Strawberry cake

Can a host be late for the party? No way!!! Well, technically, I am not late....I still have an hour before the deadline. What am I talking about??? Read on to find out!!!
Indira's strawberry-oats cake has been on my mind since I saw it because I love strawberries. But ever since I saw her cake, those little boxes of strawberries that are sold here did a disappearing act. I didn't find a single box of strawberries. Today, as luck would have it, I found that strawberries had made a comeback, and proceeded to buy two boxes. However, these strawberries are not as sweet or as juicy as the ones that were available earlier. These are larger, more sour than sweet, and a darker red. But hey, I am not complaining.
I followed her recipe almost exactly. The only thing I did differently is omit the lime juice as the strawberries themselves were tart. I also substituted walnuts for pecans. I then proceeded to make the cake entirely in the microwave.
I preheated the microwave for 8 minutes, to 175 degrees centigrade and then baked the cake for 45 minutes at 175 degrees. At this point, the sides of the cake and the top browned beautifully and looked perfectly done, but when I checked the middle, there was still a lot of batter left. So, in went the cake, on microwave high for another 3 minutes. This gave me the result that I wanted.
Take a look at the cake.....

It tastes as good as it looks....and I love biting into bits of strawberry while eating the cake.

This is my entry to MEC-Celebrating bloggers, an event started by Srivalli, which is being hosted here this month.

Restaurant style gobi manchurian

Whether you call it Gobi manjoori or gopi manjurien, this is one dish that you'll be hard put to find in an authentic Chinese restaurant. In fact, I clearly remember the patronizing look that a waiter gave me at one of the popular Chinese restaurants here when I asked if they had this dish. He then went on to tell me that they only serve "authentic" Chinese food.
So, how did this Indo-Chinese fusion food that is unique to India originate? A google search yields several viewpoints on how this dish came into being. One site, though, hits the nail on the head when it says that this is one dish that is not South Indian, not North Indian and most certainly not Chinese. Be that as it may, there is no doubt about the popularity of this dish.
I usually follow Meena's recipe that I've talked about in this post, but when I saw a different way of making it in a recent TV show, I just had to try it out.

What you need:
Cauliflower - cut into small florets, 1 cup
Cabbage - 1/2 cup, shredded into long pieces
Onion - 1, chopped
Ginger - a small piece
Garlic - 4-5 cloves
Green chilli - 2 (adjust to taste)
Spring onions - a few, chopped (chop the leaves as well)
All purpose flour - 3/4 cup (I may have used a little more 'coz I just kept adding flour until I felt the consistency was right. So use your judgement)
Rice flour - 1/2 cup
Salt
Soya sauce - 3 tbsp (use more if the batter is too dry)
Red chilli sauce - to taste
Oil - for deep frying

Grind the ginger, garlic and chillies into a smooth paste.
Take the cabbage, cauliflower, spring onions and onions in a large, wide mouthed bowl. Add the ground paste to this. Add salt and let it rest for a few minutes. Now add the sauces and mix well. Add the flours little by little, mixing well until the flour is just moistened. The dough should not be very smooth like chapati dough.....it should be more like the batter that you make for pakodas. You will not need to add any water as the salted vegetables would have released some water and the sauces will also help to bind the flour. Keep this covered until you are ready to make manchurian.
Remember, the longer you let the mixture stand, the more pronounced the flavours will be and the tastier the manchurian. However, if you live in a very hot place, let it stand for an hour or two and then if needed, refrigerate until you are ready to make it.

To make manchurian:
Heat oil in a kadai. Take small portions of the batter and deep fry it in oil until well browned on both sides.
Garnish with spring onion leaves before serving.


Note :
It is very important that the flour should only just be well moistened.....it should not be watery. The vegetables will give out water while the batter rests and this will make it just the right consistency before frying.
While deep frying, keep the flame low so that both the inside and outside are evenly cooked.
This mixture can be refrigerated for up to two days.

Microwave chocolate cake for MEC-Celebrating bloggers

Ever since I saw this eggless chocolate cake on Sowmya's blog,it has been on my must-make list. Finally, MEC-Celebrating bloggers which is being hosted here this month gave me just the nudge that I needed to get into baking mode. I made a few minor changes to Sowmya's recipe. The cake is moist, soft and really,really good. It fills the house with the wonderful aroma of warm cinnamon and oh...... did I tell you just how easy and quick it is to make????

What you need:
All purpose flour - 1 cup
Oil - 1/2 cup
Sugar - 3/4 cup
Dried fruits and nuts - 1 cup (I used almond,cashew,raisins,and candied fruits)
Milk - 1.5 cups
Overripe bananas - 2
Cocoa powder - 3 heaped tsps
Cinnamon powder - 1/4 tsp
Baking powder - 1/4 tsp
Chopped walnuts - a handful

Soak the dry fruits and nuts in hot milk for 30 minutes. Grind this in a blender till smooth. Add the bananas, oil and sugar and blend again.
Transfer this mixture to a large bowl. Add baking powder and cocoa. Mix well. Add the flour little by little and beat until well mixed. Mix in the chopped walnuts.
Pour this into a greased microwave safe bowl and microwave on high for 6 minutes. Timing will vary depending on the wattage of your microwave. So keep checking to make sure it doesn't get burned.
Let it rest for a minute in the microwave. Let it cool completely. Ease it out of the bowl, slice and dig in!!!

Reminder : Do send in you entries for MEC-Celebrating bloggers before the 31st of this month.

This is my entry to MEC-Celebrating bloggers, an event started by Srivalli and hosted by me this month.

Aapam

Aapam is a popular breakfast dish in Kerala and is served with coconut milk and sugar or with a spicy curry like kadala curry or ishtu.
For those who are not familiar with it, aapam is made of fermented rice+dal batter. It is made in a special pan called an aapachatti. An aapachatti or aapam pan is a shallow round pan with a handle on either side. It usually comes with a lid. If you don't have an aapachatti, use a thick bottomed small kadai and a lid that will cover it completely. Cast iron pans were once common but these have now been almost completely replaced by non-stick pans which make things a lot easier.

What you need:
Raw rice - 1 cup
Parboiled rice - 1 cup
Coconut water - from 1 medium sized coconut
Urad dal - a handful
Fenugreek seeds - 1 tsp
Salt - to taste

Wash the rice and dal well and then soak it along with the fenugreek seeds for 6-8 hours in plenty of water. Drain the water. Add coconut water and salt and grind to a smooth batter. Let it ferment overnight.

To make aapam
If you are using a cast iron pan/kadai, grease it with some oil.
Pour a ladleful of batter in the centre of the pan and then, holding the handles on either side of the pan, swirl the batter around so that it spreads into a circle that is thick and spongy in the middle and thin at the edges. Lower the flame. Cover it with the lid and let it cook until the edges start leaving the sides of the pan and become slightly brown.
Slowly ease the aapam out of the pan.
Serve hot with kadala curry.

Note :
Some people use yeast/toddy and coconut milk instead of coconut water. I find that coconut water gives me the best results and the aapam smells much better.
Leftover rice, if you have any, can be added while grinding the batter for softer aapams.

This is my entry to JFI-Breakfast which is being hosted by Suma for Indira and to Priya's Pancakes event.

Microwave carrot halwa

A few days back, my daughter(the little girl referred to as LG in my other blog) and her friend were playing, when this conversation started.
Friend : Do you eat chicken?
LG : No, I don't
Friend : We don't eat chicken 'coz we are brahmins
Lg : Repeats what the friend said
I was left speechless.
A small,innocent conversation between a four year old and a five year old left me wondering if the divide that religion creates in our minds will ever be bridged.
The LG has no idea what a Brahmin is or for that matter what a Hindu, a Christian or a Muslim is. To her, a temple is a place where the respective God is prayed to and a Church is a temple where people pray to Jesus.
The conversation that got me thinking deeply was promptly forgotten by the two kids as soon as the microwave beeped, signaling that LG's favourite carrot halwa was ready.


What you need:
Grated carrot - 3 cups
Sugar - 1 cup
Milk - 1 cup
Ghee - 2-3 tsps
Almonds - 1/4 cup, thinly sliced
Raisins - 1/4 cup (soaked for a few minutes in water, to plump them up)

Take the grated carrots, sugar and milk in a large, microwaveable dish. Smooth the carrots down with a spatula to make sure that it is completely immersed in the milk. Heat on microwave high for 12 minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients. Stir well and heat for another fifteen minutes on high, stirring the halwa every five minutes to ensure even browning.
Tastes delicious eaten hot off the oven or cold.

Kadala (Chickpeas) curry

Kadala curry is one of my favourite breakfast accompaniments. Hot, steamed puttu or lacy aapam served with some spicy kadala curry is my idea of a perfect breakfast. Despite the fact that both my husband and mother tell me in no uncertain terms that puttu tastes like mud, they are quite fond of kadala curry. Kadala curry is nothing but brown chickpeas cooked and then simmered in a gravy of spices, onions, tomatoes and coconut.

What you need:
Brown chickpeas - 1 cup, soaked overnight and cooked
Onion - 1 large, chopped into large chunks or a handful of shallots, peeled
Tomato - 3, juicy ripe ones, chopped into big pieces
Ginger - a small piece
Red chilli - 3 (adjust to taste)
Corriander seeds - 1 tbsp
Cardamom - 3 pods
Grated fresh coconut - 1/4 cup.
Coconut oil - 4 or 5 tsp
Salt
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

Heat oil in a pan. Fry the red chillies, cardamom and corriander seeds. When they are nicely browned, add in the ginger and chopped onions and fry until translucent. Now add the grated coconut and heat till it turns reddish brown. Stir in the chopped tomatoes and fry until they soften. Once this cools, add salt and grind to a smooth paste adding water as needed.
Heat a tsp of oil in the pan. Add a tsp of mustard seeds and a handful of curry leaves. Once the seeds pop, transfer the ground mixture back to the pan, add the cooked chickpeas(along with the water in which it was cooked) and some turmeric powder and let it boil for about 8-10 minutes.

I like the curry to be slightly thick, which is why I boil it for so long. Most people make it quite watery and if that's how you prefer it, just heat it for a few minutes so that the chickpeas absorb the flavour of the spices and then serve.

Do remember to send me your entries for MEC-Celebrating bloggers before the 31st of the month.

Adai (savoury lentil crepe)

A typical South Indian dish, almost every household has its own recipe for adai. This is a very forgiving recipe in the sense that if you don't have any of the ingredients, you can leave it out and still come up with a decent adai. Once my aunt omitted rice and made this with just pulses and it still tasted great.
Any lentil that you like can be added to it.

What you need:
Parboiled rice - 1 cup
A handful each of:
Chana dal
Urad dal
Moong dal(whole or in the absence of it, broken)
Tuar dal
Masoor dal
Whole kabuli chana/brown chana
Black eyed beans
Cilantro stalk
Curry leaves
A tsp each of:
Fenugreek seeds
Cumin seeds
Whole black pepper (adjust to taste)

Red chillies - a few, according to your spice tolerance
Asafoetida - a marble sized piece (a heaped tsp if you are using the powder)

Soak all the ingredients except the asafoetida, corriander and curry leaves in plenty of water for 5-6 hours. If you are not using whole chana and black eyed beans, about 3-4 hours of soaking will do.
Drain the water. Add salt, asafoetida, corriander stalk and curry leaves. Grind together to a coarse paste adding water as required. The batter should be slightly thicker than regular dosa batter.
Set this aside for about 8 hours (takes much less time in hotter places) to ferment.
While it can be made without fermenting,it tastes better when fermented.

Heat a dosa griddle. Stir the batter well and pour a ladleful on the griddle. Spread into a circle. Drizzle some oil over it and cook both sides until brown and crisp.


Serving suggestions:
This can be paired with Avial, Karuveppila thogayal, tangy tomato chutney, or shallot(ulli) sambar.

This is my entry to My Legume Love Affair hosted for Susan of The Well Seasoned Cook by Superchef at Mirch Masala.

Announcing MEC - Celebrating bloggers

Some time back, I wrote a post asking people what made them blog? The reasons, as some blogger friends commented, ranged from sheer love for blogging to the happiness that comments bring. Whatever the reason maybe, the one common thread that ran through all the comments is the dedication of the bloggers and their absolute love for connecting with like minded people through their weblog.
We bloggers deserve a pat on the back for managing home, career, kids and still finding time to blog about the food that we put on our family's table and umpteen other things.
What does all this have to do with MEC- The microwave easy cooking event conceptualized by Srivalli and hosted by me this month? Well, we are going to celebrate our fellow bloggers this month. There's no better way to do it than by cooking something from their blogs and telling them how much we love it.
Here's what you have to do - Choose a vegetarian recipe from another blog. It could be something that the other blogger has made using the stove top or microwave. Adapt it so that it can be cooked completely in the microwave. Cook, click and post.

The rules are pretty simple:
1. Cook anything from another blog and write about it on your blog between now and March 31st. Please stick to vegetarian recipes (no eggs).
2. Remember, the entire cooking must be done in the microwave, though a blender/food processor can be used for grinding.
3. Please link back to this announcement and also to Srivalli's event link.
4. I will accept older entries as long as you repost and link back to this announcement and to Valli's rules.
5. Multiple entries are welcome.
6. Don't let not having a blog stop you from participating. E-mail your recipe to me with a photo and I'll include it in the round-up.
7. Send in your entries, with your name, recipe URL and picture of the dish (300x300) to luvgoodfood@gmail.com
Please mention MEC-Celebrating bloggers in the subject line
8. Feel free to use the logo

Karuveppila thogayal/curry leaf chutney

When I was younger, I was always told that curry leaves are good for my hair and that eating the leaves would give me "karu-karu-nnu"(black-black) hair. Maybe it is just one of those tales that parents invent to make their children eat stuff, but I did believe this with all my heart, and never wasted curry leaves. This reasoning doesn't work with my daughter 'coz she couldn't care less if her hair is black,blue or red....so I resort to grinding the curry leaves with other ingredients and mixing it into different dishes.
In one of my previous posts, I've talked about how my grocery store here gives me a whole lot of curry leaves for free every time I go there to get something and about how I put the leaves to good use by turning them into karuveppila podi.
This time round, I have used it to make thogayal/chutney.


What you need:
Curry leaves - 1 cup
Urad dal - 3 heaped tsp
Oil - 1 tsp
Ginger - a large piece, chopped
Coconut - 1/4 cup
Tamarind - a gooseberry sized ball soaked in just enough water to cover it
Green chilli - 2 or Red chilli - 3
Salt

Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pan. Add the slit green chillies and ginger and fry on low heat for 2-3 minutes. Then add the urad dal and fry till reddish brown. Add the curry leaves. Stir for a few seconds and switch off the heat. Let it stay in the pan for a while as it will wilt further in the heat of the pan. Once it is completely cooled, add the other ingredients and blend together to a coarse paste, adding as little water as you possibly can.
This tastes great when mixed with rice and topped with a dollop of ghee or gingely oil. It can also be served with idli/dosa.

Restaurant review - Tuscana

What??? An Italain joint that serves a variety of pizzas, pasta and freshly baked breads.
Where??? 19, 3rd Street, Wallace Garden, Nungambakkam, Chennai - 34.
Contact : 044-45038008
www.tuscanarestaurants.com

If you love Italian food.....and if you are tired of eating the goo that passes off as pizza at other joints, then this is definitely the right place for you.
Let's start with the ambiance - the place is cheery and bright. It gets very, very crowded on weekends....so do make reservations. I went on Valentines day with no reservation, but we managed to get a table outside (without AC). It was right next to where they baked the pizzas in a fire oven.....so I got to see and smell all the different toppings. The blogger in me wished that I hadn't forgotten to take my camera with me. It would have been infinitely more comfortable if we'd been able to get a table inside where it was much, much cooler, but Iam not complaining.
The food....now where do I start???Let's start with the soup. I ordered Minestrone and expected to be served tomato soup with vegetables in it, as is the norm in most Italian restaurants here. But I was in for a pleasant surprise. This soup actually tasted good. I always compare Minestrone with the one served at Olive Garden in the US (That, to me, is the best minestrone).....and the one served at Tuscana came pretty close.
The garlic bread was warm, soft and just right. It disappeared in almost no time.
For our main course, we had a 12 inch Melanzine pizza which came topped with eggplants,mozarella,cherry tomatoes,pine nuts and garlic. It tasted refreshingly different. The crust was not too thick and the insides were delicately seasoned with Italian seasoning. Unlike the cheese-oozing, greasy pizzas served at other places, this one leaves you satisfied, without being overly heavy on the stomach.
Service is quick, efficient and attentive.
Price - Expect to pay around Rs. 400-450 per person, including a glass of wine.

Will I go there again??? Definitely!!! But the next time round, I am going with reservations, so I can sit in comfort and enjoy the food.

Bhuna this....

A couple of unrelated things have played a part in the putting together of this dish. First, Tata Sky has this irritating channel where the same ad keeps getting repeated over and over again. That's right....there's no program on this channel....it is just one ad that gets repeated for an entire slot of 30-60 minutes. So, one day when I switched on the TV, I got to see this Maggi bhuna masala ad (several times) before I changed channels. I took a fancy to the name bhuna and decided that I too would make bhuna masala minus the unhealthy preservatives and the price-tag. I did no reasearch to see how to "bhuna" something, and so I must warn you right at the outset that this recipe is totally based on a vague recollection that I had of reading somewhere that bhuna means frying in hot oil until all the moisture evaporates. Based on that memory,some onions, tomatoes, ginger, garlic and cardamom got pureed in the mixie. Oil was duly heated and this puree was bhuna-ed(I love saying that).
The other thing that led to this is the fact that the only things I had on hand were cauliflower and some soaked black channa. So these were cooked and added to the bhuna masala with some salt, turmeric powder and a teeny bit of sugar. That's it....no additional masalas.


Here's what you need:
Black chana/chick peas - 1/2 cup, soaked for about 8 hours and then cooked
Cauliflower - a small one, separated into florets and boiled till just soft
Onion - 1 large, chopped into large chunks
Tomato - 3, medium sized, chopped
Green chilli - as per taste
Ginger - a small piece
Garlic - 6-7 pods
Cardamom - 2 pods
Oil - 3 tbsp
Salt

Grind to a smooth mixture all the ingredients except the chana and cauliflower. Heat oil in a kadai. Stir in the ground mixture. Cover and cook, stirring every now and then, until all the moisture evaporates(about 10-15 minutes on low heat) and the oil separates. Then add the cooked chana and cauliflower. Also add salt, some sugar and turmeric powder. Stir well. I added some water at this point and boiled it for another 5 minutes to get a slightly moist gravy, but you can serve this dry. Garnish with some fresh corriander. Enjoy with roti, puri or rice.

Veggie puris, anybody???

All mothers are necessarily inventors. Right from the time a child is born, we take on a new avatar. We invent new ways to put them to sleep, new ways to sleep while they sleep without waking them up(i tell you i can write a book on that), new stories to keep them engrossed, silly songs to make them laugh, devious err...clever methods to sneak those veggies in. One such invention is what I am going to talk about today.
A few days back, I thought of making puris for dinner. The little girl (to see what she is up to, click here) loves puris....and we don't have to go through our usual cycle of threats and tears if puris are on the menu, but she doesn't like eating any side dish with the puri. I started off by taking some atta for the dough and then thought, hey, why not add some ragi to this? And while I was kneading together the ragi and atta, I had another Eureka moment. I decided to add some cooked, pureed carrots and some mashed potatoes to the dough. A little salt, some kashmiri chilli powder and there.....I had a complete guilt-free and tasty meal which the little girl and her friend enjoyed.

What you need:
Ragi flour - 1 cup
Wheat flour - 1 cup
Salt
Red chilli powder (I used kashmiri chilli powder)
Carrot - 3 medium sized, cooked and pureed
Potato - 1 large, cooked, peeled and mashed well
Oil - for deep frying

Mix all the ingredients well. Add water if needed and knead to a smooth, pliable dough. Divide the dough into lemon sized balls. Roll into small, thick, circles and deep fry in hot oil until lightly browned on both sides.
I served this with a simple, tangy tomato chutney. To make this chutney, heat a few spoons of oil in a pan. Chop up some onions and tomatoes into large pieces. Fry some red chillies and then the chopped onions in the oil. When the onions starts to brown, add the tomatoes and fry till mushy. Let it cool. Add some salt and grind till smooth.

This is my entry to JFI-Ragi hosted by Madhuram, Creative Food for Kids hosted at Sara's Corner, and Kid's Delight event hosted by Srivalli.

Indian Cooking Challenge - Moong dal Halwa

Right from the time Valli announced the theme for this month's Indian Cooking Challenge , I was planning to make it.....but I finally got around to it only today....the last day of the challenge. The fact that this is super easy to make helped in getting it ready on time.....and as always, I made some changes that made things even more easy for me.

Here is the recipe that Valli asked us to follow:
What you need:
Split (Yellow) Moong dhal - 1 cup
Ghee - 1/2 cup
Sugar - 3/4 cups to 1 cup (as per required sweetness)
Milk - 1/2 cup (Notes from Lataji - instead of water for the sugar, this gives the khoya added taste, Simran's recipe asked for water)
Cashews/ raisins roasted in ghee for garnish.

Method to Prepare:

Soak 1 cup moong dal overnight. Next morning, grind to a paste.

Heat a heavy Kadai, take initially only 1/2 of the ghee and heat it.

Add the dhal and stir continuously, not allowing lumps to form. This part is very tricky as the dhal cooks really fast, irrespective of the ghee.

Keep the heat at the lowest and keep stirring even after the dhal becomes thick.

Add the rest of the ghee intermittently and cook the dhal until aromatic and the ghee starts oozing out.

Meanwhile mix the sugar with water/ milk in a pan and bring to a boil. Add this slowly to the cooking dhal.

Keep the fire low at all times and break lumps if formed while adding the sugar and water/ milk mix.

Cook until the ghee surfaces.

Garnish with cashews and raisins.

Changes that I made:

I added the milk and sugar to the moong dal while grinding. This helped me save quite some time.
The next time I make this, I would probably add some saffron for colour.
This halwa gets cooked really fast....and it is quite important to keep stirring to avoid ending up with a lumpy mass.

Sugary plantain

I've sternly told myself at the beginning of this year that I will waste less. No, it is not a resolution.....but it is something that I hope I will be able to incorporate as a daily practice.
You see, there's this problem that I have. There is a vegetable market within a stone's throw of where I live, not to mention umpteen supermarkets that stock fresh veggies and fruits. Every time I walk past, something or the other catches my eye and I end up buying it whether I need it or not. End result is that I end up with more veggies and fruits than my three member family needs(can eat) and there's always something that lies in that forgotten corner of the fridge and by the time it sees the light of day, it is quite likely to be (ummm.....now how do I put this nicely???)....inedible!!!
So, starting from now, I am only going to buy what I need and I am going to use it all up before I walk down to the market again.
Now, what has this got to do with plantains, you ask......
Well, I came back from my hometown laden with a whole lot of ripe plantains....most of which I managed to use up. Some of it,however, was in danger of being unceremoniously dumped into the dustbin. Now, we can't have that happening just after deciding that this is going to be No-Waste-Year, can we??? That's when I came up with this idea.
There's no recipe as such.
All that you have to do is take a few overripe plantains. Remove the skin and chop it up into small pieces. Add some sugar. I used three plantains and added about 6 tsp of sugar. How much sugar you use is totally up to you. Mix well. Add some ghee if you'd like to and microwave this on high for 6-8 minutes, stirring it halfway through, until some of the plantain pieces start browning. Let it cool and dig in!!!

By the book

Let's start this new year by showing off our book(s). Which book have you thumbed through so often that it is worn down, but still prized???
No, this is not another event. Aren't there enough of those already in blogosphere? But if you will, please take this up as a tag. If you are a food blogger, I'd appreciate it if you show me your most-loved cookbook. If you are a non-food blogger, tell me which is your favourite book and why. If possible, please upload a picture of the book or a write-up telling me why you like this book so much. Link back to this post of mine and leave me a comment so I can drop by and read your post.
I'll start off by showing you my most-used cookbook. It is......(drumroll please)....

.....Mallika Badrinath's 100 Vegetarian Gravies.
I know it looks really worn down, but it is the very first cookbook that I acquired.
It was passed on to me by my aunt when I was in school and has been my trusted guide ever since. The first time I used it was only after marriage, though I used to thumb through it quite often even before that. The first dish that I cooked using this book as a guide is Rajma masala and since then, I have always thought of Mallika Badrinath as my cooking guru.
I now ask my blogger buddies Sra, Valli, Lavi, Bharathy and Jayasree to show me the book that's closest to their heart - it could be a collection that you've put together from your favourite magazine or a collection of recipes your grandma/ma wrote out for you....in short, something that you treasure. Put it up on your blog and keep this tag going.

How long....

....do you argue a point?
You know you are right....
....but the other person believes (s)he is right
And you both keep saying the same thing over and over
Neither one is able to convince the other.

What would you do?

What makes you blog???

Is it the love of good food?
Is it an urge to write?
Is it the need to connect to other like-minded people?
Is it the ability to form friendships with unknown faces?

For me, it started out as a pastime.....a way to while away my time while playing the role of an "H-4" wife. I still remember how, while my newborn baby was asleep, I, instead of catching up on some much needed sleep, browsed and stumbled on a food blog. One blog led to another and I was caught up in this fascinating world where people talked about the everyday food that they cooked and even put up photos of the dish for the world to see.
I thought to myself that I could do this too....and that's how this blog was born.
Not much thought went into the name or the first recipe that I would share through the world wide web. In the beginning, I used to check the blog several times a day after writing a post.....feeling elated at the comments that people left.
Now, after nearly three and a half years of blogging, I feel that the blog has matured, or rather, that I, as a blogger, have matured.
I no longer write posts just because I have to......I post whenever I want to and only write what is meaningful to me. I no longer enter every event that catches my eye in blogosphere especially because it's humanly impossible to keep up with all the new events that seem to be coming up every day and even more so because I don't feel the need to do that anymore.
At the end of the day, though, my blog is still the one place where I can be myself, where I can connect with the few blogger pals that I've made through the years.
Oh....and I still do check for comments several times a day after writing a post. So, go ahead.....make my day!!!

Diwali Savouries 2 - Omapodi

This diwali treat is very, very addictive. Like a popular ad says, no one can eat just one.......

What you need:
Besan - 3 cups
Rice flour - 1 cup
Water
Salt
Butter
Omam/ajwain - 1/4 cup
Oil - enough to deep fry

Soak omam in just enough water to cover it for 20 minutes. Grind this in a mixie and extract the thick juice. Repeat this process 4-5 times and keep the juice aside.
Sift together the besan and rice flour. Add butter and mix well until you get a crumbly mixture which holds its shape when pressed in your hands. Mix in the omam extract, salt and water if necessary and knead to a smooth dough.
Take a little bit of dough in your murukku maker. The mould/achu to be used is the one with lots of tiny holes. Press directly on to hot oil to make a large, circular shape. When both sides are golden brown, drain excess oil and remove on to absorbent paper.
When cool, store in an airtight container.

This is my second entry to Purva's Diwali Dhamaka.

Diwali savouries 1 - thenkozhal

This Diwali, the little girl tried her hand at lighting sparklers and flower pots, while the mother tried her hand at several savouries and sweets. To read more about how the little girl's Diwali was, click here. To see what I made, scroll down.......

To make thenkozhal, you need:
Rice flour - 3 cups
Urad flour - 1/2 cup
Water
Salt
Sesame seeds - 1 tbsp
Cumin seeds - 1 tbsp
Butter
Oil - enough for deep frying

Bring butter to room temperature. Mix it well with the flours . Start with about a tsp of butter and then add more butter if needed. When enough butter is added, you will have a crumbly mixture that holds its shape when gathered together and pressed with your hands.
Add the rest of the ingredients and mix into a smooth, pliable dough.
You need a murukku press to make thenkozhal. The achu to be used is the one with three holes or five holes. Take a little dough in the press and squeeze out directly into hot oil. Alternately, you can squeeze out a few murukkus on to a newspaper or absorbent paper and then put these into hot oil. Depending on the vessel used and the quantity used, you can fry 4-8 murukkus at a time. When both sides turn golden brown, drain excess oil, and remove on to a kitchen tissue. When completely cooled, store in an airtight container.
This goes to Purva's Diwali Dhamaka.

Hyderabadi cauliflower

Diwali is just around the corner and Chennai streets, as is usual during this time of the year, are teeming with people who are shopping for new clothes, crackers and sweets. It is also the time of year when everyone starting from the watchman to the milkman and the maid stand around after they've done their work, scratch their head and smile sheepishly.......all indications of the fact that they expect you to give them a little "something". The maid asking for some money is understandable but what I don't get is why postmen (it has been ages since I went to the post office or received snail mail) and corporation workers (that's the biggest oxymoron ever........have you ever seen them work???) drop by and expect me to shell out the sums that they ask.
Oh....well.....I suppose that's the way things always are.....there are always little irritants that you have to deal with.
On to food now......
I've said in some of my previous posts that there's a cookery show that I watch every week on Jaya TV. All the recipes shown are very, very doable and turn out really well. The recipe for this curry is from that show and despite the long list of ingredients, once you get started, it is quite easy to make and flavourful.

What you need:
A medium sized cauliflower separated into florets
Oil - 1 tbsp
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Onion - 1 large, ground into a fine paste
Tomato - 3, pureed
Ginger paste - 1 tsp
Thick curd - 1/2 cup
Red chilli powder
Amchur powder - 1/2 tsp
Garam masala - 1 tsp
Cashew - 1/4 cup, ground into a fine paste
Salt

Add salt and boil cauliflower for a few minutes. Drain excess water.
Heat some oil and fry the boiled cauliflower until lightly browned. Arrange this on your serving dish and set aside.

To make the gravy:
Heat some oil. Add cumin seeds. When it sputters, add onion paste and fry well on a low flame. Then add ginger paste and fry for a few minutes. Stir in the tomato puree and fry until the raw smell goes away and most of the moisture evaporates. Add half a cup of thick curd and mix well. Heat on a low flame until oil separates from the gravy. This will take 7-8 minutes. Add red chilli powder, amchur, and garam masala. Add cashew paste. Heat for 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly and taking care to see that it doesn't get burnt. Add salt, and enough water to make a thick gravy. Let it boil for 5-10 minutes until thick. Pour this gravy over the cooked cauliflower. Garnish with corriander or spring onion leaves.

Murukku for Indian Cooking Challenge

The challenge for this month was Murukku. I tried this out within almost a week of coming to know that this was what we were supposed to be making.
As far as the recipe goes, I followed it exactly. The only thing I would do differently next time is use ready made rice flour. I know Valli said making rice flour at home from the scratch would give us a kick.....but me being me, the only kick it give me is a mental kick for not having used ready made flour. I spent ages and ages trying to powder the rice finely and ended up with something that was a little finer than rava.....I didn't have the patience to keep going beyond that. Inspite of that the murukku turned out to be really tasty albeit a little grainy. Oh.....and the original recipe will give you a LOT of murukku. So next time around, maybe I'll halve the recipe.

Here is the recipe:

What you need:

Raw Rice - 4 cups
Urad Dal - 1 cup
Water - app 1/2 cup or more

For Seasoning
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Sesame seeds- 1 tsp
Asafetida/ Hing - 1/2 tsp
Salt to taste
Butter - 75 gms


Wash and drain the rice. Shade dry the Rice for 1/2 hr. Dry roast the Urad dal to light brown. Allow it to cool.
If you are using more quantity, you can get it ground in rice mil, else use your mixie to grind both Rice and Urad dal.

First grind rice into a fine flour, keep it aside. then grind the urad dal to fine powder.

In a wide vessel, take both the flours along with salt. Mix well. Add cumin, Sesame seeds to the flour, mix well.
Mix in the hing to the flour and finally add the butter. Gather everything well and you will get more of a crumbling mixture. Now slowly add water and knead a dough which is little more softer than the puri dough.
Heat a kadai with oil enough to deep fry. Once the oil is hot enough, simmer to low flame.
Take the Muruku Aachu, wash and wipe it clean. Then divide the dough into equal balls. Fill the Muruku maker with the dough. You can either press it directly over the flames or press over a paper and gently slide it down the hot oil. But since the quantity mentioned here is less, you can press it directly over the kadai.
Cook over medium flame, using a slotted spoon, turn it over to other side to ensure both sides turn golden colour. You will know by seeing the colour that its cooked. Remove to a kitchen paper and store it in a air tight container.

Since I packed this away almost as soon as I made it to take to my SIL, I don't have any pics of the murukku. It did look decent.....you'll just have to take my word for it!!!

There's a lot of cooking going on in the household.....but there's been no time for pics or for posts......
We've set up a little golu at home and the little girl and I are busy either going to other houses for vethala pakku or inviting people home for it.
Here's wishing all my readers a wonderful navaratri.

Kozhakattai - food for the Gods

Vigneshwara or Ganapathy as he is more popularly known is the remover of all obstacles. Chathurthi is his special day and people pray to him and offer him several goodies which they then proceed to relish. I am not very big on the fanfare associated with festivals, but I happened to go out the day before Chathurthi and saw the streets so full of people buying clay idols of Ganesha, different kinds of garlands to deck him up in, umbrellas to place on the idol.....and so many other things which I couldn't even fathom a use for. Watching the huge crowds of people thronging the streets, making last minute preparations to please Ganesha, did what nothing else could - it infused the spirit of the festival in me. I actually bought some of those garlands that I saw in the market (something that I've never done before), and then stopped at a store on the way to pick up some rice flour and jaggery - the key ingredients for making kozhakattai.
Now, even though I am not a huge fan of all the ceremonies associated with each festival, the food is something that I always enjoy.
Kozhakattai, in my parents' home is made not only during Chathurthi, but any time my grandma decides that Ganesha has to be propitiated. So, if there is a marriage in the family, a birth, a celebration, admission into a new college, a new job in the offing....well, you get the idea....anytime any one of us embarked on anything new, my grandma would promise the lord a certain number of kozhakattais. Depending on the importance of the new venture, the number would range anywhere from 101 to 1001. When DH and I got married, my mother and grandma made 1001 kozhakattais and distributed it in the neighbourhood.
To make kozhakattai you need:

For the outer cover
Rice flour - 1 cup mixed into a smooth paste with one cup of water
Water - 1.5 cups
Oil - 1 tbsp
Salt - 1/4 tsp

Heat the water and let it come to a rolling boil. Add oil, salt and the rice flour +water mixture. Reduce heat to low and keep stirring until it gets cooked and forms a smooth dough.
Set aside to cool.

For the therattipaal (inner filling)
Fresh grated coconut - 1 cup
Jaggery - 1 cup
Ghee - 1 tsp (optional)

Add a little water to the jaggery and heat until it melts. Add the grated coconut to this and keep stirring until all the moisture evaporates and the mixture starts leaving the sides of the pan. Stir in the ghee and mix well. You can also add some cardamom powder at this point, if you'd like.

To make kozhakattai
Take a small lemon sized ball of the rice flour dough. With your fingers, shape it into a thin, flat circle with a dip in the middle. Spoon some of the filling into this and then close the edges. Do this until you've used up all the dough. Steam for 10 minutes.

Enjoy!!!(Kozhakattai, vadai, chundal and therattipal rolled into small balls -for Ganesha)

Falafel wrap

When I was a child, rain is something that I always looked forward to. For that matter, I still do love rain. Every year, school would reopen on the first of June or the closest working day to that and the start of school always coincided with the onset of the monsoon. Rain in Kerala is the most beautiful thing you can see. The green that the leaves take on after the first rain is so different from the summer green and so much more refreshing.
Making paper boats during the rains was a major pastime and something of an art. Some of my friends used to come up with double-decker and triple-decker boats!!! Jumping in puddles, getting deliberately drenched in the rain - things that were so commonplace to us, these are the little pleasures that the present generation of kids are missing out on. Walking to school in our new uniforms, squeaky new rain-wear shoes and vibrantly coloured umbrellas was so much fun. To this day, I don't think I've bought a black umbrella - yes, I do have one stashed away in the cupboard, but that's for the DH. Give me my pretty flowered umbrella any day.

This falafel wrap was made a few days back on a nice, rainy day here in Chennai. Unfortunately, the rain is gone and the sun is back in all it's "glory".....but the recipe is a keeper.

What you need:

For the falafel (makes about 20 medium sized falafels)

Kabuli channa/ chick peas - 1 cup, soaked in plenty of water overnight
Onion - 1, chopped into large chunks
Green chilli - 2 or 3
Fresh coriander - a handful
Salt
Juice of one lemon
Garlic - 4 cloves
Cumin powder - 1 tsp
Italian seasoning - 1 tsp (optional - I happened to have a packet that I got from Pizza Hut which I didn't want to throw away....so in it went)
Oil - for deep frying
Take all the ingredients except lemon juice in a blender and grind to a coarse paste adding as little water as possible. Add lemon juice to this. Refrigerate for half an hour.
Shape into lemon sized balls. Flatten slightly and deep fry in hot oil. Set this aside.For the tahini sauce :
White sesame seeds - 2 tbsp
Sesame oil - 1/2 tsp
Salt
Thick yogurt - 1 cup
Garlic - 2 pods
Cumin powder - 1 tsp

Take the sesame seeds and sesame oil in a blender. Add a little water and salt and grind to a smooth paste. To this, add the yogurt, cumin powder, garlic and salt. Blend again. If you'd like to,you can squeeze a lemon over this and also add a tsp of olive oil. I didn't.

To make the wrap:Rotis- as many as needed. I made these thicker than normal rotis, because I didn't want it to get soggy with the sauce. Usually, pita bread is used....but that is not available in my part of the world.
Spread some of your favourite veggies on the roti. I used grated carrots, tomatoes, salt, corriander and squeezed some lemon juice over it. Place one or two falafels over it and then pour some tahini over it.
Enjoy!!!

Recipe source : A cookery show that I watch on Jaya TV.What I think of the dish : Definitely a keeper. I love the tahini sauce....so few ingredients and so much flavour. It turned out to be a little watery, though. Next time around, I think I will reduce the amount of yogurt used. I think it would make a great dip for chips as well. The falafel and the tahini make for a great snack and served this way, in a roti, it is a complete meal.

Indian Cooking Challenge - Dhokla

When Valli sent out a mail saying that she has started a new blog called Indian Cooking Challenge and that she'd set out recipes for us to make each month, I was a bit apprehensive 'coz I have great difficulty following instructions to the T - I almost always make little changes to recipes that I come across, but I was definitely interested as this is one great way to learn a variety of new dishes.
The first task that she has set out for us is to make dhoklas. The recipe is an authentic one, lent to Valli by one of her Gujarati friends. I have not made any changes to the recipe that she has on her blog. The blog is a private one....so if you want to view the recipe, mail her or join the Challenge.

The experience
This is a pretty easy-to-do recipe. Inspite of not having made dhoklas before, I was able to turn out pretty decent ones by following the recipe and instructions. I steamed the dhoklas in regular idli plates and then cut each one into four before serving. Next time around, I would add more lemon juice and more chillies to the batter as I felt it could have been a tad spicier. The dhoklas turned out to be soft and spongy......though not as spongy or for lack of a better word, as juicy as the ones that you get at some of the typical chaat places. Any ideas, why???
The green chutney was delicious......I loved it......and plan to make it quite often.

Aval vadam

Ever since I read about "Cooking with Pedatha" on food blogs from around the world, I have been wanting to lay my hands on a copy of this book. So, when I saw a copy in my local library, I wasted no time in borrowing it.
The book is beautifully written....the recipes are listed out with very clear and easy-to-follow instructions. Almost all the ingredients that the different recipes require are easily available in South Indian homes.
I tried out Pedatha's recipe for aval(poha/rice flakes) vadiyalu (vadam/sun dried fritters). Unlike most other vadams, this requires no cooking or stirring. It does take quite some time to roll out the poha into little balls but other than that, the procedure is pretty simple.
With the permission of the authors of "Cooking with Pedatha", here is the recipe for aval vadam.

What you need:
Rice flakes/aval/poha - 500 gms (Use thick variety)
Onions- 3 large, chopped fine
Green chillies - 10, chopped into thin, fine circles
Salt - as required

Soak the poha in plenty of water for 2 - 3 hours. Make sure that you do this in a large bowl as the poha will double in size. Drain the water and squeeze out any excess water from the poha. Add in the other ingredients. Mix well and shape into small balls. Lay it out on a plastic sheet and dry it under the sun. It will take three to four days for it to become completely dry. Once dry, store it in an airtight container.When required, heat some oil and deep fry a handful of these vadams at a time.
(The quantities mentioned are not exactly the same as in the book. These are the quantities that I used. The original recipe also has thinly chopped ladies finger in the list of ingredients)

Also check out my recipe for Ela vadam

Rajma pulao

I HATE SUMMER!!!
There, I said it. Anyone who says sunshine brings happiness hasn't lived through a Chennai summer. There's nothing that I like about these hot and humid days......sweat, dirt, grime, crankiness - this is what I associate with summer. Why is my part of the world so hot and humid when others are flooded with rain? Give me cool rains or a cold winter any day.
I love the mangoes and the jackfruits that grow in summer, but NOT THE HEAT.
That said, here is a recipe for rajma pulao that I saw on a TV show and recreated at home. What I like about this recipe is that it uses none of those spices like cardamom, clove or cinnamon which are usually used in abundance in any kind of pulao.
What you need:
Rajma(Red kidney beans) - 1 cup (soaked in plenty of water for 6-8 hours)
Onion - 1, chopped fine
Tomato - 2, chopped
Green chillies - 2 or 3
Ginger - a small piece, chopped fine
Garlic - a few cloves, chopped
Coconut milk - 1 cup
Rice - 1 cup
Salt - to taste
Chopped cauliflower - 1/2 cup(Finely chopped capsicum can also be added)
Corriander leaves - to garnish
Red chilli powder - to taste

Add salt to rajma and cook it in the water in which you soaked it. Once cooked, drain the water and set it aside.
Add 1 cup of coconut milk and 1.5 cups of water in which the rajma was cooked to the rice. Add a little bit of salt and cook in a pressure cooker for two whistles.
Heat a tsp of oil in a pan. Add some cumin seeds to it. When it sputters, add the green chillies, ginger, and garlic and fry. Then add the onions and saute until pinkish. Stir in the tomatoes and the cauliflower and fry well. Add the cooked rajma and some salt. Heat until all the moisture is absorbed.
Stir in the cooked rice. Mix well. Garnish with corriander leaves.

Will I be making this again???
That's a definite YES!!!
This is a wholesome and tasty pulao which does not require any accompaniment. The rajma water gives the rice a beautiful pinkish brown colour. The kidney beans, coconut milk and chillies combine to give the rice a very different and unique flavour and aroma.

This is my entry to the 13th edition of My Legume Love Affair, and event started by Susan of the Well Seasoned Cook and currently hosted by Sunshine Mom of Tongue Ticklers.

Though this was made on the stove top, it can be easily adapted to be made in the microwave. I would suggest using canned kidney beans if you are going to make it in the microwave. So, off it goes to Ramya who is hosting MEC - Protein rich food.
MEC is an event that attempts to show how easy it is to cook everyday food in the microwave and was started by Srivalli.

Avakkai - super spicy mango pickle

Avvaka has always been something that I've thought of as best left to the expert hands of mothers and grandmothers. That is, until I tried making it myself. Armed with my aunt R's fool proof recipe, I discovered just how easy it is to come up with a pickle that tastes better than any that you can buy at a store.
There is a special variety of mango called avakka manga which is used just to make this pickle. However, you can use any sour,firm, fully matured unripe mango. It has to be cut in a special way.....usually the person who sells these mangoes will cut them for you if you ask....they usually cut it in such a way that the shell surrounding the seed is retained.

Here's the recipe:
Cut mango - 5 cups
Red chilli powder - 1 cup
Turmeric powder - a few heaped teaspoonfuls
Salt - 1 cup
Gingely oil - 1 cup
Mustard powder - 1/4 cup (powder mustard in the small jar of your mixie and use it)

What to do:
Spread the cut mango on a clean white towel. Wash the mangoes before you get them cut, not after. Wipe dry. Rub the part around the shell well and remove the thin layer resembling plastic that you'll be able to see. Not all mango pieces will have this, but most of them do, and it is important to remove this.
Mix all the ingredients together. Stir well. Cover properly and set aside. Stir once a day for the next few days until the oil rises to the top. This usually takes about three to four days. Store in a glass container or a bharani (see first pic). If you are using a bharani, set aside a small quantity of the pickle in a bottle for daily use and then tie the mouth of the bharani with a clean white muslin cloth and close it.
Following this recipe exactly will give you a super hot and spicy pickle which is best enjoyed with curd rice. If you cannot tolerate high spice levels, modify the amount of red chilli powder used.This is my entry to Srivalli's Mango Mela.

Three years of blogging

I have learned that moving from one home to another is easy compared to the work involved in getting basic services shifted to the new apartment. It has taken me a little over a month to get my phone and broadband shifted to the new address. So now you know my break was not intentional. I have learned that if BSNL promises you that something will be done in two working days....they mean...well, they just don't mean it. Also, if your cooking gas company promises you that shifting your gas connection is a "five minute process, madam".......remember that it means you'll probably have only five minutes in a day to actually sit down and put your foot up....what with running around to get vouchers signed, addresses proved and identity established.
That said, Iam back.....I finally have my broadband up and running.....will be back to posting recipes soon.
My third bloggiversary went by without so much as a post from me, thanks to BSNL. When I started blogging, I never thought I'd be interested in it for so long. I still remember how I stumbled on to some food blogs and thought, Hey....I should do this too. That's it......there was no thinking twice....I started typing in a recipe....and that's how this blog was born. To use an age old cliche, three years have gone by really fast and I look forward to making lots of blog friends in my fourth year.

Rediscovered pleasures

Eating a moovandan mambazham (a variety of mango that grows abundantly in Kerala) whole....juices dripping down my fingers

Plucking fresh vegetables from the garden

No cooking

Waking up la....te (I do that often), but it's a nice and welcome change when u wake up and find that your daughter has already had her teeth brushed and drunk her glass of milk.

Teaching the little girl to drink honey from a thechi poo....I have no idea what it is called in English, and am just too lazy to google it.....so here's a picture.

Just my kind of recipe - S.I.M.P.L.E & G.O.O.D

Sometimes, things just click....you are not in the mood to cook, but you have to eat....so you throw in a few things that you have on hand and come up with something that tastes really good. This is something that came out of just such a situation. The prep work required is minimal....you don't even have to chop onions. Doesn't get simpler than that, does it??? There are no measurements 'coz I just used up whatever I had on hand.

Here's what I did:
Boil some potatoes, peel them and dice them.
Grind together some tomatoes, ginger, garlic and green chillies.
Heat some oil. Add some jeera to it and then the ground paste. Boil for a few minutes until the raw smell goes away, add turmeric powder, red chilli powder, salt and a little bit of sugar. Stir well, add some water if needed and then add in the diced potatoes and heat for a minute or two.
There....that's it.....you're done.
Didn't I tell you it was simple???

Why I hate Government offices

• Unbearably lo....ng queues. It's almost as if there's a queue of people who are waiting to get into queue.
• Several hot, sweaty bodies crammed into an unbearably hot place......People could make a killing by marketing deodorants in these places.
  
• Rude officers - Now, this is a big one with me. I think that if you are in a position of power, you should not abuse it. There was this loud-voice "gentle"man at the office today who kept yelling at people and making fun of them for the most ridiculous things. Most of the people who were there were young college kids who really didn't say anything back. I was almost hoping he'd say something to me, just so I could ask him to shut up. No such luck, though....
• Lack of clear instructions and basic facilities. When someone is trying to test your eyesight and they point in the general direction of a door and ask you to read, you tend to look for something that's supposed to test your vision, right??? Well, not if you go into a govt. office. You just look carefully to see if anyone has scribbled anything on the door....maybe if you are lucky enough, the officer would have pointed to the door that has a tiny handwritten sign above it that says "Record Verification" or something similar. Oh....and don't even think of asking what you should be reading......just follow the instructions....it's fine even if you read something that's written on the T-shirt of someone that's standing in that area.
• You go in for an online test....stand in the queue for more than three hours.....and then find that none of the computers are working. What do you do??? Come back home and rant on your blog, of course.....
  

Vishu memories

Vishu is a festival celebrated by the people of Kerala during the first day of the Malayalam month Medam. Contrary to what most people think, this is not the Malyali New Year 'coz the Malayalam calendar begins in the month of Chingam.
To me, Vishu is an incredibly beautiful festival which is made even more beautiful by the memories that I've carried with me since childhood.
The vishukkani is something that is set up in the puja room on the previous night. The colour yellow plays a very important role in the kani. Fruits and vegetables that are usually abundant in this season are used. A brass tray or an uruli is placed on a kolam in front of Krishna's picture. Ripe mangoes, kani vellari (a kind of golden orange coloured cucumber), ripe bananas, and jackfruit are placed in it. In addition to these, I added some non-traditional fruits and veggies like apple, orange and padavalanga (snake gourd) to my vishukkani.Rice and uncooked parippu (dal) are also placed in front of the deity. A small silver cup is filled with coins (increasingly being replaced with notes) and placed in the kani as well. A large mirror is placed behind the arrangement so that the entire kani is reflected in it. Gold, usually in the form of a necklace or bangles is also part of the kani. The whole arrangement is then bordered by the beautiful vishu konna flowers (yellow flowers). In the morning, a lamp is lit, casting its golden glow on this simple, yet beautiful arrangement.
The predominant memory that I have of Vishu is that of being woken up at a really early hour and being led with my eyes closed, by my mother, to see the kani. The belief is that if you wake up seeing the kani, the rest of the year will be good for you.
Vishu kaineetam is an inseparable part of Vishu. The elders in the family give money (it used to be coins, but that has now been replaced by notes) to the younger ones. It was a good way to supplement pocket money, and I used to visit lots of relatives on Vishu just to receive kaineettam. Kaineettam is given not just to kids - any person can give kaineettam to someone who is younger than them.
No Indian festival is complete without food, and no mention of a festival in Kerala is complete without the traditional sadya. Check out my sadya pics here, and here. Sambar, rasam, thoran, pachadi, olan, koottu curry, avial, papadum, payasam and manga kari are usually made for the Vishu sadya.
Now, in our family of three, it is my turn to lead my daughter to the kani in the morning. We had fun setting up the kani together at night, with her wanting to eat all the fruits right then and there.
Here's wishing all those who are reading this a very happy and prosperous Vishu.

Karuveppila podi (curry leaves powder)

I love podis of all kinds. The reason is very simple....once they are made, they can be stored forever(well....maybe not forever, but you get the idea, don't u??) and whenever I feel lazy, we can always fall back on the podi...mix it with some rice and ghee and along with a thoran and papadum, that's a decent meal. The storekeeper at the place where I usually buy my veggies always gives me a lot (seriously people, it is a LOT) of curry leaves for free. Iam never able to use it all up before it starts turning black and loses its odour (there, that sounds better than rotten, doesn't it?). This time round, I decided to turn it into a podi (powder).

Here's what you need: Curry leaves - 3 cups (heaped)

Red chilli - 8
Black peppercorns - 1/4 tsp
Urad dal - a handful (roughly 1/4 cup)
Channa dal - a handful (roughly 1/4 cup)
Salt

Wash the curry leaves and spread on a newspaper or cloth until it is completely dry.
Heat the two dals in the microwave for 2 minutes or until the dal starts turning reddish. Heat the red chillies and pepper for 30 seconds and then the curry leaves for 2 minutes or until it loses all its moisture.
Add salt and grind to a powder.
This does not need to be refrigerated and stays good for quite a while.This is my entry to :
Lakshmi's Meals on Wheels
Easy's WYF Side dish event