Frugal living Or Smart Spending?

Recently a discussion with friends led me to thinking is frugal living a solution for the economic downturn? Definitely not because we do not live frugally, like they do in the villages of India. Metropolitans and city breds need to be smart in their spending. Here are a few tips that will get you thinking on how to save as you spend.

Scene 1: My cousin Akki was visiting us and Dad noticed he was wearing a nice pair of square cut shoes. He asked where he bought those from, Jabong was his prompt reply. He is one of those smart kids that spends some time online to look for coupons and what better place than Indiancoupons.com

It's easy to use, they have 43 categories to look up and 103 stores offering good deals. As I write this their statistics show 37,513 coupons used in the last one month! That's some cool no. of users, I'd say!

Scene 2 : Right now there is wonderful deal from Dominos, if you have a party on the weekend use this coupon on a Wednesday. Freeze the pizzas and heat them up for the party on the weekend!

Wednesday Offer: Buy 1 Pizza and Get 2nd for Free

The site shows the popular stores as well as top categories. That makes it easy for search. Look for what's hot on those widgets on the RHS. Also look up and share with your friends on FB and rate the best deals. It saves so much time than being lost in the deals maze on the internet.

Talking about saving time, if you are interested in just a particular store or a few of them; awaiting the best deals to feature then all you got to do is subscribe for the coupons and have them delivered to your Inbox!

Scene 3: I bought 10 kgs of fresh peas from APMC market, its a winter ritual for me. I buy the bulk, shell and freeze. It lasts me thru the year and the quality is superlative I need not mention it obviously compared to the branded frozen peas which are so meh!

In season peas cost me Rs.9 per kg and I have 7.5 kgs of shelled peas. Do your calculations now!

This is what my deep freezer looks like now!

You would have heard about a guy who is famous for living without money. The joke is that man is raking in money now for sharing his experience of 'living without money' for a few years that he did!

I can tell you that living without money is not a sustainable living unless you live like the adivasis, grow your own food and plant back what you have taken from nature.

I myself have lived really frugally while in Blr, about a year without TV, few years with just a mixie as the only gadget in my kitchen and so on. I felt deprived at the end of 3-4 years and I started indulging myself. Yes but that experiment taught me to be careful with money and prioritize my needs. Avoid financial liabilities. I am lucky to have none!

We all know that reality is something else, we need to earn and save money to sustain our lifestyles so the smart thing to do is to indulge in luxuries a little less and adopt SMART SPENDING! 

Go coupon hunting on  Indiancoupons.com, most of all have fun!

Honey Peanut Butter

I make peanut butter once in a while but mostly without the addition of any sweet element. That's because I use honey for a drizzle or jam in the sandwich when I make Peanut butter and banana fried sandwich.

But for this 

Banana Cashew Bread, Honey Peanut Butter and Pear Sandwich

I needed a sweetish peanut butter so I made a honey version. If you are used to the American brands this will work well.

Ingredients

1/2 cup roasted n shelled peanuts

2 tablespoons honey

2-3 tablespoons peanut oil

a pinch of salt

Grind the peanuts to powder. Add the oil and salt and make a paste. Lastly add the honey and blend into a creamy spreadable paste.

Remove it to an airtight jar. This stays good without refridgeration for a month. Always make small batches for freshest comsumption.

Banana Cashew Bread, Honey Peanut Butter and Pear Sandwich

Ha ha! Such a long name for the sandwich. It does sound like a call out for Emperor Akbar! Jokes apart this is a sandwich we loved and so here to share.

Some time ago I made a Cashew version of my Banana bread, its a large loaf for a family of two. So after enjoying warm slices of a fresh baked banana bread on it's own, I wrapped the loaf and stored it in the fridge for later.

Then after few days on a chill evening we wanted to indulge in a high tea. So I made fresh Honey Peanut butter and sliced some pears to sandwich between the lovely bread. What came together was a gourmet sandwich and thought you guys might like it.

So here is the recipe and a half that it is, yeah its simple assembly but a brilliant combo. 

Method

Slice the banana bread thick. 

Toast it on both sides. 

Spread a generous amount of Honey peanut butter on one slice.

Wash and slice pears. Remove core and stem.

Layer the pear slices on the peanut buttered slice.

Cover with the second toasted slice of banana bread.

Enjoy along with a mug of warm milk or your choice of a steaming hot drink!

This picture was clicked for 365project. 

Yes I jumped onto the wagon. So many things keeping me busy and how I am loving this life! Go check out my project. Do leave comments I'd like to hear what you have to say.

Black N White Tilgul

Happy Makar Sankrant!

Hope you are flying kites, eating tilgul and enjoying the last bit of the winter chill. 

It's been quite cold in Mumbai like we did need to pull on a light cardigan thru the day. Yeah the tropical climate will come back starting with Sankrant today. The long nights will be gone and the long days will begin. 

During the winter we did indulge with lots of goodies carrot halwa, high teas with Banana bread sandwich, sounds interesting? Come again for the recipe.

Today I am here to post a Black n White Tilgul recipe. Black has a significance for Sankrant in Maharashtra. Black is worn on this day to retain body heat. Black is also the abolisher of evil so on this day we wish that all evil be absorbed by wearing black so that the rest of the year is full of Positivity!

That said I wonder why it is traditional to use only white til or sesame for making the til gul ladu? Until a few years ago I was ignorant and thought black and white til are 2 different varieties but was educated by a friend that Black til is the sesame with the husk and when it is dehusked rather to be exact it is decorticated it gives white sesame. But wiki does mention that other shades of sesame exsist. Then I wonder all the more. Why have I never seen tilgul ladu with black til. 

This is the very reason I chose to make black n white tilgul this Sankrant. Anything with husk is healthier and richer in iron and don't they look pretty! So the label of My Kitchen Lab is justified.

As I set out to make tilgul Dad as usual had doubts. He wondered aloud "hope you get the candy state tilgul". Yeah its been years since I made tilgul successfully. I blame it on bad quality jaggery. Nevertheless I am not one to give up. So a flip of the pages of Ruchira, don't remember if I mentioned it here, I had won it for this post. Then I came up with the recipe I wanted to make. 

Ingredients

3/4 cup Black sesame or til

3/4 cup White sesame or til

1/2 cup coarse ground roasted peanuts

1/4 cup roasted chana dal/ Dahale/ Phutane

1/2 dry shredded coconut

1.5 cup grated jaggery

1/2 cup water

4 pods of cardamom

In a kadhai toast the sesame seeds on sim. Add the coconut shreds, toast to pink. Now follow in with coarse ground roasted peanuts and dahale stir for 30 secs just to make them eminate the aromatic oils.

Keep the kadhai aside. Now in a saucepan add 1/2 cup water and grated jaggery. Boil till all jaggery dissolves and gives a bubbly syrup. 

Meanwhile peel the cardamom. Pound the seeds with a teaspoon of sugar in a mortar and pestle. Save the pod peels in the tea leaves tin for later use. Add the powdered cardamom to the above toasty mix.

Carefully pour the hot jaggery syrup into the kadhai. Mix well to coat the toasted mix with the syrup. Let it cool till the mix is hot enough to handle and a ball can be shaped. Roll pinches of the mix into large marble sized ladu. 

There is a reason why tilgul is marble sized and not as large as boondi or rava or anyother type of a ladu. This seed has astringent effect on the gut and if consumed in large amounts causes loosies.

So eat a small ladu in intervals and let it generate enough heat to keep you warm in the final days of this winter.

Catch all the TV channels broadcasting the Uttarayan special effects like the Gavi Gangadhareshwar temple where the Sankrant sun beam floods the Shivalinga in Bangalore.

Have a lovely rest of the Sankrant!

Our Sankrant Naivedya 

Clockwise: Lime pickle, sweet curd, Masur aamti, Cashew curry, Rice sevai pulao, Malvani vade, papad and Black n white tilgul!

Malvani Kaju Curry

In December we travelled to Malvan, a region in the Sindhudurg district of coastal Maharashtra or as it is locally known, the Kokan.

I need to be writing a lot on Swachchanda God promise, I will this week!

When you travel in the coastal region of Maharahstra you see the abundance of Cashews. The season for fresh Cashews is in summer but we get dried and toasted ones all over Malvan through the year. I source mine from Mhapan a village in Malvan.

This curry tastes awesome with fresh cashews but don't worry even the dried ones work nicely for this curry. 

Malvani curries require a little bit of roasting, frying and grinding and some smart prep. So if you are in a rush divide the activity over time. If you are in the weekend mood of cooking leisurely then you bet this is a therapeutic recipe both for the mind and soul!

Lets get prepping.

Ingredients

1/2 cup soaked cashews or fresh

2 onions sliced

2 red chilies

2 teaspoons oil

salt to taste

chopped cilantro 

For the masala

2 onions sliced

1/2 fresh grated coconut 

4 red chilies

2 tablespoons oil

1/2 teaspoon Malvani masala or Garam Masala

Start of in the morning by soaking half cup of cashews in hot water. Let them rest over atleast 2 hours while you soak in the bath tub.

Once you are done with your bath and breakfast get the masala roasted.

Heat oil in a nonstick pan. Add the sliced onions and fry till pink. Then add the fresh grated coconut and roast till reddish. Throw in the red chilies. Fry till coated with oil.

Let the masala cool completely. Add the Malvani Masala or if you do not have it use regular garam masala.

Now grind to a paste with some texture. This masala can be made in advance and stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days or freezer for a month.

When you are ready to make the curry, start by heating oil. Drop in the red chilies for tadka. Fry the onions till translucent. Add the ground masala followed by the soaked cashews. Top up with water, the consistency has to be thickish. Salt the curry as per taste. Boil till the masala is bubbling. Throw in the chopped cilantro in the hot curry so that it wilts in the curry and enhances the flavors.

Enjoy the delicious curry mixed with hot rice or dip your roti in it. Delicious!

Need Cashews? Order right here!

Note: This was the first post mentioning the AnnaParabrahma's Eshop. Though I launched with only Koli masala and a little later added Malvani Masala.

Updated on 30 Oct2020 : Oley Cashews are in season only in summer. I get mine from the Dadar plaza guy when they are available. This Oley kaju and tondli usal is very popular in konkani cuisine.  

Christmas Cake

Plum Cake or Fruit cake is a must in Christian households. In India no matter what religion we follow we share our festivities and sweets with neighbors and friends. So every year there is enough Christmas cake to eat. It is only recent or may be a decade ago that I started making my own Christmas cake. I know Christmas cakes are rich and boozy. I make mine rich and citrusy. Dry fruits and nuts soaked in honey for atleast a month. Try it and tell me if you really miss the booze in it?

Adapted for vegetarians from Joy of Baking

Ingredients

1 cup softened butter

2 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 cup demerera sugar

3/4 cup caster sugar

3 teaspoons flax seed powder (soaked in 9 teaspoons water)

3 tablespoons Balsamic vinegar

3/4 cup fresh curd or 1 cup Orange juice

3/4 cup ground almonds

750 gms of *soaked dry fruits and nuts*

Soaking dry fruits and nuts in advance.

Chop up all sorts of dry fruits and nuts. I used Turkish apricots, Nectarines, White peaches, Figs, raisins, cashews, almonds etc. You can use any combo of fruits and nuts. Traditionally atleast raisins and cashews.

In a 1 litre jar put 2 cups of chopped dry fruits and nuts and add a cup of honey. Add 1 cup Homemade orange marmalade. Leave it to soak for atleast a month. I soaked these for about 2 months. Since you are using honey you will not need to drain the fruit.

On the baking day

Begin with creaming the butter and the two types of sugars together. Add the Balsamic vinegar, flax seed powder that has been soaked in water and gelatinized. Add the curd and whip till light and fluffy wet mix.

Now in a big bowl measure out the flour, ground almonds and baking powder. Whisk to mix evenly. Slowly add the mix into the creamed wet mix. Whip in the stand mixer on slow.

Next take the *soaked dry fruits and nuts* dredge them in a handful of flour. Add to the batter and mix with spatula till distributed well in the batter.

Prepare a 9 inch springform round tin by lining it with greased parchment or foil both at the bottom and sides. This is a must as this cake needs a long baking time at lower than usual temperature. Pour the batter in the tin and tap the tin on the counter to even out the batter. Level out the top with the spatula.

Preheat oven for 10 mins at 180 degrees Celsius and put the tin in for baking for the first 60 mins. You should get a nice golden colored cake by the end of the hour. For the next 1 hour of bake cover the golden cake with foil or parchment to avoid charring. At this time lower the temperature to 160 degrees Celsius. A skewer inserted in the cake should come out clean to prove the cake is well done inside.

Let the cake cool completely in the tin itself. Once cooled upturn it on a plate lined with a nice doily or decorative paper napkin.

I dusted the Christmas cake with confectioners sugar and added a ribbon for the festive feel. Yeah we are past Christmas but the cravings made me make this cake else I had started to dig into the honey marmalade soaked dryfruits and nuts after meals. 

Good thing is I am taking this cake for Akshada's BD party today. Recently our families traveled together and ever since I have grown fond of this lovely girl. Hope she enjoys it.

Special Note:

Incase, you do not have the time n patience for soaking the fruit. Then just cook the fruit in honey and and water till its all plump.

If the fruit and nut are dry the cake crumbles when slicing. The soaked or cooked fruit holds the crumbs together as this is a cake with as much dry fruits and nuts as the flour.

Updated after the birthday party : 6 Jan 2014

Sliced and enjoyed by the Birthday buddies Akshada and Tejas!

Cherry Topped Vanilla Mascarpone Cheesecake

Wishing all my readers a very Happy New Year 2014!

Keep visiting and writing in. 

I have been away travelling and life has been busy. Many stories to share with you in the posts to come up.

But for now here is a quick recipe of an easy yet decadent Cheesecake to celebrate the new year with your gang.

Ingredients

1 cup hung curd
2 cups homemade mascarpone cheese
200 gms icing sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
25gms agar agar
1/2 cup water

250gms digestive biscuits
5 tablespoons cocoa powder
50 gms butter

1 cup cherries for topping 
few sprigs of fresh mint 

In a dry grinder jar pulse the digestive biscuits along with butter and cocoa powder.

Boil half cup water and add agar agar to it. Stir till it dissolves completely. Let it cool to room temp.

In a 9 inch springform tin press down the powdered biscuits in an even layer. Chill in the fridge.

In the stand mixer bowl add hung curd, mascarpone cheese, vanilla extract and dissolved agar agar solution. Add the sugar little at a time while you run the machine. Whisk till soft peaks are formed.

Pour the mixture into to the chilled springform tin, above the crushed biscuits. Chill for atleast 8 hrs or overnight to let it set properly.

Before serving top the Vanilla Mascarpone cheesecake with cherries and sprigs of fresh mint from your herb pot, I plucked some beautiful ones from my Window grill box.

I had made this cheesecake for Bhau beej for my bros but that won't stop you from making it for a New year's celebration, what say?

Serves 10 people generously.

Enjoy!

Mexican Black Bean And Tomato Rice

October was a very exciting month and so was November! Since I have quit my job I think I am doing a lot of things I never had time for, distinctly interesting things that make me happy. 

I went away to Gondavale for 10 days and returned home and guess who was here in Mumbai? Remember her first visit yes that was my first Bloggers Meet and therefore special. P of Evolving Tastes was here again.

Mails went back and forth and while I was away the ladies met up at Harini's do that I missed. So finally since no one else could make it when I was back P and me decide to meet up at Matunga. Well I wanted to take her to Gaiwadi Balaji temple in SOBO and rediscover Girgaum with her but to save travel time and the long commute we agreed finally on Matunga in keeping with the South Indian theme that we had in mind.

That afternoon, I was travelling to Matunga after very long and since it was on a week day I thought going to King circle by train was wise. After buying the ticket and travelling right upto Kurla while chatting up with a co-passenger I realized that King circle is a station on the Bandra line! Being away from Mumbai for so long I had forgotten some things and this was a relearning of sorts for me. I did know though that Guru Tej Bahadur or Sion Koliwada is a station closer to King Circle so I hopped off from the train and a helpful Sardar showed me the way to the bridge. Now I was outside the station and waving out at the cabs but none were ready to go the short distance. P was already waiting for me as she reached early and I was getting late. I jumped on to a BEST bus that went all the way near King circle, yeah the conductor pointed it out from the bus for me but suddenly the bus swung into a back lane. I was just getting so irritated with all this.

Finally I walked up to the Aastik Samaj Temple and we were happy to see each other, again! Meanwhile P had already done 3-4 rounds of that street peering at the various colorful shops. It was a hot day and we just needed to cool off in a place that had a/c. So we trooped into A. Ramanayak & Sons at King circle. It's a tiny place and looked like a women's club at that moment. Amid chatter from other tables we had Rasam vada and Mysore masala dosa, it was good, excellent chutney but sambar was more like a dal. Both of us were going to hop around to some thali place so these were like starters for us.

With the temporary fueling done we walked thru the shaded streets of Matunga and stopped to peer at the tiny Annapoorneshwari stores, shopping for Kai murukku, appams and chutney pudi, having used all of it now I can tell the stuff was quite good.

Since it was getting late for proper lunch we decided it had to be at The Udipi Shri Krishna Boarding we both were smitten by the legend. I had faint memories of eating there sometime but was so confused with the other establishments around. Well in Matunga you see a Rama Nayak's board every where, its like the Maganlal Chikki in Lonavala, there is the Idli house, the A. Ramanayak & Sons and the Nayak's sweets all are the medias pets. So with a very high expectation we walked in. We were told that a unlimited meal served on plantain leaf will be too heavy for us, the manager must have figured out we did not exactly look starved. So we bought coupons for a plate meal and walked into an area marked for ladies. Through a crowded passage and waiters balancing stacks of thalis we seated ourselves on the squeeze in tables so typical of Udipi joints making the most of the space which is more expensive than gold. As they started serving, some thing told me the food was not going to do much for us. I was so disappointed with the meal. This was not a meal that any homebody or gourmet would enjoy. The Udipi Shri Krishna food turned out to be so passable that they lived up to their name of being a bachelor's hope for South Indian food, yeah bachelors never have a choice. The worst thing was their cloyingly sweet tiny gulab jamuns that were vanilla flavored! I am never going to go there again or take any of my friends there. I may be a purist for my tastes and skills for Canara cuisine were honed in the land of the origin.

However shopping at Chheda Stores put us back in the mood. We bought lots of stuff to bring back home and the same things for P to take back to US with her. Here is my loot.

We then loitered around a bit, Nallis, Milap is a readymade blouse wonderland, a pooja item store where we found many editions of Samaithu paar but I did not buy any. P bought puja clothes for her Gauris, to be used during the season.

It was late afternoon and we were tired with all the sweating in the October heat and just needed to sit down and have a refreshing drink. P wanted to try the Mawa cake. There are legendary ones from Merwan and Yazdani but what was accessible to us was Koolar & Co. at the Kings Circle on this day. We were shown a table reserved for ladies, it had a view of the circle and was near one of the large doors that make the Irani cafes inviting. I ordered the Irani chai and a 'esspecial' for P. A tasting of brun maska and mawa cake that did not really please anyone but here is my recipe of brun that has worked every single time I make it. Oh, but I forgot to tell P that a brun maska is eaten dipped in tea! Won't you all try to make brun at home?

Then before we parted we did the food exchange, here are the gifts from P.

From the back: dried white and yellow nectarines, thyme and oregano, in the front : Turkish apricots and black beans.

I made this hearty Mexican black bean and tomato rice, it had to be an authentic dish using 2 of the items from above, black beans and oregano.

When I did the FB contest showing this rice bubbling away it was fun to see the imagination of people and their guesses. The funniest part is so many thought I was using Koli masala in it just because I announced a give away of it. Well I must say unlike my forefathers I do not add Koli masala to everything I cook ;)

Now lets go to this very easy recipe. It's delicious and protienious beany and oh so soul satisfying. It is Mexican but yet feels so Indian. We enjoyed the nutty black beans a lot and Thanks again P for all the gifts!

Recipe source: Fine cooking, I adapted the method to smarter cooking and time saving.

Ingredients

1 cup medium grain raw rice (I use Surti Kolam)

400 gms fresh tomato diced (original uses canned)

2 tablespoons olive oil

6 medium cloves of garlic chopped

1 medium fresh jalapeno ( I grow mine)

1 cup black beans soaked overnight

2 teaspoon cumin powder

1 teaspoon chili powder (I used Kashmiri for the vibrant color)

1 heaped tablespoon dried oregano or (as in original recipe: 1/4 cup fresh oregano leaves and stems)

1/4 cup finely chopped cilantro

salt to taste

At first pressure cook the soaked black beans for 4-5 whisltes or 30-40 mins. This will cook the beans well. The cooking time is longer as these beans are quite nutty and even when soaked hold their shape well when cooked.

Now in the cauldron heat the oil, brown the chopped garlic and add the slit jalapeno till an aroma emanates. Now add the cooked blacked beans, salt, cumin powder and chili powder. Stir and let it come together. 

Add the diced tomatoes and let them crumble completely on high heat. Add 4 cups water. Reduce to a simmer. At this point wash the raw rice and add to the boiling curry. Cook covered on lowest heat till the rice grain when pressed between the thumb and fore finger feels cooked.

In the end add the oregano and the cilantro give it a nice stir and Serve steaming hot!

A Doll Cake For Meetu

On the 11th Nov my helper Sweety was asking for a day off when I got to know it was her daughter, Meetu's birthday on 12th Nov. I asked her if she was going to come to our area on the day. She lives 4-5 kms from my home. I offered to bake a cake for Meetu if she could come pick it up.

So I just had a day for buying the material and ingredients from my neighborhood shops. I baked the cake on a day prior to decorating it. It allows the cake to cool completely and also to allow icing and decoration in a relaxed mood.

To begin making this cake you will need a few special materials

For the decoration

1. A pudding mould, this is used to bake the cake which for the skirt for the Doll.
2. A real doll. The size of the doll should match the size of the mould, such that the mould should form the skirt of the doll.
3. Sugar Sprinkles: I used colorful stars, moon crescents and small beads.


Ingredients 

For the sponge

1.5 cups all purpose flour / maida

½ tin sweet condensed milk

¼ cup oil

1.5 teaspoons baking powder

0.5 teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

½ cup sugar

1 cup milk

In a large bowl first whip of the wet ingredients, condensed milk, oil, vanilla extract, milk and sugar. The sugar should be dissolved completely.

Now in a sieve add the all purpose flour, baking powder and baking soda and salt. Sieve thru into the whipped up wet ingredients. Fold the flour into it. The batter should fall in folds.

Grease a pudding mold with oil and dust with flour. Remove the excess flour. Pour the batter into the mould. Preheat oven to 180 degrees for 10 mins. Place the mould filled with cake batter and bake for 20 -25 mins till golden brown and knife inserted comes out clean.

Let the cake cool completely in the tin and then remove on to the rack. Keep it aside for a day or atleast till completely cooled down so that the icing holds well onto it and does not melt.

For the icing

1 pack Whipped cream

Prepare as directed on the pack. I used Blue Bird brand whipped cream. I kept it white as I do not use artificial colors. If you are using colors match it up with the dress of the doll.

Note: This is the first time I used Whipped cream. I hate artificial foods and so this trial of Whipped cream also did not match up to my taste. It was light and frothy but just so artificial. I am not used to it and do not want to recommend it. I would rather use fresh cream/ Mascarpone/ hung curd/ sour cream for icing or frosting.

Steps for the decoration

On a cardboard covered with foil create a base with the cake. Turn the cake upside down with wide side as the base. With a long spoon scoop out the center, big enough for the doll to stand in it.

Now, upturn the skirt of the doll's frock so that you are not messing it when decorating the cake. Smear the cake with the whipped cream. Use the decorating knife to give the whipped cream, a pleated look. How you do this is with the tip of the knife stroke the whipped cream in upward movements, it will looked ridged.

Next place the sugar sprinkle stars and crescents on the pleats in the center, leaving the ridges to stand out. Do this in the front side. On the backside and at the base sprinkle the tiny multicolored beads to form a nice trimming. Don't worry if it is not very neat, actually a little awry looks good and natural.

Turn down the skirt of the cloth frock as it should be. There your Doll Cake it ready!

Just one more thing personalize it with a little flag with the birthday girl's name on it, after all it is a special cake. You can even pipe the wishes with cream on the sides. I did not do it as this cake was to be carried by Sweety to her home 5 kms away from mine and she was going to take a bus. That was another challenge so I packed off the cake in an upside down plastic bin. Doesn't she look like Anarkali shrouded in a veil, waiting to be revealed to Meetu!

I wished Meetu a happy 4th birthday!

The next day Sweety told me that her girl was thrilled and immediately grabbed the doll even before it was cut! She had hosted a party of 35 people and ordered another cake at a Shop as any careful host would do. I felt happy when she came back the next morning and told me that her party loved the Doll cake and the taste and that mine was better!

 Yay! Felt so satisfied. Next time I feel confident to make a princess cake.

Orange Marmalade Shortbread

Mrs Rekha Karmakar posts on her son Kalyan's blog. She is a storyteller who is full of wonderful memories. Whether it was her going back to Diamond Harbor looking for that home of her childhood vacation along with her two school going sons or her rediscovering Delhi, her memories of Jalpaiguri  or her travels around the world take you back into a different era. I feel like I am listening to my own aunt telling stories.

When I conducted a contest on the Fb page Mrs. K participated in it, I was happy she did as she was just recovering from bad health. She deserved a treat!

So along with the pack of masala I promised to send her for her enthusiasm to participate in the contest; I also made Shortbread with Orange marmalade. Keeping her health in mind I thought this is mildly sweet so she will be able to enjoy it and hoping she will like it.

Thanking Mrs. Rekha Karmakar for sharing her wonderful memories of travels and childhood and wishing her good health!

Basic recipe source: Indian food rocks

Ingredients

2 cups flour

3/4 cup powdered sugar

3/4 cup ghee

2 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 tablespoons Orange Marmalade

Just dump everything in the food processor and whiz. Remove to counter and knead to form a smooth ball. Line a baking sheet with foil. press the dough into the sheet. Roll out evenly. Score into fingers. Chill the baking sheet with the dough for 20 mins. 

Preheat oven to 140deg Celsius for 10 mins. While you do that, remove the baking sheet from the fridge. Use the fork to prick the dough so that it does not puff up. 

 

Bake the shortbread for 20 mins. Remove on counter. Score the fingers again on the same lines to ensure the fingers can be separated out after baking. Bake again for 5 mins to get the pinkish tinge on the fingers.

Remove the baking sheet. Cool for 5 mins. Then lift out the foil along with the shortbread fingers carefully separate out the fingers. Put them on a rack to cool completely. Store in air tight container.

For chocolate drizzle

2X2 inch piece of chocolate + 1/4 teaspoon of ghee 

Zap in the microwave for 20 secs. Give a stir to thin the molten chocolate evenly.

Since I was to speedpost these for Mrs. K I did not drizzle chocolate on hers. But I thought let me do it for Dad and so there you see. Well I just drizzled with a fork for neater drizzle use a ziploc bag or icing bag.

Moongachi Bhaaji

This is a delicious very Koli style curry made with whole moong. It difficult to say why it is soul satisfying, the protein or the masala. It is very quick to make as moong gets cooked fast in the pressure cooker.

A Koli home if not well stocked on green veggies will always be stocked with green moong for sure. But I hate it when most relatives cook it up for me just because I do not eat non veg. It's not about not affording to buy vegetables but pure laziness to even look in the bazaar for veggies and they expect me to sing their praises after the force fed meal. Yet I am polite, I always thank them for entertaining me.

However once in a while when I crave for my homely flavors and when I want to make something that will make a lipsmacking meal for Dad without too much effort then I go to this familiar taste.

Here is how to do it...

Ingredients

1 cup whole green moong

1 whole potato with skin on

Soak moong in hot water for 1/2 hr OR if cooking directly use water enough to cover the moong, about 1 inch above the moong level. Pressure cook for 4-5 whistles or 30 mins. Cool completely and open the cooker. Mash some moong with the back of the spoon. Keep the potato aside.

The masala

1/4 cup grated fresh or frozen coconut
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon koli masala (buy it now)
1/2 inch piece ginger
4 cloves garlic
handful cilantro
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1 green chili

Grind in fine paste in the chutney grinder. Keep
aside.

The Phodni 

2 teaspoons oil

Heat oil in a vessel. Add the ground masala and fry a bit for about 2 mins. Cut the potato into 4 long wedges and  add along with the cooked whole moong into the masala. Top up with water. Keep a thickish consistency. Boil well to remove the raw smell of masala. Put off heat and let it sit for atleast 15 mins before serving.

Serve with hot steamed rice.

Enjoy mixing it with your fingers and licking up!

In Thal food is mostly cooked at home and then at lunch time packed and taken to the fish drying area and the little account offices that are put up in the huts on these fields, where family slogging it from morning awaits. In the old days it used to be carried in small terracotta pots called handis or brass vessels, then put in a basket and carried on the head. I wanted to recreate that scene so I used large terracotta diyas which I had from the last years Diwali. Then came Diwali and I actually found a small pot much like a handi but still not a handi. I am still looking out for a handi that is used for cooking fish curry.

I also made a teeny bit of Moogache puran just to make Dad happy, for he loves to end all his meals with a little bit of sweet and as long as his health can afford it I will continue to indulge him.

With these pictures I can almost hear one of our Khapnarin (lady staff) calling out "Jevaan hanlay gharshi!" which meant lunch has been brought from home. Then some one would rush to help offload the basket which was carried on the head and put it on stable ground without spillage.

Then every thing would be removed from the basket and the basket would be overturned to cover the pots and a heavy something would be placed over the basket so that no cat or dog attacked the food before the family.

Then one by one everyone would wash their hands as they would be smelly with handling fish. If this was the exact menu, then the men would ask "Koncha upas hai?" LOL you see my Koli people cannot live without fish! and the day there is no fish in the meal it is Upas/ Upvas or fasting for them!

The Green Balcony Is Back As The Window Grill Box

Are you done with Diwali indulgences? I am. So today lets not talk about food.

Ever since I returned to Mumbai, I wake up to the chirping of the birds and a view of the Gulmohor. A priceless view especially when the Gulmohor is ablaze in the summers. It was not like this when we bought this home in 1995 but our neighborhood green initiatives have fruitioned. 

Introducing a new label here, the "Window Grill Box". The Green Balcony that saw me adopting so many environmentally conscious activities and successfully making them a part of my everyday life in a city, is now back in the form of a Window Grill Box. 

The last time I posted about growing greens was in May. That is when the renovation in my home started and it went on for 2.5 months. I was lucky that I was able to move some of my plants to my bro's side of the home. So when The Window Grill Box was ready I did not really start from scratch. Yes but it has taken time to get back to its glory.

Except the change in structure nothing much changed in that area. The Green balcony had the Daily dump unit and it still stand at the right end. Now it's a Bay window where I can sit and talk to my plants and nurture them. Those colorful jars are my Diwali decor. The Terracotta bell has moved to the right end from the left, and the left is not bare...

Right to left: The Daily Dump Khamba, Chavali creeper, Brahmakamal, Peace lily, in the wooden crate Tur and lemon grass, sitting on it spot the bird feeder. The last are tomato saplings that are growing fast and I can't wait for the harvest, everyday I whisper to them to hurry up!

The leftside view reveals a money plant, a pumpkin creeper that has flowered well but no fruit yet. Then you have more tomato saplings, Jalapenos in the tall porcelain pot. More Chavali creepers and tomatoes. Hanging from the roof are two new elements I added a decor lantern which is a copy of the Petromax of a bygone era and a wind chime that reverberates in the silence of my home.

The Window Grill Box in the living room is smaller, but we have a lovely green view of the Gulmohor and its great to see lots of birds nesting in the benevolent branches. That middle seat is my perch every evening with the new binoculars that I bought just to watch them. Yeah but I haven't been too lucky to show you some clicks, but there will be more lucky days to come I hope.

Outside that window in the grill box this is what you will see...

The hibiscus on the left

Lemon grass, more Jalapenos, Curry leaf plant.

While my side of the home has undergone change my bros side continues to bloom. You saw it here and here.

Now that you are introduced to the Window Grill Box rather boxes do come back to read on what's making my home green.

Annaparabrahma's green journey in pics is available here.