BENGALI NIRAMISH ALOOR DOM

So today marks the last day of the month long BLOGATHON  I have been doing here on my blog. A month of blogging draws to a close. I had somehow fallen into a rut and after re-branding my blog,initiated this myself. If you haven't checked out the rest of the month's posts, go over and take a look. I have been writing one post a day for every day of this month. So 31 days,31 posts. Since I began the Blogathon,with some Memphis style Ribs cooked by the Man(my husband Debashish), it made sense that I end the Blogathon, with something from his kitchen. Today he not only cooked it, but also took pictures of it,when  i told him that i wanted his entree to feature as the ending post of the month long blogathon. That's what I call a true creative partnership.

Regular posts will continue on the blog every Sunday and Thursday. Thank you everyone for all the support and appreciation.

I am not much of a fan of Aloor Dom I must say before I go any further. But my Brother Riddhiman got me hooked to it, with a  very special recipe of his. He is a crazy good chef which not many people are aware of . Now that we stay continents apart from each other, I don't get to enjoy much of his cooking. Though I will be re-creating his signature Aloor Dom recipe some time for sure. maybe even photograph him cooking step by step on our next trip to India.

Whenever the Man mentioned Aloor Dom, I would make excuses and not have that on our menu. Till one day, he decided to go ahead and cook it before telling me so. When I finally saw what was for dinner, I did have my inhibitions. But when I took the first bite, I knew why I had fallen in love with the Man. He knew me well, he knew my inhibitions even better. And he addressed them in his signature style. It was so good that I was going for second and even third helpings. I guess its the right recipe which matters. And teh right person to cook it. I clearly cannot cook a great Aloor Dom, but the Men in my Life( My Brother and My Husband) make a mean Aloor Dom with their own signature recipes.

While Aloor Dom(curried potatoes) can be Amish(cooked with onion and garlic) or Niramish(cooked without onion or garlic), I prefer the Niramish variety. Its just heaven on a plate with some fluffy Luchi(deep fried Bengali flat bread). the Man cooks it with his own concoction of freshly ground and toasted whole spices.Dry roasting whole spices releases their essential oils and packs a potent punch when it hits the oil. He dry roasts the spices and lets them cool and then dry grinds them in a blender. We don't have a fancy spice grinder, so we just use the normal Magic Bullet. He uses a combination of both fresh tomatoes and tomato paste to make the gravy. Its a beautiful blend of sweet and tart and goes very well with the space combination. Now that's a tip I learnt today. I am surely going to be using it in some other things I cook.

Its one of those quintessential Bengali entrees which can either be Hit or Miss. It all depends on the right proportions of  the ingredients and how you cook it. So go ahead and give it a try. You will be surely praising the Man after you dig in. That's a guarantee.

BENGALI NIRAMISH ALOOR DOM:

Ingredients: 
Small potatoes: 1/2 lb
Fresh Tomatoes: 2 small
Tomato paste: 1 tbsp
Salt: to taste
Dry Red Chilies: 2(depending on your heat preference)
Coriander seeds: 1 tbsp
Cumin seeds: 1 tbsp
Mustard Oil : 3 to 4 tbsp
Green Cardamom: 2 to 3
Cloves: 2 to 3
Cinnamon: 1/2 inch stick
Hing: A pinch
Cumin powder: 1 tsp
Red Chili Powder: 1 tsp
Turmeric powder: 1 tsp

Procedure: 
Wash and Peel the potatoes and keep them aside. In a large non stick frying pan, add mustad oil, and let the whole garam masala(clove,caradamom and cinnamon) crackle.

Once the oil is fragrant, add in the peeled potatoes and turmeric powder. Mix well, and fry till the potatoes start to caramelise.

Add in the hing, red chili powder  and cumin powder and mix well. Turn the heat to medium low so that the spices don't get burnt.

Blened the fresh tomatoes and the tomato paste and add it in to make the gravy. Mix well.

Add in half a cup of hot water and cover and cook till the potatoes are done.

Meanwhile dry roast the red chilies, cumin and coriander seeds in a  small pan. Let it cool down and then blend together to a coarse grind.

Mix in the dry ground spices and dry out all the liquid,by cooking it uncovered. Turn off the heat and mix in some chopped cilantro.

Serve warm with steamed rice, luchi or chapatis or parathas.

Bon Appetit !!!

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PASSPORT TO INDIA featuring EMOTIONAL ICONS

For those of you who do not know,I do manage a band among other things. So capturing their gigs on camera and film and doing the necessary publicity is all apart of the game. No I don't get paid for doing it or for writing such posts. I do it for the sheer love of the man who used to feel bad about having to make  choice between doing music full time or getting a high paying day job. Growing up in a typical Indian middle class family, the man had to make the choice of going ahead with choosing the high paying corporate job, over continuing to tour with his band. And this was after quite a few years of being a recognised name in the music scene in Kolkata. I have given up on my share of fame and settled in to a life of obscurity, so I clearly know how that feels. 

It took me a lot of convincing to make him professionally do music again. He had never stopped playing as such. He always found time to play a few chords. Then one day, he had finally found some like minded musicians, who were willing to balance their day jobs, families and squeeze out some extra hours for doing music professionally again. So after SLOW POIZEN and all the other bands that he had been part of, he created EMOTIONAL ICONS with his wonderful band mates. Did I mention that I am married to this shy and talented bassist from Kolkata who has made Kansas City his home with me and our darling daughter. Meet Debashish Dasgupta. 

Meet the EMOTIONAL ICONS:
Debashish Dasgupta: Bass and Vocals
Arka Biswas: Lead Guitar and Vocals
Swakshar Ghosh: Vocals and Rhythm Guitar
Manish Kadam: Dholak and Bongo
Palash Karal : Drums

Their latest gig was at the PASSPORT TO INDIA festival organised by the NELSON ATKINS MUSEUM OF ART. Its an annual festival which is organised by the museum celebrating Indian art and culture. Its a huge event which brings the Indian community across the KC Metro under one roof. The cultural programmes take place across three venues in the museum complex. The Boys kick started the events at one of the venues: Bloch Lobby.

As the crowd was more Desi, the band had strayed away from their regular dose of hard rock to feature some Bollywood but in their signature style. they had re-arranged some popular Bollywood songs and some Indipop numbers to their sound. The result was truly great. The crowd was clearly asking for Encores when they had played the last note. From Dhoom Pichuk to Yaaron, from Aashiqui 2 to Dil Chahta Hain, the line -up was well chosen to suit the occasion. When you saw people across ages, shaking a leg, you know the show is a hit.

Post the success of the show it was time to snack on some desi food and  pose for some pictures. As I knew I would be on my feet a lot that day, I chose a Lime green Chiffon Saree with Lucknow Chikan embroidery on it. I paired it with a lacy crop top from Forever 21. Some silver and pearls complimented the look. I followed my usual Foundation Concealer routine for my face, and tested the Too Faced Liquid Lipstick for the day. Check out my review on it. Nars Orgasm blush on the cheeks, MAC Blacktrack Fluidline gel eyeliner and Maybelline Falsies Mascara on the eyes.

A great day indeed,where everyone packed in a lot of fun. Three cheers for the EMOTIONAL ICONS.

LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS POST: 

FOUNDATION AND CONCEALER ROUTINE: http://journotalk.blogspot.com/2015/02/foundation-and-concealer-basics-make-up.html

FAVORITE BLUSHES: http://journotalk.blogspot.com/2015/03/favorite-blush-high-end-and-drugstore.html

FAVORITE MASCARA : http://journotalk.blogspot.com/2015/03/favorite-masacaras.html

TOO FACED LIQUID LIPSTICK REVIEW: http://journotalk.blogspot.com/2015/03/too-faced-melted-liquified-lipstick.html

FACEBOOK PAGE OF THE EMOTIONAL ICONS: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Emotional-ICONS/363478383807605?fref=ts

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TOO FACED MELTED LIQUIFIED LIPSTICK REVIEW: BEAUTY

The Swatches and the Colors

When I venture into any Make-Up brand,I try to keep myself impartial and not compare it to other products at the word go. I had heard of the Too Faced Melted Liquified Lipsticks from my friend and Youtube Beauty Vlogger Angeline. She had picked up a whole bunch of colors before all the Holiday parties we attended together.I knew I had to lay my hands on these babies pretty soon. 

Before you realize, a haul happens,and you have it at last. I had high hopes for this line,as everyone seemed to go Ga ga over these. I went over to my local Ulta and swatched the ones which caught my fancy at first glance. I will always gravitate towards Red Lips, so its no wonder that my swatches had more reds than other colors. If you look at my swatches from right to left, I started out with MELTED VELVET, MELTED RUBY, MELTED STRAWBERRY and MELTED BERRY. The product claims to combine a stain,liquid lipstick and gloss in one product. Tall claims.

At the first swatch, I was clearly impressed with the pigmentation. It started off creamy on the lips and dried matte. Who doesn't love a bright matte lip? I know I do. So I picked up the reddest red from the collection. MELTED VELVET. It was the last one in Ulta. So clearly this shade was the best seller, if we went by my local ULTA"s sales on a random weekend in Spring. It was a new shade in  in the current 18 color collection. I was clearly impressed with the color pay off initially. It comes in a tube with a foam applicator which dispenses product after you squeeze the tube. The packaging is nice and matte as well.

I decided to put it to the test. Any product can be impressive in swatches. We had a day long event where my husband's band was performing at the PASSPORT TO INDIA festival organised by the NELSON ATKINS MUSEUM OF ART in KANSAS CITY. I knew I had to be on my toes on that day, as I manage their band. So I needed a fuss free product.

Knowing the fact that its a matte red lip. I started out by lining and filling in my lips with a red lip liner. This step is crucial to the success of any red lip, as it prevents the color from fading faster or even bleeding around.

I used the product generously on my lips. Its very creamy and glides on beautifully. It dries a perfect matte. By the time I reached the venue, I had already started getting rave reviews on the dark red lip I was sporting.

In about a couple of hours, before I had eaten anything,the lipstick had started to fade in patches on the lips. So I reapplied another generous coat. By the time it was 2: 30 pm in the afternoon, I had to apply the lipstick thrice. I did have lunch in between, so that can count for one coat. But even then, it was a huge letdown in terms of its staying power. Its not a drug store lipstick we are talking about here. Its a prestige brand and with a huge price tag and a brand name, everyone expects the product to deliver.

Too Faced VS MAC RUBY WOO

Whenever you pick up a red lipstick,which claims to be a true red and matte, you tend to compare it to RUBY WOO by MAC. Its an eternal favorite of mine and around the world. So when this product was clearly failing, I started the comparison in my mind. Its priced higher than MAC. Ruby Woo is priced at $16  and Too faced Melted Lipstick is priced at $21, respectively before local taxes. While both are neck and neck in terms of pigmentation and color payoff, Ruby Woo wins hand down in this game, for the staying power of the classic. With Ruby Woo, you clearly do not need to worry if you have lipstick on your lips for hours at a stretch.

Too Faced VS MAC RUBY WOO

I had been taking selfies through out the day, just to compare how the lipstick was doing between applications. After re-applying for the third time, I was clearly not interested to wear it any longer. It was patchy and the color had faded away from that deep dark red, to a much paler counter part.

I know the collection has around 18 colors currently but I am surely not going to be picking any more. If I have to spend that much amount of money on a lipstick, I would rather spend it on MAC lipstick which haven't failed me yet. An over hyped product,which clearly fails to deliver. I will probably use this lipstick as a back up in my bag,for days when I have forgotten to put on some color on my lips. Or maybe use it as a stain. It clearly lives up to its part of being a stain, but as a lipstick, fails miserably.

Too bad TOO Faced !! 

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ULTA HAUL AND MAKE UP GIFTS : BEAUTY

Who doesn't like that big bad orange bag stuffed with goodies? It takes some time to get past the admiration and finally use the products. What gets delayed and often gets shoved under the carpet, is actually writing about all that you splurged on.

I am surely guilty of the fact that this post is long due. So I decided to combine a few Make-up gifts I had recently got and do an overview on all the new products. I shall be doing individual Reviews on all the products after I have put them to the test.

Which make up lover doesn't love a free run at her favorite Make-up stores. I know I do. I had been planning to pick up a few things here and there from some brands I wanted to explore. But as with all things concerned to a haul, you go to pick up one eye liner or one lipstick and before you know it you have a shopping cart full of everything make -up. In this case, I had time constraint as I had squeezed in the Make-up shopping between two appointments.

Its no wonder that there were quite a few Red Lipsticks in the Haul.

My plan was to try out the new Melted Lipsticks from Too Faced Cosmetics. My friend and Youtube beauty guru Angeline, had been raving about them for quite some time. So it was high time, I tried my hands on these beauties.

I picked up the reddest red from the collection: Melted Velvet. It was gorgeous in its swatch. How long did it stay? A detailed review coming up soon. I like liquid lipstick which dry to a matte. This packaging claimed so.

I have an everlasting love story with my URBAN DECAY Naked Palette. The First one. The Naked original or whatever other name it goes by. The Naked 2 and Naked 3 were not a part of my Make-Up collection. Both of these are one of the most anticipated sequels in the make-up world. Its difficult to break the records created by the original Naked palette. While Naked 2 is more of cool toned neutral palette, NAKED 3 is more of rose gold and rosy neutrals. I love anything rose gold. No wonder I love all my Michael Kors Accessories in rose gold. So it was nothing strange that I opted for Naked 3 rather than Naked 2. Don't worry its next on the cards,but probably I will pick it from Sephora.

The Naked 3 came with some freebies. First up was the URBAN DECAY MAKE UP SETTING SPRAY in a sample size. I have heard rave reviews about this make up setting spray. Its a similar formula as the one by Skindinavia. Now that the warmer weather is closeby, I shall be able to put it to a test and see how far the laims are true. I generally shy away from Make up setting sprays as my skin is dry. I have heard that L'oreal has come up with two Make-Up Setting Sprays, one with a dewy finish and the other in a matte finish. Need to check those out next time and compare the three.

Next up was the URBAN DECAY 24x7 GLIDE ON EYE PENCIL in LSD. This is a favorite of mine. I love this range of eye pencils as most colors are pigmented which I have used so far. LSD is a glittery  carbon blue color. For the price the full size comes for, it better do its job and live up to the quality of this range.

It was time for some more lippies. Everyone in the Beauty world, swears by how hydrating the NYX Butter Lipsticks are. There are also NYX Butter Glosses to go with them. No I haven't been living under a rock to jump so late into band wagon. I have eyed them for a long time, but for my general inhibitions about drug store lipsticks, have shied away from them. I went ahead and went on a swatch fest and picked up three shades: JUJU( a deep red), FIREBALL( a corally red) and RAZZLE(a bright pink).

Now that the Haul part is over, let me mention some of the gifts I got from my friend Angeline. She is a very talented Make-up artist, who really knows her job pretty well. So when she pick sup something, you know it will become a staple in your make up routine.

She picked up the SMASHBOX ON THE ROCKS PHOTO OP PALETTE. This was my introduction to the SMASHBOX family. Its a beautiful palette with lovely jewel tones. And the packing is very chic. Its a set of 28 eye shadows in a range of colors and finishes.

Knowing the fact how much of a lipstick junkie I am, she picked up a lipstick collection,which had all three essential shades: LEGENDARY(a red), PRIMROSE(a pink) and a FIG(vampy berry.) SMASHBOX ON THE ROCKS -BE LEGENDARY LIPSTICK TRIO. This is a mini lipstick collection, and just perfect to try out the shades. All the shades are a part of the regular line. So if you like any of the shades, you could later pick them up in their regular sizes.The lipsticks area creamy and shiny. My only concern is that with a shiny Red Lip, you got to be very careful if you are out dinning. The red claims its a true red,but a true red always looks better in a matte formula. But definitely a great range to try out.

Both of these were a part of the SMASHBOX HOLIDAY COLLECTION and I got them as Birthday gifts.

Last but not the least was the URBAN DECAY AMMO PALETTE which Angie picked up for me as a HOLI gift. Since Holi is the festival of colors, a bright eye shadow palette with endless possibilities for combinations, is an ideal choice. Its a palette with ten colors.

Thank you Angie(Beauty and the Tube) for such luxe and thoughtful gifts. It takes a friend to understand a friend and you surely spoil me rotten.

As I had mentioned before,  I shall be doing detailed reviews on each of these products as and when I put them to test. The TOO FACED LIQUIFIED LIPSTICK REVIEW is coming up next.

LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS POST: 

TOO FACED MELTED LIQUIFIED LIPSTICKS REVIEW: http://journotalk.blogspot.com/2015/03/too-faced-melted-liquified-lipstick.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+blogspot%2FxNqDz+%28journospeak%29

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SNOWMOBILING IN THE ROCKIES : TRAVEL

When you get more than a generous amount of snowfall in your city, why would your vacations also revolve around snow. Well, in your own city, you have to clean up the drive way, and clean up your car and drive to work, every day. You tend to forget that snow can be fun too,given the fact Winters stretch for a cool 7 months. So you need to take off every now and then and pack in some fun. Go and get some Rocky Mountain High.

That's exactly what we did. We had made our reservations to go Snowmobiling in the Breckenridge area of the Summit County of Colorado. Its a beautiful Ski town, picture perfect in every way. It was a regular weekend. Two of Hubby's colleague's (Arka and Subha), who also lived close by, decided to join us in all the fun in the snow. We started off from Kansas City in a Friday evening in March 2010. A seven hour drive to take us straight to our motel. yes, those were pre baby days.

As the weather forecast had been clear, we had rented a sedan to take us to the mountains. But all the clear weather, gave way to a nasty blizzard. We took frequent breaks, but we knew we had to go on, as our reservations for the snowmobiling were at 9 am,and we just had the night to make the trip.

By the time we reached the motel, the sun was on it way up. We took a quick shower and went straight for the Motel Buffet. Hot Sausage and eggs surely can do wonders for sleep deprived folks, who want to go ahead with their plans of adventure sports. The blizzard had dumped a fresh load of snow on the slopes. We had been asked to wear clothes,which were water resistant as the snow mobiles can go quite deep into the snow at times. So we were dressed in ski pants and a few layers below our water proof jackets. The Ski pants were a great idea, I must tell you. Once you're toasty, in extreme weather, you are ready to have fun.

We had to drive to the Snow Mobile Base Camp of the company operating the tours. I did not have my driver's license at that time, so I had to ride pillion with my husband. I did not seem to mind. My Vertigo had already started to raise its ugly large head. We got fitted for helmets and water proof boots. Some complimentary hot chocolate and then it we started off with our cameras ready.

Our tour instructor and guide was Chuck. He started off by showing us the basic operations of teh snow mobile and how to signal if anyone got stuck anywhere. He explained to us that we would have to drive in a single file up the powdery tree lined slopes up to the Alpine meadows up above. It was just like loads of and loads of fresh powder had been dumped by a giant talc maker. Once we reached the Continental Divide, then  all the snow mobilers could drive as fast as they wanted to, but stick to their lanes. It packs in the most beautiful views of the Colorado Rockies and their highest peaks,in all their splendor. And then we would have to make our way down. Chuck was leading the party of 10 riders.

We started off well. Loads of pictures were taken. But then our friend Arka, who was right behind Chuck, had strayed off on the side and with just a bit of  reckless driving. The snow mobile endured some injuries but thankfully Arka was safe. Chuck had to go to rescue not only Arka from the deep snow but also fix the snow mobile, so that the tour could continue. I have a candid video where they boys are all talking about how their buddy got stuck. I must say all the boys are very camera shy and kept mumbling the same thing over and over again. I was more interested in having them talk about how big an adrenaline rush the ride was,but they were lost for words I guess.



You wanna know how deep the snow was, where we got stuck? Take a look. If the 6 foot plus man is so deep in the snow, think of me.

It was time to drive again. The gradient was changing at every turn. The slopes were lined by trees,where Chuck showed us many bear claw marks. Bears like to sharpen their claws on the trunks of some trees and they leave behind pretty deep marks. As we got higher and higher, the wind seemed to have increased its bite on our faces.

I took one turn at the the Continental Divide, where the snow mobiles were driving in full throttle. But I must add that as a pillion rider, its hard on your butt to endure those speeds in that cold weather. So I decided to explore a bit on foot, while the boys went on another run. Knowing me, I found some canine friends soon enough, who surely gave me a lot of company.

Once you had reached the summit, its hard to miss the breathtaking view which is all around. In those days, IPhone did not come with the panorama camera option. If you took a total 360 degree turn,from where you were standing. the grandeur of the Rockies would have you floored. The snow covered mountains almost had a purple and pink glow at some places, where the sunlight was creating its magic . The best of the Colorado Rockies was there in front of you and we could have literally stood there for hours, admiring them. But when you are on a tour, time ticks faster.

The drive down seemed a bit giddy for me,as I was riding pillion,and not exactly enjoying the adrenaline rush of the driver. It was almost like a roller coaster ride, when you begin to go down the snow covered slopes. I was glad that I had taken my motion sickness medication.

Once in town we hit the Outlet Mall for some shopping and generally walked around the picturesque ski town. For our dinner, we decided to go with some local recommendation. Our instructor Chuck had recommended we head to the historic joint known as THE MINT. We did just that and I have a whole post dedicated to how fun and interactive our dinner was.

The next morning it was time to drive back to Kansas City, but we did stop at the Monument Rocks in Kansas. Am sure that calls for another post,as we ventured into Canyon territory once again with that detour.

LINKS MENTIONED IN THE POST: 

DINNER AT THE MINT : http://journotalk.blogspot.com/2011/11/staking-it-for-steak.html

SNOWMOBILING IN BRECKENRIDGE: http://www.breckenridgesnowmobiling.com/index.html

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