Towards a new future

When we think about our childhood and compare it with today’s children, we will realise how different it is. Now, to think about it, I wonder how I really spent my childhood. There was no mobile phones, no laptop, no iPad, and especially there was no internet. I remember my grandfather writing inland letters to his daughters in Delhi and Mumbai from a small town. Once a week, they will talk to each other on the fixed line phones.

As a child, I would sit next to my grandfather writing letters and I will wait for him to finish to add a line or two in the end. And I would spend most of my time playing with the other kids on the roads and sometimes watching cartoon in TV. The kids of today are too busy teaching gadgets and technology to their parents who are from a different world. Though they rarely go out and play with other kids of their age, they do virtual gaming. It may sound very different to us, but the world has changed. Has it changed for good is a question to ponder.

With every technological advance, there are pros and cons. The world of internet has brought in a lot of perks. Earlier, if we move from one city to another, we are certain that we will never be able to meet our friends. And we will hope that someday in the future, we will be able to meet. But now, the world isn’t the same. Even if we move every now and then, we are connected through the internet. We are in touch with each and every person we know. Even if we rarely talk with each other, we know what is happening in their life. It gives us a satisfaction of knows what our peers are up to and how their lives have turned out.

This gives us immense power to not only stay in touch but conduct our businesses and lives through the social media. Though there is a fear of invasion of privacy by hackers, we enjoy the world we are in today. It is so much different from what it was fifty years ago. What it will be fifty years from now is something to think about. The technology has given us so much now, what it could provide us in the future gives me hope.

There will be cure for all the so called incurable diseases now. Who knows we will even go live in Mars. The human population will take a giant leap in the way we live, if mankind settles in Mars. All these makes me optimistic about the world we will leave behind. Though we are spoiling our current planet by a lot of things, we have an option that will provide a much better environment to live. 

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An inevitable change in every one’s life

We would be so comfortable in everything we do and the things around us. Yet, there would be times when we have to deal with the changes in our lives. These changes could be anything, a new job, a new place to live, or even getting married. Marriage is the start of a new life for a girl. She has to leave her family behind and go live with a guy. It’s not just living with some person, marriage also brings in a lot of responsibility. The freedom the girl had living with her parents is sort of missing when she is married.

We can argue that the husband and his family is super cool and they don’t refrain her from doing all crazy stuff she has been doing. But deep down, as a girl, you will realise that a marriage changes a lot. You can still do everything you have been doing, but you have an added responsibility of a family. For a girl, marriage means a new life. She would enter the stage of motherhood. Both physically and psychologically the changes affect the girl. Most of us are excited about the new prospects. While some are wary and do not want to get married at all.

The change is more apparent if it is an arranged marriage. For a love marriage, the girl knows the guy, he knows the girl. They have been together for quite some time to know each other’s peculiarities. And they are compatible enough to wanting to get married and spend the rest of their lives together. In that case, the girl only has to get used to the new family. But in an arranged marriage, the girl and the guy have no clue about what the other person is going to be. It is both scary and exciting. Exciting because you will get to know a new person and the prospect of living together gives a different feeling. And scary because what if he turns out to be not so good a guy and all the responsibilities one has to go through after the marriage.

In our country, arranged marriages are more prevalent than the love marriages. Even the arranged marriages has seen a lot of change. Earlier, during our parents’ time, they just see the girl or the guy once and their parents would fix everything. But now, the young adults are more dominating and demanding and we need to have the power to decide who we want and who we don’t. Now it is not just a process that everyone has to go through out of societal pressure. It has transformed into a journey in itself. The prospective bride and groom meet and talk with each other. They try to understand themselves and they fall in love.

This change is inevitable in every one’s life. It will be better if we like the journey and live it, rather than sulking over what is not and what it might have been. 

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Fresh Pea Soup

Peas, the tiny green pods are low in fat and rich in protein, iron, folate, fibres and phosphorus. Dont worry. Even the frozen peas dont lose their nutritional value. If you dont find fresh peas, use frozen ones for this awesome soup.

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 medium shallots finely chopped
• 2 cups water
• 3 cups green peas
• salt and pepper to taste
• 3 tablespoons whipping cream (optional)

Method:

1. Melt the butter in a sauce pan over medium heat. 
2. Cook the shallots until soft and translucent, for 3 minutes. 
3. Pour the water and peas and let it boil. 
4. Add salt and pepper.
5. Boil the contents in medium-high heat and reduce to low. 
6. Keep the lid closed and let it simmer for 12 to 18 minutes until the peas become tender. 
7. Puree the peas in a blender in batches. 
8. Pour it back in the saucepan, add the cream(optional) and reheat. 

Egg Halwa

A new favourite halwa, a new delicious desert. You can add vanilla if you think it’s too eggy taste. It’s ideal for your sweet tooth.

Ingredients:

·         4 pods green cardamom

·         1 cup milk

·         4 eggs, beaten

·         ¾ cup sugar

·         ½ cup shortening (Vanaspati)

·         1 teaspoon rava

·         ½ cup dry milk powder

Method:

1.       Crush the cardamom pods.

2.       Combine the cardamom, milk, egg, sugar, vanaspati, rava and dry milk powder in a heavy bottomed saucepan.

3.       Whisk well to combine, and then cook on low heat, stirring until eggs thicken.

4.       Continue cooking, stirring constantly, until the mixture browns and Vanaspati begins to separate. It takes about an hour.

5.       Serve hot.

Stress Busters

A few years ago, not a lot of people were aware of stress. It was something to be scared of. Now, every single person says ‘I am stressed’. Even the children are stressed. Instead of going out and having fun, these kids nowadays are stressed by a lot of things.

To relieve oneself off stress, the most prescribed medication is Yoga and meditation. Spiritual or chemical medication will help one to relieve stress. But it will not be wholesome without the proper dietary intake. Here are some nature’s best stress busters.

Fish

Omega-3-fatty acids are essential to keep the stress level in check, and also helps you against depression. These can be obtained by taking up an omega-3 pill. But when you have a better and tasty way of getting those required omega-3 FA, why would you need a pill? Eat fish twice a week or have a handful of walnut every day. 

Dark Chocolate
The stress relieving property of chocolates goes beyond the taste buds. It is proven that those who have had chocolates for more than ten years have lower blood pressure than those who did not. Remember not to overeat these tasty dark chocolates. It is not very good for health if ate in lots. 

Black Tea
Drinking black tea helps you to recover from terrible nerve-racking events quickly. People who drank four cups of black tea for six weeks said that they feel more relaxed even after stressful tasks. Black tea also have mood boosting effects and it also increases our alertness throughout the day.

Avocados

This fruit is not only delicious, but also nutritious. It contains two powerful stress fighters: Potassium and monounsaturated fatty acids. They lower blood pressure and protects against depression. Include these healthy food in your everyday diet. You will feel rejuvenated and relaxed.

Trim your waste

We waste 40% of our food, from farm to fork. Wasting food has economic, ethical ramifications, and also environmental impacts. Look carefully every time you cook or eat food, observe how much you consume and how much is wasted. The waste from one day might seem small and insignificant. Keep the waste accumulated for a week, for a month, for an year..it’s a lot. Try to reduce waste as much as you can.

1.       Plan and make a detailed shopping list to prevent overbuying. Don’t buy produce that often goes waste. Be true to yourself. Don’t indulge in impulse buying.

2.       Keep the food items in a place where it is not only easily accessible by you, but also is seen by you. It should be in your line of sight. Food that are hidden behind something else is often forgotten and left to rot.

3.       Just because we have a plate that is big enough to hold food for two people, don’t take a lot of stuff on your plate. Be stingy in taking items on your plate. We don’t usually reuse the food already kept on a person’s plate.

4.       We all keep the leftovers for next day. It is worthless if you can’t eat them. The leftovers from previous night’s dinner is ideal lunch. It saves a lot of time and money.

5.       Don’t buy a product looking at its expiry date. Buy if you need it, otherwise leave it for another instance when you will actually need to use the item. 

Beetroot Hummus

It is another delicacy with beetroot. If the previous dish did not make you love the beet, this one will surely do. One of my friends loved the beetroot hummus and started asking for it every time she comes to my place.

The beetroot hummus is the traditional hummus made with chickpeas, onions, garlic, tahini, lemon, cumin and olive oil, then flavoured and coloured with beetroot.

Ingredients:

·         225 gm chickpeas

·         1 large onion, chopped

·         450 gm beets

·         ½ cup tahini (sesame seed paste)

·         3 cloves garlic, crushed

·         4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

·         1 tablespoon ground cumin

·         4 tablespoons olive oil

Method:

1.       In a large bowl, cover chickpeas with cold water and soak overnight.

2.       Drain chickpeas and place in a large heavy saucepan, add onion, cover with water and bring to boil over medium heat.

3.       Cook for an hour, or until the chickpeas are very soft.

4.       Drain, reserving 1 cup (250 ml) of cooking liquid. Allow to cool.

5.       Meanwhile, in a large saucepan cover beets with water and bring to boil over medium heat.

6.       Cook until tender, drain and allow beets to cool before removing the skins and chopping.

7.       Puree beets in a mixer, add the chickpeas and onions, tahini, garlic, lemon juice and cumin, until smooth.

8.       While the mixer is running pour the remaining cooking liquid and olive oil. Continue until the mixture is combined.

9.       Drizzle with little olive oil. 

Beet Treat

Beetroot is the not-so-popular veggie, leaves a red stain, can be eaten raw or cooked. Research shows that drinking beetroot juice reduces blood pressure and decrease the risk of dementia. Here is one recipe which might make you look at beetroot in a new light. It could even make you popular by popularising the not-so-popular beet.

Beetroot with Onion and Cumin

Ingredients:

·         2 tablespoons cooking oil

·         1 small onion, chopped

·         1 clove garlic, minced

·         1 ½ teaspoons cumin seed

·         2 tablespoons maida

·         5 medium beets, peeled and cut into pieces

·         2 tomatoes, peeled and chopped

·         1 ½ cups water

·         1 teaspoon salt

Method:

1.       Heat the saucepan over medium heat.

2.       Pour in oil and saute onion and garlic until translucent.

3.       Mix cumin seeds and saute an additional 2 minutes.

4.       Sprinkle in flour and saute for 1 more minute.

5.       Stir in beets, tomatoes, water and salt.

6.       Reduce heat to low, cover pan with lid.

7.       Allow to simmer for 30 to 45 minutes, until beets are tender.

For a healthy life – DELETE these

Trans fats

A recent study states that people who consume food high on trans fats are more likely to become depressed than people who get their fat in a healthier form. Avoid Trans fats in any form. Do check for the label behind the food stuff you consume.

White Bread

Eating more of quickly digested carbohydrates (like those in pastries, sweets, refined grains) and saturated fat makes you more likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease. Reduce your intake of White bread and sweets.

Sugared Soft drinks

Stay away from these sugared aerated soft drinks. The sugar in them are void of any nutritional value. Also the soda may raise the blood pressure. Just be careful!

Cuddling with your pet?

It is a proven fact that pets lower blood pressure and stress levels. But if your immune system is weak, it is not a wise option to let your pet sleep with you or hug you. Be careful. More of goodness is not always good.

For a healthy life – ADD these

Laboratories around the world have researched many food items and have come to the conclusion that for a healthy and happy life, we just need to add some food, and delete a few others. Here are some of the stuff you need to include for a healthy life. 

Green Tea

Two or more cups of green tea everyday helps lower the cholesterol (both total cholesterol and bad LDL kind).

Apples and Beans

As we age, we tend to gain weight around our belly. This belly fat is the most dangerous fat for health. If you want to gain less belly fat, start having more soluble fibre (found in fruits, beans, oats) in your everyday diet.

Olive Oil

It is said that Olive oil is good for your mood as well as your heart, while fast food and margarine can darken your outlook.

Coffee

A cup or more of coffee helps reduce some types of head and neck cancer. This is a new benefit for coffee. If anyone tells you don’t drink coffee too much in a day, tell them this fact. They will never come to advice you about your coffee habits. (They might even start drinking more coffee themselves.)

Work out for Asthma control

We all know that sedentary lifestyle is bad for heart and health in general. What is new is Aerobics help to reduce Asthmatic symptoms. Remember to talk to your doctor before starting out an exercise routine. 

Peanut Butter Jammies

Another favourite for the kids of all age. Try these topped with syrup, apple or honey.

Ingredients:

·         8 slices of bread

·         ½ cup peanut butter

·         ¼ cup any flavour fruit jam

·         1 egg, beaten

·         ½ cup milk

·         2 teaspoons white sugar

·         1 pinch salt

·         2 tablespoons butter

Method:

1.       Spread four slices of bread with peanut butter and jam. Cover them with the remaining four slices.

2.       Beat the egg, milk, sugar and salt together.

3.       In a large frying pan, melt butter over medium heat.

4.       Dip each sandwich into the egg mixture to coat it well and allow the excess to drip off.

5.       Place the sandwiches in pan and cook until golden on both sides.

6.       Serve Warm.

Puran Poli

Puran poli is a sweetish dish made on Gudi Padwa (Marathi new year). You can try the tradition puran poli filling, or the filling with red bean paste.

For Puran

a)      For traditional filling

Ingredients:

·         1 cup chana dal, cooked and drained

·         1 cup jaggery

·         1 teaspoon powdered cardamom

Method:

1.       Mix dal and jiggery well. Cook for 10 minutes.

2.       Grind well without adding water.

3.       Add cardamom and mix well with your hands to get a smooth thick paste.

b)      For Red bean (Rajma) paste filling

Ingredients:

·         1 cup small red rajma beans, cooked till soft and drained

·         ½ cup jaggery

·         1 ½ teaspoon vegetable oil

Method:

1.       Grind cooked beans until smooth, add jaggery and grind, until both are combined.

2.       In the pan, head vegetable oil over medium heat and add the bean paste.

3.       Cook until the mixture is dry.

4.       Remove from heat and refrigerate until ready to use.

For Poli

Ingredients:

·         1 ½ cup maida

·         Salt to taste

·         Water as required

Method:

1.       Mix flour, salt, oil and add water in a bowl and make dough.

2.       Cover and set the bowl aside for an hour.

3.       Take a small ball of dough and flatten it.

4.       Place a ball of mixture (Puran) on it and cover the dough.

5.       Apply oil to the rolling suface and pin, and roll out the ball like a chapatti.

6.       Fry like a paratha on a hot tava till golden brown.

7.       Serve hot with ghee. 

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

If you have kids at home, or anyone loves sweet, this recipe is for you. This is a diversion from the usual boring food stuff you make at home. Especially for a kid, making him eat healthy food is a task. You have to try new recipes now and then to keep him interested and eager to eat.

The Banana Chocolate Chip muffin is tasty and healthy snack that not only kids, even the adults will love. Add tea or coffee to it, and it is perfect breakfast.

Ingredients:       

·         200 gm plain flour

·         1 1/4 teaspoons of baking powder

·         ½ teaspoon of bicarbonate soda

·         ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

·         2 egg whites

·         A pinch of salt

·         225 gm mashed banana

·         150 gm sugar

·         4 tablespoons apple sauce

·         75 gm chocolate chips

Method:

1.      Preheat the oven to 200 C. Apply little oil and spread on a 12-cup muffin tin.
2.       Mix the following :

      Flour, Baking powder, soda, Cinnamon, salt, sugar, Egg whites, Apple sauce, banana

3.       Mix until just moistened.
4.       Stir in chocolate chips.
5.       Pour into the muffin cups.
6.       Bake for 15-20 minutes in the pre-heated oven.

Tip: Bake until a tooth pick inserted in the middle of the muffin comes out clean. 

Food and Cooking

Cooking is my favourite hobby, from as long as I can remember. Even when I was a child, I would go stand next to my mother and observe what she does. After I grew up, I started making things on my own. Little experimentation here and there, and trying out exotic recipes were my pass times. I have a lot to learn in cooking. I thought I would start by connecting with the world through a blog.

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This blog has recipes of some of my favourite food items and some health facts. Hope it is of some help to other amateur chef or hobbyist like me. Welcome to the world of culinary experiments.