Creamy Rabri/Basundi ~ For Blog Hop Wednesdays ~ From Enveetu KItchen!

For the 3rd edition of Blog Hop Wednesday I am assigned Priya's Blog- Enveetu Kitchen. She has an amazing collection of recipes. I just love her bakes. Despite that I have chosen her recipe of Basundi for today's post. I am sure some baking posts will follow soon.

To know more about it and participate check this. This event is the brain child of Radhika.

She had very lovingly prepared it for her grand mother's anniversary. Basundi is very much like Malai Rabri which I grew up eating. My mom's recipes is almost the same except she does not add saffron. Here, I have followed Priya's recipe to the T and loved it immensely.

I had prepared this long time back, before coming to my India visit and today on seeing these pictures I am tempted to make them again soon. I have used half of the measures as given in the original recipe.

Ingredients:

1 Litres Full Fat Milk

1/4 +2tbsp Sugar

2 tbsp Almond Meal

2 tbsp Chopped Almonds

2 tbsp Chopped Pista

3 cardamom pod seeds crushed

a generous of Saffron, rubbed in 2 tbsp of milk

Method

1. In a Heavy-bottom non stick pan, boil Milk. keep the flame on medium and boil till  it reduces to 3/4 of the volume. 

2. Stir the Milk and Scrape the Pan-Side and return it to the boiling milk. When the Milk reduces to 3/4 of its quantity, add saffron Soaked Milk to this and Sugar. 

3. Keep Stirring often and scrape the sides and stir the malai in to the milk.

4. When Milk reduces to half its quantity, add the almond meal and Chopped nuts and Stir Well. Switch off the Stove and let it cool. When cool refrigerate it. Serve chillled

I enjoyed it very much. See what other bloggers are up with for Blog Hop Wednesday!

Thank you for stopping by. Cheers!

Orange Spritzer ~ Homemade Fanta ~ India Calling!

Finally the day is few hours away!

Some times back, I had mentioned in one of my post that I will be going to India soon and that is the day I am talking about. I am flying to India tomorrow! Yayy!

Days have been busy of late, as I had been preparing for this trip. Finishing reading books I had brought from library, returning unfinished books, shopping, preparing lists for India shopping, packing and preparing the home for DH as he will be making this trip 2 weeks later, cooking things to finish up vegetables from my pantry (and clicking them as well, watch out this space for recipes in coming days)! So, this space has been silent for a couple of days now. 

Today I have chosen to post this refreshing orange drink which I like to call Orange Spritzer, When, I served this to my DH, he said it is just like Fanta! To add a little here, we both love Fanta!

 

The recipe is very simple. You will need:

200ml of freshly squeezed orange juice.(About 3 oranges).

1 tbsp lemon juice.

6-8 ice cubes

3-4 tbsp sugar(as per your taste or the sweetness of the oranges)

120 ml or more chilled soda water.

Sprig of mint to decorate.

Serves 2

Process:

1. In a jar mix add orange juice,lemon juice and sugar. Stir well.
2. Add ice cubes to two tall glasses. Pour the prepared mixture.
3. Top it with chilled soda water and stir. Add a sprig of mint and serve immediately!Enjoy!

This drink is perfect for hot days. Perfect to beat the heat. Here is one glass for you!

Thanks for stopping by! Cheers. 

P.S. I will be back soon with posts from India. Till I write again, stay tuned!

Ladies Coupe by Anita Nair

Meet Akhilandeshwari aka Akhila. 45 years old, spinster, an income tax clerk, a daughter, a sister, the only provider for the family after her father died. She has played all the roles all her life but she has never been herself. One day, she decides to shed off all responsibilities and buys a one way ticket to Kanyakumari, the southern most part of India, to be away from all the people she had known all her life, to find the ‘Akhilandeshwari’ which was lost somewhere in the midst of duties and responsibilities.  She travels in an all female coupe where she meets five other women, each of whom has a story to tell. These stories changes the way Akhila thinks and that changes her life.

The stories are all an attempt to answer Akhila's problematic question: Can a woman stay single and be happy at the same time?

In this novel, Anita Nair has tried to dwell on the complex issue of women's freedom in a male dominated Indian society, her dreams, desires and her needs. Although, I could not bring myself to connect with all the stories the women in the coupe tells Akhila, I can very well understand the plight of women who suffers because society does not see them at par with their male counterparts and it is always them who has to compromise with their aspirations. I found the whole premise scary, in the sense that it was depressing at times - women suffering the brunt of the rigid society. The end of the novel was somewhat uplifting, when Akhila comes in terms with her life, she knows what she wants of her life. The confidence she radiated was exhilarating. To me, the author has left what happened there after to the reader's imagination. 

What I could not comprehend was, how someone could pour out their life story to a stranger in an over night train journey. One of them  telling about her life is possible but when all five of the fellow passengers are so forth coming with their life story, you know it is part of fiction. However, the book made me ponder over how so many times women consider living is mere existence. It made me realize that a great deal inner strength is needed to break free of the bonds of relationships be oneself and be in charge of one's life.

A full blown chick lit book that will take you on a ride of deep introspection.

Creamy Veggie Filling In Potato Bowls ~ For Blog Hop Wednesdays ~ From UK Rasoi!

The second edition of Blog Hop Wednesdays is here. This week I am paired with Nupur of UK Rasoi. To give you an insight into how this event works - every alternate wednesdays, bloggers participating in this event are paired with a partner and each of them has to chose a recipe from their partner's blog, prepare it and blog about it. To know more about it and participate check this.

Nupur has a good collection of scrumptitous recipes on her blog and it was a hard choice for me. But finally I decided on her Twice Baked Herby Potatoes. Using this recipe as an inspiration, I created Creamy Veggie Filling In Potato Bowls using the ingredients I had at hand. As, I was preparing them as appetizers, I just used half of the measures as given in the original recipe.

Ingredients:


2 baking potatoes.
2 tbsp butter
11/2 tbsp AP Flour.
1/2 tsp ground white pepper.
 salt to taste.
1 tbsp sugar
1/3 cup or little more warm milk.
2-3 tbsp cream, optional.
2-3 tbsp chopped green pepper.
2-3 tbsp sweet corn.
3 tbsp shredded mozarella.
1/2 tsp mixed herbs.

Process:


1. Microwave the potatoes for 6-8 minutes. Read the instruction given on the packet for cooking them in microwave.
2. Let it cool down. Once cooled, cut them in half and scoop out as much flesh as possible without distorting the shape. Keep the scooped potatoes aside.
3. Heat the butter in a pan and add the chopped pepper and thawed sweet corn and cook it for a minute. Then add the AP flour.
4. Cook it for a couple of minutes stirring, till the raw smell goes away. Add salt, pepper, herbs and sugar and stir. Add the warm milk, stirring all the time. Make sure there are no lumps. Add 3 tbsp of the scooped potatoes. Cook for another 2 minutes and turn off the heat.
5. Line a baking tray with parchment paper. Keep the potatoes with the scooped side up. Fill them with the prepared filling and sprinkle the shredded cheese.
6. Bake in a preheated oven at 175 C for 15-18 minutes till they are golden brown.
7. Enjoy them as they are or add a dash of tomato sauce. Serve them fresh from oven.

Check out other Blog Hop Wednesday Bloggers and what they are up with for Blog Hop Wednesday

Thanks for stopping by! Cheers!

#18 Teaser Tuesdays ~ Mistaken by Neil Jordan

I have chosen the very first lines of the book, Mistaken by Neil Jordan for the teaser tuesday this week. These are powerful words that set the tone of the book.

"I had been mistaken for him so many times that when he died it was as if part of myself had died too. And so, I attended his funeral, to say good bye to that part of myself that would abide now in the cold clay of Deansgrange..."

Page: 1

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! Share the title & author, too, so that others can add the book to their TBR Lists!