Mom's Whistling Kettle and tea-time chats

When is the last time you cooked your favourite dish, and that too just for yourself? In my commitment to my #Putting Self First, I decided to cook some my style of streetfood chowmein , loaded with veggies, shredded chicken, and finished off with just a dash of Chilli vinegar. When you are a HomeCook, Home Chef or a even a complete amateur, your efforts are always directed towards mastering a dish, authentic , perfect its taste, accompaniment and of course the presentation...but somewhere down there on some grey days, you crave for some comfort food, some comfort taste, rustic, imperfect, yet that brings in a big smile on your face...Go for it. You deserve it and it deserves #You....so why delay...the next time you decide to cook dinner for family, do the honours and make your inner self happy...So Cheers !

When you are quiet and sombre, but carrying out your worldly duties, it is often that your mind is disobedient and never intends to slow down or keep quiet. The spiritual leaders or motivational speakers often call it the chattering Monkey climbing up and down poles and branches of mind, mindlessly. So while I was contemplating starting this new series in 2020, I have been discussing(read preaching / advising) similar minded friends and family as well on this concept. A close friend of mine was the first to be motivated and jumped into my boat of #putting self first. She celebrated her 50th birthday all by herself through the day. She took the day off from work, bid a quick goodbye to the hubby going to office and sat on her beautiful sundeck cum balcony and knitting her crochet shrug. For lunch, she made herself her favourite pasta with tricolour bell peppers, mushroom and cherry tomatoes, baked  herself a birthday special coffee flavoured tea cake and cooked the most...

It is three weeks since we touched the magic year 2020, yet my blogposts were neither planned nor published. Successfully I drew yet another blank. At 50+ introspection is an easy excuse to justify lethargy, lack of planning and just 'did not feel like it' condition. So officially, Welcome to a Mom's Whistling Kettle and Teatime Chats once again and once again I have finally rolled up my sleeves, and all set to commit myself to Goal Setting 2020. At 50, all of a sudden your vision and approach to life demands a relook.. When you are past the median age mark in life you feel strongly that it is #You who needs your attention. So when 50 years were spent in perfecting your roles as son/ daughter, partner/ spouse, parent, colleague, friend, it's time to be the Best Pal to #You, the inner person and respond to your own needs, love, passion, wants and fantasies. While I have decided to put myself first in 2020, and listen to and pamper my thoughts, passion and drea...

Apologies for vanishing once again. But I am sure, you will understand and will need no explanation. I had lost my Mom last year around this time, hence battling loss and memories and slipping into the grief  spiral was a priority this month. And I was not doing this just for myself, was there with my Dad who is slowly recovering from the pain of losing his wife of 54 yrs. I am thankful to relatives, friends and acquaintances who kept calling and had filled our day, leaving not much hollow to sulk and sink. Hence as always I insist family and circle of friends matter. That one small sentence has a healing touch But life goes on...and will. I have cooked and cleaned, smiled and shopped but all on a slower pace.I did not click photos, and thought this period be our own private time. Hope you will understand me So take care and till I come back next munch on the choco chip cookies 

Every day is not equal, neither does your brain and body work in same pace and efficiency on each fine day. We can be happy, sad, emotional, upset on any day without us having any control over it. But, come what may, the tea-time ritual is a discipline. My kettle whistled late today as we were running late. But, now we are sipping into our afternoon/ evening tea, we are busy enjoying our recent goodie bag from Netherlands. Koffiekoeks, stroopwaffels are adding a new dimension to our tea-time chat. Missing the Dutch summer, the Tulip festival at Keukenhoff, the Tulip fields by the highway in Bollywood Silsila style.  Stroopwaffels are typical Dutch goodies, where in, two thin layers of waffels are sandwiched with very sticky caramel sauce and come in circular shapes, stacked and packed for convenient gifting and carrying on travel. Koffiekoeks on the other hand are one type of caramel and coffee flavored cookies that Dutch would often bite into with their fra...

Hi All, My kettle is whistling again. So why are you waiting? Join me for a cup of steaming Makaibari or Margaret’s Hope Tea Gardens. By the way this tea kettle from pepperfry is a recent gift. But ,What do you serve with tea? Honestly, it varies from region to region. British tea as a concept was elaborate, cookies, crackers or the heavier scones, and tea cakes and savoury tidbits make teatime a well set celebration. This is a recent addition to my crockery...waiting eagerly to get filled up, when you join me for tea-time adda. In Kolkata, tea always comes with a plate of biscuits at the least. Biscuits come in plenty of forms, taste and structure. But it always makes us so nostalgic to remember the lero biscuit. The low grade local bakery product available in the tiniest of the local tea or grocery shops. Even today, Kolkata can proudly boast of the best cake shops and now baking studios. Today’s new gen bakers are doing wonders with cupcakes and macarons, cake ...

My tea kettle has whistled, and fragrant Darjeeling second flush tea leaves are being brewed, and I am all set with my tea-time adda. Catching up with friends is always fun. You can start off anytime from where you had left it the last time you met up. So let me start off with our story of life as expats. Last 4 years we were in the beautiful country of Netherlands, in Utrecht region. Our apartment looked over the Amsterdam Rijn Canal and the Hoge Brug(High Bridge). It would have been great if I could take you through a house-tour, but somehow it did not happen that way. We stayed in this furnished Dutch apartment and enjoyed every minute of it in spite of all grief and loss that we had to go through at home in India. These 4 years have taught me a lot. First and foremost staying away from home country, family and relatives was not easy, more so when my Mom was unwell, fighting Cancer in India. The short grey wet winter days were exciting initially, but depressing...

A Mom becomes a Mom when a child is born. The child grows and becomes an adult, flies off his nest and sets up home in some other part of the globe, but the Mom is always a Mom, here, there, everywhere. I am back to blogging after almost  5 years. School going son is now in final year of engineering in some other country. So our home is our empty nest where the tea kettle is always whistling calling you friends for a round of tea-time chats.  Tea in typical Bengali homes have no fixed time...anytime is tea time. Small cups of tea in khullar or in fine bone-china is only an excuse. It can just be yet another conversation starter. So, why are  you holding back. Note down the Homepage URL and join me for tea-time chats.

Shubho Nababarsho 1421. This is one such day, almost all Bangalees around the globe remember the date from Bangla calendar. Though Poila Boishakh is not observed as a holiday anywhere outside Bengal, we , in our own small ways try to make the day stand out from the rest of the ones we live otherwise. This year on April 15, while we welcomed year 1421, tried to make the family dinner a little special. Made Dahiwalla meat. There are plenty of recipes on the net, finally drew inspiration from the one credited to Atul Sikand and adapted it to suit taste buds of my family. This dish scores very well on taste , colour and flavour but is very easy to cook. DAHIWALA MEAT MY STYLE Ingredients Mutton: 600 gms, preferably from leg, and with some bones Dahi : 250 gms; hung; beaten to smooth consistency Onion: 1 large, finely sliced Ginger paste: 1 and ½ tablespoon Garlic paste: 1 and ½ tablespoon Red chilli powder: 1 tablespoon(optional/ to taste) Garam masala p...

When I grew up in Kolkata in early '70s, whenever there was an invitation for community meal, some wedding, or some other occasion to celebrate, meals were served on Banana leaves, washed, cleaned and wiped dry(desirably) by the most unskilled member in the cooking team. There were no buffet arrangements per se, and mostly meals were served to hungry invitees, sitting in rows on row tables and folding wooden chairs. Believe you me, it was usually messy, with your dal flowing into your next sabji and sometimes even jumping out of the leaf onto the precious dress used only for big occasions. Never ever did we realise Banana leaves were eco friendly as well as the most hygenic option, if cleaned well. And generations of people migrated to organised catering services, serving food in variety of dinnerware. The waterglasses made of terracotta gave way to re-usable glasses, and as independent citizens, Bengalees slowly started prefering to exercise their choice and therefore enjoying b...

My unaccounted for absence from nurturing my own blog is unpardonable. I am fully aware of my faults and follies. Even then, Bengali New Year is occasion enough to share my thoughts, my experiments in kitchen and then either feel good at my successes or be sad. But as I am celebrating Nabonbarsho, I am committed to feel happy and bring a wide green on your faces as well. These days I am training myself to create menus with sole consideration of the stockpile in my refrigerator and freezer. Hence, while struggling to imagine something new with the ordinary cuts of a whole bhetki fish, frozen and lying to get used up in my freezer, I decided to try out Bhetki r paturi in Convection mode. But, in Gurgaon, the erstwhile Gurugram, that Duryodhana had gifted his Guru Dronacharya, locating plantain plants is difficult. In these moments of true Bong crisis with food, I was desperate to hoot the one and only vendor selling in DLF...By the way he sells a leaf for Rs 75. Hence, ventured to bas...

Last October, it was fun being back home in Kolkata after eleven long years during Durga Puja. Kolkata during Puja time is real fun. Family, food and festivities....it was fun and enjoyment unlimited. Wish you all a very happy Durga Puja this time. May all your dreams come true.

It takes a lot of effort to start something.... but a lot lot more to restart afresh. But,a deep desire to write something, anything and may be someday everything has brought me back to basics. I am not a professional content writer, neither am I a budding writer by occupation but it is my own independent point of view that is pushing me back to the basics. My promise to myself therefore is to keep writing, as often as I can and see my blogspace prosper

Irregularity has been my middle name in blogging world. I hate it. Yet, was never motivated to finally write and put up another post. This Jan I promised to myself that I should put up a post everyweek at the least, to share moments in work life or as a Mom to a 13 yrs old boy. Another problem I was unable to crack is comments in Japanese I guess. Neither do I know the language nor the sender. This has been causing enough heartburn for me. Hope the current settings will save me of these problem. Wishing everyone a very happy and prosperous new year

Independence Day celebrations have come of age I think. Today's kids are not psyched up to get up early and rush to school on this day to queue up in files and do the march past for the school Principal and some esteemed guests for the occasion. They are pretty cooool about these days and do not feel 'pride' in being the chosen one for the independence day. In such an age of indifference, and lack of sensitivity, my teenage boy R is still sensitive to a large extent and is sensitised about all these issues(What else can he do since Mom is always working on too many projects that require to sensitise masses etc etc...) Since we are stuck at home today by choice, and have loads of home work, assignments, unit tests to take care of, unanimously decided to celebrate by staying @ home only. But, in all Bong homes, holidays and celebrations always culminate into good food. We could not be any different. As always my chef guru Sanjeev Kapoor's E newsletter gave the final idea ...

Independence Day celebrations have come of age I think. Today's kids are not psyched up to get up early and rush to school on this day to queue up in files and do the march past for the school Principal and some esteemed guests for the occasion. They are pretty cooool about these days and do not feel 'pride' in being the chosen one for the independence day. In such an age of indifference, and lack of sensitivity, my teenage boy R is still sensitive to a large extent and is sensitised about all these issues(What else can he do since Mom is always working on too many projects that require to sensitise masses etc etc...) Since we are stuck at home today by choice, and have loads of home work, assignments, unit tests to take care of, unanimously decided to celebrate by staying @ home only. But, in all Bong homes, holidays and celebrations always culminate into good food. We could not be any different. As always my chef guru Sanjeev Kapoor's E newsletter gave the f...

Ask Lalita ji..... or, say my Mom, Grand Mom or any one from your family. Th quest for the detergent that washes the best and costs the least is never-ending. In my childhood, many housewives( no one thought of calling them Home-makers, then)like my Mom used to feel proud of their choice. The battle therefore very much there... Surf vs Det vs Rin and so on The pride in making the right and of course the wisest choice in detergent came with iconised with Lalitaji. Armed with expansion of the TV footprint in Indian homes, Lalita ji's charisma was unmatched for years. Years passed by, with globalisation, Indian households started using and patronising the global giant brands, Ariel, Henko, Tide, Surf and their endless variants. Today's home-maker is no longer proud of her choice. In fact she no longer cares. She is insensitive,of course not loyal to any manufacturer, marketer, brand, or variant. Today's wise home-maker is a deal-seeker.What is coming @ what deal? Who is offeri...