Watercolors and Me

Painting with kids is fun. One needs lots of patience and should be ready to work hard with them as they extremely inquisitive and very eager to jump ahead to the next lesson always. At the end of the day it is a very rewarding experience to be able to share what I love with someone who is just as eager to learn. Funny thing is, I didn't know how to teach until I met Alyce. While teaching her I realized it unlocked a new dimension in me.  It took almost an year for me to get my head around watercolor paintings. Before every class I would pour in hours of effort to tell kids what mistakes they can potentially do when they are painting. Watercolors are so fluid and one has to have dexterity to work not at fast pace and neither at slow place.

I was always interested in painting and art. I tried to paint when growing up as a kid but it never went beyond a coconut tree,a house and a stream. Everyone in the household and extended family had a copy of the same coconut tree and house. I didn't have an opportunity for formal training in painting. So as I looked to pick up water colors, at first all I did was try to mimic any painting I saw. I failed so many times and grew frustrated about my lack of good painting skills.  I was not getting same effect as the painting I was seeing. I soon realized that I have no other way forward than to read books. Given a choice, I prefer to hear and see than read. But my passion for water color painting finally got me to pick up a habit of reading . Initially it was slow, but slowly I started picking up pace and put lots of hours into reading. I was so amazed that the more I learnt about water color painting I realized it was actually a science in itself. 

And so after some initial reading, I started experimenting with colors. Just like my students I was so eager to do paintings, that I jumped ahead of the basics and expected to paint something well in first go. As a result, at one point I wanted to give up painting as I thought it is not my piece of cake. Coincidentally at around this time I found pamphlet of watercolor demo at Daniel Smith in Redmond.  I attended that demo and that gave me the push to redo everything but to expect very less. As they say persistence pays and my hard work paid off slowly and very gradually I was able to paint better than I ever was before. I could see the progress in my work and that pushed me on to paint more. 
      

 

The more one tries to get involved in their passion, they begin to see everything around them differently. As I got more involved in learning water colors and painting, I  started observing nature more and that opened my eyes to a way for me appreciate nature and objects in a new light. I could now connect to something that moved me deeply and which bought so much joy to me. The interplay of different types of paper, colors and they are mixed and applied plays a vital role in any painting. Being able to master this interplay needs lots of skill, patience and perseverance. 

Slowly as I got more confident, I started to analyze paintings and pictures and realized that I need to get values and shades correct even before I perfect getting the right color. I painted in grayscale or gradients to master shadows, edges and the play of light on objects and textures. 

This was also a point at which I wanted to share what I learned so far. What better way to do that than teach and so began my next adventure of being a better teacher. 

There is so much I've learned both regarding my passion and about myself in all this journey. As I now look to teach more kids and introduce them to this wonderful world of colors, if I can get at least one student to share this passion with me I would have done a good job I feel. 

Avocado Basil pesto dosa

Last before week I was loaded with work and did not have time to cook and took lot of shortcuts  with cooking :-). And one such invention is avocado basil pesto dosa. I was pretty bored with same old dosa and had store bought avocado paste and basil pesto sauce. I could  not resist temptation to experiment ,so I mixed 1 tsp of avocado with basil pesto sauce and applied paste to almost done dosa. Concept is same as malsa dosa, but instead of red podi I had put my own paste. Dhanvi initially was scared looking at the green color of dosa, but dosa passed his test with distinction when he tasted it.  Here is the procedure for it

Note: Do not apply any oil after spreading dosa batter as basil pesto already has sufficient oil in it.

Avocado basil pesto paste
-1 tsp avocado paste. You can use store bought one or make it fresh at home.Remember to add lemon juice to stop oxidation of avocado.
-1 tsp basil pesto 
-1 small green chili
-Little salt( is optional)


Procedure

1. Heat a frying pan/ tava. On low flame spread dosa batter in circular motion and put it on high. Note: Do not apply any oil after spreading dosa batter as basil pesto already has sufficient oil in it.

2. Immediately spread the paste and let it sit for 30-45 seconds.

4. Fold the dosa.

5. Serve dosa with chutney and sambar.

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Spinach Mania

Overconfidence is often recipe for disaster. I made lot of chutnies with different veggies and became overconfident and hardly paid any attention while making spinach chutney and it turned out bad.

Couple days passed and its was still sitting in fridge. One day I decided to make vermicelli upma and was thinking what veggies to put, then I remembered spinach chutney.  My husband would not like mixing chutney into upma ,but I could not resist and experimented. I had put the usual upma tadka with some  finely chopped onion, chili,salt and then added the leftover spinach chutney. All of a sudden all ingredients together in pan looked so yummy that I was about to drop plan of making vermicelli upma and instead was tempted to eat the modified  chutney with rice. 

But then sticked to original  plan. I kept aside half or chuntey and used rest half to make vermicelli, tapioca upma

Last but not least wanted to mix yogurt and see how it will be and it turned out excellent. 

                    

Moral of story-  Don't throw chutney in bin if it turns out bad ,instead throw a little everytime in curry :)

Easy dessert

I tend to reuse most of stuff and usually don't feel like throwing away food. This recipe is a by product of left over orange marmalade cake. I was tempted to call it mango mamba mamba,like artipandu lamba lamba, but did not mean to scare people away.  Who ever had watched Jhandyala telugu movie can easily connect to it.

Jokes apart here is the recipe for it. It is very simple and easy to make when guests are around. You can substitute it with apple strudel instead of cake  and on top of fruits you can put some granola/nuts to make it little healthy

1.  Small piece of orange marmalade cake 

2. 1/4 cup of diced mango 

3. Few diced apples 

4. 1/2 cup of home made jello

I had cut cake into small pieces and layered it at the bottom of cocktail glass and then added jello and fruits on top of it. You can also try by adding one more layer of fruits on top of cake and serve it by adding some nuts.

If you tired recipe, I would love to hear from you how it came out.

Achari Paneer Extension

Just like application extension,this is extension of left over Acahri paneer (Check my previous blog for achari paneer recipe). I had tikka masala gravy which I bought from costco, so had put 4-5 tbsp of it in left over curry in pan and let it cook for 5 mins. It was yummy.  Wanted to share it as it can be a great entree for gatherings. 

Acahri paneer with achar/pickle

Last year we went to restaurant and saw Achari sabji on their menu. I expected it to be spicy and tangy, but it was not hot and tangy.  When I checked up online for a recipe, to my surprise I could not find any recipe where they used actual achar. This gave me an idea of trying out same dish using achar as I had tons of pickle.  I wanted to make my own version of achari sabji, but realized that , I did not have any vegetables and just had paneer. Instead of achari sabji I made achari paneer and it turned out really good. This recipe had been tried and tested and had proven to be a hit at various events. It can be made as appetizer too.

Here is recipe for it

• 1 packet Nanak paneer- cut into 1 inch cubes
• 1 big onion - slice them into big square peices
• 2-4 big sized chili- big slices
• 1 tsp pandu-mirapakaya karam (red chili and onion) pickle, if you do not have that use  red hot chili sauce - 
• 1 tsp of amla achar
• 2 tsp of yogurt
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• 1tsp kasuri methi

Note:- I did not add salt as amla pickle has enough salt.

Procedure
In bowl mix paneer, amla achar, yogurt , kasuri methi and keep it aside.

In pan put oil , let it get hot and then add onion and chili. 

 Once onions turn little transparent and add pandumirapakaya pickle and cook for 1 min. Add paneer mixture and let it cook for 10 mins and serve hot.

Akki Roti

This recipe is introduced to me by my aunt and I did not name it as Akki roti :-) .  This recipe is simple ,healthy and easy to make.  All  ingredients can be added to your taste. There is no order to mix the ingredients.  Except for cucumber everything else can be finely chopped. By grating cucumber it oozes lot of water and there is no need to add water. Make sure the dough consistency is thin enough to mold roti with hand in round shape.

Cucumber grated
Carrot grated/finely chopped
Radish grated/finely chopped
Spinach finely chopped
Cabbage finely chopped
Onion finely chopped
Cilantro finely chopped
Chili finely chopped
Cumin/Jeera powder to taste
Vamu/Ajwain 2-tsp
Wheat flour - 1 cup
Ragi flour- 1/2 cup
Jawar flour- 1/2 cup
Salt to taste


Take parched baking paper and put a scoop of dough on it and tap on it to make roti. Use water to tap when making roti so that it does not stick. It is similar to jawari style roti making.

 Sprout Paste

Do not use wax paper,as it catches fire , if the pan is too hot

Use water to tap roti 

I had left over spinach chutney and put that in this mix and rotis  turned out really tasty . So if you have left over chutneys (technically any chutney) mix it in dough.