansali was attacked. The Hindi Film Industry is shocked, angry and supportive of him. But I am not surprised. It was going to happen one day. It was simply a matter of 'when', not 'if'.

I agree - there is such a thing as 'Artistic License'. I also agree that history is always not an accurate description of what actually happened. But mixing the two is not a wise thing to do - at least in this day and age. Bhansali did this once with Devdas. In Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyaya's novel, Paro and Chandramukhi never meet face-to-face, if my memory serves me right. Yet, in Bhansali's version of Devdas, both of them danced together and sang a song! Though the novel was a work of fiction, this crass change, done with a singular focus on the box office collection, did the novel a great injustice. Of course, when Bhansali chose Shahrukh to play Devdas he had murdered the plot, so to speak. So what he did to Paro and Chandramukhi pales in comparison.

Then he did it again with Bajirao Mastani. In this movie too, we see Kashibai and Mastani dancing together in the formal residence of the Peshawas - the Shanivarwada. Let's leave aside the historic fact that it would have been impossible for Kashibai to dance like that in real life because a problem is her leg didn't allow her to even walk properly. But anyone even remotely familiar with the conservative way of life in that period's royal Maharashtrian household would tell you that it would not have been possible for a daughter-in-law to dance like that - even in an exclusive gathering of ladies. And to imagine that she would do so with her husband's second wife is absolutely banal. Any Indian woman can tell you that. Yet, if my memory serves me right, Bhansali's explanation for this song was that audience expects a song when Deepika and Priyanka Chopra are in the movie. Huh?

Hence, I cannot blame the Rajput community for being worried that Bhansali's 'artistic' imagination will conjure up a dream sequence in which Alauddin Khilji imagines himself dancing away with Queen Padmini. Don't get me wrong. Violence is definitely not the way to go about it. But sadly, merely protesting against the wrong depiction of history didn't work for the descendants of the Peshawas. Taking a legal action is nothing more than a waste of time in this country where the courts are overflowing with truckloads of cases that have been dragging on for years.

No wonder they chose to follow the idiom 'action speaks louder than words'. That's sad. But also a fact of life, more so in recent times. And the sooner we learn to deal with the facts, the better. I hope Bhansali finally gets it this time around.

P.S. The news channels have been calling these people a 'Fringe Group'. But is that what they are really? Ours is a country of multiple cultures, languages and communities. A section of people protesting against something or other are always a 'Fringe Group' unless the history or culture or festival in question happens to be the one that belongs to our community or state. The country India sure figures in the pecking order - but down on the very last rung.