Spicyandhra

The cool refreshing taste of mint lingers on most of the things I use, right from toothpaste, mint chocolates to wonderful cool icy minty teas.

I never knew there are so many different varieties of mint unless I saw almost all the varieties that are available at a famous garden centre, Wyevale in Woodbridge.Some of them had very starnge names like red, yellow, pineapple , lime and lemon.The common types being spearmint, peppermint and garden mint.

Fresh mint is best used for cooking, but when it’s dried, sealed and kept away from sunlight it holds its aromatic oils.
 

 Did you know that the  Latin name ‘mentha’ comes from Menthe an enchanting spirit who was changed into the Mint plant by Proserpine, the jealous wife of Pluto. It also does repel rats, mice and cats, relieves wasp stings and was even used by the Romans to whiten teeth.

As I love to use Mint in most of my biryanis, kebabs, salads and my favourite drink of all, Pimms, I picked few varieties for my herb garden. Now I have Mint, Sage, Thyme, Basil and a beautiful Bay leaf plant. Many more to be added sooon.

I am sending this first picture of refreshingly luscious mint leaves over to Jai and Bee’s Click event

I met some amazing people the other day who are so compassionate and so wonderful that it made me feel privileged to know the people behind an amazing charity called “ Support for World in Need”.

I was introduced by a dear friend, Glancy and I am just bowled over with the charity events they do to raise money from building orphanages in Sri lanka, providing medical equipment to a hospital in Kosovo and Skopje, Intensive care equipment to a hospital for abandoned babies in Romania, Aid for flood victims in Ghana.

 These are just a few of the amazing things they have done in the past year and I am sure it made a difference to the well deserved and most needy. I met couple of people, Violet and Shirley who were behind this charity and would love to know more and involve myself more for this worthy charity. Couple of weeks back, Shirley organised an Indian event at her place to raise money for an orphanage in Sri lanka.

I was totally gobsmacked when she sold out all the tickets to have a lovely Indian dinner for a small price and all the money raised went to this orphanage in Sri Lanka. Myself and my other friend Glancy went to help her for the first time. It was totally an amazing experience and I felt happy at the end of the day that I atleast did help in a very small way. My hearty congrats to Shirley and Violet who deserve all the praise in the world and huge support for the all hard work they put in make this charity work.

Here are a few pictures of the Charity Dinner  and the food that was  absolutely delicious as we could see everyone going for second helpings.

Menu was:

Aubergine Bhajjis

Onion Bhajjis

Cauliflower Bhajjis

Samosas

Chickpeas curry

Potato curry

Minced lamb curry(Kheema)

Chicken curry

Naan and

Vegetable Fried Rice

 and Gulab Jamuns

Oh yes you have heard it right!!! I am hosting RCI event this month started by dear Lakshmi @ Veggie Cuisine after so many months and all excited about it. The theme for this Month regional cuisine is Rajasthan.

 For people who knows a little about this wonderful state,  a small peek into Rajasthan and its vast cuisine…