Twenty- five Seven

Monday Ramblings

June 4, 2012

A Living Calendar

Bhaji Gully like many Indian Markets is a live calendar. Apart from the different vegetable and fruit that signal different seasons, I often find various objects that herald the celebration different Hindu festivals. For instance at around Ganpati time, the market is flooded with red hibiscus and Balsam flowers, Banana leaves and various other objects used in the worship of Ganpati. Similarly, you will find pooja specific objects all through the year.

The Feast of the Banyan Tree

English: A Big Banyan Tree at Bangalore മലയാളം: ബാംഗ്ലൂരിലുള്ള വലിയ ആൽമരം(ദൊണ്ഡ ആൽമര) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

When I went to the market the other day, I saw a basket filled with strange looking things. On close observation, I found that they were packets of tiny bundles of string ,supari and green bangles and some halad kunku, neatly wrapped up and ready to go for women who wanted to observe the fast of “Vata Poornima” which is being celebrated today. This “fast” or ritual observed by several women in my State, ensures the long life of one’s husband. My father who thinks all rituals are illogical, thinks that this festival, as many others which are observed for the longevity of one’s husband, or to get the same husband in the next life or to even get a husband in this life, is a mere Insurance policy. But obviously not many people think like my father because by the end of today, all the Banyan trees in the neighbourhood will have strings tied around them – one of the requirements for this fast.

The Banyan tree which is a long living tree is central to the story of Savitri and Satyavan a story of ultimate wifely devotion. Savitri who was born a princess married a poor woodcutter merely because she was such a virtuous, dazzling intelligent maiden that there was no prince worthy of her hand in marriage. So she chose this poor woodcutter who was a handsome devoted son to his blind impoverished father who actually was a King who had lost his kingdom hence had to live the life of a poor forester. Savitri’s father was not too happy with his daughter’s choice because apart from being poor, Satyavan had the added curse of being doomed to die very soon. But since Savitri had no option but to marry the only man willing to marry her, the king acquiesced and Savitri and Satyavan lived happily ever after. Ever after wasn’t really very long because soon it was time for the Curse of Satyavan to take effect and one day while out in the forest, Satyavan began to feel his life ebb away. Sitting down under a Banyan tree, Savitri cradled her husband’s head in her lap and began praying for a miracle. Alas, instead of a miracle, Lord Yama the God of death stood before her and dragged Satyavan away. Despite her pleadings to spare her husband, Yama marched on ahead and Savitri doggedly followed him. Yama eventually did get impressed by Savitri’s persistence and told her that he would reward her with two boons ( except for the life of her husband!). Savitri asked for two boons – one for the restoration of her father-in-law’s kingdom and the other for a hundred sons. Yama, at once realised the trap he was caught in for how could a virtuous wife have a hundred sons without a husband? Savitri not only got back her husband, she got back her crown and she also got her hundred sons and lived happily ever after.

Since then, Savitri has been extolled as the epitome of Hindu wife-hood and all Hindu girls are told to emulate her example. Now where does the Banyan tree figure in all this? The Banyan tree was witness to Satyavan’s death as well as Savitri’s argument with Lord Yama. And the ball of string? That is supposed to signify the ties that bind a couple in this life and the next for eternity. So on this day, married women keep a fast, pray to the Banyan tree and tie a string around it in the hope that it will protect their husbands from harm and that they can enjoy a long married life of togetherness and bliss.

The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee

Like many mere mortals I am fascinated by Kings & Queens, so I watched with rapt attention the Pageant on the Thames last night. While the BBC went on and on about the horrid English weather, the Queen and her entourage seemed to enjoy the ships passing by. Towards the end though I felt the Queen’s enthusiasm flag a bit and I’m sure she was glad to hear “God Save the Queen” after three long hours and more of standing up, waving and smiling at an enthusiastic crowd. While the Pageant did seem a bit rag tag with a motley assortment of boats making their way slowly down the river, rather than an impressive parade of Naval ships sailing majestically past Queen Elizabeth, it was, indicative of our times – INCLUSIVE. Thus we had all kinds of people saluting the Queen in this flotilla – some athletes, some cadets, some gondoliers, some servicemen, and many revellers.

Looking at her stoic calm and acceptance of what life had to hand her, I couldn’t help but think that it is admirable that she still retains her sanity after being subjected to the antics of her family. It couldn’t have been easy for her to watch her children’s marriages crumble one after the other, the ignominy of standing out on the street watching the funeral procession of a daughter-in-law whose lifestyle and beliefs were so vastly different from her own only in deference to the wishes of her people, and finally, after all her dutiful behaviour being told that she was a rotten mother.
In a pickle

June 3, 2012

Ready to go

Pickled green mangoes

Making pickle is for grannies – at least that is what I used to think. In fact I actually used to pooh pooh the idea that pickles should be made only by women who were not menstruating. What connection was there between a woman’s hormones and pickles? Obviously it seems that there was some and more.

2 kg of Ladva mango

Yesterday for the first time ever, I actually made a mango pickle. I have made pickles in the past but they were mainly of prawn and mutton. I have also made a mango chutney and a mango jam but never really a mango pickle. My father always used to say that a pickle on the table was the sign of a lousy/lazy cook. Pickle and rice or pickle and chapati was the easiest meal to dish out on the table and anything drowned in oil and spice is bound to taste good. So my mother assiduously kept the pickle jar as far as she could from our dining table, bringing it out only when absolutely required – like on a wet monsoon afternoon when we sipped hot tea on the verandah, with piping hot sheera whose sweet edge was balanced with a spot of lemon pickle ; or when the mild mannered curd rice was jazzed up with a fiery hot mango pickle. I actually used to love sucking on the thick mango skin eking out the last bit of tangy spice.

Chopped and ready

Everytime I visited the market I would see the mango seller chopping off huge green mango ( of the LADVA variety) with a mean looking chopper into pickle sized pieces. While cutting a kilo or more, his wife would attend to a phone call from a customer asking for the mango pieces to be kept ready for her cook/cook’s assistant to pick up on his way back from the market. I used to be fascinated by these ladies who pickled and always told myself that one day I too would buy some mango.

Getting down to pickling

A mean mango pickle

Unfortunately, I never really did anything about this till yesterday when I actually bought myself 2 kg of the firmest green Ladvo Mango. I came home and dipped it in water to remove all the dirt from the market. I then spread it out to dry on a cloth . And while the rest of the dinner was cooking, I measured out the red chilli powder, turmeric, asafoetida, fenugreek seeds, garlic, dried red chilli and salt. When all the water had drained off from the mango piece, I added the hulled mustard seed, red chilli powder,powdered fenugreek seed and salt to the cut mango. I heated up all the oil to boiling point and let it cool. About half a cup of oil was heated separately to which I added mustard seed that had to crackle before I added the asoefetida, turmeric, garlic and red chilli. Once this was cooled I added it to the rest of the oil and then poured the whole lot over the mango pieces.

All bottled up

I watched with glee as the mango drowned in the oil and stirred it up so that all the pieces were evenly coated. Then I packed it off in glass jars, to take pride of place on my kitchen shelf. Finally, I too had joined the pickle club and will mark the end of summer with a jar of spicy hot mango pickle.

This pickle will need to sit on your shelf for at least 10-15 days before the spices seep in and soften up the firm mango pulp. That’s when it is ready to be eaten – when the first rains come in – to remind you of yet another summer gone by.
Wishing Summer Goodbye

June 2, 2012

Wild Indian berries

It’s time to wish summer goodbye

When it gets so hot that your eyes find it difficult to stay open,
When the sun gets so bright that all you see is a blinding whiteness,
When the drops of sweat come down so fast that it’s like standing under a shower,
When the breeze is so still that even a hair doesn’t move
When the blue in the sky gets mixed up with grey
That’s when you know it’s time to say goodbye
To those hot days of summer.

Ripe jackfruit

Alas, the market so full of summer fruit like ripe jackfruit that inundates the street with its strong overpowering smell , fat black jamuns that have flooded the market at an astronomical rate and wild Indian berries of the Shabari fame (the poor peasant woman who tasted each and every berry before offering it to Lord Rama who was in the neighbourhood) and peanuts and toddy palm hearts filled with a sweet cooling squishiness will soon give way to lychees, chickoos and cherries and fruit from the North.

Peaches, plums and cherries

The Portabellos are here!

While the rest of the world is saying hello to summer, we in Mumbai are bidding it goodbye. And with summer’s end come the cherries and plums and apricots . Portobello Mushrooms – fresh fat and succulent at the food stalls gladdened my heart Though a lady shook her head. ” It must be bad” she said shaking her head when I swooped on them in glee!

I will be entertaining our friends tonight and will be making my own version of a Mushroom risotto. I will serve with grilled yellow and red peppers. I’ll start with a cream of spinach soup with garlic bread . I’ll serve my favourites spaghetti al’olio, roast chicken and fried potato salad with a glass of chilled white wine. And to round it off I’ll have diced mango and ice cream – the perfect way to bid summer goodby