Begin Again

When we got the tickets to the late night show on a Wednesday, we were expecting entertainment and hoping against hopes that it should not be yet another love story. The trailer said it’s not a love story.

I never write about a movie. I think I am not the right person to sit and critically analyze a movie as I watch movies purely for fun sake. But this one is just out of the world. It connects and this is therefore not a movie review, it’s just about how I felt and would so want you all to go watch it.

The movie starts with two people totally lost on life and with nothing to look forward to. The only one thing that connects them is music. And how can one not fall in love instantly with music. I go back to music all the time. It is my mood – lifter (if that’s a word). I have music for every occasion – wake up music, Sunday morning music, Sunday evening music, Friday music, running music, feeling home- sick music, cooking music, thinking of college days music, feeling awesome music, drive music,… yeah you get the drift. I remember there was a song playing in my head when the priest was reading the wedding promises! I have a song for every moment basically.

So the movie is like that. It’s about how you pick up from where you left, it is about the moment you realize that nothing is permanent and nothing can break you till you want it to break you. You just need to sing a song and be calm. The story is so encouraging. It’s devoured off all the cliché’s. You expect them to kiss and make up and become a couple; you want them to because your mind is tuned to that. But they just follow their heart and make their dreams come through… they also survive. The music touches you and you want to listen to it on a loop.

Please go and watch it if you still have not. 

What is a modern marriage?

Life does not change after marriage. Period.

It’s a little annoying to keep replying to the same set of questions post marriage – has your life changed? Have you become more responsibly? Does life revolve around your husband? Do you cook? Oh! You are working and are married?!!

Well, I got married. Didn’t develop a disease for sure.

Recently stumbled upon this very cute advertisement on TV from Airtel where the wife is a boss and a wife who cooks.

On one hand I loved the ad. Loved that they were showing changing stereotype. Loved the fact that the husband was ok to have his wife as his boss. But are we looking at a change as an audience?

 As a woman it felt good to see her in that position and bad because - why does she need to cook to show her love as a wife? Couldn’t she help him with his presentation for instance? I do that often.

So on the surface it looks like things are changing but right there in the middle of the ad she needs to shift gear and get into the kitchen to cook.  Don’t get me wrong, I love cooking and I cook a lot but not to show that am a loving wife.

Modern women show love in so many different ways. I park my husband’s car often when he is in a hurry or the other day I dropped him off in his car to boys night out as I didn’t want him to drink and drive. I think that is more modern, more the changing trend. I see my friends whose husbands love to cook a meal for them while they are at work. A modern couple go in for adoption for instance, or go for baking classes together, or even run a marathon together. A modern husband lets his wife travel alone and be what she wants to do.  

While the attempt is superb and brave for a brand to show what they show, it is also a responsibility to show something that is actually changing trends. As advertisers we don’t realize that we do have influence on mindsets.

Ad in question:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9BlI9nhqTE 

Kitchen Management

Yes that is what I call it! When I entered the kitchen about 8 months back, I had no clue what was going to be in store….actually NOTHING! My husband had a carton that said “Kitchen stuff” written on bold. When I opened it I found some interesting stuff in it. A nice aluminum wok which most Bengalis will vouch for, a few plastic containers with some contents in them which looked very weird so I threw all of it, a nice big soup mug, a coffee mug, a few plates, spoons and few other basic things. So when I took everything out and looked up at my husband looking at me , he knew that his weekend was gone. So today after 8 months I feel that this post will help a lot of people to organize their kitchens ( both married and unmarried) and also because I had to make a number of phone calls to my mother to figure the basic out. So here is a plan that I hope helps you.

Start with the basics - utensils. Go slow on the purchase as most of the things available in malls / hyper marts are expensive. Don’t try the fancy things. Go for the basics. 

Pic Courtesy : Pinterest 

1. Wok ( buy one normal and one non- stick)

2.       Pan ( for your quick Maggie, eggs etc)

3.       3 Sizes of milk pans ( pateela in Hindi) – 1 litre, 3 litre/4 litre and a bigger one

4.       Tawa for rotis ( if you make parathas and dosas then buy a nonstick version

5.       Chakla belan ( for rolling the rotis)

6.       Pressure cooker ( buy one size for now for dal etc) – 2 litres is good enough

7.       Some wooden spatulas and spoons.

8.       Buy a set of spoons, fork and knives.

9.       Chopping board ( a basic one would do )

10.   Tongs for roti and taking the hot utensils off the gas stove

11.   Buy a set of plastic containers that are microwave friendly ( helps you to keep food after the food is made and also you can use it for storage in fridge)

12.   Buy a set of spice containers ( I bought about 20 small bottles and 10 bigger bottles for spice and dal)

13.   Buy two big containers for rice and atta

14.   Buy some wipes as you will need them.

Pic Courtesy : Pintrest 

Once you have the utensils in place, go to a grocery store to pick up all your spices, lentils, rice etc. You will need to think though this so go to a departmental store/ hypermart as they have sections which will help you to figure your life out. I picked up the basic spices and two types of lentils with rice and wheat to begin with.  Ok so there is a little secret I did : I followed my day from waking up to sleeping and made a list of things I will need. Eg : Tea when I wake up, breakfast ( eggs and bread and milk) … so on and so forth. It helps to make a list before hand or else you can get lost

Next stop was at the veg/ non- veg section. Here I picked up the basic flavorings like onion, garlic, ginger and then just got 3 more veggies. I wanted to see if I could be regular with the cooking or not first.

Lastly, I could have missed a lot here, but this is a basic list. You keep adding as you go. I hope this helps you all out there. Enjoy setting up your kitchen as it’s the heart of your house and a well planned kitchen is always a delight for any cook!

The Coriander ( fresh green) Pomfret

This recipe was first made at our place by my mom in law and the thing with moms is that you just can never get that same taste - ever! Recently we happened to have that craving of that recipe again and had no choice but to experiment and boy it did taste good ( not as good as hers but nevertheless). Am going to share it here because it gives many people access to it. Have fun perfecting it! :) 

Ingredients 
( Serves 2 adults who love fish) 

• 2 big sized Pomfret ( Sea water) cut into two halves as its easier to handle them in the pan. 
• Fresh Coriander bunch ( this needs to be large in quantity as it will make the gravy as opposed to a garnish. So buy so much that when you make a paste out of it , its about 1/2 litre ) Make sure its a paste that is thick in consistency so add very little water if the mixer is giving an issue grinding it 
• 1 medium sized onion chopped very finely ( am a bit lazy that way so I keep a paste of onions in my fridge.) 
• 2 green chillies that are hot 
• 5 - 6 big garlic kernels ( again I usually have a paste of Ginger and Garlic paste so I used about 1 tb spoon of that paste) 
• Ginger is optional 
• Mustard Oil 
• Salt & Sugar to taste 
• Turmeric & Red chilli Powder 

Note : Other option is to make a paste of Onion + Garlic + Ginger + Chillies 

The 5 minute method ( The non- bake option) 

Take a pan. Add about 2 teaspoon of Mustard Oil ( I prefer low oil so the less amount..you can add as per your liking). 

Once the oil heats up and you can smell the Mustard oil, Pour the paste of onion , chillies, garlic and ginger. In case you are chopping the Onion then you add the onion first and the rest follows ( adding chillies to the oil will make it more spicy) . I add a little salt at this point to avoid the onion from getting over cooked. Stir for about 30 secs till you can see the onion change colour. Pour the coriander paste ( all of it). 

Once you see its simmer a little add the raw fish ( do not fry it) 

Cover the pan and put the stove on SIM. 

Let the whole mix simmer for about 2 minutes ( Fish cooks fast), and turn the fish carefully as its a delicate fish). Let it simmer a little more. You will see the oil separate from the gravy and the house fill up with coriander smell... that is when you switch it off and let it cool off a little before serving ( helps the fish and gravy to settle) 

Serve with white rice. 

For the Baked/ microwave version 

Coat the pastes on the fish and place in a borosil container with a lid or a plastic film on top with about 2 -3 holes in it. pour a little mustard oil ( about 1 teaspoon) and put it in the microwave for about 2 minutes and then turn the fish and again for 2 minutes. You will need to check on the fish and the gravy. If its not cooked then increase the time accordingly. 

Enjoy the recipe and let me know how it turns out.