I wish I were a squirrel with a long, long tail...
then I might have appreciated the nuts I come across each day...
I wouldn't have to spend my days in an artificially conditioned environment wondering whether it was sunny or raining outside...
I would skip from trees to trees with my little nimble feet and shy away from all human company.
I wouldn't have to socialize, smile and greet and pretend to be happy even when I was not...
I would be in rhythm with myself and deeply connected to nature ...
I would gather and store acorns for winter in my hiding place and that would be my only treasure...
.....Oh btw, before I muse further over these absurd things I have to get back to cooking the chicken I had left to marinate.
Mom let it to slip to one of my colleagues that I CAN cook . And he has been continuously demanding to taste my culinary efforts.
But there's a difference between being able to do something, and being able to do something WELL. I believe in the latter or...nothing.
So, it has become a prestige issue now..
I have some time today and I thought I would cook and surprise him.
If he survives, I will ask him to write a testimonial for it...Lolzzz
TC
Chicken is waiting... :P
(The recipe is provided as the 10th comment on this post..)
30 comments:
the squirrel to me is the most admired rodent - it just depicts freedom in the best form to me - donno why !!
if given a chance to be a rodent, i would have loved to be one :)
the best : I wouldn't have to socialize, smile and greet and pretend to be happy even when I was not...
thats something i too want :)
talk of your cooking, its better you run to the kitchen lest your chicken gets spoilt :P n he otherwise might get a bigger surprise..
did u say a testimonial for chicken - what? :O - kaisa zamana aa gaya hai?
well , herez something you might love more then :)
a squirrel
the same one again
yet again
once more
for the last time
use with discretion, these are not clicked by me so copyrights held with the photographer ;)
~njoy~
Mini....
I've run out of nuts..
Or did i got nuts..
@kabulivala..
Hey who r u ?
That's one of my favourite short stories..
How do u know it?
Have u read it?
@prasoon
Thanks for the snaps...
I love squirrels..and everything wild...
Gives me the sense of freedom which I have otherwise pawned to lead a so-called civilized life...
I hear that your colleague has survived but is not willing to write a testimonial for your cooking.
He... he ;D
sorry for the type..:P
it is
did i go nuts?
as for the story...Thanks ICSE..
as for knowing that you liked it..elementary my dear watson..some one who has her orkut profile loaded with stuff on Tagore..ought to have liked his stuff on a kid..and any bong kiddo would have loved to identify herself with "Mini" at some point of time..
@one of the nuts
Actually he is hospitalized right now.
Lolzzz
Chill! He promised to testify after the readers of my blog have made their conjectures..
@kabulivala
It isn't loaded only with Tagore..like any other Bong child I had my dose of Satyajit Ray, Shirshendu, Shorodendu, Bibhutibhushan and in later years..Sharathchandra as well...
Aparna's cookbook
Btw, here's the recipe for the chicken I prepared yesterday :)
YOGHURT CHICKEN (DAHI MURG)
Style: boley to apun ka..:p
but category wise North-Indian Non veg
800 g chicken -about 8 pieces
400 g Yoghurt
Chopped tomatoes- 2
Finely chopped ginger- half table spoon
Finely chopped onions - 2
Finely chopped green chillies
Garlic
1 teaspoon hot spice mix (garam masala powder)
cooking oil
turmeric powder
salt to taste
1. Marinate the chicken for 30-45 mins while you chat with your friends or write a post on your venture :P
and when u r through,
2.Heat oil in pan or in kadai for about 2 mins.
3. Add the chopped onions,tomatoes, garlic, green chiilies and ginger and fry on medium level for about 3-4 mins or till the onions turn slight brown
4. Add the marinated chicken in yoghurt to the pan.
Mix well.
Cover and cook on low heat for about 30 minutes or till the chicken is tenderized.
5.Add water if necessary...but I would suggest to let the chicken stew in its own juice- it brings out the flavour.
6. Add water in little amount only.
7. Add garam masala when it is almost done...mix well
COOKING TIPS:
THE SLOWER THE FLAME, THE LONGER IT WILL TAKE..AND THE TASTIER IT WILL BE :D
MAKE SURE YOU HAVE PLENTY OF TIME TO SPARE
BE IN THE RIGHT MOOD..PLAY YOUR FAV NUMBERS WHILE YOU COOK IF YOU WANT
(I WAS TALKING TO AN OLD FRIEND OVER THE PHONE )
AND MAKE SURE YOU CALL THE GASWALA NEXT DAY..COZ AFTER THIS PROLONGED COOKING SESSION. YOUR CYLINDER IS GOING TO GET EMPTY ANYWAYS..
(IF U R COOKING IN A MICROWAVE..THAT'S A DIFFERENT STORY ALTOGETHER)
Btw, I promised Koushik and Rahul da (the survivors)
it's going to be chilli paneer soon..
And Emon di is invited too.. :)
nice nice...:D....gaswala :D.... wait till i savor those recipes..yummy ....i hd friggin noodles yesterday nd now this turns on my apetite...sorry gotto go...the hunger is soaring through my body :D....tata...will wait fr the chilli paneer..
btw i moved to blogger beta..using my gmail ID..so u cant see my profile from urs. u can move urs if u want to
umm..squirrel dear..u do realise u have to keep one eye up above for hawks and eagles, one eye on the ground for snakes and one eye on weird kiddy squirrels who dont know whats best for themselves rt?
all the best for the chilli paneer...umm, all the best to the tasters, i meant :)
well I belive tht true joie de vivre lies in njoying wht u r and wht u hv.
in ur case it's tht squirrel in other's case it cud b some celebrity or sports person or ne person whihc s/he adulates a lot.
A person's need and greed are nvr quenched coz they always transcend, do u think tht if one day someone waves a magic wand and turns u into a squirrel u will live happily everafter??
well no prizes for guessing ma'am but ur guess is as good as mine.
We always find others life more interesting ,more adventurous,more exciting and bla bla bla forgetting tht to attain those things wht sort of hardships they hv to undergo.
I guess better to take ur example only. According to me u r living a nice life,u hv ur job, ur money,ur lappy wid some 60+ GB space full of songs:), reputation,respect from others,adoration from ur colleagues and u r an eye candy of ur parents. I mean from whr I am seeing u r living a perfect life and if given a choice many ppl wud DIE to live such a life. Is this all coming for free? Well u have just mentioned all the hardships which u hv to undergo to attain and sustain at this level. But still others wont see all these back-end work which is goin on, they will just see wht they wanna see,rest everything they will take it for granted.
Thr is a well known adage "Parayi thali mein ghee jyada nazar aata hai" :)
And I guess tht's d centre reason for all most of our miseries and pains. We keep on running for our whole life to attain tht perfect life and in d meantime we just forget tht GOD has himself given us a perfect life to live.
Doesn't matter how many hardships one has to suffer, at the end of d day LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL :)
@Raunak
I wasn't complaining!
If I were to be born again , I'd want to be born again as Aparna Kar only
It's just that FREEDOM has become such a vague term for me..
The squirrel was just symbolic of the wilderness I crave for..
I know I am blessed..
But sometimes ...I wish I could be more free..
I don't know what exactly I am missing..
Maybe the city lights have dried the inside of me..all I want is a vacation with my parents..
@pythoroshan
I accept there are perils I have to face...anything that exists has to fight for its survival...and so do I
But don't u think I got a better deal than you humans?
You scrap yor knee as a child, bleed and cry and think "I'd be much stronger if I grew up.. I can't wait to grow up !"
And when you grow up, you realize scrapped knees are easier to heal than broken hearts...
You spend your childhood waiting to grow,
and when you have grown up you are not ready to accept it.
You expect to get wiser with age but it's only the biological age that increases
When you have grown older , you wonder how did you grow so old?
Doing things to make urself vendible..
Can you say to urself-
" I don't want to do things to sell myself on myself.
I don't want to study just to stay ahead..
I don't want to work to make money"
Can you?
Sometimes, all I want is to get a knapsack on my back and go globe-trotting..but can I leave behind all that ties me back?
My family, my friends- the ones who love me?
But,I want to get away..
Stop calling me , stop expecting from me..
Stop worshipping me like I were a flawless Goddess
I despise all company..
I despise you who swore by the moonlight that you could lay down your life for me..
I despise you who said you would kill us both if we are not destined to be together ..so that in death we could meet..
I despise you who looks up to me like a faithful dog looks up to his master..
I despise all..
coz u take me away from me..
coz u tie me down...
I want to be myself..the only me..the eternal vagabond
did he survive the chicken! good post..wnat to be squirrel to appreciate the nuts..;)
NEWS FLASH
Hair should be penalised if Inzamam is banned
ho ho ho...
hey, i wish i were a squirrel.... so that i could play with you....... :P
so how was the chicken... i wud like to have one prepared by you, some day, too! (at the least, it would increase my immunity/ability to survive..!)
btw, you can still appreciate the nuts though........... i do...! :)
That's pretty much how I cook it too, except that I use more spices & a pressure cooker, on low.. (I know a pan is ideal but cookers are really not as bad as they're made out to be Plus they're f.a.s.t !!, saves g.a.s!)
A tip u might try: Add a bit of lime juice to the marinate
This season's craziest love story- Pyaar Ke Side Effects
I loved it...
you can read about it here
@saurav
Hey..why don't u publish some of your recipes?
At least, tell us wht spices could we use to enhance the taste?
Ok my recipe might sound very weird & non traditional, so dont be surprised by the variations. And I've no idea about the amounts.. I mean I cant say how much 400g is supposed to be, but it ends up tasting nice. This is bcos I sometimes have to cook for 4, & sometimes for 10! So things vary.
Marinate with: Yoghurt, Ginger garlic paste, salt, turmeric (just a bit), chilli powder, dhaniya powder (not dhaniya paste), lime juice, chicken masala (hehe), oil.
Keep for at least an hour (ideal wud be 2-3 hrs)
If using a cooker: When the oil (u may add a bit of butter too) is heated, put the onions (chopped or paste in mixer) & fry for a bit. Add a bit more salt, a bit more chicken or mutton masala or both (surprised?). Add tomato puree. Stir again a bit.
Add the marinated chicken. Keep stirring, add a bit of water if u like. After about 10 mins on medium, put the lid on with the seeti. But here's a little tip before u close the lid.
***Add a spoonful of sugar & mix it, a spoonful of butter, u may or may not add garam masala now (I do) AND (the best tip) a spoonful of Kasuri methi .. this should not be mixed, just sprinkle it evenly & then close the lid.
Keep on medium & wait for 1 seeti at least. Once the steam dies down, open & smell it - aaaaaah! beautiful!
Additional tip: Try at ur own risk - some ppl dont like it - After the chicken is done,(after final lid opening) add a small cup of coconut milk (this is the maharashtrian style)
It just gives it a faint coconutty feel :)
Tell me how it works out!
yeah 10th step is the recipe i get it but pls cook it for me as well... then maybe i will savour it as well :)
i should have told ur mom that ur cooking is a disaster , maybe then u would have come with something nice for me as well [:P]
@saurav
I am dying to try it out..But this Sunday I have a workshop to attend..so maybe on some weekday or the next weekend..will definately let u know...if I do..
The coconut milk can wait while I first try out the spicier version of Dahi murg :)
@saurabh
Arrey why do u want to lie?
when did u taste food cooked by me that u will spell D-I-S-A-S-T-E-R??
My colleague simply asked if I can cook
and my Mom plainly stated facts.."Yes, she can.."
And that was it..
really thats what i meant that ur a disaster in a kitchen ;)
Ok this is where the funny part ends
Aparna is a wonderful cook so it seems as she can write in the recipie info here but how does it turn out to be is what we see and eat
Aparna share your recipe at yummycurry.com , hey I wonder whether the bowl is also eaten by him along with the curry hahha Lol
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