Easiest Pasta Of All Time.

You guys. I posted a pasta recipe waayyyy back and I have been experimenting a lot with other recipes a lot lately. The recipe I will show you today is basically the easiest recipe I have ever devised. The pasta turns out creamy, tomatoey and delicious to say the very least, so yeah, I'm going to stop yapping, so, you can go ahead and read up the recipe.

Ingredients: 

1.100 grams (uncooked measure) of cooked pasta;

2. 1/2 cup of tomato puree;

3. 1/4 cup oat or regular milk;

4. 1/4 cup water;

5. 1 teaspoon oregano;

6. 1/2 teaspoon chilli flakes (optional);

7. Salt to taste;

8. 2 cloves of garlic.

Procedure:

1. Roast garlic in pan until fragrant;

2. Add in tomato puree, water, oregano, chilli flakes and salt;

3. Let cook on medium high heat for five minutes or until the mixture is halved;

4. Turn the heat to medium low;

5. Add in milk and let cook for three minutes;

6. Add in pasta and let cook for five minutes;

7. Optional is adding in roasted bread crumbs for crunch.

I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I enjoyed creating it. Until next time!

Basil-Mint Lemonade.

SUMMER IS HERE! Well, its been here for a while but I'm still screaming because it's not over yet. Now, if you know me, you know that I am always looking forward to summers, regardless, the time of the year and to be honest I'm not ashamed of it. I look forward to summer because I love staying indoors on hot days sipping on a drink. I don't know about you but the reason I stay in is because I live in a very humid city and getting out during the day in the month of June is nearly impossible, so, I curl up with a book and a lemonade waiting for the sun to set. That being said, I'm here to share my favourite lemonade recipe, the one I sip quite often.
Keep in mind that this recipe yields one serving, so, double, quadruple, if needed.

Basil-Mint Lemonade:

Recipe:

1. 5 basil leaves ( I used Thai Sweet Basil);

2. 10 mint leaves;

3. 1.5 cups or 355ml of cold water;

4. 3 tablespoons ground up sugar;

5. 3 tablespoons worth lemon juice.

Procedure:

1. In a food processor, add in: basil leaves, mint leaves, sugar, lemon juice;

2. Blend until cooperated;

3. Pour out in a glass of choice and add in the water;

4, Add ice if needed.

I hope you love the recipe and find it soothing in this heat, until next time!

Un-boxing of the Borosil Primus Juicer+ Two of my favourite juice recipes+ Review of said juicer.

There are only a few things in life I'll admit to, one of them being my ignorance towards the usage of a juicer. If and when I needed juice, I could go out and buy myself a pack of pre-made juice and that would be that folks.

Last month or so, I was walking around the mall with a friend of mine, you know, just Saturday afternoon window shopping, since we were bored out of our minds, we visited an electronic appliance shop and almost everything there was on sale, my friend pointed me towards the direction of a juicer which was 50% off but I neglected it and went on ahead. I’ve had my share of second thoughts on that very hasty decision.

So, when Borosil sent over this juicer for reviewing, I was like, “Ya, Okay, let’s see what’s all this about.”

After several minutes of thinking, I realized that a juicer is a useful kitchen asset and saves you those valuable minutes of above thinking. My kitchen is my sanctuary and almost every day, something delicious is created there. I am a huge fan of juice and this juicer came as a huge blessing. Fresh juice is better than packed juice because:

1.       It is free of preservatives and unnecessary sugar;

2.       It is fresh.

My mother wasn’t particularly happy about the juicer because, “saaf kaun karega?” (who’ll clean it?)

 Un-Boxing.

Now, unboxing the juicer was a breeze. The juicer was boxed perfectly and everything was intact, the juicer was pre-arranged to save your life and the instruction manual was as simple as it could be. The juicer, like any standard one, had a pulp collector, juice collector, food pusher, stainless steel micro-mesh strainer basket, feed chute, locking latch and a switch.

 Recipes.

Recipe: 1

I love green juice, probably any juice that contains green vegetables with fruit because then I’d have my nutrition and not have to put gross flavours into my mouth.

My first recipe is “detox and strength”. 

Juicing this recipe was a breeze, I just put all my ingredients into the juicer and dialled my dial to setting no.2 for I had apples in the system and juicing them would require more power. Now, when you’re making this recipe, be sure to layer the ingredients instead of just putting one ingredient after another, this way, you’re letting the flavours meet each other in harmony. Also, with this recipe, you have to juice the ingredients in two rounds because there’s only so much a juicer can take.

Ingredients:

     1 cup spinach;

          2 apples, roughly chopped;

        2 clementine oranges

       Now, just juice on setting no.2 and enjoy your delicious and nutritious juice.

Recipe: 2

I love orange, the colour and the fruit. Honestly, orange compliments all flavours; be it salad or chocolate but we aren’t talking about that today. Today, I’ll be sharing my recipe for a juice that’ll rejuvenate your soul.

-

My second recipe is “Rehabilitation.”

Ingredients:

1.       1 cup chopped carrots;

2.       2 clementine oranges;

3.       A dash of ginger;

4.       Juice of one lemon

Again, layer the ingredients up and this recipe also requires two rounds.

Juice it on setting no. 2 and blend that rehab of a juice up.

Verdict.

The juicer stands by its promise and gives you fresh juice under a minute. The juicer is easy to use and novices need not crack their brain open; the settings and instructions are clear.

While Juicing my second recipe, the sound made be the juicer sounded a lot like the audio derivation from Jurassic park but it was acceptable for it had to juice up a hard cup of carrots.

All in all, I loved this juicer; it is easy to deconstruct, clean and juice.

Shireen Review; 7/10.

Recommend it!

KOLKATA LIVING.

Hey guys, since, you know I turned my blog from just a food blog to a travel/lifestyle/food blog, you can see it all over my instagram, go follow me there, username: pompouscrap, I thought of posting my first lifestyle blog which is, of course, going to be about my hometown A.K.A Kolkata, Did you know that Kolkata used to be the capital of India during British rule? My city has an undeniable charm which attracts everyone towards itself, sure it’s not as developed as other metropolitans but this place never fails to surprise its visitors.

If you’re about to visit Calcutta, yes I like its old name better than its new one, here’s a traveller’s guide to a Calcuttan’s life (or my life):

 1.       Have you ever seen a Punjabi family run a South Indian food corner, yes, you can find one in Kolkata, this actually shows how diverse Calcutta is, or even, how diverse India is, not only is this place unique for its origins but also for its food, I swear by every dosa I’ve ever eaten that this is the best of it all. I don’t remember their address but all you need to do is go to ganeshtalkies, jorabagan and ask anyone about the best dosas in that area and they’ll point you to this South Indian food corner. Thank you uncle for the best South Indian food :3 YOU NEED TO VISIT THIS PLACE.

1.    2.   What comes first to your mind when you hear “A hole in the wall”? To me, this place called Kapila Ashram, it’s a hole in the wall which serves one of the best fruit cakes of Calcutta during the winter season and the best sherbets during the summer season. I highly recommend the “abar khabo” sherbet. Address: 204/2, Bidhan Sarani, Machuabazar, Kolkata: 700006

1.   3.    Buy fruits from the roadside because it is cheap and has more variety than any convenience store

Ride the tram because if you don’t then shame on you.

1.     5.  Eat puchka from the roadside vendors, I don’t know if it’s healthy much but it’s definitely delicious much and also, they make my eyes water and make me doubt my decision to leave Calcutta for college AND, IT’S NOT PANI PURI OR GOLGAPPA, IT IS PUCHKA, ROLL WITH IT.

That’s not it, let’s just call this part 1 of Calcutta living, part 2 will surface soon.

Email address for inquiries: shireengupta101@gmail.com.

Till then :)

ALLAHABAD.

Hey guys, how are you all? I know, it’s been weeks since I last posted, I’m really sorry for that but I was making major decisions for this blog, so, this is officially a Lifestyle, travelling and food blog. So yaay!

This first blog after WEEEkKKSS, is travel related. Hands up if you love travelling, would do it even if you had to put up in a dingy motel, not tourist around, won’t go on a itinerary tour, won’t follow a map and do what the locals do because that is what I’d do. I love travelling and even the cons it offers. So, you might not know this but my aunt lives in a city named Allahabad which belongs to the state of Uttar Pradesh. I spent my summer vacation there this time, huehuehue. I’m a Kolkata girl, born and raised in a metropolitan, small towns just don’t speak to me much, it also doesn’t help that I live smack in the middle of the city and I love noise, it helps me sleep, *le Shireen Gupta trying to be deep* but seriously I hate silence, I thought of Allahabad to be one of those ghost towns but I was a tad bit surprised. You might just go ahead and call me condescending but I think lowly of towns and I had the same idea for Allahabad but it was amazing to be honest.

Here’s a list of do’s and don’ts for all ya wanderlusts out there :3

DO’S:

Places to visit:

To be very very very honest, until and unless you are a religious person, I don’t think you’ll like to tourist out.

Now, the real deal, the underrated places you must visit. :

1.        There’s this apparent haunted house which used to be a factory and where around four murders took place, I don’t know the exact address but what I can tell you is that there’s a famous tank near a hanuman temple and a lane right beside it, go straight and take the first left and you’ll find a wall which has the word “disputed” written all over it, across the wall is a small house like building. Yup, that is your destination. Here’s a picture, ain’t it spooky? (BTW, you can’t go inside the house ‘cause it is disputed)

1.      2. Another haunted house, guess who’s a freak, this girl. This house is more abandoned than haunted, we went inside and all but we didn’t see or feel anything, it does have animal bones lying around but nothing scary really,oh and if you do enter this house, please go up to the terrace, the view is breathtaking. Address: Ashok Nagar, military cantonment, “Bhut Bangla”

2.    3.   If you visit Allahabad and don’t visit El Chico then God wouldn’t forgive. THE FOOD, THE GODDAMN FOOD IS HEAVENLY. Go ahead, be jelly.

Address: 24, Mahatma Gandhi Marg, Civil Lines, Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh: 211001.

Phone no. 05322427696

DON’Ts:

1.   1.    Don’t visit Khusro Bagh until and unless you are a couple who likes meeting in secret yet publicly.

22. DON’T GO ANYWHERE FROM 12:00 P.M. to 5:00 DURING THE SUMMER IF YOU DON’T WANT TO BE BURNED TO DEATH.

Best season to visit:

Autumn, autumn in Allahabad is to die for.

Things to try:

THE CHAAT, if it were up to me, every meal of mine would consist of chaat.

Oh, if you’re in luck, you’ll experience summer rain in Allahabad which is the best thing ever.

So, yeah, that’s about it I guess!