Gastro-No-Me

Gastronome means ‘Connoisseur of Cookery’.  That
defines me well. How I love food and food and everything related to
food,period.  Love to eat, love to cook,love to experiment new
flavours…I can go on.With hubby a total foodie, my explorations with new ingredients
go down well appreciated. And that inspires me to try n keep on trying new
things. And that also means giving a long list of various herbs , pastes n
ingredients to be called for when hubby goes on a trip. That's the pleasure of
cooking. But I also enjoy being on the other side of the table. The side where
you get to indulge in enjoying a meal, where u can let ur tastebuds feel the
subtle flavours  of various
ingredients,where u can say, 'Now that was so 'YUM'.'

So between the two of us, we are trying out new food joints,restaurants n world cuisines. Doesnt matter if its a 5star restaurant or a roadside dhaba, we are excited abt food. And we are constantly on the lookout for newer places to try, and newer dishes to taste.

On one such occasion, we ventured into one of the crowded localities of Mumbai.We  were told
that  the 'Nihari' there is simply tasty.
We braved our way into the narrow lanes, crowded to the hilt with shoppers n
vendors alike. Finally nudging our way thru, we reached this restaurant,nothing fancy abt it.Thankfully it had aircons, so that was a relief.It was  12.30, midnight. We expected some crowd here, but to our amazement, the place was packed with some people waiting too.We finally managed to get a tiny table for two, and ordered the highly talked abt 
'Nalli nihari'. It came in a copper mini bucket with slivers of
ginger  n chillies on the side. A few fluffy 'Naans' to complement the dish were served too. And as we digged into our food, I thanked God for this simply tasty dish handed down to us by the
Moghuls. Believe me, it was amazingly tasty, the flavours so well absorbed, the
meat cooked to melt in the mouth and the consistency just right. With every
bite, we kept telling eachother how tasty it is. Finally we ate to our fill ,
paid the cheque n moved out, two satiated souls. Returned home in the wee
hours, happy with the meal we had. Slept like a log, only to wake up with a thundering growl in the stomach. The next day was the beginning of the onslaught of  serious food poisoning,
that left me sick  for a week. My stomach growled n growled with severe aches and then started the Diarrhoea. I started with some self medication, but that failed. Two days later I still hadn't
stopped. It was killing me, every moment, wrenching my insides . Changed the
medicine, a stronger dose.Hubby  was perfectly fine, only I seemed to have acquired the sickness. He was the ever loving man, taking care of me, giving me my juices n medicines as n when
required. Finally I went to my family doctor, who gave me two different
medicines with a quick 'If one doesn't help, try the other' advice. Back home,
I took the new doses, but they failed too.This was really serious . Five days n
still no peace to my poor stomach. Whatever I ate was thrown out in minutes.
Did I lose atleast two kgs in the bargain, well am glad I did!!! But the
weakness was bad, I was seeing stars in the day. Had to keep sipping water or
juice all the time,lest I come down with another demon called 'Dehydration'.
And no, I was in no mood to go to a hospital,so I better take care of myself.
Finally the Fourth medicine worked,Thank God!!! 
And after seven days, my poor belly was at peace. Had to miss my Belly
Dance class too, had no strength to even walk. But after I recovered, I
realized  how a lil sickness can throw you out of gear. As a mother, u r required to be around constantly.But when sick, the whole house comes to a standstill.Thankfully, Hubby was there to take
care of me n look after my lil children.I dread having to fall sick when he is
away. I thanked God for having a soulmate like him and also  that I was alright now. And did I learn any lessons from this? Yes -that I will not be eating 'Nalli nihari ' anytime soon.
Ofcourse I will not give up on it entirely,no way. Just that Im off it  for a few months, till my tastebuds start recalling the taste of the heavenly 'Nihari'. Being a 'Gastronome' has its fair
share of disadvantages too, one of them means getting  a bout of serious 'food poisoning' and going
thru hell while it lasts ..

Ciaoooooooo