Vegan & Gluten Free Pan fried Tofu Kebab

If you are looking for a simple, easy, and obviously a gluten free and vegan friendly starter then dont hesitate a second to check this post. Tofu, you all might have know about this vegan soya paneer. If i dont have paneer at home, soya paneer aka tofu will come in rescue. However tofu with our Indian masala makes some delightful dishes out of it. Indian spices gives a fabulous flavor to this tasteless soya paneer. I have been cooking with this tofu since a long and trust me you can replace tofu very well in any of the paneer based recipes. Tofu works awesome even in making Indian breads. If you dont have any idea to add tofu in your diet, dont forget to go through my space to get an  Tofu kebab calls for simple and pantry friendly spice powder, no need of ginger garlic paste. Obviously no grinding part. A kind of jhatpat tofu kebab which gets ready easily to please anyone's tastebuds with less efforts. If you want to replace tofu with baby potatoes or any other vegetables chunks, just go on. Anything works awesome for making this delicious spicy kebabs.

Vegan Black Beans & Mixed Vegetables Salad with Apple Cider Vinegar Dressing

I love salads and soups very much for our weekday's dinner. Especially if a salad is prepared with couple of beans in it, i can have it without any fuss. Obviously you can guess that i will always make salads withbeans in it. I dont grab a 1 kg packet of beans from stores, i usually take 5 kgs bags for my monthly use. They are cheaper than a kg pack and needless to say, if i dont eat meats or seafoods, i can get sufficient proteins from these beans. My store room will always have kidney beans, black-eyed peas, chickpeas and the black beans. I just love to cook with these legumes. No time to soak beans, dont worry, make a huge bags of soaked beans during weekend and store them in freezer, they are just handy to dish out anything with them.

Sabudana Drumstick Leaves Kebab/Vegan & Gluten Free Sago Fritters

 I love to cook with gluten free ingredients. And my today's post is completely vegan as well. Yes no dairy products is used and tapioca pearls are produced from a starch which is from cassava/manioc roots, hence its gluten free. Nowadays, i can see many of friends are allergic to gluten and many of their dishes are prepared with gluten free ingredients. Obviously they have to check the ingredients list of a product twice before buying them. Thank god, none at home have this gluten allergy, eventhough its quite interesting to dish out with gluten free ingredients.

Madhurjan Thongba/Manipuri Gramflour Dumplings in Sweet Milk

Manipuri cuisine is quite a unique cuisine in its own way. Its quite interesting to get to know about this cuisine which is bit unknown for me. Though i have a cooked a simple rice kheer from this dish, this cuisine is very interesting to explore.This month's  Shh Cooking Secretly, a monthly event started by me, which is now hosted by Mayuri Patel, took us to Manipur. If you would have went through my previous posts of this cooking event, you might have noticed that we are exploring each regions of India. We, the fellow bloggers shares secretly our ingredients to cook a dish which will be mysterious ingredients for others and the best part is to guess the ingredients. Every month we are having loads of fun to guess other's secret ingredients,dont forget to ping me if you want to join this group.

Fijian Honey Cake

My third post for this week's theme is this ultimate bread like honey cake from Fiji. You might have noticed that am exploring Southern Hemisphere for this week's blogging marathon. Yes this week's theme is Explore Southern Hemisphere. After two beautiful dishes, one from Zimbabwe and the another one from Uruguay, here come a fabulous spiced cake. Fiji is a country in South pacific which is an archipelago of more than 300 islands. With Suva as its capital, this country is known as a prefect holiday destination of many. And this country even have some fabulous Hindu temples and recently i crossed a video in Youtube about the Lord Murugan temple in Fiji which was a biggest surprise for a Tamilian like me.

Tortas Fritas/Uruguayan Fried Biscuits

Uruguay is a country situated in southeastern region of South America. Its borders with Argentina to the west and Brazil to its north and east. As i told in my previous post, am running this week's blogging marathon with Explore Southern Hemisphere as theme. South America completely belongs to Southern Hemisphere obviously there was a lovely collection of beautiful countries to check and cook from those countries. I opted for Uruguay as this Tortas fritas got my attention while i was googling for this theme. Simple to make these fried cakes or biscuits whatever you want call goes for easy breezy ingredients.

Mupotohayi a-k-a Chimodho/Zimbabwe Cornmeal Bread

This week's blogging marathon is going to be 'Explore Southern Hemisphere'. Its definitely an interesting theme to get to know about the countries which falls under Southern Hemisphere. The Equator divides the earth into Northern and Southern Hemisphere. Though am not an expert in Geography, its seriously interesting to refresh about these two hemispheres that we learned during our schoolings. Southern Hemisphere includes most of South America, 1/3 of Africa, all of Antarctica, a small parts of Indonesia and all of Australia/Oceania.Not to forget that this Southern Hemisphere includes four oceans. Since Southern hemisphere includes few countries in Africa, i couldnt resist to dish out a dish from Zimbabwe.

Mixed Beans & Lentils Masal Vada/Mixed Lentils & Beans Fritters

Elevenses in India calls for fritters, a cup of tea for the sure. When i picked How about Elevenses as theme for this week's blogging marathon, i seriously want to prepare something healthy with mixed beans and lentils. I always love to mix and match the ingredients to dish out vadais, obviously my space will have varieties of fritters prepared with combination of dals, vegetables and greens. Today's post is definitely an interesting fried beauties to enjoy with a cup of tea or coffee around 11 o'clock in the morning. With a wonderful mixture of lentils and beans, trust me you will definitely enjoy these crispy fritters without any fuss.

Murmura Chivda/Spiced Puffed Rice Chivda

Looking for a quick, easy breezy munchies for your sudden cravings or to have for mid-day hunger pangs, dont forget to check this incredibly delicious puffed rice chivda. With your favourite nuts and spices, you can dish out this chivda quickly with less efforts. Since this dish call for less oil, one can munch these murmura chivda with any sort of the beverages of their choice for an evening snacks or around 11 o'clock in the morning. Yes this chivda is a prefect munchies to enjoy if you want to have something light and spicy before your lunch. However puffed rice is very much used in Indian cuisine and puffed rice can be munch even without any spices. But i simply love this chivda as it will be bit spicy and nutty at the same.

Spiced Fingermillet Biscuits/Spicy Ragi Biscuits

I love to bake with millets especially with finger millet in my bakings. I havent baked something spicy with finger millet flour since a while. And finally here comes an easy but still a dangerously addictive spiced biscuits to munch inbetween a meal or for an evening snack. Very easy to make these biscuits are seriously something healthy, guilt free and just prefect to please your tastebuds. These biscuits are simple and quick to prepare and bake. Its completely vegan, obviously you can munch them without any guilt. Have you ever heard about Elevenses, its a small break of light refreshments usually served with tea or coffee which is taken around 11 o'clock in the morning. Obviously the foods or drinks served during Elevenses have to be not too fatty or not to be heavy as well.

Sago & Moongdal Kheer with Palm Jaggery/Sabudana Moongdal & Palm Jaggery Kheer

I have never cooked sago aka tapioca pearls with a dal. When i picked Sweet of similar kind as theme for this week's blogging marathon, i seriously want to give a try to a sweet dish with sago and dal. Hence i opted for Kheer, after two delicious and whole grain based Indian style kheer, my today's post is an another interesting kheer. Am trying to add less refined ingredients like maida, white sugar in my cooking nowadays. Obviously this kheer is prepared completely with palm jaggery syrup. Hence this kheer looks bit dull in colour. Also the palm jaggery i used in this dish was very much dull in colour which i grabbed during my India trip.

Quinoa & Goji Berries Kheer/Quinoa Goji Berries Pudding

Quinoa is an excellent versatile grain to cook anything with. Quinoa have its important place in my cooking since a while. After oats, quinoa have its own place in my pantry. Though i have prepared many sorts of sweets with this incredible tiny grains, i love to cook this wholegrains as Indian style of pudding. Am running this week's theme with Sweets of similar kind as theme, and i opted for Pudding/Kheer as my choice of sweet. If you are looking for a healthy and droolworthy Indian sweet dish for your festive meal or to celebrate an event, dont forget to give a try to this gluten free Quinoa kheer with goji berries. Why gojiberries in a kheer, i always want to mix few interesting ingredients to make some unique dishes out of the ingredients available in my pantry.

Whole Wheat Berries Kheer/Godhumai Paal Payasam/Wheat Berries Pudding

Indian festivals are incomplete without sweet dishes. Obviously Indians makes varieties of sweet dishes. If you are not an Indian, just google for the varieties of sweets exists in Indian cuisine seriously you will be amazed to see the list of sweets. Some of the Indian sweets are quite easy to dish out while certain sweets have their own long cooking process which is definitely a traditional way of making sweets in India. Paal payasam which is known as Kheer aka Indian pudding is one of the easiest and most known Indian sweets. This sweets is often prepared in every Indian household to celebrate a special day or festival or else simply a pradasam to God for any special occasion. And this sweets can be prepared with immense mix and match of ingredients from vegetables to fruits, nuts to grains etc.

Eggplant Manchurian/Indo Chinese Style Eggplant Manchurian

Manchurian is an excellent starter or side dish to have with fried rice or with a bowl of cooked rice. I have been dishing out many varieties of manchurian and one of my recent trial is with Eggplants. I followed the same cooking way as much as we do with chicken or else vegetables. Eggplant manchurian makes an excellent starter to start a party with, i have made a dry version if you want a saucy style of manchurian you can still dish this eggplant manchurian as much as gravy style dish. Trust me this Eggplant manchurian is definitely a delicacy which is a must to try at home. And this is just prefect to dish out in less than 30 minutes. Its a restaurant style vegan manchurian which is a must to try. And this dish calls for easily available ingredients which is quite easy to find in your pantry.

Quinoa & Moongdal Sweet Pongal/Quinoa Sakkarai Pongal

One of my favourite Indian festival is obviously deepavali, but i have so many fond memories about Pongal which is also known as Festival of harvest, dedicated to Sun God. Every year, Pongal falls on mid january and this festival is celebrated according to Tamil calender. This festival is celebrated for 4 days, obviously most of the Tamilians make a trip to their native village to enjoy this traditional festival with their family. Though its been many years i have celebrated this Festival of harvest in India, i plan myself to celebrate this festival here in Paris without any fail. Coming to this Quinoa Sweet pongal, this dish is definitely a delicious and ultimate Sweet dish to prepare without any fail for this festival.

Galette de Rois au Mocha/French King's Cake With Mocha Filling

Epiphany is a Christian festival on the 6th of January which celebrates the arrival of the wise men who came to see Jesus Christ soon after he was born. And this festival falls on first sunday of January. French people celebrates this day with a king cake prepared either with brioche dough or a pastry cake baked with puff pastry sheets and filling. Traditionally the filling calls for a rich frangipane filling prepared with grounded almonds, eggs,sugar and butter.Some of the king cakes goes for apple sauce or for pears or else simply with chocolate spread, now many versions do exists. Eventhough this popular King cake is still available in stores, every year i bake my own version of King cake as my kids love this super flaky cake especially for the trinket in it.

Anooshaboor/Anoushabour/Armenian Christmas Pudding

                                      Happy New Year Wishes to You All

Am kick starting this year with a sweet note, and this healthy and delicious pudding is from Armenia which is also known as Armenian Christmas Pudding aka Anoush Abour/Anooshaboor. Anoushabour means Sweet soup in Armenian. This dish is a must in every new year's and christmas tables in Armenia for many centuries. This Armenian pudding is a delightful pudding which calls for pearled wheat berries or pearled barley. However if you dont get pearled wheat berries you can replace them very well with white wheat berries and pearled barley. Traditionally a couple of dry fruits like apricots,raisins and almonds are usually used for making this pudding more fruity and nutty. And not to forget that this pudding is flavored with cinnamon powder and sweetened with honey.

Goodbye to 2018 & Hello to 2019

      Wishing you all a Happy and Colourful New Year 2019!!!

2018, what a year with loads of ups and downs,though i can still say that 2018 was a good and fruitful year. So many changes happened in my both professional and personal life. Professional life became a priority now, obviously blogging took a back seat. However i managed and planned everything as usual earlier not to give up anything regarding blogging. Sometime because of my hectic working days, i truly want to quit blogging but blogging is one of my passion and passtime to forget all my daily chores. 2018 went very much faster than i imagined, few of my dreams came true during this year. One of my favourite tourist destination was Greece and its happened this year during summer, yes had a fabulous summer vacation. One more dream is get a kitchen gadget which i have been longing for, finally H gifted me a Kitchenaid gadget to knead my bread doughs and whisk my cake batters with less efforts. Cant ask more na.

As much as every year, i blogged three days per week, all credits goes to Blogging marathon and tried posting upto 15-18 posts for a month. Not to forget that i have blogged successfully two whole months of Mega marathon with two different themes during this year which was quite a challenge for me. Thank god, i finished both mega marathon brilliantly as i planned everything earlier to stick with theme i picked for.

Dont forget to check 26 days of Mega marathon:

April 2017 - Explore the Flavors with 4 different themes for 4 weeks

September 2017 - A to Z International Flatbreads with some traditional and unique flatbreads from around the world.

I kicked started 2018 with a Srilankan Sugar Buns aka Kimbula Banis and i have blogged 208 posts during this year and my blog counts 3723 posts now.While in my another blog Cook N Click i have posted  81 posts and its counts totally 621 posts.

Let's take a glimpse of my top recipes with highest views during this whole year.

January - Carrot & Oats Kozhukattai/Steamed Carrot & Oats Dumplings

February - Chocolate Gulab Jamuns/Dark Chocolate Gulab Jamuns

March - Mushroom & Spinach Balls/Kaalan Keerai Kola Urundai

April - Vitumbua/Tanzanian Doughnuts/Gluten Free Coconut Pancake Balls

Mai - Andhra Style Mint Rice/Pudhina Annam

June - Club Kachori/Kolkata Style Club Kachori

July - Ring Shaped Vegetable Samosas

August - No Churn Frozen Mixed Berries Icecream

September - Warqi Paratha/Lucknowi Warqi Paratha

October - Cassava Murukku/Maravallikizhangu Murukku/Tapioca Chakli

November - Cashew Coconut Milk Pulao

December - Santa Claus Shaped Brioche Bread

Hope you enjoyed this post and am very thankful to each and everyone for being part of my blogging world, nothing is possible without you all.

This year's cooking resolution is going to be More Millets & Less Refined Sugar.

Sending this post to Srivalli's Best of Year 2018.

Cornflakes Chocolate Brownies/Cereals Choco Brownies

You might already tried cornflakes cookies, but today's recipe is completely a different one.Cornflakes chocolate brownies is definitely a must to try if you have leftover cornflakes sitting sadly in your pantry to get finished.  Yes i used leftover cornflakes for baking out some chocolate loaded brownies instead of trashing them. I grounded cornflakes as coarse powder and used them in a brownie batter to bake out some incredible brownie out of it. I hate trashing, obviously i will think twice to make use of anything which is leftover aside for many days before their expiry date. Even my H used to blame me that i dont trash anything easily than giving them a second life.

No Maida, No Sugar, No Butter Christmas Fruit Cake

You may wonder how can one bake a rich looking Christmas fruit cake without Maida, sugar and butter. Trust me, even i was skeptical before baking this incredible cake. Its quite an interesting Frutis and nuts loaded Christmas friendly cake to carry with you if you are visiting friends or family. I have prepared fruits and nuts soaked in jaggery syrup before 20 days for baking this Xmassy cake. Yes you heard it rite, this cake is completely sweetened with jaggery. Varieties of dry fruits and nuts are soaked in a thick jaggery syrup is used to flavor up this fruits loaded rich looking cake. Actually my initial idea to make this rich fruit cake was with usual ingredients as much as every year. When i opened the fridge, i noticed that there was no butter, obviously i opted for Olive oil, then comes to idea to make this fruit cake without all purpose flour/maida. Finally i baked this cake with Spelt flour, jaggery syrup and olive oil.