An exciting addition! - Baby Boy

If you are a regular follower of my blog, you must be wondering what happened to me. I used to be a regular blogger, blogging atleast once a day. But for the past few months, I did not update my blog. During the first few months, I was too tired to blog and now I am too busy! Yes, you are right. All because of a proud addition to our family.

DS joined our family this 22 Sept adding joy to our life. He makes sure that I have less or no time for blogging. Though I am very late in sharing this news, I know you will be happy for me. I will try to blog as much as possible. I was not able to visit my favorite food blogs for the past 2 months. Hope all are doing great! Keep blogging and sharing your wonderful recipes. Now, I need to increase my knowledge to make my son a happy and a healthy eater.

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Ragi Pudding

You can  call  it  Ragi pudding/Payasam or whatever you  want. But I tell you, it  is one  oft he healthiest  and delicious drink  I  have made with Ragi. Usually many don't like Ragi. Though, i t has a high nutritional value, sometimes, taste gets more preference! This is a very tasty ( really!) drink, made within minutes and can be enjoyed hot or cold. I got this recipe from vahrehvah.com. Thanks to Sanjay! now I am a regular ragi eater :)

Ingredients:

For 2 people

1 cup of ragi

2 cups of water

1/4 cup of jaggery

1/4 cup of milk

few broken nuts (Almonds, cashews etc)

few raisins

Method:

In a pan, boil the water. Meanwhile just add few drops of water to the ragi powder and make it to a paste so that it doesn't form any lumps when added to the boiling  water.

cook in a medium flame for 10 minutes. Make sure ragi is cooked properly and then add powdered jaggery and mix well.

Transfer it to a bowl, add milk and broken nuts, raisins and serve hot.

refrigerate it and serve as a cold beverage too! it tastes awesome both ways. 

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Pesarat - A dosa variation

I know Pesarat is an Andra specialty. Whenever we go to a restaurant in India, I never miss to see this item in the menu. But never have ordered this. To be frank, I have never tasted Pesarat until recently. If you are anything like me, I would really suggest you give it a try. I loved the taste and spiciness and couldn't stop eating. This is a very simple variation of dosa. The variation is on the way we prepare the dough and the most important thing is we need not ferment the dough. How convenient? we can eat it on the same day we crave these.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup raw rice

1 cup Green gram

2 green chillies

1/2 inch ginger

1 medium onion finely chopped

1/4 cup of finely chopped coriander leaves

salt to taste

1 tsp cumin seeds

Method:

Soak the rice and gram together for at least 6 hrs. Grind it to a dosa batter consistency with salt, green chillies,ginger and cumin seeds.

Now in a Tawa, pour this batter and cook it in a medium flame. Make the dosa very thin and add the chopped onions and coriander leaves on top of it.

Cook on one side. Do not turn. Wait till it is fully cooked and serve hot with any chutney of your choice.

Note: If you want you can also add some chopped green chillies and ginger on top of your dosa to make it spicy.

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Hot and Spicy Masala Vada

Can you believe Chicago's weather? It was in its 70's last week and now it is in 40's and 50's and raining too. With such a weather, it is really very difficult to get up early in the morning. I have to cuddle for some more time before getting up. This makes me sleepy throughout the day. Not only this, but it also makes me crave for snacks and hot tea/coffee. Nothing can match the feeling of sitting in the balcony, watching the rain and having snacks and tea.

You might have already guessed what I made by seeing the title. Yes! I made the famous, scrumptious Masala Vada to go with a hot cup of tea. The smell of Masala vada is unbeatable. In India, roadside shops makes this vada and when you pass by that street, you will be tempted and lured in buying some, even if you are a neat freak. It is that much tempting. Why buy outside when you know how to prepare it at home. Lets enjoy some delicious and hygienic Masala vadas!

Ingredients:

1 cup Channa Dal

3-4 Whole red chillies

2 Cinnamon stick

2 finely chopped green chillies

2 tsp cumin seeds

1 finely chopped onion

few finely chopped curry leaves

1/2 cup finely chopped coriander leaves

Salt to taste

Oil to deep fry

Method:

Soak the channa dal for 6 hours.

Grind the dal coarsely along with Salt,red chillies,cinnamon stick and cumin seeds.

Now mix all the other ingredients.

Take small amount of the mixture, make a ball and press it to become flat with the help of your hands.

Deep fry in oil till golden brown.

This is a very crispy vada when ate hot. You can store it in an air tight container for 5-6 hours to maintain the crispness.

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Energy Bhel - Recipe from Readers

I am Back! Thanks for all your support and concerns. I am doing great. I know this break got extended more than I thought. Mostly because I was lazy to start blogging again. I had a great vacation. Did not go anywhere, but was visited by few of my friends and relatives. I had loads of fun spending time with my loved ones.

I really wanted to start blogging 2 months back. But I was busy searching for reasons to avoid blogging. The main reason - laziness! But now I realised how much I missed blogging and reading other's recipe and my blogging family that I have decided to blog whenever I can. While I was in my break I did go through some of my favourite blogs and tried few recipes. I will be posting them soon. Once again I thank all my friends and fellow bloggers who were so kind in mailing me asking about my health and wellness.

To start with, this is a recipe sent by one of my readers Megha. I loved this recipe and is full of nutrition. Sure a great substitue for our regular bhel.

Ingredients: for 3 people

grams - 50 gms
green grams - 100 gms
soyabeans - 50 gms
beans - 50 gms
potato - 2 pcs
pomegranate - 1 pcs
tomato - 1 pcs
onion - 2 pcs
coriander leaves - 200 gms

for coriander & chilli puree

coriander - 100 gms
green chilli - 10 pcs
peanuts -1/2 cup
lemon,salt & sugar - according to the taste

for dates & tamarind puree

dates - 100 gms
tamarind - 150 gms
jaggery - according to the taste


for garlic paste

garlic - 1 pcs
jaggery - according to the taste

Method:

Soak every pulses in water for 4 hours.

After the time boil the pulses in a pressure cooker.

Cut onion & boiled potato in small pieces.

Mix all this in a bowl.

At the time of serving this bhel, garnish it with other remained boiled pulses on it.

Add coriander and it's ready for eating.

Thanks Megha for sending this recipe. It sure is very healthy.

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A Short Break

Actually I must have written this post a week back but couldn't. As I am busy with some other personal things I would not be able to post for a couple of weeks. I will be back soon. I am gonna miss you a lot! Hope you miss me too...

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Winners of EH during Pregnancy

Though it was a very short period to vote, we got 366 votes in total and the winner is PJ with 131 votes and Mahima comes second with 81 votes.

Congrats girls! I will contact you shortly regarding your prizes.

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Vote for EH during pregnancy

Here are the 11 recipes which we picked for voting. I must admit that picking these recipes were really tough. I am sure that there are many other great recipes in the list. The list is as follows...


Green Lentil with Spinach by Raji

Spinach Potato Naan/Flatbread by AnuDivya

Dates and Nuts Fudge by Mahima

Buckwheat noodles with veggies by PJ

Violet Carrot-ginger Juice by Keerthana

RAGI DOSA by hema

Cheesy Herb Challah by Navita

Raisin Stuffed Apples by Uma

Corn Seekh Kebab & Cilantro yogurt dip by Cham


Garlic Herb Chicken by Yasmeen

Lotus root dal gravyby Priya

Please vote for your favorite and make them win Cynthia's book. The second place winner gets a $10 gift card. The voting starts now and ends this Saturday (Jan 17,2009 , 12.00 PM PST). So hurry up and let your favorite recipe win. All the best to all the contestants and a million thanks to Cynthia and the participants.

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