My India Trip ~ In a Nutshell And Diwali Greetings!

A post about my recent India visit has been long due, so has been the reviews of the books I have read of late. It has been almost two weeks I am back to this corner of the world but the realization of being back has been sinking in slowly. But, as the saying goes, better late than never, so here I am with a post of my India trip. But, before that, I want to convey my heartiest Diwali wishes to all my readers and fellow bloggers!

 May the glow of lamps fill your life with joys...

And the year ahead bring good fortune and happiness to cherish forever!!!

                       Wishing you and your family a very Happy, Prosperous and Safe Diwali.

Coming back to my India trip, as I have already said, it was somewhat hectic but I enjoyed every bit of it. My flight was uneventful and I reached my destination without any hassle.

I had been to my hometown, Dhubri for 3 weeks. My elder sister also came down with me and we had a great time there. I spent a good time with my nephew- Pranay akka Gullu. To tell you something about my dear nephew- he is naughty, intelligent and the sweetest boy ever. Stories about him will need another post!

My Nephew- Pranay.. When he puts on his sunglasses he thinks he is the smartest guy ever!

My time in Kolkata just went by juggling with various activities. There were so many things to do that time seemed to be flying by... We took a break from the hectic schedule and went to Puri for 3 days. It was a much needed relaxed break and we enjoyed it immensely.

 Puri Sea Beach

Me and the Sea!

My India trip went something like this:

Dublin-Frankfurt-Mumbai-Kolkata

Kolkata-Dhubri

Dhubri-Kolkata

Kolkata-Puri

Puri-Kolkata

Kolkata-Pune

Pune-Mumbai

Mumbai-Frankfurt-Dublin.

So, did I exaggerate when I said it was hectic!

I bought a couple of books by India authors. The luggage weight limitation curtailed my list but still I managed to bring, Jaya by DevDutt Patnaik, The Difficulty of being good by Gurcharan Das, By the water Cooler by Parul Sarma ( finished reading and review due) and Saraswati Park by Anjali Joseph. While in India I read I am Papa by Pranav Bhattacharya, I too had a love story by Ravinder Singh and If I forget and forgive you by Prasant Sharma. Reviews of these are also long due and I hope to do it all by the month's end. As is evident from the titles, I have picked books by Indian authors only and I am looking forward to reading them.


Once again, Happy Diwali! I will be up with some pictures of Diwali here soon. Enjoy!
Thank you for stopping by! Cheers!

Salty Cumin Cookies & Aloo Tikki Chat~ For Blog Hop Wednesdays~ A Double Post

Its time again for a 'Blog Hop' post. Blog Hop Wednesdays is an initiative taken by Radhika. To know more about this event check this.
From the very title of the post, it is evident that I am going to post two recipes here. Let me explain!
For the 7th edition of Blog Hop I am assigned Dee's Kitchen and I have chosen her Salty Jeera Cookies. It has been quite a while since I baked anything and my hands are seriously itching to get baking!

The second recipe I am doing is from Veena's Space, Veg Junction. I had missed a blog hop post when I was on my India visit. Initially I had zeroed on her Khandvi recipe, which I have tried twice, but didn't get the chance to click! So, the other day when I was going through her space, I chanced upon her Aloo Tikki and the sweet memories of gorging on chats on my India visit came flooding to me and I knew I had to make it soon. So, taking inspiration from that I prepared Aloo Tikka Chat!

So, first can I entice you with these Salty Cumin Cookies:

Ingredients:
3/4 cup AP Flour

¼ cup soft butter+1 tsp butter to grease hands

2 tbsp powdered sugar.

¼ tsp salt.

¼ tsp cumin seeds.

¼ tsp carom seeds
2 tbsp water


Process:

1. Pre-heat the oven at 180 C and line a baking tray.

2. Add the cumin and carom seeds to the flour and mix. Now add the butter in flour and mix it.

3. Knead the flour well with fingers till smooth. Add water little by little as required.

4. Shape the dough into 10 even sized balls with greased hands
5. Place them on the lined baking tray and flatten the balls with a fork.
6. Bake the cookies for 15-18 min. at 180 degree till they are light golden. Cool them completely before storing.
7. Serve them with hot tea or coffee.

The cookies were awesome and had a perfect texture. I will surely make them again.

Now can we have some chat on the table!

Aloo Tikki Chat:

Ingredients:

Serves 2:

2 large potatoes, boiled, peeled and mashed.

1 tbsp grated ginger.

1 green chilli finely chopped, optional/to taste.

1 tbsp corn flour.

1/2 tsp sugar.

1/2 tsp red chilli powder.

1/2 tbsp roasted cumin powder.

2 tbsp chat masala.

3-4 tbsp Green Chutney

6-7 tbsp Sweet Tamarind Chutney.

1 cup yoghurt.

Salt to taste.

Oil as needed.

Pomegranate pearls, nylon sev and chopped coriander to garnish.

Process:

1. In a bowl add mashed potatoes, grated ginger, green chilli, corn flour and salt and mix well. Shape them into 4 even sized balls and flatten them inthe shape of tikkis.

2. Shallow fry them on a hot tava. Keep aside.

3. Whisk the yoghurt till smooth. Add salt, sugar and a spoon of sweet chutney.

4. To serve arrange 2 tikkis per plate and pour the yoghurt mixture over it. Top it with green chutney and sweet chutney. Sprinkle roasted cumin powder, chat masala, red chilli powder. Garnish it with pomegranate pearls, nylon sev and chopped coriander leaves.

5. Serve immediately and enjoy!

Check what other blog hoppers are up with.


Thank you for stopping by! Cheers!

#19 Teaser Tuesdays ~ By The Water Cooler by Parul Sharma

This week the teaser comes from a book I bought during my recent India visit, By The Water Cooler by Parul Sharma. It is a witty and hilarious tale about survival in corporate world and makes for a good light read.


"It was then I noticed the other man, sitting behind an imposing desk a few feet away and now shouting into a phone. This man resembled an angry bull that had had a rough day at the ring and was letting off steam by trampling a few dozen innocents under his angry hooves". 
Page: 9


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!

Sketches from the past!

The title of this post seems a bit ambiguous but, I could not think of a better title, for this post I intend to share a few of my sketches which I had probably done in my early college days. 

One of the rituals I follow when I visit home is to go through all my belongings which includes a lot of things which many might think unnecessary and unwanted for. I have a small file wherein I have kept my first mobile bill, old cards which I had received from my friends in school and college days, old letters from friends during the time when there was no internet and many such things which I do not need now. Yet, I can't bring myself to throw them away because they have sweet memories attached to it. While I was going through all my little treasure, I chanced upon my old sketches. 

It was then I decided to share them on this blog and here they are!

Thank you for stopping by! Cheers!

Carrot and Almond Kheer Recipe | How to Make Carrot and Almond Kheer | Indian Desserts Recipes

Carrot & Almond Kheer #recipe

Carrot and Almond Kheer is a sweet Indian milk-based pudding that is inspired by the classic Indian Kheer. Instead of rice, shredded carrots and coarsely ground almonds are used here.

I am back from a hectic but awesome and funfilled India trip. I have a lot to tell you guys but all of it can wait for a while, as today is the day for Blog Hop, a wonderful and creative initiative by Radhika. I had missed it last time due to my hectic schedule in India. Hopefully, I will do a double post for the next session of Blog Hop to compensate for the same.

This week I am assigned Anu's Healthy Kitchen. From all her wonderful recipes I chose her Carrot Almond Honey Milkshake. But, I was in a mood for something for indulgent, so I made Carrot and Almond Kheer!

Carrot and Almond Kheer Recipe

Serves 2

Ingredients:

400 ml full-fat milk.
1 large carrot shredded.
2 tbsp almonds, soaked, blanched and thinly sliced.
1 cardamom pod crushed.
2-3 tbsp sugar (to taste)
Chopped pistachios to garnish.

Process:

1. In a non-stick pan heat the milk. When it comes to a boil, turn the heat on medium and add the shredded carrots and sliced almonds.

2. Cook it for about 10-15 minutes till the carrots are tender and the milk has thickened to a creamy consistency.

3. Add the sugar and crushed cardamom and stir well. Cook for another 5-10 minutes.

4. Cool it completely and transfer into serving bowls. Keep it in the fridge till needed.

5. Garnish it with chopped pistachios and serve it chilled.

Check out what other blog hoppers are up to!

You can also check out the other kheer recipes I have posted here

The Classic Indian Kheer

Almond Kheer

Thanks for stopping by! Cheers!