Winter Special ....Food and memories..

Its a winter season and green peas are everywhere in market and in kitchen.

Green peas pulav,Green peas usal,Matar pattice ,matar chi karanji,stuff matar paratha,matar soup and you can really get innovative here.Even simple poha upama suddenly has green appearance in abundance

Now there is an argument here you get matar throughout the season or haven't you heard about frozen mutter.

But then grown up in modest middle class family one of the values that got imbibed is to have seasonal stuff.Season stuff which you get Rs 30-40 sh/kg, off season can roar up to Rs 150 quarter kg and then buying it at that price is a sin :) 

(here there is no question of whether you afford it or not. Just your whims to have some food will not justify that price.)

So when its a season you stock it up and then deep freezer section will have different dessert boxes filled with green peas.

You take out one box for the menu on the card.

Whenever I make mattar pattice I remember mavshi who had invited me for evening snacks and served these delicious mattar paatice.Because of her this dish entered my kitchen.Now everytime i make it I make sure i remember her.Now deal is I need to make it once for her .

Piping hot home made food ...no swiggy zomato online delivery can beat that.No

Excellent way to finish left over chapatis is to fry them as Samosas and in winter season offcouse candidate for feeling is green peas.

I make this and then I don't remember another aunt of mine is next to impossible.

Long back on some yearly trip to one of the hill stations I have had this mattar soup.

Green colour , creamy texture and off-course taste of it lingers in my mouth and heart.

Hot soup in that weather something will remember forever.

Such soup I never had again anywhere and not I dared to make it myself.

It is said that every moment we spend now is actually a memory.

We are not just leaving but creating memories for tomorrow.

That moment can be as small or insignificant as peeling off green peas.

Got fresh green peas from market and while peeing it off so dearly remembered her.Aji.

She used to visit and stay with us for couple of months in a year.Whenever dad used to get green peas she would lend a hand.Slowly and carefully removing each one from that pod she would finish that task.

If there are some little one she would toss them in her mouth or give it to us.These are the sweetest one she would say.

Now after so many years when peeling off green peas becomes one of the mundane task those sweet memories slowly float and by the time am back to present moment task is already done.

Milk Buttermilk Butter Ghee and much more!

Scene 1:

Dropped son at stop for school bus and on the way back picked up milk packets from centre .

while tea was on, milk was up for boiling I was on daily task list one by one.. collect malai ,warm left over milk ,set curd , make buttermilk for day.

Took vegetables out from tray and started cutting it.

"So much work you have in the morning." exclaimed my sister in law who was watching all these morning silent movie.

Really?

Ya..we really don't do all this in USA.Just take out milk can  from freeze and make tea.

Canned milk so no need to boil.Curd doesn't set well of that milk so no question of setting curd.

No curd no buttermilk.

Skimmed milk so no malai no butter making no ghee making.

and there I am thinking >>all this may be comes naturally in many of Indian house holds..We have grown up watching mothers /grand mothers doing all these activities and as we set our own kitchen many of that we picked up unknowingly.

Scene 2:

All of them were meeting for school reunion.Separate groups at separate tables chit chatting. from Carrier to kids Politics to kitchen all subjects under the sun are touched upon.What to give in tiffin for kids, how household things are never ending 

"shee!kon karnar te tup and all" She said 

"Me karte mala ghari kadhavalelach tup avadata" one replied

"Ho na tya baherachya tupala ti taste yet nahi "  other replied

"Ani mahag pan kiti padata te" one more voice.

some on table were house wives ,some teachers, some who had own cooking business"

May be she said it at wrong table..

As a kid I remember relishing dollop of freshly churned super white soft loni (makkhan)

My mom used to give it to me "loni sakhar" and Sweetness and softness of that freshly churned loni is unbeatable.

I remember during vacation times when i used to visit my aunt who was doctor by profession used to churn butter for us for morning thalipith breakfast.

You can swear by Amul maska to spread it on bread but for thalipeeth you need to have this home made loni(white makkhan) and it really has taken me ages to make that perfect loni at home (Aai sarkhe)

Sometimes when you get too lazy and collect malai for more than 15 days and you get that sour taste and pungent odour to loni. You don't feel like having it and make tup out of it but tup tastes equally bad. :(

Sometimes you managed to come up with good loni but you keep it more time than required on flame and then ghee gets that burnt smell...another failed attempt..

then u realised even pan in which you make it matters and after several trial and error you zero down to one pan and wish it remains intact forever.

"Tup kadhavane" disate titake sope nakkich nahi.

These mundane tasks and simple conversations triggered something within me.

I am not linking the simple process with any profession.In some profession by default we get more time to look after household matter, in some profession it comes as a choice.

Sometimes we need to star dietician to tell us homemade ghee is best for weight loss.

Do we still underestimate household work or look down upon those who prefer to do it all themselves?

Having cook at home is it status symbol?

With busy lifestyle, long hours at work some tasks look tedious but we need to choose our battles wisely.With some planning and time management and sharing tasks can be done?

Is it just a time crunch or is it ready availability of food or is it laziness or following western trends?

We surely need to give it a thought.