Thursday, October 16, 2008

F...F...F...

No dont run away. I'm not stuck on any swear word :) its my acronym for Full-Fledged-Foodie :)
beep beep beep beep.... I give a murderous look at my alarm clock, for being so impatient and screeching already, and groggily wake up to a brand new day. Somehow, coffee marks the ready-steady-go thing for me everyday.
I have got a tongue for coffee, having taste bud specifications which is , believe me, even more intricated than the matrimonial sites having demands and conditions for bride/groom hunt. My ideal coffee should have a good elegant tan, two cms of froth, waiting to be gulped down soon, just the perfect sugar and coffee powder, hotness which wont burn my tongue, nevertheless, should give out wisps of translucent vapour, served in my favorite coffee mug, of course by mom.I have faint memories of my kollu patti ( great grandmother)giving me 2 rupees everyday, carefully placed in a surukku pai ( knot purse), asking me to buy coffee seeds from the nair shop down the lane. She had her own gas stove ( very orthodox person and wont let others near it, a mark of hygiene according to her), her own kadai into which she would zealously fry the coffee beans every single day, grind it in her coffee machine, which had a funnel above , and a manual movable arm attached to the side,and a bag to collect the powder at the bottom. My mother says, till date that is the best coffee ever. This was slowly replaced by filter coffee, and nowadays nescafe. I prefer filter coffee, which feels fresher and looks more beautiful.

Now time to taste some ancient idlies ( dish made of rice and dal). Near the well (which was most of the time devoid of fresh water in those draught times) , beside the coconut tree, sitting silently was the aattukal ( a hemispherical stone having a hole in the center where rice and dal are to be placed mixed with water, and a grinding stone of good weight to be moved over this to get a thick paste). This was then poured in small circular discs over cotton cloth having holes for quick steaming then cooked. The aroma for sure travels through every corner of the village, arousing even the invisible appetite in you. This when done, is put upon a plantain leaf, along with sambhar soaking the idlies thoroughly deep to beyond its skin. My vocabulary falls short to express the feeling that I undergo when I pinch and plop a large piece into my mouth ravenously.



But nowadays, we use a grinder, and the taste is again compromised. We neither have the time nor the patience to go through all this trouble for good idlies.

Coming to microwave. Agreed hands down, it is a healthy substitute to fatty food, a myriad varieties of cakes and pizzas get ready in no time and so on.. But I really miss the swooshing sound of a papad dropped in hot oil, looking at it swell in its full pride and glory, later dripping the remains of oil in the papad onto a tissue.

This is definitely more delicious than the one we cook using a microwave. So I feel, technology has terminated taste in a few good items, but alas we have to move on...

P.S : I'll catch all you guys and girls next week, on a holiday with my sis :):)




22 comments:

Black Panther said...

I'm crying now :( at the mention and look of that idly-vadai-sambhar.

Keshi said...

OMG Im drooling while Im fainting, cos I love South Indian food so very much!


*faints!*


*THUDD!!*


Keshi.

Hemanth Potluri said...

hahah...nice post and my mouth watering already...:)...nice post on the foodies preeti :)..

urs..hemu..

Keshi said...

btw I love coffee too...and if I had South Indian food all the time, I wudnt mind bein a vege too ya know
;-)

ur on holiday with ur sis? wow hv a great time girl!

Keshi.

Preeti said...

@shanker
yeah.. i understand.. go throng your prof Ned's place and have a ball there :)

@Keshi
hehe :) careful dear :)Thing is I have never tasted non veg. But would run away next door when its chicken frying, I love that smeel. I hate fish frying smell though.Yeah Keshi, leaving tonight to see my angel sister :)thanks :)

@Hemanth
Thanks a lot!!!

Priya Joyce said...

hey I miss this food so much..here in the north.. I feel like having it.

Anonymous said...

agree on the microwave thing.....though i sometimes like the colourful look of the food, it smells weird at times
you can put some oil on the papads while in microwave , though it won't taste that good fried ones

happy sis-time :)

Anil Sawan said...

m hungry!!

Unknown said...

gastronomic post...:)

Lucifer said...

oh this reminds me of d time when my grandmom used to stand hours in d kitchen n make gajar ka halwa...ahhhhhhhh....
now its d stupid microwave!!!
d taste can neva b d same

Anonymous said...

what to do.. our tradition is spoiled , and we lost the original tate of food due to technology.

This is all because of people like you . who is lazy to do all these things and always like to be free.
thats why.. still some people like your patti are young enough to do all these things..:-)
beebuu..

kiran sawhney said...

yummy south Indian food...mouth watering

Preeti said...

@PJ
and I miss sarson da saag, and makki ki roti ;)

@vanilla
hehe :) thanks buddy :)

@sawan
hmm.. run to the kitchen and devour wat ever is available :):)

@anonymous
Thanks for pin pointing to me:) I appreciate that but please put in your name (if) next time you drop in here :)

#ram
hehe thanks ram :)

@mayz
hmmm kaajar ka halwa.. I would appreciate some parcel up here :)

@kiran
thanks for visiting :) and come home, I ll give you all the south indian food you want ( err.. mom preparation ..don worry!!)

Anonymous said...

F...F...F...
ya Fantastic...Fabulous...Freaky!! :D
Simpy a Menu-card of a post!! :D
Especially loved the description of the way you prefer your coffee to be...same here, but with a stronger flavor and from my mom!! :D

Kartz said...

:D Gastronomic, indeed! +1 to Pala's comment...

Keshi said...

** But would run away next door when its chicken frying, I love that smeel

haha that means if u tasted it u'll turn into a non-veg immediately :) Try it?

Keshi.

I'll try 2 be truthful said...

aaaaah coffee the thing i cannot live without .But i've never had the pleasure of having true blue south indian coffee :( .anyways i like the coffee whch i make at home :)
as in for microwaves we use it mostly for heating & cooking sweetdishes , so no complains there . Have a rocking week with your sis :D

Sruthisagar Yamunan said...

Very very nice write up :)

Solitaire said...

I am hungry. :(

Preeti said...

@sreeram
hey thanks a lot buddy!!!

@kartz
aye aye sir :)

@keshi
sure :) I wanna have a go at everything :)and you come home for south indian delicacies :) and hey your ipod tombstone picture was cool :) suddenly puttin it down here since i jus remebered tat :)

@amrita
hehe :) come home buddy :) will ask mom to make you good coffee :)

@twisted elegance
thanks for visiting :)

@solitaire
hehe :) good :)

Keshi said...

so why dun u hv it? Its not a sin...we humans hv been DESIGNED to eat non-veg too..take a look at ur teeth...we r Omnivores girl :)

*HUGZ*

Keshi.

Preeti said...

@keshi
yeah yeah no sin thingy and all :) thing is I just didn get the extra urge to have a go at it. Once it comes, will surely eat and tell you how it was ::)