WOW – A day in the life of a rag-picker

Image courtesy - The Darkroom

When you were complaining ,no time - for gym or fresh homemade meals for your family,I woke up at dawn,

When you were complaining about your old car,cycle and bike ,I was walking barefoot from home ,far and gone,

When you were complaining, how much work you've to do even though you get full salary ,I was surviving on pennies earned from the garbage near and far away from your lawn,

When you were busy creating environmental pollution that you didn't care ,I was busy cleaning your mess and enduring the toxic zone ,

When you were complaining about the hygiene of the Govt. hospitals,I wished if I had a chance ,my mother wouldn't have died of complications and my sister would have born ,

What do you know what being rude is,ask me, when you give me a furious stare and change your tone,

Yes, I am illiterate and dirty but not a beggar or a thief ,what laws do you have as a human and a Govt to adorn,

When you waste your food , I am secretly praying to at least feed my hunger with whatever you've thrown,

When you have roof ,food ,family ,I have nothing to rely on,

You have TV,computer,theater,bar to entertain yourself ,I smoke local beedis,sniff a drug or two ,sleep with women,screw my health ,well, who is there for us to moan,

This is my life as a rag-picker which you can hardly understand and I can go on.....

P.S - I've been writing poems since schooldays,just like this,I love when it rhymes ! I don't know if it really sounds like a poem but behind my every silly writing is a hidden message ...Hope someone will be able to unlock it somehow :D...This poem is based on my observation during my recent visit to Mumbai ,also research in internet , Bollywood movies...

P.P.S - This post is a part of Write Over the Weekend, an initiative for Indian Bloggers by BlogAdda.

Kerala spicy egg curry

 

 What came first Chicken or an egg ???

 Ok ok ...sTOP,stOP,STOP you all genius people out there ...Please stop yelling "Eggs" or "Chickens" at me..You know it makes me hungry !! Both are my favorite !!

Well ,this question has baffled everyone since ages ,right from an innocent kid to the high IQ adult to the great scientist ,philosophers and even people whose brain are completely on hibernate mode "Me" !!

Well, guess what?.. looks like we all are no different when it comes to this question ...I hope this question will never be solved technically and for sure ..because let my brain have some glory people !!

Duh ! I don't know which came first but I DO know what came first to my home in US after my marriage - "EGGS" !!

You Intel inside people guessed it..Isn't it - by the post name ? ...Oh my my EGGS-cellento !!

During those initial days of marriage ,the only non-vegetarian curry I could whip up fast was "Egg curry"...It was really easy to prepare unlike vegetable curries where you may have to cut a vegetable or two and don't even let me start on chickens....Just boil the eggs ,cut some onions,chillies,some spices and voila egg curry is ready in minutes...Best part of it - you can have it with roti/chappathi,rice,idiyappam,appam,even dosa and idlis....So...you might have kind of guessed it...I would make a big bowl of curry with loads of egg swimming in it as if crying - Help help help !! ...And I used it to torture my hubby for a few days straight with this eggs-cellent curry .. and when he would also say - "Help,hELP,HELP"...I would stop it finally...

As a matter of fact ,egg curry is still my favorite go to curry on lazy days....If a chicken would see me what I do with all those eggs..then no one can stop her from becoming a really bad,very bad,sad,mad "Angry bird" !!

So,here is a spicy Kerala egg curry recipe and this is how I make Kerala spicy egg curry ....

Kerala spicy egg curry

Ingredients

Egg - 2 nos.

Onion,big ,sliced- 1 no.

Green chillies - 2 nos.

Ginger garlic paste - 1 teaspoon

Tomato,medium,chopped - 1 no.

Turmeric powder - 1/2 teaspoon

Red Chilly powder - 2 teaspoon

Coriander powder - 1 tablespoon

Kerala garam masala - 1/4 teaspoon

Curry leaves - A few

Coconut milk - 3 tablespoons (optional)
Water - 1/2-3/4 cup

Salt as needed

Coconut oil - 3 tablespoon

Method:

1. Heat oil in a pan.
2. Saute the onions and green chillies until onions turn translucent on medium flame.
3. Add ginger-garlic paste to it ,saute for a minute or two on low flame.
4. Add tomatoes and spices, saute for a few minutes and cover it with a lid until tomato turns mushy.
5. Remove the lid .Mix everything well .
6. Add curry leaves,saute for a minute.
7. Add water .Allow everything to boil on high flame.
8. Once it starts boiling,lower the flame and allow it to simmer for a while until it thickens a bit.
9. Add coconut milk to it.Stir well.
10. Serve hot with chapathi,roti,rice,idiyappam,appam,naan etc etc....

Note:

• If you are using some ordinary garam masala which doesn't have fennel seeds and ground pepper in it,then do add 1/4 teaspoon each for this curry. You can even omit the garam masala.

• Since this curry is a spicy version,I added just tablespoons of coconut milk .To make it less spicy add more as per your taste.

How about you- what came first - Egg or chicken?..Ok ok before you start eating my teeny weeny brain ...I meant..to your home...during those initial days after the big day...??


Well, whatever it is..I wish you an EGGs-cellent (read Excellent)  life my dear Amigo...whether you are single,married,harried,momma,grandma ....Sunday ho ya monday roz khao anday(remember those egg ads in DD1)...:D

Healthy Chicken meatball

Morty: Hey, gang, come on! Look it, just `cause we're losing doesn't mean it's all over.

Phil: Cut the crap, Morty. I mean, the Mohawks have beaten us the last twelve years, they're gonna beat us again.

Tripper: That's just the attitude we don't need. Sure, Mohawk has beaten us twelve years in a row. Sure, they're terrific athletes. They've got the best equipment that money can buy. Hell, every team they're sending over here has their own personal masseuse, not masseur, masseuse. But it doesn't matter. 

Do you know that every Mohawk competitor has an electrocardiogram, blood and urine tests every 48 hours to see if there's any change in his physical condition?

 Do you know that they use the most sophisticated training methods from the Soviet Union, East and West Germany, and the newest Olympic power Trinidad-Tobago? But it doesn't matter. It just doesn't matter. IT JUST DOESN'T MATTER. I tell you, IT JUST DOESN'T MATTER! IT JUST DOESN'T MATTER! IT JUST DOESN'T MATTER!

Tripper: And even, and even if we win, if we win, HAH! Even if we win! Even if we play so far over our heads that our noses bleed for a week to ten days. Even if God in Heaven above comes down and points his hand at our side of the field. 

Even if every man, woman and child held hands together and prayed for us to win, it just wouldn't matter, because all the really good looking girls would still go out with the guys from Mohawk 'cause they've got all the money! It just doesn't matter if we win or we lose. IT JUST DOESN'T MATTER!

These dialogues almost sums up the motto of my life , my lifestyle , whatever I do - even blogging ,eating,laughing,writing,cooking,relationship,job etc etc...."Just keep going ,do your best ,enjoy ,have fun ,rest doesn't matter "....For me, "Life is not a race !" .."

The only person I compete with - is "ME ",to be a better person than I was yesterday ! The only thing I want to win is love and respect from my loved ones ,live the life God blessed me with, to the fullest, with gratitude ,so that ,when I'll look back tomorrow/future, it should make me feel the ultimate winner.

The only thing I am afraid to lose is self-respect , self-love , self - belief ,health and neither the last nor the least ,the people who matters me the most .....rest as they say or said .."IT JUST DOESN'T MATTER!".

 

Noodles overcooked that's what happens when u r busy in updating FB status :D..my bad!!

Woaaah !.. Now those dialogues did bring the philosopher in me ...Well, that's what happens whenever I watch a movie,the lesson or it's inspirational side lingers with me forever... and if you don't remember these dialogues,it's from an old English movie, "MEATBALLS" ,Bill Murray's first movie I believe - it is actually a summer camp based story - quite simple ,like a documentary ,nice and little naughty ...but for me it was more like an inspiration ....and the above dialogues are my favorite !

There was this one more dialogue that touched me :-

Tripper: Kids are starving in India and you're walking around with a sombrero full of peanuts.. 

Isn't it amazing how an old American movie tried to incorporate and empathize with those underprivileged kids and their condition in India back then ..KUDOS!! ...and then there are a few Indians among us who still can't even sympathize or stand them or do something for them .......

Ok ,though this post may sound like all about a movie but it is not - as a matter of fact it is all about just "MEATBALLS" . Little story ,little recipe ..these quotes just pops up in my head like sweet balls ..hahah...I mean whenever I make "Meatballs" ....now you know :)..

So, yes coming to the point,today's post is all about meatballs with a difference ...Naah no more stories or quotes or philosophies but that this is a very healthy kinda meatballs made with Quinoa flakes,chicken,spices,onion and rest you'll see below and it is baked .Sounds healthy ?

So, here - this is how I make healthy spicy Chicken meatballs :

Healthy Chicken meatballs

Makes 12 meatballs

Ingredients

Ground chicken - 250 g 

Onion,sliced - 1 cup

Green chilli - 1 no. (optional)

Garlic ,chopped - 1-2 cloves

Parsley leaves  - a few

Sriracha sauce - 1-2 tablespoons

 Salt and pepper to taste

Olive oil - 1-2 tablespoon

Any cheese ,grated - 2 tablespoon

Quinoa flakes - 1/2 cup

Egg,beaten - 1

Marinara Sauce

Method:

 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degree Fahrenheit.
2. Put oil in a pan and put onion,green chilli and stir fry until translucent.Add chopped garlic to it and fry for a minute.
3. Cut the chicken into long strips and stir fry with the above onion-green chilli-garlic mixture .Cover it for a minute to cook it faster .Remove the cover ,add the parsley leaves, fry everything until the chicken is well cooked.
4. Keep it aside to cool a bit.
5. Mix quinoa flakes,beaten egg,cheese,sriracha sauce and the above chicken stir fry mixture ,put them in a mixer jar /blender and make/blend it into a pliable mixture not a paste though.(That can be easily rolled into neither too coarse nor too fine balls).
6. Now,roll the mixture into small balls .
7. Line an oven safe tray or pan with a parchment paper .
8. Place the meatballs onto the parchment paper and bake it for 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned.
9. Once done dunk them into the marinara sauce and keep them in the refrigerator for 30 minutes - 1 hour to make it more flavorful.

Or,enjoy it hot with spaghetti and marinara sauce or in any other way you like it.

 

Notes :

• Parmesan cheese is usually used but any cheese will do or can be even omitted.
• Instead of parsley leaves you can also use basil leaves,sriracha sauce can be substituted with any red hot sauce or even ketchup and red pepper flakes.
• I didn't have quinoa powder so used the quinoa flakes I had but instead of quinoa flakes ,you can use just the usual breadcrumbs .

By the way ,is it just me or did anyone have meatballs with noodles and marinara sauce ..looked similar to me hhehehe...I didn't have spaghetti on hand  ...well, as they say ,"IT JUST DOESN'T MATTER" !! .........

Live,love,eat DELICIOUSLY,