Ladyfingers

Ladyfingers for us (Indians) means something else entirely. It means this. :)

So lovely, crumbly, sweet ladyfingers is what I think I need. 

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Check out this recipe...I love it because apparently I can use these in Tiramisu! Woweee!!

Nutella cookies

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Nutella always reminds me of my hostel days in college. A loaf of bread, a bottle of nutella and 4 friends. Great times. And the best part, we could eat as much as we liked and not gain an ounce! Now that's waht you call awesome right? Anyway, my little girl loves nutella as much as I did and I think this will be a nice change from nutella sandwiches. I like that it calls for very little ingredients and even less effort :)... Check out the recipe...

Almond cookies

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Almond cookies yummm... Minimal ingredients, maximum awesomeness... Beautiful!

Russian doughnuts

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These look absolutely yum! And to think it's made from good ol' paneer! Check out the recipe...

Rava Besan Sheera

Breakfast for us, as kids, wasn't usually heavy. We'd gulp down a glass of milk before running off to school and that was it. But my Little One doesn't drink milk! I know! I'm living every Indian mother's nightmare. She won't look at milk, no matter what I add to it. Even melted chocolate doesn't work :(. So I make sure she eats a hearty breakfast before she heads out for the day. She loves the staple fried egg and paratha. But sometimes I like giving her a little rava-besan sheera in the mornings. It's a breakfast of champions. Healthy, light and oh-so-yum.

So here goes:

2 tablespoons of rava (semolina)
2 heaped teaspoons of besan (chick pea flour)
3/4th cup of boiled water
2 tablespoons of sugar
4 Cashews chopped , a teaspoon of raisins and almond slivers
2 tablespoons of ghee


Heat the ghee in a pan. Add the rava and fry till slightly brown. Then add the besan and fry some more. The besan tends to lump so fry well till all the lumps have completely powdered. Add the sugar and fry till the heat dissolves the sugar and you can see just a few grains of it. Add the water and keep stirring. It'll tend to sizzle and sputter so be careful while stirring. Stir rapidly to prevent the besan from lumping. Just before it cooks to the consistency you want, add the dry fruits and stir some more to incorporate. Stir for 30 seconds and take it off the flame.

Done!

Tip: If you want the raisins to be nice and plump add it immediately after adding the water. :)

Aviyal/Avial

Aviyal is one of those dishes that look daunting to make but are surprisingly easy. I remember my great aunt making us a vessel full when my sister and I went visiting and a big "dabba" made it back home with us. I've never tried making it till this Sunday when I suddenly thought of her and decided my little girl needed to taste some of that goodness. Shopping for groceries is just a phone call away and one call, 20 minutes later I had all the things I needed. So here goes. Here's the aviyal I learnt to make from my great aunt, whose cooking and filter coffee stays with me till today.

Aviyal for 4

1 snake gourd
1 Madras cucumber
5 drumsticks
2 carrots
1 large potato
Half a coconut
100 gms of curd
2 tablespoons of tamarind paste
a teaspoon of cumin
3 dark green chillies
5-6 large curry leaves
1 tablespoon of vegetable oil


Cut the snake gourd, the cucumber and the potato into cubes. The drumsticks need to be at least 3 inches long after cutting and the carrots can be one inch strips.

Boil all the veggies in a big vessel with salt to taste. The vegetables have different cooking times with the drumsticks taking the longest. But boiling them together works well since the drumsticks have a nice crunch to them by the time the other veggies are cooked. Don't use too much water to boil the veggies since the aviyal will be a little watery and boiling it further to reduce the water will make the veggies a bit tasteless.
Once the veggies have cooked through grind the coconut, cumin and green chillies to a paste. Add it to the veggies, stir and cook for 5 minutes. Beat the curd in a bowl and keep ready. Switch off the gas and add the curd to the vessel.
Heat the oil in a tadka pan, add the curry leaves to it and once they start sputtering temper the veggies with it.

Done!

Serve with hot rice.

PS Make sure the veggies are cooked the way you want them before adding the curd. Avoid cooking further once you add the curd.

Sweet Hawaiian Buns

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Think Hawaii and you think fresh, green, sweet and for some weird reason pineapples! When it's the lovely Hula girls with their grass skirts and coconut bras or those beautiful cocktails all dressed up with vivid colours and toppings. Anyway, take a look at this recipe for sweet Hawaiian buns. I've never used juice in breads before. The recipe sounds super easy and the buns just look divine.