Kalatop ,maggi and movies

Watching movie in a theater is a big occasion for us. There are only few movies which inspire us both, and even fewer which justify an evening spend at a movie hall. Especially with a new arrival on way we tend to stay away from noisy places and a movie hall counts as one.

Recently though there has been a spurt in the number of movies which meet our stringent criterion. So finally last week we decided to take advantage of a midweek 2 for 1 ticket offer and went for a night show of Lootera. The songs and the trailers promised a good movie (in our case good does not always equate to happy!). Do not worry, I am not going to give a movie review. All in all we managed to sit through three hours in spite of the hero's insipid acting. The sets, costumes and songs were binding enough. But the best bit was the second half, which was shot at a place we had been three years ago.

The house which represented the Dalhousie home, is actually a forest guest house in a place called Kalatop, some hundred feet above Dalhousie. In December 2010, we had been on a forest tour with my papa in Himachal & Punjab covering Dalhousie, Kalatop, Kajjiar, , Gurudaspur and Amritsar. We did not know it at the time , but that was to be our last trip with papa. Seven months later he left us all. But left us with so many rich memories to treasure for a lifetime.

Kalatop guesthouse has thus got a special place in my thoughts.

Kalatop gets its name from the dense forest around it. The foliage is so dense and dark green that it gives a sheen of black when viewed from the panoramic clearing of the guest house. Hence the name Kalatop (Kala- Black, top - cover)

We only stayed there for a night. It was -2 degree C outside and we sat ensconced in the heat from the crackling wood burning fireplace, electricity being a premium commodity. It was a very clear night and there was a veritable traffic jam of stars in the sky!

Looking through the photographs of the trip I came across some great photos of the Dalhousie market.

Among the usual hill station street food staples of boiled eggs, tangy pickled fruits and warm crunchy peanut, interestingly enough there were vendors selling maggi. I tried one of them and this post is about it was made the himachali way. I have called the Dalhousie Maggi Masala.

Ingredients

1 packet Maggi

1/4 Onion chopped

1 green chilly finely chopped

1/4 capsicum chopped

1/2 tomato  chopped

The process starts with adding 1 tbsp of oil to a hot pan. To this green chillies and onions are added and sautéed. After 2-3 mins the onions should turn transparent, then the tomatoes are added. While the tomatoes are being cooked add the contents of the maggi masala (leave a bit to be used for garnish) to it along with the chopped capsicum. Capsicum is optional but I have found it does lend a nice edge to it. A couple of minutes of mixing everything together till the tomatoes disintegrate. Now add the required water ( iw would add 1-1/4 cup of water for 1 packet maggi). Everybody has their own preferred consistency of their maggi. Let the water come to a boil so that all the taste is absorbed into the water. Then add maggi to it and cook to your level of consistency.

Garnish with coriander leaves and the leftover masala.

It might not be the epitome of culinary delight, but in the December chill of Dalhousie the heat and spice from the maggi was really great.

I dedicate this post to the location manager of Lootera who short listed the kalatop guesthouse. If not for you, it might have stayed in my memories and might not have been recorded on a post.

PS : I recently came across a kiosk in the 'famed' DB mall in Bhopal which sells food items made exclusively of maggi. I have tried the spring rolls which were different (another way to say it did not endear itself to me).