COCONUT MILK POHA

Diwali is a very special festival for me , i love when Diwali approaches near , i love almost everything about Diwali i.e the food , colours, the laughter the crackers

I love getting up in the morning on the first day of Diwali , taking a nice oil bath and starting to do these poha that you see in the above picture.

On the diwali morning my mother in law and i together make 4 poha varieties , one watana usal,and hog plum salad . To know more about hog plums read here

WHITE WATANA USAL

DEEP-DISH PIZZA

My son loves Pizza just the way all teenagers love them…..(offcourse, I who am no longer a teenager loves it too)

I know that Pizza is not a very healthy option to eat , its only the cheesy part that provides the proteins and off course the veges or meat that are used as topping.But compared to the crust the vegetables or the meat is negligible and cheese inspite of providing proteins is highly loaded with calories too…

BUT BUT!!!!! Its great to have a pizza once in a while and so i have made it a rule that my son can have one pizza a month and he can decide which day it will be.. This works very well in my house as my son knows that he can have his pizza and i am comfortable with the fact that he is not getting the unnecessary calories regularly…

LONG SHOT OF PIZZA

The above pizza is a deep crust pizza yummy and delicious…

I usually make pizzas at home my making the sauce right from scratch its my version of a pizza sauce and i wont say it tastes as it should but its definitely healthy and when i make pizza at home i can keep track of the cheese that goes on the top

DEEP DISH CRUST

CHOCO BANANA CAKE AND DHOKLA

The photos which i have taken here are not taken in the usual mode but in a very informal and regular mode.

It so happened that this year ” Rakshabandhan”  was on a week day and so everyone was quite busy , so it was planned that my hubby’s  and my sons cousin sisters would come very early in the morning i.e at 7.00am before my son left for his classes.

So, as it was very early i woke up pretty early that morning and did all the preparations and cooking before they came here. And so by the time i finished i had no time left to set the table to click photos and do the proper set up.

The food was gobbled up as soon as it reached the table (you can see half full plates) and so by the time i set everything up the things that came to the table first were all almost over . so i apologize for the poor quality of photos but never the less they are home food snaps , so here you get the real feel of how it is always at home without  the frills….

please give me your comments….

HERE IS THE BREAKFAST MENU FOR THE DAY…..

SHEVYACHO SANJOO (vermicilli upma)

CHOCO-BANANA CAKE

TAVSALI (eggless cucumber cake)

DHOKLA (packet made)

The menu was perfect two sweets and two spicy preparations.. everyone loved it especially the sisters (who were important that day) and by the time they left i had clean plates on the table .

SHEVYACHO SANJO AND TAVSALI

DAHI WADA

This is my favorite food i can have dahi vadas for lunch dinner or breakfast.

At a party at home last week dahi wada was in the menu and i ate only that for lunch and skipped eating the other delicious things made.

Here is the recipe DAHI VADA

INGREDIENTS

For the wadas
2 cups udad dal soaked for about 7-8 hours
salt to taste

for the dahi
take 2 cups of dahi and churn a little till all lumps are broken don’t over do it.
Add sandwich masala or chat masala which contains black salt,cumin,salt etc
You can add 1 tbsp ginger-chili paste (this is optional)

Coriander finely chopped for garnishing
Chilli powder for garnishing.

YUMMY LOOKING

METHOD
Grind the udad dal to a fine and dry paste, do not add too much water.
Add salt to it
And fry the wadas
After they are fried just put them in a bowl of warm water and let them stay there till they are served.
Mix all the ingredients of the dahi or the yoghurt together.
While serving , remove the wada from the warm water and squeeze it lightly .
Take a bowl arrange the dahi wadas in it and then the spicied yoghurt is poured over it.
Garnish it with coriander,chilli powder and sandwich masala

CAN MY FELLOW BLOGGERS WRITE IN AND TELL ME WHAT IS THEIR FAVORITE FOOD ITEM AND WHEN IS IT THAT YOU ENJOY EATING IT.

CROCKERY CABINET

I love to buy kitchen stuff, and i buy so much that there is no place left to keep all that i buy , this is only a little part of what i actually have.

Those pink and greens cups or mugs on top are my favorite , i love huge mugs which colorful patterns on them.If you see below the first shelf you can see all the mugs that i have.

LOVELY FLOWER AND DIYA ARRANGEMENT

This is a long pending post that i wanted to share with you , i was invited to a friends house for dinner , and this above picture is taken at her place, this was kept at the entrance of her home and some sweet smelling essence sticks where seen all over the place.

This is an idea which we can use in our homes for festivals and important functions.

FESTIVAL THALI

THIS IS A TYPICAL VEG THALI THAT YOU WILL FIND FOR MEAL AT OUR HOME

The menu above is

varan(toovar dal) bhat (rice)

batata bhaji

shrikhand

puri

RIDGEGOURD BHAJI

This is one vegetable which i do not like eating much i.e i will eat it only when there is no other option ( I never have this situation like no option because i always have a jar of pickle lying in the fridge which comes in handy when i cook something which is not not to my liking)

so back to my dear vege , This is my fathers favorite vegetable and i make it a point to make it when he comes (which gives my hubby a chance to eat it as he too likes to have this vegetable)

CLOSER LOOK AT RIDGEGOURD BHAJI

This vegetable is made in a simple way in goa and i am going to give you that recipe

remove the upper spines of the ridgegourd, cut it into cubes, cut onions into similar size cubes and two chillies

The best part of this vegetable is that it can be made OIL FREE. mix all the above things and put them in a kadai with a little water

But here i have given a baghar of cumin seeds , mustard seeds , chillies and asoefotida.

ridge gourd has lots of moisture and so it starts leaving water once it starts cooking and can cook in its own juices. once cooked add salt and freshly grated coconut on top.

a really simple vegetble is ready to be devoured.

ROTI UPMA

I have a lady to come and do my daily rotis for me she does only the rotis or the chapati as we call it. and as she comes everyday there tend to be left over rotis everyday as i keep about 3-4 extra rotis made just in case someone feels like having more and i don’t have to say “no” to them. so, it so happens that if two days in a row i have left over chapatis i have no option but to make something interesting with it or these will have to be disposed off.

So this is a nice and delicious way to use your left over rotis and enjoy it too!!!!!

i will give you the method and not the ingredients and the proportions as they are to be used according to each ones need and requirement.

shred stale one day old chapatis into bits or better still you can give them one whirl in the mixer so that they form small bits which resemble poha or beaten  rice . This recipe is exactly like the poha recipe which i think is made for breakfast in most of the Indian homes especially in Maharashtra.

After shredding rotis take them in a bowl add a little salt and lemon juice to the chapatis and make them soft.

Take oil in a pan and add mustard seeds , cumin seeds, hing , green chillies and curry leaves , let them splutter and then add the finely chopped onions , make them soft and them add finely sliced potato and haldi let them cook in a little water once they are cooked add the shredded chapati and salt to taste and also a little sugar , mix and garnish with finely chopped coriander and freshly grated coconut . A  yummy and delicious dish is ready which is made with leftovers.

I would like to ask you how many of you feel that nature is theraupatic and that it makes us forget all the stress of day to day life?