A New Day, A New Phase...

Tis A New Day, A New Phase,

Radiating Sweet Hope and Lovely Life..

Quicksands of Time Had Tried To Pull Me Back,

Into The Swirling Vortex Of Old Memories that Should Have Long Died...

But I Grasped Tightly Onto The Ropes Of Present,

Pullin' Away From Dead Dreams And Dead Minds,

That Had Threatened My Spirit n My Very Right To Survive..

Firmly I Hold Onto The Threads of My Future..Tis Bright n Alive,

With Unknown Paths To Explore,New Dreams to Conquer,

I Promised Myself Never To Fall Back Into The Murky Past,

As I Have Finally Moved On..For Tis A New Day, A New Phase in Life...

                                                                               -Radhika Arora

Stranger in Fathomless Night..

All alone in the deep of the night,

Filled with darkness so brutal, so feral...

Loneliness & pain sinking their fangs deep into my soul,

Oh what destiny has laid out on this rocky road of my life?

Like a dark knight who breaks through the foggy blackness,

A stranger, cloaked as dark as the twilight,

Gleaming eyes, a mischievous smile,

Tenderly implores to me, "Walk with me a few miles"...

His velvety voice promises to bring out the brightest stars in the dark sky,

Vows to slay monsters of despair & anguish, for they never again invade my mind...

His touch makes my soul come alive like the sky on Fourth of July,

Passion flares up, scorching my insides,

Phoenix of rekindled hope & love rising from those ashes of mine..

Yes, the darkness seems to give way to soft light..

My heart cries with happiness & delight,

But as dusk turns to dawn,

My dark knight walks back into the dispersing shadows,

For he wants to remain just a stranger from the fathomless night...

                                                                          Composer:Radhika Arora

THOUGHTS SOARING HIGH..

Thoughts Floating In My Mind Like Aimless Clouds In the Clear Blue Sky,

Each Trying to Make Itself Heard Above the Clamouring of Dejected Cries..

Struggling to Make Way In the Enveloping Darkness of Hurt & Pain,

Tis Maze of Ominous Unknown Seems to Breed only Dismay..

Light the Path with Rays of Hope & Joy, They Scream..

For If We Die, the Mind Would Never Be Free Again..

Unshackle Us from Suffocating Ways this World Behaves,

For We Desire To Be Liberated from these Restricting Chains,

To Shine Bright Like that Ball of Fire Leaping from Behind Clouds So Grey..

To Give Life to Love, Delight & Ecstasy So Infinite & Without End,

Oh Let Us Fly High, Way Above The Constraints of Tradition & Civilized Minds,

Let the Thoughts Float Resolute, Soaring Towards the Heavens Like An Eagle In the Clear Blue Sky...

                                                                                                                    By:Radhika Arora

Crispy Herb Chicken Legs- My Idea of Comfort Food For The Soul!!

Bored with typical mughlai gravies and tikkas, I wanted my comfort food to be finger licking good but guilt free as well!!:) These days I try to eat only such things that don’t cause nightmares of my struggling to swim through rapids of oil and grease!! UgghhhhK

Feeling low because of bad cold, my taste buds not able to identify much other than the medicine I keep popping...I wanted something that cheered me up by just being there on my plate!!J

Staying in Noida, most of the take away food joints have the same boring tikkas or greasy curries, deep fried Chinese grub or cheesy pizzas! Why should I even bother ordering something that would just make me feel more depressed after eating it was the thought that ran through my mind!

So, here I was, really in the mood for something that is food for the soul-yummilicious yet healthy!J I had some raw chicken legs lying in the freezer waiting for their fate to turn into a curry for lunch the next day..but I’m a person who respects food and I could hear the chicken keep saying “Glorify My Sacrifice”!!

So I decided to try my hand in roasting it in my trusty cute little OTG...after marinating it in whatever herbs and ingredients I had access to without doing any chopping, peeling, cutting! Couldn’t go through the grief of all that menial work with a bad cold!

CRISPY HERB CHICKEN

PREPARATION TIME: 5 minutes

COOKING TIME: 30 minutes

SERVES 2

INGREDIENTS

• Chicken Legs (Skinned)- ½ kg
• Olive Oil- 1 tbsp
• Garlic Powder (optional)- ½ tsp
• Ginger-garlic Paste- 1 tbsp
• Dried Oregano- 1 tbsp
• Brown Sugar (can use honey as a substitute!) -1 tbsp [optional]
• Parsley-1 tsp
• Red Chilli Powder-1/2 tsp
• Salt to taste

Procedure-

• Preheat the oven at 300 degree Celsius.
• Mix all the ingredients together, making sure that each chicken piece is rubbed well with the marinade. I added sugar to give the chicken a crispy, toffee-like exterior and add a bit of sweetness to balance out the chillies.

You can refrigerate the chicken for half hour for better marinating but if you have guests over or just don’t want to wait, then cook straight away.

• Place the marinated chicken in an oven baking pan, making sure that the pan is lined with aluminium foil as the sugar in the marinade would stick to the pan and make it difficult to clean otherwise!

            

NOTE: If you do not have an oven, then you can grill the chicken on a non stick pan as well. Cooking time would vary as per the mode of cooking.

• Roast the chicken at 300 degree Celsius for 20 minutes or until it is crisp on the outside and the meat is cooked.
• Turn the pieces once so that both the sides are cooked evenly and cook for another 5-10 minutes.

                    

Serve Hot with multigrain garlic bread!J

Hope you enjoyed reading this recipe as much as I enjoyed making it! Please do try it at home and let me know how it turned out!!J

From The Kitchens of Gujarat-KHANDVI......Golden Rolls Specked Wt Black Pearls!

These days I have been facing a tough time keeping my mind off desserts, because most times than not, I end up stuffing my big mouth with the experiments and then crying big tears of regret when the desserts find a permanent residence on my hips! So, I decided that I would experiment still...after all it is a crime to bury one’s culinary skills (ok! ok! I can hear my friends laughing over that one!) just because the weighing scale complains of physical abuse every Sunday morning!

So, time for me to try my hand on some easy, low calorie, glutton free savoury dishes! I have been trying to cut down on non vegetarian intake (No! Not because I thought “Save the Tiger” needs company with “Save the Fish, Chicken & Pig” support groups!! ;-) ) Simply because I want to figure out how the other half of the population survives!!

Now, as you all know, I am LAZY to the core and well do not like to follow the “Path Well Crowded by Other Amateur Cooks”. So what can be made that's vegetarian, easy, low calorie and incorporates well into these two qualities of mine that I just mentioned above??

Khandvi was the answer!!!

A typical Gujarati snack of thin, smooth rolls sprinkled with beautiful mustard seeds and curry leaves is something that few of us might not even like to eat but most of us enjoy without feeling guilty! The cooking process is unique and, while it may take a few tries to learn, is not difficult at all. The variations to Khandvi, from making it from chick pea flour (besan) to using yellow moong dal, all taste scrumptious.

Since I do not like to make even common things with the usual ingredients, I decided to make Khandvi using yellow moong dal as it makes it healthier than it already is!  

Try out this easy, quick recipe and you won’t need to head out to a sweets shop next time you want to have it!

MOONG DAL KHANDVI

Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 10 minutes
Serves 2

INGREDIENTS:

½ cup soaked yellow moong dal

½ cup curd

1 tsp ginger-green chilli paste

¼ tsp turmeric powder

¼ tsp asafoetida (hing)

Salt to taste

For The Tempering

1 tsp oil

1 tsp mustard seeds

1 tsp sesame seeds

4-5 fresh Curry leaves

¼ tsp Asafoetida

For The Garnish
2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander

STEPS:

·       Drain and blend the moong dal in a mixer to a smooth paste, using 1 tbsp of water.

·       Combine the moong dal paste, curds, ginger-green chilli paste, turmeric powder, asafoetida and salt in a microwave safe bowl and mix well.

·       Microwave on high for 7 minutes, stirring in between after every 2 minutes.

·       Spread the mixture thinly on the back of three 200 mm. (8") diameter thalis and allow to cool for five minutes.

·       Cut the Khandvi into 50 mm. (2") thick strips, carefully rolling up each strip.

·       For the tempering, heat the oil in a pan and add the mustard seeds.

·       When they crackle, add the sesame seeds, curry leaves and asafoetida and pour on top of the prepared khandvis.

·       Serve, garnished with the coriander.