THE KITCHEN AFFAIRE

When the first ever comment hit my blog, I was so excited and happy. I still remember running over to my hubby, showing and telling him "Cccccc I got a comment too!!" hi hi.. Seriously, it felt so nice. And that sweet comment came from none other than Priya of Mharo Rajasthan's Recipes . Since that day, Priya has been a regular visitor to this little space of mine. When I thought of inviting a guest to my blog, I did not have to think twice- It had to be Priya :) And here she goes ----> When Gopika requested me to be her guest blogger, I was elated, excited and felt honored and of course felt those butterflies which usually you feel when trying to do something important. First of all, my hearty congratulations to her on turning one. I enjoy her blog thoroughly, includes everything about it. Her writing style and narration of posts or recipes are superb. I like how she neatly organizes her recipes. And looking at her pictures make me want more and sh...

Last day, as usual, I was hoping to cook something new. And thanks to the huge blogosphere, I was sure I would find something new. But the problem was, I did not know what to search! :D Finally, I hopped onto Aipi ’s ( US Masala ) blog. Not only is Aipi a great cook, but she is also an awesome photographer.  And that’s how I fell for her “Vegetable Manchurian”. Thank you gal! :D I could not follow her recipe ditto as I was out of a few ingredients. Still, it came out awesome. A liked it so much that he ate a lott. Well, it got over the same day :D What more can I ask for.  :) Ingredients For the Manchurian balls  Cabbage, grated – 1 C Carrot, grated – 1 C Green beans, chopped – 5 Onion, sliced – ¾ C Garlic, chopped – 3 Green chilli, chopped – 1 Soy sauce – 2 t All purpose flour – 6 T or as required Corn starch – 1 ½ T Rice Flour – 1 T Salt – to taste Black Pepper – to taste Oil – to fry  For the sauce  Oil – 2 t Ginger, ch...

We love eggs :D  Its easy to know if I have been having a lot of eggs recently, just look into my face. Pimples!!! :p Gosh! Still, its irresistible!! I am yet to try Poached eggs! Will do that soon and post it here ok? :) Mutta means Egg in malayalam. The recipe is very simple and does not require a lot of time too. Goes well with Appam, Chappathi and even Poori. Ingredients Eggs, boiled - 3 Onion, sliced - 1.5 Tomato, chopped - 1 Ginger - garlic paste - 1.5 T Mustard Seeds - 1 t Cumin Seeds - 1 t Turmeric Powder - 1 t Red chilli Powder - 1.5 t Coriander Powder - 1.5 t Black Pepper Powder - 1/2 t Cream of milk - 1/2 C (Milk would do) Water - 1.5 C Oil - To fry Salt - to taste Method Heat oil in a pan. When hot, add mustard and cumin seeds. As they splutter, add sliced onions and stir well. Cook till the onions soften. Add ginger garlic paste and stir again. Take a small bowl with 4 T water and mix all spices into it. Pou...

There was a time when I just dint like the look of Rajma forget eating. hi hi :D But Mummy was pretty insistent on us eating all kinds of veg stuff, no matter what we said.  She would continue making everything, we like it or not. :D One cool trick to make kids eat. Well of course, I am glad Mom did coz now I just loveee Rajma. :D he he.. And here is her yummy recipe. Thank you Mommy. Ingredients Kidney beans/Rajma - 2 C Cumin seeds - 1 t Onion - 1 1/2 Tomato - 1 Garlic - 2 Cloves Ginger - 1 T Garam masala - 1/2 t Turmeric powder - 1/2 t Red chilli powder - 1/2 t Coriander powder - 1/2 t Chopped coriander - few Salt as per taste Method Cook kidney beans/Rajma with 1 t salt in a pressure cooker until soft (upto 3/4 whistles). Heat oil in a pan and fry onions in them till translucent. Keep it aside and allow to cool and grind them to fine paste. Heat the oil in a pan. Add cumin seeds and allow it to sizzle. Add the ground paste, chilli, g...

Another of my favorite punjabi dish (curry). Chole Batura was a "sure to order" item for all of my restaurant visits in India. And of course, Mummy made really yummy Chole Batura once in a while too, mostly when we had guests coming over. In fact, I was so in love with Chole that I used to have it along with the Kerala special "Puttu". :D Another time when I had yummy unforgettable Chole experience was at one of my closest friend, Nidhi's (Punjabi) place. It had that special Punjabi touch to it. :) Ingredients Kabuli Channa/Garbanzo Beans – 2 C Water – 8 cups Black Cardamom – 1 Bay Leaf – 1 Cinnamon Stick – 1″ Pc Salt – to taste Oil – 1.5 T Asafoetida – a pinch Tomatoes(Chopped) – 2 Anardana – 1/2 t Red Chili Powder – 1/2 t Dry Mango Powder (Amchur) – 1/2 t Method Soak Channa overnight. Move Channas along with the soaked water into the pressure cooker. To this, add cinnamon, bay leaf, cardamom & Salt. Cook this mix in ...

The worst part of going on a diet is to avoid Potatoes! Potatoes = Carbs!!! Imagine the odds when it is one of your favorites!! I forget all about Carbs and weight when I dig into this simple and yummy sabji or the dry fry potato. You can try this on one of those days when you are not in a great mood for elaborate cooking and want to wind up quick. I bet, you will love it. Ingredients 3 medium Potatoes 2 T Oil, 2 pinch Mustard seeds 1/4 t Cumin Seeds 1/8 t Asafoetida 1/4 t Turmeric Powder, 1/2 t Urad Dal (optional) 1/2 t Ginger paste 4 green chilies or to taste, slit lengthwise 4-5 curry leaves 1/4 C Cilantro, finely chopped Salt to taste 1 t lemon juice (optional) 2 T Cilantro for garnishing Method Boil and peel potatoes, make small cubes (2 cm). Heat oil in a nonstick pan or Kadai. Add mustard seeds, allow to crackle. Add Cumin, Asafoetida, Turmeric powder, and Urad dal. Once urad dal becomes little golden in color, add ginger paste, green chil...

This is a recipe that i got from Amma while she was here with us. :)  Simple and delicious is the most easy way to describe it. Goes superb with Rice and a thoran. Ingredients Red gram - 1 Cup Thick coconut milk - 3/4 Cup Thin coconut milk - 1/2 Cup Winter Melon/Kumbalanga - 3/4 Cup - Cut to small square pcs Green chillies - 3 Salt - As required Method Pressure cook the red gram till its soft yet not mushy (Upto 4 to 5 whistles). Take off the lid and continue cooking. Add the melon pcs, slit green chillies and salt to taste. Allow the mixture to cook till the contents of the pressure cooker become a little  concentrated. Add thin coconut milk to the mixture and once its hot enough add the thick coconut milk too. Let it cook for few more minutes. Then its all set to be served.

This is one yummy nadan curry. I had it at my edappally home, Amma had prepared it ofcourse. It was just too yummy. I was almost licking my fingers! :D And then the next time i got into the kitchen i could not resist trying my hands on it. I got the recipe from Amma and there it was " yummy manga pulissery"  :D Ingredients Ripe Mangoes – 5-6 of small size Grated coconut – 1 cup Jeera - a pinch Garlic – 1 piece Small onion – 2-4 Green chilly – 3-4 Turmeric powder – 1/4-1/2 tsp Small onion – 4 Red chilly – 2 Mustard – 1/2 tsp Curry leaves Salt - to taste Oil Method Peel the mangoes and cook the peeled mangoes with salt and 1 -1 1/2 cups of water for 10 minutes. Grind together the number 2 ingredients with 1/2 cup of water to a fine paste. Add this and 1/2- 1 cup of water to the mangoes. Check salt and add more if required. Cook for 5-7 mins on low flame. Make sure that it doesnt boil. Remove from fire. For the tadka Heat oil...