A Nourished Friendship and some Chirer Pulao (Beaten Rice Savory Snack)

Around my 21st Birthday few awesome things happened to positively change the outlook of my life:

1. I joined a boring office
2. Quit it.

I had high aspirations for myself. But somehow winded up in a really boring office doing even more lackluster job. Of course that is not awesome.

Well the awesome part is: that this small office was where I met this girl let me call her H, and we stuck together ever since. Now the office was so boring and job so worthless, that we conspired every day at work about ways to get out of that rut.

In came college. We decided to get our masters together.

College was fun. New Delhi was not as notorious back then, and to us it felt like living a leash free life with a promise of better tomorrow. Or maybe I’m just recalling it through a young adult’s eye. If that’s true, then I hope I never wake up to reality.


H is the reason I enjoyed college; On dull days her friendly face would light it up, on free days we’d be scurrying from movie to movie catching all the Friday first releases and later share all the scandals and gossip and whispers, she introduced me into the world of the South Indian delicacies and was someone who was always happy to invite me to any ‘family only ’celebrations when no one else would.

H is spiciness of South, warmth of a sister, delicate’ but never proud’ nose, whispered gossips and shared life logic all along.

Like soul sisters we too had our high and low moments, nonetheless every time our lives fell back into same old rhythm of yesterday.

Last November, H reached a *milestone* of motherhood.  I recently went to meet the little one, and my heart was alight with love for the baby princess. Secretly I dreamt of our two little girls to be friends and carry the story forward.This thought made me want to celebrate the day in the simplest of manner and get her stuff she would really like and use. Uh – I know post motherhood all she’s been lamenting about is weight, but there’s nothing in the world that I can do to make her the Sandra Bullock of Miss Congeniality. Can I?

So here’s what I can do. Make a frugal meal of the past, something which talks to her about that 'small office' in wordless ways  and is of course is in tune with her 'weighty' issues of today . And even though I know this is not a magic wand to get her into skinny jeans right away, this will certainly not ruin her chances.

{And I’ll not lie -: I’m pretty sure I’d like to be that Sandra Bullock too if given a choice again. }

Chirer Pulao  (Beaten Rice Savory Snack)

Ingredients for Chirer Pulao

:

2 cups Beaten Rice/Poha (washed and drained)
1 Onion sliced fine
1 Potato
Green Peas (optional)
1/2 cup  Peanuts (roasted or fried)

Salt to taste
1/2 tsp Sugar
2 tsp Lemon juice


Spices for tempering
1/2 tsp Mustard seeds
1 slit green Chilly
1 sprig curry leaves
1 tsp Bengal gram
1/2 tsp Turmeric powder
2 tbsp Vegetable oil

Cooking procedure:

Heat the vegetable oil in a pan and temper with the Mustard seeds, once they start to splutter add  all the other spices for tempering and the onions. Fry until it turns pale brown.

Then add the peas, potato,salt and sugar. Cook covered till the potatoes are soft. Now add the drained and dry Poha to the Spice mix. Cook for two minutes while it blends well with all other ingredients.Turn off the flame and add the lemon juice.Top it with the peanuts and its ready to serve.

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