My World of Food and Travel

It’s time for another jungle tale from my dad’s repertoire. Or rather, my recollections of the stories I heard. I had nearly forgotten this one when a casual conversation regarding tigers attacking elephants brought it back.  The story begins on an autumn afternoon when Deta (my dad) was touring the jungle on elephant back with another member of his staff. Co-incidentally, it was the same time of the year as today, ie. February end.  Now, let me share some jungle trivia with you. Forests like Manas, where this story takes place, have tall wild grasses which have to be burned down when they become dry during the non-monsoon season. Why do they have to be burned? Because, the accumulation of dried grasses become a danger to sporadic jungle fires and also obstructs new plants from coming up. That ‘burning’ is a controlled procedure. Parts of the jungle are singled out in installments and the grasses burned down under supervision. After the fires are put out, all...

Doesn’t the picture look dreadful? So unappetizing! And yet how much we all loved the dish. Just goes on to prove that looks can be so deceptive.  I had to prowl on the net again when the husband brought home this 2.5 kg rohu fish. I hardly know a few fish recipes and I generally keep on carrying out experiments till all of us get tired of them. As a matter fact, I don’t think I made this recipe the correct way. Oops! The secret is out! Maybe that is why the picture did not come out well. Hmm. Then again, I made the recipe with rohu fish steaks, which is an Indian fresh water fish and is very mild in taste. The original recipe (or rather recipes, as I mixed and matched 2-3 of them) called for sole, flounder or haddock fillets. Now, who wants to wait till those fish come home?  Anyhow, the recipe seemed super simple and I thought I could whip it up easily for dinner after a hard day at office. As usual, I am always hit by trepidation when the dish ...

This is actually a recipe which failed partially due to my wrong measurements. I have never been the one to go for exact measurements; I usually eyeball them as per the number of people I am cooking for. This is the major reason behind my unwillingness to bake cakes and similar recipes that require strict adherence to ratios and proportions.   That’s how lazy I can get. Then again, the pasta did not fail altogether in the ‘taste test’ and so I thought of sharing the recipe with you. I had got some delicious spicy chicken sausages (it was written ‘curried sausages’ on the packet) and had secret plans of enjoying them alone while watching my favourite serials on Star World. That’s how selfish I can get, you see. But the plan did not work out. The husband opened the fridge one Saturday morning and pulled out the packet which I had surreptitiously stashed away in a corner.  “Hey, we have sausages!” The guy announced loudly and happily. “Let’s have them for brea...

“You will have to go further into the lake to see the birds.” “But how does one go there?” “You can take a boat.” “Where will I get a boat from?” “I have a boat. I will take you there.” This was the conversation that proved to be the turning point in our trip to Deepor Beel in Guwahati, Assam.  Deepor Beel is a vast freshwater wetland located in the south western part of Guwahati.   It is a natural habitat to many varieties of flora and fauna. Around 219 species of birds including more than 70 migratory species have been reported in the area. More about Deepor Beel here.   Cormorants over Deepor Beel We were visiting Guwahati during mid-January in 2013 and decided to pay a visit to the area. On the morning of the trip, the husband and I had a big tiff and we sat in the car with sullen faces while my dad sat behind with the baby. Not a good sign, I said to myself. We took the NH-37 and turned left at an intersection called Gorch...