January is a month of so many birthdays and not a lot of chances to have a steady diet. Not only did Natasha and I celebrate our birthdays four days apart from each other at the end of the month, but we also celebrated our boss, Chetan turning fifty. Now, our collective birthdays were pretty sombre but Chetan had other plans in mind. He decided to rent out a hotel in Chail, Himachal Pradesh and call in as many people as possible for a weekend filled with food, drinks, and untimely snow showers. Being the naive twenty-somethings that we are, we decided to not look at the weather app, pack our warmest winter clothes, and drive 9 hours up to the Himalayas in the middle of the winter in a hatchback that struggles to deal with straight roads in the middle of Delhi heat. 

The drive was scenic and we reached our location just in time to see one of the most beautiful sunsets in a sky that looked like it could have been a Microsoft 95 screensaver. That day felt like we made the best decision ever. We took pictures and figured out how we would remain warm in a room that had one tower heater with an internal room temperature of -1° celsius. It took some time and a lot of layers to figure it out (rum and a healthy game of table tennis was the best approach), but we were proud. The day ended with a check-in call with my mom, who was at home alone with plans to make the most of an empty house as dad was working out of Jordan for the better part of the month. While she was energetic about the weekend, there were symptoms of the flu that were being passed off as tiredness. The night ended with a tiny party with nice homey food and a flash rain that quickly turned into snow. The entire hotel lit up. For many, this was the first seeing snow, including Natasha who was completely mesmerised by the whole event. 

We woke up the next day to one piece of good news and two pieces of bad. The good news was that the snow had changed the verdant green views of the hills from our room to pure white. It was breathtaking. The way soft snow moulds into every crevice and creates an almost new character was amazing to see. The snow also made the temperature warmer, which made us want to rush outside and have a snowball fight. We were truly living our best lives. And just as we were settling into our first hot cup of tea in the morning, we got the dual serving of bad news — the first being that roads are going to be closed for the next couple of days, and the other being that my mom had tested positive for COVID. I didn’t care much about the former bad news until I realised how it impacted the latter. With no one at home to really help, it was heartbreaking to leave her alone. While we tried to manage to stay warm and enjoy the festivities, at the back of my mind, I was just hoping she was doing okay. 

Our third day was planned to be the day we would embark on our journey back home. However, the snow was not letting up and we were now just waiting for bulldozers from Shimla to come across and clean up the roads. The snow finally stopped and suddenly everything started getting colder. Somehow, we trudged along by packing in a lot of warm fluids. The next day, almost every inhabitant of the hotel was motivated to leave. We cleaned up the cars, cleared up the roads and sent cars ahead to check on the road conditions. By noon, we took the plunge and set out into the snow-covered roads. Even though there were only a few kilometres of road with snow, it took an hour to cover them, but we finally made it downhill and headed towards the flatlands of Delhi. 

Natasha and I love road trips. We have many traditions that we love to follow and somehow we never seem to get bored of them. We love getting McDonald’s on every journey. It’s almost a mandate to have a burger (or two). We challenge each other to a long game of Atlas, which ends with us getting stuck on the letter A or with Natasha calling it quits. We also make playlists that keep us going through any lengths of time with a mix of old songs that we can sing to, and obscure rap that Natasha believes is something that I need to know to further enhance my pop culture knowledge. The only problem with this is that our traditions are great for a max of 8 hours. We were hitting our 9th hour on the road with another two still left with the snow delays. Natasha noticed that my eyes were getting tired and in an attempt to keep me awake, she switched the music to A.R. Rahman. We both love his music. We know the lyrics and know just how energetic they can be. While listening to one song, I told her that the Berklee School of Music did an amazing A.R. Rahman symphony, and soon enough we started listening to it. 

If you haven’t heard of this playlist, you really should. It's one thing to listen to Rahman on Spotify with visuals of choreography from movies playing in your head. It's completely different to see 200 talented musicians of different races and colours, wearing saris and kurtas, and singing songs to a crowd of people that feel just as nostalgic as you do. Kun Faya Kun played on and suddenly I felt this rush of emotion come through. I felt a sense of stress because I was getting closer to home. I felt blessed to have come down a snowy mountain safely with Natasha. At the same time, there was this sense of pride that I was part of a culture that produces this calibre of music. I didn’t know how to process all this emotion other than cry. As tears were fogging up my eyes, I looked to the left to see the same reaction from Natasha. We were both sobbing and somehow felt closer than ever before. What was supposed to be an uneventful drive back home, became a small experience that would forever be etched in our journey together. 

It is always the small things in life that make the biggest difference. The same can be said about this Okonomiyaki. These pancakes were made popular in times of scarcity. The devastated city of Hiroshima was the origin of this dish and it came as a small item of solace for a region that was hit the worst during the Second World War. It became a reason for people to come together and eat what they had. It was these small things that actually built the city back in many ways. There is no way to make this dish incorrectly (always a reason to love a dish), but there are two things that you can do to make this to perfection. The first would be to find some accruements. While optional, you should search for some nori sheets and fried onions. They add immense texture and really transport you to a whole other setting. The second and by far the most important thing would be to invest in a great non-stick frying pan. I want to take a moment here to talk about this non-stick tri-ply pan from Stahl. It's a super sturdy pan with a layer of aluminium that is sandwiched between two layers of stainless steel that makes the whole pan heat evenly. The pan also comes with a metal handle, which means it can be put in the oven and you can make it your own with some really pretty monogramming. This pan is by far the best one I have owned and I can’t wait to try out their entire line of cookware as well! You can click here to check out all their products. I hope you try this recipe and as always, happy cooking!

Glimpses from the week

Ingredients

1/2 cabbage shredded

1 carrot shredded thinly

1 large egg

1/2 cup of all-purpose flour (maida)

1 teaspoon garlic flakes/powder

1 teaspoon of salt

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon onion powder

150 ml water 

1/2 tablespoon neutral oil

For the okonomiyaki sauce 

1 tablespoon mayonnaise

1/2 tablespoon soy sauce

1/2 tablespoon honey

1 tablespoon of water

Optional (but delicious)

Thinly sliced nori sheets

Sesame seeds

Thinly sliced spring onions 

Method

1. Start by adding flour, egg, and 100 ml of water. Mix well until there are no lumps

2. Add the veggies and spices and mix well. Don’t overmix. Let rest in the fridge for 20 minutes

3. Place your Stahl non-stick frying pan on medium heat and add ½ tablespoon of neutral oil and add a cup of your batter

4. Press down, cover the pan then cook for 10-15 minutes 

5. Flip over and brush your Okonomiyaki sauce. Cook for another 10 minutes

6. Flip over to a plate and add your optional toppings and enjoy!