Sprinkle Shortbread Cookies | Christmas Recipes 2014

Sprinkle Shortbread Cookie Recipe

This Year I am baking a huge batch of assorted cookies for friends and family.  I will sharing more Christmas cookie recipes on my blog, hopefully by Christmas day. I was doing too much baking that I got tired to share recipes on my blog. I have always wanted to try these shortbread cookies, they are popular on Pinterest, but for some reason I kept postponing to bake them. Last week when I saw my friend +Sangeetha M  bake these cute cookies I thought its time to bake them ;-). Bite size Christmas shortbread cookies sounds interesting right? and this definitely is such an easy recipe too. If you have any kind of sprinkles just go ahead and make these. They are soft buttery and so attractive that you don't want to miss baking them for christmas. I could not find christmas colors like red and green sprinklers so I went ahead and used mixed colors and they look so attractive nevertheless. For more Christmas Recipes click here.

Eggless Sugar Cookies | Christmas Recipes 2014

Eggless Sugar Cookies Recipe

I love homemade gifts, they taste great, add a personal touch and also make people feel special. One other great aspect is knowing the ingredients you put in them. That said as days are running its time to start prep for the celebrations and why not pack edible gifts as a thank you gift for your guests. Or if you are attending a party at your friends place then pack these to gift them. Trust me they will love it and appreciate it beyond words. I had got these cute message cutters from a review I had done a while ago for Gourmet Co, you can check the post here. You can pick similar cookie cutters in any online or baking supply stores. If you are not the type who does not have patience to do royal icing or fondant or don't have time incase you are looking at a large batch then these cutters are the answer. 

Eggless Candycane Cookies | Christmas 2014 Recipes

Candy Cane Sugar cookies

Its the best time of the year - Christmas and hardly few days more and I have been counting fingers    :-) with our relocation and the time of the year I mean I am all excited for whats ahead. So thankful for this phase in my life where I can sit and think about how far we have come. This happy place seems to be so energizing in a way. Can't than God enough for everything, counting my blessings make me realize how much I am fortunate and how much I am blessed beyond understanding. Thanking God for He is my anchor and my friend. But that said I have been running recipes in my mind to cook for Christmas and baking sure takes all the attention. I have always loved Candycanes and most recipes for candycane cookies call for eggs so I wanted to get my hands dirty to make a candycane cookie recipe that is eggfree. I saw many recipes online and on pinterest where the candycane cookies have a pink tint and I really wonder why. Follow the recipe to the dot and let me know how it turned out. 

Kale Chips Indian Style | How to make Kale chips

Kale Chips Indian Style

If you have not tried Kale, I recommend you to try them and if you find them locally do pick a bunch and make them as chips ;-) trust me you will love it and you can thank me later. Kale is one of the super foods doing the buzz all over the internet and among healthy eaters. I was waiting to grab hold of these greens and try them at home. So for starters I did these Kale chips and they were gone in 5 minutes I mean the entire batch. My husband had no clue what they were and kept munching them, these kale chips are so crisp and light. With much enthusiasm I tried to add a huge bunch of kale into my green smoothie and I did regret of running through a huge batch. The drink turned up a little not like what I expected and I had to add one banana and pineapple to juice it to a decent smoothie. If you ask me is kale chips the healthiest way of eating kale, I would say 50-50 but it is definitely healthy compared to potato chips. Since Kale is protein dense and vitamin loaded they tend to give a wash out effect to the stomach and you will end up feeling good. Would I eat Kale again of course I will :-)

Eggless Oats Coconut Fruit & Nuts Bar | Rolled oats almond cranberry bars

Eggless Oats Coconut Fruit & Nuts Bar

I always love experimenting in the kitchen, I have never found a good granola bar in all honesty. All the store bought ones are either sweet, sticky or have ingredients that I don't fancy. So what do I do? tried my hands in making healthy homemade granola bars. Crunchy on the outside and moist and soft on the inside, a perfect way to cure the sweet tooth and enjoy a light bite. Pack these as a snack for your kids and family they will enjoy those sweet moments of break and thank me later ;-). Since Christmas is coming why not make these for your friends and family, since its egg free vegetarians would love them too. Also you can make them vegan by skipping the butter and adding some vegan butter or coconut oil. 

Here's a list of readers favorite Christmas recipes from last year ;-) a blast from the past!

 40 BEST CHRISTMAS RECIPES

Pav Bhaji Masala | Mumbai Style Pav Bhaji Recipe

Pav Bhaji Masala Recipe

I adore chaat recipes, to me they fit into the best snack food category that is spicy, hot and filling. From Dhoklas, sev puri, pani poori, misal pav, ragda patties to pav bhaji I love them all. I still remember during college days how we used to plan to go to the chaat shops in a nearby mall for evening snack. One of the best excuses if you study in an evening college ;-). Although I love and miss chaat so much my husband on the other hand does not enjoy chaat, the other day I was so tempted to make pav bhaji and went ahead with my usual recipe, a no fail eggless pav buns recipe or dinner rolls that comes perfectly every time. The buns are soft and spongy and are quite light to touch but filling with a bowl of spicy pav bhaji masala. I tried to incorporate my own freshly ground pav masala. You can very well use store bought pav bhaji masala for a quicker version. 

Eggless Pav Buns Recipe | Ladi Pav | Pav Bhaji

Ladi Pav | Pav Bhaji buns Recipe

Baking bread is not rocket science, anyone can bake bread at home as long as you friend yeast. Learning to use yeast is definitely a trick but with practice you will fall in love with freshly baked bread at home. i still remember I struggled with yeast and every time I try to proof yeast it would just not foam up and I used waste another set of yeast just to get all the more disappointed. But one of my friend she helped me and said use warm water and not hot water, all the while I used to kill yeast and it never foamed up. As I did my research I also learnt that yeast does not foam up if it is expired. If you are someone who never had luck with yeast trust me it is simple logic, warm up water in a microwave for 20 seconds, it must be warm to touch and try to add a drop of the water in your inner wrist it must be warm and not too hot. Just add sugar and yeast to the water and mix it once. Let it sit for 5 minutes and the yeast should proof if it does not proof then something wrong with the yeast check the expiry date if thats not the issue then the issue is with the water, repeat the process again. 

Broccoli Masala Stir Fry | Broccoli Indian Recipe

Broccoli Masala Stir Fry

Broccoli is a wonderful super food and most times we shy away cooking broccoli in an Indian recipe. I was one such person who never wanted to cook broccoli but although I loved to cook with them for their nutrient value. Chasing all odds I picked up broccoli on my grocery shopping last week, I wanted to try a simple yet easy recipe to start with. I made this simple Broccoli masala stir fry that turned out to be so good and easy too. Usually broccoli is one vegetable that is tasteless and making a recipe with broccoli has to be something that is flavorful, and flavor from the other ingredients that will get absorbed in the vegetable. Broccoli masala is a dry stir fry dish that goes well as a side to rice and dal or as a side dish for chappathis.

Easy Garlic Knots | Garlic Dinner Rolls | Eggless Bread Recipe

Garlic Knots Recipe 

Off late I have been baking a lot, call it stress, the cold weather or the blessing of a bigger oven, I am just loving the whole therapeutic effect of baking. I am actually loving the kneading part and i do everything with hand and there is a joy of making bread from scratch and using hands. Although I love to own one of those fancy KA ;-) but for now let me just rant my stuff with my hands and gluten dough. The other day when I posted a picture of these garlic knots on my facebook page I got a comment from someone says extra walking and extra calories, I mean being Indians we don't do bread daily but once in a while its ok. I get that it is calorie high but so are most Indian sweets, naans and don't forget those fried mixture that you sneek having with your coffee or those biscuits that are meant to be dunked with your coffee. Bring Indians we go love our gluten, carbs and our sweets don't we. So lets quit complaining have a piece of bread and go for your walk. Enough of my rant now and lets move on to the recipe.

Paruppu Keerai Poriyal | Spinach Greens Stir Fry with home grown greens

Paruppu Keerai Poriyal Recipe

Greens (Keerai) are a staple in our house, Amma made sure that we have variety of them. I have made efforts to document all the different kinds of keerai recipes in my blog. I remember back when I was young I was never fond of greens but now with all the knowledge of how good they are for your health I have started to change my food habits and add greens to meals or salads. Taking about salads I have found this new interest to salads and dressings and make variety of salads as a dinner meal. I will soon make efforts to post salad recipes. I find myself enjoying salads more than regular food, I find them light filling and my stomach feels so relaxed the next day. Its definitely a tummy cleanser and great if you are someone looking to lose some weight. Comment below if you would love to see salad recipes on my blog :-).

Chickpeas Coconut milk Curry | Chapati side dish recipe

Chickpeas Coconut milk Curry

Somedays I am all up and cooking 3-4 dishes in a row, other days I really drag myself to cook a decent meal. But today I was full of energy and made this delicious Coconut milk chickpeas curry, if you know me you know that I love chickpeas and I cannot get enough of them. But on the otherside my husband does not like chickpeas whatsoever but that does not stop me from cooking them. Today I didn't pack lunch for him so I ended up making this curry. That said I love to soak chickpeas overnight and boil them fresh rather than the canned ones. But once in a while not bad to enjoy beans that are tinned. Nevertheless this is one easy curry to make with basic ingredients in your pantry and goes along well with soft hot chappathis and can be paired with pulao or white rice too. 

Amma's Quick & Easy Fish Curry without Coconut | South Indian Fish Curry Recipe

Amma's Quick & Easy South Indian fish curry 

Its been some time that I had blogged, been busy with a house shift & I am taking things slow to settle down and I wanted to post one of Amma's fish curry which has been in draft for a while now. This curry is something I long for and she has so many varieties of fish curries that I have already posted recipes - Tamarind fish curry, Coconut fish curry, Mango fish curry and today I am sharing with you a quick & easy fish curry that does not call for any coconut. This is Amma's version of a quick fish curry that is so easy to make, perfectly flavored and is relished with white rice and poriyal. This was our lunch today and I happily clicked pictures to post on my blog ;-). How I wish I lay back and someone cook recipes for my blog :P but trust me this is not the case always. When I am home I make sure to request a list of recipes from Amma so that I can enjoy them and blog them too. 

Aarai Keerai Masiyal | Tamil Brahmin Style Keerai Recipe

Aarai Keerai Masiyal

There can never be a day without keerai/ greens in my parents place. Amma loves vegetables and she always make sure that we get a dose of veggies as part of our everyday meals. I have picked this good habit of eating greens from her. Be it veg or non veg recipes there will always be vegetables as sides in the form of poriyals or frys. I love Amma's version of keerai she makes so many varieties that I never fail to miss out when ever I come home and also share them with all of you here. This Arai keerai masiyal is a mix of dal and greens together with a lovely flavour that it can be made as a main curry to go with white rice and sides like poryial or fry. 

South Indian Lemon Rice | Nimmakaya Pulihora

Lemon Rice | South Indian Lunch Box recipe

Lemon Rice / Lime Rice is a tangy delicious rice that is quick and easy to do. With just left over rice this can be made in a jiffy. Although I am never a big fan for lemon rice, neither my husband I never made an effort to make lemon rice and post a recipe here. But since this is one of the most famous South Indian mixed rice recipes and also being my Dad's favorite I wanted to post it here on my blog. Usually appa loves to have lemon rice with masala vadas and appalam but you can pair it with any combination that you like.

Ellu Kozhukattai | Black Sesame Kozhukattai Recipe

Ellu Kozhukattai Recipe

Kozhukattai / rice dumpling is a famous South Indian snack item. I used wait for the festival seasons to get these steamed beauties from the next door neighbor and immediately gobble few ;-) although Amma used to say don't be so greedy I can make you some at home. The day never happened, so this time when I was home I pulled Amma to make kozhukattai for me and I tell you this is like a childhood food wish. I was so excited during the entire process and Amma gave me the messy job of shaping the kozhukattai and I used fancy mold to get them into perfect shapes (sort of). I usually like the sweet version and especially with the black filling (ellu jaggery/ ellu pooranam). The soft outer and the sweet crunchy inner does a marriage of flavor in every bite. You really have to try this to know how good it tastes. I hope to make kozhukattais in my kitchen and properly share my success stories of different version on my blog. 

Sura Meen Kuzhambhu | Tamil Style Fish Curry Recipe

Sura Meen Kuzhambhu | Shark Fish Indian Curry Recipe

Who doesn't love hot steaming rice with spicy tangy fish curry along with a porriyal. These are memories of mid week meals for me. Amma makes the most delicious fish curries and she has perfected it so much that no matter how many times I make fish curry and hear from my husband that it tasted great I still have this 10% unsatisfied part which keeps telling me This is not like how Amma makes :). Do you hear me ;-) I think its an undeniable thought most cooks have. Although I create my own recipes, I still look make to Amma's recipes and get inspiration. I have heard many tell me that they love the tips that I give for recipes below each post :) trust me these are the ones that make a recipe a hit or a miss. Its those little tips and tricks that help you perfect any recipe that I have posted here. Now lets move on to the recipe today. 

Easy 10 minute Wheat Flour Halwa | Atta ke Halwa | Godumai Halwa

Wheat Flour Halwa using Jaggery

I love sweets that are light and not oily but still have no compromise in taste. Most Indian sweets call for no compromise in ingredients and proportions. The amount of ghee that goes into them really puts me off to try them also. But when it comes to occasions and demands from loved ones we end up making them although we know they are no way good for health or digestion and end of eating them too. So on my look out for some substitutes to famous Indian recipes I came up to this lovely twist to Wheat halwa using Jaggery instead of white sugar. Although there is ghee in it I still reduced the amount of ghee by a tablespoon and still it tasted amazing. The taste and texture of this halwa is soft and buttery almost like silk and I am not kidding. My parents could not even guess what this halwa was :-). I happily packed it for my cousin sister too. I would also like to tell that I made this wheat / godumai halwa using store bought ghee and homemade ghee, to be honest halwa made with homemade ghee tasted heavenly and the store bought one was not even worth another spoonful. So in case you want to try this please use homemade ghee you will keep making this one again and again. Can I say that this is definitely a 10 minute halwa and a quicker version to the long stirring process fattening halwa. 

Fish Finger Recipe | Restaurant style Finger fish Recipe | Seafood Starter

Finger fish Recipe / Fish Finger Recipe

If there is one starter that I always love and devour it would always be this humble Finger fish (fish finger), almost always we end up ordering this dish when we go to restaurants There are different versions to this and Amma perfects them so well in terms of taste and texture. I have seen restaurants just batter fry the fillets and serve along with a mayo or tomato sauce. But take this fish finger to another level by seasoning it to the perfection. Once you try this version trust me you will never order for fish fingers in a restaurant and make them at home and get tons of compliments from everyone.

Masala Paal | Spiced Turmeric Milk Recipe

Masala Paal / Masala Milk Recipe

The wet raining weather and chilled climate calls for some warm comfort drink to kick start the day/ evening. I was craving for some Masala Paal (Masala Milk) and Nice biscuits. The weather makes things so comforting that all I wanted to do is roll under my sheets and this warm soothing drink just awakened my senses. And I just remembered that I was supposed to share my experiences with the Dell Venue 7 Tab. And today I will be sharing my browsing experience with this amazing 7" companion. 

Sabudana Vada Recipe | Javvarusi Vadai

Sabudana Vada Recipe

Sabudana Vada/ Javvarusi Vadai / Sago Vadai is such an interesting recipe, I totally love the whole taste of these crisp vadas. Mind you these vadas need to be enjoyed while still warm, once they turn cold they start to lose out their crispyness. Nevertheless this is a great snack for evening tea time and totally different from the usual medhu vada, sambar or curd vada and masala vadas. Although I am not a big fan of javvarusi / sago/ sabudana but I don't mind enjoying them in an occasional payasam I would never want to cook with them otherwise. I think I am changing and not acting predictable these days ;-) off late the ingredients / recipes that are not my preferences have taken over my taste buds ;-) like lemon rice, masala vada, oats and so on. 

Tomato Rice | South Indian Thakkali Sadam | Tamil Variety Rice

Tomato Rice | Thakkai Sadam Recipe

Tomato Rice / Thakkali Sadam recipe is one of my favorite mixed rice recipe. Its so simple and easy, you can prepare this under 10 minutes and if you have left over rice you could use that to make this tomato mixed rice. Although I must admit that making perfect tomato rice requires practice and I can say that I am nearly there. Read the tips below before doing this recipe. 

Thayir Sadam Recipe | Curd Rice

Thayir Sadam Recipe

What is so great about curd rice? why post a recipe for this? might me the question for many who is seeing this post on my blog? The reason for sharing this recipe is for beginners who struggle to get the perfect taste to tempered curd rice. I have been there and gone through it, but eventually I learnt the taste and trick to getting the perfect curd rice. I can live for a week or almost daily just eating curd rice, I think it has to go with my Amma's genes as she is also someone who loves curd. There can never be a meal complete without us enjoying a spoon of curd. Its a must, I love having curd rice plain but at times I enjoy them tempered like the rice I am sharing today. Curd rice, lemon pickle, potato chips are one amazing combination. 

Marble Cake | Butter Marble Cake Recipe

Butter Marble Cake Recipe

Off late I have been craving for a soft buttery cake and I was also wanting a marble one as they are my most favorite kind of cake with the best combination of chocolate and vanilla. I almost instantly jumped into baking and skipped the usual egg free cakes to do the real deal. To my surprise the cake was absolutely awesome and one of the best that I have ever had in a long time. The whole house was smelling of cake and my dad was up all night to have a piece of this cake for his late night dessert ;-). And the joy of seeing him enjoy the cake was totally worth every second. Mum on the other hand is not a cake person she is never fond of anything sweet or baked but she loved the cake too. So before I go on about all that happened let me share this amazing recipe with all of you. If you love marble cake/ snack cakes like me then this is must try recipe.

Masala Vada | Paruppu Vadai | South Indian Masal Vada

Masala Vada / Paruppu Vadai

I have been missing from blogging for a while and have been busy with a house shift. Phew the whole personal life has been super busy the past few weeks and I was not able to post recipes. Thankfully today I plan to start over again with a fresh start. October being a month of celebrations and holidays I wanted to share one of our favorite tea time snacks Masala Vada. Masala Vada / Paruppu Vadai are a popular tea time snack in South India and can be found in street stalls and hotels a lot. Although I was never a huge fan of them, I can never say no to enjoy a few for tea. There is technique and practice involved in shaping the vadas and getting them in the perfect consistency. I have had some failed attempts for this one and that never puts me down in trying to make them again :-). The weather these days seems so perfect for these deep fried goodies and a cup of tea. 

Eggless Cake Recipes | Easy Eggless Cake Recipe

 Easy Eggless Cake Recipes | Egg-free cake Recipes

Don't we call love easy snack cakes? I am a huge fan of light eggless cake recipes, if there is a way to skip eggs and butter to make cakes then I am all game to the idea. I have tried many eggless cake recipes which I thought would be great to share in one single post. Usually Eggless cakes are said to be dense, oily or too moist. But not really, although in the baking world people even war about eggless cakes and cakes with eggs. For special occasions I prefer to bake a sponge with eggs and for regular cake cravings I stick to cakes without eggs. If you ask me which I enjoy better? I love them both, its hard to not fall in love with a perfectly baked cake isn't it?. All these cakes are tried many times in my kitchen and loved and devoured by my loved ones. If you are a baker do you need an excuse to bake? certainly not ;-). Go ahead and enjoy baking these cakes for your loved ones. 

Kothavarangai Paruppu Usili | Cluster Beans Stir Fry

Kothavarangai Paruppu Usili

Kothavarangai (Cluster beans) usili is a popular vegetarian side dish which is a famous iyengar (brahmin) recipe. Amma did this side dish around a month back and I just found time to post this recipe. Its a delicious combination of vegetable and lentils in one dish. A perfect wholesome side to go with your rice or even roti. The usili base can be used for any vegetable side dish that you like.

10 Delicious Payasam Varieties | Kheer Recipes | Easy Indian Dessert

Payasam/ Kheer Recipes

The most quickest and easiest Indian dessert would be Payasam/ kheer, mostly milk based sweetened with sugar/ jaggery and garnished with nuts and raisins. There cannot be a festive occasion complete without a delicious spread of great tasting food and with a payasam/ kheer recipe to complete the lovely meal. Here is a list of my favourite payasams from my blog all in one single post. 

Kerala Chicken Stew for Appam | Nadan Kozhi Stew Recipe

Kerala Chicken Stew for Appam

Last week when I posted the Vegetable stew recipe on my blog, I got a request for Chicken stew recipe and since my husband's birthday was nearing I wanted to make Chicken stew and appam for his breakfast. I love mallu food and I have already posted many delicious mallu recipes on my blog like the aviyal, mango fish curry, ragi puttu with kadala curry, appam and so on. There are many more kerala recipe that are our family favourite but yet to be blogged. When Amma was a newly wed she had a lovely mallu chechi who thought her many kerala recipes that Amma graciously passed on to me. Although we love our Tamil food can never say no to Kerala recipes for their flavour and coconut indulgence. I am sure each household has their own recipe for a chicken stew this one is my own version. It totally depends on how rich or mild you want this curry to be. My version is mild and not rich but is perfect with appams/ idiyappams. My husband was one happy man to enjoy this breakfast combo on his birthday :-) who ever said a way to a man's heart is through his stomach was so right ;-).

Veg Momos Recipe | Schezwan Vegetable Momo

Veg momos recipe

Soft spicy steamed momos, can there the someone who cannot like them? I crave momos just like cakes, cookies and ice cream. I pull my husband to the momo shops and simply devour them with every bite. Few months back a bunch of us met up for lunch and we ordered for veg momos and I was totally disappointed with the restaurant that served dry chewy momos that only had the taste of raw cabbage. I was so disheartened and complained to the restaurant manager and walked away not forgetting what happened. So the other day I was reminded of momos and wanted to make them from scratch and it turned out too good. Try this recipe and you will tell me the same. Schezwan sauce is used to spice up these momos and I did make the filling with loads of finely chopped vegetables. And as always have tips for making the easiest filling without spending much time on chopping vegetables.

Roasted Masala Corn Chennai Beach Food | Spicy Corn on the cob with video

Roasted Masala Corn Recipe

Chennai Beaches are known for their local street vendors crying out loud their recipes of the day, ranging from bajjis, vadas, sundal, cone ice (icecream) and chole (masala roasted corn on the cob). Although the rest of the dishes always took my interest to back then, Amma is a huge fan of these roasted chole and only recently have I found a liking to them. And when ever I go grocery shopping I pick up sweet corn cobs and store them in the refrigerator. For instant evening munchies I either pressure cook them or make these masala corn, I love them both ways and definitely healthy way to enjoy your evening cuppa. Not only do beach vendors sell them sometimes street vendors also make these delicious chaar grilled corns on iron skillets with coal and fire. They taste even amazing with the chaar grilled taste. I have used sweet corn instead of the chole, I prefer the taste of sweet corn and for how soft they are to munch, you can use the same method to make roasted chole. Now lets move on to the recipe.

Vegetable Stew for Appam | Kerala mixed vegetable stew

Mixed vegetable stew for appam

Vegetable stew with appam a perfect Mallu combination that no one must miss. I still remember one of my friend's mum who used to market this combo to invite me home for breakfast. And her tricks always worked :-). Years have passed and here I am making appam and stew at home and I must say this recipe works perfect every time I plan to make appams for breakfast/ dinner. Stew is a light thin curry made with vegetables/ chicken using coconut milk. I always prefer using fresh coconut milk but making it with canned coconut milk won't hurt. Make this delicious combo for your family and be ready to be flooded with praises.

Kerala Ragi Puttu & Kadala curry | Kerala Breakfast Recipe

Ragi/ Fingermillet Flour Puttu Recipe

Last month when I was home I asked Amma to make Ragi/ fingermillet Puttu with kadala curry not like I am a big fan of puttu but because i was seriously craving for puttu. Something not the usual Tamil breakfasts like idly, dosa, poori, pongal types. And my craving for puttu was totally satisfied with this delicious combo. Although the white puttu beats the brown/ ragi one, I prefereed to have the ragi puttu for its health benefits. A perfect platter of puttu is filled with nutrition, protein, oil-free steam cooked for a healthy breakfast. Kerala puttus are incomplete without the dose of coconut but you can always skip it if your curry has coconut. Now lets move on to the recipe of kadala curry and ragi puttu.

Winners of 2'nd Blog Anniversary giveaway

Its time to announce the winners and I have to tell you all that the success of this blog is because of its readers and friends who endlessly encourage, support and motivate me. On celebrating 2 glorious years of writing this blog I wanted to give back to the people who have been with me in this two year journey. I must say that the competitive spirit did play well with many and everyone who participated did an amazing job. I had challenged everyone to 'try my recipes' featured in this blog. As they say all good things come to an end, here comes an end to this event and I am here to announce the winners of this contest. As I have mentioned in my earlier announcement post of the tips to win the giveaway, many had followed them and few missed out on the rules. But nevertheless the decision to choose the winner and runner up rests solely on me. 

Badusha | Balushahi | South Indian sweet recipe

Badusha Recipe

Soft melt in mouth badushas are anybody's favourite. But for me i never liked them when I was young, but as I grew up this sweet really brought interest to me for its uniqueness. In these past few years of marriage I have tried this sweet many times but never got to post the recipe on the blog. So last week when I had this craving for something sweet, I made this delicious badushas and we all enjoyed them at home. Do try it and let me know.

Kathirikai Gothsu | Brinjal Gothsu side dish for Pongal

Kathirikai Gothsu Recipe

Kathirikai Gothsu (Brinjal curry) is a famous South Indian side to Idly, dosa and ven pongal. Somehow the combination of this with Ven Pongal is totally mouthwatering. The slight tangy spicy dal combination is truly an easy curry/ side to make. This is my own version or take to Gothsu, some use ground powder to spice up the gothsu but this is very simply and light way to make this delicious side.

Khaman Dhokla Gujarati Snack Recipe | Instant Dhokla

Khaman Instant Dhokla Recipe

Dhokla- a light sponge like savoury cake is one of my favourite snack recipe. I still remember gulping soft dhokla along with orange slush in Gangotri a popular North Indian chaat shop back home. I never knew dhoklas can be made easily at home, I remember grabbing dhokla instant mix packets from super stores and making them at home for tea. But once you become a food blogger life changes, you grow out of the instant masala / recipe packs and learn to make things from scratch. I have tried this recipe many times and every time it works magic, makes perfect soft spongy dhoklas. Traditionally Doklas are made with bengal gram lentil that is soaked for hours and then ground to a paste. By calling this recipe instant I have used gram/ besan flour. 

Moist Honey Muffins | Butterless Honey Cake | Jewish Honey Cake

Moist Jewish Honey cake recipe

Once I started to bake I was fascinated to try honey cakes, although my quest to cracking the right recipe was a task in itself. Honey cakes are unlike the usual cakes where beating the eggs is of prime focus but not with honey cakes. This cake requires less beating and simply mixing until combined. Honey cake is a traditional Jewish cake done during Rosh Hashanah feast. This is a perfect recipe that never fails every time you try them. I have used my silicone bundt muffin liners to make this gorgeous cake. The best part is they can be had warm and of course with a cup of tea. 
Pouring some honey on the warm muffins adds a bit of sweetness to them. 

Chocolate Oats flavoured Yoghurt | Kids flavoured yoghurt recipe

Chocolate Oats Yoghurt

Being a Chocoholic I love to test chocolate recipes at home and yesterday was one such day. I wanted to try a homemade chocolate yoghurt with some different ingredients. Trust me this is so delicious and can be added into popsicle/ kulfi moulds and kept in the freezer. This is a lovely recipe for those immediate sweet cravings. Its best enjoyed chilled. Are you someone who buys canned flavoured yoghurt for your kids? did you know most of the canned food contains fructose which is the cause for weight gain and also other ingredients that are not safe for kids/ adults. You can make flavoured yoghurt at home and sneak in some healthy ingredients which your kids cannot guess. This recipe can me slightly modified for coffee lovers with addition of instant coffee powder.

Keerai Masala Oats | Oats Porridge with Drumstick Leaves

Keerai Masala Oats Recipe

I have been getting so many requests from readers for variations of Masala Oats recipe that I had posted long back. Today I am sharing a recipe that I had tried few times so wanted to share it here. Recently I was given a huge batch of Murungakeerai / Drumstick leaves so I have been using it almost daily into the recipes I made. But I wanted to make a masala oats with greens which is definately a really healthy porridge that is so easy to make which is filling. I got to know that Murungakeerai/ Drumstick leaves is great to treat Vitamin D deficiency.

Good Home Vegetable & Fruit Wash - Review

In recent times, we all source for organic produce for their nutritive value and the importance for organically grown vegetable and fruits. Its also important to have vegetable and fruits that are washed well. Our mothers always washed vegetable and fruits in running tap water which was clean. Nowadays getting clean water in taps is in itself a topic to discuss, but do you think just washing vegetables in water is enough to have clean vegetables and fruits? Well today's post will be an eye opener for all of you as I will talk about this in detail. We all know that washing fruits and vegetables not only helps remove dirt, bacteria but also removes residual pesticides. But do you think just water will help you clean away all that? And some produce are also porous so if we use artificial agents to clean will they absorb the agents while cleaning?. I have come across in the internet that vinegar is a great way to help clean the vegetables and fruits. I even saw many videos and articles in the internet that adding fruits in a sink and filling it up with water and vinegar solution can help. I found it to be ridiculous for the very fact that sinks are a place for more bacteria and germs. Not to forget that vinegar with its pungent smell puts anyone off. Recently I got a fruit and vegetable wash from Good home (TTK Company) for review purposes and put it to test. 

Mulai Keerai Masiyal | Amarnath Leaves Curry

Mulai Keerai Masiyal Recipe

Amma always makes sure she cooks atleast 2-3 kinds of vegetables everyday. If there is a poriyal then there will be a keerai. My last visit home she made this delicious Mulai keerai masiyal (amarnath leaves) which went so well with white rice and yam roast. When I posted the recipe for yam roast many of you commented on the keerai which was in the bg. Here is the recipe to a simple south Indian masiyal. The same recipe can be followed for any kind of greens as long as it is not of the bitter variety. You can pair this with white rice, ghee and a vegetable side.

Amma's Mutton Biryani Recipe | South Indian Style Mutton/Goat Biryani

Amma's Mutton Biryani Recipe

There's never been a Sunday without Amma's Chicken Biryani/ Mutton Biryani those were my teenage days and what bliss to sit and enjoy home cooked biryani along with a good Sunday movie. Gosh I miss those days terribly. Life was so care-free sigh! but now I just relish those moments by cooking up Amma's recipes and enjoying great tasting meals along with my other half ;-). Biryani is this magic dish that just draws all your senses and taste buds together and any South-Indian cannot live without them. Although I was never a fan of heavy meals/ biryani I always grew up loving the biryani Amma made. It had the perfect colour, texture, taste and spices. I think a lot had to do with her method and love that went into the dish. Nevertheless without much non-sense lets move on to the recipe.

Javvarisi Semiya Paal Payasam | Sago Vermicelli Kheer | South Indian Payasam Recipe

Javvarisi Semiya Paal Payasam

Javvarisi Semiya Paal Payasam (Sago Vermicelli Milk Pudding/ Kheer). A real South Indian cannot live without payasam for a sweet occasion or rather any feast. Mastering a payasam does not take great efforts but practice. I learnt it the hard way. During my initial culinary adventures I used to get ready made packs of payasam mix, read the ingredient list and understood what goes into a payasam. But little did I know then the real procedure / cooking method which was the key to a great payasam. Nevertheless now I absolutely got the hang of it. Paysam is so versatile and easy to make, the best part is it can be made quickly with ingredients in any Indian pantry. Although I must confess that I love relishing a chilled paaysam than the warm counterpart. Usually payasam is made with vermicelli/ semiya or javvarisi/ sago but today I have combined both ingredients to make this delicious payasam.