Happy Birthday Little Sis

Tags

birthday, NaBloPoMo, sister, wishes

Rather Big Little Sis…. My youngest sister turns 25 today but in her mind and in her actions… she refuses to grow up 🙂

Happy Birthday my big little sis… and I am so happy that after ages I am celebrating some birthday with my family right here in delhi

yippe!!!

Big Day

Its mom’s big day… she is getting retired today and its a big day in any working person’s life. From suddenly being in office you are at home all the time is surely one but more than that I think its the psychological thing that the life is slowly coming towards the last quarter of life’s journey…

A feeling that the office/school to which u have almost given your life is now going to run without u…

I hope mom is happy with this 😉

and wishing her a very happy and relaxed life post this… May she be able to start the small park school for the rickshaw’s children opposite to the house that she so wants to.

Wishing u luck mom as u start a new phase of life. Hugs and Wishes

Achari Broccoli

Tags

broccoli, Friday Feast, indian main course, NaBloPoMo, recipe, vegies

I love broccoli (infact I love all winter veggies) and some time back, I went o Russell market with a goof friend D 🙂 and picked up a real nice one.. fresh and green… crisp and tender. And then began the quest to what to make with it. I normally make broccoli in stir fry veggies or baked but this time I want to try something totally different and hence started browsing the many many cooking books that I own (did I tell you thats my latest obsession BTW) and I decided on a nice looking Achari Broccoli recipe in Nita Mehta’s Diet Recipes.

And it turned out very very very yummy…

Ingredients

• 250 gm lauki (the recipe asked for kadu and I replaced it with lauki as no one eats kadu aka pumpkin in my house)
• 150 gm basically a medium sized broccoli cut into florets
• 1 firm tomato chopped (the recipe asked to remove pulp but I used it didn’t do any harm to the recipe or so do I think 😉 )
• 1 tsp oil (the recipe asked for 2 tbsp oil gosh tell me how does it become diet recipe with so much oil haan)
• 2 large onions chopped
• 1/4 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp dhaniya powder
• 1/2 tsp aamchoor powder
• salt and chilli powder to taste (the recipe also had a 1/2 tsp of sugar which I gave a complete miss)

For the Achaari Tempering

• 3/4 tsp nigella seeds (kalonji)
• 1/4 tsp fenugreek seeds (methi dana)
• 3/4 tsp cumin seeds (jeera)
• 3/4 tsp mustard seeds
• 3/4 tsp fennel (saunf)
• 2 red chillies broken

Method

• Boil 1/2 cup of water with 1/2 tsp of salt. Add Broccoli and cook for about 2-3 minutes till crisp tender. Remove from water and keep aside (my tip : dont throw the water away lets use it, it has a lot of nutrients)
• Collect all the achari ingredients for tempering. Heat the oil in kadhai and add all of them together.
• After a minute, add the onions and cool till light brown.
• Add salt, turmeric, dhaniya powder & chilli powder
• Stir for a few seconds and add the lauki to it .
• Stir fry for about 2 minutes and add 1/2 cup of water (my tip : use the same water in which u boiled the broccoli there will still be little left and you can use it for making dal, atta… yeah I am mad this way in saving the nutrients from the vegies.. I think a little something we can do to make sure we are getting good stuff in)
• Cover and cook for about 10 minutes till the lauki is cooked but still holds its shape
• Sprinkle dry mango powder.
• Add the broccoli and tomatoes
• Mix well and cook for about 3-4 minutes
• Serve hot with phulkas and dal tadka… a yummy and a very healthy meal

PS: I think it would turn out very good with our good old cauliflower too, so if u dont have broccoli handy try it with gobhi 🙂

NSV

Tags

art of living, fitness, NaBloPoMo, non scale victories, nsv, Weight loss, Weight loss update, yoga

Intial Weight : 94.3kg

Last update weight : 84.0 kg

Current weight : 83.2 kg

Ok so the weight is going down 🙂 but I am happy for much more… why u ask? Sometime back I was browsing the good old FF for some motivation (God why did it die a premature death?) and I read this post by Sunita talking about the non scale victories and how we never celebrate them as much as we should… and I so agree with that, we get so hung up with the scales moving up and down that we absolutely forget that what matters more than that is the NSV’s… the inch loss, the fall in the body fat, the increase in the stamin, improve in health etc…

so today I am going to celebrate the NSV’s 🙂

The thing that makes me most happy is the inch loss ofcourse, because that is what makes everyone sit up and notice that yeah u have lost way and compliments are a great way of encouragement which keep u going…

I have lost about 5 inches at my stomach… I think there is another 5-6 to go before I get a flat stomach, my dream since ages…

I lost about 3.5 inches at the chest and all my blouses that I got stiched a year or so back have become so funny and when I went to get them altered the tailor said that it would probably be easier to stich new 😉

I lost about 4 inches at the waist YAY

About 3 inches at the arms, about 4 inches at the thigh and about 1.5 at the calves…

I have almost gone down two sizes and don’t need a plus size anymore 😀 😀 😀 a xl (and in some even large) fits me just fine….

My BMI is gone down by about 3%

I just finished day 3, week 3 of C2K… and though I was tired I was able to do it!!! and I cant tell you how happy I am… when I started working out I couldnt walk on the treadmill without huffing and puffing for 20 mins and now I am almost running for 20 mins and thats huge for me…

I remember about 8 months I wasn’t really able to climb the two flight of stairs from my ground floor to terrace without huff puff but the other day I went to a friends house on 5th floor and walked up almost comfortably….

I also did a Basic Art of Living course the last weekend and could almost do all the aasana’s they taught and I have started practicing yoga and Sudarshan Kriya at home which will also build my inner strength more…

I hope I am able to celebrate many more non scale victories ahead too 😀

B is for Belikal

Tags

Abc Wednesday, Abc Wednesday Round 6, bellikal, NaBloPoMo, ooty, pics

Bellikal is a small village just 12 kms before Oooty and u have to go there to believe how pristine it is… tea estates as far as you can see and a couple running a small make shift resort in their ancestral house which is a basic house with a lovely old architecture and best of all there is no cell phone signal there 😉 and even no electricity… it was an awesome experience going back to nature when we went there about 3 years ago…

here are some pictures

Lake somewhere on the way

deers on the way in bandipur (which is also a B BTW)

and carrots growing what fun we had eating fresh carrots…

some breathtaking views

lovely wild flowers… such charm they have

Clouds creating a ghostly effect

and last but not the least total fun 😀 thats me, N, my sis A and cousin S 🙂

PS: here’s a post I did on our host and the place after I visited

PPS: And B is also for a break…. I am off to Delhi on Friday as my mom is getting retired and the few posts are scheduled so I may or may not be able to reply to them but will do that once I am back so keep reading 🙂

Happy Republic Day

Tags

india, patriotism, republic day

On this republic day lets pause and think what does patriotism mean to us? What does we mean when we say we are proud of our country? And what are we ready to do for it?

I am sure if each one of us asks this question to self and follows what the heart and mind tell us we will sure be a better country…

Happy Republic Day!!!

A mother of three daughters : God save her

Tags

boy child, childhood, children, daughters, Feminism, girl child, memories, mother, son

We are three sisters and its a fact that I am proud of… a thing I would probably change for nothing… I remember my childhood as a total fun time, all three of us getting together and doing all kind of girly things… pretending to cook, taking care of our barbies, combing the neighbor didi’s hair endlessly (that was the youngest one though)… whenever I think of my childhood the bond with my sisters and also the lovely mother daughter is the strongest memory I have and I wouldn’t trade it for anything in this world… And over time I have come to realize that the bond between mother and daughters just keeps growing with time whereas the bond with mother and son keeps going down… I then wonder why is that we keep wishing for boys all the time? What is that special thing they give us?

This yet another brilliant post by IHM took me down the memory lane at the time when we three sisters were enjoying the childhood in full masti and mom was bearing the brunt of it all… I am eldest and the difference between me and the youngest sis is about 9 yrs or so and so at the time when she was growing up I was big enough to feel the undercurrents flowing around when people used to visit the house… When she was born people almost sad that yet another girl is born and dad became so furious against this argument that he poured out all the love he could possibly have on her and we still tease him that u spoilt her… 😉

Mom had to listen to all kind of things that what will she do when we get married? How will she get us married? Poor them will have to probably go in a ashram in old age… who will take care of them? My uncle with a son came forward behaving that he is a god for them as his son will act as a son for my mom-dad too and help them in their time of need…

My mom and dad stood through it all all the time and kept telling us and instilling in us an amazing strength and power for independence which I personally thing is the greatest gift any parent can give their kid… a power of self confidence and independence… I am proud of my parents because they gave my greatest strength my confidence and the ability to take the world head on… which I think is one of the reasons atleast two of us have turned out to be such strong feminits

Though mom took all the taunts and pity that she was given throughout with grace and ignoring them and proudly announcing to the world that her daughters are better educated and very well settled than most of the sons of the people who troubled her…Once we started settling in our career after taking best of the education she starting getting certain amount of respect by the same people who were taunting here and the memories (I think) of those days started to fade away slowly

And then there was one incident that kinda broke her down… I still remember that evening very very clearly…

I had finished my education and was working in a good company earning a very good salary ‘for a girl’… and people around mom started to sych her up how will u ever find a boy for her… anyways so the rishtas started coming in (and lets not go into the kind of rishats that were send, it was as if they wanted to show my mom and us that daughters are indeed a pain) and we would quietly ignore most of them as I wanted more time to work etc… but then after about 2-3 years of working when I was ready for marriage and unfortunately still single, my parents started looking out for guys and giving a serious look at the rishtas that came in… they liked a boy and thought it would be a good idea to let us meet and discuss figure out if we like each other… and a mesage was sent to the parents of the boy and guess what the response came

we dont want to take this talk forward, when we sent the rishta to you we were only aware of the daughter’s education etc and we didn’t know that you have three daughters, if you haven’t got any sons than its most likely that you daughter will also produce only daughters and hence we are sorry

can u beat that???? and that came out of a very well educated family. The mother of the boy was a principal in some school. gosh if we have principals with this attitude what will the children of that school grow up to be??? That day my mom cried a lot and I just stood by her wanting to kick the world in the face not knowing how to react… I was angry with the world very angry.

And just when my anger was going away being married to the most awesome guy I could find who has never ever made a thing that he is the man and I am the wife in the relation… out relation is truly equal with some things he taking the lead and in some me… whichever way balances our skills… but not even once we have felt that one is better than the other….  yeah going back to the point just when my anger was going away I became pregnant and people started again aah I hope u have boy atleast your mom could see a grandson if not a son, me and mom would quietly reply we would be happy with a healthy baby thats it… (though I know secretly wished for a boy 😉 but was that because she wanted to see how are boys when they grow up and not because of the standard reasons)

And then when he was born and I took him to Delhi the first time… of my  aunts commented saying that

chalo acha hai beta ho gaya agli baar ab tension nahin hogi, beti bhi ho gayee tou koi baat nahin… ab sab chalta hai

Imagine that statement in this time…. I got wild and replied to her that I would have been happier if it was a girl and would have been happier to make that girl a only child of mine… and what drama was created I tell u 😉 and I secretly enjoyed that

I have never really understood the obsession people have with a boy… why? I won’t say any one is better than the other… a boy or a girl… they are just children… a little human being waiting to be transformed into a big person by the parents… both need equal amount of love and affection and both present to you equal amount of charm in their own sense..

I wonder when will we as a society stop give them rules to live their childhood in a certain manner… when we will allow a boy to play with cooking toys and when we will allow a girl to go play cricket in the park… when?

PS: yesterday was Girl Child Day I wish I could do this post yesterday but nonetheless, this post is my tribute to every girl child that is about to come… this post is my tribute to every Chutki…

Methi Matter Pasanda

Tags

Friday Feast, gravy, indian, main course, methi, milk, peas, recipe

Folks don’t run away, this has not turned into a food blog as of yet 😀 and I know I know its not a friday 🙂 but this had to be blogged, had to be blogged about u….

Scene I :Sunday morning about 11:30 am

Me : I don’t feel like coking today

N : And I don’t feel like going out

Me : ok then lets order in

N : naah mood nahin hai plus what will it do to your diet

Me : sigh but I dont want to cook why do u have to  sayno everytime I ask to go out *picks up ojas and walks away in part anger part style to the first floor*

Scene II

About an hour or so later totally convinced that I have been royally ignored and this man won’t come up to say ok lets go out and eat… I come down to make some quick eat… and what do I see…

All my cooking books half open, half closed thrown away on my carpet in the middle of the living room and a very very very messy looking kitchen but the dining table set in a lovely manner with nothing less than methi mattter pasanda & egg bhurji….

and I didn’t have anything to say after that apart from enjoying the meal and yes the 2-hour cleaning after that 😉

so here is the recipe ab bolo post karna banta hai na 😉

Ingredients

• 1 cup green peas, boiled
• 1 cup methi leaves finely chopped
• 1/4 tsp cumin seeds
• 1/2 tsp kasuri methi
• 1/4 cup low fat milk (we used Good Life Slim Milk)
• 1/4 cup low fat curds (use probiotic if u are buying from outside)
• 1/2 tsp Bengal gram flour (besan)
• 1/4 tsp garam masala
• 1 tsp oil
• salt to taste

for the paste

• 1 1/4 cups sliced onions
• 1/4 cup cauliflower finely chopped
• 1-2 green chillies (I think N used 4 here 🙂 )
• 1 large cloves garlic chopped (I don’t enjoy eating garlic too much, so N skipped it)
• 1/2 ” piece ginger sliced
• 1 stick cinnamon
• 1 clove
• 1 cup low fat milk

Method

for the paste

• Combine all the ingredients in a pan and simmer for 8-10 minutes till the onions are soft and nearly all the liquid has evaporated
• Puree the mixture to a smooth paste in a blender. Keep aside

for the gravy

• Combine the milk, curds and gram flour. Mix Well and keep aside
• Sprinkle salt over the methi leaves and leave aside for 10 minutes. Wash the leaves well. Squeeze out all the water.
• Heat the oil in a non-stick pan and add the cumin seeds
• When the seeds crackle, add the methi leaves and kasuri methi and saute for 3-4 minutes.
• Add the prepared paste, curd-gram flour mixture, garam masala  and salt with 1/2 cup of water and bring the mixture to a boil
• Ass the green peas and simmer for 1-2 minutes
• Serve hot with chapathis

God bless the man for serving a good meal and god please send me someone to clean the mess after that 😉

Recipe Source : Tarla Dalal’s Cooking with 1 teaspoon of Oil

PS: I missed posting yesterday (had a terrible Migraine) and I dont know what to do with NaBloPoMo… should I continue and post 2 posts in a day sometime or should I call it off…

Apricot Orange Cookies

Tags

apricot, baking, cookies, Friday Feast, kids eats, recipe, whole wheat

These days Ojas is in love with anything which is baking… how much ever fussy eater he be if something has come out of the oven he eats it 😀 and hence I am constantly on the look out for healthy baking recipes. After I made the Oat Bran Muffins, I tried Apricot Orange cookies this time

I had seen this recipe in Tarla Dalal’s Growing Kids cook book (which BTW has great recipes) and made some minor changes to the recipe while making it. There were about 20 medium size cookies which came out and were over in a day 🙂

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup whole wheat flour (I used atta)
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/4 cup powdered sugar
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp soda-bi-carb (I skipped this and put more baking powder)
• 2 tbsp dried chopped apricots (the recipe asks for 1.5 tbsp and also used kummani… I used the orange apricots and increased the quantity a little)
• 1 1/2 tbsp chopped nuts (the original recipe asks for only cashwenuts but I used a mix of cashew, walnuts and almonds)
• 2 tbsp orange flavored drink mix (I used Kissan sqaush)
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1/2 tsp butter for greasing

Method

• Combine all the ingredients together in a bowl and whisk to get a soft dough
• Mould into medium sized balls, flatten and make a cross sign on the top with a knifefri
• Bake in a pre-heated oven at 160 C for 20 minutes or till the cookies are golden brown in colour
• Enjoy warm or eat after cooling
• Can be stored for a long time only if they last 😀

I read about Cakes and Cookies Event at HomeCooked’s blog and that inspired me to send this post to the same event… This will be probably one of the first time I am sending a recipe to an event and ofcourse I am nervous 😉

The Silent Raga

Tags

book, review, the silent raga

I typical tambram (tamil brahman) family living in a small hard-core tamilian town…. with two daughters going on routinely and then tragedy strikes them when the mother passes away in a road accident which not only makes the family go into sadness but it also turns the life of the elder daughter upside down when she is made to take her mother’s position and pulled out of school…

The story is actually the tale of two sisters and how they grow with a very emotionally distant father and a strange and manipulative aunt, on how the elder one becomes a veena prodigy and then shakes the household once again by running away only to become the second wife of Muslim actor, on how the younger finds her lost mother in her sister only to lose her again

The emotions explored by the novel are at times very brilliant and N tells me that it has captured the small details of tamil household pretty well too…For me the book was like an insight into what a tambram house would ideally look like…. Though the story was typically for a tamilian girl and lot of details were such I could understand the pain and could extend it to any part of India and imagine typically the same happening if the mother passes away…

What makes the book a little different from others is that its written by a man which is very rare in such kind of books and I must say Ameen Merchant handled it decently well

Remember how I said in  Zoya Factor that I liked the fact that book was in Hinglish and also Smitha said in her review that she had a problem with it which I didnt seem to undertand… well I understand now… because the book uses Tamil quite liberally 🙂 not as much as Zoya factor though and the couple of Tamil words that I have learned in 5 years of marriage certainly helped me 😀

All in all I would give it a rating of 3 I think and if u are a tamilian then u can relate to it more and I am sure u will give a better rating than this

Rating 3/5

Book The Silent Raga

Authors Amen Merchant

Price Rs 395/-

PS: Shruti has organized a wonderful contest at her blog and you must go and visit the blog to see the kind of entries that have been submitted… Mind Blowing… So lets encourage the younger ones and go vote here using the poll on the sidebar of her blog. Thanks Shruti for a great initiative