From My Home Kitchen

Nutella Banana Milkshake | Kid Friendly Drink

noreply@blogger.com (Shabitha Karthikeyan) — Thu, 24 May 2012 04:42:00 +0000

Anyone reading a food blog for quite sometime would defintely have heard how we all brag about having a good time learning new recipes, getting new friends and so on. To me I have one more thing to add to the list it is "How I got to know about Nutella". Till I saw some mouthwatering recipes in other food bloggers which was like 1 year ago I never knew something heavenly like this existed. Yes I was ignorant, but I was not dumb. When I heard about its super taste and the exciting recipes we could make with it, I instantly started buying it and now we enjoy everything that is made of it.

Nutella and banana is an awesome combo. This is one kind of milkshake that comes handy when the kids or you (why to leave us when I said I have added Nutella) are extremely hungry and in no mood to eat. I thing you know what I'm talking about. Kids say they are hungry but refuses to eat food, and says I need something like chocolate !! Nutella Banana milkshake is super yummy and makes you feel full. It's no big recipe but truly a keeper. I think if there is Nutella in a recipe no more questions asked. I think I have done enough campaigning now to the drink.

Preparation Time - 5 min

Serves - 1 person

Ingredients

Banana - 1 no
Nutella - 3 tbsp
Chilled Milk - 1 cup

Preparation

Chop the banana into bite size pieces.

Wash the blender jar and wipe clean.

Method

Add the chopped banana, milk, and nutella and blend well until smooth and creamy

Serve chilled in tall glass.

Notes

Use milk from the refrigerator and skip adding ice cubes.

You can also use almond milk.

Lemony Grilled Salmon | Low fat and Quick way to Cook Fish

noreply@blogger.com (Shabitha Karthikeyan) — Tue, 15 May 2012 04:19:00 +0000

Hope you all had a wonderful Mother's Day. I had a great day with my sweet hearts. Shweets bought a potted plant decorated all over and Jake got a card with his picture..muaahhh. It is a very nice experience to feel all their love and excitement. Simply felt like eating them up. Planned to make a lot of things and ended up doing nothing. It happens when you have so many things on your plate. One down and there are so many things to come, this month we are super busy with the kids birthdays and other programs. I'm happy that our check list is shrinking but yet I have a lot more things to do !!

Coming to the recipe , cooking on a griddle is one thing we have started with full swing. We use less oil, food cooks evenly and quickly. What else do you need. I totally stopped deep frying the fish. This is a simple and yummy way to cook the Salmon or any firm fish. Salmon has low mercury content and it is rich in omega-3 and it is pretty much suitable for any type of cooking style. You can try this low fat version and let me know how it tasted.

Ingredients

Salmon Fish/or any fish - 8 - 10 fillets
Olive Oil/or any oil - For Cooking the fish

For Marination

Chilly Powder - 2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Pepper powder - 1/2 tsp
Lemon juice - 3 tsp
Oil - 1/2 tsp
Salt for taste

Preparation

Rinse the fish under cold water and pat dry with paper towel.
In a small cup mix the chilly powder, turmeric powder, pepper powder, salt, lemon juice and oil into a paste.
Apply the prepared paste onto the salmon fish fillets until it is coated well. Marinate for about 30 minutes.

Method

Spray olive oil on a electric griddle or tawa on stove top in medium flame.
When the griddle/tawa is ready, lay the fish fillets on it and spray olive oil on top.
Cook the fish for about 5 minutes and then flip over to the other side with a spatula.
Cook for another 5 minutes or until fish is firm.
Place the fish fillets onto a plate with paper towel to remove excess oil.
Serve Hot.

Notes

Cooking the fish with less oil on a griddle/tawa is a low fat and healthy option rather than deep frying.
You can try this with any fish which is suitable for frying like Tilapia or King Fish.
Adjust spice level according to your taste.

Sukku Malli Coffee | Indianstyle Dry Ginger Coffee | Sukku Coffee

noreply@blogger.com (Shabitha Karthikeyan) — Thu, 10 May 2012 04:05:00 +0000

Climate changes, unexpected rain gives us all some kind of health issues. Be it sore throat, head congestion, I will not be able to concentrate on work and will badly need to sleep for long hours. But with the situations around it is not possible for all that. Also I'm not ok with taking pills for these things when we have home remedies. When I say home remedy it is only until everything is under control and you are feeling better. Sukku Malli coffee is just not a medicine you take when you have cold, We take it every other day. It improves digestion and definitely makes me feel totally fresh.

Sukku Malli Powder is definitely a keeper in the kitchen. You can prepare the powder and store it for months together and prepare the coffee whenever you need it. Even my 5 year old likes it. She did not get the word sukku so she calls it sugar coffee, though there is no sugar added to prepare this. This is prepared with jaggery and again jaggery is good for health. What do you say when there is so many good things in one drink why wait to try it !!!

Preparation Time for Sukku Malli Coffee Powder: 20 min

Ingredients for Sukku Malli Coffee Powder

Sukku/Dry Ginger - 1 cup

Coriander seeds/Dhaniya - 1 cup

Peppercorns - 1 tsp

Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp

Method for preparing Sukku Malli Coffee Powder

Dry roast Sukku/Dry Ginger, Coriander seeds one after the other in medium low flame for about 2 minutes each.

Dry Rost Peppercorns, Cumin seeds in medium low flame for about 1 minute each.

Allow the contents to cool.

Grind all the contents together in a dry mixer and store in air tight container.

Preparation Time for Sukku Malli Coffee: 10 minutes

Serves : 2

Ingredients for Sukku Malli Coffee

Sukku Malli Coffee Powder - 2 tsps
Jaggery - 2 tsps
Water - 2 cups

Method for preparing Sukku Malli Coffee

Boil 2 cups of water in a vessel.

When water is at boiling stage, add the sukku malli coffee powder, jaggery and mix well.

Reduce the flame to medium low and allow the mixture to boil for about 6 - 8 minutes

Pour the coffee through a strainer and serve hot.

My Notes

Sukku Malli Coffee Powder can be stored for 3 - 6 months in a airtight container.

Always use a dry spoon for longer shelf life.

Adjust jaggery level according to your taste.

Mutton Biryani

noreply@blogger.com (Shabitha Karthikeyan) — Mon, 07 May 2012 03:56:00 +0000

Mutton Biryani requires no introduction. One of our favorite Sunday Lunch and I think most of us would love this dish. It tastes great and surely beats all other biryani's. This one of the first recipes I posted in this blog. It surely needed a make over with respect to pictures and some structural changes. Mutton Biryani surely has a place in our Diwali menu. I have been preparing this quite a lot times that too after coming to the US I have been making this for almost all potlucks. When we plan for a potluck with non vegetarian menu mostly I would get Mutton Biryani under my name. I have made it in all ways in a conventional oven, rice cooker and a pressure cooker.

If you are cooking for a larger crowd I would suggest to use the conventional oven for cooking biryani. There is no need to worry about it getting sticky. It's a easy method during party times to cook for 20-25 people. I have provided water levels and cooking method for all three ways of cooking it in the notes section. But I personally prefer the pressure cooker method and when I'm cooking for my family because it quicker and flavorful.This Spicy Mutton gravy mixed with rice which was bought into the Indian Cuisine by the Mughals I believe. This is one fail proof recipe for a authentic Mutton Biryani. Do not get scared by the long list of items or the steps, it is fairly simple when you try it. A must try recipe. Try it and let me know how it turned out!!!

Preparation Time : 20 min

Cooking Time: 30 min

Serves : 6

Ingredients

Mutton - 3/4 kg or 1.5 lbs
Basmati Rice - 3 cups
Onion - 4 no
Tomato - 3 no
Ginger - 1 small piece
Garlic - 5 - 6 cloves
Ginger Garlic Paste - 3 tsp
Green Chilly - 3 no
Chilly Powder - 2 1/2 tsp
Coriander Powder - 2 tsp
Turmeric Powder - 1 tsp
Garam masala - 1/2 tsp
Coconut milk - 1 cup
Lemon juice - 1 tsp
Coriander leaves
Curry leaves
Mint Leaves
Salt - for taste
Oil - 5 tsps
Ghee - 3 tsps

To Temper

Bay leaf - 3 no
Cinnamon - 3 sticks
Cloves - 5 no
Cardomom - 3 no
Fennel seeds - 1 tsp

Preparation

Wash and cut the mutton into medium size pieces.

Cut the onion and tomato lengthwise.

Grind green chilly and few mint leaves to a smooth paste

Wash rice and soak for 15 minutes until it turns white. Do this when the masala is cooking.

Cut the ginger and garlic into medium size and crush them.

In a pressure cooker add 1 tsp oil and add the crushed ginger , garlic and saute until they turn golden brown

To this add the mutton pieces, 1/2 tsp turmeric powder, little salt, and cook for 2 whistles and keep aside.

Method

Place a bigger pressure cooker, pour the oil and ghee, add cinnamon,cloves, bay leaf, fennel seeds, cardamom in medium flame.

Next add onions, curry leaves, mint leaves and saute well until onion turns transparent.

Add ginger garlic paste, green chilly paste in low flame and saute until raw smell goes away.

Add chopped tomatoes, and saute at regular intervals until oil comes out.

At this stage add chilly powder, coriander powder, remaining turmeric powder, garam masala and salt. Remember the salt you added to cook the mutton and add accordingly

Saute the contents in medium flame until oil oozes out. Make sure it does not gets burnt.

At this stage remove mutton pieces from the other cooker and add it to the prepared masala and saute well so that the masala is well coated onto the mutton. Retain the mutton stock for cooking the rice.

Add 2 tbsp of coconut milk to the mutton masala and allow it to cook for about 5 - 7 minutes for the flavours to get into the mutton.

When you see oil coming out of mutton mixture, measure and add mutton stock, coconut milk and water. For example if you are using 3 cups of rice then you need to add 4 1/2 cups of liquid to cook the rice. So first add the mutton stock, then the coconut milk for the remaning add water to make up the 4 1/2 cups. Do not add more than that it will make the rice sticky.

Allow the contents to boil.

At this stage add the rice, make sure all the contents together is only 3/4 of the cooker.Sprinkle the lemon juice,check for salt pressure cook for 2 whistles in high or 10 minutes. My cooker takes only 7 minutes. Do not cook more than 10 minutes

Garnish with finely chopped coriander leaves and serve hot with raitha (onions,green chilly,coriander leaves) or spicy chicken/mutton gravy.

My Notes

Biryani is best when it is served hot.

Do not allow the masala to get burnt at any stage.

Best combo for Mutton Biryani is onion raitha.

To cook in conventional oven:

Preheat the oven in 450 degrees in bake mode. Place all the contents (rice, masala, and liquid) in a cooking tray, mix well and cover it with aluminum foil tightly. Place the pan in the oven for 10 min. After 10 min remove the foil , mix the contents well. If required sprinkle some water and cook for 20 - 25 minutes in closed state checking every 10 minutes.

Water level

Pressure cooker : 1 cup rice - 1 1/2 cup water
Rice Cooker : 1 cup rice - 1 3/4 cup water
Conventional oven : 1 cup rice - 1 1/4 cup water

Dairy Free White Bread | Vegan White Bread with Step wise pictures

noreply@blogger.com (Shabitha Karthikeyan) — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 04:29:00 +0000

Bread baking is one of my favorite thing which I love to do at any time. Anyone who has tried baking a bread would know what I'm talking about. It is an addiction and you will love each and every time you do it. Be it the yeast activation stage, the rising stage or the final baking stage when your kitchen is filled with the aroma of the freshly baked bread. Every stage has its own thrill. Though it sounds like a lengthy and tedious process it is actually not. You actually do the work for only 20 minutes, rest all is the rising and baking time. The end result makes you feel so good.

My family loves these breads and it has become a weekend routine to bake breads and buns for the week just like grinding dosa batter. Every week I start on Sunday evening and and by the time I finish the sun would be down and I kept on post poning this post. This week made sure I start early and click some pictures. This is a vegan bread and tastes equally good to any other white bread you have tasted. I have done all sort of trials like replacing bread flour with APF, using whole wheat flour, combining two different flours and every time the result was good. Also I wanted to take some stepwise pictures which was my long time wish. Manged to do it for this recipe as it would help some first timers. Why wait go ahead and try this fail proof White Bread recipe !!

Preparation Time : 20 minutes

Total Rising Time : 3 hours

Baking Time: 30 - 35 minutes

Yields : 2 9"x5" loaves

Ingredients

Bread Flour - 6 cups

Sugar - 1/4 cup

Salt -1 1/2 tsp

Oil - 1/4 cup

Active Dry Yeast - 1 1/2 tbsp

Almond Milk - 2 cups

Preparation

Place the almond milk in microwave and heat it for less than 1 min until it is warm

Combine flour and salt and keep aside.

Method

Combine warm almond milk, sugar and yeast together in a large bowl or in the bowl of your stand mixer with hook attachment.

Keep aside till it becomes frothy.

Add oil to frothy yeast mixture and mix well.

Slowly add the flour and knead while you add.

Knead the dough for 10 to 15 minutes until it is elastic and firm.

Place the dough in a slightly oiled bowl and cover it wit a cling wrap and allow it to rise for about 1 hour 30 minutes.

After the rising time the dough will be doubled in volume.

Gently punch down the dough and divide it into 2 equal portions. Shape each portion into a loaf or small buns in a floured surface.
Place the shaped dough in the pan, cover it with a cling wrap and place it in a warm place for about a hour.

After the second rising time the loaf should have raised atleast 1 1/2 inch above rim of the pan and buns will be doubled in size.

Preheat the oven to 350 F.
Bake for about 30 - 35 minutes until crust turns golden brown. If baking rolls bake for only 15 - 20 minutes.

Cool on a wire rack for about 10 min and slice after it is completely cooled.
Serve with jam or any other spread of your choice.

My Notes

The almond milk must be only warm. Overheating would kill the yeast.

Bread flour can be replaced with the All Purpose Flour.

You can either make 2 loaves or make around 12 buns out of one portion

If the bread is browning to fast cover it with a loose aluminum foil after first 15 min.

When the bread is warm brush it with melted butter for a softer crust.

Store bread in a ziploc cover. Slightly warm the bread for about 10 seconds before serving.

Thai Fish Red Curry

noreply@blogger.com (Shabitha Karthikeyan) — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 03:36:00 +0000

This week is kind of boring for me !! How about you all how is this week treating you. No big surprises at work and same old routine. I thought of making it interesting and started to plan for Shweets birthday which is next month. Now she is all big and says "Why do you have to invite your friends to my birthday, it should be celebrated with my friends" ok that makes sense. So this time it is going to be a kids only party with cake and pizza. Shweets already has made a list of friends she is planning to invite. I think boys of her age never bother about birthday's atleast that's what I hear. It is just another day. So next three weeks will be super exciting with all the party planning !!

Coming to the recipe, Thai cuisine is one of our favorite choice apart from the Indian food we love. We try lot of the recipes and this red curry is always a big hit. It is simple to make and tastes so good. We had made the red curry with chicken and always pure vegetarian and wanted to try our hands with the fishes. It turned out well and we are defintely making it again. I'm sure what is the suthentic way of making this curry and did not bother to spend time on it. One of the comeents from Shweets was it is tasting like Thai restaurant food. That makes it all, try it and enjoy it !!

Preparation Time : 10 min

Cooking Time: 20 min

Serves : 4

Ingredients

Fish - 1/2 lb
Eggplant - 1 no
Bell pepper - 1 no
Onion - 1 medium size
Green Chilly - 3 no
Ginger Garlic paste - 1/4 tsp
Thai Red Curry paste - 1 tbsp
Fish sauce - 1 tsp
Coconut milk - 1 can
Salt for taste
Oil - 1 tbsp

Preparation

Clean and cut the fish into medium size pieces.

Clean and chop the vegetables into medium size pieces.

Grind the green chillies into a smooth paste.

Cut the onion length wise.

Method

Heat oil in a pan and add the onion. Cook until it is translucent.

Add the ginger garlic paste, followed by the green chilly paste and saute well.

Add the Thai Red Curry paste and give a quick mix.

Add the fish pieces, chopped vegetables, salt and give a slight stir.

Add the coconut milk and allow it to simmer

Add the fish sauce and give a quick stir. Cook for additional 3 minutes

Serve Hot with steaming white rice

Notes

Adjust the spice level according to your taste.

Choose fish that is suitable for gravy. I used Salmon fish.

Vegetables mentioned here are the most suitable for this gravy.

Indian Style Pancakes | Quick Indian Snack

noreply@blogger.com (Shabitha Karthikeyan) — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 03:10:00 +0000

Cherishing childhood memories is a really good feeling. But I always wonder whether our kids will have something to talk or write about. Summer holidays for us was super fun filled with too many memories. For the kids these days is just summer camp, extra classes and what not. I was dropping off Shweets at her ballet class at around 5.30 pm and I could hear one parent speaking about taking her kids next for soccer practice. How are the kids managing these things. One other thing is getting private school admission in the US. I made up mind not to put too much pressure we just did some basics and Shweets got through easliy. When I was googling about the questions, I was shocked to see in some places, they have traning classes for preschool kids to prepare for the entrance and there the kids undergo too much pressure.Why all this can't things be simple !!!

It is not about how many classes a kid attends. It is about how well they do it and most importantly do they like it.Parents should totally understand this. I wanted to write about this badly because it is one of the most important topic when Mom's meet in parties. We should make sure the kids enjoy everything they do and we should pass on the legacy. One important thing in that front is to introduce our family favorite recipes to our kids. One sunday morning we called up MIL to note down some wonderful snack recipes MK loved as a child. This recipe is from the list it did not have a name or my MIL did not know it So I called Indian Pancakes and gave it to Shweets. It is easy snack to impress the kids !!!

Preparation Time - 10 min

Cooking Time - 15 min

Serves - 4

Ingredients

All purpose Flour (Maida) - 1 cup
Whole Wheat Flour (Atta) - 1/2 cup
Ripe Banana - 1 no
Milk - 1/2 cup
Egg - 1 no
Sugar - 2 Tbsp
Oil/ Ghee - for drizzling

Preparation

Mash the banana and keep aside.

Slightly warm the milk.

Method

Take a medium size bowl, add the all purpose flour, wheat flour, egg and mix well.

Add the mashed banana to the flour mixture. Then add the sugar.

Slowly add the milk and mix well until desired consistency is reached.

Heat a flat pan or griddle and drizzle some oil/ghee.

Now pour a laddle of the batter and do not spread leave it as is.

Drizzle oil/ghee on the sides and wait until is turns golden brown.

Flip it to the other side and cook until it turns golden brown.

Serve Hot.

Notes

The batter has to be slighlty thick and not runny.

Adding ghee would give a really rich flavor.

Always cook in medium heat and do not overcook.

Adjust the sugar level accordingly. Add more milk if needed.

Mango Almond Shake | Kid Friendly Drink

noreply@blogger.com (Shabitha Karthikeyan) — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 23:35:00 +0000

Last post I did talk about seasons. Though we are totally enjoying the spring season we do eagerly wait for the Summer for obvious reasons. From childhood we 3 sisters would board the train to my grandma's place with our Mom on the day our school closes. I remember days when my Mom used to pick us up early from school seeking special permission to catch the early evening train. We would come back the night before the school reopening day. Poor dad would do the school prep shopping. It was ultimate fun no studying, no homework, getting up late, wonderful food, night shows, pampered by aunts, uncles and what not. Most important thing that needs to added to the list are the Mangoes !!

I go crazy for mangoes, atleast when I was kid. I would love it any form and often skip meals to relish a big mango. People who know me from childhood would know what I mean. One of my Mom's friend would even tease me saying I should get married to a person who owns a mango grove.Though now I'm not as crazy as before but I love Mangoes. Now I'm able to see good quality mangoes here and there and picked up few. Shweets is a big fan of milkshakes and I made this for her. She finished it in no time and pesters me to make it for her. Enjoy this Creamy and Yummy drink and you will totally love it!!!

Preparation Time - 5 min

Serves - 1 person

Ingredients

Ripe Mango - 1 no
Almond Milk - 1 cup
Sugar - 1 tsp
Vanilla essence - 3 to 4 drops

Preparation

Wash the Mango, Peel the skin and chop them into bite size pieces.

Wash the blender jar and wipe clean.

Method

Add the mango pieces, milk, sugar and vanilla essence and blend well until smooth and creamy

Serve chilled in tall glass.

Notes

Use milk from the refrigerator and skip adding ice cubes.

You can also use ordinary milk and just go with Mango Milkshake.

Roasted Baby Potatoes

noreply@blogger.com (Shabitha Karthikeyan) — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 04:43:00 +0000

Season changes are so distinct in this part of the world and I love it. Winter was so mild in the place I live, We hardly used the winter jackets. Spring is a wonderful season between the winter and summer. This is when you see renewal, growth and it is the apt time when you can rejuvenate your spirits. Blooming flowers, green grass and mild showers indicate the arrival of spring. We have sunlight for longer hours and the kids enjoy it. Cycling, swimming and most importantly grilling has been started in full swing. Planning to do a lot of grilling this time !!

Baby Potatoes are something everyone would love to eat and cook. They are super cute and taste so good. This is a simple and straight forward recipe. Nothing can go wrong once the potatoes are properly cooked. This roasted baby potatoes go well with any rice item or can be served as a side for a good afternoon meal. Adjust the spice accordingly and kids will love it too. Ok I think I have campaigned enough for the mouthwatering baby potatoes. Let me jump into the recipe.

Print Recipe

Preparation Time - 10 min

Cooking Time - 15 min

Serves - 4

Ingredients

Baby Potatoes - 1/2 lb

Onion - 1 no

Curry Leaves - 2 sprigs
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Urid dal - 1/2 tsp
Oil - 2 tsp

For Marination

Chilly Powder - 2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Lemon juice - 1/2 tsp
Salt for taste
Oil - 1/2 tsp

Preparation

Wash and boil the whole baby potatoes for about 5 - 7 minutes.
When it is cooked you should be able to poke the potatoes with a fork.
Drain the water and peel the skin off the potatoes and cut them into equal halves.
To the cut potatoes add chilli powder, turmeric powder, salt, lemon juice and 1/2 tsp oil and mix well. Let it sit for 15 - 30 minutes.
Slice the onions.

Method

Heat oil in a skillet and add the mustard seeds in medium flame.
When mustard starts to crackle, add the urid dal followed by the curry leaves.
Add the sliced onions and cook until it turns pink.
Add the marinated potatoes and mix it well until the oil is coated unto the potatoes.
Cook the potatoes for about 10 minutes in medium high flame. Sauté at regular intervals to avoid browning.
Cook for additional 2 minutes in high flame and sauté regularly to get that roasted feel.
Serve Hot.

Notes

Cooking potatoes is the key activity. Overcooking will make the potatoes mushy when you sauté. Adjust the spice levels according to your taste.

Filter Coffee

noreply@blogger.com (Shabitha Karthikeyan) — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 05:42:00 +0000

Quiet times !!! I always love my quiet times. Job, kids, cooking, cleaning, laundry etc., makes me always think of the next task. Even I'm doing one, I have to plan for the next. So I relax during those silent times. Feeding Jake his favorite food when he is really hungry, cutting vegetables gazing the green grass outside, folding clothes when everyone else is sleeping are some things I love to do. Sipping a strong cup of Filter Coffee on a sunday afternoon can also be added to the list.

I'm not a big fan of coffee, that too in the US I totally stopped drinking it until I tasted this wonderful coffee from costco. It tastes exactly our South Indian filter coffee. More than drinking I love to prepare it for others. When Mom and Dad were here they loved it. If you are a ardent filter coffee fan and do not like the ones in the US you should try the Kirkland's dark supremo roast coffee. Strongly brewed coffee on a rainy day is something I love !!

Preparation Time : 20 min

Serves : 2

Ingredients

Coffee Powder - 2 tbsp
Hot water - 3/4 cup
Sugar - 3 tsp
Milk - 1 cup

Preparation of decoction

Add the coffee powder to the stainless steel filter's top portion and place the perforated stick slightly tight on the top.

Heat the water until it is boiling.

Carefully add the boiling water to the filter.

Leave it aside for about 15 min.

Decoction would be collected in the bottom portion of the filter.

Method for Coffee

Heat the milk.

Add 1 1/2 tsp of sugar to a serving stainless steel tumbler, add milk and mix well.

Slowly add 2 tbsp of the decoction and mix well using another stainless tumbler so that coffee is frothy.

Serve hot.

Notes

The decoction has to be thick for better tasting coffee. So place the stick filter silghtly tight but do not press too hard.

Adjust sugar level according to your taste. Coffee has to be slightly bitter

Coffee has to be served very hot.

Fresh Fruit Salad with Icecream for 2nd Blog Anniversary !!

noreply@blogger.com (Shabitha Karthikeyan) — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 23:45:00 +0000

It's Celebration time !! About 2 years back with full of excitement I started "From My Home Kitchen" and made it like a personal diary and kept it to myself. I had planned to post 50 recipes and show it to MK on his birthday which was yesterday and surprise him. He was thrilled !! I really feel happy when I look back at the last 2 years. I decided to post my favorite dessert on this day which is super fresh needs no cooking and sweating.

This blog means a lot to me.I got so many friends through this blog world, learnt many new dishes and most importantly have something to myself which I'm proud about. I feel good when people ask how do I manage to blog with a full time job and 2 hyperactive kids. Now I know I can really manage my time.Intially I was getting stressed about cooking for the blog, posting regularly and what not. But now I'm more composed and do things only when I can. To me blogging is truly something much more than just a hobby. "From My Home Kitchen" is something very special !!!!

Preparation Time : 10 min

Serves - 2

Ingredients

Apple - 1/2 no
Pear - 1/2 no
Banana - 1 no
Strawberry - 6 no
Red Seedless Grapes - 15 no
Orange - 1 no
Fresh Orange Juice - 2 tbsp
Honey - 1 tbsp
Vanilla Icecream - 2 scoops

Preparation

Wash and pat dry the fruits.

Cut the fruits into bit size pieces.

Method

Place the cut fruits in a bowl and add the orange juice to it.

Drizzle the honey on the fruits and give a slight mix.

Transfer the fruits into serving bowl and place a scoop icecream on top.

Serve immediately.

Notes

You can use any fruits you like for the salad.

I prefer vanilla icecream with my fruit salad try other flavors too.

Strawberry Banana Milkshake | Kids, Adult and Infant Version

noreply@blogger.com (Shabitha Karthikeyan) — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 06:06:00 +0000

Most difficult thing on a holiday is to keep the kids occupied with something. Every now and then Shweets gets bored. When she gets bored automatically she goes to the fridge and looks for something sweet. Mommy I'm hungry is the excuse and our normal food would not suffice that hunger. Something out of the way and colorful has to be made. Ok it's just a kids holiday but I have tons of work to do so I cannot to afford to make something lavish. I need to make something that can be made easily and quickly with what we have. Milkshakes are real saviours in this kind of situation !!!

Milkshake was the easiest item I could of think of and when something is colorful it is approved !!! This is not just with the eldest one, even the 8 month old cannot eat or drink the samething. He loves to try new food and I introduce new fruits and vegetables at regular intervals. He usually has starwberries in the form of flavored yogurt, this time I made milkshake with his infant formula and he loved it. Strawberry Banana Milkshake is something you got to make. It is so good and makes you feel full for a long time !!

Preparation Time - 5 min

Serves - 1 person

Ingredients (Milkshake for Kids and Adults)

Ripe Banana - 1 no
Fresh Strawberry - 5 no
Milk - 1/2 cup
Sugar - 1 tsp
Vanilla essence - 3 to 4 drops

Preparation

Wash the strawberries and pat dry them with a tissue. Hull the strawberries.

Cut the banana into slices.

Method

In a blender jar add the fruits, milk, sugar and vanilla essence and blend well until smooth

Serve chilled in tall glass.

Ingredients (Milkshake for Infants 6 months onwards)

Ripe Banana - 1/2
Fresh Strawberry - 2 no
Infant Formula - 1 scoop
Warm Water - 2 tbsp

Preparation

Wash the strawberries and pat dry them with a tissue. Hull the strawberries.

Cut the banana into slices.

Method

In a blender jar add the fruits, infant formula (milk based powder) and warm water and blend well until smooth

Serve the baby in small amounts with a spoon. Don't forget the bib !!!

Notes

Addition of banana will change the color of the milkshake so serve immediately.

When preparing for infants make sure to blend well so there are no big pieces.

Roasted Ginger Garlic Shrimp

noreply@blogger.com (Shabitha Karthikeyan) — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 04:43:00 +0000

Weekends become quiet when it is raining heavily outside. We just sat inside the house watching some movies and cartoons. We had plans of watching of the Mardi Gras parade but the rain spolied the whole thing. Cooking was on the lighter side as we did not have much choice of vegetables. But sipping a hot cup of coffee with our favorite movies with nothing much to do is also a good thing in a way. We did not cook much so thought of sharing the roasted shrimp we prepared recently.

Sea food lovers would always have a strong liking for shrimp. We are no different. We love shrimp but to me the Indian prawns taste better than the farm fresh Shrimp we get in the US. We always make gravy or semi-liquidish side dish with the shrimp. This time we roasted it garlic and ginger.It tasted so good and I'm surely making it again. We used our electric griddle to roast the shrimp. You can use a pan on stove top too.

Preparation Time - 15 min

Cooking Time - 15 min

Serves : 4 people

Ingredients

Shrimp - 1 lb

Onion - 1 medium Size

Tomato - 1 medium size

Ginger - 1 big piece

Garlic - 6 cloves

Green Chilly - 3 nos

Crushed Pepper - 1 tsp

Curry Leaves

Salt as needed

Oil - 3 tsp

For Marination

Red Chilly Powder - 1 tsp

Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp

Salt - As needed

Preparation

Peel and devein the shrimp or just buy cleaned farm fresh shrimp.

Wash the shrimp with little salt to remove the odor. Pat dry the shrimp with a kitchen towel.

Marinate the shrimp with the red chilly powder, turmeric powder, Salt and keep aside for 15 minutes.

Crush the garlic and keep aside.

Cut the ginger into very thin slices.

Cut the ginger,onions and tomatoes into thin slices.

Split the green chillies into halves.

Method

Heat the electric griddle and spray some oil. If you are using a pan on stove top just add 2 tsps oil.
First add the thinly sliced ginger and crushed garlic and saute until it is soft and not brown in medium flame.
Next add the thin slices of onion, salt and saute until for about a minute. Onion should not become too soft.
Add the green chillies, followed by the sliced tomato and give quick mix.
At this stage add the cleaned shrimp and mix all the ingredients. Saute the ingredients at regular intervals.Add curry leaves and crushed pepper.
When the shrimp turns bright pink and white from its translucent looks, it means it is done. Also the shrimp should be firm when you touch it.
Once it is cooked remove from heat and Serve hot.

Notes

The onions has to be crunchy. Spray extra oil if needed.
Do not overcook the shrimp it has to be taken out the right time else it will become rubbery.

Cooking Guide : Homemade Rasam Powder

noreply@blogger.com (Shabitha Karthikeyan) — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 05:13:00 +0000

Hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine's Day ! For us valentine's day was a special day with the kids. They had parties at school and had fun exchanging cards and gifts. For us the traffic was very bad in the evening and could not do much. Kids all dressed up in red and white, ballons, hearts, cakes, cookies it was fun to watch. Shweets bought home a box full of candies and went on and on about how they celebrated the day. Next we are getting ready for the "Mardi Gras" celebrations special costumes, masks , king cakes, parades. Eagerly waiting to enjoy the day !!

Coming to today's recipe, when it comes to making homemade spice powders, I always rely on my Mom or Mother-in-law. Whenever we go on vacation, we get loads of all the required spice powders and stock them up. Last year Mom was with me for about 6 months and she made this awesome rasam powder for me. My rasam never goes wrong when I add this powder. It is simple to make and comes in handy on those lazy days. Somehow I do not like the store bought ones, may be I'm too used to homemade version. Try this to make some great rasam recipes. Check out my Paruppu Rasam and Tomato Rasam which were made with this powder.

Preparation Time : 20 min

Total Time : 45 min

Ingredients

Coriander seeds - 250 gms
Pepper corns - 50 gms
Cumin Seeds - 50 gms
Dry Red Chilly - 50 gms
Toor Dal - 2 tbsp
Fenugreek seeds - 1/2 tsp
Mustard - 1/2 tsp
Asafoetida - 1/4 tsp

Preparation

Measure the ingredients and keep it ready.

Clean and dry out the mixer jar.

Clean and dry out a air tight container to store the rasam powder

Method

Carefully dry roast coriander seeds , pepper corns, cumin seeds, toor dal , dry red chillies, fenugreek, mustard each separately in medium flame until aroma arises.

Combine all ingredients and allow the contents to cool down for 30 min.

Once the ingredients are completely cooled down, grind it along with asafoetida to a coarse powder.

Allow the ground mixture to sit for about 30 min and then transfer to air tight container. You can use this powder to make awesome rasam recipes.

Notes

Take care while dry roasting, if the seeds are burnt it will spoil the taste of the rasam.

Store the rasam powder in clean, dry container. Use dry spoon and it can be used for 6 months are so.

Arisu Paruppu Sadham | Coimbatore Special Dal Rice

noreply@blogger.com (Shabitha Karthikeyan) — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 23:21:00 +0000

Now I know the difference of raising a girl and a boy. My daughter was so calm and composed (atleast until she was 2) but he is so hyperactive and demanding.He cannot sit in one place for more than a minute and needs to be pampered now and then. As now he has started to crawl, life has become more challenging.I always see MK with the vacuum cleaner as shweets cannot sit in one place and eat. It is very cute when I see him crawling and looking for minute things.My brother inlaw even told that he would have dropped something in his previous birth and he is searching it so seriously now. Last week was super fun as we had family visiting and I took two days off. We had Italian, Chinese, American, Thai food in various top restaurants and ofcourse Indian food From my Home Kitchen !!!

Cooking one pot meals is very convenient when Jake is super active. Arisu Paruppu Sadham is a famous dish from Coimbatore. We used to spend our entire summer holidays at our grandmother's place in coimbatore and used to enjoy all these specialities. This is a homey dish with very mild spices which is suitable for kids and it is a great lunch box recipe too. Must try recipe !!!

Preparation Time : 5 min

Cooking Time: 10 min

Serves : 4

Ingredients

Raw Rice - 1 cup
Toor Dal - 1/2 cup
Garlic cloves - 4 no
Onion - 1 no
Tomato - 1 no
Curry leaves
Dry Red Chilly - 3 no
Chilly Powder - 1 tsp
Salt - as needed
Oil - 2 tsp

For Seasoning

Mustard - 1 tsp
Cumin - 3/4 tsp
Cinnamon - 1 stick

Preparation

Wash and soak the rice and dal together for about 15 minutes.

Finely chop the onion, garlic and tomato.

Method

Heat oil in a pressure cooker and add the mustard and allow it to splutter. Add the cumin seeds and cinnamon stick

Add the chopped garlic and once it turns soft add the onion and cook until it is translucent.

Add salt, dry red chillies, curry leaves and saute well.

Add the chopped tomato and cook until it is mushy.

Add the chilly powder and cook in medium flame until raw smell goes away.

Drain the rice and dal mixture and transfer it to the pressure and mix everthing together.

Add 3 1/2 cups of water. Check for salt and pressure cook the rice for 2 whistles in high.

Serve Hot with pappad or spicy potato fry.

Notes

This rice has to be sticky so I always add 3/4 cup water extra for every 1 1/2 cup of rice and dal mix.

Thai Red Curry

noreply@blogger.com (Shabitha Karthikeyan) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 05:14:00 +0000

Holiday season has come to an end and now everything is back to square one.Getting back to routine is one of the most difficult things. That too Monday mornings are so bad, still not out of the weekend mood. Truly miss the holidays and the solid time we got to spend with the kids. You get time to cook different kinds of food during holidays. But now eating the same menu makes us feel even more bored. When we think of eating something different our first choice would be to have Thai food.

Thai Red Curry is an easy to make dish . I won't say this is an authentic recipe but I bet this is a fail proof recipe to impress your guests. Whenever we go the the Whole Foods market we never forget to buy Thai red curry paste and organic coconut milk. These are musts in our grocery list. If you adjust the spice level, kids will love it too. Steaming jasmine rice topped with this spicy curry will tickle your taste buds for sure. If you are bored with your regular dishes gives this a try, you will love this !!!!

Preparation Time : 10 min

Cooking Time: 20 min

Serves : 4

Ingredients

Carrot - 2 no
Eggplant - 1 no
Bell pepper - 2 no
Mushrooms - 6 no
Onion - 1 medium size
Green Chilly - 3 no
Ginger Garlic paste - 1/4 tsp
Thai Red Curry paste - 1 tbsp
Fish sauce - 1 tsp
Coconut milk - 1 can
Salt for taste
Oil - 1 tbsp

Preparation

Clean and chop the vegetables into medium size pieces.

Grind the green chillies into a smooth paste.

Cut the onion length wise.

Method

Heat oil in a pan and add the onion. Cook until it is translucent.

Add the ginger garlic paste, followed by the green chilly paste and saute well.

Add the Thai Red Curry paste and give a quick mix.

Add the chopped vegetables,salt and cook for about 3 min.Vegetables should not be overcooked.

Add the coconut milk and allow it to simmer

Add the fish sauce and give a quick stir. Cook for additional 3 mins

Serve Hot with steaming white rice

Notes

Adjust the spice level according to your taste.

You can add some vegetable broth along with the coconut milk to enhance the taste and increase the quantity.

Vegetables mentioned here are the most suitable for this gravy, you can add zuchinni.

Celebrations : Sakkarai Pongal | Pongal Recipe

noreply@blogger.com (Shabitha Karthikeyan) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 05:23:00 +0000

Wishing all my readers and friends a "Happy Pongal". Everyone have their own childhood memories about our Indian Festivals especially Pongal. It talks about our legacy and holds a very special place in our hearts. Pongal is a South Indian festival celebrated to thank the Sun god for giving us a good harvest. A rice porridge called the "Pongal" is made with the first grain and offered to the Sun god on this day. There are so many varities of pongal, usually the sweet pongal made with jaggery is specially made on this day and it surely gives the festive touch with the aroma of ghee and cardamom.

Normally in India, Pongal is made in earthern pots but nowadays everywhere it is only pressure cooker pongal. Lack of space and time have made us learn some cut shorts, but we should make sure that we pass on the legacy to the next generation as our parents did to us. I'm trying my level best to have Shweets involved in all the celebrations and explain her what all we used when we were kids. She is so full of excitement and loves to hear such stories. With all that being said I will come to recipe for the Sakkarai Pongal I prepared today to celebrate P O N G A L !

Preparation Time : 10 min

Cooking Time: 15 min

Serves : 4

Ingredients

Raw Rice - 1 cup
Moong Dal - 6 tbsp
Jaggery - 1 cup
Cardamom - 5 no
Sugar - 1 pinch
Ghee - 2 tsps
Cashews - 15 no
Raisins - 8 no

Preparation

Dry roast the Moong dal in medium high heat until aroma comes out.

Grind the cardamom seeds with the pinch of sugar into a fine powder.

Fry the cashews and raisins in 1 tsp ghee and keep aside.

Method

Wash and cook the rice and dal together with the remaining 1 tsp ghee. For 1 cup rice add 3 cups water and cook for about 3 whistles.

When the rice is cooking, mix the jaggery with 1 cup water in a heavy bottomed vessel and boil it in medium high heat stirring at regular intervals.

Jaggery should be boiled until it reaches string consistency, that is it should not get dissolved when a drop is added to a cup of water.

Once pressure is released from the cooker, smash the rice and dal mixture, add the jaggery liguid after straining it through a filter to remove impurities.

Mix all the contents well, add the ground cardamom powder, fried cashews and raisins along with the ghee and cook in medium low heat for about 3 mins. Serve Hot.

Notes

Make sure you taste your jaggery before you start some are too sweet so adjust according to your taste.

While cooking rice and dal you can add 2 tbsps of milk to make it more richer.

Karthigai Deepam Special : Sweet Appam

noreply@blogger.com (Shabitha Karthikeyan) — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 18:25:00 +0000

This is a easy to prepare sweet which is specially prepared for Karthigai Deepam "Festival of Lights" in India. Karthigai Deepam occurs on the day when the moon is in conjunction with the constellation Karthigai (Pleiades) and purnima. This constellation appears as a group of six stars in the firmament in the shape of a pendant from the ear. Many legends and lyrical poetry have grown round this star. The six stars are considered in Indian mythology as the six celestial nymphs who reared the six babies in the saravana tank which later were joined together to form the six faced Muruga. He is therefore called Karthikeya, the one brought up by the Karthigai nymphs. Houses and streets are lit up with rows of oil lamps (Deepam) in the evening of the festival day (source:wiki).

I'm not a sweet lover but enjoy the ones prepared from jaggery. I have also had this in my Mom place during our summer vacation not homemade but from a old lady who will bring it our doorsteps. She would prepare it so well and I used to simply love it. I truly miss lighting oil lamps here. I'm planning to prepare a different type of appam for tonight so posted this from my archive the other one will follow soon. Happy Karthigai Deepam to all my readers !!!

Ingredients

Wheat Flour - 1 cup
Rice Flour - 3/4 cup
Jaggery - 1 cup
Grated Coconut - 1/2 cup
Cardamom - 4 no
Sugar 1 pinch
Milk - 1/2 cup
Ghee

Method

Mix the wheat flour and rice in a bowl.

Take jaggery in another bowl and dissolve it in 1/2 cup water and place it on a stove and stir for 2 minutes.

Filter the jaggery into the rice and wheat flour mix. This is done to remove impurities in the jaggery.

Grind the cardamom with the sugar to a coarse powder and add it to the mix.

Add the grated coconut to the mixture.

Add the milk and mix well. Make sure the batter is liquid-ish.

Heat the paniyara kallu, grease it with little ghee and pour the batter into the holes.

After 45 secs or so flip the appams to the other side and cook until appams turns golden brown. Serve Warm.

My Notes

If you do not have the paniyara kallu. Do not use the milk. Let the batter be thick. Make small balls out of the batter and drop it in oil and cook until it turns golden brown.

Chocolate Muffin

noreply@blogger.com (Shabitha Karthikeyan) — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 03:58:00 +0000

It's time for something special. It's my 150th post. Finally I reached that mark. Yay me !!!! I reached 100 in 4 months and the next bunch has taken so much time. My regular readers would know the reason. I wanted to make something special, ofcourse special in my dictionary is surely something chocolatey. But did not have much of a time so ended up making these simple Chocolate Muffins. I always ask myself what is the difference between muffin and a cupcake. Is it just the frosting ?? No Idea need to google it. Muffins are totally my kind of food easy to make, takes less baking time and end result is awesome.

I got home early today and made these for Shweets. She liked it so much that she finished it in jiffy. She also got sweet scoldings from her dada for spilling the crumbs in the entire house. Whenever I saw her she had one in her hand. Did not want to restrict her on the count as I prepared it after a long time. Some kind of chocolate ganache on it would have pepped up the muffin but did not have the patience do it. The muffin as such was so good. Whatelse are you waiting for...Mix, Bake and Gobble.

Preparation Time - 10 min

Baking Time - 20 min

Yields - 12 Standard Size Muffins

Ingredients

All Purpose Flour - 1 3/4 cup
Eggs - 2 nos
Yogurt - 1 cup
Unsalted Butter - 1 stick
Vannila Extract - 2 tsps
Light Brown Sugar - 1 1/4 cups
Baking Soda - 1 tsp
Baking Powder - 1 tsp
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Semisweet Chocolate Bar - 1 no

Preparation

Prepare the muffin trays with muffin liners or vegetable oil spray.

Coarsely chop the semisweet chocolate bars.

Lightly beat the yogurt and keep aside.

Melt butter and allow it to come to room temperature.

Preheat oven to 375 F.

Method

Mix the eggs,butter, yogurt and vannila essence in a medium size bowl.

Mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda,light brown sugar and salt in a large bowl.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix until just incorporated.

Fold in the chopped chocolate bars.

Fill in the prepared muffin tray with 1 scoop of the batter or 2 spoons of batter filling only 3/4.

Bake for about 20 min or until a tooth pick comes out clean.

Notes

As always do not overmix the mixture, overmixing leads to rubbery muffins.

Do not overbake, overbaking leads to dry muffins.

You can fold in some nuts to make a nutty muffin.

Tomato Pickle with lotsa love by Amma !!!

noreply@blogger.com (Shabitha Karthikeyan) — Sun, 14 Aug 2011 22:11:00 +0000

Getting back to work after a long break is something which is very difficult to accept.The luxury of getting up late, having short naps in the afternoon all of it is gone.Jake being a well behaved cutie, I have been able to manage the first week at work. Having my mom with me has been a real boon. She helps with all the stuff and the transition is so far smooth.After she gets back to India, God only knows. Wish I had four hands !!!

First 2 months she was here, it was so hectic we could never think about food. Now that everything is settling down she prepared one of her signature recipe "Tomato pickle". I have never tasted something like this anywhere. It is totally unique.My little sis asked my mom to prepare this for her, when she left for the US. But as my mom did not have time she was not able to prepare it.So this post is dedicated to her as she is having a tough time in India managing for food. This pickle can be used as a sidedish for dosa, idli, chappati or even even mix it with rice and eat. Try this allpurpose pickle. You are going to love this !!!

Preparation Time : 20 min

Cooking Time - 60 min

Yields - 1 Medium size bottle of pickle.

Ingredients

Ripe red tomatoes - 2 lb
Garlic - 3 bulbs
Ginger - 100 gms
Tamarind - lemon size
Asafoetida - 1/2 tsp
Fenugreek seeds - 1 tsp
Mustard - 1 tsp
Red Chilly Powder - 3 tbsp
Salt - as needed
Seasame Oil - 5 - 6 tbsp

Prepartion

Wash, pat dry and grind the tomato into a smooth paste.

Dry roast the fenugreek seeds in medium flame for about 2 min and allow it to cool. Grind it into a fine powder.

Prepare ginger garlic paste with the cloves out of 2 garlic bulbs and the ginger.

Crush the cloves out of the 3rd garlic bulb and keep aside.

Soak the tamarind in hot water and take the juice out of it.

Method

Heat oil in a heavy bottomed kadai, add the mustard and allow it to crackle.

Add the crushed garlic in medium flame and saute until it turns golden brown.

Add the ginger garlic paste and saute until raw smell goes off.

Add the tomato paste and mix well.

Carefully cook in high flame until all the water evapoartes and the mixture turns thick.

When the mixture turns thick and red, reduce flame add the chilly powder, tamarind juice and asafoetida powder.

Once the oil separates add the fenugreek powder and salt and cook for additional 10 mins.

Notes

When pickle is stored in a airtight container in the fridge it stays super good for about a month.

If ineterested you can add a small piece of jaggery while adding the fenugreek powder.

Thanks a ton Jay for the award you had shared with me !!! Check out the super cool award here.

Lowfat Banana Walnut Bread

noreply@blogger.com (Shabitha Karthikeyan) — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 22:29:00 +0000

Lovely weather, lushy green grass, slight drizzle, amma's strong filter coffee and most importantly Jake having a sound sleep, perfect time for writing a post. So this has been another hectic week again. Moving to a new place is no joke. Unpacking and arranging is such a pain. One good thing about moving is we can just do a clean up. Atleast got rid 5 boxes of junk.I'm kind of getting settled in the new place, hunting a good daycare is one of most challenging job.When I want to leave my kid with somewhere I want it to be the best place. After days of research I found a good place. Happy that shweets liked it too.

Coming to the recipe. We were on a road trip to Lasvegas and Shweets was asking something called as "WALL BREAD". I did not understand what it meant and just got her a chocolate muffin in starbucks. When we were back at the hotel room she tried to explain to me and finally understood that she meant the Banana Walnut Bread. So I just promised to prepare once we get back home. With kids you have to keep up your promises else you end up answering their questions every 5 minutes. So ended up making this super moist, yummy banana bread. Unlike my previous versions, I prepared a low fat banana bread. It tasted so good. You got try it !!!!

Preparation Time : 15 min

Baking Time - 45 - 60 min

Yields - 1 9*5*3 Loaf

Ingredients

All Purpose Flour - 2 cups
Baking Soda - 1 tsp
Salt - 1/4 tsp
Egg - 1 no
Sugar - 1 cup
Olive Oil - 1/2 cup
Low fat Yogurt - 2 tbsp
Vannila Extract - 1/2 tsp
Banana - 3 ripe
Walnuts - 1/2 cup + 1/3 cup for the topping

Preparation

Coarsely chop the walnut into medium size pieces.

Mash the banana into a smooth paste.

Preheat the oven to 325 F and place rack in the center of the oven.

Spray nonstick cooking spray into a 9*5*3 loaf pan.

Method

Blend the flour, baking soda, salt and set aside.

In a mixing bowl, mix the eggs, sugar, olive oil and mashed banana.

Add the flour mixture to the egg and banana mixture and mix well.

Add the lowfat yogurt, vanilla extract and give a quick mix.

Gently fold the 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts.

Transfer the batter into the loaf pan.

Top the batter with the remaning 1/3 cup of walnuts.

Bake for about 45 - 60 min or until a tooth pick inserted in the center of the bread comes out clean.

Notes

Try replacing 1 cup of all purpose flour with whole wheat flour and enjoy a fiber rich bread.

Baking time depends upon each oven. Mine took 60 min at 325 F.

Olive oil can be replaced by vegetable or canola oil.

Potato Peas Kurma and a Good News ...

noreply@blogger.com (Shabitha Karthikeyan) — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 03:09:00 +0000

I'll just start with the good news..We were blessed with a baby boy on the 1st of June and shweets has named him as "Jake". Now you all will know the reason for my absence in the blogworld. The last 10 months was really hectic with a vacation to India, project change and location change. Currently I'm being totally pampered by my parents and I'm kind of enjoying the luxury of just eating and sleeping after a very long time. I'm yet to get back to the routine of cooking so thought of posting something from my draft.

I made this Potato Peas Kurma for a potluck and just managed to click few shots. This gravy goes well with all kind of Indian breads and Vegetable pulao. In my potluck group I would always be given a non vegetarian item and this time managed to get a veggie item. So I prepared this gravy and vegetable pulao. I love the addition of peas in gravies and especially this combo is great. This is a simple and easy to make gravy and surely a party winner recipe.

Preparation Time : 10 min

Cooking Time : 15 min

Serves : 4 people

Ingredients

Potato - 2 no

Peas - 1 cup

Onion - 1 no (large size)

Tomato - 2 no

Ginger Garlic paste - 1 1/2 tsp

Green Chilly - 5 no

Coriander powder - 1/2 tsp

Garam Masala - 1/4 tsp

Grated Coconut - 3 tbsp

Cumin - 1/2 tsp

Fennel - 1/2 tsp

Mint leaves - 6 - 8 no

Coriander leaves

For Seasoning

Fennel - 1/2 tsp

Cardamom - 2 no

Cinnamon - 2 no

Cloves - 2 no

Preparation

Boil, peel and cut the potatoes into medium size pieces.

Grind grated coconut,fennel seeds, cumin seeds, green chillies and mint leaves into a smooth paste.

Finely chop the onion and tomatoes.

Method

Heat oil in a kadai, add cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, fennel seeds and cumin seeds in medium flame.

Add the chopped onions and saute until it turns golden brown.

Reduce the flame and add ginger garlic paste and saute well until raw smell is gone.

Add the tomatoes and saute until it is mushy.

Add the coriander powder, garam masala and saute well.

Add the boiled potatoes, peas, salt and mix well with the masala.

Add the ground paste and required water until desired consistency and allow the gravy to boil in medium flame.

Once the oil comes out of the gravy garnish with chopped coriander leaves and serve hot.

Notes

You can add other vegetables and make it as a mixed vegetable kurma.

You can use frozen or raw peas. If using raw peas soak in water for about 6 hours and pressure cook for 1 whistle.

Mango Pickle

noreply@blogger.com (Shabitha Karthikeyan) — Sat, 09 Apr 2011 04:29:00 +0000

When I think of an Indian summer I will surely get reminded of the home made pickles.I'm a hardcore fan of raw mangoes and would love to have them with little salt and chilly powder.Mango lovers would know what I'm talking about. When we buy raw mangoes from the Indian stores we just finish them in a jiffy and would never think of preparing anything with it. This week we made up our mind to make some spicy, tangy pickle to relish with our curd rice. Curd rice and Mango pickle is a heavenly combo mostly noone could say a no.

We thought of making the pickle slightly different from the usual style. The outcome was too good to resist.This is one dish that has been in my "Coming Soon" tab for about 5 months and finally I made it. Homemade pickles are always better than the store bought ones, as we have control over the addition of oil and ofcourse it is preservative free. My mom would always insist on drinking a lot milk while eating mangoes as it will reduce the heat in or body. Anything within limits is not bad so why wait. Cook, Eat and Enjoy !!!

Ingredients

Raw Mango (Large) - 1 no
Garlic Flakes - 4 no
Onion (medium size) - 1
Tomato (medium size) - 1
Red Chilly - 4 no
Chilly Powder - 1/4 tsp
Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp
Mustard - 1 tsp
Gingely Oil - 2 tsp
Salt as per taste

Preparation

Wash and pat dry the mango. Cut it into medium size pieces.

Grind the red chillies into a coarse powder.

Cut the onion and tomato into fine pieces.

Cut the garlic into thin slices.

Method

Heat oil in a pan and add mustard to it. Allow it to splutter.

Add the sliced garlic in low flame and saute until it is golden brown.

Add the onion and saute until they turn translucent.

Add the tomato and saute until they turn mushy.

At this stage add the chilly powder, turmeric powder, ground red chilly powder and salt.

In medium flame saute the ingredients and cook until oil oozes out.

Add the mango pieces and mix them well so that the masala is well coated onto the mangoes.

After about 1 min turn off the heat.

When cooled down transfer to a bottle and refrigerate.

Notes

Adjust the spice level according to your taste.

If used carefully, using a dry spoon etc the pickle can be stored for 1 month or so.

Do not cook for a long period after adding the mangoes.

Greens Stir Fry/ Keerai Poriyal

noreply@blogger.com (Shabitha Karthikeyan) — Sat, 26 Mar 2011 05:37:00 +0000

Green Stir Fry/ Keerai Poriyal is one of my favorite side dish. Simply love it with bland sambar or spicy gravies. We always make it a point to use greens atleast two times a week in the form of kuzhambu, kootu or this yummy poriyal. It is said that greens should not be taken in the night as it might create digestion problems. So weekend lunch would be a great time for this stir fry.

Back in India we used to fresh greens as bunches, it would be a time consuming task to remove the leaves from the stem and clean them.Here in the US we get easily usuable packs, just one wash should be enough.Easier the process the more we tend to use it. So just cook , eat and stay healthy !!!!

Ingredients

Greens - 1 pack or 2 bunches
Garlic flakes - 6 nos
Onion - 1 medium size
Red Chilly - 5 nos
Coconut pieces - 3 nos
Oil - 2 tsp
Salt for taste

For Seasoning

Mustard - 1/2 tsp
Urid Dal - 1/2 tsp
Asafoetida - a pinch
Curry Leaves

Preparation

Wash and chop the greens into small pieces.

Crush the garlic flakes.

Grate the coconut and keep aside.

Method

Heat oil, add mustard and allow it to splutter.

Add the urid dal, followed by asafoetida and red chillies in medium flame.

Add garlic flakes and saute until it turns golden brown.

Saute until onion turns translucent.

Add the greens, salt and mix so that the seasoning is well coated onto the greens.

Allow the greens to cook by occasionally stirring it.

Once the greens is cooked and dry, add the grated coconut and mix well.

Serve Warm with any rice item as a side.

My Notes

Any type of greens can be used for this stir fry.

Sprinkle little water if required for greens to cook.

Make sure the greens are fresh. It surely tastes better

Rava Ladoo

noreply@blogger.com (Shabitha Karthikeyan) — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 22:48:00 +0000

It's been a long long time since I had posted something in the blog. A hectic 6 week India trip, new project and other totally unavoidable situations were the culprits. I should admit, I really missed my blog and felt extremely guilty. There were times when I badly wanted to post something, but did not cook anything new. Now that I have the time, thought of making something sweet and simple.

When I was thinking of various sweets just got reminded of the Rava Ladoo Mom used to prepare. I used to help Mom during festval times...good old times. Never made these in recent times, always stuck to the ones from the famous sweet stall in India. This is one of the most easiest sweet I could think of which can be prepared in a jiffy.

Ingredients

Rava - 1 cup

Sugar - 3/4 cup

Cashews - 15 nos

Raisins - 15 nos

Ghee - 2 tbsp

Milk - 1/2 cup

Cardamom Powder - 1/4 tsp

Preparation

Add 1/2 tsp ghee to a small kadai and roast the cashews until it is golden brown.

In the same kadai roast the raisins for few seconds.

Boil the milk and keep aside.

Method

Add remaning ghee into a medium size, heavy bottomed kadai and roast the rava until aroma rises.

Transfer the roasted rava into a plate and add sugar, cashews, raisins, cardamom powder and mix well.

Add the warm milk to the mixture and make small balls out of it. Make sure each ball has cashew and raisins in it.

Notes

Make sure to continuosly stir the rava else it might burnt.

Carefully add the milk in small amounts, just enough to make the balls.

Also we can completely avoid milk and use heated ghee to make the balls. This increases the shelf life of the Ladoos.