How to make cold coffee at home

Hi my reader, welcome back to recipe section of my blog. Summer is near ( even though in India summer has started long time ago). So, today I will be sharing one recipe which I am sure will become your favorite for this summer. Yes, yes, yes this is all about my long expected Cold Coffee or how people say Ice Coffee recipe and making process.
First time I saw the process from my friend Anush Gasparyan and then  started to search in Internet and try to make some differences by my own way, however not so many things has been changed.Let me say this coffee has become  a favorite drink for my whole family. No any day pass without it.
So let's start the process.

For this process we will need:

1. one teaspoon of instant coffee
2. one tablespoon of sugar
3. 100 gram vanilla ice cream
4. 2 ice cubes 
5. one glass of water

So, we will mix ice cream, sugar and coffee and beat it well till sugar and coffee will melt. You can add one tablespoon water  (room temperature).Water will help a coffee to be perfectly dissolved. 

When it becomes a foamy mixture you can add one glass of cold water and two ice cubes. 

Your coffee is ready... yeah amazing and it's time to enjoy it.

Hope guys you will try this recipe and give me your feedbacks. Waiting for your responds...

Armenian First Tooth Tradition or "Atam Hatik"

Hello my reader, again I am back to my blog to tell you about one of the beautiful tradition of Armenian culture.

So today I will share with you Armenian First Tooth tradition, the way we  celebrate it, the meaning behind it and of course some beautiful photos of my cute nephew's First Tooth Celebration.
In  Armenia, when baby's first tooth appears, family starts preparation for celebrating First Tooth Appearance. This is called "Atam Hatik", 'atam' means tooth, and 'hatik' means granule or seed.
This day we celebrate with fool enthusiasm, since it's one of the happiest tradition in every Armenian family. Preparation starts few days before. Parents start to buy balloons and all other required staff decorated according to celebration.

I don't know how it has been done in our time, but now there is a number of variety of stuff, which market offers to the lucky parents to make that day  fairytale for their little ones.
Everything has a shape of tooth or somehow related to it.
According to tradition there should be a popcorns, cake, multicolor candies and sweet sticks on the table, as a symbol of prosperity.

The baby is also presented with few items and whichever one he or she picks up, predicts his or her future occupation. If the child picks up book, he will be a teacher or writer, money means he will be a banker, financier or businessman, a knife symbolize occupation of doctor and a scissors foretells a life as a seamstress or tailor.
Before there was presented only three things, comb, mirror and knife. Comb has symbolised healthy and straight teeths, mirror has symbolised  abundance and fertility, and knife for strength.
As I know my nephew has picked up few things together, so I am not sure what profession he will choose in future, but whatever it would be, let it be good for himself.

Now tradition has been changed a lot, and people make it the way they like, but one thing has remained the same: it is beautiful family tradition which will length for centuries.
And in the end, there is our 'sweet pie' with his brother.

Connaught Place, Heart of New Delhi

Hello my reader, today I want to write about one of the best place in Delhi, which is my favorite destination for shopping for coffee shop, restaurant and any kind of time pass activity.
Yes, yes, yes its all about Connaught Place.

Connaught Place is located in the center of the city. Its a biggest financial, business and commercial center of New Delhi. As a foreigner I like this place a lot (and I am not the only foreigner who likes this place) since here you can find everything, you can pass your time on shopping or try continental restaurants over here, or just enjoy beautiful view in central park. For me its like a Republic Square of Yerevan. It's clean and cosy place, where you can feel safe as a foreigner and walk alone till late evening.
Here, land is  very expensive and it comes 9th place among the most expensive commercial and business areas around the world.
You can reach this place by Metro, using Yellow or Blue line. The Metro station which comes just near to Central Park is called Rajiv Chowk and here Blue and Yellow lines are crossing.
Construction of this are started in 1929 and was completed in 1933. It has been named after Prince Arthur, 1st Duke of Connaught and Strathearn. This is a place of pride and counted among the top heritage structures in New Delhi. It was developed as showpiece of Lutyens Delhi, with the prominent Central Business District.

The circle was eventually designed with two concentric circles, creating an Inner Circle, Middle Circle and Outer Circle, with seven roads radiating from a circular central Park. As per the original plan, the different blocks of Connaught Place were to be joined from above. employing archways, with radial roads below them. However, the circle was 'broken up' to give it a grander scale. Even the blocks were originally planned to be 172 metres in height, but later reduced to present two-storied structure with an open colonnade. It was planned to build a New Delhi railway station there but engineers found it impractical  and selected nearby Paharganj area.

Regal Cinema, which was the first cinema of Connaught Place hosted popular concert, theater groups and ballet performances. Later on in 1938, Telki house has been opened, which was offering only Indian cuisine. Swish couple has introduced Delhi a homemade pastries and Swiss chocolates, by opening Wenger's which was originally established 1926 in Kashmiri Gate area. Then one by one many restaurants and shops has been established in this area.
In 1931 first luxury hotel of New Delhi, The Imperial has been opened on Queen's Way (now Janpath) and eventually became a haunt for royalty and a place for political discussion.
It was here that Jawaharlal Nehru, Mohandas K. Gandhi, Muhammad Ali Jinnah and Lord Mountbatten met to discuss the Partition of India and the birth of Pakistan.

When I walk through this area, no doubt, I feel typical British architectural presence and style.Buildings are old but those are kept in same style and way as have been constructed. It seems nothing has been change during this century, but no, it has been...this is the place where every fashion brand exist. Here you can see an ancient and modern, classic and chic, budget and expensive, everything from everywhere.
Just in inner cycle there is a underground market which is called Palika bazaar. where you can find everything with affordable prices, don't expect too much about quality, if you want something according to upcoming fashion, you can choose branded shops.
This place is  near to several luxury hotels, railway station, diplomatic area, parliament house and India gate.

This is a historical place, famous destination for every indian and every tourist stepped to Delhi. Every time when I look at the huge Indian flag placed in the center of Central Park, kind of proud feeling is surrounding me  The flag waves slowly and peacefully, it's as huge as it's nation, history and culture. That beautiful flag is a symbol of this city, country and nation. It reminds us that we are in the heart of this civilization, and I am somehow proud to be part of it.

Soup with Mutton Balls

Hi my dear reader, today I am going to share with you long expected recipe of mutton ball soup.
This is my mother recipe, and let me say it was my favorite recipe of all time.

For this recipe we will need:

1. 400 grams of minced mutton 
2. 4 medium potatoes 
3. 2 medium tomatoes
4. 1/3 cup of  rice
5. 1.7 litre of water
6. one big onion
7. Salt
8. Black pepper 
9. punch of coriander
10. 2 tablespoon ghee (this mutton already had a fat )

Here I will be using already prepared minced mutton which has all the spices, onion, salt, dried greens, little flour, rice and egg inside (all the details,  you can see in my recipe post of Dolma).
Frankly said I add rice on mutton by mistake and was scared that mutton balls will get broken during the boiling process, but actually nothing happened and it was really tasty.
First of all we need to chop all vegetables and coriander as well, then fry onion in ghee for 5 minutes and add tomatoes as well.

Then we pour the water in pan, wait for few minutes till water will be warm and shift mutton balls into saucepan.

Add salt, make flame slow, close the lid and wait until meat is half cooked and then add rice and after few minutes potato. When potato and rice are cooked, switch off the flame and add chopped coriander and black pepper.

Mutton ball soup is ready...Bon appetit.

Maybelline FIT me Foundation and Blush Review

Hello my dear reader, after long time I am here with my review post about tw cosmetic products, which have made me very happy.
Yes, yes, yes I am talking about cosmetics and not about homemade beauty products.
Here it is Maybelline New York FIT me Foundation and FIT me Blush.

Thanks to my friend Hasmik who has recommended me FIT me foundation, I am really very surprised with a quality of this product. 

FIT me collection comes with foundation, powder, concealer, stick foundation, blush and bronzer. 

Today I am going to review foundation and blush. 

FIT me Foundation comes with two tips: Matte + Poreless and Dewy +Smooth.

The first one is good for normal to oily skin. It comes with 24 shades. Lets see what Maybelline says about this products:

• Exclusive formula with micro-powders controls shine and blurs pores,
• Natural poreless-looking finish
• Matches natural tone and fits skins texture
• Blends seamlessly for an undetectable finish
• Medium coverage

FIT me Dewy +Smooth foundation is recommended for normal to dry skin. This comes with 16 shades.

This is what Maybelline says about product:

• Hydrates rough and dry patches and smooth skins texture,
• Natural luminous finish,
• Matches natural tone and fits skins texture
• Blends seamlessly for an undetectable finish
• Medium coverage 

My Experience with Fit me Foundation

I have bought this product from market with the price of 530 rupees. (8.25 $). It comes with glass bottle with capacity of 30 ml. It has a screw cup, which I thought would be hard to use, but I am surprised it is not, since it's lightweight, gel-liquid foundation.

I have taken shade 115 (it was the best matching shade) which comes in Matte +Poreless one , and  recommended for Normal to oily skin. Frankly said my skin is not oily, its combination type of skin, but this foundation was fitting really good  on it.This foundation is oil-free, breathable formula, which makes it look natural and provides medium coverage, skin looks very smooth and sleek. 

Even though I would recommend it for daily use, but without any problem it can be use also for event and party. In this case you can use it with FIT me powder, to make a perfect look for whole night. 

It's easy to use by applying with finger and also with brush. Overall this product is really worth

 for its cost, and if you are looking not so have but medium coverage foundation, this one is just for you. The only negative part which I found is paraben, which contains in product.

My experience with FIT me Blush

Maybelline FIT me Blush comes with 6 shades, in plastic case, which is transparent from front and from back side you can read all the ingredients which product contains. It has a brush inside , which is not so good, but can be used. 

I bought this product with 400 rupees (4.5g) and selected Medium coral shade, which is really perfect for my skin. 

The color is amazing, but pigments are not too strong. You need to apply it several time to make it visible on your cheek, but once it shows off, it looks very natural and beautiful. This is good for daily use, for those who are looking long lasting contour of cheekbones, this one I will not recommend, specially for those who have dark skin. But for daily use I would say this is a best one from all other blushes which I have used before. It gives very subtle, natural look with peachy looking cheeks.It has also shiny particles in it, but those are hardly visible.

Best way to use is brush along cheekbone, sweeping upward.

This is what Maybelline says about product:

FIT me blush with lightweight pigments blends easily ans wears evenly for natural fade-proof cheek color that leaves skin the way it was meant to be- natural breathing and fresh.

• Oil free
• Non comedogenic (won't clog pores)
• Dermatologist tasted

Overall it's a nice blush and I will recommend it for daily use.

Armenian Dolma Recipe

Hi guys, it has been long time that I have  promised my instgram followers to share with them recipe of Armenian traditional dish Dolma, but actually could not do it due to my busyness. So the day has come.

Armenian and middle Eastern cuisine, Dolma refers to a family of stuffed vegetables, wrapped with in grape or cabbage leaves, but sometime people use also brinjal, squash, peppers and tomatoes.

Ingredients:

1. one big head of cabbage
2. 2 tablespoon of ghee 
3. 1.5 lb of mutton (Basically for dolma we use beef but here I will use mutton)
4. 1/4 cup of rice 
5. 1 large onion 
6. 2 tablespoons of each (basil, coriander, parsley chopped)
7. Few bay leaves
8. one egg
9. 2 spoon of flour 
10. 3 tomatoes 
11. ground black pepper 
12. Salt 

Process:
Trim away the thick stalks from the cabbage leaves and then put them into the simmering salted water for 5 minutes then gently remove from the water and keep aside to cool.
In a large bowl combine rice, mutton, flour, onion, egg black pepper, red chilli pepper. salt (by taste, approximately one teaspoon) and greens (basil, coriander parsley). Mix it well.

Then take one leaf, put 2 tablespoon of mutton mixture, fold the sides of the leaf over the filling to cover, then tightly roll the leaf.

Take the pan and put few cabbage leaves and tomato slices on the down side, and then gently transfer stuffed cabbage rolls.

On the top put few tomato slices, bay leaves and ghee.

Then add a water into the pan, little salt ( it does not need to be covered with water, just little less). Cover with lid and put on slow flame for one hour.
During the time you can taste the juice part and see if the salt is enough, otherwise you can add it more. When the meat and cabbage are cooked your Dolma would be ready.

Bon appetit...

Armenian Easter Tradition

Hello my reader, after celebrating Easter with full enthusiasm, I am back to my blog, for sharing with you a tradition of Armenian Easter celebration. So today I will tell you, how we Armenians are  celebrating Easter? What are the traditional Easter dishes which we cook that day and how different is Armenian Easter tradition from others?

 Easter, also called Pascha Resurrection Sunday is a festival and Holiday celebrating resurrection of Jesus from the dead, described as having occurred on the third day of his burial after his crucifixion.
Easter and holidays that are related to it are moveable feasts, which do not fall in a fixed date in the Gregorian and  Julian calendars, which follow only the cycle of the sun, rather its date is determined on a lunisolar calendar similar to the Hebrew calendar.  So it has come to be the first Sunday, after the ecclesiastical full moon that occurs on or after 21st of March. Easter customs are vary across the Christian world and that is regarded to traditional Easter food as well.

   

The Armenian Apostolic church celebrates Easter according to the Gregorian calendar. This holiday is one of the five major feasts of the Armenian church and its called "Zatik" which means "relief from suffering".

(Just to remind )Armenian is  the oldest Christian country in the world, accepting Christianity as an Official religion in 301 AD.

  Armenia has got its own traditions for Easter Celebration.The festival starts from Saturday evening, when people go to the churches and bring lights and willow branches to the home. The church blesses this branches and you need to keep it till next Easter and then replace them with new one. Then its starts the preparation for traditional foods.

 As in every Christian culture we also color the eggs. Eggs symbolize the empty tomb, and red is a color of the sun, but some says its symbolise blood of Jesus. The part of  traditional Easter dishes come also  rice pulav with raisins, which symbolises people and faith, raw and cooked greens, has the meaning of new life, Easter cake with white frosting, symbolises purity, fish, (some believe that it has been used by early Christians ) red wine, which symbolises Jesus blood, Armenian lavash.
 Before in Armenia Easter eggs were dyed red using the traditional method of immersing them in an infusion of red onion skins, but nowadays there are many other ways and colors  to decorate Easter Eggs.

 In Armenian Easter the most enjoyable moment is egg-tapping, when one holds the egg in hand and the second person taps their egg. If you crack the other person's eggshells first without breaking your own, you win and get their egg. You  keep doing this until the person with the most eggs wins.
This is how we celebrate Easter in Armenia. I believe every country has it own tradition for celebration but overall its a happy and colorful festival, and here it is the way we celebrated it in Delhi with friends.

Happy Easter to Everyone