A Court Case and Chicken Sausage Rice (Biryani)

Slice of Life:
This incident happened a couple of years ago. My neighbor(a he) called me one morning and asked if I would be a witness in his divorce proceeding. Gulp!

The couple are my neighbors and live right across our house. They moved into the house about a year after we did. We had no kids at that time, they had a boy who a preschooler (he is finishing his middle school now). The man was more the friend than the lady of the house. I like hanging outside in my garden doing stuff and he usually was outside playing with his son. Invariably he would walk over or I would go over and we'd talk. Apart from that,

Every morning I'd see him drive his son to school and bring him back in the evenings. Like every dad or mom does with a 5 year old he panted behind the son's bicycle when the training wheels came off. When the weather was warm the father and son were out doing what every American father and son do - yes! playing catch with a football and most days DD joined in, she is not the one to resist games of any kind. On good days when there is no wind howling and an inch of snow piled on the ground DD played hide and seek or tag and the dad had told me many a times that will he be around and would keep an eye on them freeing me to do stuff. We'd also have long conversations about the state of the world, the difference between politicians in Indian and here and several other topics generally superfluous topics.

If it was lunch time dad and son offered to take DD along to wherever they went for lunch. Most times I have said no but on a few occasions when McD was mentioned I could not keep her back. He once mentioned that he loves chicken curry (don't they all). You know how it works right, once somebody mentions that they like chicken curry I can't resist offering them some. The couple and the son have visited our house for DD's birthday parties. DD has gone over to play in their house.

If you are wondering if I have ever spoken to the lady of the house. I have and the number of times can be easily counted on the fingers in my hand. She generally had a phone attached to her ear every time she stepped out making it impossible to have a conversation. The few times I have spoken to her she has been pleasant and has always been friendly. But very rarely have I seen her play with her son or just hanging out with him. I am not a witness to anything that happened inside their home, DD perhaps would have been a better judge.

She worked in the medical profession and he had a good job in one of the big consulting companies. Apart from mentioning once they had quite a few credit cards all maxed out we rarely spoke about personal stuff. Usually the talk was more about how to keep the deer out and want kind of plants would not be eaten and mostly the happenings in the world. When DH decided he was going to do the fence for the backyard himself, he helped with a few stuff. Overall a helpful and friendly neighbor. Neither DH,me or the kids had much to do with the wife.

So one day during one of those over the fence kind of conversations he mentioned that he was having problems with his wife. I was not sure if I heard it right and moved on to other topic and he mentioned it again a year after that. The phone call about the case came a month or two after. The lady was trying to get sole custody of the son.

Here is the questions for you dear readers who know quite a bit about me from my ramblings. Was was my answer Yes or No? If you were in a similar situation what would your reaction be?


We found these spicy chicken sausages in Costco last week. I was craving Biryani and all I had in hand were the sausages. It turned out quite well.

Chicken Sausage Rice
Serves: 4-6

Ingredients
1. 5 sausage rings cut into bite sized pieces
2. 1 Red Onions sliced thin
3. ginger garlic paste 5 garlic pods and 2 inches ginger
4. 4-5) green chillies (the sausages were spicy so just enough for the rice)
In a food processor chop the ginger,garlic and green chilies
5. 2 juicy tomatoes diced fine
6. 2 cups of mint and coriander leaves chopped
7. 2 cups Basmati rice (Rice:Water 1 : 1 1/2)
8. 1 tsp each of chilly powder, cumin powder and coriander powder
9. 2 tbsp yogurt
10. seasonings, cumin, cinnamon, cloves (3), saunf, bay leaves, curry leaves
11. 2 tsp oil
12. salt to taste

Method
1. In the pressure cooker or a pan which is big enough to hold the rice, pour the oil and ghee and when it is hot add all the seasonings and saute.
2. In a separate pan add about 3 cups of water and bring it to a boil
3. Add the onions and fry till they are brown.
4. Add the ginger, garlic,green chillies mince and fry them well.
5. Add the mint and coriander leaves and saute til the leaves have wilted completed.
6. Add all the powders and mix well.
7. Now add the sausage and saute for about 4-5 minutes, add the yogurt and mix
8. Add the tomatoes and cook till they are soft.
9. Add the basmati rice and mix well till they are coated with the masala.
10. Add water and check if the salt is enough and cook the rice till they are almost done.
11. Close the lid and keep the flame in low medium for 5 minutes. Switch of the stove and remove from the stove. (if it stays on the hot burner the rice is in the bottom will turn brown and stick)

Tasted excellent with some cucumber raita.