Get togethers

Living in places  replete with scenic beauty and pleasant climes has its many advantages. Apart from keeping mind and soul calm and peaceful , it gives a good reason to plan get togethers with friends and like minded people as often as possible.

     Last weekend and today were such gatherings and of course food had to be an important part of it. And when its home made food , it becomes even better , because at one go we get to taste different snacks made by different people and the beauty lies not just in the great taste but also in the variety and different flavors.

   Last weekend , we were a group of some fifty men , women , boys and girls , the venue was a beautiful hillside and the time was late in the evening when the sun was set and temperatures were cool.

        We ordered Biryani from a local restaurant and got home made snacks. Since most people were vegetarians , the snacks were kept vegetarian to be on the safer side.The list of the snacks began with  MTR rava idli with delicious coconut chutney to bread pakoras with spicy tomato ketchup , dal wadas with tangy peanut chutney and then finally home made namkeen made by yours truly . Such simple and homely tastes followed by spicy Biryani and then the dessert which was  Kalakand again from a  near by sweet shop.

       Accompanying all these chatpata snacks were chatpati gupshup and two rounds of tambola with just two emergency lanterns supplying all the light . Needless to say that it was such a fun affair , that it confirms the fact that the simple pleasures of life don’t cost money but give oodles of joy and contentment.

     Last evening , the ladies of my neighbourhood decided to have a evening party today , when the cool sea breeze uplifts the spirits and lowers the hot temperatures. We all picked up our choice of making a sweet or a savoury and what a spread it was. The children who had been playing kho kho and other such games and had built up a gigantic appetite  were treated to a wide spread of fusilli pasta both in tomato and white sauce , aloo bonda , dal wada, chilled cheese sandwiches , french fries , cupcakes ( you can guess who made these by now ), jalebis and chilled pepsi and mirinda as the beverage. There was of course lots of light banter and mild gossip which I feel is a good digestive aid to such heavy snacks.

      Well the long and short of the whole article is to highlight the importance of such gatherings with friends and neighbours because of the simple reason that they rejuvenate the mind , calm the frayed nerves and of course satiate the hungry stomach with  lipsmacking delicious home made snacks.

     Another benefit of such gatherings where there are children of all age groups is to give them a supervised platform to interact with others and also to wean them away from their perpetual addiction to gizmos.The need of the hour is to encourage friendly human interaction which these gatherings offer.

articles

Get togethers

Get togethers

Living in places  replete with scenic beauty and pleasant climes has its many advantages. Apart from keeping mind and soul calm and peaceful , it gives a good reason to plan get togethers with friends and like minded people as often as possible.

     Last weekend and today were such gatherings and of course food had to be an important part of it. And when its home made food , it becomes even better , because at one go we get to taste different snacks made by different people and the beauty lies not just in the great taste but also in the variety and different flavors.

   Last weekend , we were a group of some fifty men , women , boys and girls , the venue was a beautiful hillside and the time was late in the evening when the sun was set and temperatures were cool.

        We ordered Biryani from a local restaurant and got home made snacks. Since most people were vegetarians , the snacks were kept vegetarian to be on the safer side.The list of the snacks began with  MTR rava idli with delicious coconut chutney to bread pakoras with spicy tomato ketchup , dal wadas with tangy peanut chutney and then finally home made namkeen made by yours truly . Such simple and homely tastes followed by spicy Biryani and then the dessert which was  Kalakand again from a  near by sweet shop.

       Accompanying all these chatpata snacks were chatpati gupshup and two rounds of tambola with just two emergency lanterns supplying all the light . Needless to say that it was such a fun affair , that it confirms the fact that the simple pleasures of life don’t cost money but give oodles of joy and contentment.

     Last evening , the ladies of my neighbourhood decided to have a evening party today , when the cool sea breeze uplifts the spirits and lowers the hot temperatures. We all picked up our choice of making a sweet or a savoury and what a spread it was. The children who had been playing kho kho and other such games and had built up a gigantic appetite  were treated to a wide spread of fusilli pasta both in tomato and white sauce , aloo bonda , dal wada, chilled cheese sandwiches , french fries , cupcakes ( you can guess who made these by now ), jalebis and chilled pepsi and mirinda as the beverage. There was of course lots of light banter and mild gossip which I feel is a good digestive aid to such heavy snacks.

      Well the long and short of the whole article is to highlight the importance of such gatherings with friends and neighbours because of the simple reason that they rejuvenate the mind , calm the frayed nerves and of course satiate the hungry stomach with  lipsmacking delicious home made snacks.

     Another benefit of such gatherings where there are children of all age groups is to give them a supervised platform to interact with others and also to wean them away from their perpetual addiction to gizmos.The need of the hour is to encourage friendly human interaction which these gatherings offer.

Bake sale

Every Friday at the community library we have a “bake sale” , wherein the ladies get home baked cakes , cup cakes , cookies , doughnuts etc and sell to the children who throng the place awaiting the goodies.

 The children come with their pocket money in cute and fancy purses and buy the stuff.The smile on the faces accompanied by a “Thank you” is worth all the effort put in the kitchen to bake the goodies.Today was my turn at the “Bake sale” and this is what I baked and sold.

Vanilla muffins with flavoured sprinklers and choclate chip shortbread

Flapjacks, Chick pea flour cookies and chocolate fudge.

articles

Bake sale

Every Friday at the community library we have a “bake sale” , wherein the ladies get home baked cakes , cup cakes , cookies , doughnuts etc and sell to the children who throng the place awaiting the goodies.

 The children come with their pocket money in cute and fancy purses and buy the stuff.The smile on the faces accompanied by a “Thank you” is worth all the effort put in the kitchen to bake the goodies.Today was my turn at the “Bake sale” and this is what I baked and sold.

Vanilla muffins with flavoured sprinklers and choclate chip shortbread

Flapjacks, Chick pea flour cookies and chocolate fudge.

A bit of myself

A few days back I completed five months of blogging and I have been wanting to write a brief introduction about myself and what better than to make it the hundredth post.

      Hello! I am Anjali Singh , a home maker , mother of two children and a “Food blogger”.   I am the sum total of my background , the influence of my family and extended family of relatives and friends, the good and the bad times , the adventures and misadventures and the lessons learnt in the beautiful journey of life so far. 

    Besides my most consuming passion of cooking, I read , do some gardening and embroidery to fulfill the picture of an ideal homemaker .  Being a homemaker has been both a matter of requirement and convenience for me and it gave me a lot of time to hone my skills in cooking . My debut in cooking started by just helping out my mother in the kitchen  , then when I got married , as a pass time and requirement to feed the two of us with some decent grub and slowly and steadily I realized that what I felt was my beginners luck with recipes was actually my hidden love for cooking which made whatever I tried quite palatable at first and then delicious by the second attempt. I find it a challenge to make interesting and delicious recipes with the basic , simple and most easily available ingredients and that’s what reflects in the simplicity of my recipes which now is my USP. I hope you too enjoy making all those meals as much as I do.

       I am aware that there are innumerable food blogs by very talented and creative people , but I have chosen the most convenient competitor…..ME. I strive to perform better than what I performed yesterday in not just cooking and blogging but in all spheres of life .

Thank you for visiting my blog .

     

articles

A bit of myself

A few days back I completed five months of blogging and I have been wanting to write a brief introduction about myself and what better than to make it the hundredth post.

      Hello! I am Anjali Singh , a home maker , mother of two children and a “Food blogger”.   I am the sum total of my background , the influence of my family and extended family of relatives and friends, the good and the bad times , the adventures and misadventures and the lessons learnt in the beautiful journey of life so far. 

    Besides my most consuming passion of cooking, I read , do some gardening and embroidery to fulfill the picture of an ideal homemaker .  Being a homemaker has been both a matter of requirement and convenience for me and it gave me a lot of time to hone my skills in cooking . My debut in cooking started by just helping out my mother in the kitchen  , then when I got married , as a pass time and requirement to feed the two of us with some decent grub and slowly and steadily I realized that what I felt was my beginners luck with recipes was actually my hidden love for cooking which made whatever I tried quite palatable at first and then delicious by the second attempt. I find it a challenge to make interesting and delicious recipes with the basic , simple and most easily available ingredients and that’s what reflects in the simplicity of my recipes which now is my USP. I hope you too enjoy making all those meals as much as I do.

       I am aware that there are innumerable food blogs by very talented and creative people , but I have chosen the most convenient competitor…..ME. I strive to perform better than what I performed yesterday in not just cooking and blogging but in all spheres of life .

Thank you for visiting my blog .

     

 How to cook a quick meal

Give me a good chopping board and a good knife and I will chop quintals of vegetables in a matter of minutes.

Many friends have asked me how I go about the daily routine of making food and I will explain it keeping the basic North Indian meal as an example.

      First things first…I believe in having good tools for any job and I would fain do with sharpest knives  and a convenient chopping board.

Infact I have recently bought a new set of knives and a real handy chopping board.

So I have my vegetables all washed and scrubbed and the tools in order on the work top .

I place the pot on the gas with the required amount of oil and while the oil or butter or ghee is becoming warm, I quickly peel and chop the onions.

    I add them to the pot and while they are turning pink or golden brown or dark brown as the recipe requires , I keep stirring in between and chop the vegetables.

     On the other stove I place a smaller pan for the “dal ka tadka”.

I chop the onions and tomatoes and keep them aside and begin the tadka as well.

         Simultaneously  the onions for the sabzee are done and then  I put the masalas followed by the  vegetables and cover .

       I have the vegetables and the tadka cooking and while that’s happening I have to be around  to stir and toss in between so I knead the dough , arrange the washed utencils , wash the pulses/ dal in the pressure cooker itself , just wipe off the  working top, wipe the masala containers which tend to get messy etc etc.The dal tadka gets done soon,  and then  I place the pressure cooker on the stove.

       So  you see that in the span of 30- 45 minutes I have made one complete meal and tidied up my kitchen as well.The rotis are best served hot so either they are prepared while the family is on the dining table, to serve them hot hot or sometimes prepared in advance and kept in a hotpot or casserole.

     Thats the easiest  and quickest I could make it seem and trust me its a lot more intersting and easier than that.

   Happy simple cooking!!!

articles· cooking aids

 How to cook a quick meal

Give me a good chopping board and a good knife and I will chop quintals of vegetables in a matter of minutes.

Many friends have asked me how I go about the daily routine of making food and I will explain it keeping the basic North Indian meal as an example.

      First things first…I believe in having good tools for any job and I would fain do with sharpest knives  and a convenient chopping board.

Infact I have recently bought a new set of knives and a real handy chopping board.

So I have my vegetables all washed and scrubbed and the tools in order on the work top .

I place the pot on the gas with the required amount of oil and while the oil or butter or ghee is becoming warm, I quickly peel and chop the onions.

    I add them to the pot and while they are turning pink or golden brown or dark brown as the recipe requires , I keep stirring in between and chop the vegetables.

     On the other stove I place a smaller pan for the “dal ka tadka”.

I chop the onions and tomatoes and keep them aside and begin the tadka as well.

         Simultaneously  the onions for the sabzee are done and then  I put the masalas followed by the  vegetables and cover .

       I have the vegetables and the tadka cooking and while that’s happening I have to be around  to stir and toss in between so I knead the dough , arrange the washed utencils , wash the pulses/ dal in the pressure cooker itself , just wipe off the  working top, wipe the masala containers which tend to get messy etc etc.The dal tadka gets done soon,  and then  I place the pressure cooker on the stove.

       So  you see that in the span of 30- 45 minutes I have made one complete meal and tidied up my kitchen as well.The rotis are best served hot so either they are prepared while the family is on the dining table, to serve them hot hot or sometimes prepared in advance and kept in a hotpot or casserole.

     Thats the easiest  and quickest I could make it seem and trust me its a lot more intersting and easier than that.

   Happy simple cooking!!!

Creative writing

 My  nine year old  son got homework to write an "Autobiography of a pencil " and this is what he wrote. 

 I found it intersting enough to share it with you all.

articles

Creative writing

 My  nine year old  son got homework to write an "Autobiography of a pencil " and this is what he wrote. 

 I found it intersting enough to share it with you all.

 Baking equipments

Technically  speaking, Baking is defined as cooking cakes, bread , vegetables etc by using dry heat in an oven.

       But for me,  Baking means a process of blending  the simplest and easily available ingredients in the  correct order and proportion   followed by placing the dish in the oven and watching the magic  happen, beginning with the delicious aroma of food filling  up a home and of course resulting into  the beautiful  sight of scrumptious oven baked dish of whatever it may be a cake ,cookies ,baked vegetables, stuffed chicken , fish etc etc. I just love the idea of doing part of the work myself and then leaving it to the oven to complete the picture.
       There are a few basic cooking  equipments we need to assist us in cooking and also to ensure complete success in our baking endeavours. Besides the correct proportion of the ingredients , we need the following to get  the right texture.

         We will begin with the measuring cups and the other tools we require to fix a good bake. I have tried and put as many baking things in the pictures as possible...in case I miss out anything please feel free to write a comment.
         The black measuring cups are the Amercan measuring cups....as you all must have noticed that I have mentioned always which measuring cups I am using in my recipes.
     Now the difference between the Indian and the American meauring cups is the quantity measured , I mean the Indian measuring cup measures 200 ml and the American measures 250 ml. Now that might not make a big difference sometimes, but if you are not getting the best results with your cakes or cookies, I would say use the correct measuring cup and  then see the result.
      The red and the steel ones are the Indian measuring cups.The measuring spoons are all the same , its just that you  should always take a level spoon measurement because that is the most accurate.
         I have shown whisks , silicon spautula , a bread knife , cookie cutters and the rest of the things that I feel one must have in a kitchen to make baking an easy and quick experience.
         In the background I have a wire rack to cool the cakes or the cookies . Now it is very important to bring the baked items to room temperature before storing them. Incase you are living in coastal areas you just can not afford to skip this part. Your cakes will catch fungus and your cookies will get damp if you do not cool them on a wire rack .
       Now another useful thing is to have a measuring scale . Mine is a very basic model, there are these real smart electronic ones available in the market these days. Well if you are really serious about baking then go ahead and buy one. If you are going to buy the one which I have, then purchase the measuring scale upto just one kilogram, that would give you the accurate measurement to the last gram.

           Baking dishes....you can never have enough of them. The day you decide that you are not going to invest in any more shapes and sizes , the very next day you will come across a real sweet looking size or shape in some remote corner of the shop and no matter how much you resolve not to look that side ...you will end up buying it without even  checking the price. Thats what happens to me every time. So I have found a solution to the problem...I just go ahead and buy what I like without feeling guilty about it.  The result is this awesome collection of baking tins which occupy two big shelves in my kitchen closet.
         It is very important to use the correct size of the baking tin . If you use an incorrect size, like a bigger one will make your cake dry and flat and a smaller one would result in the cake batter over flowing and remaining raw from the center .The cake batter should come half way or just a little more of your baking tin and it goes without saying that if you are using the regular aluminium tins you have to dust them with a little oil and flour to avoid the cake from sticking to the tin.   
           Lets start with the first picture of ringed tins. What I like about cakes baked in a ring tin is that they never fail and the pieces have such a traditional shape and so easy to slice that its a treat just to look at the cake. The red cake tin is a Tefal tin for kugelhopf but I have used it for the regular cakes of slighlty larger amount and got brilliant results of the same .

       Now we come to the muffin tins . Well I personally like using the smaller aluminium muffin cups lined with  paper muffin cases because my one batch of recipe fits entirely into about  fourteen of these and the smaller ones look more attractive to the children. I use the silicon muffin trays with deeper pits for savoury muffins which I feel are a mini meal in themselves.      

          Now this set of tins  is what I use for making  sponge cakes for swiss roles , grilling chicken and potatoes and making cookies.

        The following are the other regular tins and among them are the loose bottomed tins that I use for my quiche.

            I bake cakes in loaf tins which I want to gift to friends because I feel a loaf of any cake looks better especially if it has to to be gifted.  The banana bread turns out best in a loaf tin .The loaf tin on the left is a regular non stick one and the silicon  one in the center is a recent purchase , I have yet to bake a cake in it and the right loaf tin is again a Tefal product . This one I generally use for a one kilo whole wheat bread loaf I bake at home .

         What would I do without you... dear egg beater. Versatile and value for money , a good egg beater or a hand mixer as some would like to call it ,mixes your cake batter in seconds and also  whips up the cream for the icing and the eggs to many times in volume for your souffles etc. I would tell you to just go ahead and buy one. In the Indian market I would personally recommend a Philips brand . My mother has a Philips egg beater and we have used it like crazy for the last twenty  years and though the old chap has become a little sluggish and makes a disgruntled sound on being used , it still whips up the cake batter quite well. Their are many brands in the market , right now I am using a Braun which has a blender and chopper attachment, I am happy with this fellow too. I guess this one is  one of the best in the market. I also have a food processor by the same company and I don't know what I would have done without it.

               These are a few glass bake and serve dishes I find very useful. Well regarding baking cakes in them I feel that the cakes turn out better in aluminium tins than glass though I do not have a scientific explaination to justify my claim.  Borosil has such interesting and varied  designs that I feel like buying all of them , especially the cute small ones which can be used for reheating leftovers , are the best thing to have and they go with all kinds of crockery too. I have used the glass loaf tin for my fish slices as you must have seen and the others would be soon be used and presented before you all to justify my purchasing so many sizes.

 This is the OTG and the LG convection oven in which all the magic of baking takes place.

         With that we come to an end of our journey into the world of baking items. I hope you all can benefit from the knowledge that I have shared with you , that I have gained in so many years of experimenting  with the different techniques of  baking. 

Disclaimer: This is not a paid review.The opinions about the products are purely mine , after years of using them.

articles· baking aids· cooking aids

 Baking equipments

Technically  speaking, Baking is defined as cooking cakes, bread , vegetables etc by using dry heat in an oven.

       But for me,  Baking means a process of blending  the simplest and easily available ingredients in the  correct order and proportion   followed by placing the dish in the oven and watching the magic  happen, beginning with the delicious aroma of food filling  up a home and of course resulting into  the beautiful  sight of scrumptious oven baked dish of whatever it may be a cake ,cookies ,baked vegetables, stuffed chicken , fish etc etc. I just love the idea of doing part of the work myself and then leaving it to the oven to complete the picture.
       There are a few basic cooking  equipments we need to assist us in cooking and also to ensure complete success in our baking endeavours. Besides the correct proportion of the ingredients , we need the following to get  the right texture.

         We will begin with the measuring cups and the other tools we require to fix a good bake. I have tried and put as many baking things in the pictures as possible...in case I miss out anything please feel free to write a comment.
         The black measuring cups are the Amercan measuring cups....as you all must have noticed that I have mentioned always which measuring cups I am using in my recipes.
     Now the difference between the Indian and the American meauring cups is the quantity measured , I mean the Indian measuring cup measures 200 ml and the American measures 250 ml. Now that might not make a big difference sometimes, but if you are not getting the best results with your cakes or cookies, I would say use the correct measuring cup and  then see the result.
      The red and the steel ones are the Indian measuring cups.The measuring spoons are all the same , its just that you  should always take a level spoon measurement because that is the most accurate.
         I have shown whisks , silicon spautula , a bread knife , cookie cutters and the rest of the things that I feel one must have in a kitchen to make baking an easy and quick experience.
         In the background I have a wire rack to cool the cakes or the cookies . Now it is very important to bring the baked items to room temperature before storing them. Incase you are living in coastal areas you just can not afford to skip this part. Your cakes will catch fungus and your cookies will get damp if you do not cool them on a wire rack .
       Now another useful thing is to have a measuring scale . Mine is a very basic model, there are these real smart electronic ones available in the market these days. Well if you are really serious about baking then go ahead and buy one. If you are going to buy the one which I have, then purchase the measuring scale upto just one kilogram, that would give you the accurate measurement to the last gram.

           Baking dishes....you can never have enough of them. The day you decide that you are not going to invest in any more shapes and sizes , the very next day you will come across a real sweet looking size or shape in some remote corner of the shop and no matter how much you resolve not to look that side ...you will end up buying it without even  checking the price. Thats what happens to me every time. So I have found a solution to the problem...I just go ahead and buy what I like without feeling guilty about it.  The result is this awesome collection of baking tins which occupy two big shelves in my kitchen closet.
         It is very important to use the correct size of the baking tin . If you use an incorrect size, like a bigger one will make your cake dry and flat and a smaller one would result in the cake batter over flowing and remaining raw from the center .The cake batter should come half way or just a little more of your baking tin and it goes without saying that if you are using the regular aluminium tins you have to dust them with a little oil and flour to avoid the cake from sticking to the tin.   
           Lets start with the first picture of ringed tins. What I like about cakes baked in a ring tin is that they never fail and the pieces have such a traditional shape and so easy to slice that its a treat just to look at the cake. The red cake tin is a Tefal tin for kugelhopf but I have used it for the regular cakes of slighlty larger amount and got brilliant results of the same .

       Now we come to the muffin tins . Well I personally like using the smaller aluminium muffin cups lined with  paper muffin cases because my one batch of recipe fits entirely into about  fourteen of these and the smaller ones look more attractive to the children. I use the silicon muffin trays with deeper pits for savoury muffins which I feel are a mini meal in themselves.      

          Now this set of tins  is what I use for making  sponge cakes for swiss roles , grilling chicken and potatoes and making cookies.

        The following are the other regular tins and among them are the loose bottomed tins that I use for my quiche.

            I bake cakes in loaf tins which I want to gift to friends because I feel a loaf of any cake looks better especially if it has to to be gifted.  The banana bread turns out best in a loaf tin .The loaf tin on the left is a regular non stick one and the silicon  one in the center is a recent purchase , I have yet to bake a cake in it and the right loaf tin is again a Tefal product . This one I generally use for a one kilo whole wheat bread loaf I bake at home .

         What would I do without you... dear egg beater. Versatile and value for money , a good egg beater or a hand mixer as some would like to call it ,mixes your cake batter in seconds and also  whips up the cream for the icing and the eggs to many times in volume for your souffles etc. I would tell you to just go ahead and buy one. In the Indian market I would personally recommend a Philips brand . My mother has a Philips egg beater and we have used it like crazy for the last twenty  years and though the old chap has become a little sluggish and makes a disgruntled sound on being used , it still whips up the cake batter quite well. Their are many brands in the market , right now I am using a Braun which has a blender and chopper attachment, I am happy with this fellow too. I guess this one is  one of the best in the market. I also have a food processor by the same company and I don't know what I would have done without it.

               These are a few glass bake and serve dishes I find very useful. Well regarding baking cakes in them I feel that the cakes turn out better in aluminium tins than glass though I do not have a scientific explaination to justify my claim.  Borosil has such interesting and varied  designs that I feel like buying all of them , especially the cute small ones which can be used for reheating leftovers , are the best thing to have and they go with all kinds of crockery too. I have used the glass loaf tin for my fish slices as you must have seen and the others would be soon be used and presented before you all to justify my purchasing so many sizes.

 This is the OTG and the LG convection oven in which all the magic of baking takes place.

         With that we come to an end of our journey into the world of baking items. I hope you all can benefit from the knowledge that I have shared with you , that I have gained in so many years of experimenting  with the different techniques of  baking. 

Disclaimer: This is not a paid review.The opinions about the products are purely mine , after years of using them.

“A good traveller has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving.”La tzu.
I am of the same opinion and beleive that walking on the metaphorical "off the beaten track" is far more intersting and exciting than just visiting the usual famous places.
      There is such a treasure of variety in India and just a little careful look around can reveal such amusing and heart warming sights .Thats what I tried capturing in my snaps and hope that you find them as pleasing as I did.
    I will not showcase here the pictures of the beautiful temples in the famous temple cities of Bhubneswar and Puri,  because I am sure you would have seen far better snaps of them, taken by professional photographers .     

All along the highway I found these cute little hay stacks. The paddy is harvested and what is left behind is dried and collected in these hay stacks to add to the fodder for the animals throughout the year . These hay stacks dotted the fields and gave such a charming effect to the whole atmosphere of rural and peaceful living. 

Another thing which struck the metropolitan me was that the bullock carts are still used as one of the modes of local transport and watching them was such a visual delight.

A charming rural fashion is that the women who work as farm hands carry their tiffin boxes skilfully balanced on their heads. Listening to their carefree and pleasant banter, I realised how much we lack all these small pleasures like chattering our way to the place of work  in the big cities.
     Life goes at such a easy and comfortable pace in these villages and when the ultimate aim of man  is happiness, honestly I didn't find it lacking  in  these parts bereft of gizmos and modern facilties. 

At Rambha I spotted this rumbling and run down small little home of a local and what particularly gave it an old world charm was the year inscribed on its entrance.

The bamboo stacks in the lake side at Rambha added to the beauty of this serene backwaters.

 This old man was a bakery on wheels and I must add that the cookies which we bought from him were so srumptious that it was hard to beleive that a local bakery baked such crisp and delicious goodies.
Give me some time and I will try and come up with some cookie recipes, though I must admit they can not be as good as the ones sold by this old gentleman.

       I am all for street food....the intersting assortment of piping hot snacks followed by the Puri cheesecake was a perfect finale to the deliciously intersting trip to these parts.       

articles

“A good traveller has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving.”La tzu.
I am of the same opinion and beleive that walking on the metaphorical "off the beaten track" is far more intersting and exciting than just visiting the usual famous places.
      There is such a treasure of variety in India and just a little careful look around can reveal such amusing and heart warming sights .Thats what I tried capturing in my snaps and hope that you find them as pleasing as I did.
    I will not showcase here the pictures of the beautiful temples in the famous temple cities of Bhubneswar and Puri,  because I am sure you would have seen far better snaps of them, taken by professional photographers .     

All along the highway I found these cute little hay stacks. The paddy is harvested and what is left behind is dried and collected in these hay stacks to add to the fodder for the animals throughout the year . These hay stacks dotted the fields and gave such a charming effect to the whole atmosphere of rural and peaceful living. 

Another thing which struck the metropolitan me was that the bullock carts are still used as one of the modes of local transport and watching them was such a visual delight.

A charming rural fashion is that the women who work as farm hands carry their tiffin boxes skilfully balanced on their heads. Listening to their carefree and pleasant banter, I realised how much we lack all these small pleasures like chattering our way to the place of work  in the big cities.
     Life goes at such a easy and comfortable pace in these villages and when the ultimate aim of man  is happiness, honestly I didn't find it lacking  in  these parts bereft of gizmos and modern facilties. 

At Rambha I spotted this rumbling and run down small little home of a local and what particularly gave it an old world charm was the year inscribed on its entrance.

The bamboo stacks in the lake side at Rambha added to the beauty of this serene backwaters.

 This old man was a bakery on wheels and I must add that the cookies which we bought from him were so srumptious that it was hard to beleive that a local bakery baked such crisp and delicious goodies.
Give me some time and I will try and come up with some cookie recipes, though I must admit they can not be as good as the ones sold by this old gentleman.

       I am all for street food....the intersting assortment of piping hot snacks followed by the Puri cheesecake was a perfect finale to the deliciously intersting trip to these parts.       

Photography for me meant just freezing a moment for ever. I always took as many candid shots of friends and relatives in order to capture the activities in their height of action. I have been quite lucky with these candid snaps as generally everyone looked good and the whole scene was captured in totality.

    But ever since I have entered into this completely new and exciting world of food blogging , I just realized that atleast in terms of photography I stand no where.

    I looked at the photographs of these food bloggers and said to myself that this food looks out of this world and mine looks just out of the magazines our moms or maybe even grand mothers read.

    I tried using all those tools which enhance the photograph and phew ,thats some time consuming task.

Then I said to myself that a perfectly prepared dish would always take precedence over a dish that looks impressive but does little or nothing at all for the taste buds.

   But that’s the way I look at it. Today is the age for the best presentation and I need to work on that a lot more than anything else. Well I can’t change my camera that soon but I can start using the tools to beautify the food.Wish me luck with this new adventure.
   Just one of those candid pictures I was talking about....thats my daughter playing with the basketball...tried my hand at editing and cropping stuff...thats the best I can manage so far.

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Photography for me meant just freezing a moment for ever. I always took as many candid shots of friends and relatives in order to capture the activities in their height of action. I have been quite lucky with these candid snaps as generally everyone looked good and the whole scene was captured in totality.

    But ever since I have entered into this completely new and exciting world of food blogging , I just realized that atleast in terms of photography I stand no where.

    I looked at the photographs of these food bloggers and said to myself that this food looks out of this world and mine looks just out of the magazines our moms or maybe even grand mothers read.

    I tried using all those tools which enhance the photograph and phew ,thats some time consuming task.

Then I said to myself that a perfectly prepared dish would always take precedence over a dish that looks impressive but does little or nothing at all for the taste buds.

   But that’s the way I look at it. Today is the age for the best presentation and I need to work on that a lot more than anything else. Well I can’t change my camera that soon but I can start using the tools to beautify the food.Wish me luck with this new adventure.
   Just one of those candid pictures I was talking about....thats my daughter playing with the basketball...tried my hand at editing and cropping stuff...thats the best I can manage so far.

I agree with Laurent in the movie English vinglish that cooking is an art , like any other form of expressing the creativity within you and the quality or taste of your food depends on what level you have taken your creativity to.

    Each one  of us is creative in their own way, many have chosen their respective professions to express their creativity….take any job for example.

   Similarly even the simple act of making the daily meals is creative in its own light. If you are a home maker or a working woman, or a gentleman interested in cooking , I feel that each day you are creating something good by doing the simple task of making food for yourself or your family.

    Those of you who are not too fond of cooking….its ok. I can not  hold a paint brush properly, neither can I dance well, I can’t prescribe medicines for sick people but I can cook a decent meal and that is my art. I am sure you have a way of expressing yours and it doesn’t necessarily mean that you should like to cook and that you should cook well.

     I guess its just expected out of women to cook well but I think that everyone has a right to choose their way of expressing their love. I do it by making food but many others do it by patiently teaching their children mathematics and a whole lot of deeds which require utmost patience and dedication.

    So my dear friend, if you don’t like to cook or if you feel that your food is not praised by many , no sweat , each one of us is an artist , all we have to do is to find the right medium to show case our talent to ourself or if need be to the world .

Check out the pictures of"Ikebana "by my mother in my profile albums

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I agree with Laurent in the movie English vinglish that cooking is an art , like any other form of expressing the creativity within you and the quality or taste of your food depends on what level you have taken your creativity to.

    Each one  of us is creative in their own way, many have chosen their respective professions to express their creativity….take any job for example.

   Similarly even the simple act of making the daily meals is creative in its own light. If you are a home maker or a working woman, or a gentleman interested in cooking , I feel that each day you are creating something good by doing the simple task of making food for yourself or your family.

    Those of you who are not too fond of cooking….its ok. I can not  hold a paint brush properly, neither can I dance well, I can’t prescribe medicines for sick people but I can cook a decent meal and that is my art. I am sure you have a way of expressing yours and it doesn’t necessarily mean that you should like to cook and that you should cook well.

     I guess its just expected out of women to cook well but I think that everyone has a right to choose their way of expressing their love. I do it by making food but many others do it by patiently teaching their children mathematics and a whole lot of deeds which require utmost patience and dedication.

    So my dear friend, if you don’t like to cook or if you feel that your food is not praised by many , no sweat , each one of us is an artist , all we have to do is to find the right medium to show case our talent to ourself or if need be to the world .

Check out the pictures of"Ikebana "by my mother in my profile albums

hi friends,
       Thank you for all your encouraging comments about my blog on the face book.
    I guess every one is facing the same problem about adding their comments on the blog. The new template design is good for the look of the blog but I agree that the adding of the comments is a bit tricky.Here is how to go about it.
 step 1.   click on the "Add comment button"
 step 2.   scroll down a bit  and the comment box will open.
step 3.    write your comment ( I am eagerly waiting for them ...lol)
step 4.   select how  to "comment as"....clicking on anonymous is a safe bet.
step 5.   press publish
step 6 .  a funny message asks you to prove that you are not a robot. scroll down again.
step 7.   type the "number" and the alphabet. Now the number is very dimly written so there is an arrow going in a circle which means you can have another set of number and alphabet to type.
step8.  there will be a msg which says that your comment will be published after approval...thats incase there is a spam or an awkward message.
step8. press publish again.
there u are ...it wont take more ten seconds but will give me lots of happiness.

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hi friends,
       Thank you for all your encouraging comments about my blog on the face book.
    I guess every one is facing the same problem about adding their comments on the blog. The new template design is good for the look of the blog but I agree that the adding of the comments is a bit tricky.Here is how to go about it.
 step 1.   click on the "Add comment button"
 step 2.   scroll down a bit  and the comment box will open.
step 3.    write your comment ( I am eagerly waiting for them ...lol)
step 4.   select how  to "comment as"....clicking on anonymous is a safe bet.
step 5.   press publish
step 6 .  a funny message asks you to prove that you are not a robot. scroll down again.
step 7.   type the "number" and the alphabet. Now the number is very dimly written so there is an arrow going in a circle which means you can have another set of number and alphabet to type.
step8.  there will be a msg which says that your comment will be published after approval...thats incase there is a spam or an awkward message.
step8. press publish again.
there u are ...it wont take more ten seconds but will give me lots of happiness.

I ,Me , Myself

A good friend of mine who is my blog's most frequent viewer told me to make a home page and write a few lines about myself ,” a kind of an intro she said, Anjali, something which will help the viewers to know something about you and get connected with you.”

    I thanked her for her concern and thought about it. The problem is that I can’t sum up myself in a few words. That sounds like an inflated ego talking but that’s not the case.

    I would want you to discover and make your own judgements about me through my medium of showcasing my talent or intersts.

   That’s another reason that I am putting simple and basic recipes on the blog . You have to try these ones first and hopefully get good results only then I feel would you trust me with the recipes requiring expensive ingredients and a whole lot of time and effort.

    I keep checking on other blogs to see how I can keep improving mine….there is phenomenal amount of creativity and talent out there. Such learned and knowledgeable people that I sometimes get intimidated by all this.Would I be able to carve a niche for myself .If I have your best wishes …I am sure …sooner or later I will.

    

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I ,Me , Myself

A good friend of mine who is my blog's most frequent viewer told me to make a home page and write a few lines about myself ,” a kind of an intro she said, Anjali, something which will help the viewers to know something about you and get connected with you.”

    I thanked her for her concern and thought about it. The problem is that I can’t sum up myself in a few words. That sounds like an inflated ego talking but that’s not the case.

    I would want you to discover and make your own judgements about me through my medium of showcasing my talent or intersts.

   That’s another reason that I am putting simple and basic recipes on the blog . You have to try these ones first and hopefully get good results only then I feel would you trust me with the recipes requiring expensive ingredients and a whole lot of time and effort.

    I keep checking on other blogs to see how I can keep improving mine….there is phenomenal amount of creativity and talent out there. Such learned and knowledgeable people that I sometimes get intimidated by all this.Would I be able to carve a niche for myself .If I have your best wishes …I am sure …sooner or later I will.

    

As I mentioned in the previous post that I am moving to Vishakapatnam.  Most of our stuff is packed and I am all set to move the moment we get  a house there . I packed all the books and games of my children not realising that they would  soon have Autumn break and would find it difficult to keep themselves busy. My daughter loves to draw and colour but my son was finding it difficult to keep himself entertained without books so I ordered these books from "flipkart"  which I guess are  a hot favourite amongst kids of this age.
     "Diary of a Wimpy kid". I must add that I found them interesting myself and imagine how starved my son was of a reading material that he read one book a day and finished off or should I say devoured the three in three days.
    He is eagerly awaiting the arrival of three more which I must say are delivered even before the promised date.
   Right now, while I am typing this post they are playing hide and seek. I remember an incident as a six year old when I was playing hide and seek with my cousins in the farm house at my grandparents place , I found such a great hiding place that I wasn't found for a long time and then when I got bored of waiting and decided to make an appearance I realised to my horror that the game was being continued many times over without me and they had very conveniently given up looking for me. I swallowed my wounded pride and wished they had sent a search party rather than playing on as if nothing were missing.
       Hope the kids of this generation keep these kiddish games going on.

        

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As I mentioned in the previous post that I am moving to Vishakapatnam.  Most of our stuff is packed and I am all set to move the moment we get  a house there . I packed all the books and games of my children not realising that they would  soon have Autumn break and would find it difficult to keep themselves busy. My daughter loves to draw and colour but my son was finding it difficult to keep himself entertained without books so I ordered these books from "flipkart"  which I guess are  a hot favourite amongst kids of this age.
     "Diary of a Wimpy kid". I must add that I found them interesting myself and imagine how starved my son was of a reading material that he read one book a day and finished off or should I say devoured the three in three days.
    He is eagerly awaiting the arrival of three more which I must say are delivered even before the promised date.
   Right now, while I am typing this post they are playing hide and seek. I remember an incident as a six year old when I was playing hide and seek with my cousins in the farm house at my grandparents place , I found such a great hiding place that I wasn't found for a long time and then when I got bored of waiting and decided to make an appearance I realised to my horror that the game was being continued many times over without me and they had very conveniently given up looking for me. I swallowed my wounded pride and wished they had sent a search party rather than playing on as if nothing were missing.
       Hope the kids of this generation keep these kiddish games going on.

        

Hi friends,
     I just wanted to inform you all that I would soon be shifting the headoffice of "Anjali's food kaleidoscope" to another state of India due to which I might not be as regular in posting the recipes. Well I am sure you all understand that for a home maker "The kitchen " is the head office and if thats all packed there is no place to operate from.
      Wish me luck that I can set up my home and the headoffice before Diwali and can come up with lots of delicious recipes for you all.
    Meanwhile stay tuned as I would be digging into my emergency quota of recipes and keep the posts coming but maybe not that often and maybe not with pictures.
  

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Hi friends,
     I just wanted to inform you all that I would soon be shifting the headoffice of "Anjali's food kaleidoscope" to another state of India due to which I might not be as regular in posting the recipes. Well I am sure you all understand that for a home maker "The kitchen " is the head office and if thats all packed there is no place to operate from.
      Wish me luck that I can set up my home and the headoffice before Diwali and can come up with lots of delicious recipes for you all.
    Meanwhile stay tuned as I would be digging into my emergency quota of recipes and keep the posts coming but maybe not that often and maybe not with pictures.
  

hey, now I won't start every conversation with you all with introductions or a heading to the post.....I want it to seem like I were just talking continuously in a flow....so here goes...a little about me and family each time...
          I am doing something absolutely crazy and wise both at the same time ...well we do not have a cable connection for the last four and a half years...that literally means that we have not been watching television at all for that time except a little now and then a movie or something .
         There are advantages and disadvantages to that but so far I can see only the good results. My son got into the reading habit which unfortunately very few kids have these days and my daughter knows how to devise make belief games to keep herself entertained.Yes it is stressful without a baby sitter ( I mean the T.V) but I notice that these days people don't know what to do with themselves without a T.V.They need to turn it on the moment they enter their house.....maybe having a background noise which can be shutup when ever we want to. Think about that one..... I  do not know for sure  whether my experiment will turn out with fine results but so far it seems like going in the right direction.Carom, chess, hide and seek, plot 4  and many such old fashioned games... we play all that in the house besides reading and chatting a lot. Will keep you all posted on this one too. Here is what they do to keep themselves entertained.

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hey, now I won't start every conversation with you all with introductions or a heading to the post.....I want it to seem like I were just talking continuously in a flow....so here goes...a little about me and family each time...
          I am doing something absolutely crazy and wise both at the same time ...well we do not have a cable connection for the last four and a half years...that literally means that we have not been watching television at all for that time except a little now and then a movie or something .
         There are advantages and disadvantages to that but so far I can see only the good results. My son got into the reading habit which unfortunately very few kids have these days and my daughter knows how to devise make belief games to keep herself entertained.Yes it is stressful without a baby sitter ( I mean the T.V) but I notice that these days people don't know what to do with themselves without a T.V.They need to turn it on the moment they enter their house.....maybe having a background noise which can be shutup when ever we want to. Think about that one..... I  do not know for sure  whether my experiment will turn out with fine results but so far it seems like going in the right direction.Carom, chess, hide and seek, plot 4  and many such old fashioned games... we play all that in the house besides reading and chatting a lot. Will keep you all posted on this one too. Here is what they do to keep themselves entertained.

The whole object of travel is not to set foot on foreign land , it is at last to set foot on one's own country as a foreign land.      
     G.K Chesterton
   

Here is how I discovered how true this statement is when I discovered how diverse India is...

On the way to Leh from Srinagar.....where it was freezing cold and the wind almost blew my scarf away...

......we passed through the beautiful town of Kargil.....

....the following year we visited " The temples in Namchi in the far east " ....

 and then got back  to where we live and went as often as we could to "The golden beaches of Goa ".....


......we drove down to visit my sister and drove on  "The road from Pune to Mumbai"

  and roamed on "The roads of Mumbai"

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The whole object of travel is not to set foot on foreign land , it is at last to set foot on one's own country as a foreign land.      
     G.K Chesterton
   

Here is how I discovered how true this statement is when I discovered how diverse India is...

On the way to Leh from Srinagar.....where it was freezing cold and the wind almost blew my scarf away...

......we passed through the beautiful town of Kargil.....

....the following year we visited " The temples in Namchi in the far east " ....

 and then got back  to where we live and went as often as we could to "The golden beaches of Goa ".....


......we drove down to visit my sister and drove on  "The road from Pune to Mumbai"

  and roamed on "The roads of Mumbai"

Hello friends,

      Before I do up my blog with lots of posts on different subjects , lots of drop down menus and a variety of cuisines to choose from I want to connect with you all  or better still get my self connected with you.

   And what better method than to write something about myself time and again…..just a few lines every once in a while.

      My mantra in life is simplicity and I guess my recipes reflect that …I hope. And I guess so does my blog. But  change is the inevitable part of our lives and change should always be for the better.

     I would soon be changing the look of my blog and hope you  all would  like it.

   Meanwhile lets keep it simple.

    I love spending sundays on a beach with not many people around , I carry a picnic bag ...that reminds me I should soon becoming up with quick picnic menus...The picture below is one of our outings on a beach in the Andaman islands .  My kids just love playing in the sand as is evident from this snap.

       Thats it from me for now. Take care and keep cooking with love.

   

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Hello friends,

      Before I do up my blog with lots of posts on different subjects , lots of drop down menus and a variety of cuisines to choose from I want to connect with you all  or better still get my self connected with you.

   And what better method than to write something about myself time and again…..just a few lines every once in a while.

      My mantra in life is simplicity and I guess my recipes reflect that …I hope. And I guess so does my blog. But  change is the inevitable part of our lives and change should always be for the better.

     I would soon be changing the look of my blog and hope you  all would  like it.

   Meanwhile lets keep it simple.

    I love spending sundays on a beach with not many people around , I carry a picnic bag ...that reminds me I should soon becoming up with quick picnic menus...The picture below is one of our outings on a beach in the Andaman islands .  My kids just love playing in the sand as is evident from this snap.

       Thats it from me for now. Take care and keep cooking with love.

   

That's the charming and talented Rita 

Dear friends,
                   Learning is an on going process and I feel the more one knows in a particular subject the more one realises the importance to learn even more .Thats the case with me. There are so many cuisines , so many exotic dishes to learn ,that even an entire lifetime is less. Well thats why I do not leave a chance to add to my knowledge.
        I am moving to another part of my country and it was my heart's  desire to be able to cook a few dishes belonging to  this beautiful part of my country ,where I got a chance to spend four wonderful years of my life
        And my wish was fulfilled when a  friend told me about cookery classes run by a very fine Goan lady.
Ritas Gourmet Goa, please check out this site and those of you who are living in Goa and following this blog I would personally suggest to you to go to her site and give her a call and discuss whatever you would like to learn.
        I must add that this is a very personal suggestion and in no way to be considered as an advertisement as Rita doesn't even know that I have a blog and how could I tell such a talented and  knowledgeable lady that I have a food blog with just twenty seven posts.
     I am sorry that I would not be able to share what I learnt from her as I would do an injustice both to you and her if I put them on net wherein they require a demonstration which she can give so beautifully. I have spent three great days of four hours each of learning some of the finest dishes of the Goan and Portugese cuisine.
           She holds classes for tourists too who want to add cooking too in their Goa experience.
           Take care my friends and keep smiling.
 take a look at some of the delicious things that I learnt from her.

Stuffed chicken

pan grilled fish with garlic and chilly dressing

Galinha Cafreal, stuffed Mackerels and Rissois de camarao (prawn puffs)

Herb marinated fish with mashed potatoes and tomato coulis

clock vise ..Fish in mild coconut curry, Pescado a la bilbaina,  Spicy chicken with red wine, and last on the left is fish with caramelised onions flambeed with rum

           

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That's the charming and talented Rita 

Dear friends,
                   Learning is an on going process and I feel the more one knows in a particular subject the more one realises the importance to learn even more .Thats the case with me. There are so many cuisines , so many exotic dishes to learn ,that even an entire lifetime is less. Well thats why I do not leave a chance to add to my knowledge.
        I am moving to another part of my country and it was my heart's  desire to be able to cook a few dishes belonging to  this beautiful part of my country ,where I got a chance to spend four wonderful years of my life
        And my wish was fulfilled when a  friend told me about cookery classes run by a very fine Goan lady.
Ritas Gourmet Goa, please check out this site and those of you who are living in Goa and following this blog I would personally suggest to you to go to her site and give her a call and discuss whatever you would like to learn.
        I must add that this is a very personal suggestion and in no way to be considered as an advertisement as Rita doesn't even know that I have a blog and how could I tell such a talented and  knowledgeable lady that I have a food blog with just twenty seven posts.
     I am sorry that I would not be able to share what I learnt from her as I would do an injustice both to you and her if I put them on net wherein they require a demonstration which she can give so beautifully. I have spent three great days of four hours each of learning some of the finest dishes of the Goan and Portugese cuisine.
           She holds classes for tourists too who want to add cooking too in their Goa experience.
           Take care my friends and keep smiling.
 take a look at some of the delicious things that I learnt from her.

Stuffed chicken

pan grilled fish with garlic and chilly dressing

Galinha Cafreal, stuffed Mackerels and Rissois de camarao (prawn puffs)

Herb marinated fish with mashed potatoes and tomato coulis

clock vise ..Fish in mild coconut curry, Pescado a la bilbaina,  Spicy chicken with red wine, and last on the left is fish with caramelised onions flambeed with rum