Veggie Pachadi

Well the name veggie becuase I used some left over raw banana and bittergourd from the fridge.

Ingredients:-

Raw Bananas - 3

Bitter gourd - 1

Green chilly

Coconut powder

Curd

Heated water and put the cut raw bananas , some salt and turmeric and left to boil till bananas became soft. Once soft and cooled , cut into small pieces. Meanwhile cut the bittergourd in small pieces

Fried some onions and then fried the cut bittergourd and bananas. Once they were well fried take them out from the vessel. Meanwhile blend ground coconut powder and green chilly.

In the vessel add oil, some mustard, cumin seeds, red chilly and then add the ground coconut powder, fry them well, then add the fried veggies, saute for some time ,add water if they are getting stuck, to this add curd and keep on simmer. Adjust spice accordingly

Wonderful veggie pachaddi is ready

My Surprise Baby Shower

12th Sept 2009:- This was the day I got a surprise baby shower celebration from my dear friends...organized by a very dear friend Gayathri.
So this is how it all started. A week before that is on the 7th Sept G asked me to attend a baby shower for one of her friends, I readily agreed to it, she also mentioned that it was a traditional party and so I had to wear something ethical, well nothing did fit me really now but I had a blue saree got from India and not worn till now, i thought I could make some use of it.
So on 12th morning I got up and made the blouse loose and then got ready by 7 pm to go to G's place, the plan was that G would drive to her friends place. By 7:30 I reached G's place and we sat chatting, actually she was stalling for time since here i.e at our apt complex hubby and frnds had to get the party hall arranged and also wait for all the guests to come.
All this time she kept telling me how her frnd was going to dress and all other details, playing the part to perfection I would say.
At 8:30 pm finally she made some xcuse about getting the car from our apt complex and so we had to drive back there and then we went to the party hall, while we were in the lift I sort of got an idea of what was happening :)

As we entered the hall I saw the decorations and also all my friends standing with smiles on their faces. Was definitely surprised and thrilled.
Attendes were Aadya,Ajira,Soniya,Vikash,Thomas,Soumya,Johan,Jai,Jiya,Mili,Vid&Kamlesh,Mohit&Shrada,
Gay3&Nats,Usha,Tony,Darshan,Rakesh
and of course my hubby.
Well after the inital surprsie subsided then I cut the nice blue cake. Once that was done attention was moved to games. The first game was 'Guess the Gerber'. We were blindfolded and had to taste 3 gerber brands and guess the fruit/vegetable. I failed miserable, couldnt guess a single one. It was only the 2 mommies who got all the 3 correct, full marks to them.
Next was gues sthe tummy where in each person was given a string and had to cut it guessing my tummy size. Darshan was the closest.
By this time Usha had to leave and everyone were hungry so food was attacked with full force. It was a yummy potluck dinner with idli dhokla, pasta,lemon rice, rice, chole, bhoondi and delicious kheer.
Time for the 3rd gmae in which each person was given a chit and had to write something about themselves, then all chits were collected and each was read out and remaining had to guess the person who it related to. Everyone knew each other very well it looked like.
Finally was the Dirty diaper game. Hot choclolates were melted in 3 diapers and passed around and we had to guess the chocolates used. Well again not an easy one. Tony cheated on the game with Natu's help and thus emerged the winner. All in all it was fun and exciting and everyone had a great time. It was 11:30 and time for present xchange and photo session. Finally after cleaning up we went home for a good night's sleep after a great evening.
once again thanks to Gayathri for organizing the party and the wonderful games.

Ona Sadya '09

Vibhavangal:-

Rice

Sambhar (Kerala Style)

Parippu

Puli Inji

Pachadi

Raw Banana Kootu

Kadla Curry

Cabbage Thoran

Papadam

Pickle

Banana

Chips

Parippu Payasam

Sambhar(Kerala Style):-

Ingredients:-

To Boil

Tur Dal

Turmeric

Big Onions Sliced

Tomatoes

Potatoes

For Ground Masala:-

Cocounut powder

Small Onions

Red chilly

Coriander Powder

For tadka:-

Small Onions

Mustard

Red Chilly

Kadipata

In cooker take Tur dal + Turmeric + Big Onions Sliced+Tomatoes+Potatoes+Kayam Podi+Salt and boil for 3 whistles

In another kadai fry cocounut powder + small onions, once coconut turn a little brown add red chilly + corainder powder and blend in mixie. Keep this aside.

If adding more veggies like lady's finger, carrot etc boil them seperately. In a vessel take the boiled dal mix + boiled veggies, add the ground masala and tamrind paste.

Adjust spices accordingly. For tadka fry small onions + kadipata+ mustard+ red chilly.

Sambhar is ready.

Parippu:-

Boil moong dal with lots of water for 4 whistles + Salt

In Mixie blend Coconut powder + eera + Small Onions.

Once dal is boiled off the gas, add this mixture and mix well.

Give tadka of mustard, kadipata,red chilly

Puli Inji:-

Cut ginger in small pieces and fry in ghee till it turns reddish brown.

Prepare jaggery water and tamrind water seperately.

Add this to the hot ginger mixture and keep stirring till the required consistency is acquired and the water is reduced in half and thickens.

Off the gas at this point as it will thicken more at room temperature.

Pachadi:-

Cut the velarika into small pieces. Add a little green chilly finely chopped and curry leaves and boil these. Add a little water and stir it continuously so that it does not stick to the bottom of the vessel. Let this cool, to this cool mixture add curd and mix well.

To this add a tadka of mustard, small onion, whole red chilly

Parippu Payasam:-

Boil moong dal with coconut milk and jagger water for 4 whistles. Once cooled add remaining coconut milk by keeping in open vessel. Add more sweet according to taste if required. At this point also add elaichi powder.

In a seperate vessel heat ghee and fry cashew and raisins and add to this.

Wisconsin Dells Trip _ Aug 28th 2009

Aug 28th 2009 - Friday: The entire TCS group decided to go to Wisconsin Dells for the week-end. Arrangements were made for booking the cottage and renting the car. On fri Gopi picked me up at 3:30 from office, went home and did packing and at 5:30 pm junta left from Broadmoor(Kamlesh+Vidula, Tony,Rakesh,Darshan,Venky,myself and Gopi) to Parkway.
There we picked Thomas,Soumya,Johan,Mohit,Shrada and Prashant.
We had booked a 15 seater vehicle, all girls with little Johan sat in the back seat, the other guys rotated among the other 2 seats, Kamlesh and Gopi interchanged in the driver seat and I was given the navigator seat. We left at 6pm from Eden Prairie with an estimate to reach at 11:30 pm.
On the way we stopped for dinner at Pizza hut. We reached the cottage at 11:30. The cottage was beautiful having all the latest amenities, we also had our own jacuzzi :), sleeping rooms were booked by all and then we started the game of cards which went on till 2:30 am.
Even though the game was not over we went to sleep as the next day we had to get up early.

29th Aug'09 ; Gopi and me were the first ones to wake up at 7:30 am, got ready and went upstairs to wake the others, also had to help in break-fast preparation, poha and tea, after all got ready we left at 10:00 am. First stop was at Delton WaterSports to inquire about Parasailing, but as the weather was bad they did not have Parasailing that day and asked us to come the next day. From there we went to White- House (Top secret), well it wa not much of a secret except that all things were upside down. After a lot of photo sessions there we went to Go-Karting and Bungee Jumping area.
Go karting - Darshan, rakesh,Mohit,Thomas
Bungee Jumping- kamlesh,Gopi,Darshan, rakesh
Guys who did Bungee Jumping said they had a thrill while we waited in the cold taking their video :)
From there we went to the roller Coaster ride where Mohit- Shrada,Kamlesh and Vidula and Venky went for the rides.
By this time it was 1:30 and hunger pangs lead us to Denny's.
After a huge lunch we went to Dells Boats to do the jet Boats but their 3:00 one laready started and next one was at 4:30, hence it was cancelled as there was the Tommy Barlett Aquatic Show to be watched at 4:30 pm, so from there we took the tickets for the show and left the rest of the gang at ripley's Believe it or Not @Downtown, myself, Soumya, Johan and Tony went back to the cottage to rest. After a 2 hr sleep at 6:30 pm when I woke up evening tea was ready and the whole gang returned.
Some guys did corn grilling while ladies started dinner preparations. Menu was chole- batura and rice. By 9 pm all had thier dinner and again started a round of cards, this time by 11:30 everyone went to bed as next day we had to vacate by 10:00 am.

30th Aug'Sunday: Gopi and I were the last to wake up at 7:30 , everyone else got up at 6, I guess, could hear their voices, after gettign ready went upstairs and made and omlette for breakfast with toasted bread. At 8:30 - D,R,G,K and myself went to the nearby river for kayaking. That was a fun experience. By 10:00 am we vacated the cottage and left to do the remaining adventures.
One gang went for parasailing, while the others went for jet Ski, while we were left as audience.
Finally by 12:00 pm all were back and we left from WI back to MN. On the way the usual game of mafia was played and by 5 pm was back at home -resting :)

The Drinks Party

19th June 2009 (Friday nite) - Gopi came home from office and said that there was a drinks party at @412 tonite. My immediate thought was there would be Chicken for sure and I was definitely going to join. At 8:30 pm we both went upstairs. There admist drinking the guys related how when they were kids they would sneak alcohol in many innovative ways as it was not allowed at home.

This got me thinking on my own experience with drinks.

I remember early on as a kid(definitely in my 1st or 2nd std as we were in Khadki those days), mummy would make mutton and we got beer ocassionally. Dad allowed us to have a sip from his glass and the combo worked really well. After a few yrs when we moved to Dehuroad and had a Christian family as our neighbours, we always celebrated X'mas and Onam together as one family and oh yes- drinks were definitely there for elders. Now during those days when dad is your icon I always felt that my dad could do no wrong, so drinking was never a big issue for me and it only came during an ocassion. Whatever my dad had I had to have before him and so I always got the first sip from his glass before he drank, that is how I tasted varieties of whisky,rum, wine :)

One incident I remember was when one of my mom's cousins had come home, there was a bottle of whisky that he had got. Since dad was at office he asked me if I would give him comapny, well for me it was no big issue. Mom made chapati and chicken and I had a little to drink with him. When dad came I narrated the incident and dad was not happy. He said I was not to drink with anyone else, if I needed anything I should ask him.

That is when I realized drinking is not good like eating ice-creams.

In my 10th grade , after our board exams we all girls got together at one of our frnds house and had a little gin and vodka. They were new varieties to me.

I was always interested in tasting new things and so one day just before holi I decided I wanted to have bhang. Dad immediately made arrangements to get soem at home, but the minute I saw it and all the tales I had heard I got cold feet and tasted very very little of it.

I have tasted toddy in Kerala and tequila in the US.

The reason for writing this blog is because at home I was never stopped or restricted from drinking. My parents trusted me and always knew I would not do anything wrong.

Not that I am for drinking, I have seen enough evils of it which has saddened me in life.

But in a world where it is so open and you have kids always wanting to do something taboo is it not better to allow them and let good judgement prevail............

It's Official Now- I'm Pregnant

June17th 2009: 16 weeks pregnant. or 3 months approx.

Gopi designed a card to let everyone know of the newcomers arrival all on my insistence :).

It was a very cute card and you know he designed it because of the 'I love dad' at the bottom.

Right now we r busy getting names for the new one.

Will be posting more.

All my Hobbies..........................the list is long

As a kid I stayed at a place called Dehuroad which is 25 kms from Pune city, it was not very developed also at that time. At that time we played the normal games with colony bachaas :)


But I watched tv a lot and loved all the sports they showed on Tv, whether it was tennis,pool,baseball (this is never played in India),polo(I loved horses). I always dreamt that in some life I was a cool kid like in the movies playing the guitar and no not singing or dancing as I was not interested in either of this as a kid.


Something I should mention about dancing: we always had this Onam functions for which the traditional kaikotiikali dance was oraganized. My mom always took part in it and later on mom started organizing the dance and they always needed 10 girls. Once I was 12-13 years and had enough height I was always dragged into this very very reluctantly.


I was so bad that after the dance practise at home my mom and sis would tease me with the song"Khambe jaise khadi hain, ladki hain ya chadi hain", yeah- you got it right I had no grace.


But later years I really started njoying dancing and looked forward to take part in dance functions.


Coming back to my hobbies, years later when I started working and I do not why but my passion for horse-riding kept increasing I searched on the web and found a horse riding school --Japalouppe Equesterian Center.

Horse Riding

It is situated at Talegaon. I enrolled for it sometime in Jan 2002 for a 1 year membership and a weekly class on every Saturday. Every Saturday after work at noon, I caught the local train to go to Talegaon station, walked from there to the Center in the hot sun, after class walked back to catch the local train. It was at this time I got my first Nike shoes(for the grip). The whole experience was great. You had to brush the horses, saddle them, mount them, walk them and 1st thing was to trot on them. The one hour for the class passed by very fast and I loved every moment of it. I class I remember quite distinctly when my instructor me and another lady decided to take a walk(on the horse ofcorse) through the farm. As we were nearing the end my horse for some reason decided to canter (i.e run forwards fast), I being new did not know how to handle him and everyone kept shouting to pull the reins that I was holding too, thankfully the horse decided to stop with me still on it's back. :) .I went for 4 months and then the rains came in July which made me lazy and then I skipped some classes adn then I got into TCS mumbai which put a complete stop to my 1st passion.

Guitar

In the year 2007 in TCS(Mumbai) I was very restless and I felt I needed to keep myself occupied. It was then that maitree had started these guitar classes, so after a litte coaxing from my friend I bought a guitar and joined in. Initially it was a 3 months basic course which would then get to an advanced course. I went for 3 months and did not extend it after that because the classes were at Andheri on Saturdays, I had to travel with the guitar from Bvli to Andheri and most of the times from there to Pune which was getting tiring, hence decided to Stop, but i do know to strum on a guitar.



Dance
Now you do remember me telling about my dancing skills as a kid but as I grew up I loved to dance. I could be very natural on the stage and I did take part in various functions. The best was at Stamford where me and my friends had to do a dance for TCS function. We had loads of fun practising and so much so that we would literally dance on roads. Back in mumbai with a little coaxing from Sachin we together joined Bharat sir's dancing class. 2 days in a week 1 hr session. I stuck to this from Nov-2007 to May 2008. After that sir took a leave and then with my preparations to come to US it stopped.

Now that i was in US, I had to try out something different, so I joined for my next hobby

Ice Skating
I tried ice skating once abt 3 yrs back and I could not move one step ahead with my feet in that shoe which balanced on ice with a thin blade. Later when i was in Wisconsin we went for a State Park and there they had an Ice skating ring. There was an old man teaching a few students and he guided us on how to walk on the ice. He said I was doing good for a beginner and i should join his classes, but me being there only for a month i did not pursue that option much.
While here in MN, i got some ice hockey shoes from one of my friends and i thought I should try it out. A search at the Eden Community center showed that they ahd a 3 months beginner course from jan2009- mar 2009. 1 day a week. I promptly joined and went for all the classes (missed 2). We were taught how to fall on the ice, walk on the ice and then glide. I can very confidently say that I can glide very well on the ice now.

Red Hot Salsa
Nov-2010 - Joined this new class at Eden Prairie with hubby. Attended only 1 class but enjoyed it thoroughly.

Fishing
July-2011 - Yes, yes, actually got Fishing license and bought fishing rods with reels, bobs,plastic worm baits and went fishing.
Managed to catch couple of fishes but threw them back immediately as they are the smaller version(not good to eat). had real fun

Mushroom Curry

I got mushrooms home one of these days and I did not want to make the normal mushroom sabji that I usually make, hence while browsing the website I came across this simple and delicious receipe at Monsoon Spice blog. The photos in this blog are really drooling, I have no idea how she manages to get such lovely pictures.

So here is what I did:-

Dry roast:-

Red Chilly

Chana dal

Pepper

Ingredients:

Mustard

Curry Leaves

Mushrooms

Tamrind Juice

I dry roasted the ingredients under dry roast ofciurse and blended them. Then in a kadai, took oil, put mustard,curry leaves,mushrooms and ten the blended masala, once they were mixed well I added salt and tamrind juice. Left for 5 minutes and then turned off the gas

Very simple and very very tasty.

Capsicum Masala Rice

The other day I saw this receipe on teh VahreVah site and I had to try this as I had 3 different colored bell peppers staring at me from the fridge.

Here is what I did:

Dry roast:-

3 red chilly dry

coriander seeds - a pinch

fennel seeds - a pinh

urad dhal

peanut

curry leaves

Main Dish

Rice cooked

Capsicum chopped

I dry roasted all the ingredients and then blend them well in a blender. Heated butter in a vessel and fried the cut bell peppers. Add salt, the ground spice and mix well, then add the cooked rice and mix well. This very tasty Capsicum rice is ready

Anniversary Dinner Party

Mar9th2009:- And now for the dinner menu. Here is what I made:-

Starters

Tandoori Chicken

Main Course

Appam

PotatoStew

ChineseFriedRice

GobiManchurian

Sweet

RasMalai

And here is how I made each of the dish:-

Tandoori Chicken.

Ingredients:-

TandooriChicken Leg pieces -10

Salt

Red Chilly

Pepper

Youghurt

Ginger,Garlic pate

Coriander Powder

Garam Masala

 I had 10 leg pieces, so after washing them I made gashes on the meaty part. Next took a mixture of salt,red chilly and lemon juice and spread them in the gashes.

 Then took a bowl and mixed youghurt, salt,red chilly, pepper,corinader powder,garam masala,garlic ginger paste made a paste and applied them liberally on the leg pieces. Kept it in the fridge for marination. Next day I baked it in the oven aat 350F for 30 mins.  Before serving I heated it again in a pan with some cut onions and sprinkled lime juice over it.

Appam

Ingredients:-

RawRice - 3 cups

Cooked Rice - 1 cup

Coconut powder/pieces - 1 cup

Blend all the above ingredients in a blender well, Do not make it watery. It should be thick and a little coarse. Add a little yeast and keep it for fermenting. Next day before actually cooking add salt. Normally this is made in an appam pan, but as I do not have it here , what I do is to pour the batter in a non fry pan and then cover it with a lid. It gets cooked by the steam. No need of turning to cook like dosa. It is cooked only one side and then removed

Potato Stew

Ingredients:-

Potatoes - 3 big ones (boiled)

Spices(Bay leaves,cardamon,cinnamon)

Coconut Milk -1/2 can

Onions - 1 big

Green Chilly - 3 slit long

Ginger,garlic cut

For tempering

Oil

Mustard seeds

Red Chilly

Coriander Leaves

Curry Leaves

Heated oil in a pan, added the spices,green chilly,ginger,garlic and heated. Add onions and salt and saute. Add cut potatoes and fry. Smash the potatoes but not completely, try to leave timy pieces of potato. Add 1/2 can coconut milk and equal amount of water. Let it cook well. Add salt as per your taste.  Once done add the tempering to this. A very simple and tasty dish.

Chinese Fried Rice

Ingredients:-

Cooked Rice

Choice of Veggies

Spring Onions

Onion - 1

Cumin Seeds

SoyaSauce

I heated oil in a pan, added some cumin seeds, once it spluttered I added onions and sauteed, added some spring onions, then added veggies like beans, cauliflower,capsicum,salt,tossed in some soya sauce and ccoked it on high flame for a minute or two, the veggies have to remain crispy, tossed in the rice, adjusted salt,pepper as per my taste and it was done.

Gobi Manchurian:-

Ingredients

Cut cauliflower florets

Corn Flour

Salt

Pepper

Spring Onions

Garlic,Ginger

First I made a paste of cornflour, salt and pepper and dipped the cauliflower pieces in them for coating and fried them well. Once this was done I had to make the sauce.

For this I heated oil in a pan, added cumin seeds, spring onions, garlic,ginger pieces, added soya sauce, salt as per taste, and a little water. Added the fried cauliflower in them, mixed well and garnished with cilantro leavs.

Note: For the Chinese receipes you can use ajinomot,chilli sauce, as I did not have these ingredients I omitted them.

The Be(Fir)st Wedding Anniversary

March9th 2009 was to be a whole year since our wedding. I was not expecting to celebrate in any way, would be just a normal day for me. I think waiting for this day for 3 years had taken away all its significance for me. i am happy everyday and that is what matters more to me than celebrating just one day. Now that my cullinery specializing is at it's peak eating out is a big No- No.

We had nothing planned out until hubby told at his office and the guys demanded a treat. It was also quite some time we had friends over for dinner and so we thought of having all of them home.

I was not expecting anything either with my bday in 2 months, he better save for that ocassion.

Sun nite 12:00 am as I was prepping for the 

next days meal hubby wished me and took me inside the bedroom. It was dark except for the table which had tiny candles lighted in the shape of HA (short for Happy Anniversary) .......a card titled "What is a Wife", 2 more lighted candles in a jar surrounding a yummy chocolate cake and a tiny balloon with happy Anniversary labelled on it.  And oh! I forgot the flower vase, actually gopi also forgot about it and placed it a little later:)  and a very 

pretty heart-shaped diamond necklace. I was speechless,overjoyed and excited at the same time

Here is something for my hubby :)

There are few who are so lucky
To have the things we do,
Companionship and friendship,
And loving feelings, too

I never thought I could feel this loved
until I became your wife.
You made this day and every day
the best one of my life

Mutton Curry-Simple and Easy

This week-end we got mutton and let me tell you that it is here in US that I have learnt a very easy, fast and delicious way of cooking mutton.

Ingredients:- 

Mutton - 2 pounds

Onions-1

Garlic

Ginger

Potato - 3

Red Chillies

Lime juice

Salt, Pepper, Cilantro for garnish.

Here is what i do:-

Marinate the mutton with salt, red chilly,turmeric and lime juice for half-hour.

Then put in a pressure cooker with little water and cook till about 12-13 whistles.

Cut potato pieces in a bowl , add salt and microwave for 10 minutes. Remove the skin and keep aside.

In another vessel, heat oil, add red pepper, whole garlic and ginger and then add onions. To this add salt, garlic and ginger paste(xtra addition of paste is to give the mutton curry a good flavour). Once onion is tender add mutton pieces and little water. To this add the potato pieces and smash them, this is to get a thick gravy.

Adjust salt and chilly as per your taste. Leave it to simmer for 10 minutes and then garnish with cilantro. 

Ras Malai -Yummmmmmmmmmy

This week-end hubby desired to eat Rasmalai- he normally never demands for anything(eats whatever I give...:), so I had to make this.

It turned out to be very simple and tasty. Here is what I did:-

For the rabdi, you have to heat milk and get it to half it's consistency. Bring it to a boil once and then keep it on simmer till it reduces to half the original amount, keep stirring ocassionally. Once it is half, add sugar and cardamon and refrigerate.

For the malai, I did not have any cheese so I decided to make it, for this I boiled milk and then added lime juice while stirring it,  I could see the cheese or paneer getting seperated. Once the milk became to a watery consistency I added some ice-cubes in that to stop the process of churning.

Then ideally the cheese formed has to be drained and kept in a muslin cloth it to loose it's mositure, but as I did not have any xtra cloth I used tissue papaer to drain the water off and as I am not very patient I left it only for 10 minutes. This is how the cheese looked. I made round balls of the cheese. 

Now in another vessel I heated water and added sugar and cardamon. When it is boling hot add the cheese, cover and cook for 5 minutes. Make sure that the sugar and water mixture do not form a thick syrup but remain a watery consistency.

The cheese enlarges in the water, after 5 minutes take it out in a dish, pour the rabdi on it, refiregerate and serve cold.

Fried Califlower--Simple and Easy

Cauliflower has always been my favorite veggies, I love the crunch that it gives especially with a little burnt effect, it tastes yummy.

I saw this event JFI Cauliflower and wanted to submit my simple receipe :)

Here is what I do:- Heat oil in a vessel, once hot add cumin seeds, as soon as they splutter I add cut onions, Saute the onions till they actually get nice and brown, add califlowe, salt, pepper, cover and let it fry. I allow the cauliflower to get burnt just a little bit and my most delicious side dish is ready for dinner.

Simple and easy :)

The link to the event is here. Link to Indira Mahanandi's blog is available.

Almond Crusted Cat Fish

We got CatFish fillets this week-end as I had my eyes on 1 of the receipes that I saw on LiveToEat Blog. The link for that can be found here

Here is what I did:-

I dry roasted 4 pieces of cardamon, 2 sticks of cinnamon, 10 red chillies, 1tbsp of fennel seeds and then ground them in a blender with 5-6 whole almonds, 1 tbsp of lime juice and salt to form a paste. 

I applied this paste liberally on the fish and kept it in the fridge for 40 minutes to marinate. Attached is my marinated fish pics. 

40 mintues later I heated oil in a kadai and fried the fish. First 5 minutes covered, then turned and cooked for another 6-7 minutes. I felt the masala lacked little salt and hence while frying I spinkled salt and red chilli powder over the fish. Once it was nicely done I removed it on a plate. Rightly as Sig mentioned in the original post you get pieces of fish sticking to the kadai which you do not want to waste, so I added cut onions, curry leaves, salt and powdered almonds. Fried them well and poured it over the fish. 

The almonds gave it a very crunchy taste. Had this with some rice and dal. It was truly delicious :)

Chana Cabbage Pakoda - A Healthy Option

I made this Chana Cabbage Pakoda and decided to submit it to Susan for My Legume Love Affair-EIGHT Helping.

Ingredients:- Chana Dal (2 cup)

Cabbage (1/4th)

Besan- 3 -4 tbsp

Oil

Salt, red Chilli Powder as per Taste

Ginger, Garlic as per taste

Cilantro leaves.

Here is what I did:-

Boil the Chana dal for 2 whistles. At the same time heat the cut cabbage in 3/

4th kadai water. Add salt to cabbage while heating. After 10 minutes strain water out of the cabbage and keep it aside. Now to the cabbage add the chana dal, ginger, garlic, salt, red chilli powder, a little besan and cut cilantro leaves and mix. Roll them into balls.

Heat oil in a kadai. I normally dont like to deep fry, hence I use little oil and fry the rolled up balls in them, take them out once they are brown and well cooked.

I am also sending this to the Healthy Bite Event

Your tasty pakodas are ready.

The link to the event is here

Healthy Spinach Soup

It was a Friday nite and that meant no tiffin for the next day. I had a little dosa batter left and so I quickly made 3 dosas for hubby. I had to eat something too and as we had just got some spinach from Rainbows I decided to try a Spinach soup receipe that I had seen on the net.

Here is what I did:-
Ingredients - 1/2 plate spinach leaves (well washed)
1/2 onion
3 pods garlic
1/4th cup milk.

Heat oil in a kadai, once hot add garlic pods. Once garlic gets a little brown add the onions, salt and sautee. Now fill this with 3/4 cup water and add the spinach leaves. Heat till spinach and onion leaves are tender(about 7 mins). Blend this to liquid in a blender. No need to add extra water while blending.
Remove the water from the kadai. Add this spinach puree and 1/4th cup milk, salt and pepper to your taste and let it simmer for a few minutes.
Server this healthy and tasty appetizer in a bowl.
I had my nutritious soup today, you can try it too, very simple and tasty.

I submit this to the Weekend Herb Blogging.Link to the site is here. Link to Susan's website is here

Brushetta - A Quick Snack

This Fri evening after we returned home from office I wanted to fix up a quick snack for hubby and the snack had to be something of bread as we got that lots now. Also the shelf life of bread not all that long I had to fix up something.

Not wanting to make the usual ghee toast I tried a something different yet easy.

Here is what I did:- Take 8 pieces of bread and set them out on a baking tray. Coated them with garlic paste. Dropped a few drops of olive oil and then added some cheese on top.

These went in the oven to be baked at 350F for 14 minutes.

As they were getting baked I made the toppings, cut 1 finely chopped tomato, mixed salt, pepper and oregano.

Once the bread was crisp and out of the oven I topped them with these toppings and some cilantro leaves and served them to hubby dear who gobbled them up as fast as he could.

This goes to the bread mania event by Bayleaf. Find the link here

Quick Weekend Eat!

It was Friday evening and after lazing till 9 Gopi tells me we have to go to the casino in an hour. We needed to eat and I needed to cook something real fast. 

I rumaged in the fridge and found some (leftovers) califlower and capsicum staring right into my face.

I would be throwing them anyway if I would not use them today and so I quickly made a crispy capsicum and cauliflower crunchy veggie which went very well with some hot chapatis.

Here is how it went:-

In a kadai, heat some oil , once hot add some cumin seeds, add the cut cauliflower and capsicum, sprinkle some salt, pepper, some soya sauce and let it cook for a few minutes.

That's it-- your dish is ready.

I am sending this Crispy Capsicum Cauliflower dish to the Receipe for the Rest of Us- Dinner Theme. ALso linking to the One Page CookBook"

I am also sending this to the JFI:Cauliflower event here.Link to Indira Mahanandi's post

Fresh Pasta :)

Now that I have also started blogging along with the cooking, it gives me great pleasure to make things on my own rather than use ready made shop material. I would love to bake my own cakes, pastries, pav, naan, bread ........the list is endless and sooner than later it will all be in my blogging site. Oh Yes!!
Feb 1st 2009 was the Super Bowl Sunday and as I wanted to watch the match I thought of making pasta. Ah ha not ready made boil pasta and add the sauce, but actually make the pasta.(inspired by one I got on the net) So here is how my version went:-Ingredients:-
All purpose Flour - 1 cup
Eggs - 3
Salt
Butter
Pepper
Cheese(optional)
Olive Oil

First I took 1 cup of flour and made a well. In that I added 3 eggs and salt. Then with a fork I mixed the egg first, then slowly mixed the flour with the egg. Then I kneaded the dough well for about 5 minutes. It was a little dry and so I added some olive oil, mixed for some time and then kept it for an hour covered with a wet cloth.
After 1 hour I rolled it into thin sheets and then cut with a knife. That's all, my fresh pasta was ready.
All I had to do was put it in boiling water for a few minutes with salt and it was ready to eat!
For the sauce I took some butter and melted it, added some cheese and pepper to this.Took this in a bowl and added th cooked pasta , tossed with some more pepper.

My pasta was not very spicy, you can try the pizza sauce I made and use it here or ready made pasta sauce.
However you do it , it would be a great eat :)

Karela Curry - My Style

I do not like karela a lot and I never eat it much as a kid. Now that I know it's nutricious value I try to add it in my meal. So this Friday when we went to the Indian store and I saw some really fresh karela, I bought it and Saturday nite for dinner we had some tasty pavakhya kozhambhu.

Here is what I did:-

Heated oil in a kadai and put some mutter to splutter and some red chillies and curry leaves. Added some garlic and sauteed finely chopped onions with salt. To this I added some sambhar powder, bitter gourd and let it mix well. Once the karelas were fried well I added  1 cup of water with tamrind juice and let it boil. To this I added jaggery and let it cook for some more time. Now I still found this bitter and so added more jaggery. You can adjust the salt, pepper to your consistency.

Finally it turned out to a very tasty dish with the sweet and spice mixing well.

P.S:- Would not have completed this post if it was not for Priya asking me this receipe:)

My Legume Love Affair

This receipe goes for the My Legume Love affair.

Also linked to Susan's Event Page

My Rajma Masala

Ingredients:-

Rajma soaked for 4-5 hours atleast.

1 Onion

1 Tomatoe

Chillies

Garam masala

Salt

Coriander Leaves

Butter(optional)

Pressure cook the soaked rajma with salt. I normally keep for 3 whistles on medium flame. Dont want the rajmas to get very mashy.

In a kadai take oil, put cumin seeds, finely chopped onions, salt and saute, once onions are brown add half spoon of garam masala. Fry for a minute, now add a little water from the pressure cooked rajma. This is so that the spices mix with the rajma water, gives more taste.

Now add finely chopped tomatoes, chopped green chiliies, salt and red chilli powder as per taste. Close and let the tomatoes cook well. Now open and add the boiled rajma with the water and cook for few minutes. Garnish with butter and corainder leaves.

Yummy rajma masala is ready.

Pizzalicious!!

This weekend was Pizza time. I had seen this receipe on the net and it looked so easy, I decided to try it out. Saturday I went to Cub Foods and got some Capsicum, Jalapenos,Mozzarella Cheese, Oregano, Marjoram and Basil herbs.
Sun evening 25th Jan, I decided to try it out. Here is what I did:-
Ingredients
Wheat flour(Atta)
Yeast
Olive Oil
Onion
Capsicum
JalapenosMozzarella Cheese
Oregano, Marjoram and Basil herbs
Salt
Sugar
Garlic
Fennel powder

For the base:-
I took half cup of water and heated in microwave, to this I added some yeast powder. kept this aside for 10 mins. Took 1 cup atta in a vessel. For the base you can use atta or maida. To this flour I added the yeast mix (after 10 minutes), mix and keep aside. Now in a separate bowl take 2 cups of atta, add 2 tablespoons of olive oil,half spoon sugar and 1 spoon salt, then add the yeast mixture and mix like for chapatis till it is soft. Once it is soft put few olive oil drops on top and keep aside for 30-45 minutes covered by a wet cloth.
After 30-45 minutes again knead the flour one more time, this is for proper aeration and keep it aside for another 20 minutes.
For the pizza sauce:- I tool 4 ripe red tomatoes, Put them in boling hot water for 30 seconds and then immediately transfer them to cold water. Now the tomatoes are blanched and you can easily remove the skin. 2 of the tomatoes I used to make a paste and other 2 I finely chopped. Also chopped some capiscum.
Take a kadai, heat oil, add garlic, saute, add capsicum and chopped tomatoes. After few minutes add the tomato paste. Cover with lid and let it ccok 15-20 minutes till all tomatoes are well cooked. Add salt, a little sugar, add some fennel powder, the herbs(oregano,marjoram and basil), a little pepper if required. Once it gets done to a proper consistency(not to water)switch the gas off.
To make the pizza:- Take the base which by now is grown in size in a frying pan. Spread it over the pan evenly. Over this spread the pizza sauce. Place the toppings, I put some onions,capsicum,jalapenos, spread cheese evenly, pour a few drops of olive oil. Also batter the sides of the pizza with olive oil.
Now heat it on the stove for 10 minutes, then transfer it to the oven at 450F for another 15 minutes. Once the cheese on top has become a golden brown color you know the pizza is done.

Happy Eating :)
Submitting this to the Yeastspotting event

Double ka Meetha - A Lip Smacking Dessert

When I was a kid and we were at Dehuroad I remember one day when my mom, our neighbor Saramma aunty and Pasha aunty decided to have a sort of family get together. Each was to make 2 dishes. I do not clearly remember what mummy or Saramma aunty made but Pasha aunty made this sweet dish with bread which was superb. I fell in love with it instantly and till date it is my favorite dessert. At that point I did not even know what it was called :)

Later in life while I was working at TCS Borivali, the canteen celebrates food mela where once in a month they would cook the cuisine of a state. One day it was Hyderabad and as I stood in the line for desert, my eyes gleamed as I saw the same dish that I had eaten when I was young. My eyes darted to the name plate and there it was written in bold- Double Ka Meetha.
It is named so because the dish is made from bread and in olden days bread was called double so Double ka meetha.
Anyway now that we are in US one day I decided to try this receipe.
Here is how it went:-

Ingredients-
Bread slice- cut in 2 halves(abt 8 half slices)
Oil
Sugar
Milk
Cardamon
Walnuts
Pistachios,Cashew,Raisins

In a vessel heat some oil/ghee/butter(I did not use ghee as I was health conscious)
Fry thebread pieces in them till brown. Take it out in another bowl. In the same vessel fry the nuts, once fried place them over the bread slices. In the same vessel add 2 cups of milk. Keep boiling this till it is reduces to half. Once reduced to half put some cardamon and simmer on low flame for 5 mins. In another vessel take 2 cups of water and boil. To this add 5 tbls of sugar and heat. After a time this becomes a thick browny mixture. Stop at this point. Pour the sugar syrup over the bread pieces. Pour the milk over the bread pieces. After it cools refrigerate. You can eat it warm or cold.

Right now I have no pics but will upload when I make them again. Me and Gopi eat some the same nite after dinner as I couldnt wait till the next day and remaining we kept in the fridge which got over the next day.
Truly a lip smacking dessert.

Jan19th 2009- A year later after Paarth was born

Jan 18th 2009 - (Sunday)- Tomorrow is Paarth baby's 1st birthday. How time flies . It seems like it was yesterday when he was brought out by the pretty lady nurse.

I was in the US. It was already past 12 am in India and so officialy it was his birthday.

I had decided weeks before that I would bake a cake myself for his birthday.

After checking a few receipes I decided on the Black Forest cake.

Sunday after calling home I was all set to start. 

Ingredients:-

5 eggs (seperated yellow from white in 2 sepearate bowls)

Cocoa powder

Sugar

Maida

Butter

Cream

Coke

Baking Soda

Vanilla essence

I took the egg whites in a bowl and kept stirring with a spoon them till I get a froth. This was the process that took the most time as I did not have an electric whisk, but after 30-40 minutes I got the white froth

 on top.

I seperated this in another bowl. In a seperate vessel I took the egg yellow added vanilla essence(1 drop) , half spoon melted butter and powdered sugar 5 spoons and beat them for 5 minutes. 

Now in the egg white I added this mixture and lightly mixed it 

with a spoon. 

To this I added 2.5  cups of maide and  .5 cups of cocoa powder and half spoon of baking powder. I mixed all this ingredients. Then I needed to add some cola product, as I had mountian dew at home I added half can of mountain dew to this. 

Then I took it in a butter greased cake pan and baked it at 350F for 30 mintues. Once it was done, I took it out and cooled it. 

The chocolate sponge cake was ready.

Now to make it into the Black forest 

cake. I cut this cake into 2 layers. Take some water and add sugar in it to make a sweet mixture. Sprinkle 

this on the cut chocolate layer.. Cover it with cream and strawberry. now put the other layer on top. Cover this with cream also and put dark chocolate(cut)  on top. Then I put the icing and decorated it.

After decoration it looked really yummy and so I cut the cake Wishing Paarth lots of happiness and many more birthdays to come. Luv u kissi baby.

.

I am sending this for the Just for you event.

My Wedding (March 08-09,2008)

Note: My wedding as I remember it a year later and for all my friends who could not attend :)

Jan 4th 2008(Friday): My engagement day- the D day for the wedding was fixed as March 9th(Sunday) Muhurtham 7am - 8am and reception on March8th (Saturday). I was surprised, I had never heard of having  areception before the wedding but apparantly that is how it happened in Tamil weddings as the kalyanamandap was always booked. So be it I thought :). 

Jan 28th 2008(Monday):I did my wedding shopping with my in-laws and all the relatives iat Coimbatore A pink color saree for the reception and an orange for the wedding, we went to the beautician and fixed the style etc.At night when I reached the airport to fly to Mumbai my MIL thght it was better to have the orange one for the reception and pink for the wedding and told me likewise and they would get it sorted with the beautician, so be it I thght again, off I flew to Mumbai.

Mar 1st(Saturday): I was off to my 2.5 weeks of wedding vacation. Myself and Gopi had out tickets booked from Mumbai on the 1st March for Netravati Express(10:00 am). Mom, Dad, Chechi, kuttu, Gee and Sandy had their tickets booked the same night from Pune in Poorna Express. The 1st family in AC and second in S2 compartment. Gopi was to receive his Passport that day, so morning to avoid all the trouble the postman would have to make we walked the 10 mins to the post-office. But as luck would have it the postmaster insisted that he would deliver the Passport only at the residence address. No amount of cajoling or even for that matter my marathi speaking skills put to test have any affect on the postman. We even showed him our train tickets but the man was UNMOVED. We had no choice but to go back and wait at Gopi's home for him. Finally at noon he came and delivered the Passport with much cajoling from our owner Mr Shekhar and also pocketed his 100 bucks. Now as we had misse dour train we immediately checked for availability in Poorna, luckily we got 2 tickets for that nite in the S3 compartment. Immediatley we caught the ever reliable Raj Travels and reached Pune by 10 pm and that is how finally the whole family travelled together :)

Mar3rd 2008(Monday): We reached Trichur station at 2:30 and it was pouring. We caught a taxi to go home,  left Gopi at the bus-stop and we all went home. The next few days went in shopping for gold and eating gr8 food. My relatives got me a necklace set, Chechi gave gold earrings and my uncles got me the kalyanam saree from maternal home as is custom. The wedding was in Coimbatore, we i.e(Mom,Chechi,kuttu,Amooma,Apoopan and my cousin Sreeji left for Cbe Fri afternoon itself). We had booked 2 buses for all my relatives along with Daddy who would come Sat evening for the reception stay back for Sun morning wedding and go back by noon.

Mar 7th 2008:We i.e(Mom,Chechi,kuttu,Amooma,Apoopan and my cousin Sreeji) left for Cbe Fri noon in a taxi. Initially I thought of wearing a the saree my uncles gave but later on decidedto wear that on the wedding day and wore a normal chudidhar. We had lunch at a restaurant in Palakad and reached Cbe by 4 pm. Gopi, his brother Udhay, cousin Bharati were there to receive us. They took us to the hotel that they had booked. Tonite was to be the Haldi ceremony, they asked us to get ready by 7pm and left. I was excited, I would be smeared in turmeric, I love the shine it leaves on the skin. So by 7pm we reached the kalyam mandapam. It was decorated beautifully. There were 2 rooms, 1 for the bride and 1 for the groom. I was taken to a open area and asked to sit on a stool. But unfortunately for me my to be relatives decided to make a shortcut of the ceremony or else they thought a city girl would not like getting drenched in cold haldi water, so they applied some haldi on my feet and washed it 3 times. Then I was taken to the girls room and Shantiamma put the toe-ring. After that we had dinner and then myself and Sreeji went to the beauticians place to get my mehendi done. Later we got back to the hotel for a good night's sleep.

Mar 8th 2008: Reception Day. I was asked to reach the wedding mandapam by 2 pm with the saree. So myself and Sreeji went and my parents would come later at 6pm. Now I took the orange saree as I was told by my in laws, but the beautician who came there had got all the accessories for the pink saree(apparently no one informed her is my guess) but anyways due to the confusion poor Sreeji had to go back to the hotel and get the pink saree. In the meantime my make-up process started. She did a very light make-up which was good but she tied my hair back very tight which was so not very good. By 6 pm the mandap started filling in. There were always relatives peeping in the girls room to see the bride. By 7 pm all my relatives had reached. Now I was all set to go on the stage. A big garland was got which I myself wore around my neck and was escorted on the stage by the groom's sister(cousin). Handsome groom was also next to me. Then the usual reception tradition started. Guests coming on stage...smile.....wishes.....click clikc....Next.  By 11pm most of the guests had left and I was famished with hunger. We were taken to the dining area and served.  Now many people ask me what was the best thing about my wedding and I say - the FOOD. It was the best. There was a variety of items( all vegeterian) with great taste and made of really unique things. By the time we were done all I wanted was to go and sleep and then it was that my MIL stated that the bride cannot leave the mandap, as is tradition the bride and the groom have to stay at the mandap itself, I was so not prepared for this. But as nothing could be done me and Sreeji would stay back and others went to the hotel. The bed in the mandap was creaky , the lights were on, there were mosquitos, I had to get up at 4 am in the morning for the beautician and to make things worse, the saree which my uncles gave and my mom inssited I wear it as per tradition, so I would have to get up in the morning, go to the hotel, get ready , wear the saree and come back to the mandap and no one would see me in that excpet for myself , Ugggggggh. I hate waking up in the morning :(

Mar 9th 2008(Sunday):I woke up at 4am, went to the hotel, got ready wore the saree, came back and immediately removed it as I had to get ready. I was all done by 6am. At 7am I was taken on stage by my uncle and aunty, then my uncle put the garland across my neck(some tradition), then I was taken back to my room while the groom was taken to the temple with all gana bajana. After they returned i was again taken to the stage and then the pooja followed with thali kethu and garland exchange between the bride and groom. Finally by 9am I was married :). Then the usual photo clicking session followed by some yummy breakfast. 

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