Red Cabbage And Banana Flower ( Vazhaipoo ) Poriyal ( Stir Fry )

          Everybody knows about the benefits of cabbage, especially the red one is even better than the white one. Whenever I bought this, I usually added it to a fried rice, but some time back, I made a poriyal with it, and I added banana flower ( vazhaipoo ), just because I had a little in the refrigerator. The combination tasted very good and now whenever I make red cabbage, I make it this way. Another big reason, my daughter who doesn't like both cabbage and banana flower separately, for some reason, likes this poriyal with both in it. I know most kids and even some adults don't like banana flower ( vazhaipoo ), next time, do try out this combo..

Badam Halwa, Almond Fudge

          Badam Halwa, this is one of the first sweets, or should I say the first sweet that I had tried out after my marriage, but of course, the first time, it was a total disaster. That doesn't mean that this is a difficult dish, it's just that, I was new to cooking, didn't have a proper kadai/pan. I was trying to make the halwa in a wok, it started sticking to the pan and at the same time, it was splattering all over, finally I lost my patience and dumped everything into the sink. Well, I have come a long way from there, at least, I can say confidently that I know the basics and a little more in cooking. Coming back to the halwa, it's an easy dish, needs the basic ingredients for any Indian sweet along with the almonds and a little patience, but it's worth all of it and tastes absolutely delicious..

Begun Bhaja, Baingan Bhaja, Bengali Style Eggplant Fry

          Begun Bhaja, Baingan Bhaja, another dish that I had tried from the Bengali cuisine, some time back. It's a simple and tasty dish, we use the big eggplants for this, the slices are marinated in spice powders, dusted with some rice flour and shallow fried. It tastes very good with rice and some dal/lentil curry, but of course it can be served with rotis too..

Fresh Lobia ( Karamani, Black Eyed Beans ) Curry

          Today's dish, a curry with fresh lobia/karamani/ black eyed beans is another dish that I had made sometime back. Though dried lobia is available easily, fresh karamani is not found every time, so whenever I find fresh beans like this, I always buy and stock some. We can make all the dishes that we make with dried beans with these fresh ones, no need of soaking and of course they taste awesome. I have added some capsicum for some flavor and also a paste of coconut, small onions and fennel seeds to make a thick curry. We had it with rotis, but the curry would go very well with any kind of pilaf too..

Thayir Semiya, Semiya Bagalabath, Curd Semiya/Vermicelli

          Thayir Semiya, this is something that I make very often at home, in fact I have already posted a recipe, Beetroot Semiya Bagalabath here in my blog, today's version is a slight variation and it's again my friend's recipe. It has a sweetish taste, we add some sugar, raisins and lots of pomegranate. It's a very easy dish, delicious way to end any meal and great for parties too..