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…
Kashmiri Chicken
We are having a long week ahead of us. Government offices and schools are already closed from Thursday on account of Eid holidays, and the private sector gets their holidays from tomorrow. So we basically have a one day working week, which sounds like fun. 🙂 The only problem is when we come back to work next Sunday, our emails may be a barrage to be sorted out. But I guess when you get a long holiday, you shouldn’t be bothered about work. We hardly get long weekends here, so this is definitely welcome. The climate is not very conducive for outdoors so we may stick to being at home, mostly. I really wanted to visit my best friend who is in Muscat on visit, but then His plans are otherwise and I just have to be reconciled with the situation, Alhamdulillah. After all, if everything happened exactly…
Pistachio Milk Cake
The last ten days of Ramadan always feels sweet and sad. Sweet – because the Almighty has promised the highest of rewards whoever does his good deeds and gets through the Night of Qadr. “We have sent it [the Quran] down in the Night of Qadr. And what may let you know what the Night of Qadr is? The Night of Qadr is much better than one thousand months. The angels and the Spirit descend in it, with the leave of your Lord, along with every command. Peace it is till the debut of dawn” (Q. 97). Sad – because the month is quickly coming to an end before you could even enjoy it completely. This Ramadan has been really hectic. I have been working on a few things this month and it has literally drained me. I have been having late nights almost everyday. But I have no…
Mocha Almond Fudge Ice Cream
While I made the Mango Kulfi and the Jack-fruit Ice Cream to fulfill my “blogger mind desires”, this ice cream was fair and square made for the girls. Whenever we go to Baskin Robbins, I always end up taking Jamoca Almond Fudge. I just don’t look anywhere else. It is my standard choice. Now my girls have started following suite. The elder one moved her favorite flavor from Praline and Cream and the younger one has graduated from the bizarre colored ones like Bubble Gum (yikes!). They have been telling me since ages to try this flavor at home. I knew it wouldn’t be hard to replicate, but then it is more work that other ice creams. I have to roast and chop the almonds. I have to make the fudge sauce. I have to do a little bit of work in between to get it done. Oh…
Dry Coconut Rava Laddoo
Taking my time to do challenges is really helping me breathe well and choose what I want to do on the blog. I am really enjoying the phase, to say the least. With life getting tougher by the day, we need to adjust our priorities and while I still keep my blog close to my heart, I am going really slow and loving the process. This month, after a couple of months break, I got back into Recipe Swap which is now hosted by Mir. In this challenge, we are assigned a blog, which we dig into and choose a recipe that we would love to cook. This month, I was assigned Usha’s blog, which is one of my favorite discoveries after being in the Blogging Marathon. I love her neat, crisp pictures and her simple recipes. Just like her blog name, she features a lot of savory…
Chocolate Hazelnut Spread | Easy Homemade “Nutella”
I had mentioned regarding my tryst with my one and only pack of hazelnuts in this biscotti post. I also did mention that I used up the rest of the hazelnuts in trying to make one of the most loved spreads in the world. Of course there is no point for guessing, it has to be Nutella, right? 🙂 I must confess I am no Nutella fan. I belong to the category who can’t stand eating Nutella, condensed milk or Biscoff from the spoon. I may eat Horlicks or Boost but not these. I really have no reason why. Sometimes, our aversion has no explanation, isn’t it? But I love using them to cook or bake. Here are a few Nutella recipes on the blog, among which my personal favorite are these super easy puffs with banana – so delicious that you must try them for your children….
Chocolate Persimmon Overnight Oats
I haven’t done overnight oats in a long time. So when I saw Sarah’s information email saying that this month, the theme for the Fantastical Food Fight would be “Overnight Oats”, I just wanted to participate. I love overnight oats and since I have been on a quantified eating of late, swapping my rice with oats was usually not a preferred option, so oats had to take a limited offering at times. I don’t know how better I can explain this. 😀 Anyway, there were this persimmons that I had reserved to try this muffin recipe for the Bakeathon that concluded last month. However it didn’t happen, since I had no mood to bake them whatsoever. Happens, right? I just wanted to eat them rather than cook with them. Hehe… Then I thought, why not I use them in overnight oats? I decided to make a chocolate version,…
Paal Vazhakka ~ Malabar Plantain Sago Dessert {Version 2}
Isn’t it such a relief to see a white colored post after an overdose of brown posts in the past month? 😀 At least, I am feeling so much relief to see a change. Hehe… Another year has started, and we inch closer to our end in this world… Does anybody think of it that way? We celebrate each year with so much aplomb, not realizing that every moment that goes by means that we are losing a chance to better ourselves. There is so much that can be written with this regard. But seriously, I am in no mood to write. My head is buzzing with so much that I am feeling tired. I don’t know if it is good or bad… 🙂 I will leave it at that and move on to the post for the day… I have already shared a Paal Vazhakka recipe earlier,…
Rocky Road Bites
I could have moved away from the chocolate theme, while doing today’s post for this month’s Fantastical Food Fight challenge. Sarah had messaged us that this month, the theme would be “Candy”. It is obvious because December is considered to be a sweet month and candy is surely a part of it. After a little bit of confusion, she clarified that candy could include fudge, squares, bites, anything that looked like a candy. I was initially planning to sit out of the theme, since I am not much into candy making. The time I had baked the Fudge Brownies for our school meet-up, I wanted to make something else for the kids. My eyes fell on the pack of marshmallows that Azza had finished 80 percent and wouldn’t eat the rest since it didn’t appeal to her anymore. It always happens, isn’t it? They want everything but then…
Chocolate Hazelnut Biscotti
Hazelnuts are pretty expensive nuts, just like pecans and pine nuts. That’s why it is something I never buy. The only times I have bought some pecans were to bake these cookies and these ones too and I treated it like gold. I buy pine nuts only when I know I have to be using it for some recipe, and that too, I buy so little that I invite a stupid look from the fellow at the counter. 😀 It so happened that I was walking towards the vegetable aisle when a box of hazelnuts stared at me. I looked at it, wishing I could buy it and then looked at the price. I re-looked at it again. And again. And again. I couldn’t really believe my eyes. The next thing that happened was that the box landed up straight into the trolley. Once the box reached home, since…
Wheatgerm Cookies
If there is something that can be baked within 30 minutes, then there is no points for guessing – cookies! Even muffins can be done in that time, but totally dependent on the density of the batter. Cookies also have its condition – that the dough can be used to bake immediately, which is usually not the case for cookies like chocolate chip ones. While wondering what to come up as the third post for the “Meals under 30 minutes” theme for the Blogging Marathon #94, my eyes fell on these delicious cookies that I had baked recently. There was this box of wheatgerm that I had bought and was approaching its best before date. Bloggers and cooking fanatics would definitely appreciate how that feels! Even though I have truncated my purchases so much now unlike before, I still have such issues coming up once in a while….
Dates Bliss Balls
While I chose the theme “Sweets without Refined Ingredients” for the Blogging Marathon #94, I had no doubts in my mind regarding this particular one I am making today. Dates bliss balls have been doing rounds for all obvious and good reasons! All ingredients that go into making it are very healthy – whether it’s the dates, the nuts, coconut oil or cocoa powder. It is one of the safest bet to get your sugar fix when you really crave for it. All you need is one ball – take it in your hand, choose a comfortable corner, and slowly chew to enjoy it. It makes you feel really good after eating and your sugar cravings get fixed without a hint of sugar! How cool is that! 🙂 Dates is something I always have at home, but making these balls took too much time. I made…
Basboosa | Middle Eastern Semolina Cake
This month marks two years of the Muslim Food Blogger’s Challenge. It is an amazing feeling. I have been coordinating this event since the beginning and Alhamdulillah, am satisfied with the way the sisters have taken this challenge in their stride, trying to participate in every challenge possible. This year, we did only 9 challenges, taking a break during the summer months. As was done last year, this year also as part of the anniversary challenge, members are free to choose one of the themes of the previous months and repeat them. Below are the themes we had done over the past year and my posts for each: December 2017 – Arabic sweets January 2018 – Cooking with ingredient: Olives February 2018 – Cooking from cuisine: Bangladesh March 2018 – Breakfast April 2018 – Trying from a blog: This Muslim Girl Bakes May 2018 – Ramadan food from the…
Overnight Oats with Laban
For the Blogging Marathon #84 under the “New Year Challenge” theme, I had chosen to share three overnight breakfast ideas and after the Chocolate Chia pudding, here is the second one. I have a lot of overnight oats recipes on the blog already on the blog, so it feels like I am adding one more, but of late, this has been my favorite way of having overnight oats. I have no other than Fami to “blame” for bringing in me this love for laban. Laban is thick buttermilk that is available across the shelves here in the Gulf countries. It is used a lot in Arab cooking, and is awesome to have on its own. I won’t say I love laban but I have it on and off. With she sharing her smoothies made in laban on her IG handle, I decided to get a bottle to try…
Almond Apricot Cake
When I enrolled for the Bake-a-thon with Valli in October, I was in a lot of thought. How would the whole thing be? I have been a part of the Blogging Marathon for a few months now and it is a more themed activity, but this was thirteen days of baked goodies, with no specific theme as such. Since I had drafts available – referred to as “magic folder” by the BM team 😀 – and I thought I would be able to pull it out, I jumped into it and I am glad I took the plunge. Now looking back at all the posts I did for this marathon baking initiative, I am glad I participated in it. I sincerely hope I have done justice to it and selected the best of the baking recipes that I have tried, tested and succeeded in my kitchen. Do check out…