Easy Chicken Chili Gravy Recipe

This has to be one of the best protein packed Chinese savoury dishes. Very simple to prepare, impossible to mess with, follow below recipe to obtain soft juicy tender chicken pieces dipped in yummy gravy without ajinomoto!  When guests arrive or whenever you crave for Chinese, this recipe will definitely steal the show.

Turned out super delicious!

Preparation Time:  10mins

Cooking Time: 20mins

Ingredients:

Boneless fresh chicken pieces – 400 gms

All purpose flour(maida) – 3 tablespoon

Corn flour – 1 tablespoon

Eggs – 1 nos.

For gravy:

Soya Sauce – ½ cup

Tomato Sauce – 1 cup

Capsicum – 1 medium size

Onion – 2 medium size

Spring onion – For garnish

1 finely chopped Garlic

½ grated Ginger

4 to 5 Green vertically slit Chilies

Salt to taste

Oil for frying

Method:

1)    Wash the boneless skin pieces properly and drain excess water. Add maida, corn flour and egg to chicken, mix well and keep aside for 5 minutes. The chicken should be properly coated and should appear consistent as shown in picture below.

2) Chop capsicum and onion into medium pieces.

3)    Heat oil in pan. Fry the chicken pieces turning both sides on high flame for 3 minutes overall or till golden brown.

4) Strain some of the oil and use remaining to prepare gravy. Add ginger, garlic and chilies.

5) Add onions and capsicum and cook till onions become translucent on medium heat.

6) Mix soya sauce, tomato sauce to above and cook for a minute more. Change consistency of gravy as per your choice by increasing/decreasing quantity of tomato and soya sauce.

7)  Add chicken pieces and cook for 5 minutes on medium heat. Add salt accordingly. Finally garnish with spring onion.

 Chicken Chili gravy is ready to be served. Enjoy with noodles or as I do with chappatis!

Chambor OROSA Blue Defining 10H Eyeliner Pencil Review

Writing product reviews has always been in my subconscious mind and reviewing an eye pencil seemed like perfect option to start with. After my stint with eyeliners for ages, I believe  eye pencils work best as an eyeliner for generic use ( as liquid liners look best for glam functions). 

My fetish for blue eyeliner brought me to a busy mall on a sunny day. With endless brands to choose from, I stumbled on the Chambor counter in Pantaloons to try out my luck. I do have a penchant for Chambor lipsticks but took a leap of faith for the eye product here. Ended up buying Chambor OROSA ‘Defining 10H Eyeliner Pencil’ in Blue colour.

Ups:

• Two way easy twist up eyeliner.
• Rich striking navy blue colour.
• Smudge free and doesn’t smear or fade.
• Waterproof and can be used on waterline.
• Dermatologically and Opthalmologically tested.

Downs:

• High Price: Rs.745

My Verdict:

I liked the packaging which is handy has a twist-up plastic body pencil with cap and is very easy to carry. The liner after application stayed on not only for a day but until next day when I slept without removing it off.  It didn't irritate my eyes and is totally waterproof. Single stroke is enough but two or more will highlight the upper eyes, lower eyes and also the waterline prominently. Although the price is little on a higher end but the long lasting smudge-free effect gives an edge to it. 

Under low light

Under Fluorescent light

Soon will also review blue eyeliner from Chambor Dazzle Range which is bit cheaper than OROSA. But I do recommend buying this but will definitely grab other options from the OROSA range. After all a new mom with sleepless nights and puffy eyes needs good eye make-up products in her bag ☺

Crispy Chicken Cheese Fritters

Monsoon arrives and my taste buds demand hot fritters (pakodas) in the breezy windy green weather. Being a chicken lover, I always prefer chicken cheese fritters over the basic onion ones.

Following recipe yields fritters with juicy tender chicken pieces engulfed in cheesy crispy crusty coating. Add more ingredients  as per your palate.

Chicken Fritters

Preparation Time:  30mins

Cooking Time: 10mins

Ingredients:

Boneless chicken pieces – 250 gms

All purpose flour(maida) – 1 cup

Corn flour - 1/4^th cup

Eggs – 2 nos.

Water – 1 cup 

Red chili flakes - 2 tablespoon

Mayonnaise or any cheese spread – 2 tablespoon

Bread ­- 3 pieces

Grated cheese - 1 cup

Water - 1 cup

Salt to taste

Oil for frying

Ingredients

Method:

1) Wash the boneless chicken properly and cut into very small pieces.

2) Toast breads for a minute and make bread crumbs in a grinder. Keep it aside.

Bread Crumbs

3) In a bowl mix all ingredients very well  (maida, corn flour, eggs, chili flakes, cheese spread, grated cheese, salt and water).

Mix everything

4) Take boneless chicken pieces and mix in above mixture.

After adding chicken pieces

5) Marinate in fridge for 20mins so that it is easier to form balls and pieces are juicy as well.

6) Take it out after 20minutes and make small balls. Dip in bread crumbs.

7) Take a deep frying pan and put enough oil for frying. Once the oil is hot, add the chicken balls and deep fry on sim for 4 to 5 mins or till golden brown and cooked thoroughly.

8) Remove these on a tissue paper. Fry remaining fritters as well.

Crispy chicken cheese fritters are ready. Relish these with any green chutney or directly with ketchup and cheese sauce.

Fritters with Mango Chutney

Quick and Easy Mango Ice-Cream

Summer welcomes the ‘King of Fruits’ Mango! Every nook and corner of the house will have sweet aroma of fresh mangoes. The varieties are endless and so are the savoury and sweet recipes prepared out of this tropical fruit.

Mango Ice-cream is one such dessert that steals the limelight during the hot weather. After going through lots of recipes, I found the quickest one on Sailusfood.com. Tweaked a bit to make it more easy. So lets get started. 

Prep Time: 10mins  
Cooking Time: 8hours

Ingredients:

Fresh Mangoes - 2 nos. medium size

Fresh cream- 400 ml, chilled

Milk powder- 3/4 cup

Sugar- According to taste.

Method:

1) Freeze the empty container in which  you want to store the ice cream for 30 mins in the freezer.
2) Peel off the mango skin and squeeze the pulp out.

3) Blend the pulp, fresh cream and sugar together.

4) Once the fluffy mixture is obtained, pour this into the chilled container and place a plastic wrap/cling-film over it. Freeze for 3 hours.

5) After 3 hours, remove the container from the freezer and put everything in a bowl.

6) Now add milk powder to this mixture and beat till smooth. 

7) Place the blended mixture into the container, cover with plastic wrap/cling-film  and freeze overnight for at least 8 hours.

Mango Icecream - Perfect Retreat

Rich creamy ice-cream is ready to be served.

Tips:

• Cling-film will act as insulator which then renders softness to ice-cream. Alternatively one can use aluminium foil to cover. 
• Add milk powder after 3 hours and then beat again to avoid ice-crystal formation. 

30 Days Weight Loss Challenge

When time constraint affects your schedule and you are as busy as a beaver but you still want to lose weight, 

When you want to shed off extra pounds gained during festivals,

When you want a beach body for summer or

When you want to look slim for a wedding function,

No Fad Diets and no gym equipments required,

Just follow the '30 days Diet and Exercise Challenge' to be in shape once again!

* Do weigh yourself on Day 1 and weigh yourself on Day 30.

Diet:

1) Avoid sugar for 30 days (though I know you can't, prove me wrong here).

2) Drink black coffee or green tea twice a day,once early morning and another in evening, ideally at least half hour before the workout(or just have normal tea,coffee with very less sugar).

3) Macros are important but cut down on fattening carbohydrates like white potato and rice completely for 30 days.

4) Eliminate junk food like pizza ,burgers and sodas.

5) Eat a guilt free fruit per day like apples, avocados, oranges, melons or papaya(Thank me if your skin glows).

6) Use very less oil for cooking, preferably use olive oil.

7) Drink at least 3 to 4 litres of water per day. 

8) Eat everything else but as small frequent meals.

     

     

Exercise: (Do it only if you are comfortable and please read disclaimer at end of this post)

1) Monday, Wednesday, Friday: 3 sets of Basic Squats (1 set=15reps), 2 sets of Jump Squats (1 set=15reps), 2 sets of Lunges (1 set=20 rep one side).
2) Tuesday, Sunday: 60 Jumping Jacks, 60secs Planks, 20 Pushups, 50 Side Leg Raise (25 each side).
3) Saturday can be the rest day. You can choose rest day as per your wish and switch one   workout day.
You can start with less count of workout and take more days off if body aches.

Note: 

Measure your weight before starting the challenge.

Above workout is not for people suffering from blood pressure or any other health issue.
          

Disclaimer:
Post Delivery do not start any workout without consulting your doctor. For normal delivery at least 2 months gap should be there and for c-section,maybe 6 months gap before you begin any workout. Please consult your doctor. Writer is not responsible for any health problem caused from above workout.

Pregnancy Myth Busters

Numerous pregnancy myths still prevail in India turning the beautiful and careful nine months into a bewildered and dreadful phase of life. Every morsel of food intake and each breath inhaled is judged upon and thousands of  irrational guidelines pour in from everywhere. To have a peaceful pregnancy, experts recommended that every pregnant woman should stay logical, positive, happy and should only follow the doctor's advice. Chuck down  the myths and enjoy the pregnancy phase. 

Difficult to pen down all myths but the most common ones are listed below:

Myth#1: Consuming ghee (clarified butter) aids in normal delivery

Fact: Had it been the case, ghee would have surpassed gold's price. Ghee doesn't help to smooth uterus lining. Ghee is purely fat. A teaspoon of ghee per day if ever consumed is more than enough. Also, there is no scientific proof that ghee helps to ease pain of joints. Many pregnant ladies who consume ghee still have backache and joint pains. So please use ghee sparingly in your food. Excess ghee will only cause discomfort, difficult labour and obesity. From my experience, I never had ghee but still had normal delivery with just two hours of intense labour pain.[1]

Myth#2: Avoid cheese

Fact: When the raging pregnancy hormones demand a slice of pizza but the mind stays in dilemma as pizza has the cheese topping, well good news, one can have pizza and definitely cheese. In fact, if it suits the digestive system, one can have cheddar and cottage cheese(paneer) as these considered good source of protein. 

Only soft cheese, blue cheese and goat’s cheese are harmful as they have listeria bacteria which can cause miscarriage. So for cheese lovers, do not experiment new ones during pregnancy. [2]

Myth#3: Do not eat non-vegetarian food

Fact: Non-vegetarian food is very good source of protein.

One can definitely have eggs, chicken, mutton and fish (with exception of few fishes and seafood). Everything should be freshly prepared and should not be contaminated or stale as stomach becomes very sensitive during pregnancy for some.

Myth#4: Avoid panipuris, chat and other outside food

Fact: Definitely avoid food from filthy roadside stalls.  Messing with digestive system during pregnancy may have harmful effect on baby. Always advisable to prepare at home.Buy the puri/golgappe pack and prepare everything at home. There are readily available panipuri masala and panipuri packs by haldiram.

Myth#5: No Pineapple and Raw Papayas:

Fact: I never had papaya or pineapple during pregnancy. 

Pineapple: It has Bromelain, a type of proteolytic enzyme that helps to soften the cervix which eases the labour. Well I had pineapple and pineapple juice in large quantity in nineth month to induce labour and I was in labour after few days. So maybe true.

Raw Papaya: Unripe Papaya is not considered safe as it had latex which triggers uterine contractions and prepares body for delivery. 

One can have ripe papaya and pineapple in moderation but I believe it's better to avoid pineapple and papaya for nine months.

Myth#6:Caffeine causes deformation:

Fact: High amount of caffeine can cross placenta and may cause harm to baby. Caffeine can be found in coffee, tea and cold drinks mainly. But a cup of coffee per day should be ok.

Pregnant women should have no more than 200mg of caffeine a day. This is equal to about 2 cups of instant coffee or 4 cups of tea or 5 cans of cola per day. So do make sure you are consuming way less than 200mg caffeine per day.[3]

Myth#7: Stay away from WiFi:

Fact: Many women stay away from WiFi assuming radiations are harmful for foetus. Radiations are everywhere.I did use WiFi and so has many pregnant moms. No study has proved this myth so far. One can try to minimize but completely stopping it makes no sense.

Myth#8: Baby kicks every 2 hours:

Fact: Some babies kick a lot, some rarely kick. Do not panic if your baby doesn't kick a lot. Try and observe the pattern. There can be minor deviation but some movement should always be there like light flutters, hiccups or kicks. For any deviation, the movements can be traced by consuming something cold or sweet and lying down.

Myth#9: Consuming coconut water or saffron milk to have fair babies:

Fact: This myth tops my hate-list. No amount of any food will help you have a fair baby. Only genes decide your baby’s colour. Nothing can change the Mother Nature's will.

There are lots of myths surrounding gender of baby. Will have another blog for it! 
Put more myth busters in comments. For now, hope the above pointers puts the mind at ease. Stay Healthy,Stay Happy!

References:
[1] http://www.momjunction.com/articles/safe-eat-ghee-pregnancy_0015804/
[2] http://www.babycentre.co.uk/x3175/is-it-safe-to-eat-cheese-during-pregnancy
[3] http://americanpregnancy.org/pregnancy-health/caffeine-during-pregnancy/

Fitness hacks for busy moms

Whenever I pester my friends for workout, every single time a common response is slammed on my face 'Want to lose weight, definitely want to look good but have no time for workout'.

Though I know it’s not easy to juggle work, family, household chores, cooking and workout but  once you start with 20 minutes exercise program and once you start losing weight, trust me your confidence will be boosted drastically. 

Below are the fitness hacks for moms who think they don’t get time for workout-

Exercise Hacks (just 15-20mins a day):

• Walk as much as you can and take stairs whenever possible.
• Steal time from your sleep, do squats, lunges, pushups or any workout that suits you. 
• Hold your baby very carefully in your arms and do squats. Also you can form many workouts which can be done along with taking care of baby.
• Never complain about your busy life, job, baby, family, household chores. If you have time to surf internet, scroll through facebook and watsapp, you definitely have 15-20 minutes for exercise as well. :)
• Exercise stimulates proper blood circulation that will curb pain in long run. So be active.

Diet Hacks:

• Eat in moderation an eat healthy. Please don’t link depression with food. If you stop emotional binging, trust me you will lose very easily.
• If body ache and tiredness is preventing you from exercising then eat right. Consume green vegetables,fruits, milk and other dairy sources, nuts,eggs, meat and fish.
• Last but not the least drink lots of water about 4 to 5 litres per day.  

Read below lines somewhere and totally love it: 
'Take care of your body. It's the only place you have to live in forever.'

Fair Complexion Obsession in India

The other day as I was scrolling down on an app, one post caught my attention. Someone had posted their baby’s photo and it was bombed with numerous likes and comments, the reason being baby’s skin colour. He looked extremely fair and every pregnant lady expressed their desire to have one. Compliments were followed by questions about mother’s diet.
Yes, such is an obsession for fair complexion in India. One would have coconut water, kesar (saffron)milk, something white for breakfast during pregnancy just to have fair babies and would blindly follow all the myths. Once blessed with healthy baby people still brood over complexion and end up rubbing baby’s sensitive skin with milk ubtan (pack) and other homemade packs. Poor babies! How hard it is to understand one can’t change baby’s complexion by consuming specific food or by applying the homemade packs on baby’s sensitive skin. Get the fact right ladies, skin colour is always genetic, always!

Since when has complexion played a major role in personality development?

No offence but the superstar Hrithik Roshan is not fair like Neil Nitin Mukesh. Also the lead Bollywood babes in tinsel town are blessed with caramel complexion. Are they not epitome of beauty and success?
I don’t want to get more distressed so just ending here with my small poem:

I wish our society accepts everyone the way they are
I wish everyone stays confident with their natural complexion

I wish our future generation do not care about colour, caste or creed
And it’s high time, I wish everyone accepts the notion ‘Beauty is Skin Deep’

Post Pregnancy Workout for Effective Weight Lose

It's every mom's dream to be back to pre-pregnancy shape if possible. Lucky are those who hardly put on weight during pregnancy, for rest of us only stringent body workout will help to get rid of the accumulated baby fat. 
For me, I started with below simple workout and have gradually increased the sets. Since every person has tendency to put on fat at different body part, it is always wise to choose specific workout to suit your body.
Though spot reduction is not possible but is it not beneficial to start with exercises targeting specific parts?

I get messages from many ladies enquiring about squats or planks. So I am putting everything below in layman terms so that any new person will understand (Picture courtesy:Google images, hoping to put down mine soon instead ;) ).

Do not start until you feel your body(postpartum pain/stiches) has healed properly. Since I had normal delivery I started exercising almost 2 months after my doctor nodded yes for these workout. Kindly first consult your doctor before starting any workout. Do read the Disclaimer at the end of this post.

1) For Arms, Forearms:

*If you have dumbbells then take 2kgs or 2.5kgs dumbbells (or more according to your strength) in each hand and do biceps, lateral press and shoulder raise. Do 2 sets of each exercise, each set=15 rep(repetition/number of times).

*If you have no dumbbells then stretch out your arms straight at sides and move in clockwise direction for 2mins, then anticlockwise for 2mins. This exercise is called arm rotation. Repeat as per your strength.

Biceps

Shoulder Raise

Lateral Press

Arm Curl

2) For the Bulging  Tummy:

*Toe Touching:

Stand straight and raise your arms and try touching your toe. Do as per your convenience. After sometime once you master it, try touching head to knees. Your tummy will go inside when you can touch head to knees.
Please breathe in while raising arms and breathe out while bending.

*Planks:

Extremely effective for tummy reduction.

Do hold the plank position keeping your back straight for 10-15secs. Breathe normally.

Do atleast 2 sets(1set=15rep/15 sec holding the position).

*Pushups:

5-10 pushups for beginners. 

*Bow pose of yoga/Dhanurasan: 

Hold the pose for 3-5 secs.

Planks

Head to knee

Pushups

Dhanurasan

3)Thighs and Butt:

*Squats: 

Can be done with dumbbells or without dumbbells.
Take care while bending. Do very carefully and make sure not to hurt knees.

*Jump Squats: 

Better to do without dumbbell for beginners.

*Forward Lunges:

Can be done with dumbbells or without dumbbells.

Try forming 90degree angle. Be careful not to hurt knees.

Do 2 sets of each exercise, each set=15 rep(repetition/number of times).

Squats without dumbbells

Squats with dumbbells

Lunges with dumbbells

Lunges without dumbbells

Jump Squats

Instructions:

*Running helps to lose weight overall. You can start with cardio for overall weight loss.

*Suryanamaskar is also very helpful if you are comfortable doing it.
*If breastfeeding do not overexert yourself. Start slowly and gradually increase the intensity.

*Always google correct way to do these exercise and breathing technique else might be harmful for knees or back.

*These are exercises that helped me lose tremendous weight after delivery. Extremely effective if done properly under proper guidance.

Disclaimer:
Please consult your doctor before doing any exercise. Always make sure after normal delivery as well as c-section your stitches( external and internal) have healed properly. Never try any exercise before consulting your doctor else might suffer from prolapse or other health problem. Writer will not be responsible for any harm caused to your body.