Calling All Moms

If you are a Mom...

Has this ever happened to You?

You have had a hard day as a Mom and all you want is to have someone patiently hear you without judging you -- come be a part of us and rant
You want to discuss about your kids education, play, achievements, next project or maybe plan a birthday party or a play date -- come share with us.
You are a Mom who has hit that amazing routine that soothes the baby and makes her sleep in 15 minutes flat -- before you apply for a patent come teach us
You are ready to go back to work or maybe taking a break from work to stay at home and you want to talk it out -- come let’s talk
You have ideas, plans, anecdotes about yourself the kids, the neighbours kids -- come tell us
You have concerns, worries, issues and you think more Moms should hear you -- come discuss with us


Come join The Desi Momz Club

This is going to be your blog, the Mom's blog, for The Mom, Of The Mom, By The Mom

It’s you who is going to post and help others out if necessary. It’s a place where we all Moms meet at our own time and still have fun

Why This Blog ?

I have a 3 yr old and as a Mom that's my age too. As my daughter grows there have been questions and more questions. I have spent a considerable time Googling and asking around. I have also spent (and still do) discussing various aspects of my daughter's growing up with my friends. Numerous questions always -- Gymboree or MyGym ? Puzzles or Books ? Should I feed or let her eat on her own? Am I right if I get stressed out and scream sometimes or do I clench my fist and mix honey in my speech?
When my daughter first started day care last year I was so worried that I would call up my very dear friend N and giver her hourly updates about my daughters status and my emotional status, seems funny in retrospect, but yes that was what I did.

I am sure many of you have gone through similar situations and looked around and bonded with others going through the same
As I look around in the Blogosphere and I see Asha whose daughter T has achieved laurels in school , I think it would be really nice if we get to know from Asha how she nurtured her daughter.
When SJ says , she finds fairy tales have changed a lot since she was a child– I think that's exactly what I have felt all this time.
As Indo's daughter DD makes beautiful clay artifacts – I feel maybe Indo could give us tips as how she mnages work, blog and also teaches her daughter such skills.
When @ says about Kodi's baby talk – I smile by myself and the day looks brighter.
When I see Trupti managing two adorable cuties and taking them to several activities -- I think it would be great to know how she keeps them active
When Vani shares about little M and her daycare -- I think that can help other Moms with little babies
When Maheshwari, Swapna, Vini, Padmaja, Sailaja, Sunita, Sharmi, Hema, Linda, Shaheen, Manisha, Sri, Shilpa(Flog&Rosbif) and all other Moms whom I have known through their food blogs and all those whom I am yet to know could all come and share I think it would be a great place for all of us.

There are many more of you who are bringing up your kids beautifully and I feel it would do us all good if we could all come and share and talk. You need not have a blog, you can just come and join us.
I bounced off my idea with IndoSunGod of DailyMusings and Asha of FoodiesHope and Aroma, two very experienced Moms and they were kind enough to come and join as administrators

Since we can't meet at a Coffee Place and chat let’s have a virtual place of our own and we meet up at our own time, maybe sipping that chai or coffee...

Why The Desi Momz Club ?

I felt that a common background would help us bond better. There are many Mommy sites but I wanted to have one where at least we all share the same roots. But even if you are not Desi aka Indian, it’s good enough if you are an Indian at heart.

What You Can Do?

If you want to be a part send an e-mail at mailto:desimomz.blog@gmail.com and when you get an invite, come and join

Post whenever you want as often as you wish but remember the posts should be either Mom or Kid centric. It can be anything either your own experience or any information you have gleaned from somewhere that you would like to share. Remember to give a link if you are quoting some other source. Also do not use contents if they are not for public use.

Since everyone is on a time crunch, if you already have a blog and you have a post in your own blog you want to share, you are welcome. That's easy yippeeeeee !!!

Come and check the posts and comments and actively comment to agree, disagree, discuss.

Get other moms to come and join, spread the word and let the club grow

If your a not a Mom, don't fret, you are important to us. If you have a post you would like to share, e-mail the post to mailto:desimomz.blog@gmail.com and you could be our guest contributor. Also please drop by and leave your comments, views, suggestions on the posts. And if you can rope in your Mom too that would be best !!!

Chicken Casserole for JFI

Tomatoes, red glowing, colorful

"India is a land of colors". I have written this line as an opening statement for the "Holi" essay at school once every year till 5th grade, more if the essay was in the exams (after that I found better introductory statements) and read it innumerable times. The line remains etched in my mind, a part of my being. Never really paid attention to it, and it remained just another statement.

I missed my family, my home and lots of other Indian "ness" when I came here but never really missed "Colors of India". This land seemed colorful to me too, beautiful fall colors, the fresh clean green, the scrubbed blue sky, clean and beautiful.

I didn't miss the vibrant pink of saris in the crowded supermarket, the turquoise blue of the swirling chunnis in the workplace, the splash of canary yellow on the Asian paints billboards (btw did you know that the guy with the brush in those ads was known as Gattu ?) , the flashing gold of the bangles of the lady selling the veggies. No, I was happy with the subtle pastel colors until a sleep time chat session with the 3 year old.

Nudge, nudge she goes at the most opportune moment

"Yes darling" I say sticking to the neo-mother technique which insists you be sweet and calm and encouraging to the kid at all times even if you she nudges you out of slumber at 11:30 at night

"You know Didun(maternal grandma) says in Kolkata there is no bathtub, but there is a shower and she has many buckets too", the little one informs

"That would do fine" I say, not reminding her that on her last visit she would sit in one of those buckets filled with water and have a blast.

"You know Didun says, in Kolkata she has a pink bucket, a purple bucket, a green bucket, a pink mug and a red mug” she says all excited

"Wow really?? That’s nice, now close your eyes" I say, trying to sound cheerful at the vision of all those buckets lined up

"But we have to go to Kolkata with Didun, we have to get those pink, red and green buckets here and I want to bring the pink mug too", she insists.

Not happy with her sole dull blue bucket she craves for what but pink and purple buckets, something hard to find here and she knows they are there in India -- "the Land of Colors".

That made me sit up and notice how such vibrant colors in the most unexpected places influence us and I thank JFI for giving an opportunity to explore a color and taste each month. So this is for JFI Tomato hosted by RP of MyWorkshop and brain child of Mahanadi. Thanks RP and Indira.

This Chicken Casserole is a Tomato based dish I had learned long time ago from Sanjeev Kapoor, either from his web site or TV. However I had forgotten all about it for the last 2 years. Searching for a Tomato recipe, that would be different from my everyday Tomato dishes (have tomato, add tomato theory I follow) I thought of this but the site was no longer available except for a price. That would be a expensive JFI recipe I thought. But browsing through my old recipe book I chanced upon a Chicken Casserole which was almost what Sanjeev Kapoor had suggested and the memories came back. So I followed the recipe in the book almost but it was Sanjeev Kapoor whom I associate with this dish


Read more...

Spicy Chicken Casserole

What You Need

Serves 3-4 adults if accompanied with other dishes. Serves 2 if you are greedy and hungry :)

Chicken ~ 1 lb cut up in small pieces. I used chicken breast
Red Onion ~ 1 medium chopped in large pieces
Baby Carrots ~ sliced in halves about 1 cup
Red bell pepper ~ 1 chopped in thin rings
Green Chillies ~ 3-4 chopped
Tomato paste ~ 2/3 cup. I used Hunt's Tomato paste.
Tomato ketchup ~ 1 tbsp. Use Maggi Hot&Sweet or some tangy ketchup
Ginger Juice ~ 2 tsp
Peppercorns ~ whole pepper corns coarsely crushed 1 tsp. If you don’t like the taste of this in your mouth you can ground them fine

Red Chilli Powder ~ 1/2 tsp or more
Bay Leaves ~ 2
Green Cardamom ~ 2
Butter ~ 1tbsp or more

For marinade

Vinegar ~ 1 tbsp
Ginger paste ~ 2 tsp heaped
garlic paste ~ 1 tsp heaped
Chilli powder ~ 1/2 tsp
Maida ~ 1 tbsp

Salt
Olive Oil

How I Did It

Marinade the chicken pieces with 1 tbsp of Vinegar, 2 heaped tsp of ginger paste, 1 tsp of garlic paste, ½ tsp of Chilli powder and a little salt in a bowl. Keep aside for half an hour or more.
Chop the onion, carrots and red bell pepper as said
Sprinkle 1 tbsp of maida on the chicken and mix it lightly
Heat Olive Oil or any other suitable oil in Kadhai/Frying Pan
Add 1 clove of garlic chopped.
As soon as you get the fragrance of garlic add the chicken pieces. Do not add all the chicken pieces together by tipping the bowl as this will add the remnant liquid too. You want to lightly brown the chicken and you do not want any water/liquid in there.
Lightly sauté (do not fry them up) the chicken pieces and as soon as they are lightly golden brown, remove and keep aside
In the oil add 2 Bay Leaves and 2 Cardamom
Add the onions and sauté till they are soft and pink
Add the sliced carrots and the bell pepper rings. Cover and cook till they are a little soft, not totally done but slightly soft
Add the green chillies and the ½ tsp or more of red chilli powder
Add about 2/3 cup of Tomato Paste and 1 tbsp of Tomato Ketchup and sauté
Add the chicken and mix thoroughly
Add 2 tsp of Ginger juice, salt and the crushed peppercorn
Add a little water, very little and let it come to a simmer and switch it off

Then Bake...
Heat Oven to 350F
Transfer the chicken along with gravy, veggies etc. to a oven safe bowl
Add butter and cover this dish and bake
Should be done in 15 minutes. Let it sit in the oven after that for some more time. That is what I did.
Best had by itself or with Chapati or Bread

Note: The dish looks beautiful with all the red & orange. You can add other veggies too to offset the colour and have more green veggies.
Next time I am going to increase the "hot" level as this was not enough for me, maybe the chillis lacked the required hotness
The peepercorns were lightly crushed, you may powder it if you do not want to bite into peppercorns in your mouth
You can make your own Tomato paste if you want
If you have the Tomato paste, this dish is quick to prepare

Trivia:There have been several legends about Tomato. A story goes that the lingering doubts about the safety of the tomato in the United States were largely put to rest in 1820, when Colonel Robert Gibbon Johnson announced that at noon on September 26, he would eat a basket of tomatoes in front of the Salem, New Jersey, courthouse. Reportedly, a crowd of more than 2,000 persons gathered in front of the courthouse to watch the poor man die after eating the poisonous fruits, and were shocked when he lived.(Source: Wiki)

Papaya Tamarind Chutney

"I se Imli" for Nupur’s A-Z of Indian Vegetables this week!!! Imli or Tamarind or Tetul is not an integral part of Bengali cooking. If you knock at my doors on a random Tuesday and ask me for some Tamarind, you will have to go back home disgruntled as I generally don’t have any. But since I like sambhar I get some Tamarind paste off and on, so you still might knock and get lucky.

Tamarind however plays a special and coveted role when it comes to “tak” or “chaatni” for Bengalis. Ripe Tamarind mixed with little mustard oil, salt, sugar and a bit of chilli powder (the concoction commonly known as “Makha Tetul”) on a summer afternoon was something we used to drool over as kids and were allowed to have only occasionally. At my Mamarbari (maternal grandparents house) my Ma’s cousin sisters would make this and we would quietly devour it at the corner of the roof on a hot summer afternoon.

We also use Tamarind for making chutney or achaar but they are rarely if ever used in cooking.
I was pleasantly surprised when I saw “Ka(n)cha Tetul” or “Raw Tamarind” in my Indian Grocery store. Visions of “Tetul er tak” a light chaatni made with Tamarind mesmerized me and I brought them home. My Ma suggested we pair these up with Raw Green Papaya to make a chaatni and that is what I did. So heres "Pepe Tetul er Chaatni" or "Green Papaya and Tamarind Chutney". We usually have this chutney with lunch or dinner. Its sweet and sour with the Tamarind and little crunchy with the Papaya.

Read more...

Green Papaya Tamarind Chutney

What You Need

Serves 4

Papaya ~ 1 cup. Unripe Green Papaya peeled and thinly sliced 1 cup. When you cut raw papaya make sure to peel the skin, and when you reach the part which has the white seeds remove the seeds. You should also remove the little hard skin at the centre

Unripe Raw Tamarind ~ 6 cut in halves. Remove the ends and then cut them in halves or more for bigger ones
Mustard seeds ~ ½ tsp
Sugar ~ Started with 1/4 cup but was a little too sour for us so added 1/6 cup more
Ginger Juice ~ 1 tsp
Salt

Oil
Water

How I Did It

Pressure cook the papaya slices. Take care that they are just cooked and not very soft. I put them in a separator in my pressure cooker and put water only at the bottom of the cooker, none in the separator. If you want you can do away with this step and cook it later too, I wanted it quick so I pressure cooked.
Soak the halved tamarinds in water
Heat Oil
Add mustard seeds
As soon as they sputter add the tamarind
Saute for couple of minutes and add the papaya.
Add salt, water and let it cook. Add water depending on how thick you want your chutney to be.
When the tamarind has become soft add the sugar and the ginger juice
Let it cook and the chaatni thicken to your desired consistency. Usually I don't have it very thick

Tip: When you are cutting raw papaya make sure that you remove the seeds and the hard skin next to the skin at the core. I don't know what it is called but if not removed the papaya may taste bitter when cooked. This is for dear Sushma's MTC -- Monthly Cooking Tipology . Check details at her blog Recipe Source

Safety Moment: Women in India and South East Asia and other parts of the world have used papaya for contraception and abortion since long and this is proven by Medical research so be careful to have Papaya when you are expecting. Though small amounts of ripe papaya does not cause any harm check with your doctor for authenticity as I do not know more about this effect. This is for lovely Jyotsna's event Safety Moment. Check more at her blog CurryBazaar

Trivia:Women in India and South East Asia and other parts of the world have used papaya for contraception and abortion since long and this is proven by Medical research so be careful to have Papaya when you are expecting.Papaya is rich in an enzyme called papain and other proteins and used as a digestive medicine (Source: Wiki)