Rava Fruit Kheer (Ravai Pazha Payasam) and... 1 year of Blogging!

Its a year, already! My first post on this blog, was exactly one year ago.. Its just incredible to think back my journey in this blogosphere for the past 1 year. What a great year it has been! Though creating this blog was so unplanned, I think this was one of the best spontaneous decisions I've ever made! When I started taking baby steps into my blog, I was a little pessimistic that I may not have time to keep it going after a few posts, but it has far surpassed my expectations, and I can't believe that I've made 77 posts in a year and still managing to maintain the pace! Just the feeling that I could write something atleast a week, in spite of my regular family commitments and routine, keeps my morale high.

Although the original intention for this blog was just share my favorite recipes, this blog now has also become an outlet for me - a space to express all my thoughts through my regular rants and ramblings... about my Excitement and Frustration, Likings and Dislikings, Laziness and Energy.... and ofcourse about my Passion for cooking! Becoming a blogger and blog-reader, has taught me so many things along the way. I've improved my photography and writing skills (atleast a little bit), and ofcourse, I learned a lots of wonderful recipes! Every step along the way has been so much fun.. selecting the blog's name, designing the layout, clicking photos, first post.. and I still remember how much I was excited to see the first comment on my blog! I danced a little after knowing that somebody has taken the time to read my content and is willing to try my recipe!

Embarking into this blogging journey, I had no idea that I will be making so many wonderful and inspiring blogger friends on my way! Its amazing how well I got connected with you all. What something started as a simple recipe site to share just with my family, has now grown into something much beyond, with a wider range of readers and a community of friends! I thank you all for visiting my blog as and when you can and leaving such nice and encouraging words. A special thanks to my family & friends for their support and encouragement. Without you all, I probably wouldn't have come this far.

To celebrate my little blog's first year, I'm posting a dessert today. This is a slight variation from the regular kheer and I first tasted this at my friends place a while ago. I liked this healthy and tasty recipe with the addition of rava which brings a nice consistency to the dish. As usual, a simple and easy party dessert!

Ingredients:

• Milk - 1 cup
• Water - 3 cups
• Sugar - 1 cup
• Fresh fruits - 1 cup (banana, grapes, apple, cherries etc. Do not use sour fruits like pineapple or orange)
• Rava - 2.5 tbsp
• Almonds - 12 to15
• Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp (or) 5 cardamoms crushed finely.

Procedure:

• Soak the almonds in hot water for atleast 15 mins.
• Dry roast the rava and set aside.
• Mix the milk and water and bring it to boil. Simmer for 5 - 10 mins.
• Meanwhile, peel off the skin from the almonds and make a paste out of them. Add this to the boiling milk and mix gently. Boil for 2 mins.
• Now add the rava little by little and keep stirring so that no lumps are formed. Boil for 5 mins under medium flame while stirring often.
• Now add the fruits, sugar and the cardamom powder one by one and mix gently. Boil for 5 more mins in low heat. Remove from heat.

Delicious fruit kheer is ready!

Asparagus Koottu (Asparagus with Lentils)

Hi, Hey & Hello! I am back.. and I hope everyone is doing great in the New Year! Happy New Year to all of you! I was gone to India for a month and had a great time there! I received emails from many of y'all, asking to come back soon. Thanks so much for remembering and visiting my blog :) I know I would have missed some incredible recipes and great posts from you all, but will sure catch-up soon by checking out your blogs and yummy recipes.

As I always say, the hard part of a great vacation is coming back to routine after that. Especially, visiting India is so exhilarating and tiring that it makes us more harder to get back to normal. We came back last week, and it has taken more than a week for me to get back to my routine. Coming back from a perfect December weather in India to a 1° F is a torture. But it was shocking to hear from my friends here, that it feels like spring now after experiencing a brutally horrible -18°F just a couple of days before. I felt like running back to India. In addition to the weather, the jet-lag etc., setting up the kitchen and loading the fridge, is a torment. Well, finally I'm back to routine.

As usual, we had a great time there! Madurai is still the same nice town. Ofcourse, I may be biased because its my hometown :) Who wouldn't like their hometowns?! Like anyone thinking back of their hometown days, I fondly remember growing up there, and everytime I visit there, I get more drawn-in to my old memories! What I like about Madurai is, its just big enough to have everything we need like a big city, but a lot more peaceful and quieter than a "big" city. Its a great feeling to be in my favorite streets, favorite restaurant, favorite movie theatre, favorite stores etc. And surprisingly, for the most part, they haven't changed. Same appearance, same arrangements and even same people!

There was just so much going on in the last month. We had a couple of family events planned during our visit there. We also visited Kerala and stayed in a hill-resort for a few days. It was a fun trip. After a long time, we all sisters met and had a great time! It was so much fun to wear traditional dresses almost everyday, shopping together, eating at our favorite restaurants and having an upset-stomach next day :) With all of us visiting at the same time, mom and dad were so busy with people and kids always around them. And, now that we all sisters are moms, it was also good to see our kids getting along with each other, having fun together and sometimes clashes too :)

Well, I can go on and on chatting about my India trip, so I better stop here :) There are more stories to share, but will save them for my upcoming posts. Alright, I made this great dish for the first time today, after coming across this recipe in a cookbook in India. Ever since I relished some creamy soups and dips made with Asparagus in a few restaurants, I fell in love with this vegetable. I was always curious to make a Indian version with asparagus, but just didn't know how to pick good quality asparagus from the grocery store. Coincidentally, I came across this kootu recipe while I was glancing through a cookbook at my aunt's place in India. That recipe even had tips on selecting and storing this vegetable. It asked to look for thin and firm stems with deep green closed tips and the bottom end should not be too woody or dry. I had taken a note of it and last weekend, I blindly followed the tips and bought it for the first time. The kootu came out wonderful and it tasted awesome with plain rice and some ghee! Hope you all like it too..

Ingredients

• Asparagus - a bunch (about 10-12 stems)
• Moong Dal (Pasi Paruppu) - 1/2 cup
• Onion - 1 medium
• Ginger/Garlic paste - 2 tsp
• Tomato - 1 medium
• G.chillies - 2
• Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
• Cumin seeds - 2 tsp
• Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
• Shredded coconut - 1 tbsp

Procedure:

• Chop off about an inch from the bottom side of the stems and trim a little on the top too. Now chop the stems to about 1 inch length pieces.
• Grind the coconut and 1 tsp cumin seeds to a smooth paste.
• Pressure cook the asparagus, dal, remaining 1 tsp cumin seeds, g.chillies and a little salt. Just allow the same time you would for cooking just the dal. Asparagus is a tender vegetable and would get cooked fast.
• In a pan, heat oil and season with mustard seeds. Once they pop, add the onions and saute for a few mins.
• Then add the ginger/garlic paste and fry for a min. Add tomatoes and chilli powder and saute until the tomatoes lose shape. Cover and cook for 5 mins.
• Now add the pressure cooked contents, coconut paste and mix well. Mash the vegetable slightly and let it boil for 2 to 3 mins. Remove from heat.

Enjoy with plain rice and sambar, or just with plain rice and ghee.