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.

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.

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.

Dal Maharani/Queens of Lentils Gravy/Maharani Dal

Dal Maharani which is also known popularly as Queens of Lentils gravy have its origins from Punjab. This dish is a nutritious and very protein rich gravy which calls for Black urad dal, channa dal and Kidney beans. These three dals are cooked and enriched with couple of spice powders and fresh cream hence this dal have a very rich taste.However if you are looking for less rich and no cream gravy, you can replace the cream used in this dish with milk, yogurt of else with no dairy products. This aromatic dish can be served very much with any sort of pulaos, rotis or else simply with bread slices. Yes you have numerous choice to enjoy this rich gravy. However i served this gravy with coconut pulao which turned out our lunch more healthy and tasty as well. Obviously we had a tummy full meal and everyone at home enjoyed this nutritious dish.

Eral Masal Vada Kurma/Eral Vada Masala Kurma/Prawn Channadal Fritters Gravy

South Indians makes ultimate gravies with different variations with different ingredients. Coming to my today's post, this Masala vada kurma is one of my favourite dish which makes me nostalgic. Masala vada is quite a crispy channadal fritters which is prepared with a soaked channadal grounded with a combination of spices which is later fried in oil. And this fritters are often prepared at home for any occasions or for festivals. However leftover vadas are dropped the next day in a masala gravy to serve along with rice for a lunch or with dosas or idlies for a dinner. But my today's post is completely a different one which is prepared with prawns. We Pondicherrians makes vadas with seafoods especially with prawns, its quite our speciality. Obviously i prepared this prawn vada kurma for our lunch few months back for our sunday lunch. My kids love prawn vada hence i prepared this gravy with them.

No Onion No Garlic Curry Leaves Gravy/Karuvepillai Kuzhambu

Though i cant imagine making kuzhambu aka tamarind based gravy without onions and garlic cloves, i love to make atleast once a while to dish out some fingerlicking gravies without onions and  garlic cloves. If you are fasting or dont have onions or garlic at home, you can still make this fingerlicking gravy in an ease with easy cooking process. This gravy is one of a delicious, easy breezy and flavourful dish to make without any fail. Since i want to make a flavourful and aromatic gravy for our lunch few days back, i couldnt think more than dishing out this fingerlicking dish with curry leaves. Curry leaves is a must in South Indian cooking, its one of the flavourful leaves which gives a subtle flavor to anything they are cook with.

Channa Puri/Mauritian Bengalgram Yeasted Dumplings

Looking for a different deep fried snacks for your evening snacks, dont forget to check my today's post.I have crossed this delicious, yeasted dumplings while googling for an easy breezy deep fried snacks. And the stuffing caught my attention as it calls for our famous Bengal gram aka Channadal. And the best part of this dish is the stuffing, its completely spiced with our Indian spice powders. Obviously, why should i think twice to give a try to this popular and well known Mauritian street food. I gathered all the ingredients to make this channa puri which is completely different from our Indian snacks. As i told earlier, Channa puri is prepared with a spiced channa dal stuffing and a yeasted batter. Though this recipe may sounds bit long to prepare, trust me this dumplings are dangerously delicious to munch.

Purple Cabbage Masal Vada/Purple Cabbage Channadal Fritters

If you are making often just some crunchy coleslaw or else some easy breezy salads with purple cabbage, you should definitely have to take a look to this crispy fritters aka TamilNadu style masala vadais. Masala vadas are quite a streetfood which can be found easily in every corner tea shops all over Tamilnadu. Masal vadas is usually prepared with channadal along with few spices, however many sort of variations do exists. One can add some grated vegetables or greens to make vadas more delicious and healthy to feed kids easily with vegetables or greens. And my today's post is one among those vegetable loaded fritters aka purple cabbage masala vadas. Cabbage is one of my favourite vegetable but at home its quite a struggle to feed my kids with this leafy vegetable.

Homemade Boston Cream Donuts

Honestly am trying to keep myself away from deep-frying, but the weather in Paris is getting much worst nowadays. Obviously our tastebuds were craving for something deep fried and crispy to munch with a cup of coffee or tea. And this week's blogging marathon theme is 'Deep fried Love', hence this week's posts are going to be three different deep fried beauties. Needless to say how everyone at home enjoyed this theme. Yes after more than a month my family members had a chance to indulge some deep fried dishes as evening snacks. Am kick starting this week's theme with an ultimate homemade Boston cream donuts. Donuts are yeasted dough which is fried and enjoyed when tossed with cinnamon sugar. Coming to this Boston cream donuts, its a round, yeasted donuts with chocolate frosting and a pudding filling which is a miniature donut version of Boston cream pie.

Alouda/Mauritian Alouda Cold Milk/Alouda Glace

Today am taking you all to an another dream destination of many, yes my today's post is from Mauritius. Mauritius cuisine is a real mix of French, Chinese and Indian cuisine,however this cuisine is very much influenced by our Indian cuisine. While googling about this Mauritian cuisine, i was surprised to see that their most popular dishes are always prepared with an Indian touch. Am running this week's blogging marathon with Cook by capital as theme. Hence i picked the alphabetic letter 'P', after Paris and Prague, i couldnt stop myself to pick Port Louis, the capital of Mauritius. Port Louis, is very much known for their street foods. And i picked one of the most known and popular drink which quite common in Central Market in Port Louis. And this drink is easily available anywhere in the island.