Announcement : Guest Hosting Veggie/Fruit A Month - Spinach

Hello Everyone,

After a long break, I'm back with a wonderful event - a brainchild of my dear friend Priya Mitharwal. I would like to thank her for giving me this oppurtunity to host this event for the Month of May. She is such an enthusiastic blogger with all those creative thoughts..

When I saw this event hosted by couple of fellow bloggers, I felt that I should be a part of this monthly event; and then I jumped on to Priya's event page and found she has an available slot for May.. Yippie!! there I go.. Well I didn't get much time to think about the veggie for this event, but I remember Spinach - "My Mom's Favourite" and now Spinach has to be the star ingredient when I'm going to host this event. :D

Spinach is among the world's healthiest vegetables. The bright and vibrant color of the spinach leaves is not only pleasing to our eyes but very nourishing as well. Rich in vitamins and minerals, it is also concentrated in health-promoting phytonutrients such as carotenoids (beta-carotene, lutein, and zeaxanthin) and flavonoids to provide you with powerful antioxidant protection. This leafy vegetable is a shield against inflammatory problems, oxidative stress-related problems, cardiovascular problems, bone problems, and cancers at the same time.

So guys, start working with our star ingredient for the month - "Spinach" and share your creative ideas with rest of the blogsphere..

Few Simple Rules:

1) Make recipes with Spinach as the main ingredient.It can be used in Salads, Soups, Stews, Curries, Gravies etc.

2) Recipe has to be vegetarian. (Eggs are allowed)

3) Link to this Announcement Page and Priya's Event Page.

4) You must make new recipes and post them in your blog.No archived entries please.

Please send in your entries with the subject of "Vegetable A Month – Spinach” , before/by May 31st, 2011 to reshrite@gmail.com with the following details:
 
Your Name :

Blog Name :
Recipe Name :
Recipe URL :
Recipe Photo :

Non bloggers can email me your name, recipe and picture at reshrite@gmail.com with the subject of "Vegetable A Month - Spinach" before/by May 31st, 2011.

Hope to see loads of creative and delicious recipes............ I'm Waiting!!!!!!!

 Have you enjoyed this recipe or photos? Do follow this blog, share it with your friends and help this blog grow. This will motivate me to carry on with my passion. Hope you've enjoyed your time here and thank you for visiting me!!!

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Guest Post for "Celebrate Sweets: Ice Cream" : Chocolate Chip Ice Cream by Diksha

Hello everyone,

Couple of days back, I got an email by this cute girl Diksha.. It was so fun to read her thoughts.. She is from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and an Accounting major student. She loves to cook and often, helps her mother in kitchen. She likes Thai and Continental food; and likes Indian spicy food too..

So, this was a brief introduction about Diksha and now I'll leave this post to her...

Diksha - In her own words..

I'm not a blogger but I love to blog.. Blogging is my main source of knowledge about cooking.. I'm not good with cookbooks but I enjoy reading blogs where bloggers include their personal thoughts along with those wonderful recipes... I remeber, my first recipe was Thai Fried Rice and the rice got overcooked.. But thanks to my family, they still enjoyed the dish.. love u mama!! I believe may be not now but by the time I reach my mid 20s I'll be a good cook.. Just like my mama...

While I was blogging, I came across this event and its main theme is "Ice Cream".. How can I resist from participating when the star is my favourite ice cream.. I saw lots of amazing recipes linked to this event and thought giving my contribution too.. This is my third attempt of preparing ice cream.. The first attempt was "plain vanilla ice cream". I prepared it last summer and it was big flop.. I cried a lot but my mama said "Even though it doesn't look like an ice cream but it tastes great".. I love that comment and this gave me the courage not lose the battle.. Few months back, mama bought a new ice cream maker and now my job got very easy.. Last month, I've prepared chocolate ice cream and it was good.. my BF liked it!! And now I've chocolate chip ice cream and I loved the texture.. My mama liked it.. :D

Recipe:

Heavy Cream - 2 cups
2 cups half and half cream
1 cup sugar
Pinch salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
 3/4 cup good quality dark chocolate chips or shavings

Procedure:

Whisk the cream, half and half, sugar and salt in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Heat until it reaches 170F to 175F. Stir in the vanilla. Pour into the bowl and refrigerate overnight. This procedure is to kill the bacteria.

Next day, pour the mixture into the ice cream maker and do according to manufacturer's direction, adding the chocolate chips or shaving about halfway through.

Transfer ice cream to a bowl and cover with plastic wrap such that it touches the surface of ice cream. Freeze for 4-5 hours.

Serve with chocolate sauce drizzled over it and few strawberries..

I hope you liked my recipe and as I'm not good at taking pictures so please!!!!!!!! :D

Sending this to Reshmi's "Celebrate Sweets: Ice Cream" event which was started by Nivedita.

Have you enjoyed this recipe or photos? Do follow this blog, share it with your friends and help this blog grow. This will motivate me to carry on with my passion. Hope you've enjoyed your time here and thank you for visiting me!!!

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Guest Post for Maitri: "Murrukku" by Raji

Hello everyone,

Hope you all had a great weekend and why not, this weekend was too special.. "Our Indian cricket team won the World Cup!!" Few minutes before framing this post, I was watching the final shot by Mahendra Singh Dhoni that created the history... Believe me guys, when the camera focused Dhoni's expression I got goosebumps.. What a moment!!! Terrific... WOWOOWOW!!

And in my previous post "World Cup is Ours", my blogger friend, Sojo has asked to prepare some yummy sweets to celebrate this occassion.. Done sweetie!! This is due and I'll make it soon... Well I had prepared almond pudding on Saturday but before I can take pics, it was all over.. No.. not me... Sree is the culprit.. :D So for Sojo and for Team India, I'll prepare something sweet and post it at the earliest.. ;)

Okay!! So now moving on to the post of the day... Here we have Murrukku and it is prepared by Raji, our non-blogger friend. Raji was introduced to me by Priya Mitharwal. I was matched with Raji, along with Priya, for Maitri. At first, I was planning to send her the same ingredient that I've sent to Priya but then I thought as Priya is a friend of Raji, I mustn't send the same ingredient to both of them... But anyways, Raji was smart enough to identify the mystery ingredient sent by me...

So, girls please welcome Raji..!!

Raji, in her own words...............

Well, it all started when my good friend Priya told me about "Maitri"and also asked whether I will be interested .ofcourse, I said YES!

Then, I got matched with Reshmi who sent me an email asking about my address in order to send me the mystery ingredient.I was very excited and curious to know what it could be? I got the package on monday and when i opened to see what was inside it, guess what i found? I could immediately tell it was" ajwain" by the smell of it. Conicidentally, i was going to make murukku for my daughter who loves it so much. So, i used the ajwain(mystery ingredient) to the make murrukku.Thats abt the mystery ingredient.Wait a minute! let me tell u abt the best and sweetest part remaining in the package, which is this beautiful plate and lovely greeting card awaiting just for me sent by Reshmi as a token of friendship.I was immensely overwhlemed by her guesture.Thanks! Reshmi for this wonderful gift. What a great thought..I will always remember you.Thank you for being my friend.

Now for the recipe for Murukku:

Ingredients:
rice flour- 4 cups

urad flour -1 cup

butter softened 2-3 tbsps

ajwain(mystery ingredient) powdered- 1 tbsp

red chili pwd- 1 tbsp

salt -as per taste.

Procedure:

Mix all the above ingredients in a mixing bowl by adding water little by little.Knead the dough until it becomes soft( it shouldn't stick to the hand).

Now with the help of murukku press make the desired shaped on a plate and keep them ready.

Once the oil gets hot, gently slide these murukkus in the oil and fry them until it turns golden yellow.

Crispy golden yellow murrukkus are ready to eat.

Have you enjoyed this recipe or photos? Do follow this blog, share it with your friends and help this blog grow. This will motivate me to carry on with my passion. Hope you've enjoyed your time here and thank you for visiting me!!!

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Reminder: "Celebrate Sweets - Ice Cream"

Three more days to go... Come on friends!! I know in this era of "Weight Watchers", everyone is quite concerned about their diet.. But I believe "Summer is incomplete without Ice-creams" And I'm pretty sure that each one of us has their favourite delicious and yummilicious recipe that has ice cream in it.. So guys, make it a go... share your favourite recipe and make it a hit in every blogger's kitchen for this summer..

We have had some excellent entries from both blogger and non-blogger friends. Thank you all so much for your participation. But I'll encourage to participate more and make this event a big success.

This post is just a reminder that this event will end on April 6th, 2011. Also, there is an ongoing $25 CSN giveaway along with this event. So, if you haven't had a chance to link your entries yet, please do participate. For more information, visit "Celebrate Sweets - Ice Cream" event page.

Have you enjoyed this recipe or photos? Do follow this blog, share it with your friends and help this blog grow. This will motivate me to carry on with my passion. Hope you've enjoyed your time here and thank you for visiting me!!!

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World Cup is Ours!!

After 28 years, India won the Cricket World Cup beating Sri Lanka in the Grand Finale by 6 wickets with 10 balls remaining.. What a wonderful match? Even though I didn't sleep last night because of this most awaited match but I'm still feeling energetic thinking of the fact that "World Cup is Ours!!".. The Champions are back........ We are the Champions!!

When India lost Sehwag on the very 2nd ball and Tendulkar in the 6th over at a score of 31-2, I told Sree "Honey!! What u say?? Are we going to win??" and he said "Just wait n watch!!" And then Gambhir and Kohli brought India back in the match.. Although there was pressure rebuilding when Kohli was out but then the Captain of Indian team, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, played the captain's innings and what we've now is "Winning World Cup" playing on our home ground.. What a fabulous inning!!!!

New World Cup Champions, "Team Blue, Team India" 



A Tribute to Master Blaster "Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar".. 

[Image Source: Cricket.WorldCup-live]

Have you enjoyed this recipe or photos? Do follow this blog, share it with your friends and help this blog grow. This will motivate me to carry on with my passion. Hope you've enjoyed your time here and thank you for visiting me!!!

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Birthday Cake for a Birthday Girl... Happy Birthday to Me!!

Yes... finally no more waiting. Today is "The Day!!" It is said "The best birthdays of all are those that haven't arrived yet" ;) But this birthday is quite special for me.. This is my 1st birthday in my blog-world!! I've set some targets and all I've to do is work on it.. So, I've lots of resolution to be made on this day.. Usually I've fewer New Year resolutions coz my year starts today and I make resolutions on this day.

Also, I'm bit upset coz this is my 1st birthday when I was blowing my birthday candle and there was only one voice singing a birthday song for me, tats Sree.. I miss my dad-mom, my sis, my brother and all those who love me and where a part of my birthday bash.. :( You know guys, Sree did his best to make me not miss anyone else and a gift for this day would be his love, his care and all those pampering that makes me feel "I'm not getting older, infact I'm getting younger!!" I admire how he plays the role of my parents, my life partner and my best friend.. I won't thank him for this coz this will not do justice to his love.. So, my first resolution would be to love him more than what he do.. Ever since I got married this is one of the resolutions I make on my birthday and would always be!!

Am I getting emotional???? Chill out, It's party-time, It's my birthday time!! I'm still in my sleepy pants and dancing around my laptop singing "happy birthday to me!!!".. Come on guys, join me and make it faster coz we got to wind-up soon before Sree is out of his shower.. He has asked me to stay away from laptop and I'm still wondering "Why??" Is this his way of giving me "Birthday Bumps!!"

As I suspected, today it is full of surprises.. Sree has asked me to get ready, he is taking me out somewhere.. It's a secret!!!!!! I love surprises and I'm very excited... :D May be he is going to buy me "Diamond Pendant" kidding guys.. I don't want to have this surprise, I'll faint!!! Wheeeeeeeeww.......

Birthdays are nature’s way of telling us to eat more cake. So, lets move on to "Cake Story..."

Age is a number and mine is unlisted!!

As Sree was very busy, also he was planning to take day-off on my birthday, so I thought I'll prepare the cake.. Well, it was my wish to see him preparing my birthday cake but tats fine.. may be next birthday ;)
So, my plan was make it a surprise.. I'll prepare the cake and when Sree is back from office I'll surprise him..

Yes guys, it's my birthday!! But tats fine.. I love to bake my birthday treat..

Now, I was preparing everything and I got a call.. Tring.. Tring..!! Lets see the conversation; R is mine and S is Sree's...

R: "Hello"
S: "Arrey, mei bol raha hun"
R: "Oh! kya baat hai, itne jaldi"
S: "I was thinking of getting a birthday cake for you"
R: "Oops!! Stop.. Did you order it?"
S: "Nopes.. Why? What happened?"
R: "Nothing"
S: "Are you planning something? Hey, don't do this"
R: "kya."
S: "I'm going to buy cake for u"
R: "Arrey, but I've started preparing"
S: "@#$%$^$#^ Why you didn't tell me?"
R: "Oooye Hello!! It's my birthday I'll do whatever I want to.. #@%@^@%"
S: "Ok.. ok.. I'm sorry baba!! Lets do like this.. You bake the cake and I'll do the cake decoration.. Deal??"
R: "Lemme think.. Hey, no!! You'll spoil my cake.. Never"
S: "Please.. please.. My sweetie.."
R: "Ok.. Tell me.. You know how to do icing??"
S: "Na"
R: "Then"
S: "Do we need to do icing to decorate a cake? :D Well, is it difficult to do?? :("
R: "No.. But if it is you, then Yes!!!"
S: "oh!! Now what.. ok you do the icing.. I will think of something else"
R: "Are you sure.."
S: "Yes honey.. I'll call u later on"
R: "Ok dear.. bye bye"

Well, I was feeling bad for Sree.. Poor Boy!! I've spoiled his planning.. :( The very next minute I got another call.. Tring.. Tring!!

S: "Hey, U remember we have seen bow over XYZ birthday cake"
R: "Ummmm.. Yes. So??"
S: "I'll do tat.. Once you do icing make sure you leave enough space so that I can top it with my Bow of Love"
R: "(cough) What?? Bow of Love.. Cool hubby.. Ok! go ahead. I've fondant with me so you can use it "
S: "Okie dokie.. I'll be back soon :D Bye"
R: "See you.. Bbye"

Wow, tats interesting "Bow of Love".. Lets see how is he going to do.. Then, I was back to preparation. I've bought a new hand-mixer and believe me guys "it's awesome to work with it" Whether it is mixing the batter or preparing icing, everything is done in minutes..

So my birthday cake flavor is "Chocolate and Cocoa-Strawberry Cream Cake" and as of now without "Bow of Love"

Here is the recipe!!

Ingredient :

For batter

1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour   
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 cup sugar, powdered
4 eggs, separated
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup oil / butter
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

For Frosting

4 cups heavy whipping cream
2 cups confectioners' sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 tbsp strawberry extract

Method:

For Batter

Grease and flour two 9" round cake pans. In a large bowl, beat egg yolks, buttermilk and sugar till well blended and frothy. Combine flour, salt and baking soda; gradually beat into liquid mixture till blended.

Take another bowl and beat the egg whites until stiff peaks. Fold into the prepared batter.

Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350F for 15 mins.

Transfer the batter to greased pans and bake for 20-25 mins or till toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Let it cool for sometime and then transfer to the wire rack to cool completely.

For Frosting 

We are going to prepare frosting in 2 batches. One with cocoa and other with strawberry extract.

Beat 3 cups of whipping cream, 1 1/2 cups sugar and cocoa powder till stiff peaks form.In another bowl, beat remaining whipping cream, sugar and strawberry extract till stiff peaks form. Cover both the bowls.

Assembling

Cut each cake horizontally into two layers. Place one layer on the plate and layer it with cocoa frosting. Repeat with other layers. Spread a layer of frosting over the top and sides of the cake. Smoothen it with spatula.

Decoration

I did basketweave design for sides of cake and swirls at the top circumference of the cake using cocoa frosting. Using strawberry frosting, made a sequence of stars covering the lower circumference of the cake and also the space in between basketweave design and top swirls.

I was quite happy seeing the final outcome.. But it was still incomplete. Something is missing.. But, I was tired enough to identify what's missing.. So, I did nothing much and kept the cake in freezer.

As said, Sree came early and he was eager to see the cake.. He was so tempted that I doubt, atleast, he must have tasted the icing. lol!!! Within 1 hour he was in kitchen to start with his Mission : Bow of Love. I was surprised but impressed as well.. These are few moments that occur very rarely and I'm happy that I'm able to cherish them.. :D

"Mission: Bow of Love"

Sree started with lots of kick-boxing to my poor fondant and then coloring them.. I loved how he was estimating the amount of icing color to get the perfect tone.. Then another round of kicks, followed by rolling them out and finally forming beautiful and cute looking bow, I was enjoying each moment seeing him working hard to get his share of contribution to my cake.. :P

Atlast, Sree's Bow of Love was placed right at the top of my cake. After few more additions, my cake was looking perfect. I had lots of beautiful cake but this cake is so cute that I hate to eat it .. :(

Now I understand why I was finding my cake as "Incomplete" coz it was missing its Bow of Love. And my cake is complete with its perfect topping just the way I'm complete with my perfect partner..

So guys, thanks for reading the whole, not-so-long post :D and yes for your wishes.. Will describe how was my whole day in my next upcoming post..

Till then take care and enjoy!!

Sending this as an entry to Priya's Crazy for Cakes event.

Also, sending to Rumana's Treat To Eyes - Series 2  event.

Have you enjoyed this recipe or photos? Do follow this blog, share it with your friends and help this blog grow. This will motivate me to carry on with my passion. Hope you've enjoyed your time here and thank you for visiting me!!!



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Mooli ke Parathe (Radish Stuffed Flatbread)

Hello Everyone,

Two more days.. I'm so excited! Yes this end-of-month is very special for me.. I've lots of plans, waiting for surprises and have resolutions all set to be implemented.. any guess?? Well, I'm not going to reveal the secret.. You guys have to wait for two more days.. ;)

Last weekend, we bought white radish, a very common salad stuff in North India.. As I was born and bought up there I've seen that neither lunch nor dinner is complete without salad and by salad I mean "slices of onion, white radish, tomato and green chillies with salt sprinkled over them." One plate of this salad is served even before your meal is served.. Sometimes this is tummy-filler or sometimes time-pass ;) Seriously guys.. this is one of my mom's kitchen tricks.. Whenever she is running late in kitchen, she will ask me/ my sister to prepare a plate of salad and serve it to my dad.. So, that by the time he is busy with those healthy slices, she can make-up her delay.. And after 26 years of their marriage now my dad is aware of this trick :D All credits goes to "The Great Reshmi"

Coming back to mooli ke parathe.. As you all know, I'm crazy about stuffed parathas and radish stuffed paratha is very high in nutritional value. Moreover, I use raw radish filling for my parathas. There are cooks who prefer the mixture being cooked before stuffed. But I love the raw flavor of mooli in my paratha..

Even though I've prepared this for couple of times but this time Sree recognized the amazing flavor and said "Mast hai yar.. Super" "Are you preparing it for the first time??" Well, I can understand. This happens when you are more busy watching T.V than eating what is served to you.. ;)

So, lets move on to the recipe.

Ingredients:  

For Dough

Wheat Flour - 1 cup
Oil - 1 tsp
Water - as required

For Filling

White Radish - 1, peeled and grated
Red Chilli Pwd - 1 tsp
Turmeric - a pinch
Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp
Garam Masala - 1/4 tsp
Aamchur Pwd - 1/4 tsp , optional
Salt - to taste

Method:

Take the grated radish, sprinkle little salt and squeeze out the excess liquid into a bowl. This will be used while preparing the dough. Keep it aside.

In a bowl, mix all the ingredients (for filling) and keep aside.

Now, take wheat flour into a large bowl and add a tsp of oil to it. Using the excess water of radish, start kneading. If this is not enough for kneading you may use normal water. But I would suggest to make use of squeezed out water from radish. This enhances the flavor of parathas. Knead the dough to medium softness, cover and let it stand for 30 mins.

Divide the dough into equal portions. Roll each portion keeping the edges thinner than the center. Place a spoonful of raddish mixture in the center and roll it into a ball. Lightly flour it and roll into round parathas.

Heat a tawa or griddle. Place paratha over tawa and apply oil/ butter on the top. Flip and apply oil on the other side. Roast till both sides are golden and fully cooked. Repeat the procedure.

Serve hot with curd or pickle.

Enjoy!!

Sending this as an entry to "A Veggie/Fruit a month" event hosted by Sweet Artichoke and started by Priya.

Have you enjoyed this recipe or photos? Do follow this blog, share it with your friends and help this blog grow. This will motivate me to carry on with my passion. Hope you've enjoyed your time here and thank you for visiting me!!!

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