A beautiful quote that I wish to share, which does not need any elaboration from my side… because that one sentence in there is worth thousands of words… đ Â Always on the look out for making some easy Friday lunches, this one is a must try… This looks like a Malabar version of the pulao served in North India, but definitely with Malabar spices… I adapted this recipe from the list of recipes that my cousin’s wife had published in Vanitha magazine during the last Ramadan/ Eid issue. He is a distant cousin of mine, whom I see only when I go on vacations and particularly at weddings, as he is one of the best wedding photographer in our town and his wife is somebody I rarely see but interact a lot on FB – thank God for FB for bringing along family whom you never know existed!!! Hehe……
Malabar Thenga Choru ~ Malabar Coconut Rice
 Some foods that remind me of umma and yes, her umma, whom I so fondly called mattamma…. today I am going to feature one of it here. I made umma make it for me and took the picture of it to share with all of you.  Back home, on Fridays, my mattamma would make this with delicious beef curry and how good it would taste with that fresh coconut and all! Even now, when we go there to see her, she loves to make and serve this. Towards our side, biriyanis are not very famous, or are rarely made, you can say, mostly on occasions of weddings, but never at home. I am not sure whether this type of thenga choru is served anywhere else in Kerala, because I have seen it only prepared towards our side. The rice tastes really good with a spicy non-veg dish or…
Simple Fish Biriyani
Those who are following me on Instagram would have seen this picture I had posted earlier this week. It was an instant snap but very nicely summarizes a food blogger’s muse.Every food blogger depends so much on their food props, their dearest camera and the ever dependent laptop or desktop for doing what they do. I have to but say that the whole process of blogging really thrills me, even though at times I do lose my patience! Yes – I know, it does not seem to reflect on my blog though… I try my level best to keep posting as much as I can… till I get bored or till time squeezes me such that I am not able to manage to do that… đ As promised yesterday, here is the biriyani recipe. I have posted a lot of biriyanis but none of them is with fish. So let…
Neychoru/ Ghee Rice – Pressure Cooker Method
âSorrow prepares you for joy. It violently sweeps everything out of your house, so that new joy can find space to enter. It shakes the yellow leaves from the bough of your heart, so that fresh, green leaves can grow in their place. It pulls up the rotten roots, so that new roots hidden beneath have room to grow. Whatever sorrow shakes from your heart, far better things will take their place.â –Rumi I leave the introduction for today as is… A quote that gives me a lot of hope, InShaAllah… đ  Off to today’s recipe, I have already posted previously the normal way of making neychoru/ ghee rice. Now with the advent of pressure cooker and the increased use of it, everything including biriyani is being made in it. I have to admit that I am one big user of pressure cookers. Once I am home, most of…
Malabar Chicken Biriyani
 Again, back to back guest posts!!! đ đ At this moment, I should tell all of you that I am on cloud nine. Being a fairly new blogger, when Priya akka, who blogs at Priya’s Versatile Recipes started her series âRendezvous with a Foodieâ, I just thought of asking her if I could be a part of it. The humble person that she is, âyes!â came the immediate reply and here I am being featured on her space! I donât think akka needs any introduction â she is an inspiration to all the foodies, who are in awe with her cooking skills, and more than that, her blogging skills, especially with the ease she publishes her posts every day without missing on any challenge. I have to really say that I really admire her time management skills and envy her family who get to eat such lovely food featured on her blog on a daily basis!  When it…
Thalassery Mutton Dum Biriyani
This week, happens to be just like that week in July, where I had two back to back guest posts!!! đ At the beginning of the week, it was for Avika and again now I have another blogger whose name starts with A – Ambreen!!! Is it some kind of a coincidence? I really don’t know! đ When Ambreen emailed me with a request for a meat related delicacy served during Eid, I just couldn’t resist her offer. Who would be able to say ânoâ to the simply sweet Ambreen?  Amid short notice, though I rummaged through my drafts, I was not able to find much of recipes related to mutton or beef, mainly because it is something cooked when I am really in a mood to or there is an occasion, and yes, occasions like Eid which call for some grand food! So a couple of weekends back, I made it a point to…
Kannur Chicken Biriyani
I have been featuring in a lot of guests on my blog and that is evident from the number of bloggers that have participated in my “Be My Guest” series. Through a lot of interaction, I have found some good blogger friends, one of which was Aara Sheikh, who blogs at Sweets n Spices. What attracts me to her page is her simplicity, in terms of both content and recipes. As to many other bloggers out there, one thing that really attracted me to her was her honesty to admit her mistake and withdraw from her page a picture that was not hers. Many people would just withdraw and fail to admit that they have done a mistake or they had done it unintentionally. But she had the courage to clear her name and air on a public forum, which takes a lot of courage. I salute you for that,…
Thalassery Chicken Dum Biriyani | Thalassery Kozhi Biriyani
Yesterday was my elder daughter, Rasha’s sixth birthday. Feels like yesterday that the fragile little one who looked so much like her abba on birth had come into my hands as Allah’s gift. Now whoever sees her says that she is my photocopy. How the transformation, I really don’t know. Last month, at our office staff party, my colleagues were commenting that she looks like me because HD loves me a lot. Hehe… I asked him once I was back from the party, do you really??? and he had a big question mark on his face. đ Thanks to my leg, I could not even bake a cake for her day, even though we do not place any importance for birthdays. All I pray to the Almighty is to provide her with His bounties and protection life long…. Â I had promised this biriyani post when I had done the…
Neychoru ~ Malabar Ghee Rice
As I do this post, I cannot believe that my little blog has passed 20K hits. I don’t know how to thank all of you out there who have been generous enough to come by my page and give your lovely comments of encouragement. A heartfelt thank you from my side to all of you! đ Please do not forget to participate in the Story Telling with Food event which is closing by this month end. Hope to receive some valuable entries from all of you! Â Neychoru or Ghee Rice is something that is so usually made on Fridays in our home. If it’s not biriyani, it has to be neychoru served with some spicy beef curry, or if beef is not available, then chicken curry, irrespective of whether it is here or it is back home. However, somehow, I seem to have a love-hate relationship with this item….
Koonthal Chorum Parippum – Squid Rice with Dal
 Some days are not meant to be the way it is meant to be. Like, for the past couple of weeks, traffic has been at its worst and reaching office and going back home has been a nightmare. I would sheepishly admit to my colleagues that more than working, it is the driving (or rather sitting in the car idle!) that is making me feel tired. Once you are home and you are late, you are definitely in no mood to do any cooking, but then you have to, so what you try is minimal cooking! :)This is my mom’s signature dish. My mom makes it to perfection and my elder daughter, Rasha loves it so much that this is the only meal that she goes for a second serving!!! I have made it a couple of times and it has turned out great, even though  I will not compare it…