Vegan Masala Scrambled Tofu

I am not a vegan but I love tofu.... Actually me and my hubby...we both love tofu. He is the one who introduced me to tofu.. and I am so glad he did. We love scrambled egg but as we r trying to cut eating egg now....atleast buying them... other than for cakes..(sudden cultural awekening..:P..u see?)So we r trying other options to have the same crumbly texture and taste.

I happen to eat this at a cousins place for breakfast and we instantly fell in love with it. So I tried my hand at it and I can say I was successful..:) I am sending this recipe to the Eat healthy event- Protein Rich hosted and started by Sangeeth.




You need:

Extra Firm Tofu : 1 packet
Green chillies - 3 finely chopped
Ginger-garlic paste - 2tsp
Fresh coriander leaves - 1 cup finely chopped
Onions - 1/2 cup finely chopped
Green bell pepper - 1/2 cup finely chopped
Salt to taste
Corinader -cumin Powder - 1 tsp
Garam Masala - 1 tsp
Lemon juice - 2 tsp (optional)
Oil - 3 tsp


Method :

Drain water from the packet of tofu. Remove the tofu out and pat it dry with a kitchen towel or paper napkin.Wrap it in a paper napkin and keep it aside.

In a nonstick pan, take some oil and add the green chillies and ginger garlic paste. Saute till the ginger garlic turns light brown. Add onions and saute for 5 mins. Add the spices and the salt. Saute well.
Lastly add the green bell pepper and saute well for 10 mins or until the pepper is cooked well.

In the meantime. Remove the tofu from the napkin and put it in a bowl and mash it with hand. You may even make small cubes of the tofu, lightly mash it with a laddle and add it to the cooked vegetables.Stir fry for 6-7 minutes

Garnish with fresh coriander leaves and lemon juice. Serve along with a slice of garlic bread.

Serve hot as a Breakfast or as a lunch side dish.

Plagarism....Oh my God..!

I came across this blogpost in Indira's blog about Inji pennu and the plagarism of her blog post, poems and pictures by some website named Kerals.com(supposed to be a very very huge name in malayalam websites...) OMG... its so scary. The first thing that came to my mind is...?? Can this Happen to me? Can this happen to anyone including me?......Ohh my god.. we should Fight against this plagarism...Join this protest list and let us all support inji pennu. You can read about the whole issue here.

Something Hot and something Sweet !

Well its been a wild wild search for me and overall a hectic month. The search for a nice recipe for the RCI : North east India hosted by bhags of Crazy curry . RCI was started by lakshmi of Veggie cuisine. So, the work and other family commitments that kept me occupied for the whole month. After all the search, I did come up with a list of vegetarian preparations. But due to the time constrain (the due date is 2morrow...) I have post something I tried ealier last month... as soon as bhags announced about the RCI.


I didnt want to post it as it was something very common... anyways... something better than nothing. So, here goes my Momos and Koat pitha. Momo's come from the land of the rising sun....Arunachal Pradesh.

For momos you need :

For the dough:

All purpose flour - 2 cups

salt to taste

Warm water

For the filling :

Cabbage - 1 cup finely chopped

Onions - 1/2 cup finely chopped

Mushrooms - 1/2 cup

Carrot - 1 finely chopped

Salt to taste

Garam masala - 1 tsp

green chillies - 1 finely chopped ( u can reduce this according to ur taste..)

Garlic pods - 1 finely chopped

Ginger - 1 tsp finely chopped

Tabasco sauce - 1 tsp ( u can add chili sauce)

Oil - 2 tsp



Method :

Firstly we will make the dough. Take the flour in a bowl and salt and water to it. Knead it into a nice smooth dough. Keep aside.

Now we can make the filling. For the filling shred the cabbage, chop the onions, mushroom and carrot finely.



In a pan take some oil and add the chopped garlic and ginger to it. saute for 1 min and then add the chopped onions. Add the green chillies and the garam masala and saute once again.

Now, add the chopped vegetables to it along with salt and the tonasco sauce and mix well. Cook for 2 minutes and ur filling is ready. U dont need to cook the vegetable too much.

Take a small amount if the dough , roll it into a small circle of 4 inch diameter and place a spoon ful of the filling in the centre of the cirle. Get all the sides of the circle to the centre and pack the filling. Do the same with the whole dough. Steam of the dumplings until they are cooked well.

Serve hot with Tomato ketchup, schezwuan sauce or the traditional Tomato Oambal.. Enjoy!

Koat Pitha

This is Something we both loved. I made it in the last minute... yeah yesterday evening... heheh.. I didnt want to miss on this lovely event. :P... Koat Pitha is a sweet savoury dish from the state of Mizoram and I am sending this to the RCI - North east india too.:)

Here goes the recipe :

Ripe banana - 1 chopped in pieces and mashed

Rice flour - 1 cup

Powdered Jaggery - 1 1/2 tbsp

Oil for frying

Method :

Mashed the chopped banana pices. Melt the jaggery with some water. Add the melted jaggery paste to the banana and mix well.

Slowly fold in the rice flour into the banana jaggery mixture. If u like it very sweet add some more jaggery. Mix into a nice smooth paste.

Heat oil in a kadhai. When the oil is hot, drop a spoonful of the batter into the oil and cook until brown on both the side. Drain on a kitchen napkin.

Sprinkle some powdered sugar on top and serve hot. We had it with some vanilla ice cream..tastes too good.

It tasted just like the traditional appa that we make...:) Too good a recipe and I am so sure I will be making this often..whenever I am ready to fry again..:D

So here are my 2 entries to the event.:)

Varitions : for the momos I tried another variation of filling but I wasnt very happy with it. It tasted very bland and hmmm different. The original required the momos to be served with a soup.. but we ate it as it is..as I was in no mood to make a soup now... and I got a yuck from my hubby for that filling hehehe...:P. Maybe it would have tasted good with the soup.Well its all a part of the learning process. If u wanna check out the recipe of the yuck momos I tried... check it here and make it at ur own risk. Enjoy!

Creamy bites..come take a bite.

I love to treat myself with this...when I am bored and just wanna grab some snack. I normally make some snack in the evening for my tired and starving hubby...when he returns from work...he has to have something to eat some snack or something crunchy and light. We love these creamy bites. And its so eay to make.

You need :

Triscuit roasted garlic biscuits (or any crackers) - 12
Low fat Sour cream - 1/2 cup
Onion - 1/2 finely chopped
Salt to taste
Tomatoes - 1 finely chopped (u can skip this now.. due to the recent tomato problem..)
Fresh coriander leaves - finely chopped
Green chillies - 2 finely chopped
A ziploc sandwich bag

Method :

Arrange the Triscuit Garlic biscuits on a plate. Take the sandwich bag and pour the sour cream into it and seal it. Cut one corner of the bag and press the cream towards that corner. Use this as a cone to put the cream on the biscuits.

Put small swirls of the cream on each biscuit. garnish with some onions, tomatoes, green chillies and fresh cornader leaves. Sprinkle a pinch of salt on it. Dont put too much of salt as the Triscuit biscuits have salt in it.

Serve it as a nice evening snack..:)

Enjoy !

Looks too good isn't it?? Well I got one lone biscuit left... we ate off the rest...:D Anyone want it??

Pampered with awards!!!! Love u darlings :D

This month and may... has been amazing for me. I had been extrememly busy with my laziness... hehe yeah and some household work...:P, managed to write few posts for the month, got lotsa awards and I made lotsa new friends.Thanx to blogger, and GCC...:) I got to meet so many new foodie friends and I am so glad I did..:)..

These awards make me feel so nice....It makes me feel wanted and loved and also pampered..:)

Thank u so much my dear friends for these awards I am so so so happy....:D

My dear friend Suma passed me the Yummy blog award. I am so happy to recieve this award from Suma who is a great cook and has an amazing blog.Thank u Suma for thinking of me for this wonderful award. Here I am showing it off..:D



This award is started by Roopa and I am so glad she did...Whats a better award for a cook than the word "yummy"?. Happy to get it so many times...:) This is my 7 th time..and I am really really glad.. I have no more words to express my happiness and emotions on all the awards and appreciation I have been showered with. Thank u so much Roopa for making such a nice award concept.


"Yummy blog award is the award given to the blog with most yummyrecipes/photos".

As per rules I have to write down 4 of my favourite desserts. Most of my sweet choices r same... just with some small changes though...:D


Twix chocolate bar

Gulab jamun with ice cream

Kaju katli

And chocolate cake :D

Yummmmm!

And again as per the rule I would like to pass this award to 4 other fellow bloggers. They are...

JZ@ Tasty Treats

Meera of Enjoy Indian Food

Sireesha of Mom's recipes

Ranji of Ranji's Kitchen Corner

Another award is from a sweet fellow blogger friend. JZ of Tasty treats. I got to know her better just few weeks back and she is such a sweet heart. She is dessert queen and all her recipes simply rock.She was so sweet to encourage me by passing 2 lovely awards..:) Thank u so much JZ..:) U rock girl!

The first one is the Inspiration Award. Gee thanks JZ.. I am so surprised and so much excited to get this award... It means a lot to me and specially getting it from JZ.. who is an amazing cool and I simply love her desserts and cakes...U al always an inspiration to me JZ... yumm yummmmm! Thank u soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much JZ...:) Yuhooo!

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.”

I am supposed to write about things that inspire me. I am inspired by

1. ..............the lovely comments, encouraging words and amazing awards like these. It really inspires me to do more and to stay this way always.Thank u to all my fellow bloggers to keep inspiring me.

2. .............My family.... specially my hubby... who keep encouraging me to make new things. Sometimes even helps me when I try something new and mess up the kitchen...:) He is a true inspiration to me. Coz I love to see him happy..and as he is complete foodie.. I love cooking for him and see him happy enjoying his favourite food. Isn't that inspiration enough?

3. .............Food network..... hehhe yeah food network... infact any cookery show inspires me. When I see young cooks make creative things..it really encourages me to see them cook. I also get encouraged by Tarla dalal and Paula deen cook shows..... Isnt these 2 exactly show that the saying old id gold is true...:D

4. ..............Natue and weather inspires me. I love cooking when its raining heavily...The smell of the first rain inspires me to make a nice hot soup or maybe some nice spicy pakodas.. yummmm! It is also a very nice inspiration for me for my painting...I love painting the scenery of the rain drenched trees and rivers.hmmm

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. I know I can pass this award to just 4 people.But I would like to pass it to one extra person...my Dad..:) Thank u Appa.. Ur a great inspiration to me. and wtever I am today is all coz of u.. Thank u so much for being mom and dad... both for us.Missing u so much here..:(

I am passing this Inspiration award on to:

Uma of Essence of Andhra

Asha of Foodie's Hope

Cham of Spice-club

Bee and Jay of Jugalbandi

Congrats and keep inspiring me always.

Another award from my lovely friend JZ. thank u so much dear... u rock!

She is so sweet to pass the Rocking girl Blogger award to me. I wanna pass it on to all my fellow blogger friends but then as per rules I am passing it to few friends...:) Here they are :

Jyothsna of Curry Bazaar

Sowmya fo Creative Saga

Vaidehi of Chakli

Sunita of Sunita's World

You girls rock....!

Congratulations on ur awards and hope u have a lovely lovely weekend...:)

Tomatillo and Corn Soup

I love mexican food. When I saw tomatillos in the market last week... I just remembered Salsa verde... yummmm.... and I ended up buying a pound of these lovely things. But as always I rarely stick to the recipe I bought a vegetable or ingrdient for hehehe... So the tomatillos landed in a soup into of the verde. A very tasty soup... yumm yummm, tangy and spicy..:D



I got the basic idea to make this soup from my Roasted tomato and bell pepper soup. I have used similar method to make this soup too... check out the recipe now.



You need :

Tomatillos - 5 chopped in wedges

Green bell pepper - 1/2 cup

Green chillies - 2 to 3 finely chopped

Onions - 1 cup cut in wedges

Green peas - 1 cup boiled

Fresh coriander leaves - 1/2 cup

Garlic - 2 big pods finely chopped

Frozen Corn kernels - 1/2 cup

ginger - 1 tsp finely chopped

Salt to taste

Black pepper - to taste

Fresh Coriander leaves - finely chopped

Sour cream to garnish (optional)

Corn Tortilla chips - for garnish (optional)

Method :

Preheat the oven to 400 degree F.

Put the cut tomatillos, onions, bell pepper and garlic in a roasting pan and put into the oven for around 30 minutes. Let the vegetables roast well. Let it cool.

In a pan take the corn and peas and roast it lightly, until light brown spots appear on the corn kernels.

Now, put3/4 of the corn-peas, the whole tomatillo and bell pepper roast in a blender, add ginger, coriander leaves, salt and blend into a nice and smooth paste.

Put the whole mixture in a big pan and add around 1 cup of water to it and bring it to a boil. Once the soup id boiled add the corn kernels to the soup and let it boil for 10 more minutes. Do taste the soup here and alter ur spices according to ur taste.I always do that :P... hehehehe....

Put the soup in a bowl and garnish with fresh coriander leaves and fresh sour cream. You may also add some crushed corn chips on top before serving. It immensely adds to the taste. But again it optional. Add pepper if needed...:)

Serve it hot or cold... Taste good either way... yumm yumm yummmmy!

Mumbai Chutney Sandwich and 2 TAGs!

Mumbai has so many variety of street food... and I can say that I am a street food expert.... well not in judging the street food, but in eating them...hehhe! I love all the junk food. Yeah I do try to make them healthy by substituting some healthy ingredients to a very non healthy and buttery recipe. But, to get the authentic street flavour, sometimes u need to give up the health issue and just enjoy!!!

Have u ever wondered who created Sandwich? I have many a times..when I am bored to cook or busy doing something...to take a plate and have my lunch. In those situations I opt for this comfort food. Just stuff any leftover in between 2 slices of bread... and Tadda! u have a lovely lunch ready for u.




"A sandwich is a food item made of two or more slices of leavened bread with one or more layers of filling, typically meat or cheese, with the addition of vegetables or salad. The bread can be used as is, or it can be coated with butter, oil, mustard or other condiments to enhance flavor and texture. In North American usage, sandwich may also refer to what is more commonly referred to in the rest of the world as a hamburger."


"Sandwich is actually the last name of the person who invented this dish....The word sandwich that we use today was born in London during the very late hours one night in 1762 when an English nobleman, John Montague, the Fourth Earl of Sandwich (1718-1792), was too busy gambling to stop for a meal even though he was hungry for some food. The legend goes that he ordered a waiter to bring him roast-beef between two slices of bread. The Earl was able to continue his gambling while eating his snack; and from that incident, we have inherited that quick-food product that we now know as the sandwich. He apparently had the meat put on slices of bread so he wouldn’t get his fingers greasy while he was playing cards."





You can read more about it here and here.

Okay now coming back to the famous chutney sandwich. Hmmm how I loved this sandwich when I was in college. We used to often go to the Mangal Das Market street near Crawford market and enjoy these amazing sandwich from a small roadside stall opposite the mosque.... OH it used to be yumm... and sometimes we used to club it with a cold lemon juice ( Nimbu panni - Rs. 3 per glass..) from the adjacent stall. Whats better than a nice hot grilled sandwich, a glass of nimbu paani and some shopping?... Hehe we used to go to college for this I guess...hehhe:P. Just miss those days so badly... Miss all my lovely friends... most of them now married like me and some due for marriage... hmmm... time runs so fast. Wish I could go back to that stall and enjoy few more sandwiches with my friends..hmm

Anyways, I did have fun having this with my sweet and darling hubby. I re-created the chutney sandwich magic... and it worked out too well. We simply loved it.. Hope u enjoy having this too. To make this....( I have made some healthy substitutions...:D)

You need : makes 3 sandwiches

Brown bread - 6 slices
Tomato - 1 big sliced
Onions - 1 sliced
Cucumber - 1/2 sliced
Potatoes - 2 boiled, cooled and sliced in thick slices
Capsicum / red bell pepper - sliced (optional)
Chaat Masala - 1 tbsp
Salt - 1/2 tbsp
butter - 1 tbsp
Tomato ketchup - 3 tbsp
Nylon sev - 3 tbsp (optional)
Coriander leaves for garnish


Ingredients for Green chutney :

Mint leaves - 1 bunch
Coriander leaves / Indian Parsley - 2 bunches
Green chillies - 2
Salt to taste



Method :

First we will start with the green chutney. Clean and wash the coriander and the mint leaves and allow to dry on a towel, so that all the water dries off. Once lightly dried,put it in a blender along with the green chillies and salt and make into a nice smooth paste. Your green chutney is ready. This is essential to make this street style sandwich. You can store this in a bottle and keep in the fridge for 2 weeks. This can also be used as accompaniment for varies chaat items.

Now take 2 slices of bread. Apply light butter on one side and toast them on a tava. You may toast both the sides if u desire. Remove from tava and apply butter on ( insides) both the slices of bread. On one side, apply some green chutney. Be liberal with this chutney.

Now on the slice on which u have applied chutney start assembling the vegetables. Start with cucumber slices, and go in this order....tomatoes, potatoes and onions. Sprinkle and bit of Chaat masala and salt... according to your taste. Now cover it with the other slice and press it slightly with u hands.... just to bind them. Now u can keep it in a Panini maker or a grill for some extra crunchiness... or serve directly as we have already toasted our bread.

I have used a big sandwich bread so I cut it in six pieces so get bite size pieces of the sandwich. It is always advisable to cut the sandwich in bite size pieces.. beacuse, if the piece is too big to eat there are changes that all your stuffing will fall apart and destroy the sandwich.

So, I cut my sandwich in desirable size pieces and then smeared tomato ketchup of it and garnished with nylon sev and fresh chopped coriander. Yumm yumm...!




Enjoy ur Mumbai Ishtyle Chutney Sandwich and do let me know how it turned out..! I was encouraged and reminded to make this... from the recent theme of MBP - Street food. I this is my own concoction... I cannot send it to this event :(....


Enjoy your sandwich..!





I am Tagged!

Today two of my fellow blogger friends... Sireesha and Hetal have tagged me for a MEME.

Thank you so much for thinking of me...It really makes me feel so nice.:)

As I have already done this tag earlier.... you can find the link here. You can read that and know more about me.It was real fun reading both your MEME...:) Keep rocking girls and always.

Mini bites! Season 2 - an ultimate Re-Run...

No no.. I am not talking about any television programs or daily soaps... I am talking about my very own Mini bites. I dunno how many of u have seen this recipe of mine..... But its my favourite. I love this coz its small and so tasty. Its worth a Re-run.... these sweet little darlings. I am sending this recipe to the Monthly mingle- Appetisers which is hosted by mansi of fun n food.Monthly mingle was started by Meeta of What's for lunch honey? Check out more about monthly mingle here.









Okie now coming back to my Mini bites as soon as Mansi announced about the topic for this month's Monthly Mingle, I knew I was going to send my Mini bites recipe which is a perfect appetiser. It is a kid friendly recipe and kids simply love to munch on it. Its wuite easy to make and is a good option when u have to make a large quantity...:) As I have posted this recipe earlier in my blog...you can check the recipe and the actual post here.

I have Jalapenos in the actual recipe... U can use bell peppers instead. I am this will be a hit for ur next putluck or family get together...

Thanks Manasi for the lovely topic for this months Monthly mingle... I enjoyed participating... Now waiting eagerly for the roundup...:)