There's something about Mums, a little happy marriage tip and my version of Goulash

Hi my beautiful friends, 

How are you all doing? 
I am going to be talking about 2-3 different things today, few thoughts that have been building up inside me from the past few days. First on my list today is my Mum or most mothers in general. 

1) Super-awesome and super-human Mothers 

Mum Dad at their wedding reception in Mt. Abu

It was my Mum's birthday few days ago. Her name is Shobha or Shobs or Shobu or Mumma. I remember when I was a kid, she used to give me a hard time, like all mothers usually do. She used to be after me to study, to not lie, to not get my clothes dirty, to keep the house clean etc. I was an average kid at school when it came to studies, not so academically bright and so she had to put in lots of extra effort to make me do well. I used to be pretty scared of her actually specially when I used to come back home all muddy or used to not perform so well in my tests. I used to be so annoyed (You know how it is when you're a teenager!). 

When I look back now, I realise that all that I am today - as a person and as a professional, is undoubtedly, because of her. If it wasn't for all those numerous scoldings and thrashings (yep lots of them), I wouldn't have ever felt the need to work hard or to become a better person. Shobs, like most mothers, has sacrificed so much for her children, it's unbelievable. I really don't know how they do it. 

At their 25th wedding anniversary

Her life has always revolved around us, she would never buy new clothes, never go out for dinners or anything... nothing. It was always about us. She is a working woman and an excellent home-maker too! I look back now and realise I have never, in all these years, heard her saying that she was tired or sick or fed up (she does grumble a lot but who doesn't). I wonder if women these days (including me) will be able to become even half as amazing as our mothers are. It is very difficult to be so strong yet be so giving and selfless. Let's take an honest moment to think about how much our Mums have done for us and be grateful. Remember, it is not so important to go and verbally say a Thank You, what's really essential is to acknowledge in your heart that you're grateful and keep her in your prayers :) 

2) Compromises - how much is okay and how much is not

In a perfect world, there would be perfect marriages with a perfect man and a perfect woman, with equal compromises and equal adjustments! Let's face it, this is far from being a perfect world and we are far from being perfect people! So how do you make your relationships perfect? Or at least somewhere near perfect. 

You have to make adjustments. You have to compromise. BUT, both of you. 

Women, generally have a pretty compromising nature. We may be strong independent professional women but we really, somewhere deep inside, are big fat softies! (You know you are :D) 

And often we keep adjusting, without realising how much. We make so many compromises each day, at work, at home, and we don't even realise it. Sadly, nobody else does too. And then one day, you just burst. When you burst, you look back and it's an oh-fck situation! You recall all your adjustments one by one, and feel shitty and angry and then wonder why you did it. 

To prevent this from happening it is very crucial to know when to stop...which adjustment is okay and which is not... how much to compromise and when to put your foot down. Sometimes, let's be honest, we do it simply because we're too lazy to find a mutually benefiting solution and feel its easier to just "adjust". So next time someone asks you "Thoda adjust karle yaar" or to "Compromise a bit", DO NOT FALL INTO THAT TRAP! Take a step back and do a quick analysis and think if its worth it or not, is there any other solution? Is there really a need to have a situation where one of you needs to compromise? Also, sometimes you have to say No and put your foot down! And don't feel guilty about it later, it's really okay. It is okay if sometimes you put your foot down and not be so nice :)

*Quick disclaimer -  This has nothing specifically to do with me and Dan. This is something that happens in almost all households and with almost all women. I don't mean to say that men don't adjust. They do. But a majority of them still don't or probably don't feel the need to. Maybe if we give them a chance they might. Who knows.You understand what I mean? 

3) There is nothing simpler and awesome than a one pot meal! 

Goulash is a very popular and hearty one-pot dish that originated in Hungary and is also very popular in many parts of Europe. However, different places have, over the time, developed their own versions of the popular Goulash. It's a soupy macaroni kind of thing with veggies and mince. (Actually beef mince but I used chicken mince since I had that already). But do not expect the flavour to be like that of a normal mince and mac. The taste is very different. Here is my quick tweaked recipe of Goulash:

1 kg chicken mince (or beef, whatever is available)

1/2 kg macaroni (or elbow pasta)

3 onions (fine chopped)

2 capsicums (fine chopped) 

3 tomatoes (fine chopped)

1 and a half cups of black olives (I use this much coz I love olives in my food, you can reduce this amount according to your taste)

1 cup tomato puree

1 cup tomato ketchup

half cup red wine (use balsamic vinegar if you don't have red wine, slightly less than half a cup then)

3 tablespoons soy sauce 

4 cloves of garlic

2 bay leaves

Oregano

Red chili flakes

Pepper

Salt

(You can add some peas too or any other veggies that you like!) 

Take a big pan, put some olive oil (2-3 tbsps roughly) and put in your mince. Remember this is a one pot dish so you will need a big pan! When your mince is cooked thoroughly, put in your garlic and onions. Drizzle some more oil. If you feel your onions are sticking to the pan, it's okay, Just keeping giving it few stirs with your spoon every few minutes. Once the onions start getting that golden tinge, add your capsicums. After 2-3 minutes, add your wine and give it a thorough stir. Remember to scrape through the bottom and the sides of the pan. Let it cook for 2 minutes. Now you have to add a bulk of the remaining ingredients. Add your soy sauce, tomatoes, puree, ketchup, olives (and any other veggies) salt, pepper, chili flakes and oregano (I used the chili flakes and oregano packets from Dominoes because I always have so many, you can use whatever is available. You can add as much oregano as you want, I used 4 packets of oregano and 3 of chili flakes). 

Stir nicely and make sure everything is mixed well. Put the 2 bay leaves now and add a cup of water. Simmer and cover for 5 minutes. (If you're using beef mince, you'll have to cover and keep for at least 20-30 minutes)

Add you macaroni now and another half a cup of water. Mix and cover again. (You don't have to cook the macaroni before-hand. It'll all cook together in this pan) Let it all cook for at least 10 minutes. You will, however, have to keep checking after every few minutes to prevent the macaroni from sticking to the bottom, which can happen easily because we're using really less water. 

Once your macaroni is al dente, you know it's done! Check for seasoning and add more salt, pepper or oregano if needed. 

Serve hot with garlic bread. I did not have the bread required to make garlic bread so I used normal white bread. Mix half a cup of butter with 2 crushed garlic cloves and a tsp of oregano. Put it into the microwave for melting. This will be done in a few seconds. You will want to melt it totally though so its easy to put it on the bread. Take a non-stick pan, brush this butter mixture on both sides of the bread and put it on the pan (remember to not put any garlic pieces though, that can be very unpleasant). Let both sides get nice, golden and crisp. 

Tada...

We also went for a quick Easter weekend to Mount Abu. More about that on my next blog.
This is all for now people. 

Hope everyone is having a good week. 

Love you all to the moon and back. 

Ciao for now :)



*P.s, this was such an emotional kinda blog. I feel pretty light though :) 

5 stupid post-wedding theories and my easy to make mutton masala!

Hi my beautiful friends,

It's been sooooo long! Hope you're all doing awesome <3

Been a few busy days here. Since it's almost the end of the fiscal year the work load has literally doubled at work. I've been wanting to write a quick something from so long but oh the woes of being a family and a working woman! Sometimes I just wish I could be a stay-at-home wife and cook all day and clean and settle my house all day long (such an aunty!). But then I think I might really get bored in some days and might get really crabby and boy you don't want to mess with me when I am crabby. I'm an absolute terror. Honestly. Badass! Ask my husband :)

In these past few days that I've been away from writing something for you guys, few things have come to my notice. Here's a quick list of people's misconceptions on being newly married -

1) The "You haven't changed a bit!" stigma - Till now, this is the most common remark I get from friends, family and acquaintances, "you still look the same"! Hmmm, so, what do people think happens when you get married? Do you bloat up? Do you slim down? Do you become prettier? Does your face change? What exactly? This remark is so stupid! It's baseless. Stupid baseless illogical remark. Do you tell the newly married guys that they still look the same? Nope.

2) The 'post-wedding glow syndrome' - "You have become so beautiful after your wedding!", "you have such a nice glow on your face". Oki, first of all, thank you very much but its kind of offensive that you think I wasn't pretty before my wedding! And its not a post-wedding glow bro, its just potatoes and cheese and cake!

3) The "now you don't need to dress-up and look nice" theory - So there's also this weird theory that because you're now married, you don't need to dress up and look pretty so much! So because I've found myself a husband, I can sit at home all day covered in dust and not comb my hair and become fat. Hmmm pretty shitty theory. Why does a woman dressing up have anything to do with her status?

4) The "First few months are so beautiful" presumption - Have just 2 words for this - Bull shitte! They are probably the hardest. Yes they're exciting...because its new. But its very difficult also because you're learning about your partner, you're getting to know their likes and dislikes, you're both adjusting to each other's behavioural patters and stepping out of your comfort zone. I've known my husband for almost 4 years now and it still is pretty difficult, for both of us. You're adjusting to a very new routine and lifestyle, especially for all who're working. These months are kind of forming the base for beautiful days ahead!

Pumba from Danny's store. He's the most
adorable hairy puppy ever!

5) The B word - Me and Danny both love babies. And dogs! So it's a very common question or rather a statement that we hear - "You guys must be so ready to have babies of your own!" and "when are you guys getting a pup". LOL. Why? Just because we post baby pics and puppy pics on each other's FB walls? Is this presumption based on that? On social media? Alright, so everyone should know this, people don't get married to just have babies. That's all. Gulp this down with a glass of water.

These questions and comments amuse me so much. But I usually just give a big smile and go hehehe.

I've also been doing a lot of cooking of late. I love food and I love cooking. But from the past few days, we had started ordering food a lot which was kind of draining our pockets dry. So now whenever I get a craving to eat something nice (the boys never do, they're both happy with dal and roti), I usually make it at home, be it a pizza, a chicken burger or a dessert. There's something which I am not so good at cooking, and that's mutton.


So after many not-so-tasty attempts, I tried to do something simple and it turned out to be pretty awesome. So here's my recipe of Quick Mutton Masala:

1/2 kg mutton (chopped into small pieces)
2 onions (I used 2 since I like a lot of onions and tomatoes in my curries, 1 should do too)
2 tomatoes
2-3 green chillies (slit in 4 length-wise)
1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
few curry leaves
1 dried red chilly (broken into half, dispose the seeds if possible)
1 bay leaf
1 black cardamom (badi elaichi)
2 green cardamoms (open it slightly and put)
3-4 peppercorns
Oil

For marinating your mutton:
3-4 tbsps of curd
1 tbsp red chilly powder
1 tsp garam masala powder
2 tbsps coriander powder
1 tsp roasted cumin powder
salt to taste
little pepper (if you like it!)

Now these ingredients will be usually there in almost every Indian kitchen, so you don't have to run around a lot. I didn't have the curry leaves so I had to steal a branch from my upstairs neighbors hehe (sorry aunty!).

So just put your mutton pieces in a big bowl, put all the marination ingredients together and give it a nice thorough mix. Cover it up and keep it in the fridge for around half an hour (if you're running short of time, otherwise an hour would be better).

In the mean time, heat some oil in your pressure cooker, put your dry garam masalas (bay leaf, cardamoms, peppercorns and red chilly) and let it crackle for a minute. Put in your onions, let it get nice and brown, add your green chillies and your ginger garlic paste. Cook it for a minute again. Then put your tomatoes and leave it on simmer for 2-3 minutes. Add some water (2-3 tsps, just enough to prevent it from sticking and getting burnt) and let it cook till your tomatoes have disintegrated and the gravy is cooked. Take out your mutton from the fridge, bring it to room temperature and add to your gravy. Let it cook for a couple of minutes. Add some water, just half a cup, we don't want it to be floating in gravy, just little thick gravy. Close the lid and give around 6 whistles. Simmer and cook for 15-20 minutes after the whistles are done. Once all the steam goes away, open the lid, garnish with some coriander and add some lemon juice.

*Tada*

That's all for now lovelies. I'll be sharing some more simple recipes over the course of time to help all the new wives out there to make fancy food without going through a lot of trouble! Keep it simple, keep it good!

I've already chalked out what I'm going to be doing this weekend and none of it involves me going out! What are your weekend plans?

I'll be seeing you guys soon! (or writing again soon? I don't know what's the correct term. whatever). Love you all.

Have a nice weekend!

Red kurta from Fab India. It's so simple yet so gorgeous!