I dream of wind that does not get in my eyes, a body of water, large enough to kiss the horizon but small enough to not end in disaster, the sound of invisible birds talking about me, above my head, somewhere, they are shameless, gossiping, hiding in their trees, but I like their chirping, because it’s a sunny afternoon and I don’t speak French.
It’s a common dream we writers share, people who feel happy when they write. I am waiting for a cup of filter coffee to magically appear. To add the last finish, there are no other human beings in this dream.
‘What?’ I asked the new bird. She is getting louder, competing with the cuckoo. Her elder sister is responding, wait, let me listen, she is not talking, she is whistling, not the instrumental of a song, like a shrill phe-phe-phe-phe-phe whistle echoing one another. I thought, ‘I am stuck’.
‘No, I am stuck’, entered the frog. These people are animals!
I came all this way to Oberoi Vilas, Udaipur only to be asked to keep my laptop and book down and listen to them. ‘Pooh, I am not Christopher Robin’, said the writer.
‘What would Pooh say to this?’ I wonder as I look out the boundaries of this man-made palace to the migrating waves in blue Pichola.
Ingredients:
- Lemongrass
- Lemon Leaf
- Galangal or Thai Ginger
- Basil
Simmer these in water, don’t let the water boil, about 80 degrees.
- Spinach
Make spinach puree
- Coconut Milk
- Salt (to taste, better)
Mix it all up.
Your spinach coconut soup is ready. ‘Simple recipes. No instant masala. I share my recipes whenever anyone asks for it. People question me on this. But I believe, It’s all in the hand of the maker.’
‘I have been cooking for a living for 28 years’, said Alok Anand, the head chef at this menage of Suryamahal, Udaimahal and Chandni.
“I got the recipe for this sambar from my neighbour in Madras. The chole that we serve at breakfast is my wife’s recipe. I saw her cooking, made notes of weight and spoons, came to the hotel, typed it in the system and told my team, from today onwards, this is the recipe we follow”, reminisced Alok.
Full name: Alok Anand, been cooking for a living for 28 years, before that, I assume for college friends sometimes in Ahmedabad.
