Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Yeh Dil Maange Moru!!

What has to be one of the most popular catch phrases in the early 90’s, it is no secret the ad gurus created the punch line after the famous bollywood actor had come down to my place and was treated to a nice oonu with lots of curries…And usually the last curry for a typical naadan meal would be our humble moru curry…Shah Rukh was so impressed that day that he told me...

’Yeh Dil Maange Moru’

Poor guy I thought… and I kept serving the moru until he was so full that after 4 rounds of chooru moru and kadumaanga pickle, he got all sentimental:-

‘Bade Bade Deshon Mein, Aisi Choti Choti..uh..sorry..“


Shahrukh suddenly looked so distraught and tears welled in his eyes like in Devdas.....his voice quivered like in Darr...

“kk.kkk.kk..kya boolu .what I really want to say is….. this curry is so awesome ...“

Later as well all know some ad guy who was there for lunch sold the line to Pepsi and raked in all the money. But the history of Moru dates back to a village in US called Baltimoru where once a caveman invented this classic dish by twist of fate. ..There is a intriguing story that links the past and the present.

Based on studies conducted on the cave paintings archaeologist have found the origin of the curry. It had happened that a Caveman by the name Sasi Kazhakuttom did not manage a kill one particular night. The furious wife and cavewoman Mrs. Gloria Fernandez (she was half Mexican) scolded the poor hunting skills of her hubby and hollered how they are going to feed their 32 kids that night. Sasi was heartbroken and timidly walked out of the cave…He went to the hilltop nearby and shouted at the sun god..

‘thilothomia thilothomia…why on earth did you do this to me!!’

But the sun just kept shining like as usual and Sasi trotted back home…but he knew it would not be glorious to meet Gloria under current circumstances. Back in those times it was legally possible in the state of Baltimooru for the wife to file for divorce if the husband did not bring atleast one wild boar for dinner every night. Sasi was heartbroken and could not imagine a life without his wife and 32 kids (20 of which he could remember by name).

Desperately Sasi decided to visit the chief priest S.R. Kattabomman and ask him for a solution to maintain harmony in the family. S.R.K was a very wise man…a man of knowledge…a man who was known to have magic powers from years of meditation.

When Sasi told SRK his sad tale he felt sympathetic towards him. He wanted to help him by giving the secret formula which would keep Gloria happy ever after. But there was the curse of the pagan gods that would kill SRK if he ever disclosed the formula to anyone. And thus SRK did the supreme sacrifice by sharing the recipe of Moru curry to Sasi for the greater good. In a dramatic heart wrenching moment while SRK was losing consciousness ,Sasi promised that he would never forget this noble deed and he swore to pray for his return to life. SRK passed away peacefully due to the curse of the then powerful god Coca Cola.

Sasi ran to his home in slow motion and made the moru curry using the secret formula which was passed on to him. In honour of SRK he immediately spread the word of Mooru curry to make it popular and even uploaded the recipe in Pachakam.com from where this author got the recipe.

The lip smacking Moru curry with rice and pickle was served that night at the Cave instead of the usual steak. Gloria and the 32 kids were content and Sasi was finally smiling ….A family disaster averted and peace restored.

Several several centuries later.

Moru curry was by now popular throughout the world….it had spread wide across to places as far as Kerala, Tamil Nadu...etc….And one day when a Sasi Junior had gone to the movies the karma of what happened several 1000 years ago unfolded in front of him in a dramatic climax. As the movie Karan Arjun moved to the final scenes and SK and SRK met face to face...there was a drop of tear in Sasi’s eyes…..it was sign of a prophesy that came true….

*Salman Khan is supposed to have a uncanny resemblance to Sasi Kazhakuttom.
*SRK is believed to be a direct descendant of S.R Kattabomman and Pepsi had adopted the line Yeh Dil Maange Moru in honour of the legend from Baltimooru.