THE KITCHEN AFFAIRE

I am sure a lot of you guys out there would have tried this. I tried it for the first time today and it came out fine. :D I was so hungry and I wanted to try a new recipe. I went through the fridge and found broccoli hidden behind the pile of carrots. And as I thought of different dishes that I could try with Broccoli, I jumped on the Paratha option. I did not have the patience to dig for a recipe. So tried my own. And hey gals. It tasted good :) Ingredients For the dough Wheat flour – 1 C Water/Milk – ½ C Salt – to taste Broccoli Filling Broccoli, chopped – 1 C Onion, chopped – ½ Cumin seeds - ½ t Green chilli, chopped - 1 Cilantro, chopped – 1 bunch Garam masala powder – ½ t Amchoor powder - ½ t Salt – to taste Oil – 2 T Method For the dough Mix flour, salt and water/milk to make soft dough. Cover it with a damp cloth. Keep it aside for 5 to 10 mins. Filling Heat a pan with oil. When hot, add cumin seeds. Once the seeds splutter, ad...

Gosh! It has been so so long that I ate Vazha Koombu thoran / Banana Flower fry. Back at home, mom used to buy this once in a while and cook for us. In fact, sometimes we got it from our  homegrown Vazha (Banana Plant). :D Cool na? So last week on our weekly grocery shopping, I spotted this at the market and got my hands on it! Made sure that I explained Mr.A, how nutritious it is :) And that I know how to make this too! Imagine, I have been cooking for over an year and never thought of having this and now, out of the blue, I did? Well, not so. I should thank  Krithi  for the  Healing Foods - Banana  event which she is guest hosting with  Siri  of  Cooking with Siri . :) Thank you gals :) Only after I saw the event was I reminded of cooking this :)  Sometimes I scare Mr. A with some unheard and a lil' flop (burnt!!) dishes.. :D Well, kitchen nightmares are not just Gordan Ramsay's thing! ;P Ingredients Banana Flower...

When I came across Vardhini's Dish it Out event, I knew I was going to participate :D Dunno if my blog is old enough to host an event!! So why not have fun participating?? Three cheers to Vardhini for hosting this cool event and giving us amateurs a chance to experiment something new  :) Mr. A is not a huge fan of spinach though I try to include it into our diet in one form or another. Spinach reminds me of one person -- > Popeye the sailor man! I loved his show soo much, I still do ;) Spinach is a rich source of vitamin A, vitamin C,vitamin E, vitamin K, magnesium, manganese, folate, betaine, iron, vitamin B2,calcium,potassium, vitamin B6, folic acid, copper, protein, phosphorus, zinc, niacin, selenium and omega-3 fatty acids. ( Wiki ) The best part of spinach chappathi ( flat bread ) is that it does not taste any different from the plain chappathi . To make the chappathis healthier, I add crushed garlic (Garlic helps in digestion). :) Ingr...

As always I was blog hopping to find something new for dinner tonight. And Voila! I got it. It was the name of the dish that struck me. "Amti". Never heard of it before. So I got more interested and see what I found out. "Amti" is a Maharashtrian dish. And Maharashtra is a state in India. Every state in India has a huge number of specific specialities. So here is one such speciality from the land of Marathas :) Amti is a mix of spicy, sweetish and tangy taste. I just have one word to describe "Amti" - Yummmmmm :) Special thanks to Jaysri for this recipe. And to Nupur too, from whom Jaysri got this :) Ingredients Toor dal - 1 C Onion - 1⁄2 C Amti masala - 1 t Turmeric powder - 1/2 t Red chilli powder - 1/2 t Tamarind paste - 1 t Jaggery - 1/2 t Curry leaves -  few Cilantro - 1 T Oil - 1 T For Tempering Mustard Seeds - 1 t Cumin Seeds - 1 t Asafoetida - a pinch Method Heat oil in a pan. Once the oil is hot, add it...

Now that I have my home made pav bhaji masala ( Ain't I cheeky about my home made things! :D ), I thought it was time to try out Tawa Pulao (Rice dish). Thanks to the huge blogosphere, I got to see a lot of our blogger friends put up posts on Tawa Pulao. And last day, as I was blog hopping I came across Aipi's USMasala , undoubtedly a beautiful one, where I saw the recipe for Tawa Paneer.  So I thought I'll try my hands on her yummy Tawa Paneer recipe and not Pulao. :D And oh my gosh! Guys, it came out just fantabulous. Mr.A loved it too :) Then what more do I need to know, right? Aipi  --> Thanks a ton. :)  I followed your exact recipe. Only difference should be the pav bhaji masala. Ingredients Cumin seeds - 1 t Asafoetida - a pinch Paneer - 2 C Tomato, crushed - 3/4 C Onion, chopped - 1 1/2 Turmeric powder - 1/2 t Pav bhaji masala - 2 t Red chilli powder - 1 t Ginger garlic paste - 1 t Garam masala - 1/4 t Amchur powder or lime juice - ...

I can help laughing when I think of Idiyappam as Noodles. Idiyappam is special on its own and cannot be compared with noodles though it does look like it. :) It is another authentic Keralite dish. In Kerala, Idiyappams are eaten for both breakfast and dinner. Well, we have it for lunch too :) Coz we like Idiyappam a lot. Whats not to like! :D Idiyappams go with Stew (Potato in Coconut Milk gravy) or Chicken Curry (Chicken in spicy "masala" gravy). And again there is no rule that it goes only with these two. You can have it with yummy green peas masala or egg masala too :) Ingredients Fine Rice Flour – 2 C Boiled Water – 2 C Salt – to taste Grated Coconut – 1/2 C Thick Coconut Milk - 1 T Accessories Required Idiyappam Press Idli Mould  Method Add salt to the boiled water. Pour water to the rice flour little at a time. Continue till it turns out to become a smooth dough. Keep it aside to cool. Once the dough has cooled, knead it again adding co...

Among other things, Northern Kerala  (also known as Malabar) has always been the proud owner of a huge set of special dishes. These specialities are relished by people all over Kerala :) Some of the specialites are Ari Pathiri (Rice Bread), Kozhikode biriyani, Mutta Chaya (Egg tea) As my family hails from North Malabar and hence I have grown up eating a lot of malabar specialities :) But this is the first time that I tried making Ari Pathiri by myself. And guess what? It came out fine. I still remember how my mom used to make these with expertise. She and her sisters would make them in a matter of seconds (while they chit chat and gossip)  :D . Well, I was not lucky enough to have any company while preparing this. Nevermind! It still came out good :)  Here is the recipe for you guys. Ingredients Rice Flour - 2 C Water - 2 C Salt - to taste  Method Boil water and add salt. When bubbles pop, pour in the flour and mix. Reduce heat, cover with a lid...

Now you know why I was late to put up this post friends. Sorry again. To all my Maitri friends, especially to Heather, Priya and Reshmi. After I got Heather's package with the lovely card, the spicy mango and the mystery ingredient, I was in the quest to find out what it is! I did all I could : I touched, sniffed and finally googled! And still mmm mmm! :( Due to my delay in putting up the Maitri post, Heather felt that I could not find it out (which was also correct :D) and send me few hints. And Voilaaa!! I got it.. :)  So here it is. One of the most popular beverages from Jamaica. I am making the Jamaican hibiscus tea for Maitri. Thank you Heather. For this awesome "mystery ingredient". And thanks a ton for your patience :) Ingredients Dried hibiscus flowers - 2/3 C Cold water - 4 C Sugar - to taste Method Add flowers and 3 cups water in a saucepan and bring to a boil Continue boiling for 5 more minutes. Remove from heat and add remaining...

Before I start yapping, I owe a huge apology to 3 very sweet people - Heather , Priya and Reshmi . Heather, who is my Maitri friend ; Priya and Reshmi, who are the creaters of this wonderful friendship chain called Maithri ; And the apology is for delaying to post the mystery ingredient recipe. :( Please bear with me my friends. I have been too busy. Busy is an understatement. I was in the midst of arranging a baby shower for my lovely sis n law :) Now you know why I was busy. They live in a different city and hence I had to arrange things over phone calls and all that. Anyways it is over and hey, it went well. She loved it. And BTW, I baked a Castle Cake for her. Though it dint come out as I expected, it was not that bad too :) I shall post the pics soon. So guys, do you accept my apology?? :) Now to my Maitri -- > Heather from the girly chef. Awwww!! Do you know how sweet a person she is?? :) Not only was she right on time to send my mystery ingredient, she sent me a s...