Rohu/Rui Fish

My friends have been asking me to help them with recipes. Well ! the first dish I prepared was a non – vegetarian dish and thereby I begin with a non vegetarian dish

I’ve always liked sea fishes prepared in Kerala style.

But when it comes to some river fish, I prefer making it in a little bengoli style.

Here are the ingredients:

1. Cleaned rohu fish/ rui/river fish
2. One Onion cut into small pieces
3. 7- 8 gloves of garlic
4. Three slit chillies
5. Two small tomatoes/one big size tomotao
6. Ginger (an important ingredient) quantity equivalent to garlic
7. Coriader leaves for garnish/flavour
8. Mustard seeds that aren’t dried much(preferably brown color) – Main Ingredient
9. two teaspoons of turmeric
10. 1 teaspoon of cumin seeds
11. salt to taste

Preparation technique:

1. Fry the raw fish(marinated in salt and turmeric only)in sunflower oil till its brown to reddish color in frying pan (kadai) or cooking pot
2. While the fish is being fried, you can soak the mustard seeds in water
3. Also, you can take the cut onions, 7- 8 peeled garlic cloves , ginger and one teaspoon of cumin seeds and grind it into a paste by adding just little water.
4. One the fishes are fried , in the same oil add the ground paste after the fishes have been removed.
5. 
6. Crunch the soaked mustard seeds using pestle and mortar or using belan and chakla
7. Add salt/ turmeric along with crushed mustard seeds.Cook and stir well in between till the oil is completely absorbed
8. Add the cut tomatoes, slit chilies and wait till the tomatoes becomes mushy
9. Add enough water to drown all the fishes. Wait for it to boil.
10. Add the fried fishes
11. Add coriander leaves
12. Cover the container with a plate/lid
13. Turn off the gas. Let the pan(kadai) remain covered for 15 mins to retain the flavor.
15. 
16. It serves best with plain rice .

Try and let me know you’ve liked it..

I’v hardly used any additional masala’s ,just three slit chilli’s along with turmeric and salt. It gives u a very authentic taste because of the mustard seeds

Its also easy / quick to cook and what else , its also delicious 🙂

Drop me your comments or email me at eliza17nicy@yahoo.com if you have any queries/ suggestion.

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Come As You Are

The previous day, I had to go to a place that I’d never been to before and I lost my way somehow… For 20 minutes, I was loitering around with an address in my hand and no directions in my stead. And I was running very late.
After few more minutes of searching every nook and cranny for the correct way… I finally gave up. Even my phone’s navigation system had given up. And so I stopped looking for the path, stopped bothering passerby’s asking for directions. I decided that ‘today’ was just not the day for me. Making up my mind to come up with some excuse for my absence, I began to head home when I came across the junction- cursing myself a little for not being conscious enough to ask more about the destination in the first place. I crossed the road and strutted ahead when google map announced “your destination is on your right”. To my surprise, I stared at the building ahead of me, astonished to see the building that I had been looking for.
What perplexed me was the moment I stopped looking for my destination, stopped trying to analyse the pathway of the google maps… I found my way. And trust me, my happiness knew no bounds.
Maybe that’s why it’s said that God works in mysterious ways. When we have no way, Jesus makes a way for us. The door has probably always been there somewhere in the dark… we’ve only been unable to see it, and the Almighty guides our way with light. He wants us to depend on Him, to have faith that He be our light.
“Not that we are competent in ourselves, but our competence comes from God”
2Corinthians3:5
The moment when we fall to our knees, give up on everything else He comes to help us, to heal us. When everything is shattered to pieces so small that we are lost trying to get those pieces together again… that is when His grace holds us from falling apart. And we’re only left with one feeling deep within, “How great thou art!”.To have faith that He’ll be our light.

Are you tired? Are you worn out?
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light”
Matthew 11:28-30

Playing on repeat : The chattering thoughts

The beginning of a new day- new adventures, new mistakes and new lessons. That is how I started my Wednesday morning, with a newfound enthusiasm to implement all the plans that I had made for the day. But there was just a small hiccup- I woke up late. And since I was late, I couldn’t actually start my day with the daily routine.

“I can’t do this. I can’t do this when I have minutes to spare.” These thoughts kept hovering in my mind.
Putting all those thoughts to a halt, I rushed to the kitchen to prepare my lunch. But that didn’t turn out to be in my favour, either.

The batter I had prepared the previous night for idlis had turned out to be thinner than expected- much better for a dosa than idlis. I’m not usually one to believe in stuffs like- one bad thing leads to another. But that was just what it had turned out to be.

I was already starting to believe that today was just not my day. I was already running late, and to be able to reach office in time after clearing out the mess that I had already made in the kitchen seemed like an uphill battle. At the moment, the biggest problem that I was facing was this- Should I make dosa or idlis? *chuckle*
I knew that if I prepared idlis rather than dosa, I could save some of my time to get ready for work. Yes, it wouldn’t be as perfect as the dosa this batter was meant to make… but it would be the more plausible choice. Ergo, my lunch turned out to be very tasty but very flat idlis. They didn’t have that puffy.

Anyways, wasting no more time in brooding over my lunch, I packed my tiffin, grabbed a bite or two of the idlis and got ready to finally leave for office.

However, the odds were not in my favour. The maid chose that very moment to come, which meant I had to wait until and unless she was done with her work. When she hadn’t arrived for so long, I had assumed that she wouldn’t be coming. But, here she was… subtracting even more minutes of my time than I was left with.

As I was patiently waiting for the maid to be done with her work, I realized that I hadn’t even had my tea this morning. By the time I finished preparing a cup, she was done. Deciding that I could not waste any more time, I made my tea to go, and placed it in the side pocket of my bag. That was what I never should have done, coz I was going to face its consequences in a few minutes.
Shoving all the odds- that had not been in my favour- aside, I had somehow managed to reach my destination almost in time. That was when I realized that the tea I had packed for myself, had spilled all over my bag and my clothes. ‘This could not be happening to me.’ ‘I can’t go to the office like this.’ ‘This could not be happening to me.’
I had already wasted so much of my energy and calm, trying to avoid something that had already been set in motion. My day was bound to go out of sorts from the moment the sun rose up. But I’m glad that I could manage to work out my plan- though it didn’t always go my way- even through the amusing conspiracies the universe set against me. I had managed to reach my office on time(ish), even though I was semi-drenched on my tea.
The moral of the story- don’t lose heart just coz some things don’t go the way you want them to. They might take a u-turn and choose another route… but they will always find the destination. And you can’t make lemonade unless you have lemons, right?

The Game is On – Part II

It’s only during our struggles, that faith is treated as a question mark.When we struggle through faith, our faith grows. When we look back , its eventually or instantly clear that all that you’ve ever done, everything that you’ve been through, everything you had overcome in life — had prepared you for some special day…Today.
So Stay in the game. Don’t give up. Fight for four quarters. Overtime if you have to. Keep going. And someday, someday, if you stick it out, all that stuff that didn’t make sense is gonna make some sense. It’s gonna pay off. It’s gonna add up to something.
In The words of Kerri Rawson
“We live in a fallen world but we don’t have to live like fallen people. Whatever you’re going through, you can get through. ”

~ApennyOfSundayASermons

Metamorphosis

A few weeks ago, there was a demonstration of transformation in our church for the children .A very well-known example of how a caterpillar transforms into a beautiful butterfly. While the example particularly aimed at teaching the kids, I was fascinated as to how a larvae turns into a butterfly as it passes through the various life stages.

Psalm 27:13-14 ,”I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.”

The caterpillar’s journey of entering the changing room (cocoon), spoke to me profoundly. It was a self-reflection of mirroring my life journey. It was a time while I was so tired of looking for answers, while I had no idea of what to do next. All I knew was that a change is coming, with unclear answers to the questions of how long it will take. I seemed to have been tired of trying to break out of the cocoon and all that was left was darkness.

The butterfly’s remarkable changing journeys carried answers to my innumerable questions shedding light on my own transforming, unfolding yet magical life journey.

Romans 12:12,“Be joyful in hope, patient in tribulation, be in prayer.”

As the butterfly struggles to come out of the cocoon, Things seemed to be painful while I strived to come out of my changing room (cocoon). Exactly like the butterfly that stops to force itself after several struggles through the cocoon hole, I paused a while too to understand if I am trying on the wrong side as things really seemed to not work out. Similar to the cocoon, everything around me looked limiting. I also found several people helping me out without any effect.

Galatians 6:9 Let us not grow weary of doing good, for at the perfect time we will reap a harvest due season, if we do not give up.

Everything seemed to be of absolute uncertainty. Either I had to trust the changing process or doubt it. While I was constantly under the fear of what will happen next, I had no idea that the cocoon provided me with insignificant moments shaping my personal belief and life path. What seemed to be obscure and elusive was an eye opener to me. The phase where I seemed to make zero progress of coming out of the cocoon was actually helping me stand strong. The cocoon was not crippling me; it was providing me with all the nutrition that the wings of the butterfly require to prepare me for my flight. People around me helped me fight my troubles, when I felt they only seemed to have tiny effects on me. While I blamed the cocoon for blindfolding me, there seemed to be much more than what my eyes were seeing. The series of small events had a monumental effect. While I said, “ I can’t, I give up” , I also saw myself surrounded with wise people who guided me as my patience , faith and belief appeared to be tested.

Inquisitor for answers, I ventured on the unknown and what I got was an experience, a lesson much greater than I expected.

John 13:7 Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”

Habakkuk 2:3 “For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay.”

The uncomfortable situation now seems to be deceptive. Sometimes, it’s important to take time to go with the flow of nature, to allow Almighty to work in us during each of our transformations, to help us grow into beautiful creations that He planned for each of us. God will work in every situation to bring the good from it. Trusting His purpose will help us orchestrate all the topsy-turvy events of our life with the right attitude.

Someone said it right, “In our waiting, God is working”.

John 5:17, Jesus said to them, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.”

Attitude

The word ” Humble” has been constantly hitting me . If at all I could just adopt this feature in myself , I’d be grateful. I do not know how many of us actually realize the importance of being being humble.
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But isn’t it wonderful that even in this complex generation when life is hitting so hard we still see so many people around us everyday adept “humbleness” .
This week , we can follow few rules of humility.
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Gratefulness: Amidst all the storms , the unwanted complex situations , those opposing your desires , be Grateful for all the assets, the skills , the gifts , the people , your life…and so many innumerable opportunities.
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Patience and Kindness : Both these nouns glue each other. While time is pacing and the younger generation find it difficult seeing their life constant. We kind of hate to wait for the good , for the better . We don’t want to accept things. And when life turns upside down, we are just too impatient to deal with it . So we pour our anger on the people around us, because its more easier. Kindness can not just take us a long way to surprise people but also fill our souls with happines.. Do It Today
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Love and Compassion : compassion is placing yourself in other’s situation, understand them. It is called empathy. We are exactly a vapor that would someday vanish, so who are we to judge anybody. Someday we could or must have already been there in their place. If you could actually keep yourself in their place you’ll be gentle to them and also understand them. And I tell you, its just the beginning of Love

Philippians 2:3-4
“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of the others.”
💢

Have a beautiful week ☺️

#APennyOfSundaySermons

The Game Is On

Over the years I’ve been quite stubborn about getting certain plans fulfilled. And The way my life has been turning out for past few years , I realize that my plans were not the authority the Universe operates by. But then things get confused between the waiting game and decide “Okay, This plan isn’t going to work out”
While we often have quotes to tell , ” Good things come to those who wait”
And the other is the contradiction, ” If plan A isn’t working out, then surely there is that plan B that God has for us, which is so much better.”
In both of these cases , I understand one thing, You cannot give up. In all of these we tend to experience change, and here is where we need to refocus my mind.
My experience over a year has been quite a bit emotional , tremendous and also horribly beautiful. Most of it, was based on game called “Waiting”. Turning the tables is so easy for God… But it isn’t just like that things occur as we want. In the waiting… there is a lot of things happening…we grow , we change, situations change, plan A flips to plan B. We fight..we battle… We wait…we cry ..we laugh…we gain and we also lose. Amidst all of these, we just cannot afford to give up, because if we do, we fail…n then its more of frustration n all the extra vices added to it. In all of these, I understand our dreams our plans don’t come before time and neither is it too late..it just appears at that perfect time… Please don’t give up.
Galatians 6:9, the apostle Paul tells us, “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up”
Over a year ago, while I gave up on something that was quite close to my heart… I’m not sure if I actually regret about it.. because may be I wouldn’t have had this mixture of experiences of people places and circumstances. All I know is that I’ve been living on the promises and on hope , the stories that I am living and dreams of re creating them are still alive.
The Gospels are true examples of stories of people facing ups and downs in their faith .
Mary and Martha had to wait three days before Lazarus was raised from death.
While my plans have been constantly changing, I kinda find it funny and curious to know , now what next and how? But the process or the journey is an in-depth experience and all I know is, ” God is in the business of changing my plans to His plan” and interestingly that is the only reason I cannot give up because things aren’t the way I had been wanting it to be.

The wise sayings from Proverbs 16:9, ” In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.”

P.S Keep believing and do not dare to give up, coz the Universe has always something, the Best to offer us. It’s up to us whether to accept it with gratitude or reject them.

Have a great week !

The Riddles

Two months, I had a lot to do with travelling,
Although Moving or travelling to a new place, brings a lot of excitement, yet at the same time I’m equally scared to step on it. Its been so long, I’ve been travelling and moving to places all alone. Yet, Believe me , there is a continuous flame of fear within me.
Amidst all these fears whether it be it travelling to a 20min distant place or some States away. The experience about not knowing what’s going to happen is precious.. because I’m left with unimaginable and beautiful memories that I bring back along.
Everytime I do this, I’m grateful that I meet so many people who adjointly help me not only in reaching destinations but also impacting my life beautifully…
I often wonder what Did I do to meet up such beautiful people… influencing my life… AND often ending up in lasting relationships.
My friend Nainatulla is always worried about me, that I meet up so many strangers in so many unknown places ….But Sweetheart, maybe that’s faith, because I’m so sure that it’s a gift that I’m able to know them, know their stories and That I can never give up on.. and that I’m supposed to share it with the world.
I so believe that this Universe has a lot to offer us, and we in turn are supposed to do the same.
My mom often tells me that God works through people to let blessings flow into our life… And we again are to help and give wherever and whenever required .So ,she never stops me from going to unknown places and meeting unknown people…..
Instead she says, “Go build your tribe”.
The World is filled with innumerable people and yet the same World is a small place…
Somebody said it right, “What goes around comes around” . Perhaps its all about recognizing all of these wonders from the Universe. You fall in love some way or another, it could be anything , new friends , place or stories. It definitely changes your life’s perspective.

But everytime I’m scared to step out again I remember how My last unknown trip turned out to be blissful..
I take one of my favourite verse along with me,

“Isaiah 45:2 : “I will go before you and will level the mountains; I will break down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron.”
And I embark again..coz I know this journey that embarked on Today is going to give me with unimaginable possibilities , people and lots of amazing experience.

I step on that faith, because I do not know what God’s plans are, yet all I know is that his wonderful plans are yet to be fulfilled in my life. So I don’t stop , I just embark on that unknown journey, try it with all my might with a complete reliance on God without knowing the outcome.
Every new journey leaves me in a complex set of emotions.. but all of them are just so beautiful , so clear and so fresh.

By simply being open to gifts that God has been granting , all such journeys opens up for so many blessings .
At the end of the day, the experience is incredibly amazing.
I do know if it is the place or the people who descend as angels , just at the right moment and guides me not only to my destination but also provides me with some extraordinary experiences.
It gives me immense pleasure to walk on that what God has laid out for me,
Psalm 18:36, ” You broaden the path beneath me, so that my ankles do not turn”

Have a great week 🙂
#APennyOfSundaySermons

Faith has a better Offer

I asked her,” how is it going to happen”
She said, ” If God didn’t want me to , He would have never given me this opportunity.”
I suppose that’s faith, she didn’t know How it was gonna be, but she chose to hold the rope of faith.
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I often wondered , Will I be able to repeat her words again.. coz then I seemed to doubt the possibilities
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Few weeks have been quite crucial for me, I experienced emotions, love, friendship , people , places and unimaginable wonders…that one could only dream of.
I’m so glad that Today I’m living on promises that I never thought would be fulfilled.
Well, I am grateful
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Hebrews 11:1,” “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we cannot see.”
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If you have been promised the things , you need to stand firm on it, believe coz it’s already given to you, its Time that will accomplish the fulfillment of what has been promised.
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You see a lot of obstacles in your way, you may have to wait for a long time, but you know that the other side is spectacular. Don’t lose hope coz God has his perfect timing. All You need is to grab the opportunity, take actions , And live Your Moment( Ecclesiastes 9:10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might) and You see the fulfilment of God’s promise, because it is the journey that leads you ahead.
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Do not be afraid ( Isaiah 41:13 ,” For I am the LORD your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you”)to take a leap on where you see yourself because Faith is all about experiencing even before you experience it in actual.
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Faith will help you witness what you hoped for, provide you the confidence even if the promise seems so far away.
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Dream Big , Have faith 🙂
Have a great week !
💞💞

#APennyOfSundaySermons

Waiting …

Luke 15:20,”But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.”

No matter, how late it is,My father always waits for my call once I’m back home from work.

Similarly, We often say , we are waiting on God. But sometimes, our faith stumbles and we give up.We are told to keep faith, but nobody told us sometimes it could be really tough to hold on. This gives birth to anger, sadness, depression and what not.
That’s where we fail, if we are keeping faith, we also have to realize that we are not forsaken even for a minute. Also, God is quite ahead of us. We may not see miracles in the given timelines, But do You know God is known for his timings, The perfect time 🙂 We never dive into a situation alone, He has already prepared our way . And he also waits eagerly for us to reach him. So , when we reach the well exhausted and tired, know that Jesus is already there, waiting for us.

To keep moving on faith, we mustn’t wait For God, we must wait Upon God.
Isaiah:40:31 ,”But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”

To do so, we need to constantly meditate on God’s word, The Bible. It has everything that you need to keep going. It’s a life jacket that will help you fight drowning, till you swim and reach the shore.