Bye 2008 .... Welcome 2009 !

Here's looking forward to a fresh new day .... new hopes ... new dreams ... a brand New year. :-)

May this year bring more joy, warmth, love ... a hand when needed .... a friend when lonely ... a shoulder for a tear ... a face for a smile ... a hug when cold .... some music for the soul ... sunlight when dreary ... a life very worthy ...

Here's wishing all my blogger friends a beautiful and joyous New Year !! :-)

Tomato Chatni / Tomato Chutney

The Bengali chatni is quite different from the usual other chutneys. It is usually sweet ... and whatever sour tang it has, it gets from its main ingredients like mango or tomato.
Very simple to make, this chatni can be had as a spread with bread / hot rotis. Also goes great with stuffed parathas.
Need : Chopped tomatoes, sugar, a pinch of salt, curry leaves, whole red chillies, mustard seeds, sliced ginger and a little cooking oil.
How to : Heat oil. Add the mustard seeds and curry leaves. Now add the tomatoes and salt. Cook till tomatoes turn mushy.
Now add the sliced ginger and sugar. Cook till all water has dried up.

Cakes & Rose Cookies .... Merry Christmas !

Studying in a Catholic school has, amongst a lot of other things, instilled this love for X'mas in me. Of course, the day has always been celebrated as an excuse for a feast at home too.
But what I still remember about school is doing up our chapel with the Nativity scene .... the wonderful smell of baking wafting from the Convent where the sisters stayed ... and if ever we went there on an errand (it was out of bounds for students except boarders), we would definitely get a piece of cake / pie/ some goodies .... visiting school for Mass in the chilling hilly area cold.... the setting of long winter holidays ...
So many memories. :-)



At home Ma would set about making an awesome lunch ... chicken, slightly sweet fried rice, her famous Russian salad, .... so many things .... not to mention a cake.



Then Mamata Mashi would come for lunch ... and bring with her Rose Cookies ( we used to call them Rose Cakes). This lady was our saviour whenever we felt like having Rose cookies. Nobody else made them. We just had to mention once .... and in a couple of days a huge box would reach us. :-)


I had bought a mould once I started started cooking on my own .... pined for these cookies. But these are such tricky things .... could never make them properly.

This time I followed Aparna's tips and measurements ... am so glad I found her blog ... and treaded this dangerous route. Made a decent few ...

..... before the batter / oil temperature / the mould started acting up.

So made these small pancakes out of the rest of the batter.



Merry Christmas all !!
Here's asking Santa for some peace and happiness for this world. :-)