We’re tickled with pink and glad to say that our little girl KAVYA was born on October 2nd,2007.

After a long hiatus I will be back to blogging soon from Chennai, India.

Apologies for not updating this blog and Thanks to one and all who kept checking up on me.

Iam still here in India due to some unexpected circumstances. Thanks to all of you who kept visiting my website and writing to me.

I will be back soon…

Iam going on a vacation to India next week and will be taking a short break from blogging. I’am not sure if I can find time to blog from India but I will definetely be visiting all the food blogs.

Iam planning to do a lot of shopping so any suggestions on cookbooks, kitchen gadgets and spices/spice powders are greatly appreciated.

Happy Blogging !

I cant believe its been exactly one year since I started blogging !! I remember browsing through recipes and found this interesting site in March’05 and after few months I started this blog. I enjoyed blogging, reading food blogs, learning about food, photography and different cuisines. I would like to thank my husband, blog-buddies - Ashwini, Vineela, Indira, BDSN, Indosungod, Mythili, Priya, Sailu, Kay, MT, Krithika, Archana, Aparna, Arjuna, Nabeela and food bloggers for all the support, inspiration and good food. 

Blogging about food is not as easy as you’d think, atleast not for me. When I started blogging, I used to spend about 30 minutes for taking photographs (now its reduced to 5 mins) then imajine the amount of time for cooking. Kudos to Manisha, who has been blogging from March’03 and bloggers like Indira and Shilpa who post recipes almost every otherday… PHEW !!

Congratulations to Ashwini, Tina whose blogs turned one last month, to BDSN, Annita, Mythili and Karthi whose blogs are turning one next month

Now back to the recipe … This is a simple, quick and tasty pulao. Use fresh green peas instead of frozen peas for best results.

Ingredients (Serves 2)

• Basmati Rice - 1 cup
• Green peas - 3/4 cup (fresh or frozen)
• Onion - 1 small size, thinly sliced
• Coconut Milk - 1 cup
• Ginger-garlic paste - 1 tsp
• Green chillies - 3 to 4, slit
• Whole Garam Masala  - 3 green cardamom, 1/2 inch cinnamon, 3 cloves, 1 bay leaf
• Ghee or oil - 2 to 3 tsp
• Salt to taste

Method

Wash rice in 2 to 3 changes of water. Soak rice in water for 20 minutes.
Heat ghee/oil in a pan. Add whole garam masala and after 30 seconds add ginger-garlic paste and saute until the raw smell goes.
Next add onion and green chillies, saute until onions turn pink.
Add fresh green peas, rice, coconut milk, salt and 3/4 cup water (or adjust rice-coconut milk+water to usual ratio). Mix well. Cover and cook.
Serve hot.
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“In the 18th century Shahji, the Maratha king of Thanjavur, came up with the sambar by mixing tamarind curry with lentils and named it in honour of his cousin Sambhaji who was visiting him… read more HERE (Excerpt from an article on “The Hindu”)

Sambar are the best accompaniments for Idli-Vadai’s, they are also eaten mixed with rice. Though they can be made with a variety of vegetables, sambar tastes best with drumstick, brinjal, okra or radish. Leafy vegetables like fenugreek leaves and drumstick leaves can also be used. Here is my recipe for sambar with spinach…

Ingredients ( Serves 4 )

• Red Gram (Thuvaram paruppu/Toordal)  -  1/2 cup
• Spinach - 1/2 bunch, washed and chopped finely
• Ripe Tomato - 1, medium size, chopped to big pieces
• Sambar Powder - 1 1/2 tsp
• Shallots - 6 to 8, peeled and quartered
• Turmeric powder - a pinch
• Tamarind - Key lime size
• Green Chilli - 2 to 3, slit
• Fresh Curry Leaves - 6 to 8
• Dried Red Chilli - 1
• Fenugreek seeds - 1/4 tsp
• Asafoetida - a pinch or to taste
• Split Black Gram (Urad Dal) - 1/2 tsp
• Mustard seeds - 1/2 to 3/4 tsp
• Oil - 1 tsp
• Salt to taste

Method

Cook (Pressure cook or stove-top) red gram until soft, mash and keep aside. Soak tamarind in little water and extract juice.
In a pressure pan or sauce pan, heat oil. Add mustard seeds and when it starts to splutter add asafoetida, fenugreek seeds, curry leaves, black gram and dried red chilli.
When the fenugreek seeds and black gram turns slightly brown, add onions and saute until softened. Next saute tomatoes, green chillies and spinach for few seconds.
Add cooked gram/dal, tamarind extract, sambar powder, turmeric powder, salt and little water to desired consistency. Cover and cook for 2 whistles (if using pressure pan) or 10 to 15 minutes (if using saucepan).
Seve hot with rice and papad.