beingdesh

Tag: coffee

  • जीभ जलाने वाली Coffee

    An Indian wedding is an eclectic mix of bright colours, fading traditions, emerging stupidities, and extreme pandemonium. It is difficult to single out the reason for this state of disorder in any wedding. It can come from the Old-Brigade perched closely as if it was another day in the neighborhood park; or from Red-Sari wearing, slightly bottom-heavy aunties, lost in conversations and wiping out plates of Paneer Tikka; or from Whisky-sipping Uncles who pat your back on every instance and always make you feel old by saying, “We saw you when you were this small”; or from youngsters lost between Jooti-Wars and undertaking every step possible to attract the opposite sex; or from those kids aimlessly running across the wedding venue, a third of whom are doomed to fall and cry, and the rest spend their evening fulfilling culinary requests from Old-Brigade, “Beta, you are SharmaJi’s son na. Can you get us a couple of Rotis, please?”.

    Amidst the clutter, one tends to seek temporary relief in food. But the sheer magnitude of culinary offerings, which transforms Wedding Buffet into a Pragati Maidan-like Industrial Expo is more nauseating than it is alleviating.

    One thing which often helps is a Coffee Break. And nothing can be better than the Jug-वाली coffee, popularly known as Expresso Coffee.

    And it isn’t that difficult to make. An intricate system of pipelines run through a kitschy kaleidoscope-like  colored metal box which works non-stop to push steam out. The steam is passed into a Jug full of milk, coffee powder, and sugar. It is served usually in paper/thermocol cups, with a sprinkling of drinking chocolate power on top. The end result is screeching-hot.

    Someone lifting the coffee usually first cups their hands around to feel the warmth, especially during winters. More often than not, the coffee-drinker then tends to dip their tongue in coffee, and almost all the times it stings the tongue with a sharp burning sensation. The coffee drinking experience is mostly characterized through an alternate usage of cold-blows and tongue-dips, taking the coffee-drinker through a unique journey from Sub-Saharan Africa to the Arctic, within a small yet highly-sensitive region of the tongue.

    One can never make out the actual flavors of this coffee, as we can never feel any. The heat ensures that the tongue goes into partial paralysis, and what we remember is just the warmth, and the normalcy it brings to the proceedings around us.

    But like all good things, even the Expresso Machine is disappearing from Indian weddings. Now one can see popular coffee retail chains getting into serving coffee at weddings. I still recall walking into a café few years back (Café Coffee Day I vaguely remember) and asking for an Expresso, getting a shot of black coffee in return (And then I realized that it had always been Espresso, and not Expresso as I called it, and this category is popularly known as Indian Espresso).

    There are coffee shops everywhere, premium brands available at retail outlets, I have  a filter at home to brew filter coffee, I also make my फेटी (whipped) coffee, a couple of Starbucks have just opened up in Mumbai, there are coffee workshops happening all over.

    But where is my जीभ जलाने वाली Coffee?

  • Is it the end of the Chai-Biscuit era?

    Today I received an article from a friend of mine, Where did conversation go? No where. It talks about the “about-to-die” habit of having conversations. It also debates whether forms of new media have eclipsed the intimacy of having a one-on-one, or sharing a happy moment together.

    So is it the end of the Chai-Biscuit era? Chai represents much more than to us than a mere beverage, it is a conversation starter, our true friend during a conversation and the tastiest dip for a biscuit. From the addas which are still commonplace in Bengal, to housewives sipping that post-siesta tea, from office tea breaks to evening tea with families, chai has shaped the way Indians converse and share thoughts for a long time.

    So what happened now? When did walking to someone’s home without telling them in advance become a crime, when did talking about things personal and private online become a habit, when did the happiness of connecting with a few and bonding with them transform into the ever increasing desire to have more Facebook friends and Twitter followers, when did the keeping things to oneself become more than a one-off thing, when did our life become private in front of our parents and elders, when was the real smile overshadowed by the fake smileys, when did chatting and messaging steal the look of the face and tinkle of those eyes, and when did we start getting detached from the world, lose our sense of being together to being more individualistic?

    So is it the beginning of a new era, the Coffee-Cookie era? Coffee shops have replaced the meetups at home, 5 Rs. Parle-G has been replaced by 40 Rs. a piece Cookieman cookie, but more than that both of them represent a transition. A transition in habits, triggered by technology, economy and the society as such. It is not bad, its a transition, although its fun to live in nostalgia, these are changes which will shape the future. It is useless to trigger the age old debate of tradition vs. modernity, and it would be ruthless to declare a winner.

    In my world, Coffee exists with Chai, with Parle-G in one pocket, and a Cookie in another.

  • The Story of Indian Railway Cutlet

    Have you ever noticed Bhartiya Railway- “Aapki Sewa main” (Indian Railway- In Your Service) written in small circles on the berths in railway coaches. The only noticeable aspect of this service is their catering, captured in the quintessential Railway breakfast, Cutlets!!!

    Those small patties, covered with bread crumbs, deep fried, cut in various shapes (circular in west, heart shaped in east, other shapes which I have seen include a rhombus, small squares etc.) are part of the morning happenings of any train journey. After experiencing (primarily experiencing the sense of smell) the aromatic railway toilets in morning (usually flooded, soiled and you know what all) and a quick brushing of teeth standing alongside variety of people, many a times with finger (as one forgets the brush 9 times out of 10) the smell of these cutlets is the first welcome thing which invigorates all senses, especially “the smell” which ends all smells. The smell of railway cutlets is unique, much unique than that of soil after first rains, or that of Chanel no.5 . Any other smell which comes closer is that of railway window railings, purely metallic and very very unique. Another smell which was equally unique was that of Duckback raincoats, leathery and nice.

    These cutlets are mostly made of potatoes with a few seasonal veggies, mostly peas, carrots etc. Although the best ones always have that bit of beetroot in them, they always have. They are nicely packed, well wrapped in aluminum foils, in fact there is a bit of sogginess which seeps in along with the crispiness due to the foils which creates a unique taste. One is always served two cutlets with bread butter (2 slices only, never ever more than that). I always make a sort of a sandwich out of the first and then slowly munch of the second one to get lost in its taste. One can’t forget the contribution of ketchup here (cheap version, enriched with Pumpkins for thickness). This tomato ketchup is always packed in those small plastic sachets, bright red in color, it always adds to the flavor of cutlets. Although nowadays one tends to get branded ketchup at times.

    Cutlets taste best with the watery coffee (which is much better than the watery tea). Although if one gets tea of the quality of Chaudhry Chai waala (a famous tea vendor, near Nandurbar station, en route Ahmedabad to Nagpur) one shouldn’t miss that.

    Cutlets compete for stomach-space with Omelets in morning, but in my books there in only one winner when it comes to breakfast on Indian railways. Cutlets also get an enhanced version in Rajdhani or Shatabdi where they are accompanied with fried green peas or a some pieces of French fries at times. But the basic taste remains the same.

    I just hope I keep traveling, enjoying my journeys on Indian Railway and keep enjoying the wonderful moments it brings along.

    Long Live the Indian Railway Cutlet, one of the best breakfast in this country…