Jhoola / Swing - Popsicle - ice stick craft

For a long time thought of making a small swing / jhoola using popsicle sticks. Finally gave it a try today (ofcourse with lot of re-works) and here it is for your art admirer eyes

You will need

1. Popsicle sticks - 1 bunch or 22 sticks
2. Rope
3. Beads (optional)
4. Glitter glue
5. Glass colours
6. Craft glue or fevicol or glue gun

This is how I did that. 

1. Arrange the sticks as shown here (make 2). This is the base. For additional support I stuck a cardboard of the same size below the sticks at the base.

2. Place two sticks crossing each other on top as shown in the photo (do it on both the bases)

You got two base supports for the jhoola / swing as shown.

3. Place them  at at equal distance. The centre gap should measure 2". Then two popsicle sticks on front as well as at the back connecting the two pieces as shown in the picture below

4. Now cut  the seat of 2.7" pieces and join them with another two pieces as shown in the picture below

5. Now pierce hole into the stick edge on both ends of the sticks at the front and the rear with the help of a big sewing needle or compass needle.

6. Take a rope and put it through the hole on one side. Tie a knot below the seat to secure it.

7. Pass two beads through it. Keep one bead at the end touching the seat. Pass the rope around a popsicle stick and bring the thread down and pass it through the second bead and pass the thread through the other hole behind the first one and same way secure it with a knot. (do the same procedure for the other side too)

 8.  now place the stick on top of the base stand as shown in the picture below. Your Swing / Jhoola is ready now for decoration.

This is how it looks after decoration!

Happy crafting! :-)

Conch Crochet

Another add on to my Amigurumi Colletion of aquatics! The Conch

The beautiful pattern I got it from here!

Mampazha Pulissery - Ripe Mango Khadi

The aroma, sweetness & royal colour of mango blended with spices, coconut oil & sour curd makes it the king of all dishes. Aboslutely royal and stunning dish from God's Own Country the greener of green India - Kerala!

Ingredients :

1. Ripe Mango - 3 Nos (flavourful & sweet mango variety of your region)
2. Sour thick buttermilk - 1 cup
3. Grated coconut - 1 cup
4. Red chillies - 4 nos
5. Peppercorns - 1 tsp
6. Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
7. Fenugreek seeds - 1/2 tsp
8. Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp
9. Salt to taste
10. Sugar - 3 tsp (or to taste)

Tempering :-

1. Coconut Oil - 1 & 1/2 tbsp 
2. Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
3. Curry leaves - 1 sprig

Procedure :-

• Slice the mangoes with skin. Remove skin from few pieces and keep it aside. this we are going to use at the finishing stage of the dish for garnishing.

• Boil mango pieces with skin (this will emit complete flavour of mango) adding 2 and 1/2 tea cups of water, salt and turmeric powder. Once cooked, remove skin from the mango pieces and let it cool separately.

• Dry roast Fenugreek (methi) seeds till they turn light brown in colour, powder it using mortar & pestle (or prepare and powder it in large quantity & store in an air tight container to use in khadis & other preparations)

• In a small pan, heat 1/2 tsp coconut oil and roast the red chillies (this will give nice flavour to the dish)

• Grind coconut, Cumin seeds, Red Chillies, Peppercorns together adding water to a smooth paste (you can use the water in which mango is boiled)

• Mash the boiled mango pieces and add the ground masala paste to it, add sugar, roasted fenugreek seed powder and boil

• Add the thick & sour buttermilk & cook on medium flame  stirring continuosly for 4 min or till foam forms on top.

• Remove from flame and temper with mustard seeds & curry leaves in coconut oil and add to the dish.

•  Now add the saved ripe mango pieces to garnish the dish.

• Tounge tickling royal pulissery is ready to make you drool :p

Mezhukupirati / mezhukuvarati is the best side dish for this. Fried Kerala Urad Papad is added bonus!

 

Lotus in the Pond - crochet candle light decor

Happily presenting to your eyes, a new addition to my home decor.....

Aren't they so cute?!!........

I made the Lotus and leaves then attached them. As I always try to make things that are user friendly to wash & dry, made two detachable leaves. To facilitate that added a strap & press button to fix them to the flower.  Just make addtional round of loops at the end round of the flower, to make way for the leaves to be attached to the flower.

Thus the strap will become invisible as it goes behind the leaf.

I thought of attaching a bud in the centre but then kept it for my next project as this one I can use  as a table decor. The candle with holder will sit in the centre portion of the flower.

A nice decor for a candle light dinner! :-) 

Instant Mango pickle - with tempering

Here pre-monsoon showers have started so it is a sign that mango season is coming to an end. So purchased some raw mangoes as I was craving for some simple pickles.

Instant mango pickle or manga curry - earlier I shared the one without tempering. 

Now sharing the other method which uses tempering. This is the one I served you all along with greens gravy the other day :)

It has less shelf life hence after 1st use, store in refrigerator. The facility of instant pickle is that it can be prepared in small quantities at when required, quick & delicious.

Ingredients :- 

1. Raw mangoes - 2 Nos.
2. Asafoetida powder - 1/4 tsp
3. Red chilli powder - 2 tsp
4. Salt to taste
5. Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
6. Oil for tempering
7. Mustard seeds

Procedure:-

• Cut raw mangoes into small pieces
• Heat oil in a wok, add mustard seeds. After they crackle switch off the stove. remove the wok.
• Add Asafoetida powder, turmeric powder, salt, mix.
• add red chilli powder and mix well
• Add it to the cut raw mangoes
• Toungue tickling instant mango pickle is ready! 

Other Mango Recipies :-

1. Raw Mango Curry (Manga Kootan)
2. Raw Mango Rice
3. Mampazha Pulissery (A curry using Buttermilk and Ripe Mangoes)

Linking Posts to "The Kerala Kitchen Event"

From my cookbook for culinary spells, linking the following yummy recipes born in God's Own Country to The Kerala Kitchen June 2012 event hosted by  Julie @ Erivum Puliyum (wow! what a toungue tickling blog name!) :p

 

1. Puli Inji - Tounge Tickler 

2. Vellai appam without coconut & without yeast

3. Vegetable Istoo (stew)

4. Pazhampori 

5.Pulissery 

6. Olan

7. Palada Pradhaman

Puli Inji - tounge tickling side dish

Puli inji or inji puli AKA Pulikachal takes its place on a feast menu. The toungue tickler serves a good aid for digestion after a heavy meal. Goes well traditional main course rice dishes, curd rice, chapathi, dosa, etc

Ginger : Root Spice gives fragrance to any dish it is added to. Used in western as well as in Asian Cuisine.  Helps control lipids and free radicals.  Helps ease muscle pain, when had with a combination of hot water & lime it helps in weightloss as well as control blood cholestrol....helps to control nauseas, gas etc. however, it should be avoided while having acidity.

Tamarind: sour & slightly sweet fruit aids digestion. It is used around the world for various medicinal purposes. Anything in excess is not good. So eat it moderately. Always buy old tamarind which are dark in colour and will act friendly on your stomach. Its toungue tickling taste will make you crave for more....

Ingredients :

1. 2 Cups - Tamarind Extract (thick)
2. 1/3 cup - Jaggery (grated)
3. 1/4 cup - Finely chopped Ginger
4. 3 tbsp - Gingely Oil
5. 1 tsp  - Asafoetida
6. 1/2 tsp - Turmeric Powder
7. 2 Nos. - Green Chillies
8. 1/2 tsp - Red Chilli Powder
9. Salt to taste
10. 1 spring - Curry leaves
11. 1 tsp - Mustard seeds
12. 1/2 tsp - Chana dal  

Procedure :-

• Finely chop ginger and green chillies. Grate Jaggery.
• Heat oil in a wok, add mustard seeds. When they start crackling add chana dal.
• When dal turns golden colour, add curry leaves, green chillies and ginger pieces
• saute for 1 minute

• Add the Tamarind extract, turmeric powder, red chilli powder, grated jaggery, Asagfoetida, Salt to taste, Mix well.

• When it starts boiling, simmer the flame and let it cook for 20 minutes or till the oil separate and a thick consitency is formed. stir in between occasionally. [the aroma it spreads across the air will make everyone go gastronomic]

• Mouthwatering inji puli recipe is ready to kindle the intestinal juices.

Granny Square Crocheted Shoulder Bag

As all the bags i have made are given away as gift, thought to gift myself with a nice bag which can hold my purse and my mobile.

Crocheted this bag using granny square.

Chana Pindi (Chickpeas - Rawalpindi style)

Chana prepared in the simplest way without much of labour & don't use any bhuna masala, tomato, coriander leaves.

Ingredients :-

1. Chickpea - 1 Cup
2. Cardamom - 1 No.
3. Clove - 2 Nos
4. Cinnamon - 1/2" stick
5. Water - 2 Cups
6. Green Chillies - 2 nos (or as you prefer) - chop finely
7. Ginger - 1" piece  (chop finely)
8. Pomegranate seeds powder - 1tbsp (anardhana powder)
9. Cumin powder - 1/2 tsp
10. Coriander powder - 1.5 tsp
11. Pepper Powder - 1 tsp
12. Garam Masala powder - 1 tsp
13. Amchur powder - 1 tsp (dry mango powder)
14. Ghee - 2 tbsp
15. Onion - 1 No. (finely chopped)
16. Salt to taste

Note : 

1. If you don't get anardhana powder then you can grind some fresh pomegranate seeds & use in the recipe. You can also prepare without pomegranate seeds but adding them will add to the taste of the pindi chana.

Procedure :-

• Soak chickpeas overnight. [or for 7 hours. If you forgot then don't worry, fill in a flask with hot water, put the chick peas in it and leave it for 3 hours]

• In a pressure cooker, put the chickpeas with 2 cups water, salt, cinnamon stick, Cloves and cardamom. When pressure builds up, simmer the flame & cook for 15 minutes (in hawkins cooker). Otherwise pressure cook till 3 whistles.
• If you use dry pomegranate seed

• Let the cooker cool down and strain the water, preserve it for later use.

• To the cooked chickpeas (chana) add Cumin powder, Coriander powder, Pomegranate seed powder (or freshly ground ones), Pepper powder, Garam masala and Dried mango powder (amchur), mix well.
• In a small wok heat the ghee & add it to the chana mixture, cook it for 1 minute by stirring continously

• Add the saved water in which chana is boiled

• Adjust the salt if required

• Bring to boil till it becomes semi solid consistency and ghee separates  (say 10 minutes) - stir occasionally.

• switch off the flame. Add the chopped onions (raw), mix well and serve hot with rice or rotis.

If freshly ground masalas are used, they add to the flavour of the dish. So I roast and crush them nicely in my mortar & pestle.

Jewellery Chest - Popsicle / ice stick craft

Got boosted by the reward yesterday. So sat up and made this beautiful jewellery chest to treat myself.... :-)

Easy fun project for kids.

 

This is how I made it

Materials :

1.  Popsicle sticks
2. Fevicol
3. Velvette cloth
4. Embellishments using pearls, chamkis etc
5. Glass colours
6. Gold glitter glue
7. Zari border

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Step :1 :  For the base, arrange sticks like this :- (make - 2) one for base and other for lid

Step 2 : Place one stick on top and one at the bottom as shown in the pic (do this for both pieces)

One piece keep for lid (that is over. only decoration need to be done)

The other piece use for base & proceed as shown in the following pictures.

similarly arrange sticks two vertical over lapping the end place two horizontal - alternatively by applying glue on the ends till you get the desired height.

Once the box is ready, decorate it with the decoration materials.

 

 

Chest is ready to hold your treasures :-)