Of gourmets and epitaphs..

 Hmmmm… I have been advised by a good friend back in Chennai that I should not just keep blogging my culinary adventures in America but also eat in as many strange places as possible – they make for better posts – in his opinion! Thank you, Chandru – I am truly touched by your willingness to sacrifice my stomach – not!

But in the interests of my readers, with an altruistic heart and a tummy pitter pattering with trepidation – I am going to do just that! And if I perish in the process, remember to think of me… maybe even put up a gravestone… and if Shakespeare and million other great men could do it, why not me? So here’s a couple of self-written epitaphs:

Or how about this?

Or this one, writer’s choice:

 Or:

Readers are welcome to send in more! I will pick one and the winner gets to choose any THREE dishes from my blog to serve up at a bang-up dinner!

And so back to day 1 – what, you thought it was finished? – I blogged only one dish, remember?

So here i am, sitting at this veggie diner, waves of jet lag (very akin to having had one too many!) washing over me and then the waitress – are all restaurant service people in Amreeka trained to be so chirpy and polite? – puts down this enormous dish of a red, beany thing. Looks like rajma but I’ve never tackled such a X-sized helping before! So I start eating it and it’s… interesting – beany but too much tomato paste,  i  think to myself. Then after a very long while, the tomato-ey-ness stops and I get an upma-ness! Whaaa… grain??

I look at the menu again – it is quinoa chili! So there’s this large bunch of quinoa down there and the chili is all over and… well, I dig my way through as much as I can – it grows on me – chewy and savoury and altogether satisfying! And oh, I wasn’t wrong – upma-ey too!

1 cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed
2 cups water



1 tablespoon vegetable oil


1 onion, chopped


4 cloves garlic, chopped


1 tablespoon chili powder


1 tablespoon ground cumin


5 large tomatoes – chunked


2 cups rajma / kidney beans  or black beans – soaked overnight and pressure cooked till tender


1 green capsicum, chopped


1 red capsicum, chopped


1 zucchini, chopped


1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced


1 tbsp tabasco sauce


1 teaspoon dried herbes de Provence or mixed dired herbs


salt and pepper to taste


1 cup frozen corn


1/4 cup chopped fresh coriander

Avocado slices to serve

• Bring the quinoa and water to a boil in a saucepan over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the quinoa is tender, and the water has been absorbed, about 15 to 20 minutes; set aside.
• Meanwhile, heat the vegetable oil in a large pot over medium heat. Stir in the onion, and cook until the onion softens and turns translucent, about 5 minutes.
• Add the garlic, chili powder, and cumin; cook and stir 1 minute.
• Stir in the tomatoes, black beans, green bell pepper, red bell pepper, zucchini, jalapeno pepper, tabasco and herbs.
• Add salt and pepper.
• Bring to a simmer over high heat, then reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer 20 minutes.
• After 20 minutes, stir in the reserved quinoa and corn. Cook to reheat the corn for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat, and stir in the coriander  to serve. And avocado on top.

You just might find “Chili” written on my heart!