Tuesday 31 March 2015

Women and Beauty


As it is said, beauty is not skin deep. 
Being beautiful is being healthy and happy. A healthy body and interested brain always gives a beautiful output- we call it looks , aura , or simply beauty - however we inerpret it :)

So we start with the link to a video, again a forward in social media What's App / Facebook which quite nicely explains that beauty is being our self, pursuing our interests, and I would like to add, discharging our responsibilities with standards set by us for self only ( and no comparison :) ).
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5aeTuWQ-uSk&noredirect=1

Really liked this video by Being Indian _ Being Beautiful.. hope u liked it too :)
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Friday 27 March 2015

Chicken Drumsticks

                                                             

5.  Drumsticks from Kitchen (Chicken Drumsticks / Chicken Lollypops)
Yes, we named it “Drumsticks from Kitchen” inspired from the name Drumsticks from Heaven J.

More than one and a half decade back, I got introduced to Chicken Lollypop (which was the common name used till the late 90s) in Mumbai in one of the birthday parties of a friend who treated us to this lovely restaurant. Since then it has been a staple item in many of our outings for our entire hostel life.
It did not have to be expensive or exclusive, even normal non-vegetarian restaurant served this popular dish well. I remember regularly visiting one such Restaurant called “Lucky” near Bandra Railway station (west). Especially on Saturdays, which was a half day in our office, me and my friends Manisha and Sarika would visit the restaurant just to have chicken lollypos (without needing to worry about our weight J)    . I also remember the Idlis and Egg Biryanis of Sarika's lunch box, and Pomfret fry and Neer Dosas at Manisha's place. Mouth watering and yummy, we used to savour these home made delicacies and would wait for the next feast :)

Coming back to the Chicken Drumstick recipe… We often make these chicken drumsticks at home, turns out well. The fact that its not too oily is another great advantage. A dry preparation, it can be served as side dish too.



Drumsticks fm Kitchen

Difficulty: Average    Recipe type : Medium Spicy     Cuisine : Indian / Tandoori
Ingredients


Chicken Leg Pieces: 7 nos.
Onion: 3 nos. – sliced /chopped
Garam Masala powder : ½ tsp or as per taste – instead -
you can also crush whole garam masala-Cardamom-2 nos., Cloves-2 nos., and Cinamon- a piece , say ¾ inch size

For Marination
Curd / Yoghurt: 4 tsp.
Ginger: 1 inch piece
Garlic: 4 or 5 large pods
Chili Powder: ½ tsp. or as per taste
Chicken Tandoori Masala (optional)
Salt to taste

Method

Chicken Marination

1.   Wash the leg pieces well and drain out any excess water. Give some slits on the pieces.
2.   Take all the ingredients for marination. Grind/ finely grate the ginger piece and garlic pods.
3.   Add all the ingredients for marination to the Chicken leg piece and coat them well.
4.   Keep it for Marination for at least 3 hours. ^^ If you can keep overnight, its better. In that case, it has to be kept in the refrigerator and taken out about an hour before cooking.

Cooking
5.   Put 3 to 4 tsp. Cooking Oil /Refined oil in the Skillet / Frying pan.
6.   Once the oil is heated, add chopped onions, and fry them till translucent.
7.   Add the marinated chicken and stir well.
8.   Let the chicken get cooked in the pan, stir at regular intervals to avoid sticking.
9.   When cooked half way, put garam masala
10.                 Cover it for a while. Don’t add any extra water. The water that it generated while cooking is enough to get the chicken cooked.
11.                Check if the chicken is cooked by testing with a ladle.
12.                Once the chicken is cooked well, put it on a high flame to dry any remainig gravy. It will dry up give it the desired brown colour.
13.                Serve hot.


It’s truly a mouthwatering snack /main dish savoured by all.





Ø  Our conversation in the coming post would be main course dishes –. Palak Paneer  and  .Quick Salads – aapna kachumber and cabagge salad.

We shall also be giving few natural Health remedies and Beauty tips.



চিকেন ললিপপ
উপকরণঃ- চিকেন লেগপিস সাতটি, তিনটি পেঁয়াজ কুচি করে কাটা, গরম মশলা পাউডার বা দারুচিনি, এলাচ, লবঙ্গ একসাথে গুঁড়ো, দই চার টেবিল চামচ, আদা বাটা এক চামচ, রসুন বাটা এক চামচ, লঙ্কা গুঁড়ো এবং নুন স্বাদ মত। লঙ্কা গুঁড়োর বদলে চিকেন তন্দুরি মশালাও দেওয়া যেতে পারে।    
 প্রণালীঃ- প্রথমে চিকেন কে ভাল করে ধুয়ে এর মধ্যে দই, আদা বাটা, রসুন বাটা, লঙ্কা গুঁড়ো, আন্দাজ মত নুন দিয়ে মেরিনেট করে প্রায় তিন ঘণ্টার মতো ফ্রিজে রেখে দেবো। আরও ভালো হয় যদি আমরা মেরিনেট করা চিকেনকে আগের দিন সারা রাত্র ফ্রিজে রেখে দেই। পরের দিন রান্না করার এক ঘণ্টা আগে বের করে নেব।
                এবার কড়াইতে রিফাইন তেল গরম করে কুচোনো পেঁয়াজ দিয়ে দিন পেঁয়াজ ভাজা হয়ে যখন একটু বাদামি রঙ এর হয়ে যাবে তখন এর মধ্যে মেরিনেট করা চিকেন মিশিয়ে ভালো করে নাড়াতে থাকতে হবে। এর মধ্যে আলাদা করে জল দিতে হয় না কারন চিকেন থেকে যে জল বের হয় এতেই মাংস সেদ্ধ হয়ে যাবে। নাড়ানো অবস্থায় চিকেন যখন অর্ধেক সেদ্ধ হবে তখন এর মধ্যে গরম মশালা মেশাতে হবে। তারপর সম্পূর্ণ সেদ্ধ হওয়ার জন্য কিছুক্ষণ ঢেকে রেখে দেবো। সেদ্ধ হওয়ার পর চিকেনগুলোকে খুব ভাল করে শুকিয়ে নিতে হবে যাতে একটুকু ঝোল না থাকে। যখন চিকেনগুলোর জল টেনে যাবে আর রং ব্রাউন কালারের হয়ে যাবে তখন নামিয়ে নিতে হবে ।
এটা যে কনও ঘরওা পার্টি তে সহজেই বানানো জায়,আর ছোট ও বড় সবার  ভাল লাগে।








  
   





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Sunday 8 March 2015

Happy Women's Day!


Happy International Women's Day!
আন্তর্জাতিক নারী দিবসের শুভেচ্ছা !

Sharing an email forward today, on women of course… :)

This is one of the best forwards as per me, and I keep reading and re-reading it J.. The fact that the email forward is in my inbox even after 7 years of receiving it, says it all ;)
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This is very interesting.......... (To Women) please take time to Ponder........ (To Men) enjoy the story........





Young King Arthur was ambushed and imprisoned by the monarch of a neighbouring kingdom. The monarch could have killed him but was moved by Arthur's youth and ideals. So, the monarch offered him his freedom, as long as he could answer a very difficult question. Arthur would have a year to figure out the answer and, If after a year, he still had no answer, he would be put to death. The question was: What do women really want?


Such a question would perplex even the most knowledgeable man, And to young Arthur, it seemed an impossible query. But, since it was better than death, He accepted the monarch's proposition to have an answer by year's end.
He returned to his kingdom and began to poll everyone: The princess, the Priests, the wise men, and even the court jester. He spoke with everyone, but no one could give him a satisfactory answer. Many people advised him to Consult the old witch, For only she would have the answer. But the price would be high as the witch was famous through out the kingdom for the exorbitant prices she charged.
The last day of the year arrived and Arthur had no choice but to talk to the witch. She agreed to answer the question, but he would have to agree to her price first.
The old witch wanted to marry Sir Lancelot, The most noble of the Knights of the Round Table, And Arthur's closest friend! Young Arthur was horrified.

She was hunch-backed and hideous, had only one tooth, Smelled like sewage, made obscene noises, etc.

He had never encountered such a repugnant creature in all his life. He refused to force his friend to marry her and endure such a terrible burden, But Lancelot, having learnt of the proposal, spoke with Arthur. He said nothing was too big of a sacrifice compared to Arthur's life. And the preservation of the Round Table. Hence, a wedding was proclaimed and the witch answered Arthur's question thus: "What a woman really wants?"





























She said, "Is to be in charge of her own life."



Everyone in the kingdom instantly knew that the witch had uttered a great truth. And that Arthur's life would be spared.


And so it was.

The neighboring monarch granted Arthur his freedom.

And Lancelot and the witch had a wonderful wedding. The honeymoon hour approached and, Lancelot, steeling himself for a horrific experience, entered the bedroom.

But, what a sight awaited him.

The most beautiful woman he had ever seen lay before him on the bed. The astounded Lancelot asked what had happened. The beauty replied that since he had been so kind to her when she appeared as a witch, She would henceforth be her horrible and deformed self only half the time. And the beautiful maiden the other half. "Which would you prefer? She asked him. "Beautiful during the day .... or at night?"

Lancelot pondered the predicament. During the day he could have a beautiful woman to show off to his friends, But at night, in the privacy of his castle, an old witch! Or, Would he prefer having a hideous witch during the day? But by night a beautiful woman for him to enjoy wondrous, intimate moments with? 
(If you are a man reading this...) What would YOUR choice be?

(If you are a woman reading this) What should YOUR MAN'S choice be?

What Lancelot chose, is given below:
BUT... make YOUR choice before you scroll down below... OKAY?








































Noble Lancelot, knowing the answer the witch gave Arthur to his question, said that he would allow HER to make the choice herself. Upon hearing this, she announced that she would be beautiful all the time. Because, he had respected her enough to let her be in charge of her own life.
Now... what is the moral to this story?



The morals are...


1) There is a WITCH in every woman, no matter how beautiful she is!

2) If you don't let a woman have her own way, things are going to get ugly



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