Oh yes most of the time, I end up doing exactly what my heart pleases.
And 4.5% of the time! I let my brains take over! and sometimes, just sometimes!
I act with caution.
But most of the times, caution is thrown to the wind, and I just run the risk of completely going turntables all over the country side.
But that is also fun , because then you get a look at life , from all different angles.
I was not like this in my growing years.
I mostly did what I thought would be the right thing to do, because I never wanted to go wrong, or upset my parents.
I still do not want to upset them ..
But as I grew up , I realised that I was a rebel..
And I softly turned my life upside down , and once it was all out of the box , and I had stretched myself from the shell that I was in.
I suddenly wondered , why I sat in a shell for so long.
I realised , it was because I was not really willing to accept myself, the way I was , but had accepted myself in the perception of others.
The best part I think about finding yourself along the way.
Is that you start seeing everything in a brand new perspective.
I realised that there was not just a black and white, but a beautiful grey..
Oh yes we should all have an opinion, but we need not be judgemental.
We need to know what we want to do, but know that if someone else does the opposite, he need not be wrong.
And I have realised, that the way someone treats me , is more often because how the person is feeling at that point of time in their life, and I happened to cross them at that point.
Do I fret, yes I do..
I fret deeply , if I get hurt.
Or if I have lost a friend, or if I feel, something is amiss.
But I have learned that "what is...IS"
And "what will be, will be"
Sometimes when everything is not alright.
Everything is awry.
Sometimes you fall apart, sometimes you fall together, but fall we must, because there must be something down , that we are supposed to find.
Most of the time, I have realised , I have mostly found a piece I never knew was missing..
It's quite lovely in retrospect actually..
So now that I have digressed from the cooking that I have done..
I think it's time I get back to the "piece de resistance"..
These lovely dough balls..
The first time I tasted them was on a cold London evening with my friend Sanjay, who insisted that if I tasted one, I would not be able to stop..
Well he was right, it was nicest piece of bread I had eaten..
And with one of the sweetest persons i know...
It's just the right size, and so you never can stop eating it easily.
DOUGH BALLS
INGREDIENTS
Fresh yeast - 20 gm
Flour- 200 gm
Sugar-1/2 tsp
Luke warm water - 120 ml
Oil - 3 tbsp
Pinch of salt
METHOD
In a big glass bowl, blend the yeast, with sugar and a tbsp of the water.
And leave it , till it bubbles and gets a bit frothy.
Then add the rest of the water and blend it properly
On a clean table top , or another bowl, sieve the flour , add the salt .
And make a well in the center , add the oil, add the water and slowly mix it to form a dough.
Knead it really well about 6-10 minutes, till the dough is nice and soft and springy.
Bring it all together in a shape of a ball, cover it with a damp muslin, and leave it to prove.
Till it is double in size.
Then add some flour on your work table , and knock the door , and flatten it.
Then roll it into a cylinder and make small even sized balls, I got about 18 pieces.
Leave it to prove about 30 minutes, till it has doubled in size and then brush it with some milk, and bake it in a pre-heated oven , at 180 degrees for 10 minutes , or till it is a lovely brown .
Then just serve it with some hot, with some homemade garlic butter, or then Nutella straight of the jar ..
That's what the kids and me did ..
We are kinda addicted to Nutella ..
While making them dough balls today I thought of my friend Nikhil .Chinnappa..
I met him at the MTV VJ Hunt.
He was just the most lovely guy ...
He was smart , courteous, good -lookin, confident, quirky, had his head on his muscular shoulders and had a beautiful warm heart, and that bit is what made me want him as my friend .
And that's what we became over that one week at the Vj hunt many many moons ago .
He was just awesome at work and a wonderful person even when the cameras stopped rolling .
And we are still friends, but do not meet that often..bloody hell..
But some people always stay part of your life, whether you meet often or not and he is one of them.
He is the guy who taught me how to host a live event, when I was with MTV..
How to handle huge crowds..
He is by far one of the most amazing guys I have met, he also introduced me to "Everybody's free to wear sunscreen" the song by Baz Luhrman..
"Paris Brest " at Sunny's in Bangalore.
Gun-powder from off M.G Rd in Bangalore.
Allepey fish curry and appam in Chennai..
And filter coffee..
And was an amazing co-host ,friend and knight in shining armour all rolled into one.
He always knew what he wanted , and was also clear how he is going to realise his dreams.
Something that I'm still learning.
He always pushed me to do better, and was a complimentary host to work with.
He has a tattoo of a wizard on his arm, so I remember, looking at it and saying,"Merlin?" and he said, "Gandalf" ..
I did not want to say "who?"..so I said , " well he looks like Merlin" ha ha ha ..
He spoke a language I sometimes did not understand..
Was filled with music I never heard, trance, progressive house and the likes..
Were concepts I learned from him..
And I have seen him work a crowd like no other...
He is truly "FANTASTIC"...(Which is also his favorite word, at least it was then...)
Well I do not see him often enough, nor his lovely prettier half Pearl..
There's is a beautiful love story..
And some days , I miss the madness , that we all lived together in..
We have all come such a long way ..
I have kids, he travels the world with his music ( I'm so jealous, about that)
My kids know his name, because he is "Famous"
Why am I telling you about Nikhil..???
I don't really know..
But I am ..
Because I guess, every time he walks through my mind, it explodes with memories of happy times, and I always break into a smile ..
He is one of the smile bringers in my life..
So in life I hope I'm a smile bringer.
It's not that we need to live life in a way that we need to make an impression.
But if we can live in a space that does not hurt someone ..
It's a good way to live..
Sometimes we touch peoples lives unknowingly..
When we do , what we bring to them , does impact their life in tiny or big ways.
So I try and keep this thought inside me.
Maybe I'm not always successful with doing the right thing.
But more often than not.
I do not say stuff I do not mean.
I realise that's the easiest thing to do .
But at the end of the day how you treat someone is far more important than what you say to them.
A lot of people say a lot of things to me.
That I may or may not take seriously.
But what if I do believe everything you say to me or insinuate..
And if your actions did not match your words ..
Then how would I feel ?
So how you treat me, how you make me feel , how my insides truly feel , even if my smile does not betray me..is what actually matters..
So today while I served the kids hot dough-balls, from the oven , with home-made garlic butter and a jar of Nutella..
And the kids were chatting about, what they are going to do in the holidays..
I was looking at these soft delicate dough balls, and thinking this is exactly how our hearts are , soft and like putty..
And most of the time, when we open ourselves to the people we love, we let them handle our heart..
So remember this while you handle someone else's ...
And so I bite into a warm bite of this little piece of bread, dipped in delicious garlic butter, made with Amul and a few dunked into a jar of Nutella.
I am thinking ..
Life could not be better...
Soft dough-balls on the table, with butter and Nutella ..
And laughter all around..
Some things and people are meant to be part of your life ..
So keep on walking, but stop to smell what's in the oven..
Because if you do not reach in time, it may burn..
And keep the ones you love in your life , close to you, if you can ..
And tell them you love them and more importantly show them..
People will walk in and out..
That's their prerogative ...
They may walk in and out sometimes because of their own fears and sometimes, because of you ..
So try and be the reason people walk into your life for..
and not otherwise..
So here's presenting, "Everybody's free to eat Dough-Balls"..
Fresh , simple and just the perfect size to fall in love with..
Just like me ha ha ha ...
And 4.5% of the time! I let my brains take over! and sometimes, just sometimes!
I act with caution.
But most of the times, caution is thrown to the wind, and I just run the risk of completely going turntables all over the country side.
But that is also fun , because then you get a look at life , from all different angles.
 |
| Thanks for this photo Amito and Eefa for teaching me how to do a headstand... |
I was not like this in my growing years.
I mostly did what I thought would be the right thing to do, because I never wanted to go wrong, or upset my parents.
I still do not want to upset them ..
But as I grew up , I realised that I was a rebel..
And I softly turned my life upside down , and once it was all out of the box , and I had stretched myself from the shell that I was in.
I suddenly wondered , why I sat in a shell for so long.
I realised , it was because I was not really willing to accept myself, the way I was , but had accepted myself in the perception of others.
The best part I think about finding yourself along the way.
Is that you start seeing everything in a brand new perspective.
I realised that there was not just a black and white, but a beautiful grey..
Oh yes we should all have an opinion, but we need not be judgemental.
We need to know what we want to do, but know that if someone else does the opposite, he need not be wrong.
And I have realised, that the way someone treats me , is more often because how the person is feeling at that point of time in their life, and I happened to cross them at that point.
Do I fret, yes I do..
I fret deeply , if I get hurt.
Or if I have lost a friend, or if I feel, something is amiss.
But I have learned that "what is...IS"
And "what will be, will be"
Sometimes when everything is not alright.
Everything is awry.
Sometimes you fall apart, sometimes you fall together, but fall we must, because there must be something down , that we are supposed to find.
Most of the time, I have realised , I have mostly found a piece I never knew was missing..
It's quite lovely in retrospect actually..
So now that I have digressed from the cooking that I have done..
I think it's time I get back to the "piece de resistance"..
These lovely dough balls..
The first time I tasted them was on a cold London evening with my friend Sanjay, who insisted that if I tasted one, I would not be able to stop..
 |
| Sanjay.. |
Well he was right, it was nicest piece of bread I had eaten..
And with one of the sweetest persons i know...
It's just the right size, and so you never can stop eating it easily.
DOUGH BALLS
INGREDIENTS
Fresh yeast - 20 gm
Flour- 200 gm
Sugar-1/2 tsp
Luke warm water - 120 ml
Oil - 3 tbsp
Pinch of salt
METHOD
In a big glass bowl, blend the yeast, with sugar and a tbsp of the water.
And leave it , till it bubbles and gets a bit frothy.
Then add the rest of the water and blend it properly
On a clean table top , or another bowl, sieve the flour , add the salt .
And make a well in the center , add the oil, add the water and slowly mix it to form a dough.
Knead it really well about 6-10 minutes, till the dough is nice and soft and springy.
Bring it all together in a shape of a ball, cover it with a damp muslin, and leave it to prove.
Till it is double in size.
Then add some flour on your work table , and knock the door , and flatten it.
Then roll it into a cylinder and make small even sized balls, I got about 18 pieces.
Leave it to prove about 30 minutes, till it has doubled in size and then brush it with some milk, and bake it in a pre-heated oven , at 180 degrees for 10 minutes , or till it is a lovely brown .
Then just serve it with some hot, with some homemade garlic butter, or then Nutella straight of the jar ..
That's what the kids and me did ..
We are kinda addicted to Nutella ..
While making them dough balls today I thought of my friend Nikhil .Chinnappa..
I met him at the MTV VJ Hunt.
He was just the most lovely guy ...
He was smart , courteous, good -lookin, confident, quirky, had his head on his muscular shoulders and had a beautiful warm heart, and that bit is what made me want him as my friend .
And that's what we became over that one week at the Vj hunt many many moons ago .
He was just awesome at work and a wonderful person even when the cameras stopped rolling .
And we are still friends, but do not meet that often..bloody hell..
But some people always stay part of your life, whether you meet often or not and he is one of them.
He is the guy who taught me how to host a live event, when I was with MTV..
How to handle huge crowds..
He is by far one of the most amazing guys I have met, he also introduced me to "Everybody's free to wear sunscreen" the song by Baz Luhrman..
"Paris Brest " at Sunny's in Bangalore.
Gun-powder from off M.G Rd in Bangalore.
Allepey fish curry and appam in Chennai..
And filter coffee..
And was an amazing co-host ,friend and knight in shining armour all rolled into one.
He always knew what he wanted , and was also clear how he is going to realise his dreams.
Something that I'm still learning.
He always pushed me to do better, and was a complimentary host to work with.
He has a tattoo of a wizard on his arm, so I remember, looking at it and saying,"Merlin?" and he said, "Gandalf" ..
I did not want to say "who?"..so I said , " well he looks like Merlin" ha ha ha ..
He spoke a language I sometimes did not understand..
Was filled with music I never heard, trance, progressive house and the likes..
Were concepts I learned from him..
And I have seen him work a crowd like no other...
He is truly "FANTASTIC"...(Which is also his favorite word, at least it was then...)
Well I do not see him often enough, nor his lovely prettier half Pearl..
There's is a beautiful love story..
And some days , I miss the madness , that we all lived together in..
We have all come such a long way ..
I have kids, he travels the world with his music ( I'm so jealous, about that)
My kids know his name, because he is "Famous"
Why am I telling you about Nikhil..???
 |
| And Warsi cooked for us a meal on the trek... |
 |
| During a trek we did for a show called "Chill-Out"..Cyrus, Me & Nikhil.. |
 |
| Bath after 4 days on the trek.. |
I don't really know..
But I am ..
Because I guess, every time he walks through my mind, it explodes with memories of happy times, and I always break into a smile ..
He is one of the smile bringers in my life..
 |
| Mini & Nikhil ....smile bringers.... |
So in life I hope I'm a smile bringer.
It's not that we need to live life in a way that we need to make an impression.
But if we can live in a space that does not hurt someone ..
It's a good way to live..
Sometimes we touch peoples lives unknowingly..
When we do , what we bring to them , does impact their life in tiny or big ways.
So I try and keep this thought inside me.
Maybe I'm not always successful with doing the right thing.
But more often than not.
I do not say stuff I do not mean.
I realise that's the easiest thing to do .
But at the end of the day how you treat someone is far more important than what you say to them.
A lot of people say a lot of things to me.
That I may or may not take seriously.
But what if I do believe everything you say to me or insinuate..
And if your actions did not match your words ..
Then how would I feel ?
So how you treat me, how you make me feel , how my insides truly feel , even if my smile does not betray me..is what actually matters..
So today while I served the kids hot dough-balls, from the oven , with home-made garlic butter and a jar of Nutella..
And the kids were chatting about, what they are going to do in the holidays..
I was looking at these soft delicate dough balls, and thinking this is exactly how our hearts are , soft and like putty..
And most of the time, when we open ourselves to the people we love, we let them handle our heart..
So remember this while you handle someone else's ...
And so I bite into a warm bite of this little piece of bread, dipped in delicious garlic butter, made with Amul and a few dunked into a jar of Nutella.
I am thinking ..
Life could not be better...
Soft dough-balls on the table, with butter and Nutella ..
And laughter all around..
Some things and people are meant to be part of your life ..
So keep on walking, but stop to smell what's in the oven..
Because if you do not reach in time, it may burn..
And keep the ones you love in your life , close to you, if you can ..
And tell them you love them and more importantly show them..
People will walk in and out..
That's their prerogative ...
They may walk in and out sometimes because of their own fears and sometimes, because of you ..
So try and be the reason people walk into your life for..
and not otherwise..
.JPG) |
| Was not able to shoot the baked dough balls, as they got devoured, before I had a chance to take a photo.. |
So here's presenting, "Everybody's free to eat Dough-Balls"..
Fresh , simple and just the perfect size to fall in love with..
Just like me ha ha ha ...
Maria every word about Nikil is true, he looks very lively when on screen. we do miss him, the selfie photo is very nice of three of you. Your post also reminds me of you, Shenaz and cyrus broacha, those MTV days. Can u give the receipe of how to make home made Garlic butter with amul butter.
ReplyDeleteDear Sidharth,
DeleteThose were fun times..
Will post a recipe soon..
All I say is I jst luv nikhil sir..he's lyk the most kind person..his persona leave every one wonderful. Thx maria mam for writing all.
ReplyDeleteThank you for reading...
DeleteAwwww.........it was so awesome to see ua flashback...n d pics was really v v v v amazing....! My fav was in which Arshad Sir n u wr thr.....:) Arshad Sir is extremely lucky have you in hiz life....:) MY DREAM IS JUST TO MEET U ONCE IN MY LIFETIME MAM....^_^
ReplyDeleteThank you , would love to meet you too..
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteOMG.....! Thank you so much Mam...Its means alot to me..:) I feel so lucky today! Will send u my regards n gifts for sure from my side with lotsa love for u n Arshad Sir ^_^ as soon as possible :) may b i cnt get to meet u coz of securities but i vl sure sends u gifts n regards at ua place...^_^ Lotsa Love ♥ to u n ua family.....:) Ur crazy Fan of Warsi Family...:) ♥
ReplyDeleteDear Disha,
Deleteyou do not have to send anything..
Just stay happy ...
I remember Nikhil being such a sensation way back when we were in high school and college. This brought back such sweet memories and this looks like such a fantastic recipe to try with my 5 year old. Love the happy aura around you. Keep spreading the cheer!
ReplyDeleteDear Anushruti,
DeleteHave fun with the recipe..
Keep smiling ...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteDear Maria..
ReplyDeleteI was browsing through Nikhil's twitter feed and I came across this...The late 90s...I was just into my teens when I watched MTV for the first tym and you all made my teenage so special..:)... and it will remain beautiful for always..
made me nostalgic reading about your time at MTV....yes..i agree..Nikhil is one of my favourite VJs of all time..
but so r u, mini, raags, malaika, the 2 cyruses n shehnaz ...:D...mtv select..the spoof songs(kambakt ishq still my fav)..bakra...most wanted...mtv classics in early morning...oh my..
..I used to feel so happy when any of the VJs appeared in a music video..Malaika in Lucky ali song, Mini in the joshilay song..n U in the harry anand song..ittefaaqan pyar..;)..i used to feel like one of my buddies had won that chance to be in a music vid..
will always miss those times and u all...venever i see mini or u or anyone else from that mtv batch on tv in some other show, I think back to your mtv shows..
Even though u r a mom now and mini has started wearing sarees n all, u all vl always be those hip n cool VJs who brought us the magic of music from all around the world with a smile on your faces...
thank you..and I hope I get a reply..It would have left my 14 year old self in tears....tc..
n congzz to Arshad for Jolly LLB..I love that movie...tc and god bless..:)
My dear you just made my day..
Deletefelt so good reading your letter...
A lovely nostalgic post which straight away pulled me back to my teens....yes, You, Nikhil, Mini, Cyrus (both), Shehnaz all of you were super cool and stylish. Now I am 26years and a mommy to a year old baby girl. How time flies!!!!! I can't tell you how badly I am hooked to your blog that I keep re-reading your posts. Your home page is so lively and catchy....such well written posts and delicious recipes to try at home.
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to newer posts and pics...
Thank you so much Anjana...
DeleteHi Maria! How I love your recipes. It started with Cinnamon rolls featured in Better homes and Garden, which were gorgeous. Now I made cheesy buttery rolls and they were awesome. Today I made different shaped chicken rolls with the same dough I wish I could put up a picture here for u. Keep up the good work and post loads and loads of recipes for us to try.
ReplyDeleteRegards,
Supriya