Rendez Vous With A Foodie - Veena of Great Secret Of Life

Good friends are very rare but believe me even this virtual world brings you many wonderful friends,eventhough many people around you may says that never trust this virtual world. Even i was before as though, but slowly i changed that opinion and trust me apart from few, most of the bloggers i crossed in this virtual world are genuine,down to earth and with huge heart. When i started this Rendez vous with a foodie event, a bunch of new bloggers joined their hands immediately with me and this event is running very successfully since ever i started this event.

Every 7th and 20th of the month,am hosting Rendez Vous With A Foodie, an event happening twice a month in my blog,the main motto of this event is to introduce budding bloggers to this immense virtual world.Today is an another special day for me,yep today's host is a wonderful person, before going to know about her, if anyone want to be my guest and if your blog is less than two years please do contact me through Facebook or by a mail with your facebook name to add you in this new adventure.

Veena, her blog speaks a lot about her passion for cooking and blogging.She share many South Indian dishes with stepwise pictures and none will go wrong with her instructions. I have became an ardent fan of her way of cooking with healthy stuffs,traditional foods and wonderful eggless bakes. Seriously if you go through her space, am sure you will definitely fallen in love with her space. Veena, who blogs at Great-secret-of-life eventhough i dont know much about her, slowly i came to know that she is not only a sweet person and a very down to earth human who supports everyone with her constant visits and her encouraging words.Everytime i go to her space, i always amazed to see the varieties of dishes she shares in her space and now am an ardent of her space.

Now lets hear from Veena of Great-secret-of-life..

1)Tell us about your blog and you?
I am Veena of Great-secret-of-life. I have started blogging from beginning of 2011. Even though it takes lot of my time (keep up with regular blogging is really takes good commitment and effort) the joy of doing it really keeps me going. I got so many good friends thro’ these blogging days. My blog is all about vegetarian dishes. I always try to do balanced meal to keep healthy lifestyle with occasional indulgence.

2)Before and after blogging, tell us what blogging changed your life?
In the past I am bit hesitant in trying new dishes. After blogging I am enjoying the cooking and love to try out new dishes. It also helps me to extend my network. I am really grateful to have good support from fellow bloggers and readers.

3)When and what motivated you to blog about food?
I love photography with 2 young kids, work and study I literally forgot about it. I wanted to develop my passion for photography, instead of doing random photography decided to focus on the food photography. In addition to that my son is big motivator for starting the food blog. He wanted a recipe repository for all traditional cooking J by mum, MIL and other relatives.

4)There are a tonsof blogs/pages on food these days, what accordingto you is the speciality of your blog and the food you cook?

There are tons of great blogs around. The one I want to really promote is healthy lifestyle. When comes to cooking my mum and MIL are my role models.

5)Every newbie blogger faces tons of challenges when its comes to blogging, tell me about one of the challenges you faced and how did you overcome it?
As working mother Time is my biggest constraint. When you have time you won’t good lighting. So it is really a challenge to effective use of time. I normally pre-prepare the posts at any point of time I normally have about 20 posts in draft. That gives me little breathing space when I am busy with work.

6)What is your best recipe and your favourite recipes you have blogged till now?
I love all the quinoa & Tofu recipes on my blog.

7)Few tips about food photography?
Natural lighting Natural Lighting.. I find it is best for presenting the food. You should keep it simple and focus on food. You don’t really need nice expensive props to enhance your post.

8)What is your budget for the props,do you have any or else do you manage with your household stuffs?
I don’t really have any budget. If I see something interesting and I like it I just buy it.

9)How do you plan your blog posts? Do you post rarely,regularly or once a week?
I post quite regular.

10)Do you have any other passions apart from food blogging or blogs you own?
Any outdoor activities.

I would love to take this opportunity to thank Priya for the wonderful chance given. She is one of bloggers who always encourage new blogger with her regular positive comments. After she has agreed to give a slot for me it took some time for me to decide the post. Her blog has tons of good and innovative recipes. After much of thought I have decided to do Paneer rasam.

This rasam is without onion, garlic or tomato. It is very creamy and tasty rasam. It is perfect alternative to regular rasam. My kids are not big fan of rasam. But they love Paneer. So wanted to try out Rasam with Paneer. I have done this long time ago. I have adopted from Mallika Badrinath and modified to my taste

Ingredients:
Tamarind - marble size ball add 2 tablespoon of hot water and take thick tamarind juice out of it
Thuvar dal / Toor dhal - 2 tablespoon - Cook with turmeric and keep it aside
Paneer - 2 tablespoon of crumbled Paneer
Curry leaves - 10-15
Mustard seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
Pepper powder - 3/4 teaspoon
Cumin powder - 3/4 teaspoon
Coriander leaves  - 1 tablespoon (finely chopped)
Sugar - 1/2 teaspoon
Salt to taste
Oil - 1/2 teaspoon
Green chillies - 2 to 3 ( adjust to your spice level) Slit into 2

Method:

Heat the kadai and add oil. When it is hot add mustard seeds and let it pop. When it pops add curry leaves, Green chillies, Pepper powder and cumin powder. Fry for 30 sec. Add Tamarind, Cooked dhal. Add water to make it to desired consistency. Add salt and sugar. Let it boil. Add crumbled paneer. Let it boil for another min.

Add coriander leaves and serve hot..