Oh how i missed ...cross stitching

2014 has been a great year...why...well there are so many reasons to that: First: Me and my husband (fondly called B&B by friends) moved to a new country ;Second: My nephew was born bringing so much joy to the family; Third I rediscovered/repicked my hobby of cross stitching.

I can write/talk so much about the first twos...but I have decided to dedicate this post to Cross stitch.

A little bit of back ground first...cross stitch(also called counted cross stitch) is a kind of embroidery done on special type of fabrics like aida, evenweave and linen.
My mom introduced me to cross stitch when I was 8 years old. It was her way of channelizing my energy into something creative during my two month long summer break.
I remember I always liked cross stitch over the embroideries which my mom taught me in the coming years.

Living in a small town ,the only cross stitch supplies I had access to were anchor threads and 14 count aida. So until I was 19 years old, all I stitched  was table covers with simple borders :)

My aunt who is an immensely creative person gave me a book of cross stitch in 2000 and I started trying hands at bigger designs.

I will post pics of things I have stitched until 2014 soon...

Coming to the present...what do you when the temperature outside is 50 deg C ,you don't have a car to move around and the office ends at 3 pm .....well you cross stitch.
My UFO which I started in 2011 ,then picked up in Dec 2013, was calling me. I had all the time now and started stitching ...
I have also found this wonderful cross stitch group on facebook where I am able to learn enormously about the art of cross stitch .Since then I have made wonderful stitchy friends  who have patiently answered my silly questions.

I can now say that I'm crazy about cross stitching now and wonder how I ever lived without cross stitching


 

Bhoplycha Bharit (Pumpkin raita)

Being brought up in Punjabi household means that a person ends up eating curd as many as three times a day....
Even the punjabi breakfast of stuffed parathas is incomplete without a bowl of fresh curd.

Raita (condiment made with yogurt/curd, served cold)  is also an essential part of Indian meal. It is served with sabji (cooked veggies with spices), pulao, rice etc.
I remember during childhood ,whenever my mom cooked a sabji which I particularly didn't like, raita would act as my savior. I would eat my chappatis (indian flat bread) with a huge bowl of raita. My mom used to make 3-4 types of raita to offer variety .
As I grew up, eating raita/curd became a  compulsion for me ;).I still look out for raita in a party or wedding buffet, imagine that!


This simple maharastrian recipe is for all curd/raita lovers....

Bhoplycha Bharit (Pumpkin raita)

Ingredients

1.Curd
2.Pumpkin
3.Salt to taste


For the seasoning
1.Mustard seeds(Rai)
2.Red whole chilly(one should be enough)
3.Turmeric powder(optional)
4.1 tsp cooking oil


Procedure
1.Wash,peel and cut the pumpkin in big cubes.
2.Boil the pumpkin in a pressure cooker.
3.Mash the boiled pumpkin, add curd to it.
4.Heat the oil in a pan ,add mustard seeds, red chilly,Turmeric powder and salt to it.
5.Add the seasoning to curd-pumpkin mixture and mix well.
6.Garnish with coriander leaves.

Enjoy the raita with any sabji. I enjoy it with steamed rice....

Tip: The original maharashtrian recipe has less of curd as compared to the usual raita ,add curd according to your liking.





 

I have a new hobby....Cooking ..yay!!!!

Hello readers,

 

It’s been a long time, so much so that I have developed a new hobby in the time ;)

My new found love is Cooking….I know many would say oh that’s every females passion.

 

I have always loved exploring new food. I remember trying new dishes every time my dad used to take us to the local restaurant in childhood. These local restaurants served local delicacies ( of course) along with their own version of other cuisine like Chinese …I know many would agree how they grew up goggling on Indo Chinese chowmein (other name of noodles), fried rice and Manchurian.

 

As I ventured out of my hometown to pursue my graduation, I got to eat foods of Punjab, one of the Northern States of India (yes…the state which gave the World “Chicken Tikka Masala").It’s amazing how same dish can be prepared in so many ways in India, you end up having 3 to 4 versions of the same dish from different states.

 
I discovered that I like cooking when I made an attempt to impress my husband (to-be husband, then) by preparing a full course meal. I just loved the look on his face and it’s the same look which inspires me to try new recipes even after 7 years of marriage.

 

Its 2014, and I have spent substantial amount of time in 5 states of India, adding all lot of local delicacies in my kitty.

 

Now let me tell you how my passion for travel has helped me develop this hobby of cooking. When you are travelling, being a vegetarian can become really painful, not only outside India but even in many parts of India.

As part of my preparations for travel, I usually search for vegetarian food options which make my stay in the travel city very easy.

 

Me and my girlfriends often discuss our travels and share tips on “must-eat” of every famous destination. I just realized yesterday that I end up giving out at least one veg. recipe each day to my friends over the phone. So the idea of jotting these down in my blog clicked.

 

With thousands of food blogs available on internet, I’ll try to be different by writing recipes of  simplest of the food which is cooked daily in Indian household plus the non-Indian recipes I have tried over the years on request of my gfs.

 

 

My first recipe to follow soon….