Jigardhanda

Jigardhanda is a famous drink, a delicacy originated from Madurai, Tamilnadu. Many think that it is made from crushed idli, but the main ingredient is Badam pisin or Almond gum.

Badam pisin or Almond gum is the natural edible gum obtained from almond trees. It's the best ingredient to keep our body cool. Good healing for stomach ulcers or burn. We can get it from provision stores, looks like small brown rocks.

Adding nannari (Indian sarasaparilla) syrup makes it a coolant to escape from hot summer days. It is obtained from the roots of nannari plant. Also, it is a blood purifier and good home remedy for constipation and urinary infection.

Try this healthy drink on a hot day to avoid dehydration. Check out my simple version of the recipe.

Ingredients:
Badam pisin - 1/2 tablespoon or 5-6 small pieces
Nannari syrup - 6-8 tablespoons(adjust accordingly for the sweetness)
Milk khoa - 3 -4 tablespoons (sweetened or unsweetened)
Milk - 3 cups, boiled and chilled

Method:

Wash the gum rocks and soak it in water overnight. Place it in big cup as shown in the picture below. It will expand drastically.

Drain excess water and crush big lumps gently with hand or a spoon.

Mix the crushed gum, khoa, syrup and chilled milk.

No sugar is needed as nannari syrup is sweetened. Adjust accordingly to your taste.

Serve it cold and relish it.

Note: Can do some variations for a different taste, like adding almond or cashew paste. Few add vanilla icecream to have a creamy texture.

Preparation time : 5 minutes
Serves 3 persons

Sweet Maida Appam for Karthikai Deepam

Karthikai Deepam is a festival of lights celebrated in the month of Karthikai(Tamil calendar month which usually falls in November/December) on the full moon day. Celebrated mainly in South India especially, state of Tamilnadu.

Every home is lit with rows of oil-lit mud lamps(Agal Vilakku). For more information, check out here.

We usually clean our house and in the evening, draw rangoli/kolam in front of our houses, decorate it with colour powder or flowers and lit lamps. Special offerings will be prepared for God and worship is done. So this time I made Sweet maida appam and it came out well.

These lamps were lit in our pooja(worship) room. Need to make sure, Thatchu wont hurt her hands, so lit lamps only where she cannot access;)

This dish needs a paniyaram pan for preparing, check the picture here.


Now to the recipe....

Ingredients:
All purpose flour/Maida - 1 cup
Semolina (Rawa/Sooji) - 1/4 cup
Jaggery (Vellam) - 1 cup, powdered
Cardamom powder - 1/4 teaspoon
Cashews - 10-12
Raisins - 10-12
Ghee - 2-3 tablespoons
Oil - 1-2 tablespoon, for brushing
Baking powder - 1/4 teaspoon (optional)

Method:
Dissolve powdered jaggery in 1/2 cup of warm water. Filter it to remove the impurities.

Add flour and semolina and make it a thick batter. Add little water if required.

Roast cashews and raisins in ghee and add to it.

Add cardamom powder and mix it well.

Baking powder can be added along with flour or if you don't want to use it, leave the batter aside for 2-3 hours before preparing.

Heat paniyaram pan and brush oil. Add batter to the moulds and fry both sides, until they are dark brown.

Simple dish to make. Serve hot.


Cooking time: 20 minutes
Makes 15-20 appams

Nandu(Crab) Masala

Well, it’s been a long time .... quite few reasons for not blogging ... My desktop and laptop, both were down since Thatchu showed all her love towards them :) We cannot blame her alone, as we kept them on reach for her.

Anyway, we got a new laptop now and I am blogging here with a special recipe, Crab masala.

For me, cooking crab is too simple than any other non-vegetarian, as it requires less preparation and cooks quickly too. But eating it takes quite a long, but taste is divine :) It has become our favourite and especially for Thatchu too. Once she starts she can't even wait for a moment for us to remove the flesh from the shell ... she loves it.

Mixed the recipes I learnt from my Mom and friend, to our taste. And here you go with it.....


Ingredients:
Crab - 1 (I used King size, weighing 1.5 kg)
Big onion - 1, finely chopped
Curry leaves - few
Cinnamon stick - 1, i inch size
Bay leaf - 1-2
Cardamom - 2
Cloves - 3-4
Oil - 2-3 tablespoons
Salt to taste

For masala paste:
Small onions - 8-10
Tomatoes - 2, medium sized
Pepper - 1.5 tablespoons (Add more for spicy)
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tablespoon
Fennel seeds - 1/2 tablespoon
Grated Coconut - 1/2 cup
Garlic - 5 pods
Ginger - 1 inch size
Green chillies - 2

Method:

Cut the crab into pieces, body and big claws separately and wash them.

Put a crack on the claws so that it will be easy for breaking and also the masala gets into it.

Grind all masala ingredients except tomatoes into a fine paste. Add little water if required.

Make tomatoes into a coarse paste and keep aside.

Heat oil in a pressure pan. Once it is hot, add bay leaf, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves and fry for a minute.

Add chopped onions, curry leaves and ground paste without tomatoes and fry until the raw smell of it goes off.

Once it is done, add the tomato paste and cook for 10 minutes.

Then add 2 cups of water, salt to taste and crab and mix well until the curry stick to all the pieces.

Pressure cook it for 2or3 (based on the type of crab, if they are soft shelled ones, then 1 whistle is sufficient) whistles.

Simmer the stove and once pressure is released, open the lid and cook until the gravy thickens.

Mostly all crabs turn orange colour, which indicates that they are cooked.

Serve hot with rice or chappathi.


Serves 2-3 persons.
Cooking time - 30 minutes.

Molaga Bajji

Love the molaga bajji available in Marina beach or Trade fair in Chennai. Aroma will be so inviting that you cannot resist when you go there.

Ingredients:
Big Green chillies - 10
Besan (Split Chickpeas) flour - 1 1/2 cup
Rice flour - 1 tablespoon
Red chilli powder - 1 teaspoon
Salt to taste
Oil for deep frying

Method:
Mix besan flour, rice flour, red chilli powder, salt and water to a thick batter.

Slit the chillies and remove the seeds.

Heat oil in a pan until it is ready for deep frying.

Dip the chillies in the batter and deep-fry in oil.

Fry all sides until they are golden brown.

Drain excess oil with a kitchen towel.

Serve hot with coconut chutney or sauce.


Few more pictures for you to drool ;)

Cooking time : 20 minutes
Serves 5 persons.

Crispy Promfret fry (Vavval meen varuval)

I never tried this fish, but it has become one of my favourite now. Hubby's friend recommended this and it was very tasty. Try it out.


Ingredients:
Promfret fish (Vavval meen) - 2, medium sized
Chilli powder - 2 tablespoons
Coriander powder - 1 tablespoon
Cumin powder - 1/2 teaspoon (optional)
Turmeric powder - 1 teaspoon
Lemon juice - 1 tablespoon
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tablespoon
Curry leaves - few
Salt to taste
Oil as required for shallow frying.


Method:
Mix chilli powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder, cumin powder, lemon juice, ginger garlic paste, curry leaves, salt to taste and 1 tablespoon of oil.

Sprinkle little water to make it a thick paste.

Clean fish and apply this paste evenly on all sides and marinate for 2-3 hours.

Heat a flat pan, apply little oil.

Once it is hot, shallow-fry the fish both sides until they are crispy. 

Few drops of oil can be added while frying, if you feel it is too dry.

Serve hot with sambhar or rasam rice.


Cooking time : 15 minutes
Serves 2 persons

Macroni Vegetable soup

At last, successfully posted this recipe. More than me, my hubby would be happy ;)
This one I usually prepare when I dont want to eat rice. You can add any vegetables of your choice. Simple and quick for your lunch too.

Ingredients :
Macroni - 1 cup
Onion - 1, chopped
Garlic - 3 pods, finely chopped
Vegetables - 1 cup (Mix of carrots, beans, peas, fresh corn kernels, etc - I used beans, peas & corn kernels)
Butter - 1 teaspoon
Corn flour - 1 tablespoon (optional, if you want your soup to be thick)
Milk - 1 cup
Pepper powder - as spicy required
Coriander leaves/Spring onions - few, chopped for garnishing
Salt to taste

Method:
Boil macroni in 1-1/2 cups of water with salt and 1 teaspoon of cooking oil.

Cook for few minutes until they are soft. Drain the water and keep aside.

Heat butter in a pan. Add chopped garlic and onions and fry for 5 minutes.

Add the vegetables and saute for few minutes. Add 3 cups of water and bring it to boil.

Once they are cooked, add macroni, salt to taste. Dissolve corn flour in 1/4 cup of water and add to it.

Stir well and add milk to it. Heat for 5-10 minutes.

Garnish with coriander leaves, pepper powder and serve hot.

Note: Vegetable or Chicken broth can also be added instead of water.


Cooking time : 20-30 minutes
Serves 3 persons

Apple Halwa

Hi friends, Howdy all?

Hmm... its been a while I have posted.... suddenly became too busy with Thaswika and Facebook;) These facebook games are making me crazy ;)

I hate apples, so tried to eat in a different way .... thought not to waste them. Only thing, select good red apples so that it will be sweet. One or two apples were green for me, so it was little bit sour. So moving on to the recipe........

Ingredients:

Apples - 5, red big ones

Sugar - 4-5 tablespoons (add more if you are sweet lovers;))

Cardamom powder - 1/2 teaspoon

Cashew nuts - few for garnishing

Ghee - 1/2 cup (Be generous if you love it;))

Method:

Peel, deseed the apples and cut into small cubes.

Mash them to a fine paste in a mixer without water.

Heat a non-stick pan and pour into it. Keep stirring for 30-40 minutes, until it becomes thick and cooked.

Once all water evaporates, add sugar, cardamom powder and mix well. Keep stirring for another 20 minutes, until it becomes thick.

Heat ghee in a small pan and fry cashews in it to golden brown.

Add the mixture to the halwa and stir well.

Tasty apple halwa is ready to serve.

Cooking time : 60-75 minutes

Serves 4-6 persons

Kartoffelsuppe

Wondering what is this ..... it's a German dish, more or less, like our cream of Potato soup from HAN's;)

Wanted to participate in AWED-German event, hosted by my friend, Lakshmi of Kitchen Chronicles, which was started by DK.


To be frank, I browsed for recipes, but found few, more time consuming, and few needed me to buy few ingredients. Difficult to spend more time for cooking or shopping, with Thaswika around, nowadays its a difficult task. Hubby is also too busy and working late hours:(

So found this simple soup recipe here , just to give my entry for the event. But it came out well, MUST TRY:)

Ingredients:

Potatoes - 2, medium sized
White Onions - 1, medium sized
Celery - 3/4 stalks with leaves
Bay leaf - 1
Butter - 2 tablespoon
Milk - 2 1/2 cups
Salt to taste
Oil - 1/2 tablespoons

Method:
Wash, peel and cube potatoes. Chop onion and celery.

Heat oil in pan, saute onion, potatoes, celery for five minutes.

Add water to it, until the vegetables are covered.

Then add bay leaf and salt to it, boil until they are tender.

Drain the excess water, reserve it and allow it to cool for few minutes.

Mash vegetables in a mixer nicely, add it to the reserved stock.

In a pan, heat butter and add this to it. Thin soup by slowly adding milk.

Keep stirring for few minutes, but do not boil.

Tasty kartoffelsuppe is ready to serve.


Cooking time : 20 minutes
Serves 4 persons

Now to an award and a tag....

Priya Raj(http://ennsamaiyal.blogspot.com/) passed me "HONEST SCRAP" award. Thank you for sharing it with me!!!

Rules are:

I must thank the person who gave me the award and list their blog and link it

I must list 10 honest things about myself (THIS I DON'T LIKE;))

I must put a copy of The Honest Scrap Logo on my blog.

I must select at least 7 other worthy bloggers & list their links

I must notify the bloggers of the award and hopefully they will follow the above three requirements also.

Thought so much writing this.....;)

1. Honest towards my work, whatever or whichever is allocated to me.

2. Simple, Caring, Trustworthy, Friendly, Lazy sometimes,

3. Can do anything for those who love me truly.

4. Avoid people who talk at the back, those who ditch, those who compare. Completely ignore them.

5. Hate, when people tell lies or cheat, as though I won't knew that it is a lie. Can't take it!

6. Love to travel and explore new places, but always avoid if any risk is involved while enjoying!

7. Won't trust people so easily and once I trust, I will be always for them.

8. GOD fearing. Think many times, before I have to do anything wrong;), that GOD won't punish me for that deed;)

9. Sometimes not bold to face problems. But, too cautious not to get them.

10. Very possessive towards that I own!

Would like to pass the award to

Priti - http://indiankhanna.blogspot.com/

Shama - http://easy2cookrecipes.blogspot.com/

Lakshmi Venkatesh - http://delightsofcooking.blogspot.com/

LG - http://www.tasteofmysore.com/

Priya - http://priyaeasyntastyrecipes.blogspot.com/

Sripriya - http://www.srikarskitchen.org/

Vidhya - http://iyercooks.blogspot.com/

And LG http://www.tasteofmysore.com/ has tagged me for ABC's... so here it is

1) A - Available/Single ? Available, but to my husband only

2) B - Best Friend ? My hubby

3) C - Cake or Pie ? CAKE

4) D - Drink of choice ? Ice Lemon Tea

5) E - Essential item you use every day ? Tissues.

6) F - Favourite color ? Lavender

7) G - Gummy Bears or Worms ? Gummy Bears

8) H - Hometown ? Chennai

9) I - Indulgence ? Blogging and Facebook

10 ) J - January or February ? Jan

11) K - Kids and their names ? 1, Thaswika

12) L - Life is incomplete without ? Love

13) M - Marriage date ? July 6

14) N - Number of siblings? 1

15) O - Oranges or Apples ? Oranges

16) P -- Phobias / Fears ? When someone die near my place and I am alone at home

17) Q - Quote for today ?

"A heart breaking isn't always as loud as a bomb exploding.. Sometimes it can be as quiet as a feather falling.. And the most painful thing is, no one really hears it, except you.."

18) R - Reason to smile ? Anything funny

19) S - Season ? Winter

20) T - Tag 4 people ?

Priti -http://indiankhanna.blogspot.com/,

Shama - http://easy2cookrecipes.blogspot.com/,

Priya - http://priyaeasyntastyrecipes.blogspot.com/,

Sripriya -http://www.srikarskitchen.org/

21) U - Unknown fact about me ? Let it be unknown ;)

22) V - Vegetable you don't like ? Broccoli

23) W - Worst habit ? Biting nails :D

24 ) X - X-rays you've had ? Someone wants them? What the hell ;)

25) Y - Your favourite food ? curd rice with tasty pickle

26 ) Z - Zodiac sign ? Scorpio

Karunai Kizhanghu(Yam) Kootu

Shama asked me to share my first cooked experience for her FIRST COOKED FOOD EVENT.



So here I go .......

I did Yam Kootu when I was studying my 5th or 6th standard, (don't remember;) ). During summer holidays, my cousins from Bangalore and Hyderabad used to come to stay with us in Chennai. Can't forget those days, it was SO MUCH fun. We used to sleep in open terrace speaking about all those happened in school, home, etc.

Once it was some special day, my mom and my aunties went to temple in the morning. They left us at home since it would be crowded in the temple. They said would come back by 11 am and cook for us. But it was 12'o clock, they didn't turn back. Me, my 2 brothers, 4 cousin sisters, 2 cousin brothers were very hungry. We thought why can't we cook ourselves and surprise them.

But we don't know anything about cooking. So checked kitchen, found a big Yam and some dal in a bottle. After some discussion, me and one of my cousin sister planned to make kootu. There was a kerosene pump stove which we used to boil water. We thought of using it since other stove was too high for us. So we kept it in the middle of the hall and everyone sat around it ;), as we wanted to see how it get cooked:D

Quickly we kept a big pan and cooked the whole dal(later we found that it was 1kg of dal;)) in water. Every 10-15 minutes, water was drying and we kept pouring glasses of water. It took nearly an hour for the dal to cook. In the mid, we transfered the dal to a big cooker as the pan was not sufficient to hold it ;)

Meanwhile we cut yam(3/4 kg) into small pieces. Then added this to the dal and kept mixing them. Everyone wanted to try mixing it. So the ladle was passed to everyone. We added salt, curry leaves, coriander leaves and didn't temper it;) But trust me it tasted heaven, we almost finished half of it just by tasting it ;) Whole hall was messy and we quickly cleaned it before the elders came.

We thought our mummies would praise us today for this wonderful dish and kept waiting for them eagerly. They all came back around 2 pm and brought us lunch from outside. We didn't tell them as we wanted to surprise them. One of my aunty went to kitchen to bring plates and found the cooker on the stove. Instead of praisings, we got scoldings since the pan was spoiled and one whole bottle of dal had been wasted. And since we used green gram, the gravy became too thick, once it was cold :(

But when my dad and grandpa tasted it for dinner, they were praising us a lot. Dad did ate it 2 times with rice, saying it was better than my mum's;) Of course now I understood that it was a lie, he did it just to make us happy!


So now we go for the ingredients.....

Ingredients:
Green gram - 1 cup
Yam - 1 cup, peeled and cubed into small pieces
Mustard seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
Onion - 1 small sized, chopped
Black gram - 1 teaspoon
Curry leaves - few
Green chillies - 4, cut into small pieces
Coriander leaves - few for garnishing
Salt to taste
Oil - 1-2 tablespoons


Method:
Wash and cook green gram in 2-3 cups of water until they become soft.

Add cubed yam to it and cook for 10 minutes, until it is soft. Switch off flame and keep aside.

Heat oil in a pan. Allow mustard seeds to splitter in it. Add black gram, curry leaves, chillies, onion and fry until onions turn golden brown.

Add this to the cooked dal and salt to taste.

Mix well and cook for 10 more mintues until it starts to boil.

Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with rice or rotis.


Cooking time : 30-40 minutes
Serves 3 persons

Krishna Jayanthi & Vinayaga Chathurthi Celebrations - 2009

Both Krishna Jayanthi and Vinayaga Chathurthi are special this year, since this is Thaswika's first festivals. Both the days, she kept me engaged;)



Our little Krishna idols. My MIL was there for Krishna Jayanthi, so she did everything on that day. She made Vadai and payasam.


You can check the recipes in the below links:
Vadai
Payasam


Now to Vinayaga Chathurthi celebrations:



Thaswika kept me busy on that day, she was litte cranky, so was with her till 2 pm. After that I started my cooking and had lunch around 5 pm :(

So didn't do much items. I made rice, capsicum sambhar, dal, potato peas masala, vadai, sweet kozhukattai and salt kozhukattai.

Filling of sweet kozhukattai was left over. So I added rice flour to it and steamed it. It was very nice. Usually, I wont do this, since, once the dough became watery for me. But this time, it came out well.

Ingredients:

Rice flour - 1 cup

Jaggey (Palm sugar) - 1/2 cup, powdered

Grated Coconut - 1/2 cup

Cardamom powder - a pinch

Salt - a pinch

Ghee - 1 tablespoon

Method:

Fry coconut in ghee to golden brown and allow it to cool.

Once it is cool, add powdered jaggery, rice flour, salt, cardamom powder to it and mix well to a thick dough.

No need to add water, since ghee and jaggery will make it watery.

Make small balls or any desired shapes and steam it.

Tasty sweet kozhukattais are ready.

Cooking time : 20 minutes

Serves 3 persons

Will post the recipe of potato peas masala soon.

Sending this sweet kozhukattai to Priti and Purva's Festive Food Event .

Baby Corn Manchuria and Awards

Was busy creating a blog for Thaswika. Its in process and hang on until I complete :)
I made this baby corn manchuria last week, since my MIL loves it.

Here goes the recipe.....

Ingredients:

For Deep frying:
Baby corn - 10-12, cut into small pieces
Maida or all purpose flour - 1 tablespoon
Corn flour - 1 tablespoon
Split chickpeas powder (Kadalai mavu/Besan) - 1 tablespoon
Chilli powder - 1-2 teaspoons or Green Chilli paste - 1-2 teaspoons or pepper powder - 1-2 teaspoons
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tablespoon
Salt to taste
Milk - 1/4 cup
Garam masala powder - a pinch
Oil for deep fry

For Saute:
Onions - 1 medium sized, finely chopped
Capsicum - 1, chopped
spring onions - A bunch, chopped
Green chillies - 2-3 cut into 2 slices
Garlic - 2-3 cloves finely chopped
Tomato sauce - 2 tablespoons
Chilli Garlic sauce - 2 tablespoons
Butter/Ghee/Oil - 1-2 teaspoons
Salt a pinch
Coriander leaves - few

Method:
Deep Fry:
Boil 4 cups of water with little salt. Wash baby corn, cut into pieces and soak in boiling water for 15-20 minutes.

Mix maida, corn flour, chickpeas powder, ginger garlic paste, chilli powder, salt in little milk to make a thick paste.

Drain water completely from soaked pieces. Toss the pieces in the paste.

Heat Oil in a pan and deep fry until they are crispy. Keep them aside.

Note:
Broken Corn flakes or bread crumbs can also be added to the paste, so that it will be more cripsy.


Saute:
Heat oil. Add chopped garlic, onions, green chillies and fry until onions are golden brown.

Then add capsicum and fry until they are cooked. Add spring onions and salt to taste.

Add tomato sauce, chilli garlic sauce and saute it for 1-2 minutes until all gets mixed well.

Then add fried baby corn pieces and toss them well. Garnish with Coriander leaves and serve hot.


Cooking time : 45 minutes
Serves for 3-4 persons


--------------------------------------

Now to the awards:

Shama and Sashi passed me with "Kreativ Blogger" award.

Priti showered me with "Kreative Blogger Award", "I love your Blog Award" and "One Lovely Blog Award".

Thank you so much friends:) It really boosts me UP!!!

The Kreativ Blogger award are having some rules …

You must thank the person who has given you the award.
Copy the logo and place it on your blog.
Link to the person who has nominated you for the award.
Name 7 things about yourself that people might find interesting.
Nominate 7 other Kreativ Bloggers.
Post links to the 7 blogs you nominate.
Leave a comment on which of the blogs to let them know they have been nominated

I pass these awards to 7 creative bloggers and I love their blogs.

Sailaja http://www.sailajakitchen.com/

Sanghi http://sanghi-tastybites.blogspot.com/

Chitra http://anyonecan-cook.blogspot.com/

Ramya http://ramya65.blogspot.com/

Shama http://easy2cookrecipes.blogspot.com/

Sashi http://www.sashirecipes.com/

Valar http://valar-myblog.blogspot.com/

Enjoy Friends. Ignore if you have already received it and published about yourself.

So 7 things about myself.. Already published this, doing it again with small changes.....

- Native of Chennai, India, presently staying in Singapore for the past 4 years.
- Physics graduate and Masters in Public Administration & Computer Applications.
- Have 9+ years of IT experience and currently a full time home maker.
- Like to do creative things, Surfing, Blogging, Music, Reading, trying new recipes.
- Have so many good friends .... Love them all..... Life is EMPTY without them.
- My favourites are Lavender colour, Jasmine smell, Raw mangoes with salt and chilli powder ;), Ice Lemon tea, Crunchy bites from KFC ;), Love to explore new places, and many more.... whatever came to my mind, I have mentioned.
- Trustworthy, Friendly, Very possessive especially towards my hubby:), Can't take when loved ones lie or ditch me, Tense up quickly.

And here are the answers for the tag I received from Priti:

What is your current obsession?
Taking good care of my little angel, Thaswika

What are you wearing today?
White and Blue nighty

What’s for dinner?
Fish curry and prawn gravy (Leftovers from yesterday ;) he he)

What’s the last thing you bought?
Big knife for cutting pizza

What are you listening to right now?
Tamil lullaby songs

What do you think about the person who tagged you?
Lovely person, we shared a lot .... now become busy as she got married and I got my little angel. Again we started recently:)

If you could have a house totally paid for, fully furnished anywhere in the world, where would you like it to be?
Singapore

What are your must-have pieces for summer?
Sun screen lotion, cotton clothes, cap, coolers

If you could go anywhere in the world for the next hour, where would you go?
Tioman islands, Malaysia

Which language do you want to learn?
Mandarin and French

What’s your favourite quote?
Write your bad things on water, Write your good things on stone - My dear friend Rev, told me this recently when I was so depressed....

Who do you want to meet right now?
Shah rukh Khan - just to tell him not to worry ;)

What is your favourite colour?
Lavender

What is your favourite piece of clothing in your own closet?
My black pants, few nice tops given by my hubby and my dad.

What is your dream job?
Own a company

What’s your favourite magazine?
Champak, Chandamama, Gokulam, Tinkle and many more ......

If you had $100 now, what would you spend it on?
Buy some clips, earrings, etc.... long time I haven't bought any ;)

What do you consider a fashion faux pas? (faux pas mean error in etiquette.. )
Wrong dress for a wrong place

Who are your style icons?
As of now, none

Describe your personal style.?
Simple

What are you going to do after this?
Cooking

What are your favourite movies?
Mozhi, Taare Zameen par, Black, Swadesh, Kal ho naa ho, Alvin and chipmunks, Bommarillu, Pasanga ....... keeps changing

What are three cosmetic/makeup/perfume products that you can't live without?
Compact, Perfumes (any good one), Maybelline Rose Jam Lip colour

What inspires you?
Encouragement, soothing words

Give us three styling tips that always work for you:
Be simple, good for our health and expenditure ;)

What do you do when you “have nothing to wear” (even though your closet’s packed)?
Buy new ones

Coffee or tea?
Mostly coffee, sometimes Tea

What do you do when you are feeling low or terribly depressed?
Read books that change my mood, if not cry ;)

What is the meaning of your name?
Saraswathi - Goddess of knowledge

Which other blogs you love visiting?
So many can't list....

Favorite Dessert/Sweet?
Gulab jamun, rasamalai, Milk Khoa

What's the best feeling?
Motherhood

Who do you love most and why ?
Of course my hubby and he started sharing with my little angel too. I love him because I love him, this is what I say when he asks WHY I LOVE HIM ;).... he he

Reason(s) for you to blog?
Changes my mood, interesting and keeps me busy.

Sundakkai Vatha Kuzhambhu (Turkey Berry Curry)

Thaswika had high temperature yesterday because of her vaccination. Though it was normal, I got tensed up seeing her cuddled in my lap. Temperature got reduced from midnight and got a relief after seeing her smile. She was too tired today and streching her legs straight as though asking me to massage her as it was paining for her:)

Coming to the recipe, I got this from one of my school friend. Love this with curd rice. I am OFF from the kitchen for the past 2 months;) these were tried before my delivery:) Until my MIL stays with us, I would be posting my old dishes ;)

Ingredients:
Dry Sundakkai vathal (Dried Turkey Berry) - 1/2 cup
Onion - 1, medium sized chopped
Red chillies - 4-5
Garlic - 5 cloves
Uzhuthu (Black gram dal/Urad dal) - 1/2 tablespoon
Curry leaves - few
Mustard seeds - 1 teaspoon
Asofoetida powder - 1/4 teaspoon
Chilli powder - 1 tablespoon
Tamarind - lemon sized
Rice flour - 1/2 tablespoon
Salt to taste
Oil - 2-3 tablespoons

For powder:
Coriander seeds - 1/2 tablespoon
Lentils (Toor dal) - 1/2 tablespoon
Split Chickpeas (Channa dal) - 1/2 tablespoon
Fenugreek - 1 teaspoon
Garlic - 5 cloves

Method:
Heat pan and fry coriander seeds, channa dal, toor dal and fenugreek for 10 minutes.

Dry grind them with garlic and keep aside.

Soak tamarind in 1-2 cups of water, extract juice and keep aside.

Heat oil in a thick pan and allow mustard seeds to splitter in it.

Add urad dal, garlic, onion, curry leaves, red chillies and fry until onions turn golden brown.

Then add sundakkai vathal, grinded masala powder, asofoetida powder and fry for 10 minutes.

Add chilli powder, tamarind juice, salt to taste and allow it boil.

Dissolve rice flour in 1/4 cup of water and make a thin paste.

Add this to the boiling curry and stir continuosly.

Switch off the flame once it is thick.

Serve hot with plain rice or curd rice or idli or kal dosai.


Cooking time - 40 minutes
Serves 3 persons.

I'm Back with Dry Nethli(Anchovies) Varuval

Hello Everyone..... I am back:)

I was blessed with a baby girl on June 16th. Her name is THASWIKA and we were very happy to have her after 6 years of marriage.

But unfortunately, she had to undergo major heart surgery on her 4th day of her birth, as she was diagnosed with Coarctation of Aorta.

By GOD's grace and everybody's prayers she is improving now. Enjoying every single moment with her now :)

Coming back to cooking, here's a very simple dish to go.....




Ingredients:
Dry Nethli (Anchovies) fish - 100 gms
Chilli powder - 1 tablespoon
Turmeric powder - 1 teaspoon
Salt to taste
Oil - 2 tablespoons

Method:
Boil 2 cups of water. Switch off and add turmeric powder to it. Soak dryfish in it and allow it for 20-30 minutes.

Gently wash it 3-4 times with cold water and drain water completely.

Mix it well with chilli powder and keep aside.

Heat oil in a pan. Once it is hot, add fish and fry well.

Once they are half cooked, add salt to taste and fry for 5-10 minutes until they are crispy.

Goes well with hot sambar rice.

Cooking time : 15-20 minutes
Serves 2-3 persons

Beans Rice

I usually try this simple rice for lunch box, whenever I feel lazy to cook 2-3 dishes. Its wholesome to have it with vegetables. Can try the same recipe with carrot, beetroot, cabbage, potato, etc.

Ingredients:

Cooked rice - 6 cups

Beans - 3 cups, finely chopped

Onions - 1, medium sized, chopped

Curry leaves - few

Green chillies - 3-4, cut into small pieces

Fennel seeds - 1/2 teaspoon

Ginger paste - 1/2 teaspoon

Garlic paste - 1/2 teaspoon

Salt to taste

Ghee - 2 tablespoons

Method:

Heat oil in a pan. Add ghee, fennel seeds, onions and fry for 3 minutes.

Then add ginger and garlic paste, curry leaves, green chillies and fry until onions turn golden brown.

Once it is done, add chopped beans and cook until beans are soft. Add cooked rice, salt and mix well.

Serve it hot with papad.

Cooking time : 20 minutes

Serves 2-3 persons

Kuzhi Paniyaram

This is one of the famous snack from Chettinad cuisine. It can be prepared easily from Idli batter either sweet or salty. I tried it salty and spicy. Check it out!


Ingredients:
Idli batter - 3 cups (check the recipe below)

Onions - 1, medium sized, finely chopped

Green chillies - 2-3, cut into small pieces

Curry leaves - few

Mustard seeds - 1/2 teaspoon

Urad dal - 1 teaspoon

Asafoetida powder - a pinch

Coriander leaves - few

Oil - 1 tablespoon

Method:

Heat oil in a pan. Allow mustard seeds to splitter in it.

Add urad dal, curry leaves, onions, green chillies, asafoetida powder and fry for few minutes until all onions turn golden brown.

Then mix this and coriander leaves with the batter.

Heat the paniyaram pan(I missed to take a picture, will add it later) and apply little oil in each of the holes.

Once it is hot, pour the dough and allow it to cook on both sides.

Serve hot with coconut chutney.

Cooking time : 20 minutes

Serves 4-5 persons

Idli batter:

Ingredients:

Boiled Rice - 4 cups

Urad dal - 1 cup

Salt to taste

Method:

Soak rice in water for 2-3 hours and dal in water for 45 mintues, before you are ready to grind.

Grind them seperately and mix them with salt and water, if required.

Ferment it for 8 hours or leave the dough overnite, so that it is perfect for the mornings.

Capsicum Fried rice

Very easy to make and tasty to eat. Try it out.

Ingredients:
Capsicum (Bell peppers) - 1-2 cups, chopped into pieces
(Combine red / green / yellow, so that rice looks colourful)
Cooked long grain rice or fragnant rice - 3-4 cups
Garlic - 2-3 cloves, finely chopped
Green chillies - 2-3, cut into small pieces
Onions - 2, medium sized, finely chopped
Dried basil leaves (powdered) - 1 teaspoon
Light soya sauce - 1 tablespoon
Coriander leaves - few for garnishing
Salt to taste
Olive oil - 2 tablespoons

Method:
Heat olive oil in a large pan. Add chopped garlic and green chillies.

Fry for 2 minutes and add chopped onions. Saute until onions turn golden brown.

Add capsicum, basil leaves, salt to taste and fry until they are cooked.

Then add soya sauce and mix well. Add cooked rice and mix well. Add little salt if required.

Fry for 5-10 minutes and serve hot with vinegar chillies.


Cooking time : 15-20 minutes
Serves 2 persons.

Snakegourd Spring Onions poriyal(Stir-fry)

Snakegourd helps stimulate the production of body fluids thus relieving dryness. It can disperse phlegm, remove pus, expel toxic matter and is anti-inflammatory. Snakegourd can act as a natural antibiotic, expectorant, laxative, and can be used for abscesses boils bronchitis, constipation, jaundice and hemorrhoids. It helps with breast and lung tumors, and can promote lactation. It has been shown to be excellent for diabetes.

For more information click here and here


Ingredients:
Snakegourd - 1, medium sized
Spring onions - 1 bunch
Onion - 1, medium sized
Mustard seeds - 1/4 teaspoon
Urad dal - 1/4 teaspoon
Red chillies - 3-4
Curry leaves - few
Grated coconut - 1/2 cup
Cumin seeds - 1 teaspoon
Green chillies - 1 or 2, as spicy required
Salt to taste
Oil - 1 tablespoon

Method:
Wash snakegourd and deseed it. Cut into small pieces and keep aside. Chop spring onions and onion.

Heat oil in pan and allow mustard seeds to splitter in it. Add urad dal, red chillies, curry leaves and fry for a minute.

Add chopped onions and fry until they turn golden brown. Then add snake gourd and saute well.

Cook it covered for 10-15 minutes until they are soft. Meanwhile, dry grind coconut, green chillies and cumin seeds to a fine powder.

Once snakegourd is cooked, add spring onions, grinded coconut to it and saute well.

Add salt to it and mix well. Cook it for 5-10 minutes.

Serve hot with rice or chappathi.


Cooking time - 20-30 minutes
Serves 3 persons.

Drumstick Kurma

I am back with durmstick Kurma ;)

Tried this in a different way. Was very tasty. Check it out.......

Ingredients:

Drumstick(Moringa) - 1, cut into pieces

Onion - 2, medium sized, sliced

Tomatoes - 2, medium sized, sliced

Green chillies - 2, cut into small pieces

Ginger - 1 inch long piece, cut into small pieces

Garlic - 2-3 pods, cut into small pieces

Bay leaf - 1

Cardamom - 2

Cloves - 1

Cinnamon - 1 small stick

Chilli powder - 1 tablespoon

Coriander powder - 1/2 tablespoon

Turmeric powder - a pinch

Coriander leaves - few

Curry leaves - few

Grated coconut - 1 cup

Khus Khus - 1 tablespoon (optional)

Salt to taste

Oil - 2 tablespoons

Method:

Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a pan. Saute onions, tomatoes, green chillies, ginger, garlic until onions turn transparent.

Allow it to cool for sometime and grind it to a fine paste, with little water.

Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a pan. Add bay leaf, cardamom, cloves, cinnamon and fry for a minute.

Add curry leaves, drumstick and saute for 5 minutes. Then add the grinded paste, chilli powder, corainder powder, turmeric powder and mix well.

Cook it covered until drumsticks are soft. Add little water if it is too thick.

Meanwhile grind coconut and khus khus to a thick paste.

Once drumsticks are cooked, add coconut paste and salt to it.

Bring it to a boil, garnish with chopped coriander leaves and serve hot with rice or chappati.

Cooking time - 20-30 minutes

Serves 3-4 persons.

More(Buttermilk) Kozhambhu

Hi Friends, missing you all. Too busy with work and recently shifted to our new house. So settling things in weekends. Will catch-up with you all soon.

This is one of my favourite and comfort food. Easy to make and tasty to eat.

Ingredients:
Thick buttermilk - 2 cups
Onions - 1, small chopped
Red chillies - 2
Curry leaves - few
Mustard seeds - 1/2 teaspoons
Cumin seeds - 2 teaspoons
Raw rice - 1.5 tablespoons
Green chillies - 2
Lady's finger(okra) - 3-4, cut into small pieces (optional)
Turmeric powder - 1/2 teaspoon
Salt to taste
Oil - 1 teaspoon

Method:
Soak rice and cumin seeds in 1/4 cup of water for 20 minutes and grind it to a thick paste.

Heat oil in a pan and allow mustard seeds to slitter in it.

Add curry leaves, red chillies, onions and fry for 5 minutes.

Then add lady's finger and fry until they turn golden brown.

Add turmeric powder, buttermilk, grinded paste, salt and mix well.

Little water can be added if it is too thick.

Switch off the flame once it is about to boil.

Tasty more kozhambhu is ready to serve with rice.


Cooking time : 20 minutes
Serves 3-4 persons.

Samba Rava Birinji

Samba rava is nothing but broken wheat. Its very nutritious and wholesome food. Good for diabetic persons.

Ingredients:
Samba Rava - 2 cups
Onions - 2, chopped
Cardamom - 2
Cloves - 2
Cinnamom stick - 1
Bay leaf - 1
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tablespoon
Green chillies - 4-5, cut lengthwise (as spicy required)
Mint leaves - few
Coriander leaves - few
Salt to taste
Oil / Ghee - 2 tablespoons

Method:
Cook samba rava in 3 cups of water for 10 minutes in microwave. Adjust water accordingly, it should not be sticky. Allow it to cool for sometime.

Heat oil in a big pan. Add cardamom, cloves, cinnamom stick, bay leaf in it.

Then add the ginger garlic paste and fry for a minute. Add onions, green chillies, mint leaves and saute until they are golden brown.

Then add cooked samba rava, salt and mix well.

Sprinkle little water if required, cook it closed for 5-10 minutes.

Mix it well and garnish with coriander leaves.

Serve hot with onion raita.

Note: You can add chopped vegetables like, beans, carrots, potatoes, etc.


Cooking time : 20-30 minutes
Serves 4 persons