EVENT: SUNDAY FUNDAY THEME: CELEBRATE DAIRY RECIPE: FRESH TURMERIC CHAAS What is Fresh Turmeric Chaas? Fresh Turmeric Chaas is a refreshing yogurt drink with grated fresh turmeric added to it. Healthy, immunity boosting and delicious, hubby and I try and have this drink at least five times a week if not more. Difference Between Lassi and Chaas Though often both are interchanged, they basically are not the same. The similarity ends at yogurt. Chaas is usually made with added water and has no sugar. Lassi on the other hand is thick like a smoothie, may have a little added milk and may have sugar, honey or any other sweetener added to it. Sometimes lassi can be of the savory kind too, with salt added but…
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Continue ReadingEVENT: A- Z RECIPE CHALLENGE THEME : AN INGREDIENT BEGINNING WITH THE LETTER S RECIPE: CHIKOO KULFI/ SAPODILLA KULFI What is Chikoo Kulfi/ Sapodilla Kulfi? Chikoo Kulfi/ Sapodilla Kulfi is a delicious creamy fruity frozen dessert, easy to make and not too sweet. Perfect summer time treat. First, lets clear what is chikoo? Chikoo is the Hindi name for sapodilla (pronounced as sapo-diya) or sapota. It is a sweet fruit that is brown in colour and grows on an evergreen tree. This fruit is native to Mexico, the Caribbean and Central America. In India it grows abundantly in the state of Karnataka. Whenever I’m in Bangalore and its chikoo season, I have one every single day. I simply love chikoo. I know many don’t like…
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Continue ReadingEVENT: SHHH COOKING SECRETLY THEME: DIWALI SWEETS AND SAVOURIES RECIPE: KESAR RASGULLA What is Kesar Rasgulla? Kesar Rasgulla is a saffron flavored traditional sweet dish that is famous in the Indian Subcontinent. Kesar means saffron in Hindi. And Rasgulla is a sweet dumpling made from cottage cheese, paneer or chenna. The balls are rolled and then allowed o cook in a sugar syrup. The sugar syrup is usually flavored with cardamom and sometimes other ingredients like rose essence, rose petals, saffron, mint, chilli, etc are added. This adds a different flavour to the rasgulla. As a matter of fact, one is rasgulla and plural is rasgullas. Translated into simple language ras is juice and gulla is a ball. So actually rasgulla means a juicy ball.…
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Continue ReadingEVENT: FOODIEMONDAY/BLOGHOP THEME: #269 NAVRATRI NAVRAS RECIPE: FARALI PAPDI CHAAT What is Farali Papdi Chaat? Farali papdi chaat is an Indian Snack which is served with chutneys. Chaats are also served with basics likes boiled potatoes and chickpeas. In this case, Papdi is a small fried disc made from flour. Furthermore, toppings are added on the papdi, drizzled with chutneys and served. Usually, chaats are considered as famous street food in India. More About Farali Papdi Chaat Farali means any food that is allowed during Hindu Fasting days or month. Usually during the festival of Navratri, many follow the farali diet. This means: grains, beans, pulses, lentils not allowed refrain from onion, garlic, peas, beans, cauliflower, cabbage, eggplants, and many other vegetables no meat,…
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Continue ReadingEVENT: FOODIEMONDAY/BLOGHOP THEME: #268 TROPICAL COCONUT RECIPE: HAUPIA – HAWAIIAN COCONUT DESSERT What is Haupia? It should be noted that Haupia pronounced as how-pee -ah, is a traditional Hawaiian Coconut Dessert. Basically, this recipe requires only four ingredients, coconut milk, sugar, cornflour (cornstarch) and water. Indeed, that all. On top of that, the dessert gets cooked within 10 minutes. However, patience is required to allow haupia to set and chill. But, take it from me, haupia at room temperature tastes different. Therefore, if you love custard then you’ll definitely love haupia. Haupia Variations Actually, Haupia is enjoyed on its own. However, nowadays there are so many variations to the basic recipe. Its used to make the following: Haupia Pie Chocolate is added to the basic…
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Continue ReadingEVENT: A- Z RECIPE CHALLENGE THEME : AN INGREDIENT BEGINNING WITH THE LETTER Q Apple Avocado Quinoa Salad I love how filling and delicious quinoa salads are and apple avocado quinoa salad is no less. The charming thing about quinoa is that it can be paired with practically any ingredient to make a filling, healthy and enjoyable dish. For the Apple Avocado Quinoa Salad, it was not a planned salad at all. I knew that I wanted to make a quinoa salad but the ingredients just sort of popped up when I opened my fridge. I am so glad that it turned really well. What is Quinoa? Quinoa(pronounced as Keen -Wah) is not a grain but is classed as a pseudo cereal. It actually…
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Continue ReadingEVENT: FOODIEMONDAY/BLOGHOP THEME: #266 EXOTIC SAFFRON RECIPE: SAFFRON TAPIOCA PUDDING What is Saffron Tapioca Pudding? Saffron Tapioca Pudding is a sweet dish prepared by cooking soaked tapioca pearls or sabudana in milk till it becomes thick. The pudding can be enjoyed hot or cold. Once the tapioca pearls are soaked well enough making this pudding is very easy. I generally soak them for 4 – 6 hours in plain water. Adding saffron is optional but I’m a huge fan of saffron so look for any opportunity to use it whenever I can. What is Tapioca Pearls? Known as tapioca pearls as they look like little tiny pearls or sabudana. Dana in Hindi means small round beads or grains. They also go by the name of…
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Continue ReadingEVENT: FOODIEMONDAY/BLOGHOP THEME: #261 MILKY WAY RECIPE: APPLE KHEER Apple Kheer is creamy, different from rice pudding, easy to make and delectable. Perfect for any festival or prepare it to enjoy a healthier dessert. Best served chilled. This Week’s Theme on FoodieMonday/Bloghop Group: This week, the group has to use milk or its products like yogurt, paneer, milk powder, evaporated milk, condensed milk. If possible the main ingredient has to be milk or its products. This interesting theme, suggested by Swati who blogs Food Trails, offers so many options. With the Ganesh Chaturthi over the weekend, I thought of making an easy and not too sweet apple kheer. Frankly, I’ve ordered too many apples this week so thought of using up some to prepare Apple…
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Continue ReadingEVENT: FOODIEMONDAY/BLOGHOP THEME: #255 DAHI DELIGHTS DISH: PEACH CARDAMOM LASSI This Week’s Theme on FoodieMonday/Bloghop Group: This week’s theme Dahi Delights has been suggested by Poonam who blogs at Annapurna. Poonam’s suggestion was to try and use dahi as a main ingredient, for any dish be it a drink, starter, main or dessert. Before I go into explaining what is dahi, I have to mention that Poonam’s crisp, clear and colourful photos of all her dishes is a treat for the eyes. Her blog is a a wonderful balance of vegetarian dishes from India and International. What is Dahi? Dahi is the Hindi/Gujarati word for yogurt. The word yogurt is also referred to curd in India. If you ask a shopkeeper for yogurt, he probably…
