MyMusingsSangSpeak- The Bench

The Bench

Benches- we come across them at so many places- homes, parks, gardens, schools, colleges, theatres and so on and each one of them signifies a certain stage of our growing up years and life in general. These benches come in so many varieties too- some wooden, some made of bamboo, some wrought iron ones and some in reinforced concrete cement. As soon as I come across a bench, I start imagining a couple, a pair of friends, siblings sitting and sharing some precious moments of life. The school bench where you studied, learnt, acquired knowledge, the college bench where you studied, played pranks, stole glances, the park benches on which you shared some romantic tete-a-tete, watched children play or just sat in solitude and wondered, imagined and reminisced. Sometimes, when one sits on the bench alone, lost in thoughts, it actually serves to be a close confidant too.

Gone are the days when people would sit on benches and relax for a while. So, you get to see the broken, forlorn benches at so many places. Now, the municipal corporations have added benches on the footpaths in the smart city projects and mostly these are occupied by the pensioners and oldies.

The sight of a bench at anyplace reminds me of my growing up years and my maternal grandparent’s house, which was part of a spacious bungalow and there was this large wooden bench atop a solid wrought iron frame on the platform in front of the house. It was a real vantage point from where one could see right up to the green fields across the road till the horizon which was dotted with a railway line. The goods train and some few passenger trains came chugging along at timely intervals and it used to be a favourite pastime to sit on the bench and count the number of compartments.

My grandparents sat on the bench and kept a watch on the water tap which was shared by about 40-45 families. It was also a great place to keep an eye on their ever-blossoming garden with plenty of mango trees, roses, lemon trees and other fruit trees like guavas, chikoos etc. Each person in the family had a me-time on this favourite bench. My mother and my aunts would sit on it while sipping evening tea and exchanging their family notes and life experiences etc. We cousins would generally sit in the night exchanging our juicy pieces of information on growing up. In all, it used to be pure fun.

This bench saw so many happy as well as sad moments, small children sun bathing, grandparents sharing their wisdom, sisters and brothers’ bonding and some moments of grief of loss in the family and the war times. It was witness to a lot of heart to heart talks and conversations. Later, when my grandparents shifted from this laid-back town to my uncle’s place, he brought this bench to his bungalow. I was married by then and my brother and cousin told me what efforts they took to shift this massive bench to my uncle’s house. I have not seen the bench in ages now, but the memories linger on. So, whenever I see a bench anywhere, it does invite me  to go back in time and I do sit on it for a few moments to re-live the nostalgia......

MyMusingsSangSpeak- Pet Puja - Aluchi Wadi

Aluchi Wadi

Aluchi Wadi is an all time favorite Maharashtrian savoury snack and is loved by one and all. It is famous all over India too and is known by various names as Patra, Patrod, Pattaud etc. It is made of colocasia/arum (Arbi in Hindi, Alu in Marathi) leaves and a batter of besan flavoured with tamarind, chilly powder, jaggery etc and has a unique taste. The colocasia leaves are available all through the year, but, most readily available during the monsoons. There are two types of edible colocasia leaves, the light green and the dark green. In Maharashtra, the light green variety is used to make semi liquid recipe called the Aluchi Patal Bhaji (Saag) and the dark green variety is used to make the Aluchi Wadi.

Colocasia has microscopic calcium oxalate crystals that cause itchy throat. To neutralise these, the tubers and leaves are treated with some acidic ingredient like tamarind, lemon etc.

Colocasia tubers grow very easily too and are hardy plants in all weathers and environments.

Traditionally, in Maharashtra only besan is used in the recipe, but, here, I am sharing the recipe with a combination of besan and rice flour.

Ingredients

Colocasia (Arum) leaves – 8-10 nos

Besan (Chana Daal/Gram Flour – 1½ cup

Rice Flour – ½ cup

Jaggery – 1½ tablespoon

Tamarind – 1½ tablespoon

Red Chilly Powder – 1 teaspoon

Turmeric Powder – ½ teaspoon

Sesame seeds – 1½ tablespoons

Corinader Powder – ½ teaspoon

Cumin Powder – ½ teaspoon

Salt – As per taste

Water – As per requirement

Oil – As per frying requirements 

Method

Wash the colocasia leaves and dry them. Remove the veins and flatten lightly with rolling pin. Soak tamarind for 10–15 minutes and strain the pulp. Soak jaggery in little water and make a solution. Mix together gram flour, rice flour, salt, turmeric, chilly, cumin, coriander powders, sesame seeds and add tamarind pulp and jaggery solution. Add little water to make smooth batter like pakoda batter. Take one leaf and spread the batter on it evenly and cover with another leaf and repeat the process with 3-4 leaves. Fold the batter covered leaves to form a roll. Apply little oil on top of the rolls,

Steam the rolls for 10- 15 minutes in a steamer utensil or pressure cooker. Remove and allow to cool. Cut in thin slices and shallow or deep fry as per your liking/convenience.  

Note – Preparation time is approximately 1 hour. This quantity is enough for 6-7 persons. The rolls can be made and stored in the fridge for about a week or so and fried as and when required. If one wishes to avoid frying, the steamed ones taste good on their own, with a tempering of little oil, mustard seeds and curry leaves.