I can’t believe I am stuck for words when I am completing 7 years of blogging. 7 years! Wow! I think I should give myself a pat on my back. When life has been in general difficult yet worth fighting for, I have still kept my wits to continue cooking, clicking and blogging. I guess that just shows how much I love this little baby of mine, despite sometimes feeling that it hasn’t been fair to me. But having said that, I always believe in whatever is meant for us will come our way, come what may, so I guess I am happy with the little that is coming my way. 🙂 The last two years has marked a known push from my side to reduce my blogging in every way. I have gone from posting almost every day to posting twice or thrice a week. I feel…
Meen Thengapaalil Vevichathu ~ Alapuzha Fish Curry with Coconut Milk
Even though I have a huge cookbook collection, I have literally stopped going through it, or even flipping through it. I have gone through these bouts of addictive behavior, where I would hoard stuff, and then all of a sudden, just stop. Once upon a time, I used to hoard bags, and then I gave off all mine and retained just what I like. Then I would hoard watches. Even in those, I gave off those I got bored off and continue to use some that I really love. There was a time I wouldn’t come home without buying a new pair of sandals or shoes. I have outgrown that stage. When I started blogging, my focus went onto props. I have props hidden in every corner of the house, that I do not know where to start cleaning and disposing from. It was during the same time I…
Mutta Omelet ~ Malabar Spicy Egg Omelette | Kerala Masala Omelette
It feels like it has been ages since I participated in the Fantastical Food Fight which is hosted by Sarah. When this month’s theme was declared, I had to be a part of it. It seems the month of January is “National Omelet Month” in the USA and therefore the theme has to be related to it – omelettes! Now, how easy can that be! When eggs are a staple of your breakfast day in and day out, thanks for it being a powerhouse of good protein and fat, then making something for this theme is a very easy task, isn’t it? 🙂 If there is one food that makes HD happy at any time, then it is a sunny side up or an omelette. He would really love our style of omelette with onion, tomatoes and loads of bite, however I, being a lazy-head, always resort to…
Honey Kiwi Walnut Salad
I literally feel like I finished an assignment right before the deadline. Hehe… Before that, a quick look into the scenes out here. We have had an awesomely wet weekend, with heavy rains, that caused total water clogging in most of the parts of the city. On Friday, we took a drive towards the outskirts and seriously enjoyed the rains. However, on Saturday, it caused a lot of trouble, but that comes with the enjoyment, isn’t it? The girls had their madrassa closed yesterday, and have their schools off today, so they are pretty excited about what the rains have offered them. 🙂 The rains are expected to be on and off for this whole week. Thankfully, slowly it is feeling like winter, and I hope this chill stays well till March or April. It’s been long since I have participated in the AtoZ Recipe Challenge hosted by…
Erachi Cutlet | Malabar Meat Patties
There are some recipes that you really don’t want to change the way you make it. It is all about being in the comfort zone, isn’t it? I learned to make cutlets from umma, and I have been making them that way for a long time now. It’s just not me, even my sister sticks to that recipe, because it is what works and is so much loved. Umma would make such huge batches every Eid and it would literally disappear in seconds. My girls love it a lot and they are devoured as soon as one batch gets out of the hot oil. We have seen others snort because the onion, ginger and chilli are added raw into the chicken and potato, but at the end of it, there would be no complaints and the plate would come back empty. All the cutlet recipes already on the blog…
Kheema Toasties | Minced Meat Sandwich
Are you among those who love to go on picnics? I do love to go for them, but unfortunately HD isn’t very keen on it. I feel his disinterest actually makes me feel jittery if we need to plan a picnic, because my head goes blank regarding the snacks to carry. I don’t have a head that functions immediately when a plan is thrown at me. I suffer from inertia, and then slowly it gets into the mould. I guess it has got worse with age. Hehe… I always feel I need to bake some cake and cookies, make some sandwiches, fill a flask with some hot chai and some hot chocolate, and just move out for a quiet time. But then the lazy me wouldn’t want to bake and take the extra effort to make all and pack, so I would still prefer the prelude of being on…
Mutta Porichathu ~ Malabar Fried Eggs
I decided to have a 3 back-to-back series this month. Can you guess what is the theme? The weather over here is quite apt for “chai and pakoda”, and hence I decided I will share three chai time snacks. Even though I am someone who likes to enjoy my chai on its own without anything alongside, at times, I crave for snacks like ulli pakvada or pazham pori. This egg fry is something I learned when I get married. We would only boil our eggs, peel it and have it as it is. When I married HD and came towards his side, I was intrigued by this glamorous avatar of boiled eggs, that would get served in every second house we visited. I used to call it “monjathi mutta” aka “pretty eggs”… hehe… The eggs are boiled, peeled and slashed. You can either coat it with a masala…
Apple Pola | Apple Kums ~ Malabar Apple Egg “Cake”
Starting the year on a sweet note is usually what everybody wants to do. Sometimes we don’t realize that the upcoming year is usually a repercussion of what has already happened in the previous years. I really don’t want to muddle over it, but would rather leave you all with a little poem that really made an impact on me during the end of 2019: Miss Me, But Let Me Go When I come to the end of the road And the sun has set for me, I want no rites in a gloom filled room Why cry for a soul set free! Miss me a little, but not for long, And not with your head bowed low. Remember the love we once shared, Miss me, but let me go! For this a journey we all must take, And each must go alone; It’s all a part of…
Baked Chicken Toast
I am breathing a sigh of relief. 2019 has been a rather rough year. I wouldn’t want to sound pessimistic but it wasn’t a happy year. There were too many downs than ups, but Alhamdulillah, we faced the tide and rode against it. As much as challenges arose, we fought it and downed it, only to be faced by more. I guess with passing days, tests leave you becoming a little paranoid when little joys come your way. It is during those times I remind myself of the immense number of verses in the Qur’an, where Allah warns us of hardships. He promises His Jannah for those who are steadfast and patient. It is difficult, but not impossible. We all very well know that this life is transient, yet we do not want to accept that fact… I guess I wouldn’t want to think too much about this year….
Wholewheat Chocolate Chip Tahini Cookies
As much as my girls and I love homemade cookies, I have an aversion towards baking them. Somehow I find it easier to bake cakes, not even muffins. Imagine the height of my laziness! For a cake, usually you just need to make the batter, pour into one pan and forget about it in the oven till the timer buzzes. For a muffin, an extra work of lining the pan needs to be done, even though it takes lesser time to get baked. For cookies, more than the dough part, the shaping part is what irritates me. I start off with shaping them well and then it just gets bad. The last cookies are always the worse looking. Does that happen to you? My girls always say that my cookies are the best. In fact, it finishes faster than my cakes. Yet, I don’t make them as frequently…
“Mouthful” Carrot Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
I had scheduled the last two posts before I left. I went for four days home for my TMJ appointment and then a little wedding in the family. I am usually not someone who attends weddings. Our family is huge and there are wedding happening every now and then. It definitely isn’t pocket friendly to be attending all of them, so I always attend those that come within my usual annual holiday scope. But this one was such that I had to attend. When D informed us about elappa’s daughter’s marriage, I checked my dates and realized that my appointment would come around that time. I clubbed both and took leave. Everything went well, Alhamdulillah. The atmosphere was bitter sweet, thick with grief yet a general relief that she got an alliance that her father had wished for her. I have to say those days were emotionally draining but…
Crazy Crust Pizza
I am so thankful to this version of Bake-a-thon for introducing this super easy pizza that I would have never ever found out otherwise, or maybe I would have taken more time. I thought the 20 minute pizza was the best, and of course it is the easiest to make. But it is made in a pan and doesn’t feel like how a baked pizza feels. Then what is the best thing about this recipe? Let me tell you… The best and the only reason you need to have is that it is a no-knead, no-yeast, no proofing base. I know I have posted a no-knead pizza before but it needed proofing. This absolutely doesn’t need that! The base is a typical crepe or pancake like batter that needs to be poured, topping put on top and pushed into the oven while you wait with unabated breath for…
Baked Sago Pudding
I had absolutely no plans to make this dish, whatsoever. It wasn’t even in the initial or the second list. It sneaked its way into this Bake-a-thon! 😀 Like I mentioned earlier, I initially had decided that I would peep into my pins and word documents saved, so that I could try some of them and include them for this month’s post. However, that wasn’t to happen. I ended up baking more on what interested me during the last couple of months and thought would be interesting to my folks as well. This is one of them that got baked in due course. Baked Sago Pudding is a South African pudding delicacy. It feel like a sago kheer, but in a dessert avatar. I discovered this recipe by accident during some casual browsing and then it just stuck to me. I love anything with sago pearls and this…
Gluten Free Banana Muffins | Using Chickpea Flour
One of the ideas I had for this year’s Bake-a-thon was to bake with a gluten-free flour. When you aren’t known for any food allergies, then the ingredients usually associated with allergens will be a regular part of our cooking and hence the other adjustments are rarely tested. There are very few gluten free recipes on the blog, and I would like to experiment more on them. However, with the way taste-buds are varying within my folks, I prefer not to experiment too much these days. Most of the time, even with little portions I struggle to finish them. 🙁 I had mentioned in the vanilla muffins post that those muffins were baked to compensate for the adult flavor muffins I had baked earlier. These were the muffins in question. I have always been intrigued by how chickpea flour or besan would taste in a sweet bake. After…
Chicken Curry Rolls
Didn’t I mention here that my parents were in town? Well, early morning yesterday, they went back home. It was a short sweet stay and it helped them overcome the jet-lag of being in the US with my sister for two months. It was actually tricky dealing with D during this time. Wherever we would go, especially at a relative’s place, I used to drag him out reminding him that it was quite late and we are having a work day . I hope you get the point. 🙂 He would be in his full energy from 9 pm onwards with no inkling of sleep, and I would be literally wanting to fall on bed after a day at work. Thankfully, towards the end of the stay, his sleep clock got back to normal, so hopefully they both will sleep normally at home. 😀 The girls are a tad…