More indian recipes to try :) Tried and tested

Our weekdays are filled with salads, veggies, pasta. Almost everything that is good for your body, soul and taste pallets get a bit of loving too. Well, not too much love though because that to me comes only from authentic indian food. Authentic indian food is not the food served in restaurants, its not the one moms stir up in 15 minutes. Its shahi khandani hmm royal yes royal.

So I am going to share 3 of my recent recipes that were a huge hit. Technically 2, my husband made the third one. Yeah, his cooking intuition is way better than mine. If you could just exchange those energies too, he would be the clumsy one for a day;).

First one is every north indian's home story, mom's spinach paneer. Lets make it in a different style this time. Give it the love it deserves.

http://www.spiceupthecurry.com/palak-paneer/

I followed this recipe with a few modifications. I used 3 big tomatoes, blended them before adding and waited till they cooked before adding onion paste. That adds depth to gravy. Also, in the end instead of cream I just added full fat milk and a little sugar.

Second one is bottlegourd kofta. Its sounds boring but trust me its to die for.

http://www.vegrecipesofindia.com/lauki-kofta-lauki-kofta-curry/

Again a few changes from my side. For koftas, I added grated carrot, peas, kasuri methi, raisin, corriander alongwith bottlegourd and rest of recipe.  It became a little moist so bread crumbs helped and added to crustiness of the koftas. No chillies for me.

Then for gravy, instead of sugar I added honey. Upped tomatoes to 4. In the end to make gravy more rich, I added cut cashews with raisins almonds. And yes, full fat milk instead of cream. I wanted to add pomegranate seeds on top but nah that would have made it too fancy. Next time for sure.


Third one is dal baati. Everyone loves it. Its healthy, its heavy, its easy to make.

http://www.manjulaskitchen.com/dal-bati/

We replaced ghee with full fat yogurt and it didn't change the taste. In fact batis came out softer.


Feast on.

Thanks....

My second yoga injury :(

As happy as my advanced bikram class made me, it did give me an injury. My advice, take it slow. I know you got all the bends, the flexibility but still look at your instructor's posture, listen to all the cues instructions properly and then execute the flow.

Its been 2 weeks of my lower back paying the price for my over excitement of showing off. When my class ended, it didn't hurt for 2 more days which just says I should have rested at least 2 days before I resumed my usual yoga. My enthusiasm killed my back. Since then, all the efforts to heal it have been vain. My dreams of getting 2 more perfect classes before I head for 3 weeks vacation are over. Hmm its not that sad. Its healing but timing couldn't be more wrong. This is straight 6 weeks of weak yoga. On top of that, all people who practice with me are going to be far ahead by the time I come back. This sucks.

Its my own doing of course. When you do some pose you have never done, please be careful. Listen to your body, your teacher. Take it in slow perfect motions. It might take 2 classes but at least you will not hurt yourself and loose more practice time. My back can't even take a camel pose now, I know I know. After an advanced class, take a break for at least 2 days. Ohh I wish someone told me this.

Lead with your chest. Don't use lower back in poses when it is not supposed to be. The green side of all this is now when I am in class, my back pain is helping me figure out which poses I was doing wrong. Also, you can't just sit at home. If you stop moving, it will get weaker. So get back in motion swiftly.

My yoga teacher suggested getting epsom salts which were great help too. Soak in them for 15 minutes in around 100 degrees. Be ready to doze off.  She pointed out my posture is wrong most of the time. Use your core archi. Suck it in other wise your lower back will suffer.

 If you get hurt, let it heal, let your body do its work. Just go with the flow. Thats all we can do anyways ;)

NAMASTE

Self improvement track, stay on it:)

Last month I saw these few inspiring videos on relationships by b k shivani. I couldn't stop raving about the peace and stability they brought. Then after 2 weeks, it was the old me popping up. When we listen to something motivational, it does hit us, we affirm to its positivism. Nothing is ever absorbed deep in. So we have to keep reminding ourselves of the change we want to be.

In our heart, we all know the right things right words right expressions. How our mind reacts to situations, how we interpret them is a whole different reality. We are all spoiled brats acting like nothing is ever gonna get to us but eventually almost all our actions come back to bite us.

Fake relationships are complicated. That is why all our relationships are complicated. We pretend to communicate, we pretend to care while we gossip. We don't understand people or the reasons, we just pass judgments. There is no whatsoever effort of even getting to the core of their anger, aloofness,rudeness,greediness. I am not saying being saint is the ultimate goal. Its just we all need more compassion for our fellow riders.

My life is pretty simple,  grounded loving in laws who are just different. When they started expecting a bit of me and I couldn't open up enough, problems rose. Pretentiousness started. Trust me putting up a fake face when inside you are just looking to escape is the worst. Its better to do what you really want. Its better to be natural. If you can enjoy and make peace with the surroundings, that is the best. After all, peace is within us so we shouldn't really be bothered by variables. Haha but since most of us are not is that deep state of acceptance, lets amend the surroundings tactfully to get the same modified version of peace.

Anyways like always point is lets not get lost. So keep track of your self improvement. When you feel like you are losing peace, start seeing the same sadhguru shivani videos again. Jot your memory. Its through constant reminders that we train our brain to shut up the chatter. We don't have to be nice to people to be social or appreciated, its for our own good peaceful life. Meditation is the final answer to life's people's problems.

 Less drama, more life.

NAMASTE

My first advanced bikram class :)

Yay my first advanced bikram class or should I say happiest hours of my life. The feeling of boredom was sinking in. It was like there was this series of poses we did everyday, improvements were less visible. No goal was in sight. I felt like there were another 2 years of a fixed process.

Then out of the blue came this advanced bikram class. When I asked my yoga teacher, he was like you might not be able to do anything but it will be fun. Hmmm not the sort of encouragement you look for, heyy its better than disappointment that creeps up on my face after yang class. He was just trying to keep me grounded.

Finally the day came, my yoga mat arrived. We keep doing camels, spine strengthening religiously. This class is the payback time. Obviously I wasn't perfect in the poses but some of them came to me naturally. My body was ready for the challenging bends. Feeling of accomplishing after a long wait is like the taste of water in a humid desert.

If you ever feel bored in your practice, try pinterest for advanced bikram poses. I think it will cheer you up as you get into these ridiculous looking bends. There is always so much to look forward in yoga especially as a beginner a whole new world awaits. Finding new classes, new practices, new bends is all magic for me. The best part of yoga is people are crossing thresholds of body control. Then there is always calisthenics for the gymnastics in you.

There was another fun class that included cameras. They were shooting for some promotion. Well, show business is demanding. The me me who rests in the first warrior 2 pulled off all the 1 hour moves without fussing sweating. In fact it was my best yoga performance. Whenever you feel like giving up, just say to yourself "If I can do this, I can do anything in life"

NAMASTE

You are the solution to your problems

When confronted with problems or stressful situations, we call moms or sisters to vent out as soon as possible. Do they ever give any useful advice? Nah, they just see the circumstances from their life glasses, judge our decisions and move on with the day. To make it worse, the problem is discussed further with the other sister in a worried gossipy tone making senseless accusations on our life, spouses, career, money blah blah blah.

I am not saying it doesn't help. But we never really reach to the point of solving it. Even if they say the right thing, some times its not the main sentence. All of the learning reasoning gets lost in our frustration.

There was some feud with a relative, no matter how much how many times it was brought up in conversations, it always ended up me having a more bitter heart. Just won't go away. A whole lot of other arguments piled up and just made my heart heavier sore to the point it felt like there was so much tangling.

Now we have to untangle our life's knots. Memories play a vital role in our happiness. You don't want to avoid anyone when you walk into a room. If the list is long, the weddings can be unbearable. Life can't be easily steered through unless you get rid of all of it. Make it a clean slate. How do you really do it? Well, the answer is accepting their flaws. No one will ever really pull you out, people like to gossip and burn fuel. To understand our own nature, we have to look deeply, introspect our soul and see what is really good for us in the long run.

If your mother in law is bothering you or your husband won't take out time for you, all you have to do is talk to them or  just accept or move on. Bitching with others, changing whatsapp pics will just make your life more painfully aggressive. In fact, even when you tell people about your pain they fail to empathize let alone apologize or help.  It will affect your personality,looks, kids, house vibe and relationships. Why suffer?

So instead of talking to all your friends on whatsapp, try seeing one b k shivani video everyday. It makes a huge difference. If you have anger issues, try sadhguru videos. Avoid all those US suggested therapist or self proclaimed relationship expert youtubers.

After a week of those videos, trust me you will feel so much better and lighter. You will be forgiving people, understanding their point of view their life and it will all be breezy.

Do try.

NAMASTE.

My meditation journey begins :)

We get solutions when we are not even looking. More you stay married, more you meet people and that can give you a a lot of untangled situations. Lots of criticism exist for practically everyone around you. Passing judgement on friends relatives is like a regular conversation for some. I was no exception. Somehow all this criticism, complaining started getting to me. It gave me a sore heart. Thats when my friend introduced me to raja yoga. Sadhguru was always around, its just brahmakumari's layman language that got me thinking.

My friend has been attending raja yoga sessions for sometime. When I met her a month before, she couldn't stop asking me about my life cooking like she could just advice n correct me. After a month, her soul changed. There was no arrogance of knowing or suggestions. In fact, her being so nice and affectionate got me to change too.

If you ever feel hurt or damaged or disrespected or angry or any other negative notion, to root it out check youtube for b k shivani videos. Within 2 videos, consciously my mind was programmed to avoid complaining gossiping. It just stopped. Like someone hard wired me for good.

All of us are inherently decent human beings. We don't want to hurt or play mind games even unknowingly. An angry person is causing much more harm to himself than any other person.

I have not tried much yet. This is the beginning though. Guided meditation by shivani helps too. If you are strong, start with isha kriya. There is one adi shakti meditation to be the inner goddess in us. Since its just starting, there is not much I can add to this topic.

In a week, I do feel lighter and more conscious of my everyday thoughts. Its a process so start it as early as possible in life. See people as fellow souls. Don't judge them right wrong. Love and Respect to all.

NAMASTE

Do americans hate Indians? Stop the rumors please

You know who is going to pay the price of over active indian media and stupid forwarded messages, us NRIs who have been working safely respectfully in a disciplined foreign country. As soon as Trump came to power, all indian media has done is scaring the wits out of our parents in India. Every time we call, my mom tells me  some weird policy to be put across that will evict us or harm us.

My friend forwarded me this message where an american with gun attacked some store and it was super emotional like 10 pregnant indian ladies, kids stuck inside. They made it real dramatic with lights turned off, crying and what not. This has not happened at all. When I asked my friend to confirm it, she said it was a friend's friend. When I pushed more, the real story was it was just some high homeless without gun tapping at the glass.  So yeah trust me if this was normal, US would have issued a warning or something. Next time you get a forwarded message please ask the person to confirm it and write openly in the group to prove it. If its proved, we should be careful if not people shouldn't be spreading rumors when there is absolutely nothing wrong. 

Indian media won't stop featuring future policies or kansas shooting. It was a hate crime but there are a lot of frustrated people and one incident can't black out all the jobs lifestyle respect love acceptance we have been getting for years. An american cop took the bullet for other 2 indians. Praise that guy too.

What media shows us, what stupid forwarded messages say is all just fake reality for them to earn ratings and scare hearts. If they decide to restrict H1 or L1 or stop extensions, its their country their decision. Till then, lets not over complicate the situation that doesn't even exist. Before spreading false accusations or over dramatic sobs, make sure it happened. Make plans to return if it really bothers you. Just make it easier for the rest of us to live out the rest of our days in this land. 

If we can't make this better, lets not make it worse. Lets not put ideas in people's minds. Americans have accepted us as a part of their country. To be honest, they have been really kind and welcoming while we contribute to economy. In my stay here, I have never encountered a racist attack, I was treated with respect kindness and equality.  Panic yields to more disappointing circumstances. They are against illegal immigration not us workforce. We moved here to do a job legally. We got rights. At the same time, we have responsibilities too just as any other person living in the country. Be good, stay good. Fueling controversy is not the solution to any thing. We all need each other in this volatile follower world. Trust and believe. There is no america without immigrant workforce and no work without america.

If someone confronts you with hate, tell them you contribute to their economy. You pay your taxes, you are here as legally as they are. We are probably the most rule following non criminal people.  Don't get scared. There is no need to fight. Own your presence. Also, you didn't snatch anyone's jobs. There's hiring signs all around. So just live in peace. Don't revolt where it is not needed. Stop forum discussions and worthless arguments.

Thanks