Taking a Wee Break....

Hi Friends,

I am taking a small break from blogging. Would be back in the first week of Jan when I get to try some good recipes and post them. All my fellow bloggers, I am missing you all a lot and I am sorry that I am unable to check your posts.

But will be back soon....Adios Amigos...

Supriya

Corn on Cob

One of my favourite appetizers. I learnt this recipe while staying in Scotland. R had made this for me as an winter evening snack. Fell in love with it the same way I had with R :). This one has been in my drafts for a really long time...didn't have an image...so the day I found a boiled corn lying in my fridge recently, I rushed to make this tasty snack.

Ingredients

• 2 Boiled corn cobs
• Rock salt or senda namak
• 1 tsp of chilli powder
• 2 tsp of butter
• 1 slice of lime

Method:

1. In a small bowl mix the chilli powder and rock salt.
2. Take the slice of lime and dip it on the above mixture.
3. Rub the lime coated with mixture on the corn.
4. The corn cob should be well coated with the lime juice and the mixture.
5. Place a 1 tsp of butter and rub the lime again thoroughly.
6. Serve as an appetizer. Works great in winter months when the appetites are raging high.

Enjoy the quick snack...

Happy Diwali

Wishing everyone a very Happy Diwali and a prosperous new year.

My dear fellow blogger friend Sangi, has shared the following award with me.

Thanks Sangi for sharing this sweet award with me. We have a fun meme that I need to share with 6 of my favourite bloggers. The fun meme should be answered with only one word.

The following is my meme:

1. Where is ur cell phone: desk


2. Ur hair: black


3. ur mother: Shalini


4. Ur father: Nityanand


5. Ur fav food: Salads


6. Ur dream last night: Funny


7. Ur fav drink: Milk


8. Ur dream: Cartoonish


9. Wat room u r in: Bedroom


10. Ur hobby: Cooking


11. Ur fear: Loss


12. Where do u want to be in 6 yrs: Settled


13. Where were u last night: Home


14. Where did u grow up: Mumbai


15. Last thing u did: Cooking


16. Ur t.v: Off


17. Ur pets: None


18. Ur friends: Different


19. Ur life: Funny


20. Ur mood: Thoughtless


21. Missing some one: Mom


22. Vehicle: Tata Indica


23. Something u r not wearing: Bindi


24. Ur fav store: Crossword


25. Ur fav colour: Lavender


26. When was the last time u laughed: Hour-ago


27. Last time u cried: Yesterday (after the laughter therapy I had with my friend's daughter)


28. Ur best friend: Husband


29. One place i go over and over: Temples


30. One person who emails me regularly: Consultants


31. Fav place to eat: Urban Tadkas

I would like to share this award with Divya Kudua, Supriya, Shwetha, Curry Leaf, Deesha, and Madhuram.

Dasera Celebrations at Home

I know I am kind of late posting this one...but still wanted to share the simple food that I cooked on the Dasera day and my hubs bubs loved it and complimented with a nice burp...heehee...

Dasera Lunch at my abode

The following was the menu:

• Tomato Raita
• Bataatyachi Bhaji
• Amrakhand
• Jeera Dal
• Rice

Bataatyachi Bhaaji was something that my friend Varsha had made when we went to their abode for the Satyanarayan Pooja. I luved the taste and instantly asked for the recipe. She said it is very simple "Boil the potatoes. Don't make them mushy. Peel and slices the cubes. In a pan, heat some oil, add mustard seeds, curry leaves. Then add the crushed garlic and finely chopped green chillies. Mix well and add the potatoes. Add salt and some sugar. Cook for 5 minutes till the potatoes soak the oil."

Jeera Dal was a tadka of jeera, curry leaves, and asafoetida on the cooked dal and garnished with coriander.

Amrakhand was was brought from the store but loved the taste. The plate was filled with Rice and tomato raita.

Lemon Rice

Rice is one grain that most of the people cannot live without. At my houshold, R is a rice lover whereas I can live without with rice for a few days. Chapatis is what I would go for if given an option. Luckily, Indian cuisine has different variations of rice dishes and some of them are quick and easy to make. Here is one of them.

Lemon Rice

For two people:

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Boiled rice (preferrably Basmati)
• 1 twig of curry leaves
• 2-3 green chillies, chopped, depending on the hotness
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• juice of 1 large-sized lemon
• 1 tsp of mustard seeds
• 1 pinch asafoetida (hing)
• 1 tsp of urad dal or chana dal
• 2 tbsp oil
• some salt
• 1/2 tsp sugar

Method:

1. In a pan, heat the oil. NOTE: This rice dish requires more amount of oil to get the quirky-lemony flavour.
2. Add the mustard seeds. When they crackle, add the curry leaves and the hing. Saute for 2 seconds.
3. Now add the green chillies and urad/chana dal.
4. When the dal turns a bit brown, add the turmeric powder.
5. Now add the boiled rice and mix well.
6. Sprinkle the salt, sugar, lemon juice, and mix well.
7. Heat for 4-5 minutes.
   

Serve hot with pickles, curd, or raitas. We usually take this along while travelling long journeys on trains.

Eggless Chocolate Cake

Think you have had enough of cooking the traditional Indian desserts! Do you yearn for some fun with baking? Here is a simple recipe for a scrumptious Chocolate cake without adding eggs.

Source: OTG recipe book

Eggless Chocolate Cake

Ingredients:

For the cake:

• Refined Flour (Maida) 75 gm
• Baking powder 1-1/2 tsp
• Cocoa powder 1 tbsp
• Soda Bicarbonate 1/2 tsp
• Drinking Chocolate powder 1 tbsp (optional)
• Water 110 ml
• Vanilla Essence 1-2 drops
• Condensed Milk 3/4 tin
• Butter 75 gm

For the cream coating:

• 1 tbsp cream
• 1 tbsp powdered sugar (icing sugar)
• Vanilla Essence 1 drop

NOTE: tsp is teaspoon and tbsp is tablespoon. All the ingredients mentioned above are available in a grocery store.

TIP: For a cake to bake well, it is advisable to adhere to the measurement provided in a recipe.

Method:

1. Grease an 18-cm square tin (mould) with some butter and dust it with some flour. Keep aside.
2. Dry ingredients: Sieve together flour, baking powder, cocoa powder, drinking chocolate, and soda-bi-carbonate thrice and keep aside.
3. TIP: Use a sieve to ensure there are no lumps formed by the dry ingredients. You can place a newspaper page to sieve the dry ingredients.
4. Wet ingredients Mixture 1: Mix water and the vanilla essence and keep aside.
5. Wet ingredients Mixture 2: In a glass bowl, mix the condensed milk and the butter and then beat this mixture continuously in one direction.
6. Add 1 tbsp of the sieved flour mixture into the bowl containing the beaten butter mixture. At the same time add 1 tsp water mixture into the beaten mixture. Mix well. Continue doing the same until the sieved mixture finishes.
7. Slowly pour (Fold) the cake batter into the greased and dusted tin. You can also place the tin on a tray.
8. Bake at 180 degree Celsius for 20-25 minutes.
9. NOTE: If you are using an Oven Toaster Grill (OTG), it is advisable to preheat the oven at 200 degree Celsius for 10 minutes. However if you are using a Micro-oven, the temperature settings may differ.
10. TIP: You can insert a toothpick to check if the cake is baked properly. If the toothpick comes out clean without any crumbs, the cake is baked perfectly.
11. Cool on wire rack for 10 minutes.
    

While the cake cools, add the cream and icing sugar in a small bowl and beat well in one direction. When the cake cools, apply this mixture using a spoon/food brush. The cake should be coated well with the mixture.

Enjoy this as a dessert. Also proves to be a delectable accompaniment with a cup of hot coffee! I also came across some more eggless Chocolate cake recipes. Visit the following links:

• http://www.egglesscooking.com/2008/08/25/eggless-chocolate-cake/
• http://priyaeasyntastyrecipes.blogspot.com/2009/03/eggless-chocolate-pear-cake.html

My Second Award

Thanks my dear blogger friend Sangeeta Subhash (from http://kothiyavunu.blogspot.com/ ) for sharing the Kreative Blogger award. This award is well cherished both on my space and my heart. Thanks a million, billion, and trillion...Sangeeta has a wonderful blog that I visit very often.

Cheesy Bread with Tomato Salsa

Bruschetta is an Italian bread delicacy made with French or Italian baguette slices and topped with tomato, onion, pesto, and cheese (optional). Okay, to tell the truth, I was longing this delicacy for an ages. I could have just barged into a restaurant that served this delicacy, but something or the other came up and I missed doing this bon appetite task.

On an eventful Sunday afternoon, I terribly started missing this bread delicacy (note after I had my lunch). The feeling was worse, palpitations,hunger pangs, halucinations of the Bruschetta near me...okay couldn't take it more...had to do something....and to add to it R was nowwhere close to going out for dinner. He also was not in a mood to even venture out of house. So i just sufficed myself with the White bread slices, Cheese slices, and topped it with onion, tomato, garlic mixture. Here is the substitute for an Italian Bruschetta. I named it the Cheesy Bread with Tomato Salsa where the ingredients have completely changed and I had to make up with what I had (A true Mumbaite...aye!).

Here is the recipe for 4 slices:

Cheesy Bread With Tomato Salsa

Ingredients:

• 4 White bread pieces
• 4 Cheese slices
• 1 medium-sized onion
• 1 medium-sized tomato
• 1 tsp of garlic crushed
• some freshly chopped coriander
• 1/4 tsp dry oregano
• some salt

Cheesy Bread with Tomato Salsa

Method:

For the topping:

1. In a bowl, add the onions, tomatoes, and garlic.
2. Add some olive oil (optional).
3. Add the coriander, oregano, salt, and mix well.
4. Keep this mixture aside for 5-10 minutes.

For the Bread:

1. Preheat the oven for 10 minutes at 200 degree Celcius.
2. On the baking tray, lay the breads.
3. Lay the cheese slices on the breads and then top it with the topping mixture.
4. Grill the bread slices for 5-7 minutes. I used my OTG at 180 degree C.

Serve warm with chutnies or ketchup...

Aloo Baingan Lazzatdaar

I have been adding peanut powder and ajwain (caraway seeds) to most of the dishes that I am preparing. Addition of peanut powder or ajwain is not so common in Kerala cuisines. However, I feel that peanut powder or ajwain gives a different flavour to the curry or a side dish and if you add both in a veggie, the flavour is wonderful and aromatic.

Aloo Baingan Lazzatdaar (Potatoes and Aubergines with Caraway seeds)

For four servings:

Ingredients:

• Potatoes medium-sized, peeled and sliced in wedges
• Green aubergines (brinjals), sliced in long pieces
• 1/4 tsp Ajwain (Caraway seeds)
• 1 tsp peanut powder
• 1 tsp chilli powder
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• some salt and sugar (optional) for taste

Method:

1. In a deep-bottomed, heat some oil and add the caraway seeds.
2. When the aroma emits, add the potatoes. Saute for 2 mins.
3. Now add the aubergines. Mix well.
4. Add the peanut powder, chilli, turmeric, salt, sugar (optional)
5. Cook till the vegetables let out the oil and appear a bit roasted.

Aloo Baingan Lazzatdaar (Potatoes and Aubergines with Caraway seeds)

Serve along with rotis or chapatis. A raita also adds to the zing.