Aratikaya Pulusu/ Raw banana tamarind curry/ Vazakkai kara kuzambu

6 tbsp oil... Most of the diet conscious will stop reading this post as soon as they see this… sorry guy! But this recipe tastes good only with lot of oil…
Raw banana – 1, Thinly sliced
Onion – 2 big, finely chopped
Tomatoes – 2 medium (made to a pulp in a blender)
Fenugreek seeds – 6
Mustard seeds – ½ tsp
Chili powder – 3 tbsp (adjust according to taste)
Coriander powder – 1 tbsp
Tamarind – key lime size (soaked for 5-10 minutes in half cup water)
Salt to taste

Heat oil in a pan; use the traditional pan... not a non-stick one...

Add the mustard seeds and fenugreek and let them splutter; add the onions and sauté till transparent pink.
Add the thinly sliced raw banana and fry for about 5 minutes, keep stirring or the onions will burn...
Add chili powder, coriander powder and cook till the raw smell is gone...
Add pureed tomatoes and cook till the raw smell goes away..
Then add the tamarind pulp, 1 cup water and salt.
Cover the pan and boil on a low flame till the raw bananas are soft…

Serve with hot rice and papad..

Kat Chaaru/ Kattina Saaru/ Katachi Amti

This is a thin lentil soup, best eaten with rice.
It brings back my childhood memories; every vacation of mine was spent in my maternal grandmother’s place.
It is a huge ancestral home, built nearly 200 years ago.
It was a combined family; nearly 20-25 people lived together.
The number climbs to 30 people during the vacations.
The lunch always used to be a family affair, and it was traditionally served in banana leaves.
It used to be fun… it was party everyday!!!!

This was usually prepared by one of the many grandmothers living in the house... Her name is Kanthavva…. Very sweet lady… she has a very fond of cloths…

Here goes the recipe…

1. 1 Cup split chickpeas ( senaga pappu ), soaked for 30 mins and boiled in a pressure cooker till mushy.
2. 2 tsps ghee
3. Key lime size tamarind , soaked in a cup of water
4. 1 tsp pepper corns
5. 3-4 garlic cloves
6. 4-5 broken red chilies
7. ½ tsp mustard seed
8. ½ tsp cumin/ jeera seeds
9. a generous pinch of asafetida
10. pinch of turmeric
11. ½ inch cinnamon
12. 2 cloves
13. 5-10 curry leaves
14. Bunch coriander, chopped finely

Crush the pepper corns, jeera/cumin, cinnamon and cloves into a fine powder using a stone pestle add in the garlic cloves and crush them.

Heat the ghee in a pan, add mustard seed, let them splutter, add curry leaves, asafetida, turmeric and red chilies toss for few seconds then add the pepper mixture to it and toss for few seconds.

Mash the boiled chickpeas and make it into a paste and add it to the pan, then add the tamarind pulp, salt and heat till light foam appear on the top. Don’t boil, as charu/saaru loses taste when boiled.

Serve with hot rice, ghee and some tomato/mango pickle……

forgot to take a picture of this... as we were very busy savoring this with rice ;-)

Snicker muffins

I have fallen in love with snickers…

Since the age of 15, when ever any relative visits us from the states, the first thing on my wish list would be snickers…

When these started selling in India, my joy new no bounds.

I love baking, I love snickers…

I combined both… and I have the snicker cup cakes…. ( Widely tried and tested on many blogs)

This baking trial was not a 100% success… the cupcakes were not sweet enough…

I modified the recipe a bit, so that they can b a little sweeter…

1 Cup all purpose flour

½ TBSP baking powder

A pinch of salt

1 cup whole milk

¼ cup melted butter

1 medium egg

¼ cup granulated sugar

Vanilla extract

12 mini snicker bars ( frozen all through )

¼ cup jaggery

¼ cup butter

1. Sieve together the flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl.

2. Melt the butter in microwave at full power for 1 minute.

3. Beat the egg lightly, add milk, sugar, vanilla and beat lightly.

4. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture and keep stirring with a whisk to avoid lumps.

5. Don’t over beat the mixture as I will lead to dry muffins.

6. In a muffin tray arrange paper muffin liners and drop in spoon full of the batter in each cup. Leave some space in the cups for the batter to rise while baking.

7. Drop one mini snickers on each muffin

8. Pre heat oven to 180 degrees and bake the muffins for 30-35 minutes at 180 degrees.

9. Let the muffins cool on a wire rack

10. Melt the butter and jaggery in a pan till soft.

11. Pour the jaggery sauce over each muffin for that extra sweetness…

You can also always, chop the snickers into teeny tiny pieces and put it over the muffins…..

Vanjaram (King/sear Fish) Fry

This is a very simple dish…. and my hubby says.... it tastes yummmm...

I cant say how it tastes as I dont eat fish :-(

As any fish dish does, this tastes best when the marinated fish is left in the fridge and fried the next day….

8-9 medium sized fish slices.  (they should not be this as we are pan frying these fishes )

1 tsp turmeric

2 tsp Ginger Garlic Paste (Preferably fresh)

Juice of a medium sized Lemon

2 tsp oil

1tsp coriander powder

1 ½ tsp chilli powder

Mix all the ingredients and apply the paste on the fish slices.

Rest them in the fridge for about an hour.

Add few drops of oil (only few drops as the fish itself will leave some oil after a few mins of cooking)

And place the marinated fishes, wait till they are golden brown and flip over to the second side.

Fry on medium low flame and complete cooking should take about 15-20 minutes ( i.e approximately 10 minutes on each side )

Carrot Cake

I am at home today....

I am down with a worse stomach ache.....

and I am tiered of lying on the bed.... which is making me more fatigued...

I am craving for a cake..... a cake... yummmm...

I dint want a normal choco cake or a sponge cake... I wanted something different..

I raided my fridge... and saw cover lying in a corner of my veg basket...

Baby carrots...

a carrot cake it would be...

1 Cup Flour
1tsp baking powder
2 eggs
1/2 cup oil
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp Praline ( Recipe below )
3-4 tsp of milk ( Optional )

grated carrots

Method :

1. beat oil, sugar and eggs togather till they are pale.

2. seive the baking powder and flour.

3. Gradually add the flour mixture to the egg mixture and beat well

4. fold in the carrot and praline you can also add any nuts of your choice.

5. if the batter looks very thick, add some milk and mix..

PH oven to 180 degrees C

Bake for about 50 minutes/ till a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.

serve this with some icecream.... yummmm

I served it with Baskin Robbin's very berry strawberry Ice-cream....
Praline :

3 tbsp sugar
10 cashews
10 almonds
1 tbsp butter


add sugar in a pan and wait till it turns a little brown.
add the butter and then the nuts.

stir for about 10-20 seconds and puor it on a baking sheet.
Let cool and crush to a coarse powder.

Off to Kerala

Hey there...

I am off to the god's Own country... Kerala....

Not for a holiday... but to attend my very good friend's wedding.... aaaaaaw they are wonderful couple....

Anju and Abraham.....

Grrrr... she dint attend my wedding....

They have a farm house...... and they have all sorts of animals there... starting from a duck to a buffalo ;-)

I am an animal lover and would have a wonderful time there!!!!!!

See you back on Monday with all beautiful wedding pics....!!!!

Anju darling.... I am coming!!!!!

My dear Hubby n me..... had a wonderful candle light dinner.... Mauritius