Embracing motherhood....

Double the trouble, double the fun,

Our life with twins, has just begun

So, the title and picture says it all doesn't it? It gives me so much joy to finally announce to the world that I am mom to two beautiful fraternal twin girls. We were graced with this double blessing on 10th Nov 2014. Our precious angels, who we have named Anvitha and Navitha arrived exactly at 36 weeks measuring 47cm and weighing in at 2.1 and 2.0 kg respectively. 

I am recovering from (what I knew would be) an arduous hospital stay and looking forward to spending time with my little ones and settling into my new role as mommy. So, if you don't hear from me in a while, you will know the reason why. 

Despite being on the roller coaster ride that comes with a twin pregnancy and working full-time until well into my 8th month, I tried my best to keep my blog running these past few months. The temptation to take a break was overwhelming but I knew that a lull in posting new content would be inevitable once the babies arrived so I made up my mind to not neglect my blog (which in a lot of ways will always be my first baby 😊)

There are a lot of people whom I'd like to express my heartfelt appreciation - the brilliant team of doctors and nurses at NUH who took such excellent care of me from start to end, my dear colleagues and boss for being so supportive and looking out for me each day that I was at work, my friends in Singapore for taking care of me during the tail-end of my first trimester while my husband was away in India, all those near and dear ones who sent me home cooked food, family and friends who graced my baby shower and lavished us with generous gifts, loved ones who visited me and the girls after the delivery and last but not least, my dearest mum for tending to my every whim and fancy during the last few weeks of my pregnancy and who continues to help me everyday. I'd also like to take this opportunity to thank all those who called/texted/e-mailed/visited me to check on how I was doing and praying for the well-being of my "peanuts" (that is what I called them from the minute I got the first glimpse of them on my first sonogram). It is courtesy of your good wishes and blessings that the three of us made it through without a hitch despite mine being an extremely high-risk pregnancy from the start. I am eternally grateful to each and every one of you and I am touched by the genuine outpouring of love and warmth from all corners. 

I'm signing off now. I sincerely hope to make some time to blog once in a while and also give updates on how my girls are doing. So stay tuned and do keep visiting.

Cheers,

Megha

Disclaimer: The images in the title picture were obtained from Google images and have been used solely for illustrative purposes. 

Recipe of the month: Chitranna Shavige

Yes I know....I haven't been blogging as frequently as I usually do *sighs* but sometimes it is simply inevitable and I just brush aside the guilt and get on with my life. This is a post I had been saving for a rainy day. Sometimes, due to time constraints or prior commitments,  I find myself unable to post new content and those are the times that I frantically scour through my drafts folder for hidden gems like these 😊

If you have been following my blog, you would probably remember that the last time I was holidaying in India, my atthe (MIL) had prepared Otthu Shavige/Semige (hand pressed rice noodles) for my blog. Preparing homemade shavige is a cumbersome procedure so whenever this task is undertaken, a gargantuan batch of shavige is prepared so that everyone gets almost a week's worth of it and thus, don't feel the need to demand it again for quite sometime *grins*

One of the popular makeovers of plain shavige is chitranna shavige, a simple preparation of shavige tossed with a tempering of spices, onions, chillies, lemon juice, curry leaves and nuts thrown in for crunch. Another one would be shavige oggarane which is shavige tossed with a tempering and coarse mixture of fresh coconut, mustard seeds and dry red chillies. 

The process of making chitranna shavige is exactly like the ubiquitous chitranna aka lemon rice, the only difference being that instead of cooked rice, we use prepared shavige....quite obvious no? This dish (which has also been prepared by my atthe), is really simple and you can get it ready on the table within 20 mins. It is light and flavourful and reheating it in a microwave makes it taste as good as freshly made so it makes for an ideal dish to pack in the lunch box too. 

Here is the recipe. This is how my atthe and my mom make it at home. Try it and you will be pleasantly surprised by how much this simple dish has to offer. 

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Recipe of the month: Vegetable Pulao

It's time for a recipe that is very close to my heart. This is a recipe for Vegetable Pulao that I have been making for the past 6-7 years. Every single time I make Pulao at home, it is this recipe that I turn to, so in a way, it is my go-to recipe. I've made it on countless occasions when I've had guests at home and I very frequently get asked the recipe 😊 Since it works so well for me, I haven't changed a thing and have continued to make it the same way over the years. Why mess with a good thing no? 

This recipe does have some history attached to it. Immediately after I got married, I was a homemaker for a while. I had just graduated from dental school and I was quite frankly quite fed up with studying and working. Since I was always highly enthusiastic about cooking, I used that brief temporary phase of my life to learn all the basic recipes that my mum and MIL had perfected over the years. 

One among them was this recipe for Vegetable Pulao. This is my MIL's recipe and it is one of her signature dishes. My husband was very eager that I learn this recipe from her and he used to frequently bug me about it. I did eventually learn it but the first few times I made it, the feedback I would always get is that - "its good but it tastes a bit different from mum's". I had no idea what I was doing differently. My MIL uses a mixture of two different pulao masalas for this recipe. One from Everest and one from MTR. This combination, gives it a distinct flavour that you do not get if you just stick to one masala. She also uses fried bread cubes as a kind of garnish which gives it a different twist and something my hubby really loves. I guess the saying 'practice makes perfect' is true because as I continued to strive to get it right and eventually succeeded to get it to taste like her version (don't ask me how though coz I have no idea 😁 )

I use an equal proportion of basmati rice and regular rice i.e. sona masoori in this recipe. There are certain kinds of rice dishes that I make for which I use an equal ratio of these two varieties of rice. I just like it better that way. But then again, there are other kinds of rice dishes where I exclusively stick to either basmati rice or regular rice. You can use whatever rice you like but be mindful that the quantity of cooking liquid would change (more details on that as you read on). 

Here is the recipe. It is slightly labour intensive but the good thing with any pulao is that it is a one pot meal and all you need is a simple raita on the side and your meal is ready.

Restaurant review: Dinner Buffet at Cafe Mosaic @ The Carlton, Singapore

Cafe Mosaic is a contemporary cafe located at level 1 of the elegant Carlton Hotel in Singapore. This restaurant is touted as a place where Asian and Western culinary favourites are brought together to give diners a taste of what the best of Singapore has to offer. From their menu, Cafe Mosaic presents a kaleidoscope of culinary choices in their buffet as well as on their à la carte menu.

I became aware of the buffet at Cafe Mosaic only after my boss asked for suggestions for a dinner venue to treat all of us to celebrate her being granted tenure at my University. A few of my colleagues had been to the buffet and so it was highly recommended. The 1-for-1 buffet promotion for Citibank, DBS/POSB and UOB Cardmembers was another compelling reason to pick this restaurant for the venue. We made a reservation on a Friday evening for 16 people which was handled efficiently so after work, we all headed in a big herd towards Carlton Hotel.

The hotel is beautiful and has an air of sophistication. Since we reached the hotel before 6:30pm, we waited for a while in the waiting area of the main lobby until the restaurant opened for service. BTW, the restrooms are located just outside the restaurant and they are super clean 😊

The restaurant is a decent size and is somewhat compartmentalized. The decor is pleasing and the lighting is ample. We caught a glimpse of the spread as we made our way towards our table and it looked impressive indeed.

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