Vermicelli Recipe- Bhopali Sevai

Hey People,

Today I am sharing a very tasty dessert recipe. My hubby learnt this from a cookery show of his fav chef Vineet. Hubby has made it twice and it turns out really tasty. I’ve never cooked it myself but I stand with him in the kitchen (to prevent the mess :P).

Bhopali Vermicelli is a creamy, delectable sweat dish. It’s very easy and quick to dish out. The mean vermicelli takes a dashing avatar here.

Ingredients (Serves-4)

Vermicelli (Vermicelli)- 150 gm

Full cream milk- 750 ml

Kalakand/Rabri/Milkmaid- 200g

Gulabjamun- 4 pieces

Pistachio- 4 tbsp

Raisins + Charoli (chironji)- 4 tbsp

Desi ghee- 4 tbsp

Preparation-

Take ghee in a deep, thick-bottomed pan and roast vermicelli and pistachios in it together. When vermicelli turns brown, add milk and bring it to boil. Then add kalakand ( the chef prefers it, so does hubby) and other dry fruits. Keep stirring and as the mixture becomes thick (it hardly takes 5 minutes) turn off the flame. Pour the Vermicelli in four dessert bowls. Cut gulabjamuns in halves and arrange them on the thick Vermicelli. You can also sprinkle pistachios on gulabjamun.

Keep it in freezer for 30 minutes and serve chilled.

This lip-smacking sweet is perfect for every occasion and tastes heavenly. The taste may tempt you but eat it in moderation as it is very high in calorie content.

Try it and tell me how you liked it. It’s a perfect Diwali treat for your family and guests.

PS- you can use ’fini’ instead of vermicelli.

 

 

 

Colorbar Nude Pink 007 Lip Pencil Review-

Hallo Pretty Girls,

Today’s post is a ladies’ exclusive (unless boys are looking for something to gift). Yesterday I told you that I purchased two items from Colorbar. One is a lipliner and the other item is a primer. Before I review the lipliner, I’d like to inform you that Colorbar has come up with very pretty crayons for your luscious lips. They are quite cheap and highly pigmented. Shades available are so pretty that I was confused but will get at least one soon. I was in a hurry or I’d have taken pics and showed you the swatches.

Now, I bought 2 things and got an eyeliner free!!! It was a gift so I just took it and said ‘Thanks’. But at home I found out that the liner was already past its use-by dateL. I didn’t expect that. Let’s get started with the review-

Price- INR 399

Shelf-life- 2.5 years

Packaging- The lipliner is a metallic grey twist-pencil. The colour name and number is printed in black. The lower end of the pencil has the same colour as the shade so it’s easy to locate the desired shade. The packaging is good and tight cap makes it travel friendly as well.

Shade, Pigmentation & Texture- The shade is a lovely pink-brown. It looks browner on my lips when compared to the hand swatch where it looks more on the pinkish side. The pigmentation is good but the pencil tugs on lips (lipbalm needed).

What I think of Colorbar Nude Pink 007 Lip Pencil-

I almost always use a nude lipliner before applying lipsticks. This liner is perfect for the purpose. It makes my lipcolors last longer.

Though it doesn’t settle much in fine lines, it does accentuate them even after exfoliation. So if you want to wear this lovely nude all by itself. You are going to need a transparent gloss.

The shade does not transfer and is very light on lips. It lasts forever and you need a makeup remover to remove it completely.

I like this lip pencil a lot. The shade number 007 is also interesting especially for Bond….James Bond fans.

The Positives-

·         A pretty nude pink-brown

·         Not transferable

·         Lightweight

·         Good packaging

·         Long shelf-life

·         Will suit a variety of skin tones

·         Long lasting

·         Boosts the staying-power of lipsticks

·         Good pigmentation

The Negatives-

·         Little pricey

·         Accentuates fine lines

·         Does not glide smoothly on lips

·         Drying

Summing it up- This one is a nice option for that perfect nude base for your lipsticks. I would repurchase it.

Rating- 4.5/5

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My Online Shopping Experience- Purplle.com

Hi All,

I haven’t posted anything in last two days. Saturday was Ashtami so I was fasting and relaxing. Yesterday I went on an outing with my SIL and niece (I’m not too old for them :P). Though it was a window-shopping trip, we ended up buying a few things. I bought three cute pairs of earrings and two things from one of my dear brands- Colorbar. We ate a lot and I’m in love with the food-court of World Trade Park- grand interiors and delicious food. And more options are coming there soon to tickle your taste-buds (Jaipur is already a heaven for taste lovers whether you like Indian or international). But in the food-court you will see a really funny thing- boys dressed as the guards of Buckingham Palace standing like teddy-bears!!

More on Colorbar purchases later. It’s the time to share my purchasing experience on a website that offers a lot of items related to personal care for both men and women- purplle.com

About purplle.com-

This is a Mumbai based online-shopping portal. Purplle has a lots of brands on offer- from the drug-store items to the high-end ones.You will love the sheer variety of things on offer. They keep adding more and more new brands to their shop. They claim that they offer- Complete Personel Care and Grooming. They have cosmetics, personal-care products, fragrances and electronics used for grooming etc.

In cities other than Mumbai, they promise to deliver goods within 4-6 business days. That’s good, I say. They offer free home-delivery on orders of INR 699 and above (I love this part!!).

Their logistics partner is Javas.

My Journey with purplle.com-

I’ve shopped three times from them till date. I opt for Cash on Delivery as my bank does not approve many sitesL.

The first time I ordered, the items were on my doorstep bang on the fourth day….I was so happy. All the things were bubble-wrapped and packed in an ordinary brown carton, covered with a purplle.com sticky tape. I just do not like the carton. I know that I’ll throw it away but I WANT a pretty box.

My second shopping spree was not that great. I ordered four things and after 6 days got a mail stating that I’ll get three items in first shipping and the fourth one in another. I paid for 3 products and waited for the fourth to arrive. It never came L. I got a cancellation mail, due to unavailability (though the website showed the product ‘In Stock’). COD option saved me from trouble.

Here the good part was that even though the price of the first shipment was less than INR 699, I didn’t need to pay shipping charges (it was their mistake people). Later I got a ‘We are sorry for the delay’ mail and a discount coupon as an apology. The coupon had to be used within 2 days and offered 5% discount on all items. Without wasting any time I ordered again.

This time my order was delivered on the third day itself, they again deviated but for good this time.

The Positives-

·         Fast delivery (generally)

·         The products are always in good condition

·         They keep running good offers

·         Purplle has a great logistics partner in Javas- simply wow service

·         They offer cash on delivery

The Negatives-

·         You can’t see the contents without paying first

·         I have one bad experience but hope for the improvements are high

·         Many products are out of stock

·         Many brands are available but the number of products on offer needs an increase

Summing it up- purplle.com is a good option for online shopping lovers as well as for those who want to start shopping on the web. Go for it.

Rating- 4/5

An Update- This website has gone haywire now. They show things to be in stock but after placing the order, they say that order will be delayed as some item is not available. As of June 7, 2014, I'm still waiting for my order of May5, 2014 to be delievered completely. Customer service is pathetic and no one replies to mails and calls. My current rating would be- 1/5

My Dining Experience-Ministry of Spice, Jaipur

I am a food lover and keep exploring new restaurants with my hubby (he is a foodie as well :D). Our last stop was a restaurant located in lush greenery- Ministry of Spice.

(Can’t provide any pictures as we were out on some important work and didn’t carry the camera L)

After a morning of shopping and Sarkari offices we wanted to relax. Though we were tired but not very hungry. But he said that he will take me to a place with great ambience and food (Hubby has already been there, before our marriage, obviously!). We stopped outside a red boundary wall and I saw the name- Ministry of Spice (good one, I say). We stepped inside and I loved the soothing green environment.

About the restaurant-

The food-joint is located in SFS Mansarovar. This place used to be a horse-riding training academy (don’t know if it still is). The place has two sections- the portion on the right is open-air but has shade over it and the one on the left is an AC restaurant made of see-through glass. You can choose to sit wherever you want to. As it was a cloudy noon, we decided to enjoy the cool breeze. The waiter even set up a pedestal-fan and we settled on the comfortable cane chairs.

The Menu-

The waiter gave us the menu-cards, which had options in both veg and non-veg. They also offer continental, Chinese and desserts. The first thing that I noticed was that there were not many options but the selection of starters and main course was very careful. Next thing was the very nominal prices. Ya, Such nice food and at a beautiful place at a really good price!

As we were not very hungry, we ordered just one curry and rotis (we are vegetarians or eggetarians  to be precise). I have forgotten the exact name of the curry but it was something like- Firang Subz. It is English vegetables cooked in tomato gravy. Sounds tasty, right? The Chapattis we favoured were plane tandoori roti.

The Service and our experience-

Our order was on our table soon and I liked the presentation. The food looked really yummy and despite our low hunger levels, we almost jumped on it. I immediately realized that the food not only looked appetizing but it was quite delectable as well. We both had one chapatti more than our hunger :D.

The amount of curry was sufficient for two persons and they also served very nicely chopped onions, pickles and two types of chutneys to go with the food.

As we were enjoying the food, it started to rain. The blowing wind and mini rain-droplets that came with it every now and then, enhanced the complete experience.

The waiters dressed in red were quite attentive and friendly.

All our weariness was gone and we felt so relaxed.

The things I loved-

·         Most importantly the food was delicious

·         Soothing ambience

·         Polite and attentive staff

·         Economical

·         Two types of seating arrangements to choose from

The not so lovable points-

·         Toilets need an upgrade and more cleanliness

·         Located little far ( but it adds to the calmness)

·         More variety in the menu would be great

Summing it up- Jaipur has many great places for eating out and this is one of them. I would love to go there again and recommend the restaurant to all for its food and atmosphere. You can enjoy there with your whole family or just the two of you can spend some quality time. It is a great place for partying with friends as well.

They also offer a big lawn for large gatherings.

Rating- 4/5

I’m sorry for the photo-less post. You can visit there Facebook page here 

Address- SFS Mansarovar, Opp. Rajawat Farms, New Sanganer Road, Jaipur, Rajasthan

 

Lakmé Absolute Pop Tints Lip Tint- Candy Kiss Review

This is the first post on my blog. I wanted to write about something that I love a lot. After a long phase of wearing my thinking-hat, I realized that there are many such things :D. So I decided to share my love for the chubby Lakmé Absolute Lip tint. This is a very pretty collection by Lakmé, full of many gorgeous shades.

I tested all the shades on the Lakmé counter and picked the shade Candy Kiss, as it looked like a very suitable one for me.

                                      

Lakmé Says-

These thick creamy pencils in 8 pop shades deliver rich deep color and incredible shine in just a stroke, to give you lips that pop like it should. A high performance make-up collection of lip tints in shades of summer, including bright orange, vivacious pink and flaming red for that amazing “read-my-lips” pout.

·         Rich color delivery

·         Unique Pop Shades

The collection has 8 stunning shades- Plum rush, Pink sorbet, Candy kiss, Berry pink, Wine punch, Peach please, Orange tease, Grape hint

 

Price- INR 800 for just 2g of product. I got mine for 700 bucks from Lifestyle in June this yearJ.

As it is a limited edition product, I’m not sure if it is still available on counters but yes I still see it available online.

                                                        

Shelf-life- Expiry date is mentioned.

Packaging, Shade and Texture- The tint comes in a thick, black twist pencil with a transparent cap so it is easy to locate in the stash. Shade name is printed on base. On the top of the cap ‘Limited Edition’ is printed. The packaging is travel-friendly but not very pretty.

                                          

The shade Candy Kiss is soooo pretty . It is a very subtle and beautiful orange. This one will suit almost every skin tone.

The texture is creamy and like a lip balm.

The swatch is on a tissue paper because for some unknown reason my SLR refused to click the swatch on my hand.

                                                  

My opinion- I am dusky and have pigmented lips so was a little skeptical about the colour pay-off, but I loved it :D. The lip tint has good pigmentation for a lip crayon and covers my lips in 4 swipes- I know it’s a lot many swipes but that’s OK. Girls with lighter lips will definitely get the desired shade in 2 swipes. I would add that the coverage is not completely opaque on me and probably that’s why it looks so natural.

The crayon glides smoothly on my lips and I don’t need to use a lip balm as it is quite hydrating.

Lasting power is good- lasts for 2-3 hours without meals and fades evenly. It does not bleed so no worries here.

The colour brightens my face and looks lovely. I totally love this as it really makes my lips look like a juicy orange candy ;).  And I don’t think that it is a summer-only colour as the brand says. It is an all-season natural shade for me.

                                                   

The positives-

·         Very pretty shade

·         Hydrates lips

·         Travel-friendly packaging

·         Doesn’t feel heavy on lips

The Negatives-

·         Expensive

·         Pigmentation can be better

·         More lasting power is expected at this price

·         Not sure about availability

Summing it up- This is a must try shade for all girls. I highly recommend it even if you are new to oranges as it’s not OTT.

Score- 4/5 (1 mark deducted for high-price and low pigmentation) 

 P.S. - Please give your feedback by commenting below. There is a lot more to come on food as well as on Jaipur. Please share the topics you want to see here.