Aloo Anardana

Made in as roy will call it - Raga's Cheating style.

Peel and cut in smallish cubes 2 big potatoes. Boil in microwave till it is fully cooked. In teh mean time Finely chop one small onion and 2-3 green chillies. Half a pomegranate ( peeled and fresh ofcourse )

Heat some oil in a pan. Mustard, jeera, chillies and onion gets thrown in. Saute for a while till onion is not raw. Add a pinch of haldi, salt to taste, a pinch( seriously only a pinch - we have green chillies remember ?) of redchilli powder. Throw in the poatatoes and pomegranate. I also added half a small tomato since i needed to use it up :P ! Mix it well. Add a full tablespoon of sambar powder. Yes, I am serious.Satuee for a few minutes till all the masala mixes and cooks with the potato. Since the potato is fully boiled you only have to do this for a few minutes.

Garnish if you have the patience with a sprig or two of cilatro finely chopped !

Enjoy :) !

Before and After

Before you became my baby,
Kutti, Where were you ?
I think you were a wish,
Just waiting to come true.

Before I became your Amma,
Kutti, where was I ?
I was always searching for you
In the starry skies.

Finally we met,
on a moonlit summer night.
It is you It is you,
I sang in delight

Without a fuss or worry
You snuggled against me
I knew that very instant
This was meant to be.

A new story began,
Resounding with joy and laughter
Kutti, thats the very beginnning
of our Happily ever After.

- Love Amma.

Mowgli is almost 11 months old. I keep flying back to a year ago. I will remember soo many things that he has no idea about. So I write.. for you my little kitten, I write.

Soup Matrix from Nytimes

Really neat.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/06/magazine/06eat-t.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=soup%20recipes&st=cse

Matar Paneer

Yes, but I had never made it this way before and it turned out just Yumm. This madhur jaffery recipe has been slightly modified by me. Serves 4.

1 big Onion
Nice big piece of ginger

Grind the above two together to make a nice paste. In a pan heat some oil and fry the onions and ginger. Add salt, turmeric, red chilli flakes ( yes the one you use on pizza) and fry together. Add garam masala and fry. Add tomato (3-4)puree and cook well till the masala is well cooked. Add Matar(250gms) and Paneer (400gms) and a big spoon of yogurt and cook on low flame.

When paneer is well cooked garnish with finely chopped cilantro leaves and serve hot !

Bon Apetit.

Basic Cookie Dough

1/2 c. butter
1 c. sugar (granulated or powdered
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
2 1/2 c. sifted all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder

Mix butter with sugar. Beat with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla until well mixed. Add flour and baking powder and blend well. Refrigerate overnight in a airtight container.

Its not very sweet at all. So you can add honey, walnuts. choco chips etc etc to make any version of cookies.

Bake at 425 for about 5-8 minutes.

Orange Cake

See Lemon Cake.
Replace Lemon Zest and Lemon Juice with twice the amount of orange zest and orange juice (Additionally I used some of the strained pulp as well).
Also I added 1/4 cup more sugar.

Lemon Cake

Step 1:

2.5 Cups Flour
1.5 tsp baking powder
0.25 tsp salt

Mix the dry ingredients together and keep aside.

Step 2:

1 Cup Butter
1.5 Cup Sugar

Beat the above together.

Add 2 large eggs and 2 egg yolks
+ 1 tsp vanilla essence
+ 1.5 tsp lemon zest ( grated lemon peel)

Whisk above to together well into a smooth mix.

Now Slowly beat in 1/4 cup freshly squeezed and strained lemon juice. It may look like its going to curdle but beat it into a smooth mix.

Step 3 :

At this point fold in the dry mix along with 1/2 cup of milk alternating the two to get a nice even batter.

Step 4 :

Pour into a greased baking dish and bake at 425 for 25 minutes.

For the Topping:

Chopped fresh strawberries
1 Cup Fat free whipped cream. ( I used cool whip)
1 tbsp sugar

Mix the above in a bowl and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

After cake is done and cooled down, evenly spread this on top of the cake and refrigerate until you serve. Alternately you can split the batter to make two small cakes and use this as a layer in between.