Diverse Cultures and Indulgences.
If Cinnamon, Clove, Cardamom, and Nutmeg can all come under one category - Spices, then I for sure can see how my family is all under one roof. Even though there is a certain system of classification as spices, they each have their own distinctive aroma and taste. But put together in a biryani, you end up with one aromatic gorgeous-looking result.
I'd like to introduce you to my family, and the acceptance we have developed and are still developing towards the myriad traditions followed by each of our cultures. My Dad was born and raised in Bangalore, his surname didn't have a Gowda, but I do. Let me assure you, we are not the Gowdas to have a label up their car which reads "Gowda's". But we sure are the kind that indulge in a non-vegetarian feast without an occasion. My Mom on the other hand, is a Reddy who connects with her roots to a place in Prakasham district in Andhra Pradesh. A culmination of both the cultures from Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh has mostly been what my childhood was all about. Nothing to beat the spice and chilli of Andhra with the steaming hot Ragi "mudde".
It was troublesome at times, for not having perfected either of the two languages. But the bigger trouble was when I shifted schools to take up a CBSE curriculum which gave me a reality check. The school admitted kids from across India, and to my surprise, they found conversing in Hindi convenient. In the next year, I fairly picked up on Hindi and learnt quite a bit about how things function in most of the states.
You can at all points in my blog, equate my learnings to learning about authentic cooking.
My friends (mostly my gang of girls) then, were from Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Andhra Pradesh. Now go ahead and imagine the joy of sharing lunch with them. Not to pick favourites, but I l can shamelessly admit being in love with the buttery gobi parathas, Shimla Mirch and aloo ki sabji the most. During the course of my schooling I did face a certain amount of identity crisis, and who doesn't.
Fast-forward to ten years later, I was fondly referred to as "hybrid" by a few when I was pursuing engineering. This was also the time I had bunked classes to watch first-day-first-shows of Puneeth Rajkumar, Golden Star Ganesh, and Kiccha Sudeep. I do have a dedicated playlist for Kannada songs from the Rajkumar era to his sons'. From Urvashi Theater to Donne Biryani at Shivaji Military Hotel, to Down Town Pub, I then had a special place for the Gowda in me.
I moved to Hyderabad for further studies. I lived in a humble space of 400 sqft and was the fondest tenant of the owner's. An 80-year-old lady, who fed me more than what I paid her as rent, would patiently watch me react to every morsel of food I put in my mouth. She introduced me to the ancient Hyderabadi style of cooking. It was like it came straight from the kitchens of the Nizam. I crushed on the heroes of Tollywood (how can one not like Rana and Prabhas) and knew most of the hit Telugu songs from then. Here comes my love for the Reddy in me.
My acceptance of new things grew mostly because of my love for food and music. My family grew with new entrants, my husband who is from Kerala, and my sister-in-law who's native to Tamil Nadu. At this point, we've got South India covered. I've eaten the best of South Indian food just within my household. I enjoy the Kerala parotta, egg roast masala, and toddy, as much as I crave the simplicity in my sister-in-law's cooking and the best of filter coffee. We've got the best of Malayalam Movies and Rahman's Tamil songs too.
I've lived for about two years each in Pune and Gurgaon (for study and work respectively), to gorge on Poha, Misal pav, and Delhi chats. My visits to Vadodara made me fall in love with Sev usad and khakhras. I have enjoyed grooving to the beats of Punjabi music in Delhi pubs as much as I have crooned to classic rock in good old Pecos, Bangalore.
I've lived and loved my life in all the cities I've been to, and I realised it's easy to do so when you're too deep in love with their food, music and movies. How you can not like a place when you are trapped with what it has to offer?!
Note: All the pictures of food posted are cooked by yours truly.
#notafussyeater #punjabitorockmusic
I'd like to introduce you to my family, and the acceptance we have developed and are still developing towards the myriad traditions followed by each of our cultures. My Dad was born and raised in Bangalore, his surname didn't have a Gowda, but I do. Let me assure you, we are not the Gowdas to have a label up their car which reads "Gowda's". But we sure are the kind that indulge in a non-vegetarian feast without an occasion. My Mom on the other hand, is a Reddy who connects with her roots to a place in Prakasham district in Andhra Pradesh. A culmination of both the cultures from Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh has mostly been what my childhood was all about. Nothing to beat the spice and chilli of Andhra with the steaming hot Ragi "mudde".
You can at all points in my blog, equate my learnings to learning about authentic cooking.
My friends (mostly my gang of girls) then, were from Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Andhra Pradesh. Now go ahead and imagine the joy of sharing lunch with them. Not to pick favourites, but I l can shamelessly admit being in love with the buttery gobi parathas, Shimla Mirch and aloo ki sabji the most. During the course of my schooling I did face a certain amount of identity crisis, and who doesn't.
Fast-forward to ten years later, I was fondly referred to as "hybrid" by a few when I was pursuing engineering. This was also the time I had bunked classes to watch first-day-first-shows of Puneeth Rajkumar, Golden Star Ganesh, and Kiccha Sudeep. I do have a dedicated playlist for Kannada songs from the Rajkumar era to his sons'. From Urvashi Theater to Donne Biryani at Shivaji Military Hotel, to Down Town Pub, I then had a special place for the Gowda in me.
I moved to Hyderabad for further studies. I lived in a humble space of 400 sqft and was the fondest tenant of the owner's. An 80-year-old lady, who fed me more than what I paid her as rent, would patiently watch me react to every morsel of food I put in my mouth. She introduced me to the ancient Hyderabadi style of cooking. It was like it came straight from the kitchens of the Nizam. I crushed on the heroes of Tollywood (how can one not like Rana and Prabhas) and knew most of the hit Telugu songs from then. Here comes my love for the Reddy in me.
My acceptance of new things grew mostly because of my love for food and music. My family grew with new entrants, my husband who is from Kerala, and my sister-in-law who's native to Tamil Nadu. At this point, we've got South India covered. I've eaten the best of South Indian food just within my household. I enjoy the Kerala parotta, egg roast masala, and toddy, as much as I crave the simplicity in my sister-in-law's cooking and the best of filter coffee. We've got the best of Malayalam Movies and Rahman's Tamil songs too.
I've lived for about two years each in Pune and Gurgaon (for study and work respectively), to gorge on Poha, Misal pav, and Delhi chats. My visits to Vadodara made me fall in love with Sev usad and khakhras. I have enjoyed grooving to the beats of Punjabi music in Delhi pubs as much as I have crooned to classic rock in good old Pecos, Bangalore.
I've lived and loved my life in all the cities I've been to, and I realised it's easy to do so when you're too deep in love with their food, music and movies. How you can not like a place when you are trapped with what it has to offer?!
Note: All the pictures of food posted are cooked by yours truly.
#notafussyeater #punjabitorockmusic
All of us have memories of childhood, college days. But your vivid recollection and penning down is extremely beautiful. It actually shows how you live life through every phase, enjoying it and cherishing it
ReplyDeleteThank you so much. It just encourages me to write often and keep at it.
DeleteWow Pooja... You have such a lovely flair to write.. Keep writing!
ReplyDeleteThank you Lekha Aunty. I am happy to see you reading all my blogs.
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