Welcomed our angel....

Hi all...
We welcomed our beautiful angel "Meha" on Nov 4th.Both mommy and baby are doing great.Thanks to all for your thoughts and wishes.

Thanks

Throws for the fall

These two throws i had made/knit for the fall...
First one with two fleece materials(reversible) and the second one is a knitted one.I know, the second one is not exactly a fall color, but i fell in love with this espresso colored yarn, i had to use it..:))

Waiting....

In the mean time of waiting impatiently, i was doing this for the little angel...
a knitted supersoft blankie and a pinky hat....

Thanks

Hey all...
Thanks for this overwhelming support for AFAM.I guess now i can sit, relax and have a baby.Rest as long as i can...:).By the way..i guess some of you thought i already had the baby..nope..i have to wait some more weeks (till nov 8th to be exact)...can't wait...can't sit..can't sleep ....can't cook..but of course CAN EAT ANYTHING!!!.Really really wish you all were living nearby, so i can just come barge(?) into your kitchen and eat whatever i want..:)).

HERE GOES THE LIST FOR FUTURE HOSTESS - AFAM



OCT ' 07 : Mansi Desai from FUN and FOOD
NOV '07 : Chandrika from Akshayapatra
DEC '07 : Latha Narasimhan from The YUM Blog
JAN '08 : Nags from For the cook in Me
FEB '08 : SRA from When my soup came alive
MAR '08 : Raaga from The singing chef
APRIL '08 : Coffee & Vanilla from Coffee & Vanilla
MAY '08 : Dee from Ammalu's Kitchen
JUN '08 : Suganya from Tasty palettes


Please feel free to let me know if anything you want to change in this schedule.If anyone else wants to host a month, please let me know so i can add you.

Last but not least, my heartful thanks to Sandeepa of Bong mom's cookbook for passing this award....






Thanks again to all of you!!!

An Update about AFAM

Hi all,

First Of all, A BIG THANKS to the guest hosts for AFAM who done an excellent job.
I would like to continue this guest hosting pattern for AFAM as i won't be able to host it anytime soon.Please reply to this post whoever is interested in hosting the following monthes.Looking forward to your replies...


For october, i received a mail from Mansi Desai from Fun and Food who is willing to host.Thanks mansi.

Chicken Servai/Salna

This is an excellent side dish for parotta.We call it servai or salna.


Ingredients

Chicken - 1 (whole)
Onion - 2 (chopped)
Green chillies -2
Tomatoes-2 (chopped)
Ginger garlic paste- 2tbsp
Patta/cinnamon - 2
Cardamom - 2
Grambu/cloves - 4
Bay leaves -2
Peanuts - 1/4cup
Coconut- 2tbsp
Redchillies - 3
Perunjeeragam/sounf - 1tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2tsp
Dania powder/coriander powder - 3 tsp
Chilli powder - 1tsp
Mint leaves - 1/4 kattu


Method

Grind coconut,red chillies,sounf,peanuts into a nice paste.In a cooker,heat oil and season cinnamon,cloves,bay leaves,cardamom,1/2tsp sounf and green chillies.Then add chpped onion and fry until golden brown.Add chopped tomatoes to this and fry well.Now add chopped chicken pieces and dania,chilli,turmeric powders.Fry for few minutes and add enough water and salt.Pressure cook it for about 2-3 whistles.Switch off the heat and let the pressure go down.Now open the cooker and swtich on the heat to medium.Finally add the grounded paste and let it boil until raw smell goes.Add chopped mint leaves and cook for another 5 minutes or so.Excellent side dish for parotto ready.

Shrimp/Chemmeen thoran

hi all, this dish i made few weeks back but didn't have energy or time to post it.Now a days started feeling little better, so thought of posting all which was on hold..:)).So here is the first one..

Ingredients

Shrimp - 15- 20 (jumbo)(chopped)
Coconut oil - 2tsp
Mustard seeds -1tsp
Urad dal -1/2tsp
Curry leaves - as needed

Grind to coarse paste

Coconut - 1/2 cup ( shredded)
Small onion - 1
Green chillies - 5
Ginger - 1 inch (chopped fine)
Garlic - 2 pods (Chopped fine)
Turmeric powder -1/4tsp


Method

In a pan heat coconut oil, and splutter mustard seeds, urad dal and curry leaves.Add the grounded paste and fry till raw smell goes.Add shrimp and salt and cook in medium heat until it is cooked well and is very dry.If you are using small shrimps, then no need to chop them.

Back...

Hey....missed all you foodies during this vacation.Still tired and didn't cook much for the past two days.Today got myself up for preparing good yummy fish biryani..let see..how it comes.In the mean time this is what we had on the night we reached here...

Taking a break...

Hey all, taking break from blogging and will be back soon.Till then bye and have fun...

AFAM update

Thanks for all your wishes and support.Yeap..planning to take a relaxing and yet pampering vacation.Can't wait to eat mom's cooking since i missed it so much on my last pregnancy as well..:)).I know the event can take a little break but didn't want to lose the energy that kept AFAM going till now.Thanks for the outpouring support for AFAM.since i got 5 offers for hosting it , i had extended the guest hosting month till septemper.If anyone of you couldn't make it, just let me know..ok

AFAM - MAY hosted by Deepa of Recipes n' more
AFAM - JUNE hosted by Sharmi of Neivedyam
AFAM - JULY hosted by Bee of Jugalbandi
AFAM - AUG hosted by Sigma of Live to Eat
AFAM - SEPT hosted by Swapna of Swad


Thanks to all you once again...

A Request and AFAM - Apple round up

Hi all,
As you can see, my posts are less frequent now days.The good news behind this is that we are expecting our second baby this winter.So right now, suffering from all the wonders(?) of being pregnant...yeap..food aversion,nausea, etcetc..you name it ..i have it.I am not able to enter kitchen at all.All the cooking is done by H and got help from dear friends also.I couldn't participate in this month AFAM 'coz of the same reason.One day i love biryani, another day couldn't stand the smell of garam masala..weird isn't it?.Anyway coming back to the main request.I am heading for two monthes vacation to india.So i would like your help to host AFAM event during this time.Please let me know if you could do it for the monthes of MAY,JUNE and JULY.

Here we go ..the delicious entries for AFAM-Apple

Apple gojju by Ramya of Mane Adige

Apple pakoras by Swapna of Swad of India

Spicy Apple pancakes by Sukanya of Hot and Sweet bowl

Apple Cashew nut cake by Soumya of Foodlovers

Apple Chutney by Viji of Vcuisine

Apple Muffins by Viji of Vcuisine

Apple Carrot chutney by Asha of Aromahope

Applesauce oatmeal raisin cake by Bee of Jugalbandi

Sweet and Sour apple by Deepa of Recipes n' more

Chatpat fruit chat by Sridevi of Sreelu's Tasty Travels

Apple yogurt muffins by Swapna of Susarla's Kitchen

Apple Crumble n' spicy toast by Reena of Spice of Kerala

Apple ginger crescent rolls by Sharmi of Neivedyam

Apple salsa by Sigma of Live To Eat

Caramalised apples with vanilla by Coffee of The Spice cafe

Thanks once again to all of you for these delicious entries...

Mutton Biryani II

This yet another delicious n' mouthwatering mutton biryani recipe which i got from my sweet cousin sis.Was really worth all the work and wait..:)).Do enjoy this dish on a weekend , so that you could have as much as you like and take proper rest...D.
This is my entry for LakshmiK of Veggiecuisine's RCI - Tamilnadu Cuisine

Ingredients

Basmati - 2-3 cups
Mutton - 2lbs
Ginger garlic paste- 2 tbsp
Onion - 1
Small onion - 12-13
Green chillies -8
Tomatoes - 1
Coconut milk - 2 cup (made with 2 cups of water + 2tbsp of Maggie's Coconut milk powder)
Curd / plain yogurt - 2tsp
Lime juice - 1/2tsp
Oil - as needed
Ghee - as needed

Dry fry and powder the following

Cinnamon - 1 inch
Cloves -4
Cardamom - 2
Pepper corns -1/2tsp
Jeera - 1/2tsp
Fenel seeds - 1tsp
Kaskas/Poppy seeds - 1tsMethod
Put 1tsp of oil,1 tsp ghee in a hot pressure cooker.Once the oil+ghee mix hot enough, add biryani leaf,star spice(optional), chopped onions, chopped small onion and green chillies.Fry till onions are slightly browned.Then add gg paste, powdered masala and tomatoes.Fry till tomatoes are almost cooked.Now add the mutton and 1/2 of the coconut milk and curd.Cook it till mutton is 3/4 done (About 4-5 whistles).Now add the remaining coconut milk and washed rice,chilli powder,salt and lime juice.Cook it one medium flame for about 8 min.s or cook it for upto 1 whistle and switch off the heat.Open the pressure cooker only after all pressure is gone.Enjoy this delicious biryani with raita and boiled egg.

Only 2 cups of liquid , in this case coconut milk is required for upto 3 cups of rice, as mutton releases its own juice.Feel free to adjust the amout of liquid as per your measurement.

Carrot rice

Carrot rice, this family fav. variety rice is easy to make.And you can grind and store the powdered masala in large quantity.I use the same masala for mango rice as well.

Ingredients

Carrot - 1 cup (grated)
Rice - 1 cup ( boiled)
Oil - 2tsp
Mustard seeds - 1tsp
Urad dal-1/2tsp
Jeera - 1tsp
Green chilly - 1 (chopped)
Turmeric powder - 1/2tsp
Salt - as needed

Fry and grind

Red chillies - 5
Coriander seeds - 2tsp
Peanuts - 2tbsp


Method

Cook 1 cup of rice separately.In a pan heat oil and fry mustard seeds, urad dal,jeera and finally add green chilly.Now add the grated carrot, turmeric powder and salt.Saute well till carrot is cooked well.Finally add the powdered masala and fry for another 3 min.s.You can adjust the amount of powdered masala according to your spice level.Add this carrot mixture into the cooked rice and mix well using a fork and careful not to mash up the rice.Garnish with coriander leaves.Serve it hot with any pickle or chutney.

AFAM- April

First of all , Thanks to all of you for making AFAM , an event worth waiting for every month.

Apple, is the theme for this month's AFAM.Waiting for, all your unique n' extra delicious entries.

Tomato pacchadi

This simple thakkali/tomato pacchadi is my entry for this month's JFI - Tomatoes hosted by RP
Ingredients

Tomato - 3
Onion - 1
Coconut - 1/4cup
Jeera - 1tsp
Garlic - 1 pod
Curry leaves - a few
Turmeric powder - 1/2tsp
Red chilli powder - 1tsp
Oil -2tsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Urad dal - 1/2tsp

Method

Grind coconut,jeera,garlic and curry leaves into a fine paste.Slice onions and tomatoes.In a pan , heat oil and fry mustard seeds,urad dal and curry leaves.Add sliced onions and fry till they are soft.Now add the grinded coconut paste,red chilli powder,turmeric powder and fry till raw smell goes away.Finally add sliced tomatoes ,salt and saute for a while.Add water if needed.Cook till tomatoes are soft.Serve hot with rice.

AFAM -(March) Pineapple Round up

Here it is...the roundup of delicious recipes by you all.Mind blowing entries...Thanks to all you for participating on this and a warm welcome to all the newcomers.Now if have some extra pineapple left, just check on this page to make good use of it.Feel free to comment on your suggestion for next month's AFAM.

CAKES

Pineapple upside down cake by Deepz of Letzcook

Pineapple coconut mini bundt cakes by Asha of Aromahope

Pineapple wonder by sukhanya of Hot and Sweet bowl

Pineapple Upside-Down Cake by SJ of A Pinch Of Spice

Pecan-Pineapple Upside down cake by Trupti of The Spice who loved me

DESSERTS

Pineapple Flower cups by Sharmi of Neivedhyam

Pineapple with mint sugar by Coffee of My Khazana of Recipes

Broiled pineapple bites by @ of Yum yum mum mum

Pan fried Pineapple by MenuToday

Pineapple basundi by Viji of Vcuisine

Pineaaple Pudding by Maheswari of Beyond The Usual

Pinapple Excotica by Sushma of Sunkiran's Recipe Source

DRINKS

Pina colada by Jyotsna of Curry bazaar

Pineapple wine by Shn of Kitchen Mishmash

Ginger Flavored Roasted Pineapple Sorbet by Sigma of Live to Eat

AUTHENTIC

Pineapple Menaskai by supriya of Spice corner

Pineapple Rasam by Viji of Vcuisine

Pineapple chutney by Sandeepa of Bongmom's cookbook

Pineapple rasam by Jai and Bee of Jugalbandi

SALSAS

Pineapple salsa by Padamja of My Cookbook

Pineapple salsa by Soumya of FoodLovers

Pineapple salsa by Priya of Aahaar vihaar

RICE

Pineapple Fried rice by Roopa of My chow chow bath

JAM

Instant Pineapple Jam by Richa of As Dear As Salt

RAITA

Pineapple Raita by Swapna of Swad of India