Sweets for living

A peda wala in Mathura, selling pedas for daily living. Peda is a soft milk based sweet, traditionally made with khoya, sugar and flavored spices. The brown ones are pure khoya which have shelf life of 2 weeks and the white ones (covered) have punch of cloves and they last for 2 months. Pedas from Mathura in Uttar Pradesh are the best in North India. 

Sri Krishna Janmbhoomi Temple - Mathura diaries

Day 2: Sri Krishna Janmbhoomi Temple

So what if Mathura has bad roads and a serious traffic problem; that could not dampen my spirits to see the holy town. Mathura, the birthplace of Lord Krishna, holds high significance in the books of History and Mythology, drawing lot of tourists and devotees every day. The first of my three day trip comprised visit to Govardhan Temple, Sri Krishna Janmbhoomi and market hopping.

Read my post on Govardhan Temple here. I utilized the second half of the day in Sri Krishna Janambhoomi Temple. 

The main entrance gate 

Sri Krishna Janambhoomi is the very spot where Lord Krishna was born to Vasudev and Devaki in Kansa’s captivity.  The temple has parts of that historical jail, open for visitors. The huge temple premises is on a raised platform, which you can reach via a long flight of stairs.

                     

 

Heavily guarded by CISF, the temple has a mosque in its close proximity. The main shrine of the temple is dedicated to Lord Krishna. The walls have beautiful paintings depicting the life of Krishna and his various avataars. Everything inside is extravagantly pretty and outstanding. Even the roof walls caught my attention where Krishna Leela was painted in vibrant colors. You can spend time meditating or singing bhajans at the main shrine. The first level of the temple has a prayer hall where the ISKON group sing and dance to Krishna Bhajans. The rhythm of the mridang and manjeera takes you to trans! You end up feeling elated and full of positive energy.

The market within the temple complex boasts of sweets, colourful gifts, idols of God and lovely embroidery work on accessories.

The most interesting and visit worthy place in the temple is the artificial cave that exhibits Krishna Leela at different stages of his life. The dark cave echoes with a combination of sound and light effects to compliment the atmos.

Entry Fees for cave- Rs 5 per person

Tips for first time visitors

-Photography and carrying bags is prohibited inside. Cloak rooms outside the premises charge Rs 2 per item to deposit your bags, cams and mobiles.

-You would be frisked by security personnel twice. You cannot cheat them by hiding your mobile phones in your clothes.

-Though the temple has not mentioned any dress code, it would be wise to dress modestly covering your bare legs at least.

-Footwear is deposited at the shoe stand on ground floor for free.

-Monkeys and dogs are found in large number. Do not bother them, they would not bother you. Do not feed any animal inside.

-Temple opens at 6 am and shuts at 12 noon. Reopens at 4:30 pm till 8:30 pm. Plan your visit accordingly.

Outside the temple, do visit the local market. It turned out to be my best experience here.

Needless to mention, my eternal bond with sweets, brought me here to have the best Peda of North India. 

The little brown sinfully indulgent pedas which melt in mouth make me feel they were made for me. Infact every third shop I saw was named Brijwasi, one of the oldest sweet shop in Mathura. Leveraging the legacy, even the local vendors have renamed their shops to the same. 

Stroll in the market for the best chaat and tikki. We had a plate of golgappa and dahi vada each at Rs 20 from Paras Chaat Bhandar. The gentleman is the most humble vendor I ever met. Do give his stall a try when around Krishna Janambhoomi. 

The best dahi vada plate

Our dinner was from a small eating joint named New Madrasi where we had rawa masala dosa at modest price of Rs 60 each. I ended up complimenting the owner how much I liked the dosa.

Around 8pm, we walked back from Sri Krishna Janambhoomi premises to our hotel (Ganpati Palace), which was less than one kilometer, and the streets had started to bear a deserted look. It is advisable to head back to to your hotel and avoid strolling on roads after 9 pm.  


How to reach Mathura from Delhi- 

By Road:

Mathura and Delhi are 180 km apart. Take Noida Expressway for a smooth uninterrupted journey. The highway is good with thankfully no potholes or repair work.

An alternate route via Palwal is a shorter distance but the journey would be uncomfortable and bumpy due to pathetic road condition.


Trains:
Trains are also available from various stations of Delhi till Mathura Junction and Mathura Cant.
Check the website for trains’ schedule:
http://www.indianrail.gov.in/enquiry/TBIS/TrainBetweenImportantStations.html?locale=en

P.S- This trip of mine was in January 2018.
Also, this post made to the top post on Indiblogger.

The run for Vitamin E

We all have encountered bad health at some point in time among our family members or close ones. And most of the times these are outcome of health negligence on the pretext of ignorance. We clearly don't practice "prevention is better than cure". 

A balanced diet is always recommended for healthy dose of nutrients

Nutritionists and doctors, have always advised intake of balanced meals to compensate the loss of vitamins, minerals and other necessary ingredients required by the body. While calcium, protein and vitamin C or D are highly recommended by experts, there lies the lesser known but equally important Vitamin E. 

Until I started using under eye cream enriched with Vitamin E, I admit my ignorance about the same.
The eye cream helped to reduce puffiness and fine lines around my eyes. It was then I researched about the super benefits of Vitamin E.

Calcium or protein do not work in isolation. They essentially need vitamins and minerals to combine and together they provide goodness to human body. Hence why no food product is taken for a standalone benefit of particular vitamin/mineral. Vitamin E too stands in the same category. It is said to work the best with Vitamin C, as they support each other's antioxidant function and both control immune cell function.

Importance:
Vitamin E is extremely beneficial for hair, skin and eye health. The reason why anti-aging products are high on Vitamin E is that it disables the production of free radicals in tissues and protects cell membranes from oxidative damage. 

When applied to the skin topically, vitamin E can reduce or aging in skin which is usually caused by UV light exposure (Sun) or suppression of immune system. Vitamin E helps increase the production of beneficial compounds in skin.

It also speeds up the skin’s natural repair systems and controls further damage. The antioxidant vitamin is proved to substantially reverse discoloration and wrinkles of skin. To be more precise, Vitamin E helps  to regulate retinol levels, which is essential for healthy skin. It is also key for healthy immune system and healthy eyes. Hence I choose skin creams with retinol. 

My mum loves Anew Reversalist range. The right amount of retinol and patented technology helped smoothe out her wrinkles and fine lines. 

Human body needs Vitamin E to boost immunity. It aids in fighting the invasion of bacteria and viruses. 

Apart from the above  uses, Vitamin E is also used to treat diseases of heart and blood vessels like heart attack, chest pain, high blood pressure and hardening of arteries.

The fat soluble vitamin  is beneficial  in preventing cancer, particularly lung and oral cancer (for smokers) , gastric, prostate, and pancreatic cancer. 

At times Vitamin E is used to lessen the harmful side effects of medical treatments like dialysis (kidney damage) or radiation (cancer). It is also used to reduce the side effects of medicines causing hair loss or lung damage.

Deficiency of Vitamin E: may cause degeneration of retina causing blindness, muscle weakness and impairment of immune response.  

It can also cause your hair to dry, hair fall leading to baldness, weak muscles, a very slow tissue healing, ataxia (identified with loss of full control of bodily movements) and leg cramps ( which I at times experience). 

The down side:
Excess of everything is bad, so is Vitamin E. High doses of Vitamin E causes oxidation which damages cells and may increase the risk of cancer or mortality. Long term high doses of the vitamin leads to nausea, diarrhea or vision deficiencies.  

Sources:
The daily recommended dietary allowance of Vitamin E for adults is 15 mg (22.4 International Units) which we can get from variety of sources.

I was following the age old ritual, inculcated by mom, of consuming soaked almonds each morning. The world knows almonds are a rich source of dietary fiber, calcium and protein. But hardly one is aware of the presence of Vitamin E in good amount. (100 g almonds supply 26.2 mg Vitamin E.)
No wonder why almonds enriched hair oils promise strong and healthy hair.

Pic courtesy- Pixabay

Another high source of Vitamin E is sunflower seeds, 100 g of which contain 35.17 mg of the vitamin. Easily available in the market, add these seeds to your salad, sprouts, sandwich, upma or in your diet mixtures. 

Available the whole year, we all love to have crunchy peanuts. A reservoir of healthy fat and protein, Vitamin E in peanuts constitute 20% of the nutrition value. These little nuts are good for heart health, excellent source of dietary fiber  and folate. 

Talking about other healthy nuts, walnuts comes to our mind essentially because of high presence of manganese, protein, carbs and omega-6. Not only these, walnuts are a great source of Vitamin E too! Research proves, walnuts, compared to other nuts, contain high levels of Vitamin E called gamma-tocopherol which prevent heart diseases, cataract, Parkinson's disease and glaucoma. 

Among all, my favorite has been raisins. While these tiny dry fruits are excellent source of calcium, instant energy and iron, 100 g of raisins also provide 0.12 mg of Vitamin E. Though this is roughly 1% of all nutrition content, it combines with iron for inhibition of blood clot.  

My bowl of good health contains raisins with flax seeds, peanuts, roasted black grams and fox nuts, which is my on-the-go snack of evening or between meals.

Come winters and the market is flooded with leafy greens. Spinach tops the list. Not only spinach is high on iron, vitamin A, K, and calcium but also has traces of Vitamin E, dietary fiber and manganese. Apart from making paalak paneer, I add blanched spinach to all possible dishes. For example blanched spinach to poha or egg besan chilla. (100 g serving of eggs have 7% vitamin E).

For both these dishes, I blanch about a cup of spinach leaves and add to the pan while cooking.  
.  

My version of healthy of poha fortified with spinach and egg

                          

Adding eggs and blanched spinach to chickpea cheela for healthy dose of Vitamin E and iron

Rich in Vitamin C and E, tomatoes not only add tanginess to food but has immense health value. Apart from cooking, you can use tomato directly on skin. The seedy pulp which I do not use in cooking, I rub the same on my face and neck, let it dry for 15 minutes and wash off with cold water. Your skin absorbs the goodness of tomato directly giving a smooth texture and radiance to skin. It has helped me get a glow and rid of acne marks as well. I do this quick tomato facial before party makeup or when I have no time to visit parlor. Just takes 15 minutes and I am done! Yay.

I bank on tomato facial

The source of Vitamin E's list goes on endless with things like Kiwi, Avocado, sunflower oil, canola oil, hazelnuts, turnip, sesame oil and many more.

Apart from the natural sources mentioned above, you can consume vitamin E supplements too. Evion is a pioneer brand for Vitamin E products. With a combination of Vitamin E with aloe vera, #Envion is India's number one selling cream. The brand also supplies supplements in form of capsules and tablets. To know more do visit   http://www.evion.co.in/.

This post is written for the #IndiBlogger campaign #TheABCofVitaminE by #Evion.

2017 reading challenge

                         

              

Though I met the 2017 reading challenge, the books that I read were little disappointing. Starting with James Patterson & Ashwin Sanghi's Private India, it was below average. It was poorly thought of plot that resembled some B grade movie. Where was the research and excitement which usually Ashwin's brings in his novels? Equally disappointing was The Krishna Key. It started on a good note, built the story, characters were strong but got sloppy as the story ended. Climax was dead. Not done Ashwin. I had high hopes from both the books since I adore your work. 

Next disappointment was Binodini which is a product of Gurudev Tagore. I got my hands on the translated version randomly in a bookstore at a metro station. Oh boy, this was the most irritating book that I read. With due respect to Tagore, the Bengali version I am sure would be good, since it won several accolades. I guess the essence was lost in translation. Binodini was poorly translated which least captivated. Widow-remarriage, plight of a married lady, extra marital affair, a devastated mother, friendship, romance and all emotions fell apart with an extremely bad translation.

                                  

                   

The books which held me till the end were The Lowland and The Sialkot Saga, not because they are my favourite authors but because the books had the essence of what the authors are good at. Tugging at emotions (Jhumpa Lahiri) and well-paced plot backed by superb research (Ashwin Sanghi) made the books to my top list of reads in 2017. While The Lowland was about two brothers one of whom chose to be a Naxalite, leaving his pregnant wife alone to the mercy of the cruel world. The elder brother comes to her rescue and marries her, against his parents' wish. The plot moves to Rhode Island is the U.S where they live as a married couple but never attached to each other. Desolate, hopelessly in love and complicated relationships- Jhumpa excels at writing on these. 

The Sialkot Saga is a story woven pre-partition where two young boys separated in communal clash, are adopted by different families and grow up to be professional rivals to each other. Characters in different states of the country, imparts the feel of two different stories being narrated simultaneously until destiny brings them face to face for a never ending battle. This book is typical of Ashwin's style which I thoroughly loved.  

Preeti Shenoy's Life is What You Make It got  the 3rd place in my "good reads". A very good story indeed. I was impressed by the way Shenoy researched, brought in the angle of teen age love, career ambitions, clinical depression and seamlessly added conviction to the story. The characters seem real and every young person would be able to connect to this book. I want to read more of Shenoy’s work now.

Terminal Love was an experiment. New author Vicky Arora tried touching upon the unusual story of gay love. The plot was well-thought of, but lacked expression. The story has the power to make you cry in the end, but this is one of the books which does not leave you "feeling good". Depressing climax but a good attempt at first novel. It takes guts to write on a bold topic and Arora partially succeeded. Only the plot needed to be a little stronger.

Potpourri by Ruskin Bond is a collection of short stories and each story left me with a smile on my face. I guess that's emblematic of an incredible author. Stories are of different genres and give moral learning too. Short and sweet.

John Grisham's The Client has a unique plot but do not expect more than court room spectacle and lawyer turning into detective. The all's-well-that-ends-well plot has plenty of drama, action, violence and of course law theories. This book as better than his The Testament.

Iron Rich Poha Beetroot Cutlet

A woman's body is prone to iron  & calcium deficiency which lead to serious health hazards later. Iron deficiency, especially after child birth, complicates lot of things. Failing to compensate the low levels may lead to hair fall, brittle nails, fatigue, paleness in skin and much more. Anemic women face trouble in keeping energy levels intact which adversely effects their social, economic status. Why wait for the consequence to take a toll when little changes in food habits can do the job? In association with livogen.in, here is an attempt to create iron rich recipes for women and help fight anemia. 

I love having poha for breakfast and keep giving twists to it for interesting recipes. Hereby, presenting tikki or cutlets made with poha, beetroot and potatoes.

Health goodness
Beaten rice or rice flakes, also called poha is a rich source of iron. Every 100 grams of raw rice flakes has 20 milligrams of iron besides a good value of carbs and minerals. Experts suggest that regular consumption of flattened rice can prevent iron deficiency and form hemoglobin that carries oxygen to blood cells. Beetroots are also iron rich and proven extremely beneficial in case of anemia or low hemoglobin.. 

                          

 

Ingredients

1. Poha- 2 cups
2. Potatoes- 3-4
3. Beetroot-1 medium size 
4. Salt to taste 
5. Green chili- Optional- 1-2
6. Black pepper- Half tea spoon 
7. Coriander powder- 1 teaspoon
8. Cooking oil- 3-4 tablespoons

Method

1. Soak poha in water for 10 minutes. Drain water. Keep aside. Make sure all water is drained out from poha. 
2. Boil  potatoes. Peel and mash them. 
3. Peel and grate beetroot. Keep aside. 
4. In a large bowl mix the mashed potatoes, soaked poha and grated beetroot. Bind them together to make dough. Add salt as per taste. Mix black pepper and coriander powder. Churn the dough well. 
5. Make little round shapes from the dough, pressing them gently to flatten them. 
6. In a pan, heat oil and shallow fry the cutlets. 
7. Flip and fry till the pink tikkis turn brownish on both sides.

Tip: Flame should be kept low to medium. Potatoes give cutlets a binding texture and body. Do not over-boil potatoes. Since beetroot is used raw in the dough, it will give crunchiness to cutlet. You can add onions to the tikkis if you like. I wanted to keep it quick and simple, hence skipped it.

For more iron rich recipes visit http://www.livogen.in/iron-chef

Chickpea spinach egg spread

Come winter and the market gets flooded with green veggies. Spinach suddenly rules the Indian kitchens. But who really wants to eat palak saag or palak paneer every day? So, I put on my thinking cap and dished out chickpea spinach & egg spread for a winter morning. Keeping the fact in mind that iron is one of the most important elements for women's body, Livogen.in's iron chef inspires me to make an innovative recipe fortified with iron. 

Health goodness 

100 g of besan or gram flour contains 34 iron, 68% dietary fiber and good amount of vitamins. Spinach is undoubtedly a rich source of iron, magnesium, dietary fiber and zinc while egg stands out with iron, protein and Vitamin D. 

Ingredients

Spinach leaves- One small cup
Besan or chickpea powder- 3 small cups
Eggs- 3-4
Onion- 1 big, fine chopped
Tomato- 1 big, fine chopped
Green chilies- 2, fine chopped
Salt to taste
Black pepper- 1/2 tea spoon
Cooking oil- 3-4 Tablespoons
Coconut milk (Optional)- half cup

Method

Preparation 

1. Blanch (not boil) spinach in less water. Since boiling destroys the nutritional content of spinach and the water drained goes a waste. Hence blanch in very less water till spinach turns soft.
2. Mash the blanched leaves.
3. Sieve besan/chickpea powder in a large bowl, ensuring no lumps are formed. Add little water.
4. Break eggs and whisk with besan smoothly.
5. Add chopped onions, tomato, green chilli, pepper, salt, and mashed spinach in the egg-besan mixture. Whisk well.
6. If the mixture turns thick, you can add little water or coconut milk for flowy consistency.

Cooking

1. Heat oil in a flat pan. Pour the mixture. Spread it evenly and let it cook for 2 minutes. 
2. Cover the pan for a minute, allowing the egg to cook.
3. Flip side and cook till both sides turn light brown.
4. Serve hot with mint chutney or ketchup.
5. Team it with hot tea or coffee for a filling healthy breakfast

Tip: Make sure the pan is on low flame. Use non-stick cook ware to avoid sticking of cheela and allowing smooth flipping.

For more iron rich recipes visit http://www.livogen.in/iron-chef

Atmos for royal atmosphere, literally!

The rising levels of pollution and resulting climate changes have been prime concerns for all since long. India wasn’t behind in the race towards contributing to the level of daily poison. And then the controversial Odd Even happened (in Delhi) to combat pollution.

As conscious citizens, husband and I took careful measures to minimize pollution, because every contribution matters. Husband humbly drove his CNG fitted car to cut down air pollution and I planted saplings in my residential colony to improve air quality.  During Diwali we refrained from crackers and discouraged others as well. In spite of being proactive and aware with outdoor pollution, we could not escape the negatives while indoors. And the reason was our ignorance for indoor pollution which is 5 times as much the outside effluence. As the realization dawned upon us, we scratched our grey matter figuring out how to fight indoor pollution:

The scratching of grey matter further polluted the indoor air but cleared our rational. We immediately bought snake plants which are known to clean indoor pollution commendably. This is one of the plants that releases oxygen at night and filters all toxin from air. Ah! We felt our mission was accomplished. We proudly owned and placed this plant in every room of the house. Several other indoor plants help control pollution, besides emitting positive energy and decorating the place naturally. Go for happy greens J

And then my mind raced to the scented sticks which my mother in law lit up for pooja every day. “Don’t they cause pollution?” I asked myself. Several researches have proved the toxic effect of agarbattis and scented sticks. But who bells the cat, was the question. How dare would I challenge the religious beliefs of my own mom in law. I faked headaches and gradually shifted the agarbatti holder outdoors under the holy basil tree. Though I added toxin to outdoor air, atleast the indoor air would be clean, and I patted my back.

Did you know your footwear also bring in dust and trash indoors? Besides the negative energy ofcourse.  Hence many Indian families practice leaving footwear outside their house to avoid bringing in dust and pollutants. You can call me superstitious, but I leave footwear outside my bedroom. I do this to ensure the room is clean sans dust and negative energy. (I am talking too much on energy. No it causes no pollution but does impact the vibes of the air, if you believe in it)

To keep indoor air clean, people have retorted to air-purifiers. Though I find these puny and over hyped, I may want to give it a try. Who knows it might as well just work.

Ignorance is bliss, but not always. It’s not good to ignore your ceiling fan and carpet that lie neglected, collecting dust since eternity. It is advisable to clean these un-noticed assets at-least once a month, if not weekly. Invisible dust in your carpet and the thin layer of grime on the fan easily makes way to your nasal passage and even contaminates your food. Let the mattress, pillows and doormats soak some sunlight so that they remain free of moisture and germs. Now you see that Vitamin D is not only good for us but for home too :-) 

Often unnoticed and under-estimated, the LPG gas in kitchen or freshly painted furniture also releases toxins in the air, strong enough to trigger migraine or breathing trouble. The best possible solution is to check the cylinders for leakage and use paints less toxic pollutants or VOC content. Chemicals in paint have been found to react with forming smog that triggers respiratory disorders. So much for beauty of our homes!

Last but not the least; we can paint our homes with Asian Paint Royale Atmos. Didn’t see Deepika Padukone swear by Royale Paints? Take a look here-

Precisely, Royale Atmos is a paint that reduces harmful air pollutants and makes the air cleaner. The activated carbon technology absorbs various foul smells & makes the air fresher. Thus, for the first time, Asian Paints presents a paint that not only looks good, but also helps purify air and improve the air quality inside your home. You can even wash your walls before the autumn cleansing ritual without spoiling the paint. Certainly gets brownie points for wash-ability and durability. 

What’s better than purifying your home in the colors of your own choice! Let’s make a pure choice for clean, fresh and pure indoor air.  Let’s make it happen with #RoyaleAtmos. Visit https://www.asianpaints.com/atmos for cleaner details.


Picture credits- Free images from Pixabay