EVENT: A- Z RECIPE CHALLENGE THEME : AN INGREDIENT BEGINNING WITH THE LETTER R RECIPE: SPICY RICE, MANGO AND COCONUT SALAD Spicy Rice, Mango and Coconut Salad So how did I decide to make a salad with a long name like Spicy Rice, Mango and Coconut Salad? Well, whenever I have a bit of plain rice leftover, I like to make what we Gujjus call Vagharelo Bhaat. That simply means tempered rice. Add a bit of onion, a bit garlic, green chillis, fresh coriander, turmeric, red chilli powder, cumin seeds with a dash of salt, lemon juice and vagharelo bhaat is ready. To make it into a filling and healthy meal, I added a few salad ingredients. And there, in a jiffy a tasty…
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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: SHHH COOKING SECRETLY THEME: MEXICAN FOOD RECIPE: MEXICAN MOLLETE What is Mexican Mollete? Before we go into any other details let’s get the explanation of what is a Mexican Mollete out of the way. Basically, we all know that Mexico was colonized by the Spanish. So technically the word Mollete is Spanish word for a type of bread. However, in the Mexican Cuisine its an open faced sandwich. As we all know that the Spanish do not pronounce ‘LL’ as we do in ball. Double LL becomes Y. Therefore Mollete is pronounced as Mo – ya -te. Traditional Mexican Cuisine Authentic Mexican Cuisine followed by the Mayan Indians was healthy and nutritious as they believed in living off the land. Using naturally found ingredients…
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Continue ReadingEVENT: A- Z RECIPE CHALLENGE THEME : AN INGREDIENT BEGINNING WITH THE LETTER P Persimmon Salsa A different flavored salsa that can be enjoyed with some tortilla chips or simply relish it as a refreshing salad. What is Persimmon? Persimmon also known as Sharon Fruit, this tomato shaped fruit is actually a berry. Yes, a huge berry. Mostly persimmon is an autumn fruit. There are two varieties of persimmon – the more astringent one hachiya variety and the non astringent fuyu. The hachiya variety you need to wait till it ripens fully to enjoy the sweetness of the pulp or jelly like flesh. The fuyu one can be eaten like an apple and the flesh is a bit more firm. What is a Salsa?…
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Continue ReadingEVENT: SHHH COOKING SECRETLY THEME: SUMMER SALAD RAINBOW SALAD BOWL A bit about the group: Members of this group give their partners two secret ingredients according to the theme decided and prepare a dish. Once the dish is ready we add the photo only and other members try and guess the secret ingredients. Towards the end of the month the secret is revealed when we share the recipe link. This month’s theme SUMMER SALAD was suggested by Kalyani. Kalyani’s blog has a variety of recipes right from South Indian Dishes to other world cuisines. My Partners For this theme I had two partners, Seema who blogs at Mildly Indian and Shobha who blogs at Shobha’s Food Mazaa. Seema’s blog is full of recipes tried out…
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Continue ReadingEVENT: FOODIEMONDAY/BLOGHOP THEME: #235 BEST FROM WASTE Best from Waste: A much required but hardly ever discussed topic. How can we reduce kitchen waste? Our Grandmothers and Mothers were a frugal lot, hardly ever passing off anything as waste when it comes to kitchen waste. What do we mean by kitchen waste? Its not all the wrappings that come with your food but green waste. Watch any cookery show and you will see chefs peeling away thick layers from a fruit and vegetable and throwing it away, trimming food to make it appear perfect, and in the process wasting food. Have you noticed how a huge chunk is cut off from carrots, cucumbers, beetroots, tomatoes… that’s not called trimming! Trimming means cutting a thin slice…
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Continue ReadingEVENT: A- Z RECIPE CHALLENGE THEME : A DISH BEGINNING WITH THE LETTER K WHAT IS A-Z CHALLENGE? It’s group started by Jolly Makkar and Vidya Narayan. What is required of in this group? Nothing too difficult but to cook a dish using an ingredient whose English name begins with the designated letter. This month we’re suppose to choose an ingredient that begins with K. My choice is Kiwi, the famous soft, seedy green fruit. While my favorite way to have kiwi is one its own, sometimes I make a cool healthy chia seed pudding to take care of my sweet tooth. A BIT ABOUT KIWI FRUIT We all normally presume that Kiwi fruit or Chinese Gooseberry originates from New Zealand. However, it actually grew in…
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Continue ReadingEVENT: FOODIEMONDAY/BLOGHOP THEME: #212 SALAD STORIES Salads, what are salads? Salads are a combination of ingredients put together like grains, vegetables, fruits, meats, nuts,seeds. Vegetables and fruits are usually cut into small pieces, grained used are cooked, meats are usually boiled or roasted and nuts and seeds are either added raw or roasted lightly. A salad is usually enjoyed as a starter, as a light meal or with a main dish. Its the best way to eat your daily required vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. If a salad is consumed as a meal then its necessary to get your protein, carbs and good fat included in it. The more colorful a salad is the more tempting and attractive it is, making it a meal or side…
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Continue ReadingEVENT: FOODIEMONDAY/BLOGHOP THEME: #197 GET IN SHAPE The #197th theme for FoodieMonday/Bloghop group, Get in Shape is nothing to do about us getting into shape with some healthy diet or workout. However, as Kalyani suggested, its all about presenting food in a geometrical fashion. Kalyani blogs at Sizzling Buds. Her blog is full of vegetarian recipes and many are vegan. Her endeavor to present world cuisine in a more healthier manner for her family is commendable. When the theme was suggested, I got excited. I would have loved to bake a bread or tart to really give due credit to this theme (you know the type where slices are arranged in concentric circle or even or semi circles on a square pie), but limited resources meant…
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Continue ReadingEVENT: FOODIEMONDAY/BLOGHOPTHEME: #194 SUMMER FRUIT FEST This week’s theme was suggested by Swaty who blogs at Food – Trails. Swaty’s blog is full of fun recipes from appetizers to desserts. I love her photography. Check out her blog for some exciting delicious recipes. When Swaty suggested using summer fruits to create a recipe, I was happy as I was in the right place to enjoy really colorful summer fruits – Thailand. You’ll find many fruit vendors on the streets selling cut ripe mangoes, cut raw mangoes, water melons, dragon fruits, other melons, pineapples, peeled pomelo, durian, rambutan, rose apple slices, papaya, guava, coconut and longan. A really colorful smoothie bowl would have been the ideal recipe for this theme, but I couldn’t make the smoothie as…
