Bookworm in me...

Happiness is a brand new Book

It has been a habit for me to have passion for certain things but ignore those emotions and continue with the normal routine. Until the day I explode. Once I explode, there is no stopping. Hailing from a small town, I had access to the state library since I was in school. But as expected from my procrastinating personality, I rented my first book from the library when I was in 6th and that book was lying in my house for I don't know how long. Finally, I returned that book after hatching it for about a year and paid the fine. "I can't believe I kept a book for about a year, din't read it and paid fine for it."

As I grew older, my school headmaster introduced me to Marathi Novels. I was in awe of those historical & mythological heroes, freedom fighters. This was during my school days. Some of my all time favorites include:

Yugandhar by Shivaji Sawant

Mrutyunjay by Shivaji Sawant

Shriman Yogi by Ranjit Desai

Majhi Janmathep by V. D. Savarkar

Ek Hota Carver by Vina Gavankar

Kale Paani by V. D. Savarkar

During junior college days, we had an assignment wherein we had to read books and write reviews on the same. It was completely my kind of assignment. I so wished to have such assignments the entire time☺. During these days, my reading was diverse. I read Marathi, Hindi, English, whatsoever I could get my hands on.  Some of the books I read during these days were:

Lajja by Taslima Nasrin

Phera by Taslima Nasrin

About Daddy by Meena Nayak

Not without my daughter by Betty Mehmoody

Fever by Robin Cook

This library gave me my next favorite author Robin Cook. From here on, I did not stop my reading and it is continuous till date. After I left the junior college, my next destination for books was the central library of which I made membership when in 6th std and was unused till date. During college time, I continued my reading of Robin Cook's books which includes Mutation, Toxin, Coma and Vector. 

Going through the huge shelves in the library, I started reading avidly. Thanks to my college time best friend and the person who made me fall in love with English literature and English music. My first Romance English novel was "Petals on the wind" by V C Andrews. After I read this book, I was so desperate to read its sequels but never found them. Here, I started with Nicholas Sparks who is my favorite till date.

"When you get a favorite, it remains a favorite forever."

That is exactly the case with Nicholas Sparks. As of date,  I can proudly say that I have read all his books apart from the  most recent ones.

My top favorite is obviously 

The Notebook

And the rest follow: 

Walk to remember

The Choice

Dear John

The Guardian

A Bend in the road

The Lucky One

Safe Haven

Love Story by Erich Segal is another top favorite book of mine. Because of the book Love Story, I happened to read other books by Segal like Doctors, Acts of faith, etc. But these books din't have the charisma of "Love Story." 

Then, there was the wave created by Chetan Bhagat. As per me, he was the pioneer of Indian English literature for youth. I read all his books because of the buzz they created. I started with One night at Call center, Five Mistakes of my life and the rest followed as they were released. 

Here itself, I was introduced to Cecelia Ahern's PS I love you. The movie as well as the book were outstanding. Another not so well known book of Ahern is The Gift which is again a masterpiece. This book is all about the value of time. Other books by Ahern that I read are Thanks for the Memories, A place called Here, The Girl in the Mirror.

Like all girls during their teens, I was highly attracted to romance novels. I used to read books from Mills & Boons publication for the romance and lightheartedness in these books. They always had happy endings.

After college, I moved to Mumbai... the city of dreams... Mumbai showed me the path to reach latest books. It was like I had to read every book which was released; also keeping in mind that I need to catch up with those old books I have not yet stumbled upon. These were the days of Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer. I purchased the entire set and it became my favorite. The movies were quite convincing but not up to the mark. 

Since I was earning by this time, a substantial amount of my salary went to buy or rent books. Books on rent was a new concept for me because at my home town, we only had access to books through library and libraries not always had latest collection. When you rent a book, you pay the price of the book and when you return the book, the seller keeps some 20-30 rupees depending on the value of the book and returns the remaining amount. 

During the same time, there was a boom of e-books. I read the entire Harry Potter series by J K Rowling within 2 months or so and was so enchanted by the same. My college time friend was my room mate when in Mumbai and she was like my guardian. I also started watching English movies thanks to her. There were so many movies we saw together. When I used to research those movies and come to know that they were based on book, I would go crazy till I find the book and read it all. 

Another book that needs mention is Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. This book is about a man who travels in time and his wife. I also read some self help books like those by Paulo Coelho, Jack Canfield. During the same time, I came across Dan Brown and his books became instant hits because of the mixture of all emotions found in them. All books of Dan Brown including Angles & Demons, Da Vinci Code and the lesser known ones like Digital Fortress, The Lost Symbol, Inferno & Deception Point have history, myths, suspense, romance, drama. His books are a complete package.

After working for 2 years, I joined PG College and had to be dependent on the College library for books. But sometimes, I did splurge on buying books. At the college library, there were books from various domains. Here, I read some of the very good books on management, success, autobiographies and so on. 

Notable books of this time are:

Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell

Maverick by Ricardo Semler

The Monk who sold his Ferrari by Robin Sharma

The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy

Mahashweta by Sudha Murti

Strange Obsession by Shobhaa De

The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri

Six Thinking Hats by Edward De Bono
If God was a Banker by Ravi Subramanium
The Train to Pakistan by Khushwant Singh
Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
I too had a Dream by Verghese Kurien

All the books were like good fodder for brain. But one book needs a special mention: Shobhaa De's Strange Obsession. Like the name suggests, I found the book quite strange. The Book was about a lesbian girl and it completely failed to reach out to me. 

From Mumbai, I moved back to my home town to the same old central library. But to my surprise, this library had a makeover. The dingy library was shifted to a new constructed state of the art six storeyed building. It was now open on Sundays and beyond normal working hours. So, working class people could have access to it. 

And once again a bookish journey with different pile of books began. I read some novels of Khaled Hosseini who became a favorite for an entirely different genre of books. I read The Kite Runner, A Thousand Splendid Suns, And the Mountains echoed. All his books present a simple life of individuals and revolve around Afghanistan. 

My love for Marathi books once again emerges as I stroll through those isles of shelved books. I read books of V. D. Savarkar, Gopal Godse, V. S. Khandekar and other Indian Marathi authors. Some of the mind-blowing books of these authors I read are:

Paawankhind by Ranjit Dessai

Radheya by Ranjit Desai

1857 che Swantatra Sangram By V. D. Savarkar
Saha Soneri Paane by V.D. Savarkar
Hindupadpaadshahi by V.D. Savarkar
Gandhihatya aani Mi by Gopal Godse
Panchavanna Kotinche Bali by Gopal Godse
Amrutwel by V. S. Khandekar
Yayati by V.S. Khandekar
Warssaw Te Hiroshima by V.S Walimbe

I was always interested in mythological and historical books, so I picked Shiva trilogy by Amish Tripathi. It is a slightly twisted version of the story of Hindu Gods and goddesses. But the books are very well presented. I was a little late to read these books but better late then never. Not to be late again, I purchased Amish's next book Scion of Ikshvaku as soon as it was released.

Apart from these, I read other English Novels as well by well known authors like:

To kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
The Glass Palace by Amitav Ghosh
Dongri to Dubai by Hussain Zaidi
Chocolat by Joanne Harris
Shantaram by David Gregory Roberts

Shantaram became a favorite because of the manner in which Mumbai is illustrated by the author. It was as if I was seeing Mumbai through the author's eyes. I could relate to this book as I was also an outsider in Mumbai getting to know it.

Along with printed books my reading was continuous on phone. "Thank God for the smartphones that we use." I started reading Sophie Kinsella's books on phone. Her books are very entertaining. You just don't feel like keeping the book down. Of her books, I got a chance to read only 2 books: Can you keep a secret? and I've got your number.
I also had an inclination to read the books from the "Must read" on the internet. So, took to reading Frankenstein by Mary Shally. This book actually played itself  like a movie in my mind and it felt scary at times.

"Book people coming in my life is like God's gift to me."

There was a boy working along with me who had a huge collection of books and he used to lend me some of the good books he read. After working together for about a year, he moved to a different city and gave many of his books to me because it was difficult to carry them. " Lucky me.."  One of those books I was crazy about: Fifty shades of Grey by E L James. And then, I could not wait to have the sequels. Now I have them and I have read them.

Once I was travelling from Goa to Mumbai by train and the train was quite empty as it was monsoon. There was an old uncle sitting in my compartment itself and we got to talking to each other when he saw me reading. "Perks of having books in your hand while traveling. You make friends." This uncle was a Marathi teacher from Sawantwadi and an avid reader of Marathi literature. He gave me a list of Marathi novels to read and I'm still in search of some of those books. The books that he referred to me were truly magnificent. I wish I could meet him again to tell him and discuss on those books.

Now, I'm back to Mumbai married to a boy who loves to buy books and but does not end reading them. "Lucky again." But I wish he too starts reading because reading is amazing. More than reading, husband likes to watch movies or series. He was a fan of "Game of Thrones". He made me watch some of the episodes. I disliked it at first but then it caught my attention and I started watching the series. But I'm never satisfied with the story as shown in movies or series. I want to read. My husband purchased the entire set of 7 books of Game of Thrones by George R R Martin for discounted rate on Flipkart. "Shopping for books and that too at a discount... Woohoo." But those books are so large that I have only managed to finish two.

I had another amazing discovery when I came across Books by Weight sale. You can buy as many books as you want for so much lesser price. Whenever I go for such sale, I come back carrying heavy loads.

My recent reading apart from Game of Thrones include:

Fault in our stars by John Green
Men Are from Mars, Women are from Venus by John Gray
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
Sita by Devdutt Pattanaik

All these books were amazing. Sita presents an entirely different ideology about the history along with facts to prove all the incidents. Gone Girl was out of the world with the twists and turns coming up in every page of the book. Fault in our stars was a very sad love story but worth a read.

Bookshelf was purchased when I had few books.
Today the shelf is overflowing to the table.

It is such a true saying...So many books to read and so little time.
I say so many books on my shelf and so little time.



















Currently, I'm reading one of the classics: Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy (e-book) and The Secret by Rhonda Byrne (Hardcover).
The year 2016 is coming towards an end and so is my book reading resolution for the year. I'm ahead of what I planned.

My obsession with mushrooms...

Ever since I came to Mumbai, I have become obsessed with mushrooms.. I guess mushrooms are a substitute for fish according to my taste buds. Also, one of the very few things I really enjoy in veg food.

My love for mushrooms dates back to those childhood days when real mushrooms were widely available in my home town Goa. These mushrooms would grow only in rainy season during July August months. The memory of those ladies sitting near Old secretariat in Panjim selling mushrooms is still quite fresh in my mind. 

During my college days, I met a boy who has exact food choices like me and today he is my husband. The best part of our love story is we have same food obsessions and we never have a fight over what to cook for dinner or what to order in a restaurant. 

Our love for mushroom started off with regular Mushroom Bhaaji which is made in two ways. One is my mom's style and other is my mother in law's style.

Mushroom Bhaaji (mom's style)

Ingredients: 

Onion: 2

Tomato:1

Mushroom (1 packet)

Garlic:3-4 cloves
Ginger-garlic paste: As per taste
Turmeric powder: 1 teaspoon
Garam Masala: 3 teaspoons
Salt: as per taste
Coriander: For garnishing
Oil: As per requirement

Method:

• Heat oil in a pan and add garlic cloves (finally chopped or crushed) and finely chopped onions.
• Once the onions turn slightly brown, add chopped tomato.
• Saute till tomatoes are thoroughly cooked.
• Now, add salt, ginger garlic paste, turmeric and garam masala. 
• Add, sliced mushrooms and stir.
• Cover the pan and let the mushrooms cook. Stir in between so that the bhaaji does not stick to the bottom.
• Once cooked, open the lid and let the excess water evaporate.
• Garnish with coriander leaves.

Mushroom Bhaaji (mom in law's style)

According to my mom in law, for a dish to be tasty, it has to be spicy and oily. So, this mushroom bhaaji is tastier and spicier. proceed with caution.

Ingredients: 

Onion: 2

Mushroom (1 packet)

Garlic:3-4 cloves
Green chilies: 4
Ginger-garlic paste: As per taste
Asafoetida: A pinch
Turmeric powder: 1 teaspoon
Salt: as per taste
Coriander: For garnishing
Oil: As per requirement

Method:

• Heat oil in a pan and add garlic cloves (finally chopped or crushed) and finely chopped green chilies.
• Saute for 2 minutes and add chopped onions (thin slices).
• Once the onions turn slightly brown, add salt, ginger garlic paste, asafoetida and turmeric. 
• Add, sliced mushrooms and stir.
• Cover the pan and let the mushrooms cook. Stir in between so that the bhaaji does not stick to the bottom.
• Once cooked, open the lid and let the excess water evaporate.
• Garnish with coriander leaves.

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Me and husband are very much fond of Chinese cuisine, chicken Manchurian and chilly chicken being our favorite. Mushroom chilly, soya chilly and idli chilly are the vegetarian variants. On one of the Tuesdays when we are strictly veg, my husband thought we should try making mushroom chilly.

Mushroom Chilly 

Ingredients: 

Onion:  1 large (cut in 1 inch square piece)

Mushroom (1 packet)

Garlic:3-4 cloves
Ginger: 1 inch
Green chilies: 4
Capsicum: 1 large (cut in 1 inch square piece)
Pepper powder: 1 teaspoon
Salt: as per taste
Sugar: As per taste
Soy sauce: 2 tablespoon
Green chilly sauce: 2 tablespoons
Tomato sauce: 4 tablespoons
Spring onion: few twigs of spring onion
All purpose flour: 6 tablespoons
Cornflour: 3 tablespoons
Oil: As per requirement

Method: 

• Firstly, lets get the mushrooms ready. Cut mushrooms in two halves.
• Sprinkle salt and pepper powder. Add one tablespoon each of Soy sauce and green chilly sauce. Mix well. 
• Now, add cornflour and all purpose flour to the mushrooms. Mix well so that the mushrooms are well coated with the flours.
• Heat oil in a frying pan. Fry the mushrooms till they are golden brown and crispy. Transfer  to a dish covered with tissue paper so as to soak extra oil. keep them aside.
• Heat oil in a pan. Keep on high flame.
• Add finely chopped ginger, green chilies and garlic. Saute for a minute.
• Add half a teaspoon sugar, salt as per taste and a teaspoon of pepper powder. Saute.
• Now add onions followed by capsicum. Saute till the sides becomes brownish and start to curl.
• Add the remaining soy sauce, green chilly sauce and tomato sauce. Stir well.
• Add fried mushrooms and mix. cook for about  minutes.
• Garnish with spring onion.

Note: For gravy, simply add cornflour paste.

My first try at mushroom chilly was so good that every Tuesday without telling husband started going vegetable shopping. Saved me some time..

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When I was in staying in hostel, I had a roommate who was also a mushroom lover. I wouldn't call her obsessed because she was not like me. She taught me mushroom crispy rava fry.

Mushroom Rava Fry

Ingredients:

Mushrooms: As required
Salt: As per taste
Turmeric powder: As per taste
Red Chilly powder: As per taste
Ginger garlic paste:  1 teaspoon
Lemon juice: As per taste
Rava: As per requirement
Oil: For frying

Method: 

• Cut mushrooms in two halves
• Add rest of the ingredients except rava.
• Once mushrooms are coated properly, roll in rava and shallow fry in a frying pan.
• Take off the heat once mushrooms become crispy and reduces in size. Serve hot.

Note: Perfect combination is dal rice and mushroom rava fry.

Our Tuesdays go well when there are mushrooms in the fridge. On one such Tuesdays, my creative husband came up with the thought of frying mushroom is besan (Gram flour) like bhajiyas. And put that thought into reality but we were not very happy with the outcome, so mushroom bhajiyas not on our favorites' list.

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Mushroom Pizzzzaaaaa

Pizzas are divine when they have extra toppings and extra cheese which should drip when u eat a slice. Cheese & butter are the most important items in my fridge. So, always stocked.
Cheese and mushroom go very well so thought of trying DIVINE mushroom pizza and it came out DIVINE.



Ingredients:

Mushroom: 1 packet
Butter: 2 tablespoon (Preferably garlic butter)
Cheese slices: 3
Pizza base: Regular
Garlic cloves: 4
Pepper powder: As per taste
Mixed Herbs: As per taste
Salt: As per taste
Cheese cubes: 2
Tomato sauce: 2 tablespoons


Method:

• Heat butter in a frying pan. Add chopped garlic cloves. Saute.
• Add sliced mushrooms and sprinkle salt, pepper and mixed herbs.
• Saute till mushrooms become translucent.
• Cover with a lid till mushrooms are cooked. 
• Open the lid and let the excess water evaporate.
• Let the mushrooms cool.
• Take the pizza base and apply butter followed with tomato sauce.
• Place Cheese slices on the base and add the mushroom mixture.
• Now, sprinkle grated cheese on the pizza.
• Bake in a preheated oven at 200 degrees C for about 20 minutes or till the cheese starts melting.
• Garnish as required. (chilly flakes/ oregano/)

Note: Onions can also be added to the mushroom mix.

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Cream of Mushroom soup

Cream of mushroom soup is one of the tastiest delicacies from mushroom. As an afterthought, everything that has mushroom in it is tasty.
I have never tried cream of mushroom soup in restaurant. I just knew about it. One fine evening, I thought of trying it out. It turned out so well that now my husband listens to whatever I say if its in exchange for the soup. (Some brownie points for good food)
So let us see how I made cream of mushroom soup.

Ingredients:

Mushroom: 1 packet
Butter: 1 tablespoon (Preferably garlic butter)
Garlic cloves: 4
All purpose flour: 1 teaspoon
Onion: 1 small
Milk: 1 cup
Water: 1 cup
Cream: 3 teaspoons
Pepper powder: As per taste
Mixed Herbs: As per taste
Salt: As per taste
Coriander: For garnishing


Method:

• In a frying pan, add butter and allow it to melt.
• Once melted, add chopped garlic cloves and finely chopped onion.
• When onions turn soft, add thinly sliced mushrooms.
• Mushrooms are cooked when they reduce in size and turn brownish.
• Let all the excess water evaporate.
• Now, add all purpose flour and mix properly.
• Add milk followed by water while stirring continuously.
• Also, sprinkle pepper powder, mixed herbs and salt according to your taste.
• The soup will start to thicken at this stage. Now, add cream and stir. 
• Add milk depending on how thick you want the soup to be.
• Add finely chopped coriander for garnishing.

Note: Serve it hot because its very creamy yummy.

You can add vegetable stock or chicken stock instead of water to make it tastier. But water works just fine.

Replace pepper powder with crushed peppercorns for better taste.

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Mushroom Pasta

Pasta that we prefer is macaroni or penne in white sauce. I'm fond of Italian food and I made my husband fall in love with pasta. We had gone to one restaurant as I had craving for pasta. There, we had macaroni in white sauce with mushrooms. My husband became pasta boy from that day. So, here I made my own pasta.

Ingredients:

Mushroom: 1 packet
Butter: 2 tablespoon (Preferably garlic butter)
Garlic cloves: 4
All purpose flour: 1 teaspoon
Pasta: 1 bowl
Milk: 1 cup
Pepper powder: As per taste
Mixed Herbs: As per taste
Cheese: 2 cubes, 1 slice
Salt: As per taste
Oil: 1 tablespoon


Method:

• Boil water in a pan and add pasta. Allow the pasta to cook. Add oil and drain the water from the pasta. Keep it aside.
• In a frying pan, add 1 tablespoon of butter and allow it to melt.
• Once melted, add 2 chopped garlic cloves and sliced mushrooms.
• Mushrooms are cooked when they reduce in size and turn brownish.
• Let all the excess water evaporate. Keep mushroom aside.
• In the frying pan, add butter. When melted add remaining chopped garlic cloves.
• Now, add all purpose flour and mix properly.
• Add milk while stirring continuously so as to make a thick paste. 
• Now, add the mushrooms which we cooked prior.
• Also, sprinkle pepper powder, mixed herbs and salt according to your taste.
• At this stage, add pasta and mix it well so that the pasta is coated completely.
• Add grated cheese and cheese slice. Remove from stove.

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Stuffed Mushrooms

This again was a trial and as I said before, the combination of cheese and mushroom is so good that it tastes amazing however you put it together. Mushrooms can be stuffed with filling of your choice... I chose to make it all only mushroom and cheese..

Ingredients:

Mushroom: 1 packet
Butter: 2 tablespoon (Preferably garlic butter)
Garlic cloves: 4
Onion: 1 small (Optional)
Pepper powder: As per taste
Mixed Herbs: As per taste
Cheese: 2 cubes
Salt: As per taste
Oil: 1 tablespoon

Method:

• Clean the mushrooms, remove the stems and keep aside the cap. Make sure the stems are removed from the end making 
• Finely chop the stems and keep aside.
• In a frying pan, add butter. Once butter is melted, add finely chopped garlic cloves.
• Add finely chopped onion and cook till onions soften.
• Now add chopped mushroom stems and cook till mushrooms are soft n brownish
• Add salt, pepper powder and mixed herbs for flavor.
• Now, take the mushrooms caps and apply oil on outer side of mushroom caps.
• Once the mixture is cool enough, fill it in the mushroom cap.
• Sprinkle lots of grated cheese on top.
• Place on a tray and bake at 180 degrees for 20 minutes in a preheated oven.

Note: Can be prepared in frying pan as well.

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Mushroom Pulao

Yet again a Tuesday came wherein my fridge had mushrooms and I was in no mood of making the entire dinner of dal rice bhaaji. So, I ended up making mushroom pulao. I followed the most basic way of making pulao without any kind of additions.

Ingredients:

Mushrooms: 1 packet
Rice: 1 bowl (small)
Whole garam masala: 4 black peppercorns, 2 cloves, 1 inch of Cinnamon, 1 star anise (dagadphool), 1 tablespoon cumin seeds, 1 bayleaf
Salt: As per taste
Onion: 1 medium
Green chilies: 3
Garlic: 4 cloves
Tomato: 1 small
Ginger garlic paste:  1 teaspoon
Water: 2 cups
Oil: 2 teaspoons
Coriander: For garnishing

Method:

• Soak rice in water for about 20 minutes.
• Heat oil in a pan. Add whole garam masala and allow it to splatter.
• Now add finely chopped garlic cloves, green chilies and onions. Saute.
• Once onions soften, add tomatoes followed by mushrooms cut into 4 pieces.
• Let mushrooms cook for some time about five minutes.
• Now, add ginger garlic paste and salt.
• Pepper powder can be added if required. Turmeric can be added for colour.
• Drain the water from rice kept for soaking and add to the mixture. Mix well.
• Now add hot water to the rice and cover the lid.
• Check on the rice every 7-8 minutes and stir so that it does not stick to the bottom.
• When cooked thoroughly, remove from stove and garnish with finely chopped coriander. 

Mushroom pulao was made last Tuesday. So, for my next adventure and experiment with mushroom, we might have to wait for a few more days.

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Spicy Mushroom Fry

This is the easiest and fastest way to make mushrooms. And without a doubt..... it turns very yummmy.... This dish is inspired from Tandoori Mushroom which I had once and liked a lott...

Ingredients:

Mushrooms: 1 packet
Salt: As per taste
Kashmiri Mirchi powder: 2 tablespoon
Pepper Powder: 1/2 tablespoon
Garlic Powder: 1/2 tablespoon
Cumin Powder: 1/2 tablespoon
Cinnamon Powder: 1/2 tablespoon
Lemon Juice: 1 Tablespoon
Oil: 3-4 teaspoons

Note: Quantity of spices should be slightly higher to make it flavorful.


Method:

• Wash the mushrooms thoroughly. 
• Cut them into 2 halves if pieces are big. I prefer to use entire as they shrink once cooked.
• Apply salt and leave for few minutes. Drain the excess water.
• Apply rest of the ingredients except oil.
• Make sure mushrooms are well coated.
• Let them stand for some time.
• Heat oil in a pan. 
• Add the mushrooms and fry for about 5 minutes till all the water from mushrooms is evaporated.
• Serve hot.

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