Happy Diwali

Raindropz wishes you a very Happy Diwali

Raindropz Photography Challenge : Results

We conducted a photography challenge on the theme "Durga Puja 2015". We got huge response. Out of several hundreds of entries, we selected a few of the best photographs and uploaded them in our Facebook Page.

Here are the winning photographs

Photography by: Argha Chatterjee

Photography by: Aritra Chatterjee

Photography by: Aritra Chatterjee

Photography by: Aritra Chatterjee

Photography by: Avishek Agarwal

Photography by: Surojit Das

Photography by: Surojit Das

Photography by: Surojit Das

Photography by: Argha Chatterjee

Photography by: Surojit Das

Durga Puja Special

The best time of the year has arrived. It's Durga Puja. Maa Durga is coming to visit planet Earth with her children- Laxmi, Saraswati, Kartik and Ganesh. It's festive time, let's celebrate.

Raindropz is ready with all tips and links regarding food, fashion, and travel.

Tasty food is intensely associated with festive mood. While you are pandal hopping, you are eating junk food or dining out. When you are at home, you may cook some delicious food for yourself and you family. 

Attention Foodies ! Grab your aprons and get ready to cook. Click an image of any of the mouth watering dishes below to view the full recipe. Enjoy cooking !

Fried Rice

Alu Gobi Masala

Dahi Paneer

Fish Masala

Chutney

  

Rice Kheer

Subho Mahalaya

Raindropz wishes you a very Happy Mahalaya..!!

(12th Oct. 2015)

Pet care: Rabbits

Feeding your Rabbit: Fresh hay should make up the bulk of your rabbit’s diet and needs to be readily available at all times. Adult rabbits can eat timothy, grass, and oat hays, while younger rabbits should be fed alfalfa. When choosing hay, make sure it looks and smells fresh.

Lettuce, Hay, Broccoli, Carrot

Also feed your rabbit a variety of vegetables like basil, broccoli leaves, carrot tops, clover, lettuce, mint parsley etc. Fruits like strawberries, seedless apples, pineapple, raspberries and bananas can also be given. Make sure the fruits and vegetables are thoroughly washed before feeding them.

Raspberry, Strawberry, Banana, Apple

Fresh water must always be available to your rabbit. On a hot day you can drop an ice cube or two in your rabbits water bowl.

Grooming your rabbit: Rabbits are naturally clean animals and wash themselves frequently. But you still need to groom your rabbit on a regular basis. Rabbits go through shedding cycles a couple of times in a year. Brush your rabbit's fur to remove all the excess fur. Regular nail clipping is also important because long nails can get snagged on things or they can curl into your rabbit’s paw.

Toys for the rabbit: Pet rabbits also need entertainment. They like chewable toys, these toys keep them happy and distracted from chewing other things. Wood toys and cardboard castles are also good for house rabbits.

Toys

Tourism : Switzerland

Top 10 tourist spots in Switzerland


1. The Jungfrau Region: The white peaks of three towering mountains – the Jungfrau, Monch, and Eiger – contrast with the green valleys and meadows creating a spectacular scenery.

The Jungfrau Region

2. Chateau de Chillon, Montreux: explore the Chillon Castle which is the most frequently visited historical building in Switzerland, where its numerous rooms house weaponry, frescoes, and furniture.

Chateau de Chillon, Montreux

3. Swiss National Park, Zernez: It is home to a variety of wildlife such as large red deer, chamois, ibexes, and marmots. 

Swiss National Park, Zernez

4. Fasnacht Spring Carnival, Basel: Visit Basel, Switzerland's second largest city for the Fasnacht Spring carnival. Its world-famous three-day carnival features participants in colourful costumes and masks parading in the streets. 

Fasnacht Spring Carnival, Basel

5. Geneva: Hugging the shores of lovely Lake Geneva, this city is the third biggest in the country. You can find the world's tallest fountain, enchanting museums, and fine restaurants here. For those with a turn towards alternative arts, Geneva is a place not to be missed.

Geneva

6. The Matterhorn, Zermatt: Mountaineers flock to this town to conquer this technically difficult peak, and Zermatt also offers skiing and beautiful views. There are also non-skiing activities, good restaurants and lots of energetic nightlife for visitors to enjoy.

The Matterhorn, Zermatt

7. St. Moritz: A famous playground of the wealthy, St. Moritz is a winter resort which offers skiing and a variety of summer and winter sports, as well as mud and mineral baths and mud therapies. Savour caviar and truffles in some of the resorts' fine restaurants, or take a spa treatment at the Health Spa Centre. This town is also known for its active and expensive nightlife.

St. Moritz

8. Mt. Pilatus: Near the lakeside city of Lucerne stands Mt. Pilatus, a 2,120-metre-tall mountain. Tourists can take a cable car to reach its top and enjoy the thrilling view. It offers a spectacular scenery of the Swiss Alps.

Mt. Pilatus

9. St. Gallen: This old town has a lot of picturesque buildings, with carved balconies, colourful murals, and relief statues. The large twin-towered cathedral has remarkable ceiling frescoes and stucco designs.

Mt. Pilatus

10. The Rhine Falls: This is Europe's largest waterfall. Near the falls is the medieval castle, Schoss Laufen, which houses a restaurant, a youth hostel, and shops. On Swiss National Day, 1 August, the Rhine Falls is host to fantastic display of fireworks which attracts thousands of tourists.

The Rhine Falls

Payesh / Rice Kheer Recipe

Ingredients:

• Milk : 1 lt
• Gobindobhog Rice : 1/3 cups
• Sugar : 1/2 cup
• Ghee : 1/2 tsp
• Raisins : 1 handful
• Small Cardamom : 5

Method:

• At first, wash the rice with tap water and soak it in water for some time.
• Drain the water and mix some ghee with the rice and keep aside.
• Now, take a pan and boil milk with 2 crushed cardamoms.
• Next, add the rice to the milk.
• Stir continuously in medium flame till the rice gets cooked.
• Add sugar and keep stirring till the milk thickens.
• Now, add the raisins and stir.
• The milk will thicken more.
• When the milk thickens and gets reduced to half its quantity, then add rest of the crushed cardamoms.
• Turn off the flame and let it cool.
• Serve the payesh cold as a dessert.

Rabindra Jayanti Wallpaper

Fish Masala Recipe (Bengali Macher Jhaal)

Ingredients:

• Fish (Rohu) - 4 big pieces
• Onion - 2
• Tomato - 2
• Garlic - 8 pieces
• Ginger-garlic paste
• Capsicum - 1
• Green chillies - 5
• Refined oil
• Mustard oil
• Jeera (Cumin) powder
• White Jeera (Whole)
• Turmeric powder
• Salt
• Red chilli powder

Method:

• Wash the fish pieces thoroughly with tap water.
• Rub a pinch of salt and turmeric over the pieces.
• Deep fry the fishes in refined oil. Keep them aside.
• Now, add a pinch of white jeera in the hot oil. Add grated onions and crushed garlics and fry them for a few seconds.
• Add chopped tomatoes, chopped capsicum, green chillies and stir.
• Make a paste by mixing 1 tsp ginger garlic paste, salt, turmeric powder, jeera powder, red chilli powder and add this paste.
• Now stir well till oil separates.
• Add one cup water.
• Keep stirring till the water starts to boil.
• Next, add the fried fish pieces one by one and stir gently. Make sure the fishes do not break.
• Cover it with a lid for a while.
• After some time, open the lid, turn over the pieces and again cover.
• Wait till the gravy thickens.
• Lower the flame and spread 1 tbsp mustard oil over the preparation.
• Turn off the flame, your fish masala is ready.
• Garnish with green Chillies cut into halves, and serve hot with plain rice or fried rice.

Pet care : Puppy

Bathing a puppy:

• Very young puppies don't generally get very dirty, and it's best not to bathe them before they're 7 - 8 weeks old. Depending on the size of your puppy, you can use the bathtub or the kitchen or laundry room sink for puppy's first bath.
• When you're bathing a puppy you only need a few inches of warm water in the tub or sink. This also depends on the size of your pup.
• Use a hand-held shower head or jug, gently wet down her coat.
• When you're bathing your puppy it's important to make sure that the water soaks the coat, and gets all the way through to the skin, so wet her thoroughly.
• Mix a little shampoo with some warm water in the jug and pour it over her. 
• Lather well but avoid the eyes and ears. Use a warm, soapy wash-cloth to clean her face instead.
• Take your time to rinse your pup thoroughly and make sure that you get all the soap out of her fur.
• Towel dry your puppy gently, if she has long or thick hair try squeezing rather than rubbing.

Grooming pups:

• The right brush and comb is essential for your breed of dog and should be one that will effectively brush the entire depth of the coat.
• To introduce each comb or brush, show the brush to the pup and then feed a treat. Do this a few times, and then brush a few short strokes on the back and reward with a treat for good behaviour.
• Do the same process with combs and nail clippers. Grooming sessions should be short but frequent for puppies. 

Feeding puppies:

• During the first six to eight weeks of life the puppy should stay with the mother. The mother’s milk provides the best nutrition and provides antibodies to help protect your puppy from disease. Starting around four to six weeks of age, begin introducing your puppy to puppy food by making a gruel by blending the puppy food with milk replacer. Offer the gruel three to four times a day gradually reducing the amount of milk replacee used to make the gruel. This way your puppy gradually learns to adapt to solid food and gastric upset is minimized. 
• By around eight weeks of age your puppy should be eating solid food. Smaller meals are easier to digest for the puppy.
• There is no set age when the switch from puppy food to adult dog food should be made because it will vary with the breed and individual dog. 
• When making the switch to adult food, do it slowly over the course of one to two weeks by gradually mixing in increasing amounts of the adult food with decreasing amounts of her puppy food to minimize gastric upset.

Alu Gobi Masala (Spicy Cauliflower) recipe

Ingredients:

• Cauliflower 1
• Potato 4
• Refined Oil 
• Mustard oil
• Ghee 1tsp
• Tomato 2
• Ginger paste 1 tsp
• White jeera powder 1tsp
• Sugar 2 tsp
• Salt to taste
• Turmeric powder 1 tsp
• Chilli powder 1 tsp
• Capsicum 1
• Green chillies 4
• Garam masala powder
• White jeera whole
• Small cardamom 5
• Clove 5
• Cinnamon 1 inch

Method:

1. Cut the cauliflower into big pieces.
2. Cut the potatoes into 4 pieces each.
3. Heat refined oil in a frying pan and deep fry the cauliflowers till light brown and keep aside.
4. Deep fry the potatoes till light brown and keep aside.
5. Add 2 tbsp mustard oil to the white oil and heat it.
6. Add 1 pinch white jeera/cumin (whole), small cardamom, cinnamon and clove and add the fried potatoes, tomatoes, capsicum, green chillies and stir well.
7. Make a paste by mixing ginger paste, cumin powder , salt, sugar, red chilli powder, garam masala powder, turmeric powder and add it to the hot oil and stir till oil separates.
8. Add two cups water and cover with a lid. 
9. When it starts to boil, remove the lid and add the fried cauliflowers. mix well and again cover with a lid.
10. Remove the lid when the ingredients soften. Let it dry.
11. Add ghee and mix well, then sprinkle garam masala powder and turn off the flame.
12. Serve hot with roti or paratha.

Chicken Masala

Ingredients:

1. Chicken 700gms
2. Curd 150gms
3. Mustard oil 2 tbsp
4. Refined/white oil 
5. Salt
6. Red chilli powder
7. Turmeric powder
8. Ginger-garlic paste
9. Onion 3
10. Garlic
11. Tomato 2
12. Capsicum
13. Kasoori methi 2 tbsp
14. Jeera (cumin) powder
15. Whole jeera 1 pinch
16. Cardamom 5
17. Clove 5
18. Cinnamon 1inch
19. Tomato ketchup
20. Garam masala powder

Method:

• Prepare the marinade: Beat the curd and add salt, turmeric, white jeera powder, ginger garlic paste, kasoori methi, garam masala powder and mustard oil and mix well.

• Now add the chicken pieces and marinate for 2 hours.

• In a frying pan heat some white oil. Take the chicken pieces out of the marinade and deep fry each separately in the hot oil till light brown and keep them in a dry plate.
• In the same oil, add whole jeera, clove, cardamom, cinnamon and then add grated onion and crushed garlics in it. Fry till light brown.
• Add chopped tomatoes and capsicum in it and stir well.
• Now, add one cup water and keep stirring.
• Pour the curd you used as the marinade into the frying pan and mix well.
• Cook till oil separates.
• Add half cup water.
• When the gravy starts to boil, add the fried chicken pieces. Mix well and cover it with a lid.
• Stir occasionally till the chicken is totally cooked.
• Pour tomato ketchup in it and mix well and sprinkle one tsp garam masala powder.
• Turn off the flame.

• Serve hot with rice or nun.