this is a medium with which i share myself with the world..i dont know who all read it..or how many people read it..all are welcome..here i share with you..my thoughts..my favourite receipes,books,movies,songs,dances,scenes,nice quotes,forwards,jokes....basically anything that touches my heart is here..nothing is here by accident or for the heck of it..i share with you my joy ,my tears, my laughter,my hope,my wishes,my life...i share myself....happy reading :)
tears flow down my eyes, i dont know why
neither do i know , how to stop them
they seem to have, a life of their own..
forming, welling and flowing, without my control...
something is wrong somewhere, but no one sees it...
its obvious i feel, but maybe it isnt
i should understand, make words of my feelings..
but that seems too tough,
how will words make a difference
when we dont feel the same....
words dont form, neither they are spoken..
never have felt so helpless before...
i dont know what tomorrow brings...
i dont know what today is....
words are lost somewhere in this helplessness
acceptance is the key, is what everyone says...
acceptance doesnt stop tears, or does it??
i was feeling so lost after not having posted for such a long time...it was a mixture of laziness, bad mood, being busy and just not posting as didnt know what to write...
today i am going to post 3 recipes I have tried recently and were super successes....and very simple to make....and they are stuffed mushrooms, uckdiche modak, and sambar...
so here is recipe no 1: Stuffed Mushrooms
mushrooms are one of my favourite vegetables...and I love experimenting with them and trying every new recipe I set my eyes on....this recipe I found on 28 cooks...i love her recipes, and the best part is that she has many vegetarian recipes....
ingredients
8 to 10 medium to big size mushrooms
1/2 cup grated cheese
italian seasoning
4 cloves of garlic (crushed)
1 green chilly (crushed)
5-6 olives finely chopped
olive oil/ regular oil
salt
pepper
rawa (semolina) / bread crumbs for rolling the mushrooms
Method:
wash mushrooms thoroughly and remove the stem of mushroom, and remove the mushroom gills, i just scraped them off using back of a flat spoon...stem can be used in any other mushroom preparation....throw the gills...
mix cheese, italian herbs, garlic chilly paste, salt and pepper....now stuff the mix into the mushrooms..
roll it in rawa or just stick some of it on the mix side..
drizzle with olive oil and bake for 20-25 min at 375 F (till bread crumbs are golden brown and cheese is bubbly) or shallow fry in mixture of olive oil and regular oil
ENJOY :)
Also read the 28 Cooks Recipe if confused or for more creative stuffing ideas
2. Uckdiche Modak
well they are one of my favourite sweets, I tried making them for the first time on occasion of ganesh chaturthi this year....here is the recipe I learnt step by step from....the lady has shown really well in pictures...the only thing different I did was I halved the quantity as I wasn't sure if I was doing it right...
making the stuffing is really easy, making the dough little tricky, and the trickiest part is making the modaks...
the best part is that the rice flour dough is very pliable and forgiving, hence without tearing you can just reshape it or reseal it....the rice dough is just like the clay we played as kids....so have fun with it!!
3. Sambar:
Ingredients:
1 cup Toor Dal (or red lentils)
2 teaspoons oil
Salt to taste
5 small dry red chilies (or to taste)
8 Curry Leaves
1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
1/4 tsp asafoetida
1/2 teaspoon fenugreek seeds
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
2 tablespoons sambar powder
1 medium chopped onion
1 medium chopped tomato
1 cup veggies of ur choice (potato, brinjal, drumstick, carrots etc)
for sambar powder
1/2 cups coriander seeds (dhana)
1/2 cups red chillies or red chilly powder (or to taste)
1/8 cup chana dal or chana dal aata (besan aata)
1 Tbsp. cumin seeds
1 Tbsp. pepper corn
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1 pinch of cinnamon
1 pinch ground clove
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
roast the seeds on small flame, add turmeric, chilly powder and besan last...powder everything in chutney mixture. store the powder in cool dry place
Method for sambar:
in a pressure cooker, cook the dal and grind it in a blender
take some oil in thick bottomed pan, add mustard let it sputter, add cumin and fenugreek seeds, once they are light brown, add curry leaves, chopped garlic, asofetida and chopped onion.
once onion is translucent, add chopped potato (optional) and drumsticks as they take maximum time to cook.
once they are semicooked, add dal, and rest veggies (brinjal, carrots), one cup additional water and 1 tbsp sambar powder..add salt to taste
let it boil till all veggies are cooked, add more water if it is too thick...
tamarind is one of important ingredients in sambar....but i didnt use it as I didnt have it....and my sambar was just as fine....so dont fret if you dont have one or two ingredients...just go ahead and make this delicious soup and relish with idli and vada or dosa :)
i have another trio ready kadai bhindi, stuffed baigan and saute mushrooms....
wow such a lot to write about....now that I know what to write maybe i ll write again soon!!
why do we,
we listen to the same song but hear different words
look at the same painting, but see different colours
react differently, when exposed to same situation
why cant we behave similarly,
even when we know how the other would behave
we know each other so well,
that we know what the other thinks,
what the other feels,
yet we cant feel differently ourselves
and we cant agree to disagree.
yet we walk together, hands in hand
with the knowledge in our heart
that we are together
no matter what :)
this is the beauty of writing my mind...i myself dont know whats in it at times...and how i am going to end a post when i begin writing it...and at times such as this..i surprise myself, and bring a smile on my face and hopefully yours too :)
today a thought struck me...it began with the word "sweetheart" commonly used while addressing your girlfriend/ boyfriend, husband/ wife...i wondered who came up with this word...and was it a medical person or non medical...and if a medical person, did he purposely choose heart because of its varied characteristics....
of course, heart has nothing to do with emotion....it is just a pump which pumps blood to rest of the body...yes it is indispensable organ, without which we would die...but so is brain, lung, liver, spleen, skin etc they are all single indispensible organs with certain very important fucntions and if those functions were not performed we would die....i know there are two lungs but here i am treating them as one organ...
also, i thought, if important people had to be given an analogy with an organ in ur body, what would your parents, siblings, husband/wife, and best friends be....
well i dont know about other important people, but i guess ur sweetheart is indeed ur heart....and you might agree with me if you consider the structure and function of heart....
structurally, cardiac muscle fiber, is different from skeletal muscle and smooth muscle in a way that it has properties of both the fibers...so your sweetheart is indeed a unique person in ur life, who is different from rest of ur relations...as he/ she is one who wud understand you like your best friend and love u selflessly like ur family......he/ she is both the one you choose for yourself but at the same time bonded by destiny
unlike brain, which controls ur body...heart doesnt...and ideally that should be the case with ur sweetheart too...maybe thats the reason brain isnt likened to ur better half....
liver, pancreas, kidneys very important, but can be shared with someone....a part can be donated and in case of kidney whole can be donated....heart sure cant be shared...
skin, the single, largest organ of our body, serves important function of protection...but i guess its a little bit too fragile, of course it braves the harm and protect...but it does bruise a bit too easily...the relation with ur special one has to be definitely tougher than that
heart is the last organ to stop and when it stops you declare a person dead......so basically, its the heart that sticks it out till the end....and the one that doesnt give up...the one that can be stimulated to function when it stops....maybe thats the reason that person is likened to your heart...
the body is perfect example how all different organs though indispensable work together smoothly for a healthy body...similarly, there are numerous relations in our life, they all are indispensable and important....you have build them and maintain them through out our life for a healthy life....and yes, whoever coined the word "sweetheart" made a right choice :)
ever since my friend gauri posted this recipe on her blog i was dying to making it....the only thing that kept me from making was i thought it was a super complex thing....i mean how could a person make such professional looking bread rolls at home...i thought this rolls were beyond my scope...anyways, this monday i told myself to give it a shot...after all the recipe was right there...i just had to follow it...and LO BEHOLD, i managed to make it...i cudnt believe it, i made those rolls....i think my fairy godmother dusted some of her magical fairy dust on them.....well, here is the recipe, and if u follow them am sure my fairy godmother would be generous with you too and your rolls will be super as well
Ingredients:
for the dough:
3 cups whole wheat flour
3 and 3/4 tbsp melted butter (45 gm)
1 egg (1/2 for dough, 1/2 for glaze)
2 and 3/4 tsp sugar
1 n 1/2 cup warm milk
1/2 tsp yeast
1 tsp oil
salt to taste
for the garlic spread
1 tbsp garlic paste
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp parmesan cheese (any shredded cheese)
1/2 tbsp italian seasoning
salt to taste
Method:
mix yeast in one cup warm milk and keep it aside for 10 min.
in a bowl, take flour, sugar, salt, butter and 1/2 egg and mix it together, once ten minutes are up add in the milk and yeast, now knead the dough as you knead to make chapatis, the dough should be kneaded soft, so if it isnt soft add half cup milk and knead it till the dough is soft and pliant and non sticky...
grease the vessel with some oil punch some so that there is oil coating all over the dough.
cover the vessel with a lid and let the dough rise till its twice its size or around 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
Meanwhile mix the ingredients of the spread together.
punch the dough so that all the air escapes, divide the dough into half and roll the dough into a huge chapati (try to make it rectangular) till it is 1/4 of inch thick...if the dough is sticking too much to the base then sprinkle some dry flour and roll
once rolled out spread the garlic mix all over the chapati.
now cut it in strips and knot it up...anyway u want to.
arrange them in baking tray and keep the knots aside for 30 min.
brush some beaten egg (the other half) on the knots before putting them in oven for an amazing glaze.
preheat the oven at 400 F and place the baking tray in oven.
bake for 20 min or little longer till u see the knots brown nicely and you get some amazing aroma of freshly baked garlic rolls.
it takes some time, so just plan it ahead of time....its very easy to make with great results...you ll be so proud of yourself....
song of the day: dhadak dhadak from BNB :) dreams unlimited
i had chocolate crepe at a french restaurant...and i am totally hooked to it...one of my favorite desserts...and its really simple to make too...and i like to call it the chocolate dosa :)
my tips: use non stick pan to make it...put batter on pan and spread it like u wud spread a dosa, and then once it is semi cooked apply butter to sides and spread little all over the crepe too...if its spread thin enough then u dont need to flip it and cook...if its thick u might need to do it
when the crepe is cooked, it will automatically separate from the pan, so u just have to lift from edges...
do not lose hope if u spoil initial 2 or 3 crepes....it might take a while till u get the hang of making them...be patient and make the next crepe...
its super delicious when u spread in nutella or chocolate sauce, and add chopped strawberries or banana....and garnish it with some cream.....serve them hot for best taste....so serve as u make...
i just had some, and my mouth is watering again!!!!
u have to try this french dessert...
song of the day: jaane nahi denge tujhe...dedicated to all my friends...love the emotion in this song...three cheers to friendship
A fairy tale always have a happy ending but does it have a perfect start? And what about the parts unseen and undiscovered.
This is the story of a simple girl. She lived with her sweet parents. One day she went to the woods playing around and made a new friend. They became best of the friends and started hanging out together everyday. Soon they grew up and their silly games started turning into realities. From friends they became lovers but they still loved playing games with each other. At the end that was the thing that always connected them... They were great lovers but they always brought out the darker side of each other. One day while playing the game of their life they both lost and that was it... they parted ways... The story does not end here...
This is the time her mother died and her father got her a step mother and two step sisters. They used to treat her like maid... This girl was Cinderella...whose story we all know... who met her Prince and then lived happily ever after. But who was the Prince? Her childhood sweetheart? Lets find out...
After the ball and his successful search with her glass shoe,Prince finds Cinderella and proposes her. She now had Prince in her life who would love her, understands her and wants her as no1 else would ever want ...yet she could not forget her love. Yes... He was not the Prince...
One day She goes back and tells her lover
"lets get back together. Happiness is not everything... The great loves are the crazy ones"
He replies,"There's a difference between a great love and the right love. I left you last year after two minutes when you didn't show. Prince waited for you all night. He searched for you and found you. This is your chance at happiness. You think you shouldn't want it 'cause you've never had it and it scares you. But you deserve your fairytale."
Cinderella: We make our own fairytales.
He says, "Only when we have to."
SILENCE
He holds her " I bring out your darker side and you shine with your Prince, you deserve him. " and kisses her forehead and says I will always love you.
She turns around and goes away... And it was happily NEVER after for them...
Transitions in life are usually marked by major events, birthdays, graduations, weddings; but the greater transition often come out of smaller moments, when we stop and look at who we are, because each time we see how far we have come, we also see how far we still have to go. Like her lover did...he transformed and did what is right. He made Cinderella do what is right for her and yet again proved that his love is indeed great!
Cinderella realizes that in order to fully transform, we might need to free ourselves of everything we’ve been holding on to, to send us on our new path, the right one.
CINDERELLA MARRIES THE PRINCE AND THEY LIVED HAPPILY EVERY AFTER
Rushika Maniar
(inspired by a tv show)
song of the day: when you say nothing at all from notting hill sung by ronan keating
