10 am
My throat still feels dry and itchy so I make chai with ginger and mint for the morning.
I really like Mint in tea but I have never made it myself. I add 4 leafs of mint, worrying it may be too much.
I turn the hob off just before it’s about to boil over.
I can’t taste the mint at all, I realise, it probably needs to be ground to release its flavour. Trial and error till I figure it out.
I get a big energy crash immediately after and it’s about 20 minutes later that I start feeling better from it.
I wait too long before I eat something and it’s only when I can feel my energy dip low again that I get up.
I make a quick besan pancake. I used to find besan pancake boring growing up but I have learnt you can add flavours to it and make it tasty. And it’s a very quick meal! To make it fancier I go for lots of ghee, paneer and generous amount of cumin and sumac powder.
I had made a mint chutney last week, which pairs perfectly with it, plus extra hot sriracha for brunch.
I go to bed and eat it, and but have lost most of my energy again in the process. Rest and Regain strength.
I get up 30 minutes later to make another as I am still craving food.
The second one fills me up, and I sleep.
I wake up only the next time I want to consume something.
The cough syrup I thought highly of has not given me instant relief. Today I have turned to old companion ginger. I finely grate ginger and boil it with a clove and drink it while it is hot.
I try making another concoction which includes dropping some mint in a cup of hot water. I am not sure what result I was expecting from this, it only leaves a very mild flavour. I am starting to think the mint that is available in Glasgow is maybe not so strong.
I am already hungry at 5 pm, I don’t have much food at home, and neither a lot of energy. I browse through Uber eats and Deliveroo but I don’t feel motivated for anything I see. I always only crave mushy rice when I am sick. No place wants to deliver me mushy rice.
B runs me through a quick recipe of Vagahrelu Bhat which is only a Gujarati version of Pulao imo, B tells me it will only take 15 minutes. I’m persuaded. Rice, potato, beans, and carrot. Seems easy and quick.
It took me 15 minutes only to chop all vegetables,
I added potatoes as soon as I added onions as they take too long to soften. I realise I should have chopped them smaller to cook them quicker.
Potatoes finally cook within another 10 minutes, now I have forgotten to add cumin, and I remember how B has emphasised the importance of cumin seeds in Vagharelu Bhat, so I sizzle some cumin on the side and add them in.
I trusted the carrot and green beans to cook quicker. The duration carrot took to cook is really out of line with its character. I impatiently poke holes with a fork in a lot of carrot chunks to see if it’s cooked, always taking the fork out with disappointment.
The carrot’s 90 % done when I decide this is as good as it gets, and pour the rice in, give everything a stir and serve myself with lots of yogurt on top. The yogurt irritates my throat a bit, but the meal soothes my cramps.
It’s 10 pm and I want fish fingers, I would run to Sainsbury’s but it would have just closed. I am settling for a glass of warm milk which feels gentler on my stomach than the fish fingers would have.
Finally, I do salt water gargles and call it a night.
Find Ragini on instagram here.