Recipe of the month: Maggi Pakoda

You know what I do when I have my mom or MIL around? I usually bug them to pull out one of their  much-loved signature recipes from their personal recipe repertoire and make it just so I can document it on my blog 😁 A sure-fire way of getting a winning post with minimum effort from my end. I believe I am not a true daughter if I don't make full use of these two women in such an obviously shameless manner 😂

I have several of my mom's and MIL's recipes on the blog. Today I'll talk about my MILs recipes since she is the contributor to this particular blog post. 

My MIL is a very intuitive and resourceful cook - one that can judge what ingredients go together well and can give ordinary leftovers a makeover to transform them into something unexpectedly delicious. Check out the recipes for Bread Pakoda, Vegetable Cutlet, Vegetable Samosa, Vegetable Pulao, Rice Shavige, Chitranna Shavige that are all her contributions to my blog. From her to me and subsequently my children, these treasured recipes will be a part of our family legacy and that brings me a profound sense of satisfaction 😊

Okay, so let's get one thing straight. Although these pakodas are called "maggi pakodas", they taste nothing like the ubiquitous maggi noodles. And that is because we don't use the masala tastemaker while cooking the noodles. Instead, we cook the noodles plain and then mix them with lots of fresh ginger, bird's eye green chillies, fresh coriander leaves, red onions, gram flour and cooked rice. So the obvious question would then be - do we need to use only maggi noodles to make this snack? The answer is NO. You can use whatever wheat-based noodles that catches your fancy. Kapish?

Coming back to maggi, I know that there are people who absolutely love maggi (like me) and people who don't enjoy it (both my in-laws). One thing is for sure - whether you like maggi or not, you will certainly devour these  flavourful and crispy maggi pakodas.

Since I have my in-laws at home, things are pretty busy around here. You can tell by the quality of photos in this post (for the record, I almost never take food pics using my camera phone and in artificial light but I had no choice so kindly excuse). 

I'm signing off now folks. Go make these ASAP (I think I ate about 20. They are that good).

Paperless Post: Beautiful Customizable Online Invitations for Every Occasion

Service Review

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I know things have been pretty quiet around here lately but I am very much alive folks. A quick trip back home kept me away from blogging for a few weeks.

So if you don’t know this already, I express myself best through words. I believe that I am more a writer than a talker (many who know me well may disagree since the latter classification matches my extrovert personality). But I’d say I am able to convey much more through writing than speaking and that is where I am most at ease. If you are wondering where I am going with this, today's post is all about expression and communication. 

I was recently contacted my Paperless Post, an e-commerce company based in New York City that focuses on design-driven online and printed stationery. Paperless Post partners with leading fashion designers including Kate Spade New York, Jonathan Adler and Oscar de la Renta. The company kindly credited my account with coins to try the Paperless Post service in exchange for a review on my blog.

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Let me start by saying that I was (and probably always will be) a fan of snail mail. I still have treasured stacks of hand-written letters, birthday and holiday greeting cards from my exchanges with friends and cousins during my teenage years and early adult life. Even for my own wedding, the invitation card that I distributed to my closest friends, colleagues and teachers was carefully hand-written in my signature cursive style. I am a huge fan of the old fashioned approach.

But ever since the internet took control of our lives, this tradition is slowly fading away. It isn’t really surprising. Let’s get real - in today’s fast-paced and busy world, time is a precious commodity. Sending traditional print cards requires multiple steps from selecting and buying the card from the local store to writing  a personal note, buying a stamp and then delivering it via mailbox or post office. The whole shebang takes time and money, not to mention effort.

Online cards on the other hand come at a fraction of the cost (or sometimes even free), saves on paper, are easily accessible, can be personalized, only requires an internet connection and can be sent to anyone, anywhere in an instant.

I’ll admit – as a mom of young girls, I receive a fair amount of birthday invitations. A few of them printed invitation cards and most others, digital cards (mainly sent through WhatsApp). It has happened a few times that I have misplaced the printed invites and spent a considerable chunk of time turning the house upside-down in order to find them. Digital cards on the other hand are easy to recover - all I have to do is whip out my phone and quickly re-confirm the date and time. Although printed cards do look and feel beautiful and convey a more personal touch, not too many people look back on the days of tedious envelope folding and stamp sticking with fondness.

The original artwork at Paperless Post is created by a collaborative group of artists, designers and letterers. Every year, over a thousand unique invitations and cards are designed in their in-house studio.

Using this platform, you can design & create your own invitations using an impressive selection of designs for birthdays, weddings, holidays, celebrations, parties, announcements and more.