The past few days have been crazy busy but lots of fun nonetheless. I do miss not being able to write on my blog, but I am glad that its been taken care of by some really superb blogger friends of mine: Ameena, Jane, Sawsan and today Leigh from Luv’n Spoonfuls.
Leigh not only has great recipes with beautiful photographs on her blog, but all her recipes have a wonderful balance between flavor and nutrition. I don’t remember now how I stumbled upon Leigh’s blog, but am so glad I did because there is so much to learn about healthy food that tastes great too. You should read her soapbox section on how and why she insists on 100% organic ingredients.
Today, Leigh shares awonderful Gingerbread cake recipe that not only looks delicious but is packed with stuff that screams good-for-you!
Thank you Leigh for taking time out for my blog and sharing the perfect recipe for the coming holiday season!
The other day, when my friend Ram Pyaari asked me to do a guest post for her blog, I was more than thrilled.
Imagine, someone else wants my random blabbering on their blog, and that too, someone who is the author of an upcoming book(translation: knows what writing is all about, unlike me who just goes on and on in unwinding sentences, mostly boring people with my mundane housewife life.)
Yup, I was beyond thrilled. Of course, a few seconds later I had nervous sweat beeds all over my face.
If I am writing on a writer’s blog– I have to do a really good post. And there was this 50 kg load on my brain- and I was busy scouting for ideas that would result in an interesting blog post- worthy enough to be put on a writer’s blog. But then Ram Pyaari assured me its my random blabbering that she wants on her blog, along with a recipe of course.
Poor thing, what can I say, she really did ask for it!
So, there I was thinking what I could guest post about.
My first thought was to share my experience of the first thing I made at my in-laws place right after I got married- halwa!
What a disaster it was!
Luckily, my in-laws weren’t at home when the kitchen catastrophe happened and more luckily enough, their cook was, who came to my rescue and made a great halwa. I masqueraded that as mine and scored brownie points! Well, actually I did not. The honest-me could not take credit for someone else’s work and told them the truth. Well, we all had a good laugh. They liked that I made an effort in the kitchen, knowing very well I had not cooked at all before. Yup, I did score brownie points after all!
But, then today when I started writing the guest post, I wanted to write something else. Also, I had made this lotus root curry that I wanted to post about for Garam Masala Tuesdays. So, I scrapped the original plan and since Ram Pyaari’s book revolves around arranged marriages I thought I’ll tell my “arranged” marriage storytoday.
Aloo Paranthas, where I come from, are comfort food at its best.
Parantha is nothing but a flat bread. Its an unleavened dough made from whole wheat flour and cooked on a tawa/skillet. Paranthas can be made plain or stuffed and aloo (potato) is most popular when it comes to stuffing paranthas. Paranthas can be eaten just like that, on their own, but a really good way to eat is to pair the paranthas with yogurt/curd and your favorite pickle. Aloo paratha is a great one-dish meal for the family that can be served anytime of the day!
The best paranthas that you will ever find are served in small shops on the roadsides, called dhabas. Some of the best ones I have had, were outside the GE call center (BPO) in Gurgaon, India. The first time I had a parantha there, was when I was an undergrad and my cousin and his then girlfriend (now wife :)) took me and my brother out partying. After a fun night, my cousin took us to this dhaba for paranthas. Even at 2am the place was crowded with people. My cousin ordered aloo paranthas for us and after a brief wait, a small boy came with our plates of paranthas with a cube of melting butter on top. The parantha was huge and I was sure I would end up wasting it- but one bite and I could not stop myself. I had to really restrain myself to not order another. I did take a few more bites from my brother’s second parantha! Well, I could afford it then!
The second best I have had were when my senior sneaked us out from our hostel during my first year in undergrad and took us to a dhaba next to the IGI airport, Delhi. You should all know Delhi is not a safe place for woman, even during the day and at night time it gets worse. So there we were- just us girls out at 2 at night in a place that was full of scary truck drivers, waiting for our paranthas. And boy, were they worth it. I would still not recommend any girl to go their alone- it did not look like a safe place. But, if you have bodyguards with you, do pay this place a visit!
