Blog-a-prompt 5 – Spicy

Whew!!! Last minute entry for today’s prompt.
 
There really is nothing as spicy as street food. Whether it’s the vada pao, misal or bhajiyas from my current hometown – Pune or it’s Lucknow’s chaat, sprout bhel, khasta, chana jor garam or baati chokha – it just has to be hot hot hot.
 
Take a look… 
 
Chillies occupy pride of place amidst the chana and the masala is to die for.

Spicy Tea.. anyone?

Some Magi to go along with that tea.. or will it be a bread pakora
or boiled eggs or aaloo vadas?



Pack some baati chokha off the streets. Baatis (Litti in Bihar) are crisp
dough balls with a filling of spicy ‘sattu’ that go perfectly with the chokha
which is a baigan-aaloo bharta with a liberal sprinkling of green chillies
that bring on the hicupps and make your nose run.



… and finally the khasta teams up perfectly with potato sabzi which also
has a liberal sprinkling of green chillies.

Oh and the jalebis are here for two reasons.. One, I figured you might want some
meetha after all that spice and two, khasta-jalebi is a combination that has always
been a combination here in Lucknow. There’s never one without the other.

 

Jugadu wheels

That’s what you do when you don’t have snow wheels… tie chains
around regular wheels so they don’t slip on snowy slopes.
Pic credit: The Sister.

 
Thursday Challenge
: WHEELS (Bicycle, Car, Wagon, Ferris, Steering,…)

Blog-a-prompt – Day 3 – Disaster

Jallianwala Bagh

Jallianwla Bagh, Picture credit: The sister

The narrow entrance to the Jallianwala Bagh where the massacre happened. Each time I try to imagine the scene that day many many decades away I get goosebumps – 1000 dead and 1500 injured in a space of 6 minutes, just 6 minutes.

Blog-Prompt Day 3 – Monday

Me: Hey there Good Morning Monday.

Monday (Stumbling out of deep slumber): What? What? Is it my turn already?

Me: Hey No, relax, it’s just Wednesday.

Monday (Falling back on his bed and sounding very annoyed): What are you doing then, waking me up? Can’t a person have some peace even on off days?

Me: Oops sorry there. It’s just that I had to turn in a piece on you and I thought I’d get an interview. All I found online were loads of caricatures saying nasty things about you. I thought I’d get your perspective on this whole Monday Blues, Manic Monday thing.

Monday: You think I’m an idiot? I’m no celeb and I know it? I know your journo type too. You’ll pretend to be all nice and fair and I-want-your-side-of-the-story, all Oprahish. Then you’ll go out and turn into a rabid reporter and write a sarcy, nasty piece. You know how people get a starlet to deny an affair and then put the ‘just friends’ in quotes like this. So no Thank You. I’m good.

Me: You’ve got it all wrong. Trust me. I’m a friend. For the record I’m not a Monday hater. Never have been. Journalists work in shifts. So Mondays aren’t Mondays at all, if you get what I mean. I’m the most neutral person you’re ever likely to get to tell your story.

Monday (Disappearing back under the sheets): Story? I have no story to tell. Nighty night.

Me: Come on Monday. Don’t get all cynical.

Monday (Emerging from the covers): Oh alright since I’m awake anyway, fire away.

Me: Thanks thanks Mon.. may I call you Mon? So Mon you seem to be the most universally hated day of the week. How do you feel?

Mon (Smirking): YOU ARE ORIGINAL! Really the journo type – the type that thrusts a mike in the face of a
man stuck in a manhole and asks him, “So Sir how do you feel?” HOW DO I FEEL???? For Godsake how would YOU feel? How would ANYONE feel? Being maligned for no reason at all. Had it not been for me would anything get done anywhere in the world? Is it my fault that people refuse to give up their bingeing and partying even after two whole days and nights and are then hung over all of me? Is it my fault that the funnest days come right before me? How would you feel when Saturday and Sunday strut about right
behind you with their “We’re the most popular days” faces? And you know the irony? No one would even look at them had it not been for me. So much for their lording it over the rest of us! But do I tell them that? No Sir, I do not. Like I said, I’m a peaceful guy. I do my day’s worth and then snuggle up and sleep.

Me: So you think people have been unfair to you?

Mon: Of course they’ve been unfair. But then life, my friend is unfair. Being in a place like mine, turns a guy philosophical. God made us all the same. It’s man who turned us into Fun Fridays and Monster Mondays. Did I tell you to work like Zombies without stopping to enjoy yourself? Is it my fault you get yourselves caught in jobs you hate?

Me: So what advice would you like to give our readers?

Mon: I’m not one for advising anyone. All I’ll say is STOP THE HATE. Give yourself a break if you want to, even if it’s a Monday. Then get back to work. How about reserving one happy thing for a Monday? Make it a Memorable Monday or a Merry Monday.. will you? Love your job and you’ll find you love me too.

And now may I just go back to bed?
******************

That, dear readers, was ‘Monday’ for you. I’m off for a cup of tea to make my Monday special. You take a break too. Have a good week.

Blog-Prompt Day 2 – Thirst

I blogged about Lucknow’s Bara Mangal last year . One year later.. it’s same place same time and the blog prompt for the day is Thirst. That’s just so appropriate.

For the record the festival is in honour of Lord Hanuman and was started off my a muslim ruler of Awadh, Nawab Shuja Ud Daulah. It’s one of my favourite ‘Lucknow’ stories and of course a favourite Lucknow festival too. The roads are dotted with cheery pandals, some huge ones and some just as large as a table holding a pot of water and glasses. Bhajans blare out at crossings and the roads wear a festive look. Water and sherbet are the most popular fare on offer, a blessing in the Lucknow heat. That’s not all though. Some stalls have the yummiest ever aaoloo, puri, chhole, halwa and boondi. Our surly but rather enterprising man Friday also claimed to have treated himself to some free kadhi-chawal. The menu’s getting more eclectic by the year. The bottomline is that no one in Lucknow goes thirsty or hungry on Bara Mangal.

That’s the huge Sahara India stall

Could do without the littering!

The heat this year (We were at 43.9 degrees yesterday) seemed to have dampened the fervour a bit. There were fewer stalls and the mela seemed a bit thanda. That’s not to say I didn’t manage my bit of puri aaloo and it was as delicious as it is every year, a flavour I just cannot replicate in my kitchen much as I try.