Rendez Vous With A Foodie - Nalini Suresh of Nalini's Kitchen

Twice a month am introducing newbie bloggers to this immense blogging virtual world, just to showcase their blogs with their guest posts they prepred specially for me and i named the event as Rendez vous with a foodie. Many new fellow bloggers came towards me to join this event and shared their fabulous dishes since ever i started this event. Happy that this event is going successfully since the month of march and i came to know more about my guest hosts through their replies they shared for my questions. Each and every posts of my guest hosts are unique in their own way.

Today is 7th october and its time for an another guest post, today's host is very much close to my heart.Life is beautiful when you are surrounded by simple and broad minded peoples as like you, couple of months back my days were not that much funfilled as like now. Yes few buddies from this immense virtual world came very much closer to me and i got a bunch of close friends to whom i can share my happiness and sorrows, trust me they are my family now, eventhough we never had a chance to meet personally, virtually the bond between us is getting more closer and closer.One among those kind hearted and very humble person is Nalini suresh of Nalini's Kitchen, eventhough she is very busy with a young boy and a toddler baby gal she blogs quite frequently. Seriously i admire her enthu  and loves her fabulous dishes she shares in space.

I can talk for hours about Nalini, she is a very jovial person she can change her environment in a couple of second with her humour. Many peoples can come and go in your life but only few will stay with us, Nalini is one among those person very special for me.Nalini is a wonderful,sweet,honest,modest, down to earth and a humble heart, who will get very much easily closer to you. I love her space, she shares many beautiful dishes with eye catchy clicks, anyone can learn easily with her detailed stepwise pictures. When i asked Nalini to make this guest post, i asked her to share some village style foods coz my space have rare numbers of village style foods.She was kind enough to accept and send me a fantastic village style food,which makes me nostalgic.

Lets hear from Nalini of Nalini's Kitchen..

Today I am so excited to do a guest post in one of a well known blogger Priya.She is one such caring person and passinate blogger,never forgets to visit my blog with her lovely words.Though she ia a mom of 3 kids her dedication towards blogging is amazing and like the way she posts.She is a wonderful baker and all her baked goodies are super duper.

When Priya came up with the idea of rendez vous for newbies I was really happy and excited.
Coming to the recipe,its a village style chicken recipe which is a stew like preparation popular in Southern part of Tamilnadu.This saaru/stew goes very well with Idly,dosa,idiyaapam and even plain white rice.

1)Tell us about your blog and you?
I am Nalini Suresh,full time home makerlives in U.S with my hubby and 2 kids.I blog under Nalini's Kitchen which is 2 years old.

2)Before and after blogging, tell us what blogging changed your life?
I always have a passion towards cooking and like to do lot of experiments in the kitchen.So I don't feel any changes after I start the blog except the interest towards photography and props hunting.

3)When and what motivated you to blog about food?
Couple of my friends motivated me to start a blog after tasting my foods and my hubby dear supported me to start a blog.He helped me a lot to create the template and buying props.All the credit goes to him.

4)There are a tons of blogs/pages on food these days, what accordingto you is the speciality of your blog and the food you cook?
I cook simple,healthy South Indian vegetarian and non vegetarian food and eggless baking.Most of my recipes are with stepwise pictures which would be very helpful for the beginners.

5) When it comes to cooking, who is your inspiration?
Of course its my mom.Being a full time working mom she cooks and feed us delicious and the same time a healthy food.She has lots of interest and passion towards cooking and trying out new recipes.

6)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?
I have lots of technical issues in my blog which I cannot fix it.My hubby dear and my friend Revathi helped me a lot to come out this issue.
Next thing is I was not aware of the social medias like Facebook,Pintrest.Sangee of Spicy treats helped me a lot.

7)What is your best recipe and your favourite recipes you have blogged till now?
All my recipes are favorite,the best ones are karivepillai kulambhu,kathirikkai konda kadalai kulambhu,Pepper chicken,mutton sukka and my native's special sweet Asoka Halwa.

8)Few tips about food photography?
Take pictures in the natural light with a decent and neat presentaion.
Don't use flash and try to take pictures in a day light.
Try to take pictures in different angles.

9)What is your budget for the props,do you have any or else do you manage with your household stuffs?
I don't have any bugets but I make sure the buget won't go beyond 10USD.I have interest towards buying the culinary gadgets and crockery before blogging,so I use some of my household stuff also.
But now the interest has become more and whenever I go for shopping never forget to get a small prop for my blog,it doesn't matter if its a big mall or dollar store.

10)How do you plan your blog posts? Do you post rarely,regularly or once a week?
I try to post 4-5 recipes per week but these days with a year old active girl at home its really difficult to post like before so i limited to 2-3 posts per week.

11)Do you have any other passions apart from food blogging or blogs you own?
Yes,I do embroidery,knitting and painting.But these days with my lil one its hard to find time to do,so I do it rarely.

Village style Chicken Stew/Kozhi Saaru

Ingredients:
Chicken(with bones)-1lb(450 gms)
Onion(finely chopped)-1
Green chilly-2
Turmeric powder-1/4tsp
Red chilly powder-1tsp
Curry leaves-1 sprig
Coriander leaves(chopped)-for garnishing
Oil-2tbs
Salt-1+1/2tsp

To saute and to grind:
Shallots-10
Tomato(medium size)-2
Ginger-1 inch piece
Garlic-4-5 cloves
Red chilly-3-4
Coriander powder-1tbs
Coconut(grated)-3tbs
Cloves-3
Cinnamon-1 inch piece
Fennel seeds-1tsp
Cumin seeds-1/2tsp
Black pepper-1tsp
Poppy seeds-1/2tsp

Method:
Wash and clean the chicken and cut into bite size pieces.Add the turmeric,red chilly powder and 1/2tsp of salt to it and mix it well.
Keep it aside.

Heat a pan with 2tsp of oil,crackle the fennel and cumin seeds then add the other whole spices.Now add the shallots,garlic and ginger,saute it till transparent.

Now goes in the chopped tomatoes,cook it until mushy,finally add the grated coconut and coriander powder,give it a mix.Put off the fire.Let it cool down completely,grind it to a fine paste.

Heat the pan with the remaining oil,once the oil becomes hot saute the onion,curry leaves and green chilly till transparent.Add the chicken pieces and saute till it changes the color.

Now add in the ground masala paste,salt and mix it well.Add 3 cups of water to it and cook it covered in a medium flame till the chicken becomes tender and soft.

Finally sprinkle the chopped coriander leaves and put off the fire.

This curry needs to be slightly watery so adjust the cocnsistency accordingly.

If you want to use ginger and garlic paste omit the whole ginger and garlic while sauting and use it while making the curry,after the onion is sauted.

Hope you all enjoyed Nalini's delicious chicken stew, stay tuned for an another guest post from an another young and newbie blogger soon.