Diwali Treats: Chivda

  You know the expression “”time flies” and it could not be true at the moment for us. Today morning as I sat around sipping my tea, I thought of the turn of events that happened to us in the past 2 months. There we were (what seemed like few days ago) in late August preparing to go to India and busy with the packing, shopping etc and then as if in a blink we are here almost at the end of October ready to welcome winter. And before we know it, we will be bidding farewell to this year…

Konkani Patholi/ Arasina Yele Kadabu/ Sweet Dumpling Steamed in Turmeric Leaves Step by Step Recipe

Patholi (in Konkani) is a traditional dessert made during festivals or special occasions. Dumpling made of rice flour is stuffed with coconut jaggery mixture and steamed in turmeric eaves. The key component while making this are the special turmeric leaves. The flavor of the turmeric leaf is infused into the patholi while it is steaming, giving the dish a flavorful aroma.   As I understand it is referred to as Hoorulu kadabu or Arasina Yele kadabu in Kannada and Ilayada in Malayalam. This is not to be confused with the crumbled daal curry referred to as Patoli or Usli in…

Gooseberry /Amla Chutney/ Nellikayi Chutney

We enjoy eating gooseberries/Amla (a type of fruit) as is along with salt and chilli powder. Luckily fresh gooseberries were available when we were in India and we got to relish them. The amla fruit well known for its Ayurvedic uses contains more than 80% of water. It also has protein, carbohydrate, fiber, minerals and vitamins.  Condensed List of Ayurvedic Health Benefits: (source) Excellent source of Vitamin C Enhances food absorption Fortifies the liver Nourishes the brain and mental functioning Supports the heart Strengthens the lungs Helps the urinary system Good for the skin Promotes healthier hair Acts as a…

Spicy Hot Sautéed Green Chillies

Given a chance, I am sure I would be changing the look of my blog every single month! That is how much I enjoy playing with colors, trying out new looks, experimenting new features etc. But then sanity prevails and then I resort to change only when required.  So now here I am with a new theme for the blog that caters to features that I had in mind. Even though there are differences, the theme is not very different from the one I had earlier. I am almost done with the changes, but there might be few more in…

Oven roasted Zucchini and Onions

We are back from our 3 week whirlwind trip to India. We had a wonderful trip back home. Being surrounded by family, relatives, chatter and most importantly good food we did not realize how fast time flew. The only complaint we had (as usual) was that 3 week vacation was a short time to savor the good times.  If you have noticed the not so frequent post updates on this blog during that time, then the trip is the reason. Thank you for continuing to visit my blog and leaving your precious comments. I hope to catch up with the other blogs soon.…

Oven Roasted Cauliflower

Along with baked potato fries, baked cauliflower/ oven roasted cauliflower is something that I make often.  I make this when I am pressed for time and need a quick  side dish for dinner. Quite frankly this does not require much baby sitting. All that is required is to chop the cauliflower into florets, season it and then bake it in the oven. We usually have this as a side item along with yogurt rice or daal rice. The kiddo likes this very much and so I pack some for him for his school lunch. Note: You can substitute any seasoning of your…

Vegetarian Dolma – Step by Step Recipe

One of our favorite things to eat at a Mediterranean/ Greek restaurant is dolmas and the falafels….no wait dolmas and tabouli…hmmm maybe hummus and pita bread.  What ever it is this is one cuisine in which we eat only the appetizers and yet feel filled and content. What is not to like about an assortment of Hummus, falafel, Babaganoush, Tabouli, dolmas, and pita bread all offered in one plate, right? Wait a second, did somebody say, what are Dolmas? Dolma in Turkish simply means “to be stuffed”. Dolmas are grape leaves traditionally stuffed with a mixture of rice and or…