My Scene card had enough points for two free tickets! Yay!

So we watched a Bollywood movie - Sultan. I also came back and played the Peel and Pop contest and scored myself a large upgrade for a drink or popcorn next time. Turns out the value for that is only 50 cents but these guys overcharge on everything. So in my mind, it was a bigger value gift than it turned out to be.

I also shared the link to play on my Facebook and Twitter. More people who play popping the corn, more chances I get next time I play. 

We did spend on the concession stand and took one of their combos which after getting 'layered butter' cost us around $17. Found out that each layer of butter costs 95cents. What a rip-off.

At the end of the day: 

Total savings- 2 x $11 per ticket (rate on Wednesday) = $22+GST = $23.10. :-):-)

Disposable ballpoint pens and other stationery - is there an alternative?

In my job, I try to use as less of paper and pen as I can. But can I ever, ever entirely replace pen, paper, markers and highlighters? Probably not. In fact, sometimes, they are necessary. 

I can turn back to look at my whiteboard and know how the line-up for my weekly newsletter is coming along. I can write down reminders on post-its or jot down notes in my notebook during a meeting (once, I forgot taking a notebook along and used my phone to jot down notes in one of the apps. But it seemed so weird and maybe, just maybe rude even though I wasn't really doing anything wrong).

In my (tiny) quest to save the environment, I feel conflicted when my pen’s ink cartridge runs out or the notebook is about to get over. What should I do - throw the pen away or order refills? (Up till now, I have been ordering refills, thinking it’s less of an evil but then again, those arrive wrapped in plastic too. Damn it!! There is just too much packaging in this world). Or how do I dispose of an old notebook, specially when it's hardcover? Sure some of these things can be recycled but that takes up material resources and energy too.  According to the We Hate to Waste blog, “Americans throw away 1.6 billion disposable pens every year. Add the rest of the world, multiply by over 50 years of writing with disposable pens, and that’s a lot of metal and plastic waste ending up in landfill!  I suspect it’s just the tip of the iceberg, given the piles of disposable pens that many of us haven’t thrown out yet. Not to mention the refillable pens that we never take the trouble to refill.” 

So, do I have an alternative? I don’t know. I work in a corporate environment where we have to place our stationery orders via a company we are contracted with. My choices are kind of limited to the company’s catalogue but I am always open to hear new ideas and ways to reduce my ecological footprint. Go ahead and drop me a comment and tell me if I can do anything differently.

Thanks so much in advance!

Making the Earth better, one step at a time

Has anyone noticed lately winters don't feel like winters here? Two years ago, when I moved to Edmonton, I remember it being brrrr...frrr...eezing.. I remember one of the days in November, when I was returning from work and someone announced it was -26! Take that, tropical girl! 

This year, the temperatures have barely gone down beyond -10. I am not gonna lie and say that I miss the snow (and the sludge and the icy roads and the blizzards) but overall, I do understand this is actually not really good in the bigger scheme of things - for us, the flora and the fauna. 

Even though scientists are saying it's related to the El Nino, I guess we can't ignore the effect of climate change. Whoever says global warming is not real, get real guys. It’s happening right now. You can look at the weather pattern of any country you have lived in. Even if you have lived there for a short amount of time, let's say 5 years, you'll still notice a change. Now look harder, climate change sceptics....do you see it? Do you, do you? 

I grew up in India and rarely heard of natural disasters. Until the past few years, that is. They’ve been occurring with much more regularity. By now, you would've guessed I am on the climate change bandwagon. Not cos it's trendy but because it's real. And because even if I can't make a huge difference, I can do something in my power to reverse or at least halt it. 

If each and every one of us doesn’t put in some efforts, we humans are going to die a painful death. I’m not sure it's going to be slow though. Looks like in the past few years, the Earth has warmed up at an alarming rate. The 7 billion of us, I mean only the humans, not the flora and fauna, have been going crazy with our emissions. 

It really saddens me because as you know, the Earth is a very, very special planet. I mean, in our knowledge of science, up till now, we haven’t really been able to find a single other planet where we have this large variety and diversity of creatures, majestic natural features-from canyons to mountains (ok agreed that other planets have craters and things like that but I can’t really go there to live, now can I? I’d rather take care of what I have here on the Earth) and most importantly, air, water and soil to sustain us. I consider that a miracle!! Think about it – what were the chances that all of these components would come together in that ancient broth and create life? Not just one species but millions of them. Take away even one component-let’s say the soil. Can we live? No. How would we grow food? How would we survive? Gosh, thinking about all this makes me feel very lucky and special to have inherited this special place called Earth. I hope you think the same. So for me, it’s scary to think that with all the natural disasters we’ve been having, the Earth and its inhabitants could be wiped out!!!! 

Again, by the same logic, I can’t expect natural disasters not to occur. The question is: what can I do? I could take steps to reduce my footprint on the Earth. Logic dictates that less wasteàmore treesà less soil erosionàlesser possibility of natural disasters. So you can’t eliminate disasters or our wants and needs completely, but I guess there has to be a balance somewhere. I’ve compiled a list of things that I do – my mantra is waste not, want only when needed. So using things responsibly, reducing, reusing and recycling; it’s not always possible but I try. I do fail sometimes but hey, I’d rather continue my efforts than not try at all. In the end, it’s all about balance. Who would know this better than a Libran ;-)? Without much ado, here is my little list.

1)      I bike/walk to work. Even on the days that I can’t do either of these cos you know, temperatures in this part of the world sometimes fall to minus frickin’ 40, I take public transport.

2)      I always switch off my wireless mouse when I leave office. That’ll ensure the batteries work longer. The aim is to have a wired keyboard and mouse someday but this is what I inherited and I guess I’ll use it until it runs into the ground.

3)      I try not to print things; I’d rather access them online. I save trees and reduce visual clutter on my desk. Man, that’s a big distraction! If I do have to print though (there are times when you gotta do it), then I try to print double-sided and black and white.

4)      As for books and other printed material, I either borrow things from the library, or get them from thrift/op-shops. I also read online, like a lot.  

5)      I try not to waste food. Food waste (or waste of any sort) is my pet peeve. I could do tons and tons of blog posts on how I minimize wastage. I will someday detail how I do this  but for the moment, just scour the world of the internet. 

6)      I even try to use scraps. It has been proven that veggie and fruit peels have a lot of nutrition so I love to find ways to use them somehow. My tarbooz ke chhilke ki sabzi (dish made from watermelon peels) is uber famous. Will post a how-to someday. Google can help you in transforming peels, rinds and leftovers into edible stuff.  

7)      I don’t mean to be preachy but I am a vegetarian and I swear, it’s not hard. Well, you see, I was born into a vegetarian family so in part, it did come naturally. Now, with latest research showing that being a vegetarian is kinder and gentler on our planet, I am kinda, slightly proud I am one. I am not discouraging you to eat meat but maybe you could eat less of it. And btw, being a vegetarian doesn’t mean eating tofu and kale for the rest of your life, so you know. Google, people Google. 

8)      I try and DIY a lot of products – cleaning, skincare etc. and believe you me, I am super lazy. So if I can do it, you can too. They say you should avoid toxic people but sometimes you can’t. At least you can avoid toxic products..lol!

9)      I try and avoid packaging as much as possible. I try to carry re-usable shopping bags while grocery shopping and avoid bags altogether if I have a small item that could probably fit into my handbag. Think a rolled-up belt or a pair of earrings or undies etc. You get the idea, right?  

10)   And then I go home and use some-of-those-rarely-asked-for plastic bags like no one’s business. One bag goes into lining the trash can. Of course, I make sure that’s super full before I throw it away. The others get used to carry around stuff, especially if I need to carry leaky things in my bag but never, ever do they get just thrown.

11)   I’ve been looking at composting but haven’t figured out a suitable composting system yet. I will get there soon, promise.

12)   From not being able to grow anything-yes I have a notorious brown thumb, to being able to ensure that at least 2 plants in my home are surviving, I have come a long way :-). My new mission is to plant as many plants as I can. Well, apart from being nice to look at, they give off oxygen, you know that stupid invisible thing that's essential for living.

13)   If I want something, I better have a need for it. Over the years, I’ve become better at living with less. My closet is still crowded but it doesn’t overflow like a few years ago and I use at least 80% of it. (The 20% is emotional-I promise I will make use of it someday). Usually, I’ll just use something until it burns to the ground.  And I do have pretty things at home, but only to the extent that I can manage. Gawd! I don’t have to clean that frequently and that alone makes me feel so much better.

14)   I am human and I do make impulse purchases, not as much as I used to but still. And so if I find things that I don’t have a use for, I may either donate them or give to friends and family, if they need it. Re-gifting is fine if done properly. Make sure you know the re-gifting etiquette. And so you know, I am fine when someone re-gifts things to me. I completely understand, provided they follow the etiquette. Plus, I am ok swapping clothes with my cousins and friends.  

15)   Most of the times, I’ve just learnt to live with less. I don’t need 10 eye-shadows, I can have 3. Or while making chai, I don’t need to put 2 teabags for the two of us. I can use one and the chai still turns out good. And trust me, no Indian worth his/her salt would skimp on the taste of their masala chai.  

16)   Re-using things feels awesome. I usually save pump bottles or containers to refill with products that I DIY. One product I am sure I will never DIY is sunscreen. And that’s ok. (I can write a separate blog post on that).

So these are just some of the things I do. And I am sure there may  be some things I haven’t listed but I do. What are some of the things that you do to make our Earth better and save a few bucks? Please share. I’m sure I could use a few more tips to be greener.  

Back again...after a very very long hiatus....of 5 years!!

Back to hoping to post regularly.

Updates to life:

• Moved from Melbourne, Australia to Edmonton, Canada in May 2013. 
• Own a home (well, still paying mortgage so technically don't own it yet but will eventually. What I meant was that I am no longer a 'renter')
• Have a job in the field of Comms 
• Life is a-ok...

Will now post regular updates and things I like/love/want to talk about. 

P.S. The 30-day veg challenge wasn't completed in 2010. Will need to re-start it soon. 

Day 1: 30-day “Be a vegetarian and see for yourself” challenge

It has been a long time since I posted anything at all. Obviously, this is going to negatively affect my blog. Therefore, here I am back again, ready in action and raring to go. The 30-day Vegetarian Challenge is on again, starting today. However, I have renamed it the 30-day “Be a vegetarian and see for yourself” challenge which I think reflects better the aims and motives of this activity which is to showcase the wide variety of foods, dishes, recipes etc. that can be cooked without meat.

I was born into a vegetarian family and becoming one was automatic. And I have never had cravings to try out non-veg foods of any sort although I started eating eggs a few years ago for a number of valid reasons.

Without going into too much detail of the pros and cons of any diet, let me launch here into what I have been up to in my 30-day “Be a vegetarian and see for yourself” challenge.

DAY 1: 29th June, Tuesday

Breakfast: A simple glass of cold milk with cereal

Mid-day snack: an apple and 3 rice thins (and guiltily sneaking a few Gems or Smarties, as they are called here in Australia).

Afternoon lunch: Sambar chawal-a very delicious and tangy South Indian curry that can be had over rice, dumplings etc. I have some leftover sambar that I will be pouring over vadas which I am planning to cook tomorrow. Vadas are extremely yummy lentil dumplings that can be had with sambar, coconut chutney or just on their own.

Dinner: Veg clear soup since I had a few veggies lying around and also because it is sooo freezingly cold outside that a soup was ideal. Here’s a simple trick if you want to spice up the soup just a little bit. Simply add a small amount of chilli sauce. It will add a different flavour altogether to your regular veg clear soup.

Do let me know in the comments section below if you need the recipe for any of the above-mentioned dishes. Btw, is anyone of you watching the current Aussie favourite-Masterchef? I absolutely love it and just wondering if any of you out there is also a die-hard fan like me….I can’t afford to miss even a single episode since that makes me anxious…I looove it so much. And with the re-entry of 3 eliminated contestants, it’s going to be exciting once more. Wotsay?

Day 3: 30-day Vegetarian Challenge

I have been a bit slack with posting these days. Being a full-time student, I am being kept quite occupied. Studies have started in full-swing and assignments are already due in two weeks. Phew!!

Anyhow, here is day 3 of the vegetarian challenge. The Saturday morning dawned bright and beautiful. The plan was to go shopping for an ensemble for the interview that I have next week (wish me best of luck for that). So here are my meals for the day:

BREAKFAST: An English breakfast, consisting of poached eggs on toast, some garlic bread and salad on the side.

LUNCH: Lunch was outside since we were in the mall. I ordered a spinach and ricotta roll.

DINNER: The lunch was so heavy that I originally planned to skip dinner. However, went to a friend's place and she ordered home delivery. So we had to eat. But trhe food was so tasty that I couldn't help myself but gorge. Seriously worth it! Chilli paneer (Indian home-made cheese made Chinese style)with naan (an Indian bread cooked in a tandoor). It was ordered from 'The Wishing Well' at Camberwell. I had never been to the place before. But a serious recommendation-If you live in/ near to Camberwell in Melbourne, do visit this place. Looks like this place is going to be my new haunt.

That's it for the day. Be back tomorrow.

Day 2: 30-day Vegetarian Challenge

Day 2 was quite enjoyable, to say the least.

BREAKFAST: Was a simple breakfast of potato sandwiches. I remember these as being a staple childhood favourite. Boiled, mashed potatoes, mixed with salt, chilli powder, garam masala and finely chopped onions, put in between two slices of bread and then grilled in a toaster. This really fills you up especially if you are planning to have a late lunch.

LUNCH: I had made peas, potato and mushroom curry with gravy the night before. So for lunch, I carried that on a bed of cous cous. Yummm!!!

DINNER: It was a Friday night so off we went to our favourite place to have dumplings. I ordered the vegetarian dumplings, absolutely great as always. The dessert was a slice of icecream cake.

So that was my uneventful day 2 which ended with me looking forward to the weekend.

Day 1: 30-day Vegetarian Challenge

Yesterday, I was at home. Didn't have to go to work or lectures. So obviously, that gave me lot of time to have relaxed meals, which I absolutely cherish. I also went for a long walk and it was a fine day. Okay, now I did take pics as well the entire day but just can't seem to locate my phone's transfer wire at the moment to post them online. However, below is a detailed list of what I had. Post your comments and suggestions below, I would love to read them.

I started the day with a piece of fruit, a pear.

BREAKFAST: My breakfast consisted of two poached eggs on 2 multi-grain bread slices, smeared with canola spread.

LUNCH: For lunch, I had a delightfully delicious meal of two mushroom kathi roll. Traditionally, a kathi roll is made by putting together cooked dry veggies/meat in a flat bread, made of plain flour and wrapping it all together. However, I had cooked wholemeal wheat rotis , the Indian equivalent of a bread. That was definitely better since wholemeal is better than processed plain flour any day. To make the roll, I rolled up some mushroom and capsicum (bell pepper) sabzi*, wrapped it all up and devoured two of these rolls. They tasted absolutely great since the mushrooms and bell peppers were mixed well in a cooked mixture of tomatoes, onions, ginger, garlic, green chillies and spices.

*sabzi-In India, a sabzi means a cooked dry concoction of veggies/ meat. A curry, on the other hand is actually a sabzi, but having a liquid gravy.

EVENING SNACK: a cup of coffee along with a homemade snack. I made the snack in five minutes flat by simply heating up some oil and shallow-frying some peanuts. I then drained them and to the same oil added rice flakes which turned brown as soon as they got in touch with the hot oil. These rice flakes, aka poha or chivda is easily available at any Indian food store and is quite healthy. I then mixed the peanuts and the poha, added salt and pepper and gave it a good shake. It's a perfect any-time snack.

DINNER Dinner was simply oven-roasted broccoli, drizzled with olive oil, salt, pepper and some lemon juice. I then followed it with some leftover pumpkin soup.

So all in all, it was a hearty meal. Be back tomorrow with my meal for day 2.

Being a vegetarian is super-easy. Try it for 30 days

I am a Uni student, now in my last semester. That sure is exciting. The last week, I was helping out the new students who have just come in, giving out directions, answering questions etc. During down-time, all of us senior students were chatting when the topic of food came up. Now, now, food is my passion for sure.

While chatting about it, the focus turned to the different types of food and cuisines. A girl practically screamed when I informed her that I am a vegetarian. "What!!! I can't believe it! How can you stay without meat?" and then the exclamation was even louder when I told her that I had never ever tasted meat of any sort in my life.

It is quite understandable. I was born into a family that has been vegetarian for ages. And then , quite surprisingly, there is a state in India which is completely vegetarian. How does that sound?? Despite being vegetarian, I still enjoy a variety of food and the diversity of vegetarian foods that India offers is anyway quite amazing. If you have ever been to India, you would know that a large population of the country is vegetarian and there are restaurants which cater exclusively to that.

As for me, although I now live in Melbourne, yet I have never been tempted to try meat. I have still stuck to my vegetarian diet. And coming to a different country has been absolutely great for me since I now cook my own food and can be as experimental as I like. My mother, although quite a good cook herself could not be labelled 'extremely experimental' although I do remember recipes that she had invented. So now my repertoire of vegetarian recipes is not only limited to Indian cuisine but I make food from all over the world, experimenting, adding and deleting things and giving it my own unique touch.

Reflecting back on my colleague's comments, it's easy to see why she was shocked. The Western diet has predominantly consisted of meat, in some form or the other. However, it has been proven that a non-vegetarian diet is not great because:-

a) Raising animals for meat puts immense stress on the environment and is contributing to global warming.
b) Some meats are quite rich in fats and can lead to obesity and other health-related problems.
c) Meats are expensive than veggies, lentils etc and imagine how much you would save if you stopped eating meat.
d) Most importantly, eating a non-vegetarian diet is cruel to animals.

So because of all the above reasons, I thought of the idea to host a 30-day experiment for all of you. I am going to post everything I eat during the day for the next 30 days, starting today 11th of March and ending on the 10th of April. You would see that even though I am a vegetarian, there is a huge variety in my diet. There is not a chance that I would get bored. I do eat out moderately but mostly cook at home with ingredients that are easily found in the local supermarket and things that are in season. My aim is to show how easy it is to be a vegetarian. Now I might/might not post recipes for each of my meals but if there is any specific recipe you want, simply ask me for it. I am more than happy to post it.

Beginning today, I have already started clicking photographs of what I ate. As I said, it will now continue till the 10 th of April. You can join me in this and post your ideas, comments and encouraging words. I look forward to reading and responding to them.

So here's a toast to the modern vegetarian diet, which is colourful, diverse, easy to adopt and cruelty-free.

Love
S

p.s. I will now report tomorrow with what I had today.

Do you have a baby or planning one? Then this is essential info

I reckon my headline says it all. I found this item on the Internet and thought it would be great to share it with you. Here is the link. Do go and check it out.

http://bellyshirts.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/12580130930880.gif

PS: Please brace yourselves otherwise you might die laughing.

DIY Facial-a real treat after a hard week

It's been a long time since I posted anything, thanks to my landlord. You would say that that seems like a strange reason. Why would the landlord not let me blog? Well, my dearest landlord decided it was time to sell his beautiful property. And so I was busy searching for a roof to put over our heads, so busy in fact that I had absolutely no time at all to blog.

So now it's been about a week or so and I have settled in quite comfortably. Have put things into their place. I can't believe the amount of crap that I had collected and had to leave behind. It is hard to judge when you have such a big house to yourself. But now since we have shifted to a smaller one, it's made me realize how we humans love to be hoarders. I have promised myself not to buy anything worthless from now on and be quite judicious as well as think of alternative uses for the tools and things that I already have. But anyhow, this is a topic for another day.

So after all my hard work, I think I definitely needed a pampering session. And for me, the best pampering is definitely a deep, indulgent facial. But who has the money to spend especially just after you have moved houses and paid a month and a half's rent in advance + bond money. A facial at the salon, however tempting is quite unthinkable, to say the least.

So I decided to go in for a simple DIY facial at home. I didn't need to spend a wad of cash plus I got it done right in the comfort of my own home.

Here's how I did it.

1) Started with putting cleansing milk on my face and rubbing it in circular motions. As soon as it started to dry on my face, I wet my fingers with water and started the motion again. Did this for about 5-7 minutes.




2) I then washed off my face with Neutrogena Facial Wash




3) Then, I took some Neutrogena Scrub in my hand and put it all over the face, gently scrubbing all the areas. Rubbing the skin too hard is never recommended. Did this for about ten minutes or so.



4) Meanwhile, I had kept the water to boil in a deep pan.

5) After washing the scrub off my face, I removed the boiling pan of water off the gas, put a clean towel over my head and lowered myself on to the pan. It is important not to do this in front of children or bend down too much. Both situations can be dangerous. I would say look for a place that is secluded and obviously the best time to do this would be when nobody is at home.

6) After steaming, when the pores are open and the skin is loose, that is surely the best time to remove blackheads. I should probably have purchased Biore`blackhead removing strips for this since the Clean and Clear ones that I have don't work that well. I didn't want to use my crappy strips so instead, I tried using a home remedy for blackheads which eventually didn't do anything at all for me. Just for your reference though, the home remedy calls for mixing a pinch of baking soda with water and rubbing on the blackheads. Failed miserably for me. Have you ever tried it? Did it work for you? Do let me know in the comments below. I don't know what I did wrong but next time I will definitely go in for the Biore strips. Have heard a lot about them.




7) The next step was easy---putting on a mask. I prefer making my own ones at home although I am not averse to trying the pharmacy ones.

So, I grated 1/4th of a cucumber, squeezed it to get the juice and then mixed about a tsp of honey into it. I mixed it well so it wasn't too drippy and then applied it to the skin for about half an hour before washing off.


Voila!! New, refreshed skin at home. I have vowed to do this every weekend to relive my skin of all the tension that it faces the whole week. Let's see how far of this resolve can I keep.


This DIY facial definitely left my skin feeling smooth and pampered, was inexpensive and I could do it in the comfort of my own home. Didn't take me more than about 45 minutes but definitely left me in a better disposition and a better position to face the next week.

Have you ever done a DIY facial? How were the results? What sort of face mask did you use? I am really eager to hear about it.

Do let me know in the comments section below.

Camy's Shanghai Noodle & Dumpling Restaurant, Melbourne- disastrous!!!

This Boxing Day, we were out. Not out of Melbourne like last year but as in out in the city, enjoying the sunny day and hunting for great bargains. And I did find that Boxing Day does land you some great bargains on electronic items. But for all other stuff all through the year, there is DFO.

It just so happens that 26th December is also the day that Hubby Dearest proposed to me. It's been 4 years now and the day is still important to me.

Anyhow, that is beside the point of this blogpost. So romantic ruminations aside, we decided to drop in to Camy's Shanghai Noodle and Dumpling Restaurant at Tattersalls Lane in the heart of the CBD to get some food inside us before we continued our bargain-hunting. Surprise, surprise there were no logn queues like last time and all of the previous times we have been here. In fact, the restaurant was quite empty inside as well.

It wasn't hard to figure out why as soon as we took a seat. A rude, absolutely disinterested and snobbish waitress led us to our table. We were seated right opposite to the kitchen from which a stale, strange smell wafted out.

Let me clear it at this point itself that although I have been a fan of the restaurant's food the day my friend introduced me to this outlet, my husband has never been quite fond of it. He cites lack of service and disrespect. Over a period of time, I started to see his point but it was never as bad as this time. Absolutely appalling!!!

And having spoken to a few friends now, I know that a lot of them have stopped visiting this place citing the same reasons. No wonder. When Hubby Dearest' pork dumplings arrived, they were simply slammed on to the table. Mind you, I would serve my pet with more respect than they did us. Absolutely mannerless and disgusting service. And to top it, his fried pork dumplings showed no signs of frying, were absolutely cold to the touch and were just a bit warm inside. When asked how they are (since I can't taste them, being a vegetarian), he said it looks as if they simply pulled them out from a hot case and it was quite obvious that they were not prepared fresh. Is this how you serve food to your customers? I have the right to a freshly-cooked hot meal when I am paying money at any outlet.

This small eatery has received rave reviews in a number of magazines. And no doubt that at $6.50 for a plate of 20 vegetarian dumplings and $6.80 for a plate of non-vegetarian, it is definitely value-for-money. But who the heck cares if the service is so rude and pathetic and the food equally so. My once-favourite eatery is not so favourite any more. The standards are going down and down.

Our drink arrived with another thump on the table and so did my steamed vegetarian dumplings, which were okay to taste. At least, they were freshly cooked and steaming from inside. But nonetheless, Camy's needs to realize soon that food is not only about taste or about being value-for-money but about customer service as well. A smile on the waitress' face might even lead me there the second time, even if the food is not quite up-to-the-mark.

In this case, I swore I am never ever going back to this eatery again. Serving cheap food does not mean that you can treat your customers in the most disgusting manner possible. I am totally off this place. Try it at your own risk.

Gourmet Dum aloo

Hi,

After a few hectic days at work, I am back. The other day, I had some free time (which is a very rare occurrence). So, I thought why not make Dum Aloo-a royal dish from Kashmir in india. I had some baby potatoes on hand and this would be the perfcet dish since hubby dearest and me absolutely love it.

Well, why is it called a royal dish, you may ask. That is because it makes use of cashew paste and is really rich and heavy (I have omitted the cashews to keep it low on calories) and it takes around 2 hours, or sometimes more, to prepare. Truly,a dish fit for a king. Obviously, this is my working version of the dish and I haven't got a peek into the kitchens of the royal chefs to see how it is made. But this was a recipe I borrowed off my mom(who makes it super-good, by the way) and improvised it so it doesn't take toooooo long.

I had some ingredients pre-prepared and as I said, I did take a few shortcuts. The dish still turned out to be fine. So I am assuming my shortcuts worked.

Literally, 'dum' means pressure and 'aloo' means potato. So its actually potatoes cooked under pressure. The quantities that I made were enough to serve two.




I had a few baby potatoes lying with me...so I just peeled them and washed them well to remove all traces of dirt. Last time I made this dish, I first boiled the potatoes in a pressure cooker (oh, the pressure cooker is such an important part of my cooking....I would die without it) and then peeled them. Trust me, last time it was just so difficult to handle them. Their small size coupled with their slippery skin made them impossible. So this time, just to make things easier for myself, I simply peeled them and then parboiled in the microwave.



So here are the potatoes, lying in some water. I kept them in a microwave for about 7 minutes. They got kind of soft but not mushy. The trick for this recipe is to keep the potatoes whole and not too soft that they crumble. They should be easy to break and yet remain whole.

Note: If you want to make the dish a bit richer, you can soak about 15 cashews at least half an hour earlier. These will later be used to mix in the paste that will go into the curry.



While the potatoes got cooked in the microwave, I made a powder by hand grinding about 5 cardamoms, 2-3 small-sized barks of cinnamon and 5-6 cloves. I also added a bit of roasted cumin powder. This mixture of powders is so essential to the dish and is a key ingredient, as you will discover.



Right after doing this, I made a mix that was going to form the base of my gravy. This is the base which is normally used for almost all North Indian curries. I sometimes make it in larger quantities and it keeps safely in the fridge for about a week. So I already had some of it lying with me. Its okay if you want to make it fresh. This paste contains 1 large onion, two tomatoes, about 2" piece of ginger, about 6 cloves of garlic and a green chilli. I always add green chilli since it just adds so much of flavour. If you have soaked cashews, they go into the mixture at this stage and get ground along with this paraphernalia. So, then I simply give a good whisk with the hand grinder to this mixture.




Now, the dear baby potatoes were waiting to be cooked. So I drained them, heated oil in the non-stick pan and shallow-fried them. This took me about 10 minutes. Make sure that the potatoes are drained well and are dry before you put them into the oil. If required, wipe them with a clean kitchen cloth. Any kind of water will make the oil splutter and can be dangerous. Heated oil and water is not a good combination.



Now my baby potatoes have turned out to be a beautiful brown. I took them out and drained them on an absorbent sheet of paper. As you can see, some of them are quite brown and the others are not. As long as they seem to be cooked on the inside, it's fine. Obviously, they have also been cooked a bit in the microwave so shouldn't pose a problem.



In the same pan, I heated the oil again and added the dried spices to be roasted. Keep stirring till it starts giving off a lovely aroma. Its quite heady, I tell you.




Once the dry masala was cooked, I added the onion-tomato paste and gave a good stir. Allow it to cook for about 5-7 minutes.




While the mixture cooked on the gas, I made a mixture of fresh yoghurt (make sure its not sour yoghurt)and some milk and whisked it really well to give it a smooth, watery consistency. Make sure there are no lumps.




I then put this milk and yoghurt mixture into the mixture that was cooking on the gas and gave it a good stir so that it formed a uniform curry.



I then added red chilli powder, salt to taste, turmeric powder, dry coriander powder (available at most Indian grocery stores) and garam masala. All these were about 1 tsp each except the salt and the red chilli which was quite substantial since I love my food spicy.



I then put in the baby potatoes and mixed well to coat them with the curry and allowed it to simmer for about 10 minutes.

Voila!! A royal dish is ready.



I took it to work and it tasted amazing the next day since the flavours had had time to absorb overnight. If you want, you could drizzle some cream over it but I would prefer to skip those extra calories, thank you.

You can serve it with garlic naan, roti or bread. I pciked up an Afghan naan at the local supermarket. It turned out to be as soft and buttery and garlicky as I had expected. Made a perfect meal. As for the aftereffects, I was practically dozing off after my lunch.

Try it on a day off when you have lots of time to cook and lots of time to snooze afterwards.

You can cook it now and start posting your pics to me. Let me know if there are any questions and obviously I would love to read all your comments at the bottom of this post. Feel free to write and let me know your experiences. I look forward to hearing it all.


Love

WIMO

Why is this called 'World is Moi oyster' and do you know of the Melbourne Cup??

Right....So I told my friends that now I am on to the blogging bandwagon and this is the name of my blog. One of the first questions that was raised was-why is it called 'World is moi Oyster'?

Quite a sensible question, my friends, I tell you.

Well, the blog is so named because I sincerely believe that the world is my oyster. I was born in India, came to Melbourne, plan to go to Canada now and then travel the entire world, one place at a time. I consider myself a citizen of the world and feel very restricted if forced to remain within certain parameters. The entire world is my home.

My culinary skills are a mix of Indian, Asian, Mexican, Italian and English. I speak three languages. I have friends from all across the world. My accent is now half-Indian, half-Aussie. The looks I invent for myself are influenced from all eras, and from all parts of the world. I consider myself to be very flexible and adaptable to the situations around me. Therefore, it is no surprise that the world is definitely my oyster.

I really hope that clears up the air about the unusual name for my blog. Note the 'moi' in my name. The only reason I couldn't take up 'my' was because the blog name was already taken up.....poor me.

Anyhow, tomorrow is Melbourne Cup Day. For those who don't know, it is one of the biggest horse racing carnivals in the world. The city literally comes to a standstill; it's crazy. There is obviously a whole lot of betting going on but more than that it is the 'Fashions on the Field' event that holds up the viewers' attention. The ladies dress up in their finest dresses, best hats and walk in with quite handsome men. It is really a sight to see and an excuse for the ladies to indulge. I am pretty sure, sales just go over the roof for all major shopping chains.

Well, no surprises the TV channels are more focussed on who is wearing what rather than the dear old horsies.

I, too am keeping my eyes fixed on the 'fashions on the field' and will be pestering a colleague, to give me all the details. After all, she is going to be there at Ground Zero tomorrow.

I suggest you go and have a look at the finery and take a look at the very good-looking website by visiting http://melbournecup.com/Melbourne-Cup-Carnival-2009.html

Have you ever attended a gala party? What were your experiences of the entire ritual of dressing up? Do post your comments below. Would love to hear from y'all.

lots of love

worldismoioyster

intro---my first blog post...what this blog will be about

Hurrah!!! So after so many days of just thinking about it and reading tons of blogs, I am on the bandwagon myself. Can't believe it. So what is my blog all about.....well, lots of things. So many that I can't really classify it into one particular category.

First, I thought, hey I'm interested in cooking....so let me go create a blog about cooking. Then started coming my other interests and passions-vegetarianism; environmental issues; natural beauty products; reading; walking; dancing; DIY and so on and so forth.....So this blog will incorporate all this and more. Thoughts on everyday life and anything at all that strikes my fancy.

Obviously, I am also looking at getting feedback, sharing tips, comparing notes and life in general. All this comes from a passion of writing and hopefully, this will be the start of it all....