Foodie!!

I have realised, Yes! I am a foodie!! I know I know, I am vegetarian, but cant I be a vegetarian foodie? Also, as most people say about me, that I hardly eat, But do Foodies have to eat a lot??
I just love food and I sometimes get these cravings for food that I have to eat something!! right now!!
Like the current craving I have is to eat stuffed moong dal puri, its a puri filled with moong dal stuffing, I had it once and have not been able to forget it since then :-) I dont know where I will get it, so I have planned to prepare it this weekend :-)

Sometimes in the evening when I am hungry, and I imagine some particular food, I go crazy!! Like Once I just had to have puran poli, I went home and started making it, it was the first time I was trying it out, the chana dal somehow didnt cook well, the puranpolis lacked the correct amount of sweetness but still it was something :-)

One particular craving I had was the Modaks at Shreyas, I had just heard abt those soft, lovely modaks, with a blob of tup (ghee) on it, and I wanted to have them since long. The first time I went there, it was for dinner and it seems they dont serve modaks at dinner, only during lunc, and the only time the modaks are served at dinner are on sankashti.
Now I am not particularly religious and dont follow sankashti, but after I had heard this bit of fact abt Shreyas, I started checking my Kalnirnay regularly to check the next Sankashti :-)
Once I even went there at lunch-time, I saw a plate full of yummy modaks being served at the next table, I immediately waved out to the waiter, and asked for a plate for me, but unfortunately, it seems they were over :-(
Finally my craving was satisfied on kashid beach(mentioned in my earlier post), and I had Ukdiche modak :-)

Badshahi Boarding and Lodging

Badhshahi, this amazing place is on Tilak Road, next to Tilak Smarak Mandir in Pune.
Ah! What can I say abt this place!!
I am a fan since long, ever since one of my friends introduced me to it.
Its a kind of mess, theres also a lodge above it, the food there is typical Maharashtrain vegetarian food. It is very hygienic, very healthy, I am sure it will actually cleanse your body of all the masalas and tikkas you have been eating.

The thali is a combination of limited and unlimited stuff, it costs 35 rs, consists of 4 chapatis, 1 "mud" bhat (means 1 round shaped ball of rice), 1 dry bhaji, 1 wet bhaji, 1 koshimbir,pickle etc and amti/varan or sometimes you have this heavenly tomato saar, I havent tasted anything like it anywhere else...
Somedays, you have a thali of 50 Rs, with everything unlimited, and also some sweet.

There are some rules here though, mentioned clearly outside on a board :-) (Translating them here..)
1. Pls check which bhaji is available today beforehand, and do not take it, if you dont like it, you are not allowed to waste anything later.
They actually scold you if you leave something, I personally experienced it :-( , the first time I ate there, I was a bit slow, one of the servers said to me "Kha na lavkar",(eat fast), I immediately gobbled up and finished everything :-)

2. Switch off your mobiles while eating!!! (You actually receive stares from the servers if you happen to alk on your phone while eating!)

The food is just great, I crave it for almost all the time :-)

Kashid beach

Kashid beach is abt 8-10 km from Murud, From Pune you can either go via Murud, which is a shorter distance, but the "twists and turns" ghat will make it a longer route. We went this way, and there were so many small hills, we were ascending and descending all the time :-)
While coming back we came by expressway, we went towards alibaug, then thru Pen-Khopoli and then expressway to Pune..

The beach is clean, and big, crowds are also less, also there are a lot of small shops on the beach which get food for you, if you order in advance, they have these hammocks all around, its the best way to spend a weekend, laze arnd on the hammocks :-)

We had lunch at a "khanaval" a km away from the beach, they have both veg and non-veg food, I had the veg food, its very simple food, chapati, 2 bhajis, rice and dal with papad.
We asked at one of the shops for "Ukdiche modak", they prepared modaks for us and we had them after lunch , they were good :-) , we dint get Sol kadhi though.
Make sure when you go, ask the khanaval to prepare sol kadhi in advance, you should not miss it!

Friends

Over the years, you meet so many people, make new acquaintances and some become "friends".
This all-encompassing word includes best buddies, childhood frnds, school frnds, college frnds, different college frnds, office frnds..
What is it that makes friends? I remember in school in the first standard, we had to write an essay, "My best friend" and we were supposed to stick a photograph of our best friend,I remember I had cut some photo from some newspaper/magazine and stuck it :-)
There are some friends whom I hardly meet now, but I always remember them on their birthdays, I may not call, since I am out of touch now, But I do remember the bday..

Different frnds know different sides of the same person.
If you were shy in school, a school frnd meeting you after years will be shocked to see your vivacious personality, I have seen such people myself.

Some frnds are those whom you talk to every day, share stories, share all events
happening in your life, but these people keep changing, in school, there was somebody, in college there was somebody else and now its somebody else...

Some frnds are just "email" or "chat" frnds, you know over the years they have changed jobs, got married, have kids, but never actually met them since years, thanks to googletalk(cant use other messengers) and orkut , such relationships are thriving..

Some frnds are such that I meet them after ages but I can talk to them like we had just talked yesterday, and with some, even after years of frndship, you dont seem to be able to connect...

What makes people drift apart? Why is it that sometimes you need to get to know a friend all over again? Why is it that sometimes the people you give a lot to, dont give back the same?

Delhi

I had been to Delhi last week, a very short trip for a friend's wedding.
The trip took a toll on my sleep (punjabi wedding, didnt sleep whole night :-)) , so have been trying to makeup since the past 2 days, but my bai (punctual that she is :-() manages to wake me early anyway.
Delhi, looks a lot different from Bombay, also the people look different. Dont ask me why do they look different, I dont know, they just do. I think it is the sweaters and jackets that they wear?? (In Bombay we are not used to them :-))
Took a quick peek at Gurgaon, had heard a lot about it, the malls and the IT companies etc, but it failed to impress me. I visited the Metropolitan Mall, ppl told me you dont find such big malls elsewhere, but really, I didnt find it that impressive! The Haldirams restaurant there serves different types of chats, I had papdi chat, again, I felt I have had better chats elsewhere.
What impressed me was the history of the city, its tremendous! So many historical monuments, I could just imagine how stately, how royal all those places must have been.
I visited the Qutub Minar, and was genuinely surprised, its so well maintained, I actually loved the monuments and the delicate carving on them.

Am in a new world!!

I just started my blog yesterday and I feel like i am entering a whole unknown world, I used to read others blogs sometimes, but I never knew that this is a new world in itself!!!

So many new terms - feeds, widgets (somehow feels like midgets) ,readers, atoms(?? I vaguely remember them from chemistry) , subscriptions, syndicate (I only know the syndicate bank) , I am sure there must be a glossary for this, or a book called "blogging for dummies"..

And I found so many people I know blogging already, how and when did this happen? when did all this start? Was it like a Big Bang one day and everybody started writing??

Breakfast??

What do ppl eat for breakfast everyday? I get bored thinking abt what should I make today!!

I call my mom everyday in the morning, and she has her usual question "What did u eat?", some days if i have really managed to get up early in the morning and actually made soemthing(!), I recount every detail to her excitedly, even giving her tips on how to make it :-D.
And then on some days, when I have actually done nothing, my answer is like a gruff hmm, haan, yes I ate something and I try to change the topic as soon as possible.
Today was one of those days :-(

But as I left today, I saw some blackened overripe bananas lying around, and my mind immediately flew thousands of kilometers to a place in south Karnataka called Karkala, and a wonderful eatery called "Ashoka hotel". Oh, how I love the buns you get there!!! These are not the "english" buns you must have imagined, these are the hot,delicious, fluffy, slightly sweet, amazingly soft when you chew them, banana buns!
Yes, buns made out of ripe bananas, and I have decided I am going to make them tomorrow for sure (ahem..)
The recipe goes like this , which is how my mom makes it : Crush the bananas, mix with flour(my mom uses regular wheat flour, maida can also be used), sugar, salt, some curd, jeera and baking powder. If you have a food processor, you can mix the dough in it (its less messy). Keep
this dough overnight, and in the morning fry them in oil like pooris, and you have your buns ready.
If I do make them tomorrow, I will try to uplaod some pics.

"pachodi"

I feel like having pachodi :-(
Its been my fav snack since long!
Pachodi is basically a snack made with "kurmura" or "murmura" depending on what part of India you belong to. Kurmura is mixed with coconut oil(I know many ppl will wrinkle their noses now, but believe me, coconut oil is an acquired taste, and once you taste pachodi, you will defintiely acquire it :-)), some pickle , chopped onion, cilantro and if its in season, chopped raw mango..aha..Just writing abt it makes me salivate...

My memories of pachodi are those associated with my study leaves, during engg, i would study like crazy during the day and would take a break in the evening only to eat pachodi, made by my mom. (my mom soemtimes used to make paper cones and serve pachodi in that, bhelwala style)

Gone are those days, when I was pampered all the time and would have things ready for me :-) .

Welcome

I am welcoming myself to my blog, I am rather late in entering this blogging world, dunno why today i suddenly felt like writing, as my blog name says "Just feel like writing.."

I have read many blogs and always feel why do ppl blog? I guess if somebody asks me now, why have you started this, I have no answer :-)

I used to love writing when in school, always used to think I will write a book sometime , like all childhood fantasies, this remained just that, a fantasy.
One observation here : whoever I meet, are not doing what they really want to do, they always say, I always wanted to do "..", but ".."
Is there anybody out there doing what they like?

Tilgul ghya, god god bola

For Sankrant, I tried tilgul this year for the first time. Basically laddu made from sesame seeds. Its not an easy task!
As usual I called up my mom to get the recipe, and I also got quite a few warnings from her, its a skill few people have, its all about timing, its the first time you are making them etc. I as usual, overconfidence personified,got a kilo of sesame seeds, and started roasting them. After a long time, seeing not much activity in the kadhai, I called up my mom, she said, the sesame seeds will start dancing! My sesame seeds seemed to be more like sleeping, in fact nothing was happening. Then my mom asked me the question, exactly how much quantity have you taken, when i told her, she was simply shocked at my audacity, and said "Do you know how difficult it will be for you to make laddus and that too when the paste is hot!"
Sanity restored, I immediately split all ingredients into half and started the first batch.
Ingredients :
1. Half kilo sesame seeds
2. Half kilo jaggery (chikkicha gul)
3. Groundnut powder(little)
4. Roasted dry coconut powder(little)
5. Elaichi (cardamom) powder
Method:
Roast the sesame seeds, till they are brown and start dancing.Keep them aside.
Similarly, roast the groundnut powder and cocount powder and keep aside.
Heat the jaggery until it takes a liquid form, this is the mosty tricky part, it should not be heated too much or too little, then put the sesame, groundnut and cocount and cardamon powder and mix well.
Switch off the heat, make small balls(laddus) when this mixture is still hot, once it cools, it becomes hard and then it cannot be rolled into balls.