Being Dhriti!: August 2014

What's cooking in MJ Kitchen?

Mathura k dubki wale aaloo

hhttp://www.vegrecipesofindia.com/mathura-ke-dubki-wale-aloo-recipe/

Crispy Eggplant!

Dhodho with Lassi

home fried pani puri

Trying gulab jamun at home!

Brownie with icecream!

Eedda - gujju snack!

Kaaju Paneer with Garlic naan!

Jalepeno bread with guac!

Fish tikka masala!

Kale chips

Crispy maggie!

Maggie with bbq veggies!

Madras tea! Our speciality!

Handwo - gujju snack!

Baked fish masala with masala rice!

Dahi vada

Daal pakwaan!

Fry'ums :)

Masala Papad!

Aaloo patis!

Home made burrito bowl!

Inside of the bowl!

Sev-usal

Sev-usal take 2

This year my birthday was one of the most eventful birthdays ever. Our new home was born on the same day I was <3. This was one of the best feeling one could get. Cant ask for anything better than this :) The best part is when I saw a "Happy Birthday" banner on the main door. That was so sweet :) I was surprised to see that and was wondering if the Taylor Morrison (construction company) guys put that up and that's how they welcome you to the new home. But later on asking Manoj I realized it was him who had sneaked in for couple of hours the day before to set things up before we enter our new home :)

Let us take a selfie first ;)

Later that evening, he had also planned a surprise party for me in the Encinal park. We did barbeque party at the park where we cooked a bunch of stuff on the grill and had loads of fun together :)

Happy birthday to me :)

With the crazy gang!

This year Chandni also made a short video to wish me happy birthday which also made the day extra special for me. Here is the video:

Shravan 2014

Shravan is a month of festivities. It is a month of festivals as well as a month of birthdays for the Wadhwani's. Many special people in my life share their birthdays with me in this month :) When I was a kid, we used to celebrate this month to its max. (Even more than Diwali, Navratri, Uttarayan, etc) Be it Rakshabandhan, Thadri, Janmashtami, Teejri, Independence day, Raja's birthday, Chandni's birthday, my birthday all of my cousins and rest of the family would gather at our place. If we did not have any festival/birthday on a particular day, we would meet for playing cards. It's a month of earning money (If you are lucky :) but if you lose money, your parents convince you by saying its lucky to lose in the month of Shravan. More Laxmi will come to our house if we lose :) Not sure where all this came from. But this is what I have grown up listening :))

Here are a few pictures of how we celebrated our Shravan month in California. It was not 'so' happening as in India. (India is always the BEST no matter what!) I miss home :'(