Cooking over the weekend...!!

Clockwise from top left - Vegetable Pulao, Spinach Surprise, Chocolate Cake, Masala Chicken

Quick Midnight 3-min snack :)

So it is Saturday night and i like staying at home rather than partying out...yes that's kind of being a typical cancerian. My iPad, my kitchen and my blog, kind of sums up a great Saturday evening for me.! But yes...my enemy....HUNGER PANGS...attack! and my nightmare comes true - i open the fridge and realize all the food is over! (damn i should have had proper dinner...someone KILL me now please!)
But nonetheless....experiment time <3 :)

So....scanning the fridge...EUREKA!!!!
Spinach (i wish there were some sweet corns left too...damn i love spinach corn sandwich :(
Cheese (Yayyy...something to look forward to :)
Ginger and Garlic (yes, life would have been incomplete without them, and i MEAN it)
Lemon
and a little dough ball of gram flour

So...think...think...THINK!!!! Hunger-syndrome makes brain work faster...well..kind of..ahem! So i come up with something i call -the 'Spinach wonder'!!!

The Ingredients available

Here is how you can go about cooking it...and believe you me....i loved it more than the spinach corn sandwich :)

1. Take the dough make it a chapatti out of it and put it on a non-stick tawa and roast it (no usage of oil please)
2. Heat some olive oil in a separate pan
3. Add ginger to it, followed by chopped spinach, then garlic and cheese on top (following the order is essential to bring out the perfect taste of each ingredient)
4. Turn off the gas and cover the pan with a lid
5. Once the chapatti is done, brush it with a little olive oil (littleeee is what i mean)
6. After 2 mins, the topping is done (the one being cooked in the pan)
7. Take the chapatti, apply the spinach topping on top of it (use tongs to take the topping out of the pan)
8. Garnish it with kesar and chilly flakes (the red creates a brilliant contrast against the green spinach...food is consumed 60% through eyes, so yeah ;)
9.Add a few drops of lemon on it

And tada!!! ready to eat!!!

Sorry for the 'not-so-round' chapatti..i was sleepy :(

Enjoy this healthy mid-night snack!! Don't worry about the cheese...occasional indulgence is indispensable ;)

Hyderabadi Biryani

Lovely weekend...nice weather...craving for something amazing to eat! It all lead me to recall one of the biryani recipes i saw on Fox Traveller sometime back...and here it is...for all of you to try this delicious creation atleast once :)

This is one of the simplest ways to make Biryani which makes it a must try!

Ingredients :

Olive Oil, as per requirement

Jeera - one teaspoon

Roasted jeera (cumin powder) - one teaspoon

Coriander powder - one teaspoon

Bay Leaves (Tez Patta) 3-4

Green elaichi (cardomom) - 2

Moti elaichi - half

Cloves - 7-8

Black pepper - 10-12

White pepper - 1/4 teaspoon

Cinnamon - 3-4 small pieces

Sliced Onions - 1 cup

Tomato Paste - 1 1/2 cup

Ginger garlic paste - 3 spoons

Yellow butter - 1/2 cup

Chicken pieces - 5-6

Rice (pre cooked, preferably boiled)

Mint leaves

Food colour

Turmeric powder

Red chilly powder

Table Salt

Start by heating some Olive oil in a pan. Add cumin, bay leaves, cardomom, cloves, cinnamon and black pepper to it.

After 10-12 seconds (spices should not become black-red) add sliced onions to it. The onions would provide moisture and help the spices retain the flavour.

Caramalize the onions (reddish brown in colour) on low flame. Keep turning its sides, to avoid burning the onions.

After that add chicken pieces to it. You can also use lamb instead. After 30 seconds Add ginger garlicpaste to it (paste should be made with equal quantity of ginger and garlic)

Add the spices - turmeric powder, red chilly flakes, cumin powder and coriander powder. Wait for 10-15 seconds and add the tomato paste.

Add 1 1/2 cup of warm water. Put the lid and let it cook on low flame for 35-40 minutes (time shall vary if you are using lamb instead of chicken).

Once the chicken cooks, separate the pieces from the gravy and keep aside. In another vessel take yellow butter and add the pre cooked and coloured rice to it. (boil a glass of rice in water. Drain out excess water once the rice is semi cooked and then add food colour mixed in water to it)

Add gravy of the chicken to the rice. And mix well on high flame. Don't do this rigorously to avoid breaking the rice.

Add finely chopped mint and coriander leaves to it with a dash of lemon. Add half teaspoon of garam masala to it, turn of the gas and close the lid. Let it rest for 5-7 minutes. 

Serve it hot with a drink of your choice.

Suggestions : you can use raita instead of the drink (add water to pre hung curd. Mix well and add garlic to it. Garnish with fresh coriander and mint leaves.

Hope every one loves the Birayani you make :)

The Simplest Cake!!

So now that I have started blogging...I intend to give it a direction.

The most obvious amongst all options was making it a food centric blog...and as I have always maintained cooking is the biggest stress buster for me !!!While wondering which dish to post about...I have finally decided to go ahead with the most basic form of a cake..

(want to start it at a sweet note ;) )

And by mentioning that it is the most basic form of a cake...I mean even its cooking is in the basic form....hence a COOKER CAKE :)

It is a cooker chocolate cake

Ingredients : (I have decided to use the generally used names and not some deadly-sounding English translation of it)

Maida - 1 cup

Milkmaid - 1/2 cup

Sugar -1/4 cup

raisins and cashews as per choice ( I used a cup of them)

Baking soda -1/4 teaspoon 

Baking powder - 1/2 teaspoon

Melted butter - 1/4 cup

Milk - 1/2 cup

So now baking it is the simplest thing one can do...but for the ones who have just begun....you would LOVE it for its simplicity

Start by mixing Maida, baking soda, and baking powder in a bowl and then pass it through a sieve (this is done to bring in air and layers to the mixture...so that the cake turns fluffy)

Mix in a separate bowl - sugar, milkmaid, butter and half the quantity of milk. Make a fine paste of it.

Mix the ingredients of both bowls and make a smooth batter while adding rest of the milk.

Take approximately 1 1/2 cup of salt and put it in the pressure cooker and spread it evenly. Remove the whistle and put it on the gas at low flame. Heat it for 2-3 minutes

Take a bowl (preferably aluminium) grease it with oil and sprinkle some flour on it. Pour the batter into this bowl and put it in the cooker (when the salt is warm post 2-3 minutes)

Close the lid (make sure you have removed the whistle) and now chill for 45 minutes before you look at the brilliant achievement!!!!!!!!

Once out of the cooker let it cool for 5 minutes and go pour all your creativity on to it...layer it with liquid chocolate..nuts...gems or whatever you like!!!

Taste it and say YUMMMMM ;)

Was quite simple...I'm sure you would agree....next ill come up with something which needs at least some technique :P

Till then...happy eating :)

Being Sensitive.... #indispensable!

There are a lot of things happening around us. Some affects us, some don't. in either of the cases being aware that there is something happening and being considerate towards the ones affected is essential.
Why kill the human inside you. In today's scenario there are a lot of people who would ignore a situation saying 'it is not my business', good, good that it is not your business and brilliant that you are not the one affected. But, Pause, pause and think, what if you were. What if you were the one affected and someone else said, ' Dude, why the hell should i care? It isn't my business'.

Get over it. get over the fact, rather an illusion that nothing is ever going to affect you, Being optimistic is good, but being over confident is not. You never know what, when, where might go wrong. I am not saying and you shouldn't expect that if you were sensitive towards A's problem , even A should be sensitive towards you, he is not bound to. But, the point here is if each one thinks that way, it makes the situation worse. Do your bit, and forget about it. We are not judges, neither do we have time for analysis, but we do have an inner self. We are answerable, not to the world, but to our own self. When at night you go and sleep, it shouldn't bother you that you were insensitive. If it is in your ability and capacity why not help someone in need, or rather just be sensitive towards him.

A small example from my own life: one day i took a rickshaw to go across the street, to a mall, hardly a kilometer (may be less than that, i am bad at measuring distances), it was extremely hot, and when i say extremely, i mean somewhere around 45-47 degrees, I had it in my heart that whatever amount the person says, i would pay (if i could go to that mall and shop for thousands, why can't i give this poor man 20-30 bucks extra?) the rickshaw guy was genuine, he asked only for what was the usual amount. I  was accompanied by someone, and suddenly i insisted that i pay 20 bucks over and above the amount he asked for, because it was too hot to pull the rickshaw.The person who accompanied me was against the thought that we should pay extra, because this is something he does daily and for 10 hours a day, and me paying him 20 rupees extra won't help. I was shaken, shaken for the fact that actually the extra money would not have helped him as much as the bottle of chilled water i could buy from that money would. I bought water and gave it to him , and the rickshaw guy stared a me for 2 minutes and just din't know what to say. He gulped down the ice cold water and kept the bottle safely in his rickshaw, thanked me and went away.

The point here is not to highlight what i did, but to think why can't we do this as many times as possible during the day. I am sure if we have the resources which enable us to use technology and read this blog right now, we definitely have to capability and ability to go out and help some one. Not only by money, Just be sensitive, sensitive towards the environment, people, family and your inner self.

And trust me, when you go to sleep each day, you would have that satisfaction, that atleast you are doing you bit.

Music!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As cliche as it may sound but it still remains true n strong "Music makes you who you are"..i mean not literally but yes to a greattt extent.

As in , i am sure each one of us has tried listening to music when we are happy/sad/depressed (Songs cater to this segment as well ! beat that :/ ) . Personally songs are for me strictly when i am "HAPPY". Yes!!!!!!! i cant listen to the  saddest songs in the world. I just can't connect with them . If you are sad , and you listen to slow/dead songs you end up crying...then why on the first place you started listening to songs...you were depressed and could have ended up crying any which ways!

Nevertheless lot of people swear by the "Healing Power" of music to which i totally abide by! I am not hesitant to accept thta Honey Singh heals me faster than Sonu Nigam!! I don't know why but i am a sucker for loud music!!! Happiness is what i get out of it and happiness is something i live for.
I may crib the whole day...but that's not me...that's what the place is making me give back to them **can't help much** but when i am back...back in mood...it's me and Honey Singhhhh (Yes , probably i mentioned him so many times , because i just listened to three of his songs thirty times) and the name would change sooner or later). But it doesn't matter...i am no sucker for "art". Sorry ! but that's how it is.rude may be, but is a fact.

Honey Singh may not sing the most sensible songs but surely know how to make his listeners happy and he is damn good at making that segment contended. Art/ Culture/tradition/sur/taal/soul of music are heavy words....i can't connect with them! i connect with "mass music" which simply clicks and yes you don't need brains for it. After a whole day's brain storming at work who wants to apply brains even in the kind of music you hear!!!!! Give me a  break!

Songs....i love you!!! as long as i can connect with you and yessss i connect with the loudest/weirdest and at times the most funny songs ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i find soul in them...a soul because it makes me happy! Makes me smile and gives me some moments of pure bliss!

Unveiling The Workaholic me!

The work...the exhaustion...the stress!!! might be normal for some..but for a person like me it take hell lot of patience and time to adapt to it! Yes i CAN work till late , i CAN work in stress but i need TIME. Time to adjust, time to get comfortable and time to get into the flow and once i start flowing there is no looking back ;)

My personal view is that working to the core is the best way to do justice to  your conscience. I love what i do so i have no qualms about it. Yes i crib..i crib a lot(one of the biggest cribbers u'll ever find ;) but that is what makes it all worthwhile...if you know you HAVE to do it , you actually DO. Some positive energy guides you through and you get the feel yes , it can be done...if not easily , atleast successfully! and that's all what matters at the end.

It has its own highs and lows...if ego boost is one of the highs...lack of time with family , friends is one of the lows :( but with one hell of a supporting family and friends it all becomes a lot easier!!! Ofcourse being over protected and over spoil kid works against handling it all at one go...but then you get used to it...you know that's the way of life. Not everywhere you will find a hand which holds. But that doesn't mean you have to walk 'alone' it just means walk with everyone but 'independently' no crutches!!! and rightly so....just a couple of positive lines are enough...are enough to keep the focus.....to feel happy and .to make it happen!!!