Quick Moong dal Rasam

I saw this lovely Dal Sandwich recipe on Sindhi Rasoi yesterday, and surprisingly, I just wished to have the dal.. like a thin soup or rasam..
So, took 1/4 cup of moong dal, and boiled it in water with a pinch of turmeric and salt. Boiled till it was done..
Then heated some ghee for tempering, added to it 1/3 tsp of our home made mixture of red chilli and garam masala. When it gave a nice aroma, added a nice tsp full of coriander powder. Poured this into the dal, added water (as I wanted it thin and watery) and Amchur / dry mango powder to the dal as per taste and simmered it.
Didn't look great, since I didn't garnish it, so didn't take a pic! But tastes yummm
Very quick and simple too..
-Naina

More Awards!

Thanks a lot to Devi, for passing on these awards to us!!

Thanks a ton for this..





Rules for accepting this award:


1. Thank the person who gave you the award


2. Pass it on to your blogger friends



Thanks for this one too!!

And for this one too!



Rules for accepting this award
Thank the person who gave you the award.
Copy the award to your blog.
Place a link to their blog.
Name 7 things people don't know about you.
Nominate 7 bloggers.
Place a link to those bloggers.
Place a comment letting those bloggers know about the award.

So, we'd like to share this (Kreativ Blogger) award with

Easy Cooking

Faiza Ali's Kitchen

Samayalarai's Blog

Joy of Cooking

Kitchen Gossip

Viki's Kitchen

Zesty South Indian Kitchen

And the other 2 awards (Thank You and smart Food Blogger) with these 7 and

Bombay Foodie

Desi Soccer Mom

The Chef and her Kitchen

Thanks a ton again Devi for this!!

And here's 7 things people don't know about us (i.e. Ash, Monica, Naina, Kanchan, Palak ,Suzie and Akki ):

We are a group of office friends!
We're from different departments, but on the same floor!
We are all from Mumbai (born and staying here!)
We're all different girls with different personalities, but yet so alike!
We've all got silly nick names for each other
We've got code names for others too!!
We love to get together for lunches / snacks and laugh our heads off!

Enjoy!!

Cream dip

Mom in law made some veg hot dog roll yesterday, trying to replicate something she'd tasted a while ago...

I'd bought the hot dog rolls from the market, we have cheese and hot sauce at home. No one at home is fond of mustard sauce, so that's ruled out.
She make the veg kebabs of gram flour, methi (fenugreek) leaves and lots of spices for seasoning, and deep fried them.. something like Muthiya
What was missing was the mayonnaise... and being a Tuesday (veg day), I couldn't attempt the egg version..
So, made do with whatever I had... (sorry.. forgot to take pics!)
Took a 4 tbsps of fresh cream (really thick), added to it a tbsp of olive oil, a tsp of milk powder (all that was there with me), and whipped it up with a fork! It became nice and creamy. I had to add a little milk as it was too thick. Then added salt to taste, some ground pepper and some crushed dried mint leaves for flavor. In the end, added 2-3 drops of vinegar and mixed it all up. Didn't whip it too hard, cos may be the vinegar could curdle the milk.. not sure..
Using this in the hot dog sandwich made up for the mayonnaise! Yippee.
(Btw - Didn't add sugar, as my hubby hates it in dips, and didn't dare make a dip with hung curd, as he may not like it!)

She then put the sauces (cream dip and hot sauce) in the bread, then the muthiya, and topped it with cheese, and heated it in the microwave for 30 secs, for the cheese to melt and taste lovely!

-Naina

Spinach Soup

Always wanted to try this out, so saw a few recipes, and taking clues from them all, came up with this...

I used:
1 1/2 bunches of roughly chopped palak leaves
1 large sliced onion (used white onion, since I had it with me)
1/2 tsp ginger garlic paste
4-5 pepper corns
1 tsp butter
3 cups water
1/2 cup milk
Salt to taste

Heat butter in a pan and add peppers. Then add onion and cook untill light gold. Then add the ginger garlic paste, salt and spinach, and cover and cook for say 5 mins, untill done.

After cooling, blend in a mixie with some water. Take a vessel and pour this mixture, remaining water and milk, and bring to boil. Let it simmer for 2 minutes, and serve hot.
I added a few lemon drops to my bowl, and my mom in law added some tomato chilli sauce to hers! Either way, it tasted good. You could add cream, sugar, or croutons! Very healthy too

-Naina

Pasta in Pumpkin Sauce with Peppers and Olives

Pasta in Pumpkin Sauce with Peppers and Olives


A little different recipe which I experimented and it turned out to be very tasty.Pasta has always been my favorite and this turned out to be much better than expectation.

Ingredients
Olive oil
Onions Finely chopped
Potatoes peeled ,cut and half boiled
Pumpkin peeled ,cut and half boiled
Ginger Garlic paste
Finely chopped Bell Pepper
Black olives
Salt
Oregano,
Ground Pepper Powder
Chilly flakes
Salt to taste
Pasta (cooked in water al dente), Would recommend Fussilli pasta here
Milk/Cream
Cheese grated


Take a Deep pan on a flame and put the olive oil on it.Add Onions,Oregano and Ginger Garlicg Paste.Let it cook till translucent.Add Pepper Powder and chilly flakes.
Now Add the boiled Potatoes and boiled Pumpkin. Let it cook for a while.Add some cream and milk..Put the whole thing in blender till it becomes smooth paste.

Now roast the bell peppers for some toime.Cut them finely.Also chop the black olives add to this paste.

Cook Fussili pasta in water.Add a little salt and oil to it to prevent from sticking at the base of the vessel.Once its cooked al dente,drain the water.Add it to the Sauce+veges

Add grated cheese and roast in Microwave for 5 mins.Season with herbs

Serve hot..its really yummy..

Bon Appetit

Rice Phirni

Saw this on Bombay Foodie , and decided, that I just had to make this to taste it!

Followed her recipe.. but increased the proportions..
Mixed 2 tbsp of rice flour with some milk to form a paste. Boiled 500 ml milk with 4 tbsp sugar. Took it off the heat and poured into it the rice paste and whisked until it was smooth, the rice completely mixed in. Then returned the milk to the stove and simmered for 10-15 minutes till thick, while constantly whisking the milk to avoid clumps. Once done, cooled it, sprinkled pistachios and badams, and let it chill.
Yummy custard

-Naina

Blue Fusion Delight

The colour blue has always attracted me.Be it the blue sky,the blue sea or the gem Sapphire..blue always holds a special place in my heart.It was a lazy Sunday afternoon and i decided to make this simple mocktail.
Ingredients:
Blue Curacao Syrup(Mapro's Brand is readily available )
Salt
Jaljeera powder(Badshah /Everest)
Water

Procedure:
Add the Blue Curacao syrup.Add to it salt.Add the Jaljeera powder and water(Ideally Curacao to Water should be 1:5 in proportion).Stir well.Else put it in a Shaker and shake well.
Now use a drainer or a soft handkerchief to drain the sediments of Jaljeera.Do not use a tea/coffee drainer ans sediments might not get eliminated.
Freeze in the refrigerator(never deep freeze) and serve in a Pinacolada glass

The reason why named it as Fusion was it takes both the Indian and Caribbean Flavors and merges so well that you get an amazing flavour.

Jaljeera("Jal" means water and "Jeera" means cumin)is ideally a Indian drink used as a digestive,appetizer as well as a coolant especially in Summer considering the tropical Climate of India..One of the main ingredients is black salt or rock salt which acts as a digestive

Blue Curaçao is a classic, sweet and slightly bitter syrup originally made with the dried peel of oranges or dried peel of the laraha citrus fruit, grown on the island of Curaçao a Caribbean island.The syrup is traditionally used to impart a hint of Caribbean blue color in several cocktails.Most Curacaos which we get in India use the Syrup of Sweet lime and Orange Combined with artificial colorants to give the blue colour.

So ideally now when climate has started getting warmer its great to have this drink..Enjoy

Ash