Presence without presents

Recently I received a wedding invitation which clearly mentioned - 'we request your valued presence on both the days and request presents in blessings only.'
A couple of days before the wedding, I received a call from another friend who had also been invited and she wanted to know if we were planning for a gift as a group. I pointed out that no gift was needed as their preference was stated quite unequivocally in the card and that we ought to respect it. But this friend was shocked that I intended to walk in empty handed and insisted that we check with the rest of the group. Finally I decided to take a bouquet as a compromise and it turned out that almost everyone had come with some gift or other - it seems that no one really believes that the couple mean it when they say something like that in their invitation.

Most of us know from our experience that there is nothing called a perfect gift for someone else unless it is close family or friends and you know exactly what they would like. Many times we end up picking up decorative pieces without even a clue about what their house looks like. I assume most people would prefer doing up their house according to their personal taste rather than be compelled to use assorted gifts that have been randomly picked driven by someone else's budget and taste.And in any case there are too many vases and clocks and tea sets after a wedding for one family's needs and they need to be given away or re-gifted.
So why do we insist on wasting money when someone has clearly requested not to bring a gift? We feel embarrassed to be empty handed when we go up to the couple to wish them. And we also know that no one else will take such requests seriously (as it happened at this wedding I was talking about) and you may end up looking like a fool.

So how do we make people stop this? How do we word this request so they know we mean business? One couple I know had stated that all gifts would be donated to charity and they would prefer if cheques were made in favour of a particular charity. Apparently there were two boxes at the entrance to the hall and everyone dropped their gifts/ cheque in the appropriate box and walked in empty handed to wish the couple. Brilliant idea, I thought. I don't know what others thought especially the ones who had insisted on taking expensive gifts. But I guess you have to do something like this if people do not understand simple instructions in plain language.

In case you are aware of any other effective means of communicating that you really want only their presence and blessings, please share them with me.

P.s: While on the topic of gifts, Paul has a lovely post here (actually all his posts are lovely and thought provoking) please check them out.

SPDP - Shev Batata Dahi Puri

मराठीमध्ये वाचण्यासाठी इथे क्लिक करा

Vaishali - A hotel on FC Road in Pune is very famous for this dish.. And ajoy being fequent visitor there i had additional pressure to make it as tastier as they make it.. And I was somewhat successful in it.. So here is the recipy.


Ingredients
7 Papadi style Puris
1 spoon Tamarind Chutney
3/4 spoon Green Spicy Chutney
1 medium sized Potato
1/2 cup Curd
4 spoon Shev
1/2 spoon Corriander leaves
1/2 spoon Corriander powder
1/2 spoon Cumin powder
1/2 spoon Chaat masala
2 spoon Sugar
Salt to taste

Method

• Cook potatoes in the cooker
• Mix curd with sugar and a pinch of salt and keep aside
• Remove the cover of the potato chop it into fine pieces
• Mix salt, corriander powder, cumin powder, chaat masala with these pieces
• Arrange 7 puris on a plate and add these finely chopped potato pieces on top of it
• Sprinkle green spicy chutney, then curd and then tamarind chutney on it
• Spread shev on top of it and garnish with corriander leaves

Notes
This is an ideal item for the party where in you can keep everything ready and just prepare the dishes while serving

Oz

3343 Bradshaw Rd, Sacramento, CA 95827, (916) 362-9292

It was a dark and stormy night, when... Ok, ok, maybe it wasn't stormy but it sure as heck was dark (and cold) tonight; when my buddy J., my hapa partner in crime M. and I decided to get together for some tasty Korean cuisine and catch up on our lives. J. brilliantly suggested a Korean BBQ restaurant by his home. As I turned off of Hwy 50 on Bradshaw and was preparing myself to drive at a granny's pace and squint through my windshield to find this Korean eatery, I was surprised to find myself suddenly confronted by a mammoth of a building (perhaps a Ho-Jo's in another life?), bedecked in miles of twinkle lights ... welcome to Oz , folks. Like a beacon in the dark, it's hard to miss.

As you walk up to the behemoth structure, you're enveloped in a wonderful heady aroma of garlic, sesame and soy. Just follow this delicious scent to the foyer. You'll find yourself in a spacious lobby decorated in muted earth tones with walls that are inscribed with short poems about the glory of Tahoe. There's plenty of benches and even a large table to wait at in the lobby but there was no need to tonight. My resourceful friends had already secured a table up front. I was the last to show, but within milliseconds of me sitting our server David materialized to take my drink order and drop off some tasty banchan (small side dishes) to be shared. Yelp Tip: During the week (Monday -Thursday nights), Oz offers an all you can grill and eat special for $16.99 per person, served family-style. This is a great deal! Seriously, I love meat as much as the next person and can tear it up like a T-Rex but I ate ridiculous amounts of meat tonight (although I think my dinner companions still out ate me). The food just never stopped coming. The first platter of raw meat that was brought out is a carnivore's dream- a potpourri of marinated galbi (beef short ribs), brisket, pork belly (bacon) and chicken. Once you finish that platter, you can request more of any of the meats specifically. Hands down our favorite was the juicy brisket and we requested encores of that several times. Now I myself dislike what I have dubbed "fatty" meat, but my dining companions chowed happily on the chewy pork belly. In fact, M. quipped, "Everything's better with bacon!" Condiments are graciously provided and consist of whole garlic cloves, fiery sliced chilis, crisp ssam (lettuce leaves) and a salty red bean paste. We were also armed with a pair of large tongs and heavy duty scissors to assist us with our dining adventure.

Dinner was wonderful. Our server, David, provided top notch, impeccable service. There was never a want for anything. More meat-poof, it was there! More water-poof, it's filled! Dirty dishes- poof, they're gone! We never had to ask for anything, as though he was ESP-driven David anticipated our every want. Also, since he was training to bartend David offered our table a free "house" drink each to sample if we'd take a short survey afterwards. Being the lushes that we are, we eagerly volunteered to be his guinea pigs (yeah, like you really have to twist my arm when it comes to accepting a free drink).The sample drink turned out to be a full sized cocktail that tasted like a day at the beach... seriously...it could best be described as a coconutty mojito. It was oh, so tasty and the sweetness balanced the garlic-infused meal perfectly.

Filled to the gills with a delicious meal, my only last desire was a fluffy pillow so that I could curl up and take a nice nap by the warm grill. Like a content cat, I was purring after my dining experience at Oz and dreaming of my next visit.

Green Spicy Chutney

मराठीमध्ये वाचण्यासाठी इथे क्लिक करा

I prepare this chutney especially for chaat items. But it can be taken as a side dish during main course especially with parathas.


Ingredients
1/4 cup pudina leaves
1.5 cup corriander leaves
4-5 green chillies
1/2 tea spoon sugar
Salt

Method

• Add pudina leaves, corriander leaves, green chillies and couple of spoon of water to the mixie and grind
• Add sugar and salt to it and grind again for a while

Notes
In this chutney you can add little chaat masala and amchur powder, if you are going to serve it with parathas, it would taste delicious

Fish Rava Fry

मराठीमध्ये वाचण्यासाठी इथे क्लिक करा

Fish rava fry is special delicacy from Goa and north karnataka.. Any body would get instant liking towards this dish.. And you will soon come to know its lot easy to prepare as well..


Ingredients
4-5 Fish Pieces
2 spoon Red Chilly Powder
1 spoon turmeric powder
2 spoon Rava
Salt
Oil

Method

• Marinate the fish pieces with salt and keep aside for 5-10 minutes
• Now marriante the fish pieces with the turmeric powder and chilly powder. Keep aside for another 5-10 minutes
• Heat the tawa, add little oil
• Roll the marinated fish pieces in the rawa and fry them on the tawa on medium heat till rawa is golden brown and fish is well cooked

Notes
You can try this on any fish, even prawns. Recipy remains same taste changes with the taste of fish.

Banana Puri

मराठीमध्ये वाचण्यासाठी इथे क्लिक करा

When I got bananas for fruit salad i decided to try this recipy i had read in one of the book mom gave.. It turned out quite filling and different kind of recipy.. Must try if you are obsessed by variations in food :)


Ingredients
3 small Bananas
1/2 cup Castor Sugar
Wheat flour
Oil

Method

• Mash the bananas
• Add sugar and mix it well with the bananas till it dissolves completely
• Add the wheat flour to get dough, coat with oil
• Roll out puris out of this dough and fry them on medium flame

Notes
While i was rolling the puris i thought i should have mixed the bananas and castor sugar together using blender to get really sooth paste. i am going to try this next time.
Don't keep the dough for too long as it might become greyish/blackish because of bananas after a while

The idiot's guide to being a complete idiot

I tried connecting to the net earlier this evening when I noticed that the link and data indicators on the modem were off.It has happened before and when reported the guys at customer support asked me to switch it off , wait for a while and switch it back on and it was back to business. I pride myself on a being a smart computer user and prefer to fix known problems myself where possible. I tried switching the modem off a couple of times but the problem this time seemed more complex. So I called customer support. After dialing 1 for English and 2 for Internet related problem and 2 again for modem problem, I was informed that I was about to be connected to a service executive and that the call was being recorded and may be used for their internal training purposes. Finally a human voice was heard enquiring politely about the nature of my problem that had caused me to brave the call. I get frazzled dealing with pre-recorded voices. Basically I am the type who, when faced with a problem, likes to dial the number, state my problem and have it fixed asap. Not for me an IVR system - 'if this, press this else, press that' and so on. (It is actually worse with telebanking where you have to enter 13 digit account numbers and card numbers apart from having to listen to an enthusiastic voice telling you about all their innovative products which you most probably don't need)

Anyway where was I? Ok, I finally got a kind, human voice assuring me that it was all going to be fine but only if I would permit him to place me on hold while he went away to investigate the problem. As if I had a choice! And so he went away while I was being enticed with possibilities of a ticket to Bangkok or a new smart Swift car if I paid my bill on time. After I had heard this over 20 times in continuous succession, there came another human voice thanking me for waiting and repeating my problem in accurate detail.
Am I speaking to Mrs so and so from number such and such, modem model such and such and is this the nature of the problem you reported?
(What next? will I be asked to swear on the Bhagavad Gita?)But I only said "that's correct."
This was the conversation that followed:
Voice at other end (VOE): Are all the four lights on the modem on?
Me: No, the link and data ones are off.
VOE:Did you recently make any changes to your computer and modem connections?
Me: No.
VOE: Other than the modem do you see a small white box?
By now he was speaking to me like a fireman trying to rescue a three year old locked inside a bathroom with a gun. Clearly enunciating every word so there is no misunderstanding.
I wanted to ask "you mean the ADSL inline filter?" but I was beginning to enjoy this so I played along. "yes, the white box, it is there."
VOE: can you see that there are three points for connection?
Me: (without even bothering to look at the box) Ya line, modem and phone.
(if only he knew the number of times I have plugged and unplugged these while moving the laptop and modem between rooms)
VOE: Now please don't remove anything but just check and tell me if there are cords leading from all three lines.
Me: (Hey, stop being so condescending. Don't you make allowances for basic intelligence when you deal with customers? Check if cables are connected indeed. what next? check if power is switched on?)
Bending under the table,pulling out the white box and staring at it in shock, disbelief, shame in that order.
(into the telephone)The cord connecting to the modem has fallen off.(possible suicide attempt? fallen off, ha!) I've connected it now. Thank you very much.
VOE: ( displaying no obvious emotion) please connect the modem and tell me if all the 4 lights are on and confirm that your net connection is working madam.
Me:(very subdued and distracted) yes, I have, they are, it does. Thank you.
VOE: Thank you for calling customer service. Have a good day.
And I bet they filed the recorded conversation for the training session titled "customer may always be right but not always bright."

Anyone for a training on making a complete idiot of oneself while leaving evidence in a recorded conversation?

Fruit Salad with Jelly and Custard

मराठीमध्ये वाचण्यासाठी इथे क्लिक करा

Since childhood i just loved fruits and fruit salad too.. So today when i went to market and saw so many fruits, i just couldn't resist preparing this for dessert.. It was yummy...


Ingredients
1 Apple
2 Sapota
2 Sweet lime
2 Oranges
1/2 cup grapes
2 Bananas
1/2 pomegranate
5-6 Strawberries
1 packet of Custard Powder
2 packets of Jelly Mix
1/2 liter Milk
2 spoon sugar

Method

• Boil 900ml of water and mix it with the both jelly mix
• Set the jelly in the mould and keep aside
• Mix custard powder in little milk
• Boil rest of the milk adding sugar to it
• When milk is boiled, add the custard pate and cook for about 3-4 minutes with constant stirring. Keep aside
• Refrigerate jelly and custard
• Cut apple, sapotas, bananas, sweet limes, oranges into small pieces, removing their covers, seeds etc
• Mix them grapes
• While serving add a layer of fruits in a bowl
• Cut jelly into cubes and add a layer of jelly pieces on top of fruits
• Add custard on top of it and put a cut strawberry and pomegranates on it

Notes
I used Weikfield Jelly and Custard Powder to get prepare the jelly and custard, if you use different brand the recipe for jelly and custard might be different.
You can also try two different flavours of jelly mix. I used Rasberry and Banana flavour of jelly and lemon flavour of custard.
On top of this custard you can add a scoop of vanilla or your choice of ice-cream and make a more grand dessert.
You can add pinapple as well in the fruit salad or omit the fruits that are not available.. This would taste even nice with only with a single fruit say like lychee

Stuffed Egg Pasanda

मराठीमध्ये वाचण्यासाठी इथे क्लिक करा

I actually wanted to prepared egg pattice from boiled egg, but since there was no maida stock was over from my place as well as from the store where i buy the grocery, i decided to try something different and here is the result


Ingredients
1 cup wheat flour
3 hard boiled eggs
2 green chillies
Handfull of corriander leaves
Salt to taste
Oil

Method

• Preapare the dough from wheat flour the way one prepares for rotis and keep aside
• Grate the boiled eggs
• Mix grated eggs, finely chopped chillies, finely chopped corriander leaves and salt
• Roll the roti from the dough and use the egg mixture to get different shapes
• For Roll shape: Spread the egg mixture on top of the roti and then make the roll out of it and close all sides with water
• For Karanji Shape : Put the egg mixture on top of the roti and fold to get half round karanji shape. Close all sides using water
• Deep fry in oil

Notes
When I tried this, the dough was little loser and hence when i made the roll shapes i heated the roti from both side for a second on tawa so that it is not too sticky and thin.
You can also try other shapes eg, like samosa, which i didn't have patience for, with sticky dough

Jhatpat(Quick) Bharata

मराठीमध्ये वाचण्यासाठी इथे क्लिक करा

This type of bharata is my faviourite and it is so easy and fast to cook that most of the time i end up preparing it this way only :)


Ingredients
1 Big Brinjal
1/2 Onion
4 spoon Curd
2 Green Chillies
Handful of Corriander leaves
Salt to taste

Method

• Roast the brinjal
• Remove the cover from the brinjal
• Mash the brinjal and add finely chopped chillies, curd and salt to taste
• Mix well and garnish with corriander leaves

Notes
You can also add one finely chopped onion to this if you like

Aappe and Coconut Chutney

मराठीमध्ये वाचण्यासाठी इथे क्लिक करा

Since we were kids, we all in our family loved this dish. And i can't believe that i didn't try it earlier.. But today when I tried it, it turned out as good as mom's mainly because i telephoned almost three four times to mom to ask all the details :)

Aappe


Ingredients
1/2 cup Udid daal
1/2 spoon harbar daal
3 cup idli rawa
Salt to taste

Method

• Mix harbara daal and udid daal and soak it for 12 hours
• Also soak idli rawa separately for 12 hours
• After 12 hours grind daal in a mixie removing water from it to get fine paste
• To this paste add idli rawa and again grind to get fine paste
• Keep aside this paste for 12 hours
• In the morning heat the aappe pan and add this mixture in it
• Cook both sides of the aappe on medium flame and serve hot with the coconut chutney

Notes
During winter days, it takes time for batter to be ferment in 12 hours, so boil water in a pot and keep pot containing the grinded paste on top of this pot.
Use non-stick aappe pot for better results, it doesn't even need oil. Other aappe pots needs oil and batter might stick to the pot resulting in a little mess.

Coconut Chutney


Ingredients
1/2 Coconut
Handfull of corriander leaves
4 spoon of chana
1 green chilli
1 tea spoon sugar
Salt to taste

Method

• Grate the coconut
• In a mixie, add grated cocounut, corriander leaves, chana, green chilli, sugar and salt and grind it
• Add little water if required while grinding to get chutney

Notes
In this chutney, chana daal(without cover) is optional but it gives nice taste to the chutney

Prawns Masala

मराठीमध्ये वाचण्यासाठी इथे क्लिक करा

I just love prawns, any recipy.. But this one ma's(mother-in-law) style is most faviourite one.. even better than fried one :) I just love it.


Ingredients
400 gm Prawns
2 onions
2 tomatoes
1/2 spoon ginger paste
1/2 spoon garlic paste
1 spoon red chilli powder
1 spoon turmeric powder
Grated coconut for garnishing
Salt to taste
Oil

Method

• Heat little oil in the pan
• Fry the prawns in the oil for a minute of so and keep aside
• In the same oil add finely chopped onion
• Once onion is translucent, add garlic paste, ginger paste, red chilli powder, turmeric powder
• After a while add finely chopped tomato and cook for 2-3 minutes
• Add a cup of water and cook with covering pan by a lid
• Keep aside for cooling
• In a mixie grind to get the uniform paste
• In a pan add this grinded gravy, a cup of water, fried prawns and cook till gravy gets desired thickness
• Add grated coconut and salt and cook for a minute

Notes
Actually ma doesnot grind the gravy in a mixie instead she lets cook the tomato till it completly dissolves, but i prefer it to grind that way even onions give the gravy a nice taste

Pomegranate Refresher

मराठीमध्ये वाचण्यासाठी इथे क्लिक करा

Last few weeks we had been getting lots of pomegranate at home mainly because we had been having cold too often and sour fruits are completely no no.. Yesterday when I took out pomegranate from fridge, I thought of making its juice but which will have little sourness in it so that we get some vitamin c contents and also it has chatpata taste. So here is my own experiment with the pomegranate.


Ingredients
2 pomogranate
2 lemon
1/2 green chilli
3 spoon sugar
1.5 glass water
A pinch of ginger paste

Method

• Separate pomegranate seeds along with its juicy cover
• In a mixie, grind these pomegranate seeds, sugar, ginger paste to make fine paste
• Add water, and lemon juice to it and grind again
• Filter out the juice to remove seeds

Notes
You can serve it with ice and chilled but since we have cold problem we took it at normal temparature and it tasted well

Khima Muttor

मराठीमध्ये वाचण्यासाठी इथे क्लिक करा

This recipe is ajoy's faviourite one.. Wherever we go ajoy wants to it khima muttor.. Yesterday when i asked him to get pomplet and he didn't get it, he got Khima.. So here is the recipe


Ingredients
1/4 Kg Khima
1.5 cup muttor
3 Tomatoes
3 Onions
1/2 spoon garlic paste
1/2 spoon ginger paste
2 spoon red chilli powder
2 spoon garam masala
1/2 spoon turmeric powder
1/2 spoon jeera powder
1/4 spoon corriander powder
2-3 spoon corriander leaves
Salt to taste
Oil

Method

• Cook khima in cooker by adding around a cup of water
• Add 2-3 spoons of oil in a pan and heat it
• Add finely chopped onions to it and cook till onions are translucent
• Add garlic and ginger paste and cook for a while
• Add finely chopped tomatoes in it and cook till they are completely done and almost smashed
• Add tuermeric powder, red chilli powder, garam masala, corriander powder and jeera powder
• Let the miture cook for a while and then keep aside for cooling
• Grind this mixture in a mixie to get fine paste, add little water if required
• Now, heat a spoon of oil in a pan and then add this grinded mixture to the pan
• After a while, add cooked khima along with the water it was cooked in, muttor and a cup of water more
• Cook on high flame with constant stiring till the mixture is thick enough
• Garnish with finely chopped corriander leaves

Notes
Khima tastes better with fresh khima than those frozen stuff we get in market. Earlier I had tried with frozen one but it didn't taste as good as this one.
I had prepared mutton khima, but chicken khima can be prepared in same way

Mango Shira

मराठीमध्ये वाचण्यासाठी इथे क्लिक करा

Today when I returned from goa, i wanted to prepare something very easy and still tasty for breakfast.. We had been on hotel food for quite a few days so something traditional yet tasty and differnt would be ideal and here is the recipy i came up with..


Ingredients
1 cup rawa
1.5 cup mango pulp
1 cup milk
1.5 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
4-5 Almonds
Pinch of Safron
Ghee

Method

• Add ghee in a pan and heat it
• Add rawa to it and fry on low flame till its slightly brown
• In another pan mix water and milk and boil it
• Add it to the brownish rawa
• Let the rawa cook for some time (Till mixture becomes thick)
• Add sugar and mango pulp and cook again for a while
• Garnish with almond pieces and safron and serve hot

Notes
I used only half cup of sugar as mango pulp also contained sugar.
I also used the mango pulp with few slices of mangoes to get better taste

Tan Trouble

"If it ain't broke don't fix it "- Sound advice which I have followed with respect to everything I own including my body. I managed to add 12 kgs to my normal weight without so much as a clue until my legs protested about the excess weight they had to transport. Even when the doctor showed me the counter on the scale, I demanded proof that his scale wasn't faulty.Well, the same goes for my skin and other body parts too and I have a good excuse for this negligence - I am allergic to most products in the market.

Recently I got a good lecture from my sister on my negligence with supporting evidence in the form of dark patches on my back and arms, apparently caused by exposure to sun and extreme dryness. She decided to take control of the matter, went and made a mix of gram flour and turmeric. I was supposed to mix this with curd and apply on all the tanned parts and I was led to believe I would become like Aishwarya Rai. I did as instructed, waited for a few minutes before washing and looked. I looked again. No change. I turned to her with a gloating smile and told her: "see, I told you, nothing works." She gave me a look she reserves exclusively for champion idiots (and me) and explained that I had to keep doing it until the tan disappeared. She packed a kilo of the stuff for me to carry to Bangalore. She reminded me to use it daily and as a motivation reminded me of an impending family function where I would be wearing saris when I might wish that these dark patches were not there. This is serious , especially when one has relatives who start conversations with comments on one's appearance ( 'have you lost weight?', 'you look bloated, menopause problems?' 'have you been sick - your skin looks terrible') Oh no, I must do something about this. And pretty soon. Cannot ask them to postpone the muhurtam until the patches are gone.

So every morning I make the paste and smear it all over and sit on the stairs ensuring that the paste doesn't leave tell tale yellow marks and ensuring that Munni does not have access to me - she loves curds and starts licking the paste off my arms. It is a messy affair but I endure with patience and persevere. As Bertie Wooster would have said, "I'm not absolutely certain of my facts, but I rather fancy it's Shakespeare--or, if not, it's some equally brainy lad--who says" that a thing of beauty is a job forever or something close.

It has been a couple of weeks now and when I scrutinise areas under treatment they seem to preserve status quo ante. Forget looking like Aishwarya Rai; I'd be glad if i looked like her mother in law! On the contrary, I seem to have gained a few pounds. Any expert out there who can confirm my suspicion that it is all due to the absorption of all this fat from curd? Actually you don't have to be an expert: just confirm. I just need an excuse to fend off my meddling sister when she gives me the third degree for having discontinued the treatment. And if anyone mentions the "black" patches at the function, I am going to use the "racist slur" trump card.
MWAHAHA.....

A blue ribbon to you

Most of us need external validation for our usefulness and we measure it by something tangible which may range from a simple heartfelt 'thank you' card to a big bonus and promotion. One's professional life affords more opportunities for feeling useful and one does feel a reduction in one's worth when one has given up employment. I mean who thanks you for a meal well- made and served timely day after day or for just staying in the house and attending to the dhobi, courier, mailman, veg vendor, carpenter, plumber, electrician while they roam the world doing worthwhile things? The only recognition you get then is by being identified "Mrs. So and so" or 'so and so's mom'! I have personally felt rather useless since I gave up my job and there are times I have judged myself deadwood. It can be quite frustrating when you don't feel you are contributing anything to society and that you are nothing but a consumer of goods and services provided by others. One doesn't realise that it is possible that one can still make a difference to others by just by listening, by being supportive or by being non-judgemental - by just being there. So it was quite a surprise when someone recently explained to me how I had made a difference to his life when he had hit rock bottom. I was confused and asked him what I had done to deserve this kind of gratitude and he said "you were there, you did not crtiticise me and you did not give up on me."
He was thanking me for NOT doing anything - I had no idea that you could make a difference to someone simply by not doing anything. A bit like "They also serve who only stand and wait."
And the irony is that he did not realise how much he had boosted my sagging self worth by telling me this - He made a difference to me too!

If this sounds a bit like the chicken soupy stuff that you receive in email, it was indeed an email from a friend this morning that provoked me to write this post:

A teacher in New York decided to honor each of her seniors in high school by telling them the difference they each made. She called each student to the front
of the class, one at a time. First she told each of them how they had made a difference to her and the class.

Then she presented each of them with a blue ribbon imprinted with gold letters, which read, "Who I Am Makes a Difference."

Afterwards the teacher decided to do a class project to see what kind of impact recognition would have on a community. She gave each of the students three more
ribbons and instructed them to go out and spread this acknowledgment ceremony. Then they were to follow up the results, see who honored whom and report back to the class in about a week.

One of the boys in the class went to a junior executive in a nearby company and honored him for helping him with his career planning. He gave him a blue ribbon and put it on his shirt. Then he gave him two extra ribbons and said, "We're doing a class project on recognition, and we'd like you to go out find somebody to honor, give them a blue ribbon, then give them the extra blue ribbon so they can acknowledge a third person to keep this acknowledgment ceremony going. Then please report back to me and tell me what happened."

Later that day the junior executive went in to see his boss, who had been noted, by the way, as being kind of a grouchy fellow. He sat his boss down and he told him that he deeply admired him for being a creative genius.

The boss seemed very surprised. The junior executive asked him if he would accept the gift of the blue ribbon and would he give him permission to put it on him. His surprised boss said, "Well, sure." The junior executive took the blue ribbon and placed it right on his boss's jacket above his heart.

As he gave him the last extra ribbon, he said, "Would you do me a favor? Would you take this extra ribbon and pass it on by honoring somebody else? The young
boy who first gave me the ribbons is doing a project in school and we want to keep this recognition ceremony going and find out how it affects people."

That night the boss came home to his 14-year-old son and sat him down. He said, "The most incredible thing happened to me today. I was in my office and one of
the junior executives came in and told me he admired me and gave me a blue ribbon for being a creative genius. Imagine. He thinks I'm a creative genius. Then he put
this blue ribbon that says: "Who I Am Makes a Difference, on my jacket above my heart. He gave me an extra ribbon and asked me to find somebody else to
honor. As I was driving home tonight, I started thinking about whom I would honor with this ribbon and I thought about you.

I want to honor you. My days are really hectic and when I come home I don't pay a lot of attention to you. Sometimes I scream at you for not getting good enough grades in school and for your bedroom being a mess, but somehow tonight, I just wanted to sit here and, well, just let you know that you do make a difference to me. Besides your mother, you are the most important person in my life. You're a great kid and I love you!"

The startled boy started to sob and sob, and he couldn't stop crying. His whole body shook. He looked up at his father and said through his tears, "Dad, earlier tonight I sat in my room and wrote a letter to you and Mom explaining why I had killed myself and asking you to forgive me. I was going to commit suicide tonight after you were asleep. I just didn't think that you cared at all. The letter is upstairs.
I don't think I need it after all."

His father walked upstairs and found a heartfelt letter full of anguish and pain. The envelope was addressed, "Mom and Dad."

The boss went back to work a changed man. He was no longer a grouch but made sure to let all his employees know that they made a difference. The junior executive
helped several other young people with career planning and never forgot to let them know that they made a difference in his life...one being the boss's son.

And the young boy and his classmates learned a valuable lesson. Who you are DOES make difference.

Send it to all of the people who mean anything important to you, or send it to the one, two, or three people who mean the most. Or just smile and know that someone thinks that you are important, or you wouldn't have received this in the first place. Remember that!
I give you a blue ribbon.

WHO YOU ARE MAKES A DIFFERENCE,
AND I WANTED YOU TO KNOW THAT . . .

So why am I posting this here? So you all know that every time you read my posts and take the time to share your thoughts, opinions and comments you make a difference to me. Go pass the blue ribbon to someone else.

Papaya Tikki

मराठीमध्ये वाचण्यासाठी इथे क्लिक करा

After paratha, this is the next dish with another papaya sitting in our fruit basket..


Ingredients
1 raw papaya
1 spoon ginger paste
1 spoon red chilli powder
1 spoon sugar
4 spoon bason
4 spoon corn flour
Salt to taste
Oil

Method

• Grate papaya and add it in a pan
• Add water till papaya is covered and cook on medium heat till papaya is cooked
• Add sugar and cook again, let water dry completely
• In another pan heat oil, add ginger paste, red chilli powder and cook it for a while till ginger paste is completely done
• Add it to the cooked papaya, add salt and mix well
• Let mixture cool down and then add bason and corn flour
• Refrigerate overnight to get the thick and nonsticky batter
• In the morning, take the mixture out of refrigerator and make tikkis - flat round shaped
• Shallow fry on the tawa and serve with the sause

Notes
You can also fry the tikki after covering it with fine rawa or bread crums

Gobi Chatpata

मराठीमध्ये वाचण्यासाठी इथे क्लिक करा

When I was small, I had seen something called gobi tura recipe on DD marathi.. And this recipe is inspired by that recipe.. I have made it more chatpata according to my taste.. And believe me you just can't control yourself from eating it while cooking itself :)


Ingredients
4 cups of gobi pieces
1/2 spoon turmertic powder
1/2 spoon red chilli powder
1/2 lemon
Salt
Oil

Method

• Mix 2 cups of gobi pieces, red chilli powder, turmeric powder, lemon's juice and salt together and keep aside
• Mix remaining gobi pieces and salt separately and keep aside
• Heat oil and first fry salted gobi pieces and then masala gobi pieces
• While serving mix both these gobi pieces and serve

Notes
You can sprinkle little chat masala while serving.
Fry salted gobi first so that their colour is not spoilt because of masala that gets left over in the oil

Note

Just realised that with the last recipe post, My Cooking Experiments contains 50 recipies.. Looks quite an achievement, especially with these hectic working schedules.. Feels great to have reached till here.. I do plan to take it further and post many more recipes :) so stay tuned :)

Papaya Paratha

मराठीमध्ये वाचण्यासाठी इथे क्लिक करा

Ajoy bought 2 papayas the other day for eating.. They looked little unripped to him but even after 5-6 days when it didn't ripe i decided to try some cooking experiments on it. So this one is the result of experiment on one of them. Another one is yet waiting for its turn :)


Ingredients
1 raw papaya
3 spoon sugar
1 spoon red chilli powder
10 spoon heaps of wheat flour
A handfull of corriander leaves
Salt to taste
Oil

Method

• Peel off the papaya and grate it
• Heat little oil in a pan and add grated papaya
• Cook for around 6-7 minutes and then add sugar and chilli powder
• Cook for some more time till papaya is done
• Let the mixture cool down
• Add wheat flour and finely chopped corriander leaves and form the dough for paratha
• Keep aside for half an hour
• Roll parathas and cook on tawa with oil or ghee

Notes
These parathas are sweet parathas and red chilli powder is just to give little flavour

Paneer Peshwari

मराठीमध्ये वाचण्यासाठी इथे क्लिक करा

This was the dish, we liked in Gokul, CMH Road , Bangalore.. We were mad about this vegetable in Gokul.. I had been preparing this vegetable since long time now.. But after marriage we hardly prepared this.. And when we realised that yesterday, it was the item for dinner..


Ingredients
200g Paneer
2 Onions
3 Tomatoes
1/2 spoon garlic paste
1/2 spoon ginger paste
1/2 spoon turmeric powder
1 spoon red chilli powder
1/2 spoon garam masala
1 spoon jeera powder
1 spoon corriander powder
Salt to taste
Oil

Method

• Grate the paneer, Chop onions and tomatoes
• Heat little oil in a pan and add finely chopped onions
• Once onions turn slightly reddish, add ginger paste and garlic paste
• After a while add turmeric powder, red chilli powder, garam masala, jeera powder, corriander powder to it and stir well
• Add tomatoes and cook them well
• Take the mixture off the stove and let the mixture cool down
• Grind the mixture in the mixie
• Again heat a pan and add this mixture with little water
• Add the grated paneer and salt and let it cook for some time till paneer is cooked well and gravy has enough thickness

Notes
You can add little capsicum to the vegetable, but since we both don't like capsicum we avoid it :)

Chicken Biryani With Groundnut Gravy

मराठीमध्ये वाचण्यासाठी इथे क्लिक करा

I had never prepared chicken biryani before so when i decided to cook it i did search a lot on internet. Also asked our maid for it so that i get to know how they cook it. And then i came up with this one which is outcome of my research.

Chicken Biryani


Ingredients
1/2 kg chicken
4 cups of rice
1 cup milk
1 cup curd
2 onions
1/2 cup tomato puree
1 tea spoon ginger paste
1/2 tea spoon garlic paste
3 spoon turmeric powder
3 spoon garam masala
3 spoon red chilli powder
2 spoon corriander powder
1 spoon cumin powder
1 spoon green cardamom powder
A pinch of Safron
Salt to taste
Oil
Method

• Heat oil in a pan and add finely chopped onion to it
• Once onion is reddish add tomato puree to it and cook well
• Add garlic paste, ginger paste, 1 spoon garam masala, 1 spoon turmertic powder, 1 spoon red chilli powder, 1 spoon corriander powder and 1/2 spoon cumin powder to it and stir well.
• Add curd and salt to it and cook for a while
• Add chicken pieces to this mixture and cook till gravy dries completely and oil separates out. Keep aside
• Mix 4 cups of rice, milk and safron and cook it
• In a heat little oil/ghee and add green cardamom powder to it
• Add remaining turmeric powder, red chilli powder, garam masala, corriander powder and cumin powder
• Mix cooked rice and salt and stir well
• In a cooker pot add a layer of this above prepared rice then cooked chicken pieaces and then remaining rice
• Let it cook on vapour for a minute or two
• Serve hot with the groundnut gravy and raita

Notes
I had been told to fry uncooked rice on ghee, add other masala items and then cook the rice but I prefered to it otherway that is to add masala after cooking rice as it gives nice aroma and taste to the rice.

Groundnut Gravy


Ingredients
1/2 cup Groundnut powder
2 Tomatoes
1 spoon garam masala
1 spoon turmeric powder
1 spoon red chilli powder
1 spoon corriander powder
1/2 spoon cumin powder
Salt to taste
Oil

Method

• Heat oil in a pan and add finely chopped tomato to it
• After tomatoes are cooked well(it becomes paste), add red chilli powder, corriander powder, cumin powder and garam masala
• Add groundnut powder and salt to it
• The miture will be like a dry chutney ball, let it cook for a while
• Add water to it and boil it to get the thick gravy

Notes
The above gravy is not too hot as I didn't have enough curd for raita, you can make it hot as per your taste

Egg Masala

मराठीमध्ये वाचण्यासाठी इथे क्लिक करा

This is one of the tastiest egg dish I came across. I read this recipe in a book and thought of giving it a shot.. Had tried it earlier but it wasn't that successful.. So today i modified the way i cooked it and result was awesome :)


Ingredients
3 eggs
1 big onion finely chopped
2 tomatoes finely chopped
1 tea spoon red chilli powder
1/2 tea spoon garam masala
1 tea spoon ginger garlic paste
2 spoon corriander leaves
Salt to taste
Oil

Method

• Heat little oil in a pan
• Add finely chopped onion and stir well
• Add ginger garlic paste, red chilli powder and garam masala and still well
• Add finely chopped tomatoes and cook well till oil separates from the mixture and take down from flame
• Heat the tawa and coat it with litte oil
• Add the above mixture and spread it across to form thin layer of masala
• Break the eggs one by one and spread it on the masala without disturbing their yolks
• Cover with lid and cook on lowest possible flame till the egg sets
• Garnish with finely chopped corriander leaves

Notes
As the masala is already cooked there are high chances of it burning and sticking to tawa, Use the nonstick tawa for setting the egg that too on lowest possible flame.
It can be served with the bread and also with fulkas/parathas instead of other gravies

Childhood amnesia

I spent a few days with my aunt last week and used this time to learn as much family history as possible from her - the geneology, eccentricities, family traditions as well as all the juicy gossip and scandalous details which were kept from us as children and young adults. She had her fun by recounting some of my childhood gaffes and embarassing moments. It was disappointing how little I remembered of my childhood. Although childhood amnesia is commonly associated with early childhood, most people are able to trace their earliest memory to the time they were 2 1/2 or 3 years old. Granted that my memory in its current condition doesn't retain details of what I had for lunch yesterday but with a little jogging, I can usually remember the broad outline of pages from past chapters in my life. But here I was listening to her as if she was narrating a fictional story to me and then she turns around and tells me that I was the author and hero of the story. I wish my mother had a mom blog - or may be not considering some of the things I allegedly said/ did as a child.

So I spent all morning trying to chronologise my memories and to get to my earliest memory. It was tough to separate real experiences from second-hand memories. This usually happens when you have heard others recount events from early childhood even though you yourself have no memories of these. Thus, for example, I now know things I am supposed to have said when my sister was born even though I was just 2 at that time thanks to other adults recounting the same to me. And then there are photo album memories. One has seen photos of what one did as a baby and imagines one remembers the experience.

My earliest memory is of death - that of my paternal grandfather. I was three years and a few months old.I remember my father holding a paper( telegram) with a serious look, and flash images of a sudden flurry of activity ,quickly packing and leaving for the station. I remember where and how his body was kept and my aunts sitting around the body crying. I remember following the funeral procession up to the end of the road - women and girls could not go beyond that. As we walked back to the house, I remember turning to look at the body and an aunt who was crying asked me not to. And then, Nothing. No more recollection of anything that happened then.

Strange how I seem to have retained such a vivid memory of this - perhaps this was the first moment of intense emotion that I experienced around me and hence the impact. I did not know what death was, I do not remember crying for my grandfather or feeling sad. Perhaps my mind recognised it as something important and captured the images and stored them away to be processed at a later date. Too bad that it is the only memory I have of my thatha.

What is your earliest memory? How old were you then?

Muttor Paratha

मराठीमध्ये वाचण्यासाठी इथे क्लिक करा

When we had gone to pune this time, Ma had cooked nice muttor stuffed puris, I thought of preparing them, but it looks little delicate affair for a weekday so i thought of preparing muttor paratha first :) But I am surely going to try muttor stuffed puris one day :)


Ingredients
2 cup muttor
1/2 spoon garlic paste
1/2 spoon ginger paste
5 green chillies
6 spoon heaps of Wheat flour
Salt to taste
Oil/Ghee

Method

• Grind the mutor in a mixie without adding water in it to get a coarse mixture
• Heat little oil in a pan
• Add finely chopped chillies, ginger paste, garlic paste and cook for a while
• Add the coarse mixture of the muttor and salt and cook it for some time
• Keep aside this miture for it to cool down
• Make dough of wheat flour adding a spoon of oil and keep aside for half an hour
• Make small ball of dough and press it with both hands to form a cup shape
• Add the muttor mixture to it and close the cup to form a ball
• Roll paratha out of this ball
• Cook it on tawa on medium heat with oil and little ghee

Notes
You can optionally add little maida to the wheat flour

Poha Chaat

मराठीमध्ये वाचण्यासाठी इथे क्लिक करा

When Mom had come here, she had got couple of recipe magazines with her.. So I read this recipe from it and thought of trying it out today..


Ingredients
2 cup thin pohas
2 potatoes
1/2 spoon ginger paste
4-5 green chillies
1/2 cup curd
1-2 spoon Sugar
Salt to taste
Mustard seeds
A pinch of turmeric powder
1 spoon tamarind chutney
Oil

Method

• Cook potatoes well in cooker and keep it aside to cool down
• Sprinkle little water on pohas so that they become little soft
• Mix crushed potato, ginger paste, finely chopped green chillies and salt to taste
• Form small patties out of this mixture
• Fry the patties by sprinkling little oil on a tawa
• Mix curd with sugar well
• Heat oil and let mustard seeds splutter in it
• Add turmeric powder to it
• Add this oil to the curd and mix well
• Serve the patties of poha-potatoes topped with the prepared curd mixture and garnished with little tamarind chutney

Notes
You can optionally fry the patties by putting a small coat of breadcrums
I also thought of adding thinner yellow coloured 'shev' on this, but since i didn't have them today i am going to try it out next time

Tamarind Chutney

मराठीमध्ये वाचण्यासाठी इथे क्लिक करा

Tamarind chutney you can prepare and store for 2-3 weeks, so that you can use it on some chaat items, somosas etc.


Ingredients
3 spoon tamarind
8 spoon water
4 spoon jaggery
1 spoon red chilli powder
Salt to taste

Method

• Soak tamarind with water for few hours
• Grind tamarind, jaggery, red chilli powder, salt in a mixie to get thich chutney

Notes
I sometimes add 1 date piece to the tamarind while soaking to get richer taste

Dudhi (Bottle Gourd) Corriander Paratha

मराठीमध्ये वाचण्यासाठी इथे क्लिक करा

This one is the another item we had from the bottle gourd we had got. The parathas were amazing and tasted good..


Ingredients
2 cups grated Bottle Gourd
Wheat flour(around 6-7 spoon heaps)
1 cup corriander leaves
2 spoon fresh cream (malai)
1 spoon garlic ginger paste
1 spoon turmeric powder
2 spoon red chilli powder
Salt
Oil

Method

• Cook grated bottole gourd in cooker without mixing water with it
• Grind cooked bottle gourd, ginger garlic paste and turmeric powder
• Mix finely chopped corriander leaves, red chilli powder, salt to taste, fresh cream and a spoon of oil
• Add wheat flour that the mixture can take to form the dough for parathas
• Keep aside the dough for around half an hour
• Roll parathas and heat on tawa on medium heat

Notes
You can optionally add around half cup of finely chopped methi leaves as well