Thru My Digital Eyes

Theme - Buds.

2012-01-19T11:27:00.000-08:00

They are waiting for the day on which they will open up...

With the first rays of the sun...

To take a deep breath,

And mix their sweet fragrance

into the thin air.

And display their heart full of petals,

Soft, silky, white, colored...

They bring the butterflies,

To sip their nectar.

The bees buzz around them.

The little munchkins shout,

"Look at that beautiful flower!"

Buds stand in the sun,

Dreaming of tomorrow.

With the morn, I'll blossom

and bring happiness around me.

Orchids.

Flame of the Wood.

Jasmine.

Anthurium.

Rose.

Hibiscus or Shoe flower.

Orchids.

PS: All credit for the plants goes to my MIL and FIL. The photos are mine.

Colors.

2012-01-17T10:52:00.001-08:00

Pepper.

Evening Visitor

2012-01-16T10:39:00.000-08:00

This butterfly visits our garden every evening. My one year old daughter gets thrilled at the sight of this regular visitor, and calls it near to her. But it flutters away to another part of the garden.

I wanted to capture it long before, but it was only today time permitted to do it. Thank God for making such beautiful creations, all praises to Him.

Some snaps

2012-01-03T06:57:00.000-08:00

Playing with sunshine and shadows.

Old and unwanted.

Animal Friends

2012-01-03T06:54:00.000-08:00

Feeding the goat.

Gifts.

2012-01-03T06:53:00.000-08:00

Blooming Blossoms.

2012-01-03T06:52:00.000-08:00

Coconut Flower.

Smoke Doodles.

2012-01-03T06:49:00.000-08:00

I burned a Benzoin Resin (Sambrani) to expel the mosquitoes.

Doodles in the air.

Water Apple Juice

2011-12-14T06:27:00.000-08:00

More Flowers

2011-12-14T06:22:00.000-08:00

Eid in the Desert

2011-09-03T12:41:00.000-07:00

This Eid, we decided to go to Hatta, an oasis in Dubai. Its in a remote area. We heard that Hatta has pools and dam and the authorities have provided separate baths for men and women. So we packed up extra pairs of clothes, towels, slippers... And off to Hatta.

We drove with the help of sign boards (hats off to Dubai RTA for providing efficient sign boards, you don't need any technology here to find the way), until we reached the Oman border. Actually, we never knew there was a border to cross, and so we (me and Aisha) never took any ids with us. Hatta was a part of Dubai, but there was a small part of Oman in between. The police (or military, I don't know) men stopped us and asked us to return back *sigh*. We were only 50 kilometers away from Hatta.

To cut the story short, we never reached Hatta. We spent the Eid in the deserts on the road to Hatta. There were some desert safari areas, and a small farm with some camels, donkeys, peacocks, a pony and a horse.

Listen, and you will hear the Song of the Desert.

A peacock family celebrating their Eid.

Watch, and you can see the scenery of the Desert.

UAE national flags, in Eid spirit.

Mission Hatta on next Eid, Insha Allah.

Eid Delights.

2011-09-01T13:57:00.000-07:00

North Indian sweets, from hubby's friend.

Prawns Pulao with coconut chutney, onion-curd mix and olive.

End of Ramadan

2011-09-01T13:53:00.000-07:00

When Ramadan ended, our refrigerator was empty except for two tomatoes, some cucumbers, a few carrots, a small bunch of lettuce, a piece of chicken and half a box of chicken nuggets. And yes, a tray of eggs too. So, we decided a simple menu with these, and added kidney beans from the shelf. Hmmm..... not bad.

Dinner - Arabic bread, ...

...kidney beans masala and...

...chicken salad.

Breakfast - omlet, tomato and nuggets.

Breakfast - Bulls eye, last cucumber devided into half for me and hubby and a glass of chocolate milk.

Do With Dates

2011-08-21T08:22:00.000-07:00

With the beginning of dates festival...

...our landlord gifted us with three bunches of dates.

Now its dates juice,...

...dates cake,...

...dates pickle, dates pudding,.... All day!

...does anyone know how to make a good dates masala curry?

Iftaar Party

2011-08-19T13:28:00.000-07:00

We had an iftaar party at one of our relatives home. Some snaps from their nest...

We wait for the sun set, while....

....the food waits for us.

Another weekend day ends here.

Thrusday Trials

2011-08-18T12:37:00.000-07:00

Some experiments with food.

Iftaar Snack.

Prawns Parcel

Dinner

Rice pan cake layered with Chicken Masala (atti pathiri).

You can get the recipe of Atti Pathiri here, with some small modifications. I used chicken instead of beef. I grinded half a cup of coconut, 5 to 6 small onions and a pinch of cumin and added it to the masala in step 4.

NB: Click on the name to get the recipe.

Wednessday Viands

2011-08-17T23:42:00.000-07:00

Grape Juice.

The story behind the juice: Hubby bought some green grapes for an Iftaar party at our home. It was very sour and nobody ate it. Everyday for Iftaar, I washed the grapes, arranged it on a plate and took it to the dining table. After Iftaar, I dump it back in the fridge, nobody touched it. When it went on for four or five days, I decided to do something with the grapes. I boiled it with some salt, pepper and sugar to balance the tartness of the grapes, and then blended it. I thought hubby would scold me for wasting the sugar and pepper on the inedible grapes, but, Alhamdulillah, it was a huge hit.

Mutton Mughalai.

Pathiri (Rice pan cakes).

Ready to eat.

Chocolate

I didn't have a tray to put the chocolate to set, so I used the ice box.

Click on the names of the items to get the recipes.

Foodie Fotos.

2011-08-08T01:56:00.000-07:00

Foods around the world...

Arabic Biriyaani (Mandi)

Pasta with Indian flavours.

Noodles with veggies, egg and chicken.

South Indian Idli and Sambar.

Grilled Chicken.

Bread, butter and Jam!

Now for some Iftar treats.

Fruit Basket.

Rose milk (not stirred).

Strawberry Jelly.

Water melon Juice.

Apple pudding.

Cherry Jelly.

Phases of the Moon

2011-07-19T22:17:00.000-07:00

I took these fotos from a car, when at a signal, when we got on a hump and when the car was moving.

Click to enlarge it.

Monsoon at home

2011-06-29T01:49:00.000-07:00

Some snaps in between the monsoon rains...

Photos taken from my home, when the rain takes a rest. Walking through the rain water with bare feet is fun even though unhealthy.

Pitter patter rain drops.

Aisha watching the rain.

Little drops of water.

All green and red in the rain.

Spring Time

2011-05-03T09:06:00.000-07:00

Spring brings you flowers. So, flowers again...

Don't know the name... :(

Little Aisha trying to pluck a rose.

Ball flower, I don't know if that's the real name.

Again, no-name flower.

My Little Love

2011-02-15T03:59:00.000-08:00

Join me to see thru the days of my precious little girl...

Day 1

Before my hair cut (28 days)

After my first hair cut (28 Days)

My Aqeeqa

Lights off please!! I'm Sleeping!

I'm Big! I'm 40 days old!

My first day out.

My 60th day.

101 Days...

Getting out of my net into freedom.

4th generation... Dad's Grandmom and Me.

In my car chair.

Feast

2010-03-01T09:25:00.001-08:00

My mother in law made this for us. A typical Kerala fish Biriyani, with the usual side dishes - curd, tender mango pickle, coconut grounded with coriander leaves, lemon juice, pappad and green chilly and salad.

Walking Around My Home.

2010-03-01T09:19:00.001-08:00

Some snaps taken while I had a look at the surroundings of my home.

My nephew.

The ant house on a shoe-flower plant.

Can you eat in a perfect line like this? I wonder which insect did this!

What caption do I give for this pic? Its was a such a fantastic sight.

Flowers At Home

2010-03-01T07:56:00.000-08:00

Snaps taken during a short vacation, to our home in Kerala, India.

White Orchids.

Tiny Flowers.

The red bouquet.

The ants on the flower, isn't it cute?

Don't know the name.

Jasmine.

??????!!

No idea!

A little rose.

They call it the Jasmine bouquet. Who knows the real name?

The rainy beauty.

Actually, these are the fruits, I mean flowers, of my (Mom & Dad)-in-laws' hard-work and commitment. The love gardening. I don't even know the name of some of these flowers.

The wet and wonderful Kerala - II

2009-11-11T04:17:00.000-08:00

There is more to see during the wet seasons of kerala. A few snaps from my home.

The trees and plants happy and smiling with the raindrops.

My Experiments with Iftaar.

2008-09-13T00:30:00.000-07:00

I have loved the Kabsa or Mandhi, whatever you call it, from the first day I ate it. And I started searching the web for a good recipe of it. And at last I got one here. And the recipe:

This receipe is for 10 persons and require about 3h30 for preparation and cooking.

Ingredients-

For Kabsa:

2 1/2 kg (80 oz) lamb leg or shoulder meat, large cubes
4 cups long grain rice
1/2 kg (16 oz) carrots, peeled and finely chopped
1 green pepper, seeded and finely chopped
1/2 kg (16 oz) green peas
1 kg (32 oz) red tomatoes, peeled and chopped
1 kg (32 oz) finely chopped onion
1 medium sized garlic head, peeled and crushed
1/2 teaspoon ground saffron
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
1 tablespoon salt
shortening for frying
Fried almonds and pine nuts for garnishing

For Sauce:

2 cups meat stock
1 large onion, peeled and finely chopped
2 large tomatoes, peeled and finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1/4 cup chopped celery
1 teaspoon salt (as desired)
2 tablespoons shortening

Steps -

Kabsa:

Fry meat pieces till brown from both sides. Cover with water, bring to a boil then cook gently over medium heat for 2 hours or till tender. Reserve stock.
Soak rice for 15 minutes. Drain, wash well, then drain again.
Add shortening to a pot, fry on medium heat all ingredients except rice and meat. Cook on low heat for about 10 minutes, or until tender.
Add rice to vegetables in pot, stir fry for 4 minutes on medium heat. Add stock meat until stock covers rice. Cover pot. Cook on low heat for 30 minutes or until tender.
Serve rice in a large platter. Garnish with meat, almonds, and pine nuts.

Sauce:

Fry onion, garlic and tomato in shortening. Add tomato paste, salt, cinnamon and meat stock.
Cook mixture on medium heat. When it thickens, add celery.
Serve the sauce beside the Kapse platter.

And here is the result:

Now for the comments - Tasted good as a different dish, but its come no where near Kabsa. ;-)

Insha Allah, next time I'll be able to make it better. This time I got some mistakes in the process. I forgot to fry the rice before cooking. And the tomatoes where a little over. So, to the utter disappointment of my husband, I have decided to try it once again.

Iftar Snacks

2008-09-11T09:48:00.000-07:00

Iftar Snacks: The Samosa and Cutlet.

Cook the meat ( chicken, beaf or mutton. Here I have used mutton), with salt, 1/4 teaspoon of turmeric powder, 1/4 teaspoon of chilli powder or pepper powder and 1/2 teaspoon of corriander powder, 2 potatoes and half a cup green peas. Remove excess water. Remove the bones from the meat and smash everything into a paste.

Saute 1 onion, 2 pods of garlic, 1/2 inch ginger, 6-8 curry leaves, 2 corriander leaves, one green chilli and a pinch of garam masala. When the onion turns light brown color, mix the smashed ingredients and saute for 30 seconds. The filling is now ready.

1. Samosa.

Take the Samosa leafs, easily available in supermarkets, turn it as shown, insert the fillings. Make a paste of All purpose flour, and use it as a gum to stick the final edge of the leaf.

Turn the leaf through the grey line.

Deep fry it until dark brown.

2.Cutlet.

Take the fillings, roll it into balls the size of a small lemon and flaten it on the palm of your hand. Immerse it in egg white, and then in bread crumbs. Deep fry it until dark brown.

The Samosas and Cutlets.

My First Iftar

2008-09-03T03:48:00.000-07:00

This was my first iftar preparation. During the last years, someone has been there to help me around. This time, I was alone. Hubby asked me to make a vegetarian dish, lest his stomach could get upset on the first day of fasting. So I decided to go on with a vegetable kuruma (I don't know the birth place of vegetable kuruma. May be South India, or North India or the middle east) and 'Noolputtu' (a kerala dish).

I cut the vegetables ( a piece of carrot, a potato, a piece of cabbage, a piece of bottle gourd and a piece of capsicum and a tomato) into tiny pieces.
I saughted the tomato along with some curry leaves and chilly ( usually this is not done while preparing kuruma. Its my idea.)
Cooked them with some salt and pepper, poured some coconut milk, put come corn flour and a pinch of Garam Masala. This is how it looked like.
And now for the 'Noolputtu'. I mixed some rice powder and salt with boiling water, and made it into a smooth dough. Then I filled it inside a 'Noolputtu' maker, and pressed it into a plate. Shown below. By the way, 'Nool' in 'Noolputtu' means thread.
The 'Noolputtu' is then steam cooked.
And your 'Noolputtu' is ready!
A yummy iftar!!

The Wet and Wonderful Kerala.

2008-08-09T00:03:00.000-07:00

Kerala is now enjoying the end of summer - the rainy season. Rain gives everyone a feast for both eyes and ears. The rain on the green grass and big trees are really beautiful to see. And the murmur of the wind and rain, the whisper of the raindrops on the leaves of trees... A nostalgic song in our hearts.

My first fotos are not the scenes of this rain I have explained, but the disadvantages of rain in a developing village in the developing countries. Look at the roads below, some of them state and national highways!

This is not a pond, but the road.

The pond cum road!

The overflowing canals.

The River Nila, with water touching both the banks. In summer, this river is half empty. Far away, you can see the MES Engineering college, a well known institution in the north Malabar region.

The paddy fields in rain.

The rich green paddy field.

A long way to go,
To those nostalgic sights.
I wish I could dance with the raindrops,
And wash away the dust and dirt
That destroys my soul and body.
Thank you God, for your blessings,
Blessings that pour on us, as the raindrops.

Window shopping is great!!

2008-07-25T07:05:00.000-07:00

From a shop in Dubai...

My Digital Eyes at Dubai Gold Souq

2008-07-24T11:37:00.000-07:00

A lovely heart necklace.
Gold Jacket. I wonder who wears them.
Love birds.
The Golden Chariot.

Diamond Works.

Golden Antique Collections.

Golden Statues.

Works in gold.

My Brothers

2008-07-22T00:46:00.000-07:00

Foto of my brothers taken some 10 or 15 years back.

My youngest brother on the bank of River Thutha
My brother, in his usual pranks.
With a sparrow....

Watching UAE with my digital eyes

2008-07-19T05:13:00.000-07:00

The ice rink at Hayat Center. Wondering how much dollars they spent to keep the floor frozen. In the photo, the vehicle seen cleans the ice rink and makes it plain.
A mosque at Jumeirah.
Date Palms - in season now.
Burj Dubai. The seven star hotel. View from Jumeirah Beach.

The ice world at mall of emirates. The temperature inside is -3 degree when it is 50+ degree outside. Another way of burning oil and dollars.
Sheik Zayed Mosque

The creek in dubai, taken from the festival city.
A beautiful fountain.
Dubai Creek.
Small bougainvilleas.

Flowers.
Abaya on display in Al Ghurair center. I liked it very much, but it is very costly.

My nephew with his walking stick.

2008-07-16T00:00:00.000-07:00

Some more fotos of my nephew, taken when he and my dad stepped out for a short walk.

He pulls the stick from my dad.
Although he has his own small walking stick, he is not satisfied with it. He wants the big one.
Happy when he finally got it.
Dad not being able to walk without the stick. Mazin walks with dad's stick!

Flowers at Home.

2008-07-06T04:50:00.000-07:00

Some flowers at my home. Don't think I planted them, its the 'kids' of my mom-in-law and dad-in-law. Yeah, kids. They care for the flowers as we care for our kids. I don't know the names of most of them, but I love all of them.

Did you notice the butterfly?

Aren't they beautiful? My MIL and DIL have really got a green thumb.

Children - the gift of God( III )

2008-07-06T03:51:00.000-07:00

This is a video, of my hubby's niece, i.e, my bro-in-law's kid.

Sweet, nah?

Children - the gift of God( II )

2008-07-05T02:26:00.000-07:00

As I promised you, here is the second post of kids around me. This is my sis-in-law's kid, now 1&1/2 years old.

The chocolate girl...Hihi look at the chocolate mustache on her face!

More chocolates.

Some snaps taken by my sis-in-law.

Children - the gift of God( I )

2008-07-03T06:19:00.000-07:00

II like taking fotos of children. Not their faces, but their funny expressions. They are really beautiful. So here comes some foto and a video of the babies around me.
Here is my nephew(bro's kid).

Mazin posing for foto. He is good at posing - makes every type of expressions we ask him.

On his bike... won't get up from it once mom gives him the cycle.
Reading newspaper. Taken when he was six months. He likes to act as grown ups. Likes to keep dad's glasses and read newspaper, walk like dad with a walking stick,... :)

Wow! His aim is for the engineering mathematics!Say Cheeeeeeeeez........ click! Mazin taking foto.
He doesn't need food or water if he has a pen and paper.
Toooooooooo cold... in Ohio.
And with his laptop... His new toy!
Wait for the coming fotos of my sis-in-law's kid, in the next post.

Walking with the digital eyes.

2008-07-02T07:08:00.001-07:00

Some miscellaneous fotos. Just for the fun of it.
Dinner cooked by my mom when my friends arrived at my home.
My sweet home.
Flower at our hostel.
Marbles??? No. Just guess it.
On the elephant we killed! lol...did u say that hunting elephants was for boys? Now change the way you think!
A beautiful flower carpet we made during our 'Onam' festival at college.
OH, who are you? If I were there, I would have certainly touched you.

Moments of Hostel Life.

2008-07-01T22:49:00.000-07:00

These fotos are taken from our home, in which we lived for half an year. By 'we', I meant me and my roommates at college, not my family. There were 9 of us, from different parts of Kerala. It was really a happy life, and I miss them all very much now. Most of them are married or engaged now, and in their own world of family life and office life. Three of them have got cute babies, to add to the pros and cons of a family. We all are apart by distance between us, but near to each other in our thoughts. Friendship is really a blessing of Allah.
Most of the fotos are taken by us, and we were the first-time fotographers at that time. So sorry if they are not clear.
This is the cleaning timetable for all of us. Great? But the truth is, nobody cleaned the home according to the timetable. Hahaha. Lazy girls interested only in the colorful timetable!!
This is our cooking stove. Somany memories in it, although its not that fantastic foto.
The alarm clocks that woke us at 8:30 in the morning to catch the bus at 8:45. Oh, it had a horrible sound....TTTTTTTRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNGGGGG!!!! I detest the voice of alarm even today.
Our iron box. Nothing special about it, bu ti thought why just put that away?
Our book shelf - don't think we were that studious. And don't think we were below average. :)
Autograph bag - nobody is going to forget that! Our autographs for the bag owner Femi.

Autograph for our friend Hisham by the 9 of us. Just a little mischief, and a smile for the later years.
The flower that grew by itself in our garden. One fine morning, the naughty ones among us just plucked those beautiful flowers, for this one snap!

The sun sets, and rises again,
To take us apart, with all the pain.
Tomorrow the sun may brightly shine,
And give each of us, a life so fine.
But the memories in us will never die,
And makes our gloomy hours pass by.

My Place, my Land.

2008-07-01T10:46:00.000-07:00

These fotos are taken by my friends and me. It goes thru our homeland - Kerala, which is at the northern tip of India.
This is my friend on the rock near to his house. I never thoughts rocks also had beauty until I saw these pics taken by them.

Aren't they beautiful?
The road is not tarred. But it brings the picture of a remote village in India- and nostalgia for me.
There are some friends of me on the bridge.
The highway of a remote village in India. No traffic( and no traffic rules! :) ), no signals, no overbridges.... I love this roads.

Some more beautiful rocks.
These houses are called 'Illam". They are houses of high caste hindus in Kerala. They are old now, used for film shooting.
The below foto shows the 'Nadumuttam' of an 'Illam'. 'Nadumuttam' is an opening at the centre of the house, with no roof above it.
These houses may have stories of Kings and Queens to tell, if they could speak.

The below foto was taken for the festival "Vishu"(a Hindu's festival), at my friend's home.
This is a "Vishukkani", and the fight sight to see on the day of "Vishu" should be this. That means, you should come with your eyes closed and open only when you reaches here.
This is the "Sadhya" of a Malayalee, you can say it is our national food. Usually it is eaten from a banana leaf, and there are rules by which you should keep each item in which place. The tip of the leaf should point to your left. The rice is put in the free half of the leaf. Isn't that great?
Below pic show (my) river, with the sun shining on its surface.

My W810i Fone-Fotos.

2008-07-01T10:35:00.000-07:00

Here are some pics I tuk with my W810i fone.... I love the fone and it was gifted to me by my co-sis. I'm not a good fotographer, but I think this fotos are not bad. Ur comments are always welcome.
This is my brother's kid, waiting for the door to be opened to get outside.
A rose at my in-law's house.
Tomatoes planted by my Mother-in-Law.
I tuk this foto from my relatives' house, thru the one of the holes in the cage.
This is a flower I planted. Usually, plants or trees I plant won't see their 2nd week of growth, but amazingly this flower is still in my garden. Survival of the fittest!