Egg curry!!!

Here we go!!! After a long time!!!

I have moved into Netherlands on an assignment. All the time i spend here is into enjoying the beauty of the country, travelling in their public transport systems, cuddling at home and most important of all maintaining a house on my own!

I do a lot of cooking these days that suddenly i have to come to realise that my other two hobbies on writing and photography had taken a backseat! Why not combine all three now?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Egg curry (serves 2 persons)

Ingredients

1 big onion

2 eggs

1 tomatao

6 strands of corriander – finely chopped

Green chillies – 2 – finely chopped

3 strands of Spring Onions

Curry leaves powder – 1 teaspoon

Dhaniya powder – 1.5 teaspoons

Jeera powder -1 teaspoon

Garam malasa – 1/4 teaspoon

Chilli powder – 1/2 teaspoon

Subji masala – 1/4 teaspoon

Turmeric powder – 1/4 teaspoon

Coconut milk – 3/4 cup

Ginger garlic paste – 2 teaspoons

Butter – 20gms

Salt – 1.5 teaspoons

Water – 1 tablespoon

Recipe

Heat the pan with butter. Add onions and saute for a minute.

Add tomatoes and ginger garlic paste. Add corriander and green chillies. Saute for a minute.

Mix the spices (garam malasa, turmeric powder, chilli powder, jeera powder, curry leaves powder, dhaniya powder) into a small cup with 3 teaspoons of water. Add the mix to the pan. Saute for a minute.

Break the eggs and pour it directly into the pan. If you prefer to have the eggs float apart, please do not stir the eggs too much into the curry. I like it mixed totally with the curry, so that i have less effort eating So I would normally stir it well in the pan.

Add cocounut oil & 1 tablespoon of water, close the pan for 5 minutes. Open it to a toast of smoking, delicious egg curry!!!

Movie Review – Titanic 3D

It’s been a really long time! Here I am, back to what I love doing!

 

 

 

 

 

 

I saw Titanic in 2D all the way back in school. Probably twelve years ago. I saw it with my entire family then. My sister and I enjoyed watching it a great deal though we walked out heart-drenched.

It felt the same as I saw it with a close friend this time around in 3D. You may not however call it a 3d screening. It was only a replay of the original film. Not much of 3D per se could be felt. But the emotions took depth and you seldom remember that it is a 3D movie.

Rose and Jack board the deck of Titanic from different circumstances. Rose is accompanied by her mother and fiance. She is forced into a relationship with her fiance as her mom yearns to become a millionaire’s mother-in-law.

Jack, on the contrary, is an ordinary boy who wins a ticket to Titanic by winning a poker. He boards the ship at the last moment with his friend.

Jack and Rose first see each other from huge distances as their decks are totally different in Class. Jack is impressed on the first look whereas Rose is only casual as  her temperament would have been tested by her fiance on a dinner table.

Irked with life, Rose attempts to commit suicide by jumping from over the huge ship. Jack comes to rescue her. Her fiance in complement invites him for a dinner into the upper deck. Jack hardly knows anything about the attitude the class of people there would carry. Nevertheless, he never shows his nervousness. He kisses the lady who comes down the royal stairs. It is the famous kiss on the hands!

After a boring dinner in the upper deck, Jack takes her to the lower deck to show her what a real party means. They enjoy themselves with a dance that makes you smile!

Next day, Jack comes over to the upper deck to meet Rose. Rose quickly comes out of a conversation with the ship’s designer on why he had very few lifeboats given the capacity. The designer beams in pride about the ship’s sturdy body of iron.

Rose and Jack start a not-so-friendly conversation. But as Jack shows his book of paintings, Rose is impressed. They then play a game of who spits longer, as her mom squirms seeing him.

Next day, Jack drags Rose into a room and asks her if she really loves her fiance. He has no place to go after reaching America but then all the determination to work his life out. Rose refuses and quickly leaves. That evening, she comes back to him saying that she changed her mind. That’s when the famous scene happens. They stand atop the nose of the ship with hands held free.

They then go back to her suite as she requests him to make a picture of her wearing only a necklace. A necklace made of diamonds that is given by her fiance, a necklace that triggers the discovery of Titanic. They drop the painting and the necklace on the safe and leave the room with a note to her fiance that wouldn’t be back.

Rose and Jack hide from her fiance’s aide and get into a car where they make love. They then flee to the upper deck and kiss as the Titanic hits the iceburg with a jolt. The crew realizes a little later in time and though they do all that could be possible to avoid the iceburg, it does hit the lower deck. The workers on the coal engine are the first ones to get trapped. Some of them do manage to move out with great unity.

The people in the lower deck are delibrately forced to stay inside. A cabin crew personnel ends shooting Jack’s friends who is from the lower deck. Sick of his act, he shoots himself in a facade.

While Rose cannot leave Jack to take the life boat, Rose’s mother leaves her.  Jack tries to save Rose, in every possible way that one can be saved, even after the ship sinks!

Watch it, feel it!

Hand-made flowers!

My sister once made a hibiscus flower out of stockings for my sweetheart niece. It was for a  Peek-a-boo fancy dress competition at Express Avenue mall. This is a hand-made one  and i love this pic.

Adithi - The Hibiscus!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I wasn’t quite well last weekend – just out of fever and something was bothering me within. I decided to keep myself occupied. I copied the flower idea I went to an arts & craft shop (unlike me!) to buy some beads for making bracelets. But I ran into a school girl who came to buy stockings to make flowers. I got reminded of the left-over stocking and strings that akka had given me by chance. Besides, i asked the school girl a lot of questions and learnt how to make the flower. I bought some more stockings and strings from the shop and got back home. And this is what i made!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This doggy flower vase showcasing the flowers was a gift from sis when she was pregnant. I remember choosing this gift assuming it was for my brother-in-law. Wonderful times!

I am going to gift these to my loving aunt, all this craft got handed over from her!

Trichy Trip – Nachchalur Thuraiyyur

The mission of November travel continued last weekend. And this time it was about two villages in Trichy – Nachchalur and Thuraiyur. I took a train with a group of friends and got down at Srirangam. We then took an hour’s shuttle to reach Nachchalur. It was full of paddy fields, green green all around!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our friend took us to his sugarcane field and we had fresh sugarcane hand-picked from the farm!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The awesome thing about his house was that the Cauvery river was running as a backwater. It was too soft to bathe and drink.. And lots of fishes that cleaned the backwaters naturally.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hospitality is best learnt from the people there. We were served with dosas, chutney, paal paniyarams, rice, kuzhambu, curd and all varieties. They tried to make you feel at home!

Our friend later took us to a coconut farm. And we had countless tender coconuts, fresh from the tree. And omg, he din’t even use a safety rope to climb the tree.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We then visited another friend’s place in Thuraiyur, which is around 50kms from Nachchalur. It was close to the mountains that we could view the shadow of the clouds on the hill top. In his house, they had plantations of pumkins and watermelons. They also had pomegranates, guaves and what not! Awesome food there too! And amazing hospitality

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next day, we visited temples around Srirangam. Ranganathan temple was too good and so was Thiruvanaikaval. The trip finally ended with a bounty fall on the railway track. Felt the impact in just two days. So what, the fall made the trip more memorable !

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pondicherry Trip!

It is a month of travel and am loving it

The month started with lots of purchases for my niece’s birthday early this month. Next weekend, i found myself on NH45 driving towards Pondicherry to attend a friend’s wedding. NH45->Tindivanam->Pondicherry. It was too good a road to drive on, compared to the ECR.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Seven people and two cars, we went to Chunnambur island after reaching pondicherry. It is a 6km drive from Pondicherry and alas the city is too small to discover and yet so fun!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pondicherry is an immaculately clean place. Though it is known for liquor, I couldn’t find (m)any drunken behaviour within the city.

After Chunnambur, we went straighaway to the wedding reception. Then it was back to room and less sleep, new place problem..

Next morning, we managed to make it to the early morning wedding. Alas, there were few rituals and the wedding got over very soon. Then it was time for real discovery as Prema and I headed on a discovery mission. We tried to get onto Pondicherry port, but as the permission was denied to us, we went underneath the port which din’t require a permission

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We took a drive on the Pondicherry beach road, covering the Secretariat and Gandhi statue. Then it was time to visit the Aurobindo Ashram and Manakkula Vinayakar Temple. Then, we headed back to our room and did some packing before we left Pondicherry. On the way back, I bought some stuff for niece.

Nice trip, that was!

And.. When are you getting married?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“When are you getting married? Isn’t your family bothered at all?”

This is something i get to hear almost once a day & from people who don’t really matter much. People who do matter don’t ask this question, though  i would have really had something to tell them about.

It is strange that it is still considered a taboo in this 21st century to stay unmarried at 25. Isn’t it ok to see life and live a little! Some people do it with their companions while the rest manage to do without. What big deal!

There cannot be absolutely any comparisons on the time of marriage. I strongly believe that the right age to a marriage is when you meet the right person!

I wouldn’t mind having a companion but then it is not that i should go and cling on to someone quickly because am 25. I have a life which I try to live. Marriage happens if & when it has to.

Please let me be!!!

Gingee Fort!

Trek, Photos & long drive!!! It was an all-in-one combo! Yes, I visited Gingee fort this weekend with a group of friends. Located across 150kms from Chennai, October-November-December would be an ideal time to reach the fort located atop a hill.

How to reach Gingee fort? Well, take the NH45 and keep driving for about 90kms, then take a deviation to Dindivanam. It is tough to miss the sign-board to Dindivanam – Tiruvannamalai. The fort is about a 30km drive from Dindivanam bus stop. And the best part of the drive is that!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our guide – read ‘my colleague’ – showed as the directions and we reached in about 3.5 hours (inclusive of lunch), otherwise it is a 2.5 hour drive at 100km per hour. The fort has ample parking space close to its entrance. We parked the car (yes, it is my first long drive!) and visited the lake behind the aanjeyar temple.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We then headed to the fort. The entry fee is a nominal Rs. 10 per head. Digital cameras were allowed and handi-cams were seemingly restricted. The doors of the fort opened to me and alas, I was stunned by its sense of cleanliness & preservation of the original. Kudos to the group that maintains it!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was a real trekking experience as we climbed towards the hill top with only two short-breaks. On the way, we saw several places of viewing meant for the soldiers and they offer such a beautiful view after centuries now. There was aa birangi and also big rectangular spaces meant for placing the rifle. The temples on the way were breath taking as well! They have built so much with so little!

We made our way with heavy palpitations and it felt certainly worth when I saw the fort atlast!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was breath-taking. The ranganathan temple and the fort standing close to each other with moutains all around! You got to see it to know it!