Kumaoni Cuisine

 Baanth (Yogurt Curry with Radish)

Ingredients

Butter Milk or Yogurt (preferably sour)              1 Kg
Gram Flour                                                        100 grams

Cumin Seeds                                                    1/2 tea spoon
Turmeric Powder                                            1/2 tea spoon
Radish                                                               100 grams
Green Chillies                                               3 (finely chopped)
Coriander Leaves                                           1/4 bunch
Oil                                                                  2 table spoon
Salt                                                                   To taste

Seasoning

Red Chilli Powder                                           1/2 tea spoon    
Whole Red Chillies                                          4 in number
Garlic (finely chopped)                                  2 cloves
Ghee (clarified butter)                                  1 table spoon

Method

-- Mix sour buttermilk, 100g of gram flour, turmeric powder and salt in a bowl.
-- Heat oil in a pan.
-- Add cumin seeds and wait for it to crackle.
-- Add chopped green chillies and cook for one minute.
-- Add the butter milk mixture.
-- Bring it to boil and reduce the heat and cook on low flame for 10 minutes
-- Wash radish and peel the skin.
-- Cut radish into small pieces in any shape of your choice or grate it.
-- Add radish to the curry.
-- Cook until the curry has a thick consistency and radish is cooked.

For Seasoning

-- Add ghee in a pan.
-- Add whole red chillies, chilli powder and chopped garlic.
-- Once the garlic turns brown, season the Baanth with this mixture.

Finally garnish it with freshly chopped coriander leaves.

Groundhog Day

Life is a great bundle of little things. And it is these very little things which (often to our own surprise!) leave a deep impact on our mind and shape our thinking and outlook towards life. Like this movie that I just watched (for the third time) called Groundhog Day. It revolves around the life of an extremely egoistic person called Phil Connors, who seems to be fighting everyday from the realities of his life. He is unhappy with his job as well as the people around him. In an attempt to appease his ego he enjoys picking up on his colleagues and views his job as that of a loser. He performs his job in a half-hearted manner and is an incorrigible pessimist. Rather than cherishing his today, he seems more engrossed in making plans for his future. Now as is well-known - ‘you reap what you sow’; even those working with him are nearly fed up with his sick attitude towards them and his life. They treat him as a sub-standard guy and don’t feel shy in making fun of his weaknesses and eccentricities right before him. This is also largely because Phil never actually interacts with anyone with any intent of actual thought-sharing. He acts as if he is too elite to be a part of such dimwit and average company of persons. Even his future plans are motivated by a desire to prove to all his colleagues what his real worth is. He is not guided by any genuine desire to make a progress in life and enjoys making witty remarks to cease a moment or two of self-satisfying pleasure. In short, he is leading a miserable life and is too lost in his own world to actually realise the same. All this continues to happen until he meets Rita.

Rita and Phil have absolutely opposite personalities. She is an extremely gentle, kind and honest person (as also described by Phil himself during the latter half of the movie). She knows what she wants in life (as in her own words 'she wants what every person wants in life – career, love, marriage and children') and even though she does not ends up doing or achieving what she had actually expected while in college (she studied French poetry), she still remains of a cheerful disposition and carries on with her life in a dignified manner. She enjoys her work immensely and tries to make it equally enjoyable and interesting for her colleagues. Though she appears a bit timid, she is not afraid to express her opinion on any demanding matter. When she observes Phil’s daft and inconsiderate ways towards his work and life, she does not hesitate in telling Phil that someday his own ways would perish his very existence. But even while expressing her opinion she remains ever so gentle and never really offends the receiver. This is largely because her opinions are based on and backed by reason and most of her observations are accurate (not prejudiced like those of Phil’s).

It is interesting to watch how these two totally opposite characters end up loving each other. However this story differs from other romantic tales because it does not follow the stereotype pattern of the main characters eventually accepting each other (and falling in love) despite certain flaws in their character. This movie shows how a good in one person can transform a negative person’s perception of life and how by remaining optimistic in life one can end up achieving much better things than what he actually considers himself worthy of. The movie portrays how little effort it takes to lead a better and fulfilled life. If we learn to find happiness in any given circumstance and respect ours as well as other people’s existence, then we can make this world a better place for us as well as for others. Moreover the plot of the movie, which is based on reliving a single day repeatedly, makes it all the more unique and enjoyable. In short, it’s a beautiful movie with a beautiful message, which is why I never get tired of watching it again and again!    

       

Given my immense interest in movies I've decided to add yet another section to my blog which shall be solely devoted to my views on some of my favorite movies. Like all other posts, these observations are also purely personal and based on my perception of a given work!