Conversations need some food fuel. Especially when it is a chit-chat session with friends. We all spend our evenings gossiping, cribbing, discussing over coffee, snacks, munchies, pastas and whatever is available. But some serious chataholics love to experiment with food as they prattle. And they prefer one-dish meals sans trimmings. It can be cooked or takeaway. It can be at a snazzy joint or straight from your humble kitchenette.
For Ipsita Banker, an aspiring model, it is usually a chicken salad or lasagne or hummus with pita bread. “Sam’s Cafe at Paharganj and City Cafe at Greater Kailash are some of the places where we usually go and end up having either a salad or lasagne,” she says.
Ipsita confesses that she cooks really well and her friends love to come over for a one-dish deal. She adds, “I make different stuff for them every time they come home. Sometimes it is pasta in white sauce or stir-fried veggies in soya sauce with sesame seeds. Since the sole purpose is to chat, we choose not to invest much time in preparing many food items. We decide on a dish that is less time-consuming and filling at the same time.”
Hungry or not, nothing can beat a sub and coffee for a relaxing evening. The various flavours of sauces in a sub only add to the joy of conversation. “If we meet outside then it is a sandwich or sub with coffee. But when at home, pre-dinner tidbits like ready-to-make Sunfeast or Maggi pasta do for us. And when we have time at hand and can afford to have something more than a small dig, I mix rice and soya granules and make pulao out of it,” says copywriter Kartika Sunder.
While the calorie-conscious tribe steers clear of sinful desserts and sticks to easy-on-calories snacks, the gutsy ones love to cheer up with brownies and tarts. “If any of us is feeling low because of a break-up or a bad boss day or just anything, then desserts pick us for a catty discussion. We usually don’t have much time post-office, so we adhere to our tiramisus, truffles and doughnuts, but strictly one at a time to feel happy,” explains Sanya Narula, a management trainee.
Pizza rocks for Neha Saini, who loves exploring its various layers as she analyses a case with her fellow law students. “I feel if one eats with hands it creates a definitive bond. No protocol of knife and fork makes pizza our first choice. It is easy to carry around in case you are mobile, fills your tummy for sometime and gladdens your heart. I have had the best of conversations in my car with a pizza slice in hand and Pepsi in other. Music feels good as we chat for hours at a stretch,” she remembers.

quick soya pulao

Ingredients:
1 cup rice
1 cup soya granules
2 onions
6 tomatoes
2 tbsp sunflower oil
Salt to taste
1/2 tsp black pepper
3 tsps lemon (optional)

Method:
Soak rice and soya granules in warm water for sometime. Put some oil in a pan. Add chopped onions to it and fry till they are brown followed by salt and pepper. Now fry the soaked soya in the pan for 10 minutes and add tomato puree to it. Stir for 10 more minutes before pouring two cups of water. Close the pan and let it simmer. Keep stirring at intervals. Once it is cooked, remove from the burner and add lemon juice if you like.