Contemplations and Ruminations ......

Chocolate mug cake...

2012-02-08T13:07:00.002+05:30

So I was craving something chocolatey the other day and remembered the 'cake in a mug' recipes I had seen online, so decided to try one out. Was a little skeptical at first, didn't really expect the cake to turn out well. Was surprised when it came out perfect and fluffy like a normal cake after 2 minutes in the microwave. I don't really know how this process would work with a normal sized cake, but this cake in a mug recipe is simply wonderful. It would have been even more scrumptious with some ice cream or chocolate sauce...

Ingredients

3 Tablespoons all purpose flour

(which is really maida, a teaspoon of baking powder and a pinch of baking soda)

4 Tablespoons powdered sugar

1 heaped Tablespoon cocoa powder

3 Tablespoons milk

3 Tablespoons oil

2 Tablespoons whisked egg

a splash of vanilla essence

Chocolate chips

Run the maida, baking powder and baking salt through the sieve. All the ingredients can be mixed directly in the cup, I did it in a bowl cause I wanted a clean cup for the pictures.

Add the sugar and the cocoa powder, to the all purpose flour.

Drop in the milk, oil, whisked egg and the splash of vanilla essence.

Mix it with a spoon till you get a smooth batter, and then pour it into the cup that can be used in a microwave.

Now, I didn't have chocolate chips, so I used some dark chocolate that was lying around in the fridge. I chopped up a few pieces and added it to the cake batter.

Here is the batter all ready to go into the microwave.

Set the timer for 2 minutes and watch the magic unfold, this was one of the reasons I was eager to try this cake. It's like a volcano... a chocolate volcano. Wait a few minutes and then dig in... its super soft and fluffy, like any ordinary cake. Mine was a little less sweet, which was okay with me.. if you prefer more sweet add another tablespoon of sugar to the batter. This is great for on the spot desserts for two people, all you need is a little vanilla ice cream to go with it. So try this and let me know how it turned out.

Apple Crumble

2012-02-05T13:19:00.003+05:30

So there were a lot of apples at home and by lot I mean at least 3 to 4 dozens. I wanted something that uses a lot of apples but with less fattening stuff like butter and white flour, yet at the same time should taste awesome. Came upon this Martha Stewart recipe and tweaked it a bit to suit my taste. You should try this, it's impossible to go wrong with this recipe and its totally healthy, taste's great too. Like my cousin said, 'It's so full of joy, it's the apple pie equivalent of a baby's smile.' Yeah, me thinks he was smoking something too.

Ingredients

Wheat Flour: 3/4 cup

Oats: 1 cup

Salt: 1/2 teaspoon

Cold Butter: bout 50 gms (you can substitute apple sauce or plain vegetable oil)

Apples (peeled, cored and sliced): 6 or 7 medium sized ones

Cinnamon powdered: 2 to 3 teaspoons

Granulated Sugar: 1/4 cup for the crumble topping and 1/2 cup for the apple base

Orange: juice of half an orange

Take the wheat, 1/4 cup sugar and the chopped cold butter in a bowl. Use your finger tips to break the butter into the wheat, till you get a crumb like texture. Instead of butter you can use plain oil or honey, just go with your intuition... cause unlike cake, this thing is not meant to rise or have a fluffy cake interior. This is just the crunchy coating to the sweet soft warm apples that form the base.

Here is the crumb like texture.

Now drop in the oats, salt and mix it up nicely, squeeze everything together and then stick it in the freezer while you work on the apples. Now is the time to watch your favourite show as you peel, core and slice the apples. I watched an episode of The Wonder Years while I worked on the apples, it was the episode where Kevin visits his dad's work place for the day. Kevin doesn't seem to understand why his dad was always in a foul mood whenever he got home from work. At the end of the show, Kevin realises that his dad put family first and that's why he works so hard... and Kevin isn't intimidated by him anymore. As always, my eyes filled up with tears as I saw Kevin and his dad bonding over a telescope as they peer into the night sky. This show always manages to touch a cord within you... it is that beautiful and simple, not like the shows of today, where the standard and content have deteriorated with changing times.

I just had to add a picture of Kevin and his dad...

Okay, getting back to the apples... slice your apples into half inch slices, and drop in the cinnamon powder, the 1/2 cup sugar and the orange juice (just take a few pieces of orange and squeeze them over the apples, make sure the seeds don't fall in). The original recipe calls for lemon juice, but I used oranges and I think this made it even better. You get that distinct orange taste with the sweet caramelized apples, gosh, I loved every bite of this. Give the vessel a nice jolt, shake everything up till all the apples are coated with this cinnamon, sugar mixture.

Dump the apples into a baking pan (it's not necessary to grease and flour the pan, I didn't and it came out pretty well).

Now add the crumble topping uniformly over the apples... and bake it for 20 to 25 minutes (at 210 degree C, that's the temperature I do all my baking) till the apples are soft. You can poke a knife and if it goes in without any resistance then the apples are baked.

Here it is, just out of the oven and looking great...

There, awesomeness in a dish... I've already made this twice in the same week. It's supremely healthy, I used wheat instead of white flour that the original recipe called for and I cut down on the butter and used honey.

Makes for a great snack, you won't stop eating it... a dollop of ice cream nearby would make this even more perfect.

Sherlocked (Cumberbatched)

2012-01-24T19:37:00.000+05:30

An old flame is back... after more than a year. Been reeling under the influence of the new season of Sherlock, can't seem to get him out of my head. That's the beauty of this immortal character created by legendary author, Arthur Conan Doyle. From the very first time, I picked up his most famous book, I was hooked; heart, soul and spirit (okay, may be an exaggeration but you get the drift). This season is as enticing and perfect as the first was, Benedict has nailed the role. It was pure joy watching his arrogant self reel off things about people he has just met or rankle the people who put up with him. I love how the deerstalker hat was incorporated into the story, well done creators. I love how he deduces the code to unlock the phone, my heart almost skipped a beat. John is pretty amazing too, all the brotherly bonding was great.

Here are a few videos...

The introduction of his famous hat

Detective Lestrade having some fun at Sherlock's expense...

John's line about Sherlock's cheekbones, cracked me up...

Another funny exchange...

Sherlock frustrating the detective again...

John is funny, Asperger's it seems...

If you haven't seen this BBC TV series of SherlockHolmes, you're probably living a very 'elementary' life. But seriously,this is the best show out there... it will be worth your while to make theeffort and watch it.

Blessed 2012 everyone...

2012-01-16T02:28:00.000+05:30

Whew! the last few weeks were a whirlwind of activity... there was a lot of drama, two birthdays, a wedding anniversary, new year eve festivities, an engagement and two untimely deaths. Drama always occurs when the whole family is home, it was great to be back in the midst of it all... nothing new there. My brother's celebrated their birthday and I made my first ever authentic cheesecake which tasted like lassi and biscuits according to Antonio. New Year's eve was extremely fun, it was great singing with my church choir again... we sang 'When A Child is Born' and practicing for it was wonderfully uplifting. I miss choir practice, I miss getting that high feeling whenever we used to practice for Sunday mass. And the other big event was my sister's engagement to one of my best buddies, had a whale of a time there meeting cousins and hanging out with them. In between all this, I loved walking around my little town and soaking in the magic of Christmas. The beauty of this season is overwhelming, at least in my hometown it is... my place glows with a rustic kinda beauty, there are no giant Christmas trees or massive ornamental decorations. Most folks just blow up balloons and string them onto trees or they trail crepe paper through the trees and in the glow of the serial lights they look pretty. Bright stars adorn almost every house, as you stroll along you'll come across nativity scenes that are constructed with a kind of sweet smelling wild heather like stalks, and the churches (there are so many out there) are tastefully decorated to the hilt, you hear folks caroling every now and then... it's a simple kinda beauty that makes the town glow and this reflects onto the people. Have put up a few pictures on Facebook, you can see them here if you want to.

Death is never easy to understand, a lot of questions and doubts will arise... with time we learn to accept, and we hope and pray that they are happy in God's eternal kingdom. God bless Antonio's grandmother and my sister's close friend who have gone home to their Creator.

Well, here's wishing all of you a Blessed 2012... peace, joy and love be yours always. He promises a lamp unto our feet, not a crystal ball into the future. We do not need to know what will happen tomorrow. We only need to know He leads us and we will find grace to help us when we need it.

My Christmas Tree....

2011-12-21T15:59:00.001+05:30

Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful. This season is overwhelming, fills your senses... and makes everything look pretty. Just wanted to show you a few pictures of my Christmas tree... click on the pictures to enlarge them.

To the earth be peace;
good will henceforth from heaven to earth
Begin and never cease....

The soft glow of twinkling lights...

Noel tree ornament...

The Christmas tree...

Here's wishing all of you the joys of this wonderful season... may the peace and love of the divine child fill our hearts and our homes, Blessed Christmas everybody.

Enchanting screen adaptations of a few English classics...

2011-12-16T13:30:00.000+05:30

I love the BBC reproductions of classics, they transport you to a completely different era and its hard not to fall for the ruggedly leading men, who are flawed, witty, kind and intense. Here are a few stellar adaptations of some timeless English classics, I know many can't stand these period dramas... but I can never get enough of them.

Jane Eyre: I can't tell you how much I love this book and the character of Jane Eyre, I loved everything about it... the calm and morally upright Jane, the intriguingly flawed Edward Rochester, the surprise in the attic, the way Jane deals with the surprise and her beahaviour towards the wicked aunt and the heart-searingly beautiful ending. For sometime, I used to go around calling myself Jane Eyre after reading the book... anyway, I loved the movie and the TV mini series that I saw. Anything with a BBC imprint on it is bound to be good, and the 2011 movie version with Mia Wasikowska and Michael Fassbender was interesting and really good. I liked the miniseries made in 2006 better though, it made an impact on me... Rochester was wonderfully portrayed by Toby Stephens, and you could feel his predicament. Ruth Wilson as Jane was charming and lively, there was a spark in her and that's what Rochester was drawn to. Ah, I could never tire of this classic story... thanks Charlotte Bronte for this wonderfully entertaining book, you must have been an awesome person to hang out with.

Edward Rochester and Jane Eyre

Pride and Prejudice: I can't seem to wipe the smile off my face just thinking about Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy in this TV mini-series (1995). Man, he nailed the role... I was floored by him, I mean the real Mr. Darcy in the book, did not have any effect on me, he did seem full of himself at times. But Colin Firth breathed new life into his character, gosh... all I wanted to be was Elizabeth Bennet as I watched this TV series. She too was superbly cast as Jennifer Ehle, who did complete justice to her captivating role. The problems they faced in those days are so evident in this day and age too... parents still worry about settling their daughters properly, and society is as inquisitive and judgmental as it was in the days of Jane Austen. I wish we had the dances here though, the social gatherings where people wear nice flowing dresses and the men are neatly dressed and the dance is choreographed beautifully like in Taylor Swift's Love Story video. I think I would have been at home in that era... anyway getting back to the series, I loved every moment of it, the beautiful English landscapes, the pretty dresses, the horse drawn carriages, the way Mr. Darcy knows that he is beginning to fall for the intelligently charming and witty Elizabeth, no wonder it's a classic... I have always admired Colin Firth after this movie, and I was especially pleased when he won the Oscar last year. Mr. Darcy is wonderful because of him...

Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet

Emma: Watching the 2009 TV series Emma was real fun... even the book was interesting. Emma is so dense, she thinks she knows everything and she tends to act like a fairy godmother always meddling in people's lives. She does everything with good intentions of course, it's just that she is naive and can't see what's right in front of her. The Alicia Silverstone movie Clueless is based on this book. This is an extremely well made TV series, the actors fit their parts well... I especially liked Jonny Lee Miller as Mr. Knightly, the witty and smart guy who is the only person capable of talking down to Emma. Emma was good enough as Romola Garai, but I wasn't really fond of her character while reading the book... she seemed like one of those relatives who gossip and talk too much. I never really liked Mr. Knightly ending up with her, I always thought he was too good for her... well, it's Jane Austen's story, I can't change the ending.

Emma and Mr. Knightly

Sense and Sensibility: I saw the 1995 version of the movie and it was rather interesting. I liked Kate Winslet as the impulsive sister Marianne, Emma Thompson gives a restrained performance as the eldest and most sensible sister Elinor. That's where the novel gets its name from, from its two leading characters... Elinor is thoughtful and logical representing 'sense' and Marianne is all emotional and easily swayed by her 'sensibilities'. I've never liked Hugh Grant, I don't know why... maybe because he is too pale, but he does his job well. All in all, a good movie... nothing to rave about though. A tamil version of the book was made with Aishwarya Rai, Tabu, Ajith and a few others...

The Dashwood sisters...

Wuthering Heights: This is the only book, I haven't read in the list mentioned here... I don't like brooding tales of despair and guilt. The 2009 TV series was interesting enough, Tom Hardy (the forger in Inception) gives a convincing performance as Heathcliff. The story is at times eerie, morbid and just plain weird... the sense of despair that seems to envelope it is haunting yet engrossing. Unlike her sister's novel Jane Eyre, Emily Bronte's novel Wuthering Heights was quite controversial in its time, this tale of passion and jealousy might seem the norm these days. But in those days of yore, I can imagine how it must have impacted the genteel sensibilities of the readers. Anyway, its a good enough TV series... I wouldn't say I liked it, it was interesting enough.

Heathcliff and Cathy Earnshaw

The Ten Commandments of Christmas

2011-12-05T23:49:00.001+05:30

Last Sunday in church, leaflets with the following 'Christmas Ten Commandments' were handed out and the parish priest Fr. Joe Andrews discussed them with the congregation.

You shall not leave 'Christ' out of Christmas, making it 'Xmas'. Christ is the reason for the season.
You shall prepare your soul for Christmas. Spend not so much on gifts that your soul is forgotten (a good confession is a nice way to prepare your hear for Christmas)
You shall not let Santa Claus replace Christ, thus robbing the day of its spiritual reality. (Prepare yourself with prayer and the Word of God.)
You shall not neglect your church. Its services highlight the true meaning of the season.
You shall not neglect the needy. Share they blessings with the many who will go hungry and cold unless you are generous.
You shall not neglect thy family during this season. You shall not forget the elderly and those who are lonely at Christmas time.
You shall not value gifts received by their cost. Even the least expensive may signify love, and that is more priceless than silver and gold. You shall give yourself with your gift. This will increase its value a hundred fold, and he who receives it shall treasure it forever.
You shall prepare your home with Christmas symbols (the crib, Christmas carols, the Advent wreath, the star, the angels, the Christmas tree, etc.)
You shall be as a little child. Not until you have become in spirit as a little one are you ready to enter into the kingdom of Heaven.
You shall give your heart to Christ. Let Him be at the top of your Christmas list.

This is exactly how Christmas should be, the real meaning of Christmas can be found in traditional carols, where you hear of herald angels proclaiming the good news, the three wise men travelling from afar guided by a star, and the shepherds walking to see the King of Creation who was born in a stable, wrapped in swaddling clothes and placed in a manger. I love these soul stirring carols... they resound with peace, joy, hope and triumph. This carol by Scotty McCreery is one such song and he performs it beautifully.

Barista

2011-11-28T23:02:00.001+05:30

Been too caught up with work to post anything here... hope everybody's having a nice transition to the most wonderful time of the year. The advent season just started and there's a faint whiff of Christmas in the air. Wish I had time to write down real stuff, bout life... and its happenings, but this coffee place review will have to do for now.

My favourite place in Madras is the St. Teresa's Church in Nungambakkam, I love the 6:30 evening mass on Sundays... the choir is heavenly and they are the main reason the church is packed to its brim. I think this is the best choir in the city, they are a really dedicated and talented bunch. Okay getting back to point, after mass we usually drop into Barista that is situated next door and it's a nice hangout place. The ambiance is relaxed with soft lighting and the food is the usual stuff you see at cool coffee hangouts.

The counter where the food is displayed.

The relaxed seating area...

Seating for small groups...

The hazelnut frappe and the Irish coffee frappe we ordered... they were both great.

The chairs there have this coffee mug cut out on them... with the steam rising, pretty cool, huh?

Dove Poems...

2011-11-07T00:45:00.015+05:30

So this Dove campaign is going on at Indiblogger, and I thought of participating in it. The theme is 'Love your hair and it loves you back'... one can write articles or compose poems and I have penned down two poems here, Dove Therapy and Snared by your Hair. Hope you find them interesting. Dove Therapy, describes how I got introduced to Dove and the reason I still stick to it. The poem may have a slightly narcissistic tone... bear with me. The second poem, Snared by your Hair, is written from a guys point of view, I had fun imagining it.

Dove Therapy

Got married, left my home in a village & came to the big city,

Life is different here, everybody always seems so busy.

Had a pretty hard time adjusting & settling down,

What made it even worse-my long black hair was slowly turning brown!

I couldn't believe the damage my hair was undergoing,

I started resenting everything, & troubles started brewing.

Then I chanced upon a friend with silky black locks,

She suggested Dove & since then my worries took a toss.

Dove really works wonders, my hair feels natural again,

I religiously use Dove to maintain my beautiful mane.

Now when I hear others cribbing bout the water in this city,

I just suggest Dove, and watch their world turn pretty.

~ Karen.

Snared by your Hair

There's something mesmerizing bout her hair so sleek,

The way those soft waves brush her glistening cheeks.

Those silky black strands fluttering in the breeze,

Always manage to make my heart rate increase.

The scent of her hair is like the warm sunshine,

It fills up my senses, intoxicating like wine.

When she braids up her mane, she looks almost ethereal,

Those lovely locks fill me with wonder, its surreal.

Now you see why its so easy to fall in love,

With a girl enamoured by Dove!

~ Karen.

Well, what do you think?

Palak Paneer (Cottage cheese in a creamy spinach gravy)

2011-10-20T19:01:00.012+05:30

Here's another Paneer dish that I really like... but rarely make cause when the word spinach is mentioned at home I get looks of revulsion. My mom in law brought home some beautiful spinach from the market and they were too pretty to chop up and cook into a coconut induced coma (that's what happens to most of the vegetables cooked in a south indian household... people have a thing for coconuts here). Anyway, getting back to this awesome palak paneer... my sister liked it, which says a lot cause she was the one who gave me this dirty look when I mentioned I was gonna make palak paneer for lunch.

First off, wash the pretty spinach leaves.

Take little water in a vessel, drop the leaves inside and let them cook for a few minutes. Spinach cooks really soon, and it gives off water too... so make sure you take little water while you cook the spinach. Here they are nicely cooked... drop only the leaves into a food processor and blend them to form a vivid green paste.

Chop up your paneer and shallow fry them till they get brown tinted all over. Then drop them in warm water.

Heat a little oil in a pan and throw in some cumin (jeera) seeds, hear their robust crackling.

Now drop in some chopped garlic and stir it around...

Add some finely chopped onions and garam masala, stir them around.

Drop in some giner & garlic paste, stir everything around.

Add some chopped tomatoes and stir this around till...

You get a nicely cooked mixture like this.

Now add the masala powders, turmeric, chillie, cumin and coriander powders, stir them around.

Now add the spianch puree to this and mix it well.

If you have the left over water that the spinach was boiled in, you can add that too, cover and cook for a few minutes.

This is how it looks when the curry slowly starts coming together. I know, it might look yucky... nobody really likes green gravy. But don't be fooled by looks, by the time you are done with this dish, it won't taste anything like spinach. If you have kasuri meethi (fenugreek leaves) , sprinkle a few strands on top and let it cook for a while.

After a few minutes add fresh cream (use milk if you haven't got fresh cream). While adding fresh cream or milk, reduce the flame and add cream slowly, mixing as you add... so that the cream doesn't curdle. Finally, add the paneer pieces that were soaking in warm water. Check the consistency of the gravy, if it requires more water just add the water that the paneer has been soaking it or just add the paneer peices... upto you. Cover and cook for a few minutes and that's it... your palak paneer is ready.

Looks nice right... a healthy curry, tastes great with chapathi.

A blob of butter and its ready to go on the table. Now how can you resist digging into this... its healthy and delightful at the same time.

Eatalica

2011-10-06T13:08:00.010+05:30

So after the evening mass on Sunday, we decided to go out for dinner and that's how we ended up at Eatalica. And boy, I'm so glad we did... the food was really really good, both in quantity and quality, and it was quite easy on the pocket too. But the most striking feature of this place is its menu card, it cracked me up. Every time we (me, my sister and Tonio) wanted to order something we would start laughing... all the items on the menu were modified names of Hollywood celebrities. Sample this...

This chicken steak burger is called Tommy Lee Bones.

This chicken sizzler is called Henzel Washington.

This beef sizzler is called Kurt Cowbain.

These deep fried prawns are called Pierce Prawnson.

The garlic bread we ordered was called Bred Astaire, the chocolate milk shake we had was called Calista Chochart. It was all so hilarious... here are a few other names on the menu: Smiley Cyrus, Trihanna, Beyonce Knowles (brownie with hot chocolate sauce), Jodie Froster ice cream, Chillary Swank, Lawrence Fishburne (Good old fish & chips), Juice Willis (a juicy beef steak), Clint Eatwood, Clarke Gobble (veg steak), Monica Chewinsky, Heath Wedger (potato wedges), Ethan Hawke (spicy chicken wings), Gill Bates (fish fingers), Stew Barrymore, Francis Ford Cupolla, Keanu Leaves (salad), Hamfree Bogart, Jennifer Showpez, Cheese Witherspoon, Puff Daddy, Tex Harrison, Kevin Bacon (bacon cheese burger), Tiger Would (a burger with all the works!!!), Must-in Timberlake, Ate Winslet...

Needless to say we will keep going back, the place is rather small... but the food is great. The decor is ordinary (pic above), the place is clean and the service is good. We ordered about eight items on the menu and the price came to about Rs. 1300. All in all, a pretty nice place to hang out and have some good fulfilling food.

On to some great news, I've been featured on a wonderful friend's blog... I haven't met Beth in person, we got to know each other through our blogs, then we connected on Facebook and she is a gorgeous person, inside and outside. Her faith makes her beautiful, she finds beauty in almost anything... and that's why her blogs are pure delight. She is incredibly talented, I love her paintings and the beautiful creatures she brings to life in them. Thank you Beth, for this honour... I am delighted!

Ham and Egg Sandwich...

2011-09-12T23:34:00.005+05:30

This is a really simple sandwich, and of course it's gonna taste as good as it sounds... I mean it's ham and egg and what's not to love there. Makes a nice Sunday brunch with a glass of iced tea.

So getting started, saute some sliced onions... till they get that brownish caramelized tint.

Then heat the ham slices, till they give off a nice smell...

Here the onions are nicely browned and supple...

Chop up the ham and add it to this.

Now let's start layering the bread. I have used wheat bread here and no, I have no buttered it, you can if you want to though. And the onion and ham mix onto the bread.

Then top it with some chopped capsicum and sliced eggs.

Sprinkle a little salt and pepper...

Scrape some cheddar cheese over this. I had cheese slices at home so I chopped that up and added it here above the egg and placed it in the small toaster oven. You could place it in the microwave too for a few minutes until the cheese melts.

The cheese has melted, I used only half a slice for each sandwich... place another slice on top and cut them diagonally.

And that's it , a scrumptious breakfast is ready.... great way to start the day.

Dried Fruit Scones

2011-09-03T07:43:00.007+05:30

Was in the mood to bake something yesterday and I didn't want anything sweet... so figured scones would be the best choice and they were.

Ingredients

All purpose Flour: 200gms

Baking Powder: 2 1/2 teaspoons

A pinch of salt

Sugar: 4 or 5 tablespoons

Cold Butter: 50 gms

Milk: about a cup

Dried fruits like currants, apricots or prunes.

Getting started, sieve the flour, with the baking powder, salt and sugar.

Now cut your cold butter into tiny cubes and drop them into the flour.

Gently using your fingertips break the butter into the flour... you'll get a coarse texture.

Now add your dried fruits and mix it in the flour. I had only prunes at the moment, so chopped them up and added to the flour.

With a long spoon slowly stir the flour as you add in the milk. Stir till everything is combined and you'll get a messy sticky dough.

Dump this sticky dough onto a floured surface and knead it using a little flour till it forms a smooth dough on the outside. Be careful to knead very lightly and just for 3 or 4 times, to maintain the texture. Apparently if you knead it too long, the scones tend to turn out denser.

It has been shaped into a smooth thick dough, now we just have to cut out little round pieces.

Using a cookie cutter ( I don't own a cookie cutter, I have used another small container I had at home) cut out circles and place them on a baking sheet. Knead the leftover dough into a smooth patch and cut out more circles. Keep using the leftover dough until everything is shaped and placed on the baking sheet.

Brush with a mixture of milk and egg yolk to give it that glossy come hither look. Then slide the tray into the oven to bake for 15 to 20 minutes. (I used only milk to brush these scones, ran out of eggs yesterday)

Here they are just out of the oven and smelling great. I love the smell of something baking... its uplifting and therapeutic, and these smelled really really good.

I had some strawberry preserve at home so dabbed a bit onto these scones and they were great. This is my first time making scones, and my first time eating them too... and they were really fabulous. I have no idea why I hadn't made them before...

Heavenly Puff Pastries

2011-08-31T17:03:00.008+05:30

Mom used to make these pastries quite often while we were growing up, and they disappeared quite fast too once they were out of the oven. They were that fabulous and everyone who came in contact with them loved them dearly. The dough that made them irresistible was easily available in any supermarket back in Abu Dhabi (the place I grew up in), I haven't been able to find them here in the city. My brother bought these when he came home recently from the Gulf, and I had a great time making these beautiful heavenly pastries.

So this is the ready made dough, remove it from the freezer a few hours before you start with the process. Now move on to your filling, I used three types of filling here... a vegetable one, a minced beef filling and a cheesy mushroom filling.

Getting started on the beef filling, saute chopped onions and green chillies in a pan...

Till the onions have turned translucent with a slightly brownish tint.

Drop in your cooked mince and give it a good mix. (The mince has been cooked with a little salt, ginger & garlic paste, little pepper powder, wee bit of garam masala and turmeric powder previously). Mix everything up... add enough quantity of salt.

Finally drop in some chopped coriander leaves and mix it up. Your beef filling is ready.

For the vegetable filling I used only capsicums and potatoes. First you saute onions and green chillies till they turn translucent.

Then drop in some chopped capsicums... I used coloured ones here, they look nice don't they? All the bright vivid colours... saute them along with the onions for a few minutes.

Now add pieces of cooked potatoes, salt, pepper and mix everything up. There you go, your veg filling is ready.

For the mushroom filling just follow the same steps of sauteing the onions and green chillies till they turn translucent, then drop in the chopped mushrooms. Cook it for a few minutes, then add pepper and salt and mix the whole thing up. Now your mushroom filling is ready.

This is the fun part... rolling out the dough and stuffing it. Make sure your workplace is clean and then sprinkle some flour on the surface. Roll out your dough, keep sprinkling flour in between to avoid sticking. Roll the dough out into a huge sheet and then cut it into smaller rectangles as shown.

Add the filling to these smaller sheets and pinch the edges close with a little water. The edges will stick easily enough if you dab one side with a little water.

To make a braided pastry, use a larger piece of rectangle and cut 2 inch strips along its edges.

Add some filling to the centre and gradually fold back the strips alternately.

First fold one strip, then dab a little water to its end and then fold the opposite strip over it. Continue this process...

Till the whole thing is braided up... then stick it in the oven till it attains a golden brown colour.

This is the cheesy mushroom filling, first you add the mushroom filling to the centre and then scrape some cheddar cheese over it. Dab water to the edges and close it up.

You can shape them any way you want...

This is the braided vegetable pastry. Place the pastries in an oven and bake them till they turn a nice golden colour. Then turn them over and bake for a few more minutes, till they achieve an even light brown colour all over.

Oh Boy! Here they are, just out of the oven... and smelling great.

The different types of pastries... they were all lovely.

This is the cheesy mushroom one.

You can see the cheesy filling here, glistening and looking so irresistible.

Well, I hope you loved going through this as much as I loved baking them. This is great food, invokes a lot of memories and fun times. You'll find that it makes people very happy.

Spicy Beef Masala...

2011-08-16T23:35:00.001+05:30

Here's an easy beef masala recipe. Tonio likes beef, in fact he's crazy about any kind of meat, and this spicy flavourful beef was over in no time at all. So getting started, in a pan heat some coriander powder, chillie powder, a little turmeric, pepper powder and garam masala powders. (Vary the amount of spice powders depending on the amount of meat.)

Here are the roasted spice powders...

Now grind the spice powders with ginger and garlic paste.

Just saute the beef in a pressure cooker, till they lose their pink colour. Then drop in the masala paste, add salt and enough quantity of water.

Pressure cook the meat till it's tender, about 8 to 10 whistles.

In another pan, heat a little oil and saute two or four onions, sliced. (I used extra onions cause I'm not fond of beef and the onions coupled with the nice spicy masala would make a great meal with chapathi.) Slow fry the onions till they are slightly caramelized or till they get a brownish tint, then add the cooked beef to it and keep stirring everything around till it thickens. I know it doesn't look all that great here, but keep stirring the goey mess on high flame till you get a nice almost dry beef masala as seen below.

There you go, some tasty spicy beef masala. This masala is awesome, the caramelized onions with the beefy masala was pretty good. And like I said, the beef vanished quickly... Tonio just kept chewing them away. Well, if you love beef then you have to try this out.

Indulgences

2011-08-09T19:48:00.004+05:30

I love going through home decor magazines and wasting time at home decor stores, I can never get bored there. Sometimes I think we should have been born with tags like engineer, mechanic, driver, celebrity etc. to really know what we were meant to do in life. Mine would have read interior designer... of course I realised that quite late, and became an engineer who now dabbles in English literature. Anyway, I think everything works out for the best, God knows what He's doing.

Coming back to my indulgences, I picked up these two candle holders recently...

I love this one, light it everyday when we say the rosary at home...

This one is pretty too, but not all that useful... keeping it in the showcase.

This quilt was love at first sight... bought it a year back, but didn't feel like using it cause it's so pretty and soft and wonderful. Well, that's all for now.

A guilt Free chocolate cake embedded with chocolate pieces

2011-08-05T17:05:00.012+05:30

Back when I was in college, I used to bake a lot of cookies, cakes and brownies. Can't believe that was about ten years back... college was horrible, it wasn't fun enough. You know how it is when you have all these ideas of how college life is supposed to be, and then when you finally enter college you are rudely shaken out of your senses. Yeah, that's cause I studied in a rural college, wouldn't have made much difference if I studied in Madras though. The colleges here are worse than the ones back home. Here in Madras it's as though they are forcing the students to become gay & lesbians with their homo glorying rules like boys should not talk/look at/or breathe the same air girls breathe in the campus. How absurd is that, doesn't that go completely against science! It's only normal for boys and girls to be attracted to each other... and if an educational institute cannot understand that, how lame is the whole education system here.

Anyway, getting back to focus... over the past ten years, I gradually cut down on all the cakes and cookies, for one simple reason: I still wanted to fit into my jeans. Before I got married, I used to work in a special school with special children and that was a blissful period. At school, we (the staff) were always running around... there was always some commotion happening somewhere with some kid. And weekends were pretty hectic too with doctor's visiting to check these kids and awareness classes for college students, and preparing special evaluation reports. After work I would go walking in the colony everyday and the air was always so clean and the place so beautiful, you could walk forever. Point is, it was pretty easy to stay in shape there... didn't really have to work for it. Now that I'm in a city that is bursting at its seams with vehicles and people, there isn't any place to go walking... which led to me giving up on ice cream, chocolates and the cake/cookies/brownie baking. But a few days back I was craving something sweet, so I made this cake. It's called guilt free, cause I cut down on the sugar & butter and substituted milk instead, to the original recipe... I would have given a link to the original recipe, but it's a recipe I wrote down in my book, under the heading 'This is some deadly recipe, it can bring about world peace... it's that awesome!' Yeah, I crack myself up...

Anyway, getting started, you will need...

Maida : 1 1/2 cup

Baking powder : 2 teaspoons

Baking Soda : 1/2 teaspoon

Salt : a pinch

Eggs : 3

Sugar : 1 cup

Cocoa: 1 cup

Butter : 100 gms

Vanilla Essence : 3 teaspoons

Milk : 3/4th cup

Chocolate pieces (preferably the fruit and nut variety, if you happen to be like me)

First lets work on the dry ingredients, sieve together the maida, baking powder, baking soda and a pinch of salt. Set it aside.

In another vessel put in the butter and powdered sugar.

Drop three eggs into it, and beat it up.

You'll get a nice creamy batter, add the vanilla essence and give it a whirl.

Sieve cocoa onto the maida and mix all the dry ingredients together.

Add batches of maida to the creamy batter and blend it in.

You'll get something like this, its kinda thick... not the right consistency for cake.

So drop in some milk and keep mixing till you get the desired cake consistency.

I had some chocolate at home, I love this fruit and nut variety. Roughly chop up the chocolate pieces.

Drop them into the batter and fold it in.

Lightly grease and flour your baking pan.

Pour the batter into it and stick it in the oven for 20 minutes or so till a knife inserted in the centre comes out clean.

Well, here it is.... just out of the oven.

Now, this is not a cake you bake for others... it's not sweet enough, and that's the first thing they will point out. But if you want to eat a nice cake without feeling guilt, this is it. I think the sugar was enough, and those chocolate pieces you bite into... lends that element of surprise, you never know when you're gonna get one and then when you do it's lovely. I loved this cake, it was a pleasure to eat it, knowing that you are not contributing to clogging up your arteries. So if you are like me, then this is the cake for you... and if you happen to be like Kareena Kapoor or Kate Middleton then please check out Nigella's recipes, they are sinfully good and with a size zero body you don't have to worry about gaining weight. But Kate Middleton really has to eat... she needs some flesh on her cheeks to give her a softer look, she's starting to look scary when she smiles.

I seem to have rambled a lot today...

Pretty easy Chickpea curry...

2011-08-04T20:45:00.005+05:30

This is one easy chickpea (channa) curry, you don't have to go through the hassle of chopping onions or scraping coconut here. The chickpeas themselves are used as a thickening agent, giving this curry a nice creamy texture. So getting started...

Soak a few handfuls of chickpeas overnight in water, or if you are thinking of making them for dinner, then you will have to soak them in the afternoon. After they have soaked for 6 hours or more, drain the water and pressure cook the chickpeas with clean water and a little salt. Here you see, they have been cooked in a pressure cooker.

Now roughly chop up a few tomatoes (5 to 6 medium sized ones) and grind them to a pulp without adding water as seen in the picture.
Heat a little oil in a pan, and throw in some cumin (jeera) seeds. Let them crackle and give out a nice jeera smell...

Pour in the tomato puree and cover the pan, let this tomato puree cook on low heat for 10 to 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, take little chickpeas in the mixie, add their own water to it (the water leftover in the pressure cooker). Grind it to a paste...

Here is the creamy chickpea pulp...

Now check your tomato puree, it will look like this. Put in a little sugar (bout a teaspoon or two depending on your taste) and mix it up, this is to remove the acrid taste. Now add necessary amount of salt. Taste the sauce, it should have a mildly sweet flavour.

Dump in the chickpeas and sprinkle garam masala on top, cover and cook for a few minutes, till the garam masala is infused into the curry and the whole things starts giving off a great smell.

Drop in the chickpea pulp and slowly mix it into the curry to make it creamy... taste to adjust the salt.

That's it, this wonderfully easy and slightly sweet chickpea curry is perfect for poori's and chapathi's. Because of the sugar, this dish has a distinctive tikka masala taste... like those sweet and creamy north Indian dishes. Women and girls will love this, that's what I've noticed... men tend to over think and grumble, they can't conceive of a curry that does not have the usual onion/chillie & coriander powders/ginger&garlic spices that they are used to. But, I love this... I've made it quite often and it really makes a wonderfully happy breakfast with poori's. So give it a try and see for yourselves...

The gut wrenching situation in Norway and Somalia...

2011-07-12T09:29:00.007+05:30

It's sad to think about what's happening in Norway and Somalia...mindless violence in one and terrible famine in the other. The situation in Norway shook me up, first of all you don't expect bomb blasts in Norway neither do you expect some deranged lunatic to start gunning down people there. Even worse was the fact that the shooting spree took place at a youth camp, where young folks gather annually to take part in political activities and make new friends. Imagine that, people just like you and me, on the brink of a new and exciting life... with dreams hopes and ambitions, imagine their plight as the trigger happy lunatic walked around the camp shooting everybody in sight. Apparently this demented lunatic entered the camp dressed as a police officer and after he started gunning down people in one section of the camp, he calmly walked to another section and told the students that everything was fine, and that they could come into the open. Believing him to be a police officer the students came out of their hiding places only to be fired at again... and this went on uninterrupted for close to an hour. He even fired into the groups of dead bodies to make sure no one was hiding among the dead. When the police arrived much later, he surrendered without any resistance. So far he seems to have worked alone, he doesn't seem to belong to any group the papers say. Before this shooting took place he placed a bomb near the prime minister's office, and killed about seven people there... at the youth camp about eighty people lost their lives. One can only imagine the sheer horror and trauma of the survivors and the victims family... all of them victims of a deranged mind.

In Somalia, the numbers are more... shockingly high, people just dropping down and dying cause of starvation. A mother seeing all her seven children die one after the after, entire families perishing... because of famine. First the cattle, herd, and all the livestock started dying with no food and water... then the people started migrating to Kenya and the nearby places, many perished along the way. The refugee camps in Kenya are apparently spilling over, they have no place to accommodate so many people... and the papers say the situation is indeed dire, the numbers are expected to rise drastically in the coming days. To make matters worse some militant group is hampering the UN relief work, they claim that there is no famine and they make it impossible for relief supplies to reach the worst affected areas. Why is this happening... why is the world minding its own business. What do you do when you see impossibly thin kids in newspapers just lying there in their mother's arms... how do you look at their faces and go about your day, knowing their day isn't gonna be long. Sometimes everything seems so bleak, these gut wrenching events only drive home the fact of how futile everything in life is...

Watch over all of them Lord... both the living and the perished.

Peanut chutney....

2011-07-09T20:57:00.009+05:30

Here is a simple peanut chutney, something that can be made very quickly without having to go through the ordeal of cracking open a coconut, and then scrapping the life out of it. I am not much of a morning person, I have to ease into the day slowly.... and kneeling on the floor while struggling with the coconut scrapper is not something I look forward to early in the morning. The folks at home really like this too, so there you go... everybody wins. Getting started, roasted peanuts are required to make this chutney. You can buy an ordinary packet of peanuts and dry roast them at home, that's how I do it. Store them in an airtight container and they will remain safe... if you store the peanuts without roasting them, they tend to get rancid in a few days. So always dry roast your peanuts and then store them.

So here are the roasted peanuts...

Heat a little oil and saute some sliced onions, along with a few garlic pods and dry red chillies.

Grind the peanuts, the onion-garlic-red chillie mixture along with a little ball of tamarind, salt and water. That's about it, your peanut chutney is ready, you have to season it now.

Heat a little oil and drop in some mustard seeds, wait till they crackle insanely...

Then throw in a few curry leaves and some dry red chillies, fry them around for a few minutes.

Tip this spicy seasoning into the chutney and in less than 10 minutes your work is over.

So if your household is like mine, one that thrives on dosa's and idli's... then this chutney is equivalent to manna - in the sense of how real manna appeared to the Israelites in the wilderness. It's very easy to make this chutney appear on the table... and therein lies the whole beauty of it.

Handloom Exhibition in the city...

2011-06-23T22:45:00.003+05:30

So this hand loom exhibition is going on at Valluvar Kottam and it's pretty interesting... weavers and textile merchants from all over the country gather here to sell their beautiful wares. It can be a bit expensive but the stuff on display is really beautiful and different, you won't feel bad for splurging. Here are a few pictures...

This is the Valluvar Kottam monument. It looks pretty impressive..

with its intricate bas relief work depicting the poems of Thiruvallur, a great poet and saint who is believed to have lived before Jesus Christ.

The monument to this great poet is built in the form of a chariot, which explains the elephants in front...

More intricate work and the stone wheels...

At the exhibition...

Inside the huge auditorium...

A pretty saree...

Hand stitched patterns on this saree depicting a deer, the lady and a forest... reminds me of the story of Shakuntala.

More sarees...

Expensive silk sarees...

Jute bags...

More colourful jute bags...

Pretty white benaras saree...

Sheer cotton sarees...

A soft pashmina saree...

More sarees hanging...

A silk jute saree...

The handloom unit...

Making a saree... thread count is important here.

The design blocks used to print patterns on cloth (known as the block printing technique...)

Here's a sample of how the block printing technique looks...

Elephant motif's to stitch on your dress...

Picked up these pretty shawls... they are really really wonderful, so soft and silky. Mom is modelling them here...

Well, that's all I have... I think the exhibition is on till the 27th of June 2011. So if you live in Chennai, you might wanna drop in, I hear they are held quite often... so you can catch them later too, if you do not happen to be in Chennai.

Conference calls that crack me up...

2011-06-13T17:15:00.001+05:30

So I was on a conference call with my brothers and they started joking bout each other and in a few minutes it turned into an argument (about who should say sorry first and why). These conference calls always crack me up, like big time... I sometimes have tears streaming down my face listening to them talk nonsense. So the argument was going on and I was trying to get a word in when Manoj suddenly stopped speaking, and then Vinod stopped too cause Manoj wasn't replying. I was wondering what happened... when the following conversation played out...

Vinod : Manoj, what are you doing?
Manoj : Making a sacrifice.

That sent me into fits of laughter, he meant that by not arguing with Vinod, he was making a sacrifice. I usually mumble something about 'wise folks know when to keep quiet' when I don't want to prolong an argument, but this sacrificial approach definitely beats that.

Another snippet of conversation that cracked me up, Vinod wanted to book tickets for mom, so he asked me...
Vinod : Will mom be comfortable in business class or first class?
Manoj : Why don't you send your private jet...

Living up to their role! (check the link to understand better)

Its easy to walk in my shoes...

2011-06-06T19:52:00.001+05:30

Like any other normal girl (okay woman) I love shopping for footwear... trying on different styles and then picking out the ones you instantly fall in love with, like the ones shown below. Aren't they pretty...

One of the little pleasures of being a girl...

P.S: I know there's no point to this post, nobody reads my blog anyway...

Paneer Tikka Masala equals Nirvana

2011-06-01T22:27:00.002+05:30

So, I love Paneer... I think its way better than meat. I can't emphasize enough on how easy it is to whip up a paneer dish when your stomach is in the throes of insane hunger and you want some awesomely divine food that can send you into a rapture. (Talking bout rapture, here's a really funny article I came across when the whole 'world is going to end' drama was in full swing a few weeks ago.)

First, we'll work on the marinade for the paneer. In a bowl, combine thick yogurt with little cumin, coriander and chillie powder. Add salt too and mix this marinade paste well.

Cube the paneer and drop it into the marinade, mix them up well and stick the bowl in the fridge for a few minutes while you get to work on pureeing the tomatoes.

Wash and roughly chop up a few tomatoes, blend them well with a little water and set aside.

Now shallow fry only the paneer pieces in oil, till they get a slightly brown tint at the edges. Save the yogurt masala paste leftover in the bowl to use in the gravy.

Here they are all fried up and looking delicious, these are totally irresistible. They can be served as starters too... folks will love them.

In a pan, saute finely diced onions and green chillies.

Drop in some ginger garlic paste...

Saute them well, till they become a soft and mushy mess.

Pour in the tomato puree that you blended earlier and give it a mix.

Now add a teaspoon or two of sugar, and give it a mix. Sugar is added to balance the acrid taste of the tomato puree, so if you've used a lot of puree make sure to add a little extra sugar. [Instead of sugar you can also add a spoon or two of honey.]

Now add the leftover yogurt marinade and let it simmer for a few minutes. [I dropped in the paneer too, thinking it would absorb the flavour and taste better, but please don't do that. The paneer is already fragile, mixing it around in this gravy will only break it up into pieces. Add the paneer at the very last step.]

The gravy would have attained a deeper red colour by now, be generous and pour in some fresh cream. In case you don't have fresh cream handy, pour in some thick yogurt. While pouring the yogurt, its better to first transfer the pan to the other unlit stove and drop in a spoonful at a time, mixing after each addition, so that the yogurt doesn't curdle and form white specks in the gravy. [Check if the salt and hotness quotient is okay, if not, add necessary salt and chillie powder.]

After the cream/yogurt has been incorporated into this awesome gravy cook it for a few more minutes. Then drop in your paneer and sprinkle garam masala powder on top. Simmer for a couple of more minutes... and you're done.

Ideally this is how it looks, the oil separates on top and then you switch off the stove.

Garnish with fresh coriander and a dollop of butter, and then its time to dig in. It's nirvana in the palate... I kid you not.

Oh, this is the show off picture... I wanted to show off my homemade wine. In case you are curious bout that picture frame, take a peek here.

Vegetable Cutlets

2011-05-24T00:40:00.002+05:30

I hate those poriyal dishes (those that contain copious amounts of coconut), just because one happens to be living in an area that nurtures coconut cultivation is no excuse to suffocate every dish with coconut, sometimes vegetables (like ladies finger, raw mango) drenched in coconut milk are considered 'a delicacy', I really don't understand that... imagine a sticky slimy vegetable like ladies finger swimming around in a cloudy liquid, don't you think that would make it even slimier, I think I hated it the first time I touched it and it sent shivers up my spine. Anyway, the whole coconut rant has no point to this post... I don't even know what brought that on, anyway since it's my blog, I guess I can rant whenever I like.

I love cutlets, I mean who doesn't... easy (though a little time consuming) to make, their real value lies in being able to freeze them so whenever you are busy or just plain tired, you can remove them (from the freezer), fry them and make a sandwich or roll it up in a chapathi or eat it with rice and curd, and just like that... you will have had a terrific meal!

So getting stared, finely chop some onions, a few green chillies and an inch or two of ginger. Then rummage through your fridge and remove all the vegetables you can use in a cutlet, like carrots, cabbage, potato, peas, capsicum and the leafy herbs like coriander and mint. I hope you know that its not necessary to use all the vegetables/herbs mentioned here, use whatever you have. I usually grate the carrots, saves the hassle of having to cook it separately. Finely chop or grate the cabbage too. Roughly cube your potatoes and cook them separately. Wash and chop your leafy herbs.

Everything chopped and grated... and potatoes are cooked.

Now in a large kadai heat a few tablespoons of oil, and drop in the chopped onions, green chillies and the ginger.

Fry it around till it gets a nice brownish tint...

Drop in the carrots first, cause they are more dense... they require more time in the pan.

Fry it around for a few minutes till the carrots becomes flexible and give off a nice carroty smell.

Now drop in the cabbage, and fry it around....for a few minutes. Cover and cook for a couple of minutes if required, to cook the uneven thick portions.

Now drop in the peas and the cooked potatoes and fry them around. (If you have capsicum, add them now..)

Add salt, pepper, a little jeera powder and garam masala powder... mix it around.

Drop in your leafy herbs... and give it a mix.

You can remove the vessel from the flame now and allow it to cool for a few minutes. Now this mixture by itself cannot be fashioned into round balls to form the cutlet, it will not hold. So put your hand in and smash the pieces of potato, usually cutlets make use of a lot of potatoes. They form the mulch that binds the other vegetables together. But I added less potatoes here to make a more wholesome vegetable cutlet. To form the proper holding consistency, all you gotta do is add tomato ketchup or an egg if the mixture is dry and won't hold together, like the picture up here. In case the mixture is slightly wet or runny, then add cornflour or breadcrumbs to make it more dense and malleable. I hope you got all this...

Here, I added both tomato ketchup and a little cornflour to create a malleable mess.

See, this is how it should look... the right consistency to shape into balls. This mixture by itself will taste great, so if its dinner time, you can stuff this mix between two slices of buttered bread and you'll have a wonderful vegetable sandwich.

To make the cutlets, take a palm full and fashion them into balls then slowly press them between your palms to form a patty. Dip this patty in egg and breadcrumbs and shallow fry them. This is how cutlets are usually made. I would have done the same if I was residing somewhere near the Alps or in Colordao... wasting time on each cutlet and coating it delicately with the egg and breadcrumbs.

But I live in India, an unbearably hot country, and since its the midst of summer... no sane person would spend more time than necessary in a hot humid kitchen. So I just coated the cutlets with maida and here they are in a box ready to be frozen.

Shallow fry them in a pan, with a few spoons of oil & drain them onto a tissue. Don't they look lovely here... I think I'll stick to coating cutlets with maida henceforth, these were less trouble and really great

PS: Sometimes after you dethaw the cutlets, they tend to stick together and they might lose shape... fear not, just keep some maida ready. Shape the cutlets again, coat with the maida and place them gently in the hot sizzling oil.

An Indian Summer...

2011-05-01T16:04:00.001+05:30

Before I got married, summer meant no school (I was working in a special school) and visits to the coconut farm where we would spend the time drinking tender coconut water and soaking ourselves in a small tank like pool, watching the sun rays dance on the surface of the clear underground water (used to irrigate the land). The coolness of the water gushing out of the bore well pipe and the serenity of the secluded farm made life wonderful. An Indian summer in all its glory can really wane your senses and drive you insane... so you can imagine what a blessing the farm is. Today while standing in the kitchen and cursing the Tamilian way of eating lunch (what with the rice and its numerous curries and the accompanying vegetable dishes.... either people should take it upon themselves to cook all this in a hot sultry kitchen or else learn to embrace the European culture of bread, mashed potatoes, fresh salad and a slice of grilled meat), the mosquitoes and the landscape of the world in general cause India just happened to be situated near the Equator... I remembered those good old days...

The insanely good tender coconut water...

The tank like pool, with crystal cool water gushing out from under the earth...

Its a pretty nice place to relax and read a great book, like the one shown in the picture. Its 'Between a rock and a hard place' by real like mountaineer and adventurer Aron Ralston whose harrowing ordeal in a canyon is depicted in the movie 127 hours.

Playing by the water...

Effectively maintaining my sanity and having fun at the same time...

Summer in the city is spent trying to quickly finish your work in the kitchen and then running to the bedroom to switch on the AC and thanking God for Willis Haviland Carrier, the man who invented modern air conditioning.

My Home...

2011-04-22T16:26:00.003+05:30

One of my favourite Oprah shows used to be the home make over stories, I loved watching how they would tear down a place (which wasn't really that bad to begin with) and turn it into something stunning with gorgeous furniture and luxurious drapes. I think anything can look better if you just drape some flowy rich material somewhere near it. I remember Nate Berkus was in charge of the home makeovers on Oprah and he sure knew how to spruce up a place... I liked his blend of earthy and neutral tones, it lent a great deal of elegance and grace to the place. Wonder why they don't air Oprah these days... anyway, I just thought of giving you a glimpse into my home...

Here's the living room and I love the way sunshine floods into it...

The rest of the living room...

My own little space... my bedroom (check out the framed picture, its the same as my blogger header and the other is a picture of my home town).

My charming little kitchen...

The poster in my kitchen...

As soon as I saw this, I knew I had to buy it... was reading it in the shop and laughing away, its a list of things you've learned from FRIENDS, like 'Always say the right name at the altar' or 'If stung by a jellyfish, pee on it' or 'Only in prison do they CUP whilst measuring for pants' or 'Throwing your own wake is not a good way to meet women'.

So what do you think...

Creamy Paneer Curry...

2011-04-17T16:33:00.001+05:30

Here's a delightfully creamy and easy Paneer recipe. I usually buy the Hatsun brand Paneer... among all the brands available here, I find they are the best. So if you like Paneer, try this out sometime...

Heat a little oil and fry sliced onions with ginger and garlic paste till the onions turn translucent.

Drop in some chopped tomatoes and fry for a few more minutes.

Add appropriate quantity of chillie, coriander, turmeric and jeera powder.

Mix it up and let it fry for a few minutes...

After the onion tomato masala mixture has cooled down, grind it with a little water to make a smooth paste.

Chop your paneer into the required size and shallow fry them in a little oil, till they turn slightly brown at the edges.

After frying them drop them in a little warm water, so that they remain soft and succulent.

In a vessel, add the ground masala paste along with the paneer (any other vegetable like potatoes, peas or capsicum can be added too). Mix it up well, add salt and appropriate quantity of water then let the dish simmer for a few minutes.

After a few minutes of cooking the paneer in the masala curry, add some fresh cream. Milk can be used if fresh cream is not available. Give it a mix and simmer for a few minutes, till the cream is well incorporated into the curry.

By now you'll have a nice creamy curry, sprinkle garam masala over the top and cook for a few more minutes...

That's it, add a blob of butter just before serving... I hope you enjoy the dish.

Events that rocked the world...

2011-04-06T18:23:00.002+05:30

Starting with the catastrophic act of nature that rocked the northern coast of Japan and had the world reeling under the shock of witnessing such an unparalleled and unimaginable act of destruction. It was like something out of an apocalyptic themed hollywood movie... cars, buses, boats, houses, buildings even small planes were lifted and carried away like toys in massive 10m waves that ravaged and plundered north Japan. The 8.9 magnitude earthquake that occurred on 11th March, 2011 was one of the worst in the history of mankind... kinda makes you wonder what the creator was upto, what good reason could He possibly have to tear apart a nation that was once already in ashes after WWII. But the Japanese have proven their resilience, no one doubted that they would build up their nation and get on with their lives. What is really inspiring is their core character; they are a disciplined lot with integrity, value and compassion sewn into their very souls. Been reading reports about how there was no panicking, ransacking or looting... people still followed traffic rules, and waited in queues, unguarded ATM's were left alone, and apparently nothing was stolen from shops. I don't know how they do this, maybe its because the population is less or maybe the Japanese are just plain decent. I think we should learn about waiting in queues and following traffic signals from this calm and resilient race... they sure have my respect and admiration. May the Lord bless all of them and may He help them grow and prosper again... and may the souls of the perished find peace in Him.

Coming to the other event that rocked my corner of the world, India winning the coveted World Cup. Now, this is not going to be about the game or the dream that took 28 years to materialize... I couldn't care less about this game and I care lesser than that about the cup, what I do care about is Dhoni. I never really liked cricket, its too lengthy with a whole bunch of players just loitering round the ground... most of the time I tune in to watch only the presentation ceremony, cause its nice to see Dhoni talking and smiling as he discusses the outcome of a match. With his charming smile and honest comments, his take on things is almost disarming... that coupled with bravery, acumen and his amazing ability to remain calm under pressure is what won me over. He's cute too, if I hadn't already fallen for Aron Ralston, I would have definitely fallen for Dhoni by now. Anyway, it was nice to witness the euphoria that swept the nation last Saturday night... I was glad for Dhoni and I was impressed by the way he finished the game with a sweeping six. His old flamboyant self still surfaces when its needed, he's a captain who has garnered worldwide respect and admiration for the way he carries himself. I hope he never loses track of the inherent qualities that make him the man he is...

Doesn't he look dashing here..

'O Captain! My Captain!' Reign on...

Funny Friends...

2011-03-28T14:10:00.005+05:30

So I am a sucker for quotes, I collect them and write down the best ones in a pretty little book. In college I used to scribble them all over the desk... any empty space I see, will eventually be filled with quotes. My friend Shilpa (who used to sit near me through all the 4 years of college) even mentioned it on her blog... I was that vandalistic in nature. Over the years, I started jotting down quotes or phrases from people around me... At my previous job I came across one of the funniest guys I know, Dinesh Padhmanabhan. He used to have us (me and another friend Manney) in splits... he was that witty and hilarious, here are a few of his one liners.

If you are not doing anything with what you get, you should not ask for more.

Don’t worry about things that do not have any impact on your appraisal.

If time doesn’t move, how come deadlines move?

When things don’t work, you shouldn't be working too….

If GOD can make so many typo’s while writing my fate, why not me?

(there was this article about mermaids being spotted somewhere, so I asked him if he believed in them)

I don’t know whether I believe in God or not… forget about mermaids!

(this was when we were in the midst of a discussion, trying to finish a project on time... )

Ideally the best thing to do right now would be to push the deadline.

(this was when we were munching on some masala coated peanuts...)

Masala coated peanuts is just fancy salary

Dating is better than drinking, either way you spend money.

The world’s toughest job is to get the work done by somebody else.

There seems to be something fundamentally wrong.. I guess it started from the day God thought about creation!

If they say God is everywhere, then they cannot deny the fact that he is in my shun list also.

Nobody understands my problem, except God… cause He creates 'em!

Every problem has a common solution – Ignorance.

Critical Data! What the heck? After all it's just a collection of 1's and 0's

Nectar is the right sector. (while discussing alternate business ideas like starting a pub)

(on the current economic state)

Who said that the Job Market is bad?

Try these organizations...Al-Qa'ida, Lashkar-e-Toiba, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, LTTE...

(while discussing how google has become an indispensable part of all our lives...)

Google can lead us to hell also...

It is wise, not to point out your boss’s mistake.

If work is worship, I choose to be an atheist.

Cloning should be made legal: I'm tired of being me!

Your misery may not be entirely your fault, but is there any solace in pointing your fingers skyward?

There are a lot of good qualities in me, unfortunately they are seen only by people I trust.

Self-motivation is just a fancy name given to hidden agendas!

Most qualities in a person are like a mirage. They appear promising from a long distance but when you get close enough you become disappointed.

Here are a few more quotes from my friends, just remembered them...

I didn't know latitudes and longitudes could change a person's attitude. Anju Sabu

Patience is a virtue, but it may not necessarily be mine. Shilpa Nair

We are God's best gift to everyone. Nitya Nirmalkumar
(while discussing people and how we wished we could be as rude and insensitive as them, but we can't because we are God's greatest gift to mankind... Nitya cracks me up!)

Yearning for Zen...

2011-03-10T23:43:00.004+05:30

Wrote this poem when I was in a pissed off frame of mind...

Yearning for Zen
One phone call and the words begin to crawl
Heartbeat quickens and the curtain starts to fall
Lost again in a wave of raging opinions and views
A different perspective, here comes the blues

The yin and yang in me is veering out of focus
Watching this ceaseless drama turn into a circus
All the fawning, preening and prancing round the glen
The situation, so skewed, is wrecking my Zen

The wistful notes of a song caressing the night sky still linger
Tugging at the surreal confines of my being and I wonder
About that first snowflake which heralds a change in season
And brings into focus a dazzling heavenly lesson

In Buddhism, Zen is a state of enlightenment... accomplishment of mind over body.
Yin (negative) and Yang (positive) is an ancient Chinese concept, they represent the two complementary forces that balance everything in nature, and here it means a human soul.

Corbin and Ralston

2011-02-28T00:20:00.002+05:30

Been feeling a bit out of sorts lately, everything and everybody was getting to me... usually I am pretty good at shrugging off insensitive remarks or weird situations, but somehow the past week wasn't going too well and I was close to losing it when salvation came in the form of Easton Corbin. It all happened last Friday when I was home alone (its a rare treat for me to enjoy my own company) and decided to blast the house with accuradio (the online music station that I am crazy about). I was tuned into the country station and singing along with Tim McGraw, Brad Paisley and doing a little hoe down in the kitchen while cooking lunch when I heard this new song that somehow seemed to fill the entire house with a new warmth... it was a good old fashioned country song that permeated the house with its twanginess and country goodness. Easton Corbin weaves magic into his songs, and I love how he lightened the mood and balanced the destructive forces in my world.

Another guy that I am going bonkers over is Aron Ralston; the movie 127 hours is based on his book, Between a Rock and a Hard Place and I can't stop admiring the guy and marveling at his courage, wit, fortitude and determination. I am completely in awe of him, the adventures he's been through... rafting, rappelling, climbing mountains and scaling peaks in winter; he takes adventure to an extremely ridiculous adrenaline pumping level. I like the way he infuses humour into a situation of impending doom, like this headline that flashed before his eyes when he narrowly escaped death in the Colorado river: Idiot Engineer drowns in Grand Canyon. Yeah, he has been through harrowing situations before and I guess all those prior experiences gave him the courage and mental capacity to go through with his own amputation. I'm mid-way through reading the book and the more I read about him the more I fall for him... he's just so captivating and overflowing with unbridled energy, he's one heck of a writer too.

Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known...

2011-02-08T13:59:00.001+05:30

I've always found the idea of arranged marriage to be weird... yeah you can blame that on 'The Sound of Music' and the various Disney fairy tales I've watched growing up. I mean after watching Maria and the Captain fall in love and sing in the gazebo who would wanna settle for an arranged marriage. I remember all the drama and the turmoil leading upto my wedding, it was of course arranged and I had absolutely no idea bout the guy. The only thing that caught my interest was his name, he was named after a Shakespearean character in the Merchant of Venice - Antonio. Now, who wouldn't love that name... of course I don't like it when people go 'Oh Banderas', cause I hate Antonio Banderas, I love Antonio Vivaldi though. So I guess what I'm trying to say is God knew what would pique my interest and he sent a character named guy along, knowing that I was crazy bout books and characters. And no, we rarely spoke to each other before we got married and I had met him only twice before the wedding (the first was when his folks had come home to see 'the girl' and then at the engagement), so in all aspects he was a stranger to me and to my family. And I was kinda worried like any normal person would when getting into a new family, so while saying the vows in church (which I never understood in the first place cause I was repeating something after the priest in Tamil) I was like, so God even though I am saying 'I do' what I really mean to say is 'I will try to do', cause I have no idea what You are getting me into, but You usually know best so I'll go with the flow. And now I can almost see God winking at me, cause He knew everything would turn out fine . I don't think I would have been able to find a better guy myself, I gotta hand it to Tonio's parents... they did a pretty good job bringing him up.

You are probably wondering why I am rambling on like this... well, it's because the same drama is being played again back home with my younger sister and I know exactly how it feels. I know how the parents feel too, if you've read 'City of Joy' by Dominique Lapierre then you'll know how huge a responsibility it is in India for parents to see their kids happily married. The point is the universe has a way of working things out, all we have to do is go with the flow and take initiatives... eventually things will fall into place. There... I'm done with my advice. Now can we all relax and take a deep breath and feel the pulse of the universe beating within us, just follow her rhythm and find your groove along the way. I really should get a life and stop watching 'Dharma and Greg'....

PS: The title is a quote by Carl Sagan an astronomer who was fascinated by our universe.

TV shows of yore...

2011-01-28T17:02:00.004+05:30

I don't know if its just me or if you guys have noticed it too, but there seems to be a dearth of good tv shows out there. The only show I follow these days is The Good Wife (a legal drama), its kinda like The Practice... with a lot more power games and political drama thrown in. I think people seem to prefer different things nowadays ... like obscene crass humour as is evident in Two and a Half men, or shows that are deemed funny based on the personality of that one crazy character who livens up the show - Sheldon Cooper from the Big Bang Theory or Barney Stinson in How I Met Your Mother (take away Barney and Sheldon and both these shows will bite the dust). Then you have something like Glee, which is a huge success due to its happy song and dance routine, but hasn't got anything else worth talking about.

Anyway here's a post in memory of all those good times spent with family and friends... laughing, crying and learning from all the beloved characters of some of the best shows ever created for Television.

The Wonder Years

Me and the siblings loved this show, it centered round the childhood and the coming of age of the protagonist Kevin Arnold in the early 70's. Every episode made an impact, they stayed with you long after you were done watching them. The characters were brilliant; who can forget pretty naive Winnie Cooper, nerdy allergic Paul Pfifer, the jackass brother Wayne and the adorably cute Kevin Arnold. Every guy had a crush on Winnie Cooper growing up and I think they still do... she was quite a sight with her jet black long hair, that innocent trusting face and her natural grace. This show had some great writers, their lines are quoted even today... and they've made me tear up many a time with their poignantly loaded messages. I love this show, it was meaningful, relevant and it respected the very essence of human life on this planet; family, friends, love and life.

Frasier

Frasier is without a doubt the best comedy show ever created in the history of mankind... no, I am not exaggerating. There are so many funny shows out there, but they've all got their irritating characters like Phoebe from Friends, or Raymond's parents from Everybody Loves Raymond, or Eric's mom and Ashton Kutcher in That 70's show. But Frasier was perfect in every way... and that's why I guess all the recent shows pale in comparison, nothing can live up to the standards set by Frasier. Frasier revolves round the life of Dr. Frasier Crane; a lovable, snobbish, pompous and intellectual radio psychiatrist (callers call in with their woes and Frasier gives them advice) who lives with his dad Martin Crane, a retired police officer and Martin's physical therapist/caretaker Daphne Moon. Frasier's high-strung younger brother, Dr. Niles Crane (also a psychiatrist and my favourite character) lives nearby and is exactly like Frasier, but more lovable. The Crane brothers live a cultured life, they are incredibly witty and highly intellectual... and this more often than not leads them into trouble cause they tend to over analyse things. The dad on the other hand is an easy going, laid back, down to earth person and how he handles these show off sons of his is hilarious. Roz Doyle (Frasier's friend/ producer) along with Eddie (Martin's talented dog) form the rest of this wonderful cast. If you want real entertainment for your soul, you should definitely check out this show.

Dharma and Greg

Just thinking bout Dharma makes me laugh, she is the free spirited girl born to bohemian hippie parents and her views on life or just about anything under the sun is so.... crazy yet heartwarming-ly refreshing. She's like a breath of fresh air, spreading joy and happiness (not to mention craziness) where ever she goes, its so easy to love a soul like hers and the wealthy Assistant District Attorney, Gregory Montgomery loses his heart to her on their first date and they end up getting married right away. This sets the ground for even more humour when the respective parents are introduced to each to other; Dharma's parents are so unconventional and weird, whereas Gregory's parents are uptight socialites who find it difficult to accept their son's new age bride who performs cartwheels in her wedding gown. And this is just the first episode I am talking about... so imagine how entertaining the rest of the episodes are gonna be. I love Dharma, her full name is Dharma Freedom Finklelstein and she is one heck of a character, portrayed with great flair by Jenna Elfman. This is a hilariously inspiring show created by Chuck Lorre, the same guy who created The Big Bang Theory and Two and a Half Men, sadly these recent shows seem to lack that endearing charm and goodwill inherent in Dharma and Greg.

Friends

No sitcom list is complete without this iconic and ground breaking TV show that ruled the ratings for a decade, and created six of the most memorable and legendary characters ever conceived; Monica and Ross Geller, Rachel Green, Chandler Bing, Joey Tribbiani and Phoebe Buffay. Friends is a captivating masterpiece and everybody who grew up watching these six guys, wanted to belong to a group just like that... I know I did. They were that influential and inspiring, they helped us deal with day to day situations and they infused a lot of humour into our lives. I remember dreading something and wondering how I was gonna make it through the day and some random joke Chandler cracked would make me smile and help calm the jitters. Yeah, Chandler is my favourite character, and among the girls I like Monica and Rachel. We girls (me, shilpa and anju) even hit upon a solution to get a vague idea bout the basic character of a guy during the potential proposal phase (this is how an arranged marriage works, a number of proposals come your way and the parents screen them and select the one who seems worthy) by asking the guy who his favourite (male) character was in Friends. The answer almost always determines the nature of the person... if the answer was Chandler, it means the guy was probably witty and easy going with a great sense of humour. If he says Ross, it probably means he's a goofy nerd with a head full of useless facts like Ross. And if he replies Joey then you can bet he's not the intellectual type, he's the guy who likes slapstick comedy, the kind of guy who never grows up and whose major happiness lies in food (and girls). I remember asking Antonio this question the very first time we spoke, but he only had a vague idea bout the show, he wasn't into Friends. Anyway, Shakespeare came to his rescue and that's how we ended up together. Coming back to Friends, the show started out great, the characters seemed real and ordinary enough... like us regular folks. Then somewhere along the line the show became a runaway hit and gained cult status, and things changed subtly. The women no longer looked real or like the person next door, they became celebrities and started looking... perfect. That was what ruined it for me... after they became celebrities and started earning a million dollars per episode they just seemed aloof, know what I mean. They lost their cuteness, their chubbiness, their disheveled appearance... they all became really thin, and wore perfectly fitting clothes all the time, and their hair was forever sun kissed and blow dried to perfection. I kinda lost interest in them somewhere in the middle...

Well, there are a few more hilariously good shows like the Happy Days, The Hogan Family, Mind Your Language, Charles in Charge etc... but I already wrote too much here, so maybe some other time.

Grandma's Caramel Cake...

2011-01-07T15:34:00.001+05:30

Everybody in my family loves this cake, its my grandmother's recipe and it can be tweaked during the holiday season to form a delicious Christmas fruit cake. The ingredients are simple to remember, you just need equal quantities of flour, sugar and butter and the cake is guaranteed to come out great.

Ingredients

400 grams maida or all purpose flour
400 grams sugar
400 grams butter
8 eggs
3 teaspoons vanilla essence
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
dried fruits and nuts
brandy or rum (optional)

I've taken 400 grams of butter, sugar and flour cause I wanted to make a large cake for Christmas. You can scale the quantities down to half and make a medium sized cake. Let's start with caramelizing the sugar, from the 400 grams of sugar that you have set aside for this cake, take bout a quarter of that (100 grams) and start heating it in a dry vessel. I usually drop in another handful (bout 50 gms) of sugar to get more of the gooey caramel when I plan on adding brandy or rum to the cake.

So this is the first step, heat the sugar till it forms a dark inky substance. You can use crystalline sugar for caramelizing, and keep stirring it when the vessel is on the flame.

It will turn light golden brown eventually, keep stirring it around till all the lumps dissolve.

You'll get a light brown liquid like this...

Which will start to boil in a few minutes, and you can see it changing colour... becoming darker as it boils. Pour in a little water and continue stirring.

You'll get a dark liquid like this, please switch off the flame, you don't want this to burn. Your dark caramel is now ready.

I used 8 eggs here, if you are gonna scale the recipe down to half, use only 4. Separate the yolk and the white. Make sure to put the egg white in a larger vessel cause when you beat it up it rises like foam.

Now beat the whites and the yellow separately using your electric blender. The whites will raise up like foam, keep beating it till its all one nice and fluffy mass.

Now blend the butter and the sugar (powder the remaining sugar) and beat it up well.

Here it is, the butter and sugar mixture well blended...

Now drop in the mountain of egg white and beat it up well.

Then add the beaten yolks... give it a whirl with the blender.

Next add the caramelized sugar (if you find that it has solidified a bit, you can heat it lightly till it becomes liquid again) and the vanilla essence. Beat the batter well. If you have a little milk, use it to scrape off all the leftover in the egg white vessel, the yolk vessel and the caramelized vessel and add that to the batter and mix it up well.

In another vessel add the maida, the baking powder and the baking soda and mix them all well, or if you have a sieve at home run them all through the sieve. Now add the maida to the batter in batches... and mix it up. Check the consistency too from time to time, the batter should be light and fluffy. [If you plan on adding nuts and dried fruits, don't add the entire 400 grams of maida. Alternatively mix in the maida and the dried fruits till you get the desired batter consistency.]

Now sprinkle some of the maida over the chopped fruits and nuts, and just mix it around with a spoon. Add them to the batter and gently fold everything in with a long spoon. [I had soaked a few chopped nuts and dried fruits in brandy for a month, to make the Christmas cake. Just sprinkle some of the maida over this and add it to the batter.]

Here you go, just fold them in gently. In case at the last minute you decide that you want a brandy/rum flavour in your cake, then go ahead and drop in a few tablespoons of brandy/rum... you'll get a nice heady taste.

Grease and flour your baking pan, spoon the batter in.

Stick it in the oven to bake till a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean. This should take bout 30 minutes or so. Here is the cake just out of the oven, allow it to cool down a bit.

I melted some white chocolate to drizzle over the cake, to give it a more sophisticated look. Those glasses to the side are filled wine, this was the midnight Christmas feast after church.

People and especially guys love this cake, I think that intoxicating flavour of brandy really appeals to their senses. Tonio's brother loves this cake, I added extra brandy to the batter just for him. You can skip the brandy and make a wonderful fruit cake that is sure to disappear in a matter a minutes, folks will gobble it down. That's what matters, the happy smiles and the satisfied faces...

Well, have fun baking this cake. Only the caramelizing part requires extra effort, the rest of it is quite easy.

Feels good to be home...

2011-01-04T12:27:00.002+05:30

A few pictures pertaining to my previous post about a small town Christmas....all these pictures were taken in my hometown during the last few days.

Stars of all shapes and kinds adorn houses...

A beautifully lit house...

Serial lights at a major junction...

A lone star glitters...

A tastefully decorated house...

The windows in coordinated serial lights...

The star, crib and the tree...

more lights...

A street with stars everywhere...

The red and green lights of Christmas...

More lights...

An array of stars...

The tree all lit up...

Another street...

Another house...

An elaborate crib I saw en route to Tonio's grandmom's house. Looked like they built the whole city of Bethlehem and they had all these miniature figurines inside... t'was really nice, I think it would have looked even better in the evening with all the lights. Don't ask me what the giraffe is doing though...

The Holy Family Church is located near my house and since the Holy Family Festival falls during the last week of December there is always a constant buzz of excitement in my locality. This is the church all lit up and a picture of Jesus made entirely with lights.

Here you see a picture of St. Antony and baby Jesus...

Inside the Holy Family Church... check out the painting on the ceiling. God our Heavenly Father presiding over all of creation.

A statue of Mother Mary at the church, this statue is kinda famous here cause of Mother Mary's eyes... they are life like, like ours. They glimmer with an inner understanding and they really look alive, it somehow feels nice just looking at her.

I'll leave you with a new year's message and the wish that your year be memorable and pleasant...

May this year bring...

More peace and less hatred, More smiles and less weapons, Less scandals and more humbling stories. Live and let live... Have a wonderful year everybody.

A Small Town Christmas...

2010-12-21T00:45:00.001+05:30

My colony back home is huge like a maze... with many winding roads and lots of pretty & some opulent looking houses. Its a great place to go walking and take in the sights, there are hardly any vehicles on the road and houses are gracefully adorned with flowering plants and the like. This peaceful and quaint little place transforms itself during the month of December, it literally glows with festive cheer. People put up stars that shine in the evening, Christmas trees glimmer from inside homes, the crib is set up and houses are aglow with serial lights. The whole air is abuzz with excitement and like this song goes... there's a smile on the faces of people passing by. Another ethereal aspect bout Christmas is caroling, this throws the excitement levels completely off the scale. I can't get enough of them during the Yuletide season, I play them continuously... my sister is named Carol since she was born on the 30th of November, the start of the caroling season.

Anyway getting back to my colony, the folks at home are going caroling every evening and I miss that... I really miss that. We go caroling from door to door spreading joy and goodwill, its just crazy and so much fun. A whole bunch of kids yapping away, the choir girls, and a few elders make up the caroling team and its just insanely beautiful walking around in the colony singing carols and taking in the sights of a place transformed by the magic of Christmas. Staying in a city like Madras, just drives home how beautiful a small town Christmas can really be... the city looks the same, no trace of magic in the air, only the malls are commercially (not to mention blatantly) decorated. But this caroling event I attended last week, set my pulse racing again... like it does back home. Felt like someone had sprinkled magic over the auditorium, the event was called Caroling by Candlelight (organised by Madras Musical Association) and it was as awesome as it sounds. We sang carols by candlelight... here's a video clipping.

The kids choir was simply adorable, they sang like angels...

Loved every moment of it...

My favourite carol is 'While shepherds watched their flocks by night' ... check out this all boy group Libera singing it, they'll blow you away.

Nagercoil Chicken Curry...

2010-12-15T14:42:00.001+05:30

This is a dish that is served at almost every event in Nagercoil... sometimes when the main course is entirely veg, the non veg eaters are served small bowls of this delectable chicken curry and you can almost see their faces light up. Its one of those time time saver dishes that I love, gets ready in a jiffy... and its simply awesome, right down to its soul (if a curry has soul that is) its so plain and simple yet sophisticated... reminds me of Socrates. History says he was kinda ugly and not that great to look at but he ended up being the most reasonable man of his time... and undoubtedly our time too.

Anyway, getting back to the chicken curry...

Dice onions and saute them in a pressure cooker...

Add some ginger garlic paste...

And fry till onions become translucent.

Drop in the pink chicken pieces...

And stir them around till they become an even brown colour.

Then add chillie powder and fennel powder...

Add enough salt, water and pressure cook the chicken.

Now that the chicken is cooked, add a few tablespoons of coconut oil (you can see the oil falling in drops here, went to great lengths to click this picture) and mix everything up nicely, let the chicken simmer for a few minutes. The coconut oil is what gives this dish its distinctive south indian flavour. If you want the curry to be thicker, let it boil for a few minutes till you get a dense masala kinda substance.

Here is the famous dish one can never get enough of. I sometimes add small pieces of potato before pressure cooking since I'm more fond of potatoes than chicken. Everybody at home loves this dish and its completely satisfying in a wholesome way. So there you go, make this and enjoy some good old fashioned family time at supper.

Home again...

2010-12-03T23:38:00.001+05:30

So I went home recently to see mom and as usual it was a fun trip... here are a few pix's.

The windmills...

The sun just rising...

Paddy fields...

Visited the special school too...

And hung out with the kids... I miss that.

Made some vegetable puffs...

I seriously love these...

Tried baking Biscotti, they turned out alright...

Melted some bitter Hazelnut chocolate to make a cake...

Here are the Almond Biscotti's and the cake.

Went to Holy Cross Convent, and visited the pretty chapel there...

Inside the chapel...

A simple yet invigorating green peas curry...

2010-11-23T23:46:00.001+05:30

I love this green peas curry, it reminds me of my grand mom's place in Mahim, Bombay. I remember eating it with kadak pav (this really hard crusty bread, that wonderfully soaks up a curry and you have to chew on it slowly to savour every molecule... ). I don't know why but my mom rarely made it at home while we were growing up, so it always remained a Bombay delicacy until I grew up and learnt how to make it and now I make it quite often. And it really is a time saver, you don't have to chop any onions or tomatoes... this dish is just gloriously easy and to borrow a phrase from KFC its finger licking good!

First soak your green peas for at least 6 to 8 hours in water. I am assuming you know which peas I am talking about here, those hard ones you get in department stores (not the frozen or the fresh ones). Then pressure cook (don't use the same water you soaked the peas in, add clean water) it for 5 to 6 whistle spans. And you'll get something like this...

Here they are, the peas all cooked with their little delicate white skins floating on top...

Crush a few cloves of garlic now...

Heat a pan, add a little oil and drop in few cumin (jeera) seeds and the crushed garlic. Give it a slight mix...

Then add some chillie powder and coriander powder.

Add the entire contents of the pressure cooker (the peas along with the water) and mix it up well. Add enough quantity of salt and with the spoon mash a few peas to the base of the vessel. Do this a few times, this will cause the curry to thicken and gain its desired consistency. Cover it with a lid and let it simmer for a few minutes till you get that Bombay smell (that's how it is for me). You guys can simmer it for 5 minutes or so.

Voila! That's it... you get some delicious warm curry and it tastes good with chapathi, dosa or plain bread (that's what I have to make do with, since Kadak pav isn't available where I live). This really is a little treasure of a dish, its easy to make when you know you are gonna be busy the whole day and you just want to cut down an all your chores. Just remember to soak it beforehand and half the job is done. So there, hope you try this out...

Thanks Grandma, and a big hug to all my cousins in Bombay :o)

A Psalm

2010-11-20T19:40:00.000+05:30

A Psalm to hang above my door... made this using fabric paint and a piece of discarded cardboard. I've always liked this Psalm and I was wondering how to incorporate it into the room somewhere...

So, is it legible enough...

Yercaud; all this place needs is a Mr.Darcy and an Edward Rochester to be perfect...

2010-11-13T01:20:00.001+05:30

A few pictures from my trip to Yercaud, its such a charming little place... you can almost expect to see Jane Austen characters walking about, its that lush and beautiful and sparsely populated. The word Yercaud comes from two tamil words 'Yeri' & 'Kadu' which mean lake and forest and that precisely sums up this hill station. There's a pretty lake and the rest is basically forest with a few coffee/orange estates thrown here and there.

A little stream on the way...

The rocky terrain...

A quaint little bench under the roots of a tree...

The view from my room....

A sleepy little hamlet...

Everywhere you look, you see sights like this....

Pretty flowers swaying on a breeze...

Don't they look delightful...

There were monkeys all over the place, caught this fellow staring into the room...

A little bridge connecting two rocky ridges...

The swimming pool at the resort, check out those bar stools... pretty neat right, sipping and soaking and taking in mother nature in all her pristine beauty.

At the Don Bosco Retreat Center, run by the Salesians priests...

The really beautiful church at the Don Bosco Retreat Center...

Inside the church... (the picture doesn't do enough justice)

The Sacred Heart Church, where we attended Sunday Mass...

Inside the Sacred Heart Church...

The twinkling lights of Salem as seen at night... the whole town glows, its pretty amazing.

And the moral of the story is 'An idle mind is the Devil's workshop...'

2010-11-09T23:39:00.000+05:30

So it was a lazy Friday afternoon, and we (me, Sajeeve and Jude) were kinda bored so we decided to play this game and I had no idea it would turn out to be this sacrilegious. So if you are a religious fanatic please do not continue reading this... I am pretty sure the story we concocted is blasphemous in at least 3 religions, Jude (a cousin) seems to think so anyway. I was too busy laughing and trying to bring some modicum of sensibility (not to mention respectability) to the story but my cousin Sajeeve is blessed with a very fertile imagination and once he unleashed it there was no going back...
So here it is...

Karen : She was moping the floor and singing along loudly with the radio.

(I was thinking along the lines of a cute M&B... she a hard working woman and he a wealthy arrogant guy who gets drawn to her calm, strong & sensible nature)

Sajeeve : But deep down she was contemplating if she could forsake her conservative principles.

(This is when I knew the ‘cute falling in love’ part of the story was never gonna happen)

Jude : lol, you guys are nuts

Karen :She figured she would never go that far... cause it clashed with her values.

Jude : There was a skip in her step as she heard the familiar honk of Harry's car as he pulled into the driveway

Sajeeve : But she thought to herself, why should I look at that indolent bastard.

Jude : Thankfully she caught a glimpse of a picture of Jesus on the wall and banished all such thoughts.

Sajeeve : The way she controlled her lithe body while moping was so impressive that Harry could not take his eyes off her.

Karen : Since he was ogling at her indecently, she poured that bucket of soapy water on his face...

Sajeeve : That only served to make him more aroused. Her refusal to display even a modicum of cleavage angered him.

Karen : She thought where are my girlfriends when I need them the most..

A little chat in between..

Jude : ok now this is a lesbian story?

Karen : No, I was thinking that, cause you guys are turning it into something porn like...

Story continues…

Sajeeve : He could not resist the myriad possibilities for having some fun

Jude : There was loud bout of thunder and lightning

Karen : and she knew that he was drunk and starting to get violent...

Sajeeve : Little did she know he was a cold blooded killer who wanted to stick the mop down her throat.

Karen : He opened the fridge, he wanted a beer to cool his temper.

Jude : Only to find out that she had thrown out every can of the vile liquid.

Sajeeve :"Hello Harry", said Moses as he walked into the room with a book in his hand.

Jude :"Wow!”, Harry thought, that must have been some strong stuff I smoked today

Sajeeve : Moses's boots meant that granny woke up to the harmonics emanating from his long firm footsteps against the wooden floor.

Sajeeve : "It's nice to meet you Harry, I honestly didn't believe Jessica when she told me she had a boyfriend", granny told Harry

Karen : When Moses appeared the fear of God came into Harry... and he vowed to turn over a new leaf. But then Eminem walked in rapping and acting all cool and Harry thought wait, I must be hallucinating.

Sajeeve : Jessica started mopping Moses's feet to subtly indicate to him to not give ideas to Harry

Karen : But Moses said, “Woman are you moping my feet... me of all people? I spilt a sea!!!”

Sajeeve : A closer look at Emimem revealed it was actually Abraham all clean shaven. Jessica was terrified, she had only the mop to her defense. Abraham was staring at her like a ravenous dog in heat with saliva dripping from his mouth. Jessica mopped his mouth, Abraham felt touched by the act, no one had wiped his saliva before. Harry and Moses were pissed off with the histrionics, they decided to leave and spend some time on the Xbox...

Jude: while Jessica and Abraham made out to the tunes of rap music.

Sajeeve : Grandma walks into the room and is shocked to see what’s going on, she goes into a cardiac arrest. Abraham says she is dead anyway, we’ll check her after sunrise

Karen : But Moses is reluctant to leave her lying there and performs a heart surgery. He opens up her heart and raises the mop high above her... the blood gets separated in each chamber

Sajeeve : He then realizes that Grandma has just fainted and not had a heart attack. Harry is pissed off at Moses's .

Karen : Meanwhile Abraham gets ready to sacrifice her cause he thinks that's why she has been cut open like that...

Sajeeve :The three of them regroup,they look around & jessica is missing. They are shocked, scared.. they look down and grandma is also missing.

Sajeeve : They get so depressed with the situation that they decide to call 1 hooker and 2 strippers home to change the mood.

Karen : But things get messed up and Judas turns up instead

Sajeeve : Abraham calls the hooker company on phone and says "Go, and gather the babes of Israel together, and say unto them: Appear unto me, we surely need you now, I will bring you out of affliction into my land overflowing with milk and honey.”

I guess by this point we were laughing too much to contribute anything useful... and fyi we did not mean to disrespect anybody living or dead by this crazy story.

Speak Now... a whole new Love Story all over again (for me).

2010-11-04T03:09:00.002+05:30

I just had to tell you bout Taylor Swift's new album 'Speak Now'... been listening to it the whole week and I have to say most of the songs are really good. The title track 'Speak Now' is my favourite song... its so cute and whenever it plays you can't help but sing along. I bet even the video is gonna be great, cause the lyrics tell a little story... bout this wedding that is goin to take place and Taylor is hiding behind the curtains preparing what to say when the preacher comes to the 'Speak now or forever hold your peace' part of the ceremony. Then there's 'Back to December' a song where she regrets breaking up with this nice guy, she realizes she loves him but its too late... I'd go back in time and change it but I can't. So if the chain is on your door, I understand... its a beautiful sad song. The only country sounding track is 'Mean' and I like Taylor's attitude here... she describes how she feels when people are mean to her but what stands out is the way she deals with them, she never stoops down to their level... she just tells them that one day she'll grow up and move away, do something with her life but these people who have nothing better to do than discuss her flaws will go on being mean. How cool is that, and true too...

'The Story of Us' is pretty neat too... deals with the awkwardness after a breakup, the guy is doing his best to avoid her in a crowded room and the girl is nervously pulling at her clothes and trying to look busy. She wonders how they got to this situation, and she sings The Story of Us looks a lot like a tragedy now, great song! Another nice song is 'Sparks Fly', a typical romantic song... I see sparks fly whenever you smile ; isn't that awfully cute. The single 'Mine' was released way before the CD and its already a hit (I think)... its a cute song too that tells the story of young love and how they vow never to commit the mistakes their parents did, like giving up on the other. 'Never grow up' is a heartwarming song bout wanting to stay little and safe in your mother's care, that was the time when no one ever left you or scarred you and you found everything funny. Then one day you grow up and things aren't the same anymore... you wish you had never grown up. She sings bout remembering your childhood room and memorizing what it sounded like when your dad gets home... really hits a nerve this song.

Enchanted is a cute fairytale kinda love song... she is at a party or something, and she is faking smiles and forcing laughter, generally just tired and bored of the crowd when she sees his face and becomes enchanted. They start talking and its time to leave, she is blushing all the way home and hoping he isn't in love with someone else... yeah, makes you smile, its a cute song. 'Ours' is also slightly country-ish and its delightfully strong willed and cute, she sings her heart out to this guy she is in love with telling him not to worry bout what her people think... cause she really loves him the way he is. I love the gap between your teeth, And I love the riddles that you speak - see this is what I am talking about, Taylor sure knows how to write songs that will keep you hooked, how can you not fall for such a cute song. The album has many more nice songs... but these are the ones that caught my interest. So if you do need some new happy songs in your life (a change from all the eminem/ rihanna fire catching girlfriend beating song 'I love the way you lie' or Gaga's over the top bad romance - fyi I am not dissing any of these songs, just saying Taylor's songs are more happy and fairytale like) you know where to turn to and if you are anything like me.... you won't be disappointed.

Apple Cinnamon Cake...

2010-10-30T12:51:00.000+05:30

Due to popular demand (no, don't laugh... folks are really asking for it) I'm putting up this wonderful cake recipe too right on the heels of my last recipe. This cake is seriously good, it gets wolfed down in seconds, and the divine smell of cinnamon wafting through the house is in a way invigorating.

Ingredients:

1 cup maida (or all purpose flour)

1 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 cup castor sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

5 1/2 Tablespoon butter (roughly 40 gms)

1 Egg

1/2 cup milk

2 medium sized apples (peeled, cored and sliced)

First combine half the powdered sugar with the cinnamon powder in a bowl. Also combine the maida with the baking powder in another container.

The rest of the sugar and the 40 gms of butter go into another bowl.

Drop in one egg and beat up the mixture.

Now alternatively add the flour...

and the milk stirring after each addition to form a nice creamy batter of pouring consistency.

Grease and flour the cake tray, pour in half the batter...

Arrange sliced apples in layers over the batter...

Sprinkle half the sugar cinnamon powder over the apples...

Now pour the remaining batter over the apples... and sprinkle the rest of the sugar cinnamon powder over it. (I did not use the entire thing, I thought it might be too sweet...so I sprinkled only a little and it was good enough. It depends on you really... use your intuition.) Now stick it in the oven and let it bake for 20 to 25 minutes till it turns slightly brown and a knife inserted in the center comes out looking clean.

Here is the Apple Cinnamon cake straight out of the oven, looking wonderful & smelling heavenly.

The juicy succulent apples inside...

I really love this cake, will definitely make it again using double the quantity of ingredients. Do give this a try and have a wonderful time reveling in the pure pleasure that wafts out of the oven and fills your home when you bake this delightfully easy cake.

Spicy Chicken Briyani...

2010-10-30T00:10:00.004+05:30

Here's an easy briyani recipe that I learnt from my mom in law, I like this kind of briyani where the rice gets cooked along with the chicken. There are the other varieties where the chicken is cooked separately and boiled rice is then mixed with it in alternating layers. Since I don't really like plain white rice, I find that briyani bland... this one here is exciting, spicy and dangerously good. Briyani is preferably made with Basmati rice (long grained rice), you can use ordinary rice too... it will taste just as good. The only difference lies in the amount of water you add for both the rice varieties. The pictures posted here were taken when I made briyani with both basmati and ordinary rice, so don't get surprised if the pressure cooker changes colour from picture to picture. I picked out the best pictures... let's get started right away...

First wash and soak the rice in water for an hour or so and please measure the quantity of rice you take. (Make sure you do not heap rice onto the cup, just fill it till the brim).

Gettin to work on the masala section now...

Heat oil in a pressure cooker, if you like whole spices in your rice then drop in some cinnamon, cloves and bay leaves (I do not like bitting into a clove so I usually add only bay leaves and cinnamon sticks), add the chopped or sliced onions (5 to 6 medium sized onions should do for 2 cups of rice) and a whole lot of ginger and garlic paste. And fry it around till the onion turns translucent.

Now add some slit green chillies (bout 5 to 6 chillies for 2 cups of rice) and give it a nice mix.

Then drop in some chopped tomatoes (3 or 4) and mix it up well...

Here you see how the tomatoes have been mashed into all the onion and ginger garlic paste really well.

Now you add the chicken pieces and mix it well...

Then drop in some chillie powder, corinader powder and garam masala powder... give it a nice mix. (I usually add 1 to 2 heaped teaspoons of all these powders)

Add freshly chopped mint and coriander leaves... I like this step cause of the coriander and mint smell. Use a whole bunch of both.

Give it a another good mix... this is how the masala looks. Make sure its not watery, when you start adding the chicken make sure its on high flame and then add the masala powders and the green leaves and give it a good mix.

Now if you are using basmati rice add double the quantity of water for each cup of rice, meaning in the ratio 2:1 . What I usually do is reduce half a cup cause when the chicken cooks it will anyway give off some of its water content, so in case I use 2 cups of basmati rice I usually add 3 1/2 cups of water. When using ordinary rice I always add half a cup more since the ordinary rice is fat & takes time to cook. So if I use the ordinary 2 cups of rice I use 4 1/2 cups of water. (On a side note, if for some reason you find that the masala is in fact a little watery, use your intuition and reduce the cups of water accordingly. This has happened many a times to me when I suddenly get a phonecall or I get distracted and the chicken starts cooking in the masala and gives off water. Then approximately deduce how much water you can deduct while cooking the rice... I hope I haven't confused you too much here)

Drain the rice that you have soaked earlier and drop it into the pressure cooker when the water starts boiling...

Add a few drops of lime, appropriate quantity of salt and a dollop of ghee... now put the lid on and attach the weight. The flame has to be on high... and after a few minutes, you will hear the first whistle. As soon as you hear it reduce the flame to its lowest level and wait for approximately 3 to 4 minutes if its basmati rice. Then switch of the stove and leave the cooker alone till all the steam escapes on its own accord.

When its safe to open the cooker, you'll see that your briyani is ready and it will smell great. Now store it in ordinary dishes, try not to use those insulated vessels that keep the food warm... your rice may tend to clump together.

Garnish with chopped cashew nuts and currants... I especially love adding currants here, cause I tend to make spicy briyani's and when you bite a sweet currant in the middle of all that spiciness it tastes real good.

This is the finished product, using ordinary rice. Now when you pressure cook ordinary rice, leave it on high flame till you hear the first whistle. Then immediately reduce the flame and wait for 7 to 10 minutes before switching off the stove. Remember when its basmati, we wait bout 4 minutes before switching off.

Garnish the same way. Ta da...spicy briyani is now ready, be ready to handle all the appreciation that will come your way when the folks at home taste this briyani.

Okay one more thing, I never got this right the first time or the second time... its all bout the timing. Sometimes you miscalculate and the rice gets overcooked and sometimes it gets a little browned at the bottom. What I have written here bout the timings (these 4 or 7 minutes) is all based on a trial and error method. I've made this briyani many times till I've perfected the timing... and now it comes out really well, you start getting the feel of when it's done. So go ahead, make this and enjoy some fine food...

The Chilean Miners...

2010-10-26T01:31:00.011+05:30

First off, how exciting and thoroughly wondrous was the whole Chilean miners rescue mission... it is indeed an event that will go down in history as one of the most meticulous and miraculous rescue operations ever carried out. To finally see each of them emerging victoriously from the unimaginable ordeal they must have endured over the last two months was awe inspiring. All the hugging, laughing, crying and kissing the ground are some of profound images we'll remember forever. I especially loved the second man (Mario Sepulveda) who emerged from the mines, he was like a rockstar pumping up the crowd and chanting a slogan (apparently some football based slogan). I think he is the one who said that he held the hand of both God and the Devil and finally God won... God held on till the end.

This precisely sums up their predicament right from day one when the world finally came to know bout these trapped 33 miners. They kept their wits bout them and rationed out the food they had for the first 17 days until the folks on the surface finally located them. The scrap of paper that one of the miners attached to the drill bit indicating that all 33 of them were fine in the shelter is now invaluable... it sure spoke volumes bout their grit and spirit. It was not a plea or a cry for help, they were stating a fact and this is what kept them alive, their collective ability to maintain cool and collected and not give into hysteria or despair. Once they were located, help and other body/soul nourishing supplements kept pouring in. They were fed a special diet to regain their strength, they wanted to watch football and somehow arrangements were made for that, one of the miners is an Elvis Presley fan and he requested for Elvis's music and Graceland got right on the job-they immediately sent a boxed set of CD's and a picture of Elvis, Steve Job sent all of them iPods... the whole world was rooting and praying for them.

The whole rescue team did a great job, right from the drilling, to the doctors, the psychiatrist, the folks from NASA and everybody else who pitched in... great team work. Chile got everything right in this rescue mission, in their quiet fastidious nature they pulled off a daunting task with flair and immense acumen thereby garnering the respect and admiration of the world at large. The 33 miners are now receiving invitations and gifts from all corners of the earth. The richest football team in the world Manchester United has invited all 33 of them as special guests to watch one of their matches. The folks at Graceland have invited the Elvis fan for a tour of the King's former abode. One of the miners used to run in the tunnels underground to keep up his health and to clear his mind, the New York City Marathon has invited him to be their special guest. Some Greek island has invited all of them for a vacation...

Isn't this truly a heart wrenching and a heartwarming tale of survival against all odds... survival of the brotherhood (there I already came up with a pretty neat name for a movie).

Here is Edison Pena the Elvis fan I was talking bout earlier in an interview with David Letterman.... how cool is he :o)

Lemon baked chicken with baked vegetables...

2010-10-15T16:19:00.001+05:30

Hey everybody, how you doin? Ever since I put up a picture of this whole roasted chicken on Facebook, folks have been asking for the recipe... so here it is. Sorry for the delay people...

Take bout 3 tablespoons of butter in a bowl, add the juice of one lime. Then drop in some Italian seasoning (optional), salt, pepper, and a few crushed cloves of garlic. Mix it up well and apply it over the chicken as seen below.

First make sure to poke the chicken all over with a fork, this allows the juices to reach the fleshy interior parts. Using your hands rub the butter mixture all over the chicken and into its cavity too. Stuff the lemon skins into the chicken... along with some freshly chopped coriander and mint leaves.

So here is the little fellow stuffed with lemon skins, coriander and mint leaves....

Place the tray in the oven and bake for 45 minutes.

Wash and cut vegetables into bite sized pieces, here I used potatoes and carrots and onions. Sprinkle a little oil, salt and pepper on them and mix them up well.

After 45 minutes the chicken would have browned a bit, turn it over and then place the vegetables in the same baking tray around the chicken. Bake for another 45 minutes...

The chicken will have gained a nice brown colour by now, and the vegetables would have cooked too. Insert a fork into both and make sure that they are indeed tender and well cooked.

The leftover chicken/vegetable juices in the pan can be used to make a little sauce to pour over the chicken.

Mix very little cornflour (bout half a teaspoon) in water and pour it into the baking tray and scrape off all the juices and browned bits of chicken and vegetables into a saucepan.

Heat this mixture over a low flame... add salt, pepper and a little ketchup (optional) according to taste.

Pour the brown sauce over the lemon baked chicken and dig in. This is a simple enough dish, no marinating required. It tastes great and I loved the vegetables along with the sauce. Guys in particular will love this dish, its juicy and succulent on the inside and the baked browned exterior is simply irresistible. The green leafy stuffing inside was just perfect... it was all minty and lemony and just too good.

So have fun with this Lemon Baked Chicken and the rustically baked vegetables.

Heavenly Sunshine...

2010-10-05T13:32:00.001+05:30

So my parents were here for a week and it was great.... we spent everyday roaming the city, attending various fairs and exhibitions, visiting relatives and hanging out at all the opulent malls. One of the fairs (a rajasthani one) had a mehendi stall and that's where we got those beautiful patterns on our hands.

My birthday was fun too, I did not want a boring cake with Happy Birthday and my name on it, so told Tonio to write something exciting & here's what he did... cracked me up. That's an Irish Coffee Cream cake by the way...

One night while returning home with the parents we saw this car in front of us... (the picture is blurry, there is never a signal in sight when you need one)

do you see the words on it, Govt of Heaven... and they have a symbol too, that was so cool. Must be some minister... Minister of Mankind or something.

PS: The title is a beautiful song by Kenny Rogers...

Gem Cookies...

2010-09-21T01:16:00.000+05:30

These are the easiest cookies I've ever made, they bake in no time at all and they look cute, kids are sure to love them. All you need is

100 gms Maida

A tablespoon of baking Powder

2 teaspoons Vanilla Essence

50 gms margarine (or butter, margarine is the cooking butter and it is unsalted)

30 to 40 gms sugar

Milk as required

Gems or M&M's

So mix the butter and sugar together first (I used the crystallized sugar, did not bother to powder it). Then drop in the vanilla essence and beat it up. Add the maida and the baking powder and knead into a soft dough by adding the required quantity of milk. Once you get a soft dough, roll it into coin sized cylinders as shown below.

Refrigerate this cylindrical dough for half an hour. After 30 minutes, chop off cylindrical bits and place them in a greased and floured pan, and just push down some gems on them.

Here they are in a greased and floured pan, looking all colourful. Now lightly dip your fingers in milk and just brush them over the surface of the cookies. Place the tray in a oven and bake for 10 to 15 minutes.

Here they are, see how they have expanded after baking, allow them to cool down for a few minutes and then start munching away. These are really good and simple, Nameeta told me that I should have placed the gems in a face like pattern, that would have been really cool. So do try that out... make a lot of weird faces and let me know how it turned out. Have fun...

Junk Frame...

2010-09-14T01:05:00.004+05:30

So when the construction work was going on at home, I collected some broken pieces of tiles, marbles, stones and other junk. Made this frame using those odd bits and pieces and then used metallic paint on it. By the way those are my siblings, this was taken during the holiday season, its one of my favourite pictures (check the link to get a clearer view). I like the way the light falls softly on us, and I love the dress I am wearing (I call it my TCM dress) along with my favourite pair of jeans and of course I love those three funny people near me, they are all the entertainment I need... God in His infinite wisdom knew that I wouldn't grow up to be socially active so he created three crazy siblings who have no choice but to hang out with me and a whole horde of authors who create the characters I interact with on a daily basis. I sometimes wonder though how it would be to be at the other end of the spectrum... like going out to the cool places and hanging out with the hep and happening crowd and dancing away the night and coming home just before dawn totally exhausted but living it up. Would be equally cool I guess...

Pizza !!!!

2010-09-06T14:33:00.002+05:30

The Italians who came up with the idea of layering a flat bed of leavened flour with a sauce and some simple vegetables sure created something great for mankind. Don't be daunted by the thought of making a pizza from scratch, this is a simple enough recipe and the looks of wonder on the faces of the people who bite in that first slice is what makes the whole process worthwhile. So let's get started...

Ingredients for the pizza base :
Dry Yeast : about 6 teaspoons heaped
Warm Water : a cup
Maida : 2 1/2 cups
Baking Powder : about 2 teaspoons heaped
Vegetable Oil : 2 teaspoons (preferably Olive Oil)
Salt : 1/2 a teaspoon.

Take the lukewarm water in a bowl and drop in the 6 heaped teaspoons of dry yeast. Remember, the water has to be slightly warm, if it is piping hot it will kill the yeast and the dough will not ferment. After dropping in the yeast cover the bowl and let is sit for 10 to 15 minutes. After the 10 minutes are up, the yeast will have dissolved and formed a murky foamy liquid. Drop in the maida, baking powder, salt and oil. Now stick a long spoon into the mixture and keep mixing it around till everything lumps together to form a sticky white mass. Scrape the sticky dough off the spoon and start mixing the dough with your hand in a circular motion, it will be blatantly sticky and gooey. Now smear your palms with vegetable oil and start kneading the dough lightly into a ball as shown below.

Once your palms are greased, it will be very easy to manipulate the sticky dough into a ball. Lightly grease the base and the sides of the vessel where the dough is going to rest.

Cover the dough with a clean damp cloth and set it aside for an hour, or half an hour if you are in a hurry. (Now would be a good time to work on the tomato based sauce described a few steps below while you wait for the dough to rise.)

After an hour or so the dough would have risen quite a bit, can you make out the more pronounced bulge in the above picture?

Remove the cloth and you'll see that the dough has doubled in size, punch the dough down and then turn it on to a lightly greased pizza tray.

Moving on to the sauce: Marinara Sauce is the tomato based sauce used in pizzas and pastas. This is readily available at supermarkets in other countries, I haven't found any in the city I live in... so I just make my own.

Ingredients for the Marinara Sauce

Olive Oil : 2 Tablespoons (can use ordinary vegetable oil too)

Tomatoes : 5 to 6 ripe red tomatoes

Garlic : 7 to 8 cloves chopped

Oregano, chillie flakes, salt and pepper to taste

First, wash and grind all the tomatoes into a paste. Then heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil (or vegetable oil) in a pan and drop in the chopped garlic, fry till garlic turns light brown. Then pour in the tomato juice and cover the vessel, let it cook for 15 minutes or so.

After it has boiled a bit add the chillie flakes (optional, I only added it cause I had it at home), pepper, salt and the oregano.

Stir and let it cook for another 15 to 20 minutes. The sauce will have thickened a bit by then and it will give off a nice deliciously tantalizing aroma.

Getting back to the pizza base...

Transfer the dough to a slightly greased pizza tray (I don't own one yet, hence I'm using a baking pan) and spread it out evenly with your fingers.

Place the tray in the oven for 10 minutes to stiffen up the dough. Here I have just removed it from the oven after baking for 10 minutes, you can see that the dough has risen a bit and it is more firm. This step is done to prevent the dough from becoming soggy when the marinara sauce is spread over it.

Now spread the marinara sauce evenly over the base.

Here I have used a capsicum and onion vegetable topping.

I had some ham in the freezer so I chopped that up and spread it over the vegetables. I even used a little grated cheddar cheese in between.

Salami topping... I went all out on this pizza.

Sprinkle chillie flakes and oregano... sprinkle grated cheddar cheese over this and then stick it in the oven to bake for 25 to 30 minutes.

Here's the final product.. and trust me on this its abso-freakin-lutely delicious. And one other thing, I only used Cheddar Cheese here, cause I found out that it tastes the best. I tried using mozzarella (the actual cheese used on Pizza) but it tasted like cardboard, hence I stick to Cheddar cheese now. You get these in stores in chunks, grate them and then sprinkle them over the pizza before baking. A cheese slice was lying in my fridge, those thin plastic wrapped ones.... I cut it into strips and added that to the pizza too, and that explains those white lines of cheese in between all that yellow baked cheddar goodness.

Here are a few other pizzas made over the past few months using different toppings but following the exact same method described here...

This is a simple vegetarian pizza, used only a capsicum and onion topping and it was just as fabulous.

Here's another one with capsicum, onions, ham and bacon topping...

So go ahead, give it a shot... and enjoy some fresh home baked pizza.

Turner Classic Movies (TCM), an era when movie meant something...

2010-08-31T18:45:00.003+05:30

The TCM (Turner Classic Movies) channel is really entertaining, love those endearing old movies... those awesome dresses, the pretty girls, the dapper looking men, the less action more story script, the clean and entertaining fun, and the captivating song and dance routines. They don't make movies like this anymore...

Calamity Jane (1953) : This is one cute movie, the leading lady Doris Day (Calamity Jane) is like one of those rough and tough men, she can shoot and ride a horse better than any man, she even gets into fights with them. And her dressing is atrocious, she looks like a mean hard working cowboy... the soiled clothes, boots and the hip holster thing, not to mention her dirty blonde hair... yeah, she's quite a sight. Her friend Howard Keel, the only man in town who can outshoot her and who is allowed to make fun of her is a nice level headed guy, he is the only one who tells her to act like a girl from time to time. Jane has the biggest crush on the lieutenant in town, but he is oblivious to it. Now a new singing sensation enters town and she befrinds Jane, and slowly the makeover begins... Jane starts wearing frocks and her face is clean and she looks lovely, and all the men start noticing her. But the one person she wants to be noticed by, the lieutenant... starts to like the singer friend and Jane is heart broken. Howard Keel consoles her and tells her that the officer guy wasn't good enough for her anyway, and then through her tears she sees who she has really been in love with all this time... her own best friend! I know, sounds mushy and corny, but I loved the movie... the songs are really nice, and Doris Day as the gun slinging, loud talking and horse riding protagonist is adorable. Here's a fun song from the movie, Jane and her friend Howard get into a small argument and the lyrics are funny...

The Impossible Years (1968) : This is a movie I saw long back on TCM and loved it, its bout a father dealing with his teenage daughters. The father, a renowned psychiatrist hates it when his eldest daughter who is 18 years old starts taking an active interest in boys. He freaks out when she wears a two piece bikini for a pool party or when she mingles with those new age hippies. One day she announces that she just got married, and the dad goes about trying to find out who she married & starts suspecting a hippie bike rider. This enrages the dad but he eventually discovers that she married his trusted and clark kent look alike teaching assistant. The harried dad is kinda relived that his daughter has chosen wisely and marrried a respectable & sensible young fellow, so there he is toasting the new couple and pouring champagne, when in walks the impressionable younger daughter in a two piece swim suit with a guy following her like a puppy and this is how the movie ends with the dad going bonkers all over again bout his younger daughters growing interest in boys. Very entertaining movie...

Romeo and Juliet (1968) : This has got to be the best screen adaptaion of William Shakespear's most famous pair of star crossed lovers. I aboslutely loved it, Juliet (played by Olivia Hussey) was amazingly beautiful, so pretty and radiant... Romeo was okay (somehow guys that age looked kinda girlish). The clothes, the setting and everything was just perfect. Even though you know how it ends (shame on you, if you don't) you can't stop the tears from welling up towards the end. The great bard sure had a funny way of talking though, but if you pay attention to the words its easy to understand what the characters are saying. I sometimes wonder what Shakespeare is doing now, like is he hanging out with the angel of literature and writing plays in heaven?

Juliet on the balcony dreaming bout Romeo...

The Girl Downstairs (1938) : Stumbled upon this romantic comedy one Saturday afternoon while switching channels and it was a rare treat. I like these kind of clean, old fashioned movies... they are like those good old Mills and Boons novels. Paul Wagner a wealthy playboy is currently trying to date Rosalind, the daughter of a rich fat man who despises the sight of Paul. When all of Paul's efforts to meet Rosalind fails, he is forced to befriend Rosalind's illiterate scullery maid, Katrina. Katrina who knows Paul as just another driver, starts falling for him and it isn't long before Paul himself is quietly drawn to her kind, generous and innocent nature. Cute movie for a lazy Saturday afternoon.

Here they are, the playboy holding Rosalind... discovers true love in the maid, Katrina.