2016

The idea of making soup from an apple might sound weird since we mostly use Apples in pies, smoothies, crumble recipes. Trust me this soup is such a comfort food during winters. The natural tart & crispiness in the Green Apples are perfectly balanced with our Indian spices. Moreover Green Apples are rich in antioxidants, dietry fibre and has various other health benefits. I haven’t removed the skin of these apples while cooking since the nutrients are present in their skin too. Marks & Spencer is our goto place to buy fresh fruits. These apples are from M&S too. The…

If there is one thing that scares me when preparing Deepavali bakshanam(sweets) is Burfi aka Barbi 😉 Be it coconut burfi or almond I panic while making sugar syrup and the end result will not be perfect. However during last year Diwali I made this Badam burfi and it turned out amazing. I followed Anuradha Srinivasan’s recipe and finally after a year updating the recipe on my blog now 😉 😉 Better late than never right? I couldn’t take take step by step pictures last time hopefully when I prepare it again shall update the post with pictures. There are…

Beetroot halwa is one of the easiest Indian sweet recipes that can be prepared during this festive season. If you are a newbie in kitchen and scared to try Burfi, Mysorepak etc then make this rich, colorful halwa and trust me you can never go wrong with this recipe. All you need is beets, milk and sugar. It takes anywhere between 45-60 mminutes for preparation. The following measurement makes approximately two whole ramekins of halwa as shown in the picture below. It was sufficient for the two of us. Kindly increase quantity if you are preparing for a larger group…

Next on deepavali recipe collection is this quick Paneer Kalakand that can be prepared easily without any fuzz. Paneer & condensed milk are the two main ingredients required for this dish. Me and my husband love paneer a lot and instead of using it only in gravies and in savory recipes, I tried this Kalakand for a change and it came out really well. If you are using store bought paneer, kindly soak the slab of paneer in water for atleast 30 minutes. Remove water and use a kitchen towel, squeeze extra water from Paneer. This step ensures you have…

Deepavali is in a week’s time and I thought of sharing some festival recipes that can be prepared easily. First on the list is this awesome Gram Flour Laddoo (கடலை மாவு லட்டு). My mother’s recipe and made it for the first during Navarathri , turned out perfectly well. Do read the notes before starting to make the laddu. From the measurements given below you can make 12 medium sized laddoo. Kindly increase quantity according to your requirement 1. Sifting Gram Flour helps to remove lumps and yields smooth Laddoo 2. Don’t add more sugar than mentioned in the recipe. It…

It is a 9-day festival celebrating Goddess Durga, Lakshmi & Saraswathi. The traditions & the way it is celebrated varies across the country. North Indians fast during the 9-days & women eat a special Upsvas diet without including certain veggies & grains. In TamilNadu (one of the 4 states of South India) though we don’t have the tradition of fasting, in each & every household we setup a “Bommai Kolu” (using dolls made out of clay which are collected through years), invite people to their homes, serve them yummy prasadhams, do some bhajans or chant shlokas together etc etc I…

In Karnataka, ‘Vaangi Bath’ (Brinjal Rice) is a popular rice recipe that is prepared from fresh spice powder instead of store bought Red Chilli Powder& Coriander Powder combination. This recipe is inspired from Vaangi Bath preparation however the spice powder I used is very simple with minimum ingredients and this rice can be prepared within 30 minutes. A great lunchbox meal that stays fresh, aromatic for a longer time. You can prepare this powder in a large batch and can use it while preparing dry subzi like potato fry, brinjal fry, cauliflower poriyal etc. They taste delicious. I served this…

As most of us say baking is therapeutic & all that jazz but at the same time it is stressful too atleast for me 😉 Each & every step is crucial from ingredient measurement to oven temperature etc.So many factors has to be right to get that perfect output. Be it baking a cake or any other savory bakes you need patience. I obviously lack it & its funny how much ever I try to control myself , I tend to open the oven door a million times to check if everything is baking fine Few months back I…

Once in a week my school & college days’ lunchbox menu will definitely have Lemon Rice/Tomato Rice with a piece of Lemon Pickle as sidedish. Such a humble yet comforting meal. Even after eating it all these years am never bored or tired of SouthIndian variety rice ☺️ Maybe because of the gene I suppose. This tomato rice recipe is my own & have been following it for years. It is slightly different from my mom’s. Her recipe doesn’t include garlic & garam masala powder for flavor. The best side dish for this rice is obviously Potato fry but for…

I believe that ‘Love for food’ is beyond culture,region or language. Today on this series we have Linda – woman behind this wonderful blog LaPetitePanière which is popular among readers from all over the world. Her instagram feed is such a feast to your eyes. Have been a silent admirer of her account for the past two years. Everytime when she uploads a picture of bread/pie/cookie, I used to wonder how can someone achieve such perfection. Linda’s food photography is very clean with perfect lighting,minimal props and the is focus is mainly on food rather than styling. If you would…