Comfort Food

The word Comfort makes us visualize a million ways to be comfortable. We probably get tele-ported to the comfort of our homes lounging in pyjamas with socks on and in front of TV browsing channels. And now with winters in most parts of the country we find ourselves doing more often than not, Isn't it?

I generally get that peaceful time out when I am left unwell at home alone, with neither my Baby nor my husband is around

On such days, I reinvent food or try some quick comfort food, which is wholesome filling and definitely a quick recipe (read-which would not involve me to get out of my bean bag much). One such dish is what I am putting across here.

Shrimp (can be replaced with Mushroom or Cottage Cheese ) Fried Rice:

Shrimps 100 gms Frozen

Onion 1 small or Shallot – 1 green

Chilli Garlic Sauce / spread - Available off the shelf from Fun Foods

Chings  All in One Stir Fry Sauce – 1 tbsp

Salt to taste

Bowl of leftover Rice

Maggi Vegetable Masala cube – Available off the Shelf- 1 cube

Method:

1.       Stir Fry Onion till golden

2.       Add Shrimps, cover and cook until done ( Orange colored, no water left behind). You can replace shrimps with Mushroom or Cottage Cheese as you wish.

3.       Add the sauces

4.       Mix in Rice

5.       Sprinkle Maggi  Vegetable Masala cube

6.       Check for Salt

7.       Take it in a bowl.

8.       Go back to Lounge. 

For Bitter or Better?

I think a Lot and when I am alone I think way too much. People who love me tell me –“tum bahut sochti ho, jyada sochogi to Pimple ho jayega!!”. I think hard about Life, Relationships and My family, Friends, Dear ones & not so dear ones.

Bitter or Better all relationships you have in your life give you a taste of both. The Mix taste that the relationships in life has to offer is what forms the relationship good or bad , sweet or bitter.

After years of mixed bag of feelings, the one thing that I am sure of is Relationships give you what you choose them to. If you choose to be happy its happiness, if you choose to love you get loved. If you choose not to connect they are at safe distance and if you choose to give the keys of your heart away, there they go playing with your heart like a football. Some just want you as long as they wanted you to be around. The day they think they can’t handle you they just say Not Again…About Time etc. etc. ….

One should know that the bitter is not always bad and the sweet is not always good. Some are so sweet in the beginning whereas they just get to the worst side sooner than you thought; eventually teaching you lessons of life. Whilst some are bitter in the beginning and then you get to see their good sides and thus they take a place inside your heart forever.

I choose to be with the Not So Sweet....that is also evident from my love for Dark Chocolates, bitter yet extremely good for health and mood up-lifter too. Not always sweet but they do turn around to be the best.
Somewhere I Feel the Bitter Sweet Relationships are like Caramel Pudding-The recipe in this blog…Bitter yet sweet, sweet yet Bitter !!

Caramel Pudding:

Ingredients:

Milk – ½ Litre

Sugar – 9 teaspoons for mixing

Sugar   - 2 teaspoons for Caramelising

Vanilla Essence/ Nutmeg – 1 teaspoon / grated few strands

Eggs - 2

Cashew Nuts   – 8-19 nos.

Source: Pashionnate's Kitchen

How To:

1.       Boil the half a litre of milk and boil it a little longer and keep it aside.

2.       Start with taking 2 teaspoon of sugar in a mould; prefer aluminium cake tins or any other which can be put on flame. Sprinkle few drops of water in it.

3.       Put this over direct gas flame. Once the sugar starts to melt with bubbling, start moving the mould round to let the sugar coat the insides of the tin. Keep it over the flame and moving until you get this perfect Golden Caramel Brown. Be careful, the cake tin moulds are easy to heat and sugar retains the high temperature until a little longer so high chances of burning it.

4.       Keep the Tin mould aside for cooling.

5.       Whip eggs till slightly frothy, mix in Sugar prefer to powder the (9-10 teaspoons). Beat them together until mixed well.

6.       Add Vanilla essence or grated Nutmeg as per the flavour you would prefer to give it. Blend again.

7.       Add the kept aside milk to this mixture. Mix well gain.

8.       Pour this mixture in the mould which you kept aside.

9.       To bake this or to steam this is what I leave to you.

10.   To Bake: Pre-heat oven at about 200-220 Degree Centigrade. Put this Cake tin inside a Oven Proof Tray filled with water enough to generate steam in the oven for say about 25-30 minutes. Refer picture below , a baked one after taking out from Oven looks like this.

  

11.   To Steam: Take a pressure cooker with about 100-150 ml of water. Place a stand inside it. Make sure that the stand is high enough to keep water away from the tin mould. Cover the mould with a lid to keep the water away.

12.   Now close the cooker and let this steam on medium flame for 25 minutes ( without whistle)

13.   Once done it looks stiff and you may insert a knife in the center to check that nothing sticks to it. This shows that the Pudding is done.

14.   Let this cool for an hour and place it in the Fridge for serving it chilled. Do not freeze the caramel pudding.

15.   Once ready to serve, turn the pudding upside down for that perfect Caramel colour.

16.   Share the Bitter Sweetness with all your Loved Ones!!

Road Trips:P

I live in Mumbai …..Oops Navi Mumbai (all Mumbaikar’s would be annoyed if I call it Mumbai). There’s always this; Navi Mumbaikar's are treated deferentially. As I hear , we are the "Outsiders"- people who are new to Mumbai settle for Navi Mumbai; the under privileged child of Mumbai.

But Mumbai vs. Navi Mumbai is not the topic of my blog today. I was actually looking at the clouds today while I took a walk around my beautiful office campus and I watched these Spongy Cottony clouds (Cumulus Humilis) which formed various shapes and sizes. Lovely breeze enveloped me along with sun shining and the shadow of clouds falling on the lake . All this reminded me of my Road trips with my parents in Orissa.

My Papa loved driving and he was man enough to take the three ladies in his life, to long beautiful road trips!! One of such trips was to this amazing place Chattarpur in Orissa but more than the visit to the place it was This Journey which always was the high point of the trip.

I vividly remember the road and offcourse the natural beauty of the surroundings which added to the picturesque scenery. It used to be the clear days of October with white clouds patching the pristine blue sky and the road was clear clean grey  just like the good old slate black board days with markings in the center, with Eucalyptus trees lining the road. Amidst one of those was this little Dhaba which was like an Oasis in the middle of nowhere. We stopped there each time we went to this place. The beauty of the place and food that they served was in the freshness of vegetables and fish that they picked up from the farm right behind the Dhaba and the tiny river which ran right between the farms and the Dhaba. It was more of a clear water spring than a river. The best memory of the trip apart from what is described here was this “Chilly Prawns” as they called. I have picked up the recipe just by observing the Ingredient while I enjoyed it with lovely Triangle Parathas. I leave you here the recipe of this mouth watering lingering delicacy.

Ingredients:

1.       Prawns                 10-12   Medium Sized shelled & de-veined.

2.       Onions                 3-4    Medium Sized cut in to thin long slices

3.       Green Shallots                  Chopped leaves of 2-3 green ( optional)

4.       Green Chillies    2-3 as per taste

5.       Red Chilly powder  ½ - 1 tsp as per taste

6.       Coriander Powder  1-2 tsp

7.       Turmeric powder  ½ tsp

8.       Oil as required

Source: Self

   Method       :

1.       Heat oil in a shallow pan.

2.       Add thinly sliced onions, let the onions fry until golden brown in colour. Once done add the slit green chillies.

3.       Sauté a little over a minute to infuse the flavors of the Green Chillies.

4.       Add Red Chilly powder , turmeric and coriander powder. Stir them together.

5.       Add the shelled prawns, cover them for a while say about 7-10 minutes.

6.       Uncover the pan, stir them for a few more minutes about 4-5 minutes. And the prawns are ready to be served with Triangular Parathas.

8 Ways In Which You Can Save Your Planet.

WED (World Environment Day) is not just an initiative. It’s a habit. Why? We can pass this not just as a day to our future generations but imbibe good habits which bring in little changes , which will make the world a better place to live!!

Little do we realize that our small efforts each day can make this global effort possible.

As individuals today, we are busier in our personal lives, work, family, children and the rat race goes on. We do not contribute everyday to our society like social workers. But the way I think we can contribute to the society is by imbibing the following in our daily lives:

1. Return unused polythene packets back to shopkeepers & retail stores. If you can manage in one why take two? We don’t buy them today because we are being charged for them. But isn't it rightfully our duty to try save?
2. Returning unused ketchup sachets to KFC/ McDonald’s saves plastic getting in to the environment and eventually saves lot of resources including electricity, water etc. gone in to the making of those sachets. So always return unused; do not throw them away.
3. Save plastic spoons and forks given by take away self service food joints. Do not take them in you tray since they were given to you and then carelessly dump them in the trash.
4. Save paper bags. Reuse them in every way possible. The java green paper bags in our office can be used to save lunch boxes and other nick-knacks in your drawer.
5. Return sugar sachets received from coffee outlets. We end up using only one being health conscious but throw away the rest not considering the effects on the environment & resources gone in to making each sachet.
6. Bring in your coffee mug to office; we have so many spare at home. If we use our own coffee mugs we will save the environment from hundreds of plastic coffee mugs. A ceramic coffee mug will serve the purpose and the good part it’s personal to you.
7. Do not litter on streets like we do not inside our homes. Teach children that we cannot litter on streets like we do not inside our homes.
8. Just take the amount that you can eat, whether from a fixed Fried Rice plate in an a la carte menu or from buffet; I know of people who hoard their plates with food since they think they have paid for buffet.

Shouldn't you think about the number of people who sleep hungry everyday? Imagine the quantum of food that we throw in the bins and the many people who go hungry. This wasted food could possibly let them sleep peacefully.

Next time think when you eat out or at home, order a coffee or a pizza or a McDonald’s burger. Someone once told me I THINK too much, but this is what I think when I see rubbish on roads; when I order coffee; when I see beggars on streets!!

We are not perfect but a little effort each day will go a long way. Try inculcating any of these above good habits. I am sure we can change the world, not in a day but with a little effort each day.

Image courtesy: Google Images