
Ever stuffed chips into your sandwich
Many years back the missus had gifted me a Jamie Oliver book on my birthday. I had got the idea of stuffing crisps into a sandwich from one of the recipes there. That book is also where I learnt how to make pesto and how to use it in many ways. ‘House or family of foods’ is what he called this concept of using one ingredient to create many different dishes if I remember right. Think garam masala in India for example.
Wondering what ‘crisps’ are? That’s what chips were and are called in England. That was a part of the unlearning process that I had to go through when I moved to India as a chubby, visibly crisp loving, 8 year old. The others included not having access to my favourite Coke and Pepsi cola drinks, Penguin chocolates or Rocket lolly ice creams and to being bitten by mosquitoes instead and being grilled by the heat of Kolkata and of having to learn a new language, my mother tongue of Bengali that is. We are far more open to change as kids I guess. A quality one should not lose.
Finely chopped breakfasts
I hope you follow @thefinelychopped on Instagram. Click on this link to find it: https://instagram.com/p/Ba-3RXnHUKG/
I went to Candies, the neighbourhood cafe in Bandra, the day before for breakfast after meeting a friend in the morning, yesterday I made eggs for my breakfast at home and today I called in from Candies.
My yoga teacher recently told me that one shouldn’t be trapped by routine. He said so when he saw me roll up the mat to rest my knee on while kneeling. He’d suggested that earlier as my knees hurt and I had gladly done so. He urged me to try it without rolling the mat this time. I did so and saw that the I was managing the pressure better now. You do need a good mentor/ coach/ Guru in life to egg you on and this was an example of that.
Thanks to the new apartment I feel and my cheerful and bright study there, I don’t feel the need to go out to a cafe to write every morning to beat the stillness at home anymore and that feels good and empowering.

They make their chips in house, fresh everyday, at Candies and serve them with sandwiches etc when there and you can bury them separately too. Sylvia and the staff try to make sure there is always some chips for me as it often gets over soon. On most days I stuff in a few into my sandwich. I feel a bit guilty but very happy too. The number of the ‘few’ has reduced over the years. Less is more as they say.
My favourite sandwiches in Mumbai
The sandwich that I had today are the chicken sandwiches at Candies. The soft bread that they bake every morning, the beautifully balanced and seasoned mayonnaise dressing and the juicy pieces of chicken in them make them a family favourite.
I am pretty sure that this breakfast is not entirely yoga teacher approved. He’d like me to have more boiled egg whites instead. I don’t think the ‘living in the moment and not worrying about the future’ argument will cut much ice with him. Yes, we are a bit like the Kung Fu Panda and Master Schifu.
Interestingly, happiness of self and others is at the core of the philosophy of yoga from what I understand from him as well as that of the Nicherin Buddhism that I practise and this is a happy coincidence indeed. I am not, and I stress this again, giving you diet tips here though.

PS: Which are your favourite sandwiches in Mumbai?
Do watch this Instagram app phone video on my breakfast spots in Candies :
https://www.facebook.com/FinelyChopped/videos/1999805063370841/
Do read this post to understand why I once headed to cafes to write:
http://www.finelychopped.net/2017/10/such-long-journey-in-my-last-post-here.html?m=1
Have you read my recent article in NDTV Food in heritage breakfasts in South Mumbai? Here it is if you haven’t. PS. Trying this search friendly headline option based on what I learnt from their edit team