Angat-Pangat

Day 18 - Red & Blue

noreply@blogger.com (Angat-Pangat) — Sat, 19 Feb 2011 15:41:00 +0000

Day 17 - A tower and a tree

noreply@blogger.com (Angat-Pangat) — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 10:49:00 +0000

Day 16 - Garden Hose

noreply@blogger.com (Angat-Pangat) — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 10:48:00 +0000

Day 15 - Open Air theatre

noreply@blogger.com (Angat-Pangat) — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 15:42:00 +0000

Day 14 - Books

noreply@blogger.com (Angat-Pangat) — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 15:50:00 +0000

Day 13 - Old photographs

noreply@blogger.com (Angat-Pangat) — Sun, 13 Feb 2011 11:06:00 +0000

Day 12 - Flowers

noreply@blogger.com (Angat-Pangat) — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 14:50:00 +0000

I will be the gladdest thing
Under the sun!
I will touch a hundred flowers
And not pick one.

~Edna St. Vincent Millay, "Afternoon on a Hill"

Day 11 - An Evening

noreply@blogger.com (Angat-Pangat) — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 11:48:00 +0000

Day 10 - Railway Gatekeeper's Office

noreply@blogger.com (Angat-Pangat) — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 17:36:00 +0000

Day 9 - An Armchair

noreply@blogger.com (Angat-Pangat) — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 15:33:00 +0000

Day 8- Dirt Road

noreply@blogger.com (Angat-Pangat) — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 13:48:00 +0000

The road more travelled

Day 7 - Things on my bedside table

noreply@blogger.com (Angat-Pangat) — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 13:05:00 +0000

Day 6 – Washing Line

noreply@blogger.com (Angat-Pangat) — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 08:17:00 +0000

Summer is here already.

Day 5 – Guavas with Coriander flavoured Salt

noreply@blogger.com (Angat-Pangat) — Sat, 05 Feb 2011 06:44:00 +0000

These days around noon a vendor comes by selling “Taje Meethe Amrud” (fresh, sweet guavas). I bought half a kg today. Guava is known as poor man’s apple. But in some cities like Pune it costs more than apple. I love guavas. I buy them every now and then. Along with the guavas vendor gives some salt. It is not any ordinary salt but very very tasty flavoured salt. They flavour it with fresh green coriander and sometimes with green chillies. It tastes really amazing.

If you are interested in knowing more about flavoured salts read this excerpt from Jamie Oliver’s book "Jamie's Kitchen".

“ ...... A flavoured salt is one of the simplest and most basic ways of finishing a dish - it's so easy and tasty, yet hardly anyone does it. When I was growing up, celery salt seemed very uninspiring, but actually sprinkled over a tomato salad or used to season a beef stew it was gorgeous. Flavoured salts can actually give some really fragrant and shocking results to your palate. Things like Jasmine tea salt have traditionally been used in Japanese and Chinese cooking for flavouring things like tempura. Even a simple portion of chips/French fries can be taken in a different direction by sprinkling them with flavoured salt - using, for example, Mexican or English herbs to flavour.

There's nothing better than trying things out for yourself, but if you start off with a good mineral salt which is not too strong, and fresh ingredients, you'll get amazing results. Garlic and citrus, and soft herbs like coriander, mint and basil, will gradually lose the real flavour qualities you are after, i.e. the aroma and freshness, so they are best made to order- but they only take a few seconds, so that's cool. I prefer to make them as I need them, or a day in advance, so that they'll taste amazing, but if you want to make them ahead of time they'll happily sit on the shelf for months in an airtight container, though they won't be quite as vibrant.

Get your chosen flavours together and bash them up in a pestle and mortar until you have a powder or pulp. If you are using ginger, lemongrass or fresh chillies, these need to be sliced and warmed in the oven before pounding to dry them out, otherwise they will make the salt wet.

Add 3 times their weight in salt, pound together and then either leave the mixture coarse or pass it through a sieve. You can also use a food processor.
The moisture in your flavouring will probably cause your salt to dry into a block after a day or two which is fine, because you can just bash it up when you need it. Alternatively, once the salt has been flavoured you can lay it out on a tray and put in the oven at its lowest temperature overnight. Doing this means that the salt will stay granular.....”

Day 4 - A Drumstick Tree

noreply@blogger.com (Angat-Pangat) — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 05:08:00 +0000

Morning was amazingly foggy today. I clicked this drumstick tree in the backyard of my house. We get many visitors on this tree. Its flowers are full of nectar. Soon it will be laden with Drumsticks. It is an exceptionally nutritious vegetable tree with a variety of potential uses. You can read more about it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moringa_oleifera
Today the month of Magh began. It is eleventh month of the Hindu calendar. There is a romantic connotation to the month of Magh. One finds its reference in many Marathi songs. Rutu Vasant begins from Magh Panchami. It is a month of colours, flowers and life and love.

Day 3 –Pyazkali

noreply@blogger.com (Angat-Pangat) — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 04:30:00 +0000

Pyazkali (Spring onions with flower buds) is a rare and very seasonal vegetable. Luckily, we get many such vegetables here. I have this habit of buying every new vegetable that comes by. When I saw these on my vendors cart I instantly fell in love with them. These beauties look so fresh and tender. I bought them without a clue about how to cook. But I have my sources. I asked a neighbour who happens to be a Bengali lady about how to cook them as she was buying the whole bunch. She said I cook it with mach (fish). So no use for me. Then I turned to Google. But this vegetable is indeed a rare one. Usually when you search for some recipe you get thousands but this time I could find its references in only one or two websites.
Finally I cooked them with potatoes without adding any spice, safest way I guess. It turned out to be good. I am happy.

Day 2 - स्कूल चलें हम

noreply@blogger.com (Angat-Pangat) — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 04:13:00 +0000

A Snap A Day Challenge

noreply@blogger.com (Angat-Pangat) — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 03:54:00 +0000

"February is merely as long as is needed to pass the time until March."

- Dr. J. R. Stockton

This February I challenge myself to take and post a snap everyday for the whole month. My plan is to capture moments of my daily life and celebrate every day. I choose this month of February as it is the shortest of them all.

Day 1 - Sunny Side Up

Today my day started with Sunny Side Up!

I love eggs half-fried or as Americans say, sunny side up.

I try to see sunny side of things and persons and days!

I am still on the sunny side of thirty.

'Typickle' Kerali Pickle

noreply@blogger.com (Angat-Pangat) — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 05:31:00 +0000

I first tasted this in Bangalore. Smitha used to bring this every time she visited our hostel. After leaving the hostel I could never get hold of this. And suddenly one day I saw it in a supermarket and brought a packet home. It is called Vaadu Manga. A divine pickle. Everybody at home liked the taste. So this year I tried to make some. And yes, I think I am successful.

I made it in April, when mangoes were still tender. We call them Baal-Kairee in Marathi. I googled for the recipe. I made permutation and combination of all those recipes and came up with a recipe that suited me.

It is pretty simple. Wash tender mangoes. Wipe them dry. Put them in a glass jar along with some salt. After a week or so you will see they are swimming happily in the salt solution. Mangoes will shrink. Then take our some of the liquid and add powdered mustard, red chilly powder, asafoetida and fenugreek seeds powder. Let the pickle mature for 2-3 months. And then it is ready to use.

Three of my good friends come from Kerala. Smitha, Suman and Sree Vidya. Smitha taught me patience, faith and power of worship. Suman was my source of inspiration when I was going through a very difficult phase of my life. We rarely held long conversations but we shared a lot. And Sree Vidya, with whom I shared not only my room but all my happy memories and my anxieties as well. Her friendship is the most cherished gift of those hostel years. I dedicate this post to them. And to our Hot & Sour friendship.

Happy Friendship Day !

Is it just me or . . . . ?

noreply@blogger.com (Angat-Pangat) — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 12:46:00 +0000

Last week I bought these soup bowls and spoons. They have beautiful designs on them. I just loved them. They were sitting there waiting to be used. Yesterday it was raining. All three of us were down with cough and cold. So I decided to make some comforting soup. I thought I will serve it in my new soup set. But then how could I? They were all decked with n number of stickers. And taking out those labels which are stuck to them takes lots of effort.
So that is my question to you. Do you all find it tough to take out those labels? Or you have a trick? I usually soak them in water overnight and then paper comes out easily but that sticky thing. Oh it’s really difficult to clean that. I have scratched so many utensils while doing so.

Labels - yes they are hard to remove. Be them on a thing or a person. And if we try to remove them, some scratches stay behind forever!

MH 12 to UP 78: A Journey

noreply@blogger.com (Angat-Pangat) — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 05:19:00 +0000

It takes 24 long hours to cover the distance. And at least 24 days thereafter to recover. Leaving Pune behind is always painful. Pune was just welcoming the monsoon when we were leaving. It made parting more difficult.

This time as I was traveling, I took a few snaps. I am sharing those with you here.

Starting with Pune station

Near Uruli-Kanchan

Clouds in the sky

Fields
Clouds again

Beautiful Maharashtra

I love watching my own train from window

Its green everywhere

A Gate-keeper

Sunset

Midnight: Manmad Junction

Khandava

Early morning in Bhopal

Madhya Pradesh

Vidisha

A river

Garam Chai

A fort

Uttar Pradesh

Up side down

Finally, Kanpur station

आषाढाचा पहिला दिवस

noreply@blogger.com (Angat-Pangat) — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 05:44:00 +0000

आज आषाढ सुरू झाला. आज पहाटे आमच्या गावातही चक्क पाऊस पडला. कालिदासाच्या कृपेने आज हवा मस्त पावसाळी आहे. सगळीकडे ओलीगार झाडं आणि हळवी उन्हं आहेत. जांभूळ रस्ता उधाणला आहे. बकुळीचा गजरा हवेत लह रतोय. वातावरणात मळभ आणि उत्साह आहे. खुप दिवसांनी हलकं हलकं वाटतयं. लिहावसं वाटतयं.

सुट्टीत घरी जाऊन आले. काही जुन्या, काही नव्या मित्र-मैत्रिणींना भेटणं झालं. जुनं सगळं सुटत सुटत चाललंय. उगाच वागवण्यात अर्थ नाही. काही बंध तुटले तर खुशाल तुटू द्यावेत. नवे जुळतील किंवा जुळणार नाहीत. पण मनात बी रुजण्याइतकी ओल शिल्लक ठेवावी. असा धडा मिळाला. तो आता मनापासून गिरवायचा ठरवला आहे.

सध्या मी स्वतःला भरतकामाचा छंद लावून घेण्याचा प्रयत्न करते आहे. पूर्वी मी खुप आवडीने भरतकाम आणि क्रोशाच विणकाम करत असे. पण ती सवय सुटली. आता परत सुरू करताना जड जातयं. पण माझ्या अगदी जवळच्या माणसाने हट्ट केला आहे त्यामुळे हा उपक्रम करावाच लागेल. पहिला प्रयोग म्हणून एका टॉप वर कशिद्याची बुट्टी काढायचा विचार आहे. जर चांगला जमला तर फोटो नक्की टाकेन ब्लॉगवर !

Happy Flower's Day !

noreply@blogger.com (Angat-Pangat) — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 17:09:00 +0000

गोष्ट आहे एका मित्रमंडळाची. स्वतःच्याच धुंदीत जगणार्‍या काही मित्र-मैत्रिणींची. एके दिवशी भल्या सकाळी त्यांना मिळाल्या फुलांनी भरलेल्या टोपल्या. कुणी दिल्या काय माहीत ? प्रत्येकाला ओंजळ भरून फुलं, ज्याच्या त्याच्या स्वभावासारखी. कुणाला अबोली, कुणाला लिली, कुणाला पावडरपफ, कुणाला चक्क एक सुंदर कमळ, कुणाला अनंत, कुणाला निशिगंध तर कुणाला वाटेवरची रानफुलं असं प्रत्येकाला काही ना काही. सगळे विचार करत होते आज काय विशेष ? तसं काहीच नव्हत विशेष त्या दिवसात पण तरी तो दिवस सुगंधी झाला. आज त्या दिवसाच्या निमित्ताने सगळ्यांना ओंजळ भरून शुभेच्छा.

पुणं सोडता सोडता ....

noreply@blogger.com (Angat-Pangat) — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 07:56:00 +0000

हे शहर सोडवत नाही

मी विसरू जाता उरते

मज झाकोळून उगवत राही

हे घडी बिघडले रस्ते

गर्दीने विस्कटलेले

अंथरल्या ऊनचुकांवर

पांघरूण रात्रीची शाई

ही रुतून बसली झाडे

सन्यस्त ढोंगी बैरागी

मोहोर पाहूनी माझे

परतवून पानोपानी

मी नदीविनाही फिरले

देऊळघंटेच्या काठी

आसवआठवांची यमुना

पुलाखालूनी वाही

वर्तूळ बशीशी भिडते

वर्तूळ पुरीचे आणि किती

मोजमापले तरि ओघळती

थेंब जास्तीचे काही

हे शहर सोडवत नाही

मी विसरू जाता उरते

मज झाकोळून उगवत राही

I am Moved !

noreply@blogger.com (Angat-Pangat) — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 06:14:00 +0000

Yes, we are moving out of our beloved town. We are shifting northwards.
Process of packing and moving your worldly belongings is made really easy these days with ‘packers & movers’.
They did a good job. In less than 4 hours we were packed. All stuff was loaded onto a vehicle and was ready to move.
That moment was difficult for me to handle. Suddenly, as if in a dream, a shower came. The sky was blue and the day was clear but still the rain came to bless me.
I am blessed and assured.