It's been a while since I last posted on my blog and I kept wondering where do the prolific bloggers get their ideas...and then on an impulse I thought "Oh, what the heck! Let me just write about that - the fact that I don't know what to write about!" And like most other things that one does, you just take the plunge and the rest just comes along. Am honestly hoping that the "rest" does come along! Heh heh!
I happened to attend a dance recital recently. A new age dance form called the "Porcelain dance" that had got some generous press. It was being performed at one of the happening 5 star hotels in New Delhi and the invite graciously asked one to stay back for cocktails post the performance. I'm glad I went for this. Not that the dance was great. In fact I can't really comment much on that as the Delhi traffic played truant and I barely managed to get the last five minutes of the recital where much to my chagrin I watched the pretty danseuse go through some moves that in my dictionary would be "slapping" the self and then like an utterly confused traffic cop pointed in multiple directions. Suffice it to say that it was enough for me to work up an appetite for the wine and cocktails that were to follow. Several glasses of wine, titbits and interesting conversation with strangers followed. Having gone with a buddy of mine who is a foodie, food consultant (don't know if he calls himself that!), an avid photographer of food among many other hats that he dons, I was in for a night that could only be termed as a "gastronomical delight!"
We headed for dinner and feasted on Tamil cuisine from the ancient ages which was painstakingly researched and lovingly created and presented by a very charming young chef named George. I was intrigued to discover that the cuisine did not use onions, tomato & garlic because in 7th century BC that had not been introduced in that part of then India.
I started with a refreshing drink made from jaggery, tamarind pulp and ginger. Then followed some amazingly flavoured Turkey Biryani! None of your regular biryani spices...nope! It had curry leaves among others! One word - delicious! The followed a rice with nuts - nice, tandoori quail (a first for me, that too delicately marinaded in south indian spices), rabbit in coconut milk curry, fish in tamarind among other delicacies. More food followed and amidst very appreciative slurps and burps the feast continued. The only disconcerting note that evening happened to be the news of the serial bomb blasts happening in Ahmedabad and being accompanied by journos on our table, conversation kept veering towards what next and who is behind it all and so on...The entire meal was washed down with a cotton seed halwa (didn't even know that was edible) & tea made from curry leaves (simbly south)! It was past midnight and with all that food tucked in all I could think of was the comfort of my pillow on which I wanted to rest my head and dream of more such evenings to come...