En Samayal Pakkam

Belated Diwali Treat : Kalakand

2008-11-20T14:20:00.014-05:00

It's been long since I visited my blog. So, here I am stuck with an empty page for the past 15 mins not knowing where to start. I'm writing sentences back and forth and deleting them after a few minutes. Anyway, I'm determined to come out of my hibernation although it's not the appropriate time for it.

Last year for Diwali I had so much time in hand that I experimented on many new sweets. But this time I wanted something quick and new. So I ended up doing Kalakand. The inspiration to do this was from my colleague Vinaya who brought this sweet during our Halloween Potluck. From that time onwards I became hooked to this sweet that I decided to give it a try for Diwali. So... many THANKS to Vinaya for introducing this sweet to me.

The Kalakand you see below is not made out of hours of labor in the kitchen. There is actually a short cut way. Some of you must be already familiar with the Ricotta cheese method and that is what I followed here. I've never tried the traditional way of doing Kalakand and I'm sure it will taste the best….. but I guarantee you - when you try this method you will find a very marginal difference between the two or sometimes you might not even notice any difference.

The version that my friend had brought was the plain Kalakand. So, I decided to get creative and make two more types of kalakand - The Mango Kalakand and the Chocolate Kalakand. So far, I have done this for 3 parties and the variety that won the most votes was the Mango Kalakand. But my vote is for the Chocolate one. The plain ones were also very good but for some reason the kids liked it the most.

So, here goes the recipe:

Ingredients:
Ricotta cheese: 1 (30 oz tub) - Whole Milk
Sweetened Condensed milk - 3 cans
Elachi powder - 1/2 tsp for each batch
Ghee - for greasing the microwavable container and the tray in which you are going to pour the Kalakand.
Chopped nuts - Qty as desired (Pista, almonds)

The quantity I have mentioned above serves a large crowd. I made 3 batches out the cheese quantity I mentioned above (see the 2nd picture… but we ate some before we took pictures). So, if you want to first try a small batch use just 1 can of milkmaid and equal amounts of ricotta cheese. I forgot to mention something... this is a recipe that uses microwave for cooking and not the stove. In future I'll experiment with the stove top as well and update you.

Procedure:
Take a microwave safe cooking bowl (Corning ware) and grease it with ghee. Pour 1 can of milkmaid and equal amounts of ricotta cheese. Blend them to a smooth liquid. Add elachi powder and mix again. Keep the bowl in the microwave and cook it for 5 mins in high power. My microwave says power 10. In-between these 5 mins keep an eye on the liquid mixture as it might boil over if you are using a small bowl. To be on the safe side, I would recommend using a big bowl that enough room for the cheese mixture to rise a little bit.

After the first 5 minutes, take out the bowl and give a good mix. Stick it back into the microwave for another 5 mins. This time, you need to watch your cheese mixture very keenly as it might boil over. Pause the microwave anytime if needed, give the mixture a stir and continue cooking.

By the end of the 10th minute, the mixture would have become somewhat thick. Scrape the sides and blend well. Again put the bowl in the microwave for another 5 mins. At this stage, open the microwave every 1 min and stir the contents well each and every time. The kalakand is done when the cheese mixture becomes grainy and still has some moisture in it. You might get this stage by the 15th minute or 17th minute.

Take out the bowl from the microwave and pour/scoop the contents to a ghee greased tray. Pile it up a little high so that you can get pieces out of them. While the mixture is still hot, spread the chopped nuts and slightly press them down. Wait for 1/2 an hour to 45 mins. Take a pizza cutter or knife and cut them neatly into squares.

Don't worry if you see the kalakand with some extra moisture at this stage. Leave it in the fridge for a few hours if needed. You will be able to take out the entire pieces fine.

Note: For the Mango version, just use 1/2 to 3/4 cup of mango pulp. Mix the pulp with cheese and condensed milk. Follow the same procedure as above. Just increase the cooking time by 2 more minutes.

For the Chocolate version, I used 2 tbsp of Hershey's milk chocolate powder. But when I did this batch, I noticed that the mixture got its grainy texture by the end of the 10th minute itself. So, I trusted my instincts and stopped cooking further. Finally, I realized that I did the right thing. The kalakands came out perfectly fine.

Another version that you could try is to add MTR Badam feast powder to the Ricotta cheese mixture. I have not tried this before but my friend Vinaya suggested this idea. Maybe I'll try it next time.

So... Folks are you ready to give it a try???

The other sweet that I made was my Kaju kathli and for snacks I made murrukku. As I posted the recipes for these earlier I'm not going to elaborate on this.

Ok Guys, time to go. Before that... Thanks to all my blog friends and readers for your sweet comments and enquires. Sorry to many of you for not responding to their queries. I'll start spending some time on my blog each week to make up for the lost time.

Take care and happy eating!

Arusuvai Chain in my kitchen (Kaju Kathli and Dry fruit Ladoos)

2008-06-16T21:16:00.021-05:00

This post has been LONG OVERDUE. Yes.... It's about the ARUSUVAI CHAIN.

This was originally started by Latha ma of the YUM blog.

Later it was introduced here in US by Latha of Masala Magic. Ever since I wanted to be a part of this . Finally the sweet girl who owns the spicy blog chose me to pass on her surprise ingredient.

Yes... It was PRAVS of 'SIMPLY SPICY' who contacted me and asked if I wanted to be a part of the arusuvai chain. My joy knew no bounds when I heard that. After a few e-mails and phone talk I recieved the surprise package she sent me.

Wondering what it is? It was CASHEWS , EDIBLE GUM and a box of haldirams sweets.

I was thrilled as well as scared about the ingredient. I had never seen edible gum before and had no idea what to do with it.

Again Pravs lent me a helping hand. She directed me Latha ma's
Undaes .

After that I googled a lot but I was not confident enough to try anything. That's why I kept on postponing this.

Anyway, here is what I did with the ingredients:

KAJU KATHLI and DRY FRUIT LADOOS.

This is the first time I'm trying both these recipes and I have to say that I was 100% pleased with the final result. Here are some pictures... Look for yourself and you will agree with me.

KAJU KATHLI:

Ingredients:

Cashews- 1 cup
Sugar- 3/4 cup
Water- 1/4 cup
Milk- 3 tbsp
Ghee- 1 tsp
Silver leaves- optional

Procedure:

Grind the cashews to a really fine powder using a coffee grinder. Mix water, milk and sugar and heat it in medium-high flame. Wait for one string consistency. (Keep some water in a small plate. If you put some sugar syrup in it , the syrup should not dissolve. I mean it should lay there like a fine thread.)

After this add the cashew powder and keep mixing it until you get a nice soft dough. If you feel that the dough is dry or too thick you can add some milk to it. Don't worry. You will not encounter this problem. Still, I just wanted to mention it incase you run into trouble. Adding milk reduces the shelf-life but I don't think this sweet will last that long.

You can tell that the dough is ready by testing it with your fingers. I mean, when you take some cashew dough in between your fingers and roll it, it should form a ball.

Next, take a greased plate and put the cashew dough on it. Spread it like a chappathi using a rolling pin to the desired thickness. Alternatively, you can spread it on a clean countertop too. Finally spread the silver warg on the top and cut it into diamonds.

If you see my picture, you can notice that some of the kathlis are thick and some are thin. The reason is I used a wrong plate to spread the cashew dough. When you try it make sure that the base is even.

Next is the DRY FRUIT LADOOS:

Ingredients:

Cashews- 1 cup
Almonds - 1 cup
Raisins - 1 cup
Dates - 1 cup
Edible gum - 1 cup
coconut- 1 cup
ghee- 1/2 to 3/4 th cup
sugar - 1 cup
water- 1/4 cup

Procedure:

Roast the cashews and badam with a tsp of ghee for a few minutes (3 to 4 mins). Next roast the edible gum with a tsp of ghee to a nice golden color. Take care not to burn it. Roast it in a medium-low flame. Dry roast the coconut to a golden brown color and crumble it into fine pieces.Finely chop the almonds, cashews, raisins and dates. The finer the better. This will help in shaping them into balls.

Mix water and sugar and bring it to a boil. Wait till the syrup reaches a two string consistency. Next dump in all the ingredients and mix it all really really well until it clings together. Wait for 5 mins. Grease your hands with some ghee and shape them into small balls while it is still hot.

Note:
It requires some expertise to shape them into ladoos. I tried it but I couldn't as it was too hot for my hands. Finally my MIL came to my resuce and she shaped them all. If you find it hard to shape them you can eat it as it is too. Tastes super good and highly nutritious.

The recipe above is no different from Latha ma's but this site gave me the idea of making the sugar syrup which helped in the binding of the ingredients.

YAY... Atlast I have managed to participate in this chain. Now it's my turn to pass it on somebody.

So I choose PREMA of "My cookbook" to pass on the surprise ingredient.

Once again I thank dear PRAVS for this great opportunity and it's indeed a great pleasure to be a part of it. Also, THANKS for the lovely sweets that you sent. I absolutely enjoyed it.

I'm signing of with this. Donno when I'll post the next one. I don't want to give anymore false promises that I'm back to blogging. So see you all when time permits. Take care and I thank each and every one of you for your kind comments.

Kavin's 4th Birthday

2008-05-14T20:38:00.013-05:00

Hi Friends,
Hope all of you are doing very well. I'm sorry that I'm unable to keep up my word of resuming blogging soon. Meanwhile " THANKS" to all my dear blogger friends and readers who continue to visit my blog and leave encouraging comments. I really feel so bad that I'm unable to respond to all of your comments. But I hope you will understand.

Lots have been going on in the past month. Kavin's Birthday, my b'day, My in-laws arrival and getting adjusted to all the changes. Phew... I'm glad that it's all over now. Anyway, I just wanted to share some pictures of our special days with you.

Ok guys. I can hear you saying ... enough of talking. Where's food? Well, I have many posts in my draft but I choose Egg Curry to post today.

This is a simple and flavourful gravy. If you wish you can use replace eggs with chicken. It tastes great with dosa, pulav rice, biryani or rotis. Pardon me for the bad presentation. No time to garnish or clean the sides of the plate

Ingredients:

Eggs- 5
Onion- 1 (medium)
garlic- 3 pods
ginger- 1"
green chilli - 1
corriander leaves- small fistful
curry leaves- few
mint leaves- 5 or 6
Tomato- 1 (big)
turmeric- 1/4 tsp
sambar powder- 1/4 tsp
Some curry powder- 1/2 tsp (I used sakthi chicken masala for an added flavour)
cloves- 2
pattai (cinnamon stick) - 1"
jeera seeds- 1 tsp
fennel seeds - 1 tsp
salt- as required

Procedure:
Boil eggs and peel off the shell. Cut them in halves and set aside. Heat 2 tsp of oil in a kadai and fry the onions, ginger, garlic, chilli, corrinader leaves, curry leaves and mint until the onion turns into a pale brown color and becomes soft. Finally add the tomatoes and saute until completely mashed. Switch off the gas and allow it to cool. Grind it all to a smooth paste.

Heat one tbsp of oil in a kadai and fry cloves and cinnamon stick. Next add the ground paste , turmeric , sambhar powder and curry powder. Add required salt. After 5 mins add the cumin-fennel powder and a cup or more of water. Bring to a nice boil.

Slip in the eggs slowly and carefully mix well . Test for seasonings and switch off the gas until the gravy reaches the desired consistency. Finally add some corriander leaves and mix.

I'm signing off with this. Will be back with my next post soon. Once again I'm sorry for not replying to all your comments. From my next post onwards I'll be responding back only to queries. But I gladly welcome your suggestions. Thanks again for understanding. Take care and have a great Day!!!!

I'm Back with peerkangai kootu

2008-04-08T23:05:00.005-05:00

Hi Friends,

Hope all of you are doing very well. Things have been going fine at my end too. Sorry for my uninformed disappearance in blogsphere. I had been allorting my leisure hours for gym and cleaning. Guess what.... I have lost 30 pounds so far. But I still have 20 more to go. I feel good now. But the bad thing is I have still not overcome my love for chocolates. It makes me cheat on my diet often. If not for this I would have lost more. Anyway, I'm a lot better now. Atleast I have developed a conscious to warn me every now and then.

The other things that had kept me busy was planning the birthday party for my son and doing some extra cleaning around the house as I'm expecting my in-laws from India next week. Anyway, I hope to resume blogging regularly from this post onwards. I'm sorry that I have not been able to reply to your comments . But I wanted to let you know that I truly appreciate each and everyone of your words. Thanks guys.

Meanwhile I did one more thing. I created another blog "ensamayalpakkam.blogspot.com" and copied all the contents there. I did it as I wanted another template. I tried changing the existing one but the alignment was going crazy that I decided to go to a new address. When I was almost done I realized that I would lose my site statistics if I give-up my old one , so I decided to stay with this itself. Anyway if anybody have some suggestions for my problem I'd really appreciate it.

Coming to the food part... I'll start with Peerkangai Kootu. Usually I use channa dal for kootu but this time I did it like my MIL . I mean I used boiled moongdal. This kootu is great as a side-dish for chappathi or it tastes great with rice. Try this simple dish sometime, you will surely love it.

Peerkangai Kootu:

Ingredients:
Ridgegourd/Peerkangai - 1
onion- 1/2 (chopped fine)
tomato- 1 big
green chillies- 4 or 5
boiled moong dal - 1 cup
coconut- 1/4 to 1/2 cup
jeera seeds - 1 and 1/2 tsp
salt - as reqd

Procedure:
Wash and cook moong dal with enough water and turmeric. You can either steam cook it or boil it. Next grind coconut and jeera with some water to a fine paste. Meanwhile scrap out the skin off the ridgegourd. You can either discard it or use it to make a thuvayal. Cut the gourd into small pieces and boil it with very little water with some turmeric and salt. The gourd cooks very fast so don't boil for long and make it mushy.

Next heat oil in the kadai and splutter mustard seeds, urad dal and curry leaves. Then add onions and chillies and saute for 5 mins. After that add tomatoes and cook till it's pulpy. Now add the cooked vegatable and dal. Add salt and mix well. Finally add the ground coconut and bring it to a boil. Serve it with rice or roti. It tastes just great.

Paneer Mattar Masala & more Awards

2008-02-27T09:56:00.017-05:00

If you would have seen my comments in other blogs you will surely know that I'm a paneer lover. I love it fresh, deep-fried or incorporated in any dish. I'm always in search for the ideal paneer recipes that have that special restaurant taste. My favorite is paneer butter masala and my hubby's favorite is paneer matar masala. So here is the recipe for his favorite dish.

Ingredients:
Paneer- 300 gms
Green peas- 3/4 th cup (dried ones)
Onion- 2 1/2
Ginger garlic paste- 2 tbsp
tomatoes- 4 or 5
green chilli- 5
garam masala- 1 tsp
yogurt- 1 cup
red chilli powder- 1 tsp
corriander powder- 1 tbsp
heavy cream- 50 ml
saffron- a pinch
cashew paste- 1 tbsp
corriander leaves- handful
oil- 3 tbsp
salt- as required
sugar- a pinch
kassori methi - 1 tsp

Procedure:
Soak dried peas in water overnight. Next day boil it with some salt until almost cooked. You can skip this step if you use frozen peas. Next bring water to a boil and put the tomatoes in it. Boil for 5 mins . Take out the tomatoes and wash it in cold water. Peel off the skin and make a puree. You can skip this step also if you have use readymade tomato puree, but I'm sorry I do not have the measure for that. Boil onions in water for 8 mins. Strain and puree.

Heat oil in a pan and fry the onion paste for 5 mins. Then add ginger-garlic paste and fry for 5 more mins. Next add chilli powder, garam masala and corriander powder. Stir well. Now add tomato puree, cashew paste ,salt and sugar. Cook till the oil seperates. Next add yogurt (beaten smooth). cook for 10 -12 mins till oil floats on top. Add little water, boiled peas and saffron.

Cut paneer into cubes and shallow fry in a non-stick pan with a spoon of oil. Put the fried paneer in hot salted water for sometime. When it's time to add it to the gravy just strain the water and use it in the curry.

Add paneer and boil for another 3 mins. Finally add cream, crushed kassori methi (soak in water for sometime to make it soft), corriander leaves and fried green chilli. Cook till you get the desired consistency. Increase the water level according to the your preference of texture.
Enjoy it with hot buttered naan or fried rice. It tastes just awesome.

Now to the awards.... As you all know that it's raining awards in the blogsphere. I have been one of the fortunate ones to get those great awards.

I've been presented the "Nice Matters" award again. This time it's by Sagari of Indian cooking and Pragyan of cooking at Pragyan's have been so sweet and gracious to pass it on to me . Thankyou so much Sagari and Pragyan. You both made me feel so special and happy.

Then, Pravs of Simply Spicy and Shanti Banu of My kitchen hobbies have been so kind enough to pass me on the "E" for Excellent Blog award. Thankyou so much girls. Your awards have inspired me so much and I'm very proud to wear it on my blog.

Last time itself I should have passed on the "Nice matters" award but I somehow forgot to include it. So , I'm passing it now to some of my friends. For some of you it might be a repetition still I hope you would enjoy it.

So the Nice matter's award is being passed to:
Asha
Richa
Bharathi
Shella,
Jeena
and SuperChef

And the "E" for excellent blog award is being passed to
Indo Sun God
Vcuisine
Bee
Cynthia
Happy Cook
and Mansi
I hope you girls enjoy the award too as much as I did.

One more thing before I end the post. My hubby's workplace has changed. I mean he is working from home now. It's not a temporay thing as it's a permanant job. The bad thing about this is he always keep a watch on me on how much time I spend on blogging. That's why I'm unable to be in your blogs recently and also unable to update mine either. Bear with me gals. I'll organize myself soon and come back to routine.

First Anniversary and time to say a lot of Thanks !!!

2008-02-14T10:03:00.014-05:00

Hi Folks,

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY TO ALL MY FRIENDS AND VISITORS !!!!

While the whole world is celebrating this great day , I have another reason to celebrate this day.

Yes! It's my blog's FIRST Birthday. Last year it was the same Feb 14th my blog was born. Like many of my friends I too never thought that I'll be blogging this long. Anyway, today I have reached a second milestone with 137 posts. Wondering what's my first milestone? Ofcourse it was my 100th post on October 2007.

Another great news is that I have recieved "The Nice Matters" award from my dear friend Happy cook who is the proud owner of My Kitchen Treasures. Thankyou so much HC, you made me feel so special.

So, let me start the story of how I was introduced to the blogging world. It was some time in December 2006 I came across a health-related blog . The same author had a food blog too. I liked the idea of recording the recipes and that inspired me to start a blog of my own. Unfortunately, I forgot her name. Then, after two months I had my own blog .... En Samayal Pakkam.

Initially when I started the blog I wanted it to be a personal space to record my recipes. But seeing the comments in the other blogs I was so surprised by the way people are connecting to one another and how close they become after that. This inspired me and I wanted to be a part of it.

The first indian food blog I came across was Asha's. I became a great fan of hers. It was from her I learnt to write an intro before each recipe. There were days when I used to get only one comment and that was Asha's. She has always been encouraging me with her sweet comments. So, on this day I want to give you a big hug and say THANKS for all your inspiration.

I also want to thank Deepz of "Letz Cook". She was the first one to leave a comment on my blog. I don't think she knows that but I cannot forget that day. I was soooo thrilled that I can't express it in words. Thanks Deepz, You made me so happy that day.

Next I wish to mention some of the other great bloggers who inspired me during my initial days of blogging. Sia's eye-catching pictures, Inji Pennu's style of boldly expressing her thoughts, Prema's wonderful recipes (she made me blabber about her manchurian once in my dreams), Indo Sun God's Authentic recipes, Richa's simple yet flavorful recipes..... Ah, the list goes on and on

I'm so thankful for getting friends like Happy Cook who is a soups & chaat queen, Bharathi who has a lovely collection of authentic kerala recipes, Viji of vcusine who is like a dictionary of food for me, Mansi who often tempts me to go off my diet with her awesome desserts, Jeena who inspires me with her healthy recipes, Cynthia & Bee who makes me forget to comment by getting me lost with their mind-blowing pictures and write-up, Latha ma and Lakshmi who shares their authentic Iyyengar recipes and also making a difference by reaching to the special-needs kids , Pravs who makes me drool over her non-veg dishes, Suganya of Tasty Palattes who brings out the beauty of food with her unique style of photography, Sukanya of Hot'n' Sweet bowl who makes beautiful cakes and Shella who has connected to me personally.

I also enjoy the dishes and comments of Laavanya who has a variety of yummy dishes that I'm yet to try, TBC who capitvates my heart with her unique recipes, Rajitha who makes my tummy grumble with her tempting array of dishes, Raks who gives nice step-by-step pictures to follow her dishes, Padma who creates beautiful dishes like her kesar amarkhand, Priar who makes mouth-watering tamilnadu style non-veg dishes , Ramya of Mane Adige who has introduced me to so many of her bangalore dishes, Remya of Spice n Flavors who has a variety of kerala delicacies, SMN who has great breakfast items like her different types of dosa, Seema who has simple yet comforting dishes like her appo and chicken curry , Sagari who in a short span of time has posted so many delicious dishes, meeso... more than her food, I always go to her blog to see her blush in her boyfriend's hands , Kalai who has a nice homey foods, Easy Crafts who is so talented in coming up with so many dishes that can be done in MW, Shankari who I'm so proud that she spreads our cusine through her cooking class and also does food shows in TV.....

Really guys, the list is endless. But I have to end my long list for now as I'm running short of time. At this time I cannot forget my non-blogger friends too who visit me and leave their kind comments behind. I owe it all to your encouragement . Anyway, what I wish to say is...... Each and every one of you, not only the gals mentioned above have inspired me and taught me so much. All I can say in return for that is THANKS THANKS and THANKS.

Last but not least ,I wanted to thank my hubby too who continues to encourage me (sometimes..... ) and my little kiddo Kavin who bears with me when I steal his time for blogging.

I wanted to post some nice dessert for celebrating my anniversary, but as you all know I'm in Florida for the past 10 days enjoying my vaction. So no cooking, no work, no dieting..... enjoying life to the core. Will be back to Atlanta tomorrow and resume blogging from monday. Till then take care and have a nice weekend!

Parrupu Thuvayal

2008-02-13T11:27:00.005-05:00

Thuvayals / Thugayals are like a thicker version of chutneys. Today I'm presenting a toor dal parrupu thuvayal. Usually they add coconut to this, but on the day I did it 'B' was sick. So, I skipped the coconut. So, when you try it don't forget to add coconut.

Ingredients:

Toor dal- 1/2 cup
coconut- 2 tbsps
red chilli- 1
peppercorns- 3
garlic pods- 2
curry leaves- 3 or 4
salt- according to taste

Procedure:
Heat a tsp of oil in a pan and roast the dal, coconut, red chilli, pepper, curry leaves and garlic. Do this until the dal turns golden brown. Don't burn the dal. Switch off the gas and transfer to a plate and allow it to cool. When it has cooled down grind it with salt to a coarse- smooth paste using very little water. Serve it with steaming hot rice, sesame oil and papad.

Sepankizhangu Poriyal

2008-02-13T11:07:00.006-05:00

Sepankizhangu is nothing but taro root. I have already posted a deep-fry version of this dish which you can find here. But this one is much healthier, it is kadai roasted. It tastes somewhat like a potato fry but it has a little sweetness from the taro itself. This is one of the dishes that vanishes in half the quantity by the time I serve it. Tastes so yum.

Ingredients:

mustard seeds- 1/4 tsp
urad dal- 1/2 tsp
channa dal- 1/2 tsp
jeera seeds- 1/4 tsp
Sepankizhangu -8
onion- 1(medium, sliced)
garlic- 4 pods (finely chopped)
sambar powder- 1 1/2 tsp
curry leaves
salt- as required
curry leaves
corriander leaves

Procedure:
Boil sepankizhangu with some salt and turmeric until 3/4 th done. peel and cut into pieces. Heat oil in kadai and season with mustard seeds, urad dal and channa dal. Add onions , garlic and turmeric powder. When onions are half done add sambar powder & salt. saute until raw smell goes. Then add sepankizhangu and keep roasting until it gets a roasted brown color. Add corriander leaves & curry leaves. This is an excellent accompaniant for sambar rice, rasam rice or curd rice. Enjoy!

Aloo Methi

2008-02-12T21:53:00.007-05:00

Methi is nothing but fenugreek leaves. These are bitter but has a lot of health benefits. Usually , methi leaves are cooked in combination with other foods that have the ability to mask it's bitter flavor to some extent. Aloo methi, methi dal and methi paratha are some examples. Today I have my aloo methi to share with all of you. It is not a regular item in our home as I don't like the bitter taste of methi although it's very healthy. But 'B' loves it ,so I do it occasionally. Now to the recipe...

Ingredients:

mustard seeds- 1/2 tsp
urad dal- 1/2 tsp
channa dal- 1/2 tsp
potato- 2 (big)
onion- 1 (medium, sliced)
garlic- 3 pods (minced)
methi leaves- a medium size bunch
tomato- 1
chilli powder- 3/4 tsp
corriander powder- 1 tsp
cumin powder- 1 tsp
garam masala- 1/2 tsp
salt- according to taste
sugar- 1/4 tsp (optional)

Procedure:

Cut and boil the potatoes with some salt and turmeric. When 3/4 th done, drain and cube it. Prep the methi leaves by seperating it from the stalk. wash them and boil them for 5 minutes with very little water.

Heat oil in a pan and splutter the mustard seeds, urad dal and channa dal. Next add the onions and garlic. After 5 minutes add tomato and salt. Cook till the tomatoes turn into a pulp. Now it's time to add the masala powders. If you don't have the powders individually you can very well use sambar powder (1 1/2 tsp). Saute until the raw smell goes. After that add the potatoes and fry for a few minutes.

Next add the boiled methi leaves. You can squeeze out the water from the methi leaves before adding it to the aloo. This might take out some of the bitterness. But if you don't want to lose the nutrients don't squeeze out the water. Just take them out with a spoon and add it to the potatoes. Mix everything well and fry to desired consistency. If you want a gravy add 3/4 th cup of water or if you want a fry like mine skip the water. Serve it hot with some hot rice or rotis, curd and some pickle.

Cauliflower Bhaji

2008-02-12T18:06:00.001-05:00

Fried foods always tend to taste good. It holds good for this cauliflower bhaji too. If you don't have potatoes or onions for bhaji , don't worry, cauliflower can make excellent bhajis. It is a great tea time snack. So, go ahead and give it a try sometime. (sorry... the flash has ruined my picture.

Ingredients:

cauliflower- 1 (medium size)
oil- for deep frying
besan powder- 1 cup
rice flour- 2 tbs
turmeric powder- 1/4 tsp
chilli powder- 1/2 tsp (first add 1/4 tsp, if you can handle the heat add more)
salt- as per taste
cumin powder- 1/4 tsp
amchur powder- few pinches (optional)

Procedure:

Wash the cauliflower well and seperate the florets. Steam them for 3 to4 minutes. You can skip this step if you want. I just do it because that's how my friend taught me. But I have tried it without the steaming also. Didn't notice any difference at all. Mix the rest of the ingredients from besan to amchur powder with water. Add water little by little. The batter should be thick and not runny. If you dip the floret and lift it up the batter should not slide away. This is the right consistency. Deep fry them in oil and drain when they are golden brown. Serve this with ketchup, corriander chutney , sweet and sour sauce or any other dip of your choice.

If you wish to add an extra touch... saute some sliced onions, finely chopped ginger & garlic, chopped green chillies with some salt and red pepper flakes. Then add a little tomato sauce and mix it. Add the fried florets and toss to coat them. Serve hot sprinkled with some corriander leaves or spring onions.

Brinjal Potato Subzi

2008-02-12T11:49:00.004-05:00

This is another simple dish that goes well with idllis and dosas. The dish may not be photogenic but I can assure you for the taste. My MIL usually fire roasts the eggplant until it is 3/4th done and then chop it into pieces and then use it in the gravy. The gravy prepared this way has a smoky flavor in it. But my mom on the otherhand does not roast them. She steams both the brinjal and potato together and mashes it.

So, my version is to cube both the brinjal and potato into small pieces, Cook it really well and finally mash it with a potato masher. Easy... huh? It does not taste exactly the same as the fire roasted version or the steamed version. All I can say is it tastes good. Hope you give it a try too. Here's what you need...

Ingredients:

Eggplant- 1 (I'm talking about the big purple ones not the tiny ones) potato- 2 (medium size, cubed) mustard seeds- 1/4 tsp
urad dal- 1/2 tsp channa dal- 1/2 tsp
cumin- 1/2 tsp
onion- 1 (finely chopped)
tomato- 1 (finely chopped)
green chillies- 3 (chopped)
tamarind- 1/2 tsp
chilli powder- 1/2 tsp
turmeric- 1/2 tsp
water- 1 1/2 cups
curry leaves- few
corriander leaves- few
hing - a pinch

Procedure:

Heat oil in a kadai and splutter mustard seeds, urad dal, channa dal and cumin. Then add onions, green chillies and turmeric powder. After 5 minutes add the potato and brinjal cubes. Saute in medium flame until 3/4th done. Now add the hing, chilli powder, salt and tamarind. Mix well. Then add 1 cup water and boil until the vegetables are completely cooked. Then open the lid of the pan and mash the vegetables just leaving a few chunks here and there. You can skip this step if you want. Add more water if the gravy is too thick. Finally add corriander and curry leaves. Serve it hot with dosas or idllies.

Simple Channa masala

2008-02-12T10:18:00.004-05:00

Just like sambhar, Channa masala is also a dish that tastes different from one kitchen to the other. While there are so many ways to make it, here is the simple version. I call as the simple one as it involves only sauteing onions, tomatoes and masala powders. No grinding involved. So let's move to the recipe.

Ingredients:

Boiled channa- 2 1/2 cups

cinnamon stick- 1"

cloves- 2

red onion- 1 (medium size, finely chopped)

ginger garlic paste- 1 tsp

green chillies- 1 (slit)

tomatoes- 1 (big, finely chopped)

tamarind paste- 1/2 tsp (optional)

chilli powder- 1/2 tsp

corrianderpowder- 1 tsp

cumin powder- 1/2 tsp

Any channa masala powder- 1/2 tsp (optional, I did not use in mine)

Jaggary- 1/4 tsp (can add more. But my hubby dosen't like it , so I added less)

corrianderleaves- 1/2 cup

water- 2 cups

salt- as required

Procedure:

Soak channa in water overnight. Next day pressure cook for 2 whistles (depends upon your cooker) with some salt and turmeric. One of my Rajasthani friend adds a tea bag while pressure cooking channas. It does impart some color and flavor to the dish. Don't over do the tea bags. When I first tried it , I think I added 5 bags and you can imagine the color that my channa finally had. But I did not use tea bags here.

Heat oil in Kadai and fry cinnamon stick and cloves. Then fry onions with some turmeric until golden brown. Then add ginger garlic paste. After a few minutes add tomatoes and cook until it is all pulpy. Now it's time to add all the masala powders and saute for atleast 5 minutes in a medium flame taking care that the masala powder dosen't get burned. Then add tamarind paste and saute for a minute. Next add water and bring to a nice boil and the gravy becomes a little thick. Test for seasonings. Add more if needed. Then add boiled channa, jaggary and bring to a nice boil one more time. Finally add the corriander leaves and mix well.

You can serve this with puri, chappathi and dosas. To make a chat out of this, you can pour this channa masala in a plate and top it off with some finely chopped red onions, diced tomatoes, beaten curd, sweet & spicy tamarind sauce, sev, some corriander chutney and lemon juice. You can eat it as it is or serve it with some buttered toast or cutlet. The possibilities are countless. Just use your imagination...

Going on a break again

2008-02-03T22:20:00.000-05:00

Yes friends. I'm going on a break for one week. This is b'coz "B" is in need of his laptop for his new travel job. He will be gone for one week. Hopefully I will get my lappy by the weekend and also be able to accompany him to florida the week after. Couldn't go this week as Kavin and me are still recovering from the flu. I suffered so much that I narrowly escped from being admitted due to dehyderation. Hope we will come back to normal soon.
I successfully completed one thing today. I kept up my promise of going through all the posts (295 posts) that I missed during my previous break. My! you girls are posting in jet speed that I'm unable to keep up with all of you.
Anyway, Take care and will see you soon!

Palak and Black Eye Pea Vadas

2008-01-29T10:54:00.000-05:00

Here is another dish with Black eye peas. You can call it vadas if you shape it or just drop it in oil without shaping it- you have fritters. This vada tastes very differnt from the channa dal vadas. It is crunchy on the outside and so soft on the inside. Recently I saw these pea fritters in one of our fellow bloggers blog. But I'm so sorry. I forgot who it was. Anyway, that's how I was reminded of this dish that I had made years ago... maybe 4 years back.

I saw this dish in the 'melting pot' foodtv show. A carribean cook did this. I don't remember her name. She served it with cucumber raitha. Initially, I was doubtful of the combination , but I remember that my hubby really enjoyed that combo. I tried to locate the recipe from 'Food TV' but couldn't find it. So, I recreated the recipe to best of my knowledge. Also, I added palak for my touch. It tasted sooo good.

Hey, I know what you are thinking. You might wonder what am I doing with fried foods when I'm bragging that I'm on diet. Actually, I didn't eat even one. Just tasted the batter for seasonings before frying it. 'B' wanted a tea time snack, so it was made just for him. He relished all the vadas without any one to compete for it. Didn't have time for the raitha. So I served it just with tomato ketchup and sweet tamarind sauce. My hubby liked it both. Ok, it's time for the recipe. Here goes.

Ingredients:
Black eye peas- 1 cup (soaked overnight)
onion- 1/2 (finely chopped)
clove- 1
saunf- 1 tsp
ginger- 1/2 "
green chillies- 3
salt- as needed
palak- 1/2 cup (chopped. can add more if needed)

Procedure:

Drain the soaked peas. Grind it with clove, saunf, ginger, chilli and salt to a coarse batter. Do not add water. Otherwise the batter will become runny and you can't shape it. Scoop out the ground paste and add chopped onions and palak. Mix well. Test for seasoning level. Finally shape them into vadas and deep fry in oil. Serve it hot with cucumber raitha, sauce or mint chutney.

Here is another look....

Black Eye Peas Kurma

2008-01-29T10:04:00.000-05:00

Well, I'm including a lots of legumes in my diet now. Most of the time I just boil them and eat it without doing any extra work. But I still have to cook for 'B'. So, the other day I made a simple kurma with the Black eye peas. It turned out pretty good. I was tired to make chappathis , so I made cumin rice instead. The next day, I served it for breakfast with dosas. It was a perfect accompaniant for both. So, here is the recipe. Nothing fancy. Just the regular kurma but it has black eye peas instead of the vegetables. But each dish looks and taste different because of the variation in the ingredients we use. Don't you agree?

Ingredients:
Blackeye peas- 2 cups (soaked and pressure cooked for 1 whistle)
cloves- 2
elachi- 1
Onion- 1/2
tomato- 1
ginger garlic paste- 1 tsp
corriander leaves- 2 tbsp
green chillies- 4
saunf- 1 tsp
corriander seeds- 1 tsp
cinnamon- 1/2 "
grated coconut- 1/4 cup
cashews- 4 (optional. I did not add in mine)
Poppy seeds- 1 tbsp (soak for 15 mins in water before grinding)
water- 1 1/2 cups

Procedure:
Soak black eye peas overnight and pressure cook it with some salt and turmeric for 1 whistle. If your cooker needs more whistle time cook accordingly. Grind everything from green chillies to poppy seeds. Then heat oil in a kadai and fry the cloves and elachi. Can use bay leaf also. Then add onions and saute until golden brown. Next add ginger garlic paste and turmeric. After that add tomatoes and cook until soft. Now add the ground paste and saute until the raw smell goes. Maybe 5 mins. Then add water, salt and bring to a nice boil. Taste the gravy and add more salt or chilli powder if needed. Finally add the boiled peas and corriander leaves. Bring to one more boil and serve hot with rotis, rice or Dosa. It can be had like a soup too. It's so wholesome and fulfilling.

Note: If you don't have time to grate coconut and grind it, just use canned coconut milk. Also you can omit coconut if you don't want that fat. In that case you can add some rice flour or some corn flour to thicken the gravy. Either way it tastes good.

Peas Masala

2008-01-20T00:48:00.000-05:00

Here is another simple dish that goes very well with chapathi, naans and Ghee Rice. Yes, it it Peas Masala or Mattar Masala. You can use the frozen peas for this dish if you are running short of time. But I like the fresh ones or the dry ones the most for this dish. Here I have used the dried ones. I soaked them overnight and boiled them the next day. It's tastes so different from the frozen ones. So, let's go to the recipe.

Ingredients:

Green Peas- 2 1/2 cups
Onion- 1 (small or medium)
ginger- 1"
garlic- 3 pods
fennel seeds- 1 tsp
cumin- 1/2 tsp
corriander seeds- 1/4 tsp
corriander leaves- a small fistful
mint leaves- 2 or 3 (optional)
green chilli- 1
tomatoes- 1 big
turmeric- 1/2 tsp
chilli powder- 1/4 tsp
chicken masala powder- 1/2 tsp(can use garam masala or any other masala powder)
salt- as requiredwater- 1 1/2 cups.

Procedure:

Soak dry peas overnight. Next day boil until just done with some salt and set aside.
Heat oil in a kadai. Grind everything from onion to green chillies. Add this paste to the oil and fry until you get a good smell or until the raw smell goes away. Then add finely chopped tomatoes and all the curry powders. Saute for 5 mins until the tomatoes gets all mushed up and the oil spots appear on top. Then pour water. The measure for water is approximate. You can add more or less as needed. Bring it to a nice boil. Then add boiled peas and boil one more time. Garnish with corriander leaves. You can add some cream or malai to make this gravy rich. Adding some cashew nut paste makes the gravy rich too. I've not used any of those here. But you can try it if you want. These can make your dish taste the best only setting apart the calorie aspect. I served mine with roti on the day I made. Next day I served it for Dosas. Tasted great with both.

Channa Pulav / Biryani

2008-01-18T23:34:00.000-05:00

In the past week some of you might have seen that my blog went topsy turvy. That's b'coz I made a bad decision of changing my template. Although I really liked my new template , it was too hard for me to make the alingment and colors work right. I spent an entire day experimenting and finally I gave up. I decided to stick to my original one atleast for the time-being.

Ok , I hear you all saying.... "What's cooking ?". So, let's move to it. Today it is Channa Biryani or Pulav. The recipe is not any different from our regular pulavs. But adding channa instead of the vegetables is the only variation. It's quite a change from the usual dish. My normally complaining hubby itself enjoyed it. So, you can get the idea that it was pretty good. Now to the recipe....

Ingredients:

Basmathi Rice- 2 cups
water- normal ratio is (1: 1 1/2) where 1 is rice and 1 1/2 is water. But my cooker needs a little more water, so I follow (1 : 1 3/4)
Oil- 2 tbsp
cardamom- 2
cloves- 2
bay leaf - 1
cinnamon stick - 1"
fennel seeds- 1/2 tsp
star anise- 1
Onion- 1/2 (sliced)
Tomato -1
mint leaves- chopped (handful)
corriander leaves- chopped (handful)
Potato- 1 (skinned and cubed)
Channa - 3/4 th cup
ginger garlic paste- 1 tsp
green chillies- 2 (slit)
turmeric- 1/2 tsp
chilli powder- 1/2 tsp
salt- as per taste
coconut milk- 1/4 cup (optional)

Procedure:

Soak channa in water overnight. Next day boil it in a cooker until 3/4 th done. Drain and keep aside.Heat oil in a cooker and fry all the spices. Next add the onions and saute until golden brown. Then add ginger garlic paste and green chillies. After a minute add potatoes and fry for another 5 mins. Next add tomatoes, mint and corriander leaves. Saute until the tomatoes are mushed up. Then add turmeric, chilli powder and salt. Saute until the raw smell goes. Next add coconut milk and water. If you are adding coconut milk count that also as water and measure it accordingly. Close the cooker and allow the water to come to a boil. Don't put the vent yet. After a few minutes add rice and channa. Mix well and close the cooker again. When you see the steam coming up consistently put the vent on and keep the flame in medium. Set the timer for 8 minutes and then switch off the gas. Wait for the steam to subside. Open the cooker and give a good mix. Add some lemon juice (1 tbsp) and corriander leaves. Serve it hot. I did mine with cucumber raitha and some chips.

Here is another closer look. Hope you give it a try and enjoy it too!

Breaking the Break with a Cake

2008-01-11T09:08:00.000-05:00

Well...I'll start with an apology for disappearing out the blogsphere without any notice. Initially it was my son and the holidays that kept me busy. After awhile, I kind of became a little lazy to blog. Also, like most of the people I chose the "weight loss" as my New Year Resolution. So all my favorite and comfort foods are off-limits for now. That's why I didn't check any of your blogs either for the fear of facing temptation. I'm so sorry that and I promise to check all of your posts soon.

Although this was a long break, I have accomplished a few things with Kavin. He has started eating normal foods without pureeing. In just 2 weeks his diet has changed completely. He now eats a wide variety of food and I have become tension free. I consider this as my "8th World Wonder" as I have been thinking when that "time" would come for Kavin to stop gagging on foods and eat normally. I also feel that ever since I posted the info about Kawasaki disease many people had been sending their prayers and blessings for Kavin and that seems to have changed him sooooo much. I have no words to express my THANKS to each and every one of you for all your support.

Coming to the cooking part, I have been doing it everyday but rarely took pictures of it. Anyway, here is my first cake that I baked for "B" for his b'day. He is not a big fan of frostings. So I chose this pineapple upside-down cake and I followed the recipe from my Southeren Living Cookbook. The cake turned out really good and we enjoyed every single bite of it. It tasted exceptionally good with some ice cream on the side. For a amature baker like me this recipe turned out to be a great success. I hope you try it too if you haven't baked this cake before.

Ingredients:
Butter or margarine- 1/2 cup
Brown sugar - 1 cup (firmly packed)
pineapple slices - 3 (8 1/4 oz) cans undrained
Pecan halves- 10 ( I did not use it as I didn't have it)
maraschino cherries- 11 (cut into halves) (use more like me if you want to)
large eggs - 2 (seperated)
egg yolk- 1
sugar- 1 cup
All-purpose flour - 1 cup
baking powder- 1 tsp
ground cinnamon- 1/2 tsp
salt- 1/4 tsp
vanilla extract- 1 tsp
cream of tartar- 1/4 tsp

Procedure:
This recipe calls for using a cast-iron skillet. But I had only cake pans so I went ahead and used it. First you melt the butter in microwave and pour it in the cake pan. Spread it evenly. Then sprinkle brown sugar and press it to the bottom.
Drain Pineapple, reserving 1/4 cup juice. Set juice aside. Arrange pineapple slices in the pan as desired. You can keep it whole or cut it up. Place a cherry half in the center of each pineapple rounds. Other than that you can arrange cherries as you like.
Beat 3 egg yolks at high speed with an electric mixeruntil thick and pale. Gradually add sugar and beat well. Combine flour and the next 3 ingredients. Stir well. Add to egg mixture alternately with reserved 1/4 cup pineapple juice. Stir in vanilla.

Beat egg whites and cream of tartar at high speed until stiff peaks form. Fold beaten egg whites into batter. Spoon batter evenly over pineapple in the cake pans. Bake at 350 deg for 45 to 50 mins or until the cake is set. You can tell that the cake is done when you see that the toothpick you insert in the center of the cake comes out clean.

Rest the cake for 10 mins and then invert it. Pour any remaining glaze on the top of the cake. Cut it into wedges and enjoy it while it is still warm with some cold vanilla ice-cream.
I hope not to take a break anymore. But I'm going to limit my blogging hours as I don't want to sit in my couch all the time. I'll visit all of your blogs in the weekend and make up for the lost time. Take care guys and have a great weekend.

Blogging Break!!!

2007-12-20T16:28:00.001-05:00

Hi Friends,

I'm taking a break from blogging until the new year as my kid has no school until then. I'm sorry that I couldn't reply to your comments nor visit your blogs. I shall catch up with you all soon. I should have posted this message earlier but I fell sick. So, please bear with me guys.

Anyway,

Wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2008!

White pumpkin Halwa / Kasi Halwa

2007-12-13T09:16:00.000-05:00

When I was a little girl I used to enjoy my granny's Kasi halwa so much. It would be a melt-away moment in my mouth. My mom never attempted this as my granny was doing it anyway. Now it is 6 years since my granny passed away. And when I called my mom last week she told that she made kasi halwa following granny's procedure and that it tasted exactly the same. I didn't believe it fully as I know that my mom never tried it earlier. Still, I went ahead and got the recipe. The same night as 'B' was having dinner with his friends I decided to give the recipe a try as I had lots of time in my hands.

It didn't take long. Within 1/2 an hour the halwa was done. By the time it was over 'B' arrived home. He gave a look as though...why do you want to attempt halwa? It requires practice to do it. Anyway, I went ahead and served him the plate you see in the picture. Within minutes, I got so many wow's from him. For 'B' it was the first time he was tasting it , so he thought it was the best. As for me, I know how it is supposed to taste. So, I was really hoping that it tasted exactly as granny's.

Then the moment came...I took a spoonful and tasted it. Guess what happened. Before that.... Have you guys seen the "Ratatouille" movie? If so, you would know the 'Ego' food critic. Just like him, the moment I tasted my kasi halwa I was transported back to my childhood days in a flash. I had some happy tears in my eyes to see that I could recreate the same taste.

Many of you might be doing this regularly in your house and wonder why is she bragging so much for a pumpkin halwa. But for me, it is one of the special dishes made by my granny and it's been so many years since I had it. So, here is the recipe I enjoyed so much. I hope you do too.

Ingredients:
White Pumpkin- 2cups (grated)
sugar- 1 1/2 cups (increase or decrease as per taste)
ghee- 3 tbsp
cardamom- 3
milk- 1 cup
saffron- one pinch
red food color- a pinch
cashews and raisins- 1 tbsp each (or more if needed)

Procedure:
Peel off the outer skin from the pumpkin and grate it. Squeeze out the excess water from the gratings. Heat 1 tbsp ghee in a kadai and add the gratings and broken cardamom. Saute until any remaing water is absorbed. Add sugar and stir well. Now add milk and cook on low flame till the gratings are cooked soft and all the milk is absorbed. Now the halwa should be in a semi solid stage. Add ghee little by little stirring till you get the halwa continuously. Then add the fried nuts, raisins ,saffron and color powder. When the halwa leaves the sides of the pan switch off the stove. Serve this warm or at room temperature. I like mine warm. Here is a bite for you too!

Pan seared Prawns

2007-12-07T14:16:00.000-05:00

This has been lying in my drafts for quite a while and I decided to complete it today and post it. It is an easy appetizer and another one of B's specality. Whenever I challenge him that he cannot handle the kitchen even for a day ,he would do this to break my nose. It's so simple and so flavorful and usually the dish is done in 10 to 15 mins minus the prawns cleaning time. So, here goes the recipe.

Ingredients:

Prawns- 20 (peeled and deveined on both sides)

onion- 1 big

garlic- 5 pods

sambar powder- 1 tsp

chilli powder- 1/2 tsp

turmeric- 1/4 tsp

pepper- 1/4 tsp

lemon juice- 1 tbsp

salt as required

cilantro- 3 tbsp

bell pepper- 1 or 1/2 (cut lengthwise)

Procedure:

Clean Prawns and set aside.Drain on a paper towel. Add all the seasonings like sambar powder, chilli powder, turmeric, pepperand salt. Mix well. Heat a big non-stick pan. When hot add a 2 tsp oil and coat the pan evenly. Slowly put the prawns inside. Taking care that each and every prawn is seated well on the pan. Keep the flame in medium high. After 2 mins, flip over the shrimps and cook on the other side (another 2 mins) until it gets a nice roasted texture on the outside. Add very little water (less than 1/4 cup) and close the pan. Cook for 5 mins. After that, take off the lid and allow all the water to dry out. Keep tossing every now and then taking care that it dosen't stick to the pan. When the Prawns are almost done, add the onions and bell pepper. Just stir-fry it so that the vegetables are still crisp. Finally add lemon juice and cilantro. Mix well and serve on a bed of cabbage or lettuce.

Note: Do not over-cook the prawns. It tends to become rubbery. Seafoods generally gets cooked fast unlike mutton or chicken. Do not over-cook the vegetables also in this dish. A stir-fry for 2 mins will do. You can do the same dish with cut chicken breasts too. It would be like a non-fried version of chilli chicken or a great stuffing for fajitas.

This dish is a great appetizer and crowd-pleaser. Whenever we do this for the party, it disappears in a flash. My hubby says that it goes very well with wine, but for me it is a perfect pair for coke.

Kovakkai Kadalai Curry

2007-12-06T09:53:00.000-05:00

I got this recipe from SUN TV"s Unnavum Aarogiyamum program. It was prepared by Chef Jacob in his "oil less cooking series". But readers beware. This is not a fat free curry as it has 3 tbsps of cashewnut paste in it. The reason I tried this was to see how the kovakkai-kadalai combination worked out and also that the recipe had no tomatoes and oil in it.

The final result was ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC. It had such an outburst of flavor ,really very different from the other curries I normally prepare. Now it has become my new favorite and I'll be trying this more often. So, I wanted to pass on the recipe to you also so that you can give it a try. Good luck and Happy Eating!

Ingredients:
Kovakkai/Tindora- 20 (cut lengthwise) (half steamed)
Kadalaikkai/Boiled peanuts- 1 cup
Onion- 1 (finely chopped)
cashewnut paste- 3 tbsp
elachi-2
cloves- 2
cinnamon- 1" piece
chilli powder- 1 tsp (original recipe called for 2 tsp. But 1 was ok for me) turmeric- 1/4 tsp
curry leaves- 1 twig (finely chopped) salt- as required
Garam masala- 1/2 tsp

Procedure:
Heat pan until it's very hot. Then add the spices and saute them .Remember .....NO OIL. The cardamom will plump up a bit due to heat. Now add onions and some salt. Saute until it is light brown in color. You have to keep on sauteing every now and then as it does not have any oil and it might stick to the pan after a while.Now add curry leaves,ginger garlic paste and turmeric. Saute for a min. Then add chilli powder and saute for 2 more mins. Now add 1/2 a cup of water and mix well. Close and cook for 5 mins. After that the gravy will be a little thick. Now add kovakkai , peanuts and salt. Add nother cup of water and boil for 5 more minutes. Finally add garam masala and cashew paste. Mix well and boil to desired consistency.

This gravy goes very good with white rice, dosa and rotis.

Oyster Mushroom Curry and Kurma

2007-11-29T16:36:00.000-05:00

This time I'm not going to write my excuses for not blogging, b'coz I know you all have become tired of it. Really, things are going so crazy around me. Also, this weather has something to do with it. I feel so lazy that all I want to do is sleep all the time. I get backlogged in my work b'coz of this and end up doing things in the last minute. Can you believe that I've been so lazy that I did not even mail my entries for 3 blog events although I posted them in my blog? Anyhow, I hope I send this one atleast.

When I saw the "Grindless Gravies" event going around in the blogsphere, I thought...Hey, That's not difficult. The regular sambar and puli kuzhambu does not involve grinding! But once I visited Sra's blog "When my soup came alive " I understood her hard rules. For the past one week, I did not plan anything specific for the event. Just watched what I cooked and was trying not to use my grinding tools at all. But you know what, it was very hard. For some, I had to grind spices, others involved coconut milk or lentils. Finally I succeded in coming up with the Oyster Mushroom Curry. So, let's go to the recipe.

Ingredients:
Oyster Mushrooms- 1 pack
Cinnamon- 1 " stick
cloves- 2
Onion- 1 (big)
Tomato- 2 (big)
Ginger garlic paste- 1tsp
chilli powder- 3/4 th tsp
corriander powder- 1 tsp
cumin powder- 1/2 tsp
Curry masala powder- 1/2 tsp
pepper- 1/4 tsp
Turmeric- pinch
Curry leaves and corriander leaves-few
cornflour-1tsp(optional)

Procedure:
To clean the oyster mushrooms, just cut off the ends first. Then seperate the upper portion and the stalk. Cut the stalk and the top portion into small pieces. While adding it to the gravy, first add the stalks as it takes a few minutes extra to cook than the feathery top.
Heat oil in a kadai and fry cinnamon and cloves. Then add onion and ginger garlic paste.Saute until golden brown and soft. Then add the masala powders for fry for a minute. Now add tomatoes and cook until it becomes soft and pulpy. Make sure that it forms a paste like consistency.
Then add chopped mushrooms. First the stalks. Saute for 3 mins. Then add the top part of the mushrooms. Add 1 cup water and cook for 5 to 10 mins until you get a thick gravy. Cook till you get the desired consistency. You can also add a tsp of cornflour (just dissolve it in very little water) to make the gravy thick. I did not use it here for the sake of the event. But you can certainly do it to get a nice thick gravy.

The next is Oyster Mushroom Kurma. This is another flavorful dish that goes very well with dosa, rotis and ghee rice. This was the first time I was making this kurma, so I was a little unsure to use just the mushrooms alone. That's why I went ahead and put poataoes, as kurma always tastes good with potatoes. Once done, when I tasted the dish, I really felt that the mushrooms alone did a very good job in making the gravy tasty. We enjoyed the kurma so much that nothing was leftover although it was done to be packed for the next day's lunch. So, here is my recipe. I hope you enjoy it too!

Ingredients:
Oyster mushroom- 1 pack
cinnamon- 1" piece
cloves- 2
curry leaves- 1 twig
Onion- 1 (finely chopped)
ginger-garlic paste- 1tsp
green chillies- 5
Tomatoes- 2 (finely chopped)
red chilli- 1
jeera- 1tsp
saunf- 1 tsp
turmeric powder- 1/4 tsp
sambar powder- 1 1/2 tsp
garam masala- 1/4 tsp
coconut- 1/4 cup
corrinader leaves- small fistfull
water- 1 cup
salt- as required

Procedure:
Grind coconut to a smooth paste. Grind red chillies, jeera and saunf to a fine powder. Clean mushrooms by wiping off with a towel and seperate the stalks and the petals. Heat oil in a pan and fry the cinnamon and cloves. Then add onions, curry leaves, ginger garlic paste, green chillies and turmeric. Saute until golden brown. Then add tomatoes and cook till soft and mushy. Now add all the masala powders and mix well Saute for 5 mins or until the raw smell goes. Then add coconut paste and saute for 2 to3 mins. Now pour a cup of water and add required salt. Bring it to a boil. Now add the stalk portion of the mushrooms first. After 3 to 4 mins add the petals and cook it is soft and done. Garnish with corriander leaves. Goes really well with dosas.

A dark day in our life in the year 2006

2007-11-23T13:45:00.000-05:00

Warning: This is a long health related post. Just wanted to share a chapter of my life with all of you.

Yes...The day after Thanks Giving when all the people are busy shopping and still enjoying the holidays we had a very dark day during our 2006 ThanksGiving. This is b'coz Kavin was diagonized with something called the KAWASAKI disease. Funny name uh? Yes, we thought so too when the ER doctor told us the name not knowing the seriousness behind it.

Inshort, this an acquired heart disease that affects young childeren who are less than 5 years of age and rarely above 5. You can read more about it here and here.

Kavin's story goes like this. On 17th November 2006 he woke up normal just like any other day. He had his flu shot appointment and so we went to his pediatrician around 11 am. By 12pm we met 'B' in a restaurant and had lunch. Kavin dosen't eat anyway, so we kept him busy with some crayons. He was a little fussy though, so we packed our lunches half way through and I drove him back home.

Within minutes of reaching home, he threw up and started to shiver. I panicked. Then I gave him tylenol and put him to bed. I found that he developed fever. At that time, I thought it was a side effect of the flu shot. But as the clocked ticked away, his temperature kept on rising and rising. By 5pm he was burning and had a temperature of 104 degress. I didn't wanted to keep him in home any longer. So, we took him to the emergency by 6pm. All through the way he kept throwing up and his head was drooping down. Finally we got to see the doctor only by 10pm. (You know how the ER's function in US). They asked us to give him the same tylenol and motrin alternatively and sent us home.

The next day we met Kavin's pediatrician but he didn't find anything either. All through the day, his temperature would be 102 deg under the effect of motrin. When the medicine effect wares off ,it would go back to 104 . Back again in the evening his temperature shot up high and we rushed back to the ER.

After a long wait, we got to see that day's doctor. I was really not at all happy with the way he reacted to our concerns. He spent exactly a minute listening to our complaints, didn't examine Kavin (not even looked at him) and scoffed at me for telling my concerns as he thought I was exaggerating. Again we went home to continue the tylenol and Motrin.

Again we made a trip to the Pediatrician the next day. On this day, Kavin developed cracks on his lips and his toungue was coated with white substance and his eyes were blood-red. Still, his pediatrician said that it is a viral fever as his eyes were red. He also prescribed an eye drops and Nystatin for the toungue. Again we went home with no answers.

Fourth day also no improvements. Already, Kavin has feeding difficulties. He dosen't drink milk or juice also. It was so tough to watch him live with water alone. All long we knew something was wrong but we were helpless. My parents are doctors in India and my sis is doing her final year medicine. My dad became suspicious about Kavin's condition on this day. He prescribed some medicines too. But I was afraid to give it as I would have to answer Kavin's pediatrician if something went wrong.

Fifth day also continued with high fevers of 103. Kavin was humming weakly a lullaby that I used to sing to him daily. He tried to look into my eyes and said "boo boo". Oh My God! It was the worst moment. My hubby and me burst into tears and cried out aloud with Kavin in my lap. My Dad asked us to do a blood test. So, we went to the pediatrician to ask for it. He disagreed on that and he suggested to take a x-ray alone to check if it was Pnemonia. We went to the lab and got the result as negative. Again we went to see the doctor with the lab results. My hubby asked for the blood test again but the doctor said that he is very sure that it is a viral fever and that it takes 10 days to go away.

Day 6. A day before ThanksGiving. We cancelled our dinner program in our friends place and stayed home hoping to see some improvements today atleast. But nothing much changed. Back again we went to the ER and asked them to admit Kavin as we afraid to keep him home. But they didn't so as he was not dehydrated. I did tell them that he was drinking only water and very little pedialite (just 4 ounces a day). We had to give him through a medicine despenser as he dosen't like pedialite. Still, we were kiced like a ball back to our house.

Day7. It was Thanksgiving and while the world was happy celebrating it we were still in the dark not knowing what would happen next. My dad was angry with me as I did not follow his medicines. But he warned me that this was terribly wrong and a blood test was a must. He suggested to give a steroid that is banned in US but still used in India. I was scared to try it. Didn't want to complicate anything. So, I just told my dad that I gave the medicine but I didn't. No improvements. It's been 6 days since Kavin walked.

Day 8. We woke up after sleepless nights. Again my dad insisted on the blood tests and we talked to the Pediatrician and he basically washed off his hands. He said that he has done all that he knows and said that we could go to the ER again if we want and take a blood test for our satisfaction as our pediatrician's office was closed on that day. I was frustrated with the ER at this point. I didn't want to go there at all. But my hubby said that we go there again to do the blood tests atleast. Back again we went waited for 3 hours. The ER was packed with people as it was a holiday season.

In the waiting room, when my hubby took Kavin to the restroom he noticed that he was walking wobbly. He hardly took 2 steps then he sat down. B's eyes were watery. I consoled him and measured Kavin's temperature. This time the meter showed no reading. Just "HIGH". I was scared to death. I went to the reception and yelled at them for taking such a long time. Then the nurse came and checked Kavin. They took him in right away. Within half an hour we saw the doctor and told him the entire story. He was so patient and listened to us carefully. He then did a blood test and came back with the results that it could be "KAWASAKI".

After this the treatment started in a jet speed. kavin was admitted on the spot and was getting ready to be seen by the main doctor. 'B' rushed home to get a few things for our hospital stay. Kavin was given drips and had so many wires on his body. After 20 mins, his body started to shiver badly. I tried to hug him but his body was shaking so hard that his bed was also shaking. The nurse rushed in and changed the doses and he setteled down slowly. He was give IVIG (immunoglobin -an antibodies extract from human blood).

Day 9. Kavin woke up with no fever. His eyes came back to normal. He smiled and responded to us. He became aware that he was sick and that he was in the hospital to recover. We had a sigh of relief that didn't last for long. The doctor came in and gave us a sheet about this disease. We were shocked to read thru that. Then an echo was performed on Kavin and it was found that his coronary artery has enlarged and that he was in risk level 2. Phone calls were going back and forth to India and my dad was trying to find out the underlying complications and try to to do the best possible.

Day 10. We were released from the hospital and was asked to do a follow-up visit after a week with a cardiologist. Kavi was on baby aspirin for one full month. We met the cardiologist a week later and discussed the possible problems. He said that we have to wait for 1 full month to see how Kavin's body is recovering in the post kawasaki phase. His platelettes counts was more than double of what it had to be. The doctor also warned that if the platelet count continue to be this high ,he is in a risk for cancer.

This was too much for us. We walked in dark hoping to find some light at the end. This incident really changed us a lot. We started to appreciate Kavin more and his other difficulties did not matter anymore. We just wanted him to be alive atleast. In the end, after one full month of waiting time, the doctor did his echo and said that he has miraculously escaped and that his coronary artery has come back to normal and that he has crossed the danger line. Kavin is still kept on watch for the next 3 to 5 years . But we hope he will do fine in the coming years.

From my experiences, I strongly feel that our family would not have undergone this only if the doctors were more responsible in the first place. All that the ER doctors want us to do is spend some time in the patient’s room and hope that they can pass the patient off to the next doctor coming on shift or keep the patient alive for them to be seen by their regular doctor the next day. Anyway, it's we as parents who have to fight for our children. Always trust your gut feeling and struggle as much as you can.

Keep an eye for these Symptoms:

1. persistent fever that is higher than 104 degrees Fahrenheit (39 degrees Celsius), and lasts for at least 5 days.
2.severe redness in the eyes
3.a rash on the child's stomach, chest, and genitals
4.red, dry, cracked lips
5.swollen tongue with a white coating and big red bumps
sore, irritated throat
6.swollen palms of the hands and soles of the feet with a purple-red color
7.swollen lymph nodes
8. Peeling of skin under the nails (For kavin it happened after his relase from the hospital

If you see any of these symptoms in your child, Please Please do not hesitate to do a blood test and check for Platelet count. Don't worry if the doctors turn deaf to your words. You got to be persistant. In our case, we could have escaped this if the kawasaki disease would have been detected atleast two days before.

I'm sorry for a long one. Hope I didn't bore you. This is just to keep you all aware about this killer disease. Coming to an end, he is a pic of my son taken recently. You can see what food blogging has done to him. He has seen me taking pics of food many times and one day I saw him doing this. So I grabbed my camera quick and took a shot. He even got a little tikes kitchen set for ThanksGiving!

This ThanksGiving was a good one. We went to a big church were our friends invited us for a lunch. There was a huge crowd from different countries. People from different places sang their National anthem on stage. And guess who sang our India's national anthem?

It was KAVIN. He sang the full song song so clearly and won a huge applause. Too bad that I didn't take a camera. My friend said that the church would have taken it and if he gets it he would send it to me. So, I'm still waiting for that. Anyhow, we were so proud of him. Exactly one year has made a huge difference in our lives.

Thank you for stopping by and taking the time to read this. I really appreciate it.

Sprouts Salad, Dates Milkshake & Ginger Tea

2007-11-21T22:26:00.000-05:00

I have become tired of making the excuses again and again that I'm busy and that my kid is sick and all that. What to do? That's what is going on and on like a cycle. Anyway, I just wanted to be a part of a few events going around in the blogsphere. So, please bear with me gals for posting everything just like that without organizing it.

Our fellow blogger "Easy Crafts" who owns a great blog "Simple Indian Cooking" has launced a new event called "Powerless cooking". I glad that came up with this, as I have also wondered what would happen if there is a total power shutdown for a few days and what we would be cooking during those times. Anyway, my contribution to this event is Mungbean sprouts salad. Nothing fancy just simple and easy to make.

I wish to send the same to "Vegan Ventures" hosted by Suganya of Tasty Palettes. I'm not that familiar with this vegan cooking yet, so here goes my entry.

Sprouts Salad:

Ingredients:
Green moong dal- 1 cup (sprouted)
carrot- grated
green chillies- 1 1 /2 (minced)
red onions- 1 tbsp (fine pieces)
corriander leaves- 2 tbsp
peanuts- 1 tbsp (broken)
salt- as reqd
lemon juice- 1 tbsp

The other ingredients you can add to this are: Finely chopped boiled potatoes, cucumber, corn, tomatoes, yogurt, corriander-mint chutney, sweet tamarind sauce. Keep your mind open and try out anything else listed above.

Procedure:
Soak mung beans overnight. Drain the water and keep it wrapped in a wet towel. Then close it with a vessel and leave it aside for one full day. The next day the mung beans would sprout beautifully. I do not like to eat it raw, so I partially steam it. You can skip this step if you want to. Anyhow, this is the way I make it.

I add steamed sprouts to the rest of the ingredients and mix well. You can add yogurt too but I'm skipping that as I going to send the same to the 'Vegan' event too.

Date's Milk Shake:

I'm going to send this to Chandrika of Akshyapatra who is hosting AFAM: Dates. Milkshakes are always my favorite especially this one which my mom used to prepare during my school and college days. I would devour this in a flash b'coz my mom would say that helps in hair growth due to the iron content in it. But I don't think it helped me at all. You should see my head now (almost bald). Anyway, the taste is really good. Try it for yourself and you'll see.

Ingredients:
Chopped Dates- 1 cup
sugar- as per taste
chopped pistachios- 2 tbsp
milk- 3 cups

Procedure:
Boil milk and after sometime bring to a simmer, add dates and cook till soft (5 to 8 mins) in a low flame. Cool this and reserve a few tbsp of pulp aside. Blend the rest with milk and sugar. You can make it thinner or thicker depending upon the amount of milk you use. Finally mix in the pulp and nuts. Give a good stir and serve it chilled .

Finally, it is GINGER TEA:

This is for the the "Think spice... Think... Ginger" event hosted by Sunita of Sunita's World. Initially, I was wondering if this would be apt to send it for the event but, after seeing the same at Nags's blog I decided to post the same . So, here is a refreshing cup of ginger tea with some Banana bread.

Ingredients:
Milk- 1 cup
taj mahal tea leaves- 1 1/4 tsp
water- 1/4 cup
ginger- 1 1/2 " (grated)
cardamom- 1 (broken)
sugar- as reqd

Procedure:
Boil water with tea leaves. cardamom and ginger for 5 minutes. Then add milk and bring it to another boil. Add required sugar and mix well. Filter this and serve this steaming cup of hot ginger tea for a refreshing morning.

(This is B's fav cup ,but this is the quantity he drinks. So, I couldn't get a good pic at all. Sorry guys, bear with me.)

Idiyappam with coconut milk

2007-11-20T22:53:00.000-05:00

It's just 20 mins left for the "Click" event hosted by Bee to be over and I'm beginning this post wondering if I would make it. So what did I chose for the event??? Rice Noodles (or) Idiyappam.

Here , I have made only a basic version of the Idiyappam. With this you can do so many things like lemon Idiyappam, Milagu Idiyappam, Curd Idiyappam or the popular one -paired with milk,cardamom and shredded coconut. It can also be served with mutton Paaya , veg kurma or stew.

My hubby helped me a lot on this.(ok ok...he did it. This is what he wants me to type) .Yesterday we did the same and I took pics. But nothing turned good. Today Mr. Perfect did it and here it is for all of you to see.

So, here is how I made it.

Ingredients:

Rice flour- 1 cup

Hot water- as needed

salt- a pinch

oil- 1 tsp

Procedure:

Heat water in a pan with some oil. Bring it to a rolling boil. Add some salt to the flour and mix well. Now add water little by little and keep kneading it until it forms a soft dough.

Then grease the inside of the Idiyappam maker or aachu with little bit of oil. Shape the dough into a little log and put it inside the aachu and press it. Steam this in idlli pan for 5 to 7 mins.

Serve it with the accompaniant of your choice. I kept mine simple. Just coconut milk, sugar ,shredded coconut cardamom and loads of love. This is the way "B" likes it, so I did it to cool him off.

PHEW!!! I made it atlast. This is my fastest posting so far.

Before I go, I have to do one more thing. Thank you guys for all those who voted for me in the last 'click' event and also to the Judges who chose me. I wanted to mention this long back but didn't do it so long. I was so happy to see that so many of you have encouraged me and helped me gain a place in the top 10. Once again.....a big THANKS!!!

Diwali Treats and the stories behind them

2007-11-10T23:10:00.000-05:00

Hi friends,
Hope all of you had a fantastic Diwali and back again to your normal routine. I had a great one too. The past one week was too hectic. That's why I couldn't reply to any of your comments or upmdate my blog with a new post. Anyway, Thanks for your understanding.

So, let me tell you about my diwali treats. This time I decided to do the sweets and snacks based on what I already had in the pantry. No special shopping.Then I went thru my favorite blogs and picked the recipes. Believe me...the list was huge. I had such a hard time in narrowing it down. Finally, I came up with 5 sweets and 1 snack item. They are:

Kesar Mawa Rolls:

I found this recipe from Sirisha who owns a great blog Ambrosia. This is the first time I tried a sweet with homemade khoya. I never knew that it was this easy. But I had a few pitfalls too. If you look at the original recipe you can see how the layers are distinct in color. But ,when I did mine i did not soak the saffron in milk for a long time. Moreover I guess mine needed a little more saffron. But the taste was great. A little like the cheesecake , a bit sticky to the palatte. This sweet laid the foundation for me to try the other khoya sweets with a better confidence in me.
Thanks Sirisha for all your guidance thru the comments. Truly appreciate it. The original recipe can be found here.

Next is..... Mango Coconut Truffles:
The original recipe was for Mango coconut burfi. Actually the first time I saw this recipe was in Asha's blog and I bookmarked it. Later when I decided to make it for Diwali I saw that it was originally Viji's recipe. So I combined both by using canned mango pulp and fresh coconut.
Check out Aroma of Asha's and vcuisine of Viji's versions.

I was following the recipe good, suddenly fate came in the form of my hubby. Out of no where he popped up to help me. When I was about to add sugar (1 1/2 cups) he stopped me at 1/2 a cup and said this would be perfect. He also gave me a big lecture on cooking with some common sense too. Finally I listened to him b'coz he had been my guru & critic in cooking. You know what happened in the end?
The burfi did not set. I could not make slices nor would it hold it shape as it did not have enough sugar in it. I even set it overnight in the fridge. Nothing much changed. My hubby said that we cannot serve it this way to the guests and he asked me to discard it.
OMG! How can I do it? The taste was out of the world and the aroma was unbelievable. I had to save it somehow.

So, This is what I came up with. I greased my palms with ghee and made the mango burfi into mini balls. Then I rolled them in powdered sugar so that they don't stick to the serving dish. Finally I garnished with a bit of pistachio and also came up with a new name....Mango Coconut Truffles. I served it chilled.

You won't believe it. This was the super-hit item in the party. Everbody enjoyed it and never knew that something was wrong with it. And, I was really proud of myself to have used my common sense to save the dessert although it was ruined by Mr. Perfect.

All along the preparation I was informing Viji ka about my mistakes. So, she took pity on me and emailed me her Almond peda recipe just for me although she hadn't posted it in her blog yet.
I was so happy to see the simplicity of the recipe . So the next sweet was almond peda.

Almond Pista Peda:

Here is another recipe that I got from Viji. It was so easy to prepare and it turned out really good. I did it without any disturbances as I was alone. Using my knowledge of handling khoya when I did mawa kesar rolls i handled this like a pro. Everyone thought that it was store-bought. I did not make plumpy pedas as Viji's as I had a lots of sweets and didn't want people to feel full with just one. (All the sweets were done for the Diwali party we had at our friends place. It was not a potluck. Infact the dinner was ordered from outside. but I just made these to share it withmy friends and all of you.)

Gulab Jamuns:

I made this with the MTR mix. Most of you might think what's so special about doing jamons with mix. But you what? So many things matters. The jamons should be the perfect shape, fried to the right consistency, soaked enough in the sugar syrup and all that. I've done jamuns so many times in the past and it had always been a success. But this time....OOPS. It went wrong.

I was already late for Kavin's gym classes. So I fried the jamuns and dropped them in hot sugar syrup. I mean really hot syrup. With 10 to 15 mins the jamons absorbed the syrup and they looked supersoft and spongy. In my mind I was imagining all the compliments I was going to get from my hubby.

After that I left for the classes. On my return, I tried to tranfer the jamons to a serving bowl. Alas, the disaster happened. All the jamons started loosing their shape and just melted just like that and the I ended up in one big mess. I was so mad. I wanted to scream at myself for being so idiotic. I couldn't fix it at all. I tried saving a few but it wasn't that great. I couldn't save it in anyway.

With a heavy heart I threw away everything and did a fresh batch taking enough care all the way through. This out turned perfectly good and it made up my heart for the jamons I lost. So, next time guys...don't think jamons from mixes are damn easy. Everything has to be done in a certain way to get it right.

Next was...Chocolate Pista Rolls from Viji's:

I know, I have done 3 of her recipes this time. I wanted to try something else, but the chocolate had got me pinned to it. I had no other go. This also turned out great and I also shapped them into balls and placed the pista stuffing inside. Also, I did the chocolate khoya once again and rolled them with the plain khoya to make a marbled effect. Altogether it was good and it was specially "B"'s fav.
For the original recipe go here.

The snack was Pottukadalai Murukku:

It's been years since I made this. So, I had a hard time in searching for the murukku aachu. Finally when I found it ,the star plate was stuck to the aachu. I couldn't change anyother plate whatsoever. That's why I did only one item this time.

This is my friend's Valli Meyyapan's recipe. She is not a blogger but is a good cook. We were neighbours when we were in Michigan. This recipe of hers has always been a hit in my house. Hope you like it too.

Diwali Breakfast:

Usually we have idlli and brinjal gosthu for our diwali breakfast. But this time I donno , I couldn't find time to get the batter done. My hubby was a little disappointed with that b'coz this is what he had been eating traditionally on every diwali for as long as he could remember. So, I had to do something that is equally good.

Luckily I found the 'Rava Dosa' recipe from Prema's cookbook. Thanks to her, my hubby really really enjoyed it so much that he kept eating it in jet speed not allowing me to take even one pic. Finally I took one, but by that time the chutney was all gone. Still he finished it off with some sugar. I just got to taste just one piece of it. But I was glad that it made up for the idlli-gosthu breakfast.Thanks Prema once again. (The picture is not that great. But it tasted so good. Will update this post with a good pic soon).

Anyhow, the celebration was great and all the guests enjoyed everything. I was also satisfied with the net result although I had a little bit of downfalls here and there. I know, that it is a long post. Just wanted to share with you what all I went thru in the process of preparing everything. Sorry for boring you guys.
Will continue with my normal posts and reply back to all of your comments soon. Thank you all for inspiring my Diwali. I had so many other items on the list, but didn't find time.
Will do it all for the next festival.

Happy Deepavali 2007!!!

2007-11-08T11:40:00.000-05:00

(image from flickr.com)

Hello my dear bloggers friends and visitors,

Wish you all a very Happy, Prosperous and Safe Diwali.

Hope you all have a great time bursting crakers, eating sweets and enjoying your favorite TV programs. See you all soon with the goodies I prepared for Diwali. Bye.

-kribha.

My Kitchen Disaster

2007-11-03T07:05:00.000-05:00

Asha had tagged me for "Nightmare in the Kitchen" meme. This was originally started by Lakshmi of "The Yum Blog". It all started when she baked her "Warm Walnut Brownie Pudding". You can check the links at the end of the post to read all the stories.

Any cook will have their moment of nightmare in the kitchen at some point of time. Ofcourse, nobody is perfect and we all learn from our mistakes. If I start to write about mine this one post wouldn't be enough. So, I'm going to write about what my hubby did recently.

The day was Oct 23rd 2007. Everything went well until 6pm evening. Suddenly the power went off for 10 mins. One of my greatest fears is DARKNESS. Really, I'm not kidding. After sometime the power came. In a few mins, I heard talking sounds and walked in that direction to find what it was. The sound was coming from my bedroom upstairs. When I walked up the stairs I noticed that the TV was ON(It was Off before the power went out).

I was shocked to see my dark bedroom glowing like a haunted house. So, I ran outside my house along with my son and asked my hubby to drive fast and come home. Also, I locked the house and drove to the nearby gas station and waited for 'B' to come. Atlast he came and took us home. First he went into the house and made sure everything was ok and then we went in.
After this scary evening 'B' offered to cook some tandoori chicken for me as I was still not ok. So I cooked some food for my son alone and went to feed him. After some time, when it was time to take out the chicken from the oven...the nightmare started.

'B' dabbed some butter on the top of the chicken and put it under the broiler moving the rack from the center to the top-most level.Within minutes, we saw smoke. When we opened the oven we saw that the chicken and the marinade drippings had caught fire. I screamed and did not know what to do. 'B' took out the tray and ran to the deck. I asked him to throw it down. But he put off the fire somehow and he even managed to save the chicken ( a few bits got stuck to the foil paper though). Finally he dressed it up beautifully and presented to me as though nothing had happened. Here are some pics of the end product.

Look at the picture closely. This was taken before eating the chicken. But half was already gone as it got stuck to the foil and turned black..

Here are the links to some of the nightmares that have been blogged so far. Prepare to have an aching stomach after reading their posts.

Lakshmi's
Asha's
Sirisha's
Siri's

Also,I would like to tag....
Sia, Sharmi and Rak's. Hope you all have fun dears.

Wanna take one last look of the chicken again? Here it is.....Enjoy!!!

Garden Omelette & Indian Omelette

2007-10-30T21:06:00.000-05:00

Here I am as usual posting my entry at the last minute for the Omelette event hosted by Kanchana of "Married to a Desi" , an event originally launched by Nandita of "Saffron Trail". Thanks for hosting Kanchana:-)

My contribution to this event is a Garden Omelette and a simple Indian style Omelette. Unfortunately, I could not take good pictures as both the dishes were done in the last minute. My hubby waiting impatiently for his food and my son pulling my dress to get hold of the camera...Oh, I had a tough time. Anyway, we enjoyed both and here is the recipe for you to try.

Garden Omelette:

Ingredients:

Eggs- 2

milk- 1 tbsp

capsicum- 1/4 (sliced into thin strips)

mushrooms- 4 (sliced)

spinach- 1/4 cup

Kraft three cheese blend- 3 tbsp

salt- as reqd

red chilli flakes-optional

butter- 2 tsp

Procedure:

Heat pan with a tsp of oil and saute capsicum and mushrooms for 2 mins. Then add spinach and saute for a min. Remove this from pan and set aside.Beat eggs with milk. Mix salt and red chilli flakes. Melt some butter on the pan and pour the eggs. When 3/4 th done, add the sauteed veggies and cheese. Carefully close it and cook it on low flame for another 3-4 mins. I served mine with some toasted bread and jelly.

Indian Style Omellete:

Although there are so many nice varieties of omelletes available, this one is so simple and it's made atleast once in our home. It tastes so good with sambar rice or rasam rice. Most of the people must be doing this already. Still, here is mine for you to have a look.

Ingredients:

Eggs- 2

milk- 1 tbsp

onion- 1/4 (finely chopped)

green chillies- 2 (finely chopped)

corriander leaves- 1 tbsp(chopped)

curry leaves- 4 (torn into bits)

turmeric- a little less than 1/4 tsp

salt- as reqd

pepper- as reqd

Procedure:

Beat eggs with milk and turmeric until frothy. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Heat oil or butter in a dosa pan and pour the egg mixture on it. Spread the onions evenly on the omelette. Cook until the egg sets. Turn on the other side and cook for another 2 mins on low flame. Serve hot with rice and rasam.

Here is a peek inside...

Fresh Peach and Caramel Puff Pastry Pies

2007-10-29T23:42:00.000-05:00

When Mansi announced the 'Peaches' event I did not have any recipe in my hand. The only way I've eaten a peach before is just as a fruit itself. When I googled I found many recipes. But I wanted something really simple as I was experimenting with this fruit. My searched continued and continued until the deadline and finally I found something in the last minute.
The original recipe can be found here . I tweaked it a bit to suit my palatte. I did not follow the measurements given in the original recipe as I wanted to make just two pies to see how it turns out. So, without further adu let's go to the recipe.

Ingredients:
Puff pastry sheet - 1
peach- 1 (finely chopped)
slivered almonds- 1 tsp
caramel sauce- 2 tsp
Mixture of egg white and whole milk- 3 tsp each
granulated sugar- for dusting

Procedure:
Thaw the pastry sheet as per the package directions. Unfold it on a lightly floured surface and level it using a rolling pin. Using a cookie cutter or a cup make 4 circles on the pastry sheet. Cut them out. Save the remaining sheet for later use. Line a plate with parchment paper and keep a circle of dough on it. Top with with some peaches and nuts. Then add 1 tsp caramel sauce. Cover it with another circle of dough. Seal the edges with some water and crimp it with a fork. Refrigerate it for 20 to 30 mins. Don't worry if the caramel has oozed out a little in this stage. Remove from the plate and apply egg wash on top. Then make an "x" mark on the top. Sprinkle with some granulated sugar.

Now heat oven to 400 deg and bake the pies for 15 to 20 mins. Warm pies are ready to be served with ice-cream. I did not have any ice-cream, so we enjoyed this warm dessert as it is with some powdered sugar and a drizzle of caramel on top.

Note: People who know me, must also know how scared I am to bake. But this one was pretty easy and yummy that even my hubby enjoyed it. You should try it too and you'll see what I mean. Still not convinced. How about another look?
I've been tagged by Asha, Laavanya and Raks for the Fantastic Four Meme. So, here it is guys.

4 places I've lived:
Coimbatore (granny's home)
salem (parents home)
pondicherry(hubby's home)
U.S.A(my home)

4 Jobs:
Irresponsible daughter to my parents
freak out with my little sister
careless wife
Impatient mom

4 places I've holidayed:
Singapore- our honeymoon trip
Delhi- my college tour
Niagara trip with my friends Anu and vijay
yercaud trip with my family

4 favorite foods:
Anything high in fat and sweet always attracts me. I'm a terrible chocoholic. Like the cookie monster in the sesame street I'd gobble up all the chocolates how ever much I try to resist.

Chocolates (milk chocolate and white chocolate)
Eggs fully cooked but in any form
Basandhi
chaat items especially cutlet

4 places I'd rather be:
Alone in my home
Any place with my sister
My grandma's home
A wonderland full of ice creams and chocolates

Thanks for tagging me guys. Really enjoyed doing it. Now it's my turn to tag. Yay....So, here I go. You're it.

Priar's
Indosungod
Richa
Cynthia

Bye bye and have a nice day!!!

Pongal

2007-10-25T19:53:00.001-05:00

Pongal is a very important festival for the south Indians. You can learn all about pongal here. Actually, I made this in eleventh hour for the RCI event: Festival foods hosted by Viji who is the owner of a great blog Vcuisine.

I have posted 2 types of pongal here. Sakkarai pongal and ven pongal. My sakkarai pongal does not have that deep color as I used the light colored jaggery . Usually, I get the dark brown jaggery but I couldn't find it in the store this time.

Sakkarai Pongal:

Ingredients:
Raw rice- 1/2 cup
split moong dal- 1/4 cup
water- 2 cups
milk- 1/2 cup
jaggery- 3/4th cup elachi- 2 (crushed)
cashews- 4 (broken)
raisins- 7 or 8
coconut scrapings- 1 tbsp
ghee- 1 tbsp

Procedure:

Wash rice and dal together. Add water,milk and pressure cook for 1 whistle. Meanwhile, melt jaggery with little water and allow to cool. When the pressure is off, open cooker and mash the pongal. Add jaggery syrup to pongal according to your taste level. Heat ghee in a pan and fry elachi, cashews, raisins and coconut scrapings. Fry them and add to pongal. Steaming hot sweet pongal is ready.

Ven Pongal:

Ingredients:

Raw rice- 1 cup

split moong dal- 1/2 cup

water- 3 1/2

milk- 1 cup

salt - as reqd

cashews- 5 (broken)

jeera seeds- 1 tsp

peppercorns- 1 tsp

ginger- 2 " (crushed a little)

curry leaves- few

Procedure:
Wash rice and dal together and pressure cook it for 1 whistle with milk, salt and water. When the pressure goes off, mash the pongal. Heat ghee in a pan and fry cashews, jeera-pepper mixture, ginger and curry leaves. Add this to pongal and mix well. Serve it with sambar and coconut chutney.

Here a plate for all of you to enjoy. See you gals. Have a great weekend!!!

Masala Paal

2007-10-25T09:16:00.000-05:00

Today is the last day for the saffron event and I wanted to be a part of it. Until yesterday night I had no clue of what to do. Then, when I was talking to my parents in India they told me that they were in Saravana Bhavan restaurant drinking masala paal after dinner. Yeah...I found an entry for the event. I asked my mom for the recipe and went to the kitchen to prepare it right away.
This masala paal is just not milk and saffron. It has to be prepared in a certain way and drunk while it's still hot(temperature that you can tolerate). It's believed to induce sleep. So, my dear friends go ahead and have some masala paal tonight and let me know if the sleep thing is true.

Ingredients:
Whole Milk- 2 cups
Rock sugar- 1 1/2 tbsp (can reduce or add more as per taste. But the actual dish should not have too much sugar. Just enough to sweeten the milk. Still, I prefer mine sweet)
saffron- 1 generous pinch (I mean it generous)
badam- 5 or badam powder- 1/2 tbsp
saarai paruppu- l/2 tsp (I do not know the english name for it. This is a dry fruit too)
cardamom- 1
clove-1
pistachio slices- for garnish(I used this as I did not have saarai paruppu)

Procedure:
If you are using fresh badam, soak it in hot boiling water for atleast 3 hrs and grind it to a smooth paste. Boil the milk with cardamom and clove until it reduces to half the quantity. Then add rock sugar and dissolve it completely. I used the small white rock sugar here. Now add ground badam or badam powder and saffron. Stir it well until it gets the nice yellow color. Finally add saarai paruppu roasted in (few drops of ghee). I did not have it so I used pista slices here. Switch off gas.
To cool it a bit, tranfer the milk between two vessels and make it frothy. I don't know how to explain this part. We call it "aatharathu" in tamil. Finally serve it with some cardamom powder on top.
Enjoy guys and have a nice sleep. Sweet dreams.zzzz....

Aayutha Pooja Celebrations

2007-10-22T08:05:00.000-05:00

This is a very popular festival celebrated in India. You can learn about this pooja here. This pooja is celebrated a little different in the North and South India. I do not know much about the North. But this is how we celebrate it in our house.

On the day of aayutha pooja we wash & clean everything from home to vehicles. Dress up all the doors, appliances and vehicles with sacred ash (viboothi), turmeric and kukumam. Then each person in the house keeps their work related thing in front of God. When I was little , my sister and me would keep our books(now I keep my cookbooks), dad & mom their stethescopes (both are doctors) and my grandparents would keep their property documents. Then we would offer our neivedyam and will be off in a flash to watch the special programs on TV.

The next day is Saraswathi pooja. This used to be my favorite pooja during my childhood days as we needn't study on that day b'coz all the books will be in front of god.
After that, it's vijayadasami. On this day, we take our books from the pooja and start studying. Parents teach the little kiddos to write "aana aavana" on a thaambalam filled with rice. The pooja ends on this day. This is how we celebrate it in our home.

Usually for any festival we can do vadai, payasam and sundal. On aayutha pooja usually they give a mixture of puffed rice, jaggery, peanuts and pottu kadalai. I didn't do it as I couldn't get puffed rice.

Here is my contribution for RCI: festival foods hosted by our dear Viji who is the proud owner of a great blog Vcuisine . I thought I won't make it this time. But I managed to participate in it atlast. Thanks Vijika for hosting this event.

Also, I wish to send the same to Vee who owns a great blog "Past, Present and Me" for JFI:DASERRA event.

The menu I prepared this time:

Channa Dal Vada, Pasi paruppu payasam, chick pea sundal, Black channa sundal, Rice with toor dal and ghee, Sambar, vatha kuzhambu, rasam, appalam, mango pachidi, curd and pickle.

I couldn't get everything in the pic. So, I've taken only a few here.

Also, I have already blogged the recipe for vadais here . So, I'll go to the pasi parrupu payasam(split moong dal payasam).

Pasi Parrupu Payasam:

Ingredients:

Spit moong dal - 1 cup

raw rice- 1 tsp

jaggery - 2 cups(I like mine very sweet. You can reduce the quantity if you want)

water- 1/2 cup

cardamom- 3

cashews- 6(broken)

raisins- 1 tbsp

coconut- grated- 1 tbsp

milk- 1/2 cup

Procedure:

Dry roast dal and rice together until the color starts to change. Then, cook dal and rice in pressure cooker with 2 cups water for 3 whistles. The dal should be fully cooked. Mash it slightly. Meanwhile, melt jaggery with water. You need not boil it. Just melt it and allow it to cool. Filter all the impurities and add this to mashed dal. You can add more or less according to your taste. Then put crushed cardamom and milk. Boil for 5 mins. Finally, fry cashews, raisins and coconut in 1 tbsp ghee and add it to the payasam. Mix well and serve it hot or cold. I prefer mine hot. But chiiled one is great too.

Sundals:

Ingredients:

Black channa/ white channa- 1 cup

onion- 1/4 (chopped fine)

coconut- 1 tbsp (grated)

hing- 1/2 tsp (optional)

curry leaves- few

red chillies- 2 (broken)

mustard seeds- 1/4 tsp

urad dal- 1 tsp

channa dal- 1 tsp

Procedure:

Pressure cook channa with 2 cups water and required salt for 3 whistles. (cook according to your cooker. The count for whistles differs from one cooker to the other). Drain all the water and set channa aside. Heat oil in kadai and fry mustard seeds, urad and channa dal. Then fry onion, red chillies and curry leaves. Now add cooked channa and mix well. Finally add coconut and hing and roast for 5 mins.

I come to an end with this. I'm sorry guys for missing some of your post in the last three days and also not responding to your precious comments. Will go thru them soon. I was a little busy with my son. Some of my sweet friends had enquired about kavin as he was sick. Thank you so much dears. He is doing a lot better now. Had a tough weekend though!

See you guys soon. Have a nice day.

Poriyals

2007-10-18T10:22:00.000-05:00

Poriyals are dry curries or vegatables served as an accompanient to plain rice and subjis. He are some poriyals for you to try. If you already do this at home, that's ok. Check out my version too.

Vazhakkai Poriyal:
Ingredients:
Vazhakkai(green plantain)- 1 (medium size)
onion- 1 (chopped)
garlic- 5 (sliced, I love garlic. If you don't want so much reduce the quantity)
curry leaves- few
salt
sambar powder- 1 1/2 tsp
turmeric powder- 1/2 tsp
besan powder- 1 tbsp

Procedure:
Peel off the outer skin from the plantain. Cut it into any shape you like. Usually I do the rounds. This time I did it different. Keep the cut plaintains in water as it might turn dark when exposed to air. Heat oil in a kadai, fry mustard seeds, urad dal and channa dal (1/2 tsp each). Then fry onions, garlic and curry leaves. When onion turns transparent add the cut plaintains and turmeric and sambar powder. Fry for 2 mins. Then add reqd salt and 1/4 cup water. Close and cook until 3/4 th done. Then remove the lid and allow all the water to dry. Check for seasonings. Add more salt or chilli if you want. When it is dry and almost done add besan powder and mix well. Keep it in medium low flame and roast till done. This curry goes well with sambar rice, rasam rice or curd rice.

Next is podalangai or snake gourd poriyal. I do not add turmeric in this.I prefer to maintain it's nice green color. This is such an easy poriyal that even first timers can do it. I've not add enough coconut in my poriyal as my hubby is watching what he is eating. As for me, I cannot make compromises with food. So, you can scroll down and see what I made for me on the same day I made this snake gourd poriyal. Now to the recipe.

Ingredients:
snake gourd-1 (big and firm)
onion- 1/2 (chopped)
curry leaves- few
red chillies- 2 (broken)
coconut- 3 tsp(add more if you want)

Procedure:
Trim the edjes and cut it into 3 pieces. Scrap off the outer skin and cut into thin long strips. Heat oil and fry mustard seeds, urad dal and channa dal(1/2 tsp each). Then fry onions, red chillies and curry leaves. When the onions are transparent add the vegetable, required salt and 1/4 cup water. Close and cook till 3/4 th done. Add more water if you want to cook the vegetable further. I like mine cooked but still with a crunch in it. Then remove lid and allow to dry completely. Finally add coconut and mix well. Your curry is ready.
See, I told you that it's easy. Serve this with puli kuzhambu or vathal kuzhambu.

Finally, it's my fav okra fry. This dish can be done in a jiffy and gives a lift to any ordinary meal. I chose this for me when my hubby is eating healthy. Hey, don't stare at me. No compromises in food and it's ok to enjoy these once in awhile.So, here is the recipe.

Ingredients:
Okra -15 (medium) (cut into 1 1/2" pieces)
onion- 1 (medium, sliced long)
curry leaves- few
salt as reqd
sambar powder- 2 tsp
besan powder- 2 or 3 tbsp(i didn't measure mine, just eyeballed it)

Procedure:
Mix everything without adding water. The stickiness of the vegetabele is enough to hold all the dry ingredients together. Set aside for 15 mins. Mix again. Add little more besan if the okra is not covered well. Heat oil in kadai and fry them in batches until they are golden brown. Drain them on a napkin and serve with sambar rice. Here is a plate for you too. Enjoy!!!

Kothavarangai parrupu usili

2007-10-15T12:48:00.000-05:00

This is my fav side dish. I usually like to take a cup of this curry , add 2 tbsp of yogurt. Mix well and eat it just like that. Try it , you might like it too. My hubby dosen't like to eat this combination. He likes to eat with plain rice, mor kuzhambu or puli kuzhambu. I have already blogged about green beans usili here. Gawar beans has a mild bitter taste, so adding a few pinches of sugar will mask that taste. You can skip adding sugar. I don't do it all the time. So, here is the recipe.

Ingredients:

Gawar beans- 2 cups

onion- 1/2 (finely chopped)

channa dal -3/4 th cup

green chillies- 8

red chillies- 2 (broken)

ginger- 1 " piece

turmeric- 1/2 tsp

curry leaves- few

salt- as reqd

sugar- 2 pinches

Procedure:

Trim the ends of gawar beans and cut it into little pieces. Usually, I cut mine 1/2 " pieces. But this time (as seen in pic) I cut it a little big. But I felt it small cut ones are much better. Steam cook this in rice cooker with some salt and sugar.

Soak channa dal in 2 cups water for one or two hours. Drain and grind into coarse paste with salt, green chillies and ginger.

Heat oil in pan. Fry mustard seeds, urad dal and jeera seeds. Then add onions, red chillies, turmeric and curry leaves. After a few mins add the ground channa dal mixture and saute for 15 mins. Now add the steamed vegetable and mix well. check for salt. Serve with plain rice and puli kuzhambu. It tastes great with rasam saadham or curd rice too.Enjoy!!!

Few food pics from my India Trip

2007-10-10T21:42:00.000-05:00

As many of you know, I was on a break from june to august as I had to attend my SIL's wedding. After coming back I wanted to post some pics but I couldn't do it. So, here are some.

My second SIL with her groom and two girls on the sides are my first SIL's kids.

Virundhu in my first SIL's place for the newly wed. The items are Chicken Biryani, onion raitha, Era varuval, vangiram fish fry, boiled egg and chicken roast.

Desserts are fruit salad (banana, jack fruit, mangoes and nagapazham) and rasamalai.

Pictures was taken in yercaud. The sour mangoes with spicy chilli powder mix is a perfect one for the cold days. This is the

American sweet corn that is grilled on charcoals and served with lemon and a spice mix.

Look closely. It's not just two monkeys. There are three of 'em. The left one is a mommy hugging the little one.

A big plate full of figs / Athi pazham. When I saw a fig dessert in viji's blog I wished this picture would become real so that I could grab some and try it. I absolutely love figs.

Last but not least is my all time favorite Panju mittai/ cotton candy. I don't like the ones we get in US. It just dosen't taste the same. I ate 3 of them in a row. YUM YUM.

That's all guys. Just wanted to share them with you. Have a nice weekend!!!

Pan fried BitterGourd

2007-10-10T08:30:00.000-05:00

To be frank, I hate this vegetable. But my hubby loves it. So I had no other go than learning how to cook it. In my mom's place they do a different recipe in which the bitterness is so subtle. But my MIL does not do anything to remove the bitterness and my hubby likes this veggie that way. Poor me, I always have to make another veggie for me on the days I cook this (extra work). This time when I went to India I saw small bittergourds . They are called "merry pavakkai". Here is a pic of the same and also the pic of my MIL's preparation. She uses tomato in hers.

Now that you have seen one version, here is mine. This is less bitter and it can be enjoyed with sambar rice. It gets a nice roasted texture and taste as it is cooked on low flame towards the end. Adding a hint of jaggery also helps in masking the bitterness. (ooh..that's a lot of bitterness in this post). Now to the recipe.

Ingredients:

bittergourd/pavakkai- 2 medium sized

onion- 1/2 (sliced)

curry leaves-few

sambar powder- 2 tsp

salt- as reqd

jaggery- 1/4 tsp

tamarind paste- 1/4 tsp

Procedure:

Cut the pavakkai's into medium-thin rounds. You can keep the seeds if you like it. If not , just push the center part with your thumb and it comes right off. In a bowl add 1 tbsp of yogurt,some water and salt. Mix well and get it to buttermilk consistency. If you have ready buttermilk that is perfectly fine too. Add the pavakkai rounds to it and soak it for 15 mins. Then wash it 2 or 3 times. This helps in removing the bitterness to a little extent.

Now heat the pan and put a tbsp of oil. Fry mustard seeds, urad dal, channa dal and some cumin. Then add onions, curry leaves and some turmeric. Fry it for 5 mins. Then add pavakkai and reqd salt. Saute for a few mins. Now add little water and close the pan. Cook for another 5 to 10 mins. When the color of the veggie changes, add the sambar powder, tamarind and jaggery. Mix well. Take off the lid and fry in medium low flame. The key to this roast is , don't use a spatula and keep on mixing it. This might break the veggie. So, you just toss the veggie every 5 mins. You will get a nice roasted texture this way. Enjoy!!!

Yay!!! My 100th Post!!!

2007-10-06T19:38:00.000-05:00

Here is a milestone in my blogging. I have reached my 100th post!!! Like many other bloggers, even I didn't think I'll be blogging so long. There were times when I thought I should quit blogging and concentrate on something else. But, I just don't understand the power behind this. It's got me addicted.

So, what's kept me going inspite of so many hurdles? It's all of your encouragement through comments. "Appreciation". Who dosen't like this? There are so many dishes that even my hubby has failed to appreciate(mostly he wil be engrossed in TV or talking to my son), but you guys are awesome. You have always been there for me. You are all the best!!! So, I want to take this opportunity and thank each and everyone of you who spent time on my blog going thru recipes, writing your valuable comments and given me suggestions to improve.So, here is a big "THANKYOU" for everything.

Ok, without further delay let's go to the recipe. This time I tried "Thai Red Curry". This has always been my favorite in thai dishes. I tried this recipe(red curry paste) from the cookbook "Authentic Thai Food". It was really good although I missed few of the authentic ingredients . So ,I wanted you guys also to try it. So, here is the recipe.

Ingredients:
Chicken- 2 breasts
onion- 1/2 (sliced)
green bell pepper- 1/2 (sliced)
red bell pepper- 1/2 ( sliced)
mushrooms- 5 (sliced)
Pineapple- (canned, drained, cut into big chunks)
You can use babycorn, bamboo shoots or anyother veggies too of your choice.
Thai basil- 6 leaves(I used regular basil)
coconut milk- 1 can

For curry paste:
small red chillies-13 (seeds removed,soaked in water)
shallot-3 tbsp (chopped)
garlic- 4tbsp(chopped)
galangal-1tbsp(thai ginger,chopped)
lemon grass-2 tbsp (I did not get it, so I didn't use it)
kaffir lime rind-2 tsp (I used fresh lime peel)
corriander root- 1 tbsp (I used stems the closest part)
white peppercorns-20
corriander seeds- 1 1/2 tsp(ground,roasted)
Cumin- 1/2 tsp(ground,roasted)
shrimp paste- 1 tsp
sea salt- 1tsp

Procedure:
Blend all the ingredients for curry paste with 2 tsp oil and little water. The paste should be smooth and thick. Mix it evenly with coconut milk. Cut chicken into strips and flatten it a little with a hammer. This will tenderize the meat. Heat oil in a kadai and fry chicken until it is no longer pink. Add some salt. Then add all the veggies except pineapple and basil. Stir fry it. When the veggies are half done add the coconut milk mixture and bring it to a boil. Test for salt and chilli level. Add more if you want to. Finally add pineapple and basil. Mix well and serve with white rice or fried rice. Enjoy!!!

One thing before I end this post. I wanted to participate in the "click" event hosted by Bee.

Here is my contribution for the event. Please guys don't laugh. Have a nice day!!! And once again a big "Thankyou". Hugs. :))

Gutti Vankaya/ Stuffed Brinjal Curry

2007-10-03T21:18:00.000-05:00

There are so many versions of this dish. I was tempted to try this after I had this in our local restaurant and seeing it in so many blogs. This is my first trial and I must say that I was perfectly satisfied the way it turned out. So, check out this recipe and give it a try.

Ingredients:

Brinjals- 15

onion- 1/4 (finely chopped)

curry leaves-few

tomato-1(small,finely chopped)

tamarind paste-1 tsp

jaggery-1/2 tsp

salt- 1 tsp

roast and grind:

urad dal- 1 tbsp

chana dal-1 tbsp

shredded coconut-2 tbsp

cumin-1 tbsp

corriander seeds- 3/4 tbsp

peanuts- 11/2tbsp
sesame seeds- 1tbsp

cloves- 3

cinnamon- 1" piece

peppercorns- 1/4 tsp

methi seeds- 1/4 tsp

red chillies- 12

Procedure:

Dry roast all the ingredients from urad dal to red chillies until golden brown. Cool and grind it to fine paste adding very little water, tamarind paste, jaggery and some salt.

Make slits in the brinjal like a plus sign. Do not remove the top off. This will keep the brinjal intact. Stuff the ground paste into the brinjals. Set them aside.

Heat 2 tbsps of oil in a kadai and fry some mustard seeds. Then fry onions,curry leaves with some turmeric. Now add the stuffed brinjals and the remaining ground masala. Fry for about 5 mins. Then add tomatoes and fry for another 3 mins. Add 2 1/2 cups of water and some salt. Cover and cook on medium heat for 3o mins stirring in-between. Careful not to break the brinjals. If the gravy is too thick, you can add water to make it thinner. When done, serve it with hot plain rice and appalam.

Note: Not all the stuffed masala will stay inside the brinjal during the cooking process. Don't worry about it. The gravy will turn perfectly fine. Another look at the dish....

Ridgegourd bhajis/ Peerkangai bhajis

2007-10-02T22:26:00.000-05:00

Many of you must have tried bhajis with different vegetables like potato, onion,brinjal or plantain. How about ridge gourd for a change ? This veggie is a little sweet by nature and it turns really soft when fried like this. It's a great evening snack and one medium size ridge gourd can be finished just like that when prepared this way. It can be served with any chutney of your choice or can skip all the work and serve it with ketchup like me. Enjoy!!!

Ingredients:

ridgegourd- 1 medium size

besan flour- 1 cup

rice flour- 1/4 up

salt- as reqd

chilli powder- 1 tsp

cumin powder- 1/2 tsp

hing- 1/4 tsp

water- 1/2 cup

Procedure:

Scrap off the skin from ridgegourd and cut into medium size rounds. Combine the rest of the ingredients well. First mix the dry ingredients evenly and then add water. The batter should be a little thick. Heat oil in kadai. Dip the vegetable one by one and drop it in the hot oil. Turn after a few minutes and remove when you get a nice golden color.

Here is another snap for all of you.

Karunai Kizhangu fry/ Elephant Yam fry

2007-10-01T10:16:00.000-05:00

This post has been overdue for a long time. That's b'coz I've tried to get some info about the vegetable I've used here. It is called ' Karunai kizhangu' in tamil language. It's a type of yam but I don't know any other details. So, please...if anybody can tell me the english name I would really appreciate it.
This yam can be used in puli kuzhambu as well as used to make dry curries. The dry versions are a excellent combination for sambar rice, rasam rice or curd rice.

Note: "Thankyou" foodies for letting me know that this vegetable is Elephant Yam. Here is a picture for people who do not know what it is.

Pan fried method:
Ingredients:
karunai kizhangu- medium size
turmeric powder- 1/2 tsp
chilli powder- 1/2 tsp
sambar powder- 1 tsp
salt- as reqd
besan powder- 2 tsp
Procedure:
Wash the vegetable and remove the outer skin. Cut it into any shape but it should be a little thick. Heat water in a pan. Add some turmeric and salt. cook till the vegatable is 1/2 done. Decan all the water and allow it to cool. After that add all the masala powders and mix until the vegatable is coated well. You can add a splash of water only if needed. Check for salt.
Heat dosa pan or iron skillet. Pour a little oil and season the pan. Then put the vegetable on it and pan fry it until you get a nice golden color and a crunch on the outside. Add a squeeze of lemon on top and mix some corriander leaves or fried curry leaves.

Kadai fry method:
Ingredients:
karunai kizhangu- medium size
garlic- 8 pods
ginger- 1"
red chillies- 4 (as needed)
curry leaves- 10 leaves
corriander leaves- small fistful
sombu - 1 1/2 tsp
salt- as reqd

Procedure:
Dry grind everything except the vegetable. Cook the vegetable with some salt and turmeric until 1/2 done. Heat oil in a kadai and add the cooled vegetable. Then add the spice powder and mix well. Keep it on a medium low flame and fry it until the vegetable gets roasted well. Serve this dish with hot rice and sambar. You can't beat this combo!!!
Enjoy guys and remember to let me know any info (a pic, more notes...anything) about this vegetable. See you soon.

Vinayakar Chathurthi 2007

2007-09-17T22:05:00.000-05:00

Ganesh Chaturthi, also known as Vinayaka Chaturthi is the auspicious day when Lord Ganesha was born. It is on this day when the supreme god of wisdom and good fortune bestows his presence on earth. Ganesh Chaturthi falls between August 20 and September 15 and this festival lasts for ten days.
On this day, idols of Lord Ganesha are decorated elaborately inside homes or outside for people to view and offer their prayers. Coconut, jaggery, modakas, and red flowers are offered. Vedic hymns from the Rig Veda and Ganesha stotra from the Narada Purana are chanted. Here are some of Lord Ganesha`s favourite delicacies that you could offer him on this day.
(Information courtesy: Sify.com)

Although we celebrate Chathurthi every year, there is one year that is so close to my heart. That year is 2003. The reason behind that is.....around that time we were trying for a baby. So, every festival was celebrated with tons and tons of requests to all the gods and especially to my favorite - Pillayar/Ganesha.

I wanted to do something like rangoli for that chathurthi but I finally ended up doing this. The outline was drawn by my hubby and we both did the rest together. It started like a fun way to kill time, but we were very happy with the end result. We kept on chatting until 2 am that we did not realise the hours flying by. After a week's time I confirmed with my gynac about my pregnancy. So that is the unforgettable Chathurthi for us so far.

This year I had too many things going on the same day of the festival. Our city festival, Kavin's gym class, friend's coming over for dinner, pooja decorations and cooking. Phew!!! Anyway, I could start my work only after 4pm. I managed to do all the work except the Kozhukattais. Finally, my hubby pitched in and he did the kozhukattais. Everything was completed by 5.45pm and we did pooja by 6pm. Although, I made pongal, sundal and idllis for neivedhyam I could not take any pictures.

Anyway, here is the recipe for the Sweet kozhukattais that I....sorry my hubby made.

Ingredients:
Riceflour-1 cup
Coconut grated -2cups
Jaggery- ½ cup
Cardomom powder- ½ tsp
Salt – a pinch
Oil- 4 tsp

Procedure:
Bring 2 cups of water to a rolling boil. Add a pinch of salt and 2 tsp oil to the water. Add this to the riceflour and mix well till it gets a dough consistency.When it is cooled add some oil to that and knead it into a soft dough.Make small balls out of this. Now for the filling melt jaggery with a tsp of water. Then add coconut and cardomom powder in a pan and heat it. Remove from heat and allow it to cool. After sometime oil your palms and make small rice flour balls. press the rice flour ball in the middle and make a cup . keep the coconut ball inside this and close it. The final shape should be like a modhak. Steam this for 5 to 8 mins . Remove and cool it.

Urad dal kozhukattais:

Ingredients:
Urad dal - 1/2 cup
green chillies - 1 no (finely chopped)
curry leaves - 1 twig(finely chopped)
Oil - 1 table spoon
Hing - 1/4 teaspoon
salt to taste
mustard seeds - 1 teaspoon

Procedure:
Wash and soak urad dal for 1/2 hour. Drain well and grind coarsely adding salt and hing adding 2 tablespoons water. Heat oil in a kadai and add mustard seeds ,curry leaves, green chillies and the ground urad dal. Cook on a low flame stirring well for 5 minutes. Switch off gas. The filling is ready. For the outer cover, flatten the rice balls like a small plate. Place a small amount of filling in the middle. Fold over and seal the edges. Steam them for 5 to 8 mins and serve.

I'm sorry guys that I did not take the step by step pictures. Just didn't find time at all. Will try to update this post some other time.
I wish to send this to Latha Narasimhan of " The Yum blog" for her Festival cooking series. Thank You Latha ma for hosting this.

Vendakkai Kuzhambu

2007-09-13T14:51:00.000-05:00

This is a sweet, sour, hot and tangy curry. My mommy used to make it during some festival. So I used to call it 'swamy kuzhambu'. This dish is served hot with white rice and appalams are the best combination for this. If anybody does this kuzhambu at home and know it's name please let me know too. So, here is the procedure for this dish.

Ingredients:

Vendakkai/okra - 10 to 15

onion- 1/2 (chopped)

tamarind- 1 1/2 tbsp (can add less or more depending upon one's taste. But the gravy has to be little tangy)

green chillies- 10 (cut into small bits)

coconut- 3 tbsp (shredded)

curry leaves- few

steamed toor dal- 1 cup

turmeric- 1/2 tsp

water- 2 cups

salt- as reqd

jaggery- a little less than 1 /2 tsp

mustard- 1/2 tsp

jeera- 1 tsp

Procedure:

Steam cook toor dal with some turmeric and a tsp of oil. Wash okra and trim of the ends and cut it into two. If the okra is big, cut it into 1 1/2 " size. Chop onions and green chillies. Heat oil in pan. Season with mustard seeds, jeera and channa dal. Then add onions, turmeric and green chillies. Now add okra and some salt. Cook until 3/4 th done. Then add tamarind and water. Combine well and bring to a boil. Now add toor dal and heat it up. Finally add curry leaves and coconut and jaggery. Bring it to a nice boil. check for salt and switch off gas. Serve hot with rice.

My Wedding Anniversary

2007-09-12T10:23:00.000-05:00

I had promised my fellow bloggers about my anniversary post. So, here it is.
Where shall I begin???

Ok, we met in June 1998 at a computer institute. Actually, all my friends had joined in another institute while my mom compelled me to join this particular one only, as it was on the way to her work place. I went into that institute thinking of all the possible reasons to get out of it. At that time, there was restricted lab hours in some institute. So, I picked that as a reason and asked my counsellor if they follow that rule.

All of a sudden, I heard a voice and a person who was facing the other side turn to me and say that they have unlimited lab hours. Yes, it was my hubby. At that time, I was so pissed and thought who is this nut to spoil all my plans. He was the pricipal of that center and he spoke to my mom in such a way that I was enrolled then and there. (This is what they call as fate I guess!!!).

Months later we proposed. Our parents came to know about it. "B" & me had to convince them. It took a little effort though. Finally they agreed and we got married on Sep 10th 2000.
I wish to mention an incident that took place during our wedding. When the time came to tie the knot, "B" was not sure what to do. He held the 'thali' (mangal sutra) in his hand and was blinking. People started putting flowers and rice on us to give their blessings. Still, "B" was wondering if that was the right time. I gave him a short lecture about tying thalis and asked him to do it soon. I even bent my head twice or thirce asking him to tie the knot. All my relatives made fun of me that "B" was having second thoughts about getting married to me and that I forced him. Atlast, my 'tubelight' hubby tied the knot.

After that, I came to US the next month and started my life here. Seven years has passed by. Do you want to know how we are now???We are getting along ok. Happy and contended. So much has changed. We don't have the same prefernces anymore. We differ in almost everything. He is a perfectionist and I'm careless to the core.(opposite poles attract :)) ) I hate it when he gives me long lectures( the gift of marrying my pricipal) and catches me red handed for gobbling up all the chocolates and ice cream. He never apologises for his mistakes. Everytime he would talk in such a way that I would feel guilty that I did something wrong even though it would have been his mistake.

Anyway, in the end I'll be the one who compromises as I cannot be without talking to him for more than an hour. That's b'coz afterall ,he is the one who chiseles me as well as shieldes me in all my difficult times. By this I don't mean to say that he should be my hubby in my next birth also. All I wish is ... to be with him in my next birth also only if we get our roles switched. (so that I can be the dominant one).

As our anniversary was on monday we celebrated on sep 9th as well as it was our reception day. Here is the menu: Vegetable biryani, shrimp saute, fish fry, onion raitha and carrot kosambari.
On sep 10th we were supposed to go to temple. But as "B" was late we went straight for dinner at Ippolitis. We had Garlic rolls, garden salad,Grilled chicken & spinach cannelloni and chicken& shrimp cavatelli. For dessert we had ice cream at home.Here are the pictures.

Finally I'll end my post with our family picture which shows the gift of our marriage......yes, it's KAVIN.

Once again guys...I'm not a great writer, infact a lousy one. I'm really sorry guys if that was too much info. I'm not a good editor...did not know where to cut. Just wrote whatever I felt. So, please bear with me for pouring out everything. BYE BYE!!!

Rava Kesari / Kesari Bhaat

2007-09-11T22:15:00.000-05:00

Here comes another dish for Asha's RCI: K. Now it is Rava kesari or kesari Bhaat. When I made this for my wedding anniversary, my hubby suggested that I could send this to Asha. Before that I did not know that it is a karnataka dish too. After that, I confirmed the same with google and here I am posting this for everyone.

Actually, Kesari is a very easy sweet dish that can be done in a jiffy. Although, it is a simple dish sometimes people can go wrong in it when the water level is not adequeate or if the rava has not been mixed properly. I remember , once in my childhood my newly married aunt made this sweet so bad that my sister and me named it as 'rava kal' (meaning rava stone) and since then I had hated it so much. But after I started cooking I realized that this dessert is not that bad after all. Ok guys, I think I have bored your enough. So, here is the recipe.

Ingredients:

Rava/semolina- 1 cup

sugar- 1 3/4 cup (I like mine really sweet, You can reduce the amount if u want)

ghee- 1/4 cup (add more if you are not dieting)

water- 2 1/2 cups

saffron a pinch

elachi/cardamom powder- 1/4 tsp

cashews- 6(broken)

raisins- 10

ghee- 2 tbsp(for frying cashews and raisins)

Procedure:

Heat water and bring it to a boil. Soak saffron in a tbsp of milk and set aside.In a small pan fry cashews and raisins with ghee and set aside. In another pan, dry roast rava until the color changes a little bit. Now add hot water and keep stirring continously taking care that you don't get any lumps. When the rava is almost cooked add sugar, saffron milk,cardamom powder and ghee. Mix well . Keep stirring until the kesari leaves the sides of the pan. Switch off the gas and add the fried nuts. Serve hot.

Note: You can reduce the amount of water if you want your kesari to be very thick. Also, microwave kesari each time before serving so that you still get the same 'hot from the stove' taste.

Here is a bite for all of you. Enjoy!!!

I know that my anniversary post is pending. I shall try to post it soon.Thank You guys for all your wishes and blessings.

Vaangi Bhaat and kosambaris

2007-09-10T09:40:00.000-05:00

It's been 5 months since I have participated in any event. Actually, this is the second event I'm participating. Most of the time, I come to know about an event after it's deadline only. But this time, Asha gave me lot of reminders and 'Thanks' to her for making me participate in this. so, here goes...

My contribution for RCI: Karnataka hosted by my dear friend Asha.

The dishes I chose are :Vaangi Bhaat, Carrot kosambari, cucumber kosambari and Uddin vade.

Vaangi Bhaat:

For this dish , I followed Asha's recipe exactly. But after doing 'step 2' I did not get a gravy. The masala powder I added absorbed all the liquid. After that I sauted the dry paste with the cooked brinjal for another 5 mins adding 1 tbsp of oil. Other than this, everything else was exactly from her recipe.

This is the first time I'm trying vaangi bhaat and believe me...this tasted so good and smelled awesome. The only thing I would do next time will be , adding a bit of turmeric . 'Thanks' to Asha for sharing her recipe.

Ingredients:

2 Cups Rice, cooked and cooled

2-3 Long purple or green Eggplants cubed

1/4 Cup Tamarind Juice,

Salt1/2 tbsp

sesame Seeds (Til)1/2 tsp

Fenugreek Seeds

Roast and Powder:

2 tbsp Dry Coconut

1 tbsp Coriander Seeds

1 tbsp Chana Dal

1 tbsp Urad Dal

2-3 Dry Red Chillies1/2 tsp Hing (asafoetida)

To season:

1 tbsp Oil and Ghee

1 tsp Mustard Seeds

1tsp Chana Dal

1 tsp Urad Dal

Curry Leaves

1-2 Dry Red Chillies

1 tbsp Peanuts slightly crushed (optional)

Method:

Fry eggplants with little oil and salt until almost cooked.Keep aside. Season,when peanuts are reddish add tamarind juice, cook until thickish and add in ground masala. Simmer until oil floats on top and add eggplants.Add sugar,salt. Cover and cook until eggplants are tender, you have a nice pasty gravy with a shine! Cool slightly. Mix with rice gently as not to break the eggplants.Adjust the salt.

Note: You can roast coconut and Til seeds seperately,pound slightly,add in the end to mix with rice.

Carrot Kosambari:

Ingredients:

Carrots-2 ( finely grated)

moong dal-1 1/2 tbsp(soaked for 30 mins)

green chillies- 2

corriander leaves- few

coconut- 2 tbsp(grated)

salt- as reqd

lemon juice- (opt)

Procedure:

Mix all the ingredients and season with mustard seeds, hing and curry leaves.

Cucumber Kosambari:

Ingredients:

cucumber- 1 (finely chopped)

moong dal-1 1/2 tbsp(soaked for 30 mins)
green chillies- 2
corriander leaves- few
coconut- 2 tbsp(grated)
salt- as reqd
lemon juice- (opt)

Procedure:
Mix all the ingredients and season with mustard seeds, hing and curry leaves.

Ok Guys. Here is a plate we had. Enjoy!!!
One more thing before I go. Actually today(sep 10th) is my wedding anniversary . Will update you guys soon about how I spent the day. Until the byeee!!!!

Urad dal vadai

2007-09-06T19:29:00.000-05:00

Urad dal / Ulundu vadai is a very common breakfast item in South-India. With this basic vada we can make sambar vada or dahi vada. Again, this is my MIL's recipe and she is so good at it. Try it for yourself and you will surely agree with me.

I'm adding this after seeing Asha's comment. I did not know that this is a karnataka dish too and goes by the name ' Uddin Vade'. So, now I'm sending this for RCI:K.

Ingredients:
urad dal- 1/4 kg
ponni raw rice- 1 tsp
onion-2(medium size)
green chillies-2
ginger- 1"
corriander-few
curry leaves-few
salt- as required

Procedure:
Soak urad dal for 5 to 6 hours. Drain and grind it with rice to a smooth paste (like butter). Add finely chopped onions, green chillies, ginger, corriander and curry leaves. Do not add salt while grinding the urad dal. Salt should be added after the batter is ready . If not the batter will give away the water and make it runny.
Oil your palms and shape the batter into vadas. You can use a ziploc cover too instead of your hand. Slide it carefully in the oil and deep fry it. Serve it with coconut chutney.

Basandhi

2007-09-04T15:36:00.000-05:00

If I have to choose one dessert that I love next to chocolate, then that it would be Basandhi. After coming to U.S, it was my friend Nandhini who used to prepare this sweet for me. But after her delivery I really couldn't disturb her. So, I had been longing for this a very long time.

Atlast, when I went to India I tried to get it from krishna sweets ,but they were always out of stock. Finally, my perima took pity on me and made me this awesome sweet. Oh! what can I say....It was lip smacking good. Before I could take a picture everyone grabbed their cups and took off. Atlast, I managed to get hold of my sister's cup and here it is the cup of basandhi I enjoyed every bite.

Ingredients:
Whole milk- 1 lt
sugar- 3/4 cup(as needed)
elachi- 2 (crushed)
Powdered nuts- optional
saffron- for garnish

Procedure:
Heat milk in a thick bottomed vessel. When it is completely heated up add required sugar, keep the flame on medium low and allow layers of fat to form on top. Keep on pushing the layers of fat aside gently. You have to keep on doing this until the milk reduces 70%. It requires a lot of patience to do this. But it's worth the effort. Finally, mix in the malai and garnish with nuts and saffron. You are in for a yummy treat.

This has been overdue for quiet sometime. Yes, it is my MeMe. Shobila had tagged me for this. I'm really sorry for taking such a long time. I promised a sweet dish with this meme , so I dedicate this basandhi for you.

1. I'm a bachelor degree holder, married and have a 3 year old son.
2. I learnt the basics of cooking from my hubby. But I have always enjoyed watching cook shows even when I was very little.
3. I'm an emotional person and can cry for just about anything.
4. I'm addicted to chocolates and love sweets. Although I'm a mom, my hubby always keeps a watch over me for eating sweets.
5. I'm a classical dancer, but now I don't dance much b'coz I'm scared that I would break the floor.
6.I love surfing the net and I don't realise the time flying by when I'm with my laptop. I get backlogged in my work b'coz of this and I hurry in the last minute to get things done before my hubby arrives.
7. Planning parties is my favorite thing to do. I love going to parties and hosting them as well.

Thanks Sobila for tagging me. I really enjoyed doing this.

Varalakshmi Viratham

2007-09-04T10:15:00.000-05:00

Varalakshmi Viratham is an important festival celebrated in South India. You can read about this in detail here .

I have been celebrating this festival since my childhood. I grew up in my grandma's house. So, I have seen my aunt doing this every year. When I moved with my parents I continued doing it although my mom does not do it. Even after my marriage, my MIL encouraged me to do it although she has never done it before. Many of my friends said that I should not do it as my MIL does not have the practice of doing this pooja. But I disagreed on that. According to me, it's not wrong to do any pooja just b'coz it is not a tradition. I enjoy doing it and here I am doing it for the past 12 years.

Every year it used to be so grand I would call lots of my friends and celebrate it in a big way. But this year it was simple. Just did a payasam and sundal and offered it along with some fruits. I forgot to take pictures of the fruit tray and the thamboolam. Anyway, here are some pictures of my pooja.

Gobi 65

2007-08-29T14:59:00.000-05:00

This is a simple side dish that makes any meal special. It goes well with fried rice, veg biryani or any other variety rice. There are many different ways to do this. If you have already been doing this, try it this way for a change. Actually, this is my mom's recipe. When she put in the ingredients I did not get a chance to measure it. So I just eye balled it. After that I just followed her instructions.
I do it the same way too, but the difference is in the measure of ingredients. And I also add egg white. But here I have not used egg . It turned out perfectly fine, infact tastier than mine.

Ingredients:
Cauliflower-1 (medium size)
onion- 1
green chillies- 3
garlic- 1
corriander leaves-few

for marinade:
turmeric- 1/4 tsp
chilli powder- 2 tsps
salt-as required
color powder- optional
cornflour- 1 tbsp
maidha- 2 tbsp
curd- 2 tsp
tomato sauce- 2 tsp

Procedure:
Cut cauliflower into bite size florets and put it in hot salted water for 2 to 3 mins. Drain and put all the ingredients under 'marinade'. Mix everything well without adding water. Keep it aside for 5 to 10 minutes. Heat oil and deep-fry the florets.

In a kadai, heat little oil and saute onion, green chillies, garlic and salt. Remove when onions are cooked but still crunchy. Add some pepper and corriander leaves. Keep this aside. After draining the cauliflower florets add it to the onion mixture. Mix well and serve with ketchup.
Here is a bite for you...Enjoy the long weekend. See you guys next week.

Sepankizhangu Fry

2007-08-29T12:11:00.000-05:00

I have already posted a poriyal dish using taro root/sepankizhangu . Now it's the deep fry version. It might not be that healthy as it is fried. But, once in a while it is ok to have these. This dish is a great accompanient for sambar rice, rasam rice or curd rice. The preparation work can be done ahead and refrigerated even the previous day. When you are ready to eat, you can just fry 'em up. It is great evening snack too. Try it for yourself. You will like it.

Ingredients:
sepankizhangu- 6
onion- 1 (sliced)
turmeric powder- 1/2 tsp
chilli powder- 1 1/2 tsp
Besan powder- 2 1/2 tbsp
Rice flour- 1/2 tbsp
Rava- 2 tsp
curry leaves- few
salt- as required

Procedure:
Pressure cook sepankizhangu for 1 whistle. Cool and peel off the outer skin. Cut into two or bite size pieces. Add the rest of the ingredients. Blend well. Keep adding water little by little until the besan coats the taro root completely. Check for seasonings and deep fry in hot oil. Enjoy with rice.

Adhirasam

2007-08-27T18:27:00.000-05:00

Here I am with more smiles. Yes, one more award from my new friend Sobila. Thank you so much for encouraging me. I'm not sure if I'm worthy enough for this award. But my heartfelt thanks to you for remembering me and sending me one. So, here is one more dessert item for everyone to enjoy.

Today it is adhirasam. In my childhood days I used to eat the batter as it is even before frying it up. This sweet dish brings me memories of a prank I played on my cousin. This is what that happened.
Everytime I got an adhirasam to eat, my cousin would tap my head and take it off from me. As he was older I was scared to speak against him . So, I let go 4 of my adhirasams. After that, I lost patience. So, the next time I put some tamarind in between 2 adhirasams. As usual he grabbed that also. Then....You should have guessed it. He spit out everything and started chasing me. Ha ha ha...See how crooked I've been.
Ok let's get going to the dish. Actually, I did not make this sweet. My MIL made this during my India trip. I wanted to take more step-by-step pictures but I missed a few steps. So, here is what I got for all of you.

Ingredients:
Raw rice - 1/2 kg
Jaggery- 1/4 kg
elachi- 4 or 5
sukku- little
oil- for deep frying

Procedure:

Soak rice for 2 hrs in water. After that ,decan all the water and dry it on a clean towel for sometime. The rice should not become completely dry. After that grind the rice in a mixie. The end product must be 95% smooth powder and 5% coarse powder. Sieve this powder and get the flour ready for adding jaggery syrup.

For the jaggery syrup, add 2 tsp water with the jaggery and keep boiling it for sometime. You have to switch off the gas just before the string stage (kambi padham). Decan the jaggery syrup if there are any dust particles in it. Then add sukku powder and elachi powder. cool it for sometime.

Then add it to the rice flour little by little. Keep stirring constantly until you don't see any white flour left. Jaggery syrup can be added as per taste. The consistency should not be too thick as the jaggery will thicken when it is completely cooled. Allow it to cool completely.

When you are ready , take a small scoop of the jaggery rice flour . Oil your palms and make a ball with the flour. Then flatten it on a ziploc bag. Here my MIL used banana leaf. Carefully remove it from the leaf and deep fry until you get the dark color. You can take it a little earlier too if you want it that way. Drain the adhirasam's on a tissue paper. Now it is ready to eat hot or cold. You can store it outside for more than a week without refrigeration.

Enjoy everybody!!!!

I'm back!!!

2007-08-23T16:07:00.000-05:00

Hi Friends,

wondering why I'm here before Sep 6th? Actually, I came home a week back. My vacation kinda ended short. Due to some official work my hubby rescheduled my tickets and within 5 days of notice I got ready to leave. After coming back, I felt very home-sick and moody. Anyway, I just got out of it and I'm slowly getting used to my routines.

Oh my! Oh my! How many posts have I missed? Great to see my friends (asha, viji, sia, prema, indosungod, bharathy, mandira, richa, Inji pennu, sharmi and sukanya) holding awards. HEARTY CONGRATS to all of them.

I was also thrilled to see an award waiting for me too. It was really sooo sweet of Richa to pass me on the "Rockin Girl Blogger" award. Thanks Richa, you really lifted my spirits and gave me such an encouragement. I have no words to say except, "THANKS" again.

I would like to pass this award to my other friends too. You guys rock too!!!

Aruna- Mistress of spice

Chandrika- Akshayapatra

Chinni- Andhra Kitchen

Pravs-Simply Spicy

Revathi-En Ulagam

Seema- Recipe Junction

Suma- veggie platter

Sukanya- hot and sweet bowl

Sumitha- kitchen wonders

Trupti- spice who loved me

Surya Hith-Healthy n Spicy

Although some of my fellow bloggers have already won these awards, I really want to give the "Inspirational Blogger Award" to:

Asha of Foodie's hope

Richa of As dear as salt

Inji Pennu

Sia of spice corner and

Prema of My cookbook

Thank You gals for everything. I hold a place in blogsphere b'coz of you guys. I also want to take this opportunity to thank my blog visitors who leave kind comments and encourage me more & more. A big thanks again.

Ok Ok. Now it's party time. Let's celebrate with a sweet dish called SeemPal. Wondering what kind of name this is? Actually, it is the the milk that the cow lactates for atleast 3 days after the calf is born. This milk is high in protien and has tons of nutrients in it. It is similar to the colostrum. I used to have this often in my childhood. Lucky me, I got a chance to have this dish again during my India trip.

This dish looks and tastes like flan but it has no eggs in it. It is steam cooked and can be eaten hot or cold. But most of the people like it chilled. Me too. So, here is the recipe.

Ingredients:

seempal- 1 lt

sukku- 2gm

elachi- 1

cow's milk- 400ml

jaggery- 1/2kg
Procedure:

Heat jaggery with very little water , decan it and use it according to taste. Mix this with seempal, cow's milk, elachi and sukku. Pour this mixture into a vessel till it reachesthe 3/4 th level. Careful not the pour the mixture upto the brim , as the milk will come up during the steaming process. Keep this vessel in the cooker with some water in it. Cook for one whistle. When the pressure is gone you can take it out, rest for 5 to 10 mins and start making slices. I used a ice-cream scoop for my plate. It tastes heavenly when it is chilled for atleast 6 hours.

Here is the bottom view of seempal. You can slice-off the bottom portion if you don't want the sukku and elachi in your mouth. Enjoy!!!!

Missing all of you!!!

2007-07-21T02:02:00.000-05:00

Hi Friends,
Sorry for my long silence. We reached safely and had a nice time at the wedding. Time is going so fast that I'm grabbing every moment I can to enjoy my time to the fullest. I will be back on sep 7th. I'm missing everybody very much. I did take time to go through all of your recent posts, but I couldn't post a comment. Please bear with me. I will join you guys soon. Until then, Have a nice time!!!

Black Chick Peas curry & Puli Kuzhambu

2007-06-06T09:53:00.000-05:00

Hi Guys, One last posting before I go to India. Black chick peas is the main ingredient here. You must have seen this in many blogs. So, here is my version too. Here I have made two curries using black chick peas. One is coconut based and the other is puli kuzhambu. In the coconut gravy I usually add brinjals, but I did not have any on that day. So , if you are trying it add brinjals to it. Ok, Here is the recipe.

Ingredients:

Black Channa- 1 1/2 cups (soaked, pressure cooked with salt and some turmeric)

mustard seeds- 1/2 tsp

urad dal- 1/2 tsp

onion- 1 (chopped)

brinjals- 4 (slit into 4)

turmeric- 1/2 tsp

curry leaves- little

tomato- 1(chopped)

red chillies- 3

corriander seeds- 1 tbsp

cumin- 1 tsp

coconut- 1/2 cup(shredded)

water- 2 cups(as needed)

Procedure:

Heat oil in kadai and fry mustard seeds and urad dal. Then fry onion,brinjal ,turmeric and curry leaves. Now add tomatoes and fry till soft. Grind coconut with chillies, corriander seeds and cumin until smooth. Add this to the tomato and mix well. Now add water and bring to a nice boil. Check for salt and seasonings.Finally add boiled chick peas and bring to another boil. Serve with hot plain rice.

Now comes the other gravy:

Puli kuzhambu which is made with potatoes. This is little hot and sour gravy which is served with plain rice.

Ingredients:

Black Chick Peas- 1 cup(cooked)

onion- 1/2 (sliced)

garlic- 5 pods

potato- 2 (cubed)

tomato- 1 (chopped)

curry leaves- few

tamarind- 2 tsp

sambar powder- 2 tsp

chilli powder- 1/4 tsp

jaggery- small marble size

vadagam- 1 tsp

Procedure:

Heat oil in kadai and fry onions, garlic, curry leaves,potatoes and turmeric powder. Next add tomatoes and cook till soft. Then add tamarind paste, sambar powder and chilli powder. Add 1 1/2 cups water, jaggery and bring to a nice boil. Then add boiled channa and bring to another boil. Finally fry vadagam and add to the gravy.

Bye Guys!!! See you after 2 weeks. I will Miss you all very very much.

Pudhina Pulav with Egg Capsicum Masala

2007-06-01T14:10:00.000-05:00

Today I felt a little better after my one week of sickness. I wanted to eat something good but I had no vegetables in my fridge except capsicum ,mint and a potato. So, here is what I came up with. This is the first time I tried pudhina pulav after being tempted by many of my fellow bloggers. I could not decide whether to use only mint or corriander. Finally , I used both 50/50. The end result was too good. My house was filled with good aroma that reached the streets. If you have not tried this before, take my word. Try it. You will not be disappointed. So, here is the recipe...

Ingredients:
Basmathi rice- 2 cups
water- 4 cups
mint- 1 small bunch
corrinder leaves- handfull
garlic- 4 pods
ginger - 1 " piece
coconut- 1/4 cup grated
elachi-2
cloves-2
bay leaf- 1 big broken
cinnamon stick- 1" (2 pieces)
star anise- 1
fennel- 1 tsp
potato-1
green chillies- 3 or 4
onion- 1/2 sliced
ghee- 1 tbsp

Procedure:
Grind ginger,garlic, mint, corriander leaves, chillies, coconut and fennel seeds. Heat some oil and ghee in pressure cooker. fry all the spices and then onions and potatoes. Then fry the ground paste until you get a good aroma. Don't over-fry it. Just do it until the color changes from deep green to light green. Add required salt and rice. Fry for a few minutes. Add water. Check for seasonings and close the cooker. Wait until the pressure comes. Put the vent and keep the flame on medium. Wait for 10 to 12 mins. Switch off gas and open cooker when the pressure completely subsides. Open cooker and mix well. Finally ,add fried cashews . Serve with onion raitha.

Egg Capsicum Masala:

Ingredients:
egg- 4
onion- 1/2 sliced
ginger garlic paste- 1 tsp
tomato- 1 chopped
capsicum- 1/2 sliced
sakthi masala powder- 1 1/2 tsp
chilli powder- 1/2 tsp
coconut- 1/4 cup
corriander leaves-few

Procedure:
Heat oil in kadai and fry onions, capsicum and ginger garlic paste. Then add tomato, masala powders and salt. Add ground coconut and 2 cups water. Bring to a boil. check for seasonings. Now add boiled eggs (slit them before you slip them into the gravy). Bring to another boil. Finally add corriander leaves .
Enjoy friends and have a great weekend!!!

Spinach Tortellini with Steamed vegetables

2007-05-29T13:43:00.000-05:00

More simple meals... This is the first time I'm trying tortellini. In my opinion, I feel this pasta is very filling when consumed even a little as it is filled with some stuffing like cheese, spinach or meat.

Ingredients:
Tortellini pasta- 1 pack
shredded chicken- 1 cup

For pesto sauce:
garlic- 3 pods
fresh basil leaves- 2 cups
pine nuts - 3 Tbsp
salt and pepper- as per taste
extra virgin olive oil- 1/2 cup
Parmesan cheese grated- 1/2 cup

Procedure:
Cook pasta as per package directions and set aside. For the pesto sauce , blend everything except oil and cheese. After mincing it well, slowly add olive oil and blend for a few more minutes until the right consistency.Finally add cheese and mix well. You can add a little water to the sauce if it is very thick. You can store in an air-tight containter for 2 days and use it over steamed vegetables, fish or chicken. In a pan cook shredded chicken with 2 tbsp oil and some salt on high heat. When done add pasta and pesto sauce. Blend well. Serve with steamed vegetables.

Note: You can add vegetables along with chicken and then add to pasta. By this way, the vegetables will also have pesto sauce flavor in it.

Lemon Paruppu

2007-05-29T10:29:00.000-05:00

The time is flying fast. I'm counting days to go to India. B'coz it it a very short time I'm spending more time in planning and less time in kitchen. So, for the next few days it's going to be simple cooking. This dish is just the basic dal but with a little twist. Lemon is what that gives this dal a special taste. I learnt this from my perima (mom's elder sister) who is a great cook. She can turn any ordinary dish into an extraordinary one. This time when I go to India I'll get a good collection of her recipes and post it for all my friends. Meanwhile, enjoy this super-fast comfort food.

Ingredients:

Toor dal- 1 cup(uncooked)

mustard seeds- 1/2 tsp

urad dal- 1/4 tsp

jeera seeds- 1/2 tsp

onion- 1/2 (chopped)

red chillies- 2 or 3

garlic- 4 pods(crushed)

curry leaves- few

tomato- 1/4 piece

corriander- 2 tbsp

hing- 1/4 tsp

lemon - 1/2 (juicy one, can add more until you get the dominant taste of lemon)

Procedure:

Pressure cook dal with 2 cups of water, some turmeric and a tsp of oil. In a kadai splutter mustard seeds, urad dal and jeera seeds. Then add onion ,lemon, curry leaves,hing and red chillies. After some time add tomato and corriander leaves. cook till soft. Add cooked dal and mix well. Add required salt and lemon juice. Bring it to one boil. Add a dollop of ghee before serving.

Parrupu Urundai Kuzhambu

2007-05-25T07:10:00.000-05:00

This is one of my favorites. It might look like a kofta curry, but this is totally different. It is toor dal balls cooked in a tangy tamarind sauce. It goes well with plain rice. There is another version called paruppu urundai mor kuzhambu. Will post about that later.

Meanwhile, I just wanted to share my experiences on making this gravy. The first time I did this curry, I dropped the dal balls directly in the boiling gravy and it came out well. But the second time it was a total flop. All the balls broke and I ended up in one single mess. After doing it frequently I have now mastered the art of doing it right. So, if you wish to give this gravy a try I strongly recommend you to steam the toor dal balls for a 10 minutes and then add to the gravy. Slowly as you gain confidence you can add the dal balls directly.

Ingredients:
Toor Dhal – 1 cup
onion- 1/2 (finely chopped)
Sambar Powder – 1 tsp
corriander leaves- 3 tbsp
Salt – 2 teaspoon

Mustard – 1 teaspoon
urad dal -1/4 tsp
small onions – 10 chopped finely
tomato- 1 small
Curry leaves – few
tamarind- 2 spoons
sambar powder- 1 heaped tbsp
coconut- 1/4 cup(grind to a paste)

Method:
Soak toor dal in water for about 2 hours. Wash the dal and drain out the water completely. Put it in a mixie and grind to a thick coarse paste (as you do for vadai). Add ½ teaspoon salt, sambar powder, a pinch of turmeric powder, chopped onions, one tablespoon coconut gratings and few curry leaves chopped to the dal paste. Mix well. Make a small lemon size balls. Set aside.
Heat oil in kadai and splutter mustard seeds, urad dal. Then add onions and curry leaves. After sometime add tomatoes and fry till soft. Add the tamarind paste and sambar powder. Add 3 cups water. Bring to boil. When it starts boiling, add two to three dhal balls and reduce to heat to medium. Allow to boil. When it starts boiling again, then add three more balls. Again wait for the Kuzhambu to start boiling. Add three more balls and finish all the balls like this. Once you finished all the dal urundais, gently turn them with a spoon. Keep the flame to low. Add ground coconut to the boiling kuzhambu.

Note: This is the authentic way of doing this gravy. If the dal balls gets cooked directly in the kuzhambu itself then the tamarind juice enters the balls and gives a special taste.
Check out my friend's viji's version too: Viji's

One more thing, I might go to India by june 10th to attend my SIL's marriage. Will keep you guys posted.
Till then, try this curry friends and have a great weekend!!!!

Meen Kuzhambu

2007-05-24T10:54:00.000-05:00

Meen Kuzhambu or Fish Kuzhambu is a very popular dish in the south. Fish consumption is more in coastal areas. In my parents house they do not make fish often. But my in-law's place is Pondicherry. So, fish is a definite food atleast 2 to 3 times aweek. I learnt all the fish recipes from them. Especially my sister-in-law makes good shrimp and fish fry. will surely post her pictures when I make a trip to India. I usually get my sambar powder from my in-law's place. Anyway, here is my MIL recipe...

Ingredients:
tilapia - 6 pieces
methi seeds- 1/2 tsp
Onion- 1 (medium,finely chopped)
garlic- 5 pods(minced)
curry leaves- few
turmeric powder- 1/4 tsp
tomatoes-1(big,finely chopped)
tamarind paste- 2 tsps
sambar powder- 3 tsps
vadagam- 1 1/2 tsp
coconut milk-1 tbsp (opt)

Procedure:
Wash fish with turmeric and set aside. Heat oil in kadai and fry methi seeds, onions,garlic and curry leaves. When it turns golden brown, saute tomato,turmeric powder and sambar powder. When the raw smell goes add tamarind paste,salt,coconut milk and required water. Bring to a nice boil. Check for seasonings. Add fish when the gravy is boiling. Close and cook for 10 mins. Then open the pan and reduce the gravy to desired consistency. Careful. Do not over-cook and break the fish. Finally fry vadagam seperately and add to gravy.

Note: This recipe was posted earlier. But I'm reposting this with a better picture and an alternative to use sambar powder. You can use 1tbsp corriander powder + 2 1/2 tsp chilli powder. I ran out of sambar powder and I tried this way. It worked out really well. Want some??? Here is a plate with plain rice mixed with meen kuzhambu and fish fry.

Mutton Kurma

2007-05-22T19:03:00.001-05:00

Wondering why I'm cooking only non-veg for the past two days?

Actually, I was expecting a guest for the weekend. But I had to cancel the program as my son was sick. I do not like to freeze and use meat , that's why I had to do one after the other.

Ingredients:
Chopped mutton- 1 1/2 lbs
Potatoes- 4 (cut into quarters)
Large onions- 2 (finely chopped)
Tomato- 3 (finely chopped)
Grated ginger- 1 inch piece
Crushed garlic- 5 cloves
Cinnamon- 1 stick
Bay leaves- 2
Grated coconut- 1 cup
poppy seeds- 1tsp
cashews- 3 to 4
fennel- 1 tsp
Red chili powder- 1 1/2 tsp
Dhania powder- 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder- 1/2 tsp
Salt to taste
Oil- 2 tablespoons
A bunch of chopped cilantro (coriander) leaves

Procedure:
Mix 1 tsp of salt & turmeric to the mutton pieces. Add 2 cups of water and pressure-cook until the mutton is tender. Grind the grated coconut with poppy seeds,cashews and fennel seeds. Set aside.
Heat the oil in a pan and fry the cinnamon and bay leaves for a minute. Then add onions and ginger garlic . Fry until golden brown. Then add the potatoes and fry for few minutes. Next add tomatoes and all the masala powders. Cook till tomatoes are completely mashed. Now add the pressure-cooked meat broth and boil for few more minutes. Then add the coconut paste and bring it to a boil. Now add mutton ,Cover the pan and let it cook over medium heat for 15-20 minutes or until the raw smell of coconut is gone. Add some salt if needed. Sprinkle with chopped coriander leaves. Serve hot with plain rice or parotta.

For vegetarians, you can follow the same procedure to make a veg kurma.

Chettinad Chicken Curry

2007-05-22T11:06:00.000-05:00

For some reason I have always been attracted to the word 'chettinad'. Any recipe that has this word tagged to it surely catches my attention. I got this recipe from the internet 5 years back when I was learning to cook. I did try this recipe many times and it always fetched me good comments even from the best critics- my hubby's friends.
After sometime, when I was in the process of shifting to a new place I lost the recipe. Recently when I was cleaning up I found it and I was so happy that I got hold of it. This is a semi-solid gravy that can be eaten mixed with white rice or as an accompaniant for variety rice or rotis.

Ingredients:
Chicken- 2 Lbs. (remove the skin & cut into medium sized pieces)
Salt
Fresh grated coconut- 1 cup
Large onion- 1 (chopped)
Medium tomatoes- 2 (chopped)
Grated ginger- 1inch piece
Garlic- 5 cloves (crushed)
Black pepper- 1/4 tsp
Red chili powder- 2 tsps
Poppy seeds- 2 tsps
Coriander seeds- 2 tsps
Fennel seeds- 1 tsp
Cinnamon- 1 piece
Cloves- 2
Green cardamom- 2
Garam masala powder- 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder- 1/2 tsp
Oil- 6 tablespoons
Lime juice- 2 tablespoons
Curry leaves- 2
Chopped cilantro (coriander) leaves

Procedure:
Dry roast the poppy seeds in a pan and crush. Soak it in little water for 10-15 minutes. Then grind the soaked poppy seeds with coconut, fennel, cinnamon, cloves, cardamoms & turmeric. Make it into a smooth paste.
Heat oil in large pan and fry the onions until golden. Add the ginger, garlic and fry for couple of minutes. Then add the red chili powder and the ground paste. Fry for 5 minutes. Add the chicken pieces and fry for 5 more minutes. Then add the tomatoes and stir-fry for 7-10 minutes. Then add 2 cups of water & salt. Cover and cook for about 10 minutes over medium heat. Then remove the cover and cook till desired consistency.When it is almost cooked add the lime juice and curry leaves. Fry for 5 more minutes and remove from fire. Garnish with chopped cilantro leaves. Serve hot.

Kathirikkai Vellai Mochai Puli Kozhambu & Tindora curry

2007-05-18T15:12:00.000-05:00

This is a typical south-indian dish cooked mostly in Tamilnadu. Kathirikkai means brinjal and Vellai mochai means field beans. This dish is traditionally made with some karuvadu (dried anchovies) in it. I'm not a big fan of karuvadu ,so I always omit that. It tastes great with white rice. Once you try it I'm sure you will fall in love with this.
For those of you who do not know field beans, Please click on the following link to see the picture:
http://www.foodsubs.com/Photos/lablabbeans.jpg

Ingredients:
Brinjal- 4 or 5 (slit it into 4,but do not remove the top)
vellai mochai- 1 cup cooked
small onions- 10 (peeled & sliced)
garlic- 4 pods
tomato - 1
tamarind paste- 1 1/2 tsp(or more if you need)
turmeric- 1/4 tsp
sambar powder- 1 1/2 tsp
coconut milk- 1/2 cup
curry leaves
vadagam- 2 tsp

Procedure:
Pressure cook field beans with some turmeric and salt for 2 whistles.Heat oil in kadai and fry onions , garlic and curry leaves . Then add brinjal and cook till half done. Now add tomato,turmeric and salt. After sometime add sambar powder and tamarind paste. Add 1 cup water and boil for 10 minutes. Then add mochai and coconut milk. Blend well and boil again for 5 more minutes. Cook till the right consistency (not too thick,not too thin). Finally add fried vadagam and add to curry. Serve with hot rice.

Tindora curry with Rotis:

This is a simple curry which I think many people do. Still, I'm posting this for friends who are new to this vegetable. As for me, I have never had this vegetable when I was in India as my mom never cooked it. After having this curry in my friend's place this has become a regular in my menu. Here is a plate for you also.

Ingredients:

Tindora- 2 cups(sliced)

onion- 1/2

tomato- 1

sambar powder- 1 tsp

cumin powder- 1/2 tsp

coconut milk- 1/4 cup

curry leaves

Procedure:

Heat oil in kadai and fry mustard seeds, urad dal and channa dal. Then fry onions,curry leaves and some turmeric. Now add sliced tindora and fry till half cooked. Then add tomatoes, salt and curry powders. Blend well. Add 1/2 cup water and coconut milk. Close and cook till done. Serve with rice or rotis.

Enjoy your weekend and see you next week!!!

Bisebelabath

2007-05-16T08:56:00.000-05:00

This is not a dish I make regularly. My first try was 3 years back. After having terrible experiences I gave up the idea of doing it again. Recently I saw bisebelabath in many blogs and was tempted to try it again. Luckily, it turned out good. Thanks to all my fellow bloggers who inspired me to give it another try.This is my friend's recipe which was sleeping in my cookbook for awhile . Here it is guys if you wish to try.

BTW, Here are some more great Bisebelabath recipes from my fellow bloggers:
Asha's
Prema's
Sia's
Aruna's

Ingredients:
Rice-1 1/2cup
Toordal - 3/4 cup
Vegetables - 1 cup ( carrot, beans, peas,brinjal,drumstick)
Small red onions- 1 cup
Tomato - 1 medium size
Tamarind paste- 2 tsp
Sambar powder- 1tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt - To taste
Water - 4 cups

Dry roast & Grind:
coconut/copra - 2tbsp
Corriander seeds - 1tbsp
red chilli - 4
channa dal - 1tsp
jeera - 1tsp
pepper - 1tsp
Methi seeds - 1/4 tsp
khuskhus - 1/4tsp
elachi - 2
cloves - 2
cinnamon - 1" piece

Procedure:
Pressure cook dal with some turmeric,hing and a spoon of oil. Heat some oil in cooker and fry the onions until transparent. Then add brinjal and drumstick and fry for 5 mins. Now add tomatoes and the rest of the vegetables. Cook till the tomatoes are soft. Then add tamarind paste, sambar powder and the ground powder. Add required water and boil for sometime. Then add dal and washed rice. Mix well. Check for salt. Pressure cook for 4 whistles. When done, top with some ghee and mix well. Garnish with corriander leaves.

Mushroom Pulav

2007-05-15T11:49:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was the first day my son started daycare. It was heart wrenching for me to leave him there. But Kavin fit in with the kids perfectly. He made no fuss and let go of me. Actually it was me who was in tears not wanting to leave him. I came home and did not do any work. All these days I would say , I can't wait to put you in school so that I can find some time for myself. But now I'm feeling so lonely. I have so much time in my hand but I'm not tin mood to do anything at all.

Anyway, not wanting to spend much time in kitchen I finally decided to make Mushroom Pulav. This is another easy one pot dish that makes a tired day rewarding with a nice meal. This is just like anyother pulav or biryani. But the combo is what that makes this dish great. Yes, it is mushrooms,peas and potatoes. You can add capsicum also if you like. Enjoy!!!

Ingredients:

Basmathi rice- 2 cups

elachi- 2

cloves- 2

bay leaf- 1

rose mokku-1

fennel seeds- 1tsp

onion- 1/2 (sliced)

ginger garlic paste- 1 tsp

tomato- 1 (chopped)

mint leaves- 1/2 cup (chopped)

red chilli powder- 3/4 tsp (increase if you want more)

turmeric powder- 1/4 tsp

cumin powder- 1/2 tsp

garam masala- 1/2 tsp

potato- 1 (large,cubed)

peas- 1 cup

mushrooms- 1 small box (chopped)

lemon juice- 2 tsp

water- 4 cups

Procedure:

Heat oil in cooker and fry all the spices. Then add onions and saute until soft. Now add ginger garlic paste and some turmeric. After sometime put potatoes and fry for 5 mins. Now add tomatoes,mint leaves and all the curry powders. When oil starts to seperate add required salt and water. Add washed rice with mushrooms and peas . Stir well until blended. Check for seasonings and finally add lemon juice. Close cooker and wait until vapor comes through the nozzle. Now put the wait and reduce the flame to medium. Cook for 8 to 10 mins and switch off gas. Wait until the pressure subsides and serve hot with onion raitha and chips. Here's another view.

Happy Mother's Day!!!

2007-05-11T12:39:00.000-05:00

Happy Mother's day to all my fellow bloggers. Hope you all have a great day!

"The moment a child is born, the mother is also born.The woman existed, but the mother, never. A mother is something absolutely new". -Anonymous

This is so true from my experience.Before Kavin was born I had nothing to care for. I have always been careless, lazy and irresponsible.But Kavin gave me the opportunity to make my life meaningful & complete. After becoming a mom, I have become more appreciative of all the things my mom has done for me. When I was near her,I have disregarded her many times. But now I feel for all of that. Anyway, on this Mother's day I would like to thank her for everything.

Thanks Mom for everything. I know these words aren't enough for all that you have done. What else can I say... I love you,love you,love you....

Okay, So what's on menu today? It's Paneer Babycorn Curry. It is pretty much like a korma. Actually I tried to make korma only, but when I added kasoori methi leaves the taste was more like a cream based curry. This is the first time I'm making this dish. But I absolutely loved it and so did my hubby. The photos are doing no justice to the aroma and taste of this curry. But once you try it I'm sure you'll understand what I'm talking about. So, here is the recipe...

Ingredients:
Paneer- 1/2 of 250gm pack
baby corn- 1 can
peas- 3/4 cup
onion- 1/2 (chopped fine)
ginger garlic paste- 1 tsp
tomato- 1 (finely chopped)
green chillies- 3
corriander powder- 3/4 tsp
cumin powder- 1/2 tsp
garam masala- 1/4 tsp
kasoori methi- 1 tsp(crushed)

grind:
coconut- 1/2 cup(shredded)
poppy seeds- 1 1/2 tsp(soak in hot water for 20mins)
cashews- 4
Blanched almonds- 4
fennel seeds- 1/2 tsp

Procedure:
Shallow fry paneer cubes in 2 tsp oil and put it in salted hot water. cut babycorn in halves. Heat oil in kadai and fry onions till golden brown. Then add chillies,ginger garlic paste and turmeric powder. After sometime add tomato and all the curry powders. Fry till raw smell goes and then add the ground mixture. Put required salt and mix well. Now pour 1 1/2 cups water and boil until good aroma comes. Now add corn and peas. After 5 mins add paneer and kasoori methi. Cook till desired consistency. If the gravy gets too thick add more water. Enjoy with jeera rice ,rotis or parottas.
Here's a plate for you too.

Kavin's 3rd Birthday!!!

2007-05-06T17:23:00.000-05:00

Hi Friends,
Nice to be back. Atlast, my big day is over. Yes, my son's birthday which was on April 28th 2007. We had a backyard party with slides,moonwalks and swings. The kids absolutely enjoyed it. Kavin is usually scared to go on slides. But to my amazement he slid down perfectly fine following the other kids. We had around 80 friends (60 adults, 20 kids).

We had the catering from Swapna restaurant. The items were: Appetizers: veg pakora, mysore bonda, chilli chicken,chicken-65,mint chutney and tomato chutney.
Main Course: Veg Biryani,Chicken Biryani, Raitha,Malai kofta, Paneer pasandha,Butter chicken ,Rogan josh and Naan.
Desserts: Rasmalai , fruit salad in mango custard and B'day cake ofcourse.Sorry Guys, I do not have a picture of the buffet table. It's all in the video.

For those of you guys who have not seen me...Here is my picture in the slideshow. The pink fatty girl. Oh no! I'm showing the world in what a bad shape I am. Ok guys, consider this picture as my "BEFORE" picture. Someday when I lose weight I'll post my "AFTER" picture.

Oh...I forgot to mention, we had 3 new guests whom we never knew before. Yes, three baby swallows. They flew right in when we opened the door for the first few guests. Many friends took turns in swooshing them away. But they were determined not to leave. Finally they were the last to leave around 10.30pm.You can check them out sitting on the doors in the slideshow.

I also have to add this....I could not get the picture of all my friends in the slideshow. Most of them were not taken in my camera. Will update it when I get all of 'em.