Ragi Jaggery cake 

3/4 th cup Ragi flour

1/2 cup wwf 

2/3 rd cup powdered Jaggery

3/4th tsp baking soda

2 tbs cocoa powder

Pinch of salt

Wet ingredients-

1 cup thick yogurt 

1/4 th cup+3 tbs milk

1 tsp vanilla essence

Method-

Sift the dry ingredients 3 to 4 times.keep it aside.

Heat the milk,add Jaggery powder to it and mix well.filter this mix and add curd.Mix well.

Lastly add vanilla essence. 

 Add dry to wet.

In case the mixture is looking too dry you can add 1 to 2 tbs more milk.

 Pour the batter in a lined tin and bake at 180 degrees centigrade for 25 to 30 minutes till the tooth pick comes out clean.

Date Walnut Cake..

Date Walnut Cake...!!!
INGREDIENTS:

1 cup all purpose flour
15 dates
3/4-1 cup milk
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup sliced walnuts
1/2 cup oil( i used olive oil)
1 tea spoon baking soda


METHOD:

Seive flour and baking soda 3-4 times together.This is very important to make the cake fluffy.Remove the seeds of the dates and Soak them in enough hot milk for 2 hours.

Now add sugar in soaked date and milk mixture and grind it to form a fine paste.Now add oil and whisk it.Now add half the flour mixture and mix it .Then add the remaining flour and whisk it well.

Batter is ready when it falls like a ribbon from a height.Add more milk to adjust the consistency if required.Finally add the chopped walnuts and mix well.

Preheat the oven and bake at 180 deg for 30-40 mins or till done.I used microwave to bake it.Mostly eggless cake becomes moist and sticky inside when baked in microwave, but i had got a new method so i tried it and it worked well.I preheated the microwave at 180 deg then i baked it at 180 deg for first 10 mins and then lowered the temp to 110 deg and baked for more 30 mins and cake was as fluffy and soft as baked in oven.

I kept it simple and did not add any icing.You can use simple whipped cream icing for it and sprinkle some honey.It tastes best when sprinkled with honey and served.

Preparation Time :40 mins

The inbetweens

Just like a bunch of guards change shifts, so did the Summer and Monsoon!

The reluctant Summer who begged for a couple of days more to stay while the all eager Monsoon who wanted and waited for so long to nourish the dry and parched earth! Summer had made its presence felt with the hot and windy extra humid days and burning skin and the earth was crying for water.

In their tradeoff ,Summer agreed to let the rains slip in while he had his one feet in the door while watching a teaser to a show or like a movie trailer .

The rains arrived in full splendor complete with the works the lightning and thunder !

Those three days, try as much but the sun couldn't so much so raise his head as the guardian dark clouds stood watch over and protected their playing fields !.The sun tried to shine but the cool crisp air calmed him down.

The cool breeze did the work of applying a soothing balm to the burnt and parched soul of the earth.

Trees were happily swaying and dancing while the chirpy birds flew around in excitement.

The teaser warned them of the might of the impending season .

Clean roofs shone in the sunlight while water puddles formed in areas wanton.

Rambunctious birds sang happily and praised their maker at dawn celebrating and welcoming

the new era of the showers to come.

Mynas,Parrots,sparrows and crows came out in throngs to rejoice in the change of season.

The blue skies struggled to contain the white clouds who kept fighting with their dark and angry counterparts as they jostled for space in the wide and expansive horizon.The sun stood by and sliently wt ached waiting for his turn another summer!

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When it hit us!

March walked in quietly,

warming up the path and air that we walked and breathed in.

The excitement of Hloli was shortlived as we played carefully and fearfully.

Half our gang were not to be seen

Hidden and bound at home by terrified moms!

As the tiny giant called Covid 1 laid out its net far and wide across mountains valleys and fields and slowly claimed its territory!

Life paused,took semi colon and then a comma and finally to a full stop.

Life stopped living literally.

Kids were kept indoors.

Parks and playgrounds turned to deserted areas, out of bound to the funfilled moments.,

no more swaying swings and laughter filled glee's of happy kids!

Dads stayed home !

Moms worked double hard to keep their souls happy.

A new lifestyle evolved

The value of a stay at home mom just increased.

We understood how difficult it was to sweep and mop floors.

It now made sense why the jadoowali bhai skipped corners often.

we too knowingly or unknowingly started doing the same .

We learnt to pitch in andshare chores

What we took for granted was now realised.

shortages and nonavailabilty was the new norm

Moms tried new recipes and started baking breads

Instagram suddenly many new posts.

Fathers now understood what wives did all day at home

They realised how much the wife had to do all day

The bai at least gets paid

What about the wife?

All she asks is for some understanding and empathy when her feet and back hurts!

She did everything without a murmer or a word.

Families bonded...

Kids got to spend lot of time with fathers.

grandparents go to to spend time with their grand children.

The strays had the roads all to themselves.

The birds had all the freedom to fly about freely.

The air was cleaner

The sky was brighter

The stars shone with glee and joy at night.

Pollution literally went away with no cars and factories spewing out smoke.

A new army took shape in the form of doctors,nurses and healthcare workers.

Cops really became our heroes, braving out in the blistering summer sun trying to keep us home.

A war was waged by the health care warriors yet the numbers kept multiplying.

Our life now depended on them

Life changed

What we took for granted now became the new revelation.

We learnt to appreciate our helpers.

Life evolved to a new level and taught us to be thankful and grateful for every little thing we had .

A small grain of mustard to a single stray leaf of kadipatha was now important.

The shortage of essentials taught us to live carefully and frugally.

The new life became a way of life.

We now had time to watch an appreciate beautiful skies and breathtaking sunsets.

We had time to renew and relive moments gone by by taking out old photo albums.

Our identity was now masked with masks of various hues and shades.

Tshirts sleeves and socks were used to make jugaad masks

Learnt to live each day in gratitude and simplicity while we wait for the tiny Giant to loosens its grip and give us back our new but old freedom and lifestyle

isnt it too much to ask for the mess we made as humans?

Time will only tell as we grapple and try to come terms with this new life.

The Inbetweens



Just like a bunch of guards change shifts, so did the Summer and Monsoon!

The reluctant Summer who begged for a couple of days more to stay while the all eager Monsoon who wanted and waited for so long to nourish the dry and parched earth! Summer had made its presence felt with the hot and windy extra humid days and burning skin and the earth was crying for water.

In their tradeoff ,Summer  agreed to let the rains slip in while he had his one feet in the door while watching a teaser to a show or like a movie trailer .
The rains arrived in full splendor complete with the works the lightning and thunder !
Those three days, try as much but the sun couldn't so much so raise his head as the guardian dark clouds stood watch over and protected their playing fields !.The sun tried to shine but the cool crisp air calmed him down.
The cool breeze did the work of applying a soothing balm to the burnt and parched soul of the earth.

Trees were happily swaying and dancing while the chirpy birds flew around in excitement.
The teaser warned them of the might of the impending season .
Clean roofs shone in the sunlight while water puddles formed in areas wanton.
Rambunctious birds sang happily and praised their maker at dawn celebrating and welcoming
the new era of the showers to come.
Mynas,Parrots,sparrows and crows came out in throngs to rejoice in the change of season.
The blue skies struggled to contain the white clouds who kept fighting with their dark and angry counterparts as they jostled for space in the wide and expansive horizon.The sun stood by and sliently wt ached waiting for his turn another summer!