Several years ago my daughter Lina, my sister-in-law Meenal, and I, took a trip to South India, including Kanya Kumari, the southernmost tip of mainland India. We flew from Pune to Bangalore to visit friends for a few days, before the next stage of our trip- a flight from Bangalore to Thiruvananthapuram, the capital of Kerala State, which is closest to Kanya Kumari. That morning our friend brought us to Bangalore Airport about an hour before our scheduled check in time, and as we approached the airline desk, we were rather surprised to see no other passengers waiting in the area or in line. I went up to check with the uniformed airline official at the desk and told him we were there to check in for their flight to Thiruvananthapuram. He promptly, courteously, and rather triumphantly announced:“Madam your flight has been preponed!”.
I was stunned, to say the least, but nevertheless questioned him about “preponed flight”, saying to him, that I had never heard of such a thing, while my daughter stage whispered “there is no such thing as preponing a flight”. After several minutes of rather futile and fruitless conversation, he announced “Madam, some “VIPs” needed to leave early, so we put them on the flight and “PREPONED” it! As astonishing as this seems, it got more interesting and convoluted. I requested him to put us on their next flight to our destination. He announced “Madam, there are no flights for two days”. Then I asked him if any other airline had flights to our destination, and he said that there was one other, and pointed rather vaguely in that direction. So I told him that since we had paid for our flight on his airline, and we had arrived well before the scheduled check-in time, and that he had “preponed” our flight, he was responsible, and so he should go to that airline desk and get us three seats on their flight to Thiruvananthpuram. He mustered up all his dignity and stated “Madam, I cannot leave my desk”. That’s when I said to him “Why not Sir, you have already said that you have NO more flights for two days, so you can safely leave your desk!”.
Unable to refute my argument he walked over to them, bought three tickets for us from Bangalore to Cochin, not to Thiruvananthapuram, saying “Madam, they have no flights to Thiruvananthapuram, but they have a flight in three hours to Cochin, which is only about 125 miles from your destination”. Our friend, who was amazed at, and enjoying this unbelievable experience, said to me “Reva, don’t worry, I will call my relatives in Cochin, and arrange for a rental car and driver, to meet you at Cochin airport, and drive you to Thiruvananthapuram.” . I gratefully accepted his help, and I then realized that the fare from Bangalore to Cochin was significantly less than our original fare from Bangalore to Thiruvananthapuram. Lina then asked our friend, who was a highly respected senior Director of a large multi national corporation “Uncle, could you please help Mummy?”. And he replied “Lina, your Mummy is managing perfectly, much better than I ever could!”. I said to the official “Sir, actually, you need to give us a refund for the cost difference between the two fares, for all three passengers”.
At that point came his classic words “Madam, You Are Eating My Head!”. I politely but firmly made him go back to the other airline desk, and much to all of our surprise, within 10 minutes, he came back with the entire refund in Cash in Indian Rupees! NOW this was absolutely unheard of in India- at that time getting a refund, even after weeks of submitting requests, was in itself almost impossible, but getting a cash refund on the spot was IMPOSSIBLE.
I then courteously, respectfully, and profusely thanked the official, double checked our new tickets, collected our baggage, and we departed from his desk, leaving him in peace!
Kanya Kumari -Southernmost tip of mainland India
Fresh Coconut Juice – straight from the Green Coconut
Meenal, Lina and I at Kovalam Beach, Kerala
Khima (Curried ground lamb, beef, or plant-based protein granules): Serves 6-8
(Bob is vegetarian, cannot eat any dairy products, and is allergic to pepper, including bell peppers, chillies, and paprika. So I use plant-based protein granules, and omit all peppers)
Ingredients:
- 1 ½ lb lean ground lamb, ground beef, or plant-based protein granules
- 1 medium onion sliced fine
- ¼ inch fresh ginger or ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- 3-4 cloves garlic finely chopped or ¼ tsp ground garlic
- ¼ tsp turmeric powder
- ¼ tsp ground black pepper
- ¼ tsp red chilli powder
- ¾ tsp ground cumin
- ¾ tsp ground coriander
- ¾ tsp ground black pepper
- 1 8 oz can tomato sauce or 3 large fresh tomatoes
- 1 ½ tablespoon Garam Masala (special blend of spices found in Indian grocery stores)
- 1 bag (16 oz) frozen green peas
- 4 medium red or yellow potatoes chopped into ½ inch pieces or 1 16 oz bag of “petite” whole potatoes (approximately ¾ inches long)
- 2 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
- 1 tablespoon canola or 1 tablespoon mixture of canola and olive oil
- 1 – 1 ½ teaspoon salt to taste
Procedure:
- Heat a heavy bottomed pan to medium heat and add the ground meat (add the plant-based granules to pan in step 6).
- Stir continuously to break up the meat until golden brown and is finely divided with no clumps, drain off and discard any fat. If using plant-based protein granules, first coat the empty pan with olive oil spray, heat pan to medium heat, then brown the granules.
- Remove meat from pan, add oil to pan, heat on medium heat, add onions, ginger, garlic and stir until golden. Add turmeric, stir, do not allow to burn. Add ground cumin, ground black pepper, red chilli powder, ground coriander, garam masala stirring continuously for 2-3 minutes.
- Lower heat to medium-low, add finely chopped fresh tomatoes or canned tomato sauce, sautee with the spices
- Add the chopped potato pieces (or whole petite potatoes) and stir well to allow the sautéed spice and tomato mixture to coat the potatoes. Continue sauteeing for 5-6 minutes.
- Add the browned ground meat or plant-based protein granules and saute for 5-6 minutes.
- Increase the heat to medium, add the frozen green peas, salt, 1 ½ -2 cups of water, stir.
- Increase heat to high and bring to a boil, stirring continuously.
- Cover, lower heat to low medium, and cook for 15- 20 minutes.
- Remove cover, stir well, sprinkle with the chopped cilantro and serve hot.
Serve Khima with hot brown Basmati Rice Pulao, Beet-Gajar Koshimbir (salad) and warm Nan or pita bread
Beet – Gajar Koshimbir (Beet and Carrots Salad): Serves 6-8
Ingredients:
- 1 15 oz can Sliced Beets (2 cups peeled cooked beets)
- 2 cups carrots, sliced lengthwise and chopped into ¼ inch pieces
- 2 tablespoons coarsely ground peanuts
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
- 1 tablespoon fresh grated coconut or coconut flakes
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
- 1 teaspoon lime juice
- ½ – ¾ tsp salt to taste
Procedure:
- Chop the sliced beets into ¼ inch pieces.
- Cook the chopped carrots for 3-4 minutes in the microwave (I cook them as my husband cannot eat raw carrots, you may choose to use them raw)
- Add the chopped beets, carrots, peanuts, sesame seeds, chopped cilantro, lime juice and salt, and mix gently.
Serve at room temperature with hot Khima, brown Basmati Rice Pulao, and warm Nan or pita bread
