Ramblings of a delusional dumbass

Travel has never been my forte. Especially on a motorcycle. I’d been on sub-100 km rides on my little 110cc steed back when I was young and stupid. Almost every one of them to my grandmother’s place 40 km away from home. The machine was underpowered, the seat was uncomfortable, and my hands and feet would ring like a tuning fork at the end of every ride. Not a very pleasant experience. Neither have birthdays been big. A few unsavoury experiences that coincided with my birthday have made me believe that my birthday is jinxed, leaving me with a bad aftertaste at the mere thought of it. I’ve always taken both travel and birthdays with a grain of salt – unless prodded and pleaded by my friends, I try not to engage in either. So, this year, I decided to ride to Hampi for my birthday. The Journey Hampi has always been on my mind for quite a while now. Memories of the boulders and ruins kept coming back to me like flashes from a past life. I’d been to Hampi on a family trip long ago –...

Peanuts. The poor man’s badam and the bored man’s entertainment. This quick and easy to make snack is the perfect antidote for your mid-morning munchies. You know, when it’s too late for a second breakfast and too early to cook a real meal. Get some Haldiram’s salted peanuts. Or masala peanuts. Or grab a handful of peanuts, roast them on a pan over medium heat. If you go the roast-my-own-peanuts way, make sure to remove the skin. Finely chop one small cucumber, one small onion, one small tomato. Be careful not to chop off one small finger. That would be painful and unnecessarily messy. Add a few drops of lemon juice. Add a two-finger pinch of chat masala. About a pinch of black salt/ table salt. Add the peanuts and mix them all nicely – but gently. If you’re feeling fancy, add some chopped coriander as well. Goes well with a stiff drink. Or so I’m told. Enjoy.

Would you call a pualo a pulao if there’s no vegetables in it? I would. Not. This isn’t exactly a pulao. This is like a weird kushka, masala bath type rice dish. The name doesn’t matter. It’s just really tasty and you should try it. Bathe a cup of rice in cool and clear spring water flowing in the direction of the wind. If you don’t have a stream handy, regular tap water will do. Soak this rice in clean water. Then you go gather some stuff lying around in your kitchen. A cardamom pod, some cloves, an inch of cinnamon stick, jeera, fennel seeds, pepper, bay leaf. Yeah that should do. It’s okay if you can’t find all of these, but you should have at least some of these things. One medium size onions, handful of mint and corriander leaves, 2-3 green chillies, garlic-ginger paste. Chop them and grind them to a fine paste. You’re going to grind them anyway so don’t worry about them being finely chopped. Just run your knife through it roughly and that should be good enough. As lo...