J's thoughts

It was with great expectation that I walked into the theatre to watch this movie.  Well, here I go, take the seats, popcorn in hand, the lights go out, the movie starts with a thank you note from Nivin Pauly to his parents, spouse, kid and fan association. It is then that my friend whispers in my ear that he has started his own production company. Kudos to him. Now the actual movie starts. And for the first 20 minutes I am left wondering what is happening. Is he trying to mimick Mohanlal- similar punch dialogs, music....but the dialogs lack the power and punch it is supposed to deliver. What am I seeing? Is this a movie or a vlog of some events? I sit there raking my brains to get a grasp of what I am seeing on screen. Gradually it dawns on me that what is being portrayed is the day today life of a policeman. Nivin Pauly plays the role of the  protagonist SI Biju. Characters walk in and out of the movie, each having its own important role to play. All the scenes feel so...

I always have some leftover custard powder at home. What usually happens is, it sits in the kitchen cabinet without any use and then finds its way to the garbage bin. But this time, I was determined to find a way to finish it. Off to google.com and I came across halwa recipes using custard powder. My first reaction was 'What? Halwa! and that too with custard powder. Seriously!.'   Now to the fun part. I took it to work and asked my friends to guess the ingredient in the halwa. They came up with pappaya, carrot, mango, pineapple and even pumpkin. And the expression on their faces when I revealed it was custard powder was priceless...lol. The colour is bright orange and the texture is smooth. It is so easy to cut. Believe me, there is no need to add any food colour. This is one dessert recipe which can be prepared in no time if you have all the ingredients at home. It is definitely a keeper for those days when you have a party at home and you have prepared...

The weather in Kuwait is lovely now. It is perfect for a visit to the zoo.  The entry fee is 0.500 fils for an adult. Some sights around the zoo. What really bothered me was the people feeding the animals in spite of boards everywhere not to feed them. Seriously, can't you read! The monkeys,giraffes and peacocks are fed Pufak and kubboos. How horrible! Then there are others who were teasing the poor animals; as if being in a cage was not enough torture for them. There is a train that takes you around the zoo. You have to pay 0.500 fils per ticket (even for kids irrespective of age). Those are water coolers :) :) It was a wonderful day out. Enjoyed every bit of it.

I picked up this from Lulu. The yoghurt is packaged in clay pots. This is a 100% made in Kuwait product (by Yasmin farms, Wafra). And it has no preservatives. The shelf life is 7 days. The yoghurt is creamy and tasted good.  The prices are on the higher side compared to mass produced brands available (0.750 fils for 239gm of product). Probably it is because its still trying to get a foothold in the Kuwaiti market and also yeah it is all natural stuff produced locally. Alban dairy has a lot of products including milk and cheese. You can check out their website: http://www.albandairy.com/ (click here ) They also have a facebook, twitter and instagram account -@AlbanDairy A really nice product but wish their prices was lower.

Vermicelli payasam is one of those easy to make, anyone can make kind of payasam. I was introduced to pre-fried very thin vermicelli after re-locating to the middle east; this made the process of making the payasam even more quicker. I don' even follow any particular recipe for this. You can eyeball the ingredients and lo...you are done. This payasam can be enjoyed hot or cold . But for the sake of the blog, I am listing down the recipe. Ingredients 1. Pre-fried vermicelli - 1 packet (broken into small pieces) 2. Milk - 2 litre 3. Condensed milk - 1 can (397 gm) 4. Sago - 2 tbsp 5. Cashews - 3/4 cup 6. Raisins- 3/4 cup 7. Sliced pistachios - 1/2 cup 8. Sliced almonds - 1/2 cup 9. Ghee - 2 tbsp Method Boil the milk and add the condensed milk to it. Keep stirring; otherwise the condensed milk will stick to the bottom of the pan and burn. Once the milk and condensed milk is mixed well, add the vermicelli to the mixture. Add the sago now. Keep it on ...

Don't these look beautiful. That color...Oh my..it's to die for. Beetroot poori is one of those foods to trick your kids (and adults too...referring to my hubby) to eat beetroot. The poori's look like beautiful bright red rubies piled up on a plate.They are a feast to the eyes and tastes good too. Now to the recipe. Ingredients: 1. Beetroot - 1 (medium size) 2. Whole wheat flour (atta) - 2 cups 3. Salt - to taste 4. Semolina (rava) - 2 tsp 5. Oil - to fry  Method: Steam the beetroot. Wait for it to cool down. Then peel it and cut it onto small pieces. Make a puree of this beetroot by adding as little water as possible. Add the semolina and salt into the wheat flour and mix it well. Knead the whole wheat flour with this beetroot puree that you prepared. Remember that the poori dough is of thicker consistency than the chapathi dough (for this you have to go with your gut feeling). Beetroot is a messy affair but you wi...

I heard of this beauty brand from a friend of mine. She was raving about their lipsticks and so I had to check it out and bought the L09 lip color. I am totally in love with it. It's one shade which suits my skin tone. And on a second visit, I bought the nail polish 'C23'.  The company refers to its product by numbers rather than names.  [This is the link to UNE website.] The company is promoting it's products as 'natural' - a tagline which I always fall for.  Come on, who doesn't like the stuff that one applies on the body to be, natural.  It has a double cap system.  The brush is broad and thick - very easy to swipe on the nail. It is printed on the bottle that the product is 75.2% of natural origin.  Now why 75.2% and not a whole number!!!! Now that is confusing. But I can live with a nail polish which has 75% natural stuff :) :). UNE claims that this is a 3 in 1 nail color i.e. it's base+color+shine all comb...

I love lip balms...out of necessity :). I use lip balms to moisturize my lips when I am not wearing lipstick and also before applying lipstick. Not to mention those days when the temperatures go down and you have to deal with dry, chapped lips. The discussions on Maybelline baby lips was all over the net and so I grabbed it when I saw them on one of my shopping spree. The Maybelline website claims that it will moisturize the lips for a full 8 hours and that its like clinical care for baby soft lips. ( Link to website) I bought the shade called ' Cherry me' (there is something about red shades that attract me; maybe its my asian genes ...lol) The packaging is very cute.  Cherry me is a dark red tinted lip balm housed in a yellow tube and the outer cover is transparent. It is clearly printed on the tube that it is for adult use only.  The expiry date is 24 months from the date of opening. The ingredient list is not printed on the t...

Every Indian restaurant serves this at the end of a meal. Mukh means mouth and waas means smell. Some restaurants serve slightly roasted fennel seeds with small sugarcane cubes while others serve it with candied cumin seeds and sesame seeds. Mukhwaas not only helps in controlling bad breath, it also helps in digestion. My last visit to an Indian restaurant got me thinking...Why not try making this at home?  I am a person who likes to try out a lot of stuff at home. Lol. I should hang a board outside my kitchen which says ' Do not disturb; experiment going on;. I tried making mukhwas by mixing fennel seeds and small sugarcane cubes. It was ok but the taste of the raw fennel seeds would deter me from having it :(. So what to do next? Google of course... I googled and found a million recipes on the net. Black sesame seeds, white sesame seeds, flax seeds, rose petal jam, coriander seeds etc etc a lot of stuff goes into making mukhwas ...phew;  ...

Kichdi is a comfort food for me.  It is a one pot meal. It is easy on the stomach and nutritious as well. The mushy and colorful kichdi is a feast to the eyes. Even kids will like it (you can try this recipe for those picky eaters). Pair it with some raita and pickle, or just plain yogurt and enjoy this plateful of goodnees. Yum. Here is my version of Kichdi. Ingredients: 1. Basmati rice - 1 cup 2. Moong dal - 1/2 cup 3. Beans  - 1/2 cup  (chopped) 4. Carrot  - 1/4 cup  (chopped) 5. Potato  - 1  (medium size, chopped) 6. Green chilli  - 2  (chopped) 7. Tomato (medium size) - 1 (chopped) 8. Ginger paste - 1/2 tsp 9. Garlic paste - 1/2 tsp 10. Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp 11. Coriander powder - 1/2 tsp 12. Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp 13. Onion - 1 (finely chopped) 14. Oil - 1 tbsp  15. Ghee - 2 tbsp 16. Salt - to taste 17. Water - 2 1/2 - 3 cups Method: Wash and soak the basmati rice and moong dal for about ...

Thaali is used to clean the hair. The leaves (and sometimes the flowers also) of the hibiscus plant was crushed and the slimy liquid was used as shampoo. It was all so natural - no sulphates, no parabens, no added scents. No wonder our grandmoms and their moms and grannies had thick black hair , well into the old age. And here we are, the new generation, already cribbing about grey hair and hair loss. Now a days who has time for all this I came across Dhathri Chemparathi thaali while in India. Thaali in a bottle...how convenient...now I definitely want to try this. So I just grabbed it :D. I have tried to make thaali at home by grinding the hibiscus leaves in the mixer grinder (much to the horror of my mom :D) and then using it to wash my hair. I used bucketfuls of water to get the tiny leaf particles out of my hair. When I saw this bottle I was like 'Phew, this saves so much of trouble of plucking, cleaning, grinding, cleaning the mess etc etc.' This...

Are you craving something sweet? Here is one recipe that can be made in a jiffy that can double up as an evening snack as well as curb those sugar cravings. This laddoo will be enjoyed by both kids and adults.... I promise :) The ingredients are stuff which are available in your pantry almost always. (Recipe adapted from here  or  https://www.facebook.com/UppuMangaa/ ) Ingredients: 1. Cornflakes - 1 cup 2. Grated coconut - 2 tbsp 3. Sugar - 4 tbsp 4. Cashew nuts - 5 5. Peanut butter - 2 tbsp 6. Cardamom powder - 1/4 tsp Method: Coarsely grind the cornflakes in a dry grinder.  Transfer this onto a plate and powder the cashew nuts and sugar next.  Heat a wide pan on the stove (preferably non stick) and add the coconut.  After about 20 seconds, add the ground cornflakes, sugar and cashew mixture as well as the cardamom powder. Stir well. Then add the peanut butter to this mixture and keep stirring until all is combined well. ...

Upma is a breakfast item in south Indian households and it is one dish which can be prepared in no time if you have all the ingredients ready beforehand, You can use semolina,or wheat rava or oats to make upma. I  tried quite a few recipes till i found a method that works for me. So here goes my tried and tested version for soft fluffy upma. Ingredients: 1. Upma (semolina)  - 2 cups 2. Shallots - 8 - 10 3. Ginger (minced) - 1 - 11/2 tsp 4. Green chilli - 2 5. Cashews - 10  (optional) 6. Raisins - 1/4 cup (optional) 7. Water (hot) - 2 cups 8. Oil - 1 tbsp     Ghee - 2 tbsp 9. Urad dal - 1/2 tsp (optional) 10. Mustard seeds - 1 tsp 11. Curry leaves - a sprig (optional) 12. Salt - to taste Method: In a wok, heat the oil and ghee. Add the mustard seeds to this. When it starts spluttering add the urad dal(if using).  Then add the chopped green chillies, give it a stir and add the minced ginger.  Fry these for about 30 seco...

This is what a bath lily is.... And this is what a loofah is....