Pepper Chicken

Hi !!!

This is a very simple recipe which I learnt from one of my friends. The best thing about this recipe is its quick and doesn't require elaborate preparation.

Ingredients

Boneless chicken : 400 gms

Curd : enough to do the marination

Pepper - 2-3 tbl spoon

Salt : according to taste

Coconut milk : little more than 1/2 cup

Bay leaf  : 1-2

Cinnamon stick -1-2

Garlic : 2-3 teaspoon (finely chopped)

Green chillies : 2-3 finely chopped

Method 

Marinate the chicken with curd, pepper and salt and keep aside for 30-40 mins. Heat oil in a pan and add little bit of butter in it. Now add bay leaves, cinnamon sticks, green chillies and garlic. Saute for a while and add the marinated chicken. Mix well and let it simmer until the chicken is cooked completely. Now add the coconut milk and cook for few more minutes. Garnish with coriander leaves. This dish goes well with lacha/plain paranthas.

Do try out this recipe and let me know. I would love to get your feedback on the same.

Till then happy cooking !!!!!!

Moushumi

Papermache Painting

Hi !!!!!

I just hope that all my blogger friends and readers have not forgotten me as I have been out of picture for quite some time now.After coming back from the last rites ceremony I got busy with my kids re- admission for the new session. New books, uniforms, bags ............... the list goes on. Then when I finally, thought O.K now I can relax and do net surfing//blogging ,  wow, just then my son informed me that there is a system failure due to some virus and that I cannot use it until it gets repaired fully . 

Very disappointing, but couldn't help it so I took this time off to learn a new art form. Clay work has   always fascinated me, so I decided to learn the art of papermache clay making. This is a very simple cheap form for clay making whereby you recycle old newspapers and create beautiful artifacts.This is the painting that I learnt. This is basically a poster which I got fixed on the board. then I used the paper mache clay to give it a 3-d effect. The white portion that you can see in the pic below is all clay work.

This is how it looks after painting and decoration.

Today, is our 17th Marriage Anniversary, so I decided to to gift it to my husband. He knew I was going for some classes but had no idea that I had planned to gift him this painting, Thankfully he loved it very much and all my hard work for 10-15 days finally paid off.

And look what he gave me on my anniv.............................

a beautiful gold Ganesha pendent. Its very cute and sweet, but you know what this was not on my wish list. For some time now I have been after him to buy me a light weight sewing machine, and I had found my answer in Usha Janome. But then he said no, he will buy me something better than this, a better machine with more options. But finally, till now no machine has arrived so I think this is my final gift. Its not that I don't like the pendant, but its just that machine would have made my day complete fulfilling.

Still I have full faith in him, he will get it for me either today or tomorrow or maybe day after...............

Till then enjoy and have a nice time!!!!!

Thanks for visiting 

Moushumi

Peacock in Embroidery

Hi ...............

I am doing this blog post with mixed emotions. Mixed emotions because i am feeling very happy as today I am finally able to share my 2 month long project in embroidery. But at the same time I have some bad news to share. My brother-in-law's month long fight with life finally came to end on this Monday ie 4th March 2013. He was like a elder brother to me and he and my father shared the same name. He was a very nice soul and I will miss him. I just hope and pray that wherever he is, he is happy and at peace.

Since last Dec I haven't been able to do much. This was the only thing that I have been busy completing. I have redone this 3-4 times.... and I hope that this has come out well finally. This is the completed version.  So what do you think ?????????????

I have used silk and metallic threads and multiple stitches in this. Like for the neck section and the upper portion of the feathers I have used chain stitch..

                                           

For the body portion I have used a combo of button hole stitch and long and short stitches.

For the feathers I wanted a 3D look, so I picked up cast on stitch from Mary Corbet's http://www.needlenthread.com. A must visit for embroidery lovers or those who wants to learn embroidery or are looking for new ideas.

                           

For the legs and crown (sorry......... the pics got hazy) I  used golden, black and green metallic colored thread and decorated it with yellow colored small stones.For the eyes also I used the same stone.

I will be going to my in-laws place for a week-10 days for the last rites so there will be no blog post for some time now. 

Till then take care and have a nice weekend !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

luv

Moushumi

Banana Bread

Hi !!!!!

I got this recipe from the book Tupperware cooks. This has been on my wish list for a long time and finally I managed to make it yesterday. Banana bread as the name suggests is a very healthy and wholesome snack and can be experimented with  by adding any type of nuts/seeds/fruits to the batter.

Ingredients

Refined flour - 330 gms

Medium sized banana - 4-5 pureed

Powdered sugar - 400gms 

Cornflour - 8 gms

Cinnamon powder - 2 tsp

Baking powder - 1 tbsp

Eggs - 5

Oil - 400 ml

Preheat the oven at 180 C

Method

Whip together banana puree, oil , eggs and sugar till creamy. Then fold in the refined flour,cornflour,baking powder and cinnamon powder. Grease a large sized bread tin or a  cake mould and pour the batter. Bake it for 45 min or till it is cooked. Allow it to cool for a while and serve it warm .

Variation 

You can replace half of the quantity of the flour with wheat flour as I have done and add prunes/walnuts to the batter to make it more healthy. I didn't have it so I did not use it in this recipe.

In case you want to follow measuring cup measurements then you can use this chart

125 gms maida - 1 cup

100 gms powdered sugar - 1/2 cup+1tbsp

180 ml oil - 1 cup

Thanks for visiting !!!!


Moushumi

A sweet surprise !!!!!!!

Hi !!!

I was just thinking that it has been tooo long since I did my last blog post. Feb 10th to be exact. I have not been keeping well lately. Mentally also my husband and I are  going thru a rough patch, as my brother in-law is in ICU and his condition is very serious. He has been suffering from kidney ailment for 2 years now and since he is very very weak physically, my sister in-law decided not to go for transplant either. Now he has got a very bad chest infection which the docs are not able to cure as his body is not responding to the medicines. Its kind of wait and watch situation which is very painful for him and for us, especially for my mother in-law. There is nothing we can do now except pray to god................... and hope for the best..............

And finally when I have managed to come online today I found this pleasant surprise waiting for me. My second Liebster Award which Ghazala has been kind enough to forward it to me. A craft teacher by profession, she has wonderful space displaying her art work. An award always gives you a "feel good" feeling and tells you okay so people do like your work and that it does leaves quite an impression on them if not always. And at this low point it means a lot to me and would like to dedicate the same to all my followers and visitors who have been kind enough to take some time out and comment on my work.

At this point I remember a line from my blogger friend Preeti's blog Life is all about the Journey. It's ups and downs is something which makes it tick and complete and the best way to live it is to take it as it comes.

On this note I would like to say goodbye and take care !!!!!!!!!!!!

Til ( sesame seed) Laddoo

Hello !!!

Today I am going to share with you the recipe of Til (sesame seed) laddoos. Sesame seeds, as you know is full of natural oils which is very good for health and my kids love this sweet very much. During winter I make these laddoo for them, but because of some reason or other, I have been postponing it for some time now. Finally, I managed to get all the ingredients together and made them yesterday.

Ingredients

Khoya/ Mawa (grated) - 400 gms

Sesame seeds / til  - 1 1/2 cups

Powdered Sugar - according to taste 

Semolina / suji - 1/4 cup

Raisins / Kishmish - for decoration

Pure ghee - 1-1/2 tbsp

Method

Firstly, lightly toast the sesame seeds in a pan. Keep aside. Now dry roast semolina on low heat till it becomes light brown. Keep aside. Now in a pan heat 1-1/2 tbsp ghee in a kadai and then add grated khoya to it. Stir it for a while on medium heat till it melts. Now add bhura (powdered sugar) and mix well. Stir it for few min. and add seasame seeds and semolina to the mixture. Mix it well for few more minutes and switch off the gas. 

Stir the  mixture till it cools down a bit and shape them into firm laddoos while it is still warm. 

Roll them on toasted til (sesame seeds ) and decorate with raisins.

Delicious laddoos are ready to eat. 

Thanks for visiting !!!!!

Moushumi

Another crochet doily

Hi !!!

This is another crochet doily that I have made recently.

I got this design from the internet. This doily is in orchid pink and dark green color, size 10 thread and steel hook size no. 7. It measures approx. 13" lengthwise and 7" width wise.

Thanks for visiting!!!

Moushumi