Roti Basket./ Roti ki Tokri.... 6 in one variety Basket

Dont you remember the Punjabi dhaba or punjabi hotels in India.... when you say "Roti Ki Tokri."??

No, Today I am not posting from other blogs....I had this post lying in my edit from around 3 weeks, thought will post it today.... So here goes my Roti ki Tokri.

When I was in Indian, and when we used to go for a family party, My dad used to many a times call for a Roti Basket / Tokri which will have around 9 to 10 varieties of roti, naans, parathas, kulchas, one of each type..... yummmm... So my Tokri is inspired from there.

I made 6 Varieties of roti... I just had to make one in each variety....thats it.... for our Sunday lunch....:) These roti can be rather heavy....phew.....!


So the varieties I made were Stuffed rice roti, Chow-Chow roti, Masala aloo roti, Raw banana Roti, Butter paratha, Gobi-Brocolli Paratha...Phew....! yes so many on one day..... was I out of my mind?? Maybe :P

So without wasting more time I will go to the recipe. Beware! this is gonna be a long long post...hmmm and yeah Im sending this recipe post to Srivalli for her Roti mela.










To make all these parathas / rotis, one step is similar i.e the dough for the paratha. To make this dough....

You need:

Wheat flour - 3 cups

Salt to taste

Warm water - 1/2 cup

Oil - 2 tbsp


Method :

Take the warm water in a bowl and add salt and oil to it... whisk it lightly...and then add the flour. Mix well. Add water or four as needed to make an soft and pliable dough. Add more oil if needed. Keep this dough covered and aside for nearly an hour. your roti and chapati dough is ready.

We can now go with out Variety number 1 : Butter Paratha.

Method :

Once your Dough is ready roll it out into a small circle. Brush a bit of butter on the face of the circle / roti. Fold the circle into a semicircle. Now once again brush with some more butter and fold again into a triangle.

Press with ur hand and then coat it with some flour and roll into a big circle. Put this on the tava for roasting. Add melted buter around the paratha and shallow fry it. on both the sides.. Till brown spots appear. Your paratha is ready.

Serve hot with any Bhaji, or just plain yoghurt, onions and ur favourite spicy pickle.. Enjoy!

Variety Number 2 : Raw Banana Roti



You need :

Raw Banana - 1

Red chilli powder - 1tsp

Ginger - 1 tsp (chopped)

Salt to taste

Jeera powder - 1 tsp

Coriander powder - 1/2 tsp

Asafoetida - a pinch

Fresh coriander leaves.

Lemon juice - 2 tsp

The Raw Banana stuffing ready.

Method :

Steam the Raw Banana and cool it to room temperature. Peel the Banana and grate it. Take the grated banana in a small cup and add all the other ingredients to it and mix well. Your filling is ready. If u wish u may even give it a tadka / Tempering of oil, mustard seeds, urad dhal.






Once your flling is ready, Take the chapati dough. Take a tennis ball size dough and roll out into a thick small circle. Place the circle in you palm and put the filing in the centre on the circle. Now pack it up by wrapping all the edges of the circle to the centre.


Common Step* - Press it flat and then roll it into a Roti. i.e a flat circle. Heat a tava / griddle and put the Roti on it. Pour oil on the sides in of the roti, and roast then rti on eaither side until brown spots appear. Your roti is ready.This step will be the same for all the rotis. Enjoy!

Your Raw Banana Roti is ready to be served with Pickle and sweetened curd.Enjoy!

Variety Number 3: Stuffed Rice Roti

Spiced cooked rice for the stuffing.

You need :

Cooked Rice - 3 tbsp (I used leftover rice.)

Green Onions - 4 chopped finely with the greens

Red chilli powder - 2 tsp

Salt to taste

Garam Masala - 1 tsp

Dhania-jeera powder (cumin-coriander seeds powder )- 2 tsp

Jeera seeds - 1 tsp (optional)

Ginger-garlic paste - 1tsp

Method:

In a Pan take some oil and add the jeera. Once it splutters add the spring onions and mix well. Add all the spices and mix well. Mix for 5 minutes till the raw smell from the masala goes off.Add the cooked rice and mix once again. Leave it on medium flame for 10 minutes till all the flavours are absorbed in the rice.This filling will be a bit filling. Adjust the spices according to your taste. If U like tomatoes you may even add that too the rice.

Follow the common step and given above... and your Stuffed rice roti is ready...:) this roti tastes amazing if u brush a bit of ghee on top.... Wow.... it tastes awesome.... Enjoy it..hot!

Serve hot with Yoghurt , onions and ur favourite pickle

Variety Number 4: Chow -Chow Roti

Chow- Chow or Bangaloor katrikai or chayote squash roti. I saw recipe somewhere..... long long time back.... dont remember where... and was so keen on trying it out. But with all the other things taken the preference this recipe kind of got lost. Thanx to srivalli's roti mela I remembered this one and I am trying my own recipe here with chow-chow.

Now chow- chow leaves lot of water, just like radish... so U have 2 ways of making this roti. Either u can use it as a filling... or u can just add the grated chow chow directly while making the dough.I am trying the first option here.

You need :

Chayote squash - 1 peeled and grated

Green chillies - 1 chopped finely

Ginger - 1 1/2 tsp finely chopped

Fresh Coriander leaves

Dhania - Jeera powder (coriander/cumin seed powder) - 2 tsp

Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp

salt to taste

Method :

Grate the Chayote, add salt to it, mix well and keep aside for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes... Squeeze out the water from the grated chayote. It should be a bit dry..... try to squeeze as much you can orelse it will be difficult to roll out the rotis.

Put the squeezed ,grated chayote in a bowl and add all the other ingredients to it. Mix it well. your stuffing is ready. Use this immidiately to make your roti. If u have time to make your roti, add the masalas just before ur ready to make ur rotis.

Follow the common step and enjoy ur lovely chayote squash roti. I will be trying it the other way too. Enjoy!

Serve hot with yoghurt, white onions and Ur favourite pickle...:) Dont miss the onions... I am sure the sliced white onions enhance the taste of these rotis.

Variety Number 5 : Gobi - Broccoli Paratha

You need :

Chopped broccoli - 1/2 cup

Cauliflower chopped - 1/2 cup

Salt to taste

Green chilli - 2 finely chopped

Dhania- jeera powder - 2 tsp

Turmeric powder - 1tsp

Garma masala - 1/2 tsp

Oil - 1/2 tbsp

Jeera seeds - 1 tsp

Fresh coriander leaves

Method :

In a pan take some oil and add the jeera. Let it splutter well. Add the green chillies and let it cook for 2 minutes. Add the chopped broccoli and cauliflower. Mix well. Cook covered for 3 minutes. Add the masalas and mix well. Let it cook for 5-6 minutes and Then Garnish with coriander leaves. Your stuffing is ready....

Again follow the common step I told about in the first variety... and ur all set. Your Gobi-Broccoli Paratha is ready to be served.

Serve hot with yoghurt , onions and pickle.Enjoy!

Variety Number 6 : Masala Aloo Roti / Aloo Paratha (quantity - 1 or 2 parathas)

You need:

Potato - 1 (boiled and mashed)

Salt to taste

Garam masala - 1 tsp

Red chilli powder - 2 tsp

Dhania Jeera powder - 2 tsp

Fresh Coriander leaves / cilantro chopped

Ajwain seeds - 1 tsp (optional)

Method :

Take the boiled and mashed potato in a bowl and add in all the other ingredients to it. Mix well so that all the masala is evenly distributed in the potatoes.Ur Masala Aloo filling is ready. So easy to make isnt it?...

Now, once again follow the common step and your Aloo Paratha / Masala aloo roti is ready to be served.

Relish with Yoghurt and pickle... the punjabi ishtyle.Enjoy!

Wow.... yeah I made it all on one day.... Yeah and I guess I have gone crazy....Hehhe but we realyy enjoyed eating these parathas the whole day... for lunch as well for dinner...;)

Cut ur parathas into half and serve...:) In a nice tokeri...Enjoy the punjabi Ishtyle Roti mela.

Enjoy!!

Some Excuses, my sketch and an Award!

Yes... I have kind of vanished from the blogsphere for the past week and maybe this will continue for another week or so.....Iam all tied up with work.... phew.... but.. but... I am trying out lotsa recipes from different blogs but I am seriously not getting the time to put it up on my blog. Will be doing it soon.... Very very soon.



Thanks for all My lovely friends who keep cheking my blog.... :) Love you all soooooo much ... muah muah..!

Yippeeeee Another "yummy Award.... For the yummy blog...!


I would like to Thank 2 of my sweet friends, Aditi of My Kitchen Stories and Hetal of Isha's Kitchen.....whom I know personally, for passing the yummy blog award to me...... Iam so lucky I know both of these fabulous cooks personally.... Aditi is my schoolmate and childhood buddy.... she is an artist... didnt know she was such a good cook too.... U rock babes... And what should I say about Hetal... "Always smiling " Is what I can say for her. I know her now almost for an year and was lucky to enjoy her cooking... Yummmm....Thank you both for appreciating my efforts here.... It means so much to me... WOw...! Now I have 6 of them..... Wow! wow! I am on top of the world.... Thank you so much sweethearts....really appreciate all the love. Both of you have a lovely blog and I am so drawn by the creativity. You both rock!

As I have said earlier in my blog.... Thanx to roopa of Kitchen Treats, the mastermind in starting this award section. Kudos to u Roopa.

"Yummy Blog award was first conceptualized by Roopa of Kitchen Treats. Yummy blog award is the award given to the blog with the most yummy recipes/photos."

Somethings I want to share....


Thank you all ur dear friends who made me feel so extra special. This appreciation and your sweet and encouraging comments just builds in all the enthusiasm to do more and fill up this place with many more lovely recipes...:) Thank you all. Love u.


As a ritual of I have to list down the sweets I have ever made or eaten... well as I have already written about it in detail... I would keep it short here...:)


I Drool on...


Gulab Jamoons


Black Forest Cake


Kaju Katli


Chocolate moose....

and something I forgot to add last time... "gajar ka halwa..." yummmmm

So, I pass this lovely award back to both of you Aditi and Hetal...:) and Also to the lovely Archy of Archy's recipe...I saw her blog just some time back and I loved it... Its actually "yummyyyyyy" Way to go Archy....:) looking out for more....:) You all really deserve it..... I just love all ur recipes and all of u just rock......


Congrats! on your award.Thank you once again... love u both..:)

I am trying my hand at sketching after a long break... Yeah.... After the introduction of the computer software....who touches the pencil?....So now I am trying something.... Hope it turns out good...:)

Wanna have a look... here it goes...

Yet have a lot to complete....:) .. so see ya all soon with more of my recipes.... Have fun...

Dal Makhani and Cooking 4 all Seasons

Delicious looking Daal Makhani......Served!

I like all kind of lentils. But as a kid I was never exposed to so many varieties of Daal that we get now. By daal I dont mean dried lentils but the daal preparations. Daal Maharani, Daal tadka, Daal Makhani, Rajasthani Daal, Hyderabadi Daal, Palak daal, Mango Daal, Tomato daal, Aamti, Varan... ohhh and the list just goes on.... Guess we can have a whole event just on daal varieties....:) isnt it?? Well so the daal that I knew was dal fry that my mom used to make at home to go along with her yummy fluffy phulkas or chawal. I am so surprised to open a restaurant menu card and see so many varieties of daal now. We never used to get so many varieties believe me. Atleast I have never seen or tasted them. So, when I am seeing so many varieties now, I almost everytime get confused. How it will this daal taste? How is it different fro my Daal fry?.But then,thanx to the modern culture of going to restaurants...and ofcourse my friends, I am exposed so many varieties now.

I learnt a lot about the traditional south Indian pappu (daal) from my mother in law... who taught me to make a variety of pappus like Pala kura pappu, tomato pappu, mamadikaya pappu... which me and my hubby simply loveeeeeeeeeee......!

So Coming to My daal Makahni, I wanted a recipe which will be simple and easy to make as well traditional with all the flavours intact. In short the exact one we get in restaurants in India... ummmmm! Yummy. I came across such a recipe in Srivalli's blog and just jumped on to make it. So today, I am presenting Srivalli's Daal Makhani and her Lovely blog.... Cooking 4 all seasons..:)

I made few changes from Srivalli's recipe.....but the base recipe is the same...:) So to make this

you need :

Sabut Urad Daal / Black lentils - 1 cup (soaked overnight)

Rajma /Kidney beans - 1/2 cup ( I used canned, u may use dried & then soak them overnight)

Butter / ghee - 1 tbsp

Oil - 2tsp

Jeera /Cumin seeds - 1tsp

Onions - 1 medium finely chopped

Tomatoes - 2 finely chopped

Garam masala powder - 2 tsp

Turmeric powder - 1 tsp

Red chilli powder - 3 tsp

Ginger - around 2 tsp (finely chopped)

Garlic - 5 pods (finely chopped)

Low fat Cream - 1 1/2 tbsp ( Ok I used Low fat sour cream here...dont look at me like that....:P)

Low fat Yoghurt - 1 1/2 tbsp

Salt to taste

Fresh coriander leaves to garnish

Method:

Pressure cook both the soaked daal with a bit of salt. Mash it with the back of the ladle and keep it aside. See that the lentils are seen and that to dont make it into a paste.

Add the youghurt and the sour cream together and mix well. Keep it aside.

In a pan, take the oil and jut in the jeera and allow it to splutter. I addded jeera to my Daal as I love the aroma jeera gives and secondly as jeera is good for digestion, I prefer using it with all my lentil preperations...;). So once the jeera is ready, add the chopped ginger, garlic and onions. Saute well. Add in the tomatoes and the masala and mix well. Let it cook till the tomato are tender and a bit mushy. Add salt. Remember u have already added some salt to ur lentils while pressure cooking.Now add the lentils and around 1/2 glass of water to it.Let it cook and take in all the flavours. Cook covered for around 8 minutes on medium-low. Mix it and add the yoghurt and sour cream. mix well once again. Cook open for another 6-7 minutes on medium low. Your Daal is ready.

Transfer to a serving bowl and garnish with fresh coriander leaves and serve hot with Paratha or rice.

My lunch plater ready with laccha paratha, onions and delicious Daal Makhani.

Now somethings about Srivalli and her lovely blog Cooking4all Seasons.

If you have ever heard of the Events.....Microwave cooking, microwave cakes event....Dosa mela or the on going Roti mela... I am so sure you know srivalli too. She is the one who started this lovely event on her even more lovely blog...Cooking 4all seasons. I Simply love her blog. Its nice with lovely recipes and tempting photographs, Stories about her kids and her family. So much of affection and love flows in this blog....Dont miss her Tom and Jerry sketches...check it out!

Do not miss the amazing dosa variety and the traditional andhra style dishes.....she has in her blog... I simply adore it. What creativity and patience....phew.... god please give me that.... I pray... all day ! Iam sure gonna try more and more from her blog.... specially the andhra variety....as my hubby is from hyderabad... and I am sure he will appreciate it and maybe give me a pat on my back....:D. So Srivalli, thanx for the lovely 230 and more recipes u have shared with us.... U simply rock...:) to know more about her...and her recipes... Check her blog..:)

So, again thats it from me for now...... will post another great recipe that I always wanted to try and a blog that I adore...:)....there are sooooo many of them..... ohh my god... Is may enough??!! I am thinking.....................n thinking.... and still thinking....................................;)

Two More Yummy Awards.......Geee Thanxz

I was so surprised, happy and overwhelmed.........:D this week I recieved 2 more yummy blog awards and I am so excited about it... Thanx Swati and Shri for the award. I really appreciate it and it really made my day.
The yummy blog award was started by Roopa who says.....

"Yummy blog award is given to the blog with most yummy recipes and photos".

Thanx Shri and Swati once again for admiring my blog and my effort. This really means a lot to me...:)

The rules require me to quote my favorite yummy-licious dessert(s) that I have ever prepared/eaten. As I have already posted those when I got my first yummy award, I think I can skip that part and move to the part where I have to pass this award to 4 fellow bloggers who have yummy blogs. I hope Roopa wont mind it. Now, thats the toughest part believe me.

Here are my four choices.

Arabicbites

Mahanandi

Saffron Trail

Tasty Pallettes

Congratulations...:) and keep sharing your yummilious recipes with us, as always...:)

Today's Special Choley Batura - Indira's chole and Vee's Batura

Its time for another celebration...!

Hi there all of you. I am so sorry I couldn't post any recipe yesterday. In future will try to post one recipe one day.... except weekends... hehe...Anyways, today is a very special day. Today my brother Karthik and sweet sister in law Ramya Celebrate their First wedding anniversary. I am missing them so much wanted to join them in their celebration. So here is wishng them a very very happy First wedding anniversary. Well I didnt make any sweets for wishing them due to time constrains so I am sharing a lovely italian lunch as my bhabhi loves italian food.(will post the recipe later.) And my sooji halwa once again. You can see the recipe here.

Wish you both a Lovely First Wedding Anniversary !

My special lunch for my brother and bhabhi.:)

Italian lunch - Spicy Pasta, Spring onion Pilaf, Warm vegetable salad

Yummy Sooji Halwa with chocolates.

Now, coming to my daily food blogging. Today's special is Chole batura.

My Lunch platter - Choley, green salad and batura.

My today's special is Choley batura. My hubby loves choley and I would also like to add that he makes very good choley. I wont say that its the most perfect choley but it is very good with its natural flavour. Infact I can say he is the one who taught me to cook with the natural flavours in the vegetables and pulses... than overflowing the bhaji with masalas, which I used to before I got married. So I really want to post this dish for my sweet husband.

So coming to the topic, both me and my hubby r ardent fans of choley Bature.... I dont enjoy Bature that much but I love choley. Whenever I make choley I dont stick to one recipe. I keep changing my concoction by adding or minusing something.... just to see how it tastes.

Well, when talking about experimentng with choley who can beat my "Choley Queen" Indira of mahanandi. Yeah I have named her the choley queen. why?? hmmm...If u peep in her site and just type choley u will be amazed to see the varieties she has there... and above that the different and unique combinations of vegetable with the tiny garbanzo bean (choley bean - kabuli chana).

Ohh my god, choley with so many different vegetables.what creativity....Choley with eggplant, choley with aloo, choley with doodhi,with methi, with tinda..... hmmmm and many many more other yummy recipes.

When I saw her choley recipe I was so inspired to make it.. mainly because of its simplicity. Its so simple with very subtle masala flavour and so easy to make. I wanted to try her recipe from a long long time, but due to time contrain and other stupid reasons I never could. Thanx to my new theme (vacation plan...;)..hehe) to try other fellow bloggers recipes I remembered to make Indira's choley. So here goes the recipe. I just have made few changes like adding some extra tomatoes and lemon juice... as we like our choley a bit khatta (sour)....:P. You can find Indira's Choley Recipe here.Thanx Indira for the lovely recipe. It turned out amazing... very mild flavoured yet so authentic and healthy.Here goes my choley.

You need :

Garbanzo beans / Chickpeas -2 cups (I used canned - if ur using dry ones please soak them overnight in warm water)

Roma Tomatoes - 4 finely chopped

Onions - 1 medium finely chopped

Mustard seeds - 1 tsp

Jeera (cumin seeds) - 1 tsp

Chole Masala / Chana Masala - 1 tbsp ( I used Punjabi choley masala )

Red chilli powder - 1 tsp

Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp

Salt to taste

oil - 1 tbsp

Fresh Coriander leaves for garnishing

lemon juice - 2 - 3 tsp

Butter - 1/2 tbsp

Method :

If you have soaked the garbanzo, pressure cook it with some water and salt. Dont over cook it. drain the water and keep aside. Alternatively, if ur using canned garbanzo, microwave it with some salt and water for 3 minutes. Keep aside.

Put a handful of garbanzo bean in a blender and make into a smooth and thick paste adding some water.This is done to make the choley a bit thick.

In a pan, heat the oil and add the jeera and mustard seeds.When the seeds splutter, add the onions and saute for a minute or two on medium flame. Let the onions cook well until they become transparent. Now, add the tomatoes and saute well till the tomatoes are tender and pasty.Add the turmeric powder, red chilli powder and chana masala. Mix well. The tomatoes should cook very well and become mushy. The raw smell of the masala should go.

Once the tomatoes are cooked well, add the chickpeas paste and saute well. Add rest of the chickpeas and 1/2 a glass of water and cook well.

Cover and cook for 7-8 minutes. Now, remove the lid and cook till the choley thickens a bit and all the extra water evaporates.See that ur choley is not watery.

Transfer to a serving bowl and garnish with fresh coriander and lemon juice. Mix well and serve hot with Puri / batura or Chapati.

The best indian bread combination to go with choley is the Batura. I will be posting the Batura recipe Next...:) till ten enjoy the lovely choley on my platter :D...

Serve hot with Puri/ Batura or chapati. Enjoy!

Now, a bit about Indira and her Lovely blog. If u wonder what does mahanandi stand for as I wondered when I visited her blog for the first time, Its a beautiful temple town close to Nandyala, India and at the foothills of Nallamala forest range. Its a very very green town surrounded with ponds, lovely forest and century old temples.She has some mindblowing recipes and photographs in her blog. The blog emits amazing creativity in terms of writing, photography, and lovely recipes. I would also like to add that Indira is the brain behind the Jihva (JFI) which is circulating the foodblogsphere now for nearly 2 years. Thanks Indira for the lovely blog and for sharing all your thoughts, ideas and amazing recipes with us. To know more about her do visit her blog. I make a point to check her blog atleast once everyday, yet I cant see I have seen all her recipes. Indira, I enjoyed making your chole amongst so many other recipes I have piled from from ur blog in my "Should try Section".

PS: What is a choley recipe without the batura?... so I am posting that recipe here in this post. Scroll down please.

Batura my hubby's ever favourite, just like the choley. Whenever we go to an indian restaurant, his first order is always puri or batura. So just to satisfy his "batura bud" I thought I will make it at home for him . As I stated earlier I am not a puri or batura fan so I rarely make it at home. I knew that for making this indian bread, U need to prepare before hand. The dough to make batura has to be kept aside for 8 hours or something for fermentation. Hmmm my plans seemed to be doomed, when I came across this amazing and instant Batura recipe. The result was amazing, and just like the Batura u get in restaurants.I found this recipe at Vee's Keep trying. Thanx Vee for the lovely recipe.Here goes the recipe.

You need :

All purpose flour - 2 cups

Yoghurt - 1/4 cup

Potato - 1 boiled and mashed

Oil/ ghee - 2 tbsp

Baking powder - 1/2 tsp

Salt to taste

Oil for deep frying.

Method :

Put all the above ingredients in a bowl .Knead lightly so that the baking podwer is evening mixed. Now knead it into a nice dough with some warm water. Adjust the quatity of water in order to make a soft pliable dough.Keep the dough aside for 1 hour.

When ready make to make ur baturas, Heat oil in a kadhai on medium flame.

Roll a small ball size dough into a nice round . Dont make it very thin. The baturas need to be a bit thick. Once the oil is hot enough, slid the batura into the oil and poke it lightly with the laddle until it puffs up. See that u do this very lightly orelse u may spill oil on urself.This is done tonot make the baturas puff well. Once the baturas puff, let it stay for 30 seconds and then flip them over gently (again take care here.... dont spill hot oil on urself....please :D) to the other side. Once both the sides have light brown spots on them... your baturas are ready. Remove them from the oil and drain them on a tissue paper.

Serve hot with the delicious Choley........

................................The way I did....enjoy!

Now about Vee and her Blog "Keep trying" . As her blog name suggests..she keep trying lovely recipes and share with all of us in her lovely blog. The most interesting thing I found in her blog is her archive listing "On the menu" which is listed in alphabetical order....A....B....C....D...E....F.....G.....Guess she is over dosed teaching her kids. Thats y her blog is having this unique menu listing? :D.Hey dont mind, Just kidding..... You have a lovely blog and I love it.:) She is from konkan and her blog intro is so sweet, as she refers about her lovely grand mom and her mom and what all she learnt from them. She has some interesting recipes and lovely photographs in her blog. So check out more about Vee @ Vee's Keep trying.

So for today, thats it.... I will be back with more of my trials from another favourite blogs of this food blogsphere.

Have a happy weekend.....and do tell me if u liked my chole batura...:)

A lovely video I came Across You Tube!

A female called Archana who speaks in the Hasya kavi sammela on women who come here on H4. Its hillarious. I just wanted to share with all of you. Hope you like it. Do comment on it..:)

Archana is a popular poetess, singer and artiste who resides in the bay area.
Archana is a software engineer -a front end web developerby profession. She has worked as a consultant for companies and is presently, she is working for Tacit Software.She worked as a credentialed public school teacher in Fremont Unified school district for 4 years. She also was a eigth grade science teacher with Campbell Union school distrcit for one year. Archana volunteers to teach Hindi at various institutes in the bay area like I.C.C. (India Community center), Vidyabharti etc.

She presents this poetry "Naukri is tokeri" in the bay area Hasya Kavi Sammelan in April 2007. This poetry is a comedy depicting her experiences with the many jobs she tried, as an immigrant woman, trying to balance her job and family. Its really very funny and so humorous. When I came across this is just wanted to share it with you all. Hope u Enjoy it as much i did...:)

P:S - Note her version of ABCD... I was laughing uncontrolablely when I heard that hehehe...

Some other videos of archana are America , Hindi , Matrimony

I enjoyed each and every video and I just wanted to share it with all of you. Hope you like it. Do send me your comments. Her recitals of america and hidi really touched my heart. And the way she present it is so nice...:)

The recital on Matrimony is very good too..:) its really hillarious... hope u all like it too..:)

You can find more information and more of her videos on her website.

Iam adding one of her videos here... u can check her other videos in The links i have given above.Enjoy!

Hope u enjoyed the video. Do leave ur comments...:)

Recipe Today :Meeta's Achari Aloo

Thanks you all for your lovely comments on my previous post i.e : my 100th post.


I am so excited and happy for all the love that I recieved in the form lovely comments and wishes from all of you. It feels so good to know i have so many friends and well wishers...I hope u all enjoyed the chocolate and the halwa..:)

I am so happy and honoured that I wanted show my gratitude, in a small way that I can do. I know thats for any blogger its a thrilling moment when someone tries their recipe and comments on it. Hence I decided the rest of May I dedicate it to YOU. ( All the lovely fellow bloggers out there....)

Yes I decided that I am going to post my favourite recipes from other blogs that I like... along with a sweet note about the blogger and her/ his lovely blog. Yeah, its like a break for me after this hectic hundred. I just want to cook and try all the creative, unique and awesome recipes I have seen in other blogs and always wanted to try it out. But due to time constrain I cudnt.

Even now.... there are like hundreds of blogs out there and thousands of lovely recipes... cant make all so I will be going by mine as well my hubby's choice...:).

Today, I am starting with Meeta's Achari Aloo... from her kitchen to mine..:)

Meeta's Achari Aloo - From her Kitchen to Mine.

The minute I saw this recipe in Meeta's blog I was delighted. I was searching for this recipe say for more than an year but never actually tried to make it. U see I have to give work to my little brain to make something without a proper recipe. Hmm... Anyways y trouble urself when u get an instant recipe...;). You wont believe I made it the day meeta posted the recipe..... and the result was amazing.... it turned out awesome. Thanks Meeta for the lovely recipe. This is what I came up with...:D

My lunch platter for the day! with meeta's achari aloo, Italian green peas Salad, curd, chapati and tomato slices.

I made a few changes like adding extra tomatoes........I used lemon Pachranga pickle and traditional Mango avakai, (cut mango pickle) mixed them together and used that paste. The saunf and mustard seeds in the pachranga pickle and the tangy mango taste and spices in Avakai created a very good combination of taste. And the aroma was awesome.... ummm I can vouch for any pickle lover. its was too tempting.

Rest of the recipe method I followed as Meeta has suggested.Turned out nice.

Here goes the recipe : serves 3

Potatoes - 4 Russet

Roma tomatoes - 2 finely chopped

Jeera (cumin seeds) - 1tsp

Red chilli powder - 1tsp (optional)

Turmeric powder - 1tsp

Onions - 1 finely chopped

The pickle chutney/sauce* - 1 1/2 tbsp

Salt to taste

Pepper a pinch

Fresh coriander leaves to garnish

Oil - 1 tbsp

Method:

Chop the potatoes into wedges and keep aside.

In a deep botton pan, heat the oil and add the jeera to it. Let it splutter for a while. Add the onions and saute well. Once the onions are transparent, add the finely chopped tomatoes and saute again for 5 minutes or so. Add the turmeric powder, Red chilli powder and mix well. Cook till the tomatoes are tender and become like a paste.

Now add the chopped poatoes and mix well. Pour around 1/2 glass of water and cook covered on medium flame for 3 minutes or until the potatoes almost cooked. Now, remove the cover and cook for another 2 minutes allowing the water to eveporate. Now, add the Pickle Sauce and mix well, coating the poataoes well. Add salt and pepper to the potaotes. Adding salt be careful. You already have salt in ur pickle sauce so better taste and then later add the salt to it.

Transfer to a nice serving bowl and garnish with fresh coriander leaves. Your Achari Aloo is ready. Simple yet so tasty..:)

* The pickle chutney is the sauce of the pickle that remain after u remove the pieces from the pickle. For this recipe, we just need the sauce and not the pieces. If ur making this using vegetable pickle, be free to add some pieces too for additional taste... enjoy!

Serve hot with Paratha/ Roti or naan. Enjoy!

Now About The Blog : "What's for lunch Honey?"

Isn't that what we r asked when our sweet hubby comes home for lunch? A very nice blog with a lovely name and even lovelier recipes and photographs. This blog is owned by Meeta as you all must knowing now (As I have already written her name like 6-7 times..hehehe). She is very sweet female, born in India - Mumbai and is presently settled in Germany with her partner a a lovely 5 yr old son. You can read more about her here.

Her blog has some amazing recipes and pictures. I love spending hours in her blog searching for new items and unheard recipes. She is the one who started the Monthly Mingle... if ur aware of it. She is a brilliant photographer and a great cook. Thank you Meeta for sharing your lovely recipes with us. To know more about her do visit her blog.

Thats it for today... I will be back again with another favourite recipe from another lovely blog. Thank you.