An Idea for Life-Inspirations

The smallest and the simplest things in life are often  the ones that shock you the most. As Indians and as individuals(Indians first because that is the politically correct thing to do-country first) we tend to live in our cocoons.Little insects eating away the tender young fruit ,and then getting fat and surrounding oneself in the cocoon,sheilding ourself from reality.
And then breaking out and flying away to our own respective selfish lives.
So selfishly unaffected by the reality of those who have no access to the internet of a computer.
And then when social activists like Mittal Patel show us the reality of  nomads who have been labelled criminals and the girls of the Bedia tribe of Gujrat and Rajasthan who are forced into prostitution by virtue of their birth,and who support their families by selling their flesh and blood, we are shocked.
This little presentation is not what I have seen for the first time,and in all probability,I will see many many more of these speeches http://www.ftideacaravan.com/, at the Franklin Templeton Investmentspartnered the TEDxGateway Mumbai in December 2012.but the fact of the matter is -do these touch a cord in me.
Every time I see the plight of the girls who are less fortunate than me ,I feel a little pain.
The pain I can either ignore or let prick my conscience until it bleeds.
Bleeds a little to act as a balm for these hurt souls.
I promised myself,that I would do a little every year to help someones daughter.
Help the girls feel a little more confident.
Help them dream bigger.
I can only be a drop in the ocean...
And move the tides.

Thanks to Indiblogger,many more people will feel the pain.
If only they use that as a salve for the hurting soul.

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Sweet Dreams are Made of this-My Perfect Road Trip

Sweet dreams are made of these.
A car,any car at my disposal and a partner,any partner to hold my hand on this wondrous drive to sunset.That is the premise of the this contest sponsored by Ambipur India.
Check out their fb page for details.

Any one ,any place and any car...
Not an easy deal in these times.
So with your imagination fuelled and your dream car topped up,with a limitless credit card(that some one else is paying for) and a visa that no one can question...
Its time to fly.
Some thing even Mr Narinder Modi can not boast of at the moment.His visa is non existent.
Powerful or no,Only dreams can take you places to fill your heart with joy.
My Chariot,an 4x4 SUV of my dreams...
The 2014 Jeep Cherokee!
I am partial to the colour electric blue,because sweet dreams are made of this.

google images

Truth be told,if I had a jeep Cherokee to my name, I would be happy to live in it.I have this thing for big and powerful cars.I love flooring the accelerator and love the feel of the ewind on my face.

But driving in India,the only thing you feel on your face is the fumes of the car in front of you and the only whistles of the wind yoy hear are the pressure horns of the buses on the road.

And the person of choice,he is the man who has walked beside me all these years,eho is attuned to my laughter and who can smell the happiness in my spirit.

His only draw back-he is not a fish man. He will fish in troubled waters and use a rod to fish,but he cannot give me company when I want to eat the fruit of the sea.

Small problems,big solutions-eat chicken.

The Agenda.

Pack a minimum bag of clothes and essential supplies,my DSLR and a few lenses(which I have not really got about to mastering) and my lenses-contact...

Loads of Sunblock and some Desi grub to sustain all cravings.

The Destination

Marin County, California.

All info gained from the website above.

The Itinerary.

Starting from San Fransisco, after being picked up and handed the keys of the Jeep Cherokee,first on the agenda is soaking up the soul satisfying chocolate at Ghirardelli at the Fisherman's wharf.The best way to start is with chocolate.

google images

Straight out after dunking our spirits hubby dear and I plan to soak in some beignetts and coffee and of course check out the Golden Gate Bridge. But by now,more than the fuel,we've in all probability run up parking costs of almost $100 or more, so through down town San Fransisco, we now enter Marin County

visitmarin.org

Driving North out of  the picturesque Bay Area,on Interstate 101,almost 90 miles of pure ribbon as smooth as silk- like highway...

The Jeep eating away miles in wine county and and the air sweetened by ambipur ...

Memories will be made of this.

Wine tastings and walks though the vineyards.

Hooking up mountain bikes for a bike ride through the scenic countryside...

The drive through the Valley Memorial Park and the Stafford park...

But Manic Monday beckons and the alarm bells ring...

But I have a way of knowing that dreams can come true.

Marin County,CA is one of Nat Geo's best road Journeys of the world.

So what are you dreaming of today???

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Cinnamon Rolls- Yummo! The Pioneer Woman Cooks-eggless

I found a friend.
I found a friend who is easy to bring in,easy on the palate and makes me less feel a little guilty.I found a friend in Cinnamon Rolls.
Cinnamon rolls that are pushing me to blog today.The vacations really sapped out my words.After the post on the Peach Vodka,I'm sure most of you must have assumed that I was not visible only because I must have downed all that vodka and was supporting a hangover.
Ha!
Unfortunately no! Duty beckons me .
I'm more beauty bound!
Beauty of books.
And of Cinnamon Rolls.

School term has begun.Its not the 100 odd children that sap the words out of me,it is the humidity. North India has been going through the worst spells of monsoons this year.
So warm and humid.
The heat -one can bear,the humidity which averages at 85% with an average temperature of 42-45 degrees Centigrade-translated to degree Fahrenheit-we have been subjected from 108-115 F.
So sitting in front of the laptop does not seem to be such a lucrative way to pass my time.
Simple and sweet and buttery and cinnamony...
Yummo!
And Easy!
No Kneading,just stirring and then pressing flat and rolling and cutting.
And baking-but of course!
And the heavenly aromas floating and threatening to take me straight to heaven.

Got this from the pioneer woman cooks,sweet sister is a big ,big fan and has been waxing eloquent about these.
I just had to make them,and I was so rewarded.
Took me all of 15 minutes.
And happiness.

Try these,if you need to lift humidity soaked spirits.
for the


Cinnamon Rolls- Yummo! The Pioneer Woman Cooks...


you need


2 cups milk
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
4 cups plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda/bicarbonate of soda
2 1/2 tsp yeast
1 tsp salt

extra flour to roll the dough
3-4 tbsp cinnamon powder
1/2 cup granulated sugar
75 mils melted butter.
3-4 tbsp-heaped icing sugar
1/4 cup milk
2 tsp coffee made with coffee powder and hot water
Maple Syrup -if you have any

Start with a large-ish bowl in which you need to place the milk ,sugar and oil.Heat it till it just scalds. That is ,almost comes to the boil. Set aside to cool till just warm to the touch and add the yeast. Let the yeast react for about 10-15 minutes.

The yeast didn't do too much magic. Thought that it had become limp and old and past it.However,basic science.The oil forms a film to cut off the oxygen,so no worries.

Dump in the flour -around 3/4 of the total amount at this stage and stir in.

Mix it  in and add in the remaining flour too and set aside,till the dough is sticky and double. In the meanwhile ,I cooked and supervised sweet child's homework and kept an eye on the dough.
It never rose so much-all that blah about the watched pot and all...
So I went ahead and did the rest...
Add a slightly heaped tsp of baking powder,a little less  of a tsp of baking soda/bicarb of soda and a little less of the tsp of salt and stir together.

Now pop it out onto the work top-cleaned and liberally sprinkled with flour.

Roll it out into a rectangle that is almost a foot -12 inches by 8 inches.I didn't use my rolling pin- I used my hands.

Melted butter,I used only 50 mils of the butter.

Cinnamon powder that I sifted over with the help of a tea strainer.Yes,my blender/dry grinder jar is not super efficient-but we manage.

And now the sugar.Cant see it in all the golden glory.

Rolled along the length with the help of my bench scraper...

And placed in a butter greased round baking tray. This one came with my new microwave cum convection oven.The rolls need to be cut at an inch thick and placed a wee bit away from each other.They need a little time to grow.

A little extra left over,placed in small tart moulds.

Oven on at 175C/350F .In the while that the oven took to heat up,the rolls grew a bit and I popped them in for 25 minutes.
Topping/frosting.
Icing sugar,about 15-20 mils of the melted butter ...

Coffee and about a couple of tablespoons of milk.Blend and ready to pour as soon as the rolls are out.

I waited only 5 minutes and poured the frosting over the rolls. The rolls were sticky and warm and buttery and sweet and cinnamony and yummo!

Nigella Lawson type midnight snack...
A coffee and the lighter than light roll.
So wicked that you never noticed them disappear...

And morning after...
Just the touch of the sunlight,in time for my morning cuppa.
What a wonderful day.
So worth the effort-which was almost none...
And they kept me going for 3 days...
Ready to bake again...
Especially now that it is raining...

Try these...you wont be disappointed.


So what are you baking today???

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Of Peaches and Cream Liqueur and a long wait for Maturity and Alcohol

“You can be the ripest, juiciest peach in the world, and there's still going to be somebody who hates peaches.” 

                                                                                         ― Dita Von Teese

Partial to peaches,I am.

Special ,I am.

Awesome,I am.

Most people love me,but there are always some who hate me.

And like a peach,I think they are wasting their lives.So true,what Dita Von Teese says.You can love peaches or ...

Summer and Stone fruit go hand in hand.Every one in blogosphere is going bananas about baking and making puds with all kinds of stone fruit. Me-I have not been baking in my oven for many days.We are baking here in Jalandhar.Being baked and ,steamed and roasted. Such is the weather here.

These peaches were picked from the trees that shade the in laws from the sun in the beautiful hills of Solan,Himachal Pradesh in North India. So while the rest of the world trots to supermarkets and fills their baskets with peaches and plums from the aisles ,we simply walk out of the house,or in this case,lean out from the windows and pluck.And Eat.

OK plum,not peach.But this was a picture I wanted to take,the bird feasting on this plum flew off and left a teeny bite sized pock mark on the other wise perfect plum. The peaches were awesome. The flavour more intense straight off the tree, mellower with the wait.
We brought back a lot,but there is only so much I can eat.
Yup,its only me that eats peaches. Hubby dear is a plum man and sweet child is so picky that he likes peaches only out of a tin!
Wow!
I love peach schnapps. And googled the method of prep of the schnapps. Not doable in Jalandhar,so the next option was a yummy sounding peach liqueur.
So be it!

for the 

Home made fresh Peach Liqueur with Vodka and Brandy...

you need

1 cup sugar

1 cup water

2 pounds fresh peaches,skins and stones

1 1/2 cup pure vodka

1 cup brandy

1 tsp lemon zest

1 tsp orange zest-I had none so I used a stick of cinnamon

You need 2 glass bottles  of 1 litre each.Mine are from westside.Or a large 2 l,wide mouth seal able jar.

Clean and Dry.

All you need to do is slice the peaches thin.

Place the sugar and water in a sauce pan and simmer till the sugar dissolves.

Turn off and set aside to cool.

In the meanwhile divide the stones and sliced peaches evenly in the two bottles.

Divide the sugar syrup equally.

To one bottle I added the zest of 3 lemons-about 1 tsp.

To the second,I added a stick of cinnamon.

Divided the vodka-I used Romanov Red and  the brandy.
I used a local brandy with a plain bottle.So no pictures of that.

Placed some plastic cling wrap on the mouth and closed the bottle tight.
And took loads and loads of pictures.

I placed these bottles in the back of my cupboard to mature for a month and a half.

No light for the next 45 days.
Just a longing and a long wait ...

The peaches are almost all gone.I made 4 bottles,the fruit,I will put in desserts and the liqueur,we'll drink.

The wait promises to be long...

So watch this space.And those who love peaches like me,go brew your own schnappy peachy liqueur.

So what are you brewing today???

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Indiblogger Ambipur Blogger Meet

HAppy to be!
Happy to have attended my first Indiblogger meet!
OK partial attendance...
I had to leave mid way,that's what happens when you come to visit the parents on a limited budget(number of holidays.)

I just attended the "Head Banging" and the Introductions and stayed on till a wee bit after lunch...
Food!
The food at the Hyatt,New Delhi is regular hotel stuff-Me, I adore the stuff that comes from their ovens.
They are supposed to have the best of the Chef Patisserie's and bakers.
The muffins and Danish pastries and croissants served with cappuccinos were awesome!
And if I had not been too busy chatting up with fellow bloggers ,I would have taken a few pics.
But,wisdom only dawned when I remembered my raison d'etre-or the reason why I am a food blogger-so I skipped the food and concentrated on the desserts.
Some one was picking up his desserts and my camera and I stressed him out.
The layout.
I missed photographing the Mango and Passion fruit Mousse.
But on the menu were Blueberry Cheesecake,Baked Coffee Cheese cake and Chocolate Truffle cake.

 That was my plate.

 The chocolate truffle cake was standard bakery stuff. Simple chocolate -light chocolate sponge made with cake emulsifiers/gels and a chocolate ganache.
My standards for Chocolate truffle cake are high.
Sugar and Spice -the patisserie in Oberoi ,Delhi

 This was the best they offered though.
The most sought after platter from the dessert table.

The biggest disappointment offered. The base of the Baked Coffee Cheese Cake was soggy marie biscuit type crust, no flavour of coffee or of any mascarpone cheese.
Made mostly wit non dairy cream and cornflour.
Sad!
Not worth the single bite worth of calories.

 The worst offering of the lot.
Blueberry Cheese cake. Soggy spongy pastry base. The cheesecake, a gelatinous un wobbly non dairy cream mixed artificial blueberry topping and preserve.
The one that most bloggers scorned.
This is something that even amateurs get right.

All in all ,the meet was better than the desserts.
SO the next Indiblogger Meet in Delhi,that I am able to attend,I am going to switch off my phone and tell all and sundry that I will only surface after the Meet.

So cheers to you guys at Indiblogger. You were great.
I will be incommunicado for the next few days,off to visit the in laws-the last leg of the holidays.Internet connectivity is zilch there.

So back home next week...
Till then-

So what are you baking today???

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Green Mango Relish in a Sweet and Sour and Spicy Avataar- Chunda

Chutneys and Relishes have a very special place on the dining table.

An accompaniment to all foods, bland or spicy, some veggies that are not worth even serving on the table-like turnip and lauki/ghiya/bottle gourd...

Makes it all palatable.

A little tang,a little yummy wow factor.

Awesome.And I go and do the most Un-Gujarati(alcohol is prohibited in the Indian state of Gujarat,so people find many ways to drink it) thing to Chunda.

Serve it with Vodka.

"Many demons lurk in the Russian Firewater." 

Not my lines-Clive Cussler's!

This little golden relish has the power to tame those demons of the Russian Firewater. Hidden behind the tame hors d'ouvres or canapes is the deadly bottle of pure Russian Romanov. Devils Indeed!
About the Chunda- or the sweet and sour and spicy mango chutney made with absolutely zero oil-its Gujarati in origin and has been exported world wide.
Different from the cloyingly sweet jams and preserves of yore,this one sure packs a punch.
Yours truly is not too big a fan of spicy sweet stuff,but this one is a perfect balance.

I used salted cream crackers as the base,added a small slab of Ricotta cheese-slightly different to the making of paneer/cottage cheese and a better ,smoother flavour,topped with a generous helping of Chunda and a bit of caramelised onions.
It all began from here.
There is a nursery behind my house, and since hubby dear patronises the gardener for his requirement of seeds and stuff,I was able to glean a kilo and a half of the firmest,sourest and freshest mangoes.
That's why they say that the best things in life are free.
You can see the mangoes hanging for their dear life,and a few parrots definitely angry at the nursery owner's generosity.

for the


Green Mango Relish in a Sweet and Sour and Spicy Avatar- Chunda ...

you need


1.5 to 2 kg firm, unripe or semi(really semi) ripe mangoes
500 gms to 750 gms sugar(depending on the sourness of the mango)
1 to 1 1/2 tsp black /rock salt
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 to 1 tsp red chili flakes
1 tsp roasted cumin powder
2-3 tbsp watermelon seeds(magaz) or shredded almonds or pine nuts or raisins or none at all(optional)

These are my mangoes,washed,dried and peeled. I shredded them in my food processor. Had they been semi ripe,I would have to grate them manually.SO grate according to what you have.

Use a stainless steel deep dish. The acid in the mangoes will spoil otherwise.Add in the salt and turmeric powder and cover and set aside for 15 minutes.

Add 100 gms of sugar to the mangoes and mix with a stainless steel spoon, till the sugar dissolves.Set aside ,covered for 10 minutes.

You'll find the mango and sugar forming a syrup.Keep adding the sugar,mixing in and then setting aside till you use up most of the sugar.Taste.

You may want it sweet or not. You are the best judge.You can add more  sugar to this.Now set it on a low flame,I used my induction cooker at low power,and cooked this relish for at least 25-30 minutes.You need a one thread mango-sugar syrup here.

Roast the nuts,cool and add in.

Cooking further,till that syrup thickens. Keep tasting for sweetness, you cant add sugar after you stop cooking ,so it has to be now or never.

OK, the syrup was done. How to test for one thread.Take a drop of the syrup on your thumb and touch gently with your index finger.When you separate them,the stickiness will pull in one thread.If it is not one thread, cook some more.
Add in the chili flakes and the roasted cumin powder and stir.

Cover with a cloth napkin to cool.

Sterilise glass bottles and fill them with the Chunda.Be sure that you sun it for at least 2-3 days.

The Indian summer sun will ensure that your relish stays preserved for a whole year.If you don't eat it up by then -that is.

Serve with cheese-the combination of slightly salted cheddar and the sweet and spicy and tangy relish is awesome.

Or do what I did,use this to serve as a snack to your guests.
Cracker,a slice of homemade ricotta or herbed cottage cheese,and topped with fried ,caramelised onion or maybe olives, or chopped gherkins,maybe capers, shredded basil leaves, maybe diced sweet peppers...
Whatever!

And Enjoy.

Don't forget to pucker your lips and smack them ,after you taste this Green Mango Relish in a Sweet and Sour and Spicy Avatar- Chunda .

Easy to make and adds value to many a bland meal.

Try it...

So what are you baking today???

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