When 'No' did not mean 'Yes'

"Hello"

"Good Morning Maam. This is Sunita calling on behalf of Ronafone ( now 'rona' is the Hindi for cry and that is what I have been doing ever since I bought their SIM). Please confirm your number '973XXXXXXX'."

"Yes"

"Are you the user of this number?"

"Yes" ( Isn't it plainly obvious ??)

"Maam, would you like to activate a new plan for 3G ?"

"No, I do not require any 3G plans." (As it is my calls keep dropping due to the bad network and you guys have still not done anything about it despite logging a complaint)

"But Maam, 3G is already activated for your number. With this new plan you can get more download for just 50 rupees extra"

"What? But I did not activate 3G." (God....Rishabh keeps fiddling with my mobile all the time..what have you done this time kid??)

"Maam...would you like to go with the new 3G plan ?"

"No...and I would like to deactivate 3G. Please tell me how to go about it ?"

"Maam, I cannot do it. Please call XXX. It is a toll free number."

"But you just called for activating a new plan. Surely that means that you can deactivate/change the existing one....or you can take down my request and forward it to the concerning department"

"No Maam, I cannot do it. Please call XXX."

"I still do not understand why you cannot take my request"

"Maam, it is not possible for me to change/deactivate the existing plans"

"That means I need to call up some XXX customer care number and fight my way though the maze of an endless menu"

"Sorry for the inconvenience Maam. Please call XXX for deactivating 3G."

"Ok. Thank you."

"Thank you Maam. Have a nice day"

Gurubariya Ambila ( A rustic vegetable soup from Odisha )

Well...excuse me for the 'Gurubariya' bit . I kept thinking of a name for this recipe and could not come up with anything better. While the Ambila is a popular dish from Odisha which is somewhat similar to the Andhra rasam, this version is made only during Manabasa Gurubar or the thursdays of the Hindu month of Margasira. Devoid of the generous garlic tempering and made to include only a few select vegetables ( sweet potato, radish, banana stem & taro ) that are usually offered to Goddess Lakshmi, this has a unique taste which is unlike the regular vegetarian version (click here for recipe) or the non-vegetarian version(click here for recipe).

Read on -

Preparation Time - 15-20 mins

Ingredients -

• 1/2 cup radish (cut into circles)
• 1/4 cup sweet potato (cut into circles)
• 1/4 cup taro/arbi (cut into circles)
• 1/4 cup banana stem (cut into small pieces)
• 1 green chili
• 1 dry red chili
• 1 sprig curry leaves
• 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
• 1/2 tsp ginger juliennes (my addition)
• 1 tbsp jaggery
• 1 lemon sized ball of tamarind
• pinch of asafoetida
• salt to taste
• 1/5 tsp turmeric powder
• 1/2 tsp refined oil/ghee

Preparation - Mix the banana stem pieces with a bit of salt and set aside for 20 mins. Squeeze out the water from the pieces.

Soak the tamarind in 1/2 cup warm water for 15 mins. Mash it with hands and strain the liquid. Discard the solids.

Cooking - Add all the vegetables to a pressure cooker along with 4 cups of water, green chili, turmeric and salt to taste. Cook for 2 whistles. Remove from flame and keep aside till steam escapes.

Put the pressure cooker on a low flame. Add the jaggery and the tamarind to it. Allow to simmer for 6-7 mins. Adjust consistency.

Heat the oil/ghee in a small pan. Add the cumin seeds, asafoetida, broken red chili and curry leaves to it. Once it gets spluttering, pour the tempering over the contents of the pressure cooker. Boil for 1 minute before removing from flame.

Serve it hot with meals or enjoy as a light soup.

Whole Wheat Carrot Cake ( That's some Low calorie indulgence )

"How can a cake be healthy?", queried my husband. "It has to have sugar, butter/oil and maida", he elaborated. "How about we cut down on the sugar and oil, and replace the maida with atta ?", I replied. "What about the taste?", was the obvious question that followed. Humm. That last question sent me scurrying to my laptop for a godsend solution as any other plea regarding health was going to cut any ice with father and son. And I did find the prefect solution in Sanjeev Kapoor's recipe.

This recipe very cleverly substitutes a part of the wheat flour with grated carrot while going easy on the sugar and oil. The natural sweetness of carrots combined with the generous use of eggs gives this cake a deliciously moist texture and awesome flavours. Read on for the recipe -

Preparation Time - 1 hour 20 mins

Ingredients -

• 2 cups coarsely grated carrots
• 3/4 cup whole wheat flour (atta)
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tbsp rice bran oil
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/3 tsp Eno
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon powder
• a pinch of salt
• Baking dish - Borosil 1.2 L Square dish

Preparation - Grind the sugar into a powder.

Break the eggs into a bowl and beat them till fluffy. Add the powdered sugar and beat for 2-3 mins .

Stir in the grated carrot followed by the wheat flour, cinnamon powder, salt, Eno and baking powder.

Finally add the oil and mix everything together.

Baking - Heat an oven to 180 degrees Centigrade for 10 mins.

Grease and then dust the baking tray with a little flour. Pour the batter into it and place it in the center of the oven. Allow to bake for 45-50 mins or till a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool down. (Run a knife along the edges and flip it over while it is still a bit warm. This way it comes out clean)

Cut into pieces and serve along with some tea/coffee. (Since it is a moist cake, it is best to refrigerate any leftovers)

Note - Baking time will vary with the size of the baking dish.

Chicken Kheema Matar

A few days back I had posted the recipe for soya kheema matar . That had been inspired by the Kheema matar, a delicious recipe of minced mutton cooked along with fresh green peas. But as I have resolved to stay away from red meat this year, I substituted the mutton with chicken. I found it to be easy and quick, and one of the best side-dishes for hot puffed by rotis.

Read on for the easy recipe -

Preparation Time - 15-20 mins

Ingredients -

• 1 cup chicken kheema/minced chicken
• 1 cup shelled green peas (fresh ones only)
• 1 large tomato
• 1 medium sized onion
• 1 small boiled potato
• 1 green chili (finely chopped)
• 1 tsp ginger paste
• 1 tsp garlic paste
• 1/2 tsp Kashmiri chili powder
• 1/3 tsp coriander powder
• 1/5 tsp Garam masala
• 1/4 tsp turmeric
• 2 inch long cinnamon stick
• 1-2 green cardamom
• 1-2 cloves
• 1 bay leaf
• 3 tbsp thick curd
• 3 tsp oil
• salt to taste
• fresh coriander leaves for garnishing

Preparation - Wash and drain the chicken kheema to remove excess water.

Chop the onion into medium sized pieces. The tomato can either be finely chopped or grind into a paste.

Peel and cut the potato into small pieces.

Beat the curd lightly with a spoon to break any lumps.

Cooking - Heat the oil in a pressure cooker. Throw in the whole garam masala. Add the onions and fry for 1-2 minutes before adding the ginger paste, garlic paste and green chili. Fry for 3-4 minutes till the raw smell goes off.

Add the chicken kheema at this point along with the coriander powder, turmeric powder, red chili powder and half of the garam masala. Fry for 4-5 minutes.

Add the tomato pieces and fry for 2-3 mins. Add the beaten curd and cook for another 2-3 mins.

Finally add the green peas, potato pieces, salt and remaining garam masala. Cook for 3-4 mins on low flame before removing from the stove.

Serve hot with rotis or even with some white rice.

Note - Add some meat masala to add that extra zing to this dish !! If making this dish with mutton kheema or country chicken kheema, add about 1/2 cup hot water while adding green peas and cook it for 2-3 whistles.

Chicken Porcupine Balls ( That's one guilt-free snack )

One of the resolutions that I have made for 2015 is to go easy on the oily/fried stuff. And that takes me on a journey to discover and adopt as many steamed/roasted (read 'low calories') recipes as possible without compromising on my family's taste buds. So when I came across this recipe in a magazine, I just had to try it.

Though these cute looking porcupine balls were at first intended as party snacks for the kids, I added green chili instead of pepper powder to up the heat content. One can also add some finely chopped greens/cabbage/carrots/peppers to the chicken mince to get some fiber into this dish. With a little bit of tinkering, one can tailor this recipe in accordance with one's dietary plans.

Read on for my version of the recipe -

Preparation Time - 20-25 mins

Ingredients -

• 1 cup chicken mince
• 1/2 of a small onion (finely chopped)
• 2 garlic cloves (grated)
• 1/2 inch ginger (grated)
• 1 green chili (finely chopped)
• 1 tsp sesame seeds
• few drops of light soy sauce
• one egg white
• 1/4 cup rice (preferably the thin and long variety)
• few drops oil for greasing
• salt to taste

Preparation - Wash and soak the rice for 2-3 hours.

Take the chicken mince in a mixing bowl and add all the remaining ingredients (except oil & rice).
Mix well and divide into 12-14 portions. Shape each portion into a ball.

Strain the rice, spread it on a plate and put under the fan for 5-10 mins so that the excess water gets evaporated. Roll each ball over the rice so that the rice grains coat it well.

Cooking - Plug in a steamer. If you do not own one, use an idli stand and spread some banana leaves over the plates. (Or you can even do it in a pressure cooker like we steam dhokla)

Place the balls and close the lid. Steam for 15-18 mins .

Remove from the steamer/idli pot and serve hot with schezuan chutney/sauce.

Koli achara /Ber ka achar/Kuller Achar ( and a whiff of nostalgia )

'Koli' or 'barakoli' used to be one of my favorite fruits during the school days. I still prefer it to strawberry, raspberry, blueberry or for that matter, any other berry on this planet. Almost everything about it was so much fun. Eagerly gobbling a few of the still green ones and spitting them out in disgust, waiting for them to take on that slightly golden hue which signaled the ripening stage, throwing stones/beating the branches with long sticks to pluck the ripened berries from the tree, all accompanied with the admonishing from elders who forbid us to eat them before Saraswati Puja. Growing up in a small town like Rourkela where there were lots of 'barakoli' trees in almost every neighborhood, we surely had a great time. It was considered quite cool to snatch some berries from a neighbour's tree while the occupants of the house were having their afternoon siesta. And thankfully nobody branded a bunch of kids as 'kleptomaniacs' in those days.

Once Saraswati Puja was over, one would find the fruit being sold everywhere in the local markets. Though it was less fun as compared to savoring the first (read 'stolen') berries of the season, we still consumed them till we got stomach cramps or sometimes even a bad cough. But still these minor side effects did not deter us kids. Finally it would be time to pickle the berries. The ladies of the house would wash and dry the berries before pickling them. And we would finish more than half of the stuff even before they reached the pickling stage. So, my grandmother would pickle the remaining lot and keep it out of reach. Somehow she managed to ration the stuff so that it lasted almost the entire year. Aaah, those days were quite magical.

But these days we always buy our pickles off the supermarket shelves. Neither do they have the taste which my grandmother's pickles had nor will my kid have any such memories to hold on to. Maybe that's why I made this pickle so that he can experience some of the magic though in a much subdued manner. Here is the recipe -

Preparation Time - 15 mins (this is the coking time only, the drying process takes days)


Ingredients -

• 250 gms koli/ber
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1/2 tsp fenugreek/methi seeds
• 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp fennel/saunf seeds
• 3-4 dry red chilis
• 1 cup jaggery
• 4-5 tsp mustard oil
• 1/2 tsp salt or to taste

Preparation - Wash and clean the berries. Dry them a bit so that the surface moisture evaporates.

Crack open each one and check for insects. This is the most time consuming part but one has to be careful while doing it.

Sprinkle turmeric and a little salt on the berries. Mix thoroughly and sun dry for 3-4 days.

Cooking - Dry roast the mustard, fenugreek and fennel seeds. Once cool, grind them into a powder.

Separately dry roast the red chilis and cumin seeds. Once cool, grind them into a powder.

Heat the oil in a wok. Add the jaggery and the red chili-cumin powder. Sprinkle a few teaspoons of water. Once the jaggery melts and starts bubbling, add the dried berries. 

Cook for 2-3 minutes or till the jaggery thickens. Remove from flame and sprinkle the mustard-fenugreek-fennel seed powder and mix thoroughly.

Allow to cool down completely before bottling it up. Stays good for an year or even longer (that is if you can control the urge to gobble it up).

Note - Some people also prefer to make this pickle by cooking the dried berries in jaggery to which some chili powder has been added and finally adding a tempering of pancha-phutana or panch-phoran at the end.

Pancha-phutana or panch-phoran is a mix of mustard, cumin, fenugreek, nigella and fennel seeds in equal proportion. It is very frequently used in Odia and Bengali cuisine.

It's time for new beginnings !!

Yeah we have reached that point of time where it is considered mandatory to make new resolutions. It is a different story that most of them do not even last beyond the first month of the new year. But still everyone makes them.

Funnily enough I have been working on my new year resolutions for more than six months now. Yeah, some things have been going on and on in my mind ever since the middle of the year 2014. Most of you would wonder why did I wait for so long to implement them. To be honest I am not the kind of person who would wait for the new year to start working on something new. But this time I wanted to do my homework well. Another reason has been that I have a young kid at home. And therefore I had to strike that precarious balance between my dreams and my immediate responsibilities as a wife and a mother.

Coming back to my resolution, it is a fairly simple one on the surface. Putting it in one single sentence, I would put it as "I want to become financially independent again". Sounds simple enough. I worked for more than seven years (starting from the final year of my college) before I assumed the responsibilities of a being a hands-on mother. It meant giving up my job which translated into becoming financially dependent on my husband and moving a notch down the social ladder. But sadly it meant giving up much more than I can write in a single blog post. However it is something which another person would find difficult to understand.

With my kid growing up, I am now fighting for that comeback. And I want make it on my own terms. Balancing life as a blogger and writer, I want to get back everything that I had put aside. And with a high performance tab like the Micromax Canvas P666, I can do everything from managing my sponsors,staying connected with my readers and reaching out to a greater audience. Yeah, this tab is a multi-tasker just like me.

Being a blogger, it is not just important to have great content on my blog . Taking it to the audience is equally important in this age of social networking. This tab has camera (both front and rear which can be used to share snaps directly from my kitchen  ), 1080p HD video recording (which can be used to make those short Youtube videos of my recipes) and 3G connectivity (for faster upload). In short everything to support me and my dreams.




This post is written for the Micromax Canvas Tab P666 . Check out their rocking video -

Patanjali Honey-Orange Face wash Review

I am loving the Patanjali 'Honey-Orange' Face wash this winter. Though I started using it sometime in the second week of November, I decided to hold the review atleast for a month so that I could be sure of its effects in the long run. Now that my first tube is almost over, I can still say that I love it.

Endowed with a refreshing Orangey scent, it contains ingredients like Honey, Neem, Tulsi, Haldi, Mulethi and ofcourse Orange. Moreover, it is a hundred percent soap free gel formulation.

My experience with the product - 

My skin is quite well behaved this winter and I do not get much dryness except on certain days. I guess that is due to some hormonal fluctuations that I have been experiencing of late. The Honey-Orange face wash gives a rather rich lather so I just need to use a single drop of it. Thankfully the lather also gets washed off quite easily (unlike the Soundarya Face wash). Have been using it twice a day and it leaves my skin squeaky clean. I do not feel the need to run for a moisturizer immediately after washing my face. Skin looks quite radiant and it has effectively taken care of the stray pimples ( I do get 2-3 eruptions at times) too.



Why would I recommend the Patanjali Honey-Orange Face Wash ?

Pros -

1. Suits normal to slightly dry skin (Most importantly does not dry out skin in the long run)
2. Leaves a glow on the skin
3. Priced economically at Rs 45/- for 60 ml
4. Love the citrus scent
5. Good lather that washes off easily
6. 100 percent soap-free
7. Can fit into any handbag easily.( Rest assured the cap is sturdy so it doesn't leak )


Cons -

1. Contains Parabens .

Verdict - This is fares better than the Patanjali Saundarya Face wash and I am definitely buying it again.

Rating - 4.5/5 .

Dilli-wala Gajar ka Halwa (North Indian treat)

My earliest memory of making 'Gajar ka Halwa' dates back to the 6th or the 7th standard when i used to help my Mom with grating the carrots and stirring the mixture at regular intervals. However it was only after I got married that I started to manage the entire process all by myself. And I took to experimenting with different methods and playing around the ingredients, sometimes with great results and at other times, not so good.

But sometime during my pregnancy, my husband asked one of his colleagues to get some special 'Dilli-wala' stuff on one of the latter's Gurgaon trips. And I was hooked. It was the best 'gajar-ka-halwa' I have ever had. True it was loaded with calories but still it awesome and I could not just stop at one. So, my husband had to request other folks flying to Delhi to get some for me everytime. It was one of the very few thing that I craved for during my pregnancy.

I badly wanted to replicate the taste in my kitchen and consulted various folks. But somehow the results disappointed me. And then I decided to go by what I had seen on one of the TV shows. It was a very long time back so I do not remember anything about the channel, anchor or show. Just that it was somewhere in Delhi and a 'halwai' was sharing some pearls of wisdom with the anchor who looked more eager to dig into the stuff rather than in picking up the finer nuances of making the dish.
The results were astonishing and I could not believe that I had just perfected this North India delicacy.

Read on for the recipe -

Preparation Time - 150 mins


Ingredients -

• 750 gms Delhi carrot (the red variety)
• 1.5 liters milk
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup unsweetened khoya
• 3 tbsp ghee/clarified butter
• 1/2 tsp cardamom powder
• 2/3 cup cashews

Preparation -

Wash & peel the carrots. Grate them using a medium/thick grater . (I used the inner side of the Tupperware Handy grater). If you make it too fine, it will almost turn into a paste and the texture of halwa will be spoiled.

Fry the cashews in ghee and keep aside.

Cooking - Boil the milk in a big non-stick vessel. Add the grated carrots and boil on a low flame. Keep stirring at times. Once the carrots seem to be softened (takes about 60-75 mins), turn up the flame to a medium to quicken the process. Or you can continue doing this on a low flame but it will take longer.

Once the milk has almost evaporated, add the sugar. This will again make the mixture more liquid. Continue to cook till the liquid evaporates (20-25 mins) and the mixture reddens in color.

Then add the ghee, crumbled khoya, fried cashews and cardamom powder. Cook for 5-6 minutes before removing from the flame. (Remember to take it off the flame while it is a little liquid as compared to the desired consistency as it will solidify on cooling.)

Serve warm/cold.

When unspoken words weighed heavy

Some years back when I had just started working, I got my first posting in Mangalore. A beautiful place close to the sea and the newly found freedom made for a magical concoction. It was the first time I was staying away from my parents and the protected life that I had always led. The 'no deadlines', 'no parties', 'no boyfriends' rule had been relaxed and I wanted to make the most out of it as did the others in our group.

Beaches, ports, a nearby fort, city malls, we visited everything worth seeing. But Mangalore being a small place, we felt that we had seen everything within a span of two months and were hungry to explore more. Hence on an extended weekend, we planned a trip to Goa. Even though the hotel and bus reservations had been made, I was scared to mention anything about the trip to my parents. I was scared that they might stop me.

I called them around an hour before boarding the overnight bus and made some excuse about having a late night call. I told them that I might not be able to call them after getting back from office as it might get too late. We boarded the bus and some of my friends fell asleep almost immediately. But sleep kept eluding me all night as I thought about my parents and the lie that I had told them. It being a full moon night, there was much scenic beauty to be enjoyed. The bus took us through a hilly area and then along a road that was almost parallel to the sea. The rising waves looked ethereal in the moonlight but I could not enjoy the sights.

It was a glorious morning when our bus finally reached Goa. A short trip to the hotel was followed by a quick shower and breakfast. We set out immediately to enjoy the famed beaches of Goa. For some time atleast, I forgot about my guilt. After splashing around the water for a few hours, all of us were hungry. We made it to a beach-side restaurant near Baga beach for a sumptuous Goan meal when one of the waiters inquired if we had tried out any water sports. The owner of the place owned some speed boats, banana boats and some parasailing stuff, and offered us a good bargain. But since we had just had lunch, he told us to roam around on the beach for 1-2 hours and do some shopping to burn it off before trying anything adventurous.

After all of us had done a few rounds on the speed boats, we decided to go for a group activity. Zeroing on to a banana boat, we were feeling a bit skeptical but decided to go ahead anyways. Though it was tough to balance the boat at first, all of us got a hang of it and had ventured quite deep into the sea. It was a magical ride with clear blue water, cloud dotted skies and the fish jumping all around us. That is till we encountered an unusually big wave which overturned the boat. As I fell into the water, my first thought was that my parents were in the dark about this trip. Though I had a life jacket on, morbid thoughts filled my mind as I realized that they would be shocked to no end if anything unfortunate happened to me in Goa. It stung more than the salt water which had gotten into my eyes. I made a silent resolve that I would call my parents immediately after reaching the shore.

With the help of the men in our guide boat and the nearby boats, all of us made it to the beach. I had ingested some salt water as I did not know how to swim. But once I had thrown up that stuff and had some fresh water, it felt good. I immediately called my parents and told them about the trip. At first they were upset but when I broke down while narrating the banana boat incident, they chided me for behaving like a naughty child. Their scoldings made it clear that they had forgiven me. A heavy load had been lifted off my chest and I enjoyed the rest of the trip with a clear conscience.



Do check out this touching video which talks about the power of 'Sacchai' -

Chilled Rasam & Sattu Drink: Latest variants from Paper Boat

Paper boat is back with more variants !!! This time it is rasam (???) and sattu (???). While folks from the North would balk at the mention of rasam, folks down south would do the same when it comes to sattu. Hence the strikingly differnt flavours to please all folks :)

Before we discuss the drinks further, let us get a lowdown of the benefits of each -

Benefits of Rasam -

1. Aids digestion.
2. Helpful in cases of flatulence.
3. Helps when one is down with cold/mild fever (thanks to pepper)
4. It is touted to have cholesterol lowering properties too (thanks to tamarind)
5. It is anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, anti-viral and blood purifying too (thanks to garlic)



Benefits of Sattu -

1. Nutritious and also easily digestible.
2. High fiber content
3. Provides instant stamina
4. Great for diabetics and those suffering from high blood pressure.
5. Greatly refreshing, hence served as a cooling drink during the summers to prevent heatstroke.
6. A natural health drink that helps in maintaining weight.


How I find the stuff ?

Chilled Rasam is a dark brown liquid which is thicker than the regular 'hot rasam' and it lacks a bit of sweetness. Tastes good when chilled though and I think that I might even warm it a bit, add some tempering and have it with my rice.

The Sattu variant is quite thick just like the original stuff. But i would have liked it to be a tad bit sweeter and less sour (though some people do add a little lemon juice to it). I found it to more refreshing than the other variants (with the exception of Aam Panna).

Why would I recommend Paper Boat drinks ??

Yaay's -

1. Low on sugar ( just 1.65 g/100ml for Sattu Drink & zero for Chilled Rasam)
2. Traditional Indian flavours
3. Low on calories ( 31.5 Kcal/100 ml for Sattu Drink and 14 Kcal/100ml for Chilled Rasam )
4. No preservatives
5. No added colors
6. All natural ingredients
7. Nice taste (when slightly chilled)
8. Priced at Rupees 30/250 ml.
9. Gluten free
10. Low GI & low calorie.

Naay's -

1. None. (though i would not mind if both are a tad sweeter)