Whats that n How to

Following Ayurveda in everyday life-Guest post by Sharmistha

8:44 PM

Light summer meal
Ayurveda, that age old system of medicine and general wellness is our very own. Though Indian food has always been guided by the Ayurvedic principles but with time we are losing touch with it's healing properties. So when my friend Sharmistha started posting very useful tips on her Instagram account I wanted her to write this article in a easy manner, for everyone to understand and incorporate these easy steps in our daily life. 
Here is her beautiful article. Do comment all your questions and she will try to answer as much as possible.

Author Bio: Sharmistha can be contacted for free consultations, writing collaborations and workshops at sharmis.majumdar@gmail.com. She is currently studying Ayurveda along with Modern Nutrition Science.
Facebook handle: facebook.com/ancientfoodwisdom
Instagram handle: Ancientfoodwisdom


When my dear friend Sayantani enthused me to write a post on Ayurvedic Diet and Nutrition, I felt deeply encouraged yet very nervous. The 5000 years old healing science of India is so detailed and vivid, that it is difficult to decide where to begin and where to end.  Well, I attempted this article from the perspective of a layman.Every reasonable human being desires for health and well-being. 

Ayurveda has laid a strong foundation for knowledge of one’s Prakriti or physical-mental-emotional constitution for maintaining health, understating cause of diseases with management and prevention of future ailments. Knowledge of one’s Prakriti can guide us to follow the appropriate lifestyle, diet, and regimen suitable for the particular environmental condition.Ancient vaidyas or healers had enumerated several factors which influence our constitutional, temperamental, psychological and spiritual makeup; they are:Matrija- Pitraja Bhava (Hereditary Factors) - It refers to the genes transferred to the offspring from both the parents.

Meat n Poultry

Bone broth

9:50 PM


Its wonderful what 20 minutes of brisk walk in a chilly evening can do to your mood. I am not good at selfcare, I have never been. and with two small kid and plethora of work that needs to be done no matter what i hardly get any time to call my own. But this year I made a concious effort to niche out some 'me time' to do things that makes me happy inside out. and the first I did was to commit to a 20 minutes brisk walk everyday. For the kind of lifestyle I have I know I need to go for a more serious commitment but right now am happy with my small step towards my goal. 

But then most days especially the days when I go out with the day light still there the kids love to tag along. That definitely slows me down as they wonder about everything on our way and ask plethora of questions. It's like a full on blabbering session with one running after the butterfly and the other collecting leaves and flowers, playing with a sprig of twig as an imeginary car steering and what not. Those days definitely my 'all by myself' time is lost but I gain another perspective that us mothers  need to be flexible with our self care routine too. Our precious me time might look different everyday but no matter how disturbed it is we need to carry on and there still would be a certain joy. because we always know it in our hearts that this phase soon will go away and we would all be left to ourselves. 

Bengali

Bengali Bhaja Platter ( 5 types of Bengali fries)

10:33 PM


If you look up for Bengali Cuisine then you will find Wikipedia saying that " It also has the only traditionally developed multi-course tradition from the Indian subcontinent that is analogous in structure to the modern service à la russe style of French cuisine, with food served course-wise rather than all at once." 
If you look for more then you will find that "Monsieur Daridan, the French Ambassador to India in the 1960's, remarked to his Bengali host in Calcutta that of all the foods in the World, only Chinese and Bengali food could compare with the sophistication of his native fair" (The Calcutta Cookbook)

Yes Bengali meals are probably the only multicourse meals where proper sequence is followed as per the rule of Ayurveda. But not only this if you look closely you will find a sequence is followed in everything from how the dishes would be placed on a plate or how the plate itself is placed in front of the person. Yes there is a traditionally approved method for all this. I remember while shooting for the show Rocky and Mayur's food express I asked Rocky to turn the plate so that the mound of rice is placed on his left. Look at the Thalis in the following picture. We keep a little place at the bottom of the plate so that following the traditional way we could mix each dish with a little rice to consume and taste everything separately. 

Bengali

Bori (Bengali Sun dried dumplings)...while the Sun shines

11:55 AM


Do you remember the story of Moses? The Egyptian prince who later became the most important prophet of Judaism. According to the Hebrew Bible God chose and sent him to Egypt to release Israelites from slavery. He led the exodus of the Israelites out of Egypt and across the Red sea in search of the promised land. They suffered many difficulties in this log journey but God guided them through out. During their travel in the dessert when they did not find any food God gave them 'Manna' a fine flake like substance that appeared on the ground in night with dew. It tasted like wafers made with honey and was to be collected before the sun Came up. Moses instructed them not to store Manna more than they need for each day. Some did not listen to his advice and wanted to store it, in anticipation of no food in future.  But 'Leftovers of manna stored up for the following day "bred worms and stank"...

Events Awards Interview

Bake Fest#17, The round up

8:59 AM

When I mailed Vardhini wishing to host Bake fest I knew how important this event is for all food bloggers. And once again you all proved it right by sending so many unique baked goodies. Am so glad that I hosted this and want to Thank Vardhini for giving me this opportunity. with every mail my need and urge to bake something aggravated, I also baked so many goodies but hardly got the time to post anything here. 
Here is the round up, hope you all will be inspired to bake something very soon.

Events Awards Interview

Event Announcement: Bake Fest#17

8:11 AM



Hi friends! I am so happy to share this news that this month am hosting one of Blogosphere's most cherished event, bake fest. All thanks to Vardhini of Cook's joy to think of such a beautiful event and letting few of us host it. 

 Though am sure you all would be familiar with the rules, still let me remind you once again
1. Send in any baked or broiled recipe
2. Only vegetarian recipes are acceptable, eggs are allowed though
3. one can send in any number of entries, but only 2 old entries would be accepted
4. Linking back to my announcement page and to Vardhini's Bake Festhttp://cooksjoy.com/blog/bake-fest-hosting-schedule announcement is mandatory. If sending an old entry, it needs to be re-published with both links.
5. Usage of logo is appreciated 
6. send your recipes to  - ahomemakersdiary @ yahoo . co . in with the following details :
  • Your name and name of your blog
  • Title of the recipe and URL of the recipe post
  • Picture of your dish resize to 400 px wide
7. The deadline of the recipe submission is 31st March'2013

Will post the round up in the first week of April.

Have fun friends and send us loads of love with your unique baked goodies.

Events Awards Interview

It's Giveaway Time (win Rs.1500 e-gift voucher)

6:06 PM



I love winter back home in India but in Japan (where I am having a long vacation right now) its quite a dreaded season. With the crisp cold wind and sub zero temperature you hardly feel like going out and do some activity. Rather staying in, snuggling under the blanket and keeping ourselves toasty makes you feel much better. Especially in the morning, sneaking in few extra moments in bed seems like the ultimate luxury that a mother of three and half year old hyper active kid can think of. Weekends are more precious with the hubby at home, any early morning needs can easily be delegated to him. So you can imagine my utter dismay when at 7 in the morning the kid shrieked, shouted and shaken me from my nirvana. I was angry but then I looked through the window …and missed a beat. The sky seemed to open up and with such white snow cover it looked beautiful beyond imagination. But BRRR it was cold beyond imagination too. Right now when am writing this post the snow has not melted yet and the temperature is hovering around –3,-4.

The teapot seems to be brewing all the time along with the coffee machine but they kind of have lost their edges. Its cold outside and I need more ideas to keep ourselves warm and toasty. so can I request you all to share your favourite winter warmer recipe with me. And I promise to give you something in return too.

These wonderful people at Cuponation.in are sponsoring a RS.1500 Flipkart gift vouchers to my readers. just by sharing your winter warmer recipe this voucher could be yours and you can shop your heart’s content at one of India’s largest e-store. Trust me with so many lovely goodies to choose from I can easily spend hours online.

Though online shopping is quite a new trend in India but it is catching up real fast and thanks to sites like Cuponation who has made it possible to shop without having a big hole in your purse.

If you don't know yet then let me tell you that Cuponation is India’s largest coupon portal offering discounts for a vast category of items starting from Kitchen appliances, Electronic goods, Books, Apparels, baby cares, Flowers and what not. The best part is they even offer discounts codes and coupons for services like Insurance, travels, Movies, restaurants etc. This definitely is a new concept in India and for E shoppers like me this is going to be very advantageous. I often have seen E stores offering cash discounts on prices or shipping and with these codes from Cuponation it would be easier to plan accordingly and save a lot of money. Or in other words more shopping with same budget.

So if you love online shopping then you must go and check their site and try the amazing discount coupons they are offering almost on everything. Or if you are someone like me then you might consider subscribing to their regular updates or follow them on their Facebook page or Twitter handle. That way you never going to miss their fantastic deals.
Via: http://couragefromsoup.tumblr.com/
To enter the giveaway all you need to do is
Cook up your favourite winter warmer recipe (hot beverages and soups only please) post it on your blog with the link of this giveaway and the sponsor's page (cuponation.in) 

 and mail me the recipe along with a picture of the dish to ahomemakersdiary @ yahoo (dot) in. Also mention your name and your blog’s URL.

Non bloggers please send your entry to the above mentioned mail with a picture and recipe of the dish.

Please restrict only one recipe per person. Bloggers can share archived recipes but please update with the link of this giveaway and link to Cuponation.in.

The giveaway is open till 5th February’2013 and on 6th we will have our lucky winner through Random.org.

Please try and spread the news as good news are to be shared.

As you can see, I can't stop gushing about them, so please go and check their site out.

**Disclosure - I have received no monetary compensation for this post. I did this review because I genuinely believe we can save a lot of money by using Cuponation’s coupon codes.

Also I love my readers and when wonderful people offer to reward my readers just because they love this Homemaker I cannot say No. Now can I?

There is no Hidden cost involved with this voucher. It is a gift voucher which can be used to purchase for Rs 1500 on flipkart without ANY limitations. You just need to shop and when you come at the payment page, instead of entering bank details you enter a voucher code and a pin (which I will personally provide to the Winner later). But If the order value exceeds the e-Gift Voucher amount, the balance must be paid by Credit Card / Debit Card / Internet Banking.

Events Awards Interview

Monsoon Of India Round Up

12:32 AM

It's been long that I hosted an event. so when I saw Jagruti's post asking to host some of her events I knew I had to request her for this. Jagruti is a very generous person and I will always remember her as a chiffon saree cladded girl standing in the freezing snow. She is beautiful, creative and very very fun loving. She instantly agreed to let me host her Monsoon event, which by far is my most preferred season. 

Events Awards Interview

Announcing JCO-Monsoon of India

10:31 AM


Monsoon, probably the most desirable season for all Indians, not also gives us respite from the dreaded summer but also strengthens our economy. If you don’t agree then think of those hot and humid summer days when even thinking of going out in the scorching heat makes us sick. and then that beautiful sound of roaring clouds as if murmuring the good news of bringing the respite from heat. Those gray clouds surrounding the sky and the light and shade giving almost a surreal feel even in the brightest of afternoons. That invigorating smell of damp earth after the very first shower of the season, the crisp air overturning our umbrellas, huddling under any shade and acquainting a stranger, those lightening in the sky tearing the deep dark night and finally drifting to a comfortable sleep listening to the rhythm of dancing raindrops. . Its magic engulfs and includes us all.

Monsoon for us is a season on which we survive and sustain. Being pre dominantly an agriculture-based economy a good monsoon boosts our economy and strengthens are socio economic standing. We pray for good monsoon and worship the rain God to be kind. We celebrate many festivals welcoming this life thriving season.

And last but not the least with providing a cooler and more comfortable climate it revives our taste buds. After the dreaded summer we get our appetite back and delve ourselves into the seasonal food it brings with it. Monsoon is sheer magic to enjoy fried goodies, like pakoda, cutlet or kebab. Masala tea or filter coffee never taste as good as its in monsoon. Reading never seems so enjoyable when paired with a hot cuppa.  Many lazy afternoons are shared with friends and family with good food and rain as a backdrop.

Various parts of India celebrate this season with various types of delicacies. Some parts enjoy Hilsa (fish), some prepares khichdi and some serves pakodas and bhajias. So when Jagruti allowed me to host her JCO for monsoon I was ecstatic to realize that this will allow me to learn about many unknown-unheard ritual, culture and especially food from your kitchen. A big thank you to Jagruti, who is the brain behind this event. Every season is going to have different theme and some wonderful bloggers are going to host it. So friends join me this season and lets celebrate the season that brings a smile to all of us.


Now the Rules:
1.      Now that the theme is Monsoon so please limit recipes that has some kind of reference to this season. If you are linking any of the fried stuff or hot beverages you don’t need any reason but for other recipes I would request you to please mention how it is significant. Would love to share your nostalgic memories.
2.      Both vegetarian and non-vegetarian recipes are welcome. So bring on all  
      those kebabs and indo Chinese fries.
3.      please link in recipes that has been published during the event’s time  
      period. No archived or reposted recipes please.
4.      Posts must be linked to this announcement page and to Jagruti’s page.
5.      You can link as many recipes as you desire.
6.      The usage of logo is not mandatory but requested.
7.      The time limit for this event is 1st july’12 to 30th sept.’12.
8.     Non- bloggers please come up with your unique recipes and mail me your entries to ahomemakersdiary@ yahoo. In

Will add some linky tool tomorrow. Till then prepare some monsoon goodies and relive and share your monsoon memories with us.


Sorry to change the procedure here. To participate 
1. Please mail me to ahomemakersdiary @ yahoo. in with
2. your Name:
    Your Blog's URL:
    Recipe Name:
    Recipe Link:
    picture of the dish not more than 300 px in width.


Happy Cooking!

Events Awards Interview

Arusuvai Friendship Chain: Season 2; Round Up

2:07 AM



When I decided to renew the charm of the Arusuvai Friendship chain little did I know that it would become so popular. Within the first week itself we had several interested bloggers to the list and till date everyday I open my blog I see new entries. Right now we have 36bloggers from India and 4-5 interested bloggers from abroad, whom we plan to link in the chain at the last stage of Arusuvai.

Bharathy and Srivalli both warned me of the difficult job of co-ordinating the whole system of linking up one blogger to another. And truly it’s a huge task of contacting the interested bloggers, collecting all the information, co-ordinating the chain and keeping track at each and every step. But all thanks to our wonderful participants whose co- operation made it all so easy. Above all I always know that Bharathy and Srivalli are there to help me out with everything. They always encourage me and share experience at each and every step.

Right now the chain is in the fourth link of the chain and am glad that every participant is pleased to have taken part. Every day it brings smile to my face when I read their mails conveying the message as how much they like to meet and make friends for life through this chain. That’s the reward for my effort. Here is a glimpse of the chain so far…


The chain was put to start by Bharathy of ‘Spicy Chilly’ in October. She sent Pumpkin seeds to me (Sayantani). Check the Baked Masala Peanuts recipe that I cooked for my family.

Sayantani of ‘A Homemaker’s Diary’ sent mustard powder to Bharathy with which she made a traditional Kerala style Banana stem pickle called Vazhapindi Achar.

Divya Kudua of ‘Easy Cooking’ received Panchforon from Sayantani with which she cooked a Bengali style Potato and peas curry.

Gayathri of Gayathri's Cook spot received Mace or javitri from Divya and she baked a batch of Aromatic nutty Muffins.

Megha Goyal of Live to Eat received Star Anise from Divya and she prepared Sauteed Mushroom.
Shalini of Sanctified Spaces received yellow mustard seeds from Gayathri. She prepared a tongue tickling Crunchy Carrot and Chili Pickle.

Priya Hari of Priya's Kitchen received Black sesame seeds from Hema. She prepared a spicy Milagai Podi to spice up breakfast.



Nisa Homey of 'Cooking is Easy' received Palm jaggery fom Hema, with whcih she prepared a mouth watering delicacy called Kozhukattai.




Hema of 'Chef Hema' received dried green peppercorns from Sayantani and she whipped up two mouth watering dishes. Green Peppercorn Rice and Green peppercorn garlic kuzhambu





Veena Arvind of 'Kitchen Celebrations' received Kokum from Megha and she prepared a healthy and tasty Ayurveda inspired recipe from Sukham Ayu. A must check recipe of Gujarati Dal.

Kajal of 'Kajal Dreams' got a lovely Valentine themed package from Shalini. She got poppy seeds and made delicious Potato Curry and Poppy seeds Halwa.

Archana of 'The Yum Factor' received Active dry yeast from Veena and she baked wonderfully light Pesto and Sun dried Tomato bread. The braided bread surely is a winner.


Nivedita of Nivedita's Kitchen also received her mystery ingredient from Veena, and she was puzzled to guess  the agar agar she received. She prepared a very light but refreshing dessert, Agar agar pudding with praline topping.


Our very own Simran of Bombay foodie got Dried ginger roots from Shalini and she made a delicious batch of Gingersnaps. Total Yum.


Veena Krishnakumar of 'Veg Junction' received Barley from Gayathri and she prepared a very healthy Barley Uthappam.


Santosh of Santosh's Kitchen received black poppy seeds from Nivedita and what a innovative way she used it to prepare Cake rusk with black poppy seeds. A must check recipe.


Jayasree of Kailasa Kitchen received a packet of dried Apricot from Veena. She prepared a delicious bowl of rose hues Beetroot and Mewa Pulao.

Aparna of My Diverse Kitchen received an unusual ingredient called 'Gondh or Gum Arabica' from Veena, with which she prepared a Mediterranean flavoured  Rose, Pistachio & Cardamom Ice-cream With Gum Arabic




PJ of 'Seduce Your Tastebuds got a packet of Mangodi or Moong Dal
(yellow lentil) wadi from Archana and she prepared a lip smacking Rajasthani delicacy called 'Mangodi ki Khadi'.


Rachel of Tangerine's Kitchen got Ajwain or carom seeds from Nisa. This was one ingredient which she never cooked with, so she paired it with the humble potato and prepared Ajwain Potatoes.
Saee of 'My Jhola' was elated to get her mystery package from Rachel as she sent her couple of Organic Vanilla pods. Without wasting any time she baked a delicious batch of 'Cashew and Vanilla Bean Cookies'.
The very talented Sanjeeta of Lite Bite prepared a scrumptious stack of Healthy wheatgerm pancakes with the cornflour she received from Nivedita.




Rituparna of 'Chocolates and Dreams' received cornmeal from Jaysree and she prepared a delicious batch of Cornmeal Strawberry Muffins.

Rajani of 'Healthy Slurps' got a very less known ingredient called Rajgira atta or Amaranth Flour from Jaysree. She very creatively cooked an one dish meal called 'Raj Conito'. If you are curious to know what that is please head to her blog.




Our very talented Nithya of 4th sense cooking, received very rarely found  lavender from Simran and she very lovingly baked and decorated a lovely batch of Lavender Linzer Cookies.




Monika of Sin-A-Mon Tales baked Baked Ajwaini fish with carom seeds she recieved from Nisa.




Sharmi of Neivedyam was busy with her shifting still she managed to dish out a healthy bowl of Muesli with the Organic dry grapes Aparna sent her.
Richa Priyanka of Ambrosia received flaxseeds from PJ and she stuffed this power packed seeds in some sattu filled buns.

Events Awards Interview

Arusuvai Friendship Chain: Season 2; Round Up

12:43 PM


When I decided to renew the charm of the Arusuvai Friendship chain little did I know that it would become so popular. Within the first week itself we had several interested bloggers to the list and till date everyday I open my blog I see new entries. Right now we have 36bloggers from India and 4-5 interested bloggers from abroad, whom we plan to link in the chain at the last stage of Arusuvai.

Bharathy and Srivalli both warned me of the difficult job of co-ordinating the whole system of linking up one blogger to another. And truly it’s a huge task of contacting the interested bloggers, collecting all the information, co-ordinating the chain and keeping track at each and every step. But all thanks to our wonderful participants whose co- operation made it all so easy. Above all I always know that Bharathy and Srivalli are there to help me out with everything. They always encourage me and share experience at each and every step.

Right now the chain is in the fourth link of the chain and am glad that every participant is pleased to have taken part. Every day it brings smile to my face when I read their mails conveying the message as how much they like to meet and make friends for life through this chain. That’s the reward for my effort. Here is a glimpse of the chain so far…


The chain was put to start by Bharathy of ‘Spicy Chilly’ in October. She sent Pumpkin seeds to me (Sayantani). Check the Baked Masala Peanuts recipe that I cooked for my family.


Sayantani of ‘A Homemaker’s Diary’ sent mustard powder to Bharathy with which she made a traditional Kerala style Banana stem pickle called Vazhapindi Achar.



Divya Kudua of ‘Easy Cooking’ received Panchforon from Sayantani with which she cooked a Bengali style Potato and peas curry.



Gayathri of Gayathri's Cook spot received Mace or javitri from Divya and she baked a batch of Aromatic nutty Muffins.


Megha Goyal of Live to Eat received Star Anise from Divya and she prepared Sauteed Mushroom.


Shalini of Sanctified Spaces received yellow mustard seeds from Gayathri. She prepared a tongue tickling Crunchy Carrot and Chili Pickle.


Priya Hari of Priya's Kitchen received Black sesame seeds from Hema. She prepared a spicy Milagai Podi to spice up breakfast.



Nisa Homey of 'Cooking is Easy' received Palm jaggery fom Hema, with whcih she prepared a mouth watering delicacy called Kozhukattai.








Hema of 'Chef Hema' received dried green peppercorns from Sayantani and she whipped up two mouth watering dishes. Green Peppercorn Rice and Green peppercorn garlic kuzhambu






Veena Arvind of 'Kitchen Celebrations' received Kokum from Megha and she prepared a healthy and tasty Ayurveda inspired recipe from Sukham Ayu. A must check recipe of Gujarati Dal.





Kajal of 'Kajal Dreams' got a lovely Valentine themed package from Shalini. She got poppy seeds and made delicious Potato Curry and Poppy seeds Halwa.
Keep on checking this page to know what Archana and Aparna are cooking next. I will be updating this page as and when participants post their Arusuvai recipes. The link would be placed at the top of my home page.

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