When life gives you Paavakka

 "Kathirikkaa....... Vendaikkaa..... Paavakkaa........

Kathirikkaa....... Vendaikkaa..... Paavakkaa......."

Shouted the vegetable vendor who, in his busy lockdown schedule, made time to grace my street. As I jumped off my work station to go buy the vegetables I had a mini revelation, life too is like that basket of vegetables. There are terrific experiences like brinjals and terrible ones like bitter melons. By the time I followed the protocol of double masking, sanitising and standing in line with 6 feet distance....... my neighbours had already bought all the brinjals and okra. The vendor welcomed me with a big smile and said,” Come ma, I have reserved the healthiest vegetable just for you”. I bought his witty sales pitch and the bitter gourd; I didn’t have a choice anyway.

 Apparently, I was to have a bitter experience that day. But, hey! Both, the vegetable and the experiences are great detoxifiers. The former purifies your blood and the latter, your character. The key is to consume it willingly and gracefully, how do you do that? When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. But when it gives you paavakka, what do you make?

Do you make Poriyal to shove it down the throat and vomit later?

Or do you make Sambhar to suffuse bitterness into every drop of the stew?

My dear folks, what I did with that bitter melon is also what I do with my life. It makes for a great recipe and life lesson which I shall present to you step by step.

Cut the bitter gourd into thin slices and core it, just like how we analyse an issue and get to the core of it.

 Taking life with a pinch of salt prepares us to deal with the bitter truth better. So, take those pinches and rub it on the slices.

Once you do that the slices will start watering, just like our eyes do, when salt is rubbed on our wounded ego.

That’s when you leave it under the sun to let it dry. Sunlight can help lift up the wilted slices and our moods.

   While that process takes time, we shall simultaneously do something fun. After all, there is nothing stopping us from being happy, we should just WANT to be so. Take two spoonsful of bajji flour.... yes, we are going to fry that sucker. Add 1 spoon of corn flour, to make it extra crispy. Add some finely chopped curry leaves for that soothing aroma. Breathe it in, if you wish.

   Now, we shall spice things up, add some salt, chilli powder, half spoon of ginger-garlic paste and the magic ingredient - chicken 65 masala. Add enough water to make it into a thick gooey batter. While the groundnut oil heats up in the frying pan, you can get the sun-dried bitter melon slices. Traditionally, bajji slices are dipped in the batter to fry; but here, we shall add a bit of the batter to the slices, just enough for a thin coating. Once the oil is ready, you pick up a handful of the marination and drop them one by one into the pan. Toss the slices when needed and fry till they are golden brown. You can literally hear the crisp when you collect and drop them on the platter. And, the not-so-bitter melon chips are ready to eat.

Just imagine, you sit down to have lunch on a cold, rainy October afternoon. Your mother serves you the fluffy steamed rice, drops a mini dollop of ghee and pours the piping hot tomato rasam. You mix it, take some chips with it and put it into your mouth.

Can you taste it? Is your mouth watering yet?

Sllurrrrp!

What happens in your mouth is a festival of flavours.

Salt and spice

In the Tangy rasam;

Sweet fluffy rice

 And ghee so wholesome

Paraded down my throat

along with the bitter

The crispy fanfare

Made it even better.

Yes! My dear folks, that’s how you crush it!

When life gives you Paavakka, make paavakka chips!

  The truth is, like night before dawn, darkness before light and winter before spring; bitter experiences are an inevitable and essential part of life. The biggest gift it gives us is PERSPECTIVE. But for that, we can’t fully appreciate the good things life has given us; we even take them for granted. Not all of us can embrace the bitter for what it is and eat poriyal. Most of us are like the paavakkai sambhar and let the bitterness spread to every aspect of our life. But let’s remember that we always have the ability to make things better.

 Introspection and integrity are required to subdue the bitterness. While that happens, taking up a hobby, connecting with good people and volunteering to help someone will spice up your routine. That’s what brings balance to our lives.

I wish you all a lifetime of Happy Eating and Happy Living!

P. S. If you are from that part of the country where you don't eat rasam. Try the chips with dal and roti. Just sprinkle some black salt and chaat masala on the chips.