Love and Calories!!

My last few days at Chesterfield, home alone, cherishing all the happy memories of the last 4 years. Spent whole day flipping through the photographs with a hot mug of Coffee relaxing on my recliner. I was in no mood to cook but then getting hungry is human, so I had to visit my kitchen to see what could be made. I decided to go light today so made use of all the remaining veggies (to clear off the fridge) to make a healthy Vegetable Soup. I finished off making a warm, healthy, filling soup for my lunch just within half an hour & went back to my couch only to get more lazy. Sometimes its good when you do nothing at all!! ;) Ingredients: 1/2 of medium cauliflower (cut into florets) 2 medium carrots (peeled & finely diced) 1 cup of fresh or frozen peas 1 medium potato (finely diced) 1 medium onion (finely chopped) 2-3 cloves of garlic (crushed) 25 gm butter salt & pepper to season Method: Melt the butter in a pressure cooker. Now add the crushed garlic & the chopped ...

A super spicy, Egg ilicious recipe coming straight from my native, The "Keral Style Egg Roast". It has an authentic Kerala touch to it as a generous amount of coconut oil & lots of curry leaves are added in this dish. This dish is very popular in every Kerala household as well as the local restaurants & is a great accompaniment to Vele Appam, Idi Appam, Pathiri, Parotta or any other steamed pancake or Indian bread. As I write this, my mouth has already started watering and am missing Kerala big time. I make this every time, when there are no veggies stocked in the refrigerator. It is so simple, quick & easy to prepare with less ingredients. All you need is some onions, tomatoes, EGGsetra.... :) Ingredients: 4 eggs (hard boiled) 2-3 medium onions (sliced finely, lengthwise) 3 large tomatoes (finely chopped) 2-3 green chillies (slit lengthwise) 1 tbsp of ginger - garlic paste 1/2 tsp red chilli powder 1/4 tsp turmeric powder 1 tbsp coriander powder 1 tsp meat masala...

Now you must be thinking, who doesn't know to make Rava Upma? What is so special about it? Every 5th person residing in India knows to make it and is a common breakfast item in almost all the Indian household. We Indians take this dish for granted. Well up until a week back, even I thought the same about this dish and looked down on Rava Upma. Not anymore. Last week I read a news about an Indian born, New York Chef Floyd Cardoz who won the top prize of £100,000 in an American show called "Top Chef Masters". No prize for guessing, he made RAVA UPMA!! After reading the article, I immediately decided that the recipe of a basic version of Upma must be on my blog. And here I am sharing the if not a "million dollar", then atleast a "hundred thousand dollar worth Upma Recipe". :) Upma is a popular South Indian Breakfast dish, mainly prepared by Semolina. It has a great resemblance with the Italian Polenta. It can be made with many variations by adding vegeta...

Amidst all the moving and packing, I literally am not getting time to write or cook up for my blog. Today, was a bit free and got time to rest for a while but my hands were itching to write something on my blog. I guess, this is what happens when you are addicted to something. But I am liking this. So Putting up a simple recipe which is very easy to make or rather bake. I had stored some from last week's preparation for my evening nibbles. :) Now who doesn't love "croutons" in their soups or salads. I love them and they are the reason why I drink soups. Those crunchy cubes when soaked in a hot creamy soup, just melts away in your mouth giving you that strong garlicky - buttery taste. mmm.... "Croutons", is a French origin where the stale crust of bread was baked and topped it on the famous French Onion Soup. And as usual, once a hit, always a hit. Enjoy baking them at home!! Ingredients: 2 french baguettes or 5 slices of white bread (cut into 1/2 inch cubes...

We are a little busy with our house hunting and very soon will be shifting our base from Chesterfield. Its been 4 years here in this small countryside & it scares me to move to a bigger town. I am now used to the sheeps, meadows & the English charm over here that the fast paced life of a bigger town is making me uncomfortable. And the "House Hunting" is a pain in itself too, there is nothing like a perfect house which you can call it your home. I was very particular about my kitchen & when we found this perfect house, I had to compromise on my condition...I am getting a HOT PLATE instead of a gas burner...I so hate it...(U know, I don't get my "phulkas" right on those round flat plate....and u just don't know, which of the hot plate is switched on...Blah!!) But the house is good. Perfect for the two of us, loved the garden and the outside space where I have already started thinking of doing BBQs. :) And when we went to recky this new town, ...

Took a break from blog & cooking for a couple of days as I was in a mood to celebrate!! That's right, Arun and I celebrated our 4 years of married life on 10th June. Phew, time truly flies in just a snap!! (Below is our wedding snap, a perfect South Indian Wedding shot...please don't laugh at it.;). So I was in no mood to cook that day & told Arun that the meals of the day will be either frozen, take away or a dine out. He preferred the third one. ;) So we went to one of our favourite food joints {Did I tell you, that we live in a place called Chesterfield, a Historic Market Town in UK & don't have much choices around here ;)}, "Frankie & Benny's."My god, we both die for those thin crust Italian Pizzas & the cheesy gar(lick)y bread which melts in your mouth like a candy floss...Aah! Now, I have to tell you what we ordered, because it was that good. ;) For starters, we ordered their famous garlic bread with crispy coated chicken ...

The name "Dahi Vada" itself makes my mouth drool. The soft, spongy vadas immersed in a chilled spicy, creamy yoghurt just melts in your mouth like an ice-cream. It looks oo like an ice-cream...Kind of Chocolate sauce drizzled over large Vanilla Ice-cream scoops. YUM!! There is so much going on, in a single bite that your taste buds will have an explosion of sweetness, saltiness, spiciness, all at the same time but yet you will be able to tell, what taste is coming from where. For my blogger friends who are not from India, let me tell you what exactly Dahi Vada is. "Dahi" means yoghurt in Hindi & "Vada" is the lentil fritters. These fritters are deep fried & then soaked in a spiced chilled yoghurt & then topped with a sweet chutney or sauce. This is one of the popular accompaniment or a delicacy prepared in an Indian cuisine. Both North & the South Indians prepare this dish but with a slight variation. Some like the yoghurt mo...