Eggless Pina Colada Cake

          Pina Colada Cake, most of us are very familiar with this flavor, if not, it's a cake bursting with tropical flavors of coconut and pineapple, well, this was our challenge, this month, for Eggless Baking, it was suggested by Meena of Chettinad Fiesta. It's basically a sponge cake frosted with pineapple mousse, coconut and mascarpone cheese, the process might look a bit long, but the end result is worth all of it. The original cake recipe here, uses rum, coconut liquor and eggs, I have replaced eggs with condensed milk and orange juice and left out the alcohol. I have made cakes, using condensed milk alone which gives a dense cake and orange juice alone which gives a airy and super spongy cake. For this cake I have used both of them, because I felt that if I used orange juice alone, the cake would be very light and might weigh down with the frosting. Since the frosting has coconut, cheese and fruits, it has to be refrigerated, if you like the drink Pina Colada or cheese frosting or white chocolate, then this cake is for you, because the frosting tasted a little bit like all of the above..

Potato And Bitter Gourd Stir Fry, Urulaikizhangu Pavakkai Vadakkal

          Last month, we had lunch at a Bengali restaurant, though I have tasted Bengali food a couple of times, I cannot talk about the authenticity of a dish. But on that day, I spoke to a girl ( a Bengali student ) sitting at the next table and she told me that she was tasting home style food after a long time, I took that as the verdict. One of the dishes that we ordered that day was a vegetable bajje ( appetizer ), I thought it would be some vegetable, dipped in batter and deep fried. To my surprise, it was a potato and bitter gourd fry, I think both the vegetables were deep fried and then sauteed with some spices. We just loved it, and I wanted to try it at home, I have tried to reproduce it from what I had tasted, I didn't get the recipe, and also I have tried to make it healthy too, try this, even kids wouldn't mind the pavakkai/ karela/ bitter gourd in this..

Zucchini Rice

          Every single day ( at least the weekdays), the first question that pops in my mind, ' what do I pack for lunch today ', invariably it's either rice or rotis. If it's rotis, then the next question, ' what should I make to go with it ', or if it's rice, ' what rice '. I know, many of us go through this, I also think, that I should plan for it, the night before, but that seldom happens and most of the time I make something that occurs to me at that moment. This zucchini rice is also one such dish, simple and delicious one pot meal that can be put together in a very short time..

Ompodi, Sev

          Ompodi/ Sev, this is one of the simplest snacks, in spite of having eaten it so many times, both store bought and homemade, this is the first time I tried making it. I have made other stuff like murukku, pakodas and mixture, but I don't know, for some reason I have never tried making this. The basic ingredient is besan flour/ chickpea flour/ kadalai maavu/ bengal gram flour and the other important ingredient which gives the flavor and also the name is omam/ ajwain seeds. It is very easy to prepare, in fact, it took me under 30 minutes from start to finish ( for the measurements given below ). This can be had as such or used as a garnish or topping on chats..

Drumstick Curry, Murungakkai Pirattal, Curry

          Whenever I bought drumsticks/ murungakkai, the only dish that I made was a sambar with it. Especially, when we were in the US, where drumsticks was a rare thing at least where I stayed, I would never try any other dish, I didn't want to do something that didn't taste good and waste them. After coming to India, where you get this vegetable in abundance, there is even a drumstick tree in my parents' place, I could play around with it. I made a soup with it but I was not satisfied with the result, then I made this curry, this one is a sure winner, it had the perfect balance of spices. It tasted too good when mixed with some white rice and the drumsticks tasted very delicious in this curry, try this when you cook drumsticks the next time..

Coconut And Condensed Milk Ladoos

          Coconut Ladoos with Condensed Milk, this is one of the easiest desserts that one can make, yet tastes so delicious. It can be put together in under 10 minutes, if you had all the ingredients, well to say it more accurately, just 2 ingredients, coconut and condensed milk and the process, if you can call it one, is so very simple..

Thakkali Paruppu Rasam, Tomatoes And Lentil Rasam/ Soup

         When I cook lunch, the South Indian way with rice, sambar and curry, rasam is a must, at least for my husband. He, being a big fan of tomatoes, this rasam which is loaded with tomatoes is one of his favorites. I don't use the regular rasam powder for this, instead I use freshly ground pepper and cumin and also some chopped ginger which gives a wonderful flavor to it. It's very easy to make, tastes great with rice and can be had as a soup too..

Mushroom, Baby Corn And Basil Risotto

          I had bought this box of Arborio rice some time back, wanted to make risotto with it, but kept putting it off, I thought I'll taste risotto first at a restaurant and then do it. But I never got a chance to taste it and luckily this arborio rice has a good shelf life, and that particular day I had all the ingredients needed, mushroom, baby corn and basil, so finally I just browsed, went through many recipes and decided to make it. I didn't have any idea about how long the rice was going to take to cook or whether the family would like it or not, but at the end, it was a big hit at home. If you like cheese and Italian food, then try this at least once, you'll love it..

Mysore Pak/ Besan Flour Fudge

         Diwali is going to be here in just two weeks time, and I know many of us are busy, be it preparing sweets and savories or buying clothes and gifts for the family. I am also seeing lots of festival recipes in the other blogs too, so today I thought I'll post a sweet recipe, Mysore Pak. The main ingredient here is besan flour/ chickpea flour, ghee and of course sugar, and there are two varieties of this very famous sweet, the soft burfi type and the other semi-hard one. I like both of them, but the semi-hard one is a little more special for me. Though the ingredients are simple, the process is a little tricky, which I think one can master with practice. I have watched this video of Vahchef so many times and every time I am fascinated at seeing the finished mysore pak at the end, so perfect with the famous honeycomb texture. I have tried to make it, I know I have not done it perfectly, I am sure, the next time I'll do it even better, but for the first time, I am happy with the result..

Bread Upma

          Both my husband and daughter are not big fans of plain bread and jelly/ jam. They prefer savory sandwiches in the morning, I usually make the pesto sandwich or guacamole sandwich, or atleast some sandwich with something that's spicy between the slices. Apart from sandwiches, I also make this bread upma, especially when the bread is old. This is not only, easy to make, but also a tasty variation from the sandwiches or the regular upma that we make with semolina and vermicelli, a good breakfast or an evening snack for kids..

Zucchini Dal, Zucchini With Lentils

          After all the sundal and sweet recipes last week, I thought I'll post a simple dal recipe today. The same dal/ lentils, when cooked with different spices and a different vegetable gets an entirely new flavor and taste. For today's dal I have used tuvar dal/ split pigeon peas, zucchini and seasoned it with panch phoron. This is a very easy recipe, extremely flavorful  and it goes very well with both rice and rotis..

Besan Laddu, Bengal Gram Flour Laddu

          Besan Laddu/ Gram Flour Laddu, I have made this only once, long time back for one Diwali, I guess. Though it came out well and tasted really delicious, for some reason I didn't do it again. This is the second time, this is an extremely easy and yet at the same time really very tasty laddu. It just needs four ingredients and takes under 30 minutes, at the end of which you have 25 laddus, very flavorful from the ghee and cardamom added..

Black Eyed Peas Sundal, Karamani Sundal

          As I had said before, I am going to post only Navarathri recipes this whole week. So today's post is again another sundal, Black Eyed Peas Sundal/ Karamani Sundal. We can cook the black eyed peas and just do the simple seasoning with mustard seeds, asafoetida and curry leaves, in fact we can do this simple seasoning with all the beans or lentils. To make it a little different and to add a nice flavor, I have used some freshly ground spices and added it to the cooked black eyed peas, and also a little jaggery which gives a light sweet taste to this delicious sundal..

Apple Kheer, Apple Payasam

          Apple Kheer/ Payasam, I had been wanting to try out this dish for a long time, and in spite of always having a stock of apples in hand, I never got a chance to make it. What better time to make it, than now, during Navarathri. It needs very few ingredients that's always in your pantry, very easy to prepare and it tastes really good..

Verkadalai Sundal, Peanut Sundal

          I have decided that, this whole week, or at least till Friday, I am going to post some sundal or sweet dish only, so in line with that, today's post is going to be Verkadalai Sundal/ Peanut Sundal. This is one of my favorite sundals, usually I just do the basic seasoning with mustard seeds, asafoetida, red chillies and curry leaves. Today I have added some grated carrots, if your kids are like mine, likes peanuts but hates carrots, then I am sure, if you give them this way, they'll not mind the carrots in it. This can be had as a snack or even as a side dish or salad along with any meal..

Bottle Gourd Halwa, Sorakkai Halwa, Doodhi Halwa, Lauki Ka Halwa

          Since everybody is in a festival mood in India, celebrating Navarathri, thought I'll post a sweet recipe today. I regularly buy bottle gourd/ sorakkai/ lauki and everytime I usually make a subzi, curry or kootu with it, a side dish to go with rotis and rice. This is the first time I tried a sweet, a halwa with it, I haven't tasted this before so I didn't have any idea about it, but then, when I tasted the first spoon, I can tell you this, it was awesome, above all my expectations, simply too good..

Chickpeas Sundal With Sesame

          It's Navaratri time, though we don't celebrate this nine day long festival, I love to see the Golu at my friends'. I see that the festival mood has caught up with the bloggers too, I see a lot of sundals and other goodies in many of the blogs. I have a couple of them, in my space too,Chickpeas Sundal and Chana Dal Sundal, thought I'll share another one today. This is also made out of chickpeas, here I have made a small change to the regular sundal recipe. I have added sesame seeds which give a nice flavor to it, try it if you like sesame seeds..

Aloo Bhindi/ Potato And Okra Curry

          I love potatoes, this vegetable is so versatile, you can make so many dishes with it, gravies, fries, chips, even sweets can be made from this vegetable. It not only tastes good, all by itself, but combines beautifully with almost any vegetable and gives a wonderful taste to any dish. I have used it in combination with eggplants, green peas, spinach, and now for today's recipe, along with okra/ bhindi/ lady's finger. Even people who otherwise don't like okra because of its sliminess would try this dish with potato. This dish has a nice garlic flavor and goes very well with both rotis and rice..

Eggless Ferrero Rocher Tarts

          Last two months, I was not able to take part in the Eggless Baking challenges, I missed those wonderful bakes, but I am going to try them later. This month no matter what,I was determined to do it, and we had a superb challenge for this month, Eggless Ferrero Tarts ( known as such, since the Ferrero Rocher chocolates was the inspiration for these tarts ), it was suggested by Priya Srinivasan of Enveetu Kitchen, you can check out the original recipe at Trissalicious. It involves a couple of steps, baking the tarts, making the tart fillings and finally assembling the tart. Though it may sound and look like a lot of work, it was not a difficult task, I totally enjoyed doing it and of course eating it too, my family simply loved it..