Short break

Dear all,

Due to my health reason, I am taking a short break from blogging (may be couple of weeks). I have to undergo small operation in the coming weekend. See u soon with new recipe after a week.

Till then,
happy blogging.

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Lemon Zest cake

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I would say, cakes are our creation. We can mix and match the ingredients to bake a perfect cake. This time, I used only lemon zest with other basic ingredients. I turned out simply superb with soft, fluffy inside & crispy, crunchy outside.

This cake is perfect during tea time. Lemon has got its unique taste and aroma. Addition of lemon zest is the real twist which made this cake yumm:)

Ingredients :

1. 200 gms softened butter
2. 200 gms sugar
3. Grated zest of 1 lemon
4. 1 1/2 cups plain flour
5. Baking powder - 1 tsp
6. Eggs - 3 nos (lightly beaten)
7. Milk -2 tbsp

Directions to bake :

# Preheat the oven to 180 C. Lightly grease the baking pan & line the base with non-stick baking paper.

# Cream the butter, sugar and lemon zest until light and fluffy. Sieve the flour with baking powder. Slowly add the eggs, alternating with a tbsp of flour. Fold in remaining flour and then the milk.

# Pour into the prepared tin and bake for 60 min or until done.

Perfect with tea.

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Coconut chutney & an award

Coconut chutney is the most popular & frequently made dip in the south India. Simple and delicious which taste good with idlies, dosa, pongal, vada &along with sambar.

I like the seasoned red chillies, when we squeeze that it releases the juice which taste great with chutney. Enjoy this :)

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Ingredients :

1. Coconut pcs - 1 cup
2. Roasted gram dal - 1/4 cup
3. Green chilly (or) Red chillies - 3 to 4 nos
4. Ginger - a small piece
5. Tamarind pulp - 1 tsp
6. Water to grind - approx 1/2 cup
7. Salt to taste

For seasoning :

1. Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
2. Urad dal - 1 tsp
3. Curry leaves - 1 tbsp
4. A pinch of hing
5. Oil - 1 tsp
6. Red chillies - 2 nos

Directions to grind :

# Combine all the ingredients together (expect seasoning ingredients ) and grind them to a fine smooth paste, adding water little by little.

# Heat oil in the kadai, add mustard seeds & let them splutter. Add urad dal, red chillies, curry leaves and a pinch of hing.

# Finally, add the seasonings in the grinded chutney & serve.

Serve with idlies and dosas.

My Award time :

Thanks pooja for thinking about me & passing this cute award to me. You are really lovely person.

I would like to pass this award to Padma, Parita, Dhanya nabirajan, Renu, , Varunavi, Rak's kitchen, kittymatti, Kitchen flavours, Divya, Mangala bhat. Plz pass this award to atleast 10 bloggers.

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Vadagam

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Vadagam are used for seasoning in the Indian curries, kulambu, gravies, poriyal, kuttu & chutneys, which gives special aroma & flavour for the dishes. I personally feel, this is must in all our home. This is normally prepared during the very hot summer season especially during april & may.

Nowdays, people rarely make this balls. This is my ammas preparation, makes it every year. This can be stored & used for a year. This is my small attempt of bringing back the ancient Indian recipes to live.

Ingredients :

1. onion 1 1/2 kg
2. Garlic 1/4 kg
3. Cumin seeds 1/2 cup
4. Mustard seeds 1/2 cup
5. Toor dal 1/2 cup
6. Salt 1/2 cup
7. Split urud dal 1 cup
8. Turmeric powder 1 tsp
9. Channa dal 1/4cup
10. Curry leaves 1/4 cup
11. Oil for making the balls

Directions to assemble :

# Finely chop the onions, garlic.

# Mix all the ingredients together & dry them in the sunlight for 2 days.

# On the third day, grease the palm with oil & make a balls from it.

# Dry the balls in the sunlight for 10 to 15 subsequent days till it becomes very hard like golf ball.

Store them in the air-tight container.

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Banana Milk shake

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Fruits intake is must & necessary in daily routine for its medical values. Best way is to have it directly but occasionally I prefer serving them little creamy & rich. Addition of vanilla icecream & a tsp of honey makes it taste awesome.

Sometimes, I alternate with the peanut butter instead of vanilla icecream & my son likes this combination. I am sure this would be the best refreshing drink for this hot summer.

Ingredients :

1. Riped banana - 1 no
2. Sugar to taste
3. Milk - 2/3 cup
4. Honey - 1 tsp
5. Vanilla icecream - 1 scoop

Directions to blend :

• Slice the bananas and add sugar, milk & honey.


• Beat until the mixture is foaming.


• Finally add a scoop of vanilla icecream & beat it just a second.

Serve it cool with icecubes.

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Puran poli

Puran poli is most popular Maharastian dish, prepared especially during Holi time. I normally prepare two versions - with dal as stuffing and coconut as another.

Both the version taste great. I like to serve the puran poli with warm milk. During the weekends, I make this for the breakfast & occasionally during the festival season. Puran poli is made by combining the flour & rava and stuffing the dal with jaggery mixture & finally cooking them with ghee.

Flavour of ghee will makes this taste awesome. We just loved it :)

Ingredients :

1. All purpose flour (Maida) - 3/4 cup
2. Rava - 1 tbsp (soaked in the water for 1 hr)
3. Salt - 1/4 tsp
4. Water
5. Jaggery - 1/2 cup
6. Cardomom powder - 1/4 tsp
7. Channa dal - 1/2 cup
8. Nutmeg powder - 1/4 tsp
9. Ghee for frying

Directions to cook :

For the dough :

# Combine the flour, soaked rava & salt. Make the dough using water which resembles like the chapathi dough.

For the stuffing :

# Cook the dal, till soft. Drain the water & allow it to cool for few min. Smash them coarsely.

# Meanwhile, melt the jaggery in the kadai & filter it to remove the sand if any.

# In the kadai, combine the dal, jaggery, cardomom powder & nutmeg powder & cook them on the medium flame. Keep stiring frequently to avoid sticking in the bottom of the vessel.

# When the dal thickens, switch off the flame.

Assembling :

# Make a small balls of puran & dough seperately.

# Now, stuff the puran into the ball shaped dough.

# Roll the stuffed dough to a desired shape preferably round circle. ( I usually apply oil in my hands & spread the dough using my palm to a circle over the baking paper or banana leaf)

# Heat the pan & cook the poli on either side till golden brown in color. Pour ghee arround the edges while cooking.

Hot & tasty puran poli is ready to serve with warm milk.

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Carrot flower

I like to try new things. And one among my interest is vegetable carving. As a beginner, I tried this cute looking carrot flower as a edible showpiece on my salads. It looks pretty & with little pepper & salt on top, it taste good tooo....

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STEP 1 :

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STEP 2 :

STEP : 3

STEP 4 :

Enjoy Carving :)

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