The Chemeen Chor

Dr Roshan Radhakrishnan
59

I have always been fascinated by the story of Abhimanyu and how he learned to enter the Chakravyu by listening to his father discussing it with his mother while he was still in the womb.
That must have been some major first memory to retain. For me, as I enter mid-life and the gray cells within get replaced with gray hair outside, my memory isn't what it used to be. I used to be able to remember telephone conversations, dates of significance and things that happened years ago very clearly. These days, I can barely remember what I had for breakfast anymore by the time I come down for lunch! 

As a child the first memory in my mind is of a day back when I was a kid in Dubai. It had to be a Friday because everyone was home for lunch that day. I don't think I had reached UKG yet. My mother had made rice with some curry and prawns fry. Now, prawns are only my most favourite dish ever since the time I was a kid. I clearly recall the plate of prawns being placed on a green plate upon the dining table and my mother going back into the kitchen to get the other curries while dad was watching something (possibly wrestling) on television. When she returned back, my dad was still in the room watching TV and the rice bowl was still sitting in the center of the table. The plate of prawns however had disappeared.
A part of me can still hear her asking aloud in Malayalam where the plate went. Sitting in the bedroom at the other end of the house,struggling to balance the hot bowl in my tiny hands while I ate each fried prawn from that plate till it was all over, I couldn't care less.

Click here for the recipe 


That's the first memory I have of myself in life. Roshan, the prawn thief / chemeen chor (being a 'makhan-chor' was obviously too old-fashioned for a guy like me!).  
What is the first memory you have of yourselves?    

Author's note: This is my take on the theme 'FOOD' for Write Tribe's Festival of Words 2.


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59Comments

Let me know what you think.

  1. I am sure you would have got many names, however the suffix - kallan/thief/chor being constant :p And no need to explain Kannur folks' love for prawns!

    I only remember steeling chocolates from the fridge, even after the quota for the day is declared to be over by my mom.

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    1. haha :P
      True... sadly, all the kallan suffixes were related to food only!

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  2. Aaah, fried prawns!!!! I used to love prawns so much as a kid (still do) that my Mom used to joke that she'd get me married to a fisherman who specialized in prawns (in her words -'ChemmeenKaaran')!!!! I don't really know what my first memory is; it's a collage of videos and images :-)

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    1. Haha.. fried prawns is still a fav for me even after all these decades..

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    2. especially our Malabar style preparation.. with the extra fried bits in the pan which we mix with the rice :D

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    3. Exactly!! Confession: I actually use the pan that was used to fry the prawns as my plate - dump the rice in and YUM!!!

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    4. haha.. believe me ur not the only one... after giving everyone their share of prawns, my mom would dump my rice in the pan and mix it directly in there, then transfer the whole thing onto my plate... wow. its been so many years since i had that in that way, you know.
      Side effects of growing up.

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  3. Once I stole two biscuits from the box and told my mom that the biscuits were on the shelf so I ate them. Guess we all çhor at some point or the to the other in childhood.

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    1. where food is concerned, definitely I've been a chor many times :D

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  4. A little thief always exists in all of us :)

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  5. Chemmeen Chor, I like that :D Just goes to show how much you loved prawns and your mother cooking them :D

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    1. Oh I am a huge fan of them.. even have my own distinctive way of eating them :D

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  6. Oh my God... chemmeen fry ! You know they serve those in heaven too ! It is heavenly ...and also very much full of cholestrol ! Sigh all good things come at such a nasty price

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    1. haha... cholesterol molesterol! who cares ! gimme more prawns !!

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  7. hahaha..that is so very cute :D my first memory is of probably playing with a barbie doll and wrecking it big time :D

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    1. I can totally see you going bad-ass on a poor barbie doll :D

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  8. Lol... That was too sweet. My first memories would be eating mangoes out of buckets with my cousins in the hot summer days.

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    1. I remember relatives bringing huge live crabs into the house and then them running around and we kids running around screaming!

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  9. LOL...

    I came over looking for a Chemmen Chooru recipe! Bah!

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    1. Chemmeen recipe is there if you click the button.. everytime i see that picture, my stomach growls.

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  10. Btw... my first memory is of having chocolate milk... loved it then. and still do.

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  11. Perfectly cooked prawns, yum!
    Do you know that Google now card shows up when you make a new post now? That's super cool.

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    1. hmm... gonna give that a shot,, makes it all easier.

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  12. Change the place to sharjah and the bowl of chameen to egg thoran... then that's my story. But the twist was I was hospitalised the next day for over eating egg! :/

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    1. wow! seriously.. u were hospitalized... that must have been some majorly amazing egg thoran !!

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  13. I'm trying to imagine the look on your Mom's face, Roshan! What fun! :)

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    1. i honestly dont think she was mad.. well, a little bit but also they were laughing a lot i think

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  14. LOL!! What a cute post!! :D

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  15. That was a fun post Doc :) I love prawns....yummy!

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  16. A whole plate of prawns! Wow... that's something!!

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    1. and i couldnt have been more than 3 years too :D

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  17. Liked your post though i don't like prawns ;) one of my early memories is of our granny's place.During summer holidays we cousins (6 of us) used to steal salted mangoes from a dark room. we were chased by granny several times, mistaken as cat/rat n what not in the dark :D

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    1. haha... salted mangoes is still a fav even now though i frankly dont get a chance to have any.

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  18. Prawns!!! how I totally love them!!!
    My dad was a captain of a fishing trawler that specialises in catching tonnes of Tiger Prawns from the bottom of the sea bed. Whenever he came back home from sailing he used to bring so many of them. Ever since i was a child i remember eating Tiger Prawns sometimes for 10 or 12 days straight, both lunch and dinner. Alas, my dad is retired now and i'm missing those prawns like crazy..

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    1. wow... just wow. Man, I am honestly so jealous of u

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  19. Aww... this was such a cute post.... Can actually picturise you :)

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  20. Cheemen chor :P Cute and funny! My first memory is me always coming home and chattering away every single detail to mum :D

    Richa

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  21. Ha ha ha...'Chemeen Chor' looks good on you. I hope your Dad didn't get punished for the 'chori'. :-D My first memory is Dad making me sleep on his chest while reading some novel. I would often get up and ask him some silly question. :-D

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    1. haha... sounds like such an awesome memory. and i dont think he got into trouble.. they were laughing a bit i think

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  22. I had this Chemeen fry many times...that too on that large dinning table in Dubai....your mom is a great cook. I can visualize the whole scene...Dad watching wrestling....LOL....

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    1. haha.. Aunty. You and Uncle definitely will remember these times :D Miss you all so much. When I think of uncle, I always remember him introducing me to Cliff Richards songs... it was some video cassette we had at home, I think.
      And Acha you will still find watching wrestling even now, I think, if you come home.

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  23. :D Chemmeen chor? and I thought the Doc was writing recipes.. :P Good post by the way.. and yeah, I love prawns too.. :)

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    1. Haha... if i did recipes, none of us would survive!!

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  24. Haha! I can imagine how mad/amused your mom must have been upon discovering the hiding chemeen chor ;)

    For a person like me who is well known for her 'Ghajini' type of memory, I do remember this scene quite clearly - A little me in a frock, that cute little neighbor boy in shorts, dragging the tricycle up the little mountain, sitting on it together and coming down full speed..literally tumbling. Not sure what happened next - probably a trip to the doc, but that's not important, is it? :D

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    1. LOL.... "not sure what happened". Yes, that certainly explains a lot :D Especially the aforementioned Ghajini memory part! :)

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  25. As a Malayali, I too love Chemmeen dishes esp the naadan type. So now I have yet another reason to keep reading your blog:)

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    1. if u have any plans of stealing my plate of prawns, please realize I will bite!! You can have my salary, my house and my stethoscope... but leave my Chemeen fry alone! :D

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  26. Oh lol that was a fun read. Don't all moms wish their sons are like Krishna Kanhiya?

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    1. somehow I think they prefer it if we stick to just butter :) When we start eating the main course all by ourselves, then things get complicated :D

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  27. haha! My first memory is watching a movie in the cinema hall. It was 'Jaane Bhi Do Yaroon'.

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    1. :) Ah yes.. why am I not surprised its a movie memory... :)

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  28. And I used to be a "Motta-chor".. I think I still am ;-)

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    1. :D I havent had much opportunity or else I would have remained a chemeen chor too even now! damn this grown up life !!

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