May 2014 ~ Flavors N Colors

Eggless Mexican Conchas

By Aparna 5:18 PM // 3 comments

Conchas also known as Pan Dulche are a type of Mexican sweet bread which was selected for this month's eggless baking challenge. This bread gets its name from its appearance as it has shell shaped look after baking. The toppings can be made in different colors and with different flavors. Traditionally made from eggs,,, but this being eggless challenge we needed to come up with our own way using eggless substitute. I had seen Gayatri using curd plus soda mixture in last month challenge Italian rose cake, so decided to go ahead with the same in the below conchas. I was so attracted to these shell shaped buns when Gayatri forwarded us the recipe as well as pic, that I wanted to try it. But with vacation scheduled over next weekend there was too much time spent on shopping, packing besides kids school exams, and so I attempt them only day before yesterday. Could not post it yesterday as again I was out busy shopping. Being new to bread baking was anxious and not so confident, more over this recipe had eggs, so here I have halved the recipe and adjusted the quantity as per requirements.

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Batate Toi/ Potato Soup

By Aparna 9:52 AM // 6 comments

I have Jaya V Shenoy's cookbook in English which helped me to build up my basics of Amchi cuisine. During one of my vacation when I went to my aunt's place [who is a great cook] I saw she too had Jaya V Shenoy's cookbook in kannada [guess most of amchi girls would have bought one when they went to sasural]. Upon comparing the recipes with ones that are present in my book I felt I am missing on major recipes from that book ,, the only problem with book was kannada script [ I learnt the script after my graduation and now for past 10 years no contact with it and hence I struggle to read in this language]. With hubby's suggestion photocopied the whole book and now with his help only, I type the required recipes in english as he reads out to me from the photocopied book [I can understand it very easily].

So today I am posting a very simple soupy preparation from potatoes, and its "Batate toi" from "Oota Uphara" by Jaya V Shenoy. I adjusted the quantity of ingredients as per my preference for consistency and added little turmeric for that nice color.

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Mango Sago Pudding

By Aparna 6:24 PM // 3 comments

Almost towards the end of mango season this year and not even a single mango post from my side. Unfair, right? I did prepare mango icecream, mango flavoured lassi and the recipes have been lying in my drafts, but today its mango sago pudding which I thought should be published before any of my other recipes. And why is that because more than the recipe I am excited to inform all of you that the wait is over and my dear friend Archana [remember her guest post on Pomegranate sheera?] finally has ventured into blogging world. Do visit her space at Kitchen Tales and read about the healthy tales from her kitchen. Wishing my friend a wonderful and colorful culinary journey ahead !

Though long back, I had bookmarked a recipe for mango sago pudding prepared from coconut milk I didn't get chance to try it as mangoes were out of season. While browsing through Archana's blog I found her recipe for mango sago pudding to be quick and easy, moreover the ingredients were sitting in my pantry while I was reading her recipe. So I immediately tried it at home. The only extra step was addition of cardamom powder. This dessert is definitely a crowd pleaser and one more way to enjoy king of fruits when in season.

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Watermelon Salad

By Aparna 4:20 PM // 2 comments

Have you heard the song "Aaj blue hai pani pani .... aur din hai sunny sunny?" I heard this song for the first time in my elder one's school, where they were performing a dance on cultural day with theme as 'Seasons' . This song was to represent summer season [probably because of the words like beach, blue, pani , etc] . Though I failed to understand the lyrics [except the mentioned words and few more], couldn't resist tapping my feet to that catchy tune. Later as I got busy watching each and every kid in their summer costume dancing cutely on the stage, decided to look into the song and video back home. These days I get to know bollywood songs that have gone viral courtesy my kids so you see there are more I haven't watched yet [with no clue about the reason for their success].

Back home when I was watching the song on youtube, again I was struggling to pick up it's lyrics. Whatever I could had no meaning and missed to kindle any emotions, but the song was not just getting out of my head. The harder I tried to stop singing it the more louder it was playing at the back of my mind, because kids were singing in their own style, tuta phuta lyrics and later followed by "ta ta ta". It was not just singing but dancing with some funny steps. Switched off the youtube video and continued to watch their dance. The session continued with "Lungi dance" and "Tattad tattad" songs. Loved watching them doing it. By the end of these 3 songs they were tired so thought of making some quick energizing snack.

Switched my mood [had to] by tuning into golden oldies. Entered the kitchen and found some watermelon balls sitting in the fridge. Gathered other ingredients and prepared watermelon salad. Kids enjoyed eating it and I enjoyed the salad with music playing in the background, my fav Kishore da singing "Aapki aankhon mein kuch mehkehue se raaz hai " ... so beautiful with meaningful lyrics. Such oldies remain unmatched to the present day songs that come and later are forgotten forever.

Regarding the recipe, its a super simple delicious refreshing salad. Thanks to my friends who had shared their attempt. The recipe came in right time when the scoops of watermelon were ready and so it became easy, just to toss the ingredients.

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Nankhatais

By Aparna 10:18 AM // 8 comments

With vacation nearing I am really into baking mood and yesterday it was turn of popular Indian version of cookies "Nankhatais". If you want to know the origin of these cookies please read here. I am huge fan of these cookies, but mom was not aware of baking those days and hence never made them at home. So then we would turn over to nearby bakeries to purchase them. For now they bring back fond memories of the childhood days when buying such goodies meant going to neighborhood bakeries and my eyes feasting on display of variety, not able to decide which flavoured cookie should I pick up, jumping from one end to other end of the display, pointing at different shapes, colors and asking my dad to pick most of them :P. The cookies would make the whole shop filled with fresh baked aroma and refreshing flavours.

When hubby brought a box of cookies the other day, they reminded of my fav nankhatais. I craved them terribly and so yesterday decided to try my hands at them. I have tweaked the recipe from Foodelicious by Pari . Now why did I try this recipe its because Pari has included oil. Mostly traditional nankhatais make use of ghee/butter. So let's see the recipe

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Achari Zucchini - A side dish

By Aparna 10:06 PM // 1 comment

About 5 years back while teaching alphabets to my elder one, I came across "Z for Zucchini". It was the first time I had read about this veggie, so further researched to know what it is exactly. When I read about it here, it dawned on me that all this while what I was buying from supermarket was not cucumbers but zucchini. Both zucchini and cucumbers belong to same family Cucurbitaceae. I also read that unlike cucumbers, zucchini can be served as cooked dish. Though never dared to cook it until I came across a recipe that looked delicious and it had this veggie in it. The below recipe is inspired from Seema Hussain's recipe of Achari Tori. Using zucchini was suggested by another friend. I halved the quantity as this was an experimental attempt. If you like flavors of panchphoran mix then you would surely like the below dish.

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Eggless Whole Wheat Spice Cake

By Aparna 10:35 PM // 4 comments

Few days back tried Simi's Nutmeg cake with pears, actually I was so fascinated by her presentation, the pear standing perfectly amidst the loaf cake, that I added flax seeds instead of eggs and attempted it. Turned out so yummy but just couldn't click any snap :(. While discussing about the attempt with Jayashri on FB, she suggested me to have a look at an eggless whole wheat cake recipe from Uma's culinary world here. She mentioned that calorie wise, sour cream was better substitute to butter. And it was more healthier way with use of wheat flour instead of maida/APF. I bookmarked it and tried to follow Simi's idea of using pear in the above suggested recipe [to capture the shot as Simi did :)] [Totally an optional step which you can exclude and go ahead with the basic recipe as mentioned here or from the original source.

So did u guess, what special today? Yes it is eggless whole wheat spice cake because I am back to baking. Was on baking spree baked many cakes, cookies and other dishes. Will surely share all of the recipes as and when I attempt them once again.

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Corn Pulao

By Aparna 4:26 PM // 7 comments

The below pulao is an easy rice recipe loaded with sweet corn. A complete meal by itself if you prefer one pot meal than you should try this. Its actually a recipe for Cauliflower pualo by Mrs. Mangala Barve, author of cook book "Annapurna". I tweaked her recipe by substituting cauliflower with sweet corn and adjusted spices to suit family taste. Hope you enjoy it, if you want to check other rice varieties click here.

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Oats Brown Bread Utthapam

By Aparna 11:28 PM // 5 comments

Do you remember seeing a glimpse of these utthapams in my post here?

I could not keep its recipe waiting in draft for long and as promised sharing it today. Thanks to AP who had posted them first on a food group and all my other friends who with their preparation inspired me to try it. The original recipe mentions to use bread slices instead I have used bread edges which are left out after making a sandwich. Till date I have been using the left over bread edges as a tea snack [for myself] or make crumbs from them, but the below recipe is such a wonderful option of converting them into healthy breakfast/ snack dish with a cup of tea and I was pleased very much with the results .

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Spring Onion Chutney

By Aparna 8:59 PM // No comments

With a plan to make spring onion parathas, I proceeded to make the dough. When the dough was resting assembled the ingredients to prepare green chutney as an accompaniment to parathas. And this time I took the idea which I remember seeing on you tube, to use spring onions while making the chutney. I utilized the remaining stalks of spring onion and finished it off which if not done, would have wilted in the fridge [Happens with me most of the times]. Glad that it tasted well with parathas.

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Watermelon Juice

By Aparna 10:31 PM // 5 comments

I always prefer eating fresh fruit chunks than preparing juices especially when the fruits are oranges and watermelon. If it is to be consumed as fresh fruit I clean it, remove the skin and while dicing them don't bother much to remove the seeds because we have this traditional way of spitting them out, where as while making juices can't leave even a single seed before they go into blender [with a fear that it may turn the juice bitter to taste] and that makes the job bit tedious. But then there are times when this tedious job becomes rewarding - a kiss/ a hug/ a compliment or all of them from my kids.

Posting watermelon juice today, yet another refreshing drink. Now there is no need for such an easy recipe but the beautiful enticing red color I had to capture them with my lens and share with all of you. You may have your own preferences while preparing this juice but give a try with the below recipe as variation and quench your thirst this summer. It requires only the fruit and a functioning blender.

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Dates Pickle/Chutney

By Aparna 8:49 AM // 4 comments

Met one of my friend (F) (who also follows this blog) in a community gathering. After we exchanged pleasantries, the discussion lead to blog and its recipes which happens most of the times with my other friends these days ;).
F: What's up next on the blog?
Me: Lots in draft, yet to finalize what's next
F: I tried few recipes and loved them. Green Gram Dhokla was a hit during my party.
Me: *** Happy Happy Smiles *** [I like to hear such feedback that boosts my confidence]

After the initial compliment, she came up with her suggestion

F: Vhanni [Being younger she calls me vhanni in konkani], would like to see more recipes for souls like us who are not sweet lovers, most of the recipes that you have posted belong to sweet category
Me: [Chuckling ] blame that sweet tooth of mine. I get tempted to try out sweet/ desert recipes as soon as I see them
F: *** Smiles ***
Me: ok let me know what u expect more
F: May be some instant pickles

The above conversation left me wondering and thinking why I didn't post any recipe on pickles yet. Probably because its always a bottled pickle bought from stores when need arises. With a wish to fullfill her request asap I went in search of pickle recipe prepared from DATES :P [why dates because I had bought them to prepare a cake and now that I have a suggestion here the cake preparation took a back seat scheduled for a later period]

Below is the recipe I tried ... inspired from Shireen's space Ruchik Randhap. I have tried few more recipes like soya granules subzi, mix veg pulao, carrot garlic chutney, and my family enjoyed all of those dishes. So I was sure that Shireen' recipe for this dish would also be a hit. Don't know what to name this dish - pickle or chutney, I would include it under accompaniment. Shireen named the dish as chutney as she had added water. I have totally excluded water from this recipe, you may add if you want it to be paste like consistency.

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Tendle Talasan

By Aparna 11:00 PM // 3 comments

When I was a kid always used to hear [now I know its a myth] "masta tendle khaunu jeeb daata and matte kumbh jatta" which means the kid will have a slurred speech and difficulty in learning making them dull headed if this veggie is consumed in large amounts. Ha ha surely a myth as till now the diminishing intellectual effects are not seen inspite of enjoying this dish since my childhood :) ... I love this stirfry so much to the extent that my mouth is watering while I am drafting the recipe to share with you. Yet another garlic lovers delight and very very easy to prepare. Previously, I had posted Tendle butti and was wondering how did I miss posting talasani. That's because whenever this stir fry is prepared the quantity gets reduced after cooking and is finished in no time. This dish is infact our family favourite. A simple stirfry from amchi cuisine is prepared using coconut oil and seasoned with basic ingredients. They taste best when we use small and green ivygourds instead of ripe ones. My mom has kept a special stone in her kitchen used exclusively for crushing/smashing this veggie [tendle dhaddoche]. You can crush this veggie with mortar pestle. I don't have a stone, so the crushing part is done with Indian kitchen pincer/pakad/sansi. Don't forget to add lots garlic in the seasoning which will enhance the taste of this dish and you will enjoy it even with plain rice and milk.

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Tomato Saaru (with freshly ground spices)/ Soup

By Aparna 4:31 PM // 19 comments

Before coming to today's recipe, I would like to show my work that was done this weekend.
I am always in love with these painted wooden planks been used as background for food photography and have been fascinated by so many DIY ideas floating on net for painting these boards. Somehow didn't know how to go about doing it myself , as I was sure I will not be comfortable picking those planks from garbage pile out on the road. Buying them from hardware shop is always an option but the price tag on them just meant it to be an expensive project in the place where I stay and since this was only for photography purpose I decided not to spend so much. Then I came across a reasonably doable not so expensive DIY option/idea. For many days the project got postponed for known and unknown reasons, until this weekend while driving back home I took a halt at hardware shop picked up some colours, brushes and decided to do it. Below is the pic of the finished work - painted boards and painted spoons. Now all eager to click food pics on these backgrounds and you hope to see them soon in future posts !

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Vermicelli Upma Version 2 ~ A no onion recipe

By Aparna 10:23 PM // 9 comments

Upma is a traditional South Indian breakfast dish. Mostly made from semolina/rava, the recipe of which you can check here, it can also be prepared with vermicelli or oats as main ingredients. In the below recipe I have used vermicelli . Popularly known as semiya, sevai, shavige we call it shevayin in konkani. This is a no onion recipe, which I prepare as a breakfast/snack on fasting days or when I run out of stock for onions. You can also check recipe for Lemon Shevayin prepared from rice vermicelli.

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Pomegranate Sheera - Guest Post 5

By Aparna 2:49 PM // 10 comments

Month of May, 2nd week of this month and Monday here. Time to welcome our guest Archana Shenoy.

Archana is a great cook and I am always in awe of the photos that she takes of her preparations. All her clicks have the power to pull and tempt audience to try the recipes. Lauki dal was one such tasty recipe and I am glad I attempted it after which its prepared often at my place. During my Abudabhi trip that happened in month of March, I was fortunate to meet her in person with her beautiful family. When we met, the feeling was as if we have known each other since long. Lots of chit chat for 2 hrs and we didn't realize the time that passed away. I got super excited when she expressed the dream to come up with her own blog where she would like to share her passion. All the best Archana and hoping that your dream turns into a reality soon, so that we can feast with our eyes.

Amongst many of her food posts, pomegranate sheera had really caught my attention not just because of the clicks but because I liked the idea of adding pomegranate juice in the recipe, making it nutritious and colouricious. I have prepared sheera but with pineapple, apple, saffron, etc... using pomegranate juice was something new to me. When I messaged her to share her preparation with readers here, she happily agreed. So let's hear from her about this sheera.

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Theeyal ~ Small Onions And Brinjals

By Aparna 6:56 PM // 4 comments

I have been wanting to try few recipes from Kerala cuisine prepared specially for Onam Sadhya meal. So when my friend 'R' mentioned and suggested the recipe for "Theeyal" from here, I decided to try it. Theeyal means 'burnt' dish and usually served in traditional sadhya meal. It is dish having spicy tangy taste with unique flavor mostly from roasted ingredients. The dish turned out so delicious that I had to reach for a second helping with hot rice. Below recipe is an adaptation and I have used brinjals along with shallot onions.

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Akki Roti

By Aparna 11:05 PM // 7 comments

One of the famous breakfast item from Karnataka cuisine is "Akki roti". Mostly prepared from rice flour, I have always liked the version prepared by my aunt. The best thing about her recipe is it makes use of left over rice. Today, I made minimal variation to her recipe and tried it by replacing coconut with sugar . Don't they look yummy topped with that melted butter ? If only that butter was home made would have tasted even more super!

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Papaya Milk Shake

By Unknown 1:14 PM // 3 comments

Everyone at home loves to eat papaya fruit and we see to it that it is consumed empty stomach at least once a week as this tropical fruit is known to help in digestion. After papaya pudding, I was thinking why not prepare healthy yummy papaya milkshake from the leftover fruit resting in the fridge. A refreshing drink this can be served during breakfast or as light snack in the evening. I served it before our breakfast and kids loved it.

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My Guest Post @ Rendez Vous With a Foodie

By Aparna 8:21 AM // 7 comments

"Rendez Vous with a foodie" is an event hosted by Priya on her blog Priya's Versatile Recipes. This event has been running successfully till now and you can read through the list of her guests here. This month I get an opportunity to be guest in this event and share about my blogging space.

Apt to her blog name, Priya is indeed a versatile cook/blogger who has shared many interesting recipes varying from traditional foods, to fusion foods and healthy innovations. The first recipe that caught my attention was her guest post on Aps Kitchen sharing Pumpkin and red rice flakes kheer. I liked it and attempted this healthy kheer immediately which my family loved it. She is an expert baker and has the longest baking list I have come across till date.If you notice most of her posts carry one beautiful photo about the dish with minimal or no props and its the napkin placement around each dish that I like very much. These napkin placements only made me realize that she has another blog named Cook Eat N Click where she shares easy to make recipes. She has always inspired me to try and beautifully place these napkins while clicking food photos besides her innovative recipes. Happy to have known her through this platform and all my best wishes Priya, to carry on with good work. Thanks for being so supportive, encouraging and giving chance to new bloggers through this event.

Now coming to the dish, I opted to share about Papaya pudding, an incredibly easy to make dessert that can be relished guilt-free!

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Sabudana / Sago Dosa

By Aparna 10:16 PM // 7 comments

The inspiration to make these dosas has been KSC cookbook, where the recipe is shared by Asha aunty. This time instead of trying the same proportions as mentioned in the book, I dared to try it with altered quantity as well as ratio of ingredients. Actual recipe mentioned about split urad dal where as I had whole white urad dal that too less quantity. I decided to go ahead using them [from my previous attempt at making idlis using whole white urad dal here]. Keeping the quantity of rice same as mentioned in recipe, I reduced the quantity for rest of the ingredients i.e whole white urad dal, poha and sabudana. All the time kept thinking what if the dosa batter failed to ferment and my heart would miss a beat imagining about flop dosas. After enough soaking time and grinding, I anxiously waited, keeping a watch for the batter to rise. Next day the batter fermented very nicely and I saw it had touched the the brim of the vessel, mann hi mann I was euphoric. I started making dosas one by one and they turned out soft like cotton. Every time I poured a ladle full of batter, the sizzling noise of batter on hot griddle and kids would be excited to see so many holes appearing on the dosa surface. They preferred to stand behind me trying to find out what magic I was doing to get such porous texture [with holes] for these dosas [innocent minds you see]. I continued making the dosas and my family thoroughly enjoyed eating it with dal.

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