Attempt No:1

So here's a snapshot of my first attempt..

I think its important to be a good photographer first. Though I've been trying to photograph food for sometime, I'm nowhere near what the pros do. In fact, the only decent snap I have to date is that of a strawberry tart taken at Le Pain Quotidient which I've uploaded in the previous post.





I started out to make Rice, Dal and a vegetable curry but ended up with something quite different.







Pressure cook equal parts of rice & dal with enough salt and vegetables (in this case peas & carrots) with a spoon of bisibele bath powder (I used the MTR one). Its not the purest way to make the dish. Heck! even the recipe on the packet calls for elaborate measures. But for a single guy on his first attempt and that too trying to finish off in 20mins flat, this will do. And hey, it did taste decent..





I usually get hungry when I cook, so I made a snack too. Just cut up some mushrooms and braise them in white wine (the cheapest ones like Dia will do) with a dash of ginger-garlic paste. Spread it on dry roasted bread to get a quickie bruschetta. It did make for a good snack while cooking the rest of the meal..



For the side dish, I made a simple vegetable curry. Just boiled peas and carrots and reduced them in a gravy of tomato and sauteed onions. Also added the leftover braised mushrooms to it..

Voila! and dinner was served..





Seasoned food writers might turn in their graves, but this is my version and I'm sticking to it and am here to stay!!

World here I come..

* attempt the above at your own risk

Trying something new...

Like I said in my earlier post, I'm trying to do something new.
My first try is at food writing. I actually do know a bit about food and keep myself updated with the restaurant scene in Mumbai. But its actual writing that I have a problem with..

Anyway, made a start with an experimental dish I made a couple of days ago. Meticulously took photos also of the same. Though I made a big blunder of not photographing the actual finished product..

More on that later..

A new start..

Ok.. This I hope, is an earnest attempt to revive my blog.

Presently am in a rut.. The job sucks and I can't seem to find another one. Nothing interesting's going on. Desperately trying to divert my energies to something productive or creative..

Dug up the junk in my storage and brought out my colors and sketch book.
Not started on it though. Nor in a mood to read anything. Am mulling some ideas.

Will soon narrow on something. Hoping the blog will have something to do with it..

Let see...

It's the Most Amazing eXperience

went to watch Alice In Wonderland today... My first IMAX experience... Man! I was bowled over... Kicking myself in the butt for not watching Avatar at IMAX...

A Navi Mumbaikar reacts...

DB just sent me this link of an article that came in HT coupla months back.. I can so totally relate to it.. But unlike the author, I'd like to think that Navi Mumbai does have quite a few places to hangout..

Burn it Up.

The Happy Man…

Everyday I take the 8:12 local from Vashi to Andheri. It’s an uncomfortable 1:10 hr journey on a crowded train and I meet a lot of people on the way. Among the regulars is one man, about 28-30 years old, always in 2nd last compartment. Gets in before me and alights at Vile Parle. He has his 4 friends who get in along the way.

Never before have I seen someone who is so happy. He’s always smiling and laughing. And cheerful to the hilt- which is quite difficult in a crowded Mumbai local where there just enough room for one to stand and breathe for the hour long journey.

What makes him so cheerful? I wonder every single time…

SMS Mishap

A message intended for a close buddy which I accidently sent to my boss:
"Hey, buzz me tonight if you are free...
Itching to bitch and gossip. ;) "

To which he replied:
"Do not worry!
You can call me tonight and we can bitch and gossip..."


Like they say in the mastercard commercials..
Having a boss with a sense of Humour...
Priceless...

Vidyarambham...

Hari Shree Ganapathaye Namaha

Happy Death...

I had a wonderful time the past few days.. went about town with a coupla good buddies.. ate some really good food and downed a coupla mugs of beer and just went about the city walking along the victorian structures of south Mumbai, window shopping here, reading a book there, haggling with a hawker and gazing at passers by.. in short I was happy…

So happy that I wish I had died.. I’ve started to think that maybe it is best to die when you are happy…

“Happy Death” a point I’m beginning to ponder…

Too much too fast...

Things around me are changing too much.. and too fast..
and there's that distinct feeling that this time its taking a turn for the worse..

Dunno what to do..

anyway, Happy Independence Day people!!

10 steps to enjoy a bubbly in the most unclassiest way possible…

1. Buy a good bottle of white wine
2. Ensure that the bottle has a long nose and that the cork is really tight
3. Conveniently lose the corkscrew
4. Start uncorking with the next best tools such as the nail cutter and a screwdriver
5. Do a such shoddy job that the cork comes out in bits and pieces
6. Finally, push the cork into the bottle out of sheer frustration of not being able to get the bloody thing out
7. As wine glass is not available, use an ordinary glass tumbler
8. Pour the wine in; only to discover bits and pieces of cork merrily floating around
9. (and now the icing on the cake) Rush to the kitchen, get the tea strainer to filter out the cork pieces
10. Enjoy !!

Thank god, the girl who was with me was a sporty gal pal and not someone yours truly was trying to impress ;)

Souvenier...

Was lazing around the resort all through.. Didn't get any time to shop... So something that I randomly picked out from the gift shop at Holiday Inn in the few minutes that I got between check-out and coach drop...

Blissful Goa...

3 Days away from work... an absolute bliss...

What the future holds...

Last week, we were all in Mumbai for the monthly team meeting. Boss had taken us all out to dinner at Tendulkars after the meeting.. Along with the bill came some fortune chocolates.. This is what they had to say...





I guess I should start believing in such stuff coz tomorrow I am indeed travelling and going home ;)

Gosh.. I'm old...

A few hours back DB just told me that the median age of India was 24.8 years.. I turned 25 last September.. That makes me older that half of the country's population..

Boy! am I disturbed or what!!

and the day comes to an end....

and this was my Valentine.....

remember the time when you were in kindergarten. you'd meet this kid you know nothing about and ten seconds later you'd end up playing like you've known each other all along... thats because you just needed to be yourself then...

On secrets.. truths untold and opening up...

Its 3 in the morning and I've still not gone to sleep. The post is inspired by a coupla things that happened today.

My roomie introduced me to PostSecrect a few days back. The posts were such a revelation... and I kept thinking how it would feel to open up and reveal one's secrets... It certainly takes quite a load off one's mind.. I vividly remember the last time I did that.. Was in the 2nd year of college.. A lazy Sat (or was it Sunday...) when I revealed my biggest secret to J.. something I'd been trying to get off my chest for 8 long years... We talked for a long time that night.. and hell did I cry... but at the end of it all I was glad I did that... else, would have been crushed and consumed by it all... Thanx mate ;)

Just finished watching 'Almost Famous'; one of the really good movies I've seen in a long time. There is this scene towards the end of the film where the protagonists are all in a private plane caught in really rough weather. Impending doom, they all start blurting out their innermost secrets...

What would it feel like to reveal all of your secrets.. I mean all of it; every single detail; even the ones that you try to keep away from yourself. Would others judge you too much? Would one be treated as a social outcast? All possible.. Or is it because our secrets also have a role in defining who we are??

PostSecret.. here I come...

Irony...

camping in a protected bird sanctuary gorging on fried chicken and drinking kingfisher...