Indo-Western Look

By Chandrima

It’s 31^st and all are busy putting on their party dress and having a blast..

We are having ample of events to try on different looks. Since Christmas many of us have been trying on different look on different days. Here is one  indo-globalised look which I tried out while visiting a Church.

I tried a light purple khadi kurti which I bought from the State Government Khadi shop which is accessible in your nearby shopping markets. Kurti can be paired up with leggings or jeans. I paired it up with leggings. It looks smart always and gives you a global ethnic look. You can try contrast color like me. I chose a blue colored leggings. As its winter now I styled up my whole get up with a coat .

When you are trying out some indo-western look you can do many experiments with accessories, specifically with heavy colorful accessories.  I tried a broad neck piece contrasting to my light purple colored kurti. While choosing earring I went for heavy ivory or oxidized droplets earrings. My earring was also a contrast one. Accessories are always best at Gariahat, Hatibagan, New Market, they are reasonable and varied in number.

On make-up part as I was visiting church so I kept it light using only deep charcoal pencil and putting up light lip gloss. To enhance my global –desi look  I put on bindi .

This way I was all set up for church and enjoying my outing with friends.

Paneer Seekh Kabab

By Amaleena

Hi friends,

Today I am sharing with you my recipe of Paneer Seekh Kabab. Its easy and tasty and very quick to make.

Ingredients (for 2 seekhs)
Paneer (crushed) 2 1/2 tbsp
Onion - 2 tsp (minced)
Garlic - 1 tsp (minced)
Ginger - 1/2 tsp (minced)
Chat Masala - 1 tsp
Red chili powder - 1/2 tsp
Tomato ketchup - 1 tsp
Coriander - 1 tbsp (chopped finely)
Sattoo - 1 tbsp
Salt to taste
Oil for frying

Method
Smash the paneer well with hands until it is tight.
Add all the ingredients and mix well.

Slightly rub oil on the skewers and pat the mixture wrapping the skewer.

In tawa, add oil and heat.
Fry the seekhs in the oil by turning from time to time, frying all sides.

Brush with butter.
Served it with dhania chutney.

Xmas Outing

By Chandrima

Merry Christmas friends :D 

finally its Christmas !!! Hope you all have celebrated the birth of Lord Jesus. I have already started celebrating since last weekend ;) decorations done, arrangements over, shopping finished and now let's enjoy :D the last weekend party was a Pre- Christmas celebration.

OUTFITS

Christmas can never be complete without a black and red outfit.

I tried out a gorgeous red top with jeans. Its Christmas time so try bright color like red ad it goes with the Christmas theme and as its winter try on different stylish coats. I tried a black woolen coat bought it from nearest shopping mall, matching up with black jeans and it is by far the best contrast to red color.

Well my bestie Shrabasti he tried purple high neck sweater with a contrast colored three quarters.

ACCESSORIES

On accessory part we both kept it light and simple. Watch was the must wear and we flaunted our hand bags and shoes which are our best collections from nearest shopping mall ;)

Thus we were all set for celebration and made it a great one with good food and music.

As its Christmas u can also sport some funky hair bands, shades which gives you the finishing touch ;)

Chocolate Mousse

By Amaleena

Hi friends,

I know I have been totally irregular with the blog posts. The year end is bringing in a lot of work pressure for all of . I was waiting for the weekend and as soon as my work got over last evening, I made some yummy choco mousse. The recipe is for two people.

Ingredients
Eggs white - 2
Vanilla essence - 2 tsp
Powdered sugar - 1 tbsp
Dark chocolate melted - 3 and 1/2 tbsp

Method
Beat the egg whites well until firm soft peaks.Add vanilla essence while beating.

Add the sugar gradually and beat it well. See to it that the peaks stand firmly. Do not over mix or it will become a dry froth.
Add the melted chocolate and mix lightly until the chocolate mixes fully.

Pour in your cup or bowl and refrigerate.

I placed it with alternate layers of grinded chocolate biscuits.

Easy,quick and tasty chocolate mousse. :)

Ear cuffs new trend!!

By Chandrima

Ear cuffs new trend!!

We all fashion lovers prefer experimenting new trend!!  Especially with accessories ;) earrings are common in changing trends. These days it's a good trend to wear..

Ear cuffs are beautiful and gorgeous. Ear cuffs are made of various gorgeous designs and they look great on ears. I have recently tried a one for my wedding invitation and it has completely changed my look.  ear cuffs are easy to wear and it doesn't hurt and you can easily carry it whole day long at any event. 

You can easily experiment with your look by trying either a simple ear cuff on both ears or you can also wear a gorgeous one on one ear n wear a simple stud on the other.  I think its a great style to try for. There are simple designs of stone studded ear cuff. There are gorgeous ones with different designs like flowers, petals, bows, small droplets etc. Ear cuffs are varied in price range from 150 to 650 depending on designs. 

 I got new ear cuffs :)

Go to any nearby accessories shops and grab your ear cuffs, they are easily available now  a days ;D Get a new style and a new look ♡♡

Abar Baithak - Review

By Chandrima

It's time for winter fun, winter hang out and winter style;) last weekend with my younger brother I had a beautiful time , we spent the winter evening at one of our favorite hang out destinations, i.e., Abar Baithak at Jodhpur Park.

It’s a new café in town but has become very famous shortly. The best part of Abar Baithak is its a celebrity cafe so you can catch up many of your favorite celebrities :D this café has become a favorite hangout place for all young people, middle aged group. 

The ambiance is very peaceful, you can enjoy light Bengali music there with many indoor games like carom, chess etc. We often visit there each time with changing group, either family, friends, colleagues :D

FOOD

Abar Baithak is famous not only for its cozy environment but also for its yummy food :p 

Its famous for its chicken platter which is a huge one and comes only for 165 rupees. 

Abar Baithak is also famous for its other dishes, starters, beverages,  and special mention to desserts :D few of my favorites are, raw mango frizz, brownie with ice cream,  their home made fresh muffins and pastries :D brings water to my mouth :p They make good fritata, sandwiches.

And if you are a chocolate lover like me, then this the best place for having a good hot chocolate.

The environment and the crowd you find there is good and irrespective of what time you visit the place, you will always be greeted with a smile. :)

Kolkata folks love Adda so nothing can be a better place than Abar Baithak with its great ambiance, great food and reasonable price. 

I will rate this place 4.5 out of 5 

Do visit this place if you haven't been there yet.

Desi Style Thin Crust No Bake Pizza

By Amaleena

Today I am sharing an easy thin crust homemade pizza. I tried it out last Sunday and it turned out to be really good. Today's recipe is for 8 mini pizzas.

Ingredients
For the base:
Maida (Flour) 2 cups medium sized
White oil 3 tbsp
Water
A pinch of salt

For the pizza sauce:
Tomatoes 2 medium sized
Onion 1 small chopped
Garlic 1 tsp chopped
Chilli flakes 1 tsp
Salt

For the topping:
Carrots 1 cup finely chopped
Beans 1 cup finely chopped
Capsicum 1 large size finely chopped
Onions 1 small finely chopped
Garlic 1 tbsp finely chopped
Tomato sauce 2 tbsp
Chilli sauce 1 tsp
Sugar 1/2 tsp
Salt
Chicken salami 18 pieces
Cheese 1 cube, grated

Base:
Add a pinch of salt to the flour. Add warm oil and mix. If needed add water. Make a tight dough with the flour.
Divide the flour into 8 pieces and roll out. The size should be small (slightly bigger than the size of a salami.
On a hot tawa place the rolled base without adding oil. When one side is cooked, flip the other side down. This way cook both the sides until they are completely done.
Brush very little oil and cook for a minute more and flip doing it for both the sides.

The base is the most important thing. If this is not done properly, the whole pizza becomes a paratha.

Pizza sauce:
Make an incision X at the base of the tomatoes. Add 3 cups of water and boil on low heat.Boil the tomatoes.

After the water has boiled, drain the water and chop the tomatoes. De-skin the tomatoes
In a pan, heat oil, add garlic and onion.
When it turns golden, add the tomatoes and its juice (while chopping some juice might come out)

Cook a little and blend it in a blender. Once it become a fine paste, transfer back to the pan and cook a little. Add salt.

Topping:
Boil the vegetables except capsicum. When boiling, add a pinch of salt.
Once boiled, drain the water.
In a wok, add oil and heat.
Add onions and garlic. and cook until onions turn brown.
Add tomato sauce, chilli powder, salt, sugar and cook.
After a minute or two, add the boiled vegetables and the capsicum. Mix well
Cook until excess gravy is absorbed.

Now place a hot pizza base on a plate.
Spread some sauce about 1/2 tsp on each base.

Place 2 chicken salami on the spread sauce.
Put 2 tsp of vegetables on the salami.
On top, garnish with grated cheese.

The pizza sauce can be made a day or two before and stored.

Wedding Bells: Chandan Designs

By Chandrima & Amaleena

With our prior tips on the very special day and the special occasion of a bride it’s time for the next important tip which gives a true definition to a bride.

Chandan (which is basically the design made on the forehead of Bengali brides using sandalwood paste or ‘chandan’), is the ultimate touch that gives the finishing look to a bride.

Chandan is also considered as an auspicious ingredient at wedding. Bengali brides put chandan on their foreheads on every occasion in their wedding. Beautiful designs are made on the bride's forehead thus enhancing their beauty and glorifying them.

Chandan designs are very important in Bengali weddings for both the brides and even bride's groom are given chandan dots on their foreheads.

Chandan designs can be of different varieties depending on the occasions in wedding and on brides facial patterns.. 

A bride with round facial pattern should draw the designs on forehead and cheeks as well. Chandan helps in making a chubby cheek look thinner giving the face a heart shaped look.

A bride with narrow U shaped face cut should draw designs only on forehead not on cheeks.

Get compliments for your eyes and want to highlight them, then go for a filling design that will highlight your upper half of the face.

If you have a small face or chiseled face, or your forehead in small, go for a lighter design

If you want to try something other than traditional chandan, you can opt for stick on designs which are easily available.

The occasions that comes before the big event of wedding day, chandan designs should be light enough. Look how simple these designs are.

Now a day’s brides try colorful chandan matching with their sarees. You can ask your makeup man to give a touch of colour of your saree on the chandan.

Follow these small tips we are sure you will look best at your every wedding occasion:)

Chocolate Cake

By Amaleena

Hello friends,

Winter time is baking time :)
Today I am sharing an easy recipe of chocolate cake. It's one of my favourite and hope you like it too. This is a cake serving 4 people.

Ingredients
Maida - 1 cup
Sugar - 1 cup (powdered)
White oil - 1 cup (you can also use melted butter instead)
Eggs - 3
Vanilla essence - 3 tsp
Baking powder - 1 tsp
Cocoa powder - 1 tbsp

 Method
First, take a clean dry bowl and beat the eggs. I beat well for about 12 minutes with hand. Beat until it becomes frothy like this:
Add the vanilla essence.

In a separate bowl, mix the powdered sugar and oil and mix with a spoon.
In another bowl, sieve the baking powder, cocoa powder and flour (maida) together.
Now slowly, pour the sugar-oil mixture in the whisked eggs and mix lightly manually. Once mixed, fold in the flour mixture. Take a spatula and mix the flour by folding it continuously in the egg mixture. Once mixed completely, leave it aside. The mixture will look like this:

Now take a baking tray. As you can see I am placing the glass in the centre of my tray. I want a doughnut shaped cake.

Before placing the glass, brush oil into the inner surface of the tray and as I am using the glass as well, I had to brush it too. Then sprinkle some flour on the baking tray.
Now after placing the glass at the centre of the tray, I poured down my cake batter. I purposely left behind 2-3 tbsp batter for later use.
Let the batter stand for some minutes. This basically lets the bubbles rise up so that there is no bubble inside. You can see the inner walls of tray is whitish. This is due to the flour I sprinkled.

Now, preheat the oven to 180 degrees and bake for about 18 minutes.

The cake shall be done by this time. In order to check, I inserted a knife in the cake. If the knife come out clean, its done. Raw cake will leave some batter on the knife when inserted.
Give some standing time to the cake.
Once cooled slightly, I cut it horizontally into two layers. Spread the left over batter on the lower layer and covered it with the upper. Then spread the rest of the batter on top like icing.

Added some chopped almonds on top for garnishing.

Enjoy with ice cream :)
Though my ice cream melted :P