My Experiment with food-Shubhada ;);)

This has made me to again write abt my cooking! well this 1 is more interesting and exciting!!and ofcourse will b looooooooooooooooonnnggg 1 coz i'm feeling like writing everything from mustard to kabab;)....Acethetics has always been more interesting for me than technieks ( for those whor nt familiar with this....Acethetics is our department fest and technieks, college cultural fest) . Ace fest has been scheduled for today and tomorrow. As usual our sports events were there and shortly it'll b my post on those events....almost since a week me and shwetha r goin to coll everyday, idly spending time there and comin back....v even saw the acethetic posters on the notice board but remained reactionless . Yesterday after our throwball match in the evening,while comin back our conversation," hey cooking ge hogbodu....jasti entries iralla mostly....atleast v'll have fun ! so v'll collect details and go"! v r at our respective homes by 6 pm. nw called the organiser and collected details. v were supposed to get stove, utensils and everythin needed ourselves. First problem for our first plan.....STOVE. who has a electric stove or our dear kerosene stove! how the hell can v carry the other stove with cylinder!! tried here and there,no use then started to think abt menu! it was 7.30 by that time. V could nt meet as shwetha was supposed to go to dance practice which was nt confirmed and for our luck it started raining! Shilpa's mother had some books on recipes but v could nt even get that. k finally decided to search for a dish on the net! by this time a worm had entered our heads tellin nt to go with a known indian dish,that judges will completely comment on each and everything if they know somethin abt it...so our motto was search something different!( how different?? dunno!) .
V were asked to prepare 1 main course and any no of side dishes in 2 hours of time . First thing v agreed on was masala lemonade coz v were fully impressed by what v had taken in Pizzahut.So 1 item was ready. Next search was goin on passing the url's through yahoo messenger!it was 11.40pm by this time. Stove prob was kinda solved....Chaitra had agreed to get that from her uncles' place! couldnt come to a conclusion abt menu, bt jus marked a few recipes and decided to decide next morning!
Morning at 7 i msged her....from her bed itself she asked "should v go" she had lost interest and had dance practice also. I went to her place at 7.30. Planned that me and Shilpa will go for cooking and she'd carry on. But the next moment decision change !got back interest and v were to continue. Browsed again and finally came up with the following menu :

1.Stuffed corn leaves .
2.Soya kabab
3.Vegetable chopsuey
4.Paneer Amritsari
5.Masala papad
6.Masala Lemonade
Made a list of ingredients v had to buy and went to Shilpa's house . After discussions there went to buy things. Shwetha went to her practice. At shilpa's place v both ordered all the items and fortunately got the idea of trying soya kabab once! take a look on our ingredients.....many r missing ;)
hey i had forgotten to mention 1 important thing! V absolutely have no experience in cooking, zero knowledge abt recipes . Praise our courage to enter a competition that 2 without trying any of the selected menus beforehand!
k coming back,yeah opened the soya seeds cover.There was the first shock...her mother said....this is nt the soya u have to get....this will take a whole day to boil! ooooff rushed to a nearby store and bought the other variety!With her mothers help made the first kabab! awesome it was superb....got a big strength there! a ton thanks to aunty without her it'd have become a big flop show!
Shwetha came around 12.45 and the competition was at 2. Shilpa's mom had made nice kashmiri pulav for lunch! had that and came back home to get some more utensils and vegetables. The next problem was waiting for us there....there was no knob for the stove! Having gone to put the knob it was realised that there was no gas in that cylinder! Again back to Shwetha's house cylinder exchange and finally v were at college to start!
By this time v had dropped Stuffed corn leaves from the menu considering the complexity and time limit! Actually this was the item picked from my World Cuisine South America book which has a story of its own ;)
yes, Started now....chopped vegetables....i was supposed to fry the onions for the chopsuey nw. Tried to lit the cylinder, busssssssss o no off again tak busssssssss no way....nw shwetha came to light it.... Bloody stove jus 2 mins i've put the oil and onion it turned brown! that means i had overheated! okay nw had to place the pan down, did that. It was nt 2 late when it was recognised that i had brought fire also down with the pan....next was frying vegetables which brought shoulder ache....stupid raddish and cabbage....didnt become soft howmuch ever i stired finally stopped it!!Then was the main thing...adding vinegar soya sauce and cornflour and boiling with these vegetables....did that with trial and error method for pepper salt chat masala and all! finally kept that aside....
By this time soaked paneer in boiling water but v didnt know when to take it out! some guess some suggestion by Shilpa the gr8 finished that work with paneer!V were left with an hour more from now! and v had nt finished a single dish when all others were done either with 1 or 2. So nw decided to finish the chopsuey stuff. Opened the hakka noodles cover! Had no idea how to boil it or fry it or whatever! our gr8 minds could nt even read the instructions aback.....our logic----" if v boil in water,it'll become noodles so v'll fry in oil! " and started....2 mins 3 mins 5 mins no improvement but it started turning brown! then decided to add some water....added a lil.....chssssssssss o no stop! left like that for another 10 mins....nw it was neither chopsuey nor noodles but v could nothing but remove from the pan! transferred it to a plate added that curry and the chopsuey was ready! Decorations for that with cucumber and cauliflower!
See our serious discussions on proportions of ingredients ;) and also the "how to cook" paper v had carried ;) nyways this is a different sheet shilps has focussed!


After this gr8 experiment v had decided to drop paneerAmritsari also ;)















next moved to soya kabab....as expected this came out well....

Masala papad also didnt become a trouble....as it was very simple ;)
V had some 10 mins more....had to clean the table also.
Now for lemonade squeezed the lemons....our gr8 minds told us nt to add the soda now itself as it'd loose its effect by the time the judge comes! so kept that aside and cleane dthe table. Decorations for kabab was again superb....this was again shilpa's mothers idea and shilpa's efforts ;) Now v felt v still had time....what to do....there was corn which v had taken for a diff purpose! added that corn to a bowl with salt sugar pepper chatmasala garam masala mirchi powder lemon juice ...i think hopefully only that much ;) and our masala corn was ready!!again decorations for that (my idea)!!!!!!!!!!
so v were done! Jayashree ma'm was the judge....as she was abt to come near us added soda and chat masala to the juice and shwetha had a quick taste....yuck without further thinking the glass was kept off the table! ma'm was happy for our kabab- a high protein diet!! no reaction for chopsuey....was pleased with corn and okok with papad....she asked abt ingredients and method and v were through!

The moment ma'm left our table....it was "ATTACK" by all the juniors surrounding there..within no time all the 3 plates were empty except for chopsuey which only daredevils tried a spoon or 2 nt even 2 a spoon thats all ;)
After another 10 mins the results were out and......... v had got the second prize !!!!!!!!!!!!!!hahaha kinda shock bit surprised extremely happy lil expected totally v were filled with mixed emotions;)
Now time to look into our dear frying pan :( poorthing.... v went to wash it along with 2 more plates!
finally back home with all things dumped to polythene bags!
Gr8 experience had lots of fun....Never should any1 miss such a chance. winning is nt important but the experiences after adding every ingredient along with which there adds a friends comment....some1 cracks a joke inbetween and a 1 liner from somewhere behind....cant get these days back....shilpa u did a good job by taking videos can see them and laugh for a life time
And finally a word..... to whoever said cooking was difficult........i bet u friends there cant b any other job easier than this....i'l tell u y....add whatever u want , in any proportion , everything is edible. If its nt friedrice its chitranna if u have added 2 tomatoes its tomatobath thats all! ;) Big deal! afterall v should eat to survive nt survive to eat right;)....i think this statement was coined by some gr8 chef like me ;) Its nt u right, shwetha?? Shilpa is it u??!

Rasam without dal!

No doubt Mysore is a wonderful place to stay and hang on....yes u also get good food at restaurants and ya comparitively at a fair price also! but it has so happened that if u ask me to come out for a food, i'll think for nearly half an hour to select the place finally choosing to stay back....may be because esp in these 4 years me and my friends have gone out so frequently that v have covered almost all hotels in mys dont feel like eating out anymore ( even then v'll not miss a chance to ask for a treat even for a succesful seminar ;) thats a diff story though ) .
When my mom was out for some function for nearly 3 days , it was my turn to try hands on cooking ! Of course it was nt a big prob for a girl like me who is handling gr8 vtu! I dunno who discovered dosa dough....but nyways a million thanks to him/her....how nicely i could manage for 2 days !!:P but 1 night badly wanted some light food ....so decided to make rasam !
Now look friends this can be a cooking tip to all of u for u may have to stay alone/with friends in PG's cutting fingers,burning hands and turning the vessel to the color of coal!!
Took a vessel with 2 glasses of water and kept for boiling....then started searching the shelf for what all ingredients i can get....got a red color powder but i didnt know if it was chilly powder or chatni pudi!!!!!!!!added both of equal quantities. it doesnt matter much as both r edible!! Then took 2 tomatoes cut into 8 halves each and added....then didnt know what to do ! I found no other ingredient which I thought could be added to rasam....ohhhh then i realised I dont have cooked dal to add!! supposed to be the main component!!!!it was too late by that time!decided nyways MY HOUSE MY WISH I cook in whatever way I want....also who eat that r MY FATHER and MY SISTER!!:P k bravely decided to continue and realised that i should add tamarind powder....may b something was working in my inner mind ( to compensate for the missing dal !)which made me to add double the amount of tamarind powder than needed! so it was swalpa huli huli ashte!!
Then added coriander leaves ,mustard seeds,cumin seeds,turmeric,hing powder all fried in oil! yes as soon as i added got a smell!some familiar smell ....was consoled that i have ended in doin something edible!then as i turned saw the salt box which was not touched till then ! k thought to add that also! dunno quantity tht should b known by trial and error method ;) thought will end here but the next moment got an idea of adding coconut! k started grating a coconut half....that was 2 much for the quantity of rasam i made but because of my laziness to keep the remaining half in refrigerator making space for it i put the whole thing to rasam !!
Yes it was ready to serve.Actually i thought to taste it before serving but didnt get that courage....thank god rice was in a good condition.My father after 2 morsels looked at me! I had my fingers crossed....he said " no prob, swalpa huli jasti kara kammi,belene kantilla? " all I could say was through a grin :D

I get back my strength from these !

"Rayara kudure katte ayitu " all of us have heard this right....most of us are living examples for this but i'm a SOLID example ! cheers Shubhada , proud of u :D hmmm really if i close my eyes and think abt how i was b4 and how i am now I jus cant believe myself....my thoughts ideas determination dedication aims ambitions what not....everything changed drastically....still my old friends say "neenantu ond swalpanu change agilla kane "! may b my approach for them hasnt changed or as a person I am the same but for myself....there r changes !! and all changes for bad :( reason ???? dunno cant say exactly but ofcourse laziness has the major share ! well even then no regrets ;) still theres time to get back and "construct" my dreams.
Once upon a time, when I was a good girl , say some 6-7 years ago ,when I had some good habits read "U can win "by Shiv Khera....no comments a superb book on self improvement. I had made a notes of all mind catching quotes and thought provoking sentences....yes I have also done some good things like this ....at times I gothrough this diary to get motivated ,inspired whatever u can call ! jus thought can put some of them here so that it gives a meaning in I reading my blog again and again !!

• Success doesnt mean the absense of failures;it means the attainment of ultimate objectives. It means winning the war, not every battle.----Edwin.C.Bliss

wah wah ! the very first quote has brought my strengths back! i'm feeling it was said for me only !!!! i'm really happy what I did some years back has really helped me today !If I remember correctly this was the quote on cover page of the book....so is it the first 1 in my diary !

• Winners dont do different things.They do things differently.
• If a smile is not sincere,it is irritating .
• Foundation of success is ATTITUDE, regardless of your chosen field.
• When people dont know how to recognize opportunity,they complain of noise when it knocks.
• Even a stopped clock is right twice a day.
• Spend so much time improving yourself that you have no time left to critisize others.
• Choose your advisers carefully and use YOUR judgement.
• An abundance of commonsense is called wisdom.
• A person's character is not only judged by the company he or she keeps; but by the company he or she avoids.
• Start by doing what is necessary , then what is possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible.----St.Francis Of Assise .
• Nothing worthwhile in life comes without a struggle .
• Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem----Abigail Van Buren .
• Successful people compete against themselves.They better their own record and keep improving constantly.
• We cant choose the direction of the wind,but we can choose how we set the sail.
• A burning desire is the starting point of all accomplishments.
• Integrity is keeping your commitment even if u lose money and wisdom is not to make such foolish commitments .
• Playing to win comes out of inspiration whereas playing not to lose comes out of despiration .
• Ability without dependability,responsibility and flexibility is a liability.
• Rest if you must but dont you quit .Its when things seem worst that you mustnt quit .
• Trifles make perfection and perfection is no trifle .
• Time wasted is life wasted .
• Three kinds of people :

1. who make things happen

2.who watch things happen

3.who wonder what happened

• Opportunities come disguised as obstacles.
• Education ought to teach us not only how to make a living but also how to live .
• winner : " It may b difficult but it is possible "
• loser : " It may b possible but its too difficult "
• winners follow the philosophy "dont do to others what you would not want them to do to you "
• losers follow the philosophy "do it to others before they do it to u"
• winner makes commitments.
• loser makes promises.
• A man is a hero not because he is braver than anyone else ,but because he is brave for ten minutes longer....Ralph Waldo Emerson
• The saddest words in life are "I should have ..." .
• The harder I work ,the luckier I get----Samuel Goldwyn
• Attempting half heartedly is like expecting failure and achieving it .
• No one can make you feel inferior without your permission....Eleanor Roosevelt .
• He who would learn to fly one day must first learn to stand and walk and run....Friederich Nietzsche .
• Small people talk about other people,mediocre people on things and great people about ideas .
• Cheat me once,shame on you ; cheat me twice ,shame on me .
• Forgive the other person but dont forget his name .
• A problem well stated is a problem half solved----Charles Kettering.

hmmmmmm I turned not even one-fourth of my diary....well whats more important is how well v imbibe good values to our lifes. "The monk who sold his Ferrari " and "Who will cry when you die " were the other equally inspiring books i read....nearly a year back though ! good ! I read such books also apart from the novels,dramas and magazines !well today got a copy of "Megaliving" by Robin Sharma....so this will do for another 2 days ( taking into account my increased laziness ) so not bad na coming back to track ;) yes this is for myself all i feel,all i think !

All time favourite!

Damn exams from 27th :( was as usual holding the hefty .net text in hand ,never lifted my eyes from the book nor moved the page coz the mind was some where else! this is not the first time happening like this !almost always its the same case....u see
"study holidays r short enough that u cannot finish reading but long enough to 4get what u read in the beginning" ;)
But u know it doesnt happen with "TINKLE"!It has been my all time fav book ,which I long to read always.Tinkle has been with me from my childhood days....those characters really awesome....even today my eyes go wide if i see a copy of "tinkle" and i'll b on cloud 9 if i get an opportunity to read a "tinkle digest!"....Once upon a time i was a regular reader. unfortunately i'm not now :( doesnt matter....the memories i have with tinkle is unperishable!This wonderful comic needs no intro!the real hero of the comic is uncle Pai----the creator of all wonderful characters.Actually i didnt like that "Anu club"part and never used to read that(even now !) but all others extremely nice !
who can 4get our dear suppandi -the funniest character!....the witty nasiruddin hodja,
Kalia and Kapish the heros who come to save the rabbits on time unlike our Police department!!Will chamataka and Doob doob ever have a good meal??!I like those 2 names very much...it gives some fun in calling those names !When will Shikari Shambhu become a true Shikari! his wife is Shanti right??....Tantri haha tantri the mantri!!!!poor Tantri....he should once get the throne atleast for all the evil ideas he has implemented and suffered coz of that!long live Raja hooja!!(the story should never end right!)Moral stories of pyarelal!My favourites were ramu and shamu cuteeee and innocent ! yes Anwar too !some others Raji and Ajay the detective....those stories r some what blurr now !R these characters still on the pages of new releases??donno !will definitely make a check soon after these exams !columns like "tinkle tells u why" "it happened to me" r really unforgettable....so intersting it was that i used to read every letter from the publishing date to advertisements on the back cover ! Not a regular reader of tinkle now and have started to read novels fictions autobiographies ,but when all these r kept around along with a copy of tinkle and asked to pick 1 i think i'll definitely go for tinkle!u know what ---i have a collection of some old copies which i really consider a treasure which i love to read again and again....everytime i read them , i read as if its a new story though i very well know what the story is and above all, these r jus imaginary comic characters! Tinkle is gr8!Only who have read this comic-bible will know its worth!This is what all i feel , all i think !

Sirigannadam Gelge !

Days pass so quickly .... most of the time without bothering if its monday or thursday or 13thth or 24th v carry on with our usual routines so blindly and on any need v recollect the date asking some1 or going for the calendar in our mobiles then realising...."yes it is this day so this is going on"! 1 such thing happened to me yesterday as I took my vehicle and had jus come to the road end....a stage was set up with all shamiyana ,lights for half of the street, nearly 70 chairs arranged....huge speakers and mikes....yes ! did u get ?! it was rajyotsava celebrations!!!! friends November ending!! every year in the last week of November "auto drivers' union" arrange this function.... orchestra ....celebrations whatever! I really don’t understand what is the point in such superficial activities....is it only in November that people here realize that they r kannadigas. Its as if a duty to arrange some public functions like this in November, do some competitions for kids on this occasion give soap boxes as prizes …sing/shout all nonsense songs(is it to show that even in kannada v can compose horribly bad songs with pathetic music support!), dance for it … I tell u friends its nothing other than noise pollution going on....all day there will b records played of all movies whether the lyrics make sense or not and evening live orchestra! shut all doors and windows ,fill ur ears with a roll of cotton still u cant miss the sound/noise.... real headache....this is something sad....but friends what really hurts is when v realise what a poor knowledge v have of our mother tongue, how reluctant v become to say something in kannada! Hesitate to go to a kannada movie!! city is growing so fast....go for a round and I tell u'll get the best humors of ur lifetime… but actually the unfortunate things....! a kindergarten in b'lore....to get ur child admitted there so that it'll b there from 10-1 u'll have to pay a heavy donation! Leave that....half yearly parents-teachers meeting ! the teachers words "ur son is weak in English. He doesn’t have communication skills....u do 1 thing speak with him in English at home he'll b able to pick up soon!" guess what my sisters' reply was " u first learn kannada and teach students alphabets first "!saryag matadakke baralla innu agle communication skills ante!! that teacher was from north India....shes making her living coming to karnataka and because she is not able to interact with those small kids and teach them, what a brilliant idea she gives! To speak in English is a rule in many schools where a primary school kid will be fined if he speaks in kannada! Come to a college esp an engineering college....here u r considered a fool if u r speaking in kannada....wondering if every1 here have come from England??????!! but they definitely act like that! jus check the accents of some girls when they speak in kannada....as is they r speaking for the sake of some1! one bet....get all ur friends to a kannada movie....its not at all an easy task....first of all inherent hesitation…. idea of a kannada movie doesnt come up easily....if any1 with some courage(!!?) announces the idea ,there comes an unanimous "no" reply! if by chance some agree on the matter....u can hear some voices from behind 'u people carry on'! they r the London pieces! how can I skip this real incident....1 day in my college canteen same discussion was going on between a group of friends ....which movie to catch on??! Finally 1 came up.... hey shall v go to "maaata maaata"! (read with tune!)It was the movie "mata"!!v still recognize that girl as "maaata maaata"! u know there r so many people with gr8 resolutions and ethics....."I don watch kannada movies....I never turn on any kannada channel....offf with great difficulty I cleared my kannada papers....they say it as their achievement but really isn’t it their ignorance and illiteracy of the mother tongue! so much of inferiority complexes....misconceptions :( u should listen to the language of some “foreigners” here ....they speak pathetic English… from students to lecturers!” refer The Raghuramakrishna... y r u late today say yes or no!...I doesn’t have ur book da…”! god should save them!

Every other day there will b news on govt. imposing compulsory kannada education in schools…strikes and rallies here and there some favoring it others debating over the matter to advertise their knowledge,speaking writing skills !politicians have got yet another issue to fight on! The joke of the day is vtu including kannada in the curriculum! the intention may b good but do u think there is a probability of any animal bothering to attend a kannada class buying a text book for that and make a poin t to check what is in that book! No way! The saddest part was vtu not allowing skits in kannada in the annual vtu cultural fest! I’m proud to say that our college(NIE) group ‘punar-vidhi’ brought this to light on the stage and the rule was changed the next moment!

Do u think making kannada a compulsory subject in schools, imposing some1 to speak in kannada or playing film hits a full week in streets will create an awareness among people! Will it help to save our language! Definitely not…unless and until the misconceptions v have, prejudices v have developed, egos v face, complexes v develop go away from us and a willingness to atleast not 4get our language roots in our minds and hearts there is always a threat to the language. I’m not blaming the youth for not studying kannada major(I am aware of the current trend and technology which is of course good!), I’ll not ask u to watch a kannada movie per week( I agree no such good movies r coming)I will not ask to go for making an awareness programme abt this….i jus want to say…don’t hesitate to say “I’m a kannadiga”…don’t look back to speak abt the land in which u have grown , learnt to think , remember what all u express either in actions or in words(in English or French or Latin )u’ll have definitely thought abt that in kannada….agree??

Yes of course in this competitive world with the fast moving society v need to be much updated in every aspect of life and need to communicate well with others in whatever language the situation demands. But at least when v r off these circumstances, when v r with friends, family members lets enjoy expressing our feelings in kannada heartily rather than exhibiting our incomplete foreign vocabulary!

When I was about to switch on the tv, heard the lines “huttidare kannadanadal huttabeku….”!all these thoughts passed over my mind and I thought …to put them into words is better than scrolling 70 channels…wherever v go…to US or UK or MOON!let these words be in our minds and hearts “sirigannadam gelge! sirigannadam balge!” this is what
all I think, all I feel !