My Experiments with cooking-part 2

My bro and sis-in-law were coming home from UK today. So thought i will make something special for them. I had seen a jalebi recipe some days back and was really surprised that making a jalebi was this simple. But everything did not go as I planned. When I reached home from college it was already 3pm. Mom asked me not to make jalebi then as all of them where going to go to our native place soon. Slightly disheartened i agreed to what she said. I had prepared the batter one day back since the curd in it had to ferment before use. I small pang of hurt hit me as they all left without even knowing i was going to prepare jalebi for them. Dad and me stayed back when they left. Dad was a bit busy so i thought might as well make it for him and so finally i started preparations. I did not have a squeezer for normal jalebi so used the one for iddiappam. Fried the dough and dipped it in sugar syrup. Homemade jalebi ready. No artificial colouring. Special thanks to Aswathy Ganapath for giving me the idea of putting a bit of "manja podi" to give it the yellow colour. I was going to make it colourless[:)] Oh and about the jalebi, it tasted alright. I would say a little less curd would be preferrable for a normal south indian but as a north indian dish it was good enough. Only person who ate it is dad and he had two in one go. Second drawback was that i only got an approximate shape not the actual shape. [:)]Since foto was demanded last time, here is the final product.


So how does it look?[:D]

My experiments with cooking

Past two days I have occupied the kitchen much more than usual.. Sudden urge to cook something special..

These are the things which i made:
1.Carrot Halwa
2.Paneer lifafa(modified version of original)
3.Steamed egg
4.Banana Halwa

Carrot halwa was good. I had my cousin bro to act as a guinea pig for me. I asked him today if he was ok after eating my cooking and his reply was in the positive..[:D] Spirited by my success yesterday I made paneer roti lifafa(menu courtesy sanjay kapoor) Well lifafa was good if you subtract the fact that i think sanjay kapoor meant something else[:D] but what i made was edible and i liked it.. Along with this i tried my hand at steamed egg. No i dont mean hard boiled egg. This again was courtesy sanjay kapoor's web[:)] only problem was the egg turned out to be half boiled.. and i really couldnt digest much of it. Today's menu was banana halwa.. Turns out tat its very simple. But if you do it according to what is given in the recipe you will end up with too much ghee in the halwa which a lot of south indians may not prefer. One good thing about banana halwa is that it can be made for bananas that are too ripe. Most people would throw ripe bananas out so why not make something out of it[:)]
Tonight plans are for making something with rice.. [:D]

Note: For all those who are thinking of whether this is the first thing i have made think again. I like cooking. Not an expert at it but i wouldn't say i am too bad..[:)]
Also if anyone has tried cooking something else and think its good give me the recipe i want to try[:)]

My Precious Cup

Well.. might as well not keep the blog dry.. Pls comment on the following post if you read it.. This was my article for our college magazine in 2007.. The magazine committee due to some technical reasons rejected it.. I respect their decision coz in the end its their call..:) Please comment on whether you can understand the post..Maybe ya my writing style needs to be revamped.. would definitely try doing that if majority cannot understand..:) For all those who intend to have a literal narration this is not for you..
Statutory warning: Pun intended...

MY PRECIOUS CUP!

“Mom, I have to go to college soon….”said the girl. The girl is in her late teens. Mom who was sitting at the dining table having her breakfast gives her a nod and a look which means everything will be okay. Suddenly, from the kitchen there was a crashing sound... the girl sighed and thought to herself, “It isn’t the first time that this has happened.” Last that she saw was her dad going into the kitchen. His hand accidentally hit the cup; the girl’s precious cup had broken. The girl always had a special cup. But this cup was the closest one to her heart. None matched up to this. Neither did she have too much attachment to the rest. Be it coffee, tea or even just water, she always used the same cup. There had been many instances in the past too when her cups had broken under various circumstances. But this time it had broken in a very special way. The cup as such was intact; it was the handle that had broken.
“Next time don’t keep your cup on the edge.” shouted the girl’s dad. The girl being too drained of all emotions to react just said an ok and thought to herself, I didn’t keep the cup on the edge! I never do! Dad always keeps it on the edge. Shouldn’t he say the same to himself? The girl sighed again and went to check the damage to her cup. Had it been a few years back she would have cried incessantly in front of everyone for hours for her cup even if it didn’t mean as much to her.
Well the cup looks ok; she thought to herself, it’s just the handle that’s broken. Somehow she knew the hurt she felt was more than she seemed to show. Why create a fuss? It’s broken... Everything that is made breaks one day or the other. She ran her fingers through the broken handle... Ouch!! Porcelain edges r sharp. But why do I feel this numbness? Did I expect it? Or am I too drained to react? Why don’t I cry? I always have cried for the silliest of things but why can’t I now? My precious cup, the best suited cup was broken, had some of the best drinks in this. It was almost always with me, at least filled with water. Don’t I feel angry at my dad? No, what’s the point? What is broken is broken. But I can’t throw the cup away because it was my precious cup and also only its handle is lost, she told herself. My favorite cup! The cup that lasted more than five years. Wish the cup was either alright or completely broken. In the second case at least I could buy a new one and get over this. But it’s just the handle that is broken. It still means the same to me. But without the handle, it’s not the same. I love my cup. I know what I should do is to throw it away, but…. It’s too close to my heart to ever be able to do so...
“You could have kept it somewhere else.” shouted her dad again. Mom looks at her. Somehow her mother understands all of the girl’s thoughts and says, “Don’t bother too much about the cup. It still isn’t shattered. Everything can be made alright later. Go to college now.”
Alright?????, the girl thought, my cup is broken! I don’t want to see it shatter! I will always keep it safe the way it is now... My cup is broken now... My precious cup!

Somethings in life...:)

Its 9am.. Just finished my breakfast.. Time to leave for college.. First hour free.. No point going early.. But ya dad has to go to office after dropping me.. According to him we are late..

"I dont want to go to college now, no use other than 'kathiadi'..." Thought to myself.. "Not in a mood for talking..."

I get my bag and get in the car... Still in a very contemplative mood I lower the window thinking... The day is gona be boring... Dad gets into the driver's seat and well next thing i know we are at YMR junction(near my house)... Dunno if i even said a bye to mom..

Time to take out my mobile and sms some friends.. Did that with very little enthusiasm than i usual...(oh and for all those who dont know i love smsing) Something struck and i told dad that i think the diesel is low in the car.. Yes, it was.. when dad gave me the car the day before it was near empty and he asked me not to refill.. Dad checks the fuel indicator and asks me if i would mind being a little late to college... Ya like i would mind.. I love driving and also enjoy road trips.. So, detour...to my relief... to the petrol pump at kowdiar.... Wherever we where going i didnt mind coz i wanted to go to college only just before 2nd hour.. Got that done.. and we are on our way to college via vellayambalam,lms, PMG..

A guy sitting in front of the public library caught my eye... No.. Not coz he was good looking or anything... He was sitting with a sheet in front of him which had a lot of watches... There were a lot of people going to him to show their watch.. I looked at the scene and smiled... He is sitting on the footpath doing his job when most shops wouldnt b open...And the fact that he makes a living out of it was even more surprising to me...Time is so important to all of us.. Without a watch most people cant survive a day, including me.. I look at my watch almost every 10mins.. If the class/whatever event I am in is boring it'l be more frequent...:) bad habit i know..:)

Before I could think further i saw another guy.. He was walking around talking on the mobile.. Very happy.. My guess either he was talking to his boss who offered him a raise or he was talking to his gf or wife or gf while his wife was away..:D Anyways his happiness did make me happy... and also made me think about the object in my hand.. Yes.. my mob.. What would i do without it.... Cant imagine the time when i didnt have a mob..

Ok my mob isnt hifi or anything.. Jus basic features.. Nokia 1112... I send arnd 50-100smes(thank God its 10ps) and talk for more than anyone can imagine.... My faithful set and my vodafone connection:) Had it not been for my mobile i would have lost touch with most of my friends.. even may not have been this close to the people who have definitely made my life rocking...:)

How life's influenced by these two things definitely had my thoughts hooked on... Watch is beyond doubt needed as its compact and there is no restriction as to where you carry it to.. be it a exam hall... or a religious place... or a tight security area... Everything is timed... the watch tells you when to do what... Mobile well i don't think i'l need to explain... But what interests me is the fact that we all take the fact that our watch or fone would be working the next day.. One day without either would drive me(and i can say most ppl) nuts.. Yet we all still never think too much about it... :)


Cest la vie!!

Sorry to whoever cares to read my posts for not posting for around four months.. This is my first post in 2k8... wanted to make a review of 2k7 but alas the year seems hazy... Let me see if i can get something to post on 2k7.. For the time being my sincere apologies to the blog and its readers i willl try to be more regular:) and for everyone who made me post.. thank you:)