Momo Mia!!!

Whoever said "Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach him to fish and you feed him for a lifetime", obviously hasn't experienced the joys of eating his Mother's fish curry! Methinks no matter how well you cook your fish, errr I meant your dish, it will never be as tasty as your mother's!

You know that.

Your husband knows that.

And even your toddlers know that! 

Once The Mother arrived, the husband moved from his usual monosyllabic 'Hmmmm' that reeked of disappointment when you monotonously announced the night's menu, to grinning blissfully and doing a sycophantic, "But Aunty, how can I eat so many dishes?". To which Aunty beamed with contentment and gratification and said, "Arre baba, you must enjoy all this while I'm here. After that you will anyway go back to your one curry meal" (cooked by Aunty's own daughter, who was standing right there, mind you!) 

And the fussy brats moved from "Mamma me no likes this"; this implying anything on their plate, to walking into the kitchen each evening and asking The Mother, "What's dinner, Didu (grandma)?" followed by wild cheers of excitement, no matter what she said. 

So I did what any sensible, smart adult would do in my place. Instead of crying "Et Tu, Brute?", I sat back and let The Mother take complete charge of the kitchen. If a part of me ever felt sad about how much everyone preferred The Mother's cooking to mine, I shut that part up by stuffing it with her yummy moghlai parathas, her paturis, her fish curries and her momos! 

And I was rewarded for my good sense by the sight of my 2 fussy eaters gleefully digging into her pulao and fish, lapping up her idlis and chutney and polishing off her momos with ketchup, her chicken pakoras with ketchup and everything else she made with ketchup slathered all over!

Now we come to the Momos. It has always been The Mother's speciality. They taste like little drops of Heaven; infinitesimally better than the momos I used to order from the little Tibetan joint near my Mumbai apartment.

Till now neither my sisters, nor I have tried to learn it. We probably wouldn't make it as well as her anyway! So we used to wait for those few weeks/ months when she came to visit or for that yearly trip to the Motherland. And then spent the rest of the year waiting, nostalgically remembering her momos and her moghlai parathas.

But this time, something changed. My twins fell in love with her momos. So much so, that V2, who hates food that doesn't come in the form of potato chips or chocolates, suddenly started asking for momos. 

"Didu, me wants momo for dinner" he would say before we marched off to school. And an over the moon Didu would get down to making it for her grandchild. 

Then when it was time to leave, Didu was worried. "What will my grandchildren eat when I'm gone?". What could I say? She had proven during her 3 month stay that "people will eat anything as long as you know how to cook". 

So I sighed, graciously surrendered and offered to learn. 

This is her recipe. There are a few caveats that you should know before you proceed - 

1. Most of these quantities are not exactly to measure. The Mother doesn't do anything to measure unless she is baking. 

2. The photographs are TERRIBLE! But hey, do you know how difficult it is to take pictures while you are busy trying to cook with two hungry toddlers waiting and with your MOTHER breathing down your neck, shaking her head and going Tch Tch every two minutes???? And then let's face it, when it comes to food, I am an eater, not a photographer! 

So here, without further ado, is the recipe ~ 

CHICKEN STEAMED MOMOS 

Step 1: Making the Dough 

You will need Maida/ Flour. I took 3 small bowls, about the size of a those tiny, delicate cups that you can serve Chinese tea in. 

1 egg white 

1 and half tsp Sunflower/ Canola oil 

Salt to taste 

Knead all the above well with a little water, till it is really soft. 

Step 2 : Making the Filling 

You will need for the filling -

1/2 kg chicken minced (you probably wouldn't need the entire filling in one go. I make it and use it over 2 days)

1 large onion finely chopped

1 inch ginger grated

1 whole garlic finely chopped

1 big handful coriander leaf finely chopped. 

Green chillies finely chopped (which I add later on after I finish making for the brats) 

1 and half teaspoon sesame oil 

Salt to taste 

Mix all these ingredients in a bowl. Set aside. 

This is how your filling will look.

Step 3: Preparation

Now rub some oil all over the steaming surface in your steamer. Then put water in the steamer and let it boil. 

Roll the dough into circular puris. Remember they have to be really thin else your momo will be quite thick.

Put the filling.

Close it. This part is somewhat tricky. The Mother says make the pleats like one does for a sari or a pleated skirt. (Mine obviously looks like a skirt that is a fashion disaster)

After making about 7-8, put the batch in the steamer and let it steam. Each batch would take about 15-20 minutes.

I tried to do it the way she asked and found it difficult so I ended up making them into little money bags (much to The Mother's displeasure)

And yes, after your momos are done, instead of throwing away the water that was used for steaming, you could use the water (since it gets flavoured during the steaming) and add some vegetables, noodles, chicken pieces, stock pot to it, make it into a soup and down it with the momos!

Of halycon moments at Hidcote

Had Hidcote not been a garden, and that too one of the most renowned, one of the most beautiful gardens in UK, the title of this post would have probably read "Histrionics in Hidcote"

I love flowers. I love being around them, buying them, arranging them and when I have those rare attacks of green fingers, then growing them too! Nothing makes me forget my troubles as much as being in a flower shop or a garden or just standing in my kitchen with a vase and some flowers, fiddling, sorting, figuring out how best to arrange them! And just how much I enjoy being around flowers and my camera, you shall realise from this post, i.e. if you didn't guess it already from the endless posts and photographs of every possible flower I lay my eyes on, that I bore everyone with.

So when we were spending a long weekend in Cotswolds, the one place I was really keen on visiting was Hidcote Manor garden, reputed to be one of UK's greatest gardens. It was created not by a Brit, but an American horticulturalist, Major Lawrence Johnston, who lovingly and painstakingly worked on it for 40 years (!!!), even going on plant collecting expeditions or sponsoring such expeditions to Asia, Africa and South America to bring back plants for his garden. Later it was acquired by the National Trust and is now run as a part of National Trust attractions. 

The first day we planned to go to Hidcote, it rained and rained and we had to give up our plans. Day 2 the sun came out bright and clear and we took a trip to a picturesque village called Bourton-on-the-Water which was to be followed up with a visit to Hidcote. Unfortunately for me, Bourton with its Model village, Bird Park, pretty bridges and a little stream running through it, made the Vs go berserk and they refused to budge. So the poor mom was made to shelve her plans and leave it for the last day, the day we were driving back.

And as luck would have it, the day started with black clouds and rains that showed no signs of letting up. Undaunted, with  a "It shall be now or never" motto guiding my actions, I decided that the trip to Hidcote would still be done, with a slight change in plans - with the 3 men in my life sitting and waiting in the car while I visited the garden on fast forward mode. After convincing a very reluctant hubby with a whole lot of emotional blackmailing about how I need to follow my bliss and with promises of coming back before they missed me, I stepped out ...............
only to discover I was missing my wallet! And not just that, I couldn't find the diaper bag which had my wallet! 

Now that was a double whammy! First, the loss of the wallet was enough to cause sorrow, anguish and distress. And then we also were missing a diaper bag which had the nappies and the juice and the tissues and all the thingummyjigs that are of crucial importance when you are travelling with a child, leave alone two! 

So while I stood there in the rains, wondering what to do, the hubby suggested that he drive back to the  cottage we had rented (which we had vacated, locked and then slid the key into the post box for the owner) and try to figure out how he could get the door to open so he could look for the bag and the wallet while I spend that time visiting Hidcote.

And with no better solution coming to mind, that is exactly what I did. 
And in the span of that hour and a half, I discovered tranquillity and beauty that was incomparable! I forgot the rains, I forgot that I didn't have a rain cover for my camera, I forgot my missing wallet and I forgot that there was a poor man out there minding 2 little kids and looking for my bag and wallet. 
All that existed were the flowers, me and my camera. Nothing else. No worries, no stress, no screaming children, no husband nagging me to hurry up, no existential angst, no sneak peek into Facebook or my email. Nothing.. just sheer peace.

These are the pictures from those few moments. They aren't as great as they could have been - the grey skies didn't help the lighting, nor did the raindrops that kept falling on my lens, but still they made for an unforgettable trip.

For more pictures of this garden, please visit this link

P.S - After about 90 minutes of pure bliss, was brought crashing back to reality by phone calls that came in every 2 minutes with the husband begging in desperation, "Hurry up, the boys are getting restless" and the brats screaming "Mamma, me potty"

. 

And yes, we found the wallet. And the bag. I had left them both on the door step of the B&B while I stopped to click some pictures of their tulip garden. I was just lucky it was a small village and no one had come by and discovered it in our absence!

Two Fast, Two Furious... the Journey towards Year Three

My two Little Big Men just turned three this month. Seems like it was only yesterday, that we put up balloons in the garden and invited the fox and the squirrels for their 2nd birthday! 

And yet, even though the year went by in a "blink and you shall miss it" fashion, what an eventful year this was for my 2 brats who - 

- moved countries - from sunny, hot, humid Singapore to cold, wet, grey UK, 

- adapted to a new time-zone & weather conditions 

- started school 

- learnt to ride a trike and a scooter 

- and to play tennis and football 

- went on day trips without Daddy and Mamma 

- moved from their cribs to big boy beds 

- gave up their pacifiers without a fight (makes one believe that miracles do happen!) 

- got toilet trained 

- became fashionistas in their own right. 

- went on real holidays that involved staying in B&Bs and road trips. 

- discovered the forbidden pleasures of chocolate, French fries, potato chips on one hand and grandma's momos, luchis and chicken pulao on the other....

As I start this post with no clear idea in mind as to what I want to write, I cannot but help reminisce of all that I learnt and of course, un-learnt from The Double Trouble in these last 365 days, about the great transition that is moving from Age 2 to Age 3.... 

I decided to be generous and share all the wisdom I gathered. So, here it goes - 

1. Head first is the ONLY way to go down the stairs. Infact diving head first is the only way to do most things, be it jumping off the bed or climbing down stairs or getting off your high chair!!! 

2. Every request/ command/ statement of yours will have an equal and opposite reaction - for instance, 

"Come in, it's raining" is always to be interpreted as "Run as far and as fast from Mummy as you can". 

But don't lose heart. 

The good news is that a "Yes, please go ahead and run into the holly bush! It will be so much fun when you get a few thorns into your hands" will always ensure they stay away from the holly bush even when you are not watching! 

3. No one understands Lily Tomlin's maxim of "For fast acting relief, try slowing down" better than a toddler.  

You soon discover that each time you are in a hurry, your child will do everything to slow Time down. Ours usually do that by crawling. Literally. The greater the rush, the more slowly they crawl.

For every step forward, take three sideways and two backwards!

In the process of getting 2 toddlers ready and moving, you will discover you have acquired skills that would get you immediate alternate employment as a prize sheep dog! But God help you, should you get fed up of the delay and scoop them in your arms and try to make a run for it, for that is when the urge to visit the toilet will strike!! 

4. Talking of visits to the toilet, here is the first golden rule I learnt right after toilet training - 

You will always, ALWAYS hear a "Mamma me do potty now", each time you are in the middle of an elaborate dinner or worse, you are on a motorway, with no Services sign in sight for atleast the next twenty miles. 

Then this is what will happen next - 

You will spend the next fifteen to twenty panic filled minutes trying to distract your child from thinking about the toilet and at the same time urging the hubby to drive faster towards the next Services pit stop. On reaching, while the hubby is still parking, you will pick your kid and sprint towards the toilet thanking every God on the planet for making it without an accident, only to hear "Mamma, me no want to do potty any more"!!! And while you are left silently fuming and trying to get your blood pressure back to normal, your child will calmly proceed to check out the candy station near the loo! 

5. Discussing poo and checking the contents of one's nose are not just bona fide ways of passing time but they are extremely fascinating hobbies that can keep one occupied and engrossed for hours. So is scratching one's bum, especially when one is out in public! 

6. If what you read in point no. 5 makes you run to the toilet to throw up, you need a reality check! And a higher "Eeeeeeww - Threshold", for you shall henceforth see many a sight that no doubt leave you grossed out for hours, if not for days. While I am now immune to the sight of V1 conducting regular taste tests on what he digs out of his nose, I realise I still have a long way to go after I almost fainted post watching V2 taste the pus that came out of his infected ear! 

NOTE - a piece of advice here for doting uncles/ aunts who makes their weekly calls on Skype - Never appear to be offended/ horrified/ shocked when you are asked to accompany them (via the laptop/ iPad/ smart phone) to the loo for potty time - it is supposed to be an honor and a privilege; it means that you are now firmly entrenched into their list of favourite people! 

7. Whilst on the topic of reality checks, here are a few more - If you are one of those who like me, said "My kids will not have their brains fried by a daily dose of T.V", chances are you will be eating your own words by the time they reach 2 and a half. You may have the strictest curfew on TV watching time (For us it's only Fireman Sam, for half an hr each morning) or you may lock the remote in the remotest of places, but you will to your horror, discover your kids know Peppa Pig, Bananas in Pajamas and the Ha Ha Hairies!

Whoever said a toddler has a limited attention span has obviously not seen one watch TV!

8. Same goes for chocolate and ice-cream and French fries. No matter how late you introduce them, how much of disinterest you show for these when you give it to them, your kids will welcome these foods with the same enthusiasm a lost alien feels when he/ she has a glimpse of the Mother ship! 

And yes, chocolate cereal will trump every meal you have cooked painstakingly. 

9. Life will be much simpler if along with an appreciation of reality, you also develop a thick skin. Learn not to be affected by "you silly girl" or "messy donkey" or "you naughty mummy" that you will hear once your little one discovers the concept of freedom of speech! 

10. Breaking things/ taking them apart is always more fun than making them!! Especially when they are things that do not belong to you! This rule is never more true than at the supermarket or a store. So stay on your guard and you may be lucky to end up with minor mishaps like having to pay only for bananas or watermelons that end up with teeth marks!

11. Sunglasses are an essential part of one's ensemble. You wear them when it rains, you wear them to the school, to the supermarket, to the park, to the beach on a windy day, to the kitchen for your meals, to the toilet and most definitely to bed, because who can predict just how annoyingly bright and sunny it might get in your dreams. Hell, you wear them everywhere except on a sunny day which is when all other fashion challenged jokers are wearing them!!!

12. Who says it's only little girls who get to play fashionistas on the loose? After all we are living in the age of David Beckham and equal opportunities! So every little boy, when he is not spitting on his own arms and legs or his brother's, apparently to keep the skin moisturised, has just as much fun playing with his mommy's expensive moisturisers, that she herself uses sparingly; has as much interest in standing in front of a full length mirror to try out her lipsticks and mascaras and in strutting about in her jewellery and handbags! Other than that, be prepared to step aside and watch him decide the clothes he wants to wear, and hold on, the ones he wants YOU to wear when you go out with him!

13. Say good bye to all your cool gadgets. Your iPhone, your iPad and any other fancy gadget you were a proud owner of, now no longer belong to you! And don't bemoan the little scratches, chocolate stains or the tiny specks of dirt, it sports these days. Just be thankful it hasn't been dunked in the bath tub or you did not have to excavate it out of the sand pit in the park! 

14. Daddy is THE FUN GUY!!! No matter how many puddles you let them splash in or how well you handle that tennis racquet, Daddy will always be the fun parent, the cool parent, the one is forever welcome to "come to my paaah-ty (party)" and the man they want to grow up to be!!! Mommy, on the other hand, gets remembered only when it is bed-time, sick time, ouch-time and of course, "I have woken up in the middle of the night and need to be patted back to sleep" time!

15. Somewhere along the line you discover your son's list of priorities. This is how it goes -

Cars, balls, chocolates/ ice-cream, pigs, donkeys, goats/cows/, sunglasses. 

Soft toys are henceforth to be used only as imaginary shark bait or as a replacement for your missing tennis/ foot ball. 

Girls are suddenly and inexplicably relegated to the bottom of the food chain, just above babies, who are at the absolute bottom, right where you and I would slot single celled organisms!

16. If you had this secret desire to be a performer, get ready! Lady Luck is just about to make your dreams come true! Your talent shall now be in great demand as you will get called forth to play every minor, extra, villainous roles that no one else wants to do - like the troll in the 3 Billy goats, like the silly boy Norman who always gets into trouble and has to be rescued by Fireman Sam or like the monkeys in the Jungle Book, because every other role is far too interesting to be handed over to you! 

17. Super heroes rule! A 2 yr old may have never seen a single episode of Spiderman, but that is who he wants to be! Like his superhero alter ego, he is equally unflinching and resolute about wanting to wear his Spiderman costume everywhere! 

Never fight the Super hero! 

Remember, Super heroes are invincible. But they are also extremely benevolent! 

So learn to be smart and use the super hero to your advantage! I did! 

The only fruit V2 would eat, and that too with a whole lot of fuss, are green grapes. Then since he associated Spiderman with the colour red, Mamma introduced him to Spiderman grapes and Spiderman apples and Spiderman watermelon! Needless to say, he has been hooked ever since! ;-)

18. Finally, in case you didn't know, the truly groovy people sleep under the bed; only uncool people sleep on it!