Chana Masala With Anardana Powder

Ok, I have visited this blog a very very very long time... No excuse, its just that I have been busy with baby and office. And also there is a lack of motivation to keep updating this blog... :(
Anayways, now I am back again. Mainly to write some of my fav recipes so that I dont forget it when I want to make it next time.

This time I am going to post how to make Chana masala with anardana powder. I had tasted this recipe at my friend's place. Its simple, easy and comes out amazing. So here we go:

Ingredients:

Kabuli Chana - 3 cups soaked overnight
Onion : 2 big chopped finely
ginger: 1 inch
garlic:  around 10
green chilli: 2-3
Anardana Powder:  2 tbsp (I use MDH brand)


Instruction:
1. Pressure cook soaked chana for at least 10 whistles (or around 30-40 mins)
2. In the meantime soak Anardana Podwer in water (1 cup) for 30 mins.
3. Grind Ginger-garlic and chilli to make it a paste
3. In the oil, add Hinge and cumin seeds and fry for 30 sec.
4.  Add Onion and fry till it becomes translucent.
5. Then add ginger-garlic-chilli paste and fry for another 2-3 mins.
6. Add coriander powder, tarmeric powder, and garam masala and fry for another minute.
7. Add Anardana powder paste which was mixed with water earlier. Fry for another 5 mins.
8. In the meantime, take 1-1/2 cup of boiled chana and grind it. This will make the garvy thick.
9. After frying anardana powder, add boiled chana and also the chana paste.
10. Add salt to taste.
11. Let it cook in slow flame for 15-20 mins.
12. Add chopped coriander leaves for garnishing.

Chana Masala is ready!!! 

I am my favorite ....

All Indian would have watched this Blockbuster "Jab We Met"... Really lovely movie... Loved Geet's character in that... The carefree, happy go lucky girl who would just follow her heart... In that do you remember she says .. "I am my favorite..." This is just simple statement but it stuck in my subconscious mind ...

I realized the importance of this statement in my current job where I have travel to some alien country every now and then.. And then there are some countries in which I am all alone with no one to talk to (I mean as a friend). I have to go for breakfast, lunch and dinner all alone.. This is a disaster in IT world where all the software engineer wait for lunch break and tea break to gossip and unwind .. But then I have no options.. I have to go all alone everywhere ... Thats when I started realizing the importance of my own company.. Being just with myself, reading a book, listening to music while sipping a coffee or going for lunch... Lost in my own thoughts thinking about how to resolve my next software issue or what should be my next blog topic or what should I write as my FB status message or just about anything under the sun...

And I was happy just being like that.. Now I do not miss anyone's company.. and I do not complain if I have to go alone to eat... It is a nice feeling just to know that I can enjoy my own company.. A feeling I thought I never had before... I do not have to seek out anyone's company or feel conscious when I am only person sitting at the table in a restaurant...

This is not some kind of enlightenment.. But this was the time when I realized "I am my favorite.." ... :)

When did you all feel that way??

To Continue Or Not... ??

With the onset of new urban society, more and more woman are being a part of bread winner of the family. Most of the working woman are excelling in their chosen field and coming up with flying colors. Like a man, woman also have aspiration of getting a promotion, a big paycheck, climbing up the corporate ladder or going for higher studies, etc..
In India these culture change has come just within last 15-20 years. And this change has created a lot of confusing in the family setup that was going on for years. Specially in the mind of a working woman...

As much as I have seen of the world and friends around me, the new age husband is normally very supportive of wife's career, her aspiration, her career goals etc. And if there is a good understanding between the two, there are not much ego clashes and the minor issues like dividing the house work, cooking, etc get sorted out pretty easily (with bit of fighting, then making up and then nagging, etc :)

The confusion in this setup arises when the couple plans to start a family. During this time, the wife is faced with a big question of whether to continue with the job or leave it to take care of the kid. As a working woman, I can understand that this is not as easy decision.

On one hand, its a job which normally defines your identity (in some way.. ). Its a way of validating yourself and your ego that you are doing something worthwhile... being in a job gives a feeling of independence. Being in job, just doesn't mean to bring back the paycheck home... there is a lot more factors involved in it than just money... And thus its not very easy to give up your job..

And then on the other hand, if you continue with the job, who will take care of the kid??.. Is it ok to keep the your child with some maid and then keep thinking how your child will be treated by her... Is it worth to deprive your child of the motherly love and also deprive yourself of being in touch with all the growing up process of your kid...

I am very surely, all the working mother would be going through this dilemma.. And offcourse they would take the best decision for their family and their kid...
But still this question lingers in my mind now and then... And I still don't know the answer yet... But I am very sure when the time comes for me, things will get sorted out own their own...

PS: To all those who know me personally, please don't get the wrong impression... I do not have any good new...:) This is just a question that keep coming to my mind now and then.. And so this post

Some time to Enjoy??

Somebody had shared this song on facebook.. wow its an amazing song.. If you are a fan of old hindi songs, please go ahead and listen to it.. It will surely uplift your mood ...
Here the heroin is telling hero to halt and enjoy the beauty.. Its the hero who wants to reach the destination faster before the day ends.. If you see its so symbolic...

All of us are running after something in life.. It may be a much anticipated promotion, or a huge house in a perfect location or a car which is friends envy... And offcourse its good to be ambitious.. Its gives a direction in ones life...

But yes how much ambitious is a question that you need to ask yourself.. Would you give up to play with your kids every evening for a big promotion?? Would you skip lovely evenings/weekends with your spouse for a big house that you dream to buy?? Would you back stab your close friends to move ahead of them or to show them your superiority??

Life will not fall apart if you have to stay in a rented house for 2-3 extra years, or if you get 85% instead of 90% in your exams or if there is a small delay in your promotion.. But life may change if you loose respect of your kids or if you unable to have quality time with your spouse or if you end up loosing your close friends.. In the end, once you reach the your goal, maybe you would realize what you have missed on the way...

Maybe its time to sit back and experience the beauty of life around us and appreciate it before moving ahead...

Life's so Strange...

I have a traveling job... Every 2-3 weeks, I have to pack my bags and go around Singapore region to do some client work or conduct some training...

Before marriage I would have loved to get this kind of job.. We gain more confidence in our work interacting with various people, get to stay in 5 star hotels, visit different places, experience new cultures and on top of that earn extra money through perdiem ... What else could I have asked...

But now, I am somehow not so found of traveling for work (traveling with family is altogether a different thing). The thought of Vishal and feeling that "He will be alone at home... " keeps me wishing to go back to Singapore and counting my days in the foreign country.

This is the same job that I would have loved to do two years back... And now why do I feel I shouldn't do this kind of job?? Why there is such a difference after marriage? Has marriage changed me so much that my preferences have taken U turn... ? Do all the other girls also go through the similar situation and dilemma or is it just me??

I am not sure...Seriously life is so strange..

To all Permanent Things...

"The only thing constant in life is change". I don't know who has written this but its true.
All of us know it and have gone through many changes in life... job change, place change, people change... Everything is changing everyday. It depends on our maturity to accept those changes gracefully whether we like it or not....

ok this blog is not about changes and accepting changes... This blog is about permanent things in life... Yes there are many things changing in our life but there is something that do not change so easily... That is our foundation of life, our moral values that are taught to us from childhood, the people that are most important in our life...
Like if honesty is one of my value..., it will still remain the same for me even after 10 years eventhough many other external things will change... Its the same with people... Like Vishal, my parents, in-laws and my best friends will still have the same place in my heart.. eventhough many people will come and go in my life...

I know there are many people who will not agree to this. Many of my friends think that people change.. External circumstances change them completely. I do not totally agree with them. But I respect their opinion. Off-course they would have gone through some experiences in life to have formed this opinion.

But to me... Most of the important things will remain the same in my life. I can hold on to them (important people and my values) when I need support during tough phases of life because I can be sure that they won't change and leave me when I need them the most...
So cheers to all the important things in Life... :)

Just a Click Away ...

oh... I am feeling restless... My head is a little heavy.. like there is something pending... oh something is wrong..
I get to thinking.. whats different? No, I don't have a important meeting in the office or any presentation.. or any fights with Vishal or anything unusual as such.. Then I realized its been almost 2 days since I have spoken to my parents.. aha.. thats why my head was heavy like something is missing in me ...

Then one more thought crosses my mind... If my condition is like this, what my parents or our previous generation would have gone through being away from loved ones for months/years... I remember we had our first phone in our house when I was in 1st or 2nd standard (around 1990 - 1991). Before that communication used to happen with letters and important or urgent things had to be conveyed through telegram which used to take 2 days to reach. Then came the age of truck call where maximum time was just 9 mins giving way to STD and mobile phones thereafter.

All this seems so far fetched, but yeah we all have gone through the difficult days... More than us our parents have gone through it.. I can imagine what kind of heavy feeling they would have had for days without any feeling of comfort ...

We all should be glad that we don't have to go through that discomfort feeling ... Our loved ones are just a click away ... :)