One of my favorites from my mom's kitchen is Ennai Kathrikai. For the uninitiated, it is a simple and tasty Tamil vegetarian curry. It literally translates to "Oliy Brinjal/Eggplant". This brinjal curry is made with extra oil than that is normally used in a sambhar.
A whole brinjal smeared with the masala dripping oil - wow! its a heavenly taste.
I would stay hungry all day..no matter how tough it would be to stay without eating, just to eat mom's preparation.
But as luck would have it, each time, yes each time out of the innumerable times I have tasted this preparation at home; I have ended up being unlucky in savoring the curry. Let me tell why.
Ennai kathrikai at home is always eaten with hot steamy rice. I would scoop out a spoon of ennai kathrikai and also some gravy, mix it well and start feeling the heaven, I mean relish it with a sense of gratitude to my mom for preparing it.
I am a fuzzy eater, if that's what it is. The habit of segregating curry leaves, onions to the side of the plate always make my eyes rove around for "non-eatable" particles. Well, no offense here.
Don't know for what reason, mustard, curry leaves have always been in the list of "non-eatable" for me. Also Holy Lord, the onions..they are the UNTOUCHABLES; so in this process, I always end up finding....guess what??
A WORM :-(.
Oh yes! I always find a worm somehow having escaped the cleaning process in brinjal(They remain unnoticed as the brinjal are just slit into 4 in this preparation). I have found them in varying sizes, to fully grown 1 and 1/2 inch ones(yuck!!!! I can still visualize that in my plate) to tiny ones. I am a strict Lacto-ovo-vegetarian. so worms are a big NO-NO for me :-D.
But why me? Why do I get a wormy ennai kathrikai always? The next thing I would do is to throw away the entire heap of rice and remain hungry. My dream of savoring Ennai Kathrikai and finishing off the entire plateful of rice still remains a dream. Hopefully I would be able to live my dream.
This was a post I wrote sometime in 2008. I have still not lived my dream. I found a worm in the Ennai Kathrikkai preparation by me yesterday. Saga continues......
:) you are lucky VEG and NON veg TOGETHER :) he he he h
ReplyDeleteactually i have something similar the small stones in the yellow dal, the whole family will eat and no one will have any but I will have at least ONE ALways , 100%
Bikram's
:P stone is better is than a worm always
DeleteI was thinking why repost..then though..have you got it again...and there you go.. :D
ReplyDeleteYeah :(
DeleteI on the other hand crave meat constantly.I wonder what that says about us?
ReplyDeleteWould you consider worm to a meat Kitty? :)
DeleteNo hardly they're digusting,horses are though.
ReplyDeleteYah,like Bikram said..even I am the only one who gets small stones in the portion of Dal served to me.Perhaps,you are right,it is better than worms
ReplyDeleteYeah perhaps stones and hair are better :P
DeleteIt happens to people who are looking out. :-)
ReplyDeleteDifficult, but happens to my husband too.
Looking out? Yeah! I think i do that a lot :)
DeleteAh! I'm feeling truly sorry for you. :( All the best for the future to you, and also to the worms to find something to infest in which they won't get cooked, dying a premature death. :P
ReplyDelete:P yeah! that would be a win-win situation for me and the worms
DeleteUgh! How unfortunate. It can kill you appetite.
ReplyDeleteWorse, it can make you hate your most favorite dish!
Deletehaha! I too have this unfortunate knack of finding the unwanted in my plate...
ReplyDeleteHmm hard luck
DeleteB, That is a long wait. But perseverance I guess is your forte.
ReplyDeleteThe fantastic dish you mentioned goes endearing and well with Byriani.
Haaa hopefully some day :)
DeleteThats the only dish which I like having brinjals.
Aww poor you... next time... am sure next time luck will favor you :-)
ReplyDeleteHope so :)
DeleteBetter luck next time ! All such things happens only to the favorite dishes :(
ReplyDeleteThat really sounds misfortunate. This happens to my father all the time. Finding stones and hair while the rest of the family doesn't. Hope you get to enjoy your favourite dish without interruptions soon. :)
ReplyDeleteYeah, its weird as to how it happens always with me. Maybe others dont observe but just gobble the brinjals off? :P
DeleteOMG!! I am a non-vegetarian, but still a worm in my food will make me throw-up!! I once found a big fat worm in my cauliflower veg in a wedding party buffet... Cauliflower is my favorite and still I couldn't make myself eat cauliflower again for a long time!! So can empathize with your situation!
ReplyDelete:) Yeah but I keep trying
Delete