Crochet Bag

I made this crochet bag by joining a few granny squares. As I was looking for a few designs for my granny square I came across these African Flower Granny Crochet on you tube and that is where I learnt it from.

I made 13 such squares and arranged them in the following pattern:

and thereafter joined them to form the bag:

I made two strong handles and affixed them with the bag:

At last a zipper was fixed with the bag and lined with a matching piece of cloth to make it more useable and durable. Will carry this bag to my workplace tomorrow and I hope my friends like it! Bye for now!

Aam Ras - Mango Smoothie

Mangoes are a very favorite fruit of our family and we love mangoes in all its forms : mango piclkes, raw mango salad and raita, raw mangoes in Dal and curry or the ripened fruit itself. Another very favourite of ours is Aam ras - Aam means mango and ras means pulp or juice. Aam ras is basically mango smothie. It is usually made with Gulab khas mangoes. Gulab khas mangoes are mangoes with a reddish hue and rosy aroma.

Gulab khas Mangoes- Picture from Google images

For making aam ras we need: 

Gulab khas aam ( Or any other sweet variety) : 1 kg

Sugar : To taste ( To be adjusted depending on the sweetness of the mangoes.)

Milk: 1/2 kg ( 500 gms)

The mangoes are to be cut and the stone has to be removed. This is to be blended with the sugar and milk and blended till smooth. The sweetness has to be tasted and adjusted. This is usually served chilled.

My family prefers to have this after meals for desert . May be had with luchi/ puris . In the villages of bengal this is also had with muri ( puffed rice) and khoi. 

Its a very easy recipe and I hope you like it. Wishing lots of happiness.... Moushumi

Fish : Chop n fry

Summer Holidays are on and I am back to some cooking. My colleague who stays by the beautiful River Rupnarayan gave me some Topshe Maach ( Mango Fish) the other day. Topshe has very soft bones and in Bengal it is usually batter fried. Here is mine :

They turn out quite crunchy . The fish needs to be marinaded with a little ginger garlic paste, Vinegar/ lime juice turmeric powder, and salt for around an hour or so. Next a batter of besan, salt, rice flour , a pinch of baking soda , cumin  powder, coriander powder and red chilly powder is made. The marinaded fish is then batter fried. This is served with steamed rice and dal .

Also made some fish chops yesterday evening as It was Sunday and we were all at home. Here is a picture:

And some fish fry today:

Planning to cook up a few more stuff this holidays. Lets see.

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.

. 
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