NEW Event Anouncement and Special Award for You

First, I want to take this opportunity to thank all you wonderful people who leave such awesome and inspiring comments on my blog - thanks SO much - it literally makes my day and I derive more creative energy from them - so PLEASE continue to stop by every day :)
I am happy to announce that I will be guest hosting Pari of Foodelicious' wonderful event (after my own heart) - which as people who know me will agree I love to do - Fusion - So the event is ONLY FUSION RECIPES - Welcome to an All Vegetarian Event
Here are examples of Fusion Food - 
1)Using herbs, spices and vegetables/fruits that are usually associated with a certain cuisine in a different way or cuisine
2) Making a dish known to a certain cuisine and adapting it to a different cuisine (Paneer or pizza with Indian seasoning)
Or my Indian Chinese Pizza for instance or Blood Oranges in Rasam or the spicy cilantro sauce
Basically thinking out of the box to concoct something appealing to the eyes and the palate. 
Hope this provides some guidance :)


Starts April 1- Ends April 30

PLEASE READ RULES OF EVENT CAREFULLY BEFORE ENTERING YOUR RECIPES _ THANK YOU :)

Rules of the Event

1. Any number of fresh entries can be sent but only 2 entries from the archive will be accepted.

2. Archived entries to be reposted, else will not be accepted.

3. Only vegetarian entries (egg allowed) will be accepted.
4. Use of logo is mandatory as it helps spread the word.
5. IMPORTANT:The entry should be linked back to my event announcement page (this one) and Pari's Only Fusion giveaway page.
6. The winner of the book will be chosen by me by random. org after the round up is completed.

7. IMPORTANT: I have provided 2 linky tools based on entries from India and one from the rest of the world – Please use Appropriate Linky -scroll to the bottom of post to find Linkys

8. The update will be ongoing
9. Non bloggers can also participate. Again use linky tool appropriate to your country of residence.

AWARD ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND SHARING 

I have recd  some wonderful awards from some incredible bloggers – Thank you dears you rock! And you make doing this very worth it!

Smitha Of Smitha’s Spicy Flavors (Lovely Blog, Stylish blogger, Versatile Blogger and One Beautiful Blog)

Samira Of My Sonpari (Sisterhood)
Valar's Kitchen -Back to Basics

Priya Vaasu of Enveetu Kitchen(Lovely Blog)

Ambreen of Simply Sweet n Savory(Lovely blog)

Since I have already shared the other awards with everyone recently, I am sharing this cherished award with all my blogging sisters – I feel honored to be part of this group – like I’ve been inducted into a sorority J and I will cherish this – To all bloggers friends who frequent my site and leave such encouraging words, this award is yours  - All my gal pals PLEASE collect and display on your blog. Love you!

Here is an award I just made up for fun and would like to present to all the Priyas (there are quite a few of us)
Priya Sreeram - Bon Appetit
Priya Ramakrishnan - Elaichii
Priya Suresh - Priyas Easy & Tasty Recipes
Priya Vaasu - Enveetu Kitchen
Priya Prashant - Priya's Recipes
Priya Mithrawal  - Mharo Rajasthan
Priya Dharshini - Priya's Feast
Priya of Priya's Kitchen
Priya of Akshayapatram
Priya of Friend's Palace
Priya Raj of EnSamayail
Priyanka Agarawal of Food Fanatic (close enough :)
Please accept, my "beloved" namesakes :)
If I am missing a Priya, please let me know!

ENTRIES FROM INDIA -LINK HERE

ENTRIES FOR EVERYWHERE ELSE -LINK HERE

Blood Orange Rasam/ Indian Soup

On my never ending quest to find  new and different ways of using natures edible gifts, I stumbled upon these blood oranges (god bless Farmville – I’ve learnt a lot from playing that game) and if you saw my Clementine Rasam post, or have been following my recipes, you will know that I do like to twist things around and see where it gets me – So far it has been to very happy places, unexplored and waiting to be explored.

The rasam not only turned out great, but the aroma from the blood oranges gave it an additional delicate citrusy flavor which enhanced the enjoyment of this rasam/soup

I did two things differently – a) I did not use Dal b) I did not use tomatoes

But I did use coconut and coriander to thicken the rasam in place of the dal -

Follow the directions of making Mysore Rasam minus the tomatoes and dal.

About Blood Oranges

They are the size of a Big Orange with purple bruise-like patches. When cut they are super dark red and their taste is a cross between orange and grapefruit – they are sweet-sour and they have the slight bitterness of the grapefruit – all in all an interesting fruit which made for a really gourmet rasam

Ingredients

Juice of 2 blood oranges

1tsp of rasam powder (available in Indian stores)

3 cups of water

¼ cup grated coconuts

1 tbsp coriander seeds

2 green chilies

1 red chili

¼ cup crushed cilantro

Mustard, ghee/butter, cumin & cilantrofor seasoning

Preparation

Juice the oranges and keep

Dry roast all other ingredients

Blend them with small amount of water

Simmer in a saucepan

Add some salt

When it comes to a boil, switch off.

Add the orange juice after it cools a bit –like you would for lemon rasam

Note- if the juice is not sour enough, add the juice of fresh lemons

Enjoy HOT as soup or with rice and curry

Banukah

What do you get when you put bananas, nuts (and Nutella) and kahlua together? Banukah was the only one that rolled off the tongue and actually sounded good. It’s 8pm and yes, I am a devotee of Dr. Oz and I do try to not have anything heavy after 8pm. But, even devotees stray once in a while and this was the result of one such waywardness -

In less that 10 minutes I had me a wonderful and uber delicious nutty, choclatey, bananas with the incredible sweetness of kahlua – all in all a happy ending to a night. And for the folks who commented or are wondering - This is not a Jewish dish!

Ingredients

4-5 bananas cut/slashed criss-cross

3 capfuls of Kahlua

2 tbsp crushed walnuts

2 tbsp of Nutella

¼ cup each of golden flakes (cereal) or any other corn flakes crushed

½ cup of Honey Nut Cheerios (or any other cheerios) crushed

Preparation

Place bananas in a bowl and cut at diagonals or any way you prefer it

In a smaller bowl, add the Nutella and the Kahlua and whisk to blend

Slowly dribble over the bananas

Add the crushed cereals and walnuts over the bananas

Set in fridge for about an hour and serve chilled.

Sweet dreams folks J

This goes to Nivedita’s Kitchen’s Only Original Recipes and to Spice Ur Senses 

Spicy Cilantro Sauce Pasta

This is yet another fusion recipe of mine – This time, it is the fusion of an herb, Cilantro, not usually associated with Italian foods. But Italians foods have a heavy hand of parsley, a cilantro look-alike. No offense meant to the herb or the cuisines that swear by it, but parsley is like a poor cousin of cilantro in taste and especially in flavor – I have never quite got what additional flavors parsley brings to a dish, but then I am no expert and ultimately it boils down to individual tastes and preferences. Alls I know is my olfactory nerves are pretty pleased with the sweet and somewhat sour smells Cilantro, a by word in most Indian recipes - the King of Garnish… It is also the common herbal thread, if you will, between Thai, Indian and Mexican foods.

But here is an interesting tidbit about Cilantro from an Italian - http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art37500.asp

The other thing was Mawa has been lying in my cheese box in the fridge for over a week and I have been scouring recipes for it, but most of them were for sweets and I found one or two yummy kofta recipes – but as you all may know, that is a time consuming process – so I figured why not use milk solids, which is what Mawa or Khoya is and see what how it goes. Nothing ventured, nothing gained…

Ingredients

1 cup of crushed/chopped fresh cilantro

2- 3 green chilies (2 if they are thai chilies, 3 if they are Indian)

½ block of Mawa or Khoya (grated with the smaller blades to look like Parmagiana)

1 cup of milk

2 crushed red dry peppers

4 cloves of garlic

3 cups of pasta of choice –I used mini Farfalle (cooked al dente)

2 tsp olive oil

Preparation

In a sauce pan, add 1 tsp of oil

Cool and grind this

Add the milk

Stir in the mawa slowly

Spin this in the blender until it become a smooth creamy sauce

Add some salt and grind some pepper if desired

I always cook the pasta with a tsp of oil and a dash of salt

Drain and add the sauce and toss until all the pasta is covered with the sauce

I also roasted some yellow squash and zucchini with some garlic, and Italian seasoning  and topped the paste with it – You’ve got your greens, you full share of veggies and carbs and fat protein from the Mawa –  eat your way to healthy folks –

This again goes to Krithi's Kitchen Event - Herbs & Flowers - Cilantro

Spice Ur Senses,

 Nivedita's Only original Recipes

And to Tamalapakku's Event Design a Menu

Strawberry Curd & Pancakes

Saturday started off on a rather sweet not :) For people who routinely eat cereal or toast with PB this was my special weekend treat!
The part that I was most involved in while we made the Best Yellow Layer Cake in Anita’s kitchen was stirring the mango curd until it thickened. I kinda understood the curd process and the ingredients that went into it. I was eager to try it out by myself before I totally forgot!
Children particularly enjoyed the curd overflow and drip from the pancakes :) and btw, these are wholegrain buttermilk pancakes from Trader Joes  and I did not use the egg the recipe on the box suggested and it turned out absolutely fine!
Here are the ingredients required
1 lb strawberry hulled and halved
3/5 ounces of white granulated sugar
1/2 stick of salted butter
2 large eggs beaten
Follow instructions given in Mango Curd recipe for preparation

Taking all the tips she had given us when making the mango curd into consideration, I ventured into making some strawberry curd for the family – Harris Teeter had a buy one get 2 free deal and that was a sweet – so I bought the three – and they pretty well took up half a shelf in my fridge. I did not have the eggs required to replicate the exact same recipe as the mango curd… so I got a recipe from About.com  (the first site that comes up when you search for strawberry Curd, entered by an Aussie lassie)- which used just two eggs which I did have – and I was thinking hmm…maybe worth a shot.

One thing is for sure folks, your arms sure get a pretty darned good workout- like when you make Theratipaal the original way – not the microwave short cut which I am NOT a fan of. I added several new words to my vocab from this experience – For instance, I learned what “hulling” a strawberry means; And, what a slotted spoon is -hey, I had no idea never called it that!

Please refer to link given for recipe and Anita’s Mango Curd

I got some nice compliments from the men of my house and my daughter who loved anything I make J Actually they all do!  Thanks Anita for exciting me enough to get out my comfort zone and try something different J

Send this to Spice Ur Senses "Treat for the Eyes2" event

Potham Panji – (Like Porous Cotton)

Dark thunder clouds are rolling fast and furious as my little one and Istand at the threshold seeing the school bus drop off my older kids. The wind is picking up and Mother Nature uncannily rids herself of all the dead leaves still hanging on the trees to herald in the most beautiful season in Virginia – Spring – Yes, plum trees, pear trees, cherry trees all burgeoning with blooms, the burst of forsythia in our side law, like sunshine, the red buds and camellias, the lilacs putting out little green leaves and buds, the daffodils (about the only thing the deer around leave alone) sprouting in clumps – heaven people – Not if you have allergies though – all this becomes enjoyment through closed doors – but with each passing year, i am getting wiser- start taking my Nasonex and Patanol way in advance so when the pollen from the oaks and the pines start flying in the air, hopefully it will not be as bad as it can and has been!

Well, the weather was stormy. A perfect time for fried food and served hot too. This one is probably a very unusual name for most of you – Please do let me know if any of your families called it by this name or have another name for it– but it was my mom’s signature – in a minute indulgence. I think the name comes from the fact that the inside is soft and doughy and porous because of the yogurt/ buttermilk - Otherwise, you can call it a cousin of urad bondas :)

I have added a couple of ingredients that I know amma did not use, and this will probably not gel well with at least a couple of my family members – but what is the use of writing a blog if one cannot improvise and experiment with ingredients that will only enhance the taste – right?

This is exactly what I did a couple of days ago for my kiddos who came home in bad weather and hungry after a long day’s school! It is criminal how many pounds they shoulder on their backpacks each day - History repeats itself - mom made these for us and now its my turn to pass on the pleasure of Potham Panjis to my children :)

Ingredients

1 cup all purpose flour or maida

1 cup of yogurt or thick buttermilk

¼ tsp hing or asafetida

2 tsp of chili powder of choice – I used Sambar podi (powder)

Salt

A pinch of baking powder

Things I added that are not part of the original recipe

½ red onion finely chopped

1 green chili finely chopped

1 handful of peanuts crushed into powder

1 tbsp cut cilantro

Preparation

(Batter will be pasty)

Heat oil to fry and put bonda sized balls and fry

Serve hot

This is a stand alone dish – by which I mean it does not need any sides like chunteys or ketchup – unless of course if that is something you prefer

Serve and enjoy hot

Would like to send this to Gayathri's Cookspot event - Walk Down Memory Lane and Taste of Pearl City's AWED- Indian Cuisine Event

Indian Chinese Pizza

NO oil was used for this preparation!

I call it this after much deliberation as to what the title should be  - Perhaps Shepherd’s Pie or Quiche? Nah – The first makes me think meat and the second makes me think egg – Since this has neither and is as veggie/vegan as can be I thought I’d call it what it resembles the most. Indian because I used the same Cilantro Chappati atta (give link) that’d I had leftovers of for the base – And Chinese because I used unconventional pizza seasoning and toppings like cauliflower mainly, zucchini, green bell pepper and red bell pepper and green chilies – For seasoning all I used was Fab India’s  Szechuan spice mix – And did it ever taste good! My son went on and one about it and I was needless to say pleased as punch as the desired effect it’d had on him and the rest of the family. So easy, yet so satisfying

Preparation
Grate your veggies as opposed to cutting them/ Add the salt and spices and turn.

Roll out like square/round pizza base. Add the veggies and the cheese (I used Parmesan and Mozzarella. Bake in oven for 15-20 minutes at 425 degrees - Since I did not use yeast, it did not rise very much, but it was a think crust and tasted like soft on the inside and crunchy like breadsticks around the corners.

Enjoy folks J

Entering this to my blog event,
Fast Food NOT Fat Food,  Spice Ur Senses Treat for the Eyes Event , Srivalli's Kids Delight , guest hosted by me -Click here to check it out and Herbs & Flowers- Cilantro by Krithi's Kitchen And to Only Original Recipes at Nivedita's Kitchen