When I was back in India, I didn't know about Halloween, and now when I am here, I wonder "Why do we celebrate Halloween?" "Where did it come from?"... So, I googled and finally found my answer...:D..
....The history of Halloween goes back 2000 years. Many believe that Halloween’s origins are found in the Celtic festival of Samhain. The Celts, who were located in Ireland, the UK and the northern parts of France, celebrated their New Year on the first of November. Samhain was celebrated the night before the New Year.
The New Year, Celts believed, marked summer’s end, harvest time, and the start of dark, cold winter months. Those winter months were associated with death by these people. On October 31, the night before the New Year, the Celts celebrated Samhain. This day, they believed, was when the ghosts of the deceased returned to earth because the boundaries between the living world and the dead world blurred....
But, Why do we wear the scariest possible costume on Halloween?.. because....
...dressing in costumes has a couple possible origins. European and Celtic people both felt winter was a frightening time. It was cold, it was darker, and the possibility of running out of food was great. When they reached the time when they thought the dead returned, they thought they might encounter these ghosts whenever they left their houses. The wearing of masks and costumes grew from these people donning masks so the ghosts would not recognize them!... hahahaha.. How intriguing..:)
Hmmmm, now I know the soul purpose of celebrating Halloween and the secret behind the weird, scary costumes...and here is a cute little poem for all of u..:))
Halloween pumpkin carved with a smile..
The candle inside flickers, every once in a while...
He sits by the doorway watches the kids go by..
Every once in a while he sees bats fly by..
Feeling kind of sad cause tonight's Halloween..
tomorrow he'll probably be pie topped with whipped cream....:)
" A Nightmare of the Kitchen" Meme
Ashaji tagged me for "Nightmare of the Kitchen" Meme which was orignally started my dear Lakshmi. Curious to know their Memes first.. here they are:
Ashaji's Mexican Fried Icecream
Lakshmi's Wicked Wicked Choclate
Now my turn....
We, gurls during the initial days of cooking, try to impress our (would be) better halves by cooking those which they like the most.. that is/was the case with me too.. I love when 'S' says - "Wow, Lovely... this is better than what my mom makes".. hehehe.. honestly, I look for such a response every time I cook.. :DD..
One fine morning, when 'S' was about to leave for work, he said - " I love Jowar Rotis...my mom makes them so well....not everybody can make them...they are hard to make..."...that day, I was determined to make some nice, fluffy Jowar Rotis and prove him wrong.
Next day, when we went to Indian stores for groceries, I picked up Jowar Flour. ( Ofcourse, 'S' gave a scoffing look to me.. which by the way I didn't care for.. remember I had a point to prove..)
The very next day, when 'S' left for work, I started my research about whats the easiest way of making these "Rotis". I found this and this as my guiding forces and got on to work. As the posts said, the mixed the flour with luke warm water .. made a dough .. took a small ball to make a roti. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.. I couldn't.. becoz it was so soft like a pudding.. tried for the second time... No luck... Guess, how many times did I try - 52 times for almost 1.5 hours.. I tried and tried.. All my effort in vain...Finally 'S' came home.. and bursted out in laughter..Why?..- I was muddied with flour all over my face, my hands, on the kitchen floor...:(...Booooo.. But, I did manage to take a shot of a cute little roti which I made with lots and lots of hardships..Here it is:
Then what did I do?... any guesses..- I mixed lots of wheat flour into the jowar flour batter and made normal chapathis...Intelligent me...:))
But, I did gave up making Jowar Rotis for now and learnt a good lesson that 'not all recipes come by just enthusiam.. experience also matters'. Probably, I will try making these after few years. when I am 30 or so..till then, I will ask 'S' amma or my mom to make some for us.. hehehe
Thats my story for the latest edition of "Nightmare in the Kitchen"..
Its time for tagging..I have so many to tag but to mention a few,
Seena, Srivalli, Sirisha and Sunita to share their "Nightmares in the Kitchen" will all of us..:D
Adieu for now gurls and Happy Halloween!!!!
Hayyooooooooo..U R the fourth one who tagged me..:D Don't kill me, I will try to write some thing..loved your roti making story..any way it didn't go into the waste..
ReplyDeleteAnd this is really true.."not all recipes come by just enthusiasm.. experience also matters"
Yo.......Such an evil thing to do on Halloween Siri......Dekh loongi....Yeee Haa Haa......:-)) Had fun reading ur story....So true.....My mom-in law is one among the clan who thinks they are superior cooks....and that we daughter-in laws are novices...just to prove her wrong....I struggled so much and made Kajji kayas,Neelambram (These are considered a delicacy sweetmeat in my mom-in law's family which only experts could do)....Raghu was surprised to see those Nilambralu made by me...they were so perfect :-)
ReplyDeleteIf there is enough appreciation.....Then things wud have been different :-)
Ur story fascinates me...Thatz a cute little leftover roti u have Siri :-)) Don't worry...one day u will become an expert in making these rotis dear :-) Ur better half shud be surprised :-)
Thanks for tagging me......Will post mine soon :-))))
Nice write-up on Halloween....God this comment is getting too long......:-)))
Happy Halloween Siri! Great post.
ReplyDeleteLOL @ the Jowar roti. Yes, you do need practice but glad you could get atleast one there!:D
Here is how I do it. Boil 1 cup of water with 1 tsp oil and little salt, turn down the heat and add as much flour you need to make a solid lump, cover and leave on warm for 5 mins.Turn off heat, cool and make rotis as usual adding dry flour if you need to.Try it!:)
LOL. cute looking rotis though.
ReplyDeleteditto asha, 1 cup water for 1 cup jowar is more than enough. trust me, jowar roti, ragi roti, akki roti are simple as long as you get the dough right.
happy halloween siri and poor u!! i know few things u can never make them well.
ReplyDeletehats off for trying 52 times in 1.5 hrs!!!
Happy Halloween !! And ur efforts are commendable.
ReplyDeleteSiri, some things just don't come out right...but kudos to you for trying repeatedly...maybe one day...will try to take up the tag...enjoy the spirit of halloween.
ReplyDeleteAh, even I have had a big nightmare, and it was quite time-consuming.
ReplyDeleteHi Siri, it was nice to read the halloween story. Am amazed at how hard you tried.. 52 times!! very sweet of you actually. I attempted adhirasam over the weekend - supposed to be something that one can make well with experience and they came out so crispy that i swore never to make them again. I guess i'm not as patient as you! :)
ReplyDeleteKya madamji .....bahut mazaak uda rahe hain hamara.....nenu mummy tho cheptha....waaaaaaaaaaaaah :-))
ReplyDeleteLOL! This happens to all of us! I have my stories too! Some how you finally managed a roti and posted it!:D I was just imagining how your face would've looked with all the flour! Just some kind of facial!:))
ReplyDeleteThanks to you I finally came to know about the famous hallowen every one was bragging about! I was just so lazy to search it myself in google. so decided to wait till someone posts.:D
Good to read about Halloween here, I didn't really know the history and my Father-in-law was asking me yesterday
ReplyDeleteBTW didn't know you were married !!!! :D
siri, enjoyed your post! informative Halloween story. you had so much patience... one day you will become an expert in making these rotis!
ReplyDeleteHappy hallowenn..thats so informative..enjoy reading ur post..grt nightmare...i cam imagine how u look wid all flours in face...really cute...hope ur hubby would have loved that well
ReplyDelete:-)....sure u'll becme an expert in roti making in future...
@ Seena: Ya dear, I did make a good use of the Jowar dough. glad u liked the moral of my nightmare. heheh..:D
ReplyDelete@ Sirisha: Heehaha.. Now that u are tagged, u HAVE to share ur experience with all of us .. UNDERSTAND... hehe.. just kidding..:D We, gurls always cook for praises heheh..and we all love it.. don't we..:D Thanks for ur cute comment Sirisha..:)
@ Asha: Happy Halloween to you too ashaji. Thanks for the Jowar Roti procedure, so sweet of u and lakshmi.. this time if i don't get these rotis straight, I will drop by one ur houses and have some.. what say..:D
@ Lakshmi: With great great difficulty, I cud make one smal kutti roti lakshmi.. hopefully, someday when I am totally free and in a mood to experiment, I will try these..:)
ReplyDelete@ Padmaja: Indeed Poor me padmaja, U shud have seen my plight while making these rotis, at the end of the day, I have body aches too.. Boooo..:(
@ Pooja: Thanks dear, Happy Halloween to you too..:)
@ Sunitha: Now that u are tagged, we will be eagerly waiting for ur story dear.. Ya, (maybe), I will make some and impress 'S'.
ReplyDelete@ Sra, Laavanya: Everybody have their share of kitchen nightmares dear..:) Happy Halloween to u dearies.
@ Sirisha: Hum kya aapka mazaak udhayenge behenji, vadde log, vaddi vaddi baatein.. aapke level tak pahunchnekeliye, saalo lagjayenge...;)
@ Lathamma: Though Lakshmi has started this Meme amma, please do share ur experiences with all of us. The flour was seriously like a facial amma, also I had a very bad body ache too.. esp leg pain.. Boooo. Will try to do better next time..:) "Umeed peto duniya kayam hain"..:D
ReplyDelete@ Sandeepa: No No dear, I am not married, I have a fiancee..:) would be u see..:D and thanks for ur comments dearie..
@ Lissie: Even I didn't know much about Halloween dear, got to know when I was googling to write this post.. hehehe..:D
@ Remya: Happy Halloween to you too dear. and thanks for ur sweet comments..:D
ReplyDeletehave to admire your determination...i would have screw-it by the end of first time
ReplyDeleteMy husband informed me about the halloween histiry 2 days ago, and it's the same as what you stated, so i guess he was right:)
ReplyDeleteLoved your artistic work on the pumpkin!!
@ Rajitha: Thanks dear. It not my admiration gurl, I had to prove even I can do it.. hehhe.. :D
ReplyDelete@ Mansi: The pics are from Google Images dear. Happy Halloween to u gurl..:D
Haha..I think you should have just heated the dough till it became dry. I don't add warm water to flour...I add flour to boiling water and keep mixing till it becomes like chapathi dough (still heating). If it is still soft, I take out from heat and add little flour and mix to make small balls.Then I use normal rolling pin and roll like chapathis. Try it once again and I am sure you will get it right...
ReplyDeleteHappy halloween
ReplyDeleteThanx for the halloween story siri and happy halloween to you too..
ReplyDeleteI too can just imagine how you would have looked!!And you counted on how many times you kept trying to roll out...Miserable...
Lol, thats a nice disaster story... :) I too hate it when Siv gushes about his mom's cooking, even though she is a terrific cook ;)
ReplyDelete@ Shilpa: Thanks dear. I will try to make these rotis like the way u gurls suggested. Hopefully, will be able to make a few..:D
ReplyDelete@ Sagari: Happy Halloween to u too dear.
@ Rajeshwari: Glad that u liked the info about Halloween dear, though we don't celebrate the festival. just wanted to share the spirit of halloween with u all. I was indeed counting , unknowingly hehe
ReplyDelete@ Sig: Hehehe , I think Sig, that the case with everybody..:) Happy Hallowen dear..:D
that was nice...fun meme to read...will do it sometime later...thanks!
ReplyDeleteLovely meme!!Informative post abt halloween as well...yeah exp is all what matters, dear!!...keep trying, you will become an expert Roti maker one day!!:)
ReplyDeleteSiriji....I just gave my meme for the Kitchen nightmares :-) Check out my latest post dear.
ReplyDeleteAlso, check out the Halloween link in my post to ur site :-))
Have a great day :-)
Hehe... it was fun reading thru your nightmare....... it happens buddy... Thanks for your research on halloween! I now learned what it is too.
ReplyDeletemaybe someone should start mail order for these rotis. loved reading your post.
ReplyDelete@ Srivalli: Thanks dear. will be waiting for ur "Nightmare of the kitchen" Meme..:D
ReplyDelete@ Bharathy: Thanks for ur sweet comments dear. I am very determined to learn making these rotis ... will take sometime though..:)
@ Sirisha 'aunty': Read ur cute halloween post dear.. the kidos look so cute..:D and thanks for my link in ur post aunty.. heheh..:D
ReplyDelete@ Hima: glad u liked my post hima. and Happpy Halloween to u too..:D
@ Bee: Ya bee, probably I will ask Ashaji, Lathaamma, Bharathy, u or somebody experienced to please please mail me some rotis..:)))
I almost missed halloween this year, I realize at 8 pm when kids start knocking to our door. I made fast cookies with spider. You can see them here... http://www.coffeeandvanilla.com/?p=971
ReplyDeleteThey were delicious, but I promise myself to make something nicer next year, if I will remember :)