When we keep gap in between participating in challenges, it feels like a long time. I was thinking that I haven’t been a part of the Shh Cooking Secretly Challenge for a long time, and then realized that after participating in March for the pancake challenge, due to the current situation, there was only one month with a challenge in between, which I did skip. If you remember, I did mention that each of the participating bloggers get a chance to suggest a theme every month. For this month, Kalyani suggested that we make summer salads. Before I go further, Mayuriji has updated this challenge with a new logo from this month. It actually feels good to see a challenge thrive for a long time and get uplifts as well, such cases are a rarity now. From beginning with under Priyaakka, this challenge has traveled interesting paths and themes…
Easy n Creamy Mushroom Sauce
I think when you say “Mashed Potatoes“, automatically some sauce has to come with it. The highest probability is always for Mushroom Sauce, isn’t it? So let it be the second recipe for the three back-to-back junk food favorites for this week. My girls can’t stand mushrooms. I have no clue why. The day we make something with mushroom, they frown. I try to tell them it is a nice meaty vegetable that won’t make you miss the meat, but somehow it doesn’t go much with them. So when I was making this sauce, I was kind of sure that my girls wouldn’t have it. Anyway, since I was craving for it, I got to making it. I wanted to make a sauce with pantry ingredients. I didn’t want the recipe to be over complicated, with spices that we may normally not stock in our store cupboard. That…
Microwave Bread Butter Pudding
There was a time when I used to do some microwave cooking. As soon as we had moved into our current flat, I was left with only an infrared induction and a microwave to manage some cooking. The infrared induction was the biggest mistake of a purchase I had done. It was really difficult to cook with its uneven heating, that I used to get frustrated and give up on it. But cooking on the microwave was a joy. True, for all wrong reasons, microwave cooking is not considered to be a healthy alternative. However, I did find it quite helpful when we used to get bored with outside meals. I do have a list of microwave friendly recipes on the blog, that were successful and just doesn’t include mug cakes. I mean it! My favorite one has to be this rice and chicken curry meal that I prepped…
Aloo Baingan | Potatoes with Brinjal
Even though I have a lot of curry recipes already on the blog, somehow my mind always rotates around my sister’s complaint that I don’t have many “serious” recipes. I still fail to understand what she means by it. Hehe… With the last couple of months teaching a lot about the management of time and resources, it has become really important to learn to cook with whatever is available in the pantry. Alhamdulillah, we never faced a situation where we were short on anything. We still could order online and recieve stocks, we could move out and get the grocery we wanted, but I do know of a lot of friends and acquaintances who stayed in complete lockdown areas and had to adjust with whatever they had with them, and with no option of getting in any deliveries. I never knew that a combination of potatoes and brinjals…
Sumac Labneh Chicken
It feels like ages since I have been on this little space of mine. It wasn’t intentional. I had placed a few posts on certain dates wanting to do the posts as and when I would be able to. I had even signed up for two weeks of the Blogging Marathon. But somehow nothing went as per my plans. I ended up getting a nasty flu that toook two weeks to totally get off me. Somehow it left me totally drained physically and mentally. I have never felt this tired in a long time in my life. The irony was that I still had to work from home, since two weeks was too long a time to take a break from work in the current situation. All I can say, is that I am feeling so much better now Alhamdulillah. Sometimes, I feel that a fever or a…
Chocolate Dates Truffles | Chocolate Date Bliss Balls
Dates are always associated with Ramadan. Somehow, it pops up first! Eating dates during suhoor and Iftar is considered to be one of the best Sunnahs. The Prophet ﷺ said: “How excellent are dates as the believer’s suhoor.” [Abu Dawood, Ibn Hibban and al-Baihaqee; saheeh] (Source) Anas ibn Malik said: “The Prophet ﷺ used to break his fast before praying by eating fresh dates, and if there were no fresh dates he would eat dried dates; if there were no dried dates, he would have a few sips of water.” [al-Sawm, 632; classed as saheeh by al-Albani in Saheeh Abu Dawood, no. 560, Islamqa.com] This year, we actually didn’t have to buy any dates. We had received a huge box of lovely dates from HD’s local friend, that I had thought would take majority of it for my parents and mattamma – a huge date fanatic – when I would be going home for…
Ullivada | Malabar Onion Fritters
“The month of Ramadan (is the month) in which the Qur’an has been sent down as guidance for mankind containing clear signs which lead (to the straight road) and distinguishing (the truth from falsehood)..” (Surah Al Baqarah :185) Doesn’t this Ramadan feel different? With the Covid 19 wrecking havoc of our routines and schedules, it has done the same to this precious months. The masjids are still closed,with no sight of it opening in the near future. This simply means that there will be no public Iftaars, no Tharaweeh prayers and if it extends further, then no Qiyamullail. How heart breaking is this thought! But there is another side to it – that the blessings that Allah has filled this month with doesn’t reduce the least. We look for all physical signs around us to feel the month. This time, it isn’t there much for us. It totally depends…
Aloo Gobhi | Easy Cauliflower Potato Curry {Version 2}
How’s the current lockdown treating you all? With Ramadan right across the corner expected anytime on Thursday or for sure on Friday, it feels really different. We have already received notifications that the masjids would continue to remain closed, so all prayers would still be at home. Even though I have been pryaing Tharaweeh at home ever since the girls came their way, I always love going to the masjid for the Tharaweeh. It gives a real Ramadan feeling. For the past couple of years, even though not every day, I would go on and off whenever I have been able to settle up work. But this time, there is no hope. Let us wait and see how things fare as days pass by, InShaAllah… I am all in for gravies that don’t need too much work. I already have a version on the blog, which umma loves…
Dry Chicken Curry
Is there a dearth of chicken curry recipes? Surely not! I already have so many on the blog, and there are many many more that I have tried and are waiting to come up. Hehe… Why I decide to post them, is mainly because they taste different from each recipe I have tried despite having similar ingredients with just a small change in the cooking technique. That is surely an amazing characteristic when it comes to cooking. So after the Borani Banjan, here is a chicken curry that has a thick sauce and goes absolutely well with simple bread, chapathis or paratha, or a side to any dry flavorful rice like this coconut milk rice or masala choru. I have adapted this recipe from a cut-out I had pasted into my scrap book. I better not dwell around my cut-outs! There are so many of them that I…
Turkish Eggs | Cilbir
This week, the posts are all very recent. Just like the Jackfruit Cake, this recipe has also jumped and come ahead fast. There is a reason for it. Off late, I have been seeing some bloggers make their versions of the Turkish eggs. OK, so you must be wondering what are they? The Turks have a deliciously out-of-the-box way of serving eggs for breakfast or brunch. The dish is called as “Cilbir”. It is basically poached eggs, served on top of flavored thick yogurt and drizzled with spiced oil. If you are wondering in your mind “What a combination is that!”, then I was on your same boat till I personally made it and got hooked onto it forever! The recipe is very straightforward. The yogurt that will form the base, is mixed with some minced garlic and herbs of your choice. It can be the more Turkish…
Chicken Lollipop
At this moment, I am trying to fight my lagging spirit and keep up with everything that I would normally do. True, the future looks bleak and worrying, but at the moment, there is nothing I can do. All I can do is to tie the camel and place my trust in Allah. He is our Sustainer, He is our Provider. If He forfeits, He gives us more than He takes away from us. With the way my life has gone, I have seen it and even though a part of mine acts human by feeling low, the other side reminds me that He has always taken care of us and He will, irrespective. All I need to do is to do what I am supposed to do, and be grateful for each and everything that He is giving us… Gratefulness is the key now. When everything exposes and…
Oats Apple Cinnamon Pancakes
March has been so hectic and overwhelming, to say the least. The Covid 19 pandemic has spread such havoc that it has disturbed all lives from the rich to the poor, turning everything upside down. I don’t think I need to mention how the overall mood is at the moment. As much as our normal daily schedules have been hit, things aren’t looking good anyway. The overall economy movements are going to affect everybody’s personal finances and that doesn’t spare us either. But we are just trying to keep calm and hope that everything will pass, just like all our previous tests from the Almighty has gone off. Maybe, it is a reminder from the above that there is some force that is beyond our imagination, and all of a sudden, human beings are feeling helpless. I only pray that this test passes away as soon as possible, and…
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…
- 1
- 2
- 3
- …
- 39
- Next Page »