Eggless and butterless Double chocolate banana Muffins

Merry Christmas everyone!!Hope everyone is enjoying their holidays with family and friends.
Today Iam gonna make a chocholic's dream come true with double chocolate banana muffin post.
Chocolate and banana is a yummy combination and the best part of this recipe is it is eggless and butterless.
This recipe is adapted from Recipezaar.

Ingredients:

Allpurpose flour - 1  1/2 cup

Sugar - 1 cup

Salt - 1/4 tsp

Baking soda - 1tsp

Baking Powder - 1/4 tsp

Baking Cocoa  - 1/3 cup

Mashed bananas - 2

Apple sauce - 1/4 cup(substitute for 1 egg)

Vegetable oil - 1/3 cup

Semisweet chocolate chips - 1 cup

Method:

Preheat the oven to 350 def F.Line the muffin pan with muffin liners.

Mix all the dry ingredients.Mash the  bananas and add the applesauce,vegetable oil.To this mixture add the dry ingredients.Mix just enough to combine.

Fold in  the semisweet chocolate chips.Reserve few for sprinkling on the muffin tops.

Fill in the paper lined muffin cups upto three-fourths full.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until muffins are done.

Back to blogging with Cakey chocolate chip cookies

Iam back after a long break.My lil one's keeping me busy:).Cant beleive my baby is 2 months already.
Its really tough juggling between the two boys.But I love and enjoy ecah and every moment.

My elder one loves anything which has chocolate in it.Chocolate chip cookies are his favourite.

This recipe is taken from Martha Stewart's Cookies book.These cookies are little bit chewy.I personally dont like the thin and crispy cookies.So I decided to try these.They turned out to be chewy and soft in the middle and slightly crisp on th edges.It incorporated less butter too.

Ingredients:

All pupose flour - 2 1/4 cups

Baking soda -  1/2 tsp

Unsalted butter - 1 3/4  sticks(at room temperature)

Sugar - 3/4 cup

Light brown sugar - 1/4 cup(packed)

Salt - 1tsp

Vanilla Extract - 2tsp

Large eggs - 2

Semisweet chocolate chips - 2 cups

I used 1 cup of chocolate chips and 1 cup of Butterscotch chips.


Method:

Preheat oven to 350 def F.Whisk together flour and baking soda in a bowl.
Put butter and both sugars in the bowl and beat with a wooden spoon until pale and fluffy.
Add salt,vanilla and eggs and mix until combined.
Add flour mixture  and mix until just combined.Stir in chocoate and butterscotch chips.
Drop heaping tablespoons of dough onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper,spacing 2 inches apart.
Bake cookies until centers are set and edges are golden,10 to 12 minutes,rotating sheets halfway through.
Let cool on baking sheets 2 minutes.



Transfer cookies to wire racks;let cool completely.

Our baby boy is here!!

Dear blogging buddies
I delivered a baby boy on 9th Oct.Big brother is so excited!!Iam slowly recovering..
So taking a break from blogging.

Diwali wishes to you and your family.Iam sure all of your blogs must have wonderful diwali savouries and sweets posts.

I will try to peek into u'r blogs once in a while.

Eggless Chocolate cake with condensed milk

This is a very simple eggless cake.Ive tried making eggless chocolate cake before,but have used only oil.This recipe calls for butter and condensed milk.It was so soft,moist and rich that I coudnt believe it was eggless.
Both my kid and mom njoyed eating it and ofcourse me too(who's a chocoholic!!)

This recipe is Anushruthi's recipe from Divine taste.Thanx a lot Anu!!
I skipped the icing part as it was already oozing out with rich ingredients:)

Ingredients:

Allpurpose flour - 1 cup

Cocoa powder - 1/4 cup

Sweetened condensed milk - 1 tin(I used Nestle's)

Butter - 2/3 cup(melted)

Water - 150 ml

Vanilla essence - 2 tsp

Baking soda - 1 tsp

Baking powder - 2tsp


Method:

Grease a 9 inch round cake tin.

In a mixing bowl,sift together the flour,cocoa powder,baking soda,baking powder.Preheat the oven to 300 def F.

In another bowl,mix together the melted butter,condensed milk,vanilla essence and water.

Mix the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients just enough without any lumps.Resist your urge to overmix.

Pour the batter into the prepared cake tin .The batter would seem watery.Dont fret.Bake for about an hour.

Test for doneness by inserting a skewer.If it comes out clean,the cake is ready to be taken out of the oven.

Allow it to cool for 10 minutes.Slice it and serve with vanilla icecream.

Awards Shower!!!!!!!

Iam so sorry I  was MIA in the blogosphere for a couple of days cuz MY MOM IS HERE!!Yes!!I was busy gupshupping with her and relishing all the yummy goodies she prepares daily.Iam seeing her after 2 long years..

Now coming to the awards..It has been raining awards in my blog.Thanx to all my wonderful blog buddies!!Your awards really drive me to work harder and post often and interact with you all guys..i really miss visiting your blogs,drooling all over u'r yummy dishes :)

I apologize for not posting the awards earlier..Better late than never..

Hema of Salt to taste  has passed on these awards.Thanks a lot for thinking about me and honoring me with these awards!!

Scrumptious Blog Award

Yum Yum Blog Award

One lovely blog Award

Beautiful site award

Inspiration Award

Brilliant Weblog award

A giant bear hug award

Best Blog Darts Award

Rekha shoban of Rekha's Recipes has also passed on YumYum blog award,A giant bear hug award and

360 deg foodie award

Thanx a ton Rekha!!

Padma of Padma's Recipes has given me the honest scrap award.Thanx a lot Padma!!

The award has the following  components

I must thank the person who gave me the award and list their blog and link it

I must list 10 honest things about myself

I must put a copy of The Honest Scrap Logo on my blog.

I must select at least 7 other worthy bloggers & list their links

I must notify the bloggers of the award and hopefully they will follow the above three requirements also.


1)I love cooking but hate to cut veggies and clean up after all the cooking is done.

2)I dont know driving and keep postponing to learn driving

3)I I’m fascinated by nutrition and health topics

4)I am a great lover of horror movies though Iam not allowed to do so these days.

5)I dont like travelling.

6)I like electronic gadgets

7)I love shopping especially clothes and perfumes.

8)I love singing.

9)Iam a morning person.

10)I love collecting recipes.

I would like to nominate the following 7 bloggers for the honest scrap award..I guess most of you would have already got the award.
1)Vrindha of Sankeerthanam

2)Nithya of 4th sense samayal

3)Ashwini of Ashwini's spicy cuisine

4)Bergamot at Cooking escapades

5)Pavithra at Dishes from my kitchen

6)Divya at Easycooking

7)Viki at Viki's kitchen

Kadai Vegetables

This recipe is adapted from Mallika badrinath's recipe..Iam  a great fan of her recipes.I have a lmost all of her cookbooks.Actually this recipe calls for paneer and babycorn..Since i didnt have babycorn,I omitted it and I substituted shallow fried extra-firm tofu instead of fried paneer.Good news is that it contains no garlic.So my dh liked it a lot!!

Ingredients:

A cup of diced and boiled mixed vegetables (carrot,beans,cauliflower,peas and potato)

Capsicum - 1

Tomatoes - 1

Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

Green chillies - 4

Shallow fried Tofu - 1/2 block

Garam Masala - 1 tsp

Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp

Coriander powder - 1 tsp

Oil - 4tbsp

Salt to taste

Coriander leaves for garnishing

Fry the following in 2tsp of oil and grind it into a smooth paste:

Onion - 1

Tomatoes - 1

Cashew nuts - 5

Method:

Heat oil in  a pan.Add the cumin seeds.when they splutter add, the tomatoes, capsicum,green chillies  and saute for 2 minutes.

Add the boiled vegetables,turmeric powder and coriander powder.

Then add the paste,garam masala,tofu and required amount of salt.

Add 1/2 cup of water and simmer for about 2 minutes.

Garnish with coriander leaves.

Serve with roti,naan  or pulao.

Rava/Sooji Khichadi/Semolina Khichadi

Rava/Sooji Kichadi is my favorite for dinner or even breakfast..I remember the first time I tried making this when I was about 14 or 15..It came out as a lumpy mass :) though it tasted good.

I definitely do believe that getting the right texture of Rava Upma/Khichadi is indeed an art!!Perfection comes only out of Practice.

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

Sooji/Rava - 1 cup

Ghee - 1 Tbsp

Oil - 4tbsp

Mustard seeds - 1 tsp

Split Urad dal  - 1 tsp

Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

A cup of mixed vegetables like carrot,beans,peas,potato finely chopped

Onion - 1 big

Tomato - 1

A sprig of curry leaves

Coriander leaves for garnishing

Water - 2  1/2 cups

To be ground into  a paste:

Garlic cloves - 2

Ginger - 1 inch piece

Fennel seeds - 1/2 tsp

Cloves - 2

Cinnamon - 2 inch piece

Green chillies - 3

Method:

Heat the ghee in a kadai.Roast the sooji until it becomes slightly brown in color.Keep aside.

Heat oil in a pan.Add the mustard seeds.When they splutter add the urad dal.when the dal becomes brown add the finely chopped onion and the curry leaves.When they become translucent,add the ground paste and fry till the raw smell goes off.Add all the veggies one by one and then the tomato.When the vegetables are almost cooked,add the roasted sooji,turmeric powder and required amount of salt.

Meanwhile in another pan heat 2 1/2 cups of water and switch it off when it starts boiling.Keep the boiling water ready.

Pour the boiling water into the sooji and vegetable mixture and stir briskly so that no lumps are formed.Simmer and cover with  a lid.Switch off the stove when the sooji is cooked and garnish with coriander leaves.

Drizzle a little bit of ghee on the top.

Serve hot.

This is my entry to shama's FIRST COOKED FOOD EVENT --AUG'09

Scrumptious Blog Award

Iam so happy to receive the Scrumptious Blog Award from Shri of Tasty touch ..Thanks a lot Shri!!

The award is given to blogs which :

Inspire you

Encourage you
May give Fabulous information
A great read
Has Scrumptious recipes
Any other reasons you can think of that make them Scrumptious!

The rules are:
Put the logo on your blog or post.

Nominate at least 7 blogs

Let them know that they have received this Scrumptious award by commenting on their blog. Share the love and link to this post and to the person you received your award from.

I would like to nominate this award to my following blogger friends:

Pavithra of Dishes from my kitchen

Viki of Viki's Kitchen

Preethi of Preethi's online cookbook

Varunavi of My kitchen's aroma

Pooja of Pooja's kitchen

Sara of Sara's corner

Chithra of Ratatouille

Vegetable Kolhapuri

Vegetable Kolhapuri is a dish from Kolhapur,Maharashtra.

This recipe is Tarla Dalal's.

Ingredients:

Mixed boiled vegetables (carrots, cauliflower, French beans, green peas) - 2 cups

Onions, finely chopped - 1 cup

Tomatoes, finely chopped - ½ cup

Garam masala - 1 ½ teaspoons

Cumin seeds - 1 teaspoon

Oil - 2 tablespoons

salt to taste

Chopped coriander leaves for garnishing


To be ground into a paste:

Desiccated coconut - ¼ cup

Dry red chillies - 3(adjust according to your spicelevel)

Garlic - 2

Ginger - 1 inch piece

Khus-khus (poppy seeds) - 1 tablespoon

Sesame seeds (til) - 1 tablespoon

Coriander seeds - 1 teaspoon

 
Method:

Heat the oil, add the cumin seeds.When they splutter add onions and cook till the onions turn golden brown in colour.

Add the ground paste and tomatoes and cook till the oil separates.

Add the vegetables, salt, garam masala and ¾ cup water and bring it to a boil.

Serve hot garnished with coriander.

It is  a good accompaniment for rice,chapathi or puri.

Printable Recipe

Fabulous Blog award and Tag Alphabetically

Iam so happy to receive Fabulous blog award from Rekha of Indian Recipes..

Thank U so much Rekha..So sweet of you..I feel honoured.

Ive been Tagged by Preethi of Preethi's online cookbook

The Rules:
1. Link the person who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Share the ABCs of you.
4. Tag 4 people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs.
5. Let the 4 tagged people know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website.
6. Do not tag the same person repeatedly but try to tag different people, so that there is a big network of bloggers doing this tag

The Tag:

1. A – Available/Single? none

2. B – Best friend? Many

3. C – Cake or Pie? Cake

4. D – Drink of choice? Water and Buttermilk

5. E – Essential item you use every day? Laptop, Phone,TV

6. F – Favorite color?Pink,Blue,Black

7. G – Gummy Bears Or Worms?Gummybears

8. H – Hometown? Trichy

9. I – Indulgence? Fastfood and Anything chocolatey

10. J – January or February?Makes no difference to me.

11. K – Kids & their names?1.SaiRishabh and a little jelly bean on the way :)Name not yet decided.

12. L – Life is incomplete without? TrueLove

13. M – Marriage date? May6th 2002

14. N – Number of siblings?1 elder sister

15. O – Oranges or Apples?Apples

16. P – Phobias/Fears?Rollercoaster Ride and all scary rides

17. Q – Quote for today? It's never too late -- never too late to start over, never too late to be happy

18. R – Reason to smile? A hug and a kiss from my kiddo

19. S – Season?Spring.

20. T – Tag 4 People?Scroll down to the bottom of this post

21. U – Unknown fact about me? I don't know how to drive a car

22. V – Vegetable you don't like? Spinach

23. W – Worst habit? Take control of the remote and change channels ;)

24. X – X-rays you've had?When I was suspected to have Sinusitis a few years back

25. Y – Your favorite food? Vegetable Pulao

26. Z – Zodiac sign? Gemini

I tag

1)Rekha

2)Shri

3)Varunavi

4)Hema

Muthusaram/Mullu Murukku

I made this snack for Janmashtami/Krishna Jayanthi.

Ingredients:

Rice flour - 2 cups

Besan /Chickpea Flour - 1/2 cup

Urad dal Flour - 1/2 cup

Chilli Powder - 1 1/2 tsp

White/Black Sesame seeds - 2 tsp

Asafoetida - 1/2 tsp

Butter - 2 Tbsp

Salt to taste

Oil for deep frying - about 3 cups

Water for making the dough

Method:

Mix all the flours together.Add the chilli powder,salt,asafoetida,sesame seeds and required amount of salt.

Melt the butter and add to the flour.Add water little by little till it becomes a smooth dough.

Place the star shaped disc in the murukku press.Fill the dough upto three-quarters of the press.

Heat the oil in a deep pan.

When the oil is hot enough,hold the press over the oil and squeeze the handles of the press in a circular motion.

Cook for sometime.Then turn over the murukku and fry for sometime.

When they become golden brown in color,remove from oil and drain on paper towels.

Reposts for EC's Breakfast event

Following are my entries for EC's Breakfast Event

1)Set Dosa and Sagu

2)Tomato Dosa with kadapah

3)Idli with vadakari

Mushroom Pepper Fry

Mushroom Pepper Fry is a very simple dry curry..No grinding..No hassles..It can be prepared within no time.

Ingredients:

Button Mushroom - 1 packet (quartered)

Onions - 2 medium(finely chopped)

Green chillies - 4

Cumin seeds - 1 tsp

Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp

Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

Coriander Powder - 1 tsp

Garam Masala - 1/2 tsp

Coarsely ground Black pepper corns - 3 Tbsp(if u like it more spicy increase the amount of pepper)

A sprig of curry leaves

Salt to taste

Oil - 3Tbsp

Method:

Heat oil in a skillet.When the oil is hot,add the cumin seeds.When they splutter,add the finely chopped onions.

When they become translucent,add the ginger garlic paste.Saute till the raw smell goes off.

Then add green chillies,turmeric powder,coriander powder and garam masala.

Now add the curry leaves and mushrooms.Saute till the mushrooms become little bit soft.

Add the required amount of salt and coarsely ground pepper powder.

Close with a lid and cook covered for about 5minutes.

Open and garnish with coriander leaves.

Serve with chapathi or poori.

Idli Milagai podi/GunPowder

There are umpteen versions of idli podi/milagai podi.This version is my mom's.
When Iam lazy to the core,I would skip making chutney :) and this is my saviour.

Ingredients:

Split black gram dal/Urad dal - 1/2 cup(I used the one with skin on.This gives a nice aroma to the powder)

Channa dal - 1/4 cup

Sesame seeds(White or black) - 1/3 cup

Dry red chillies - 15(increase or decrease the number according to your spice level)

Asafoetida - 1/2 tsp

Salt to taste

Sesame oil/Gingelly oil - 2tbsp

Method:

In a heavy bottomed pan dry roast the sesame seeds.Add 2 tbsp of oil and roast the urad dal and channa dal until they slightly brown.
Then slightly roast the dry red chillies.
Add the asafoetida and required amount of salt.



Grind into a coarse powder.
Optionally a little bit of tamarind and jaggery can be added while grinding.
Mix with little bit of gingelly oil and serve with idli or dosas.

Mushroom Do Pyaaza

Do Pyaaza literally  translates to double amount of onions added in the masala than the usual amount  in the cooking process with little bit of spices and  mushrooms in a tangy tomato sauce.

Ingredients:

Button Mushrooms - 1 packet(quartered)

Onions - 3 finely chopped

Tomatoes - 2 finely chopped

Garlic - 2

Ginger - 1 inch piece

Green chillies - 3

Cumin seeds - 1 tsp

Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

Coriander powder - 1 tsp

Garam Masala - 1tsp

Salt to taste

Oil - 4tbsp

Method:

Grind together half of the onions,ginger and garlic into a fine paste.

In a pan heat the oil.When hot enough,add the cumin seeds.When they become slightly brown,add the reamaining chopped onions.When they become translucent,add the paste and fry till the raw smell goes.

Then add the tomatoes and green chillies.When the tomatoes are slightly mushy,add the spice powder one by one and fry for sometime.

Then add the quartered mushrooms and saute till they slightly wilt.Add the required maount of salt and 1/2 cup of water.Close with a lid and simmer for 5 minutes and allow the mushrooms to get cooked well and blend with the masala.

After 5 minutes switch off the stove and garnish with coriander leaves.

Serve with roti,naan or poori.

Awards and a Tag : Happy Today :)

A special thank You  to my blogger friend Padma of Padma's recipes for passing on 3 lovely awards and for tagging me..Thank you so much! It's so sweet of you.



First Award is the kreative blogger award

Find the Meme and rules of the award here

And two other  awards which are

Love blog award

One lovely blog award

These two awards have a tag attached..So here I go..

What is your current obsession?
Blogging and Baking

* What are you wearing today?
Still in my PJ's

* What’s for dinner?
Adai

* What’s the last thing you bought?
Few Maternity clothes

* What are you listening to right now?
Ilayaraja Hits

* What do you think about the person who tagged you?
She's an enthusiastic blogger with a green thumb :)

* If you could have a house totally paid for, fully furnished anywhere in the world, where would you like it to be?
Chennai

* What are your must-have pieces for summer?
Sunglasses
Sun hat
Cotton pants
Cotton salwars
* If you could go anywhere in the world for the next hour, where would you go?
Hawaii

* Which language do you want to learn?
Malayalam and Spanish

* What’s your favourite quote?
Live life to the fullest!!

* Who do you want to meet right now?
My Parents

* What is your favourite colour?
Baby Pink,Lavender and sky blue

* What is your favourite piece of clothing in your own closet?
My party wear salwars and sarees

* What is your dream job?
Freelance writer or editor

* What’s your favourite magazine?
Women's era,Readers Digest,Vikatan

* If you had $100 now, what would you spend it on?
Maybe buy some essential baby items..

* What do you consider a fashion faux pas? (faux pas mean error in ettiquette.. )
Wearing Too Small a Size irrespective of one's original size

* Who are your style icons?
None

* Describe your personal style.?
Simple

*"What do you try to cook when you have cooking blues (When you feel real lazy to cook some thing)"?
Maggi Noodles

* What are your favourite movies?
Lotsa movies..To name a few
Mouna Ragam
Mozhi
Taare Zameen Par
Life is beautiful

* What are three cosmetic/makeup/perfume products that you can't live without?
Don't use cosmetics at all.
I never go out without my deodarant

* What inspires you?
My mom inspires me
* Give us three styling tips that always work for you:
Dress up according to your body style and not just because a piece of clothing is in trend
Dress up according to the age group and occasion

* What do you do when you “have nothing to wear” (even though your closet’s packed)?
Go on a shopping spree.
* Coffee or tea?
Cofee

* What do you do when you are feeling low or terribly depressed?
Cook up a new dish,or watch a hilarious movie
* What is the meaning of your name?
Attractive

* Favorite Dessert/Sweet?
Rasgulla,Bombay Halwa
* Favorite Season ?
Spring
*Who inspired you to start blog?
My mom and DH

Adding another Question
What is your most funniest cooking disaster?

As the rule goes Iam tagging the following 10 other lovely blogs.
 
Divya of Easy cooking
 
Pinky of  ESHO-BOSHO-AAHARE
 
Deesha at Vegetable platter
 
EC at Simple Indian food
 
Vrindha at Sankeerthanam
 
Sanghi at Sanghi's food delights
 
Shri at Tasty touch
 
Ann at Happy and healthy cooking
 
Viki at Viki's kitchen
 
Saraswathy at Sara's corner
 
Respond and rework – answer the questions on your own blog, replace one question that you dislike with a question of your own invention, and add one more question of your own. Then tag eight or ten other people.

Vanilla and Chocolate Chip Muffin

I always love to bake muffins.They are soo simple to make and can be done in a jiff..These vanilla chocolate chip muffins are definitely not for those who are health freaks :))

I took this recipe from Joyofbaking.They came out well.The yield is 12 but I got 15.

Ingredients:

Allpurpose flour - 2 cups

Sugar - 2/3 cup

Salt - 1/2 tsp

Baking Powder - 1Tbsp

Melted butter - 1/2 cup

Milk - 1 cup

Eggs slightly beaten - 2

Vanilla essence - 2 tsp

Semisweet chocolate chips - 1 cup

Method:

Preheat oven to 375 deg F and grease muffin tins with nonstick spray or line with muffin liners.

In a large bowl, stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. In another bowl, stir together milk, eggs, butter, and vanilla until blended. Make a well in center of dry ingredients; add milk mixture and stir just to combine. Stir in chocolate chips .

Spoon batter into muffin cups; bake 18-20 minutes, or until a knife inserted in center of one muffin comes out clean. Remove muffin tin to wire rack; cool 5 minutes and remove from tins to finish cooling.



Serve warm.

Paruppu Podi/Mixed Lentils Spice Powder

Paruppu Podi is a combination of mixed lentils dryroasted and ground along with dry red chillies and black pepper.Whenever my mom makes a sambar/kuzhambu which I  I don't like ,I resort to this.

Piping hot Rice + A Tsp of sesame oil/Ghee + Paruppu Podi = Delish!!!!!!!

Ingredients:

Toor Dal - 1/2 cup

Channa Dal - 1/4 cup

Dry red chillies - 6(adjust according to your spice level)

Whole Black pepper corns -3 tsp

Salt to taste

I actually doubled the above recipe,but adjusted amount of chillies and pepper corns according to my taste.

Method:

Dry Roast the dhals to a golden brown color.Then dry roast the chillies and black pepper corn seperately.


When cool,grind them to a fine powder adding the required amount of salt.

Serve with hot rice mixed with ghee or sesame oil.

Few reposts for Nithya's FIC event

Iam sending these over to Nithya's Food in Colors(FIC)- Express your Mood for the month of July.This event was started by Sunshine mom of Tongue Ticklers


1)Spicy Fried Green Beans

2)Pulipongal

Kreativ Blogger Award !

Iam so honoured to receive my second award from Hema at Salt to Taste.It is the Kreative blogger award,honouring favourite,creative blogs.Thanx a  lot Hema!!You made my day.

The rules for this award are :
1. You must thank the person who has given you the award.

2. Copy the logo and place it on your blog.

3. Link to the person who has nominated you for the award.

4. Name 7 things about yourself that people might find interesting.

5. Nominate 7 other Kreativ Bloggers.

6. Post links to the 7 blogs you nominate.

7. Leave a comment on which of the blogs to let them know they have been nominated.

When I saw the Rule # 4,I was like "Eeeeeek",because I really don't know whether the 7 things that Iam going to write about me are gonna be really interesting.Anyways here are 7 facts about me:

1)I was born and brought up in the famous RockFort city,Trichy in Tamilnadu

2)Iam an MCA graduate but now totally a Stay at home Mom to a Charming little prince whos gonna be 6 and expecting our second little baby boy in October.

3)Iam not that much diet-conscious and I like junk food.Iam a chocholic too,though Iam forced to control my craving due to my pregnancy :(

4)I love cooking and entertaining others.My latest passion is baking.

5)I took up violin lessons and carnatic vocal lessons for about 5 years when I was still in school.I love singing and  listening  to all sorts of music.

6)When Iam free,I love to read books,watch food channels or browse food blogs.

7)I love making new friends and blogging has helped me in making  a handful of wonderful friends.

Now comes the hard part..Nominating 7 bloggers.I want to pass this award to all,but then following the rules,nominations are

1)Viki of Viki's Kitchen

2)Preethi of Preethi's online cookbook

3)Vrindha at Sankeerthanam

4)Somoo at Home cooked Oriya food

5)Varunavi at My kitchen's aroma

6)Hari Chandana at Indin Cuisine

7)Akal at Akal's Sappadu

These blogs really deserve the award..Be sure to check them all..

Kalyana Rasam/Marriage Rasam

Kalyana Rasam is usually served in Tamil wedding Lunch.The spice powder is freshly prepared every time the rasam is made.

Ingredients for Rasam powder:

Fry the following in 1 tsp of ghee :

Channa dal - 1tsp

Dhaniya/Coriander seeds  - 3tsp

Dry red chillies - 3

Curry leaves - a few

Asafoetida - a pinch

Grind them in to a fine powder.

Other ingredients:

Tomatoes - 1 finely chopped

Tamarind - a small marble size

Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

Toor dal  - 4 tbsp

Salt to taste

Coriander leaves for garnishing

Tempering Ingredients:

Ghee - 1 tsp

Mustard seeds - 1tsp

Curry leaves - a few

Method:

Soak the tamarind in water and extract a cup.

Boil the toor dal with extra water and strain a cup of dhal water.

In a vessel,bring to a boil the tamarind extract to which salt and turmeric powder has been added.

When the raw smell goes off,add the dhal water,mashed toor dhal and spice powder and simmer.When it frothes,add the finely chopped tomatoes,simmer for a few minutes and turn off the heat.There is no need for the tomatoes to be cooked.

Finally add the tempered ingredients into the rasam.

Garnish with coriander leaves.

Rava Pongal with Thakkali Kuzhambu/Sooji Pongal with Tomato Gravy

I like this Rava Pongal better than the usual Pongal.This is made up of Rava/Sooji with Moongdal.Instead of the usual Gothsu combination for Pongal,I tried Tomato kozhambu..The combo was very tasty..Both the dishes are very easy to make.

Recipe Courtesy - Chitvish of Indusladies

Ingredients for Rava Pongal:

Rava/Sooji - 1 cup

Split Moong Dal/Payatham Paruppu-1/2 cup

Jeera/Cumin Seeds - 1tsp

Pepper corns - 1tsp

Coarsely grind the pepper and jeera.

Ghee -2tbsp

Ginger grated - 2 tsp

A sprig of curry leaves

Method:

Dry roast the moongdhal till a nice aroma comes.Soak in boiling water for 30 minutes.

Pressure cook the Dal in 3 cups of water for about 4 whistles.The Dal must be slightly mushy.Drain a cup of water from the cooked moongdhal.Add another cup of water to it.So altogether we have 2 cups of water.

Boil water in a pan.Simultaneously in a pressure pan heat 2 tbsp of ghee.Add the grated ginger,coarsely ground pepper and jeera,curry leaves and then the rava..Roast the rava till it becomes slightly brown.Add the hot water to it and required amount of  salt and the cooked moongdhal and stir briskly so that no lumps are formed.Close the lid of the pressure pan and simmer for about 8 minutes.Turn down the heat.

Open and top with a little bit of ghee.

Ingredients for Tomato Kuzhambu:

Onions - 2

Tomatoes - 3

Tamarind - size of a small marble

Green chillies - 3

Sambar powder - 2tsp

Mustard seeds -1 tsp

Coconut paste - 3 tsp or 1/2 can of coconut milk

A sprig of curry leaves.

Chopped coriander leaves

Salt to taste

Method:

Soak the tamarind in water and extract about a cup.

In boiling water  drop the tomatoes and after  5 minutes immerse in cold water.Remove the skin and crush them roughly.

In a pan heat 2tbsp of oil.Add the mustard seeds.When they splutter add the curry leaves,finely chopped onions.When the onions are slightly brown add the chopped green chillies.

Add the tomatoes and fry till the raw smell goes off.Now add the tamarind extract and sambar powder.Add required amount of salt.

When its starts boiling ,simmer and then add the coconut paste(or coconut milk) and allow them to boil for about 5 minutes.

Turn off the heat and garnish with coriander leaves.

Serve hot with Rava Pongal.

Mysore Rasam

I first had this rasam in the Dharmasthala temple in Karnataka.The temple is famous for Anna Dhana(free distribution of food)everyday.The rasam tasted heavenly that we dint even need  a sidedish..It was so rich and the aroma filled the huge hall where about thousands of people had gathered for the Annadhana.

The recipe is taken from chitvish's recipe.It tasted yumm!!

Ingredients for Mysore Rasam powder:

Roast the following in 1 tsp of ghee and grind it into a fine powder

Gram Dhal/Channa Dal - 1tsp

Cumin seedsJeera - 1/4 tsp

Pepper -1/4 tsp

Hing/Asafoetida- a pinch

Coriander seeds - 2tsp

Grated coconut - 2tsp

Dry red chillies -4

Curry leaves -few

Other Ingredients:

Tamarind - marble size

Tomatoes - 1 quartered

Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

Boiled Toor dal - 1/4 cup

Mustard seeds - 1tsp

Jeera - 1tsp

Chopped coriander leaves

Curry leaves - a sprig

Method:

Soak the tamarind and extract about a cup.Reserve a cup of water from the boiled toor dal.Add both the tamarind extract and dhal water to a pressure pan.
Then add the tomatoes,turmeric powder,mysore rasam powder,required amount of salt,boiled toor dal and pressure cook for 1 whistle.
Open the lid of the pressure pan and add chopped coriander leaves.
Heat 1 tsp of ghee in a pan and add the mustard seeds.When they splutter,add the jeera and curry leaves.
Add the tempered ingredients into the Rasam.
Serve hot with rice.

Aama Vadai/Lentils Vada

Vada or Vadai is a South Indian snack made up of mixed lentils.Ive not added onions in this vadai because I made these for Aadi Festival.A little bit of fennel seeds can be added while grinding and chopped onions can be added to the paste for making Masal vadai.

Ingredients:

Toor dal - 1/2 cup

Channa dal - 1/2 cup

Urad dal - 2tbsp

Dry red chillies -4 or 5

Asafoetida - 1/4 tsp

Curry leaves - few (chopped)

Salt to taste

Oil for deep frying the vadai

Method:

Soak all the dals together along with the dry red chillies for 2 hours.

Drain and keep them for about an hour.

Then grind along with rechillies,required amount of salt,asafoetida into a coarse paste.Add only 2tbsp or 3tbsp of water while grinding.

The paste should be coarse and should not be watery.Add the chopped curry leaves.


Heat 3 cups of oil in a wide pan.Make small balls and gently pat to make into a disc shape.When the oil is hot enough,drop the vadai and fry in high heat for 2 minutes.Then reduce the heat and fry for few more minutes until the vadai turns golden brown in color.

Sending this over to MLLA - 13 hosted by Harini of tumyumtreats.This event was actually started by Susan

My first ever award

Ive just been given my first award by Nithya of 4th sense samayal for "AHEM" intelligent blogger chef for correctly guessing the name of the dish.

Thank you soo much Nithya!!

Blueberry Muffin

Ingredients:

All purpose flour - 1 1/2 cup

Baking powder - 1 tsp

Unsalted butter -1/2 stick or 1/4 cup

Sugar - 3/4 cup

Salt - 1/2 tsp

Egg - 1 large beaten

Milk - 3/4 cup

Fresh blueberries/frozen blueberries/Dried Blueberries - 1 cup

Method:

Preheat the oven to 375 def F.Line muffin tray with liners or grease the pan with a non-stick spray.

Sift the flour along with salt and baking powder.Melt the butter and allow it to cool.

In a wide bowl,slightly beat the egg and add butter,sugar and milk and mix.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and gently stir.Don't overmix.Fold in the blueberries.

Spoon the batter upto three-fourths full.

Bake for about 15 to 20 minutes or until the top of the muffins are slightly brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of the muffins comes out clean.

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Cool on a wire rack and serve warm.