A day in passport office

It started with token number 57 and was increasing slowly... aagh... rather very slowly. Three of us were waiting egarly for it to reach to160 so that we can apply for Vihhan's Passport.
Dad had very little hope that we will be able to finish the process in a single day. No he is not pessimist, its because of his prior experience. Last time it took him 5 visits to Passport office to get the work done...phew...though it was fault with the documents we provided and not the processes of the Passport office.

The reverse counting started at 11.18 AM. It reached 97 within half an hour. Vishal and I was very hopeful that we can finish it by 1.30 PM and go back to work. Clock was ticking and so was the token number. My reverse counting went from triple digits to double digits to single digit ... I pointed the same to my dad happily. Ondhu, Aydhu, Nallku at counter no mooru (154 - counter no 3) was announced both in English and Kanada, giving me an opportunity to learn counting in Kannada. And then came LUNCH BREAK ... as if god has given me half an hour to learn these four digits in Kannada :)

After the lunch break token 161 was called and we sumitted the application successfully.Special thanks to the guy at counter no 5 who proccesed the application and moved it to fee Payment counter.

PS: Needless to say even though I tried learning it for almost 3 good hours I still had to google the above mentioned numbers in kannada ;P

He understands... may be not

Vihaan was throwing his pencil shouting GIR ( it fell) ..., again and again. He looked at me expectantly when he was done with the set of 12 pencils.
He wanted me to pick it so that he can continue his throwing game. I picked it, gave him and said "No, no throwing Vihaan" with a serious tone. The tone made him think and he looked at his dad for support. A stern face , with other "No Vihaan" from his dad made him serious. He sat there with his head down as if he is weighing the idea of throwing the pencils again or not. It made us smile -- "He understands" we thought.

At that moment my mom entered in room and I saw a flying pencil. "No Vihaan, don't throw things" I told again with same serious tone. This time he shouted back aaaaahhhhhhhh... and then couple of more flying pencils... & I thought I can make him understand... huh

















P.S: Vihaan is my 13 Months old son :)

Bharwan Banarsi Aloo (Stuffed Banarsi Potatoes)

Preparation time: 15
Cooking time: 20
Serves: 4
Ingredients
For Stuffing
Aloo (Potatoes) : 12 medium sized
Paneer (Cottage cheese) : 50 gms
Hari Mirch (Green Chillis) : 2
Dhania patta (Coriander Leaves) : 2 tbsps (finely chopped)
Kismis(Raisins) : 2 tbsps
Kaju (Cashewnuts): 2 tbsps (chopped)
Salt to taste
For gravy
Hing (Asafoetida) : a pinch
Saung (Fennel seeds): 1.5 small tbsps, roasted
Zeera (Cumin seeds): 1.5 small tbsps
Haldi (Turmeric Powder): 1 small tbsps
Garam mashala : 1 small tbsp
Lal mirch (red chilli powder): 1 tbsps
Adrak (Ginger) : 1 inch (grated)
Tamatar (Tomato) : 3-4 (Puree)
Imli pani ( Tamarind pulp) : 2 small tbsps
Fresh Cream : 3-4 tbsps
Oil : 3- 4 tbsps

Ingrediants











Method
1. Peel the potatos and cut the upper half (1/5 or 1/6). Scoop out the middle of bigger part of potatos.
2. Mix the stuffing ingrediants (except potatos) in a bowl. Stuff the bigger part of potatos with this mix. Pack it with smaller part of potatos and with the help of toothpick
3.Heat oil in a deep frying pan and deep fry stuffed potatos.
4. In the heated oil add Asafoetida, fennel seeds, cumin seeds and ginger. Saute it for 1-2 mins. Then add tomato puree, red chilli powder, turmeric powder and garam mashala and fry it for 4-5 mins
5. Add Tamarind pulp and salt to taste.
6. Add stuffed potatos in the gravy and cook for 4-5 mins. Add fresh cream and stir it. cooked it for another 1-2 mins.
Server hot with plain rice or zeera rice.




Scoop out the middle of potatos

Stuffed potatos

Deep frying

Almost ready

Served with zeera rice and cucumber raita