Esme, The Recipe Hunter, asked me to write a guest post, more than 6 months ago. My first thought was Recipe/cooking and me? But I soon drafted a post, found my courage to send it to her, and it was liked and posted by her. Kindly do check out her blog and my guest post there
Esme never gave up on me, when when I did. This post fell perfectly into slot, just before Mother’s Day. Here it goes….
I was walking through WordPress happy and quiet
I was stopped by Esme, the great recipe hunter, for a bite
She asked – how about I do a guest post
I looked back and I looked around in my haste
Wondering whom she’s talking to
She looked directly at me, said— you, Shalini, you
I looked incredulous and thought meeee???
I review books, couldn’t she see?
I thanked her for the honour bestowed
I walked back dizzy, confused, and dazed
I came home and told family and friends
They laughed and laughed and are laughing still
One even said, thank God it’s a written post
Dish by Shalini – what will it cost
Our money, our health, our sanity
That, I tell you, really hit my vanity…
One even said – Shalini and cooking, will heavens fall?
I was unfazed, I will show them all.
It’s true I don’t like cooking it all
I never have and I never will
Though I love the cookery shows and the shiny gadgets still
Well, people don’t realize this at all
It’s not cooking that I hate the most
It’s what it represents to me since ages past
I’ve grown up seeing my mom in the kitchen
Everyone who came home ordered her about
I never saw her going past the kitchen door
I saw her exhausted, sitting on the kitchen floor
Yet when I asked her any thing
She never said no
She got up and made and fed me so
I saw her crying her tears on the stove
I saw her holding her dreams so close
Her only aim was her children should strive
To be away from the kitchen and have a drive
I saw my mom bring us up with hardships
She battled the world for our freedom and needs
The lady who knew nothing about English and world around
The family and the responsibilities that kept her bound
In the years she has self-taught to keep up with us
She learnt English by reading newspapers and books
She can finely deal with the world, with no help from us all
When needs be, she stands up, strong and tall
The woman who was put down by everyone
Is today a person who lives by her rules alone
Her life still revolves around her children
But she is very much her own boss
She still cooks but she does it coz
She wants to
Not because she has to
She is the woman who is the strongest of all
She is the one who is the centre of us all.
Life is nothing without her
Life is worth living with her
I still love holding her hand
She still pulls away, saying she is independent now
I worry when she goes out alone
I look at her, I am filled with respect and pride
She has shown us what life is all about
Her old dreams gone, but newer ones shine
She has shown, she is a fighter fine
It’s not cooking that I hate the most
It’s the tears my mother shed when her desires were lost.
–— Ode to my mother
I can cook, but I don’t like it much. I do it when it has to be done. The only dish I can cook well is Gajjar ka halwa, which is a sweet dish in India, my way. Many would say that this is not the traditional way, but it works for me and I like it.
I prepare this only on my birthday, and this is how I go about
Ingredients :
- 1kg carrots (in India, during the winter months, we do get the carrots which are exclusively meant for this sweet dish, they are of a deeper orange
- milk 1 litre or so
- a pinch of saffron (I use the powder form)
- dry fruits
- a couple of teaspoons of ghee
Method
- Grate all the carrots
- Take a wok, add the grated carrots and equal amount of milk.
- Boil them till the carrots absorb all the milk, first on high flame then on low, as the milk quantity decreases
- Add sugar according to the amount of sweetness needed
- Wait till that gets absorbed completely
- Mix saffron powder and water, add a spoon of that to the carrots to get a darker orange color.
- In another tiny saucepan/wok (tadka kadhai) heat the ghee, add the dry fruits till they are roasted (I prefer cashew nuts and almonds slivers)
- Then pour this over the carrots, mix well, a couple of minutes on the flame. The gajjar ka halwa is done.
The entire preparation for me takes about an hour to be completely done, and I am also done for by that time.
66 Responses
Mmmm…. The food looks great Shalini! And your ode is WONDERFUL!! I’m sure your mother would be very proud of it!! 💖💖💖
Thank you. That’s an Indian desert, only thing I make with relish. I am glad you loved it.
Beautifully written shalini. 😊
Ahhh thank you so much, Vijay… It took a very long time to finish the whole thing, to get the right words
No words are sufficient to describe mothers but you did a fabulous work.
Wow… Vijay you have said the right words to encourage me. Thank you so much
Wowwwww ❤️❤️ tasty 🙈🙈 my fav
Mahee, that’s great. It was tasty, it didn’t even last a day. We finished it all up in one evening hahaha
🙈🙈🙈 although m diet consious i skip my diet for this
Hahaha cool… You should. My way is not calorie filled
Oww 😄 i ll try then
Enjoy 😂😂
😛
I love Gajar ka Halwa. I will be trying your recipe. Thanks for sharing.
Awww…. How sweet. It is a short cut method according to some
That looks yummy!
Most of the time i can’t eat Indian food cuz they are all too hot for me (like, even the mild ones set fire to my everything), but this i could definitely do 😀
Oh do you get such spicy stuff
We don’t make it so spicy at home. In fact adding different spices would give a good taste without the heat overpowering it.
I too eat bland food but with other spices like dry mango powder, chat powder, if you get it at your end. They make curry tasty without the heat
i like the sound of dry mango powder!! sounds lovely <3
The raw mango powder is tasty, I use it for getting a tangy taste.
Also ask the restaurant to make it less spicy, most of them can.
Thank you this is a desert, easy to make, you can try it in the microwave, but making it on the stove, makes the carrots absorb the milk and that’s an added flavor.
Girl, I keep telling you… you have the writing talent 😉
Those are some precious and moving words. You said so much in that verse. A powerful message in there and of course, a wonderful ode to your mother.
Soo… what about some Gulab Jamun????
Hey Nina, this took so much time, to have it as a guest post on Esme’s blog, I wrote half of it in August. Then could not send it Esme. The posts on her blog are extremely beautiful recipes.
But she sent reminders and was patient and didn’t give up. So I found my courage and sent it to her.
I can write on some realities of my life.
And the main topic gulab jamun, oh yummmm. I buy a ready made powder, make a dough and deep fry it. And put it in sugar syrup. Done.
But I do not know how to make that from scratch. 😏😉😉
I’m happy Esme encouraged you and that you found the courage to post. It really is a wonderful tribute.
I’d happily use the powder! Lol.
Aaah then I will make and invite you. I find it is yummmm. So you are invited
Great! In what month is this birthday happening???
December… Cozy babe, my birthday is post Christmas, boxing day, best time of the year
So we’ll already be in the spirit of giving and good cheer 😉
Sent you something on message on twitter. Check it out when free.
Nahhh so that I can get 2 separate gifts 😉😉😂😂
hahahahahaha
will do
But if you are making I am coming
Hahahaha…. fair enough.
Reblogged this on Die Erste Eslarner Zeitung – Aus und über Eslarn, sowie die bayerisch-tschechische Region!.
Thanks Michael
Another “Wow”. Your guest post is crazy. 😉
Milk and carrots mixed? Oh, this recipe i have to test out. Never heared or read before, but it sounds interesting.
And the RecipeHunter- Thank you for bringing me back this blog, i lost some weeks ago – is a very great site for recipes. Michael
Very true Michael. The sweet dish tastes good, only dish I can make🙃
Yp, Esme has great recipes on her site. It took me 6 months to send mine as I thought mine was not good enough
Oh, dishes are enough to eat. Why eating more, if the dish is delicious. I only can make pizza and pasta. 😉 Michael
Oh I love them both…
😉 Our first date is made.
Yayyy… My first date in a very very long time
That sure does look yummy!!!❤❤❤ Thanks for sharing this with us, Shalini.😀 Great Post and Well Written!❤🍰📋📌
Thank you Dani. How are you doing?
You’re welcome, Beautiful Lady!😀❤ I am hanging in there. I stopped having seizures so that’s a blessing!❤❤❤ How are you?😀
Omg seizures… Are you okay now? Wow you are superwoman, one heck of a woman. How do you manage? Anyone else would have given up
I had done! Wonderful recipe Shalini! I got carrots but no saffron. However it works and tastes fantastic. Thank you! Michael
Wow… Michael really… That’s great. I can’t believe it that is so fab. I am so glad you liked it
What beautiful words about your mother Shalini. Poignant, but it sounds like she triumphed.
Great recipe too!!
She did… She is far more than what the world wanted her to be, far brave than I am…
She sounds beautiful!! 💕
Awww… Thank you so much
Good one…I love halwa😊
Wah that’s nice, I love it too, my hips don’t lie then 😉😉😂😂
Haaaahha after eating then we have to do workout…and hips don’t lie is the best song for workout.😊
Hahaha I don’t workout, my hips don’t lie and I don’t see the hips so everyone is happy and everything is perfect
Haaahhhah…great words
😂😂
A great read, nicely written!
Thank you for your kind words. It was so nice of you to read and comment
Ranjeeta, instead of reading mine and understanding the emotions of the words, you have gone ahead and spoken only about yourself on my blog post. It is an insult and a disrespect to my hard work and my blog.
First read then post a comment, Ranjeeta, that shows respect. Nobody should ask for follow, it should happen naturally. This blogging community is that sweet and nice. On every post of mine, someone or the other says — follow me.
We all follow each other.
Ms Rasoi, read this
https://bookreviewsbyshalini.wordpress.com/2018/05/23/a-request/
You asked for follow on a post which was dedicated to my mother… You have insulted me and my feelings. I will never follow your post because you don’t have respect to read through mine. Grow up and start respecting others’ hard work.
Really? If I am. Promoting my page doesn’t means that I am insulting your page. Be matured enough to deal such kind of matters on a public portal
Be mature enough to understood the blogging politeness and rules. Just asking for followers on everyone’s posts is wrong and most of us in the blogging world don’t like such stuff.
You are insulting the work of the blogger if you just promote your own page. It is downright insulting and an absolute no no in blogging manners. It is not respectful
Be mature enough to understand this public portal