Lifestyle Food Beauty Remedies and Hacks

All variety of Daal are rich in protein and therefore are extremely good for health. There are numerous ways in which a Daal can be cooked, and sabji daal is one of them. This way you get to eat sabji and also daal, and thus dual benefit!! So let's make sabji daal today. What all are required? Here I have used Musur daal, you can even take any other daal (preferably musur or tur daal) Veggies (I have taken here Tomatoes, Capsicum, potato, Onion-you can also take cabbage or cauliflower or carrot or peas etc) Onion, Ginger-Garlic Paste Cumin Seeds and Cumin Seeds Powder Garam Masala, Chilies/Chili Powder Steps to Follow: Boil the daal and keep aside. I have used ghee for the entire recipe, you can also replace ghee with oil. Add ghee/oil to the kadai, add the ginger garlic paste, cumin seeds, cumin powder. Stir well. Add the onions, let it become a little brown. Now add all the veggies, add tomato at the end (any sour things should be added at the end else the o...

This summer is taking a toll on everyone's hair that I know :( So I have come up with very affordable and good products which I have been using for my hair in this summer as a part of my hair care regime. So starting with the first step: Hair Oiling - I am a great believer in oiling of hair, as I do believe that oil is the major food that hair gets. Thus I always oil my hair the day before m gonna shampoo. For oiling, I am currently using Sri Sri Coconut oil (cold pressed) ( https://www.nykaa.com/sri-sri-tattva-organic-virgin-coconut-oil/p/303960?ptype=product&productId=303960&skuId=303960 ), Aroma Magic   Castor Oil ( https://www.nykaa.com/aroma-magic-castor-oil/p/12545?ptype=product&productId=12545&skuId=12545 ) and Wow Skin Science   Aloe Vera Gel ( https://www.amazon.in/WOW-Aloe-Multipurpose-Beauty-130ml/dp/B078Z9JWRW/ref=sr_1_15?keywords=wow+apple+cider+vinegar+shampoo&qid=1556556283&s=gateway&sr=8-15 ) mixture. For one spoon of ...

Holaa..!! I have again come up with a tasty and yet simple and quick recipe for you all. Today is again a non-veg dish: Omelette Curry. It is a very less ingredient recipe.. so let's begin: Required Ingredients: Eggs (I have taken 2), Onion, Tomato, Potato (optional), Ginger & Garlic Paste, Garam Masala Powder, Chili/Chili Powder, Jeera. Let us do it.. So initially we have to make the omelette ready. Take the eggs, salt, a little bit of ginger paste and chopped onions. Beat well and pour in a pan to make the omelette ready. Meanwhile, take another pan and simultaneously make the gravy. For the gravy, take one and a half tablespoon of mustard oil (I have used mustard oil for the entire recipe, you can use any oil based on your preference). Add jeera, ginger garlic paste, turmeric, salt and chili powder/chili (according to your taste) and saute well. Then add the onions and the potatoes (potatoes are totally optional). After again stirring these for a while and w...

So the biggest problem in summer is tanning. Right?? How much ever you put layers of sunscreen and stuff, taking proper care of skin in summer is very very essential to wave off goodbye to summer tans! So here I have come up with a very very simple but yet effective DIY to get rid of tannings. What do u need for it?? What if I say that you just need two ingredients for this DIY?! Isn't that amazing?! So yea, you just need only two things for this, one is Potato and other is Aloe vera gel. Take a bowl, grate the potato and squeeze the juice of it. In the bowl, add an equal quantity of aloe vera gel as that of the potato juice. Mix well. Potatoes are loaded with vitamins, minerals, and protein fibers, and possess natural bleaching properties. They are a rich source of Vitamin C and works wonder on blemishes and pigmentation. The plant steroids present in aloe vera extracts soothe burning and inflammation in the skin and help reduce sunburn and suntan. Also, it gi...

Hello all..!! So today I have come up with a very delicious and easy snacks option and will be sharing the recipe with you all. Bread pakoda is one of the most favourite and commonly available snacks out there and you can now soo easily make it at home too!! What all you need for it? Bread (Of course, LOL), Besan/Gram Flour, Ajwain, Coriander leaves, Black Jeera, Turmeric and salt. Now let us make it! Firstly cut the sides of the bread pieces and then cut the bread into diagonal halves (shape is according to your preference! you need not also throw the sides of the bread as you can make pakoda out of them too!!) Now take a bowl, put the Besan, Ajwain, Chopped Coriander leaves, Black Jeera, Turmeric and salt (according to your taste) and mix well. Add water to make a liquidy batter. Now take a kadai, put oil generously, because we are gonna deep fry it. Dip the pieces of bread in the batter so made and deep fry both sides well. (do the same with the sides of bread to...

Though I'm a hardcore non-veg fan, but even then I actually like the taste of veg biriyani! Surprisingly!! LOL! So I will be sharing the recipe of the same with you all. These are the things you need for it: Biriyani Rice, Vegetables (you can put any vegetable like Carrot, Capsicum, Cabbage, Beetroot, Potato etc), Onion, Ginger paste, Chopped Onions, Chilies, Bay Leaf, Cinnamon, Garam Masala Powder, Salt, Turmeric, Tomatoes/curd So let's Begin: I have done the entire recipe in the pressure cooker itself. Take a pressure cooker and add oil in it to warm up. One by one add the cinnamon, bay leaf, salt, and turmeric. Then add the ginger and onion paste, and also the chopped onions, chilies. Stir it till onions become brownish. Now add all the veggies, stir well. Add the garam masala powder and also add the curd. Again after stirring for a while, add the rice. Mix the rice with all the ingredients in the cooker. Let it be there for a while. Then add the required a...

As the name suggests, this is a veggie cum non-veg noodles recipe!! The simplest ever, but is also healthy and much more filling than regular instant noodle. So what all do you need for this? Instant Noodles (any brand) and the masala of it, Vegetables (here I have taken a carrot, capsicum, potato, and onion-you can also use other vegetables of your wish), Eggs (here I have used 2) Cumin seeds, salt, turmeric. How to make it? First, boil the noodles and keep it aside. (Remember to strain off excess water from the noodles and also wash the noodles with cold water after its boiled to remove the stickiness of the noodle.) Take a kadai, one spoon oil. Add the cumin seeds, salt, and turmeric. Then add the chopped onions, let it get brownish. Now add rest of the vegetables. Let them cook for a while. Then add the noodles masala, stir and then add eggs (you can also add chicken). Stir for 1-2 minutes till the egg is cooked. Now add the already boiled noodles. Mix well, and ...

So let's talk about a traditional recipe today. It's the age-old traditional food, everyone's favorite 'Khichdi'. So what all do you require for this? Musur dal-1.5 cup Rice-2 cups Onion, Crushed Garlic, Chilies Garam Masala Chili Powder, Dhania powder, Mustard Seeds, Cumin Seeds (or Jeera) Peanuts, Coriander Leaves Green Veggies (here I have used potato, carrot, tomato, spring onion and peas-you can skip any of it or add any other vegetable of your choice too) *the quantity of rice and daal mentioned is to suffice for 2-3 people How to make it? Take a pressure cooker (because the whole recipe will be done in a cooker only), put 3 spoons of oil and let it warm. Add the mustard, jeera, crushed garlic, saute a bit. Then add the peanuts and onions, after onions have become brownish, add the vegetables and the masalas (Garam Masala Chili Powder, Dhania powder) and also salt and turmeric. Saute a bit again, for like 2-3 minutes, then add the rice ...

Now its Bengali food time!! hehe!! It's one of the Bengali delicacies which I am gonna talk about today, the famous 'Alu Posto', a favorite food for all Bongs, with literally no exception! I have seen a lot of non-bong peoples also liking it a lot, thus if you are not a Bengali, you can try this too and do let me know whether you liked it or not! :) So what all you need to make it? Nothing much actually, the main ingredient is alu (or potato) and posto (or poppy seeds). Apart from that, you need some ginger paste, chilies or chili powder, onion, salt, turmeric, that's all! (I will be telling you for the quantity of 4 big potatoes, 2 big onions and 4 tablespoons of posto) How to make it? First thing is to make the paste of the posto (or poppy seeds) with just a minimum amount of water required to make the paste, and some chilies. Cut the alu (or potato) into small rectangular pieces and chop the onions not very finely and not also very coarsely. Take a k...

I recently came to know about this brand 'LetsShave' and also got my hands on with one of their scrubber: Blackberry and Lavender Exfoliating Scrubber. You can check out their website:  https://www.letsshave.com/home , they have a variety of shaving products like razors (for both men and women), shaving gels, body oils etc. I recently got my hands on with their body scrubber. The packaging of their Blackberry and Lavender Exfoliating Scrubber looks like this: It is from the brand LetsShave, a full body scrub. The size of the tube is 200g and MRP is Rs.399. I have been using this scrubber since last 3-4 weeks and has been loving it and thus wanted to write about it. It has a really amazing smell! Like mild and so soothing! I have normal type of skin and the scrubber did suit me really well. It is enriched with walnut shells, jojoba oil, and other very nice ingredients and the best part is, it is Paraben and Sulphate Free! It is a non-soapy, moisturizing type of a sc...

So I was very late to grab this Grab Box, but I did it finally!! The Faconn Mini-O-Grabbox of January'19 edition is just worth a buy! I had ordered at almost the end of the month and received the box recently. Faconn is a beauty cum cosmetic subscription box of India and every month they come up with a subscription box with great products. Most of the products in the box are mostly their own brand, and some are some different good brands. It is actually my 2nd purchase of the Faconn box and I am again very much impressed with the products. They also sell different accessories, skin and makeup products apart from the Subscription Boxes. You can check out their website here:  https://faconn.com/ So now coming to the January Subscription box, it has 5 items, and is priced at rs. 279. The best thing is it has beauty, skin care and also jewelry in the box. The products are: FACONN MULTANI MITTI – RS.150/-  S.F.R COLOR CONCEALER PALETTE-RS.350/-  OXIDIZED TRA...

Hellooo Sweethearts out there!! All of you must be aware of the brand ‘ Dove ’, it’s like been there since forever.   Dove is a brand by Unilever and has been there since 1950s. I have used the Dove soap since long as there was a time in the market that the Dove soap was so so popular that it was there available in almost every household. There has been various types of Dove shampoos too in the market. They every time come up with some new and innovative kinds of shampoo. To be true I was not a fan of the Dove shampoos as they mostly used to leave my hair very dry and brittle.   But ever since I came across this Dove Oxygen Moisture Shampoo , my perception completely changed. So the shampoo looks like this: I must say that the bottle looks really cute with the colour combination. Now let me go into the details of it… Specifications: This shmapoo is from the range of Dove Nutritve Solutions and they...

I have always been a huge fan of DIY natural masks for hair and skin. That really works wonders. Though I agree that you won't get immediate effects from these natural masks, but with a period of regular and continuous usage, you will obviously see the difference. Its beneficial in two major ways: 1. It is cheap, 2. It has no chemicals added to it to degrade ur skin or hair quality. So let me share with you my all-time favorite hair and body or face mask. Hair Mask: The things you need for this mask are: Egg, Sour Curd, Castor Oil, Coconut Oil. All that you have to do is mix one egg with one spoon of curd, half a spoon of coconut oil and 1/4th spoon of castor oil (measurements are for mid-length medium thickness hair, you can change the proportions according to your hair length and density). Apply all over your hair length, root to tips, and keep it for 1.5 hours and wash it off with your favourite shampoo. Repeat once in a week. Benefits of this mask: Egg being...

This recipe is exclusively for the beginners out there, specifically non-vegetarian or eggetarian beginners :) So the ingredients required are: 1 Egg, 1 Tomato, 1 onion, Half a carrot, Chilies, Coriander leaves. Chop the tomato, onion finely and grate the carrot. Add these to the egg which you have already broken and kept in a bowl. Mix these well with the egg. Add salt, pepper and chilies according to you taste. At the end add the chopped coriander leaves. Mix-Mix-Mix!! Heat up oil in a flat pan (not more than one spoon of oil is required). Then add the above mixture in the pan, and spread it nicely (*Caution*: Do not spread so much so that it becomes very thin). Fry one side for 3-4 minutes in medium flame, then flip on the other side and again fry for 2-3 minutes. La-La-La.... Done!! Tip: While mixing the egg, mix with a fork rather than with a spoon, it gets mixed well :)

Premature greying of hair is a very very common thing these days. It happens mostly because of our lifestyle, food intake, exposure to sun/pollution or may be hereditary. Whatever might be the reason, the simplest and the natural way to hide our grey hair is by colouring it with henna. This is the most natural, and cheapest way for hair colouring. We can prefer doing henna even when we do not have grey hairs, but we want that brownish ting in our hair or we want to condition our hair. So here are some tips and tricks which you should follow while making the henna paste: 1. Always make the mixture of henna in an iron bowl to get the darkest brownish black colour; 2. Keep the henna soaked for 10-12 hours before applying; 3. Preferably Mix coffee powder with the henna as it brings out a darker shade and is also good for hair; 4. While making the paste use warm coffee water to make the paste, and keep it in a thicker consistency; 5. After keeping the paste fo...

For non-veg lovers, this recipe is gonna be a quick fix for a bad day :) This one of the easiest way to make fried rice with very less ingredients and in a very short time. So what all is required to make it? Boneless chicken (I have here taken 250gms of boneless chicken), 2 eggs Onion, Ginger, Garlic Capsicum, Chilies, Salt, Pepper, Soya Sauce You can also add carrot, some cabbage, beans or some spring onion if you want. So let's begin.. The very first thing you have to do is to boil the chicken. Boil the chicken with some garlic/garlic paste, ginger/ginger paste, pepper powder, salt and one spoon of oil. Do not throw away the chicken stalk after the chicken is boiled, cook the rice with this chicken stalk. While the rice is getting cooked, make the other ingredients ready. Shread the chicken and mix one tablespoon of soy sauce to the shredded chicken. Take a kadai, with two spoons of oil in it. Put the finely chopped onions, capsicum, chili...

I have already spoken about Jovees shampoo in one of my previous blogs here:  https://pcfoodfacelife.blogspot.com/2018/11/jovees-honey-and-apple-conditioning.html  and today I am going to write my review of comparison between this shampoo and the Apple Cider Vinegar Shampoo from Wow Skin Science. I have had a really very good experience with the Jovees Apple and Honey Conditioning Shampoo which I have been using since maybe last 4-5 years. Recently I wanted to try the WOW Apple Cider Vinegar Shampoo. So let me lay out the features of the WOW Shampoo: It's a 300ml bottle, Price is Rs. 499(MRP) Contains no Sulphate, and Paraben Link to buy (Nykaa): https://www.nykaa.com/wow-organics-apple-cider-vinegar-shampoo/p/87193?ptype=product&productId=87193&skuId=87193 Coming to the comparison part: WOW Apple Cider Vinegar Shampoo Jovees Apple and Honey Conditioning Shampoo Quantity 300ml 250ml Price Rs. 499 (...

Here again, I have come up with an easy and healthy breakfast recipe, that's poha, a very very popular dish in Maharashtra. Ingredients: Flattened Rice (there are two different types of flattened rice/poha available in the market, get the thicker version amongst the two), Curry leaves, Onion, Tomato, Chilies, Pea-Nuts, Mustard Seeds, Jeera powder, Salt, Turmeric and Ginger Paste. How to make it? Take a pan, and put one tablespoon of oil in it and let it warm. Put the mustard seeds and jeera powder as tadka. then one by one put the curry leaves, ginger paste, chilies, and the onions and fry till the onion becomes brownish in colour. After that add finely chopped tomatoes and cook till its mushy. Now add the washed poha (remember not to soak the poha in water, else you will get lumps of it and it won't taste good that way). Add the poha /flattened rice and mix well. Do not add any water else it gets into lumps. After mixing the flattened rice with the masalas in the ...

It might sound like very common and plain and simple curry, but has a little twist in it!! So why do I say that?? Because it has a mixed flavor of East, West, and South of India (Haha). For this, of course, the main ingredient required is potatoes. Apart from that you also need: coconut paste (paste of dry coconut, some garlic, and some coriander leaves), some curry leaves, chilies, onion, ginger-garlic paste, mustard seeds, and salt and sugar and turmeric. So now take a pan, put some mustard oil and let it warm (you can use any oil of your choice). Put the mustard seeds, curry leaves, and the ginger garlic paste and fry them. After that add the chopped onions and fry till it becomes brownish in colour. In the meanwhile also add turmeric, salt and sugar, and chilies according to your taste (you can skip adding sugar too!!); Now add the chopped potatoes, mix well and add some water so as to cook the potatoes. Close the lid of the kadai and keep the gas in low flame an...

Here this is a kind of bong-marathi style bhindi curry! Lol! (So I kept the generic name! lol!!) It's again very very simple yet tasty curry recipe. The main ingredient is bhindi/ladysfinger (as the name of the recipe suggests). Ingredients: Kalonji seeds, Turmeric, Salt, Sugar, Chilies, bhindi/Ladysfinger, Onion, and a coconut paste. So let me first tell you how to make the coconut paste, which actually is the major masala in this particular recipe. For this paste, you need some dried coconuts, coriander leaves, green chilies, and garlic. Put all of this together in a mixer-grinder, and then u get the paste of it. Now coming back to the recipe, for this, take one tablespoon of oil in a kadai, let it warm and then add the turmeric powder, kalonji seeds, salt, some sugar, and the chilies into it. Stir well. Then add the chopped onion (here for half kg of ladysfinger I have taken two big size onion). After the onions have turned into brownish colour, add the nicely choppe...

So let me first give the disclaimer: this is not the very authentic rasam if you are looking for the same. It is a bit modified version of rasam, which I have modified according to my taste (and yeah it tastes good! lol!) So how to make it and what all you need for it? Here I have kept it simple and I am gonna share the recipe of the tomato-tamarind rasam. For that you need: Rasam Powder (easily available in market) Tomatoes (Here I have take 2 tomatoes), Tamarind (Around 2 tablespoon), Mustard seeds (Half a tablespoon), Asafoetida/Hing (pinch of it), Garlic (paste of 6-7 cloves of garlic and Chilies, Curry leaves, Salt, Sugar, Turmeric The first thing is you have to soak the tamarind in water for some 30 minutes (so that it gets soft and you can easily get the pulp out of it). Then keep the tomatoes finely chopped. Now starts the main thing (kidding. lol. it is a very simple thing to make rasam) Take a kadai, put half a tablespoon of oil, let it warm. After oil ...

In this chilly winters, we all need to grab some moisturizer right? Yeah! And those fancy moisturizers have loads of added chemicals in it, which, though does the job for the time being, but eventually degrades our skin :( So  I have here come up with a homemade DIY moisturizer. And again, like my usual DIYs, this is very very simple, affordable and yet effective. For this, you just need coconut oil and a lemon. Here I have taken around 12ml of coconut oil and for that amount I have taken half a lemon (you can change the quantity in the similar proportions). All you need to do is mix the coconut oil with the lemon juice and mix well. Store the mixture (if its summer, store it in a refrigerator) and keep using on a daily basis as a cheap and easy replacement of your favorite moisturizer. For people who have hyperpigmentation issue, the can also mix 3 tablets of vitamin E with the mixture and use in the same way. Coconut oil is a great skin nourishing ingredient and lem...