Category Archives: midweek crisis

On a rainy day.

Posted in midweek crisis, mother by

You know that day? That day when it rains and you wake up listening to the raindrops against the window panes and you see the sky and you long for the smell of west earth and you think of all times you had danced in the rain and those rainy afternoons when you had stayed in making paper boats from old newspapers and the time when you and your friend had walked back from school in knee deep water and your shoes were spoilt and your socks were spoilt and your friend had a fever the next day and your mother sent a note to your teacher apologising for the sports shoes that you had to wear to school instead of the regular black ones and how sometimes on your way back from your school you would stop and fiddle with the edges of your skirt and take in the football match on the rainy evening longing to join in knowing it was forbidden and how the best part of getting wet in the rain was to rush into your mother’s waiting arms and tell her of your rainy adventures while she dried you with a towel and you could smell her and afterwards you would doodle in your maths homework listening to the faint sound of the 7’o clock news coming from the living room and looking at the rain fall.

You know that day? The day that brings rain and memories fill you in every time you breathe? And then it rains?

It rains a silent rain the whole day.

On turning you away

Posted in midweek crisis, The everyday stuff, The hardest part by

You are not welcome in my home.

You are not welcome in my home, to be a part of my family, to spend days and nights with us, to live under the same roof, to share the same food, to laugh and to smile.

You are not welcome to the warmth, to the open arms.

You are not welcome to the morning teas and evening walks. You are not welcome to the board games on rainy evenings, the story telling during bed time.

You are not welcome to the comfort, peace and happiness.

You are not welcome here or there. You are not welcome for this or that. Yet you will continue to be a part of all of this, grabbing a piece of one, claiming the other it to be your own, wanting desperately to be a part of everything.

But no matter what you do, You are not welcome for Anything. Anymore. Ever.

This door is shut.

On coming back one more time.

Posted in midweek crisis, Opinion and facts, The hardest part by

So I am trying to come out of a rut. Writer’s block sounds too elegant for where I am right now. Rut works. And it is nearly impossible to drag myself out from there because my brain feels like scrambled eggs. Not the piping hot tempting scrambled eggs. More like the cold ones that no one wants to touch.

Yes, I think that describes my brain rather well.

Okay. So now on writing. I have decided to use some prompts- just random ones that pop on google search. I’ve never done this before so if you have any suggestion please feel free to leave a comment.

***

And just in case you are wondering, R and I have a daughter. She is a little over four months old now and is quickly defying all our ideas of good parenting. She will be called “Ginger” in this blog.

Tuesdays with Tomato & Co – 4

Posted in midweek crisis, mother, Nostalgia, The everyday stuff, tuesdays with tomato & co by

Days such as these call for comfort food. Food that warms your heart, makes you feel at home even when you are miles away from your loved ones. Food that reminds you of the weeknight dinners as a child, when you would be busy buttering the crisp toast while your mother brought out the heavenly mutton stew.

Mutton stew from mum’s kitchen


You will need:

Mutton 500 gms (or more but then please adjust the rest of the ingredients accordingly)

Potatoes 2 medium cubed

Sunflower / canola oil 4 tbsps

Cinnamon 1 stick

Green cardamom 4

Cloves 4

Bay leaves 1 medium sized

Curry leaves (few)

Onion 1 medim sliced

Ginger-garlic paste

Crushed pepper

Green chillies 2

Salt to taste

What to do? 

Marinade the mutton with a little salt and pepper for about 20 – 30 minutes. After that put the mutton in a pressure cooker with about a cup and half of water and pressure cook it for about 20 minutes.

Heat the oil in a deep cooking pot and once it is hot temper it with bay leaves, curry leaves, cardamom, cinnamon and cloves. Sometimes I throw in some whole black peppers as well at this time to get the fragrance. After the fragrant smell of the whole spices comes out, add the sliced onions and saute it till it turns translucent. Add the ginger garlic paste and the green chillies and some salt. Saute till the raw smell of ginger and garlic disappears. Put in the potatoes at this point and cook till the spices coat the potatoes and they get a nice goldenish hue. Add the mutton pieces and saute till the oil comes out of the sides. Add the mutton stock and water, if required, cover and cook till the potatoes are done. Check for salt and adjust consistency of the stew by adding more water and boiling if required.

Note: I cook the whole thing in a reduced low to medium flame. Always.

Serve with white rice or appams or have it with a nicely buttered toast.

© Paroma Ray

Tuesdays with Tomato & Co – 3

Posted in midweek crisis, Opinion and facts, tuesdays with tomato & co by

Chicken kathi rolls (or how to salvage a chicken curry gone wrong)


The chicken curry did not go that wrong. Really. The curry tasted quite nice. Except the chicken. Yeah. I could not figure out why the chicken came out tasting the way it did. I timed it as usual not expecting to overcook it. But it came out very dry and tasteless.

Anyway. Hence the need for the salvage. Here comes the kathi roll!

You need:

Chicken (boneless and mine was already cooked so the process became very easy!)

Tomatoes (1 for 2 servings)

Eggs (2)

Milk (1/3rd cup – I use fat free)

Garlic (1 clove thinly sliced)

Onions (1 whole – sliced)

Green chillies (2 or more according to your taste – finely chopped)

Ketchup

Chapatis (2)

Note on the chicken: This can be done in different ways. What I usually do is make boiled chicken and store the chicken and the stock for later use. To make the boiled chicken, put the chicken pieces (I usually use the ones with bone) with a few drops of vinegar, a pinch of salt and one onion cut into cubes. Add very little water and pressure cook it for about ten minutes. You will have your boiled chicken ready with your home made chicken stock.

Note on the chapatis: Mine came frozen in a box from the super market. I can’t make chapatis. Haven’t tried so far and don’t think will have the patience. You, however, can learn to make them here.

For the chicken: 

Heat 3 tbsps of white / mustard oil in a pan. Once the oil is smoky, reduce the flame, add 1/3 of the chopped onions and the thinly sliced garlic and sautee till they turn translucent and garlic loses its rawness. Be careful not to burn the garlic.  Add some turmeric and red chilli powder and sautee till the masala is cooked well. Sprinkle water if the masala sticks to the bottom of the pan. Add the chicken pieces and continue to sautee untill the chicken is nicely browned and covered with the masala. You will have to make sure the masala is cooked through and through. Check for salt. (Sometimes, I temper the oil with whole mustard seeds, dry chillies and curry leaves before adding the rest). Let it cool and shred the chicken pieces for stuffing in the chapatis.

After you are done with the chicken beat two eggs with milk and make an omelette. Usual practice is to fry the chapatis with the eggs but I never do that.

Once you are ready with your chapatis, put the omlette in first. Layer the chicken nice and thick. Add raw onions and tomatoes and some ketchup. I was out of all other vegetables, otherwise you can add lettuce / freshly chopped coriander / chopped mint leaves or smear the chapati with some coriander and mint chutney which is terribly easy to make!

Vegetarians – replace chicken with paneer and / or aloo. It will taste just as nice! Marinade the paneer in a little bit of salt and chilli powder before hand and fry them for a while before stuffing them in the chapati.

© Paroma Ray

The picture frankly looks gross. With all the tomato sauce spilling out and the chapati really not holding the stuffing together. But it tasted good. Honestly. Real good!

Tuesdays with Tomato & Co – 2

Posted in midweek crisis, Opinion and facts, tuesdays with tomato & co by

Because we got hungry for meat!!!

Lamb Chops with sauteed eggplant

You need:

Lamb chops (I used 4)

Eggplant (1 big or 2 small cut into cubes)

Green capsicum and red bell pepper (1/2 of each and sliced)

Onion (1 small)

Garlic cloves (3- 1 should be thinly sliced and the other 2 coarsely chopped)

Tomato

Salt to taste

Lemon

Mustard Oil

White oil / Olive oil

For the lamb

1) Smear the lamp chops with the 1 tbsp of white / olive oil coarsely chopped garlic, lime juice, salt and a little paprika. I was out of paprika so I used a pinch of red chilli powder. Cover and put it in the fridge. You can marinate the lamb for 30 minutes and up to 4 hours. But I really prefer to just let it be for 3o minutes. If you are letting it sit for longer make sure you put it in the fridge to prevent any bacteria growth.

2) After the lamb is marinated well enough for your taste, heat a non stick pan with a few drops of white / olive oil. Once the pan is heated well throw in the green and red bell peppers. Immediately after, place the lamb chops on the pan. Remember to keep the flame reduced. Cook the chops on each side till they are nicely browned. Serve the chops immediately after this.

For the eggplant

Heat a pan with 2 -3 tbsps of mustard / white oil. Once the oil is heated put in the thinly sliced garlic. Wait till the nice smell of garlic comes out (be careful not to burn it!) and put in the sliced onions. After the onions are translucent put in the tomatoes and fry for a minute or two till the raw smell of the tomatoes disappears.  Put in the eggplants and salt and sautee till the eggplants are soft and cooked.

Note: I always cook eggplants with the skin on. But you can peel the skin if you prefer them that way.

Oh! And that’s it. Plate up. And eat. You can mash some potatoes for the carb or just have this with plain white rice. It tastes nice!!

© Paroma Ray

P.S.- yes yes I know it is Wednesday today! But we were out holidaying last weekend and came back terribly late last night. This is still a part of Tuesdays with Tomato & Co