The crumbling cookie

Did I remember to tell you that we have finally found a house? For those of you who have been following the rather un-eventful progress of my student life in Brisbane, you would be aware that we have been furiously scouring the neighbourhoods for a comfortable and affordable housing proposition. (Refer to my post on House Hunting) Well last week, we finally zeroed in on a house and more importantly, the house owners zeroed in on us! Relieved with our success (somewhat natural after going through a stream of units, town houses and queenslanders, with a somewhat zombie-like precision) we allowed ourselves a few quiet moments of celebration.

Anyways, apparently the agony of moving houses does not end with locating the perfect house. Oh dear – apparently – that is merely the tee-off point! While I was anxiously contemplating furniture and pots and pans and trying to match them with our ever-so tied up purse strings, my house mate Saee was in merry oblivion. All that she seemed to be doing was, day dreaming about entertaining people. She had encountered the minuscule issue of knowing insufficient people to suit her grand catering plans, so was short listing people we worked with, or had met once, or had heard about from mutual friends as potential invitees!

As we anxiously parted with six weeks of rent in advance though, our merriment soon dried up. Suddenly the purses seemed feather light, and we still had to pay for the existing lease, buy durables and some furniture and figure out a way to move it all into the house. Moving houses certainly aided in adding a natural salt and pepper look to my full head of ebony tresses!

Yesterday we signed the lease and paid up the money in trepidation. But then, a girl friend at work volunteered some spare furniture she had (she can furnish a second home – ours!!) My adorable boss P, gifted us some lounge furniture and the land lord on our current lease requested if we could move out early – since our lease expiry was clashing with his impending vacation. A friend of Saee’s and a few others piped up to help with the actual move.

As things fell into place with some kind of jigsaw puzzle perfection, Saee and I could not help but marvel at the events. We contemplated our initial anxiety and the eventual perfect outcome over a pot of mint tea and a slice of hot lemon pie….Divine intervention? Maybe? Or maybe, that is just the way the cookie crumbles…!

 

Khana Khazana (The food treasure trove)

I must apologise for having disappeared for such a long time – but the double whammy of upcoming examinations and a busy period at work have consistently eaten into my time for active blogging…. A very unfortunate occurrence I must add! However today I have revolted, pushing away my law books (I have added that subject in just to give my readers the impression that I am swotting long and hard at my serious study…but nevertheless!) and reached for my sleek little notebook with obvious delight. (The fact that the upcoming examination time is a period when I suddenly find cleaning the house, organising my things, even exercising and cooking much more appealing, may have something to do with it!)

Yesterday I volunteered to go weekly shopping for the house – a chore that is routinely looked into by my flatmate. Stepping into the departmental store, I could not help but wander into the lanes and shelves and lose myself in the wonderful wares. I saw plump, crisp celery waiting to be chopped into a refreshing salad, cherubic cherry tomatoes and the most wonderful snow peas. My mind was in overdrive as I planned the evening meal, picking up fresh ingredients as I went along.

For those of you who know me from India, you will know that I am obsessed with the perfect bunch of basil, (that I found purple basil yesterday delighted me beyond reason!), gleaming baby carrots, pok choy and the like. Unfortunately, locating such vegetables in India was scarce and the few wilted species that one would find, rarely lent anything more than a scant comfort to the soul.

Finally I settled on tossing a crunchy salad with various leaves, shredded carrots and orange segments, with some basil-speckled penne for dinner. Eager to get started on my culinary journey, I rushed home to start cooking. When I got home, I discovered that the girls too had been out shopping – but to the Indian store. They had located spinach (Paalak), fenugreek leaves (Methi) and okra (Bhendi) – all of which are the basic Indian vegetables – very rarely seen in Brisbane.

That evening as I smacked my lips….having enjoyed dinner thoroughly, I contemplated my meal of spicy okra with caramelised onions (masala bhendi) and rich velvety pulses (daal makhani) scooped up with wheat flour bread (chapattis). Rare commodities are always precious – and the definition of rare changes with time. There truly is nothing better than the comfort of home cooked Indian food!