Maths | Chilli and ginger chicken + samphire with rice noodles

Halloo! Today we talk about maths….err…yes dreaded by some appeasing to many. Well I used to come under the category of trauma. We have already talked about my flying colours for history in my Naan Qalia post. Lets talk about the downtrodden poverty struck Mathematics. With all due respect to Aryabhatta who invented zero and his patron subject Mathematics I was a disgrace to your clan. I seemed to have taken zero a bit too seriously. 🙂

I had no disorder or anything but I simply couldn’t figure out things out of fear. I feared the subject. I still remember when at the age of seven I couldn’t figure out greater than and lesser than and faced the  wrath of my father. I am blessed with a baby sister who is extremely brilliant. There was a stage when she used to do my mathematics homework 😉

My scores weren’t very bad but I just managed to continue until the ninth grade. I was always had mediocre scores in maths but I still figured in the first five ranks due to my other subject scores. Fear gnaws your conscience and it quantifies into hatred. I started hating maths and grew even more disinterested in unraveling its complexity.

My parents were against tuitions. My father was strict against extra classes. He himself is a genius with Mathematics. He believed everything is achieved with our own capability. To me this seemed like a utopian thought. My mother knew my weakness she did try helping me out. My mother was a big follower of chanakya and his teachings. She kept reciting Chanakya Niti infront of me. It took me several years to understand its synopsis.

The seriousness about studies was not an issue. We were not taught at home rather we had to take care of our own lessons. We approached our parents only when in doubt. I had a very strict upbringing which in a way helped me carve my path and not depend upon others to achieve my goals.

I still remember a signature dialogue which my mother revised “You should practise and practise and practise” I used to giggle at the intentional reputation of the phrase.

I formulated that since I cannot think how to approach a problem. So I decided to train my mind to think by practise. I dedicated six hours a day to mathematics during the final year of my high school. I prepared a detailed timetable which was stuck behind the door. Two days were dedicated to arithmetic, one day for algebra and two days for geometry. I found algebra easier. I practised all sorts of questions from various mathematic books and infinite number of model test papers. I used to subject myself to extreme discomfort by studying in the kitchen room. There were no fans and I got occasional visits from cockroaches and rats who came in to say a ‘Hi’ to the intruder. The excruciating conditions forced me to work harder as I was prone to dozing in the comfort of my bedroom.

All this effort did not go in vain. In the tenth standard I scored a 95 in my boards. I could have scored more but I couldn’t complete the last question. The long and short of this short story is not everybody has inborn skills and but the art of practising can make it inherent. The same conviction helped me crack the complex Fourier series and transformations in my engineering days.

करत करत अभ्यास के, जड़मति होत सुजान
रसरी आवत जात ते, सिल पर परत निसान

To paraphrase it, Persistence makes even a fool intelligent, just like a soft rope, when rubbed continuously on a well-stone, also makes a mark on it.Almost one year back I was smitten by Donna Hay’s work. The photographs which caught my attention were the food photographs with a sky blue hue.

Using the terms of mathematics, I tried several permutation & combinations in order to derive the same result. The idea here is not to ape her work but to add a self-imposed challenge to my creativity. A work which is out of comfort zone. I tried and finally I arrived at an output which is not perfect but close to the desired outcome. I wouldn’t stop here but keep tweaking the parameters until I enunciate its replica.To be continued……

Q.E.D 🙂 

WHAT IS SAMPHIRE?

If you have read the food trend predictions for the year 2016, then you should know that sea weed and plants are going to play a key role in culinary world. I decided to cook with samphire which is a sea plant that grows mainly on tidal marshes. It has vibrant green stalks with a distinctive crisp texture and a characteristic saltness. We cook them by boiling,steaming or stir frying them. Place in a  boiling water or in steamer for 2-3 minutes until tender,drain and serve. Do not add any salt as this is a sea plant it has enough salt sap stored.

For frying place in a pan with a small mount of butter and cook for 2-3 minutes until tender.

CHILLI AND GINGER CHICKEN AND STIR FRY SAMPHIRE WITH RICE NOODLES

This hot chicken combined with a cool rice noodle will give your nearby take away a healthy competition. There is a crunch of sea samphire and the nuttiness of sesame seeds combine to spice up your spring lunch.

Recipe and styling inspiration from here.