Food, Rains & Lucknow!!!

LET IT RAIN OVER ME!!! naahhh, not literally...

Iam enjoying the monsoon like everybody else! Waking up to that sweet smell of damp earth, wishing to sit on a window sill and enjoying a cup of hot ginger tea (only on days, when I am not running for college or sitting in class dreaming about this). So rains are a huge welcome, well most of the times they are!

My recent trip to Lucknow for Pankaj Aunty’s Culinary Academy launch gave me a taste of Lucknow and the super awesome food there!  Tunde kababs are mouth-watering though I know a friend who is still upset since I didn’t bring back any, sorry Rohan, next time!!

My mornings usually in Lucknow started with ginger tea which dadi made along with biscuits, which I dip in tea & eat (childish, hahaha but yeah I like it) but after that all I wanted to eat was some more ‘Lucknow ka khaana’…. So for our treat, we went to PEELI KOTHI at Hazrat Ganj, where the food was good though I expected a little more spices. I had mutton, chicken & paneer dishes like always but to add to that list I also had ZAMINDARI ALOO… wow!! Now that’s lucknowy!!

Coming back to the monsoons (I always deviate from the topic)! Power cuts are a huge headache, so if you want to have that candle light dinner due to a power failure well here are some of the things you can do:-

v  Do it fresh, go for pickled cucumbers – Lime, sugar, salt and a dash of vinegar, on juliennes of cucumber!!

v  Go for salads, fruit salads are the best, they keep you healthy wealthy n yeah they are my favourite!!

v  Crackers can be eaten with peanut butter, cheese or hummus.  Cookies, muffins and chips help when you need a little comfort food.

v  If you are the proper meal types

DO IT THE BONG STYLE – Daal, Chawal, Crispy French fries (aloo bhaja) or Papad or if you are too finicky like my sis, more options an omelette.

I’ll share my wonderful OMELETTE RECIPE. Works wonderful during power cuts.

Ingredients

§  Egg – 1

§  Onion – 1 (small)

§  Oregano – 1 teaspoon

§  Chili flakes – your threshold

§  White pepper – a pinch

§  Black pepper – a pinch

§  Butter – 1tablespoon

§  Milk – 1 tablespoon

§  Salt – to taste

Steps

§  Finely chop the onions and keep them aside

§  Mix the egg really well with white pepper, black pepper, milk and salt

§  Now heat a pan, melt butter. Sauté the onions with oregano, chilli & little bit of salt (remember you have added salt to the egg too)

§  Pour the egg batter and cover the egg

§  Now after 35 – 40 seconds remove the cover & flip the omelette, another 45 seconds, garnish with coriander

§  Finally serve hot!

And this is how it looks!!

v  Go out people, you don’t want to sweat it at home!! Please put people like me in business, we cook for you, flood the restaurants!

Over all monsoons are fun, apart from the humidity, stinky clothes and a lot of other things! Good things about monsoon season are the car & bike rides, pakodas, monsoon parties (yaayyy!!), tikas, kebabs, and yea ginger tea!! Oh! Most importantly avoid street food a little (going through the pain), avoid oily food, avoid over eating!

ADVICE FROM THE WISE: - All seasons are beautiful; it’s just how we look at it. There is food for every season, every day, every reason, n every mood!! Try simple food & don’t go for anything fancy that may lead to some stomach issues….!

So let me know how your monsoons are going this year!!

Happy Rains!! J