Guacomole-A vegetarian starter from the Mexican kitchen

Until a few months back, I was not aware of this wonderful dish of Mexican cuisine.I was fortunate enough to be introduced to this dish by some of my American friends in one of the restaurants here.I would like to give you all, too, this wonderful taste of the dish called Guacomole(pronounced as Guacomolee).It is abundant in folic acid and a lot of proteins.

Ingredients:

Avocado-1
Onion-1/4
Tomato-1/4
Garlic-1 or 2 flakes(optional)
Jalapeno-1(or more if you want it more spicy)
Salt

Remove the skin and the seed of the avocado and transfer the contents to a bowl.Add the finely chopped onion,garlic flakes and jalapeno to it and mash the contents to a paste or dip like consistency(like a thick chutney).Add salt and mix well.Add the chopped tomatoes as a topping.The dish is ready to be served.

Use it as a dip with tortilla chips or potato chips.

Vegetable Upma

Vegetable Upma is the simplest breakfast recipe I have ever heard of.There are many people who I know have an aversion to it. But believe me, if you make it with the right consistency and taste, there is no other healthier breakfast dish which you would love, than this.

Ingredients:

1 cup Rava/sooji
Onion-1
Tomato-1
Potato-1
Carrot-1
Green chillies-4
Chana dal-1 tspn
Coriander leaves-For garnishing
Curry leaves
Oil-2 tspns
Mustard
Water
Salt

Procedure:

Cut all the vegetables finely.
Dry roast rava in a kadai for about 4 minutes on medium flame. It should not get burnt. You may take a pinch of rava and check if its hot.That is the time to switch off the flame.
Transfer this roasted rava onto a plate.
Heat oil in the kadai. Add mustard to it.Once it splutters, add chana dal, green chillies(finely chopped) and curry leaves and fry a little.Add onion and fry till its transparent.Now add tomato, potato and carrot and fry for 2 minutes.Now add water.(For 1 cup of rava, add 2 cups of water).Add salt.
Once it starts boiling, turn the flame to low and slowly add the roasted rava/sooji to this water, continuously stirring it.
Keep stirring for a minute or so till the water is absorbed and the upma becomes a single layer without sticking to the sides of the pan.

Now switch off the flame and garnish with coriander leaves. Serve hot and healthy upma with any chutney or sambar.I bet you, it even tastes good with sugar.

Mullu thenkuzhal/Mullu murukku

Sweets go hand in hand with kaaram....As the famous cliche goes,"Sweet, Kaaram and coffee"

Recipe for mullu thenkuzhal is as follows.

Ingredients:

Rice flour- 1 
Moong dal- 1/4 cup
Chana dal- 3 tspns
Ghee-1 tspn
Salt
Asafoetida-2 tspns
Water-
Oil


Dry fry moong dal and chana dal together in a kadai till the aroma spreads out.
Once it cools down, grind them into a fine powder.Mix this powder with rice flour,asafoetida, ghee,salt and water and knead it into a soft dough.

Heat oil in a kadai for frying. Grease the murukku achu with oil and put one small lump of the batter in it.Check if the oil is hot by placing a small piece of dough in it.If it rises up immediately to the top, it is ready to be fried in.

Squeeze the achu over the oil swirling it into circles to get the desired shape of the murukku.

Once the murukku tuens golden brown, you can remove it from the kadai.

Note:The achu generally comes with different plates at the bottom.These can be used for different types of murukku.

7 cups sweet recipe

Diwali is over and the hangover, too...Time to upload the recipes of the sweets and snacks I made this year for the festival of lights.

The recipe below is for a simple sweet, called 7 cups.


Ingredients:

Besan/gramflour/kadala maavu- 1 cup
Milk- 1 cup
Ghee- 1 cup
Grated coconut- 1 cup
Sugar- 3 cups
Almonds,cashewnuts-optional

Take a wide-bottomed vessel. Add all the above ingredients and mix well.Switch on the stove on medium flame and allow it to cook stirring often so that the ingredients do not get burnt.

Once it becomes a little thick, keep the flame on low and keep stirring till the ghee starts oozing out.
Transfer the cooked mixture onto a greased plate and mark using your knife as if you are cutting into pieces.You may now place the almonds and cashewnuts in this mixture as per your wish.

Once it gets cooled,you will be able to remove the sweet pieces.

Karuveppilai podi/Curry leaves powder

Do you have the habit of separating out curry leaves from your plate when any dish is served?Here is one way of consuming curry leaves.Curry leaves have a lot of medicinal benefits.So it is good to have it in some way possible rather than just throw away the cooked whole leaves.Right?Also, do not throw away the dried curry leaves which have become black in color.

Ingredients:

Curry leaves-1 big bunch(maybe 2 cups)
Urad dal-1/2 cup
Chana dal-1/4 cup
Red chillies-4 or 5( as per you need)
Hing-1/4 tspn
Salt

Dry curry leaves completely so that no moisture is present.Fry the curry leaves in a pan for a sometime.This helps remove all the moisture.Once dried, keep it aside in a plate.
Fry urad dal, chana dal, red chillies and hing till the nice aroma comes out.
Allow all the above to cool and then grind them all together into a fine powder adding salt into it.

Serve this powder with plain rice and oil/ghee.

Kadala curry/ black channa with coconut curry

One of my favorite side dishes in the local mess for aapam or puttu, the famous Kerala delicacies.Nothing else than kadala curry.

Ingredients needed

Shallots-5
Coconut-1/2 cup
Red chillies-8 or 9
Coriander seeds-2tsp
Black chana-2 cups
Curry leaves
Salt
Oil

1. Soak channa overnight.
2.Take a kadai.Heat oil and fry coconut, red chillies and coriander seeds till they turn a lil brown in color.Allow it to cool.
3.Add 2 shallots to the above and grind it with little water to a thick consistency.
4.Now in a pressure cooker add the soaked chana with the water , some salt and the ground mixture and cook for 5 to 6 whistles.
5.Heat oil in a kadai.Add mustard, jeera and curry leaves.Add the remaining shallots (finely chopped) and fry well.
6. To this, add the cooked mixture from the cooker and allow to boil.you may add water to this now if needed.

Serve hot kadala curry with aapam or puttu.

Coconut barfeee

An easy-to-cook traditional sweet recipe made with coconut....The Coconut barfee...!!!

Ingredients needed:
2 teaspoons ghee
1 cup grated coconut
1cup sugar
1 teaspoon milk
Almonds and pistachios(optional)

Heat a kadai with ghee.Once heated add the grated coconut and fry well keeping on low flqme throughout.Keep stirring continuously to avoid burning.Add sugar and continue stirring.Now add milk and keep stirring till the whole mixture comes out as one lump without sticking to the sides of the pan.
Switch off the flame and transfer the contents to a container and spread it flat.
Grind the almonds and pistachios to a fine powder and sprinkle on top of the sweet.

Allow the mixture to cool for around 20 minutes so that it thickens.Once cooled,cut the sweet into any shape of your choice and serve.

Rava Payasam

Here's an easy and quick recipe of Rava Payasam.

1. Boil 3 cups milk with 1 cup of water.
2. Meanwhile heat 2 tbspn ghee in a pan and roast a few cashewnuts and raisins. Once they are roasted, keep them aside.
3.In the same pan, now add about 7 tbspns rava(sooji) and roast it till nice aroma arises.
4.Once the milk boils completely,add rava in it ,stirring continuously.Keep stirring till the milk thickens and the rava is completely cooked.
5.Add 1/2 cup sugar and stir till it dissolves completely.
6. Switch off the stove and add cardamom powder(1/4 tspn), the roasted cashewnuts and raisins.

Yummy payasam is ready to be served hot.:)

New York,Niagara Falls Travelogue

The Niagara Falls and one of the most happening cities in the US, New york city, are the most sought-after places for anyone who lives in the United States....
As with all others, I started planning this trip from Florida, thats where I live now.I want to describe all the hows and wheres of this trip rather than quoting my experiences in it.You know why!!! Because I had a tough time planning it and googled a lot to make this trip economical and wonderful.....

1. The flight tickets are usually very costly during long weekends. So I tried looking out for tickets for other days.Hurray!!Tickets were cheaper.
Before deciding on that, I browsed if there are other airports near my place and the destination airport(not-so-commercial ones).I found a St.Pete-Clearwater airport near my place(where only 2 airlines ply) and one in Niagara Falls city(15 mins from the waterfalls).The prices from and to these airports were far lesser than the famous large commercial airports.
Take a guess on the ticket prices....(It was $69 from PIE to NIA one-way)..
Now, for a return flight ,I chose a different destination as I was not gonna stay in the falls area during the whole weekend.Yet again, found an airport close to New York(Trenton Mercer airport where only Frontier Airlines ply).Tickets were 89$ per head from this place to Tampa.

Now there were no second thoughts. I went straight ahead and booked the tickets to and fro.It was a non-stop flight too.(2 hours and 40 minutes)
References: allegaiantair.com and flyfrontier.com

2.There I was in Niagara at 11.40 am. NFTA buses take just 25 minutes to take you to the attraction for a price of $2 per person.Just in time to get into a bus.There are buses running every half n hour right outsiide the airport.
References: http://metro.nfta.com/routes/ and maps.google.com(to know the bus stops near the waterfalls).Google transit is good too.:)

3. What to do in Niagara?
The Maid of the Mist(Cost:$14.50/per head) is what generally is popular.This is the ferry ride to the Niagara Falls.If you are someone who wold love to get drenched in the waterfall, then I would suggest you visiting the "Cave of the Winds". (Cost:$11/head)This was super fun. If it is not so crowded and you have time, feel free to experience both of them.
Once this is over, you can walk down or take a Niagara State Park shuttle pass and visit the Bridal Veil Fall, American falls, Luna Island,Horseshoe falls, etc...
After visitng all these places, we headed to the NSTA bus stop again and took a bus to Greyhound bus terminal.The journey from Niagara Falls to Newark Penn Station was about 7 hours in a Greyhound bus.I dont have great reviews about it, but its definitely good for $44 per head.

4. Day in NewYork

Take the NJTransit rail from Edison station(where we stayed) and reach WTC. Thats the last stop of the journey.As you walk out of the station, you ll be taken aback at the crowded streets of New york amidst the tall towers right in front of you with narrow roads in between.Quickly walk through the 9/11 Memorial site through the Wall street(take some pics near The Bull), and then head towards the Straten Island ferry.Take this ferry anf you ll get a glimpse of the Statue of Liberty on the way.Take a return ferry from Straten Island back to where you had started. You can plan your lunch time accordingly.There are a lot of INdian restaurants to try out.Unfortunately we were late for lunch after our visit to the island, we had to help ourselves with Subway.:(.

Then we took the subway train near Straten Island to reach 42nd street.This is THE STREET of New York...Times Square. Walk through the streets to and fro till you get satisfied with New York. We walked all the way till Central Park where you can find greenery amidst thew hustle of the city.
Then we headed towards the Empire State Building at around 7 pm. The best part of reaching this place at 7 was that we were able to get a view both when it was bright as well as after dusk.

Last but not the least, we ended the day by walking on the 42nd street yet again to watch the colorful lights
and the happening crowds of New york one last time.
5. The next two days were spent in Clementon Water Theme Park and a lazing day at home.Had a wonderful time with a few friends.

Thus ended our New York trip. Hope this post will be helpful for a first-timer who wants to go to New York.

Vengaya sambar/Shallot sambar-Brahmin Style

Vengaya sambar, made of shallots(small onions) are the favorite of many in the South.This is not the conventional method of making sambar. This particular version,known as arachu vitta sambar is commonly found in all the Brahmin families.

In a kadai, heat 1 tspn of oil.Add half tspn coriander seeds,1/4 tspn fenugreek seeds(methi),3 red chillies,1 tspn Bengal gram(chana dal),curry leaves and fry for some time.Now add half a cup of grated coconut and fry till it changes to golden brown color.(You may add 2 shallots(small onions) while frying if needed.Turn off the stove and allow this mixture to be cooled.

Soak tamarind in warm water for a while and extract the tamarind juice out of it.Boil this extract in a vessel.Add a pinch of turmeric,1/4 tspn asafoetida(hing) and salt.Add 1 cup of shallots(small onions with the skin ripped off) to this and allow them to be cooked well.

Boil toor dal(split red gram) in a pressure cooker.Once it is cooked, mash it down really well till the dal is not seen at all.

Grind the fried mixture adding little water so that it gets a thick chutney-kind consistency.

Add the mashed dal as well as the ground mixture to the tamarind extract.Let this boil till a nice aroma spreads out.
Finally in a pan, heat oil .Add mustard .Once it splutters,Add 1 tspn urad dal and some curry leaves.
Add this on top of the sambar prepared above.

Vengaya sambar is ready to be served with rice and ghee. Make potato fry as a side dish for this and wow.......Yummy!!!!!

Paruppu Podi/Pappu Podi(Andhra style)

My husband and I are ardent fans of Andhra mess food. I am sure there are a whole lot of you who love to visit Andhra mess atleast to have multiple rounds of Pappu podi with rice and oil.I even know a couple of friends who finish off the complete bottle of pappu podi in front of them without even tasting the other dishes in the menu. I have tasted and made different types of Paruppu podi, but nothing had matched the Andhra mess taste. But today, thanks to a friend, I got the perfect taste.

No more waiting, here you go!!!

Grind 1 cup of roasted gram(buna channa/pottu kadalai) in a mixer or blender to make a fine powder. Add 1 tspn red chilli powder, salt as needed and grind so that the mixture blends together.Finally add 3 garlic flakes to this and grind again.

Thats it, Andhra mess pappu podi is ready.No frying, no baking only grinding and mixing....:)
Enjoy mixing with rice and oil.

Carrot halwa

Here is an easy-to make sweet recipe. You suddenly feel like having something sweet and dont have the mood to go out to a sweet stall, this one will come in handy.

Grate 3 long carrots. This would yield 2 cups of grated carrot.
Heat 1 tspn of ghee in a pan. Add cashewnuts,almonds, raisins and fry till golden brown.Now add the grated carrot and stir.To this add 2 cups of milk. Stir the mixture and allow it to be cooked on medium flame for about 20 minutes till all the milk evaporates. Dont forget to keep stirring it so that it does not get burnt.

Now add 1/2 cup sugar and mix well.You may add more sugar if you like to have it more sweeter.Mix it well and allow the carrots to cook well.You will see the ghee oozing out after some time.
Now switch off the flame and sprinkle cardamom powder on top of it if you wish to.

Yummy carrot halwa is now ready.

Venn Pongal

Everyone might be knowing of the festival "Pongal" celebrated in Tamil Nadu..It falls on the same day as Makar Sankranti......On this day, two types of Pongal are prepared...Sakkara Pongal(sweet version) and Venn Pongal(salted version)

Here I give you the recipe of Venn Pongal which can be included as your breakfast.

Take raw rice(2 cups) and wash it well to remove excess starch. Take moong dal(paasi paruppu-1cup) and wash this too.
Mix the rice and dal and add more than twice the amount of water, (In this case, 7 cups), add salt and pressure cook it. Allow upto 6 or 7 whistles.

Turn off the stove and allow the pressure to be  released. Now in a pan, heat oil.Add mustard seeds and allow them to splutter. Then add 2 tspns of whole pepper and fry with curry leaves. Add this to the cooked rice and dal mixture.

Pongal is now ready to be served.

This part is optional as many people may want to avoid ghee.
Heat a little ghee in a pan and add a few cashewnuts and fry then till golden.

Mix this well with the Pongal prepared.

Serve this hot always with Samabr or chutney or Gotsu.It loses the real taste when it cools down.
My husband and I like Pongal with Gotsu.

For Gotsu recipe, click here

Gotsu(Kumbakonam Gotsu)

I am quite amused about my title for this post rather than the post itself. Haha...Its like saying, Billa...David Billa....

Jokes apart, here is the recipe of a traditional South Indian side dish for Pongal or dosa.

This can be made with any vegetable, but the version with brinjal(egg plant) is the tastiest of all.

Boil 1/2 a cup of moong dal with a pinch of turmeric powder in a pressure cooker.

Take a small ball sized tamarind and soak it in warm water for a while. Then extract the juice out of it and keep it aside.

Heat oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds. When it splutters, add 1/2 tspn cummin seeds(jeeragam),1/4 tspn fenugreek seeds(vendhayam,green chillies(3 or 4),1/2 tspn hing(asafoetida), curry leaves and fry.

Now add one onion(finely chopped) and saute till it changes color.Add 2 brinjals(eggplants-finely chopped)(Note: Remember to soak the brinjals in water when you chop them else they turn dark)

Cut one tomato finely and add it to the pan.

Allow the brinjals and tomatoes to be fried for 2 minutes. Then add the tamarind extract.Allow the whole mixture to be cooked well and the raw smell of tamarind disappears. Add salt ,a pinch of turmeric powder,1/2 tspn chilly powder and close the lid of the pan. Once the brinjals are cooked well,you may add the cooked moong dal with this mixture. Mash the whole mixture while stirring and allow it to boil.

Garnish with coriander leaves.

Gotsu -Kumbakonam Gotsu is ready to be served . :)

Beetroot tikki

Havent really got the mood to post something everyday so far....Today Im in a mood to share something with you guys. Srini and I recently wanted a healthy yet yummy snack for tea time. I had made a version of beetroot and aloo tikki some time earlier. But this time, I made it without aloo to make it perfect healthy.

Grate 1 beetroot(beet). Add 3 green chillies(finely chopped),asafoetida(1/4 spoon),garam masala(1/2 spoon),chilly powder(1/4 spoon),turmeric powder(a pinch),bread crumbs(2 cups) and salt (as required and oil of course(for frying)


Mix all the above in a container without adding water.Prepare a soft dough out of it.If it is too watery, then add the bread crumbs little by little to thicken the dough.Now take a lemon size ball of the dough. Press it in your palm like patties.

Heat oil in a kadai. When it is hot enough(you ll know this when the drop of dough immediately floats to the top), dip the patties in bread for a coating.

Drop the patties in this hot oil carefully and fry them till the color changes to brown and it becomes crispy.

This goes well with tomato ketchup or tamarind chutney. I served it with chana masala.

Miracles do happen....

I have never believed in miracles till I got to view one.Let me share with you some instances of Baba's miracles which I have heard of before I mention about the one I happened to witness.

• One of my colleagues brought viboodhi(ashes) to office one day.He said there was a sudden sprinkle of white powder from the wall just above Shirdi Baba's picture.On feeling and smelling it, he and his family members realised that it was viboodhi(Udi). I was amazed at this on hearing it for the first time. Though there were a lot of skeptical questions in my mind, I quietly believed it and praised Him.

•  I used to visit the Shirdi Baba temple in BTM often when I lived in Bangalore.I always used to feel the divine bliss everytime I prostrate before Baba's idol there. I used to forget my presence at that moment completely.  One day, there was an unusual crowd gathered in the temple. I thought it must have been some auspicious day. Later I found that this miracle had taken place and that people from near and far had started visiting this temple. One of the eyes of Baba, which were closed , suddenly opened and remained so for some time. I was so surprised and sad that I was not lucky enough to have seen that in spite of having visited it so many times.Again, there were a lot of questions in my mind on this incident.I quietly praised Him again.

•  It was a Saturday and I cribbed a lot that I had to go to office for work on a weekend.It was on that afternoon when I, along with my friends, were busy doing some validation in office, that I received a phone call from a friend who stayed nearby. She said that she was witnessing a Baba miracle in a supermarket shop nearby.I told my friends , who were with me and all of us were eager to witness the same. We informed our colleagues and the four of us headed towards the shop. The news of the miracle was spreading far and wide and people had started to throng the place.I entered the shop only to find that Baba's cheeks shone and his feet were wet. On noticing Him closely, we found that honey was flowing from His eyes and toes. We were elated . My eyes filled with tears on witnessing this wonderful sight.The shopkeepers distributed honey and ghee to all who were present there.On enquiring about when they first identified about this, the owner of the shop stated as follows,

" I had asked my son to bathe the idol of Baba in the evening.Suddenly the cheeks started glowing. We thought that it was because he had washed Him with panneer(rose water). Later, my little  grand-daughter went near the idol and licked the water near Baba's feet.She said that the water is brown in color and it is sweet.On hearing this, we went near and checked out only to be amazed that it was a mixture of honey and ghee which had started flowing from His feet.Happily, we shut the shop as usual and retired back home. The next morning we opened the shop only to find that the whole floor was filled with honey and ghee(There was not a single ant or fly there)...."

      We were overjoyed on hearing this and left the place happily.We were all the more happy that we     had been lucky to have witnessed the miracle and thanked Him for this(and for having called us for work on a Saturday!!!) As I had stated above, I had not believed in miracles before I actually saw this and my faith in Him, has increased all the more. I am attaching a picture of Baba here for all of you who read this, to witness.

                                                     Om Sai Ram....

The joy of being a homemaker

I am forced to write this post today after I got some responses for my previous post. I know that the timing of my previous post was inaccurate.Anyways,I would like to share some of my new (joyful) discoveries about myself here.Rather, how my opinion has changed on certain things.

I thought that people who play games and watch cartoons were puerile  I discovered that I like being so.Had never assumed that I could spend so many hours on gaming(Thanks to fb, I am addicted to Candy crush Saga  and Criminal Case and Pyramid Solitaire Saga and oh, did I forget, Half the Sky Movement..)I realized there is a joy in this addiction.

I thought that people who baked cakes and made tasty biscuits are experts in all forms of cooking until I explored my way in preparing dishes from various cuisines.Come on, I am used to the conventional homely cooking right from those days before marriage.And now, I talk to Srini about inaugurating a new restaurant back in my home country. I realized there is a joy in cooking the impossible(possible).

I thought that not-so-fat people who hit the gym were wasting a lot of time and energy.And now,here I am, hitting the gym almost everyday(trying to) in order to keep fit.I realized there is a joy in the rejuvenation I achieve everytime I burn out a few calories(even if it is, just 80 calories a day:D)

I thought that I had lost my golden voice(as some of my friends used to say back in college).I started to recollect some good old collection of devotional songs which I had learnt during childhood.I began to practise them and record my own versions of those songs. I realized there is a joy in singing again (even if I don't sound like a nightingale.)

I thought that sleeping was the best hobby ever and had always wanted to take short naps in afternoons when I couldnt, as I was working.Guess what, I hate to sleep in the afternoons now. I found that I loved to utilise this time in learning new things.I gathered a couple of my friends, who I think are in the similar state as I am, and started learning a language.We learned a few words of French.I realized there is a joy in conversing in a new language with them(even if it is just the basic Salut!!!Comment vas-tu???. which means, Hello, How are you???)

I thought that watching English movies were boring.I had always preferred desi ones to English.And now, here I am, watching movie after movie ,English,and only English. I realized there is a joy even in watching English movies(be it an action movie or a thriller or a romance or a comedy)

I thought blogs are for those who wanted to improve their vocabulary.Yeah, I have always written short articles for school and corporate magazines. And here I am, penning down all my thoughts.I realized a joy in sharing my views(even if it is just a doodle, as my blog title says!!!)

Hey,does the whole thing above look similar to what you have read somewhere else?Holy crap!!!No,no. I am not plagiarizing.:)
This is the way every H4B dependant spends his/her time.The next time someone asks me what do you do the whole day when your husband is off at work, I am not gonna use the cliche,"Velai -Illa pattadhaari"(meaning, jobless degree holder, in Tamil).That is a phrase I have borrowed from one of my friends..:P. Instead,my answer is,"I have no time to finish off all the things in a day which brings me so much joy. "

Kara kozhambu-Chettinad style

One day, my mother-in-law had cooked this Kara kozhambu which was awesome in taste.
I learnt this recipe from her and I would like to share the same.This is supposed to be famous in Chettinad(somehting u may get in Ponnusamy's or Anjappar's)

Procedure:
In a kadai, heat 4 to 5 tspns of oil. Add mustard.Once it splutters, add some fenugreek seeds(2 tspns) and fry for some time. Now add 1 chopped onion,2 chopped tomatoes, about 8 to 10 garlic flakes,curry leaves and fry well. You may add any vegetable of your choice.You may even add some Black-eyed peas(soaked overnight )to this.If you add some shallots too,if you like them, instead of big onions. I added a few chopped pieces of radish and ladies finger while frying.
Allow it to fry well.

Grind half a cup of grated coconut adding 1 cup of water.Extract the coconut milk by filtering the ground mixture.
Add this coconut milk in the fried mixture , add salt and allow to boil well.Add turmeric powder(a pinch),chilly powder(a pinch),sambar powder(2 tspns) and a pinch of asafoetida. Once it starts to boil, add 2 cups of tamarind extract and continue to boil well.

The dish is ready to be served with rice now. Garnish with coriander leaves.

Paanagam

It was Ram Navami last Friday. How can Ramnavami go without Panagam?Here is the recipe of the drink(non-alcoholic:P) which can be prepared in no less than 5 minutes.

Procedure :

Just mix the following ingredients in water.
1/2 spoon ginger grated.
1/4 tsp pepper
3 tspns powdered jaggery
1/4 tsp cardamom powder
1 tsp lemon extract

Thats it...Allow these to be dissolved in water. You may filter the contents and drink it or have it without filtering if you like to bite some ginger. You may increase the strength of ginger if you like. This also serves as a good cure for cough and throat infection.

Gangayum gowriyum- Devotional Song in Malayalam

Gangayum gowriyum
Out of the few Malayalam devotional songs which I know, here is my favorite. Simply like the tune of this song.

A song on Goddess Kanyakumari-purana nilavinilum

purana nilavinilum

Here s a song on Goddess Kanyakumari which I had learnt during childhood.

Mission America!!!

After having known to have a work experience of more than 6 years in India,its hard to believe that I resigned my job. I was all prepared to go for it from the time Srini flew without me.Nothing in the world was important at that moment other than joining him.I waited for my notice period of 2 months(which was like 200 months for me) to get over soon.Being without your loved one around is the worst thing I have ever experienced.And guess what!!!Time flew and I boarded my first international flight to London.Hurrah!!!Here I come, America!!!I thought aloud.

The excitement and anxiety to meet Srini after two long months grew higher as I flew higher.Disembarked at London and boarded the next ongoing flight.Smooth enough so far!!!I started watching English Vinglish movie as soon as I boarded this flight. Enjoyed the complete  movie thoroughly only to find out that the plane had not budged a bit from the terminal.Due to some technical issues, all of us, passengers, were kept waiting for 3 hours.Not delaying further, the plane took off and I reached Chicago airport. The queue for immigration was so long(The Tirupati darshan queues were better, I should say).Here comes Ripleys believe it or not. The transition time of 5 and a half hours were not enough and I missed my connecting flight to Tampa.(Not another eternity before meeting my dear one).I headed towards the British airways counter only to find a few more passengers in a similar state as I.All of us were given coupons for dinner and accommodation at Holiday Inn.You may ask why!!!The next flight was available only the next morning.Phewwww!!!

Thanks to Lavanya,a passenger who I befriended quickly,I was able to convey the info to Srini, who was already waiting at the Tampa airport.The whole lot of us, including Lavanya and me, headed towards Holiday Inn and somehow killed the night.I got a creepy feeling and imagined all the horror movie characters live around me.Hard night it was and I did not sleep for fear of missing the next flight,too, which was scheduled @5 am.
The next morning, the whole journey was about to end when I was stopped at the United Airlines counter for having one of the baggages overweighed. I was asked to swap some items from the bag to another.Now, now,the zipper of the other bag had got jammed as I had waited for more than an hour in the freezing cold the previous night (-2 degrees Celcius). I managed to put some stuff in my cabin baggage and also managed to gain some sympathy from the lady at the counter. She warned me once and wished me a safe journey. I thanked God for this and moved on praying for no more delays.
There I was , after 2 hours of journey, in front of Srini, at the airport, who had equally been stressed out and anxious on not having seen me so long.
And yeah, the king and the queen happily lived everafter. Thats the usual ending of the story. Wow. I was happy too that the whole problem is over.
And now,a new problem. How do I kill my time everyday?????

Ignorance is not BLISS,its FOOLISHNESS

Have you ever known about a massive conversion from Hindus/Christians to Muslims which is on the roll for many years now...I bet most of you are not aware, or rather, choose to be ignorant even if you have heard of it....
I am sad and ashamed to quote here that our own Kerala, God's own country, known for its rich cultural heritage, has fallen a prey to the most dangerous virus, known as Love Jihad.(Other states have their part , too...but Kerala tops the list)

Let me elaborate or try to educate all of you who are ignorant on this.....
Jihadi Romeos are found in almost every street in India. You may find them all over our neighbourhood. They are none other than our own Muslim brothers(just trying to relate the line of our pledge, which has no value in today's world...."All Indians are my brothers and sisters")......Many girls get wooed away with the Jihadi romeos(I must say, they have that goddamn talent). They have the ability to control the girl's mind whom they target as a prey and in turn, innocent and naive young girls, even school-going kids start believing in their philosophies and become victims of Love Jihad. Those guys succeed in getting these little girls converted to Islam, making them believe that it is the only religion,making them believe that the girls' loving families, their culture which they have been bred with from birth, is all fake. How clever these people are at hypnotising young girls(Hindus and Christians) and trap them!!


Now you may be thinking that this is what happens to anyone who falls in love with an inter-caste/inter-religious person.If you think so, you are wrong, my dear friend..Its time for us to open our eyes and understand more about these Jihadis and give a helping hand to all those who are being victimised. You may be wondering this is just news which you read on papers. This might not happen in your family to your daughters and sisters.

Wake up...If you dont want to see your daughter or sister in a burqa, married to Jihadis as one of their wives(Polygamy is legal in Islam, if you dont know that)...
Wake up, if you dont want to see your sister helping increase the Islamic population(This is exactly the motive of Jihadis)...
Wake up, if you dont want to see your sister suffering the brutalities after marriage.
Wake up, to save your sister, to save your daughter.
Stop blaming your girls for have fallen in love and start educating them, counselling them right now about these known facts.
Stop reading about murders and rapes in the newspapers and start acquainting yourself with something which will help you save your culture as well as the girls in your families.

What if...such a gruesome thing happens to your daughter/sister.....The number of victims have been innumerous so far....It is better to be aware and start taking the necessary steps instead of being ignorant and regret later. It is high time we all join together and do this to revive back our Kerala, our India, our HINDUSTAN.......

For more facts and details and to increase your knowledge on this, please visit the website,www.haindavakeralam.org.


I am not a fanatic.I am not a preacher. I am not part of any community. I am not an activist. I am an ordinary citizen of India who am deeply ashamed of these happenings and with tears in my eyes, writing this post and trying to awaken people's minds. JAIHIND!!!

Paal Payasam(Kheer)

Procedure to make Kheer/Paal payasam.

Boil 8 cups of milk in a vessel.
Grease a kadai with ghee and add 5 spoons of raw rice and fry for some time.Then turn off the stove and coarsely powder this fried rice(not too fine).Put it back in the kadai. Add the boiled milk , close the lid and cook on medium flame. Keep stirring often to avoid the contents from getting burnt at the bottom.This may take more than 45 minutes as the whole procedure should be done on medium flame only and the rice has to be cooked well, too.When the quantity shrinks to half, add 1 full cup of sugar and keep stirring.Once it gets thick, check if the rice is boiled well and switch off the flame.Now sprinkle cardamom powder and mix well.

Finally, take a kadai. Heat some ghee and add the nuts(cashews,raisins).Fry them for a while and add this into the payasam.

Yummy fragrant pal payasam is now ready.

Aama vadai or paruppu vadai

Soak channa dal(3 cups) for 3 hours. Then drain out dal and grind along with red chillies(6),hing or asafoetida(2 spoons), salt,green chillies(3) and curry leaves without adding water(You may sprinkle a few drops if it is too hard)

You may fry some onions and add them to this vadai batter.Since I made it on New years day, I avoided onions.
Now make round balls of this mixture.Flatten them with your hands(like the shell of a tortoise).

Heat a kadai with oil. The kadai should be heated really well in order to prepare this vadais.
Drop a pinch of the batter in oil . If it floats up immediately, then the oil is ready to be cooked.Hurray.
Now drop the flattened doughs carefully into the oil and allow them to cook till they are brown in color. You may need to turn the vadais after some time so that both the sides get an even color.

I got 31 vadais using this quantity enough to be stored for 3 days and eaten.

Kaalan

This dish tastes best with yam, but I made it with ladies finger(okra) this time.
Heat oil in a kadai and fry a few pieces of ladies finger(chopped into long pieces) adding a pinch of salt.Once it is fried, keep them aside.

Make a paste out of coconut(add in large quantity), 4-5 green chillies and cumin.
Add the cumin to the paste towards the end when the paste is almost ready only.

Whip curd (should be a little sour, neither too sour nor void of it) in the mixie and keep aside.

To a little water, add turmeric powder, chilli powder and pepper powder.
Once it comes to a boil, add the fried okra and salt to taste and mix it well.
Add the coconut paste to this and allow to boil well.
Once the above mixture boils well, add the curd and cook for a minute or so. Add curry leaves and switch off the stove.

In a kadai heat a little coconut oil, add mustard seeds, methi, red chilly and curry leaves. Add this to the above.

The main difference between this and mor kozhambu is in the consistency. Mor kozhambu is a little watery and we eat it with cooked moong dal and rice. Kaalan has to be real thick and is eaten with rice .

Potato curry

Most of you must be knowing how to prepare potato curry, but I have my own version here.

Chop each potato into two halves and boil them enough to peel off the skin.
Once they are boiled, peel off the skin and cut them into small pieces.
Heat oil in a kadai, add mustard. Once it splutters, add turmeric powder(a pinch),chilly powder(half spoon) and salt and fry for a few seconds. Now add the boiled and cut potatoes and fry them well.You may close the kadai with a lid for faster cooking.But make sure to keep turning the potatoes to avoid them from getting burnt.

Potato curry is ready once it is cooked. Garnish with coriander leaves.
I prefer making it this way as it consumes less oil and less time for preparation.

Beans paruppu usili

Paruppu usili is a well-known Tanjore dish which can be made with Beans , Avarakkai(Broad beans) , Kothavarangai,and Vazha poo(the flower of a banana plant) mainly, the fourth version being the most healthiest.I have mentioned here about beans paruppu usili. The process is similar to all the other versions.

Grind chana dal(1/2 a cup) along with red chillies(2), green chillies(4), salt and hing or asafoetida(1/4 spoon) by just sprinkling water if needed.

Now, prepare round doughs with this mixture and steam them in a cooker for 10 minutes without placing the whistle placing them on a plate inside.Once this done, allow the pressure to be released before opening the cooker. Transfer the steamed doughs onto a plate and break the doughs with your hand to make them powdery.

Chop beans into really small pieces and boil them well.


Heat little oil in a kadai, add urad dal(1 spoon) and then add the powdered batter.Fry this for a while. Then add the boiled beans and fry the whole mixture for some time till the batter stops sticking to the sides of the kadai.

Bean parupu usili is ready to be served.

New year celebrations

I was very excited to celebrate Tamil New year/Vishu this year as this was the first time my hubby and I got to celebrate it all alone. So I had the freedom of cooking all what I wanted in my own style.:)

Apr 14,2013

Srini and I woke up early in the morning to have a vision of Chithirai Kani/Vishu Kani.The tradition asks us to walk out of our bed with closed eyes till one reaches the place where the Kani is kept and then see it as the first thing on this D-day.This feeling has always been divine every year.

The eldest in the house, then offers a precious ornament(like a ring) to all in the family to be touched and kept on both the eyes and then back in the Kani.
Then after prostrating before God, the elders give Vishu kaineetam (money) to the young ones.Once all this is done, all the family members join together and burst crackers welcoming the New year.

This time, however, we could not burst crackers here, but managed to follow all the other practices possible.

Now comes the feast part(Virundhu(as in Tamil) or Sadhya(as in Malayalam)).

My menu this year consisted of the following:

1. Pal Payasam(Kheer)
2. Paruppu Vadai or Aama Vadai
3. Kaalan( a dish similar to Kadhi)
4. Tomato Rasam
5. Potato curry
6. Beans paruppu usili(one of my favs)
7. Rice

Please click on each of the links to view the recipe.

The toughest part in preparing a feast on auspicious days is that one is not allowed to taste any of the dishes unless they are offered as naivedhyam for God.

Luckily, this time, all the dishes were perfect in their taste and we enjoyed the day to the fullest having a hearty meal. 

Happy New year once again ...:)

Jetboarding weekend..:)

After having an amazing weekend, I would not be doing the right thing if I dont pen about it here.Let me share with you my experience of Jetboarding(Not Jet ski) .

My hubby and I are lovers of adventure sports , trekking, travelling, etc... As soon as we had come across this deal, we instantly booked our dates for jetboarding. The deal had a promotional offer of 109$ per person instead of the actual 250$.We waited for April 13,Saturday.

Holding our spirits high, we started towards St. Pete beach(about 22 miles from my place). The beach looked a lovely blue, calm and serene, a lot different from our Besant Nagar and Marina. (Dont get me wrong, I love the beaches in Chennai..:))...Off we went looking out for Ironmon(not ironman) sports. I was skeptical about this whole deal(wondered if Ironmon actually existed) as the name sounded funny.Luckily, we found a red banner with Jetboarding written on it. And guess what, Ironmon was true(he he).

The lady-in-charge gave us some forms to be filled out and then asked us to go to a boat which was anchored in the middle of the sea.(Wait!!!!Isnt there any transportation for us to reach the boat). We had to paddle our way towards the boat on a surfboard.This was a Herculean task for both of us as we did not know swimming.After a struggle against the waves and keeping our focus towards the boat, we reached it safe. The people in charge of jetboarding(the Ironmons, not ironmen:P) were amused that we had paddled all the way without knowing to swim and (hold your breath) without life jackets on. We came to know that the sea got very deep near the boat.(God , thank you!!)

I had seen videos of jetboarding and thought that it was so easy. But it was totally not true. We were given all the gears and equipment and pushed into the water. We had to control the propulsion using our feet,which was damn difficult as the shoes were not two separate ones(It was like our feet were tied together)and I did not do well..:(
It was a pleasant sight to watch my hubby propel it well enough to fly high and then fall (like a dolphin).Its more lovely to watch than to do it yourself. I dont have any pictures of the experience as you all know about the struggle we had with the paddle boats.But lemmepost some pic of the sport so that you may visulaize what I have been talking about.

We paddled our way back to the shore deciding that we will return some time later to experience the thrill of paddling(not jetboarding, he he!)..