Relish Classic Coconut Ladoos this Ganesh Chaturthi !!

The joyous 10 day festival of Ganesh Chaturthi begins today and so do visits to family and friends to seek blessings of the benevolent Lord Ganesha with offerings of sweets and fruits. This year, I decided to make coconut laddoos which are liked by a lot of people. Instead of buying the regular sweets from the mithai shops, why not surprise our dear ones with some homemade, easy and delicious Coconut Ladoos. 

Watch the entire reciepe of Classic Coconut Ladoos on my Youtube channel Simply Sindhi and share your views.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIwg-ECi-1Q&index=28&list=PLiCsbPkJbeFllaUlKGzBezZfZQb6PzrKi

(Jewel??) of India

Why is it so difficult to maintain quality and service in the restaurant business?

Last night, since we were attending a show at the Nehru Centre Auditorium, we decided to have quick and lite  bite at Jewel of India, a restaurant whose food  we had  liked for years . Being next door to the auditorium, we thought it was the perfect place to enjoy a quick  dinner after an evening of memorable music. Unfortunately, we were in for a Big disappointment. Our Manchow soup came in 5 minutes, but without the accompanying sauces. We had to  request  three different waiters to get them . They finally arrived 10 minutes later, by which time the soup was cold and the crispy noodles  in it soggy ! Our baked potato starter took quite a while to arrive, and  was so spicy, that it was difficult to eat.

Our main course Paneer Bhurlee with  whole wheat  crisp  Tandoori Rotis, was the biggest let down. It took over 40 minutes to be served and what we got was an insipid, yellow paste that had no taste at all. The rotis were made of maida and soggy! By now we were really exasperated, complained to the manager, who apologized and said we will not be charged for the Paneer dish. We were in no mood to have any dessert. Getting our bill was another challenge with several staff members running around to get it, over which we wasted 15 minutes.

As we stepped out of the restaurant, I was wondering how could both the quality of food served and the service have gone down so drastically, since we were last there about a year ago!

I am not going to JOI in a long time, till I get some great reviews!!

Celebrate Janmashthami with Authentic Segoji Khirni !

It's Janmashthami today and most homes will have traditional delicacies and sweets cooked. A long time favourite in my family has been sabudana kheer or segoji khirni (as it is called in Sindhi)which can be enjoyed equally if had hot or chilled. It tastes yummy by itself or with hot puris.

Here' s how you can make it

Ingredients

1 Ltr Milk

4 tblspn Sugar

3-4 tblspn Sabudana

10-12 cardamoms (peeled and deseeded)

20-25 strands of Saffron/Kesar ( soaked in 2 to 3 tbsps warm water/ milk)

10-12 Almonds julienned

20-30 raisins

Method

Put the sabudana in a strainer. Wash under running water for a minute. Drain out the water and keep the strainer aside for about an hour. (the sabudana will swell up a little and soften). Boil milk in a thick bottom pan. Lower flame and allow to simmer. After adding sugar and cardamon seeds, boil for 5-10 mins. Now add saffron, sabudana and let it boil for couple of minutes before you add the dry fruits. Serve Hot as dessert or as part of the meal. You can also refrigerate and serve chilled.

Snack it with Guacamole and chips !!

A friend invited me over for a movie afternoon last week. Watching our favorite old time classic, brought back some good old memories, as did the guacamole and chips we munched while watching the movie. So this morning I decided to make it and serve to my friends coming over this evening for a bridge game.

So try out this simple but delicious dip and have a great weekend :) 

INGREDIENTS

·         2 ripe Avocados

·         1-2 Tbsps fresh lemon juice

·         2 Tbsp or 1/4 cup of finely chopped onion or spring onion

·         1-2 green chillies, finely chopped

·         2 tablespoons cilantro/coriander (leaves and tender stems), finely chopped

·         A dash of freshly grated black pepper

·         1 small ripe tomato chopped

·         Salt to taste

·          

METHOD

1 Cut the avocados in half. Remove seed. Scoop out avocado from the peel, put in a mixing bowl.

2 Using a fork, roughly mash the avocado. (Don't overdo it! The guacamole should be a little chunky.) Sprinkle with salt and lemon juice. Add the chopped onion, coriander, black pepper, salt, chilles and chopped tomatoes. Mix well.

3 Cover with plastic wrap directly on the surface of the guacamole. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

4 Chilling tomatoes may  hurs their flavor, so you can add chopped tomato to your guacamole, add it just before serving.

Serve it with nachos, tortilla chips, khakra, wafers.