Recipe records

For those who did not know, I am a fantastic cook (or atleast I'd like to think!). I absolutely love Italian food.. well actually any food as long as its vegetarian or chicken or fish. I shall record all my recipes from now on so that I dont spend time thinking in the future on what I'd like to eat for lunch or dinner. My first recipe will have to be 'Penne Giardiniera'. This recipe is inspired by the pasta of the same name served in Carluccios, the Italian chain of cafe-restaurants here. Everytime I go in there, I end up ordering the same thing...every time except for twice I think when I tried the ravioli. Okay, the recipe is the simplest there could be and is easy to cook.
Ingredients: (for two)
Pasta, preferably penne...other types like farfalle or shells can also be used but donot use spaghetti, the structure doesnt gel well!
1 medium sized courgette - grated
1 medium sized clove of garlic - finely chopped
1 spoon of grated Parmesan (you get this in Tesco)
1 small red chilli - the not hot variety - finely chopped
salt for seasoning
Olive oil

Boil the pasta in water with some salt added till its done. Drain it and keep aside. Meanwhile, take a seperate pan, pour in 1-2 spoons of olive oil. Put in the grated courgette and garlic and fry for apprx 3 minutes. Pour some water in between if you donot like your pasta dry. Add the chilli, the parmesan and season with a pinch of salt. Pour the courgette mixture over the drained pasta and mix well. Serve on a pasta plate with sprinkled parmesan on top.

On a completely different note, I started running again yesterday. Its been almost 2 years since I bought running tights and shoes from nike, thought I'll finally put it to some good use (specially after my dear friend in India commented that my weight is 'out of control' and I weigh 56 kilos!) But seriously, a healthy body, a healthy mind or so they say! Besides, Tower hill is so close to home and it is a serene place if one wants to run...and there are plenty running all day long. The weather on the other hand is horrid and discouraging. Not in terms of my body withstanding the temperature but my throat and the cold air donot make a good match. Would love to run a (short distance) marathon sometime...lets see if I can sustain this non-lazy phase!

Men and monogamy

It is a cruel and difficult thing this monogamy and I think male chauvinists of present age agree with me. Flash back to late 1800 where a wife is namesake. The prime minister of a certain country flings with various women on his visit to various cities. The news about extra marital affairs were indeed public but divorce had not settled into the society. The mother educates her daughter about the importance of being patient and her need to please the husband. Extra marital affairs in western countries were mostly limited to men who could woo or force women into bed ergo the rich or the rich and powerful. Virtually every rich and powerful, young, married man would have slept with more than 3 women to say the very least. It is sad that the wives were merely legitimate child bearing, society pawns!

Across the seas in India, rich men did exactly what their contemporaries did on the other side of the world. Here I think, it is safe to include moderate to poor men too who, under the curtain of having a male successor, would easily be a part time husband to a second wife. Now if you remember Ashutosh Gowariker's previous movie Jodha Akbar, it was widely promoted as a love story untold or something on the lines of a love story. The magic of the movie per se the story failed to touch me then and it fails to do so now. The movie really pushes the envelope of love for me. Was the story of Akbar's low-on-life love for Jodha really a thing to be heralded? Was it not clear for Ashu the number of women Akbar had had "fun" (and I quote that from the cast) with? He should really have said that story..'the flings that Akbar had and how it affect Jodha'! But I sympathize with Ashu..as a director he would have gone for 'easy, no controversy, space for creativity, mass appealing' fake love story. If somebody scripts a story about Krishna (now that Ramayan is underway) may I suggest that it be 'Krishna and his gopika strees' or 'Radha, Rukmini and Satyabhama: how to cope with the mistresses'...still fail to understand Hindus worshipping deities who practice/practiced polygamy...here's hoping I dont the attract Shiv Sena!
Move over to the 21st century and I read that a certain MP, defamed, quit his post over his alleged affair with another woman. Now what exactly is it with men and monogamy? Why is it that men find it difficult to contain their feelings for one woman at a particular time? I dont read/hear about women having affairs as such. Is it because we still live in a male dominated society or is it because one single woman is physically less eloquent? or could it be both?

Theory of Continuity part deux

Has it been more than an year? I guess one can start, or restart blogging when one does have some time on hand...and I do! I am not occupied by anything these days except for job hunting. Ah! the transitional phase between being a student and being employed...I think it can be compared to Jodie Foster travelling through whirlpools in the movie 'Contact', which is delightful btw.. Search for employment is anything but easy. First, because I know that I donot want to work as an engineer which funnily enough is my major! Second, the economic crisis! Everyday, I hear people getting sacked or companies shut down...is there hope at all? I continue to believe so as I donot want to take the other choice that lies in front of me! Third, maintaining financial stability when one is unemployed and this means cutting down on shopping and going out!
I hope to record my ongoing situations now...maybe one day when I am employed and successful, I can look back and smile!