Monday, February 28, 2011

Of a non-snoring spouse and a fried finger

In sympathy with young Sue here, I managed to fry a finger yesterday.
Of course, it was all the SRE's fault, or rather, his office's fault. We knew that the SRE had meetings this weekend, which is annoying anyway- quite apart from my weekend being less entertaining than it is when the man is around, I strongly feel that the poor SRE needs his rest!
He had been working till very late on Saturday night, and, oddly for him, didn't sleep well. I woke up a couple of times and found him reading his iPad. (These days news of Libya is very very high priority in our house-he enters the house and switches on the iPad and tells me the latest from Tripoli). Since he wasn't snoring, something was obviously amiss, so I slept badly too.
He'd forgotten his laptop at the office, and at 6.30 a.m was getting ready to go and find it. I decided to tag along for the ride. Laptop retrieved, it was time for tea and newspapers and breakfast, since he had to leave for office again at nine. (Since he seemed quite stressed out, I didn't want to tell him that the laptop wouldn't have waltzed away between seven and nine in the morning, and he could have as easily retrieved it when he was in office during his scheduled working hours. We do not put across any opposing points of view when the man is stressed. We have learned this the hard way, over the decades). He was kind enough to go to office by taxi, without protest- I didn't want him to drive alone late at night after another hard day of meetings, and he was, most surprisingly, amenable to my suggestion.
The youngest child was home. Though, given his holiday sleeping and waking patterns and the SRE's schedule, he could only meet his father on Friday evening. During our dinner-a-deux on Saturday (the SRE was dining with his colleagues) the son and I were talking about how delicious ghee is in some foods, and were remembering kadhi with a topping of chilli powder heated in ghee. And so, instead of our default options of rajma or chholey for Sunday lunch, kadhi and rice was the plan.
The son got up around noon, and I told him that he could have some pakodas with his coffee, so that he'd have an appetite for lunch, which we would hopefully eat by two o'clock.
I made the batter and fried plain pakodis for the kadhi. Chopped up an onion and a potato, a green chilli and some coriander leaves and added them to the plain batter. I sprinkled a little chaat masala on the first batch and handed them to the son. The second batch was made, and I tried a couple- they were delicious. During the final batch my sleepy mind was distracted by some stray thoughts, and whoosh- hot oil splashed onto the poor ring finger of my right hand.
I did ice it, and yes, it's a lot better now, and the kadhi with the chilli-ghee was delicious. What I want to know is, can I fairly blame the SRE and his office for this fried finger or not?

15 comments:

Aanchal said...

Ouch! Hope the finger's stopped hurting. *hug*
Also - I looove kadhi with ghee and laal mirch ka tadka - in fact, that's the only way I like it. : )

R's Mom said...

hahahahah!! that was for you missing SRE's snore...and oops ouch for the finger.... the whole post was so warm and funny ...hope the finger is better now...and pakodas are making me drool..weekend plan is sure pakodas :) *Can you see how desperate I am..making weekend plans on a Monday :(

MiM said...

yep. squarely blame away.

that is standard protocol chez moi.

and i completely accept blame for taking tendulkar's wicket back in a match in 2007, by grinding chutney in the mixie when sachin was playing...

Sands said...

I think that's fair. Anything can point back to stressful spouses :) That's pretty much the norm in our household :) Hope that finger heals quick! Now you have me wishing for food with warm ghee...

Banno said...

No, I am sorry, you can't blame the SRE. Specially because the poor guy didn't even get the pakodas, I presume, since he was working. But then, blame karna hi hain, toh phir unhe hi blame kar sakte hain, padosi ko toh nahin. :)

Lekhni said...

Actually, I think the blame squarely lies on Qaddafi. Obviously, it was because the SRE was reading about Libya that you couldn't sleep, and it was the lack of sleep that led to the fried finger. If Libya had not been in the news, your finger would have been OK :P

So I think you should add hurting your finger to the long list of atrocities Qaddafi is committing.

Anonymous said...

this is one post where the comments are as readable and entertaining! I think the SRE has many fans!

Sue said...

Your poor finger. Have you bought Burnol/Cantharis? Immediate icing and slathering of Cantheris kept mine from forming so much as a blister so I was extremely impressed.

Let's blame the office. Silly people, working SREs on Sundays.

Thinking Cramps said...

Finger chips? ;)
Sympathies on the fried finger. Am sure it's much better now. And the kadhi sounded delicious.

SUR NOTES said...

Arrey, i thought everyone would have shouted in unison, ofcourse you can blame the spouse, and his office.

Infact you can blame every disaster, in and around the house, on the road outside, and the city beyond -on the spouse, especially if they argue back.

Hope the finger is better now. And you mean i missed the pakodas, and the kadi with pakodas?

dipali said...

@aanchal: The finger is better, but still has a nice fat blister. Thanks for the hug!
The kadhi was delicious!
@R's Mom: Thank you! Working moms like you need to plan ahead:)
@MiM: Thanks- will happily pass on the blame:)
@Sands: So many like minded 'blamers':)
@banno: We will blame neither the SRE nor the padosi- see Lekhni's comment-it is all Qaddafi's fault!
@Lekhni: That's the spirit!
@anonymous: Yes on both counts!Thanks:)
@Sue: I had to finish making the pakodas- the ice-ing had to wait:(
And of course we are blaming the office, and Qaddafi!
@thinking Cramps: Good one:) Thanks for the sympathy. The kadhi was delicious!
@SUR NOTES:The spouse needs to be around to argue back, non?
You, my dear, will have to come back for pakodas and kadhi!

The Bride said...

I suppose it takes years of marraige to learn to bite your tongue and not say things like "couldn't you have waited for two hours and got your laptop when you went in later?" I have miles to go I see...

dipali said...

@The Bride: When a man is generally as easy-going as the SRE usually is, his occasional foibles are overlooked, discretion then being far better than common sense!
As I said: 'We do not put across any opposing points of view when the man is stressed. We have learned this the hard way, over the decades'.

eppy said...

No, you absolutely cannot blame him, just like he cannot blame you for forgetting his laptop at work!
(remember that phone call you made just as he was leaving?)!!

dipali said...

@eppy: what call????