One of the ideas I had for this year’s Bake-a-thon was to bake with a gluten-free flour. When you aren’t known for any food allergies, then the ingredients usually associated with allergens will be a regular part of our cooking and hence the other adjustments are rarely tested. There are very few gluten free recipes on the blog, and I would like to experiment more on them. However, with the way taste-buds are varying within my folks, I prefer not to experiment too much these days. Most of the time, even with little portions I struggle to finish them. 🙁 I had mentioned in the vanilla muffins post that those muffins were baked to compensate for the adult flavor muffins I had baked earlier. These were the muffins in question. I have always been intrigued by how chickpea flour or besan would taste in a sweet bake. After…
Besan Kheer
For the Blogging Marathon #101, while I was deciding to make a sweet dish for the theme “Cooking with Besan”, my first intention was making some barfis or laddoos. I was planning to make it during Eid, since my cousins would be around and it would be easier to finish it off rather than make something that I am not sure my children would eat. But that didn’t happen. During the mad rush of those five days, time flew and I was still left with the task of having to make a sweet dish with Besan. I do make besan ka doodh occasionally, which is a hot thin concoction of milk and besan. That was when it clicked me, that there must be a kheer in those lines. My guess wasn’t out of place. Besan Kheer is prepared during the winter seasons in Punjab and some North Indian…
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…
Pathiri | Nice Pathiri | Malabar Rice Flatbread
“The month of Ramadhan [is that] in which was revealed the Qur’an, a guidance for the people and clear proofs of guidance and criterion. So whoever sights [the new moon of] the month, let him fast it; and whoever is ill or on a journey – then an equal number of other days. Allah intends for you ease and does not intend for you hardship and [wants] for you to complete the period and to glorify Allah for that [to] which He has guided you; and perhaps you will be grateful.” — Surat Al-Baqarah 2:185 Wishing all my readers a blessed Ramadan ahead… It is surreal that we have reached yet another of this blessed month, Alhamdulillah… I have been more active on my social media of late. Those who follow me on my Instagram handle would definitely know about it – if you aren’t following me, then…
Flourless Chocolate Cake for One | Sugar Free
All the recipes that you have seen in the Bakeathon this month have either been made to treat my cousins, give to friends or colleagues, for my girls… In short, it was always for distribution. Don’t you think it is unfair if I don’t treat myself to something chocolaty when I have baked so much for everybody else? 😉 Here comes in the Flourless Chocolate Cake, that will serve only one. Yes, only one person, and that was me. I can’t explain the process of how I had to sneak bake this and eat this in between a weekend cooking mess in the kitchen. Especially, chocolate has this nasty habit of leaving off its aroma as it bakes. So my sniffy Azza kept coming in and peeping into the oven – I didn’t turn the lights on! – “Ummi, is something baking?” And I would just do my…
Chocolate Coconut Cake | Low Carb, Refined Sugar Free
When I was planning my posts for the Bakeathon, a blessing in disguise came in between. 😉 I was invited to a meet-up session of ladies following keto and paleo lifestyle for their weight loss. Even though I had a very brief stint with keto which wasn’t very encouraging, I decided to just show up with this delicious cake that I had baked specifically for the ladies to enjoy. I had intended to come back as soon as I meet the host but it turned out that the whole get together was so interesting, that I ended up sitting till the end. 🙂 Has that happened to you? It was a little intimidating for me when the hostess requested me to give some motivation to the group as to how to stick to an eating pattern and exercise for weight loss. I am still learning a lot of…
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…
Idiyappam | String Hoppers
When Valli’s mail came for the themes for this month’s Blogging Marathon #94 and my eyes fell on “Meals within 30 minutes”, I really wanted to do it. I am currently building up my “Under 30 Minutes” recipes on the blog and the theme was perfect for adding three more. I have chosen three recipes that fits into different courses, so that it doesn’t feel like you get only drinks within that time. 😀 The first one are Idiyappams or Nool Puttu, as we call it. “Nool” is thread, and definitely these are thread-like rice dumplings, steamed and served. I never realized how much my girls loved this till they literally ate my head asking to make it. I thought it was a really complicated process and would just ignore it. It was one Instagram story of Fami which prompted me to try these. I pulled up my…
Chocolate Zucchini Muffins | Gluten Free, Refined Sugar Free
After the Honey Yogurt Cheesecake and the Dates Bliss Balls, here comes my third recipe for the theme “Sweets without Refined Ingredients” for the Blogging Marathon #94. Keto and Low Carb are big words these days. Every second person seems to be going on Keto. Hehe… I somehow have a mental block towards that diet, but then it is one of the diets that is causing a lot of people to lose weight really quick. I firmly believe that any diet followed in moderation will do good, but totally giving up on one part of the food chain is not sustainable in the long run. Anyway, to each, their opinion… 🙂 I have some coconut flour in my pantry that I bought out of enthusiasm, only to discover that I wasn’t liking it much! I tried making pancakes with them and they became a dud. I was somehow…
Low Carb Cauliflower Pizza
This weekend, we had a freak accident. What was supposed to be a relaxed day went a bit berserk. In a very action filled evening, HD’s right eye got hit by the edge of the fly stick and he was immediately writhing in pain. We immediately rushed out but since it was a Friday, most of the clinics didn’t have their ophthalmologists on duty. We did a run to the hospital, and then in one hour, was relieved to know that there was nothing much except a couple of scratches, which will heal slowly. Considering the fact that the hit was quite hard, the diagnosis was very relieving. The comical situation was that since the hit happened from my side, HD commented to the nurse that I had tried to attack him and he is going to take an insurance against me. 😕 Sometimes I wonder why are husbands…
Omelette Paneer Roll
Do you see some connection here? While doing the posts for the Blogging Marathon #90 for the theme “Wrap and Rolls”, I unconsciously went with all egg recipes! Whether the Kolkata Egg Rolls or the Egg Toasties and now this one, all are with eggs! 😀 So it feels like I did a theme within the theme! Hehe… I had mentioned earlier that at the moment, I am on a quantified diet, ie. I get to eat limited stuff within my macros. Alhamdulillah, I have been able to steadily lose weight and am very happy with my progress. I now have the last block of weight to lose and I am pretty much sure that my body would not want to let it go. 😉 I am targeting this year end to get to my goal, InShaAllah. Definitely it will need a close watch on my diet plus…
Orange Yogurt Popsicles
With the season now changing, the girls always want something cold. I always have a tussle with them to avoid anything cold since Rasha always ends up with throat infection, due to her sinus issue. But then kids being kids, really aren’t bothered of how much they will suffer in case they take something cold, right? It’s the same in my home too! Most of the time, it’s easier to make simple popsicles at home. Most of the time, they just need Tang popsicles and that’s so easy to make, isn’t it? Hehe… Once while flipping through a magazine, I saw this really simple recipe. It reminded me of the vanilla pods Priya had bought for us, that I am using like gold. I decided to use them up in these really simple popsicles that has just three ingredients and no added sugar, apart from just some honey!…
Daqoos ~ Garlic Tomato Sauce
I don’t know what to name the struggle I am going through. The first few posts of the month came through rather easily but at the moment I am fighting a demon inside me that is growing very rapidly despite my fight. At times, I really feel I am ready to give up on the blog but then I think to myself that it was my solace during my tough times, how could I give it up when I don’t feel like it. A complicated question to the confused soul… hehe… I guess I will keep it at that for now… I had promised to post this recipe for Daqoos when I posted it along side Fami’s Bedouin Rice. I guess it’s time has just come now, hehe… Daqoos is basically a cooked and garlic flavored tomato sauce, which is served along side meat and rice in almost…
Chocolate Avocado Mousse
I sometimes wonder what makes good food bloggers stop blogging. There are many that I follow that have successful blogs and have been consistently blogging for many years, but there are some who have left it midway due to so many reasons. Sometimes I wish to ask and know why, but everybody has their personal reasons to keep aside their hobbies. I feel that for many, food blogging starts like a click. It just happens, just like it happened with me too. As you go ahead with blogging, you start realizing that getting people to read your blog and continuously keep coming to it is not easy. In fact, it is a lot of hard work plus a few flashes of good luck! I still haven’t got it, since I am not able to give time to promote my blog as much as I find time to do my…