Crushes in Vattakanal

Lust.

So the next day we ended up going to Arambol and it was awesome. Warren joined us there too. I woke up to the sight of dolphins swimming in the sea from our balcony. I did end up getting over my inhibitions and wearing my bikini. We swam all day long and even went paragliding which I never thought I would do. I could almost touch the clouds while Goa resided below me. It was like being stuck in a moment of time. Every evening I would sing Hindi songs while Warren strummed his guitar. I did not really enjoy the nightlife in Goa or the crazy trance parties with their loud music and neon lights. I just don’t get it. But it’s empowering watching people dance to it. It feels and seems very ritualistic.

We even visited Dudhsagar Falls which are the highest falls in India. I saw a snake while I was swimming in the water by the waterfall and that was it for me. I screamed in fear and ran away. From now on, I’m going to steer clear of all wildlife - no matter how beautiful it is. But it wasn’t all fun and games. I discovered spirituality when I formed a connection with a cow while lounging on the beach. Now you may find this funny but we made eye contact and for a moment it was like we understood each other and our existence, and for a minute there, everything made sense.

The days flew by and yesterday, a week later I finally bid Goa and Kate goodbye. I woke up in the morning to the chilly mountain air of Tamil Nadu. Last night Warren, Sabine and I took a bus to Vattakanal and I’m so excited.

This place is so small. There’s no cafes, bars or restaurants like in Goa, only one ‘tea point’ by the roadside where all the tourists and village people sit all day long playing music, reading books and taking drugs. Mushrooms grow everywhere here and it’s common practice to get high on them. Sabine has definitely taken to mushrooms. My God I’ve never seen her this way before. She’s higher than the mountain peaks and right now she’s doing her best bird impression, flying around in circles, smelling everything around her. In fact that’s what most people here seem to be doing. It’s weird but at least they’re all happy.

While she sat and enjoyed her mushrooms and honey, Warren and I went looking for a hut. We found a beautiful cozy place with its own fireplace which I’m sure we’ll need as it can get quite cold up here at night time. Fortunately Sabine didn’t fly away and found her way back to the nest. Now we’re sitting up here having yet another cup of tea while Warren goes searching for wood for the fire. Sabine is starting to ‘come down’ as they say and now we can finally talk.

I was just playing around with my phone when Sabine asked me if I was sexting Warren. I was so embarrassed I didn’t know what to say. I guess I do blush every time he is around. Oh what to do. I told her I think he’s cute but I don’t know if he feels the same way. Plus I just got out of a broken marriage and a relationship with a foreigner is something my parents will frown upon. Sabine keeps telling me to move on and enjoy life and to not worry about what everyone thinks. She also thinks that everytime Warren looks at me, he smiles like a horny guy on a dodgy street corner or whatever that means. She confuses me.

Sabine chose the extra spice today, garlic for lust she says. Ugh….what are these foreigners doing to me, but I can’t help smiling away. Sabine keeps trying to get me to dress up in these pink sparkly things, I feel like I am the lovechild of Edward Cullen and Tinkerbell and she always seems to be high all the time.

Biryani

Ingredients

• ½ kg Basmati Rice (semi-cooked)

• 1 kg Boneless Meat (washed and chopped into square pieces)

• 500 gm Curd

• 4-6 tsp Ginger-Garlic Paste

• 4-6 Green Chilli

• 8-10 Big Onions (sliced)

• ¼ cup Lime Juice

• ½ tsp Red Chilli Powder

• ½ A pinch of Caraway Seeds (Shahi Zeera)

• 5-6 twigs Coriander Leaves (chopped)

• 5-6 twigs Mint Leaves (chopped)

• 2-4 pinch Saffron,pods Cardamom, Cinnamon

• 2-3 drops Saffron Color

• 1-2 pods Clove

• 2 cup Oil

• 2 tsp Ghee

• Salt to taste

Method

• Smear the pieces of meat with ginger-garlic paste. • Keep them to marinate for an hour. • In the meanwhile, fry the sliced onions in a heated pan on low flame till light brown. • Let the onions cool down and crush them. • Now add crushed fried onion (only three-fourth), curd, red chilli powder, cinnamon, green chilli paste, cardamom, shahi zeera, coriander leaves, clove, saffron water, mint leaves and salt to the marinated meat. • Leave the meat as it is for 1 hour

• Make the mixture of aromatic water by adding salt (one tsp), cinnamon, clove, cardamom, mint leaves and coriander leaves in a little water. • Now spread a layer of semi-cooked rice in a heavy bottomed vessel. • Add saffron color, limejuice, ghee and the remaining crushed onions over the layer of rice. • Spread a layer of marinated meat over this, and again spread the remaining semi-cooked rice. • Now add the aromatic water in a circular motion over the rice layer. • Now tightly cover the vessel with a lid. Keep it on a low flame on tawa.

• •Remove the vessel from the flame exactly after 15 minutes. • Shahi Nawabi Biryani is ready to eat. Serve hot.

• Garnish with Coriander and mint leaves and small piece of Lemon.

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