Okay why is it important for us? Because we had lots of good food, met good ol’ friends, had a good time! Isn’t that what we are all about: Good food, Good friends, and a Good life!

So, let me recap what all happened, and then I will follow up with the new recipes. I am sooooo excited!

First stop: Harrisburg, PA. Let me say one thing, wow, for a small little place, it is power packed! Has lots of good stores for shopping, good deals, lots of good grocery stores, lots of Indian grocery stores.

We lived with Maira jaan and her parents. Maira is so gorgeous! Maira’s mom, Sadia, is such an awesome cook. She is a great artist too. I will post some of her recipes.

They took us to Hershey town. While I have been to the Chocolate Factory long back, its always been in the winter. But it is Maira loves it, and Sadia says its much more fun in the summer with the rides and stuff.

From Harrisburg we went to Baltimore, to dear friend Tehsins. She has a new house! Its so lovely. Its purrrfect!
And the food she cooked; Oh, oh! Thai Curry with chicken, Chicken manchurian, super simple fried rice (ofcourse, its all Indian-ized!).

In Baltimore, Tehsin treated us to the Aquarium located in the downtown, right at the Inner Bay (I think that’s what it is called). It was so much fun! The highlight was definitely the Dolphin show and the 3-D movie theater which was playing our sons favorite movie ‘Diego’!

Did lots of grocery shopping, again awesome Indian and Chinese grocery stores!

So, I know even though its winter up here in Northeast Ohio; its still possible to have fun. Just take the effort and drive to a little bit warmer place. This way you get to meet your friends, spend some time with them, (of course remember to invite them to your place too), enjoy good food (also help them however you can, so its less taxing to the host), and have a good time!

Gotta go, I have to cook lunch now (planning to cook the Thai curry with chicken now, and then use the Shan Chicken Ginger masala).

I will come back and post the super awesome recipes, and promise they are super simple too.

Till then, take care!

Maggi! (yes, you bet, maggi noodles, the 2 minute wonder which was introduced in India decades ago, and it spread like wild fire all across the country in no time)

Nestle rocks, first Nescafe, milk, chocolates, Maggi noodles… go Nestle go! *

Indians, no matter, young or old, love Maggi noodles, (it is like Top ramen noodles, only so much more tastier, and the flavors are crazy, plus they are making the whole grain ones these days – win win!)

I have so much cooked food in our refrigerator, but tonight we both just wanted to eat Maggi noodles.

Hmm, yummy!

Do you agree?

*Please note: I am uncertain of the order in which the products debuted in India.

Ingredients:

1 bowl yogurt,
2-3 tsp chickpea flour (besan),
turmeric,
corriander seeds (dhania) pdr,
cumin (jeera) pdr,
red chilli pdr,
salt,
oil for cooking,
fenugreek (methi) seeds,
cumin (jeera) or mustard (rai) seeds,
optional chopped tomatoes, curry leaves, chopped onion, fresh green hot peppers, fresh cilantro (dhania)

Method:

Mix all the above ingredients up to salt, and keep it ready in a bowl.

In oil, fry methi seeds, till brown, add rai or jeera, then onion chopped (optional), and cook till translucent.

Add curry leaves, and tomatoes(optional), green chilli.

Add yogurt mixture, add water, cook till done. Stir continuously.

Fresh cilantro or coriander for garnish.

Note: Once I did not have chickpea flour, and I used all purpose flour instead, and it worked fine.

In India, I kept hearing that doodhi is some sort of a super vegetable, for heart, for dieters, for babies, for old people, for everyone. So, these days, I mostly buy it, and make soup with it, but today I wanted to try what my mother makes with it. This is super duper easy, so yummy, and so quick. Oh man! Why didn’t someone tell me this earlier.

So, here you go:

Ingredients:

Potatoes (2 or 3 small, peeled, and chopped in large bite size)
‘Doodhi’ (1 medium sized, peeled, seeds removed, and chopped in same size as potatoes)
fried onions, about 2 tbsp (or you can chop and fry 1 small onion)
1 tomato diced
1 tsp whole cumin seeds (jeera)
3-4 curry leaves (optional, but I am in love with them these days, or the fragrance, hmmm….)
spice mix: salt, 1/2 tsp red chilli powder, 1/4 tsp garam masala, 1/2 tsp corriander ‘dhania’ powder, 1/4 tsp cumin ‘jeera’ powder)
3 tbsp oil, (less is fine too)
1 glass water for cooking

Method:

I used a pressure cooker, but any pan is alright, though cooking with pressure cooker is less time in kitchen.

So, start with heating the oil, drop the cumin seeds, then, the curry leaves, add the tomatoes, and a little salt. Cook till the tomatoes are almost tender, add the chopped doodhi, and potatoes, and then sprinkle the spice mix. Saute the mixture, for a bit. Then add the fried onions, and a glass of water. Now pressure cook for about 2 whistles ( I think about 7-10 mins), or till the vegetables are tender.

Thats it, done. Eat with rice, or chapatis, or if on a diet, with some yogurt. Yummy!

Optional: Add lots of chopped fresh cilantro (hara dhania) for color, and some more vitamins.

Note: If using fresh onion, fry them till they are brown before adding the tomatoes.

Update: Also, to make it protein rich, add washed and soaked chana daal along with the cut vegetables. Delish!

Back to the sprouts, I don’t remember whether its the taste, or how they looked, but I regret that now so much.

But, now since I know, that they are good for me and you, I make a big pan of it once a week. I add it to almost everything.

I added it last night to my bowl of pasta and spaghetti sauce, (it doesn’t have a loud flavor, so it does not change your original dish’s flavor, but you add more punch to your meal)

You can sprinkle some on your salad, or add it to your sandwich. You can add it to your rice and make it a pilaf. So so versatile.

This is the best way I discovered to get sprouts.

Wash the Mung beans a couple times. Then soak them in water for about 8-9 hours (in colder places, soak them in hot water , not boiling). Then drain off the water. And let them sit covered for another 8-9 hours, till you see the little tail-like sprouts.

You can wait, for a few more hours, if your want the sprouts longer. But this is how I like them.

Then I just give it a little boil say 5 minutes, (don’t over boil, or you will lose the crunch). Now they are ready to be used anyway you like it.

P.s. Now I am regretting the coconut pie so much! Bad bad thing to do, especially 2 slices, oh! No retribution though for this act of mine. Just self torture.

Cook chicken, eat chicken, go out finish the snow man that we started yesterday. See, told you, big plans.

And more… but incase you are planning on being lazy, then check out these couple blogs I found, very cute, interesting, and maybe, you might get inspired by some diy projects.

I am in love with lcy, good work Alaina, and then, found h&h.

Alaina has good taste, and that shows from her blog, her home . Love your style, love your home. H&H have awesome diy projects. I am dying to try out the leather monogrammed key chains.

Okay, that is it for now.

But before I head to the kitchen, wanted to mention how easy it is to use sprouts in your food often! So, read my next post, and puh-lease start eating more sprouts. More sprouts = more protein and what not (actually, I am not sure what else, hence, the ‘what not’, but I do know, that they are good, ‘cos mother says so, and we all know, the mother is right)

Till then, on the way to discovering, or more like I bumping into new things.

Au revoir! Good-bye!

Koyla

Do you like the feel of sand under your feet, the smell of fruit flavored hukkahs, the beautiful Morrocan and Arabic designs with lamps and little cabanas for a cozy gathering with your family and friends?

Well, if you are in Morocco or Saudi Arabia, then its no problem! But if you are in Mumbai, then you are in luck!

We (I, Murad, my little one, Timsi, Sameer and Ruveer, their little one) just went for an impromptu dinner the other night to Koyla restaurant, which has all the things I described above.

It was lovely. Though its seriously getting hot here, the open air restaurant which is on the last floor of a small building, was a pleasant surprise. They had lots of fans going around, so I did not feel the heat. Also, the ambiance was so inviting. You just wanted to relax there. But with two little toddlers, we managed to get some pleasant moments in between.

The kids had the most fun, playing, rolling in the sand.

The food was good, we ordered veg platter, dal makhani, butter chicken (yummy), and assorted breads. The butter chicken was definitely the best. The breads got a little chewy. The dal was good, not too spicy or oily.

The food was moderately priced.

I guess, being a Sunday night, it was rather difficult to get a good place to sit, but we waited, and we finally got a little tent of our own with a nice big table, and comfortable cane chairs.

All in all, a good night.

It has another location at Colaba. I dont have the address for it though.

This one is situated near the Infiniti Mall, in Andheri.

I would rate this restaurant easily 4 out of 5.

While I know protein rich food is very essential for you, there is a study going on that suggests that protein rich food if not balanced by carbohydrates may lead to gall stones, which if untreated may lead to gall bladder cancer.

On the other hand, foods like parsley,celery, fish oil, whole grains, fruits and vegetables, beans and pulses contain cancer fighting compounds.

So not only should we eat healthy, but always eat in moderation and a balanced way.

To health and happiness!

Thanks a million dear Timsi (okay, Timsi is my darling nephews’ darling little wife). She got me a RD, how nice of her. Brought back old memories.

Sorry, I know what you all must be thinking: ‘Alright, come to the point girl/woman’. (I prefer girl, still see myself as a teen)

So, you know I was browsing interesting posts on another interesting blog (like moi), and came across, an interesting link, which got me to my dear RD’s website, now why didn’t I think of that earlier.

Okay, its never too late.

So here you go:
http://welcome.readersdigest.com/digital-editions/13things.htm?trkid=OBRN007

Its about secrets your waiter wont tell you, or would want to tell you.

Trust me, read it, next time you visit a restaurant you will be very very careful.