My very own Chelo Kabab – comfort food

If you have lived in Calcutta for a length of time and eaten at The Peter Cat at some point, you will relate to me. I was never a foodie, but my friends were. So even without being interested in food too much I ended up learning about all the eateries in every nook and cranny of the city. Every mood and occasion calls for a special place.

The Peter Cat

The Peter Cat

At that time someone forbade me my regular crumbs and introduced me to the wonders of The Peter Cat. I didn’t think much of either the sizzling ‘house special’ or the ‘Chelo kabab’. But over the years I acquired a taste for it.

Then it was time to venture into a new life in a different city and then a different country. Chelo Kababs lay forgotten over the struggle to digest the new cuisines that were offered to me. Busy with work and life nothing seemed that important anymore.

Just a couple of weeks back I woke up thinking of that fragrant rice sizzling with a blob of butter, an egg poach on top and a choice of succulent kababs. It was such a strong craving that I refused all other food. We checked lots of  restaurants in Bangkok and came up with a bevy of very tasty kababs, but nothing was good enough for me.

Having tried my luck and having irritated a lot of people who couldn’t really understand my sudden fixation towards that particular meal, I decided to try my culinary skills.

After a little bit of research and a bit more of marination and grilling, by lunch I had a similar looking plate of goodies ready. I admit my rice was not Basmati but Jasmine, and my poach decided to land upside down on the rice, and neither did I have a choice of kababs. But I did have chicken kababs, tomatoes, onions and capsicums on stick to go with the rice butter and poach. And guess what? It tasted familiar enough not to miss the mellow lighting and chattering waiters of Peter Cat or that noisy beloved city for once.

My little sister

In our busy lives we end up not talking for weeks at a time. Sometimes we talk for a minute and sometimes for hours. Its been ages that we have just lied around and gossiped and giggled. Don’t know when we ll do it again and if it will be anytime soon. But just wanted you to know to us we ll always be the…

Grandmothers – The root of the family tree

gran

As a kid, what I loved the most was to listen to stories. My grandparents were awesome story tellers and so were my parents. I heard stories about both sides of my family along with a lot of Ramayana and Mahabharata and other folk/fairy tales. I craved to hear more and more. What I didn’t know then was that, I had managed to store it…

Experimenting with Peas Paratha

Karaishutir Paratha

Today was a surprise day off, thanks to the ‘Red Shirt Rally’. Back home we have rallies every alternate day and we have learned to live with it. But, in faraway Thailand, its an event which gives us an extra day off and may cause a coup if not handled properly. A 50,000 strong armed security force has been deployed all around the city. We…

The beginning

Part of the family

I grew up partly in a nuclear family and partly in a joint family. I was born into a huge joint family complete with grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins from both sides of my family. As the grandparents died people slowly moved apart and made their own smaller homes and the traditional joint family was no more. That is more the scene wherever I look…