As I sit to type this post, I realize we are almost half way through Ramadan. This month has been very stressful on all accounts, but trying to take into account that life is always meant for surprises and we need to take it into our stride. With my mood not very conducive for long posts, I think I will just stop over here… When time is of essence, then quick meals are the call of the day. This masala oats is something I can eat anytime of the day. Just like this paneer capsicum rice, this meal appears very frequently, usually for breakfast. It is so quick to make and so delicious, that you would want to eat it every other day. I have always had oats in sweet form, but this recipe has changed my mindset for good. The whole cooking takes hardly 15 minutes, and…
Spiced Chickpea Burger
There is one thing with life – it never goes as per planned. On Sunday, I went home with a pathetic headache after work. I just wanted to sleep till a little before Iftar time, so that I could just put together something and call it a day. I was planning to skip this month’s Fantastical Food Fight challenge initially – which was to make “Burgers”, but when I saw the reminder email in my inbox, I thought, “Why not? It is easy to put together. I shouldn’t miss it.” I had etched down on my magnet notepad of making some chickpea burgers for dinner. But it was not to be. I did wake up late, but as I finished my prayers, I was in for a rude shock… My youngest paternal uncle had an untimely death at the age of 49. Maybe he dying of natural causes,…
Chicken Vermicelli Soup
It is the tenth of the month and it is time for the Muslim Food Blogger Challenge! This month being Ramadan we decided to keep the theme simple and also take a break for next month, since the post date would come immediately after Eid and the last thing you want to do during Ramadan is cook for a challenge! 😉 This month, we decided to make some soup. Now soup is one of the best meals you can have during Iftar. A complete blend of good carbs, proteins and fiber, it is a filling meal, that won’t make you bloat! With everyone looking at options to make their Iftars or dinners more healthy, soups definitely comes in as priority for many of them. Here are all the soup options that are already there on the blog… Meanwhile, I present to you my simple soup filled…
Payyoli Kozhi Curry | Chicken Curry
Can you believe Ramadan is right there at the corner? Sometimes it feels it came way too fast, but I can’t help it but say that it has come at a time when it is needed. I feel like I have a terribly parched soul, just struggling to get in terms with everything that is happening. For surely, this month comes like a relief at the right time. For me, Ramadan is like a breath of fresh air. A change in routine, a more balanced life, a peaceful thought process, a new hope… It literally recharges all the dying batteries within you. I am sure that feeling comes because the devils are chained during this precious month. There is no one but ourselves to beat when they are off our head. It takes some time to realize that there is a lot of inbuilt evil within ourselves, when…
Naga Spicy Ginger Chicken
The month end is usually the day of posting for the Shhh Cooking Challenge whenever I decide to participate. As I had mentioned in the past few posts for the challenge, the group is doing an Indian state every month and this month, it is one of the lesser known North Eastern states called Nagaland. I don’t know what was my mental status when I confirmed a “yes” for participation, only to realize that it was really difficult to find authentic sources of this state’s cuisine! The state’s food is an amalgamation of its influences of its surrounding territories, and the food uses limited ingredients, yet high on flavor. One of the main ingredient is the Bhut Jalokia or ghost chilli, as it is called, and has the reputation of being the spiciest chilli in the world! Their food is high on the use of meat and fish…
Easy Chewy Granola Bars | Granola Bars with Goji Berries & Chia
I am usually very prompt with doing my challenge posts. But for this month’s Muslim Food Blogger challenge, I delayed it as much as I possibly could. It wasn’t that the challenge wasn’t tough. I had a lot of ideas floating in my head. Oh, I didn’t tell what was the challenge. This month, we went with Lubna’s suggestion of making some healthy bites. It is summer vacations back home, and even here, schools were off the past month. When kids are off, then naturally, they are constantly hungry and searching the home up, down and center for something or the other to eat. So this theme couldn’t have come at the correct time. If you have noticed, I did three recipes with the similar theme in the last month’s Blogging Marathon too. 🙂 My first thought was to do something in line with the Dates Bliss Balls….
Besan Aloo Mirchi ki Sabzi | Potato Capsicum Curry
I wish I didn’t have to crib. Everyday I have a tough time trying to decide what to cook for dinner. I seem to find that it is getting tougher as the girls grow up. When I started blogging, they were small so they would eat anything that was given to them. But now, they frown and scorn for anything that I make, except pizzas. 😕 Being a mother, this is totally frustrating. With a totally tight schedule these days, I look forward to cooking meals that get done in 30 minutes. Rasha loathes eggs and any dal curry, while Azza is indifferent towards chicken and meat – I wonder if there are kids like that these days! Vegetables are an even big no-no, except for a cucumber daily. My girls don’t even like whole lentils or potatoes. Sometimes, I feel so lost… but then I pull out my…
Easy Palak Paneer
I owe this Palak Paneer recipe to Huma. She shared this recipe with me before she posted it on her blog and made me fall for it head over heels. I never liked making palak paneer before. If you see most of the recipes online, they involve a lot of steps. It makes you feel like making this humble dish is such a pain. But this recipe changed my whole thought process. This recipe is the second one to feature in this week’s theme of “Cooking for 2” in the Blogging Marathon #98. Paneer is something I have been eating every single day since last January, as a part of my protein intake. It is something that we Keralites never eat. I have already mentioned before on the blog that my family shares a mixed relationship with this ingredient. So I don’t cook it frequently. But for myself,…
Chocolate Biscuit Balls
After making the Pancakes and the Pizza Bites for the Blogging Marathon #98 theme “Kid’s Delight – Bites”, I was totally blank. It isn’t that my mind wasn’t without any ideas but somehow the ideas weren’t being converted into actions. It was really frustrating me to the core. That is when I was reminded of the pack of arrowroot biscuits umma had left and gone for the girls to eat. I had left it in the cupboard since it has all powdered up and eating it without messing up the house is out of question. So there were born these no-cook, super easy Chocolate Biscuit Balls. Sometimes I really wonder why I need to concentrate on posting such easy to make recipes, especially those that are no-cook. We are always looking at ideas which won’t take much time or effort on our part, but will still ensure us…
Mini Vegan Wholewheat Pancakes
I am coming back to the Blogging Marathon after a hiatus. Somehow, I have mentioned it before and still mention it – this series by Valli gives a much needed push when it comes to blogging. You may have noticed that ever since this year has started, I have been going slow on my posts purposely, since I don’t want blogging to become a burden for me. I must say that the move has helped me tremendously to relax and concentrate on other things in life. 😉 When I need the motivation, I know that this initiative by Valli will be there to get me pepped up. Can you believe that this month is #98? Wow… That’s a really long time… 🙂 For this week, I chose “Kid’s Delight – Snack and Bites”. You may have already seen my event declaration post a couple of days ago. Actually,…
Kadumaanga | Malabar Raw Mango Pickle
I don’t know how your relationship with your mom is. We have a totally different wavelength when it comes to thoughts, and can be at loggerheads at times. But does that make me not love her? Definitely not. She is my ticket to paradise, maybe more than my two daughters are. Didn’t the Prophet tell us that our Jannah (paradise) lies under our mother’s feet? This has become a good blackmail dialogue for every Muslim mother, and that includes me too. 😉 And then this hadith: A man came to the Prophet and said, ‘O Messenger of God! Who among the people is the most worthy of my good companionship? The Prophet said: Your mother. The man said, ‘Then who?’ The Prophet said: Then your mother. The man further asked, ‘Then who?’ The Prophet said: Then your mother. The man asked again, ‘Then who?’ The Prophet said: Then your…
How to make Panch Phoron | Bengali Mix Spice
Life never goes as per plan. Or is it actually supposed to? The Talbina post was scheduled so that it would just go up and I wouldn’t have to be bothered about putting up a post. Last Thursday was a day of sorts. I had as usual battled the traffic, muttering under my breath as I rushed to office already late. At 9:45 am, I got a call from D. “Why is he calling me now?” was my impulse. Usually after Fajr and Quran recitations, he sleeps from 8 to almost 10:30. I called him back. He informed that my brother’s father-in-law had passed away and he was in a dilemma how to tell my expecting sister-in-law. He wanted me to come as soon as I could. I quickly settled up all I had on my table and rushed out in 30 minutes. My mind was in a haze….
Talbina ~ Hot Barley Drink
I came across Talbina when I saw jars of a flour being sold in the Saudi pavillion at the Global Village. One store was giving samples of the prepared drink along with a leaflet, about how it is said to be Prophetic medicine and the history behind it. The drink was an off-white thick liquid, topped with toasted coconut and cinnamon and tasted amazing. But I was taken aback by the price of the mix and decided to dig in to find how I could make it. A little search landed me on a few links, including this one and this. The Prophet (PBUH) has recommended Talbina for physical as well as emotional pain. When I found that it is made of freshly ground barley flour, I decided to make some myself and stock it in my pantry. I lightly roasted the whole barley that you can buy…
Pomegranate Tea
I actually feel excited about doing today’s post. It is something that pushed me off my comfort zone. It may be a super simple recipe but the expectation and trepidation of how it would end up being was immense. 🙂 It is the tenth of the month, so it is time for the Muslim Food Blogger (MFB) Challenge. You can check out all the previous posts here. This month, we chose to cook with an ingredient and it was “Pomegranate”. “Rumaan” as it is called in Arabic is one of the fruits mentioned in the Quran. It is a fruit that awaits us in Jannah, InShaAllah… Have you looked at it and marveled at its beauty? At the way each pearl is placed inside, the sweet tartness that is unmatched with any other fruits… “In both of them are fruit and palm trees and pomegranates. So which of the…
Ishtu ~ Kerala Vegetable Stew
While I posted the Idiyappam/ Noolputtu recipe couple of months ago, I had hinted that I would post the Ishtu recipe too. It was peaking from behind, so it didn’t make sense to delay this post indefinitely. Hehe… After all the combination of these two is quite a hit… I always wonder why Ishtu is called so. I am sure it is the Malayalamized version of the English word “stew”. Can you see the connection? When umma would make this, I would always think that she is making fun of the name, but lately realized that she was saying its proper name. 😀 I guess we all would have thought of it that way some time in our life! Ishtu is basically a potato stew, made with minimal spices and coconut milk. It is very easy to make, but the spices added gives it such a delicious dimension. …