Besan Paare and a book review

My family and other animals- Five stars all the way for this one. This is a wonderful account of a 10-year old boy's childhood years on the greek island of Corfu after his family moves there from England in the 1930s. The boy is a rabid naturalist, and is always collecting poisonous, slithering, leggy, and/or hostile creatures home (much to his family's dismay) to study and keep as pets. I could not help laughing out loud in the train while reading it, sometimes trying to suppress my laughter and getting suspicious looks from fellow passengers! wisely consider your reading spot! Howling of laughter in public places might cause you troubles, but the best part - you won't care a bit and will always consider it worthy!

 It captures the culture of the period on the Greek island of Corfu. It contains animals with unique personalities. Colorful characters abound in the form of the family's driver, Spiro, the tutor, Kralefsky, and numerous friends. This family has to be one of the first dysfunctional families to be chronicled. Though I enjoyed Gerald's explorations and fascinating descriptions of nature and its creatures I loved reading about the hilarious family dynamics. The asthmatic guest and his horse-blanket, Margo kissing a pair of mummified feet or the incident with mommy-the-scorpion. I'm not a big nature person, and while this book is written by a future zoologist it doesn't seem to matter. The story is much more than a catalog of a boys adventures on Corfu, but rather a story of a very real family (just didn’t understand their source of income, since none of them seem to be working as such..and they spending quiet leisurely on the party’s and  changing the villas..)

Sometimes it's pretty hard to tell them apart... my family and the animals, that is. I don't know why my brothers and sisters complain so much. With snakes in the bath and scorpions on the lunch table, our house, on the island of Corfu, is a bit like a circus.

This was such a delightful book. I can only recommend it to all my friends out there. (the fact that I decided to write a review for it, coz I am too lazy to do it normally and just enjoy reading books ;))

What better to read a interesting book and munching your fav snack with a cuppa tea..coming to todays recipe ..

You will need :-

250 g chickpea flour or besan

250 g plain flour or chapatti flour

50 g fine semolina

100 ml oil

Salt to taste

2-3 tsp red chilli powder ( you can adjust to your liking )

2 tsp sesame seeds

2 tsp ajwain ( carom seeds )

Oil to fry para

Masala powder to sprinkle on crackers

Red chilli powder 1 tsp.

Dry mango powder 1/2 tsp. ( Amchoor Powder )

Garam masala 1/2 tsp.

Chaat masala 1 tsp.

Anardaana powder 1/2 tsp. ( pomegranate powder )

Method :-

Mix all the masala powder ( to sprinkle ) in one bowl and leave it aside.

Mix chickpea flour, plain flour, semolina, 100 ml oil, salt, sesame seeds, ajawain seeds and red chilli powder in a bowl.

Combine everything and make a stiff pliable dough. ( like a puri dough )

Cover with wet cloth and leave it 10-15 minutes.

Divide dough into 4-5 equal parts.

Make a ball from each part of the dough and roll into a circle on a flat surface with rolling pin about 1/2 " thick .

Prick the circle with fork so para doesn't fluff up.

Cut each of the rolled dough into half with pizza cutter or knife. ( if you feel like whatever shape you desire you can 

give like square or diamond but I preffered long sheets )

Heat oil in a heavy bottom kadai , fry the paras on a medium to low heat until brown.

Remove it from the hot oil. 

Sprinkle masala powder which prepared earlier and let it cool to room temperature they will go crispy.

Enjoy !

Lets check out what my fellow marathoners have cooked today for BM# 45.