Wanderberry Tales

My sister was a picky eater. I have no choice but say 'was' because this time around when she came to Dubai I saw the 'pickiness' ( not too sure there is even a word as such) changing. It was not just her being picky but she hardly ate. Her favorite was chapati with chicken gravy ( she never touched the chicken in it though) So my Dad thought there is one easy girl to manage not much expenses on her food. This was until she grew up and then all she wanted to eat was non-veg food:) The hungriest time of the day was the gap between rushing from school at 4.30 pm ( read after throwing the shoes one under the cot and another under table, socks on the dining table and school bag on the sofa) and the play time which started at 5. We always rejected the option of left over morning puttu ( steamed rice cakes) for evening snack time. But our mother had her way. She would sprinkle a generous amount of sugar, mash in the bananas and feed us. That did taste out of the world - a d...

Dubai can sometimes be a lonely place. Things took a huge turn a few weeks ago when the Malayalees of the firm which Shibin works for announced an Onam - Eid get together. That was something to look forward for. I got all the more excited when I was asked to join for Thiruvathira. Old traits seldom die:) I love dancing and this opportunity was just so perfect for me. What started off as a mundane Thiruvathira for the ladies and oppana for the kids geared up all the ladies who had let go off all the inhibitions and decided that they wanted to do more. As luck would have it Jimki Kammal Dance Challenge was going places and we decided to do our part as well. It was a simple suggestion by one of the ladies and others were more than eager to join in. The practice that started off in a single song, finally ended in a fusion of three. Despite stage fear, chances of forgetting steps and also the melodrama of having to dance in a saree - we did it! It may not have been the most perfect dance b...

Onam is here again and it is inevitable that my blog gets adorned with atleast one recipe for the season. I am , as my ex-boss called me NRK - Non Resident Malayalee!! I have spent most of my life in Karnataka and wee bit in Dubai now. I used to look forward to Onam falling on weekends. Only then would I be able to catch all the new movies on Asianet and Surya TV. Vegetarian food was not something I was fond of so sadya was not something that I looked forward to. Occasionally, my sister and I, plucked flowers from my mom's garden and made a small pookalam in our porch. Things changed when I moved to college. With more malayalees, Kerala Kasavu Saree on Onam became a mandate, pookalam a necessity and sadya the inevitable. I slowly began appreciating the vegetarian delicacies on the leaf and eventually falling in love with them. It took a couple of more years to familiarize with the sadya dishes and the last three onam sadyas have been eventful! Looking forward to another on...

We first ordered Kozhi Nirachathu at a popular restaurant in the UAE. We ended up with a butterflied chicken in a spicy masala along with a side of egg roast which absolutely did not complement each other that too at an exorbitant price! After almost a year we got to taste this dish again at another restaurant. This time the egg roast stuffed inside the chicken and the chicken was deep fried - it tasted heavenly.  I was skeptical of getting a whole chicken deep fried until I read up a few recipes and saw a couple of videos. Yes, you can actually cook a whole chicken on stove top without deep frying it! It is not all that time consuming either. Kozhi Nirachathu or stuffed chicken with gravy is a dish from Kerala that involves cooking a whole chicken with gravy and egg roast stuffed in the cavity.  Egg roast is made separately and stuffed into the marinated whole chicken before cooking the chicken in the gravy. When you want a whole chicken on table and you do not ha...

India is in the middle of a beef debate and this post is in no way a protest against the ban. I just happened to make beef curry exactly on the day beef ban was declared in India. Yet, if the government of my country decides to ban beef I am liable to obey it, if it were only for the right reasons! Doesn't my country have so many other pressing issues that need attention? Hinduism reveres cows, but doesn't Hinduism and every other religion hold human beings in high value? Aren't Goddess' also worshiped? Then why on earth aren't women in our society held in high regard? Sexual harassment cases are on an unprecedented high and the culprits walk free or are meted with special treatment in jail. But it is ok to take law in hands when someone decides to transport cow? Even if it was not for slaughter? Don't we women deserve a bit more respect in the society and severe actions taken against those who wrong us? Despite all this, fear of punishment will hold us bac...