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. 

Healthy bitter gourd (karela) chutney

Bitter gourd is one such vegetable that is not easily loved by all types of people. Specially kids run away when bitter gourd is cooked. Due to its bitter taste i never liked this vegetable since childhood. One day my grandmother told me how this bitter tasting gourd is so healthy for my skin and even helps in reducing weight. She shared this recipe and it was tasty, healthy and never tasted bitter. This vegetable is mostly used by asian people.  People with diabetes should definitely include this vegetable in there diet because this helps in reducing blood sugar level. This can be cooked in many ways either eat like chips or  make a curry or chutney and you can also make pickle and store for few days.

Today i am sharing my grandmom's secret karela chutney with you guys. This can be stored for 3 to 4 days. This is a perfect side dish to eat not just with rice and parathas but can be used with hot fried snacks.

Ingredients:

    2 medium size  Bitter gourd(karela)

    1 cup   Onions

    1/4 cup Sesame seeds (till)

    3-4   Green chilis

    1/2 cup   Tamarind    

    2 tbsp    Cumin seeds(zeera)

    2-3    Garlic pods

    1 tsp  Oil

    Salt to taste

Tempering:

   2 tbsp  Oil

   1 clove   Garlic

   1 tbsp   mustard seeds

   1 tbsp   cumin seeds
   5-6     Curry leaves
   2-3    Dry red chilies
   Pinch of turmeric

Method:

1.  Roast bitter gourd directly on the stove till it is soft. Then cut the bitter gourd into pieces removing all the seeds.
2.  soak tamarind in little water.
3.  Heat 1/2 tsp oil and add onions, saute till light golden. Almost transparent.

4.  Heat 1/2 tsp of oil and add greenchilies, cumin seeds(zeera), garlic cloves, sesame seeds then roast them. Grind them into a paste.
5.  Add onions and soft tamarind with little water and grind into smooth paste.
6.  To this mixture add bitter gourd pieces and coarsely grind it.
7.  Now make the tempering. Heat oil in pan and add garlic, mustard seeds, cumin seeds when they crackle, add red chili and curry leaves. Add a pinch of turmeric to this.
8.  Add the grounded mixture to the tempering. Add water to make loose consistency.
9.  Cook for 5 minutes and its done.

Tips:

1. Add good amount of tamarind to avoid the bitter taste.

DIY corner wall paper art

Have a corner space in your living room which looks boring? always gets unnoticed? wanna make it bright? who don't like to rite. Here is a simple way you can make the corner beautiful and next time people visit your house they cant just stop appreciating your talent. All you need is few colorful papers of your choice. Lets see in detail how to make this.

Things required:

 --  4 different color sheet of paper
 --  cutting blade
 --  glue

 Directions:

1. Choose any two colors of your choice for flowers and two for branches.

2. Fold the paper in to half three times, now draw a leaf like shape on the folded paper. No artistic experience required you can draw free hand. which should look like this.

3. Now on the right side of the leaf draw and arc reaching to the top of the leaf. Repeat on the other side too. Then cut the leaf and the arc neatly using blade. you will have 6 leafs and 12 arcs .


4. Repeat this same method on different color paper and same color paper to make three flowers of this type.



4. Now draw a heart flower on the paper. If you find difficulty in drawing a flower, you can get flower templates on internet easily. You can use them also. Cut the flower in different colors.




5. Cut this same size flower in different color. making 3 same type of flowers altogether.



6. You can cut different shapes of small and very small size flowers to fill in the sizes of the design.







7. Next fold the paper into four parts to make a flower. Draw a petal on the paper and cut out the petal. Open to see the flower, cut two flowers of same type. With the help of glue stick one flower on the other making a beautiful 2d flower. Curl the petals of the upper flower to give the 2d effect

8. Now when all the flowers are ready. draw branches, cut 3 long same color branches and other small branches of different color attaching the long branch.

Assembling:

1. First with the help of glue stick the three branches as shown in the main design. Then add other small branches.

2. Now assemble the flower and stick on the top branches like this.

3. On the lower branches stick the heart shaped flowers.

4. Extra branches and the spaces can be filled with different flowers of your choice. Make your unique design with different colors and flowers.

5. Place a lamp in the corner to make it more bright and beautiful.

Healthy Indian Masala Quinoa..

I have been thinking of simple quinoa dishes in my purple time which can add  an indian twist and flavor, here i am with my first recipe.  Masala Quinoa is  easy to make and delicious healthy dish made with quinoa. This is a very good healthy option for lunch box. Does not take much time and requires no much cooking experience. this dish is a beautiful blend of indian spices with quinoa giving a lovely flavor to it.

          Preparation time: 15 minutes
          Cooking time : 10 minutes
          Serves : 2

       Ingredients:

         2 cups   Quinoa
         1/2 cup  tomatoes
         1/2 cup  carrots
         1/2 cup  french beans
         1/2 cup  capsicum
         1/2 cup  onions
         2 tbsp   olive oil ( can use any other oil instead)
         1 tsp   ginger garlic paste
         1/2 tsp   red chilli powder
         1/4 tsp  turmeric
         1 tbsp  coriander powder
         1/2 tsp  cumin powder
         salt to taste

     Method:

1. Heat the oil, add onions and fry  till golden brown. Add ginger garlic paste and saute for a minute.

2. Add all the vegetables and saute for 2 minutes. Then add all the dry ingredients ( masalas). cook till the tomatoes are mushy .

3. Add 2 cups water. When the water comes to boil add quinoa.

4. Let it cook for 5 minutes. till all the water is evaporated. Keep stirring in between and mix well.

5. Once the quinoa is cooked its done. Serve hot and eat with raita.

   Tips:

1. Rise the quinoa with cold water properly before adding. It removes the bitterness.