My Rasha turns seven today, Alhamdulillah…. seven years ago, we waited for this little blessing to come into our hands… when I think of all those days of hospital rounds, the endless prickings to take my blood for checking my sugar count, my HD’s pampering lunches and dinners, the long walks holding hands at nights when there would not be a single soul on the streets, lovely times at work and at study (I was doing my MBA at that time, which completed in time for her arrival!), so on and so forth… of course, like many of us, I enjoyed my first pregnancy to the core… Somehow I knew it was a girl in the reckoning and I held HD from asking the doctor regarding the child because I just didn’t want to know, and just like I had guessed, Rasha turned up… a tiny little child who…
Wholewheat Anzac Cookies
I am so glad to be here on my dearest friend, Resna’s space. She has already guest posted in my blog with her yummy Pidi Payasam and it was during this time I created a rapport with her. It always feels nice to meet people through blogs, who we may not know personally but just the interaction makes you feel that you have known them for ages. Her Pidi Payasam was her 100th blog post, and despite not being well during that time, she hastily finished her last few posts, so that she could have her 100th post as the guest post for my blog! Now this time, she wanted me to be the first guest to be featured on her blog, and seriously, I am feeling so honored that mine is the first name that came to her mind! JazakAllah khairan Resna… I am so overwhelmed… I only pray…
Mathi Mulakittathu – Sardines in Spicy Sauce
OK, now when I say “sardine” or “mathi” as it is called in Malayalam, you will see my frowning face. Whatever said and done about the goodness of this abundantly available fish, I have a love-hate relationship with it. Before marriage, I used to not touch it. The days when umma fries it for lunch, my B and me would have a different fish. Unusual of umma, who would never ever do it for any other types of food, but when it comes to fish, since she’s an ardent fish lover, she would do it for us – and yes, does it still! I just wouldn’t stand the smell of it and hated the clean up required to eat it. The first time umma made me cut sardines, I almost fainted! Yeah, that time it was really serious… as I type this now, I can’t help smiling… umma was like,…
Kappa Puzhukku – Tapoica Mash
There is one thing with a Malayali – he loves his kappa (tapioca)!!! I don’t think that there is any Malayali in this world who doesn’t. As long as you have some Malayali blood running in your veins, whether you are based in Kerala or an NRI or a person of Indian origin, whatever your status, say “KAPPA” and they will start to salivate! Seriously… I am not joking… Kappa happens to be the best street food that sells in Kerala. Couple it up with a spicy beef curry or fish curry, and it will run into the tummy faster than the fastest metro in the world! If it is not rice, then it is kappa for an average Malayali. You will see them eat it as a meal any time of the day… We hardly used to have kappa mainly due to my umma’s diabetes problem. You know…
Malted Banana Nutella Milkshake
Today, it is International Mother’s Day and everybody is wishing their mothers. I feel that mothers deserve to be honoured every day, every hour and every minute, not just on a particular day. A person came to Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and asked, “Who among people is most deserving of my fine treatment?” He (ﷺ) said, “Your mother”. He again asked, ”Who next?” “Your mother”, the Prophet (ﷺ) replied again. He asked, “Who next?” He (the Prophet (ﷺ)) said again, “Your mother.” He again asked, “Then who?” Thereupon he (ﷺ) said,” Then your father.” The Hadith above is more than enough to let us know how important our mothers are to be in our lives, irrespective of what they are to us. So much that your paradise lies under your mother’s feet… I would never say that I am a good daughter, because I know knowingly and unknowingly I have…
Ulli Pakvada ~ Malabar Onion Pakodas
Some days are such that a hundred things come running in your mind. Some words, some gestures, some sighs… Some incidents are there, which even though you would love it to be sidelined into the wild recesses of your mind, still comes back to bring a mixture of smiles and tears. I guess with time, things will heal and matters will get better. Till then, I guess I just move on considering it as a part of the plan of Almighty… 🙂 Rain or no, the craving for fried stuff can knock in almost immediately. There are times when I go back from office determined to make something for chai and my B almost gets knocked down by my enthusiasm. “OK, now what’s wrong with thaatha today??” Hehe… Sometimes I fry to get rid of my devils as well – I love to call it “deep fry therapy”!!! One…
Pizza Cup Corn
Preparing kid-friendly snacks is a task in itself, at least in my house. I have a bunch that gives me heart attacks each time I cook. If it comes to sweets, it has to be chocolate or something based in chocolate. No, no, I shouldn’t just peak it in, it should be the gyst of the whole thing presented. If it is spicy, I should not add any chilli in it. It shouldn’t be fried, nor should it be big that they will have problems biting into it. When I hear their comments after preparing food, I really feel like banging my head against the wall. Our mothers had better children, I guess!!! Hehe… But if there is one thing that goes so well with them, then it is a cup of corn, with some masalas in it. They just love it so much that they could finish cups…
Avocado Milkshake
Avocado is one fruit that I adore totally. But I hate the fact that they take ages to ripen. Or to get good ones is like a lottery. I used to always delay buying this fruit thinking it wouldn’t just ripen and then finally you go to see, that it gets spoiled! I have read somewhere that putting an avocado with a banana in a paper bag for 24 hours will ensure that the avocado ripens, and I have seen that it does work. I also found this slide which will be helpful to all of you, including myself, as to how to choose a good avocado: There is something interesting that I wanted to share with you. This fruit is called “butter fruit” in many part of India. In Kerala cafes, if you see on the menu a juice called “butter juice”, then it is avocado juice!!! While…
Nutella Mug Brownie
There are times when I have typed endlessly on my keyboard for the introduction to my blog posts only to truncate them or to delete them. Different people have different styles of relieving their stress and for me, I love to type what I feel when I am on a high or low. You know for yourself that some things cannot be expressed to anybody or told out. There must be someway of relieving yourself of it. Some people cry in a lone situation, some people bottle it up, which is really dangerous. At least crying will relieve you to some extend. I tend to type down what I feel and then just delete all… it feels as though I am typing out of my heart and then deleting it off it. It may not be 100% but still, it makes me feel as though I have just spoken to…
West African Hot Chocolate
I found two quotes that go so much hand in hand… One slide is a quote which is a gentle reminder as to how the Almighty can support and be with you during distress and the other is a context from the Qur‘an… how soothing it is when He himself tell you that He knows how distressed you are and to leave it to Him to take care of it for you… I guess it is the ultimate feeling of satisfaction in this imperfect life… I have come to learn that happiness lies in how you see and take things and how you can relate it to goodness. When you fixate your mind against one concept of happiness, you are bound to be disappointed and distressed. A change in focus and a high trust in the Omnipotent is all that takes to know that “all is well”… 🙂 I…
Malabar Masala Choru | Curried Rice
Not being in a mood to write anything… it was then I found this online… thought of sharing it here as a reminder for myself first… After all, “Innamal a’amaalu binniyyath…” (Deeds are all based on intentions. – Bukhari, Muslim) Sharing with all of you today, a very simple one pot meal, which is so similar to biriyani without any non-vegetarian element in it. I stumbled upon this recipe in one of the many cook books that I have and decided to make it, not sure how it would turn out to be. I must say that for people who are fine with having rice with just pickle and raita, this is one of the best ways to make rice. I served with this with a chicken curry, that I will share the recipe soon, but personally I had this rice with just a chicken piece, a liberal dose of…
Sausage Potato Roast
Just last week, I had written about Azza starting nursery but then as it happened, the rules get relaxed and she gets an admission into KG1! Tomorrow would be her first day at school, InShaAllah… She is just so excited about the uniform, white socks and black shoes, back to ranting about her “Barbie” bag, her lunch box and her water bottle. I hope the excitement continues and does not sizzle down after the start, hehe… This reminds me that at her age, Rasha had started going to playschool and was quite used to the schedule of waking up but Azza is pretty raw in that case. Just keeping my fingers crossed and hoping to see how she adjusts to her new phase in life… Only goes to remind how soon children grow up, sigh… Another one today for the lazy dinner… how nice it feels to get out…