Month / Oct 2019

by Aman Sharma

Tasty recipes to make on Diwali

India is a land of festivals, absolutely no doubt in that. We celebrate different festivals throughout the year with great pomp and show. But one festival that I personally love is Diwali, this festival is above all on the list. And not just me everyone is so excited about it. The streets, homes, offices and every other place is so decorated with lights and all. The level of joy is on another level during the Diwali week. Everyone dresses up for this occasion and try to enjoy every moment of it. In India we love to eat food, we treat it like a religion. So, how can we celebrate Diwali without talking about food on this very special occasion. We wait so eagerly to get our hands on sweets and namkeens, but what if you can enjoy all this without being much curious about your fitness. Sounds good? So, here I will write about a few recipes that also the diet conscious can eat without a second thought. This recipes taste well and also don’t affect your fitness much.

1- Indo-Italian Chiwda

For Chiwda- 2 cups of flattened rice(Poha) little fried, Fox nuts(Makhana) ½ cup roasted, peanuts ¼ roasted, Potato chips spicy ½ cup, Bikaneri bhujiya 1 cup, Sweet neem(Azadirachta indica) leaves-15 , Italian Spice mixture- 4 small tbsp. Black salt and Pudina Powder- 1 small tbsp. each.

For Italian Spice mixture- Coriander leaves- ½ cup, Black pepper-12, Red Bell pepper, jeera(Cumin), Mix herbs- 2 small tbsp. each,  Chaat masala- 1 small tbsp. Black salt and Ajwain- 1 small tbsp. each.

Recipe- To make Italian spice mixture, heat up a pan and add Coriander leaves, jeera, ajwain and Black pepper in it. Cook it on a low flame and wait for it to cool down. Add bell pepper, chaat masala, mix herbs, heeng and lemon juice, grind it properly. Add the chiwda and spice mixture to a bowl and mix it well. This is ready to serve.

2- Gulkand Petha Laddoo-

Ingredients- Petha ½ kg, mava(whole dry milk) 250gm, Coconut filings(nariyal ka buraa) 250gm,   Gulkand- 2 or 3 big tbsp, Saunf(fennel seeds)- 2 large tbsp. Cashews- 10-12 finally     chopped, Pistachios (Pista)- 10-12 finally chopped, Grinded sugar- according to taste.

Recipe- Heat up oil in a pan and add Mava to it, Fry it until light pink. Take it out and let it cool. Grate(kadukas) the petha in another bowl. Add fried mava, chopped pista, chopped cashew and coconut filings to this mixture. Add Gulkand and saunf in other bowl and mix it. Now you will have the dough ready, make a small ball of it and fill it with material that we have made. Close it properly after filling the material. You can also keep it in fridge for 6-7 days.

3-Beetroot chakri-

Ingredients- Wheat flour(Maida)- 1 ½ cup, Salt ½ small tbsp. Grinded black pepper ¼ small tbsp. ajwain ½ small tbsp. Boiled beetroot paste ¼ cup, Grinded sugar ¼ small tbsp. Jeera(cumin seeds) ¼ small tbsp. White sesame seeds(Til)- 1 small tbsp. Salt- According to taste. Ghee.

Recipe- Make a dough of wheat flour and divide it into two equal parts. Add ajwain, grinded black pepper, salt and one big tbsp. of ghee to one part. Add beetroot paste, salt , grinded sugar, white sesame seeds, jeera and one big tbsp. of ghee to other part. Now make long and thick strips of it of both parts. Now roll the strips on one another collectively. After this, cut this into slices. Now, heat up the oil in a pan and add these into that and fry until little crispy. Ready to serve.

4- Namkeen Nipattoo-

Ingredients- Rice flour- 1 cup, Peanuts-3 large tbsp.  Roasted Chickpeas- 3 large tbsp. Coconut- 1 large tbsp. grate(kadukas), sesame seeds(Til), Red chili powder- ½ small tbsp. Salt- according to taste, Curry leaves( kadi patta)- 2, Oil- 1 large tbsp. Water-according to use, wheat flour- 1 large tbsp. Rava-1 large tbsp.

Recipe- Heat a pan and roast peanuts in it. If required, removed its outer skin. Once peanuts cool down mix it with Coconut and chickpeas and blend it thick in a mixer. Add Rice flour, sesame seeds, curry leaves, Red chili powder, salt in a bowl and mix it well. You can also add Rava and White flour to it. Heat up a pan and add 1 large tbsp. to it, now add the mixture to it and give it a stir. Now add ¼ water to it and convert it into a dough. Make it round circles of it, use fork to make some holes in it so it don’t effloresce(foolna). Heat the oil in a pan and fry it on a medium flame. Your Namkeen Nipattoo is ready to eat.

by Aman Sharma

10 Things to do when 21.

Travel more– When in 20s the major thing to do is travel as much as you can. This is the time when you need to explore and discover more what’s around you. When in20s you don’t need to travel in lavish style. You can always adjust in cheap hotel rooms, travel through public transport if you don’t own a car and try to eat in less fancy restaurants. If you will just wait to save a good amount of money to travel fancy than you can never understand the true meaning of travel. You can never do this type of things in your 40s. The freedom you have in your 20s is a bonus over any other thing, go make most of it.

Worry less– The biggest and probably the main hindrance in the development of a person is worrying more, rather than figuring out its solution. Although we worry about very little things through our whole lifetime period, but in the 20s it is at its peak. Worrying about the college debts, finding and landing into a secure job, watching out for family, trying to figure out everything  and much more. But trust me, the more you worry, the less the things are going to work out your way. When we overthink about something we put so much of our energy in developing its negative context than to simply find a solution. The best way to get out of this window is keep working towards your goal at your pace, you don’t need to race anyone. Don’t get in the rat race and things will eventually turn to your benefits.

Maintain your body– This is one of the important factors to look on. We need to take care of our body above everything. A healthy mind lives in a healthy body. Especially in your 20s when we all have a habit of eating the fast food every day, drinking alcohol etc. This things taste great at first but eventually will hurt in the golden and coming years of your life. Do some daily workouts or go for a jog for 20-30 minutes or so, but find some time for yourself on daily basis. Adopt to a healthy lifestyle at an early stage and it will pay its results throughout your life. But at the same time, it doesn’t mean to totally avoid the snacks or going out for food, but what I am trying to say is don’t do it on regular basis and maintain the balance between fast food and a healthy diet.

Chase dreams– In your 20s it is very difficult to stable your brain in one direction. One day you might want to give everything you have- for the job you always wanted, on other day you might just want to sit back on couch and watch Netflix all day long. So these things happen in a normal routine. Don’t be bothered if you haven’t work hard one day or you went off track for the day. Try to focus your mind on one thing you always wanted and chase it without listening to other people’s comments. Don’t you get fooled by the small brains telling you that your dreams are too big. It is all my personal experience and these things happen with me often, but most important is how you bounce back. If you really have a desire to achieve something, you will always find a way to get it. But if somehow things are not working out, ask yourself- Do I really wanted this?

Find sometime for family– As you grow old, your family is getting older too. When in 20s your most time is devoted to the studies, finding a job and sometimes you are healing from emotional breakdowns. With all this going through we can rarely devote anytime to our family. By the time you realize it how less time you gave to your family, it’s already too late. So just try to spend some time off from your work or social media with them. Not only this will make them happy, but you will also feel good. If you can’t find enough time everyday try to go out with them on the weekends. Spending time doesn’t mean to watch movies, instead talk to them. You will learn so much from them that you will feel why you didn’t talk to them earlier.

Go get a part time job– This option might or might not be liked by some people. I have heard many people say that don’t get to a job straight after college but instead travel more, do more fun things and so on. But what I have experienced is that you should try to get a part time job to just to cover your expenses. Sooner or later you have to do something that makes your end meet. You parents aren’t going to feed you throughout your life unless you belongs to a super wealthy family. Part time jobs not only provide the paychecks but will also provide you the experience if you are going to work in the same field later. And if we talk about travel, yes you should travel more but you are not going to travel 24/7 x365 days unless you become a vlogger or so. So get a part time job so your travel expenses will cover up from that without depending on your parents or anyone else.

Do more what makes you happy– Yes, Don’t be overburdened by the work sessions and burry down your hobbies somewhere. If you were doing something that made you happy either convert that into your income or if not find a time to do it as much as you can. With this developing world our most of the time is spend sticking to the computer and mobile screens. If you have habit of cooking, painting, exploring use your weekend windows as a time to do the things you love. Prepare yourself a fancy meal, Carve out your imagination on the canvas or go out to explore the joy, but don’t stop. Keep doing the things that make you happy because in the end we only regret the things we don’t do.

Develop a hobby– If you have one it’s good but if don’t, seek inside yourself and you will find an artist hidden beside the duties that you have been appointed with. Let the inner kid inside you come out and do the things that you have been avoiding with a fear, what people will say? May it be going for dance classes, knitting, playing your favorite musical instrument or whatever you like.

Read more books – ‘Books are your best friends’ completely agree with this. Always keep a small pocket of time from the day to read at least 3 pages of a book per day. This might be difficult if you haven’t read a book previously bit once you start reading, you will fell in love with the books. Books really help in unfolding the greatest secrets to live a happy life. You can start off with any novel, than read onto some of the greatest people’s biographies. I didn’t use to read the books but I just started this year, and I have already read around 9 books so far and I can assure you this will continue forever. Reading changes your vision and upgrades your knowledge.

Help the needy– I have always seen a lot of people who want to help the people out there, but somehow they don’t because they think they don’t have enough money to help them. They always says to their inner self’s that the day they will be earning enough will help these people, but with increasing income only our expenditure increase. Helping others never go for waste and there are a lot other ways to help than just going for materialistic things. If you have some extra time you can always teach these kids around the corners, probably the best way to help them and at the same time building their future, or you can’t do this than just simply when you leave for your class or work, cook some extra food and give it to the needy on the way. These small little gestures contribute to a lot. The main motive behind putting this point here is we all wanted to help somebody and as you are your in 20s, understand this and contribute in the betterment of the society.

by Aman Sharma

Healthy dressings for Salad

Salad plays an important role in increasing the taste of the Indian food. Tangy and delicious food is accompanied by salad including tomatoes, cucumber, onions, Carrot, Reddish, vegetables and much more. Let it be the lemon juice or the sweet or tangy curd poured on it, doubles the flavor of the food. So, this we talked about the Normal or the Indian dressing, but to give it a twist I am going to mix the Desi Salad with Videsi (Foreign) dressing to give it a fusion. I assure you it will be much tastier and healthier than you have ever eaten before.

1- Italian dressing

Ingredients required- Olive oil (1/3 cup)

                                      Lemon juice (1/3 cup)

                                     Garlic powder (1 small tbsp.)

                                     Thyme (1/2 small tbsp.)

                                    Oregano (1/2 small tbsp.)

                                 Basil (Tulsi) leaves (1 small tbsp.)

                                 Honey (1 small tbsp.)

                                    Salt (a small pinch)

Recipe- Put all the ingredients in a bowl and blend it with a blender. If thyme not available you can also use coriander leaves. If you are using dry oregano, dry thyme and dry basil leaves, than you can also mix it in a bowl manually. Once it is ready, you can use it on any salad. You can keep it in refrigerator for 1-2 weeks. The oil present in it may freeze when placed in refrigerator for longer periods of time. So before consuming, take it out of the fridge for a couple of minutes and then give it a mix before intake.

2- Lemon vinaigrette dressing

Ingredients required- Lemon juice (1/3 cup)

                                       Mustard (1 big tbsp.)

                                       Sugar (1 small tbsp.)

                                       Garlic (thin chopped)

                                        Olive oil (1/3 cup)

                                        Mint leaves (1/3 cup, finally chopped)

                                        Salt (1/8 small tbsp.)

                                         Black pepper (according to taste)

Recipe- Put lemon juice, Mustard, sugar and garlic in a jar and blend it perfectly. Blend it while adding olive oil at short intervals. After it add mint leaves, salt and black pepper and your dressing is ready to be served on the salad.

3- Spicy dressing

 Ingredients required- Lemon juice (1/3 cup)

                                         Mustard powder (1/2 cup)

                                        Fresh tomato puree (1/4 cup)

                                       Red chili powder (1/4 small tbsp.)

                                       Tabasco sauce (1/2 small tbsp.)

                                      Salt (1/4 small tbsp.)

                                        Jaggery (Gud) a small piece wet in hot water

Recipe- Put all the ingredients in a jar together and stir it perfectly. If Tabasco sauce is not available you can use any red, green or any other spicy sauce. Your dressing is ready and it can put in the fridge for 2-3 days.

4- Hot and Sour dressing-

Ingredients- Garlic (1 finally chopped)

                      Sugar (2 small tbsp.)

                      Red chili powder (1 small tbsp.)

                      Soya sauce (2 tbsp.)

                      Lemon juice (1 big tbsp.)

                      Oil- (2 small tbsp.)

Recipe- Heat up the oil in a pan on medium flame. Put garlic in it and Stir it gently until golden brown. Put all the ingredients and garlic in a bowl and mix it well. It is ready to be served on the salad.

5- Coconut dressing-

Ingredients- Mayonnaise (1/2 cup)

                       Full fat Coconut milk (1/2 cup)

                      Onion powder (1 small tbsp.)

                       Garlic powder (1 small tbsp.)

                       Fennel (Sauf) Powder (1 small tbsp.)

                   Coriander leaves (1 big tbsp.)

                  Green onion (1 big tbsp.  Finally chopped)

                  Salt (according to taste)

                    Black pepper (1/4 small tbsp.)

                  Apple vinegar (1 small tbsp.)

Recipe- Put all the ingredients together in a bowl and stir it until it becomes properly smooth. After this store it in a refrigerator for 30 minutes for cooling process. Serve this cool dressing on your salad.

6- Lime and Chilly dressing-

Ingredients- Lemon juice and yeast (1 cup)

                       Olive oil (3 big tbsp.)

                       Red chili without seeds (1 nos.)

Recipe- Put lemon juice, lemon yeast, olive oil and finally cut red chili in a bowl and mix it well. Ready to serve, that simple and easy. You can store this for up to a week in the refrigerator.

7- Low fat Ranch dressing-   

Ingredients- Buttermilk (1 cup)

                           Cheese (¼ cup)

                           Onion powder (2-3 big tbsp.)

                           Lemon juice (1 small tbsp.)

                           Black pepper (as per requirement)

                           Salt (according to taste)

Recipe- Put all the ingredients in bowl and mix it well. Buttermilk should be thick. You can also put onion slice on the top of it. Ready to serve.

by Aman Sharma

Phenomenal places to visit for your next vacation.

“IT IS BETTER TO SEE SOMETHING ONCE THAN TO HEAR ABOUT IT A THOUSAND TIMES.”

I absolutely love travelling, packing my stuff and breaking the chains of regular work and moving to newer and nicer places. I mean who doesn’t want to travel, literally not a single soul, I guess. But travelling requires much more instead of just packing your bags and moving out of your apartment. Choosing a perfect destination is one of the most important things before beginning your journey because if we are putting our time and money into it than it must be worth it. With the ever changing time, the meaning of travelling has also changed. Earlier Travel was all about moving one place to another and enjoying. Still, travel includes both these features but it has expanded in many ways. Now, People not only travel to relax on beach or breathe freshly in the hilly areas, but people now want to explore more new places. With resources becoming so easy to access, no one wants to be hold themselves in a limit. So here, I will get you to know with some of the phenomenal places that you can go for your next vacation. Here, this way-

Destinations in India-

1- ROAD TRIP FROM KAKKANAD TO CHINNAKANAL

Go for a road trip in camper van here in this beautiful destination. The concept of the camper van was introduced in the 1960s by the people who travelled on long routes. But this old concept still works best for offbeat travel. This classical concepts works best due to the lovely and harmonious atmosphere of Kakkanad.

A camper van passing through the green fields of kakkanad.

2- 100 years old house in Kedakal (Coorg, Karnataka)

Want to spend your vacation in the hands of nature and in a peaceful and relaxing environment, than Kedakal is just for you. Going through the coffee, black pepper, Cardamom farms you reach a classical mansion which is also know as Kedakal mansion. It don’t look anything less than the big forts in a fairytale. Staying here and exploring the area will provide you an extra ordinary experience.

Check out their other staying options as well- https://www.kedakal.com/?m4dc=1#page-top

100 years old house.

3- Butterfly tents (Jaisalmer, Rajasthan)

It has been a dream for many of us to spend a night camping in the dessert under the stars. Well, Jaisalmer provides you this experience at its best. You can stay in the butterfly tents. This is also a perfect place to go with family and friends. At night, bonfire is organized which can be enjoyed under the stars in an open dessert, a perfect combination. Along with it there are also several terraced houses made by the local women.

Butterfly tents in Jaisalmer

International-

Underwater museum, Cancun

This museum built under the water has more than 400 life size sculptures. The sculptures built here comes to life when one looks at it, fishes moving around makes it look more attractive. The underwater museum is to benefit the protection of the coral reefs. Artificial reefs are usually created by sunken ships and other objects that have fallen to the bottom of the ocean floor. The statues are a new technique and material for coral to grow on, a means for art to save the oceans. As the statues were made with pH-neutral cement, coral, seaweed, and algae are able to grow and develop better than on an old ship. Stable structures with a stable base are known to be ideal surfaces for artificial reefs. The statues also have holes in them, which allow marine wildlife to colonize and feed off the coral.

A human model wit wings attached to it. (Underwater museum, Cancun)

Pancake rocks, New Zealand-

Punakaiki is a small community on the West coast of the South Island of New Zealand, between Westport and Greymouth. The community lies on the edge of the Paparoa national park.

The Pancake Rocks are a very popular tourist destination at Dolomite Point south of the main village. The Pancake Rocks are a heavily eroded limestone area where the sea bursts through several vertical blowholes during high tides. ‘pancake’- these form the main attraction of the area.

This didn’t happen overnight, but the forming of pancake rocks took a time period of almost 30 million years. Worthy a one-time visit for sure.  

Pancake rocks (New Zealand)

Alberobello, Italy-

Alberobello is a town in Italy’s Apulia region. It’s known for its trulli, whitewashed stone huts with conical roofs. The hilltop Rione Monti district has hundreds of them. The 18th-century Trullo Sovrano is a 2-level trulli. Furniture and tools at the Museo del Territorio Casa Pezzolla re-create life in the trulli as it was centuries ago. Southwest of town is the Casa Rossa, a WWII internment camp. Tourist come in large numbers here.

Trulli homes.

Ithaa- Under sea restaurant, Maldives

Ithaa, which means mother of pearl in Dhivehi, is an undersea restaurant located 5 metres (16 ft) below sea level at the Conrad Maldives Rangali Island in Aliff Dhali Atol in the Republic of Maldives. If you wish to eat along the fishes than it’s the perfect place for you. The walls and the roof of this restaurant is made of glass, so along with feeding your body you can also feed your soul. The view beneath the ocean is unbelievable and a must see at least once in a lifetime. The only cons about this restaurant is that it has only 12 seats, so you have to make your reservations as earlier as possible, if you want to enjoy some good time here.

View from inside the underwater restaurant, Maldives.
by Aman Sharma

On Footsteps…Designer Doors

Be it a Residence, an office, café or any other building, Main Door is always a Center point. Main door is observed prior to anything when a person enters a Building or a House. In this everyday changing world of Design, most people put their Focus on doors first, so you must give them a good reason to look at yours. These doors not only work as a medium to enter or exit a place, but sometimes your building is recognized by them, you might have seen someone finding a house with a red door. So here in this article I’ll introduce you with some trendy doors these days. Here we go-

  1. Warm Wood Panel

These type of doors provide you modern look and at the same time look elegant. It works best when the exterior of your Building is neutral. Panels can be placed on it to make it look more attractive.

2-Natural Wood Door

To give a bold look at your main doorsteps, natural wood doors can be used. The texture visible on it provides a rich look. A long iron handle along is often used with these type of doors.

3- Shevron Wood Door

Bored of Horizontal or vertical patterns on the door, than this one is for you. Shevron pattern is also different and trendy in doors. It is a Zig-zag pattern that comes to a sharp point, just like the letter ‘V’. Due to its natural fairy orange color, this best fits with white color. But can also work with most of the tones.

4- Smart Door

Tough, smart and bold.  Due to such qualities smart doors use has been increased in recent times. For extra safety, they now also comes with key less entry. These doors are a bit expensive as compared to normal doors, but that cost is nothing in front of your personal safety. So, if your budget allows you go for the smart doors.

5- Laser Carved Doors

It provides the one to express their emotions on the door. The prints or details on the door presents you with the nature of one. If you have to much texture applied in the interiors, you can give a glimpse of it on the main door.

6- Glossy Doors

These are also one type of doors but are not seen commonly on the main doors. This is because the worn and torn of its material is high. These types of doors can be used in interior or back entrance of the lawn.

7- Pivoting Door

It creates a kind of fun activity when your guest enter your space and moreover even a simple door put up in this mechanism works great for your style statement.