Kothamali Thogayal (Coriander Dip)

A simple dip or chutney or even can be prepared as a coriander rice. This is something that would help us on a lazy day. I tell you, winter makes me so lazy. Lazy is just not the word. Hasini asks me sometimes, mommy if you sit down to watch TV, "what am I going to eat?" So, during winter, lots of hubby cooking days comes :) and my hubby is a very happy man cooking for me. But, he never wants me to comment or criticize after eating. Well, who will criticize when food is served at a cozy couch (esp., after marriage)?

A simple thogayal for you, which can also be prepared with mint or curry leaves. So enjoy with your favorite tiffin either idli, dosa, or for variety rice, or even for your curd rice.

Mango Kalakand

The year has just begun, with the most important and very traditional festival Pongal and some traditional sweets to go with the festival. Slowly we begin to make and bake sweets for the festivals. I don't tend to make much sweets, only some occasionally. I prepare sweets only for sundar, you know I not a sweet lover. One reason is I'm not fond of sweets and another is its quite time consuming.

This is quite an easy and simple sweet to prepare. I have seen most of them preparing the Kalakand. So I wanted to attempt it this time. They are some what similar to Palkova. I have always said sweet is not my favorite, but when it comes to Palkova I do not feel that way.

It is just the ease to prepare the sweet made me to prepare the sweet. Just 10 mins, and you have the sweet done. Of course, you require some ingredients, specially in you pantry as part of this recipe.  And you can alter the flavors to suit your family. Plain Kalakand, Mango flavored, Kesar Flavored, rosewater flavored, Gulgand Flavored etc.

Maa Vilakku

An age old tradition of lighting lamp with maa vilakku. They are done by both the sub-sects, iyer and iyengar. The Saivites do it on any of the Fridays of Thai month or on aadi month in Tamil calendar. The Vaishnavites prepare on Purattasi month.

We light lamp in our home, and invite the Godess (ambal) to our home in the form of "Jothi". This is a wonderful experience every-time. We all can say slokas praising Goddess Parvathi, and recite Lalitha Sahasra namam on these days.

Bread Raita

It was a left over party at home, so I made Tawa pulao and Bread Raita. Since bread is all in all handy food in my pantry. I use them in most of the day today recipes. But have you heard of making it into a raita? Yes! next time you have left over bread in your house you can make bread raita. Do try this recipe. If you want whip this up in to an easy snack sprinkle some sev on it and enjoy.

Tawa Pulao

Tawa Pulao is a term which all Mumbaikars are well versed with. I can bet there will be not a single person in Mumbai who must have not eaten Mumbai Tawa Pulao. For those who don’t know what Tawa Pulao is, Let me tell you Tawa Pulao is sold on Mumbai Streets. In almost all corners, junctions or roads of Mumbai you will find Tawa Pulaos.

When I ate this Tawa pulao one time, I had the taste lingering in my mouth for a longer time. It tasted familiar to something which I prepare. I was surprised to know the addition of the Pav bhaji masala to the rice. When asked to one of my friends, she said it is very usual and normal in Mumbai street foods to have this masala cooked along with their rice and called as Tawa Pulao. This is made in the same large skillet where Pav Bhaji masala is heated. This rice is also heated along side and is made using the Pav bhaji masala.

More than to the yummy taste, it is so easy to prepare, esp., when you run out of vegetables. It requires less amount of veggies or you can also prepare with left over rice. They taste as good as always.

Purana Poli

"Pazhayana Kazhithalum Pudhiyana Pugudhalum", Lets clean our houses and get rid of old unused items. Lets not burn, rather recycle and donate.

The great series of festival, Pongal starts with Bhogi. Staying here I miss drawing Kolams, eating Sugarcane.
The recipe for Bhogi is Purana Poli, Paruppu Vadai, and Payasam.

Open face Avocado Sandwich

Butter or Avocados, I would say Avocado. I love these little greens too buttery for a bite! This sandwich is one of my pleasures. It's great, no hassles lunch, or dinner, just face it! Sometimes, we do not feel like cooking.

If you cut the bread into smaller squares and toasted them in the oven, this would make a great appetizer. Any recipe that invites Avocados, invites me too! They are so tasty and requires no cooking at all. That makes my life simple! I will not call this as a recipe at all, it does not require much do about. 

Sankaranthi Kootu

A very special kootu, Sankaranthi kootu, is a great one to go along with pongal. Although, we never try to prepare this on any other days. Somehow, life moves like a flash, we also rush around things. This is yet another simple kootu,

Pongal is not a single day festival, it is a series of 3 days. The festival is also called as Harvest festival. The farmers worship Lord Indhra and Sun God for appropriate rain and abundant yield. So, these days helps for the family unity. Like that this kootu is prepared with lots of vegetables along with field beans and pray God for family unity.

Stuffed Eggplant Curry / Gutthi Vankaya Koora

I just love these stuffed veggies curry. They are too tasty to stop eating. Little time consuming, but when you take a bite, you will not hesitate to take longer time to prepare.

Every week, when go for my weekly grocery purchase to Indian store, I get the eggplants or brinjals. But somehow, I never find time to prepare the stuffed curry. I should say, I bought 3 consecutive week, but never got the time to prepare them.  Today my entire cooking and cleaning got over in the morning itself. So I prepare stuffed eggplant in my relaxed way.

When you try a new recipe, don't we require our own time to prepare? I do take that much time. More to this, kuttan sleeps in the afternoon and he wakes at the drop of a pin. So, how am I to grind in my mixer. I waited till he woke up, to grind the spices. This is how my cooking goes from the afternoon to the late evening, still I enjoy every minute of it.

Hindu Festivals, 2012

The list of Hindu Festivals 2012 or Hindu festival Calendar 2012 is listed here. Along with the important festivals in 2012 like Diwali, Navrathri, Sankaranthi, Ugadi, Ganesha Chathurthi, Akshaya Tritiya, Holi, Sivarathri, RamaNavami, Varalakshmi Vratham, Tamil months. Raksha Bandhan, Onam festival, Sri Krishnashtami, Pongal, Caradayanombu, Sankatahara Chathurthi are all listed here.

The festivals are listed as per the monthly calendar from Guruvayoorappan Temple, New Jersey.


Hindu Festivals, 2012

Pls comment your requirements like more specific additions to calendars or any other modification is required to help you better.

Remember:  This Calendar is based on New Jersey temple Calendar, it will surely vary for people in India. And it might be the same for US, west time zone or might be slightly different.


I would like to thank Aparna and Gomathi for the Happy Blogger Award!

Thalagam

I really think that the women in my family live through cooking. The stories that they tell about how they learned to make a certain dish and what occasions they cook it on tell a lot about themselves and our family history. Recently I've gotten to know my mother-in-law a lot better by learning to cook from her, importantly I've learned the dishes my husband loves the most. In-fact, he is specific to have that particular taste for these dishes.  She is the best kind of mother-in-law, I have met no other friend who can claim a the same with their m-in-laws to the one I have with mine. Knock on wood.

I have already shared  about each of our likes to food at home. Sundar hails from southern part of Tamilnadu, Nagercoil, specifically the village Erachakulam. This dish is traditionally prepared there, and usually on the occasions of Thiruvathirai as a side dish for Kali.

Channa Dhal Masala Fry

Welcome back Bihari cuisine. This is one easy side dish for Parathas/ rotis, It hardly took 20 mins to complete the dish, as I had all the spices ready to be cooked.

The dish does not make you stuffed, so it can be prepared for stuffed rotis or parathas. I made this for my Palak Parathas and I loved the spices in this curry to my mild spiced parathas. A great combination, I felt.

Palak Parathas

I love to try foods from various cuisines. Just wonder how I was eating just Tamil cuisine (I love you Tamil cuisine, always!) all these days? May be my mom made such tasty dishes which never made me to think of other cuisines. Thank you mom!
But, Sundar has never got complaints on my cooking, did you Sundar?

I hopped into Bihari cuisine and tried couple of dishes.
Food habits of the people in Bihar show how the cuisine of the state has evolved over centuries under the influence of various cultures and regimes which controlled it from time to time.

Thiruvathirai Kali

Thiruvathirai Kali is prepared on the auspicious occasion of Thiruvathirai. Cendanar of Naukoor, a disciple of Paddinattu Adigal, used to eat only after feeding some Saiva devotees. Due to a constant bad weather he could not get together all the essentials for a proper meal. He had no option but to mix water with flour and prepare a mashed paste. Lord Siva understood his predicament. He wanted the people to know how sincere his devotee was to him. Therefore he disguised himself as a Siva devotee and visited Cendanar’s hut and enjoyed what was given to him as food. The temple attendants saw the premises scattered with the mashed paste the following morning. Inquiries led to an understanding of Cendanar’s piety and he was thereafter bestowed with all due respect. This incident took place in a Markali Thiruvathirai. This is why Thiruvathirai Kali forms an important prasad on this holy day.

All these traditional sweets are loved by Sundar. He craves for them, I should say. And he loves to have Thalagam along with this.

Capsicum fritter (bajji)

I was chatting with my friend yesterday and she asked some tips on making bajji or pakoda. She is totally new to cooking. She felt home sick and she wanted to have some home made snacks or some fritters. I was in her place couple of years back. I used to call for all tips and basic recipes to my mom or aunt or my granny. I wonder that I don't have one single post of bajji or pakoda! But why? I make them once in 2 weeks and apart to that on-demand to Sundar's request.

I always like to try variations in my own recipes and also the traditional recipes. And this is one of the kind of recipes. My pati always wants to try all kind of bajjis for various vegetables. When I keep myself to her, I make only couple of vegetables. I still don't see half of her enthusiasm in me in most of the things. People of our earlier generation are too enthusiastic and work like a flicker. I try hard to be like her one day and get too exhausted the next day.

This is something great for a rainy day, and a tangy snack once he comes from office. Sundar, sometimes calls on his way back home and ask me to prepare some.

Curry Leaves Rice

A variety rice for the days when we do not want to stick with the routine Sambar and Rasam. And these days I tend to be inclined to Curry leaves more. We are just enjoying the flavor that comes out of curry leaves and wonder how many simple recipes I make these days? As I told I was a person who keep the curry leaves at the corner of the plate.

Gone are those days, enjoying the flavors of the healthy herb, Curry Leaves. Try this recipe and try your variations, and alterations.

Perfect Guacamole

I first had Guacamole at Chipotle, NY.  I think all of us would have tasted Mexican through Chipotle first. The flavorful cilantro rice with super healthy black beans and other veggies are too good to resist for a mouth. How could one have them without the Guacamole Dip?

Guacamole, a dip made from avocados, is originally from Mexico. The name is derived from two Aztec Nahuatl words - ahuacatl (avocado) and molli (sauce). The trick to perfect guacamole is using good, ripe avocados. Check for ripeness by gently pressing the outside of the avocado. If there is no give, the avocado is not ripe yet and will not taste good. If there is a little give, the avocado is ripe. If there is a lot of give, the avocado may be past ripe and not good. In this case, taste test first before using.

An Inspirational Award

Thanks to Cuisine Delights for sharing this beautiful award. Blogging world is a wonderful place to explore and dwell with all you great friends. All your comments inspire me to blog more and more. Each of your comment means so much and I welcome all your suggestions and variations to the recipes I post here in this little space.

 

The inspirational blogger award has got a very lovely thought of answering 8 questions regarding you as a person along with this sweet award. My answers are marked in purple.

Tutti Fruity Buns

The days are over flowing with my baked goodies. I still, take a huge amount of time to bake. But slowly am trying to reach that zone of comfortableness. Well, in such a place I was so excited to bake with Mr. Yeast. Mr.Yeast is been waiting for a very long time in my pantry. He pops up every now and then to ask did you call me? I just set him aside and cook something else. But now I am ready to go for a trial and some tests.

I looked at more than 1 site to see how to proof Mt. Yeast. I was so worried if I was on right way. But everything has to be tried out to achieve. So, I started to prepare them Tutti Fruity Buns.

I have not seen these buns here till now. My mom loves buns. I wish I could have tried them when she was here. She would have lived on my buns. Before my marriage, we used to go to walk everyday. Just a casual walk around our place. So, she sees Adyar Bakery and enters for the buns. Somehow, I used to feel they are quite blank and choose black forest cake instead.

Bisibelabath & Simple potato fry

Tastes evolve, but certain classics stand the test of time. Why do certain dishes remain fixed on our menus (during occasions or get-together) for decades while others come and go? The answer is simple: they are unwaveringly, irresistibly good. What's more, by virtue of their staying power, they offer windows onto the eras in which they were born. 

One such dish is our Bisibela bath or Sambar Satham. All dishes have their unique flavors and taste although they can be altered to suit our palates. The flavors you see here will be unique without much masalas that are prepared in most of the Brahmin houses. 

This dish is authentic to Karnataka Cuisine, but when it came to chennai they were modified and altered more to suit our taste at home. We are going to see a very simple version of Bisibelabath. Lets hop in to the recipe,