Cabbage - Broccoli Poriyal (Stir-fry)

This is one of my favorite quick and easy stir-fry dishes. Broccoli is a vegetable I started liking only recently as this was not a common vegetable in India when I was growing up. However, once I started trying dishes with this healthy vegetable, I started using it more and more in my dishes.  This is one such combo I tried just like that and it came out quite well. Hope you all like it too.

Ingredients:

• Cabbage - 1 cup (Chopped)
• Broccoli - 1/2 cup (Grated - The trick is to grate the Broccoli so the flavor is distinct).
• Onions - 1 medium
• Garlic - 2 
• G. chillies - 2
• Mustard leaves - 1 tsp
• Urad dal - 1 tsp
• Crushed Peppercorn - 1 tsp
• Asafoetida - 1/4 tsp
• Curry leaves - a few
• Shredded coconut - 2 tbsp

Procedure:

• Finely chop the onions and g.chillies. Crush the garlic and set aside.
• Heat oil in a thick bottomed pan, season with mustard seeds and Urad dal.
• Add asafoetida, g.chillies and garlic and fry for a few seconds.
• Add chopped onions and curry leaves and fry for 2 mins until onion changes color.
• Add the chopped cabbage and grated broccoli and stir fry for a min. 
• Add salt, 1/4 cup water and salt and cover in low heat until the vegetables are fully cooked.
• Increase heat and fry gently until all the water evaporates.
• Finally add coconut and mix well. 

Enjoy!

Brussel Sprouts Curry

This is one of those vegetables that is not common on dinner tables. Many times, I had stopped and explored this vegetable in grocery stores, but had no idea about what to do with these. Surprisingly, when mom visited us a few years back, she was excited to see this vegetable in a local grocery store  and she immediately bought and prepared a traditional Kurma out of this. Until then, I didn't know it could taste so good with Indian spices. I think this vegetable has a bad reputation among kids since it becomes slightly bitter when overcooked. The best way to cook these are either roast them in an oven with olive oil and mild spices or make a mild curry out of it without overcooking. Over time, I’ve done everything from sautéing just the brussel sprout leaves to lightly preparing a curry with mild spices for rotis and rice. This curry is a fantastic recipe with a very different flavor and goes very well with rotis.

  

Ingredients:

• Brussel Sprouts - 1 pound
• Red Onion - 1 medium sized
• Curry leaves - a few
• Asaefotida - 1 pinch
• R.Chilly - 1
• Garlic - 1small pod
• Tomatoes - chopped - 1/2 cup
• Tomato Puree - 2 tbsp
• Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
• Corriander powder - 2 tsp
• Turmeric - 1/4 tsp
• Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
• Fenugreek seeds - 1/4 tsp

Procedure:

• Take the brussel sprouts, cut the hard parts on the tip and remove the top leaves that are loose. Wash them thoroughly and cut them into 2 or 4 pieces depending on the size.
• Chop the onions, garlic and tomato finely
• Heat oil in a wide pan, season with mustard, fenugreek seeds, asafoetida and curry leaves.
• Break the red chilly into two pieces and add to the seasoning.
• Add the chopped garlic and fry in low heat for a few secs.
• Add the chopped onions, salt and fry for a min or two.
• Add the chopped tomatoes, turmeric, chilli and corriander powders and fry well for a few mins until the tomatoes lose shape.
• Add the tomato puree, mix well and cover for a few mins.
• Once the spices are cooked well, add the brussel sprouts and mix well until the spice mixture is completed coated on the sprouts.
• Cover and cook for 12-15 mins, stirring them frequently.
• If required add some water to help the sprouts cook well. (Remember the key is not to overcook the sprouts. Just cook them until they are soft and still retain their shape).
• Cook until the water is fully evaporated and everything comes together well.
• Remove from heat, serve hot with Rotis.

Enjoy!

Baingan Bartha (Smoked eggplant cooked with spices)

Baingan Bartha or Baingan ka Bartha is another popular side dish for Rotis/Chapatis in North India. One of my favorite dishes too. The authentic recipe suggests roasting the eggplant in Tandoori oven. Alternatively, the eggplants could also be roasted in many other ways like gas/charcoal grill, stove top direct flame, conventional oven or microwave oven. Believe it or not, I even tried this in pressure cooker once, and it came out quite well. I like it when I bake it in oven and hence usually plan a bit ahead while making this dish.

 I learned this from a friend who used to prepare this during our camping trips with lots of patience. It comes out delicious when grilled in charcoal or gas grill. This is a perfect dish when you have that extra time to grill the eggplants while chit-chatting with your family or friends during camping or on a backyard patio and munching some snacks. I have tried this in various ways, but can't replicate my friend's dish thats usually grilled. It carries a unique flavor. I also realized that once the eggplants are grilled, carefully mashing them also adds taste. The mild taste of onions and tomatoes spiced up with chilli and cumin powders give the perfect combination for eggplant.

If you are an eggplant lover, one more recipe to try in the line.

Ingredients:

• Large eggplant - 1
• Finely chopped onions - 1/2 cup
• Finely chopped g.chillies - 1 tbsp
• Finely chopped garlic - 1 tbsp
• Finely chopped tomatoes - 1/2 cup
• Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
• Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
• Corriander powder - 2 tsp
• Cumin powder - 1 tsp
• Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
• Corriander leaves - to garnish

Procedure:

• Wash the eggplant, rub olive oil on it and bake in a tray for 30 - 40 mins in 350 degrees. The skin should be well shrinked and inserting a knife into the eggplant should be easy.
• Meanwhile finely chop the onions, g.chillies, garlic and tomatoes. Set aside.
• Remove the eggplant from the oven, remove the stem portion, peel off the skin.  Carefully mash the eggplant with a ladle as it will be too hot. You can aslo let it cool and mash it using hand. I prefer hand just to make sure its completely mashed.
• Add salt to the mashed eggplant, mix well and set aside.
• Heat oil in a wide pan. Season with cumin seeds. Add chopped g.chillies and garlic and fry for a min. Add onions and fry until it changes color.
• Add all the spice powders and fry for a few mins in medium heat.
• Finally add mashed eggplant and tomatoes together. Mix well, cover and cook for a few mins.
• Add chopped corriander leaves and fry until the mixture becomes thick and comes together.

Delicious Baingan Bartha is ready!

  

Cabbage and Egg Stir-fry - A Simple Combo

Cabbage used to be one of my least favorite vegetables in my childhood. To me it was a stinky vegetable with no taste. As I grew, my taste buds changed and I started loving cabbage - even a plain steamed cabbage with salt is sufficient for me to enjoy this vegetable nowadays. As I started trying new dishes, I learned quite a few interesting variations with cabbage.

Here is a yummy variation - Cabbage stir fried with eggs.  Mom makes this often and it tastes yummy when she makes it as usual. This is the only recipe with cabbage my daughter loves too. Otherwise, she wrinkles
 her nose at the mere mention if this vegetable and she comes up with a myriad of excuses to not eat it. When combined with egg, it gives a different flavor and makes it quite different.

Stuffed Okras

Happy New Year Everyone! Hope you all had a great holiday season. Like many people, I am not good at keeping up New year resolutions. They are easy to make, but not easy to keep. I recently read that a study shows that the average time most people stick to their New Year’s Resolution is one month. I am one of them. I have tried and given up now. These days, I tend to make commitments anytime in the year, when I really have the spirit to do it. And my simple solution to keep up with commitments is lowering the bar - I try to set realistic goals, yet demanding goals - something that can still give me a satisfaction of Mission accomplished!

With that being said, I certainly do have some things I would like to get better at in 2012. The first and foremost is "Post more often"! I started my previous year with the same goal and have not been good in keeping up with it :) However this year it is more realistic since I will be done with my school in a few months and certainly looking forward to get back my time to do my favorite things. The second one is "Eat a healthy breakfast". I'm not a breakfast person. Except in the weekends and when I am on vacation, I don't really eat breakfast. Although I've started practicing the habit of eating breakfast since last September, I would like to get regular at it and making it more healthier is this year's goal - probably a step ahead. Hoping to keep up with these two as much as I can.

About this recipe, this recipe is adapted from a cookbook. I made it a while back and tweaked a little bit to suit my taste. Okra is something that I get fresh many times during the week in my local grocery store. If I have the patience, I end up collecting fairly tender ones during my visits, although not always - especially when the store is crowded and 3 people plunging their hands into the box at the sametime to get the Okras. I do not prefer shopping during busy times and hate making my way through the aisles when it is crowded. So, I shop when it is dead. One quiet day, I was lucky to see the store keeper dumping some fresh okras in the box right in front of me and obviously I bought a few pounds. This dish came out so good with those tender okras. Definitely worth a try.

Ingredients:

• Fresh tender Okras - 15 numbers


• Chilli powder - 1 tsp


• Corriander powder - 2 tsp


• Turmeric - 1/4 tsp


• Dry Mango powder - 1/2 tsp


• Garam Masala - 1/2 tsp (optional)


• Peanut Powder (finely powdered) - 2 tbsps


• Ginger / Garlic paste - 1 tbsp


• Tomato Ketchup - 1 tsp


• Tomatoes - 1 medium (finely chopped)


• Cumin seeds - 1 tsp


• Olive oil - 2 tbsp


• Corriander leaves - chopped -a handfull


• Salt - as required

Procedure:

• Wash the okras, pat dry with a paper towel. Remove the front and back parts. Set aside.


• Take a large flat pan, preferably non-stick and heat 2 tsp of oil. Add the full okras and give it a quick toss for 2 -3 mins on high heat. Keep stir-frying continuosly until you see a few brown spots on the okras. Remove from heat and cool for 5 mins.


• Meanwhile to prepare the stuffing, mix all the spice powders above with tomato ketchup and salt to a smooth paste. You can add a few drops of water if needed. The paste should be thick and should stay intact within the okras when stuffed.


• Slit the Okras in the middle, but not fully. Take a okra, fill it with the paste, tightly close it and wipe off the extra paste outside. You can use a small flat dinner knife if that helps.


• Repeat this for all okras and set aside.


• Heat the remaining oil in the pan, season with cumin seeds. Once they splutter, add the ginger garlic paste and fry for a min. Then add chopped tomatoes and fry until they become a paste.


• Add the stuffed okras and add the remaining stuffing, if any. Give it a good slow stir and and spread the okras individually throughout the pan.


• Cook in low heat until the okras are fully cooked. Takes about 20 mins. Keep stirring often every few mins. When done, season with Corriander leaves.

You now have another great side dish for rotis!

Jeera Aloo - Cumin roasted potatoes

I don't know why, but I've been craving for comfort food lately. All I wanted to eat for the last few days was some curd rice with roasted potatoes. That pleases my taste buds and tummy immensely. Especially, I love potatoes in any form. I had a long week and was tired when I came home today. I was feeling lazy to cook, and neither was in a mood to go out for dinner. Since its almost end of the week, I didn't have much stuff in the fridge too except a few baby potatoes.

I bought these potatoes last week when I was roaming around in a grocery store to kill some time while waiting for my daughter's dance class to get over. With my craving for comfort food at its peak, I can't help buying a few pounds of these cute little red baby potatoes. Its been lying in my fridge just because I didn't know what to do with them. After peeking at my recipe list and after a long debate whether to make Dum-aloo or Jeera Aloo, today I settled with Jeera aloo, merely because it was easy to make. Jeera aloo has been in my to-try list for a long time. I know its such a common and popular recipe in many house holds, but yes you read it right, I'm trying it for the first time. It came out delicious as expected.

Ingredients:

• Baby potatoes - 12



• Cumin Seeds - 2 tsp



• Cumin powder - 1 tsp



• Corriander seeds - 2 tsp



• Turmeric - 1/4 tsp



• Chilli Powder - 1 tsp



• Curry leaves - a few

Procedure

• Pressure cook the potatoes, peel the skin and leave them aside. If they are a little big in size, you can cut them into half. The pieces should be a bit bigger.



• Heat a pan, roast the cumin powder without oil and remove separately.



• In the same pan, roast the corriander seeds and grind them coarsely. No need to powder them too fine.



• Heat oil (a bit extra than usual) and season with Cumin seeds and curry leaves. Add the potatoes, Chilli, turmeric, corriander and cumin powders, salt and mix well.



• Cover and cook for 5 mins in low heat. Now increase the heat and roast them until they turn into a nice brown color.

Ultimate combination with curd rice :)

Cauliflower Paneer Burji (Stir-fry)

Here is yet another yummy cauliflower dish. Have you ever heard about Paneer and cauliflower combo? It sounded new to me when I came across this recipe in Tarla Dalal's recipe book. Probably its just my ignorance but I thought this was a less popular combo. I know any paneer fans out there will like this recipe. And anyone like me who is a cauliflower fan will double like it! As mentioned in my previous post, if I had to name my favorite vegetable, cauliflower would be somewhere top in my list. Somehow the delicate taste and intricate florets make me fall for it. So, when I came across this recipe, I knew I would like it no matter how I make it. I did a few modifications from what I saw in the recipe book to suit my taste. Hope you all like it too.

Ingredients

Cauliflower - 1 medium
Paneer - 1 cup (grated)
Onions - chopped finely - 1/2 cup
G.chillies - 2 chopped finely
Ginger and garlic paste - 1 tbsp
Tomato - 1 small
Cumin seeds - 2 tsp
Chilli Powder - 1 tsp
Corriander Powder - 2 tsp
Garam Masala - 1 tsp
Amchur powder (optional) - 1/2 tsp
Kasoori methi (crushed) - 1 tsp
Corriander leaves to garnish

Procedure:
1. Wash the cauliflower florets thoroughly and grate them finely (I usually grate it through a food processor and just takes 5 mins). Set aside.
2. Grate the paneer and set aside. (Use food processor if you have one).
3. Chop the onions, g.chillies and tomatoes very finely. This brings a nice texture to the dish.
4. Heat oil in large shallow pan. Season with Cumin seeds. Once they splutter add the ginger garlic paste and fry for a min.
5. Add onions, fry until they are soft.
6. Add tomotoes, all the spice powders (except kasoori methi) and fry in low heat for about 5 mins.
7. Add grated cauliflower and salt, mix well and cover in low heat for about 5 mins. They get cooked fast as they are grated.
8. Increase the heat, add grated Paneer, Kasoori Methi and keep stir-frying in high heat for about 3 - 5mins.
9. Add corriander leaves and fry for another min or so.

Remove from heat immediately.

Cauliflower Stir-Fry in 3 easy steps

My fridge always has cauliflower as its one of our all time favorite veggies and its available all year round. Its delightfully fragrant even when tossed with just mild spices. Its disappointing when I hardly find any cauliflower items in an Indian restaurant's menu except Aloo gobi and sometimes Gobi Manchurian. I do try quite a few gravy dishes with cauli, but this one is our most favorite Cauli dish. After getting used to the salads , I now even enjoy them raw. I just love the sculptural beauty itself. But it was saddening when I read recently that newspapers are now reporting that cauliflower has joined the list of least-loved and the sales have also slumped down - because people think its difficult to cook and less interesting when compared to broccoli. I thought that was strange because I think it is a wonderful vegetable and can produce great culinary effects.

Here is a quick and easy recipe with cauliflower. Drizzle some oil, throw in the cauliflower along with salt and a tsp of chilli and corriander powders. Cook in low heat, then raise the heat until brown. There you go! Delicious cauliflower stir-fry is ready. Really, thats all you need to do. Tastes awesome with Rotis as well as any rice dish.

Ingredients:

• Cauliflower florets - 3 cups


• Chilli powder - 3/4 tsp


• Corriander powder - 1.5 tsp


• Oil


• Salt

Procedure

• Heat oil in a wide non-stick pan. Toss in all the ingredients together and fry until they are mixed well.


• Add about 3 tbsp of water and cover in low heat until cooked. Open and stir-fry once in a while.


• When fully cooked, raise the heat, add 1 tbsp oil and fry until they are browned.

I enjoy this best with rotis.

Spicy Avarakkai (Broad Beans) Fry

Up until a few years ago, Avarakkai (Indian Broad Beans) was not in my favorite list of vegetables. There are some vegetables that I used to take it for granted while growing up - the vegetables that I used to see cooked regularly at households. Beans, Avarakkai, Brinjal etc are few of them (Potatoes are exceptions!). Plainly, a simple poriyal (stir-fry) of any vegetable seemed to be so ordinary and did not excite me. So, when I moved to the US, I did not miss those vegetables much. With the years passing by, I had developed a true interest in dining out and exploring variety of cuisines - to learn about new spices, new cooking methods and mainly, to get a break from the kitchen. In fact, I had forgotten about those traditional vegetables altogether. Also, I loved the fact that I found some of my favorite vegetables in abundance here. Cauliflower, beets, Green Peas, Mushrooms enthuse me to cook often.

Well, that all changed after a few years and I started relishing all those simple yet flavorful vegetable dishes all of a sudden. Whenever I visited India for vacation, those vibrant traditional home-made vegetable recipes sparked my liking towards them and I realized nothing can beat this traditional taste. Now, any poriyal is my my favorite and avarakkai poriyal is my first choice! I must say, nothing will never replace the taste of a homemade traditional meal. Thankfully, some of the local Indian groceries here sell these wonderful vegetables on a regular basis. This recipe has a vibrant flavor, and best of all, an easy recipe anyone can make it. Its simple taste practically goes with anything.

Ingredients:

Avarakkai (Indian Broad beans) - chopped - 2 cups

Onions - chopped - 1/2 cup (1 small sized onion chopped)

Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

Corriander seeds - 2 tsps

Black Pepper corns - 1 tsp

Red Chilly - 1

Fresh shredded Coconut - 2 tbsps (optional). If you don't have coconut you can use 4 or 5 cashewnuts.

Mustard seeds - 1 tsp

Urad Dal - 1 tsp

Curry Leaves - a hand full.

Procedure:

Grind the coconut, corriander seeds, pepper corn and red chilly to a fine paste, by adding a little water. Set aside.

Heat oil in a pan, season with mustard seeds, urad dal and curry leaves.

Once they splatter, add chopped onions and fry for a few mins until onions are well fried.

Add chopped avarakkai, turmeric, salt and fry for a min. Add some water, cover and cook in low heat until the vegetable is tender.

Now add the paste and mix it well. Simmer and let it boil for a few more mins.

Increase the heat and stir until the mixture becomes thicker and dark colored (roasted).

Serve hot with Rice and Dal.

Mushrooms and Okras Stir-fry

Another long and busy month and I'm realizing that I have not posted anything for weeks now! I wonder if there comes a time when you automatically tend to push your blogging aside because of certain other things taking priority in your schedule. No, I'm not telling that I have come to that stage, and I don't see myself ever doing so, but was surprised to learn that I'm at a point where I'm regularly late with my posts after my summer break. Ever since school started for my daughter, I've been postponing all my other activities just to make sure she comfortably settles well with her routine. Actually my morning rat-race hasn't been that bad so far. She's been waking up on time as she is still excited about her 2nd grade. She is prompt in getting ready and finishing her breakfast too, and we've been consistently ready about 10 mins earlier than usual! I hope this excitement continues in her for some more time. Generally she likes school, except waking up early on those cold winter mornings, which I'm sure all of us hate anyway.

With time crunch, cooking also took a step back in my kitchen for the past few weeks. We had boringly repetitive meals, though how much ever harder I tried to be creative in the kitchen. But I was also waiting for last weekend to get organized and set-up my refrigerator and pantry, which I thought may trigger my interest to cook something elaborate in the weekend. Well, I finally spent a couple of hours in re-arranging my pantry over the weekend, which was one of my long pending tasks. As I arranged my pantry, I started unveiling those unused spices I had brought from India. That sense of guilt in not using them for such a long sparked the vigor in me to get productive in the kitchen. In the next few mins, I started to browse my cookbook to figure out an easy and tasty dish, especially using Okras.

Okra is the most prolific plant I managed to grow in my mini vegetable garden this year. I initially thought it would die as the growth was slow, but suddenly one fine morning, I saw several new flower buds popping! Aah that was so exciting! Since then its been a pleasure watching it grow. Now I have a few pounds of okras in my refregirator. I obviously wanted to make something good with my okras. This is a dish I found in my cookbook, I've no idea when I wrote this recipe in my cookbook. I liked it because it was just easy to make! This is the first time I'm making it, and was a big hit in our house.

Ingredients:

• Chopped mushrooms - 2 cups
• Okras - 10 to 12, medium sized
• Onions - chopped (1 cup)
• Garlic - 3 medium cloves (finely chopped)
• Mint leaves - 10
• Corriander leaves - 1/2 cup (chopped)
• Chilli powder - 1 tsp
• Corriander powder - 2 tsp
• Garam Masala - 1 tsp
• Mustard and Cumin seeds - 1 tsp each

Procedure:

• Wash & dry the okras, and then cut them in round slices (should not be too thin).
• Slice the mushrooms and set aside.
  Heat oil in a pan, season with mustard and cumin seeds.
• Add finely chopped onions and garlic, fry for 2 - 3 mins.
• Add the mint and corriander leaves, fry for a few seconds.
• Add the okras and stir-fry in low heat for about 3-5 mins, until the stickiness is almost gone.
• Now add the spice powders , mushrooms and salt and mix well.
• Cover in low heat until the mushrooms become soft.
• Then increase the heat, stir-fry until its roasted well and you get a nice brown color.

Goes well with anything as a great side-dish. I enjoy this with Rice and Dal!

Quick recipes - for busy days

I've been so behind in participating in any cooking-events lately. The moment I see an event announcement, I get all geared up and enthusiastic about participating, but my energy plunges down like a torn balloon as days go by. And by the time I realize, its already too late to contribute. This has become my habit in the last several months. I'm sure I missed quite a few interesting events that I could have contributed. So, now I'm into this resolution mood of participating in all cooking events, ok - atleast as much as I can, from now on. Don't know how long this energy will last, but atleast wanted to try.

So, after browsing through some of the great events hosted by some great bloggers, I started sorting by the end date and I noticed Mahimaa's 15 min cooking event is nearing its deadline. Ever since I saw her announcement, I've been thinking about participating in her event, because quick-meals are my preferred meals! So this was a perfect come back for me! But as usual I was delaying for no reason. Finally I'm all set to join the event! Thanks Mahimaa, for hosting this event! Here are some of the easy recipes that can be put together in a few minutes.

Purple Shake!

A perfect summer time shake with vibrant grape flavours and frozen yogurt. Long back I tasted Grape Milk Shake in a restaurant and fell for it right away. I thought the combination was quite unique and best of all, I loved the color. Since then, I've been making it at home. But the recipe has undergone some evolution and has now become a low-calorie version, but still offers the same great taste!

Ingredients (for 2 glasses):

• Grape Concentrate (Frozen/Undiluted) - 3 tbsp
• Vanilla Frozen Yogurt (non-fat) - 1 cup
• Water - 1/2 cup
• Low fat milk - 1 cup
• Lemon juice - 1 tsp (optional)

Procedure:

• Run all the ingredients in a blender or food processor until they form a nice frozen mixture. Serve immediately in glasses, topped with a scoop of frozen yogurt.

Corriander leaves with Gram flour - A different side dish!

Fresh herbs are a wonder to cook with! Nothing can beat the fresh smelling corriander leaves and their nice zingy color! Given a chance, I would add them to anything I cook. This dish is a dish that contains corriander leaves as the main vegetable iteslf! Quite an interesting recipe that I learnt from my friend, and have been a fan of this dish ever since I tasted it for the first time from her lunch box! After trying a few times I think I'm getting better in matching her taste. The key is to add the right amount of gram flour (besan). A very simple, yet tasty dish.

Ingredients:

• Chopped corriander leaves - 2 cups
• Garlic - 2 small pods
• Chilli Powder - 1/2 tsp
• Gram Flour - 1/2 cup
• Cumin seeds - 1 tsp

Procedure:

• Chop the corriander leaves and garlic finely. I run both of them together in a food processor for a few mins.
• Heat oil in a pan, season with cumin seeds. Once they pop, add chilli powder and salt in the oil. After a few seconds, add the corriander leaves and garlic and mix well.
• Add salt, cover and cook for 2-3 mins. Do not add water.
• Increase the heat, and add gram flour in batches until the mixture becomes without moisture. Don't add too much flour, or it may spoil the taste. I hope the picture gives an idea on the consistency.

Serve hot with Rice / Rotis.

Sweet and Spicy Pumpkin Curry

Another of those quick and easy ones that I learnt from my same friend! Again, my first encounter with this dish was from her lunch-box and I've now made it quite a few times. I love pumpkin especially in a sweet form. This is a little different and I love the combination of Sweet and Spicy flavors.

Ingredients:

• Pumpkin - 2 cups (cut into cubes)
• Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
• Fenugreek seeds - 1/4 tsp
• Chilli Powder - 1/2 tsp
• Garam Masala - 1/2 tsp
• Jaggery - 2 tbsp

Procedure:

• Heat oil in a pan, season with mustard and fenugreek seeds.
• Add the pumpkin cubes, chilli powder, garam masala and salt.
• Cover and cook for 5 - 7 mins. Pumpkins usually cook faster and release lots of moisture. So, don't add water.
• Add the jaggery and cover for a couple more mins. Increase the heat and stir periodically until the water completely evaporates and pumpkins are soft and tender.

I enjoy this with Rice and Sambar.

Spicy Green Buttermilk

Its summer time and I can't ignore buttermilk! I made this over the weekend after a tiring day. If you are a spice lover, this buttermilk version is for you. Ofcourse, you can also make a less spicy version of the same recipe, by altering the spices. I enjoy it as medium spicy.

Ingredients:

• Curd / Yogurt - 1 cup
• Water - 3 cups
• Cumin powder - 1/4 tsp
• Asafoetida - 2 pinches
• Ginger - 1 inch
• G.chillies - 2 small
• Curry leaves - 3
• Corriander leaves - 1 tbsp (chopped)
• Salt - as required.

Procedure:

• Grind everything together in a blender except the curd. You can add some water to make it a smooth paste.
• Then add the curd, remaining water and blend for a few mins.
• Serve chilled, garnished with curry leaves.
  

All these entries go to Mahimaa's 15 min cooking event and EC's WYF - Quick Meal event.

Mom's Green Cauliflower Masala - A Mother's Day Special!

A mother always has to think twice, once for herself and once for her child.

- Sophia Loren, Women and Beauty

I'm dedicating this post to my Mom for Mother's Day! There have been a few random thoughts floating around in my head for the last few days, whenever I thought about Mother's day. Those thoughts were mainly about my mom and on what to gift her for Mother's day. The more I thought about it, the more I decided to come up with something original. And then a couple of days back, as I was driving to work, I slowly started wondering why not for this mother's day I dedicate a post for her! Though all mothers deserve recognition and appreciation throughout the year, I thought when there is one such special day created called Mother's day completely dedicated to mothers, I should use this opportunity to write a special post for my mom and make her Speciality-dish to let her know that she is special today! So, this is going be a long post :)

I read this quote somewhere - The moment a child is born, a mother is also born! I undeniably think that a mother's qualities are already built inside a woman, but comes out only when she becomes a mother. From then on, her role of motherhood becomes everlasting. I think mothers make the greatest impact in our lives, especially in girls' lives. No matter how "grown-up" we all claim to be, there is always something that we learn from our mothers in every stage. I'm a mother now, and I can understand how much hard work and dedication is required to raise a family. I've also learnt that being a mother never gets easier, but it just gets different in every stage! Things that didn't make sense a while back, make sense to me now. In today's fast paced world, in spite of having everything that I need in my finger-tips today, and having so many amenities all around me like Cell phones, Internet, Car etc., raising my only child has been a challenge for me everyday. And, I always get amazed how my mom was able to bring-up four kids those days without complaints! She has incredible patience with kids and is a very good listener - she's never tired of listening to our ramblings and daily musings, a good friend to all of us - yet strict when needed! Most of all, she takes interest in our individual activities - whether its education or career, music or dance , cooking or shopping, or even when we have nothing else to do but chit-chat! She's been a part of everything. Even now, she continuously encourages me to sign-up for music, dance and meditation classes that I left back as child. I think she still watches her middle-aged children for signs of improvement :)

As I type this post, I'm able to recall all her special qualities. My mom has this great determination and inner-strength that makes her very special to all of us within our family. We 4 sisters are hardly 2 to 3 years apart in age, and we all of us pretty much grew up together demanding attention simultaneously. Its amazing when I think how she managed during some of those hard-hitting days when we used to fall sick one after the other, when we all had exams around the same time, and when we relocated frequently due to dad's official demands. To me, taking care of our individual health and education needs, managing the household, while giving the same amount of attention to all of us, is too much to handle. But she did it without flaws and I've often heard her say that she never ever had any regrets in her life that she had to bring-up four girls with very little help and I've always admired her perseverance! This is one thing that I think all mothers need to possess. Oh, I have to share this! My mom is very good looking! We all have heard countless compliments from friends and relatives while growing up and those compliments continue till date :) She is very fair, slim and looks much younger for her age. Believe me, she was named as her college's "Beauty Queen" during one of her college years! She still has her annual magazine that has her name and title :)

Now we all sisters are well educated and established, and have taken different directions in our lives. But I'm sure we all still think about her in the back of our minds and try following her foot-steps in our day-to-day lives knowingly and unknowingly. I'm sure she had given up many things for herself, to make us become who we are now. But after saying all these great qualities of my mom, I'm asking to myself - Do I have all of her qualities ? Frankly, not all of them. I still have a long way to go in some aspects, but I'm also getting better in some aspects. As I work on it everyday, I have a big hope to become a great mother like her one day!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY TO YOU AMMA AND TO ALL MOTHERS!

Moving to the recipe, today I made this Green cauliflower Curry that is Mom's speciality. Honestly, I've not tasted this dish anywhere else till date. When I think about some dishes that has mom's special touches, this one stands-out for sure. It has an incredible flavour and tastes quite unique than other cauliflower dishes. This is an ideal dish if you are looking for a change from your regular gobi sabjis for Rotis. Green , luscious and the fresh corriander flavor is the highlight in this dish. Hope you all like it too!

Ingredients:

• Cauliflower - 1 medium flower
• Onion - 1 medium (chopped finely)
• Shredded Coconut - 4 tbsp
• Green Chillies - 4 small
• Fennel seeds - 2 tsp
• Garlic - 1 pod
• Curry leaves - about 10 leaves
• Corriander leaves - 1/2 cup (chopped)
• Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp

Procedure:

• Cut/break the cauliflower into medium size florets and wash them thoroughly.
• Make the following to a smooth paste - Coconut, 1 tbsp of the chopped onions, garlic, curry leaves, corriander leaves, fennel seeds and G.chillies. Set aside.
• In a large pan, heat oil and season with cumin seeds. Now add the remaining chopped onions and fry in high heat for 2 mins.
• Add the cauliflower and fry for 4 - 5 mins in high heat. Add the paste, salt and 1 cup water and mix well.
• Cover and cook in low heat for 10 mins or until the cauliflower is completely cooked. Increase the heat and saute until it becomes thick.

Serve hot with Rotis or Rice.

Spicy Green Beans with Sesame Seeds - Comfort food at its best!

Every once in a while, I crave for something that I've not eaten in a long time. It doesn't matter what it ends up to be - It could be a dish that mom makes, or a dish that I ate at my friend's place or something that I relished during a dinner at a restaurant. Sometimes, strangely it could even just bring back memories about my vacation somewhere! But once that craving is planted in me, it will ignite and will keep growing until I get that tang of it. Sometimes we end-up hunting for that restaurant that we visited long ago, or sometimes I cook it myself no matter how busy I am. Its that certain thing that sticks in my memory that I can't seem to forget when I crave for it. It may sound ridiculous, but any food lover's craving is very similar to what I said.

This is one such dish that I started having a craving for, since last week. I used to make it often a while back, but don't know why I suddenly discontinued! But after spotting fresh green beans often in my local grocery, I started longing for this spicy dish! I just couldn't resist picking some of them last weekend. How can I not? I had to hunt back for the recipe in my notes and finally made it today!

From a former green beans hater, to making many dishes nowadays with green beans is quite a significant progress for me. I was never fond of green beans. Call me unsophisticated, but I never liked its flavor and texture especially when in its crunchy. Back in India, the only recipe that I am familiar with green beans is the "poriyal". That according to me, in those days, was so bland and lethargic that it didn't attract me. So I lived in ignorance, unaware of the pleasure this vegetable offers when its made spicy! Now I am a convert. Spicy green beans is one of my favourites now. Especially when I make it this way with sesame seeds, its a pleasure to taste it! Pair it with Rice and sambar, its a fulfilling menu! Its interesting to me, the fact that, with just a little thought, and a touch here and there, a basic vegetable can become something exciting!

Ingredients:

• Green Beans - chopped to 2 inch pieces - 3 cups
• Onions - 1 medium
• Garlic - 3 cloves
• White or Black Sesame seeds - 1 tbsp
• Chilli powder - 1 tsp
• Garam masala - 1 tsp
• Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
• Sesame seeds - 1 tsp (for seasoning)

Procedure:

• Boil the chopped green beans with salt until its 3/4 th cooked.
• Dry roast the sesame seeds until they turn golden brown. Blend them together with chilli powder and salt to a fine powder. Set aside.
• Heat oil in a pan, season with cumin seeds and sesame seeds.
• Fry chopped onions and chopped garlic and saute for 3 mins.
• Now add the cooked beans and increase the heat until the water completely evaporates.
• Add the sesame seeds powder, mix well, cover and cook for 5 mins.
• Once the beans are fully cooked, add the garam masala, saute for a couple of mins, or until the mixture is fully dry.

Serve hot with Rotis or Rice.

Spicy Drumsticks & Brinjal Curry

Even Spring is not fully here yet, and I can't wait for summer already! I've already started dreaming about our camping trips and beach days, but those still seem to be a looong wait for me. I hate this in-the-middle-of weather, when it seems to be Spring, but not really. My sweaters make frequent visits to my storage box, but also come out with same frequency! Weather keeps fluctuating a lot. Mornings are colder while I cover myself with coats, and the afternoon becomes really warm or vice-versa. And I also get torn between my sandals and shoes.

Alright, without much ramblings today, I'll move on to this recipe. Someone asked me the other day, what was my favorite vegetable during my younger years. Being from India, like many of us, I was stuck with plenty of choices. Obviously, Indian cooking deals with abundant vegetables resulting in a profuse selection of vegetarian dishes. But one thing that stood unique as I thought about it more, was Drumstick! It doesn't take much to please me - Give me a bowl of rice and any drumstick dish, I will be delighted! I'm sure many of you enjoy this vegetable like me! I absolutely drool and enjoy fresh made sambar with drumsticks! Thats a killer for me. I love to scrape off that tender pulpy flesh and enjoy it. More than taste, its fun to eat this vegetable!

This is another of those traditional handed-down-from-mom recipes. But I can't seem to duplicate her taste, and lack that extra whiff that I usually find in her dish. Well, I'm sure it came out pretty well, but my mind automatically seems to compare with hers, everytime I make this. Though this is a tropical vegetable, I make this vegetable round the year, because I do get frozen drumsticks here, and thats the only version I get here :-( Even in severe winter, cooking this vegetable brings summer into my home, because I've grown up eating this vegetable in a warmer weather.

As usual, pretty basic ingredients and not so complicated recipe.

Ingredients:

• Drumsticks - 2
• Indian Eggplants (smaller ones) - 6
• Onions - 2 medium (divided)
• Tomato - 1 medium
• Chilli powder - 1 tsp
• Cumin powder - 1 tsp
• Turmeric - a few pinches
• G.Chillies - 2
• Fennel seeds - 1 tsp

For the paste:

• Ginger/Garlic Paste - 2 tsp
• Cinnamon - 1 inch
• Cloves - 2
• Fennel seeds - 1 tsp
• Shredded Coconut - 3 tbsp

Procedure:

• Pressure cook together the following for 2 whistles (depends on your pressure cooker) - Chopped Drumsticks, Chopped Brinjals, 1 medium onion (chopped), chopped tomatoes, chilli powder, turmeric and cumin powder and salt.
• Note: You can also use Japanese eggplants instead of Indian Brinjals. But do not pressure cook them, you can chop and fry them separately with 2 tsp oil and cover it for 10 mins until almost cooked. Then add in the curry at the final stage.
• Make a smooth paste of the above mentioned ingredients for the paste. Set aside.
• Heat oil in a pan, season with fennel seeds. Once they turn golden brown, add the remaining Onions and then the Green chillies. Cook for some time until the onions turn color.
• Now add the pressure cooked ingredients. Increase the heat and then add the paste. Fry and let the mixture boil until the water is almost evaporated.
• Now, turn the heat to medium and slow fry for 5 more mins until you get a nice colored thick curry.

Tawa Paneer

As much as I love to cook, I love to laze around as well. Last week was one of the weeks I hardly cooked anything. Not that I had no time or my routine was unusal. But just didn't feel like spending more time in the kitchen. Well, somehow I was managing with some quick and easy comfort food to feed our hungry stomachs. But then today, while I went to drop my daughter for her music class, I could smell this delicious spicy curry from someone's house! Usually my nose is very adept at recognizing my favorite food from a distance, but today I couldn't. I'm still debating if it was chicken or potatoes :) Well, thanks to whoever was making it, that aroma triggered me to make something good in the kitchen today!

With not much left in the fridge, I decided to make this warm, simple and flavorful paneer dish. As I started cooking this dish, I realized how much I was enjoying the cooking. The stirring of the onions, their roasted texture glittering beautifully from the bottom of the pan, and the seductive aroma of those spices... Hmm, I felt so great and rejuvenated! And was glad to be back into my very own kitchen world.. As silly as it sounds, it still true that I can't stay away from my kitchen for a long time :)

My daughter loves Paneer. So do I. But her intensity far surpasses mine. Because of her, I keep trying different recipes with Paneer, and thats one of the few things that she likes. Whenever she comes to the dinner table, if she sees a Paneer dish, she quietly finishes her dinner without her usual whine or groan - a very rare scene in our house. This dish is one of our family's most favorite paneer dishes. I learned this from my very good friend a while back. I fortunately also happened to watch her cook this yummy dish and since then it has taken a permanant place in my recipe book, and ends up in our dinner table frequently. What I like about this dish is the consistency - neither gravy nor dry - a perfect side dish for rotis and naans. I enjoy gravies mostly with rice and for rotis I usually prefer little dry side dishes.

Note: If you have a food processor, this dish is a perfect candidate for it! Use the food processor to chop the paneer and to prepare the tomato mixture given below.

Ingredients:

• Paneer - chopped (2 cups)
• Onions - 1 medium
• Ginger garlic paste - 2 tsp
• Roma Tomatoes - 2 large
• G.chillies - 3
• Chilli powder - 1 tsp
• Corriander powder - 2 tsp
• Cumin powder - 1 tsp
• Kasuri Methi - 2 tsp (crushed)
• Cinnamon - 1/2 inch
• Cloves - 3
• Cardamom - 1
• Ajwain seeds - a pinch (optional)
• Cream - 2 or 3 tbsp
• Corriander leaves - to garnish

Procedure:

• Start with boiling the whole tomatoes for 5 mins. Drop them into cold water and let them rest for a few mins.
• Meanwhile give the paneer cubes a quick spin in the food processor. Don't make them too powdery. They should be still in mini bitable chunks. Otherwise, slice or chop them finely using regular knife. It should come to 2 cups after chopping. Set aside.
• Chop the onions in food processor too. If no food processor, chop them extra fine.
• Peel off the tomato skin, puree in food-processor along with the g.chillies, 1 tsp ginger/garlic paste, cinnamon, cloves and cardamom.
• Heat oil in a pan, season with Ajwain seeds (if using), add onions and fry in medium heat for 3 mins.
• Add the remaining 1tsp Ginger/Garlic paste and fry for a min.
• Now add the tomato puree, chilli powder and Kasoori methi and mix well. Add salt and cover and cook for 5-6 mins. You can add 2 tbsp of water if you need.
• Finally add the paneer and give it a good stir. Cover for 2 more mins. Add corriander leaves and mix well.
• Keep frying the mixture in medium heat until it turns almost dry (Be cautious not to let it too dry).

Raddish & Beans curry with Capsicum

It seems our winter has come to an end, lasting just for two months. I hope! Until last week everyone in our area were trembling in the single digit temperature - bundled up in jackets, scarves and furry boots. And suddenly since last weekend the weather has become quite warmer in the 50's & 60's with nice pleasant breeze unlike the typical february weather. Feels like Spring is here already! Its been like a roller coaster ride - Way down and Way up, Fast!

Though I'm looking forward to Spring, I do like winter in some aspects -- To me, its a time to catch up on some stuffs that I usually neglect in summer -- my closet cleanup, rearrange my kitchen pantry, watch DVDs, cook my favorite soups etc. I love to sit on my couch and have a cup of hot-chocolate while watching the snowfall through my window. Oh, and then one important thing - Food lasts longer in the refregirator during winter, so I don't have to cook everyday..he.. he... I missed some of these things this winter as I spent quite a bit of winter in India this year. Especially, I miss my soups! I've been planning to make them since last week.. but the warmer days change my mind. I know thats ridiculous, but its hard to convince my mind :) I think I still have time to re-arrange my kitchen pantry. Even though my pantry is the cleanest place in my kitchen, ever since I read this article by Mark Bittman on how to wisely organize your pantry, I've gotten some new ideas in re-arranging my pantry and can't wait to see my pantry with a new look. Its still in my to-do tasks for this winter, and hopefully I'll have time to fix it.

Alright, after a tough debate about my dinner, I settled on making this vegetable dish and drumsticks sambar for dinner yesterday. Sometimes just tasting a dish changes my perception of a vegetable. I'm sure this applies to many of us. Raddish is one vegetable that I often tend to ignore during my grocery shopping, inspite of seeing some fresh white raddishes waiting to be picked-up. The reason for my ignorance is just because I don't know a lot of recipes with raddish. I usually add them in sambar, or sometimes use them for stuffing parathas. And thats about it. But this all changed when I tried a couple of excellent radish dishes in India last month. One was Raddish Chutney, which I will be posting soon and the other was this mild vegetable curry with Raddish. A new recipe that I learnt from my mother-in-law. She told she's been cooking this often after watching the recipe in a tv show. I've never cooked raddish this way and I thought its a nice change from my usual radish sambar. I really liked this recipe because it's easy, it's healthy, and it's simple! The ingredients list may seem to be longer, but they're all fairly common ingredients and get tossed in around the same time.

Ingredients:

• White Raddish (Sliced into semi cirles) & Chopped Green Beans - 1 cup each
• Capsicum - 1
• Onions - 1 medium
• Ginger/Garlic paste - 2 tsp
• Red Chillies - 3 or 4
• Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
• Garam masala - 1 tsp
• Peanut powder - 1 tbsp (optional).
• Mustard seeds & Urad dal - 1 tsp each
• Asafoetida - 1 pinch
• Corriander leaves - to garnish.

Procedure:

• Start by chopping the raddish to semi-circled slices. Then chop the beans and capsicum to 1 inch long stripes.
• Dry roast and powder the peanuts. I usually do this in large quantity and store in the fridge.
• Heat oil in a pan, season with mustard seeds and Urad dal, then add the red chillies and asafoetida and fry for a min in medium heat.
• Add onions and fry for a few mins. Now add ginger/garlic paste and fry for a few more mins.
• Add the chopped raddish and fry for 3-5 mins. Then add the capsicum, beans, turmeric & salt and fry for a few mins. Add 2 tbsps of water, cover and cook for 15 mins in low heat.
• Once the vegetables are well cooked, add the garam masala, corriander leaves and peanut powder. Mix well for a min and remove from heat.

Goes well with Rotis and any form of rice.

Colocasia (Seppankilangu) fry

I somehow believe that strange and interesting coincidences definitely add spice to life. Recently, I've been experiencing this quite frequently :) A few months before, I happened to meet my school friend after 20 years! When I saw her in our local temple, ofcourse I took a few mins to recognize her, but as soon as I recognized her, I couldn't stop myself intruding in her discussion with her friend and ask her if she identified me. Thank goodness she did! It's indeed a great feeling bumping into an old friend several miles away from home after decades! Especially, its a delight to see them married, with kids, and with those extra few pounds :) We had so much to catch-up about our life, spouses, kids etc and it made me go back to the era that I used to treasure. Its definitely exciting to recall those moments with someone who shared those good old days with me..

Then, a day last week.. Since morning, I was thinking to call another friend of mine and say hello to her since it's been a while talking to her. She recently had a baby and hence I wanted to check on the baby especially. I guessed she was probably quite busy with her little one and hence didn't have time for our usual chit-chats. So after a quick dinner, I settled down on the couch to call her. Strangely, when I took the phone to call her, I received a call from her in the same minute! I was surprised and I thought it was really strange and funny. The fact that the same person you are about to call is giving you a call in the same second is something quite mysterious and interesting to me. Don't you all think so too?

Well, Another one today.. (Can you beleive it?!) During my usual debate of what to cook for dinner tonight, I found this colocasia lying in my fridge for about a week and hence settled down to make it today. I remembered this superb dish that my mother-in-law makes. Everybody loves this dish in our family and I somehow think I still can't match her exact taste and typically avoid making it. But today, for some reason I was in a mood to make this adorable dish for dinner (and to my contentment it came out great today) and after dinner I happened to have a casual chat with my mother-in-law over phone. I was surprised to know that she had made the same dish today for lunch! In fact, she also did mention that she actually made it today after quite a few years, because it used to be my hubby's favorite and nowadays she had no interest in making this dish just for herself and my father-in-law. Different minds thinking alike and some interesting coincidences like these astonish me often and make me wonder if that so called "telepathy" really is true.. :)

Alright... coming back from the high realms of ESP and philosophy, this dish is a deep-fry dish that may take a few extra minutes, but I firmly believe that the taste it offers is simple irresistible. After deep-frying, it gets tossed in a simple spice mixture that adds an immense flavor to the dish. May be ideal for a sunday lunch when you have those few extra minutes to spare.

Ingredients:

• Colacasia (Seppankilangu) - 6 medium
• Onions - 1/2 medium sized, chopped
• Tomato - 1 medium
• Chilli Powder - 1/2 tsp
• Mustard seeds and Urad dal - 1/2 tsp each
• Curry leaves - a few
• Oil - for deep frying.

Procedure:

• Pressure cook the colacasia until its well cooked. Please be cautious not to overcook as it may completely mess up this dish. I've done this mistake a few times.
• Slice them into round pieces and deep fry in oil in 2 or 3 batches until they become crispy. They may not turn completely crispy but you'll see atleast the outer layer turning golden brown and crispy. Wrap them up in a paper napkin and drain the excess oil.
• Remove the oil from the pan retaining just a tsp of hot oil . Season with mustard seeds and urad dal.
• Add finely chopped onions and curry leaves and fry for a min.
• Then add the tomatoes, chilli powder and salt and fry until the tomatoes lose shape.
• Then add the fried colocasia and mix well. Cover for 2 mins and mix one more time.
• Remove from heat.

Goes well with any rice dish.

Spicy SweetPotato Fry, Awards and MEME

Alright, yet another post without my garrulous and chatty talks. This time I have a long list of awards and MEME's to share. Sorry friends, you all have been so nice in sharing these awards with me, but I know I'm just too late in posting them. I got hooked up in posting the recipes than posting my awards and before I postpone it any further I have to do it today. So, I just want to quickly post a simple yet a flavorful recipe that I made today and move on to my awards and MEMEs.

The first time I read this sweet potato recipe in a magazine, I was a little hesitant to make this as I'd never made any dish with sweet-potatoes by that time. Just out of curiosity I made it and it turned out wonderful! I absolutely loved the blend of sweet flavor mixed with vibrant spice flavours. After a few more trials it has now taken a permanant place in my cookbook. Its light, its flavorful and its simple.

Ingredients:

Sweet Potatoes - 2 cups (cooked, peeled and chopped into cubes)
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Urad dal/Ulundham paruppu - 1 tsp
Asafoetida - a pinch
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp

For the powder: (feel free to adjust the spice level according to your taste)

Corriander seeds - 1 tbsp
Chana dal/kadalai paruppu- 1/2 tbsp
Urad dal/Ulundham paruppu - 1/2 tbsp
Red Chillies - 4 to 5

Procedure:

• In a pan, fry the ingredients mentioned for the powder with 1/2 tsp of oil and powder them finely.
• Heat more oil in the same pan and season with mustard seeds, urad dal.
• Once the mustard seeds pop, add turmeric and asafoetida. Fry for 10 secs.
• Add the cooked & cubed sweet potaotes, salt and fry for 2 - 3 mins in medium heat.
• Now add the spice powder and mix well. Cover for 2 mins in medium heat and fry for 3 more mins.
• Remove from heat.

We enjoy this with dal/rice.

MEME: Its Meme time! Deesha had tagged me with this 7 facts about myself and here they are Deesha!

Since I've been already talking a lot about my food likings and opinions in my posts regularly, I will stay away from my food facts in this MEME :)

1. I am a late night person and my brain works the best only late evenings. All my blogging and any serious planning activities happen only when I'm done with my regular duties and the house is super quiet like a haunted house.

2. I am not a big fan of reading books and mostly stay away from big novels, although I like to quickly glance on some of my favorite magazines.

3. I love to be alone once in a while and engross in the world of my own. I think solitude is my best companion many times.

4. I am fond of music, mostly melodies, and have a huge collection of MP3 songs. I enjoy the song lyrics as much as I enjoy the music in the song and surprisingly, I happen to know the lyrics for the majority of these songs! I learned classical music during my childhood, and after several years, my forgotten passion is back and I'm now learning classical music again from a professional teacher...

5. I'm a shopping freak, especially with apparels. My closet is always full with latest tops, pants, salwars etc. While writing this I am realizing that last two months I haven't been shopping much.. Hmmm, need to catch up!

6. I am not that good in waiting for things to happen on its own. I quickly run out of patience and need things to happen right away. I am working on it, but I also have to say that my tendency of impatience helps me in winding down things faster without postponing..

7. I'm addicted to Sudoku and have finished almost 3 books (over 300 puzzles) in just 1 month. Don't know how long this addiction will last..

Alright, now awards time!
Bhawana, Kitchen Flavours and JZ have passed me the Brilliante Weblog Award:
Vani and Srilekha passed me the "Beautiful Site Award":

Kitchen Flavours has passed me this "Friendship Blend Award":

Suma and Madhavi have passed me this "Good Job Award".

And last but not least - Vani, Purva, Raaji and Gita have passed me this "Butterfly Award".


Thank you soooo much to each one of you for thinking about me and sharing your award with me. With so many good friends around me in my blogging world, its hard for me to pick only a few people to pass these awards. I'm sure all of you have already recieved it. If you have not received it, feel free to grab them from here.. :)

Chilli Paneer

With my sister's family visiting us the past weekend, last few days were busy, but fun! It was great to take off from work and relax for a couple of days by rambling outside, eating in restaurants and enjoying with her 9 month old adorable baby. But the most difficult question of the day is always "What do you want to have for dinner?". I really love to have home-made food atleast once a day even though we're outside most of the time. Simple food is what we all wanted, but just coming up with what to cook is always hard. Sometimes we start talking about it right after we have coffee in the morning, and the discussion continues throughout the day. Its like that tricky topic that no one wants to decide :) Then I came to know that my sister's mother-in-law (who had also visited us this time), makes this awesome paneer recipe that becomes anyone's favorite right at the first time. I knew right away that I wanted to learn the recipe for sure because I really enjoy all kinds of indo-chinese food and then again I do love anything made with paneer too. So this is a 2-in-1 jackpot for me!

I've slowly started realizing the fact that fusion food does work indeed, even though you have a feeling of losing the authenticity. Its all about the demand and the liking of food by people. This recipe is no exception. In this recipe, paneer sounded like a substitute for tofu and the term indo-chinese made literal sense to me. I've tasted this recipe back in India, but never tried it on my own. Its really fabulous to have a chance to help and watch the step-by-step preparation for any new dish, instead of reading and trying to follow the instructions from a book. The dish came out so flavorful and spicy and we all enjoyed it thoroughly. Aunty, if you are reading this.. thanks!

Paneer is a classic ingredient that many of us are familiar with and enjoy eating! When I heard about Vandana's Paneer event, I was all geared up to make quite a few of my favorite paneer dishes for the event. Well, apparently I hadn't kept up to my plans until yesterday and don't know if I would be making any more paneer dishes in the next week too. Somehow I managed to atleast watch and learn this awesome paneer dish yesterday. So, here goes my entry for the event.

Ingredients:

• Paneer cubes - 25
• Capsicum - 1 medium
• Onions - 1 medium
• G.chilly - 2
• Ginger - 2 inches
• Garlic - 6 pods
• Chopped Spring Onions - 1 cup
• Corriander leaves - 1/2 cup
• Chilli Sauce, Tomato Ketchup, Soy Sauce - 1 tbsp each
• Corn Flour - 1 tbsp
• Red Chilli flakes - 2 tsp
• Vinegar - 2 tsp

Procedure:

• Shallow fry the paneer cubes on all sides in 2 tsp oil and place it on a paper towel. (You can also use the store bought fried cubed paneer).
• Chop the capsicum into 1 inch long strips and set aside.
• Chop the onions, ginger, garlic very finely. Set aside.
• Chop the g.chillies in round shapes and set aside.
• Save 2 tsps of onions, capsicums and spring onions for later use.
• In a large wide wok, heat oil and first add the chopped ginger and garlic and fry for a min.
• Next add the onions and fry for a few mins. Then add capsicums and fry for a few more mins.
• Add the chopped green onions and fry for a few mins.
• Now add the corn flour, all the sauces one by one, along with vinegar and chilli flakes and fry well.
• Finally add the paneer and mix well. Fry for a few more mins.
• Garnish with the remaining onions, spring onions, capsicums and corriander leaves.

Serve hot with Fried rice or Noodles