Bottle Gourd curry in Tamarid juice

Boat ride from Baga beach to Anjuna Beach, Goa

I had a lucky chance to go to Anjuna beach the other day. Hubby's ex-boss was in the country and wanted to treat us to breakfast in Anjuna. I am always ready to go to a beach destination and what better place to have breakfast than at a beach shack overlooking the waves break on the rocks!!!

  

After parking the car in front of someone's residence / restaurant, we legged it to the beach. It is nearing the end of tourist season, so the beach was not overly crowded. It was a lovely morning, clear blue sky and not too hot a day. I deal weather to slip into flip flops, a pair of disreputable shorts and a tank top; and don't forget that floppy hat! Thought of a sumptuous breakfast was surely a friding force!

There were sailing boats waiting for passengers! Tourists were swimming, walking or simply lounging on the beach.

 

We waited for the boat to arrive back from Anjuna. Surprising to know that there is a regular shuttle service from Baga beach to Anjuna beach and back. On land it is a longer route. If you want to go directly to the beach, this is the best option. You will be reaching from the sea!!!

After a 10 min. wait, the motor boat came, unloaded its passengers and we got in. It had a capacity of 12; life jackets available for all, so it is quite safe even for those who fear water. I was not going to take any chances, so donned my life jacket and buckled up well. It was a delightful sight to see so many boats of all sizes anchored on the waters.

 

Co-passengers taking in the view; all going to Anjuna on various errands!

 

 

Basically we go along the land towards north. We pass the hillocks along the edge of water. noticed some trails; love to explore them; that is for another day!

Reached Anjuna beach in 15min. and walked up to a beach shack and ordered our food.

It happened to be wednesday. So, Anjuna flee market is on in full swing. It is a weekly bazaar, spread over several acres (detailed description in a previous blog). While waiting for my breakfast order, I took a quick look at a few stalls around.

Cannot ignore this gentleman doing business having a nap. Cannot blame him, as it was a warm day and sitting in the shade is surely a temptation!
After a leisurely meal, we headed back the same way back to Baga beach. The boat ride cost Rs.100 per head per ride. Quite reasonable for an enjoyable ride and beautiful scenery. 
I shall do it again! If you happen to be in Goa, don't miss this small pleasure.

Gajar / carrot chutney

Did I mention that I love Gajar the desi carrots? I did? ok, I cannot love it enough! When they are in season, I buy them by the kilo, and use them in anything and most everything! Here is a chutney variety for you. If you slight sweetening in your food, you will love it. I quite enjoy the natural sweet taste of gajar in any recipe. So it is...

Ingredients:

Gajar / carrot - 1/2 kg

Dry red chilies - 4 nos.

Tamarind - size of a small lime

Oil - 2 tbs. for frying, and 2 tbs for garnishing

Cumin, black gram lentils, and mustard seeds - 1 tsp. each

Garlic pods - 6 nos.

Salt - to taste

Curry leaves - a handful

Method: 

Clean and scrape off the skin from Gajar. Cut them into small pieces. The smaller the pieces, faster they cook. 

Clean and soak tamarind in a cup of water. Heat 1 tbs.oil in a frying pan, add mustard, cumin, black gram to. it. when start splutter, add a few curry leaves, garlic pods, and red chilies. take the pan off the flame, when they are fried. Let it coll down a bit before putting in the mixer / blender jar. Add salt to it and grind it to a powder.  

Now add the tamarind without water. Grind it together.

Pour 1 tbs. of oil in to the pan and when hot put gajar pieces. Cover the pan and let it cook on a low flame.

Stir it once or twice. When the vegetable is almost cooked, take it off the flame and let it cool for a few minutes. Add the cooked gajar to the mixer and run it for a few seconds. The idea is to grind the chutney to a coarse paste. If the pieces are chunky, grind it for a few more seconds. 
Take the chutney into a serving bowl or jar.
Heat remaining oil, add cumin, black gram, mustard seeds; add curry leaves and red chillies. When fried, pout it over the chutney and mix. 
Chutney ready to eat eat with rice, roti or bread. It is so yummy, it can be eaten by itself.

Mapping through Art

 

According to Ms. Rani Sarin who conducted the workshop on 'Mapping through art', we all  travel with maps.Some are universal such as the constellations and the shape of continents and some as particular as the local roads we are familiar with.As we navigate 'our life's way', we are all creating our private maps. Like memory, geography is associative. We carry a personal atlas in our heads.

Ms. Rani Sarin - Workshop facilitator

Ms. Sarin explained that a map is simply a visual record of meanderings, both mental and physical. Here are some ideas for things you could consider mapping: 

A garden

A grocery store

Your home

A school

An idea

How you got here

Your activities

Your vacation

Your day

A story you are reading

 An Island

A dog's live

Ms. Mirium who runs Gallery Gitanjali, Goa

A book on mapping

The attendees

 

Workshop in progress

Some visitors watching the attendees at work and interacting with them

We can display our experiences, the places we saw and things we did through maps. A map is a JOURNEY through space and time. The maps can be either through space or time; or a mixture of space and time. For example, you may have lived in one locality when you were one year old, and then the family moved to a different area when you were three, and so on. you can make a map of all the places that you lived in your live, with the help of pictures of those places and a route map also. You may add a photo of yourself at that age. 

The maps should ideally be colourful and self explanatory. It can be a mixture of collage, sketching, painting, text and symbols. 

Though the time allotted was three hours, it was not enough to learn and then make a map. It was an interesting learning experience though.