Spinach Basil Pesto Sauce Recipe

Pesto sauce is handy when you want to make a quick meal. It is good as a spread on plain or toasted bread, you can make this as a filling for bread rolls, you can marinate chicken or fish with pesto sauce and grill them and also the famous pesto pasta, it is even good with chapathi or basmati rice too! This pesto is really tasty with a blend of spinach, basil, lemon juice, lemon zest, garlic and cheese.... The original recipe asks for pine nuts but you can substitute with almonds.... It is perfect for freezing in an ice cube tray and you can add to a pasta dish for a quick and easy meal.....

Read More »

Read more »

Nutritious Milagai Podi Recipe

Milagai podi / Idli/ Dosa podi is very common in South Indian homes... There are many recipes for this powder with minor differences.... I got the idea for this nutritious Milagai podi from my cousin’s mother in law, Sashi aunty; she told me, while making, she used to add different types of nuts, dals, beans etc for her grand kids.... So I also thought my dosa loving son may like this and made a batch of it.... But he prefers Sambar for his dosa.... But I know a lot of kids loves have dosa spreading Milagai podi on top of it… so if your kids loves Milagai podi try this nutritious one next time when you make..... just add little bit of different types of nuts. beans and dals, roast well and powder together.....  

Nutritious Milagai  Podi Recipe 

Ingredients:

Dried Red Chillies – 3 cups (45gm)

Urad Dal / Uzhunnu Parippu – 1 cup

Bengal gram dal / Kadala Parippu – 1 ½ tsp

Parboiled Rice / Ari - ¼ cup

Black Sesame seeds / Ellu – 1 tbsp

Curry Leaves – 12

Black Pepper / Kurumulaku – 2tbsp

Salt to taste

Sesame oil / Nallenna – 1 tbsp

Additional Ingredients to make it Nutritious:

Almonds / Badam -2 tbsp

Cashew nuts – 2 tbsp

Pistachios / Pista – 2 tbsp

Soybean – 2 tbsp

Thuar dal / Thuvara parippu – 2 tbsp

Method:

• Heat a wok and add oil and roast the red chillies, taking care not to burn them, in a low flame till the colour changes and its aroma comes out. Remove chillies and keep aside.
• In the same wok roast all dals and all other ingredients separately until deep brown stirring continuously.
• Cool the roasted ingredients and powder altogether in a mixie till you get a slightly coarse powder.
• Store this in an airtight container for several weeks.
• When needed, mix 2 or 3 tbsp of this powder with 1 tbsp of Coconut oil and serve with Dosa or Idli. 

Read More »

Falafel with Hummus

Falafel is very popular in the Middle East as a fast food. Falafel is a ball or patty made from ground chickpeas and/or fava beans. Falafel is usually served in a pita, which acts as a pocket, or wrapped in a flatbread. The falafel balls are topped with salads, pickled vegetables, hot sauce, and drizzled with tahini-based sauces. Falafel balls may also be eaten alone as a snack or served as part of a meze. Generally accepted to have first been made in Egypt, where the dish is widely known as Ta'amiya, falafel has become a dish eaten throughout the Middle East. Falafel is also often considered a national dish of Israel. The Egyptian Christians claim to have first made the dish as a replacement for meat during Lent. (Source: Wikipedia)

Read More »

Read more »

Pink Strawberry Dip ~ for PINKTOBER

"Every person has 1000 wishes, a cancer patient only one: to get better"

October or PINKTOBER, is the National breast Cancer Awareness Month. The NBCAM organization is a partnership of national public service organizations, professional medical associations, and government agencies working together to promote breast cancer awareness, share information on the disease, and provide greater access to screening services..... I lost my mother; the most precious women in my life due to breast cancer. She was only 44….A loss that is still difficult to accept even after 13 long years…. A sudden loss that still has the same bitter pain, a loss that completely changed my life…. This post is dedicated to those who lost the battle with cancer, to those who bravely fought and won and to those who are still fighting…. Our prayers go out to all those families that are affected by this dreaded decease…

Pink Strawberry Dip

Ingredients:
(Adapted from Nita Mehta’s Mocktails & Snacks)

Yogurt - 1 cup
Strawberries - ½ cup, chopped
Mint leaves - 2 tbsp, finely chopped
Honey- 1 tsp
Mustard paste-1 tsp
Chaat masala-1/2 tsp
Salt to taste
Lemon juice- 1 tsp


Method:

• Tie the yogurt in a muslin cloth and hang it to drain for 1 hour.
• Blend strawberries for a few seconds to make a strawberry puree.
• Beat the yogurt till smooth. Mix strawberry puree and all the other ingredients to the beaten yogurt. Keep in the refrigerator till serving.
• Served with peeled carrots and cucumber cut into sticks, celery sticks, capsicum and blanched broccoli or cauliflower florets with long stalks.
• Arrange the vegetables in a plate with the dip in the centre.
• A little milk may be added to the dip if it appears too thick.
• Sprinkle chaat masala, lemon juice and toasted sesame seeds on the vegetables.
• Enjoy!

Read More »

Poodina / Mint Chutney

This chutney goes very well with grilled Indian platters.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup Poodina Leaves (Mint Leaves) (1/2 bunch)
1 cup Hara Dhania (Coriander), chopped along with the stem
2 Green Chillies, chopped
1 Onion, Chopped
1 1/2 tsp Amchoor (Dry Mango Powder)
1 1/2 tsp Sugar
1/2 tsp Salt

Method:

• Wash coriander and mint leaves.
• Grind all ingredients with just enough water to get the right chutney consistency.

This goes to Chutney / Dip Mania at Mane Adige

Recently JZ of Tasty Treats conducted Santa's Holiday Challenge Event and I got 3rd place for my Lemon Meringue Pie. This was my first ever win in the blogsphere. My heartfelt thanks to all those who voted for me.

It is very common for us to get to see a lot of snow photos and now it’s my turn to show you what we have today in Kuwait:)

Yes it is a Sand Storm and it looks like this at 1pm local time!!! My entire flat is covered with dust. My God please help me clean up this mess :(

Read More »

Brinjal Dip/ Baba Ghannouj/ Moutabal

Ingredients:
1 large aubergine (Brinjal)
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 tablespoons tahini (Sesame paste)
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon lemon juice
3 tablespoons natural yoghurt
2 teaspoons olive oil, for garnishing
Juice of half a lemon, for garnishing





Method:

• Preheat oven to 180ºC (350ºF) for five minutes. Place whole Brinjal on a baking tray and bake for 45 minutes until outer shell is crisp and inside is soft. Set aside to cool for 20 minutes.


• Split open the brinjal by cutting in the centre, and scoop out the flesh into a medium sized bowl. Discard the skin.


• Next add the garlic, salt, lemon juice, yoghurt, tahini and mash by hand until a smooth puree is achieved, or place in a blender and pulse for 5 seconds.


• Spoon onto a serving dish. Garnish with olive oil and lemon juice. Decorate with parsley, olives or paprika. Serve chilled or at room temperature with pitta bread.

This goes to Chutney / Dip Mania at Mane Adige

Read More »

Dill Chutney

Ingredients:

1 Cup(1/2 bunch) Dill leaves, chopped along with stem
1 Cup Coriander leaves, chopped along with stem
2 green chillies
1 Onion, chopped
1" piece ginger
1 tsp amchoor ( dried mango) powder or lime juice to taste
1/2 tsp salt

Method:

Wash Dill and coriander leaves. Grind all ingredients and serve with Dosa, Kebabs, Tikkas etc

This goes to Chutney / Dip Mania at Mane Adige

Read More »