Bitter gourd sweet and sour curry

Bitter gourd is one of the most healthy vegetables to consume. However people are averse to it due to its bitter taste. I did make a venture into this dish after being asserted by a friend's mom that the below dish will make sure its bitter taste is hidden from the taste buds and it sure did :). This is a very simple dish to make.

Ingredients:

1. Bitter gourd
2. Onion
3. Cumin seeds
4. Asafoetida
5. Salt
6. Turmeric
7. Chilli powder
8. Tamarind
9. Jaggery
10. Pepper powder

How I made:

1. Cut bitter gourd into tiny pieces. Add some salt and turmeric and mix .Leave it aside for an hour or two.
2. When ready to prepare the dish, wash the bitter gourd thoroughly.
3. In a wok add oil and fry the bitter gourd + SALT+Asafoetida, until it turns brown
4. Now add cumin seeds and Onion and fry.
5. When the onion is being cooked, mix some tamarind, chilli powder, pinch of pepper powder and jaggery in a bowl
6. Once the onion is cooked, add the tamarind mixture and allow it to boil for 10 - 12 min.

Points to remember:

1. The bitter gourd should be light green in colour. A darker shade means you are in for a much bitter taste :)
2. Marinate the bitter gourd with salt and turmeric for 2 hours or so before cooking
3. When you cook, fry the gourd until golden brown with SALT
   

Chinese Hakka noodles

The recipe mentioned below is not an authentic Chinese dish. However it is a tasty dish to make.

Ingredients:
1 packet "Chinese Hakka noodles - VEG"
1 small capsicum
1/2 onion
1/2 cabbage
Green Beans - few
1 Carrot
Green peas - few
Red chilli sauce
Green chilli sauce
Soya Sauce
Tomato ketchup

How I made:

1. Cut all the vegetables except beans into long vertical strands. Beans can be sliced into small pieces
2. Since both me and my husband do not like the raw taste of vegetables, I cooked the vegetables (EXCEPT for CAPSICUM).Allow the water to boil. Add a pinch of salt. Add the rest of the veggies and cook for 5 min (Do Not cook it fully)
   
3. Remove the water from the cooked vegetables using a strainer. Set this aside
4. In a wok, Add about 10 cups of water + 1 spoon oil + 1 spoon SALT. Boil it. When the water starts to boil,add the hakka noodles and cook for about 5 min
5. Do not over cook the noodles. They will end up tasteless
6. When the noodles are PARTIALLY cooked, remove the wok from the stove and thoroughly WASH the noodles with COLD water.Washing noodles with cold water helps it in not becoming sticky
7. Use a strainer to remove the water from the noodles and mix a tablespoon of oil with the noodles
8. Set the noodles aside
9. In a kadaai, add oil and heat
10. Add capsicum and the rest of the cooked vegetables and saute. Make sure there is no water left
11. Add a tablespoon each of soya sauce, green chilli sauce, red chilli sauce. Add a teaspoon of tomato ketchup and saute along with veg
12. Add salt (use discretion)
13. Add the cooked hakka noodles and saute
14. If the noodles taste less spicy add red chilli sauce to adjust the taste

Things to remember:

1. The noodles taste better without ginger garlic paste
2. Add salt while partially cooking the hakka noodles
3. Wash the cooked hakka noodles with COLD water and strain the water
4. Mix a tablespoon of oil to the cooked hakka noodles
5. DO NOT fully cook the vegetables. Half cooked vegetables have a good taste
6. Add red chilli sauce to adjust the spicy taste
7. Serve HOT :)
   

Rava Dosa

Hmmm, its been long since I got this one right. I then took some time to explain the problem to my aunt ( more often than not she has become my saviour these days). She gave me a simple way to make this dish. Trust me,the results were truly amazing. Yes, my Husband was impressed . "It's very Good", he said. Now, isn't that a pretty big compliment? :)

Ingredients: ( Helps make 5 dosas')
1 cup Rava (Semolina)
3/4 cup Rice flour
3 teaspoons of Maida (All purpose flour)
1/4 Onion
Asafoetida (small pinch of it)
Green chillies - 3
Curry leaves - few
Pepper - few
Cumin seeds
Salt

How I made :

1. Add some oil in a wok. When it gets heated add the Cumin seeds and pepper. Allow it to spurt
2. Next add Onion and sauté till transparent
3. Next add green chillies, curry leaves, asafoetida and Rava
4. Roast the rava slightly in the oil ad remove the wok from the stove
5. Mix the roasted rava from the previous step with the rice flour , maida and salt
6. Add water such that the batter looks like BUTTERMILK
7. Heat the tava for about 5 min before making the dosa. When the tava is hot, SPRINKLE the batter on the tava
8. Avoid using a spatula for making the dosa. Using a spatula makes the dosa batter clog and hence you will not get a thin dosa
9. Roast the dosa on both the sides to make it crisp

Things to remember:

1. Rava dosa needs to be crisp
2. Don't add too much Maida. It takes time to roast the dosa
3. The batter HAS to be like buttermilk consistency, else the dosa will be soft
4. You can also add roasted groundnut and cashews to this dish
5. You can also fry few thinly sliced ginger pieces and add it to the batter

Simple and easy Mushroom fry recipe

Mushroom is not a very favourite veg of mine. However, I do believe in eating a variety of food so that you don't miss out on nutrients supplied by them. With this in mind, I recently bought a packet of mushrooms. Every website I read for a mushroom dish I saw them recommending not to wash mushroom with water since it absorbs water quickly. Instead, they ask it to be cleaned with a wet towel.But looking at the mushrooms in the packet I felt it better to eat clean and slightly less tasty mushrooms rather than unhygienic but tasty ones. So I washed the mushrooms well with water and squeezed them out. Don't forget to cut the edge of the stems (attached to the ground).The dish that follows is a simple one to make. Trust me I even went ahead and liked it. I was pleasantly surprised.Here's how I made it.

Ingredients:
Margarine/ Butter, Oil, Onion ( finely chopped) , Tomato (Finely chopped), Garlic ( ginger garlic paste could also be used), pepper powder, turmeric powder, chilli powder, garam masala , salt , cloves , cinnamon, fennel seeds (saunf)- very few, green chillies (optional since chilli powder is being used)

How to make?

• Add a mixture of (Margarine/ butter ) and oil in a kadaai and heat
• Add cloves, cinnamon. Once they start to spurt, add the fennel seeds.( only few seeds else it will make the dish sweet)
• Add onion and saute.Add garlic. Saute till the onion turns transparent
• Add the squeezed mushroom and saute for 2 min
• Now add chopped tomato
• Add a pinch of turmeric powder, chilli powder,a little over a pinch of garam masala, pepper powder, salt to taste.Saute for 2 min. Add some water ( Control the amount depending on how thick you want the gravy to be). Use a lid to close the kadaai. Allow it to fry for 3 - 4 min
• Remove the kadaai from the stove and garnish the dish with coriander leaves and fried cashews if u like it

You could also add 2-3 drops of lemon juice to bring out the sour taste in the dish.Goes well with chapathi.

Simple as I promised :)

My newly found interest in cooking

Disclaimer: The recipes you see in my blog are not my own. I have checked for these at various sites and tried them at home. These posts will also help me in checking for the dish at a later point.

Paneer Butter Masala

Ingredients:

Butter / Margarine Paneer (slightly big pieces), Tomato (grind / chop finely such that cooks quick), Onions (grind / chop finely such that cooks quick), Chilli powder (Plain chilli powder + Dhania powder), Turmeric powder ( a pinch ), Ginger garlic paste, Cloves, Cashews (optional), Cinnamon, Garam masala powder, 3 - 4 Tsp Yogurt, coriander leaves, Salt, Methi leaves (few)

Preparation:

1. Heat oil/butter/margarine, fry the paneer cubes golden brown. Keep this aside

2. Slightly fry the methi leaves. Keep it aside.These will be added at the end of the preparation.Remember too many of these could make the dish bitter in taste.

3. Grate 3 cubes of paneer and keep it aside

4. Heat oil and/or [butter/Margarine], add cinnamon and cloves. Fry onions, ginger garlic paste, till the odour goes off the paste

5. Add tomato and simmer for 5 minutes.DO NOT ADD WATER. Try to fry these with butter/oil itself

6. Add cashews, garam masala powder, salt ( Add cautiously since butter/Margarine is in use, you don't want the dish get too salty),chilli powder, turmeric powder, extra butter

7. Add yogurt and stir until gravy becomes thick. Add grated paneer and mix well. Then add fried paneer cubes, add 1/2 -1 cup water and simmer for 5 minutes , until all the flavour is absorbed into paneer

8. Finally add coriander and fried methi from step 2

Things that I did wrong:

1. Added too much of grated paneer which thickened my gravy
2. Added very little water at the end. A good half cup should do
3. Did not fry the ginger garlic paste properly in oil, so the odour kind of remained
4. Forgot to add Methi

While speaking to my aunt I got to know another set of ingredients that could be used in making this dish. That is, use milk instead of curd. And use heavy cream to thicken the curry. This is a good variant of doing this dish too. In fact she reminded me that Paneer butter masala is incomplete without the Methi leaves at the end :). Thanks aunty. I am going to try this the next time :)
I have already made a quick mention to my husband that this dish is not going to be prepared often. We can't afford to intake this amount of fat into our system at a regular basis :)

Best time in my life

This post talks of one of the best times I have had in my life.

Infosys Mysore: I must say that these were definitely some of the best days of my life. I remember the day when I entered the Infy campus in Mysore for the first time on 21st August 2006, confused and scared.It was a day of firsts.First job,first time away from home,first time away from parents. I felt my head reeling when my family left me in the campus and headed back to Bangalore. Slowly but steadily I brought myself to calm by saying that I will be seeing them every week. I will be going back to Bangalore every weekend. There are others in the same position as me. And Bangalore is after all just 3 hrs away. I can call my parents any-time. Thus started the journey of my training for 3.5 months or so. I must make a mention of my friend who had already taken up such a training in Mysore campus. Her assurance of the safety in campus helped my family in deciding to allow my stay in Mysore.

Sad experience or a bad one?

On the 6th of October, I boarded the bus to reach home. It was raining heavily and needless to say, the bus was crowded. The rain stopped after a while. As time passed, with the bus reaching different stops, the number of people in the bus only increased. Its a sight to see so many people in such small place within the bus. I felt suffocated and starting coughing. I asked the girl sitting beside the window to open it so that we could get some fresh air to breathe. She stared at me for a moment as if I had disturbed her peace in life and replied "I won't , ask the old woman behind you to open the window".

I failed to understand how she was able to say so, especially when the bus was crowded. I did not want to get into arguments, I was already feeling the heat of anger raise within me. After about 15 min, God knows what changed her mind, she opened the window. The feel of cool breeze eased me.

People, especially women were having little fights with each other. I could hear, "you are stamping my feet", "you stole my seat" everywhere. When a number of strangers are literally strangled all these are definitely bound to happen.

At one stop, the old woman behind me wanted to alight. She went in the direction of exit and men started yelling at her telling "old lady, there is no place for you to go through, take the other exit".They refused to budge to allow the poor soul to pass. She was trying to explain that she could not walk much or squeeze through the crowd. All her explanations went in vain. She then began to move in the direction of the other exit. Women spoke to her equally rude. In between the high drama, the driver started to move the bus. The poor lady shouted at the top of her feeble voice to stop. The driver shot back at her telling it was her fault to have not been ready for getting off the bus. I realized I was holding my breath all through the drama. Finally to my relief the old lady got off the bus at the intended stop.

People in the bus started laughing at her after she left. I had tears in my eyes. What was her fault, is it that she was old or is it that she could not afford to take a private transport and rather took the bus? And what was wrong with the driver?Could he have not been kind and waited for a couple of minutes more to allow the elderly citizen to alight?

All of us are in a hurry. But hurry to go where? And are we so much into our own problems that we are not able to empathize with others like the old woman? What happened to her will be our plight in a few years from now. Would we still laugh at ourselves?

I looked up and saw a pregnant woman standing just behind the drivers' seat. I was already upset and this only added to my gloom. Gone are the days when youngsters would gracefully get up and offer their seats to elders and women who were on the verge of experiencing motherhood. Gone are the days when people were courteous to help our elders. I had just witnessed a set of people who failed to show humanity to people who needed a little more consideration. I was wondering if all of this is because of the change in out lifestyles or because of the ever increasing population. We are so busy through our day that at the end of it we are too tired to travel standing in a crowded bus. Not much energy left, huh?

The bus reached my stop and I managed to squeeze through people and reach the exit on time. I did not want to be shouted by the driver, you see. I thanked God that I was escaping the scene which had started to trouble me. I was wondering if this was a bad experience or a sad one. After giving it a thought I decided, it was BOTH.

Miles apart

Destiny has driven us miles apart
Till death our souls will never depart
There is still immense love and affection
That makes us see beyond our imperfection

we decided that we stay as friends
and threw any other connection outside the fence
you filled the gap by being a sister
of course, we have had times that were bitter

People around us wonder
how we beat each other in being kinder
Well, all they have to do is ponder
and, they'll know with each passing day
we find each other fonder

My Angel

She is an Angel
who came for me out of a fable
I cry out to her in a voice so feeble
she is the one who is so affable

She understands my situation
and allows me to make allegation
and without much of an agitation
advices me on the fixation

She is termed as 'God'
I totally diagree with the lot
God gives pain to all those living
but my angel ends all the craving
giving me a strong sense of belonging

Oh! my dearest mother
the wisest choice made by my father
you are filled with so much of love
which is what takes you way above!


Love you Mom..

Pain

You may not feel the pain
All my explanations have gone in vain
Wonder if you heard them at all
Hope you realise atleast on my fall.

I may be a nothing to you
But I mean the world to a few
I refuse to go into depression
that is my secret confession.

Together I wanted to watch the valleys
You spent time in company of your allies
I know not what to do anymore
you have left me feeling so sore.

I lived a life of a queen
who went on to live a life unseen
Hope is my only hope
until I reach the end of the rope.

Working with TFS Team Project

I was checking a TFS Team Project that I had created and found that the name of the project was misspelled. On checking the Net found that you cannot rename a Team project. This might be taken up in TFS 2010. No gaurantees though.
Only option, delete TFS Team Project and create a new one.