Makhana-Aloo Chaat (Fox nut-Potato snack)-- What are your Movie time Snacks?

It's a Sunday evening, there's a downpour outside and a new movie "Sherni" released on Amazon prime.

Movies on Sunday evening bring back memories of school days when there used to be only one national channel (the Doordarshan) that played Hindi/regional movies on Sunday evenings. I would excitedly look forward to that evening of movie and snacks despite having scheduled weekly tests on the following Monday. Every weekend we were burdened with preparing for a test (weekly tests) that would be held the following Monday all through the academic year. And every Friday, I'd promise myself that I would complete studying for the test by Saturday evening so that I could enjoy the Sunday with all the various TV programs and finally the movie in the evening. However, this never happened, given my habit of procrastinating everything to the very last moment, and the weekly tests eventually became a nightmare on Monday mornings when I had to wake up at 4 am to study for the tests. And no, despite my unpreparedness for the test, I never missed the Sunday movie! I never failed my tests either, though I would not say I was proud of my scores.

Thankfully those days are over...

Bringing the wandering mind to the present..

As I cozy up at the corner of the sofa with a coffee to watch Sherni, I get engrossed in the movie completely in no time as the characters unfold. Director Amit Masurkar forays into a relatively sensitive, thought-provoking yet majorly untouched genre of environmental thrillers. Though, the storyline, the characters, may seem downplayed initially unlike any commercial Hindi movie, a few moments into the movie one gets to understand its intense and gripping nature. The story addresses many issues ranging from forest politics, egoistic politics of the powerful, gender discrimination, complexities of human-nature interaction, how human activities/progress are affecting nature to creating youth awareness towards wildlife preservation, creating jobs for the local tribes in accordance with their skills. It is also exciting to watch the forest department in action which gives an idea about some of their functions which many of us may not be aware of. In the end, we are left to wonder whom to justify the film title to: the Tigress T12 in the literal sense or the understated yet bold Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Vidya Vincent (played by Vidya Balan)..

However, halfway into the movie, I start to feel a little peckish. Probably a subconscious trigger of eating popcorn/snacks during the intermission. Thankfully, we can hit the pause button on OTT platforms as long as we like.

And I make myself some crunchy Makhana (Fox nut)-Aloo (Potato) Chaat to sustain me for the remainder of the movie.

As Ila Arun's character in Sherni says "Aloo ka swabhab hi aisa hota hain ki sab mein ghul mil jata hain!" (The nature of a potato is such that it goes along with everything!)

So happy snacking and movie-watching folks! What snacks sustain you during your movie hours?

**Makhana-Aloo Chaat Recipe**

(Quantity for one)

Makhana (Fox nuts) -- 1 small bowl

1 small potato boiled and cut into small pieces

1 small onion finely chopped

1 green chilly finely chopped

1 small tomato finely chopped

Half cup of boiled green moong (optional)

Chaat Masala

Salt as per taste

Lemon

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Dry roast the makhana for 4-5 minutes until crispy. Keep it aside. Mix all the other ingredients thoroughly, squeeze the lemon (as per requirement) and then mix the makhana into the mixture. You may crush the makhanas into smaller pieces.

And I have my Makhana Aloo chaat..

Bon Apetit!