Green Beans Curry With Roasted Chana Dal

           There are very few curries or dishes that I do with green beans, the most common being the simple beans poriyal. This time when I got it, I wanted to try out something different from the regular. This curry again is a very easy one, with a slight variation, I added some roasted chana dal/dalia/pottu kadalai and pepper powder. This gave the curry a nice different flavor and goes very well with both rice and rotis..

Moong Dal / Green Gram And Paneer Curry

          Ever since I started using this moong dal /green gram with skin, I have become a huge fan of it, it's not only more healthy ( extra fiber from the skin) but also very tasty. I had used it in the cabbage pongal and now in this curry along with homemade paneer/ cottage cheese.  Adding paneer made this dish even more tasty and I also added some capsicum and kasuri methi for some extra flavor. We had it with pav / buns, you can even have it with some plain toast too..

Potato Peas Curry/ Aloo Matar

          Aloo Matar/ Potato Peas Curry, the most common dish on a restaurant or party menu, can be both a dry curry or a gravy one and also there are so many versions of it. Today's curry is a gravy, gets it flavors from the fresh ginger and coriander powder added to it. It's very easy to make, can use both fresh or dry green peas, but personally I prefer using fresh or frozen green peas for this curry. Makes a wonderful combination with rotis or pooris or even with some light rice pilaf..

Eggless Cauldron Cakes

          Happy New Year ! let's all hope that the year 2013 will be better than the previous one and also, that we'll hear and see relatively better things in the coming years. It's once again the time to reveal the challenge for the Eggless Baking Group, I am a little late with my post, since I was down with fever for the past few days. I would have gladly skipped it, if not for the challenge chosen, 'Eggless Cauldron Cakes'. Guess who was even more excited than me, my daughter, she and I are one among those millions of Harry Potter fans out there. The eggless baking part was easier, the real challenge for me was shaping those handles. Somehow, the chocolate chips that I got here didn't work, it wouldn't melt properly. The original recipe is from Pastry Affair, I replaced the marshmallow frosting with cream cheese one and this time I used buttermilk as the replacement for egg. It was great fun baking it, I think the next time I'll make the handles with melted dark chocolate (local Indian make, that doesn't melt in Indian room temperature), anyways, with or without handles the cakes tasted great..