Usually when the themes for the Blogging Marathon is declared, my attention always go on what I can make sweet, even though I don’t eat much or avoid eating nowadays. I guess that has been my tendency ever since I have started blogging. After all, what is my blog name? 😉 I have always loved sweets and will always love them, but just that the dimension now is changed from what it used to be before. Even though I still enjoy an occasional sweet indulgence, my focus has moved to have quality over quantity, and if I do love what I make, then I like to eat little of what is there rather than enjoy half the quantity cooked. I hope that makes sense. 😀 So when the Blogging Marathon #101 themes were out, I instantly jumped into selecting “Kid’s Delight: Savory Bakes” as one theme. Ramadan was…
Capsicum Zunka | Shimla Mirch Sabzi
For this week’s Blogging Marathon #101 theme “Cooking with Besan”, after a lot of thought, I decided to make this dish, that has been in my mind for quite some time. Zunka is a dry dish with besan, made on its own or including vegetables, and is a part of the cuisine in Maharashtra and some northern states. I didn’t want to make a gravy on its own, because I was vary of the interest of my folks. So I ended up making it with capsicum. Capsicum is a vegetable that I have been eating almost everyday ever since I have cleaned up my diet. Not that I am diligently sticking to it and being a saint on a daily basis, but if I don’t eat at least a vegetable a day, I feel as though I am missing something. I have become this from a person who…
Besan Dahi Bhalla ~ Gramflour Dumplings in Yogurt Sauce
My intention of signing up for this month’s Blogging Marathon, which is in its edition #101 (wow!) was my usual thought – of pushing myself to cook some dishes and get some motivation to blog. Ramadan is actually a good time to try new recipes, since we have short working time and plenty of sunshine to ensure that we can click in daylight. But then whatever plans I had went totally derailed following the death of my elappa. Somehow, it disturbed my internal peace. It is expected, isn’t it? Somebody who you think is too young to depart from the world is not considered so by the Almighty. That makes me think how vulnerable life is. We plan days and years ahead, when we have no clue if we will even live to see that moment… However, I didn’t want to withdraw. There was enough time to recover…
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,…
Besan Aloo Mirchi ki Sabzi | Potato Capsicum Curry
I wish I didn’t have to crib. Everyday I have a tough time trying to decide what to cook for dinner. I seem to find that it is getting tougher as the girls grow up. When I started blogging, they were small so they would eat anything that was given to them. But now, they frown and scorn for anything that I make, except pizzas. 😕 Being a mother, this is totally frustrating. With a totally tight schedule these days, I look forward to cooking meals that get done in 30 minutes. Rasha loathes eggs and any dal curry, while Azza is indifferent towards chicken and meat – I wonder if there are kids like that these days! Vegetables are an even big no-no, except for a cucumber daily. My girls don’t even like whole lentils or potatoes. Sometimes, I feel so lost… but then I pull out my…
Easy Palak Paneer
I owe this Palak Paneer recipe to Huma. She shared this recipe with me before she posted it on her blog and made me fall for it head over heels. I never liked making palak paneer before. If you see most of the recipes online, they involve a lot of steps. It makes you feel like making this humble dish is such a pain. But this recipe changed my whole thought process. This recipe is the second one to feature in this week’s theme of “Cooking for 2” in the Blogging Marathon #98. Paneer is something I have been eating every single day since last January, as a part of my protein intake. It is something that we Keralites never eat. I have already mentioned before on the blog that my family shares a mixed relationship with this ingredient. So I don’t cook it frequently. But for myself,…
Dalia Upma | Broken Wheat Upma
There is a reason why I chose this week’s theme when Valli declared it in the Blogging Marathon #98 – “Cooking for Two”. You all know, we aren’t two, we are four. 😀 But most of the time, I end up cooking for two because the other two I have are very fussy that I don’t feel like cooking for them. 😕 HD is forever looking into my food, so for my safety, it is better to cook extra and serve him as well. Do you have husbands who want to eat your food? OK, so jokes apart, dalia or broken wheat is not something that I frequently cook with. But when I got the opportunity to try the ingredient when my mentor included it as a part of my carbs, I fell in love with this upma. Every second day, I was making it for my breakfast…
Easy Pizza Rolls
For this week’s theme of “Kid’s Delight – Snacks and Bites” for the Blogging Marathon #98, I am jumping in with these Pizza Rolls that I baked for Rasha’s class party along with the Brookies. You must be wondering what did I make for Azza then. She came home saying that her teacher asked her to make some “healthy sandwich” and that too only 12 of them. I was a bit concerned. Only 12? And that too sandwich? I asked her again and again, and she kept saying “yes”. I ended up making chicken salad sandwich for her class, which didn’t take much time as Rasha’s goodies took. Anyway… 😀 Rasha actually wanted pizza. But then making mini pizza is a small pain, especially for a class party. So I convinced her that I would make rolls, so that they are easier to carry and eat. After thinking…
Kadumaanga | Malabar Raw Mango Pickle
I don’t know how your relationship with your mom is. We have a totally different wavelength when it comes to thoughts, and can be at loggerheads at times. But does that make me not love her? Definitely not. She is my ticket to paradise, maybe more than my two daughters are. Didn’t the Prophet tell us that our Jannah (paradise) lies under our mother’s feet? This has become a good blackmail dialogue for every Muslim mother, and that includes me too. 😉 And then this hadith: A man came to the Prophet and said, ‘O Messenger of God! Who among the people is the most worthy of my good companionship? The Prophet said: Your mother. The man said, ‘Then who?’ The Prophet said: Then your mother. The man further asked, ‘Then who?’ The Prophet said: Then your mother. The man asked again, ‘Then who?’ The Prophet said: Then your…
Crispy Dosa | Dosa using Poha/ Aval
I always use my idli batter to make my dosas. I make idlis the first day, and then after two days, I add little water to make it slightly thinner, and get the dosas rolling. Everybody does that, isn’t it? It was by accident that I discovered that poha or aval or flattened rice flakes makes a very good replacement when you run out of urad dal. Poha is something that is always available in our home, as it makes a super quick snack or breakfast, either in this way or this. So using it in dosa batter was something I really wanted to try. My girls totally loved how crisp these dosas stayed, even after cooling down. I have a pretty warm kitchen, so my batter ferments well. But getting crisp dosas has been a challenge for me, but not after trying this recipe. The poha…
Ishtu ~ Kerala Vegetable Stew
While I posted the Idiyappam/ Noolputtu recipe couple of months ago, I had hinted that I would post the Ishtu recipe too. It was peaking from behind, so it didn’t make sense to delay this post indefinitely. Hehe… After all the combination of these two is quite a hit… I always wonder why Ishtu is called so. I am sure it is the Malayalamized version of the English word “stew”. Can you see the connection? When umma would make this, I would always think that she is making fun of the name, but lately realized that she was saying its proper name. 😀 I guess we all would have thought of it that way some time in our life! Ishtu is basically a potato stew, made with minimal spices and coconut milk. It is very easy to make, but the spices added gives it such a delicious dimension. …
Vazhuthananga Upperi/ Mezhukupuratti ~ Malabar Eggplant Stir Fry
This month, I am joining up with a new challenge. I have joined it up more to push myself to blog. Every time, I feel that my creative juices are getting stuck, so such challenges are good enough to get me thinking out of the box. The posts I am scheduling this month seem to be majorly challenge posts too, hehe… Vidya and Jolly jointly conduct the A-Z Recipe Challenge, where the members cook from an alphabet every alternate month. The beauty of this challenge is you pick up an ingredient which starts with the concerned alphabet and cook with it. I had become a part of the group in October but waited till I would feel fine to join in. When the alphabet “E” was declared for January, I gave my name but I had forgotten that I would have my whole entourage at home and that would…
Salad Shirazi ~ Persian Cucumber Tomato Salad
The tenth of the month means it is time for the Muslim Food Blogger challenge. This month, the theme was something of so much interest to me. I had put up the theme with so much excitement, but somehow my mood slid and I struggled to put this post together. I can’t express how sad it makes me feel… 🙁 This month, we chose to cook from an Islamic nation and the country in question is Iran/ Persia. I love Iranian food and I have mentioned it in a few of the posts covering some of the recipes in that cuisine. I had planned to cook a few recipe, bookmarked them, printed them, bought the stocks… alas, somehow my mood just didn’t work and I had to settle for a simple recipe. At least I am happy that I am able to participate… Iran or Persia has…
Batata Vada ~ Maharashtrian Potato Patties
I am usually very prompt with my challenge posts. If something is declared, I like to finish off and be ready at the earliest, so that I don’t feel stressed. Keeping things last minute gets me in a panic attack, and I personally do not enjoy that feeling. Sometimes, I really admire bloggers who are able to do things at the last minute – cooking, clicking and blogging! I simply can’t do it! I like to be more organized so that I have peace of mind. But that wasn’t the case with the post for today. This month, I decided to participate in the Shh Cooking Secretly Challenge and the state from where we are cooking is Maharashtra. Even though I am not very sure of the cuisine, I volunteered in. Only while searching I realized that Amras puri, Shrikand and Piyush were all Maharasthrian specials – so…
Paneer Dahi Bhalla
OK, so when you are on a quantified diet and you need to eat as per what is in your list, what do you do to cravings? Twist and tweak them as per your diet! 😀 So today, under my theme “Meals under 30 minutes” for the Blogging Marathon #94, I have to share something that I ate “God knows how many times” of late! The first time I had Dahi Bhallas (or vadas) was at Humi’s place, when I went to meet her the very first time – that was around four years ago. I was never a chaat fan – the first time I had chaat at the insistence of my colleague P, I almost puked out at the combination of sweet and sour – please do not beat me! Gradually, it caught up on my taste buds and now I love it! But still not…