Food, Rains & Lucknow!!!

LET IT RAIN OVER ME!!! naahhh, not literally...

Iam enjoying the monsoon like everybody else! Waking up to that sweet smell of damp earth, wishing to sit on a window sill and enjoying a cup of hot ginger tea (only on days, when I am not running for college or sitting in class dreaming about this). So rains are a huge welcome, well most of the times they are!

My recent trip to Lucknow for Pankaj Aunty’s Culinary Academy launch gave me a taste of Lucknow and the super awesome food there!  Tunde kababs are mouth-watering though I know a friend who is still upset since I didn’t bring back any, sorry Rohan, next time!!

My mornings usually in Lucknow started with ginger tea which dadi made along with biscuits, which I dip in tea & eat (childish, hahaha but yeah I like it) but after that all I wanted to eat was some more ‘Lucknow ka khaana’…. So for our treat, we went to PEELI KOTHI at Hazrat Ganj, where the food was good though I expected a little more spices. I had mutton, chicken & paneer dishes like always but to add to that list I also had ZAMINDARI ALOO… wow!! Now that’s lucknowy!!

Coming back to the monsoons (I always deviate from the topic)! Power cuts are a huge headache, so if you want to have that candle light dinner due to a power failure well here are some of the things you can do:-

v  Do it fresh, go for pickled cucumbers – Lime, sugar, salt and a dash of vinegar, on juliennes of cucumber!!

v  Go for salads, fruit salads are the best, they keep you healthy wealthy n yeah they are my favourite!!

v  Crackers can be eaten with peanut butter, cheese or hummus.  Cookies, muffins and chips help when you need a little comfort food.

v  If you are the proper meal types

DO IT THE BONG STYLE – Daal, Chawal, Crispy French fries (aloo bhaja) or Papad or if you are too finicky like my sis, more options an omelette.

I’ll share my wonderful OMELETTE RECIPE. Works wonderful during power cuts.

Ingredients

§  Egg – 1

§  Onion – 1 (small)

§  Oregano – 1 teaspoon

§  Chili flakes – your threshold

§  White pepper – a pinch

§  Black pepper – a pinch

§  Butter – 1tablespoon

§  Milk – 1 tablespoon

§  Salt – to taste

Steps

§  Finely chop the onions and keep them aside

§  Mix the egg really well with white pepper, black pepper, milk and salt

§  Now heat a pan, melt butter. Sauté the onions with oregano, chilli & little bit of salt (remember you have added salt to the egg too)

§  Pour the egg batter and cover the egg

§  Now after 35 – 40 seconds remove the cover & flip the omelette, another 45 seconds, garnish with coriander

§  Finally serve hot!

And this is how it looks!!

v  Go out people, you don’t want to sweat it at home!! Please put people like me in business, we cook for you, flood the restaurants!

Over all monsoons are fun, apart from the humidity, stinky clothes and a lot of other things! Good things about monsoon season are the car & bike rides, pakodas, monsoon parties (yaayyy!!), tikas, kebabs, and yea ginger tea!! Oh! Most importantly avoid street food a little (going through the pain), avoid oily food, avoid over eating!

ADVICE FROM THE WISE: - All seasons are beautiful; it’s just how we look at it. There is food for every season, every day, every reason, n every mood!! Try simple food & don’t go for anything fancy that may lead to some stomach issues….!

So let me know how your monsoons are going this year!!

Happy Rains!! J

SPICE UP YOUR LIFE ;) FOOD ISHSTYLE

                                                     Spice up Your Life ;) FOOD ISHSTYLE…

So many times, I am enthralled and super excited after I get a project, but then after that is over; all I think is WHAT NEXT???? How do I keep the NEW factor alive, doing something new, challenging & exciting!!! LIKE IT’S IMPOSSIBLE TO EAT BLAND FOOD, “life mein namak hona zaroori hai” lol, (FYI- I am super filmy) similarly SPICE UP your life too. Why live a bland life. Add some spice, until you are the diet conscious, who likes boiled food… :P :P

Now my newest invention in food was a SPICED CHOCOLATE CAKE, coz now even chocolate bores me, imagine biting into a gooey chocolate cake, that leaves a spicy, cinnamon taste behind - SURPRISE, n NEW NEW NEW……… I’ll share the recipe soon!!!

So I asked my friends in general, that what do they associate with spice – some said sex, romance, following your heart, adventure, biking, treating yourself, flings, hobby….n on n on n on… this makes me think about the DEFINITION of SPICE, now GOOGLE GURU Defines spice as “In the culinary arts the word spice refers to any dried part of a plant, other than the leaves, used for seasoning and flavouring a recipe, but not used as the main ingredient.                                                 Point to be noted sirs/madams not the main ingredient, but the most important one!!!

Always experiment with food. Ever tried Bread-butter n sugar! Try karo boss, before you make that face. Yes, it sounds weird, but then you never know, you may find a new thing to like. Too hygiene conscious, n don’t like street food, please have that shawrma, Chaat n any street food you want! Always hogging on the street, go classy, go to some swanky restaurant, n try those different flavours, Mexican, Italian Lebanese! The dish that sounds the weirdest is the dish to taste. Trust me; you will never forget these flavours that are the SPICE you need!!!!

If you were to know me, you’ll know how I am always energetic, n how easily I can get bored… that maybe coz I sometimes fail to appreciate the EXISTING SPICES in my life. Like sometimes DRIED SPICES isn’t enough, I go for the flakes. But, there comes a point when I get bored with too much too. It’s time to spice up again! And then even the most simplest of ingredients, like asafoetida become the best flavouring. The crux is, sometimes go all out n BAAM you have an interesting life, the other times, try the simple things in life, it’s a subtle dosage of goodness!!!

Now mostly, people have a problem to SPICE UP their life after BREAKUPS!                                      Now I have a friend whose priorities changed in life after the life changing breakup, since he had no means to spice it up (Boys hostel mein tha in an engineering college, lol)!!!! Anyway very seriously, every relationship has its PROS n CONS, so start doing things that you couldn’t do, (n please don’t say that the relationship had no limitations), like the dress you always wanted to wear but HE SAID I”LL BREAK-UP IF YOU WEAR THAT. Boys please enjoy the games night with beer & that BOYS TALK session (Yes, YOU CAN EVEN GO IN AUTO-PILOT MODE)! The point is, start living your life, the way you want to. Fall in love n please fall out of it, n get the fun of falling in love all over again J for the less adventurous, please STOP being “I am the good girl, good boy” let loose. Don’t lose your-self in the process but re-find yourself. Yes, that passion which you had no time for, just go for it, after all you have all the extra money (no calls, texts, dates n gifts)!!!

SPICING UP YOUR CURRENT LIFE when all is good is the challenge. So welcome to my category people! All is good in our lives. When people meet us, all they want is to swap lives with us! (Going over the top, ;)) So, what to do???? The point is what not to do. Here comes my funda of going simple. Try doing things like, NOTHING!!! Just veg in front of your television, eat junk food, don’t dress right, go for a make-over, oh btw I JUST COLORED MY HAIR RED…. Contact old- friends, spend some time with them, council people who have lost it in life, hahahaha or council people to loose it sometimes. Like a friend of mine says, who has a really awesome name, to drop the black n go colour! Huge step for me, but am loving the colour on my head, plate, dress…. J

So my very dear people, rekindle that fire in your relationships n HOW??? Well, I’ll write about it the next time!!! Do things you always wanted or never wanted n yes, EAT EAT EAT, right, eat bright n eat those things that you keep watching on Master Chef. At least kuch toh achaa kha lo, yes but whatever you do, do it spicy!!!

ADVICE FROM THE WISE- spice up that super amazing life of yours, even if that means sleeping next to your passed out bf, that’s fun too rite. Take a friend out, make someone smile, start with yourself today, pamper yourself or your mom n feel that warm feeling. You’ll know what I am trying to write about!!! N ya do tell me what you did ;)

Feed your MOOD…!!

If I were to ask, HOW ARE YOU FEELING RIGHT NOW??? Some of you might say Happy, Sad, Bored, High, Tired, Indifferent, Excited, Depressed n on n on……. So these are your moods. If I was to define it, I’ll say “A temporary state of mind or feeling” (actually Google says)!!! Any guy who has ever tried to understand a girl, must have faced “The MOOD SWING” barrier… And any girl must have seen “All it takes is a good beer n a little fluttering of the eyes” to set the guy in a good mood!!!

EVERY MOOD HAS ITS TASTE!! Ice-cream & chocolates for break-ups, strawberries & whipped cream for make-ups, beer/vodka/scotch/wine for the Up-High & Down-Lows, Chaat for that awesome evening with friends & yes the well-mannered dinner with relatives!!! Food plays a very critical role in the way we feel, we think, our state of mind & well-being! On one hand, you may eat anything you get just because you are hungry on the other hand there are those times when you crave for that special something and only on eating, do you feel satiated. So it’s crucial to now which MOOD demands for which FOOD???

Mood-boosting foods
Try to eat two or more of these natural happiness enhancers every day:

Sweet potatoes- They're a great alternative to standard potatoes as they are rich in foliage. They help keep blood sugar steady.

Peanuts - One of the best sources of the mood-boosting mineral selenium, it wards off anxiety.

Eggs - They're a great source of zinc, which help you to feel more awake and energetic by regulating your metabolism and blood sugar.

Yoghurt - Rich in calcium and protein, it's also great to ease mood swings, depression and anxiety.

Spinach - Rich in iron, it's a great energy-booster and wards off fatigue and aids concentration. It is also a good source of vitamin B6 and foliage, which are essential supports for the brain's ability to produce mood-boosting neurotransmitters.

Most importantly stop associating a particular food type with a mood type, for instance bad mood with chocolates. Otherwise you will develop a dependency, & it’s also possible that eating chocolates next time triggers bad mood because there is a strong conditioning of one being associated with other. In other words it’s “psychological”.

So what to do when you have that craving & you know nothing else to do! Well the best way is to eat some fresh fruits, drink some juice; they are the best at cutting cravings.  It’s good to indulge in cravings some time, though, its food at the end of the day and it’s all about eating!!!!

So ADVICE FROM THE WISE- EAT EAT EAT all you want, but not because you are in a particular mood & it’s so called “mandatory” for the mood! Eat because you love it, not because your friend told you, eat it, you’ll feel better!!!