And I have watched Harry Potter and the deathly hallows- Part 1. Not once but twice. Intend watching it again. Loved the movie. I'd say this installment displaces HP-4(Goblet of fire) from the top slot of my list of favourites.
The effects are bloody awesome. Snape enters Malfoy Manor with elan- a swift cloud of smoke materialising into Snape's form, joining the Death Eaters and their supremo. The chaotic journey to the Burrow through the streets of London, dark skies, Hedwig's final descent to the ground... The list goes on. The apparation scenes reminds one of 'Jumper'. When Voldemort curses Charity Burbage to death, a tear stands frozen midway down. Snape's expression is priceless in that scene. Snape reminds me of Karna in the Mahabharat now!
Though the movie tends not to stay loyal to the book, I should say, the story has been handled brilliantly. The notable deviations from the original story are: Voldemort identifies the real Harry (during the journey from Privet Drive to the Burrow) with Hedwig trying to protect him, whereas in the book he's identified by his signature spell when he should have gone for the kill. Peter Pettigrew does not die after the Malfoy manor scene. How could David Yates have omitted Professor Dumbledore's story- his youth, family history, his involvement with Gellert Grindelwald, I don't understand. Should I expect the Dumbledores' story when the trio meet Aberforth in the next book?
Daniel Radcliffe looks edible!!!! The dance scene with Harry and Hermoine was pure masala though it looked cute. Sigh, what would I give for a dance with Dan Radcliffe!
I made the mistake of taking Hari along and he doesn't read HP (and yet I married him, sigh ;D ). I should say those who have not read the series do not understand anything. All he enjoyed was Emma Watson! The excellent effects and such stuff are lost on them. Hari could not understand Bathilda Bagshot and Harry Potter not talking in front of Hermoine, their conversation in Parseltongue and many such details.
Bellatrix Lestrange's eccentric tortuous self is portrayed very well. The animated story of the three brothers is excellent. Reminds me of the anime depiction of O-Ren's childhood in Kill Bill. This children's tale from Harry Potter is even better!
The gravestone epitaph of Lily and James Potter reads ' The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death'. Loyal to the book! Too bad, Dobby's epitaph is not shown- Here lies Dobby, a free elf.
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Spaghetti, Indian style. The curious case of Deepa in the kitchen.
Last thing I thought I'd write was a recipe. But the past fortnight, I have been cooking almost every meal I eat- in my standards, a fortnight is huuuuge, I tell you. I can almost hear myself say 'This is the beginning of a beautiful friendship- between me and the kitchen'. A month in London does that to you, I guess! Yesterday, I made this freaking awesome spaghetti with let's call it Indian style arrabiata sauce.
Ingredients: (to serve one)
Some good Italian sounding brand of spaghetti
Tomato: 2
Onion: 1
Garlic- 4
Green chilli/ Green chilli sauce- add according to your spice levels
Bay Leaf
Saunf
Cumin seeds
Cinnamon
Clove
Garam Masala powder
Parsley
Coriander
Salt
Oil - acc. to your health consciousness levels
If you do not mind spending a fortune for a bottle of olive oil, then grab that from the supermarket shelf and use that. Cheapskate me used good ol' Sundrop. Am not gourmet enough to tell extra virgin olive oil from Sunflower or Chianti from supermarket stuff!
Method:
Heat a spoon of oil (make it a large spoon, actually) and add to it a spoon of cumin seeds, a clove, half an inch of cinnamon stick (select paper thin cinnamon scales, if you want to avoid biting into the hard bark in the middle of your Italian-Indian fine dining experience), a li'l bay leaf, some saunf,a few drops of green chilli sauce or one fresh green chilli, 4 cloves of garlic, very finely chopped. Let it all brown a little and then add a spoon of garam masala. After a minute, add finely chopped onion and saute. Chop the onions as finely as possible, it cooks fast and your sauce will have a paste like consistency if you do that. Let the onions brown, you can add one more spoon of oil, if your weighing scale doesn't make you break into a sweat. So, once the onion is nicely cooked, add the chopped tomatoes. I added some puree in addition to the tomatoes, puree makes the sauce look a lot more cohesive, I feel. When the tomatoes are half done, use a masher to crush the misture and add half a ladle of water to it ( strictly not more than half a ladle) and put a lid on top of it. Let the whole mixture cook well and once you are convinced it looks like the sauce that usually accompanies spaghetti, you can remove it from flame. You can salt it as you wish. A friend tells me you can avoid the mixture spluttering all along and dirtying the gas stove surface, if you add salt last.
Now for the spaghetti: Add a spoon of oil to water (to get neat, un-sticky, individual strips of spaghetti and not an unrecognisable gooey mass of white), enough water to take in atleast 3/4ths length of the spaghetti sticks, bring it to a boil. You can add a little salt to this water if you wish. When the water boils, immerse spaghetti into it. Cook spaghetti for the time specified in the package it comes in. Like me, if you don't believe in instructions, take one rod of spaghetti periodically, eat it and then decide when it's cooked.
Once you are convinced the spaghetti is done, empty it along with the water into a colander and immediately, immerse the colander in cold water. The cold water will prevent spaghetti from sticking to one other.
Just leave it for a couple of minutes until all excess water is drained. Place the spagghetti in a plate, add the sauce, garnish with parsley and coriander and enjoy the dish!
P.S: If you have left over oregano or Italian seasoning from pizza deliveries, stocked up in some remote corner of the fridge, use that too, to garnish.
P.P.S: I cannot imagine having a meal without vegetables. Hence I added to my spaghetti (on top of the sauce), some stir fried and then boiled carrots and green peas. Turned out great, I shd say!
Ingredients: (to serve one)
Some good Italian sounding brand of spaghetti
Tomato: 2
Onion: 1
Garlic- 4
Green chilli/ Green chilli sauce- add according to your spice levels
Bay Leaf
Saunf
Cumin seeds
Cinnamon
Clove
Garam Masala powder
Parsley
Coriander
Salt
Oil - acc. to your health consciousness levels
If you do not mind spending a fortune for a bottle of olive oil, then grab that from the supermarket shelf and use that. Cheapskate me used good ol' Sundrop. Am not gourmet enough to tell extra virgin olive oil from Sunflower or Chianti from supermarket stuff!
Method:
Heat a spoon of oil (make it a large spoon, actually) and add to it a spoon of cumin seeds, a clove, half an inch of cinnamon stick (select paper thin cinnamon scales, if you want to avoid biting into the hard bark in the middle of your Italian-Indian fine dining experience), a li'l bay leaf, some saunf,a few drops of green chilli sauce or one fresh green chilli, 4 cloves of garlic, very finely chopped. Let it all brown a little and then add a spoon of garam masala. After a minute, add finely chopped onion and saute. Chop the onions as finely as possible, it cooks fast and your sauce will have a paste like consistency if you do that. Let the onions brown, you can add one more spoon of oil, if your weighing scale doesn't make you break into a sweat. So, once the onion is nicely cooked, add the chopped tomatoes. I added some puree in addition to the tomatoes, puree makes the sauce look a lot more cohesive, I feel. When the tomatoes are half done, use a masher to crush the misture and add half a ladle of water to it ( strictly not more than half a ladle) and put a lid on top of it. Let the whole mixture cook well and once you are convinced it looks like the sauce that usually accompanies spaghetti, you can remove it from flame. You can salt it as you wish. A friend tells me you can avoid the mixture spluttering all along and dirtying the gas stove surface, if you add salt last.
Now for the spaghetti: Add a spoon of oil to water (to get neat, un-sticky, individual strips of spaghetti and not an unrecognisable gooey mass of white), enough water to take in atleast 3/4ths length of the spaghetti sticks, bring it to a boil. You can add a little salt to this water if you wish. When the water boils, immerse spaghetti into it. Cook spaghetti for the time specified in the package it comes in. Like me, if you don't believe in instructions, take one rod of spaghetti periodically, eat it and then decide when it's cooked.
Once you are convinced the spaghetti is done, empty it along with the water into a colander and immediately, immerse the colander in cold water. The cold water will prevent spaghetti from sticking to one other.
Just leave it for a couple of minutes until all excess water is drained. Place the spagghetti in a plate, add the sauce, garnish with parsley and coriander and enjoy the dish!
P.S: If you have left over oregano or Italian seasoning from pizza deliveries, stocked up in some remote corner of the fridge, use that too, to garnish.
P.P.S: I cannot imagine having a meal without vegetables. Hence I added to my spaghetti (on top of the sauce), some stir fried and then boiled carrots and green peas. Turned out great, I shd say!
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