Friday, March 30, 2012

Mung Makeovers


This has to be the first time someone got overcome with the sight of mung usal  (a vegetable preparation of sprouted whole mung )  cooked Maharashtrian style, and clicked a wonderful picture, and immediately posted it on Pinterest.

My friend Magiceye, did just that .  Then a lady commented asking for a recipe. 

What she didn't know, was that she was about to get it in the form of poetry . Like here...

(photo by Deepak Amembal Magiceye).

Little jade
elongated globules
Getting a beauty bath
and a longish dip ,
overnight,
covered
from prying eyes.

A rich well-fed
emergence
from the long bath,
scrubbed
and wrapped in
soft muslin ,
as they
crowd together,
jostling with each other,
sprouting some
pushy
idle chitchat,
trying to ignore
the
slight warming of tempers.

So they rise
sprouting with the rising sun,
when
someone decides
to give them
a hot oil massage
as they lie in a wok,
making
sizzling small talk
with
Madame Chilly**, and Monsieur Kaddipatta***,
amidst
some wayward mustard seeds
bursting
with childish excitement.

Life has changed,
the jade green
has been replaced
now
by a sunny lemon pearly glow
all
without recourse
to Fair and Lovely..

It has been a coming out
into a new world
for the jade maidens
earlier so protected
on shelves.

While
we think
they need some spice
in their new lives,
there is a happy shower of
salt
and cumin,
and coconut and coriander,
with a great sprinkle of lemon.

The sprouted jade maidens
are on their way
to a pink sasuraal****,
and this
was just a bridal shower




** jalapeno peppers
*** curry leaves
**** in laws' house

4 comments:

  1. Sriman Kadipatta has changed his identity and probably picked an accent too...for those sprouted jade maidens ...
    Makeover indeed :-)

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  2. Magiceye , on whose photograph this poem was based, wrote a comment 8 minutes before Sangeeta's. It appeared in my email, but seems to have got mixed with the spices here :-) I am pasting it below :

    "love reading your introductions too!!
    as fine as the poetry that follows!! "

    ReplyDelete
  3. "She" is quite pleased to get the recipe in poetry form -- beautifully done!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Madame Chilly**, and Monsieur Kaddipatta***
    you amaze me :)

    ReplyDelete