I am not a fan of spice blends picked up from the supermarket shelves. I would rather have individual spices in my pantry. Each brand has its own distinctive taste, actually making it difficult to like one. The only masala powder I pick up is the chaat masala and then on and off, a pack of Madras curry powder. I am not sure why I pick it up, but I love that smoky smell the spice mix gives when you open the dabba. Unlike most of the curry powders which are in a plastic pack sealed inside a box pack. the Madras curry powder always comes in a tin. I have read somewhere that they use this curry powder a lot in Emirati cooking, likely due to the influence of South Indian cooking on the local cuisine here. With the current batch I have, I used them in the…
Bull’s Eye Egg Curry | Potticha Mutta Curry
There is a reason why I specifically chose “Bring on the Curry” as the theme for this week’s Blogging Marathon #114. During the lock down period, my SIL and I would break our head thinking what to try for dinner. It is a multi-million dollar question all the time, isn’t it? Like many, a lot of my time goes trying to decide what to cook instead of the actual cooking. It was then I discovered umma’s notebook while rearranging my kitchen shelves. She had noted down some recipes that she had seen on TV and actually had cooked them a couple of times. I have already tried a few recipes from the book, and this is one of them. Many more will come in due course, InShaAllah… I always wish I am a bit more organized with food plans. Umma used to be like that. She had a…
Mixed Vegetable Sagu | Karnataka Style Vegetable Stew
For this week’s Blogging Marathon #114, when Valli published the themes and I saw “Bring on The Curry!”, I picked it up right away. I struggle with making curries especially for dinner. For lunch, we have a standard rice-curry-fish-stir fry combo, that is still manageable, but for dinner, to keep the folk’s interest, it is a tough task. Anything non-veg gets accepted with gusto but when it comes to vegetarian fare, I have a roller coaster ride. I guess anybody with a carnivorous family would agree to this. So you can imagine my excitement, when I made this sagu and it got wiped up from the plate. Such a joyous moment! A sagu is a rich gravy that is very specially made in Karnataka, usually eaten with set dosa or pooris. When you go through the list of ingredients, you may figure out the richness. The coconut and…
Banana Drop Cookies
For this week’s Blogging Marathon #114 theme of “Cookies”, here is the third one after the Nankhatais and the Cocoa Cookies. I had plans to make another type of cookie for this post, however the two dying bananas in my pantry prompted me to try these cookies that I had chanced upon Dhanya’s blog. Have you ever heard about drop cookies? They are basically cookies that are scooped by a tablespoon, plopped onto a mat or tray and then baked. Now the tablespoon has been replaced by an ice-cream scoop. Hehe… However, there are many drop cookies that wouldn’t feel like one despite its appearance. They taste like cakes that have taken a cookie avatar… hehe… And these banana drop cookies come into that category… Before I go to these cookies, tell me one thing – how has this period affected you? Have you felt overwhelmed and anxious?…
Simple Cocoa Cookies
When the Blogging Marathon #114 was declared with the theme of “Cookies”, I had to include this one into the list. Those who read my blog regularly will understand how much I love food with memories. And there aren’t much of food with memories for me, since umma’s cooking repertoire was limited, but I guess that is what makes memories… Limited yet plenty… 🙂 Umma used to have a small OTG. She had got it at a very low price – I am sure you all agree how our parents were when it came to putting in their money on anything. They realized the value of money so much because it came hard for them. Sometimes, I do feel that we don’t appreciate it as much as they did. OK, that is a different discussion all together. Hehe… My sister and I would bake something or the other…
Nankhatai | Indian Ghee Cookies
It just feels good to be back to doing the two weeks of the Blogging Marathon, which is hosted by Valli and is going strong, with version 114 playing out in the current month. I was supposed to be doing two weeks last month, but then life had other plans and I had to back out at the last minute. So for this month, here are the first three posts. The theme chosen is “Kid’s Delights – Cookies”, which by the way is an event that I am hosting till mid of this month, so if you have posted any cookie recipe on your blog after June 15, please do not forget to link your post. 😉 The first one I am posting today are our very own shortbread called Nankhatais. The derivation of this name for the cookie is quite interesting. The name has its roots in…
Zucchini Dates Muffins
Sometimes I feel like thanking the Westerners for classifying muffins and cakes as breakfast. It makes our life so much easier. 😀 I mean, would our mothers ever agree to eating cake as breakfast? No way! But then with ways of incorporating all kind of “healthy” ingredients into your cakes, you can very well have a delicious baked breakfast. I have a few lovely bakes that I had made specifically for breakfast, like these Apple Flax Muffins and the Blueberry French Toast, among what I can remember. So when I was considering making something with egg as my breakfast – because eggs are default breakfast material for me since very long – I remembered these muffins I baked recently, which can easily be eaten for breakfast since it has a lot of goodness in it. So after the simple Jam and Cheese Sandwich and the Upma, here is a…
Upma | Easy Rava Upma
As the second recipe for this week’s theme of “Breakfast” in the Blogging Marathon #110, I have chosen to make a recipe, that is considered to be very simple but can drive you up the wall! Please let me know if you agree or disagree. 😀 Upma is considered to be one of the easiest breakfast dish that can be prepared in no time. Being a basic recipe, I have always struggled to make it the way I like it. In fact, I have a “love-hate” relationship with this dish. I never liked upma when umma would make it for breakfast. Hers is usually a little dry and used to get stuck in the throat. Each time I would see her large kadai with a lid on the stove top when I would walk the kitchen, the frown would start from the heart to the face. Hehe… It…
Jam and Cheese Sandwich
For the second week of the Blogging Marathon #110, I have chosen the theme of “Breakfasts”. Even though everybody would say that breakfast is the most required meal for the day, I am really not a breakfast person. I can’t eat really early in to the morning, neither can I have a heavy meal. Hehe… You can find some easy breakfast recipes already on the blog over here. Adding three more to it… Bread sandwiches are a repeat for my kids’ lunch boxes. They love bread, and they love it with any spread. Nutella and Biscoff is always welcome, and Rasha prefers peanut butter over jam and Azza is viceversa. I am someone who doesn’t like to have jam on its own. Either it needs to have thin slice of cold butter in it (are you salivating? I am!) or a nice slather of cheese. The saltiness of…
Kofte Dejaaj | Middle Eastern Chicken Meatballs/ Koftas
I really haven’t felt this empty in the near future. My head is just refusing to cooperate with my fingers, it feels. The current situation on the world, thanks to all the violence and virus, makes the mind feel disoriented. Is it just me, or do you all feel the same? When such instances happens, it points out to the fact again and again that we as humans are just helpless. There is a limit to what we can do. We may go on and on about the strength of the mind and the infinite capabilities of human beings, but when it comes to something as minute as a virus, we are nothing in front of it. We do not have the eyes to see it nor the capability to feel it. Anybody can catch it. The irony of the situation is that there are much more deaths…
Falafel {using Chickpeas}
While deciding on the recipes to try for this week’s chosen theme for the Blogging Marathon #110 of “Middle Eastern”, Falafel was surely on top of the list. I don’t know if you would find it a shocker but back home in Kotakkal, a little shop called Salsabeel sells such amazing Falafel sandwiches that sell like hot cakes! In December when I had gone home, we were on the way back after the doctor’s appointment for the TMJ, and D suggested we stop over to eat something. I am sure we all do that on long drives – at least one stop for a cup of chai and some munching. I was in this outlet for the first time so I let him do the ordering for me. We were served with hot falafel sandwiches, that were so mouthful and delightful – I am typing with this with…
Moutabal/ Mutabal | Middle Eastern Eggplant Dip
I have always been vocal about the reason why I love to be a part of Valli’s Blogging Marathon. It is actually a great push for my sagging cooking moods. Her themes actually make me think a little and push me to try recipes that I have been wanting to make for a long time and get them onto the blog. For this month’s version #110, one of the themes was “Middle Eastern”. I love their food, however it is not something I cook that often as I would love to. This theme gave me the chance to try out something that I would love. I have been taking a back seat with trying new recipes, since my girls are not very receptive. However, with my SIL with us now, she is backing me full on to try new recipes and I am hoping that push will slowly get…
White Chocolate Sago Pudding
Do you see the flow in this week’s Blogging Marathon #109 theme “Anything and everything with chocolate”? It is going from dark to milk to white. 😉 Just saying… So after the French Hot Chocolate and Milk Chocolate Brownies, here is the final recipe for this week’s theme… Initially I had decided that I would make a white chocolate rice pudding with a jam topping. I remember seeing it on some blog eons ago and it had such amazing clicks that it stuck to my mind. I have to agree that food, if clicked beautifully, does stick to your mind. I have not achieved that level and there are so many reasons to it, first being my lack of patience and my lack of interest too. I feel I do take decent pictures but I am just not able to push to the next level, or rather not…
Milk Chocolate Brownies
Haven’t I always mentioned that my girls are hard to please? And that applies very much to my bakes as well. If you thought that kids would eat any brownies baked, then you are wrong. My girls won’t. They seem to have a criteria for their brownies – shouldn’t be too dark in color, shouldn’t have any bitter cocoa taste, shouldn’t have anything to bite in between, etc. etc. My problem is I tend to like more of dark chocolate and the girls end up not eating my brownies. I always tell them that everybody loves my brownies but not them, but they care a hoot. So while thinking of what to make for the theme of “Anything and everything chocolate” for the Blogging Marathon #109, I had decided to make these brownies that have been on my to-do for quite a long time. There is a reason…
French Hot Chocolate | Paul style Hot Chocolate
Here I am with the next week of recipes for the Blogging Marathon #109. I chose a theme that I totally love. There are no points for guessing – it has to be chocolate! The theme is aptly called “Anything and everything with chocolate” and I had no qualms about choosing this. After all, chocolate is something that we all love and would love to incorporate it into our daily eating, if life permitted. Thankfully, scientists have declared that dark chocolate takes care of your happy hormones, so that gives us permission to include at least one square into our daily eating. What say? 😉 The first post is a recipe I have been wanting to try since ages. I always enjoy my home made hot chocolate, either made this way with chocolate chips or simply with cocoa powder. When I am haunted by outdoor cravings, there is…
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