Quilling Earrings

I started making Quilling earrings a couple of years back . My daughters in law , my young nieces and my sisters loved them all. They all insisted that I make some more. So this time I made several such earrings of different colors and designs . I am uploading a few of my creations : 

Crochet Teddy Bear

 

My sister Vandana brought me several craft , knit and crochet items and books from U.K. Delighted as I was to receive the bundle of gifts that she gave me , I was spoilt for choice. What should I make first? Should I start with the coin purse kit? Or should I start knitting with the colourful yarns from the knit kit ? Knitted Toys? Or should I crochet something with my new crochet hook set? At last I decided to try out an Amigurami Teddy Bear from the book "Adorable Toys" that she gave me.

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This was my very first attempt at crocheting a toy .I had knitted several toys before but had never crocheted any. But I found the directions pretty easy to follow and weaved up the teddy very comfortably.  There is much room for improvement though. Sure it will turn out better, fatter and sweeter  in my next attempts. Will now try out the Crochet Koala and a knitted doll  from the book.

My holidays are on.So hoping to meet sooner this time..It's a festive season in India and I wish happiness to everyone. Moushumi.

Knitted Parrot

These Summer Holidays was quite a fun. We had  several days holiday during the national elections and then again got a few days extra holidays which the government had declared due to excessive heat wave in the state. I utilised the time in making and completing a few projects like crochet ripple bag, a bag made out of small plastic mats and by knitting a parrot. I shall be uploading the bags after I finish off with the lining , chains and so on. As for now here is the parrot I knitted:

I have hung the knitted parrot up in my corridor . As for the photographed parrot is concerned , we clicked it in Gwalior Fort. Hope you like them both!
 Bye for now . Moushumi

Snacks - Dal Vada, Onion Pakora, Soya Cutlets

My family members always prefer to have some snacks with their evening tea . Now that my summer holidays are on I try to make some quick snacks like pakoras or vadas. Yesterday I made some Dal Vadas with Masoor Dal or Red Lentils . Here is a picture of Masoor Dal or Red Lentils,  I just downloaded from Google Images:

Soak around 2 cups of Masoor Dal in 2 cups of water for 3 - 4 hours. After that grind this into a coarse paste. Add salt, red chilly powder, chopped green chillies, turmeric powder, 2 small onions chopped, a little garlic paste and a little ginger paste to taste.One may use chopped coriander leaves too. Heat oil and deep fry into small vadas. Serve with sauce or chutney. This is really a good evening snack. Hope you like it. Wishing happiness, Moushumi Sengupta

Onion Pakora
 Made some onion vada this evening. This too is very easy. Cut the onion. Mix with some Chickpea flour or besan. Add salt, chopped green chillies. Add very little water. Deep fry. In bengal this is a very favourite snack and usually had with puffed rice or Muri.

 

And with sauce and chutney:

Soya Granule Cutlets

The other day I bought a pack of Soya granules:

And made some cutlets out of them:

The recipe is the same as my post on keema cutlets. the granules are to be boiled with a little salt for a couple of minutes and rinsed in cold water. Drain off the water. Add salt , pepper, vinegar, tomato sauce, garlic paste all to taste. Add a couple of bread slices. Shape into cutlets. Dust bread crumbs over them. keep in refrigerator for a couple of hours for the flavour to be soaked. Fry . Serve hot.
Hoping to make a few more items these holidays. Wishing happiness to all. Moushumi Sengupta

Phirni

 

Phirni is a simple yet tasty dessert. Just a little milk, powdered rice and sugar - that's all what it takes. I took around a quarter cup Basmati rice, a quarter cup sugar and around 750 grams of milk. The rice is to be soaked , drained and then ground into a smooth paste. This is added to around half a cup of milk and made thinner. Now this paste is added to all the milk and boiled. It has to stirred continuously till the mixture turns creamy. Now the sugar is added and stirred. 2 green cardamoms are powdered and added to the mixture. Next the mixture is removed from fire and poured into small bowls and decorated with shredded almonds. Chill the mixture in the fridge and serve.  

Also made some malpuas, a Bengali sweet pie,  last week . Hope to be back with a post on malpuas. Till then wishing happiness. Moushumi

Knitted Baby Set

I knitted this sweater set for my little sister's baby daughter Mome. It took quite long as I was busy with my school annual exams and corrections but still managed to deliver it just before winter set in here at Kolkata .Here is the sweater at first. I fixed a little teddy bear applique on it.

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Now the booties in the same design:



Here is the cap :


And finally the full set:
 
I am now thinking of a new project, this time I am thinking of sewing a bag. Let me think it out. Will post my niece's pic with the sweater on the next time perhaps. Bye, Moushumi.
8.2.14: Here's a pic of my little niece wearing the sweater:

This is all my sister could manage as she was not in the mood of wearing the either the booties or the cap at that point of time!  

Mutton Vindaloo

Cooked this last Sunday. Basically an easy one and tastes rather good. I cooked arond 750 grams of mutton. Other ingredients:
Haldi /  turmeric Powder: 1 tsp
Zeera /Cumin , Dhania /Coriander, Poppy seeds, Mustard Seeds : 2 tsp each these are to be slightly roasted and ground to powder. One may use powdered packets too.
 Cloves: 4,Green Cardamom  : 4( To be powdered). One may use powdered garam masala too.
Onions: 3-4 medium
Garlic: 5-6  flakes
Ginger: 2 inch
Oil: ( I used mustard) : 3 tbs
Salt: to taste
Vinegar: 1 tbs
All The powdered spices including the powdered Cloves and cardamom are mixed along with the vinegar . Marinade the mutton using a little of this spice mixture and keep aside for a couple of hours. Keep the remaining part aside.
Grind the onion ginger and garlic to paste. The ginger may be julienned if you so like.
Heat oil in a pan. Fry the onion garlic ginger paste for sometime. Use the remaining amount of spices and fry till oil separates. Now add the marinated mutton. Cook for sometime.Add a little warm water if you want. then transfer to a pressure cooker and let it cook till tender. This may be served with steamed rice or chapatis.