Festive Chocolate Modaks / Ladoos

I love all festivals and celebrate them with complete gusto and excitement. However Ganapati festival is one of my favourites, I cant wait to get Bappa home every year and whenever I look at him its just getting immersed in his eyes every single time.
This time is no different I am so happy and immersed completely in all Bappa's festivities and digging in completely on Bappas favourite food (and mine too ;p, he is the foodie God and that makes me fall in love with him all the more, added advantage you see).
So here I am churning out delicious delicacies for Bappa and his Bhakts (devotees, -we ;p).
My kitchen is filled with amazing aromas of all kinds of modaks, so I thought why not share the easiest and one of the yummiest one of the lot with my blogging family.
So without further ado here it goes.


Chocolate Modak / Ladoo

You can give this recipe a modak shape or Ladoo shape both are equally loved by Bappa.
You can even use it for other festivals and celebrations.
The Recipe is super easy, quick and finger licking good.
So why wait, lets just start Making.

Ingredients

Milk maid/ Mithai mate or any condensed milk.
Powdered Sugar
Digestive Marie Biscuits
Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
Vanilla essence or any other (optional)
Milk

Method
Crush the biscuits in powder form preferably by hand so it is uneven and has a coarse texture.
Add Condensed milk, Cocoa Powder to it.
Add Sugar as per taste if required.
Add milk and vanilla essence.
Knead it all in a dough form it shouldn't be sticky but firm so add your ingredients accordingly.
Shape them in your desired modak or ladoo form.
Refrigerate for some time.
Your Modaks are ready.

Quick, easy and amazingly delicious - Hope you enjoy.
Let me know how they turn out.

Until we meet again.
Stay happy and cheerful and enjoy the festivities.

xoxo
Bhakti

Metro Diaries - 2

About the Book:

Give life another chance. Laugh a little longer. Let go of your past. Hold onto what you love. In short LIVE rather than just exist!

Some told, some untold, some heard and some unheard - this collection of stories will make you look at life in a different light and make you ponder over its definition of it till now.


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Reviews for Metro Diaries 1:

After touching your hearts with 'Metro Diaries - Love Classics' she is back now with stories that will redefine life for you!

The stories in Metro Diaries - Love Classics are free from any trappings of youthful slang and fashionable language stunts. These young adults are speaking to the readers with Namrata’s maturity shining through, and Namrata’s ideas of love. - Sakshi Nanda 

The language is fairly pleasant to read and the elaborate discussions between characters in each story must have taken a lot of work – because the most difficult job of all authors is to bring out human emotions in proper words. Thankfully, Namrata has concentrated upon it very well! - Dhivya Balaji


About the Author:

Namrata is A Lost Wanderer who loves travelling the length and breadth of the world. A published author in various anthologies and magazines she enjoys capturing the magic of life in her words. She is forever in pursuit of a new country and a new story.




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Weekend trip to Rice Paradise

Weekends are meant to take a break from the ordinary, mundane and I just do exactly that. Dive in to the weekend with an enthusiasm of a child having fun in his first fun fair. I love doing things that bring peace and happiness to my heart, travelling and nature rank in the first few.

So here we were travelling with a bunch of friends to the rain soaked Rice paradise lying in the backyards of Pune. No more puzzles and for those who have already guessed - Yes Mulshi it is. This small beautiful town glows and basks in its beauty like a dazzling peacock dancing in the rain. Mesmerising one and all with its splendid grandeur and Natures beauty.

It was a triple celebration - Friends Birthday, Friendship day and a good old weekend - Jackpot don't you think.

What with a big over enthusiastic bunch we had, we booked a quaint rustic bungalow in Mulshi (there are many available for stay). Very basic dormitory type setting like camping together with gorgeous nature surrounding us. Home cooked, rustic hot food.

It was an amazing weekend what with such gorgeous set of people in beautiful surrounding, gurgling streams, rustic home cooked meals, non stop pitter patter of rain, getting drenched and hot smoking bbq all done by us - heavenly.

All Ready !!

Lets go .. Candid

pic credit - Ashish P

The journey itself is so beautiful.

such a rustic old property, Zahir and me completely fell in love.

It had a small pond pool, Victorian old age statues, a lovely guava garden. It even had its very own weather vane on the highest point of the roof.

No sooner than we reached and settled we were served hot poha and pakoras along with chai. I digged in hot Bhakari along with chutney. Once we were well fed we decided to explore the place and head out for a small hike in the Rain.

Rice fields everywhere, they are so pretty, swaying in the wind and dancing in the rain.

This guy though is the best thing of the entire package ;p

We found this stream gurgling along. It was so therapeutic to just let the water flow over your feet, the light drizzle of rain and the fresh fragrance of the rain washed mud, foliage and farms with scent of wild flowers and blue canopy of the sky  dotted with specs of clouds.

Enjoying like a child

Nature and its beauty. These wild flowers are so pretty and cheerful.

Pc - Ashish

P C - Ashish

Never to leave and always to behold and protect.

oh btw a small accident, one of our friend dropped his camera lens right in the stream. We all were so worried but Thank goodness nothing happened to it. Immediately cleaned it with a cloth and after going home kept it in a pot of rice grains to soak all the moisture off..

Credit - Ashish

On our way back to the cottage after a nice excursion.

Pic credit - Ashish

Credit - Preet C

courtesy - Ashish P

First glimpse of the cottage on returning from the hike..

so inviting ..

we jumped into preparing bbq and lighting a slow fire, so magical. We were served gavran chicken curry, bhakari, rice and some vegetables too.  

The food was so amazing, we digged in. danced the night away. Beautiful memories, that's what the journey is about.

this candid snap, I am in love with this..

Pic credit - Preet C

Magical nights like these - dancing in the moon light in the rain.

Life is all about living and not just being alive.

on that note hope you liked  the post, let me know ...

until we meet again

Stay Happy and Cheerful

xoxo

Bhakti

P.S - Some pictures belong to Preet. C and Ashish .P, I have already given the credits in case I have missed any.

Easy Veg Cutlets

Firstly I am so sorry for being away from all you guys for so long. The weather was playing up and I had an active dengue in the house with other viral and cold and coughs making their presence felt as well. Thankfully things are much better and here I am doing what I love - nonstop banter with you all.

Monsoon = comfort food , sick days in  = comfort food and that's what I have been doing this entire while (in my defence)
So here goes an easy veg cutlet recipe to cheer one up instantly. Its healthy too (if you don't count the cheese). I had this at one of my friends place and loved it and came up with some tweaks here and there.

Vegetable Cutlets

Adjust the vegetables according to preference and taste.

1/2 cup finely chopped capsicum
1/2 cup finely grated carrot
1 cup green peas
1/2 cup paneer grated
1/2 cup cheese grated
2 big potatoes boiled and smashed
1 small onion finely chopped
1/2 cup cabbage finely chopped
1/2 cup French beans finely chopped
salt
pepper
2 tspn ginger garlic paste
paprika (optional)
bread crumbs to coat
oil for frying
flour paste

Method

Mix all ingredients and seasoning together and mash properly.
You can mix a small quantity of bread or bread crumbs to hold the consistency.
Once the mixture is ready make small patties and dip them in the flour paste (optional) and then coat them with bread crumbs.
Deep fry or shallow fry according to your choice.
Enjoy piping hot with your choice of dip.
Excellent starter for get together and parties.

Enjoy Your Veg Cutlets, share your pics and let me know how they were.

Until we meet again.

Stay Happy and Cheerful !!

Lots of Love

xoxo

Bhakti

The Conspiracy at Meru (Vikramaditya Veergatha # 2)

VICTORY IS TEMPORARY. THE BATTLE IS ETERNAL.

Vikramaditya and his Council of Nine have fought valiantly to repel the rampaging hordes from Devaloka and Patala – but Avanti has been brought to its knees. Ujjayini lies battered its citizens are scared and morale is badly shaken. Meanwhile, the barbaric Hunas and Sakas are gathering on the horizon and cracks are emerging between the allied kingdoms of Sindhuvarta.

The only silver lining is that the deadly Halahala is safe. For now.

Bent on vengeance, Indra is already scheming to destroy Vikramaditya, while Shukracharya has a plan that can spell the doom for the Guardians of the Halahala. How long can the human army hold out against the ferocity and cunning of the devas and asuras? And will Vikramaditya’s love for his queen come in the way of his promise to Shiva?

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The deadly Halahala, the all-devouring poison churned from the depths of the White Lake by the devas and asuras, was swallowed by Shiva to save the universe from extinction.

But was the Halahala truly destroyed?

A small portion still remains – a weapon powerful enough to guarantee victory to whoever possesses it. And both asuras and devas, locked in battle for supremacy, will stop at nothing to claim it.

As the forces of Devaloka and Patala, led by Indra and Shukracharya, plot to possess the Halahala, Shiva turns to mankind to guard it from their murderous clutches. It is now up to Samrat Vikramaditya and his Council of Nine to quell the supernatural hordes – and prevent the universe from tumbling into chaos!

A sweeping tale of honour and courage in the face of infinite danger, greed and deceit, The Guardians of the Halahala is a fantastical journey into a time of myth and legend.

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About the Author

Door-to-door salesman, copywriter, business journalist & assistant editor at The Economic Times; Shatrujeet Nath was all this before he took to writing fiction full-time. He debuted with The Karachi Deception in 2013, followed by The Guardians of the Halahala and The Conspiracy at Meru, the first two books in the Vikramaditya Veergatha series. At present, he is writing volume three of the series. Shatrujeet lives in Mumbai, but spends much of his time in the fantasy worlds of his stories.

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