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Grilled Chicken Tikka with Mint Chutney

A super yummy Indian Chicken dish filled with lots of flavors and a cool & spicy Mint dipping chutney makes a great starter. Although there are many recipes for this famous dish, here's mine. I have used extra virgin olive oil to coat the chicken pieces while grilling making it more healthier.

Chicken Biriyani | Easy Chicken Biryani (with yoghurt) ~ Amma's Recipe

Chicken Biriyani is a family favorite and this is my sweet Amma's signature dish. Most Sunday Lunch menu's were blessed with Chicken Biriyani and this made us long for weekends. If you had followed me on facebook you would have found a status message about how we enjoyed our Chicken Biriyani over the long weekend. 

Banana Milk ~ A sweet cooling drink

I had some ripe banana's sitting on the counter-top and literally crying to me. They were too ripe and that called for a quick recipe and I just did not have the patience to try to bake something. With having a house shifting to be done this week all I wanted to do with them is a quick and easy drink that is chill. 

Ven Pongal ~ My style

Ven Pongal / Kara Pongal is a luxury to me that is quite rich and flavored, a delicacy that is fit for the Royals. But this is a staple dish in most South-Indian homes and in our house-hold this is a favorite to both fathers (Dad & Appa -FIL). Apart from both father's celebrating their birthday's on the same day, they also share the similar love for Ven Pongal.

A simple Coconut Chutney

Although there are many versions to the coconut chutney this is my version to the famous South Indian dip. I simply love this chutney to go with my idlies, dosa, pongal, kichidi and even chappathi (crazy na!) that's how much I love this. My coconut chutney is more diluted cos that is how I love it, not too thick and not too thin, somewhere in-between.

Cardamom Milk Recipe | Aavin Elachai Paal Recipe

Today I am sharing with you one of my most favorite flavored milk recipe. I remember when I was a child amma used to take us to Aavin and the one thing that I used to always get is the Cardamom Flavored milk along with their specialty kova and yogurt, back then I never knew what cardamom was and I simply loved it for the chill milk and the sweet taste of cardamom. 

Simple Guacamole Mint Spread ~ An Indian Blend

This is a simple and easy dip/spread done with ripe avocados. It can be paired with sandwiches, tortillas, roti or some crisps. I have made an Indian twist with the usual Guacamole recipe.

Mixed Veg Kichadi ~ Simple South Indian Breakfast

This a typical South-Indian  breakfast/ dinner recipe which is a weekly dish. But I make this only once a month and I love to add lots of veggies to make it a healthy and balanced meal.

Egg Mint Curry ~ A flavorful blend !

This is a favorite Egg curry that is done at home almost every fort-night. Its versatile and can be paired with almost any main dish be it idly, dosa, rice, roti or even bread. Its a blend of spices and the cooling mint flavor that almost sets the dish to a lovely taste and is a no coconut recipe.

Lime Mint Cooler ~ My 50'th Post :D

My 50'th post and 72 followers, Life can't get any better for me. For the past week I have been breaking my head to do a special recipe but I just could not think of one. Hence to make things simple, I went ahead with my all time favorite signature drink ~ Lime Mint Cooler.

Birthday for Husband ? Stuck for Ideas ??? 5 simple Ideas to help you plan His gift right

Well this is a new section to my blog, on Special Occasions and I hope it is of help to you.
 I know most of us have a tough time gifting our husband, like most wives I also face the stress on finding a perfect gift… To tell you the truth I actually plan for my husbands’ birthday months ahead. It’s just been 3 birthdays that we have spent together and still I get stuck for ideas.

Red Bell Pepper/ Capsicum/ Pepper Chutney

Red Bell peppers/ Capsicum are colorful looking peppers we mostly use in Chinese/ Thai dishes and preparing a Indian spread out of it is something less thought of. It tasted great for utthappam (rice pancake). 

The sweet chilli like flavor was distinct and my husband and I loved it. Its a no coconut chutney, hence its healthy and can be easily made

Looking for a quick breakfast for the weekend? ~ Try these Eggless oats & blueberry pancake

When it comes to weekend and a Saturday morning, we are 2 lazy marrieds who sleep late and wake late :D and the morning breakfast is something that must be quick and light. This is a recipe I came up with in my kitchen and it turned out good. I eyeballed the ingredients so the suggestions below are approximate. The usual pancake recipes are mostly using eggs, so I went for a vegan version incorporating oats, brown sugar and 0%fat milk for a healthier filling up. 

♥ Cashew Chicken ♥ ~ how we love thee

Tender succulent pieces of chicken are combined with sweet, crunchy cashew nuts. The secret of this dish is velveting the chicken in hot water which seals in the juices of the chicken and then stir-frying to give it that special taste.

Reine de Saba avec Glaçage au Chocolat (Almond Chocolate Cake) ~ A piece of Julia !!!

This post is tribute to the culinary legend Julia Child, who is known for her skills in French cooking. Being a French speaking Indian I found the cake to be complicated than talking in French ;-) but thank God for the amazing grace, I pulled it off.

Tri-color Pedas - A sweet Independence Day!!!

Its the tri-color fever that is catching up in Blogger and I was wanting to do something with the tri-color theme. And today on random the idea of Pedas struck me and I was totally game for it. I am sure every INDIAN would have tried this milk sweet and is truly an Indian recipe and is for sure a perfect tri-color recipe to post on Independence Day. 

Salmon Toast ~ Healthy & Tasty treat

One of my favorite of fishes after the King fish is Salmon, both these fishes are totally different - reason is King Fish is more on the fatty side (bad fats) and Salmon is rich in Omega 3 which is very good for health.

Chinese Chicken Spinach Stir-fry ~ a tasty brunch

Today we both woke up late after watching the Olympic highlights and sleeping late. I wasn't sure as to what to cook and picked up this book and was excited to see a chicken and spinach stir fry, so I was really excited to try it since I had the ingredients handy.

Lovely Nan Khatai ~ Cardamom flavored Indian Biscuits

Nan Khatai, a lovely Indian biscuit that brings back childhood memories :-), I remember asking my mum to buy them every time we used to make a visit to the bakery. These goodies are soft and have a melt-in-mouth texture, smell heavenly, also have a good punch of the Indian spice Cardamom which is used in most Indian desserts and cooking. Linking this to Nupur's whats with my cuppa

Simple Cherry smoothie ~ & a secret

Today I had a long day of blogging, shopping, eating & clicking :-), so I am super happy. I've been busy planning for a Birthday (RK) secretly ;-) which is in September, so have been going around places and today I found a fresh food market (these are quite common in London), you would get some good picks and variety of fruits. 

10 Mins Madras Mango Pickle ~ Chumma Gummunu Erruku !!!

After the sweet treat of Lamingtons I just wanted something spicy. Both RK  & me love spicy stuff, making a pickle usually has a lot of process and you need patience like soaking, cooking, cooling and storing. I was not in for such long process hence I Google'd to find a simple short cut, there are for sure lots of good recipes for mango pickle but I just took inputs from here and there and made it my own. This pickle tastes great and also has a lovely aroma

2 Awards in a ROW ~ :-) & some AWARD GIVEAWAYS !!!

Today is the most sweetest day ~ Although the lamingtons satisfied my tastebuds and two consequent awards have definitely satisfied the blogging thirst. I never really expected for awards but I just faithfully cook and give my best in my posts and all that has gone into this blog. Each post, photo, cooking, editing & designing was souly done by me without even a single effort from my husband. I choose to do it all on my own and mind you I am no software person and all i studied was arts & management :D and today I am a cook but tell you what I take more pride in my cooking than my degrees :-) Ok enough of my rambling let me talk to you about the awards.

♥ Sweet Lamigtons ♥ ~ I Love You

Few months back I was under the impression what the big deal about Lamingtons? but I was a total fool, trust me you need to try it to love it... Its a sure winner, though its just a basic sponge dipped and coated with chocolate and dessicated coconut, there is something really special about these snow flaked beauties. These have originated from Australia and are absolutely D-I-V-I-N-E

Lime Melon Thirst Quencher ~ The Yellow & Green Pair

London weather is so unpredictable, morning its all gloomy and around late evening it gets all sunny just when you expect it to get dark. Its 7:30 pm here and had a boring morning with a dull weather and just now the sun shows up and says hi...phew and its all hot and sultry now. I wanted to have a refreshing drink just to boost me up and I paired it with a yellow and green combination, hence I call it the yellow and green pair :D

My love for fruits is limitless, if you give me fruits to eat and entire day I can. I can never get bugged of it though I love to eat whole fruits, I do make lots of juices and smoothies during summer as a thirst quencher. If you have guests around they won't be able to guess what drink this is ;-)

Prep time ~ 5 mins
Recipe ~ Own

Ingredients 

1/2 yellow melon
2 tsp lime juice
2-3 tsp sugar (adjust as per sweetness of fruit)
1/4 Cup water

Method

Cut the fruit and blend it in a mixie with the lime juice,sugar and water. Serve with ice cubes

Idea

Cut the melon piece into a heart shape and rub a little water on the rim of the serving glass and dip it in sugar inverted. Fix the melon on the rim of the glass

Indo Chinese One Pot Chicken Roast ~ The Yum Factor & My FIRST Award :D

My love for Chinese & Indian food led me to try out this lip-smacking chicken recipe. I can guarantee a lovely aroma in your kitchen and its a simple dish done with one pot. Best if you have friends visiting and wanting for a dish with the yum factor. Its our favorite at home and can be paired with simple white rice, you don't need a extra curry to go with it. 
Try to make a generous portion as you've find the plate empty and hungry people wanting more :-) I am linking this to hearth & soul blog hop

Also bloggies I got my first award today from Ambreen (Simply Sweet & Savory), thank you Ambreen I am over the moon :-) you truly made my day, now I have a full tummy and a merry heart :-) :-) :-), thank you sooooooooooooooooooooo much.



Cook & Prep time ~ 30 mins
Serves ~ 3-4

Ingredients

Chicken legs & thigh - 8 -10 (skinless & cleaned)
Onion - 1 big chopped
Tomato - 1 big chopped
Spring onions - garnishing
Red chilli powder - 1 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Pepper powder - 1/4 tsp
Soy sauce (light) - 1/4 cup
Ginger-garlic paste - 2 tsp
Salt - to taste (*see tips below)
Oil - 2 tsp

Method
  • Clean and slit the chicken on the fleshy side. Marinate the chicken with red chilli, turmeric, pepper, ginger garlic paste, oil and soy sauce for 15-20 minutes. In the meantime chop the onions, tomato and spring onions, keep ready
  • In a pressure cooker once hot add the marinated chicken and the onions, tomato and let it cook for 5 whistles. Let the pressure settle and open the lid, if you find water let it cook in high flame for 3-4 minutes, add the spring onions and relish with plain white rice
Tip

- Soy sauce includes added salt so always taste and then adjust salt level


Easy Red Grape Jam ~ ♥ A Sweetheart ♥

I am not a person who is fond of Jams but when in comes to breakfast and bread I opt for Strawberry Jam. But when I was on the look out for trying different recipes I came across Julie's and was in for a sweet surprise, she had made Jam out of Red grapes which is my favorite and since I had grapes at home, there was no stopping. 

My thoughts would be that I found the Jam to be a lovely deep color and it tasted sweeter than I expected so make sure you add sugar and taste. It had a beautiful consistency and is one of the easiest I have tried. I am linking this to hearth & soul blog hop.

Ingredients 

Red Grapes - 2 cups, cleaned 
Sugar - 3-5 tbsp (adjust based on sweetness of fruit)
Lime juice/ Citric Acid - 1 tbsp
Water - 1/4 cup  in case you want to increase quantity

Method
  • Stem and clean the grapes, put it in a mixie and blend it into a smooth fine paste
  • Strain the juice and again blend the skin and pulp
  • Take a non stick pan and once hot (medium heat) add the pulp and start stirring it once hot add the sugar and then the lime juice/acid keep stirring until the mixture thickens, if you want more quantity add water and mix well, it would take around 20-22 minutes
  • Later to test the jam, put a tsp of jam in a plate and after it cools down and remains solid and not runny you can be sure than the consistency is right
  • Store in a clean and dried bottle 
Serve jam with bread

Note 

- I did not use any artificial colors or flavors and the Jam was so good just like the store bought one, although I did not find the distinctive taste of red grape, i loved the lovely bright color
- In case you are adding water, the color may not look so vibrant
- Make sure you add more grapes as the quantity reduces to half or even less at the end of cooking process

Pink Beauty ~ A simple healthy drink / breakfast replacement

I had a super weekend of less cooking, more shopping :-) and eating out -binge eating :-( and after all the cooking last week of Breakfast BarsAlmond Cookies & Crab, all I wanted this morning was a breakfast replacement, a healthy drink that can satisfy my ever hungry tummy. Sometimes when I do too much cooking , I cannot eat much... I don't know if this happens to only me or everyone else? my husband finds this weird :D. Though I try to make vegetables as part of our daily diet and being a ardent non-vegetarian, at times I just want nothing to do with non-veg for at least a day/ just 1 meal ;-)

I usually make this veggie drink on these kind of days. This Pink beauty is fully nutritious with simple carrots & beetroot, I used the whole veg without cooking it. Added some yogurt and a dash of ginger to give it a punch. Trust me this simple drink can fill you up for 3-4 hours and I almost forget lunch time.

And if you are very keen to find out the benefits of this 2 veggies please do, Beetroot & Carrot-I was really stunned to find out their goodness. To this adding yogurt helps our immune system. I am linking this to hearth & soul blog hop.


Prep time ~ 10 mins
Serves ~ 2

Ingredients 

Carrots - 2 chopped
Beetroot - 1 chopped
Yogurt/ Curd - 1/4-1/2 cup
Ginger - 1/2 inch piece
Sea Salt - pinch

Method

In a mixie/ vegetable/fruit blender blend both veggies with a little water into a smooth and fine paste. Then add the remaining ingredients and blend until combined well. Make sure it is nice and fine, if needed you can strain it or just gulp in the goodness without thinking

Enjoy and have a healthy hearty week my bloggies :-)


Spicy indian Crab Curry | South Indian Crab Curry ~ Amma's Recipe

How many times we Indian's sitting in another part of the world want to go home (India) and have a good finger-licking meal from the chef that you love, Mom? So many times I have thought so, and I really miss her dishes a lot... Needless to say that almost everything that Mom cooks is upto perfection, its her years of practice that has led to perfection and served with LOVE that makes the recipe totally unique. 

Well this crab curry is one of my mom's own recipe and I wanted to share it with all of you. Its a simple and spicy curry (spice level can be adjusted) that goes well with white rice and can be paired with Rasam if needed.

Must confess that this is my first try on this curry and it came out really well and hence posting it. I used blue crab, they turned into a pinkish red color after cooking. I picked this from the frozen section, and it did turn out good, so not to worry.

Prep & Cook time ~ 40 mins (25 mins defrost) 
Serves ~ 2-3
Recipe Source ~ Amma

Ingredients
Crab- 1/2 kg  (cleaned) put 1/2 tsp turmeric powder and little salt to the cleaned crab, mix well and set aside.
Onion- 1 big finely cut
Tomato- 2 finely cut
Gin gar paste-11/2 tsp
Corriander powder-1 tbl sp
Red chilly powder-1 tsp
Jeera powder-1 tsp
Aniseed/Sombu -1 tsp freshly grounded (they are light green colored similar to Jeera/cumin-see in the below pic)
Black pepper corns- 1 tsp freshly grounded
For seasoning
oil- 2 tbl sp
jeera - 1/2 tsp
sombu-1/2 tsp
some curry leaves
Fresh cut coriander leaves,for garnishing

Method
  • Heat oil in a hot pan, season with jeera,sombu,curry leaves.
  • Add onions fry for 2 mts. till transparent. Add tomatoes saute for 3 mts.
  • Add gin gar paste stir well till tomatoes get crushed. Add the corriander powder, chilly powder, jeera and sombu/aniseed powders and mix well.
  • Add the crab pieces mix well. wait till water comes out from the crab. If needed add 1 cup water, mix well close the lid and cook for 6-8 mts on medium flame.
  • Open the lid and see the taste. add salt and the freshly grounded pepper. mix well if the gravy is too thick add water. wait till a nice aroma comes.
  • Remove from fire and garnish with coriander leaves.
Serve Hot with white rice... Happy weekend & eat well :-)

Oatmeal Cookies | Oats Cookies | Easy Snack Box Cookies


After my attempts to make the Coconut Macrons, I was on the look out for a perfect cookie recipe with oatmeal, and at last I found one! This book is too good and if you are a passionate baker you must try their recipes. So far I have baked 2 of their recipes and it just turned out great. One was the Almond Cinnamon Loaf and the other is this recipe which I will be sharing with you. 
These oatmeal cookies were made with old-fashioned rolled oats and not the instant one. It has the perfect crunch and if you want your cookies to be soft remember to take them a little earlier from the oven. In both recipes I have modified it with my favorite nuts. My suggestions would be to try out nuts or chocolate chips with will go well for these cookies. I love to pair them with a hot tea/green tea, if you are not a tea person simply dung it with milk and enjoy. 



OATMEAL COOKIES RECIPE

Prep & Cook time ~ 30 mins
Serves ~ 15 cookies (medium sized)
Recipe Source ~ Cake Days

Ingredients

135 g unsalted butter, softened
80 g caster sugar
80 g souft light brown sugar
1 large egg
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
190 g plain flour
1/2 tsp tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
60 g rolled oats
handful of almond flakes to decorate

Method
  • Pre-heat the oven to 170C/ 325F, Gas mark 3 and line 2 baking sheets with baking parchment
  • Using a electric mixer cream together the butter and both types of sugar. Add the egg and vanilla essence and mix on a medium speed. 
  • Sift together the flour, salt, cinnamon and bicarbonate of soda, then add the dry ingredients one half at a time and make it into a dough (remember the dough can be little sticky & wet) make sure that its isn't too wet, in case it is add little flour to balance
  • Make small even size balls out of the cookie dough just like how you do roti and roll it between your palms and flatten it on the prepared baking sheets. If preferred stick nuts on top
  • Allow 5-6 cookies per sheet, making sure to space them apart by 7-8 cms they will spread during cooking
  • Place in the oven and bake for 15-20 mins or until the cookies are a light golden brown.
  • Leave on the sheets for about 10 minutes to cool and set, and then remove to a wire rack.
Tips 

- If you prefer softer cookies, remove from the oven as soon as they start to become golden
- You can replace nuts to chocolate chips

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