Friday, May 23, 2008

Mingling with Mango

What to make with Mango for breakfast ? :( , this question puzzled me since the day I heard WBB this month is having Mango theme.
I don't like sweet items in break fast. What else we make with mangoes? Mangoes are always sweet , unless I choose it raw.
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Thursday, May 22, 2008

Refreshing Raspberry Cooler


Weather being extremely unpredictable here.... one day we have extreme hot noon with temperature above 80 all the day, the other day its raining all over the day with 48-55 F temp all day around. Even what i see on weather channels is turning out to be incorrect :( . And I keep on switching on from chilling juices to piping hot soups...
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Wednesday, May 07, 2008

A.W.E.D. - Mexican cutlets

I posted this Mexican cutlets long back when I had Tomatoes as "Vegetable of the Week ". When Dhivya announced A.W.E.D- Mexican , I was puzzled with what should i cook, as I am not much into Mexican cooking yet. Later I thought to make some dip or salsa to be a part of her event , and then it reminded me of this already posted Mexican cutlets. I really don't have any good option than this to cook Mexican. As sweet Dhivya allowed to get already posted recipes , here is something for you Dhivya. .
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Wednesday, April 23, 2008

MBP-One pot wonders & click entry

Ever since I saw it on Trupti's blog I liked that idea very much , I made it once and now just like Aloo-Poha this another tasty version is a regular dish in my meals. I love it for its tastes and lovely yellow color :) . When I come to know about MBP theme of this month I knew what I am going to send to Pavani :) .


Here is the original recipe of Trupti's Corn Poha.

I just skipped peanuts in it this time to make a little lighter version of it. . I had this with a glass full of fresh buttermilk :) .Finally I started enjoying spring :D.

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Friday, April 11, 2008

Entry for RCI-Bengal And VoW Bitter Gourd.


This blogging things are really funny sometimes . Not funny as we cook and publish something , the funny things happens even before we start cooking . With lovely blog events going on around & searching appropriate recipe to be a part of that is little amusing for me lately :D .
I tried searching for some Bengali recipe until I get very convincing recipe that made me feel sure that it’s a sure shot Bengali not any modified version when I check the header part of that post I found that it is of Sandeepa herself ( For whose event I was searching for that recipe :D ) :O.

And recently when I tried to see if something very different than usual I can find to cook with bitter gourd the results I got was even more funny than previous case. As what I see those were the posts of food bloggers participating in VoW-bittergourd . I literally had fun seeing this and I laughed out loud alone in home , and that was another height of fun for me and afterwards feeling that I was laughing alone in the home that time it sounded even more funny to me….…
Well , that day I did really a nice favor to Google by browsing for almost 1 hour more with different search keywords to just see who is listed where :O .
Someday if you are getting bored looking at just the programming screen with green and orange colors of errors and keywords of programming language , try it to entertain yourself . Fun guaranteed 100 % , ha ha ha.

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Monday, April 07, 2008

Ghaaroda - A Pancake for Dosa Mela.

A very good morning to all of you :) Here I am with this lovely breakfast dish for you all :) . Drop in to enjoy it.
Here is one of the best dish I can make(this is so easy that anyone can make it ;) ) and a big hit in my house :~. Also whenever I shared the idea of this pancake to others, they always liked it . You know why ? Coz it is the best way to use left over rice. Take some cooked rice and Besan(chick peas flour) and some other Ingredients and thats it. It is easy to make and delicious in taste. try it for yourself ... We call it "Ghaaroda " .

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Friday, April 04, 2008

Garlic Pickle


Back in India We once purchased Garlic pickle ,as both of us like Garlic too much . But some how the taste of that that ready made pickle was such that it made me dislike Garlic for a while :( , at least when ever I saw that jar it didn't tempted me to try it again :v . When I come to hear about JFI-Garlic, immediately I thought to make this :D .
I googled for its recipe :f , but somehow I found none of them up to my liking . As I had pickle masala on hand I thought to make my own version of pickle with garlic . I added the fragrant ingredients of my liking and it turned out the best Pickle I ever had. Here is my recipe of Garlic pickle.
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Monday, March 31, 2008

Its all about how I started loving Pears :)

I admit I am not a big fan of pears but I love to include all fresh fruits in my meal or daily diets. There is no best reason than ongoing food blog events to practice that :) .

Specially when the choice is such good and healthy too. Charming lady Raaga is hosting AFAM this month with the nice choice of lovley pears. Pears - many people like it for its tastes , some for its texture and juiciness and many others love it all reasons :p .
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Monday, March 24, 2008

MBP-Drinks

After searching for a while in different blogs , my search for MBP-Mixed Drinks ended lastly with the Seema's Rose Ice cream Soda.
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Thursday, March 20, 2008

Balanced breakfast & unplanned click.


I just don't wanted to miss participating in WBB "balanced Breakfast" for this month . Mansi of Fun and Food is having this nice theme this month , which actually is easy to participate too. Balanced good nutritious food for breakfast is easy to manage when you cook less for it , instead choose to have raw items , as cooking will lessen its nutritious values . For a beans lover like me it was not a problem, but balancing it took few mins to decide what exactly I should have. And here I am , with Vitamin C enriched Orange Juice, Brown Rye Bread with little bit of pineapple jam and over night soaked Mung (green grams) with little salt and pepper sprinkled over it. Combining all these is enough to get me going till 1-2 p.m., without craving for anything more tasty. Anda perfect combination of vitamins , proteins & carbohydrates with little sugar for balanced diet too.Well I am such a huge fan of green gram that I can eat it whole day in different forms without complaining for anything :D .


Not only this, while trying to take picture for the above dish , I got this lovely pic and suddenly clicked few more shots of it , to see the result. I loved the way orange color of Jam reflects in the metal butter spoon. So here it goes to Bee& Jai for Click-Metal this month . If you are planning to click something with Metal , Don't forget that the last date for this is 30th not 31st :) .


Don't forget to vote for your favorite entry among VoW-Brinjal roundup for 3 different categories. Your vote is important to choose a well deserving candidate. Keep voting till 24th , I will publish all the vote comments on 24th March when declaring the winner, If there is no tie between 2 or more. If there is tie between 2 or more we shall keep another round of voting for that tie only. So please keep voting & also cook some Bitter gourd ;) to be a part of VoW-Bittergourd which we will celebrate up to 15th April.
Have fun around with cooking for different ongoing events , will see you in my next post ,till then be happy and keep cooking :~ Read more...

Friday, March 14, 2008

Potatoes in Yogurt Sauce

A quick spicy dish for yogurt lover Sia for her event Ode to potatoes .

Ingredients:
4-5 small potatoes boiled.
1 cup yogurt.
2 tsp oil .
1/2 tsp kitchen king masala.
1 tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp cumin seeds .
1/2 tsp turmeric powder.
salt to taste
2 tsp cumin- coriander seeds powder.

Recipe:
Remove skin from boiled potatoes and keep it aside.Let it cool then prick the potatoes with a fork . In a separate bowl mix the turmeric powder , salt yogurt and 1 cup water .beat it untill there is no lumps in the mixture. In a pan heat the oil to medium add cumin seeds to it , then carefully place the potatoes into the pan and then pour the yogurt mixture to it , while adding this turn heat to low keep it cooking on low tomedium heat for a while . Add kitchen king Masala and red chillo powder to it . cook it for a while as yougert thickens the oil portion will start floating over the curry . at this stage add cumin coriander powder and little salt if needed.Cover and cook until potatoes become tender and gravy becomes half to original size. Turn off the heat .

This curry need time to get its real taste.As you will keep it aside for 1 hour or so , the potatoes absorbs more of the tastes of gravy and tastes better. I like it better even the next day. This goes well with rice and Paratha.
Thanks Sia for lovely event , Hope you will have fun rounding it up with another plenty of lovely entry. I really enjoyed making this much forgotten dish . What better can be the time of cooking this than for you :) Read more...

Monday, March 10, 2008

Mingling of "yellow" and "one dish dinner " :) .

Let me think how to explain Khaman to someone , who has never seen and tested it.
Its a steam cooked pancake made using chickpeas flour .The final result of which is a very spongy cake , which we serve by cutting in dimond like pieces and then do a Tadka with Green chillies ,mustard seeds , curry leaves and asafoetida. Now if you dont know what the word "Tadka " means , then go through the recipe and I hope It will clear all your doubts :).
There is a nice traditional way to make this "Khaman" ( I will share it here sometime later, and then link this back to that too). Although the instant way to make it is highly recommended for novice cooks, also it make a great dish in hurry for experienced people too.
I use Gits Instant Khaman Pack to make it quickly for Zorra's event . Weekend was weird with blogger problems and my schedule too .Thanks to Zorra as she agreed to accept it if posted by today.

Ingredients :
1 pack of Gits Instant Khaman Mix.
2 tsp oil,
240 ml of water
little oil for greasing

For Tadka :
2 tsp oil,
3-4 green chillies cut into thin rings,
8-10 curry leaves (optional)
pinch of asafoetida powder
1 tsp mustard seeds ,
1 tsp sesame seeds(optional ) ,
1 tsp shredded fresh coconut (optional)

Method:
In a big bowl take 2 tsp oil, the instant khaman material and exactly 240 ml or 8 Oz. water .
Mix in all together well such as there are no lumps left in the mixture.
To make the Khaman more spongy take care to mix these all with minimum possible stirring. As this will left the bubble in the mixture which helps great to make it more spongy. Stirring too much will reduce the bubbles .
Pour this batter into a well greased backing trays. Steam cook it on high flame for 15 minutes.
I used pressure cooker and cooked it using 2 cooker pan. While using pressure cooker , remove whistle from it.
After 15 minutes low the flame and check it is cooked well to check this , insert a clean knife into it, if it comes out clear, nothing sticked to it , consider it cooked. Now take these pans out of cooker, let it cool for five minutes and cut them into diamond shapes.

Now for Tadka ,
Heat 2 tsp oil and , while hot add 1 tsp of mustard seeds and curry leaves to it , turn of the heat. add asafoetida powder mix well, If using sesame seeds and coconut then add those too and mix well together. Spread it evenly on the cut Khaman pieces and sever hot .Khaman meant to be eat as this only , still if you like try it with some chutney , it goes well that way too.
I was glad to see this final result of it , when my Khaman turned out to be more fluffy / spongy than it is shown in the picture of Gits package . This goes straight to Zorra for the celebration of Women's Day .
I bet Zorra , you can't get yellower than this :) . Thanks a lot for organizing event to celebrate womanhood , Its a great pleasure to be part of this event .

Not only this, A slight addition to this dish and a lovely dish is ready to enjoy.
Sev khamani is a famous dish originated from Surat city of Gujarat state in India.Now almost the same popular with all part of state and a very tasty dish to enjoy at any time of day. For me it goes well as light dinner dish or sometimes as a brunch .


To make Sev Khamani,
Take the Khaman, made crumbs of it and add fine Besan sev to it ,add a tsp of lime juice and garnish with coriander leaves and if you like add a little bit of spicy chutney and pomegranate seeds . While eating mix well all together.
A perfect combination of sweet , sour and spicy dish .

This favorite dish of mine now goes straight to Gorgeous Meeta for her One dish Dinner theme this month.
Thank you Meeta for hosting this, Its been pleasure to be a part of your event.

Reminder:

If you Haven't cooked anything with Brinjal /eggplant yet then still there is days left to submit it, cook it soon and submit it, and as you know you can submit something already posted too .

The last date to submit the entries for VoW - Brinjal is 15th March 2008.

For more details and rules click on the logo in the side bar. And have Happy time in your kitchen cooking eggplant :) . Read more...

Friday, February 29, 2008

Triangular Garlic Paratha and spicy suki bhaji .


When I come to know about event for "flat breads" hosted by Chili und Cibabatta , I was sure that i will participate with My triangular Paratha, here just to make it even more tasty I have added Garlic flavor to it. Just a tablespoon of Garlic and whole taste gets wonderful flavor of it. Although if you don't like garlic you can make it simple way without adding garlic to it.

Garlic Paratha( Indian Flat bread):

Ingredients:

1 cup whole wheat flour ,
salt to taste,
2-3 tsp oil,
1 tsp garlic paste,












Mix all the ingredients and Knead smooth dough like we make for roti/chapati.
It should be soft enough to make paratha fluffy and soft . While making dough first ass oil and then add some amount of warm water sufficient to make dough soft enough.
Make lemon size balls of it, use dry flour if it is sticking while rolling out, then roll out a little circle of it, spread little oil on half of it and fold it , the n again spread a little bit (just about a single drop or two ) and then fold it again, like it is shown in the pics above.
Next to make a perfect triangle of it just give it a little straight shape from open side of folded triangle ( as shown in first pic below ).











Starting from center to each corner roll out maintaining the same thickness for the whole paratha. one hot iron skillet or tava place this rolled paratha , half cook on one side and then turn it to other side , spread little oil on half cooked side and then turn it again and spread little oil on other side too , cook on medium flam till golden brown on each side . serve hot . It tastes best when accompanied with chutney , spicy curry and Dal.
It is a Regular part of our dinner and it goes well with any of other Indian gravy (check out more of it's recipes on my regular blog here ) .
This garlic flavored Indian flat bread goes to Chili and ciabatta for flat breads this month.
Being an Indian I have many options to participate with , I choose my all time favorite this one to share because of the softness and yet crispiness it has with lovely color of it.
Also check out Cumin Flat bread , which has got a great fan of it through blogging :) .

Here is One Spicy Potato curry which goes very well with it .
Call it Spicy dry curry of Potato , aloo bhaji or Bateka ni suki bhaji . It tastes so nice all the time , in earlier days I used to make it for travel purpose mainly , which is normally a little less spicy version of it. this is my little spicier version of it which I make normally while carving for some tangy food . It is such a quick dish , that it hardly takes 3-4 minutes one potatoes are boiled .
While running out of time , I choose mashed potato option of microwave and get it done in even less time .

Ingredients:
3-4 meduim sized potatoes bolied and roughly mashed ,
2-3 green chilies chopped finely,
a pinch of ginger paste ,
few curry leaves,
1 small tomato chopped finely,
1/4 tsp turmeric powder,
2-3 tsp oil.
1 tsp lemon juice and 1.2 tsp sugar (optional)

Method:
Heat oil in deep kadai or pan and while little hot add chopped chilies and curry leaves along with ginger paste to it. Add turmeric powder and immediately add roughly mashed boiled potato to it. sprinkle salt , sugar and lemon juice (optional) over it and mix it well ,cook for a minute turn of the heat. Garnish with fresh and chopped coriander leaves.
This makes a good dish for fasting days too . I just add 2 tsp of curd to it and ahhhhhhhhhh.... , for me its the best ever dish to enjoy :)) .


Now this, my all time favorite, "Bateka ni spicy suki bhaji" goes to Sia and Dk for their events An ode to Potato and Potato Fe(a)st.
Both the dish above also goes to EC for her Travel Food festival , this is the real combo we choose to take along while traveling with no worry to spoil anything with another curry with liquid gravies.. Thank you lovely ladies for hosting the events I enjoyed making me favorite food and participating with it :) . Read more...

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Pineapple Lemonade & Strawberry Slush

As you might be knowing ,that the owner of lovely blog and a dear blog friend Coffee is organizing JFI-Lime & lemon this month . With sure to get many tasty entries with sour taste I thought to send this along to her with sweet and sour taste .

Strawberry slush and Pineapple lemonade – two simple and refreshing drinks are my entry to JFI this month .


Pineapple Lemonade :

Ingredients :
1 cup pineapple cubes(tastes best with fresh cut pineapple ),
2 tsp lime/lemon juice ,
2 tsp Sugar(use according to the sweetness you like) ,
1 glass fresh water

Method:

In a mixture bowl , grind pineapple cubes to fine paste adding little water needed to grind it all smoothly. Strain it using juice strainer, in a separate bowl, take water add sugar to it , mix it till sugar dissolves and then add lime juice with pineapple juice mic well and serve , in hot days serve along with some ice.


Strawberry Slush :

Ingredients:
1 cup fresh strawberry ,
1 tsp lemon juice ,
2 tsp honey,
4-5 mint leaves (optional- it will not change the color , but will add a nice flavor to drink).

Method:

Wash and cut strawberries in to halves, take all the ingredients in to a mixture bowl, and grind them all adding a glass of water to make it juice like consistency .

When crushed to fine thin paste like, strain it using a juice strainer to a glass and serve it as you like.

With both these drinks around in summer days, I bet you will have heaven on earth :) )

Both of these drinks are the result behind the thought of creating something different for coffee’s JFI this month . See this is what blog events do to us :) , a lovely side effect of blog events Isn't it ? :)

Thank you Coffee , for choosing Lime/Lemon for JFI this month . I enjoyed making and drinking this lovely drinks, you made my summer a party now : ) ).

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