Distinctly Uniform

If Looks Could Kill – Beverly Barton

distinctlyuniform — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 20:01:26 +0000

A face to die for! MIRROR, MIRROR ON THE WALL, WHO IS THE DEADLIEST OF THEM ALL? The victims are found face-down in the murky waters of Cherokee Pointe, Tennessee. The murders all share the same characteristics: the victims are found naked except for a black, satin ribbon tied around they’re necks — and they’re all redheads. Meanwhile, Reve Sorrell has come to Cherokee Pointe seeking answers about her connection to bad girl Jazzy Talbot. With their stunning looks, the two redheads are mirror images of each other — but raised in very different worlds. As the serial killer leaves another chilling calling card, Reve turns to Sheriff Jacob Butler to help her unravel the deadly secrets of her past. But one person will do anything to stop her — and they are closer than she could ever imagine!

This was my first Beverly Barton book and I must admit that I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. The book is a must read for any one who enjoys crime and romance. It gives you a good dip in both of these. It was an absolute page-turner and towards the end I found it hard to put this one down. Right from the beginning Barton narrows down the list of suspects but it still keeps you guessing about who the real killer is. Towards the end, I badly wanted to know if my guess about who the killer was, was right. Fortunately (or unfortunately) I was wrong, that made the end more exciting for me – who doesn’t like surprises?!

Lets now peekaboo into the plot. Reve and Jazz (Jasmine) discover that they are twin sisters and have lived their entire life not knowing that they had a twin sister. Reve was discovered in the dumpster and after that adopted by a wealthy family – the Sorrells. Jazz on the other hand was brought up by her aunt Sally Talbot who was an eccentric old woman who wasn’t very well off but loved Jazz dearly. Both the twins due to their contrasting upbringing found it hard to accept the idea of sisterhood. Slowly as they get to know each other, they start liking each other almost instantly. Jazz is dating a guy called Caleb who has recently discovered he is heir to the wealthy Upton family in Cherokee point.

Slowly the twins become curious about their mysterious past and set out to discover the truth about their biological parents. And soon realize someone wants to keep them away from discovering the clandestine past. Meanwhile there is a serial killer on the loose who kills pretty red-heads and to their disadvantage Jazz and Reve are both red-heads and are next on the hit list. Slowly these seemingly different dangers intertwine together and makes matters extremely complicated and dangerous for the red-head siblings.

Reve meets Sheriff Butler in her first visit to Cherokee point and in their first encounter they despise each other. It is interesting to see how their relationship changes with time. With time the despise begins to fade and how they become romantically involved. This relationship adds the romance to all the conspiracy and murders. Overall an enjoyable read. I look forward to reading other Barton books.

Overall Verdict: 4/5

Dinner Art

distinctlyuniform — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 20:17:56 +0000

If there is something I have realized it is that ‘art’ pops out of nowhere. Small things like these bring a smile to my face

One Day – David Nicholls

distinctlyuniform — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 11:58:03 +0000

‘I can imagine you at forty,’ she said, a hint of malice in her voice. ‘I can picture it right now.’He smiled without opening his eyes. ‘Go on then.’

15th July 1988. Emma Morley and Dexter Mayhew meet for the first time on the night of their graduation. Tomorrow they must go their separate ways.
So where will they be on this one day next year? And the year after that? And every year which follows?
One Day is a funny/sad love story spanning twenty years, a book about growing up – how we change, how we stay the same.

The choice to read this book was again an easy one it was an international bestseller! I have to be honest and tell you that the book did not live upto its name. It was a very interesting read in the beginning and towards the middle of the book you just loathe the characters. You loathe Emma’s naiveness, Dexter’s pompousness. I haven’t still been able to make up my mind about the end of the book. I absolutely hated one of the over-the-top drama twists to the tale but I think the author made an ok-ish comeback after that. In short, nothing to look forward to.

This book showcases the relationship between a boy and girl over a span of twenty years. This book shows how the friendship evolves over time. How they get each others back through their lows in both personal and professional life. Emma Morley has a crush on Dexter Mayhew and does her best to not show him that.

The initial phase of their friendship is the best the book has to offer. It is very realistic and probably something a lot of us can relate to. I thoroughly enjoyed reading the long letters they write to each other especially the detail of the underlining or upper case because that is exactly how I write! Having said that I wouldn’t want to relate myself to the naiveness of Emma.

Dexter is portrayed as the cool dude who is a big hit among women and is innocent at heart. He joins the media/entertainment industry as a tv anchor and transforms into one of those pompous, full-of-himself ass hole (Please ignore the usage of words but that seems like the most apt way to describe him). During this phase, he doesnt value his dear ones and takes them for granted. It is during this phase that Emma is working at a Mexican restaurant. She wonders what she is doing working as a waitress which was never what she had dreamt.

In the next phase, their lives take a turn and their roles reverse. Emma is now the successful writer while Dexter is the failure. He has made a mess of his life and is jobless and divorced. Emma is still there for him and he rediscovers his life. And this for me is the part that let me down the most. Too much drama just traumatized me and I would like to say it could have been much better.

Overall Verdict: 3/5

Moth Smoke by Mohsin Hamid

distinctlyuniform — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 23:56:08 +0000

In Lahore, Daru Shezad is a junior banker with a hashish habit. When his old friend Ozi moves back to Pakistan, Daru wants to be happy for him. Ozi has everything: a beautiful wife and child, an expensive foreign education – and a corrupt father who bankrolls his lavish lifestyle.

As jealousy sets in, Daru’s life slowly unravels. He loses his job. Starts lacing his joints with heroin. Becomes involved with a criminally-minded rickshaw driver. And falls in love with Ozi’s lonely wife.

But how low can Daru sink? Is he guilty of the crime he finds himself on trial for?

I have an interest in literature written in an Asian or middle-eastern set up so the choice to read Moth Smoke wasn’t a hard one at all. In one line this book can be described to be about sex, drugs, and class conflict in 1990s urban Pakistan. It urges the reader to judge the trial of an ex-banker and heroin addict who has fallen for his best friend’s wife. The book highlights one key transition affecting the life of a warm hearted banker. The first cause is the personal financial crisis he goes through after losing his job. Second cause is the society. It is interesting to see the role society plays in making him a darker person.

After Ozi and his family return from New York, Daru has his old friend back and he thoroughly enjoys their company. He finds Mumtaz, Ozi’s wife very intriguing in her ways of being and her open-mindedness. Mumtaz is a very non-conventional asian woman. She doesn’t feel affection towards her son and doesn’t appreciate her husbands inherited surreptitious fortune. Because of these reasons her married life is going through its lows for a couple of years now. She is an anonymous journalist and covers controversial stories and this is where she gets the excitement and enthusiasm in her otherwise boring and lonely life.

Slowly, joblessness makes Daru ‘try’ hash and soon becomes an addict and a seller too. During this phase, it is very clear to see his life falling apart. Daru and Mumtaz find a lot in common and indulge in intoxication and bantering. Slowly these meetings blossom into a full fledged affair.

Another harsh reality that dawns upon reading this book is the huge rift in lifestyle for people belonging to different classes in society. Daru despite being a better student and more hard-working has a much harder life and cannot take anything for granted. On the contrary, Ozi has a dont care attitude has the best cars, alcohol and mansion in town without having made any effort to achieve or deserve it.

What I find most fascinating in this book is the way in which Hamid forces the readers to rethink about the three central characters. Daru starts off as being the likeable guy who unfortunately loses his job, who was a good student in school, misses his mother, happy about his friends, doesn’t like too many favours from his family/friends and a friendly character overall. His character progressively becomes darker. This is shown by his hatred for his friend Ozi because of his financial situation, his betrayal to his ‘best friend’s wife.

Ozi starts off as being the spoilt New York returned guy who cannot manage without air conditioners. Slowly, Hamid brings out other characteristics like being a good father, a faithful and loving husband very strongly. Taking a look at the third central character Mumtaz, the initial description of an asian married woman with a young child makes her sound rather normal but her nature is far from that. She loves her privacy, loves adventure, enjoys alcohol, indulges in an extra-marital affair and does anonymous magazine articles about most controversial issues that society normally shuns away from. In the end, it makes it extremely hard for the reader to make any judgements about any of the protagonists.

However there is a downside to the book. The analogy that Hamid tried to portray between Shah Jahaan’s sons and the characters of the book failed quite badly. I don’t know if it was just me but I was slightly lost and disinterested during that phase but I am glad I dint give up on the book.

Overall verdict: 4/5

Chalo Dilli

distinctlyuniform — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 23:28:59 +0000

A Vinay Pathak and Lara Dutta movie. This is a remake of the English movie Planes,Trains and Automobiles. This is the first Vinay Pathak movie I have watched and was quite a refresher for me. The bollywood movies which I watched prior to this were 1. Love Aaj Kal which was more like Love in Lame Kal and 2. Aisha was pure torture and couldn’t get myself to sit through it. I am not sure if thats the reason that I like Chalo Dilli more than other people seemed to have liked it.

The movie is about Mihika Banerjee, a strong career oriented woman who is an investment banker by profession and runs a large company. She is the ‘bitch from hell’ for her employees, I could quite relate to the role Sandra Bullock played in The Proposal though I would have to admit, I hated Sandra Bullock more clearly meaning she did more justice to the role. Back to Mihika Banerjee, she is portrayed to be extremely career minded that she is willing to forego her birthday celebrations with her hubby (Akshay Kumar) for some business deal. She clearly belongs to the high class society and is a clean freak who dislikes the typical loud, over-friendly middle classed Indian co-passenger. On her way to Dilli she meets a man Manu Gupta who perfectly fits that class of people she loathes.

The movie shows how these how these two individuals with completely opposite personalities have a rather adventurous long journey together. I must say certain parts of the movie have exceptionally witty one liners by Vinay Pathak but the charm doesn’t last through the length of the movie. In fact, after a bit it seems rather too cliched and expected. This journey helps Mihika appreciate the smaller joys in life like the beauty of sun rise. The journey turns out to be more a life-lesson which helps her set her priorities right – family over work. Most importantly the icy witch learns to smile.

In short a lovely watch, very refreshing when compared to the mainstream bollywood love stories. But definitely could have been better in terms of the depth the characters have. They end up being just the stereotypes one has in their head nothing beyond.

3 for the movie but because of the fact that this is a refreshing change from the mainstream bollywood cinema another 0.5 points.

Final Verdict: 3.5/5

Lovers and Liars

distinctlyuniform — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 00:10:37 +0000

A passionate love affair. A happy young family. And a successful 30-year marriage.

But which one will be destroyed by the truth?

Sophie and her sister, Jess, grow up knowing that a few little lies are necessary: You look great. It was only a joke. He’s just stressed. It doesn’t matter. Everything’s fine.

Everybody does it, don’t they?

But what about the big lies – about love, power and money? When Sophie discovers her father’s secret, and Jess falls in love with the charismatic Jake, Sophie has to look at her own life again. Should she keep quiet or tear her family apart with the truth?

And if she tells, who will pay the ultimate price?

I picked this book for casual light-hearted reading whilst travelling to work everyday as I did not want a rather heavy subject to be thrusted upon me. The title and the prelude suggested that the book was about relationships and betrayals, in short a family drama. I expected the subject to be rather something for easy reading which wasn’t the case. This book deals with the issue of domestic abuse.

The plot revolves around a British family of 4 based in London. The family includes Paige, Bill, Sophie and Jess. Paige is the main character of this story who is the victim of domestic abuse and doesn’t realize how she has been manipulated and exploited over the years. She does everything possible to save her marriage with Bill. He is an arrogant manipulative man who has a construction business and needs to in-control of everything and everyone. Sophie is their elder daughter, who is portrayed as a typical pretty, spoilt, popular girl. She feels responsible of taking care of everyone when in reality, she is the one who needs help in taking the right decisions. Jess on the other hand is a tom-boyish rebellious daughter which is a very big contrast when compared to her lovely sister. In the book, Jess’ character has shown a great spirit in taking decisions being independent and ‘thinking of herself’ which some members in her family are unable to do.

Sophie discovers Bill and his accountant Anthea Jones are having an affair and is in a fix whether or not to tell Paige about it. She tries to convince herself that she was blowing things out of proportion and that they had developed a personal comfort level with each other due to working together for long hours. Eventually the whole family finds out about this affair which Bill manages to very conveniently defy.

Bill is someone you can hate through the length of the book. He mistreats his wife, is an alcoholic. Does all the threatening in an extremely smart manner, spies on his wife, does everything to control her, criticizes her, ensures she has no friends, etc ,etc. Poor little Paige thinks he is just ‘under stress’ because of business is in trouble. Slowly she finds out the truth behind his behaviour. The manner in which the thought process of Paige has been showcased is great. How she makes the revelation that she indeed is the victim of domestic abuse, that her husband is not merely ‘under stress’ but a fanatical control freak and liar. I believe these are the most interesting and gripping parts of the book after which the unexpectedness of the book is rather low. You seem to be in a position to guess the ending which was rather a let down to me. Overall a good read.

Final Verdict: 3.5/5

Pineapple upside down cake

distinctlyuniform — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 00:08:53 +0000

Never really baked before but want to give it a shot? Well, here is the simplest way to get the feel of it before progressing to the deep waters… This is what I first experimented before going and making a irish cream chocolate cake from scratch (The recipe for that can be found in a different post).

My idea of a warm up was to use some ready cake mixes but have my own little twist to it… That’s when I came up with the idea of a upside down pineapple cake. This one is really easy and yum. Can’t exactly call it a recipe because I used a cake mix here but I am sure to try making this one from scratch also.

Used a plain vanilla cake mix followed the instructions at the back. Added a little bit of the pineapple syrup to the cake mix so that it had both the mildness of vanilla and the freshness of pineapple. Before pouring the mixture into a tray, I added fresh pineapple pieces to the bottom of the tray. The fresh pineapple added moistness to the cake. Once cooked, upturn the cake to get your lovely upside down pineapple cake!

Just a word of warning, this cake wouldn’t really last very long due to the fresh pineapples and the pineapple syrup so bake just what you know you can consume in a couple of days.

Again forgive me for the quality of the picture… But I dont think I will ever get nice pictures of food unless I cook when I am too full to eat or not enthusiastic enough to try (which never really happens ).

Irish Cream Chocolate Cake

distinctlyuniform — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 23:46:02 +0000

One of my first experiments with cakes and turned out well. I like the taste of Baileys which is an Irish liquer. Coupling that with chocolate was like a match made in heaven for me. Yet again forgive me for the poor photography, I was just to eager to try it (as always) that clicking a nice picture wasn’t really my priority so settled with a phone camera. Not to brag but it looked muchh better than what the photo says…

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:
150gm Dark Chocolate
3large eggs or 4small eggs
100 gm butter
100ml milk
225gm caster sugar
225gm self raising flour
2tbsp cocoa powder
4-5tbspn baileys

Steps:

Take the butter and chocolate and melt those on a low heat. Try not using the microwave or the low flame as there is a good possibility of burning the butter. The best way to achieve this would be to melt these over steam (A steam bath or a double boiler would be of help).

Once these are melted add the milk while stirring continuously

Cream the eggs and caster sugar mix until creamy. This is best done with an electric whisk for 8-10mins. If you do not have an electric whisk, I would suggest you prepare the creamy mixture before step 1 and 2 as it would take a great deal of time.

Once the creamy mixture is ready, add the melted butter-chocolate-milk mix prepared in step 1 and 2 while continuously stirring.

Once it is thoroughly mixed, add the cocoa powder, all purpose flour after sieving. Remember not to be harsh while adding these and mixing. Gently fold these in. In the end add the baileys and fold again.

Grease the trays with butter and sprinkle some all purpose flour before pouring the mixture above.

Place the trays to an oven preheated to 180degrees/350F and cook for 20mins. If the mixture was a little less viscous than expected, the mixture would take longer to cook. Do the knife test before taking the cake out.

For the frosting
50gm butter
175gm icing sugar
2tbspn cocoa powder
3tbspn baileys
100gm Cream cheese (Philadelphia cheese)

Mix all the above ingredients thoroughly ensuring there are no lumps and spread over the cake once cooled… Then coming to my favourite part of each recipe…. Cut the slices and bite into the gooyness of chocolate and baileys…. Feel the BLISS! (Forget the calories! )

Meeting SRK – Ra.One Premiere at London

distinctlyuniform — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 05:15:26 +0000

Yayy! I met SHAHRUKH KHAN!!! Spoke to him!!!

Okay starting like sane people would, I attended my first world premiere for a film and that too a SHAHRUKH KHAN film! To be honest, I don’t think I would have taken the effort I did if it wasn’t a SRK film. I met the man spoke to him – a childhood dream come true.

Let me start from the beginning and give you the feel of exactly what happened. Two of my other SRK crazy friends and me decided to go to the red carpet event of Ra.One in London just to get a glimpse of SRK. We had no clue how these things worked or how crowded it is or anything of the sort. We just wanted to see SRK, get an autograph and if we got very very lucky a picture with the Raj and Rahul of our dreams. No one really can pull off the Kkkiran or the romantic scenes and gestures that he does. I bet if anyone else does it they would look like a jackass but when King Khan does it, its romantic its WOW and you just end up dreaming about a Raj or Rahul yet again.

On October the 25th, we friends snuck out of work early just to the venue before it gets too crowded. That morning I wanted to know exactly what SRK was tweeting to have a clue about when would be the best time to leave and where would it be most likely to get that little extra time for an autograph or a photograph. I had forgotten my twitter account details but just to feel connected to SRK reactivated them the same morning. Usually the process of going to work isn’t exactly exciting but that morning I was in the best possible state of mind humming only and only SRK songs (mainly chammak challo and dildara). Happily went to office waiting for end of day (or close to end of day) to leave and go to SRK! Man! even saying it now after a couple of weeks feels amazing!

One of my friends (lets call her A) managed to leave work extremely early so my other friend (lets call her D) and me left a little later and decided to catch up with A at North Greenwich (the place where the premiere was). Throughout our journey we kept refreshing our twitter feeds just to see if SRK had tweeted dropping any hits about his whereabouts but no luck. Halfway through the journey D and me realized we did not have a paper or a pen to get the autograph we had been dreaming about! We started fishing for paper and pens hoping on the way back we would have SRKs autograph on it. Yes, we plan for the best )))

On reaching North Greenwich, D and me were hopping and jumping through the platforms and escalators to put in our best efforts to reach before SRK enters. Anyway, after all the hopping and jumping we called up A for a status update on the Red Carpet glitterati but it turned out to be the most depressing call of the day. We were told there is no point even going to the venue (which we had already arrived at) because there was too much security and only people with tickets were being permitted.

D and me decided to go ahead try our luck. At the venue, three of us spoke to the security tried every way of getting to the red carpet but all we came across was security, security and more security. After this ‘A’ decided it was a lost cause and headed home. A little later we discovered that the tickets were by invite only. We started wondering how non-filmy software engineers would ever get invites to premieres. We started thinking, if not this Don2 we mussst somehow get tickets. Disheartened and disappointed all of us tweeted to SRK telling him we were out and asking him how people got invites . Either ways, we decided to wait out in the cold JUST in case SRK had checked his twitter and decided to surprise us by coming out to the barricade and waving out to us.

We were almost 2hours in and had no luck whatsoever. We looked at the people with tickets who were entering and started taking wild guesses on how they would have got invites and tried calculating in our heads if we could do any of that just if it got us the passes. Soon we just gave up on coming up with absolutely flawed theories. Our hopes of meeting SRK were starting to seem slim.I put my hand in the pocket just to find the paper and pen I had kept in the most accessible place to not miss that splinter of an opportunity for an autograph. By the looks of it, I wasn’t going to need those after all. Sigh! That feeling of being sooo close yet so far just made matters worse for us. D and me kept wondering if leaving work sooner somehow would have helped us to get beyond the barricade.

We were those two disappointed girls at the barricade who were jealously eyeing anyone who came with a ticket and were discussing SRK movies to feel better at that moment. Just then a gentleman in a black satin suit walks up to us asking us if we wanted a ticket to the premiere. We were like ‘Duh! Yes’ who would have thought he was serious, at least we dint. And the next moment he takes and envelope out of his coat pocket. Seeing the envelope my happiness knew no bounds. <Background score: Dekha jo tujhe yaar dil mein baji guitar!!!>But we later saw that he only had ONE spare ticket. Aadmi do aur ticket ek?? Bahut nainsaafi hai <Gabbar style>

In an even more muddling situation we decided to ask the security if both of us could take turns to go inside so that only either of us is inside at once. But as expected they said NO! We dint want to waste the ticket but we couldn’t do this either. We both knew we both wanted it badly so whoever went in wouldn’t come out guilt-free. By now D was starting to lose it and started walking up and down hoping for the heavens to give us another pass or something. Meanwhile, I noticed a not-so-motivated white man standing with a bundle of tickets. I randomly walked up to him and asked, “Would you by any chance have a spare ticket?”. Now I had NEVER seen this coming, but the response was – “As a matter of chance I do”!!!!!!!!! YAYYYYYYYY. To be honest, I only walked upto the man so that I couldn’t look back at the whole thing and later say, what if I had asked someone. And that bit changed the whole thing for me.

At this point there were so many things along the same lines which were coming to me. Two of those were from Rhonda Byrne’s The Secret and Paulo Coehlo’s The Alchemist. I would like to quote The Alchemist here – “When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.”. It started to make so much more sense. I was starting to think about how many things I have wanted soooo badly. Couldn’t think of too many to be honest. What a pity! One thing I learnt that moment is start wanting things realll bad and do everything possible for it. It feels bloooody awesome when you get something after wanting it so badly. Anyway, getting back to the other thing that came to my mind. Being the filmy soul that I am I thought of the OSO dialogue:
” Itni shiddat se maine tumhe paane ki koshish ki hai ki har zarre ne mujhe tumse milane ki koshish ki hai,
Kehte hai agar kisi cheez ko dil se chaaho toh poori kaynath tumhein usse milane ki koshish mein lag jaati hai.”
Just to let you know, I am as filmy as they come

After getting past the barricades, D and me we soo exhilarated that walking just dint seem enough. We actually RAN to the red carpet but on the way our very dear friends the security people stopped us there also and asked us to slow down! We thought we would be directed to the theatres or something but we did not realize until then that we would be walking on the same red carpet that king khan would be gracing shortly afterwards… Our excitement knew no bounds!!! Just then we both looked at each other and at the other people on the red carpet to realize we were the most under dressed souls around! We were in formal office wear (black pants and full sleeves white shirt) while people around us were in lovely gowns and all decked up.

After this yet again, we tried speaking to the security to somehow get permission to be around the red carpet we did not really want to watch the movie then and there. We could always do that later during the weekend but getting a glimpse of SRK wouldn’t be possible later. By now it would be no surprise to you that the security said a big NO yet again! And we were shooed away to the theatres. We were told that the team would be visiting each theatre where the movie was being premiered but I thought they were just plain exaggerating just to get us out of their hair.

In a hurry to leave office and get to SRK, we had not bought any snacks (which was an essential part of the initial plan). Starving I decided to buy the standard Nachos that you get in Cineworld. Just reached the lobby area to find a glass wall overlooking the red carpet. That instant, yet again in the day my hunger just disappeared! Tried to get a glimpse of SRK from there. Unfortunately for me, I am short sighted and had forgotten my glasses (which is nothing out of the ordinary). But the whole excitement of watching the gliterrati of the red carpet just roll by while I eat Nachos sounded too pathetic. So I stood there among the other excited fans who unlike me had proper vision and so they would do the spotting and identification of stars and I would TRY to see them with my lovely short-sighted vision

In this whole process, I realized Kareena Kapoor was the easiest to spot as she was wearing the shiniest silver sequin dress known to humankind. With all the lights and the flashes, it was wayyy to easy to spot her. But honestly I dint really care for anyone but SRK! From Kareena’s costume, it seemed to me that she had taken the whole video game theme wayyyy too seriously. I would have to mention that Arjun Rampal looked very dashing as well. I am not a Arjun Rampal fan but I think the whole tattooed Ra.One look was pretty awesome on him.

Anyway, after that yet again the Ra.One of this store the Security came again to shoo us into the theatre halls. We were promised that the team would be visiting. I had never seen or met SRK before so the whole thought of him being so close was amaziiinnng! And luckily for me I was in the 3rd row. I shouted out to him asking him to come back for Don2 and he even responded. Dont ask me what… I was too blanked out to understand <Background Score – Tujhe dekha toh yeh jaana > . Either ways, on his way out I asked him for an autograph and he said “A little later darling, in a hurry now” <Background Score – Aankhon mein teri ajab si ajab si>. I was already on cloud no.9 then I was addressed 1 on 1, so it dint feel too bad that I dint get an autograph. To be fair he said “little later” it would be interesting to see when that “little later” is but I am not worried because Picture abhi baaki hai mere dost.

PS: Sorry for the bad picture quality of the premiere pics. Those were taken from my phone and clicked by a hyper ventilating me.
Other pics of SRK that you see here are my all time favourites (which I got by taking the screenshots of the videos at JUST the right moment ) hope you like them too.

Sarson ka saag and Makki ki Roti

distinctlyuniform — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 22:50:30 +0000

For those of you who don’t know this is a famous Indian dish that is typical to Punjabi’s. Sarson ka saag refers to the leaves of the Mustard plant and Makki ki rotti is an Indian bread made out of Corn.

Ingredients:
Sarson ka saag(Mustard Greens) 1kg
Fenugreek leaves (Methi) 250gm
Spinach 250gm
Green chillies 3-4 in number
Ginger(chopped) 4tbsp
Garlic(chopped) 4tbsp
Salt to taste
Red Chilly powder to taste
Onions(diced) 3-4 medium sized
Tomatoes(diced) 3-4 medium sized
Oil/Ghee

One of the following depending on choice :
Turnip 250gm
Baathu (Goosefoot/Fat-hen) 250gm

Chop the Mustard Greens, Spinach, Fenugreek leaves, and one of the optional ingredients. Next, add these and ginger, garlic and salt to boiling water. Once boiled, grind it to get a green paste.

Next, in a pan heat some oil add the finely chopped onions and fry them until golden brown. Next add the chopped tomatoes and red chilly powder and cook until the oil leaves the bottom of the pan. Finally, add this to the green paste and bring to a boil. Add some extra butter or ghee before serving.

For makki ki roti mix powdered corn and wheat flour in a 3:1 propotion and knead the dough. Make sure it is not very soft as it may make the process of making the roti extremely tough. Using only corn flour (please note it isn’t cornflour that I am referring to, it is powdered corn ) would make it impossible to make roti. Wheat flour is added to help it bind better. This cannot be normally rolled using a rolling pin (belna) as it does not hold well together. You would need to do it by hand. This is a bit of an art… Still learning from my Mom! Cook this like a regular roti (with a little extra butter/ghee).

Hope you all enjoy your saag and makki ki roti!