Veggie talk

So I bought a load of beet root because

a. we like it

b. i wanted to make halwa and other things

c. well, it is reasonably priced.

But thanks to the heat, the poor things started to shrivel. Barely two days later, I could feel the wrinkly skin move on the beet. I had planned to peel them the next morning during coffee time. Also, I was wearing a light pink t-shirt today and didn’t want any beet squirting on it permanently.  

Sigh. After my evening shower I had changed into a tie dye top so – now what to do? 10 pm found me peeling all the beets. There were 12. Some were small. You know how annoying that is. I invariably end up peeling a bit of my palm, usually at the end of the whole thing. Bah! 

Once I got that out of the way, I decided I may as well aanjufy (remove strings) the avarekkai (broad beans) and cut it and store it. So I did. The avarekkai – broad beans were pretty good. This afternoon a farmer from Magadi brought vegetables. On a whim I bought knol khol. Thinking of whether to make curry or sambar with it. The veg guy said it is very good for sugar control. I love how these guys give medical advice. Feels good. 

I also have half a small ash gourd – pooshnikkai now. The thing is, with our menu – which is roti subzi or subzi-sambar/kootu-rice, there isn’t much scope for making extra dishes because eh, we cannot manage them. I guess if it comes to it I’ll pressure cook it and eat it off. Do you remember how I used to carry a box of pressure-cooked pooshnikkai those days? You found it so amusing. But I love it you know. 

So anyway, went slightly berserk at the farmer’s cart and bought a bundle of coriander and palak. He kept urging me to buy pudina but I really didn’t want to manage it all in one day. I remembered how, those days, when we went to the Colaba market I would buy all kinds of greens and spend almost all day cleaning them up and storing them. So tiring. So fresh though! He he he. You were smarter. You would clean and chutney them so we could use it all comfortably at our own pace.

Maybe I’ll do the chutney, too. There’s enough coriander to do that. Also, I doubt if I can use the whole thing without some wastage. I fondly remember how I used to get mad at you for grinding the coriander no matter how many bundles I got – because you would then worry about not having enough to garnish the dishes. 

Fondly thinking of those days when we were too broke to buy veggies at the end of the month and we would buy from the cart for Rs.2 – one onion, two tomatoes and some greens and the veg guy threw in a few chilies as extra. We mixed this up with sprouts and somehow managed to have people over for dinner, too! I am glad I lived through these rich experiences with you. 

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