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A software Engineer by profession, now a home-maker by choice, I devote my time mostly to creative activities and learning new things. The result of which are my blogs Curries and Spices and Demystifying Beauty. Apart from this, I also learn Deutsch (German) to keep myself busy and integrated into this new culture.
As a child, food was something I never gave importance to. I ate so that I can live. But growing old teaches us a lot of things, doesn’t it? Now on any given day I have given a major part of my time to plan for what to cook. Now I live to eat (a little exaggerated, but true!)
Like every Indian family, my culinary skills are purely inherited from my mom and grandmom. After marriage, I have learnt a good deal of cooking from my MIL too. So to me, my mom, MIL and my grandmom are the greatest cooks in this world.
Today I have all the reasons to be excited, because this is my first guest post. I have been in Blog hibernation for sometime now due to health reasons. But I do hope I’ll be back to blogging soon, so this guest post might as well be the ice-breaker.
Coming to the recipe, being a Guest post, I knew that the recipe can’t be intimidatingly complex, at the time it should be something special. So this was the only recipe that came to my mind. This is one of my mom’s signature recipes with little changes that only enhance the taste and flavor. Over to our recipe!
Vegetable Kurma (For Rotis)
What we need:
2 cups of Mixed vegetables
(I normally use Cubed Potatoes, Peas, Diced Carrot, Cauliflower florets, Cut Beans. Don’t mind if one ore two of these are missing, you can increase the portion of other veggies)
1 cup of a special vegetable
(This vegetable can be Lauki (Bottle Gourd/Dhoodi/Sorakai) or Chayote (Chow chow) or Squash or Pumpkin) and it acts as the flavor enhancer. So please don’t omit this one. I read this tip in a blog, but can’t remember where 
Onion – 1, medium sized, sliced
Green chillies – 2 to 3, slit vertically
Garlic – 2 to 3 pods, slivered
Salt - to taste
Turmeric powder – a pinch (Optional)
Water – as needed
Oil – 3 tbsp
Curry leaves – a few
Coriander, chopped – a tbsp
To Grind:
Coconut (fresh/frozen) – 3 tbsp
Roasted gram/Dhalia – 2 tbsp
Cinnamom – 1 small piece
Cloves – 2 to 3
Cumin (Jeera) – 1 tbsp
How to do:
1. Make a smooth paste of the ingredients under ‘To Grind’ with little water.
2. Heat oil in a kadai, and add the sliced onions, garlic and green chillies. Add salt, (turmeric powder, if you are using) and fry.
3. When the onions start to turn pink, add all the vegetables along with a cup of water. Cover with a lid and let them cook on medium-high for 10 to 15 minutes or until done.
Alternatively, you can also cook them in a microwave before hand and add.
4. Once the vegetables are tender, add the ground coconut paste and give a good mix.
5. Let the gravy come to a boil, check the seasoning and remove from flame.
Garnish with curry leaves and coriander and Serve with Rotis.
Hello All,
Tomorrow is Wednesday and our guest blogger is Rohini. We all lovingly call her Ro.
Ro and I share some common interests. Needless to say cooking, but in addition to it, German language and photography. Oh how could I forget, we both are Saggiatarians.  (We both have birthdays and anniversary in December yeay..)
A software engineer turned into a real great home maker. She is a big foodie who doesn’t care about her weight and lovesss to eat a lot. ( I wish I could say that about the weight..:P) She is an excellent mehendi artist. Love her beautiful creations. Be it food or mehendi designs.
Ro is going to share an amazingly tasty and a finger licking recipe tomorrow. So do no forget to drop in.
Hello Everyone,
Please welcome our today’s guest blogger “Chitra” from abcdsofcooking.blogspot.com
For her introduction go here
As promised please go here to see her first Supper club get together
Alright Chitra take it away….
I often daydream about having my own food cart and thinking about what I would serve in it. This recipe is definitely it. It has been a favorite of mine for many years. I like to revisit it often because there are so many variations to it, depending on what I have on hand. The staple ingredients though are tofu, whole wheat pita, hummus, yogurt. It basically consists of making the tofu and one or two vegetables (I really have liked green pepper and onion in the past) into a North Indian curry. Then I make a hummus sauce with yogurt and some kind of Indian pickle (mango and tomato are my favs) or chutney (mint and coriander are good ones). If I feel like it too sometimes I will chop tomato or cucumber small and throw it in too.
Ingredients:
Whole wheat pita
Tofu/Cabbage Curry
3 1/2 tablespoons veg/canola oil
3/4 block of extra firm tofu small cubes
1/2 cabbage head chopped (I used 1/4 b/c mine was literally larger than my head)
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
pinch of asofoetida (hing)
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
2 teaspoons coriander powder
1/2 teaspoon garam masala
1/3 teaspoon chili powder
salt to your liking
cilantro
lemon juice – optional
Hummus sauce
2 tablespoons hummus (Sabre brand I like the best)
1/2 tablespoon yogurt (I heart Fage!)
few drops of sauce from mango pickle
(this is where you can experiment with putting in chutney or other pickle sauces if you like it spicy)
warm water is optional if you want to thin it out a bit
Method:
In a non stick pan, put in 1 and 1/2 tablespoons of oil under a low/med flame and throw in small cubes of tofu. Once, the tofu gets cooking, I like to lower the heat a bit. I like to cook the tofu until it is fried on the outside. Every few minutes go back to the pan and just turn the tofu over so that it gets evenly cooked. This may take about 15-20 minutes. Once cooked to your liking, turn off the heat.
In another frying pan, put in 2 tablespoons of oil under a medium flame. When hot, put in the cumin seeds and a pinch of the asofoetida (hing). Shake the pan a bit so the two mingle. When the cumin seed starts to brown a bit, put in all of the spices. Mix them up a bit so that they start to become fragrant but not burn. Then throw in the cabbage and mix very well. Cover the cabbage and cook for about 5 minutes. At this point, throw in the tofu and salt to your liking and mix well and cover again for another 5 minutes until cabbage is tender.
Add chopped cilantro and optional, you can add some lemon juice as well.
For the hummus sauce, combine hummus and yogurt and mix well. Then add in your pickle sauce or chutney, whichever you prefer. I added in some mango pickle sauce even though I had a sore throat but I just love it. You can add some warm water if you want a thinner sauce or more yogurt if you want it to be more sour. If I have sauce leftover, I just put it on the side for extra dipping.
I heat the pita in the oven until the outside is a bit hardened but not too crispy. Cut the pita in half.
For assembly, with a spoon, take the hummus sauce and put it all over the inside of the pita half. (Be careful not to burn yourself as the inside of the pita is full of trapped steam). Fill the pita with the curry and then you can put a little sauce on top. If you decide to put in some tomato and cucumber, I usually like to layer a little bit of curry, sauce, veggies and sauce on top.
I usually have a lot of leftovers so you can eat it again the next day and put it together really fast as if you are making street food for real!
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Wow that was a cool recipe. I am sure very one has gone through the supper link as well. If not go here
Thanks Chitra for taking out time and doing this guest post.
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If you wish to have yourself featured as a guest blogger send me an email. It can contain anything you wish to put in and share with all of us (not necessarily cooking related) your experiences in life, funny moments, etc. You can have a look at the earlier guest posts to have an idea.
Please email me your entries at – deepa[dot]godbole[at]gmail[dot]com (please replace the symbols where necessary)
Pass this message to everyone who wants to be a part of this. I am sure there must be lot of people who would love to share loads from the cooking world and about them, with all of us. Only then we can have this Guest blog series go on and extend it’s duration.
Hello Everyone,
We are back on one of my favorite days . Here we get to know our tomorrow’s guest blogger. So, without wasting anymore time…tomorrow’s guest blogger is “Chitra”
Chitra’s says her blog captures her culinary point of view as an Indian girl born and brought up in the US. You will find traditional recipes, some are re-invented (exactly as she says), which shows her interest in various kinds of cuisines such as Mexican, Thai, Japanese, Middle Eastern, etc. There are also others that we can find which she has gathered from her travels across various places such as Turkey, Greece, Egypt, Japan, Argentina, etc. (what’s left  ). She has always loved cooking and is now her passion and obsession. Her mom is her teaher in cooking and enjoys a lot of cooking vegetarian North Indian food as her father is form Allahabad, India and South Indian food from her mom.
She lives in Brooklyn and is more involved in community food organizations. She belongs to CSA ( community supported agriculture ) where she receive fruits and veggies straight from the farm, (woah ! way to go). She is also a volunteer for Slow Food, an organization that believes in traditional, slow cooking methods for preparing foods and am involved with edible school gardens and a community garden in my neighborhood. (Too good girl).
It’s an amazing thing to know that recently she started a Ssupper club, she says it’s basically a restaurant in a home, with her friend Sabra to bring people together and enjoy a home-cooked meal. (Awesome idea). The menu was a blend of Indian and Mexican cuisine and we have plans to expand the event to include music, art and comedy.
Wow it’s amazing to read so much about you. So people am sure you all are excited to come back tomorrow to enjoy a very tasty recipe she is going to share with us. I will definitely be posting a link to her Supper club get-together. Make sure you come back everyone !!!
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If you wish to have yourself featured as a guest blogger send me an email. It can contain anything you wish to put in and share with all of us (not necessarily cooking related) your experiences in life, funny moments, etc. You can have a look at the earlier guest posts to have an idea.
Please email me your entries at – deepa[dot]godbole[at]gmail[dot]com (please replace the symbols where necessary)
Pass this message to everyone who wants to be a part of this. I am sure there must be lot of people who would love to share loads from the cooking world and about them, with all of us.
I am sure many of us know this recipe. Most of the times we discard recipes, thinking, these are soooo simple, everybody knows about it. But sometimes simple recipes come to the rescue when one has unexpected guests or some instant cravings for some dishes. This one falls in that category. Easy to make recipe with simple ingredients.
So here it is. This recipe, I guess, is passed on to me by my mother, my aunts and I suppose same goes with many of us. Try it out.
Ingredients –
Desiccated coconut – 4 ½ cups
Condensed milk – 400 ml
Cardamom powder – 2 –3 teaspoons
Procedure -
- In a pan mix the condensed milk and desiccated coconut.
- On medium flame, stirring continuously, cook the mixture till it starts drying from the sides of the pan.
- Cool it down, sprinkle the cardamom powder and shape them in to pedas or laddoo shape.
- Roll or Sprinkle some coconut over the pedas or laddoos.
Tips –
Always add cardamom powder after the mixture is cooled down. This keeps the aroma of the cardamom imtact.
Hey Everyone,
Todays guest blogger is Kanchan from Personal Tadka. (Personally i like the name Kitchen Gossip. Had voted for that too..)
For her introduction check here.
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When Deepa mentioned about Guest Post couple of months ago, I jumped with joy with “WOW I can do a guest post; Life is Great!!” (Yeah such petty small things about my blog give me pride). So Special Thanks to Deepa for this lovely opportunity.It took me two months to decide what can qualify for a guest post.
I and Deepa belong to same culinary culture – Maharastrian cuisine, so wanted to post something different yet reliable – can’t dare experimenting for my first guest post. So other Indian cuisine that I’ve been familiar for more than a year –is Marwadi cuisine. Me and The Foodie belong to this nuclear family structure, so my one and only trustworthy source of inspiration for Marwadi recipes is The Foodie himself (!!!) and yeah obviously I can’t allow him to steal the thunder for my First Guest Post (I’m cruel that way  )
So I preferred backing on this wonderful book by Sanjeev Kapoor on Marwadi cooking. Whoever has eaten even a single dish know the basic fact of Marwadis – no food is completed without whole lot of Oil or Ghee – I went for the Oil and this Deep Fried Recipe – . It’s supposed to be starter-appetizer but it’s more than filling in itself.
Mirchi Bhajiya
You Need:
- Large Chillies\ Long Pepper: around 6
- Potatoes: 2 large- Boiled and Mashed
- Gram Flour: 1 cup
- Baking Powder: pinch
- Asafoetida: pinch
- Red Chilli Powder: 1 tsp
- Salt to tase
- Oil: Deep Frying + 1 tbsp
- Mustard Seeds: ½ tsp
- Garlic: 4-5 cloves
- Turmeric Pwder: ½ tsp
You Do:
- Mix the stuffs in Blue with about 1 cup of water to make a smooth batter. Set aside for ten minutes.
- Filling- Heat 1tsp of Oil – add mustard seeds follow with garlic. Let them splutter till fragrant.
- Add turmeric powder + mashed potatoes + salt – Mix well. Remove from heat and let it cool.
- Divide into 6 equal parts and stuff each chilli with a portion of filling.
- Heat oil in Kadai for frying. Dip the chillies in the batter and deep fry till golden and crisp.
Serve Hot!!
Happy Cooking and Posting about it !!
Thanks Deepa !! Loved jotting this, looking forward for the post 
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Thanks so much Kanchan for this very very tasty snack, perfect to go for this weather. Sorry for the delay again.
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If you wish to have yourself featured as a guest blogger send me an email. It can contain anything you wish to put in and share with all of us (not necessarily cooking related) your experiences in life, funny moments, etc. You can have a look at the earlier guest posts to have an idea.
Please email me your entries at – deepa[dot]godbole[at]gmail[dot]com (please replace the symbols where necessary)
New posts are welcome. Pass on the word to everyone who wants to be a part of this guest blog series.
Hii Everyone,
Before I introduce tomorrow’s blogger my sincere apologies for taking a break from this. I had assured you that Guest blogging will not get affected but unfortunately I had hardly any time in the later days to keep the guest blog on. But now I am back with a bang. My apologies to our tomorrow’s guest blogger Kanchan as well for delaying her guest blog and the ones later to her’s.
Alright here we go,
Kanchan, she is a pakka Mumbaitie (me too!!) and a IT professional. Photography has been her first loved hobby. After her wedding she shifted to Pune and a new hobby was born – trying out various recipes and her favorite taste bud was her husband. Soon she started noting all the recipes down and her blog was born. She is going to share an awesome dish from the Marwadi cuisine (yummm!!) perfect timming to sit and savour during the rains. So be sure you come back tomorrow and have a wonderful time reading and then cooking the recipe she will share with us.
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If you wish to have yourself featured as a guest blogger send me an email. It can contain anything you wish to put in and share with all of us (not necessarily cooking related) your experiences in life, funny moments, etc. You can have a look at the earlier guest posts to have an idea.
Please email me your entries at – deepa[dot]godbole[at]gmail[dot]com (please replace the symbols where necessary)
New posts are welcome. Pass on the word to everyone who wants to be a part of this guest blog series.
There are certain reasons why am I smiling from ear to ear. . Some of the most important reasons would be that
I am back (wooooooohoooo)
My results came out amazing
And the fantastic war that we won against thieves
Also, now that I am back it cannot go without a recipe post
Yes, people I am back. I took a great big break of around 2 months. I am so happy to be back. I am very thankful to every one of my blogger friends for the support that I had received since I have not been around. I hope that love and comments continue. I did try my best to keep the Guest blogger on, but due to time constraints and exams over my head I missed some posts. I will make sure that I make up for this and I shall start guest posts right from the coming Tuesday. Extremely sorry for missing this.
Now, to a super news – my resultsssssssssssssssssss. I still get goose bumps when it comes to exam dates and results. Such was my condition last week. I was really tensed for the results of my German level which were recently announced.
What, oh I missed to mention the result (height of shamelessness hhihiihiihi)
I stood First in my classs, whoooooooohooooooo. It’s such an awesome feeling that I can’t express. I felt as a kid would feel, looking at the results and felt like flying high up above. I am waiting for the next term to start.
Now, the third and the amazing thing. Some days back Madhuri from Cook- Curry Nook sent me a message regarding a certain (I don’t want to give any promotions to them hence not mentioning their website or other links) FB group had copied a photograph of mine from the post Bread Upma. Madhuri has done an amazing job fighting with them all the way for couple of days. Ignoring her health due to which she could not sit at the computer for a long time she kept fighting with them. Finally, happiness and rewards. Their facebook page and their identities are banned and we won.
For some amazing feedback and fight, support on this please visit the following link on Madhuri’s facebook page.
I request all of you to use the following logo on your website and join the cause against theft, plagiarism.
The following award is for our dear blogger Madhuri for her amazing awareness and her fight for the cause. Cheers Madhuri, use the following logo on your website for a job well done. If you know anyone who has done such a thing for this cause, or you have yourself, please send me some information and details so I can create a badge for you with your name and post it across with you great deed
Also I want to pass this message across that you watermark all your work, put copyright information on your website. Some steps can be taken to avoid theft for sure.
Now to celebrate this I made cookies. Adapted the recipe from Rachel Allen. Dipped some in dark chocolate sauce. So enjoy guys and stay alert!!
 Now the badge of honour and a badge to join the cause. Please display this on your blog to show the world that we appreciate originality and can’t tolerate thieving.
Madhuri this is for you..Thanks so much!!
Hello Everyone,
Today’s guest blogger is Pavithra from Dishesfrommykitchen
For her introduction please go here or you can scroll down further to learn more about her.
Take it away girl……………..
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As soon as I got the mail from her I was really happy. But unfortunately I got hurt in my finger badly so could not send her anything except, I said I am very much interested and honored.
First of all let me say about food lyrics, I am very much impressed with her title and the caption she has written “Cooking ain’t rocket science”. Yah I accept to her quotes. Even a simple cooking done with involvement and interest gives fruitful result.
Let me now tell how I started the blog. My passion for cooking and my Husband’s pestering made me to start the food blog. So that I could share my cooking with the world and also it would be the digital diary for our dear ones too. Now it has become part of my daily routine.
Hope many of them would have started their cooking with the 2 minutes instant noodles similarly me too the same. Slowly I started cooking and I got appreciation from my parents for all the dishes I made. I must say they are really the first to encourage me. So the interest and passion of cooking bloomed in me. And now my husband and off course all my friends encourage me. They love my food.
I have never missed any intercollegiate cooking competitions and never miss the prize too. Also I have participated in “EnnaSamayalo” food competition conducted by Singapore TV station Vasantham Central in year 2003 and won the first prize in vegetarian cooking. All these competitions encouraged me more and more. Other than food, I have passion towards arts and crafts; I think that reflects now as Food Art. Even in school days if my mom participates in any cooking or food competition my job was to give idea for decorating. As for everyone, my mom is my first guru in cooking. Next my dad, I must say he is a real food enthusiast. He tries and tastes all varieties of food. I think I inherit these qualities from them for the love of food.
I love all kind of cuisines as far as its vegetarian with exception of egg. I love whatever I cook. So it’s very tough to choose one now… anyway let me give a sweet recipe which is all time favorite for everyone.
BADAM HALWA
INGREDIENTS :
Badam – 100 gms
Cashewnuts – 10 full
Sugar – 300 gms
Milk – 1/2 litre
Ghee – 200 gm
Color – Yellow(Optional)
Saffron – 2 pinch crushed
METHOD:
1. Soak the badam in warm water overnight and peel the skin.
2. Grind it with the milk ,sugar and cashew to coarse paste(not so coarse).
3. Now pour this in heavy bottom vessel and add food color if your using it. Stir it. Once it is slightly thickened add little ghee.
4. Do add the ghee once in a while and keep stirring.
5. At one stage the ghee comes out and it will stop sticking the sides of the vessel.
6. The consistency will be like dosa batter. Now add the saffron mix well and switch of the flame. Cool it and store in airtight container. This taste so good both warm and room temperature.
Please let me know if you need anything.
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That was Pavithra from Dishesfrommykitchen sharing with us her love for food and a very tasty sweet dish. Thanks dear for taking out time for this wonderful guest post.
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If you wish to have yourself featured as a guest blogger send me an email. It can contain anything you wish to put in and share with all of us (not necessarily cooking related) your experiences in life, funny moments, etc. You can have a look at the earlier guest posts to have an idea.
Please email me your entries at – deepa[dot]godbole[at]gmail[dot]com (please replace the symbols where necessary)
Hello Everyone,
Tuesday is back and so am I with the introduction of tomorrow’s guest blogger.
Pavithra, says her husbands continuous pestering and her totally crazy love and passion for cooking made her start her blog. Her blog is a digital diary for her dear ones, as she mentions it. A constant support from her parents in her early days and now from her husband ensured her cooking triumphs and her blog. She is one person whom you will find participating and winning in various food competitions. Her has participated in EnnaSamayalo Singapore TV station Vasantham Central in year 2003 and won the first prize in vegetarian cooking. (WOW, way to go girl). Her mom is her “Guru” in cooking and her father is avid lover and a real foodie. Both the qualities have been amazing packed in her
She is going to share with us a very very tasty, sweet dish. Which I am sure sure sure you all will love. So make sure you come back tomorrow.
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If you wish to have yourself featured as a guest blogger send me an email. It can contain anything you wish to put in and share with all of us (not necessarily cooking related) your experiences in life, funny moments, etc. You can have a look at the earlier guest posts to have an idea.
Please email me your entries at – deepa[dot]godbole[at]gmail[dot]com (please replace the symbols where necessary)
New posts and welcome. Pass on the word to everyone who wants to be a part of this guest blog.
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