Foodie Emotions

Unlike most of my food posts which are followed by a recipe this one is an exception. In this one, emotions follow. This post is mainly about how I felt today as I was baking a set of six muffins. I have always confessed that I am a moody baker. By moody I mean a lot of things. Firstly, I am not an everyday baker so I am moody that way. Secondly I should really need to be in a good mood to bake and not bake just for the namesake. Thirdly, I don’t care if it is an occasion if I feel like baking for that occasion I do else I simply buy from outside. 

Goa and some Gyaaaaan

My husband and I love Goa. Who doesn't? Right? Anyway so when our friends suggested that we make a trip to the Feniland we jumped at the suggestion. It was an easy yes because our friends (other two couples) too have daughters almost Adira’s age. 

Now the trip was a success and the girls even after doing all the work still enjoyed and the boys even after minimal baby handling found the trip challenging LOL. But towards the end of it we all came back as happy refreshed people.

Life like an Icecream

12th January 2017, 11:45 PM 

After packing each and every return favour in the day, I have now retired to bed all tired, hoping for a sound sleep. But somehow my thoughts are hopping between the confirmed guest list to the decor to the catering and then my own make up. It would be my daughter's first lohri tomorrow and her first celebration since birth and I am so looking forward to it. 

13th January 2017, 7:32 AM

I wake up at the sound of the door opening. I see my mother-in-law standing besides our bed with a face that is telling a sad story. We are informed about the demise of a very close relative and hence the lohri function has to be cancelled. I pick up my cell phone that has been left on snooze; a string of calls follows.

Later in the morning, while dipping a teabag in the cup I just found myself wondering about the course of events that took place in less than a span of 12 hours and the impact it left in our lives. It took me back to a quote we used quite often in school "life is like an ice cream, enjoy before it melts". How true it is, isn't it? One moment you have a cone of the most inviting ice cream swirl in your hand and the next moment the top has wilted and you find your hands all sticky with the cream pearls slowly giving themselves away in the darkness between your palm and cone.

The night before lohri, I was super excited about the celebration and the equation of my feelings just changed the following morning. My heart sank not just because we had to cancel our daughter's very first celebration and not because I had hand packed every return favour myself wanting to make it special but also because the life we lost that morning was very special. May his soul rest in peace.  He will continue to live in our hearts and be remembered in our thoughts. 

I usually get philosophical when such things happen. In general we spend so much time and exert so much energy planning this and that and then suddenly, from nowhere life hurls a mishap in our face leaving us ambushed. Do we stop planning then? I say NO. Because every successful even needs some planning. While we all like adventure a bit of planning does no harm. 

The two contrasting events just helped me realise how short life is and how uncertain. we must make the most of it while it lasts. After all who doesn't like licking the top of that ice cream swirl? 

So be happy. Love, laugh and forgive easily. Enjoy the ice cream before it melts away. Goodnight 

Mothers do you have an answer?

So all this time I have written posts; some generic,  some about relationships and most about food. However, today as I was driving back home while my daughter sat in my help’s lap, amidst all the noise of the traffic and the curry on the road I realised how I have lost patience in general after adorning the jewelled crown of motherhood. I suddenly got lost in my thoughts and it occurred to me how I never spoke of or posted about my dark side ( not that there is much to it and don't pretend you don't have any huh!); my failings or my weaknesses. 

Anyway so here I am sharing my shortcoming. Ideally my  patience level should go a notch higher because supposedly and theoretically   kids teach you the twisted art of keeping calm. I am not denying that I am a very patient mother to  my daughter who is soon going to turn seven months old. I still haven't doddered her like some mothers confess they do at the sight and sound of their wailing babies.

However I get a short circuit too, and recently too often doing general day to day chores. Not that my lack of patience has killed someone. My daughter has not had the brunt of it yet but my dearest younger sister and my mom have surely had a taste of my impatience. With my fuse going off I have yelled at them, ordered them like I own them (in my heart I believe I own these women). Sometimes they obey and the other times they yell back. 

Nevertheless, shutting my thoughts I honked and drove all the way back home. Now as I lay in my bed, my feet tucked in the quilt, the whistling of the mosquitoes in my room remind me again of my increased level of impatience. So I thought I will bounce the question at other mothers; have you experienced a low balance in your patience account after experiencing motherhood. Do you think my losing patience is normal/human or am I the crazy one? 

Let me know. Goodnight.

Hello Mommyhood!

Hi

So like I start most of my posts that come at erratic intervals (SORRY!!!), I start this one too by apologizing for being away for more than three months now (EEEE!!! THREE!!).  I mentioned in my last post (navratan korma;my style) that SOMEONE life changing took place; well that someone is my little daughter who will be turning 4 months towards the end of this month (PHEW! TIME FLIES). Please do not mind my monologue in the brackets.

It is said that life turns upside down once you have a baby and I will say NOW I cannot agree more.  I am writing this as she sleeps peacefully (which is RARE!), and as I am typing these words I am not really sure, rather absolutely clueless where to begin this experience of mommyhood from. Please bear with me if I wander a bit here and there.

While I was still expecting and had the bun baking in the oven, I used to ask my already-mommy friends what it really felt like. Were the nine months easier than what followed? Their answer to the latter was always affirmative. Now I know why.

mommyhood (image source: www.herfamily.ie)

Most women mention how beautiful motherhood is. They will always paint a happy picture of a calm looking mother with a sweet, smiling baby quietly sitting in her lap but very few confess the reality. Very few will paint the real picture of a shabby looking mother with ruffled hair perfect for a bird to nest upon,  mostly in pyjamas or nighties, almost always bra-less feeling like a cow with a cranky, mostly crying baby mounted on her shoulder.

 I am NOT denying the fact that motherhood is the most beautiful feeling. It indeed is. It is overwhelming. When women say that it is motherhood that completes them, I raise my hand and nod my head up and down in acceptance. I TRULY felt the same when my little angel wiggled out from down under (SOME EXPERIENCE I TELL YOU!).  But very few women talk about the initial exhausting phase which ofcourse doesn’t last for too long (good news!).

So let me throw a little light on the crazy part (and I am just saying crazy, it is not really bad; it is just crazy) which no one tells you about leaving the beautiful part for the end. After all who doesn’t like happy endings?

You will start feeling highly of the cows, atleast I did! I mean you are just feeding one baby. Poor cows are feeding this entire world! Initially when the whole feeding experience was new to me I felt no less than a cow and I felt a new found respect for these milking creatures (gaay sach mein humari mata hai!)

true story! (image source: http://theleakyboob.com/)

Your body goes through a lot of change, both hormonal and physical. This change leaves the mother enervated and tired feeling weak. Gather all the help you can. Call your mom over if you can for she is the only one who will go the extra mile for your comfort.

You and your husband will suddenly feel like strangers.  I think it is because the baby feels secure only with the mother and initially the husband feels helpless and because he is helpless and cannot do much the wife starts feeling he does not care. Also, there are a lot of disagreements not realizing that both, the mother and the father want the same outcome; the best for their child. It starts getting better as months pass by.  But all that chemistry that went into creating your little one takes some time to come back. Till then smile reminiscing the history!

helpless fathers! (image source: www.babble.com)

All you ever wait for is a BURP! Yes a burp becomes an essential and VERY important. I still remember how disgusted I felt everytime my husband burped to tease me. But my baby’s burp is music to my ears.

(image source: www.andertoons.com)

You get so used to the wailing that even when the baby is fast asleep your ears are ringing. I still cannot complete my bath without checking on her once.

The consistency and the colour of the poop will be hot topics. One day the baby doesn’t poop and you will fret and hope that she does it surely the next day, even though it is absolutely normal to not poop for three consecutive days.

(image source: http://www.kchronicles.com/comic/baby-poo/)

Dressing up feels like a pipedream to you. You forget when you last pampered yourself or even wore a bright lipstick for that matter. Salon musts like waxing and bleaching are put on hold. All you want to do with your spare time is SLEEP! So if you do not wish to end up looking like a bear invest in a trimmer. After 3 months you can call a lady home and get things done between feeding and sleeping breaks. A luxurious visit to the salon is still a fantasy to me.

The craziest part is the advice motherhood brings along with it. It is never ending. And if you do not agree to what is suggested you are in for some faces and a lot of judgement.  Even the maalishwali and the maids will enlighten you with all their gya an.  P
oor new mothers! i will not deny that some suggestions ARE useful , however most stand obsolete today. The mother always ends up offending someone or the other unintentionally. I am sure every new mother of this generation has faced this madness but ladies my baby’s doctor says “you are the mother and you know the best. Be confident enough to refuse what you feel is not right for your child”. Listen to all the suggestions but do what you feel is the best. Be patient and be strong. Follow your instinct.

While that was the insane stuff about motherhood (I hope I did not scare the pregnant ladies or the married ones…LOL) let me now take you to a better the best place.

The moment you see your child labour pain becomes a distant memory.  You wonder how you created such a beautiful living being. You smile and cry at the same time. And this is just the beginning!

You don’t just feel complete as a woman but you and your husband together also feel complete as a family. The way your husband looks at your baby makes you fall for him all over again. Contradictory to what I said earlier right? But motherhood is full of contradictions.

Motherhood brings a bizarre sense of satisfaction with it.

After this moment, every smile, every touch of your baby fills your heart with so much joy that words fall short.

The way your baby clings onto you makes you feel loved and wanted like no one else has ever made you feel. I call it the monkey feeling (LOL). Haven’t you seen monkey mothers and their babies clinging onto them when you visit the hill stations of the north? I picked the name of the feeling from there.

 The way your baby looks into your eyes leaves you awestruck. Your baby strengthens you as an individual, as a family yet you get weak when the baby is about to get a blood test. (contradictions!)

Your child becomes your best company. You will not mind your husband coming home late because the baby keeps you busy.

Babbling becomes the new lingo in the house and everytime your baby does an ‘aaa’ or a ‘boooo’ you will feel so excited. I am waiting for the day she calls me “MAA”.

It has just been a little over three months. I am so looking forward to the fun and exciting times ahead with my little girl.

To cut it all short, postpartum madness is big but the joy that your child brings to your life is incomparable.

I just realized that this post has got REALLY long.  I have just been going on and on sharing how mommyhood feels. Please don’t mind if the post has no proper structure. I told you earlier that I’ll wander.

I will continue to share my stories of mommyhood every now and then. Hope this one makes you giggle and smile.

P.S.: if you are a mommy-to-be and have the silliest of questions giving you a headache, let me know…I have answers to most of them :p.

Navratan Korma "my style"

Hello, hello, hello! 

While I promised on my Instagram account that I will soon blog about navratan korma "my style", something rather someone life changing took place (details of that will follow in the times to come). Hence the delay. 

So I ended up making navratan korma simply because I didn't have one big portion of a single veggie. Rather I had a farrago of vegetables lying ALMOST lifelessly in the refrigerator. I thought of bringing them to life by cooking them. 

Everybody at my place enjoyed this dish. It is not as hard as it looks and is quite luxurious for the effort it requires. If you have a dinner planned, you can definitely serve this to the guests. 

INGREDIENTS (serves 2)

Handful of beans ( roughly cut)

Handful of sweet corn

Half a bowl of peas

1 capsicum (roughly chopped) 

1 potato (roughly chopped)

1 onion (puréed)

1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste

2 tomatoes (puréed)

3 tbsp Ready made tomato purée 

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp coriander seeds

3 tbsp oil

3 tbsp malai/ heavy cream

Salt to taste

1 tbsp coriander powder

3/4 tbsp garam masala

RECIPE 

Put oil in a pan. Once hot, add cumin seeds and coriander seeds and let them crackle.

Add puréed onion and cook till it becomes pale. 

Add ginger garlic paste and cook for another minute. 

Add all the veggies, sprinkle some water, reduce the flame, cover and cook till veggies become soft.

Add puréed tomatoes and cook for a minute, followed by the spices. Stir everything well and keep cooking. 

Add readymade purée. Cook for another few minutes followed by dollops of malai. Mix everything well. 

Cook for another minute or two and serve hot garnishing with a thread of cream on top. 

NOTE: 

You can use as many veggies as you like. Cauliflower, babycorn, mushrooms are just a few suggestions. 

You can add a paste made of cashew nuts and water to make this dish richer. 

Hope you enjoy relishing this with your loved ones. Bon appetite! 

Macaroni in Orange Sauce

Hello again! 

Yesterday night me and my dearest husband were home alone and since I was in charge of the dinner it had to be understood by default that my husband would like to have something other than the normal dal roti sabzi. 

Originally I wanted to make pasta in orange sauce. But since we didn't have any pasta at home and the macaroni was in abundance, I ended up making macaroni in orange sauce. 

My husband and I both enjoyed it. I hope you enjoy cooking it and having it with your loved once. 

INGREDIENTS (serves 2 hungry people)

4-5 fistfuls of macaroni (boiled with a spoon of oil)

Fistful of grated pizza cheese 

1/2 tbsp garlic chilli seasoning

1 capsicum (diced and steamed)

Handful of beans (chopped and steamed)

For Orange Sauce 

Mix the below mentioned two sauces

Red Sauce

2 Bay leaves

1/2 tbsp garlic paste

3 tomatoes (puréed)

1 tbsp oil

Salt to taste

Pepper to taste

2 tbsp ketchup 

White Sauce

2 tbsp butter 

1/2 tbsp garlic paste

1.5 tbsp all purpose flour

1 cup milk

Salt to taste

Pepper to taste

Oregano to taste 

RECIPE

Red Sauce

Put oil in a pan. Add bay leaves to it and let them crackle.

Add garlic paste and cook for a minute.

Add puréed tomatoes and salt and cook till tomatoes reduce to almost half.

Add ketchup and pepper. Let it cook for a few minutes, then turn the flame off. 

White Sauce

Put butter in a pan. Add garlic paste to it and cook for a minute. 

Add all purpose flour, sauté for a few seconds.

And milk and stir really well to avoid lumps.

Let it simmer for a minute or two. Add salt, pepper and oregano. Cook for a few more seconds, then turn the flame off.

Orange Sauce

Mix the above two sauces. Add some milk if it gets too thick and let it come to a boil. 

Final Macaroni

Add grated cheese to the Orange sauce and stir well.

Add the boiled macaroni, steamed capsicum and beans and mix them all well.

Cook for a few minutes, drizzling some garlic chilli seasoning. 

Serve hot with toasted buttered bread. 

NOTE:

You can use wholewheat pasta for a healthier version.

I didn't have too many veggies at hand so I used what was lying in the fridge. You can add mushrooms, broccoli, red and yellow bell peppers.

You can use a tbsp of sugar instead of ketchup  to balance out the tang of the tomato purée.

I didn't have fresh basil leaves. If you can hold of them, add them to your red sauce, sparing a few for garnish.

You can serve this with garlic bread or focaccia. I used what I had in stock.

HAPPY COOKING!