Thursday, November 17, 2005

At last!

Finally I seem to have got in touch with my batch mates from Stanley Med College. Chezhian has stumbled on to my site 'accidentally' and Balan feels I have too much time on my hands after reading my blog and wants to know if I am married. Yes Balan, I am married to a beautiful lady who is four years our junior and Praveen after reading the '100 things about me' feels that I have narcisstic tendencies. Well Praveen what else do you expect to read in a '100 things about me' stuff? And that too from an arrogant arsehole like me? ;))))

And guys, whoever is the group manager is a wee bit slow in sending me an invite to join the msn group!

Tuesday, November 15, 2005

The Chennai 'Nair Tea Shop'




The ubiquitous Chennai 'Nair Tea Kadai' is an institution of sorts. Dingy, dirty, but catering to the hungry wayfarer and office goer, one can find this shop at every nook and corner in Chennai. I wonder why the Malayali doesnt want to set up shop in Kerala but in ''Singara Chennai". One possible explation would be that since most Mallus are seen everywhere except Kerala, there seems to be a dearth of tea/coffee drinking people in the most literate state in India!!!

Another theory of mine says that the highly literate Mallus are way hygienic than Tamilians and wouldnt want to drink tea in dirty wayside shops. One would be surprised to see software guys from the likes of TCS, Infosys and CTS sitting in these shops with their company badges dangling around their necks and sipping hot chai and biting on a vada or a bajji throwing cleanliness to the winds. Some say that tea tastes better in a glass tumbler!

The 'tea shop' not only vends tea but also an array of fried snacks like vadas, bajji, bondas and the like. Some 'tea shops' even offer curd rice and lemon rice for a quick afternoon lunch. These tea shops seem to be a rendezvous for salesmen, auto-drivers and messages could be passed on to the 'tea-master' to be relayed to other people. How cool and effective is that?

Monday, November 14, 2005

The Glamboyant Masala Dosai



The 'Masala Dosai' is an integral part of Chennai and I can safely say that one misses out on a gastronomic delight if he hasnt savoured this quintessential and most sublime of foods during his/her visit to the city.

To the staunch Tamil it is 'dosai' and when pronounced that way the dish seems very pristine, but to the non Tamil, it is 'dosa', 'dhosa' or even 'dhosha' and this is when it seems the dish loses its 'manna-ish' quality!

On the surface, preparing a dosai seems to be easy, but when one attempts making a crisp one, then everything seems to go awry. The batter has to be just perfect and then the potato masala that goes in the centre while making the dosai should also be of the right consistency and only then can one turn out an authentic Chennai masala dosai.

Masala dosai can never be termed a humble dish, for it has a flavour of flamboyance in it and is a great accompaniment to gin/vermouth. No other South Indian dish goes well with gin. Also fresh filter coffee after a breakfast of masala dosai is nothing short of ambrosia!