Kolmou Haak

Xaak or khaak or haak...whichever spelling you use, it means green leafy vegetable in Assamese, the ones of which, only the leaves and tender stems are consumed as a side dish with a meal. I love haak, the veggie that is, and yeah the spelling too :-).

Kolmou haak

Yesterday I made Kolmou haak and loved it (hey, I love all kinds of haak for that matter). It was a little gravy-ish with one potato cut in wedges style. We had rice with that and two more side dishes to go with it. Now, since it was the first time I was making this haak, I had to call my moma darling back home to ask for the recipe. I made it like an obedient pupil and I am happy with the output. Once lunch was over, I wondered about the goonagoon, nutritional value of the haak and was amused and amazed by what I have learnt. Here I am sharing a few things about Kolmou.

Ipomea Aquatica - Kolmi Sag

• 
  
  Kolmou is known as Ipomoea Aquatica and it is known as the water spinach as well, because of its nutritional properties that come close to spinach.
• 
  
  Water spinach is most commonly grown in East and Southeast Asia. Because it flourishes naturally in waterways and does not require much care, it is used extensively in Malay and Chinese cuisine, especially in rural or kampung (village) areas.
• 
  
  The vegetable is a common ingredient in Southeast Asian dishes. In Singapore and Indonesia, the leaves are usually stir fried with Chile pepper, garlic, ginger, dried shrimp paste (belacan/terasi) and other spices.
• 
  
  In Penang and Ipoh, it is cooked with cuttlefish and a sweet and spicy sauce.
• 
  
  During the World War II, the vegetable grew remarkably well and easily in many areas, and become a popular wartime crop.
• 
  
  In Chinese cuisine, there are numerous ways of preparation, but a simple and quick stir-fry either plain or with minced garlic is probably the most common. In Cantonese cuisine, a popular variation adds preserved bean curd - a method known in the Mandarin language as furu (The Chinese Cheeses).
• 
  
  In Hakka cuisine, yellow bean paste is added, sometimes along with fried shallots. The vegetable is also extremely popular in Taiwan, where it grows well.
• 
  
  In Thailand it is frequently stir fried with oyster sauce and shrimp paste. It can be eaten raw with Lao green papaya salad. Though eaten raw, there is a chance of transmitting fasciolopsiasis, a parasite of humans and pigs.
• 
  
  In Vietnam, it once served as a staple vegetable of the poor. In the south, the stems are julienned into thin strips and eaten with many kinds of noodles and used as a garnish as well.
• 
  
  Over the course of time, Ipomoea aquatica has developed into being an ingredient for many daily vegetable dishes of Vietnamese cuisine as a whole.
• 
  
  In the Philippines, it is usually sautéed in cooking oil, onions, garlic, vinegar, and soy sauce. This dish is called "adobong kangkong". There is an appetizer in the Philippines called Crispy Kangkong, where in a mixer of with eggs, water, cornstarch, flour, salt and pepper these leaves are coated with the batter and are fried until crispy and golden brown.
• 
  
  Some of the common names include water spinach, swamp cabbage, water convolvulus, water morning-glory, kangkung (Indonesian, Malay, Sinhalese), Hong Sum Choy (Hakka), Thooti koora in Telugu; Kalmisag, Sarnali, Ganthian in Hindi; Kolmi Shak or Kolmi Lota in Bengali and finally In Kolmou in my mother tongue Assamese.

References:
Ø http://en.wikipedia.org
Ø http://aquat1.ifas.ufl.edu

Bihu is Bihu

Dhuliya and Nasoni

Today, we celebrate Bihu in our own little ways, feeling equally excited every time. Although the first thing we all would like to do on Bihu is to be at our parental home where we grew up and enjoyed the Bihus in their totality. But due to the many difficulties, obligations and responsibilities of modern lives, it is sometimes not possible to be at the right place at the right time. However, no matter where we are, we make sure that we celebrate Bihu in some special way to mark the Asomiya “jatiyo utsab”.

The spirit of Bihu remains intact in our hearts and always will be. Although I am in Kolkata now, whenever I hear the cuckoo singing in the big “Krishno Chura” trees of the Salt Lake area, my heart skips a beat. I realise that Bihu is just around the corner. The Cuckoo, like a sincere messenger tells me with his coos, “here comes the most exciting festival of your life”.
 
In India, Rongali Bihu is celebrated with different names in different states. Being an agrarian economy, almost all the states of India follow the same agricultural calendar. All the states celebrate their traditional New Year festival during this time of April. Pudu Varsham in Tamil Nadu, Baisakhi in Punjab and Nababarsha in West Bengal are nothing but celebrations of Bihu in their own respective ways. The festivities are the same, the spirit is identical and the attachment of the locales towards these festivals is the same. I have to confess though, that when in Assam, I can smell Bihu in the air and the feeling is matchless. I can’t wait to get home for this Bihu......Happy Rongali Bihu to all of you....

Bihu is Bihu

Khanapara Bihu Function "08

Everyone talks about Bihu - then and now. Everyone says it was better “then”, than “now”. I beg to differ. For me all the Bihu celebrations have something special to offer. So what, if the celebration of Bihu has changed over the ages? Change is inevitable. We all have to keep up with time and adjust accordingly. Today we do not have enough time and convenience to do all the things that are associated with the Bihus. It doesn’t matter when you were born and how you remember your Bihu celebrations. Bihu is always a celebration that is closest to the hearts of all the Assamese people around the globe. We love Bihu, be it the vibrant Rongali Bihu or the feastful Magh Bihu. Well, Kati Bihu always takes a backseat because of obvious reasons. All the Bihu celebrations of my life have been pleasant ones. At least I would like to think so. This may be because; nothing could ever dampen the spirit of Bihu in us.

Khanapara Bihu "09 entrance Gate

Today, we celebrate Bihu in our own little ways, feeling equally excited every time. Although the first thing we all would like to do on Bihu is to be at our parental home where we grew up and enjoyed the Bihus in their totality. But due to the many difficulties, obligations and responsibilities of modern lives, it is sometimes not possible to be at the right place at the right time. However, no matter where we are, we make sure that we celebrate Bihu in some special way to mark the Asomiya “jatiyo utsab”.
To cite a few examples, Pushpanjali, a friend of mine, an Assamese to the bone marrow, is celebrating Bihu in her newspaper office in Ahmedabad. She has asked her brother to courier some Pitha so that she can reduce the feeling of missing home.
Another of my friends, Pinky in Australia has learnt Pitha making, so that she doesn’t have to survive with the cravings for Pitha, especially during the Bihu days. Thanks to her technically savvy mother who e-mailed her the recipes and processes of Til Pitha and Ghila Pitha making.
In Delhi, when work kept us from going home for the Rongali Bihu, just to make ourselves feel good, we Assamese girls used to make time to at least go to Assam Bhavan near Kautilya Marg, wearing Muga Mekhela Sador to have an Assamese thali in the cafeteria. The saak bhaji, alu pitika and maasor tenga never felt so heavenly.

A Magh Bihu Bonfire

A friend of mine in Singapore, Prakash, married to a non-Assamese girl, craves for Assamese home food. Last Magh Bihu, the craving finally seemed to have crossed the line. Since he was missing the feasting of Magh Bihu with family and friends for years, last January he decided to celebrate a real Magh Bihu in Singapore. Hunting the market for half a day, he collected some of the close to home menu items and invited all his Chinese friends to celebrate Magh Bihu at his home. A small Meji was built in front of his home and a bonfire and barbequed snacks marked the celebration.
Once in Delhi, a few of my Assamese friends and me celebrated Magh Bihu in a grand way. We made sure that everyone’s favourite Assamese dish was made. At first only a few Assamese girls got together for the occasion, but word of mouth got spread so fast that we ended up having seventeen “khaar” (Assamese in Delhi call themselves Khaar as in Khaar khua Asomiya) friends who invited themselves to the celebration. Bon fire is a must on Magh Bihu and we had no idea how to arrange for the firewood. Then an idea struck in the middle of the INA market itself, where we were shopping for the feast. We requested the fruit vendors to donate us the discarded wooden fruit boxes and they happily obliged. Firewood was ready for that perfect bonfire just in front of my residence.
In Kolkata, a few of my Assamese friends are getting together for Rongali Bihu this year. Some of them are students and some are working professionals. The process of deciding the venue, menu and time, is still on. I look forward to be a part of that celebration here.
With the passage of time, my friends and me have moved on following our own fortunes. But the spirit of Bihu remains intact in our hearts and always will be. Although I am in Kolkata now, whenever I hear the cuckoo singing in the big “Krishno Chura” trees of the Salt Lake area, my heart skips a beat. I realise that Bihu is just around the corner. The Cuckoo, like a sincere messenger tells me with his coos, “here comes the most exciting festival of your life”.
In India, Rongali Bihu is celebrated with different names in different states. Being an agrarian economy, almost all the states of India follow the same agricultural calendar. All the states celebrate their traditional New Year festival during this time of April. Pudu Varsham in Tamil Nadu, Baisakhi in Punjab and Nababarsha in West Bengal are nothing but celebrations of Bihu in their own respective ways. The festivities are the same, the spirit is identical and the attachment of the locales towards these festivals is the same. I have to confess though, that when in Assam, I can smell Bihu in the air and the feeling is matchless. I can’t wait to get home for this Bihu......Happy Rongali Bihu to all of you....

Acknowledging Eve Teasers

This heading must have raised your eyebrows. Yes, we all hate eve teasers. We feel like slapping them, if we felt safe enough to do so that is. We feel like putting them behind the bars, if there were policemen in the area where we were being teased. But these actions can hardly be taken. We feel disgusted when we are teased and even when we witness someone getting teased.

Getting mad and helpless at the same time doesn't do any good to us. Negative emotions, as we all know today, secret some harmful hormones in our body leading to the creation of negative energy. Therefore, I decided to see the positive points in the act of eve teasing and about the eve teasers. You know what? To my surprise, I actually found some positive points that made me feel good. Read on and find out:

• While being teased with words like "moti" (fatso), I know that it's time I lose some weight.
• While being teased by a song…I know that I am reminding him of a song… if it's a good song, like say, "desi girl….." it's great. This means, I look like an Indian girl today. If it is a song denoting some of the negative aspects in my , I can work on it.
• Eve teasers are the most honest commentator of your appearance. Ask your boy friend/hubby/friend, nobody will tell you how fat/ugly/bad you look. Eve teasers make you understand the real picture of you.
• Above all, I can completely ignore them and make them feel like nobody, even though they work their minds so sincerely to scrutinize my appearance.

Now, tell me, isn't it great to have eve teasers around. They work hard to comment on us and in return they don't get anything. All we need to do is, USE THEM to our advantage. Feels great!

Experienced Unprofessionalism

These days I am having to work at a client's office reviewing their work on site. Just want to give you all, one vital information: it SUCKS. The work culture is horrible here. Calling me at 10 am, they all come to office at 11 am. Moreover, half of their working hours, they talk about movie stars, mobile phones and movies. The work takes a complete back seat. Then suddenly they realise it is lunch time. Then it's an hour long lunch time. After working on the review for an hour, the application I am reviewing crashes, and there is another 1 and half hours of waiting, before they fix the problem. Oh God! How unprofessional they can be! Lucky them (actually, what a pity), they are having secured government jobs and working in the most laid back metro in India, Kolkata. But for me, if I am offered a job in this kind of an office with higher salary, I will not take it. Reason being, I am not a cheater and I want to work in my workplace. It is not an acceptable behaviour for me if someone is just wasting their time doing nothing productive in the
workplace.
Seeing this government office's work culture, I know now, why India is not called a developed country yet. I feel sorry.

FYI, I am writing this from my mobile, while waiting for them to fix the problem. :-)

Loving it

Kolkata is a place that fascinated me since my childhood. No, I would not be able to pin point any one particular reason for this now. Being the closest metro to Assam, I have heard people coming to Kolkata in pursuit of their cultural aspirations, academic goals, career enhancements and so on. I used to feel jealous when my favourite legendary singer Bhupen Hazarika used to stay here during his younger days. I envied Kolkata for keeping Bhupen mama here, of whom the whole of Assam is fan. However, despite this attitude towards Kolkata, (secretly) I wanted to live here too, at least for a few years. I wanted to know, what it is about Kolkata that is so magnetic.
Now I am here. In Kolkata. And you know what? It feels like home. Yes I know, you must be thinking, “whatta girl!”
Well, its not that I had never visited Kolkata before. I did pass through the city and even visited and stayed alone. During those visits, I never felt unsafe and people were good to me. I had a nice time even in the hotels I stayed in. Now that I am here, it feels like I am not away from home. It feels as if I am in the middle of an extended family of my own. I love the way they talk and accommodate outsiders in the city. I have talked about many aspects of Kolkata before. Today, let’s talk about food.

My Office Lunch Spread

Food is like the centre of life here. Bengalis (the people of West Bengal are called Bengalis) love food. They walk food, talk food, think food and most of all, they are very proud of their culinary skills. Bengalis are known for their fondness of fish. Being a vegetarian, I wouldn’t be able to talk much about the variety of fish curries here, but I can definitely talk about the sweet spreads Kolkata has to offer. I enjoyed some of the delicious sweets immediately after moving here (needless to explain the few extra pounds that I am carrying. Yes, yes, I AM working on it now). The rosogolla, malpua, mishti doi, jol bhora, pati chapta, nalen guder shondesh and the list is endless. I will try and update the list as soon as I remember some of the other names of sweets that I had here.