Wednesday 21 January 2009

Of Lunches and Surprises

One must not actually post anything today. Being busy and all. Parallelly processing so many things. "So many balls in the air" one is trying to juggle just now.

But when a discovery happens, it must be shared, of course?

One likes very much that element of surprise in the three-tier stainless steel dabba lunch. Maybe a pickle? Maybe a nicely fried aloo bhaji? If only the mater were here, she would even do something indulgent like chips, which go so well with the sambar saadam. But the cook, the one who spells hope early in the morning, is sweet too, one must not compare or complain.

Third dabba lunch (of the week) today yielded a favourite beans thing. One smacked ones lips literally and dug in and wound it all up, eco-friendly-ly using a green towel in place of a paper napkin. And body-friendly-ly drinking mucho water.

Edited to add: Dabba no. 5 was not as nice an experience. The surprise related to switching the vertical order of the subji & curd rice was nice. Cabbage was a vegetable that one avoided like the plague in childhood. Adulthood has made one tolerate it vaguely in some forms, but the brownish dry cabbage curry (which, incidentally, the husband loves), is still not a pleasant vision.

10 comments:

dipali said...

Does the cook decide the menu on her own?

PG said...

all the mumbaites rave about their cooks. have a good mind to move there.

Choxbox said...

the cook decides the menu? whoa. ship her over pliss.

Preeti Aghalayam aka kbpm said...

dipali, chox, PG, yes she decides the menu. she is very sweet, & love to keep cleaning the counters, but:
(a) she has milked me for all i am worth in terms of loans (go on, guess the number of zeros).
(b) she is WAAAAAAAY slow. takes three hours to make 7 rotis; 400 ml of Dhal & 0.5 kg of dry subji. and.
(c) i virtually have no control over what she prepares - capable of making baigan sambar with baigan subji to go with it.
so rough with the smooth. rough with the smooth.

Airspy said...

I intend doing a PGDDHM- Post Graduate Diploma in Domestic Help Management (when I find an institution offereing the course), before i venture into hiring a cook. I (and my spouse) find ourselves so lacking in this aspect that we dread hiring any more help.

But i like the idea of finding surprises in lunch box. takes you back to being a child once again.

And she charges you by teh kilogram? strange..:)

PG said...

i like the element of surprise.
makes it very exciting. instead of having to decide what to make and then make it and then eat it.

Parul said...

I assume you have written off the loans in your mind...I do, after several indebted people have done one numbers disappearing act.

Choxbox said...

a mom at school runs a restaurant and on public demand is offering to cater lunch dabbas. i told her i'll sign up if she agrees to send me a dabba for me too. i am told her fare is awesome. aur kyaa chahiye life me?

Preeti Aghalayam aka kbpm said...

chox-
yes you should go for it. sounds good.

airspy-
can you send me your notes from the course? :-)

parul-
of course of course. the husband used a spreadsheet and assured me that she will have to work for about 52 years with me to be able to clear off the loans (or some such). i keep increasing her salary hoping she will pay me back more but somehow its all...oh forget it, its exhausting thinking about it.

pg - yes! definitely!

dipali said...

I can just imagine you raising her salary and giving her more loans!
And she enjoying this nice and goofy
memsaab who is most clueless about all this hisaab-kitaab!