HD is a sucker for anything traditional. As far as food is concerned, he is less fussy – the only requirement he has is the food has to be fresh. But nothing is best for him than a homely meal of rice, curry and fish for lunch, and even better, some pathil with mutta curry (egg curry). In our side of Kerala, it is nice pathiri or the thin rice pancakes. Nope, I still don’t have a recipe on the blog. Such a shame, right? 🙁 I hardly make it, and each time I make it, I want to get done with it! I have received requests to make video of it too… I sincerely hope I can do it soon. My first experience with this thick pathiri was when I got married. My first impression was definitely not good. It was thick and any amount of curry…
Banana Nectarine Smoothie
I guess I just don’t need to mention about how things are now. After the kids, parents and my sister leaving, the house has been pretty lonely. My day is occupied with work, then the gym and the little time I spend at home is mostly for prepping up my meals for the next day. Since I will be travelling home end of the month, I have so much to get done before I can pack and leave. Thinking of my pending list gives me jitters, but I am just trying to breathe and be calm. Hopefully, I will be able to manage to get everything done before going… The climate is getting hotter and very uncomfortable by the day. We had a session of heavy sandstorm following by lashing rains in a small segment of the Dubai-Sharjah border area, which lasted for 15 minutes. It was actually…
Tzatziki ~ Greek Dill Yogurt Sauce
Time for the Muslim Food Blogger Challenge post! After a couple of dull months as far as participation was concerned, I thought it best to keep the theme simple this month. It is “Cooking with an Ingredient – Cucumber”. Cucumber is something that everybody likes to eat. The beauty of this humble vegetable is that it doesn’t need anything to go with it, and makes a healthy filling snack whenever hunger pangs decide to hit you. I have cucumbers in my fridge all the time. My girls eat at least one every day, so I have to make sure I stock up. Did you know that cucumber was one of the favorite foods of our Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)? He used to eat it along with dates. During Ramadan, my Iftar used to be a salad of lettuce and cucumbers, along with the mandatory dates. I tried the combination and…
Lemon Chia Bundt Cake
As we age, our taste buds change as well. Have you noticed that? There are some foods we were so fond as children, but as we grow, it falls out of favor. That happens vice versa too. As a child, I was more inclined towards anything with chocolate. I see that trait in my elder one too. For Rasha, cake and ice cream is chocolate, nothing else. Slowly, she is admitting coffee as a flavor too. But nothing else qualifies. But now I seem to prefer more fruity flavors in my cakes and desserts. I totally love any banana bread, apple cake and even cakes with pear and apricot. They are just so delicious that I can sit and have a few slices without a stop. How many of you are fond of fruity flavors? Do drop in your comments below and tell me your choices, I would love…
Andhra Punugulu | Idli Batter Bonda
There are certain things in life that make you happy. They may necessarily not be something that makes you spend millions. Just the simple things in life… I haven’t shared any slides on this blog for so long. I thought I have to save this one up, since it has a list that really excites me, though for sure, more can go into this list… There are times when I end up with extra idli batter, that the kids don’t want it to be made into more idlis or loosened up for making dosas. That is when I discovered this fantastic street snack, so famous in our neighboring Andhra Pradesh, called “Punugulu”. Cute name, right? 🙂 Punugulus are basically made of freshly prepared or fermented rice batter, with some spices and extra ingredients added and then deep fried into fluffy and crispy fritters. Instead of…
Banana Cocoa Waffles
The feeling of emptiness is a real tough one. After having a chirping noisy house for the past one month, and a back breaking crazy sessions over the past 12 days, my house is empty. Yesterday afternoon, my kids left for their vacation along with my parents and then at night, my sister and her son bid farewell. It felt all too soon… The house looked so deserted, with everything just left as it is. Today, I have to slowly start putting things in place and make the house look like how it did before. I am looking at the whole thing positively. Last year, my kids and I were apart for more than 5 weeks, but this time, it is shorter. I will be travelling by month end, and it’s not that far away. Moreover, it’s a good time to get back to my routine. The past…
Baked Yogurt Curry Chicken
I love quick fix meals. All of you must be knowing it if you are regular readers of my blog. Anything that just needs a mix and cook qualifies as a super easy meal for me. I found this recipe in the same booklet which had the Malai Chicken recipe. I have been eyeing it for so long, but I have no clue why I didn’t try it earlier. I truly believe now everything has a time, right… 🙂 The beauty of this recipe is that you don’t have to slog in the kitchen for too long. We are having peak summers and standing in the kitchen is becoming a nightmare. I haven’t experienced this kind of heatwave in all these years. I am attributing my hotter-than-usual kitchen to the construction that is happening in the little stretch facing the area. It used to be an open car…
Classic Tiramisu
I don’t think there’s anyone who doesn’t like Tiramisu. If there is anybody, please raise your hands, I would love to shoot you down! 😉 A well made Tiramisu is melt-in-mouth in every bite, so delicious that you can’t stop with a spoon. After all, it is so aptly named Tiramisu which literally means “pick me up”. I have always wanted to try the classic version, which has raw eggs in it. Yes, actual authentic tiramisu has use of raw eggs in it. Last year, for Rasha’s birthday, when she asked for Tiramisu, my heart was pulling me to make the classic version. However, like every mother, I was averse of giving a dessert with uncooked eggs to my children. Then I decided to make it in two varieties – the chocolate eggless cheat version which was devoured by the kids, and this classic one, which HD and…
Emirati Lamb White Bean Stew
Aren’t there times when you buy ingredients that you have never cooked with just because a recipe looked so tempting to you? That is how I first picked up white beans. The pack lay in my pantry for quite some time before I used part of it to make the hummus and this delicious filling Greek soup (yum!) The rest of the pack went into this delicious stew that I am sharing with you today. I can’t vouch how much authentic this recipe is. I have adapted the recipe from “A Taste of Arabia” which I have already reviewed in my Majboos post. I have already mentioned in my review that the book doesn’t have any Arabic names for the dish. Usually, I try to search on Google for a name, however while trying to search a name for this one, I couldn’t land on any. In fact,…
Creamy Delight
I have a house full now, Alhamdulillah… Last Wednesday, my sister and her son landed from the US to be with us for two weeks. She has come with so many plans and is literally taking all of us for a ride. 😀 This weekend was so hectic that I am trying to relax myself in between work! I would admit that we are really enjoying this good time we are having. The kids have their last week of school and they really don’t want to go. Since B’s wedding reception is coming up in August, we have been concentrating on our wedding shopping – clothes for us, the kids’ clothes, clothes for the groom, for the parents, etc. etc. Only yesterday, we both realized we hadn’t thought about the husbands. 😀 We are trying to keep everything as simple as possible since neither of us nor D…
Thengapaal Meen Curry | Malabar Fish Curry with Coconut Milk
Love for fish is engrained into a Malabari’s blood, at least majority of them. I am not an ardent fan of fish, but if you ask me to select between chicken and fish, I would go for fish. Fish is lean meat, so much more healthier to eat and far more delicious too! So when the theme for the Fantastical Food Fight was declared for this month as “Seafood”, I “fished” out from my drafts this delicious fish curry that is a regular in our home. Sarah says that June is the National Seafood Month in the US. I am not aware if we have anything like that back home. 🙂 For us, seafood is a must everyday. Umma needs a fish fry to go with her lunch, or else she feels totally incomplete. My sister has taken behind her with regards to her love for fish. She can have…
Medovic/ Medovik | Russian Honey Cake
Ramadan and Eid, all came and went. I have no words to say. The feeling of emptiness and numbness is real. The difference in the atmosphere when the devils are tied up during Ramadan and when they are free is totally to be felt. We had a very silent Eid. On Thursday night, we went over to a friend’s house to apply some henna and came back really late, so we hardly slept for an hour and a half. Then up and awake, to get ready to go the masjid for the Eid prayers, breakfast at my ammayi’s house and eventually we stayed there for lunch too. It was my cheat day after so long, but I made sure I didn’t go overboard, hehe… Ate whatever was in offering but very limited portions. The second day, we started our Shawwal fasts. For those who don’t know, here are…