Even though I have quite a bit to plug in, I guess I am really not in a mood to put it all down. Maybe I am feeling a bit lagged… hehe… So for me and for all of you, some philosophy here, courtesy “A Peaceful Warrior”…  Off to the recipe for today – OK, now don’t get shocked by the name!!! 🙂 I really don’t know what to call this dosa, which as many of my umma’s foods, features on our breakfast menus on every Sunday without fail. You see that is how much we can predict what we are going to eat when we wake up the next morning!!! 🙂 Eat as is (like I do), with some sugar (like D does) or with some Nutella (like B and Rasha does!!!). 🙂 Breakfast Dosa Save Print Prep time 5 mins Cook time 10 mins Total time 15…
Hummus – Arabic Chickpea Dip
Staying in UAE, Arabic food comes like normal to all of us, even though many of us may not cook their food much at home. Each time, we are out, the first thing I would want is the kebabs from any Lebanese food joinery for sure. Nothing can beat the satisfaction of eating the juicy succulent kebabs so well grilled… yummm…. always served with loads of salad, “khubz” (Arabic bread) and hummus… Â Hummus is something that we make very frequently at home. Anytime we fry or grill chicken, hummus has to be there. In fact, it is easier to make than have a gravy go alongside with it. The combination of “khubz”, hummus and fried chicken is amazing. My kids normally don’t need any accompaniments for hummus. All I have to do is give it to them in bowls and watch with a smile, the way they scoop it…
Vegetable Macaroni Biriyani
Days are flying at its own pace. A lot of ups and downs. In the past couple of days, I have heard a death and illness. Even though it is a part of life, is it something that we can just ignore? We all have to go through phases of illness, that may be like a passing phase but some that go on to become quite serious enough to take away life. We all have to always remember the fact that: “Every soul will taste death. And We test you with evil and with good as trial; and to Us you will be returned.” (Al Qur’an 21:35)Â Such reminders are necessary to keep us fixed to where we are, to keep ourselves humble, to remind ourselves that life is but a mirage and we as travellers, need to ensure that we do not get tricked to believe that we are immortals…
Thenga Chammanthy ~ Malabar Coconut Chutney
It’s weekend and I am at home. I hate the feeling of being stuck at home when I can at least be going to a mall and doing window shopping. Khair, no point in complaining, right? Maybe this time is a lesson for me to just slow down!!! Hehe… Having posted the Thalassery Chicken Dum Biriyani yesterday, I thought I should not be leaving out the Thenga Chammanthi that we so often have with our biriyanis whenever possible. Along with raita and pappad, this chammanthi gives an added flavor to the whole experience of eating a biriyani. I am really excited about the coming week as far as my blog is concerned. Hope you guys will all be with me during this exciting time… Wishing all you a wonderful day and weekend ahead… 🙂 Thenga Chammanthy/ Coconut Chutney Save Print Prep time 2 mins Cook time 2 mins Total…
Vazhuthananga Parippu Curry ~ Brinjal Dal Curry
Even though I love cooking, there is one thing I dread to do – making curries for afternoon rice. We, being from the land of coconuts and paddy fields (which are fast disappearing unfortunately!!!) are so stuck to our rice eating habits that it is so difficult to get rid of it. Thankfully, my HD is OK with anything he gets to it, but my D definitely wants rice – can’t blame him, they have had this habit from the beginning. When umma is gone for her long breaks, I struggle to plan out the afternoon curries. There has been times when I have made a big “chatti” full of sambar, enough to meet the requirements for a week and I get to see my poor D’s expressions every time I come back from office. How wouldn’t he, after having that sambar from Saturday right till Wednesday? On Thursday morning, while I will be…
Cauliflower Masala
Yesterday it shook. And it shook quite much. There were two shakes in the space of 5 minutes. Most of us at the office didn’t realize the first shake much apart from a very few sensitive ones. But the second one was quite heavy. The office furniture, the false ceilings, the plants all shook for a few seconds. We all just got up and ran downstairs our building. The whole area was under panic. You could see all of them on their mobiles. My HD had felt nothing because he was on the road at that time. The kids did, it shook quite vigorously. My B and D didn’t feel much of it, they say. However, everybody panicked. Another earthquake in the space of a week. As per word of mouth, the tremor was of magnitude of 4. The epicenter was Iran Pak border where there was a huge earthquake of 8.5,…
Chammanthi Podi ~ Kerala Chutney Powder
I had hinted a couple of posts ago that this is a celebratory weekend. Today is our wedding anniversary!!! We are one of the most least romantic couples in the whole world, who never have anything planned for this day. We reminisce, smile and move on with our life Hehe… there is fun in that too, right? The Almighty has been good – we have had a comfortable life despite some tightening here and there (part and parcel!!!) and two lovely kids. What more should I ask for? I wanted to do something today, but then, it’s a weekday and I have to be at work and once I am home, it will be the usual mad rush, so I finalized on a little cake for today. The cake is done, frosted (my first full frosting!!!) and in the fridge, for final touch ups once I go back home. My fingers are crossed!!!  Yesterday morning,…
Green Peas Masala
I finally watched “English Vinglish”, after wanting to see it for ages. Ahem, I know I am late, but still… 🙂 When I was in school, I used to be an ardent Sridevi fan. I used to get wild at the Madhuri Dixit fans who used to call Sridevi “ugly”. I mean, they never knew the true meaning of ugly, did they? Now when I think about all that, it feels funny. That was long back…  Love this saree of hers… 🙂 As of now, I can proudly say that I hardly watch movies. In fact, I do not have the patience to sit and watch movies. But ever since I heard Sridevi was making a come-back and the movie was receiving rave reviews, I just wanted to go and watch it in the theatre, which obviously did not happen. Then my B downloaded the movie some time ago (I…
Koshari – Lentils and Rice with Tomato Sauce
Food has such long reaching consequences. I was so glad when I received a message from a Facebook follower, that she had tried the Sago Payasam, Kappa Masala and the Eggless Caramel Bread Pudding and she had enjoyed her experience. Next on her list seems to be the Rose Icecream, which she will attempt once the health of her kids are better. I do not know how much excited I was reading about the feedback. When you try to recreate what you do in the kitchen into words, it may sometimes not connect really, but when you know people had tried to make it and it has come out perfect for them, the joy has no bounds! 🙂 It feels fantastic when people appreciate it this way. I would say without doubt that it’s the kind words that I receive from all of you that keeps me going and so excited…
Mixed Vegetable Curry
Even though weekends are meant to be for relaxing, for me, it’s otherwise. I try my maximum not  to take up anything during the awaited Friday and Saturday weekend, but then somebody plans out something, and I automatically become a part of it. There goes Friday relaxation for a toss. Then Saturday will be filled with all chores you had earlier planned to be split between two days, and at the end of the day, you wish that Sunday was also part of the weekend. I never seem to get out of it somehow… So here I am, on a Sunday morning, feeling exactly like the dog character, Snoopy!!! *Read – my eyes!!!* I had a suggestion from Sini of Kitchen Magic to include more vegetarian recipes on the blog. When I was browsing through my recipe index, I did notice that there is a dearth of vegetarian recipes, meaning recipes where vegetables are…
Kerala Kappa Masala – Tapioca Masala
At least, I am on time. I finally bought tapioca last Tuesday and came home. We normally don’t buy tapioca due to my umma’s diabetes problem. So it has been quite some time since we have had some. As soon as umma saw the grocery, she immediately ordered my B to get fresh beef from the local grocery. Then she gave me a smile and said, “Ethrayum kaalam kappa biriyani thinitilla, onnu undakko?” (“I’ve not had tapioca biriyani till now, can you make it for me?”) Who can resist kappa biriyani? Finally, I just kept around 700 gms aside and used up the remaining to make the kappa biriyani, the recipe of which will come in due course. This weekend, I made the Kerala Kitchen challenge for our chai break. The recipe is adapted from Edible Garden, who is hosting this month’s challenge, however made slight changes to the quantities…
Carrot Pudding
After posting 18 recipes, I finally showed my little blog to my HD. He was kind of surprised plus happy as well. He somehow never thought that I would even do a recipe blog, especially knowing the lazy cook that I am. There is no surpise that he was surprised! 🙂 Hehe… He is happy for me and wants me to keep posting as long as I make something interesting. I’m glad that he is supportive… After sometime, I guess I can hand over the mantle of having to take the photographs for me, because he is a much better photographer. But then, to get his time is quite a big difficulty. Hopefully, later I may have some decent looking pictures…  OK, now stopping my chatter and going off to the recipe… I like to call agar-agar a life saver. You can literally make a pudding of anything with this wonder-weed …