Thrill and adventure is the concept that embodies the work of the Bhatt camp (Mahesh Bhatt and Vikram Bhatt) and this particular invention they managed to churn out is phenomenal. The Bhatts have produced many movies that have been lauded by viewers, some controversial and some with a message. One thing is for sure, they know the mindset of the audience and how to penetrate it. The story line depicted in the movie lifts the audience out of their comfort zone and helps to view a different aspect of mainstream cinema. Movies like Arth, Saraansh, Naam, Daddy, Awargi, Zakhm, Tamanna, Jism, Raaz and Zaher are all examples of how Bhatt movies are different from the rest. After Jannat’s success, they have brought back Emraan Hashmi with a sequel - kudos to their choice for doing so! Jannat 2 has a simple plot. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xd95bTbUMJk]] ‘Sonu Dilli’ aka ‘KKC’ (Emraan Hashmi) is involved in arms trafficking along with his friend ‘Balli’ (Mohammad Zeeshan Ayub). A police officer, known as ‘ACP Pratap’ (Randeep Hooda), who lost his wife in an accident, has made it his mission to eradicate the illegal use of arms and ammunitions. Pratap uses and manipulates Sonu Dilli to work for him so that he can crackdown the head arms trafficking dealer. Sonu, on the other hand, has other plans and instead falls in love with ‘Jhanvi’ (Esha Gupta) who wants to live a simple life that must be free from illegality. Things turn around after Sonu marries Jhanvi. The twist in the tale comes when he comes to realise that the head of arms trafficking is none other than Jhanvi’s own father, ‘Mangal Singh Tomar’ (Manish Chaudhry). Sonu now comes to a crossroad and has to decide which way he should go; torn between whom he should protect and love, he has to choose whether or not to help ACP Pratap, stay loyal to Mangal Singh or leave the country with his love - Jhanvi. As far as performances go, every actor in the movie excels and shines. Emraan Hashmi is a fine actor - no second opinion needed. He manages to surprise his viewers with every role. In this particular movie, he plays an extremely diverse role, both in terms of performance and dialogue delivery. His very first dialogue will capture you enough to make you love his character. This is, undoubtedly, one of his finest performances. Randeep Hooda has talent that has never been tapped which is why this amazing actor has such few films to boast. The actor, who started his career back in 2001 with the Monsoon Wedding, has only performed in 10 movies (including this one). The interesting thing is that he performed the roles of a cop in D, Risk, Once Upon A Time In Mumbai and Jannat 2 and being the blessed actor that he is, all his performances have distinctive features showcasing his acting skills well. In Jannat 2, Randeep Hooda performs a complicated role that not many actors in the industry would be able to act out. He plays an evil, cold blooded character whose soft side is suppressed due to his past. For a person to be able to depict all these emotions together in one character is not an easy feat and Hoda managed to perform brilliantly in every scene. Do watch out for his jaw-dropping climax performance. As a debutante, Esha Gupta’s performance was surprisingly good, while Manish Chaudhry’s performance was also a welcome surprise. In his third movie, Mohammad Zeeshan Ayyub has managed to impress his audience quite remarkably; he has natural talent and Brijendra Kala, as always, provides justice to his role. Kunal Deshmukh (director) and Sanjay Masoom (dialogue) have shown audiences once again that they have the ability to produce magic on screen. Although the music complements the storyline, I expected better. In short Jannat 2 is an amazing experience for those who enjoy great script, flawless performances, good action sequences and true Bollywood cinema. I give it an 8/10 for entertainment - a must watch! Correction:  An earlier version of this blog post misspelt Randeep Hooda as "Randeep Hoda". The error has been corrected.  Read more by Shafiq here, or follow him on Twitter @shafiqulhasan8

Traditional street snacks are a significant part of Pakistani culture. Originating from rural areas, they have also earned popularity in big cities over the years. Not only are they affordable but very delicious too, with a tinge of the typically rural taste. Despite the advent of international fast food chains, the desi roadside snack hawkers continue to run a thriving business; serving eager customers on the streets, at signal stops and outside schools. Most of these snacks are made out of locally grown fruits, vegetables and kernels; thanks to the year round crops of our country. The cooking methods employed use little or no oil and very little spice; sand roasting and coal grilling being the most common technique, along with boiling and steaming.  Thus, there are no fats and oil, making the food relatively healthy. The most common street side snack is, perhaps, bhutta - the 'grilled corn on the cob'. Available in almost all neighbourhoods, this charcoal roasted treat is everyone's favourite snack. The delicious sand roasted chickpeas and corn kernels started appearing on the roads with the influx of Afghan refugees in the early 80s. Prepared immediately, a good helping of these snacks costs somewhere between Rs10 to Rs50 - making it a much-loved and affordable snack for both the rich and the poor. Samosas and nimko are popular too, but since they are fried, one must be more careful in selection. Once you know a few reliable places that don't upset your stomach, you can just grab a handful whenever you feel like and eat them on the go. To wash these delights down, there is no dearth of roadside carts selling freshly squeezed fruit juices. From the seasonal orange juice to the ever-available sugar cane drink, you can easily get a glass full for around Rs80. Hygiene is a big concern though, since there is water and fresh fruits involved. However, majority of these hawkers have now started using bottled mineral water, good quality fruits and clean utensils. One can also insist on checking the cleanliness of the utensils and freshness of the fruits before the juice is prepared. These merchants are simple and cooperative, and it actually makes me sad how we remember to tip off waiters at expensive restaurants but forget these humble vendors. Most of the street snacks are prepared and sold from an average 8x8 push cart, which is often decorated in a beautiful ethnic fashion. Since these hawkers don’t have freezers or other modern storage facilities, their goods are sold on a daily basis, with fresh goods appearing every morning. The cart owners push them to different locations throughout the day depending on where there are possibilities of good business. When I spoke to some vendors, I learnt that their families also help them in preparing the food and setting up the cart. Most of them earn anywhere from Rs300 - Rs500 a day. These cart owners are a significant part of our society and local economy. All they need to thrive further is some support, training and a basic hygiene awareness program. Hopefully, the city government or public health departments will look into this matter soon.   PHOTOS BY FARAH KAMAL This post originally appeared here.  Read more by Farah here.   

The first episode of "Coke Studio" season five has lead to an interesting debate amongst its fans. Did the studio do justice to rap with Bohemia’s rendition? Has Hadiqa Kayani come of age? These questions and others have been making the rounds.  One thing that is glaringly obvious is that an artist's sincerity can be judged from behind the scenes (BTS) clips. For instance, Humayun Khan sounded like a mature artist when he spoke about his experience of completing his education first and then switching to music, that too, at a time when the music landscape of Peshawer was changing. But Symt displayed a naive and amateur giggling as the band explained their song,

If you are doing "poondi" (checking girls out), these are the lines that come to your mind.

It lacks soul and I don’t feel like dancing to it.

• Coke Studio has a superficial understanding of Pashto music. Afghanistan is way ahead of us but is still giving it a more western touch.
• On a musical note, Farhad Humayun as a drummer and Mubasher Admani as a keyboard player are brilliant - no one from the last season is being missed.

So there it came to an end, whatever excitement I had felt towards watching The Avengers. Don’t get me wrong; I liked it a lot, I actually loved it and will watch it again when I'm in the mood. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOrNdBpGMv8]] Perhaps my issue stems from the fact that I didn’t enjoy it as much as I had expected; I had very high expectations. Plus, most of you might not agree with me, but this really isn’t the sort of movie that makes a huge impact. It isn't exactly what you would call 'motivational'. Where do I start? I guess direction is a good place to begin with. I'm a huge fan of Joss Whedon, and I definitely do admire most of his work to date: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Dollhouse, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, Firefly, Serenity, and Titan AE. All of these represent Whedon’s incredible direction skills. And I could actually see a reflection of him in parts of the movie and it was great. Character development is a talent that Whedon has mastered, but unfortunately, much as I tried, I didn’t see his skills this time around. Understandably, the rules are different when directing a movie in comparison to a television series – you have the entire story that needs to be wrapped up within about three hours in a movie, whereas you can build the characters through different episodes in a TV series. The Hulk, also known as Dr Bruce Banner, is probably one character that went through a major change. Through most of the movie, the Hulk remained a beast - an uncontrollable beast. And then suddenly when the time came, Bruce Banner miraculously mastered the act of controlling his actions and emotions. This surprised me greatly; when did The Hulk learn to control his actions? How did that happen exactly? Moving on, we had agent Phil Coulson’s death which represented an episode that somewhat brought together all the heroes, yet his death came without much feeling. This is not something that every guy would openly admit to, but I'm the sort of person that can get attached to a character really quickly. I get all emotional and teary-eyed during a well done tragic scene and death. Given that Joss Whedon is one of the few directors who does tragedy like no other, somehow this one just fell flat - no lump in the throat, and no tears in the eyes. Pepper Potts calling Phil by his first name, him carrying Captain America’s vintage cards, etc; perhaps these tidbits were supposed to show us how all of them related to the agent's death in one way or the other, but I just didn't feel it. And then the aliens; Loki spent most of the movie talking about a giant army - his ultimate destruction plan. Imagine my surprise and the anti-climax when the army,  finally coming into play, was easily decimated by the heroes. Apart from the lazy worm-like ships and aliens continuously flying into buildings, it didn’t seem like they presented much of a threat other than the ones with the guns who were just as easily thwarted. For an army that was to be the world’s worst problem, it turned out to be quite a joke and thus didn't have much of an impact. At least throughout the final battle some humour was employed to make it enjoyable. Scenes such as The Hulk punching Thor in the face after they kicked some villainous backsides, just because he could, Loki being thrown around like a doll after he declares to be a god and not someone that can be thrown around, and others were welcomed by the entire audience. People are still calling this the most anticipated movie of the year and more. I believe that this statement is a gross exaggeration – The Dark Knight Rises anyone? If you like superhero movies, like me, and are into the whole comic scene, then don’t miss this one. But honestly, if you ask me, Chronicle did more for me than The Avengers did. Chronicle was brilliant, had superb character development, and provided an exciting fight between two of its main characters that probably surpassed the fights in The Avengers by far. Overall the experience was enjoyable. Not excellent, but definitely good. Follow Salman on Twitter @msalmank

Given my ardent love for frozen yoghurt, when Food Connection Pakistan sent me an invite to a bloggers meet-up as a pre-launch for Tutti Frutti Frozen Yogurt's first outlet in Karachi, I just couldn't resist going.  This first outlet, which was scheduled to open on the May 9, 2012, is located on Zamzama (again), and another one will be opening its doors soon near BBQ Tonite. The master franchise is owned by a young man named Salman Niazi who hails from Los Angeles. Tutti Frutti Frozen Yogurt (TFFY) has been operating successfully for quite some time in Punjab. An interesting piece of information for me was that TFFY has outlets at Bhera, on the motorway between Lahore and Islamabad on both tracks! Niazi says that this was basically a marketing gimmick to spread the word. TFFY also has a presence in Faisalabad and now it aims to capture the gigantic Karachi market with its ambitious plans. Judging from the marketing strategy and the product offering, it is evident that TFFY will be tough competition for other froyo (frozen yoghurt) joints. For starters, in comparison to their market competitors, these guys have got a lot of things just right to appeal to the masses. For example, they are the only self-service outlet - which on its own lends a lot of fun to the froyo experience. One just has to select a tub out of the four sizes available and fill it up with flavours and toppings to your heart's delight! The price charged is Rs1 per gram, so you simply weigh your tub and that’s that. I tell you, building one's own concoction can be quite liberating and delightful. In my opinion, the pricing and value for money is simply unbeatable. At Rs28 per ounce, TFFY's froyo is bound to be a more-than-occasional treat for those who fancy froyo. The multitude of flavours serves both ends of the taste spectrum: Creamy ice-cream-like (competition alert: Upper Crust/Berrylicious) and tart (competition alert: SNOG). Both categories have a broad array of flavours, and at any given time, the Zamzama outlet will offer eight of the nearly 40 available flavours. Four flavours; natural, chocolate, vanilla and blueberry are expected to be available all the time, while the remaining four will be rotated weekly. The bloggers got to sample only two flavours: natural and death by chocolate. I actually liked both; natural was very tart and flavourful with a hint of sweetness, while death by chocolate was creamy, smooth and had a strong chocolate flavour with no yoghurty undertones. I can't wait to try out the more indulgent flavours like red velvet, cookies 'n cream, and also the tangy pomegranate, melon sorbet and the owner's recommended ‘taro’ flavour. To add to the excitement, there are many toppings to choose from here. The dry ones include cookies, nuts, chocolate chips, marshmallows, sprinkles, M&Ms, Kit-Kat, Bounty, Twix bars, and what not! As for the fruit, I was quite disappointed to find only canned fruits, all drenched in heavy syrups. However, I was assured that fresh fruit will be very much on offer once the store formally opens.

Nando's has taken grilled chicken to a whole new level and the secret lies in their amazing sauces.  If eating at Nando's can puts a dent in your pocket, you can always buy their sauces at any good grocery store. Like my fellow poultry lovers, I go to Nando's for the best grilled chicken on the planet. But to truly whip up an appetite and to get the taste of what’s to come, you have to order their peri bites. These mouth-watering chillies are deep-fried with a crisp coating, and have a cheesy centre with a little chunk of their famous peri-basted chicken. For those unlucky ones who haven’t had the opportunity to try these delicious treats, here’s a pocket-friendly way to try these out within the confines of your home. Ingredients

• ½ chicken breast
• 2 tsp peri-peri sauce (hot or mild flavour)
• ½ teaspoon cooking oil
• 1 tablespoon mayonnaise
• 2 tablespoon milk
• 2 tablespoon grated cheese (cheddar or mozzarella or one tbsp each)
• 8-10 green chillies (approx 3 inches in length)
• 1 egg white
• 2 teaspoon flour
• 1 pinch of salt
• 1 pinch of pepper
• 1 cup bread crumbs (for coating)
• 1 cup milk (for coating)
• A piping bag with the long nozzle (thin opening) or a sterile syringe (with the needle removed)

1. Take the chicken breast and cut it into small ½ inch pieces
2. Put cooking oil in a frying pan, add the chicken and the peri-peri sauce, cook until the chicken is tender (approximately 80% cooked)
3. In another sauce pan, heat the milk and add the cheese to it; when the texture is nice and smooth, let it sit till it reaches room temperature
4. Mix in the mayonnaise to the cheese sauce and fill it up in the piping bag or syringe
5. Using a knife, carefully make a cut perpendicular to the base of the chillies, 1 to 1.5 cm in length; remove the seeds with caution without tearing the chilli surface
6. Insert one chicken chunk into each chilli followed by a small quantity of the cheese sauce using a piping bag or syringe
7. Keep these chillies in the freezer for one hour
8. Now mix the egg white in a separate bowl and pour it on top of the chillies; also mix in the flour, salt and pepper and coat all the chillies evenly
9. Roll each chilli in bread crumbs, followed by a dip in the milk and back into the bread crumbs for a nice, thick coat
10. Once all chillies are done, put them in the freezer for another 15 minutes so that the coating can settle properly
11. Deep fry in very hot oil until they have a nice golden coat
12. Serve immediately with peri-peri sauce, tomato ketchup or mayonnaise

My cable operator recently found a way to irk me and my childhood friend with a particular music channel that he constantly televises. Repeatedly playing “Show Me The Meaning Of Being Lonely” by the Backstreet Boys and the Titanic theme song, throws us back into a galaxy far away, purposely buried away, of our first love and the breakup that followed. Nobody likes talking about breakups, but these sappy songs reminded us of some absurdities we have gathered along the way and how to avoid them. Here are a few: 1. Breakup shopping Before throwing away your months’ salary on shoes and bags, just remember, there is no reimbursement policy at Zamzama. You see the board that says "No exchange, no return"? Read it. They mean it. So keep your eyes open and wallet closed. My exorbitant retail therapy forced me to blow up my entire month’s salary! Now I have start saving up from scratch for things that I actually needed to buy. 2. Momentary pleasures When going through breakup meltdowns, we are all bound to surrender to things that help numb our mind for a while. We surrender to those forbidden things we run away from all year. Yup, I'm talking about the guilty pleasure of tubs full of ice cream, bars of chocolate and French fries. There we have it; the warmth of a security blanket engulfs your body - a security blanket made of fat! So snap out of it; you can’t just fling those pounds away and it will get worse when you can’t fit into that new pair of jeans or that great button down shirt. Breakups should not come at the expense of your waistline. I gave in to sheesha, but it did me no good. I felt just as bad accompanied along with an unwelcome headache. So remember, the ex is not hiding in the cigarette butt, nor at the end of that ice cream bowl. 3. Virtual stalking The incessant calling and text messaging with no response has the ability to make you (even men) curl up like a foetus and cry. The calls and texts do not explain your pain to him. They will, however, exasperate him. Don’t do it. Stop checking his Facebook profile and put a halt to the Messenger sign in. Try changing your SIM card or delete his previous messages - they are of no use to you now. It’s crass to harass him and it gives him the power to give you some heinous nickname like 'stalker' or even worse, 'obsessive stalker'. 4. The bum syndrome Ah, the sleep we can’t seem to get enough of. We love sleeping off our breakups, sulking in our pyjamas and in short just becoming uber sarcastic slobs.  We cut off all contact with the world, remain constantly in sync with our iPod’s and their depressing playlists and pride ourselves on becoming hairy gorillas; the beards and unibrows continue to grow. It is integral for the breakup warrior to stand back on his/her feet. Go ahead, take a few days off but being a bum and dwelling is no sign of maturity or recovery. 5. The self-help book Since we are led to believe that authors and psychiatrists have all the answers in the world, it isn’t difficult to guess what the next reprieve for a breakup victim is. You may find yourself sneaking into a book shop and picking up, "Babe Bible" or "Why Men Love Bitches". If such books actually had healing powers, life would be as easy as pie, now wouldn't it? Quit racking your brain on trying to win Mr Right Now back and look for Mr Right instead! 6. Friends So here’s the confusing bit; your relationship with friends suddenly becomes a love-hate bipolar rollercoaster ride. You can avoid them as much as you want, but their companionship can be the beacon of light in the darkest of hours. Your friends can assess your relationship impartially. They may not buy your re-vamped version of the breakup or your idea of the 'perfect love', but they’ll give you the reality check you desperately need at that time. Yes, you might want to punch them when they say things like, “Grow up!” “You’re better than this!” “He/she doesn’t deserve you” “Don’t you dare dial that number, I know where you live.” In the end, you’ll thank them for that slap that bruised your senses back to reality. 7. Avoiding work The ‘my-ex-boyfriend-is-my-co-worker dilemma’ is quite a problem indeed. My personal suggestion is to look for a new job. But if your job is your childhood dream, then you have to choose between what you think is more dispensable and how you work around your personal feelings. Whatever the case may be, you know the answer, so stop calling in sick. It doesn’t affect him at all, and you will get fired! 8. The accidental meet No matter how much you premeditate, it is never enough to prepare you for the dreaded meeting that happens before you're ready to face each other. I don’t think you’re ever prepared to face one another post-breakup. Another unfortunate event that goes along with the accidental meet is the preparation you require to see your former half with his new half, your replacement, his new girlfriend or worse, his old girlfriend before you! You bump into them, she is a farce with inch-thick affection, perfumed to suffocation with the musk of pretence, and the colour of her cheek is part paint, part mockery. Now reassess this with no rivalry, you look ostentatiously gorgeous but he will not say, “Oh my god! Tou look so amazing, we should have never parted!" Also, he doesn't have the time to curse himself for what he already left behind. And trust me, neither should you. 9. Praying This commandment is guaranteed to pick you up. Praying does actually soothe you, so pray that the next one isn't a Xerox copy of the former. The last thing you need is an archetype. Also, that should not be your only plea. Pray, listen, look at the bigger picture, evaluate yourself, your relationship with your ex and then pray for what He thinks is best for you, not what you think you want instead. 10. Help yourself Read classics or re-read sagas of Harry Potter and buy Hunger Games. Watch documentaries or volunteer for a bigger better cause - we all know there are lots out there and you can devote yourself to a good cause. Do not, however, purchase the Twilight Saga or watch re-runs of Sex and The City or Ally Mcbeal’s of this world. We owe ourselves more than that. You may not have been "the one" but then neither was he. There are lots of other fish in the sea. Hope can be your best friend and your worst enemy. Use it intelligently, use it to harbour the desire to be with a better person the next time around and not for another chance with the same person who killed your hopes in the first place. Here I think it would be appropriate to quote Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, who said, "All are architects of fate, so look not mournfully into the past for it comes not back again". Read more by Mahvush here.  

There was a time when an action sequence was all that was needed to capture the audience. Vengeance and thrill always succeeded at the box office. Add a little romance to the story, and you were sure to have yourself an award winner. Now, however, modern audiences have grown tired of the same old stories. Movies today have different plots, a lot of which address social issues and real life concerns. These would previously have been condemned by people at large which is why taking them to the big screen was never an option. Interestingly enough, the audience of the 21^st century is more accepting and more willing to appreciate real life issues depicted on a big screen. The movie, Bol, for example, tackled the issue of family planning - a real problem plaguing Pakistani society, but one which we had shied away from and not given any real attention to. Thought-provoking cinema is not just appreciated but encouraged these days and the movie Vicky Donor illustrates this well as it is interesting with a controversial spin to it. Vicky Donor is the story of a Punjabi boy named Vicky Arora (Ayushmann Khurrana) who encounters a not-so-successful, middle aged doctor called Dr Baldev Chadda (Annu Kapoor), who runs a fertility clinic and is actively looking for a sperm donor. Dr Chadda eventually brings Vicky in to donate sperm on the premise that his great grandfather had 19 children. This is the story of Vicky’s balancing act with a Bengali girl, Ashima Roy (Yami Gautam), who he is in love with. It is about their trust and understanding alongside him becoming the biggest sperm donor at the fertility clinic. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jme-VkIzkoU&feature=fvwrel%22%3EVicky]] Dr Chadda convinces Vicky to donate his sperm so that he can give happiness to those parents who are not blessed with children of their own. For this, he quotes some factual yet hilarious examples to Vicky, from Mahabharat's time. The sequences between Dr Chadda and Vicky are hilarious and here Kapoor, being a veteran actor, definitely deserves the credit. I must say, that it is not easy to share the screen with an established actor like Annu Kapoor who doesn’t need a supporting cast to entertain the crowd. Ayushmann Khurrana, however, makes his own presence felt and noticed in just the right way. The two actors greatly compliment each other in almost every scene, be it dramatic or funny. Those who know the roles portrayed by Kapoor in his career will agree that he has a calibre that is not shared by many actors. Be it his Gali Gali Chor Hai or 7 Khoon Maaf, this actor is a genius. For those who are in any doubt, I recommend that you watch Ek Ruka Hua Faisla where a 21-year-old Kapoor portrays a 59-year-old lawyer. Ayushmann is also full of surprises. Performing a diverse role, he switches from easy going to smart-aleck to hilarious, pleasantly surprising the audience and finally astonishing them with his climax performance. This actor knows how to command attention with the riveting way in which he delivers. Yami Gautam is a well known name on Indian TV channels, but her debut in this movie is sure to leave many smitten by her charm and charisma. She does not have an oh-so-sexy role but even so, I am sure that many will smile after watching her and observing her simplicity. She can go a long way provided she chooses the right roles. On the whole, John Abraham has managed to produce a great piece of funny and witty cinema. The movie has a fresh and interesting plot; if we can save a dying man by donating our blood, why can't we grant our sperm to enable someone to have a baby? The positives about this movie are that it is contemporary, humorous and showcases some great performances. The only drawback, as far as I can see, is that it lacks star power, which these days is crucial for many movie-goers. The music is average, dialogues are hilarious and direction is promising. I would personally rate the movie a 7/10. It is definitely a good watch!

If you were Jack and I was Rose, you would have sacrificed your life to save mine, said a woman to a man sitting on my right at the cinema.

Arif, you would have saved me, right?

Bella: I’m coming with you Edward: No, you’re not Bella: You can’t leave Guy at the back: Please, leave him alone already

Somebody check the Atrium website for new releases?

When you are a follower of a club like Chelsea FC, you don’t come across many reasons to celebrate. However, this week in the second leg of the Champions League semi-final at Camp Nou, Chelsea against all odds beat the Spanish giants Barcelona to the final. Overjoyed by the victory of my club, I instantaneously decided to celebrate and came up with this interesting version of a chocolate cake. You can call it an imitation of chocolate fudge cake because of the exclusion of butter and sour cream, which have been replaced by corn oil and buttermilk, respectively. This recipe is light and guilt-free - to a certain extent. Astonishingly, the absence of butter does not compromise on the softness. The cake still comes out moist and supple. I also kept the quantity of sugar less to compensate for the sugary icing. Here is the recipe of this extremely delightful chocolate dessert. Do treat yourself to the comforting texture and well balanced flavours that will melt in your mouth for sure! Ingredients for the cake 2 cups of flour ¾ to 1 cup of sugar 3  eggs ¾ cup of oil (corn oil or vegetable oil) 2/3 cup of buttermilk (normal milk with juice of half a lemon) 2-3 tablespoons of baking cocoa 1 teaspoon of baking powder ½ teaspoon of baking soda 1 teaspoon of vanilla essence 1 teaspoon of chocolate essence (optional) Ingredients for the icing: ½ to ¾  cups of icing sugar 1 teaspoon of butter ¼ cup of water A few drops of liquid blue colour Directions to bake the cake

• Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

• Sift flour, baking powder and baking soda and set aside.

• In a large mixing bowl beat oil with sugar (grind the sugar in a coffee grinder if it is not fine). Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. This way the batter will get fluffy . Now add the vanilla and chocolate essence followed by cocoa powder.

• After this, gradually add the flour, baking powder and baking soda mix to the batter along with the buttermilk. The batter will get thick as you add the dry ingredients, but keep adding the milk till the mixture reaches a smooth consistency.

• Line your baking tin with wax paper, grease the sides and  pour in the batter.

• Bake for 30-40 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.