Alysha means Noble and Kind

Our sweet daughter Alysha was born on the 1st of December at 9.23 AM. Her weight was around 3 Kg. Rohaan was 3.5 while Tania was 3.8 Kg. They were huge babies compared to Alysha. She seemed really tiny. But, perfect!

Rohaan was really excited about the baby. He loves to have her on his lap. He turned four in October. He loves fiddling around with all the baby stuff, he wants to lie down in the baby's cot with all the rollers and pillows, etc. He curls up like the baby and imitates her crying sounds. It's really cute to see.

Tania ignored the baby for the first week. Tania is two and a half years old. She would copy Rohaan and say, "Don't cry baby" when Alysha cried. She totally refused to touch the baby. It was more like, she wasn't sure what to make of this little new entry in her life. After a week or so, she just simply 'fell in love with Alysha'. Now I have to be really careful since Tania is always hanging around the baby. The moment I leave a peacefully sleeping baby, all safe and secure for about two minutes for any reason, I will come back to find Tania curled up next to her or attempting experiments like trying to hold her hand...and more...

Thankfully, neither of them seem to resent the new baby. I think they are happy to have each other to play with. Mobin is a really good father who ensures all their needs are met. So far, he has been on leave since my delivery. My mother and mother in law were there to help out with the house and cooking. My father in law used to take out the kids to the park in the evening. My brother in law Robin was here for the first three weeks. He had sprained his ankle badly and is on leave from the Army. 

Having so many people at home after the delivery has its pros and cons. It's like a joint family system. Everything was taken care of, I just had to focus on the baby. I got plenty of rest. But, the house was like a zoo. Not much of privacy or quiet. But then, it was fun. When all the guest left, as thankful as I was for all the help I got, I am enjoying the peaceful atmosphere  I am grateful that their presence and help, has helped me rest and regain my health after the delivery.

Sofiyani Pulav

These are just scribblings to myself, of recipes I want to try. They are mostly from old magazines. My mother has a huge collection of magazine cut outs of recipes.  I am jotting them down, before I get rid of the magazine stacks and the cut out collection. In the age of internet, with any recipe you wish at your fingertips, it doesn't seem very practical to hang on to this crumbling paper collection. I am actually going through the entire bunch, recipe by recipe, choosing what seems worth a try. Why am I bothering? Well! Considering the effort my mom must have put in over the last 10-15 years or so, to cut out each recipe and to paste them into our old record books and such, I think It's disrespectful to just simply throw them out, just because I have an internet connection. So I am putting in my share of hard work.

Once I try these out and if they come out well, I will post them with pictures in the recipe section.

You can also try them out and let me know how they turned out.

Sofiyani Pulav

1.       Rice – 2 ½ c – soak 1 hr

2.       Cardamom

3.       Cloves

4.       Cinnamon

5.       Salt

Boil 1.5 litres. Add all, cook till 3/4^th done. Drain, keep aside.

6.       Curd- 1 ½ c

7.       Ginger paste – 2.5 tsp

8.       Garlic p – 2 tsp

9.       Cardamom- 8

10.   Cloves – 5

11.   Cinnamon – 2

12.   g.cilly-2, slit

13.   lemon juice- 2 tsp

14.   salt

15.   ghee – ¼ cup

Mix all to make marinade

16.   Chicken Drumsticks -16

Apply marinade. Cook on low heat, till all curd is absorbed. Don’t change colour or break chicken. Add

17.   Almond paste – 3 tbsp

18.   Mava – 3 tbsp, crumbled

Stir in quickly and remove from heat.

arrange chicken in baking dish, spread rice . pour

19.   Ghee- ¼ c

20.   Milk 1 c

Cover with lid, seal with atta. Bake for 30 mins.

Caramel Rice

These are just scribblings to myself, of recipes I want to try. They are mostly from old magazines. My mother has a huge collection of magazine cut outs of recipes.  I am jotting them down, before I get rid of the magazine stacks and the cut out collection. In the age of internet, with any recipe you wish at your fingertips, it doesn't seem very practical to hang on to this crumbling paper collection. I am actually going through the entire bunch, recipe by recipe, choosing what seems worth a try. Why am I bothering? Well! Considering the effort my mom must have put in over the last 10-15 years or so, to cut out each recipe and to paste them into our old record books and such, I think It's disrespectful to just simply throw them out, just because I have an internet connection. So I am putting in my share of hard work.

Once I try these out and if they come out well, I will post them with pictures in the recipe section.

You can also try them out and let me know how they turned out.

Caramel Rice

1.       Soak rice-  1 ½ c . 30 mis

2.       Oil -  3 tbsp

3.       Onion -1,  big, sliced

Cook till pink in oil, remove.

4.       Cashews - 10

5.       Sultanas -2 tbsp

Fry one by one, remove. Add

6.       Cumin seeds- ½ tsp

7.       bay leaf-2

8.       cloves-5

9.       cinnamon-3

10.   Black cardamom-3

11.   Black pepper- 8, crushed

12.   sugar- 1 ½ tsp

When sugar turns brown, add

13.   Ginger – 1”

14.   Rice

15.   Green chillies -3

16.   Curd – 1/3 c

17.   Salt

cook 2 mins.

18.   Water- 3 c

Cook till done. Cool 15 mins. Garnish with

19.   fried onion, nut n sultanas, capsicum and tomatoes.