A Flood of Memories and Oriental Curd Rice

She stood by the window gazing out.The sights were alien for she lived in an alien land.Alien,not in the sense that she lived in Venus or Mars,but in the land where everything was different right from the language to the culture and the people.

She wanted to talk to someone-mom,a friend-someone who would make her near to her hometown.Tears welled in her eyes and slowly rolled down her cheeks.She did not want to wallow in self pity so she made her way into the kitchen.

From the kitchen window she could see all the landscape the town offered.A beautiful view of the park nearby and the road that had rows of shops and restaurants and was always filled with people.Her eyes caught a lady talking animatedly to her teen aged daughter.Tears welled up yet again.She tried to divert herself from the scene and made plans for lunch.In no mood to cook something elaborate she thought she would make her favorite Curd rice….

Curd rice-It brought back to her the lady and her teen aged daughter,a mom and daughter,chatting happily.How she missed her mom!Mom used to make this curd rice seasoned and with fresh and dried fruits and nuts every morning, for this was her breakfast for many years.This was not because her mom couldn’t cook or anything but because she loved this dish so much.She wished mom was there making and serving it for her. Anything and everything reminded her of her mom or her home.

Curd rice also got back another memory.Many times she had heard her mom telling her that when grand mom was sick,their lunch box would hold within itself curd rice and mango pickle.How she wished she could see her grandma now.She loved her grandma who was frail lady and looked like a lady of the past but her thoughts and actions were more in tune with the modern days.Many a times she voiced her thoughts that man must change with times and not stick on to meaningless rituals of the past.A lady with such thought must have held a position in the decision making of the house if not at the assembly,but she seemed to be happy to cater to the needs of her huge family.

This elderly lady had been a great source of support and courage and she felt she must at least hear her voice.She looked at the time.It was her grandma’s nap time and she definitely did not want to wake her up.She told herself she would talk to her the first thing the next morning.

She walked up to the refrigerator and took out the yogurt container and saw a pack of mixed veggies-bean sprouts,shredded carrots,spring onion greens and took it out as well.She decided to make a different kind of curd rice today …..

She used:

Cooked rice- 1 cup
Yogurt-1 cup
Chopped veggies-1/4 cup[Bean sprouts,carrots,spring onion greens]
Oil- 1 teaspoon
Mustard-1/2 a teaspoon
Jeera/Cumin seeds-1/2 a teaspoon
Red chillies-3
Curry leaves a few
Coriander leaves to garnish
Salt to taste

1. In a bowl put in rice,3/4th of the yoghurt,chopped veggies and salt and mix well.Add more yogurt to get the desired consistency.
2. Heat oil in a small pan and put in mustard,cumin seeds,red chillies,curry leaves and when it splutters add it to the rice.
3. Mix well and garnish with coriander leaves

She carried it to the table and sat there thinking of her her mom and her grandmas failing health when another thought interrupted her.Her best friend in college-C!!C and she had been friends from the very first day of college.Their classmates always made fun of them that they were glued together for these two could never be seen alone!!

They had no secrets between them and shared all the fun,gossips and fears that seemed to float around the teens.C told her the desire of marrying her cousin,a handsome fellow,and asked her friend about her plans.She had none that time so the answer was always a shrug.

Lunch box was also another thing that these two had shared.C used to bring curd rice most of the time coz her mom was sick most of the days and the moment she opened the box C would sigh and close it.C would then share her lunch that mom had sent,a little extra always, for mom too know C’s plight..

She wondered where C was now,if she married the man she wanted and was desperate to know where she lived and what she was doing.She had lost contacts with her after they left college and both of them moved out of the place.

Slowly she started her lunch still thinking of her mom and her her dear friend C and when she was done she looked at the clock.It was half past 4!!!! Hurriedly she washed her hands and put the dishes into the sink.

In a few minutes the love of her life would be back from work .Suddenly she felt the pangs of separation from her mom lessen for she now lived with her sweetheart and knew she would talk to her mom that night !!!

She still had time to kill before he came home so sat in front of her PC and decided to share her recipe on her blog.She wanted a suitable name and came up with ‘Oriental Curd Rice’ as it has ingredients typical to the land in which she now lived……

Sharing her memories and the recipe with Aqua daze for her lovely event Chalks and Chopsticks.