Cute Apps to Learn Hindi or Bengali

Many people have asked how we kept Miss A entertained on our long trip to India and through Europe.  I planned ahead and brought some light weight toys and small books that would travel well.  We were already waaaaay over packed, so I really tried to go light.  But 24+ hours en-route with a not-quite-two-year-old toddler could wreck havoc on your nerves if you aren't prepared.  So aside from her new love of all things Elmo and Sesame Street (I brought some cute little figures of her four favorite characters - big hit!) - I loaded up our iPad (and iPhones) with some new toddler-friendly apps.  Miss A was playing these apps just the other day when I heard it start speaking in Hindi, so I investigated and realized she had changed the settings.  I never would have known there was a Hindi option otherwise!

Jobs - Guess Who? By Ripple Digital Publishing

Animals Premium - Guess Who? By Ripple Digital Publishing (there is also an Animals lite/free version)

Both games feature animals or jobs and the child has to click through the rotating images when the written word matches the correct image. After they click correctly, the name of the animal or job is spoken.

You can choose from sixteen languages, including Hindi and Bengali, and you can set the written language to a different language from the audio language.


All in all these are cute apps and I'm all for these kinds of apps with an educational value - especially when they promote learning Indian languages!  

Do you know of any good apps that help kids (or adults!) learn Hindi or another "Desi" language?  Any tips on keeping kids occupied on long trips?

My Indian Reading List

Somehow I've managed to collect several Indian novels {otherwise known as Ladki-Lit} over the past few months.  I have been so busy that I haven't had time to actually read these books.  I keep staring at them on my nightstand and think, "Maybe I'll get to bed early tonight and have time to read a few chapters."  Of course that never seems to happen!  Anyway, in case you're interested, here are the books I'll {hopefully} be reading soon{ish}...

A Golden Age (P.S.) • Tahmima Anam

Corner Shop • Roopa Farooki

No Deadline For Love • Manasi Vaidya

Many Conditions of Love • Farahad Zama (sequel to The Marriage Bureau for Rich People)

The Wedding Wallah. by Farahad Zama • Farahad Zama

Ever read any of these?  Stay tuned for my take on them and also a giveaway or two!

Modeling: the new family business

You might remember that my mother-in-law has done some modeling work in the past. While were visiting India recently, the photographer that she works with stopped by the house... he was looking for some kids and a grandmother to model for his shoot the following day.  He took one look at Miss A and her two older cousins and offered them the job.

We actually debated on whether or not they should do it.  We thought it would be fun, but we only had a limited number of days with family and this photo shoot would take the whole day!  We finally decided to let them do it, not because of the money they would get paid, but because the photographer agreed to take a formal family photo for us.  Getting a nice "frame-worthy" family photo was on my list of priorities while we were in India, so this was a great opportunity - getting a professional photographer to do it for free?  Sign me up!!

I was curious to see how an Indian photo shoot would be.  I am a graphic designer and have worked for a couple of different magazines in North America, so I have seen my fair share of photo shoots.  We had to drive over an hour to get to the location.  The photo shoot was to advertise new apartments that are for sale. I was very impressed with how the shoot was handled.  There were many assistants, an older man who was playing the role of the grandfather, my MIL who was the grandmother, and two other children who were models, in addition to Miss A and her two older cousins.  Miss A was the youngest by far!  The photographer had a list of shots he wanted to get... they included the kids playing and posing on the bed in the bedroom (pictured above), a birthday scene, a balcony scene with the grandparents, a shopping scene (pictured at left) and some outdoor shots.  He kept things moving very quickly so there was very little "down time."  The photographer's assistants had all of the props well organized.  They also provided lunch for the whole crew.


Miss A wasn't in all of the scenes, because of her age, but they used her as the one who cut the cake for the birthday scene,  she did well until they started spraying foam confetti EVERYWHERE  and the photographer was shouting "Give me MORE!" (referring to the confetti).  It scared Miss A so badly, she burst into tears... although he kept shooting!  After she recovered from that, she got to sit in the shopping cart - where they got some cute shots of her.  All together it was a fun day!

I was also very impressed with the apartment complex we were shooting.  This is beautiful new construction and very high-end living!  They have a grocery store at the bottom, which you can see is stocked very well.  The grounds were also beautiful.  I could live there for sure!  Too bad we didn't get a discount on an apartment for doing the photo shoot!

Since I'm sure you're wondering....the kids got paid Rs. 2500 each (around $55) and the adults got paid Rs. 5000 (around $110).  Not too bad, I suppose?  It was Miss A's first paycheck - in Rupees!  And I got my family photo - which I LOVE and can't wait to pick out the perfect frame, I already have the perfect spot reserved on my wall!

*The photos above are not the professional photos, these were snapped with my iPhone while I observed the shoot.  The family photo is the one provided to us by the photographer.  Please do not copy or reproduce any of the images posted on this blog.

Easy Butter Paneer Masala Recipe

What do you do when you need to cook dinner and you have nothing fresh in the house?  This recipe came about on just such an occasion. We were having last-minute company for dinner and I had nothing... I dug around in my pantry and found a carton of Organic Roasted Red Pepper & Tomato Soup, a can of diced tomatoes, and then I found the very last onion in the house... and of course I always have Indian spices on hand.  This is the recipe that came out of that near-disaster (almost an "order pizza night").  I give you..."Easy Butter Paneer Masala." 

Much to my surprise this tasted good (even to my Indian husband and our Indian friends)! We like the flavor that the soup base gives to the dish.  Feel free to add more of the soup (it comes in larger cartons as well) depending on how much "gravy" you like. I usually make Indian food from scratch, and stick to a tried and true recipe, but this turned out really well & I've made it several times since.  Of course the second time I made it, I couldn't remember what I had done the first time I made it...

So let me know if you give it a try.  How about you, ever come up with a great recipe to get yourself out of a bind?  If so, are you able to recreate those truly inspired recipes a second time? Or do you prefer to stick to those faithful old family recipes?

Easy Butter Paneer Masala

Ingredients:

  ● 3 tbsp ghee

  ● 8-10 oz. Paneer (Indian cheese), cubed 

  ● 1 tsp. onion seeds

  ● 1 tsp. jeera seeds

  ● 1 large onion, diced 

  ● 1 tbsp ginger garlic paste

  ● 1 stick of cinnamon

  ● 1 green chili, split in half  

  ● 1/2 can diced tomatoes

  ● 16 oz of organic roasted red pepper and tomato soup

  ● salt and pepper to taste

  ● 1 tbsp flour, mixed with warm water to thicken curry 

  ● 1/4 cup fresh cream

  ● 1 bunch cilantro, chopped (optional)

Directions:

Melt the ghee, add in the onion, onion seeds and jeera seeds.  Add onions and cook until onions are translucent.  Add in the diced tomatoes.  Stir in cinnamon stick & ginger garlic paste and green chili.  Add paneer - stir until paneer starts to brown.  Add in roasted red pepper and tomato soup.  Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and allow to reduce a bit.  Mix in the flour and water paste and stir until thickened.   Stir in the cream and garnish with cilantro just before serving.  Serve over rice or with naan or chapatti.

International Celebrities

Surprise, Surprise!  While we were in India on our recent trip we woke up one fine morning to THIS in the morning issue of The Hindu newspaper!  Actually my mother-in-law woke ME up at 6 in the morning to show it to me!  I know it was breaking news and all, but I could have waited another hour or so to see it...

We had attended a deaf rally the day before.  (Although we almost didn't make it, the three of us were traveling to the rally with a cousin's family and we had a flat tire on the way there!)  My MIL works as an English teacher at a local deaf college, and they were thrilled to have our whole family attend the "International Day of the Deaf" rally.  I suppose we were the "International" part, which is why our picture showed up the next day.  I have to say it isn't the most flattering picture, because they stopped us and asked us to smile and show the sign for "I Love You," but they had us facing directly into the sun, so I was squinting!  

We had a good laugh, especially because they cut my husband out of the pic, and only his hand is visible.  When Miss A saw it, we asked her who was in the pic, and she said her name and pointed to herself, then she said "Momma" and pointed to me, then she said "Da-da" and pointed to my husband's hand!  At which point, everyone cracked up.    

We also showed up in a local Telugu paper, they were kinder, because all three of us were there, although in their photo my husband was in the middle of Miss A and myself.  

What do you think, were we "news worthy" or just a spectacle?!  (I tend to think the latter...)