Back With a Spicy bang! - Mirpakaya Bajji

Its has been such a roller coster ride. This whole year was so for me.... and know what the year isnt over yet. I had cousins over at my place, then I had been to a cousins place... and some family functions and birthdays and the big huge india trip......and so many other things...... phew...life sometimes gets so hectic.

Now, for my post after a long long time...:) Due to all these things that were happeneing with me I never got enough time to cook much. Just few days back the temptation of eating hot, spicy, yumm mirpakaya bajji...Ohh how I miss eating them. I remember I used to go out with my Vadina (my co sister) and relish on those yummy bajjis from street side thelas...Ohh how I miss India.(I just came back from india......:(... miss those glorious days spent there..)




Hmm anyways coming back to my bajji.... Do u know the best combination for these bajjis are murmura upma? Yeah, they taste yumm together...:) My Vadina taught me how to make this upma. Well anyways, this post is dedicated to the mirpakaya bajji so I will post about the Upma later.

Me and my hubby can live on it totally. Thats the love we have for these slender beauties. Anyways so here goes the recipe for these amazingly tasty bajjis.

Ingredients :

Big chillies - 8 (less spicy ones)

Gram flour - 2 cups

Ajwain - 1 tsp

Turmeric powder - 1 tsp

Salt to taste

Rice flour - 1 tbsp

Oil for frying

For the Filling :

Amchur powder - 2 tsp

Salt to taste

Coriander and Jeera Powder - 2 tsp

For serving :

Chopped Onions - 1 cup

Lemon juice - 2 tbsp

Chaat Masala - 3 tsp

Method :

Wash and slit the chillies lengthwise. Remove the seeds. If you are a spicy eater you may keep the seeds as it is.

In a seperate plate or bowl add the Amchur powder, salt and coriander& jeera powder, mix well. Stuff this filling inside the slit green chillies and keep it aside. This will reduce the heat from the chillies and make it tangy to taste....:)

In a bowl add the gramflour , turmeric, salt, ajwain, rice flour and some water and mix well. The consistency should semi liquid. not too thick not to watery. Your batter is ready for dipping...:)

Heat the oil in a Kadhai.

Dip the green chillies in the batter and fry in the heated oil till golden brown in colour. For a better texture I normally double fry these chillies. This is how u can double fry.....Once u fry the chillies by dipping in the batter and are out, again dip them in the batter and fry it again. This gives a thicker coating to the chillies and enhances the taste.....:) Your bajjis are ready to be served. Enjoy !

Serve the Mirpakaya Bajji in the hyderabadi style. Cut the Mirpakaya bajjis and stuff it with some chopped onions, chaat powder and lemon juice. Thats the hyderabadi style mirpakaya bajji.


Serve this bajji with Murmura Upma. This is the typical way of eating it.

Back with a Healthy Bang! - Apple Pecan Salad

Hello friends.......

yeah yeah I know... Its been a long long time. I was completely tied up in so many things that I didnt have any time to blog or say a simple Hi to all my lovely blogger friends. To firstly I would like to enquire about all my pretty friends out there. Hope u all r doing good. My regards to all of u.

Coming to me, I had been to india and came back on friday 28th Nov. Enjoyed my trip. Had loads of fun and roamed and shopped a lot. Enjoyed eating the chatpata road side food. Yummm! India has not changed a bit when it comes to food. They say people in india have become very conscious about their health and about status and this and that blah blah.... but u can still see the roadside stalls surrounded with so many foodies..some stopping by in their posh cars....ahem ahem....thats the power of tasty food. Isn't it guys?

Coming to the Plagarism of my site, things r cool now. I dunno how but that site has been stopped and I am happy and bless the person who made it happen. So after all the munching and jumping around in India, I decided that I go on strict diet when I come back. So here I am with a healthy Salad recipe which I enjoyed making as well eating.

Apple Pecan Salad. If u dont like pecan u can substitute it with Walnuts or toasted almonds.:)

Ingredients :

Spring mix salad leaves - 1 pack

Chinese cabbage - 1 cup (optional) you can even use regular cabbage.

Red apple - 1

Toasted pecans - 1/2 cup

Lemon juice - 2 tsp

Olive oil - 1 tsp

Salt to taste

Toasted sesame - 1 tsp (optional)

Pepper - a pinch

Method :

In a big salad bowl put in the salad spring mix. You can even add romaine lettuce, iceberg lettuce and other salad leaves to this individualy . I prefer to buy this shredded mix pack.

Add the toasted and halved pecans to this and mix well. Chop the apples into small cubes. Toss the apples too into the bowl Toss well, wrap with a cling wrap and refridgerate.

In a seperate small bowl add the the lemon juice, olive oil, toasted sesame, salt and pepper and mix well. Ur dressing is ready. When ur ready to serve, pour this dressing over ur salad and mix gently. Your salad is ready to be eaten. Sweet and tangy, healthy salad.

Enjoy as a side to your lunch.

I am so Sorry guys

I have not been able to post anything or even reply to any of ur comments because I was on a break. I have guests (cousins) at my place and we r on a road trip. This has really cheered me up a bit. I have mailed google and I am doing the needful towards the guy. I havent got any reply from him yet. Through some friends I got an email address (guess it is his email..) and phone number.I have not yet contacted him... I will be doing that after this weekend, when I am back from my road trip. At present I am in grand canyon and its raining. I will be updating you with more progress on this.

Thank u all for ur support. I guess I needed this break from all that is happening and also from the blogging. I am happy to be with family and enjoy. Atleast for sometime I tension and depression is gone.

Thank u and see you all soon.

I am devastated... Someone please help and guide me.!

I have been hearing about this plagarism for quite some time now. I think now its my turn.
God know from how long this guy is using my content. But he is having everything in his blog... including my first post.

Some person has made a blog with all my content. Everything including my post,labels and pictures and user comments are there in that site...

He made a site just like how I have at blogger.com..... chutkibharpyar(dot)mobiforumz(dot)com

(Thanx priya for the advice u gave me about not putting the hyperlink of the copied blog.)

and it says all this is posted by someone named Hidayath.

I was just talking about all this plagarism to my husband and I un intentionally searched for "chutki bhar pyar" on google search. The first few pages that poped up where familiar to me or were from my site.The seventh link that came up really shocked me. I was wondering what is this new thing. I never registered here? And it says guide to cooking mehandi and wo? I just click on it to see what is this thing all about. I really didnt remember registering in anything like this. When I opened the page I was devastated. It is a word by word copy of my blog. Including the comment u all left.

I dunno how he cud do this. But he even has my labels. Its my site there... with the same title... just that he changed the subtitle... cooking with love to something else...hmm


I am all confused how he cud do this. He even has my introduction post that I posted in july 2007.He has copied my site word by word.I have left a message to him asking him to remove my content. But its still under moderation and he hasnt accepted it yet. In the site I couldnt find anyway I can contact him. Can anyone guide me what I can do about this? Please help me out. He has put ads by google on my content. I really dont approve to that. I dont want anyone using my content new or old.

He has stated that this is an example page. But, I was never contacted or asked permision to use my page as an example....worst when he is earning with that page. How can he just post all my content and put it up there to promote his product? I guess till this time he was even getting all my updates as soon as I used to post it. It used to come on his site too. I am just so confused and I dunno how to stop this or confront this person.

Can google do something about this?.. Someone please help me.

Waiting for ur advice and guidance.

Papad Roti

I found this unique recipe on the net...dunno exactly where. But as always I had jotted in down in my recipe book and stumbled upon it just a few days back. What better ocassion to try a roti recipe than now... when u have the mega Roti mela going on.......:D So here goes one more entry and say last entry from me for the roti mela....:) ( today is the last day..:(.... hmmm time runs so fast...)

My other entries to the Roti mela are

Roti ki Tokeri : which contains 6 different types of Rotis. ( Butter Paratha, Chow -chow roti, Stuffed rice paratha, Raw Banana Roti, Gobi - broccoli Paratha, Masala Aloo rotti )

Sago Rotti , Cilantro Stem Roti & Masala Oats Rotti hmmmm :)

So here goes my entry. This roti tastes very nice and tasty. I thought the filling would be crispy...but my hubby said it didnt taste like it had a papad filling...hmmm.But who cares.....it did taste very very yummy...! And I am surely gonna make it again..:D. I used a plain papad to make this and added masalas to it. If ur using a spicy masala papad... becareful of the extra spice that u add.. u dont want to ur tongue to be on fire right?

You need :

Wheat flour dough

For the filling:

Plain Papad - 4 (roasted on a gas or microwave)
Red chilli powder - 1 tsp
Amchur powder - 1 tsp
Green chillies - 1 finely chopped (optional)
Fresh mint leaves - 2 tsp
Chaat masala - 1 tsp
Ghee - 1 tsp
salt to taste

The papad mixture for the filling

Method :

Another stuffed paratha from me. I love having stuffed paratha and this one is pretty easy stuffing to make.

Take a big bowl and crush the papads and put it in the bowl. Add all the other ingredients in the bowl and mix it well. Now ur filling is ready.



Take the ball of the dough and roll it out into a small circle.Brush some oil on one side of the circle. Now, place some filling on the oiled side...in the centre of the small circle. Overlap the edges of the circle...packing the filling inside. Roll it out into a bigger circle and roast it on a griddle...pouring oil around it. Cook till brown spots appear on both sides.



****Variation :

As I said earlier... my hubby said that it didnt taste cruchy like the papad. I did figure out a solution for that which I will be doing next time I make this Roti.

- firstly dont completely crumble the papads and make them powdery. Keep some big pieces on.
- Take the dough and make a big roti. Keep it aside. Take some more dough and make one more big roti... somewhat the same size as the earlier one. Now spread the filling in the centre of the second roti...leaving a gap of 1 cm around the circumference, So that the filling doesnt spill out.
Place the other roti on top of it and press around the edges to bind it well.

Now, u can cook the roti on a griddle as above......:)



Enjoy this roti...:)

Sabudana Thalipeeth/ Sago rotti and Tamarind relish ! - T&T, YRR,JFI,RM

When Zlamushka of Zlamushka's Spicy Kitchen announced the blog for this month's Tried & Tasted... I was so sure I am gonna participate in this one. This month it was cooking from Nupur's One Hot stove. I Also sending this to the Your Recipe Rocks event...started by Madhuram of eggless cooking.

I have always loved Nupur's site and her lovely recipes. When I saw the recipe of Sabudana Thanlipeeth in her site I was so sure I am gonna try it out.:) So here is the Sabudana Thalipeeth and Tamarind relish from Nupur's blog.

I am also sending the Sabudana Thalipeeth also known as Sago Rotti recipe to the Roti mela hosted by Srivalli..:)




Thie Sabudana Thalipeeth is a maharashtrian "Upvas" (Fast) recipe. So here goes the recipe. I haven't made any changes to the recipe given by Nupur. U can see her original recipe here. Anyways I am posting the recipe here.:)




For making this lovely recipe

You need :

Sabudana / Indian pearl Sago - 1 cup
Potatoes - 2 medium (boiled and mashed)
Roasted crushed peanuts - 1/2 cup
Cumin seeds - 1 1/2 tsp
Green chillies - 2 finely chopped
Fresh cilantro - 1/2 cup finely chopped
Sugar - 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Oil


Method :

Wash the sago well in some luke warm water. Drain all the water and add about 1/4 cup of water to it and leave it overnight or about 5 hours. Your sago will swell well and becoming a bit rubbery and soft. Keep it aside.



In a bowl put in the sago and all the other ingredients excluding the oil. Mix it all well in a nice soft dough. Now ur all ready to make ur thalipeeth.






Firstly take a square thick platic sheet. Brush the plastic sheet with some oil. Oil ur palms or u can even wet it with water....and take a ball of the sabudana dough and place it on the plastic sheet.



Press the dough in the centre with ur palm and make into a flat circle. Keep pressing and expanding the circle. See that u dont break it. Keep the rotti a bit think say about 2 cm in thickness.

Transfer it to a hot griddle, pour a tsp of oil around it and cook it until nice and crisp on both sides.Serve it with Sweetened curd/yoghurt or Tamarind relish....:)

Fast or no fast we can always enjoy this as a lovely evening time snack. My hubby loved it.. Enjoy!

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Tamarind Relish


Another recipe that I found and loved in Nupur's blog was Cynthia's Tamarind relish that she served with her Thalipeeth.......Yumm is the word for it...:D

As soon I read this recipe I knew it is gonna rock at my place. My hubby loves anything that is tangy. He is a big tomato and lemon fan hehhee...:P yup... Lemon rice and tomato rice and ofcourse puliyogare is his favourite. So when I saw this recipe I wanted to make this tangy treat for him. So here goes the recipe. I got it from Nupur's blog. Here is the original recipe.

You need:

Tamarind Concentrate - 2 tbsp

Onions - 1/2 finely chopped

Ginger - 1 " piece finely chopped

Garlic - 3 pods peeled and minced

Red Chilli flakes - 1/2 tsp

Cumin /coriander powder - 1 tsp

Jaggery - 2 tbsp

Salt - 1 tsp

Method :

Mix the tamarind concentrate in a bowl with 1 cup of water. Dissolve the tamarind well. If u dont have concentrate u can use the tamarind pulp. Soak it in 1 cup hot water for 20-30 minutes and later press out all the pulp and squeeze out all the seeds and fiber. You will have ur tamarind pulp and water ready.

In a small pan, heat some oil and put in the ginger, garlic and onions and saute and cook until soft and light pink in colour.

Now add the tamarind pulp and the other ingredients and boil until a bit thick or have a jam thickness. Adjust the amount or salt and other spices according to ur taste. You can store this in an air tight container and refrigerate.

I am sending this recipe to the JFI : Tamarind hosted by my Sig of live to eat.

Enjoy!!

Re-Posting..an old favourite...Masala Oats Roti

I am Re-posting this Oats Roti..which is our family favourite. I love this roti...specially because it very healthy and it very tasty too. I am reposting it and sending it to the Roti mela hosted by Srivalli.

We love it... hope u love it too... So here goes the Masala Rotti post. :)

A healthy and tasty oats snack. Oats, like any other varieties of grains, belong to the Graminae family (grasses)'s called 'Jai' in Hindi. Oats are excellent source of soluble dietary fibre. They are derived from natural whole grain. Oats'quality is enhanced further, by mixing it with Oat Bran.

Some Facts..:

BENEFITS OF SOLUBLE FIBRE : Soluble fibre and blood pressure - high fibre white oats helps to fight against excess blood cholesterol. Results of many medical studies showed that Gel formation by soluble fibre interferes directly with transport and absorption of liquids (fats) in the small intestine. Dietary fibre binds and absorbs bile acids and transports it into the calon for excretion,thereby responsible for increasing degradation of chloesterol to replace the bile salts, thus lowering the blood cholesterol level.

SOLUBLE FIBRE AND DIABETES: Soluble fibre like the type present in hi-fibre white oats are beneficial for diabetics too. Eating any normal diet controlling carbohydrate, can lead to a rise in blood sugar level in diabetics, whereas food rich in dietary fibre produces an opposite effect i.e. lowers the blood sugar level and thus, reduces the need of insulin to stabilize the blood sugar level.

SOLUBLE FIBRE AND OBESITY: Soluble fibre like the type found in hi-fibre white oats can help in weight control as it can replace high fat and calorie in food and can lead to reduction in total calorie intake.

SOLUBLE FIBRE AND IT'S OTHER BENEFITS: Soluble fibre can also prevent constipation, gastro-intestinal disorders, colon cancer, piles and varicos vein.

This is a lovely and tasty recipe which can be easily made and be given to children who as such wouldnt like to eat the bland white oats as it is.This is a very tasty recipe and I am sure u will love it.

You need :

White Oats : 1 cup

Rava - 1/2 cup

Sour buttermilk - 1 cup

Tomatoes - 1 large

Onion - 1

Green chillies - 3

Ginger - 1" piece

Salt to taste

Oil

Fresh Coriander leaves

Method :

In a big bowl put the oats, rava, sour butter milk. mix well. Now add in the chopped tomatoes, green chillies, coriander leaves, ginger and the salt.Mix in a bit of water if needed and make a semi liquid batter in such a consistency that it can be held in hand.

Now heat a non stick tawa. Pour some oil on it. Take the batter in one hand and place it in centre of the tawa like a lump. Now using ur palm, gently spread the batter on tawa. This is look like a thick dosa/ Roti.

Let the roti cook well. Add oil to it and roast it on either side by flipping in between.Cook till golden brown.

Serve hot with pickle and Raita.

Cilantro stem Paratha.. just yummy !

I love the smell and taste of Cilantro leaves /Coriander leaves. I like to put a lot of it in my curries, raitas and daals. All that is routine when it comes to cilantro...I wanted to try something new with it... So I ended up making this roti... with cilantro stems.

I always collect the stems of the cilantro leaves. As I said I love the smell of the fresh cilantro... The thing is, the stems of the cilantro are as fresh, flavourful and aromatic as the leaves.Then y throw them rt?... So I stock them up, wash them well... lightly dry it and then chop them into fine pieces and then put them in my tamarind, and store. This tamarind I use specially when I am making Rasam / Chaaru. It gives such a nice flavour and Aroma to the rasam. Do try it next time u make ur rasam. Yummmmm!

I am sending this Cilantro stem paratha recipe to Srivalli's Roti mela event. Check out my previous entries to the roti mela here.

You need :

Cilantro stems - 2 cups finely chopped
Fresh coriander leaves - handful finely chopped
Gram flour /Besan - 3/4 cup
Wheat flour - 1 1/2 cup
Ajwain - 2 tsp
Jeera /cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Green chillies - 2 finely chopped
Red chilli powder - 1 tsp (optional)
Coriander / cumin powder - 2 tsp
Asafoetida / Hing - 1/2 tsp
Oil - 1 tbsp

Method :

Put all the above ingredients in a bowl and mix it up into a dough using some warm water.
Make this dough soft and pliable.

My lovely lunch platter! Lobia bhaji, yoghurt, pickle, onions and my lovely cilantro stem parathas:D

Heat the griddle on medium heat.Take a small ball of dough and roll it into a circle. This circle is called as a roti. Now put it on the hot tava. Drizzle oil on the side and let it roast. flip it on to the other side and again drizle some more oil. Cook until brown spots appear on both sides.

Ur roti is ready. Enjoy hot...as it is.. or with some garlic chutney...or yoghurt and pickle.

Enjoy!

Khiar Be Laban For Awed...Now to Frozen Yoghurt and Herb mania.

I am sending this recipe for the Herb Mania-Fresh mint Event hosted by Dee of Ammulu' s Kitchen.Thanks Dee for the lovely topic.:)

I am also sending this Khiar be laban for the Frozen Yoghurt event hosted by Siri of Siri's corner. I love yoghurt... Thank u Siri for this lovely event.
I am reposting this post for the yoghurt and herb mania event. As usual I have been absent minded and didnt check these event details earlier. So, here goes my entry..:)

Phew! so many events and the same due dates... It becoming madenning. There are sooooooooo many event going on in the food blogsphere. Each and every event is unique and I have the itch of participating in every event. But then it becomes so difficult to cope up with so many of them.... Phew! phew!... So today is the due date for 2 big events.. the RCI and the AWED. I was keen on taking part in both the events. Just few minutes back I posted my entry for the RCI and now come my entry to the AWED.


Since childhood I have the habit of keeping things till the last minute. And I have successfully continued it till now... keeping things for last minute... hmmm.....So here goes my entry...:)

Khair be laban.....Cucumber in Minted yoghurt. I found this recipe is Meedo and zainab's blog, Arabic Bites.This is a lebaneese recipe and is very easy to make and so delicious. This is somewhat similar to the cucumber raita that we make. It is made of different ways in different regions of Lebanon, some add onions, other herbs or raisins. In the Lebanese cuisine, dairy products are of great importance, particularly yoghurt which is one of the bases of food.

In summer, it is often served in the mezzé. It is such a simple recipe and its so good for these hot summers... Yummm! You can find the original recipe here.


You need :

Cucumber : 1 peeled and shredded
Salt to taste
Mint - 1/2 cup finely chopped
fresh corinader leaves - 2 tbsp finely chopped
Yoghurt - 2 cups
buttermilk - 1 cup (optional)


Method :

Peel the cucumber and grate it. Sometimes the cucumbers are bitter...so to remove the bitterness u can cut the top of the cucumber and rub it on the cut part in a circular motion. It gives out a white foamy substance... Do this for around 5 minutes and ur cucumbers r ready for shredding....:)

When I was making this.... I had the slightest doubt that my cucumber would be bitter. So I happily went on to grate it and later discovered it was very very bitter. Thank god I got it before I added yoghurt to the cucumber. Add salt to the grated cucumber and leave it for 5 minutes. Squeeze out the grated cucumber into a bowl. Done all the biiterness is gone..:)

Now to the grated cucumber add all the given ingredients and mix well. Your Khiar be laban is ready.....:) U can add the buttermilk and mail ur Khiar be laban a bit wattery or skip the buttermilk and make it nice and thick.


Serve as a dip or as a side to any pulao

This is my entry to the AWED - Middle eastern cuisine hosted by Siri of Siri's corner. One more event.. finely accomplished. Soooooooooooooooooooooooooo many more to gooo :( phew!

One completed sketch and some more awards...!

The Bride sketch finally Complete..:) Have a look and do leave ur message and comments. It matters a lot to me.


Another look...:) Isn't she beautiful? Well I took total 3 months to complete this one. Thats not coz it takes that much time... but because I was lazy to complete the painting.... I have used a 6 B pencil for the sketching and shading.




I am so lucky to be showered with so many awards. I had a load full last week and I am so happy to show off 2 more for this week. My dear friend Sireesha of Mom's recipe passed me with the Rocking girl blogger award. Thank u so much Sireesha for this award. It matters a lot to me..:)




I would like to pass on ths award to 4 of my fellow blogger friends.


Rachel of Tangerine's Kitchen

Kalva of curry in Kadhai

Jeena of Jeena's kitchen

And my friend Shanti from My kitchen hobbies.



Something so amusing happened last week. The thing is Shanti's hubby and my hubby work in the same office and we met through a common friend. I didnt know that its the same Shanti. Later yesterday when I was talking to her I asked her for her blog address (when we met for the first time she reffered to me that she has a blog.) When I saw her blog I was so shocked...happily shocked. I have visited this blog so many times but never knew it was her blog hehehe... It is funny. Well I am happy that I met such a nice cook like her and the best thing is we stay nearby...:D

She is such a sweet girl and so down to earth. This is for u Shanti.....U simply rock girl.





Another award that I got this week is from another sweet friend... Hetal of Isha's Kitchen. She passed me on with the Inspirational award. It feels so good when someone calls u their inspiration. It puts u on the cloud 9. I am at presently sitting there and blogging. Thank u Hetal for making a day so special with this award.


As its the rule that we have to list 4 things that Inspire us.I already got this award earlier and I have listed down my inspiration here.

This award was conceptualised by Jamie of the Flavour Pantry. Jamie tells the following,“This is given to bloggers whose stories and recipes inspire us. Whether it’s to eat healthier, dive back into our past to conjure up something we ate as children, or just make the light bulbs in our brains go on with a new idea for a recipe. As recipients of this award, please share with us what inspires you and then pass on the Inspiration Award to 4 other deserving bloggers. Please let them know what the award means and what to do with it.”

As per the terms of the award, I have to pass this award to four other bloggers. I wish I can pass it on to all of my blogger friends but as I have to stick to the rules.. Firstly I would love to thank you all for ur encouraging comments always.The blogger who inspire me are...

Swati of chatkhor
Divya of Dil-se
Cynthia of Tastes like Home
Meedo & Zainab Of Arabic bites


Keep inspiring me this way. Congratulations. Enjoy ur awards.:)