Checkered Cravings

I woke up early one morning to find the house unleashed with a flurry of activities. A quirky buzz with a thwack kept resounding over my head which I realized was my 2 year old niece whacking a pillow which was dangerously close to my head with the mosquito buzzer. I was inches away from being mildly electrocuted when I managed to snatch the buzzer away from her and being wide awake, it dawned on me – it was D-Day. It was my sibling’s engagement day and the house was full of my family & extended family, cheerily going about how one should on an occasion-day. The room was of course a mess with me having more cousin sisters than brothers so it was a lot more clothes (pink everywhere), make-up, towels and hair dryers contrary to cigars, empty liquor glasses and bottles and hooka apparatus in case I had more male family members than female.

I managed to wade my way through the sea of pinks to find more pinks in the living room. Pink wrapping paper, pink boxes, pink ribbons and a reel of pink cloth which I later realized was for stringing along a canopy like structure in the lawn where the decorations and activities were full throttle. I managed to swipe someone’s coffee which was being brought out from the kitchen as I knew I would certainly not get any lest I went and made it myself as my house help was running around in a crazed frenzy as though the king was arriving. My dad taunted me with a “late aren’t we?” snide remark and insisted I get dressed and accompany him for a small errand.

Well I had not taken a four day off from work to laze around. So off I went to find that the errand was to check on some decoration supplies and buy a sari for the maid. Now, seriously! This was getting a bit ridiculous; apparently my Mother had forgotten to bring new clothes for the maid who had been sulking since morning as the male house-help had new trimmings on them. She had conveniently badgered dad into visiting a nearby market to pick up a Sari (Not Green, as that’s what I am wearing, she warned) and dad, having not an inkling of sari shopping conveniently roped me into this for moral support. Another house-help accompanied us and we three set off with the agenda being one sari for the maid. It was indeed a sight to have captured with two men (I refused to get down) alighting from a car outside a non-descript sari store to go pick a random sari. Things went a bit too far when both being undecided on which to pick came up to the car armed with six different designs with a look of utter confusion clouding their faces. I was on the verge of losing it, when thought better of it and pointed to the nearest non-green looking one and we were off.

The day itself went by in a whiz, the sibling was a bit undeterred by the fact that he should be relaxing, aiming at looking good and leaving the arrangements to the rest of the family, instead he was on a trip of his own minding the flower guy, trailing a reel of pink cloth and pointedly expressing his disappointment at the decorators that “it was not the way he expected it”. We were hours away from the occasion and welcoming the fiancé side for the first time into our home, so it was but necessary that arrangements should be top notch. The lights were installed, the bouquets and garlands came in, the caterers were shoved to one side and things were unendingly carrying on. I settled down with the caterer a little before I went back up to get fresh, and he happily thrust a piping hot filter coffee glass into my hands. Muthuswamy our trusted caterer since years never failed to fill us up with his excellent cooking. His manager went on to offer me a plate of fresh idlis and a chaat saying “Saar, you will not be able to enjoy my food later on, you will be too busy attending to your guests and will be tired to even eat later on”. His statement was true to the core and I was surprised that he had adjudged me so well. It was a surprise when he said that he knew me since I was a “baccha” and he was the one who used to come to our house every time they catered, going back to 20 years in time.

I crave for Muthuswamy dishes and somehow am never able to enjoy them when hosting. This gesture Coming from him is what true catering is all about, he knew my weakness for his food and he had ensured that I had my fill a little before the party had actually started.

Speaking about cravings, my extended family was in no mood to excuse me for not cooking up some special dishes for them. They all had insisted that one meal would have to be laid out by me and I had ensured that I would. I dubiously got my way around by selecting breakfast as the meal I would cook and got to making fresh batches of waffles and served them with the freshest fruit amongst home made scones, butter and preserves. Well, no one’s complaining as they all left feeling heartily satisfied.

These waffles are easy to make up last minute and a perfect breakfast dish. You will need to invest in a waffle maker, not a very easy task for me as I had been looking for one all these years and was on the verge of importing it when one fine evening my friend and partner-in-photography eyed one at a local electronic store and picked it up without thinking twice, ensuring that I got the best gift of my life.

Ingredients:

For Waffle Batter

2 Large Eggs (Separated)

3/4 Cup Milk

1/4 Cup Melted Butter

3/4 cup White Flour

1 tsp Baking Powder

1/2 tsp Baking Soda

3 tablsp Powdered Sugar

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

Pinch of Salt

In a large bowl, whisk the egg yolks with milk and butter and keep aside. Ideally chill this mixture.

Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar and salt in another bowl and stir well. Add the egg yolk-milk mixture and stir evenly to get a thick batter.

Beat the egg whites in a separate bowl until well blended but not foamy, fold into the batter till you get a slightly runny batter.

Pour the batter in the waffle iron till it covers the grid area. I like it checkered so I do not fill it all the way till the top, this way I get crispier waffles with checkered holes in them. Close the iron and bake till they are evenly browned while constantly checking the bottom part as that tends to get cooked faster.

Sprinkle over with cinnamon sugar (a little cinnamon powder mixed with superfine sugar), maple syrup or honey and fresh fruits, serve hot. 

You can even add orange zest to the batter to get a zesty kick, or chocolate powder for chocolate waffles (a couple of spoons of cocoa should do the trick). You can even top with with nutella, chocolate sauce or whipped cream with bananas as a quick dessert. 

The engagement went on to be a hit (how could it not) and it is the beginning of a new chapter in my sibling’s and our lives.

A Gentleman to the “T”

A few days ago I visited my ex-boss, more of a friend, guide and mentor. A gentleman to the “T” and an even better business man. This time the visit was not for keeping in touch or a casual acquaintance, but for the fact that he is suffering from the dreaded “C” which is, unfortunately, on its last stage and I felt I should atleast drop in a friendly hello and keep him company for a while.

A man who I look up to only because of his perseverance in fighting his illness and moving on with life as though nothing has affected his day to day activities. I had an enlightened chat with him about the various going-on’s in my life and the conversation conveniently veered towards food. Now, this man, before his entrée into the world of business had taken up a management course in hotel & catering, a fantastic cook himself and more so with the abundance of knowledge of the finest foods in the world. A well traveled person who has tried and tested many varieties of the cuisines in his travails. He was a walking talking dictionary of food and, for a change, a person, who had as much passion in eating as he had in making food.

He had made himself comfortable with a cup of tea and his audience which comprised of me and a small group of his family members quickly got enraptured in his tirade about the “perfect cup”.

He started off with a dose of how the mushrooming coffee and tea bars make commercially appreciated tea and instead connoisseurs of tea would probably leave drinking tea forever if they tasted the variety we got in most of these places. He even gave an insight into the tea tasting profession which is much revered in tea growing states and a particularly high end job which pays handsomely. A little gyaan on the various stages tea went through to finally get nitrogen packed in most commercial brands was discussed and then he finally got down to how one should brew the perfect cup.

Now, I do not know if it was the stages involved in brewing the perfect cup or the fact that I brewed a cup step by step the way it was reiterated to me – but there is something meticulous about brewing tea the right way which finally satiates your senses, mind and body like how fine wine would.

A coincidence that recently I should get a whole bag of flavored teas from one of the finest tea estates in Sri Lanka, which got me tearing open a box of Jasmine Tea and getting down to brewing my own little tea cup the connoisseurs way.

I started off by pulling out a small cottage shaped curio ceramic teapot which was the only ceramic teapot I had and coincidentally from Sri Lanka! (yes, the first thing one should do while on an attempt to make tea is to get a teapot which is ceramic) and proceeded to the first step in tea making.

The teapot, well washed and free of any out worldly smells is to be warmed. Now we can, of course, not warm it over a flame or in the oven, so the warming of the pot is done by pouring hot boiling water into the pot, closing the lid and pouring out the water through the spout in about four minutes.

The tea is then spooned into the hot pot to a ratio of one spoon per person and one small extra for the pot. The lid is closed and the tea should be given a minute for the natural heated vapors to soak in. This step ensures that the leaves are gently made accustomed to the heat they would be subject to in the next few minutes and more so in getting the natural oils and flavors (in case of flavored teas) activated for the final brewing.

Warm water is brought out, to be sure its not boiling, and then poured gently into the tea pot. At this point, once the lid is closed, you must not shake, stir or touch the brew, but leave it to settle for not more than 5 to 7 minutes depending on how strong you would like your brew. 5 minutes is an excellent time for flavored teas whereas 7 for other high-ended pure teas.

The tea is then strained out carefully into individual cups, take in the sweet aroma, drop in a cube of sugar to sweeten things up and you are set to enjoy the perfect cuppa. For pure teas you can add milk or cream as per personal preference.






Some of the finer points to be noted:

No boiling or zapping the tea into oblivion as you would then be practically burning the leaves and having a mish mash of bitter flavors

No re-heating should be done – as this method is only for instant drinking and meant to be that way

No using boiling water when commencing with the actual brewing

Time bound and precision inspired, as only then will you enjoy the real and actual flavors

The steps for the perfect brew can be used for any tea possibly made by mankind

This way you'd be proud of the fact that it’s a world of difference making it the way it’s actually supposed to be made. Try it one fine day when you have all the time in the world, I assure you, its nothing less than a relaxing spa treatment.