nisha manoj

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Sunday, November 3, 2013

Diwali - the festival of lights

Traditions and rituals in my family is quite rare. We belong to the new generation family that doesnot follow any tradition blindly. Personally i love a few of them though :). having lived in the north of India for few years of my childhood i love the diwali celebrations at preparatory stage, especially the ritual bath andthe evening pooja.

Diwali reminds me of a kind of marriage preparation in the family and the excitement that is associated with it is extremely good for health. Each year brings a renewed, fresh new diwali adventure.

The diwali bath is a wonderful beauty regime. Getting up early morning to apply coconut oil and lemon juice all over the body and scalp. Then bathe half an hour later using gramflour and water paste [ no soap no shampoo allowed]. This year i added turmeric in my paste and a little castor oil on my scalp too.The aftereffect of this bath is smooth glowing skin and soft silky hair. I like to mix rosewater to fullers earth and leave a layer on my face and neck for 15mins before my bath.
The selection of a pretty salwar/saree is secondary to my shopping for glass bangles, jazzy earrings, designer bindis and payals which are worn only on festive occassions.I have to mention the henna designs that is applied on hands and feet.
After the bath is the turn to decorate the home with a lovely rangoli. I had already googled my designs for this year and practised it once. Hanging flower and mango leaf garland on top of the front door adorned with colourful rangoli and lit diyas is a sight worth to watch.One can literally see the gods entering the house.
Crackers are strictly prohibited - no noise and air pollution allowed , not to forget the respect towards all creatures [animals & humans ] who hide to avoid commotion. Evening walks turn into late evening walks to see houses lit with lamps on this dark new moon night.

Exchange of sweets and fruits with neighbours is a lovely gesture. With dreams in my eyes i look forward to this years lovely night.
Happy deepavali to all. May the lord light up all our lives and minds :)

Saturday, October 26, 2013

Simple prawn fry

This is the most simple and fast prawn fry i have ever made.


Take few clean, deveined prawns and add red chilli powder, turmeric powder, salt, garlic pods, lemon juice and rava / cornflour.

Mix all and fry for 10 mins tossing in between.


Apple Peel Chutney

The other day i made apple sauce and had a lot of peels left which i just didn't have the heart to discard. I tried to find any apple peel recipes of my liking. I finally decided to make a chutney.

Simple cooking is my style and hence i decided to make a small batch first.



# Apple peels - 5 nos. apples
# Oil - 1 tsp
# Jaggery - 2 tbsp
# Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
# Jeera seeds - 1/2 tsp
# Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
# Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
# Water - 3 tbsp
# Salt - as per taste

Place the oil in a small pan, add mustard seeds. Once the spluttering of the seeds stop add jeera, red chilli powder, turmeric powder and the peels. Then add 3 tbsp of water, cover the pan with a lid and cook till the peels are soft.  Add jaggery at this stage and salt. Cook till the water evaporates completely leaving behind a sweet and pungent chutney. Please add few drops of lemon juice.

I love this recipe mainly because it is cooking without wasting.

Yummy simple apple sauce

Apples, my dear friends, have suddenly become the fruit of the season in my house. My husband seems to be bringing them in loads. The entire kitchen is flooded with apples and i have been allotted the job of fininshing them before they get rotten.

With Google being my lifesaver i bump on to a lovely apple sauce recipe.It is simple and yummy!
You shall need the following for a cup of sauce:

* Apples - 5 nos. small
* Sugar - 3 tbsp
* Cinnamon powder- 1tsp
* Lemon juice - 1 tsp

Peel, core and dice apples. Cook them over low flame for 20 mins. Cool and puree the cooked apples. Add all other ingredients and cook again till you get a required consistency. I have made mine very thick.

You may add butter/ghee which definitely enhances the taste but i decided to leave it out to reduce calories.This can be stored in the refrigerator and used on bread, rotis and had plain.

Hope you try this.

Monday, September 23, 2013

tasty sweet laddus

Hi lets cook something sweet and fast.

Ingredients:
Condensed milk
Grated coconut - 1 cup
Roasted and crushed cashews nuts -1cup
Roasted sesame seeds - 2tbsp
Khoya peda/barfi -1 piece

Dry roast the coconut , add roasted crushed cashewnuts, then the sesame seeds.
Keep stirring for some time till coconut turns dry.
Next crumble the peda or barfi [you mat khoya itself too]
Add condensed milk and stir till laddu consistency is achieved.
With little water wet your fingers and palm to make the laddus immediately.
Cool and serve.

This is an extremely fast dish to serve guests who give you surprise visits. Surprise them :)

Sweater/Cardigan by a beginner - knitting and crochet

I am now breaking my finger bones knitting a sweater/cardigan ...it calls for a lot of patience ..trust me ...i keep measuring the length every 5 mins of work and it hardly seems to increase much though.

The project is a cardigan without sleeves (am not very confident about the sleeves ...just a beginner).

Allow me to tell you some important tips when you proceed with your adventurous cardigan knitting project (not that i am an expert at it).

I decided to make a very comfortable (not figure hugging) cardigan with a length of 26 inches which includes the length from sleeve hole to neck being 7 1/2 inches) and using a needle size 10 mm.


The process is as follows:

BACK - cast 150
Row 1 = 2Knit [K] then 2Purl [P] till the end
Continue this row till 4 inches width
Next Row = K increasing 5 stitches each on both ends so the total number of stitches by the en of the row is 160
Next Row = P
Continue knitting and purling the alternate rows till 18 1/2 inches length

To achieve the sleeves we shall reduce the stitches at the ends of the rows in the of 5, 4 , 3, 2 and 1 every row.

Then continue to knit and purl as usual for 7 1/2 inches.
When the length is 26 inches cast off.

FRONT - The front is similar to the back but in two pieces
So cast 75 and increase to 80
Continue knitting and purling
Make sleeves only on one end of the 5 rows
After sleeves the row 6 can start with reducing 1 stitch each on the opposite end to form a "V" shape neck .

It would be interesting to note the edgees of the sleeves and the neck has been double crochet in 2-3 rows as required.

Hope you like this beginner's piece of work. :)


Gardening bitter gourd in a pot

Hi all ..i have a story to tell about hope ...i had just moved into my new home and had no plants in my balcony. My mom loves gardening but i never had the time.

Well the story goes like this ...i purchased few bitter gourds from my local vegetable vendor and forgot them in my refrigerator [i guess thats how the fruit is treated by most :)] . As destiny of my plant would have it during my routine cleaning round  i discovered a plastic bag with two yellow , drenched bitter gourds with the juices seeping through the bag. yuck!!

When i tried to throw the gourds along with the bag few seeds glared at me through the bag ..bright red real beauties ...i was so mesmerised that they went straight to the pot with a little soil and water. I really didn't expect frozen seeds to sprout anyway but didn't feel like throwing them away. So thats where they went ...into the pot with one last chance to life.

Few days and life burst into full view in the form of a small sapling - green , beautiful and happy. One seed was pushed out of the soil bed and the tiny leaves still had a seed crown protecting from all the harsh worldly elements. It brought with it hope and joy. I tied a string so that it could support the growth. Before i knew i had to use a tree branch to support and rush of life.This fellow was quite enthusiastic about knowing the world.

This sapling has a beautiful survival story of its own too ...it begins like this ..few weeks into the world my dear little plant made friends with the crows ..the pot which was mounted on the balcony ledge became the neighbouring crows chatting spot. I shouldn't forget to mention that the crows come to quench their thirst from a plastic icecream cup that is filled with water everyday in my balcony.These crows rule my life every morning if the water is not filled. They create a ruckus near the window of any room i may be working in till their demand is met. Trust me - crows are turning humans.

One fine windy day my pot of hope does a crash landing from 2 storeys high shattering the pot into pieces ending the plant in a state of coma ...the vines were broken .. roots in bits. With a heavy heart i transplanted whatever was left of the plant into a plastic bag and kept in the corner of the floor. For 5 full days my plant was in an emergency unit with me praying for its well being. The plant was in a coma - neither dying nor reviving - then slowly the rays of light ...new vines started growing and within 2 weeks time it was decorated with small buds and 1 large lovely yellow flower.
;0
The plant had a lot of yellow flowers but none resulted in fruits. They bloom one day and fall the next day. I would like share few tips that i dug out google [my best friend] ...if the plant is only flowering and not yielding any fruit it is because all those flowers are male flowers ..for a plant to bear fruit it needs to be shocked into thinking that it needs to procreate else this is the end of its kind [that is stunt growth] ..the best method that worked for me was [1] cut the alternate vines that grow [2] cut the main vine from the tip [3]  water alternate days [4] keep it in a little shade

I got 3 female flowers within a week. Another week there were lots of small saplings i the bag. All the other dormant seeds started rushing forth into my life. My joy knew no bounds and my heart has still not stopped leaping.

Now i know why gardening can heal. [ don't miss my pics :)]







Friday, August 23, 2013

Easy Baby shoes and blankets :)

Well my sis-n-law is due for twins this september ...and i am busy learning baby items

i am so happy to have google ...you have to see what i learnt


these are my first baby warmers and am i not proud !!

well let me share that the shoes are knitted and blankets crochet work ..simple and easy

Friday, July 5, 2013

Macrame - beginning

a small learners macrame piece of work ...used jute ..a very nice art form to pursue.

Vegetable Gardening in pots

my very first tryst with vegetable gardening in pots . my first bitter gourd . so very satisfying.
i sowed my seeds in the month of may. i almost lost hope when there were so many male flowers but not one female to bear fruits. patience pays.


the second fruit is still tiny.


all my other plants .. i have mustard, tomato plants and indian chillies. Mustard does not give seeds once the rains start so i have planned to make use of the leaves to make a dish [in combo with spinach leaves to cut down the pungent taste of mustard]. my tomatoes need to be transplanted into a deep pot.


don't miss my potatoes growing in a small plastic cup. This is scrap gardening that i learnt from www.pinterest.com


Thursday, June 20, 2013

Its raining thoughts.......

Love when the trees sway in the breeze

the wind coos into your ears

clouds fly overhead

then a raindrop hits my cheek ....

to soothe the warm skin

The lightning that cracks the sky open

and sends a shiver down the spine

thundering its arrival

Rains have a mesmerising effect on my soul

the earth smells like heaven

the gurgle of a stream brings forth a new life!!