The Fog Horn

A story I read in school – ‘The Fog Horn’ by Ray Bradbury. It had me thinking 18 years ago. And it still makes me think about that fictional lonely creature. Can you feel its loneliness too?

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“OUT there in the cold water, far from land, we waited every night for the coming of the fog, and it came, and we oiled the brass machinery and lit the fog light up in the stone tower. Feeling like two birds in the grey sky, McDunn and I sent the light touching out, red, then white, then red again, to eye the lonely ships. And if they did not see our light, then there was always our Voice, the great deep cry of our Fog Horn shuddering through the rags of mist to startle the gulls away like decks of scattered cards and make the waves turn high and foam.

“It’s a lonely life, but you’re used to it now, aren’t you?” asked McDunn.”

Read the rest of the story here:

http://shorts2remember.blogspot.com/2008/08/fog-horn.html

Experience Pigeon Forge

Just got back from a trip to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee with the family. I am not going to bore you with all the details about the trip, but there were so many fascinating things that happened that I cannot help but write about them, before they fade away in memory like so many others already have.

So here is a quick list of things I learnt/experienced/realized during this trip:

1. That even a vegetarian can grow to love traditional Southern (American) food, even if it means having a salad (probably not-so-southern), mashed potatoes and dessert (yum!) for lunch. I now have a newfound love for scrambled eggs and buttermilk biscuits and we will have to visit Cracker Barrel much more frequently because of that.

2. That there is an ‘America’ I know nothing about in spite of practically living here for the last 7 years. On one of the days during our visit, tired of all the money-making business around us, we made an impulsive decision to drive to the mountains. We did not know that we would cross over into North Carolina and get a chance to peek into the going-abouts of a predominantly Native American town, Cherokee. The town was unusually quiet for a Friday afternoon with most of the shops closed and streets deserted (probably because of Good Friday?). At a convenience store, I saw a native american family who were nothing like the american families I am used to seeing. Made me wonder what it would be like to be an alien in your own home, cornered in, er… a corner? In the wonderment, I also got carried away and bought some souvenirs from a tribal crafts store supposedly carrying handmade Indian goods, only to find a little ‘Made in China’ sticker on them when I got home. At least it was not ‘Made in India’, otherwise I would have felt guilty about indians taking away american indian’s jobs too.

3. What I have gathered from hearsay about southern culture, always gave me the impression that people from the south of USA are more conservative than their northern counterparts. For the same reason, I was not expecting a warm welcome and might even have been a little apprehensive about us being the only ‘different’ people there. Wrong. The kind of warmth exuded by the people was nothing like what I have experienced before in the US. Not meaning to say that I have not found other places to be friendly, but this was by far the friendliest places I have visited in the country. It might have also had something to do with the quaint rusticness of the people, that reminded me a little bit of home, or the southern accent that I find so charming.

4. There is no right answer to the question “where are you from?”. One time, I answered “India” and they said “I know, but where do you live here?”. The next time, I answered “Indianapolis” and they said “But where are you from originally?”. To top it, my smart Alec son asks accusingly later – “Why did you say you are from Indianapolis? You are from India!”. %#$#%$

5. I also found out that Santa Claus is not for real! Just kidding. I knew that. What I did not know was how magical he is. Well, now I know. Better late than never.

6. The best things in life are free.. technically. It’s kind of amazing that some of the best parts of our trip were the only ones that were free or cost very little. Like listening to this song sung by the old man himself. Watch the video below (it is still uploading and will be live approximately half an hour after this post is published). It is pretty amazing if you can ignore the noises the children are making and me moving around shaking the camera every 10 seconds.

http://youtu.be/iloPFfyVsHA

Food. Memories. Comfort.

Bread pakoras were one of my favorite childhood foods. Typical street food in India, prepared and sold by vendors on the road-sides, although much better when made at home for a once-in-a-while Sunday brunch. Pakoras and tea in general are considered great comfort foods on a rainy day.

So it rained today here in Indy. It doesn’t usually rain this hard here and for only a few minutes it was like monsoons were here in Indiana. Needless to say, it made me crave pakoras. I have made them before for pitch-in parties at work or friend’s homes. Always found that they were quite appreciated by the American friends and colleagues, so I thought why not share the recipe for my friends who like to try new foods!

Just to clarify the terminology before I go on to the recipe – ‘pakora’ in general is fried batter. Dip different things in the batter before frying it and you get different varieties of pakoras. Here’s what you will need:

  • Chick pea flour – Also called Gram flour or Besan in Hindi and can be easily found in any Indian/Pakistani store: 2 cups (makes enough for a family of 3-4)
  • Salt: To taste (I used 2 teaspoons)
  • Turmeric, red chilli powder, cumin powder: to taste (I used 1 teaspoon each). If you do not have these spices, no worries. You can be creative and use black pepper powder, oregano powder or any other spices you have on hand.
  • Baking powder: 1/8th of a teaspoon
  • Water: 1 cup (approximately)
  • Oil: for deep-frying.
  • Bread: 8 slices of wheat or any not-too-soft bread
  • Veggies: alternately, for different types of pakoras, you can use onion rings, very thinly sliced potatoes, chopped spinach and even cauliflower or broccoli (see? that just turned it into a healthy dish).

To make pakoras, mix the dry ingredients (flour, salt, spices and baking powder) well in a somewhat flat-bottomed bowl (if you are making bread pakoras, the flat bottom will make it easy to dip the bread slice). The chick pea flour may have lumps. Squash them with a spatula.

Slowly add water to the dry ingredients, mixing constantly with a spoon/spatula to remove any lumps. If the batter is too thin, it will not stick to the veggies/bread and will fall off when you fry it. That’s why water should be added slowly and not all at once. Keep mixing until all the lumps are gone and the batter is smooth and of the consistency of pancake batter.

In the meantime, heat the oil on medium heat in a wok-style pan (or whatever you use for deep-frying). Drop a tiny bit of batter in the oil to check if the oil is ready. If the batter immediately pops up and dances in the oil, you are ready to go! Dip the bread completely in the batter to cover all sides, and drop it really slowly in the oil (be careful not to splash oil on yourself). Let it cook till it is golden on one side, then slowly turn over and cook the other side.

For veggie pakoras, mix chopped veggies in the batter and drop a few spoonfuls in the oil giving them enough space to dance around. Cook both sides till golden. Place the hot pakoras on a paper towel so that any extra oil is absorbed (healthy!) and enjoy with ketchup!

If you like this recipe, or have any questions about it or any other indian recipes, do let me know. I like cooking and blogging and would love to blog more about food and cooking :)