Practice Makes The Rice Perfect

Recipe : The Perfect Rice And Yellow Dal ( Varan-Bhaat for marathi folks ).

Serves : 3

Ingredients : Rice, Dal, Potatoes, turmeric, cumin seeds, jeera, cooking oil,
and 3 intrepid batchelors (b1,b2,b3).

Method :

* Convince the other two batchelors that eating out everyday is really unhealthy, enlist their support and convince them to wash utensils after you are done cooking. This is a very important step. Failure do accomplish this will lead to considerable angst later on.

* Decide upon the quantity of rice. It can be anything between 1 tbsp to 3 sacks depending upon the apetites of your fellow diners. In our case we settled for a cup and a half after a huge debate. Debating @ every step is very important. It adds flavour to the experience if not the rice.

* Repeat above step for the dal. The debate is even more interesting here if neither of you know which dal to really use. We again settled for a cup of dal.

* Get b2 to skin 3 potatoes and thinly dice them. B3 is usually shrewd enough to stand aside and watch.

* Add enough water to the rice so that it is 3 fingers deep over the top of the rice. At this point b2, b3 will both tell you this is too much water ... ignore them. Follow your intuition.

* Same thing goes for the dal. Add some turmeric. Usually 1 tbsp is quite sufficient.

* Cook both dal and rice on medium heat, till rice starts looking perfect or b2/b3 start becoming impatient.

* While rice is being done. Thinly chop half an onion and watch with glee as you see b2/b3 with tears in their eyes.

* In an open pan heat some oil and then add cummin seeds and jeera. Once they start popping add the chopped onions and cook till light brown.

* Add the diced potatoes and stir some turmeric into them. Add 1/8th cup of water and cook covered for 10 mins.

Serving :

* Get b2/b3 to wash utensils before you serve, cos they'll never do it later.
* Serve rice in huge quantities in the smallest dishes that you can find.
* Slather it with the dal.
* Add the potato as a side dish.

* Sit back and relax. Bask in the warmth of being a newly acclaimed chef.

There may not be a Heaven, but there is a San Francisco

Yeah, you guessed it. Last to last weekend it was San Francisco time. No, I haven't seen it all but I did go to the Golden Gate Bridge and yeah I will be going again ... soon :) ...

A late Saturday morning breakfast @ a nearby Subway outlet got us going and in no time we were on the BART to Daly City, San Francisco. Oh, we were gonna get off @ the Civic Center but then we had a certain Mr GPS with us who got us off @ Embarcadero ( quite a bit early ). Nevertheless, that made us go around the city on foot for quite a bit which is a great way to soak in the city's spirit and take in its sights :).

SF is a city built around a bay and there are several piers along the water's edge. We reached one such ( I think it was Pier 17 ) .

Soon, walking around became an option no more and we got onto a Muni. The Muni dropped us off somewhat closer to our destination but not too close either. Luckily, we spotted a bike rental and a 600 $ deposit later (from our generous Mr GPS) we all had our wheels.

Renting a bike is a very cool way of going around the city if you dont have a car and dont want to get onto a Muni that might be really crowded ( nowhere close to Mumbai local trains though ). You need to be in good shape, coz though the bikes are geared, there are many a steep climbs in the city that can get "a once in a lifetime biker" very close to a heart attack. If you are with your favourite squeeze, you can also rent a tandem and thats way cool too :).

And yeah, while we are on the subject, SF is a really romantic city. Lots of parks and open spaces and a very nice crowd, side-walk cafes and somewhat of a European charm really sets the stage for romance as is evident by the number of couples, young and old, taking advantage of this all.

The number of fitness conscious people is also quite a lot here. All over the place there were a lot of cyclists, joggers of all ages running their courses.

The ride to the bridge was amazing, it passed through a nice lil park from where we got the first glimpse of the bridge and then on it was a road that just hugs the sea. I envy the people who live here all their lives. Its really such a beautiful city.

We didnt have enough time to get to the other side of the bridge and ride the ferry back, so we just cycled back and gave up the bikes.

As we walked back, a very very beautiful moon made its appearance :) ... Talk of romance, the days and nights here are just filled with it. I didnt want to leave this beautiful place at all.

Near the Bart station, there was a parade in progress, celebrating the Chinese New Year. This they say is the year of the pig.

Soon, it was time for the train which whisked us back to Fremont in no time. We had a horrible Mexican dinner in Fremont and got back home late @ night.

All in all a fun trip, but am def. going back there :) .... no doubt about it.