Thursday, April 22, 2010

Chepala Pulusu(Fish Curry) - Andhra Style

In telugu Chepa means fish, pulusu means curry so in this post i will be showing one of the traditional fish curry. Why i say traditional is this curry or recipe is straight from my village/native and my grandmother sisters used to prepare such simply curries and serve us when we used to visit there houses :) As i dont like cooking much i used never concentrate on how they prepare such yummy dish. I'm always the first to njoy food cooked by someone else... ;) but now since i'm married and my hubby being a non vegetarian lover i wanted to learn this simply authentic dish but this time i never learnt it from my grandmother but i learnt it from my cousin :) Yes i'm in my cousin's place right now for a week and she prepared chepala pulusu for me :)
So i didnt wanted to miss showing you guys this simplest curry so i troubled her while cooking by taking snaps ;)





My cousin took me to Asian market in texas. In this market my cousin told that they catch live fish and give us as it would be fresh coz rest would have usually been frozen and i was intertested in watching how they catch the live fish :) We went there at 1 in the afternoon(though it was already lunch time and we were yet to buy fish) and my cousin asked for live Cat fish.The shop person took us to the aquarium and we had to select the fish, later we told him to cut it into small pieces so we bought the 2.2 pounds cat fish and head to home to start preparing.


So here i am showing how to prepare fish curry :)

Ingredients :


Fish : 1 Kg
Tamarind Juice : 1 Cup
Onions : 2 Chopped
Coriander : Chopped
Ginger Garlic paste : 1tbs
Red chilli powder : 2 tbs
Dhaniya Powder : 1 tbs
Pepper Corns : 2 tsp
Cumin seeds : 2 tsp
Garam Masala powder : 2tsp
Oil : 5tbs
Salt to taste

Method: 




* Soak the Tamarind in water and get the pulp out of it.
* Grind the pepper corns and cumin seeds and make it a fine powder.
* Heat Oil in a pan, add the curry leaves,add the grinded pepper corns and cumin seeds powder.
* Add onions and a pinch of salt by this way water in salt comes out and allows it to cook nicley and saute it nicely till onions turn brown and then add gingergarlic paste and saute for 2mins.
*Add the chopped coriander saute for another 2mins and then add redchilli powder and dhaniya powder and saute it.
*Now add the tamarind pulp to it and allow it to boil and also add salt according to the taste. Take care not to have all the water evaporated.If the water is less then add a little bit more water and wait for the gravy to come together.
*Taste the gravy and if it is cooked about 90% add the fish to it and close the lid and let it boil for 15mins.
* Once its done in the end add the garam masala to the gravy and stir it.


Chepala pulusu is ready to serve. Serve with steamed rice and relish it :)

Note:
~ By adding the pepper corn and cumin seeds powder in oil it brings out the aroma of the spices.
~ You can add any fish of your taste to the dish.

Do let me know how it was.
Njoy

Friday, April 16, 2010

Silver Lining :)


“Every cloud has a silver lining”

There was a poem when I was in school about Silver lining though I don’t remember the poem I wanted to write about Silver lining coz I like to watch when clouds are shinning in its edges. Spring season has set in US and almost every day evening from my room I see the clouds shinning and that’s when I thought to write about Silver Lining :)



Every cloud has a silver lining means that the sun shining at the edges of every cloud tells us that every difficult situation has a bright side. As I said earlier that I do not remember the poem of silver lining in school but I remember my teacher telling that each and every child shines in his/her own unique way and that’s why we say “Every cloud has a silver lining” This poem impressed me so much and even I wanted to know in what way I would shine as you know being a kid we want to know and do many things.

My teacher used to say “Difficult times/situations are like dark clouds that pass overhead and block the sun, and when we look more closely at the edges of every cloud we can see the sun shining there like a silver lining" Listening to this I decided someday even if I don’t shine I would like to make my friends shine by telling their worthiness :) (Hope it doesn’t sound too much, that’s how I am) I like to tell or appreciate people when they have done something great atleast for me :)



 "Everybody sees how you seem, however only some know who you are”

 





I love seeing silver lining in the sky :) The way it glows. During winters when I used to return from my office at 4 or 5pm in the evening sitting in the cab I used to see the silver lining from the clouds. I captured the above pictures about 3 or 4 months back from my terrace which was really amazing, bright silver line  :)
All I wanted to say friends is “Lead your life with little hope and faith, only then we can cope up with our tensions and always remember that tomorrow is another shinning day and that Every cloud has a silver lining”

Hope you liked the Post. Do share your comments.
Njoy :)

Friday, April 9, 2010

Cartooniversal :)

Introducing Cartooniversal - My world of Sketches/Drawings/Art :)
Finally I have drawn one of my favourite charcter in disney world :)

Tinker Bell



 
Tinker bell is one of the most important branding icon of disney and of course mine too :) I like the way tinkerbell sparkles always in its own charm. Tinkerbell is generally known as a symbol of "magic of disney"
I drew the above picture when i was travelling and to kill 3hours of time in flight i started of my first drawing :) The picture is in black colour as i had only pencil to draw and i coated with black point pen :) Though i'm not so great in drawing, i tried my first sketch or maybe a simply one after years of leaving this habit.
There's more to come >>>>>


Hope you liked my first attempt :) Do share your comments.
Njoy.

The Grand Canyon - Natural wonder of the world

The Grand Canyon National park , Arizona, USA- One of the world Natural wonders of the world.Mark my words guys, one of the world's NATURAL wonders of the world. Over the weekend i had been to this place to capture the glimpse of the world's natural beauty :) Usually i have seen man-made wonders of the world but this Natural wonder of the world was an amazing experience of my life. Kindly go through this long post and njoy the beauty of our earth.


Grand Canyon - one of Earth's most powerful, inspiring landscapes overwhelms our senses through its immense size of 277 river miles (446km)long, up to 18miles (29km) wide and a mile (1.6km) deep. The immense and colourful grand canyon is valued worldwide as one of the earth's most powerful and inspiring scenic landscapes with its unique combination of size, colour and dazzling erosional forms of rocks.




The Grand canyon in all of its majestics is 1904 sq miles, inhabited with 67 animal species,16 species of fish,46 species of reptiles. Its history is so vast that 1.6 billion years rock could be found here. The grand canyon's red Landscape was created by long term erosion. It is a testament of earth's long history. Native Americans saw the canyon as holy land but for the pioneers it was a devil's valley. Nearly 2 billion years of Earth's geological history say The Colorado river and its tributaries cuts the canyon deep into the earth through layer after layer of rock.Powerful flows of water have created the landscapes. The layers of the rocks was formed with the difference in day and night temperatures. This natural bridge was formed as a result of calculus years of wind and water erosion. They say that grand canyon is getting wider and deeper each passing day.

Click here for more information on Grand canyon


The grand canyon is of four rims i.e., North rim, South rim, West and East rim. You can choose any rim you want to visit.My hubby and myself started our journey to South rim at around 7 in the morning from LasVegas, which took us about 4 hours to reach and see the magnificent Natural wonder of the world. The south rim of Grand canyon is 7400 above sea level. There are various points of grand canyon to see but i saw two amazing points of grand canyon.
The Mather point and Bright Angel Lodge, yes we had to go inside this lodge to see the grand canyon. We had an amazing tour guide/bus driver who was entertaining us throughout the trip by giving us information about the grand canyon. He said Grand canyon receives about 5 million people a year. The journey from Las Vegas to South rim was pretty long and hectic but the journey was scenic with the first few miles i could see all mountains then the next few miles it was completely or only desert all around (as Arizona is a desert) and the last few miles with beautiful pine trees and snow all over :)



Once we reached the Mather point, it was very cold and windy. The bus driver gave us an hour time to spend in this point, it was 10 mins walk to see the grand canyon. Took loads of pictures and enjoyed the natural beauty. Because of the depth of the canyon the Colorado river was not visible. They say that river is visible at only certain points.Then there was a small museum which tells about the formation of grand canyon and pictures of rocks and its formation,i was actually amazed to see that the same rock in can be seen different during sunrise, sunset or noon :)




Then we head towards bright angel lodge, and we had another one hour to spend in this point. As soon as we enter this lodge there was a shopping place and we went out to see the spectacular canyon, had ice cream in the cold weather :) There are telescopes all over the place and from the telescope we saw the rocks and its colours,depth of canyon, in the distance we saw river flowing which was not visible without telescope. All in all it was an amazing trip of my life. Hope you njoyed going through this small trip ;)

"This canyon is a gift that we experience. Its timelessness provokes a comparison to our short existence. In its vast spaces we may find solace from our hectic lives"

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Sorkai/Lauki - Indian Curry






Sorkai(in Telugu/Kannada), Lauki/Ghiya(in Hindi),Bottle gourd(in English) is one of my favorite vegetable.In indian cooking its used for making curries,gravies,chutneys and even desserts.
Lauki/Sorkai belongs to Squash family and its called Bottle gourd. It is bottle shaped veggie.Its not as hard as bottle but soft and lite as a dish!!!



"Bottle Gourd is very beneficial for health, especially for heart, and you can have a glass full of its juice if you are on a weight loss program too ;)This fresh vegetable has a light green smooth skin with white flesh inside.Bottle gourd is rich in dietry fiber with very low content of fat and cholesterol.Approximately 96% of bottle gourd is water and therefore a great thirst quencher.Apart from the iron content it is also rich in vitamin B and vitamin C "

So let me show you guys how to make this simple dish. Trust me guys it is very tasty and you would njoy it.


Ingredients:


Sorkai/Lauki - 500gms
Onion chopped - 1 small
Tomato chopped - 1 small
Garlic pods - 4 to 5
Toor dal - 2 to 3 spoons
Dhaniya powder - 2 tbs
Groundnut powder - 4 tbs
Redchilli powder - 2tbs
Oil - 1tbs
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves
Salt to taste

Method :




1) Take a vessel and add Sorkai/Lauki, onion, tomato, garlic pods, toor dal and dhaniya powder.
2) Add some water and salt and allow it to boil.
3) keep stirring in between and check whether its boiled.Usually it would take 20mins to cook.
4)Once its bolied,in the end add the ground nut powder and red chilli powder and allow it to boil for another 10mins.
5)For granishing heat some oil in a small pan add mustard seeds and allow it to splatter and then add curry leaves. Add it to the curry and mix it well.
Hot Sorkai/lauki curry in ready to serve :) You can have it with either chapathi/roti or njoy with rice/chawal.

Njoy your meal :)

Friday, April 2, 2010

Seven Random facts about me :)

My sweet friend rachana has tagged me to share 7 random facts about me. Though i thought its very simple to write facts about myself but when i started to pen down i got to know how much i need to think ;)
So here you go the seven random deadly facts about myself :


** I used to draw :
             During my school days i was very good at drawing, and i don't even remember when i left such a nice habit :( i still remember my friends used to say "how come you have so much patience in putting so many lines or dots" in any particular picture which requires lines and dots. Thinking to get back to by drawing soon and i have thought a name for it as well. Will introduce once I'm ready with my sketch :)



** I hate cooking :
           I always relish food cooked by my mom or mum in law but i don't like cooking maybe because I'm busy with other things that i had never thought of cooking. But whenever i cook i do it perfectly so that it tastes yum!!!!!


** Prayer:
           I always say a silent prayer before i go to bed. Fortunately by grace of god and with the influence of my school teacher, i developed this habit of thanking god before sleeping by saying a small prayer. I thank him for one more wonderful day of my life. This was taught to me by my school teacher, she says by doing this we will learn to say thanks to everyone who helps us in someway or the other. After i started of with praying i got to know its importance and i suggest all my friends to pray before they go to sleep as it truly helps us.




** Chocolate :
             I have a very bad habit of looking at others who are having chocolates or chocolate ice cream. Even when i find them in magazines i atleast spend 5mins looking at it. And whenever i go to have ice cream i always take death by chocolate ice cream. Yummm!!!!






** Ending :
           I hate endings :( for eg., when i go to visit some place any of my fav place like beach or njoying nature i would never like to leave it and come(though i have to) i never used to like that moment to end. Even when i go to movies or shopping or dinner with my hubby i keep asking what next? Unfortunately he says "HOME" Its the End!!! :(






** Laziness:
             I am such a lazy brat. All the people at home call me lazy female :) but for me i feel I am lazy when it comes to do things which i hate but when it is something i like then i will do it right away. I think that's how most of the people are.



** Lastly i would like to say that i can never calculate a big amount without a calculator:
       Being an accounts student I'm so used to using a calculator that i can never calculate a simply amount. Even if i have to subtract or multiply i need a calculator. I know its a bad habit i didn't even put an effort to learn it without calculator. Hopefully i should learn soon :)




Wow that's was pretty tuf to think about myself ;) Hope you liked it. Do share your comments.


Note:

  • I thank my friend rachana for the tag and hope you liked reading it. By this you would have got to know about me ;)
  • I'm new to the blogging world so i would not be able to tag anyone as i do not have many friends in blogging field. Njoy !!!!!