MellowDrama

In our country the winter season generally lasts from October to March. The days begin to get shorter and there is often just so much more to do, in terms of cooking and eating. A reason behind this is the ample amount of a variety of produce that becomes available in winter. When I close my eyes and think of the colours that correspond with winter I see lovely hues of greens, reds and oranges. Why don’t you try it? Close your eyes and think of the vegetables as well as various fruit that you associate with winter. Let us try and get to know the goodness that lies hidden in the wonderfully colourful world of winter vegetables and fruit: Spinach I took to spinach as a fan of Popeye the sailor man who in testing times grabs a tin full of spinach and wins against his rival. I shred palak leaves to use in soup or steam them to pair up with a healthy dose of cottage cheese to make an irresistible palak paneer or knead it into my dough to reap its goodness in the form of the reg...

Winter is here. The thought of getting under layers and layers of woollens does not really make me happy. Also, winter brings with it bouts of cold and sneezing fits which leave me with a persistent headache. But what can make winter bearable is the food — the kind and the quantity — that one can eat during this season. A mere mention of rounds of hot ginger tea accompanied by delicious pakoras is enough to set my heart racing. Add a dollop of pudina or mint chutney and I could survive on pakoras alone for days and days together. Too much pakoras in my system now and I crave for something sweet, besides the tea, to restore the balance. A godsend answer to this craving is the Indian sweet called halwa. The wonderful Suji ka halwa When I was a kid, Mithun Chakraborty in the guise of a certain halwa-wallah brought joy to children in a Bollywood film. I did not get a chance to know him or the type of halwa but I have had my share of a variety of halwas that are sumptuo...

The gravitational pull has been known to put many things into an aligned perspective. Remember the fame it brought to Newton? Similarly to straighten hair I would use the same- yes you guessed it right the magical pull, the GRAVITATIONAL PULL. The first step is to apply the right amount of weight to your hair to align them. In case of wavy hair, you can use coins to straighten them first. Using Rs 5 coins is highly recommended as the weight of this denomination has been found to be ample for slightly wavy hair. In case of more problematic hair aka dense curls, you will need to take help from a brother or a boyfriend keen on body building. Raid their body building equipment for dumbbells. The principle 'the weightier the better it is'can be applied while choosing the right degree of weight for your curliness. Moving on to the next step. After you have applied the appropriate weight to your curls/ waves, you have to lie down on a bed and let down your ...

Have you seen a tandoor? It is a clay oven that is used to cook and bake food by generating fire within it. The food cooks in its own fat and juices as it is exposed to high temperatures inside the tandoor. This method of cooking, called the tandoori method, is often associated with Mughlai food or the food from the Mughal era. This also refers to dry foods especially meats cooked in a clay oven over a high heat. The chicken tikka, mutton tikka, kebab, tandoori murg, paneer tikka are some of the grilled delights that come out of a tandoor. The earliest tandoors were discovered alongside the remains of the Indus Valley civilisation. It is now a strongly held belief that the tandoor travelled with the migrating Aryan race. The Aryans, who originally belonged to India, would travel often in search of grazing lands. Some of their travels took them to the Caucasus Mountains and also brought them back after a couple of centuries and so the tandoor travelled from India around Asia and ...

Continuing on our food journey, let us today explore a destination that has given the taste of India to the world to sample. You must be familiar with the name of this city which is also an important place of pilgrimage for the Sikhs. It has held great significance in the annals of history owing to a massacre. Amritsar is known throughout the world for its rich culture and cuisine. Harmandir Sahib or the Golden Temple is the most prominent religious place for Sikhs and in 1919 the holy city saw many lose their lives at the Jallianwala Bagh. Today let us venture into the gullies of Amritsar and explore the foodie delights they have to offer. Amritsar lends its name to a fish preparation that is not only exquisite but also has had a big hand in putting the city’s name on the food map of the world. We are talking about the Amritsari fish. A simple dish of fish that is fried in a mix of very basic ingredients like besan and yoghurt has caught the imagination of chefs around the world...

Bengali sweets have often found a major following everywhere they go. K C Das canned rosogollas and finding a confectioner who doesn’t sell them even today will be a tough task. The tradition of exchanging sweets during the festival season is indeed a sweet tradition. It serves to remind us that not only is there an unfathomable joy in sharing but also that all that is actually worthwhile in our lives are the sweet moments of togetherness. For children, these times are made even more memorable by the uninhibited supply of sweets along with an unrestricted access to them. Diwali, to my mind, is one festival that the whole country celebrates with the spirit of unity. The various elements of Diwali — sweets (of course!), bursting crackers, donning your best clothes, rangoli — are much the same from the top of the country to the bottom. So let us look at the five sweets that add that extra special flavour and sweetness to this festival of lights. Gajar ka halwa: Doesn’t just the mere...

One festive season has just gone by. I am sure you brought out your brightest and nicest clothes. Some new ones must have been purchased for an important puja or your favourite day of festivity. It is awe inspiring how various festivals celebrated by people belonging to different religions and communities follow one another so closely, and we spend so much time in gaiety and revelry. One thing common to festivals, be they of any religion, is the tradition of exchanging sweets. Durga Puja, which just concluded, brought me closer to the wonderful world of Bengali sweets and that is what we are going to delve into today. Rosogollas, sandesh and mishti doi rule the roost, yet there is much more to the Bengali sweet. The lovely chom-chom, the aromatic kalakand, the shapely langcha… you name your preference and the Bengalis will present you with something that is apt for your sweet tooth. A wonderful thing about most Bengali sweets is that they make for a healthy choice. The main c...