This month, starting from today, you will see a lot of challenge related posts. I really wanted to give a push to the blog, so sometimes I just need to go overboard with my sign-ups. 🙂 I am a part of the Recipe Swap group, which is managed by Mir and guess what? For this month, I got assigned her blog! Now Mir’s blog, “The Schizo Chef“, is like an ocean. She is a truly cooking affectionado, who doesn’t shy away from trying any cuisine, even if it means out of her comfort zone. From her native Caribbean cuisine, to South American, to African, European and Asian, she is covering almost the whole world in her blog, one step at a time. If you really love international cuisine, then do hop in to her blog and be surprised! 🙂 I had a little tough time trying to figure…
Easy n Soft Cinnamon Rolls
I just have to pinch myself to believe that we are almost at the mid of this month. Days are literally flying in the real sense! The girls are travelling home by this month end, and I have so many things to finish before they can fly out. I really don’t know when I am going to find the time for all of it. 🙁 But InShaAllah, as always has been the case, somehow matters just work out in time, so hoping for the same too… Usually the month of June gets hot, and as expected, it is getting horribly humid. Cooking and baking is the last thing you want to do. The heat is energy sapping now itself, so wondering how the coming months are going to be. I can’t wait to go home in August, literally running away from here… 🙂 I never…
Mango Bread Pudding {No Cook!}
Can you believe that we had almost a week off and it went off in a jiffy? Sometimes it is so tough to believe that time can go so fast. It feels like Ramadan had just started and it got over too soon. Eid was declared late on Monday night, literally driving the whole country into frenzy. The main reason was that from long it was being said that Ramadan may have 30 days, and it felt very certain. We were out at that moment and were caught up in that madness. I guess I better not reminisce how the day went by, so much that on Eid day, we all were so tired that we ended up sleeping through the whole afternoon and having to resort to outside food for lunch. 😀 I guess it is the first time that I haven’t cooked for Eid. But I…
Kashmiri Chicken
We are having a long week ahead of us. Government offices and schools are already closed from Thursday on account of Eid holidays, and the private sector gets their holidays from tomorrow. So we basically have a one day working week, which sounds like fun. 🙂 The only problem is when we come back to work next Sunday, our emails may be a barrage to be sorted out. But I guess when you get a long holiday, you shouldn’t be bothered about work. We hardly get long weekends here, so this is definitely welcome. The climate is not very conducive for outdoors so we may stick to being at home, mostly. I really wanted to visit my best friend who is in Muscat on visit, but then His plans are otherwise and I just have to be reconciled with the situation, Alhamdulillah. After all, if everything happened exactly…
Pistachio Milk Cake
The last ten days of Ramadan always feels sweet and sad. Sweet – because the Almighty has promised the highest of rewards whoever does his good deeds and gets through the Night of Qadr. “We have sent it [the Quran] down in the Night of Qadr. And what may let you know what the Night of Qadr is? The Night of Qadr is much better than one thousand months. The angels and the Spirit descend in it, with the leave of your Lord, along with every command. Peace it is till the debut of dawn” (Q. 97). Sad – because the month is quickly coming to an end before you could even enjoy it completely. This Ramadan has been really hectic. I have been working on a few things this month and it has literally drained me. I have been having late nights almost everyday. But I have no…
Meen Kakkathil ~ Malabar Thick Fish Curry
This is one book review I have been wanting to work on ever since my hands landed up on the book. There is a special reason for it. Ummi Abdullah is considered to be the all-in-all of Malabar cooking. My first tryst with her was when I ordered “Malabar Muslim Cookbook” online years back and ever since it has been like a bible for me. The book was particularly helpful in giving measurements when umma couldn’t give it. I hope you get what I mean… 🙂 A lot of the Malabar recipes on the blog have been referred to the book . So when I saw an announcement on her FB page inviting people for trying the recipes for her new cookbook, I pounced onto it. In fact I saw the post quite late that I didn’t get a chance to try recipes that I would have loved…
Chocolate Tea
Today is Ramadan 17 – the day when the Battle of Badr happened. This war had a lot of significance as being the first major battle with the Quraysh and despite being a small group, they emerged victorious. “Remember when you [O Muhammad, peace be upon him] were saying to the Believers, ‘Is it not enough for you that your Lord will reinforce you with 3000 angels sent down?’ Of course [it is enough for you]! [In fact,] if you all are steadfast and God-fearing, and they rush in attack towards you, then your Lord will reinforce you with 5000 angels bearing distinguished markings.” [Surah Aal Imraan:124-125] The main stress is on being “steadfast” and “God fearing”. The victory was a testimonial that if you have both the characteristics, the help of Allah will surely come in some way of the other. I don’t think I need to dwell…
Masala Oats | Easy Savory Oats
As I sit to type this post, I realize we are almost half way through Ramadan. This month has been very stressful on all accounts, but trying to take into account that life is always meant for surprises and we need to take it into our stride. With my mood not very conducive for long posts, I think I will just stop over here… When time is of essence, then quick meals are the call of the day. This masala oats is something I can eat anytime of the day. Just like this paneer capsicum rice, this meal appears very frequently, usually for breakfast. It is so quick to make and so delicious, that you would want to eat it every other day. I have always had oats in sweet form, but this recipe has changed my mindset for good. The whole cooking takes hardly 15 minutes, and…
Spiced Chickpea Burger
There is one thing with life – it never goes as per planned. On Sunday, I went home with a pathetic headache after work. I just wanted to sleep till a little before Iftar time, so that I could just put together something and call it a day. I was planning to skip this month’s Fantastical Food Fight challenge initially – which was to make “Burgers”, but when I saw the reminder email in my inbox, I thought, “Why not? It is easy to put together. I shouldn’t miss it.” I had etched down on my magnet notepad of making some chickpea burgers for dinner. But it was not to be. I did wake up late, but as I finished my prayers, I was in for a rude shock… My youngest paternal uncle had an untimely death at the age of 49. Maybe he dying of natural causes,…
Vellulli Achaar | Malabar Garlic Pickle
This month, I decided to participate in the AtoZ Challenge, hosted by Vidya and Jolly. I have been planning the post since long and made sure I had cooked and shot for it in advance. Since we are in Ramadan, I didn’t want to be bothered with more cooking, at the same time didn’t want to miss participating in this challenge. My first entry was this simple stir fry with eggplant, since that month we were cooking with ingredients starting with “E”. I decided to give “F” a miss though it was quite easy to have done a post with it. This month, the alphabet is “G” and I chose garlic to be the main ingredient. Garlic needs no introduction in Indian cooking especially. It is used in almost every non-vegetarian dish that can be thought of. Vegetarians do use it with a little bit of restraint since…
Chicken Vermicelli Soup
It is the tenth of the month and it is time for the Muslim Food Blogger Challenge! This month being Ramadan we decided to keep the theme simple and also take a break for next month, since the post date would come immediately after Eid and the last thing you want to do during Ramadan is cook for a challenge! 😉 This month, we decided to make some soup. Now soup is one of the best meals you can have during Iftar. A complete blend of good carbs, proteins and fiber, it is a filling meal, that won’t make you bloat! With everyone looking at options to make their Iftars or dinners more healthy, soups definitely comes in as priority for many of them. Here are all the soup options that are already there on the blog… Meanwhile, I present to you my simple soup filled…
Pathiri | Nice Pathiri | Malabar Rice Flatbread
“The month of Ramadhan [is that] in which was revealed the Qur’an, a guidance for the people and clear proofs of guidance and criterion. So whoever sights [the new moon of] the month, let him fast it; and whoever is ill or on a journey – then an equal number of other days. Allah intends for you ease and does not intend for you hardship and [wants] for you to complete the period and to glorify Allah for that [to] which He has guided you; and perhaps you will be grateful.” — Surat Al-Baqarah 2:185 Wishing all my readers a blessed Ramadan ahead… It is surreal that we have reached yet another of this blessed month, Alhamdulillah… I have been more active on my social media of late. Those who follow me on my Instagram handle would definitely know about it – if you aren’t following me, then…
Payyoli Kozhi Curry | Chicken Curry
Can you believe Ramadan is right there at the corner? Sometimes it feels it came way too fast, but I can’t help it but say that it has come at a time when it is needed. I feel like I have a terribly parched soul, just struggling to get in terms with everything that is happening. For surely, this month comes like a relief at the right time. For me, Ramadan is like a breath of fresh air. A change in routine, a more balanced life, a peaceful thought process, a new hope… It literally recharges all the dying batteries within you. I am sure that feeling comes because the devils are chained during this precious month. There is no one but ourselves to beat when they are off our head. It takes some time to realize that there is a lot of inbuilt evil within ourselves, when…
Naga Spicy Ginger Chicken
The month end is usually the day of posting for the Shhh Cooking Challenge whenever I decide to participate. As I had mentioned in the past few posts for the challenge, the group is doing an Indian state every month and this month, it is one of the lesser known North Eastern states called Nagaland. I don’t know what was my mental status when I confirmed a “yes” for participation, only to realize that it was really difficult to find authentic sources of this state’s cuisine! The state’s food is an amalgamation of its influences of its surrounding territories, and the food uses limited ingredients, yet high on flavor. One of the main ingredient is the Bhut Jalokia or ghost chilli, as it is called, and has the reputation of being the spiciest chilli in the world! Their food is high on the use of meat and fish…
Strawberry Summer Cake
It feels good to have a break at times. I was trying to arrange a stay-cation earlier this month, but due to conflicting schedules, I got it done over this weekend. I was praying that the weather wouldn’t be harsh, as usually April ends start getting quite hot and humid. Thankfully, everything went in our favor. Not that the weekend started off well. HD tried to help extra and in the process, my house was hit with a mini sandstorm and our vacuum cleaner conked off. Who wants to go on a stay-cation after cleaning the whole house? He sensed my panic attack and immediately moped the whole place, though that did very little to salvage my stress. But still, we somehow put it behind and pushed ourselves out. Once out the house, the mood was different. The drive was good. We relaxed a bit. Then the dad…