To me the best thing about vacation is brainstorming the places to visit and then making a tentative plan for the entire trip. Online reviews and Google comes to rescue for searching a comfortable hotel/resort, book safaris in advance and design the itinerary all by myself.

Years of traveling has made me a planner and I often look out for off beat destinations in India to avoid unruly crowd, commercialization of tourist places and to experience the thrill of meeting new challenges all the way. Traveling together to some known and some unknown destinations has made the nature lover, the adventure enthusiast and the history buff in my family come out in open. We now appreciate the ruins of history and pristine beauty of mountains in the same breath.
A first-hand narrative description of our trip can be read in a series of seven blogposts I published recently on my other Blog, here.

A trip to hometown is more than just yearly rituals to me. It’s the time to connect with family & friends, explore some new and some old places that remain unchanged. Vacation is ‘my time’ when I do things at my own pace, follow my passion, and get in some real life. It is the time when blog posts can wait and there is no pressure to sign in to check mails and social media interactions. I completely enjoy every moment of the laid back life and mom’s yummy food.

Networking takes a back seat and I live in the real world. The day begins with an early morning walk alongside lake Fateh Sagar, reading regional New paper ‘Rajasthan Patrika’ and gorging home cooked simple yet authentic Rajasthani breakfast.

‘It’s the simple things in life that are the most extraordinary.’ Paulo Coelho.  Life is harder when you complicate the simple things and my cooking follows suit to a greater extent. Most of the days I prefer dishes which need less time to cook, have fewer ingredients and still retain the freshness & nutrient quotient intact. These simple recipes are a perfect antidote for those busy days when you are hard pressed for time and need something healthy and filling which can be thrown in just minutes.

This warm Chickpea and Veggie Salad falls in the same category. I defer to call this recipe just a simple salad, with Olive oil, mixed veggies, bread croutons, herbs, spices and protein packed chickpeas, this recipe makes a complete meal in itself. I could happily start and end my breakfast, lunch and dinner with a bowl of this chickpea and veggie salad.

Creativity has no boundaries and is best expressed when the mind is free and the world is your canvas to work upon. For the last couple of days South Indian cinema and politics is abuzz with a certain ban on the release of a Tamil movie. Though I don’t follow the happenings from the field of cinema or politics much, but this one caught my eyes. People in the shops, morning walkers, school children, my maid and not to forget the screaming TV channel anchors, everyone seems to be worried about the freedom of expression overnight.

Anyways, hope both the sides resolve the issue amicably soon and the freedom of an artist to express art without any boundaries or political pressure is restored and also the powers of politicians to bring in peace and justice are appreciated.

Anyways, hope both the sides resolve the issue amicably soon and the freedom of an artist to express art without any boundaries or political pressure is restored and also the powers of politicians to bring in peace and justice are appreciated….

‘Passion surprises. One doesn’t search it. It can happen to you tomorrow.’ ~Adjani.  Today is that tomorrow for me. Sunday morning turned delightful with a mail, congratulating for winning a food photography contest on an online site of a National Daily ‘The Hindu’! And then the happy feet dance begins with baking loads of cinnamon rolls to celebrate the same with family & friends.

The news is a pleasant surprise, more so when I am just beginning to climb, trying to learn the intricacies of food photography & food styling while still standing on the very first step.

I have lost count of the number of times I tried soaking sago for making this popular breakfast recipe and using the same for starching my sarees. Those were the days when I stayed away from mom for higher studies in Delhi and later for job prospects. Bored of my usual sandwich breakfasts I wanted to try my hands on some of the Indian breakfast recipes I used to love eating but would dare not make it.

I simply couldn’t get the correct sago consistency to make the Sabudana Khichdi which is non sticky and fluffy. And most of the times the soaked sticky sago was used to starch my office sarees.

A signature dish of Maharashtra in India, Sabudana Khichdi or Sago breakfast recipe is mainly cooked during fasting period when certain food items such as grain, pulses, onion & garlic are avoided. But then neither do I fast nor do I wait for any occasion to cook what I love

Baking is a real challenge if you wish to avoid two of the most important ingredients which give your cake that spongy and light texture, one is egg and the other is All purpose flour.

Though there is no specific reason for avoiding eggs in my bakes, I dislike using all purpose flour (maida) mainly due to health aspects. And this is what exactly happens with each bake of mine…will it rise…will it not. Anxiety vanishes when I see a gorgeous golden beauty popping out from my oven.

Oh yes, I too occasionally come across an adamant bread which fails to rise, that fussy cake showing the gooey inside and soft cookies which resembles more of flat breads. But then you learn with failures, the rate of which reduces drastically every time you see a perfect bake and a rewarding smile on the faces of your loved ones.

The two things that still lingers long after our visit to the hills of North India are the unpolluted air and the juicy fresh apples & plums we ate on our way from the orchids.  Blessed are those mountain people who are surrounded by the natural beauty and bounty. I was amazed by the abundance of fresh fruits in the valleys strewn all over the farms and roadsides, while back at home I often compare the prizes and buy them in numbers.

During our two days stay in a friends’ place I loved eating their special dishes, even the Rajma curry tasted different, pure mountain water and soil makes a big difference, they say. Think of a quick chutney recipe and it is either fresh coriander, mint, tomato or coconut for me, but most of the mountain people opt for fresh apples, prunes, plums or any other berry to make the chutney.

“Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.” ~ John Lennon.

I was content with what life offered to me for many years, overlooking the stagnancy it brought in my personal growth. Taking care of children, managing routine household chores kept me ticking, confined in the four walls of my sweet home. And then Lite Bite happened in 2009 and changed the entire perspective of what life is!

My day starts pretty early now and from then begins the game of catch-and-catch between the elusive ‘Time’ and me

The vast open Saffron fields in Jammu is worth a visit for any traveler in India. I was amazed to see these tiny plants with no prominent shoots and leaves, but just large bright violet flowers with crimson colored stigma or saffron as the main plant body. Acres of farm land could yield just a few grams of Saffron. No doubt the hard work that goes in cultivating Saffron makes this spice rare & pricey.

In India Saffron or Kesar as is called in Hindi, is extensively used in making milk based desserts and for cooking aromatic basmati rice Biryani. Though I don’t use saffron in my bakes, these popular Indian saffron cookies - Nankhatai are my favorite.