Dwarakadeesh!

last month we had visited Dwaraka temple,Somnath,Nageshwar and also some other related temples around Gujarath..while purchasing,i have attracted a special divine idol of gopalakrishna, made up of solid brass with black coating..there they call him 'ladoo gopal'who is in a crawling pose having ladoo in his right hand ..and i bought many deity accessaries like holy flute,turbans,earstuds,neckwears,bangles,tilak etc etc to decorate my little krishna..one wooden holy throne was also bought for him..the deity dress,a different one, having varieties of jeri designs and colors,all looking awesome that i was totally confused to choose from the lots..
iam proud to introduce Him to all my friends..this cute krishna will be one of a new addition to my next navaratri golu..

look at my little dwarakadeesh!

                                             iam sure you all will ♥ Him!

Mera Naam Joker

i had made a clown 2 years ago..but i forgot to add this favorite crochet work in my blog..what do you feel seeing the clown..
dont you remember Mukeshji's the old hit song:

"Jeena Yahan Marna Yahan, Iske Siva Jaana Kahan"

dont you feel rajkapoor's sad expression here?

enjoy crocheting!

Broken Wheat Sweet Appam

Last week i had already posted one recipe, 'Broken Wheat Dosa' which my brother-in-law shared with me..as promise,today iam posting his another recipe'Sweet Appam' where the same broken wheat is used as main ingredient..all ingredients are almost the same as Broken Wheat Dosa, but need some jaggery and cardamom (for flavour) as extra..

ingredients
broken wheat-1 cup
grated coconut-1 cup
poha-a fistful
jaggery-75gm or more as per your taste
cadamom powder-1/2tsp
salt-to taste
procedure
soak broken wheat in some water for 15 mts and drain off water..wash poha in little water and squeeze out..put broken wheat and poha with grated coconut in a blender and grind coarsely..add jaggery and grind to mix well..when grinding,add a little water(only if required) to get the right consistency..add enough salt and cardamom powder to the above batter..stir well..heat appachatty,apply oil and scoop the batter into the moulds and cover with a lid for 2mts or till its done..then flip over..sweet appam is ready to have with chips and hot tea..about 12 to 15 appams can be get from the above measurement..

see different steps with pics shown below..

                         
                soaked wheat and other ingredients being grind in a blender..

                      strained jaggery being mixed with the wheat batter..

                                 right consistency for the sweet appam..

                                        roasted appams in moulds..

         now ready to serve our fluffy soft sweet appams..Yummmmmy!

Broken Wheat Dosa

seeing a packet of broken wheat on my dining table,my brother-in-law gave me an idea of making two instant easy recipes 1) dosa and 2)sweet appam..now i am posting the recipes which he made by himself..i use this broken wheat only for upma..so when i heard,made the dosa immediately and wanted to tell you that it was super when i tasted..its very healthy too..want to share the must try recipe with all of you..and if you like,the credit goes to him only:))..

ingredients
broken wheat-1 cup
grated coconut-1 cup
poha-a fistful
green chilly-1 or 2
salt-to taste
sugar-1tsp

procedure
soak broken wheat in some water for 15 mts then drain off the water..wash poha in little water and squeeze out..grind broken wheat and poha with other ingredients..when grinding,add required quantity of water to get the right consistency..see last pic in collage..

heat tava,apply little oil and spread the dosa flour and then just flip over..

a golden color dosa is ready for breakfast..

tasty with dry coconut chutney,sambar and even with sugar especially for kids..about10 dosas can be get from the above measurement..

🥕Carrot Onion stir fry

ingredients
carrot-250gms
shallots-handful
red chillies
mustard
oil
salt
grated coconut -(optional)
procedure
you need only very few ingredients..wash and cut the carrots into 1 inch sticks..cut the shallots too...set aside..heat a kadai put some oil and add mustard,redchilly pieces,then shallots stir well for 5 mts..then add carrots and salt to taste,sprinkle some water and cover it for a few mts till done..take care to stir in between..for garnishing the dish,you can spread the grated coconut on top of the curry..now ready to serve a healthy side dish..it is a good accompaniment with meals or fried rice and especially curd rice..

SAL Kantha - Final Update!

eventually here comes the final update of Anita's SAL..seeing my whole kantha design,cant explain how excited i was when i have completed last weeks tutorial..iam certainly fortunate to join in her SAL this time and really enjoyed it a lot..i can say that those who has not joined in have missed it everyway..

Needless to say that her explanations in SAL were crystal clear and i much appreciate her embroidery talent..i hope she will grant us with further wonderful tutorials through Artisticfingers as early as possible..thank you so much Anita..

uploading 4 pics here..

                         Enjoy Kantha Work!

Kappa/Tapioca curry

ingredients
tapioca-500gms
big onion-2 to 3
green chillies-4
ginger-1'piece
curry leaves
turmeric powder
salt
urad dal
mustard
jeera
oil
procedure
wash and cut tapioca into cubes..pressurecook the tapioca cubes with salt,turmeric powder and enough water for 3 to 4 whistles (depends on tapioca) or till done..

heat a kadai put some oil and add mutard,urad dal,jeera,slit green chillies,chopped ginger,curry leaves and finally onion slices..stir for 5 mts..then add cooked tapioca and mash it a bit add water as required to get the consistency of your choice..now ready to serve with chapathi, poori or even dosas..

SAL Kantha - Triangle Borders and Dots

This time also i was too late to update my SAL as i had some personal matters..anyway i finished it by yesterday evening..oops!sorry,somehow i have left to fill center of the crown flower..i will do it with the next post..happy and proud to see the Kantha design now :)..do you feel my color choice is going dull? waiting forward to Artisticfingers for tomorrow's final post..uploading 3 pics here..

Easy Threading Needle!

 All of you are in familiar with needle threader given below..

here iam introducing not a threader but an easy threading Needle..

for online shopping link is "HERE"

This needle has 2 eyes in the  head..the top of the eye (slot-eye) has been cut to allow the thread to pass through from above..see the pic below..

                                     
                                            how to thread the Needle

To use, simply hold both your needle and thread with the thumb and forefinger of one hand, and with the other hand, grasp the thread, pulling it gently but firmly over the "V" down into the eye of the needle..
when you stitch and pull the needle repeatedly,the thread does not easily pop back out of the opening..thats how the needle behaves..3 strands can be passed through the slot easily..and this needle is too sharp as well..
so not to worry guys! no need to squint as well !

The lower eye is designed as usual way we are all familiar with: after squinting, pass the tip of the thread through the eye of the needle and pull..Hmmmm toooo boring isn't?so always try to use the slot-eye..

here the threading of the needle is the step that is simplified with this tool, so it becomes an easy task to thread the needle for those who are tired or bored of threading so far..:))

i bought some packages of 6 needles from 'Jo-ann craft store' when i was in US..since then iam using this for all purposes including embroidery.. i also gifted to some of my friends and relatives who agreed that its very useful for easy threading..hope you all will adore it..:)

Happy Mother's Day!

“M” is for the million things she gave me,
“O” means only that she’s growing old,
“T” is for the tears she shed to save me,
“H” is for her heart of purest gold;
“E” is for her eyes, with love-light shining,
“R” means right, and right she’ll always be,
Put them all together, they spell “MOTHER,”
A word that means the world to me.
                                                                           
                                                        you are my everything! i luv you amma!

                                                            "Happy Mother's Day"

SAL Kantha - Dhaneer Sheesh border

i have finished this week's SAL Kantha where i have done "dhaneer sheesh border" with 7 kantha stitches using 2 strands of anchor black..i have filled the band with arrowheads through out without leaving gap at the bottom..even though mine is not so perfect,it was an interesting experience for me to make this special arrowhead band..i really enjoyed it a lot..thank you Anita..

Boil Over Safeguard

an indispensable household device for me..so i want to introduce it here..its just a 2 piece gadget- a round silicone disc having some big holes in the center with a small top silicone lid..actually this Gadget is used for boiling pastas in US which helps to prevent spilling overs..

here i use this lid whenever i cook my rice..i dont like to cook rice in pressure cooker..i always boil the red rice in a pot on stove top for less than 15 minutes (for white rice 5 minutes is enough) and then keep inside the Rice Thermal Cooker(non-electric)..after 1 hour its ready to serve..when boiling rice,i cover rice pot with this silicone disc with its cover and it helps me not to boil over outside the vessel..even if i put on high flame,no mess at all and no worry  at all..no need of standing long near the kitchen counter and also saves more time for doing other works..besides,my gas stove and vessel will always be kept clean..yes i mean really it saves clean up in the kitchen..

it can also be used for boiling  milk,vegetable gravies or anything else..i dont think,so far it is available in india..i bought it when i was in US..i recommend this product for all of you and hope it will be come to india soon..

2-piece gadget

                                see how the gadget helps me in my kitchen:)

Mango chutney and Humman

now MANGO is everywhere everywhere!!!
and many more varieties as well!!!
as this is a mango season we can use them (either raw or ripe) in many versions..2 of them i am posting here..

Raw Mango Chutney
ingredients
1.raw mango-2 nos
2.shallots-5 or 6
3.red chillies-4 or 5
4.salt
5.coconut oil-1 tab sp
procedure
peel the mangoes and cut into pieces..
put 1 to 4 ingredients in a mixer and grind coarsely..remove it into a bowl and add oil on top and give a mix..ready to take with meal or breakfast items and even with bread..you can also opt asafoetida powder instead of shallots..that also gives another flavour for a change..

               

Ripe Mango Godda Humman
ingredients
ripe mangoes-4 or 5
jaggery-300 gms or more as per your taste
salt-a pinch
corn flour-2 tsp
for seasoning
pepper powder-2 tsp
mustard
cumin seeds
curry leaves
oil
procedure
cut the mangoes(need not peel) in big sizes(2 long side pieces + middle portion with its seed)..put them in a vessel,add a few water and salt..boil it for 5 mts..then put jaggery and boil again..mix cornflour with 1tabsp water, stir well and add to the above and bring to boil again..put oil in a thadka pan and season with mustard,jeera,pepper powder and curryleaves and add on top of the hot humman..now ready to serve as a dessert..
sorry i was not able to take the picture of the humman after seasoning it :(
as it had already finished and vanished from my table :))..

Enjoy Cooking!

SAL Kantha - Wheel and Borders

i love Paichano so i was also happy to change the borders as per Anita's decision..now it looks adorable na? Yesss,SAL Kantha tutorial is almost going to finish by 2 weeks..Damn sure that we cant get any wonderful tutorial other than Anita's..cant wait long for a new tute...so definitely i believe she wont disappoint us..
uploading my work for all of your view..

SAL Kantha - Crown Flower and Birds

this time i took more time to finish SAL Kantha especially the crown flower and still not satisfied with that work..my eyes dont let me to do the perfect work :(..so i had to satisfy with so so..uploading the recent work here and waiting for tomorrow's post :)..

SAL Kantha - Tara Booti and Dots!

hi
i was able to update last week's SAL Kantha at right time though a little bit late as i had to finish some pending works at home..awaiting next tutorial from Anita..:)

back side

SAL Kantha 'Bud and Calyx'

i have updated my SAL today following the tutorial from Artisticfingers..hope it's worked out quite nicely..i really enjoyed working with the calyx portion..uploading the front as well as back side..

Round Kutch Work

recently i have been hunting for some new stitches in youtube and came across this 'round kutch work' which was unknown to me till date..i tried it and the result came out like this..have to practise more and more by reducing the length of running stitches and gaps in between them to get a perfect figure..though kutch work is awesome,this can also be used instead of kutch work for some patterns..we just need to know where to apply this technique to get a beautiful design..

front side

reverse side

here goes the link for tutorial those who want to try:

vedio 1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXNy8NjOne0

vedio 2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KwGkA65vHE

vedio 3 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wApOavjsmK4

go through this link for kutch work designs:

http://www.indian-heritage.org/artcraft/designs/kutch.html

Courtsey: Nalini Anbarasu & Sumathi,'Indian Heritage'