easy chocolate frosting
1/4 cup unsalted butter
3 tablespoons cocoa powder
1/4 cup whole milk
2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

mix the above.. add sugar to make it thick and milk if its too stiff !! 
egglesscooking.com   : got my chocolate and vanilla cake recipes from here.. 

apple rasam

podi : menasu + jeerige + red chilli -- dry grind
put ghee in a pan and splutter mustard. Add 2 tomatoes and sauté. Add 1 chopped apple to it when half done. Add turmeric pwdr, salt and the above powder while on sim flame. add dal water and chopped curry leaves and coriander.

try the above with beetroot !!! 

masala pudis

Milaga pudi: uddin bele : 1 cup; kadle bele: 3/4; Groundnuts 1 hidi; Pottu kadle 1 hidi; sesame seeds 3-5 tsp; red chilli : 30 nos; dry microwave and mixie !! keep mixing in intervals frequently
Hing: buy the block. Microwave it till it starts to puff up. Cool and mixie
Race kozhambu : uddin bele, kadle bele, togri bele, hesaru bele : equal parts; dhaniya :2Xbele ; ellu, menthiya, red chilli, microwave all and mixie with coconut.
rasavangi : same as above without hesarubele and togri bele

Marriage Vs wedding

Marriage is defined as "any of the diverse forms of interpersonal union established in various parts of the world to form a familial bond that is recognized legally, religiously, or socially, granting the participating partners mutual conjugal rights and responsibilities" while wedding is " the act or ceremony of marriage". 
I don't know what to think.. In my country the wedding can be anywhere between 2-3 days.. but there are like a million ceremonies before and after the "main" wedding. yes the parents of the bride do take pride in organizing and arranging the wedding. And they really don't mind paying for the expenses.I mean they have planned for these for a really long time and have saved up. and every parent wants the best for their daughter. and they do it soo happily and with pride !! and then the wedding --- everyone meets together for a glorious week. people take the effort to come from far and it s really the best time to meet everyone.. your mother s uncle s wife s sister s children and your grandfather s cousin s in laws aunt !! you see people who truly care and love you for who you are !! your favorite cousins who adore you equally back and more !! 
  but then the money spent is unbelievable! It is always a little more than the means of the parents.no it is not shared by anyone. the parents spend for everything.how is it fair?? thankfully we now live in a generation, society and time where there are no crazy demands by the groom but still !! why are they sooo many ceremonies?? all of them can easily be condensed to one day at best !! it s as simple as invoking the gods paying respect to the elders tying the sacred knot and being blessed by all !! I always thought I would see the wedding getting condensed but it s getting more grander and crazier to fathom!! why do you need shah rukh khan to entertain the guests and sweets given with an invitation card !! 20 year ago, my neighbor got married at the top of a mountain with just their parents and a priest. they are still together and love each other equally !! the gods have blessed them with as much happiness as to a couple who go through a 7 day destination wedding in las vegas with madonna performing at the reception!! 
who are we pleasing in these ceremonies?? the orthodox relatives; the groom s parents; the bride or just the self ?? I don't know !!   

gobi manchurian

Made really good gobhi manchurian last week.. wanted to save the recipe for posterity since I tweaked it to my imagination !! 

Mix 5 tbsp AP flour, 3 tbsp corn flour, salt and 1/2 cup water to make the batter. Cut cauliflower into florets ( cutting cauliflower with your hands is stress relieving !!) and soak it in the batter, while you cut onions capsicum !! Fry the cauliflower till browned.. (do it when the daughter and the husband are busy)

In a pan, heat oil, sauté onions, green onions and capsicum. Add GG paste. Once the above are tender add loads of tomatoes. ( I added 3 medium). once the raw tomato taste disappears, add salt, red chili powder. Add the fried cauliflower and mix. Make a paste with 3 tsp soy sauce, 2 tsp corn flour, 1.5 tsp red/green chili sauce,2 tsp vinegar, pepper and pour !! mix and garnish with coriander and green onions !! 

November 6th

I know its redundant having the date as a title when the date does come below it !! but I just wanted to start chronicling my 18 month daughter s antics to remember for posterity.. She is at this wonderful age ( i  Personally think every age is wonderful !!) where each day she surprises me with never done before stuff !!
So this week we started potty training her.. read like a million websites. chinese do it in the first year and others at 3 years.. some do it n a weekend some on a vacation and some everyday no matter what !! for me it was more like.. Its time !! SO on monday we started and she is amazing.. first day and she totally knew what we are demanding/asking/requesting/cajoling her to do.. hehehe..
kinda feels awkward to write more in detail.. I, for one, would not want to grow up and realize my potty training had been written down word by word in a webpage !!! hahaha

She is also eating on her own which is like super cute when yu look at it.. its funny how she takes a min to decide which side of the spoon has the scoop and she gets it in the second try !! but of course following 6-8 spoons of food she is back to "ipa" and needs her rhymes to distract her while I finish feeding the rest of her dinner !!

She had her first lollypop/popsicle/sucker last week (while trick or treating) and it was a delight to watch !! after sucking a few times she decided the sticky feel was more fun and she proceeded to try sticking it to her face, hands and dress !! she also tried to stick it on my hand and enjoyed the feel of skin letting it go slowly as she pulled it out !! ah the things she enjoys !! 

halloween Vs Diwali

Two weeks ago was Diwali and last week was Halloween.. Diwali or Deepavali, of course, is my favorite festival.. I doubt you ll find a Hindu say otherwise. It means firecrackers, sweets, food, dresses, playing with your friends the whole day, meeting relatives, sweets, food and fun all along.. See i wrote fire crackers as the first thing.. It was the one day in the year you can burst an atom bomb near the window of your least favorite neighbor at 6 in the morn and at 12 in the night !! people whom you didn't know on the road would smile at you and friends whom you didn't normally play with would burst crackers alongside you !! random neighbors would give you sweets !! thats diwali !! Man i miss the festival.. but over the past few years which unfortunately i have spent away from my country (6 to be precise) I have seen diwali change.. people are going on and on about pollution (noise and smoke) and hurting dogs and saving the environment !! really.. I think it s bullshit... !! this is india we are talking about.. let s talk pollution.. if you are really so concerned about the smoke (mind you this is a two day festival) then why do you take cars to drive even the shortest of distances.. take a cycle or better walk.. what about the pollution from cars.. have you ever thought of taking public transport.. pollution from cars which is like throughout the year is worse.. and the noise.. if you are truly concerned about hurting the dogs then why honk in a traffic signal when you know you are stuck and so is the car in front of you (he would go ahead if he Could) !! ever seen dogs cower at traffic signals from the horns ?? it happens everyday !! ahhh and then there s child labor and the other atrocities thrown about while making the firecrackers.. treat the root cause.. issue mandates against child labor and license safety regulations with use of chemicals in Sivakasi !! come on don't stop bursting firecrackers !! its a 2 day affair people .. revel !! I bet all the crazy people writing against firecrackers have never had the pleasure of holding a lighted laxmi in thier hand and waiting for the nth min to throw it !! I know its not the safest thing in the world but hey.. come on .. that s learning for you!!! 

and Halloween in india !! really.. the same idiots ranting against firecrackers are dressing up and celebrating halloween !! Do you even know what it signifies??

 It was traditionally believed that the souls of the departed wandered the earth until All Saints' Day, and All Hallows' Eve provided one last chance for the dead to gain vengeance on their enemies before moving to the next world. In order to avoid being recognized by any soul that might be seeking such vengeance, people would don masks or costumes to disguise their identities"

hahahaha !! did you even know this ?? Its a Christian celebration to the dead.. when was the last time you performed rites to pray for the souls in your family.. We have beautiful ceremonies in our religion to remember the dead and departed. And heck I don't remember the last time I was a part of them..sadly.. 

Seriously.. I wish we could celebrate more of our own festivals with more aplomb. God knows we have enough and more !! I wish I could impart its meaning to my daughter. She can make up her own mind wether to follow them or not or just mindlessly romanticize it and perform it..