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It is so surprising that I've never posted a pizza recipe here, because it's something we make so regularly. Although we love eating out, when it comes to pizza especially, home made is just so much better.I love experimenting with different crusts, sauces and toppings, there are so many options. The crusts don't always turn out perfect, but cheese (just like chocolate), makes makes everything tas
I have been making smoothies everyday for the last couple of years. Anushka and I, have a smoothie daily for our mid morning snack and it's the only thing she will have without a fuss.Smoothies are the perfect way to include a good serving of fruits and vegetables in your daily diet, especially for kids. They are healthy, refreshing and so filling. Use ripe, sweet fruits and fresh vegetables
It was Manoj's birthday yesterday, time for yet another celebration. Though the day went by as usual, we had a few friends over for dinner. I cooked a simple meal and of course there was cake for dessert.The last cakes I baked were for Anushka's birthday and there were a lot of sleepless nights and fussing and swearing involved, so when I asked Manoj what kind of cake he wanted, the only thing he
A few of us friends met a couple of weeks back and at some point we started discussing and sharing ideas of the meals we cook regularly. I mentioned Quinoa and none of my friends had ever tasted it and some of them were even reluctant to give it a try. We met again for lunch at my place this week and I made my favorite Quinoa recipe for them. I have been cooking with Quinoa for a while
Anushka turned three a few days ago and this year we celebrated her birthday "Minnie Mouse Style"! It was so exciting planning the party, working with all pink and black and getting all the decorations ready. There were a lot of times when I could involve Anushka, especially when there was glue involved and she so enjoyed messing everything up:)Then of course there were the cakes and lots of them.
The members of Kerala Kitchen, a facebook group have decided to cook a traditional dish from Kerala every month. I loved the idea as there are a lot of dishes I would love to make and whats better than a group of fellow enthusiasts cooking together. Nags of Edible Garden selected Kappa Masala as the recipe for this month and its one I enjoy any time of day.I make kappa atleast a couple of ti
Here's wishing you all a Very Happy Valentines Day! I've been celebrating the whole week, doing all kinds of crafts for Anushka's school. I've cut and glued so many hearts, Valentines Day has never been more real! To me its another day to be around chocolate and if I'm really lucky maybe I'll have something new by the end of the day:)I'm going to be doing a lot of baking in the coming weeks,
I make dal almost everyday and yet its the one thing we never get tired of. This is one of my favorite recipes. I make it using all kinds of lentils but I like the flavor of chana dal best. I have been trying to avoid carbs at night and on such days, a bowl of this dal with a salad or roasted vegetables or fish is what I have for dinner. This tastes great paired with rice, roti or any kind of
Today is going to be a really exciting day for Anushka. She has a school picnic and will be taking the Bart to a park with all her classmates. I know she is going to be so happy and excited, she just loves the 'choo choo train'. With all this excitement I couldn't sleep and was up so early, its just 7.00 and I'm done with all my work. A good one hour before Anushka wakes up and just enough time to
One of my resolutions this year was to have a salad with each meal or maybe even replace a meal with salads. I am super proud that I have managed to stick to this one for so long. Even the other meals have been really basic and simple and I have not really cooked anything to post about, even if I did I was too lazy to take pictures. A couple of weeks back, we visited some friends and I had the bes
A Very Happy New Year to all my readers. Here's hoping for a Bright, Prosperous and Happy 2013. The last few weeks of the last year were all fun, we had a wonderful holiday and spent a lot of time with friends. I hardly had any time for blogging but I did not want to miss posting on the first day of the new year.Last night one of my friends bought a Tiramisu cake for our new year party, I was
It's the season where everyone is looking for the perfect gifts for their loved ones. It's all the more special if its something homemade, something that looks fabulous and at the same time requires so little effort. These bars are so easy to make and there is no baking involved!! It's just the thing to involve your kids in and they'd be so excited! Melt the best chocolate you can find and top it
Anushka's school closed for holidays last week and as always we had potlucks on the last days of school. I made these cookies for one of them. They were so buttery and delicious and they literally melt in your mouth.These snowy pillowy cookies are so apt for this season too.I can't believe that another year is coming to an end so soon, but I do love this time of the year. Love the reds and g
Yesterday was yet another occasion that called for an incredibly rich, gooey and chocolaty dessert, our 6th wedding anniversary! No special celebrations as it was the first working day after a really long weekend, but I'm not complaining as we got to spend a whole lot of time together over the long weekend. It is wonderful that our anniversary comes around thanksgiving when there are some rea
Wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving! I am so grateful for everything and everyone in my life right now, I may crib and complain about a lot of things all the time, but I know that things are perfect they way they are and I wouldn't change a thing! We have planned a day out today, so no fancy meal at home. I can only imagine all the turkeys roasting right now, yumm!I am not a salad person,
I have always loved celebrating Diwali....the lights, bright colors, sweets and even the fireworks. I have never been interested in the religious aspects of any festival but I like celebrating them all and Diwali is one I really look forward to and I have such wonderful memories of time spent with family and friends on this auspicious day. I really wanted to do it all this year, but ende
It has been over a year that I have made any kind of fried food at home. Except for the ocassional meal at a friends house or so, I have completely avoided fried foods since last Diwali and it wasn't as difficult or impossible as I thought it would be. But it is that time of the year again and a perfect excuse to indulge in everything I have been denying myself.I always make Murukku and Ribon Pako
With Diwali just around the corner sweets are all I can think of. There are a few I would like to make and then Manoj has his favorites that he wants me to make and his list keeps getting longer! I've not yet made up mind, but I bought a block of Mawa this weekend, I just keep thinking of all the possibilities...In the mean time, here is a very simple but delicious kheer recipe. I tried carving a
Halloween is so much fun when you have a kid at home. Anushka is a lady bug this year and her costume comes with wings and she has been wearing it and 'flying' around the house ever since I bought it a couple of weeks ago. We already had a party last weekend in our apartment complex and another one in school today. I'm so looking forward to trick or treating with her in the evening and another par
I was cleaning my kitchen cabinets yesterday and I found two unopened packs of sabudana. Soaked a couple of cups immediately to make two of my favorite snacks. I used half to make khichadi for breakfast and was planning on making vadas for our evening tea. But the vadas are quiet tricky to make and mine always end up soaking too much oil. So, I settled on making this thalipeeth instead. The ingred
Pav Bhaji is a spicy mix vegetable curry served with buttered and toasted bread rolls. One of the most popular street foods in Mumbai, there are many restaurants and food stalls all over famous just for their Pav Bhaji. When I was working and during college days I probably visited all of them and I've loved every dish I had. And yet I firmly believe that nothing tastes as good as home made pav bha
A few of us friends meet up once every week for a potluck lunch. It's an afternoon I really look forward to... great homemade food, gossip, silly jokes and endless laughter. I am happiest when I have to bring dessert and I so look forward to trying out something new.I really wanted to make cupcakes this time and ofcourse all I could think of was a chocolate one with a rich ganache frosting.
Any chocolate cake lover would have probably heard of the famous Sacher Torte. There is a great story behind the cake and the original cake is only sold by the Hotel Sacher. I so wish I get a chance to have it sometime! You'll find several recipes online and in books but the original one is a well kept secret.I made this for my birthday back in August. It was a major one this year, 30!! Called for
Curd Rice is the dish I grew up eating almost everyday and I still haven't had enough. We make it very often, especially in the summers to beat the heat and every time we need something that is totally hassle free. There is really no recipe as such to be followed, just dump all the ingredients in approximate quantities into a bowl and mix well, stir in the tempering and you have a bowl full of a c
A few years back I accidentally bought a can of dulce de leche instead of condensed milk. I didn't even know what it was at the time. When I opened the can and saw the color I was actually confused, only then did I read the label. I tasted it right away and kept tasting it over and over again, it is sinfully delicious!!I have used it to make a bundt cake a few times, then I saw this cake in the bo
Dad loved giving us little surprise gifts. Small toys, books, stationery, he would get two of them, hide it behind his back and ask me and my brother to choose a color. It got us so excited. He always remembered the things we said we wanted and on every birthday or any other occasion he would buy us one of those things and it was always such a wonderful surprise, totally unexpected.Alth
Although I made this a while back, this cheesecake is totally dedicated to my brother. I know he would love this, being chocolate crazy was probably the only thing we had in common growing up (even now)!It is Rakshabandhan today and I so wish he was here with me to celebrate.I had made this back in April when I had some friends over for dinner on the eve of Manoj's Birthday. I had bought cream che
About three years ago, we were shopping at Costco for snacks to take on our road trip to LA and Manoj put a box of Petite Brownie Bites from the Sugar Bowl Bakery into our cart and looked at me with this huge excited grin. It was very bad idea, a 2lb box and I knew it wouldn't last long.We had a couple each when loading all our buys into the car and and a couple more when unloading. Good thing we
Its been crazy hot this week and I cannot stop thinking of all things cold. I found this post in my drafts, don't even remember when I had made this but I so wish I had a couple of scoops leftover! A tall glass of cold coffee is my favorite thing on days like these and this was an attempt to make an ice cream out of it.Coffee Almond Ice CreamIngredients:3 cups whole milk3 tbs expresso/ instant cof
Anushka has been attending playschool for the last three months and the best part was that it required parent participation. Now that its closed for summer, I can't decide which one of us misses it more. The crafts, songs, playtime, new friends...it was awesome going back to school. The last week of school was most exciting, as there were three potlucks, meaning a chance to try three new recipes!!
One of the things I look forward to on a Sunday morning is visiting the farmers market. I always enjoy my time there and its so much more fun than shopping in a closed supermarket. One thing I buy regularly is a bunch of beets. They are so tender, fresh and juicy, with the greens still attached, something I don't find at the store where I shop for my other groceries. While a simple beetroot thoran
I have always loved photography, I carry my camera everywhere shooting anything that catches my eye and I know that my pictures are pretty decent. But food photography is a totally different concept. Change a few settings here and there and you can make an ordinary plate of food look exotic. It took me some time to understand the settings on my camera and I still have a lot to learn and experiment
Happy Mother's Day to all you awesome moms out there. I miss not being close to mom everyday, but even more so today. I wish I was back home so I could something/ anything to show her how much she means to me. The one thing I'm sure I would have done if I were back home was bake her a cake. Amma loves snack cakes and every time I thought of baking when I was there, mom would ask me to make somethi
For Manoj's first birthday after we were married I made him a Back Forest Cake (it's his favorite) and he has asked for the the same cake every year since. A couple of weeks before his birthday this year, we were at the mall and he had a tiramisu cupcake and loved it. Then a few days later I was talking (grumbling actually) about making the usual black forest when he asked me if I could make a Tir
My little girl turned two last month and she had two parties and three cakes and a bunch of cupcakes!! Anushka loves farm animals and she has been making their sounds forever, so I was pretty set on having a farm themed cake. Ofcourse I changed the design a million times and the cake was nothing like what I had planned. But I loved the way it turned out!I had so much fun making the animals, the cu
I made this Focaccia bread for the fourth time last week and realized that I never posted about it. I usually buy Focaccia from the farmers market and it is one of the best I've had, but its all white flour and has lots of oil. This one on the other hand is a much lighter and healthier bread and I don't feel so guilty if I have one extra serving. Plus, baking your own bread is so much fun! T
Belated Gudi Padwa and Ugadi wishes to everyone! We have always had Shrikhand Puri for lunch on Gudi Padwa, it's my moms ritual and one we absolutely loved. She would bring a big tub of Kesar Shrikhand from Saroj, the very popular sweet shop in Chembur. I will never forget its rich luscious taste and sneaking into the kitchen every chance I got and gulping big spoonfuls of it. I have not come acro
Parathas are one of my favorite dishes for any time of the day. Serve them with some salad and they make the perfect meal. In my kitchen, leftovers from any dry dish preparation end up inside a paratha or in a sandwich. Kheema paratha is a rare indulgence, but a dish we love. Here's how I make it...Kheema ParathaDough:Ingredients:2 cups wheat flour1/2 tsp salt1 tbs oilwater as neededMethod:Mix the
The third course at Wilton is completely focused on fondant. If you liked playing with clay as a kid, or if you still like to, you will have a lot of fun working with fondant! From what I've read, I've realized that there are fondant lovers and haters out there and I believe I belong somewhere in between. I love the things you could do with fondant, but am not very fond of the taste. You could alw
You really cannot ignore Valentines Day, even if you want to. The TV, internet and every store will serve as a constant reminder. I was at Costco yesterday and almost every shopper had a bouquet of flowers or a big box of chocolates in their cart. I probably was the only exception and I almost went back to get some chocolates for myself, almost! We look at Valentine's Day and all such other 'Days
We have chicken about twice a week and its usually a dry dish we can can have with dal rice. I prefer quick stir fry dishes than the ones with a rich curry. But sometimes I really want gravy, to dunk some bread in it and enjoy the soggy goodness. On such days I usually cook something like this dish. Its very easy to prepare, using basic everyday ingredients. It's looks rich, but is actually a very
Although I bake a lot of cakes, I have never really paid much attention to decorating them. But my daughter's second birthday is coming up soon and I want to make something special for her. I thought it would be great to learn something new, so I finally enrolled for the Wilton course last September. I made this chocolate cake for the final class of course 2. We worked with royal icing and it was
I love my new camera!! The best feature is its low light performance. I cook mostly in the evening or at night and could never take a decent picture (I don't have a lightbox) and my previous camera never did justice to the food. That problem is solved now!! Ofcourse the best pictures are still captured in natural light, but when there's none, a good great camera definitely helps. These pictur
Happy 2012 everyone! My first post of the year is this wonderful snack cake. I was blog hopping looking for something, when I saw this cake at Spicy Chilly. Jaggery and wheat flour are amazing together and they make a very delicious moist cake, plus kind of guilt free too. I added a little cardamom to enhance the flavor. This is definitely one of my favorite cakes now, so easy to make and perfectl
Only four days left and I couldn't wait any longer to eat some fruitcake. I do have a batch of fruits soaking in the fridge for a cake I plan to bake in a couple of days and ship to my brother. This cake I made just for us. What I love about this recipe is that there's no oil or butter and there's jaggery and whole wheat flour and tons of fruits and nuts and they don't really have to be
We celebrated our 5th anniversary last month. 5 years sounds like such a long time and yet I remember all the details of our wedding like it were only yesterday. I guess we never forget our most special moments:). Manoj surprised me with the best gift ever, my first SLR!! God, I screamed so loud and it was midnight, I'm sure I scared some neighbours:). I had friends coming over in the evening, the
Sending in my entires pictures to Foodography Photo Contest at Beloved Star. Head over to the wonderful blog to participate.
I am always excited to try an eggless cake, but very often the results are disappointing. The first ever cake I tried was with condensed milk and I had found it too sweet and dense and it just didn't appeal to my taste, the chocolate version wasn't so bad. There are several other egg substitutes that I have yet to bake with, especially want to try something with vinegar. This custard powder c
I have a big bottle of honey in my pantry, that's just begging to be used. Any suggestions??? I've been trying out a few dishes and these pancakes are my favorite so far. Pancakes are one of the easiest dishes to prepare, and we just love them. Even Anushka, who is other wise a very picky eater, doesn't turn her face away...so we have pancakes almost every weekend, or atleast she does!I tried this
I am not a big fan of pies, especially pumpkin. But for the last couple of weeks, there were pies all over the place....blogs, TV, magazines and I was tempted to make one, but definitely not the traditional one. So I settled on making these tarts for thanksgiving. There had to be chocolate of course! The recipe is adapted from the Chocolate Walnut Bars I posted earlier...just omitted the eggs and
