Potato and Mushroom soup

Have it for lunch, snack or dinner. This one is filling, creamy and delicious!

You need... (serves 4)

2 large potatoes grated

1 cup minced onion

1 cup of sliced mushrooms

1 tablespoon butter

2 teaspoons pepper powder

Celery chopped ¼ cup

1 cup milk

3 cups of stock (chicken or vegetable) I used a cube of Maggi super seasoning.

Salt

Action time...

In a cooking pot put the butter and saute the onions till soft. Add 3 cups of stock and the grated potato. Keep the heat to medium so that the potato cooks well. When it is nearing boiling point add the mushrooms and celery. Turn down the heat to low. By this time you will start getting the aroma of all the ingredients. Now add the pepper, salt and milk and mix well. If you find the soup too think for your liking add water/stock. But don't make it too watery. This soup is best enjoyed creamy!

Go get your bowl...

"Flowering" ideas - Part 1

While the first handmade bouquet was gifted to friends for their anniversary, the second stream of crepe paper flowers was simply to give our wedding picture frame a fresh look. Will put up a tutorial soon..

When cravings call....

A true Mumbaichi mulgi always misses Pani Puri where ever she goes! I thought I would have to wait to get to India before I glumped down the next Pani Puri.... But it's amazing what a food craving can make me do... Youtubed "Pani puri poori's" and there one of my favourite chef's Sanjay Thumma was tempting me to give it a shot! And so I did!! Very proud of the result... practice should definitely make me perfect :))))

Potato – Enjoy it with hot roti's or filling in a sandwich..

Here's what you need for 4 sandwiches..

Oil – 1 tablespoon

Potatoes grated – 2 large ones

Onions finely chopped – 2 medium size

Ginger garlic paste – 2 teaspoons

Pepper corns lightly crushed – about 10

Half tomato chopped

Jeera powder – 1 teaspoon

Chaat masala – 1 teaspoon

Red chilly powder – 1 teaspoon

Salt

Water 3 cups

Fresh cream – 2 teaspoons

Lime juice – 1 teaspoon

Grated cheeze

Get started..

Heat oil in a pan, add onions and saute till soft. Add ginger garlic paste, pepper corns, tomatoes and saute well. Now add the potatoes. It might be a little difficult to mix the onion masala into the potatoes. Gently separate the potato strands with a wooden spoon and mix. In a cup of water add jeera powder, chilly powder and add to the potatoes. Now let it cook covered. Since the potatoes suck water you may need to add a cup or two of water with some salt. Cook till the point the potatoes are soft and semi dry. Now pour the cream and lime juice.

The potatoes are ready to eat with hot roti's.

If making a sandwich, scoop some potato mixture on a sandwich bread. Sprinkle some grated cheeze. Cover with another slice of bread and place in a sandwich toaster. Serve hot with ketchup.

Volcano of Talent

Every time I looked at a canvas painting at an exhibition or adorning people's homes, a tiny voice in my head said “Go on pick up your brush and give it a shot.” Kabhie kabhie the pretext of not having time or not having the right tools I pushed the thought away... In the last few months the excuse of time has been unreal and I have had more than enough time to make sure I have all the tools. So I said why not!!

It's amazing what a few paints and a willing surface can make you do!! I started off with expressing on drawing paper. Gradually graduated to painting sections of our living room (I love you Flav for always letting me experiment in our home).. loved the result! And now canvas.. I finally did it! To me its a master piece! A master piece 'coz it expresses my mind, my heart, my emotions, my dreams... A “Volcano of Talent”.. We all have one in us... often lying dormant.. often waiting for us to give it a chance to glow and attract our attention. And like a volcano it destroys our silly misconceptions of “I cannot! Its just not possible! I am not creative or artistic.” Before leaving for Germany many well-wishers said I was taking a big risk and putting a big break to my career... I didn't think so then and I definitely don't now. There's so much more to life than the mundane, the get into the rat race things... and I am so blessed to be gifted this special time and space to activate the volcano! 

Tomato Mushroom Pulao

I haven't been a big fan of rice. Chapati's and bread tempt me more. So I took up the task of spicing up my rice dishes and I must say am well pleased with this result. The steps are simple and so are the ingredients... This one is specially for my vegetarian friends! Beware... don't blame me if your neighbours show up 'coz the aroma is just irresistible!! ;)

You will need...

3 cups of Basmati rice (soak it for at least half an hour for best results)

1 tablespoon olive oil

Cardamom, cinnamon and cloves – 5 each (whole garam masala)

1 tablespoon ginger garlic paste

2 medium size onions – chopped

1 cup tomato purée

200 grams of sliced mushrooms

1 teaspoon jeera powder

2 tablespoons of coconut powder or 2 cups of coconut milk

2 teaspoons of lime juice

Salt to taste

Chopped coriander for garnish

Getting into action...

Soak the rice and keep it aside.

Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a pan. Saute the whole garam masala. Add the onions and ginger garlic paste, a little salt and saute till soft. A wonderful tip I learnt from Chef Thumma of the “Vah re Vah” fame is adding a little salt to onions helps them cook well as salt helps water to ooze from the onions.

Now add tomato puree and mushrooms and mix well till oil oozes out from the sides. To this add the jeera powder and the coconut powder/milk and cook for a minute. Finally add salt to taste and lime. Make sure to add enough salt as this masala will be added to the rice.

The final task is to wash and drain the rice. Put it into the rice cooker, add the prepared masala and water as required. Normally we use the ratio 1 cup rice is to 2 cups of water/gravy masala. But it depends on the type of rice you are using. The ratio is important to make sure your rice turns into pulao and not khichdee.

Once done sprinkle chopped coriander and serve. Trust me this rice doesn't need an accompaniment. It tastes great by itself!

Bow Woww!

Who wouldn't like an extra pair of hands? Well I guess we all wake up every morning hoping that the God up above has answered that prayer! Tishhhooo!!! Damm its always only a dream.

So the other day I bought myself a new pair of hands! Am sure your wondering “Where the hell did she find hands on sale? :O” hehhehe... Am talking of mittens here. They were too plain so I turned them to puppet-like to keep me company. If you a parent or professional working with kids, adolescents or even adults you might want to use this as an activity just for fun or even use it for role playing etc.

Here's what you will need...

A pair of mittens

Fabric paints

Brush

Pattern

Pencil

How to go about...

Firstly decide the pattern you want to work on. I used a dog and fish. I recommend that you draw your pattern on paper so you can visualise what it could look like. Once satisfied draw the pattern on the mitten using a pencil.

Now its time to pick the paints and get dogqie ready. Colour the eyes, nose, eyebrows, whiskers and ears as shown in the pictures below. Leave it aside to dry.

Now follow the same for the fish or any other animal you like. 

Prawn N Corn

Food to me is not just the food in itself but also the smells, the colours, the texture and the emotions! During our trip to Goa earlier this year my brother introduced us to fish cooked in Goan Rechado masala. Spicy, tangy, gorgeous red masala.. I fell in love with it instantly. And bought a packet so I can try some tricks with it here...

So here's what turned out.... I call it Prawn N Corn dedicated to the "Sushegaat" time we spent on the Goa beaches! Make sure you have some chilled beer or wine ready by the time you finish this yum yum!

You need....

Prawns – 250 grms

Babycorn – 250 grms

Bell peppers – half (cut in juliennes, pick peppers of the colours of your choice)

Rechad Masala – 1 or 2 table spoons (depending on your thresh hold for spices; I used 1) http://www.thespiceguys.net/CD_Spice_Book/Indian%20%28Goan%29%20Rechad%20Masala%20%28Spice%20Paste%29.htm

Onion – 1 medium size cut into 4 pieces

Parsley – 2 teaspoons

… and this to bathe (read marinade) the prawn n corn...

Maida - 1 cup

Cornflour - 1 table spoon

Kasuri methi – 2 tsps

Salt

Chilly powder – 1 tsp

Pepper – 1 tsp

Egg – 1

Oil for frying

Here's how you make magic your tummy will love...

First mix all ingredients for marinade (except oil) in a bowl. Dip the babycorn in the batter and deep fry in oil. Repeat the same with the prawns. Make sure to not overcook them as they have to be cooked some more later with masala. Set these aside in a plate, use paper towels to drain excess oil.

In another pan heat a tablespoon of oil. Gently saute the onions followed by the bell peppers for 2 minutes each. Now add a tablespoon of Rechad masala and mix. Cook for another 3 mins. This is a good time to add the fried corn n prawn. Mix it well with the masala and cook covered. Add some more Rechad if you think you need more spice and little salt. Sprinkle some parsley and turn off heat.

If you are vegetarian you could use paneer/cottage cheeze or potatoes instead of prawn.

The make over in action!

What you need...
Empty chocolate box or any cardboard box
Coloured paper (Blue, green)
Slice of bread
Fevicol/ white glue
Mixing bowl
Spoon/knife
Acrylic colours
Paint brush
Plastic wrap

What to do...

Task 1: Wrap the outer side of the chocolate box with a sheet of blue paper, sticking the edges with glue. Let it dry.

 

  
Task 2: In a mixing bowl (any old plastic container) break a slice of white bread into small pieces minus the crust and add a tablespoon of Fevicol. Mix it with a plastic spoon for a few minutes till it forms a dough like consistency. Make small portions of it, one golf ball size portion for the snake, 7 to 8 pea sized balls for the lily and divide the remaining dough into 3 uneven portions for the leaves. Keep all these pieces in a plastic wrap to prevent them from drying up.

Task 3: Take the golf ball portion and placing it on a flat surface roll it out to form the shape of a snake.

 

For the petals of the lily flatten each pea between your thumb and index finger till it is as thick as a cardboard sheet. Now using a butter knife cut a petal shape. Pinch one tapering end of the petal to form a part of the stalk. Continue the same for the other petals which will be joined together at the stalk.

 

For the leaves flatten the dough like we did for the petals but this time shape them round. Using the thumb and index finger bend the edge of the leave upwards to resemble the leaves of a lily flower. From the centre of the leaf make a cut such that the leaf opens up. Use the back of a spoon or a toothpick to mark the veins.

Task 4: Now its time to paint the characters of our story one at a time. Pick shades that appeal to you.
Cut 2 inch strips of green paper and surround your pond with green grass and shrubs.
Once the paint has dried glue the bottom side of the snake, leaves and stalk on the box.

Here's a fresh water pond housing a beautiful, radiant lily... an attractive snake from a nearby forest attracted by the sweet smell and bright colours of the lily pays a visit.

What's your story going to be?

Chocolate box makeover

It had been a while since this chocolate box minus its contents had been sitting on my art and craft shelf. It finally got a makeover! Some coloured paper and bread craft did the trick. Now I have room for my bangles and a story to tell. "It doesn't look too much like a jewelry box" you might say. aHa! Thats the H(aze)-factor about sense-aHa-bility... Not so conventional, simple, exciting and fun to do! If you think you could make one your own style, don't waste no time... Go treat your senses! Wait for my next post for the makeover in action!