Bangalore, here I come

Hi all, three days from now, I will be in Bangalore. I shall come back with loads of stories. till  then ta… but wait, I may blog from there also and give you people some lovely surprises.

Tata again 🙂

Mitra Samaja

 Walk around any of the busy commercial centres in the metros (or even non-metros) and you are bound to bump into at least one restaurant with a board that says Udupi Hotel or something associated with this town, which is located in South Canara in Karnataka. But enter their restaurant and order any south Indian dish, and more often than not you are bound to taste anything but South Indian food. So, be a little brave, speak to the manager behind the counter to enquire about the connection and you will be in for a surprise. Most hotel these days that claim to be making Udupi cuisine may not have any connection with the name at all. In most cases, either the crew would be hailing from Andhra Pradesh or Tamil Nadu… riding on the back of Udupi cuisine. I did this with the Udupi Hotel on Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg in Delhi and it turned out that it was owned by a Telugu guy. Huh.

To taste authentic Udupi food, either buy U.B. Rajalakshmi’s book on Udupi cuisines. This includes the history of the place including the Madhwa philosophy, what kind of utensils one should use, medicinal values of different herbs, formulae syrups for different ailments, etc. — all this along with several authentic curries, savouris, payasa (kheer), the works basically, originated from South Canara.

Another option could be a hands-on experience. Take a break from your schedule — visit the town and stay there for more than a couple of days. And no, don’t take the typical tips from Discovery Travel & Living show hosts — the latest being Vir Sanghvi’s A Matter of Taste, which to my mind, did a mediocre job of covering Udupi cuisine. Blame it on the time constraints of the programme or lack of good research.The irritating bit was taking the owner Udupi Hotels chain to Dakshin (ITC’s south Indian restaurant). And worse, talking to him in English while the guest was visibly uncomfortable with the language. I think during such a situation the host should also converse in the local language, in this case – Hindi, and both their conversation should be sub-titled. Back to the land of Sri Krishna Mutt.

To start with, during your Udupi darshan, visit Mitra Samaja on Car Street. Good place to have morning breakfast or an evening snack. A small place, probably can host about 40-odd people, I think. They serve all Udupi or say, south Indian cuisines, but the best of the lot is Goli Baje (a fried pakoda sort of a round ball made from a mix of  maida, curd, coconut pieces, salt, etc. eaten with coconut chutney, or my fav combination, with ketchup). After Goli Baje, you could even have a dosa and end it with the amazing Badam Milk served here.

Some of my favourite Udupi recipes:

Pathrode: even Gujaratis make this. Bascially made of rice, coconut and red chill paste smeared on colocasia or arabi leaves, bundled up, steamed and later sliced into small pieces. You could either shallow fry it after it cools down or eat it directly.

Tambli: A starter, to be eaten with rice. Made from a paste of tender leaves or root of several plants with grated coconut and green chilli with little curd.

Kuchila Kadubu: Paste made of soaked lentils and green chilly (the spicy one) or even grated coconut and jaggery (the sweet one) stuffed in cooked rice flour and later steamed in cooker.

More on Udupi cuisine and the town itself later… as they say, watch this space for more.Thanks for your patience. Ta…    

Udupi, my wonderland

Whenever I think of a peaceful place to be in, the only name that comes to my mind is Udupi. For those who haven’t heard the name can skip this blog or do your Google research and come back. I have been fortunate enough to spend two years of my school life in this town. My cousin V wrote about the mouthwatering Udupi saaru (loosely translated to spicy watery daal) in her blog and it brought back memories of my childhood in the land of Krishna. I don’t usually write lengthy stuff in this space but I may get carried away today.
On a typical day, I used to wake up in the morning and get ready to go school. I took the “school auto” to get to my Mukundakripa school, just behind the Krishna Mutta. At times, someone or the other in my neighbourhood used to drop me. Some of Kitta mama’s friends also used to take me to school and I used to look forward to these coz a bar of chocolate was an assured benefit then. Sometimes Sulla aunty’s husband whom we all used to call Bhavaji used to pick me up from school. He used to get me cup cakes from Sudarshan Bakery near Town Police Station or the other one (I forget the name) near the City Bus Stand. I used to sit on his cycle and he used to push it with one hand on the handle and the other one on the carrier.
Sulla aunty was really funny… she had a pair of big buck tooth coming out of her thin mouth. She made her living making happala (paapad) in our front yard and that was one of the many things I enjoyed watching. She and Bhavaji normally used to keep a couple of spare ladles and wooden planks, just in case one of the neighbours passed by and wanted to roll out a few happalagalu. No prizes for guessing who used to run to grab a ladle and start making weird shaped happalas. Now, Sulla aunty used to make guliges — happala dough cut into small cube sized pieces. In the process of making happalas I used to gobble up the tasty coconut oil soaked guliges. It was okay when they were making uddina happala — meaning urad dal paapad. But things got tricky while making the spicy red chilli happala. Invariably I would have a tummy upset and get blasted from my doddamma — my grandmum. Sulla aunty and bhava were given strict instructions not to encourage me. I wish I could go back to those days now.

Delhi’s Belly: Lost in the crowd

When I first came to Delhi I had a culture shock. I wasn’t exposed to what I was seeing in front of me. Now, in reality, there wasn’t really anything that should shock anyone. And I am not exaggerating either. But for someone who grew up in South India all along, Delhi’s mannerisms, the way people think, dress, behave, talk, etc. was a little over the top. I wasn’t prepared for this at all. I have partied a lot in Bangalore, but I hadn’t seen girls, women, in the brightest of make-up and worse when it doesn’t suit them. Now I don’t want to be judgemental about people in Delhi. But I was so used to seeing my mum and my aunts in such simple cotton sarees looking elegant without make up, that seeing a live piece right out of the KKKK… serials threw me in a tizzy. I hated it. That’s the women bit of it. I don’t even want to start about the men in Delhi. When you visit Delhi next, try getting on to a Blue line bus and you will know. The City is lovely.. the people are yet to match the elegance of this beautiful City.
One thing this city has taught me is to be brave and be confident. I am gonna write more about Delhi… on hot jalebi’s in Chandni Chowk, Dariba Kalan the jewellery street, Lajpat Nagar, the metro, and of course the Great Connaught Place.
Until then, tata.
By the way, I have discovered a Madrasi dukaan near my place. And I get most of the stuff i want in that place including my fav sona masoori rice.
Tata again!

You’re My Angel…

 When I was in Bangalore, I must have gone to at least a dozen concerts including Roger Waters, Bryan Adams and Elton John. Right now I am based in Delhi… and I badly wanted to attend the Aerosmith show. 😦 I love a couple of their songs and this one is my favourite. At one point, this song used to be my “suprabhatam”, loosely translated to morning prayers… I couldn’t do without listening to it everyday… Nice song, catchy lyrics.

I’m alone
Yeah, I don’t know if I can face the night
I’m in tears and the cryin’ that I do is for you
I want your love – Let’s break the walls between us
Don’t make it tough – I’ll put away my pride
Enough’s enough I’ve suffered and I’ve seen the light

CHORUS:
Baby
You’re my angel
Come and save me tonight
You’re my angel
Come and make it all right

Don’t know what I’m gonna do
About this feeling inside
Yes it’s true – Loneliness took me for a ride
Without your love – I’m nothing but a begger
Without your love – a dog without a bone
What can I do I’m sleeping in this bed alone

You’re the reason I live
You’re the reason I die
You’re the reason I give
When I break down and cry
Don’t need no reason why

Baby, Baby

You’re my angel
Come and save me tonight
you’re my angel
Come and take me allright
Come and save me tonight, Come and save me tonight, Come and save me tonight,
Come and save me tonight, Come and save me tonight 

My new haircut

It’s been a while since I stopped taking care of myself. Not the hygiene bit of it. But the personality bit of it. Stuff like doing things for myself, listening to the music I like, or pampering myself. And I am only 30 and just 2 years into marriage. Now there is simply no reason for not doing this… just lethargy and being in the middle of everything all the time. I discovered the meaning of multi-tasking in its absolute sense. My colleague Indira was behind my case for quite some time about getting my hair styled. “You will look a lot more younger,” she used to say. And I knew she was right. But I wasn’t too sure about letting go of my long tresses. I have always had long hair, at least till just above my waist, and I wasn’t sure how I would look after getting my hair chopped. I have a round face, there is nothing the hairstylist can do to change that, I thought. Yesterday, that is, Friday, which is quite a lean day at office, we decided that I would go for it. Actually she was going for a cut and I also joined her. We reached this place in Green Park and I think my nervousness was evident to all inside the salon. It was a semi-spa semi-salon kinda place, plush interiors, long mirrors (naturally) and all confident women getting their stuff done as if they never had any second thought about what they were getting done. Here I was apprehensive about even entering the place.
Anyways, this guy P.C, the stylist, came and inspected my hair. Indira and I sort of explained what we wanted for my hair. He asked us to completely trust him and he got to work. 30 minutes later I saw a different me and I liked it. I truly liked the person in the mirror. It was so me. I finally heaved a sigh of relief. Paid up and stepped out. It was a new world out there.. of course, not to mention loads of compliments that I look a lot younger.
Now that’s a boost!!!
tata