Beverage: Watermelon Chiller

I needed a cool drink to beat the summer heat and found this cool watermelon drink in Shobha Indani’s book ‘Swad Sugandh’.  This Watermelon Chiller recipe serves 6.

Rajasthani Teej Dalia Saatu (aka Satu, Sattu, Pinda)

There are various types of Saatu, made from rice flour, chickpea flour, wheat flour, and so on for the festival of Teej.

This is a simple and quick recipe of making Saatu for Teej using Split Dalia (aka Phutaani Daal).  The same recipe can be used to make Dalia Ke Laddoo as well.

(Click here if you're looking for some Marwari Teej Saatu Decoration Ideas.
Click here if you want to learn about some customs for Badi Teej festival.)

Saatu for Rajasthani festival Teej

Humor: World May Change; Friends Will Never!

Result agar accha ho:	When you pass your exam:
Maa – Bhagwan ki kripa hai.	Mom:  Grateful to God.
Papa – Beta kiska hai.	Dad:  My son after all.
Dost – Chal daaru peete hain.	Friends:  Let’s go drink.
Result agar bura ho:	When you fail your exam:
Maa – Aag lage is college main.	Mom:  Your college sucks.
Papa – Laad pyar ne bigaad diya.	Dad:  Our love spoilt you.
Dost – Chal daaru peete hain.	Friends:  Let’s go drink.
Naukri lagne par:	When you get a job:
Maa – Apni sehat ka khyal rakhna.	Mom:  Take care of yourself.
Papa – Khoob mehnat se kaam karma.	Dad:  Work hard.
Dost – Chal daaru peete hain.	Friends:  Let’s go drink.
Naukri chootne par:	When you lose your job:
Maa – Naukri hi kharab thee.	Mom:  Workplace was bad.
Papa – Koi baat nahin, doosri mil jayegi.	Dad:  Don’t worry, you’ll find another.
Dost – Chal daaru peete hain.	Friends:  Let’s go drink.
Birthday par:	On your birthday:
Maa – Jug jug jiye mera beta.	Mom:  Wish you a long life.
Papa – Hamesha aage badhe.	Dad:  Wish you success always.
Dost – Chal daaru peete hain.	Friends:  Let’s go drink.
Love main fail hone per:	When you’re heartbroken in love:
Maa – Beta Bhool ja usko.	Mom:  Forget her.
Papa – Mard ban.	Dad:  Be a man.
Dost – Chal daaru peete hain.	Friends:  Let’s go drink.
Shaadi par:	On your wedding:
Maa – Sadaa sukhi raho.	Mom:  Wish you happy life.
Papa – Khush raho.	Dad:  Wish you happy life.
Dost – Chal daaru peete hain.	Friends:  Let’s go drink.
Bachha hone par:	On birth of your first baby:
Maa – Bilkul mere bete par gaya/gayi hai.	Mom:  Looks just like my son.
Papa – Khush raho.	Dad:  Blessings.
Dost – Chal daaru peete hain.	Friends:  Let’s go drink.
Moral of the story:	Moral of the story:
Duniya badal jati hai, dost kabhi nahin badalte!	World changes, but friends don’t!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Note:  Received original in Hindi in an e-mail; just translated it!  No idea where it originated from!

Recipe: Aloo Paratha/Potato-Stuffed Flatbread

After I tried several different recipes of Aloo Paratha, I had to settle with this one from Shobha Indani’s book ‘Swad Sugandh’, and here’s why.


Most of the Aloo Paratha recipes I came across and made earlier had mashed potato mixed with herbs & spices and stuffed inside the dough, very easy & simple.  But when I tasted the below recipe of Aloo Paratha which required cooking the potato mixture prior to stuffing in paratha, it reminded me of the yummy & addictive Aloo Parathas found in Indian Dhaba!


Give it a try.

Very popular Aloo ka Paratha - Potato stuffed Indian flatbread

Sangeet Dance (Bollywood/Hindi) Song Ideas

After I searched over months for some good sangeet songs for dance performances for my wedding, I decided it was high time to compile them in a single file for future reference (and to save a large amount of time!).

Below are various kinds of Bollywood and Hindi songs suggested for Sangeet Sandhya.

Some are emotional ones, some are romantic.  Some of the songs are item numbers; some are happy-to-get-married songs.  Some songs are for the bride to perform on, some apt for the groom.  Some are solo, some are duets.  Some of the songs are for friends to perform on, some are for family members.  Some are for couples, some are for bride/groom's relatives.  Some of them can be combined to make a story, some can be put together as a theme.  Some can be used as a background for slideshow presentation, some for a group dance.  Some fast numbers for youngsters to perform on, some make for a good comedy or parody.  Some old gold songs for the elder couples, some ....  the choice is yours :-)

Update (1 Feb 2013):  I appreciate your comments and questions, but if you ask me to go through the 180 songs to help select some for you, it's not possible.  The list of songs below is for you to choose a suitable song by yourself based on your relation to the couple.  Please make good use of the list; a lot of my time and effort has gone into compiling it.  Thanks for understanding!

Creative Ideas to Reuse, Recycle & Repurpose

I have always strongly believed in the 3R's - Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.  And now the fourth R: 'Repurpose'.  Here are interesting and multiple uses of old things, substitutes for unavailable materials, 2-in-1 usage of an item, and creative ideas of using stuff - all from your home and kitchen - that's what this page is all about.  Let me see how many of you go, "Oh yeah, I never thought about that!"


Note:  These photos and ideas are NOT mine!
Source:  www.realsimple.com

                    

Recipe: Baingan Bharta (Eggplant Curry)

Eggplants are not a favorite of manyyyyy people, I know.  But when eggplant is grilled, mashed, mixed and cooked well with other veggies, herbs and spices, it is easier to accept and adapt this dark shade vegetable.  This recipe for Eggplant Curry or Baingan ka Bharta [Baingan aka eggplant/brinjal] has been adapted from Indani's book 'Swad Sugandh' and serves 4-6 people.

What you need for baingan ka bharta:

1 large brinjal [~ 250 gm]

¼ cup thinly sliced red bell peppers ¹

¼ cup boiled green peas ¹

2 Tbsp oil

½ cup chopped onion

1 Tbsp chopped green chilies ²

2 tsp chopped garlic

1 tsp grated ginger

½ cup chopped tomato

¼ tsp haldi

½ tsp garam masala

2 tsp dhania-jeera powder

1 Tbsp roasted sesame seed powder

Salt & sugar as per taste

Let's Begin!

1.  Apply some oil over brinjal & roast directly over flame; rotate occasionally to roast evenly³.  Then keep it covered under a bowl for 5 minutes – this makes the peeling easy.  Meanwhile, lightly stir fry the bell peppers, drain & keep aside.  Then peel brinjal, and mash well with potato masher.

2.  Heat oil, add onions, sauté, add green chilies + garlic + ginger + tomato + haldi + garam masala + dhania-jeera powder & fry till oil oozes.  Finally add mashed brinjal, sesame seed powder, salt & sugar.  Mix well & cook couple of minutes, then finish all the mashing & mixing at this point.  Now finally add the fried bell peppers & boiled green peas¹, gently mix well.  Baigan ka Bharta is ready.

Garnish the baingan bharta with some cilantro and serve hot with roti.

Notes:

¹ Red bell pepper and peas are added only to put some color in a boring brown baigan bharta; they are completely optional and you can totally omit/replace/add other colorful vegetables.

² You can use a combination of green chilies + red chili powder, or kashmiri chili powder for the color you want your baingan ka bharta to have, it is all up to you.

³ If you don’t have a grill (for electric stove top) or a gas flame or hot coal to roast brinjal, you can prick brinjal with fork all over & put in microwave oven for 7-9 minutes (depending on your microwave power).  Why should you prick/pierce the brinjal with a fork before placing in microwave?  To avoid brinjal/eggplant from bursting open and causing mess inside the microwave.  Mine once blew up inside.

Enjoy.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Connect with Spusht via: Facebook  |  Email  |  RSS  |  Twitter