Rogan josh!

No.3 of the list. Strike!

The longest day of the year, and this is what it translates into!

Presenting, "Roganjosh"

And having this bowl full of bliss in front of me and not eating is a sacrilege, which me not gonna commit.

so, bon appétit, folks!

p.s. Him and I are definitely awesome!

The Good, the Bad, the Fat-Ass!

Somehow or other, the Fat-Ass is always an interesting proposition to write about! And this proves it too!
So then, a lot of stuffs have been going around yours truly for the past few weeks. And I sincerely mean an LOT. Both on the work front and otherwise. The 'otherwise' part is also related with the work front, though it is strictly limited to 'not-work' front. Well, I won't discourage you to go on a wild goose chase. To each his own. I've decided to stick with this. Makes my life a lot simpler. And truth be told, I've had enough of complications, and definitely can do with some less. So, why not?
Apparently, "change is the only constant", and not-so-apparently-but-heavily-contested-against "all change is good", which futher draws upon the corollary "whatever happens, happens for the good".
Therefore, let me also start with the change(s) that yours truly had been a witness to in the recent past.

It is, in every right, a major shift, which involved 'uprooting' of quite a few (in numbers) people within a radius of  250-odd kms from one place to another. Oh! And not to forget the major change in status! We are a "sarkari daftar" nowadays. A major (sad) shift towards being "dehaati". Yes, especially the new lot of people who have come in, barring a few (single-digit) exceptions.

Which eventually brings me to Fat-Ass. Yes, I never 'liked' the person, even before the formal association. And my stance still stands unchanged. So, I figured, I have to do what I do best. I can be very evil when I get bitchy. And unfortunately, the person in context here, doesn't know that I'm not the one to be messed with! The person here is the Fat-Ass! Yes. In every possible interpetations that you can make out of this term. He has this "I'm the boss, and you all are mere mortals and I don't liason with you mere mortals, as I'm so very above your league" attitude. Which is horribly contradictory with his actions. Unfotunately actions speak louder than words, sometimes even precede words. And this person doesn't have nor ever had and is neither even attempting to work towards them. Which backfires real bad. And the funny part, everybody else gets it, except the person, resulting in those unspoken yet so glaringly apparent jokes! The Fat-Ass did try to throw his weight around yours truly, and well, I like to be happy and I like to live and operate in peace. so, I didn't create any fuss, as I didn't want to put my dear Boss Lady in any further awkward position (yes, the Fat-Ass managed to do that in his first day) and did as I was told. But, I made sure that the Fat-Ass becomes the butt of jokes accross departments! *Told you, I am evil!*

Also, the universe conspired with me. The utility (read: system and network related stuffs) also refused to comply. And icing of the cake happened when his 'assholery' was made evident by his grace to that one person you never wanna mess with - the CEO's hand! And well well! That was pure vendetta!
And well, I say Fat-Ass not (only) because of my dislike. But because that person is a Fat-Ass. The person was not able to accomodate his Fat-Ass in the chair! So, the Admin had to get a separate chair for him! *That definitely earned some silent laughs between yours truly, the IT guys, the Admin people and of course, the CEO's hand!*

And well, my Boss Lady is a wise woman herself. She puts her education to good and perfect use. So, she also quips in between with "pura sarkari ho gaya ab toh.. har jagah bas potle and papers" in front of the person (the Fat-Ass was previously in a 'sarkari' workplace) in her trademark innuendo style!

The universe further conspired with me. And no, I won't go on in any further details here. I figure, this is enough bitching for one post!


And the Fat-Ass is not here with his fat-ass today! A perfect "yay" way to end the 21 days week!

p.s. : thus begins the period of visits by my favourite people. Yesterday was my ex-CFO. Today is my ex-Internal Audit Head (who was also my Black Love's White partner!)

Chicken Blossoms

We cook. Yes. We love to cook. Its just that it takes a week of sitting on the idea of cooking for us to actually get down to the business of cooking. A week because, with both of us getting back home around 9-ish and the Saturdays being 'working' *oh the woes* it eventually boils down (sic) on the Sundays. So, this was the Sunday.

The idea or the inspiration, as my Man would rather say, struck in the wee hours of one fine day in the beginning of the week. So, over our cups of morning tea (him) and coffee (me), the idea came into being, and the week was spent in sourcing the various stuffs that would go into it.. Umm, nothing fancy, its all everyday stuffs, handy stuffs, easily available stuffs, just that, it's two real lazy ass people here, so we do all the pre-cooking stuffs in installments. Even if it means taking the steamer out from some corner of the shelf! there you go!

So finally come Sunday. And finally we cook!

And we being the generous one, give out the directions too! Happy cooking!



All you'll need:

1. boneless chicken
2. spring onions (we didn't have any, so regular onions it was for us. and it'll do just fine), finely diced
3. garlic, finely diced
4. salt
5. garam masala
6. Kerala pepper (generous amounts)
7. cornflour (just for binding)
8. rice (soaked for a few hours)

The easy steps that follows:

• Take the boneless chicken and mince it, like a paste, with uniform consistency. The normal faithful age-old mixer grinder will serve the purpose just fine.
• In a bowl, put the minced chicken. Add the finely chopped / diced onions (spring or otherwise), garlic, Kerala pepper (black variant in the crushed form), garam masala, salt and a little bit of cornflour.
• Mix it thoroughly, and the best way to do it with your hands.. 
• Take the rice out of the water, and put it on a sieve to allow the additional water to drain.
• Make small balls of that chicken mix, preferably of uniform size. 
• Roll those balls in the rice, just so that it sticks to the sides of the ball.

• Take a steamer and fill it with water.
• In another perforated container, place a banana leaf at the base (to avoid direct contact with the utensil and also the steam).
• Place the balls gently.

• Put the lid on. In our case, the lid also happened to have holes, so we covered those up with another piece of the banana leaf cut-out.
• Finally, put the lid on the steamer, and let it be for about 10-15 mins.

the 'Blossoms'

And then, all you have to do is get them out, and EAT!

The "Murg Ke Phool"

Presenting ~ "Murg Ke Phool" as my Man likes to say!

Bon appétit!

Chef : my Man

Sous chef : yours truly.

M-post

Happy Birthday my dearest M

Welcome Twenty-sixth from 'round the street
Hasten it with open arms
Put aside your daily qualms.

Another year for you to greet
Full of magic, raw & sweet
May it ply you with such affairs
That disperse your worldly cares.

May it bring you sunny days anew
May wintery ones be rare & few
I wish for you a noodle soup
And an enchanted cantaloupe
A journey on a flying spoon
To the craters of the fullest moon
Travels to the strangest lands
Where stories hide in grains of sand.

I raise a toast
A merry brew
of joy
of peace
of love
to you...

*♥*

Fat Post

Disclaimer : I will not come across as someone who can be even remotely called "fat". Au contraire. I'm often branded as the tiniest being in any surrounding.. Doesn't help my cause further as I'm known among all the 4 floors of my 'official' place, including the ground floor, and also the other part of the 'official' place located a good 30-odd kms away, as "Chhotu"! (I can already visualize the the other one gloating away to glory)
And the fact that I'm forever left searching for clothes my size, again doesn't help my cause.
It further hurts, when the sister gets clothes size 0 for me, and they fit! *too much bleh, I tell you*
And hence the "disclaimer".

Coming back to the post. "Fat Post". Yes. And I mean very word of it.

I am hard wired to have my fat-days. Yes. And there's no cutting across it. So yes, fat days. And therefore fat-days-clothes (read : those very specific denims, tees, shapeless dresses(for a better and a more accurate fashion term: shift dresses), shorts(yes, i even have shorts for my fat days), even certain formal pants(fat-pants, as i call them) and my all time fav pyjamas and my Man's tees)! Whoa! That almost described a third of my warbrobe!
And then I am a sucker for good food, both good-looking and good-tasting. Which further doesn't help my cause, as any day-out or night-out or any-kind-of-out venturing with my Man, by default, involves food. And no, not the regular kinds. We are definitely posh. And we don't care about the rest in such matters. And the days which don't involve any kind of outs, we cook! And yes, that's also additionally fancy, for we eat up the entire volume that we cook! And not to mention, those infinite in-between indulgence by him (read : chocholates of the darker variety, and like stuffs). And it's absolutely gut-wrenchingly heartbreaking to say no to him. So, another reason for my fat days. Rather "feeling fat" days, when the guilt takes control!

And the latest being my mother's obsession dangerously bordering on fanaticism. For about half -a-year now, her sole goal has been to fatten me up. And she's been relentlessly going at it. It started from incresing the oil amout, increasing the number of dabbas in my lunch, and so on.. But of late, it has taken a turn towards hysteria.. sudden fear that since her daughter is really skinny, she might drop dead any moment! And she won't even realise! *Moms, I tell you!* To be fair on her, a certain real-life incident (and NO, yours truly is NOT involved) has made her more paranoid. Do you still take your vitamins? Do you take that tonic? Everyday? Or do you skip? and the likes of it.

Plus these days, it is being backed by another valid reason. "You have to look presentable for the wedding! At least, sari porle jano bhadro laage. puro kaath emni tei"

so yes. i am entitled to my fat days.
picture can always lie!