My Bangles ..ME ME contd........

I was so happy to see that all my friends wanted to my wedding snaps , that too of my bangles that i had mention .I did not click any snaps of my bangles alone , but could select only a couple of them and that too only few of the bangles on the snap .Will come back with some recipes in a couple of days ....Hope you all like my bangles ....

My First MEME and Papadi Chat

I feel so happy that 2 of our friends Tee and Archana have tagged me for this MEME .I feel so happy to be a part of the food blod friends community .So my MEME goes like this ..

1-It was in search of few recipes in the internet that made me inspire to create this blog .I was exploring Indus Ladies website, where in the recipe section I found our very own Mythre’s Blog Mythreyee-Try This Recipe .That was the first instance I thought, why not I also share with the world some of my recipes .I always had an desire to cook something new and different .Thanks to mythree for helping me out initially and giving me few basic guidelines. It was after marriage I entered into full fledged cooking note. Before in India I used to prepare food but only during weekends .It would not be a daily routine for me as my dearest mom would take care of the Kitchen .But I had to do it here .My husband is the first hand critic as well as inspiration to cook more and different recipe. After watching Food Network channel and food blog’s I developed so much passion in cooking and trying out different recipes.

2-I am very soft and sensitive female and a perfect Sagittarius person. My best friend is my mom and I have been missing her badly since I got married .I wish she could always be beside me throughout my life. Thanks to the world of technology which helps me in talking to her over phone and through Internet everyday. It has been close to 2 years now that I have seen her .Just waiting for the time when I could see her again and just hug her. My dad has always stood beside me during all my hardships and has encouraged me to always think positive and achieve in life .My brother is a cute brother .We fight a lot over the phone , but the next minute we are friends again .I miss my family a lot .

3-I got married in 2005 with a very sweet and cute husband of mine .Vishy is very quite and calm unlike me who always want to talk and talk. Half the time goes in me talking and the result he has to listen to it. He wants me to be both a career oriented women as well as a good home maker. I think I am satisfying the second part and not the first. The first is not in practice because of the immigration concerns. But both of us believe that one day our dreams come true. My in laws are very soft spoken .In fact my mother in law sometimes provides me with some different recipes to try out .She notes it down from the Tamil books and send me a mail. Nice of her.

4-I love shopping .If you call me for shopping in the mid of the night, yes deepa is ready. I just want to go to shops and do some window shopping .But I always come back buying something or the other .I have a huge craze for bangles and a huge craze of dress. You would not believe guys for my wedding reception I wore 96 bangles on each of hand .Does it sound crazy……I bought all my bangles at Jill Mill in Chennai .Oh I still remember my self and my cousin spent close to 5-6 hours in selecting all the bangles. I bought close to 25 dozens that day alone for all my wedding sarees. It was crazy and just a crazy buy. But the sad part is I could only bring only a couple of dozen to US. But waiting for the time to get all my bangles here.

5-I love eating .Specially eating outside ….If anybody knows Sree Mitai in Chennai .I am sure all of you must have been there ….Oh I really love eating there .I miss Sri Krishana Sweets , Gangotri , Food Court ,Punjabhi Dhaba …These where my favorite places , where I used to eat .Missing them

6-My childhood was spent in Mumbai and Lucknow .After living in Lucknow for 7 years I love winter climate and hated the heat of Chennai .I came to Chennai for my college .i just hated Chennai for the extreme heat wave and traffic. Else Chennai is great.I love winter and the extreme of winter too..But cannot tolerate the heat and the sunlight.

7-I am very closely attached to my family and my uncle and aunts. I miss my grandfather a lot who passed away just 2 days after my engagement. He used to call me “baby” and even today it rings me into my ears.

There are lots more about my self .Will surely keep posting about my self some more later.I am going to tag Hema , Seema, Sukanya .Play along only if you wish to .No compulsion at all

Now coming to recipe part.Papadi chat is the inspiration from my friend Seema.We had potluck at out place and she prepared papadi chat as a appetizer.Oh i really was in love with this one .So simple and easy and very tasty .i decided to make on my own and share it with all of you .So here it goes .

Raw Material Required

Papadi - 1/2 pkt (Store Bought)
Thin Sev -1/2 pkt (Store Bought)
Aloo -3 or 4 (cooked and smashed well)
Tamarind Chutney - 1 bottle (we shall be using only few tsp -Store bought)
Coriander Chutney -1 bottle (we shall be using only few tsp -Store bought)
Coriander for garnish
Red Onion - 1 (Cut into small pieces)
Chat Masala -1 tsp
Gram Masala -1 tsp
Salt as per taste

Preparation Style

Mix the aloo ,chat masala , gram masala and salt in a small bowl .Then place the papadi in the plate.The take small quantity of aloo and place it on the papadi .Pour 1/2 tsp of tamarind chutney on top .Then pour 1/2 tsp of coriander chutney on top .Place some onion pieces and spread the store bought sev on them .Ganish it with coriander leaves and serve it .It taste great.

Game Over ----------Yelai Vadam

After preparing Javarsi vadam , my next venture was making Yelai Vadam .I love Yelai Vadam .I remember those days when my grandpa and mom used to sit down and prepare this vadam every summer .I am a great fan of it .But i was feeling bad that i cannot make this vadam without the vadam stand which we get it in India .Then i came across our own friend Hema's Vegconcoctions preparation of Yelai Vadam .On that day i was really so much thankful to hema for she taking efforts to explain each and every step of preparing this vadam with out the stand .Thanks a lot hema .Here is my version of it .

Raw Materials Required

2 Cups - Rice

Salt as per taste

2 tsp of sesame seeds (white color)

Hing few pinches

Preparation Style

Soak the rice over night and grind it next morning .Make the same batter as we make for the dosai .Infact we should add some more water to it in order to make the batter light .Then add salt , sesame seeds and hing to it .Just over the batter with the plate and allow the it to ferment for a couple of days .Once you start getting the smell out of it then it is an indication that we can prepare the vadam .












Take same size plates .Apply little oil in the plates so that the vadam can be easily removed after steaming .Then take a small spoon of batter and pour it in the plate .Try to make a the same shape as dosai.Initially it would be little difficult , but after a couple of them the circle comes out very easily .On the other side , place the kadia in the gas with little water in it .This is required for steaming .Then place the plate in the kadai and allow it to steam for 2mts.Each plate requires to steam for 2-3 mts .Then remove the plate from the kadia and then try to take the vadam out of it .Then vadam comes out very easily.Place the vadam in a plastic sheet and allow it to dry in the sun .Now again apply oil in the plate and pour the batter and make small circles .Repeat this process until you complete the batter.Then after the vadam dries , it becomes hard.We need to keep the vadam in the hot sun for a couple of days. After that we fry those vadams in oil .Yelai Vadam ready .It taste great .Enjoy

This would be my entry for the MBP-EVENT--PRESERVE IT hosted by Coffee-The Spice Cafe

Guessing Game Again

What is steaming in this kadai ....Anybody can guess......Results will be out tomorrow ....Keep guessing

Punjabhi Treat -Next 3 in a row

Loads of recipes to try and the list increases day by day .Wow !!!hats off to all my friends for all the excellent recipes which everyone shares .I was feeling very sad and bad that i could not particiapte in few of the events hosted by many friends last month .Just held up with few immigrations stuffs.But now i am back and will keep updating many more recipes .Depressed and frusted with all the immigration , i could not concentrate on the cooking department .Now back on the road with my cooking .

First on the list was my all time love on Gobi Manchurian .Thanks to Seema
Recipe Junction -Gobi Manchurian perfect step by step explanation .It just tasted great and yummy .Really enjoyed the dinner .So here it goes .


Gobi Manchurian

Raw Materials Required

1 Medium Gobi/Cauliflower
1/2 cup Cornflour
1/2 cup All Purpose Flour/Maida
2 tbsp Soy Chili Sauce
2 tbsp Green Chili Sauce
1 tsp hot Red Chili Powder
3 tbsp Tomato sauce
1/2 Capsicum- Sliced
1 Big Onion -Sliced
1 tsp Butter -melted
4 Garlic Cloves- Chopped finely
1 Tbsp Ginger-Garlic-Green chili paste
2 Green chilies - Chopped finely
1/2 inch Ginger- Sliced into thin strips
Oil for deep frying

Preparation Style

Mix cornflour, maida , Garlic-Green chili paste , melted hot butter, salt( as per taste) along with little warm water to make a thick paste.Dip Cauliflower florets into this paste and deep fry them until golden brown and set them aside.Now in a kadai heat little oil and fry onions till transparent.To this add chopped garlic cloves and fry them until transparent.Now add green chilies and ginger and then add in capsicum and fry them for a min.Note that capsicum should still remain crispy. Now add soy sauce, chili sauce, tomato sauce, red chili powder and saute it for a few secs. To this add about 3 tbsp of water and the above fried and cooled gobi bajias.( Tip: Bajias should not be hot here. This is to maintain the crispiness even after added to the sauce mixture).Garnish with fresh coriander leaves and serve hot.

Next on the list is Methi Matar Malai ..This is also from Seema .She has an excellent collection of recipes .I just made few changes from her .The only one was that i did not add tomato paste to the dish.

Methi Matar Malai

Raw Materials Required

1/2 cup Green peas (boiled)
1/2 cup Cream or malai
1 bunch Methi leaves (chopped)
1/2 tsp Cumin seeds
1 pinch Asafoetida
3 tsp Ghee or butter
Salt to taste
Roast and Grind to a paste --> 1 Onion +1 tsp Curds + 1tsp Sugar + 1.5tsp Cashew nuts +1/2tsp red chili powder+1/2 tsp turmeric powder + 1tsp Khuskhus(poppy seeds) + 1/2"piece Ginger + 2 peppercorns + 2 Cloves + 1/4" stick Cinnamon



Preparation Style

Immerse methi in salted hot boiling water for 10 minutes. Drain and wash well in colander under running water. Keep aside.In a kadai heat ghee, add cumin seeds and asafoetida.Add paste and stir fry for 2-3 minutes.Add ground spices. Stir, and add peas, methi leaves and malai.Add all other ingredients. Boil for 2-3 minutes or till gravy thickens. If gravy feels too watery sprinkle a dash of flour and stir. If too thick, add a few tsp. of milk.

It tasted great with hot pulka rotis ...Yummy one ..

The next one is the dessert .This time i browsed thru all the recipes in the Internet and then came out with my own version .Of course the ingredients are the same but the method was a bit different.I prepared gajar halwa in a slow cooker .Yeah true .It was excellent .I need not stand under the stove waiting for each and every second for the milk to boil .So here it goes .

Garjar Halwa

Raw Materials required

1 pound or 6 medium Carrots, scrapped and grated
4 cups Milk, Whole
3/4 cup Sugar
6 tsp Almonds, ground
1/2 tsp Cardamom powder
3 tsp Ghee
4-5 strands of saffron
5 tsp -Cashews and raisins



Preparation Style

Grate the carrot and wash them well in cold water and keep it aside .Then pour the milk in the slow cooker vessel and add carrots to it .Add cardamon powder and saffron strand and almonds to it .Set the slow cooker to 2 hrs .After 2hrs transfer the halwa in a serving bowl .Then in a small kadia add ghee and fry the cashew and raisins and garnish on the halwa .Serve it hot or cold ..it taste great .

This would be my entry for the Regional Cuisine created by Laksmi and this month's host by Richa As Dear As Salt-Punjab Cuisine .

Could anybody guide me on making DAL MAKANI ..