My first review on Flipitall

My first review on Flipitall 😀 Do check out.

“He was a multi-faceted and complicated personality and trying to write his biography is a tough job indeed. To capture the life of a genius required another genius and that is Walter Isaacson.”

Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson

Hope you like reading it!

Rava Dosa – Recipe

Onion Rava Dosa with Coconut chutney

If you are craving for dosa and if you have forgotten to soak the rice and dal the previous day and keep the batter overnight then you are in for a disappointment. That is when instant dosa comes to your rescue. This is one of the instant dosas and a yummy one at that . Here are the ingredients you’ll need

• Rava/Semolina – 1 cup
• Rice Flour – 1 cup
• Maida/All purpose flour – 1/2 cup
• Green chillies(finely chopped) – 3 medium
• Onion(finely chopped) – 1 large
• Cumin seeds – 1 tsp
• Hing/ Asafoetida – a pinch
• Ginger(grated) – 1/2 tsp
• Salt – to taste
• Water – to make the batter
• Oil – for making the dosas

Method:

• In a mixing bowl, mix rava, rice flour, maida, chopped green chillies, cumin seeds, ginger, hing and salt.

Dry ingredients

• Then add water to this dry mixture. The consistency should be that of buttermilk. I tried getting a pic not sure if you can make out from the pic.

Batter consistency

• Keep it aside for 10 mins. Now heat the dosa-tawa, apply some oil and sprinkle a bit the finely shopped onion

Sprinkle Onion

• You cannot spread this dosa batter with a ladle like the other dosas because the batter is very thin. You need to pour the batter and swirl the tawa or sprinkle the batter starting from outside and finishing in the centre and filling the gaps later. In this pic I have sprinkled the dosa but the gaps need to be filled.

Sprinkle the dosa batter on the tawa

• Now put some more oil on the dosa. Keep the tawa on high heat and remember this one takes a little more time than your normal dosa. Once you see the dosa getting brown on the bottom side, flip it with a spatula.

Dosa on the tawa

• Don’t worry about the shape of the dosa when you sprinkle the batter like water you can’t expect it to take any shape that you can define unless it resembles a country map 🙂
• In case you cannot flip it, that means either you haven’t cooked it properly on the other side or that it is too thick. Don’t worry you can still cook and eat those dosa crumbles if browned properly 🙂
• Anyway if it doesn’t come out properly, don’t despair. For the next one pray to your favorite god and start again from cleaning your tawa, adding some oil and sprinkling some onions on it. Keep repeating the above steps till you get a nice, brown, crispy dosa. You will get it soon. It ain’t no rocket science!
• And once done, take it out on a plate and eat it hot with any of the dosa accompaniments.

Rava Dosa – ready to eat.
Awesomeness \m/

 

Blog of the Year 2012 and Reality Blog Award

Wow! Two awards in a single day. Must be my best blog day. First the Blog of the year 2012 and then reality award

Blog of the Year Award 2012

Thank you Randomuzings. I feel deeply honored that you think my blog is worthy of this award.

I am greatly touched. Thanks again 🙂

Here are the rules to accept this award:

1 Select the blog(s) you think deserve the ‘Blog of the Year 2012’ Award
2 Write a blog post and tell us about the blog(s) you have chosen – there’s no minimum or maximum number of blogs required – and ‘present’ them with their award.
3 Please include a link back to this page ‘Blog of the Year 2012’ Award – and include these ‘rules’ in your post (please don’t alter the rules or the badges!)
4 Let the blog(s) you have chosen know that you have given them this award and share the ‘rules’ with them
5 You can now also join our Facebook page – click the link here ‘Blog of the Year 2012’ Award and then you can share your blog with an even wider audience
6 As a winner of the award – please add a link back to the blog that presented you with the award – and then proudly display the award on your blog and sidebar … and start collecting stars…

ok, let’s start…

Here are my nominations for the Blog of the year 2012 award:

http://ifoundx.wordpress.com/

http://vinca11.wordpress.com/

http://klens.wordpress.com/

http://vinicooksveg.wordpress.com/

http://mashedmusings.wordpress.com/

http://goss-coaching.com/

http://whatlifesays.wordpress.com/

http://travelspirit333.com/

Collect the star and grab some more before it ends!

Reality Blog Award

reality-blog-award

Thanks Vina for the lovely award. I am truly grateful.

Below are the rules for the REALITY blog award:

1. Answer the 5 questions

2. Nominate 8 other bloggers

Questions:

1. If you could change one thing, what would you change?

A. If I could, I would change and reverse the environmental damage we humans have done to the Earth.

2. If you could repeat an age, what would it be?

A. I would be 21. Just out of college and you have all the confidence in the world and you think  you can take the world in your stride.

3. What one thing really scares you?

A. Creepy , crawly creatures

4. What is one dream you have not completed, and do you think you’ll be able to complete it?

A. A World tour and yes I think I can. Being a little optimistic here 🙂

5. If you could be someone else for one day, who would it be?

A. Hmmm I would like to be Neil Armstrong the day he landed on the moon.  I’d literally be “over the moon” 😀

Nominations:

http://xperiencematters.wordpress.com/

http://randomuzings.wordpress.com/

http://thecosmoiyengar.wordpress.com/

http://dreamtheimmpossible.wordpress.com/

http://clickdpic.wordpress.com/

http://bhavanapenned.wordpress.com/

http://musenmotivation.wordpress.com/

http://mannbikram.wordpress.com/

Happy Blogging! 🙂

Hum Hai Anari

Sab kuchh seekha humne na seekhi hoshiyari
Sab kuchh seekha humne na seekhi hoshiyari
Sach hai duniya waalon ke hum hain anaadi

Duniya ne kitna samjhaya
Kaun hai apna kaun paraaya
Phir bhi dil ki chot chupa kar
Humne aapka dil behlaaya
Khud hi mar mitne ki ye zid hai humari
Khud hi mar mitne ki ye zid hai humari
Sach hai duniya waalon ke hum hain anaadi

Dil ka chaman ujadte dekha
Pyaar ka rang utarte dekha
Humne har jeene waale ko
Dhan daulat pe marte dekha
Dil pe marne waale marenge bhikhari
Dil pe marne waale marenge bhikhari
Sach hai duniya waalon ke hum hain anaadi

Asli nakli chehre dekhe
Dil pe sau sau pehre dekhe
Mere dukhte dil se poochho
Kya kya khwaab sunehare dekhe
Toota jis taare pe nazar thi hamari
Toota jis taare pe nazar thi hamari

Sab kuchh seekha humne na seekhi hoshiyari
Sach hai duniya waalon ke hum hain anaadi

Movie: Anari (1959)
Music Director: Shankar Jaikishan, Hasrat Jaipuri
Lyrics: Hasrat Jaipuri , Shankar Jaikishan , Shailendra
Singer: Mukesh
Movie directed by: Hrishikesh Mukherjee

This film won many awards and the song is a classic. One of my personal favorites.

you are what you think you are

This is a featured post at Write Over Weekend an initiative by Blogadda for Indian Bloggers.

Scanned image of me in hostel during my college days

Do you remember your college days? Who doesn’t? Those are the days of fun and frolic. The first time out of your house, all on your own, making new friends in college and hostel, the college canteen, the classes, the lectures, bunking classes. Hoping not to be ragged by your seniors in your first year, the vivas, the exams, the idle chatter and a lot more. Reminiscing for an entire day won’t be enough.

Apart from this, we had these annual events that everybody awaited, The rose day, The fresher’s day, the send-off party, the annual juke box event, the dandiya night, the saree day, the fun carnival games day, the fun week and so on.  Fun for everybody right, the most awaited moments. Not for me.

Hippo

The pic on the left is a scanned image of me taken in our hostel during my first year of college. It was the day we had send-off party for our super-seniors at our college. One of the fun days. But for me those fun days were more often than not anxiety days. If the preparation didn’t feel like anxiety, surely post-event I would have something to be not happy about. One of the reasons for that is

The pic on left is what I was. The pic on the right is what I thought I was.

If you think I was one of the girls whose self-worth was tied to a number on the scale, or the brands I wore or one who only cared how people looked. Wrong! Even before I entered college, I was one of those people who believed in “substance over form”. I thoroughly enjoyed studying computer science engineering. It was my dream come true. I was in one of the best colleges, I did well in my studies, made friends with some wonderful people and had hopes for my life. I was generally happy with what I was. But but… But somewhere deep down every time I had to get ready for a special occasion I would get reminded I am not going to fit in and get tensed. I wasn’t thin, the great-looking, the most fashionable, the most delicate, the grapevine specialist, the most vocal and by extension not the popular one or even the noticed one.

The mirror was my enemy. I hated shopping for clothes for the occasions. If by some chance on any occasion you thought it was ok then you had “friends” who told you “lose some weight”, “you are supposed to grow vertically not horizontally” or that I am Jayalalitha in line or that I need to improve my fashion sense. Goes without saying that I wasn’t one of the cool girls. It isn’t just about looks but also how you are expected to behave. If being cool is the desired state then everything else that isn’t cool is a nightmare for college days. You are supposed to take societal cues on how to be and confirm to those standards to be accepted. Not that I cared that much but it affects you all the same. These events always reminded me no matter what your talents, what you did, how you spoke or how well you dressed, in the end the show-stealers will be one of THOSE girls. The ones who fitted into the idea of what girls should be. It could never be me 😦

I had fun but not without regrets. I always wished I could be more “Normal”, more accepted. There was so much external pressure to fit in, to be accepted. But a lot of what was expected wasn’t me. I did not concede to all those ideas but the thought always remained if I had conceded I would have that approval which I desired and then probably life would have been much easier if not better.

Me again

However, life moves on and not long after that I learnt to accept myself as I am. I look forward to the events for what they are, the fun I would have and the people I meet and not fret on how good (or hideous) would I look. I don’t look at myself in the mirror and get an anxiety attack. Realized my fashion sense is way better than those few girls who gave me fashion advice. Realized at least half the guys that I wished looked at me weren’t worth it and I was better off not getting any attention from them. I am health-conscious but I don’t keep counting the calories in every morsel of my food or that number on the scale doesn’t freak me out. I speak my mind and do what I wish regardless of whether it looks cool and am happy about it. And this pic is what I am and feel like now.

It is easier to say these now that I am out of college and much more mature. I only wish there was some way I could have known better then.

This post is a part of Write Over the Weekend, an initiative for Indian Bloggers by BlogAdda

Methi Palak Paratha

Methi Palak Paratha

Methi Paratha and Palak Paratha are favorites at home. But I had not tried a combination before. I got this recipe for vinicooksveg and folks at home loved it. Only I did not add Fennel seeds and lemon juice and also decreased the quantity of coriander leaves. She has used yoghurt to knead the dough but I just added about 3 tbsp of yoghurt and used water to knead the dough. I don’t think she used hing, you can skip it too but at my place nothing can be prepared without hing.

Again this is tasty, healthy and easy to make and a great breakfast option.

Hail the greens!

Ingredients:

Methi/Fenugreek leaves(chopped) – 1 bunch medium
Palak/Spinach(chopped) – 1 bunch medium
Coriander leaves(chopped) – a few(you can increase the measure to 1 cup if you wish)
Whole wheat flour – 3 bowls
Chick pea flour/besan – 3 tbsp
Cumin seeds – 2 tsp
Asafoetida/ Hing – pinch
Ginger paste – 1 tsp (I used fresh ginger)
Garlic – 4 pods
Green chilli – 4 medium
Yoghurt – 3 tbsp
Coriander powder – 1 tsp
Garam Masala – 2 tsps
Water – to knead the dough
Salt – to taste
Oil – 2 tsp to knead the dough, 2 tsp for green leaves & the rest to fry the parathas.

Method:

• Grind the ginger, garlic and green chilli with salt to make a paste

Green Chilli, ginger & garlic paste with salt

• Heat oil in a pan and add the cumin seeds to it. As the seeds splutter, add hing and the green chilli paste and sauté for a minute.

Saute the paste and cumin seeds

• Now add the chopped greens.

Greens added

• Saute for a minute and add the coriander powder and garam masala powder. Saute for another two minutes. Remove from the heat and let it cool.
• Now to the wheat flour add the chick pea flour, salt, yoghurt and greens mix.

Flour to be mixed

• Knead the dough and let it rest for 20-25 mins.

Dough for Methi-Palak Paratha

• Take a ball sized dough and roll it out using a rolling-pin. You can use any of the folding methods to fold the paratha. I made a triangle and rolled them out.

Rolled out

• Put it on a hot tawa and fry the paratha from both sides.

On Tawa

• Once fried, serve it hot with any of the paratha accompaniments. We had it the North Karnataka style. Add ತುಪ್ಪ(ghee) and ಪುಟಾಣಿ ಹಿಂಡಿ/ಚಟ್ನೀ( chutney), roll the paratha and gobble it up.

Add ghee and chutney

Rolled Paratha

Happy Weekend! 🙂

Quote unquote

If you can’t run, walk – Billy, The Rhino

“Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I’m not sure about the universe.” – Sapna( that is me 😀 )

“Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted.” – My neighbour

“You do not really understand something unless you can explain it to your grandmother.” – My Pet Dog

What!! you don’t believe me!!? Sh&% I should have made a picture of them and shared them on Facebook then you would have liked them and shared them and increased my popularity quotient. Sigh! My bad.

Facebook is wonderful platform for everybody to express themselves. But we all don’t necessarily have anything to say on all topics. What do we do then is share something nice, witty, supremely interesting stuff by someone else. How often do we check if it is true?

“Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid”  is commonly attributed to Einstein. But there is no evidence he said that.

“I believe that every human has a finite amount of heartbeats. I don’t intend to waste any of mine running around doing exercises.” is attributed to Neil Armstrong but he denies having said this or if he may have said he may be quoting someone else or telling people it is wrong.

“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.” is attributed to Mahatma Gandhi. I doubt it was him who said that.

“If you’re not a liberal when you’re 25, you have no heart. If you’re not a conservative by the time you’re 35, you have no brain.” – Not Winston Churchill.

“Only the dead have seen the end of war” – Not Plato

“Everything that is done in the world is done by hope.” – Not Martin Luther King Jr but the Protestant leader Martin Luther.

The advent of social media and blogging has changed the information landscape. Passive consumers have become active participants in the process. Consumers have also become the producers of knowledge based on their understanding. But how do you separate the good content from the bad content. This is not a new problem. People have always known to speak without adequate knowledge. Isn’t that how rumours spread?

People not checking out isn’t the issue here but the problem here the ease and the reach of the message being spread. With social media the new can spread so fast, that leaves you dazzled at times. And mind you these are not illiterate people staying away from civilizations who are guilty but includes crème de la crème of our society.

I remember the Singapore lokpal bill story went viral online during the Anna Hazare anti-corruption Movement. It said things like in Singapore people don’t pay taxes and it spread like wild-fire. And mind you people in my friends list are mostly high-thinking individuals studying in the best of the Universities and have a high level of IQ.

My point is we need to take all this common wisdom with a grain of salt. Einstein, Gandhi, Voltaire, Plato, Benjamin Franklin, Armstrong were all great personalities, no doubt about it. But they may not have necessarily said all that is good and sane in the world that is attributed to them on Facebook or any other social media for that matter. Unless of course, it cites the right sources. Plus it is logical fallacy: Just because Einstein said it doesn’t make it true. So beware when using these quotes to support your arguments.

“Trust not everything that is said on Facebook” – Me (seriously, that is exactly why I am saying it here on my blog 😉 )

Once upon the tracks of Mumbai – Book Review

Once Upon the tracks of Mumbai

‘Once upon the tracks of Mumbai’ is the début work of Rishi Vohra. The author recently relocated to Mumbai after a Green MBA from the US before which he worked in the Indian Entertainment industry.

The review has been moved here.

Palak Paratha/ Spinach Paratha – recipe

Palak Lachcha Paratha

The first time I thought of this dish was on the Irish festival Saint Patrick’s day. To say that we don’t celebrate it here even would mean that people know of this. But my Facebook wall was flooded with green pictures from my friends staying in North-America. Rivers colored green, people wearing green and even rivers dyed green. I wanted something green too. I couldn’t dye a river nearby but surely I could cook something green. Who better than Sanjeev Kapoor for a recipe. His recipe calls for only salt and ajwain but I have added a few more ingredients of my own to get a different taste in paratha. Hope you like it.

Goes without saying, it is healthy, wholesome and green :P. I have paired it with green coconut chutney to suit the green theme. You can have it with pickles, sabzi, curds or just a thick layer of butter. Also, the method used here for folding the parathas makes it a lachcha paratha. You can use any style you prefer.

This requires you to make blanch the palak/spinach. Blanching enhances the color and the flavor of the spinach and also makes it soft. After blanching, grind and make a paste of the spinach.

Ingredients :

Spinach/Palak – 1 small bunch
Whole wheat flour – 2 cups
Cumin seeds – 2 tsp
Ajwain/carom seeds – 2 tsp
Red chilli powder – 1 tsp
Till/ White sesame seeds – 1 tsp(optional)
Garam masala powder – 1 tsp
Salt – to taste
Milk – to knead the dough

Method:

• Blanch and grind the Spinach to make a paste.
• Add all the dry ingredients with the dough and mix them well. Later add the Spinach paste to it and mix.

Ingredients for palak paratha

• Use milk to knead the dough. And let it settle for 20-25 mins.

Dough

• Pinch a ball-sized dough and flatten it and start rolling it out using a rolling-pin

Ready to be rolled out

Rolled out

• Once rolled out now sprinkle a bit of flour and oil on the paratha. And start to fold it in the Japanese fan style. Then fold it to make it round. Sorry I couldn’t describe it any better. Please see the pics to get an idea.

Folding the paratha

Japanese Fan

Fold it to make it round

Lachcha paratha – Ready to be rolled out

• Now roll it out again using a rolling-pin. I couldn’t get the round shape. Swalpa adjust maadi(Please adjust). Knowing I couldn’t get a circle even with a compass in hand, I keep my expectations low w.r.t the shape 😛

Rolled out

• Put the paratha on a hot tawa.

Paratha on tawa

• Fry the parathas with oil/ghee by flipping and frying on both sides. Once done, take it out and serve hot 🙂

Palak Lachcha Paratha

Avalakki/ Poha – recipe

Avalakki

ವಗ್ಗರಣೆ ಅವಲಕ್ಕಿ/Avalakki/Poha/beaten rice/flaked rice is a very popular breakfast in North-Karnataka and my all time favorite. I can eat poha all most everyday. It is light, healthy, quick and tasty.

Beaten rice is available in three types here. Thin,Medium and Thick. For this recipe, you will need the medium variety. In case you don’t find it then you can use the thick variety only you will have to wash the poha a little longer. This particular recipe is also called kanda poha(kanda=onions). You can also prepare it with potato which is called aloo poha. You can add fresh seasonal ingredients like green peas, fresh green chickpeas. You can also add tomatoes but we prefer it without them. What I have given is the way it is usually prepared at my home.

Ingredients:

Poha/ Beaten rice/ medium variety – 400 grams/ about 3 cups
Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
Asafoetida/hing – a pinch
Onions(chopped) – 2 small
Curry leaves – a few
Green chillies(chopped) – 2 medium
Peanuts(dry roasted) – 1 tbsp ( non roasted is ok too)
Turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp
Oil – 5 tbsp
Sugar – 1 tsp
Salt – to taste
Lime juice – 1 1/2 tsp
Fresh Coriander leaves/Cilantro – 2 tbsp

Chopped fresh ingredients

Method:

• Wash the poha in a colander. Make sure it is soft and not mushy. Which is why we don’t take the thin variety for this.

Washed Poha in colander

• To this add sugar, salt and lime juice and mix lightly.  Keep it aside.
• Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds.
• Once the mustard seeds splutter, add hing, curry leaves and sauté. If the peanuts are not roasted add them now.
• Add the onions and sauté for a minute.
• Now add green chillies and roasted peanuts, turmeric powder and sauté till the onions are done.

Poha vaggarane

• Add the poha that was kept aside and mix well. Garnish it with fresh coriander and serve it hot. You can also have it some sev or potato chips or South Indian style with some green coconut chutney.

Poha/ Avalakki

Happy Friday! 🙂