Bottle Gourd & Peas Milk Curry, Lauki Matar Malai, Sorakkai Pattani Paal Curry

          It's holiday time, and most of us are either busy with kids at home or visiting family and friends. We are in Singapore now, visiting my sister's family and some old friends and I am having a wonderful time with my 2 year old nephew, and very little time to spend on the blog. I had wanted to schedule my posts, back in India itself, but it didn't work out, at least I had edited and uploaded these pictures there, so I could do a post today. Today's dish is Lauki Matar Malai/ Bottle Gourd And Peas Milk Curry, it's a slight variation from Methi (Fenugreek Leaves) Matar Malai. The curry goes well with rotis or any kind of pilaf, absolutely delicious and very different from the regular dals or curries that we make with bottle gourd. Even though malai means cream, it's not very rich or loaded with calories, I have used only low fat milk here and the flavor from kasuri methi is too good..

Fettuccine Bolognese

          Pasta Bolognese, I have never tasted this dish, because most of the restaurants serve only a non-vegetarian version of the bolognese sauce which is made with meat. And then one day, I watched this vegetarian version in a show, the sauce was made with soy granules and some Indian spices. Usually the sauce is served over spaghetti, but I had only some fettuccine with me and had all the other ingredients. I made it the same evening, but I used only Italian seasonings. It's really a simple dish, but at the same time very delicious and nutritious,and my family loved it too..

Dali Varan, Lentil Gravy

          Couple of months back I bought this cook book Rasachandrika, a very old book on Saraswat cooking, originally written in Marathi and later translated in Hindi and then in English. The first edition of the book came out in 1943 and I love the picture on the front cover, showing an Indian kitchen in the 1940's. There are many interesting recipes, and I tried this Dali Varan, a simple gravy with tuvar dal/ split pigeon peas. It's like our sambar, but tastes a little different and goes very well with plain white rice or even with idlis and dosas..

Cabbage Briyani, Muttakos Briyani

          The last couple of weeks has been so busy, can't spend much time with my blog, today I had made up my mind that I have to do a post. I had made this Cabbage Briyani or Pulao couple of weeks back, it came out very well, very flavorful, I also used some fresh raw peanuts in it instead of the usual green peas, it gave a nice different taste to the rice. Serve it with some raitha for a complete meal..

Bottle Gourd And Spring Onions Curry, Sorakkai Vengaya Thaal Curry

         Last time when I bought spring onions, it was a huge bunch and I had to find new ways to use it. I was going to do some kind of subzi with bottle gourd/ lauki/ sorakkai and instead of making the usual dal that I make with it I made a curry along with the spring onions. The curry came out very well and the spring onions gave a different flavor to the curry and it goes very well with rotis or can be also be mixed with some white rice too..

Soy And Vegetable Cutlets

          It's been a very long time since I made cutlets, I always thought it was a long and tedious job. Couple of weeks back, we had some friends visiting us in the evening and I made this for a snack. I had cooked breakfast, lunch, baked a cake and still had time to make these cutlets, it was then that I realized that they didn't take much time to prepare but a little bit of planning. I had a packet of soy granules, so just went ahead and used it along with some vegetables for making these cutlets. They were simply too good, my daughter who is not a big fan of the store bought ones, loved these, just serve them with some sliced onions and tomato sauce/ ketchup..

How To Freeze Green Peas

          My freezer is always stocked up with green peas, whenever fresh peas are available, I get them and freeze them and when fresh peas are not in season, there is always store bought frozen peas. When I buy fresh ones, usually, I shell them, wash and freeze the peas as such and mostly use them up within a week or two. This time I got a lot and I wanted to freeze it in the proper way, so that it would last longer. It's a very simple method, if you have shelled the pea pods, the rest takes very little time..

Kurumilagu (Fresh Green Peppercorns) Dal

          Kurumilagu or Fresh Green Peppercorns, this is not available everywhere, but when I get them I do this dal with it. When we went to Coorg, I came to know that pepper, cardamom and vanilla beans are grown along with the coffee plants. When we were shown around the coffee estate, I saw these pepper plants and the green peppercorns in them. The guide plucked me some and I brought them with me to Bangalore. This is a very simple dal, I have used tuvar dal/ split pigeon peas and flavored the dal with some garlic and the green peppercorns and it goes well with both rice as well as rotis..

Eggless Slovak Paska Bread And Paska Peeps

          For the Eggless Baking Challenge this month, we had to bake Slovak Paska Bread or Paska Peeps or both. This bread is traditionally eaten during Easter in Eastern European countries, looks very beautiful, and has a nice buttery taste. The Paska Peeps is bread, shaped like cute little birds using the same dough. I have replaced eggs with flax seeds and used oil instead of butter, also I have replaced some of the all purpose flour with whole wheat flour. The bread turned out very good and this is first time I have tried braiding the bread dough, the peeps/ birds were really very easy to make and I enjoyed the whole process..

Capsicum Curry With Peanuts And Sesame Seeds

          As I have mentioned so many times, capsicum is one vegetable, that I always have in my fridge, it is a very versatile vegetable and so many dishes can be made with it. It pairs beautifully with so many vegetables, it takes less time to cook and most importantly, can be chopped in minutes. For today's curry I have cooked the capsicums with some roasted peanut and sesame seeds powder which gives a nice taste and flavor to it. It's again an easy one, very ideal for those busy weekdays and goes well with both rice and rotis..

Microwave Apple Jam

          Homemade jams are always more special than the store bought ones and I had always wanted to make some, but kept putting it off since my family is not the 'jam' kind, they like savory sandwiches better. But this time I had so much apples at home, I had bought some and then a visiting friend had got some more, and I knew I had to do something with it. This apple jam, it's from a cook book that came with my microwave oven. It's such an easy method, I followed the original recipe, except for the amount of sugar and I added some ginger which gave a nice flavor and taste to the jam. My daughter who's not a big fan of jelly sandwiches, loved this jam and I was so happy, that my maiden attempt at jam making was a success..

Potato And Lentils, Aloo Dal

          On weekdays, when I pack lunch, and when it's rotis, I try to make some side dish that has some protein in it, usually by adding some dal/ lentils or some form of soy, so that it's filling and doesn't make you hungry very soon. Today's dish is one such, I have cooked moong dal along with potatoes, and I have added kasuri methi which gives the dal a nice flavor. This is so easy to make, you have to only dice the potatoes and tomatoes and the entire cooking can be done in the pressure pan. This dal goes very well with pilafs, rotis or even with dosas..

Potol Posto, Parwal/ Pointed Gourd In Poppy Seed Paste

         When I was back in the US, I used to see this vegetable called as Potol/ Parwal/ Pointed Gourd at the Indian grocery stores, it looked similar to tindora/ kovakkai/ gherkins, but a little plumpy. I had no idea where to use this vegetable or how to cook it or how it tasted once cooked. Then after moving to Chennai, I didn't see it, but now in Bangalore, I am seeing this vegetable everywhere, but I still didn't buy it till a couple of weeks back. I had bought this Bengali cook book called Bangla Ranna, while browsing through it, I saw that this vegetable is widely used in Bengali cooking. I have tasted posto a couple of times, which is basically a vegetable dish, in which the chosen vegetable ( usually potato, potol and even ridge gourd ) is cooked in a poppy seeds gravy. I checked a couple of other Bengali food sites and then made this, reduced the amount of poppy seeds and of course I haven't used mustard oil. This dish goes very well with rice, even if you don't find or don't want to try parwal/ potol, try this curry once with the common potatoes..

Guacamole (Avocado/ Butter Fruit) With Cumin And Garlic

          After moving to India, getting my hands on a good avocado or butter fruit as they call it here was a big problem, the couple of times that I bought this while staying in Chennai, it always turned out bad and then I stopped buying it. But now in Bangalore, I am able to buy good avocados, they are in fact huge ones, almost double the size of the Hass avocados, that we get back in the US. My family loves guacamole, we have it as a spread on our sandwiches. Till date I only knew that they used the fruit for making guacamole, in milk shakes and ice creams, only recently, while reading about Coorg, I came to know, avocado is a staple there and they enjoy it simply with some honey, I have to try this yet. Coming to today's post, I have already posted a recipe for gaucamole in my blog, this is a slightly different version and it's more flavorful with the addition of garlic and cumin..

Palak Paneer - 2, Spinach With Indian Cottage Cheese

          Though I am calling this post as Palak Paneer - 2, this is in fact, the first palak paneer that I used to do for my daughter. It's a very simple dish that does not use much spices or masalas. Back in the US, we get baby spinach packets, just wash and blanch them and use them and they taste very good in this dish, better than the regular spinach. This dish is ideal for a small group, because we are using only spinach puree here, no onions or tomatoes to give more volume, for a bigger group or party, I would recommend my other recipe here. I got this recipe from a cook book of Chef Sanjeev Kapoor, a delicious recipe with minimum ingredients and maximum flavor..

Potato And Capsicum Rice, Urulaikizhangu Kudaimilagai Saadam

          Potato and Capsicum Rice, this again is a very easy and quick dish, it can be put together in a breeze, especially if you have some leftover rice from the previous day. It's a perfect lunch box idea for your busy weekdays, uses the basic ingredients from your pantry and of course, potatoes and capsicums. Just serve it with some raitha or curd and some chips on the side for a delicious meal..

Eggless Banana Pancakes

          Last week I bought some bananas, the three of us ate some but then, as usual, there was some left which was overripe. Most of the time, this ends up in the garbage, but this time I had so many left and I had to do something with it. Initially I thought of making some appams, but then after eating so much sweets for Diwali, didn't feel like doing it and then decided on making these pancakes. I tried to make it as healthy as possible, used whole wheat flour and replaced eggs with yogurt and used oil instead of butter. The pancakes came out very good, but the best part is, I served them, slathered with some chunky peanut butter, the slight salty taste from the peanut butter took the pancakes to another level..

Okra Fritters, Vendakkai Pakoras, Bhindi Fries

          Both my daughter and husband love okra/ vendakkai/ bhindi and they like all the dishes that I make with it, starting from sambar to curries. I have made these fritters/ fries long time back and after that whenever we had it, it was store bought ones as I usually make the vendakkai curry every time that I bought okra. This time I reserved some okra for making these fries, it's such an easy recipe and you'll love it, even if you don't like okra otherwise. This might not be a healthy way of eating okra, but deep frying it removes the sliminess from it and leaves you with a crunchy and yummy snack..

Muttakos Adai, Cabbage Adai

          Adai is a family favorite, it's not only tasty but also very nutritious. I usually make the regular Paruppu Adai just with rice and dal batter mixed with onions and coconut or the Vazhaipoo Adai with the same batter mixed with chopped banana flower. This time, I made the adai with chopped cabbage and also slightly changed the flavor of the batter with ginger and cumin seeds instead of fennel seeds. Cabbage gave a different taste and flavor, and we enjoyed the adais with some tomato chutney..

Pottukadalai, Dalia, Roasted Gram Chutney

          Though I haven't posted yet, the tomato chutney is one that I do most often as a side for idlis and dosas, since it's a favorite for both my husband and daughter. But sometimes, when I run out of tomatoes or I am running short of time, then it's this pottukadalai/ dalia or roasted gram chutney. No previous roasting or sauteing is required and you can do a couple of versions with it. Usually I do a combo of green chillies, ginger, roasted gram and a little coconut or dried red chillies, garlic, roasted gram and coconut. But for today's chutney I have used red chillies with ginger and have also added a couple of shallots. This chutney goes well with almost everything, both as a side to idlis and dosas and would also taste good if mixed with rice too..

Beetroot Kootu, Beetroot Dal, Beets With Lentils

          Whenever I buy beets, I usually make a poriyal or use it along with other vegetables in a kurma or curry. I've made kootu with it long time back, but the taste was not that amazing, so I never did it after that. I made the kootu again, couple of weeks back, cooked beets along with some dal and this time, spiced it up with black pepper and the taste was awesome. I've noted that black pepper ( instead of dried red chillies ) goes well with vegetables that have a sweetish taste like carrots and beets. And also, I have done the seasoning with coconut oil which gives a wonderful flavor to this kootu. It tastes great with some plain rice and pappads..

Aval Upma, Poha Upma

          It's been a week since I checked on my blog, had been on a trip to Coorg and came back only on Saturday. It was a different kind of a vacation, very relaxed and peaceful, saw for the first time, a coffee estate, learnt a little more about what goes into that morning cup of coffee. We also visited Talakaveri, the place of origin of the river Kaveri, a holy pilgrimage for the Hindus. We also got to taste a little bit of the local Kodava cuisine, Coorg food, I would be trying out some of the dishes and posting them here later. Now coming to today's post, it's the simple aval upma or poha, this is one upma that my daughter likes and I have been trying out different versions of this simple and humble upma. I have already posted one, Pepper And Jeera Aval, and today it's going to be another one, here we are flavoring the rice flakes/ aval/ poha with lemon, ginger and green chillies. It's such a simple dish, can be put together in under 20 minutes and makes a good breakfast or an after school snack..

Green Beans And Chickpeas Curry

         Back after a weekend of fun and celebration, hope everybody had a fun filled and safe Diwali. After all the sweets and savories for the past couple of weeks, today's post is going to be a simple curry with green beans and chickpeas/ garbonza beans or chana. It's very simple to make, goes very well with both rice and rotis, very healthy and nutritious..

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..

Beetroot Poriyal/ Curry

          There are very few dishes that I make with beets and I have posted some of them. Somehow whenever I did this poriyal, something went wrong, either I was in a hurry or I couldn't take pictures, so never got a chance to post it. It's in fact a very simple recipe which goes very well with rice and sambar or morkuzhambu. Apart from grated coconut, I also add some grated ginger and coriander powder which gives a nice flavor to the dish..

Moong Dal/ Payatham Paruppu/ Green Gram Sambar

          When I make idlis or dosas, the standard side dish that I make with it, is either some kind of a chutney or sambar. The sambar that we make for tiffins is slightly different from the ones that we make for rice, we add very little or no tamarind at all. I make two varieties of sambar, the one using tuvar dal/ split pigeon peas is here and the other one is, using moong dal/ husked, split green gram, which is today's post. Both are equally delicious and when had with idlis and dosas make a complete meal. I don't add any sambar powder to this sambar, it gets its taste and flavor only from the fresh green chillies, coriander leaves and curry leaves, it has a fresh taste and very easy to make too..

Date And Walnut Sandwich

          It's a known fact, dates and nuts go together very well, especially dates stuffed with almonds is very common. I wanted to try dates with walnuts and also I wanted to make a sandwich with it. To make a spreadable mix, I combined dates, walnuts and cream cheese together, and spread it on toasted bread slices, the result was delicious..

Eggplant And Capsicum Subzi

          Sometimes when I run out of vegetables, when I have a little of this and that, I try to make something with what I have in hand, this Eggplant and Capsicum Subzi is one such dish. It's a very simple subzi, the eggplant and capsicum make a nice pair and the garlic and black pepper give it a nice flavor. This would go very well, both with rotis or as a side dish to rice and dal and it's also very easy to put together..

Papaya Milkshake

          Papaya, I have never been a big fan of this fruit in the past, the smell was too strong for me and for all other unknown reasons, I had avoided it. But now, I have developed a liking for this fruit, I think, might be the hybrid varieties available don't have the very strong smell and also, knowing the health benefits of this fruit, you want to set a good example for your kids. At home, we like it ripe but at the same time firm, not overripe and mushy and we just have it as such. The other day I tried out this simple milkshake with it, it turned out very good. I didn't add any flavors to it, just milk, papaya and honey, very healthy and tasty. Only, one warning, make this milkshake fresh and just have it right away, it might taste a little bitter with time..

Capsicum Pilaf

          Today's post is yet another rice dish, Capsicum Pilaf. I had noted down this recipe, long time back from a newspaper. It's different from the other pilafs, especially the flavor, might be from the ground paste, or from the capsicum and cabbage added to this pilaf. Just serve it with some raitha, I would recommend boondi raitha for this, perfect combination..

Paal Payasam/ Milk Pudding

          Paal Payasam, it's one of the easiest and delicious desserts. The alternate name, Milk Pudding can be slightly misleading, because the preparation is totally different from that of a pudding. I had made this for my husband's birthday, he likes milk based desserts, and of course this is the simplest one. Though the ingredients required for Paal Payasam and Rice Kheer are the same, they taste different, mostly because of the different variety of rice used, still they both are delicious in their own way..

Whole Moong And Mushroom Curry

          Whenever I cooked mushrooms, I have either sauteed it, or used it in combination with vegetables like baby corn, capsicum or potatoes, never have I tried it with some dal. I gave it a try, cooked it along with whole moong/ moong beans or green gram and some freshly ground masala paste. The curry turned out good and it went well with both rice and rotis..