2020 Week 37 Update

Posted on September 13, 2020 by memoriesandsuch

The inevitable has happened! India has now edged out Brazil to have the dubious distinction of being the country with the second highest number of COVID cases. The numbers as of yesterday were more than 4.5 million cases in total, about 3.5 million people who have recovered, slightly over 76,000 deaths and probably close to a million active cases. The US as usual leads the world numbers, but I can see the trend line reducing, while that of India’s is actually increasing. This is seriously worrying. What is more worrying is that my home state of Maharashtra leads the country’s statistics with a total of almost a million cases, which makes almost a quarter of all cases in India from this state. Nearly 700,000 recovered cases, about 28,000 deaths and about a quarter million active cases.

I am not able to get more detailed information for Maharashtra, but I do know that Mumbai is one of the worst hit cities in the country. And it is not surprising, given the large number of migrant workers who come to the city in search of a living and who live in really bad and cramped conditions with little running water or sanitation.

I am sure there are many like me who live outside India and have elderly parents living alone in the country and who are worried sick at the news that comes out daily. My parents, like most of the elderly have other conditions, which an exposure to the virus may excabate. My daily prayer is that my parents get out of this well and somewhat healthy. This is why, even though I don’t really like the idea of them moving out of Mumbai, I am happy that they will finally move to a retirement community once things get better. They plan to stay for a month with an aunt who already lives there and who has offered to host them so they get a chance to get acclimated to the place. Once there, they can also look at options available and buy their own apartment. Then they will come back to Mumbai, wrap up things and move there permanently. This is for their best, in the long run since they will have access to family and friends around as well as a 24-hour medical attention, should the need arise.

In other news, there’s no real news. After about five-six months, BB finally met his besties. They used to be called the three musketeers in school and now that secondary school is over, all three are doing different things. So it’s only during holidays they get a chance to meet up and given the situation this year, they met after a really long time. This is not to say they don’t talk or do do video calls regularly. They do that practically daily and play games together, so they are talking all the time, it’s just they haven’t met each other physically!

That’s about it from us. Stay safe everybody!

In My Hands Today…

Posted on September 12, 2020 by memoriesandsuch

After the Darkness – Honey Brown

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Trudy and Bruce Harrison have a happy marriage, a successful business, and three teenage children. One fateful day they take the winding coastal route home, and visit the Ocean View Gallery, perched on the cliff edge. It’s not listed in any tourist pamphlet. The artist runs the gallery alone. There are no other visitors. Within the maze of rooms the lone couple begin to feel uneasy – and with good reason.

Trudy and Bruce will be ripped from the safe, secure fabric of their life and will have their world turned upside down and shaken. Attacked, trapped and brutalised, they barely escape the gallery with their lives – only to find there’s no real getting away.

Recipes: Mixed Pumpkin Poritcha Kozambu

Posted on September 11, 2020 by memoriesandsuch

Tamil Brahmin cooking is generally considered to be quite healthy and satvik. In our everyday cooking, onions and garlic are generally not used and there are people even today who can’t stand the smell of garlic being cooked. My grandmother is one of them. When we make anything with garlic, she generally leaves the kitchen and in fact goes to the room furthest away from the kitchen so the smell does not bother her.

A Poritcha Kozambu is something like a stew which is made by cooking a mixture of vegetables with a paste made of coconut, urad dal and peppercorns and some cooked dal. I had some yellow and orange pumpkin left over when I made some Avial and these were too little to make something with just one of them. So I decided to combine the two to make a fusion kozambu and kootu out of the two vegetables. Generally pumpkins are not used for a poritcha kozambu but this recipe was a huge success. I loved it as did S and the children and this recipe will find its way to my cooking repertoire and I will make it often.

Mixed Pumpkin Poritcha Kozambu

Ingredients:
½ yellow pumpkin, peeled and chopped into bite-sized pieces
½ white pumpkin, peeled and chopped into bite-sized pieces
1 cup toor dal,
½ tsp turmeric powder
3 tbsp coconut
1 tsp broken urad dal
3-4 dried red chillies
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp black peppercorns
1 tbsp tamarind paste
1 tbsp oil
Salt to taste
Chopped coriander leaves to garnish

Method:
Wash the toor dal and soak in hot water for 10 minutes. Then pressure cook the dal with ¼ tsp turmeric powder until it is soft and mushy. Once the pressure reduces and you are able to open the cooker, mash the dal well and keep aside.
Heat the oil in a small skillet and when it warms up, add the cumin seeds, dried red chillies, urad dal, and pepper corns and fry till the urad dal changes colour to a nice brown. Then add the grated coconut and stir constantly until the coconut is brown and completely devoid of water. Keep aside and let it cool.
When the coconut is cool, grind it completely to a smooth paste using water as needed.
In the same pan, add the chopped pumpkins, ¼ tsp turmeric powder and some salt and cook until the pumpkins are about 70% cooked.
When the pumpkins are cooked, but still have a bite to them, add the mashed dal and the coconut paste and stir well.
Add the tamarind paste and check for seasoning. Let it boil for about 5-7 minutes.
Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot over steamed rice and a stir fried vegetable of your choice.

In My Hands Today…

Posted on September 10, 2020 by memoriesandsuch

The Upside of Falling Down – Rebekah Crane

For Clementine Haas, finding herself is more than a nice idea. Ever since she woke up in an Irish hospital with complete amnesia, self-discovery has become her mission.

They tell her she’s the lone survivor of a plane crash. They tell her she’s lucky to be alive. But she doesn’t feel lucky. She feels…lost.

With the relentless Irish press bearing down on her, and a father she may not even recognize on his way from America to take her home, Clementine assumes a new identity and enlists a blue-eyed Irish stranger, Kieran O’Connell, to help her escape her forgotten life…and start a new one.

Hiding out in the sleepy town of Waterville, Ireland, Clementine discovers there’s an upside to a life that’s fallen apart. But as her lies grow, so does her affection for Kieran, and the truth about her identity becomes harder and harder to reveal, forcing Clementine to decide: Can she leave her past behind for a new love she’ll never forget?

Spreading Some Positivity

Posted on September 9, 2020 by memoriesandsuch

It’s been six months now since we have been more or less confined at home and I was feeling a little down the past few weeks. So I decided to compile some quotes on positivity to cheer myself up and to tell myself that things will get better. Since it did lift my mood, I thought to share them with you too…