Fryum like snacks for the children

 For want of a better description/words, I've called these Fryum like snacks. Fryums were our treat on Saturday afternoons when we were little.
These cost Rs10 a packet from Bombay - which is around 12pence :)
First picture is stars.
Second picture is alphabets - my daughter spelt out pooh, couldnt find her initials.
Third picture is meant to be tennis rackets but the oil was too hot so they split in the middle.

Meant to be an afternoon snack in the upheaval of moving and trying to clear out cupboards. More than the children, our elderly neighbours, who

 popped in, enjoyed them!

Woodchip and avocado tiles

So much of work has been done in our new house since we got the keys a few weeks ago.
The pink glossy woodchip has gone.
The avocado green bathroom has gone.
The dirty green carpet in the hall has gone.
The vinyl on the kitchen floor and yellow cupboards have gone.
Instead, there is paint we like on the walls and everything looks so different. We will hopefully move in sometime soon, meanwhile, the boxes are piling up in our current house, half filled by the children.
Having decorators, bathfitters, electricians and carpet fitters in the house is an experience. Fortunately, we haven't been living there to interrupt their working too much.
Our decorator is lovely, very sweet and a good worker, doing his full 8 hours plus of work after drinking until 3am! For now, he's busy removing the dreaded woodchip and the abundance of pink gloss.

Natco Pani Puri kit - our Dahi Puri version

Pic says it all really, a £3.99 Pani Puri kit with the works - boondi, tamarind chutney, green chutney and the puris in an egglike plastic case..... this is Dahi Puri done by my husband in a few minutes!!!
I love Pani Puri or Golgappas as we used to call them growing up in North India......pity there is nowhere here you buy them freshly made.....for now, nothing comes close to the Rs35 ones at Elco Arcade in Mumbai.

My vegetarian fry up Mother's Day breakfast

Twice a year, my husband goes downstairs with the children and gives them breakfast - my birthday and Mother's Day. Of course, with a few exceptions!
This year, with the 'processed meat is harmful' news coming the day before, he decided to do the vegetarian option for breakfast.
We'd ordered vegetarian bacon from Ocado a few years ago, can't remember much - it was forgettable.
This time round, it was Tesco's Lincolnshire sausages, which tasted like potato and cheese cutlets, and the bacon was like bacon, but artificial and cardboardy. I thought it was passable but the children were looking puzzled and wondered what sort of mutated food they were being given. One of them asked if these were the kind of sausages and bacon we were going to have to eat for ever.....
Its nice if you want to feel good about not eating loads of sodium nitrite etc but I miss my proper pork sausages.......

My 8 year old's Chocolate Cake with oil

Children came home from school wanting to 'cook'. No ingredients for their usual salads, the oven was on for dinner, and the usual bulk Costco eggs so decided to let the kitchen get messy.
Prepared myself for lots of clearing up later, gave them the weighing scales, flour, sugar etc and then realised there was a tablespoon of butter in the fridge. Cue quick searching on google for butter free recipes and came up with oil as a substitute. Fortunately had veg oil (going to make puris this weekend) so plan back on track. I had visions of butter free bread passing off as cake. Apparently, oil needs liquid like milk or water to get as close to butter in a cake?
 Thankfully it worked, the chocolate cake was a bit dense, the vanilla cake surprisingly good. Not much chocolate cake in our house, husband cannot have anything chocolatey.
This is what I used - bits from various recipes and my standard sponge cake recipe;
200gms self raising flour
150ml oil
150 gms sugar
250 ml milk
2 eggs
pinch of soda bicarb and vanilla extract (soda don't think essential but I added just in case the oil flopped)
3 tbsps cocoa powder.
Baked for 45 mins at 170......
This morning, the icing, again, no fondant icing like my daughter wanted. Mixed icing sugar and water for a poor substitute. Cut a few pieces to take for her teachers/assistants. My toddler extremely worried his strawberries were not going into his tummy and to someone else.....

Non restaurant Indian food in Birmingham - good and bad

My stock of goodies from India has vanished in less than a month of being here, other than the masalas. Back to the shops for some more supplies. Luckily, Birmingham has many many Indian shops, Pakistani/Bangladeshi etc. We tend to go to Soho Road in Handsworth, although Tesco/Asda closer stock a surprisingly large range of stuff. What we like and don't like:
1) Cofresh chakri sticks (around 99p to £1.50) - lovely, highly recommend. Not the standard butter chaklis but great tasting.
2) Natco chana - 700 gms for £2 plus. Usually buy the unpeeled. Too many hard unpeelable ones, the Mahabaleshwar ones much better quality, think its East End.
3) Gits Idli and Sambar - 79-89p- good old standbys, the Idli mix is lovely, the Sambar a bit artificial but I cannot make it from scratch and get it right, this does the job.
4) Natco Kala Namak - lovely flavour to salad etc for 49p.
5) Sunny's Masala Sev - 99p - nicely spiced.
6) Patak's Hot Mango Picke (£1.49 usually) - huge hit with everyone we know and 2 bottles in the house at most time. Must try. Know someone who used to take it back to India (unbelievable I know!)
7) The rest of Patak's pickles are good, the Lime and Brinjal are on offer for 99p at times.
8) Patak's curry pastes - £1.79 - my secret quickfix to party food! Says it all really, must try. All of them.
9)  Natco and East End Alphonso Mango Pulp 99p -fantastic for mango lassi or mango mousse - quick fixes for guests.
10) Cofresh Potato whirls - 50p each on offer - sharply flavoured, ok.
11) Laziza Biryani Masala - 99p - has added a wow element to many meals I have served at parties. Fabulous and another must try. This is made in Pakistan but available at certain places in Soho Road. Lots in Sparkbrook/Ladypool Road. also seen at a couple of shops in Bombay!
12) Indian shop yogurt - Henna I think. Very cheap and not very nice at all. Watery and tasteless.
13) Cofresh frozen Punjabi samosas -£2.99- must try, keep a stock in the freezer for guests or a snack. They aren't as large as the fresh ones but very nice and crispy, flavourful etc.
14) Ahmed's pickles - 79p last time we bought some - do not recommend at all. We have bought them around 6-7 times and they are rancid/lots of seed in the mango one etc. Probably all old stock.
15) Natco Red Lentils- £2 per kg - Found the cheapest in Costco of all places!  Good to buy a big bag and easy to cook, doesn't need as much soaking as I've seen people in India do.
I could go on forever, lots of other stuff like the lovely marinated masala fresh meat at Tesco, will reserve for a later post!

Sorting the new house out

We got the keys to our house 2 weeks ago and have yet to move in. Decided to do most of the work first and then move. Below is a list of what we're doing:
 1) Electrical inspection and then sorting out electrics.
2) Decorating (removing the woodchip from almost everywhere, painting, plastering, doors etc etc)
3) Change bathrooms
4) Sorting out a temporary kitchen to use
5) Change carpets and lay floors
6) Double glaze windows
7) Change locks and move in !
 I wish it was as simple as that. There are many other little numbers in between the 6 above and unforeseen obstacles. Plus the extra work we hope to have done.
Have been warned by many about the stress of moving house. So far, its not so much the stress but the kind of boring sorting of mundane (to me) issues about a house.
The fun bit of decorating rooms will come in later when we move in. Looking forward to posting before and after pictures because of the state of the house.

No oil popcorn in the microwave

Though its half term, have cancelled all playdates/activities because the children still aren't 100%. Haven't been on a proper food shop for a bit, looking for some thing for the children to eat which isn't chocolate/sweets/cake. Finished our stock of cashewnuts/almonds/Wotsits/snack bars/Quavers. Found a bag of corn kernels from our last visit to the Indian shop. Remembered reading about popping with no oil in the microwave, tried it and, to use my 2 year old's words 'tadah'. Need to add some oil/butter for more taste and for the children, but this is 3 minutes and easy as chips.

Put a small handful of corn kernels in a glass dish and cover with a plate fully. Microwave on high for 3 minutes or until corn stops popping. Our micro is 950W.
Same thing with papad as well. 30 sec for 2 crisp oil free papads :)
Tomorrow we have a series of quotes from all and sundry for the new house and then one of the weekend days in Ikea if children well.

Quickest meal for children - Frittata

Sat all day spent at new house and finalising the bathrooms, come home and hungry children. I have almost finished the cooked contents of the big freezer apart from some masala/chilli loaded containers. Found some chorizo/sausage in the freezer and the box of 60 (yes 60!) eggs from Costco and decided on the frittata. Its the quickest meal to cook from scratch in our house. With some salad and nice bread. Macaroni cheese is the next quickest, wish their beloved chapatis /parathas were as quick to do.
Fry some chorizo (essential for flavour), I put in a couple of sausages this time, some frozen mixed veg, olives, sundried tomatoes(again have a huge jar from Costco).
Should add some fried onions/tomatoes too for better flavour, but I rarely do.
After 5 minutes, add 5 beaten eggs flavoured with salt/pepper.
Cook for 5 minutes on highish and then sprinke some grated cheese on the top (yet again bought grated and bagged from Costco) and put under a hot grill for 3-4 minutes.
Sorted.
The middle child hates eggs yet wolfs this down fortunately.
Its like a pastry free quiche which is much easier than making the pastry and baking it first etc.
I vary the contents all the time, sometimes its 4 eggs, sometimes 6, caramelised onions are lovely, lots of possibilities.
Need to do a big food shop today now the children are almost 100% and appetites back.

Random use for a Pringles lid

Completely random discovery at unearthly o'clock with a sick child - Pringles lids fit on top of Ikea plastic glasses - good for snacks on the go or storage etc.
Sick child wondering what his mum is doing holding up a glass to the laptop.
His mum finding the whole thing funny in a week of Calpol and Nurofen.
I have been mostly at home all week with three sick children - not all together fortunately. Hopefully half term will be better and we can do some work on the new house...

Finally get the keys to our new house!

We've finally got the keys to our new house after a long process and many years of looking and looking. The children are fed up to the gills of looking at new houses every weekend, not to mention their mother.
Though its not what we were looking for, it ticks the major boxes and will benefit from a mountain of restoration work, so here goes....in for a few months, maybe more of lots of building work.
My observations on what to expect after an offer is accepted on a house and what to be prepared for:
1) It will take much more time to complete than you expect, we were told 6-8 weeks by the bank, its more like 6 months.
2) Estate agents are nasty. Can go on a diatribe about them but suffice to say they are overworked and harried. Without naming our agent, its has been awful dealing with them. Of course, they are on the seller's side, not ours etc etc but compared to others we have dealt with, these are easily the worst.
3) Lots of people selling their houses without wishing to have any contact with the buyers. We have had no clue about the condition of the house, repairs, planning permissions for the extensions etc, have had to ask the post office lady about the occupants. The lady who owned the house is unwell and her family probably keener on the money than talking to us.
4) Lots of money to be paid out - surveyor, flood report, insurance, solicitor, some more surveys, mortgage fee, mortgage deposit, before we can even think of getting the keys.
5) Realising just how much work there is to be done on the house and trying to guess what the house looks like from pictures or a couple of visits.
Now finally get the keys and the mountain of work to be done needs to be climbed - bit by bit. Unfortunately all to be ready in a couple of months, in time for our bus load of visitors!
More on our renovating in the coming posts. The bottom line is we now have a lovely nice big house with enough space and that makes it all worth it :)

Tender coconuts in Goa

This is my 8 year old having her first drink of tender coconut water.
Tender coconuts are lovely. The seller lops off the top of the coconut with this sharp knife very skillfully and then gives it to drink with a straw. Goes back to him to split it in half to scoop out the flesh to eat. I prefer the white coconut flesh more than the water, it tastes very different in texture and flavour to a normal coconut.
There are tender coconut sellers on most roads - this was on the way to Panjim, for Rs20 each, which is 30p?
Also a first for my children was sitting in the front without a car seat. Much enjoyed by both (not the toddler for obvious reasons), they took it in turns to sit in front for shortish rides. Fortunately, my mum is not a remotely fast driver so it was at largely 5 mph speeds.
Memories now, of the trip, with the snow again, in Feb of all times......today have 2 children ill at home with a fever...

Chocolate Covered Katie - healthy dessert blog

How good do these pictures look? And they are healthy - have never recommended a blog  so this is a first. Chocolate Covered Katie is a healthy dessert blog with lots of recipes. This Cookie Pie is made from garbanzo beans (!?) and the Fudge Bites with dates :) . Katie, whose pictures are all over the blog is immensely pretty and her chirpy/bubbly style of writing are pluses to her basic fundamentals of great dessert recipes. There's lots of no-cream icecream recipes, non dessert recipes - look forward to trying roasted veg in a slow cooker and cake bars etc.Lovely to read and hope to try something soon.

Deep Dish Cookie Pie - no flour/butter

Chocolate Fudge Bites - with no flour/butter/sugar!     

Pink Castle Cake

A few birthdays ago, made this Castle Cake when my daughter was in her pink phase. Her party was at Dudley Zoo - and at the Castle, one of many we have had there, so, thought this would be easier than an animal. Looks more difficult to do than it actually is.
I did a large square sponge, a smaller round sponge and bought a small swiss roll from Sainsbury's for the top. Another time, did 3 loaf tin sponges for the bottom and iced together. Of course some ice cream cones and made lots of pink buttercream.
Buttercream is very easy to do, unfortunately for Betty Crocker (icing) and the loads I used to buy. Just a bit of butter and icing sugar in the mixer for a bit, and any food colouring.
Useful tip - Grind normal sugar in my Sumeet until its a powder. Easy icing sugar.
I had leftover wafers which I cut for the doors and windows. A 75p pack of mini marshmallows from Sainsbury's for the ramparts or whatever and that was it.
Could have done some more decorations, made it a bit neater etc but as always, there's tons of other stuff to do for birthdays and, late at night, I decided to stop.
Total cost less than £8. Seriously.

English Vinglish review

All three children fast asleep on the long flight, decided to make the most of the rare event and watch a movie. Choice between Bourne Supremacy and English Vinglish, chose the latter.
Reminded me of when our SCM teacher used to hope we would all make meaningful movies at some stage (if not classic art), rather than resort to mindless Bollywood masala.

Gauri Shinde has done an excellent job and I thoroughly enjoyed English Vinglish. She is a first time movie director, ad film maker and her biggest coup has been casting Sridevi.
I haven't really watched many of Sridevi's movies in her heyday other than bits and pieces on TV. She is fabulous in the movie. Her glamour and beauty is underplayed, her acting shines out, with her being a wife, mother and a great ladoo maker/caterer in the start. At the end, she is all of these and a lot more.
Loved the humour - the English classes are a great copy of Mind Your Language which I used to love as a teenager. The stereotypical Chinese, Pakistani, South Indian, Spanish characters are all there, along with the stereotypical gay teacher, and the Frenchman, played by the gorgeous Mehdi Nebbou. Sridevi and he make a great pair on screen and the story goes along with a what if they get together or not for a while.
I'm probably one of the last to watch the movie so no point going through the story other than its about Sridevi's character going to New York, gaining confidence and meeting a lovely Frenchman.
Most importantly, learning to speak English after struggling with communicating.
Just had a thought - Having lived in the UK for almost a decade now, my Indian accent hasn't changed and don't think ever will. I speak slowly sometimes, to make myself clearer but no one so far has had problems understanding me.
Must watch English Vinglish if you haven't already and enjoy!