To Eat or Not? That 'just arrived' box of Kaju Barfis

"To Eat or not to Eat", here lies my classic dilemma.

Particularly if you consider a box of sweets now lying in our refrigerator.

Avi was in Delhi for a few days and my parents sent back what they knew was one of my favourite treats, the delightful  'Kaju Barfi'

The only problem lay in the fact that a few weeks back  I had gone on a 'self inflicted diet' of sorts and had been very pleased with the results till date.

But now consider this scenario, "Such sweets need to be eaten only when they are fresh", says one part of my mind. 

The other one says, "Hmm, so what will happen to what you are trying to achieve?"

"Its OK, I can manage both."

"No you can't! Eat the first one and that will be your nemesis. Since you wont be able to stop thereafter."

And so on and so forth.


I let that internal debate subside and I'd like to think that sheer practicality asserted itself. I convinced myself that those sweets would really go bad if left uneaten.

And so I had it...that first one.

Then the second ...

And the third...

Yet, I'd like to think I've done fairly well. Because 4 days later, this is what the box still looks like. (Mind you, I'm the only one at home eating them)

Enticing- that box of Kaju Barfi

And weight-wise, still doing well enough.
Who says that one can't have the best of both worlds?

A perfect 'anytime' treat- Home made Fig, Orange and Lemon Biscotti

Looking for that perfect anytime treat? Something that can be had with your tea, coffee or best of all easily be served up as a dessert? Then, it has to be Biscotti- easy to make at home and can be made with just about any ingredient you may have lying in your kitchen cabinets.

Biscotti also known as cantuccini  are twice baked cookies originating in the Italian  city of Prato. The biscuits are oblong-shaped biscuits, made dry and crunchy through cutting the loaf of dough while still fresh from baking in the oven.

Fig, Orange and  lemon Biscotti

Today, biscotti are made using many different ingredients. Almonds, figs, pistachios, raisins, cranberries, and lemon & orange zest make for great flavors in this cookie and can be mixed and matched depending on their availability.  

I made these with wholewheat  flour, figs, orange and lemon zest, creamed with butter and sugar .

Ingredients

2 cups wholewheat flour

1 and a half  cups sugar

350 gms butter

3 whole eggs

Figs to taste 

Grated zest of  one lemon and orange ( each)

1 tsp baking powder

Method

Put all the dry ingredients together in a bowl and mix thoroughly.

Combine all the wet ingredients and stir briskly.

Combine the two and make into a clean oval shaped dough.

Put cling film and pop into the frig for 1 hour.

Bake in a pre heated oven art 125 C for 30-35 mins

Bake at  125  C for 30-35 mins


Allow to rest on a wire rack.

Then cut into pieces and bake for another 15 mins till golden brown.

Cut into pieces and bake again for about 15 mins 

Dust with icing sugar and serve with tea, coffee or simply as dessert

We tried it with whipped cream and berries- made for a delightfully decadent dessert.

Try your own variations and let me know too.

Reflections on the use of Bad language and how music is Food for the Soul

Is it just me or are there more of you out there?
People who believe that our day to day spoken language is something which is meant to convey what we feel, think and believe in- but without the liberal use of four letter words.

In fact, a few days back I found myself so concerned about this increasingly visible trend, be it in cinema, theatre or in some passing conversations that I decided to check with a few younger people in the age group of about 20-25 and wasn't really surprised when their feelings mirrored mine to a very great extent!

Image courtesy- Google

So my next thought was how does one deal with the very real fact that this sort of language is increasingly being incorporated in theatre and cinema? My brain told me this would really leave me with one of two options - ‘like it’ or then, just ‘lump it’. But my heart tells me that there has to be a solution to this.

Can we as a community try and do something to reverse, or at least minimise the trend? Or then, (what really saddens me even to think of) will we now have to learn how to numb ourselves to what is happening all around us and just go with the flow? Would love to have your feedback on this one, so please do let me know.

On a completely different and happier ‘note’, 'If Music be the food of love, play on' said some famous poet, many moons ago. To that I'd like to add, music really is food for the soul, nourishing it like very few other things really do. Just the sound of a Spanish guitar, or if you would, an electric guitar, the violin, the harp, or then a combination of all these and many more in the form of an orchestra, are enough to bring a smile to the face of a person who is sad, or another one who is just weary from the walk of his/her life.

It goes without saying of course that meaningful cinema inevitably makes use of a background score to express emotions of various genres, and our good old Hindi movies have music combined it with the song and dance routine. Many a time, the more the merrier.But times are changing and today discerning Hindi film goers are conservative in their approach to nonsense that was sometimes served up in the garb of music, and refuse to swallow more than they absolutely must. We are certainly all getting luckier as music is becoming more eclectic and therefore more appealing.

So I go back to where I began recalling one of my all time favourite numbers from an interesting movie called 'The Great Gambler'. The scene was that of three people in a gondola – Big B, Zeenat Aman and the gondolier – as he took the couple on a gondola ride through the canals of Venice. 

Image courtesy - Google

All I hear as I write this, are the heart stopping, soul stirring words, 'Amore Mio'…

(Note- This piece was originally written for my column, My Take in the Muscat Daily, July 2011)