HOME AESTHETICS

Sunshine Award

2010-04-17T18:27:00.004-04:00

I Thank my friend Priya M for sharing this wonderful award with my blog. Thanks a lot dear Priya.

Chicken in Mushroom Gravy

2010-04-17T18:16:00.002-04:00

Ingredients :-

1.Chicken - 1 kg
2.Mushroom - 1 cup (or 10-15 nos button mushrooms or mini portabellos)
3.Onion - 1 big (chopped)
4.Tomato - 2 nos (medium size)
5.Greenchillies - 2-3 nos (or to taste)
6.Ginger - 1tbspn (chopped)
7.Garlic - 1tbspn (chopped)
8.White Vinegar - 2tbspns
9.Cashew - a handful
10.Chicken masala - 2-3 tbspns
11.Redchilli powder - 1-2 tspns (or to taste)
12.Garam masala powder - 1-1.5 tspns (or to taste)
13.Coriander powder - 1/2 tspn
14.Turmeric powder - 1/4 tspn
15.Oil - as required
16.Salt - to taste

a)Marinate chicken overnight or atleast for an hr prior to cooking with juice of a half lemon, salt, 1 tspn chicken masala.
b)Soak cashews in warm water for an hr or so. Make a paste with it and keep it aside.

Preperation :-

1.Heat oil in a pan and sautee onion, greenchillies, ginger and garlic till it is light brown in colour.
2.Add all masala powders and sautee it for a few seconds it is well coated with oil.
3.Add vinegar to this and mix well and then add tomatoes and cook it till it is soft.
4.Once the tomato is done and the masala is thick and the oil is clear on top, add mushroom pieces.
5.Cook it well till the mushrooms are done.
6.Switch off the stove and let the masala cool.
7.Once it is cooled, put it in a blender and make a puree with it.
8.Put this puree back on the stove and let it boil a little.
9.Once it hot, add chicken to it and mix it well.
10.Cook it with closed lid till the chicken is well cooked.
11.Once the chicken is done, add cashew paste and stirr it well.
12.Once the gravy is thick enough to your taste, turn off the heat.
13.Keep this curry aside atleast 4 hrs before serving to get the maximum taste.

Shrimp with Mushroom Masala

2010-04-16T19:01:00.000-04:00

Ingredients :-
1.Shrimp - 1 pound (preferably uncooked white shrimp)
2.Mushroom - 2 cups
3.Tomato - 1 (chopped)
4.Onion - 1 big (chopped)
5.Ginger & Garlic - 1tbspn (minced)
6.Greenchillies - 2 ( or as per taste) sliced
7.Redchillipowder - 1tspn (preferably kashmiri chilli)
8.Turmeric powder - 1/4 tspn
10.Garam masala powder - 1/2 tspn (preferably home made)
11.Chicken or meat masala - 1 tspn
12.Coriander powder - 1/2 tspn
13.Cilantro - a handful (optional)
14.Oil - as required
15.Salt - to taste

Preperation :-

1.Heat oil in a pan. Add onion, greenchillies, ginger and garlic to it and sautee it well till it is soft and transluscent.
2.Add half of the cillantro to this and sautee it for few seconds.
3.Take the pan off the stove and add all powders with a little salt and mix it well till the masala is well coated with oil.
4.Keep this back to the stove and stirr it till the masala is heated up again.
5.Pour a hand full of water just to moist masala and mix it well.
6.Now add chopped tomato to this. Mix it well and cook it in medium flame with a closed lid.
7.Once the tomato is cooked well, mash it and make a thick gravy in very low flame. Add water to keep the masala moist again.
8.Now, add cleaned shrimp into this masala and mix it well till the masala is well coated on shrimp.
9.Once it is done, add cut mushrooms to it and mix it well.
10.Now, do not add extra water. Keep the pan closed with a lid and cook it in medium flame.
11. Once u see vapour comming out of the pan, open the lid.
12.Now increase the flame according to the quantity of water which came out of mushrooms.
13.Cook it open and let the curry get thick.
14.Keep reducing the flame as the curry get thicker and finally switch off the stove once the water consistancy is upto your taste.
15.Taste the curry and add more salt and garam masala if you need more masala flavour.
16.Mix it well and garnish it with fresh herbs you like.

Pineapple Pulissery / Pineapple in yogurt

2010-04-16T17:41:00.001-04:00

Ingredients :-
1.Pineapple - 1 (medium ripe)
2.Yogurt - 2 cups
3.Coconut Milk - 1 cup
4.Greenchillies - 3-5 (or to taste)
5..Garlic - 2
6. Turmeric powder - 1/2 - 3/4 tspn
7.Cumin (jeera) powder - 1-2 tspns ( or to taste)
8.Oil - 2-3 tbspns
9.Salt - to taste

For tadka (final garnishing)
1.Mustart seeds - 1/2 tspn
2.Fenugreek (methi) seeds - a pinch ( may be 5-10 in numbers)
3.Whole redchillies - 3-4 nos
4.Small pearl onions - 1-2 nos (thinly sliced)
5.Curry leaves - 1 string

Preperation :-

1.Cut pineapple into chunk pieces.
2.Cook it with 1/4 tspn of turmeric powder, 1/2 tspn jeera powder, 2 sliced greenchillies, and salt to taste.
3.Meanwhile, grind rest of the green chillies with garlic, cuminpowder.
4.Now mix coconut milk, yogurt and the paste made above. Beat it in a blender till everything is well mixed.
5.Once when the pineapple is cooked well and 3/4th of the water in it is evaporated, reduce the flame into low and add the mix made above.
6.Stirr it well and keep stirring till it is warm to hot but do not let it boil.
7.Now heat oil in a pan or kadai and splutter mustard seeds.
8.Add methi seeds and fry it for few seconds till it is lightly brown in colour.
9.Add sliced small pearl onions to this and fry it till it is golden brown in colour.
10.Now add whole red chillies and curry leaves and fry it for a few seconds.
11.Switch off the stove and add this tadka to the curry made above .
12.Stirr it before serving.

NB :- Add slightly sour ripe mangoes instead of pineapple to make mambazhapulissery .

Thakkali Thairu Chaaru / Tomato Yogurt Curry

2010-02-18T16:11:00.000-05:00

Ingredients :-
1.Tomato - 2 meduim size or 1 big ( sliced or cut into cubes)
2.Yogurt / Curd - 1 cup
3.Ginger - 1tbspn (chopped or mashed)
4.Green Chillies - 2-4 (slit open)
5.Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tspn
6.Cumin Powder - 1tspn or to taste
7.Salt - to taste
8.Oil - 1tbspn or as required
9.Shallot (kochulli) - 1 (sliced)
10.Curryleaves - 1 string
11.Mustard seeds - 1tspn

Preperation :-

1.Take a curry chatti or a kadai/deep pan and pour in 2 cups of plain water.
2.Add tomato with ginger, greenchillies, salt and turmeric powder to it.
3.Cook it well that tomatoes are soft enough to mash a little with a spoon.
4.Mash it and cook it with open lid. Let the excess water get evaporated and it is little thick.
5.Meanwhile, pour yogurt/curn in a blender with a little turmeric powder, cumin/jeera powder, salt and blend it well.
6.Now, mix this blended yogurt into boiling tomato mix and stir it with a spoon till the curry is hot.
7.Switch off the stove or it will start boiling. Not good for yogurt.
8.Take another pan and heat oil. Splutter mustard seeds.
9.Add sliced shallot to this and fry it well with a pinch of salt till shallots are brown in colour. Not burned but kind of burned.
10.Add curry leaves and a pinch of redchilli powder or whole red chillies and fry it for few seconds in low flame.
11.Switch off the stove and add this tadka to tomato yogurt mix.

Tomato Mushroom Curry

2010-02-14T19:47:00.002-05:00

Ingredients
1.Tomato - 2nos
2.Mushroom - 1 small pack (approximately a cup when sliced)
3.Ginger & Garlic - 1tbspn (sliced or chopped)
4.Shallots - 1/3 cup (sliced)
5.Green chillies - 2 nos
6.Coconut milk - 1/2 cup (thick milk)
7.Curryleaves - 1 string
8. Red chilli powder - 1tspn
9.Coriander powder - 2tspn
10.Turmeric powder - 1/4tspn
11.Salt - to taste
12.Oil - 2tspn

Preperation :-
1.Pour a cup of water in a pan and add sliced veggies and ingredients 3,4,5 & 11.
2.Cook well tomatoes are soft enough to mash.
3.Meanwhile, mix coconut milk with all the powders above in a blender.
4.Pour this to cooked veggies above.
5.Now, pour oil and cook the curry till it is thickened up to your taste.
6.Garnish with curryleaves or cillantro.
6.You can also do tadka to your taste and add it.

Chicken Cutlet

2010-02-12T21:34:00.000-05:00

Ingredients :-
1.Chicken - 1 cup (cooked and shredded)
2.Potato - 1/4 cup (cooked and mashed)
3.Onion - 1/2 cup (chopped)
4.Ginger - 1tspn (chopped)
5.Garlic - 1/2 tspn (paste)
6.Greenchillies - 1-2 (chopped)
7.Chicken masala powder - 1tbspn
8.Garam masala - 1/4tspn
9.Pepper powder - 1tspn
10.Salt - to taste
11.Egg - 1 (beaten)
12.Bread crumbs - as required
13.Oil - as required

Preperation :-
1.Heat 2 tbspn of oil in a pan and sautee onions till it is soft.
2.Add ginger, garlic and green chillies to it and fry it till it is slightly brown.
3.Add masala powders to this and fry it till you smell good flavour.
4.Add little water to moist the masala and keep it in reduced heat till you see clear oil in the bottom.
5.Add shredded chicken and mashed potato to this and mix it well till it is hard enough to make a ball.
6.Now, heat required oil in a deep frying pan.
7.Meanwhile, make lemon size balls with the mix made above and press it gently with your palm.
8.Make sure it wont break. Work on it with your fingers to bring it to a nice shape.
9.Keep these patties ready in a plate.
10.Once the oil is hot enough to fry, take each patties and dip it first in egg.
11.Now roll it gently in bread crumbs and make sure every sides are well coated.
12.Drop these patties gently into the oil and fry it till it turns dark brown.
13.Keeping it in a papertowel for few mins before serving will reduce our oil intake.
14.Serve it hot with ketchup or with any chutney you love.

Easy Chicken Biriyani

2010-02-10T22:15:00.000-05:00

Main Ingredients :-
1.Basmati Rice - 2cups (rice cooker measuring cup)
2.Chicken - 1lb (marinate chicken pieces with salt, turmeric powder and 1tbspn lemon juice)
3.Onion - 2 medium size (thinly sliced)
4.Tomato - 2nos (chopped)

A)For rice :-
1.Onion - 1/2 (from above)
2.Cardamom - 3nos
3.Cinammon - 2 pieces (1inch long)
4.Cloves - 2nos
5.Fennel seeds - 1/2tspn
6.Ghee/oil - as required

Preperation :-

1.Wash rice and soak it in warm water for 14-20 mins.
2.Drain it well for 10 mins.
3.Heat ghee/oil in a wide kadai and fry garam masala and fry rice in it for another 6-10 mins
4.Keep it aside.

B)Masala :-
1.Biriyani Masala - 3-4tbspn (preferably MDH Bombay Biriyani Masala)
2.Garam Masala - 1/2tspn
3.Ginger & Garlic paste - 2tbspn (fresh paste)
4.Greenchillies - 2-3nos (make a paste with ginger, garlic and greenchillies for better flavour)
5.Oil - as required

Preperation :-

1. Heat oil in a pan and sautee onions till it is transluscent.
2.Add the paste prepared above to it and sautee it well till the raw smell disappears.
3.Add masala powders to it and sautee it well.
4.Now put chopped tomatoes and chicken into a pressure cooker.
5.Add the cooked masala prepared above to it and mix it well till the chicken pieces are well coated.
6.Cook it till you get 2 whistles.
7.Open the cooker after 5 mins once you hear 2nd whistle.
8.Now seperate chicken pieces and gravy.

C)Biriyani Preperation :-
1.Measure the quantity of masala with measuring cup and add water to it. Make it 4 cups of liquids alltogether. You can also substitute 1 cup of water with 1 cup of chicken stock.
2.Bring this to a boil with required salt. Transfer it to rice cooker vessel
3.Now, add few drops of pineapple flavour, 1tspn rose water, chopped cillantro and a couple of mint leaves to this boiling water.
4.Add fried rice to it. Let it cook.
5.Meanwhile, keep the chicken with leftover gravy on stove till it is well cooked and all water is gone.
6.Once the rice is cooked, heat little ghee in a kadai and fry some cashew n raisens.
7.Mix rice with chicken and fried cashew raisens.
8.Bake it in a pre-heated oven in 360d for 30-45mins (make sure that you cover biriyani with alluminium foil and make few holes in it)

Tasty biriyani is ready. Garnish it with fried onions and boiled eggs.

Pickle Masala Powder

2010-01-25T17:41:00.000-05:00

Ingredients :-
1.Red Chillies - 100gm
2.Methi seeds - 1tbspn (uluva)
3.Moong dal - 2tbspn
4.Cumin seeds - 1tbspn
5.Mustard seeds - 1tbspn
6.Turmeric Powder - 1tspn
7.Hing Powder - 1tspn (kaayapodi)

Preperation :-
Roast ingredients from 1 to 5 seperately. Grind all ingredients together to a fine paste and store it in an airtight bottle.

Sambar Powder

2010-01-25T17:28:00.001-05:00

Ingredients :-
1.Red Chillies - 25nos
2.Coriander - 1cup
3.Methi seeds - 1tspn
4.Urad dal - 1tspn
4.Cumin seeds - 1tspn
5.Hing - 1tspn (kaayam podi)
6.Turmeric powder - 1tspn

Preperation :-
Grind all the ingredients above to a fine powder and store it.

Rasam Powder

2010-01-25T17:20:00.000-05:00

Ingredients :-
1.Red Chillies - 100gm
2.Coriander - 1cup
3.Masoor dal - 1tbspn
4.Chana dal - 1tbspn
5.Urad dal - 1tbspn
6.Cumin seeda - 1tspn (cherujeerakam)
7.Turmeric - 2 piece
8.Pepper - 2tbspn

Preperation :-
Roast first five ingredients together slightly and grind all the ingredients together to a fine powder. Store it in an air tight bottle.

Meat Masala Powder

2010-01-25T17:15:00.000-05:00

Ingredients :-
1.Red Chillies - 100gm
2.Coriander - 3cups
3.Black Pepper - 1tbspn
4.Garam Masala - 1tbspn
5.Fennel Seeds - 1tbspn (perumjeerakam)
6.Poppy Seeds - 1tbspn (khus khus)
7.Turmeric - 2 piece or 1tspn powder

Preperation :-
Roast every ingredients seperately till that raw flavour is gone except turmeric powder. Make sure that none of them are burnt. Grind all together to a fine powder and store it in a bottle.

Vaastu for a peaceful home

2010-01-25T16:51:00.000-05:00

Having a peaceful home is like a dream for us. Especially these days life is so stressfull that even if we are at home with our family, we are not able to enjoy it to its fullest. Let us see what change we can make in our own home to create a peaceful atmosphere. Will you make that dream come true?

1.Allow bright light on main door.
2.If you have big house, make sure that you wont keep more than 5 doors open.
3.Avoid keeping TV/Computer in bedroom.
4.Arrange furniture in the shape of square or circle or octagon in living room.
5.Brighten the corners.
6.Dining room should be seen from the front door of your house.
7.Never put mirror in kitchen.
8.Keep the broom and mops out of sight in kitchen.
9.Do not keep prickly cactus plants in house.
10.In the office, if possible, sit facing the door.
11.Hang a picture of mountains behind you in the office.
12.Ladders stepping down towards north or west attracts -ve energy.
13.Marble is considered to be a holy stone. If possible, avoid marble in bedroom and bathroom.
14.Having marble in your prayer room is good. Make sure that there is enough light and air passage in your prayer room. Keep it neat and clean. Always light insense sticks.

Egg Roast

2010-01-12T15:57:00.005-05:00

Ingredients :-

1.Eggs - 4nos (boiled and cut into half)

2.Onion - 1(medium size - chopped)

3.Greenchillies - 2(chopped)

4.Ginger n garlic - 1tbspn each (chopped)

5.Redchilli powder - 1tspn

6.Coriander powder - 1/2 tspn

7.Chicken masala - 2tbspn (or fresh home made masala powder)

8.Tomato puree - 1tspn(optional)

9.Curry leaves - 1string

10.Cillantro - to garnish

11.Salt - to taste

12.Oil - 2tbspn

13.Vinegar - 1tspn

Preperation :-

1.Heat oil in a pan and sautee onion, greenchillies, ginger n garlic together with curry leaves.

2.Once it starts changing its colour, reduce the flame and add all powders.

3.Take this masala off the stove and add 1tspn vinegar to it.

4.Mix it well and keep it back on medium flame and fry it well.

5.Once you get a good smell, add tomato paste and a little water with required salt.
6.Let this come to a boil. Add eggs into it by cutting one egg into two pieces.
7.Mix it well and make it little dry.
8.Once you see oil in the bottom of the pan, reduce the flame and cook well till the bottom of the eggs are roasted a little bit in that oil.
9.Finally garnish it with fresh cillantro and (or) with 2 mint leaves if you like the flavour.

How to increase wealth through vaastushastra?

2010-01-08T17:24:00.003-05:00

To increase the flow of wealth in your family, follow these tips/rules from vaastu shastra :-

1.Keep sunrise pictures in your living room.
2.Keep pictures flying birds facing us in your living room.
3.Never keep water (eg: aquarium, fountain etc) or water pics under your staircase.
4.Never build pooja rooms or keep murtis under staircase.
5.Do not store food stuffs in a storeroom build under the stair case.
6.Keep flowing water or aquarium in you living room facing towards southeast.
7.The starting of your stair case should not be seen from your main door.
8.Keep mirror next to you dining table so that you can see yourself when you eat food.
9.According to Feng-Shui, having a couple of Flower Horn fish in your living room attracts more wealth and prosperity. Having a male fish is better.
10.Keeping a dragon statue near to clean water (pond, aquarium etc) attracts wealth to our family.
11.You can also put some feng-shui coins inside water.

Dinner Rolls

2010-01-07T21:45:00.000-05:00

Ingredients :-
1.Allpourpose Flour(maida) - 250gms
2.Milk Powder - 1
3.Butter - 1tbspn
4.Active Yeast - 2.5 tspn
5.Sugar - 1tbspn
6.Egg - 2 nos

Preperation :-
1.Mix yeast in half cup of warm water and keep it in warm place till it rises.
2.In a bowl, mix flour,sugar, milk powder, 1 egg, butter and yeast together and make it to a soft dough.
3.Roll it thin and long. Now you can shape this as you like.
4.Cover it with warm wet cloth and keep it covered in warm area for another 3 hrs.
5.It should double in size after fermenting.
6.Beat 1 egg and give these dough rolls a rough egg wash before baking.
7.Preheat oven to (200d celcius) 400 d f and bake it for 15-20 mins.
8.Serving it hot will be more tastier.

Egg Curry - Good for Appam, Pathiri, Chapatti, Puttu etc

2010-01-07T16:19:00.000-05:00

Ingredients :-

1.Boiled eggs - 6 nos
2.Onions - 1 cup (sliced)
3.Tomato - 1(sliced)
4.Ginger & Garlic - 1tspn each(chopped)
5.Green chillies - 2nos (slit legthwise)
6.Redchilli powder - 1 tspn
7.Coriander powder - 2 tspn
8.Chicken masala powder - 2 tspn
9.Garam masala powder - 1/4 tspn
10.Turmeric powder - less than 1/4 tspn
11.White vinegar - 1 tbspn
12.Coconut milk - 1/2 cup
13.Curry leaves - 1 string
14.Cillantro/coriander leaves - to taste

Preperation :-
1.Heat oil in a kadai and sautee onions, green chillies, ginger garlic, and few curry leaves with 1/4tspn salt.
2.Add all powders and fry it till the raw smell dissappears and oil is well coated with whole masala.
3.Pour vinegar and mix it well.
4.Add some water when you get that vinegar smell.
5.Once that starts boiling, add eggs after making some slits in it.
6.Cook it till you see oil on top of the curry. Add sliced tomato and let it cook.
7.Once it is done, reduce the flame and add coconut milk, fresh curry leaves and cook it for few more mins.
8.Garnish it with fresh cillantro when it is ready to serve.

What is Vaastushastra?

2010-01-06T16:40:00.002-05:00

Vaastushastra is an ancient Indian science dealing with construction technology and techniques for building environment friendly dwellings which are in harmony with nature, surrounding environment, cosmic energy, gravitational forces, electromagnetic waves and The Universe.

The word 'Vaastu' has been derived from 'VASTOSHPATI' used in Rig Veda and is meant to provide protection, happiness and prosperity in this life as well as after death. Sounds weired right? Well, that is the truth.

Jeera Rice (Cumin Flavoured Rice)

2010-01-06T16:08:00.003-05:00

Ingredients :-

1.Basmati Rice - 2 cups

2.Water - 4 cups

3.Cumin Seeds - 1 1/2 tspn
4.Turmeric Powder - 3/4 tspn
5.Bay Leaves - 2-3 nos
6.Onion - 1 (chopped)
7.Cillantro - to garnish
8.Salt - to taste
9.Oil - 2 tbspn

Preperation :-
1.Soak rice in warm water for 15-20 mins and drain it well.
2.Heat oil in a wide kadai or pan and add cumin seeds to it.
3.Let it get fried a little. Once you get that cumin flavour, add bay leaves to it and fry for few seconds.
4.Add turmeric powder to it and fry it for 2-4 seconds.
5.Add onion to this and sautee it well.
6.Add drained rice to it and fry it for 10 mins.
7.Meanwhile, boil 4 cups of water with salt. Add salt little more than to taste.
8.If you have a rice cooker, transfer this rice and hot water to it and cook it. (or)
9.Pour this boiling water to rice and cook it till water is completely absorbed and rice is well cooked.
10.Garnish it with fresh cillantro and mint leaves if you like it.

Pavakka thairilittathu / Bittergourd in Yogurt

2010-01-06T15:54:00.002-05:00

Ingredients :-
1.Pavakka - 2 nos (medium size)
2.Yogurt - as required
3.Ginger - 1tspn (chopped)
4.Green Chillies - 2-4 (chopped)
5.Mustard Seeds - 1/2 tspn
6.Curryleaves - 1 string
7.Salt - to taste
8.Oil - 2tbspn

Preperation :-
1.Heat oil in a pan and splutter mustard seeds and then curry leaves.
2.Add chopped grenchillies and ginger to it and fry it till it leaves raw smell.
3.Sprinkle little turmeric powder if you want and add bittergourd with salt to it.
4.Cook it till it is soft but a little crisp inside.
5.Now beat yogurt with enough salt and add this to it.
6.Bring the flame to low and stirr well.
7.Switch off the stove once pachadi is warm.
8.Ready to serve. You can serve it even after it is cooled.

Palappam

2010-01-02T15:39:00.006-05:00

Ingredients :-

1.Raw rice - 2cups

2.Cooked rice - a hand ful (optional)

3.Grated coconut - 1/2 cup

4.Yeast - 1/2 tspn

5.Rawa - 2 tbspn

6.Salt - to taste

7.Sugar - 1 tspn

Preperation :-

1.Soak rice for 6 hrs.

2.Grind it along with coconut to a fine paste.

3.Keep this in warm water.

4.Meanwhile, mix yeast and sugar in luke warm water (1/2 cup) and keep it in warm place, preferably in oven. Let it rise (15-20 mins)

5.Boil half cup of water and cook rawa in it. Keep stirring so that it wont burn in the bottom.

6.Switch off the stove once it starts thickening.

7.Now the rice paste made above will be warm, pour yeast mix and warm rawa porridge into it and mix well with hand.

8.Let the mix be a little thick than idli batter. Keep it inside oven and warm oven in 170d for 3-4 mins. Do not open it and let it ferment for 6-8 hrs.

9.Once the batter is fermented, add one egg white, salt n sugar to taste with required coconut milk (you can dilute coconut milk with water if you want).

10.Now, put this back into the oven and warm it in 170d for another 3-4 mins and let it be there for 30mins.

11.Heat appachatti and pour 1-2oz and just rotate the chatti. Keep it closed till you see steam comming out.

Mutta curry (egg curry). The best combination curry for appam.

Yummy Milk Peda in a few minutes..

2010-01-01T22:27:00.000-05:00

Another year is here.. 2010.. HAPPY NEW YEAR :) .. mm.. Thought of starting this new year with a home made sweet.. well something i can make in a couple of mins.. Never though it will be possible.. But thanks to a TV show which showed a easy microwave recipe.. Let me share it with you all..

Ingredients :-
1.Butter - 1/4 cup
2.Condensed Milk - 1/2 cup
3.Milk Powder - 1/2 cup
4.Cashewnuts - 6-8nos

Preperation :-
1.Put butter along with cashewnuts in a clean microwave safe bowl.
2.Cook it for 1-2 min or till the butter is melted well (Depends upon the power settings in the microwave).
3.Mix condensed milk/milkmaid with milk powder and pour it into the bowl
4.Check the sugar and add more if you need it. M
5.Mix it well with melted butter.
6.Microwave it for another 3 mins.
7.Once it is done, transfer it into a serving dish and garnish it with cake decorating stuffs like silver balls.
8.Cut it into pieces once it is well cooled.

Fake the Cake

2009-12-26T19:03:00.001-05:00

Cake.. yummmm.. This is the one thing which mostly breaks my dieting. I just love them. So started looking for a fatfree cake. Funny. Isn't it? Yes. I couldn't find a fatfree one. But anyways. I was happy because recently i saw a TV programme regarding loosing weight. They showed how to make a low fat cake. Simple, Fake the Cake. Yes. Just replace some ingredients with some nutritious ingredients. Let me go in detail below.

Instead of
Sugar use Jaggery
Butter use sunflower oil which is packed with omega 3 fatty acids
White flour use wheat flour

It was good enough to satisfy my taste buds. I am happy with it.

Green Apple Bittergourd(Pavayka) Juice

2009-12-26T18:53:00.000-05:00

Ingredients :-

1.Green Apples - 2
2.Bittergourd - 1/2 cup
3.Fatfree Milk - as required

Preperation :-
Squish out juices from apple and bittergourd in a juicer and mix it with milk. Ready to drink.

Health Benefits of,

1.Green Apples :-
        Apples are packed with pectin, which is a fiber that helps regulate blood fats and improves cholesterol. Pectin is what gives apples that sort of translucent look and crunchy texture. This crunchy texture itself can actually have some indirect weight loss benefits, as many people have a craving for crunchiness (think potato chips and other snacks). Apple slices may provide a healthier way to quell your crunch craving. The fiber of the apple helps to stabilize blood glucose and insulin levels which helps us to control our appetite. A green apple or two before a meal can greatly reduce the volume of food you eat at a meal. This in turn decreases the amount of total calories you take in.

2.Bittergourd :-
        Bitter gourd also known as bitter melon, is low in calories but big on nutrients, with twice as much potassium as a banana and twice the beta-carotene of broccoli. It is also a good source of folic acid, zinc, magnesium, fiber and phosphorous. It is also chock full of and Vitamins B1, B2, B3 and C. Bitter gourd can help boost the immune system because it provides vitamin-rich nutrients. A British clinical study has shown that consumption of bitter gourd can help lower blood sugar since it contains an insulin-like principle known as plant-insulin. Bitter melon has been shown to increase energy and stabilize sleep patterns.

Thairu (Yogurt/Curd) Sadam

2009-12-26T18:47:00.000-05:00

Ingredients :-
1.Cooked rice - 4 cups
2.Yogurt/curd - 1 cup
3.Ginger - 1tbspn (chopped)
4.Green chillies - 3 (chopped)
5.Curryleaves - 1 string
6.Mustard seeds - 1/2-1tspn
7.Salt - to taste

Preperation :-
1.Heat oil in a pan and splutter mustard seeds in it.
2.Add curry leaves to this and let that splutter.
3.Now add chopped ginger and green chillies to this and fry it till its raw smell is gone.
4.Meanwhile, beat yogurt/curd in a blender with required salt.
5.Put this yogurt to the fried stuff on stove and just warm it in very low flame.
6.Switch off the stove and add cooked rice to this.
7.Mix it well and ready to serve.

NB : I usually add some veggies to sadam. Mostly i use brinjal and some times eggs for this. What i do is i will fry chopped brinjal after ginger and chillies are fried. Once brinjal is cooked and kind of fried, i add yogurt and then rice and finally scrambled eggs. Yummyyyyy!!!! trust me.