Scoop of Love

Vattayappam | Fermented Rice Cake

2016-03-23T23:38:00.000+03:00

Let us start with the name. Vattam means round ..So round shaped appam is Vattayappam.

Vattayappam is a specialty dish of Christian families in Kerala. This fermented, mildly sweet rice cake is one of the main dish on the breakfast table most of days and also sometimes during festivals like Easter and Christmas. But at home whenever mom prepares paalappam for breakfast, the same day evening she prepares vattayappam. She sweeten the left over paalappam batter with sugar or jaggery...for aroma grounded cumin seeds and/or cardamoms is added

I have started cooking independently more than a decade ago.. Though I ate homemade paalappams and vattayappams (which my mom prepared) several times, I never dared to prepare this from scratch. My mom, aunt, cousins, friends.. all of them kept saying "Appam??? That is so easy to prepare..." and then they start explaining me the recipe.. I prepare pretty good palappams using rice flour. But for my blog, I wanted to post the recipe which is prepared from scratch. And very lately I gained the courage to prepare it at home.

You need,

For grinding

Pachari ( Raw rice ) - 1.5 cup (white or long grain basmati or red) (It is not boiled rice)
Water - 1.5 cup for grinding
Freshly scrapped coconut - 3/4 cup
Active dry yeast - 1/2 teaspoon
Sugar - 1 tbsp
Salt - 1/4 teaspoon

Thandai Kulfi

2016-03-21T23:00:00.000+03:00

Kulfi is an Indian Icecream which has its own charm. This frozen dessert is traditionally made after a long process simmering the milk in a medium flame stirring continuously till it is creamy. Now a days we have several shortcuts reduce cooking process. I too used a magic ingredient.

As it is Holi season, I decided to spice it up with a home made thandai mixture and the it turned out amazingly good. (For the thandai drink recipe please click here)

Serves 6 kulfis

You need

Full fat milk - 2.5 cups
Condensed milk - 1/2 cup (3/4 cup if you need it more sweeter)
Milk powder - 1/4 cup
Almonds - 10 nos

Thandai spice mix (Grind the below to a paste)

Dairy free Gulab Jamun

2016-03-20T00:43:00.000+03:00

When we grow older, we tend to reduce the sweet and salt intake. I have a sweet tooth. And sometimes it becomes so irresistible that I end up making desserts. But now there is a difference. Earlier I used to make desserts in a larger quantity, and now I have reduced the servings. That way I wont overeat.

It has been a while I did not treat myself :). So I thought of making Jamuns. Gulab Jamuns are one of my favorite dessert. Usually I make them using this recipe. But the below version was in my to-do list for a while.. It is dairy free Gulab Jamun..

The steps are as same as the recipe I have shared before.

For Jamun you need,
1. All purpose flour - 1/2 cup
2. Coconut Milk powder - 3/4 cup
3. Baking soda - a tiny pinch
4. Coconut cream as required
5. Refined oil for deep frying + 1 drop

Street Food Festival at Doha Marriot Hotel

2016-02-24T18:30:00.000+03:00

I was 10 years old , when we shifted to our new home. Just across the road there was a small tea shop . They had a 2 tier glass boxes kept for display. Every evening the box was filled up with snacks like bonda, parippu vada , uzhunnu vada, ulli vada(Onion fritters) and pazham pori. It was around the same time I used to come back from school. When I would reach in front of my home, this delectable aroma would travel across and reach me. Outside food was not entertained in my home. If required my mom would make it at home. But I liked to eat snacks from such shops. My love for street food started from there...

Well, this love continued. During College days, I used to travel to city for tuition classes on weekends. On my way back I would go to my father's work place. And stay there for couple of hours and come back home with him. We used to halt at a place in between for tea (the whole journey will be approx 1.5 hours). I would somehow convince my father and eat those hot thick small dosas with a spicy watery red chutney from the tea shop. Meanwhile, my father (he used to halt every day at that place after his work) would be enjoying the hot crispy lentil fritters and tea. Like father like daughter..

Story continues.. When I shifted to Bangalore for work my father gave me an advice, don't be a spend thrift shopping dresses and shoes. But yea, eat food on time and eat what you like. I kept his word. Bangalore is the place where I explored and tasted many snacks from different parts of India. I literally became a food junkie and my love for food continued.

Now let us get back to the story. Few days ago I got an invitation from Zomato Qatar. It was for a Street Food Festival, happening in Doha Marriot Hotel. Excited Me?? Ohh yeahh

I took an Uber and reached the Hotel.I was greeted by the staff representative at the restaurant area. The area was metamorphosed in to a street...with festoons, musics and the whole corridor had food stations in both side..The delicious smell from all the sides awakened my taste buds and I could not wait longer to taste the food.. The lady staff briefed me on the food varieties and took me till the end of the corridor to show the cuisines and stations available. For Zomato foodies, the table was arranged at the Salsa Restaurant. Hala (Community Engagement Lead, Zomato) was waiting for the foodies. Though I have seen her couple of times, this was the first time I was interacting with her. I just loved her company.

We all were served a delicious strawberry mojitto as welcome drink

One of the main attraction of Salsa restaurant is their live music. Our table was so close to the band and I enjoyed every moment that evening...

Visit to a Progressive Indian Restaurant

2016-02-11T00:00:00.000+03:00

Every time when I receive an invitation from Food Bloggers Qatar, I get excited. It is all about meeting fellow blogger friends and exploring different types of cuisines and recipes..

Similarly few weeks back I got an invitation to taste a menu in Zaffran Dining Experience. I generally prefer to choose home delivery during week days, but as they don't provide it I never got a chance to enjoy their delicacies. Zaffran has an Indian Street Food outlet near The Center, which is behind Radisson Blu. It is one of our favorite places for enjoying tea, chats and snacks during weekends. Zaffran Dining Experience is located in Al Emadi Financial Square building on C Ring Road.

'Zaffran' is named after one of the expensive spice Saffron. Zaffran Dining is in lime light because of their unique concept of molecular gastronomy which they highlight in their promos. With a curious heart I reached the restaurant bit early. The restaurant is on the ground floor, They have outdoor seating arrangement. But as it was very cold, it was better to enjoy the cozy space indoor.

The interior work is just amazing with the theme paisley all over the wall.

Zucchini Poha

2016-02-07T22:30:00.002+03:00

Goodness in disguise..

On a busy working day morning I realized there is no enough ingredients to prepare thalipeeth. The previous night I went to sleep dreaming of a delicious thalipeeth which I am going to prepare using zucchini which I bought from the Organic farm in Qatar. I was lost when I found there is no rice and chickpea flour at home. Then I found half packet of beaten rice, which actually saved me.

I decided to alter the recipe and the verdict was soft and tasty zucchini poha. Poha is a snack or breakfast made with beaten rice. I have posted a recipe before. You could find the recipe here

This recipe serves 3 to 4 persons

You need,

Marrow zucchini grated - 1.5 cup ( Don't discard the juices)
Beaten rice (White or Red) - 4 cups , powder it in a grinder
Curd/Yogurt - 1/4 cup
Sesame seeds - 1 tbsp
Green chili - 1, finely chopped
Turmeric - 1/2 teaspoon
Coriander leaves - 3 tbsp, chopped roughly
Salt to taste

Sarson ka Saag Pizza | Green Pizza

2016-02-03T00:00:00.000+03:00

Recently I got to know that there is an organic farm named "Mustafawi Organic Vegetables" in Qatar. They take the order on weekdays and every weekend they deliver the fresh vegetables at your door step. I always like to purchase fresh vegetables. So I ended up placing an order for a basket of vegetables. And it was pretty huge. For both of us it ran for more than 2 weeks. The best part is, even after a week they remain fresh. They have vegetables like Lettuce, Kale (Collard Greens), Coriander , Celery, Parsley , Chive, Mustard leaves , Mint , Cucumber ,Zucchini ,Turnip ,Radish , Beetroot , Carrot etc. All are very fresh . The day I received I was very excited. I started making juices and preparing vegetarian dishes.

The Mustard leaves in the basket looked a bit different from what we see in India. The leaves are large and wide. When I saw it, the only one recipe came into my mind was Sarson ka saag, which was one from my to-do list.

Sarson is the Hindi name of Mustard. It is a famous dish in Punjab (Both in India and Pakistan), and they often prepare it during winter. Sarson ka saag is served with Makki ki Roti. ( flat bread made of corn meal flour) . And a big dollop of white butter (Makhan) or Jaggery will be on top of the hot saag..

Sounds tempting?? Well, my plan din't work out. My better half is not a great fan of greens. So I decided to transform the recipe, and out of blue I decided to make a pizza. I got some fresh mozzarella cheese from carrefour super market. Let us get into the recipe.

You need,

Pizza base - recipe is below
Sarson ka saag - recipe is below
Fresh mozzarella cheese - 125 gram
All purpose flour - for dusting
Olive oil - to drizzle
Oregano to garnish

You have to

Sweet potato wedges

2016-01-27T19:53:00.000+03:00

Last Christmas Dinner was a bit different from my previous years. I thought of baking and grilling most of them items. And it turned to be quite healthy dinner. In the menu it was Cottage pie, Grilled Chicken with carrots, a gravy, steamed broccoli salad and sweet potato wedges.

With minimal ingredients this recipe makes a high fiber alternative to the traditional potato wedges...

You need,

Sweet potato - 500 gm
Salt to taste
Black peppercorns grounded coarsely - according to your spice level (I used 1 tbsp)
Olive oil - 1 teaspoon

Visit to a stylish Indian Restaurant

2016-01-10T00:00:00.000+03:00

I always believe I am a blessed person to be in an Interfaith family who has the advantages of celebrating several festivals. Let it be preparing food or following any rituals or taking Lents or fasting . One such day I received an invitation for menu tasting from Doaa . When I checked the venue I was bit relieved. It was Tamarind Indian Restaurant. One of restaurant which I had planned to visit a while back.. As it was an Indian Restaurant, I did not have to worry more about the food. But I informed Doaa about my food preference which was vegetarian and and it was accepted.

On that ice cold evening along with my blogger friend I reached Lagoona Mall. The restaurant entrance was from the piazza area inside Lagoona Mall.

We were greeted by Doaa and Sumit. Sumit is the Head of Marketing for Lifestyle Restaurants. We were directed to the private dining area. The arrangement was pretty good...A long table arranged, candles lit in the center. There was a TV which was displaying the delicacies they offer.

We settled and waited for our fellow blogger friends to reach. Mean time we all had a quick introduction. I gave a glance at the menu which was kept for all..

Prawns Green Curry

2016-01-04T00:00:00.000+03:00

Extremely aromatic, creamy, bit spicy and tasty green curry.. I prepared this for a recent gathering for which the cuisine I chose was Thai. And this became one of the crowd pleaser.

As I dint get the complete ingredients for the green curry paste, I decided to buy a ready to use paste to prepare this curry..

You need,

Refined oil - 1.5 tbsp
Ready to use green curry paste - 2.5 tablespoon
Prawns cleaned, veined - 250 gm
Coconut milk - 1/2 cup
Water - 1/4 cup
Lime leaves - 3 nos
Fresh Red chilies - 2 nos. slit into 4 pieces (Remove seeds of 1 chili completely and discard it. )
fish sauce - 1 tbsp
Brown sugar - 1 tbsp
Thai Basil leaves - 10 leaves

You have to,

Steamed Broccoli

2016-01-03T01:44:00.001+03:00

"It doesn’t matter what you eat between Christmas and New Year, what matters is what you eat between New Year and Christmas”

So Eat good food... Live life to the fullest.

Sharing a good food recipe which I prepared for my Christmas Dinner..

You need,

Whole hazelnuts - 1/4 cup
Big broccoli's florets - 1 no. (weighing around 1 kg)
Coconut or olive or Refined oil - 3 tablespoon
Garlic cloves - 3 nos , finely chopped
Freshly squeezed lemon juice - 1 tbsp
Salt and pepper - as you desire

Candied Ginger

2015-12-17T00:00:00.000+03:00

It is Christmas season.. I have made few batches of tiny fruit cakes.. As all of them went out like hot cakes, I had to soak another batch of dry fruits. Unfortunately I couldn't find candied ginger in the store. I was surprised at the same time worried. Rang up couple of grocery stores and all went unattended. Strange....

But I can't wait for another day. And later I end up making these. Though I was not very positive about the result, at the end I was extremely happy. It tasted same as the store bought ones.

Let me share the recipe...

You need,

Fresh ginger root, peeled and chopped in tiny cubes - 1 cup
Water - 1.5 cup
Sugar - 1/2 cup

A visit to an unusual burger joint

2015-11-24T14:53:00.001+03:00

When I got an invitation from Doaa for a menu tasting in Burger Gourmet, I hesitated. Because I am not a burger fan. But I thought of giving it a try. When I hear burger, the first thing which comes in my mind is the fast food outlets. There are people who love to eat burger, but I always try to search for veg slider in the menu.

With excitement to meet fellow bloggers I reached the restaurant. This restaurant is situated in Lagoona Mall in west bay area. I should admit I wasn't much excited about the food part. Doaa was already there along with couple of new faces. The restaurant ambience looked quite different. Instead of Bright lights it was dim purple lights which gave the vibe of a fine dine restaurant.

There was huge screen on the wall which was displaying the pictures of the food they offer. Seating was comfortable. We all sat around a long table which was arranged for our group

Capsicum Zunka

2015-11-12T00:00:00.000+03:00

When I was working in Bangalore, I wait for the break time in the office. Our team members are from different parts of India. And the most of the homemade delicacies they bring are scrumptious.

I have learned several new recipes during my stay in Bangalore. One day when one of my team member got this subji. I was surprised. And she said they call it Zunka. She is a North Indian and her family was settled many years back in Karnataka. I kept wondering about the weird name of this recipe. It has a unique mouth watering smell and taste. And obviously it is nutritious. The best part is it has the least effort to prepare this dish.

So on a lazy weekend I decided to try this...

This recipe serves 2 people

Gram flour | Besan - 1/2 cup
Green Capsicum - 1 big , washed well
Ginger, finely chopped - 1 teaspoon
Refined Oil - 1 tbsp
Red chili powder - 1 teaspoon
Turmeric powder - 1/4 teaspoon
Water - 3/4 cup
Asafoetida (hing) - a tiny pinch
Salt to taste

You have to,

Dry roast the besan in a pan on low flame till raw smell disappear.Do not burn . Remove from flame and keep aside.
Remove seeds and tip of capsicum. Cut into small square pieces.

Sweetened Red Cowpeas | Vanpayar Sundal

2015-10-22T00:00:00.000+03:00

Back at home when we used to have paddy cultivation. After harvest, till the next time we plant, we used to grow lentils like green gram, red/black cow peas and urad dal..This farming helps to draw nitrogen from air and release it in the field soil. And that helps for the next term of paddy cultivation

So during the bean harvest, we dry these in the sun. And later sell some and store the rest in big containers and use for the rest of the year.

My mom used to prepare this recipe those days. Dried beans or legumes are an inexpensive way to include a lot of nutrition in your diet

You need

Red cow peas- 1/2 cup
Fresh Grated Coconut- 1/4 cup
Salt - to taste
Asafoetida- a tiny pinch
Sugar - 2 teaspoon

Kitchdi, chips & chutney

2015-10-06T23:00:00.000+03:00

I hate to be lazy. But at times it just creeps in. I have no reason for being lazy. There is a good number of food pictures lying in my desktop which dying to get scripted and go online.

Sometimes I really wonder what is "laziness" and why does it exist? Is that an emotion? Or a character? It could be an illness like a flu as it doesn't stay for ever.

During my laziness, I always fantasize to have a magic box, which gives me scrumptious food as and when I wish. It is a good dream!

But I hate laziness taking over me, when I am hungry. I do have few good reasons,

The food I like won't be available in a Restaurant
If at all the Food I like is available, They won't do a door delivery.
If I decide go for a take away, the Restaurant kitchen will open only after an hour
Just in case if they have door delivery, they will reach at my door step at least 2 hours late.

Most of the time, after trying first 3 options, before I try the fourth, I will start to convince myself. And one evening after some debate with my mind I decided to first eat my quick energy snack and then start making this recipe.

This is recipe is highly inspired from Chef Vineet Bhatia's "Rasoi cook book" . I have posted one of the recipe before (Click here)

Beet chips

You need

shrikhand, fresh fruit and granita

2015-09-24T11:21:00.000+03:00

As the name says, this recipe has only Shrikhand, Fresh fruits and Granita. The flexibility of this recipe is we could choose the fillings and flavors as we like...

This is one of the recipe from Chef Vineet's "Rasoi" cook book..(Click this link to read more)

This recipe serves 2

I keep making the vanilla version of shrikhand. For the recipe click here . The cardamom version is very equally delicious.

For Cardamom Shrikhand

You need,

Sweetened Coconut Kozhukattai

2015-09-17T11:26:00.001+03:00

Kozhukattai is one of my favorite snack. Me and my brother grew up eating a lot of this. Mom prepares this during tea time and sometimes for breakfast. I remember having these often when we are back from school.

For dough covering

Rice flour - 1/2 cup (Idiyappam flour, it is available in Indian grocery store)
Salt - a pinch
Water - 1/2 cup + 2 teaspoon
Coconut oil - 1/2 teaspoon

For Filling

Fresh grated Coconut - 1/3 cup
Jaggery crushed - 1/3 cup
Green Cardamom - 1, crushed well or powdered

You have to,

Meeting a Michelin Star Chef

2015-09-16T10:19:00.000+03:00

When I had bought the "Rasoi" book online, it was nothing more than an ordinary Indian Cook Book for me. But when I flipped the pages, ohh boy... I realized.. this a bible of Modern Indian Cuisine.. 😍

My request to the Chef for an autograph was agreed upon on one condition and a promise that I would use the book.. 😊

It was an experience for me to try this painless recipe (I will share the recipe soon). I tried a recipe from the book and the rest....the pic will tell u the story..

My eagerness to meet the Chef, took me to the restaurant, where I along with 2 souls met him during his free hour and got the Rasoi book signed.

It was not my first visit to Chef Vineet's Saffron Lounge. I had been there many times. And I am a great fan of the chaats and desserts they serve.

We occupied our table. Placed order for food and eagerly waited for his arrival like a small kid waiting for the Ice cream. And there he was.... the man himself ..in his white dress! Gosh...... That was a Head over Heals situation for me. LOL!!!

But I need to say this. Such a humble and down to earth human being he is...

He encouraged us to try all the recipes of his book.. Though the recipes look so complex, actually it is not. Most of the recipes are easily changed from veg to non veg or vice versa.

During our quick conversation he shared something. While he was compiling the book, he used to give recipe to his non Indian neighbor who is in her 70s. She used to buy the ingredients and prepares the dish according to the recipe he gave. And it comes out so good. If she could prepare the dish, anybody could do.

This book will change our outlook towards a normal Indian Cook Book. There are new avatar of classic recipes and also some new techniques, which are possible to try at home. I am definitely going to try my hands on rest of the recipes..

We got our books signed...

Krishna Cake on Janmastami

2015-09-07T11:44:00.001+03:00

This particular cake is very special ...😊😍

I could say this is my 2nd cake order which I received very well before from one of my friend..say around 11 months back when baby kannan was hardly a month. From then it was always in my mind how to make his cake special. I received the color theme and flavor preference 2 months back. And there was a request to place the figurine of baby Krishna. 😊

Mango sheets | Aam Papad | Fruit Leather Rolls

2015-07-25T15:48:00.001+03:00

Down the memory lane..

Summer vacation is the time when me and my brother would meet our Aunts and cousins. Though their house is not very far from our place, we stay at their place for few days or sometimes few weeks..
Summer means mango season. These Days, we rarely find a Mango tree in any backyard of a house. We have a short mango tree in front of our house. The raw mango is not sour and once it is ripen, it tastes almost like an Alphonso.

But the tree which i am mentioning is the taller ones..The mangoes on these tall trees are small..There were several varieties of trees in the back yards of my aunt's house. Workers used to pluck them and get big sacks of mangoes.. Some will be sold, some will be distributed among neighbors and relatives. Rest will be kept to ripe.

Once it is ripen we cousins would sit around one of the sacks. And eat the mangoes one by one. We never peeled or cut the mango with knife. We used to go wild. We would pick each mango and use our teeth to peel the skin and enjoy the flesh and juice. Juices would be dripping and sliding down our hands. And without any embarrassment we would just lick and enjoy every bit of it..

Some variety of mangoes are juicier. We would take those mangoes, keep in between our palm and roll for some times to make the skin soft. Then we would bite the top of the mango, Suck the juice and pulp.
We would keep on eating mango like this and it would go on and on...

Something which always stuck in my mind was Aam papad which my cousins used to bring when they would come down for vacation from Bombay(Mumbai). This fruity sheets taste so yum.

Mangathira is something similar prepared in Kerala during summer. But I never knew about it till one of my friends told about it few days back.

When I got 2 ripe mangoes , I decided to make fruit roll as the climate was in my favor.

A Spider Man cake

2015-07-06T13:56:00.000+03:00

Couple of weeks later my first cake delivery, I received a call from the same friend. This time he need a cake for his nephew. The birthday boy is Spider man fan, so the cake theme was the same..

But the worry part was that the cake will be picked up on the next day morning.

Thank God it was a weekend.

Quickly I started... I decided to prepare a marble cake with a buttercream frosting...

I baked an 8 inch cake. While the cake was baking, I made the butter cream. Once the cake was baked, it was kept on a wire rack to cool down a bit. Then I turned it upside down, and removed the tin.

Allow the cake to cool down well. Give it couple of hours. Cover the cake with foil so that the cake doesn't get dried up

For the spider man structure, I decided to use the same technique of Buttercream transfer.

Palak Paneer | Indian cottage cheese in spinach gravy

2015-06-26T22:50:00.001+03:00

When I hear "Spinach" the character comes in my mind is Popeye who gets the skills and energy by consuming spinach. This sailor man eats the spinach through his pipe or gulps the entire content into his mouth from the can.

Well I am not sure whether he eat it raw, blanched or spiced.. LOL...That is just a cartoon story...

Spinach is one my favorite vegetable. Fresh spinach in supermarket always attract me and I grab 2 or 3 bunches. Most of the time I prefer to make thepla. As my better half is not a "Green" fan, I prepare this once in a while

This recipe is a bit easy version.

You need

Spinach leaves - 2 cup (discard stems) clean, washed and chopped
Indian Cottage cheese (Paneer) cubes - ½ cup
Onion, finely chopped - 1 medium
Tomato - 2 medium, chopped
Ginger - 1/2 inch piece chopped
Garlic - 2 clove chopped
Green Chilies - 3 nos
Cumin Seeds -1 teaspoon
Turmeric Powder -½ teaspoon
Red Chili Powder-½ teaspoon
Garam Masala - ½ teaspoon
Refined Oil - 1 tbsp
Salt to taste

Soaked Oats

2015-06-25T16:00:00.002+03:00

When I heard the idea of soaking oats for the first time, I felt a bit weird. Consuming uncooked oats dint thrill me at first. But I decided to give a try and put the oatmeal for soaking just before going to sleep. Next day morning I added some fruits and digged in.. Delish!!

My next worry was, will I feel hungry after few hours. Nah!! It kept me going for approx 6 hours

This recipe serves one person

My first step...

2015-06-23T10:18:00.002+03:00

Let me share something about my first step towards the Cake decorating world...

Well....this happened on 24th September 2014..

Other than blogging I caught an interest of cake decorating. Though I used to bake cakes at home for gatherings, this was the first time I was baking cake for a crowd outside. It was my friend's baby's first birthday.

The color theme was green. So I decided to bake a ombre cake with butter cream frosting.

Cake flavor : Vanilla
Filling : Home made custard
Frosting: Meringue butter cream

A week before, I started the preparation of making the cake topper as it needs to dry well.