Split Moong Daal Sambhar

We usually do our Indian grocery shopping once a fortnight and time permitting, we go to different groceries each time. During one such trip, I found these husked split moong daal in the lentil aisle.  Since I had not used them before, I was skeptical but knowing their nutritional value I decided to buy them anyway.  I was not able to find recipes over the internet using this, so I decided to stick to the known and unfaltering and made Sambhar. We could not make out any difference in taste and this tasted like our regular old Toor Daal Sambhar.…

Indian Spiced Potato Fry/ Aloo Curry

Is the weekend here yet? Somebody please say, yes 🙂 I had a crazy hectic week at work and could not wait for it to get over. We had two of our out-of-town directors at our office and that meant more work, running from one meeting to another, extra tasks, production issues and apart from that finishing our regular work. Phew! I am so glad that is over with. As if that is not enough I have developed cold and that means constant sneezing, sniffling and headaches. Who gets a cold smack right in the middle of blazing hot summer? As…

Black Chana Dry Curry and Rasam (Chana saar upkari)

It has only been few years ago when I learnt that even Black Chana/ Kala Chana are referred to as Chickpeas. I had assumed that only Kabuli Chana was referred to as Chickpeas. I make the usual Chana Masala with the Kabuli Chana and Saaru and upkari (Konkani for Curry) using the Black Chana.  This is a simple dry curry and rasam made with minimal ingredients from the pantry. Kala chana is first soaked, cooked and then finally seasoned. The cooked water is used to make the rasam by flavoring with seasoning of garlic. This is my younger brother’s favorite…

Black Bean Cornbread Bake/ Casserole

I had this dish almost 10 years ago at the company cafeteria I used to work for way back then. (Aww shucks, that was a decade ago, I cannot believe how time flies!) That was during the height of dot com boom and everything in the company was extravagant. Free breakfast, free lunches, pizza days, free stuff from the vending machines, pool tables, gymn, TT tables, birthdays, picnics and what have you. It was bliss, except for the work schedule as that was extremely crazy; we had to work long hours even during the weekends. But somehow people did not…

Blueberry Syrup and Blueberry Tea

In our house DH is a huge fan of tea and has a wide range of tea collection. One of his weekend activities during summer is to brew a big pot of one variety and then refrigerate it. While serving he tops it off with ice, fruit juices, lime, mint etc.  This is a cool and refreshing way to beat the summer heat.  Speaking of summer here in Texas it is at its peak and that means temperatures in the range of 100-110 F. It is hot and sultry both inside out with the feeling of thirst all the time.…

Lemon Dill Rice

We had eaten a Dill Rice at a Mediterranean restaurant when we were on a vacation far east (no not that far east a little to the westJ), and that taste had stuck onto us for a long time. It was a simple rice recipe, nothing complicated but the way the rice and dill was cooked appealed to our taste buds. It must have been exhaustion, hunger, the timing we are not sure but anyways the taste and memory lingered on for days to come.  Anyway we found some fresh dill last week and DH remembered the Dill Rice we…

Instant Sweet Appe/Paniyaram/Paddu

There is something fun and exciting about Road Trips isn’t it? Just the thought itself gives me a warm feeling, good enough to drive away those blues! We had been on a Road trip recently for few days and it was good change for us to get away from the grind.  Now what is road trip without good stuff to eat, right? Being a foodie it is not unusual for me to pack lots of stuff to munch and crunch along the way. So I packed the some junk stuff like store brought chips, cakes, chivdas, murukkus, chaklis etc. As…