Doodh barraa/'wadaa

Doodh baraa ( as vadaa in dahi vadaa) 


I so glad that this post is featured on  ttp://www.evergreendishes.com/
 in their Diwali special page 

Ingredients

maida 2 katories 
water ----to be used as and when required
ghee ---for deep frying 

milk----2 ltrs
raisins----for garnishing 
chironji---- for garnishing 
Sugar Free Natura to be used as per taste buds

Method  


Mix water to maida and make a mixture of dropping consistency
Heat 2 tablespoons of ghee in the kadahi add the maida,  and water mixture and cook on a low flame stirring vigorously so that no lump is formed

                                                                      

    

                                                                 

                                                                     
 Now quickly spread this dough on a ghee smeared plate / thaali and flatten with your palms or a spatula .Before it cools cut into diamond shapes like burfi keep it slightly thinner than a burfi ---it should be like the thickness of Kaju katli  .Let it cool now deep  fry in ghee and keep aside .

Boil the milk till it thickens. Consistency should be  slightly   less than  that of rabri , Add sugar  and allow it to cool .

After about an hour add the diamonds  just for a dip say for 10 mts this is so  that the milk enters the barras  and  they become slightly sweet ----but maintaining their crispness Take the barraas  out of the milk and keep aside

In the meanwhile make some more thickened milk and add raisins and chironji seeds, green cardamom powder  to it

Before serving  place the pieces on a plate and spread the left over milk as well as the dry fruit rabri.                                              

Serve  warm some people prefer chilled too   ,

note ----though made in pure ghee it is not heavy on calories because the barraas  do not absorb much ghee as they are made out of already cooked dough and to add to this we can also use  Sugar Free Natura reduciing the calories


This post finds a place in ttp://www.evergreendishes.com/ in their Diwali special page 

Shiva in a dancing pose

A painting of mine oil on Canvas done many many years ago ( 1970) copied it from a magazine Thought I could share it here on the occasion of Shivaratri

N , H . no 6 on a sleepy afternoon-----cell phone clicks from a moving car

Some thoughts On """This Republic Day """

It's sixty-eight  years since the first . 
  Is there a change for the better ?
 Or have things gone from bad to worse
 This Republic Day ? 

That was just two years after  independence
 We were inexperienced and naive 
Its now past sixty-seven  why are we 
Still experimenting?till this Republic day ? .

Am I writing this as a passerby
 Or am I just an onlooker  ?
Am I also not responsible for 
   This Republic day ?

We are honoring them who have toiled

 But they are only a handful

Let us together toil and   glorify our nation

 To be honored equally every Republic Day .

snippets again ---hindi shayari

 दिखा कोई  इक शाम दरीचों के बीच से ऐसे
जैसे बूँद आबे हयात की आ  पड़ी हो मुझपे
जाने कैसे उसकी नज़रे मुड़  गयी मेरी ओर
कैसा था वो आलम. कैसे झूम  उठा मेरा  मन मोर।

क्या  ऐसे ही दिल है लगता किसी
अजनबी अनजाने से ?
क्या इसको ही कहते है इश्क़

 चलो पूछे हम जमाने से

 ####

गर राह में मिल जाएं  तो 
देख लेना हमको भी कभी 

ये न कहना
 अजनबियों से  आँखे मिलाना अच्छा नहीं 

दिल ही दिल में चाहते हो हमको 

ये मालूम है 

पर ये कहते हो क्यों ? कि 

दिल का लगाना अच्छा नहीं ?

कर के हमको याद 

आँखे तुम्हारी नम हुई 

पर आँखों से यु  रूमालों का लगाना

 अच्छा नहीं  

####

कही राह चलते चलते

मेरी हसरतो में रहते रहते

मिल जाओ रूबरू तुम

चाहे रुखसत ही करते करते 

The other side of midlife ---part 2

Of late I have been watching a lot of movies and TV soaps . And I discovered that whenever a romantic moment is about to take place a mild breeze stars blowing , the hair of the respective protagonists gets  rustled and I smile !!! thank God all is well and you are still in heaven ,( This job used to be done by the  notes of the Sitar in  our days)

 .  I thought of writing this because these days I get carried away by the happenings on the screen ( just the way I used to about 45/50 years back) .  I like this style more because a cool breeze is easily available  than the Sitar players to help denote that  particular emotion . In those days I could neither churn out poetry( like I can today )  nor requisition sitarists to help me express myself and the time and moment would fly away leaving so much to be desired  . In between the last 40 years and the present (my 65th year ) I had become more rationalistic and mature and knew that Sitar or no Sitar breeze or no breeze some feelings and emotions do exist but take a back seat while one and also the other gets busy earning livelihoods , providing for the off springs , looking after the 'surrounders" and   the surroundings .

But now with off springs grown up and flown away  to better pastures in search of better conditions than those provided by us and we entering that stage of life which makes us ( him and me ) senior citizens with the prefix " senile" . I have become more alert and have learnt to take notice of the bounties of nature , the flowers , the fields , rain drops and roses , foggy mornings and mists . It  was during one of these moods  just back from my morning walk when i went in and stood on the balcony and suddenly felt a cool breeze rustling my tresses  . I felt a slight blush a surge of emotions and looked towards  the other protagonist who was  sitting  in his chair packed in monkey cap , muffler and warm woolen socks, engrossed in the news paper waiting for his tea  

. I sighed removed  my shawl, disentangled my birds nest tresses from  my scarf removed earplugs  , folded my cardigan and limped  towards the kitchen to get the TEA and my share of pounded biscuits together with his buttered toasts ( I  have some problem with teeth though his are OK  ) . .

Experience tells me  that hay should be made  whenever the sun shines ---else the clouds may take over ---so I walk in with the tea in a new tea set and me in a crisp sari and fresh make up :) .

Book Review----The Itch You can't scratch ----by Sumit Kumar

The Itch You can't scratch ----by Sumit Kumar 

What a title !!! and if you think seriously no other title could be more appropriate to define one's life ---Life , life time   lifelong '

Life definitely  is that itch one cannot scratch ---you are brought into this world and you have no say in this matter  , then you have to go on living life until you reach the  final day which again is beyond your jurisdiction .

This book deals with exactly that  ,  the path one's life follows till the final curtain is drawn.
 .

Sumit Kumar has dealt with the simple mundane happenings in the life of any and everybody in the most interesting way --you go on identifying yourself with the happenings as you go on reading the book you feel as if ---"arre ye toh mere saath bhi hua thaa( Hello even I went through this experience )"    , arre ye to hum sab ke saath hota hai( hey this happens with everyone ) , achchaa to ye sab ke saath hota hai? ( hmm so this happens with everyone eh !!) I have written both the Hindi and English versions of the readers reactions because that is what the author has done ---this book is in  Hinglish and that is what makes it more interesting and more identifying ;  one can relate to the happenings specially with the help of  the dialogues thrown in because that is  exactly what every Indian goes through his/her life ..

The growing up times , the interfering parents , the ambitious parent the ,curious neighbours ,the period of adoloscence , escapades  girlfriends, boy friends , infatuations , affairs relationships, failures  ,Then the expectations  by parents  , bloated  egos and misconceptions of ones own abilities , followed by  disillusionment  and finally settling with compromises .

I would not want to delve and disclose more from the chapters of the book and take away the excitement of reading and enjoying from the readers --but I highly recommend this book because ....

Another very interesting and important thing about the book is that it is written in    graphic style   making reading more interesting  making the  subconscious mind  feel as if you are still a teenager reading a comic book

This ""comic novel"""( pun intended) written in first person is a pleasant read and does tickle your funny bone .

 Published by Horizon Books and Sumit kumar and printed by Usha Printers Bhilai its running its second edition and is definately worth a read ---just to drive away the blues .

I enjoyed reading this novel and loved the writing style and presentation so much that I am now on to Sumit Kumar's  next novel written again in the graphic format Amar Bari , Tomar Bari NAXALBARI 

Two poems with positive thoughts to welcome the New Year

Two poems with positive thoughts  to welcome the New Year 

चलने को मन आतुर 

उड़ने को बेचैन 

कट गए  पर उसके 

आँखे रो रो करती बैन 

चारो दिशा   घनघोर अँधेरा 

उजियारा कही न क्षीण 

एक झलक सूरज की 

पाने मन हो रहा  अधीर 

कैसे कैसे क्षण  जीवन में 

कब और कहाँ से आते 

मान इसे किस्मत का लेखा 

सब मन को बहलाते 

कहते है इसको ही जीवन 

यही भाग्य का लेखा 

लेकिन जो झकझोर ले इसको
बन  जाये   विश्व विजेता


***************************

कुहरे ने सोचा एक सुबह

चलूँ  धरती की ओर

राहो पर छा जाऊं  ऐसे

न ओर दिखे न छोर।

पर उसको मालूम नहीं था

धरती पर , मनुष्य है करता  वास

चीर बादलो को वो लेता

कुहरे की क्या बिसात।

घने कोहरे को बेध सकती

एक दिए की लौ

सेतु  गंतव्य तक पहुचा  देता

  गर राह पकड़ लो तो।

रजनी सिन्हा (c) जनवरी  २०१७

some hurried words to express some random thoughts -on the advent of a New Year

some hurried words to express some random thoughts 

नव  नया नूतन नवीन 
ये शब्द हर वर्ष एक बार 
अवश्य सार्थक हो जाते है 
जब वर्ष बदलता है कॅलेंडर। 
पिछला   हर क्षन इतिहास बन जाता  
पिछ्ला हर वर्ष मौन हो जाता। 

आँखे जो सपनो में खो जाती 
रात दिसंबर इकतीस के 
वो जाग सवेरा देखती है 
एक नव वर्ष के प्रांगन में 



समय सदा गतिवान है 
इक्छाओ से भरा  विमान है 
कैलेंडर के पन्ने  पीछे छोड़
ढल जाता है इक नए रंग में 

नव नया नूतन और नवीन 
ये शब्द हर वर्ष जुड़ जाते 
नए कैलेंडर  के पन्नो से।