Did u eat Barfi!!

Last weekend I had a chance to watch my first movie with my son. This was a long awaited movie as I last visited a cinema hall almost around 11 months back. Hence, I was too  excited to watch a movie in a theatre. I am a choosy movie lover and the very first promo of Barfi had caught my eye. Hence, I landed up at the cinema hall with high hopes to have made a good decision.

I must say I was not disappointed.Though this movie has its fair share of humour; but along with it the movie demonstrates some genuine emotions that are rarely felt or seen in the world today. Barfi teaches you a lot. Here a few little lessons I learnt from the movie:

Barfi! is a silent love story that Basu tries to bring alive with some dazzling play of images and music. The first lesson it gives is that "Actions speak louder than words". The movie beautify shows you that that true love is blind to all the prejudices set down by the materialistic society. It can nourish itself deeply even in the midst of pauperism and follow a completely no-holds-barred course. 

Let's talk about the characters of the movie now. The Chaplinesque portrayal by Ranbir as Barfi (or Murphy) does try to do something different than the usual movie characters. Barfi’s character reiterates few important lessons- 

1.  Life is about finding happiness in small things rather than in being wasted in lusty pursuits. 
2. Imperfection is all around us. How we handle our flaw determines our life’s happiness. 
3. Handicap is not a disease. It’s a way of life.
4. If God gives you a problem, he gives you ample of chances to rectify that problem.
5. Always wear a smile
6. Embrace your shortcomings.

The movie also puts light on an issue like autism. Priyanka plays the autistic Jhilmil who yearns to be considered as a woman. Her character teaches you that Here's what her character taught me-

1. Every heart can feel love, happiness, anger, jealousy, hatred and sadness.  (Jhilmil teaches us that one quality that is probably totally missing in today’s world – selfless love. Giving all that she could give – companionship, joy, love – for just little care and attention in return).
2. A mind can be under-developed, but a heart is always at the right place. 
3. Trust is the most important thing ( Barfi’s lamppost test. He would check how much people would trust him and also, if they will leave him in a crisis situation. The same holds true for Jhilmil. )

Illena's character as shruti happens to be a happy-go-lucky character who Barfi falls in love with.  After a brief romance, Shruti chooses material comforts over true love and leaves Barfi heartbroken to marry the moneyed man. She regrets later in the movie later though. But this is what her character taught me:

1. When opportunity comes your way, grab it with both hands
2. Don't live a life with regrets

The movie has hundreds of such ‘Aww’ moments. They make you laugh, they make you cry. They make you want to go back to childhood, when things were simpler and relations purer. Today, the spirit of relationships has changed totally. Purity is rarely seen. O life!! Why can't it be as sweet as Barfi?

Mad Over Donuts :)

"Donuts. Is there anything they can't do?" Matt Groening

It was after a gap of 3 long years that I once again had a chance to dig my teeth into mouth-watering donuts. Thanks to my sis-in-law who actually re-introduced them to me. These days, my perspective of looking at dishes and tasting them has completely changed. Now I eat and taste to them to first find out how pleasant it is to my taste buds, and second, how is it made; what all it comprises of? Seems i am taking deep interest into cooking with each passing day.

Same happened with donuts too. Earlier I used to just eat them b'coz they were delicious, but now I wanted to actually cook them deliciously too. And hence, after tasting a particular type on recomendation of Neha (my sis-in-law), I once again fell in love with them. Immediately the next day, I was searching for the recipes to make them. After going through a couple of recipes, I came across this one (mentioned below) and decided to try my first donuts using this recipe. This simple donut recipe can be made up in advance and you can simply cut the donuts to shape and fry them before rolling them in sugar. The dough will last for a few days in the fridge if wrapped properly.  

Yesterday, being Sunday, my husband was home and hence perfect time for me to try my hands on something new (These days I prefer weekends for my experimental stuff as my husband is readily available to look after my little angel, Neil). Also it was a double celebratory occasion, being my sister's b'day and friend's anniversary, I thought to give this recipe a try.

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

500g plain flour

250ml milk

75g sugar

75g butter

1 egg

1 tsp. baking powder

Vegetable oil to fry

Method of Preparation:

1. Sieve the flour and baking powder together into a large bowl.
2. Add the butter and rub it into the flour with your fingertips until it resembles breadcrumbs, then stir in the sugar.
3. Beat the egg into the milk, then make a well in the flour mixture and pour the milk mixture into it.
4. Mix together to form a soft dough, then put into the fridge until ready to use.
5. Roll the dough out to 1cm thick before cutting into the shapes of your choice.
6. Fry the donuts in 180C oil for around 30 seconds, then turn them over and cook for another 30 seconds. Remove from the fryer and drain on kitchen towel to remove excess oil.
7. Whilst still warm, roll in granulated sugar.

Icing sugar shouldn't really be used to roll donuts in as it is more likely to just melt into the donut; instead, use granulated sugar. 

I did a little experimentation with the glazing part where I used Jam on a few donuts and melted dairy milk chocolate on few others. After this I rolled them over in sugar (powdered to fine granules). The outcome was delicious; though just a little less perfect than the one I tried from M.O.D. but it was indeed worth writing :) I can definately put efforts to make it a spot on next time. But for now, this is a good to go recipie for a first trial. I am sure you will be praised for it :)

Recipe source:  http://www.donutrecipes.co.uk/simple.html

Bread Idli

This quick, easy and tasty dish was taught to me by my mom-in-law. Honestly speaking, when she first spoke about this dish, I was like, what is this dish gonna be like? I never ever expected that it would taste so great. But it was indeed yummy. 

It can be easily made as a quick snack or even as a breakfast some day. Just try it out and tell me how did it treat your taste buds.

Ingredients

• Bread slices,cut into roundels 4

• Yogurt 2 tablespoons

• Oil for brushing

• Salt to taste

• Potatoes,boiled and mashed 2 medium

• Green chillies,chopped 2

• Fresh coriander leaves,chopped 1/4 cup

• Turmeric powder a pinch

• Rye for Tadka
 

Method

Whisk yogurt and salt in a bowl.Fry rye in 1 tsp oil, and as soon as it starts to splutter, take it off the flame and add it to whisked yoghurt. Set aside. In another bowl, combine potato, green chillies, coriander leaves, turmeric powder and salt. Mix well. Heat a non-stick tawa. Drizzle a little oil. Apply potato mixture on one side of a bread roundel and yogurt mixture on the other side. Place the potato side of the bread on the tawa. Cover and cook till potatoes turn red. Then Serve hot. 

Veg Tiranga

I had an opportunity to taste this tasty delicacy while on our trip to Daman. It's name in the menu and description by the waiter quickly grabbed our attention and we made no delays in ordering it.

Since we were extremely hungry, and we had ordered something from a completely unknown territory, we were just keeping our fingers crossed that whatever arrives must be edible and must please our taste buds.

1 more reason to order for it was that we were 5 people and we were not being able to agree on 1 particular gravy or curry. Hence when, the waiter described that the dish comprises of 3 different gravies, we immediately made our decision despite the wait time being long.

To our surprise, we loved the dish so much that we ordered the same dish the next day as well.

After this, I searched for the same dish in various other restaurants we visited  in and out pune, but couldn't locate it anywhere. That is when I decided to try it making by myself.

It is a little time consuming dish as it comprises of all three gravies (red, green and white) cooked to a heavenly creamy consistency, but if you plan smart, it shouldn't be a trouble. (The first time I made it, I cooked all 3 gravies at the same time; but for the second time, I cooked 1 of the two graves, the green one to be precise, in lunch. I made palak aloo for lunch, of course with extra gravy and preserved it for my experiment at night)

Let's go on to looking at the recipe now...

Common Ingredients for the 3 gravies:-

• Onions - 5 medium sized, chopped
• Fresh Cream - 1 packet
• Ginger Garlic Paste - 3 Tbsp
• Green Chillies- 3-4

So first of all, I placed chopped onions in a pan, fried them in oil till soft. Next, added ginger, garlic and chili paste, and fried till its brown. Then waited for ot t cool down after which I ground it into a smooth paste. Now preparation for each gravy and subzi was done separately.

For White Gravy Subzi:

• 2 tbsp cashews soaked in water
• 2  cardamoms
• 2 tbsp mava/ milk mava powder
• 2 tbsp yogurt (I used fresh cream instead)
• Salt and white pepper powder as per taste  
• Half cup mix of following*- Cashews, Almonds, Pomogranate (anar ke dane), Raisins (kishmish), grapes cut into 2 halves, fine pieces of paneer or cottege cheese. 

{Note: This White gravy can also be stored for 1-2 months in freezer}

Method
Soak the cashewnuts in half cup of warm water for half an hour and grind to a smooth paste. Heat oil in a handi and add already prepared onion paste. Stir and add green cardamoms, slit green chillies. Stir and add grated mawa and cashewnut paste. Stir. Add half cup of water and mix. Cook on low heat for five to ten minutes. Add whisked yogurt/ cream, salt and white pepper powder. Add rest of the ingredients (mentioned with*). Stir and cook for 3-5 minutes.

For Red Gravy Subzi (This is also similar to Kadhai Paneer Recepie):

Cottage cheese / paneer – Approx 250 gms

Tomatoes -3,Large sized, chopped

Handful of cashew nuts, ground to fine paste

Tomato paste – 1 tb sp

Garam masala powder – ½ tsp

Red chili powder – ½ t sp
Turmeric powder – ½ t sp
Coriander powder – 1 t sp
Salt – as per taste
Oil – 2 tb sp

Tomato Sauce - 2 Tsp
Kasoori methi / dried fenugreek leaves – 1 tsp (optional, I didn't add)

Fry chopped tomatoes for 6 to 8 minutes till they turn mushy. Add prepared onion paste and cook for 2 minutes. Cool the sautéed masala and grind to a puree add tomato paste to it along with 1/2-cup water. Now bring it to a boil and simmer on low flame.In the meanwhile cut the cottage cheese / paneer into medium size pieces. You can shallow fry the paneer in oil without browning them (I did not do that although). Keep it aside.

Now add all the dry masala to the puree .Add the cashew nut paste and tomato sauce in the puree. And cook it on low flame till the gravy is thick. Add the paneer pieces and cook till they become heated too. In the end add 2 table spoon cream and cook for 2 minutes.

 Green Gravy Subzi (This is more or less similar to Corn Palak Recipe)

 Ingredients:

1 cup Sweet corn kernels (boiled)

1 cup Fresh cream

3 medium bunch of Spinach leaves (Palak)

2 tbsps Refined Oil

Salt to taste

1 tsp Dry mango powder (amchur)

1/2 tsp Caraway seeds (shahi jeera)

1 tbsp Lemon juice

1 tbsp Dried fenugreek leaves (kasuri methi) (optional)

Method

Clean and wash palak leaves thoroughly and ensure no sand grains are left on the leaves.

Then blanch palak in plenty of boiling water for a minute or two, drain and refresh the leaves in ice-cold water.

Now blend the palak and make a puree.

Heat the boiled corn in half or one cup of water.

Heat oil in a pan, add caraway seeds and stir-fry till it changes colour.

Now add onion paste and cook for 2-3 minutes.

Add corn, palak puree, salt and amchur powder to this mixture of onion masala.

Mix it well and let it cook for two to three more minutes.

Add fresh cream and simmer till you reach the desired .

Take off the heat and add lemon juice.

For serving, you will have to take a container with a wide mouth (I used a plate instead, and so did the hotel where we first ate this dish); and make 3 horizontal (or vertical, if you want) layers of all 3 gravy subzis. You can keep white in the middle and can decorate it with a tomato flower or keep it simple too. (I used paneer cut in flower shape to decorate it).

All tasty things need some hard work and patience. So once you are done, just binge into the tasty treat ;P Do tell me how it was....

Walnut brownie with hot chocolate sauce n cold Ice cream

 Its been a while since I posted my last blog. It was our 'little bundle of joy-Neil' who kept us occupied all around him day and night. He was born in 1st week of January and now he is 5 months old. He has started to roll-poll; babble and gurgle etc. etc. Now that I had some time off from work, I tried upon a couple of recipes which I will be sharing with you.

Also I will share with you the baby's first foods which can be useful to first time moms. I will talk about all this in detail in my next blog.

Coming back to cooking, here's 1 of the stuffs I made.....

Yes, it is a sinful walnut brownie with hot chocolate sauce n cold Ice cream

Brownies make me forget about the calorie count and I go on galloping it with loads of cold ice cream...hmm it's yummy!! Thanks to Divya for the wonderful recepie (to which I did a very little experiment). Here's the recipe for you...

Recipe source - 1. DK of Chefinyou 

                       2. Divya from Divya's Cookbook 

 

Ingredients  

Flour - ½ cup
Baking powder – ¾ tsp
Salt – a pinch
Walnuts,chopped – 1 cup
Eggs, lightly beaten -2[or 4 egg whites]
Butter, melted – ¾ cup
Cocoa – 6 tbsp
Sugar – 1 cup
Vanilla extract – ½ tsp

Method

1. Preheat Oven 350F. Grease an 8 inch square shallow cake pan with wax paper. Mix the butter and cocoa in a pan and set aside.
2. Beat together the eggs, sugar and vanilla extract in a bowl.
3. Mix it along with cocoa mixture.
4. Stir in the nuts.
5. Sift over the flour and fold it along with the mixture.Add a pinch of salt and mix well.
6. Pour this mixture into the cake pan and bake for 20-35 minutes until risen. It will still look soft and wet but it will cook further while cooling. Let it sit to cool.

So now it's your turn to dig your teeth into this sinful brownie!! Do tell me how it was... :)

I came across this article one day and thought it is worth sharing.......

A senior recruiter’s guide to being an ideal professional 

(And why most young Indians don’t fit the bill)

An open letter by a partner at consulting firm KPMG to India’s graduating classes has led to a furious debate about the professional worth and attitude of the country’s degree-holding millions. Mohit Chandra, in his piece in the New York Times blog India Ink, has attempted to remove some of the misgivings that he believes these freshly minted professionals have when they step out into the world. “Most of your contributions will be substandard and lack ambition, frustrating and of limited productivity. We are gearing ourselves up for broken promises and unmet expectations,” he has written. “Today, we regret to inform you that you are spoiled. You are spoiled by the “India growth story”; by an illusion that the Indian education system is capable of producing the talent that we, your companies, most crave.” While the article created a stir on the Internet, trending on Twitter and being debated heavily on Facebook, it has led to heavy criticism and disagreements from some of the other future employers of young Indian graduates. Ashok Soota, executive chairman, Happiest Minds, told Mirror that it was wrong for someone to take a few bad examples and generalise. “For instance, the first example of the badly written resume is unfair. I read nothing short of  a few thousand resumes a year and they are all very well written. The writer has taken the extreme end of a fringe,” Soota said. Piyush Kumar Sinha, a professor at IIM Ahmedabad, said comparing Indian professionals with those from other countries was unfair. “If the Indian management style is unique or different, why are we trying to embody somebody else’s benchmark and then claim it to be right? Every place — be it Japan, US, China, Korea, Australia, Middle East countries — has its own mode of functioning, and excelling. Every country has its character.” Chandra, in his letter, had asked fresh graduates to treat what he had written as a “guide to what your employers really want and how your ability to match these wants can enrich you professionally”, going on to conclude, in detail, how Indian professionals don’t make the cut in any of them. Chandra said, “There are five key attributes employers typically seek and, in fact, will value more and more in the future. Unfortunately, these are often lacking in you and your colleagues.” He then went on to list those attributes. 1.You (think you) speak and write English fluently “This is rarely the case. Even graduates from better-known institutions can be hard to understand. Below is an actual excerpt from a résumé we received from a “highly qualified and educated” person. ‘To be a part of an organisation wherein I could cherish my erudite dexterity to learn the nitigrities of consulting’. Huh? Anyone know what that means? We certainly don’t.” 2. You are good at thinking outside the box “Hard to find. Too often, there is a tendency to simply wait for detailed instructions and then execute the tasks – not come up with creative suggestions or alternatives. Problem-solving abilities, which are rarely taught in our [Indian] schooling system, are understandably weak among India’s graduates, even though India is the home of the famous “jugadu”, the inveterate problem solver who uses what’s on hand to find a solution.” 3. You ask questions, engage deeply and question hierarchy “Why can’t they pick up the phone and call when they do not understand something?” is a commonly asked question. You are unduly impressed by titles and perceived hierarchy. While there is a strong cultural bias of deference and subservience to titles in India, it is as much your responsibility as it is ours to challenge this view.” 4. You take responsibility for your career and invest in new skills “Many of you feel that once you have got the requisite degree, you can go into cruise control. The desire to learn new tools and techniques and new sector knowledge disappears... The desire to be spoon-fed, to be directed down a straight and narrow path with each career step neatly laid out, is leading you toward extinction, just like the dinosaurs.” 5. You are professional and ethical “When you exhibit behavior like job hopping every year, demanding double-digit pay increases for no increase in ability, accepting job offers and not appearing on the first day, taking one company’s offer letter to shop around to another company for more money — well, don’t expect to be treated like a professional. Similarly, stretching yourself to work longer hours when needed, feeling vested in the success of your employer, being ethical about expense claims and leaves and vacation time are all part of being a consummate professional. Such behavior is not ingrained in new graduates.” In response, an anonymous blogger on India Ink questioned Chandra’s parameters and arguments. The writer, who called himself Just Another Youth, said, “I have nightmares when I have to proof read my Mexican friend's reports. And I know the person is a genius. An absolute talent. But English, not so much. My point, English should not be a big bothering factor when you are counting talent.” He further contended that if Indians are not acting professionally, then even the so-called professionals are not treating them well. “They are just a source of cheap labour. A friend, who owns a patent (a technical one to be precise), is paid $55k in an oil company. Similar qualified US national is paid over $100k.” The author added that Indians have specific skill sets and complaining about them “is like complaining bananas don't taste like oranges. Why did you buy a banana?”

Healthy Chocolate Nutty Parantha

This is my first blog on cooking. I like to experiment with different tastes and ingredients.. So let me share with you with my latest dish which I made during New Year's vacation.. I named it "Healthy Chocolate Nutty Parantha".
The inspiration to make dish came from 1 of the dish i saw in a cookery show called Master-chef India-2. where the original dish was called "Nutella Parantha". Since I was apprehensive about the taste of nutella, I did my experimentation here tooo :D Here's the recipe for you : 

Healthy Chocolate Nutty Parantha      

Ingredients (For 2 people)

• 1 cup of Wheat Flour (Aata)
• 2-3 spoons of Maida 
• Salt to taste
• 3-4 tea spoons Ghee
• 3-4 Tb. spoons of nuts/dry fruits of your choice(Almonds, cashews, pistachio, raisins.)
• Pinch of cardamom powder
• 1/4 cup grtaed chocolate
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 tablespoon oil
• 1/2 spoon Honey (can be substituted with Jagger or sugar powder as per choice)

Methood:

• In a mixing bowl, combine wheat flour, maida, salt and ghee. Prepare a smooth firm dough by adding sufficient water. Cover the dough and keep it aside for a while.
• In a small frying pan, roast the dry fruits of your choice till light golden (do not roast raisins if using them). Remove from flame and keep aside for cooling. Once cool, grind them to make a powder.
• In a small bowl, combine honey with butter, 2 spoons grated chocolate, cardamom powder and powdered dry fruits. I added very little chocolate sauce too (If not using honey, you might need more butter or more chocolate sauce to bind the powdered nuts)
• Divide the dough into 12 balls , roll each out into a round Parantha. Apply melted ghee on each parantha, fold it, apply some more ghee on one side of the paratha and fold it again. Roll out into a triangular shaped Parantha. 
• Heat a tawa and roast the parathas partly basting lightly with oil. Separate a layer of each partially cooked parantha making sure to leave it intact on the two sides, fill in the dry fruit mixture, seal and cook the parantha completely till crispy n golden. 
• Once done, you can cut it into small triangular pieces and dash it with some chocolate sauce and grated chocolate on top.
• Serve hot. It tastes awesome when hot.

Try it out and tell me how it was!!!!