Food for 7 Stages of Life

We are moving!!! Please update your address book.

2010-06-15T07:31:00.000-07:00

I am so glad to announce that Food for 7 Stages of Life has got a brand new and beautiful home @ http://www.foodfor7stagesoflife.com

Please update your readers and join me for a party in my new space.

Hugs

(Mega) Winner Announcement !!!!!

2010-05-28T08:24:00.000-07:00

How have you been my dear friends. I am still terribly busy and waiting this crazy month to come to an end. As promised here is the winner announcement(s). First let us see who won this edition of FF7SL and then lets see who the mega winner is?

Nithu of Nithu's kitchen wins this edition of FF7SL: Food for Ailments and Old Age. Congratulations Nithu for your contribution and support.

About Nithu:
I started "Nithu's Kitchen" just like that one day without any pre-planning. Initially, this was started as a venture for sharing the recipes with my friends and sister. My husband helped me to improve my blog with his ideas and I'm proud to say, he is the man behind "Nithu's Kitchen". I'm very lucky enough to get a wonderful parents who used to encourage me right from my childhood. Above all, this blogging world earned me so many lovely friends. I'm learning lot of new things from my friends everyday and hope to be with them in this journey forever...

As said earlier I picked up two random winners: they were Cool Lassie of Pan gravy Kadai curry and Sushma Mallya of Authentic food delights. Sushma was the first person to send an entry when I announced FF7SL 7 months ago. Thanks Sushma. And CL has been constantly participating in all the editions and has been flooding my inbox with her wonderful recipes. Thanks CL.

So Sandhya Hariharan(twice), Sadhana/Muskaan, Nisha, Adukalavishesham, PJ, Nithu, Priya, Ruchika, Suma, CL and Sushma were part of this mega raffle.

And now the Mega winner who gets her favorite cook book is.................... drums rolling....

Priya of Priya's Easy n Tasty Recipes. Congratulations Priya!!!!! Thank you so much Priya for your constant support and sharing dozens of recipes in all the 7 editions. You rock!!! I asked Priya to choose her favorite cook book as I faced some glitches while ordering BloggerAid book and this is what she chose, won't you love to have this book?

and as a special token of gift for her continuous support I have added another surprise goody to the package. The gifts are on its way to Paris and I hope you receive them soon.

About Priya:
A simple cook and a novice baker who loves foods and trying to change our usual way of cooking and eating but making out dishes with healthy stuffs..Been born and brought up in a beautiful seashore city my life changed completely once i came to Paris, where i learned more International cuisines..I never need or read a cookbook to cook or bake..To be honest, i won a baking book after entering to this blogsphere..I have a tremendous numbers of traditional recipes to fusion dishes in my blog, i learned from my mom my most of the traditional dishes while many fusion dishes comes from my small mind..I cant be an excellent cook without my husband and my beautiful kids, superb great critics who pulled me to cook up everyday with different dishes, needless to say i learned cooking from my mom who is always my inspiration..

P.S: I am yet to publish the roundup(s), hopefully I get them published with first or second week of June.

Interim Break and South Beach Diet Update!!!!!!!

2010-05-04T08:17:00.000-07:00

source:http://mirrorcracked.wordpress.com/2009/01/05/i-want-to-be-impulsive/

For the last few weeks, I have been so engrossed with work, traveling and other activities that I am not finding time to blog or visit others blogs. If you hear my schedule you will faint. I am traveling like crazy with my husband during weekends and during weekdays I am stuck with loads of tasks at work and a mini project at home. This schedule will continue for the entire month. So absolutely no REST :-(( Sobs!!!

I am really sorry for not stopping by your space and leaving comments. Life has taken a different course and I have decided to break up(Interim) with my blog. But I promise to come back in next few weeks with the Winner announcement, roundups, SBD updates and more interesting recipes. So please please keep sending your lovely entries for both the FF7SL & A.W.E.D till then.

Quickly let me tell you what happened on the SBD front. I have reduced two dress sizes. Yes I am able to wear most of the size 8 pants now, guess I should be somewhere between 8 and 9 lol. With the crazy weekends schedule I am kind of deviating during Saturday and Sunday but still thriving to eat healthy and I have avoided all junk/fast foods. So I am glad to say that within a month I have made remarkable improvement without much workout. My hubby and family friends say that I look exactly like how I was an year and half ago. Yay to SBD!!! But as I tell every time, there is long way to go. I want to get rid of those excess fats sticking around my thighs and hip before the summer begins and wear at least size 4 if not ZERO ;-) . I know I kind of have high ambitions LOL..

Challo, I will meet you guys later and will stop by your blog very soon. Until then eat well, take good care of yourself and have fun.

P.S: I was recently interviewed for Authentic Journey of Cuisine/Alaivani. Please read my interview here and let me know your thoughts. Thanks Jennifer for featuring me.

Hugs,
RV

A.W.E.D - Russia

2010-04-29T21:32:00.000-07:00

A.W.E.D:

A.W.E.D is the brain child event of DK (Chef in You fame) started two years ago on April 15th 2008. Ever since it has traveled around the globe stopping by a country every month. This month A.W.E.D plans to unravel the culinary secrets of Russia.

Russian cuisine is as vast as that country. Soups, Breads, Pancakes, Meat, Poultry, Fish and Vegetables were the staple food of Russia until late 18 and 19th century. With the strong influence from French and Austrian cuisine, Wine, Pastry cooking, Salad, Chocolate, Ice-creams were introduced into the Russian cuisine. So join me in exploring the vast cuisine from this country.

Source: allbestwallpapers.com ; Wikipedia

ABOUT DK of Chef in You:
DK makes us believe that there is a Chef in each one of us. She inspires her readers to wear their cooking hat and start experimenting in their kitchen with the easy to follow step by step instructions. When I decided to bake my first bread, I knew where I had to look for. Of course DK's Chef in you blog :)

Get aquainted to Russian Cuisine:
http://www.allrussianfoods.com
www.ruscuisine.com
http://yulinkacooks.blogspot.com
http://tasterussian.com/

Rules
1. Prepare any VEGAN/VEGETARIAN dish from Russia and post it between now and May 31st 2010.
2. Link it to My Event Announcement and DK's AWED announcement page.
3. You can send as many entries you want.
4. Archives are welcome. Just update or repost and link it to us (See rule 2).
5. Non Bloggers can send me your entries in a word document with the picture of your dish (jpeg).
6. Send me your entries to FOODFOR7STAGESOFLIFE@GMAIL.COM with the below details

Mail Subject: AWED-Russia

Your Name:

Recipe Name:

URL of the recipe:

Picture of the dish:

Prijatnogo appetita!!!!

Do send in your entries for the FF7SL:Food for Ailments and old age event before May 25th 2010 and you could be the winner of one of those fab cookbook.

Asparagus Usili

2010-04-21T21:41:00.000-07:00

Does a Woman hate to shop for Clothes? I did. Every time I visited the store I had to look for a bigger size. I hated to try those pants that didn't fit. I had to let go those cute dresses because they stopped looking good on me. Hope you understand the kind of frustration and disappointment. TH doesn't like me to feel disappointed. He gets upset so easily when I undergo this pain. So we both agreed that we will not shop for clothes until I could fit into my old dresses.

This Sunday we decided to visit a restaurant with our friends. I just got little greedy and picked up my jeans that I had concealed in my wardrobe (last Summer). I was little skeptical to try it but then I gave it a shot. And to my surprise I fit in to my Size 10 stone washed Calvin Klein jeans after many months. I literally jumped out of joy and got into a mood of dressing up. I picked up my favorite sleeveless kurti and a ear ring to match. When I stood before TH he shouted out of amusement. TH was very happy because I was happy :) But it doesn't end here. Still there is a long way to go to reach my goal weight.

I was not sure if I should post these pics. They were taken in the poor light settings in my kitchen:( So excuse me for these lousy clicks. BTW, Happy Earth Day to all of you. Last year I had posted Palak Tofu Soup on the same day to celebrate this occasion.

How it tasted
I am not a big fan of Asparagus. But I love this vegetable in Usili and Aviyal. Since I don't steam Asparagus it is crunchy like the grilled ones which makes it perfect for usili. This dish makes a protein and fiber rich meal and you can have this during all phases of South Beach Diet. Traditionally Usili is served with White Rice, Sambar or Rasam.

Ingredients

Asparagus - 1 bunch (around 35 no.s) or Beans - 250 gm

Toor Dhal/Thuvaram paruppu - 1 tbsp

Chana Dhal/Kadalai paruppu - 1 tbsp

Red Chili - 2

Hing/Asafoetida - 1/4 tsp

Salt to taste

Oil - 1/2 tbsp - 1 tbsp

Mustard Seeds/Kadugu - a big pinch

Cumin Seeds/Jeeragam - a pinch

Broken Urad Dhal/Ulutam paruppu - 1/2 tsp

Chana dhal - 1/2 tsp
Curry Leaves - few

Method

Add Chana Dhal, Toor Dhal in bowl. Wash it thoroughly and soak it for 1 hr. Drain the water.

In a mixie/blender, add the Dhal, Red Chili, Hing, Salt and grind it to a coarse paste.

Wash Asparagus thoroughly in running water. Discard the wood like bottom part.

Chop the asparagus finely just like you will chop Beans for Beans Usili.

In a skillet add 1 tsp oil. When it is hot add chopped asparagus and fry it until the raw smell disappears.Keep it aside.

    In the same skillet add 2 tsp oil. When it is hot add mustard seeds and let it splutter.
    Add cumin seeds, chana dhal. When chana dhal starts changing color add urad dhal curry leaves.
    Add the coarse chana dhal toor dhal paste and saute for a while. As you fry it will start disintegrating.

Add Asparagus, salt and saute until the dhal blends with asparagus (for 3-4 minutes on a medium low flame). Ensure that Asparagus doesn't shrink too much.
Traditionally Usili is served with Rasam or Sambhar rice.

Giveaway & Event Announcement: Food for 7 Stages of Life - Food for Ailments & Old Age

2010-04-20T20:24:00.000-07:00

Good health is a precious gift. Without it all other gifts taste insipid. When a man gets old he realizes that he has been running around all his life behind wealth and fame and never stopped to savor the good food he was offered. He repents for his mistakes after losing his fourth sense.

This is the last event in the Food for 7 Stages of Life Series. This event might end, but the recipes you have been sending across will remain eternal in our blogs. Thanks to each one of you who contributed your recipes and to all my fellow bloggers who diligently commented on the roundups.

Rules of this event are pretty simple

1. Post any Home remedies (all ages) or recipes for old age people between now and May 25th 2010.

2. You can use any ingredient and send me as many entries you want.

3. Link to My Event announcement and Sudeshna’s Cook like a bong page.

4. No worries if you have the recipes in your archives. You can repost or update the post with a link to my event announcement and Sudeshna’s Cook like a bong page.

5. Do not have a blog, you can still participate in this event. All you need to do is send me your recipe in the Word (doc,docx,rtf) format with a picture of your dish.

6. Send me your entries with the subject line as ‘Food for Ailments and Old Age’ with the below details to foodfor7stagesoflife(at)gmail(dot)com

Your Name:

Recipe Name:

URL of the recipe:

It would be nice if you can display the logo of the event.

Winner and Giveaway

**** The winner will be chosen through Random.org

* 12 of you will enter a mega raffle that would be conducted at the end of this series, of which 7 will be the winner of each month and 5 will be randomly picked up.

* The Winner of the previous editions are Sandhya Hariharan of (twice) and Sadhana and Muskaan of A2Z Vegetarian Cuisine, Nisha of Nisha's Kitchen, Adukalavishesham and PJ of Seduce your Tastebuds. Also I have randomly picked up 3 random winners from the entries I have received so far. They are Priya of Priya's Easy n Tasty Recipes, Ruchika Cooks and Suma of Veggie Platter.

* At the end of this event I will pick up 2 random winners who will enter the raffle along with other winners of this event.

* There is no more surprise as I have a beautiful gift to share. I have picked up two more books for giveaway and the Winner of this event series can choose one of these books -

1. The BloggerAid Cookbook or

2. Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan or

3. Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child

It will be shipped across the world.

* Winner will be announced on May 26th 2010.

South Beach Diet - Phase 1 Menu plan

2010-04-13T21:05:00.000-07:00

Sigh, didn't know how last 2 weeks passed. I have successfully completed the Phase 1 on South Beach Diet without any deviations. Yay! I am able to curb my cravings and eat healthy now. But then the first three days were really exhausting. I was feeling really weak, so I was losing my temper often. Initially I thought I will eat whatever was mentioned in the meal plan on the SBD website with little variations. But it was not possible for me to do that. I started craving for Indian food, so I decided to look into the Indian dishes that I can eat. I got some ideas from Sig's blog and started exploring our cuisine. I tried to fit in the dishes into SBD. Viola! I found that there were umpteen choices that could easily meet SBD diet norms. As per the SBD booklet it says Indian Diet has terrific options for South Beach Dieters. Cool isn't it.

I have decided to copy Sig and share my menu plan and weight loss chart with you guys. Sorry for being a copy-cat Sig. As you said, letting others know will keep us motivated.

Friends, your comments on Baked Chicken has already motivated me, I hope you will keep cheering me up to attain my goal weight.

Without any further yapping, here is my Phase 1 Menu Plan

* Please CLICK on the above picture for a better view
* Indian Butter Milk with little salt and lots of hing (to neutralize the after effect of legumes, I mean the gastric issue)

* Vanilla Yogurt - Yogurt + Few drops of Vanilla Essence + 1 tsp of Agave Syrup
* Apart from this I had 1 cup of Tea in the evening with the regular Sugar ( I don't like the flavor of Artificial sweetener in Tea/Coffee)
* I did workout 4 days :)

Weight Watch

Starting Weight - 165 lb

Weight at the End of Phase 1 - 154.8 lb

Total Weight Lost - 10.2 lb :)) (A big smile)

Target Weight - 130 lb

P.S: Let me know if you have any queries on the Menu Plan.

FF7SL hits a Century!

2010-04-11T13:21:00.000-07:00

I am typing my 100th post. Woo hoo.. It is a Celebration time @ Food for 7 Stages of Life. Millions of Thanks to all my readers and fellow bloggers who have been loyally visiting my blog and leaving valuable comments. This is not a cliche. Your presence motivates me to push harder even in those sore days of my life. When you send me an email saying you liked my recipe, I read it alteast few times. It gives me immense joy and a sense of accomplishment.

When I wrote my first post, I assumed that blogging is all about cooking, writing and posting. I didn't know I can make zillion of good friends here and learn so much that I wouldn't have known otherwise. Yay, "Blogging ki Jai! Bloggers ki Jai! Blog Readers ki Jai!! "
Note: My blog has 99 followers, who is that lucky 100th follower of my blog? Please leave a comment if you are my 100th follower. At this moment I cannot sponsor a fabulous gift but I will send you a beautiful award. Is that deal Ok with you?

On this wonderful occasion I want to treat you visually with these pictures I captured through my lens. If there is something I enjoy beyond food it is Mother Nature. I was able to click few of her wonderful creations, hope you enjoy them as we did.

Love this one, A glimpse of cherry blossoms and Magnolia

Some birds along the Potomac river (I cheated, the second pic of that tiny bird was captured by my dear husband Vasanth)

More Blossoms

Few More

My favorite. I could have send this pic to Ree's Green Photo Contest, just missed it

Ok, Are you hungry after roaming around? Come on in. I have organized a luscious buffet for you. Help yourself by clicking this picture.

Burpp!!! Hope you enjoyed this meal. Visit us again. You might be interested to know what is coming up next on Food for 7 Stages of Life - SBD diet update, Fusion Usili, Food for 7 Stages Event announcement and CWS - Coriander seeds roundup.

Event Roundup: Food for 7 Stages of Life - Tiffin Box & Winner Announcement?

2010-04-08T19:11:00.000-07:00

Well, the much awaited roundup for Food for 7 stages of Life - Tiffin Box is out. This time I am not sharing any stories with you nor I am telling you why it was delayed. My chronicles might distract you from enjoying these wonderful dishes contributed by the extremely talented bloggers(read as chefs). Do come back to see who won this edition of Food for 7 Stages of Life. Keep guessing and yeah I can give you a small clue 'Her recipes will scintillate your taste buds in no time'.

Update: Winner Announcement
Winner of this edition of Food for 7 Stages of Life is PJ of Seduce your tastebuds. Let us hear from PJ:
I am Padmajha Sureshbabu known as PJ to the blogging world. I am a Dietitian and health educator by profession but a stay at home mom for now.I started the blog to do something useful in my free time and now it has become more of a passion to me.

It is often mistaken that if a food has to be healthy it is either tasteless or difficult to prepare.But it is definitely not so.The recipes in my blog show that healthy food is both tasty and easy to prepare.You can also find nutrition articles and tips in blog.

Trying to get the members of your family to eat healthy is really challenging as the kids have a lot of snacks to choose from and the adults who go to work have little or no time to cook.Hence the home maker must use her creativity to churn out yummy stuffs in the kitchen that are healthy and easy to prepare and pack.I also feel that parents are the best role models in eating healthy as children imitate anything and everything the parents do and once parents eat the right food the child follow it without much coaxing..

The reason I include at least 4 dishes in hubby's lunch box is that he takes a very small breakfast coz he has to leave early and hence the i want the lunch box to provide the nutrients to make up for the breakfast.Tasty and nutritious is the mantra I follow while packing the meal and it includes rice[Carbohydrates], sambar/dhal/sundal[Protein],

Rasam,yogurt[protein,Calcium] and vegetable curry,a fruit[Vitamin and minerals].In this way we are able to meet some of the day's nutrient need.

Bulgar Wheat Pilaf from Shankari Eashwaran

Ligurian Shrimp Stew from Cool Lassie

Fabulous Meat Loaf from Cool Lassie

Pasta Pudding from Cool Lassie

Mint Pulao & Carrot n Avocado Raita from Priya

Green Spring Onion Fried Rice from Priya

Stir Fried Chicken Noodles from Priya

Broccoli Curd Rice from Priya

Tofu Fried Rice from Priya

Rajma and Bell Pepper Pulao from Priya

Carrot and Spinach Rice (Microwave) from Priya

Brown Rice Ven Pongal & Green Spring Onions Sambar from Priya

Tomato & Tofu Pulao from Priya

Broccoli Pulao With Vangibhath Powder from Priya

Thai Style Prawns With Bean Sprouts from Priya

Corn & Tofu Pulao & Coconut Free Potato & Peas Kurma from Priya

Spaghetti with Tomatoes & Mushrooms from Priya

Shrimp Fried Rice & Chicken N Broccoli Stir Fry from Priya

Coriander Rice from Jayashree

Poori and Aloo Subzi from Jyothi

Fragrant Stir-Fried Greens and Brown Rice from Meena

South Indian Lunch Box from Priya Srinivasan

Rajma Chawal (Rice with Red Beans)

Oil-free Grilled Taro Colocasia

Vellarikkai Pachadi (Cucumber Raitha)

from Kamala

Wholesome and Healthy Lunch from PJ

Bell Pepper / Capsicum Rice from Priya Srinivasan

Mixed Sprout Brown Rice from Priya Srinivasan

Poori Kurma from Nivedita

Fennel Pilaf rice from Nayna

Moglai Parota from Sayantani

Okra Gojju with Urad dhal Dosa from Asha Arvind

Sambhar Sadam from Jaishree

Rava idli with Carrot and Methi Leaves from Latha Ganesan

Chicken Frittaa from Sudha

Seafood Fried Rice from Sudha

Siam Noodles from Sudha

Mamak Stir fry noodles from Sudha

Pita Pocket from Sudha

Spicy Salmon from Kavitha

Katti roll from Kavitha

Mixed Vegetable Coconut Rice from Kavitha

Fried Rice from Kavitha

Indian style Baked Chicken

2010-04-05T17:46:00.000-07:00

"Nothing tastes as good as being thin feels." How true is this. At least to me it makes lots of sense. Not to boast there were days when my friends said I physically resembled Actress Simran, not pretty wise thou ;-) But today, when I look at myself in the mirror I have grown 6 dress size which is terrible. Thanks to Hypothyrodism and Lack of exercise. Though TH says I still have some of those charm left, I know I will lose them all if I don't take any preventive actions immediately.

I enrolled into a neighborhood gym to burn those extra pounds and even registered for a Personal training with an instructor who was no good (which I found later). To add to my frustration I didn't see any difference in me. This is when I read about the South Beach Diet in Sig's 'Live to Eat' Blog. I was little hesitant to join this programme until I read about the success stories of Sig and fellow South Beach dieters. It was intriguing, then I asked myself. Can I keep up this commitment? Can I follow all the rules? Can I adapt Indian food to my diet? Then I remembered the quote above (first line of this post). So I decided to go on a South beach diet. After registering on SBD website and reading all their articles I fairly had an idea what I should do.
To me, the most important aspect of the diet is to eat what we enjoy. So I am trying to create meals that will suite my Indian tastebuds at the same time I ensure that they are healthy and meet the SBD norms. Indian style Baked Chicken is one such improvisation to the Chicken fry. Hope you enjoy this as we did.

How it tasted?
The aroma of Indian spices filled my home and I couldn't wait to take them out of the oven. Remember I am on diet so ate a small chunk to suppress my cravings. For TH, I sauteed the onions and tomatoes with little indian spices and added the diced chicken to make a simple and quick curry for the roti. I added the small chunks to my salad and savored it as a Indian style Chicken Salad for my lunch. YUMM.

Ingredients

Chicken Breast - 1.4 lb (approx 600 grams) or 3 large breast

Lemon - 1 1/2 tbsp

Cumin Powder - 1/2 tsp

Pepper Powder - 1/2 tsp

Ginger Garlic paste - 1 tsp

Garam masala - 1/2 tsp

Paprika - 1/2 tsp

Chili Powder - 1/2 tsp (If you do not have paprika then make it 1tsp)

Salt to taste

Yogurt - 3 tsp

Canola/Olive Oil - 1-2 tsp (Optional)

Method
1. Cleaning
Clean the chicken breast thoroughly with vinegar or turmeric powder. Pat dry to remove the excess water.

I had 3 huge chicken breasts, so I cut them in to halves. Also It was little thick so I created a small slit in the center(along the breadth). So the chicken breast looked like a (pita) pocket. This will ensure that the marinade gets in to the center of the chicken. If your chicken breast are thin, then I wouldn't suggest you to make a slit along the breadth. Instead you can create couple of .5 cm slit along the length.

2. Marinade

Add the above ingredients except chicken and mix it to a thick paste.

Take a baking tray/cookie tray and line it with a Aluminium foil. If you want you can drizzle some oil/cooking spray on the foil.

Using a brush or your hand spread the marinade to coat the chicken well. If you are creating a slit do spread the marinade inside the pocket.

Place the chicken breast in the freezer and let it marinate for atleast 2 hours or longer.

3. Baking

Preheat the oven to 400F.

Bake the chicken for 10 minutes. Remove it from oven, using a spatula flip it. Baste it with the excess liquid if any. Bake it for another 10-15 minutes or untill the chicken is cooked.

Using a spatula carefully remove them and place it on a plate. Garnish it with cilantro and serve it lemon wedges and onion (sliced into full moon). Serve it immediately as an appetizer with Green chutney or Yogurt dip.

If you are refrigerating the chicken for later use, then ensure that you reheat them on a Tawa drizzling some oil. Microwaving makes the chicken little hard and chewy.

Dixie Stampede Homestyle Cream of Vegetable Soup

2010-03-19T19:44:00.000-07:00

What do you think about spending your vacation in Virgin Islands Beach resort or a Ski resort in Vermont or in the warm shores of Florida? We wanted to visit one of these places during the last Thanksgiving holidays. We did a mega planning but due to the selective loss of memory, we almost forgot to book the hotel and air tickets. LOL. TH tried all his best to get things done at the last moment as he didn't want to disappoint his one and only pretty wife (hey that's me). So he booked a 4 day bus tour to Tennessee and places around. Though I did not set a high expectations for this trip, it ended up being a truly memorable one that we will cherish forever.
Being an ardent nature lover, I love traveling to places where you can feel the nature. I also like to meet people, learn their culture and know what they eat and how they live. So a trip to Tennessee was an opportunity for me to get acquainted to the Dixie style living and their food and also visit places that were very close to the nature.

On the first day we visited Shenandoah Caverns and stayed in a hotel for that night. Next day, we did some Thanks giving shopping at Tanger outlet mall and steered towards Pigeon Forge for a show called Dixie Stampede. Initially I was not interested in paying $50 per person for a Country style food and seeing horses. But TH asked me not to be judgemental so we decided to watch the show.

After a group picture with our bus tour people, we went into the carriage room which happened to be the turning point. The entire atmosphere changed and it was nice to see people dressed up in Dixie style, singing and playing country music. After the gig, we were taken inside a huge arena. I liked how everything was put together there. We were served a four course meal in a Indian style. I mean it, we ate the entire meal by hand and even drank the soup without a spoon just like how we would drink the kheer or the last bit of rasam in the plate. I hope you get the picture of it. I was completely bowled in when they served the soup. It is one of the best soup I have ever had in my life. Then came the corn on the cob, homemade biscuit, Herbed potatoes, Barbequed Pork loin, Rottissiere chicken(cornish hen) and atlast the dessert. I ate everything except the piece of pork just because I don't eat pork. We had a choice to choose between tea, water and soda. Being loyal to water I chose water to accompany this scrumptous meal. This is one of the best American food I have ever had during my stint here.

We want to go back to this place just to have their food and ofcourse to watch their spectacular show. If you get an opportunity do visit this place and enjoy their food and their show. I am sure you will not be disappointed. And vegetarians do not worry, they have a separate menu for you :) (Trust me they didn't pay me a penny to promote them, they don't have to)

Since we came back from this trip we both have been talking about this soup. I even thought of purchasing the soup mix from Dolly's online store. But then I bumped into this recipe. I immediately went to the local supermarket and bought all those ingredients mentioned in the recipe. I didn't want to miss anything because I wanted to experience the same taste.

How it tasted?

The very first time I tried, it came out well. But I had to make some adjustments to the recipe to get the original taste. I made it again after a week with the modified recipe and it turned out PERFECT just like how it tasted @ Dixie Stampede. You can serve this conventionally as a Starter or serve it with a bread and make it a wholesome meal.

And yeah I just remembered, would you like to have my recipes in your inbox or in your reader :) You can also become a fan of Food for 7 Stages of Life in Facebook. I appreciate your interest in my blog and looking forward to get connected with you more often through one of these medium :) OK now are you ready for a STAMPEDE?

Events

This soup found its way to Jagruti's Joyful eating whilst traveling event. Isn't this soup perfect for this event.

Ingredients (Serves 4)

Source: Adapted from Dolly's Dixie Fixins written by Dolly Parton. I found the original recipe here.

Margarine - 3 tbsp (you can replace it with Butter as well)

Onion Powder - 2 1/2 tsp

Garlic Powder - 2 tsp

Corn Syrup - 1 tsp

All purpose flour - 3 tbsp

White pepper - 2 tsp +

Salt

Chicken Broth - 1/2 cup (Vegetarians replace it with Vegetable Broth)

Water - 1 1/2 cup

Cooked Vegetables (Carrots, Corn) - 3/4 cup (I have used frozen vegetables, you can also use fresh or the canned ones)

Half and Half Cream - 1 pint (If you are health conscious you can try using milk)

Fresh Parsley - 1 tbsp finely chopped (I have used fresh Cilantro)

Method in a Nutshell:

1. In a sauce pot, add water and cook the vegetables until tender. Keep the lids closed for faster cooking. The cooking time could vary depending on the type of veggies you use. Frozen ones cooks faster than the fresh ones so keep checking in between to see if the veggie is done.

(OR)

In a pressure cooker, add veggies, water (just enough to soak the vegetables) and pressure cook up to 2 whistles. I have used pressure cooker to reduce the cooking time.

Add Margarine to a sauce pot and allow it to melt on a medium flame. When it is 90% done, reduce the flame to low (really low).

2. Add Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, Corn syrup and stir it for a minute to blend the mixes with the margarine. Ensure that you don't brown it.

3. Then add Flour, 1 tsp Salt, 1 tsp White pepper, Chicken broth, Water, Vegetables and stir it well. Let it cook on a low flame for the next 3 minutes.

4. Add 1 pint of half and half, stir and let it cook for the next 10 minutes on a low flame or until the desired consistency is reached. Keep stirring in between to ensure that the layer does not form on the milk.

5. Chicken Broth contains salt, so taste the soup and add the remaining salt as per your taste. Then add 1 tsp white pepper, stir and serve it hot. We added an extra teaspoon of white pepper as our taste buds are very much Indian :)

6. Bon Appetit and scroll down for a pictorial representation of each step.

Elaborated:

In a sauce pot, add water and cook vegetables until tender. Keep the lids closed for faster cooking. The cooking time could vary depending on the type of veggies you use. Frozen ones cooks faster than the fresh ones so keep checking in between to see if the veggie is done.

(OR)

In a pressure cooker, add veggies, water (just enough to soak the vegetables) and pressure cook up to 2 whistles. I have used pressure cooker to reduce the cooking time.

Add Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, Corn syrup and stir it for a minute to blend the mixes with the margarine. Ensure that you don't brown it.

Then add Flour, 1 tsp Salt, 1 tsp White pepper, Chicken broth, Water, Vegetables and stir it well. Let it cook on a low flame for the next 3 minutes.

Add 1 pint of half and half, stir and let it cook for the next 10 minutes on a low flame. Keep stirring in between to ensure that a layer does not form on the milk.

Chicken Broth is usually salted, so taste the soup first and then add the remaining salt as per your taste. Add white pepper, stir and serve it hot. We added an extra teaspoon of white pepper as our taste buds are very much Indian :)

Roundup: Food for 7 Stages of Life - Healthy Fast Food & Winner Announcement

2010-03-12T17:16:00.000-08:00

I apologize for publishing this round up really late. I was down with flu and in between had to undergo two strenuous and painful dental procedure which screwed me up badly. I have recovered now and feeling much better.

Healthy fast food, does it sound impossible to you? I know you have this question in your mind now, how come fast food can be healthy. If you think I am kidding, then read on. You will find recipes that you could be prepare quickly at the same time make it healthy too. I hope this roundup gives you many ideas to cook a healthy fast food meal for your loving family. I thank all the Bloggers who sent it their contributions. But for you this post would n't have been published.

The roundup is categorized in to two categories - Recipes that can be cooked under 30 minutes and those under 15 minutes. Does it impress you?

Less than 30 Minutes

Oven Baked Fries from AdukalaVishesham
Baked Orange Marmalade N Teriyaki Chicken (Sweet version of Buffalo Wings) from Cool Lassie
Savory Wholewheat Pancakes from Cool Lassie
Boston Baked Beans from Cool Lassie
Bean and Oatmeal Burger from Cool Lassie
Cheesy Baked Potato from Cool Lassie
Sweet and Sour Sesame Vegetables from Nayna
Tofu, Potato and Peas Masala Sandwich from Priya
Cheesy Pizza Swirls from Priya
Chicken and Veggies Tortilla Sandwich from Priya
Easy Egg and Veggies Salad from Priya
Spicy Tofu 65 from Priya
Creamy Potato, Tomato and Dill Salad from Priya
Instand Tortilla Pizza from Divya
Homemade Bean Burritos from Divya
Paneer Calzone from Ruchika
Paneer Bread Roll from Deepa
Loving Heart to win you all Sandwich from Nivedita
No Bake Almond Date Energy Bar from Sadhana
Fruit Salad with Homemade Granola from Sadhana
No Bake healthy Granola Bars from Sadhana
Chana Chat from Muskaan
Veg. Mexican Baja Gortida from Muskaan
Nutritious Mixed Bean Chat/Sundal from Muskaan
Multigrain Mediterranean Wrap from Muskaan
Arisi parupu Sadam from Shama
Jhaalmuri from Rachana
Mini Samosas from Nivedita
Ragi Roti from Spice
Vegetarian Hot Dog from Jyoti
Baked Potato Wedges from Jyoti
Veg Soya Cutlets from Jyoti
Rainbow Salad Meal from Dershana
Banana Buttermilk Pancake from Swathi
Veggie Sandwich from Devi Meyyappan
Ragi Black Chick Pea and Green Mung Bean Pakoda from Sadhana
Macaroni with sprouted Legumes from Kamala Bhoopathy
Palakura Minapa Garelu Vadai from Kalva
Sweet Potato Wraps from Kalaivani Ramasamy
Ragi Puttu from Shama
Ragi Sweet Kozhukkattai from Shama
Ragi Dosai from Shama
Veggie Poha from Nithu Bala
Asaan E Parata from Asha
Toasted Tasty Skiny Sandwiches from Jagruti
Hot n Sour Mochai by Nithu Bala
Chili in Paneer by Ruchika
Baby Corn fry by Priya Srinivasan

Less than 15 Minutes

Chicken Kentucy from Tazaika
Coleslaw Tortilla Wrap from Priya
Sesame Crusted Chicken Strips from Priya
Kiwi Lassi from Priya
Cornflakes and Banana Milkshake from Priya
Fresh Vegetable Sandwich from Priya
Cheesy Rajma Sandwich from Priya
Spicy Mozerella Sandwich from Priya
White Beans, Bellpepper and corn soup from Priya
Easy Egg and Veggies Salad from Priya
Spicy Tofu 65 from Priya
Creamy Potato, Tomato and Dill Salad from Priya
Thai Green Mango Salad from Priya
Chinese Lettuce Wraps with Nutty Sauce from Priya
MW Chunky Red Bellpeppers and Cream Cheese Dip from Priya
MW Carrot and Dill Soup from Priya
Simple Salad with Sesame Seeds Dressing from Priya
Avocado Hummus from Priya
Sesame & Egg Fry from Priya
Avocado Rasam from Priya
Bread Pizza from Divya
Bottlegourd Wraps from Divya
Egg Cheese English Muffin Sandwich from Divya
Baked Spicy Peanuts from Sadhana
Apple Banana Kiwi Coconut Milkshake from Sadhana
Pineapple Salsa Salad from Sadhana
Instant Bread Dosa from Pari
Sub Inspired Vegetable Sandwich from Anitha Konasani
Chili Paratha from Kalaivani Ramasamy
Yellow plum tomato subzi by Nayna

Winner

Let the drums roll, the winner of the Healthy fast food event are the beautiful ladies who blog at Adukalavishesham. They came up with Oven baked fries, a healthy replacement for the regular fries deep fried in oil. This what they have to say about them and their wonderful blog:

Adukalavishesham means "News from kitchen" in Malayalam and this is a venture we started, almost a year ago without knowing much about the blogging world, a decision we are thoroughly happy about. We are friends cum home makers and more than that passionate foodies who enjoy making n trying new things each time. We both hail from North Malabar and the recipes on our blog space do see an influence of that. We hope to continue our efforts in sharing all our classic family recipes and many more we create in our little kitchen.

P.S: If you want to know what you are feeding your family, then watch Food Inc. It is a must watch documentary movie.

Event Annoucement: Cooking with Seeds - Coriander Seeds

2010-03-04T17:50:00.000-08:00

Who in this blogosphere not know Priya of Priya's Easy and Tasty Recipes. She is truly a super chef and fascinates me every time I visit her blog. Just look at her recipe index, you will know what I am talking about. She flawlessly mixes and matches the ingredients to create a truly unique and tasty recipe. Hats off Priya.

When she announced a new event series in her blog and invited guest hosts, I quickly ;-) wrote back to her and said hey I want to host this interesting event in my blog. At least one time I quickly reacted to something :) Thanks a bunch Priya, it is a honor to host this event.

My dad and My husband both says this when you have less clothes in your wardrobe it is easy to pick what you want to wear. Initially picking the seed wasn't that easy when I had zillion of choices in front of me. But I had to pin down and chose CORIANDER Seeds. Ain't it exciting to cook with this such a flavorful seed in your kitchen. Come on dream about it. YUMM YUMM. I am already thinking about a rich and creamy hot curry, a flavorful rice, a cuppa hot chai and maybe even a dessert. OK, let us wear our apron, get those kitchen gears and start cooking something really nice for this event.

Guidelines:

Post any dish cooked with Coriander Seeds between now and 4th April 2010.

You can cook both Vegetarian and Non-Vegetarian and send me as many entries you want.

Link to My Event announcement and Priya’s Event Announcement page.

No worries if you have the recipes in your archives. You can repost or update the post with a link to my post and Priya's post.

Do not have a blog, you can still participate in this event. All you need to do is send me your recipe in the Word (doc,docx,rtf) format with a picture of your dish.

Send me your entries with the subject line as ‘CWS - Coriander Seeds’ with the below details to foodfor7stagesoflife(at)gmail(dot)com / foodfor7stagesoflife@gmail.com

Your Name:

Your Blog Name:

Recipe Name:

URL of the recipe:

Picture of your recipe (Optional)

It would be nice if you can display the logo of the event.

Blackberry, Strawberry & Carrot Salad with a hint of crushed Almonds and Peanuts

2010-02-26T21:34:00.000-08:00

When I think about writing a post, lots of ideas pop up in my mind. But when I sit in front of my Mac it gets really hard to put them together. Even this time I have 3 different topics that I could share with you. But then I have a 'Writing Syndrome' which makes the whole thing very very complicated. I sometimes feel J when I read some of the blogs. They have never ending list of words that they play around with and put their thoughts and emotions easily into their writing. I seriously wish that God blesses me with this 'ABILITY' to write seamlessly. So should I wait until God blesses me or should I take some initiative. Having known the Inner me, I would opt for the first one ;-) but then my god damn IT mind pushes me to take some initiative(s)... sobs....with all the learning I hope someday I can write a book on 'HOW TO WRITE?' The same thing happens to me when I start thinking about what I should cook, though I have lots of complicated recipes I often opt for the easy ones like this salad. It is a simple and highly nutritious salad filled with lots of Antioxidants from the berries. Also I have used a hint of Agave to sweeten the salad. You can use Honey if you don't have Agave at home.

Agave (source:wholeandnatural.com)

Agave is natural sweetener used as a substitute for Sugar and Honey. This nectar is extracted from a Cactus plant predominantly grown in Mexico. The sap of this plant is taken and heated in low temperatures to get the sweetness in the syrup. Basically some chemical reactions occurs which makes the carbs to break into fructose.

- Thou the promoters of this product say that it is good for Diabetic patients, researchers say that it is rich in fructose which is big No No for this patients.

- Agave has low Glycemic index and we use them in small quantities. Hence our calorie intake is less compared to those sugar filled dishes.

- Agave is Organic and Kosher certified also it is allergen and gluten free which makes it very famous among the Raw food eaters.

Culinary Use:

- 1/3 cup of Agave syrup = 1 cup Sugar. So substitute in your recipe accordingly.

- Reduce the quantity of liquid in original recipe as agave has some moisture content in it.

- Reduce the oven temperature by 25 F if your recipe requires baking.

- Agave is a bliss to Vegans as they can replace honey with this syrup.

How it tasted?

It can be prepared in jiffy and served as a side salad with a regular meal or just as a evening snack. I had it before my dinner meal. It was hearty and very light to my tummy. I loved the concoction of Agave and almonds with the fruits. Carrot and Nuts gave some crunchiness while the berries just melted in my mouth. TH doesn't eat berries much, but he loved this salad and said he liked the sweet thingy(Agave) in it. He definitely wants me to make this again for him :) I knew almonds and peanuts will make him go nuts about it :) but didn't know he will fall in love for Agave.

Serves 2 as a side salad - Preparation Time : 10 minutes

Ingredients
   Strawberry - 8 sliced
   Blackberry - 12
   Carrot - 3 tbsp sliced
   Almonds - 4 (Yields 1 - 1 1/2 tbsp when crushed)
   Peanuts - 4 (Yields 1 tbsp when crushed)
   Organic Blue Agave (Natural Sweetener) - 2 - 3 tsp as per your taste bud (Alternate Ingredient: Honey)

Method
    1. Cut strawberries in to thin slices. Start from one end and cut it vertically. It will look like a heart symbol on some perfectly shaped strawberries.
    2. Decorate it on a plate or place the fruits and sliced carrots in a large salad bowl.
    3. Crush the almonds and peanuts separately using a pestle n mortar or if you don't have one use your blender and run it for couple of seconds until they become small chunks. Do not powder it. Sprinkle the crushed almonds and peanuts. Add 1 or 2 tsp of Agave and Serve it immediately.

Have you recently posted any recipes which you could pack them up for lunch, then why wait, pack them up for my Tiffin Box event in FF7SL series. Deadline is 5th March 2010. Looking forward for your contribution.

Events

- This colorful salad is being sent to PJ for her No Cook Event...
- This is my family's favorite salad, hence it found its way to Shama's Family's Favorite Food event.

Khasta Kachori - Irresistible Savory

2010-02-15T20:56:00.000-08:00

So far this is one of the best and toughest challenges in ICC. I say this for two reasons 1. The frying time of this Indian chat will test your patience. 2. But hard work never fails. The end result is addictive, yummilicious and irresistible Kachori's. Thanks to Srivalli for picking up this recipe for Feb challenge and special Thanks to Medha for sharing her Aunt's recipe.

How it tasted?

When I was still frying the kachori's, I asked my hubby to taste one of them (TH is the quality control engineer in our home ) He had one and came back immediately asking for another one. We finished all the 12 kachori's in no time.
'A perfect kachori is one that is puffed up and flaky outside but hollow inside as the filling sticks to the crust.'.

Mine was just too perfect. It puffed up so beautifully and the fillings stuck to the crust. And if you ask me if I will make this again, my answer is definitely 'YES'.

Recipe Source: Medha and Tarla Dalal

Mattar ki Kachori

Resting Time for the Dough - 30 minutes
Frying time for Kachoris - Approximately 20 mins for each batch.
Cooking Time for the Filling - Approximately 15 mins
Yields - 15 approximately

For the Dough/Crust

Ingredients Needed

      All purpose flour / Maida - 2 cups
      Oil or Ghee - 1/4 cup (I have used Ghee)
      Salt - 1/2 tsp
      Cold Water for kneading

Method

Mix the flour and salt, Add oil/ghee and mix till you get a bread crumbs texture.

Slowly add water and make a soft dough. Knead well for about 8 minutes.

Cover and keep aside to rest for at least half hour. I covered it with damp kitchen towel.

Special Tips / Notes for the dough

Keep the dough covered at all times, if not it will dry up and not puff up when frying. If the dough is made right wet cloth can be used if not just a towel.
The dough could spring back for many reasons:

              Dough is too cold (If wet cloth is used)
              Dough is not soft enough.
              Not kneaded for enough time.
              Oil is less.
              Not rested enough.

Fillings

Ingredients Needed

2 cups green peas
1 teaspoon green chillies, chopped
1 teaspoon ginger, grated
1/2 teaspoon nigella seeds (kalonji)
2 teaspoons fennel seeds (saunf)
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon garam masala
4 tablespoons chopped coriander
2 tablespoons oil
Salt to taste

Method

Coarsely grind the green peas,green chillies and ginger in a blender without using any water. Keep aside. I added some finely chopped onions at the end and ran the mixie/blender for 5 seconds.

Heat the oil in a pan,add the nigella seeds, fennel seeds, bay leaves and ground green pea mixture and saute over a very slow flame for 8 to 10 minutes.

Add the chilli powder, garam masala, coriander and salt and saute for 2 more minutes. Remove the bay leaves and discard. Divide into 12 equal portions. I used 1 tsp of filling for each crust.

Special Tips / Notes for the filling

The fillings have to be really dry if not when rolling they will ooze out when rolling.
Adjust the masalas according to your taste. What is given in this recipe is spicy to the extent one can still enjoy. I did not add green chili and reduced the quantity of chili powder (the one I have is really hot, even a little would spice up the food) to suite our taste buds. Since it is served with chutney it was ok for us.
If you try to press out using a rolling pin, the filling may come out and make holes in the kachori. So it will have to be just pressed out using your palm. I have used my palm and fingers to make them.
Fry the kachori's on medium low to get a crisp outer layer, that is the key. For people using electric stove, the numbers can be going from 6 to 4.

To Make Kachori's

Make a small ball from the dough.

Roll out into a 2 inch diameter circle. Or flatten the ball using your fingers having the center thick and sides little thin. I used my palm and fingers to flatten it.

Place about 1.5 tsp (I used 1 tsp) of the filling in the center of the rolled dough.

Cover the filling with the dough by slowly stretching it over the filling.

Seal the ends and remove excess dough. Repeat with all the balls and keep aside for 5 -7 mins.Then using your palm, flatten the balls by lightly pressing it, as using the rolling pin will make the filling come out. (See notes below). (I sealed them completely and pressed the center with my thumb so that the sealing blends with the crust.)

Keep aside covered. Repeat with the remaining dough.
Meanwhile heat some oil for deep frying. The oil should not become smoking hot. Test to see if the temperature is right by dropping a tiny ball of dough and see if it is rising slowly to the top.
Drop the kachoris in batches of 3-4 gently into the oil. It should rise up slowly. If you don't want to use lot of oil, use just enough for two or three at a time and fry them.
After it rises up (about 2 minutes), turn it over.
Cook for about 6 to 10 minutes till the side down gets a golden brown color.
Turn and cook the other side for another 6 minutes or till its golden brown in color.

Remove when done, cool and store in airtight container.
Serve with coriander chutney and tamarind chutney or just plain ketchup. I served it with Coriander Mint Chutney and Ketchup.

Special Tips / Notes for making the Kachoris:

You can fry 3 kachori's at a time.
The oil should be at a heat when you drop some dough it should come up slowly, if the dough comes up too fast the oil is too hot, if it does not come up then the oil is cold.
It will not be crisp if the oil is too hot.
This takes really long time to get cooked, so be prepared.
Would recommend Ghee for kneading instead of oil or you can use 50 % ghee and 50 % oil as I did :)

You can also use Moong dhal filling or Onion (Pyaz) filling using the same recipe/instructions. Instead of Matter filling replace it with Moong dhal or Pyaz.

Khasta Kachori - Moong Dal Kachori

Ingredients Needed

Split Moong Dal (yellow) - 1/2 cup
Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp
Hing / Asafoetida - a pinch
Curry Leaves - 2 tsp chopped fine (opt)
Green Chilli - Ginger paste - 1 tsp
Sauf / Fennel seeds powder - 1 tsp
Garam Masala - 1/2 tsp
Red Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
Mango powder / Amchur - 1 tsp
Oil - 1 tsp
Salt to taste

Method

1. Wash and Soak dal in water for at least 1 hour. You can go upto 4 hours not more.
2. Drain the water well.
3. Grind the dal to a coarsely. (Will resemble Idli Rawa)
4. Heat oil in a pan.
5. Add the hing and cumin seeds.
6. Once the seeds splutter add the curry leaves.
7. Add the dal.
8. Lower the heat and keep stirring for 5 minutes till the dal stops sticking to the pan.
9. Cook for another 10 minutes on low till the dal turns slightly brown.
10. Add all the masalas.
11. Cook for few minutes till the aroma of the spices hit you.
12. Add Salt.
13. Remove from heat and keep aside to cool.

Pyaz Ki Kachori

Ingredients Needed

2 cups onions, finely chopped
1 teaspoon nigella seeds (kalonji)
2 teaspoons fennel seeds (saunf)
2 bay leaves
1½ teaspoons green chillies, finely chopped
2 tablespoons Bengal gram flour (besan)
2 teaspoons coriander (dhania) powder
2 teaspoons chilli powder
1 teaspoon garam masala
3 tablespoons chopped coriander
2 tablespoons oil
Salt to taste

Method

Heat the oil in a pan. Add the nigella seeds, fennel seeds, bay leaves, green chillies and onions and sauté till the onions turn light brown in colour.
Add the gram flour, coriander powder, chilli powder, garam masala and salt and sauté for 2 to 3 minutes.
Add the chopped coriander and mix well. Remove the bay leaves and discard. Allow the mixture to cool completely.
Divide into 12 equal portions and keep aside.

Event Announcement: Food for 7 Stages of Life -

2010-02-10T15:26:00.000-08:00

(Disclaimer: Some or Most modern men wouldn't fit in to these lines.)

"And then the justice,
In fair round belly with good capon lin'd,
With eyes severe and beard of formal cut,
Full of wise saws and modern instances;
And so he plays his part."

How beautifully Shakespeare has written about the middle aged men. In this stages of life man tends to have a round belly but still they appear neat with formals and trimmed beard :) They are full of ego, feel superior and assume they are knowledgeable. This is what the poet wrote :) Now, think about a man between 35-55 years and read the above lines again.

I don't want to get into a debate now if this is true or not. Let me come back to this month's event. When I was trying to associate this stage with the event of the month(Lunch box Ideas), I had a hard time in deciding the title. So I started listing the props that these men would use, and this is what first came in my mind 'TIFFIN BOX or LUNCH BOX'. My imagination was only limited to this.. lol. This is why I posted a Guess game in my blog, to know what you all think these Middle aged men would use. And Thanks for the interesting answers each one of you gave.

According to wiki:

"Tiffin is lunch, or any light meal. It originated in British India, and is today found primarily in Indian English.The word originated when Indian custom superseded the British practice of an afternoon dinner, leading to a new word for the afternoon meal"

Lunch box is usually referred as Tiffin box in India.

The rules of this event are fairly simple.

Rules:

Post any lunch box recipe between now and 5th March 2009 11.59 pm EST.

It could be a simple meal or an eloborate 4 course meal (Ideal for the 4 tier tiffin box :) ).

It would be nice if you can make them healthy.

You can use any ingredient and send me as many entries you want.

Link to My Event announcement and Sudeshna’s Cook like a bong (co-host of this event) page.

No worries if you have the recipes in your archives. You can repost or update the post with a link to my event announcement and Sudeshna’s Cook like a bong page.

Do not have a blog, you can still participate in this event. All you need to do is send me your recipe in the Word (doc,docx,rtf) format with a picture of your dish.

Send me your entries with the subject line as ‘Food for 7 stages of Life – Tiffin Box(35-55 yrs)’ with the below details to foodfor7stagesoflife(at)gmail(dot)com / foodfor7stagesoflife@gmail.com

Your Name:

Your Blog Name:

Recipe Name:

URL of the recipe:

Picture of your recipe (Optional)

It would be nice if you can

Display the logo of the event.

Winner & Giveaways**** Going forward the winner will be chosen by Raffle method or through Random.org, this is applicable from Kids Special Event. This decision was made due to some bad experience with the polling method.

12 of you will enter a mega raffle that would be conducted at the end of the series, of which 7 will be the winner of each month and 5 will be randomly picked up. The winner will receive a surprise gift. It will be shipped across the world. The Winner of the previous editions are Sandhya Hariharan of Sandhya's Kitchen and Sadhana & Muskaan of A2Z Vegetarian Cuisine, Nisha of Nisha's Kitchen .

There is no more surprise as I have a beautiful gift to share. The Winner of this event series will receive "The BloggerAid Cookbook" and it will be shipped across the world.

It is not done yet. Sudeshna came up with a wonderful idea that we should compile the event series into an e-book. So your recipes will feature in this e-book which will be available for free download at the end of this event. The e-book will have a short write up on each author and a special article on the winner of the series. Ofcourse we need your consent to publish your recipe in our e-book.

Guess??

2010-02-09T17:27:00.000-08:00

Look at the cartoon below, I know you could get reminded of a clergy or a justice or middle aged man or even a obese man..

image source:http://public-domain.zorger.com

But my question is What are the props that you will associate with this person? Think Think Think... and let me know what is in your mind.....

Clue: This is related to my next post :)

Ennai Kathirikkai (Eggplant Shallow fried with Home made Spice Powder)

2010-01-31T13:56:00.000-08:00

I know most of your mouth waters just by hearing the name Ennai Kathirikkai. "One of the most yummy and sought after dish in South India".There are umpteen recipes for this delicacy and this one is from Amma's one and only cook book Lifco's 'Samaipathu Eppadi?' (means How to Cook?).

Amma gave me this book when I came to U.S after my marriage. This is what she said 'This one has all the basic recipes you might want to cook everyday, they are simple and tasty.' She knew her pampered daughter will definitely need this book as she hardly stepped into the kitchen to learn the everyday cooking from her Mom. This is the first time I used this book and I am completely happy with the results just as my Mom. Ennai Kathirikkai is traditionally served with Rice and curries. You can also serve it with rotis as well.
How does it taste?
No words to explain how good it tasted. Amma was correct about this book. I am gonna try more recipes from this book. You must make this to experience it yourself. It is super delicious and my mouth literally waters when I am writing this :)

Can't wait for this recipe? let us go look into it without further delay...

Ingredients

Eggplant/Brinjal - 4 (200 gms approx)

Oil - 4 tbsp

Mustard Seeds/Kadugu - 1/4 tsp

Cumin Seeds/Jeeragam - Pinch [Optional]

Curry Leaf - 3-5 [Optional]

For Spice Powder/ Podi:

Red Chili/Varamilagai - 3

Channa Dhal/Kadala Paruppu - 1/2 tsp

Whole Urad Dhal/Uluttam Paruppu - 1/2 tsp

Hing/Perungayam - little less than 1/4 tsp

Coriander Seeds/Dhania - 1/2 tsp

Method

Multi-purpose Spice Powder

Dry roast the ingredients mentioned in the 'For Spice Powder/ Podi' section. Allow it to cool and grind it to a fine powder in a blender/mixie adding salt. This recipe recommends the use of solid type of Hing. Since I didn't have it at home, I have used the L.G hing powder. Dust the hing powder on a plate, add 1 or 2 drop of water and try to put them together. It easily absorbs water and gives you a solid hing effect. This podi/powder can be used with other vegetables like potato, bitter gourd, yam etc., for Poriyal, Varuval preparations.

Shallow Frying

Wash and cut the brinjal/eggplant in to 4 pieces. I have tried to retain its stem.

In a skillet/pan, add 2 tbsp of oil. When it is hot add mustard seeds and let it splutter. Then add a pinch of cumin seeds and few curry leaves.

When it sizzles add eggplant and saute until it cooks and becomes tender. The entire cooking must be done on a medium low flame. Otherwise, the the outer skin of eggplant will cook too fast and it will be still raw in the center. Add 1 tbsp of oil as you saute.

Just to confirm that the eggplant is cooked properly, pierce a toothpick or the curry leaves stem in the center. If it pierces easily then it is cooked, if it is hard to pierce then cook it for some more time.

When it is 90% tender, add the spice powder/podi, 1 tbsp of oil and mix it well with the eggplants. The powder/podi must coat all the brinjals. Cook for couple of minutes until the brinjal becomes tender and the podi coats well on the eggplants.

You will see the oil leaving the pan then remove from flame and close the pan with a lid. Let it stay for a while so that the masala absorbs well into the eggplants.

You might like this:

Brinjal Rice, Cabbage Poriyal, Sundal, Urulai Kilangu Podimas, Pavakkai Fry

Ongoing Events:

Do you know how to make a healthy fast food meal with in 30 minutes? Then hurry and send in your entries before 11.59 pm 5th Feb 2010. For more details click here.

Round up: In love with Delectable Desserts, Pastries & Ice Creams

2010-01-25T13:26:00.000-08:00

Let us sneak a peek into the 'Desserts' I have been virtually feasting on. Thank you all for contributing your luscious entries for this event. They are truly delectable. And if you would like to know who the winner of the month is, please scroll all the way down through this mouthwatering entries.

I have classified the roundup into 4 categories (click the link to browse)

1. Mithai(Indian Sweets, Kheer/Pudding et all)

2. Cake

3. Pastries

4. Ice cream

Mithai

Rava Kesari from Lubna (Yummy Food)
Chocolate Walnut Burfi from Priya Swaminathan(Mumbaikar at Heart)
Chocolate Raspberry Pudding from Mansi Desai(Fun Food and Cafe)
Badam Kheer from PJ(Seduce your taste buds)
Carrot Halwa (micro wave) from PJ(Seduce your taste buds)
Gajar ka Halwa from Sudeeshna(Cook like a bong)
Fruit Custard from Divya(Dil se..)
Mango Pudding from Nithi(Fourth Sense Samaiyal)
Frozen Elani from Nithi(Fourth Sense Samaiyal)
Badam Cake from Ramya(Susvaad)
Beetroot Kheer from Nithu(Nithu's Kitchen)
Carrot Kheer from Nithu(Nithu's Kitchen)
Vermicelli Payasam from Nithu(Nithu's Kitchen)
Rice Pudding from Deepti(Dip's Kitchen)
Palada Pradhaman from Swati(Zesty South Indian Kitchen)

Edible Rose Garden from Tina(A Home Maker's Diary)
Jello Mango Parfait from Sowjanya(Ruchika cooks)
Coconut Flavored Wheat Halwa from Dershan(The FootLoose Chef)
Insatiable Basundi from Jayashree(Jayashree's Blog)
Creamy Custard from Jayashree(Jayashree's Blog)
Nutty Marrie Biscuit Dessert from Sharmilee(In my passionate world)
Kesar Badam Kheer from Cilantro(Cilantro)
Eggless Fatless Vegan Christmas Pudding from Harini(Beyond Curries)

**************************************

Cakes
Black Forest Cake from Faiza(Faiza Ali's Kitchen)
My First Cake from Food Lover(Its all about Food lovers)
Chocolate Cake from Nayna(Simply Food)
Princess Cup Cake from Nayna(Simply Food)
Christmas Condensed Milk Dry Fruits and Nuts Cake from Priya(Priya's Easy n Tasty Recipes)
Chunky Apple & Chocolate Yogurt Cake from Priya(Priya's Easy n Tasty Recipes)
Chocolate Yule Log Cake from Priya(Priya's Easy n Tasty Recipes)
French King Cake from Priya(Priya's Easy n Tasty Recipes)

Chunky Apple Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting from Prasu(My Culinary World)
Coffee-less Coffee Cake from Pari(Foodelicious)
Christmas Fruit Cake from Divya(Dil Se..)
Fruit n Nut Cake from Tina(A Home Maker's Diary)
Orange and Coconut Marble Cake from Aps(Aps Kitchen)
Zebra Cake from Aps(Aps Kitchen)
Vanilla n Strawberry Cake from Aps(Aps Kitchen)
Apple and Date Cake from Sowjanya(Ruchika cooks)
Walnut and Chocolate Chip Cake from Arundhuti(Gourmet Affair)
Eggless Alcohol Free Fruit n Nut Cake from Koki(Cooking with Koki)
Pom ShortCake from Nisha(Nisha's Kitchen)
Eggless Chocolate Indulgence Layer Cake from Sandhya(Sandhya's Kitchen)
Plum Cake/Rich Fruit Cake from Swati(Zesty South Indian Kitchen)
Spiced Persimmon Cake from Renu(Renu's Kitchen)
Chocolate chip banana pudding cake from Sheba(Art Food and Travel Chronicles)
Eggless Banana Marble Cake from Spice(Spice Buds)

*************************************

Pastries
Chocolate Truffle from Sadhana(A2Z Vegetarian Cuisine)
Eggless Almond Vanilla Cookies from Nayna(Simply Food)
Saffron Kissed Strawberry Muffins from Mansi Desai(Fun Food and Cafe)
Eggless Oats Brownies from Priya(Priya's Easy n Tasty Recipes)
Chocolate Mousse from Priya(Priya's Easy n Tasty Recipes)
Vanilla Waffles from Priya(Priya's Easy n Tasty Recipes)
Vegetable Filo Pastry from Sudha(Malaysian Delicacies)

************************************

Ice Creams

Mango Kesar Kulfi from Prasu(My Culinary World)

Winner of the month is Nisha of Nisha's Kitchen. Please join me in congratulating her and let us hear from her now:

Nisha talks...Everyone has a different style in the kitchen and mine is traditional Indian food from any where in India and my recipes reflect the same. I was fortunate enough to have a mom who involved us in small kitchen tasks from a very young age without forcing us to learn to cook and so when my turn came to take charge in kitchen i had basics to build up on and is still learning.And my husband and in-laws encouraged my experiments in kitchen and that resulted in my blog which is a collection of recipes from Mom,Girija aunty and Mom in Law and now other blogger friends too.

P.S: The Winner was chosen by Random.org

Sweet Potato Methi Cutlet (Baked)

2010-01-16T16:45:00.000-08:00

OMG... this cutlet tastes so divine. I was little skeptical when I picked up the sweet potatoes from the grocery store. But I knew what I had to do with this. I thought of blending the orangish and sweetish sweet potato and the bitterish and greenish methi leaves(fenugreek leaves/vendhaya keerai) with some flavorful Indian spices and bake it in the oven to make luscious cutlets. Sounds mouth watering isn't it?

How it tasted?

If you want to know how it tasted, the cutlets you see in the pic are the last 3 pieces that I saved it from my hubby to click pictures during daylight. They tasted super delicious and we literally licked the plate :) I would say it was a concoction of different taste: hotness from green chili, sweetness from sweet potatoes, bitterness from fenugreek leaves, tanginess from Amchur Powder, sweet and pungent taste from fennel seeds. It also smelt like parupu vadas due to the presence of fennel seeds. You can avoid using fennel seeds if you don't like to chew it in your cutlet. But I loved the flavor of baked fennel seeds. Trust me it had an awesome flavor. Also I guess baking and presence of sweet potatoes helped to reduce the bitterness of Methi leaves. The bitterness was only a background taste.
Events
This goes all the way to Siri's blog for the JFI-Fennel Seeds event. JFI is the brainchild event of Indira of Mahanandi and it stand for Jhiva for Ingredients. This cutlets are apt for this event as I have developed Jhiva for Fennel Seeds and Sweet Potatoes.

Ingredients Trivia

Recently I read a wonderful article on Fenugreek in DK's Chef in you blog. Check out her space to learn the basics, benefits and how to use the various forms of fenugreek in your everyday cooking.

For the uses and benefits of Sweet potatoes, check out this link.
Ingredients
Sweet Potato - 2
Methi/Fenugreek Leaves/Vendhaya Keerai - 3/4 cup
Onion - 1/4 (medium) finely chopped or Shallots - 6-7 chopped
Green Chili - 2 finely chopped
Amchur Powder/Dry Mango Powder - 1/2 tsp
Chat Powder - 1/2 tsp
Fennel Seeds/Saunf - 1/2 tsp
Cumin Powder - 1/2 tsp
Cilantro/Coriander Leaves - handful
Bread Crumbs - 1/4 cup (add more if needed)
Ginger - 1 tsp chopped
Asafoetida/Hing - 1/8 tsp
Pepper Powder - 1/4 tsp
Salt to taste
Oil/Cooking Spray
Method
Boil Sweet Potatoes
In a pressure cooker, add salt and water to cover 1/3 the length of sweet potato and cook it for 3 whistles. 2 whistles should be good if you don't want it to be very tender. Once the steam releases open the lid, drain the water and allow it to cool. Then peel the skin off.
Baking

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Take a large baking try(I have used cookie try) and drizzle some oil or cooking spray. Spread it all over.

In a large bowl, add sweet potatoes and mash it with your hands or a potato masher.

Add finely chopped onions/shallots, methi leaves, green chili, salt and mix.

Add rest of the ingredients except bread crumbs and oil. Mix it well.

Divide it in equal parts and make small lemon size balls.

Take 1 ball at a time in your hand and spread it into a circle with your thumb. If you find this difficult, take a small plastic bag or ziploc, place the ball on it and slowly spread it in to a small circle without breaking it (3-3.5 cm). Then coat both the sides with bread crumbs and also along the circumference of the cutlet and place it on the tray.

Again spread it little bit and even the sides with your finger or a knife. I have used my beautiful fingers ;-).

Don't make it too thin or too thick, around 1 cm thickness should be good.

Sprinkle 1 or 2 tbsp of the remaining bread crumbs over it and bake it in the oven for 10 minutes.

Remove the tray and slowly flip the cutlets and bake it for another 5 minutes. Then broil it for 2 minutes and turn off the oven. Let it stay for a while.

Serve it with ketchup or with a dip of your choice.

[OPTIONAL] If you would like some smoky flavor and steak like presentation, place the baked cutlet on the chappati maker/grill and toast it for a minute or two. Ensure that you don't burn the cutlet.

I liked the smoky effect on the cutlet, it was absolutely delicious.

Moong Dhal Halwa

2010-01-15T22:26:00.000-08:00

Moong Dhal halwa - Though this was completely new to me, TH & I completely liked the flavor and taste of this halwa. Thanks Srivalli for choosing Simran's recipe for this month's ICC.

Ingredients

Split (Yellow) Moong dhal - 1 cup
Ghee - 1/2 cup
Sugar - 3/4 cups to 1 cup (as per your taste)
Milk - 1/2 cup
Cashews/ raisins roasted in ghee for garnish.
Saffron - 1/8 tsp (Optional)

Method

Soak moong dal overnight or 8 hrs.

Grind to a smooth paste adding some water.
Heat the Kadai, with 1/2 of the ghee.
When it melts, add dhal paste and stir continuously so that lumps does not 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 milk in a pan and bring to a boil. Add this slowly to the cooking dhal.
Keep the flame low at all times and break lumps if formed while adding milk.

Cook until the ghee surfaces.

Garnish with cashews and raisins.

Notes:

1. Use a thick bottom pan or nonstick pan

2. Don't leave the halwa unattended. The dal can stick and it can go from just done to burnt in a second so keep stirring as much as possible. You should remember to keep stirring to prevent dhal from sticking irrespective of the ghee added.

3. I have used 1/4 cup of the dhal and reduced the other ingredients accordingly. But still I needed close to 1/2 cup of ghee and 1/2 cup of milk to attain the halwa texture.

Mixed Berries Jam/Preserves and a Dessert

2010-01-08T20:42:00.000-08:00

When life gives you berries, make preserves :) Phew.. I didn't know it was so easy to make jams or preserves at home. The process is fairly simple unless you are planning to do the canning process to preserve them. Even then I wouldn't say it is cumbersome if you can get the canning jars ahead.
To contradict my previous statements, it took almost 3 weeks to make this jam and another 3 weeks to take pics and publish it. Thinking what the hell this girl did for 1008 hours(I had to take the help of calculator get this number..lol). I bought the berries and put it in the freezer for couple of days. Oops, it is not part of the recipe but I was just waiting for the auspicious time to make it (am pretending that I am not lazy...lol..). When I bought Pectin and made the jam, I realized that I almost made 4-5 Kissan bottle size jam(people who do not know what Kissan Jam is please click here), which means I don't have to buy jam for the next 6 months. Wow, but it was not easy to keep them longer. So I had to devise a new strategy to preserve it. This new process required something called canning or preserving jars. Since I didn't even know how it looked, I did a Cut + Paste of the jam from the sauce pan into an airtight container and locked it in the freezer. To my dismay the jars were not available in the local super market and Walmart. A week later, I found them in 24 hrs Walmart in Virginia when our tour bus stopped(We were off to Tennessee & Virginia on a Chinese Bus Tour) and let us do some Thanksgiving shopping. When we got back home, I was terribly tired and since I knew that my Jam was safe in the freezer I further delayed the canning process. But at last, on one fine evening I took the canning jars out and finely did the preserving process. So this explains why I took 3 damn weeks to prepare jam. But when this was over I didn't find any time and energy to click picture or write a post. Hence it took another 3 weeks to get this out of my drafts.

Source: This recipe is inspired from the Sure Jell Pectin box and from various sources on Internet.

Ingredients

[yields 4-5 jam bottles (Medium Smuckers or Kissan jam bottles) ]
Cranberry - 12 oz
Raspberry - 12 oz
Blackberry - 6 oz
Lemon Juice - 1 tsp
Sugar - 5-7 cup
Water - 1/2 cup
Sure Jell Pectin - 1 box

For the Dessert:
Ritz Salt Crackers

How to make it

Crush the berries using a potato masher or a spatula.
In a thick bottomed sauce pan, add 1/2 cup of water, crushed fruit, lemon juice. Stir and let it cook on a medium flame for 20 minutes.

Add sugar (I have added 5 cups, you can add or reduce as per your taste buds) and stir it well. Let it boil for another 10 minutes. (Sure Jell Pectin recomments 8 cups of sugar for 1 box of pectin)

Slowly add pectin while stirring. Mix it well. You can see that the fruit mixture starts coagulating. On a low flame cook for another 5-10 minutes until it gets into a jam consistency.

Canning
The Canning process is really simple. I promise to come back with a step by step procedure to explain this process. Please give me some time to procure another set of jars from the store.

Step 1: Buy Canning/Preserving Jars
Step 2: Boil water in a huge Saucepan, when it just hot enough (should not boil), dip the bottles (without the lid and band) and sterilize them. Remove it immediately and wipe them with clean towel. Ensure that the jars are dry. You can also place the jars in Microwave for 10-15 seconds to dry or warm them. This also prevents the jar from breaking.
Step 3: Using a ladle or spoon fill the jar with jam leaving 1/4 inch of head space and immediately close it with the lid and band.
Step 4: Dip the bottle in the boiling water and let it stay for 10 minutes. Remove the jars and let it stay in a cool place for 24 hrs.
Step 5: After 24 hrs, to confirm if you have the done the canning process perfectly, do this simple test. Press the center of the lid with your finger, if it does not flex up and down you are good to go, but if does flex up and down and you hear the cracking noise of the lid then re do step 4 or put them in the refrigerator.
Step 6: To be on a safer side, I have put the canned jars in my freezer :)

For the Dessert

Take 1/4 t.spoon of RV's Jam and spread it over the Ritz Crackers. Close it with another cracker and your Sweet and Salty Sandwich Cracker is Ready in minutes. I will give 10/10 for this instant dessert I made.

Event Announcement: Food for 7 Stages of Life - Healthy Fast Food

2010-01-07T21:15:00.000-08:00

I am still experiencing the post-holiday blues. Are you experiencing the same? Are you still thinking about the time spent with your family, friends or kids at a skiing resort or a theme park or even at home sweet home? Does it make your heart feel heavy? These are the symptoms when holidays come to an end and we enter into the fast paced part of our life. In this part of our life everything needs to be done so quickly and squeezed into our daily routine. There is no time to hug or cook an elaborate meal for our loved one. On the 7 stages of life perspective man enters this stage as soon he turns 25. This continues until he turns 34 when he is tired of running around for wealth and fame. In this stage of life (s)he hardly finds any time to cook or even eat a proper meal and eventually switches to fast foods. As per wiki and other sources, fast food is considered to be really unhealthy as they are prepared with cheap and high fat ingredients. So let us BREAK THE RULES and cook something healthy. So this edition of FF7SL event is dedicated to 'HEALTHY FAST FOOD'. The rules are very simple:

Rules:

Post any fast food recipe between now and 5th February 2009 11.59 pm EST.
Preparation and Cooking time should NOT exceed 30 minutes. The preparation of fast food chutneys, soaking and cooking legumes can be excused.
Prepare an healthier version of your favorite fast food.
You can use any ingredient and send me as many entries you want.
Link to My Event announcement and Sudeshna’s Cook like a bong page.
No worries if you have the recipes in your archives. You can repost or update the post with a link to my event announcement and Sudeshna’s Cook like a bong page.
Do not have a blog, you can still participate in this event. All you need to do is send me your recipe in the Word (doc,docx,rtf) format with a picture of your dish.
Send me your entries with the subject line as ‘Food for 7 stages of Life – Healthy Fast Food(25-34 yrs)’ with the below details to foodfor7stagesoflife(at)gmail(dot)com / foodfor7stagesoflife@gmail.com

Your Name:

Your Blog Name:

Preparation Time:

Recipe Name:

URL of the recipe:

Picture of your recipe (Optional)

It would be nice if you can

Display the logo of the event.

Winner & Giveaways
**** Going forward the winner will be chosen by Raffle method or through Random.org, this is applicable from Kids Special Event. This decision was made due to some bad experience with the polling method.

12 of you will enter a mega raffle that would be conducted at the end of the series, of which 7 will be the winner of each month and 5 will be randomly picked up. The winner will receive a surprise gift. It will be shipped across the world. The Winner of the previous editions are Sandhya Hariharan of Sandhya's Kitchen and Sadhana & Muskaan of A2Z Vegetarian Cuisine.
There is no more surprise as I have a beautiful gift to share. The Winner of this event series will receive "The BloggerAid Cookbook" and it will be shipped across the world.
It is not done yet. Sudeshna came up with a wonderful idea that we should compile the event series into an e-book. So your recipes will feature in this e-book which will be available for free download at the end of this event. The e-book will have a short write up on each author and a special article on the winner of the series. Ofcourse we need your consent to publish your recipe in our e-book.

Think Spice Think Poppy Seeds Roundup

2010-01-06T14:14:00.000-08:00

Sunita of Sunita's world fame graciously accepted my request when I expressed my wish to guest host the Think Spice event in my blog. Thanks a bunch Sunita for letting me guest host this aromatic event. I was assuming that poppy seeds is an Indian spice and it is used only in curry preparations until I stepped into this blogosphere. When I learned the medicinal values, its uses and its spread across the world, I was thrilled to choose this spice for this event. I was more thrilled to receive the entries from my friends who came up with super delicious recipes with this tiny kidney shaped spice.

Breakfast Ideas

Masala Rava Upma from Padma of Padma's Recipes fame

Curry, Stir Fry and Condiments

Hyderabadi Mirchi Ka Salan from Mona of Zaiqa fame

Greens Stem Curry from Shama of Easy 2 Cook Recipes fame
Potato Apple Curry from Shama of Easy 2 Cook Recipes fame

Mutton Chops from Shama of Easy 2 Cook Recipes fame

Bhagara Baingan from Nandini of Usha Nandini Recipes fame

Mutton Kurma from Nandini of Usha Nandini Recipes fame
Kumro Posto'r Chatni/Pumpkin poppy seeds paste chatni from Sayantani of A Home maker's Diary fame

Potol Posto from Sunanda of Sunanda's Kitchen fame

Bhindi Aloo Posto from Sunanda of Sunanda's Kitchen fame

Aloo Posto from Pari of Foodelicious fame

Okra in Poppy and Sesame Seeds from Pari of Foodelicious fame

Sagu from Pari of Foodelicious fame

Dum Aloo Posto from Lata ji of Flavours and Tastes fame

Soy Chunks Masala Kuzhambu Curry from Kamala of Cook @ Ease fame

Corn Curry from Jayashree of Jayashree Blogs fame

Potato in Poppy Seeds and Coconut Gravy from Nisha of Nisha's Kitchen fame

Gingelly Oil Chicken Kurma from Priya of Priya's Easy N Tasty Recipes fame

Hara Bara Gobi and Channa Posto from Priya of Priya's Easy N Tasty Recipes fame

Kadappa from Sowjany of Ruchika Cook's fame

Egg Korma from Sowjany of Ruchika Cook's fame

Malai Kofta from Padma of Padma's Recipes fame

Vegetable Kurma from Padma of Padma's Recipes fame

Cauliflower Peas Kurma from Padma of Padma's Recipes fame

Mushroom Kurma from Padma of Padma's Recipes fame

Potato Peas Kurma from Padma of Padma's Recipes fame

Black eyed peas Kurma from Padma of Padma's Recipes fame

Chicken Kurma from Padma of Padma's Recipes fame

Jain Vegetable Makhanwala from Parita of Parita's world fame
Sweet & Spicy Chicken from SE of DENU FOOD fame
Bhindi Posto & Jhinge Aloo Posto from Indrani of Appyayan fame

Dum Aloo from Indrani of Appyayan fame
Paruppu Urundai Kuzhambu from Nithu of Nithu's Kitchen fame
Potato Bell Pepper Kuruma from Nithu of Nithu's Kitchen fame
Potato in Poppy Onion Gravy from Shri of Tiffin Carrier Antic/que's fame
Dosa Sambar or Dhikida Sambar from me :)

Dessert, Cookies and Pastries

Poppy Macarons from Angie of Angie's Recipes fame

Poppy Seeds Payasam from EC of Simple Indian Food fame

Poppy Seeds Cookies from Giz of Equal Opportunity Kitchen fame

Churma Laddoo from Pari of Foodelicious fame

Warm Citrus Cake from Curious Baker of 'The Curious Baker' fame

Policha Laddoo from Preeti of Khaugiri fame

Poppy Seeds Halwa from Nithi of Fourth Sense Samayal fame

Ragi Biscuit from Padma of Padma's Recipes fame

Chapaticha Kuskara from Kanchan of Kitchen Gossips fame

Dosa Sambar or Vengaya Kosu

2009-12-31T16:01:00.000-08:00

Wishing you all a very Happy New Year!! Hope this new year brings immense joy, tons of success, good health, peace and prosperity in all your lives. God Bless each living thing on this earth and feed them adequately with good food and water.

It makes me feel home sick whenever I make this aromatic and delicious sambar. At home we call it as Dosa Sambar or 'Dhikida Sambhar in sourashtra'. This sambar is little unusual as it is not made with lentils instead it is made with a ground paste of 6 aromatic spices, bengal gram and coconut. I was assuming that it is an unique sourashtra delicacy until I ate a similar version of this at my ex-neighbor's in new york who hail from the Naattukotai Chettiar background. They refer it as Vengaya Kosu and it is a famous chettinad delicacy too. Both of our recipes are similar with some variations to it.

I have been thinking of posting this recipe from the day one and I couldn't delay posting this recipe any more as I am hosting the Think Spice Think Poppy Seeds event which means that this sambar has poppy seeds as one of its main ingredients. Let us see what else makes this sambar so unique and special to me.

Ingredients
Roasted Bengal gram/Pottu kadalai - 1 3/4 tbsp
Khus Khus/Gasa Gasa/Poppy Seeds - 1/2 tsp
Fennel Seeds/Sombu/Saunf - 1/2 tsp
Cinnamon Stick/Pattai - 1 1/4 inch
Cloves/Kirambu/Lavang - 2
Garlic/Poondu - 1 pod
Ginger/Inji - small piece (1/2 the size of garlic)
Coconut - 6 pieces (2.5 x 2.5 cm)
Onion - 1/2 (small) sliced
Tomato - 1/2 (small) diced
Green Chili - 6
Chili Powder/Milagai thul - 1/4 tsp
Coriander/Dhaniya Powder/Malli podi - 1/4 tsp
Salt to taste
Hing/Asafoetida - sprinkle
Water - 2 cup
Oil - 1/2 tbsp
Mustard Seeds - 1/4 tsp
Cumin Seeds - pinch
Curry Leaves - 5 -6
Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp
Potato - 1 (small), chopped into small chunks [optional]

Cooking Instructions
To Grind:
1. In a mixie/blender add roasted bengal gram, khus khus, fennel seeds, cloves, cinnamon stick, ginger, garlic and grind it.
2. When it is 80% done, add coconut to the ground spices and grind it coarsely adding few tbsp of water. It shouldn't be like a smooth paste nor too coconutish...i.e, the coconut should be ground 95%.
(you can also slightly dry roast the ingredients in step 1 before grinding)

For the Curry:
In a kadai, add oil. When it is hot add mustard seeds and let it splutter, then add cumin seeds and curry leaves.
If you are using potato, add it to the seasoned oil and saute. I don't like potatoes in this sambar so I chose not to add. But back home Amma adds potatoes because dad likes it and even the original recipe requires potatoes.
Then add onions, green chili, turmeric powder and saute. After 2-3 min when onion turns translucent, add tomato and saute for 1 min.
Then add the ground paste and mix it with onion and tomato. Keep stiring it as it might stick to the kadai.
After 1 min, add water, chili powder, dhaniya powder, salt, hing and stir it well. If required add another 1/4 cup of water (only if it is too thick).
Bring it to boil, reduce the flame (low) and let it cook for 2 minutes.
(If you are adding potatoes, you might want it to cook little longer, alternatively you can add boiled tomatoes as well)
Serve it with hot dosas or idlis. My friend likes to eat it with rice too. So you can try serving it with rice as well.

Notes:
The curry might thicken soon due to the presence of coconut and roasted bengal gram.
I prefer to eat it fresh, you can also refrigerate and serve it next day. But do remember to add few tbsp of water and heat it before serving.
I will recommend the use of fresh coconut.
In the chettinad recipe, the ingredients are ground to a smooth paste.

Roundup: KIDS SPECIAL & Winner Announcement

2009-12-29T13:27:00.000-08:00

Winner

Winner of the Kids Special event is the duo Sadhana & Muskaan of A2Z VEGETARIAN CUISINE. Congratulations!!! Would you like to know the challenges they face while cooking for kids and how they educate their kids about eating healthy..Read on...

Sadhana believes even at young age kids should be introduced to healthier food choices and should be taught to eat healthy. It is a real challenge to make picky eater to eat and not so picky eater to eat sensibly. Yeah i have two kids at home and one a very picky eater and other is slowly learning to make healthier choices and is half familiar with all the food terminology. It is a popular misconception that healthy food doesn't taste too good and i love to break it. It is just our effort to eat healthy and stay healthy that we are sharing with you all through blogging. I believe in any field what we know is just a handful and what we don't know measures up to the Universe. That i realise in blogging, learning something new everyday.
Muskaan says, cooking healthy for everyone in the family has naturally come to me, not because I am a mom of 2 kids, 1 mighty eater, & other the opposite..picky eater..as I was also been bought up in the same way, my mom & dad use to cook tons of things for us to choose and eat,different food from different food group in a day, making sure we get proper nutrition & variation in healthy eating habits. hats how today I can make right choice for me and my family...and I want to inculcate the same in my kids as well.....not that they cant indulge in comfort, high carb, high sugar foods but they should know, to make the best healthy choice available.
With this thoughts sneak a peak into the roundup for Kids Special event.

(The winner was chosen by random.org)

Roundup

How many of you are addicted to SOAP or the so called Mega Serials? Wait don't come to a conclusion that I am going to bore you and waste your time. Even I belong to the north pole who considers watching serials as a sin(not to hurt anyone). But recently I had an opportunity to watch a serial on Vijay T.V and I felt compelled to share it with you all.

Mommy happily welcomes her daughters who are back from school. (Who is Mommy? A busy working woman who hardly takes care of her family and leaves her adorable kids to the servant maid(who is very sweet). Unfortunately her maid is on leave and she is forced to take care of her kids)

Mommy: What do you want gals, Horlicks or Coffee?

Daughters: Mommy don't you know that we have horlicks only

Mommy: ok, great. (After sometime she brings 2 cups of Horlicks)

Daughter 1: Mommy, why did you add sugar, it sucks.

Daughter 2: (Adamantly) I don't want to drink this...

Mommy gets irritated and she goes in to the kitchen to prepare it without sugar and notices the leftover food in kid's lunch box. (I don't know why she opened the lunch box when she had to make Horlicks ;) )

She gets super annoyed now and yells at her adorable kids.

Mommy: Why didn't you eat?

Daughter 1: It was really bad, I didn't like it at all. You don't cook as good as Sumathi Aunty(maid)

Daughter 2: (nods her head) ...

and it goes on forever................
What do you think the moral of the story is? If you are addicted to serials you might think Mommy is irresponsible and a bad cook. But since I am not a serial addict(lol), according to me the moral is - It is very challenging to cook for KIDS. Most of you will agree to my discovery. Won't you?

Sigh... If you are the one who squeezes your mind everyday, graze the web for the recipe ideas for your kids, then you are in the right place. Trust me, you will be flooded with ideas after reading the roundup. Thanks to all the bloggers friends who have contributed their lovely recipes to this event.

(click the picture to blog hop)

If you are looking for a healthy alternative to the greasy pastries and fried junk available then try Shobana's Cup Corn. Kids can slowly be weaned away from junks by introducing healthy yet tasty alternatives like this cup of corn.

Shanthi ji has prepared Crunchy, colorful, tangy and healthy salad for kids. She believes in serving food for the needy.

Padma reflects my thought, she says the kids are very choosy about veggies. So she uses their favorite ingredient 'cheese' to lure them. Look at the fusion Indian dishes that she made for her kids.

You all must be familiar with this duo, they post amazing recipes at their blog. Lets sneak a peek in to their fab food world.

Esai Prakash's son loves sandwiches, so she has prepared a cheesy corn sandwich with loads of love.

Lata ji brings in wonderful flavor and taste in what ever she cooks. She proactively prepares the ICC challenge recipes ahead of time and generously shares her notes. Thanks Lata ji your tips helps me and prevents disaster in my kitchen.

Supriya shares the secret of preparing healthy custard using organic fruits she picked from the farm market.

Non-Vegetarians, please take a look at the barbecue chicken Lissie prepared for her family. Mouth watering isn't it?

This recipe has loads of Iron and it helps in preventing anemia. It is made of easily available ingredients that are not expensive and also very easy to prepare ie can be prepared in 5 minutes. PJ relished this as a child and she also serves this to her little angel. She has also sent Susheela to your home.

Who doesn't love paniyarams and cheese? Wouldn't you say no if it is served together. See what Priya has prepared for her son.

Vineela's blog has amazing collection of rare recipes and she has sent some garlic bread for us to relish it with the soup. Perfect for the season. Isn't it?

Kamala has prepared two easy and traditional snacks for her kids.

Suma has prepared delicious Wintermelon Halwa aka Kasi halwa to indulgence herself. She has also sent Tadka Moong dhal for this event.

I am completely in love with Bindiya's Coconut Laddoos. This delicacy can be prepared in jiffy and it needs 2 ingredients only.

From 'Dil Se...', Divya has contributed 6 Delicious and Kids friendly recipes. Check out her lovely space.

Renu's decadent Beetroot halwa reminds me of home. Look at the color...Don't you feel like compromising your diet plan?

Do you like the Smoky flavor in your dish, then check out Pari's Smoky Spinach Potato Curry.

She is a Super Woman I would say. I am simply AWED at her creations. She posts mouth watering and innovative recipes with different types of ingredients almost everyday at her blog. I am sure you would have guessed it by now, yes check out what Priya has prepared for her Kids.

Do you want to try Malaysian recipes with Indian touch, then check out Sudha's blog. She has sent lovely Spinach koftas for this Kids Special event.

You will simply enjoy the recipes sent by Sara. Do check out her Oats Feast and Cakes and Cookies event in her blog.

Nisha sends her mouth watering Panner Sandwich for this event. I loved the grilling effect on those sandwiches. I am sure Kids will love this too.

Nivedita shares the secret of feeding Green leaf vegetables to Kids. Click to read more..

Looking for a blog to chill, then visit Cool Lassie. She has sent Sugar plum Balls - the Sugar for this event.

Guess this blogger. Clue: She has a Food Treasure.

Her recipes adds spice to your taste buds. See what Spice buds has prepared for Kids.

Last but not least, this entry is from my guest writer Mrs.Parvadha Vardhini. She was so kind enough to take pictures and send her entry for this event. Thanks Mam.

Moong Dhal Pakoda (Guest Writer: R. Parvadha Vardhini) : KIDS SPECIAL

2009-12-29T13:19:00.000-08:00

What happens when you are affected by Production issue syndrome(at work) ? Answer: A delayed post, no time for cooking, frustrated mind and so on. I was down with this syndrome since last Tuesday. Some strange bug had invaded our production server which eventually bit me. I had no clue from where it came and how it infiltrated. I tried to treat it with various smart solutions but it was not ready to quit. Somehow I quarantined and fixed the bug. Later I found that the Mother bug was actually residing in one of the distant relative of our production server which had sent her kiddos to infect us and our neighboring server. This bug not only screwed up the Christmas holiday weekend, but also shattered my terrific plans. It was so infectious that it affected my retail therapy, blog posts, baking plans and lot more.
Do you come across such bugs at work or home, which screws up all your plans? Share it with me.

Ok, take a break. Let me introduce my guest writer Mrs. Parvadha Vardhini. She has contributed delicious and healthy Moong Dhal Pakoda for the Kids Special event. Thank you Vardhini for allowing me to post your entry in my blogspace.
(Below post is written by Mrs.R.Parvadha Vardhini. She has also sent step by step pictures for this event)

It was a rainy day evening, I thought of something hot and crispy. Children need protein as major supplement for their growth in all aspects, I preferred this chilka moong dal recipe, which was easy to make, tasty and my children always wish to have this after they come from school.
Also this chilka moong dal is light and it never gives GIT discomfort (Gastro Intestinal Tract).

INGREDIENTS:
Chilka moong dal - 1 & ½ cups.
Onion                 - 1 large, finely chopped.
Mint leaves         - few, finely chopped.
Coriander leaves - 1 bunch, finely chopped.
Ginger                - 1 small piece, chopped.
Red chillies         - 4 to 5
Fennel seeds       - 2 tbsp
Curry leaves       - few
Salt                   - according to taste
Oil                    - for deep fry
PREPARATION:
Soak chilka moong dal for 2 hours. Drain and grind to a coarse paste along with salt and red chillies. Don’t add water; squeeze out water and grind. Mix all other ingredients to this paste.

Heat oil in a kadai, take small ball of batter by hand and release the batter little by little randomly, take care that the oil does not splash on the hands. (I use to cook in simmer mode for all pakodas).
Cook pakodas by turning it with the spatula till it gets a brownish colour. Take care not to overcook it.
Now, the hot and crispy moong dal pakodas are ready to serve. It goes with tomato ketch up.

GENERAL TIPS:
If salt proportion goes high in any of the dishes, make small balls of wheat flour and put these balls into the salty dish.
After 5 to 10 minutes, remove these balls, the dish tastes normal. This is applicable only for gravy dishes. So, take care not to make dry recipes salty.

A Night out in the Snow Storm

2009-12-22T19:19:00.000-08:00

We have been blessed with lots of Snow. Thanks to the Snow Storm which blasted the Mid-Atlantic region affecting 50 million people on its path. Since we lived in New York before, we hardly had any idea how the Garden State would react to the Snow Storm. In NY, the snow hardly stayed on the roads and sidewalks due to the heavy cleaning and traffic moving through those road. The streets usually wore a messy look with lots of slush around. This is one reason why some people hated Snow. But being a nature lover, I was eagerly awaiting the snow storm to see the beauty it leaves behind. But I never thought in my dreams that we would be in the verge of extinct due to the wrong decision we made.

V and I planned to watch a big time flop movie(Tamil) in the theater and booked the tickets for a 10.10 pm show on Saturday. We did this before the Snow Storm warning was announced. When I was bragging about this to my colleagues during Friday lunch, they warned me not to venture during the snow storm as it would be hazardous to drive. But in spite of all the warnings we decided to venture out during the storm. At 9.00 pm we stepped out of our home. Our driveway was covered with thick sleet of snow and the snow on our car had transformed into ice. Thanks to the temperature drop. V refused my help and he cleaned the car himself. Oh this was so easy, but we had to get the car out of the drive way and drive out of our development. The road was covered with 1 foot of snow. But brave V managed to pull out and we some how got on the road. The surroundings made Thousand Butterflies fly in my heavily stuffed (with chicken biriyani, baingan ka salan, chicken fry, fruit custard...) tummy. Our car wouldn't have traveled even 2 miles, V said why don't you call the theater and find out if the 10.10 show is still on. His instinct was right, the show was canceled. We were sort of happy because we knew we wouldn't be able to drive at 20 mph for the next 15 miles. So we took a right turn and instantly decided to take the US Route 1 to reach our home fast. We assumed that the road would be in a better condition than the State Route we just came by. But, the roads were equally bad. There were hardly 4 or 5 cars traveling in 10 mph. It was supposed to be a busy Route with a speed limit of 50 mph. Now we could sense the adrenaline flowing through our body. It was getting dangerous as the cars stopped without a signal. We were traveling behind one such car which stopped all of sudden. To avoid a fender-bender V tried to steer right and our car started slewing in the snow. On the right it was woods and on the left there was a concrete median. Somehow V managed to avoid getting into those woods. Brrr...., When I thought we just missed the woods our car was already moving towards the median. V steered hard and hit the break smoothly avoiding the concrete hence saving our car and two beautiful souls on this earth(V & I ..lol..). We were safe as the skid happened on a very low speed. When we thought we were safe, the guy who stopped the car, started moving which means he could hit us anytime and our car had already come to a full stop blocking the road. We had to roll down the windows and shout at top of our voice to stop him. For couple of minutes, our car stood blocking the traffic on Route 1. The guy who was traveling in the opposite direction, stopped his car and came towards us to check if we were fine. Thanks Gentleman, we appreciate your courtesy. Then with a relaxing breath V tried to reverse our car and we started moving forward. Somehow we managed to reach our home and park our car in a parking lot which was covered with few inches of snow by now, Sigh. It is not The End, we still watched the crappy movie at home :) Here are some of the pictures that I managed to click on Sunday Morning. And yeah this is my first post with my new Nikon D90 (Come on let the drums roll on the inaugural of my new camera). Thanks to my dear husband for gifting it.
P.S: I am still getting accustomed to the SLR World so please do not expect a high quality output from me and do leave your comments on my clicks.

Learning the Bokeh Effect (Google. I am sure you will be impressed)

Stepping Stones

Our Community Grill

Burried Bicycle

This is how it looked when I woke up on Sunday Morning

Road less travelled by

Mesmerizing Sunset

Our car has new set of teeth

Mushroom Masala

2009-12-14T17:47:00.000-08:00

Will you call this Heights of laziness!!! This recipe was intended for Priya's Think Spice - Think Coriander event, but I was too lazy that I couldn't post it before the deadline. Like every lazy soul I am throwing an excuse with this golden statement 'It is Better late than never'. This dish was prepared on a whim based on my choice of ingredients.
P.S: Bidding Adieu to my dearest friend. She has been very supportive from the day one I started this blog. But for her I wouldn't have posted these many recipes. I will miss you my friend. Watch this space for more info.
Ingredients from my pantry

Mushroom / Kaalan - 7

Onion / Vengayam - 1/2 medium finely chopped

Tomato / Thakkali - 1 pureed

Turmeric Powder / Manjal thul - 1/4 tsp

Ginger Garlic Paste / Enji pundu Vizhuthu - 1 tsp

Chili Powder / Milagai thul - 1 tsp

Cumin Powder / Jeeraga podi - 1/2 tsp

Dhania / Coriander Powder / Malli thul - 1/2 tsp (Coarsely ground at home, you can also use the regular ones)
Garam Masala - 1/4 tsp

Kasuri Methi / Dry Fenugreek Leaves - 1 tsp

Heavy/Light Cream - 1 tbsp + 1 tsp for garnish

Salt to taste

Oil (Olive Oil/Vegetable Oil) - 1/2 tbsp - 1 tbsp ( you can replace a portion of oil with some unsalted butter)

Cooking Instructions
How I made the Puree?
In a small pan, add some water (just to soak the tomatoes) and chopped tomatoes. Let it cook until it is skin and flesh separates out. Let it cool, put them in a blender and puree.

How I made the curry?
In a kadai, add oil (upto 1 1/2 tbsp, I used only 1/2 tbsp as we are trying to cut down fats in our food ;-))

Wash mushroom and soak it in water for couple of minutes. Add some salt, it helps to cleanse them.
Add 1/4 tsp cumin seeds/jeera when the oil is hot, you can see that cumin seeds enlarges and it kind of splutters.

Now add finely chopped onions and saute for 6 minutes on a medium flame or until it turns golden brown and shrinks. As you fry onion, add 1/4 tsp of turmeric powder.
Add finely ground ginger garlic paste and saute for next two minutes so that the raw smell of ginger/garlic disappears.
Add tomato puree. From now on the entire cooking should be done on a low flame.

After 3 minutes add 1 tsp of chili powder, salt, 1/2 tsp of cumin powder and 1 tsp coriander powder.
Mix it well and cook for next 3 minutes. Then add 1/4 cup of water and cook for 3 more minutes.
Then add chopped mushroom and cook for 10 minutes. Add 1/4 cup of water if you want it in a gravy consistency.

Add 1/4 tsp of garam masala and cook for another 10 minutes. Add crushed kasuri methi, cream and stir. Garnish it with chopped coriander leaves and some cream.

Serve it hot with rotis, naan, phulkas or even with steamed rice or jeera rice.

Event Announcement and 'The BloggerAid Cookbook' Giveaway

2009-12-10T14:07:00.000-08:00

Who does not love Desserts, Pastries and Ice creams. The fourth edition of the 'Food for 7 Stages of Life' event is dedicated to this delectable course of the meal 'Desserts and Ice creams'. Also this being a holiday season, I am sure you will be baking lots of goodies. So do send them across. Wishing you all a Fun Filled Christmas and a Very Happy New Year!!!

(picture courtesy: microsoft clipart)

Rules

    * Post any Dessert,Pastries or Ice cream recipe between now and 5th January 2009 11.59 pm EST.
    * You can use any ingredient and send me as many entries you want.
    * Link to My Event announcement and Sudeshna’s Cook like a bong page.
    * No worries if you have the recipes in your archives. You can repost or update the post with a link to my event announcement and Sudeshna’s Cook like a bong page.
    * Do not have a blog, you can still participate in this event. All you need to do is send me your recipe in the Word (doc,docx,rtf) format with a picture of your dish.
    * Send me your entries with the subject line as ‘Food for 7 stages of Life – In love with DDPI (15-24 yrs)’ with the below details to foodfor7stagesoflife(at)gmail(dot)com / foodfor7stagesoflife@gmail.com
   Your Name:
   Your Blog Name:
   Recipe Name:
   URL of the recipe:
   Picture of your recipe:

It would be nice if you can display the logo of the event.

Winner & Giveaways

**** Going forward the winner will be chosen by Raffle method or through Random.org, this is applicable from Kids Special Event. This decision was made due to my bad experience with the polling method.

* 12 of you will enter a mega raffle that would be conducted at the end of the series, of which, 7 will be the winner of each month and 5 will be randomly picked up.
* There is no more surprise as I have a beautiful gift to share. The Winner of this event series will receive "The BloggerAid Cookbook" and it will be shipped across the world.

* It is not done yet. Sudeshna came up with a wonderful idea that we should compile the event series into an e-book. So your recipes will feature in this e-book which will be available for free download at the end of this event. The e-book will have a short write up on each author and a special article on the winner of the series. Ofcourse we need your consent to publish your recipe in our e-book.

Cook for Yourself Roundup and Winner Announcement

2009-12-10T11:17:00.000-08:00

Do you want to know who won the $25 Gift Certificate to shop at Trupti's Fashion Deals for Less? The wait is over, The Winner of the 'Cook for Yourself' event is Deepti of DipsKitchen. Congratulations Deepti. I hope you can pamper yourself this holiday season with those wonderful Jewelleries. Enjoy Buddy!! (Picture Courtesy:Multiple sites on Internet)

If you are interested in reading the history of my blog, continue reading otherwise you can skip this and move on to the roundup below :).
An year has passed since I started blogging. I created this blog with lots of josh but as the days went by I got lethargic. I was feeling disappointed because I was not getting any appreciation or comments in my blog. With too many things in my mind, I didn't think why this was happening to my blog. So I was driving this blog at a snails pace. But one fine day, some chemical reactions happened in me :) that I started taking this very seriously. I gave this blog a new look and a new perspective. Squeezed my mind, gave it a tough time and identified ways to improve my blog. This is how the 'Food for 7 Stages of Life' event series was born. With all your support, this event has completed 3 editions. With this happiness, I decided to host my anniversary event in my blog. As you all know anniversaries are meant to pamper ourselves. Hence I decided to host the 'Cook for yourself' event where the participants had to cook their favorite dish and send it across to me. I have received entries from all over the world which makes me feel so good. To lure myself, I have prepared Kadai Chicken and Pineapple rice.

Do you pamper yourself once in a while do let me know how.

~~~~~~~~~~~~Roundup~~~~~~~~~~~~

What is cooking in India?

1. Coconut Rice from AvantiRao's Kitchen

2. Pav Bhaji from Kitchen Gossip

3. Jeera Rice from Cook like a bong

What is cooking in Italy?

1. Omelette Sandwich from Erbe in Cucina

What is cooking in Singapore?

1. Raspberry Buttermilk Cake from Sugar n Spice

What is cooking in United States?

1. Brunch for one from Pan Gravy Kadai Curry

2. Dahi Vada from Dips Kitchen

3. Salsa Egg Dosai from Dil Se..

4. Ragi Kozhukattai from Dil Se..

5. Peanut Butter and Banana Smoothie from Dil Se..

6. Chicken Burger from Dil Se..

7. French Fries from Dil Se..

8. Bread Pizza from Dil Se..

9. Asiago Barbecue Pizza from For the Love of Food

10. Chicken Bonda from Speciality Recipes from My(e) Kitchen

11. Ginger Chicken Cutlets from Speciality Recipes from My(e) Kitchen

12. Easy Vegetable Noodle Soup from Speciality Recipes from My(e) Kitchen

13. Rava Adai from Speciality Recipes from My(e) Kitchen

14. Spring Rolls from Speciality Recipes from My(e) Kitchen
15. Paneer and Peas Curry from Speciality Recipes from My(e) Kitchen
16. Spicy Tofu from Speciality Recipes from My(e) Kitchen
17. Thakkazhi Kulambu from Speciality Recipes from My(e) Kitchen
18. Mushroom Biriyani from Speciality Recipes from My(e) Kitchen
19. Hawaiian Pizza from Speciality Recipes from My(e) Kitchen
20. Angel hair Pasta and Vegetables from Speciality Recipes from My(e) Kitchen
21. Chicken Pepper Chops from Speciality Recipes from My(e) Kitchen
22. Chettinad Kozhi Kulambu from Speciality Recipes from My(e) Kitchen
23. Chili and Garlic Fish Fry from Speciality Recipes from My(e) Kitchen
24. Madras Kozhi Biriyani from Speciality Recipes from My(e) Kitchen
25. Ginger Egg Rice from Speciality Recipes from My(e) Kitchen
26. Vermicelli Kheer from Speciality Recipes from My(e) Kitchen
27. Son Laddoo from Speciality Recipes from My(e) Kitchen
28. Rava Laddoo from Speciality Recipes from My(e) Kitchen
29. Caramel Pudding from Speciality Recipes from My(e) Kitchen
30. Chili Prawns/Shrimp from Speciality Recipes from My(e) Kitchen
31. Home made Gulab Jamoons from Speciality Recipes from My(e) Kitchen
32. Home made Rasamalai from Speciality Recipes from My(e) Kitchen
32. Carrrot Cake from Renu's Kitchen
33. Betroot Halwa/Chakundar Halwa from Renu's Kitchen
34. Mango Kulfi(Eggless and with No refined sugar) from A2Z Vegetarian Cuisine
35. Sphaghetti Squash Pulao from Sailaja's Kitchen
36. Dangar Pachadi from Saranya's Kitchen
37. Semiya Upma from Saranya's Kitchen
38. Pavakka Sadam from Saranya's Kitchen
39. Paneer Peas Masala from Saranya's Kitchen
40. Paruppu Urundai Vathakuzhambu from Saranya's Kitchen
41. Purnam Burelu from Satya's Cooking Experiments
42. Dhal Rice from My Tasty Recipe
43. Kasi Halwa from My Tasty Recipe
44. Indian Version of Strombolli from My Tasty Recipe
45. Pineapple Upside down cake from Spicebuds
46. Capsicum Potato with Besan from VeggiePlatter
47. Wintermelon Halwa from VeggiePlatter
48. Kadai Chicken from Food for 7 Stages of Life (my blog)
49. Pineapple Sadam from Food for 7 Stages of Life (my blog)

I hope I have not missed any of your entries, please let me know if I did. Trust me it was not done intentionally.