Divine food and art

Badhusha

2011-05-24T21:30:00.000-07:00

Your source is your mother for many recipes. Apart from the daily meals, those special occasion treats like, Adhirasam, Mysore pak, Murukku, etc. especially remind you of mother, home and everything around that. I don't remember my mom making much Badhusha. But I know the few times she made them, they were pretty good. But you know how moms are, eye balling everything. For a tricky item like Badhusha, I needed exact measurements. I ended up at this site, which had all the ingredients my mom was referring to, only better with the exact measure. She even had video on how to make the ends. Nice of her. I tried it, exactly the way it was explained and ended with awesome badhusha that suprised me. I didn't expect them to be this good, this being the first time making them. So the entire credit goes to Rak's Kitchen.

The final shape may not be as impressive as Rak's Kitchen, but hey.. this is good for my first try .....

Murukku

2011-04-28T18:28:00.000-07:00

I has been long since I made any snacks at home. Somehow deep frying leaves a guilty feeling. But this week I had some time to spare and few excuses to make some snacks. How hard is it to find excuses, right? Its summer and we have started excising outside, my old friend complimented that I lost some weight, I am stressed I need to relax, we should celebrate the end of a long tiring week. Well, how many more you want :-) I made murukku, sev and ribbon pakora. So here is it is:

Indian coffee, with home made snacks..

Here is the recipe for murukku. I used to make the ribbon pakoda with the same murukku mix until I saw the ones with beautiful color at Saffron hut. It came out very well too.

Ingredients:

1. 1 cup rice flour

2. 1 tsp urad dal

3. 1/2 tbsp butter - at room temperature

4. 1 tsp dalia flour

5. 1/2 tsp cumin seeds

6. 1/2 tsp sesame sees

7. 1/2 tsp chilli powder (or more)

8. Salt to taste

9. Oil for frying

Method:

Roast urad dal and grind it into fine powder with dalia and sift it. Mix all ingredients together adding water little by little. You know the rest - choose your attachment (size and shape of your murukku) and using murukku maker press your murukku directly into hot oil. I use a deep fryer for fying. On stove top make sure you maintain the temperature. Also the temperature and frying time differs based on how thick or thin the murukku is. I made the thin ones this time (thicker than sev so that the cumin and sesame seeds can come through). These are my tools of trade.

I also made these thick ones last Diwali. Same recipe, just a different attachment. I squeeze my murukku patterns on the frying spatula itself. Then slowing dip the spatula and wait for the murukku to leave the spatula. It you find it sticking to the spatula, use another spatula to separate it. This is much easier than squeezing than the plastic paper and transferring it to oil carefully without the hot oil splashing on you. In fact I go on a assembly line mode with two spatulas, while one is frying the other will be ready to go ;-)

Adai

2011-04-23T16:19:00.000-07:00

I recently stumbled upon Saffron Hut's - 16 Bean Adai. In my constant quest for cooking healthy food, I found this really interesting. While I was disappointed when I couldn't find it in my recent trip to the grocery store, I was still determined to make Adai. Surprisingly, or not so surprisingly, this was not one of my favorites growing up. So I never made it myself. So I searched a few blogs for the measurements of the dals for this recipe, before asking my mom. All the ones I browsed had rice in a good proportion while the one that my mom gave had very less rice. So my mom wins, again... Here is how I made it.

Ingredients:

1 cup channa dal
1/2 cup moong dal
1/4 cup toor dal
1/4 cup urad dal
Half of 1/4th cup rice
4-5 red chillies
1/4 tsp hing
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 inch piece of ginger - grated
Salt

Method:

So all the dals, rice and red chillies together for about 2-4 hours. Then grind it along with water, hing and salt. You shouldn't grind this into smoothly, it should be coarse. Then add the cumin seeds and grated ginger. My mom said since it is all dals and may be a little hard on some tummies, the cumin and ginger should help. The batter is ready for dosa. Unlike regular dosa, you soak for less time and no time needed for fermenting. So I guess this is the one if you more time than rava dosa and less time than regular dosa, more importantly if you are looking for something healthy and wholesome.

Adai with onion chutney applied inside and allam (ginger) pachadi on the side.

I will still make the 16 bean adai once I find the beans.. soon.

Weekend lunch

2011-02-12T20:04:00.000-08:00

Is it because it was a long and strenuous week, or is it because I am ready to have good weekend? Whatever it is, nothing relaxes me more than cooking food that people enjoy. This time it is just for my husband and I went out all the way to make his favorites, in a restaurant style combo. Took me about an hour to make this and everything tasted pretty decent. Here you have it, south Indian lunch combo...

Menu:

1. Pongal
2. Okra majjiga pulusu
3. Lemon rice
4. Poori
5. Aloo curry
6. Papad

Bisibele bath

2011-02-04T19:51:00.000-08:00

This is my husband's favorite dish. I believe my father-in-law used to make this during weekends as they were growing up and he says until today no one could make it like him. There are always some dishes that we can never make as well as our mother or father in this case, or grandparents. Brings nostalgia, isn't it. Well after trying many recipes, I finally asked my sister-in-law and she said this ones is close, but not quiet like their father.
For me, this is a very healthy dish. It has dal and vegetables, all in one. The other best thing is that I just have to make this one dish, fry some papads and be all done, it can't get any easier than this during the weekends :-)

Ingredients:

1. 1 cup of chopped potato (about 2)
2. 1 cup of chopped beans (about a bunch)
3. 1 cup of chopped carrots (about 2-3)
4. 1/2 cup of chopped bell peppers (1 or 1/2 bell pepper, any color)
5. 1 cup of chopped tomatoes (about 2)
6. 1 cup rice
7. 3/4 cup toor dal
8. 1/4 cup peanuts
9. 1 tspTurmeric
10. Small lemon size tamarind
11. 1 -2 tsp of red chilli powder

For poopu/tadka:

1. 1 tsp mustard seeds
2. 1 tsp cumin seeds
3. Hing/Asafoetida
4. Curry leaves
5. 3 tbsp of oil

For the masala paste:

1. 1 tsp urad dal
2. 2 tbsp channa dal
3. 3 tsp coriander seeds/dania
4. 1 tsp cumin
5. 2 cloves
6. 2-3 cardamon
7. 2 inch cinnamon pieces
8. 3-4 red chillies
9. 3-4 methi seeds
10. 1/4 dry coconut or about less than 1/2 cup pieces

Method:

Soak tamarind in hot water, while you are working on the others. Wash and cook the rice, dal and peanuts in pressure cooker with turmeric. The ratio of water will be 3 cups of water for each cup of rice/dal/peanut. For my above mentioned portion, I used 6 cups of water. While the rice is cooking, prepare the bisibelle bath paste. Roast the dals first with just a spoon of oil, then add the rest of the ingrediens one after the other. You can also fry them separately. Finally fry the coconut and once they are cool, grind them all into a paste with a little water.

Now in a pan, do tadka. Heat oil, fry mustard seeds and once they splatter add cumin, then hing, then curry leaves. Now first add bell peppers/capsicum. Ater frying them a litle bit, add the other vegetables, add salt and mix well. You can now add the tamarind water and the paste. Mix everything well, close the lid and cook well until the vegetables are cooked. Or you can also add them back to the rice/toor dal in the cooker and cook it for one more whistle. I cooked them all together in the cooker because you will be sure that everything cooked well. Once it is done, optionally you can add one or two spoons of ghee and mix well. I don't usually do that. Serve hot with papads.

Chilli Paneer

2011-01-29T06:48:00.000-08:00

I know, after so many bloggers posting chilli panner, we really don't need one more of thse. But what to do, this has become my favorite dish lately, to the extend that my husband thinks I have gone crazy ;-) Since I make it in a jiffy, I make it very often. It is so easy to make and so filling and I can eat it guilt free when it is my low carb high protein diet day. I love the spicy and tangy taste that comes with the green chillis, tomatoes etc. This is not entirely my recipe, I must have tried several recipes from several blogs/sites. This is what I have finally settled in and I don't think I need any more experimenting.

Ingredients:

1. One small red onion
2. Half of red and green bell pepper/capsicum
3. 5-6 cloves of garlic
4. 7-8 green chillis (more or less according to your taste)
5. 1 inch piece of ginger
6. Curry leaves
7. Green onion - 1 bunch
8. 2 tbsp of tomato paste (sometimes I make do with tomato ketchup)
9. 2-3 tbsp of maggi chilli garlic sauce
10. 2 tbsp of soy sauce
11. Sesame oil or Vegetable oil
12. 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
13.1 pack of fried paneer (I buy Nanak fried paneer)
14. Crushed red chilli flakes

Method:

Cut green chillies length wise into two pieces. Cut the onions into long pieces or more like small square. Cut the capsicum also into small pieces of square, just a little smaller than for tikka. Grate garlic and ginger or you can use ginger-garlic paster. I always grate them fresh. Chop cilantro. Chop green onions and keep the bottom and top seperately. That's all the chopping/grating. Now in a pan add oil and once it is hot add green chillies and curry leaves. Don't let the green chillies fry too much because we want them in whole form until the dish is complete. Then add red onions and the bottom portion of green onion, after frying it a little bit add ginger-garlic paste. Once the raw smell is gone, add capsicum. There is no need to cook capsicum all the way, because it will be good if it is crunchy. Now add the tomato paste, maggi sauce. Tomato paste gives the red color we are looking for. If you add tomatoes instead, there is a chance of the dish getting gravy. Add soy sauce and then some salt. Add the top portion of the chopped green onion. Since I use store bought frozen panner, I thaw it or put it in the microwave for 30 seconds to a minute and then finally add it to dish. Mix well, but make sure you don't break the panner. Let it sit with the other ingredients on low flat for a few more minutes. Finally add fresh chopped cilantro. If you feel it needs a bit more spice, add crushed red chilli flakes. Thats it....

My little vacation

2011-01-03T14:23:00.000-08:00

It is that time of the year for giving and sharing.
It is also that time of the year, when most of us get to take our vacation with family and friends. Here are some pictures of my vacation in California.

It was a beautiful day with bright blue skies and water.

Beaches on the pacific ocean.

The roads were long and winding on the mountains with the ocean on one side. What a beautiful site!

It is just water and mountains for as far as you can see.

The sun light was sparkling in the water like crystals.

The sunsets were even more beautiful before the darkness takes everything away from you.

It was the drive along this stretch that was really amazing to me.

Happy New Year

2011-01-03T14:12:00.001-08:00

Hope you had a very Happy New Year!

Happy Diwali

2010-11-09T07:50:00.001-08:00

Happy Dasara

2010-10-26T08:05:00.000-07:00

Hope you all had a Happy Dasara.
Being my first time, I didn't have that many bommalu, but here is my bommala kolu.

Varalakshmi Vratham

2010-08-26T06:56:00.000-07:00

Hope you all had a great Varalakshmi Vratham !

I am off to India tomorrow for my brother's wedding. Really exicited about it.

I will be a back after a short break.

Have a great Ganesh Chathurdi y'all !

Asian Edamame salad

2010-08-24T11:01:00.000-07:00

I really loved this salad from Corner bakery. I must have gone there several times just for this. Never heard about the Edamame beans before, but when I came to know about these young soybeans and how loaded they are, I really want to try it myself. Their description of their salad clearly says this "Edamame, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, red bell peppers, carrots, green onions, fresh basil, and cilantro in a ginger citrus dressing." I guess that says it all, right?. Also it was sweet so there should be honey in it. So here is my try on this.

Ingredients:

1. Edamame beans - 1 cup
2. Carrots - 1/2 cup shredded
3. Cucumber - 1/2 cup cubed
4. Red bell pepper - 1/2 cup cut
(I would definely add cherry tomatoes and green onion, but I didn't have any, so I skipped).

For the dressing:

1. 1/2 inch of ginger - grated (if you want to just use the juice, then you may need 1 inch)
2. 1 tbsp of Agave nectar or honey (add more if you want it sweet)
3. 1 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil
4. 2 tbsp of orange juice (I used orange juice for the citrus in their description, may be a little lemon juice may also work)
5. Pepper powder - 1/2 tsp (less or more depending upon your taste.)
6. Salt

Mix all these well.

Method:

Cook the edamame beans as per the instructions. They are available as beans or beans in pods. I bought frozen organic edamame beans in pods.I have to just put it in boiling water with some salt, boil it for 3-4 minutes, drain and wash it in cold water. Then remove the beans from the pods. I shredded the carrots into thick ones. Add shredded carrots, cubed cucumbers, chopped red bell peppers, finely chopped basil, cilantro and mix it all along with the dressing. That's it, healthy tasty salad is ready. I may still be missing some secrect ingredient that the restaurant may have used, but this is very close.

My husband is not a big fan of salads. Its like one of those ads where the mother does everything to prevent the kid from hearing the word "vegetables" because he may not eat it... Like that, I cannot say "salad" to my husband, he wouldn't eat it :-) So I made this sundal style snack for him. With the beans, I just mixed some finely shredded carrots, coconut, one small finely chopped green chilli, few drops of lemon juice, salt and chilli powder.

Mystic India

2010-08-14T12:44:00.000-07:00

Has anyone watched this film "Mystic India"? If you did, you will know why I get so excited talking about it. Wonderful movie, that rediscovers India in a way that is truly enchanting.

What has that to do with my art work? Everything. I am always inspired by the art of India in our day to day life. Be it a mehandi pattern or a rangoli design, the intricate patterns and vivid colors always amaze me. There was this scene/image from the film that caught my eye. I couldn't resist its grandeur and wanted to bring it close to me in the form of this acrylic canvas painting. There was a picture of it on their website. Being just an amateur, I could not do complete justice to this painting but really enjoyed making it. This is a 40''x30'' canvas. I guess I got too excited getting this large of a canvas because I have never done this large painting, for that matter, I have not even done that many smaller ones.

Here is a detail:

Indo Chinese meal today

2010-07-09T20:06:00.000-07:00

Browsing blogs related to food and art are my favorite time pass I would say. On one such visit, I happened to be in the blog Anubhavati -Tastes from my kitchen of Shoba and loved her Restaurant Style Indo Chinese Veggie Fried Rice. I just couldn't wait to try it out being a lover of Indo-Chinese food. So here, exactly as she narrated, along with my Gobi Manchurian and raitha. The credit for making gobi manchurian also goes to her as she mentioned the combination in the blog.

Potlakai pala kootu (Snake gourd cooked in milk)

2010-07-05T08:45:00.000-07:00

This is a dish I first tasted in my sister-in-laws house. Turns out to be a south Indian dish that I never heard of. My sister-in-law who is an expert cook, says this dish is especially great during winter because it sooths the throat troubled by the winter cold. This is one of those vegetables I always ignored as a kid. I used to wonder what to make out of it whenever I saw it in Indian stores. Now this dish has become my favorite that I make often.

Ingredients:

1. 2-3 cups of potlakai cut into circles
2. 3/4th cup of dry coconut (either cut into small pieces or slices or grated)
3. 1/4th to 1/2 cup of pepper corns - depending how strong you want
4. 1 cup of milk
5. 1 tbsp of rice flour for thickening
6. 2 tbsp of oil
7. Salt, about 1 tsp or so

Method:

Wash the potlakai thoroughly and cut them into circles with the skin in tact. In a frying pan on medium heat, add a oil and fry the potlakai just a little. Add salt and about 1 cup of water and allow it cook with the lid closed. Meanwhile, grid the dry cocunut and pepper corns into a smooth paste adding little water. As the potlakai is half cooked, add the ground paste. Mix well and allow it cook again in this paste for a few minutes. The paste should be enough to cover all the potalakai generously. Then add milk and close the lid and allow it to cook again. Once the potlakai is fully cooked, add the rice flour dissolved in a little water, to thicken the milk into a sauce. If all the milk is already absorbed, and you don't see enough sauce, add more milk and bring it to a boil. Depending on what consistency you like, you can add more or less milk. I prefer it to be thick while eating with roti or chapathi, and thin while eating with hot rice.

Raw Mango instant pickle (mavidikai menthi mukkalu)

2010-06-20T19:11:00.000-07:00

This is one of my favorite instant mango pickles as I was growing up, even more than mango avakai. My mom used to make this all the time in summer.

Ingredients:

1. Raw firm mangoes - 2

2. Sesame oil - Indian kind - 1/2 cup to 3/4 th cup

3. Methi seeds - 2 tsp (1 tsp for each mango)

4. Red chillis - 10-15 (about 2 inch long ones) (I go a bunch of red chillis for each mango)

5. Salt to taste

6. Jaggery powder - 1 tsp (removes the bitterness from methi, if any)

Method:

Wash and peel the raw mangoes, pat it dry. Cut them into about 1/4th inch pieces, mix well with salt and jaggery powder. Add a spoon of oil and fry the red chillis, just after you switch off the heat, add the methi seeds. Let it cool and grind them into powder, add to the cut mango pieces and mix well. Now heat the oil, be careful not to burn it, but heat it well. Let it cool and add it to the mango. My mom says that if you add warm oil, it will make the mango pieces soft. Keep aside for half a day or overnight so that the mango pieces absorbs the spices.

I prefer eating it with hot rice, but this can be server with idli or dosa too.

Jasmine

2010-06-16T19:00:00.000-07:00

Bloom from my new jasmine plants. They are just a few, but the scent is divine.

Bangle box

2010-05-18T13:13:00.000-07:00

It was one of those days, I was done with all my chores, and with an excuse of getting some activity and not just sitting around, I set out to the mall, on my way back I was just stopping at my favorite stores with nothing specific in mind. I stopped by the store "Tuesday mornings" and was just browsing, I came across these wine boxes. They were so colorful, some even had sparkle, very attractive. I stood by this aisle for a long time thinking what I can do with it because I really wanted to have it but I don't drink.

The idea of using it as bangle box came to my mind. I bought these two boxes. I then went to a craft store, where I bought these wood dowels and a few wood decals that can fit into the box. I just screwed in the wood decal to the wood dowel. I then made a paper tube to fit the size of my bangles using thick cardboard paper and covered it with some gift wrap. The tube just slides on the dowel.

There you have it, a colorful looking practical bangle box.

Asian inspired Penne pasta

2010-05-15T06:06:00.000-07:00

Have you ever been inspired to make a dish just because a vegetable looked beautiful while you are browsing through the isles at the grocery store? Happens a lot right.. This is one of those dishes. I make pasta every now and then, but this time it is these little cherry tomatoes that inspired me. Look how cute they look, though my photo is not of good quality. Fresh ingredients inspire my cooking, a lot.

I never liked the pasta with red sauce. Also when I used to do pasta without any vegetables, I feel like it is just useless calories and carbs going into me. Today I came up with this pasta which has all asian inspired ingredients and atleast one green vegetable. I know there are pasta recipes with asparagus, but asparagus is still foreign to me. So I tried mine with snow peas.The ingredients list may seem long, but trust me, its easy and its worth it.

I'm sharing this recipe with Presto Pasta Nights #169, an event created by Ruth from Once Upon a Feast. This week host is Fun and Food cafe. Check out her delicious round up.

Ingredients:

1. 1.5 cups of pasta (I use penne, you can use any kind)
2. Some cherry tomatoes - I had about 14
3. 2 tomatoes
4. Half of a medium size red onion
5. 3-4 green chillis
6. 10 garlic
7. 1 cup of cilantro
8. 1 cup of snow peas
9. 1/2 cup of basil - optional, but it is really good if you can find it
10. 1 tbsp of Italian seasoning - available in the grocery isles in dried form where you find spices like oregana, thyme etc.
11. 1/4 cup of Olive oil or peanut oil
12. 1 tbsp of sesame seeds
13. 1/2 cup of peanuts
14. 1-2 tbsp of crushed red pepper
15. 1.5 tbsp of peanut butter

Method:

Boil water in a wide pot. Sprinkle some salt and add a spoon of oil to it. When the water starts to boil, add the pasta. Cook it until tender. Drain and wash with cold water and keep aside.

Now slice the cherry tomatoes into halves, sprinkle some salt and pepper on the cut side. Place them in a pan covered with a bit of oil, sprinkle some italian seasoning lightly and cook them covered for a few minutes in low heat. We are not trying to cook them all the way through. You can lift each one separately using thongs and keep them aside.

Also roast or fry in little oil the sesame seeds and peanuts. Keep them aside.

Dice red onion, slice garlic and chop green chillis and add them to heated olive oil and fry them until the onion is tender. Add diced tomatoes to this and cook uncovered until all the tomato water is all dried up. Now add the snow peas and cook covered for 2-3 minutes on medium heat. You can actually cook this as little or as much as you want depending upon whether you want your snow peas nice and crunchy or well cooked and soft. Add finely chopped fresh cilantro, chopped basil and italian seasoning. Stir in peanut butter. Cook uncovered for 2 more minutes. Add the cooked pasta to this and mix well without breaking the pasta. Finally season with the roasted sesame seeds and peanuts and once you are ready to serve, arrange the cherry tomatoes on the top. Crushed red pepper can be set at the table so that people can add it according to their taste.

Notes: Adding crushed red chilli flakes at the table helps keep the spice mild in the rest of the portion so that kids can eat easily. For kids, I also add some grated cheese on top while it is still hot.

Vankaya Perugu pachadi (Brinjal Raitha)

2010-04-20T17:19:00.000-07:00

This is a dish that I do very often. It is so easy to make, it comes very handy when I don't have a lot of time to spend in the kitchen. Brinjal used to be my least favorite vegetable while I was growing up. My mother used to make a koora which is the only way I used to eat brinjal. I will share that recipe later. But now, after coming here, lot of things changed and my choice of vegetables is one of them. Its my husband's favorite too, so how can I stay away any more.

Ingredients:

1. One big brinjal
2. 1 inch piece of ginger
3. 4-5 green chillis
4. 1.5 cups of curd (plain yogurt)
5. Cilantro to garnish

For tadka:
1. Mustard seeds
2. Cumin
3. Asafoetida
4. Curry leaves
5. 2 tbsp of oil

Method:

Wash and wrap the brinjal in aluminium foil. Place it in a preheated oven and let is cook in the foil for about 30 minutes at 350 degress. When you try to take it out, it will feel very soft, that is how you know it is done. Allow it cool, chop off the top and peel the skin. Meanwhile grind the ginger and green chillis into a paste with some water. Do the popu with mustard, cumin, asafoetida and curry leaves in oil. Add the ginger/green chilli paste to the oil and fry for a minute. Now add the brinjal and mash it in the pan itself with a masher or the spoon. You can even mash it before added it to the pan if you want.

Let all the ingredients get incorporated in the pan in low to medium heat for about 3-4 minutes. Now allow it to cool. Add beaten curds, mix well. Garnish with chopped cilantro.

Notes: In case you find that the brinjal is still hard when you start peeling, just chop it into small pieces and when you have it in the pan, just fry a bit longer. You can add more curd if you are going to eat with rice or less if you are going to eat with chappathi or roti.

Cabbage Kura

2010-04-12T16:31:00.000-07:00

This is a simple cabbage curry that I learned from my mother. Very easy to do and its an instant hit in my family.

Ingredients:
1. 1 small cabbage
2. 3-4 green chillis (I use more, use it according to your taste)
3. 1 inch ginger
4. 1-2 pinches of turmeric
For tadka/popu:
1. 1 tsp mustard seeds
2. 1 tsp cumin seeds
3. 1 tbsp urad dal
4. 2 tbsp channa dal
5. Hing
6. 2-3 tbsp peanut oil

Method:
Grind the raw ginger and chillis and make a paste. Do tadka with the above tadka ingredients after you get the oil heated. Then add the ginger/chilli paste. Add finely chopped or shredded cabbage as soon as the raw smell of ginger goes away. Add turmeric and salt and give all the ingredients a nice stir. Then cover the lid and cook until all the water is absorbed. (No need to pour any water, the cabbage will leave enough water to cook).

Notes: Instead of grinding the ginger and green chillis, I sometimes just grate the ginger and finely chop green chillis, easy when I am in a hurry.

"A rose is a rose is a rose"

2010-04-09T17:32:00.000-07:00

My first spring bloom. A beautiful red rose.
I was not very much motivated in blogging because the number of visitors to my blog has not been really encouraging. Here I am back again, to what I started to be an outlet of my thoughts, my art and my food.

Looking at my rose I remembered the quote "A rose is a rose is a rose" which just simply means that "Things are what they are". What a good thought to start blogging again this year.

Badam Katli or Badam Burfi

2009-10-15T21:37:00.000-07:00

I don't remember my mother making this sweet while I was growing up, so I relied on online recipes for this. I tried a few of them, but finally settled with the one below, which is a mush mash of 2-3 recipes I tried. This is the right texture and feel I wanted.

Badam Katli

Ingredients:

(pic above is made with 3 cups of almonds)
1. Almonds - 1 cup
2. Sugar - 1 cup
3. Butter - 2 tbsp
4. Elaichi/Cardamon powder - a pinch
5. Milk - 1/4 to 1/2 cup

Method:
I blanched the almonds first using the method that is specified in chefinyou blog. Please click on the link to see how. Then I dried them completely by wiping them with a clean dry kitchen towel and spreading them out to dry more(for about an hour). Grind this into powder using a blender. Pour in a mixing bowl and mix well with sugar. On a non-stick pan add 2 tbps of butter and once it melts add the mixture of almond powder and sugar. You need keep the temperature at less than medium heat. Keep mixing it by add milk one spoon at a time. This is just to help the sugar melt and to make our dry mixture into a dough like consistency. After around 20 minutes of doing this, the mixture will form a dough like consistency, more like chapathi, and will start to leave the sides of the pan (it will not stick anyway if you use non-stick pan so this is not a deciding factor). At this point add the elaichi powder, mix well and stop the stove. Let it cool for 5-7 minutes, if it cools too much you cannot roll it like a chapathi and cut it. So once it is cool enough for you to handle, roll it using rolling pin and board greased with butter. Cut them into diamonds, pizza cutter made it easy. You can add the shapeless ones along the edges back into the mixture and knead it again. Repeat until you are all done.

Notes:
I made this with 3 cups of almonds and 3 cups of sugar. But my friend who tried it with one cup said she couldn't get her blender (Indian) to grind, so she had to add milk and make it a paste instead. I didn't want to add milk because that brings a different texture. When it is in paste form, the sugar melts soon on heat making it of sticky sugar syrup consistency. You cannot roll this mixture using rolling pin when done, instead you have to pour this in a plate while hot and cut them into pieces. There is a plus to this, the katlis are bind well and don't break. The one I did are kind of crumbly, they will break easily. Its just personal preference, they both are yummy :-) Also when you make 3 cups like I did, you should be fast to roll them because the mixture starts to cool fast and it hardens as it cools.

Diwali is here...

2009-10-14T21:12:00.000-07:00

Its that time of the year again, its Diwali. For those who don't know, Diwali, also called Deepavali in some places of India, is like the 1st or 2nd most important of the number of festivals we have. Its lot of fun for kids in India, they get to do all the fire works on the streets, we call then fire crackers, there are those that make lot of noise, those that sparkle, those that just produce just smoke. We have to close the doors and windows in India and still cannot hear the audio of those lovely special TV programs we get to watch while eating those sweety sweets. These days environmentalists are urging people not to do that, no, they are not saying not to eat sweets, but not to do the fire works. It also leaves a lot of mess on the streets that takes days to clean up. While I am all for environment and going green, it is still so hard for me to say no, it was so much fun for me as a kid.

Being far away from home, I used to wonder a lot about what we miss, what the kids miss here miss and without my knowledge I started taking extra care to keep some traditions alive. I still remember the Diwali season, as a kid I would shop in those crowded streets with my mom for that special outfit to wear during Diwali, buying those fire crackers and restlessly waiting for the Diwali night to have fun, enjoying those sweets and savories that my mom makes for us and to share with friends and relatives. There is a lot of preparation involved, from shopping from all those ingredients and getting the flour ground at the rice mill, I don't think people bought ready made flour 10 years ago in India. She used to bring the gas stove from the counter, set it on the floor and sit comfortably on a low seat, for the quantity she makes and the time it takes, she better get comfy. With me and my brother watching eagerly from a distance, the ritual starts the weekend before Diwali, with my mom and sisters helping each other getting all the bakshanam ready. Then comes the fun part, all the neighbours, relatives, watchman, post man, street vendors, everyone get their share.

While I haven't done any of my mom's specialities this year, like Athirasam (arisalu) or Badhusha or Mysore pak, I did some sweets and snacks, which I will post in my following posts.

Have a happy and safe Diwali everyone !

Ganesh

2009-10-14T20:16:00.000-07:00

I am glad I get to start my first post with Ganesh.
This is the first year of our marriage and everything is special, every festival is special, every occasion is special...... Its Ganesh Chaturthi and my husband said he always used to get together with friends, do the pooja and do the nimarjam on the 5th or 7th day in one of the close by lakes. That made me think, where do we do nimarjanam this year, since we cannot go very far in the lake the idol will be touching people's feet who play and swim at the lake. That thought made me very uncomfortable. All the Indian stores around here had either paper mesh ones, or the hard kind, that you know will not melt. Well, then I started browsing for options. I wanted to make sure that the Ganesh I use for Chaturdhi is suitable for eco-friendly nimarjanam - can be immersed in water where it melts away easily and does not contain anything harmful. I read on some site that "The immersion symbolizes his return from the earth after removing the obstacles and unhappiness of his devotees". I also ran into this site e-coexist, an org in India making biodegradable eco-friendly Ganesh. Then I thought why not I try to make one on my own.
Turned out, I am not too bad.
Here is my eco-friendly Ganesh

It is made from Crayola air-dry clay, that is natural and non-toxic, the one that is suitable for kids to play with. It hardens as it dries, but it completely melts in the water. I used my acrylic colors to paint it.

I made the umbrella using a plastic salsa cup from Walmart, it was the right shape I wanted, but it had legs that I found hard to remove. I had to heat up a knife and cut them off, the plastic was very hard, be very careful. I pasted some red cloth I had and decorated it.
Here are some "making of" eco-friendly Ganesh pics:

2009-07-08T20:03:00.000-07:00

My first post.......

Waaav, I am really doing this... finally.

I have been stumbling upon a lot of blogs lately, lot of interesting and intriguing ones. There are a quiet a few that inspired me to do this.

Well, doing the same thing all day, I really didn't want to do more again during my free time. Oh no, blogging is not my full time job, but working on computer is my full time job, you know. So that last thing I want to do is to sit in front the computer. But I believe that I have something to share, that others may also find interesting and intriguing.

My husband, he is my positive energy, always encouraging me. I really learnt the meaning of being "cool" from him. I want this blog to be a tribute to the things that we love the most, that inspire us, that are part of our lives. I also want to keep this blog far away from the things we do for our living, not that there is anything wrong with it, but I want this blog to be an escape for the routine.

So what is my blog going to be all about? Food, Art and our life. Lets see how it goes.