Silence sings..........

Book Review: Kabir - An Inward Journey By Smita Tiwari

noreply@blogger.com (Silence Sings) — Mon, 29 Jan 2024 17:19:00 +0000

Title: Kabir - An Inward Journey

Author: Smita Tiwari

Published by: Blue Pencil, 2023

Price: Rs. 349

Pages: 192

Rating: 4/5

The blurb reads-

“Kabir — An Inward Journey weaves a soulful tale of Kabir, a young wanderer grappling with grief in the mystical land of India. Inspired by the verses of Sant Kabir Das, he embarks on an introspective odyssey, seeking solace and self-discovery. His physical and spiritual journey through the villages, towns, and cities of India culminates in a reunion that celebrates renunciation, acceptance, enlightenment, and the enduring power of love.”

As the title implies, Kabir - An Inward Journey by Sweta Tiwari is a tormenting, yet riveting journey of a boy, that transcends its brevity to offer a profound exploration of survival and learning. The narrative gracefully shifts focus from the voids of maternal influence to Kabir’s challenges and triumphs, emphasising the universal theme of individual growth within supportive shells. The story starts, when the boy Kabir at the tender age of eight, is happily nestled with his nuclear family of four in a small house in one of the happy lanes of Kashi. Over sensitive and spiritually awestruck with the verses of Sant Kabir Das, Kabir’s observation towards life is prodigious. As his life progresses and his most loved ones wane off, Kabir’s antithetic soul compels him to choose a path of his own and create his own story. The deaths of mothers represent the symbolic significance of conveying the characters’ maladjusted emotions and the challenges they face. The importance of a woman in life, whether she is a mother, wife, daughter, or lover, is very significant and draws a fine line throughout the story till the end. Each struggling phase of Kabir as the story progresses, keeps on introducing characters who are none but blessings in disguise.

Meeting with Alvin, who is devastated after the demise of his mother, stirs all of Kabir’s emotions to resonate with what he has gone through. Alvin slowly replaces the void of Kabir’s brother who was once the most loved one in Kabir’s life. But fate departed them in two different directions to curve their journeys and write their own stories. Even “Sir” enters Kabir’s life as the father figure - the father whom Kabir has left alone in the distant village where they had forcefully shifted to and settled after the demise of his grandfather. A room full of books turns out to be the best friend to Kabir, who leaves his schooling midway and his home, to face the unseen challenges of life when his grandmother constantly keeps on pressurising his father to remarry after Kabir’s mother succumbs to the struggles of the rural life. Each character in the novel incorporates subtle yet powerful symbols, including the dreams that often haunt Kabir, his sixth sense that indicates an omen, and the piece of cloth that he carries from the first day he left his first home in Kashi with his family. This piece of cloth has a very strong significance in Kabir’s life as it holds all his emotional attachment to his family, mainly his mother. Life is unpredictable, and Kabir fathoms this harsh truth at a very early age. The most precious part of the book is the feeling of love that glorifies Kabir’s life after meeting Mehreen. Every love story is not meant to end happily ever after, but the real essence stands in how the feeling platonically travels in the hearts -- the author marveled at it, here.

Smita Tiwari’s intricate detailing and illustrious flow of writing, give the readers a picturesque view that artfully weaves together. Her command over the language and vast knowledge of vocabulary are immensely praiseworthy. Though at times, repeating the same kind of events slows down the pace of reading, in no time, it engages the reader again with her flawless writing skill. Smita, very skilfully and parallelly, interweaves the verse of Sant Kabir Das with the journey of Kabir, uplifting the genre of the book to a spiritual and rhetorical piece that keeps on guiding the righteous path of life. Thus the novel Kabir, as it says -- 'an inward journey' -- as it truly justifies, is not only a journey but a realisation of how the struggles and experiences of life lead to growth and maturity.

Book Review: Last Queen by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

noreply@blogger.com (Silence Sings) — Tue, 02 Feb 2021 13:54:00 +0000

Title: Last Quees

Author: Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

Published by: HarperColiins Publishers, 2021

Price: Rs. 599

Pages: 351

Rate: 4/5

Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni needs no introduction. Since she has started to write in the different genres of delving deep into the mythology and historical events, crafting her novels splendidly, she has uplifted herself to a different realm. The female voices from the epics and histories, come to your drawing room to share their stories as if they are one of you. Where it is Sita, Droupadi or Jindan Kaur, they become alive again, their stories breathing with you, their journeys become intertwined with your emotions and you hypnotically meander through the fictions. “Last Queen” does its justice, glorifying the story of the lost queen, Jindan Kaur, whose story is not only buried under the tattered pages of history but also many of us are totally ignorant.

Maharaja Ranjit Singh is one of the childhood heroes whose heroic attainments still engrave the heart with honour and pride. The heroic saga keeps on stirring up all the emotions and compels to bow down to patriotism. But never thought to get a chance to read the life story of his, where the other side of his character would move you in wonder. Apart from having several wives, concubines, he ended up in love with head over heels with Jindan Kaur, the last wife of Ranjit Singh, from a lower birth. A girl - determined, innocent, matured beyond her age, made the king a seer to foresee a queen in being. And destiny incidentally awarded her the ‘Messalina of Punjab’ - Rani Jindan Kaur.

The novel can be divided into three phases of Jindan Kaur’s life. The first half of the novel portrays Maharaja falling in love with the daughter of his dog-keeper. How a sixteen year old girl mesmerises the King with her simple innocent and quick witted personality and the double aged Sarkar determines to marry her. But a life of a king is crafted with betrayals, treachery, conspiracies, rivalries et al. Jindan Kaur’s marriage to the king paved her path as challenging as life threatening too. But her wit and the King’s love wane off the hurdles on her way. But happiness is very short lived for her as the old king died just after their son turned 10 months old. With the death of the king the world becomes upside down and Jindan Kaur has to flee away with her son. The second phase started with the spine chilling incidents followed by each other and consequently Jindan Kaur has to return back to take over the control over the throne. Coming out of the veil, revolting against the ‘Zenana’ culture where women are tabooed to step in a man’s shoe, Rani Jindan Kaur stands tall with the last heir, her son Dalip Singh, a mere six year old to rule over Punjab. But few of her decisions and betrayals from her loved ones, forced her to lose everything and estranged her son to exile. A destitute Jindan Kaur’s suffering continues. The third phase exposits how she becomes the fear to the British, a tigress to fight for her country and how she reconciles with her son after fourteen long years.

'Last Queen’ is not just simply a fiction to travel through the history of the 18th Century but how a girl from a small village with an innocent childhood became a queen of Punjab and then a rebel to fight against all the odds and the British. Her formidable character shook the British emperor for a while, to treacherously defeat her and send her to imprisonment. After finishing the book all the emotions got ignited and the eyes welled up. 'Last Queen' baffled me with the articulation of recounting the events so skilfully and adding Jindan as a part of our life. Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni definitely added another masterpiece to her creative list and gifted us to adorn our bookshelves.

Book Review - Made in China by Parinda Joshi

noreply@blogger.com (Silence Sings) — Wed, 11 Dec 2019 04:49:00 +0000

Title: Made in China

Author: Parinda Joshi

Published by: HarperColiins Publishers, 2019

Price: Rs. 250

Pages: 306

Rate: 4/5

The Blurb speaks:

“Raghu Mehta is a desperate man. His handicraft imports business has unexpectedly collapsed and cash is drying out quickly, his wife thinks he is a loser and society considers him irrelevant. Meanwhile, his closest friends and family all seem to be running flourishing businesses and living luxurious lives in Surat, the diamond capital of India.

A trip to China to scout for a new consumer goods business offers a glimmer of hope. But Raghu instead gets sucked into the black-market trade in the back alleys of Beijing. Everything about this new opportunity goes against his god-fearing, vegetarian, middle-class mindset - can he quash his natural instincts to make a success of it?

Darkly comical, 'Made in China' is a soul-stirring and thrilling entrepreneurial journey of a man willing to do anything he can to make it big.”

The book starts with a dream sequence reciting the typical aspiring middle class people to dream big. The dream is described in such a manner that the protagonist, dashing Raghu in a tweak will own the heart as an established, famous and wealthy businessman. But it’s just a dream. And the dream too doen’t miss the typical male chauvinist insecurity to see his wife with another person. The portrayal of Raghu’s character from the beginning to end is sketched with subtle attainment. Mainly when you have Rajkumar Rao in your mind who played the role of Raghu in the movie Made in China after this book, the character comes out too lively. Raghu, a middleclass Gujarati businessman suddenly get doomed to his ongoing business and then incidentally landed up in China to start afresh a new way to earn money, a new way to give a kick start to a new business. Business is flowing in his blood and being a true blue entrepreneur Raghu always looks positive to choose the path of being a successful businessman any time soon. The struggling journey of Raghu continues with ups and downs painting some hilarious incidents through out the book. Whether Raghu will turn out as a renowned wealthy businessman or not, the readers have to finish the book. The suspense shouldn’t be broken at any cost. The story of Raghu’s struggle floats with a gripping thrill, where the writer meticulously described how Raghu reached China and his experiences over there then back to India with a new aspiring dream. Few hilarious moments would bring tears in your eyes. Like - being a hard-core vegetarian, Raghu is served with the typical non-veg Chinese food that is also when his hunger pangs almost thrust him to starve to death. Thinking in mind the dishes like gobi manchurian or fried rice are going to be served, his encounter with rattlesnake or baby cobra’s heart is thoroughly rib-tickling.

Parinda has described the dungy lanes and the lifestyles of China in such a manner that one will literally feel walking as a shadow of Raghu. Though the elements of comedy is fully tried to be incorporated, keeping in mind the genre Dark Comedy, Parinda to some extent failed to create the magic. The characterisation of each role portrayed vey soundly. One will always feel like meeting them in person, not as a character from the novel. Even the description of the places where so well described that it intends the reader to visualise as if being there. Being a budding script write Parinda Joshi did a praiseworthy job. The grip in the writing skill and usage of a vast arena of vocabularies call for an applause. Hope the movie will do the justice to the book.

Book review: Meant to be Together by Faraaz Kazi

noreply@blogger.com (Silence Sings) — Tue, 25 Jun 2019 11:16:00 +0000

Title: Meant to be Together

Author: Faraaz Kazi

Published by: Srishti publishers & Distributors, 2019

Price: Rs. 195

Pages: 218

Rate: 4/5

The Blurb says:

“Preeti Thaker moves to Mumbai to run away from herself, to put behind a painful childhood, plagued adolescent years and the recent death of her only support system – her brother. She is on the verge of ending it all, succumbing to her depression, when the doorbell rings. Little does she know that answering it will change her life forever! The guy on the other end of the door will offer her solutions to all her problems, but in the process, she will end up losing the only thing she had never lost till date – her heart!

Inspired by the true story of an artist who found that love was the only colour missing from the palette of her life, 'Meant to be Together' is a tale of love, friendship, courage, determination and above all, hope. Hope that makes us look for the rainbow when it rains and for the stars when it is dark.”

Book covers attract me first then the blurb on the back. The fascinating book covers instigate my creative thought process to accumulate all the imaginary components to reckon the storyline. When Faraaz extended the blurb of ‘Meant to be Together’ with a request if I could review the book, my reply was affirmative as I liked the story line. Honestly the book cover didn’t reach my expectation ( as the cover tuned to me cinematic) but the story did.

Preeti Arora, the protagonist had a challenging childhood. Preeti’s childhood projected in front of me the thousands of girls who had complications and that suffering led to psychological trauma. But few turns Lucky like Preeti to get a super supportive brother to pull her up, fearing off her woes to boon. But Preeti’s tragedy struck fate turned out to be too cruel when it took away Preeti’s most favourite and loved person, her brother. From her childhood Preeti loved to pour her heart out to her paintings. The colours on the canvases were her soul friends who silently bore all the secret stories, the stream of thoughts and her sufferings. Those were not mere paintings but each cried out the inner agony of Preeti. Being a financially Independent lady she had chosen to lead an independent life style staying alone, confining all the paintings rather her secret talent only in the bedroom. But suddenly like a dream one day a magician entered in her life who gradually started to change her life with the colours which were totally throttled in her paintings but not in her life. Sameer Arora, the hero, remained the rain man unless he himself fell in love with Preeti head over heals and Preeti too. But this love story didn’t turn out that easy as it looked like. The love story of the duo was articulated in such a way that one would drawn him/herself in the stream of emotional upheaval. Sameer’s appearance with the gang of his friends injected the life that was totally missing in the lifeless life of Preeti. The fun that she had missed in her college days almost returned back. Sameer’s extreme jovial nature, for a moment, didn’t let anyone feel the pain he had gone through, only one would keep on speculating - was Sameer hiding something!! It has a rhythm to flow you down till the end and then let you take a breath. One need to wait till end to know if the duo will become one soul or not.

I found a very interesting point after finishing the book. Though the storyline and the book cover project to a mere love story, that has two love birds with differences. But ironically it spreads the truth of life. Preeti and Sameer are the epitomes of life. One shows the pessimistic side of life that dejected people to live in hell and the other one always tries to spread happiness around him suppressing all his grief. This philosophical aspect of life skilfully penned down by Faraaz. Even the epilogue at the end was quite new to me how the writer brought himslef as a character to give the stroy a more realistic look. His accomplished flare of writing skill and the dramatic aura of the book will surely hook his readers to keep on reading till it ends. Faraaz Kazi who is known as ‘ the Nicholas Sparks of India’, fascinatingly ended up his truly romantic novel – Meant to be Together.

Review: Amritsari Express

noreply@blogger.com (Silence Sings) — Mon, 04 Feb 2019 05:19:00 +0000

Address: Amritsari Express
South City Mall,
375Prince Anwar Shah Road
Kolkata

One of the most perquisite advantages that the modern era offers us is a Shopping Mall – a place to live up to a shopper’s dream to indulge in an exquisite utopia. Apart from exhibiting the renowned fashion brand chains and bringing the bare necessary living essentials under one roof, the main attraction is always the junctions where the food meets the foodies. The Food court is proliferating with high demand as this one place brings up the flavours from different region, encompassing a diverse array of cultures, countries and cuisines. Recently, after almost a decade, the food court of South City Mall, Kolkata, is refurbished and reopened with new offerings.

Chur Chur Parantha with Dal Makhani and Onion Salad

It’s been just a month and half that not all but few food stalls in the Food Court of South City Mall, Kolkata, have opened. Apart from the well known food joint chains, few stalls strive to partake the regional cuisine of India. One such is Amritsari Express. As the name suggests, there is no need to explain what cuisine is on offer. They vouch to bring on plate the authentic Punjabi flavours picking up the most praised dishes that a Punjabi cuisine is respected for. The menu offers a plethora of pure vegetarian varieties of Paranthas/ Stuffed Paranthas with lip-smacking sides, Naan and Kulcha platters, Biriyani and rice combos, Flavoured lassis and many more.

Paneer Kulcha

The dishes, we tried, were Chur Chur Parantha along with Dal Makhani and Onion Salad, Aloo PyaNj Kulcha with Rajama Curry and Onion Salad and Paneer Kulcha with Butter paneer and salad. The ghee slathered Paranthas/Kulchas are well made, very filling, well stuffed and tasty. The curries were silky smooth which were drown out by the flavours of nose prickling aroma. It flooded all my senses with heady froth of perfect blending of all spices that a Punjabi dish called for.

Here I should correct myself a bit. When people question about the authentic taste of a dish belongs to a particular cuisine, it becomes too judgmental. Like here, I have never been to Punjab or can’t vouch that I know exactly how authentically a Punjabi Dal Makhani or Rajma curry should taste. But I really rely on my sensual coherence that has already cooked up the dish in my mind with all the experiences, I have gathered so far. And if my taste bud approves, my heart smiles back with satiation. Here the dishes from Amritsari Express have made no exception. Really enjoyed their food which are perfect pinch to value money.

Specially to mention about their flavoured Lassis. Five types of chilled Lassis were served - Mango Lassi, Kesar Lassi, Strawberry Lassi, Rose Lassi and Sweet Lassi. It is so difficult to mention which one tasted better than the other. All were equally tasted good and won over my quenched soul - thick and perfectly balanced.

Happy to mention that Kolkata has one more destination to head ahead to enjoy pure vegetarian Punjabi meal. Food Plazas or Food courts always stay near to my heart. This is one place that you will never get bored trying out the same menu. So many food stalls with so many varieties, will always keep your taste bud changing. A place to succumb yourself with your near ones and let the flavours to seduce you.
Happy Eating and Happy Blogging.

[Disclaimer: This is not a paid review but an invited on. Whatever experience got plated was served honestly.]

Book review: Bestseller by Ahmed Faiyaz

noreply@blogger.com (Silence Sings) — Wed, 16 Jan 2019 04:15:00 +0000

Title: Bestseller

Author: Ahmed Faiyaz

Published by: Rupa Publications India Pvt. Ltd 2018

Price: Rs. 295

Pages: 190

Rate: 4/5

It took me a while to reconcile that the novel itself was called “Bestseller”. First the title and then the blurb made me more inquisitive to swallow down the pages. A story revolving around the Publishing house Kalim, seaming a bunch of captivating characters, was so well narrated and portrayed that compelled me to finish the book at one go.

The blurb reads:

“Akshay Saxena, an out of work editor of a defunct literary magazine in the UK, is told to move to India for a year to help shore up the value of Kalim, an ailing Indian publisher. Akshay finds himself in a job where he has to do the impossible. Angus Lee, the new owner of Thomson Lee Books, wants at least five bestsellers in the coming year, failing which the business would be wound up. He has to find a way of making a success out of books he would never publish or would never even read. To complicate things further, he has to contend with motley crew of has-beens and misfits working for the publishing house as well as wannabe writers, dealing with their follies and derisive tactics, and battle his own affections for Zorah Kalim, the impulsive daughter of his former boss. Will he succeed in bringing out that one ‘bestseller’ from his publishing house? And what about his own life and love in office? Find out in this riveting read. ”

Bestseller in simple term was the story of Akshay Mathur’s struggle to sustain with the protocol of the moribund publishing house and his own code of conducts. The time span of 367 days stated how a sinking publishing house restored to a summit that actually called success. I found two protagonists who eventually and parallelly faced the same fate – Akshay Mathur and the Publishing house Kalim. Both of their lives were compromised, burdened and dimming. Akshay was deep in debt and sneaked an escape from UK to look for a better life in Kalim – the publishing house in India. His past story did not gloriously scream but told that he was a divorcee. His honest approach towards an editorial’s job was in stake, all beamed up in the novel to raise a question in the minds of the reader- what future was waiting for Akhshay and the publishing house. On the other hand the Publishing House Kalim was almost on the verge of closing down. How Akshay and the Publishing House Kalim unwantedly tied up their future with the prim and pompously glittered world of celebrities highlighting their lifestyle, played a crucial role here. Fake and false fame was actually the other side of the picture that often success is mistaken to – Ahmed sarcastically and humorously presented it in novel. It was a captivating story that heralded to engage its reader without taking any break. The characters were portrayed in such a skilful manner that they came almost alive as the story developed. The relationship between Zorah (Daughter of Iqbal Kalim, the founder of Kalim publishing house) and Akshay started with a quick note where the hunger of the body spoke first but then it ended up in a true love story. All the characters – Sita, Tarun, Anya Malik, Roshan Khan, Angus Lee, Mr. Samuel, would make you feel that they live in your neighbourhood and you met them on and off.

I must appreciate the simple colourful and interesting book cover that might attract the readers at fist glance. A publishing house or an editor’s job always looks luring and coveting. But we hardly get a glimpse of the inside story of these places. The pressure, the politics, the fame game everything was narrated in this book with minute detail. While reading the book I almost became a part of the lives of Kalim. Ahmed’s writing skill is utterly commendable for the easy and simple flowing language. He knows how to hold a grip to keep thoroughly engage his readers from the beginning till the end. The book really didn’t fail me except one error. In the book it was mentioned that Tamas was written by Bapsi Sidwa where Tamas was written by Bhishm Sahni. Coming back after 6 years, Ahmed Faiyaz truely won the heart of the readers once again and did a commendable job I must say.

Book review : Saudade by Shreen Vaid

noreply@blogger.com (Silence Sings) — Tue, 04 Dec 2018 17:18:00 +0000

“ There’s a word that we Brazilians love to use to convey raw emotions, feelings such as those that resonate in the depths of my being right now – Saudade, english doesn’t actually have a correct interpretation of it. And before anyone misinterprets it as a simple ‘ miss you’, let me tell you that it’s much more than that. It is a bitter-sweet feeling – bitter for missing someone and sweet for the happiness and gratitude for having experienced their love. It describes your experience of Sahir’s absence in every moment of your life since his demise. Saudade is a recognition of all the emotions he brought out in you, calling you to live by his example. The closet explanation in English is perhaps ‘ the love that remains. ‘ “

Saudade By Shreen Vaid (Page : 141)

The novel Saudade is a portrayal of an intense feeling of loss and then how the protagonists win over the purgatory feeling to celebrate the bond of love. It is a story of intensified love and bonding between the siblings and the exultation of true friendship. The book starts with a strong emotional upheaval of Samarah who is trying to keep a balance between the upbringing of an almost 4 years old Dhiraj and her afflictive process of coping with her sorrow. Saudade is a gripping story that slowly unfolds the relationships in-between the characters. The relationship between Samarah, Ahil, Sahir and Dhiraj opens up with synchronisation. Every page will keep you baffled with the sentimental ups and downs that might tear one’s heart with a deep hollow of melancholy. The main harmony of the book is the suspense to know more about the characters, the relationship they share with each other and the facts which lead to endless speculations. It actually works as a wonder to engage the readers to flip through the pages. Love, hate, anger can all build up from a feeling of loss, can make people shattered from the every corner of life and can push to an edge from where one can’t find out a way to return back. Unless one day, an angel appears in a disguise of a friend from the pages of past memory and works as a catalyst to show the true faces and a streak of hope that makes one to regain the strength to live and to live for others. The real hero of the novel is actually Thiago Dantas who is a very well balanced, sensitive, matured person who knows how to tackle a worst situation. He is the one who has changed the meandering way of the story to an enlightened way. Someone might not like the too much emotionally shattered character of Samarah the protagonist or the agony of Ahil that turned him into a heartless giant. But to be more in life this actually happens and people wait for miracles to step back to the normal life that they urge for ages.

Shreen Vaid’s valiant writing skill will touch the heart of the readers. The novel is actually a portrayal of the psychological melancholy with its negative and positive sides. It is a story about loss and gain. It is a story of dispersing and then uniting again. Strong and a well gripped writing skill of the writer made it a successful debut novel.

Book Review : Ambling Indian diaries by Aina Rao

noreply@blogger.com (Silence Sings) — Wed, 21 Nov 2018 03:52:00 +0000

Two main things attract book lovers before delving deep in a book. The first impression catches one's eyes is the cover and the other is the blurb. The “Ambling Indian Diaries” on the first go will give an impressive sight and insight after looking at the cover and reading the blurb as well. The cover itself tells the story or rather the elements that worked as the fundamental growth to weave the story. The book is a phenomenally consideration of modern India that is satirically projected through the experiences of an ‘aam aurat’ with the tinge of humour and wit.

The book doesn’t have a proper story that starts with this or end with that, rather it is a verbally picturesque scenario that India is recently more vocal and rich with the facts and the factuals. The book started with a hue of hilarious political glimpse through an interview between the protagonist Aina, who is a reporter in Chunga Times and Chand TV and the Railway Spokesperson Mr. Chugga. The interview is on the launch of Wedding on Wheels (WOWs). The interview session will sheerly give one a bout of laughter and one can so well visualise the perspective that the author ironically portrayed. Very wittily the author picked up the names, the terms and the incidents that added the sarcastic components well blended. Bollywood plays a very dominating role in the present prospective India. And Aina Rao skilfully depicted the pomp and glory of the society and none the less how ‘Shila ki Jawani’ or ‘Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge’ actually regulate the lane culture. The book takes a lift more from the views of an ‘Aam Aurat who ambles the nook and corner of India. While reading the book I felt like reading a news paper that actually covers everything but it has the sense of humour, sarcasm, satire and the irony that will lead you to find out the dual meanings that the parts of the book carry. What interested me more is how well the author picked up the most common topics - ‘can’t leave without’ glares that actually building up the present India. A very minute observation and the precision make the book more versatile.

The blurb speaks: “ This unusually take on India offers a never-seen-before view of the country through the eyes of the Ambling Indian – a new generation aam aurat. This delicious mix of laughter, spice and nuggets of reflection to savour, delights the mind. We meet people just like us and experience hilarious happenings through just like us and experience hilarious happenings through the 31 stories woven together with one common thread – India’s journey.” These few lines narrate and give one the vivid glimpse what the book is all about. But before reading the book one has to be well versed about India. Writing skill of the author will surely won the heart of the readers. To be more precise the author has painstakingly achieved a daunting task in portraying the true faces of present India by satirically leaving few inherent notes to discover.

Besan ka Ladoo

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 28 Oct 2016 05:08:00 +0000

Hello All.. Wish you Happy Dipabali. I am blogging after a long time on this space. Hope you all have celebrated grandly Durga Puja this year. The year is all most coming to an end and the festivals for this year are also almost over. This year past in a wink and we are ready to welcome another year. This year I experimented a lot with Indian sweets. For the first time, I made those at home. I have always avoided making sweets at home after coming to India. Because of the availability of so many varieties of delectable sweets around. But now I am becoming more incline to provide mostly homemade foods to my family. Today will share the recipe of Basan ka Ladoo. It came out so tasty which I actually didn't expect. I have adapted the recipe from Amrita's Blog Sweet 'n' Savoury.

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cup Besan/gram flour

1/2 cup Powdered sugar

3 tbsp melted Ghee (or a little more if the mixture does not bind)

2 pinches Elaichi/cardamom powder

Method:

1. Take a Kadai and dry roast the besan on low heat till the raw smell goes away. It will take approximately 8 to 10 minutes. Continuously stir it otherwise it will get burnt.

2. Add melted ghee little by little and keep on stirring. Keep a check that it should not turn into a liquid. So when you see that it has turned into a dough kind of consistency then stop adding ghee. Even if you feel more ghee needed then add. Remember to add always melted ghee. (Please see Note))

3. Keep stirring and cooking on low heat till you see the mixture binding well and leaving ghee.

3. Remove from heat and add the powdered sugar and cardamom powder and mix well.

4. When it is almost cool shape them in round balls and place them in an individual wrapper or place them on a greased plate.

5. Decorated them as per your creativity and enjoy.

Notes:

After adding ghee if you feel the mixture turned into a semi-liquid mixture, don't worry add more besan little by little to come to the right texture. I have done the same mistake first time. But it came out very tasty.

Happy Diwali

Durga Puja never ends without a sweet treat

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 08 Oct 2016 03:58:00 +0000

After shifting over to Kolkata, I have seen a different kind of excitement steaming in the heart of Kolkatans. But for me, though being a Bengali, the craze of Durga Puja was only to visit Mumbai during my student life, as my father used to work there. My sister and I would cross the dates on the calendar and wished to God everyday that the travel date should come in a wink. There was only one excitement - to meet our father, not of the new dresses to buy. And Durga Puja vacation means not only visiting Mumbai but to visit some other places too, as every year our father would plan a surprise trip for us to visit some tourist spots. If we were not travelling anywhere out of Mumbai, and then we would be seen dancing till late night to celebrate Navaratri with the Garva and Dandiya. After moving to USA, Durga Puja turned in to an one/ two days affair. And within this short span of time I had witnessed all the ritual to be done to the T and we, all the Bengalis from that particular place, would enjoy Durga Puja to the brim. I found a different enthralling experience when we shifted our base to Kolkata. The first thing that came to my notice is buying new clothes long before two to three months from Durga Puja. The detail plan to wear which dress on which day with which ornaments, are something pretty exciting to me. Then the enormous herculean task of making creative Pandals are another side of Durga Puja that attracted me more.

I often felt awestruck during the Pandal hopping watching and witnessing where the creative minds have reached and how talented people can be. The artisan, the skilled crafts are beyond any description till one witnesses those by his/her own eyes. But any festival can’t be ended without Food and mainly when it is a Bengali Festival the spread has to be an elaborate and royal one. Now a day one can get to see most of the restaurants are offering a flare of traditional Bengali spread during the festive season. Just forget the kitchen and the dining table of your sweet home and enjoy the gluttonous experience of indulging some delectable foods around.

Apart from the sweets what we mostly gorge on the fancy flavorsome Ice creams. Different companies offer different kind of ice creams with different flavours. Bengalis are mainly introduced as fish eaters and mishti lovers, and few ingredients are there that hold the pride of Bengal. One such thing is Nolen Gur. Say it used in sweet or savoury dishes, Nolen Gur has its own character. Nolen gur is a type of jaggery or palm sugar that features in several traditional Bengali desserts. The ice cream, therefore is authentically sweet. Recently Mother Dairy -a milk and dairy products major, launched the Nolen Gur flavoured ice cream, one of the most loved eastern region speciality. This regional delicacy from the eastern region has been made available in the packaged branded format for the first time, offering consistent taste and flavour as loved by the consumers. The newly launched variant is available in both take home (tubs) and single serve (cups) pack sizes.

It is easily available in the market in pack sizes of 750ml & 90ml and priced at Rs 150/- & Rs 20/- respectively.

(This post is part of a campaign)

Taj Gateway bringing back the Rajbarir Khawa Dawa

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 20 May 2016 02:26:00 +0000

What will be your reaction when you get to taste the season's first Ilish wrapped in banana leaf, steamed with milk, yogurt and mustard that is melting in your mouth or biting on a crispy Fish roll or Macher Kachuri with sada aloo hing morich, or a slow cooked melting in mouth mutton curry that brings back the essence of traditional Bengali cooking when the Mutton got to cook for hours on the faded flame of a Mud made stove!! It is nothing but a delectable journey where stories from the past enchant the atmosphere and unfold the sumptuous spread. Yes, you can experience the essence of Raj Barir Khawa Dawa through the traditional Bengali dishes curated by Executive Chef Asish Kumar Roy of The Gateway Hotel (Taj). How three hours spent in a wink we (KFBians) hardly realized. Chef Asish patiently explained each and every dish how/why he curated, created and the story behind it. The dishes mostly in the menu are the dishes which are influenced by the foreign invaders and given the authentic Bengali dishes a twist. Attaching below more detail about the event.

"The Rajas or Nawabs were probably the original connoisseurs to wield major influence on Bengali society as well as their food. With their luxurious lifestyles, the rajas took immense interest not only in the foods they ate but also in the way food was prepared. Influenced by famous Rajbaris of West Bengal and in keeping with their culinary traditions, The Gateway Hotel, Kolkata, is set to celebrate “Raj Barir Khawa Dawa” from May 21^st onwards.

Historical trends have always influenced food. The influence of Rajbaris at the Raj Barir Khawa Dawa is evident from the different delicacies planned for the festival. The “Gumo-aanch er mangsho” or meat cooked in slow fire by putting the dying charcoals on top, originated from Murshidabad, and is a classic example of food influenced by the “Dum Cooking”. Bardhaman’s Rajbari has influenced the “Lyangcha”, which is a deep fried sweetmeat dipped in sugar syrup.

The impact of the two centuries of British Rule (1757–1947) over Bengali cuisine can never be overstated. Sovabazar Rajbari, a regular place for evening hang-outs of the British Officials back then, was famous for its “Fish Roll” that had a western touch to it. The Fish Roll features prominently in the Raj Barir Khawa Dawa fest. As do to the Safed Ilish and Lal-Mangsher Pulao from the Cooch-Bihar Rajbari that has Rajasthan leanings.

The Gateway Hotel, Kolkata, will take you back in time as you savour these and other Rajbari delicacies from times gone by. The Raj Barir Khawa Dawa culinary extravaganza will be hosted at the Buzz for Lunch (12:30PM-3:30PM) and Dinner (7:30PM-11:30PM) from May 21, 2016onwards."

Pocket Pinch:

The Dishes will be served as a set menu:

Nonveg: 650/- (INR) to 850/- (INR)

Veg: 550/- (INR) to 750/- (INR)

Fish Roll

Macher Kachuri with sada aloo hing morich

Begun Basanti

Potoler Dorma

Dudh Ilish

Lal Mangsher Polao

Gumo aanch er mangsho

Aam Sandesh

Thank You Kolkata Food Blogger for the invitation.

Narkol Posto Rui (Rohu fish with coconut and poppyseeds)

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 04 May 2016 03:58:00 +0000

Quick post with a quick recipe. I love coconut so as anything out of Posto/poppy seeds. I was never a kind of fish lover. But as you grow old your taste buds change too. Now I love eating fish more than any-other non veg items at the same time love trying different kind of fish recipes. This one I made in a hurry but it really came out well. Do try it and let me know how much you liked it.

Ingredients:

Rohu Fish blocks - 5pcs

Poppy Seed - 2 tblsn

Coconut (Scrapped/grated) - 1 cup

Potato - 1 small cut in cubes (optional)

Mustard seeds - 1/2 tspn

Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tspn + 1/4 tspn

Salt & Sugar as per taste

Green Chillies - 2- 3

Mustard oil - To fry the fish

Method:

1. Rub 1/2 tspn turmeric and salt to the fish blocks.

2. Paste the poppy seed and coconut in a smooth paste. You can green chilli to the paste too to enhance the taste more.

3. Heat oil in a Kadai. Fry the fish till it turns light brown.

4. After taking off all the fish from the kadai, make sure there is only 3/4 tbspn oil is remaining. If you have more in the Kadai then take out the excess oil. If adding potot then you can fry the potota with that excess oil.

5. Add mustard seed in the remaining oil. then the potatoes if adding. fry for a couple of minutes. Then add the poppyeed paste. Add the remianing 1/4 tspn turmeric powder. Stir well for a while (2-3 minutes). Add water (1 cup - See notes). Bring in to boil then add the fish. Add salt and sugar as per taste. Once the pototo is boiled, take it off the gas. Add green chilies and serve with hot rice.

Notes:

1. If you are not adding potato then add 1/2 cup or more water just for cooking the fish and the gravy consistency you want.

2. You can add curry leaves and coriendar leaves too to enhance the taste more.

Mumble's Lab - The 1st Liquid Nitrogen Ice Cream Parlour in Kolkata

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 14 Apr 2016 03:48:00 +0000

“The odd coloured egg was shaking uncontrollably. Suddenly it cracked open and out came a cute baby penguin- Mumble! His parents fed him chocolates, oranges & strawberries mixed in milk. He tried all kinds of milk based items and at last stumbled upon ICE-CREAM. Ice Cream had found a permanent spot in his heart ever since.” - Mumble's Lab

I have only seen the usage of liquid nitrogen on screen when it comes to food. For that, I must thank the Master Chef series on television. When I first got an invitation to visit this place where they make ice cream with liquid nitrogen I was pretty excited. They assured that I am going to love every bite of the ice cream that has no cream, no egg. Ahem, No Egg, No Cream!! I puckered my brows for a while with a thought how it would taste? Should I visit? But the food blogger inside me doesn’t want to miss the opportunity to experience a different world of ice cream making. So here I am.

Mumble’s Lab is the 1^st Ice cream Parlour in Kolkata that is offering liquid nitrogen ice cream. The ambiance is that of a lab with various equipment and Pipes. There are flavours in the form of equations on the walls Inspired by the periodic table. Most of all there is a strong branding of their penguin mascot – Mumble and his story about the origin of Liquid Nitrogen ice cream (LN2). I met the owner Devina Parakh after reaching there and had a quite interesting chat over few flavours of Ice cream. Devina said: “Five years ago, we had our first go at a nitrogen ice cream parlour in London. Ever since we’ve been working on bringing this innovative culinary from back home”. A glimpse of our conversation:

Devina Parakh - the owner

Why the name mumble's lab?

We wanted to give our brand a mascot. We had three options - polar bear, reindeer and penguin, the three animals you generally associate with snow. We figured, a penguin would be cute and we could add colour to the penguin. We named it mumble - after the character mumble from Happy Feet so that it would be easier for people to associate with our mascot.

What are the Signature flavours that Mumble’s Lab is proud of?

Ginger honey basil, Orange caramel, Holi special – Thandai, Bournvita et al

Which flavour customers are enjoying?

Apart from our signature flavours the customers are in love with the Nutella with red Velvet / Hazelnut topping. In last two months ,we have sold over thousand scoops of Nutella. Customers are in love with the texture and freshness of the ice cream. We are providing a platform to try their own flavours (our caption - your ice your way) which have been highly appreciated.

Holi special – Thandai. I tried this one and loved it.

What is your Future planning?

We are planning to open new outlets in different parts of the city. We are also moving into catering events and parties. We are also trying to incorporate liquid nitrogen in desserts. We are currently also trying to incorporate milkshakes in our menu.

Do you run offers/discounts for the Customers?

We keep running offers every now and then. As of now, if a customer checks in on Facebook or likes our page on Instagram we are giving them a free topping.

The signature orange caramel won my heart

Anything you would like to share the people of Kolkata?

Many customers come to Mumble's thinking we are using dry ice and not liquid nitrogen. Most people are not aware of what LN2 is. Liquid nitrogen maintains a temperature of -196 degrees Celsius which is way lower than the coldest place on earth. It is only used to freeze the mixture instantly. The ice cream in itself does not have any liquid nitrogen since it all evaporates. LN2 is tasteless, odourless and colourless. It does not enhance or change the taste of the ice cream in any way. It is not harmful to consume liquid nitrogen ice creams. The liquid nitrogen which we are using is food graded. Also, many customers come to us asking us for fresh fruits in the ice cream. We would like to elaborate on this. Since every scoop is made to order and we cannot guarantee the taste of fresh fruits, hence we are not using fresh fruits in the ice cream. If we did, it would lead to a lot of inconsistency. The USP of our ice creams is:

- Fresh since every scoop is made to Order

- No cream - we do not use any cream in our ice creams

- No preservatives - we do not use any preservatives, hence, the ice creams do not have a very long shelf life.

- 100% vegetarian - most people assume that ice cream has egg. Our ice creams do not have any egg.

- We do not add sugar in most of our ice creams

- Customers can customise the ice cream the way they like. For instance - In ginger honey basil - if you want it less sweet, and more ginger. While placing the order the customer can request for the same and the ice cream can be customised accordingly.

In the coming months, we will promote our tagline "your ice your way" where customers can get their ingredients and we can make the ice cream for them. We cannot guarantee the taste, but it would be the first of its kind giving the customers an avenue to try what they like. Also, we are planning to host a recipe competition in the coming month. Wherein, customers can bring their ingredients and try their desired flavours. If they are convinced with the taste, they can leave us the recipe. At the end of the competition, we will work on the flavours according to the recipe provided by the participants with our chef. The winners of the competition will have their recipes on our menu along with their names. And we would be awarding them with a prize.

Instead of the traditional ice cream parlours which serve a variety of flavours, we decided to start with 9 flavours. We are and would be incorporating new flavours every now and then, giving the customers a reason to come back again and again to try the new exciting flavours or to even stick to their personal favourites.

Is there any option to take away?

We have not started it yet. We are working on it. So we guess pretty soon we can offer the takeaway option to the customers.

My verdict:

If I am not satisfied enough then I never recommend to my readers to visit so and so eateries. I highly recommend Mumble's Lab. Mainly where you are getting an opportunity to enjoy almost calorie-free ice cream, a guilt-free indulgence. The prices of the ice creams are also very reasonable varies from 120 (INR) to 280 (INR). So go and visit and then please give me your feedback if you liked it or not.

(Disclaimer: I was invited by Thinkquisitive as a guest)

Shahi Garam Masala Chicken

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 14 Apr 2016 02:07:00 +0000

Another new year stepped in. Wish you all good luck and happiness. All of you stay hearty and healthy. Eat well and a balanced diet. Drink gallons of water and juice to avoid dehydration from this scorching heat. This year summer is proving to be the hottest in regard to the past years. Any way, we never fail to celebrate any occassion that comes to our way whether it is too hot, or too cold. On this auspicious occasion of Bengali New year I wish you all Shubho Nababarsho. Hope this year will be a prosperous year for all of you. Enjoy the dish.

Ingredients:

Boneless Chicken - 200gm

Onion - 1 medium size

Ginger & Garlic paste - 1 tspn

Tomato - 1 small

Yogurt - 1 tspn

Turmeric Powder - 1/ tspn

Cumin Powder- 1/2 tspn

Coriander Powder - 1/2 tspn

Red chili powder - 1/4 tspn (More or less)

Whole Shahi garam masala - (Cinnamon - 1 small stick, Black pepper - 1-2, All Spice 1-2, Mace, Green Cardamom 1, Black Cardamom seeds - 2-3, Clove - 1-2, Bay leaves - 1 )

Shahi Garam Masala Powder - 1/4 tspn

Ghee - 1 tspn

Oil - 1 tspn

Salt & Sugar as per taste.

Method:

1. Cut the boneless chicken into thin slices.Mix all the powdered spices and salt except the shahi garam masala with yogurt and make a smooth paste. Marinate the chicken for a while.

2. Chop the onion and tomato separately.

3. Heat oil in a pan. Then add ghee. Add the whole garam masala. Once they splutter add the chopped onion. Saute till they turn semi brown.

4. Add the ginger garlic paste. Saute till turns brown. Add the Tomato.

5. Once the tomato is cooked well and starts to loose oil add the chicken. Keep on cooking on medium flame till the chicken turns soft and tender.

6. Add the shahi garam masala and sugar (If needed). Blend nicely with the chicken. Once it is dry and well cooked, Take it off the stove and serve with rice or roti.

Note:
You can add potato if you want.
For the veg version, the recipe works well with paneer and mixed vegetables.

**Shubho Nababarsho**

Celebrating Bengali New Year with Phulkopy Posto/ Cauliflower with Poppy Seeds

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 09 Apr 2016 07:47:00 +0000

Bengali New year is heading and this time, I always feel nostalgic because I miss those wonderful days of my student life, my friends, and my teacher and above all my family. We cherish the different phases of our life. But I bet everyone will echo the same that the student life is the best time that everyone wants to get back it again and again. On this context, sharing few of my childhood memories which are engraved in my heart so deeply that every year on this very day I feel profoundly nostalgic and sad to get those days back.

I always felt exceedingly blessed when I thought that I had completed my education from Visva-Bharati, Santiniketan, a place founded by Rabindranath Tagore. The natural beauty of the place infuses its elegance through the mode of education. The freedom of creativity and ideas always evince through the various festivals celebrated on the auspicious occasions of special calendar events. During my school days, this Bengali New Year celebration used to start a week ahead. Those days are crystal clear to me. I can still visualise the little girl holding her mother’s or father’s hand heading towards the crafts shop to buy a bunch of white blank cards with full of excitement. The next few days passed within a fraction of moment with full concentration on filling the blank cards with all those imaginary creative mentation. In our school, the best part of Naba Barsho (New Year in Bengali) celebration is the exchange of these self-created cards. Each and every student used to create cards by his/her own hand and would gift it to his/her friends or would make friends by exchanging the cards. The new day becomes emblematic for inviting new friends, divulging one’s talent through the cards and a learning process of acculturation. Now coming at this age I realise the hidden truth of the festivity. But then that was only a satiated fun to amplify the friends’ group and also an exhibition of talents. Self-written short poems used to be scripted in the cards too.

Another fun of this day was to stand in a long queue in the scorching heat only to get a Kachori and two sweets. In our school premise, this snack used to be distributed to the students on this day. These most common bites used to become too tasty and sumptuous only on this very day. Now I am never going to get back those days, the tastes. Only what I have the fragrance of the sweet retention and an urge to make alive few of those memories through my daughter. My father has few of those New Year cards made by my sister and me in his collection. Sometimes I will surely share those with you all.

True Bong nature defines us as the epicureans who are head over heel in love with food. And when it comes to cleanliness Bengalis are very particular to keep their kitchen Clean to maintain the hygiene, not just looking clean and sparkling we make sure there is not a single cockroach in the kitchen. I grow up seeing my mother using Godrej LAL HIT. And I follow her steps too. It has become a ritual to use LAL HIT at least once a week to keep my Kitchen an anti-cockroach zone. Now LAL HIT even comes with deep reach nozzle, due to which I can easily spray it in places where cockroaches hide like a sink outlet, under the fridge, under the dustbin, under the cylinder etc. Say it Non Veg or Veg dishes, Bengalis will be always seen smacking there fingers and burping with utter satisfaction. I have shared most of the time Non- Veg delicacies. But this time I am going to share a Veg-Bengali Dish. Posto/ Poppyseed is one of the important ingredients and also very common in the daily meal mostly in the west Bengal cuisine. Last time I have shared Chhana Posto/Cottage Cheese with Poppy Seeds, where I got a raving feedback. Many tried it in the following days and my inbox got flooded with appreciations. I always feel like a blessed blogger when I get the feedback from my readers considering the true success of blogging. So now let us move to the recipe with out wasting much time:

Phulkopy Posto/ Cauliflower with Poppy Seeds

Ingredients:

Cauliflower: 1 medium size

Poppy Seed - 3 tbspn heaped

Mustard Seeds- 1/2 tspn

Ginger paste: 3/4 tspn

Tomato: 1 small (Optional- See Note)

Salt & Sugar : As per taste

Mustard Oil: 4 tbspn + 1 tbspn (If needed)

Raisins: Handful Soaked (Optional)

Ghee: Few drops.

Method:

1. Cut the cauliflower in to semi small florets. Clean nicely.

2. Boil water desolving a tea spoon full salt. Pour the florets in to it and boil for 3-4mnts. Staring and reserve.

3. Soak the poppy seeds for 5-10mnts then make a smooth paste out of it.

4. Heat 4 tbspoon of oil in a Kadai or a deep dense pan. Make sure that the oil is hot enough. Add the cauliflower in small batch and fry till they turn brown. Strain the excess oil and then reserve them on a kitchen towel/Tissue. Repeat the same with the remaining batches.

5. Check how much oil is remaining the pan/Kodai. If more oil needed then add. Temper the mustard seeds till those sputter then add the tomatoes (If adding) and the ginger paste. Saute nicely till oil starts to separate. Add the cauliflower florets and mix nicely. Add the poppy seed paste and 1/2 cup water. Cook till the Cauliflower is cooked and the the juice dried up. Add the raisins and few drops of ghee. Fold gently and then take it off the flame and serve with hot rice.

Note:

1. You can add potato along with the Cauliflower. If potato is added then fry how you have fried the Cauliflower.

2. Tomato I hardly use. So I felt it tasted better without the Tomatoes.

This recipe is off to the ongoing online event: Poila Baishakh with Veg-Bengali Dishes by Kolkata Food Bloggers:

(Disclaimer: This Post is in association with Godrej LAL HIT)

Celebrate Hygenic Poila Baishak with Godrej Lal Hit

noreply@blogger.com (Silence Sings) — Fri, 08 Apr 2016 20:16:00 +0000

All over the world if there is a Bengali community, a festive mood will be all around for sure. Mainly they never fail to celebrate the main festivals like Poila Baishak, Durga Puja, Dol (Holi), Pous Parbon etc.“Baro mashe Tero Parbon” (13 festivals in 12 months)- That is how the Bengalis are known as. Each festival has its own essence and dictum. When it comes to celebrating Bengali New Year 'Poila Boishakh' I have some distinct memory to share.

During my student life, I used to celebrate Nababarsha in a different way. If wearing new clothes is a ritual in Bengali tradition during the festive seasons, we used to buy blank cards to draw and gift to the friends and teacher on the auspicious day of Poila Baishak in Santiniketan . When Bengalis will be seen wrangling around the shops buying new clothes, giggling and gulping on roadside puchka's almost covered with shopping bags, we used to be found engrossed in drawing greeting cards and writing small poems all by ourselves. Our childhood in Santiniketan missed all the humdrum of the "Chatra Sale" offers where the huge discounts are like receiving lottery all of a sudden. I miss those days.

In Santiniketan we used to celebrate Rabindranath Tagore's Birthday on Poila Baishak. A musical journey used to start a week ahead, when we rehearsed on one of Tagore's dance dramas making the atmosphere all melodious and orchestral to celebrate his birthday and Poila Baishak both together. The rhythmic atmosphere still rings in my mind.

Poila Baishak celebration makes the atmosphere all bright and spirited to welcome a brand new Bengali new year with the resolutions to deliver in the coming days. And giggling and chatting over some delicious and sumptuous foods with friends and family can't be completed without that. I was grown up celebrating each festival with Food. Polishing of a sumptuous meal and then taking big burps over hajmola are still so fresh and alive. Yes, I try to replicate the same way my mother does.

I can’t think that a Poila Baishak got missed without having Chingri machher malaikari or Koksha Mansho along with Pulao and doi mach. After getting married I continued the food journey in the same way like my mother used to do. Even I always try to follow my mother’s footsteps the way she reigns over the household.

I have seen my mother very particular about always keeping the kitchen and rooms very clean and hygienic so that we should not get any contact with the germs carried by the insects. For my mother cleaning the household is like a ritual before Poila Baishak and Durga puja. I have often seen her holding the Godrej Lal hit at the end of the day spraying around the corners of the drainage pipes. Again I followed my mother’s footsteps. Godrej Lal Hit has become a part and parcel of my/our life when it comes to maintaining hygiene and cleanliness.

To know more about the product you can visit:

Facebook

Twitter

order the product online HERE

Wish you all Shubho Nababarsho..

[Disclaimer – This post is in association with Godrej Lal Hit.]

#ProductReview - Chef's Basket instant Creamy Tomato Pasta

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 07 Apr 2016 06:13:00 +0000

"We believe in the art of cooking. And we believe that with a little help anybody can cook. We put our all to create the freshest and the most authentic recipes from around the world so that trying new cuisines need not remain a restaurant affair. Our food is natural with no artificial preservatives or added colour and is prepared under the intricate eye of our chefs. The products we bring to you have come a long way. They have undergone rigorous research, repeated testing and continual improvement. They still do." - Chef's Basket

You might often get confused to choose the right band for instant meals. Personally, I don't encourage having instant foods. But our lifestyle is rapidly changing and driving us to spend less time in the kitchen. Even our taste buds often need a change that is the reason that almost every household kitchen pantries own a few collection of ready to eat meals to survive on at a desperate need. Though not as a daily practice, we all love to indulge in this guilt quite a few time. Now the question rises to choose the right brand that should qualify the taste, usage of less preservative and reaches a parameter to call it near to healthy. Recently I received to review the Creamy Tomato Pasta product from Chef's Basket.

Chef's Baskets started their new venture on providing instant meals which right now have two sections - Italian and Oriental. The oriental section comprises of Four types of ready to eat noodle boxes.The Italian experience is called as "Italian luxury with the finest herbs and Durum pasta" where they offer three types of Pasta flavours - Creamy Tomato, Cheesy Alfredo Pasta and Chunky Arrabiata Pasta. I received the Creamy Tomato flavour to taste and share my experience with it.

To be honest I am a bit choosy when it comes to ready to eat meal boxes. I have very few on my list to recommend to try out. Mainly because every instant food has a typical flavour that will not give you the feel of a comfort food or a homemade food. Ah, maybe I expect too much. But honestly, when I tasted this one, I didn't feel that I was trying an instant food. The first bite gave a feel of a homemade food. The taste, the spices, the seasoning all were balanced that enhanced the pungency of a comfort food. The portion was pretty good where one adult and a kid could easily adjust (mainly, a mommy and her kid - For the daddy one pack is more than enough.:) ).

The box comes with 5 items - Pasta, Pasta Sauce, Italian herbs, Chilli Flakes and Sea Salt. You have to add the Sea Salt along with the pasta to boil. In a separate pan add some oil/butter saute some vegetables and then add the pasta sauce. Simmer for some time and then add the boiled Pasta. Cook for a minute and your pasta is ready. It is simple to make. Adding vegetables can be skipped. It only helps to make the taste better, a feeling of home-cooked food that's all. I love garlic so I added some garlic and sprinkled some Parmesan on the top of it. I should mainly mention the sauce which is very different from the store bought sauce but very similar to what we make at home.

If you ask about the price it is 99/- (INR). It might sound a bit pricey in regard to the other ready to eat meals. But Chef's Basket gives you the assurance of 100% natural, no preservative and no artificial colour. But the ingredients contain gluten. Therefore, when you are getting good food the money doesn't matter. I even tried out their Cheesy Alfredo Pasta and I will again stick to my opinion. It is easily available in the markets like Spencers, In & Out in Kolkata. So first try out and then let me know your feedback too whether you liked it or not.

Mochar Ghonto (Dry Banana Blossom with coconut)

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 04 Apr 2016 03:13:00 +0000

This year after almost 14 years I was in Santiniketan and became a part of Basantosav, one of the famous festivals of Santiniketan on Holi. To be honest, when my mother requested to visit Santiniketan, during this time, I was trying to avoid. I know it must sound very weird, but I never found Basantotosav interesting anymore. I never liked to accept the truth that I could not take part in the functions and I would be considered as a mere tourist. I never liked to enjoy Basantotosav without my friends. There was a time when I used to take part in each and every function of Basantotsav. Basantotsav was then an integral part of our life. But this time, thanks to lil K who brought back the old memories and helped me to cherish them alive. When I reached Santiniketan the rehearsals were going on in full swinging. The Stage was getting constructed. All the more busy and festive scenario were seen all around. I met the Lil K whom I wanted to see since she was born. After we stepped into Santiniketan, I hardly found her at home, rather she would be found engrossed watching the rehearsals of Chitrangada and other Basantotsav related functions. I used to get 3 hours break from my 10 months old's feeding hours. Within that break hours, I would rush to the rehearsals and invigorate those 3 hours to the fullest. Most of the time I felt an elated "I" inside me dancing with joy that rhythm often blurred my eyes in the form of tears. I started revisiting the memories that I locked inside me. The city life almost choked all the memories and I, too never wanted to dig them out. Again, thanks to Lil K whose spirited soul brought back my spirit again. Despite the huge crowd, despite all the restrictions that rudely forced me to accept, that I was not part of the Fest anymore, rather I was just a mere tourist who came to visit the Fest, I had fallen in love with Basantotsav again. And all the credit goes to lil K who infused the spirit of Santiniketan in her soul and enjoyed it from the core of her heart. The colour of Dol did emblazon my soul too.

Now let me come to the Mochar Ghonto recipe. Mochar Ghonto is a kind of dry dish made out of Banana Blossom. It is very common in a Bengali kitchen. I could still feel the taste the way my mamoni (My elder aunt) used to cook the dish. Till date that was the best ever Mocha Ghonto I have tasted so far. But I am pretty late to store the recipe from her. I had a distinct idea that she used to add a pinch of Hing/ Asafoetida in most of her dishes and Mochar Ghonto was no exception too. This recipe I have adapted from my mother. Ad I found my MIL also cooks in the same way. Enjoy the recipe here:

Mochar Ghonto

Ingredients:

Mocha (Banana Blossom) - 1 medium size

Potato - 1 medium size (optional)

Grated coconut - 3/4 cup

Whole Garam Masala - 2 each (Cardamon, Clove & Cinnamon)

Bay leave- 1-2

Oil - 2 tblspn

Ghee - 1/2 tspn

Turmaric Powder - 1/4 tspn

Salt and Sugar as taste

Method:

1. If you are using the whole mocha/banana blossom them you have to remove the blossoms after peeling away the outer leaves and clean. Then you have to take out a stem inside and chop finely. (See HERE how to peel a banana blossom)

2. Boil the chopped mocha for 15mnts adding little bit of salt and 1/4 tspn turmeric powder.

3. Strain the excess water and reserve.

4. Cut the potato in cubes.

5. Take a Kadai and heat oil. Fry the cubed potatoes till they turn semi brown. Reserve them in bowl draining the excess oil.

6. Now add the Whole Garam Masala and Bay leaves in the remaining oil. Once they start to splutter, add the boiled mocha. keep on frying for 5 minutes in a medium flame.

7. Add the coconut and the potatoes. Add salt and sugar as per taste. Then keep on sauteing till the texture become dry and you will get a nice flavour of cooked coconut. Add ghee and serve with rice.

Few more recipes with Banana Blossom:

Mocha Chingri (Non - Veg)

Mochar Paturi (Veg)

Mochar Phuler Bora( Banana Blossom Heart Fry)

Eggless Butterless Cake Rings Soaked in Strawberry Syrup

noreply@blogger.com (Silence Sings) — Mon, 28 Mar 2016 04:12:00 +0000

Now a day I am on an Eggless butterless cake baking spree. I made eggless cakes several times, mainly when the orders asked for. But I never dare to try eggless butterless cake thinking of the outcome - May be I have to trash it down. Being an ardent baker it is a shame for me if I don't expertise with all the versions that a baking pro asks for. So I buckeled up myself and started to experiment the Eggless butterless cakes in my kitchen. I started to make in a small amount with the minimum mesurments that a cake needs to be baked. To my surprise, I was super thrilled when I tasted one. It was soft, moist, spongy and hard to believe that it was an eggless butterless cake. I add a little bit of olive oil to make the texture more perfect. My walnut cranberry eggless butterless cake loaf was loved by those who bought in the KFB's Bakers Showcase 2016. So here is the simple version of making eggless butterless cake. I added strwaberry syrup to give it a more tastier version. Stay tuned I will be posting many more less calorie, Eggless butterless cakes.

Ingredients:

For the cake:

All Purpose Flour: 1/2 cup

Baking Powder: 1/2 tspn

Baking Soda: 1/2 tspn

Olive oil: 1 tblspn

Sugar: 1/2 cup

Yogurt: 2 tbspn

Milk - 1/4 cup (More or less)

Vanilla Essence: 1/2 tspn

For the Strawberry Syrup:

Strawberry - 2 cups chopped

Sugar - less than half cup (More or less - see notes)

Lemon juice: 2 tspn

Method:

Make the cake:

1. Mix the flour, baking powder and baking soda together. Reserve.

2. Mix all the other ingredients under cake and make a smooth paste.

3. Add the flour and fold nicely. If you need more milk add. The batter should be semi-runny.

4. Pre-heat the oven at 180 degree C.

5. Grease the cake ring moulds. Pour the batter in the cake rings and bake for 15 to 20 minutes. One can use cupcake moulds too. If using cupcake moulds then fill 1/4 of the cup.

Make the syrup:

Heat a pan and add the chopped strawberries. Cook in a medium flame with a lid on for 5 to 6 minutes. When the strawberries will start to loose its juice and become soft add the sugar. Cook till the sugar gets completely dissolved and the strawberries come to a mushy consistency. Add the lemon juice and stir. Now take off the pan and cool. Then strain the pulp and the juice out. Use the syrup. You can use the pulp too if you want.

Note:

If you want to make it a chocolate Eggless butterless cake then add 1 tblsp cocoa powder to 1/2 cup flour.

#Lightmealchallenge - Pan Grilled Chicken Salad in Peanut Butter Sauce

noreply@blogger.com (Silence Sings) — Wed, 24 Feb 2016 03:39:00 +0000

“You've gotta dance like there's nobody watching,
Love like you'll never be hurt,
Sing like there's nobody listening,
And live like it's heaven on earth.”

― William W. Purkey

Almost every day I retire to my bed - tired, suffocated with a replete stomach - with the promise that tomorrow would be the new start for me. It is the high time to watch my diet now. And that day never arrives. Sadly this is the #Storyofmylife - Don't tell me it's yours too!!! I know many of us are walking on the same lane. So let us do one thing - let us join hands together to give a quick start to the #lightmealchallenge. (How? focus on the foot Note of the blog post).

Continuing to the #Storyofmylife - Every day I wake up considering the day to give a quick start to my "lose weight" regime. But every time I end up in a plateful of rice enjoying a typical Bengali full meal thali. I have a good reason for gaining weight (that is how I console myself) because of my post-partum starving twinges. Being a feeding mom, I am always alarmed by my hunger pangs and that leads me to gain some extra pounds almost every day. I was so proud after delivering my second baby that I came back to shape within a month and fitting into my old slim fit clothes perfectly. But then gradually I started to gain weight, as a feeding mom, my intake of plenty of healthy nutritious food to supply the baby proper diet started to increase day by day. In the last 9 months, I have gained almost 6 kilos extra because apart from living on healthy and nutritious food I am eating too much. And it is such a letdown for me. I was never a diet prone person or rather I can say dieting is not my cup of tea. Once I had visited a dietician 4 years back. Obediently I strictly followed the diet regime for 7 days after the dieticians food chart. On the 8th day, my desperate soul forced me to rush to a food court and gobbled up a bowl full of oily Chicken Haka Noodles (the portion was for two persons) all alone as if I was deprived of food for a long time. My husband and my daughter were totally surprised at my action. They kept on staring at me and to each other. When I was done, they burst into laughter. But I felt like I got all the happiness of life in that bowl of noodles. I felt nothing could be more blessed than that moment. And that was the end of my dieting session. I realised then that the greedy foodie with a big fat belly inside me would never allow me to win over a diet session. So I decided to have light meals mostly that should be tasty, healthy and less in calorie.

So the conclusion is losing weight is not a matter of joke. One has to dedicatedly and religiously follow his/her daily meal for months after months. There is a wrong conception I have seen mainly in the teenagers that dieting means to survive on one or two meals a day or hardly eat anything. But they remain totally ignorant about the fact that how much damages this is making inside their body. If one really wants to lose his/her weight one should visit a good dietician who will give a proper guidance to lose weight. If you don't want to visit a dietician then you can always watch your diet by creating your own healthy light meals avoiding all the junk, greasy calorie intake foods. This will help you not to gain the extra pounds rather if you maintain it on a regular basis with some 30 to 60 minutes work - outs - you are definitely going to shred some weight. It will also help you to stay healthy. Before my pregnancy, I love to wrap up my meals in a one pot healthy dish. And that not only kept me feeling light, healthy but energetic too.

Few things I have learnt from my past experiences are:

i. Never skip the breakfast and have a heavy breakfast. Skipping breakfast leads one to gain weight remember that.

ii. Four meals a day is a must. Stay on light meals but never skip.

iii. If you feel hungry often have some fruits or a cracker. Or make some healthy fat-free small bite-size snacks made at home.

iv. Work out for at least 15 minutes is a must. Just walk in the room for 15 minutes in that will be a big help for one.

So I decided to go back to my light meal habit again. Here I am sharing one such recipe that you can give a kick start with the #lightmealchallange regime as I did. Enjoy the recipe and know how you can also be a part of this #lightmealchallenge at the end of the post.

Ingredients:

Boneless Chicken Breast - 4

Olive oil - 2 tbspn

For Marination:

Peanut Butter - 2 tblspn

Dark Soy Sauce - 1 tspn

Sweet Chili Sauce - 3 tspn

Rice vinegar - 1 tspn

Fish Sauce - 1 tspn (optional)

Honey - 2 tblspn

Brown Sugar - 1 tspn (optional - See Notes)

For salad dressing -

Peanut Butter - 1 tblspn

Vinegar/ lemon juice - 1 tspn

Soy Sauce - 1 tblspn

Warm water - 2 tspn

Olive oil - 1 tspn

Chopped garlic - 2 tblspn full (more or less)

For the salad -

Any vegetables after one's choice - Assorted that fill 4 bowls.

(I used Boiled carrots, boiled Broccoli, Cucumber and Letus leaves)

Salt and pepper as per taste.

Method:

1. Mix all the sauce under marination nicely in a smooth paste. Add salt and pepper as per taste.

2. Prick the Chicken breasts with a fork and then add them to the sauce. Mix nicely so that the chicken breasts get evenly coated with the sauce.

3. Marinate the chicken overnight if possible. Otherwise for 2 to 3 hours.

4. Take a grill pan. Heat oil. Add the chicken breasts and fry both sides in medium flame till they are done. Don't over cook. Otherwise, they will become hard. It will take approximately 8-10 minutes for each side. Take them off on a plate.

5. Now strain the burnt residue of the sauce from the pan and discard. Add the remaining oil. Heat it.

6. Add the chopped garlic and saute till they start to change colour.

7. In a small bowl, add all the other ingredients under salad dressing make a smooth paste.

8. Add in the pan and just cook for a minute in high flame and take it off.

9. Take a big mixing bowl and add the vegetables for the salad after your choice. Add the dressing and mix well. Add salt and pepper after your choice. Mix well.

10. Serve the vegetables in four serving bowls.

11. Slice the pan grilled chicken breasts and top them on the vegetables and enjoy. You can mix it with the vegetable and then serve.

Notes:

1. Brown sugar is totally optional. It will give the dish a colour and an extra tinge of sweetness which can be avoided always.

2. The chicken breast can be added with some sauteed vegetables too.

Now join me to this Stay Healthy, Stay Fit & Stay Lite - #LightMealChallenge:

Rules:

Both bloggers and non - bloggers can participate.
Please post recipes that help you to stay light, fit and healthy.
Share your experiences on serving light meals.
Bloggers please add the above logo and link your post to my  #LightmealChallenge Post at silencesing.in.
Both Non- bloggers and Bloggers, If you are sharing your post on social networks like FB, Twitter, Instagram then please add these hashtags #LightmealChallenge & #Silencesings and tag my FB page link along with your recipes so that I can keep on sharing your recipes on my page too..
Please note my Facebook page is Here. 
My Instagram Id is - silencesings.
My Twitter Id is - silence_sings
Last date of posting all links is 24th March'16.


And also don't forget to visit our 2nd Annual Bake Sale by KFB.

Sajne Phuler Bora (Drumstick Flowers Fritters)

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 20 Feb 2016 03:09:00 +0000

“Each day has a color, a smell.”

― Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, The Mistress of Spices

It was around 7.30 am in the morning. I dropped my daughter in her school and headed straight to Lake Market. It's always a sheer joy for me when I visit the local markets. I feel nostalgic and miss my home. I visualise my garden and all the home-grown vegetables, fruits and flowers. I see my father or my mother busy in the garden, plucking up the vegetables and the joy of contentment in their faces. I smell back my home again. This time, in the morning, is kind of a blissful moment for me. It's like revealing a mystery box every time at my each visit. Say it like getting introduced to a new kind of vegetable/ fruit or flower or learning a new recipe from your daily vegetable or fish vendors. I love the mayhem of the market and exploring the nook and corner of this place. The fresh and colourful fruits and veggies will be seen inviting and seductively shining on the big bamboo baskets. People with their sneakers on will be seen busy with their daily marketing. The fish market will look totally chaotic. All set to fetch for the fresh fish at a bargain price. The flower sellers will be seen exhibiting their collection of vibrant flowers and bouquets. Every time I wander by the array of flower stalls on the pavement, I get a weird feeling. I feel happy to see the emblazoned pavements and the freshness that infusing a kind of purity in the heart. On the other hand, I feel hollowed from the bottom of my heart as again I miss my home, my blooming flower garden. I pass by the chaiwalahs and see them busy in crouching over their stove, hurrying to satisfy the impatient customers. I love to pass by the dust, dirt, flies and diesel fumes swarming in from the main road. And again every morning I fall in love with the city ignoring all the negative sides that convince my mind every night to leave the city forever. I fall in love with Kolkata again and again.

So the other day I found my daily vegetable seller was selling a bag full of Sajne phul or Drumstick Flowers. He might be selling quite often but I never paid that much attention to it or it always skipped by eyes. Now a day, I am introducing different kinds of vegetables to my daughter which have more food values. And at the same time, I have restricted our lunch meal to typical Bengali meal that should start with Something bitter and ends with something sweet. You all must be knowing that a Bengali platter would not be completed if there is no Bhaja (some deep fried items) to accompany with the Dal. Therefore to go with the Bhaja (some deep fried items), we have always some vegetables to fry or edible leaves or some edible flowers. Recently I have started collecting the edible flowers and introducing them to my daughter. So when my eyes got fixed on the Sajne phul or Drumstick Flowers, I didn't hesitate for a single second but bought some. I started to recollect the memory of the big Drumstick or Moringa tree at my home, which every time gets bloomed with the profusion of white flowers and then with the drumstick pods. The long pods hanging down from the tree were always a cause for celebration time for my parents. But for me, it was like a nightmare as I never liked Drumsticks and moreover what used to annoy me more were the hairy stinging caterpillars what we call in Bengali - ShuoNpoka. Once the tree is all bloomed with flowers the caterpillars will nestle up clinging to the tree bark and then it will swarm around/ inside our house. It used to get found in our clothes or on our books and almost everywhere. One single contact with the singing caterpillars means to end up itching and scratching yourself for hours. But my parents would never cut the Drumstick/ Moringa tree. What the gardener used to do, he used to set fire on a stick to burn the caterpillars. And I used to dislike so much that site. Anyways, the flower and the pods from the drumstick tree were religiously and ceremoniously used to get cooked in my mom's kitchen, but I never allowed them to reach my plate. Even I had never paid any kind of interest to know how those used to get cooked. Cooking is my passion since childhood but that is only restricted in making some jazzy party dishes or the dishes after my taste. Now when I became a mother, I stepped in my mother's shoe and trying each day to replicate my mother's kitchen in my kitchen. Moreover, the food blogger inside me is always tending to try out new things every time and to learn more of the food culture. So when I cooked the Sajne Phuler Bora (Drumstick Flowers Fritters) {which is one of the common items in a Bengali kitchen}, to my surprise I loved it and my daughter enjoyed it. I was thrilled with the fact that I had introduced Sajne Phul (Drumstick Flowers) in my kitchen. But my parents had a shock to believe that their daughter had changed so much. To talk about the nutritional value of Sajne Phul (Drumstick Flowers), it is high with Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Calcium, iron, copper, manganese, zinc, selenium, and magnesium. (Source -Here).

Sajne Phuler Bora (Drumstick Flowers Fritters)

{Yeilds 14- 15 Fritters}

Ingredients:

Sajne Phul / Drumstick Flowers - 100gm

Rice Flour - 2 tbspn heaped

Besan / Bengal Gram Flour - 2 tbspn heaped

Turmeric Powder - A pinch

Baking Soda - a pinch (Optional)

Salt as per taste

Kalo Jeera/ Nigella seeds - 1/4 tspn (See notes #2)

Mustard Oil - enough for deep frying

Water as per requirement

Method:

1. Wash the Sajne Phul / Drumstick Flowers thoroughly.

2. Take a bowl add all the dry ingredients. Mix well. Then add water slowly to make a semi thick batter mix well. Make sure that there is no lump remaining.

3. Now add the Sajne Phul / Drumstick Flowers mix well. The mixture should not be very dry or thick. If required then add some more water.

4. Heat enough oil in a Kadai so that you can deep fry the fritters. Make sure the oil is piped hot before you start frying. Take a small ping-pong ball size portion of the batter and gently put in the oil. Keep on adding more portions to feel up the remaining space full of oil in Kadai.

5. Fry in medium flame until those turn brown. Take them out and put them a kitchen Towel to absorb the excess oil. Serve hot with the lunch meal or as a tea time snack.

Notes:

1. Sajne Phul / Drumstick Flowers can be cooked in many ways. One can make curry out of it by adding mustard paste and cubed potatoes. It goes well with the prawns. And one famous dish out of it is Bati Chachari (cooked with seasonal vegetables.)

2. I have used here Nigella Seeds. But I prefer Ajwain or Caraway seeds in the fritters.

Please do visit-

Bakers Showcase 2016

Date: 13th March'16

Time: 12 - 8 pm

Venue: Uday Sadan

Golf Green

(Near Doordarshan Kendra Kolkata)

#EasyRecipe : Strawberry Yogurt

noreply@blogger.com (Silence Sings) — Sun, 14 Feb 2016 03:40:00 +0000

"Love is our true destiny. We do not find the meaning of life by ourselves alone - we find it with another."

-Thomas Merton

Didn't I say that I would not be blogging for 2 months? Yes, I of course did. My daughter is having her Annual Examination. The lil one is getting day by day a fully hyper-active kid who needs continuous attention and more over organising the upcoming Bakers Showcase 2016 with team KFB is really an arduous task to concentrate and blog.
Then why am I here today with you all?
Hello !! Hello!!
Today is Valentine's Day.
And it gives a good reason to celebrate here. And I have a story behind it too.
I bought few packets of strawberries. Washed, patted dry and reserved few of the fresh ones in the freezer to use them in future. Now I kept one packet of strawberries in the Fridge and decided to experiment on something new soon. I started looking for recipes on the internet. I searched, saved, pinned endless recipes. Then totally got confused to start with which one. I didn't have too much time to spend for one. So the recipe should be easy and takes very little time (read labour) to make. Suddenly the other day One of my blogger friends, Chandrima who blogs at Not Out Of the Box, posted a picture on Instagram of Strawberry Yoghurt. (Read her recipe HERE.)
Bingo !!
I love baked yogurt (mishti doi) mainly with fruits. I made Mango Yogurt, Apple Yogurt and Chocolate Yogurt. I thought this will be the easiest recipe to do the justice with the strawberries. So I didn't waste much time made the dish. Once you make some dish you can't sit relaxed unless and until you will be clicking some pictures of the dish - Story of a Food Blogger's life. I poured my heart out and enjoyed the photo shoot of Strawberry Yogurt after a long time. I kept on tapping my feet with the click, click shutter sound. My heart melted down when I downloaded the picture, looked at them like a mother keeps on gazing at her kids. Then put them in drafts and thought of blogging on them once I will be active again. But when I saw everybody is celebrating Valentines Day, I couldn't resist myself. I thought it will not be justified if I don't celebrate it with my blog and my readers. So here I am wishing you all a very Happy Valentines day with a simple but healthy and exotic recipe to celebrate this special day where everywhere love is in the air, love is everywhere...

Ingredients:

Strawberry - 1 cup (chopped)

Yogurt- 1 cup

Condensed Milk - 1/2 cup

Method:

1. Put all the ingredients in the blender and blend.
2. Pre-heat the oven at 180 degree C for 5 minutes.
3. Pour the mixer in a baking dish / ramekins or cupcake moulds and bake at 140 degree C for 40 to 50 minutes.
4. Keep in the oven till it gets completely cool.
5. Chill for 6 to 7 hours. Then serve and enjoy.

Note:

1. Those who are on a diet, please don't add the condensed milk but plain sugar. Or you can absolutely omit the sugar.

2. You can store this flavoured yogurt in the fridge for 4-5 days. Just put it in an airtight container.

3. One can prepare it in single cupcake cups/ ramekins and wrap it with cling fling and store.

Please do visit-

Bakers Showcase 2016

Date: 13th March'16

Time: 12 - 8 pm

Venue: Uday Sadan

Golf Green

(Near Doordarshan Kendra Kolkata)

Will be on Two months Leave

noreply@blogger.com (Silence Sings) — Thu, 04 Feb 2016 04:32:00 +0000

I am taking an off from blogging for 2 months. In between please keep on following my FB page Here. Will try to keep on updating if something special food related things happen in my life. Hope you all are also following me on Instagram.

And most important don't miss us on 13th of March,2016 at our (KFB) Annual Bakesale: Bakers Showcase 2016 & lots of Fun with Food. You will get to know almost 20 Home Bakers from all over Kolkata and get flooded with the sweet and savoury baked goodies - cakes, cookies, breads, pies , tarts and chocolates and many more.

Address:

Uday Sadan

Golf Green

Kolkata-95

Time:

12 noon to 8.00pm

Date:

13th March'16

Stay well and keep following.

Happy Blogging.

Baked Gondhoraj Chicken

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 18 Jan 2016 06:10:00 +0000

Recently I am digging up all the recipes from my draft folder and blogging on them - the dishes which I have cooked almost 2 years back. Now a day the cooking part is though going on in full swing but clicking is like a nightmare for me. Preparing a whole set up for the photo shoot, then download them, if required going for editing- ah it’s better I should get some sleep saving that time. All new moms couldn't agree more that few extra hours sleep is like a cherry on the top of a cake. It's like cooking a dish is therapeutic, but wrapping up the meals, cleaning the kitchen and retiring to the bed as soon as possible to get some good hours long sleep is nothing but a boon. My elder one has become suddenly a grown up girl and quite matured who always stays with me like a shadow to help me out whenever I need. My little one is proving to be a good girl till date as she doesn't bug me much, loves to stay by her own. So I get a call only when she is hungry, sleepy or needs to change her diaper. Slowly I am stepping back in my old shoes, by starting up what I used to love most. I am cooking, baking and actively started to move around. But when it comes to clicking pictures I feel like I am having a split with my camera. There was a time I couldn't think my life without my camera and now I try to run away from it. May be everyone faces some phase like this when you need a break from which you covet most. The ardent photographer in me is still sleeping and I don't have the urge to wake her up too. So I am enjoying my camera less phase pretty well. But yes I miss that uplifting attitude of a photographer me and often feel that I am drowning away from the engrossing and enthralling food blogging world. I want to be active again but I am enjoying this phase too... So I guess I need to give myself more time to wait for the right time --Should I or not??..- I am confused...

Now coming to the dish I was pretty inspired by two recipe posts on Gondhoraaj chicken by my fellow Kolkata Food Bloggers Anwesha and Pritha{Click on their names to visit their recipes}. So I decided to try it out. Both the recipes ask for frying but I preferred to give it a baked version. So here is my version of Baked Gondhoraj Chicken. Try it out and I am sure it will be a winner.

Ingredients:

Chicken Thighs - 6 pcs

To Marinate:

Onion - 1 medium

Garlic - 5-6 cloves

Ginger - 1 inch long

Green Chili - 1 -2 (As per taste)

Juice of Gondhoraaj Lebu - 1 big (3/4 of the juice will be required for marination and 1/4 of the juice for basting)

Zest of Gondhoraj Lebu - 1/2 tspn

Black pepper powder - 1/4 tspn

Salt and Sugar as per taste

Ghee - 1 tbspn (optional, one can use olive oil or white oil)

Method:

1. Wash the chicken thighs and then pat it dry with a kitchen towel. With a sharp knife slit both sides of the flesh of the chicken thigh so that the marinades incorporate well.

2. Now prepare the marinade - Paste the onion, garlic and ginger together and strain out the juice as much as you can. Add the juice to the chicken and all the other ingredients that comes under the marinade section. Mix well and keep for and hour or two to rest.

3. Pre - heat the oven at 200c for 5 minutes. Take an oven proof tray and place the Chicken Thigh pieces on it. Bake it for 20 minutes.

4. In the meanwhile take the Ghee/ Oil and add the remaining 1/4 of the juice of Gondhoraaj Lebu.

5. After 20 minutes turn the thigh pieces, brush the juice mixture on each and bake for another 20 minutes.

6. Turn them over again apply the remaining juice mixture and bake for another 10 minutes. If you feel you need to bake more then turn over and bake for few minutes more.

7. Take them out from the oven and serve them hot with some boiled vegetables, bread and some dip. If someone needs more of the flavour of the Gondhoraj Lebu, then one can squeeze some juice on the top of the baked chicken thighs.

#BengaliRecipe - Cholar Dal

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 12 Jan 2016 02:48:00 +0000

"It's Cholar Dal today."

"Are we having any party or some occasion to celebrate?"

Yes you got it right. There are some dishes that are meant for celebration. And if there is nothing, it will light up your mood only hearing that particular dish is on the menu. Cholar Dal is one such dish. We Bengalis love to devour cholar dal at any time of the four meals. Say it for breakfast or evening snacks with Luchi or Kachuris or in our lunch and dinner with rice or pulao. Among all the dals my favourite one is the Cholar dal. So to feed me Dal my mother used to the make the meals gleesome for me by making cholar dal often. She is a wonderful cook and has magic in her hands. But the way my Mamani (my elder Mashi/ Maternal aunty) used to cook, nobody can beat the taste. And the recipe has gone with her, along with many more old traditional recipes. Now I regret for not noting down them. I have seen her often using hing/Asafoetida in most of her dishes, eve in cholar dal too. That used to give an extra hint in the taste to ask for several servings. She died at 86 but till her death she tried to cook by herself and all with home-grinding masalas. She would religiously sit for hours every morning with Mortar and Pestle to grind her dry masalas. She was a cancer survivor, but she never let us know that she was once ill. We have seen her maintaining a strict healthy regime and diet and devoting much of her time in cooking delicious dishes. All her dishes were all most without any spices but that taste and aroma still I can feel on the tip of my tongue. She had a magic too in her hands. And we used to wait when she would be sending some dishes for us. I tried to replicate her recipe. It is almost near, but not like her.

Cholar Dal

Ingredients:

Cholar Dal or Chana Dal or Bengali Gram Dal - 1 cup
Hing/ Asafoetida - a pinch (Optional)

Tomato - 1 medium Chopped

Ginger Paste - 1 tspn

Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tsp

Coriander powder - 1/2 tsp

Cumin Powder - 1/2 tspn

Red Chili Powder - As per taste

Whole Dry Red Chili - 1 -2

Bay Leave- 1 -2

Whole Cumin Seeds - 1/2 tsp

Soaked Raisins - 1 tblspn (Optional)

Fresh Chopped Coconut - 1 tblspn

Grated Coconut - For Garnishing

Salt and Sugar as per taste

Ghee - 2-3 drops

White Oil - 2 tspn

Method:

1. Wash the Dal and soak for few hours.

2. Boil it in a pressure cooker (4 to 5 whistles) with water, a pinch of turmeric powder and salt.

3. Take a Kadai. Heat the oil. Add hing/ Asafoetida. Soon after temper with whole dry red chili, cumin seeds and bay leaves.

4. Add tomato. Saute till it is soft and mashed. Add ginger paste and Saute till the paste starts to leave oil.

5. Add all the powdered Masalas and saute nicely. If it needs a bit water add the juice of the boiled dal.

6. Add the chopped coconut pieces and stir saute for a minute. Now add the boiled dal. Add salt and sugar. Add the raisins.

7. Cook for a while (See Notes), add the ghee and then take it off the stove and garnish with grated coconut. Serve hot with rice, luchi/puri or roti.

Note:

i] The consistency of the dal should be not runny or too thick.

ii] Taste wise it is slightly on the sweeter note. Therefore don't forget to add the exact amount of sugar that the taste asks for.