Microwaved Mor Kali and Rava Laddo revisted for Indian Cooking Challenge!

Inspiration at times seems very late in coming. Especially when its with cooking in Microwave. My own event, Microwave Easy Cooking was basically to help us discover the wonders of cooking in Microwave and having more time on hand to do other things. But if you know how it goes, having those glass bowls handy is such a risky thing with kids being around all the time in the kitchen. I almost think my boys will learn cooking soon. They always want to be carried to see what's getting cooked.

Like last night I was making dosas for them, while having the Idlis steamed for the rest of us. All of them wanted only dosa. In a week its almost 3 times that I give them dosa, still they only want it again. Anyway hubby dear was carrying Chinnu, he wanted to know what was on the stove. I lifted the lid and showed the pristine while idlis, he was so excited that he asked that for dinner too.

Coming back to the recipe on hand, I had planned on making the Mor Kali last night but kids refused to sleep before 10 and after that I was too tired to even think about making it. So got up early this morning and proceeded making it. Being in TN so long, I have heard and seen this eaten so often at friends place, though I have never made it myself. I even had the recipe written down, planning to make it in Microwave but never came around. What really surprised me that this never came to mind when Simran wanted to host breezy breakfast. Believe this Mor Kali is as breezy as it can get!

Cooking on stove, you got to be vigilant ensuring it doesn't get burnt. You got to keep stirring it frequently. Even for the measurement I prepared, it was supposed to take more than 15 mints. But in MW, it just took about 6 mins. Imagine having your breakfast getting ready in 10 mins. Of course you need to have all ingredients on hand.

Also these are normally tempered with Red Chilies, but I used Mor Milagai, (Sun dried chilies soaked in curds/yogurt) for added taste

Preparation time: 2 -3 mins
Cooking time in MW - 5 mins.

Ingredients Needed

Rice Flour - 1 cup
Butter Milk - 3 cups ( 2 tbsp of curds)
Salt to taste
Oil - 2 tsp

Seasoning

Red Chilies/ Sun Dried Chilies - 2 -3 medium
Mustard Seeds, Urad dal - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves - 4 -5 leaves.

Method to prepare:

In a deep bottom bowl, add about a tsp of oil, drop in chilies, curry leaves along with Mustard and Urad dal. Stir well and micro for 1 min. If you think its needed, stir in between. End of the minute, my kitchen was filled with the wonderful aroma of sun dried chilies being fried along with curry leaves.

Take the curds/yogurt, add salt and beat well. Then add water to get thick butter milk.

In a bowl take rice flour and slowly add the buttermilk and mix well to get a lump less batter. The consistency can be more or less a dropping liquid .

Grease a square or rectangle microwave safe bowl with little oil. Pour the rice batter into it. Add the tempering to this batter and mix well.

Micro for 5 mins. In intervals of 2 mins, keep stirring. Once done, check if the kali is getting struck to the ladle.

Grease a bowl and transfer to it. Pat it well and unmold it for the click!

Notes: The curds/Yogurt I used wasn't sour, Athamma felt had it been a bit more sour it would have been even more tasty! So maybe increase the curds used which can also be sour.

You have your breakfast ready? Hurry up today is the last day. Sending this Mor Kali to dear Simran, who is going to have quite a few dishes to help her out busy mornings!

Finally as things would always happen, I procrastinated making Rava Laddos for the Indian Cooking Challenge till the last moment. Though I had planned to make it with powdered semolina, ended up making the same way again!

Will be back with the round up of all Rava Laddoos made by the members! So watch out!

Mutton Kura ~ Weekend Cooking with Sunday breakfast!

Having a two week off from cooking on Sundays is good enough reason to indulge in elaborate cooking I should say. That's exactly what I did. The last two Sundays were either spent on visiting friends or touring around the place, that I somehow had a relaxing day. Of course the breakfast has to be Poori with Channa Masala. Even if I want something else the kids won't let me think. So I decided when I am at it, I might as well enjoy it. Not that I don't ok!

Its a race against time trying to make it on time for the kids to be ready to eat, else they get hungry and eat something junk. And because I had planned on an elaborate lunch, hubby dear took the kids for shopping. I was happy that all 3 of them came back only with 2 sets for each. But that time off came me all the time I needed to get my act together. Though nothing major got done during their absence, I had time to plan. We had invited Daddy to join us. The kids enjoyed their time with their Thatha.

Before that since I remembered that I had to send Divya something for her interesting post, I clicked my plate. Afterall whats so tough about just clicking one's plate right, you need not think much or plan for something new!..

I also made Mutton keema balls to be featured in my book. So getting them in the prefect shape was another story!

Mutton Kura:

Ingredients needed

Mutton - 500 gms
Onions - 2 medium
Clove - 2
Cinnamon - 1"
Cardamon - 1
Tomatoes - 1 medium
Ginger Garlic paste - 1 tsp
Chilli powder - 1 tsp
Coriander powder - 1 tsp
Mint leaves - handful
Coriander Leaves - handful
Oil - 1 tbsp
Salt to taste
Coconut paste - 2 tbsp


Weekend lunch Menu: Masala Vada, Mutton Keema Balls, Mutton Kura, Plain Rice.

Method to prepare:

Clean and chop mutton to required size. Wash and let drain. Chop Onion, tomatoes to fine pieces.

Heat oil in a kadai, add the whole spices. Then add onion and sauté till its brown in colour. Add ginger garlic paste, fry well. Then add mint leaves and half of coriander leaves.

After few mins, add mutton pieces with salt and turmeric powder. Cover it with lid and let it get browned well. Water will come out at this stage, so you got to cook till its all evaporated.

Add the chopped tomatoes along with chili powder and coriander powder. Cook for another 10 mins.

Then transfer this to pressure cooker, add required quantity of water and cover with lid and pressure cook for 5 whistles or till the mutton is well cooked.

Once the pressure is off, remove add coconut paste and coriander leaves.

Notes: There is lot of difference with cooking directly in the pressure cooker and cooking it first in the kadai and transferring it .

Hope you enjoyed your weekend!

Lunch Box Series : LBS#48 ~ Dosakaya Kootu!

In my venture to try all the veggies that I find in the shop, my eyes fell on this rounded one. When I asked the shopkeeper, he said its the Dosa kaya, the one that's used in curries or gravies. Having heard so much about this veggie being quite a famed one in Andhra cuisine, I have always wanted to try this out. Not being one from the actual local, I miss most of these famed ones. If you ask me something from good old Madras I may be able to voice something. My knowledge to vegetables or ingredient usage depend so much on what my Amma knows or my Athamma does. Naturally it boils down to the fact that they make only those that they liked. I have never known Amma making any dish with Dosakaya or Athamma even uttering a word.

When I finally got a Dosakaya home, Athamma said her neighbors always cooked with this, but she never tried as her family weren't so keen on vegetables. Well there went my cents more of knowledge! And Amma has been so much influenced by her tamilian neighbors that she makes kolambu or kootu with back of her hands. Maybe I can say I am glad that I could learn both the cuisines a little better from their knowledge. So my experiments started with this Dosa kaya after seeing so many bloggers raving about the wonder of this veggie and after seeing couple videos. I planned on making a dal or pappu in Andhra style, I ended up making a kootu in a tamilian way. Whatever, the lunch was most enjoyed. Me along with my colleagues licking the bowl clean and Konda calling up to tell me that she loved it and Hubby dear nodding his head in approval, this made my day and a permanent member of my monthly menu!

You know what, while I was giving Peddu his bath last night, he suddenly caught my face with both his hands, put his cherubic face near my ears and told me "Amma neeni Girl ila, neeni Boy!" (Mom, you are not a girl, but a boy!) then his singsong Nani Boy, Daddy Boy, Chinnu Boy, Nanamma Gurl, Akka Gurl! Gosh how I loved his statement, but I was laughing for a long time, thinking his expression which said as if he discovered something new, to the bran of my mom, I always wanted to be a boy! Finally it took my lil one to thrill me that I am one...:)

Before checking this, please check out the guest post on Kids food by Mallugirl!


Today's Lunch Box had

Dosakaya Kootu
Sun Dried Fries/ Vadiyalu
Cumin pepper Rasam
Curd Rice




Dosakaya Kootu

Dosakaya/ Yellow Cucumber - 1 medium
Toor Dal - 1 cup
Salt to taste
Oil - 1-2 tsp
Turmeric powder a pinch

For the paste
Coconut - 2 -3 tsp
Green Chilies - 2 long
Cumin Seeds - 1/2 tsp

For seasoning

Onions - 2 tsp
Mustard seeds + Urad dal - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves
Red Chilies - 2 -3





Method to prepare:

Pressure cook the toor dal till soft. Mash well if you like.

Peel the dosakaya and scoop the seeds inside. Cut into small chunks.

Grind the coconut, green chilies and Cumin seeds to a smooth paste by adding some water. Keep it aside.

Wash and heat the pressure cooker again with oil, add the mustard, red chilies, curry leaves and then onions. Sauté for a min.

Then add the ground paste, sauté well. Add the chopped cucumber. On high flame, sauté well for a min. Then simmer and cover with lid and leave it for 5 mins.

Once the paste gets cooked, add required quantity of water. Cover it with the lid and pressure cook for another whistle. The gravy you get is more of a thick but loose liquid, which goes excellent with steamed rice and vadams!

Note: This is no way an authentic way of making a kootu but then I never know one. Also I believe innovation leads to new dishes. But most important of all, Konda loved it, which should say a lot about this dish.

Adding red chilies was purely to satisfy hubby dear, you can omit it or increase the green chilies. And of course miss those onions too.

Rajma Masala!

I think Rajma Masala for ever will kindle those memories back to mind. The first time I actually remembering giving this lentil some thought and enjoying it, was when I had it at my friends place. She is a Gujarati and her mom was an awesome cook. Previous to that I don't' remember Amma making this or had she even made, I may not have actually paid much attention. But after eating at my friend's place, I was so much in love with that dish. I must have asked her many times for the recipe and recreated it at home. Though it never came as good as the first time. I finally concluded that certain dishes require a touch!

Do you think so? Well I am not sure, but it sure looked that way to me. The many times I made this dish at home, everybody liked it. But I was never satisfied as it didn't' match my first impression. Anyways after getting this blog I always thought I should get in touch with my friend to get the recipe again.

Meanwhile I have only my own way of making this simple gravy!

Ingredients Needed:

For pressure cooking

Rajma - 1 cup
Clove - 1
Cardamon - 1
Garlic julienne 0 2"

For the gravy

Onions - 1 medium
Tomato - 2 medium
Garam Masala - 1/2 tsp
Chili powder - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder a pinch
Black cardamon - 1
Cumin Seeds - 1/2 tsp
Bay leaf - 1 small
Salt to taste
Oil - 2 tsp
Coriander leaves for garnish

Method to prepare:

Wash and soak Rajma overnight. Before cooking, wash again, add fresh water along with the clove, cardamon and ginger julienne. Add enough water to cover the rajma and pressure cook till tender. It normally takes about 5 - 6 whistles for me.

Meanwhile, heat a pan with oil and add the cumin, bay leaf and black cardamon. Saute for a min, then add the onions.

Fry till the onions start turning brown. Add the tomato puree, along with the chili powder, garam masala, salt and turmeric. Simmer for 10 mins with lid.

Remove lid, add the cooked Rajma. Bring to boil and cook till you get a thick gravy.

Serve with rotis or rice.

Note: You can remove the ginger julienne from the rajma.

If you want your gravy to be thicker, mash handful of rajma before adding to the gravy.

Sending this to Apu who is hosting the wonderful MLLA twelfth edition, MLLA is the brain child of the lovely Susan!

Bottle Gourd Curry ~ Sorakaya Kura!

It feels good to be back to regular blogging! My PC got bonkers and I had all my pictures stored in there. Well that left me without any picture to talk about. And last one week was really hectic with both Mithai Mela and the Indian Cooking Challenge. The polling just got over! On top with work becoming even difficult I was wondering how I am still sane! One thing I miss most is not recording what my kids are up. The boys have started speaking a language of their own, its really so sweet to hear it. Chinnu speaks like a foreigner would speak telugu and Peddu speaks a typical marwari way! Both so sweet to hear, I have even recorded their conversations during their bed time. They both say "nanni" for "me or I". Daddy has given up trying to correct them. But we have started speaking their language.

Every other time, Peddu would come and tell me, "Deppu ooruki podam (We will go for trip tomorrow)" so last night while I was trying to make them sleep, he suddenly started telling me this line, I readily agreed that we shall. Then he said we all will go to his aunts place. "Oruu bavyuntundi," I asked how we will go, he replied "Naadichi Podam" (by walking), I again asked how?.he immediately stood up and showed walking. And said that by walking it will be best! Gosh imagine walking all the way across the border to Andhra! I guess in a child's mind, everything is so simple.

Anyway I am happy to share this simple recipe with Sorakaya / Bottle gourd, that was so common at my parents place. Dad likes this a lot and it used to frequent the table quite often. Hubby dear doesn't like it much, so you can imagine how rarely this figured on our table. But this time, he had no option out!

Soraya Kaya Kura

Ingredients Needed:

Soraya Kaya - 250 gms
Mustard seeds+ Urad dal - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves few
Onion - 1 medium
Garlic - 2 - 3 flakes
Chili powder - 1 tsp
Coriander powder - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder a pinch
Salt to taste
Oil - 1 - 2 tsp
Groundnut powder - 1 -2 tsp




Method to Prepare:

Wash and peel bottle gourd. Cut into 2" size pieces.

Heat oil in a pan, splutter mustard seeds along with curry leaves. Then saute onions till light brown.

Then add sorakaya pieces along salt and turmeric. Simmer with lid for 5 mins.

Once the veggie gets little soft, add chili powder, coriander powder. Simmer again with lid covered for 5 mins. Fry well.

Then add 1 cup of water and allow it to get cooked slowly. Simmer again for 10 mins. Finally add groundnut powder and can be removed immediately.

Serve with chapati or rice.

The Mithai Mela Round up ~ Part 2!

Welcome to the second edition of this sweet gallery! Hope the weekend was good for everybody!. We had a good weekend too, I finally decided to take off on Saturday and caught up with my one weeks sleep. Though that was good, I again ended up being awake till late night. I am seriously becoming an owl! Sunday just flew as we drove down for a temple visit. Boys are much better now, though the cold and cough seem to be lingering. Hopefully they should get over it soon.

Back to business, getting this list proved another task. As during the process I found few cakes and bakes left out. So all those will be featured together. Sorry about it.

As part of today's edition, first comes the delicious Halwas. Halwas are those delightful sweet that you can whip within minutes. Infact at one point of time, I had this ambition of making everything into a halwa. I have blogged about 20 different halwas. But seeing the entries that came my way, I knew I still have a long way to go. What a beautiful and delicious array of halwas, take my point and get ready for a feast!

First we have the lined up Badam halwa from Archana Gurunathan. The stack makes them look so demur, when they are not!

Next we have this sinful dessert that Bird's eye view says she always had to make on any occasion that called for a celebration and its her version of Badam halwa

Not being happy with just one type, Bird's eye view goes ahead experimenting with a halwa made with Black carrots.

Chaitra makes a halwa with broken wheat.

Mangoes are in season and what a better way to enjoy than this lovely halwa made by Kamala.

Then we have a Carrot Halwa from Gayathri who is a dear friend of Kavitha.

Get ready to be feasting on the different halwas that Kavya Naimish seems to have on her blog. Right from the Carrot Halwa, Sooji Halwa, she even goes two steps ahead by making halwas with Peanut & Potato. Now that I call as a true Halwa fan!

Lena Rashmin Raj next brings us a sample of halwa made with Pumpkin.

This breathtaking Mango Halwa is from Madhuram. She proved that she can not only dish out lovely egg less bakes, she can twist her hands at many others too.

Then we have another halwa lover among us. With the number of halwas Malar Gandhi has sent in, I am sure her folks are one lucky ppl! Please check out the post by clicking on the pictures!

Another version of Sooji Halwa parades to us from Malini Basu.

Lauki ka Halwa comes in a lovely bowl from Prathibha.

Priya Suresh sends in a lovely Cornflour Halwa, am sure it was more like a cake walk for her!

I think Carrot Halwa is every body's favorite and Renuka shares the way her family loves. While we have Mandira showing us the way she loves carrot halwa. wow its too tempting not to love that picture!



Then we have two tempting halwas from Sanghi, one very healthy, infact both are. But if you want to go nuts over them, then this Nuts halwa is a must or you can settle for this dark beets in a halwa!

We have another Badam Halwa from Sapthanaa.

Dumroot halwa from Saraswathi,

only to get another Badam Halwa from Sree Vidhya.

Lets not to miss out this lovely Lauki Halwa from Usha

And finally my own collection of Halwas, individual ones can be clicked on the picture!

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Then we move to other exciting Indian sweets, you want diamonds, swirls or noodles? You get them all!

Jalebi or noodles dipped in nectar? makes no difference to me! And seeing Arunas beautiful pictures makes me want to reach out!

Then we have Kajayam from Kavitha, those sweet balls!

Malar Gandhi sends us Baasandhi,

while we have a lovely Basundi from Meera!


Then from Malini Basu comes 3 great looking sweets, they not only look interesting, they have very nice sounding names! Lobongo Lotika, Misti Singara & Peragi, are them!

This Jangri comes from Sanghi.

Of course not to mention these lovely Shankarapali from Sapthanaa.

Finally few from me, all these mostly Andhra sweets!

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Then we catch on some yummy sweet dishes prepared with jaggary.

When I saw this Hayagreeva from A&N, and I was drooling. They made it with channa dal, how tempting it looks!

The lovely lady from Palakad has two dishes to offer, one healthy laddo called theMaladoos and the other healthy Vella Payar. Thanks Jayasree!

We then have two different types of Kali. First one a Vella Kali coming from Kayal Arul.

Next is from Malar Gandhi which is Karuppu Ulundhu Kali

This one has always been a childhood sweet for me, and I was elated when Nirmala sent it along. Its the delicious Kamarkat, am sure you will love it too!

We then move on to check some lovely Arisha Pitha from Oriya food

which is Aresalu to the rest of us!. This Aresalu is from Padma Balla


Next authentic dish comes from Pooja of Sai Kitchen, which is so beautifully called as Jilledu Kayalu

All the way from Srilanka comes this Wattalappan from none other than our dear blogger Priya, who is marching towards breaking records!

Then we have Sanghi bringing us two delicious dishes, one Kadalai paruppu suliyan and the other Sweet kolukattai

Ok, I can pronounce this correctly, so you read out and check out Sapthanaas blog for knowing what a Seimbaal is all about!..:)

Sakkari pongal is a misnomer and is yummy more because of the jaggary! and Sree Vidya sends us a bowl of that!

Then finally few from me, you can click on the pictures!

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Then we move on to get treated to sweets called as the Kesari! I am sure most of you know how important kesaris are to a girl. Its one of the simplest and easiest sweet you can make. And I am amazed there are so many varieties!

Mangoes I like to eat as such but as a kesari, I am seeing it for the first time. Hemamalini sure makes it look tempting!

Then comes one lovely looking bowl from Kavya Naimish, I was left admiring it for a while!

Then we have a kesari with Beets from Lena Rashmin Raj

Though I have had aval in many forms, never as a kesari as Priya Suresh has.

I think Sanghi loves kesari and wants us to get tempted too. For she has 3 to offer and each one as pretty as the other!

Then we have the cooker dishing up a new kesari called the Dalia Oats Sheera!

Ok we have the innovative Uma bring a kesari with carrots! I almost thought she would make it with apple..:)

Finally from me 3 different kesaris pick your favorite!

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We now move on to check out some great missiles that might land on your self. But of course they are sweet and very tempting!

First we have Bhawna Gupta coming with a Pethe ke ladoo, which are beautifully lined up!

Next entry from Kalyani, comes with engery packed with Dry fruits and nuts, am sure you will go nuts over it.

Then we have the Boondhi from Malar Gandhi

I was drooling over the two lovely laddoos that Malini Basu sent. I always thought its tough to get your laddos to look so pro as shown in the picture!

Next comes Undurallu from Ramya Vijaykumar

Sanghi send in two sweet bombs!

Then we have Srilakshmi sending in two lovely laddoos, one the ever famous Rava laddoo and the other a coconut!

Finally from me, you can check out from the pictures!


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Thats all for today folks! Until the final part enjoy these sweet treats..

The Mithai Mela Round up ~ Part 1!

Is there anything sweeter than sweet? Yes, the happiness of getting such wonderful friends is sweeter!

Two years ago, I never would have imagined this kind of a round up, let alone feeling so happy at the response the Melas gets. For that I am really thankful and more motivated by the support shown.

There is no other wonderful way to celebrate a milestone than celebrating with friends. And this round up is just that! I wanted to make this round up little different. Searching for a new way to present the round up, I ended up not having enough time to spend writing about each entry, as I normal do. That took me forever to come up with the idea. Grey cells refused to work and no sooner I saw days flying away to be right at the end of the event!

Finally after nearly 2 months, I was able to find the perfect solution. For that I would like to thank my colleagues who helped me in this venture. J is a web designer who showed me how to work with the software and get the result I was imagining in mind. And also thank another J, who got me the required software. Though this process was again a round about way of doing what I had in mind, I was happy with the results. I hope you are too!

Whats new with this round up? Clicking on any of the picture in the collage will take you to the participant's URL!

That's the reason for the delay though I hope I have done justice to the enthusiasm and interest shown by the bloggers! About 321 entries came, I am still counting. So I have made this into three parts.

Update! I apparently missed out Bird's eye view's multiple entries...she has sent in 7 in all, so the total becomes 328!

This time I made sure I categorized all the entries to its specific categories. That leaves me mentioning the multiple entries sent by each of them.

Anu, Archana G , Aruna, Hemamalini, Lena Rashmin Raj, Nivedita Thadani, Padma Balla, Pooja S, Prathibha, Priya, Renuka Gauthaman, Sailaja, Saraswathi Iyer, Sree Vidya, The Cooker, Vidya Venky sent couple of entries

Chaitra and Jayasree Satish sent 3 lovely entries, while we got 4 entries from Bird's eye view, Kavitha, Padma Srinivasagam and Srilakshmi.

I was really thrilled to bits when this lovely friend of mine, sent a mail asking if she can send all her entries together! wow would I mind! Imagine she posted so many sweet dishes as in 6 different sweets in a month! Simran I hope you haven't gained few inches around..:)

The came 7 entries from Ramya Vijaykumar and Kavya Naimish.

Now shall we move to talk about even more bigger numbers? Well when they talk about a2z of a vegetarian cuisine, Sadhana & Muskaan managed to send 11, while Malini Basu was happy with her 12.

If Malar Gandhi was up with her 14, is Sanghi far with her 15? I don't think so.

The fight continued and I feel these two wonderful bloggers outdone themselves! Whether Priya Suresh is set on creating a Guinness world record of posting the maximum recipes, I am not sure but for sure created a sort of records by sending in 21 new entries. I really don't know how she manages to come up with so many different dishes!

Getting to know Sapthanaa Balachander was a real pleasure. When I got on a chat with her, she was upset at sending only 35! She had planned on more than 45 but her poor camera gave up on her and she was treated her folks to many more sweet dishes which unfortunately didn't get captured forever!

I am sure I can go on and go with my banter. But lets go ahead with the entries. I am going to make 3 posts, all categorized to the best of my knowledge in the hope that when somebody gets a craving to make a burfi, they can easily land on spot!

I am sorry about the huge gap below each collage, I am not able to figure out the error right now. I think burning the midnight lamp is not good on the gray cells! Please scroll down well to check out each of the collages!

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Lets get to be overdosed with sweets!

When I announced Mithai, I didn't want to restrict to just few by saying no to cakes. Imagine missing these lovely creations!

Vegan baked goodies comes from Sadhana & Muskaan!

Anudivya is known for her vegan baking too and this creation makes it no less! No wonder she has a huge followers!

Archy was thrilled at how quickly one can make and eat a Vanilla Cake of course from a Microwave!

Asha makes a tradition State Fair Funnel Cake, which am sure marks any event!

Is it called Pound cake because its measured in pounds? I am not sure lets ask Lavanya about it.

One of the two breads that made their way to the mela is Padma Srinivasagam's Egyptian Palace Bread. Did the royal Egyptians make this and enjoyed?

Pooja S send one brownie that is cashew filled coated with honey and a much simpler Vanilla Butter Cake

When you are running short of ideas for cupcakes, be sure to check out Priya Suresh. For sure she has one too many to offer! From simple vanilla cupcake to complex Eggless creations, she has all of it!

Then comes an Almond Cake from Ramya Vijaykumar.

Let me take a breath before going further. Baking is Sapthanaa favorite I guess. That proves with the different cakes she has created! You can click on any of her pictures to land on the cake!

Next from Simran comes four different delicious treats. Be it a Cheesecake or Tarts that you are looking for, she has them all. And if you are playful or lacking any moulds to your cookies simply use your thumb and cut out lovely cookies!

Finally another cookie from Yasmeen, this time its called Mamoul cookies!

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Then we move on to drool over some awesome sweets called as the Burfis or Barfis. Well most times I think atleast I end up calling a dish Barfi when it failed to hold itself as halwas!!!..:)

Anyway I don't think these lovely ladies agree to my point, after all each of them look so lovely to be made to be created as a Burfi!

First on the list comes from Sadhana and Muskasan, a healthy barfi made with Wheat. Well I took a while to read the name, but then I knew it must have tasted awesome.

Then comes Andhra Kitchen's Sooji Sweet. This is made with Sooji of course the name says so right!

If you are intent on making a cake, though a desi one, then Anu's Kadalai maavu cake is for you!

This lady sure makes her picture most delicious, and this Besan-Coconut Burfi is no less!

For a moment there, I wasn't sure if I should admire those flowers or the tempting Mysore pak! Kidding obviously the mysore pak, for its no mean work!

Carrot anyway is good, and Nivedita packs it all in a barfi.

I always end up being confused on how to term a fudge, well now you know that I have done it under barfi Ramya Vijaykumars lovely Almond Fudge does shy away being called one!

Dieting is good and being away is even better. But I am surprised Renuka thought how Cashew barfi was any less rich by not making it with ghee! They look so sinful right!

With one not being enough we have another dose of Cashew barfi from Sanghi, now you have double the choice.

I know two is more interesting, that's why when I saw Sowjanya sending in Mysore Pak, I was so happy. Look at the honey comb look!

For Sra being disappointed by a Dil Ke Tukde, she ends up singing a different song by making these delicious burfis. From a person who doesn't store sugar, this was simply too good!

And finally this tasty Coconut Barfi is a recreation of what my mom does!

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Then we move to something that surely makes everybody go gaga over. I am talking about the chocolates! This is said to be one food that can lighten even the most worse mood swings! Lets see how each one does...

This nutty chocolate cookies from Divya is sure to be made on list!

This beautiful Molleux au chocolatis from Happy Cook, am sure her daughter was very happy enjoying this chocolate treat!

Ivy makes lovely cakes, and this Chocolate and Ginger Cakesure stands proof for it!

Malini Basu sends in two delicious treats, one pudding which is steamed and another lovely fudge cake.

I am sure these Brownies sent by Prathibha were those melt in your mouth types.

These lovely stuffed Homemade Chocolates comes from Priya where she gives a feast of many sorts!

Now I would again need to take a deep breath before rushing into the varieties of cakes that Sapthanaa made with chocolates too!

I was so delighted getting an entry from Sreelu. She said she was happy in finally sending something, and I am only glad that these Easy Breezy Chocolate dunked strawberries could make it!

Another Choco Cashew Cookies in treat are from Srilakshmi.

While I may have to ask you not to be surprised at the inviting Truffles from Sudha.

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Frozen treats are always so delightful! and these bunch of bloggers have ensured they keep you on your toes..

When Mangoes are in season, its sure a great way to indulge and Sadhana & Muskaan says they freeze them!

Another mango treat comes from Jyoti in form of a Kulfi

Malini Basu makes sure you ask for more with her lovely Caramel Pudding

I don't think I have tasted Raspberry but this combined with mango as an icecream sure makes me want to grab at Maya's entry!

Priya sends in a feast with her Kulfi



When so many Kulfis made their way, I wasn't surprised by Priya Suresh's inviting one!

Until Ramya send in her entry, I never realized you make a kulfi will be great with mangoes too, you see I always eat them as such!

And Kulfis come in different shapes too! Samahita send it in a pot!

Then we have Sapthanaa sending in some lovely ice creams. Let me count, there are about 6 of them, all so many different flavours!

Finally from Usha, this lovely Strawberry Pistachio Pudding. The picture is enough to tempt anyone!

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Finally we come to the sweet drinks. This being such a hot season in Madras, I am sure I am going to try all these listed here!

From the a2z vegetarian cuisine comes a Super duper Healthy Falooda,

This Rose milk with Vermicelli from Chaitra is so very pretty as the rose!

EC becomes very innovative with her Kulfi Falooda

And another Falooda comes from Kavya Naimish. All these faloodas sure makes me crave for one!

When I saw these cute Carrot Phirni picture from Madhumathi, I was drooling over it, am sure you will too!


PJ always does it different and so is her entry which is Japanese green tea sorbet!

Then we have some delightful entries from Priya Suresh all ranging from Lassis to Lemonade to Milkshakes! Wow the energy this lady shows is awesome, hats off to her culinary expertise! You can check out her pictures by clicking on the pictures!

And finally some from me, few Milkshakes and icy drinks!

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Will be back next week with the rest of the entries. Hopefully I will be able to complete them on time..:)

Since this is the first time I am doing this way, there might be some errors, please let me know if you find them. And you still got to check out 200+ entries, so hang in there!

Have a great weekend!

Jackfruit Seeds n Potato Kurma!

Its not everyday you feel its special or remarkable in someway. Today is Amma's birthday and the school reopened for Konda. She is going to the fourth std. Its like I can still remember my first day at school on going to the fourth. Its also remarkable in a way that I am writing this without sleep for the last 24 hrs. Hubby dear has not been keeping well and Peddu got the viral infection now. He didn't sleep a wink the entire night. And I had to complete the cooking as Konda had to take her lunch before getting to office.

We shudder thinking of how even more hectic things are going to be. Though I couldn't find time to go hug Amma as I love doing, she came to see me before I could leave. She made her customary Gulab Jamun and Bellam annam. Wow, those are things from my childhood too. For all birthdays she makes sure Gulab Jamuns gets done. Its surprising that I have never done it myself. Maybe one of these days, I should. With the taste of the dusky jamuns and delicious bellam annam, I flew to office, yeah on my bike!

Today's post is going to be about my favorite nut, the Jackfruit nut. I used to simply love these during my childhood. Summers were spent chopping off big fruits and distributing to friends. Every year, we used to get about 3 or 4 big jackfruits from Dad's friends and it was task to cut them and do the honours. Over the years, the job got designated to others, of course. But its like the feeling of never forgetting the smell that sneaks from the gunny bag that covers a ripe jackfruit, once a lover of it, always marked for like! I love everything made from it.

Now we hardly prefer handling the hassle of dealing a big fruit. So Hubby dear gets the packed fruits these days. I saved up the nut inside to make the crispies or made a gravy with it. Finally ended up making this gravy, though I remember Amma adding this to Sambar. The crunchy taste you get biting into the hard nut is not something you can express!

Before that I am sure you would want to check out these beautiful Jower appeys!

Ingredients Needed:

Jackfruit Seeds - 10
Potato - 1 medium
Onion - 1 medium
Tomatoes - 2 medium
Ginger garlic paste - 1/2 tsp
Clove, Cinnamon, Cardomon powder - 1/2 tsp
Chili powder - 1 tsp
Coriander powder - 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Oil - 2 tsp
Dry Coconut powder - 2 tsp
Coriander leaves few

Method to prepare:

Wash and peel off the outer skin from the jack fruit seeds. Peel the potatoes. Pressure cook till they are soft but not mushy.

Heat a pan with oil. Saute the chopped onions till brown. Then add the ginger garlic paste.

Once the raw smell leaves, add the tomatoes with all the spice powders and salt. Simmer for 5 mins with covered lid.

Then add in the cooked potatoes and jack fruit seeds. Mix well. Add in the dry coconut powder, combine everything well and add 1 cup of water.

Bring to boil and add the coriander leaves. Simmer for 10 mins till you get a thick gravy.

We made it little thick as it was served with the rotis, you can make thinner also.