Milestone week!

Last week was a milestone week of sorts. Lots of new things happening...
The biggest one was my son starting school!! Yes, time has flown and my little one has also flown the coop (well, not really!). It was received with mixed but similar reactions on both our ends. His was mostly abandonment and apprehension at facing the new school and routine. Mine was surprisingly abandonment (yes, for some reason I felt this acute sense of separation the day before he started school :( as well) and apprehension as well for him and myself for having to adjust to the new routine.
But I am happy to say we have both survived the first week with some minor scars (which will only make us stronger) and we are trudging along bravely in to the second week.....

As my son says - "Mama, your baby has become a big boy now!"

The other big thing happening at my place is the harvest of my kitchen garden (well actually just one plant!). And my flowering plants are actually flowering!! Yaayy!! They too survived the week!! Here are some pics to prove it!

Periwinkle (dark pink)

Petunia (White)

Hibiscus (Single whorl, Pink)

Petunia (Pink)

Periwinkle (light pink)

Coriander will be ready for picking in another couple of days

Methi (Fenugreek) all ready!

I made some Aloo methi yesterday with the methi from my own garden :)) Feeling mighty proud and accomplished!!

I will do a catch up post (yet again!) on some of the recipes that I tried last week.... soon... But for now it is Sayonara.

Leftovers Leftovers

I was just about to start cooking when the spouse called to say he is not coming home for dinner; he had to attend a wedding. So I ditched all plans of cooking! Had yesterday's chole and had made some chickpea paranthas for my son's lunch. So had leftovers from there as well. So just had that for dinner. Tomorrow will cook something new I promise! :)

On another note - I have taken up gardening!!! Well, it is really pot gardening; no not the smoking kind!!! Disadvantages of apartment living, or should I say advantages - not too sure if the garden would survive my "green" thumb!!!
So to start off I have some petunias and hibiscus and aloe vera for one of my balconies and for the kitchen have started off with some methi and coriander. The fenugreek (methi) is doing great! Same cannot be said of the coriander - something has sprouted in that pot but it looks like a mutant species! So it remains to be seen what actually will grow there. But the ambitious plan is to grow basil/tulsi, mint and chillies along with the fenugreek and coriander. Time will tell how much of it actually happens...

Okay then! See you all tomorrow with a new recipe.

Haveli Ka 'Khana Khazana'!

On Sunday visited the N grill (https://www.facebook.com/pages/N-Grill/111901618836414) for the first time with gal pals. Was skeptical initially since the reviews online for the restaurant were not too promising. But the experience proved to be a satisfying one. I am not too sure if it was the company or the food or a combo of both :) But I had a great time!

I had stuffed so much at the restaurant that felt the need to practice some restrain with my evening meal. Decided to order a light meal from a nearby restaurant called Haveli (http://www.zomato.com/hyderabad/restaurants/city/begumpet/haveli-90368/menu). Came across this website - Zomato.com recently while searching for restaurants and it is a great website - with reviews and menu. Makes ordering out so easy! Wanted to get the sizzler but they did not have it so instead ordered the Veg Combo Appetizer plate, Egg Biryani and Veg Jaipuri. The meal was decent. Out of the appetizers only the hara bhara kabab deserves a mention. The other two in the plate was sauteed cauliflower (cannot be called tandoori gobhi!) and the Subji Sheekh kabab was nothing but chick pea flour skewered (it was tough and lacked flavor). The Egg biryani and the Veg Jaipuri were good.

Tandoori Gobhi, Sabji Sheekh Kabab, Veg Jaipui, Hara Bhara Kabab and Egg Biryani from Haveli

Today I made Punjabi Chole to go with rotis. And I was done. I think I need to start a food journal and note down exactly what and how much I am eating. I have been eating a lot and not exercising and all that is not doing so well on my tummy and my overall weight :( 

Rotis and Punjabi chole

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Punjabi Chole
2 cups of chick peas soaked in water with a tea bag for 8 hrs and then pressure cooked in the same water till soft
2 large onions + 6 cloves of garlic + 3 dry red chillies (soaked in hot water for half hr) ground to a paste
3 tomatoes ground to a paste
1 tsp pomegranate seed powder (optional)
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp kitchen king masala or Chole masala pd
1 tsp garam masala pd
Salt to taste


Heat oil in a pan and add cumin seeds to splutter. Then add the onion paste and fry till nice and brown. Then add the tomato paste and fry till the tomatoes are well cooked. Then add the spice powders and fry for a minute more. Now add the cooked chickpeas and a half cup of water. Cover and simmer for about 10 minutes. Garnish with fried onions and chopped coriander if you like.
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See you later folks!

I feel the weekend approaching......

Come Friday, I feel like I used to feel when I went to work. A feeling of euphoria that the weekend is approaching and that I can have two days of bliss. Same with cooking. Come weekend - no cooking. Yaay!

Menu for today - Mooli Paranthas and quick and easy egg curry.

Mooli Parantha and Easy Egg Curry

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Quick and Easy Egg Curry 

2 medium onions roughly chopped

3 large toamtoes roughly chopped

3 green chillis slit

5-6 cloves of garlic

1/2 inch piece of ginger

4 peppercorns

Boil all the above in a little water till they are cooked. Grind to a smooth paste and reserve.

Break open 4 eggs and beat them together with a salt, chilli powder, a tsp of cumin seeds, 1/2 tsp of kasuri methi and cook them in the microwave (use a dish so that they are like 2 inches thick when cooked) till they are set. Cool and cut them into cubes.

Heat a pan with a little oil and add some mustard seeds and cumin seeds. After they have spluttered add the ground paste and add salt, chilli pd, and kitchen king masala to taste. Add about half a cup of water or to your desired consistency. Simmer for a few minutes. Now add the egg cubes and cover and cook for another minute or two. That's it!

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Watched the movie The next 3 days starring Russel Crowe and Elizabeth Banks. Loved it! It is about a husband whose wife is taken into custody on murder charges and he decides to get her out of the prison. Every minute is action and emotion packed. The emotion between the husband and wife, wife and child, the father and child, of the father and his father - every bit is movingly portrayed without compromising on the action front. Lovely. Do watch it.

Had been itching to make dhoklas for a long while. Even got a whole box of Eno to make them. Just did not get the chance until today. Made dhoklas for snack today. Take a look at the pic and decide for yourself. My verdict - lip smacking!!  Would have been super with some chutney to go along with it, but just made do with Maggi hot and sweet. Followed the recipe from a fellow blogger at - http://food-n-more.blogspot.com/2006/09/fastest-dhokla-ever.html

Dhokla

Okay then folks - Sayonara time. See you all tomorrow!

Daddy's day in!

Today was my father's birthday so yet another excuse for not eating at home!!! Asked him to take the day off from work. Hence the title of the blog - in case you were wondering...

Lunch was from a place called Utupura (http://www.utupura.com/). It is a Kerala restaurant. Well, the food was not completely authentic Kerala cuisine but very close.  We ordered the veg thali and it had rice, sambar with mixed veggies, plantain stem in coconut gravy, bitter gourd fry, curd with pickle, chutney, fried appalam as accompaniments and payasam for dessert. I did not take a picture as the food came in individual aluminum foil packs and by the time the food got home I was soo ravenous that I attacked the food without any ado :)

I did bake a cake for my dad. It was not a start from scratch cake. I used the ready to bake mixes. Just added milk and butter and it was ready in a half hr. Just did a sugar powder dusting ( a thick coating to cover the imperfections!!) So when I said I "baked" a cake - I did just that :)

Heart chocolate cake!

For the evening meal ordered out again!! From All Seasons - the same place we ordered from this Sunday. Ordered the Paneer Shahi Kurma and Nawabi Hundi. They were both fine.

Muaaahaaaahaaa! Stomach khush hua!!!

Paneer Shahi Kurma and Nawabi Hundi

See you all tomorrow folks!

Comfort food...

Monday technically marks "back to cooking", but this week has been an extended weekend (well in the United States it is!!) So although what I cooked is not considered a full meal - it was for me :)

I can have rasam any time of the day so that is what I made for dinner. Accompanied with lady finger fry it is the best comfort food that I can have.

Rasam rice with lady finger fry

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Easy Instant Rasam

1 tbsp cumin seeds

1 tbsp chana daal

1 tbsp tuvar daal

1 tbsp coriander seeds

4-5 pepper corns

Saute all of the below with a little oil and grind them to a powder and reserve.

4 medium tomatoes - ground to a paste

4-5 garlic cloves pounded

A pinch of asafoetida pd

2 green chillies slit

1/2 tsp turmeric pd

Salt to taste

Heat a little oil in a pan and add a little cumin and mustard seeds to splutter. Now add the asafoetida pd and the green chillies, followed by the ground tomatoes. Add the turmeric pd and the ground masala pd and salt. Cover and let it simmer till the tomato paste is cooked and it loses its raw smell. Add water to correct the consistency. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves.

Lady Finger Fry

Just saute the chopped lady finger with salt, turmeric pd and chilli pd on low heat till they turn crisp. They do take a while but it beats using a lot of oil and getting them done quickly!

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But this is not the hubby's idea of comfort food so he actually got food from outside and Chinese nonetheless!! So guess what?! I had another dinner!! It was a carnival for my taste buds but not so much for my stomach or the other internal organs I think! Had to have Digene before going to bed!!!

Chow folks!

Weekend taste travels to Arabia!

I ordered food from a "never before ordered food from" place this weekend. This is a restaurant called All Seasons (http://www.allseasonshyderabad.com/). It is a multi-cuisine restaurant which serves Arabic, Lebanese and Indian food. I wanted to try the Arabic menu. I love falafels so decided to try this place. Ordered the falafel (of course!) with the Karnabet (sauteed cauliflower, broccoli, onions, garlic and coriander in cumin sauce served with rice) for the main course. Well, the falafel was good but they did not have tahini sauce though :(( Instead they gave an eggy tasting mayo!! So much for authenticity!!. But the main course tasted suspiciously like a Chinese gravy dish - the only difference being that the sauce had a distinct flavor of cumin. But other than that and the presence of coriander the dish could have been any Chinese stir fry gravy dish!! But it tasted good so all was well :)

Hubby did not want to venture out of his comfort zone so he had the Paneer Tikka Masala and Dal Tadka with the Veg Dum Biryani. His verdict - tasted very good but had copious amounts of oil.

Falafel

Karnabet with Rice

Shabba Khair peeeps!