7 Links Game

Hope everyone had a great Diwali celebration, it’s time to take break & relax now and I am just going to do the same.  It’s been long I am tagged by Prathibha and Prema for this 7 link games and it’s time for me to look through the blogging journey.    Thank You guys for tagging me, here I go

My Most Beautiful Post: Apple Compote Financiers.  I think you all will agree with me on this one, don’t you?  The name is complicated but the recipe is very simple and the end result you see for yourself.  I have received lot of compliment for this post and few people did try this too. 


My Most Popular Post: Prawn Masala. This recipe was 1st non-vegetarian recipe on my blog which was done by Sis and BIL, so far this is one post that tops high number of hits for each month and top in search too.  This is one recipe where I got maximum feedback from readers, few have commented in blog and lot of people mail me with full appreciation for this recipe.  Some times simple things makes big difference and this masala prawn is true example of that.


The Post I Am Most Proud Of: Eggless Chocolate Chip Cookie, These cookies I baked for my nephew, after eating these cookies my BIL, Sis and nephew declared I am good baker it’s so difficult to get compliment from them. Them n my colleague both said these cookies taste just like shops one’s, what else to make me happy.  Few of my friends tried it and loved too. 


Most Useful Post:  Chawal Ki Roti.  This is one of the best use to use leftover rice and prepare a tasty dish.  Most of the time I do this,  lot of readers and friends has tried this and loved it.


Surprise Success Post:  Aloo Gobi Ki Sabji.  One of my another popular post, it’s easy, delicious and very authentic recipe.  And this is one recipe for which I get lot of compliment every time I make this.  Again received good feedback for this recipe too. 


Another post surprise successful post is Murkku Sandwich.  I never expected to get the huge response I received from this post, lot of query and lot of people tried it.  


Most controversial post: None so far


Post Which Deserves Attention, But Did Not Get As Much:  I have lot of posts which needs attention If I have to point now I would say Marmer Cake, It’s a very simple recipe with a tasty result, it looks so pretty still didn’t get much needed attention !



I would like to tag Lubna, Ramya, Indrani, Ramya Bala, Sapthna, Faith & Priya.

Have a nice day ~~

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Diwali Wishes

Wishing all readers Happy & Prosperous Diwali.  May this year be bring fun, joy and happiness in all your life's.

May This Diwali be as bright as ever.
May this Diwali bring joy, health and wealth to you.
May the festival of lights brighten up you and your near and dear ones lives.
May this Diwali bring in u the most brightest and choicest happiness and love you have ever Wished for.
May this Diwali bring you the utmost in peace and prosperity.
May lights triumph over darkness.
May peace transcend the earth.
May the spirit of light illuminate the world.
May the light that we celebrate at Diwali show us the way and lead us together on the path of peace and social harmony
"WISH U A VERY HAPPY DIWALI"

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Broccoli Raita Recipe

What’s your favourite raita recipe or say which one you make the most?  I often make onion and/or cucumber raita followed by boondi raita cause these are most simple to make and takes less time.  But then once in a while I do little experiment here and there and this broccoli raita is one such recipe.  I get bored of making same broccoli soup, broccoli stir fry, broccoli thoran etc so I try new recipes and this broccoli raita fitted my bill for a Saturday lunch. 

Ingredients:

Broccoli – 1/2 cup chopped/grated
Yoghurt/Curd – 1 Cup
Green Chillies – 2
Minced Ginger – 1/2 tsp
Cumin Seeds – 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves – 3-4
Salt – to taste
Oil – 1 tsp
Chopped Carrot – 1 tsp [optional]

 

Method:

1. Wash and grate or chop broccoli.  You can use chopped, food processor what ever that fancy you. [In the picture it’s not half cup of broccoli ]

2.Finely chop green chillies and mince ginger well. Beat curd and keep side.

3. In a wok or pan heat oil add cumin seeds and allow it to splutter. Add ginger, chillies curry leaves and sauté until ginger becomes light brown.

4. Add broccoli, salt and sauté for 3-4 minutes in medium flame or until broccoli gets cooked but still crunchy.

5. Add cooked broccoli to curd and mix well.   Adjust salt if  required.  Serve as it as or chilled.

Garnish with chopped carrot if you wish, I do that to add colour and crunchiness to the raita. 

We had it with pulao, you can try this with any parata, pulav, variety rice.

If you are looking for something different either for raitha or for broccoli then this is for you, how about giving a miss to the usual raita this Diwali and try this broccoli raita for a change? Does this sounds interesting to you?

Variations ~

~ Ginger adds nice flavour to the raita so try not to skip.

~ Chopped fresh cilantro is fine too.

Have a nice day ~~

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DIY: Diwali Home Decoration Ideas | Themes

I guess most of you will be busy with Diwali shopping, cleaning and with all the sweets & savoury preparation, among all this busy things we also need to think how to decorate our home, what new things to try.  My sister does this so well, each year she will choose one colour and theme, she will plan well and do the work effortlessly on the D day.  So I thought I shall share some of the Diwali home decoration ideas with you to give you guys little ease.  Do let me know if you liked the posted.

We shall start with Rangoli as most of us do that whether it’s outside of house or inside.   

Here is simple rangoli and a diya on centre, on entrance.


Or go simple with rangoli or say it’s kolam using colour chalks


You can also try Pookalam or flower arrangement.  A simple and quick design also bring lot of festive mood.



Floating Candles arrangement is very attractive and inexpensive idea and it’s looks very pretty.  Keep it any where around the house and made the area looks special.  You can match the candle’s shape, colour with your theme.

A simple floating candles arrangement, used here fresh flower petals with few pebbles and candles of different colours. 



Or go little detailed and do this decoration with fresh flowers.  Fresh flowers arrange on top of water with just one candle in the centre, looks pretty isn’t it? 



After lighted up it looks like this, very festive what you say?



Oh you notice the change of candle?   That’s cause the candle was sinking so I replaced it with diya/oil lamp and I think this looks much better. 



Show you guys dinning table decoration.   You can keep fresh flowers for a simple and elegant look and that’s bring freshness or go little elaborate like the below picture.

You can use a table runner, if you don’t have one at hand it’s fine.  Use your dupatta or sari ( I am not responsible if you end up having any strain on your favourite saree or dupatta )  so be careful while serving or eating.    This is a saree in light cream colour with flowers petals along a centre piece arrangement.  A light colour table runner is used cause the backdrop wall is dark colour of red.  Keep few candles in dinning table too if you have the space. 



And this is the centre pieces on the dinning table, a very simple arrangement with a candle on side.



I am going to sum up the post with some pooja place decoration idea.  My mom would make a simple rangoli or kolam around the pooja area, you can do that.

Here my sister used a new saree and dupatta to decorate the wall and bring some Indian look.



No, this is not your cup of tea?  Never mind we go simple with just some floating candles and fresh flowers.


 
Or try with some simple rangoli design, flowers, diyas, and some Christmas decoration items.



Hope you liked the ideas, have a nice day ~~

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DIY: Homemade Decorative Diyas | Hand painted Diyas Design Ideas

Diwali celebration and diyas/oil lamp goes hand in hand.  Though filling the diyas with oil and lighting the lamp might be tedious job but after lighting all the diyas or oil lamp all around the home it’s looks so beautiful and that’s makes me so happy.    We can do the same with candles but the authentic feel diyas gives candles can never do that, I personally think so, do you agree?
And if the diyas is painted and/or decorated by ourselves then it’s gets better.  Each year we do this and paint diyas by ourselves, it’s so easy and fun process.  You can involve your kid and make this as a project for them, they will do this much better than you expect and will be engage for some times, giving you opportunity to finish off your other works, does this sounds interesting to you now, no?  Okie, if I say we can recycle these diyas and make it new each year with new colours and design now interested? 

 All we need:

Clay Diya/Oil Lamp
Oil or Water Colours or any paint colours
Small painting brushes
Tissue and newspaper

 Optional:
Glitter or plain colourful glue

And your creative ideas

Spread the newspaper on working area and keep all your diyas and other item ready. 

Do a base coat of any colour you like if you are using water colour then you might need to do double coat, here used is golden colour and around the corner you can use glitter colour glue and make any pattern/design as you like.  Just some simple dots, lines and see how beautiful it looks.  These diyas were design by my nephew.



Or you can do like this, use a base colour, here red is used and then with sliver and golden colours dots are made in simple pattern.



Here a closer look, so pretty I think.  And guess what these are the same diyas as the above golden painted you see, it’s just been recycled with new base colour and design.  Not only we go green but also make it look new and interesting each year, cool rite?



And our diyas are ready to lighten up our home and life.


Simple isn’t it?  Hope you got inspired and will try to be creative too.  

  If you are still not able to decide what to make for Diwali then checkout the roundups for some motivation. 

  Diwali Savoury Snacks  Ideas
  Diwali Sweets Ideas 

 And if you would to know how Diwali or Deepavali is celebrate across India then check out this Diwali Celebration Details.

Have a nice day ~~

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Tamatar Ka Shorba | Tomato Soup with spices Indian Style | Oil Free Cooking

Do you like tomato soup?  I am sure most of you going to raise your hands,the how about do you like tamatar ka shorba?  Well, tamatar shorba is spiced version of tomato soup and it’s definitely more delicious than normal tomato soup.  Whenever I get fresh, juicy tomato I prepare this shorba since DH like this a lot, infact this is the only soup that makes him happy of all the soups I make.



This is one of the easy soup to prepare, just pressure cook everything, blend and simmer and the best thing it’s oil/butter free can it get better than this?  It makes a excellent soup for any get together or potluck, try it to know what I am talking about.



Ingredients: [Serves 2-3]

Tomato – 4 medium size /300 gms
Onion – 1 small / 50 gms
Green Chillies – 2
Beetroot – 1 small piece [1 tbsp chopped]
Minced Ginger-Garlic – 1 tsp
Bay Leaf – 1 small
Clove –1
Cardamom – 1
Cinnamon Stick  – 1/2” Piece
Chopped Cilantro – 3 sprigs
Salt and Pepper – To taste
Besan/Chickpeas Flour – 2 tsp [optional]
Sugar – 1/2 tsp
Water – As needed [around 4-5 cups]
Fried Bread Pieces – 8-10 [optional]





Method:

1. Wash and chop onion, tomato, green chillies and beetroot.

2. In a pressure cooker container add all the ingredients with 1 cup water except fried bread pieces, besan and sugar and pressure cook for 3 whistles.



3.  Once pressure released discard all garam masala like bay leaf, cinnamon, clove & blended everything using a mixer or blender.



4. Add the puree in a pan with 2-3 cups of water and bring it to good boil.  Add sugar and simmer for 2-3 minutes in medium heat, adjust salt & pepper if needed.

If you want to make the soup thick, mix 2 tsp besan with little water and add  to soup after 1st boils comes.  I didn’t add.  Our soup is ready.



Have hot soup with few fried bread pieces and relish.




Variations


~ Water quantity depends on how you like your soup, I like little thick so I added around 4 cups of water. 

~ You can strain the puree before boiling, I normally don’t do this for most of the soups.

~ Discarding all the garam masala items used is important.  If you don’t discard all masala and grind it then soup will be very spicy and this spiciness is very sharp you won’t be able to drink it, this is from my experience!

~ You can do the cooking in a open pan instead of pressure cooker. 

~ You can add 1/2 tbsp of butter while boiling soup.

Have a nice day ~~

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Badam Katli | Burfi | Almond Fudge | Diwali Recipes

Badam Katli or burfi is one of the easiest recipe to try and absolute gorgeous to wow friends and family, well until I tried it I never believe it so if you think it’s not a simple recipe then take my word for it.  It a perfect festive recipe including for Diwali, make this for your family or to share with friends they will love it for sure.  After I posted how to make almond flour I received lot of query on when I am going to post badam burfi, I didn’t had any plan to make any burfi/katli when I made the almond powder/flour, later I thought let’s do this
. 


Before preceding further I want to wish Happy Karwa Chuath to all celebrating in advance.  I am sure you gals must be busy doing the prep work for the same & other whom doesn’t know Karva Chuath is a Hindu Festival (some Sikh women celebrate too) where married women keep fast from sun rise to moonrise for their husband’s well-being and longevity.  After breaking fast there will be a feast, you can try this badam burfi for karwa chuath too.



Ingredients: [Makes 12-14 pieces]

Almond Flour – 1 Cup
Granular Sugar – 1/2 Cup [ I used 1 tbsp less of 1/2 cup)
Cardamom Powder – 1/2 tsp
Milk – 2 tbsp [as required]
Edible Sliver Foil/Warq – 1 sheet [optional]
Ghee – For greasing






Method:

1 Make almond flour as mention in this post.



2. Heat a pan/wok and roast flour for a minute, stir continuous to avoid burning.



3. Add sugar and stir again for 2 minutes do this on medium flame, if you rest for 5 seconds too,  flour colour will change to brown.   Now add cardamom powder, 2 tbsp of milk and mix well. 



4. Keep on stirring until it forms a mass, start leavening edges of wok and forms a smooth dough/lump.  While stirring try to smooth the mixture with back of latter.



5. Grease a plate with ghee and pour this mixture, spread it evenly in thin layer, you can use rolling pin and roll it too, allow it to cool for 2-3 minutes.  Now spread the sliver warq, press the warq with the butter paper so it’s stick to the katlis well.

  Cut in desire shape with cookie cutter or in square/diamond shape and once completely cooled, store the pieces in air tight box if anything left to store !  You can keep this in fridge up to a week.
  


Our badam katli is ready.  Don’t worry about the sliver varq not properly applied on each pieces that’s fine, we are not looking for shop like katli/sweet here, the little un-perfect things only makes this home made katli or any sweet so perfect and homely.  I just feel this way, you doesn’t have to think same!




Variations


~ You can blanch almonds and grind it along with 2-3tbsp of milk and then make the katli, follow the same step other than adding the milk part.

~ If while spread the mixture you think it’s too dry add 1-2 tbsp of milk and knead it to make a smooth dough.  Be careful while doing this as it will be very hot.

~ I used blanched almond flour and with skin almond flour so the colour it’s little brown, if you use blanched almonds paste or flour it will be in lighter in colour than this.

~ Adjust sugar to your taste, you can use 3/4 cup or 1cup sugar too. Generally badam katli, kaju katlis are not very sweet but just mild. 

Enjoy the festive and the katli too.



Have a nice day ~~

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Dahi Bhalla | Dahi Bhalle Recipe | North Indian Street Food

Dahi Bhalla or Dahi Bhalle is similar to Dahi/thayir Vada.  Dahi bhalla is served with sweet and green chutney along spices which makes these dahi bhalla much more flavourful and a perfect chat.  My mom would make this dahi bhalls on each Diwali morning and we would have this as breakfast along with other Diwali goodies and rest of it will be kept for guests as during Diwali day there will guests dropping by to exchange sweets.  If you have people coming over for gift/sweet exchange or lunch/dinner then this dahi bhallas can be very refreshing other than usual sweet and savoury items. Imagine you are visiting couple of people and everyone offering you sweets to eat!  My mom only know this so well to make these delicacy each year. 

The best thing about this recipe is we can make this in advance, refrigerate and it’s taste better served chill.  I recently made these for a get together for about 11 people and most of the people went for third helping, so you get the idea? Since I had a long menu to settle I took the stepwise pictures in hurry so do excuse that.  Try this delicious dahi bhalla this Deepavali and please your near & dear ones.  These dahi bhalle makes great party appetizer, I am yet to see any one who doesn’t like these.

Most of the people think if we grind urad dal in grinder that only makes the vada soft and mixer doesn’t do the same justice.  But it’s not true,  you can still make very soft and delicious vada with mixer if you keep two things in mind.  First, don’t add lot of water while grinding and 2nd most important beat the batter with hand for 2-3 minutes, below I have describe how can we test if the batter is ready to fry.  Do this and see how soft yet crunchy vada you get. 

Ingredients:

For Bhalla/Vada [Makes 25-27 bhallas]

Whole White Urad Dal – 1 1/2 cup

Raisins – 28-30

Cumin Seeds – 1 tsp

Green Chillies – 2

Ginger – 1” pieces

Cooking Soda – a pinch

Salt – to taste

Water – 2-3 tbsp [only if required]

Oil – to deep frying

 For Dahi Mix

Fresh Curd/Yogurt -  4 Cups

Rock Salt/Kala Namak – 1 tsp

Cumin Powder – 1 tsp + for garnishing

Red Chilli Powder – 1 tsp  + for garnishing

Salt – to taste

Chopped Cilantro – 2 tbsp

Green Chutney – 1/2 Cup or as needed

Sweet Chutney – 1/2 Cup or as needed

:

 

Method

1. Rinse and soak urad dal overnight or for 5-6 hours, rinse well and grind it in mixer or grinder into smooth fluffy mixture.  Use 2-3 tbsp of water only if required, which you will required if you are using mixer to grind. 

~ You have to grind the dal until the batter becomes light and fluffy.  Sprinkle water if the mixer making lot of noise. 

2. Take out the batter in a wide bowl and start beating it with hand for 2-3 minutes, it will make the batter more light and fluffy, after beating continuously you can see the colour of batter will be white instead of pale white or yellow.

Now the most important thing to do specially if you used mixer to grind the dal, to test if the batter is ready to make vada  in a bowl of water drop a small bowl of vada if it’s floats on top of water then it’s ready to use.  If the batter ball sinks a bit inside water then you have to beat it with hand for a minute more.  Repeat the test until the batter ball  floats on top of water.  If you skip this step the bhalla or vada will not be soft. 

3.  Finely chop green chillies and ginger add in batter with cumin seeds, soda, salt and mix everything well.

4. Heat oil in a wok for deep frying.  Keep a bowl of water near by, grease or wet your hand with water and take a dollop of dal batter and carefully drop it in hot oil, drop 5-6 vada at a time in wok so it doesn’t stick with each other.

Make sure you use enough oil for the full vada to be in oil, if upper part of the vada/bhalla doesn’t cook in oil then when you turn them it will stick together.  Don’t worry about the shape very much, it doesn’t has to perfect round, once we soak the vada in curd it will get shaped. 

5. Fry until golden brown in medium flame, turn over and fry until another side gets golden brown too.  Keep the vada in kitchen tissue and repeat the process for remaining dal batter. 

6. Meanwhile in a wide pan boil water until luke warm, and soak this fried vada in water for 5-7 minutes.  Take them out of water and squeeze carefully to retain the shape. 

7. In a wide bowl whisk together curd, red chilli powder, cumin powder, salt, rock salt well and pour half of the spiced curd the serving dish,  arrange bhalla/vada over it.

8. Pour remaining spiced curd over bhalla/vada and garnish it with green and sweet chutney and top it up with red chilli powder, roasted cumin powder and cilantro.  refrigerator for 1 hour or until ready to serve. 

Normally when I keep both the chutneys, red chilli and cumin powder while serving so other can add these things according to their taste. If you are keep the dahi bhalla in fridge for more than 5-6 hours then by the time you take it out to serve all the curd will be soaked, in that case pour some more spiced curd before serving. 

Enjoy the delicious and soft dahi bhallas.

Have a nice day ~~

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