And so it happened, even before I could realize it. The clean record that I had maintained for 8 long years was finally tarnished. All my sanctity, my pride just evaporated in thin air when I got my first ever speeding ticket!
Just to lay out a brief background, I had my yearly performance review scheduled at 9:00 AM that day. I started early from home knowing that the traffic would be crazy as usual at that time. I skipped jeans and wore formal even though it was a Friday just to make a statement and create an impression. I was even planning to rehearse some bold statements, practice some arching of brows, perfect my ironical smile for my review process. But the ‘Traffic Gods’ decided to play havoc and create a worst ever traffic jam on the freeway.
Come 8:45 AM and I was still stuck on the freeway and about 5 miles away from office. That was when I decided to take the internal roads past the service lane and make a dash to the office. And what a neat trap that was, I fell right into it. After driving for 30 minutes at about 5 miles/hr, I saw the empty roads and just could not control myself. I drove at 47 mile/hr on a 35mile/hour speed limit and got pulled over by a police officer.
No words were exchanged, the police told me my offense in a loud, polite voice, checked my driver’s license, insurance and handed me the ticket. I sat there in a daze as all my frustrations were melting and turning into shock. In fact, I was numbed that it had actually happened to an innocent, law abiding citizen like me 🙂
And so, with all this ordeal I reached office at 9:10 AM and the boss had already come by looking for me. Later when I met up with him, I suspect that he did not believe that I came in late because I got a speeding ticket. Ah, the sweet travails of everyday life!
And thanks for asking, the ticket amount, I got a cool whopping $220!
Anyway, coming back to the recipe. I have used Rasam powder instead of the regular “palyada pudi” while making this Brinjal Potato curry. Rasam powder is usually used for making Rasams, but I decided to add the powder while making the curry as it adds a great flavor to the Subji. I received the Rasam Powder from Madhu of Ruchii as a part of her Arusuvai gifts. Thank you very much Madhu, we enjoyed the taste and the flavor very much.
Ingredients
- 6-7 medium brinjals (eggplants/aubergines)
- 1 medium potato
- 1/2 cup onion chopped
- 1 Tbsps Rasam powder
- 1 ripe medium tomato
- Coriander leaves for garnishing
- Turmeric
- Tamarind paste
- 2-3 green chillies
- Jeera seeds
- Mustard seeds
- Oil
- Salt to taste
Preparation:
- Chop the brinjals/eggplants into small cubes and keep in a bowl of water.
- Peel the potato and dice it into small cubes.
- Chop the onions into small pieces and keep aside.
- Take a microwave safe bowl, add enough water and put the diced potato into it. Microwave for about 4 minutes. Make sure that the potato is almost cooked not completely though. (or boil the cubed potato in boiling water until it is almost ooked).
- Take a heavy bottom pan; add about 2 Tbsps of oil. Add jeera, mustard and let it splutter.
- Add the diced onions and sauté until it turns transparent.
- After the chopped tomatoes, salt, turmeric, and green chillies and mix well.
- After the tomato is slightly cooked, add the chopped brinjals, tamarind paste, rasam powder and mix until it is almost cooked.
- Next add the cooked potato to this and mix well. Add more turmeric, rasam powder and salt and oil if necessary.
- Lastly garnish with chopped coriander leaves.
Thank god I did not get any ticket yet. Now drive safely. As usual sabji looks very delicious.
Awww..hugs to you! I know such worst things will happen only when we have important meetings. I was running late for a meeting and my little one decided to throw up on my shirt and i had to go back and change my clothes and was late and had to pretend that i didn’t notice any of those raised eyebrows or the sarcastic smiles :-O
You said it wonderfully “the sweet travails of everyday life!” Imagine the ticket having to happen on the day of the Performance Review. I am hoping the review went well?
The subji looks great and so do the rotis on the side.
hey RC thats was a really great amount be careful next time i can understand the frustration ..
sabji looks great rasam powder will work like magic i guess
Thanks y’all. You are all so sweet 🙂
Tell me about it Vidya :-). The toddlers and meeting just don’t go together 🙂
ISG, thanks for asking. The review went well. There were no surprises, except that I was still shocked about the ticket and upset that the boss did not beleive me.
$ 220 – :O – and here people jump lanes dangerously like its their birth right.
hey rc…coming here after a long time….will book mark or subscribe so that whenever u post something new i get to know abt it….oh thats so sad…..thats one thing abt US which freaks me out…..driving! sorry to know u gotta ticket….hey this palya is what we call engayi i think….except we use sambhar pwd for it….
Veda
You poor thing! At least your boss paid you a backhanded compliment. Nice use of rasam powder – I’ll give it a go.
Oh dear! Life is such 🙂 Takecare! The brinjal potato fry looks yummy.
Why such things have to happen to humble citizens only? Take care. The brinjal potato curry looks superb. Yummy.
Hey the curry looks sooo amazing .. have never tried mixing brinjal with potatoes …
Thank you for such a delicious recipe. I made it yesterday and everybody loved it.
As for the ticket. I may know how you feel. I got my first speeding ticket EVER, after 40 years of driving. It was pure luck, rather than slower driving, that I hadn’t gotten caught sooner.
well, what a coincidence.I got my first ever ticket in 8 yrs on aug 4.I was feeling bad coz i stopped for a very brief sec at the stop sign as my son distracted me.and lo..the cop gave a ticket inspite of my reasoning!
I also use samabar and rasam powder in my curries RC. It definitely gives a nice and different taste.
I’m going to take my road test next week and I don’t know how many tickets I will be getting, if at all I get my license.
Yay! got my license.
Really worked. Very good recipe. I intially pressure cooked the vegetables and proceed with the same steps as above. Very tasty and blended. Thank you