Honey Thekuas for Diwali!

Honey Thekuas for Diwali!

Spring onions and sprouts stir fry

Ingredients-
1 cup moong sprouts

1 stalk spring onions chopped

salt to taste

Oil to cook

Directions-

In a wok, heat oil, add spring onions and fry for a couple of mins. Add sprouts and salt. I even added some chopped tomato and boiled potato cubes. Cook for a couple of minutes. Remove from heat and serve warm.

Real Steel- Movie review

Real Steel- Full metal robot!

We went for this movie yesterday. Real Steel is a great movie to be watched in a theatre. It has absolutely brilliant acting by Hugh Jackman and Goyo, they are the perfect choices for the roles they played. It has awesome music and great cinematography. It has some amazing fight scenes and good performances from both human and metal casts! Yeah! I totally loved Atom.

For people who are missing the Metallica concert, go watch this, you would love the special effects and the music, especially the metal-verses-metal clashes in the ring!

This was my first movie with Yashi, and I loved it, whatever bits I could catch.

Keema matar

Ingredients-

1/2 kg chicken keema
1 cup - green peas, I used frozen peas

2 green chillies chopped
1 large onion chopped

2 tsps ginger garlic paste

1 large tomato chopped

1 medium boiled potato chopped
1/2 tsp Coriander powder
1/2 tsp Turmeric powder
2 tsps Chicken masala (I used Kitchen King)
Salt to taste

Method

Wash the minced chicken in a colander. Squeeze to drain all the water  and keep aside to drain rest of it.
In a wok, heat oil. Add the onions and fry till golden. Add ginger garlic paste, chillies, tomato, potato, peas and fry.
Add the salt and dry spices and the minced chicken. Add 1/2 a cup of water and bring to a boil. Simmer, cover and cook. Cook till gravy thickens or water dries, the way you prefer your keema. 

Serve hot. I served with parathas and the next day, finished the left over keema with pav! I preferred it with Pav and Niket loved it with parathas.

I am sending this to Dish name starts with K at Akila's kitchen.


This dish always reminds me of my time in Mumbai, and especially the Biryani Centre at Goregaon E station. Keema Pav is very common to Muslim and Parsi households in Mumbai.

Dahi aur papad ki sabzi

This is one of Niket's favorites, and we usually make this when we have lots of sour curd. Here is my recipe-

Ingredients-

Sour curd- 1 cup mixed with 1 cup water

Papads- fried and broken into bits- 2 or 3
Gram flour/ besan -1 tbsp

Turmeric powder - 1/2 teaspoon
Salt to taste
Oil to cook

Panch phoran for tempering
red chillies - broken - 2
Boondi (optional) - 1/2 cup
3/4 cup

Method-

In a large bowl, combine curd, besan, salt, turmeric powder. Heat  a pan, add oil. Add the panch phoran and let it splutter. Add the red chillies. When their color changes, add the curd mixture. Let it simmer and come to a boil. Add papad bits and boondi into the mix. Turn off flame and cover. Let it stay for a couple of mins befroe serving. Serve immediately.

Egg Utthapam

Here is the recipe of an Utthappam with a twist!!

Ingredients-

Idli / Utthapam mix- 1/2 cup (for 2 utthapams)
2 eggs
1 small onion- chopped
2 tsps coriander chopped
1 small tomato chopped
Salt to taste
Oil for cooking

Method-
To the utthapam mix, add the chopped veggies and salt. Mix well.
Heat a tava / non stick pan. Grease with oil. Pour 1 ladle of the mix on the tava. Let it cook a bit. Break the egg on top of this utthapam. Let the egg and utthapam cook a bit more. Flip the utthapam using a spatula. Let it brown on the other side. Turn off flame. Sprinkle with some salt on the egg. Serve warm with ketchup!

Is good for breakfast or evening snack!!

Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara- movie review

I saw this movie yesterday (I know!) on Tatasky. This movie is like a breath of fresh air from all the commerical movies that Bollywood is busy making. The philosophy of this movie is like the elephant story. Three lives, three problems. You find your own story in one of them or parts of their story.

I was awed. I salute Zoya Akhtar who proved once again that she stands out from the rest. Zoya dominates the screen with her assured direction which gets the best out of her actors. Farhan Akhtar is the best of the lot swiftly moving from classy comedy strokes to choking emotions with such ease, it amazes you. I struggled to keep pace with how the movie swung from comedy to deeply moving emotions.

Hrithik Roshan, Abhay Deol and Kalki Koechlin play their part wonderfully well, doing justice to their roles. It was Katrina Kaif who impressed me, with both, her stunning looks and her brilliant performance. Her dialogue delivery has improved remarkably. Naseeruddin Shah's performance was the icing on the cake. Its not easy to come into a movie which is so lively and happening and complement the actors and the pace of the movie. He does it again, with ease.

Spain conquers your eyes with its colours and vibrance. Javed Sir's shayaris (poems) narrated by Farhan Akhtar make you realise how magical words can be. Here's one-

Dilon mein tum apni btaabiyan leke chal rahe ho toh zinda ho tum
Nazar mein khwabon ki bijliyaan leke chal rahe ho toh zinda ho tum
Hawa ke jhokon ke jaise aazad rehna seekho
Tum ek dariya ke jaise lehron mein behna seekho …

(Watch the movie for more, didn't I tell you it will take you to a different world!)

Its one of the best ways to spend your time. Don't miss it if you haven't watched it yet!

Red Rice Rava Kheer

This is a healthy kheer, and is really delicious and easy to make.

Ingredients-
Red rice rava, can also use Roasted rava - 1/2 cup
Jaggery - 3 tbsps

Milk- 1/2 Litre

1/2 tin of condensed milk
Dry fruits of choice to add in kheer (I used raisins)

Ghee - 1 tsp

Method-
Bring the milk to a boil in a heavy bottomed pan. Add the washed red rice rava. Cook till the rava turns soft. Let the milk thicken.

Once the mixture begins to thicken, add the condensed milk. Let it cook well. 

Once the kheer has a thick consistency, take off from flame. Let it cool.

Add the jaggery. In a tadka ladle, heat ghee and fry the dry fruits, add to the kheer and mix well. Serve warm or chilled.

I am sending this to IndusLadies Yummy Diwali Sweet Recipes. Check my post here. 

Indusladies E-Book- “100 Yummy Diwali Sweet Recipes”

For the upcoming Diwali on October 26th, 2011, Indusladies is compiling an E-Book called “100 Yummy Diwali Sweet Recipes”. They are collecting sweet/dessert recipes from various bloggers to be featured in this E-Book.

This E-book will be made available as a free download, it will also be available to their 9000+ Facebook fans and Twitter followers. It's LOTS and LOTS of exposure to those food blogs entering the E-Book!!

Rules of participation are as follows-

Send a link from your blog for a sweet /dessert recipe. It should also include the picture of the sweet/dessert. Your recipe, food picture, recipe URL as well as the entire blog URL will get featured in the E-Book.

Now make a blog post in your blog announcing the E-Book compilation by IndusLadies and the recipe you are sending for this E-Book. That way inviting your co-bloggers interested to send in their contribution by Oct 10th, 2011.


Any blogger interested can send their entry to partners@indusladies.com by October 8th.

I am sending my post- Red Rice rava kheer.

An Award that brightened my day too!!

PJ of Seduce your tastebuds has passed on the Inspirational Blog Award to me. Thanks PJ!!

The award comes with some rules-

You haev to put it up on your blog.

You have to pass it on to deserving bloggers.

And answer the tag questions that come with the award!

1. What makes you laugh, smile or giggle?
Good memories, Yashi's antics, funny English / Hindi, Stupid Bollywood jokes make me laugh.

2.What are your dreams for your future?
2-3 years ahead of now, I think I want to leave 9-5 work and do some freelancing, and spend time with Yashi. I am not sure if I will be able to do that, because I feel attached to my work as if it is my identity. However, I also realise that work cannot be me, I am me.. I also want to do something in Interior decoration, not for a profession, but for my own home.

3. If you are to go to a cruise, where would it be and why?
The whole world if that's possible.. I love to travel and I don't like being in one place for a very long time. My hubby thinks I am restless, but I think I don't like being tied down to one place. One place I want to go to is Alcatraz!!

4. How would you spend your vacation time and with whom?
I would like to spend a couple of days alone on vacation to be joined later by family... Sometimes I feel the need too forget who I am and spend time with nature- the vast expanse of the sea, the greens..

5. If given a chance, what life would you choose? Your life now or your past?
My life now, because I have little Yashi, who is the sunshine in my life!! My past is juicy ;) but my present is even more beautiful!

6. Is there something that you wished before when you were young but you didn’t get it?
Yes, so many of them. To be a lawyer, to never marry an engineer (which I eventually did!!), a better job.. I was really ambitious when I was younger.. things have changed now..

7. Have you been in a situation where you might have given up but still you chose to move on?
Yes, lots of times!! These times give you strength..

8. Is their someone in your life who has been your source of strength and inspiration?
My younger brother

I am nominating 10 bloggers for this award (It's a pity I cannot nominate all of them!)

1. Amina
2. Kaveri
3. Deeksha
4. Poonam
5. Vaidehi
6. Akhila
7. Chitra
8. Aruna
9. Priti
10. Prema

In case you guys have already been tagged, pass it on to other blogger friends!!