Passing by. 

Gone swimming. 

Olive + Sid 

Runaway.

The entertainer. 

Dogs have secrets too. 

Mackerel Curry-Rice  x  Jiro Dreams of Sushi

I learnt a very valuable lesson when I watched Tampopo on an empty stomach. Never watch a movie (specially one that includes slurpy ramen in a lead role) without equipping yourself with arsenal that lasts till the end credits start rolling.

When I saw the trailer for this indie-ish documentary on one of Japan’s most iconic sushi chefs, I knew 2 things. One, I would have to wait a long time to get my hands on a good (read free) copy, and two, I would have to cook something really special when I finally watch it. 

Alluring frames of Jiro-san’s sushi and his impassioned dedication to perfecting its art accompanied with my grandma’s ayla curry. Mackerel is highly underrated, its bony, distinctively smelly, but packs flavor like no other. The staler this curry, the better it tastes (which is actually true of any fish curry) I love making huge batches and eating it for consecutive dinners. Rice, doasa, idlis, porottas - it goes with literally anything. The curry tastes even more gorgeous if you make it in a traditional clay manchatti, but fret not if you don’t own one, a round bottomed pan will work too!

Melancholia for breakfast.

I havent been cooking much off late, but this weekend I felt like a ritualistic breakfast. With a kitchen devoid of cooking gas, a nice sunday fry up was out of the question - Frozen honeymelon smoothie and a big ol’ bowl of muesli with vanilla yogurt and honey to the rescue! Goes quite nicely with Melancholia, not a movie you’d want to start your Sunday morning with FYI, but my internet was damn slow and this was the only movie on my computer that I had not watched yet. 

Melancholia is what Armageddon would have been if Michael Bay had not directed it. Lars von Trier goes out of his way to exaggerate the depth of human emotions in all his movies and this is no exception. Hope, fear, sadness, depression, silence - there’s a whole gamut in here, set against the most abstract plot-line but feels extremely realistic because of his distinctively noir style and some great acting. 

Requires a lot of will power to watch it, I suggest a glass of wine to get you in the mood :)