The heart is full of pain and eyes tearful. It's just not fair...
The 11 brothers & 11 sisters story has lost one dear sister.
May your soul rest in peace Sneh didi...
Thursday, October 17, 2013
Thursday, April 11, 2013
Raagi porridge
This post is specifically for a friend who requested this most common and predominant baby food prepared in the southern part of India.
The credit for the recipe goes to my maid who helped me six months ago when I was confused while starting solids for my baby. Though there are a lot of options in the market these days, I wanted something which is not milk based and of course which is homemade.
Traditionally raagi is used in south India and as north Indians, the benefits of raagi are lesser known to us primarily because raagi was unavailable up north earlier. But now things have changed and the benefits of raagi are out for all to experience.
Raagi is a very good source of calcium and your baby will need it in abundance once he/she starts to crawl and starts teething. Traditionally this porridge is made only with raagi but I have decided to include other grains and pulses like moong daal, wheat, barley etc.. These are optional and you need not add these if you don't like. So without much ado here goes the recipe:
Ingredients:
----------------
500gms Raagi millet
250gms wheat
250gms Green Gram (moong daal)
125gms barley
125gms brown rice
2 tbsp cumin seeds (jeera)
2tbsp carom seeds (ajwain)
Procedure
---------------
1. Wash all except jeera and ajwain. Raagi needs much more time while washing since it has a lot of impurities. You will need to keep washing it till raagi looks clear to you in water. This will take about 4-5 washes.
2. Soak the washed grains accordingly:
Raagi - 8hrs
Wheat - 8hrs
Moong daal - 8hrs
Barley and brown rice - 2hrs
3. Drain barley and the rice and let them dry completely.
4. Drain the rest of the grains and tie them up separately in a clean muslin cloth. You will need to keep this until they start to sprout.
5. Once they have sprouted untie them and spread it on a neat surface or on a plate and dry them completely. Ensure that there's no moisture left in them.
6. Dry roast each of the ingredients. I do this for at least 5min each or till you start getting a pleasant aroma from them. You also do this to the cumin and ajwain seeds.
7. Finally you collect them all and grind them into a fine powder. If you are doing this at home then care should be taken that the powder yielded should be really fine, you may also need to sieve it till you get the perfect consistency. I prefer to do this in a flour mill rather than at home as the former involves less sieving.
Store in a air-tight container.
OPTIONAL:- I also add around 50-60 roasted and powdered almonds into the mixture above. But you can exclude this if you are concerned about nut allergy.
Cooking before feeding:-
--------------------------------
I take about three spoonfuls of this, mix it in sufficient water, add a pinch of salt along with a few drops of ghee and finally cook this on a small flame. Keep stirring this till the paste thickens to about the consistency of a porridge.
The credit for the recipe goes to my maid who helped me six months ago when I was confused while starting solids for my baby. Though there are a lot of options in the market these days, I wanted something which is not milk based and of course which is homemade.
Traditionally raagi is used in south India and as north Indians, the benefits of raagi are lesser known to us primarily because raagi was unavailable up north earlier. But now things have changed and the benefits of raagi are out for all to experience.
Raagi is a very good source of calcium and your baby will need it in abundance once he/she starts to crawl and starts teething. Traditionally this porridge is made only with raagi but I have decided to include other grains and pulses like moong daal, wheat, barley etc.. These are optional and you need not add these if you don't like. So without much ado here goes the recipe:
Ingredients:
----------------
500gms Raagi millet
250gms wheat
250gms Green Gram (moong daal)
125gms barley
125gms brown rice
2 tbsp cumin seeds (jeera)
2tbsp carom seeds (ajwain)
Procedure
---------------
1. Wash all except jeera and ajwain. Raagi needs much more time while washing since it has a lot of impurities. You will need to keep washing it till raagi looks clear to you in water. This will take about 4-5 washes.
Raagi - 8hrs
Wheat - 8hrs
Moong daal - 8hrs
Barley and brown rice - 2hrs
3. Drain barley and the rice and let them dry completely.
4. Drain the rest of the grains and tie them up separately in a clean muslin cloth. You will need to keep this until they start to sprout.
Cooking before feeding:-
--------------------------------
I take about three spoonfuls of this, mix it in sufficient water, add a pinch of salt along with a few drops of ghee and finally cook this on a small flame. Keep stirring this till the paste thickens to about the consistency of a porridge.
You can feed this porridge more than once a day but I generally do this once in the afternoon. Since this porridge contains many ingredients its quite filling in nature and the baby is likely to sleep for over 2-3hrs after consuming the same.
Apart from this I also feed my son oats for breakfast, wheat in the evening and rice & daal at night apart from about 20oz of milk everyday.
Saturday, March 09, 2013
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Masala Dibba
I love, love, LOVE my new masala dibba... This is exactly what I wanted to have in the first place.
I have been chasing this design ever since I saw it on a blog featuring Dastakar in 2009. After 3 years of searching I finally found it on fabfurnish.com. A relief and finally... happiness!
The blog mentioned this site called Ethaan.org (NGO based out of Delhi), whom I tried reaching to them desperately. Unfortunately despite my innumerable calls, emails I was never able to get any answer and hence left very disappointed, only until now...
Sigh I can't take my eyes off this new entry in my kitchen... Bit cheesy it sounds I know! But I am a sucker for these things and keep a great eye for the unusual...
This is definitely a must have in an Indian kitchen. It replaces the boring steel spice box so beautifully...
Here you go, some pictures of my new Masala Dibba
I have been chasing this design ever since I saw it on a blog featuring Dastakar in 2009. After 3 years of searching I finally found it on fabfurnish.com. A relief and finally... happiness!
The blog mentioned this site called Ethaan.org (NGO based out of Delhi), whom I tried reaching to them desperately. Unfortunately despite my innumerable calls, emails I was never able to get any answer and hence left very disappointed, only until now...
Sigh I can't take my eyes off this new entry in my kitchen... Bit cheesy it sounds I know! But I am a sucker for these things and keep a great eye for the unusual...
This is definitely a must have in an Indian kitchen. It replaces the boring steel spice box so beautifully...
Here you go, some pictures of my new Masala Dibba
Quinoa Salad
What started as solid food for my baby turned out to be an action packed bollywoody food for the both of us. Bollywood I say, because there is so much masala and lots of things to make it zingy!
Quinoa (prononced kinwaa) needs no introduction. It's one of the healthiest grain in the entire world, an all-rounder in nutrition. It's a good source of calcium, iron, magnesium and more importantly, it's gluten free. In layman terms it's a yummy tummy treat.
I included this as a part of my son's diet mainly because it's gluten free and it's packed with all the necessary nutritional quotient that it instantly ticked all my check boxes!
The only drawback is that it's not readily available in your regular departmental store and hence you will need to source this from an upscale high end supermarket. However I found this online at "zansaar.com" which has thankfully eliminated my travel time by bringing this to me to my doorstep. I use Roland white quinoa and a packet (340 gms) is priced at Rs.430 (quite expensive I must say). But considering everything that I have written above I've decided to ignore the price.
There are a lot of recipes to try out but today I am sharing this very simple salad. It's so simple, yummy and at the same time very healthy. So I am not complaining.
Ingredients:
Cooking quinoa:
Quinoa - 1cup
Water - 2cups
Salt - 1/4tsp
Add salt to the two cups of water and put it on boil. Once it starts to boil, add 1 cup of quinoa and stir in. Cook it till the entire water is evaporated which takes about 15 - 18 mins. Once done, keep this aside. 1 cup of quinoa yields 2 - 3 cups when cooked.
For the salad:
3 cups quinoa (procedure above)
Olive oil - 2 tbsp
Peanuts - 1tbsp
Onion - 1 finely chopped
Tomato - 1 finely chopped
Parboil the below:
Carrot - 2 finely diced
Potato - 1 finely diced
Pumpkin - small piece finely diced
Celery - 1 finely chopped
Dill leaves - a bunch chopped finely
Coriander leaves - a bunch
Green chillies - 1tsp
Ginger - 1tsp
Chickpeas or any other legumes (rajma, moth-gram etc) - 1 cup cooked
Salt to taste
Turmeric - 1tsp
Red Chilli powder - 1tsp
Chat masala - 1tsp
Juice of one lemon
Procedure:
1. In a wok heat up olive oil, add in peanuts and ginger, sauté a bit and then add onions and celery. Sauté this till onions become translucent. Now add tomatoes and green chillies and sauté till it blends in.
2. Add in the parboiled vegetables, sauté for a minute and then add the legumes.
3. Now add in the quinoa and all the masalas and give it a fine stir. Finally add in the dill leaves and lemon juice and give it a quick mix.
4. Finally garnish with coriander and serve.
This will guarantee you a guilt-free and a yummy indulgence!
Quinoa (prononced kinwaa) needs no introduction. It's one of the healthiest grain in the entire world, an all-rounder in nutrition. It's a good source of calcium, iron, magnesium and more importantly, it's gluten free. In layman terms it's a yummy tummy treat.
I included this as a part of my son's diet mainly because it's gluten free and it's packed with all the necessary nutritional quotient that it instantly ticked all my check boxes!
The only drawback is that it's not readily available in your regular departmental store and hence you will need to source this from an upscale high end supermarket. However I found this online at "zansaar.com" which has thankfully eliminated my travel time by bringing this to me to my doorstep. I use Roland white quinoa and a packet (340 gms) is priced at Rs.430 (quite expensive I must say). But considering everything that I have written above I've decided to ignore the price.
There are a lot of recipes to try out but today I am sharing this very simple salad. It's so simple, yummy and at the same time very healthy. So I am not complaining.
Ingredients:
Cooking quinoa:
Quinoa - 1cup
Water - 2cups
Salt - 1/4tsp
Add salt to the two cups of water and put it on boil. Once it starts to boil, add 1 cup of quinoa and stir in. Cook it till the entire water is evaporated which takes about 15 - 18 mins. Once done, keep this aside. 1 cup of quinoa yields 2 - 3 cups when cooked.
For the salad:
3 cups quinoa (procedure above)
Olive oil - 2 tbsp
Peanuts - 1tbsp
Onion - 1 finely chopped
Tomato - 1 finely chopped
Parboil the below:
Carrot - 2 finely diced
Potato - 1 finely diced
Pumpkin - small piece finely diced
Celery - 1 finely chopped
Dill leaves - a bunch chopped finely
Coriander leaves - a bunch
Green chillies - 1tsp
Ginger - 1tsp
Chickpeas or any other legumes (rajma, moth-gram etc) - 1 cup cooked
Salt to taste
Turmeric - 1tsp
Red Chilli powder - 1tsp
Chat masala - 1tsp
Juice of one lemon
Procedure:
1. In a wok heat up olive oil, add in peanuts and ginger, sauté a bit and then add onions and celery. Sauté this till onions become translucent. Now add tomatoes and green chillies and sauté till it blends in.
2. Add in the parboiled vegetables, sauté for a minute and then add the legumes.
3. Now add in the quinoa and all the masalas and give it a fine stir. Finally add in the dill leaves and lemon juice and give it a quick mix.
4. Finally garnish with coriander and serve.
This will guarantee you a guilt-free and a yummy indulgence!
Friday, February 15, 2013
Online shopping!
If you still haven't tried online shopping yet, I suggest you must do so! It is definitely a boon... Well, at least to me. It helps me save time and trust me, with an infant around, time is something that is hard to come by these days!
Shopping as such has become more of an ordeal these days, our little man is definitely not a shopping person... He becomes awfully cranky every time we go out shopping though he loves being outdoors! He is surprisingly happy in an autorikshaw or when we are out on a drive but a few minutes in any shop turns the little fella red with fury!
Hence I have had to give in and order almost everything online. Though it is convenient, I must say I hate the bell ring almost everyday... Sometimes good things do come at a price :-(
I have listed down a few online stores, more specific to India though, which I frequent regularly.
Here goes the list (please add a ".com" to all these).
Baby needs (not surprising my first pick is a baby store! All moms out there will agree with me):
Babyoye
Firstcry
Hoopos
Shoppers-stop
Mothercare
Groceries
Towness
Big basket
Lifestyle products
Urbandazzle
Zansaar
Fabfurnish
Clothes & accessories
Myntra
Jabong
Medical requirement - Apollo pharmacy
Of course there are many others but the above ones are those which I frequent the most.
I do miss shopping the traditional way; the window-shopping and the coffees in between but I do ensure that I occasionally squeeze in those as well while the sweet husband babysits...
Disclaimer: The above is hazardous to the husband’s wallet :-)
Thursday, February 14, 2013
L.O.V.E
Just when I thought my life couldn't get better than it is at the moment, he goes and does this!
Muahhhh... I love you!
Happy Valentines day!
Muahhhh... I love you!
Happy Valentines day!
Tuesday, January 08, 2013
R.E.S.P.E.C.T
This post is dedicated to the Daughter of India, Jyoti Singh Pandey (I hate it when people refer her to the Delhi rape victim, it makes me think that's become her identity now and I am sure where ever she is she wouldn't like to be known as that!) and to those numerous others who have become victims to such horrendous crime.
I don't want to dwell too much because it just pains me, so i dunno what punishment has to be given to those culprits... I hear words like chemical castration, death by hanging, shoving an iron rod just like what they did to her, I don't know! what I know is that girl is no more and that this was not the way she would have wanted to die. Nobody not even the worst enemy deserves it.
Its time we do something, take things in our own hands... pepper spray, Stun gun, etc.. are the options available to us and lets use them. I read somewhere that in every 16 hours there is a child/girl/woman being raped in this whole wide world... that is so disturbing and depressing... I just hope and pray these things stop and stop for good.
Someone sent me this video and I found it so heartbreaking and so thoughtful that I had to share it here... I hope you like it too.
I don't want to dwell too much because it just pains me, so i dunno what punishment has to be given to those culprits... I hear words like chemical castration, death by hanging, shoving an iron rod just like what they did to her, I don't know! what I know is that girl is no more and that this was not the way she would have wanted to die. Nobody not even the worst enemy deserves it.
Its time we do something, take things in our own hands... pepper spray, Stun gun, etc.. are the options available to us and lets use them. I read somewhere that in every 16 hours there is a child/girl/woman being raped in this whole wide world... that is so disturbing and depressing... I just hope and pray these things stop and stop for good.
Someone sent me this video and I found it so heartbreaking and so thoughtful that I had to share it here... I hope you like it too.
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