Hi There

Hello Dear Friends....I know I haven't entered a single post since last november. I really miss the blogging world and am still not ready to come back yet. We are expecting our second baby this month and I am due in another three weeks (hoping the baby stays in for that long). Things had been very hectic here and it still is so am really sorry if I haven't commented on your blogs or not entered any event or even said a hi to you guys....
I am just hoping that I get back to my old self and routine by the end of the year atleast to start blogging again.... But I do promise to check out your blogs on a regular basis atleast.
Miss you all very much..........Will let you know the verdict very soon.
Happy Blogging Everyone and Have fun!

FIsh Cutlet

Mom used to make this in Chennai and when I had my friend Nisha over here, I made it. My mom would try out new dishes and she is really good too, I do miss her food. I am waiting for her to come next month and ask her to make some of her best dishes which I wanna learn and ofcourse share it with you guys. For a first attempt it was really yumm and dad said its perfect just like mom's, oohh what a relief. Its very easy to make and you can prepare and keep it 2 to 4 days earlier and only thing you will have to do is fry it before serving it.. So here it goes.

You will need :-
Tilapia - 1 lb (or any fish make sure there is no skin or bones in it)
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Pepper powder - as per spice required
Onion - 1 big - chopped very fine
Green chilies - 4 chopped very fine
Ginger - chopped fine
Bread crumbs - as required
Eggs - 2 (only whites)
Method:-
1. Cut the fish into small pieces and place them in a non-stick kadai and add turmeric powder, salt and a little pepper powder with a little water. And let it cook completely. Make sure it is cooked fully and the water has to dry completely.
2. Let it cool a little and then smash it with a fork or hand and make sure there are no lumps.
3. Now mix it with the onions, green chilies, pepper powder, ginger and mix it really well.
4. Let is set for 10 -15 mins
5. In the meantime break the eggs and remove the whites and keep it separately in a wide bowl so that you can put your hand in easily and put some bread crumbs in another plate and keep it next to it.
6. Make small balls of size and shape of choice.Dip first it in the egg white and then roll it in the bread crumbs and keep it aside.Make sure the crumbs cover it fully.
7. Fry it just before serving and serve it hot with ketchup or sauce.

P.S.:-
1.) If you are gonna take it from the refrigirator , remember to bring it room temperature before
frying.
2.) If you dont like to bite ginger, peel it, put it in the freezer for 30mins then grate it and mix it, that way you wont even know its there.
3.)If you make it and keep it in the freezer it will stay for 2-3 weeks.

Pesaret & An Award

First let me wish all of you a belated Diwali and hope that all of you had a good time too. I am back on the blog after almost a month. Had been a little too busy, first with Diwali prep and the festival itself, then had friends over from Austin(great couple Somu & Pavi) and in between had been taking my son for his swimming classes which turned out to be a failure. He used to love the pool and now scared of it and he would do anything to stay away from it, poor thing. Even on his way bck from school he keeps telling me in the car, "Amma, pool poie venna" (Don't wanna go to the pool).

And it feels great to start again with an award from Vidhas of Appetizing Recipes. She is a wonderful blogger with amazing entries and she has passed me the Inspiration Award.Thanks a lot dear Vidhas for thinking of me. I would now love to pass it on to,
Mansi, Lothika,Deepa,Cham, Harini, JZ, Divya,Priti,Sra,Meeso and Ramya .

Coming back to the recipe for today, this is the first time I am making it. My mom-in-law is a wonderful cook and she makes a lot of south indian dishes which I am yet to learn from her and seriously I am a big fan of her food. The complement my husband gave me was that it tasted almost like hers which made me feel I was on top of the world....
Pesaret - a regular tiffin at my inlaws, is a favorite of mine. My mother-in-law taught me the recipe and it is one of the most easiest dishes that one can cook. Pesaret is nothing but dosa made with moong dhal / paasi paruppu and a very healthy and filling dish too..By using ginger in it, digestion is faster and dhal is full of protien so a healthy dinner or breakfast and my son eats it without making a fuss and now thats a relief...

Ingredients :-
Moong dhal - 2 cups
Idli rice - 3/4 cup
Ginger - 2inch piece
Green chilies - 4 or as per spice required
Curry leaves - a few
Salt to taste


Method:-
1. Soak the dhal and rice together for 2 to 3 hours
2. Grind it fine with all the above ingredients by adding water as required.
3. Make it into a thin batter a little thinner than for dosa.
4. Heat tava and when hot pour a ladle of the flour and make it just like dosa by adding a few drops of gingelly oil over it before turning it.
5. Serve hot with coconut chutney or pickle and curd.

Egg Puff

I love making snacks for weekends as thats when Vivek is also at home to have hot tea and of course even Arya loves puff.
Its an easy to make tiffin and the only thing that one has to buy is the pastry sheets. I also make peas puffs and vegetable puffs and the method for them is also the same as the egg puff, which I have added along with this recipe.
Kids will love it too..

You will need:-
Pastry sheets - 1 no (1 sheet makes 9 puffs)
Red onion - 1 big (chopped fine)
Green chilies - 2 crushed
Fennel seeds - 1/4 tsp
Garam masala - 1/4 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Chili powder - 1/2 tsp (or as spice required)
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp
Pepper powder - 1/4 tsp
Salt to taste
Egg - hard boiled 4 nos cut in two
Raw egg - 1 (just beaten and set aside for egg wash)
Cooking oil - 1 tbsp

Method:-
1. In a kadai pour the oil and when hot add the fennel seeds and once it stops spluttering add the green chilies.






2. Fry it for a few seconds and then add the chopped onions







3. When fully cooked add the garam masala, chili powder, turmeric powder, pepper powder and the ginger garlic paste and mix well.
4. If you wish you can add a less than quarter cup of water to cook the masala.



5. Once the raw smell is gone add salt and let it simmer for a minute or two and then add the boiled eggs.
6. Make sure the egg gets covered in masala fully and then reduce the heat to a little less than medium and let is set for 10 minutes.
7. Thaw the pastry sheets according to package instructions and then spread it on to a flat dry surface that has some flour on it. Roll it with a rolling pin just a little bit and then cut it into desired sizes. Pre-heat the over to 350degrees. I use Pepperridge farms pastry sheets and I cut one sheet into 9 pieces.
8. Now place one piece of egg with a little masala on one side of the cut pastry sheet.






9. Take the egg wash and rub it on the sides and then fold the sheet and make sure the sides stick together, use a fork to press it down.





10. Rub a few drops of egg wash on the top of the sheet, as that will give the puff a nice glaze color.
11. Follow the same procedure for all the other pastry sheets and then place then one by one leaving a little place between them.




12. Place them in the oven for 12-14 minutes, depending on the oven or until golden brown on the top.
13. Serve hot with ketchup or any sauce.





For peas puff :- It is the same ingredients as teh above instead of egg add 1/2 a cup of peas and you can also add more onions if you like.

For veg puff :- Add 1/4 cup of peas, 1/4 cup of finely cut french peans, 1/4 cup of grated/finely chopped carrot.

P.S. - If you do not eat egg then just use water to stick the sides of the pastry sheets and you can use a fork to press down the sides.

Jeera rice

When my friend Nisha and her husband Sujit came over I had made jeera rice and they loved it, it was my second attempt and it and it was really good. Seriously,its Bindiya's recipe what would I do without her! She just had her second baby, blessed with a boy again, we both have been considerably busy these past days and I am yet to speak to her.....


Here it is:-
Shallots - chopped fine 1/2 cup
Green chilies - chopped fine 3 nos
Bay leaf - 2
Cumin seeds - 2 tbsp
Ghee - 1 tbsp
Cooking oil - 1tbsp
Basmati rice - 1.5 cups (washed and soaked for 15mins and then drained)
Salt to taste
Water - 2 and 3/4 cups for cooking the rice
Cashew - Optional (1 tbsp)

Method:-
In a non stick kadai pour the ghee and oil and once hot add the green chilies, shallots and bay leaf.
Once the onions are well done add the cumin seeds and fry it for a few seconds and then add the basmati rice and salt.
Fry it till the aroma arises and then add the whole thing in the rice cooker and pour the water and cook it till done.
Serve hot with any favorite curry of choice.

P.S. - If you don't like to add shallots its alright, just avoid it!

Spicy Chicken Curry

I had chicken drumsticks in the fridge and I was too lazy to cut them into smaller pieces, so I kept thinking of a way to make it easy. Then it struck me that I could shred them up. And that's how I came up with this curry, and now I kinda like to make it like that as it is easy and I can get rid of a little fat too, isn't that something?
So this is how the curry came about:

You need:-
Chicken drumsticks - 4 nos
Onion - 1 medium crushed
Green chilies -2 slit lengthwise
Tomatoes - 1 8oz can of tomato paste
Ginger Garlic paste - 1 tbsp
Garam Masala - 1/2 tsp
Chili powder - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Cumin powder - 1/2 tsp
Vinegar - 1/4 tsp
Salt to taste
Cilantro - 2 tbsp chopped
Cooking oil - 2 tbsp
Fennel seeds - 1/4 tsp
Coconut - ground 1/4 cup

you can change the quantity as per your requirement..

Method:-
1. In a non-stick pan or vessel pour 3/4 cup of water add a little salt and add the chicken drumsticks to it. Cover and let it cook on medium flame until fully cooked.Throw the whole thing into a colander and keep a vessel under it to drain all the fat and water.Once it becomes a bit warm shred it up nicely and set it aside.


2. In the meantime pour oil in a kadai and when hot add the green chilies and the chopped onions.






3. Once well done add the ginger garlic paste and garam masala.








4. Fry until the raw smell goes and add the chili powder and turmeric powder.






5. A little later add the cumin powder and allow the masala to cook for a while.






6. Now add the tomato paste and a little water







7. Add salt and the shredded chicken and let it simmer for 5 minutes.






8. Pour in the ground coconut and let it cook for another 5 minutes.






9. Add chopped cilantro and switch it off and let it set for a few minutes before pouring it into the serving bowl.





Serve hot with rice, rotis, dosa or anything you like...

SAPADU READY - Event

A new event coming your way this month....

When I hosted the Summer Splash Event in June, I did not think that I would get that many responses, and I was overwhelmed with joy. So knowing that you all will support my next event and also send me sumptuous entries, I have come up with this event.
Every home has a specific way of laying out a meal on a daily basis, a festival, a celebration and get to-gathers. I have been thinking of creating this event for a while now and so here it is. This event is called "Sapadu Ready",Kindle the Chef in You! . Sapadu is a Tamil word for food and "Sapadu Ready" means Food is Ready. For this event you can create any meal and it doesn't have any restriction of any kind when it comes to the ingredients.. Make your favorite meal and send in an entry with it and don't forget to add a picture of the same..It can be any kind of meal except a single dish.....
The image (the 6x splash) I used for this logo is taken from Tom Barnett's PhotoStream.

A few things to remember:
1. There is no restriction on the number of entries that you can send in.
2. You can send in casual/everyday/formal/festival meal/ parties/pot lucks... anything you like.

3. If you have an appropriate entry for this event just re post it again by adding the logo and back linking to my post.
4. Don't forget to add in the recipe for all the dishes in the entry and also the pictures if possible.
5. It can be veg or non-veg or a combination.
6. You can have a theme for your meal if you like.
7.Add a synopsis for the theme or the occasion or that which lead to the creation of the meal...for the meal, that should be fun.. Make sure that you send one meal as a single entry.
8. No using frozen or store bought ready to eat or make.The meal has to be made from start to finish at home in a home kitchen.
8. Add the logo in your entry and please mention about your entry in the comment of the event page,
10.The email id to which you have to send it is : mynalabagham(at) gmail(dot)com

11.Mail me your entry with the subject as - Sapadu Ready
12. If it is a potlouck make sure you mention the name of the person who made it and also the recipe for the dish too.

Make starters, soups, entrees, desserts... .If you do not have a blog, that shouldn't stop you from participating in this event.

Mail me your entry with the subject as - Sapadu Ready
Your name:
Blog name:
Blog url:
Entry name:
Entry url:
Category : Casual, Formal,Party/Get together/Pot lucks, Everyday meal, Comfort food Synopsis: if you would like to add one
Picture : as an attachment (preferred)

The last date for sending your delicious entries will be November 25th. So what are you waiting for, take your pots and pans and plan up a meal and start sending in your entries.....Hurry up and start sending in your entries..........

Nutty Kulfi

Kulfi a favorite for everyone and for many it brings childhood memories. I still remember the kulfi man especially duirng the summer months, who would come on his tricycle and my friend and I would sit near our gate waiting for him with two rupees in our hand.If we aren't there he would stand at the gate and call out kulfi for a while. Had been wanting to make it at home, but had been putting it away as I don't have the kulfi moulds. Finally decided that having moulds is not important but to make it right.
So I called Bindiya, my best friend for years and asked her for the recipe and as usual she was very sweet and gave it to me too..and voila it was the perfect kulfi and everyone loved it... If you have the moulds good for you otherwise just pour it in a freezer safe container and enjoy it whenever you want to..

You need:-
Sweetened condensed milk - 1 can
Evaporated milk - 1 can
Heavy whipping cream - same as the evaporated milk
Pistas - 2 tbsps
Cashewnuts - 2 tbsps
Almonds - 2 tbsps
Cardamom powder - 1 tsp

Method:-
1. Crush the nuts in the blender first.
2. Add the evaporated milk, condensed milk and the whipping cream
3. Add the cardamom powder
4. Blend it for a minute or two and then pour it in the container and freeze it for 6hrs
5. Again blend it in a blender or food processor for a few minutes and then put it in the freezer again.
6. By blending it twice or thrice, you will get a soft kulfi or else it will be like hard icecream.
P.S. - you can also add a saffron if you wish, but just soak it for a few minutes in the whipping cream or evaporated milk before blending it.
To make Mango Kulfi, just add mango pulp to it along with the other ingredients.
Now I don't have to wait to get back to India to enjoy a delicious kulfi as I can enjoy it right at home and share it with my son who loves it too..

Salmon Salad

Salmon is one of my favorites and I normally fry fish or make curry with it. But this time I decided to bake it in the oven and Vivek loved it. This is how its done...

You will need -
Salmon - without the skin 1 lb
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tbsp
Garam Masala - 1/2 tsp
Pepper powder - 1 tsp
Paprika - 1 tsp
Cumin powder - 1/2 tsp
White vinegar - 1 tsp
Zest of 1 lemon - 1/4 tsp
any grill seasoning - 1/2 tsp
Red pepper flakes - 1/2 tsp
Salt to taste
Cooking spray

Bell Pepper Salsa:-
Yellow/orange bell pepper - 1 seeded and chopped fine
Red bell pepper - 1 seeded and chopped fine
Jalepeno - chopped fine 1 tsp
Lime - juice of one
cilantro - handful chopped fine
Salt to taste

Mix all the above together, cover and leave it in the fridge for an hour or two.

Method:-
Mix all the ingredients except for the cooking spray and the salmon.
Rub the mix on to the salmon fillet on both sides and place it in a aluminium foil and pour the balance marinade into it.
Put it in the fridge for 4 -6 hrs.
Before baking it keep the marinated fish out so that it comes to room temperature.
Now preheat the oven to 350 degrees and place the fish with the foil into the oven for about 30 minutes or until well done
Heat a non-stick skillet, spray the cooking spray, add the baked salmon and just dry fry it for a minute or two on each side.
Serve it with any salad or salsa of choice.
I shredded it up and mixed it with bell pepper salsa.
You can eat it with anything that you like, it can also be made with tilapia or any other fish of your choice.





I am sending this to Sangeeth's calcium rich

Navratna Kurma

Haven't blogged any recipes in the past three weeks, and decided to share a very favorite of mine and once you try it you sure to love it too..
A curry that became my favorite in St.Louis, that was the first time I really enjoyed it and wanted to make it at home. I have made it only three or four times until now and guess what, it just keeps getting better each time. The sweet and spicy navratna kurma goes well with jeera rice, rotis and poori. Once you have all the ingredients it will be ready in no time.

Ingredients:-
Onion - 1 medium minced or chopped fine
Tomato - 4 nos pureed or chopped fine
Green chilies - 4 crushed
Cauliflower - 1 cup of florets
Carrot cut into - 1 inch pieces 1/2 cup
Beans cut into -1 inch pieces 1/2 cup
Green peas - 1/2 cup
Potato cut into - 1 inch pieces 1/2 cup
Paneer - cubed and fried 1/2 cup
Mixed dry fruits - 1/2 cup (golden raisins, almond sliced, pista, cashewnuts chopped)
pineapple - 2 slices chopped (don't add a lot)
Heavy whipping cream - one and a half cups
Garam masala - 1/2 tsp
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp
Chili powder - 1 tsp
Coriander powder - 1tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Cumin powder - 1/2 tsp
Fennel seeds - 1/4 tsp
Cinnamon - an inch piece
Cloves - 4 nos
Cardamom - 4 nos
Cashew paste - 2 tbso soaked and ground to a fine paste
Salt to taste
Cooking oil - 3 tbsp
Butter - 1 tbsp

Method:-
1. In a deep non-stick kadai pour the oil and the butter and when hot add the fennel seeds and once it splutters add the greenchilies and the onion.





2. Once the onion is done add the garam masala and the ginger garlic paste.






3. Add all the vegetables - carrot, beans, peas, potato and the cauliflower after the raw smell of the ginger garlic paste is gone.






4. Mix it well and maintain the heat in medium. Can add a tsp of vinegar or lime juice if you wish.






5. When the vegetables are half done add the tomato puree. If necessary add a little water.






6. Make sure you add the chili powder, turmeric powder, cumin powder and coriander powder after the tomato is cooked, other wise the smell of tomato will keep lingering for a long time.





7. Mix it all well and add salt. Cover and allow the vegetables to cook completely, add water if needed.






8. When the vegetables are fully cooked add the fried paneer and mix it carefully to avoid breaking of the paneer.






9. Mix in the cup of mixed nuts and the cashew paste let it simmer until the vegetables are fully cooked.






10. Pour in the whipped cream and let it simmer for 5 minutes and then add the pineapple pieces and leave it on low heat for 5 - 10 minutes.





11. Serve hot or warm with roti, rice, parotta anything that you like. Enjoy it.........
If you are making it for a party then follow till step 9 and put it in the fridge and then do step 10 just before the party and it would still be fresh and taste great too....




I am sending this to Sangeeth's calcium rich.