My tiny bowl with the big owl

This Post is written for "Food Tales with tinyowl" contest by tinyowl




That day I met my “Bua” who has been part and parcel of my life since childhood; she actually poured in the old magic. Yes, the old magic was displayed, an old magic which invigorated my senses and my gastronomical adventures every day. It’s not at all adventurous though but yes somehow it evokes my sensual pleasures and knocks my appetite every day, at that specific time. My Bua still knows it “ Half plate rice, a bowl full of daal, a mini bowl of salad and lemon, pickle drooling over the sides” My temptation, my sensation, my irritation, my magic spell and my food fix starts and ends here. And when she came with bowls howling with other delicacies, my shiny little plate showed its shimmering face, my tummy had got its adrenalin and I was fixed. My Bua with her gloomy face lamented “Why did I cook so much, if your   are still suffering your food fix.”

My Food fix...stuck on to "Daal Chawal"

My UK. trip, lots of memories, full day tour, sightseeing, gloomy weather, drizzling rain, alehouses, roadside restaurants serving typical English food, a delight for any traveller, fresh leaf salad, roasted chicken in hot mushy barbeque sauce all dripping flavours from the corners, mashed potatoes with butter swamping from the edges, a thin slice of lemon, dessert topped with  English caramel custard could knock any tongue...and just beside it stood a tall  cup of hot cappuccino...a treat for any  glutton and a gift for any traveller on a  cold English foggy afternoon. I was sitting with all and as I caught hold of the fork and knife my stomach nodded in apprehension, a bit of a hesitant tone, my appetite lost its vigour, rounding in u turn, it had squeezed its pangs, my eyes rolled and I was again in a fix, day dreaming in that cold foggy afternoon. My mom’s hand putting a plate.... half full of rice, my bowl of daal and  dollops of "ghee" and then it was a tiny green bowl of salad, the jar of pickle stood there smilling back at me. I was at fix. Why was I so stuck with a certain palate? Was it a tale of past? Was it some memories associated with food? Was it just the taste? Or was it the comfort?....Maybe all.

Temptations don't work when you are fixed with your own palate

Food habits are borne, adapted, inherited by individuals, culture and a society. A specific fondness for a typical kind of food or a staple food has a deep rooted psychological inheritance with an individual or culture. It gradually assimilates in one’s mind and taste. Supposedly a certain dish was served by my Mom during my childhood days, each day, every day, subconsciously my whole system starts recognising it, being a part of the whole culinary journey, right from her making the “daal” to the typical whistle of the pressure cooker when it would be switched off. The very peculiar “tadka” aroma stuck on to my smell buds...lunch was always scheduled at that very hour and the known aroma of rice, daal, freshly cut salad and achaar had all those much known stories, the anecdotes, the tales associated with the regular food safari somehow engrained it. It became a routine, a habit and then a fix...the typical food fix...which gave a high, which saved me from low, which made me salivate every day at that time of the day, which made me reminiscence childhood, my mom and my memories. I realize nothing compares to those simple dishes, in fact I could not relate to any other food...Food is my journey to past, food is my refuge from any storm, food is like a warm shoulder just like mom nourishing me with love. 

Food habits reflects a lot more than food...

Food is a thing which gives me high, kicks my spirit when low.


Now days it’s a different kind of story although, life has changed, tangling between household chores, job, family and other regular activities, it is almost a herculean task to have my way with my indulgence. An afternoon is all about hogging a sandwich with less butter, less calories, less nuts, less spice, less of everything including taste;)

Nights would be just ordering food from the stale old kitchen with their age old taste....insipid, the "daal" too has just water flowing from here and there, they take extra care for my nutrition, yes the extra touch either too much salt for my low BP or just a forgotten ordeal with no salt for high BP.

My daal, my rice and my salad bits are much of a forlorn story now, only when I save all the energy to push myself to the kitchen I am treated with my old love...how I miss good food, or at least eatable food, forget about my food fix, its fixed somewhere in my memory nowadays

My food fix  gave up to my "Food experiments"

But then a few days ago I was invited to my friend’s home, as usual my escapade from insipid food pushes me now days to my friends place just to say “hi” and that day it was this online call...She just asked me what I preferred ...I replied anything tasty. We were   discussing about something and I was relaxed that the food which had been ordered would reach when my hunger pangs dig out my appetite and throw it away and I might end up eating those strappy noodles but to my surprise the bell rang and I actually felt a sudden gush of a “food fix memory” running down my spine after a decade...aroma’s takes me down memory lane

I was treated with the best daal rice from   one of the best restaurant just at home, like home...I could not thank her enough, well she had a different food fix ...it was her oriental taste bud which only recognised Chinese delicacies...and I found it a hard job to move away my fingers from her plate too...it was one of those best oriental cuisine I had tasted after a long time...My appetite after so many days had actually thanked me..I asked my friend from where she ordered the name “TinyOwl” stuck me because it had touched my heart.

My B'day Cake was orderd from the app

The gallore of food delights in one "App

We live to eat, and at the end of the day if one is just starved after having spent bucks, then it’s  a worth less life. Feeding myself with those lovely delicacies, reasonably priced, delivery time minimum and also received cash back for starters, it made me a real food fix for this app. Now days I don’t always indulge in my daal and rice palate but I gush into other lanes too, may be someday it’s the typical Italian meal or just the authentic Punjabi Butter chicken palate, digging on to my kulfi pot, watching a romantic movie on a Sunday afternoon and relishing life is my new story...

 My Experiments with different cuisines and food.



I am relishing my life, my childhood and my whole existence again...and also have come out of my food fix but it is still engrained in my veins and blood in meagre amount and I do respect it ...yes I do feed those craving by just dialling the app “Tinyowl”

My food fix is now more of a  fixed story with TinyOwl.

• I can  pick and choose according to my cravings, my mood and my food fixation
• I dont have to wait for the whole movie to end and slip into sleep till my bell rings, I can actually start my food with my film.
• I can be over indulgent with my  food experiments. As I open the app, I am into another zone with variety of cuisines from all over the world  available at my city
• Food is simply a thing which can be blindly  approved if the reviwes and ratings are done properly and here I get best of ratings and reviews, I completely blindfold my eyes and press the button and every time I have been lucky.
• User Friendly apps,who has the time to slide lazily when its all about food, its just the "fata fat" app- slide, read, see, order, forget...bell rings, bliss begins.
• Easily can go through delivery time which is apt for my busy schedule, delivery time is  narrated clearly  by restaurants accordingly.

The tiny owl has just spelled magic in my tiny bowl.

Find out which bowl enthralls you more here below through the links

tinyowl Android

tiny owl ios link

PC- myself, google images