Mom’s Special

So I am back from a wonderful break at home… 15 days spent getting pampered by mom.. enjoying the food, Delhi shopping and Delhi in general… I tell u the city is a boon for shoppers and foodies and considering I am both its actually a heaven for me

I also met some amazing bloggers there and that was the sone pe suhaga… and what an afternoon that was… Met Meira, nm, How do we know, SMM, Neera at the gracious host nm’s house… great talks were had with some awesome pav bhaji , pasta and kachoris and dhoklas which Neera got… this delicious food was followed by some amazing pastries that Meira bought… the kids behaved themselves, played with each other and the mom chit chatted over food as long last friends… Can it get better and then with a heavy heart at around 4:30pm we parted ways…  Yay guys I do too many blogger meets and would be happy to see too many J J comments

(Read what Meira wrote about the meet here )

And now that I am back from home, let me put a Friday Feast recipe (coming on a Sunday… but just couldn’t manage to post it before even when the post was almost complete) which is my mom’s special…Bread Rolls…  I am sure a lot of people make it but this somehow remains mom’s specialty for us specially for N… When mom came to our house first time after my wedding she made it for breakfast and N instantly loved it… and now when everyone mom is visiting here or we are gone home that has become a must make breakfast… and the funny thing is that N calls it bread pakora and the first time he asked us to make bread pakora we were like really surprised because I didnt know he likes them but nonetheless we made it and when it reached the table…N was what have u made and then we realised that he is actually asking for brad roll

So here is the recpie of Mom’s Special Bread Roll

Ingredients

for the filling

• 1 big potato boiled and mashed
• 1/2 cup peas boiled and mashed lightly
• 1 small onion chopped
• 1-2 green chillies chopped
• handful of corrainder leaves chopped
• 1 tsp dhaniya powder
• 1/2 tsp garam masala powder
• 1/2 tsp aamchur powder (dry mango)
• salt and chilli powder to taste

For the rolls

• Bread slices 6
• Oil to fry
• Some water

Method

• Mix all filling ingredients and divide it into 6 equal parts
• Take a slice of bread, dip it in cold water and then squeeze out the water
• Take a ball of the filling, place it in the bread and the fold the bread to make it look like a roll
• Repeat for all slices
• Deep fry in oil

Serve hot absolute sinful but delicious bread rolls with green chutney or sauce

I also make a little healthier variation of this which I stuff with mix veggies and mozzarella, bake it instead of frying… that turns out yum too… will post that soon after I make it next time, I need a pic to upload

till then enjoy the sinful treat

PS: I haven’t been able to come and read your blogs and reply to the comments… from past some time its happening so often that I am feeling bad saying sorry too now… but I promise to be more regular now… promise promise promise dont leave me and go haan

Dumb and Dumber

Pixie did it and then Swati did too… So I thought let me check how dumb am I

[] Gum has fallen out of your mouth when you were talking

[] Gum has fallen out of your mouth when you were NOT talking

[x] You have run into a glass/screen door

[] You have jumped out of a moving vehicle

[x] You have thought of something funny while walking by yourself

[x] Laughed, then watched people give you weird looks

[x] You have run into a tree/bush.

[ ] You know that it IS possible to lick your elbow

[ ] You have tried to lick your elbow… a few times

[x] You never knew that the Alphabet and Twinkle Twinkle Little star have the same rhythm.

[x] You just tried to sing them.

[ x] You have tripped on your shoelace and fallen.

[ ] You have choked on your own spit .

[ ] You have seen the Matrix and still don’t get it.

[ ] You’ve never seen the Matrix.

[ ] You type only with two fingers.

[ x] You have accidentally caught something on fire

[ ] You tried to drink out of a straw, but it went into your nose/eyes.

[] You have caught yourself drooling.

[ ] You have fallen asleep in class and fell outta your chair

[x] Sometimes you just stop thinking

[x] You are telling a story and forget what you were talking about

[ ] People often shake their heads and walk away from you

[ ] You are often told to use your “inside voice”.

[x] You use your fingers to do simple math

[ ] You have eaten a bug ***YUCK!!!***

[x] You are taking this test when you should be doing something more important ..

[x] You have put your clothes on backwards or inside out, and didn’t realize it

[x] You’ve looked all over for something and realized it was in your hand

[x] You have run around naked in your house.

[ ] You repost bulletins because you are scared that what they say will happen to you if you don’t.

[x] You break a lot of things.

[ ] Your friends know not to use big words around you.

[x] You tilt your head when you’re confused

[ x] You have fallen out of your chair before

[x] When you’re lying in bed, you try to find pictures in the texture of the ceiling or wall

[x] The word “ummmmm” is used many times a day.

TOTAL: 19

I am (19/37)*100 = 51.35% DUMB !

More than 50% !!! and same as swati So come on tell me how dumb are u

Delicious Tag

D sent my way a deliciously different tag… and here is my take on it…

But first the rules

Five memorable meals ever eaten: It could be anything that makes the meal memorable – the food, the place, the place you were in your life when you ate, the company, the weather, the ambiance – heck, the guy who served the food!”.

Considering the fact that food is a major part of my life both eating and cooking it was a delightful tag to do, the only difficulty was to choose which ones come here… but here is my attempt

Maa ke haath ka khaana: Like I mentioned in my previous post nothing beats maa ke haath ka khaana… specially when u are coming home… ever since I have moved to Bangalore about 8 years back (yes I know I wrongly mentioned 6 yrs in my last post, thanks Puneet for correcting that)… every time I come back home I am maha excited about the food that mom is going to make for me when I reach home… in my mind there is always a list of things ready that I want mom to cook and me hog them but most of all which I remember is that kadhi chawal that has almost become like a tradition for me… everytime I come home from the airport mom has steaming hot and spicy kadhi chawal ready for me and as soon as I enter home I start eating that aaah its bliss…. kadhi chawal are always the best then

Badi mummy and samosa-jalebi: and if anything can ever imagine to beat ma ke haath ka khaana its the one made by maa ki maa… naani or badi mummy as I used to call her… the aloo parathans she used to make… thin but full with stuffing, the keralas yumm… stuffed keralas… never eaten the way she used to cook them, even the simple dal tadka she used to make used to be heavenly… but if one has to ask the most loved food memory with badi mummy strangely its not associated with her cooked food… its of samosas and jalebis bought from the nearby shop… when I was very small we used to live very close to our nani’s house and I virtually used to live there, including us sisters and my uncle’s children we were about 5 kids and every evening badi mummy used to give us rs 2 to eat something and that used to be bliss… in summers they were often spent eating the thappa walla kulfi… do u guys remember it… and how crazy we used to be on how many kulfis we get and in the other times it always used to be samosas and jalebis… gosh I am addicted to those still… if I see a samosa my mind starts plottting how to get a jalebi

Way to a man eerrr a woman’s heart is through food: now N always helps me in the kitchen… always but he is no great cook, his cooking is limited to making eggs, maggi and tea … and every sunday breakfast well almost his dedicated to eggs made by him but its one meal made by him which blew me away… It was the first time after marriage that I had gone to delhi alone  for a week or so and it was also the first time after marriage we were away for so long I was supposed to come back by a flight which was landing at 8:30 pm and the low cost airlines had just started so there was no food served on the flight… before boarding the flight I was chatting with him saying ok though I dont feel like eating out we will step and eat somewhere near by and he told me ok what we’ll do is that we’ll dump the luggage home and then go eat… I sulked a little thinking… gosh who will feel like coming out again once I reach home but didnt want to fight but when I reached home I was in for such a pleasant surprise… allo gobhi and dal tadka and chapathi’s too… ofcourse the kitchen was dirty like hell but food amazing….

Its all about food : About 3 years back we had gone to a Himalaya trip with a group of friends… friends that are a great group… the trip was fantastic and was full of food apart from the scenic beauty the first thing that comes to my mind when I think about that trip is food and tea but there are two particular meals probably I can never forget…. the first was the simplest of all meals we had at a small dhabha just when we started climbing after rishikesh… the most yummiest food I have had… dal tadka, karela fry and aalo jeera…. simple fresh and yummy… we all eat like pigs and the bill at a small roadside dhabha came to be some Rs 6000 and then we went to Auli… because it was not skiing season it was practically empty and there was just a small tent where the guy was selling maggi, omelletes and tea…. what a meal was that… nanda devi as a view, oak trees all around… as much place as u want to run, bright and nice sunny day and great group of friends and yes maggi and omellete too

Jab beta khilaye tou dil bhar aaye: last but not the least and the most recent…. a couple of days back we had come back late from one of our usual delhi shopping trips yes loads of it is happening and both me and mom were very tired so we decided to just order from outside…. we got some idli dosa’s and after I finished feeding Ojas I was so tired that I sat down on the floor and told him baby mumma very tired and what he did post that just brought tears to my eyes… he went to the table… picked up a idly kept in my plate… took the spoon from my hand and started feeding me… cut a piece of idly, dip it in sambhar and put it in my mouth and then take some more sambhar and put it in my mouth… just as I was feeding him…God bless u my darling

And then there are the numerous memories of chats at UPSC where we used to get down from the direct bus for the chat, mid might maggies and chiwda with my bestest friend S, the bhutta and the boiled spicy challi…. the endless chai and pakoras at the tapri outside the college… the gol gappa eating competitions….  the yummy yummy melting in mouth murgan idlies of chennai that I was crave for… hot chocolate fudge from nirulas (and yes nirulas makes it the best and not corner house )….the late night food in the RTO dhabha after the pub…. the mid night coffee at Taj…. life is all about food and its memories… so come tell me urs

Everyone who comes here should take the tag but there are some people I want to specifically hear the stories from… so here goes

Hitchy : because if a foodie wont have food tales who will, besides I love hearing about gujarti thalis and drooling

Solio : because we share the love for eggs and cocktails

IHM : with two grown up kids I am sure she will have enough tales

Munchkin Mom’s : the person who bakes so well will surely have some tales to tell… (I know u are busy dear take ur time)

Swaram : think about food and go revive your food blog girl

Tara : the food pics she puts up are drool worthy now come tell us the story behind them

Tumsa Nahin Dhekha

I missed it fro 3 weeks owing it to various problems but here it is this week and hopefully should continue

So O is for Late O P Nayyar… what a magical touch he had… his numbers peppy and catchy… I am a huge fan

Some of his super hits movies include

• Aar Paar
• Naya Duar
• Mr & Mrs 55
• CID
• Tumsa Nahin Dhekha
• Phir Wahi Dil Laya Hoon
• Mere Sanaam
• Kashmir Ki Kali
• Howrah Bridge

According to wiki

“During the 1950s, the state-controlled All India Radio found O.P. too “trendy”, and put for quite some time a ban on broadcasting most of his famous tunes”

I wasnt aware of this

Leaving u with two of my most favorites

I started by thinking I will list 2 songs and see, I will stop now feel free (rather pls do) add ur fav O P Nayyar song in the comments

2 States

both the book and in reality

I recently read Chetan Bhagat’s 2 states, frankly I am not a his fan apart from his Five Point Somehow I haven’t really liked any book of his and I think five point someone was also good because it was a refreshing change coming out of India on life in Indian university, but I have read all of them may be because the pricing is so right… 95 bucks doesnt really matter if u dont like the book does it

So when 2 states was released I picked it up and specially because the plot seems so close to my real life and I must say this is probably his best book… Its not a literary masterpiece but then I dont think he even attempts to make one…

There is a fresh feel to the book which I think is very important for any writer because the last two of his books almost felt like the previous ones but the freshness is back here…

The humor in the book is brilliant ofcourse he has over done a little at times but probably that is needed to bring the masala in…

Its a topic on which enough movies have been made and enough books written yet Bhagat’s novel’s brings in some novelty to it and the way he has brought out the characteristics of both the communities is just wow!!!

There were so many times when I was laughing out aloud and nodding my head the loud boisterous punju’s and the always pretending to be intellectual tams and the climax the last 50 pages of the book… they are the best and frankly that is so rare because most of the time the writer is confused at the climax… ofcourse its the usual marriage boy meets girl but the way its done… if u have ever been to a cross cultural marriage u will know it!!! It could almost recall my wedding when my relatives were complaining what a boring set of people sitting quietly and doing pooja and N’s relative were shocked when all we needed is a DJ and drinks

All in all I think its worth a read specially at Rs. 95….I finished in about 4 hrs flat…

And I am delhi and a all of us having a blast…This was Ojas’s first flight with a single parent infact this is his first trip with single parent… I was scared as hell damn its so difficult to make him sit for 2.5 mins forget about 2.5 hours but the kingfisher air hostess were darlings and their inflight entertainments Pingu show a boon the flight was a breeze

One incident that happened on the flight

There was a girl of almost the same age as Ojas and she was crying a lot in the flight, some 2 times Ojas said baby crying and I told him dont worry she will be fine and then he suddenly got down from my lap walked upto the girl and said “What happened baby no cry” and gave her a kiss…

and did I tell u there is nothing better than ma ke haath ka khaana

So whats up with u guys?

May I (un)help U?

PS: long post warning

What do u think of customer service in India? In these times of call centers and support offices I am sure all of us have experienced and yes to some extent cribbed about the same too

In the past sometime however what I have experienced has taken my irritation to a different level

It all started when about a month or so ago my laptop started giving me some battery issues and we logged a complaint and waited for the engineer to arrive and diagnose the problem, 1 week passed and nothing really happened… and then one day the adapter fully gave up and we had to pull some strings in Wipro to get the service engineer visit home in next 2 days… Can u beat that and then we he came…he informed me that both the battery and adapter need to be changed and he will send me the quote within an hour, however 3 days passed and no quote arrived and we had to again pull some strings for the quote to arrive and once it arrive their started another debate how long will it takes the spares to be delivered… once again some strings had to be pulled and it was promised that it will be delivered in 2 days and I would have been very happy when they delivered it in 4 days if only the right parts were delivered… and it took me so much of effort and time to get the right parts again

And if u think thats worst wait till u hear the story refrigerator… I have a samsung refrigerator which is not working for the past 20 days now… and please dont ask me how I am surviving without one for 20 days that too with festive and party season around..

a little more than 25 days ago I noticed that my fridge is not cooling as effectively, I blamed it on the hot weather and increased the power and when one day I found milk spoiled even after that I knew that there is something wrong. I logged a complaint with them exactly 22 days before and a service representative visited me after 2 days (though I have a problem with that too, incase of necessitates like fridge they should be visiting in 1 day but lets move further we will have enough to crib about) and he said that a sensor was moved and I have fixed it now and it will work… and merel 6 hours after he was gone I found it in the same situation

I called the service center again and after endless wait and that stupid hold music I logged another complaint and the service guy came after 3 days telling me the part is not in the stock… and after waiting for another 2 days the part was recvied a heafty money paid and in my mind the fridge repaired but alas it was in my mind only… next day morning when I woke the fridge was not working again

And hence started yet another round of calling the customer service and one more call was logged… again the service guy came after 2 days (now when the same person is logging a call third time and has also insisted that its a urgent and a escalation they still took 2 days to come to the residence wow hats off) and guess what he calmly tells me sorry madam I cant figure out what the problem is and I will send a senior engineer for the same and promised me that the person will visit me the same day evening…

However when the same day evening became next day evening and there was no sign of any senior engineer or call from anyone I sighed and called the service center again and this time I insisted on speaking to the manager and when I am clearly telling (read shouting) that this is an escalation they have the audacity to tell me that he is busy and when I told them that no I am not putting the phone down without speaking to the manager I was put on hold for 8 mins and 10 secs and again told that the manager is busy… I shouted once again this time threatening them to go to consumer court and the manager became free in 1 sec… and promised me that the engineer will visit my home tomorrow morning itself… however the tomorrow morning happened after 3 days and 6 calls

And man he told me that I was informed of this call only today… only today morning did the previous good for nothing engineer told me that this call is still open? Dont they have a proper tracking mechanism and whatever happened to my 7 calls that I made to the service center in each one of which they had told me that the appointment for today has been fixed and he will come morning/evening depending upon what time I called…

And what he told me next takes the cake… he said oh there is a heater problem if the previous guy would have restarted (windows this too??????) the fridge he would have known… WTF????????????? and he told me to just restart it every 6 hours once and dont worry about it?????????????? I am speechless and dont know what to do?

Its been 5 days since he visited and there is no news of the part yet again and my fridge is not working still….

I am fed up of calling the engineer who asks me to call his supervisor who never picks up the call and when I call back the engineer and tell him… he says ya he will pick up the calls only after 2 in the afternoon… wow and then when i call after 2 he still doesnt pick up??? the service center refuses to act on it and I really dont know what to do…

With this state of customer service in India do we plan to become a super power?

Is there something called a Post Diwali Depression………. I dont know whats the reason but all I want to do is cry today

Happy Diwali

Wishing all of u a very happy diwali!! May the festivals of light bring lot of happiness and brightness along

Sometimes being hot is not good : Blog Action Day 09

6 years back when I landed in Bangalore, the first thing that stuck me was wow what weather!!! The first weeks were spent totally and only enjoying the lovely weather… the long strolls on MG Road with nice breeze and slight drizzle…. what a romantic place to be in… And coming from Delhi which is either very cold or very hot it felt like a boon, a heaven…

Anyone who was experienced Bangalore will be smiling and nodding right now I know it guys

But alas all this is slowly becoming a thing of the past, the summers (which were hardly existent before) are getting longer and hotter to the extent that people have seriously started buying AC’s and no I am not talking about the show off people….

The rains which used to be a 10 month affair in Bangalore have hardly happened this year… this is the first time in past 6 years that I have actually become happy about and made pakoras for rain… It pains for me to see my city change like this….

But alas we are the reason for this, the green cover of Bangalore has gone down by 30% in the last year however the concrete jungle has increased in density by 100% I think and I am sure its the same story of many cities all across the world…

This year the topic of the Blog Action Day is climate change though I agree with the fact that the decision will be taken by the bigger world leaders and its the industries who are doing the most harm but I also believe in the fact that change begins with self and if everyone does their bit I somehow think and believe that the pressure will get to the leadership too… if the leaders are not driving this then lets get our leaders to drive by taking action!!! creating awareness…

According to me some very small steps that can go a long way

• Switch to CFL in the house
• Keep ur tires correctly pumped up with air
• Remove the things u don’t require from the car, even a car seat can bring down the mileage
• The best is use the car only when required…think of one car/person where will the world go to… Car pool or use public transport
• Recycle Recycle Recycle
• Avoid using plastic I know it cant be fully possible to eliminate, it makes me sad to say that but thats a truth… I am proud of Delhi which has banned the use of plastic bags… And I am so proud to tell that my neighborhood sabzi walla has also become sensitive and put up a board in his shop saying please bring ur own bag… avoid plastic save earth after the chat I had with him

I end by the quote from Green Peace also used by Sols but there cant be a better way to end it!!!

“When the last tree is cut, the last river poisoned, and the last fish dead, we will discover that we can’t eat money…” –Greenpeace

PS: my entry for the 08 Blog Action day

PPS: I have been busy with the festivities and hosting parties will be back to replying all ur comments soooooooooon

Time to bring out the bubbly

Yaay its time to celebrate…. if u are thinking its about diwali… no no no no…. this is about the weight loss…

And here is the update

Initial Weight : 94.3 kgs

Last update weight : 86.00 kgs

Current Weight : 84.2 Kgs

and that means the total weight loss is 10.1 kgs!!!!! I cant even explain the joy I am feeling now… When I started the journey about 3 months with my diet consellour I had no hopes, my confidence was down the dumps and had totally given up on it… but she showed me a new hope… motivated me to get on it… stick to the diet and to the workout plan and yet not give up on life… I have had enough deviations and enjoyment in this three months… multiple vacations and some days when I have even thulped but we have managed it later…

I also went through a plateau in between and how we worked through it was so interesting, she actually put me on rice diet for 3 days and I reduced my workout and the scales started dropping again. I think this is where professional helps matters, I would have probably never thought of doing it myself ever…

And now I am waiting for the next milestone… when I hit the 70’s even if it is 79.9 and that is when I will get myself a tattoo too