Tangy tomato soup :)

Past few days i had a craving to have soups and whats interesting is i wanted to do it by myself instead of having it outside ;) Whenever we talk of soups, tomato soup comes on top of the list.
So over the weekend i tried my hands on tomato soup which is of course very simple, delicious and quick to make.

Kids basically love tomato soup alot and in my house my nephews relish this alot and for the people who are on diet can also add this healthy soup into their menu list :) I still remember how my friends and myself used to have tomato soup for 5 Rupees during winters for the cold in my 12th grade in the great hot spot cool joint near jayanagar(Bangalore) :)

Ingredients :


2 Tomatoes : Cut into big cubes
1 Onion : Chopped into big cubes
1 small Carrot : Cut into cubes
Ginger and garlic : About 1/2 of ginger and 6 to 7 garlic pods
Water
Black pepper powder
Salt






Method :

1) Take the above ingredients(tomato,onion,carrot,ginger&garlic) into a bowl, add some water and pressure cook it up to 3 whistles.

2) Add the boiled vegetables into mixer grinder make it a fine paste.
3) Now filter the above paste into a bowl so that we get a puree.
4) On a low flame, add some water to boil the soup for the consistency
5) Add pepper powder and salt and garnish with coriander.

Tangy tomato soup is ready. You can relish this during this monsoon time :)


Note:
1)I have not added bread chunks,cream milk to it coz since this is on diet menu i have added oats into it.
2)People who wish to add bread chunks heat oil in a pan and fry bread cubes until golden brown, drain it and add the bread cubes after soup is ready.Do not add it while cooking coz this will make soup thick.

Happy birthday bapu :)

Here's wishing bapu a very happy birthday :) Mohandas karamchand Gandhi, better known as BAPU was born on 2nd October,1869.
Gandhiji, a forgotten man, here is a small tribute to bapu on the occasion of his 141 birth anniversary.

Whatever you do will be insignificant, but it is very important that you do it.
Mahatma Gandhi

Gandhji was given the title Mahatma(great soul) which indeed he was, a man who played a vital role in getting independencefor our country(INDIA) from british empire. He proved to the world that freedom can be achieved through the path of non-violence - a true symbol of peace and truth! There is a quote which he says "There is no god higher than the truth" I was really moved by reading this thought i felt there was so much truth in this. Hats off to our Bapu :)

WHEN GANDHI was born British rule had been established in India.When Gandhi died it was India, a free nation that mourned his loss. He won the great battle and he was the admiration of the world.His image is one of the most recognizable in history the thin, bald,looking man wearing round glasses and a simple white wrap. Gandhi lived a life of simplicity and his example has inspired protesters and campaigners for human rights.

Today while i was reading paper about Gandhi i read an article in one corner of the page wherein a traveler who came from Europe to India about 35yrs ago was asked 'What do you wish to see in India?’ His reply was: 'The Himalayas, The Taj Mahal and Mahatma Gandhi' We can clearly understand that It was neither wealth nor power that made Gandhiji so famous. He became famous for certain good quality that he possessed.He looked upon all with love,and worked all through life to put an end to hatred and to spread love.From ancient times such a man of love has been called a 'Mahatma 'in India.

Though Gandhi lived, suffered and died in India for Indians, it is not in relation to India's destiny alone that his life has significance. Future generations will not only remember him as a patriot, politician and nation-builder but much more.

Yummy mutton chopsuey :)

Last week we had a feast in my aunts house as she had called my family for lunch to her house and we relished having different kinds of non vegetarian food and among all dishes i really loved one dish which was really yummy made out of red meat(mutton) and she said she named this dish as mutton chopsuey :)


Yes i know the above pic looks appealing and mouth watering and yes it tastes also yummy :) I asked my aunt how she prepared it and i tried my hands on this last Sunday, it was Delicious couldn't wait to show you guys :) Why i loved this dish was coz this is not made out of coconut as i always or almost seen people using coconut as one of the main ingredient to prepare non veg. My mom uses coconut and so since i learnt from her even i know dishes made out of it.
My aunt she told me each and every ingredient she used and yes she said that we need to be care full enough while buying red meat as they might mix unwanted meat in it. She said the actual taste comes from the meat so while buying mutton we need to ask the butcher for chopsuey. So its basically ribs of the mutton which they cut and give. Less of flesh and more of bones. Majority of the non veggie lovers like to eat bones than flesh. Sorry for going to deep into explaining meat,flesh an all but this is one of the main ingredient for this particular dish and yes next comes the below ingredients.

Ingredients :

1Kg Mutton chopsuey cleaned.

Onions - 2 medium sized, sliced.
Tomatoes - 2 medium sized, chopped
coriander leaves - 1/4th cup, chopped
Pudina leaves - 1/4th cup, chopped
Methi leaves - 1/4th cup, chopped
Turmeric powder - 1 teaspoon
Daniya powder - 3 tablespoon
Green chillies - 3 to 4 whole
Cashwenuts - 5 to 6
Cinnamon sticks - 3inches
Cardamom - 2 to 3
Cloves - 3
Fennel seeds - 2 teaspoons
Cumin seeds - 1 teaspoon
Garlic pods - 3 to 4nos.
Freshly grinded pepper powder - 3 tablespoons
Ginger garlic paste - 2 tablespoons
Oil - 4 to 5 tablespoons
Curry leaves
Water
Salt to taste

Method :

1)First we need to make a paste of few ingredients as this is the masala for the dish so we need to take green chillies, cashewnuts, garlic pods, cinnamon sticks, cardamom, cloves , fennel seeds and a make a fine paste.
2) Now in a pressure cooker take the mutton pieces, add 1 tablespoon of oil, add the grinded paste, gingergarlic paste, daniya powder, turmeric, salt and add 1 1/2 cup of water and pressure cook it for 4 to 5 whistles as mutton takes time to cook.
3)Now take a pan add oil and let it heat, add cumin seeds,onions and curry leaves and cook it till it turns brown.
4)Add chopped tomatoes and saute it.
5)Now add methi leaves and saute it nicely for 5 to 7mins.
6)Now add chopped coriander and pudina leaves together and fry it.
7)Once done add the cooked mutton from the pressure cooker and allow it to boil for 5mins so that everything gets mixed and then add freshly grinded pepper powder to it.
8)Mix it well and close the lid and allow it to boil for another 15mins.
9) Mutton chopsuey is ready to serve.

You can relish the dish with roti's/hot puri's and of course hot rice.

DO try it and let me know how it was :)


Njoy your treat.
 
Note:

> We need to add little bit of water while pressure cooking red meat as meat oozes out some water while cooking.
> We add methi leaves first and saute it coz it has bit of bitterness in it so we need to allow it to fry first so that the bitterness doesn't spread to coriander and pudina leaves.
> After pressure cooking if you still feel mutton as to be cooked more you can  add some more water and allow it to boil for some more time.
> Salt was already added while we pressure cook meat if u feel its not sufficient you can add it later.
> Hope you liked it do share your comments :) Njoy

Frames of Freedom

This is my entry for yet another interesting contest conducted by blogadda which has come up with a theme "Frames of Freedom" 

Freedom of Sunshine :)

 

Freedom is just another word for nothing else to lose......

This magnificant picture of darkclouds was captured by me from terrace of my home which clearly shows Sunlight surrounding the dark clouds yet gives us illuminated freedom of its sun shine :)

 
Freedom of enjoying the clouds by a drive in the car :)

This picture was taken from the car where i was travelling back from Nathula Pass to Gangtok I was almost 14000ft above the sea level, as i was above clouds and while decending the hill, clouds was coming towards my car and so i opened the window of the car to touch the clouds and enjoy it :)

Hope you njoyed my collection of freedom moments :)

Do share you comments.

Varamahalakshmi Puja celebrations

Wishing all my friends a very Happy Varamahalakshmi (Goddess of auspiciousness/wealth) :)

Festivals and rituals, the Hindu way have their own significance in one's spiritual evolution. I am so excited about today’s festival coz this is one main festival for all married Women’s, specially celebrated in south India :) Here I would like to tell the significance of this festival as well as to tell/share few pics as to how I celebrated this festival today with my relatives and show you guys how nicely each and everyone decorate Lord lakshmi.

Lord Lakshmi - In my home

Varamahalakshmi, The term Vara means “Blessing” Hence this day is to be believed that Lord lakshmi grants her blessing to the worshippers. This festival falls on Friday in the month of Ashada , also called as Adi, which corresponds to the English months of July-August. This festival is performed by married women before the full moon day. We pray for the eight forces/energies which are recognized as Sri(Wealth), Bhu(Earth), Sarasvathi(learning), Preethi(love), Kirti(Fame), Santi (Peace), Tushti (Pleasure) and Pushti(Strength). Each one of these forces is called a lakshmi and all the eight forces are called as Ashta lakshmi and there are more to know about lord lakshmi but whats important is i wait for this festival to go visit everyone's house to see the god :)

We woke up in the wee hours and started putting rangoli in front of the house, tied saree to the god, decorated with flowers, fruits, sweet and did puja :) After the puja I visited all aunts house took the pics in everybody’s house to show you guys how we south Indians celebrate one of the important as well as my favorite festival.
Here are few pics:

Hope you Njoyed and once again wishing everyone happy varamahalakshmi :)

Tomorrow will be better than today.....

Life is the sum of experiences that we encounter as we go through it. Day to day struggles and triumphs are experienced by all of the world's creatures. In this post i would like to tell/write about life, Our LIFE... Just by telling that incase we had a bad day today which didn't go through our expectations,, Tomorrow will be better than today :)

A life lived in love will never be dull :)

As human beings, when we encounter a challenge, we have freedom to choose how to react. Every decision that we make leads us down another road. We will never come to exactly the same crossroads. Every decision that we make has significance. Patience is all one needs,with patience intact things take shape at its own pace.

Recently when i visited one of my cousin's house, in his room he a had posted a nice inspiring/true quote on the wall which goes like this "Life is so confusing- What we want we don't get, what we get we are not satisfied,what we expect never happens and what we hate generally repeats" I really appreciated him after reading this and i was thinking such small boy though he is in 9th standard has given a very good thought.

At times i feel that we learn lot from our younger ones... All i wanted to say is We have one life,let us enjoy it to the max... Sometimes we struggle with a tasteless coffee till the last sip and we find sugar lying at the bottom... THATS LIFE...!! Enough sweetened but not stirred well...

Lastly,

i wish i could end all the battles being fought inside,
i wish i do not have to wait for long
i wish, i hope and i believe
(maybe) tomorrow will be better than today...

Njoy :)

richies rich biryani :)

Biryani being one of the most relished food for all non vegetarians and Yes I'm here to tell for all  the non vegetarian lovers that there is a restaurant in b'lore which is famous for yummy biryani :)
Rahamans family restaurant which is commonly know RICHES hotel :) This restaurant has many branches but i have visited the one in Frazer town and R T Nagar, Bangalore.

Biryani perfectly cooked with incredible spices and it is not made of the famous basmati rice but it is made out of jeera rice and when we taste it we can feel that its 3/4th boiled but really each and everyone will enjoy biryani in this restaurant :)

As we enter the hotel right outside there will be people taking parcel and over there we can see that lot varieties of kebab's and yummy tandoori are available :)

As my whole family visited this hotel last week so i tried and captured few pics to show you guys so that there will be some mouth watering happening for you guys as well ;) we entered this hotel we ordered for fish fry, sholey kebab,roti and hyderbadi chiken curry and the biryani :)

Lastly they serve us the yummy rice kheer :)

Hoping all bangaloreans will visit this restaurants and then you will only keep visiting it ;) and all outsiders to surely have a taste before leaving bangalore:)

Enjoy :)