Ingredients:
Ripe Tomatoes - 5-6 in number
Onions - 1 large
Ginger-garlic paste - 1 tbsp
tejpatta - 1
Cinnamon powder - 1 pinch.
Tomato Ketchup - 2tbsp
Black Pepper - 1tbsp
Plain Flour - 1 tbsp
Butter - 2tbsp
Milk - 1 cup
Sugar and Salt to taste
Method :
1) Heat 1 tbsp butter in a cooker and add ginger garlic paste along with tejpatta and peppercorns to it.
2) Add the onions and saute it till golden.
3) Add the tomatoes and stir for a while.
4) Pressure cook this mixture for 1 whistle.
5) On cooling, pureed the whole mixture in a grinder.
6) In a pan, add 1 tbsp butter. To it add 1tbsp of plain flour and stir it till it turns light pink in colour.
7) Take care that the flour doesnt burn.
8) Add one cup of milk gradually to the flour and stir it continuously. MAke sure no lumps are formed.
9) Now add the tomato puree and tomato ketchup mixture and stir it evenly.
10) Add salt ,sugar and cinnamon powder to taste and serve hot with croutons.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Jhuluk
आज अचानक एक वार्याची झुलुक काही तरी सांगुन गेली
मला उमजुन गेल, मला समजुन गेल सार काही
हा मंद सुवास , हा धुंद वारा आला होता माझ्या गावाहून
आज अचानक एक वार्याची झुलुक काही तरी सांगुन गेली
मला सोडून आली मला सोडून आली माझ्या बाल पणी
ऊर भरून आले , डोळे पानून गेले , भान हरपून गेले
आज अचानक एक वार्याची झुलुक काही तरी सांगुन गेली
आईच्या मायेची थाप अणि वडिलांची प्रेमळ हाक मला आठवून गेली
आज अचानक एक वार्याची झुलुक मला स्पर्शुन गेली
मागे सोडून गेली माझ्या आठवांची झोली ।
------------------------------------------------सोनाली
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Palak Paneer
Hi friends, today I am going to share my recipe of Palak Paneer with all of you. Out of 100 people atleast 80 of us love palak paneer for its heavenly taste. I have been trying this recipes since i was child. After ages , i could now make a tasty palak paneer. So shall we start with it...
Ingredients:
Fresh Spinach - 1 bunch.
Paneer( Cottage Chees) - 150 gms.
Onions - 2 medium sized in number.
Garlic Paste - 1 and 1/2 tblsp.
Tomatoes- 2-3 ripe.
Fresh Cream - 3-4 tblsp.
Green Chillies -2-3 ( depending upon the hottness).
Jeera - 1 tsp.
Kasuri Methi - 1 tbsp.
Garam Masala- 1tbsp.
Sugar to taste.
Red Chilli Powder - according to taste.(optional)
Oil/Ghee - for cooking and frying the paneer.
Charcoal - 1 in number.
The Method:
1. Wash the spinach and get it blanched in a salty water for 2-3 min.
2. Drain the spinach and run it under cold water, remove excess water.
3. Grind spinach and green chillies into a smooth paste.
4. On the other hand get the paneers fried in oil.
(TIP: drop the fried paneers immediately into cold water, inorder to keep it soft)
5. In a pan heat oil/ghee ( ghee adds to the taste) and add jeera to it. Let the jeera splutter and then add the pureed onions. Fry the onions till golden brown till oil seperates.
6. Now add the garlic paste and saute for 30 secs. Add the pureed tomatoes, red chilli powder and cook till the oil seperates.
7. Add the kasuri methi (grind it in between your palms to liven its fragrance) and cook again for few seconds.
8. Pour in the pureed spinach along with salt, sugar and cream and let it boil.
9. Now add the fried paneers and garam masala. cook for few seconds and switch of the burner.
10. Now the magic step - heat a charcoal on a gas till its red hot.
Place this charcoal on a small steel plate and safely keep it in the pan of palak paneer.
Now add a tsp of ghee/oil on the charcoal and immediately close the lid of the pan.
11. Hot and delicious Palak Paneer is ready to be eaten with naan or roti or even rice.
Ingredients:
Fresh Spinach - 1 bunch.
Paneer( Cottage Chees) - 150 gms.
Onions - 2 medium sized in number.
Garlic Paste - 1 and 1/2 tblsp.
Tomatoes- 2-3 ripe.
Fresh Cream - 3-4 tblsp.
Green Chillies -2-3 ( depending upon the hottness).
Jeera - 1 tsp.
Kasuri Methi - 1 tbsp.
Garam Masala- 1tbsp.
Sugar to taste.
Red Chilli Powder - according to taste.(optional)
Oil/Ghee - for cooking and frying the paneer.
Charcoal - 1 in number.
The Method:
1. Wash the spinach and get it blanched in a salty water for 2-3 min.
2. Drain the spinach and run it under cold water, remove excess water.
3. Grind spinach and green chillies into a smooth paste.
4. On the other hand get the paneers fried in oil.
(TIP: drop the fried paneers immediately into cold water, inorder to keep it soft)
5. In a pan heat oil/ghee ( ghee adds to the taste) and add jeera to it. Let the jeera splutter and then add the pureed onions. Fry the onions till golden brown till oil seperates.
6. Now add the garlic paste and saute for 30 secs. Add the pureed tomatoes, red chilli powder and cook till the oil seperates.
7. Add the kasuri methi (grind it in between your palms to liven its fragrance) and cook again for few seconds.
8. Pour in the pureed spinach along with salt, sugar and cream and let it boil.
9. Now add the fried paneers and garam masala. cook for few seconds and switch of the burner.
10. Now the magic step - heat a charcoal on a gas till its red hot.
Place this charcoal on a small steel plate and safely keep it in the pan of palak paneer.
Now add a tsp of ghee/oil on the charcoal and immediately close the lid of the pan.
11. Hot and delicious Palak Paneer is ready to be eaten with naan or roti or even rice.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Kolkata - City of Joy
KOLKATA - The city of joy, The city of Sweets, the city of tradition. its been a year now and I have started to like this city. Though being a pakka 'Puneri Punekar', I am now feeling a part of Kolkata. Before being to Kolkata, I have known It in books as a Huge Metropolitan and a home to the great Rabindranath Tagore, Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Subhash Chandra Bose etc. From beginning itself I was fascinated by the charm of beautiful bengali 'Bahu' wearing a red bordered sari with huge red tika and sindoor and long hair. Its not difficult to recognize a bengali in the bunch even today by their typical bengali tone and skin texture.
Many of us have seen the bengali culture in movies like Devdas, The auspicious marriage ceremony, The Durga Puja, The Havelis and The Jamindars. During the British Rule, Kolkata was one of the important cities they had their impact on. Even today you can see the british architectured buildings here. Through the city flows the river Ganges making the city divine and the Famous Howrah Bridge which adds glitter to it.
Its little amazing to see a class of people who are simple, traditional, stuck to their roots, lost in past on one hand and the new, modern, sophisticated class of people on the other hand of the same city. Kolkata has lot of places forthe tourists - the famous Victoria Memorial, Science city, Eden Garden, Dakshineshwar Temple, Birla Mandir, Planetorium and many more. The most exciting place that I enjoyed being to was Eden Gardens on the First IPL Match of Kolkata Knight Riders Vs Deccan Chargers for which Shahrukh and troupe were present. You cannot get better crowd thean in Edens. Its electrifying and great stadium.
Moving to tasting the delicacies of Bengal, Kolkata is a place for Non Vegetarians. You can graze on variety of Fish, Chicken, Mutton Rolls, Kababs and Chops and Biryanis. Vegetarians do have a choice of Chats and Veg Rolls and the totally uncontrollable 'Phuchkas' . Phuchka is similar to Pani Puri but quite different at the same time. If you are a restaurant person you can drive to Park Street which is a street of Restaurants where you can get all kinds of cuisine and it is also a good hangout place. Try out the typical Bengali Cuisine at 'Bhojohari Manna'.If you are a shopaholic than ' New Market' isthe place where you can get anything and everything.
If you dont talk about sweets , you are missing out majorly. I swear by the soft,spongy and juicy 'Rossagulla'. I bet you cannot resist to have just one. One such speciality in sweets is a 'Khajur Gud' and sweets made by using it. I was knowing only a sugarcane 'Gud' but was really taken aback to hear of 'Gud' made of 'Dates' (Khajur). Every Bengali meal is incomplete without a Mithai and complete when you have a couple or more of them. :) Thats why people here are said to be sweet or mishti . On this sweet note i sum up my experience uptill now in Kolkata
Many of us have seen the bengali culture in movies like Devdas, The auspicious marriage ceremony, The Durga Puja, The Havelis and The Jamindars. During the British Rule, Kolkata was one of the important cities they had their impact on. Even today you can see the british architectured buildings here. Through the city flows the river Ganges making the city divine and the Famous Howrah Bridge which adds glitter to it.
Its little amazing to see a class of people who are simple, traditional, stuck to their roots, lost in past on one hand and the new, modern, sophisticated class of people on the other hand of the same city. Kolkata has lot of places forthe tourists - the famous Victoria Memorial, Science city, Eden Garden, Dakshineshwar Temple, Birla Mandir, Planetorium and many more. The most exciting place that I enjoyed being to was Eden Gardens on the First IPL Match of Kolkata Knight Riders Vs Deccan Chargers for which Shahrukh and troupe were present. You cannot get better crowd thean in Edens. Its electrifying and great stadium.
Moving to tasting the delicacies of Bengal, Kolkata is a place for Non Vegetarians. You can graze on variety of Fish, Chicken, Mutton Rolls, Kababs and Chops and Biryanis. Vegetarians do have a choice of Chats and Veg Rolls and the totally uncontrollable 'Phuchkas' . Phuchka is similar to Pani Puri but quite different at the same time. If you are a restaurant person you can drive to Park Street which is a street of Restaurants where you can get all kinds of cuisine and it is also a good hangout place. Try out the typical Bengali Cuisine at 'Bhojohari Manna'.If you are a shopaholic than ' New Market' isthe place where you can get anything and everything.
If you dont talk about sweets , you are missing out majorly. I swear by the soft,spongy and juicy 'Rossagulla'. I bet you cannot resist to have just one. One such speciality in sweets is a 'Khajur Gud' and sweets made by using it. I was knowing only a sugarcane 'Gud' but was really taken aback to hear of 'Gud' made of 'Dates' (Khajur). Every Bengali meal is incomplete without a Mithai and complete when you have a couple or more of them. :) Thats why people here are said to be sweet or mishti . On this sweet note i sum up my experience uptill now in Kolkata
Monday, October 27, 2008
Visiting Vizag
Visiting Vizag( Vishakhapatnam ), a hidden beauty of South India is a great place as a Holiday destination. Me and my husband were not aware of its beauty unless we decided to visit a new place.
I was a little shaky at the beginning, but decided to collect information of this place called Vizag. So the enthusiasm began while searching for information on Net. The best thing happened to us was 'APTDC' ( Andhra Pradesh tourism Development Centre). We got the info of aptdc in it's Kolkata office. During the same time we learnt about the Tourism Exhibition being held in kolkata. My husband and I visited it and to our surprise, it was full house. We had already collected info. abt vizag and its nearby places from net, So it was easy for us to book hotels. We selected the best of APTDC hotels, Our first destination was RUSHIKONDA BEACH RESORT (Haritha- APTDC), second was ARAKU HILL RESORT (Mayuri- APTDC) and the Final was TYDA - Jungle Bells (APTDC).
Day 1. Our train 'Chennai Mail' departed from Howrah at 11.45 p.m. While boarding the train our tickets were not confirmed but by God's grace it got confirmed and we began our journey to the city of Beaches. On our way we enjoyed the beautiful green paddy fields and amazing Silver 'Kash Phool' which indicated the arrival of Durga Puja. We reached Vishakhapatnam Railway Station by 2.00 p.m the next day . The climate at this time of Oct was not so good though,it was humid. We managed to reach our first destination - RUSHIKONDA by 2.30 p.m. Rushikonda is 7-8 km from Railway Station. One can hire Auto rickhaw for minimum 100 bucks. Once we reached our Resort, the first view was quite pleasant. Rushikonda Beach Resort is situated on a hill with beautiful Beach. As soon as we entered our cottage, we could see the magnificent beach view from our gallery. No words to describe how it felt at that time. We couldnt resist to take some snaps of the beach frm our room. We spent that evening on the beach with some 'bhutta' and 'chai' to relish. In the night we had dinner at 'Offshore' restuarant with the magnificent night view of beach at the backdrop..
Day2 : We got up early to see the sunrise and the morning bliss of beach. Unfortunately we couldnt get the perfect sunrise that morning. After taking some shots we had wonderful South Indian filling breakfast and got ready for the real Beach Bath. It was sunny so we couldnt resist ourselves to plunge into the cool salty water. What fun it was to feel the water waves which sometimes was mild and sometimes wild. In the evening we visited the 'Indira Gandhi Zoological Park' which was quite near to Rushikonda Beach. The zoo is quite large and spacious but to our despair couldnt see wild life except the amazing 'Hippo' swimming happily in the pond which was quite huge and few reptiles very closely in natural env. This was end of day two.
Day3- Today i woke up at 5.45 a.m with the sound of cool waves clashing up and down . I dragged the curtains sideways to see the beautiful and perfect sunrise, this time we were fortunate. We had the morning tea with a company of the beautiful sunrise. It was time for us to leave to 'Araku' , our next destination. We left the place hoping to come back again someday.
Araku Valley is a beautiful valley with amazing coffee plantations and 'Eucalyptus Forests'. This valley is a home for many tribal communities. It is almost 90 km from Vizag. We hired a car to reach araku and visit 'Borra Caves' on the way. On our way we could slowly feel the cool breeze flowing from the valley. We first visited the Coffee Garden which was really beautiful and also sipped the fresh and hot Coffee. On the way one could see the tribal life closely, people working in the fields, men and women walking by the roadside, Some selling their typical types of grains and fruits, vegetables. By 12 we reache borra caves, where we were welcomed by the monkeys with short tails.( amazed to see monkeys with Short Tails) The entry to the caves was chaotic with huge crowd of visitors coming and exiting. The Borra Cave is a Stalactite and Stalagmite formation. It was quite dark inside wit some lights at specific locations. Till now it wa only in Geography that we studied abt stalactite and stalagmites but now we actually could see it. It was worth seeing. The caves is huge and takes lot of time to view the entire area. It also has a temple at the highest point. By 1.30 we managed to exit the caves and after having lunch we set our way to Araku. Araku is 30-40km from Borra Caves. By afternoon 4 we reached our destination ' Mayuri Hill Resort. This resort is wondrfully constructed with beautiful garden all around and a perfect Valley Home. After checking in we planned to visit 'Padmapuram' garden . Padmapuram garden has all kinds of flowers and trees that one could see . After a short trip to this garden we stopped at the 'Araku Tribal Museum' which was quite close to the Mayuri Resort. The museum is well maintained where one can see the glimpse of Tribal Life. The sun was about to set and the view was beautiful with Sun setting behind the Mountains with a little drizzle making the atmosphere quite cool in the valley. The place was amazing and we enjoyed our stay in the valley to the fullest.
Day 4 : In the morning we were to head to 'Tyda jungle Bells' , our next stop. Tyda is a beautiful place amidst the jungle. APTDC has its magnificent Resort named 'Tyda Jungle Bells' with different types of cottages such as Log Hut, Wooden Cottage, Igloo Cottage in its huge vicinity. We reached tyda by 11 a.m and it had started to rain heavily. We were suppose to stay in a Wooden Log Hut so we were excited to see it. As we headed to the log hut we could hear the birds chirping, the leaves rustling due to the rains, the monkeys running here n there. The log hut was situated among the dense trees , it was a beautiful hut which was rested on the huge logs of wood. There was a wooden staircase and the interiors were totally wooden. The room had a huge glass wall which gave a beautiful scenic view from the room itself. In the evening the local tribal women presented the 'Dhimsa Dance' for the visitors around the bonfire. We enjoyed the dance with a dish of Pakodas.
Day5 : The next morning we headed early for a jungle trek and bird watching. The walk was exciting and long enough . On the way , our guide showed us the fresh footmarks of the wild cat which tickled our minds for a second. We could now closely see the tribal life and their farms which covered the ground like a green velvet. We left the jungle bells in the afternoon to reach back to vizag. In the evening , after reaching vizag we went to the Ramkrishna Beach, Submarine , Aquarium and the Kali mandir. The day was hectic.
Day6: This morning it was time to visit 'Kailsagiri' a hill which is beautifully converted to a huge garden with stunning Lord Shiva and Parvati statues in white. Kailasgiri also has a Transparent Toy train which takes you for a ride of the entire kailasgiri. Kailasgiri has food facility too. A nice one day picnic spot for the visitors and the locals. One can reach kailasgiri by a ropeway or by road. One can get an excellent view of the city and its beaches from kailasgiri hill. By evening we spent our time at kailasgiri and then spent the rest of the time at RK beach. At night we headed back to Kolkata leaving behind our footprints in Vizag's beaches and Jungles. And carrying the sweet memories of Vizag for our lifetime.
I was a little shaky at the beginning, but decided to collect information of this place called Vizag. So the enthusiasm began while searching for information on Net. The best thing happened to us was 'APTDC' ( Andhra Pradesh tourism Development Centre). We got the info of aptdc in it's Kolkata office. During the same time we learnt about the Tourism Exhibition being held in kolkata. My husband and I visited it and to our surprise, it was full house. We had already collected info. abt vizag and its nearby places from net, So it was easy for us to book hotels. We selected the best of APTDC hotels, Our first destination was RUSHIKONDA BEACH RESORT (Haritha- APTDC), second was ARAKU HILL RESORT (Mayuri- APTDC) and the Final was TYDA - Jungle Bells (APTDC).
Day 1. Our train 'Chennai Mail' departed from Howrah at 11.45 p.m. While boarding the train our tickets were not confirmed but by God's grace it got confirmed and we began our journey to the city of Beaches. On our way we enjoyed the beautiful green paddy fields and amazing Silver 'Kash Phool' which indicated the arrival of Durga Puja. We reached Vishakhapatnam Railway Station by 2.00 p.m the next day . The climate at this time of Oct was not so good though,it was humid. We managed to reach our first destination - RUSHIKONDA by 2.30 p.m. Rushikonda is 7-8 km from Railway Station. One can hire Auto rickhaw for minimum 100 bucks. Once we reached our Resort, the first view was quite pleasant. Rushikonda Beach Resort is situated on a hill with beautiful Beach. As soon as we entered our cottage, we could see the magnificent beach view from our gallery. No words to describe how it felt at that time. We couldnt resist to take some snaps of the beach frm our room. We spent that evening on the beach with some 'bhutta' and 'chai' to relish. In the night we had dinner at 'Offshore' restuarant with the magnificent night view of beach at the backdrop..
Day2 : We got up early to see the sunrise and the morning bliss of beach. Unfortunately we couldnt get the perfect sunrise that morning. After taking some shots we had wonderful South Indian filling breakfast and got ready for the real Beach Bath. It was sunny so we couldnt resist ourselves to plunge into the cool salty water. What fun it was to feel the water waves which sometimes was mild and sometimes wild. In the evening we visited the 'Indira Gandhi Zoological Park' which was quite near to Rushikonda Beach. The zoo is quite large and spacious but to our despair couldnt see wild life except the amazing 'Hippo' swimming happily in the pond which was quite huge and few reptiles very closely in natural env. This was end of day two.
Day3- Today i woke up at 5.45 a.m with the sound of cool waves clashing up and down . I dragged the curtains sideways to see the beautiful and perfect sunrise, this time we were fortunate. We had the morning tea with a company of the beautiful sunrise. It was time for us to leave to 'Araku' , our next destination. We left the place hoping to come back again someday.
Araku Valley is a beautiful valley with amazing coffee plantations and 'Eucalyptus Forests'. This valley is a home for many tribal communities. It is almost 90 km from Vizag. We hired a car to reach araku and visit 'Borra Caves' on the way. On our way we could slowly feel the cool breeze flowing from the valley. We first visited the Coffee Garden which was really beautiful and also sipped the fresh and hot Coffee. On the way one could see the tribal life closely, people working in the fields, men and women walking by the roadside, Some selling their typical types of grains and fruits, vegetables. By 12 we reache borra caves, where we were welcomed by the monkeys with short tails.( amazed to see monkeys with Short Tails) The entry to the caves was chaotic with huge crowd of visitors coming and exiting. The Borra Cave is a Stalactite and Stalagmite formation. It was quite dark inside wit some lights at specific locations. Till now it wa only in Geography that we studied abt stalactite and stalagmites but now we actually could see it. It was worth seeing. The caves is huge and takes lot of time to view the entire area. It also has a temple at the highest point. By 1.30 we managed to exit the caves and after having lunch we set our way to Araku. Araku is 30-40km from Borra Caves. By afternoon 4 we reached our destination ' Mayuri Hill Resort. This resort is wondrfully constructed with beautiful garden all around and a perfect Valley Home. After checking in we planned to visit 'Padmapuram' garden . Padmapuram garden has all kinds of flowers and trees that one could see . After a short trip to this garden we stopped at the 'Araku Tribal Museum' which was quite close to the Mayuri Resort. The museum is well maintained where one can see the glimpse of Tribal Life. The sun was about to set and the view was beautiful with Sun setting behind the Mountains with a little drizzle making the atmosphere quite cool in the valley. The place was amazing and we enjoyed our stay in the valley to the fullest.
Day 4 : In the morning we were to head to 'Tyda jungle Bells' , our next stop. Tyda is a beautiful place amidst the jungle. APTDC has its magnificent Resort named 'Tyda Jungle Bells' with different types of cottages such as Log Hut, Wooden Cottage, Igloo Cottage in its huge vicinity. We reached tyda by 11 a.m and it had started to rain heavily. We were suppose to stay in a Wooden Log Hut so we were excited to see it. As we headed to the log hut we could hear the birds chirping, the leaves rustling due to the rains, the monkeys running here n there. The log hut was situated among the dense trees , it was a beautiful hut which was rested on the huge logs of wood. There was a wooden staircase and the interiors were totally wooden. The room had a huge glass wall which gave a beautiful scenic view from the room itself. In the evening the local tribal women presented the 'Dhimsa Dance' for the visitors around the bonfire. We enjoyed the dance with a dish of Pakodas.
Day5 : The next morning we headed early for a jungle trek and bird watching. The walk was exciting and long enough . On the way , our guide showed us the fresh footmarks of the wild cat which tickled our minds for a second. We could now closely see the tribal life and their farms which covered the ground like a green velvet. We left the jungle bells in the afternoon to reach back to vizag. In the evening , after reaching vizag we went to the Ramkrishna Beach, Submarine , Aquarium and the Kali mandir. The day was hectic.
Day6: This morning it was time to visit 'Kailsagiri' a hill which is beautifully converted to a huge garden with stunning Lord Shiva and Parvati statues in white. Kailasgiri also has a Transparent Toy train which takes you for a ride of the entire kailasgiri. Kailasgiri has food facility too. A nice one day picnic spot for the visitors and the locals. One can reach kailasgiri by a ropeway or by road. One can get an excellent view of the city and its beaches from kailasgiri hill. By evening we spent our time at kailasgiri and then spent the rest of the time at RK beach. At night we headed back to Kolkata leaving behind our footprints in Vizag's beaches and Jungles. And carrying the sweet memories of Vizag for our lifetime.
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