Whole wheat eggless apple walnut banana squares

Some days back, I went apple picking. Apples, fresh off the tree, are so delicious, so crisp and so juicy - the store bought ones cannot hold a candle to these. Seriously, they are so juicy that even if you were to accidentally scratch one with your nails, you can see the juice spurt out. I came back home with a huge bag of apples that we picked and other than eating them as is, have been trying them out in various bakes. This week's theme for the Blogging Marathon is baking with veggies/fruits and this healthy apple square fits the bill perfectly.

What you need : (Recipe adapted from here)
Whole wheat flour - 2 cups, leveled
Apple -  finely chopped(with peel), 2 cups (I used about one and a half medium sized apples)
Walnuts - 1/2 cup, chopped
Over ripe banana - 2, mashed well
Yogurt - 1/4 cup
Sugar - 1 cup * (see notes at the bottom)
Baking soda - 2 tsp
Cinnamon - 1 tsp
Oil - 1 cup
Vanilla essence - 1 tsp
Salt - 1/4 tsp

In a mixing bowl, mix together, the mashed banana, oil, sugar, yogurt and vanilla essence. Stir in the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, sugar and salt to this.  Mix in the chopped apple and walnuts. Pour into a 15x10x1 cookie sheet, spread evenly with the back of a spatula or wet hands and bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees farenheit for 20 -25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Once cool, cut into squares and store in an air tight container.

Note :
The apples I had were sweet in themselves. Plus, I do not like my bakes to be overly sweet. One cup of sugar makes these squares only moderately sweet. Add up to half a cup more of sugar if you want it to be sweeter.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#45

Cabbage thoran - a Kerala sadya staple

A sadya (feast) in Kerala without a thoran(stir-fried vegetable) is unimaginable. It is simple dishes like these that make a feast memorable and complete.

What you need :
Cabbage - a small one, chopped fine
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp (optional)
Salt - to taste
Grated coconut - 1/4 cup
Green chilli - 2
Curry leaves - a few
Red chilli - 1
Oil - 1 tsp
Urad dal - 1 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp

Heat oil in a pan. Add the urad dal, broken red chilli and mustard seeds. When the seeds pop, add the chopped cabbage, turmeric powder, salt and just enough water to cover it. Cover and cook on a low flame.(*) Grind the coconut, chilli and curry leaves coarsely without adding any water. When the cabbage is almost done, add the ground mixture to it, stir well and cook uncovered until well cooked and all the excess water has evaporated. Serve hot.

Note : * The process of cooking cabbage can be quickened by cooking it in the microwave or steaming it in the pressure cooker.
Check once in a while to ensure that there is sufficient water for the cabbage to cook in.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#45

Pavakka kichadi - a Kerala sadya staple

Diwali, though mostly associated with savory murukkus and ghee-laden sweets, is also about the feast that is prepared on the day of the festival. In this post and the next, I will be blogging about two simple and easy-to-make dishes that are an essential part of any sadya (feast) in Kerala.
The first dish is an accompaniment called kichadi by many and pachadi by some. Biitergourd, ladies finger/okra, tomato and beetroot are some of the vegetables that can be used to make this dish.
In this version, thinly sliced bittergourd  is fried to a crisp and then stirred into a spiced mixture of coconut, chillies and sour curd.

What you need :
Bittergourd - 2 small , sliced into thin small pieces after removing the pith and seeds
Sour curd - 1 cup
Fresh grated coconut - 1/2 cup
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp + 1 tsp
Green chilli - 2 or 3 (depending on your spice tolerance level)
Oil - 2 tsp
Urad dal  - 1 tsp
Salt

Heat the oil in a pan. Add the urad dal and 1 tsp of mustard seeds along with some curry leaves. When the seeds pop, add the bittergourd, stir well, cover and let it saute until the bittergourd turns crisp and brown. Do not rush this step. Let the gourd cook in a low flame and stir every now and then so that it doesn't burn.
While this is getting done, grind the coconut, chillies and mustard seeds to a smooth paste adding a few spoons of the curd to it. Once the gourd is crisp, brown and cooked, add the ground paste to it along with salt and let it boil for a few minutes. Switch off heat. Beat the remaining curd so that it does not have any lumps and stir it into the pan. If you feel it is too thick, add some more curd.
Enjoy!!!

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#45

Gongura puliyodharai

After a long time, I am joining the Blogging Marathon again, this time with Festival Special dishes as my theme for the week. Though the festival that has been chosen is Diwali, I am going to be starting with something new that I tried out during Navaratri and felt that it is good enough to be offered as prasadam. 

I have often seen gongura (sorrel leaves) in markets in India and now here in the US. However, the only form in which I have tasted it is the bottled Priya Gongura pickle and to me, all Priya pickles taste and smell the same.

 Recently, spurred on by my friend, I bought a bunch of these leaves with absolutely no idea as to what to do with it. I plucked one and ate it and realized that it was tart enough to be used as a substitute for tamarind.  That's how the idea to use it to make puliyodharai was born. In fact, in this particular dish, the term puliyodharai is a misnomer, as no puli (tamarind) has been used.

A little bit of google-ing told me that not many people had tried out this idea. However, Sailu had a recipe here, which I modified to my taste.

What you need:

Rice - 1 cup, cooked and cooled
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Oil - 2 tsp (I used gingely oil, but any oil you regularly use/like will work)
Salt
Peanuts - a fistful

To fry :
Urad dal - 1 tsp
Chana dal - 1 tsp
Dhania seeds - 2 tsp
Curry leaves - 2 sprigs
Red chilli - 2
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Oil - 1 tsp
Gongura leaves(washed) - 2 cups packed tight

Spread the cooked rice to cool. Add turmeric powder and 2 tsp of oil to it and set aside.
Heat a tsp of oil. In it, fry on low heat, the urad dal, chana dal, dhania, curry leaves, red chillies, and mustard. Set aside. Fry the washed gongura leaves in the same pan on a low flame till wilted. Let it cool.
Powder the fried spices to a coarse powder. Add the gongura and grind again to a paste without adding any water. Add this to the rice in small quantities and mix well. Add required amount of salt and mix. Top with some more curry leaves. Fry a fistful of peanuts in a teaspoon of oil and mix it into the rice.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#45

Carrot payasam / carrot kheer

No feast in India is complete without a dessert. In a typical Kerala sadya (feast), dessert takes on the form of payasam/kheer. Palada pradhaman, arguably, is the best dessert from my home state.
This year, for Onam, I wanted to try something different and that is how this carrot payasam took shape in my kitchen. Having tasted it a few times before, I relied on my taste buds and memory to recreate it.

What you need :
Carrot - 3, washed, peeled and cut into large pieces
Milk - 3 cups
Water - 1/2 cup
Sugar - 1/2 cup *
Cardamom powder - 1/4 tsp (or 3 pods of cardamom)
Almonds - 8-10

Take 1 cup of milk and 1/2 cup of water in a pressure cooker. Add the carrots and almonds to it and cook until one whistle. Then reduce the flame to low and cook for another five minutes. Once the pressure settles, let it cool and then grind to a smooth paste. Set aside. Boil the remaining milk in a saucepan. Add sugar and cardamom. Once it boils, switch of heat and let it cool slightly. Add the carrot mixture to the slightly cooled milk and heat for a few minutes on low. Garnish with some slivered almonds.
This tastes great both warm and chilled. It is a quick and simple recipe to have on hand when a craving for something sweet strikes or when unexpected guests make an appearance.

Note : Do not add the carrot mixture to boiling hot milk as the milk may curdle. Also, do not boil the milk after adding the carrot puree to it.
* If you like your desserts  super sweet, you may need to add more than half a cup of sugar. I would suggest starting with half a cup and then, adding more if you feel it is required.

Olan - a Kerala sadya staple

A few months back, the blog turned eight, and as has been usual for a while now, this particular milestone went unnoticed. Around the same time, I also moved (AGAIN) back to the US of A and so, for the past few months, have been going through an almost endless cycle of packing, shipping, unpacking, and setting up house. I have cooked a lot of unconventional interesting food, but for some reason , I find that  though my drafts folder is crowded with pictures of my experiments, the task of sitting down and typing is something that I keep postponing until I forget how I made a particular dish.
Recently, I was asked for Onam sadya recipes and that is when I realized that there are a lot of simple must-haves in a traditional  Kerala feast that I have not posted here. Olan is one such dish. Easy to make, with a simple yet profound taste, this dish features on almost all sadyas (feasts). Peeled ash gourd is diced into thin squares and then cooked with black eyed beans, green chillies, salt and a dash of coconut milk to create this much loved dish.

Olan

What you need :
Ash gourd - peeled and cut into medium sized thin squares - 2 cups
Black eyed beans - 1/4 cup (either the red variety or the white can be used)
Green chilli - 2 or 3, slit lengthwise
Curry leaves - a few sprigs
Coconut oil - 1 tbsp
Coconut milk - 3 tbsp (optional)
Salt - to taste

Soak the beans in water for at least an hour. Cook until one whistle. The beans should be cooked through but not mushy. Take the sliced ash gourd in a sauce pan. Add just enough water to cover the slices. Add the slit green chillies and salt. Cover and cook over a medium flame until just cooked. Add the cooked beans and boil for a few minutes. Add the coconut milk, if using. Stir well and switch off the heat. Add curry leaves and coconut oil. Do not stir at this time. Cover and keep aside for at least 10-15 minutes so that the aroma of the oil and the curry leaves blends into the dish. 

Mix well before serving.

Moong sprouts kabab aka Disaster management kabab

It was to be just another ordinary day with no post from me commemorating the ordinariness of my everyday cooking. Some moong beans soaked in water the previous night, drained and sprouted were to be combined with onion and tomatoes to make an ordinary salad. However, at the last minute, inspiration struck and I thought of turning the sprouts into deep fried vadas. Then, the rational mind intervened and said, why deep fry? Why not make baked kababs? And that, my dear friends, is how this recipe was born.
I drained the sprouts and ground them with an onion, some garlic and green chillies. This is where the disaster management part of the post title kicks in. Despite ensuring that there was absolutely no water in the beans, the ground mixture had the texture of a thick chutney. Definitely not kabab material. So, in went a boiled potato and some quite a bit of chick pea flour (besan). The resulting mixture, while not dry, could be shaped if I wet my hands frequently. Baking was out of the question as I knew without doubt that the mixture would stick to the pan. So, back to the frying pan it was, quite literally. The end result, though, was not bad at all, and quite possibly something I might attempt again, this time, intentionally, of course.


What you need:
Moong sprouts - 1.5 cups
Potato - 1, boiled, peeled and mashed
Onion - 1, peeled and chopped into large chunks
Ginger - a small piece
Garlic - 7 or 8 cloves
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Besan ( I didn't measure this, but kept adding a spoonful at a time till the mixture was fairly dry. Probably close to 1/4 cup)
Salt - to taste
Oil - for deep frying

Grind the sprouts, onion, ginger, garlic and turmeric powder to a smooth batter without adding any water. Add the mashed potato and salt to this. Mix well. If you are able to shape this mixture into kababs, proceed to deep fry at this point. If not, add besan, little by little, until you are able to shape the batter. Deep fry in oil over a medium flame until both sides are well browned. Serve hot with ketchup/tamarind chutney.

Mango milk shake - a simple summer cooler

It is that time of the year again. Holidays!!! The kid is at home, feeling hungry at all hours. Not only does she feel hungry and thirsty for 'specific' things - as in, I am thirsty for Coke, I am hungry for noodles........but she also wants variety in her food. Gone are the days when I could mash up pretty much any combination of edible stuff and coax her into eating it.
This mango milk shake with splashes of colour from mango and tutti fruity is visually appealing, not to mention easy to make.

What you need:
Mango - 1, peeled, and chopped (Finely chop and set aside about 4-5 tbsp of mango)
Millk - 2 cups, chilled
Sugar - 2 tsp (adjust depending on sweetness of mango)
Tutti fruity - a few spoonfuls

Puree the mango and sugar in a blender. Add the chilled milk and blend again until frothy. Pour into a glass. Top with some chopped mango and tutti fruity. Serve chilled.

Bhel puri - Yes you too can make it at home

Chaat and Mumbai are almost synonyms. Almost every street here has not one, but several vendors who, once the sun goes down, set up their make shift chaat counters on the roadside. The way they throw a few things together, mix it up and serve it with ease is nothing short of an art that they have perfected. With so many options available, I prefer to have my quota of chaat at the nearest chaat shop but this time, I tried my hand at making it at home. While it is quite easy to put together once you are done with all the chopping and dicing, I think that the experience of standing amidst a crowd of fellow chaat lovers, watching the magic unfold as the flavours are blended together by practiced hands, is something that gives your chaat a certain character that cannot be replicated at home.

What you need:
Puffed rice/murmura
Onion - chopped fine
Tomato - chopped fine
Cilantro/corriander - chopped fine
Green chutney
Tamarind chutney
Chaat masala
Salt
Peanuts toasted in a little oil
Sev - for garnishing

I have not mentioned quantities in the above recipe, firstly because I didn't measure each ingredient separately and secondly because the recipe is very forgiving and you can add as much of each ingredient as you would like. So, if you want your bhel to be spicy, add more green chutney to it, whereas if you want it to be sweet and tangy, add more tamarind chutney to it. Keep tasting and adding or subtracting ingredients as per your wish. You could also add boiled, cubed potatoes, or raw mangoes if you would like to.
Take the puffed rice (which is the main ingredient) in a large mixing bowl. Add in all the other ingredients in the order listed. Mix well. Top with sev and serve immediately.

This post is part of the Blogging Marathon under the theme After school snacks. Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 37
It also goes to Sowmya who is hosting Valli's Kids Delight -after school snacks.

The best whole wheat garlic bread recipe ever

For someone who hadn't tasted garlic before marriage, I sure have come a long way. This is one thing that is still not bought at my parents'. I, though, have developed a taste for the pungent bulb in certain dishes. Garlic bread is a favourite in our household and we are partial to the one served at Dominos. I tried recreating that at home using this recipe as the base and then tweaking it to suit my taste. I have made this using only whole wheat, no maida/APF at all.


What you need : (Recipe source : Veg Nation)
Whole wheat flour : 1 cup + 1/2 cup (The original recipe uses APF)
Instant yeast - 1 tsp
Sugar - 1/2 tsp
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Garlic - 7 cloves - peeled and ground/crushed coarsely
Olive oil - 1 tbsp + 1 tbsp
Water - Start with 1/2 a cup and then add more if needed. I used a little over 3/4 cups.
Italian seasoning - 2 tsp
Grated cheddar - 2 tbsp

Add instant yeast sugar, salt, 1 tbsp of olive oil and lukewarm water to 1 cup of the flour. Knead gently till the mixture just comes together. Cover and set aside until it doubles in volume. Once it doubles, punch the dough down, add the remaining flour and ground garlic and knead again to a smooth dough. Cover and let it rise until double again.
Preheat oven to 200 degrees celsius. On a floured surface, roll the dough out into a circle. Spread the grated cheese over it and then fold the circle in half over itself to make a semi-circle. Seal the edges by pressing well. Spread the remaining oil on top of the dough and sprinkle seasoning over it.
Bake for 10-15 minutes. Enjoy warm.

This post goes to PJ who is hosting Valli's Kid's Delight themed on Baked Treats.
Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 37

Jeera biscuits - savoury cumin flavoured cookies

The local trains of Mumbai are a world of their own.  Getting into the local train every morning is an exercise in dexterity and street smartness. Not only do you have to make sure you are properly positioned on the platform to make your entry into the exact compartment that you want to get into easy and quick, but you also have to deal with people who elbow their way through the crowd, walking into the thick of things and then standing right in the middle of all the seats. All quirks of humanity unfold along those railway tracks, in a compartment where humans are packed like sardines. Some smell like sardines too, but then, you learn to ignore and move away. The quirkiness of some of the regulars is enough to merit a post of its own. So I'll leave that for another post and move on to the subject of this post - salt biscuits that taste great with tea or on their own. Spiced with cumin, ajwain and methi, carrying these with you will also give you something to look forward to in case you get stuck next to someone who thinks that deodorant is an insult in a foreign language. You might elicit strange looks, though, if you keep opening your dabba and smelling these, but then, who cares?


What you need:
Whole wheat flour - 1cup
Baking powder - 1 tsp
Baking soda - 1/2 tsp
Salt - 1/2 tsp (adjust to taste)
Cumin seeds/jeera - 1 tsp
Ajwain/omam/carraway seeds - 1 tsp
Kasuri methi - 1/2 tsp
Ghee/clarified butter - 1 tbsp
Curd - 3-4 tbsp

Take the whole wheat flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda and ghee in a large mixing bowl. Mix with your finger tips until the mixture is crumbly. Add cumin, ajwain and kasuri methi. Add curd, starting with 1 tbsp and then adding as needed, and knead to a smooth dough. Set aside for 15-20 minutes.
Bake in a pre-heated oven at 180 degrees celsius for 10-12 minutes until the bottom starts to brown.
These cookies will be a little soft when you take them out, but become crisp as they cool down.
Store in an air tight container once completely cool.
This post goes to PJ who is hosting Valli's Kid's Delight themed on Baked Treats.
Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 37

Colourful cupcakes

Ever since I first saw a rainbow cake, it has fascinated me. I love not only the vivid array of bright colours in the cake, but also the name itself. I recently tried making these at home with the few colours I had on hand and in cupcake form.
 
What you need: (Recipe source :Seduce your tastebuds)
All purpose flour - 1.5 cups
Sugar - 1 cup
Thick curd - 1 cup
Baking powder - 1 tsp
Baking soda - 1/2 tsp
Vanilla essence - 2 tsp
 Oil - 1/2 cup
Food colour - a few drops of each colour you wish to use

In a bowl, whisk the curd and sugar together until the sugar dissolves. Add the baking powder and baking soda to this. When the mixture starts to bubble, add oil and vanilla essence. Mix well. Stir in the flour little by little, mixing well after each addition.
Divide into as many parts as the colours you intend to use. I used pink, green and then a mixture of red and green together which gave me a dark olive-green-ish colour. I also kept one part of the batter plain. Mix the colour into the batter until well mixed.
Line your muffin pan with cupcake liners. Pour half a spoon of each coloured batter into the liners, one on top of the other. Don't worry about spreading the batter evenly. It will settle into beautiful coloured patterns by itself.

Bake in a pre-heated oven at 180 degrees celsius for 12-15 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the cupcake comes out clean.
This is my post for the Blogging Marathon under the theme Kids' Delight - Oven baked snacks.
Enjoy plain or with some whipped cream piped on top of it.

This post goes to PJ who is hosting Valli's Kid's Delight themed on Baked Treats.
Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 37

Super soft idlis - the quintessential South Indian breakfast

How we perceive food is influenced by our regular eating habits and the culture that we are from. While idli is considered healthy,light and easy on the stomach as it is oil-free and steamed by most South Indians, I recently came across a person who believes that idli is a very heavy food as it contains dal.
Idli is something that is made in my household quite often. In spite of that, I have never thought of posting it on the blog so far, as it is something that I consider to be simple, everyday food. However, many friends have spoken to me about how difficult they find it to make soft, fluffy idlis. Hence, this post.

What you need:
Idli rice* - 4 cups
Urad dal - 1 cup
Methi/fenugreek seeds - 1 tbsp

Wash the rice and dal and soak separately in plenty of water for at least 8 hours. Add the methi seeds to the urad dal after washing the dal.*
After an hour or two of soaking, pop the urad dal with the water in which it is soaking into the refrigerator. *
Grind the urad dal, along with the cold water until it becomes light and soft. This takes close to half an hour in a grinder.
Add the soaked rice, in batches, with water if necessary, and grind until smooth. This will take another 20-25 minutes. In the last few minutes of grinding, add in some salt.
Set aside the ground batter over night to ferment.
In the morning, grease the idli plates, pour the batter into it and steam for 10-12 minutes.
Let it cool for 5 minutes and then serve hot with molaga podi, chutney or sambar.

 

Notes :

* Idli rice is not the same as the regular rice used for cooking. It is labelled and sold as idli rice in most major grocery stores.

* Methi seeds can be soaked with either rice or dal. However, since the urad dal is ground for a longer time in the grinder, I have found that the seeds are well ground if they are soaked with the urad dal, whereas, if you were to soak it with the rice, you might find little brown flakes of methi in your idlis.

* Putting the urad dal in the refrigerator is optional. However, I have found that the yield of batter is significantly more if this is done.

This is my post for Blogging Marathon #36, under the theme Oil-free breakfast.
Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 36
This is also my 14th post for Blogathon 2014, a daily blogging event for the month of January. 

Peppy tomato oats to start the day with

Masala oats (oats in different Indian flavours) have been doing the rounds for a while now. Somehow, I have never been tempted to buy these. The only way I have eaten my oats till now is cooked and then mixed with milk, nuts and raisins. However, this recipe that I saw on a TV channel tempted me enough to buy Saffola masala oats. Loaded with vegetables, this is a great way to start your day.

What you need:
Saffola masala oats (I used the peppy tomato flavour) - 2 pkts (40 gm each)
Onion - 2, chopped fine
Ginger - a small piece, julienned
Green chilli - 2, minced
Carrot - 1, grated
Capsicum - 1/2 of a large one, chopped fine
Tomato - 1, chopped fine
Fresh green peas - a handful
Moong bean sprouts - a handful
Salt - to taste (Be careful with the salt as the oats comes with salt added to it)
Oil - 1 tsp
Jeera/cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp

Heat oil in a pan. Add the cumin and mustard seeds. When the seeds pop, add the green chilli, ginger and onions. Saute until onions turn translucent. Add in the rest of the vegetables(except tomato) followed by the masala oats. Mix well, lower the heat, cover and let it cook for 2-3 minutes. You do not need to add water, as the water from the vegetables is sufficient for the oats to be cooked. Add in the tomatoes. Stir again and heat covered until the oats is well cooked. (takes 2-4 minutes). Switch off the heat and top with a handful of chopped corrainder leaves.
Serve hot.

This is my post for Blogging Marathon #36, under the theme Oil-free breakfast.
Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 36
This is also my 13th post for Blogathon 2014, a daily blogging event for the month of January. 

Mor kuzhambu and roast potatoes

The final post for this week's Blogging Marathon, brings you a classic combo from the South Indian state of Tamilnadu - mor kuzhambu (spiced buttermilk gravy with coconut and green chillies) served with a side dish of spicy, roast potatoes. In the Kerala Iyer community, we make mor kuzhambu with ripe plantains and call it pazham (plantain) mor koottan. However, here I have stuck to more traditional vegetables and used ash gourd. Other vegetables that can be used are colocasia/arbi and ladies finger.


What you need
For the mor kuzhambu :
Ash gourd - 1/2 cup, peeled and chopped
Sour curd - 3 cups, beaten well.
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Grated coconut - 3/4 cup
Green chilli - 3
Curry leaves - a few
Oil - 1 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Methi seeds - 1/4 tsp
Urad dal - 1/2 tsp
Red chilli - 1, broken

Grind the grated coconut and green chilli, along with half a cup of curd, to a smooth paste.
Add some water to the ash gourd (just enough water to cover the vegetable) along with turmeric powder and salt. Cover and heat until the gourd is cooked. Add the ground paste and let it boil well. Reduce the heat. Add the remaining curd and heat until it just begins to froth. Take care to not let the mixture boil.
Switch off heat. Heat oil in a small pan. Add mustard seeds, urad dal, broken red chilli, curry leaves and methi seeds. When the mustard pops, pour this tempering over the kuzhambu.

For potato roast :
Potato -2 large, boiled, peeled and cubed
Oil - 2 to 3 tbsp
Salt
Sambar powder/red chilli powder - to taste
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp

Heat oil in a pan. Add the mustard seeds and some curry leaves. When the seeds pop, add the diced potatoes,  salt, and sambar powder. Stir to mix well and let it roast at low heat, until well browned.

Serve a generous helping of the kuzhambu with rice and roast potatoes on the side.

Idiyappam and tirunalveli sodhi

Traditionally, string hoppers (idiyappam) are made with rice flour. However, ever since I started using ragi, I have almost entirely stopped making this dish using rice flour. This is both a tastier and healthier variation. I usually pair it with vegetable stew, but this time,  I have tried a side dish that has its origin in the Tirunalveli district of Tamilnadu. Vegetables, lightly spiced and cooked in a watery coconut milk broth,  this dish is served to a newly married bridegroom by his mother-in-law and so, is also known as mappillai (son-in-law) sodhi. It is very similar to the stew that is made in Kerala. The only difference is that there is a final tempering of curry leaves and cumin seeds here and also an addition of lemon juice.



What you need:
For the idiyappam (string hoppers) :
Ragi/nachni/kezhvaragu/finger millet flour - 1 cup
Rice flour - 1/4 cup
Salt - to taste
Water - 2 cups
Oil - 1 tsp

Boil the water and add a tsp of oil to it. Add salt to the flour and dry roast the flours in a pan until the raw smell goes away. Add the boiling water to the flour, little by little, mixing it well with a spatula until it forms a pliable dough. Wet your hands and knead the dough until smooth.
While the dough is still hot, using an idiyappam press, squeeze it out into circles and steam in an idli pan for 10-12 minutes.

For the sodhi :

Potato - 1,peeled and diced
Carrot - 1. peeled and diced
Onion - 1, chopped fine
Beans - a few, chopped
Green peas - a handful
Thick coconut extract - 1/2 cup
Ginger - a one inch piece
Green chilli - 2
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Salt - to taste
Coconut oil - 2 tsp 
Juice of half a lemon
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Curry leaves - a few

Cook the vegetables in a cup of water until soft,but not mushy. In a pan, heat a tsp of oil. Crush the ginger and garlic coarsely and add this to the pan. Saute a bit and then add in the onions and heat till they turn translucent. Add the cooked veggies along with the water and bring to a boil. Add the coconut extract and heat for a minute or two,  until it is heated through, but does not begin to boil. Switch off the heat and then stir in the juice of half a lemon. Heat a tsp of oil. add the cumin seeds and curry leaves to it and heat. Pour this tempering over the sodhi .
Serve hot with idiyappam.

This post is part of the Blogging Marathon under the theme Combo dishes. Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 36
This is also my 9th post for Blogathon 2014, a daily blogging event for the month of January. 

Aloo tikki chole

January is a special month for us for many reasons. For one, it is the beginning of a new year and so, a time for renewed beliefs and hopes. It is also the birth month of the little girl and she starts planning her birthday right from January 1st. Everyday, she adds people to her invitee list and comes up with ideas for possible dishes on the menu.
This aloo tikki chole chaat is something that is filling, looks good and tastes good too. Crisp and perfectly cooked potato patties topped with a spicy, warm chickpeas curry and then layered with chopped raw onion, cilantro, sev and a tangy chutney. What's not to love about it, eh?



What you need :
For the tikki :
Potato - 4, medium sized, boiled, peeled and mashed
Bread - 4 slices
Salt - to taste (Please resist the temptation to add onions, cilantro, garam masala or any other condiment)

For the chole :
Kabuli chana/white chick peas - 1 cup (soaked in water overnight)
Onion - 1, chopped
Tomato - 2 , chopped
Ginger - a one inch piece, chopped
Garlic - 4 cloves
Black peppercorn - 4
Clove - 4
Cardamom - 3
Chole masala - 2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Oil - 2 tbsp
Salt - to taste

For serving:
Onion - 1, chopped very fine
Corriander - chopped fine
Tamarind-date chutney
Sev


To make tikkis :
Dip the bread in water. Squeeze out all the water and add it to the mashed potatoes. Add salt. Mix well and shape into patties. Shallow fry on a tawa drizzling a little oil over the patties until well browned on both sides.
 
To make chole:
Pressure cook the chick peas until soft.
Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a pan. Add the black pepper, clove and cardamom. Fry a little and then add chopped ginger, garlic and onion. Saute till onions are translucent. Add the tomatoes and cook till they soften.
Let this cool and then grind to a smooth paste.
Heat the remaining oil in a kadai. Add the ground paste, turmeric powder and the cooked chick peas. Add salt and chole masala. Reduce the heat and let it boil for 15-20 minutes or until the chole thickens.

To serve:
Arrange two tikkis on a plate. Pour a generous helping of chole on the tikkis. Top with some chopped onion, corriander, chutney and sev.

This post is part of the Blogging Marathon under the theme Combo dishes. Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 36
This is also my 7th post for Blogathon 2014, a daily blogging event for the month of January. 

Vegetarian momos

I never thought the day would come when I would make momos at home. I am very fond of momos - the soft, moist exterior and the juicy filling inside. The perfectly cooked and shiny looking momo is a complete meal in itself. However, I don't think I would have got around to making it if not for Blogging Marathon #31. The basic recipe that I have used is from Raks Kitchen and it came out so well that between the husband and me, we managed to polish off almost the entire batch of momos I made.

What you need: (Recipe source : Raks Kitchen)
For the outer cover :
All purpose flour/maida - 1 cup
Salt - to taste
Water - enough to knead into a smooth, pliable dough
Oil - 2 tsp

For the filling:

Cabbage - 1 cup, grated fine
Carrot - 1 large, grated
Onion - 1 large, thinly sliced
Garlic - 8 cloves, chopped fine
Ginger - 1 inch piece, julienned
Salt - to taste
Soya sauce - 1 tbsp
Oil - 1 tbsp

To make the outer cover :
Take maida and salt in a large mixing bowl. Add water to it little by little and knead until you have a smooth, pliable, non-stickly dough. Add the oil and mix well. Cover and keep aside.

To make the filling:
Heat oil in a pan. Add the ginger and garlic. Stir fry on a high flame for a minute. Add in the chopped onion and saute until translucent. Add the rest of the vegetables and saute on high flame for 2-3 minutes, stirring every now and then to prevent burning. Add salt and soya sauce. Mix well and saute until the moisture evaporates.

To make the momos:
Divide the dough into ping-pong ball sized balls. On an oiled surface, roll each ball of dough into a thin circle. Place a tbsp of filling and shape into a semi-circle or a dumpling. Place the momos in a steamer or an idli pan and steam cook for 8-10 minutes. When the momos are done, the outer cover will look shiny and translucent.

Serve hot with a spicy and tangy sauce.

Seven years of blogging and savoury muffins

This blog completed seven years of existence on June 30th. I remembered, but just didn't have the enthusiasm to sit down and type out a blog post to commemorate this milestone. Every now and then, I go through a stage where though I have a lot to say on the blog, I just don't feel like sitting and typing it all out. How I wish there was a software that would create a blog post just by listening to me speak. Now that would be truly something, wouldn't it?
I am hoping to shake off the inertia by participating in Blogging Marathon #31. The theme I have chosen is Non-Indian breakfasts and that is what you will see on the blog for the next three days. 
Breakfast, to me, has to be something filling and nutritious. No Chocos or Corn flakes for me - I cannot stand eating something sweet in the morning. These savoury muffins are nice to look at, soft and moist in texture, and taste really good. Your imagination is the limit when it comes to deciding what goes into this muffin. Here's a look at all that went into my muffins.

What you need:
All purpose flour/maida - 1.5 cups
Grated vegetables - 2 cups (I used cabbage, carrot and onion)
Curd - 3/4 cup
Olive oil - 1/3 cup
Salt - to taste
Cumin powder - 1 tsp
Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp (or to taste)
Oregano - 1/2 tsp
Egg - 1
Baking powder - 3 tsp
Baking soda - 1/4 tsp

Take the flour, baking powder and grated vegetables in a large bowl. To this, add cumin powder, red chilli powder, oregano and salt
In a separate bowl, beat together the egg, curd and oil. Add this mixture to the flour mixture. Mix well. Add baking soda and mix gently but thoroughly.
Preheat oven to 175 degrees centigrade. Grease a muffin pan and spoon in some of the mixture into each depression. Sprinkle some sesame seeds or rolled oats on top of the batter and bake for 15-18 minutes.
These can be baked beforehand, refrigerated and then warmed up the next day for breakfast.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#31

School lunch box - Day 7

I am trying to use mangoes as much as possible before the end of the season. Truth be told, the reason mangoes make an appearance so often in the school lunch box and on our dining table has more to do with the fact that I bought a boxful of mangoes from a wholesale market and less to do with our love for the fruit.
Today, for her breakfast break, the little girl took Sabudana kichdi, for the lunch break - Curd rice and for her snack break, a chopped mango.

Ammini kozhukkattai - savoury steamed rice flour dumplings

Kozhukkattai is a traditional stuffed dumpling that is made during Ganesh Chaturthi. Grated coconut and jaggery, cooked over low heat with a hint of cardamom thrown in, is stuffed into an outer layer of rice flour dough that is shaped by deft hands into a dumpling. This is then steamed, offered to Ganesha whose favourite sweet it is, and then relished by the family.
Ammini kozhukkattai - the bite sized, savoury version - is almost always made on days when the regular sweet kozhukkattai is made. It probably is a dish that was invented when some resourceful woman decided that she would put the left over rice flour dough to good use.
Having grown up in a household where kozhukattais were(and still are) made at the drop of a hat and not just for Ganesh Chathurti, it is little wonder that this bite sized, savoury version is something that I have fond memories of eating.
The only time when dough is made exclusively for ammini kozhukattai, and not as an after thought to the sweeter modak cousins, is during Navaratri when this is made as Neivedyam/prasadam - an offering to the deity.
 
What you need:
Rice flour - 1 cup
Water - 2 cups
Salt - to taste

Oil - 2 tsp (preferably coconut oil)
Fresh grated coconut - 2 tbsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Urad dal - 1 tsp
Chana dal - 1 tsp
Broken red chillies - 2
Curry leaves - 2 sprigs

Mix rice flour with one cup of water to a thick, smooth paste. Heat the remaining cup of water along with salt in a heavy bottomed, large pan. When the water starts to boil, reduce the heat and add the rice flour paste. Cook, stirring continuously, until the mixture forms a thick ball. Switch off heat. When the dough is warm to the touch, remove it on to a plate, add a teaspoon of coconut oil and knead well. Apply oil on your hands, pinch out small bits of the dough and roll into marble sized balls. Steam these balls in an idli plate/steamer for 8-10 minutes. Let stand for 10 minutes after switching off the heat.
In a pan, heat a teaspoon of coconut oil. Add urad dal, chana dal and broken red chillies. When the dals start to brown, add the mustard seeds. When the seeds pop, add in the curry leaves and the grated coconut. Saute on low heat till the coconut turns reddish brown. Add the cooked kozhukkattais to this. Mix well and heat for 2-3 minutes.
Enjoy as an evening snack or a light tiffin.

Variations : Omit grated coconut. Knead in some red chilli powder to the dough and then proceed with the recipe.
For the recipe of the sweet version of kozhukattai, click here.
This is my second recipe for Blogging Marathon #29, showcasing Kerala Iyer snacks.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#29
 

Vella dosai - whole wheat and jaggery pancakes

Kerala Iyers are Tamil brahmins who migrated out of Tamilnadu some time in the early 13th century and settled down in different parts of Kerala. Kerala Iyer cuisine is an amalgamation of the cuisine of both states and so is the language. The Tamil spoken by Kerala Iyers is so heavily interspersed with Malayalam that it is often jokingly referred to as Talayalam.
There are quite a few dishes that are unique to Kerala Iyer cuisine. In our fast paced world where traditional snacks are being replaced by two minute noodles and out-of-a-packet and into-your-mouth pasta, many of our indigenous snacks are forgotten about. Over the next three days, I will be sharing the recipes of three such evening snacks that used to be (and probably still are in some households) made in Kerala Iyer households. This is a part of Blogging Marathon #29 where the theme I have chosen is Course wise meals from a State - the course here being evening snack/tiffin and the state being Kerala - more specifically, Kerala Iyer cuisine.
Vella dosai is something that can be made in almost no time at all, as long as you have wheat flour and jaggery in hand. It does take a little practice to be able to flip the dosa over without tearing it, but even if it does tear, it tastes really good. Rich and iron and protein, this makes for a filling and nutritious after school snack for children.

What you need:
Jagggery - 3/4 cup
Whole wheat flour - 1 cup
Water - 3/4 cup
Cardamom powder - a pinch (optional)

In a microwave safe bowl, heat the jaggery and water on high power for 30 seconds. Remove, stir well and keep aside for 5-10 minutes. Stir again until jaggery dissolves completely in the water. Add the wheat flour and mix to get a smooth batter. The batter should be of pouring consistency. Add some more water/flour if needed to get the consistency right. Mix in the cardamom powder.
Grease a skillet with ghee and heat it. Pour a ladleful of the batter on the hot skillet and spread into a thick circle. Cook on a medium flame until the bottom turns brown. Flip over and cook the other side until brown spots start to appear on it.
Serve hot with a blob of butter.

Note :
Jaggery tends to burn fast. So take care and ensure that you cook on a low flame.
Jaggery tends to be sticky. You might find it difficult to turn the dosa over and might find it sticking to the pan or the spatula you are using to turn it over. A good quality non-stick pan will take care of this. If not, grease your pan really well and flip the dosa over only when the under side is well browned.
If you want your dosa to be really sweet, add 1 cup of jaggery.
Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#29

School Lunch box - Day 6

Day 6 saw the little girl taking the following in her lunch box :
Breakfast break - Bite sized ghee-toasted bread
Lunch break - Vegetable fried rice
Snack break - Pomegranate

The bread is a special favourite of hers and quite easy to make. All that you have to do is cut the slices of bread into nine little squares. Heat ghee in a pan. On low heat, toast the bread in this ghee until crisp and brown. Don't stint on the ghee. That is what makes it delicious and crunchy.

School Lunch Box - Day 5

Today's lunch box was made up of :
Breakfast break - Mixed vegetable paniyaram
Lunch break - Chapati and tri-colour curry
Snack break - Choco chip cherry muffins

To make the tri-colour curry, chop finely 1 onion, two tomatoes and 1 green bell pepper/capsicum. Heat a tsp of oil. Add some cumin seeds to it. Add the chopped onion and saute until translucent. Add in the capsicum and cook for a minute or two. Stir in the chopped tomatoes and salt. At this point, depending on what flavours your child likes, you could add in a tsp of sambar powder or garam masala or even a spoonful of ketchup. Cover and cook on low heat until soft.
The muffins were made with fresh cherries and eaten with much relish. Recipe coming up soon.

School lunch box - Day 4 and my recipe for hummus

Today, the little girl wanted to have food from the school canteen for one of her breaks. The canteen serves healthy, fresh, unprocessed food in keeping with the school's idea of promoting healthy eating habits in children. So, today's lunch box has only what she took for her 1st and 3rd breaks.

Breakfast break - Rava idli
Snack break - Carrot sticks with hummus

Hummus is a delectable, creamy spread which is the Middle East's gift to the rest of the world. I am in love with this spread and so is the little girl. She loves to eat it with carrot sticks. Rich in protein and with a subtle and delicate flavour, this is likely to be a hit with most kids. Needless to say, it is easy to make, generous to a fault and keeps well in the refrigerator for a few days.
 
To make hummus, you need:
Chick peas/kabuli chana - 1 cup, soaked in plenty of water overnight.
Garlic - 3 or 4 pods
White sesame seeds - 1 tbsp
Thick yogurt - 1/4 cup
Sesame oil - 2 tsp
Olive oil
Salt - to taste
Juice of one lemon

Cook the chick peas until very soft and tender. Drain off excess water and let it cool. Do not throw away the excess water. You can use it to grind the hummus.
In a dry blender jar, blend the sesame seeds and sesame oil to a paste. Add in the thick yogurt and blend again. Add the cooked chick peas, garlic, salt and lemon juice. Blend, adding the reserved water, if necessary, until you get a thick, creamy, smooth paste of spreadable consistency. Remove onto your serving bowl. Add a generous glug of olive oil. Mix well and serve as a dip with vegetable sticks or as a spread for different breads.

School lunch box - Day 3

Day 3 saw the little girl taking this in her lunch box :

Breakfast break - Poha/Aval upma/Rice flakes upma
Lunch break - 2 rotis with grated carrot stir-fry
Snack break - 1 chopped mango

To make poha/aval upma/rice flakes upma, here's what you need:
Poha - 1 cup (*See notes)
Onion - 1, chopped fine
Tomato - 1, chopped fine
Ginger - a small piece, julienned
Green chilli - 1 or 2(keeping in mind your child's spice tolerance)
Juice of one lemon
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Corriander/cilantro leaves - some, chopped, for garnishing
Oil - 1 tbsp
Urad dal - 1 tsp
Chana dal - 1 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Curry leaves - a few

Note : * If you are using thick poha, soak it in water for 10 minutes. Drain all the water and then squeeze out any excess moisture from the soaked poha.
If you are using thin poha, take it in a colander. Wet it under running water. Let any excess water drain out of the colander and then squeeze out remaining moisture.
Heat oil in a pan. Add the urad and chana dal, mustard seeds and curry leaves. When the mustard seeds pop, add ginger and green chillies. Saute for a while and then add chopped onions. Cook until the onions turn translucent. Add in the tomatoes and fry for a minute or two. Reduce the heat and add the poha, turmeric powder and salt. Stir well and heat for 2-3 minutes. Add the juice of a lemon and chopped cilantro. Switch off heat and stir well to mix.
 

School lunch box - Day 2

This is what went into the daughter's lunch box today:
 
Breakfast break - 1 apple, chopped and sprinkled with a little bit of salt to prevent browning
Lunch break - Rice mixed with drumstick sambar and thair pachadi
Snack break - Biscuits
Along with her glass of milk in the morning, she also had a boiled egg.
Here's the recipe for the vendakka(ladies finger/okra) thair(curd) pachadi that I made for her.
Ladies finger/okra - 7 or 8, washed wiped dry and cut into one inch long pieces
Coconut - grated, 1/4 cup
Curd/Yogurt - 3/4 cup
Green chilli - 2 or 3
Salt - to taste
Oil - 1 tsp
Urad dal - 1 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp

Heat oil. Add urad dal and mustard seeds. Once the seeds pop, add the chopped okra and stir fry on low heat until it starts to turn brown and crisp. Switch off heat.
Grind the coconut, chilli and curd to a smooth paste. Add this to the cooked okra and heat until it just starts to froth. Remove from heat and serve with sambar rice.
This is my third post for the Blogging Marathon #29 under the theme Cooking with colours. The colour for today is white.
Check out the http://spicingyourlife.blogspot.com/p/blogging-marathon.html"Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#29

 

Strawberry ice cream - Step by step recipe and instructions

This post has been in my drafts ever since we came back from our trip to Mahabaleshwar. To say that Mahabaleshwar is a strawberry lover's idea of heaven would be an understatement. Nowhere else have I tasted such luscious and juicy strawberries. One of the things I made with the whole lot of strawberries I brought back with me is this ice cream. The basic method and recipe used are the same as the one for my mango ice cream. 

What you need:
Stawberries – hulled and chopped – 2 cups, heaped

Sugar – 1 cup

Milk – 1 litre

Cream – 200 ml (I used one pack of Amul cream)

Maida – 2 tbsp

Step-by-step instructions for making strawberry ice cream:

• Chop the strawberries into large chunks. 

 

• In a large bowl, sprinkle sugar over the chopped strawberries and then leave covered for two hours, allowing the strawberries to macerate. 

 

• At the end of two hours, you will see that a lot of juice has oozed out of the strawberries and that most of the sugar has dissolved in the liquid. 

 

• Stir once again and then mash the strawberries to a coarse puree with a wooden masher. Set aside.

• Dissolve the maida/all purpose flour in 1/2 cup of milk and mix to get a smooth, lump-free paste.

• In a large, heavy bottomed pan, bring the remaining milk and cream to a boil. Reduce the flame and allow the mixture to simmer until it is reduced to half the quantity. 
• Add in the flour mix, taking care to stir continuously to avoid the formation of lumps.
•  Let this cool completely and then add the mashed strawberries. 
• Blend well using your blender/mixie.

 

• Freeze for 5-6 hours and then blend again. Repeat this freezing and blending process two more times to get a delicious, creamy texture.

 
Strawberries give the ice cream a lovely, natural light pink hue, which in my opinion is more pleasing than the colour of store bought strawberry ice cream.

This is my post for the second day of Blogging Marathon #29, under the theme Cooking with Colours. My colour for the day is Red.
Check out the http://spicingyourlife.blogspot.com/p/blogging-marathon.html">Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#29

School lunch box - Day 1

Another school year has begun, and with it, the everyday ritual of breaking my head about what to send in the little girl's lunch box. I have only one criteria in mind when deciding what goes in - It must come back finished. To this end, I have told her that on weekends, she can sit and plan out the entire lunch box menu for the coming week. This way, with her involved in the process, there is less chance of the lunch box coming back home just the way it was packed and sent. She has three breaks in school - a breakfast break, lunch break and an afternoon snack break.
From today, for the rest of this month, I will be posting on the blog, what the little girl's lunch box is comprised of.
Here's today's lunch box menu :

Breakfast break - 2 Cheese rolls.
These are really simple to make. Trim the crust from a slice of bread. Place a strip of cheese in the middle of the bread. Microwave for 10-15 seconds until the cheese just begins to melt. Shape into a roll while the bread is still warm.
Lunch break - 2 rotis and ladies finger(okra/vendakka/bhindi) stir fry. (Check out my recipe for ladies finger stir fry here)
Snack break - 1 pomegranate.

Mambazha pulisseri

Ever since I can remember, the rains have always made an appearance on the first day of school. During my school days, the skies would open up exactly on the day our school reopened. This always made me happy as it meant that I didn't have to wear closed shoes for at least 2 months. I could go to school wearing open toed sandals, feeling the rain water with my toes, armed with a colourful new umbrella.
History seems to have repeated itself because today, my daughter went to school in open toed sandals, wanting to stop and jump in all the puddles along the way. There's something very positive and beautiful about seeing smiling young faces all set to be welcomed into a new school year.
Rain also means that the mango season will end in a few weeks' time. So I have decided to use mangoes in as many ways as I can before they disappear from the market. Today's recipe is for a quintessential dish from Kerala - mambazha pulissery - a tangy and sweet blend of mangoes cooked in spiced, sour curd. I am of the opinion that this dish must have had its beginnings when an innovative cook decided that she wouldn't throw away over-ripe mangoes that the kids didn't seem to want to eat.


What you need:
Ripe mangoes - 5 or 6 (*See note)
Sour curd - 1 cup
Green chilli - 3
Coconut - 1/2 cup
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt
Jaggery(optional - use only if the mangoes are not sweet by themselves)
For tempering:
Urad dal - 1 tsp
Oil - 1 tsp
mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Red chilli - 2
Methi seeds - 1/4 tsp
Curry leaves - a few sprigs

Chop the mangoes(with skin) into large chunks. In a large pan, add the chopped mango, the mango seed, and just enough water to cover the mangoes. Add turmeric powder and let it boil until the mangoes are cooked and tender to touch. Let it cool and then using your hands, squeeze out all the pulp from the skin and the seeeds and then discard the skin and seeds.(#See note) Take the mango pulp and any water that is left over from boiling the mangoes in a large kadai. Grind coconut, green chillies and curd to a smooth paste. Add this paste to the mango pulp along with salt. Let it come to a boil. At  this point, if you feel that the mixture is too thick, add about 1/4 cups of beaten curd. Once you add the curd, do not let the mixture boil. Switch off heat once it starts frothing.
Heat all the tempering ingredients in a pan. Once the mustards seeds pop, pour the tempering over the pulisseri and serve warm with rice.

Note : * Typically, a small variety of mango called the kootan mambazham/nattumambazham is used. These are small and can easily fit into the fist of an adult. If you cannot find these, use any fleshy variety, but reduce the quantity of mango used. I was lucky enough to find something similar to the kootan mambazham we get in Kerala when we had gone to Murud(read travelogue here).
# You can choose to let the mango, with skin and seeds to remain in the pulisseri and that is how a lot of people enjoy this curry. However, in my household, the mango pieces are carefully set aside and later thrown away untouched. So I used this method to ensure that the fruit is not wasted.
This is my entry for Blogging Marathon #29 under the theme Cooking with colours. The colour I have chosen for the first day is Yellow.
Check out the http://spicingyourlife.blogspot.com/p/blogging-marathon.html">Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#29

Once upon the tracks of Mumbai - Book Review

A few weeks back, I had an email from Rishi Vohra, the author of Once upon the tracks of Mumbai, asking if I would be willing to review his debut novel Once upon the tracks of Mumbai. After checking out his website and reading the blurbs in it, I agreed.
The book has a well though out, robust plot. The story revolves around the protagonist - Balwant Srivastav aka Babloo. "They" said that [Babloo] had psychiatric porblems. That [he] was autistic. "They" said that [he] was schizophrenic and psychotic. That [he] had split personality disorder. "They" stand for every one in Babloo's world - his parents, his brother, his doctor, his neighbours. Every one, that is, except Vandana - the love of Babloo's life. Vandana is a modern day woman who yearns for the typical fairy tale romance. She waits for the Prince Charming who will take her away from her dreary life at the railway colony.
Into this simple love story, enters Railway Man - a real life hero whose mission in life seems to be the prevention of crimes along the railway tracks of Mumbai.
Will Vandana find her Prince Charming or will she, like millions of her country women, settle for a person of her parents' choice?
What about Babloo's love for her? Will it succeed?
Who is Railway Man?
To find out, pick up a copy of the book today.
What I liked about the novel:
The crisp narrative and the robust plot.
The way in which the characters have been sketched. Every character is well thought out and readers will be able to identify with the characters and the situations that the characters find themselves in. The girl with dreams in her eyes, the middle class parents who worry about what their neighbours will say, the hurry to get their daughter married off before she becomes "too old", the rich road side Romeo and his side kicks, the parents who make no attempt to understand their autistic child - these are people that exist outside the realms of this book, in the world around you and me.
The unusual choice of protagonist. I have rarely come across an Indian author who chooses as his protagonist, a person with a mental illness. I laughed and cried with Babloo, feeling sad that he existed only at the periphery of his family's everyday life and felt happy that he felt strong enough to ignore what everybody said about him.
Overall, Once Upon the Tracks of Mumbai is a wonderful, breezy read and at a price of Rs 175, definitely value for money - a purchase that you will not regret.
For more information on the book/author, please visit www.rishivohra.com