An evening with sushi and the suave foodies in Pune

If there is any cooking class that I would willingly attend it has to be the one which teaches delicate, pretty food, with a complimentary glass of wine. Last weekend, on 18^th July, I and my sister, Shilpa attended a Sushi making party at the O Hotel’s Harajuku restaurant. Harajuku is a town in Tokyo and we didn’t hassle ourselves in wondering why it is named after that town.

The moment one steps inside the restaurant, the conspicuous red and black décor puts one in a mood for some Japanese food. We were late and the session had already started just a few minutes ago. We walked in the middle of the amazing discussion on making the Shari (sushi rice) with Japanese vinegar. The chef recommends the Japanese rice as it is highly glutinous and thus becomes sticky. Surprisingly, even if the texture of the rice required to make is sticky, each and every grain of the rice is intact and can be notably tasted. Indian basmati rice cannot be a substitute. However, the chef claims that Japanese rice is easily available in fine food stores in Pune. (List provided at the end of the blog post).

The chef spoke about the basic ingredients required to make sushi such as Shari (rice), Neta (raw fish, either tuna, salmon, prawns, or crab), Nori (seaweed) sheets, and the most important ingredient – Wasabi. Wasabi is a green colored spicy paste resembling horseradish and is extremely pungent. For making a roll of sushi less than a pinch of wasabi can be used. Apart from wasabi, Gari or pickled ginger was added as a garnish, as it serves as a palate cleansing agent between two types of sushi.

Various types of sushi

The chef demonstrated how to make sushi with Nori sheets inside the Maki (sushi roll), with rice on the outside. This proved to be quite difficult to make but was an all time favorite. We made sushi with nori sheets outside, California rolls, Temaki (cone-shaped sushi), and Nigri sushi. The Nigri sushi was the most interesting and simple to make as it was just fish (salmon, prawns, or tuna) compressed on a mound of rice.

It was our turn now. After all, it was a “Roll your own sushi and eat it too” party. It seemed so easy when the chef was doing it, but when we stuck our hands and rolled up our sleeves, rolling sushi was a bit devious. After one or two attempts, we finally started getting it right. The suave food enthusiasts were quite happy with their attempts, and tried almost everything that the chef had showed us. Foodies were making the nigri sushi or the California maki, although I didn't see anyone daring enough to roll a temaki (cone-shaped sushi). A few daring ones made sushi with the ebi (prawns) in the maki (roll).

My sister Shilpa- The only vegetarian in the party

Among the gathering of 20-25 odd gourmets, there was one brave vegetarian – my sister. She had the courage to spend approximately 1400 rupees on learning sushi with avocado, carrots, or cucumber inside the roll. She made a carrot roll, which was interesting and one of its kind. Thanks to her, I came to know that there is a concept of vegetarian sushi.

At the end of the two hour session (which we didn't realize how happily we spent), all foodies were invited to taste their own creations, pick and choose from other’s plate all accompanied with a glass of wine. The only disappointment was that we didn't get to drink the Japanese sake – rice wine.

The chef overlooks while I make the crab sushi roll

If the chef was a smiling one with bright enthusiasm for teaching us how to make sushi, the staff was no less. We had people explaining us the correct way to eat a sushi, with chopsticks. Heck! The chef taught us how to hold the chopsticks and he actually managed to tear pieces of the gari (pickled ginger) with his chopsticks.

We were not so skilled, but managed to pull it off by picking up a sushi piece, dipping it in a small bowl of light soy sauce with wasabi mixed in it and putting it in our mouth in one go, without spilling a bit.

It is considered unkind and rude to leave any rice bits on the plate and we decided not to be rude (The pretty and delicate sushi on our plate ensured that we fall short on only licking the plate clean).

And that’s how we ended a wonderful soiree with sushi.

Places where one can find all the ingredients required to prepare sushi:

• Godrej Nature's Basket - Aundh, Koregon Park
• Fine Foods - Karve road
• Dorabjee's - Camp

All set with my plate

Goodness feeling

There are some people in life who brighten up your face, your day, your life with just their mere presence. Today a strange thing happened to me. As usual, I was Facebooking (oh yeah! That's a word) and I saw this  photo of very dear friend:

And I smiled. I had a huge, wide grin on my face :).

This girl has been through a lot (and who doesn't) and yet, this smile of hers means the world to me. It is very reassuring. Forget the fact that this photo is brilliantly composed. Forget, for a moment, the amazing color combination that works fantastic in this photo. Just take a moment and look at that smile! If anything can be so refreshing than this one, you gotta tell me.

Thanks Mani, this one is for you. 

Passion towards life

There is something missing in my life. I work, I cook, I clean, I love my husband, talk to my mom and sister everyday, I read new blogs, I listen to music and then I just realized what is missing - passion.

Passion towards life. I started this blog when I had so many things to write about. Writing was the only way I could express myself. I don't have too much to write today too, yet there is something I feel like sharing.

If I can translate better, this amazing guy is saying:

"In you life, do things that you must do to earn a decent living, learn all the arts required to survive and swell, but do not stop at it.
Befriend any art, music, dance, painting, theater and so on.
If your work tells helps you live, your friendship with an art will tell you why you should live"

And I got inked...

Last few days I haven't really been posting much to this blog. I was busy at work is just one excuse. I was not motivated to write. I was actually facing a writer's block and couldn't develop my two liner ideas into a full post.  Again this time, Mani asked me the reasons for my silence and her kind words motivated me to write again. And since we are talking about writing, I am gonna share my own experience of writing albeit on a different page, with a different pen.

I wanted a tattoo from a very long time.

This post is not about justifying the reasons why I wanted a tattoo. I wanted it and that was it. However, it was easier said than done. There were many hurdles, deciding the place on my body, the design, the pain, the permanence. I spoke to a lot of people who already had tattoos and discussed things with them. I took extremely long time in deciding upon a design because a tattoo is a permanent art on your body.

There are a lot of people who think about getting a tattoo and have a lot of questions. These are the questions I had and I will try and answer them after getting my first tattoo.

1. Does it hurt?
Yes, but it is bearable. They say everyone has a different threshold for tolerating pain. If you are the kind of a person who fears needles, then stay away from tattoos. The pain isn't great, the sound of the machine resembles to a drilling machine, I guess that's what scares half of the people. When I got mine, I refrained from looking at my hand, on which the artist was drawing and thus avoided half of the pain. I asked my husband, my sister, and my friends to be with me, talk to me and distract me from the pain. It worked :).

Make sure you tell the artist this is the first time you are getting a tattoo and he will give you frequent breaks, or go a bit slow. My artist also kept answering my horde of questions quite patiently.

If you feel nauseating, which I did, take a walk. Step a moment into the fresh air, do not go outside, but stand near a window. 

This helps!

2. What kind of design should I select?
One thing is for sure, tattoo is permanent and so select a design that you wouldn't mind seeing at the age of 65. It is a very personal choice of what you want the tattoo to say. My tattoo means a lot to me and that's also the reason why the direction of the flight of the birds is such that I can see it. 

For me, a tattoo is for my pleasure, if others admire it, good. So make sure you do not get a tattoo just for getting people to admire it. You are bearing the pain, you have every right to be pleased by your tattoo. 

If this is your first time, do not select an elaborate design. Go for simple ones. Use colors, and the outlining hurts more than filling a tattoo with color.  

3. Where should I do it on my body?

Again, a personal choice. I went by a simple logic - I wanted a tattoo on the part of my body which will not change drastically if I put on or lose a lot of weight. Hence, I chose a wrist.

Also, if it is your first tattoo and you have no idea how much it will pain so do it on a body part with a lot of flesh. Do not do your first tattoo on a bone. It hurts more, and it pains more even after you are done with the inking. 

4. After tattoo care? 

  

The artist wraps up your tattoo in a bandage. Remove it after an hour or two and the wash it with mild soap and using your fingers.
This much every website tells you.
What my artist told me is to apply coconut oil on my tattoo after every few hours. Rub just a few drops, enough to cure any itching. Do not immerse it in water or use too much of the ointment.
Basically, treat it like a wound and it will heal perfectly.
If you find any untoward reactions, immediately contact the artist. He will be able to guide you further.

In the end, I would like to share a graphic that summarizes the whole experience in one word!