I sincerely hope you are enjoying this three back-to-back series of super simple desserts. 🙂 I just wanted to push up my momentum, which is at a dragging phase at the moment and these posts have somehow tried to get me back out of the inertia. Hehe… So after the jelly mousse pudding and the milk pudding, here is a no-cook one that is so simple but is usually ignored for fancier options… For last Eid-ul-Fitr, I was intending to make my easy trifle recipe, since it badly needs an update in its pictures, plus I hadn’t made it in a really long time. Unfortunately, nothing worked as per plan and the tin stayed in my pantry till I found it out while I was rearranging my stuff prior to leaving for my vacation. It did have enough time to expire but I wasn’t in a mood to…
Easy Milk Pudding with Cashew Praline | China Grass Pudding
After the Quick Jelly Mousse Pudding recipe, here is the second post towards the three back-to-back super easy desserts. I must stay that this is one among the oldest drafts I have on my blog. I started my blog six and a half years ago, and finally this recipe makes its appearance, amidst a lot of requests on how to tame china grass or agar agar. I already have a few agar agar recipes on the blog but they were posted in the initial years of blogging. Somehow, even though I find working with agar agar far better than its non-vegetarian replacement called gelatin, I am not very fond of the jelly consistency it gives to its dessert. I love desserts with a mousse-like structure over the hard jelly types and I always prepare desserts in that category. It was only lately I discovered that my girls love…
Quick Jelly Mousse Pudding
This month, after contemplating a bit, I decided to post three back-to-back super easy desserts. I make some form of dessert on Fridays. That is the only day I take out of the week to make something to enjoy after the heavy lunch. I normally don’t tend to repeat the desserts, so sometimes I am forced to because my head wouldn’t work as to what to make. I guess that happens with everybody after a tough working week, hehe… So in order to ease your tension, I am posting three really simple, basic desserts that will be loved by anyone. You can make them just for your family or even when you have guests. So here we go… If there is something that is usually in my pantry most of the time, then it is a box of jelly. My younger one loves jelly. Even though I don’t…
Dejaaj Tahat ~ Emirati Chicken Rice
Sometimes a vacation doesn’t exactly do what you wish for it to do. Yes, for sure, I relaxed as much as I could, so much that we didn’t even go for any long tours, nor did I stay at HD’s place as much as I would have liked to. I visited only those relatives who I had to, and avoided moving around as much as I could. Sometimes, it was boring but that was all I wanted to do. Still, after coming back, it feels like I have been pulled back into a bigger rut than what I had left and gone. But then life is about fighting it out. We just say “Hasbunallahu Wa Ni’mal Wakeel” – “Allah (Alone) is Sufficient for us, and He is the Best Disposer of affairs (for us).” (Surah Aal Imran:173) and leave everything to Him. Is there any other option? I…
Passion Fruit Limeade
This year while going on vacation, I lunged my camera along with my lenses, thinking that I would learn some freelance photography. After all, Kerala, the state I come from, is blessed with greenery and beauty in every corner. A peep into my phone and you would understand. I hardly have any selfies in it. I was only clicking the coconut palms, the areca nut (adakka) palms, the thick black clouds, the flowers, sometimes every interesting insects and birds I would find… But I absolutely was in no mood to pull out the camera and click, so I allowed my whole set to nestle itself comfortably in the cupboard and ensured that I bring it back with me. Hehe… Something that I have eaten quite a lot this time was passion fruit. My earliest and only memory about passion fruit was eating it from my elder ammayi’s house….
Classic Marble Cake
Getting back to blogging seems to have been far more easier than getting back on track. Even though I have been home for the past few days, the mojo for cooking has been totally missing. We have been just eating this and that and pushing through days. Of course, HD looked a bit irritated though he didn’t show his feeling profusely. So whatever he showed, I chose to ignore. 😉 When you come back from vacation, everything seems different. The eye cooling greens and the cozy breeze has given way to the browns and heat. Naturally, that sags your mood. For me, UAE is always like home since I have spend my whole life over here. Still, the feeling after vacation is always different. I always dread going back home and settling down, since every single thing will be a learning curve for me. Life here makes you…
Beetroot Chicken
Did this month go away so fast? I feel I haven’t been much away from the blog as such. I stayed almost four weeks back home, but it just felt as though days flew by. We had a little flood threat this time through but Alhamdulillah, it was fine on our side, though there were areas like Nilambur and Wayanad that were badly affected by the heavy rains and mud slides. The unexpected mud slides caused very heartbreaking deaths in those areas. Apart from the heavy rains, the climate was otherwise pleasant. I slept quite well throughout the days, since it was nice and cozy. I had a few doctor visits to make, and to top it all, was the splint that got placed inside my mouth due to my TMJ problem. It feels very odd and I have to be on a soft diet for one month, the…
Almond Butter Maple Granola
Waiting for a break is something that we all do. We just look forward to it, don’t we? Last year, we had decided to take a year off going home this year, since it involves too much of pressure financially. After all, four people travelling up and down to Kerala during the peak season is no joke. If you combine all the money spent on tickets, wardrobe updates, gifts and chocolates, etc, you can go on two international trips to decent countries. I am not joking about it. For an average middle class family, the daylight robbery that every airline does during the school closing time does put a lot of pressure on their budgets. Somehow, despite so much hue and cry, this practice repeats year after year. Since the number of people travelling home at that time doesn’t seem to diminish, I guess the authorities see no…
Safed Maas ~ Rajasthani White Mutton Stew
This month too, I am participating in the Shh Cooking Secretly Challenge. Our state of the month is the largest state of India, Rajasthan, which is located in the northern side. It is home to largest desert in India, as well as many historical monuments and a rich culture. The name of the state when literally translated means “the land of kings” and if you have a look at the history of the state, it surely stays truthful to its name! The state has a robust tourism industry and is a place that is usually on the top end list for destination weddings – the recent famous one being Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas, due to the presence of many castles fit for movies. The Jaisalmer Chana and the Panchmel Dal are the Rajasthani recipes already on the blog. The beauty of the cuisine of this state is due…
Avil Milk {No Sugar Added!}
As for the final post for the theme “One Bowl Dishes” in the Blogging Marathon #102, I had no doubt what I wanted it to be! Avil Milk is something very synonymous to Malappuram. VH Bakery is the first one to introduce and make it a craze among the whole of Malabar. If you are wondering what this is, then it is a layered concoction of mashed small banana, crispy roasted aval (rice flakes/ poha), some ice cold milk and peanuts for an additional crunch. Anything over and above that are add ons. I wouldn’t call it a milk shake, since it isn’t blended together, but it is very close to being a falooda without any catches to it. Each time I go home, I would miss exactly that time when my family would go to Kottakkal for something or the other. Last year, for the first time…
Arseeyah Rubyan ~ Emirati Prawn Rice Gruel
It’s been long since I have posted an Emirati recipe on the blog, so when the theme of “One Bowl Dishes” was declared for the Blogging Marathon #102, I couldn’t think of any other dish as one-pot as Arseeyah. The cooking is done in one large pot, so what more for this theme! 🙂 Arseeyah is considered to be comfort food for the Emiratis. It is usually made with chicken, and has rice cooked along with it, with some mild spices and then ground to make it like a gruel. Just like Harees, it is eaten warm with a generous drizzling of ghee. When I landed up with some fresh huge prawns during Ramadan, I decided to make this as dinner for the folks. The inspiration to make this dish came from an article that I had printed out and kept in my archives, but can’t trace the…
Quick Chicken Fry ~ No Marination!
For the coming three days, you will see me posting for the theme “One Bowl Dishes” for the Blogging Marathon #102. Now the problem with this theme is that it can encompass a wide range of dishes. Either you cook in one dish, or you serve everything together in a dish, or you do from start to end in one dish. After scratching my head a bit and confusing Valli with my emails, I finally decided to stick to three recipes from my draft that I thought will justify the title. So here we go… Chicken fry is something that any household with a carnivores family would hog on. I mean I could fry a pot full and still see it empty. When compared to curried chicken that takes time to move out, fried chicken is always welcome. I am not a fan of deep frying, though it…
Cream Cheese Pound Cake with Caramel Drizzle
I don’t know if you have been noticing but of late, I have been quiet silent with documenting my life or feelings. There was a time when I would write a lot on blog. Somehow, that has gone on the negative side these days. It isn’t that I don’t write my posts, I still do type a lot. Sometimes they are long, sometimes they are crisp and short. But whatever said and done, there is no philosophy, there are no thoughts being reflected, nothing much being shared. If you feel that I am being a bit mentally away from the blog, then I may have to say a ‘yes’. I am not sure how I would term the feeling but as much as I love the blog, I am trying to keep a little distance to keep myself from not getting over it. Having seen so many of…
Roasted Coconut Cashew Ice Cream
Some challenges are really irresistible, so much that you will make time to somehow prepare it and post it. Ever since Sarah posted that this month’s theme for the Fantastical Food Fight is going to be “Ice Cream”, I have been dreaming about it. We had previously done the same theme exactly two years ago and I had posted this ice cream, which is so similar to what I am posting today! Initially, I was thinking about making butterscotch popsicles that I had bookmarked from a site. But then when I messaged Sarah, she mentioned to stick to making an ice cream. Then my mind was constantly screaming “Salted Caramel and Chocolate”. Of late, I have been obsessed with salted caramel. I really do not why. I have never liked caramel or its flavor before but now I have taken a liking towards it. I still can’t understand…
Cold Brew Coffee
If you check my posts from the beginning of this month, they have all been posts related to challenges. Somehow, I am liking that my juices are flowing and I am doing some new recipes, even though the process is literally making me feel rusty at times. The summer has hit us hard and cooking is the last thing on mind. The humidity has been sapping. I really can’t wait to hit back home at the beginning of the next month, provided that the climate there is friendly. It is supposed to be monsoons, but unfortunately the rains haven’t been that heavy. Considering that we had a situation at hand last year, nobody would want the rains to come with full flow this time. But the summers have been harsh and it is worrisome that water shortages are foreseen. Sometimes I wonder who to blame – nature or humans,…