Homemade Murukku / Chakli Recipe: Easy and simple : Ready in minutes

DIY Alert: Super easy Name Plate for your home

Hello dear people, as promised I am up again with a super easy summer DIY for you all. 

This one is super easy and super fun to make. Specially, when it is summers and all thy kids are bored in their vacations. Don't worry Mommies, I have just the best thing for you where you can indulge your kids also. 

And for those who are just too bored or maybe have less time then this is just perfect to lift up your mood.

So guys, I have a cute and easy DIY Name Plate for you all. This is floral, colorful, easy and so much fun. 

I have made a basic one which will give you an idea, but you can always add in different colors, variations and customize it by your choice. 

Below is the link to my Youtube channel, drop in comments, thumbs up and even pictures if you guys tried it and had fun.

https://youtu.be/hbUs0Zk-axs

Lots of love.

Our first Vlog on Goa: Unlimited Addition

Dear Readers, we are glad to announce that we have published our very first video on our Youtube Channel. It is a Vlog on our Goa trip we took in April 2017 to celebrate our first wedding Anniversary. Check it out guys, the details are listed below:

Hotel: Park Inn resort by Radisson.
This huge resort is located very near to Candolim beach. The resort has close to 300 rooms and looks like a small township of their own. The hotel has a 24*7 food service for the rooms and an amazing restaurant, the chef serves some really lip smacking Pasta in red sauce. The pool bar kept us high on energy all the time. You can also make an appointment with the hotel spa, we got a couple package booked for a 60 minutes Aroma massage.

For the room booking, you can pre book your room according to the view you want. The best view would probably be a pool facing one. Fortunately, we got one of the most wanted rooms on the ground floor.

One con of this hotel was that there were no lifts. The hotel had rooms till the 4th floor, but no lifts.

Day to day Itinerary:
Day 1: Because our train was 3 hours late, we reached our hotel around 11:30 am. We were instantly greeted by a bright red colored welcome drink and some scented warm towels. We had to wait for around 40 minutes to get to our rooms as the housekeeping was still going on. Just as we got to our room, we quickly got ready and started walking till the main road to rent a bike. The charges were 300 bucks for one day. We took the bike for 2 days and went to Phat Fish near Baga Beach to have our lunch. This restaurant serves amazing sea food, although the vegetarian food was just about average.
After having our lunch, we headed to Baga beach and I got my hair beading done (25 bucks per bead). We took 2 lounge chairs on the beach (100 per chair) and relaxed. The sun was settling down and the gleaming crystal clear waters made it look like a scene just out of a fantasy. Around 7 pm, we came back to our hotel and took a one hour rest.
We ordered some snacks in our room and at around 10:30 pm, headed to the club LPK (Love, Passion , Karma). It was a Weekday and so the charges per couple were 1500 bucks with unlimited drinks in the disc. The property is huge and the construction is beautiful, we could only wonder how full it must be in the weekends. The DJ played well known English and Hindi songs, but the unlimited drinks were not that good in taste. We ordered a Hukka with single flavor of green apple. It was nice but a little expensive.

Day 2:  It was a Wednesday and the only whole day left with us in Goa, so we decided to hit Candolim beach after our breakfast in the hotel. After Candolim, we relaxed in our hotel pool and had our lunch there. At around 3 pm in the afternoon we started for Anjuna flea market which is very famous. The specialty of this market is that it is only on Wednesdays. You can find a lot of things for your home, some antiques, fashion jewelry, clothes and what not. We saw the sunset at Anjuna beach and went to Fisherman's cove for dinner near Candolim beach.
The best crispy potato snacks ever, plus the hukka and the pasta. This restaurant definitely makes to one of the best places to have food in Goa. The waiters are very polite and the service is also quick.

Day 3: Our last day of the trip. We grabbed some breakfast and went to take a couple aroma spa in the hotel itself which was quite relaxing and calming as we had to leave by 12 noon.

Here is the link to the video we have posted on our youtube channel. Check it out guys, let me know how did you like it.

https://youtu.be/n6LxR78UtmQ

My colourful bowl of healthy salad..

Yes, everybody is trying their best to loose weight.. or to remain fit always.. and so am I..

After alot of researching on what kinds of combinations of veggies would go together I finally made one lip smacking salad..

Usually when Salad comes in mind, everyone thinks of fresh cut veggies, but here I have made a hot crispy salad..

Ingredients:

Red cabbage: Half roughly chopped                                
Capsicum: Green and red roughly chopped
Corn kernels: Handful
Zucchini: Half cut
Broccoli: Slightly blanched
Salt and Pepper: According to taste
Olive Oil: 1 tbsp
Red Chilli sauce: 2 tbsp
Vinegar: 1/2 tbsp
Soya sauce: 1/2 tbsp

Procedure:

Take a pan or a kadhai, heat olive oil in it and just as the oil is about to burn, add all the vegetables in it. 
Keep the flame on high and after 2-3 minutes add all the sauces and salt and freshly ground black pepper into it. 
Mix again for 3-4 minutes on high and serve hot. 

 

Note: Usually we have a perspective in mind that we will feel full only when we eat something hot.This salad not only makes you full but also like a full meal because of its nutrition value.

Flat spinach noodles with veggies in classic arabiata sauce..

Hi guys, so I was grocery shopping with my Hubby the other day and I spotted flat noodles. What excited me more about them was that they were spinach noodles made up of whole wheat. And so I bought them 

I made them typically in a classic arabiata sauce with some of my favorite veggies.
Sorry for not being able to upload the cooking in progress pictures because the hubby was really hungry.

Below is the recipe:

Ingredients:

Noodles or spaghetti - 1 packet
Blanched tomatoes - 6 to 7
Chopped onion - 1 big
Blanched broccoli
Zucchini 
Chopped green capsicum 
Chopped red and yellow bell pepper 
Chopped garlic - 7 to 8 
Red Chilli flakes -1/2 tbsp.
Red chilli sauce -3 tbsp.
Tomato sauce - 2 tbsp.
Vinegar - 1 tbsp.
Salt, black pepper and Oil according to taste

Procedure:

Boil the noodles or spaghetti in hot water. Don't forget to add a 1 tbsp each of oil and salt while boiling.
Puree all the blanched tomatoes after removing their skin. Take a pan or a kadhai and heat oil in it. Put garlic and let them burn a little. Put the chopped onion and all the kinds of bell peppers, add in the broccoli and zucchini also and fry them on a high flame.
After this, put in the blanched tomato puree in it and put the lid of the pan and let it be there for about 10 minutes on low flame. 
Now, add in the freshly ground black pepper, red chilli flakes and salt according to your taste and amount of spiciness you want in your dish and stir. Add in the red chilli sauce, tomato sauce and the vinegar and keep it on a low flame for another 5 minutes. 
Now, its time to put in our boiled noodles. In no time, put your flame on high and stir fry the noodles or spaghetti, finish by adding freshly cut basil and parsley and serve hot.

Note:
You can keep aside the stir fried veggies and put them on the noodles last also in order to see more color in your dish.
For a much more non healthier version, just put in some processed cheese or mozzarella in the end.

Team this up with wine and enjoy 

The most moistest Chocolate Cake...

Ingredients:

All raising flour (Maida): 1 cup

Butter: 1 cup

Sugar: 3/4 cup (You can put in 1 full cup in order to sweeten it more)

Eggs: 2

Vanila Essence: 1 tbsp.

Baking powder: 1 tbsp.

Cocoa Powder: 1/2 cup

Milk: 1/2 Cup

Cake Mould

Sieve

Procedure:

Take a mixing bowl and whisk sugar and butter in it until it forms a white lathery texture and keep it aside. Take another bowl and pass the Maida, Baking powder and Cocoa powder through a sieve for  atleast 2-3 times so that it mixes well and the air gets restored.

In the butter and sugar mixture, break in 2 eggs (one at a time) and mix well but not too much. Add in the vanila essence and mix. Now, in 4-5 parts start adding in the flour, baking powder and cocoa mixture in it. Mix it slowly in a cut and fold manner preventing the formation of air bubbles.

If you feel that the batter needs some liquid (it has become hard), you can add in milk accordingly.

After this, put all the batter in the mold and tap it on the platform so that the air bubbles burst.

You can either bake the cake in a Gas Tandoor or a microwave.

For Microwave, you can take a microwave friendly bowl or a silicon cake mold. The temperature and power varies. For our office Microwave, I had set the power on 640 W for 8 minutes.

For Gas Tandoor, you can use an aluminium cake mold or a gas friendly mold. But, before putting the batter you need to grease the mold with butter or ghee or oil and then dust it with Maida. It takes around 40-45 minutes on low flame to bake the whole cake.

In between the baking process you can always put in a knife in the middle of the cake and if the knife comes out clear that means the cake is ready.

When the cake is ready, you can let it cool down and decorate it with some icing or normal sugar with a paper cut out.

Enjoy the deliciousness!

Six Yards Of Love!

When I was small, I always saw my Mom draping those floral sarees in summers. This was mostly when we went to my paternal grandparents home in Ajmer, Rajasthan in my vacations.

I don't know why, but I used to love those sarees. In the night after my Mother changed into her night suit, I always used to drape her saree all by my own and roam around ecstatically.

When I was in my college I would like to wear a saree in almost all the occasions.

And now when I am married, I don't have to think for an occasion at all. I can wear them anytime even in Office :)

So, here is my first look book of what I wore on Women's day celebration at my office.

This a Mukesh work saree, it is usually made after taking any plain color saree and ordering the work on it.

Here, I had bought a plain blood red colored chiffon saree and had ordered Mukesh work on it.

I bought this from the local market of Ajmer while I was preparing for my wedding.

The blouse of this saree was same, but I took a jute printed cloth and got the blouse stitched in order to accentuate and contradict the simple yet elegant work saree.

The jewelry that I am wearing is very suttle and not that loud.

I bought the beaded earrings from a local market in Ajmer. The necklace is a statement piece which is made of Kundan and small beads bought from the same market.

The bangles are plain and I have teamed them up with a Red oxidized Kada.

I have teamed this look up with a black bindi matching with the color of my blouse.

I have applied my favorite shade of red from L'Oreal Matte collection.

I have also applied Lakme Absolute Kajal in a winged manner to finish my look.

   

Vegetable Lasagna

So, I tried my own version of Vegetable Lasagna as my husband is not much a fan of foreign food. Lasagna has different layers of stuffing and a lot of cheese. Here in this recipe I have kept the calories in count.

Ingredients:

Stuffing 1: Spinach and corn

Spinach: 10 leaves nicely cleaned and partly blanched
Corn kernels: 1 ½ handful
Mixed herbs: 1 tbsp.
Chilli Flakes: ½ tbsp.
Oil/ Butter: 1 tbsp.
Salt: According to taste

Stuffing 2: White sauce with mixed vegetables
Capsicum: 1 finely chopped
Carrot; 1 small, finely chopped
Onion: 1 finely chopped
Beans: 5. Finely chopped
Any other kind of vegetable finely chopped (mushrooms, broccoli, bell peppers, parsley etc.)
Butter: 2 tbsp.
All-purpose flour: 2 tbsp.
Milk: Half cup
Salt and pepper: According to taste

Tomato Sauce:
Tomatoes: 2-3 big blanched and peeled
Garlic: 2-3 finely chopped
Oil/ Butter: 1 tbsp.
Salt and pepper: According to taste
Red chilli sauce: 2 tbsp.

Lasagna Sheets: 6 (I usually take 1 extra apart from the 6)
Oil/ Butter
Cheese: 2- 3 cubes

Procedure:

Take a flat bottomed pan and add water in it and heat it up until the water starts boiling. Now add a little salt and oil in the water and put the lasagna sheets in it (I bought readymade wheat lasagna sheets, you can also make these at home, I will post a tutorial of the same some other time). While the sheets are boiling, lets start with the corn and spinach stuffing. Take a pan and heat some oil in it, add the corn kernels and both the chilli flakes and mixed herbs and stir for a while. Now, add the blanched spinach leaves (you can chop them also) and cover the pan for about 5-7 minutes and keep aside.

Take all the chopped veggies together and sauté them for 3-4 minutes in oil, salt and pepper and keep aside. Take another pan and add butter in it. To this add the all-purpose flour and stir for a while and then add Milk and start mixing it again. You can use a whisker so that no lumps form. Mix it well until a thick mixture is formed. Add salt and pepper, you can also add cheese to make it more heavy. To this sauce mix all the sautéed veggies and keep aside.

Don’t forget to take out the lasagna sheets of the boiling water. Be careful with them as they tend to get stuck to each other. Take out one at a time and apply good amount of oil to it or you can add them directly to cold water. For the tomato sauce, take a pan and heat some oil in it. Add the garlic and the puree of the blanched tomatoes, after 3 minutes add the red chilli sauce and then the salt and pepper. Keep it on low flame for a while and then turn the flame off.

Now for the plating, start off with a nice utensil which goes with whatever thing you are using to bake it in. I have a gas tandoor, so I took a fancy tandoor friendly cake pan. Keep two sheets of lasagna and coat them with a little butter. Now add the spinach and corn stuffing, a little tomato sauce and some grated cheese and cover it again with a layer of 2 lasagna sheets and brush them with butter. Now, spread the white sauce mixture on it and also some tomato sauce and cheese. To this, add once again a layer of the sheets and repeat spreading the mixture as you like it. On the top, spread some tomato sauce that we made and some grated cheese with a little parsley. Keep this in the oven or a tandoor and let it bake. I kept it in my gas tandoor and it took about 15 minutes until the cheese got melted and the sides turned a little red. Serve hot.

Oh the aroma was amazing! My husband couldn’t control and we started to eat it as soon as it came out of the tandoor.

Vegetable Sizzler

This healthy season, let us try our hands on this lip smacking easy to make vegetable sizzler.

Ingredients:

Stir Fry Veggies:

Red bell pepper: Half cut into juliennes
Yellow bell pepper: Half cut into juliennes
Green Capsicum: 1 cut into juliennes
Beans: 10-12 cut into half inches
Peas: Half a handful
Sweet Corn: Half a handful
Onion: 1 cut into juliennes
Carrots: 1 Blanched
Broccoli: About 50 gms blanched
Baby Corn: 3-4 Blanched
Butter: 2 tbsp

Tomato Sauce:

Tomato: 2 Big and Blanched
Red Chilli Sauce: About 2 tbsps
Black Pepper: 1/4^th tbsp.
Salt: According to taste

Tikki:

Boiled Potato: 2
Bread Crumbs: 1
Salt: According to taste
Black pepper: 1/4^th
Cheese: 1 Cube grated

Fried Rice:

Carrot: Half cut into juliennes
Beans: A few cut into half inches
Green capsicum: Half chopped
Onion: 1 Chopped
Par boiled Rice: Half a cup
Garlic: 3 chopped finely
Soya Sauce: 1 tbsp
Vinegar: 2 tbsp
Salt: According to taste

Potato Wedges:

Potato: 1 mid-sized cut into fries or wedges
Corn flour- 1 tbsp.
Salt: According to taste
Mixed herbs: ½ tbsp.
Chilli Flakes: Half tbsp.

Oil accordingly
Cabbage leaves or lettuce for the plating
Butter cubes for the sizzle

Procedure:

Take the iron plate of the sizzler set up and keep it on the low flame on your gas stove and let it heat up.

                       

Let us start with the Fried rice first. Heat a little oil in a pan and put in the chopped garlic first. Now add the chopped Carrots, beans, onion and green capsicum and stir fry for a minute. Now add the par boiled rice in the pan and also add the soya sauce, vinegar and salt in it and mix them well and keep it aside.

For the Tikki, mix the boiled potato, bread crumbs, black pepper and salt and make 2 medium sized tikkis. Heat some oil in the pan and shallow fry the tikkis in them. Take them out on a tissue paper and grate some cheese on them while they are hot and keep aside.

For the potato wedges, take the raw potato wedges/fries in a mixing bowl and add the salt, black pepper, chilli flakes, mixed herbs, corn flour and 2 – 5 drops of water and mix/marinate them for 5 mins. Meanwhile, take the pan of the shallow fried tikkis, heat it up and fry the marinated potato in it. Take them out on a tissue paper and keep aside.

For the tomato sauce, take the blanched tomatoes and peel them. Grind them and make a puree. Take a pan and heat a little oil in it. Put the puree in the pan and mix black pepper and salt and let it come to a boil. Add the red chilli sauce in it and let it boil again. The sauce is ready.

For the stir fry vegetables, usually these veggies are served piping hot and crispy. Take a pan and add some butter and a little oil in it and let it get really hot till there are fumes (we mix the oil so that the butter does not burn). Now when the butter is hot, add all the vegetables in it (All the ones blanched and raw) and stir fry them with some salt and black pepper on high flame till they become crispy.

Plating:

For the plating, take the leaves of fresh cabbage or lettuce and place them on the hot iron sizzler plate (be careful because the iron plate will be very hot). Now start with the rice and plate them on one side of the sizzler plate. Now on the other side keep the stir fried veggies. Put the tikkis in the middle of the rice and vegetables. Also add the potato wedges alongside. Add the tomato sauce on the whole platting. Now for the sizzle, add a few pieces of butter in between the iron plate and the lettuce or cabbage leaves. The cold butter will start melting and the hot iron plate will make it sizzle.

                               

Your vegetable sizzler is ready. Serve as and then.

Tip: You may reheat all the things you’ve made before the final plating to keep them hot.

Crispy Mathri: A crisp tea time snack

Who doesn't loves Mathri? I do! It is something you can munch it at any time of the day.

So, usually this snack is made of All-purpose flour (Maida), but I believe that it is not much healthy so I make it in my own way.

Ingredients:

 

All-purpose flour (Maida) - 1 cup

Wheat flour- 1 1/2 cup

Sooji (Rava) - 1/2 cup

Black pepper- Freshly grounded

Salt to taste

Cumin powder- 1/2 tbsp

Oil for frying and kneading

Water

Procedure:

ake a large mixing bowl and add the all-purpose flour, wheat flour and sooji in it. Add salt, black pepper and cumin powder in it. To this add around 10 tbsp of oil and mix. A crumbly mixture will be formed, you need to make sure that as you take the mixture in your hands, and it binds together. If it doesn't, add a little more oil and try it again. This is done to make sure that the snack is crispy (khasta) from the inside too. 

Knead the mixture well with water, keep the kneaded flour a little hard and let it set for 10 minutes covered.

Meanwhile, take a utensil for frying and add oil in it. Let the oil heat. 

Cut medium pieces of the flour and flatten them into a not so thin thickness. Prick it with a use of a fork or anything pointed because we don't want them to expand. Sprinkle some flour below if you need. Now, cut out strips of the flour by using a knife or a pizza cutter and put them to fry. The oil should be on high when you put these in, after a minute lower down the heat and let them turn golden brown. Take a frying aid spoon and take them out on an oil soaking paper. 

You can serve these hot with pickle or store them in an air tight container for a lot of weeks once they come to a room temperature.

This snack is the best when you have a cup of tea in your hand and it is raining outside :)

Rajma (Kidney beans) Salad: A colorful and healthy delight

I have been asked often about my sudden weight loss these days by many people. No, its not that I am slim now, but I'm definitely slimmer than what I used to be before my marriage. 

Some months before my wedding, I started going jogging, exercising , dancing and of course changing my eating habits. Its not that I diet till I die. Instead I started decreasing my carb intake.

So, I am sharing one of my favorite home made salad which I and my Mother invented those days.

Ingredients: For 2 servings

Red bell pepper- 1

Yellow bell pepper- 1

Green capsicum- 1

Broccoli- 4-5 mouths

Small Onion- 1

Boiled Kidney beans or Rajma- 1 cup
Vinegar- 5 tbsp

Sugar 3/4 tbsp

Salt and freshly ground pepper

Procedure:

Soak the Rajma (kidney beans) overnight in water. The next day boil them in a cooker for 15- 20 minutes on sim with salt and a pinch of turmeric. Meanwhile blanch the broccoli for 5 minutes after cutting them in the size you want to and drain the water. 

Start chopping the red bell pepper, yellow bell pepper, green capsicum and onion finely. you can also add corn kernels or any other vegetable you want, I like the taste of these veggies only :)

In a small bowl pour the vinegar and add sugar to it and keep it aside to dissolve.

Strain the rajma and keep the excess water aside, you can use it to knead flour or anything else.

Take a mixing bowl and add the Rajma, broccoli, chopped veggies and mix. Add the dissolved mixture of vinegar and sugar and mix again. Now, add salt and freshly ground black pepper according to your taste and give it a final mix.

Serve the salad in a nice plate, you can eat this salad with nachos too.

                                                               Have a healthy cooking!