Art/ Heritage

 Life in the Parel Seminary began before cock-crow. At the stroke of the bell at 5:25 am, the Seminarians were to be on their knees, offering the day to God – ‘Hoc Signum, Surgamus et Offeramus’ they would say which can be translated as ‘This is the call of the great King!’

 The Seminarians would then dress briskly and head to the Chapel to recite their morning prayers in common. This was followed by Meditation before the Blessed Sacrament. The Holy Eucharist was then celebrated after which Fr Rector would greet the brothers – ‘Dominus Vobiscum’ meaning ‘The Lord be with you’.

Morning Prayer was succeeded by a quick breakfast and some private study time. At around 9 am the seminarians would proceed to their respective classrooms for lectures. Classes were held from 9:10 am up until 12:40 pm. Likewise, the Parel Seminarian had to devote three hours of private study every day. Exams were conducted twice a year in oral and written format.

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Food


I have several recipes for this dish and several methods of making it. This one has a few ingredients like mustard and coriander which I have never used before. However it turned out very well

I made this dish on a Saturday night and left it out the whole night rather than refrigerate it. The vinegar preserves it from spoiling. I reheated it well in the morning and will heat is once again just before lunch. In my opinion, after reheating the pork in the morning and cooling it, it should then be refrigerated for another 24 hours before serving.

While the pork used was lean pork, I recommend you ask your butcher for a few additional pieces of bone which you cook with the gravy and then can discard. The flavour from the bone is incredible.

Also, for grinding the masala I use both water and vinegar. Some recipes use only water and then while cooking add vinegar. If you are using Goa vinegar please go easy, it’s bloody strong but there is no substitute for it. Having said that some recipes drop the vinegar entirely for tamarind pulp and some amount of Goa jaggery.

Ingredients

Lean pork – 1 kg

For grinding
Kashmiri chillies – 12-15 ( depending on how spicy you want it )
Cumin seeds – 1 teaspoon
Cinnamon stick – 1 inch piece
Garlic – 10 large cloves or 14 small
Turmeric – 1/2 teaspoon
Cloves – 16
Pepper corns – 7
Ginger – 1 inch piece
Mustard – 1/2 teaspoon
Coriander seeds – 1 teaspoon 
Use vinegar and water to grind

For frying
Onions – two large
Oil
Salt

While grinding I recommend you grind all the dry ingredients first to a fine powder and then add the garlic and ginger with vinegar and water

Method
Cut and clean the pork into nice dices. Grind the masala and apply it to the pork along with salt and let it rest outdoors for an hour.

In a pot heat oil and fry the sliced onions. Add the marinated pork with two cups of water. Cook on a slow fire for 40 minutes adding water as required and stirring the meat every ten minutes. Do not add too much water as meat releases its own water. When done and if you prefer, add a green chilly and some finely chopped fresh ginger

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Faith

Last Sunday’s Gospel ended with Jesus sternly ordering the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah. The profession of Peter was a flesh and blood declaration for even though he may have professed it, he and the others had certainly not understood it. In the absence of such an understanding, Peter and the others were ordered to be silent. Yet to them incredible power is given, power to bind and loose on earth things in the name of Christ.

The class on messiahship was not over, things still needed to be explained. So Jesus now ventures to explain the role of the Messiah. Unlike popular belief, the Messiah would not be one to rescue people from their earthly challenges but one who would ironically die to save them eternally. This very understanding, defied every image of the Jewish people, as to who the Messiah was to be.

Verse twenty-one sets the tone of who the Messiah would be. This is the first of three passion predictions of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew (16:21, 17:22-33, 20:17-19). Unlike  Mark’s Gospel where Jesus would ‘teach’ his disciples about his passion, here, Matthew indicates that from ‘this time on, Jesus would begin to SHOW his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering.’

That Jesus wants to demonstrate this suffering rather than teach it is a clear indication that we are not to be mere witnesses to his passion but are to be participants in it. We are to live the passion death and resurrection in our life. And this is not an option; for just as Christ ‘must got to Jerusalem’ so must we take up our cross and follow him (verse 24)

The words of Christ must have been a bolt out of the blue for Peter. Here he was, minutes after being instituted with incredible power only to be told that he would have to follow the master to his passion and death. The lure of power, security and influence had taken control of Peter and having made it to the top of the list, all this seemed to be slipping through his fingers before he even had the chance to cradle it in his palms, just once.

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Food

Given to me by a friend, this recipe is a winner. The mutton can be replaced by chicken, however the cooking process with change. Follow the tips with regard to the cooking of the spinach.

1 kg mutton boiled add salt keep a side – one whistle and ten minutes on slow fire

6 medium onions sliced

1/2 teaspoon of shahi jeera

One sour lime

For green masala:
8-10 green chillies
15-20 cloves of garlic
1½ inch ginger
1 bunch or 2 cups corriander
15-20 mint leaves
½ tsp turmeric powder
1tablespoon jeera powder
2 tablespons dhania powder
3/4th tbsp garam masala powder.
Grind the above to a fine paste.

Also, soak in warm water 15-20 cashews and 1 tbsp of khas khas. Grind to a paste and keep it aside.

1 bunch palak cleaned & washed. Heat water, turn off the gas, add the spinach and let it soak for half a minute. Put in the strainer and add cold water. Grind this too and keep it separate.

Method for cooking

In a pot add 3 tablespoons of oil 3 tablespoons of ghee. When the oil is hot add a bay leaf, ½ teaspoon shahi jeera and onions. Fry well. when the onions are translucent add the green masala. Fry this for two minutes on a low flame then add the cashew  and khas khas (poppy seeds) paste. Now add  the mutton stock and bring it to a boil. Add the mutton and continue to cook till the meat is tender. When cooked add the juice of one sour lime and salt to taste. Finally add the palak paste and then turn off the gas. Do not cook the palak or it will change colour to an offish green.

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Art/ Heritage

 We never know how or why God calls us, unworthy though we are, to consecrate our efforts and energies for His purposes.

I must have said these words hundreds of times during the past fifty years, either to myself or to those who bothered to ask me how I became in 1936 the first Rector of the Seminary of the Bombay Archdiocese. But it was, if anything, a partial and very general response. The real answer might sound a little dramatic, but I’ll say it because it is not only real but really dramatic.

On Ascension Thursday, May 28, 1936, at about six in the evening, as l was saying my second vespers, the Tertian Instructor came over quietly and whispered in my ear, “See me after your prayer.”

My head buzzed with images of all sorts as minutes later, I stood knocking at his door. What could have gone wrong, I asked myself. Did I break something in the kitchen? Was I in for a ‘culpa’? When the door opened, I realised to my relief that it was none of these that interested the Instructor.

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