My world

Moroccon Argan oil shampoo, conditioner, treatment and oil review

2013-05-29T22:45:00.000-07:00

My daughter's only wish that hope she had smooth and silky hair like her all Chinese friends( By god's grace they are genetically blessed in that matter) . Though she had the most beautiful thick, lush and soft hair.

I have spend huge amount on various hair products as i am also obsessed with my hair and same with my daughter.

Last month on one local close group face book page one kind lady gave detail regarding this Morocco Argan oil shampoo and conditioner and its local distributor . Then I was introduced to new world of Pure Argan oil and as per my habit I directly ran to Google Baba and did my research I was simply amazed reading about Argan oil and those things I was unaware of.

I contacted this lady and she supplied me these complete set consist of shampoo, conditioner, treatment and Argan oil. That sweet lady explained me how to use this product. she gave stress on words that use only one pump of shampoo and conditioner and only two pumps of Argan oil.

When I read ingredient I was bit dishearten because the Morocco Argan oil was not only pure Argan oil but was mix of other few oils but I decided to give it try like other products I have been giving try so far.

I asked my daughter to use it first and she was little pleased as she used only shampoo and conditioner then i helped her apply Argan oil, though i have to share it here that either the pump is not working properly or oil's viscosity (i pray that that's the right word) it was difficult to pump it out but her hair felt softer and manageable.

Then i decided to use it myself . I shampooed my hair and in shower itself my hair felt smooth then I applied treatment because that lady instructed that don't use conditioner while you use treatment. I kept treatment around 10 minutes in my hair and then rinse it off and to my amazement my hair felt like soft and silky. After towel drying my hair i applied Argan oil and i was really pleased with the result because i have never felt my hair like this unless when i did my collagen hair softening treatment .

I made my daughter touch my hair and she was like "mom u naturally have nice and soft hair so this product has to work" . ( I know she wants to do the same hair softening treatment that's why not ready to buy any excuse)

I use this product few more times and i am simply pleased and satisfied with the result as my son also started playing with my hair like my husband and daughter (and they know it very well how much i hate it)

The best test for this product was my son's hair ...ahaaa porcupine hair(oh god ). Yes his hair is like dry grass very hard and he loves them the way they are only because he does not need any gel to spike them (strange and weird) . anyway When i apply only Argan oil to his hair voila his hair seems smooth and now once he is back from his trip i am going to force him to use this shampoo, conditioner and treatment.

So in totality i am one of those satisfied and happy customer who is going to use this product till i don't find something better than this. Plus this product is sulfate and gluten free so less harming for my hair.

This product is from bingo Hair Cosmetic and I tried to find out more about them and this is their official website http://www.bingo-haircare.com/

After reading more i understood their products are neither available on the counter nor for online retail shopping. From alibaba.com you can buy but in bulk or you have to become their distributor(i hope i understood right). So if you are interested giving this wonderful product try find out their local distributor in your area.

I am not some hair care specialist but obsessed customer who can go any length for soft and shiny hair. However litmus taste for this product will be my dear sister's the most difficult hair. If this product can make my sister's hair manageable then it will earn many more customer from my huge family that is for sure but for that i have to go India and gift my sister this wonderful product.

PS :Without that distributor's permission i cannot declare her name on public platform so if you have any questions regarding that please leave your questions in comment box i will message her and let all know. thanks
PSS: Hi friends the distributor's name is Elly and she has asked me to inform you all that instead of calling her please mail her so she can keep tab on orders
her email : ellykhoshkele@gmail.com
the subject: morocco Argan oil and scrub

Coconut Biscuit , Almond biscuit

2011-09-05T02:33:00.000-07:00

I promised to my friends I will share my Coconut biscuit recipe with them, Sorry i am late but i was trying few variation and little change in recipe because when i tried original recipe i personally did not find them the way i wanted them. Though it turned out very delicious according to my kids and husband because they emptied entire box in within half hour.

But as usual all creator has some expectation from their creation and because of that reason i did few changes here and there in original recipe and now when i got my perfect recipe i am sharing that with all of you. and Don't worry biscuit turned out better than before i made my friends and cousins taste them and they all loved it. So no worries...here comes recipe of Coconut biscuit...

but before i share recipe i want to share one of my confusion

What is difference between biscuit and cookies?
If anyone has any solid idea do share with me so far i understood that they are almost same thing....but one key difference is biscuit could be savoury and more like snacks..and cookies are always sweet and more like dessert....but i could be wrong and want to know more about it.....so if anyone....there...

Ingredients:

110 gm Unsalted room temperature butter
100 gm Powdered Sugar or caster sugar ( Now i wondered what is difference between normal Sugar and caster sugar and in my finding i came to know powdered sugar is actually a caster sugar....lol..:) )
50 gm desiccated Coconut....(what is....ok ok i shut up now...otherwise there is no end of my curiosity)
200 gm Self raising flour
1 tsp Vanilla essence
3 tsp water

Procedure :

--> Mix butter and sugar in big bowl.
--> Using manual or electrical beater beat butter and sugar mix till its smooth and creamy.
--> Add vanilla essence to this butter and Sugar mixture and beat again for few seconds.
--> Now add 1 tsp water at a time and beat the mixture till you add 3 tsp water.
--> Shift Self raising flour and add to this creamy butter and sugar mixture and mix well.
---> Add desiccated coconut to this mixture and knead into soft dough.
--> Now equally divide this dough into 40 small Balls..
--> Preheat oven at 200'c
--> keep these balls into muffin tray, if you have, otherwise any baking tray and bake them for around 10 to 12 minutes at 200'c...till it is nice brown..take it out and remove from baking tray and let it cool down and store in air tight container...

My preferences:

*** If you want more coconut you can increase quantity of desiccated coconut to around 60 to 70 gm than it will be little hard in tendency.

*** I use silicone Muffin tray because first when biscuit melt in oven it take nice shape of muffin cups and plus silicon trays are non sticks so the moment your biscuits are done you can remove easily from tray and keep another batch in same tray immediately.

Variation :

---> Instead of coconut you can add any nuts, like grated almond, cashew nut, walnut or you can add chocolate chips.
--> I personally tried Almond version i added 70gm almond instead of 50 gm coconut and my almond biscuit turned out equally tasty.
--> If you want bit chocolaty you can add chocolate powder for that you have to reduce flour quantity with chocolate powder.

So friends play around and try and let me know if you discover something more interesting ....thanks all. And one more thing don't hasitate to leave your comments either as suggestions or appreciation or critics this will really make me feel happy and contented.....

Fish Cutlet

2011-07-14T21:09:00.000-07:00

Hi friends, my friend Shushila gave me this recipe, Though i have done many changes to the recipe given to me and now this is my version of Fish cutlet and it turned out quiet good so sharing with my friends.

Actually the reason I am collecting all my recipes here is because as my husband and children knows every time i cook same thing it turned out something different from before experiment because i always forget what ingredients i added last time. The reason behind it is, like my mom ,i always add spices according to my mood and liking at that point of time . So through this blog actually i am trying to keep record of my experiments, So next time if i have any confusion i can refer to it.

Ingredients:

3 Medium size slices of Mackerel fish ( Flesh should weight around 300 gm )
you can use any other fish of your choice but it should not have too many bones.

6 medium size potatoes
In general the proportion of Fish flesh to that of the potato should be in ratio of 1:3

4 green chillies we use big chillies those are not that spicy compare to small one and actually chillies you can use more or less according to your liking

8 cloves of garlic

1 cup chopped coriander

1 cup chopped spring onion ( green onions)

few curry leaves

2 eggs

oil

bread crumbs

salt to taste
turmeric powder

Process:

Nicely clean and wash fish, if you can get fish without bone that would be great if not then no problem.
First of all boil fish, for that in pot take sufficient water, fish slices, half tsp turmeric powder and salt.
When fish is done remove it from flame and drain it and debone it and roughly crumbs it's flesh.

Boil potatoes , remove skin and mash it and mix it with fish

Make chilly and garlic paste.

In small pan heat 1 tbsp oil and add curry leaves, after half minute add chilly garlic paste in hot oil and stir it for at least 2 minutes add this mixture in Potato and fish mix.

Add chopped coriander and spring onion, salt and turmeric powder to Potato and fish mix .

Mix them well and make cutlet shape according your choice

Beat eggs and first dip cutlet in egg and after that roll into bread crumbs.
Prepare all cutlet in this way .
once all cutlets are ready you can either deep fry them or shallow fry them or grill in oven depends on your dieting choice...

Variation:

--> Few days back i tried beat root cutlet and it was delicious, I wonder in this cutlet also we can add boiled beat root.
--> If you like Shrimp you can add boiled Shrimp flesh instead of Fish.
--> If you don't like Sea food at all you can use either Chicken meat or any red meat.
--> If you want to give little aromatic and sweet taste can add few leaves of Fresh Thai Basil.
--> For vegetarian people instead of meat they can use either Tofu or paneer.

I always believe that kitchen is the biggest Lab and you can do as many experiment as you want with your food and every time some new recipe will be created...i have learn my cooking with all this experiments only.

Many times with my lack of knowledge i have done great blunders also but every time i have learn something new with my all experiments...

At this point of time i would love to share my wonderful memory regarding my cooking...

My Wonderful moments spent with my dad in Kitchen

I still remember at my mom's place my mom used to follow strict law that when you are in periods you cannot touch kitchen. So every time she used to get her periods we girls had to cook during those three days. When my sister was there she used to cook but after her marriage that responsibility came on my shoulder. Some how i always use to argue with such illogical belief. I still believe that it is not sinful act that one cannot touch kitchen and all when they are in periods i have my own logic for that but right now i dont want to go off the topic...But i must say only because of that law we learn cooking so in that way i must say it is good law that teach others responsibility and give realisation how one person in house is working nonstop. And we start respecting our mom's efforts.

Ok during one such cooking session my mom told me today you have to cook Daal and as she knows i don't like people instructing me too much she left me alone in kitchen as always. Lucky my dad was around helping himself with some break fast.

I had to give tempering of mustered seeds to this daal and for that i took the special tempering pot and added oil and kept high flame so it does not take very long for oil to get hot....and the moment i added muster seeds and asafetida oil caught fire....i was panicked and applied the only rule i knew that when there is a fire pour water on it.......

lucky i did not fill bucket and pour on oil but instead i held that pot and pour oil into sink but to my horror it turned into big fire ball and vanished.....i was litterly shaking because of whatever happened...

thank god my dad was there....who explained to me that if you keep high flame to heat oil it will catch fire itself...and another mistake i did i pour water...to my good luck it did not harm me any way other wise could have been disaster and very big accident..

After that my dad taught me how to temper daal......and that accident has taught me two things that i could not forget till date. .....and same instruction i always gives to my kids when they are cooking something....

My dad loves Food like me and he loves cooking not like me lol.....but my mom always gives excuses to not let him go in the kitchen and cook something.....

PS: as always sorry for typo and grammar mistakes...

Moong daal Sheera

2011-07-03T19:23:00.000-07:00

Hi friends this recipe I got from my Mom and so far everyone has loved it. There must be many more different ways or proportions to make this but this is the way my mom, my sis and i make moong daal sheera.

I have heard about Moong daal Halwa and has found it is very different from Sheera.
What is the difference between Sheera and Halwa ? My common sense tells me that Halwa has either Sugar syrup or Khoya (Mava) while Sheera is always cooked with Ghee, Sugar and Milk or part of water. So far with same recipe one can cook any kind of Sheera for example semolina (Rava no sheero), Wheat flour(genhu kaa aata) Sheera, Badaam(almond) sheera, Shingoda Sheero, etc.....

May be i am wrong in my observation .......

Here goes the recipe..........

Warning: Before i start let me give one warning that this recipe takes lots of hard work and time so if you are not willing to give that hard work and if you don't have time please don't attempt this recipe otherwise you might curse me...for your aching fingers lol.............

Ingredients :-

Moong daal 1 cup (take any cup but use same cup to measure all other ingredients)
Ghee only little less than 1 cup (can take 1 cup if you are fine with it)
Sugar little less than 1 cup (if you want sweetness more then take 1 cup sugar i cannot take too sweet dishes so i always go little less on sugar part.)
Milk 3 cups warm ( not boiled and steaming hot but not cold either)
few raisins
saffron
for garnishing almond, pistachio cardamom...according to your liking......
nonstick pan

Process:

1) Soak moong dal at least for 3 hours.

2) Grind it nicely .

3) Now very important thing take Ghee and mix this grind moong Daal with it...( don't heat it first , only mix them well ...because if you heat the Ghee first and then add moong daal it will create lumps and it will be very difficult to cook moong daal and it will not give you perfect texture......)

4) In grind moong daal and Ghee mixture add few raisin ( This trick has been thought by my mom.....to check whether your Moong daal has been cooked or not.......so when you put this mixture on heat and the moment raisin gets fluffy that means your Daal has been cooked because if your daal has not been cooked properly your sheera has high chances to become sticky or watery or anything else.......so thanks mom for this brilliant trick)

5) Cook this mixture on medium flame and constantly keep stirring it so entire content get equal heat.

6) Take few strands of saffron and heat it first very little and once it start giving aroma take it away from heat and crush it and add 1Table spoon of hot milk and mix and add this when you add milk to your Sheera.

7) As per mom's trick when your raisin gets fluffy add Milk and keep stirring ....till milk gets dried up....and this will take time so be patient.

8) Once mixture start getting solid and milk has been dried up add sugar and mix well....when sugar will melt the content will become watery again so keep stirring it now for final round....

9) when your sheera start leaving Ghee and sheera does not stick to your ladle that means your sheera is done...remove it from flame.

10) Garnish it with almond and pistachio and cardamom....serve it hot you can store this in deep fridge and when you have to serve it heat it up in microwave....

Variation:
As i mentioned in the beginning same way you can cook any kind of sheera only thing is milk you are supposed to take in double quantity for any other variation.....so ratio of the main content(semolina, atta, almond) to that of the ghee to the milk to the sugar is 1 : 1 : 2 : 1

PS: any typo or grammar mistake please pardon me and if anything you find confusing feel free to ask..thanks all

Semolina Na Dhokla, Dhokla made from Semolina (Suji) (Rava)

2011-06-13T18:48:00.000-07:00

So far all my friends might have understood that food is my weakness. I love to eat but same time i hate to cook. Not actually cook but I hate the time and effort needed before and after cooking. Because that is tiresome and exhausting if everything has to be done by you and you only. I love those master chefs who only add spices to dishes and rest of the things are done by his assistants and when time comes to praise it only goes to master chef. Not bad hmmm..i have seen those kind of master chefs in household also and desire to be like one of them, then i can also announce in front of all that I LOVE COOKING.....

   Anyway enough of my ranting and desire, two weeks ago i celebrated my vrat with few of my close friends and it was excellent time i ever had. First time i organised some dinner and i was not tired at all because of all the wonderful and helpful ladies who did not let me do anything thanks all of you.....i started feeling that dinner parties are nothing but only torture for me but you all have changed that perspective for me. i heartily appreciate you all for that...

     The menu of that night was Semolina na Dhokla, Mung dal Shiro, Kheer, Vegetable Jalfrazi, Chanadal and tofu Kofta in Makhani gravy, Tadka Dal, Black chana salad, Puri...so far only this much if i am not forgetting anything....

    Everyone loved everything ( so far they said so and i believe them truly) but all wanted to know Recipe of Semolina na Dhokla....

   Same Dhokla I made for my Dancing group last week as we were practicing for our dance competition. And they loved it a lot so it thought let me share my version of this recipe so they all can enjoy...so here comes my recipe and i swear i have not missed any ingredients so only i can make best ....hmmmmm so let me know if you try my recipe how your dhokla came out and if you have some other version please do share with all of us....

Heart Healthy Cooking: Easy Lo-Fat Lo-Cholesterol Recipes

Ingredients :

2 cup Semolina (i use semolina from Prima best quality)
1 cup water from yogurt and 1/2 cup yogurt ( you can use 1 and 1/2 cup yogurt too as sometimes i do that)
Green Chilli and Ginger paste
2 spoonful of Eno
Salt to taste
5 spoon oil ( 1 for batter and another 4 for tadka i mean tempering)
muster seeds
water

Process:

--> Mix Semolina and yogurt and it's water.

--> Add water till you get nice consistency of batter ( now how much water you must add , that you must know from your experience that it should not be very watery or stiff...i cannot say exact measurement for water as sometimes it depends on Semolina's quality too...so please use your experience here .)

--> Set aside this batter for at least 15 minutes if you want..if you don't have that much time as you are preparing dhokla for unexpected guests then no worries you can directly proceed....while your tea is boiling....

-->Add Green chilly and Ginger paste, Salt both according to your taste. Then add 1 spoon oil...now don't feel panic if you add those stuff in any other order it won't affect the last result....so relax....

-->lastly add Eno and mix it well when it is bubbling....

--> pour this batter in dish or pan or whatever the utensil you are going to use in steamer...

--> put that dish with batter in steamer and steam it for at least 15 minutes...and check it like you check your cakes....with knife or toothpick

--> once it is done take it out from steamer carefully.....as steam can burn you more than fire so be careful.

--> Let it be cool down, now at this point you cannot take short cut if you try cutting it when it is hot sorry you will not get dhokla shape but it will break in crumbs...so be patient and let it cool down and mean while busy your guest in your talk....

--> when your dhokla is cool enough that you can cut ...then proceed and cut the shape you want and temper it with muster seeds( i think you all know how to do that) and garnish it with coriander leaves....

--> enjoy it with your tea or dinner or lunch or whatever way you want to....

Variation:

--> Instead of only Semolina you can mix 3 part Semolina and 1 part Gram flour (besan).

--> you can make Sandwich dhokla. Add turmeric to one portion of batter so you will have one portion in white colour and another portion in yellow colour ... spread green chutney on one layer and keep another layer on top of that ....alaas your Sandwich dhokla ready....

--> For Sandwich Dhokla you can use yellow dal dhokla also....for one layer...( traditional gujju style yellow gram dal dhokla recipe i will share in my another post )

-->any other variation if you have please share with us.....so we can also learn something new....

thanks all.....

PS: sorry for grammatical and spelling errors......still learning my english...

Chapter close

2011-05-05T17:45:00.000-07:00

19/11/91

“Is it real or just my imagination? No, it cannot be my imagination my intuition is telling me he is giving me more attention. He is looking for excuses to talk with me. Whenever I look into his direction it feels he is averting his glances. It’s like his eyes are searching me everywhere. But how could it be possible, no it is just my imagination. It’s simply impossible to think something like that about him. He is so mature, sincere, humble, introvert and decent guy but must say very handsome…hmmmm..difficult to take eyes away from him.

That’s why , that’s the reason I think it’s my imagination, he might not even have any inclination what is going on in my mind right now. However, if he is introvert why suddenly he has started talking with me. He has been studying with me since so many years but it has never happened in all this years and why suddenly. It could not be coincidence. “

Shailja was completely engrossed in her sister’s writing. One moment she thought its bad manners to read someone’s personal diary but her curiosity took control over her so she continued reading……….

“For instance, that day in chemistry lab when teacher informed both the groups that few chemicals have been kept in the centre of the lab and both groups have to take from there. I saw very clearly when I was going to take Iodine from there he was walking in my direction though his table was in opposite direction. Suddenly he came near me and asked me do I want iodine and I was like zombie paralysed by fear only shook my head in affirmation. I vividly remember while giving me iodine flask his fingers touched my fingers and during that his expression …what was that…Oh god I don’t understand anything. Was I reading his expression and behaviour correctly or just interpreting according to my wild thoughts… why he came to give me iodine why not to other girls or it was just coincidence….

And what about that day in bio class, when teacher asked him question he was lost somewhere else it was very unusual of him. He had no clue what was teacher asking. It was like teacher’s question had pulled him out from some other world and during that awkward moment why was he looking at me…by the way I did not like the way teacher insulted him but loved the expression when he told he scored highest in bio …it was fun to see expression on teacher’s humiliated face.

I think I am reading too much in between the line, though there are countless incidences and to them I cannot even give words. However whatever it is I need to concentrate on my study now because in one month we will have prelim and after that no school and then board exams will start. After prelim we won’t even meet and after board exams everyone will settle in their own life. We might meet on result day and after that everyone will be in their separate world. So its better I concentrate on my study because these stupid thoughts are really disturbing my study and I cannot let that happen otherwise it will affect my result. Whatever it will be only time will reveal. ..if he really thinks that way he will definitely express before going somewhere else…so till then it’s time to study hard…. But one thing I can say with confidence that I am infatuated by him. “

“shailja ….Shailja…” “What are you reading so intently? It seems like those words of that book has captivated you completely and you have like drifted to another world.” Tapan complained to shailja and tapped on her shoulder to break her concentration.

“hmm..hmm. What happened did you say something?” Shailja’s trance had been broken and she felt she had been pulled out from deep sea.

“What were you reading, shailja? It seems very interesting” said Tapan while caressing beautiful locks of his wife.

“ Nothing special, it’s only Nimmi di’s diary.

Tapan did not like it, “Where did you find it? And shailja, it’s not right thing to read someone’s personal diary.”

“I know Tapan but I could not win over my curiosity. I found this dairy when I was cleaning Nimmi’s di’s cupboard. It’s ok Tapan, she is after all my Di ..”

However, before Shailja finished her sentence Tapan took that Diary out from Shailja’s hand and went to keep it back on its place. “No shailja, you were the one who told me how possessive Nimmi di is for her personal diary and she does not like if someone reads into her diary on the intention of knowing about her private life. She was kind enough to have given us her house to stay here while I am here on training. We should not intrude in her private life like this. Sweet heart, it’s called bad manners…..”Gently he kissed her wife’s forehead and lay down beside her.

He was about to turn off light and suddenly his phone rang. After talking on phone he was elated. He informed Shailja that his friend Manthan is going Australia next week and he has two three hours spare and, when he came to know we are in Mumbai right now so, he is going to spend that time with us.

Shailja could see and feel the happiness in Tapan’s words. Tapan was overjoyed with this news because he was about to meet Manthan after so many years…

“If I am not wrong Manthan is the same one who was very bright student in your medical college and after taking his prestigious degree he refused to live life as successful doctor in town and instead went to small village to help needy people and you all were surprised by his bold decision,” Said shailja.

“ya he is the same one. I truly respect his decision because whatever he had done not all can do. One should have big heart.” said tapan whose face was still reflecting his happiness over the news that he was about to reunite with his best friend.

“Is he married or not…….”asked Shailja helpless in front of her nature of curious woman.

Tapan looked at his wife lovingly, knowing her nature. He took her hand in his hand and while caressing her hand softly he told, “I am sharing with you this secret chapter of Manthan’s life so you can have clear picture about him.”

Shailja was eager to know some secret related to the person about whom she had heard a lot from her husband’s mouth.

“Manthan used to like one girl when he was in school. He was attracted by that girls innocence and charming smile. He told me about all this when one day he was too high with his emotions. That girl and Manthan were in same school from their Kindergarten years so you can say they were together for around 15 years. During all this years he never noticed that girl and did not even talk with her once until one day, when he was in 12^th grade and he was sitting with his best friend, this girl had something to ask his friend.

His friend and this girl was busy discussing some maths problem but in that brief moment Manthan somehow felt strong pull towards that girl. He was amazed why he did not pay attention to that enchanting smile and lively personality, though that girl was not considered very beautiful but she had something that was mesmerizing. Whatever it was from that moment his eyes started wandering in the direction she is. His eyes were always searching her, and looking for the excuses to talk with her and to be around her. He felt that the girl might also felt his pull towards her because she has started feeling conscious whenever he was around. “

“ so what happened after that did Manthan tell her what he felt for her….did she…”Asked shailja who was unable to hide her inquisitiveness.

“Relax sweet heart …” Laughed Tapan watching childlike innocence on his wife face.

“No he could not gather courage to give words to his emotions. Though, when he got information about his admission in medical college and he was leaving for Ahmedabad he went to that girl’s house with intention to express his feelings. But when he saw her big and beautiful house, he felt that girl belonged to wealthy family and might refuse him or whatever the reason he decided to become something in life and then tell her about his feelings but before he becomes doctor that girl was married…he could not blame that girl also because she was not even aware of his feelings but yet he was unable to forget that bewitching smile so he decided to use his life to help those needy and remain unmarried….so please shailja when we meet him please don’t ask him any question that could hurt him….ok now shall we go to sleep…..”

Shailja thought how weird few people are in this world one is her sister who was living in dream world and this Manthan crazy guy still living with illusion ….while thinking when did she drift into deep slumber she did not realise.

She might have sleepless night only if she would have read one more page in her sister’s diary because her Nimmidi had written something like this……

25/6/92

“Today he came to my house with his friend. I was puzzled by his sudden visit to me because it had never happened before and I never thought it could happen. However, he told me that , he wanted to say goodbye before going to Ahmedabad forever as he has gotten admission there in medical college and his father also took transfer in same city so he won’t be coming to my city and therefore we never know when will we meet in future or whether we will meet or not. That’s why before going he wanted to meet his friends.

I tried to read his expression; I tried to search line of sorrow but could not find any because he maintained very strange kind of smile on his face throughout his visit. I think it was only my imagination and infatuations towards him but now things are very clear that he is only very good classmate whom I might not meet in future…whatever it is I always wish Manthan get all success and happiness in his life. And now this chapter is closed forever.”

Walnut cake

2011-04-17T04:34:00.000-07:00

Thanks: First of all I would like to thank my friend Sudha for giving me this recipe. I have used my expertise and did some changes in the original recipe.

Buying Tip : Only for those who are living in Singapore. If you don't care about saving money and have no desire to explore another side of Singapore no worries just go to any grocery market and buy walnuts.

However, you are like me then I suggest try to visit those Dry goods Wholesale markets where you can buy dried prunes(aasam), nuts, sweets, candies, dried sea food at best prices. One is located at 3rd floor, block 270, Albert centre, exactly behind Fu Lu shou Building.

For techno savvy friends here is map block 270, Albert centre

You can buy half kg walnut at $9..and you will have experience to explore such markets..but

beware this market has dried sea food's smell so if you are very sophisticated and hate any kind of smells then stay away from those kind of places.

Now At last Recipe Time

Ingredients:

160gm   : Sugar ( normal sugar )
45gm   : Butter ( unsalted If possible)
70 ml   : Milk ( preferably room temperature if not then heat it for 20 second in microwave)

120 gm : Self raising flour ( I prefer using self raising flour for cake because it's my experience mixing baking powder into plain or all purpose flour sometimes messed up things because if your baking power is old and you are not aware of its power your all efforts will be wasted and you will end up feeling disappointed and discouraged. )

2 medium eggs room temperature
90 gm crushed walnut
1 tsp Vanilla essence

Now Time for assemble everything:

Preheat oven at 180'c .
Grease your baking tray. ( or like me use baking paper or butter paper your cake will never stick to baking tray at least that part is secure and hassle free)
In one big bowl mix Butter and Sugar and beat for at least minute until they are mix well. ( be careful otherwise all sugar will fly out the bowl if bowl is small)
Add eggs one egg at a time and beat well after each addition and keep beating this mixture till its light and fluffy it might take around 4 to 5 minutes depends what kind of beater you are using.
Add Vanilla essence into the mixture and mix well.
Add shifted self raising flour to this creamed mixture.
Slowly start adding milk little by little while folding flour into creamed mixture.
Once flour and milk is very well mix in creamed mixture then add crushed walnut and stir well.
Pour this batter into greased baking tray and bake it for around 20 to 25 minutes on 180'c temperature. ( time depends on your oven so keep checking otherwise burnt cake )
Once it is done remove from over and let it cool for at least 10 minutes before removing from baking tray. ( before removing from baking tray run spatula through sides if you are not using baking paper)

and now if cakes has turn out perfect then enjoy it....if you follow all instruction properly i think your cake will turn out the way you have wished it.

Few Variation : with same recipe you can experiment and can bake various different cakes... as i have tried few given below ...

instead of 90gm walnut use half almond and half walnut.
If you want little chocolate flavour then add 1 and half tbsp unsweetened chocolate powder in flour.
If you want coffee walnut cake then add 1tsp coffee powder into milk and mix well.
If you like more walnut you can add around 120 to 140gm walnut instead of 90 gm walnut..

In short don't hesitate and experiment and trust yourself and if you try something different please share with us so we can also enjoy new flavour

Could not stop myself to give few advices to those amateur baker like me....( as i have learned very hard way after wasting lots of time and money , though i am still learning and not master in baking so can understand amateur baker's plight that's why sharing few my experiences)

My advice :

If you are very much amateur in cooking and baking most important thing when you are experimenting any kind of new recipe, please do so when you are away from all those expertise comments and advices, because those advices can disturb your concentration and spoil your dish.
First prepare all the ingredients according to their measurements.
And do not fear to experiment and to try new recipe in cooking because all dishes are result of experiments only.

The incident related to first time baking:

My sister was the only daring person in our family who was never afraid to try any new dish. Even though all the first experiment turns out disaster. She never stopped trying out new stuff, even today also.

This incident happened when I was around 13 or 14 years old and it was my birthday. Like always this time my sister took initiative to bake cake. Even though she was amateur cook that time. If i remember clearly in our entire family no one has ever baked any cake, so my sister was the first one to try something call event for all of us.

She penned down the recipe given in a weekly paper and collected all the ingredi

ent.I vividly remember that time we did not have oven at our house so we were supposed to use our neighbour's oven ( that they also did not know how to use) and she beat the mixture with hands following mono direction movement advised in recipe.

we all kids watching her with awe and excitement. We all were so happy and was unable to control our excitement.

Once everything was ready and she poured mixture into baking tray, we went to our neighbour's house and she kept the baking tray in oven. We all kids were watching cake through oven and jumping with excitement watching cake rising in size. It was like event for all of us.

Suddenly my sister announced now its time to check whether cake is done or not....still we all gathered around her and watching her, She was struggling how to check cake was done or not, because she was unaware of the trick to insert toothpick or knife through cake to check cake and if it comes out clear that means your cake is done.

She decided to turn over cake on plate and see if it is done or not. And here follow the disaster, when she turned the cake in plate it came out very nicely but she felt cake was still uncooked from bottom so she has to keep it again in oven for some more time. But now the question was how to put that cake back into the oven. She tried various ways but nothing worked out. We all kids who were little tense seeing turn of events started giving her ideas. we told her to keep that plate into the oven but to our bad luck that plate made by the material that cannot use in the oven...after few failed try in the end that cake was broken in pieces and crumbles.

My sister was disappointed seeing her all efforts shattered into pieces in front of her....but we kids were still hopeful and had respect for our sister so we consoled her saying not to dishearten as most important is taste and this broken cake still taste yummy so we will finish it up that way...

Seeing our enthusiasm and hope she was consoled and on my that birthday I cut that crumbled cake that had taste of my sister's affection and effort and still could not forget that taste.

Destiny: written with black ink.

2011-04-13T19:44:00.000-07:00

“Bungalow 10, Ram Krishna society, Khar west,” Kshiti ordered her driver. The driver stared at his madam in bewilderment.

“Didn’t you hear what I said? Now hurry up” Kshiti said irritably.
This was the first time in the last six months he saw his madam restless and desperate to reach somewhere other than her office.

Dumbfounded, the driver was about to ignite the engine when the guard came running and delivered a letter to Kshiti. She took it and nonchalantly kept it in her purse.

While the car was zooming towards its destination, a thousand thoughts raced through her mind. She felt strange and awkward sensing her curiosity for some unknown person whom she had watched only from her balcony.

Kshiti still remembered her first day in this new city; she had been enjoying her evening tea, while admiring setting sun, from her balcony that faced the Juhu beach directly and at that time, the beach was bustling with vendors and people.

While watching the strange faces, her eyes fell on a little boy crying bitterly. Suddenly, a man who seemed to be in his 50s came towards the boy and started cheering him up. Curious, her eyes followed that man. Kshiti realised that this man, whom she later named Santa, helped poor kids and played with them.

After that day it became Kshiti’s routine to come home from the office and enjoy her tea while watching Santa entertaining the kids.

There was something in Santa’s personality that enchanted her. She did not realise watching Santa had become her addiction until last Monday, when he did not turn up. She paced her balcony the entire evening; her eyes searching for him frantically. When he did not turn up for six days consecutively, she got extremely worked up. It was inexplicable why her thoughts kept diverting towards him.

She went towards the beach. Clueless and unable to figure out what to do next, she looked around. She decided to ask those poor kids. After inquiring around, she found out Santa’s whereabouts.

Out of concern, she decided to go to Santa's house. However, she was clueless as to how she would introduce herself to him. Something was pulling her towards him. She laughed at her foolishness, because she had never felt that way for anyone, especially for any man. She had always hated men; for her, all men are cheaters and heartless creatures.

Past memories filled her mind with bitterness. Her eyes darkened with anger. Her mother, Dharaa’s face, which she had only seen in photographs throughout her life, flickered in front of her eyes.

What had been Mother’s fault? Only that she truly loved a heartless and selfish person? The moment that fraud realised he had a brighter future elsewhere, he ditched her pregnant mother. For her devotional and pure love she was rewarded by betrayal.

Kshiti still remembered that night vividly, watching her classmates enjoying with their parents on Parents Day. She had cried bitterly and insisted her grandfather to tell her about her parents.

Upon her insistence her grandfather told her that her father only cared for his career. For him Dharaa was only time-pass. The moment his purpose had been served, he discarded her like used tissue paper. He had never wanted any kind of responsibility in his life and had no intention to marry Dharaa. The moment he was informed about Dharaa’s pregnancy and was forced to marry her, he left the country.

Dharaa could not recover from shock; she slid into deep depression and lost the zeal to live. Dharaa was living only to give birth to Kshiti because she died right after her birth.

Kshiti could never forgive the man who destroyed her and her mother’s life. The flame of hatred kept burning within her. Her abhorrence and hatred had shaped her as an angry and lonely young lady. Her disquiet mind had not found any peace until her eyes fell on Santa. Strangely, that was the only thing giving her troubled mind some ease.

Kshiti pulled out of her thoughts when the car screeched to a sudden halt. She saw a large crowd gathered near the bungalow, giving the impression of mourning.

Hesitantly, she stepped out of the car. She looked around for help and was about to approach someone when she heard them talking about the dead person whose name was Akash.
“He did not have any family member, and though he was surrounded by many orphans and aged people, he was very lonely”.

“Throughout his life he kept searching for the woman whom he loved deeply. Akash wanted to marry her but that girl’s father stipulated that unless Akash goes to the USA and earns enough to support his family, in addition to severing contacts with that girl during that time, he cannot marry that girl. However, upon his return he learned that he had been betrayed and both father and daughter had disappeared. He looked for them everywhere only to find that the girl died after giving birth to a girl. Akash believed the baby was his daughter. Since then, he tried all possible means to get a glimpse of his daughter. Last week he had found out her whereabouts, but met with an accident on the way. He was struggling for his life only to see his daughter. His lawyer sent a letter to that girl but so far no one has arrived.”

Kshiti, on hearing this, felt a lump grow in her throat and her eyes turned moist. Sensing her presence, the group cast a curious glance at her, just as her eyes fell on two photos, dead person’s photo and…. She froze, and felt her chest tighten.
The dead person was her Santa, and the woman in the other photograph was …….
Instinctively, her hand reached into the compartment of her purse where she had stuffed the letter while rushing here……………

Written by ME....

Journey of Dream

2011-04-13T19:30:00.001-07:00

Dream, sometimes visualisation of buried desire and sometimes fuel for the ambitious mind to fulfil those desire.Sometimes by forcing their unfulfilled dreams on others they make other people's life miserable .
For few handful, fulfilling dream is like sipping gulp of water from glass of water while for few unlucky its like digging water well in desert land.

This journey of dream start from the very small town of india where two friends used dream about their wonderful life, chirping like bird and flowing like water fall.

Both love to dance and their inspiration was Madhuri dixit.
one day they were watching some dancing talent show on TV and they were so much motivated by that , that they decided to take part in that competition and that could give them acknowledgment and chance to meet their inspiration...but they knew to take part in that show they need to learn dancing. with lots of dream in their eyes and happiness in their heart they went to their parents to talk about their desire to learn dancing....

but everyone does not get anything they desire , that easily....Sugandhi's parents refuse to let her learn dancing while her friend mohini's parents are so supportive that they had no problem in mohini learning dance.

sugandhi belongs to very conservative and dominating family,and his father's sole dream was sugandhi concentrate on study, while mohini belongs to very supportive and broad minded family.

sugandhi was shattered and broken heart by this because her dream has been brutally buried under her parents dream. mohini supported her and gave strength that she will learn dancing for both of them and whenever she has time she will teach to sugandhi.

couple of years pass by .....teacher announcde in school that they have interschool group dance competition...mohini took part where sugandhi could not take part knowing his father's fierce nature she took satisfaction that she will learn dance steps from mohini.

but as destiny has to play some game she always takes chance upon this kind of situation....competition day was very nearby and mohini fell down during practice and fractured her leg...teacher was in dispair who will replace mohin at this critical time. it was impossible to train new girl so mohini suggested sugandhi's name....sugandhi was hesitant but teacher promise that no body from her house will come to know about it as they have to perform in another town and its group dance so she will only tell her parents that you are going for educational trip....after so much persuasion
and mohini's request to live mohini's dream for once sugandhi could not refuse ...

but the thing she did not know that there was suprise prize distribution for the dancer of the competition ....Sugandhi comes back with trophy in hand and lost in dillemma whether to share this happy news with her parents or not....clinging to the trophy.,..but the moment she entered her house to her horror her photo was in news paper and her dad was boiling with anger.....sugandhi's father ruthlessly threw that trophy on floor and it was broken in pieces like sugandhi's dream...she was beaten by her father and that left very deep impact on sugandhi who could not dance after that....

meanwhile sugandhi and mohini has been seperated because mohini had to leave town because of her father's transfer...

season's passed by one after another festival went by and now sugandhi is grown up girl...in friends wedding all girls were dancing while sugandhi was the only one who was satisfied watching them, however, when her friends pulled her for dancing...her mother misunderstood her for dancing and decided to marry her off...and to their good luck they got very good alliance from singapore...boy was educated, self made and well mannered....

sugandhi is now with her husband in singapore world something very diffierent...her husband completely opposite to her parents very modern love to go to parties, love western dance, western music, everything was different for sugandhi....

she was feeling restless when her husband requested her to dance with him like ballroom dancing and all party dancing...she was never introduced to western food and now she was struggling to eat westernfood with spoon fork and chopstickes....
her husband was very supportive and co-operative and very understanding so giving time to sugandhi to change...

Meanwhile where sugandhi was trying hard to settle in new life, God gave her the greatest gift in form of her daughter. her entire world started revolving around her daughter....her dream buried deep somewhere ...

but those dream resurfaced when her 9 year daughter won some dance competition in her school...those unfulfilled dream of learning dance has taken different "Swaroop"...now the desire has started to bloom , she wanted her daughter to learn indian classical dance....because sugandhi always believed that western dance are nothing compare to indian dance...

but same time her dauther urja has her own dream ...dream of learning ballet ...but urja has to buried her dream in front of her mother's force but she was girl of new generation and has her own way to make other people listen to her...though she was attending classes but reluctantly and not taking initiative to learn anything so end result after two years her mother was tired and lost and gave up....after huge arguement...

one day urja saw her mother crying ....one broken trophy was next to her and one magazine was lying open there...when her mother was not around she sneaked into her room and saw that magazine and it was cover story of some dancer name mohini from india...urja read and decided to investigate in that matter she wrote mail to mohini whose email address was given...after few mails urja came to know her mother's yearning and craving from mohini who was equally ecstatic to learn about her lost friend....

her daughter decided to talk with her mom and took some decission...she told her mom that she is ready to learn classical indian dance only if her mother also start learning it....sugandhi was bewildered but in end she agreed to do so....

Sugandhi's father who was witnessing the turn of events could not stop himself when he saw fainted lines of sorrow on urja's face. He decided to talk with sugandhi he told her that....her dream was buried under her father's dream and now she was doing same thing with her own daughter by overlooking where urja's happiness lies....sugandhi was forcing her dream on urja....sugandhi realised her mistake and told her daughter she will learn classical dance only on one condition if urja learns ballet....all were happy with the turn out....

story does not end here....urja knew about her mother's dream to perform in that tv show....that show was still running on leading TV channel and to her happiness one day she saw adevertisement for audition for that show but this time.....international dancing mom contest...urja behalf of her mom sent registration and they got audition call....sugandhi was apprehensive but after lots of explantion she decided atleast to try for audition for her daugher's happiness...

she was selected at contestant in dance competition...but she was uncomfortable that she has to perform western dance too, where she has to dance with other man but her husband explain its just profession and whenever she feels uncomfortable she can envision that man as him then she will feel comfortable and confident....

dance competition start....sugandhi is winning all level and she is in semifinal .....she has to perform couple dance and she did it well...for finale....she has hidden wish that her father comes and give her blessing and express his pride in her...urja called her grandpa and talk with them and to give sugandhi surprise she call them....sugandhi is very happy to see her parents there ....and seeing pride for her ....she felt she had won wntire world...her friend mohini was also there and to add icing in the cake judge of the finale was none other than madhuri dixit...

no need to say that she won the competition...and that's become journey of her dream...
not only her dream everyone's dream...
PS: another small try from me...over look mistakes..