My next project

I am always happiest when I have a "project" to look forward to. No, not the software kind! Those are projects at work. This is the kind of project that you put to yourself as a challenge, or for learning, or just to have fun. Some of my earlier projects have included: chocolatizing my blog (done, as you can see), learning French (ongoing, but not going anywhere really fast), learning Mandarin (abandoned, coz it's really difficult!), making a "disco" shirt for myself (done, and worn at a nightclub in Goa), and so on. So you see, the project does not have to be big, or difficult, or expensive, just something that interests you, and something that you wouldn't do in the ordinary course of your life.

So here's my new project: Shab Deg. This is what it looks like: Interesting? You bet! Go check out the recipe. It will take me days if not weeks to get all those ingredients in one place. Or even to figure out what they all are. Hmm, if anyone can tell me what "Balai" is, in the context of this recipe, they can come home and have a taste of the final product whenever I get around to the actual cooking part. And the Kashmiri ver. It would be a great help if someone could tell me where I can buy this in Hyderabad so that I don't have to make it myself. So you see, it doesn't just have to be my project! Y'all can join in too! I will definitely be posting an update with the results when I complete this project. Wish me luck!

ETA: Wokay, I have found Balai. What a relief! Apparently, it is the same as Malai. (I was suspecting that. It's what "malai" would sound like if spoken through a stuffy nose). OK, so this is not such a hard-to-figure-out-and-acquire kind of ingredient.