Me, Kinda lost, I know it sounds so silly…………..I truly believe in the fact that you don’t have to be a great performer to perform great, it is a show we are all living in, playing our parts the way we have scripted it or just following blindly the written script, telling or enacting our stories each day, like a never ending TV serial.

There is always some flavor added from the external world, whether you like it or not, let it be the real world or the virtual. These influences do really influence our judgements, because we let them do. We are scared to decide or take decisions alone, either it’s because we want to blame somebody else for our mistakes or to feel secure that we are not alone in it…. It’s not negative all the time……in a way that’s how it should be, that’s why its a community, but we should always take our time to understand, before getting influenced, get our priority straight and decide how to go about.

When we least expect it, life sets us a challenge to test our courage and willingness to change; at such a moment, there is no point in pretending that nothing has happened or in saying that we are not yet ready. The challenge will not wait. Life does not look back. A week is more than enough time for us to decide whether or not to accept our destiny.... Paulo Coelho…

Like every script, I am stuck in my own one… have no clue which way to take the story, be the same character or get into a new one. I know with so many things happening,  changing and growing around, nature itself is teaching you not to stick with things and be rigid, be prepared to change. Change is not easy, change is challenging and sometimes harsh (I think that’s a strong word to use), but believe me if we gung ho (Chinese expression used to describe ship crews when they would join together to make it through a difficult situation), then its a pot of gold at the other end of the rainbow.

EASY TO SAY!!!! I KNOW!!!!  …..struggle to decide Begins……Hahahaha

Lets forget about the change and cook up something delicious and Shahi, a kind of royalty food which shouldn’t be changed. The recipe is broken down in to few prep steps in the beginning which would finally get clubbed, to make this Shahi dal ghosh (credit to my darling bro)

Shahi Dal Ghosh

 

Ingredients: Serves 6 to 8

Mutton/lamb                    1 ½ lbs (Cut into single serve pieces)

Bottle gourd                      1lbs (cut into decent size cubes)

Onions                                2 (thinly chopped)

Tomato                               1 (chopped into small pieces)

Masoor dal/ red lentils   1 ½ cup

Shah jeera                          1 ½ tsp

Bay leaf                               2 leaves

Cloves                                  6

Cinnamon                           1 ½ inch piece

Cardamom                          5

Ginger garlic paste            1 tsp

Tamarind or lemon           a  lime size or 1 ½ lemon

chilly powder                      1 tsp

Coriander powder              1 ½ tsp

Turmeric                              ¾ tsp

Mint                                       1 ½ tbsp (chopped)

Coriander leaves                  2 tbsp

Green chillies                        3 or less (depends on the spice level)

Salt                                          as per taste

Oil/ ghee                                3 tbsp.

 

Directions:

Preps before starting the actual cooking process:

# Grind green chillies and coriander leaves.

# Soak the Masoor dal/ red lentils

#Soak tamarind

1^st part:

Take a deep dish, heat 2 tbsp oil/ghee.

Add  shah jeera, cloves, cinnamon, cardamom and bay leaves, wait till they sizzle then add the thinly sliced onions. Saute till the onions turn nice golden brown.

Add ginger garlic paste, turmeric, chilly powder, coriander powder and salt. Roast for another minute.

Add Mutton/ lamb to the roasted mixture, add the green chilly and coriander leaves paste as well and mix well and let in cook in open for 2 mins, add a cup of water, cover with the lid and simmer it till it’s almost done.

An easy suggestion: Mutton/Lamb take a longer time to cook than chicken, the cooking process can be cut down to less than half of its time if the above mix is pressure cooked (3 whistles)Always wait till the pressure is all gone before opening the cooker.

2^nd part:

Take another deep dish, heat ½ tbsp ghee/oil, add the cubed lauki/ bottle gourd,  little salt and a pinch of turmeric, sauté it and cover it with a lid, cook till its ¾ done (remember to stir a couple of times) .

Add tomatoes and the soaked masoor dal. Add 3 cups of water, stir and cook with lid on.

Masoor dal/ red lentil takes very less time to cook. Stir a couple of times.

Switch off the stove once the dal is cooked.

3^rd part:

Mix part 1 and part 2 in one of the deep dish which can hold. Switch on the stove and add the tamrind pulp ( mash with hand and squeeze out the pulp ), leave it to boil well, add water if its too thick..STIR  please …

4^th part:

Heat the remaining ghee/oil in a small pan and sauté the cut mint leaves and garnish……..Smells and Tastes divine……………YUMMMMMM