Carrot and Dates Halwa.

Tried and tasted by Nivedita

Hi All,

WISHING EVERY ONE A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR.... MAY GOD BRING ONLY THE BEST THINGS IN THIS YEAR.

This is my first post in this year 2011.Two nights party and hectic schedule kept me away from blogging. Today I am here with a sweet to start my year so that, the whole year I will keep blogging on sweet things. I am following my fellow bloggers who started the year with halwa.  I am here with carrot and dates halwa which I prepared for dinner tonight. It was delicious. 

My DH got 2 boxes of mini(90g) condensed milk tins and kept for me as I love to use it in my desserts instead of sugar. 

I will be waiting for the chance to use these mini tins which I love to eat just like that if I do not have time to make sweet but desire to have a bite.

Here are the ingredients:
Carrot - 2 big, cleaned, grated
Condensed milk - 1 tin(90g)
Dates - 6(Soaked in 1/4 cup warm milk for 15 to 20 min)
Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp
Sliced or grated almonds - 1 tbsp
Ghee - 1 tsp
Method:

• Take 2 tbsp of grated carrot and add it to the dates. 
• Grind this into paste.
• Transfer this into a M/W safe bowl.
• Add the remaining carrot. Mix well and cook on HIGH for 3 minutes to remove the raw smell of the carrot.
• Take the bowl out, add the condensed milk and cardamom powder. Cook on HIGH for 3 more minutes.
• Remove, add the sliced or grated almonds and ghee. Mix well and cook on HIGH till the mixture becomes thick(as it looks in the photo). It may take 3 to 5 minutes as per the M/W settings.
• Serve it hot with cold ice cream ball or refrigerate it before serving to enjoy the chilled halwa.

Sara's ongoing event 

Celebrate Sweets - Sugarless Event Announcement !!... 

which is started by me.

AND 

Srivalli's 

365 Days of Microwave Cooking!

Keep Smiling,

Maadli or Maaldi(Powdered Chapati and Jaggery)

Tried and tasted by Nivedita

Hi All,

A very different sweet to make and the taste is very good. Basically it is a North Karnataka dish. I am not sure if it is prepared in some other states and with different name.

I do not know the origin of the name of this sweet. Sorry, I can not explain the word Maadli or Maaldi. 

It is usually prepared during marriages. It can be prepared and stored for a month and it will be handy for a family to share the sweet for the occasion. 

Do I need to say I love it.... :-))))))

There is actually a very traditional way to make it.(I have striked the traditional way because it takes long time and not possible in metro cities or abroad where you do not get flour mills for making flour.)

I will explain both the ways.

Traditional way:

Wheat - 1/2 kilo

Chana dal - 1/4 cup

Clean the wheat and chana dal. Mix it and take it to the flour mill. Make it little coarse flour(not very fine).

Modern way:

Wheat flour - 1/2 kilo

Gram flour - 1/8 cup

Knead the flour with very little water and 1 tsp of salt.. Keep it for some time.

Make thick and big chapatis and roast them with  out oil.

Let the chapatis be cool.

Put them in a big mortal and pestle( traditional and very big one, made with stone or iron). Crush the chapatis into coarse powder.

Modern way:

Cut the chapatis in to small pieces. 

Grind in a dry grinder till coarse powder.

Take

Crushed or powdered Jaggery - 1/2 kilo or according the the sweetness of jaggery

Cardamom powder - 1 tbsp

Nutmeg powder - 1 tsp

Grated dry coconut - 1/4 cup

Salt - 1 tsp

Daliya split - 1/2 cup

Mix all the above ingredients with powdered chapati.

Eat with lot of ghee and hot milk. 

You can it it dry too.

Store in a airtight jar for a month. This quantity is enough for 10 to 12 people.
Sending this sweet to two events.

Sara's ongoing event 

Celebrate Sweets - Sugarless Event Announcement !!... 

which is started by me.

and

Sujana's

"Celebrating Regional Cuisine"

Keep Smiling,

Best of 2010

Tried and tasted by Nivedita

Hi All,

Its always good to keep a track of our past. You can learn not to repeat the mistakes. You will know how to improve yourself. Sometimes you will feel proud with your work. Sometimes, it makes you laugh. Many times your past brings lot of memories, good and bad.

But this post is only for my cooking skills and my experiences in the kitchen. Its about my best recipe, my worst experiment  food...

I want to thank Valli for hosting this event as it allows us to look back in to the last year happenings and the best part is here we are the Judge for our work.

Here comes my list:

First I would like to judge my best 5 recipes of the year.

Ohh, its really difficult to judge myself. I have selected the best 5 recipes from my (All) BEST recipes:

1. A queen of blood meets rice and white milk!! accid...Feb 03
2. Complan Pedha and Horlicks (or Boost) Pedha in Mic...  Aug 23
3. Biscuit Poli for Holi  March 5
4. Tomato Rasam Cubes July 22
5. Tawa Fried Paneer Tikka Aug 4

First time tried in my kitchen:

My first bake - Chocolate Cookies Aug 5: Yes!! I started baking at last. It was my dream to start baking and I did it.

Carrot and Orange Halwa  June 21 : It was the first time, I took risk to do something which I never did before.

Pineapple Chutney in M/W Sept 16: It was just delicious and I was happy to get the taste what I had guessed it before making it.

Tomato Rasam Cubes July 22 : This is my baby, which proved that I have a creativity in me.

Biscuit Poli for Holi  March 5 : This again is my experiment, which made my kids to enjoy the traditional food in a new way.

Apple Rasam! March 15: I never thought I will cook this some day.

Two best meals of the year:

Full meals ready(ಊಟ ತಯಾರಿದೆ) Feb 22

Brown rice,green veg curry and brinjal fry! Feb 14

Recipes with different names: Some times I become poetic and get some funny or different names for my recipe. Below are the recipes with some funny names:(But the taste is not funny..)

C.C? K.P? S.C OR C.C again!? What's there in A nam...Feb 04
Dal roti khao, Prabhu ke gun gaao!!!
They all met in a kitty party!!! to unite into one...

 Best dish(es) of the year

Tomato Rasam Cubes : This dish was selected for "Best 30 recipes of the year 2010" :-)

Tri Colored Chapatis and Tomato Chutney! June 24

Falafel Sandwich (Indianised) : This got second prize in a blog for sandwich contest :-)

One more best thing happened in this year was, I wrote two stories! I always knew I can do it as I have already written many poems, but never thought of finishing a story. This year, it happened. 

The boy who never listened!: I tell this story to my daughter to keep her away from dangerous things.

Urad Dal Vada, Repentance :This is the first story I wrote and I sat in the night till 3 to finish and I did not feel tired at all! :-)

Now, coming to my favorite one: Preparing food from other blogs. I really enjoy a lot to follow the recipe from other blogs as it brings us close. I got many food remakes, and each recipe was followed to the max. accuracy. But I am giving only few links here:

Rice flour Poori and Chilli Gojju(Food Remake)

THIRATTUPAAL(Milk and Jaggery sweet) (Food remake)...

From Priyas Kitchen to My Kitchen(for T&T)

Microwave Chocolate Cake and the saga continues!!!...

Magic of Sindhi Rasoi(Food Remake)

and the list continues.., 

In my blog click "Food remake" and you will get all the recipes tried from other blogs.

 Coming to the best clicks of the year : I am not a professional photographer, neither I have a good camera. Reasons apart, I love to click the photos of my recipes and these are my favorite ones:

• 
  

There were some failures too, I hosted 2 events which were flop.

There were hits, where I hosted many events with lot of entries. 

I think I should stop here or else I will write of the whole blog in one post :-)

As per me, I never believe in making resolutions on new year. But I remember about last year that I would wish to learn baking this year and I did it.

Click  Best of year 2009 for the  best of last year 2009.

This time I am thinking of trying Continental, International food. Wish me luck. 

I will be here with more experiments in 2011.

Sending this to 

 Valli's Best of Year 2010 event. 

Keep Smiling,

I am tagged :-)

 Tried and tasted by Nivedita 

 Hi All,

Its nice to be tagged. I am thankful to Preethi of Preethi's Culinary for Tagging me and giving me a chance to think few things about me and answer the questions which really made me to think before I answer those.

Here are the questions and my answers:

1. Are you a vegetarian, or have you thought about being one?

I am an Omnivores :-) :-), I love to have non veg but once in a while. My favorite food is Vegetarian and raw food makes me more hungry.

2. Who inspired you to cook or bake?
During childhood, cooking was my necessity. Now, there are many people who really inspires me to try cooking new food. My daughter, my blogging friends, great chefs from all over the world are few among them.

3. How do you celebrate Christmas?...or a favorite holiday of your choice?

I would love to celebrate a festival with my family and still waiting for my all alone favorite holiday..

4. Do you prefer to celebrate New Year's Eve with friends and/or family, or prefer to ring in the New Year quietly, and privately, at home?

I love to celebrate New Year's Eve with friends or family, basically, I can not stay alone at home on that evening. I feel lost and I feel lonely if I am alone that eve.

5. If someone were to ask you to bring dessert to a party, what would you bring? Store bought, or homemade, and if you were to make homemade, what would you make?

I would love to make home made dessert and that will be a cake(new passion). Otherwise, gulab jamoon are the best.

6. How will you celebrate your next birthday?

I really do not know and don't want to plan it now only.

7. Do you have a New Year's resolution-and will you be sticking to it?

I do not believe in New Year's resolution. I make resolutions according to my necessity and If I do, I stick to it.

8. Do you time your breakfast,lunch & dinner or eat when you are hungry ?

I maintain regular time for breakfast and dinner. Lunch time varies.

9. What inspired you to write a food blog ?

Ohh, there are many reasons which inspired me to write a food blog. First was, I wanted to prove myself as a good writer and a good cook. Second is, I love to meet or make new friends of my interest. Third is, it really makes me happy.

10. You try a new recipe and it does not turn out good,what will you do ?

I immediately try it in a week or two. If I get success, it will be in my regular menu or if its a disaster, I will try it again after a month or two. But I try till I get that recipe right.

11. Name three ingredients you consciously avoid or eliminate even when the recipe calls for it ?

Ajinomoto, more oil and more masala

12. Name three things you have to use in most recipes ?

Salt, ginger and vegetables :-)

13. How important is eating meals together as a family to you?

 I really enjoy having food with my family and its very very important for me to have meals together.

I have answered very honestly and enjoyed doing the same. 

I'm happy to tag these questions to:

 Smitha 

 Mina Joshi

 Priya 

 veena krishnakumar

 Aruna Manikandan

 Srivalli 

and

niveditha

Please continue the tagging by passing it to your friends.

Keep Smiling,

Vegetable Sandwich

Tried and tasted by Nivedita

Hi All,

Sandwich!! Who does not like sandwiches?? One can be more creative while making these sandwiches. You can make it healthier by adding healthy ingredients and you can make it junk food by adding some fried food, cheese or butter!!

But I love this combination. Its evergreen and most common sandwich which is prepared all over India. Its more healthier if you use brown bread.

It is easy to make because all the vegetables are easily available at home and not all the vegetables are compulsory.

The vegetables you can see it the photo are what I love to have it in my sandwich. Cabbage leaves is optional.

Coming to the recipe:

Ingredients:

Fresh bread - 4(to make two sandwich)

Potato - 1 big, boiled and cut into thick slices

Tomato - 1 big or 2 small, washed, and cut in to round slices.

Cucumber - 1 big,  washed, peeled and cut into thick and round slices

Carrot - 1 big, washed, peeled and cut into thick and round slices.

Cabbage leaves - 1 for each, torn into pieces

Butter - 1 tsp for each sandwich

Green chutney(Pudina or mint leaves chutney): I always keep it in the 

fridge :-)

Fresh coriander - 1 bunch, washed,cleaned and chopped

Mint leaves or Pudina - 1/2 bunch, washed, cleaned and chopped

Green chilly - 1 long

Jeera - 1 tsp

Transfer the above ingredients in a grinder and grind into a fine paste.

Remove it to a bowl. 

• Arrange all the ingredients in a plate so that it is easy to send these into sandwich.

• Take 2 slices of bread on a plate.
• Apply butter,
• Spread the green chutney,
• Spread potato slices,
• Keep all the vegetables one on another to make thick layers.
• Cover it with another slice.
• Keep in the toaster or Sandwich maker and cook it till it turns slightly brown. 
• You do not have toaster or sandwich maker? No problem, you can make these on hot tawa or pan also. Don't want to toast?? Have it just like that.
• Have it hot with some more green chutney or ketch up or sauce.

I want to dedicate this sandwich to Keri of  SANDWICH 365. I know I am late for doing this. I love her blog and this is just a small thank you to her.

Keep smiling,

THIRATTUPAAL(Milk and Jaggery sweet) (Food remake)

Tried and tasted by Nivedita

Hi All,

Being and integrated country, India is famous for its unity in diversity.  Each state has its own culture. In each state, there are many mini India with rich culture of their own to follow. The blogging world has introduced such wonderful customs, food and recipes to each other and brought us together.

THIRATTUPAAL is one of the recipe which has a very sweet custom with it. Shanti of Shanthi Krishnakumar's cook book has shared this recipe in her blog. 

Read in her words:

This is a traditional Tamil brahmin sweet and is made on all important days. In Iyengar marriages, there is a lovely function. The bride is given a small cup of thirattupaal and will be asked to distribute it to all the people available. Elders tell her that if she distributes to everyone, she can run the family within the means effectively. It is a great deal to make very small balls, like a chickpea, out of it and to distribute it to everyone.

Isn't it sweet!
She has explained it very well with step step by photos. Visit her for detailed recipe.

Here is my post.

I used only half a litre of milk where as Shanti has used 3 litres of milk.

BUT THE TASTE WAS HEAVEN! I LOVED IT.

Ingredients :

My measurements:

Milk - half a litre

Jaggery - 1/4 cup or less, crushed or grated or powdered

Cardamom powder - 1 tsp

Ghee - 1 tsp

hey! hey! Wait, I can send this to the event "Celebrate sweets- Sugarless sweets"!!! Yes, Now,When I typed Jaggery, it flashed to me!!

 

Method

• Boil the milk in a thick bottomed vessel. 
• Keep a small plate in it to prevent the charring of the milk.
• Boil the milk till it becomes almost half and gets curdled.
• Remove the plate and add jaggery. 
• Mix well. Add cardamom powder. 
• Add ghee and keep on stirring it the jaggery get mixed well with the milk and starts leaving the sides.
• Remove from the heat and transfer it into the serving bowl.

Wow!

Tasted real heaven. Amazing.

I am going to make it again very soon!!

Thank you Shantiji for such a wonderful recipe.

Sending this to 

Sara's ongoing event 

Celebrate Sweets - Sugarless Event Announcement !!... 

which is started by me.

Keep Smiling,

Jowar Rotti (from the past)

Tried and tasted by Nivedita

Hi All,

The art learnt is never out of your mind. There is a saying in Kannada : "Vidye kalitu mareyabeku"

Thats what I checked it today. It was a regular cooking for me to make Jowar rotti when I was in UAE. But after I came back to India, I totally stopped making it as there is an old lady who makes it everyday. But today I thought of trying it whether I have forgotten to make or what. And I could make rottis very well.

Look at the photo:

I prepared nice soft and thin rottis.

Link for the recipe is Jowar rotti(Jolada rotti)

Keep Smiling,

Kashmiri Dum Aloo for ICC

Tried and tasted by Nivedita

Hi All,

Potatoes!!!! I love to eat in any form. Few days back, a blogger friend Ria Mary Mathew shared the status on FB "Y didn't God make potato rich in Iron and Butter rich in Vitamins? Y God Y? So true! I too feel the same way. 

Few years back I was not a potato person, but  during second pregnancy, I got this craving for potatoes. I always wait for something to cook with potatoes. And when Srivalli gave  this month's  Indian Cooking Challenge, I was very happy because the recipe  is Kashmiri Dum Aloo. This recipe is from the site IndianFood.

I enjoyed preparing the dish and eating it too. And my kids loved it with soft Chapatis.

But!

I used only 1/4 th qty than the original recipe. The original recipe was for 1 kg of potatoes but as we are only 2 persons to eat, I prepared only 1/4th qty.

Please click here for the recipe, 

Baby potatoes taking cold bath.

 

Masalas mixing up for potatoes

 

Masala bath tub for potatoes.

Potatoes taking Masala tub bath.

Potatoes after bath and fry!

Hing and Clove powder with Hot water for potatoes.

Keeping to make aloo dum, the last stage for the potatoes to get ready to go to the dining table.

I am sorry for not giving detailed recipe. As I prepared only the little qty from the original recipe, I felt its not good to give the full details, as the photos and the given qty will not match.

I am enjoying this ICC event.

Keep Smiling,