Curry With One Masala- Palak Soya Bean Curry

It's been gloomy and rainy for the past few days, somehow I don't feel like doing anything when the sun hides into the clouds and the day becomes gloomy.  No matter how tired and lazy I feel, still  have to fulfill few of my basic instincts, like eating.  I can go on with some take away or some snacks to munch on but that's definitely not going to satisfy the nutritional requirements for my body. 

Instant Phirni / Semolina Pudding

Festive season, Get together with friends , dinner party, wedding occasion,  dessert which comes to my mind immediately is Phirni.  After a heavy main course like Biryani or any spicy curries, phirni is something which cools and soothes you.  A traditional phirni is made using ground rice, although it's not that complicated process, I always prefer the instant version using semolina.  Personally I don't see any wide difference between semolina phirni and ground rice phirni in terms of texture and flavour.  Also this Instant version is a solution to quick dessert.

Dahi Vadas ( Baked Version)

In my last post I mentioned that we are just ready for this month challenge in Fried to Favourite and here we are.  This month I made Dahi Vadas for our challenge Fried to Favourite.  We always enjoy Dahi vadas, particularly during Ramdhan, it's a must on Iftar table.

Mutton Ularthiyathu / Mutton Dry Fry

Mutton Ularthiyathu is a traditional recipe from Kerala.  Originally this recipe is made with beef, since we don't take beef much, I made this with mutton.  When it comes to Non-vegetarian, I prefer these dry fry or kebabs compared to curries or kurmas.  You can get the best of this recipe when it's prepared in a clay pot.  The aroma released from the spices while cooking might lead to even some uninvited guests ;-)
Serve this with plain white and any curries or with chapathi's, parathas and appam.

Rajma Masala Rice

In summer although we look out for something cool like ice creams, smoothies or drinks often, still we have to fill our tummy with some food to meet the nutritional requirements for our body.  Since aircondtioning the kitchen is not in reality here, the best way is to keep the cooking simple and quick, at the same time nutritious.

Home made Nannari Sherbet from scratch

It's summer here in India, actually not just summer, it's ssssummmmeeer.  Why I want to stress the summer is, summer isn't much of fun here, although it's summer vacation for kids, it's like visiting friends and family, couldn't enjoy it to the most.  The Sun has started showing the heat at it's peak, couldn't help about it, since we can't fight with nature. Along with this the frequent power cuts which makes it much more worse. Now we could do nothing with nature, either the power cut.  So all we can do is just intake something to reduce the body heat, to avoid all scorching and scratching.

Karuppu Uzunda Vadai/ Black Urad Dhal fritters

If you are a regular read to my blog, you should have read this post about Uzunda Vadai already in my blog. It's a typical South Indian snack made with urad dhal. This is exact the same version of vadai, made with same lentils.  So, now this is the question,what's the difference between these two vadas?  The only difference is,  in this vadai I have used the lentils along with the husk/ skin.  Black Urad dhal by it self is considered to be healthy,when it's used along with the husk/skin  it's considered to be much more healthier.

Jil Jil Jigarthanda

Jil Jil Jigarthanda is a cool drink,known to be originated from Madurai, Tamil Nadu state of India.  Although this is a popular drink in Madurai,  this can be found allover Tamil Nadu. I have also come across different flavours in different places.  Some have a malai taste along with jelly and ice cream.  The common one must be with rose flavour,badam pisin  and ice cream.

Gujias With Paneer and Coconut filling

It's been so colourful this week everywhere, not just in India and in our great blogosphere too.  Oh! Yeah, everybody around here is celebrating Holi,  I don't know much about this festival and we don't celebrate it either, but I don't think there is nothing wrong in getting tempted by the sweets which are specially made for Holi. Although being a food blogger is a real pleasure, sometimes I feel like we do have a few disadvantages, like started craving and tempted by the foods which we see in other blogs  or may be it's just me :( 

Black eye peas gravy

I might have over 400 recipes in my blog, but still I have the question of what to cook today almost everyday. There might be a millions of recipes passing through our mind from television shows, Internet or book,  the questions is about ,do I have these ingredients in my pantry,will this recipe suit my family and above all is it easy to cook and how much time does it take.  It's not possible to spend hours and hours in the kitchen everyday.  On special occasions we might cook different recipes and lots of varieties to please our family, but on daily basis, I'm sure everybody will be looking for something easy to cook and less time consuming.

Palak Paneer

Spinach is one of those super vegetable which has to be included in our everyday diet.  We know that spinach is a rich source of iron,apart from that spinach is also rich in Vitamin C, Vitamin K, magnesium etc.  Including a good amount of spinach in your everyday diet, helps you prevent against certain type of cancer.  It helps builds up your immunity system, Vitamin K - strengthens your bones.  The high amount of Vitamin A- keeps your skin glowing.  When this super vegetable has so much to offer for our body, why don't we include this in our diet and keep our body active and healthy.

Paneer Mutter Masala

Paneer Mutter Masala is again something very special which we would like to order in a restaurant.  Every home cook will have their own version for this gravy with few minor changes.  When it comes to these restaurant special gravies like Butter Chicken, Paneer Makhani etc.

Prawn Theeyal

As a kid I have never enjoyed theeyal, particularly when it's only with shallots or vegetables.  As I always say, now it's the reverse as I grew up.  Now I love theeyal and shallots a lot, I even enjoy raw shallots or pearl onions.  Raw shallots so good for you, in those days when you have rice leftover in home, what they do is wash the rice well and add some more water to the rice and leave it overnight, not in a refrigerator.  The next day morning they drain the water and add fresh water or sometime use the same water.  Mash up the rice well with water, add a few spoons of yogurt, freshly chopped  raw shallots and some green chillies,curry leaves.  You won't believe this gives you unbelievable stamina for the whole day.

Oats and Flaxseed Muthia

Muthia's are traditional Gujarathi snack.   It can be served as a breakfast.  The first ever time I heard about these Muthia's must be in Manjula's Kitchen.   After that in many blogs and TV shows.  A Foodie like me repeatedly comes across a recipe at different occasions what will I do, yes get tempted to try it.  That's what I did, on top of that it's steamed and healthy.

Aatu Kaal Paaya ( Smoked leg of lamb cooked in a spicy sauce )

After removing the skin of goat or lamb, it can be used from head to toe.  Every single part starting from head can be eaten.  Head is used for head curry, even tongue and nose also used, it might bit dodgy if you are a vegetarian. The meat, intenstine, liver, brain everything is used for different preparation.  To be more clear, the blood is also consumed.  Paaya is prepared using the feet of lamb or goat.  When it comes to feet or leg , the skin cannot be peeled completely, so it's left out with a few hairy parts.

Thalassery Chicken Biryani

Although Biryani  is said to be originated from Iran to India through merchants and travellers,  in India it has many different versions. It took it's  own version according to the local region.  Each one has it's unique flavour. Thalassery  Biryani is a popular version from Kerala Cuisine. Thalaserry is a city named in Malabar,Kerala.  This Biryani is very popular in  the whole belt of Malabar region  and hence also known as Malabar Biryani.

Kolhapuri Sukka Chicken

Are you ready for a hot and fiery  dry chicken curry, then this Kolhapuri Sukka Chicken is for you.  Kolhapuri is a city situated in South western part of Maharashtra, India.  I assume that the recipe should be named after the city.  Kolhapuri is a very hot and spicy chicken, being born and brought up in India, I have never used so many different spices  in one dish.

Pav Bhaji - Indian Street Food

It's been a very long time since I posted two recipes in one post.  If I think about that it's quite breathtaking for me now.  I made up my mind to post this as quick as possible, so let's have a few words about the recipe and then hit straight to the recipe.  Pav Bhaji is a well known to be as  Indian street food.  In Marathi Pav means a small  loaf of bread and bhaji means vegetable dish, you can also read some interesting history and origin of this recipe from here.

Nellikai Sadham / Gooseberry Rice

Nellikai is the Tamil name for Amla / Gooseberry.  Amla is generally known to strengthen hair roots and for hair colouring.  Apart from that Amla has numerous nutritional values. Amla is rich in Vitamin C compared to oranges. Amla is also known to control diabetes when consumed regularly.  Read more about Amla from a few source here and here.

Jalebi

There is nothing to beat the combination of warm Jalebi's and Hot samosa chat, why I'm so strong about this combo is, It has lots of memories to bring back for me.  I can still remember those care free days in my college life, when me and my friend used to enjoy this treat almost every other day.  We had a chat shop very close to our campus which offered these amazing jalebi's and chat at a very reasonable price so that students were able to afford for that very easily.  Probably that's one of the best jalebi's I ever had.  After that jalebi experience again the good one was in UK during Ramadhan.