What's Bakin?....

One thing I must agree is that, baking needs a lot of patience.. phew!!!.. 

Off lately I have been using my oven a lot. The lovely dinner platter below was to celebrate the much awaited spring which finally seems to have arrived..Long pending and may be my 100th or so attempt to make these garlic flavored buns. Accompaniments include a hearty and healthy butternut squash soup (oven-roasted) and quinoa-chickpea salad. 

recipe:

For the buns, I followed the below link. I modified the shape to be more like bun rather than a loaf.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyuxwqfaCDE

For the soup, I oven roasted the squash with some olive oil, salt and pepper on top for almost an hour at 350 Fahrenheit. Scraped them and blended into smooth paste and then boiled the liquid with some extra doze of pepper.

For the salad, I chopped some tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, onions and lettuce. Topped these veggies with some boiled chickpea and cooked quinoa..For the dressing , I kept it really simple, with some lemon juice mixed salt and olive oil.

If you try these recipes do let me know how did u like it?... Enjoy

PS : My Little one loved everything .

avrekaalu usli

On one hand in the months of January and February people are trying to cope up with the winter chills, Bangalore-Mysore jana( people) on the other hand are excited for the much awaited avrekaalu season... The moment this season sets in, every other dish on the day's menu will surely have avrekaalu in it. Be it uppitu or rotti for breakfast, usli for lunch and bassaru and ragi mudde for dinner, you name it and you have avrekaalu in it. 

Being a north karnataka resident I wasn't aware of the craze for this bean until I actually got to stay in in the areas of south karnataka. I was lucky enough to get to know the recipe for one of the most liked curries, avrekaalu usli from Shilpa akka, who resides in Madikeri. Their might be many versions of it available on the internet, but the one I tried making is shilpa akka's family recipe, if I may call it so.

I really enjoyed cooking it, and relishing it was even more joyous. Highly recommended recipe, do try it.

Dil Pasand

Baking isn't or rather wasn't my cup of tea until I tried my hands on this sweet treat. I wouldn't be wrong if I associate this dish with 1980's and 90's era of bakery in India. As much as my grey cells remind me , Dil Pasand used to be the king among the display items in local baker's shop. 

As it is rightly named "Dil Pasand/Dil Khush" really is one such delicacy which rejoices ones heart. The tutti fruity and coconut crunchy mixture sandwiched between soft and smooth bread surely melts ur heart and soul with its extraordinary taste... I remember my brother stealing some money out of my piggy bank to get one of these from a nearby confectioner. 

If the picture has left you nostalgic then the best thing to do is to try making this extremely simple baked dish and revitalize your childhood days... The recipe link is below

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSXTBoGiQ18

If you love some crunch on the outer layer too, then, you can try puff pastry sheets instead of regular bread dough.

Enjoy :)

Corn Mayo Sandwich

One of the most simplest breakfast dishes and one of my favorites too. This corn mayo sandwich needs absolutely no cooking or prep time. I would rather call it a simple assembly of mayonnaise, boiled corn and sandwich bread. 

Spread the mixture of mayo and boiled corn in between two slices of bread and toast them light. In the blink of an eye these yum sandwiches will be ready to serve.

This dish makes me travel back in time to Hyderabad GlobalData office where we used to take innumerable breaks and gulp down innumerable corn mayo sandwiches. Cheers to those wonderful days and a big shout out to all folks who enjoyed them with me. 

Uttapam

Well,  I sometimes pity this south indian breakfast delicacy as I never think of preparing it exclusively.. Its only when there is some extra dosa batter left that I put on my apron and finely chop some onions, coriander, chillies (occasionally tomatoes) and convert the mundane dosa into these little treats. 

To make it more interesting you can top it up with grated carrot and serve them with coconut chutney and you will not be disappointed in terms of taste..

Ghee Roast Masala Dosa

Oh what fun it is to make this scrumptious masala dosa plus an extraordinarily great end product is like cherry on the cake... I hail from northern part of Karnataka, where dosa making is no less than rocket science for us.. This might be coz we have different set of breakfast items on the menu.. Whenever we feel like having this delicacy we hop onto a rickshaw go to the Kamath Cafe in the super market and eat it to our heart's content... But slowly and steadily things are changing and more and more people are including this in their daily breakfast menu.

To share my experiences on making Dosa, I have to say, I have been trying and have multiple failed attempts too since years to get a perfect dosa which is crisp on outside and at the same time soft on inside.. Whenever i'am trying out dishes like idli or dosa which requires fermentation, I don't get proper sleep the previous night as I desperately wait to check if the batter has risen or not :P

Luckily as a blessing in disguise I happen to come across this youtube link.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgLGOP7M9qE ( batter and red chutney preperation)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffb_bGipFkw (dosa making and potato masala)

The lady has explained each step right from making the batter, the red chutney, and the potato masala very clearly and precisely. I tried this out and was in all praises from my husband, he said that the dish reminded him of Vidyarthi Bhavana in Bangalore ( i haven't had the chance of going there personally), which is very popular for its dosas. 

A good beginning always has a good ending.. So start off your day with this tasty dish and I'am sure your day is gonna end happily...

P.S : I have substituted oil with ghee for additional taste but you can prefer oil instead...

Summer Special - Hapla and Shandagi

I'am sure many of us would have exclaimed dialogues like Summer is back !!!  God its so hot outside I don't wanna go anywhere until the sun sets!!.

In  the same state of mind, one day, I was recalling my childhood joyous summer days, then, I was reminded of this fun filled and interesting summer activity, which me, my granny and my aunt used to take up in the month of March and April every year. I'am not aware if this is done in other states, but, its called the "Hapla and shandagi hakuvudu" in North Karnataka region. 

Haplas as you see in the picture are the round flat cookie like thing and shandige are the small pebbles like things (bottom leftmost corner). Haplas and shandige comes in wide variety of shapes and sizes. They vary in terms of the basic ingredients used too. The ones in the picture are made of just four basic ingredients rawa (semolina), jeera (cumin seeds), salt and water.

I remember my granny using food color for making colorful haplas. But, I went on to use  natural colors of beetroot for getting the purple (which unfortunately did not turn out the way i thought coz i added just two table spoons) and saffron for yellow color. (You can try out carrot juice for orange color and spinach puree for green).

The best part of this activity would be when my granny used to give the slightly burnt part of the mixture at the bottom of the vessel to eat at the last. I cannot describe the joy of eating it after two to three hours of hard work.

These haplas and shandagis should dry completely in sunlight and then you can use it for more than a year. They are meant to be deep fried in oil, but with the advent of appliances like microwave, frying is oil free ( 45 seconds in microwave would give you crunchy haplas). There would be no person on this earth and under the sun who would not love them. Completely home made and a healthy snack.

This activity has become very rare and is at the verge of extinction. Starting from this year I have decided to make it a yearly affair to keep it running now and future generations to come. I guess involving kids would be a great idea to keep them engaged and make their vacations interesting to some extent. 

Do try this and make the best use of hot summer days.

Bisi Uppinkai / Instant Pickle

One thing to which most of us would agree is that men do not cook often, but, whenever they do they stun us with their final product and the by product (messy kitchen :P). Don't you think so ladies?. Hold that thought and look at the dish in the above pic, isn't it mouth watering?.

This episode of my blog is special because my husband was brave enough to try making this dish and it was BENKI (kannada slang used to describe something which is fantastically superb) when I tasted it. The very next moment I took my gear off my bag and captured this beauty.

Pickling process to me till I ate this uppinkai was a meticulous thing which needed lot of patience and expertise. I remember, back in India my grannies getting ready to prepare pickles at the onset of mango season. These pickles would be stored in those large ceramic pickle jars in which they would stay fresh close to a year. But, unlike the traditional indian pickles, this bisi uppinkai (bisi means hot, uppu means salt and kai means raw) is instant, easy to prepare and can stay fresh up to a month or more. It altogether has a different charm and goes very well with rice, parathas, upma and other indian dishes.

This is mango version of bisi uppinkai. You can try making it with lemon, carrots, beans and many other fruits and vegetables. I highly recommend this dish. Try making it and do post your reviews on your version of bisi bisi uppinkai.

Soya Chunks Curry

Ingredients: (serves 2)

• 250 grams of Soya Chunks (soaked in hot water for 30 minutes)
• 1 Finely chopped onion
• Tomato puree of about two medium sized tomatoes
• Cashew paste of about 10-15 cashews soaked in water for an hour
• Cilantro / coriander
• Two finely chopped chillies
• 3-4 table spoons of oil
• 1 tea spoon Ginger garlic paste
• 1 tea spoon Mustard seeds
• 1 tea spoon Cumin seeds
• 1 tea spoon Coriander powder
• 1 tea spoon Cumin powder
• 1 tea spoon Garam Masala
• Salt

Preparation Steps:

• Squeeze the water out of the soya chunks and keep them aside
• Heat oil in a vessel
• Add cumin seeds and mustard seeds and allow them to crackle
• Add finely chopped green chillies and onions and saute them
• Add the ginger garlic paste and fry well
• Add the tomato puree and cook until oil separates out of the gravy
• Add the cumin and coriander powder and stir well
• Add the soya chunks and cook them in the gravy for a while
• Add the cashew paste and salt according to the taste
• Allow the contents of the vessel to cook well
• Before you take the vessel off the flame, add the garam masala 
• Pour the contents in a serving bowl and garnish it with finely chopped cilantro leaves.

Serve this dish hot with rice or roti.

Soya Chunks Curry

Soya chunks are soya bean flour product. To keep it simple, they are the protein power house. These irregularly shaped chunks are textured vegetable protein which is widely and variedly used. 

On a funnier note, these are supposed to give vegetarians the privilege of tasting meat without actually tasting the real meat (I'am sure most of the non vegetarian folks must be giggling already). To talk more about this dish I would say, the soya chunks have this excellent capability of soaking the juices or the gravy in which they cook, thus making every bite of this dish a tasty one. 

I found this recipe on youtube and thought of trying it. I must say I wasn't disappointed at all. So guys try this dish and treat your tummy with loads of proteins.

Dill Paratha

Ingredients: (makes 4-5 medium sized parathas)

• dill leaves (around one cup)
• 150-200 grams of wheat flour 
• water to knead the dough 
• finely chopped green chillies
• finely chopped garlic (2-3 bulbs)
• one tea spoon of ghee( clarified butter)
• one tea spoon of carom seeds
• salt to taste
• one tea spoon of turmeric powder

Preparation Steps:

• mix all the ingredients mentioned above and make a soft dough
• divide the dough into 4 to 5 small medium sized balls
• flatten these balls and roast them well on a pan. Roast either sides well on medium high flame.
• serve them hot topped with butter and some pickle

Dill Paratha

Dill is also known as sabasige soppu (south karnataka), sabsi (north karnataka), shepu (maharashtra and parts of Mangalore), savaa (UP and northern states of India), soa-kura (Andhra Pradesh), chathakuppa (Kerala) and various others names in rest of India and other countries. Its a herb basically which has very strong and pungent flavour. 

It is one among my favorite leafy vegetables, and if you guys don't believe me, then ask my mom what was the first thing I told her when she asked me what is special about USA?, I said " Amma we get sabsi pallya(Dill leaves) at the farmer's market". 

All I knew about Dill and its usage is that it makes one of the best curries with toovar daal and moong daal, until one of my friend named Shweta Naik Singh (kuku as we address her), introduced me to these wonderful and flavorful parathe. You can savor it with curds (yogurt) or pickle.

The moment I had them, I instantly fell in love with dill leaves all over again. I strongly recommend you all to try making it and post a challenge to kuku, coz she makes one of the best shepu parathas in the whole world. 

Gulbarga eespecial

Ingredients: ( Serves 2 )

• 100 gram green peas(dried)
• one finely chopped onions
• finely chopped cilantro(coriander)
• two medium sized boiled potatoes
• tamarind date chutney
• one table spoon tamarind paste
• two table spoon coriander mint chutney
• one tea spoon chat masala
• one tea spoon garam masala
• one tea spoon coriander powder
• one tea spoon cumin seeds powder
• salt to taste
• 3-4 cups of water for pani
• fresh puri 

Preparation steps:

Pani:

1. take tamarind paste in a bowl
2. add a pinch of chat masala
3. add two table spoons of corainder and mint chutney
4. add water to the contents in the bowl and mix well
5. now add salt according to the taste.

Peas Masala:

1. take the dried peas (soaked in water for minimum of 7-8 hours) in a pressure cooker
2. add salt according to the taste
3. pressure cook the contents for minimum of five whistles

Ragada:

1. mash the potatoes coarsely.
2. add salt according to the taste.
3. add coriander powder, cumin seed powder and garam masala to it and mix well.
4. add some finely chopped onions to it.
5. spread this mixture into a medium sized pan as shown in the picture.
6. allow this mixture to cook on medium low flame and keep adding water in the center as and when u feel the mixture is sticking to the base of the pan.
7. this may or may not require adding of additional salt as we add water to cook it( this step is optional and completely depends on your taste).

The final step is the assembly. If its regular pani puri that interests you then just the peas masala and some finely chopped onions and cilantro goes into puri which then takes a dive into the pani and then the moment it enters your mouth is what I call magical. If its ragada eespecial then you replace the peas masala with ragada. And if its sweet pani puri one can add tamarind date chutney instead of the masalas and dip it in pani.

Do try and you are free to make your own assembly depending on your taste.

Gulbarga eespecial

Gulbarga, a district in northern parts of Karnataka is known for mainly three things Sharanbasaweshwara temple, Khwaja Bande Nawaz Darga, and supermarket chowpati special pani puri. There might be not even a single person in Gulbarga who hasn't visited this small area in the midst of the supermarket, which draws it influence from the famous Mumbai Juhu Chowpati. Even though it isn't the original in terms of its name but the kind of pani puri that the cart vendors serve there is perfectly original. Pani puri's popularity has no bounds and its taste is appreciated by people of all ages. 

Pani puri is also know as gol gappa, pani ke bataashe, gup chup and puchka. As a reader you must be wondering as to how different is the Gulbarga eespecial pani puri from the ones served in other parts of India. Even though the puri's are pretty much the same as others but the filling (masala), which is a ,simple combination of soaked and boiled green peas and finely chopped onions is what makes it mind blogging. 

I personally have tried Mumbai, Bangalore and Hyderabad styles which are equally good but my heart always jumps a beat when it is Gulbarga style. Any mumbaikar might get offended by the statement that I made earlier, as Mumbai is considered to be the Mecca of chats, but needless to say i'am a little biased when it comes to Gulbarga and its pani puris. 

So friends any time you happen to visit Gulbarga, then do not miss the Chowpati pani puri. Also try the ragada filled pani puri , i'am sure you guys will like that too.

Mangalore Buns

Ingredients: ( serves 4 to 5)

• all purpose flour/ maida
• 1 overripe banana
• 2 table spoon curds
• 2 table spoon sugar
• 2 table spoon butter
• a pinch of salt
• vegetable oil for deep frying

Preparation steps:

• Mash the banana into a paste.
• add curds, sugar, butter and salt and mix well.
• add all purpose flour/ maida to make it into a soft dough.
• roll them round into required size. ( similar to puris)
• deep fry them in oil and serve them hot for breakfast with spicy coconut chutney.

Mangalore Buns

These puffed puri like thing are popularly known as Mangalore buns. These amazing buns fall more on sweeter side but go well with spicy coconut chutney. More interestingly, bananas and curds are its main ingredient. These buns are a must try and I rate them 5 stars.

Chow Chow

I'am sure the name of the dish might get some raised eyebrow response, but people from Karnataka and specifically southern part of the state might be very familiar with this name. I had it for the first time when I was in Udupi. The waiter was going on with his list of breakfast specials of that hotel and suddenly this " Chow Chow" caught my attention. Its basically a breakfast combo of khara bhath ( Upma/upittu) and kesari bath ( sheera). As they say, eat breakfast like a king, this dish is indeed the best fit for that saying coz its heavy and rich. So amigos, do try this sometime and I'am sure you will love it.

North Karnataka Special

Happy and excited to share this north Karnataka special platter. Lots of items missing but this combo is close to authentic uttara karnataka everyday lunch. Garlic flavored jowar roti ( jwalada rotti), green chilli chutney( menshikai khara), soya bean curry ( kaalu pallya), groundnut chutney ( shenga hindi/ shenga chutney) and last but not the least spicy daal (khara byali). All these along with a bulb of onion is what every north kannadiga yearns for. I'am not sure if this platter will be able to connect to every one but I would want every other person to try this healthy meal once in lifetime.

Sesame Groundnut Ladoo

Ingredients: ( 4 small ladoos)

• 400 grams roasted peanuts
• 50 grams lightly roasted sesame seeds
• 50-100 grams sugar
• small chunk of Jaggery, soaked and melted in hot water
• Ghee/ clarified butter

Preparation steps:

• Grind the roasted peanuts, sugar and sesame seeds into coarse powder
• Add the molten jaggery into the powder and mix well.
• apply ghee on your palms and prepare ladoos as per required size.
• Coat the surface with sesame seeds for decoration.

Mirchi Ka Salan

Yet another dish which originates from Hyderabad. Mirchi ka salan also known as Mirch ka salan is  basically fried chili peppers cooked in groundnut and sesame gravy (salan). It goes well with chapatis and rice. Its an apt dish to turn any regular meal into a feast.

Sesame Groundnut Ladoo

Sesame groundnut ladoo is one healthy festive treat. Minimal ingredients but there is absolutely no compromise in terms of taste. If anytime you feel you have had enough, then u can stuff them into wheat flour dough and make pancakes( shengada holige/ groundnut sesame obattu).

This delectable delight takes me back to the days when me and my sister (guddu) used to dress up on nag panchami to visit temple, offer milk and these ladoos to nag devata. I can never get those days back but the memories of that time always manages to get a smile on my face.

Happy Nag Panchami everyone.

Sheer Khurma

The end of ramadan marks the beginning of new hopes and festivity for muslims. On the day of Eid, they invite friends and family for a special daawat and have great time. I have fond memories of this festival, the best being the dessert (sheer khurma / surkumba) and the Eidi ( a gift given to guest on Eid). I was a bit of skeptical about their fasting, until I discovered that, its not a mere fast, but a path taken by every muslim individual to develop patience, self control, and thus evolve as a better person.

Sheer Khurma is a dessert made specially on the day of Eid. Its quite a heavy dish in terms of calories. Basically its milk, ghee, sugar, semiya( sevaiyan) and loads of nuts which goes into its preparation, but you are free to add on and improvise it in your own way.

Happy Eid everyone.

Sev Batata Puri

Ingredients:

• Puri
• onion, finely chopped
• tomato, finely chopped
• potato, boiled and mashed
• coriander/ cilantro, finely chopped
• tamarind date chutney
• coriander mind chutney( green chutney)
• sev ( crunchy noodles made of chickpea flour)
• chaat masala
• salt to taste

Preparation steps:

• Place the puri on the plate.
• Add salt and chaat masala as per taste to mashed potato and mix well.
• Fill the puri half way with above mixture.
• Add chopped onions, tomatoes and coriander over the puri
• Add the green chutney over the top.
• Add tamarind date chutney. 
• Garnish this assembly with sev and gulp.

Sev Batata Puri

It would be stupid of me to ask an Indian or in that matter anybody with Indian roots, if they like chaats?. Thats because they LOVE them instead. Its one of the key players of Indian cuisine. More popular as street food, it drive us so crazy that we are ready to skip meals for it. Every chaat tastes heavenly and is unique in its own way. When I think of them, phrases like Bhaiya thoda teekha banayiye ( make it extra spicy, which would be a 20 on a rating of 10 in the USA), bhaiya ek meetha vala dijiye ( give me the one with sweet syrup), bhaiya kachori phod ke ( imposssible for me to describe :P), ek papdi dena bhaiya ( give me a crisp fried flat wafers) cross my mind. Eating it is literally like getting a palate spa done. No better way to rejoice your numb tongue.

Sev batata puri is a simple chaat with batata (potato) and sev (crunchy noodles made of chickpea flour) being the main filling. Puris can be made at home, but at the same time are easily available in grocery stores and are quite decently priced too. In this chaat the assembly of the ingredients requires an effort of just 10-15 minutes, but the result is much more rewarding. So why wait folks, invite some friends and enjoy this chat with some light hearted conversations.

Upma Pesarattu

Ingredients for Upma: 

• 150 grams of semolina / sooji / bombay rava- 1 small cup
• 2 table spoons of vegetable oil
• 1 tea spoon mustard seeds
• 1 tea spoon cumin seeds
• 1 tea spoon urad dal
• 1/2 medium sized onions, chopped
• 2 green chillies, chopped
• 4-5 curry leaves
• finely chopped cilantro/ coriander
• 1 tea spoon lime juice
• 4 cups of water
• salt to taste

Preparation steps ( Upma):

• Slightly roast the semolina and keep aside.
• Add oil in the cooking vessel.
• Add moong dal and roast them until they are golden in color.
• Add mustard seeds and cumin seeds and allow them to crackle.
• Add chopped onions, curry leaves and green chillies and saute.
• Add water and allow it to boil.
• Add salt as per your taste.
• Slowly add in the roasted semolina and mix it well.
• Cover up the vessel with a lid and let it be for 5 minutes.
• Add lime juice on top and garnish it with chopped cilantro.

Ingredients for Pesarattu : ( Serves 2)

• 250 grams of moong dal/ green gram, soaked for minimum of 8 hours
• vegetable oil for roasting pesarattu
• 3 green chillies
• small cube of ginger
• salt to taste

Preparation steps ( Pesarattu) :

• Drain the excess water from the soaked moong dal.
• Grind the moong dal along with the green chillies and ginger into a smooth paste.
• Heat the pan, pour in the batter required for one pesarattu and spread it. 
• Add oil and roast it well on both sides. 
• Put in some upma in the middle, roll it over and you are all set to savor the tasty Upma pesarattu.

Upma Pesarattu

Upma Pesarattu is a delicacy of Andhra Pradesh. Pesarattu is more like a dosa, where moong bean/ green gram is used for the preparation of batter instead of rice and urad dal. The most surprising element of this dish is the upma which is the masala unlike the potato masala in the authentic masala dosa. I'am sure for people who haven't seen or tried this dish before it may sound a bit wacky, but believe you me folks, it indeed is a deadly combo. I too was a bit hesitant to taste it in the beginning, but good that I tried, else i would have missed tasting one of the best breakfast dishes of Andhra. Pesarattu is a much healthier breakfast options as its made of moong dal and since it has upma as the masala it is a heavy breakfast item. So folks cook it and relish it.

Potato Fry

 Ingredients: ( serves 2)

• 2 medium sized potatoes, diced
• 1 table spoon vegetable oil
• 1 tea spoon cumin seeds
• pinch of red chili powder
• salt to taste

Preparation steps:

• Heat vegetable oil in a pan.
• Add cumin seeds and fry.
• Add diced potatoes and fry them by turning them upside down occasionally.
• Use a tooth pick to check if they are soft enough and cooked right
• Add chili powder and salt and toss them.
• You can have it as a snack or with rice and rasam as a side dish.

Potato Fry

At the lunch area of St' Joseph's convent, Gulbarga ( this must probably be a decade ago.) me and two of my friends, Ritu and Meeni used to meet for lunch. I still remember how crazily I used to wait for Ritu to open her lunch box. Each time wanting her box to have this simple aaloo sabzi ( potato fry). Till date I have never had such perfectly cooked aaloo. Her mom undoubtedly was an expert in cooking this dish. I must have had it umpteen times then, but every time it would taste better than the last time. This dish makes me nostalgic for my school days and is one of my favorite dishes.

Chana dal vada / Kadale bele vada

Ingredients : (Serves 2)

• vegetable oil for frying
• 200-250 grams of chana dal, soaked for 2-3 hours and drained
• 2 finely chopped chillies
• 1/4th onion finely chopped
• finely chopped coriander/ cilantro
• pinch of asafoetida
• salt to taste

Preparation steps:

• Heat oil in frying pan.
• Coarsely grind the soaked chana dal.
• Add chopped chillies, coriander and onions to ground chana dal. 
• Add asafoetida.
• Add salt as per your taste and mix the ingredients well.
• Make small patties out of the mixture and fry them golden brown.
• This indian evening snack tastes best with some mint chutney and a cup of chai.

Rajdhani

Rajdhani
18525 Pioneer Blvd, Artesia, CA 90701 · (562) 402-9102


Real treat for vegetarians. The food is at your table served by the people working at the restaurant. I liked the concept of serving for the fact that food wastage is comparatively less. Food served was fresh and tasty. The butter milk (chaanch) was yummy and a real savior in the hot californian weather.

The city of Artesia, also know as little India, is a must visit to experience real India in the United States of America.It seriously is amazing to see innumerable indian restaurants, grocery stores, threading shops, gold jewelry shops, sari shops, sweet shops and every other thing which one would find on Indian streets.


Thaali (puri, roti, papad, onion tomato kachumbar, dhokla, methi pakoda, aalu gobi,rajma, brinjal curry, kadi, rasam)
            

Srikhand (Dessert)

Lemon Rice / chithranna

Ingredients: ( Serves 2 )

• 4 tablespoons vegetable oil
• well cooked rice
• 1/2 medium sized onion, sliced
• 2 chopped green chillies
• 2 chopped garlic cloves
• finely chopped coriander (cilantro)
• 4-5 curry leaves
• half lemon
• 8-9 peanuts
• 1 tea spoon urad dal (white lentil)
• 1 tea spoon mustard seeds
• 1 tea spoon cumin seeds
• pinch of asafoetida
• 1/2 tablespoon turmeric
• salt to taste

Preparation steps:

1. Heat oil in a wide pan.
2. Add urad dal and fry them until they are golden brown.
3. Fry peanuts.
4. Add cumin seeds and mustard seeds and allow them to crackle.
5. Add curry leaves.
6. Add chopped chillies and garlic and fry till they turn golden brown.
7. Add chopped onions and saute.
8. Squeeze in fresh lemon juice.
9. Add salt according to your taste.
10. Add turmeric and asafoetida.
11. Add cooked rice and mix well.
12. Garnish it with chopped cilantro and serve it hot.

Did You Know this?.

Opening Blog

If I go by proper definition, then, food is any substance consumed to provide nutritional support for the body. But is that all? If you ask me, I would say absolutely not !. Food is such a divine thing for me, its a powerful magnet which attracts people of varied culture.

No restaurant can beat Ghar ka Khana (home food) and no gourmet guru can challenge Mother's cooking. Its not mere spices and the masalas that makes the dish, but the love, care and affection with which one cooks makes it more special. That is why home food is so tasty even with minimal ingredients. I have grown up watching my paternal and maternal grandmothers cook for the family. They every time amazed me with their simplistic and efficient cooking methods. Every dish that was served had its own unique story.

From being just a food enthusiast I have come to respect food a lot more now. To keep that spirit of cooking alive, I have started this blog. Going forward I will try to combine two of my passions, Food and Photography to bring out the creative best in me. Hope I do justice to each and every dish of mine.