Umm Ali~~Egyptian Pudding

To chose a food under International cuisine with starting letter as 'U' wasnt that much difficult for me, coz Umm ali was in my to do list since ages. Actually this Umm ali, a delicious dessert goes for an easy breezy preparation and its a famous bread pudding of Egypt. Everyone have their own version of Umm ali, some may goes for phyllo dough, some goes for crossisants while other goes for stale bread. But i chosed puff pastry to make this flaky and very nutty pudding. I used dessicated coconut flakes, nuts and some dry fruits. This recipe can be adapted easily with anything thats available in your pantry.

This pudding have a story behind it, but who cares we just enjoyed thoroughly this easy pudding, every single bite of this pudding is just out of the world. Within less than half an hour, this incredible pudding gets ready to relish and you can have it either warm or chilled with a scoop of vanilla icecream. Somehow i'll advice you to use puff pastry for making this pudding than crossisants or stale breads coz puff pastry gives a superb flaky texture to this pudding. If you a crowd to feed during a party, make this Umm ali for the dessert am sure everyone will enjoy thoroughly this pudding coz its completely egg free and very simple to prepare.

Urad Dal Chutney

For our dinner, if am serving dosas or idlis i have to prepare atleast two different chutneys else my H will definitely wont enjoy his dinner, so obviously if i get to know a new variety of chutney i wont even hesitate a second to try and serve it to him. For this month's blog hop wednesdays, Radhika paired me with a wonderful blogger Nalini of Nalini's Kitchen. I love Nalini's space and visit her space frequently, if i get a chance to cook from her space do i need to say am a happiest person in the world. Immediately i went through her space to choose a recipe,omg its quite a hard task for me to choose.

Seriously i want to try all her recipes, they were authentic,irresistible and delicious. With her beautiful clicks, she rocks and you will definitely love her space very much.For bloghop wednesdays, i choosed her Urad Dal Chutney one of her mom's recipe and prepared it two days back to serve along with soft idlies. We just loved it,thanks Nalini for sharing this chutney its definitely a keeper and i'll make surely quite often this easy breezy chutney.

1/2cup Grated coconut
5tbso Deskinned urad dal
5nos Dry red chillies
1no Tamarind (blueberry size)
1/4tsp Asafoetida powder
Few curryleaves
Oil
Salt

Heat enough oil, fry the grated coconut,red chillies, tamarind together until a nice aroma comes from, remove it and keep aside.

To the same pan, heat again a teaspoon of oil and fry the urad dal,asafoetida powder and curryleaves until the urad dal gets well roasted.

Once everything gets well cooled, grind everything together with enough water and salt as bit coarse paste.

Transfer it to a bowl and serve immediately.

This chutney doesnt need tempering.

Couscous & Peas Tikki

I was paired with Kalyani of Sizzling Tastebuds for this month's of bloghop wednesdays, a monthly event started by Radhika. I always impressed the way Kalyani cooks and am an ardent fan of her space.I have already bookmarked so many dishes at Kalyani's space and seriously i was soo happy when i was paired with her, my first choice was to make her steamed dal vada, but somehow i went for my recent bookmarked recipe 'couscous peas tikki' from her place.

These tikkis are simply awesome, gets ready very much quickly. An excellent snack to enjoy simply with ketchup,spicy chutney or with spiced curd.As Kalyani told these tikkis suits prefect even for potlucks or a simple birthday parties.

1cup Cooked couscous
1/2cup Peas (cooked)
2nos Potatoes (cooked)
1/2tsp Garam masala powder
1/2tsp Chaat masala
2nos Green chillies (chopped)
Salt
1/2tsp Fennel seed powder
Few Coriander leaves (chopped)
1/2cup Maida
1/2cup Bread crumbs
Oil for shallow frying

Take the cooked couscous,cooked peas and cooked potatoes in a large bowl, add the garam masala powder, chaat masala,chopped green chillies and fennel seed powder with enough salt.

Using the fingers, smash well everything and make a thick paste.

Make a medium sized balls from this mixture,flatten them as tikkis and keep aside.

Mix the maida with enough water to make a white sauce,gently dip the tikkis one by one to the white sauce and roll it over the bread crumbs until the tikkis gets well coated.

Arrange in fridge for half an hour before shallow frying.

Heat enough oil for shallow frying, fry the already prepared tikkis on both side until the crust turns golden brown.

Serve warm with ketchup.

Pineapple Gojju

Gojju is a kind of curry prepared in most of the Kannadiga's home, they prepare variety of  gojju with any kind of veggies.One among those gojju is pineapple gojju, this gojju have its important place in wedding lunch. Its quite a dream for me to prepare this authentic dish from Karnataka. When Radhika paired me for this month's Bloghop Wednesdays with Nagashree of Sattvaa, immediately i got hooked to her pineapple gojju eventhough she have numerous dishes i wanted to give a try. Thanks to Nagashree for sharing this fingerlicking gojju, oh boy even my teddies loved it.

I was surprised and shocked when i saw when they started relishing this gojju with their rotis.This gojju came out super creamy and fabulously delicious with wonderful flavours in it. This gojju goes for a simple preparation, with less ingredients and gets ready very much easily and quickly. If you like your curry mildly spicy,sweet and sour, this pineapple gojju is for you.Sending to Celebrate-Olympic Games guest hosted by me & to Ramadan Friendly Recipes.

2cups Ripe pineapples (cubed)
2tbsp Grated coconut
1tsp Jaggery
Salt
Oil

To roast:
1tbsp Urad dal
1tbsp Sesame seeds
8nos Fenugreek seeds
Few curry leaves
1inch Tamarind piece
6nos Dry red chillies
Oil

Heat oil in a pan, roast all the ingredients given under the list 'to roast' until a nice aroma comes out,keep aside and let them cool completely.

Now grind the roasted spices and coconut together with enough water as smooth paste.

Heat enough oil in a kadai, fry the curry leaves and grounded masala for few seconds, add enough water to adjust the consistency of the gojju, now add the jaggery,salt and bring it to boil.

Finally add the pineapple pieces and let it boil for few minutes, put off the stove.Let this gojju stand for an hour before serving.

Serve this gojju with rotis or rice.

Jhatpat Poha

For this month's of Bloghop Wednesdays,i was paired with Santhosh Bangar of Santhosh's Kitchen. Oh my god, she have loads of super delicious dishes from North India in her space and seriously i took almost a week to decide wat to choose  and cook for this month's bloghop. Initially i wanted to prepare her papad samosas to which i got hooked immediately, but few days back while going through her space to prepare something for iur evening snacks. I simply loved her super tempting poha dish prepared with a lovely combination of veggies, i didnt even hesitated a second to try it and prepared immediately for our evening snack.

This jhatpat poha tastes simply delicious,with loads of veggies this poha was super colourful and definitely super flavourful all coz of the addition of garam masala.Seriously i loved the addition of the garam masala in this dish. Thanks to Santhosh for sharing this quick,easy breezy and fantastic jhatpat poha. Everyone at home simply loved it.

2cups Poha/Rice flakes
1/2cup Frozen green peas
1/4cup Sweet corn
1/2cup Carrots (chopped)
Few curry leaves
1no Green chillies (chopped)
1/2tsp Cumin seeds
3/4tsp Garam masala
Salt
Oil
1tsp Lemon juice

Heat enough oil,let crack the cumin seeds and curry leaves, add the chopped carrots,frozen greenpeas and sweet corn,chopped green chillies and saute for few minutes until the veggies turns soft.

Meanwhile wash the rice flakes with water and drain the water immediately and keep aside.

Now add the washed poha,garam masala and salt and cook for few more minutes.

Finally add the lemon juice and put off the stove. Enjoy warm as snacks or for breakfast with ketchup.

Bread Pakoras - No Fry

Last month coz of my surgery, i missed many interesting events. One among those events is Radhika's bloghop wednesdays, i was eagerly waiting to know to whom am gonna be paired this month's event. Finally i got the mail with the name of my pair,i was paired with Charul  of Tadka Masala,dunno how i missed this incredible space. Charul have an elegant space with lovely clicks, all her recipes are quite unique in their own way. Thanks to Radhika for pairing me with Charul, while going through her incredible space,immediately her no fry bread pakoras catched my attention and bookmarked it immediately to try them later, but within a week i tried twice as these bread pakoras tastes marvellous and quite easy to prepare. With less ingredients and not deep fried,these pakoras are definitely a guilt free snack to enjoy simply with a spicy chutney or else with tomato ketchup. We just loved it with a cup of tea for our evening snacks.

5nos Bread slices
1/2cup Chickpeas/Besan flour
1/4tsp Garam masala powder
1/2tsp Red chilly powder
Salt
2tbsp Yogurt
Water
3tbsp Oil

Take the besan flour,garam masala powder, red chilly powder, salt,yogurt in a bowl,add gradually the water to turn as a thin but not too runny paste..

Cut the bread slices diagonally, meanwhile heat enough oil in a tawa,dip the bread slice to the prepared paste and drop gently to the hot oil..fry on both sides until they turns golden brown..

Enjoy warm with ketchup or with the chutney of your choice.

Masala Corn Rice

For this month's Bloghop Wednesdays, i was paired with Pradnya of Pumpkin Farm..Pradnya's space wasnt that much unknown for me, we are blogging marathoners and we never stopped encouraging both by visiting our spaces constantly since ever we started blogging marathon together..She shares variety of dishes and many innovative as well as fusion dishes, i was always amazed to see the way she prepare her dishes with loads of creativity and innovation..Its was bit difficult for me to decide and cook from her space  as she have a lovely and huge collections of yummy dishes.. For this month's bloghop, finally i decided to make a quick one pot meal from her with corn as main ingredients,as corn is the star ingredient of this month's CWS guest hosted by Shylaja..For my surprise, this corn masala rice goes for pav bhaji masala and usual spices we usually use for our daily cooking..Thanks to Pradnya for sharing this super delicious and quick rice, we just loved it..

1cup  Rice (washed and soaked for 15minutes)
1cup Corn kernels
1no Onion (chopped)
1no Tomato (chopped)
1cup Green bellpepper (cubed)
1tsp Pav bhaji masala
1/2tsp Red chilly powder
1tsp Butter
Salt
Oil

Heat enough oil, add the onions and saute until they turns transculent, add the tomatoes, cook for few more minutes, now add the cubed bellpeppers and corns,saute everything together..

Add the pav bhaji masala,red chilly powder and salt to the veggies, saute for few seconds, now add the rice,stir well, add two cups of water and cook everything in simmer until the rice gets well cooked..

Add the butter to the cooked corn rice and serve with papads or any kind of spicy side dish..

Baingan Fry With Sambar Powder

I was paired with Nisha of Nisha's Kitchen for this month's of Bloghop Wednesdays, a fabulous event started by Radhika of Tickling palates..Nisha shared numerous easy breezy dishes and many Kerala dishes, eventhough i was quite attracted by her Kerala dishes, i got hooked to this simple,quick and flavourful baingan fry from her space, just loved the simplicity of this yummy fry and we just loved it with curd rice for our yesterday's lunch..I simply added few crushed garlic cloves and curryleaves to give more flavour to this simple fry apart from it,i didnt made any changes, coz for me its not possible to cook brinjal without garlic..Needless to say that this fry gets ready very much quickly and a prefect side dish for any sort of dishes..Thanks to Nisha for sharing this yummy baingan fry..

2cups Brinjal (cubed)
3nos Garlic cloves (crushed)
1/2tsp Mustard seeds
Few curry leaves
1tbsp Sambar powder
Salt
Oil

Heat enough oil, let splutters the mustard seeds,curry leaves, add the crushed garlic cloves,fry for few seconds, add immediately the cubed brinjal pieces, salt and saute for few minutes or until they turns soft, finally add the sambar powder and cook again everything for few more minutes, put off the stove once the brinjal pieces gets well cooked..

Serve with rice..

Eggless Carrot & Tutti Frutti Cake

For this week of Bloghop wednesdays , i was paired with Princy vinoth of Spicy foood, i had a fabulous time  and enjoyed going through her beautiful space, with her fantastic clicks she rocks..Since am running a month of Baking marathon,it wasnt a hard task for me to choose this carrot cake from Princy's space, i got hooked immediately to this beautiful cake which i prepared few days back with few changes, yep i completely skipped eggs and replaced it with silken tofu, while for walnuts i used tutti frutti bites as didnt have enough walnuts to prepare this cake, as Princy told this cake was truly amazing and carrots as well as the tutti frutti used in this cake turned out this cake truly colourful, we enjoyed thoroughly this marvellous cake for our snacks and also for our brunch with a cup of hot chocolate,even my teddies loved it..

1+1/2cups All purpose flour
1/2cup Silken tofu
1cup Sugar
1cup Grated carrot
1/4cup Tutti frutti
1/2cup Vegetable Oil
1/2cup Milk
1tsp Baking soda
1tsp Baking powder
1tsp Vanilla essence
A pinch Salt

Preheat the oven to 350F, meanwhile grind the silken tofu with milk as fine paste and keep aside, sift the flour,baking soda,baking powder together... in an another bowl,mix the oil,sugar,vanilla essence,tofu paste,beat everything for a while..now mix the grated carrots,tutti frutti to the wet ingredients slowly..

Gradually add the dry ingredients little by little until they get well combined,dont overmix the batter, pour the batter to the greased moul,sprinkle few tutti fruti chunks on the top and bake for 30-35minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean..

Serve with a cup of hot coffee or chocolate..

Vanilla Buttermilk Cupcakes

Am having loads of fun since ever i started bake-a-thon avec three blogger buddies, my oven is running everyday and i cant keep away myself from baking..Obviously today is also going to be a simple but an incredible cupcakes i picked from Vidya's space, i was paired with her for this week's Bloghop wednesdays a fabulous virtual friendship chain created by Radhika of Tickling Palates..Vidya's space have so many dishes and bakes,her food clicks speaks a lot about her passion for foods and photography..Everytime i visit her space, her clicks tempts me a lot and definitely makes me hungry, i was happy to choose this easy breezy cupcakes from her beautiful space as i was bit busy with some household stuffs, these cute looking cupcakes gets ready absolutely quickly with usual ingredients and definitely quite addictive,they were extremely spongy and super moist we guys couldnt stop having them for our evening snacks once they came out of the oven..Thanks to Vidya for sharing this delicious cupcakes, we just loved it.

1+1/4cups All purpose flour
1/4cup Butter
1/2tsp Baking powder
1/2tsp Baking Soda
1no Egg
1/2cup Sugar
1/4cup Buttermilk
1tsp Vanilla essence
1pinch Salt

Preheat the oven to 350F..Sift together the flour,baking powder,salt,baking soda and keep aside..Beat together the butter,sugar until they turn fluffy,add now the vanilla essence and eggs,beat for few seconds, finally add the buttermilk and beat again, dont worry if the mixture turns bit curdle..

Now gently fold the dry ingredients and mix well with a spatula,pour the butter in a silicion cupcake mould or in a greased cupcake moul, bake for 15-20minutes until a skewer inserted comes out clean..

Serve with a cup of tea,coffee or milk..

Vanilla Scented Butter Cookies

I was paired with one of my favourite blogger buddy Sweatha for this week of Blog Hop, she never failed to cook out many different dishes from various cuisines around the world..Simply love going through her space everytime i visit her,seriously i couldnt able to decide immediately while going through her space to choose my entry for this blog hop wednesdays, finally after a long hesitation i choosed this quite addictive Vanilla scented butter cookies from her space...With simple ingredients this butter cookies gets ready very much easily and needless to say that these cookies tastes absolutely divine with a cup of tea for our evening snacks..I already prepared twice this easy breezy cookies for our evening snacks,everytime they simply gets vanished very much easily..Everyone at home couldnt stop themselves to munch this super delicious cookies once they came out from the oven, we just loved it..Sending to Julie's Christmas Delicacy & Radhika's Winter Carnival..

1cup All purpose flour
1/2cup Sugar
1/4tsp Salt
1/2cup Butter (melted)
1tsp Vanilla extract
Milk (as per need)

Preheat the oven to 350F..Mix together the sugar,flour and salt in a large bowl, add gradually the melted butter and vanilla extract,mix everything well,use the milk as per need to form a soft dough, make small balls from the soft dough, flatten them as small disc,place them over a baking sheet lined over a baking tray, using a fork make some impressions over the flattened disc..

Bake them for 12-15minutes until the edges turns golden brown..let them cool completely and enjoy with a cup of tea..

Pindi Miriyam With Potato

Its always a pleasure to try and taste different dishes from other blogger buddies spaces na, this time for blog hop wednesdays i was paired with Sreevalli of Ammaji Recipes, she shares many Andhra specials with beautiful clicks and very interesting dishes..While going through her space, i got hooked to this easy breezy delicious dal based gravy prepared with potatoes, as we love potatoes in anything i didnt even thinked twice to try out this flavourful gravy from her space...This pindi miriyam tastes super delicious,quite easy to prepare and went awesome as side dish for both rice and rotis..Thanks to Sreevalli for sharing this typical Nellore dish which she got from her MIL..This gravy goes for toor dal and potato with a special masala paste prepared with usual spices apart from it this gravy doesnt need onions,tomatoes or garlic..

1cup Toordal
1cup Potato (diced)
Salt
1tsp Mustard seeds
1/2tsp Cumin seeds
2nos Red chillies
Asafoetida powder
Oil

To dry roast & grind:
2tbsp Rice
1/4cup Coconut powder
1tsp Peppercorns
1tbsp Channa dal
1tbsp Urad dal
1tbsp Coriander seeds
1tsp Cumin seeds
2nos Red chillies

Pressure cook both toor dal and potatoes with enough water and keep aside, meanwhile dry roast and grind all the spices  except the coconut powder given under the list 'to dry roast and grind',finally add the coconut powder and grind as paste..

Add this spice paste to the already cooked dal potato mixture,cook them in low flame, heat oil in a pan, add the mustard seeds,cumin seeds,red chillies and asafoetida powder, fry until they turns brown,add this tempered spices to the pindi miriyam and serve hot with rice or rotis..

Frozen Rose Yogurt

Am very much glad to be a part of Radhika's Blog Hop Wednesdays, seriously i wanted to be a part of this event once i came to know about this wonderful virtual friendship chain after my vacations from India, unfortunately i wasnt able to enter coz Radhika have already started this event, when she asked me laterly to join her, i didnt even took a minute to say 'YES'..Its the 2nd edition of blog hop and i was been paired with Priya Mahadevan of Now Serving, a wonderful foodie who comes always with innovative and quite unusual dishes, she is an inspiration for me when its comes to innovation..I dont have words to say about Priya, its was kinda hard for me to choose one among her delicious dishes, finally i decided to prepare her Frozen rose yogurt which goes for easy breezy preparation..I served this quick,delicious and simple frozen yogurt to my friends,when they came this weekend for a lunch, they just relished each and every spoon of this tremendous catchy dessert, thanks to Priya for sharing this fabulous frozen yogurt..

3cups Hung yogurt
1cup Sugar
2tbsp Rose syrup
1/2tsp Cardamom powder
Chocolate sprinkles for serving

Mix well the hung yogurt,sugar,rose syrup and cardamom powder in a bowl, transfer it to the icecream maker and prepare par instructions or else pour it in a stainless steel box, let it sit for 2hours in freezer, take out the box and beat the slightly frozen yogurt in a blender,pour it again in the box and let them sit for overnite...

Scoop out the frozen rose yogurt as ur desire and serve topped with chocolate sprinkles..