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Monthly Archives: September 2015

Yipeee!!! 😇

29 Tuesday Sep 2015

Posted by Neethu in Just thoughts

≈ 40 Comments

Tags

Just thoughts

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Yipeee I am so overwhelmed by this number.
I woke up this morning to find my notifications stating 100 follows.. 😨
I still can’t  believe I have  hundred amazing blogger friends following my crazy random posts.
It may feel like, all right so what’s the big deal we have more!!!
But for me wheeeeeeee💓💓💓 It is a biguhhhhhh deal!!!
Though it’s just a small number, it’s very special to me.
Each and every comment and like is a motivation, a feel good factor.
I was  actually jumping around 💃🏻💃🏻💃🏻 clicked a screenshot of it and made it  as my Wats app DP 😛😛😛
I feel so happy to know I actually have people reading  what i rant about..
Yippee…yet again.. I am sure everyone here can relate to this awesome feeling.. A feeling you could indeed hit the ceiling.. 😉
Geeee…as i have mentioned before this blog was started just like that with random posts and I had no clue of posting stuff, a complete novice, learning from scratch, when I started getting a few likes and 3-4 follows it kept me motivated to post randomly atleast one post a month and yet I was still dormant.
The past two months has seen a boom, in the many comments, follows and  likes.. Thank you, thank you, thank you everyone.. 💞💞💞
It’s awesome…
Lots of love, Neethu..👩

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Mutton Aloo Kurma!!

23 Wednesday Sep 2015

Posted by Neethu in Food

≈ 44 Comments

Tags

Food

Mutton Aloo Kurma South Indian style
(Spiced mutton and potato gravy)

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Hey everyone.. with Bakrid around the corner, I thought why not dish out some gravy with mutton in it, hope you enjoy this recipe.
I am not a regular food blogger, just trying to post the dishes I make, So kindly bear with my mistakes, any questions and suggestions are welcome.
I learnt this recipe from my granny.

Korma, also spelled kormaa, qorma, khorma, or kurma, is a dish originating in Central Asia consisting of meat or vegetables braised in a spiced gravy.
The gravy could be tomato based or Coconut based.

Mine is a very typical South Indian dish, with meat simmered in Coconut based gravy.
Even chicken can be used instead of mutton and for vegetarians, you can use potatoes, that will give you the awesome Aloo( potato) Kurma.
This dish is normally prepared for Sunday noon leisurely lunches.
Might look tedious but with practice, it becomes a routine dish.
This dish goes very well with Rotis, Plain parathas and hot steamed rice.

THE RECIPE

Preparation time take approx 30 minutes once all the ingredients are collected and kept ready at hand.

INGREDIENTS :
I’m a making just a little so I took about

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Mutton – medium sized peices – 300 grams

Potato – medium 3 ( diced into small cubes)

Tomatoes – 2 (large)
one half diced and the rest pureed

Oil- 5 to 6 teaspoons

Ingredients required for the wet masala

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Fresh Coconut – 50 grams ( diced)
Onion – large 1( diced)
Fresh green coriander – 1/2 cup
Mint leaves – 1/4 cup

**Ingredients for the the dry masala from clockwise

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Garam masala – 1 teaspoon

Coriander powder – 1 teaspoon

Salt to taste

Chili powder – 1 teaspoon

Turmeric powder – 1/2 teaspoon

Dried cinnamon and clove powder – 1/2 teaspoon each

Ginger paste – 1/2 teaspoon

Garlic paste – 1/2 teaspoon

The wet green masala

METHOD

1. Take a teaspoon of oil in a small pan and saute the coconut peices and half of the chopped Onion peices until browned.

2. Add in the coriander and the mint leaves and sauté for about 1 minute and let it cool

3. Grind into a paste with a little water.

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4. In a cooker or a pan (I like to use a pressure cooker) slightly shallow fry the mutton peices with 3 teaspoons of oil, a pinch of salt, half a teaspoon of turmeric powder, one half of a diced tomato, till it softens a bit, for say about 8 minutes (this is to remove the raw smell from the meat)

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How to make the Kurma

5 .In the same pressure cooker saute the rest of the chopped Onions with a pinch of salt till they are slightly browned.

6. Add in the wet masalas and the dry masalas and shallow fry a bit.. (This is to take away the rawness of the masalas)

7. Add in the tomato puree and the diced medium sized potatoes and the half cooked mutton.

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8. Add 2-3 cups of water and pressure cook for say about 3 whistles. ( the water should be added approximately)

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There we go, we have the Mutton Aloo Kurma ready.
Garnish with the remaining coriander leaves and serve hot!!

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Enjoy it with hot buttered Rotis, Plain Parathas or Steamed rice.

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Note:
* Always when using freshly ground masala’s it’s advisable to fry/saute them till the oil layer is seen at the top, It takes away the rawness of the masalas.

* Adding turmeric to meat helps to add taste and takes away the raw meat smell

* Add a pinch of salt when you sauté the onions, it helps to keep them moist and soft.

* Potatoes can be peeled or the skin can be retained.

*For more spice, green chillies can be added to the wet masala.

Until next time stay happy, Eat whatever you want !! 😆😛

Don’t look at the Moon!! It’s Ganesh Chaturthi!!

17 Thursday Sep 2015

Posted by Neethu in India

≈ 31 Comments

Tags

India

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On the occasion of Ganesha  chathurthi,  I would like to post a story about one of the very famous legends in Hindu mythology.
It’s a legend passed down through generations.
No idea of how true it is but since we love mythological stories and the ones revolving around Lord Ganesha is a must hear.. (There may be different variations of it but I am just typing down what I was told.. )
Very often in childhood I was reminded  by my granny not to look at the moon on Ganesha Chathurthi.. It was believed to be inauspicious.. Why so?? The ancient story goes such..

On Ganesha chathurthi which is the Lord Ganeshas birthday, The beautiful Elephant headed God was returning home on his Vahana (Vehicle)..

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All Indian Hindu gods have a companion in the form of vahanas.
In this case it was the humble Mouse.

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So, Lord Ganesha was returning home with a full stomach after feasting on the delicacies offered by his devotees all pleased and happy, when a snake crossed the path.
The mouse terrified of the snake stopped and down tumbled the Lord and the  Lords stomach burst open and out fell all the food.

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The Lord fearlessly caught hold of the snake and tied it around his open tummy.
All these happenings was being watched by the Moon above in the sky.
When the Lord fell, the Moon burst out laughing looking at the elephant headed boy with a big tummy riding on a small mouse.
This enraged the usually calm Lord and he cursed  the moon.
He wanted to teach the moon a lesson for his arrogance.
He cursed the moon to be invisible.

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The moon hid behind the clouds and was terrified to come out.
Later on the moon pleaded for mercy and forgiveness and then Lord Ganesha modified the curse and said that the moon would undergo regular waxing and waning to remind him to be humble and hence the once glorious and proud, brightly shining moon became dark and lustreless and is  seen only twice in its full form in the sky.

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The Lord  also added that anyone seeing the moon  on the 4th day (Chaturthi) of the Bhadrapada month would be  blamed for something which they did not do and face unjust criticism.
If anyone sees the moon unknowingly has to listen to the story of the  “Syamantaka jewel” from the Hindu puranas.
syamantaka jewel story

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The story further goes to say that even Lord Krishna had to bear this curse as he too was accused of stealing the  “Syamantaka jewel”
Lord krishna had accidentally seen the reflection of the moon in a vessel on Ganesha Chaturthi day hence even He wasn’t spared.

So though this is just a legend we still follow it.
It’s not about superstition or being orthodox but India being a land of rich ancient culture and born out of mythology, I feel no harm in listening to it.
It’s just a belief.. Hope you all enjoyed the story as much I did.
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Pics courtesy : Amar Chitra Katha and Google images.

Happy Ganesha Chathurthi!! Let’s go Gallivanting again!!

16 Wednesday Sep 2015

Posted by Neethu in India

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

India

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Hello everyone.. Here’s wishing all a very Happy Ganesha Chaturthi..
To my non Indian friends it’s the festival in honour of the Elephant headed God celebrated widely in India..

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To my new found friends,
Here is a link to my post Gallivanting with Ganesha written last year..
So let’s Gallivant again.. 🙂
Gallivanting with Ganesha

Wishing everyone fun filled joyful celebrations..

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JFL!! Laugh along..

13 Sunday Sep 2015

Posted by Neethu in Humor

≈ 20 Comments

Tags

Humor

Happy Sunday everyone..
Wish you all an awesome week ahead..☺
We here in India will be celebrating  Ganesha chathurthi  this week.. So looking forward to the festival and the celebrations that follow.. 🙂
Till then laugh along and stay cheerful..:mrgreen:

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😂😂😂

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And that's how the fight starts..

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My prayer to God everyday.. 😉

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Eeeewwwww😨

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The Karate Cow.. 😂

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Should I say.. Ouuchhh!!

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😉

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So true.. Save the environment..

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Stay cheerful.. 😆

Just for Laughs.. C-toons!!

06 Sunday Sep 2015

Posted by Neethu in Humor

≈ 12 Comments

Tags

Humor

Hi all.. Happy Sunday.. Today I decided to start of a series of compilation of some funny pictures I receive over the week.. So after the Onion Saga laughs I thought why not post a mini laugh series.. Hope you enjoy it..

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My thoughts on waking up.. 😉

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Fashion redefined

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Selfie time dinos..

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Resourcing- the tribal way..

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Funadult - just do it..

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The best of all.. 😂

Lets make some Ghee!!!

03 Thursday Sep 2015

Posted by Neethu in Food

≈ 27 Comments

Tags

Food

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Let's make some Ghee... 😋

Hello everyone..
Though my blog is a year old,  I was dormant all these months..😴😴💤So now I am actively posting 🙅(atleast I hope to)  Every like👍 and comment 💬is special and dear to me. 😍
I was overwhelmed by the likes and questions on my post “Ghee anyone??”
Especially from my non Indian friends.. So I thought why not post a detailed recipe of how to make ghee.. 
Though that post was meant just for fun, I decided that my writing a detailed step by  step procedure would assist my friends in making ghee..There are many methods of making it.. I follow this simple one..

Ok first of all.. The process starts of by boiling milk and collecting the cream which forms on top of the milk, once the boiled milk cools down..
(That’s how we do it here in India.. In India even today specially in small towns and rural parts we get fresh cow/buffalo milk.. In cities we are more used to buying “packet milk”  that is milk sold in tetra packs..)
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The process of collecting the cream may vary from days to a month,a lil tedious eh??
So what I do is..

1. I collect the cream every time I boil the milk and store it in the freezer box, once i feel it’s adequate enough,

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The collected frozen cream

2. I defrost it for say, just 2-3 minutes.
3. I empty the contents into a non stick pan and keep stirring it continuously for say about 15-20 minutes on low flame

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Stirring continuously on low flame..

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The cream bubbling away..

4.Eventually a top layer of oily liquid will separate from the bottom which is the solid part or the sediment ( we call it the Malai or Cream) 

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The top liquid layer separates from the solid part..

5. Next  just strain the contents.
6.The solid/sedimented part can be discarded.

Voila our very own homemade Ghee is ready!!!

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The liquid aromatic Ghee is ready!! 😋😋

Pssstt:

1. It’s better to stir continuously cause we don’t want the cream to get burnt

2. No need to skim off the foam..It doesn’t actually matter. 

3. Just make sure once you see the  oily layer separating and the solid part browning, thats when you should stop and turn the gas off and let it cool.

4.Ghee/clarified butter is even better than butter because it is butter without the milk solids, therefore having all  benefits of butter it doesn’t go rancid- so doesn’t have to be refrigerated.

5. For the health conscious people,watch out..Ghee Is awesome but anything in excess.. You know the rest..  

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