Recipe and crap !

Oh the weekend was not all that great.So much of heat,its like solar flares all over kuwait.So much of humidity,even at 11pm its 45'celsius.

Anyways,I did some baby clothes shopping for a friend's new born and bought myself a pair of very comfortable slippers.We ate springrolls which werent cooked enough,ate samosas that werent tasty at all and for some reason had too many sweets,its left this sugary after taste in my mouth.

Then today afternoon ,I made this simple chicken pulao.I set out to make it the easiest way but then landed up doing the longer version of it.Sujatha,since you tried my peas pulao and I hope it tasted better at least,Im inspired to write this recipe here,so you can try it when you find the time.But I'll go for the easier one.

Fresh chicken is preferred,many opt for for frozen ones but they give this weird smell when thawed out.Anyway,with 1 kg chicken,cut into required size,clean and add into a big vessel or a pressure cooker and add at least 1 liter water.

To this ,you add 2 medium onions finely chooped,3 cloves,a small piece of cinnamon stick,salt to taste,4 cloves of garlic whole,half an inch of finely chopped ginger,green chillies as per preferred heat,red chilli powder,half a tspn of haldi and throw in half a tspn of jeera seeds.All this you throw into the water and let it boil till the chicken is almost done.Not fully cooked.Dont let the meat fall off the bones.But if you're going the boneless way,yuou have to let it boil and pluck the leat out which is more time consuming and then someone needs to suck on the bones.Im a bone chewer,sucker and biter.

In a pressure cooker a whole 10 minutes on full flame will do or in an ordinary vessel ,a whole 15 minutes on full flame will do.Make sure the water hasnt dried out.We will use that water to make the pulao rice.

Strain out the chicken when its half cooked or almost there.Do not discard the water.Keep it aside for later use.In another vessel,pour oil,heat it and add the chiken with the leftover masala of onions and garlic and all.Fry the chicken,the meat may start to fall apart,so dont stir it on and on.

Oh the rice has to washed and pre soaked for at least half and hour.This pre soaked rice you add into the chicken and add the chicken stock you kept aside from boiling the chicken.Te water margin should be just above the layer of rice.Close it tight and keep on the lowest flame and let it sit for 15minutes.

When you open the vessel to check after 15 minutes,leave the lid off for 5 min.This lets the steam escape and therefore preventing the rice from overcooking or becoming peechi due to excess water.

Then my hubby cooked bittergourd and chana dal.Actually dals are the easiest and the tastiest things to cook.

By the way,Yesterday a friend of my husband,asked me if Sridevi was from Madras.To someone who is not an Indian,Bangalore is south india and Madras and kerala are cities.I told yes,she was a south indian,so is Rekha,Bhoomika Chawla and so on and so forth.After that,he asks me if all south Indian are beautiful women ! I told him if fuller lips,fuller bodies,big eyes and thick hair are what you're looking for,then south India is the way to go.I was honoured coz I know Indians are beautiful people.

I find beauty in smiles,teeth,eyes.I love dimples too.

You know in Pakistan,the idea of beauty is being very very fair.The more the fairness,the more in demand the girl will be.Almost every woman I have met from middle class to rich people out there,they know makeup.The whole 9 yards of it,some pan stick,foundation and what not.Dark lipsticks,eyeliners and full jewellery.A girl ,married or unmarried ,always has makeup on.Wearing makeup at home is considered quite normal there.Especially,a newly wedded one.She has to have fresh makeup on ,with all her jewellery and the best of clothes for the first few months.A newly married woman is expected to give her good news within the first 3 months or else people start talking.

My brother in law visits his family back home once a year and we go for holidays around the same time.Every morning ,My bhabi will shower,wear new salwar kameez,put on full makeup,tie her hair and all this at 9am.She wears a simple necklace set at all times as per her clothes.
I make fun of her, of course,behind her back.Maybe If my husband came to see me once a year ,I would do the same.Dunno that.I can never put on makeup when Im at home.