“Ow, ow,ow… OOOOWWW… ”, squeals a little Pomeranian before taking off down the beach, its owner in hot pursuit… I pick up Kanch who is only about a year old and is just getting her “beach legs” – toddle on the beach sand without losing her balance and falling down and scuttle behind him. Archana runs behind me, not wanting to be left alone…
About a couple of hundred yards later, the owner catches the terrified dog, I come up puffing and panting with running with a baby in my arms, gasping out my apologies to the owner… Arch bringing up the rear…
About ten minutes earlier, the Pomeranian, like most of its breed, had been yapping its head off at some imagined enemy. Archana was trying to cover her ears as the high-pitched barking was getting to all of us. Kanch, interestedly watching this scene with her fingers firmly in her mouth, decided she’d had enough of this nasty little intruder and walking up behind the unwary dog, caught hold of its fiercely wagging tail (with the other hand still in her mouth!) and gave it an almighty yank! That was the start of the great beach chase and subsequent apologies to the owner on my part! Owner and Peke mollified, we all traipsed back together – with the most peacefully beatific expression on the face of the puller-of-the-dog’s-tail, as though to say, “Who, me?!”
As always, the simplest and the most straightforward solutions appealed to Kanch – barking dog annoying her Akka? – let’s stop it by the most expedient means ! Consequences? We’ll take care of them – oh well, someone will!
In food, too, while she does enjoy the occasional many-hours-in-the-creation dish, K’s preference runs in the direction of simple – like this herbed, peppered rice – simplicity itself to make!
MEDITERRANEAN HERBED BUTTERED RICE
- Cooked Basmati rice – 3 cups – the grains must be separate
- Onions – sliced fine – ½ cup
- Mixed capsicums – yellow, red and green –in case of doubts, please look at the top left hand corner of this page (!) – cut into strips of about an inch long – 2 cups
- Boiled peas – 1/2 cup
- Herbes de Provence/dill/ basil or mixed herbs – 1.5 tsp
- Butter – 1 .5 tbsp
- Tomato purée – 2 tbsp
- Salt
- Pepper – 1.2 tsp
- Minced green chili – 1
- Minced garlic – 1 or 2 flakes
Place a pan on the heat and add butter, onions and chili together. Sauté till onions are transparent but still crunchy. Add the capsicums and continue to stir on high heat for 3-4 minutes. Add the herbs, tomato purée, herbs, pepper and salt and boiled peas. Stir for a couple of minutes more and add the rice. Mix in gently with a fork keeping the rice grains intact. Decorate with tomato slices. Switch off and cover for a few minutes before serving. The tomatoes will have begun to soften a bit but a juicy and delicious.
Best accompanied by Hair of the Dog!