Chaat
11 May 2009 4 Comments
in Uncategorized Tags: food, london
The sky is bluer, the days are longer and brighter, there is a spring in my step and all is well with my world. Why this sudden burst of happiness, you ask ??
I found a lovely chaat place, close to home. All of a 10 minute drive away. Not a place I would expect would sell chaat – its a paan centre !! Chaat is easily one of the things I miss most, living away from India.
Its easily the best chaat i have had in London, which is not difficult at all by any standards as all the previous ones have either been plain mediocre or really rubbish. This one is not perfect, far from it – for one there is no place to sit down and eat, but for good chaat, i am even willing to jog and eat. The good news, though, is that they are refurbishing the place with seating.
They have paani puri, dahi bhalla, sev batata puri, alu chaat and of course bhel. And when I say spicy, they do make it spicy. Not sweet like all the other places on that road. Some things do have to be overlooked though. For instance they put onion in the paani puri paani, I mean who does that ? But thats a minor irritant as far as I am concerned, as I can easily ask him to not put that. And secondly, they make sev batata puri using the paani puri puris !! Again what are they thinking ? But, its fresh, really really tasty and so I can easily overlook these.
We have already been twice in the space of a week and I can see myself going there often. K likes it too – she eats the puris or else the sev and likes the hustle-bustle around the shop. This time, we even managed to get fresh mangoes as the season seems to be have begun in full earnest.
Thank you
15 Aug 2008 1 Comment
in Uncategorized Tags: children, food
Dear K,
Thank you so much for eating well yesterday. I cannot believe I am thanking you for this, but read along, indulge me and then you will know why it is such a big deal.
You were a good eater for a long time. Non-fussy, all you would need was NDTV or those senseless songs playing from Music India, or some foolish prancing and dancing about by anyone willing to make a fool of themselves and you would eat. Always willing to try and experiment new things. You had not yet learnt the art of spitting food out !!
The came the really annoying habit of you spitting food out that you did not like. Or when you had had enough. At least you were eating solids though. The routine and the sense of familiarity that prevailed soon gave way to a period of constipation, which I have even written about. Not knowing how the wonderful NHS operates, thatha and paati kept pleading with us to take you to a doctor. They presribed a bulking agent, as they refer to it, which I think had something to do with your loss of appetite. Maybe the two are not related at all, but thats my theory and am sticking to it. Soon after, you began to eat less and less though the constipated got a tad better and we decided to stop that medicine.
Things did not get better though and all you would eat for lunch and breakfast included was around 3-4 tiny baby-sized pieces of apple/pear/banana or 2-3 mouthfuls of toast. Certainly not enough. Every evening when I walk in through the door, paati and thatha update me on how you were during the day, what you ate, how much you slept, about your stroll, how much time you spent on the terrace etc. Over the last few weeks (actually months – it must be 3 by now), they stopped mentioning about food because it was the same story most days – hardly ate. They used to feel and still do feel terribly guilty and blame themselves for your not-eating and no amount of telling them otherwise would make them change their mind. Grandparents I tell ya, breed of their own.
R and I were not too worred (he far less than me) because you were alert, active, happy, cheerful, playful and did not exhibit any crankiness or such like. So we let you be. We certainly dont believe in force feeding, so that was not an option. Dinner was better than lunch though and at least you had a few spoonfuls. Grand-mama suggested vitamin drops to increase your appetite and so we started that too. It made a slight difference – things improved slightly but not too much. Most days your solid food intake would be limited to papad, which you would happily gulp down at any time.
So yesterday when I got home, I saw paati more cheerful than normal, with a slight spring to her step even. And before i could even put my bag down, she was eagerly telling me how you ate okra, ghee and rice, salad, and yoghurt for lunch. (of course after being bribed by half a papad to sit on your high chair). She was mighty pleased, as if you had polished off an entire feast. Dinner was good too – i was satisfied too. Radish from the sambar, potato, okra again, some white rice, and then yoghurt rice straight from my plate. Oh and the half ghee roast which you made paati make for you. Not bad eh.. Baby steps, I keep telling myself, baby steps before you to get back to your normal appetite.
love
Mamma
