Fruits of labour; labour of love?

The past few days I have treated myself to quite a few tropical fruits that are not so common here in the US.But I do notice that southern California seems to offer such delicacies more probably because of the proximity to Mexico and the Hawaiian islands.
Anyway,the fruits I have had recently are sugarcane, pineapple, papaya and pomogranate.Yes,I did enjoy the taste,colour and texture of these fruits but that is not the topic of this post.What I want to write about is the memories that unexpectedly came flooding back as I was cutting up these fruits.

My grandfather was a lover of food in general and fruits in particular. He worked in the region of Madras (my hometown) where the wholesale fruit and vegetable market that supplied the whole city was located.Everyday, as he walked to and from the busstop to his workplace, he passed these stores bursting with the freshest of fruits from all over the country.If there was one indulgence that my grandfather had,it was theese fruits that he brought home.

One fruit that was perennially on his list was the hill plaintain.This is a variety of banana that is smaller and sweeter.It was like a richer cousin to the lowly banana and was considered a bit of a luxury among many people because it was more expensive than the regular banana.But my grandfather liked this variety and always had only this.Even as he got older and frailer and starting having difficulties eating his meals,he continued to have one hill plaintain everyday.

Apart from this staple,he bought many other fruits.I did not realise until much later how well stocked our house was in the fruit department.We had a green plastic basket which sat on top of the fridge.And this basket always had atleast one other fruit along with the hill plaintain. Among the various fruits that my grandfather intoduced to us were the pineapple,papaya,custard apple,pomogranate,jackfruit,oranges,sweetlime,sapota*,nongu* and many more.Some of these fruits bring back especially fond memories.

The pineapple is a difficult fruit to clean and cut.There are thorns that grow into the flesh of the fruit and they have to be carefully removed.My granfather would patiently clean and dice up the pineapple into bite sized pieces for all of us to enjoy.Similarly the pomogranate also required quite a bit of labour to bring it to consumable form.Again,my grandpa did the honours.And as for the jackfruit,well that was a family affair!!My uncle,my grandmother and I all had to get into the cleaning process along with my grandfather!!

Later,when I moved out,I longed to take back some of the exotic fruits that I had tasted to my grandfather.But he was very old by then and could no longer digest unfamiliar foods.

Food connects us not only to our culture but to our family too.My granfather passed on a year and a half ago but for the rest of my life everytime I cut a pineapple or bite into a hill plaintain I know I will think of the times my grandfather loving fed me all those different fruits. Hopefully,he will be looking down,glad that he has succeeded in instilling his love of fruits in his granddaughter.Thank you, Thatha!!

* - What are these fruits called in English?

I posted something earlier today and came back just to look at what I had written.And I realised that I had decided to moderate my comments long ago.......no wonder there were none appearing on my earlier posts!!Well,you would be thrilled too if you realised that you had 11 comments sitting waited to be approved (ok,ok about half were spam).I have no illusions about the number of hits this blog gets but am glad that there is atleast some traffic here!!
Maybe this is what it's going to take for me to want to post more frequently....we shall see!!

THIS and THAT!

THIS
Two Pakistani terrorists nabbed in Mysore http://www.hindu.com/2006/10/27/stories/2006102720930100.htm
Pakistani terrorists with Ak-47s in good ol' sleepy little Mysore....what has the world come to??!!

THAT
The other day I went to get my nails done at a nail salon down the street.And on one of those giant pedicure chairs sat a tiny little figure....a girl not more than 5 or 6 yrs old.What was she doing there....getting her nails done!!!It took all I had to stop myself from gapping.....what the $#%$%&%??!!

THIS
"A bend in the river' by V.S.Naipaul - My cousin told me that Naipaul wasn't his favourite.....but I was determined to give him a shot.And I must say he is not one of my favourites either.Yes,I know he has won the Nobel Prize for Literature but that doesn't mean everybody must like him?This particular book I think has a lot of potential...it's about a man of Indian descent who has lived all his life in Africa.It's largely the story of his life and the choices he makes.But it is painfully slow.In order to get myself over this one I am now reading 'Marker' by Robin Cook.It's a tome at 528 pages (for me who considers 250 pages as a good sized book) but I've finished three-quarters of it already.Again have started getting impatient...just tell me who did it ok??!

THAT
One of my closest friends P gave me this recipe for apple chutney.....great way to use up old and shrivelled apples that have stayed in the fruit basket a little too long (as you can probably tell this was the situation in my case....hehehe!).Here's the recipe for a simple and tasty chutney.
Take any sour apple (Granny Smith or similar) and grate it or grind to a fine paste (2 apples should do).In a small saucepan put 2 teaspoons of oil.Put mustard and methi seeds and let splutter.Add a generous amount of hing to this oil.Then add the apple paste along with a pinch of salt and chilli powder.Stir till all ingredients are well combined.Your sweet and sour apple chutney is ready!!I served it with missi roti.

THIS
My LKG teacher Mrs.Govias died.I haven't seen her in ages and I only vaguely remember a kind and round face that used to greet me every morning during my first year in school.I remember how she would play with us and let us sit on her lap.I know that a great deal of my high comfort level at school in my first and subsequent years were thanks to the loving and cheerful environment she created.When I heard that she had passed away I felt a little bit of my childhood had passed away too.Mrs.Govias,I wonder if anyone told you this while you were alive....but you were a great teacher!!Thank you!!

PS:Well,I guess this is what happens when I keep meaning to update my blog but never do.So one fine day it all comes flowing out.......and becomes on hodge-podge filled with this and that!!

I just don't understand this.Today is a very busy day considering we are moving and all our stuff has just been delivered by the movers,there's a maintenance guy working on fitting a new microwave in the apt,there is no gas or hot water.....but still here I am blogging away.The past few weeks have been difficult for us with a lot of uncertainties and way too much time at our disposal.Do I feel the need to write then....no.
Anyway,we've moved to California and coming from the midwest that is a big change!!The weather is awesome here (surprise,surprise) and the whole atmosphere seems somehow different.
Our new apartment is quite a small but cozy.I love the wooden floors in the kitchen and the bathrooms!I also love the nice afternoon sun that comes into the rooms.
I am excited and looking forward to unpacking and setting up house.
Well,that's about it for now.....new places,new people,new possibilities....ah life is good!!
Tata!!

The Secret Garden?

Yeah numerous attempts to be regular at this blogging thing......every one has failed.So I finally decided to come to terms with it.......I just am not a regular blogger!!!But what the hell....it's my space after all so I write when I choose to.
The past few days have not been too good to say the least.Am not going to go into the details here but suffice to say that sometimes life can be difficult.I know people have bigger troubles than me and yes I am more fortunate than many but it still is not easy.
On the bright side though,I am going to a party tomorrow.It's an outdoor birthday party for two women I know in one of the most beautiful parks here in St.Louis....am looking forward to that!!Another good thing....my husband and I played scrabble the other day (when we lost power for a good 4 hrs thanks to the sudden storm) and I won!!!Now our approach to the game is very different....I play to pratice my vocabulary while he plays to win.So beating him was pretty big for me :))!!
I know I am rambling.....no particular theme to this post but it has got me blogging again so that's that.
Till next time then.......now we do know there's no telling when that's going to be ;)))!!!!

Asparagus desi stlye!!

Asparagus......surely doesn't sound like anything that could be turned into a nice Indain kind of dish you say?You'll be surprised just as I was at how well this can be morphed into something that will pair well with our very own sambar,rasam and chappathi.
My first attempt with asparagus had been quite a diaster.I made asparagus dhal....the asparagus ended up crunchy even though I had cooked it in the pressure cooker.And my husband and I realised we didn't really take to crunchy asparagus.
The past week bunches of fresh asparagus sat tantalisingly in the grocery store.I thought it deserved another shot especially since my sister had told me about the very edible asparagus curry that her room-mate makes.
So here's the recipe for my very own desi stlye asparagus.
Fresh asparagus - 1 bunch (chopped into 1cm pieces)
Yellow onion - I medium (finely chopped)
Turmeric powder - a pinch
Asafoetida powder - a pinch
Corrainder powder - 1/4 teaspoon
Cumin powder - 1/4 teaspoon
Ground pepper - a generous pinch
Salt - as per taste
Vegetable/canola oil - 2 tblspoons
mustard and cumin seeds for seasoning
dried red chillies - 2 (crushed)
In a small non-stick wok pour the oil.When it's hot drop the mustard and red chillies.When the mustard starts to splutter add the cumin seeds,asafoetida and turmeric powders.Then add the onions and saute till translucent.Add the chopped asparagus and the corrainder and cumin powders,pepper and salt.Stir a couple of times till add the ingredients are mixed together.Now add a little water and cover.Check after two minutes and stir.Cook till the asparagus is as soft as you would like.This serves 2 people.
We had it with chappathi but this would be a good side for sambar/rasam and rice too.
Enjoy!!

The cardinal came a calling today.....aah what a beauty!!
This bird is supposedly quite common in my city but I have spotted it only a few times.It is a vivid red with a small tuft on it's head.It sat on my balcony ledge for a few minutes this morning and with the backdrop of all the brown logs of my apartment....quite some sight it was!!