Fig Rolls

I wonder at what auspicious time I wrote my last post. Since the very next day, the winter in Frankfurt is being severe. It snows and it is unbelievably and unbearably cold. Sometimes there is no snowfall, the sun shines, yet it is unbelievably and unbearably cold. I wear several layers of clothing, the heating is on the upper high, yet it is unbelievably and unbearably cold.

Tja, with such low temperatures ranging around -6 C to -14 C even during the days, what can one expect? I have heard, the lakes in Frankfurt parks have frozen and people are playing, skating, etc on the frozen lake. I'm yet to see that during the weekend. I hope the river (River Main, a tributary of Rhine flows through Frankfurt) doesn't freeze. My colleagues optimistically add, "It is not that bad yet, you know!!". However, I see huge ice blocks floating on the river and I'm just scared. :(

These are the times, I hate going out or doing anything at all. I just want to cuddle up in the bed and sleep all the time. It takes me extra will power to get out of the bed, get ready and go to work. The thing I hate the most is the 5 minutes I wait for the bus, shivering in the cold, wiping my nose every now and then. Whatever it is, once I get to office, sitting at my place with a cup of warm tea and enjoying the snow fall outside the window does not fail to amuse me. :)

Fine, enough of my blabbering and over to the post. This is another entry to the most awaited Blog Hop Wednesdays. This time, I got to visit Vaishali's Ribbons to Pastas, an excellent blog with a variety of finger licking goodies to try out. I very much wanted to try a dish from her Sindhi cuisine, which is something very new to me. But, due to time constraints, I rather picked up a simple dish. This is an easy to prepare sweet/snack, yet very very nutritious. I hope you would remember my Dry Fruits Burfi, that I prepared a few days back. There were some dried figs left over and with these Fig Rolls, I found the perfect use for them.

I followed the original recipe almost exactly, however I would provide it here. For step by step instructions, please refer the original recipe.

Preparation Time: 15 mins
Makes: around 15 pieces

Ingredients:
Dried Figs: 200g
Dates: 5, chopped
Mixed nuts: 1 cup (pistachios, chopped almonds, hazelnuts, cashews, etc)
Ghee or Butter: 1 Tbsp

Method:
Cook the figs with very little water in a microwave for about 4 minutes. Blend the figs in a blender. Heat ghee in a heavy bottom pan. Add the blended figs to the pan and roast for a few minutes. Take off the flame and let it cool. Now add the chopped nuts and dates to the fig and mix well.

Roll the mixture into logs and cover it with a fresh foil. Refrigerate for a few hours or overnight. Just before serving, take the logs out. Cut them into pieces and serve as a snack.

Verdict:
The fig rolls were very tasty and packed with nutrients. We both really loved them and I would be making them again when I buy figs next time. The choice of nuts is entirely yours and you can make them with those available at hand. I have garnished them with powdered hazel nuts. Another variation would be to roll them as small balls instead of logs. And then again, roll them over coconut rasps. Oh! I just love this idea!! Thanks to Vaishali for the lovely recipe.

Sending this to Blog Hop Wednesdays - Week 14, hosted by Radhika of Tickling Palates and to Anyone Can Cook Series 41 of Taste of Pearl City.

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Mini-Brötchen with Olive Chutney

Winter this year in frankfurt is relatively mild. And, different. Different in the sense that, it is not snowy and white, as i have witnessed the last three years. It is just cold, gloomy, rainy and windy. Last winter, Frankfurt saw record level snow fall. In December 2010, it snowed in Frankfurt like never in the last year 40 years. It caused complete chaos in the highways, trains ran with unbelievable delays and even the international airport saw a complete still stand. This time, we hardly spot snow fall. I just wonder what's happening. Anyways, there is still more than a month to go, before we could say Winter is over. Let's see!!

Ok. Let's move on to the topic. What I'm going to share this time is a speciality in one of our favorite eat-outs. Pizza Pasta Factory is a chain of restaurants and they specialize in Italian dishes, like the name says. After we order our favorite pasta, we get this lovely combination of Brötchen and Olive Chutney as our starters. I like it so much that I wanted to make it at home for a long time. Last weekend the idea materialized. Believe me it is damn easy and tastes awesome.

Basically, Brot means bread and Brötchen means bun in German. German breads and buns are quite different from those in other places, especially in North America. The Germans like their buns to be a little hard with crisp crusts. During my initial days here, I used to wonder why are breads and buns so very hard here and it is a pain to just chew them. I was used to only the soft "Modern Bread", "Milka Bread" and the milk buns and coconut buns, back in India. Here, white breads are not common, if not rare. Crisp crusts are seen as a sign of good quality bread/buns. I got slowly used to these and I'm just loving them now.

These little buns or Mini-Brötchen are such crusty buns made out of the basic pizza dough. Well, we just have to prepare pizza dough and roll some of it into small berry sized balls and bake it. The rest of the dough can, of course, be reserved for our favorite pizza. I'm providing the recipe anyways, just in case, you haven't prepared pizza dough on your own.

Mini Brötchen:

Recipe Source: Adapted from Jamie Oliver's Pizza Dough
Preparation Time: 15 mins
Setting Time: 1 hr
Baking Time: 30 mins
Makes: around 30 pieces

Ingredients:
All purpose flour - 400g
Dried Yeast - 1 packet
Brown Sugar - 1 Tbsp
Extra Virgin Olive oil - 2 Tbsp
Sea salt - 1 tsp
Lukewarm water - 300 ml

Method:
Sift the flour and salt together in a large bowl. Add yeast, brown sugar and olive oil to the luke warm water and leave for about 5 minutes. When the water becomes frothy, start adding it little by little to the flour and mix well. Knead well with floured hands for about 5-10 mins until the dough becomes soft and springy.

Place the dough in an oiled bowl. Cover with a wet clean cloth. Set this in a warm place for about 1 hour or until the dough has doubled in size.

Preheat the oven to about 180C. Now, take the dough in a well-floured clean surface. Punch the air back and knead a little. Start taking berry sized balls out of the dough. Roll them a little and arrange the cute balls in regular intervals on a baking sheet placed on a baking tray. Bake them for about 25-30 mins or until the upper crust turns golden brown.

Olive Chutney:

This one is absolutely easy to prepare and tastes awesome with any type of bread.

Preparation time: 5 minutes
Makes: 1 1/2 cup chutney

Ingredients:
Olives - 300 g, pitted
Red Chili - 1, like the one shown in picture, chopped
Garlic - 3 small pods, chopped
Juice of 1 lemon
Olive oil - as needed

Method:

Blend everything except oil in a blender until coarse. Store in refrigerator until serving time. Just before serving, drizzle enough olive oil as needed for the consistency you like. This goes well with any bread.

We loved the combo very much. This is so simple, yet it would be a show stealer when inviting guests or in a party. Hope you enjoy them as well as we did.

Sending this as an entry to Zesty Palette's New U and Girlichef's Bake Your Own Bread. Also sending to Taste of Pearl City's Anyone can Cook: Series 40 and to Now Serving's Dip In - Chutney Chow Down.

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Mirchi Ka Salan

A new start into the new year. New hopes. New responsibilities. New wishes. New resolutions. Wishing everybody a wonderful year ahead. So, I'm back with a new post into the year. The times are tough again with a packed schedule at work and no internet at home. Yes, absence of internet has become a real handicap. Since more than two weeks there is no internet and phone connection at home and we have realized the hard way how dependent we have become on this. It is really difficult, at least not impossible, to get things done without being connected on the net.

Fine, at last we got ourselves a surf stick, instead of waiting for the new contract to reach us. So, this explains my delay in posting for the Blog Hop event this time. Nevertheless, I do not want to miss the fun and here is my entry from Veena's blog Veena's Veg Junction. Veena has a lovely collection of vegetarian recipes and the moment I saw this curry, I was excited to try it.


Capsicum or Bell Pepper is a good vegetable which has always taken a back seat in our hearth. My husband is not a big fan of capsicum and even I ignored it. Recently I saw in the television about the nutritional benefits of capsicum. It is rich in Vitamin C and antioxidants. Mirchi ka Salan was "the apt curry" to put the bell peppers to good use, at the same time, suitable to Indian taste buds.

The original recipe can be found here. I almost followed her recipe, but for a few changes. I did not have sesame at hand. But, instead I added some pepper corns which added to the pep of the curry. Here is my version of the preparation.

Preparation time: 40 mins
Serves: 4

Ingredients:
Coloured bell peppers - 1 red, 1 green and 1 yellow
Ground nuts - 3 Tbs
Pepper corns - 1 Tbs
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Onion - 1
Tomato puree - 1/2 cup
Coconut - 5 Tbs, grated
Ginger - 1 inch piece
Garlic - 2 cloves
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Fenugreek seeds - 1/2 tsp
Nigella seeds - 1/2 tsp
Red chilli powder - 1 tsp
Coriander powder - 2 tsp
Turmeric - a pinch
Tamarind - marble sized
Salt - to taste
Oil - as required

Method:
Heat a little oil in a pan and roast the ground nuts, pepper corns and cumin seeds for about 5 minutes. Cool and grind the mixture and keep aside.

Slice the bell peppers into thin strips. In the same pan, add a little oil and shallow fry them for about 5 minutes. Keep aside.

Slice the onions. In a blender/mixer, take the onions, grated coconut, ginger and garlic and blend well.  Soak the tamarind in hot water and set aside.

Now, for the cooking, heat a little oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds and when they crackle, add the fenugreek and nigella seeds. Now add the blended onion paste along with tomato puree. Fry till the raw smell fades off. Now, add the dry ground nut mixture and cook for a few minutes.

Add on the dry spices and salt. Let this cook well with required amount of water. Now, comes in the tamarind juice and fried bell peppers. Let the gravy cook for a few more minutes and turn off the heat when done.

Verdict:
The curry goes well with rotis and chapatis. We had it with hot steaming rice. You know what? My husband who first twisted his face on hearing that I'm gonna try this curry, actually wiped off the plate. He said, the curry tasted really very well. The combination of coconut, ground nuts and peppers were absolutely wonderful. Since I didn't have sesame seeds as mentioned in the original recipe, I used sesame oil for cooking instead. It gave a nice aroma to the dish. The spicy and tangy curry was a delight. I'm definitely gonna prepare this more often in the future. Thanks to Veena :)

Sending this post to Blog Hop Wednesdays Version 2.0 - Week 13, an event hosted by Radhika of Tickling Palates.

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Dry Fruits Burfi

It is almost a month since my last post. A big sorry to all my dear readers!! I was so caught up with my work. I wonder how critical situations come up exclusively at the year end. However, I'm happy that I could fix them all to the satisfaction of the customers and I'm eagerly waiting for the new year now. This kept me completely away from the Blogosphere. I neither looked up my own space nor visited other blogs too. Hopefully, the new year permits me more time for my hobby :)

Another Blog Hop series today, an exciting event hosted by Radhika of Tickling Palates. This time I got the opportunity to visit Nirmala's Kitchen. She hosts a variety of authentic Indian recipes in her blog and as usual, had a little confusion what to try. Recently, during one of my conversations with my German colleague, I was telling him that sweets make an integral part of any festival or special occasion in India. He said, "Oh! Do you make sweets too? I thought, Indian cuisine is mostly with spices and curries". Then, I explained him the importance of sweets in India and also gave him a brief intro to some renowned sweets like Gulab Jamun, Rabri, Jilebi, etc.

After all these, I got a craving for our Indian sweets. If I say, I have a sweet tooth, it would be an understatement. I think, all I have are sweet teeth :) And, look at this, Nirmala has a variety of sweet dishes to offer. And I selected this Dry Fruits Burfi. It was a little different and packed with healthy dry fruits and hence gave a try. The original recipe can be found here. I made some small changes and hence giving you my version too.

Preparation Time: 40 mins
Makes: 20 - 24 squares

Ingredients:
Mawa - 1 cup
Powdered Almond - 1/2 cup
Powdered Cashews - 1/2 cup
Dried figs - 1/4 cup, finely chopped
Dates - 1/4 cup, finely chopped
Pistachios - 1 Tbsp, finely chopped
Sugar - 1 1/2 cups (or less)
Water -1cup
Cardamom powder - a pinch
Ghee - 2 tsps

Method:
In a heavy bottomed large pan, heat a teaspoon of ghee. Roast the chopped figs, dates and pistachios lightly. Then, add the powdered almond, cashews and mawa. Mix well and roast gently. When it gets a little brown and emanates fine aroma, remove from heat and save aside.

In the same pan, heat water and sugar to prepare the sugar syrup. When the syrup attains one string consistency, add the cardamom and the mawa mixture. Mix well and cook in medium heat till it leaves the sides of the pan and gets into one big ball.

Grease a square tin with the rest of the ghee and pour the hot mass into it. Spread and let it cool for some time. Cut into squares and serve.

Verdict:
We found the Burfi extraordinarily tasty and different from the usual Besan ones. It is packed with healthy ingredients and rich with dried fruits. I'm sure, they would definitely delight kids and adults alike. However,  I used less sugar than mentioned in the original recipe and yet it was a little too sweet. May be the added dates brought in those extra sweetness. So, if you want it just delectable, it is advisable to reduce the amount of sugar to be used.

I would definitely be making these Burfis again. May be try it with jaggery too. Thanks Nirmala for this sweet power packed snacks. Sending this as an entry to Blog Hop Week 12.

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Banana Fritters

Everyone and everything here awaits Christmas now. It gets dark around 5pm and wherever you turn, you see cute little lights and candles, adorning huge and small christmas trees. The shops, malls, houses, railway stations and even my office has got the new Christmas look now. In Germany, Advent is celebrated as a tradition awaiting Christmas. It marks the four weeks before Christmas. Every week, one of the four candles in the advent wreath is lighted until Christmas. You can find more info in http://www.german-way.com/christmasAdv.html. It is really fascinating to know such things about the traditions and cultures in the lives of people in different countries.

Now, coming to the post, this is yet another entry for the Blog Hop Wednesdays, an event by Radhika of Tickling Palates. This time, I got the chance to visit Jabeen's Corner. I have been following her space for quite some time now and I really find her space interesting. The way she narrates things sometimes makes me feel as if I'm hearing her in person and the liveliness in her tone is contagious. I'm glad I got a chance to try something from her blog. As always, we (I and my husband) were browsing through her posts and when we saw Banana Fritters, we at once knew - that's it.

Banana Fritters, known as 'Pazham Pori' regionally, is a famous tea-time snack in Keralite households. As I'm writing the post, it brings me some of the unforgettable memories in my life. I very well remember where I first tasted these gorgeous snack. During our final year Engineering studies, we, a group of four friends were staying at one of our Keralite friend's house in Trivandrum, for doing our Project Work. Her mother is a wonderful cook. Inspite of her full time job, she passionately cooked varieties of tasty dishes for us all. Every evening, after we return tired from our day's work, we would find something special and tasty awaiting us in the dining table, along with tea. We used to savour these as hungry birds, chit-chatting and drinking tea. One such evening was when I got to taste these. It was wonderful that even banana can be fried and it tasted really awesome.

After that, it was in my in-laws place where I tasted them again. My husband's native is a town located quite close to the Kerala border in Tamilnadu and strongly influenced by Kerala cuisine. Every often, my mother-in-law would prepare these simple delicacies. It would all vanish within a few minutes, as everyone in family likes them. I, myself, have never prepared these and it's quite been some time sinced we ate them last. Well, now you could imagine my husband's enthu on seeing this in Jabeen's Corner.

I went ahead straight away and prepared these last Sunday. The recipe is so so simple, that there is really no need to repeat it. You can find it here. Just prepare the batter, dip the banana pieces and fry. You'll be surprised at the number of pieces easily going into your mouths within minutes.

Notes:

• The banana should be really ripe enough for a good taste. Long yellow coloured variety (Yethampazham) is well suited.
• I did not use turmeric, as like my mother-in-law's recipe.
• The amount of sugar can be adjusted according to the sweetness of the banana. It can very well be replaced with honey or maple syrup.

Thanks again Jabeen for the recipe. Happily sharing this with Tickling Palates' Blog Hop Wednesday - Week 10.

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Meen Kuzhambu

Hurrayy!! I have spotted the first snow of the year. The sight of fresh snow is always a delight to me. A thin layer of soft white powder is seen over roof tops of houses, on car glasses,  on the pavement, on every single blade of grass and on every single grain of sand. When I tread over the snow covered pathway, I can feel the softness even under the thick boots. I wonder how it would feel if I touch it with my barefoot. Even the thought brings a chill to me. Ooohhh! Shivers!!

Most of us would love to watch the rain through a windowpane. It brings an unexplainable pleasure on watching the rain drops dance and drizzle. Where the beauty of rain is in the rustle, the beauty of snowfall is in its elegant hush. Sitting on the couch, cuddling on a soft pillow, a cup of tea in the hand, seeing the gentle snow silver everything outside the window - believe me,  it is a very serene moment. If you have got  snow where you live,  go get yourself a break and don't miss to enjoy what nature offers you.

This weather brings a never ending craving for warm and spicy foods. Last weekend, my husband brought home some fresh fish. My only thought went to the spicy tangy tasty fish curry my mom prepares. Ever since the day I was old enough to appreciate the tastes of food, I am in love with my Amma's Meen Kuzhambu (Fish Curry). I have tasted other lovely preparations of fish too, but this one always tops my favorites list.

Though I could not attain the 100% perfect taste (Amma's Kai manam), I think my preparation was almost as tasty. I'm giving the recipe here and feel free to try and adjust to your tastes.

Serves: 3-4
Preparation Time: 30 mins

Ingredients:
Fish - 1/2 kg
Onions - 2 big, chopped
Tomatoes - 2, diced
Green chillies - 2, slit lengthwise
Fresh Coconut - 1/2, grated or diced into small pieces
Red Chilli powder - 2 tsp
Coriander powder - 1 tsp
Turmeric - 1/2 tsp
Lemon juice - from 1/2 lemon
Tamarind - marble sized
Salt - to taste

Cooking Oil - 2 Tbsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Urad Dal - 1/2 tsp
Fenugreek seeds - 1 tsp
Curry leaves - from 2 twigs

Method:
Clean the fish and cut into pieces. Take 1 tsp of chilli powder, a pinch of turmeric, enough salt and the lemon juice in a bowl. Mix and rub the mixture over the fish pieces gently and keep aside.

Soak the tamarind in warm water in a small bowl. Keep aside.

Blend the grated coconut in an electric blender with little amount of water. Extract the juice out of it. Save this as the first milk. Blend the same coconut again with some more water. Extract the juice out of it and save this as the second milk.

Heat oil (I used gingelly oil) in a wide shallow vessel. Add mustard seeds and urad dal. When the mustards crack, add the fenugreek seeds and curry leaves. Now, add the chopped onions and green chillies and sauté well. When the onions have become soft and translucent, add the diced tomatoes. When the tomatoes are well cooked, lightly mash them and add 1 tsp of chilli powder, coriander powder and enough salt. Cook the spices for a few minutes without burning them.

Now add the fish pieces and one cup of first coconut milk. Close the vessel with a lid and cook in medium heat. Meanwhile, extract the juice out the soaked tamarind. After about 10 mins of cooking, add the tamarind juice and one cup of second coconut milk. Reduce the heat to medium low and cook for a few more minutes.

When little droplets of oil separates out of the curry, it means completely cooked and switch off the heat. Enjoy with fresh steamed rice.

Notes:

• Depending upon the size of the coconut, you would get 2-3 cups of milk. I got 1 cup of first milk and two cups of second milk, out of which I used one cup only. 
• My mother blends the coconut in a stone grinder until it get so soft that she adds the coconut directly to the curry instead of extracting the milk. 
• Always use a wide shallow vessel for fish curries. Do not mix the curry often with a ladle while cooking, as it might break the fish pieces easily.
• Depending upon the type of fish used, the cooking time might vary. So, keep a careful eye while cooking. I used Red fish / Ocean Perch. You can use any solid fish suitable for curries.
• The curry tastes better when cooked in an earthen vessel. It tastes even better when served on the next day.

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Chicken Sukka

Before I could realise, my Blog has turned one. For the past one year, blogging has been more than just a hobby for me. I haven't written a hundred post. However every single post is dear to me and I'm just glad that I'm writing them. It gives me immense pleasure on seeing the growth of my blog with a good number of committed readers. However, I must confess that I'm not writing regularly due to time constraints :( Many ideas still remain just ideas. I hope, the new year would bring a good swing in my blog. Lets hope for the best.

This is yet another post for Blog Hop Wednesdays. This time I got to visit Charishma's blog - Cheri's Stolen Recipes. It is a blog she writes together with her mom. So I expected some traditional recipes and I got more than I wanted. Being a Mangalorean, she has posted a lot of traditional Mangalorean recipes. Every dish was awesome and I was literally drooling at the pictures. My husband and I were sitting selecting the recipes and we really had a tough time choosing one, since we had opened five to six tabs just of her Mangalorean recipes. Finally it was agreed that I make Chicken Sukka this time and the rest later one by one. Believe me, I'm not exaggerating!! Thanks Cherie for such awesome dishes :)

The original recipe be found here. I made very little changes and here is what I used. You are free to change the measurements to suit your taste buds.

Preparation Time: 1 hour
Serves: 3 to 4

Ingredients:
Chicken - 1 kg

Cloves - 4
Cinnamon - 2 small sticks
Onion - 1 thinly sliced, 1 finely chopped
Turmeric - a pinch

Cumin seeds - 2 tsp, roasted
Fenugreek seeds - 1 tsp, roasted
Coriander seeds - 2 Tbsp, roasted
Pepper corns - 20, roasted
Red chillies - 5, roasted
Garlic pods - 4 (with skin)

Coconut - 1 cup, grated
Cumin seeds - 1
Garlic - 2 pods

Salt - to taste
Oil - to saute

For seasoning:
Shallots - 4 big, finely chopped
Ghee - 2 Tbsp
Cashews - a few

Method:
Cut the chicken into grob pieces. Wash and clean with salt and turmeric and keep aside.

In a wok on medium flame, heat some oil. Add the cloves, cinnamon, thinly sliced onions and turmeric and saute till the onions turn soft. Now, add the coriander seeds, cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds, pepper corns, garlic pods and the red chillies one by one and saute for about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let it cool down. After it is cooled, blend this spice mixture to a coarse paste with little water.

Dry roast the coconut with cumin seeds and 2 garlic pods. Preserve this aside.

Heat a wide bottomed pan and add cleaned chicken to it. Now add three fourths of the spice mixture, salt and 1 chopped onion to it, mix and cook with the lid closed for about 10 minutes.

Blend the rest of the spice mixture with the coconut mixture, again to a coarse paste, with enough water. Now, add this to the chicken, close the lid again and cook again until the chicken is well cooked and soft.

For seasoning, heat the ghee and saute the finely chopped shallots and cashews till light brown. Add to the curry and switch off the flame. Chicken Sukka is now ready to be enjoyed.

Verdict:
Just Fingerlicking good!! The relatively clean plates after the meal stand testimony to the taste of the curry. At first, I was quite surprised by the number of red chillies Cherie has used in the recipe, but however later realised that she has used the mild spiced ones. I was still apprehensive, yet I found that the coconut added reduces the heat of the chillies and increases the taste of the curry multifold.

I have observed that in many of the dishes, she has not used any pre-prepared curry powders. Instead, she roasts and blends the spices freshly before using in the curry. Of course it might be time consuming. But, believe me, it is really worth the effort. I could really feel the freshness of the spices in the curry. The taste reminded me of the curries my mother prepares. My mom blends spices every time for most of the curries in a traditional stone grinder (Ammi in Tamil) even to this day.

Note:

• I did not have the mild spicy Kashmir red chillies. So, I was a little conservative with the use of the red chillies.
• A combination of boned and breast pieces of the chicken would be fine for the dish.
• I blended the spices in an electric blender. I recommend blending in a stone grinder for better results.

Garnish the dish with fresh coriander leaves and serve hot with roti or steamed rice.Sending this as an entry to Blog Hop Wednesday-Week 9 event by Radhika of Tickling Palates.

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Kadhi Palak

Goldene Oktober (Golden October). I have fallen in love with this phrase which perfectly describes the Fall in Germany. The temperature drops. It is chill everywhere, yet not sharp as a knife. Poets associate the season with the mood of meloncholy. However, to me, the season brings an elegant serenity with it.

I make a stroll in the morning through the parks and fields, to take a whiff of fresh air. The leaves on the trees gradually turn into different shades of green, yellow, orange, red and brown - pale and bright. Some could no longer hold on to the trees and with a heavy heart fall off to the ground, just to  make a soft bed over the wet grass below. There is still a mild fog. I hug on to the warmth of the pullover and I can see my own breath. Piles of pumpkins and dozens of apples are stacked over for sale by the farmers along the fields. The sun shines lazily through the branches of the trees, pouring its golden rays through the branches and coloured leaves, elevating their beauty to a splendid grandeur. Is this not a golden October?

Well, this is something I wanted to share with you before October ends, but I couldn't make it. Now that it is November, winter is on the doorsteps and trees are becoming more naked with every passing day. I got to prepare myself to face the winter.

In the recent past, I have seen many blog posts with lots of sweets and savouries marking the festive season in India. I hope everyone had a memorable and safe Diwali. Now, coming to the purpose of the post, it is yet another entry to the exciting fortnightly event - Blog Hop Wednesdays, organised by Radhika of Tickling Palates. As per the rule of the game, I got the opportunity to visit Anamika of Taste Junction. Oh, I really wonder why I have missed her blog so long. Not just the food and the photography is amazing, but also her write ups give me an interesting read. I'm especially fond of her musings in the Scribbles page. Her blog reflects in a way the wonderful personality she is. Thanks again to Radhika for giving this chance to know such lovely blogs and bloggers.

Choosing a single dish was again a challenge. Baking was a big no and so I searched in Cooking. She has many dishes up her sleeves which are new to me. Finally, I settled down to Kadhi Palak, which was also the lunch menu on last Sunday.

The original recipe can be found here. I followed it almost exactly except the following small changes.

• I added two large chopped shallots while sauteing.
• I added few sprigs of flat-leaf parsley at the end. 
• I forgot to add the Kasuri methi.

I had never prepared any Kadhi before, so this was my first attempt. I was afraid if the yogurt might curdle or if the besan would get more thick than necessary. Nothing of the kind happened. It tasted so delicious and creamy, that I would definitely be making it again and often. My husband too liked it a lot. The spinach and parsley are green leafy vegetables, which are a good source of antioxidants, iron and vital vitamins. This does not take much time and effort to prepare, yet makes a satisfying and healthy meal.

Sending this as an entry to Blog Hop Wednesday-Week 8 event by Radhika of Tickling Palates, Only Curries event by Pari of Foodelicious, guest hosted by Janaki's Kitchen and to Fast Food NOT Fat Food by Priya of Now Serving.

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Mango Kalakhand

In India, this is the time when an array of holidays line up the calendar marking the festival season. Celebrations are aplenty and festivals in India are always marked with good food and lots of sweets. I thought, it would be an apt time to share a simple sweet recipe.

I first learnt making Kalakhand from Taste of Pearl City. She showed me her recipe and motivated me to try it. My very first try was a hit. Since then, I've made them quite often, experimenting every time with different flavors. When I made this Mango Kalakhand, I was too excited at the bright orange color, that I thought, this really deserves being photographed. Now that I have these photos uploaded, I thought I could share the recipe too.

Serves: makes about 12 pieces
Preparation time: 18 mins

Ingredients:
Ricotta cheese - 1 cup
Sweetened Condensed Milk - 1 cup
Mango puree - 1/2 cup
Saffron- a few strands soaked in warm milk
Cardamom powder - a tiny pinch
Ghee or butter to grease the bowl

Method:

Take a medium sized microwave safe bowl. Grease with a little ghee. Add all the ingredients in the bowl and mix them well. Microwave it in high for 5 minutes. Take the bowl out, give a stir and microwave again for 5 minutes. Repeat taking the bowl out and stirring and microwave again, but now in 2 mins intervals. Continue until the mixture is no more a liquid and has attained a steady consistency. Take care not to burn.
Now, take the bowl out and spread the mixture in a square tray and let it cool. Cut and enjoy!!

Note:

• It took in my microwave a total of 18 mins until done. That is, after the first two cycles of 5 mins microwaving, I did three times 2 mins microwaving and two times 1 min microwaving. Just make your best judgement according to your microwave.
• You can use mango puree from fresh mango pulp. Canned puree (Alfonso) works good as well.

This is sure to delight mango and sweet lovers alike. You can experiment with other flavors too. Chocolate flavor is our favorite too, where you might add a little of cocoa instead of mango puree.

This goes as an entry to Tickling Palates' Diwali Special - Sweets and Savories and Anu's Healthy Kitchen's Diwali - Festival of Lights and Kirthi's Kitchen's Serve It - Festival Potluck, co-hosted by Denny of Oh Taste and See.

Wish you all a Happy Diwali!!!

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Aloo ke Kofte with Peas Pulao

I wouldn't like to bore you all with the same story again. That I have been busy all these days. Work along with travel :( which has called for an uninformed break from Blogging altogether for a few days. It wouldn't get any better this week or the week after. I'm occasionally opening my dashboard and indeed checking a few fabulous posts from fellow bloggers every now and then. Though I get impressed, I'm unable to leave my comments then and there. I hope they wouldn't be cross at me.

Well, I missed the last round of Blog Hop Wednesdays and this is a sincere attempt to cope up with that. Last Sunday this was our lunch. You got it right. I tried the Aloo ke Kofte from Nisha's Kitchen and Green Peas Masala Rice from Prabha's Samayal. Both are very talented bloggers and indeed I had a really tough time to pick up one recipe from either of their blogs. There were a lot which I wanted to try. But, my idea was to make a lunch and the dishes have to go well with each other. The final outcome was really great and I'm glad about my choices.

Aloo ke Kofte:

The original recipe can be found here.

I followed the recipe almost exactly, except a few changes in the measurements to suit our taste. It was enough to serve two hungry persons.

Peas Pulao:

The original recipe can be found here. Here, I made a few changes and hence providing the recipe as I did.

Preparation Time: 25 - 30 mins
Serves: 3 to 4 persons

Ingredients:
Basmati rice - 2 1/2 cups
Frozen Green Peas - 1/2 cup
Mustard/Jeera - 1/2 teaspoon each
Onion - 1, chopped into thin long stripes
Tomato - 1 chopped
Turmeric powder - a pinch
Green chillies - 2, slit lengthwise
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp
Fennel seeds -1/2 tsp
Water - 4 cups

Whole garam masala - a few cardomom pods, cinnamon, cloves
Pandan leaves (Rambai ilai) - a few chopped (optional)
Coriander leaves - few stalks, chopped
Ghee - 1 Tbsp
Oil - 1 Tbsp

Method:

In a rice cooker, heat some oil and/or ghee and add the whole garam masala one by one. In goes now the mustard seeds, jeera, fennel seeds and chopped pandan leaves. Add the chopped onions and green chillies. Sauté them till the onions get translucent. Now add the ginger garlic paste and turmeric and saute till the raw smell goes.

Add in the peas, tomatoes, chopped coriander leaves and required salt. Sprinkle very little water, cover with the lid and let them cook for 5 minutes.

In the meanwhile, wash the rice and keep it ready. Now, add the rice to the cooker along with required amount of water, give a stir and let it cook.

After the rice is ready, fluff with a fork and garnish with coriander leaves before serving.

Note:

• I prepared the pulao in a rice cooker completely. Alternatively, you can prepare the peas masala separately in a non-stick pan or wok, cook the rice separately and mix both.
• The addition of ghee and pandan leaves gave the pulao a very distinct irresistible aroma. Yet, they are purely optional.
• I ommitted the addition of coconut and blending as mentioned in the original recipe. If you wish some extra flavour, go ahead with coconut. Alternatively, you can replace one cup of water with coconut milk instead of blending.

Verdict:

I added some koftes into the gravy and some were saved to snack upon later. The Kofte and the pulao made an incredibly good combination. It was a hearty and comforting meal that we both enjoyed. The fine aromatic mild spiced pulao along with the spicy gravy was a melt in the mouth. My husband asked me, "Why don't you prepare such a meal everyday for me?". Ha ha haa. If I have the time, I would surely love to cook everyday such meals for him :) This alone shows how well we enjoyed this.

Thanks again Radhika for arranging such a lovely event and making us try new food everytime. Sending this to Tickling Palates' Blog Hop Wednesdays Week 7.

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