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!