I had a little startle as I looked at the calendar today. We have exactly two months to go in this year. How fast does time fly! I don’t want to judge this year now itself since we have the remaining days to see how things fare up. Just hoping that they get better, or at least stay stagnant, InShaAllah… I always believe that meals need to be quick yet filling and comforting. However, the idea of comforting is not likely the same for all of us in the family, isn’t it? 😀 What I find delicious is totally rejected by the girls. As they grow up into their own little individuals, it is a constant fight for me to see what they like and what they don’t. Unfortunately the latter is more than the former, thereby limiting my options as to what to cook for the girls….
Banana Caramel Muffins
I have been lagging behind on book reviews of late. The main reason has been I have been extremely lazy to cook my normal meals, forget about cooking from the cookbooks I have. I would really like to get back on track but I am in no hurry. I want to give myself my own time and get slowly onto my schedule as my routine eases out and things look better, InShaAllah… However, this is one book review I have been wanting to work on from the beginning of the year. There is one reason for it. When a fellow blogger launches her own cookbook, then it is up to us as her little circle to support her for the same. Moreover if she hands over the privilege of the first sale, then I guess it becomes an even bigger excitement. 🙂 As I do this post, the…
Low Calorie Gajar Halwa | Carrot Sweet
The heart seems so much at peace when it sees that the climate is changing finally! We had a really hot September and October was also not showing much respite, making us wonder if we would have the “beach and barbeque” climate all the UAE residents look forward to. Finally, the last week showed a slight change in the scales. There were rains in some interior parts of the country and that surely affected the temperatures. Early mornings are cozy and the times after sunset are just apt for those long walks. Afternoons are still hot at times but hopefully soon they will become more comfortable. This means that it is nice to do some baking and hogging, and more cups of tea and coffee… 🙂 With the wave of healthy eating all over, it becomes difficult to sometimes control ourselves from not having sweets at all. After…
Kheema Seviyan | Khare Sevayan ~ Spicy Vermicelli with Minced Meat
Time for the final post for the Blogging Marathon #105 theme of “Pasta and Pizza”, after doing the White Sauce No-Knead Pizza and the Chicken Fajita Pasta. Vermicelli over there is categorized along with pasta. So I dropped an email to Valli asking if I could cook something with vermicelli for this theme. And she mentioned a yes! I was thinking of making something sweet first, and then I gave up the plan. A little browsing and brainstorming later, I finalized on making this Keema Seviyan. This dish, also called as Khara Seviyan, is usually made in Hyderabadi households for Eid breakfast or lunch. It easily can double up as a filling breakfast or even a lazy lunch or dinner! The dish has vermicelli and mince meat – I used chicken – as main ingredients but you definitely add the vegetables as an extra to it. 🙂 For…
One Pot Chicken Fajita Pasta
After the No-Knead White Sauce Pizza, here is the next post for the Blogging Marathon #105 for the theme of “Pizza and Pasta”. I love one pot meals, because I hate washing up after cooking. Moreover, my kitchen isn’t the most comfortable place to be in. 😀 I mostly make the pasta in a jiffy each time I am in a hurry. But pasta isn’t something the girls are very fond of so it features once in two weeks. I sometimes wonder why they don’t make my life easy by loving food like pasta and daal. *crying inside* I have this habit of binge watching the Tasty app. I sincerely wish cooking and baking would happen in two to three minutes just like they show in it. 😉 During one of the session, I came across this recipe which was so easy and fit into my bill. My…
No-Knead Pan Pizza with White Sauce
Time for the second week of the Blogging Marathon! For this week of edition #105, I chose the theme “Pizza and Pasta”. Valli has a monthly Kid’s Delight event happening and this is the theme for this month. My girls are very fond of pizza but they don’t share the same liking towards pasta. However, slowly and steadily with time, they are finding their interest towards pizza. However since they are my girls, I know that they would get bored of it fast, so I am not getting overly excited about the scene. 😀 So from today for the coming three days, you will see three recipes for this interesting theme… Pizza is something my girls really love. I really don’t consider pizza as a meal. I feel that despite paying so much to buy it, it hardly fills the stomach. Please raise your hands if you agree…
Chocolate Coconut Cake
I have been on a dry spree as far as my thoughts are concerned. Somehow my head is quite empty. It is not that there is nothing much to share, but it is more of my head being empty most of the time. There are few tension filled moments happening, but then I guess the best way to live through life and not stress yourself is by looking at what you already have – four walls that protect you, food to eat, a nice bed to sleep, your family, your parents to talk to, your good friends to fall on to, etc. After all, didn’t Allah tells us that we are created of haste… Of late, the stress has getting on to me a bit too much. I have been mentioning that I am trying to hold on to my lost weight, but as soon as I came…
Nutella French Toast
After a little hiatus, we are back with the Muslim Food Blogger Challenge this month. Of late, we have been looking at easy themes to get in a bit of participation. How much that strategy has helped, I don’t want to comment. 🙂 When it comes to blogging, it becomes the last priority when life keeps throwing things at you on a constant basis. It is happening at the moment for me too. It is just that I don’t want to let my passion die and I am fighting it as much as I can. I have been doing the same for the past two years and so far, I have been successful. But how much I can hold myself up needs to be seen… 🙂 Coming back to the challenge, the theme for the month is “Sandwich”. So what is a sandwich? In layman terms, it is…
Haleeb Mal Zafran ~ Emirati Saffron Milk
After the Qahwa and the Laban – which are relatively no-brainer recipes – I was planning for something else as this post for the Blogging Marathon #105 for the theme of “One country, one category, three dishes”. But fate had it that I wasn’t to make the elaborate drink that I planned. I fell ill last week and I still had to prepare for this post. The lack of energy and mood reigned in and I gave up on myself. When you feel ill, there are certain drinks that play such a soothing role on your overall wellness. If we are back home, it has to be this turmeric milk aka masala paal. But when it is here in the UAE, I would vouch for this saffron milk, called colloquially as “Haleeb Mal Zafran”. Saffron is an expensive spice. It is definitely not something that we would use…
Laban ~ Salted Yogurt Drink
For the Blogging Marathon #105, for the theme of “One country, one category, three dishes”, after having chosen the Qahwa as my first Emirati drink, I chose a rather easy one for today. The reason is obvious – I was literally running against time to do more research on the drinks I would love to make. I would rather say that I procrastinated over my task, that I almost hit the panic button. I am not very fond of leaving things to the last moment, but of late, I feel that I am changing into someone I am not liking. Hehe… Maybe I need to buckle up myself a bit… Anyway, coming back to today’s post. “Laban” is a watered down yogurt drink that is flavored with salt. You heard it right – just three ingredients, served chilled. This drink is literally the most demanded during the hot…
Qahwa | Gahwa ~ Emirati Black Coffee
Each time I take part in the Blogging Marathon, I try to make sure I select easy themes so that I don’t struggle to finish up the cooking. But still, thanks to my lazy bones, I still ended up skittering through at the end! 😕 This week, for its edition #105, I chose “One country, one category, three dishes”. While I chose this theme, I had no other intention than to cover the country which is my second home – the UAE. After moving in between the category to choose, I ended up choosing “drinks” since that wouldn’t take much time to make nor shoot as well. 😉 The first drink I chose to make was the Qahwa or Gahwa. Qahwa is very well known all throughout the Arab countries. In fact, it is the sign of their hospitality. Every local home would have ready-made Qahwa in a…
Karivepilai Sadam ~ Curry Leaves Rice
When I came back from home, I bought a lot of curry leaves. It is not what I had intended. Mattamma – my maternal grandmother – has a lovely curry leaves tree in her plot, and even umma gets her dose from her. She asked me if I wanted some, so I told her, I would but very little. What she sent with my cousin was a big pack with a lot of curry leaves! I simply loathe the curry leaves we get here, they smell so artificial! The ones we get from home – not from the market, but made at home – smells so heavenly that you could sit with it for hours just enjoying the aroma… For this month’s Shh Cooking Challenge which is coordinated by Mayuriji, the state in question was Tamil Nadu – the place of dosas, idlis, vadas, sambars and some awesome…