The Fruit

The month of July and August  is when rain and storm joins hand  and sometimes this light storm which shakes off the big and unshakeable trees from the top is good for children. The rain and the slight storm used to work as the force that used to shake tall, and hard to climb trees so easily and then we used to get the fruit in the morning.

This fruit used to be as big as a football and some times it used to be bigger than that. It has perhaps uniqueness to it. I yet have to come across a fruit which is whole from outside and it yet it could be distributed with each person without cutting it. All we have to is to count the pieces and person and then distribute it among us.

If was hard to pluck the fruit from the tree, even for the most daring tree climber, which of course used to be schoolboy; but the strong breeze used to shake the top of the tree  in such a way; most of the time it used to fall from it  without much effort. Most the morning birds used to get the chance to claim the fallen big fruit as it was a surprise gift for them during the rainy days.

What is so unusual about this is, I dont even know the name of the fruit, but most of us liked it very much. Then we used to call it Rukh Kattar, but then now I came to know that jack fruit is called rukh katter here and it was nothing like the jack fruit.

As for the taste it was not much sweet nor it  had the citrusy taste. Nothing sharpness in its taste and its scent. Just the gentle sweetness to it. More than that it was enough to kill the sharp hunger we felt any time of the day. Some adult also used to like it after barbecuing it, but because it was a fruit we like it just the way it was.

This fruit just killed the fun part to climb the tree and then run with the fruit like other fruits we used to steal from those chaser, when we were young and wild;  but still it was a fruit which we used to enjoy without an inch of effort, so I think sometimes we must enjoy things in  life just the way it is. Just enjoy it while it last.

Scent of a green chili

After a long time back, last week I had my meal with green chili. I mean rice, lentil and then; just green chili. I am smart but bit lazy and it sure has its way of working on me more often than I want it to grip me totally. So, sometimes when it really comes to making curry, I rule out. Its not that I am not feeling well on that particular day. Sometimes I just don't feel like making it, even when the curry is just waiting and staring at me to make it.

So, now its rainy season and this means green chilies seasons. I love the scent of green chili as it hold so much childhood memory in my mind. The raw and sweet scent of green chili has so much power to send me into my memory lane, into the lane of childhood and mischievous time that is associated with it.

Good for people like me, who is lazy. Some times its mango that serves as a good company to have my rice, but; mango is just too sweet to have rice  and rice is something we do not eat as a dessert. Rice is our staple food and its a main course. It needs something spicy, something hot, something that has all the spicy taste to have it.

Now its easy to say that I am just too lazy to make curry and then have my meal with just sweet scent and taste of green chilies but there was time in my life, we had curry that was too bland and stale and we had no option but to have our rice with the help of green chili.

But then I was young child and growing up in Bal Mandir. I was one of the pickiest person like so many in my group, and liked only few curries they made in Bal Mandir. On top of that during the rainy [ or hot seasons] which is coincidentally also the time of chili, curries did not taste that good.

But plucking chilies was not the easy task and normally its been discouraged by the supervisors, mainly housemothers and didis [room nannies] also used to keep an eyes for us, so that we don't fall on the chili garden. But, there were more clever children’s and number of housemothers and didis were were limited so, we always used to get enough for us as well as for a group for others girls who were close to us. Some time they used to fall in the kitchen garden to get the chili for us.

Cooking meal for 200 children daily would not have been fun, so it used to show up on food they made or maybe it was just too hot to enjoy the work they were doing in front of big fire on hot season. So, green chili was and is best way to devour rice, even if  we are not feeling  lazy, but just the bad day that the curry did not turn out to be as tasty as we hoped for. Of course, it has full  power to overshadow the stale curry or pickle which is not of your taste.

When I look back and try to understand that why they discouraged us to have our meal with chili at the time when we did not find curry up to our taste. Maybe, it was too hot for our age, and they were just trying to protect us from its hot taste. Some adult did get scared with the hot taste of chili, and some of us needed more  than they could believe. the sight and scent of it used to send them in dizzying mood.

Because Bal Mandir grew all its annual requirement of chili inside our kitchen garden. So protecting it from us was also part of housemothers job. No wonder, if they used to scold us if we did not oblige to the restraining order to stay away from chili.  Slapping us, pulling our hair, raising their voice to keep us from it also used to fail completely, that just did not work on us. Sometimes they used to scare us saying that having too much chili may cause diarrhea. And strangely enough then, they were true also.

But when I look back and try to understand it, I think they should have been more concern with the fact, that we used to throw more small and unripened chilies on the alleys of the chili garden, than to keep the best one in a hope that it is hotter. Because we were too young to know, so we were not that experienced to pick the one, that was right one. No doubt, we threw more on the floor. Sure, that was a huge loss of food, but, If only; housemothers would have been wise enough to understand the need of it and then supply it during meal time. They would have controlled huge loss of chili that went on ground to rot.

I do remember having my meal with too much chili that in the morning, even after flush I could see all seeds floating on commode. Even that, did not deter me to  have my meal with too much chili. I am not convinced to blame it at all to chili alone, for my upset stomach, because chili was the savior for us, when it comes to swallow the meal, which we did not wanted to eat. Had not it been chili I could not have had my meal so many times. My weight used to go seriously down, in those months and then again it used to pick up around October.  Although, we did not slow down eating hot chilies but, yes we had to hide it from didis and housemothers so that we don't get snapped by them.  

My love for hot chili has not faded out, even after more than twenty years now. That is why I know for sure, chili should not be blamed for upset stomach or diarrhea as adult believed when I was child.

No wonder, today I strongly believe, if we like something it will  never harms us and if we don't like it, we love to blame it for all the bad things that bring it to us. In the case of hot chili its one thousand percent true. This proves perfectly to the people in our life too.

Tamarind pickle

 I could have been in about sixth or seventh grade and tamarind used to be the best food of my childhood memories. Perhaps our age is just right to like its soury, citrusy and tangy taste. During those days, I was very close with Junkiri and Dibya during those time,because we were in same class as well as we were bench mates also, not to mention we all lived in Bal Mandir.

Girls in our school used to have tamarind as a snacks or during the class to get rid of boring sunny days of hot summer. We did not have money like those who grew up in family to have extra money for those extra expenses like that. In Bal Mandir there was nothing called pocket money concept, when we were young because we did not needed it for anything, as all our needs were met. But sometimes we did had money to buy something of our choice, a good way out from those group food or meal year round. School lunchtime or after school hours made us hungry like ghost, although they used to provide us four time meal a day but it seemed that, those meals were not sufficient for children's like us, who were ever hungry.

When I try to understand, why we were hungry like that ? why they used to say that we were not breast feed during our childhood that's why we were hungry all the time. But new age lifestyle psychologists call it emotional eating. This somewhat satisfy me answer, may be we used to feed our emotions. In absence of our loved one around us, who took care of our needs and ruffled our hair; we shook shelter in foods to pamper ourselves or feed our emptiness that lies in our unconscious mind.

What the heck, lets enjoy tamarind pickle and not worry about what’s their opinions about  our never ending hunger pangs.

I and Dibya used to manage money to buy tamarind but Junkiri never had money to chip in for food, because her relative never used to visit her in Bal Mandir and give her money to spend occasionally. Therefore, she used to manage for sugar, which she had to get from the store or steal it anyhow before we enjoy the tamarind the pickle. And as for Chili we had to fall in front of the chili plants and when we stand up from the fall, we already had handful of green chilies for the pickle.

Finding a small bowl for preparing the pickle was one of the toughest task, as in Bal Mandir we hardly used to have small bowl, which was sufficient to prepare food only for three young girls. Smallest bowl in Bal Mandir was enough to contain rice or lentil or pickle for at least 18 children. I can't remember who owned that red plastic bowl but we found anyway one to make it. There is no doubt that, we must have stolen it from one of the girl, who owned that bowl, just can't remember whose bowl was that.

Once we had all the ingredients to make the pickle, we used to go to one corner of the long veranda, and made sure there was enough and long clothes hanging on there to hide us, so that we could make the delicious and spicy pickle and then dig in all by ourselves, what we had just made.

Hiding ourselves in the place, where about forty girls lived in two different rooms and about twenty girls visiting from other rooms to see their close friends, staying in this part of of the building was definitely not easy task for us.

Sometimes we had to stop our work in process or devouring the pickle in the middle of it, if someone showed off the place where we were hiding ourselves, at that part of the veranda. stopping it meant, we don't have to share it with them. I was one of the mean person, who was least interested to share our delicious food with them, Junkiri was equally unwilling to share our foods with those unwanted poppers but, Dibya she was willing to share it with others, occasionally; when they appeared during our devouring time. She was the skinniest in our group but was the most kindest than two of us. We two did not used to share it with anyone but she used to share it from her share of food. Junkiri and I thought, her sharing quality had made her skinniest.

We were so childish that we used to eat its pit too, yeah all of it.

The Tamarind pickle used to be very tooth achingly citrusy and soury therefore, that hot green chilies added much needed extra zing to the pickle. We used to add lots of sugar cut that sharp citrusy and soury taste of tamarind and also to kill the hot taste of green chilies. It was one of the best food I had during my childhood and one of the best memories to cherish of that time; which reminds me how greedy we were, how careless and carefree we were.

But, that's what makes us child right ?

PVM - Hot chocolate Drink

Its quite natural that, Bal Mandir, being the biggest children's home, here in Nepal, used to get so many donations from across the nations and some time in form of food items too. Once somebody donated P.V.M.  loads of it. Its full form was protein, vitamins and minerals It's kind of hot chocolate drinks, something like horlicks or boost. Unlike today's time, what I do remember distinctly is, then in the mid 80s, when they use fine sugar in any powder drinks, they used big grains of sugar, that can be seen with our naked eyes. It was the same thing in some big brands biscuits also. Let me tell you this, it gave me a very good feel about the food then.

When people donated anything to to Bal Mandir, it always came in abundance, I mean truckloads of it. Its like the donor knew small portion is not going to help anyone good, when there were about 200 children in Bal Mandir to feed all the time.

The powdered hot chocolate drinks was packed differently than today's packing. It was paper roll  packaging just like pringles packaging, with tin on top and its bottom; but only its was for about a kg or one and half kg packaging hot chocolate drinks. Everybody liked it. in fact they liked it so much that the children used to steal it from where it was stored and  and then have it dry, just like that. But in daytime milk it was given to all, but what  I just can't remember now is, we it having in our morning milks too.  It was so good that I do remember it being stolen from the staffs also and I used to give it to my teacher who taught us sticking, from whatever I could have my hands on. The lady wanted more from me even if the stealing was not an easy task but she presumed, we were really good at it, to be precise I was good at it. Does this tick your imagination, that she was encouraging me to steal more, so that her need to have it  and feed more to her three children will be satisfied. I denied it, as I am not known to doing things that only please others and not me. Besides, there has to be limitations when we get things, which is stolen.

I don't know at what time, the managers or the housemother learned, that the generous givings was closing to an expire date soon and one day they just burned loads and loads of it long before we had enough of it, to be tired of its good taste. A housemother, did the whole burning and burying task. In this case I do remember so vividly that, it was Sabitri Basnyat. Once she  got tired of burning it which seemed like for hours, then, she asked the junior staff and some big boys to dig big hole, and then buried the whole with unopened packaging.

That was a good news for many of the boys and girls, because seeing that good tasting food burning under the big fire was some thing we did not feel good about and not good news from any angle. Some of the boys, later dug up the hole and then unearthed the still good conditioned package and then rejoiced eating it again. How come they can think of burying food which tasted so good  ? I bet, we were not aware about the expired date on the packaging or it was something we did not needed to know !

Sometimes, when we gather then, we do look back and remember those time we had in Bal Mandir and then talk in length, that if bad food was really that bad for children, then we would have died for maybe thousands times in our lives; instead it only made us more strong than we could ever imagine. Our digestive system is a lot better than the people, who are over protected from the dirt and germs when they were growing up. But more than that, what I find so surprising is, that those foods or the condition that surrounded us, made us mentally strong too, not just physically.

I never ever thought in my life, that eating expired date food[s] or rice and lentils that was so insect infested and stone filled, smelled bad; will make me physically and mentally strong when I grow up. And yes, with all the memory intact in my mind except; I have a bad memory power, but others do not have my bad memory power.

Gundruk [a fermented green vegetable]

 Gundruk is very much part of our food life; I mean kitchen life. In fact, to some, its a part of our lifestyle also. It very Nepali, inside out.  I love the citrusy, soury and tangy taste of it, and why me only, everyone loves its taste, purely because of its simply lovable taste.

Gundruk is also related with winter seasons. No, not because of its taste, but because gundruk is made during the winter seasons; just like many of the pickles, we make during  winter seasons. Normally, people talk about the gundruk being very tasty, if its the radish leaves, or if its the mustard leaves or garlic. But I guess, its the individual taste, which people are used to of liking and eating during their childhood, because when people talks about gundruk, I know, only one of it and that is made of green leaves of Cauliflowers that they used to grew in Bal Mandir, where I grew up as a child.

They grew plenty of Cauliflower in our kitchen garden, that it was not only enough to feed  200 people for more than two months; in some years, there was so much of it, that they even sun dried it, to manage it for summer time, when normally people face scarcity of enough curry to cater the palate. But that was not the one of my favorite memories of curry from Bal Mandir.

Its not that the soil was not fertile for radish because they grew plenty of it and it too was enough to slice it and then sun dry it  but they only made the gundruk from the leaves of cauliflower, not the radish leave or I just forgot it now. I don't have much good memory at times.

Making of gundruk, used to take place during long winter vacations day. In those days, we used to get really long winter vacation from our schools, like fifty days straight, and those vacations are called ‘min pachas’ holidays. It took me years to understand, why those days are called ‘min pachas’. In those 50 days, even fish feels cold, thats why; its called min pachas [min = fish, pachas = fifty ].

Making gundruk was a good time pass for didis and housemother also took part in it. Housemothers used to supervise for it, and didis [room nannies] used to make it. Big girls used to help those green leaves cut and clean. Although I have seen them making it for so long and for many years; yet I do not know how to make it, and I have never ever made it myself.

How they made gundruk : I think, first they used to let the green leaves sun dry in crisp winter sun for a day. then next day they clean it in water. and then they bang it with bit heavy wood to tenderize it and then they cut it in small piece i mean in about 2” size and then they stuffed it  in big tin can of oil or ghee. after filling the big can they used to pour hot water to fill the empty space and then they used to close its top with hey and then plastic cover on top of it and then they used to pressure the can with two big size brick so that the gas won't enter in it, and then they used to let it stay like that under the winter sun for may be about 15 days or 3 weeks. For a good quality gundruk winter sun is a must; otherwise, all the hard work and  the vegetables will go wasted. I have seen in those cold months of January when they used to open the tin and half the tin was wasted just like that.

Once it completes its time under the sun then they used to sun dry it for about a week. may be due to dim power of sun was not enough for couple of days to dry it under the winter sun. Once its completely dried they used to store it for summer. Okay, this tells me now that, we have plenty of curries during winter season than in summer to cater our palate.

Gundruk is normally eaten with soupy way, better if you are not planning to make lentil for the day. Its so tasty, it more than sufficient to replace the lentil for the day. Some use it to make the pickle also. Pickle can be made from the raw or dried gundruk. I have tasted the pickle of raw gundruk, its taste is so wow. Those who love the taste of it, will go gaga for the fresh scent of gundruk, when it fills the air. For a soupy curry, in Bal Mandir, they used to make it with some dried soybean and potatoes and then once its done they added  lots of water. That's how normally its eaten.

Although gundruk is regarded poor man's delicacy but its taste is so good that it is not just the poor man's meal. Gundruk is in fact is hassle free curry for some working class people. Adding some tomatoes and topping it with egg is icing on the cake and only some well-to-do people can have it this way.

I do love gundruk like many and like the taste of it for long; but once I grew up and started noticing lots of pigeons which had settled in the Bal Mandir walking on the open drain that carried the kitchen waste and water to the drain holes, which passed the round of the front yards walls. Every time ever one passed them to go to the tap  all of them flew up in the sky and then rested on top of the roof, where  the gundruk was kept for sun dry. Since then, the thought of eating gundruk as a curry started to make me, not only sick; but it started giving me diarrhea. It may have been the psychological sickness, but I could not help watch the pigeons wander on our summer curry and then forget about it when eating it. Its good  taste meant nothing for me after that, and I forgot but only remember it make me sick. I can eat it, if I don't know the whole story behind  it of how its made and how many flies or pigeons flew over it; otherwise I might still throw up.

Festival foods brings back childhood memory

“Sunita, meat is ready, now its your turn”, bhauju gave me call from upstairs kitchen. I am a cook in demand and a good cook, if I find myself in the group of people who do not want to cook, but anyway cooks; having no option but to cook. I think I am in love with the line that says, I love cooking, how much I love it actually, is something I really need to think hard. It took me time to understand to figure it out but still I do, I mean I really love cooking. This quality gets highlighted if only  my cooking gets appreciated by the people I cook for. If they don't, I guess I better learn more, yet cooking is something I purely do for me rather than to please people around me.

However, its really nice to have people around during the festival seasons to do all the cutting, chopping and grinding the spices. My main work was to calculate and then mix it in the meat. Like how much spices, onion or seasoning is needed to add and how long to leave it aside, before we cook it.

You can call me foodie.  I seem to be knowing almost all the TV’s good chefs regardless of their nationality. More so, I know on which channel they come. Nigella Lawson and the Master Chef Australia is one of my favorite show and I hardly miss them. However, this dashian I was in so much demand for my cooking skill and for the first time I am so proud to be the one who was in demand for my hobby.  

This time, I was in charge of preparing festival foods and all needed spices are anything but pure Nepali. I really don't know what it really has to do with me being so addicted to watch so many cooking shows and me being able to master something that is pure Nepali Food. That too all I wanted to do is to cook the meat items; as good as I grew up eating it, during Dashain in Bal Mandir.

While I was in Kitchen preparing for marination, Arpan asked me, “have you eaten blood ?”   Arpan is my nephew. He loves to eat and did help me in the kitchen to make meat items. Well of course, not regularly but its okay, he is only fifteen. But more than that, I am a guest; in the house full of all christians that too during the month of dashain.  

“Yes” was my answer and that, “I had the variety of blood as a dashain delicacies; when I was of your age or well younger than you.” It is another thing, it was not my favourite festival dish. They also used to make one variety of intestine and bowls too, well that too, was not my favourite festival dish. But that is not the important part of festival.  Due to the varieties of the foods, meat items and entertainment, I think everyone can find, what is their favourite dish of any festival.

Arpan was curious, to see me marinating meat and its spiced up scent that filled the kitchen and wafted in the house, which really wowed him and everyone in the home. He asked me “do you always cook meat like this ?” “Yes” was my answer, “I don't eat meat as regular as you [they eat meat almost daily ] but when I eat it, it really has to satisfy my eyes, my other senses long before I actually stuff it in my mouth” was my reply to his curiosity. I am very liberal when it comes to adding spices and seasoning, it sure is not for those, who love boiled food for the health sake.

Some believe, festivals are for children and not for adult. At least thats what, most of the adult thinks so. I think its for both, adult needs to transfer the tradition at its best form, to   the children; so that they will transfer it to their children. As they are the one who enjoy it a lot.

No one can deny, one core fact about any festival and that is, major part of the all the festival around the world is food, food and food. Food do have power to bring back memory and take us back to our memory lane.

For long time, I wanted to master the kind of food, I used to eat in Bal Mandir. Not the regular food but only the kind they made during Festival. Couple of years ago I made some radish and green peas pickle, which was as good as it used to be when I was child. Meat was something, I have learned during my time in five star hotel. People in hotel knows so many ways to make food wow and yummy and look good too therefore, at times meat was somewhat better than what it used to be in Bal Mandir, curries were also not that hard to learn and make it good in due course of time; but it was not easy to master on pickles and to make best pickles was not easy anyway.

Now, I can make some food that was as good as they used to make in Bal Mandir but there are still some food which I yet have to master. Still there is no one and no house that can serve me food and make me forget the taste of food which I [we] used to eat in Bal Mandir during Dashain.

So this time there was everything to make it a Dashain, I was with my family in Chitwan and they did tried their best to make it feel like Dashain, at least for me because they are christians and I am not. Yet, how on earth that lack of radish pickle [ radish, and lapsi was not available in Chitwan at that time]  has so much power to make feel that something is missing, something is lacking. I was missing the taste of it and scent of it.

Not surprisingly, when I am back in Kathmandu, first thing I did is to make that radish, peas and lapsi pickle. Oh, God it sure has the power to give me the childhood memory and feel of the Dashain. But some food you should not eat it alone it needs people around you and the other festival food to accompany it, which we enjoy making it only in festival time.

My Comfort Food

 “Oh, lord they are hungry again”  

“They just had their meal, what makes them hungry like this ?”

“These children never drank their mother’s milk so, their hunger is never going to be quenche properly.” As a growing up child in Bal Mandir these are the lines, I accustomed  hearing with.   

As for that last line, which stamped in my mind forever, I clearly remember, Shova didi said it. Is her conclusion right ? She would have known the real truth behind the ever hungry growing children, if only; she would have raised her own growing children and then watch behave her teenage children. Sadly, she died when her children were so young. In fact, she had died with excessive bleeding, when she was giving birth to her second child.

I really don't know these are the  common lines every children who grew up or are growing up in children homes has to hear due to lack of food to feed them. But, Bal Mandir never faced lack of food to feed us. Even if, we were hungry like larva, then there was country like America to feed us.  

I am sure, it was American agency, which used to send us multigrain roasted flour, powder milk and animal fat for our daily consumptions. As a teenager, I have read the twelve language translations saying they’re for not to be sold in market, for about hundreds times times in those packets, as these products came via shipping. The flour and milk powder came in about 25 or 30 kg tetra packs and fat came in 5 and 10 kg tin can.  

However, my mind todays goes completely blank, even trying to remember what is the name of that company, which used to send us those nutritious food. In fact, it was a part of nutritious food division, which distributed those supplies to Bal Mandir across the nations as well as to some school. Because the school I attended, as a child until 7th grade, was also the one of the school, which used to get the flour. Do they used to get fat and milk also ? but I have no recollection whatsoever of this now. This is very strange, we do so many things for years and eat and repeat things so many times in life during our childhood, yet, when trying to remember those things; only make us go blank. But I remember so clearly is the ‘puwa’ [is a snacks for day time], they used to make was so dry than what they used to make in Bal Mandir, yet for a change, we did like that different taste. No, we never used to get a chance to eat in both place the same meal.

Bal Mandir provided four times a day meal. First meal started at 7:00 in the morning. Its pudding 365 days, only nannies changed, everyday to give us a new taste every day. It was served with milk for children and tea for preteens and teenagers. At around 9:00 we used to have our morning meal before school. Dal, bhat and tarkari, meat was once in every Saturday without fail and then at 1:00 we used to have our day snacks, our last meal of the day started at five again dal, bhat and tarkari.

The food seem to be alright, or to some, it sure sounds more than okay. But, we were hungry like larva and needed food in between snacks and late afternoon meal. There were no provision for pocket money to meet that need, but who needed it ?

I do not exactly remember, steading those roasted flours, milk or sugars but all these were available in plenty to feed our hunger. But the truth is without stealing, we would not have had it easily also.  We used to eat that roasted multigrain freshly grounded flour, dry, just like that or sometimes with pinch of sugar  and occasionally putting it on tea  and making it easy puding like to have it as instant food. It was a roasted multigrain flour of five cereals [ maize, soybean, wheat, chick peas and perhaps the last one was black eyed bean]. It was somewhat instant food, like our noodles now a days, which can be eaten raw and easy made. I still know lots of my grown ups friends, who grew up eating it, want to buy it and then have it; purely because of its taste and it being so healthy food also. I doubt that a rich or the richest family here in Nepal, could afford that quality food for their growing child even today.

But, when I grew up bit, I have moved up to have powder milk, sugar and fat as a comfort food. I used to mix all three ingredients  properly and then used to eat it, just like that. No wonder, as a teenager I was a fat girl; I don't think I came under the bracket of obese child, but I do remember vividly  a friend of mine saying to me that, “ you don't walk, you just roll.”

One of the easy way to manage those comfort food was, to be friendly with room didis, who were also in charge of the days snacks once in every week. Help them in their work in the kitchen and outside the kitchen. Oh, yes there was other way also to get it, sometimes wait for the right moment to steal it either from kitchen or from main store. But, because I needed three things [ powder milk, sugar and fat] so stealing was definitely not the option so getting cozy with didis seemed to be an easier option for me.

‘Du’ my childhood friends was very hardworking and helpful to all nannies and could give her hand to help them anyway and time they needed; so my closeness with her and she being helpful to all gave me more opportunity to have my comfort food as much as I wanted. I do not remember, particularly that I was close with any nannies, but because it did not cost any of them nor it costed Bal Mandir to buy those foodstuffs, so maybe nannies or storekeepers were not that strict to control the quota. Therefore, they let us have it, whenever we asked for it.

Yeah, I do not eat it now but this still falls on my all time favourite comfort food, do I really have to grow ever to have my all time comfort food ? Have a bowl of it; and then you know, what I am talking about. If you have not eaten it yet, then you have not lived your life either.

Plum, Pear, and Peaches

Junkiri remembers her experience of climbing a mango tree and stealing the unripe one from the nearest branch, that was good to make pickle only. As she was about to pluck it from the branch, she heard a stern voice from the above,“what are you doing, stop there.”  The voice was from the Housemother Kedar Shrestha, everybody  was so scared of her specially when they are doing something bad like this. Junkiri remembers that day, as if it just happened yesterday; she was really nervous getting caught like that. So, in her nervousness she replied, “I was only looking  at it” although her hand was fully wrapped on that unripe mango. I think this is universal truth that teenagers think they are a lot smarter; than the adult around them and adult have no brain at all. “Climb down from the tree” was her command, which Junkiri meekly followed.

For years when I was in my  teen years or  also  in my early 20s, I never regarded  plum, peach, pear in a fruit category, that was worth spending money the vendor asked for. Any amount of money seemed too much to pay. It was not that I don’t like them or never liked them, its just that do we have to pay for these also ? You must be wondering, why this question even crossed my mind.

There were about 10 mixed varieties of pears tree, about 5 or 6 types of plum trees and about 3 peaches tree, one big litchi tree and one about to die mango tree, inside the Bal Mandir premises. I think it was just enough to keep we children busy during the respective fruits seasons, to try our hands in climbing trees. Well, not just tree most of the time it invariably included climbing tall walls too.

Except for mango tree all the other tree used to get over laden with its respective fruits during the season, giving us plenty of opportunity to try fruits within the boundaries. This kind of trees also kept us busy from getting bored in the era, when there was no TV or computers to keep ourselves glued for hours. I bet it was more fun to climb those trees, which was laden with fruits than to glued with computer or televisions.

Big plum tree and bigger litchi tree just eluded us like anything. Only the high climbers used to go up and then taste the best one rest have to be satisfy with the lower branches green litchy that used to be so sour. Climbing tree was a group effort, to get the fruit down from its branches. One of us climbed the tree, to shake the branches and others stay under the tree to collect the fruits. Climbing wall was also needed support from two or three person, as we could not reach the nearest hole to hold on without a help. 

So it was fun to get other side of the wall and then the fruit.  It was not easy for those keepers to keep those unripe fruit from the children of Bal Mandir. Oh, yes they cursed like anything using all the words that was in or out from dictionary. But, hey who is minding. those fruits were a lot more tempting and inviting us towards them and we choose to forget what they were saying to us. Did I tell you we have mastered in hearing things, I mean those curses from one ear and letting it go straight from other ear.

Boys too but specially girls loved the soury and citrusy taste of green plum, mango and litchi. I do not remember anyone waited until it was ripe one. But I guess the children are the only one who eats the baby fruit long before it ripens. It worried like hell to the adult fearing we might have stomach disorder; how come they knew it caused us diarrhea ? By the time it was to ripen all the tree used to get empty, unless the fruit was on top of the branch where only crow could reach and eat it.

Yes, with some exception these fruits also used to get a chance to ripen if, I mean if only,the tree was not in front of our eyes. The tall and hard to climb boundary wall kept them away from us. But children always managed to cross those tallest and barbed wired wall too at times at high price.

It was perhaps Saturday, can’t remember exactly now. Sarala was bleeding heavily from her inner thigh and she was trying hard to stop the bleeding and also from the room nanny. I remember  asking her, “how come you are bleeding like this ?” “ a sharp glass from a window cut this” she replied in return. There was uneasy silence after that which I did not hear then clearly. Sarala Sharma was tall about 5.5 and heavy, maybe around 60 Kg and she was just fourteen at that time. I looked so small in front of her. 

She had gone to steal some plum with her friends and she being the tallest was the best bait to go inside and get some fruits from the NAFA art gallery’s garden. Some of her friends were helping her to go inside and then pulling her out. But when they pulled her out her leg got caught up in the thorny barbwire that cut her thigh from inside. Her young friends not know she was caught in by wire, pulled her harder thinking it was her big body that was the reason they are having problem to pull her out from the garden boundary wall. It was deep cut so her all her effort to hide it went in vain due to over bleeding that scared all her friends and ultimately she was taken to hospital and then where she got some stitches on her deep cut wound. They did get the   juicy and succulent plum but at the same time that stealing also landed her a hospital trip.

Do I have to tell you now, how good it taste when you have stolen fruits from others garden ? Well, if you don't know; then let me tell you this, the stolen fruits taste a lot better I mean ten times better than we buy in the market, which is so easy task.  All you have to do is to pay some money and get your fruit bag, so boring. And more than that there is more   fun in running ahead of those keepers, after stealing those fruits with our faces making in  teasing from to those keeper is even funnier than to go and spent some time to watch some movies.

I feel so sorry for you, if you have never ever stolen fruit from others garden. You should have tried this once, I mean should have been truly lived the life of a child once in your life, which I guess e get only once in your life.

Tomato curry

There is no doubt that tomato is my all time favourite curry. Although, it actually falls on fruit categories. However, I do not eat it like a fruit , I mean raw like other fruits. I love it as a curry king. Curry king is because, we can add this on lentil, on any curry, on meat and make a pickle of it raw or cooked or barbecue and then make a curry of it. curry also can be made with so much varieties. You can add anything here and then call it tomato curry with. You can add this on salad and what not. List goes on, it all depends on your mood and choice and do as you wish. There is no limit to its use.

When I first read, tomatoes falls on fruit categories; my first reaction was disbelief. I thought it was a curry king. Tomato is the only fruit, that out cross all other fruits  grown on earth. It sure does not surprise me at all. I guess there are plenty of people on this planet, who loves it as much as I love it.

Whenever I see my favourite Italian chef, David Roco on my TV set  using plenty of tomatoes on some food when he cooks, it only gives me a feel, how sparsely we use tomatoes on our curries or any specific food. But perhaps we can not compare TV food and the foods we eat at home specially, when no camera is focusing on our plate.

But today I am not going to talk about its various use and purposes. I remember one such incident behind, why I like it so much. I am quite  not sure, that it  could be because of that reverse psychology; behind this and me liking this curry or maybe not; but who knows, why I like this curry so much and make this one, one of the most eaten curry of my life.

This story is something Radha [Pandey] didi, just could not forget it from the conversation she heard, and when she used to talk it, it just stayed in my mind, like forever. Satyal Dijju, as we used to call her regardles of the position she held in the office; was one of the highest ranking officer at the NCO. Her full name is Bhubeneshwory Satyal, she was the Manager of one big department. As a child, I have passed thousands of times in front of her office, reading the  position she held, umpteenth times, yet now I do not remember what was her position then.

Officer of that kind of high ranks, normally do not take part in, what curry we eat or not. It normally falls on House mothers to decide, what curry at what day and time. Sometimes even room nannies can take this decision, based on what we have on our kitchen garden and which one should be used first. So my mind runs fast how come she gave her verdict that, “they [we] should not have tomato curry”, adding that, “when we, at our home do not eat it.” I am guessing now, she must have been just around and one of the house mother must have asked her permission and that must have been her reaction.

Personally, I do not remember having tomato curry during my stay in the Bal Mandir. But I have very bad memory power and its just one of the curry. Perhaps it was not my favourite curry then. But that line just stamped in our mind and it seems that it’s not easy to forget it even after so many years passed by.

Its not very unusual, to hear the staff members of the NCO, pass such comments on our food. They sure would have passed such type of comments on our dress also, if only it would not have been the donations from rich nations, I bet we grew up wearing a lot more better dress than most of the staff of NCO, with some exception.

Here is one more children home, I am associated, and this line, “they eat a lot better, than what we eat at our home”, from staff should have given me some food to think better.

It feels good to say this now, that we were not their children but then, that is the point from where on the quality of the food or dress keep deteriorating; until it comes to the point it matches as of to staff’s children get as their salary can provide to their own children, or a little worse than they get a chance to wear or eat, if they are to buy things all on their own. Thank God it was not the case always like that.

Thank God ! donors were more generous to meet our needs, than those greedy or discriminating staff towards our needs.

Oh, by the way I would like to tell how I make my favourite tomato curry :

Take 250 grams of tomatoes, and then big three garlic clove and equal amount of ginger, take medium sized spanish onion [red] and the most important timur and they call it chinese black pepper also. Some green chilli and salt to taste.  First, I fry one big garlic finely chopped on the hot oil and then I add all the finely chopped onions. stir  it  and then add the paste of ginger and garlic until you get a nice smell of it or it becomes fried properly. Now add  chopped tomatoes and green chilly and then season it as you like. make it like achar and then just add a bowl or two water to make it more soupy; so that I don’t have to make lentil extra. Sometimes I fry some soyabean nuggets on other pan and then add it in just before I add water and then I let it boil for about 7 minutes and then keep it for about extra 10 minutes so that the nuggets soaks all water in it and it becomes juicy. This new try gives me different taste on different time.