Quinoa Khichdi

Khichdi always reminds me of  fine childhood memories where my mom used to cook and feed, i didnt even know the name but what i knew was it tastes yummy. I so much wanted to tell mom but i couldnt tell properly except 'bah bah buh', that was back when i was 2. khichdi reminds me of my mom, am sure it does to every. Every person including kids in india love this dish which is very popular and usually made with rice and lentils. This dish is easy on stomach usually called comfort food.

I used quinoa instead of rice to make khichdi  and i swear khichdi made with anything, it never disappoints our taste buds. I am personally a big fan of this dish and recommend every one to try this healthy and yummy quinoa khichdi. Its not so difficult in cooking, takes so less time.

Cooking time: 20 min

Serves: 3

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cup  Quinoa

1/2 cup   Red dal (masoor dal)

1/2 cup  Onions

5-6  Curry leaves

2-3  Green chillies

1/2 tsp  Turmeric

1 tsp  Ginger galic paste

water

Method:

1. Heat oil and add onions into it. Saute until light golden brown.

2. Now add ginger garlic paste, after 2 seconds add curry leaves, turmeric, green chillies.

3. Saute them for 1 min and add 2 cups water.

4. When water comes to boil, then add quinoa and dal together .

5. Let it cook until the water is evaporated and make sure quioa and dal is cooked.

6. Serve hot with coconut chutney or kadi and dont forget the papad .

Tips:

1. Soak quinoa and dal atleast 15 -20 min in water before cooking. This will reduces the cooking time.

Expect the Unexpected love...

The secret ingredient of love is...... NOTHING. Yes, there is no secret ingredient in this world for love. Its all in you, what you have.. if you have love then it shows. Saying I Love You isnt the only way to let someone know how you feel, sometimes the small little thing we do makes lots of difference. No one want to lose the person we love, so always be the first to make efforts to have the in your life.

Being in relationship is about being with person who makes you happy. Then appreciate the person you have fallen in love with; when there are feelings that are so strong, sometimes writing can help express them. Show love and surprise... at times this makes your partner feel wanted, loved and important. You must be thinking 'i say i love you every day, hug and kiss' but saying i love u is not always enough. If you really want to see your partner happy and full of life then show love when they are not expecting them. 

The most important thing we can give each other is our attention. it just feels really nice to know that you have been on some ones mind and that they care enough to let you know that. All you need to do is full a piece of paper write how you feel in love note. More better way of making them feel more special and love is through love card made by you. Yes, you read correctly make by you , sending a e-card or buying the card doent give a personal touch. It is not that difficult to make a card. I'l help you make a beautiful love card for you partner in a simple and easy way.

Things required:

-red and any other different color paper
-scissors
-glue
-knife blade

Directions:

LOVE CARD  1:

This little card tells every thing. 

step 1: write i love you in a piece of paper and letter of the person you love  

Step 2: cut the i love you leaving the corners and fold

Step 3: pull out the i love you in the opposite direction of fold and same with the letter

Step 4: cut 3 small size hearts

Step 5: take other color paper fold half as shown and stick heart

Step 6: stick other heart on the first heart

Step 7: stick an other heart on 2nd heart creating 3d effect.

Step 8: stick the i love you inside the folded card as shown above

Step 9: pill out the letters and fold.

Step 10: write a lovely message outside..

 

LOVE CARD  2:

Simple i love you letter cut and stuck on the card

 LOVE CARD 3:

Have no creative skills try this simple card..

 

LOVE CARD 4:

 Wanna show in animated way. Then this is a perfect 3d card , which looks beautiful.

Draw two heart shape like this and cut across the line

Heart should like this after cutting, carefully pull circles

Stick two heart inside a card on both sides in 30 deg left and right

Stick the corners of both the hearts together

Write a lovely message on the card 

On the cover of the card you write a message and a flower( be creative)

LOVE CARD 5:

Wanna show your partner how much you love. Here is the perfect way.

Place your hand on paper and cut in the shape

On one hand write a message

Cut a long paper strip write " this much" and stick on both the hands

Bollywood retro theme !! lets get vintage....

Its always exciting to know our history and when the history comes back how would that feel?? like taking a time travel back rite... So lets get live the history again with retro style party. Retro style is nothing but the fashion our grand parents and parents saw and wore. Its interesting to dress up like them and party in vintage style. Its said "OLD IS GOLD"  retro look also called vintage style never goes off. It always comes back into time to create yet another trend of fashion and style. This is an amazing way to look gorgeous.
Looking for party themes what struck my mind next was retro look, getting back into good old days. I always like and choose themes such that my friends find it easy to dress up not confusing. Today il tell u how me and my friends got retro look. Not just about the look, il discuss about the retro food from past and few games to play at the party to keep the spirit up. I enjoyed a lot at this party it was liking taking a time travel to past 70s and 80s.

So are you all guys ready to time travel??

Retro look:

Getting this look is not that difficult. We see in bollywood movies now a days actors keep wearing retro clothes for characters and also in the old movies we saw in your childhood. If you have not then dont worry il show you few looks that can help you dress like them. Ask your grandparents and parents for old clothes if they have them stored, you can use them. To create this look all you got to have is boot cut and high waist pants paired with funky colorful shirts. For girls all you need to have is a saree or short shirt with chudi bottom. In my potluck party i picked a bight colorful saree and draped in famous mumtaz style. My friends all came dressed in very innovative characters someone came dressed as raj kapoor, some one got the look of bola from padosan. Here are few looks you may find interesting and will help you get the idea.

The classic famous look known as mumtaz style drape

Famous raj kapoor look of mera juta hai japani

If you want to look stylish then rajesh khanna's look is perfect for you

These are few retro looks tried by famous actors for their movies.

Makeup and hairstyle:

Hairstyle and makeup where giving much importance in olden days. Actresses took so much time just to get their hair perfectly done. Most famous hair style know to every one is the bump on the head, which got high day by day. Who can forget that smokey eye makeup with long wings. One of those look is scarf tied hairstyle, having long waves and side braided hair with a flower to add extra touch.

Here are few such looks.

 

Retro food:

You must have not heard of retro food, this is no new recipe or cuisine. But dishes that were famous in 70s and 80s and even today people love them i call it retro food. In my potluck party we had samosas, pakoda, lentil soup, paratha, tandoori chicken. Rice and wheat was grown by many people and loved by people in the past. Simple chicken curry served with rice , dal, aloo tikki, chole. Fresh vegetables where grown in the backyards of the houses and veg curries were loved like.. bhendi fry, potato curry. You can find these recipes readily available on internet. These dishes may not look so famous but brings back good old memories...

Games:

Games always are fun and helps as ice breakers in the party. You can have some old retro games known from ages. Choose depending on the people in your party. Here are list of few interesting games that can be played.

1. Dumb charades: 

If you have groups of large people then this is the perfect old games. Make two teams and one team gives the name of the movie to one player of the other team. That player acts being dumb so that his team can guess the name. If you want some difficult bollywood movie name suggestions you can check my previous post, that will help you win.

2. Guessing the name:

If you have a small group to play dumb charades then write down the names of movies on a paper and put them in a hat or bottle. Ask each guest to pick and act for the guests. You have the list from my blog.

3. Passing the parcel:

One player player the referee and plays the music. Parcel is kept passing among the players( better if you sit in circle) and when the music goes off the person having the parcel is out. First the referee gives them some fun task to do . On next turn the first player out will give the task to next player out, it goes on until you have the winner. The person who remains till end is the winner and he gets a prize.

4. Langdi tang:

If you have a large area to play then you can play this game. Place some random stuff around the room. Each player hops and fetches those items. Keep your stop watch ready and count the time. Person who finishes fast wins the game.

5. Antakshari:

Who doent know this game... Baithe baithe kya kare hum karna hai kuch kam, shuru karo antakshari leke prabhu ka naam and the game begins. Make two teams , one team sings a song and the other team should sing a song with the last letter of the song they sang. They are given some some to start the song, if they could not sing other team can sing and get the point. Games goes on. This is an exciting ice breaker game.



This retro theme party is exciting and fun loving, brings the old memories back. I had fun with my friends with yummy food, exciting games and pretty looking guests. Next time you plan a party try this retro style i bet you will have loads of fun....

 

Dumb Charades can never be easy...

Dumb charades! guessing movie names, yes! very old game played from decades. Every person no matter what age group likes this game. Where some people are good at acting, some people are good at guessing. Combination of this makes a tough team just like my friends. Every time we play this game we keep thinking of the tough movie names so that you can win and the player from the opposite team can not act. This also leads us to know new and weird names of movies.
Once i played this game with my friends and they were like so perfect at this game, they guessed all the movie names i suggested. After this incident i looked out for some tough movie names. When we played next time i gave all of those tough movie names i searched and every one looked amazed at me. Now they consider me as tough competition... Here are few tough bollywood movie names for dumb charades which are very difficult to guess and act.

Names of bollywood movies for dumb charades....

1.  Paathaal bhairavi
2.  36 chaugali lane
3.  Alam ara ki beti
4.  Kabuliwala
5.  Amrit manthan
6.  Aplan chaplan
7.  Wazir-e-azam
8.  Divya drishti
9.  Bhagwan parshuram
10.  Ganga tera pani amrit
11.  Johar mehmood in Hongkong
12.  Umar 55 ki dil bachpan ka
13.  Suraj ka satvan ghada
14.  Salim langde pa mat ro
15.  Maya memsaab
16.  Gomti ke kinare
17.  Shayar-e-Kashmir mahjoor
18.  Yeh gulistaan hamara
19.  Katha madhopur ki
20.  Pratibandh
21.  Shera shamshera
22.  Bhediyon ka samooh
23.  Indrajeet
24.  Mississippi masala
25.  Basanti Tangewali
26.  Qaid mein hai bulbul
27.  Dr babasaheb ambedkar
28.  Saboot mangta hai kanoon
29.  Sangdil sanam
30.  Hafta vasuli
31.  Zulm-o-sitam
32.  Shaheed utham singh
33.  Ayurveda: art of being
34.  Yugandhar
35.  Mr. joe B carvalho
35.  Tadipaar
36.  Hazaar chaurasi ki maa
37.  Shool
38.  Abhinetri
39.  Dr. kotnis ki amar kahani
40.  Sanyasi mera naam
41.  Tathaasthu
42.  Iqraar by chance
43.  Hello! hum lallan bol rahe hai
44.  Thodasa roomani ho jaayen
45.  Shaitaani illaka
46.  Shin shinaki bablaboo
47.  Andheri raath ma diya tere haat me
48.  Yugpurush: a man who comes just once in a way
49.  Museum ke andar pass gaye sikander
50.  Jal bin machli nritya bin bijli

These 50 bollywood movie names are very tough and difficult to play. Next time you play do try these names and you will be the winner and considered as tough competition by everyone. More interesting and new names are always encouraged, do let me know..

Quinoa veg biryani..

Being a hyderabadi myself i am so found of biryani. Biryani is like heart of Hyderabad, ask a hyderabadi how much he loves biryani. Every coner of hyderabad has restaurants which serves hyderabadi biryani. I tried making this famous dish with quinoa and i swear it tastes so delicious. This  has become my favorite easy to make fab dish. Whenever i find few leftover vegetables in my fridge i make this dish. Moreover this is quite healthy and gives the same taste as with rice.

Cooking time: 25
Serves : 3

Ingredients:

3 cups  Quinoa

1/2 cup  Onions

1/2 cup  Carrot small diced

1/2 cup  French beans ( cut in 1cm length)

1/2 cup  Potatoes small diced

1/2 cup  Cauliflower

1/2 cup  Capsicum diced

1/2 cup  Tomatoes

1/2 cup  Yogurt

1 tsp  Red chili powder

1 tsp  Salt

1 tsp  Ginger garlic paste

1/2 tsp Turmeric

1 tsp  Coriander powder

1 tsp  Garam masala Powder

1/4 cup  Whole garam masala

1 cup  Coriander and mint leaves.

2 to 3  Green chillies
1/4 cup  Fried onions
pinch of color dissolved in half lemon juice

Method:

1. Cut all the veggies into small dices.

2. Heat water in a pot then add 1/4 cup of whole garam masala, coriander and mint leaves. When water comes to boil add quinoa into it. Cook quinoa until 3/4 done and drain the water suing strainer.

3. Now heat oil and add potatoes into it. Fry until half done and remove in a plate.

4. In the same heated oil add onions fry till transparent and now add cauliflower and carrot. Saute for a minute and add ginger garlic paste. After 1 min add capsicum and tomatoes.
5. Now add all the dry spices and saute properly. Then add yogurt. Cook for 2 more minutes .
6. Finally add the strained quinoa on the vegetables.
7. Now top the quinoa with fried onions,coriander leaves and lemon juice with color. This is look very beautiful.
8. Cover with lid and on medium flame let it cook for 10 minutes and serve it with boiled eggs and raita.

Tips:

1. Cook with olive oil to make it more healthy.

2. If you dont want spicy then you can avoid adding whole garam masala in quinoa. Still it will taste good.

Tapori theme...bhai log mafik party..

Recently at pot luck party with my friends, we had this well know yet very interesting theme called tapori theme. It was so much fun where all came dressed as tapori, talking like them, famous indian street food was cooked and games where organised. Next time you plan a party and looking for some interesting theme that makes your party happening then this is the correct theme. Its not so difficult, every one might have heard and few including me have even tried singing like amair khan "aye... kya bolti tu.. aye... kya main boloun...sun.. suna..aati kya khandala" and shahrukh khan saying " apun bola tumaeri laila, woh boli phekta hai sala". Many bollywood movies have been showing these characters and many actors have made this famous with catchy dailogues. This is basically unique language and style of people of mumbai. Lets get started with the look and language.

Talk and dress up like tapori:

Apne dimag pa zyada load nahi lene ka. Apun abhi cut to cut baath karega. Abhi fultoo zhakaas bhai log mafik party kaise karneka bolega apun. Pehle toh apun mafik bolna seekhne ka kya.. aur sab ki waat laga dalne ka. See talking in tapori language is not so difficult, all we have to know is some basic words that are used and mix it with hindi and you are all done. Basic words you need to know are like...

Example:

Cut to cut baat karne ka- to speak concisely or briefly
Chava or Chavi - Boyfriend/girlfriend.
Double battery - A person wearing prescription glasses.
Haila or Aaila - “Oh God”.
Chappan tikkli - One with lots of ****les on his/her face.
Time khoti mat kar- Do not waste time
Kalti- Get lost or goes away.
Kaiko - Why?
Cutting - Half a glass of tea.
Boss - Form of address to a friend, unrelated person or stranger.
Kharcha-paani - to beating up somebody.
Fultoo - Too good or very cool,
Talli - Drunk.
Dedh-foot or Dedh-futya - Refer to a short person.
Mamu - Depending on context may mean a police constable or a eunuch.
Waat or Vaat - to be in trouble.
Paan-patti or Tapri - A small shop selling tobacco, cigarettes, toffees and optionally, tea.
Shendi- make a fool of others.
Galat Faimili- misunderstanding
Khopche- a secret place
Jhakaas Item-a beautiful lady
Jyaada RAAG mat de..- Don't just bluff..OK!
LOAD nahi leneka kya-Don't take much tension.
Hata Saawan Ki Ghata-I don't care about it much..

Raapchik Maal- a sensuous/unexplainably charming lady. 

Rappak ( stress on "pp" ) - means Slap. ( eg. Kaan kay neechay rappak lagaoonga. )
Tapri - A road side shop.
Chotay - For any kid working in a Tapri. If the shop has more than one kid ... all would have to be Chotays.

Now when you have know about the language now its time to learn how to dress like one tapori. This is actually not that difficult all you have to do is pick up a pair of jeans and colorful shirt tie a knot on the waist then tie handkerchief around your neck, tada! your done. I'll show you few famous bollywood actors references who played tapori in there movies.. you can dressup like anyone of them

Example: 

Amair khan  and urmila in Rangeela 

Shahrukh khan in Josh

Salman khan in judwa

Uday chopra as Ali in Dhoom

Arshad warsi as famous Circuit in Munna bhai

Sonakshi in go go govinda song

Ranbir kapoor in Chillar party

Food:

 Most important thing FOOD... potluck parties are mainly about different types of foods. As this is tapori theme choose all famous indian street foods. We had Pani puri, Bhel puri, Ragda chat, Vada pav, Pav bhaji. You can also have Dahi puri, Cut mirchi, grilled corn. You can find all these recipes readily available on internet.

Games:

Now you are all set for the party. To keep the party going you can plan few activities for the guests and play some tapori music in background. If you are confused and have no idea of what activities to plan here are few games you can organize for your guests.

1. Maarampitti:  

This is  always a fun game played on every indian street and every one must have enjoyed in your childhood. This game is played with a small soft ball. The person holding the ball gets to hit any other player with the ball any where on the body and the person being hit tries to escape. If he gets hit he get to hold the ball and hit. The person who never gets hit is the winner. 

2. Blow up balloons:

Hang up balloons from the roof and give a pebble to hit with sling shot. each person gets to aim at balloons. 

3. Act like bhai log:

Ask each person to talk for 2 minutes in tapori language. Best spoken person is the winner.

Music:

Play hit bollywood tapori songs. If you are looking for songs you can play during the evening and make every guest to dance on the numbers . Then here are few list of songs.

1. Yaroon sulo zara apna yeh kehna from Rangeela

2. M bole toh, bole toh from Munna bhai MBBS

3. Tan tana tan tan tan tara from Judwa

4. My name is lakhan from Ram lakhan

5. Aye kya bolti tu from Gulam

6. Apun bola tu meri laila from Josh

7. Saila ro saila re from Josh

8. Aye ganpat chal daru la from Shootout at lokhandwala

9. Taye taye phiss from Chillar party

10. Mai toh raste se jaraha tha from Coolie no 1

I hope this information helps you in planning an amazing party like mine.