Monica's Archives

Bhindi(Ladyfinger) is a vegetable that is mostly eaten in summers. To add a crunch to the vegetable, we can make bhindi pakoras which are crispy from outside and soft from inside. These delicious pakoras are mostly taken with dal chawal (rice and lentil). Ingredients: Bhindi (Ladyfinger)                                  - 250gms Grated paneer (cottage cheese)          - 100 gms Besan (gram flour)                                      - ½ cup Soda bicarb                                               - ¼ spoon Kali Mirch powder (black pepper powder) Ajwain (carom seeds) Chat masala Mirchi powder (Red chili powder) Haldi (turmeric) Salt Oil Method: ·          Wash bhindis and dry them. Discard the upper and lower portion. Cut a slit in-between lengthwise. ·          For the filling - grate the paneer, add salt, haldi, Mirchi powder and chat masala and mix it. Fill this mixture in bhindis. Now microwave these filled bhindis for 4 minutes so that bh

Today, everyone knows that to be healthy we should lead a healthy lifestyle. But at times, we get confused about what is healthy lifestyle. The way we are living is our lifestyle. Now, how can we make it healthy? People in our society can be categorized like bachelors/single women, married men, married working women, homemakers etc. who may need to think to bring some changes in their lifestyle. Working bachelors can be either staying at home with their family( parents and siblings) or have to shift to other city and are staying with friends or in hostel/ PG. Healthy lifestyle broadly can be classified in four steps: 1) Eat healthy 2) Exercise regularly 3) Reduce stress 4) Drink plenty of water The key is to be consistent. Whatever changes you bring to your lifestyle should be exercised regularly. It may seem difficult at first, but please make a start. Like first you may be able to do it twice or thrice in a week. Let it be. We cannot expect to change our lives in a day.

Financial Planning involves channelisation of our funds towards the fulfillment of our goals. All of us have some desires and needs, like that of buying a car in a couple of years, buying my own house before I turn 40, want my children to go in a good university for higher studies, planning for retirement etc. When it comes to realizing these goals we have no definite plans. We just leave it all on mercy of God and expect everything to fall in place. Eventually, in most of the cases, we do not achieve our   intended goals in a manner we wish to and our dreams end up being just that – dreams. Mostly our daily life is focused on arranging finances for our immediate needs, like our child’s school fee, arranging funds for next month’s EMI, buying clothing for coming festival and likewise. It’s not as if we don’t think about securing our future and achieving long term goals, but day-to-day routine activities leave us with little time to give our future a serious thought. Among thos

Ingrdients for salad: Macroni                 - ¾ cup Peanuts                   - 2 tablespoons Oil                           -   ¼ spoon Green capsicum     – 1-2 spoon Yellow capsicum – 1-2 spoon Red capsicum          -1-2 spoon Cucumber                 - ½ ( cut into semicircles) Ingredients for dressing : Olive oil                    - ¼ cup White vinegar      - 1 tablespoon Lemon juice         -   2 spoon Onion                   - 1 (cut in small cubes) Garlic                  - 2 cloves (crushed) Mustard sauce – ½ spoon Chilli flakes        - ½ spoon Oregano             - 1 ½ spoon Sugar                  - ¼ spoon (powdered) Salt                      - to taste Method for Dressing:           Mix all the ingredients of the dressing in a mixer to get a thick and creamy paste.       Refrigerate for 2 hours before using.        Method for Salad :       Boil macroni in 5-6 cups of water with salt and 1 big spoon oil

Growth and development cannot be forced as it takes time and patience. Children need to be nurtured like plants and allowed to blossom naturally. The role of parents is to help a child to help himself, as growing up is a tricky business. Disciplining is helping a child to behave in a socially approved manner. It involves good manners and acceptable behavior. Before trying to change a child’s behavior, it is a good idea to examine one’s own self. Many parents find it very difficult to keep their own attitudes, likes and dislikes, from influencing the manner in which they handle behavior in children. There may be times when a child will make parents very angry. Parents do a lot of harm to the child when they say things that they do not mean in the heat of the moment which may have a damaging effect on the child. Each child has a different set of needs. The hereditary makeup and the rate of maturation differ from that of another child who is of the same age. What may seem to be su

In the past, the common health problems were the infectious diseases that spread rapidly and affected a large number of people. To control these diseases a number of steps have been taken like mass vaccination, improving quality of drinking water, providing better sanitation and drainage. Many diseases are controlled but still diseases like malaria, tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS are a problem. In recent years new type of health problems have become far more common. Non-infectious diseases are now becoming the main cause of death and are affecting the quality of people’s lives. Non-infectious diseases include: §   heart diseases; §     cancers; §     brain strokes; §   Injuries; §     loss of hearing and sight; §     Diabetes; §     joint problems caused by arthritis; §     bone diseases that cause bones to break easily; and §     Mental diseases such as depression. These diseases are not only seen in old age but in any age. Growing older does contr

Once I visited one of my friends for lunch. I enjoyed the lunch, as she had made many delicious dishes but masala Mirchi was outstanding. I took the recipe from her and have made it many times. If you love to have spice and crunch in your food, then this recipe is for you. It is a very easy and quick recipe that can be taken as a side dish. It goes well as a condiment with simple Indian meals like dal-rice, curd-rice, vegetable pulao and even with roti-sabzi. I used to even have them with pakoras. It also goes well with stuffed parathas or plain parathas. Ingredients: Green pickle chilies – 200gm Amchur powder (Dry mango powder) Red chili powder Saunf (fennel seeds) Heeng ( asafetida) Salt Mustard oil Method: ·          Wash the chilies and wipe them using a cotton cloth. ·          Make a slit in the center of each chili using a knife. ·          Deep fry these chilies in mustard oil. ·          In a frying pan take some m

Life insurance is an essential part of financial planning. The main purpose of purchasing a life insurance policy is to ensure that the dependents are financially protected in the event of the death of the life insured. It is important for the person to be sure that the coverage he purchases fits his needs. Deciding the coverage amount There are two theories for deciding the coverage amount – human life value concept and need-based approach. Human Life Value The human life value concept uses four factors to determine how much life insurance will be needed by an individual to protect his family and assets. These factors are: 1)       Annual income 2)       Annual expenses 3)       Years left until retirement 4)       Expected value of the current rupee at the end of this period due to inflation. Need-Based Approach It focuses on the financial needs of surviving family members rather than the expected earnings of the insured. The family’s needs are divided into tw

Most of us are at home at this time due to lockdown in our country to stay safe. In our busy schedule, we need to take care of ourselves along with our family. Summers are here and our skin needs cleansing. Today I will tell you how you can cleanse your skin through a facial at home. Some benefits of Facial: ·          Reduces stress ·          Cleanse your skin ·          Prevent aging ·          Facial massage promotes blood circulation ·          Helps detoxify your skin ·          Eliminate blackheads and whiteheads ·          Open up all the pores ·          Exfoliate your skin ·          Tighten your skin ·          Boost the absorption abilities of your skin ·          Give you an even skin tone Aloe vera facial in four steps: 1.        Cleanse your skin – Take ¼ spoon aloe vera gel and lemon juice. Clean your face for 2-3 minutes and wash your face. 2.        Scrubbing – Take 1 spoon aloe vera gel, powdered sugar and 2 dr

Growing up in India naturally means growing up with the two epics (Ramayana and Mahabharata) that shape our cultural story. “The Forest of Enchantments” is a version of Ramayana from the perspective of Sita. The Ramayana is no new story. We all know every bit of it – the marriage of Ram and Sita, their exile to the forest, Surpanakha’s infatuation with Ram, the battle that follows and the final victory of good over evil. But this book written by “Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni” has the voice of Sita which charts the course of her life. Blending in with the story are other characters we often hear less about – Urmila the loving sister; lonely pining for her husband Lakshman, Kaikeyi: protective and witty who out of her misguided maternal love brings misfortune to her sons and husband, the elegant Kaushalaya silently enduring her husband’s indifferent treatment towards her, the innocent Ahilya condemned to suffer for a crime she did not commit, the beautiful Mandodri and the secrets s