Yummy Food

Turai Aur Masoor Ki Dal

lubnakarim06@gmail.com (Kitchen Flavours) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 10:57:00 +0000

My previous post on fond childhood memories made me nostalgic and I was desperately missing my young cute lil sis….Oh how blissful were those days when me and my small sis use to wrap ourselves in a warm blanket and enjoy reading stories from story books. It’s always fun to grow up with very young lil siblings. Sometimes my mom use to tell us stories which she heard over the years from her mother. One such story which I love telling till today to my young lil cousins is about Seasons. Seasons come and seasons go is a beautifully narrated story…..where you get to know importance and facts about each season in an enjoying manner….you can read the story here and enjoy telling your small cute loved ones…

Coming to today’s recipe, it’s again combo…this time a combo of fresh veggie and mild dal. Masoor dal is know for it’s quick cooking, where as turai for it’s slow cooking….and a combo of these two will be perfect to relish…..isn’t it? This turai aur masoor ki dal is going to participate in MLLA-17 hosted by Sra of When My Soup Came Alive, event by Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook.

INGREDIENTS:

1 kg Turai, peeled and cut into pieces
½ cup Masoor dal, washed
1 Onion, finely chopped
2 Green chillies, slight lengthwise and deseeded
1 tbsp Red Chilli powder
¼ tbsp Tumeric powder
Salt
Oil
1-2 spring fresh Coriander leaves

PREPERATION:

In a heavy bottom cooking pan or kadai add oil and when it gets heated up add onions and fry till truculent.
When the onions are translucent, add turai pieces, masoor dal, red chilli powder, tumeric powder and green chillies.
Using a spoon slightly mix up the ingredients and cook on a low flame by covering with a lid.
Cook till all the water evaporates. If dal is not cooked then add little water.
Add salt and garnish with fresh coriander leaves. Serve with hot piping roti’s.
Last but not least add your 'love' to make the dish 'YUMMY'.

QUICK TIP: Adding salt in the last helps in cooking the dal fast.

Mash Ki Dal/White Lentil Recipe

lubnakarim06@gmail.com (Kitchen Flavours) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 04:08:00 +0000

With the onset of November, the climate in southern part of India cools down. Hot, humid and sultry climate change to cool, soft and dry. Winters are always special to me as they not only bring cool breeze but also carry year end vacation to relax. I still remember the lushes green fields, dancing daises and tossing sunflowers tuning to the cool breeze brushing across, when we used to take a train trip to my granny’s place during my Christmas vacation. I can still feel the cool breeze gently touching my cheeks and blowing my hair across my face. Light golden sun shining with lil intensity giving the warmth needed. I can visualize the scene before my eyes, how me and my sis used to fight for the window seat in the train to have this experience. Those were the best memories a girl can carry in her heart…..fond childhood memories…..

When we are at granny’s place during winter vacation, hot and spicy food used to top the menu card for the days. Hot soups, piping hot roti’s, spicy curries and much more. Among those curries this dal recipe is my all time favourite. Simple, creamy and delectable medley of dal with onion and ginger-garlic paste gives an aromatic flavour to the recipe.

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup Urad dal/maash dal/white lentils, washed and soaked for an hour
1 Onion, peeled and sliced
1 Green chili, slit length-wise and deseeded
½ tbsp Red chili powder
¼ Turmeric powder
½ tbsp Ginger-Garlic paste
6-9 fresh Coriander leaves
2-3 springs fresh Coriander leaves
Salt
Oil

PREPERATION:

Pressure cook urad dal with a drop of oil and turmeric powder until soft but not mushy.
In a heavy bottom cooking vessel add oil and when the oil gets heated up add onions and green chili. Fry till onions are translucent.
Now add curry leaves and fry for another 2 minutes. To this add ginger-garlic paste and fry for another 2-3 minutes.
When the ginger-garlic paste start to change color, lower the flame and add boiled dal, red chili powder and salt.
Gently mix the ingredients using a spoon. Cool covered for another 2-3 minutes.
Sprinkle chopped fresh coriander leaves and serve hot with piping hot roti’s.
Last but not least add your 'love' to make the dish 'YUMMY'.

This dal is going to participate in MLLA-17 hosted by Sra of When My Soup Came Alive, event by Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook.

Drumstick-Tomato Curry

lubnakarim06@gmail.com (Kitchen Flavours) — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 11:33:00 +0000

The joy of vegetarian cooking is variety. A lot more combo’s can be made using vegetables. Same routine vegetable recipes are boring at times, but a simple addition of one or more vegetable, results in new recipes. There are many ways of cooking even simple potato fry, recipes vary from family to family even religion to religion or you can say state to state when it comes to India. Vegetarian cooking plays an important role in most of the Indian kitchens. Before marriage it only used to be mom’s way of recipes, but after marriage it is mom-in-law way and sometimes sis-in-law too. Hence varieties of recipes coming out from each and every vegetable. Sometimes new and sometimes slightly different from what I came across at my mom’s place.

One such recipe is drumstick-tomato curry. My mom makes simple drumstick curry or drumstick-mutton curry, but at my mom-in-laws place drumstick is used in making a lot more recipes and it is used in combo with many other vegetables and sometimes dal(s) too. Once such recipe which is simple and yum is drumstick-tomato curry. When the creamy drumstick, neatly peeled and cut into same size pieces are cooked in spicy and tangy tomato gravy with aromatic tempering, the outcome is delectable. Drumstick-tomato recipe is perfectly paired with plain hot steamed white rice.

INGREDIENTS:

2 Drumsticks, peeled and cut into 3” inch long even pieces
2 Tomatoes, deseeded and chopped
1 Onion, peeled and chopped
1 tbsp Red chilli powder
¼ Turmeric powder
Salt
Oil

TEMPERING/TADKA:

½ tbsp Mustard seeds
½ tbsp Jeera seeds
½ tbsp Chana dal
6-9 fresh Curry leaves
1 dry Red chilli

PREPERATION:

In a heavy bottom cooking vessel, add oil and when oil gets heated up add one by one ingredient’s listed under tempering.
When curry leaves start to change color add onions and fry till translucent. Now add chopped tomatoes, red chilli powder, turmeric powder, salt and fry till tomatoes are completely cooked.
Now add drumstick pieces and little water (just enough to cook drumsticks). Cook covered on a low flame till drumstick pieces are soft and tender.
Serve with plain hot steamed rice.
Last but not least add your 'love' to make the dish 'YUMMY'.

Prawn(s) Biryani

lubnakarim06@gmail.com (Kitchen Flavours) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 05:53:00 +0000

According to me Prawn(s) Biryani is one of the simple, aromatic and flavourful compared to chicken or mutton biryani’s. The only time consuming part is cleaning and deveining of prawns. A perfect marination and correct blend of spices are the key steps involved in making any biryani. Biryani is such a recipe that it can be mastered only by making it more number of times. I love to make biryani often as it is perfect one pot meal and I feel it easy to make at times.

My Mom-in-law always grinds fresh ginger-garlic paste and pluck fresh mint and coriander leaves whenever is she going to make biryani. She says the fresh the flavour of the herbs and spices the aromatic and delectable the biryani is. The making procedure of biryani may wary from my mom to mom-in-law but the end result is redolent and delectable. Prawns need less time for marination and cooking, so I feel prawn biryani to one of the simple among other types of non-veg biryani’s. As I said it is perfect one pot meal, but if you are in good mood or cooking for guest then delectable dalcha and dahi ki chutney are the perfect side dishes that enhance the flavour of biryani and pampers your taste buds with royalty. Try and indulge!

INGREDIENTS:

3 cups Basmati Rice
½ Kg Prawns, deviened, scrubbed with sea salt and washed *
1 big Onion, peeled and finely sliced
2 tbsp Ginger-Garlic Paste
3 tbsp Curd
2 tbsp Red chilli powder
½ tbsp Turmeric powder
1 tbsp Garam Masala **
3-4 Cardamoms
5-6 Cloves
2 2'inch Cinnomon sticks
1 star Anise
3 tbsp fresh Lemon juice
handful fresh Coriander leaves, chopped
handful fresh Mint leaves
2 tbsp lukewarm Milk
½ tbsp Kesar/Saffron
½ cup Ghee/clarified butter
Salt

PREPERATION:

MARINATION:

In a bowl mix prawns, salt *, red chilli powder, turmeric powder, ginger-garlic paste, pinch of garam masala and curd. Add few coriander and mint leaves. Mix well and leave for atleast one hour in the fridge.

MEAN TIME :

In the mean time wash and soak basmati rice. In a small bowl mix lukewarm milk and kesar. Set aside.
In a heavy bottom cooking vessel or kadai add ghee and to this add 2 cardamom, 3 cloves and 1 2'inch stick cinnamon.
Let the spices release the aroma. To this add sliced onions and fry till nice golden brown. Once the onions are crisp and nice brown turn off the heat, strain out onions and ghee separately.

COOKING PRAWNS:

In the same vessel or kadai, add the marinated prawns, 1 tbsp ghee and 1 tbsp fried onions. Cook covered till all the water evaporates and prawns turn soft and tender. Set aside.

COOKING RICE:

In a heavy bottom cooking vessel (used for cooking rice) add 10-12 cups of water (if more also no problem, as we will drain off the water), salt *, ginger-garlic paste, 3 cardamom's, 3 cloves and 2 sticks of cinnamon. Bring water to boil. When the water starts to boil add soaked basmati rice and cook till rice is just done.
Drain and collect the water using a sieve in a cooking vessel. Drain well and set aside.

LAYERING:

Now in a heavy bottom cooking vessel add little ghee (the one which we fried onions) and on this add half of cooked basmati rice. On this add cooked prawns, ghee, garam masala, kesar (soaked in lukewarm milk), deep fried onions, 1 tbsp lemon juice, fresh coriander and mint leaves.
Cover it up with another layer of basmati rice. If you have more cooked prawns then layer them on rice and so on.
Now add remaining ghee, kesar, fried onions, garam masala, 2 tbsp lemon juice, fresh coriander and mint leaves. Cook on a low flame by covering with a lid by keeping the strained water on top of the lid***.

FINAL STEP:

Cook for nearly 15-20 minutes. Turn off the flame and leave the vessel on the stove for another half an hour.
I bet when you remove the lid the aroma that surrounds your kitchen will be mesmerizing.
Garish with fresh coriander and mint leaves. Serve hot with dalcha and dahi ki chutney.
Last but not least add your 'love' to make the dish 'YUMMY'.

NOTE:

* As we are scrubbing the prawns with salt, adjust salt in marination and in rice.

**Ground 6 cardamom, 6 cloves and 2 2'inch sticks of cinnamon to fine powder. Use as required and store the remaining in a ziplock bag or dry air-tight container.

TIPS:

Fry onion on a low flame to avoid burning of them. Nice golden color of onions not only look appealing but also enhances the flavour of biryani.
If you wish add some lightly fried cashews and raisins.
Keeping strained water vessel on top of the lid provides weight and helps in locking the aroma.
If possible seal lid and vessel by allumiun foil.
How to devein prawns? Check the pictorial here.

Egg Fried Rice With Mixed Vegetables

lubnakarim06@gmail.com (Kitchen Flavours) — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 04:06:00 +0000

Past few days were busy and hectic. I hardly found time to stop and relax. Sometimes things at home keep us more busier than we think off. My last visit to native was little hectic as we got trapped by the worst flood's hitting Andhra in years. When we started to return from there the scene I saw on the either sides of the roads was very terrible. People with no shelter, no food, no clothes, no money and no medication even the same with animals. Water is fully contaminated and dreadful diseases on full swing. I don't know how long it may take for the people to come up with all that shock and start a fresh new life. Relief operations are going on...but...to regain hope and strength and to start a new beginning is a act of braveness.

Coming back to today's recipe vegetables studded egg friend rice is a wholesome and salubrious one pot meal. You either pack this for lunch or relish it as a brunch on one of those really lazy weekends. Just by adding handful of parboiled veggies, a simple egg fried rice is given a new look and new taste. Try this colorful and delectable veggies studded egg friend rice for a change.

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups Rice, cooked and cooled
1 cup fresh mixed Veggies *, parboiled
1 Onion, peeled and finely sliced
1 Tomato, deseeded and chopped
2 Eggs beaten
1/2 tbsp Ginger-Garlic paste
1 tbsp Red Chilli powder
1/4 Turmeric powder
2 Cardamom's
2 Cloves
1 2'inch piece of Cinnamon stick
2-3 springs of fresh Coriander leaves
6-9 fresh Mint leaves
3-4 tbsp of fresh chopped Spring onions
Salt
Oil

PREPERATION:

In a heavy bottom coking vessel add oil, to this add cardamom's, cloves and cinnamon stick. When the spices start to leave the aroma add onions, once the onions are soft add chopped tomato pieces, red chilli powder, salt, turmeric and ginger-garlic paste.
Fry till tomatoes are soft. Now add beaten egg mixture. Cover and cook for 2-3 minutes.
Using a spoon scramble until dry. Now add parboiled veggies and cook covered for another 2-3 minutes on a low flame.
Now add cooked and cooled rice, mint leaves, coriander leaves and half of freshly chopped spring onions.
Mix well and cook covered till all the flavours blend together.
Garnish with remaining spring onions and serve hot with your choice of pickle or tomato sauce or tangy tomato chutney.
Last but not least add your 'love' to make the dish 'YUMMY'.

NOTE : * For mixed vegetables, I used carrots, potato, peas, sweet corn and french beans.

SPECIAL ATTENTION: Nearly a month back I was thinking of a Food Photography blog, a place which talks and shares different ascepts of food photography. Just help me out by dropping down what you would like to know about food photography. Basing on this queries my rough idea of starting a food photography blog may nurture.

This food photography blog also concentrates on blogging ascepts. So rush in your queries on blogging and food photography.

Quote Of The Day

lubnakarim06@gmail.com (Kitchen Flavours) — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 05:51:00 +0000

Find the updated recipe list, well ordered and sorted down with pictured labels by clicking on the Recipe List in the menubar below the heading of Yummy Food or else click here to get redirected to the recipe list page.

Cabbage Curry

lubnakarim06@gmail.com (Kitchen Flavours) — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 04:43:00 +0000

My one and only one problem after marriage was thinking of menu. Planning a menu for three times a day is not an easy job. Sometimes I find planning a menu is more difficult than cooking. If you know what to cook or you had planned what to cook then cooking part will take less time and it is more fun too. But without any plan you are entering the kitchen, then staring at the fridge and pantry takes lot of time. At times, I will irritate my hubby dear asking him what he likes to eat or else will ask my mom what she has made for lunch/dinner? Till date at times planning a menu is a bit tough job to me. No one can eat the same dal, chawal everyday nor the same side dish with roti. As it is said ‘variety is spice of life’, this quote aptly applies for cooking. To make a variety recipe and spice up every meal is something that leads me to choose and cook different side dishes for roti or rice.

Cabbage is very common in my pantry. With very little change in the normal cabbage recipe can result in a new recipe. Just the addition of peas and carrots to cabbage can give new and yum curry to my family. Peas and carrots add a colorful look to the recipe too…

INGREDIENTS:

3 cups shredded Cabbage
1 Onion, peeled and sliced
1/2 cup green Peas
1 Carrot, peeled and cut into pieces
1 Green chilli, slit length-wise and deseeded
1 tbsp Red chilli powder
1/4 tbsp Turmeric powder
Salt
Oil

TEMPERING/TADKA:

1 tbsp Mustard seeds
1 tbsp Jeera/cumin seeds
1 dry Red chilli
10-12 fresh Curry leaves

PREPERATION:

Wash and pressure cook cabbage, peas and carrots till soft *. Drain the excess water and set aside.
In a heavy bottom cooking vessel add oil and to this add one by one of the ingredients listed under 'tempering'.
When curry leaves change color, add sliced onions and fry till they are translucent. Now add green chilli, red chilli powder and turmeric powder.
Fry for 1-2 minutes and add the pressure cooked cabbage, peas and carrot pieces. Mix well and cook for another 3-6 minutes on a low flame covering with a lid.
Cabbage curry is ready to be served with piping hot roti's.
Last but not least add your 'love' to make the dish 'YUMMY'.

*NOTE: If you don't want to use pressure cooker then simply add tempering to oil. When the tempering gets heated up add onion and green chilli. When onions turn translucent add the chopped/shredded cabbage, green peas and carrots. Mix well and add red chilli powder, turmeric powder and salt. Cook covered on a low flame till cabbage is soft and tender. Serve hot with roti.

Find the updated recipe list, well ordered and sorted down with pictured labels by clicking on the Recipe List in the menubar below the heading of Yummy Food or else click here to get redirected to the recipe list page.

Somedays back I received these gorgeous gifts from my dear buddies Veda and Jo. Thank you dearies.

Turai Ka Salan/Ridge gourd Curry

lubnakarim06@gmail.com (Kitchen Flavours) — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 05:41:00 +0000

Many of us actually most of us like simple and easy to cook recipes, recipes which are full of flavour, taste and that which can be made in less time. Yet times ‘time management’ is the basic key word for Indian recipes. Morning time is always a busy time, when we have to cook and pack lunch for the dear ones, cooking and serving breakfast, tea/coffee and sometimes when the maid is not on time or on leave then just imagine the whole amount of work. In case you are not having maid then think of washing vessels and arranging them. Oh God! Many a times, I will think, wish I could have two more hands to manage all this work. This is the situation of a normal house wife; just imagine how it will be for a working mom….Gosh! To avoid all this uneasy situations which upsets mood early in the morning, I will chop, cut and trim vegetables in the night while watching my favorite TV soaps. This not only gives you a peace of mind in the morning but also eases your work. This will also give you a little time to stretch before getting yourself soaking up in the daily chores. Enjoy Cooking! Coming to today’s recipe, it is simple, easy and delectable combo with roti.

INGREDIENTS:

1 kg Turai/Ridge gourd, peeled and cut into pieces
1 Onion, peeled and sliced
1 Green chili, cut long and deseeded
1 tbsp Red chili powder
¼ tbsp Turmeric powder
Salt
3-4 springs fresh Coriander leaves

TEMPERING/TADKA:

1 tbsp Mustard seeds
1 tbsp Jeera/Cumin
1 dry Red chili
6-9 Curry leaves
Oil

PREPERATION:

Add oil to a heavy bottom cooking pan or kadai add oil. When oil gets heated up add all the ingredients listed under 'tempering'.
On a medium flame fry till curry leaves till they change color. Now add onions and saute for a while.
When the onions are translucent, add turai pieces, red chilli powder, tumeric powder, salt and green chillies.
Using a spoon slightly mix up the ingredients and cook on a low flame by covering with a lid. Cook till all the water evaporates.
Garnish with fresh coriander leaves and serve with piping hot rotis.
Last but not least add your 'love' to make the dish 'YUMMY'.

Eid ul-Fitr Mubarak

lubnakarim06@gmail.com (Kitchen Flavours) — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 15:56:00 +0000

RAMADAN SPECIAL : Check out for all lip smacking, delicious, some new, some traditional, some international, delectable, yummy recipes,....... by clicking on the slideshow on the left hand sidebar or by clicking on the Joy From Fasting To Feasting (Season-II) event annoucement page (logo on the top of left hand sidebar). I thank all the wonderful people who sent their entries, who supported me, who encouraged me and helped me in making this Joy From Fasting To Feasting (Season-II) grand success. Special thanks to Padma Rekha of Plantain Leaf, Priya of Priya's Easy N Tasty Recipes and Saraswathi of Sara's Corner who graced the event with their yum entries proving India is a one big country where religion is never a barrier. Special thanks to all the participants of Joy From Fasting To Feasting (Season-II).

Bhindi Ka Salan/Okra Curry

lubnakarim06@gmail.com (Kitchen Flavours) — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 04:28:00 +0000

Roti or chapatti or phulka with a simple curry makes an ideal meal for seher (refers to the meal consumed early in the morning before fasting). In the night, before going to bed, I will knead the dough and keep it covered. It not only saves time but you will get soft and fluffy roti’s. As the weather in Bangalore is bit cool and rainy I prefer piping hot roti’s at seher time. Not much work when you are having roti for seher. A simple side dish can be made in combo and a hot meal is ready to indulge! One of the side dish which is very common with roti at my home is bhendi ka salan. It is easy to cook with simple handy ingredients. Try this simple version of bhindi/bhendi/okra to taste it.

INGREDIENTS:

½ kg Bhindi/Okra
1 Onion, peeled and sliced
½ tbsp Ginger-Garlic paste
1 tbsp Red chili powder
¼ tbsp Turmeric powder
Salt
Oil
2-3 springs fresh Coriander leaves, chopped

PREPERATION:

Wash bhindi/okra and pat dry with a kitchen tissue/napkin. Trim off the ends and slice them into roundels.
In a heavy bottom cooking vessel add oil and to this add sliced onions, when they turn translucent, add ginger-garlic paste. Fry for another 2 minutes.
Now add bhindi pieces, red chili powder, turmeric powder and salt. Add little water (enough to make bhendi soft).
Cook covered till bhindi becomes soft. Garnish with chopped fresh coriander leaves.
Last but not least add your 'love' to make the dish 'YUMMY'.

SPECIAL UPDATE ON RAMADAN EVENT : JOY FROM FASTING TO FEASTING (SEASON-II)

Now you can have a look at all the updated entries picture gallery by clicking on the slideshow in the left hand sidebar under the Ramadan event announcement page or by clicking on the Ramadan event logo. Check out now to view intresting, new, different and yummy recipes.

Mung-Methi Pulao & A Complete Meal

lubnakarim06@gmail.com (Kitchen Flavours) — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 04:33:00 +0000

Somedays back when me and Valar went on for shopping we stopped at Adyar Ananda Bhavan for having a quick bite to satisfy the hunger. After seeing the menu, Valar suggested of having mini meals. As it is already lunch time and rats are on rock n roll, in my stomach, I too decided to join her by ordering mini meals. To our surprise it was filling, satisfying and indulging meal with roti, mixed vegetables cooked in coconut milk, BBB (bisibelebath), potato fry, mung-methi pulao, colorful fryums, tempered vegetable curd rice and pineapple flavoured kesari. Isn’t it yummy? That is for the first time I encountered with this delicious and pleasant-tasting mung-methi pulao.

Few days back when we (me and Valar) were discussing about the events, I remembered well balanced 3 course meal by Health Nut and show what you cook for your guest by Raks Kitchen. Then we thought what will best suit for the themes and I came up with the idea to make this mung-methi pulao, then discussion on remaining items started and I finally settled with the following menu: healthy salad, mung-methi puloa, jeera-aloo and fruits(s) custard. Valar who was my guest for lunch not only graced with her presence but also bought this delectable and yum masala vadas. For these gorgeous and perfect looking masala vada’s hop to Valar’s blog here. It was a pleasant afternoon with beautiful climate and yum lunch. Thank you Valar for the vada’s, they made perfect accomplishment with pulao.

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups Rice, cooked and cooled
1 cup fresh Methi/Fenugreek Leaves *
½ cup green Mung/moong dal, washed and soaked for 1 hour
1 Onion, peeled and sliced
2 Cardamoms, 1 2’inch Cinnamon stick and 2 Cloves
½ tbsp Jeera/Cumin
2 Green chilies, cut length-wise and deseeded
1 tbsp Red chilli powder
¼ tbsp Turmeric powder
few Cashews
Salt
Oil

PREPERATION:

In a heavy bottom cooking vessel add oil, when the oil gets heated up add cardamoms, cinnamon, cloves and jeera. When these spices start to leave aroma, add sliced onions and cashews, fry till light brown.
Now add green chilies, mung dal and methi leaves. Fry till mung dal is cooked and methi is soft.
Add red chili powder, turmeric powder and salt (adjust salt if you are using salt while cooking rice). Fry for 2-3 minutes.
Now gently mix in cooked rice. Mix till all the ingredients are mixed together and cook for another 3-4 minutes by covering with a lid.
Serve hot with papad or jeera aloo.
Last but not least add your 'love' to make the dish 'YUMMY'.

NOTE: Destalk methi leaves and wash thoroughly. Rice should be cooked in such a way that grains should be separate. Once cooked spread on a plate and leave it to cool under fan.

Here is a complete picture of the recipes which we two (me and Valar) relished one fine afternoon. It was quite an indulging meal. You can see healthy salad, mung-methi pulao, masala vada from Valar, jeera-aloo and fruit(s) custard in the pictures.

The above picture is going to participate in well balanced 3 course meal by Yasmeen of Health Nut and show what you cook for your guest by Raks of Raks Kitchen.

Fruit(s) Custard

lubnakarim06@gmail.com (Kitchen Flavours) — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 04:32:00 +0000

Fruits play very important role in our daily diet. They supply most of the essential nutrients, vitamins like A and C required by our body. Apart from raw form fruits can be consumed in many other forms like soups, juices, salads, desserts, pies, can also be cooked and baked. May it be any form the fruits give delectable taste to the recipe. The most common and easy way to indulge with fruits is by making fruit(s) custard. A creamy, milky, sweet and delectable custard when paired with fresh and juicy fruits the result is toothsome. As holy month of Ramadan calls us to spend more time on Ibadat (worship) and when cooking takes backseat a simple, easy, comforting and filling dessert like fruit custard is much liked choice. Yet another simple to indulge recipe for Iftar time.

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups Mixed Fruits *
1/2 lit. Milk
Sugar
2 tbsp Custard Powder **
few strands Saffron

PREPERATION:

Bring milk to boil. Take 3 tbsp of milk from the boiled milk and cool it down to room temperature.
To this 3 tbsp of milk add saffron strands and 2 tbsp of custard powder.
Make a fine paste.On a low flame place the remaining boiled milk and pour in sugar by stirring continuously.
When the sugar gets dissolved add slowly the above made custard paste and stir for 1-2 minutes. Leave it to cool under room temperature.
Now add mixed fruit pieces and refrigerate for a while. Serve chilled.
Last but not least add your 'love' to make the dish 'YUMMY'.

NOTE:

* I used one apple (peeled and cubed), two bananas (peeled and cubed) and 1/2 cup pomegrenate seeds.

** I used vanilla flavoured WeiKFiELD custard powder.

RAMADAN SPECIAL: Check here to know what my friends who are participating in this global Joy From Fasting To Feasting (Season-II) event are preparing this Ramadan.

I am Back With Jeera Aloo

lubnakarim06@gmail.com (Kitchen Flavours) — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 08:25:00 +0000

You may be wondering by my sudden disappearance from the blog world, it is due to a heartbreak family emergency. Past few days were very tough to me and my family as I lost my grandfather (mom’s dad). Calm and peaceful my grandfather rested in peace. Sudden demise of an elderly person in the family left us all in sorrow. I miss you Grand Pa, may Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala grant him Jannah al Firdous. Aameen.

As you all know that my pantry will never ever run out of Aloo/potato. Potato being a versatile vegetable, it can be cooked in numerous ways. Jeera Aloo is one such recipe. Simple potato pieces when tempered with aromatic jeera/cumin the result is drool worthy. A simple recipe which takes less time and calls for handy ingredients. Try it to taste it!

INGREDIENTS:

½ kg Aloo/Potato pieces, peeled, washed and par boiled
1 Onion, peeled and finely sliced
2-3 Green chilies, deseeded and finely chopped
¼ tbsp Ginger-Garlic paste
1 tbsp Jeera/Cumin seeds
1 Cardamom, 1 Clove and 1’ inch stick of Cinnamon
1 tbsp Red chilli powder
¼ tbsp Turmeric powder
½ tbsp Coriander powder
2-3 springs fresh Coriander leaves, chopped
Salt
Oil

PREPERATION:

Add oil to a heavy bottom cooking vessel. To this add cardamom, clove and cinnamon stick. When the spices start to leave the aroma add sliced onions and fry till translucent.
Now add jeera/cumin seeds and chopped green chilies. Fry till cumin seeds start to splutter. Add ginger-garlic paste, salt, red chilli powder, turmeric powder and fry for 1 more minute.
Add par boiled potato pieces and mix well by adding coriander powder.
Cook for another 2-3 minutes by covering with a lid. Garnish with fresh chopped coriander leaves and serve hot.
Last but not least add your 'love' to make the dish 'YUMMY'.

Ramadan Special: My sincere apologies to all the people participating in the event Joy From Fasting To Feasting (Season-II). I will update the post in a day or two with some yum entries I received so far. Thank you for understanding and participating.

NOTE: Due to some bandwidth problem with photobucket account you may not able to access my previous post for a day. So please bare with me till I look into it. Thank you Priti and Dolon for letting me know about this. My heartfelt thanks to all those who bestowed their love by passing on awards. Will make an update on that very soon.

Healthy Salad and much more......

lubnakarim06@gmail.com (Kitchen Flavours) — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 04:31:00 +0000

Allhumdulliah as the fasts continue, it is bit difficult to choose quick and healthy recipes for Iftar all the time. Iftar (Arabic: إفطار‎), refers to the evening meal when we break the fast during the holy month of Ramadan. Dates are the first to consume. Depending on the country and their relative traditions the recipes for Iftar vary. People of Hyderabad, India relish on much popular Haleem as it is perfect to boost the energy levels and filling too.. Festivals, fasts, celebrations, events,….will come to life when we are staying with whole family. It’s always boring to think what to cook for only two people and that to when one has to go office and other has to stay back. Times like that a simple salad with a healthy touch is quite filling and satisfying.

Kala chana/Black chickpea are rich with Vitamin A, B1 and B3 and has small amount of thiamine, riboflavin, niacin and Vitamin C in it. They also carry potassium, phosphorus, iron and calcium with good amount of sodium with them. So a cup of these to go with fresh, juicy red pomegranate seeds, carried by green chilli which gives spicy taste along with juicy red tomatoes, crunchy onions, lemon giving that tangy taste with fresh coriander leaves making it healthy, tasty and indulging……..

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup Black chickpeas/Kala chana, soaked and boiled until soft
1 Onion, peeled and finely chopped
1 Tomato, deseeded and finely chopped
½ Cucumber/kheera
1 Green chili, deseeded and finely chopped
6-7 tbsp fresh Pomegranate seeds
3 tbsp fresh Lime juice
2 tbsp fresh chopped Coriander leaves
Salt

PREPERATION:

Mix and indulge.
Last but not least add your 'love' to make the dish 'YUMMY'.

NOTE: I soaked kala chana overnight and pressure cooked until soft.

Now coming to much more as I mentioned in the title.......

First to come are my entries to WYF:Breakfast Event by EC of Simple Indian Food, who is hosting this event in celebration of her blog's second anniversary. Happy Bloganniversary dear EC.

Second in the row is, I did a complete makeover to my Food Blogroll. Now it is not only a place where you can see the yummy updates of the fellow food bloggers but also you can know the current food and food photography events running in the blogs worldwide. If you are missing out there then drop in a comment to get added....http://foodbloggerhub.blogspot.com/

Third to annouce is I am pairing up with Siri of Siri's Corner to maintan Events and RoundUps page. If you are hosting any event, do drop a comment there to let know more and more people about the event(s).

RAMADAN SPECIAL: Check out for an updated list of members participating globally in Joy From Fasting To Feasting (Season-II)

Egg Pudding

lubnakarim06@gmail.com (Kitchen Flavours) — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 13:34:00 +0000

Shama's First Cooked Food Event made me think what I learnt to cook for the first time. May be like most of us it is making maggi, improving to omelet then to watery tea and then simple dal. Mostly my cooking skills were refined after marriage, may be because it is full time job now. But whatever I use to prepare before marriage, my mom, dad and sweet lil sis used to say superb and finish it all. My dad and sis are very fond of sweets; they can have sweets anytime of the day or even at midnight. My mom makes this egg pudding very often and it's of my favourites. Being not so sweet liking person, this one sweet is something which I never ever say no to indulge. As this pudding calls for some simple and handy ingredients, I started preparing this whenever my sis demands for it. This is one among the first to learn (cook) recipes. As today is first fasting day of Ramadan, I thought of begning my Ramadan posts with simple and sweet recipe. Egg pudding is simple to make and yummy to indulge!

INGREDIENTS:

2 Eggs
1/2 lit. Milk
1/2 cup Sugar
2 tbsp Ghee/clarified butter
1/4 tbsp Cardamom powder
few strands Saffron
few Cashews, lightly fried in ghee

PREPERATION:

Boil milk and leave it to cool. Beat eggs until foamy.
Take 1 tbsp of lukewarm milk and soak saffron strands in it.
Take a heavy bottom cooking vessel*; to this add beaten egg mixture, milk, ghee and cardamom powder. Mix well and cook on a low flame till water separates from milk.
Now add sugar and soaked saffron strands. Cook till all the water evaporates.
The consistency of the pudding should be thick and it should start sticking the spoon.
Serve hot garnishing with fried cashews.
Last but not least add your 'love' to make the dish 'YUMMY'.

This pudding is going to particiate in Shama's First Cooked Food event and also to Sanghi's Fall In Love-Milk.

NOTE: It is very important to use thick bottom cooking vessel to avoid sticking.

Ramadan Special: I am hosting season-II of Joy From Fasting To Feasting. Click on the sidebar logo for more details.

Joy From Fasting To Feasting (Season-II)

lubnakarim06@gmail.com (Kitchen Flavours) — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 10:28:00 +0000

UPDATE : Click here to view the updated entires picture gallery. Scroll down to view the global member list participating in the event.

Assalamvalekum and warm welcome to season-II of Joy From Fasting To Feasting. With Ramadan starting in a day or two, I am here to showcase or bring you the celebrations of Ramadan round the globe. Last year me and Yasmeen from HealthNut has teamed up and conducted this event. It is major success and I was not only glad to know new food bloggers, but also happy to know their Ramadan stories, customs, celebrations, traditions and food delights. This time when Ramadan is nearby, I dropped a mail to Yasmeen regarding the event and logo. Then she said logo with dates would be great and without any delay I clicked some snaps and sorted two from them and sent her for a final word. With out any delay she selected the following one. Hope you like it. Come join me in this yummy ride where we will meet new foodies, new flavours, new destinations, new foods, new cultures and soulful traditions. It’s much more fun……Come indulge with me…….

As a part of this event, attach the above logo in your sidebar. This not only paints all the blogs with oneness but also many people visiting your blogs will know about this event. Inshallah we will have an yummy Ramadan this year too.

If you are a non-muslim/non-blogger and want to write any thing on Ramadan or wanna share any recipe or just remember your muslim friends or know how people around you celebrate Ramadan, feel free to write down in your blog and link back the page to this blog. If you are not having blog then please do drop a mail at kitchen.flavours@gmail.com. Event starts from the first fasting day of Ramadan month and ends by celebrating the "Eid".

You can find the details of the previous Ramadan event, Joy From Fasting To Feasting here. Thank you Yasmeen for the support and warmth. A special call to Arfi, Dita, Sefa, Nazarina, Noor, Retno, Farina, Fitri, Ayesgul, Jin Hooi, MamaFami and Syeda.

Global Member List With Recipes:

Aysegul - NY's Delight

Aysha - Life Today

Haleem

Faiza - Faiza Ali's Kitchen

Falafel and Dip

Fitri - Rumah Manis

Getuk Lindri (Ground Steamed Cassava)
Saffron Rice Pudding
Es Cendol (Indonesian Cold Dessert)

Humaira - Humaira's Food Passion

Chicken Fry

Jin Hooi - Smell & Taste Are My Memory

Kuih Ketayap & Honecomb Cake

Lubna - Yummy Food

Mallugirl - Malabar Spices

Chicken Samosas

MamaFami - Mamafami's Spice and Splendour

Mona - Zaiqa

Blueberry Lassi~Smoothie
Palak ki Pakodi along with Til ki Chutney
Marag –Rich and Aromatic Chicken soup
Mirch Bhajiye – Stuffed deep fried Green chillies
Wada – Spicy Indian Donuts
Aloo Bonda – Potato Croquettes
Spicy Black Chickpeas – Chatpate Kale Chane
Qaeema Bhare Aloo Cutlets – Potato Cutlets/Cakes stuffed with Minced meat
Shakkarpaare – Sweet Bites
Spring Rolls
Baingan Bhajiya – Eggplant Fritters
Dahi-Wade – Lentil balls in Yoghurt relish
Spicy Groundmeat/Kheema Samosas
Cholay
Khatti Ubli Dal – Boiled Lemony Bengal Gram
Daliya Soup – Broken Wheat and Lentils Soup
Haleem – Slow Cooked Lentils, Wheat and Meat/Vegetables Porridge
Colourful Pasta
Minty Strawberry Banana Lassi ~ Smoothie
Qaeema ke Luqmi - Minced meat parcels
Ande Ke Bhajiye

Muneeba - An Edible Symphony

My Comfort Food Network

Chatti Pathiri

Nasrin - Luv 2 Cook

Noor - Ya Salam Cooking

Priya - Priya's Easy N Tasty Recipes

Rahin - Lazzat

Chocolate Fudge

Rekha- Plantain Leaf

Retno - Kedai Hamburg

Saraswathi - Sara's Corner

Shab - Shab's Cuisine

Shaista - MixCalculations

Fried Black Chickpeas
Samosas (minced meat stuffed pastry)
Potato Fritters
Irresistable Fruit Chaat
Paneer Pakora

Shifa - Sugar And Spice

Sheerin - FoodGoddess

Umbelbanat - أم البنات

Umm Salihah - Happy Muslim Mama

Chicken Kebab's

Yasmeen - Health Nut

Yakhni Pulao

Zainab and Meedo - Arabic Bites

Mahshy-warqenab (stuffed grape leaves)
Roz bil halib (Rice Pudding)
Chicken&Oats Soup

Zerin - Food...The joy of life

Chatti Pathiri

Click here to view the updated entires picture gallery.

Meethi Dal (Dal+Chawal+Paapad=Ultimate Comfort Food)

lubnakarim06@gmail.com (Kitchen Flavours) — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 04:59:00 +0000

Ultimate comfort food according to any Indian is dal, chawal and paapad (Lentils soup, steamed/boiled Rice and crispy flat bread). This combo is not only comfort but makes a filling meal of the day. Lucky is the man who gets the time to indulge with a hot bowl of rice along with a dollop of ghee, dal together with his family. Eating together not only creates a bonding with in a family but also enhances the flavour of the food. Don't you agree with me? The family who eats together stays together says a popular quote.

Coming to today's recipe meethi dal it is a simple and flavourful dal. It is simple because it is very easy to prepare with handy ingredients in the kitchen. It is flavourful because of its tempering, which involves ginger-garlic paste and onions. May be the abscence of tamarind or any other vegetable in the recipe gives the name meethi dal (sweet dal) but there is no sugar or sweetener in the dal. Try it....it's simple....it's yummy.....

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup Toovar dal, washed and soaked for 10 min
1 Onion, peeled and finely sliced
1/2 tbsp Ginger-Garlic paste
1 tbsp Red chilli powder
1/4 tbsp Turmeric powder
Salt
Oil

PREPERATION:

In a pressure cooker, cook dal till soft. To this add salt, red chilli powder, turmeric powder and mash with a spoon or wooden masher.
To this add 2 cups of water and 1/4 tbsp ginger-garlic paste. Allow it to boil for 2-3 minutes.
In a heavy bottom cooking vessel or kadai, add oil, sliced onions. Fry till light brown in color and add 1/4 tbsp ginger-garlic paste. Fry for 1-2 min and add this tadka or tempering to above dal.
Serve hot with steamed hot rice with a dollop of ghee and paapad.
Last but not least add your 'love' to make the dish 'YUMMY'.

This dal is going to participate in MLLA-14 by Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook. My entries for Show Me Your Breakfast won the poll conducted by Divya of Dil-se. Thank you Divya for such a yum event.

Happy Independence Day

lubnakarim06@gmail.com (Kitchen Flavours) — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 18:30:00 +0000

Quote Of The Day

lubnakarim06@gmail.com (Kitchen Flavours) — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 10:35:00 +0000

Melon Duo

lubnakarim06@gmail.com (Kitchen Flavours) — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 04:52:00 +0000

Past 2-3 months due to increase in pollution, a cool and green rich place like Banglaore boiled to its extreme. With the mercury levels kept on increasing, leaving behind a hot and humid climate, a cool and refreshing juice is the best way to keep the energy levels boosted. Juices are more adorable in summers. Most of the times juices are most convenient way to indulge with fruits. Fresh homemade juices are nutritious and can play an important role in a healthy diet. Juices are fat-free, full with nutrients and rich with vitamins. They also carry minerals and phytonutrients.

A glass of simple, fresh and homemade juice is always a better choice than a soft drink. Three juices which are pretty much regular at my home are Mosambi, Watermelon and Muskmelon. These three tastes good when they are eaten raw or made into a juice. Most of the times, I just blend fruit pieces and water, skip adding sugar to get the complete goodness of the fruit. A cool and refreshing glass of fresh and homemade fruit juice is comforting at anytime of the day. Just a little effort in blending and sieving, you get a gorgeous glass of fresh juice. Drink fresh…Be fresh….. is the motto….

Melons are good source of potassium and vitamin C. They are fat free and cholesterol free. Low in calories and high in water. A perfect way to indulge with them is by eating raw or by blending into juice. So here is a duo juice for you…..The pretty gorgeous glasses you see in the pictures were gifted by Valarmathi on my birthday.

FOR WATERMELON JUICE:

Blend a cup of watermelon pieces along with water until smooth. Strain and serve chilled. Last but not least add your 'love' to make the juice 'YUMMY'.

FOR MUSKMELON JUICE:

Blend a cup of muskmelon pieces along with water until smooth. Strain and serve chilled. Last but not least add your 'love' to make the juice 'YUMMY'.

This duo melon juice(s) are going to participate in Monthly Mingle-Marvelous Melons hosted by Chew On That. Montly Mingle is brainchild of Meeta of What's For Lunch Honey?

NOTE: Peel the skin, deseed and cut into 1 inch long pieces. Then put them in a blender. Adding sugar/honey is optional.

Aloo Methi Ki Sabzi

lubnakarim06@gmail.com (Kitchen Flavours) — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 03:09:00 +0000

Monday.....Monday....Monday....first working day of the week....the day which comes by taking a long 5 day week with it.....Monday's are always bit lazy as I am still in the mood of weekend and most of the times I wonder whether my weekend was for 12 hours or less than that....because it vanishes so soon and starts yet another week. With so many plans 'to do' on weekend....and ending up doing nothing......and most of the times scheduling them for the next weekend.....weekend passes by......

Roti's for dinner has almost become routine at my home. Thinking of a different side dish every time is a bit tough thing. As I said earlier my pantry will never run out of potatoes. Yet times having a routine aloo ki sabzi is boring and it is said that variety is spice of life......Aloo is such a pleasant-tasting vegetable that it can flavour any other vegetable it is combined and cooked with. Aloo is not only good with vegetables, it also rocks with leafy green veggies. One such combination is Aloo Methi. When the delectable and versatile aloo is combined and cooked with methi ki bhaji/fenugreek leaves a robustic flavoured scrumptious recipe is born. Fenugreek leaves are rich with calcium, iron, vitamin C amd A.

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 Kg Aloo, peeled and cubed
1 cup fresh Methi ki bhazi/fenugreek leaves *
1 Onion, peeled and sliced
1 tbsp Red chilli powder
1/4 tbsp Turmeric powder
Salt

TEMPERING/TADKA:

1/2 tbsp Mustard seeds
1/2 Jeera/Cumin
9-12 fresh Curry leaves
2 dry Red chillies
Oil

PREPERATION:

Pressure cook cubed aloo until soft. Drain the water and set aside.
Add oil to a heavy bottom cooking vessel/kadai, when the oil gets heated up add the ingredients listed under tempering.
When the curry leaves start to change color add onions and fry till translucent. To this add methi leaves, red chilli powder, turmeric powder and salt.
Fry for 2-3 minutes and add boiled potato pieces. Mix gently.
Cook and cover for another 4-6 minutes. Serve hot with piping hot rotis/chawal.
Last but not least add your 'love' to make the dish 'YUMMY'.

NOTE: Seperate the leaves from the stalk and wash thoroughly.

Happy Friendship Day

lubnakarim06@gmail.com (Kitchen Flavours) — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 06:09:00 +0000

Fresh Mosambi Juice With A Tag

lubnakarim06@gmail.com (Kitchen Flavours) — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 02:40:00 +0000

Mosambi/sweet limetta/Mediterranean sweet lemon/sweet lemon/sweet lime are common names of different spices of Mosambi. In India, it is commonly called sathukudi, mousambi, mosambi, or musambi. With green to yellow (when it is fully matured) thick outer layer, a thin white layer is enlosed with soft, juicy and fleshy inner layer. The juice of mosambi is sweet rather than acidic. These fruits are excellent source of vitamin C, iron and copper.

After morning yoga or jog or walk a fresh homemade mosambi juice cheers your energy levels. A glass of this can also make a delectable combo with your morning breakfast or else you can serve this fresh juice when kids are back home from school in the evening. To get the full benefits of any fruit juice, try to prepare it at home. As homemade juice will not have any preservatives it is always good for health. After a short morning workout a fresh juice not only levels my energy but also help me to start running for my daily chores. Drink fresh...Be fresh......

The above picture is going to participate in Click:Bi-Color, event by Jai and Bee of Jugalbandi. This is also going to participate in FIC-Express Your Mood by Nithya of A Culinary Odyssey, event by Sunshinemom of TongueTicklers. Fresh juice to start a fresh day.....

INGREDIENTS:

2-3 fresh Mosambi, wash and pat dry
Sugar (optional)
Water

PREPERATION:

Cut mosambi into halves and extract juice by using a citrus juice squeezer.
Strain in a glass add water and sugar. Mix well and indulge!
Last but not least add your 'love' to make the dish 'YUMMY'.

Prasu of Prasukitchen, Shubha of Munchcrunchandsuch, Fiaza Ali of Faiza Ali's Kitchen, Mythreyi of Speciality Recipes From My(E) Kitchen and Sree Vidya of Vidya's Kitchen passed on beautiful Kreative Blogger Award with a tag and it says to mention seven things about me,

1. Cheese, chocolates and cooldrinks make my day.......

2. I love reading books.....presently Iam reading Kite Runner by Khalid Hosseini.

3. I like to craft gifts for friends and loved ones.

4. I like to play with HTML.

5. My recent passion - flower photography.

6. I rarely experiment with cooking.

7. I like painting, stitching and shopping.

UPDATE: Sushma of Authentic Food Delight and EC of Simple Indian Food also passed on this award. Thank you so much......

As the rule of the tag says I have to nominate seven bloggers to it.....but I am breaking the rule here as all the blogger buddies I know have already done this tag. Thank you girls for the award and tag.

Coconut Rice With An Afternoon To Remember

lubnakarim06@gmail.com (Kitchen Flavours) — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 05:04:00 +0000

Coconut Rice is most satisfying and filling one pot meal I came across recently. After trying my hands on simple and delectable jeera rice then jeera-peas pulao, this coconut rice is very indulging. It is not only simple to make but the robust flavour of fresh coconut and aromatic tempering makes the rice more redolent. There are many variations in making this coconut rice. But as my blog tag line says, "fast to cook good to eat" I made it in a very simple way. I really love the crunchy taste of coconut with soft and fluffy basmati rice.

This recipe is going to participate in Let's Go Nuts - Coconuts hosted by PJ of Seduce Your Tastebuds, event by Aqua of Served With Love.

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup rice, wash and soak for 15 min
1/2 cup fresh grated Coconut
Salt

TEMPERING/TADKA:

1/2 tbsp Jeera/Cumin
1/2 tbsp Mustard seeds
1/2 tbsp Black peppercorns
1 dry Red chilli
6-9 Curry leaves
12 Cashews
Oil

PREPERATION:

Cook and cool rice by spreading on a plate.
Add oil to a heavy bottom cooking vessel. To this add jeera, mustard, black peppercorns, red chilli, curry leaves and cashews. Fry till the mustard seeds start to splutter.
Now add fresh grated coconut and fry till light brown in color (or till raw smell of coconut disappears).
To this add cooked and cooled rice and mix well by adjusting the salt. Cook for 2-3 min on a low flame by covering with a lid.
Serve hot by garnishing with cashews.
Last but not least add your 'love' to make the dish 'YUMMY'.

An Afternoon To Remember:

Now coming to sunshinemom with experiments, emotions and experiences along with simple and yummy recipes and with some kitchen flavours...... Can you get it? it is not a riddle.....think? Some days back sunshinemom of TongueTicklers was here on a pretty small summer trip with her kids and she graciously left a mail for a meet. As Curry Leaf of Experiments, emotions and experiences with food is also very close to my area and as you all know Valarmathi of simple and yummy recipes and me are staying in the same apt. we four thought of a quick afternoon meet.

First to reach the place is Sunshinemom and by the time we reached there she had a little peek in the grocery store near by and bought vegan strawberry milkshake.....need I say anything more about the dear vegan sunshinemom.......then to reach the place was curry leaf. I was about to cross the road to reach the place, I can see both the pretty ladies (sunshinemom and curry leaf) already talking to each other. Hmm conversation started over by ordering a refreshing mausambi juice. Now you all know what the food bloggers will talk......food, food and glorious food......may be the major part of the conversation was on food......but we talked on so many other things too.....It was like never ending conversation........we paused it to continue till we meet again.......I really love to meet and get know them in person. The charming personalities and adorable nature of Sunshinemom, Curry Leaf and Valarmathi left an memorable afternoon to cherish.....which will always stay fresh in my mind.....As a part of blogger meet culture, Curry Leaf bought yummylicious Chocolate Almond Brittle, Sunshimemom bought pretty wooden spoon and wooden fork (which you can see in the today's pics) Valarmathi took beautiful glass bowls and I bought Coffee mugs to the ladies. It was all fun at the end of the day.......with a promise to meet again.....may be with some new faces to join.......

Spicy Peanut Powder/Phalli Podi

lubnakarim06@gmail.com (Kitchen Flavours) — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 09:06:00 +0000

Most of the times when we are in a rush to make dosa or idli for early morning breakfast a side dish like chutney is time consuming and moreover same routine chutney makes the breakfast little dull and boring. At those times a spicy podi like peanut/phalli podi is not only time saving but also give a new twist to the routine breakfast. Podi(s)/powder(s) have 10-15 day shelf life or sometimes more when stored in a clean, dry air tight container and they can be indulged with dosa or idli or upma or vada or sometimes with a hot bowl of steamed white rice.

Peanuts are rich with proteins and carry good source of niacin which helps in brain health, brain circulation and blood flow. Peanuts are a significant source of resveratrol, a chemical studied for potential anti-aging effects and also associated with reduced cardiovascular disease and reduced cancer risk. With many more health benefits, peanuts rock the kitchen. Here comes a simple and flavourful peanut podi.......... This podi is going to participate in JFI-Peanuts hosted by Pavani of Cook's Hideout, event by Indira of Mahanandi and also to MLLA-Thirteen Helping hosted by Sunshinemom of TongueTicklers, event by Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook.

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 cup Peanuts
10-12 dry Red chillies
1/2 tbsp Cumin/Jeera
Salt

PREPERATION:

On a very low flame dry roast peanuts till they change color and start to break open little.
Once they are roasted take them out on a plate and before they get cool, rub and remove the skin.
In a heavy bottom cooking vessel or kadai dry roast dry red chillies and cumin till light brown. Cool and set aside.
Grind and make a coarse powder by mixing roasted peanuts, dry red chillies, cumin and salt.
Store in a clean, dry air tight container.
Last but not least add your 'love' to make the dish 'YUMMY'.