Yesterday was Janmashtami, a Hindu festival celebrating the birth of Krishna, an avatar of the god Vishnu.

Sri Krishna taught us Karma Yoga. He strongly dictated in Gita that a man is bound to get the fruits of his actions. If he has done good actions/deeds throughout his life, he will get good results. Karma yoga is action (karma) performed without expectations or thought of reward. This selfless service of karma yoga is the path by which the mind is most quickly purified and its limits transcended.

Growing up as a Sikh, Janmashtami was just another holiday for me. But for V, a Hindu, its always been an important festival. His parents keep a fast the whole day on Janamasthami, only breaking it after offering prayers to Lord Krishna around midnight.

Though I did not keep a fast, I did not eat anything till I took a bath and first offered some food to the idol of Lord Krishna (I know that’s no feat but I thought I’ll mention it nonetheless 🙂 ). Sweets and desserts are the most preferred dishes for Janamashtami offerings, because Lord Krishna was known for his sweet tooth and generally some kind of kheer or Halwa is offered to him.

So, I took upon myself to make Halwa (pronounced hull-wa).

Halwa is a popular Indian dessert made from various kinds of fruits, vegetables, grains and lentils. If using fruits in Halwa, they are grated finely and fried in ghee and sugar. Nuts and milk may also be added. Halwas have the consistency of a very thick pudding.

My trials with halwa making haven’t been too great. In the past I have tried making Sooji Halwa (made from semolina), one of V’s favorite desserts. The first time was a disaster and the timing of it couldn’t have been more perfect (read about that disaster here). Of course now I have a failproof recipe for Sooji ka halwa.

This time I thought I would make halwa from whole wheat flour- atte ka halwa (atta/atte is the hindi word for whole wheat flour). Personally, I prefer the whole wheat one to the semolina one, probably because that was generally what my mom made and carries with it a lot of memories.

After my 10th standard exams, my dad got posted to Delhi. Now 10th and 12th are crucial years for Indian students- the Board exam years. So when my dad got posted to Jaisalmer, (Rajasthan) during my 12th standard, in the middle of the school year, my mom decided to stay back with me in Delhi, and join him after I was done with my exams.

Now, like me, my mom used to get lazy to cook elaborate meals with my dad not there. Plus, I was fine with eating easier to cook one dish meals like parantha, and rajma chawal. And for dessert, almost everyday, both she and I would have atte ka halwa. She would just make enough for the two of us, with each serving consisting of 5-6 bites. But she would make sure it was made properly, with no skimping on the amount of ghee. It was a thing my mom and I shared and I will always treasure those afternoons for the fun we used to have eating and enjoying the halwa she made.

Read More →

“This is my invariable advice to people: Learn how to cook- try new recipes, learn from your mistakes, be fearless, and above all have fun!”

Julia Child

While we celebrated India’s birthday (our country has completed 64 years of Independence), the culinary world was celebrating the birthday of one of the most famous personalities where food is concerned- Julia Child. She is the most prominent figure in revolutionizing America’s culinary scene, bridging the gap between the home kitchen and the professional one. For Mrs. Child, mistakes were not the end of the world, just part of the game. I guess even the big boom in food blogging can be attributed to Julia Child and the admiration that one person had for Julia Child’s cookbook. Julie Powell’s Salon blog may be the first cook-through blog. And of course, the movie itself introduced a lot of people to the food blogging world.

We have a lot to thank Julia Child for. Mostly, gratitude is due for the inspiration she gave to us home cooks to follow our passion and not to give up on something we are passionate about. Julia Child began learning to cook when she was thirty-seven years old. That in itself should be a testimony to the fact : It’s never too late to follow your dreams!

Coming now to this week’s Garam Masala Tuesdays. I have two recipes for you and of course, the winner of my first Blogiversary Giveaway !

Read More →

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 story today.

Head over to Ram Pyaari’s blog for the story !

Read More →