Paper peacock

 There is always a time when you wish to create something new and you can find no crafting material at home.That's when paper comes in handy. I always enjoyed creating stuff out of paper. Be it origami or just paper cutting. 

 This peacock made by my mom is created with plain white paper and a few sequins. The basic shape of the peacock was initially cut out. You need some kind of a base/ background for your artwork. Mom chose a board of thermocol and pasted red wrapping paper on it. 

 

 Choose a background suitable for your design. If your artwork is intricate and you chose a background with a lot of detail, they will blur each other out. Cut out the branch and place it on the background. Now cut the peacocks body. Play around with the placement until you are satisfied. Now stick them to the background. The details in the peacocks body are done with the round pieces of paper that come out of a paper punch. Glue the round pieces of paper on the body. Cut out pieces of paper in the shape of feathers, leave some space in the middle. Again, play around with placements until you are satisfied, then glue the feathers. Once all the tail feathers are in place, cut thin strips of paper and glue them connecting the tail and the body. To add drama to the picture , add a few sequins to the branches, in between each feather and on the crown of the bird.  Aaaaaaaaaand we're done!!

 Though it's time taking, you get some stunning pieces of art with this technique. 

Fried lamb

I know, I know, I make this look like a cookery blog, but I managed to find some time today, so here you go.
Today's recipe is a delicious lamb fry, one of my favourites. This dish needs some patience to make but the wait is worth it. For this dish..

You will need

Lamb , cleaned and cut into bite sized pieces
Curd 1/2 cup
1/2 lemon juice
Ginger- garlic paste 1 Tbspn

Corriander leaves - Finely chopped
Mint leaves - Finely chopped
Slit green chillies 2-3
Onion, finely sliced 2
Jeera (Cumin) powder - 1 tspn
Corriander powder - 1 tspn
Salt to taste
Red chilli powder 1 tspn
Garam masala powder 1 tspn
Oil

The method:

Clean the lamb and cut into bite sized pieces. Marinate the lamb with Curd, lemon juice, ginger- garlic paste, Corriander leaves, mint leaves, salt, green chillies, and Red chilli powder.

Marinade this mixture for 2 hours. Heat some oil in a heavy bottomed pan. Once the oil is hot, add the onions. Keep stirring until the onions are golden brown. Now add the corriander and cumin powders. Now add the marinated lamb pieces. Keep stirring until the lamb has slightly changed color. Cover the pan and cook on medium heat. Keep stirring in between to avoid burning the lamb. Stir until the lamb oozes oil. Once the pieces are dark brown, not burnt, sprinkle the garam masala on top. Stir for a couple of minutes. The lamb is ready to eat. Tastes great with roti and rice.