Reinventing Indian Street Food-1

A country where the population is more than a billion, food plays a pivotal role in their lives. Across the whole country you are bound to find thousands of dishes as there are so many cultures ,tradition and cast. But one thing that brings the whole nation together is good food and that too street food. On every corner of every city, you are bound to find  a hawker stall selling some food, be it vada pav, pani purri, dosa, or momos. Indian people have a habit of spicy and tasty food and won't compromise on that. As a kid growing up in Mumbai, for some time I learnt to eat whatever I could get my hands on even though I am a fussy eater. At least try it and say if it was good or it tasted like cow's shit!

My favourite of them are pani purri, ragda pattice and medu vada. For all you morons who don't know it,  google it. 

So I decided to change the whole look of some of the street food. This post is about ragda pattice! I have been working on pani purri and others.

Reinvented Ragda pattice!!! 
Well since I am talking about ragda pattice, I will give you an insight about what it is.

It is a patty made from potatoes and spices and pan fried or deep fried, and topped with spiced lentils, onions and chutney; both spicy and sweet. The lentil varies from chickpea to white peas which are actually called ragda.

Another style of platting the classic

My variation is based on the same ideology but presented in a very different way. The dish is usually spicy, sweet and sour and has a lot of flavour. Since I don't like the idea of having sweet Indian food I omitted it. I made the potato fritter with different spices such as cumin,coriander, chili powder. Rolled the potato into a long cylindrical tube and kept it in the freezer to chill and solidify well. The chutney was made by blitzing red bell peppers with fresh red chilies, garlic, onions and pan fried in oil till the water and the rawness was gone. I had decided to give an green oil instead of the green chutney but based it on the same flavor. So took some oil, blanched coriander leaves ,garlic,onion and fresh green chili. Pureed all and strained to just get the oil! You know what, it actually tasted like green chutney but in an oil form!

I then chopped up some brunoise of onions and had some thin sev, it was time to put the act together.

I took the potato log and cut it into medallions and pan seared in butter till warm in the center  For the dish, pretty much everything was ready and it was time to plate.

A different view!!!

I placed a couple table spoon of ragda on the plate, followed by the medallions of the potato and  followed by the red chutney and green oil and sev and onions, as this was done in India couldn't find micro coriander as garnish.

Personally I don't taste my own food always but this had to be tasted and have to say was on a different level,even Baby and Kalia agreed with it!!Both of them loved it so much and baby was so amazed that something can be done like this and it made me happy she loved the dish as I wanted her to taste something very classy which she had eaten while she was growing up but in a very different way!!!

From top!!

Anyways for all you morons, just enjoy the dish with your eyes for now and deal with it that you are not gone taste it! ;)

Will update you guys with another post about the second part of Indian street food!

Caio and have a great day!!!!

Me, My pig & Our barn!!!!

After a life threatening sickness, I am back! For all you morons out there, this post is not about pigs or barns or any animals, but I do live in a city where cows & pigs, or cats & dogs do think they are Victoria secrets lingerie models because at every corner of the city you are bound to see them standing & showcasing their beauty!

But that's not the point, this post is about a person who thinks she is the best and she knows it all. Got to say she is the best but doesn't know anything at all!

Well her real name is not piggy; that's a nickname given by me to her because she was one, I guess.

I got to meet my piggy say about 5 years ago when I went to Dubai to meet my beloved sister. The amazing journey started from there and we are still going strong through thick and thin times.

The love and bond we share is so deep that she wrote a poem about me.bloody hilarious but i guess she meant it when she was writing it!!!Funny!!!
Here we go: 

He's so simple", I thought to myself,

Little did I know, he was so complex.

Naming and teasing was his business,

Watching him everyday, made me fearless.

"Rigid as wood", I thought to myself,

He could do anything, he thought of himself.

Jack and Coke, was his favorite,

Watching him everyday, made me fearless.

"He's an insomniac", I thought to myself,

Whatever he spoke, was utter nonsense.

There was something in him, that was so sinless,

Watching him everyday, made me fearless.

"He's my friend now", I thought to myself,

There's gonna be no more pain, nor regrets.

For once, I knew someone so careless,

Watching him everyday, made me fearless.

"He's really funny", I thought to myself,

But doesn't really know how to take care of his health.

Talking to him was pure madness,

Watching him everyday, made me fearless.

"He's a brother I never had", I thought to myself,

Secure and protected is what I had felt.

Every single day, we had our moments,

Watching him everyday, made me fearless.

Like how a plant needs water,

Like how a church needs a preacher,

Like how a student needs a teacher,

Like how a sister needs a brother,

I need you.

We've had our talks,

We've had our moments,

We've had our arguments,

We've had each other.

No more do I need,

Since you have taken the lead.

Even though you're brainless,

Watching you everyday, made me fearless.

I haven't seen her in 5 years but the love and care still runs through and we miss each other everyday. I recently forgot her birthday and needless to say she was mad, but after days of convincing her she understood and she forgave me. She is a sister everyone should get and treasure for their life. I hope I get to see her soon and do all the fun stuff a big brother should do with her little sister and show how life is lived sometimes besides studying!

I would love to show her how to drink jack and coke, party like a rock star and how to be an ass, and make fun of others; that's what big brothers are for, aren't they?????

With all that said, she is still my piggy and I love her for who and whatever she is!

I love you piggy!! Her real name can't be revealed due to political and government issues! ;)

Enjoy this post for now!

 My Piggy!

Message from Piggy : 

It's usually difficult for people to understand the bond I share with my brother. 'Brother', is the word I proudly say because to me, it holds a very significant meaning. It's just not a word I throw around for no reason, cause let's face, that would be weird. At the moment, my fingers are just dancing around in the air, waiting to type something. What I feel is extremely hard to put in words, strange for a person who writes and reads so much. So, let's start off with the journey that started 5 years ago.

The first time I saw him, little did I know he'd become such an important part of my life. People who know me extremely well will tell you how rare it is for me to get close to people; extremely rare. With him, it was easy as A,B,C. This post is getting dramatic, I know. But hear me out.

People often say, 'Blood is thicker than water', and to that I say, 'Rubbish, and fuck you!'

Relationships are truly based on the comfort, and trust that you share with a person. They grow with love, care, and support. They last with understanding, more love, and undying support. Based on all these things, comes the bond. The bond my brother and I share. I love him to bits, and he's honestly a gift from God. I'm the only child and it gets hard sometimes, but knowing that there's something out there who's always there to listen to me, to look out for me, to comfort me, to understand me, and to make me laugh,...is extremely comforting. 

We've had our peaks and troughs throughout these years, and they've been fun. You know why..? Because they've become wonderful memories that I'll cherish forever.

Of course I miss our 3:00 am breakfasts, grocery shopping for frosties and ice-cream at 6:00 am, drinking big jugs of the best Oreo shake you'll ever taste (MADE BY HIM) and staying up all night long talking about things we don't even remember. But all we remember is a bond that grew from all those days and nights spent together..and the bond that will never break.

Cheers to all the brothers and sisters in the world. When life puts you down, just know that you have a shoulder to cry on. Let that thought comfort you.

I love you, D. You honestly do mean the world to me. Here's a little something more..

Little did I know I'd grown to love you so,

but here's something you always need to know,

I'm an angel who'll make your world glow,

and you're my bitch, so I'll never let you go.

The last few sentences says it all and what kind of relation we share!!!!
Oink Oink Oink!!!!

From the fields of diamonds to water logged roads of Bombay

“Aa wan see you!” would be the sound of a lucky miner who just found a small glass like diamond in fields and wants you to see it. Not knowing what you are buying, it would be a big, big problem for you. I was born and raised in the small town of Kenema nestled near the big Gola forest of Sierra Leone, buying diamonds and selling them was the trade everyone wanted to do, but no one actually knew what harm and danger it  would  bring to the country and people.

As diamonds were literally readily available, the race for it got crazy! This would be later called as blood diamonds as the most outrageous war happened. In 1997, the local government headed by Teejan Kabha was overthrown by the rebels and seized control of the country. It was now bloodshed and fear everywhere.

In such a terrible event, we were left we no choice but to abandon the country I grew up and spent my childhood in. We crossed the border to Liberia and took the first flight to Mumbai via Delhi. After the 16 hours flight ordeal we reached Mumbai and my crazy sister and I to were ill for the next two weeks.

After a cray month or two, I joined a school in Mulund where my two cousin brothers studied. Little did I know that I was in for hell, and that the next couple of years would change my thoughts about India and her people.  I didn’t know what Mumbai had in store for us; it turned out to be a pretty crazy place!

As it was monsoon season, knowing nothing about the weather was not one’s mojo, as it rained like cats and dogs, the streets and roads would be filled with water, causing mayhem all over the city!

This is where my journey begins in the water logged roads of Bombay and it continued for five years.

                                                                                                          

More to come about my time in Mumbai as a kid.

A small start to greater things in life

Hey there, to whoever is reading this.

Boy, the first post(s) of new blog(s) is/are always hard to read..aren't they? Well, they're even more difficult to write. Like for now, I am struggling to fill up this empty blank space that's just gaping at me. So I think I could just give a quick, simple over view of what this blog's going to be about; EVERYTHING. Food, family, ideas, opinions, movies, technology, sports, you name it, and we've got it. Okay, we haven't really 'got it' yet, but will soon.

Give us more to talk about by leaving comments if you wish to, or else just bear with whatever we post, whenever we post.

This post was just to say hello to the new readers of this blog, and I'm hoping more readers will come around to read it when it's all up and running with awesome stuff.
And also, this little post is the start to greater posts in the future.

Stay safe.