Yash Chopra, My First Romance Teacher

It was Yash Chopra who first introduced me to the world of romance during my pre teen years. Well, not in person, but through his movie Chandni, which released in 1989, starring my all time favourite actress Sridevi.

At the age of 11, I was hardly concerned to know who Yash Chopra was. All that mattered was watching a Sridevi movie on the big screen. The subtle romance between the lead pair Sridevi and Rishi Kapoor against the backdrop of breathtaking Swiss landscape was a visual treat to my eyes. And Sridevi looked gorgeous as she swayed sensuously in beautiful chiffon sarees during the song Tere Mere Hothon Pe. For the first time I realized that sarees too can make someone look sexy. As the movie progressed, it evoked some strange sensations inside me that I had never felt earlier. It was something new, something inexplicable.

That night, I was never the same person as I was before. All of sudden, I wanted to know more about love, romance and relationships. I wondered, how did love happen? My discussions with school friends started revolving around this subject. I started digging various film magazines to learn the names of other romantic films. I started comprehending the lyrics of the romantic songs. Mills & Boons became my evergreen favourite romantic fiction novels (By the way, I am still a diehard fan of M&B and love to read them whenever I can lay my hands on them).

Since then, any Yash Chopra release was a must watch movie for me. What followed then was a series of movies like Lamhe, Darr, Dil to Pagal Hai and Veer Zara, which further reinstated my penchant for love and romance. And there were movies like Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge, Mohabbatein, Mujhse Dosti Karoge etc which I watched only because they bore Yash Chopra name in the promos and promised to provide enough fodder for my romantic soul. I was looking forward to watch his last directorial venture Jab Tak Hai Jaan, but his sad demise has dampened my spirits.

Yash Chopra and romance were synonymous to each other. He redefined the essence of romance. He was unknowingly responsible for creating romantic junkies like me. Somewhere deep in my heart, I know that romantic movies wouldn’t be magical again without Yash Chopra.

SPICY SAMOSAS

Food Trivia

Contrary to the popular notion that samosas are Indian origin snack; they are actually believed to be originated in Persia and commonly known as sambusak in Middle East countries.

SPICY SAMOSAS
(Fried Pastry with Potato Filling)

Preparation Time:45 minutes

Serving Size:10-12 pieces

Ingredients

For stuffing

6-8 medium sized boiled potatoes

Half cup boiled green peas (optional)

1 tbsp fennel seeds (saunf)

1 tbsp salt or as per taste

4 tbsp coriander powder

1 tbsp dry mango powder

1 tbsp garam masala powder

3-4 finely chopped green chillies

½ inch finely chopped ginger

A pinch of turmeric powder (optional)

3 tbsp oil to make stuffing

For dough/outer shell

2 cup maida

1 tbsp oil

Water to knead

1 tsp salt

For frying

Oil

Method

1. Mix maida, oil and salt and knead into dough. Beat it on a hard surface 3-4 times. The dough texture should be medium soft, somewhere between the texture of the dough for chappati and puri. Cover it with a cloth and leave it aside for 15 minutes.
2. Mash all the boiled potatoes.  Add green peas if you wish. Mix well.
3. In a frying pan, put 3 tbsp oil. When it gets heated, add fennel seeds.
4. Once the fennel seeds change their colour, add green chillies and ginger. Fry them for few seconds.
5. Then add all the spices including salt. Fry all the spices for few seconds.
6. Add the boiled potato and peas mixture.
7. Keep roasting till the mixture and spices blend well with each other.
8. The stuffing is ready when it starts leaving the sides of the pan.
9. Allow the stuffing to cool down for some time.
10. Divide the dough into 10-12 medium sized balls.
11. Take one ball and roll it to a size a little bigger than a puri. Then cut it into 2 equal halves.
12. Take one part and apply water on the straight edge.
13. Join this part together to give a shape of a cone, with one straight edge overlapping another one.
14. Put the 1 tbsp stuffing inside this cone and press it down gently. Add more stuffing if you require but leave some space on the top to close the shell.
15. Apply little water around the edges of the cone. Close the cone gently and seal it well.
16. Repeat the same process with the remaining dough and stuffing.
17. Heat the oil in a deep frying pan until it is hot. Put 2-4 samosas inside the oil and fry them on a slow flame till they start changing the colour. Then increase the flame to medium density and keep frying till the samosas turn golden brown. Place it on a paper towel to drain the excess oil.
18. Serve it hot with tomato ketch up or any type of chutney.