Rendez Vous With A Foodie - Sathya Priya of My Kitchen Odyssey

Every 7th and 20th of a month,you guys would have noticed that am inviting few of my new buddies to share their guest post in my space, seriously am blessed to get this much generous friends in this virtual world.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. Since ever i started this event, its running with huge success and all my guests never surprised me with their humble and delicious dishes.Today is one more fantastic blogger who never stopped sharing many traditional and many more stunning foods.

She is Sathya Priya of My Kitchen Odyssey, she shares many beautiful Chettinad dishes in her space along with some International foods too. Seriously Sathya Priya is a newbie blogger and her blog is just six months old.She left a comment asking whether she can make a guest post for me, how wonderful na,obviously i mailed her with the details and trust me she send me back her guest post within three days. Thanks to Sathya for being this much fast so that i can schedule the guest post for today before two months earlier coz i'll be in India while this post is up in my space. Coming to Sathya Priya's space, if you are an ardent fan of Chettinad cuisine dont forget to go through her space, some of my favourite dishes from her space are Vellai Paniyaram,tongue tickling Maangai Pachadi and the list goes on.

Now lets hear from Sathya Priya of My Kitchen Odyssey..

1)Tell us about your blog and you?
I am sathyaPriya new blogger.I started blogging 6 months ago .My blogsite is My Kitchen Odyssey.In my blog you can see lots of chettinad dishes and other dishes that we love .My theme is do it from scratch and be healthy.

2)Before and after blogging, tell us what blogging changed your life?

I feel alone all the time after i come to US so wanted to have some friends and the neighbourhood here is like a city, all ppl are busy with their work.I should have a hobby /friends to keep me busy.So that why i started to blog .

I got lots of friends, i am learning new things everyday.Blogging keeps me busy and gives me immense pleasure.

3)When and what motivated you to blog about food?

I always wanted to try many new dishes and want to impress my husband and kid.I usually forget the recipe which i do.thats how i started to  write .So i can keep track of my recipes and inspire others to cook.

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?

I come from karaikudi where chettinad food is very famous.So i cook chettinad specalities and all of the dishes i share are totally made from scratch (home made) .I always try to give step by step pictures for the beginers to cook with ease .And last but not least i always want to eat a healthy food and give viewers a healthy food.

5) When it comes to cooking, who is your inspiration?

My First insipiration is grandma .Always she used to cook diff varieties and love to feed us.

Next is my mother-in -law she cooks delicious food with in minutes .I wonder how she is so quick.And ofcourse my mom she always do fresh and 3 diff veggies when we were kids.So love her freshness and affection.My friends,relatives list is countless.

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?

First when i started blogging i dont know how and where to start.Then after few days of research i found guest post is a wonderful intro for a new blogger.so was thinking of guest posting .

But i am a new blogger ,how will i do that.when i shared my post in google plus i came to know linsy .She is a very wonderful person .I did  a guest post in her blog and got a very good introduction.

7)What is your best recipe and your favourite recipes you have blogged till now?

Pineapple salsa is my favourite.Because its very diff from  what i do everyday .Its very healthy ,easy recipe.

8)Few tips about food photography?

When your viewers see your blog your photo gives them the first impression .If its impressive they start reading further.I mean the photo should be appetizing.

When i started my blog i am zero in photography .Now i know how to present the food .

9)What is your budget for the props,do you have any or else do you manage with your household stuffs?

I will manage with my household stuff itself.I always wanted to make a recipe with the things i have in my hand.That is a challenge to me.When there is a baking recipe i will get them apart from my budget.

10)How do you plan your blog posts? Do you post rarely,regularly or once a week?

I post alteast 3-4 post a week.

11)Do you have any other passions apart from food blogging or blogs you own?

I love to save money apart from blogging.So used to collect coupons.now i dont have time to collect them.Photography ,music ,designing are the few fields i love .

Pal Kolukattai:

I grew up in Karaikudi a relatively well known town in the chettinad region of Tamilnadu. Chettinad region boasts of palatial houses and chettinad food is famous world over renowned for the uses of aromatic spices.There are a few dessert dishes unique to chettinad and paal kozhukattai is one among them.

This is my mom's recipe.She used to grind the rice dough by soaking the rice and grinding it in wet grinder. When we were kids during holidays my mom used engage us a little by asking us to shape the kozhukattai. We used to have lots of fun with the dough.

I thought of making this the traditional way but was a little sceptical because of the complexity. Also I was a little worried that my daughter would use this as substitute for her play-doh.

So I did it the easy way and got it done in no time.

Preparation time:5 min

Cooking time:15 min

Serves:2-3

Ingredients:

1 cup rice flour

1 cup jaggery

4 1/2 cups water+1 cup 

2 tbs coconut

Murukku press

Method:

heat one cup of water until it bubbles.

Sieve the rice flour and place it in a mixing bowl and add the heated water to it and mix well.

The dough is ready.

Keep the murukku press handy.

Heat 4 1/2 cups of water until it boils (Until bubbles rise).

Separate the dough in to 2 and roll them between your palms to a large cylindrical pieces.

Keep the dough inside the press and start pressing it (It might split in between but keep pressing).

Lower the heat and get the second part inside the press.

Pic3 shows the traditional method of rolling the kozhukattais

Increase the flame and press the second part of the dough into the hot water.

In the mean time grate the jaggery and remove the impurities.

Wait until the dough boils and rice dumplings become opaque.

Add the filtered jaggery and stir it until  everything starts thickening.

Finally add coconut and cardomom and switch off the flame.                      

Paal kozhukattai is ready to be served .

Note:

It will be piping hot ,serve after it cools down a little.

1 cup is the right level amount of jaggery . But you can adjust according to your taste and jaggery nature.

Cardamom is optional.

Add more coconut if you like to taste it more in the dish.

Thanks very much for this great opportunity priya.

Hope you all enjoyed this droolworthy Pal Kolukattais cooked up by Sathya Priya, stay tuned for an another guest post by an another blogger soon.