copy2: Bridal Shower For Nithya - Bombay Chutney & Apple Capsicum Couscous

Today is a day to rejoice the forthcoming wedding of a most gifted and talented blogger, Nithya Rajasekaran -

The day a girl becomes a bride, is like no other. It is one of the few most cherished moments of life. It is the day she embarks the new journey of life. Holding someone's hand, with dreams in heart and sparkle in the eyes. Having mixed feelings of missing her mother's home, excited and anxious about the new home. It is indeed a special day for her!! Very soon one of our friends, a lovely blogger and a beautiful photographer, is going to enter into wedlock. I believe you would have guessed who it is by now. For those who are still wondering, it is none other than Nithya of 4thsensecooking, who is getting married this November. (Hard to believe she has such a fine collection of recipes already under her belt)

Thanks to the advent of technology, the world has become very small.
Though nothing can equal the joy of celebration in person, we all would want to wish her and celebrate with her, the most joyous period of her life. Here we are all, united, to wish her all the best and a very Happy Married Life. So today we are throwing this virtual bridal shower for Nithya to express our happiness and to celebrate with her.

And what could be a better way to celebrate than with food, the quintessential subject, that binds us all... So we decided to cook it up, literally and that too Nithya's own dishes from her own blog - 4thsensecooking. I had chosen to make her Kaju Murrukus which I fell in love with but with all of us watching our weight and time being a little rushed, I decided to make Bombay Chutney, a dish which was very well-loved by all - Hope she likes the recreation of her own favorite dishes and gets a taste of it through the world wide web. See Nithya's recipe here. thank you Anamika for organizing this - What a wonderful gesture :) So glad to be part of it!

Ingredients:

Gram flour or chick pea flour(Besan/Kadala maavu) – 1/2 cup
Water - 1 1/2 cup
Asafoetida(perungayam) - a pinch
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Onion - 1
Tomato - 2
Green chillies - 2
Bell pepper or Capsicum (1/2 medium sized chopped)Garlic - 4 pods
Fennel(Saunf / Sombu) - 1 tsp (I replaced with Cumin since I did not have fennel seeds)
Cinnamon(pattai) - 1/2 inch piece (used 1 tsp of my curry ma podi instead)
Urad dhall - 1/2 tsp
Channa dhall - 1/2 tsp
Mustard - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves
Salt - for taste

The process colorfully told :)

Preparation (from Nithya's blog)
Chop the onion and tomatoes into cubes and slit the chilies. Dice the garlic pods finely.
Dilute gram flour, turmeric powder and salt in the water and keep it ready.
Take two tsp of oil in a pan and splutter mustard seeds, urad dhall and channa dhall. Drop in the curry leaves, chilly and fry for a min. Now add the chopped onion, tomato and garlic and fry until onion turns transparent.
Now add the ground saunf and cinnamon powder. Reduce the flame to the lowest mark and pour the gram flour water mixture while stirring continuously. Now increase the flame slightly and keep stirring until it gets cooked and becomes slightly thick and glossy.
Add chopped coriander leaves at this stage if desired and collected in the serving bowl.
Simple and quick Bombay chutney or Bombay Masala is ready to serve :)
Serve it hot with chapathi or poori.

The complied feast for the shower :)

And Nithya, this one's to salute your creativity :) I ended up making a capsicum couscous

Apple-Capsicum Couscous

Ingredients

1 Cup French couscous (sprouted)
1/2 apple
1 capsicum
1/2 cup fresh spinach leaves
1-2 green chilies (mine are green turned red :)
1/2 cup chopped mushrooms
1/4 cup Grated coconut
1 tsp grated ginger
1 tsp crushed bay leaves
1/2 tsp mustard seeds, urad dal for tempering
1tsp olive oil

Preparation
Chop the apple and the capsicum into small pieces
slit the green chilies and grate the ginger and keep ready
In 2 cups of water, cook the couscous until soft and fluffy
In a wide mouthed pan, heat the oil and pop the mustard, following up with the urad dal
When the dal is golden, add the chopped veggies & fruit and chilies, bay leaves and saute for a bit
Now add the curry powder and salt
When the capsicum (bell pepper) is semi-soft, add the cooked couscous to the pan and stir in with the curry.
Now add the grated coconut and turn it once
Garnish with your choice of nuts, and basil
Healthy one pot meal is ready to eat :)

Nithya's Party is also being hosted on these blogs

Party also being hosted at:

Anamika Arun - Taste Junction

Archana

Krithi - Krithi's Kitchen

Priya Mitharwal - Mharo Rajasthan Recipes