Pinku-Enchanted Life

This Anando Mela (home cooked food stalls at Durga Puja Pandals on usually the first day of the festivities, for those who don’t know about it) I planned to do a thematic stall basis a certain kind of cuisine instead of random stuff. I chose Parsi food as the theme and planned to do three items from the same – veg, non veg and dessert and instantly hit a roadblock. While for both non veg and desserts I had many recipes to pick from I just couldn’t find a veg recipe which would strike a chord. I googled, asked knowledgeable friends and read up recipe books but couldn’t find anything which I could be sure would be appreciated at an Anando Mela Stall…after all it’s the first day of pujas and people would be looking forward to interesting lip smacking dishes a stew or dal wouldn't pass muster. So after much looking around I did what had to be done and tweaked the initial concept to being Bombay based rather than Parsi and added the absolute hot favorite among Bombay’s street foods i.e

Growing up in Faridabad an industrial township adjacent to Delhi what kept us rooted to our traditions and our culture while living far away from Bengal was the occassion of Dugga Pujo. Studying in a convent saying Hail Mary and knowing Our Father all faded in the background when those special five days of the year came by. Suddenly we were as bengali as our cousins in Kolkata (all Probashis have family in Kolkata). Pujo those days started on Sashti evening with Anandomela - where all the bengali aunties came with basket loads of delicious, home cooked delicacies and we children drove ourselves into a frenzy running from one stall to another and pestering our parents for more money to buy yet another plate of the fast disappearing goodies. All of these memories came flashing back yesterday as a colleague from work and I alongwith hubby set up our stall at our local Deepanwita Durga Pujo in Dwarka.  Rushing from work where a last minute meeting cancelled our plans of sneaking out early

Pratima at RK Puram Kalibari Pujo Durga Pujo - the annual vacation of Goddess Durga when she comes visiting her parental home alongwith her children is a time of joy, festivities and gluttony in Bengal and all those pockets of the world that Bengalis inhabit. Unlike the austerity, fasting and prayers followed through the rest of the country during the autumn Naratras - Bengal alongwith neighbouring Assam, Orissa and Jharkhand erupts in joy. The Pujo is all about new clothes, socializing, reunions, cultural activities and food. Its a carnival of sorts and it runs for five days!! While the rites and rituals are carried on by pandits the rest of us are kept busy with pandal hopping, participation in dance, music, recitation competitions, catching music and theater performances all of course accompanied by liberal doses of chops, cutlets, moghlai parathas, radhabolobis and many, many kinds of mishti. The beginning of this gastronomic 5 day extravaganza is rightfully marked by Anando mela.

Pizza – has been my weakness for a very long time. Those sinfully calorie laden gooey cheese filled slices of heaven. So when a pizza eating competition was announced on the FB page of Chef at Large I was tempted however hesitated as I wasn’t sure how many I would need to eat to be able to compete. Interest up I kept following the thread till a message from Sid showed that volunteers hadn’t lined up – I took my chance and said yes. Having agreed, nervousness set in – will I be able to eat fast and enough to not let the team down? How many people would be there, watching me eat? The doubts were many but having said yes I wasn’t about to back out. So on the first day of Navratras with a quick prayer to the Mother I set out to participate. On the way read about people exercising, taking digestives etc. in preparation and a lot of others wishing us good luck. It felt nice to be a part of a big family and having people root for you. Forgot to mention that the organizers had arranged for a