The joie de vivre

A joyous soul is a gift for all! 

It’s so beautiful when we meet people, who are intrinsically joyous and loving, full of both creativity and discipline, bring value to conversations and live for a reason! And it’s a plus plus when they adore cooking and treating people to their delectable food!

Happy to state that I found this person in Mrs. Joya Paul, true to her name, she is “joie de vivre”. Joya Paul heads the Peach blossom school, one of the best pre-schools in Noida. 

When I was searching for the right school for my daughter, things that inspired me about this school were creativity on all walls, hand painted posters, hand written books, a lovely library with a great collection of books, open environment with sunlit classrooms, lovely open space for kids’ play and frolic. And then I met Mrs. Joya Paul and my apprehensions whatsoever melted and I felt I am giving my daughter in the right hands, someone who will hone her creativity, educate her without constricting her personality and inspire her to do great things! 

The peach bloosom school was founded by Mrs Joya Paul’s mother-in-law for her love for children and Mrs Joya Paul carried forward her mother-in-law’s legacy and vision and the play-way has blossomed into a wonderful haven for lil ones’ growth and education. The teachers in the school are dedicated and under Mrs Joya’s guidance make all efforts to impart value based education to the kids. My daughter is a fan of her teachers Abhilasha and Sania mam, and it is so lovely to see your child run into her teachers’ arms with delight as soon as she sees them! Abhilasha Mam mentored her through out the year and I could see a marked positive development in my daughter’s personality, thanks to her calm demeanour.

 It’s important that the correct foundation is laid at an early age and the school has been helping hundreds of parents with this, since its inception.

Well, the inspiration for this write-up came from Joya mam’s love for her kitchen and cooking. Her kitchen is her favorite place at home and she decorates it with lovely flowers and loves spending her time there.

Peach blossom carnival is where Joya mam wears the chef hat and all food is prepared by the teachers. Joya mam specially bakes the Christmas cakes and cookies! it’s heart-warming to see this personal touch in everything they do and every occasion they celebrate! It’s like homecoming!

She just loves cooking, it gives her joy. She belongs to Rajasthan and one of her favorite recipes is Mutton masala and she very generously shared with us the Recipe! It’s a must cook!

Mutton masala

Ingredients:

1kg mutton
Ghee 1/2 cup
1 cup onion paste
Ginger garlic paste (1 tabs each)
Curd 6 tbsp

Garam masala-
Clove 10
Peppercorn 10
Mace
Cardamom 5
Dry red chilli 10
Cinnamon 1inch
(Grind to a powder)

Red chilli powder
Dhania powder
Haldi powder


Bay leaf

Method:

1. In hot ghee- brown onion paste
2. Add ginger garlic
3. Mix mutton and curd and let the liquid evaporate
4. Sprinkle dry masala and garam masala
5. Add warm water and cook on slow flame for an hour or so!!!
6. Smoke the meat in the end

Method for smoking:
Place semi burnt pieces of coal in a small, steel bowl. Put two cardamoms on the coal and a few drops of ghee. As soon as it smokes up, place the bowl in the center of the meat,  quickly cover  and leave!
The smoky flavor gets into the mutton. Serve hot😊