Groundnut Laddoos ~ Peanut Balls Neivedyam for Ganesh Chaturti!

During our recent trip to my sil home, my elder sil had made us these yummy Groundnut laddos along with Sesame laddos. Both were simply out of the world tasting! Though we make Sesame Ladoos for all Ganesh Chaturti, I don't remember Amma making the Peanut laddos that often. Though we literally rock and roll in peanuts. We love everything with Peanuts! So you can imagine my surprise at realizing that I haven't actually made these laddos till now.

We decided that for this year's Vinayaka Chaturti, this is what we are going to make. And yes after the hectic traveling from Tirumala, these laddos and payasam was easy to make. With the kids running around crazy, Athamma and I had to struggle getting these things ready for the pooja. I had asked Amma to get us the Ganesh idol, so Konda missed the chance of shopping for the pooja. We get the usual things along with the Idol, the fruits and flowers specially for this pooja.

Since some of you wanted to see more pictures of Tirumala Temple, you can check out my memories of the Trip in my other blog!

Though I had already blogged on Rice balls, this time these were done differently and hence look different too. Finally we were able to make Peanut Laddos, Sesame Laddos, Rice Flour Laddoos, Senaga pappu Payasam and few more things..With so many sweets I was sorely missing the gugulus. We normally make Channa Sundal but didn't have time to soak them.

Groundnut Laddoos ~ Peanut Balls

Groundnut Laddos ~ Peanut Balls Recipe

Roasted Peanuts - 1 cup
Jaggery - 1 cup
Ghee - 3 -4 tbsp
Cardamom powder a pinch (optional)

Method to prepare:

• Dry roast the peanuts in a pan, till they are well cooked. You can know they are done when the outer skin starts having black spots. The technique lies in rotating the peanuts well and not allowing them to rest on the hot kadai. This way they get cooked by the heat at the same time not get burnt.
• Cool and remove the skin.
• Grate the jaggary and take both peanuts and jaggary in a mixie and process it for couple of times. You can run it till you get a good solid texture. If you want it to be a bit coarse, you can remove after couple of pluses.
• Remove to a bowl, add hot ghee. Mix the mixture with spoon and after couple of minutes, take a handful and see if you can hold them as balls. If the mixture holds its shape well, you can continue making the laddos. Else add some more ghee and continue till it gets over.
• We can add the cardamom after you make a powder of both peanuts and jaggary.
• These laddus normally stays good over a week when stored in an air tight container.
  
  Note: Normally in most dishes, I melt the jaggary to remove the impurities, but since in this ladus, its not possible, I buy the ones that are more white and usually comes in molded shape. The Jaggary that sold as a ball has some impurities.
  

Hope you all had a great Festive day!

A Trip to Tirumala Temple!

A trip to Tirumala Tirupati takes planning. Its not only a place I love visiting but also happens to be my parent's native place. So you can imagine my joy going back there every time. As I child, I remember traveling with parents to grandparents home. For us a visit to the temple is a must atleast once a year, if not more than that. And Dad used to take care of all the arrangements. From what I remember it wasn't so crowded as it is now. And it used to more of a resort than anything else. The cool weather with the lovely cottages and less crowd. it used to be a trip worth looking forward too.

View of the Waterfall from Tirupati on way to Tirumala

The times when we didn't visit the temple, I used to satisfy myself going to the terrace of my grandparents home and gaze at the Gaali Gopuram that is visible all over tirupati. Though we visit the temple frequently, I never get to click all the pictures to my heart's content nor end up posting it. This time, since I wanted to make sure I did! Since we booked the tickets much earlier, we didn't realise that Ganesh Chaturti was on Sunday. So when we knew, we decided to start back early from the Tirupati to be on time for the Ganesh pooja.. Both on the trip up and down, we saw huge Idols of Lord Ganesh being taken for the pooja.

Alipiri ~ Welcome by Garuda

We started here by 10 am. On the way I stopped hubby dear for couple of pictures. We reached Tirupati by 1.30 pm, had out lunch at Hotel Bliss. Then moved on to Alipiri, the starting place for the car route. It was drizzle a bit and we could see the beautiful waterfalls. The beautiful Garuda standing erect looks too awesome! I could also see the Gaali Gopuram, which is en route by the walking path. Years ago, on my only trip by walk, I remember stopping there for solid 30 minutes to rest. It was still so fresh in mind, the entire 5+ hrs that we took to climb the stairs. The steps from Gaali Gopuram are really too steep. This time round, we stopped to click some pictures too!

View from the Second Hill

Posing en route!

The weather so magically changed from being to chill to foggy. along the way I even clicked pictures which reflected on the side mirror. We reached Tirumala by 3.15 or so. Since the Darshan was booked for 3 pm, we went straight to the counter place. The place was comparatively low, the next day being the Vinayaka Chaturti. After a long time, we went using the Sudarsanam Token, which on regular days might taken more than couple hours for one to get Darshan. This time it took about nearly 2+ hrs. It wasn't the usual pushing and pulling experience. It normally gets very crowded near the Maha Dwaram.

Lord Venkateshwara Temple

After the darshan, we stayed over the night and returned by early next morning! Stopped on the way to click pictures of the beautiful waterfalls.

Waterfalls on the way back

And you can't miss the naturally formed Garuda in the mountains!

Natural formation of Garudu in the mountain

Gaali Gopuram

Lord Anjaneya ~ on the way down

The beautiful huge status of Lord Anjaneya is on the way down. Its also situated in the place used by pilgrims who walk to the temple.

More pictures to follow in my journey called life!

Vinayaka Chavithi Pooja ~ Ganesh Chaturthi Greetings!

I wish all my readers a happy Vinayakaya Chaturthi!

Its been a real hectic day, just wanted to share our pooja and few pictures! We went to for temple visit to Tirumala and came back this morning. So asked Amma to get us the Ganesh Idol. Otherwise we normally go shopping to get the lord home!

Had just enough time to prepare the neivedyam and only after pooja, was able to prepare the lunch.

Vinayaka Chavithi Neivedyam ~ Senega Pappu Payasam, Sesame Laddoos, Peanut Laddos, Rice Ladoos, just are going to be surprise!

Will post the recipes tomorrow, including our trip pictures!




The last two years celebrations can be viewed here Vinayaka Chaturthi Pooja 2007 & Vinayaka Chaturti Pooja 2008

Indian Food, Indian Recipes, Recipes for Simple Indian Food ~ Recipe Index

Please click on the name to take you to the list!

Vegetarian Dishes

Indian Basics ~ How to Make

Breakfast Dishes

Indian Drinks

Essential Extras

Chutneys, Podis, Pickles and Sauces

Soups

Salads/ Raithas

Appetizers / Starters

Indian Traditional Snacks

Indian Breads

Dry Side Dishes ~ Vepudu, Poriyal, Thoran or Veggies with Dry / Medium Saute

Indian Dal Recipes | Vegetarian Indian Recipes with Lentils

Sambar, Kootus, Kuzhambu and Rasam

Kurmas, Kofta Curries, Kuras, North Indian Gravies

Paneer Special Recipes

Rice n Noodles

Indian Lunch Box Recipes

Indian Sweets

Cakes n Bakes!

Kid Friendly Dishes

Bachelor Cooking

Indian Microwave Recipes

Diabetic Menu

Indian Festival Foods

Indian Non Vegetarian Dishes

All Chicken Recipes

All Mutton Recipes

Fish

Prawn

Misc n Memories

Parenting and Kids

Diabetes and its management

Indian Cooking Challenge

Events Hosted

By Cuisine

Sometimes you just need to see for yourself to know how far you have come!

It took me couple of emails that landed into my mail box asking for similar requests, got me into thinking that maybe my Recipe Index is not being used much. Though I have always been on the outlook to get an automated tool to do this for me, a person who always thinks of creating tools to automate process, finally decided that I like going through the list each time I update the Index.

I won't say I update the list right away as soon as the post is published, which would actually be great. I do try my best though. On the other hand I found that creating an Index is an on-going project! Next on my do to list is to upload pictures in thumbnails for you to enjoy the list. Hope I will do it soon.

Yes, my cookbook work is going on snail pace, but I wanted to track the recipes that I have blogged in both my blogs. Hence spent considerable time in just getting this list out, hoping it would help the many who land in here in the pursuit of Happiness..:)

All the recipes are mostly simple Indian every day dishes that even a novice would find it easy to handle. If you have tried something and have feedback on it, please do share it with me. I have tried my best to categorize the recipes and always been eager to know which category sounds interesting to my readers.

My quest has always been to learn different cuisines, but also to put my home recipes featuring Rayalaseema Cuisine, including my own interpretation of the South Indian Cuisine on the Road Map. So majority of the 550 recipes that I have blogged feature these. So "By Cuisine" list is still not updated and lacks lot from the other wonderful cuisines that I want to try.

Anytime in the individual list, clicking on the Back to the Main Index will bring you back to the Main List.

I hope you stay back to enjoy!

Aloo Masala ~ Baby Potato Curry!

This simple Baby Potato Masala or the Aloo Masala with Quick n simple Tomato Rice was our Saturday meal. Since Athamma was coming only on Sunday, we had a simple breakfast and planned to visit my new born nephew! Knowing its a national holiday for the Independence day, I agreed to meet my blogger friends. Only to know very late in the evening that it was a day off for the kids. So after our visit to hospital, we landed in Sra's place for a quick meet. We couldn't get many of the other bloggers, so in the end it was only Jayashree, Sra and me. With the entire zing bang in toe, couldn't naturally stay for long. We got treated to some delicious chocolates before leaving for home.

Back home I had just about half hour to prepare the lunch and this is what I could think of. The baby potatoes were great being ducked in the gravy and went very well with the quick tomato rice, which is my kids favorite. Will be sharing it on the Spice your Life blog!

Baby Potato Curry ~ Aloo Masala

The day passed off in a blur, what with the Aadi Seasonal extravaganza in full swing in our neighborhood! Well you got to live here to experience the fun. Anyway the weekend passed away so quickly, and I am still left with not making up for my ICC! Athamma was home on Sunday and kids were jubilant seeing her. So happily left them with her and went for a movie. Its not everyday that we treat ourselves for one.

Needless to say we didn't even feel the Sunday, only to wake up today to a sudden outpour of rains in our parts of the world. It sure caught us unaware. Especially if its a Monday morning and you are prone to a MM Blues! Even after going through the menu that I planned for the day, I got delayed in the end. I rushed to office.

Coming to the recipe, its a simple aloo in a tomato base with spices and kasuri methi.

Aloo Masala with Quick Tomato Rice ~ Our Meal!

Baby Potato Curry ~ Aloo Masala

Ingredients Needed:

Baby Potatoes - 150 gms
Onions - 1 medium, finely chopped
Tomatoes - 2 small, finely chopped
Ginger Garlic paste - 1/2 tsp
Cloves - 2
Cinnamon - 2"
Cardamom - 1
Curds/ Yogurt - 2 tbsp
Chili powder - 1 tsp
Coriander powder - 1 tsp
Cumin powder - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder a pinch
Salt to taste
Oil - 2 tsp
Kasuri Methi - 2 pinches

Method to prepare:

• Soak and wash the baby potatoes well to remove the dirt. Prick the potatoes with fork as these are going to be cooked with skin. Piecing them allows the air to come out.
• Heat a pressure cooker with oil, add in the cloves, cardamom, cinnamon. Fry for 1 min.
• Then add the onions, sauté well till its light brown. Add in the ginger garlic paste. fry till its all mixed and browned.
• Next goes the tomatoes, simmer and add the salt and turmeric. Sauté for 5 mins for the tomatoes to get soft.
• Then add the red chili powder, coriander powder and cumin powder. Simmer again for 5 mins. add in the baby potatoes and cook for couple of minutes. Have the flame in sim and add the curds. Mix well immediately so that it doesn't curdle.
• After stirring well add 1 cup of water or enough to cover the baby potatoes. Sprinkle in the kasuri methi and cover with the pressure cooker lid. Cook for 4 -5 whistles till the potatoes are fork tender.
• Once the steam is off, cook again for a 1 minute for the gravy to get thicken.
• Serve it with Roti or Rice. The simple Tomato rice was a great combo for this spicy gravy.

Notes: Since both Curds and Tomatoes are added, the gravy could tend to become a bit more sour, so adjust by adding more chili to the gravy if you feel so.

Since its tough to peel the potatoes, makes it easy to cook with the skin on. Also many do eat with the skin on. so it ends up adding a different taste to the dish if you want to eat.

The simple meal disappeared in no time!

Have a great week ahead!

Lunch Box Series : LBS#50 ~ Jackfruit Seed poriyal!

I was planning to make this post special as its the 50th lunch box I am sharing. But life has been hectic off late. For us, special occasions are celebrated with sweets, but since I rarely take sweets to office unless its a Saturday when I make neivedyam. So I can't expect myself to make a sweet to celebrate the milestone. Instead I thought the next best would be to make something I like very much!

And Jack fruits are one of my favorites! Be it the fruits or its seeds, I like everything about it. I grew up eating this fruit and there is nothing I can like more than the seeds that we save to use it in different ways. Amma makes a sambar and a curry with it. Most of the time I used to make a dry saute with it, which is very crisp and flavorsome! And there have been times when we simply throw them into hot coal, and burn the seeds. The aroma and the taste the seeds have are simply awesome. But then having a coal stove is quite difficult in these days. So I try tossing them on direct flame, though you don't get that burnt smell this way, its equally tasty.

During my childhood, we had many of my dad's folks sending us this bounty from their trees. So come summer, we used to get about 5 -6 different big fruits. The next couple of days we are busy removing the fruit and sharing with the neighbors. That way we used to end up having loads of these seeds. But its been years we stopped getting those huge fruits as such. This summer hubby dear gets it all packed. Each packet has about 10 of it and its finished the moment its seen. The best part is, Konda likes it. So most of the time I get only the seeds to admire.

We save most of it all the time to think of some curry or the other. Adding these into sambar gives it a great taste. But I wanted to make it as a poriyal with simple ingredients. So here's our lunch that I carried

Today's Lunch Box had

Endumirapakaya Pappu ~ Dal with Red Chilli
Bitter gourd Masala
Jackfruit Seed Poriyal
Cumin pepper Rasam
Curd Rice

Red Chili Dal, Bitter Gourd Curry, Jackfruit Seeds Poriyal ~ Our Lunch Box

Jackfruit Seeds Poriyal Recipe

Ingredients Needed:

Jack fruit Seeds - 10 nos
Onions - 1 small, chopped fine
Curry leaves - 4-5 leaves
Mustard seeds, Urad dal - 1/4 tsp
Red chili powder - 1/2 tsp
Coriander powder - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder a pinch
Salt to taste
Oil - 2- 3 tsp

Method to prepare:

• Pressure cook the Jack fruit along its jacket. Once its cool, remove the outer skin.
• In a pan, heat oil. Once its hot splutter the mustard seeds, Urad dal, curry leaves and fry for 2 mins. Then add the onions, saute well till its lightly brown.
• Then add the cooked jackfruit seeds, along with red chili powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder and salt.
• Simmer for 5 - 7 mins till the spices mix well. You can cover with a lid for it to be steamed with the spices.
• Remove the lid and cook again for 4 -5 mins, for the seeds to become crispy.

Jack fruit Dry Saute, Panasa ginjala vepudu,

The lunch was very tasty, with the spicy dal going so well with the crispy fry. Of course the crispiness goes down after being packed for 3 -4 hours. But since I microwave my lunch it got crispy again.

Sending this to Margot for her Wholesome Lunchbox event!
Its a beautiful event that showcases lunch boxes across the globe!

Happy Weekend!

A trip to remember!

Recently I read somewhere about the pursuit of happiness and what averted impression we tend to have of our of bygone holidays. We end up thinking and remembering them to fun filled and exciting! Yes, we tend to forget the misery we undergo and all other things, years later what we remember is only the joy we think we felt. Yes I know this being true for our vacations too. I spend most times worrying about the kids not eating, jumping around the car when hubby dear is trying to catch up the miles, worrying that the kids are running around so much that for sure they won't sleep in the new place. All these happen, we go through it, yet when the days come to end, we miss the fun we had along the days! And later on, we end up longing for another vacation!

Our 3 days short trip to Anantapur, came to end so very soon. But we sure enjoyed meeting the family again. Kids loved meeting their cousins and playing with them. Especially with the boys remembering so much, they end up asking so many questions! The long drive covering about 420 kms was fun. The kids were so excited, we planned to have an early start, yet made it late. Surprising we were able to reach much ahead than we thought. In between we had a halt for breakfast, as always the boys didn't eat much. We packed for Chinnu and he ate on the journey. He sure knows his priorities. He played maximum on the sliding board and with the sand that covered the lawn. Knowing so well that we will not forget his breakfast. I had in store a never ending supply of gems, chocolates and other treats. Well I thought it was after all a vacation for them to indulge in these.

We reached my sil's place late afternoon, on time for a late lunch which was Uggani and Chilli Bajji. As usual the Uggani that I get to eat in Anantapur is different, which I enjoyed so much. The entire family clan were meeting up for the house warming ceremony of my second sil. It was much too exciting to see the work in progress. Infact some pending shopping was scheduled for later in the evening, for which I happily enlisted my services, though I hardly know the place. My Bil's Rakhi sister S, was helping them in the entire shopping and the work involved. She was just an enthusiastic person, voluntarily taking all the work load and seeing it being done successfully. Her enthusiasm was surely infectious, that I couldn't but offer my helping hand, entrusting the kids to their aunties.

We divided the task on hand into two, giving one list to my BIL and the rest to ourselves. She said the trip will involving going to the old town. I said I was game for anything. I almost forgot my camera! The trip was an eye opener with so many wonderful new things. We drove past crowded market place where new roads were being laid out. So you can see muddy, cramped roads all over. This didn't deter any of the happy shoppers on the road.

First we went to pick up Roses. Since it was almost evening we couldn't get many to choose from. Yet they were so pretty! We walked further down the road, with Coconuts all piled up, with so many innumerable things all waiting for the shoppers to buy. We were buying Betal leaves, Flowers, Diyas, Diya Threads and many more. I am sure I was looking so very comical, hanging around with my camera on, with on lookers giving me that funny look. I didn't care, I told S that I have a greater task of recording my day. She sure was amused.

We landed in a shop that sold all these Ayurvedic stuff and I came about some wonderful things that are used for infants. I saw these weeds and knew it was Vertiver, I remember Amma making a biryani with the water. I picked up some for her and also clicked so many pictures of these herbs and plants that are given for babies.

We walked through unbelievably narrow stretch to reach the other end. I seriously can't still believe I actually crossed that stretch. S was so swift even with her heals. I know I always have two left foot! But thankfully no mishap happened, we got back with all the things shopped and ready!

Kids hardly missed me what with playing with their cousins. Finally after dinner, we all sat for a mehendi session. Gorintaku or Marudhani on the hands and feet always symbolized special occasions at home, but its been upgraded to the borrowed tradition of the north by applying henna with the cones. My niece is quite good at it and very obliging applied for the entire family, including Peddu and Chinnu. While Chinnu wasn't patient enough to have it through the night, Peddu very diligently had his hand upright through the night, so much so that he has a beautiful shade of red by morning on his hand!

The day just flew with the pooja and loads of guests coming. I never realized we could do so much in such short time. In the evening, the kids wanted a Bachhon-ka party with Pizzas and Burgers. The kids sure had lots of fun.

Sunday saw us getting ready for the trip back home. My SIL got up early to have our lunch all prepared and packed. She made her signature Colour Rice, Chicken Pulusu and Potato curry for me. We started back pretending to go for a merry round the city, as Athamma stayed back for a week's vacation. We had a halt for lunch under the same place we had from our previous trip. We were really happy the trip back was quick and event less.

Since we are on our own, its been quite hectic. I may not cook anything new until next week. But would surely share my lunch box recipes that are in store!

Hope you enjoyed reading our adventures! Have a great week ahead!

Kala Chana Aloo Sabzi ~ Black Chickpea Potato Gravy!

Today's recipe is going to be Kala Chana Aloo Sabzi. But before that let me explain how I came about the dish! Its really funny even if I say that myself.

There I was flying back to home, with thoughts like "I really think we should have more hours in a day!" "Hope kids will give me time enough to make the dinner" etc etc. I had a sojourn in between to pick up Konda. As always when I enter the house, I enter with trepidations of things that's going to happen. Of course it is not so terrible as my statement might mean. But imagine two little sweet terrors, include my daughter too, always coming up with something new to terrorize us.

The latest fad at home at the moment was their own pictures in the computer. Hubby dear had to give in to their wish and he had the videos on. All taken when they were a year old. They were ooohhhh, awww..themselves, calling out paappa looking at the pictures and videos. And as expected, instead of thinking what to make for dinner, I got engrossed seeing the nostalgic pictures. I really wonder how kids change so much. It was really so sweet remembering those days.

The entire family sat watching the screen, while insane thoughts were ticking away in my mind. It was nearly closer to dinner time, when I had to arouse them from their fixation. When I asked the kids again their choice for dinner, pat came the answer Poori! Ok it was that, what to make the side dish? Quick dishes have always been Egg kurma, but thought I would make something else.

Something caught my attention on the table, and I opened to see that Athamma had boiled kala channa for salad. Well well, at that point of time who is going to eat a salad? Remember that we had a huge stock of this after my pantry raid? So Athamma seem to have decided to make some salad out of it. Kala Chana Sabzi on its own didn't really sound fancy. So checked if I had potatoes! Gosh those were not around. Gave a shout out to Amma to throw some potatoes down. And bang in 15 mints, the sabzi was ready!

In all my haste, didn't have time to click the picture. So will ensure I upload them when I make them again next week!

Kala Channa Aloo Sabzi

Soaking time and Pressure cooking time for Chana : Overnight + 15 mins in pressure cooker
Preparation time : 5- 6 mins for gravy
Cooking time : 15 - 20 mins
Serves - 3 adults
Cuisine - North Indian

Ingredients Needed:

Kala Chana - 1 cup
Potatoes - 2 medium
Onions - 1 medium, finely chopped
Tomatoes - 2 medium, finely chopped
Ginger Garlic paste - 1/2 tsp
Red chili powder - 1 tsp
Coriander powder - 1/4 tsp
Roasted Cumin powder - 1/2 tsp
Garam Masala - 1/4 tsp
Salt to taste
Oil - 1 -2 tsp
Coriander leaves few

Method to prepare:

1. If you have pre cooked chana, its very convenient, else soak the chana over night and pressure cook till tender.
   
2. Heat a non stick pan with oil. Sauté onions till they start sweating, add the ginger garlic paste. Sauté till its cooked well. This takes about a 2 mints.
   
3. Peal the potatoes skin and dice into 1 inch cubes. Add to the pan. Stir well and add salt. Cover with a lid, so that the potatoes get cooked fast.
   
4. Then add the tomatoes, turmeric powder. Simmer for 5 minutes till the tomatoes are soft.
   
5. When the tomatoes are soft, add in chili powder, coriander powder and cumin powder.Combine everything well and again simmer for 5 mins with lid closed.
6. Then add in the boiled kala channa, mix and cook in high for 2 mins. Add 1 cup of water. Bring to boil and simmer for 5 minutes or till the gravy is thick enough.
7. Finally before switching off, sprinkle the garam masala and coriander leaves. cook for 1 min and remove from flame.
8. Serve with Roti, Rice or Pooris!

Notes: The potatoes will get cooked while its simmered. If you are pressure cooking the kala channa same time, please use the water for the gravy.

This sure was one quick dish to make. The soft aloo were a great combo with the kala channa.

Will surely update the picture in the coming week! --Done!

Before I leave, just wanted to update that we are off for a 3 day weekend trip to our inlaws place! The kids are highly thrilled, so are we. Would share the pictures and details once I am back!

Till then, enjoy your weekend!

What's in my pantry? ~ Menu Planning!

OK, this post must be the most impromptu of all! I must have gone nuts you think, well I am not sure. You see I posted my Menu Planner, et al but even when I did plan, I never came around posting it. I actually think hard every Sunday to ensure I have a menu planned so that I don't' get up all worried. Sunday nights are always long, infact the days are so long!

So having something clear in mind helps a lot. And of course I have endless list of recipes that I still have to prepare. Saturdays are mostly saved for the book, though I have hardly worked on them for the past 3 weeks. I should surely write on the progress, at least to make myself get to it more clearly. The other day, I had a reader call me to ask when the book was going to be ready. I was really so touched by her concern.

Today being the 3rd, I am still up not ready with my monthly groceries. So I thought I might as well plan on something that I can make and clean up my pantry. Though there are certain items that get really over by end of the month, there are few other which never seem to get over. We normally stock rice, but other flours I get every month.

Our monthly grocery includes, wheat flour, APF, Millet flour, Lentils and legumes. plus the many spices. For a change I thought I would raid the freezer and see what I have up there!

The freezer is really an amazing space, everything gets dumped in there and forgotten!

Whenever I think of the fridge, I remember Daddy saying that Amma actually tests the Shelf life of things by storing them in the fridge and happily forgetting it! And for all I know about her, she never stores cooked food.

So when I peeped into my freezer, I found the following:

Kabuli Chana (garbanzo bean) - 1 kg
Black Chana - 1 & 1/2 kg
Sabut Dal - 1/2 kg
Wheat Rava - 3/4 kg
Bansi Rava - 1/4 kg
Whole Moong dal - 1 & 1/2 kg
Almonds - 1/2 kg
Cashew nuts - 250 gms
Amul Milk powder - 1 kg (god knows why I got this, I actually wanted to make chocolates!!)
Grated Coconuts about 4 whole
Dry ginger powder - 250 gms
Cashew + almond powder - 1 bottle
Masoor dal - 1/2 kg
Dried peas - 1/2 kg
Milk - 4 litres!
Jackfruit seeds - 10

Masala powders like Amchur, Pepper chicken masala (that I never used) and an array of few more, which I don't want to look at right now!

Custard powder, Icing powder (I hardly ever bake, but always wanted to have these handy), Jelly mix, Condensed milk.

I started freezing milk as I found it really tough making Paneer at drop of the hat. Konda has this habit of asking for paneer as and when she likes. So freezing them was the best option. The moment she asks, I can make paneer and give her. But to still have 4 liters left is just too much.

And veggies -
1 kg of beans
quarter kg of fresh carrots and some 100 gms of carrot from a two weeks ago shopping
1 quarter kg of fresh cabbage, that hubby dear got a week ago (obviously it may not be so fresh now)
2 Radish
2 drumstick
and many more....

In my kitchen shelf's..

quarter kg of Soya beans, yeah even after that Soya bean korma we still had something left!
Beaten Rice - 1 + quarter kg
Plus many more which I find hard to take notes

The list was astounding! Gosh do I really need all these things. And I hardly peep into the freezer most of the time.

Apart from these, I normally have ingredients handy near the kitchen. Those includes the things that are used everyday. Maybe I will have to replace some of it.

But the menu for this month will surely include ingredients from the above list! My grocery list is surely not going to include any of these.

Now comes the second part. I will have to "discover" new recipes that include these, can I have some suggestions? Would surely love to try new ones.

I just remembered about the milk! I had planned to make paneer tonight, hoping to prepare the long forgotten Paneer Butter Masala, but Athamma beat me to it. She had made a dish with it, knowing that its becoming very hard for me to prepare dinner with the kids becoming so very naughty!

She made a new dish, she called it the Paneer Korma. Hubby dear is against converting traditional things into unconventional dishes. But if you guys want it, shall post it. Of course it was just too delicious, since yours truly tasted it!

Now coming back to the original thought, if you guys have experienced similar raids to the freezer would love to hear the story. And if you are up to sharing what you found in it, are welcome to leave a trail in this post!

A post without a picture is not something I like, so I leave with our Sunday breakfast. It was supposed to have been our Saturday dinner. But something came up, so postponed to breakfast. Again something else came up, so finally had it for lunch. But I made it for the kids for their breakfast!

It was Kal Dosa with Arachiveta Sambar, and Amma's Podi nothing can beat this!


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Finally my discoveries this weekend....came across these blogs, thought I would share with you all!

This super talented lady with some multiply blogs to her credit!

And this relatively new blogger called the Chettinad Fiesta

Thats all for today, wishes for a happy week ahead!


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Microwave Easy Cooking event 2nd Anniversary with Potluck Party!

This edition marks the second year completion of Microwave Easy Cooking Event. Exactly a year back, I was writing about this, please read that for more details. I am repeating something from that post so that I can remember back on those wonderful months every month, spent looking over the entries!

When I was writing all those mails to dear friends who poured in to say they would love to host the Microwave Easy Cooking, I kept the August month for myself, being selfish to celebrate the second Anniversary, hosting it myself! Time has really flown! I know I repeat myself here, but I really wonder at the creativity and the enthusiasm shown by all my blogger friends.

I get many mails saying how they love this event as it helps them learn something new. Though when announcing the event, I knew its going to be hard for people to cook everything in Microwave let alone based on themes. But can you believe we have had nearly 23 editions of themed events on Microwave. Starting from Sweets, to full course meals everything has been tried.

Before we get on, just a recap of whats happened!

August 2007 - Microwave Sweets
September 2007 - Microwave Basics

October 2007 - Microwave Snacks

November 2007 - Microwave Side Dish
December 2007 - Microwave Gravies
January 2008 - Microwave Tiffins

February 2008 - Microwave Greens
March 2008 - Microwave Rice
April 2008 - Microwave Cakes
May 2008 - Microwave Steamed Dishes
June 2008 - Microwave Preserves
July 2008 - Microwave Soups and Stews
August 2008 - Potluck Party
September 2008 - Microwave Chocolate
October 2008 -
November 2008 - Pavani - Microwave Cheese
December 2009 -

January 2009 - Raji Microwave Paneer
February 2009 - Jayasree Microwave Puddings

March 2009 - Priya Savory Snacks in Microwave

April 2009 - Mythreyee Microwave Nuts
May 2009 - Rachel - Essential Extras
June 2009 - Simran Breezy Breakfast

Ramya Harish from Welcome Hunger - July
Srivalli - August
Neha of Tasty Recipes - September
Suma of Veggie Platter - October
Paru of Brindavan - November
Cham of Spice Club - December

So we have come a long way!


So to mark this special edition, lets have a party! A Potluck party. You are welcome to bring in whatever you like and we can all have one big virtual party. So all of August, plan whatever you want to cook in Microwave! You may use food processor to blend or do other things, but cooking has to be done in Microwave!

Send in as many ever you want, by 31st August, 2009, with Subject line MEC: Potluck Party! Check out the Microwave Cooking Event Announcement for more details.

Please ensure to give clear instructions as cooking in microwave needs specific notes.

Linking back to this post is a must and you can add on the logo too.

Entries sent to this event can be sent to other events.

Send in your entries to cooking4allseasons@gmail.com