Stuffed Omelette

"What you have Chhotu?" 

Sandy was thoroughly drenched. There was no point of taking any shelter anymore. But he was starving for a cup of tea or coffee to warm up his tired limbs and naturally something to eat. He was on his way back home and hitching for last 20 minutes for a taxi. And moreover the sudden rain had ruined his entire romantic mood that was weaving the future he wanted to spend with Sai. 

"Namaste Dada!!! What you want?" The boy popped up from this dark shadowy roadside snack bar. Sandy was waiting outside and a bit in hesitant whether to enter or not. But the jocund welcome tone of the boy made him comfortable to reserve a corner sit for him.

"First serve me a hot tea and something to eat." Sandy replied.

"Ok. Then try our Egg Noodles.." Cackled the boy.

Sandy just wanted something to eat and the words -Egg Noddles, made his stomach rumbled with a jiggle. He nodded his head and ordered to bring it quickly. He chose a corner table next to the door. So that the dripping water drops from his body could flow down through the door, brushing the wet steps and then get mingled in the water logged street. Ah, this is his city of joy, where a 10 minutes heavy rain turns a dry road into a creek. He could see the two way traffic moving in slow space splashing the water which is curling down again to kiss the stagnant water. 

"Ah, Sai where are you!!!" Sandy felt a bolted emotion suddenly choked his throat. He was missing her so much. If she was here she would be jumping like a little girl and sharing her single precious excitement while enjoying the incessant rain and the music of the droplets paring with the splashing water. She loves rain......Sandy took out his phone and clicked a picture and sent Sai through whatsapp. A sad smiley blinked up right away and then:

"Missing me?"

"Hun.."

"Love you.."

"Love you too.."

"Dada your tea and Egg Noodles.." Chhotu disrupted the song of the love birds and served the ordered dish.

"What is this?, I ordered for Egg Noodles." Sandy with a surprised face asked the boy.

The boy jovially replied, "Are Dada this is the special Egg Noodles. Once you eat, you will ask for more." The boy vanished inside in no time. 

Sandy took a look around the room. It was quite full. All were busy in chatting or engaged with their phones. Munching, sipping and gulping. Sandy's face reflected a kind of disappointment. Though he was an egg lover, right now he was not in a mood to have an Omlette. He was craving more for the Egg Noodles. His mind was slowly getting heated up. He clicked a picture of the dish and sent it to Sai:

"At which angle will you call it Egg Noodles??"

"What!! Are you kidding?? This is an Omlette... hahaha "

"I ordered for the famous Egg Noodles of this place and this is what I was served."

"Hahahaha...Enjoy..."

Sandy was very hungry and whatever was served in front of him had started to lure him. He cut a piece and forked it to make a way to his mouth. Oh, my what was this peeping out!!! Noodles!!!! Therefore the Omlette was looking so fatty than the usual one. A smile twinkled in his face. He took a bigger piece along with the noodles and then he closed his eyes. A sheer joy of happiness shivered down through his veins. He had never tasted such a tasty dish before in his life. 

"Sai, it is Egg Noodles!!!! And it is delicious. I will surely bring you here to taste it."

"What??"

"I mean it is Egg Noodles or rather I should say Stuffed Omlette with noodles."

"Hahahahaha.....So lesson learnt don't make assumption by name. Taste it and then decide... ;) :P"

Sandy finished his plate in no time. And the hot tea helped him to regain back his energy again to start his struggle to reach home through his water logged pathway.

"Chhotu, the Egg Noodles was awesome."

"I told you..It is the famous dish here.." The happy boy bid good bye to Sandy holding a tip of ten rupees in his hand.

Ingredients:

You need some stuffing. Her I have taken Vegetable Noodles (The normal way we make at home)

For each roll we need 2 eggs

Grated Cheese (as per requirement)

Tomato Sauce

Salt to taste

Black pepper powder

Oil/butter for frying

Method:

1. Beat two eggs nicely. Ad Salt and Black pepper powder as per taste.

2. Take a non-stick pan. Heat Oil/Butter and then pour the Egg. Make sure to spread it evenly in a round big circle. 

3. In a low flame let it cook till the surface looks done. Now take small portion of the stuffing (Here I added homemade noodles) and line vertically. Leave a little space on the top and the bottom. Top some grated cheese on it. In skilled hand roll the omlette and wrap the noodles. Let it be done for another couple of minutes. And then serve with some ketchup or salad.

Notes:

1. You can make many variations of it. Different kinds of stuffing can me made, like fried rice, stir fried vegetables, stir fried sausages, dry minced chicken or some stir fried boneless chicken  etc.

2. If you want to avoid the egg yolk then just make it with egg whites. It comes out pretty well. I often make it for my parents and in-laws as they are prone to cholesterol. 

 Nutritional Value:
For the kids it is very healthy and they like it when you serve it with the variations mentioned above. Along with the egg one can get the supplemented proteins, vitamins along through the vegetables too.

The Tactile Aesthesis

Hello every body!!! How you all are doing???? I am not back yet in this creative blogosphere. Still struggling with the new settlement, hopefully this will be the permanent one, in Kolkata. I just wanted to make my lonely blog a bit active. So here is a short  story for you. Hope you will enjoy it.

This is my daughter when she was just 2 & half days old.

Her old aching limbs needed earnestly a fresh air walk. She locked the door and went out to relax in the fresh breeze for a while. She had a small shaded trail guarded by big green trees in her apartment complex, which she felt the only treasure remained in this concrete world. The air was no fresher to inhale but still the trees worked as the catalysts to strain out the pollution and spread the freshness in the area. Burden of thoughts, leaned down her head and her eyes aimlessly followed the path and suddenly got stuck on a feather. A feather with a colour of yellow and black and the length might be a palm long. She knew this bird, but didn’t know its name. She often saw it from her kitchen window, humming in the trees, flying from one branch to the other. Her heart suddenly felt with joy and the 9 year old child jumped out of her and picked up the feather in no time. Her life within a fraction of moment dated 50 years back when she was a desperate feather collector and was awarded the first prize in her school project for her feather collection. She rested her body on a lonely bench on the side of the trail and felt her pounding heart which was though little bit exhausted with the brisk walk, much more excited on getting a suddenly found treasure. Her wrinkled and trembling fingers touched the soft surface of the feather. The delicate and smoothness of the feather just injected a weird kind of sensation in her whole body and it went straight and hit her heart. She felt a different kind of happiness and relaxation. A different kind of excitement started to run through her blood. She was holding the feather with the utmost care she could give it to. She didn’t want to distort the shape of the feather or any of its barbs. Her aged limbs were trying to gather all the power to give it the full comfort. The touch sensation of the feather infused new life in her senescing body. Again it took her to the moment when she first held her daughter in her arms. The little bundle of joy made her whole life blessed. Though she was young enough at that time, her hands were trembling too then. Her heart was beating fast with a fear that might be her touch would hurt her little soft baby. Today she was feeling the same first motherhood experience after so many years just after touching the feather. Her heart swelled with happiness and the joy flooded down her cheeks just alike what she felt that moment when she first had her baby in her arms. The two ages suddenly commixed with a new age and all her burdened soul, her burdened age energised with a new light of power to live life. She touched the feather in her cheek and closed her eyes, she felt like touching her newborn baby. She sensed the same joy and ecstasy. Her charged body headed towards home. Now her hands or limbs were not trembling nor were her limbs aching any more. She went straight to her room and grabbed for a secure place to keep the feather. The mere feather was not a mere feather to her anymore. It’s the source of power to live and sense the precious moments once again. Her excitement could not wait for a moment to share about her treasure and the tactile sensation with her husband, who would be back any moment from his job and her grown up married daughter who calls every day at night.

""Happy Blogging""

Bracelet

Karma was heading towards his office after a long vacation. The treetops had started to catch the fall colour. He had never seen the beauty of the fall in this way. They seemed to him like the newly wed bride getting the first blush on her face with the first touch of her husband. Then he had the second thought of the bride, getting the cachet of marital bliss on her parting line with the dispersed vermilions. A very contented smile spread all over his face. He was married now.

He had taken only a two weeks break, but it seemed to him a long vacation as he got married in these two weeks. Now he could proudly say,' I am married ' and would stop envying his married couple friends. Though the life of celibacy has its own essence, marriage has a totally different charm if one is married to a beautiful lovable lady. He always wanted to get married to the earliest and to love his wife from the core of his heart giving all the happiness of the world as much as he could provide. A romantic by heart he always kept on nurturing the life with a partner in his imagination. When he first saw her picture in a matrimonial site he fell in love instantly with the endearing smile stretched in Jinia's face. And he found himself then the luckiest man when the proposal proceeded and everything got fixed. Everything happened like a fairytale. They got married within 3months and returned back to Denver a couple of days back. Now it's a new journey of life with his beloved wife and to make the home a dream land where only the language of love will décor their nest.

His office was just in 2.5miles distance form his home. He had not yet reached his office, he started to eagerly wait for the lunch time, when he would go home and have lunch with his wife. He tried to think what she might be doing right now. Might be she was sipping the morning tea, sitting in front of the patio and admiring the beauty of the new land. Or  might be she was arranging the kitchen in her own way and preparing herself what to cook for the lunch, or she was adorning herself in front of the mirror and gently combing her black silky hair or she….His office came. He parked his car and headed towards the office. He was feeling little bit of nervous to face the gang and the rummy tattles by them. And thinking of the devil there he was.

Joy spanked his back from behind and spreading a puckish smile all over his face, said:" Hey dude, got the magic?? Enjoying??? How is Bhabi(sister-in-law)?? ". Karma now started to blush and his nervous soul just gave a smile instead of saying anything. Silence is always the great saviour from anything. He slicked in to his cubicle as soon as possible to avoid the group. But the gang jumped on him with a big congratulation and had made him embarrassed more with the songs of connubial bliss. It didn't last long as the work pressure buried every body in a cracking silence with a rhythm of the tick tuck sounds on key boards which kept on echoing from this corner to that corner.

Karma called his wife to say that he reached office and wanted to talk for few more time. But the conversation just finished in 'ok' ;'bye'. Karma's impatient soul kept on tracking the time and when it's 12 noon , Karma rushed to his car and headed to home. He thought today at night he will give the card and the bracelet to his wife.

When he reached home he expected a warm welcome or he would give a hug to his wife. But instead he confronted a pale face and a gloomy atmosphere at home. The lunch was served very heedlessly. His wife was just in a different world not willing to talk to him at all. He thought, might be she was not well due to the long journey and that's why she was not in a mood in talking or might be she was missing her home too. Karma was not in a hurry but set off to office early to avoid the glumness of his wife and to give her more space by her own. Before leaving he told his wife that they would have the dinner out side today. He drove back to office. He consoled himself that everything would change when Jinia would get the bracelet and the card and he would tell her when and how he bought this gift of love and saved it all these years only for his love.

It was 2 years back when one of his female colleagues, wore a bracelet and showed proudly to every body at the lunch time that this was given by her husband. The bracelet was embedded with some colourful bids and stones. It's very simple but unique too. Karma noted down the gift of love and that day in the evening he went to the shopping mall and bought the bracelet in a hope that when he would get married he would give this gift of love to his wife. Romantic by heart he bought a card with a poem of love printed on it along with bracelet. He secretly treasured this in his closet all these years and finally it’s the time to gift them to his beloved wife.

The afternoon how became evening he was not able to follow as all the pending workload didn't give him a single moment to lift his head from it.

He was now feeling excited from the bottom of his heart and planning how to make the evening one of the most memorable evenings of their life. He tried to imagine when he would give his wife the first gift of love how she would react.

Karma waved goodbye to the office gang, promised to throw a grand party in the next week, hurriedly slipped in his car and rushed back to his home. He unlocked the door with the extra key and saw his wife sitting on the sofa facing towards the patio. The dinning table was in a mess with the dry unwashed dishes and bowls. He put his hand on his wife's shoulder, she jerked his hand and disappeared in to the bedroom with out saying a single word. Karma was not able to understand what had happened to her. First he thought she was sad for missing her family, then the second thought rose, she was angry with him. But he was not able to trigger out the reason. Karma followed Jinia to the bed room and saw she was crying covering her face with her hands. Karma rushed to her and held her in his arms and just about to ask the reason why she was crying, she pushed Karma away from her and said:"You liar, why didn't you tell me that you had an affair before??"

Karma seemed to fall from the sky and didn't understand how to react. He told:"I didn't get you what you are saying?"

"Yea I know now you will just deny the whole thing. But I get the prove of that you had an affair before."

"I am telling the truth. There must be some misunderstanding."

"What misunderstanding??" She showed him the card and the bracelet.

Karma started to laugh and said with a relaxed tone:"This one is a gift that I bought for you."

Jinia yelled at him:"You liar, liar, liar!!! Don't involve me in this awful game. You bought it two years back, I got the cash memo to prove that. You hardly know me less than three months. How come you could tell that you bought it for me. If I would know that I am going to marry a filthy fibber, I would choose rather to die.. "

Karma tried to convince her that he was telling the truth. But everything went in vain and she threw the card and bracelet at him and told him to get out from the room. Karma with a sinking soul picked up his treasure and dragged himself out from the room. He heard a bang of the door shut behind him. He just felt that all his energy was drained out. He never thought in his dream that the token of love could show him the bitter side of it. He felt that somebody had shovelled his heart in to pieces and put a big stone on it. Now the stone came up and sat on his throat. He was not able to see clearly as his eyesight had become blur and everything around him was getting hazy. Jinia came in and announced the final judgment:

"I want a divorce. I don't want to stay with a deceiver."

Today was the 12th day after they got married, they had just started their journey and now it had come to an end. Karma was not able to say a single word. The bracelet in his hand had fallen down on the floor in parts and the bids and the stones scattered around the room.

(Behind the scene: I have taken the snaps of the bracelet few days back and wanted to post it. So I thought of writing a story and use the snaps to make it more fascinating. So this is how the story of Bracelet took birth. All the characters here mentioned are fictitious and entirely plotted in the imagination of the author)

The Fumbling Little Chocolate Pie

The late afternoon hours are the guilt hours that haunt Rim to succumb herself in the world of junk foods. Everyday, walking & jogging for 2 miles, shedding 300 calories a day, becomes futile for this irrepressible habit. She calls it the ghostly hours which bewitch her to do the guilt. Her tongue starts to tickle, her belly starts to rumble and her limbs hypnotically draw her to the sneak picks to collect the chocolates or the chips which are hidden in some secret chambers away from her daughter's eyes. Her mind never supports this act, rather it will keep on counseling showing all the negative approaches with a long speech about' loosing weight is not a simple job'. But none can stop this gaga moment when she feels like tasting the heaven and enjoying the most serene hours of her life. Each bite to a chip, the munching sound, start to play the rhythm of happiness in her heart. She feels the childhood again, the stealthy attitude to steal something from her mother's kitchen. Now she is playing this kind of hide and seek with her daughter. She never makes any sound to wake her daughter up and destroy this happy hour when she gets only a chance to delve in the world of obstinacy, doing something totally unacceptable to some savvy culture who believe in beauty of a woman lies in her perfect chassis.

This was one in those ghostly hours she gave birth of the gooey creamy chocolate pie. When at the prime time no chips or chocolates were found, the chocolate pie from the movie Julie and Julia suddenly came in her mind and tried to strangle her. The delirium made her all most mad unless and until she made a so called chocolate pie to aplomb the crazy hours. She dug up her refrigerator and treasured a half pint of cream, a left over crumble cream cheese, from the shelf she rescued the chocolate morsels to ultimately free them. She made the chocolate filling and pour it in a pie crust. Proud she was quite in a transition when she first tasted the umber filling. It’s the best chocolaty chocolate repletion that she ever tasted in her life. The moment got frozen, the world stopped moving. It's only she and the pie who were propelled in smacking. She never thought that she would ever fall in love with this moment, with this taste. She never thought that the chocolate pie will give her the amorous feeling to feel the youth again.

She closed her eyes and she became Julie Powell of Julie & Julia suddenly, who was busy in making a chocolate Pie and searching for the pacification in it to get rid of the tension of a dissatisfied job. Then Her husband would come and give a pat for her creative culinary creation. Rim doesn't have a job. For the last couple of months she got tired in search of a job. So she can't grumble on that rather she has an excuse to show her discontentment for the unemployed state.

But she didn't want to spoil this rattling moment when the chocolate pie was working as a psychoactive drug and giving her the intense pleasure of reaching the utopia. She giggled in her mind as she thought that she had become a chocoholic and going to the doctor to get treated.

She suddenly heard a sound. And her heart started to beat fast.

Was her daughter woke up from her noon time siesta?

Her heart sank down for a moment. She wanted to enjoy this moment more for sometime. Her disheartened soul stalked to her daughter's room. She jumped with joy. No her daughter was still in a deep sleep. Her heart melted down in love seeing the innocent face, a face in peace and totally unaware of what was happening around. She showered a bucket of kisses from a distance to her daughter and then tiptoed back to the kitchen.

Now it was the time to give a final look to the chocolate pie. The filling she made that only covered half of the crust. Rim got baffled in thought how to fill the empty space of the crust. She started to search her kitchen to find an accompaniment for her chocolate pie. Her hand suddenly bumped with a packet of Britannia Thin Arrowroot biscuit. She hated this biscuit through out her life, till now Rim hated that 'dry', 'less sweet', 'no taste' biscuits form the bottom of her heart.

Then why were the packet hanging around her pantry??

In her first visit to the Indian store in this extraneous land she collected all the Indian labeled food as a souvenir. This packet also came along with those. She bought it, pushed it in a suffocating dark corner to decompose. But every time whom we neglect too much they rescue us in our most low time.

'Ting'-The thin arrowroot biscuit packet lighted an idea in her mind. She grinded half of the packet of the biscuits and spread a bed of biscuit crumbs on the empty space of the pie. Her favorite bottle of chocolate syrup also didn't hesitate to empty itself in designing a clunky topping on the pie. An enchanted smile started to spread in her face and a jolted sensation started to run in her vein, in her blood. She put it in the Refrigerator to set.

Her greedy soul was not in a mood to wait for any more so she cut a small piece of the chocolate pie and relaxed herself on the chair. She took the first bite . She felt a luscious commingled taste of a tangy-sweetness of the chocolate filling, the crispy crust and a tasteless powdery puff of the biscuit crumb. Rim closed her eyes. She saw her mother, 10 years back, requesting Rim to have thin arrowroot  biscuits as the grocery was pending and only the biscuits were there to calm the hungry tide. And Rim in full of rejection showing her mother to get tortured by finding some other way to feed her. She felt her throat was choking and tears started to well up in her eyes. She took the second bite. She felt like she was at home with her parents. She was cuddling in her mother's arms. An intense happiness fluxed through her body. She never knew that the fumbling little chocolate pie would turned those ghostly hours in an enlivened flavor. She never knew that a silly little crazy desire would show her the spirits of life.

***********************************************************

This is off to Of Chalks And Chopsticks event hosted by Padmaja and started by Aqua,
and
Spotlight : baking without oven, hosted by Indrani.

Dear readers, please do let me know how you like the story. Honest opinions are very much welcome. I really need your frank and true feedbacks. All characters mentioned in the story are fictitious, unless and until mentioned. And of course don't forget to let me know how you like the Chocolate pie too. This is very easy to make and the taste is too good.  Now enjoy the recipe below:

 

 

Ingredients:  Instant Pie Crust- 1 Chocolate Morsels- 1 cup Light Cream- ½ cup Cream Cheese- 2 table spoon full (room temperature) Sugar- as per taste Thin Arrowroot Biscuit- 12-14 Chocolate Syrup (optional)- For topping Method:- 1. Melt the chocolate in the microwave for 1mnt. Pls keep on checking in between so that it should not get burnt. You can also use a double boiler instead. 2. Add the cream and fold nicely. 3. In a separate bowl beat the cream cheese in a smooth paste and then add the chocolate mixture in it. Taste the mixture, if you want to add more sweetness to it, then add a couple of spoons of sugar more. 4. Pour the mixture to the pie crust. 5. Grind the biscuits in crumbs and then pour on the pie. Spread the crumbs evenly to make soft puffy bed on the top of the creamy chocolate layer. 6. You can add some chocolate syrup on the top to add more chocolaty flavour and make it more attractive. 7. Set in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours. Then cut it and enjoy as a tea time snack or a perfect dessert at the dinner table.

The New Leaf

It is not dripping, that means it has become frozen. The tree is standing with its arms widely open towards the sky, without a single leaf. Right now the treasure it has, except the dried bushes, is the frozen rain drops, which are hanging from its hands like glass marbles.