Aloo Bhujia - My style

Ingredients:


3-4 Potatoes [peeled and cut like finger chips]
1 onion [thinly sliced lengthwise]
1/2 tsp Turmeric Powder
1/2 tsp Zeera
Pepper Powder as per taste
Salt as per taste
2 tbsp Oil for cooking [preferably mustard oil]



Method:


Wash the potatoes and keep aside. Now take a deep frying pan and put oil in it. When the oil is heated put the zeera. When they splutter immediately add the onions and lower the heat. Fry till pinkish, then add the potatoes. Add the turmeric powder, salt & pepper powder and cover the pan with a lid. Continue to keep on low flame and cook. Keep stirring inetween without breaking the pottoes.



When you see the potatoes are cooked, increase the flame and keep stirring till it is crisp.
Take out and serve with hot parathas or simple roti.



Enjoy !!

Chicken Fry - My style

What you need:


500 gms chicken
1 egg
1 tsp ginger-garlic paste
Salt to taste
1-2 tsp White pepper powder
1 tsp parsley or celery [finely chopped] as per taste
Breadcrumbs
Oil for frying



How to prepare:


Wash and dry the chicken pieces [remove excess water]. Make small cuts in the chicken pieces with knife or prick with fork. Then marinate the chicken in salt, white pepper powder, ginger-garlic paste. Cover the bowl and keep in refrigerator for 2-3 hrs [if you do not have enough time then 20-30 mins of marination will also do]

Take the chicken out of refrigerator atleast 20 minutes before the cooking time. Let the chicken come to room temperature before you fry.


In a bowl take the egg and add the chopped parsley/celery and beat. Keep it aside. Take and spread the breadcrumbs on a plate. Now dip each chicken piece in the egg mixture and then cover it with breadcrumbs. Now deep fry them till they turn golden brown. Take out and put them on a napkin to absorb excess oil.



Caution: After the oil is heated reduce the flame while frying so that the pieces are cooked properly. The flame needs to be adjusted as required.



It can be served for breakfast as well as dinner accompanied with soup and some dip. If you are not too calorie conscious then have with wafers. It is an excellent snacks for the kids.





Let me know....

Jhatka Lamb Mutton - My style

This recipe is specially for people who like to eat good food but will not move around much for preparing the food that would satisfy the soul. Here is your chance for doing so:


Ingredients:

1/2kg Baby Lamb Mutton [with bones]
4-5 large Onions thinly sliced [long]
2 tsp Zeera
4-5 Dry Red Chillies
2-3 Tej Patta Leaves
10-15 Pepper Corns
2 pieces of Cinnamon Sticks [1 inch each]
3-4 tbsp Ginger-Garlic paste [better if you make it at home. Grind it coarsely. Use 7-8 cloves of garlic & 1 inch ginger]
5-6 Cloves
4-5 Whole Green Cardamom [Elaichi]
1-2 Whole Black Cardamom [Badi Elaichi]
1 1/2 tsp Mace Powder [Javitri. If you don't have powder use 2-3 whole pieces instead]
2 tsp Garam Masala Powder
1 1/2 tbsp Zeera Powder
2 tbsp Coriander Powder
2 tbsp Red Chilli Powder [you can adjust quantity as per taste]
8-10 tbsp Refined Oil [it tastes better if you use Mustard Oil but the choice is yours]
Salt to taste


Method:


Step 1: You will love this. Just mix all the above [yes all !!!] and leave it for marination. Now do what ever you want to do in the next 2-3 hours. If you can leave for marination over night nothing like it but 2-3 hrs should also suffice.


Step 2: Now take out the marinade and put the entire stuff in pressure cooker. You will love it even more. Close the pressure cooker lid and let it pressure cook to count of 2-3 whistles on low flame. Then put off the gas and let the pressure release so that the lid opens.


Step 3: Now again put on the gas and on a low flame cook the mutton in the same vessel without locking the lid. Keep checking in between and stirring so that the mutton doesn't stick on the bottom. Keep cooking till the water evaporates and oil starts separating. Now add 1 tbsp of desi ghee [optional] and keep cooking. Keep stirring and checking if the mutton is cooked.


Step 4: Just when the mutton looks cooked add 1 cup of water and again put on the lid to give pressure on low flame to count of 2 whistles. Once you hear the whistle, take it off the gas and let the pressure come out on its own.


Step 5: The mutton is ready. It tastes best with hot chapatis / hot rice and accompanied with onion salad.


Tips: Pressure cooking time needs to be adjusted as per the quality of the lamb meat. Usually frozen lambs take more time to cook as compared to fresh.
Happy Eating!!! Do let me know how you liked it.....

Can I have just truth.....

In last couple of days I saw some movies and two of them caught my imagination. Though there is nothing common in them starting from the era when they were made to star cast to the directors to the story line. I mean nothing in common. Nothing at all. Yet they told me the same thing.

The first one was "Satyakam". It is directed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee. Well he is more commonly associated with movies about common man and his life. The villains are the situations and not some paranormal beings..anyways..the protagonist was played by Dharmendra [and his name was not "Satyakam" but "Satyapriya"]. The movie revolves around his idealism and how he wanted to stay in this society being true to himself.

My second reference is a more recent National Award winning movie "Page 3". The director is the well known Madhur Bhandarkar who again is associated with movies of common people and their life. The protagonist was played by Konkana Sen Sharma.

I guess now that I am writing I can draw a parallel between both the directors. Both tell their stories about people like you and me but the difference is in the way they tell it. While Hrishikesh Mukherjee's portrayal was more light hearted and made you feel good when you come out watching that all is not lost in life after all. Madhur Bhandarkar is more hard hitting for he forces you to see things which we generally want to get away from.

Anyways coming back to my experience of watching these movies. I had watched both the movies earlier also but never in succession. And it is perhaps this co-incidence which made me sit up to something which I had missed on earlier occasions. Both movies had protagonist who believed in truth and only truth. Who perhaps felt that there is perhaps no other way of living but the true way. Both the protagonists had their own belief system and were not ready to give in...easily to the pressures of our society. While in case of Satyapriya of "Satyakam" he died but did not break, Madhavi of "Page 3" gave in only to save her soul.

What really put my thought process in motion were two dialogues from these movies: first from "Satyakam" where Satyapriya's wife Ranjana [played by Sharmila Tagore to perfection], on one occasion, tells his more 'worldly' best friend Naren [played by Sanjeev Kumar] that "sone ke zevar banane ke liye thodi toh khot milani padti hai". Second from "Page 3" where Madavai's male journalist friend tells her that "you have to be in the system to change the system". Beautiful lines. Aren't they???

Both these stories were written in different eras by different screen play writers and told to the world by different directors. Yet when you look at the two at a deeper level, they had the same soul. The soul of truth, interpreted in diffrerent ways against different backgrounds. When you look at both these dialogues one can't help but feel that "is truth so difficult to handle in its pure form"? Can we present something as pure as truth in any other form but the truth?

All of us want to be told the truth and nothing but the truth in all that we do in life, in all our relationships, all our dealings...but when it comes to giving truth to others we shield ourselves against statements like one cannot handle truth, "how can I tell you the truth you will not be able to take it", there is more to it than the truth...

It really makes me wonder when there is something we love receiving why can't we give it to others in the same form. Some people say that one can lie to the whole world but not to oneself...while to counter this there are others who feel sometimes we are actually able to achieve a level where one perfects the art of saying distorted truth to oneself. I really don't know which is a better state to be in..whether to be true to oneslef..or to save oneself from the truth....but yes the thought process has been set into motion yet again...once again....

Cheers!!

Healthy Eggs - My style

This is for normal adults who love eating and don't shy away from having a "king like" breakfast before they take on the world through the day. The quantities of the vegetables mentioned is to be adjusted according to your preferences but please don't go over board because after all eggs also have limited capacity to bind.....and you also need to keep in mind that if you want to cook to perfection the quantities have to be little...

Preparation:

• 2 eggs
• leftover half piece boiled potato that has to be mashed to perfection
• grated carrots
• finely chopped onions
• finely chopped green chillies
• finely chopped mushrooms
• finely chopped tomatoes
• finely chopped capsicum
• 1/2 cube cheese
• finely chopped parsley
• finely chopped corriander
• white pepper powder
• 2 tsp milk

Now take a big bowl in order to avoid the mess you might create in whisking the eggs and all other ingredients....
whisk it as much as possible..for whisking use a fork or a egg beater....
this is the secret the more you whisk the fluffier the omelet is....
so once you are satisfied with the final mixture keep it aside...
now heat a non stick large pan and put some generous helping of olive oil [or any oil that you prefer] and tilt the pan to spread the oil through the surface...
the oil if more it will not cause a problem but if less then egg mixture will stick to the pan. ....
once the oil is heated add this mixture and swish it around....
but not much because if the layer is very thin you will not be able to flip it on the other side without making it into a "bhurji"....
and then lower the flame.... sprinkle some salt...and let it cook...
now check if the edge of the omelet is pulling away from the pan....and run your non stick spatula beneath to see if it is not sticking any where....
now one more tip....just tilt your pan and see if the entire thing slides....
which means that your egg is coooked from one side...
now with the help of spatula flip the omelet on the other side and let it cook....
again run the same check of running your non stick spatula beneath to see if it turned a beautiful golden brown....if yes..what are you waiting for..please take it out on a plate....your omelet is ready...
now I like to toast my bread on the same pan on a very low flame so that the bread soaks up the oil left behind by the omelet and nothing is wasted....
Important Tip: Enjoy what you are making and please don't think of all those calories...and weight and how much time it will take etc etc...the difference between cooking and great coooking is only couple of minutes and an attitude of loving your act...and if you love what you are cooking the taste has to be great....
now sit back...eat....and enjoy this heavenly creation..till we meet again!!!

Here I am..

"Food for Soul"....

How did this actually start. It started last month when one of my extended family members asked me to start a blog to post some of my "fast food" recipes for people like him. Well he also showed me how simple it is to start a blog. Not that I am technolically challenged but yes I didnot know how to go about it. So to say the path was shown to me but then I was not too sure that I would tread this path...may be some day..but definitely not today was the thought that was playing in my mind....I just forgot all about it and was blisfully living my normal life.

Then yesterday it happened. As I was doodling on the net, I suddenly remembered the path shown to me and then what did I do..well I created a blog. When the option for the blog name came, I did not think for a minute and just named it "food for soul". Well this name came to my mind not because I wanted to give it a fancy name..it came because I was starting a food blog and what better way to start it than something to soothe your soul..and then came the dreadful part of writing my first post....and you guessed it right I just didnot know what to write...I had named my blog but I didnot know what to do with it.???? So as any practical individual would do, I did not write anything..so here I had a blog and I did not know what to do with it...so I let it be and then clsoed it..

Today morning when I got up..this blog was playing on my mind and I knew I had to do some thing about it...I mean I had to post something..if not for anyone else but definitely for myself..I felt foolish and stupid that I created a blog but could not share it with anyone for a simple reason I did not know what to share....so I let the thought of writing be with me and kept myself busy with my morning chores..and then once everyone was gone I sat back staring blankly at my computer screen..thinking of what to write..so decided to use some of my management knowledge...and though of looking it from a project point of view....and see where was I getting stuck...so to say as my ex-boss always use to say "take a helicopter view" so that I could fit all the pieces together and start wth my journey called "food for soul"....

Step 1: Why did I start this blog [well I was fairly clear on that]- so one down.... hippeee...

Step 2: What was the purpose of this blog [now this is where I was stuck]..see it pays to be a management consultant...so this is where i was stuck...and I knew until I crossed this I could get no where....so I started with thinking [something which I do very rarely now a days]..and I thought...and I thought...and that took me one tea...2 glasses of water and then I looked at the title of my blog "Food For Soul" and then it clicked....my answer was in my title...

I dissected it like a surgeon....

Food -- now what do we need food for...for survival...for taste...for gaining weight...for loosing weight....to enjoy...to show off....to impress....to pass time and the list went on and on... then came the next.....

Soul -- now what is soul..well didnot even attempt as rishis and sages and intellectuals and philosophers and psychiatrists and faith healers and gurus and yogis and atheists and last but not least and most importantly religion have for ages have been struggling to give an answer to this question....so me a humble, chota sa insaan with even smaller brain conviniently decided to skip this explanation that has the entire human kind scratching their heads for centuries...

Moving on I put 1+1 together i.e Food for Soul and then like "buddhas enlightenment" it dawned upon me...Food for Soul could be anything..like good recipes..great music...thought provoking writings...loving pictures.....touching letters and stories....here I was struggling with what to write and now I have this whole horizon which has opened up to me...so I have my answer..the purpose is..to share anything and everything [food] that makes your soul... LIVE ON...

So here I am..my journey for providing food for soul has begun today......