BFF GOLD CARD AWARD

Sowmya and Purva have passed me the "blogging friends forever "award. I am honoured to receive it from them.

Thanks, Sowmya and Purva for passing me this award.

There are few rules when I pass this award.
1. Only 5 people are allowed to receive this award
2. 4 of them followers of your blog.
3. One has to be new to your blog and live in another part of the world.
4. You must link back to who ever gave you the award.
So I pass the award to
Priti
Nupur
Lakshmi
Usha who is from North Carolina, United States
who visit this blog frequently.
and Srilekha from India

KITCHEN CONNECT MEET -2 AND A SECRET RECIPE

KITCHEN CONNECT MEET -2 AND A SECRET RECIPE
Kitchen Connect is a modest effort of the Indian foodie bloggers at Singapore to come together and share their ideas, host events and take blogging @ Singapore to a whole new level on blogosphere. It was initiated by Lakshmi who was inspired by other chains on blogosphere. Kudos to her to come up with such brainwaves and take the efforts to bring together all the busy talented women on a common platform. This was the first time I attended the Kitchen Connect Meet, although it is the second meet. It was mind boggling and absolutely great to see the faces behind those blogs. We all queued up at the Toast Box to order for our own coffee or tea, we did need something hot to to break the ice, for the ideas to start flowing, to boost our spirits and drinks always keep the conversation going on don’t they.
Priyanka got us some home made samosas, spicy and good to go with our Toastbox tea(tea which cannot make us happy as we are so used to having masaledaar tea made with boiling hot milk, nothing can beat the Indian tea or so I think).
Vani was tied up with something so she came after the ice-breaker session was over. I did want all of us to play a guessing game with her and make her recognize us if she could, but Lakshmi couldn’t resist cueing her, it was fun.
Vani got some crunchy munchy Tengozhal (known as Murukku in this part of the world). Lakshmi treated us with the finest biscuit baked by her with a hint of ginger, the best part was; it was eggless(much to my pleasure), she also treated us to Dry fruit Halwa. So I can say we started with a sweet and ended with a sweet and hope to have sweet beginnings all the way for us Singapore Indian bloggers.
Now this meet was special, as there was a blogging event associated with it. Each blogger would bring in a secret ingredient and a tip on how to cook it. Chits were made with names of the attendees and each person was asked to pick up one chit. I picked up the chit with Priyanka’s name on it and Priyanka had lovingly packed for me ingredients to make Gulabi Firni (Firni with dried Rose petals, the recipe is available on her site Asankhana. She had also packed in loads of gifts, a beautiful hand painted T-shirt, a very cute stenciled painting of Lord Ganesha and instructions written down on a scroll hanging with wooden beads prepared by her. This event is like a relay race, the person who gets the ingredient blogs the recipe on her blog with a reference to the blog of the person who gave her the ingredient and this happens with all the KC attendees. Isn’t that exciting. So many new recipes and so many ideas. After all the brainstorming session we decided to disburse after discussing about the next KC meet. So we all parted ways hoping for a better future for the blogging scene @ Singapore.

So here’s my secret recipe;

GULABI FIRNI WITH APPLE
Since Priyanka had already made the Gulabi Firni and blogged it in her blog Asankhana, I thought why not give it a twist. So the twist is……I made Gulabi Firni with Apple. So it’s a fruity-flowery twist to this delightful sweet.
Priyanka had given me the exact measurements, which Iam going to copy paste from her blog for everyone’s benefit.
Ingredients
Milk - 300ml
Apple – 1 medium sized
Freshly grounded rice powder - 4 tbsps
Sugar – 5-6 tbsps
Milkmaid - 1 tbsp
Crushed French rose petals of 6 roses
Some rose petals for garnish
Method
Peel the apple, chop it into very small pieces, In a pan add the apples and ½ a cup water and 2tbsps sugar and boil, the apples will become soft. Keep aside.Boil the milk in a pan, when the milk starts boiling, reduce the flame and add in the remaining sugar followed by the rice powder, Now add in the boiled apples in the milk, boil for about 2 minutes on a low flame, keep stirring. Now add the crushed rose petals and milk maid and simmer for 2 minutes and remove from flame. Once cool, refrigerate it. Serve chilled garnished with rose petals.
Hope you enjoy this delicious and exotic fruit and flower concoction, the way I enjoyed making and eating it.
Could I patent this too………………..

FLOWER CHUTNEYS - NEEM FLOWER CHUTNEY

This is my entry for the JFI August-"Flower Power", which is very interesting and gastronimically exciting and since I live in the garden city of the world" Singapore", I cant let this one pass. Soulfood is organising this JFI.

Neem Flower Chutney (Vepam Poo Pachadi)

Everyone is aware of the medicinal properties that neem has. It is commonly known as Margosa tree in English, the biological name is Azadirachta indica. Every part of the neem tree, which includes bark, leaves, branches, fruit, roots, flowers, etc is beneficial. Neem Flower is very healthy. The neem flower not only acts as a blood purifier but also strengthens the body's immune system against diseases. The Neem tree gets flowers in the month of April(which is considered as the Spring season in India, so not only Raw mangoes are available during this time but also the Neem tree is in full bloom) in India, but the flowers can be shade-dried and stored for up to a year. So you can use fresh Neem flowers or the dried ones available in stores. This dish is known in Tamilnadu as Vepam Poo Pachadi and in Andhra Pradesh as Ugadi Pachadi. It is usually made on their respective New-year's day. The neem represents sorrow and the Jaggery represents happiness, indicating that life is bittersweet.
Ingredients
Neem flower - 2 tsps
Grated jaggery - 4 tsps
Tamarind - 3 tsps

Red chilly powder - a pinch
Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp
Salt a per taste
Oil - 1 tsp (Recommend Gingelly oil)
Finely chopped raw mangoes - use one small mango

Method:
While choosing the raw mangoes, choose half raw-half ripe mangoes(more towards the raw though), the mangoes you choose must be hard but with a sour-sweet smell.

You can use either Tamarind or Tamarind paste. Incase you are using Tamarind, then boil the tamarind in 1 and 1/4 cups of water. Once soft, Ensure there are no seeds and run it in the mixie till you get a smooth paste, to this add water. Using Tamarind is better than using tamarind paste.

Now add the finely chopped raw mango pieces to the juice. Boil till mango pieces are tender. Once the mango pieces are tender, Add jaggery, let it cook till it melts. (Jaggery is added because Neem flower is bitter). Switch off the gas and keep aside.

Heat oil, add mustard seeds and when it splutters, add neem flower and fry till light brown, Add the Red chilly powder and salt and mix everything well. Mix this to the prepared tamarind juice. Your Vepam Poo Pachadi is ready.

Do not overindulge in this delightful chutney. It is heaty. Do serve it with lots of love but in small quantities.

HOT KACHORI

HOT KACHORI
This is also known as Rajasthani Kachori as it is one of their favorite snacks. In the north it is also known as “Kachaudi”. It’s a hot sweet delight which is not only a treat to your eyes but will tantalize your taste buds and leave you craving for more. The chaat versions of the Kachori are very popular in Mumbai as a street food. I will divide the recipe into 3 halves as the kachori is made in different segments and there is a process in each one. All put together what you get is a slice of heaven
Ingredients
For cover:
Plain flour – 1 ½ cup
Oil – 2 tbsps
Salt as per taste
For filling:
Yellow moong dal washed and soaked for 1/2 hour -1 cup
Red chilly powder -1 tsp.
Coriander powder -1/2 tsp.
Coriander seeds crushed coarsely -1/2 tsp.
Fennel seeds crushed coarsely -1/2 tsp.
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp.
Asafetida – 1tsp
Salt to taste
Oil to deep fry
Method
For cover:
In a Bowl, mix flour, salt and oil, knead into soft pliable dough adding water while making the dough, just like you do for chappatis. Keep aside for 30 minutes.
For filling:
In a vessel, Take 4 glasses of water, when it comes to boiling point, Add the yellow moong dal and when it starts to boil, add the dal. Boil dal for 5 minutes, drain the water from the dal. Allow it to cool down. Now heat some oil in a heavy pan, add the cumin seeds and the coarsely crushed coriander seeds and fennel seeds. When it starts to splutter
add asafetida, red chilly powder, Coriander powder and mix well. Now Add the dal. Add salt to taste. With the back of your spatula smash a few lentils(dals). Do not smash the dal fully. A bit of smashing makes the mixture bind well. Switch off the gas and allow this mixture to cool.
Once the mixture cools down, grease your palms and make balls out of the lentil mixture and Keep aside.
Now make balls of the dough. Take one lemon sized ball and roll it, just like you roll for chappati. Place one ball of the lentil filling in the centre. Now make the dough like a money pouch with the lentil mixture in the middle. Tear off the excess dough carefully
The cover shouldn’t tear, now with your palms press the ball, making it flattish and round.(like in the picture).Make all the kachoris in the same way. The technique to deep fry these kachoris is very important. Once the oil is hot, reduce the flame. Keep it on sim and slowly drop the kachoris, the kachoris fry in the oil for a longer time, only then will they be crispy. If the kachori get a hole anywhere, apply some paste made with plain flour and water and patch it up else the oil will be spilt with lentil and the kachories will be soggy. Once you feel one side is about half cooked and safe to turn slowly turn with a delicate hand to the other side, you can do it with a spatula and a spoon. When you are frying you will notice that small bubbles appear over the kachori, slowly the bubbles will reduce and you know that the kachori is almost done. Fry till golden and crisp.
Drain on a kitchen towel to remove excess oil and serve hot with green and tamarind chutneys.
Kachoris are very filling, The yellow lentils are very nutritious
Kachoris can be made and stored for 2-3 days. We can make kachori chaat or even Dahi kachori chaat with them the following day for a variation.
Variations
For Kachori chaat : Break the top of the kachori and pour some green chutney and tamarind chutney and some finely chopped onions and top it with sev (gram flour noodles) and garnish with freshly chopped coriander and a dash of lime. You can add a pinch of chaat masala also.
For Dahi kachori chaat: Use fresh thick yogurt. Add some sugar in the yogurt and beat it, it will be fluffy. Now break the Kachori as above and pour a tablespoon of dahi and follow the same as above. You can use bareek sev (Fine gram flour noodles available in the market)

SABUDANA VADA (Sago Vada)

My entry for the SWC -: Maharashtrian Cuisine is this;
SABUDANA VADA (Sago Vada)
Sabudana(Sago) is usually used during fasting in Maharashtra. But it wouldn’t be fair to grade it just as a fasting item. The sabudana khichdi (upma), sabudana Chiwda and the sabudana vada are special Maharashtrian delights which cannot escape any Maharashtrian kitchen.

Any dish made with sago and potatoes taste absolutely good, sago and potatoes are a very tasty and explosive combination according to me, be it the papad or this vada. I am sure your day is made, when you have this vada on a rainy day as an evening snack along with some hot tea.

Sago and potatoes when mixed together tend to absorb more oil, so after you fry it, always absorb the excess oil on a kitchen towel (tissue) and serve hot.

The sabudana vada tastes good only when served hot, as it is crispy only when hot. Once it cools down, the crispyness is lost. Do indulge in this absolutely wonderful Maharashtrian delight.

The sabudana vada is a crispy delight which is usually served with sweetened thick yogurt and green coriander chutney.

I have used the smaller sized sago in my recipe, which is easily available everywhere in Singapore, It soaks fasts and I feel we can make crispier vadas, We can do the same with the sago available in India also.(To the right is the picture of the sago vada made out of the bigger sized sago)

Ingredients
Sabudana (Sago) – 250gms
Potato - 2 medium
Green Chillies – 2-3,
Ginger - a small piece,
Peanuts -1/2 cup (Roasted and crushed coarsely)
Jeera (cumin seeds) - 1tsp.(freshly roasted)
Salt as per taste
Finely chopped coriander leaves
Oil - to deep fry

Method
Roast the peanuts and preferably remove the skin of the peanuts. If you grind the peanuts along with their skin, your vadas will be slightly reddish in color. We want our vadas to be golden in color.

Wash the sago well to remove any dirt and soak it in water. Since I have used the smaller sized sagos. I just add water to immerse the sago, the water should not be too much or else the sabudana will get mashed and the vadas wont be tasty or crispy. The soaking is one of the most crucial aspects in the making of these vadas. I usually soak for 2-3 hours, but the smaller variety of sago used by me gets soaked very fast so even half an hour is enough.

Boil the potatoes, peel and mash well. Keep aside

Grind the chillies and ginger in the mixie (alternatively you can use the ginger and green chilly paste also). Some people just add finely chopped green chillies and finely grated ginger, but I prefer to make a paste and add it to the sago mixture as the spices enter the mixture well and the vadas taste better.

Check your soaked sago after half an hour, all the water will have been absorbed by the sago, thus increasing its size and making it soft, the sago will still be separate and not get mashed. If it gets mashed your vada will be very gluey.

Now in a bowl, take your soaked sago, add the roasted and ground peanut powder, salt, Toasted cumin seeds, ginger and green chilly paste, finely chopped coriander leaves. Mix well. Check for salt and spice. If you find it less add more before you add the mashed potatoes. Once, you add the mashed potatoes everything binds well, so the salt and spices will not be evenly mixed.

In the end add the mashed potatoes and mix well. Now the mixture will bind well. Heat oil in a kadhai (wok), make balls of the mixture, flatten it on your palm and deep fry in the hot oil. Drain the excess oil in paper towels or tissues and serve hot, with thickened sweet yogurt, green coriander chutney or coconut chutney as per your choice. I am sure people will love this recipe.

Note : Some people make the Sabudana Khichdi first and then use the khichdi mixture to make the vadas. It is not necessary though. You can consider it as another method.

FRIENDSHIP AWARD

FRIENDSHIP AWARD
Being a housewife, which as everyone knows is a thankless job, I used to keep complaining to my husband, You never appreciated the "dal(lentil soup) I made, Isn't the curry very tasty today This made me ponder on all those times when I didnt thank my dearest darling mom for all the lovely dishes that she used to rustle up for us over the years. This made me realize that we take our own people for granted usually.

But since I started receiving Awards from my dearest blogger friends @ blogosphere, I feel so happy and satiated that I dont look forward to appreciation from dearest hubby and now I realize that he appreciates even without being asked for it. Isn't that great?

Here is a Friendship Award that Lakshmi has been so kind enough to bestow upon me.

Thanks LG for this sweet friendship and making me feel so loved and cared for in blogosphere.

I would love to pass this onto my fellow blogger friends

Lakshmi (I cant resist passing this to you again for I really feel so thankful)Sowmya, Priyanka & Anisheetu.

TAGGED!!!!!!!!

I was tagged........
Illatharasi tagged me:
What is Tagging?
Everyday there is something new buzzing in the blogging world and when I was tagged I was not sure whats tagging all about.
Here is my(Sukanya's) explanation for tagging
"Many people read your blog, some stumble upon it by chance and some are referred to it. Then there are fellow bloggers, some of whom we may have met and some whom we haven’t met, but they visit your blog, leave comments on your posts on a regular basis and you do that for their blog too.
When I was tagged I wanted to know what tagging was all about, so according to me Tagging is letting people know more about yourself and also know more about each other. It’s like a game going around the blogosphere in which bloggers are sharing five things about themselves that relatively few people know, and then tags five other bloggers. As in any game there are rules, so the rules of this game are, "At the end of the post, the player tags 5 or 6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read the player's(the one who initially tagged them) blog". This not only helps in increasing the viewer ship of your blog but also helps fellow bloggers know more about you. "
Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answers.
**(The lines in Blue color are copyrighted by me, as they are my explanation for this game, the lines in red color are the rules of the game.)**
Here are the 5 questions, which I must answer and pass this tag to 5 more people

Q.1- What was I doing ten years ago?
I was working with British Airways, Mumbai, India

Q.2- Five things on Today's "To do" list.....
Prayers
Cooking
Exercise which is always there in my “To do” list but always gets ignored
Blogging
Eating and Sleeping ofcourse

Q.3- I am addicted to......
My House
My kids
Cooking
My laptop
Aromatherapy

Q.4- Things I would do if I were a billionaire.....
I will fulfill my husband’s dreams (which includes all the material things – a big car(sleek), a wonderful home, trips abroad etc etc), start a restaurant serving organic food grown in my organic farm.

Q.5- Places I have lived ...
Mumbai, Singapore, Chennai, Pune, would love to live in Thailand

I am tagging ......

Indian Food Rocks ,Sowmya , Bicks, Sid and Spice of Life

Thanks Illatharasi and hope the ball is kept rolling.

VEGETABLE UPPUMA (RAWA KICHADI)

VEGETABLE UPPUMA (RAWA KICHADI)
This is a very nutritious uppuma, as it has lot of vegetables which brings in a lot of color to the dish and kids like it a lot.
Ingredients
Semolina (Rava) – 2 cups
Onions – 1
Potato – 1
Tomato - 1
French Beans - 1 tbsp chopped
Carrots – 1 tbsp chopped
Green Peas – 1 ½ tbsp
Green chillies – 2
Ginger – a small piece
Oil - 1 tbsp
Mustard seeds – ½ tsp
Cumin seeds – ½ tsp
Chana dal (Bengal Gram) – 1tsp
Curry leaves – A sprig
Asafetida (hing) - a pinch
Turmeric powder – 1tsp
Salt to taste
Ghee (Clarified butter) – 1 tsp
Method
Take 2 cups of rava and roast without oil in a wok, for the raw smell to go. Be careful that it shouldn’t burn. Keep aside. Now chop the onions and tomatoes. Peel the potatoes and carrots and chop them into squares. Cut off the top and bottom of the French beans and chop into pieces, Rinse the green peas, Chop the chilly into 2 pieces don’t chop it too finely else it will be very spicy for kids. Chop a small piece of Ginger. Now in a kadhai(wok), put 1 tbsp oil, add the mustard seeds, when it begins to crackle add the cumin seeds and the Bengal Gram, once the Bengal gram starts to turn light pink add the curry leaves and ginger and chilly, sauté for about a minute then add the onions and sauté till transparent, now add the tomatoes and sauté for a minute, after which you can add all the remaining vegetables, then add the salt, asafetida and turmeric and let it fry till you see the green peas turn light green in color, At this point add in about 3 cups of water, cover and let the vegetables cook, check for salt, if you find it less then add at this point. After 5 minutes open and check, if the vegetables are done, reduce the flame to sim, then slowly add in the Rava. Add the rava slowly with the left hand and with the right hand keep stirring so that it doesn’t form any lumps. Keep stirring. Soon you will notice that the Rava is absorbing the water. When the water content begins to reduce lower the flame and cook under cover for 5 minutes. Open Add a spoon of ghee, mix well and close the wok with a lid, let it rest for about 5 minutes. Then open the lid and serve hot. Kids love this upma. What more; it is nutritious as its got lots of vegetables.
Tip : You can add in Cashews while seasoning, if you want

AMLA/AVLA PICKLE (Instant Gooseberries Pickles)

AMLA/AVLA PICKLE (Instant Gooseberries Pickles)

Here is another instant pickle which is also an instant hit. Whenever you see Gooseberries available in the market, you can buy them and pickle them. Gooseberries are very high in Vitamin C.

Ingredients

Gooseberries – 10-12 medium sized

Turmeric powder – 2 tsps
Red Chilly powder - 2 tablespoon

Mustard seeds - 1/2 teaspoon

Fenugreek seeds - 1/2 teaspoon

Asafoetida (Hing powder) - 1 teaspoon

Salt to taste

Oil – 2-3 tbsps

Method

Wash the gooseberries in a colander. Cook the gooseberries in a pressure cooker with some turmeric for upto 3 whistles. Once the gooseberries are cooked cut them and remove the seed and chop into small pieces or you can chop them into slivers or even mash them into a paste or grate them, this is totally up to you. In my recipe here I have chopped the boiled gooseberries into small pieces. Once done, keep aside.
In a Kadhai(wok), roast the mustard and fenugreek seeds, the fenugreek seeds acts as a preservative. Powder this in a mixie, make a fine powder.
In the same kadhai, Take 2-3 tbsps of any cooking oil. Add the mustard seeds and wait till it pops. Keep the gas on a very low flame or better still put off the flame else the masala will turn black. Now add the red chilly powder and the ground mustard and fenugreek powders and Asafoetida, let it fry. Now add the boiled and chopped gooseberries and mix well with the masala. Add salt to taste and sauté for a few minutes.
Your Instant Gooseberry pickle is ready to be enjoyed with your lunch or dinner or snacks as you may please.
Tip : More oil is required to preserve this pickle. This pickle does'nt have a very long shelf life. Can stay for 3-4 days outside and later for another week in the refrigerator.

GOOD CHAT BLOG AWARD

GOOD CHAT BLOG AWARD








Lakshmi has awarded me with the Good Chat Blog Award and I would love to pass this to
Sowmya of Creative Saga
Priyanka of Asankhana
Anupriya of Myspace

Thanks Lakshmi, this award really means a lot to me.