Tricolour Pasta for the World Cup Champions ~ INDIA

Winning the world cup 2011 is one of the greatest moments in the sporting history of India..... This team has come together in the real sense and done us all proud...

These are some of the defining moments of the match where lots of runs were saved with magnificent fielding, taken wickets with superb bowling and nailed Lanka's coffin with awesome batting and the thing which saw them sailing thru was the fierce hunger-to-win and the spirit to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat....
The force which united everyone..... GOD of Cricket... Fans Chanting S-A-C-H-I-N... during the match along with pride for the nation.... He wasn't alone in celebrating.... his children, teammates, even Jumbo(Anil kumble, isn't he cute :) ), fans......

Office has it's share of enthusiasm n enthusiasts as well ....

I watched the match on Tv at home(since I'm nursing ruptured ligaments of my foot) with Mom, Dadaji n Bua and was on facebook watching it with my friends and cousins Pushpanjali, Pinakini, Rahul, Payal, Anjli, Shweta, Divya, Diya, Priti, Mehul,Vimoha, Nimi, Radhika, Lubna and many more friends :)

We had totka's from the India-Pakistan semi finals extended for the finals... Facebooking with friends, Focusing with Anjli didi, Divya's coffee, My vodka shots and Dairymilk Chocolate.... Rahul not moving from where he was sitting :), Payal eating chocolate brownie ice-cream :)))))), Vimoha saying "Now im superstitious- changed my profile pic to the same as when we won against Pakistan! koi shak nahi hona chahiye which men in Blue!!!"

Some of my updates:
Sehwag ki mummy se shikayat karo......

Malinga u resemble an ugly version of Raavan!!! Via Mehul Jain

80 from 81 balls...

Distracted: Put on Star Plus for a bit on the comedy serial with Raveena Tandon
My sister, Nivritti Chandra had done Raveena's make up... proud of you girl.... Way to go... :)

My friend say "i think dhoni will make 100
get MoM
and then will give it to gambhir
ravi shastri style"

Dadaji says to Bua... don't say negative things... will put tape on ure mouth.... ROFL.... laughed my guts out.... :)

If we lose by 2 runs... the bookie sms doing the rounds will be proved right... India PLZ WIN...

Ravi Shastri.... U'll burn in hell saying that Malinga will do something special for SL.....
#MURDER # RAVISHASTRI

patake bajne chalu ho gaye hain....
5 from 12
4 from 11
partnership of 48 from 41
patake in delhi outside
finished so well by DHONI... we love u.........6^er......

Dhoni being carried off the field by his team makes....yuvi hugging 10dulkar, dhoni in tears, team hug, bhajji in tears, kiran rao in tears on amir's shoulders

Mohammad Razvi: Nichiketa, Did India win?? Can you put live commentary on facebook so I can re-live the moment. Oh wait, you already did. LOL!!!

Diya Pinto: I followed the match by reading Nachiketa Chandra 's status updates! How 21st century am I??!!

Sharma uncle calling dadaji to congratulate... dadaji says... bahut badiya khele ladke... khushi manao... hali tamasha chal raha hai... :)

Chakde song playing in the stadium

Nice way to shut everyone one up... :) @dhoni...... :)

Koi Ravi Shastri ka khoon kar do... :))))

De diya ghumake... but let's give it to the SL team... They also played very well... 3 cheers for Cricket :))))))

Victory is ours.... The team celebrates along with their Coach and all the support staff, they are all thanked. Excitement is written across everyone in bold letters....

To celebrate... I made a Tricolour farfalle pasta with a Arrabiata sauce, White sauce and Pesto sauce to match our flag colours....
Pesto Sauce

Adapted from Reluctant Gourmet

Ingredients

3 cloves garlic

2 cups fresh basil leaves

3 tablespoons pine nuts

1 dash salt and pepper

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese grated

Method:

The traditional way of making pesto is with a mortar and pestle. Start by adding basil, garlic, salt, and pine nuts to the mortar and grinding them to a paste. Pound in the cheese. Finally whisk in the oil until you have the desired consistency.

As much as I enjoy trying traditional methods, I usually don't have the time or energy to bruise basil leaves so I reach for my food processor and puree a batch in a matter of minutes. If you don’t have a food processor, you can also use a blender. Here's how I make my pesto sauce.

Add the garlic to the food processor and mince. Next, add the basil leaves, pine nuts, and a dash of salt and pepper to the bowl of the processor. While the processor is running, slowly drizzle in olive oil through the feed tube until all the ingredients are pureed.

You may need to stop the processor at this point and scrape down the sides with a rubber spatula to get every mixed together. Now add Parmesan cheese and mix it into the rest of the mixture. If the pesto is too thick, add a tablespoon of water.

Arrabiata Sauce

Ingredients

2 tablespoons of Olive Oil

1 Onion finely diced

8 cloves Garlic, crushed n roughly chooped

2 chopped Tomatoes

1 table spoon Tomato Sauce

1/2 teaspoon Chilli Flakes

2 packets maggi Chicken Stock Cubes

100gms amul Cheese grated or Parmesan

Big handful of Basil shopped roughly

100ml Milk or Cream [i use milk, lesser fat you see]

Salt, Chilli Flakes, Oregano and Pepper to season

1/2 cup sliced Olives

1/2 cup Mushrooms

1/2 cup Baby corn

1 teaspoon Butter

Method:

Saute the mushrooms in 1 teaspoon of butter, salt and pepper. reserve the water in the pan as stock.

Blanch the baby corn.

Rinse olives out of the brine.

Heat the oil and cook the garlic till browned.

Add all the spices to the hot oil to release flavour(chilli flakes, oregano)

Add onions cook till pink/translucent.

Add chicken stock cubes and tomatoes along with the sauce till cooked through

Add milk and bring to a boil.

Add the basil sliced olives, mushrooms and baby corn.

Simmer for 5-7 minutes.

Mushroom Sauce
Shared by Gauri
Ingredients:
2 spoons olive oil
4 Packets Mushrooms
2 Glasses Milk[Luke warm]
2 cloves garlic
2 teaspoon of mixed herbs[You may vary as per taste]
Salt to taste

Method:

Put 1 teaspoon olive oil in a pan and cook for about 15 – 20 minutes finely chopped mushrooms, add a pinch of salt it will be done faster, don’t add water since Mushrooms will leave water and will be cooked in the same itself.

Once done keep it aside to cool, and make a fine thick puree of the same without adding water in the Grinder. You can keep a few slices of cooked mushrooms aside to be used like that.

In another Pan, Put 1 teaspoon in the Pan and add 2 teaspoons of the herbs along with lots of finely chopped garlic, sauté for 5 minutes till it is cooked, remember we don’t have to turn it golden brown like we do for North Indian Dishes as we don’t want to loose its essence.

Now its time to add puree of the cooked mushrooms, add finely chopped and cooked mushrooms 1 small portion along with the puree in the Pan.

Let it cook for 5 minutes now add 1-1.5 glass of luke warm Milk in the Pan, add salt to taste and cook for 15 – 20 minutes.

Assembly:

Pasta:

To start with boil water with a pinch of salt and 1 table spoon cooking oil, when it comes to boil, put all the Pasta in it and let it cook for 20 minutes. When it is done, drain the extra water and wash the Pasta in cold Water and keep it aside to be used later.

In a bowl mix the 3 different pasta sauces with 1/3 quantity of the cooked pasta.

Enjoy the celebrations....

Nivritti said "It was bizzare, it was crazy, the patriotism, the madness was just to contagious...everyone shouting their throats dry...."india india"....at 1am the city was choked and everyone was euphoric...saalam to mumbai as well....it was truly amazin...g..people out in their cars, in rickshaws, trucks, on foot..on the carriers of their cars, dickies, bonnets, just ecstatic every where waving the indian flag....clicking pictures and no one felt like a stranger to each other....................................................awesome experience......................."

Vikas Luthra said Don’t know which one of your million posts to respond too...but they are all equally ebullient...:))...I enjoyed reading them all..and it was a great match to watch!....too bad could not be there...Cheers...V.

Amitabh Singh said The 1983 win was much more euphoric......but I guess most of you were not born then.....have fun my little ones..... :-)

Atul uncle's quotes his Top 5 World Cup Stadium experiences
I went for the cricket match yesterday. What a lifetime experience!!
Here are my top 5 takeaways:
1. Queueing up still comes naturally to Mumbaikars. Thousands formed long lines across 9 entrances and waited patiently in the hot sun, to enter the stadium. No pushing, shoving, jostling. (My friend from the North remarked - its so nice, they don't pinch bottoms here :)..)

2. 33,000 fans gave Sri Lankan Captain Jaywardene a standing ovation when he scored his century.

3. Even young kids knew the entire lyrics to A R Rahman's "Vande Mataram" and stood to sing it with pride every time it was played.

4. Courtesy and etiquette among spectators was mind blowing. As they left the stadium, touching to see thousands of fans shaking hands and thanking the CISF, Police, ATS for their impeccable security and hard work.

5. Every single fan booed when Sharad Pawar's name was called out and was shocked to discover that everybody disliked him!


Shalvika Sood said Memories from d finale: An emotional Yuvi sobbing into Bhajji n Sachin.. Sachin crying back....An exuberant Kohli presenting Sachin with d memorabilia wicket n later foisting him on his shoulder....d young ones cheering Kirsten n giving d coach his due.....d ever Mr Cool MSD turning n ducking quietly to wipe his tears b4 joining the team huddle....n then Gauti sealing it with a humble 'ths was for u Sachin'!!!!!

Richa Sharma said Dear Raj Thackery, a Chandigarh lad, a Jharkhand captain and a Delhi boy, with the team won the world cup for us and dedicated it to a Marathi legend. Your regional hatred has failed. Jai ho!

Yuvi... tonight's gonna be a good good night... ;) bartender of the evening... ;)

This is to all the passionate, crazy, emotional, whacky updates that kept all of us going and this is to moments which would live with us forever
That's Right Rajni, Ganjni & Dhoni made it for India in Final in Mumbai....rest done by team....Great moment.... :-)

Can any celebrations be complete without something sweet..... Flag Cookies for everyone....
Recipe is the one we used for the September 2010 Daring Bakers Challenge

Have good good night boys... you deserve it... 3 cheers for Dhoni n his boys....

Chak De and Me

Popular Cricket vs Obscure Hockey……

Abhishek….. arrogant vice captain for the Indian cricket team…… telling Preeti, weather u win or lose, you’ll still be my wife….. not that you’ll be the highest scorer and have India going crazy over you………

She proved him and lots of others all wrong…….

All thru school I had to grapple with Karate vs Taekwon Do.
Oh! You do karate? The word “Taekwon Do” never registered in people’s heads.

Can u break a table? If you are Taekwon Do champ, break this wall. Can you to a twirling kick in the air? Black Belt, can you fight with 6 boys simultaneously?

My reaction to such pompous asses….. Go take a hike…. You don’t effect us… we have even greater heights to achieve…….

“Humla samne wali team ke dimag par karo, field mein goal apne aap ho jayega.”
~ Something which was a constant my coach drilled into my head….. Never lose “eye-contact” during a match.

The result was

Boys vs. girls match
~ There weren’t any girls in our club when I started practicing at some 6-7 years of age…. I use to practice with boys my age. It gave me the advantage which stood me in great strength over the years. I was beaten up but then was tended to with utmost care too.

~ We use to have an event called “Group Sparring”. Any 5 member of a team competed with any 5 members of another team… Height no bar, weight no bar… Gender was no bar till I had entered this competition

Yes, I have made history by fighting a guy in a championship…… obviously I won….. It was difficult….. but it wasn’t sheer strength that won me that match. It was strategy with strength that helped me win.

Ache player ki kismet achi hi hoti hai…..
Black belt at 10 years 11 months….

That's Abhimanyu and me

Extremely hard practice sessions…..
This is what one of the sessions did to me but still took part in the championship and came back with a silver medal.

Australian Coach: which one of them is didi?????

~ LOLZ….

Arya Menon who played Gul in the movie was someone who embodied “The Chandra’s” syndrome. Our clan comprised of Abhimanyu, Tushar, Nivritti, Chetan and me. The Mehras were also closely linked as they are my Bua’s daughters: Akshita and Amrita. That makes 7 of us.

It was so essential to win… it was expected of you all the time.

Tushar and I sharing a fun moment in Goa

Injury in matches….

This particular match was crazy where I saw blood pouring from my nose……… a rivulet was more like it ;-)

Losing….
It’s not that you never lose….. I lost many matches in the beginning of my career to a girl called bindiya….. she was my cross… my albatross….. it just hung on my head. But then you have to come out of it. It’s like being a phoenix… rising from the ashes…..

Something this movie makes you live thru……

Winning Moments….

There were so many… I now wish I had more pictures and had archived stuff…..

Fun Time after matches…

Party time in Goa

Shreya and I
I

Fashion Show

Sattar(70) Minute, sattar min hai tumhare paas. Shayad yeh.. tumhare zindagi ke sab se… khaas sattar minute. Aaj tum aacha khelo ya bura khelo, yeh sattar minute tumhe zindagi bhar yaad rahegi. Tho kaise khelna hai.. aaj mein tumhe nahin bataunga.. Bas itna kahunga, ki jao aur yeh sattar minute jee bhar kar khelna.. kyunki iske baad aane wali zindagi chahe kuch sahi ho ya na ho.. chahe kuch rahe ya na rahe.. haro ya jeeto..lekin yeh sattar minute.. tumse koi nahin cheen saktha, Kyunki mein jaantha hu ki aagar yeh sattar minute is team ka har player apne zindagi ki sabse badiya hockey khel gaya.. tho yeh satar min khuda bhi tumse vapas nahin maang saktha. (This is one of the best scenes from Chak De India. Just before the Hockey Final)

The coach gave each girl the strength to believe in herself and do something really cool for themselves. Everyone had a personal battle to fight…… but they did it with a certain “togetherness”…. Everyone contributed to each other…..

Komal passed the ball to Preeti, who gave the penalty shoot out to Komal. Bindiya came around… Balbir was able to control her temper…. They were doing what a team does…. Play Hockey and nothing else…..

This is something only a coach can do… take all the pressure off the player… all the player has to worry about is playing his/her game.
Having a good coach/ manager makes the difference between a match won or lost.
I lost a cherished match against a seeded player in an inter-school only because of this.
Round 1: I was winning cause I was playing better. Half time – our coach gave her a tip….. I couldn’t make out till the end of the match what happened……

Interviews with the press after winning…..

Coach: you were all brilliant during selection but now you are all equal and as far as I know, you know nothing about hockey.
~ prove ureself all over again…. Unlearn n relearn to actually learn n advance.
The transition from school champ to noone in LSR was difficult in the 1^st year, where each one was a champ in their own space. I had to do it again.


Thank you Rana maam. You are the best. She was just amazing.

Shah rukh khan’s wanton eyes when he sees the field after being appointed the coach…..

~ Whenever I go back to the Talkatora stadium (where most of our championships use to be held) I can feel a tug at my heart.

Throughout the movie, every instance had me going back to 20 years of Taekwon Do…. The tenets of Taekwon Do have been ingrained in us from the very start....

Explanation of Tenets

1. Courtesy (Ye Ui)
Taekwon-Do students should attempt to be polite to one another and to respect others. Students should address instructors as Sir and to bow to the instructors before and after classes. Turning up early or on time for classes is also an aspect of courtesy.

2. Integrity (Yom Chi)
One who has integrity is able to define what is right or wrong and have the conscience, if wrong, to feel guilt. Taekwon-Do students should strive to be honest and to live by moral principles.

Shah Rukh ~ "team banane ke liye takat nahi, niyat chahiye"

3. Perseverance (In Nae)
Perseverance means having patience. One of the most important secrets of becoming a leader in Taekwon-Do is to overcome every difficulty by perseverance. Confucius said," One who is impatient in trivial matters can seldom achieve success in matters of great importance."

4. Self-Control (Guk Gi)
Without self-control, a Taekwon-Do student is just like any fighter in the street. Loss of self-control is disastrous both in sparring and personal affairs. "The term of stronger is the person who wins over oneself rather than someone else", Lao Tzu.

Balbir controls herself in one of the critical matches to save the team from loosing a player…..

5. Indomitable Spirit (Baekjul Boolgool)
A true student of Taekwon-Do will never give up, not even when faced with insurmountable odds. The most difficult goals can be achieved with indomitable spirit.

parasailing in Billing, himachal pradesh at 8500 ft

view pictures at http://picasaweb.google.com/nachiketa.chandra/ParasailingInBillingHimachalPradeshAt8500Ft