Author: bindugopinath

Hello There , I started writing on Facebook out of sheer passion , a passion that was harboured within me from the time I learnt to write . I started with poems which rhymes :) , i made a journal and hid it with me over years until I reached my teens to only destroy them for I felt they were silly .. I still penned down all my dark secrets, my pain , my happiness from the terrace of my home . I loved to scribble despite the fact that I had the worst handwriting on this planet(in my opinion).. I will always say thank you for technology else how will I have communicated to the world what I wanted to? I finally created a hashtag #randomthoughts and started writing , later changed it to #mystory and realised people started liking them and began requesting me to write more .. So here I am only because of your love ,creating a blog to pen my thoughts .. I have been told by the super power that it is my purpose to keep others happy and that I have to do my bit to bring change and good. It is my personal responsibility and I hope I help one soul if not all and that will be happiness for me. Here on this blog you will find stories that pop up in my little brain , some reviews of food as I believe food is us as we are made of food and few random thoughts :) , that word doesn't go away from me however I try . While I am not writing or procrastinating to write I love to meditate, Enjoy learning about our body, cooking ,fitness and reading. I am a hopeless dreamer , love to eat and travel , believe music is life and love to laugh(giggle is appropriate) ..

Wheat Cake

After I started baking I literally have stopped going towards the bakery which I think is a good sign and I always look for recipes that is healthy as maida/plainflour is not my cup of tea. So here I am with a recipe I tried from the web and it is one of the yummy cakes I came across which is guilt free 🙂 . Lets begin no? 🙂

Ingredients :

Atta/Whole Wheat – 2 cups

1 to 2 cups of jaggery , cane sugar (intent is to refrain using refined sugar)

1/2 tb baking powder

1 1/2 tb baking soda

2 tb cinammon powder

3/4 cup refined oil (I used rice bran oil)

1 cup curd

water as required

walnuts, raisins , figs – a fistful

Method (I use a connection micro wave, so if you are using a oven please adjust accordingly)

1.)Pre Heat the microwave to 180 deg C | for oven 200 deg c is good

2.)Mix all the dry ingredients together in a bowl

3.)Blend the curd and oil together in another bowl.

4.) Mix the dry and wet ingredients and mix well. Add water as required to get the dripping consistency .

5.) add the dry fruits the way you want . I chose to garnish them , sometimes I mix them with the cake mixture itself

6.) Oil bottom of the baking dish and bake at 180 deg C for about an hour , of course checking in regular intervals . The tooth pick has to come clear when inserted and thats the sign of a baked cake .

7.) cut and serve when cool

Dry ingredients mix

Wet Ingredients mix

Blend blend both

The dry fruit time

Notes : Mixing the ingredients well is key to a good cake is my learning .

You can replace all the ingredients with maida, sugar etc and that will be the regular cake. This is an attempt to eat healthy and yet tasty .

Sugar I added one cup and it was just sweet the way I like and if you are sweet tooth soul then make it 2 cups of sugar (cane) .

Madurai Idli Shop

Once upon a time when Tamil style idli and sambhar was on mind I used to visit this place and somewhere had forgotten. Last Sunday when Idli’s were on my mind for brekkie the closest destination was Madurai Idli shop. So decided to park the car and walk in hoping all was the same .

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The idlis were ok and I am unsure what the gravy is called for it surely wasn’t sambhar . I thought tomato gravy and didn’t event eat it after tasting once ,however the guys at the service counter told me it was sambhar . Service was bad, “I dint care attitude “. I decided to eat and leave as I wasn’t planning to visit them again anyways . The idlis were cold and just ok . No spoons and the wait was unbearable .. May be expansion is not everyones cup of tea and inflation make people compromise on the quality and quantity. This is the era where chutney is more of water than flavour , whom can we blame really ? This place is a big nay! from me .. If you want to give it a try below are the details , you never know it might be your day 🙂

Address: No. 3051 80 Feet Road, HAL 2nd Stage, Indira Nagar, Bengaluru, Karnataka 560038

Phone: 080 2520 2255

Kobe Sizzlers

After a movie one evening when we were hungry the only option that caught our attention at the Garuda Mall was Kobe sizzlers. I have had a love – hate relationship with this place . Yet! I believe in chances so we again went in and ordered for a chicken sizzler and veg sizzler . Oh! didn’t I mention that I have become a vegetarian for now, its over a month. I know sizzler and veg is not something most will relate to, well! I like to experiment and enjoy change too 🙂

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This came in which was a huge patty /cutlet with some sauté veggies and fries on a bed of rice and I opted for the mushroom sauce . The patty was a big no for me as I am not a fan , yet tried and wasn’t pleased so decided to let go of the main attraction of the dish and dug into the rice with veggies and sauce . I must say I enjoyed it. My friend ordered for chicken breasts with pepper sauce and devoured it . Both looked the same so i didn’t click 😛 , you can also say that it was dug into before i realised ..

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Its an aye from me . Do visit them if you still haven’t 🙂

Website : www.kobesizzlers.co

Address :They have over 4 locations and new addition is Garuda Swagath . Just google for addresses .

#happyeating

Oats Dosa

What to make for breakfast is a question I ask myself every morning and sometimes the previous night. Its the most important meal of the day and has to be like a King’s meal I am told . For some unknown reasons I decided to make Oats Dosa . I had not soaked any ingredients required for a regular Dosa and wanted an easy way out too hence the idea 😉 .

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I made this in like 30 mins and wanted to share the recipe .

Ingredients :

Oats : 1 cup (put it in the mixer and powder it)

Rice flour : half cup

Roasted Rava /Semolina : Half Cup (make sure it is not roasted to brown)

Curd : half cup

Onion : 1 finely chopped

Green Chillies : 2 finely chopped

salt to taste

Water as required

Method:

Take a bowl, add oats, rice flour, rava , curd and mix. Add water and bring it to almost watery consistency. Now add onion and chillies followed by salt and mix well. These are porous crispy dosa like the rava dosa so the consistency has to be watery. Keep it closed for about 30 mins and make Dosa’s hot . They will be crispy , delicious and healthy too :D.I like it this way , you can temper / tadka the batter with oil, peppercorns , jeera too.

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Oats Dosa batter

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Crispy Oats Dosa

Simplest Onion Chutney

One onion and 2 green chillies (this can be added basis your liking) grind them with salt. It is ready .It was simple and yummy.

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If you cant handle the punch raw onions and chillies bestow upon you ,add some oil to it and it immediately neutralises that flavour .

Enjoy the dosa and let me know how you liked it 🙂

#Happy eating

CLUE for PMS

Hmm.. Not a topic all would like to read am assuming but most will relate for sure , so I thought why not blog and educate you all on what I learnt . If you are a woman who knows or don’t that you PMS then please do read and if you are a man who is a victim of your partners PMS then you must read too. 😀

What is PMS? click here PMS

I am not a Doctor and I am writing this just to share what I know and its always advisable to talk to a gynaecologist for a detailed info.

Mood swings , short temper, depression, exhaustion etc are a few symptoms and for some reason most men fail to understand that this really happens . I dont blame them entirely for 2 reasons :

a) they are not educated or rather we are not educated on the topic while we grew up and

b) its a woman’s problem and unless one experiences how can they really know? So they are not at fault in my opinion.

Men: Basically if you see your woman all irritated , angry , teary , etc during certain days of every month those are a few symptoms of PMS . No! We are not doing all that deliberately and trust me it is not in our control at all .

I have been a victim until I started working out regularly and meditating .I became aware of what my body goes through and today I am so much in control of my own emotions that I am here writing this. At some point in my life I never knew who was controlling me (read hormones) .Now, the moment I know the dates , I start observing myself and I am aware of my mood. There are times I snap or get irritated but completely become aware in a few seconds and change the way I react , basically I am in control. And the fun part? Most times I end up laughing at myself and the hormones who play evil :P.. Like it is said awareness is the first step to resolving any issue 🙂

I stumbled upon this app called Clue I think on Google and decided to download and voila! it changed my life. This app basically helps us women to keep a track of our dates : the PMS dates , tracks our moods , periods and maintains a calendar . It basically it alerts me on the PMS date , period date et al and I am all set to handle myself . So I wanted to share this info with all my female friends and also Male friends who may want to learn and understand their woman more and help themselves and their partners “happily live ever after “(I believe that concept exists :))

There are certain things that is inevitable in life and the best way to deal with them is by befriending and being aware of them. Or its a battle that will never end .. Clue will change your life like mine . It has many more info than I have mentioned so Go Go Download by clicking here –> clue

#StayHappy

The Johnson’s Cafe , Manali

We had not planned the recent road trip to Manali so obviously we weren’t prepared with the must visit places , given the short 2 day trip . While river Beas was travelling besides us, I happened to see her closer when we were reaching The Tranquil Inn and saw a restaurant which was filled with foreigners . For some reason I happened to check with Ms. Google and she said in Manali eating Trout Fish is a must and my friend in the car mentioned that she wanted to eat it and that she heard rave reviews about it. Then Johnson’s cafe it is screamed Ms.Google with some great ratings on trip advisor and the plan was made .

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The Butter Garlic Grilled Trout Fish

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Bruschetta with egg plant

The next day we decided to visit the most famous cafe for the Trout Fish only as the dinner we wanted to devour was waiting for us at the hotel 🙂 . We had our priorities right you see . We went to this place which had the feel of pondicherry and was almost empty thanks to the rains and the off season perhaps? Trance music was playing loudly at the bar area and we chose to sit in one quaint corner . The order was white wine , trout fish , butter garlic – grilled , bruschetta with egg plant . My friends wanted to eat masala fried fish but the only option they had was the one we ordered . My order came in first obviously easiest to make the bruschetta and it was delicious . My friends enjoyed the Trout Fish and was all praises for it . We polished off our respective dishes and left the place smiling ,for good food always makes one happy . Its an Aye ! from us . The next time you are in Manali , you know where to eat The Trout Fish 🙂

The Venue .. Some Random clicks

Address : Circuit House Road, Siyal, Kullu, Manali, Himachal Pradesh 175131

Website :Johnsonscafe

Phone : 01902 253 023

Heritage Haveli

On our way to Delhi from Manali I was super excited about our preplanned lunch at some place around chandigarh, It was saddening that I will not get to visit Punjab but the possibility of savouring authentic punjabi khaana made me happy. So our friend decided to stop at Heritage Haveli , a fine dining restaurant which is on the left hand side before Ropar . This looks like an elegant , rich place with all waiters decked up in punjabi attire and even the crowd looked very “tish” if you know what I mean . Oh! You didn’t get that ? I meant upper class 😛

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Rajma 🙂

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Papdi chat

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dahi balla

We made our selves comfortable on a four seater and the punjabi music on the background was very catchy . My agenda was set before we stopped here , it was Rajma Chawal for me . Simple and best. Where else will I get authentic one? The menu was filled with options and I was so excited at the look of it that I wanted to taste everything but then had to convince myself to settle for Rajma . Luckily my friends ordered all that I like and Voila! I got to taste all the dishes on the table .

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Roti , Kadi pakora , Rice

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Haveli Desi Ghee ki Mirchi parantha

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Oye! Its an Aye!! Please go whenever you are around . Pure Veg khana hai and finger licking good with awesome service . What I missed clicking was the lassi 😉

Address :

Heritage Haveli,Vill.Khabra, 6th mile stone before Ropar.

Phone : 1881-301000

#Keylong (Himachal Pradesh)

While we initially had plans to laze at Manali and just stay in our sit out area with the chai and pakoras another part of us said arre! Go explore , so many places around just go. And the travel bug bit us again and instead of resting we decided to go to Keylong . While spiti valley was on top of the list it was over 200 km and we had to return by evening as we had to head back home the next morning again . So we decided to go to Keylong and that was through Rohtang pass . The journey began with our guide Negi .

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We crossed several waterfalls and mountains . It was cool and green to begin with and I was dressed to keep myself warm and as we climbed high it got Sunny and the mountains I felt were telling me a story . Every mountain was so beautiful , so different yet same . They were magnificent and I felt I had attained nirvana . All I could do was stay silent as it was breathless . They spoke to me so much and all I wanted was listen . Who said we were great artists really?

Can we ever match up to Nature and her creations?

The entire route is filled with quirky sign boards obviously sending a serious message like drive carefully in a funny way so that we may register in our minds 🙂 . The journey went on and I felt the chill down my spine and yes it was Rohtang pass. I was amazed how temperature changed and also the view . It was so misty and we saw people walk around in a full body suit , for a moment I felt I was in another planet . We took a quick 10 minute break and had a long way to cover through the bumpy road and the journey went on . I was telling my friends that all of us would have lost a minimum of 300 gms weight each . The ride was such 😉

We stopped to click some breath taking images . We spotted snow miles away , was it Ladakh, I wondered . So many army vehicles on the road and also the entire stretch was filled with workers and cranes busy repairing the roads for us to travel safely .

We later stopped by for lunch and Maggie I said without blinking an eyelid . I knew that would be the best while my friends settled for Tukpa and momos . After the food , some chai and Parle g biscuits we started again .

Now the mountains were all looking angry , dry and dusty . There was no spec of greenery and the roads were equally upset with us . It was the bumpiest stretch and we didn’t keep the windows down as the car interiors had changed into brown colour with a layer of dust . We reached Keylong clicked some images and read a board which said Leh was 450 kms away … We wanted to go ahead but we couldn’t and consoled ourselves saying there is always a next time and being greedy isn’t good and descended back through the same range clicking – talking – staring all in silence agog .

We reached back Manali fighting the mist oh wait! Weren’t they clouds that we drove through?

And Manali greeted us with rain and our host at Tranquil Inn with some mirchi and allo pakoras with chai . We were tired yet felt accomplished and had no regrets for we saw all that we had to and we realised our journey had just begun with this …

Photo courtesy : Rohit Varma

Website : http://rohitvarma.com

To read more about Keylong read here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keylong

#thetranquilinn

It has been a while since I went on a holiday, was my rant from many months now . It was a Wednesday and we had a work meeting scheduled in Delhi and after the meeting a plan was made to travel to Manali where a friend of ours had a beautiful place. I couldn’t believe my ears was this happening? Excitement took over me and I had to pinch myself several times to make myself believe that I was finally going on a break .

Some images enroute to Manali

It was 12.43 am when we headed out of Delhi on road and the journey turned from highways to ghats . It was early in the morning and the beautiful sun set its eyes on me , I was enthralled by all this feeling alas! I was in a place I have always wanted to be from the time I have known myself . We reached our destination the Tranquil inn by 3 or so and we were asked what would we prefer for lunch . The tired souls in us wanted some comfort food and all we asked was for some rice , dal and alloo Sabzi and they happily obliged. We devoured it and crashed to wake up to a beautiful evening .

The hotel we stayed at and my room

It is such a beautiful place tucked far away from the hustle and bustle of the city . All I could hear was the sound of water and was it wind?

And hell broke loose when I stepped to the backyard of the hotel into the apple orchard, was I dreaming? Thousands of them spread over acres of land and I was like this kid in a candy shop . I plucked one red apple and another green, I wanted to eat what I earned and was in bliss . The evening went away staring into the sky , listening to the river Beas who escorted us from the time we reached the ghat till our rooms and she was still there around checking if I was fine 🙂

View from my balcony – Apple orchards

View from my sit-out

In the evening we visited the market area and my friends wanted to feast on the trout fish which was the specialty of Manali . After a little shopping and stuffing ourselves we were back in our abode which put us to sleep in a jiffy not before I thanked the universe , my stars , my friends for this experience .

If you want to experience peace , good food and amazing hospitality in short feel at home below are the details

The Tranquil inn

Number : +91 9816016414

Peace be with you!

Bindu Gopinath

Food – Life – Travel