Butter Chicken

Food .. any type of it; gets me going. When I was got the news that I have to travel to the US for two months; the first signs of alarm were: What will I eat???

Not that I hold back from eating anything but my earlier experiences had suggested that I would get crapped out with bland meat sooner than later. I started prepartions on a war-footing. Started furiously searchin "Mr. Know it all a.k.a GOOGLE" for accurate answers. As always, got thru to more food related porn sites(just kiddin... u figure whether abt the food sites or the porn ones :P) than anything. The few that threw out them recipes were so complex that I felt like I would be delivering a baby rather than a barbecue. Most masalas mentioned there were words that sounded like mean minded abuses in some unknown languages...

I was at my wits end. I was enthused with cooking but I wanted variety too. I wasnt in a position to carry all of the stuff I had gathered I would need to prepare that smorgasbord. Thats when it happened.. Like always my mom jumped in to my rescue. She told me abt some pre-made masalas.. daalo, ubalo, chicken milao and all done... Parampara, thy name is God to a desi foodie in foreign land...

So here I landed with the confidence of using these pre-made masalas to devastating use and got myself a bag of chicken ...I was all armed to make hot and spicy Indian curries, the sort that would make any American shed a tear when I open my lunch box. Pleased with my armor of eveything from Moghlai to kolhapuri to tandoori; I set about on my way...

But alas; my bubble was soon to burst. The final product was a watery gravy smelling Indian-curryish...All my pride in my culinary expertise was draining down as well. I needed a fix and a damn good one. Research ensued on war-scale; searching websites and books. Talking to people with experience. Advice, since its always free started flowing in like those Indian -idol sms'es...

Kanda ghaal, use ginger garlic.. put masalas too, have u marinated the meat with curd? fry the chicken first... use mutton and not chicken.. marinate in the masalas overnight.. chuck this its a scam.. so much so that I was even more confused... What should I really do?

I swept aside all random suggestions. Put on my thinking hat and approached the best chef I knew: no not my mom, Sanjeev Kapoor. Searched his website and saw the method. (I am using SKs name as I dont recollect where I saw the recipe).. I relied on Parampara to provide me with the masala ingredients and set about treating the rest of the prepartion like always
marinate meat with curd and ginger-garlic.. lime juice... Cut Kanda... etc

Went about with the prepartion with dedication unbecoming of me.. fried my onions tillexactly golden brown and thn slipped in my chicken.. Sauted it tillsome time before pouring in the masala and blob of butter... Held on patiently for the time prescribed and then dheere se slided the lid from the vessel.

Wow!!!! I had overshone myself. Bettered expectations in a way my mom would be proud of me... There it was.. The most amazing BUTTER CHICKEN I had ever made.

What a game....

Always been a sports person... loved almost anything I watched and my stay in US was no different.. I got hooked big time to both basketball and American football.. moreso because College sports out here are a phenomenon to LIVE..

My team, the Gators, luckily is a great team. And that made me more aware about how college sports unveils...The amount of respect and fan-followin these guys have is so inspiring that if I ever were to settle here, I would wish my kid to definitely be active in sports.

Having said that, i was kinda bummed this time round as I wouldnt get to see any football. But to my great relief MARCH MADNESS was round the corner. For all those that dont know what I m saying... well, its this crazy college basketball tourney with the best 64 teams being selected and going through a crazy 3 week roller coaster to come up with the national champion.

I was really hoping for the Gators to make it through but they missed the cut and I was kinda turned off from watching the game. But it turned out to be a blessing in disguise and since I didnt have any favorites any more... I was enjoying the games neutrally.

And a memorable tourney it was. The first time all No.1 seeds were in the Final Four. All storied college programs fighting it out.., The semi-finals were kinda damp but it threw out an interesting finals match-up
KANSAS v MEMPHIS.....

and what a game that has turned out to be,,, Jus done watching that. A complete yo-yo going forward and back all the time.. Exciting clutch shots, missing simple baskets.. leads changing hands, missed free throws and a last second three-pointer... whoa that want enuff.. we got an added overtime thrown in too... The underdog winning made it just sweeter... My heart bled for Memphis; having played magnificiently all through-out and having posted the best record ever... and to come so close (close enough to the last game)... and then we had Kansas... the winners.. the darlings...

and this is what makes sports so amazing.. I didnt know any names of any players or had no allegiance to any team and here i was ..absolutely roller coasting on a crazy ride of pure adrenaline and I was thrilled at the end of it..

Lov the college sports scene. I wish it were the GATORS though. :)