T-shirt painting.

As the painting fever goes on..I also tried my hand on painting a tshirt. Priyanka has been a great inspiration for me. Her work is very impressive. Though I have done work on fabric before, painting on t-shirt was something which I have never done or thought of. After asking few tips from Priyanka, I decided to work on this t shirt. I was quite satisfied with the results and plan to do somemore.
Please do give me your suggestions and tips to do better.

Mungbean sprout rolls- quick snack recipes

I had bought these pastry sheets long time ago and it was lying in my freezer waiting to be thawed and used. I had a number of ideas on using them, but somehow never managed to find time.

Atlast yesterday, When I had the mung dal(green gram) sprouts, I thought of stuffing them in sheets. It came out good and tasted nice too.

So here's how I made them.

Ingredients-

Mung bean(green gram)-1cup sprouted

Onion-1 finely chopped

gingergarlic paste-1tsp

Chilly powder- 1tsp

salt to taste

garam masala- 1tsp

Pastry sheets- 10

Oil- 1tsp

Method-

Heat oil in a pan. Add ginger garlic paste. Saute and then add the onions and stir till it becomes translucent. Then add the sprouts. Add chilly powder, garam masala and salt and saute till everything mixes and the sprouts cook well.

Keep the sprouts mixture in the centre of pastry sheets and seal them with cornstarch mixed in water.Brush them with little oil.

Arrange them on cookie tray lined with baking sheet. Bake them at 180c for 30 minutes.

Serve hot with ketchup.

I am sending this to Hima who is hosting an event called "Sunday snacks"the theme being "bake it".

I am also sending my "bread custard pudding" for the same event.

And on the sweet note,Sireesha of moms recipes has passed me the "good job award". Thanks a lot Sireesha. I like to pass this one to Sukanya,Priti,Usha,Kitchen flavours,Purva,sangeeth,Divya,SMN.

Baingan Masala recipes- side dish for chapatis

After almost a week of heavy rains here, today its bit sunny. The rains and cold weather had made me really lazy and I found myself relaxing more than I wanted to. Also another excuse was that I had hurt my finger and after undergoing a minor procedure at the hospital, the doctor had advised not to get the fingers wet. So taking advantage of this, I had become even more lazy. I hardly cooked anything properly this week. I am planning make something good today. I hope I do it!!
I had made this baingan masala few days back. I get this small varieties of brinjal only in Indian stores which I visit only once a month. So I dont get to make this quite often. But it does tastes delicious and is always a hit at home. Heres how I make it.

Ingredients
Small brinjals- 5 to6
Onions- 1 big chopped
Tomato- 1(optional)
Ginger garlic greenchilly paste- 2tsp
Dried red chilly-2
Coriander seeds-2tsp
Channa dal- 1tsp
Til- 1tsp
Cloves- 2
Cinnamon-1
salt to taste
Turmeric powder- 1tsp
Asafoetida- a pinch
Oil - 3tbspn

Method-
Remove the green stalk portion of the brinjal and slit them twice. Rub little oil on them and fry them with 2tbspn of oil till the skin changes its colour. Remove and keep them aside.
Heat little oil in a pan. Add ginger garlic green chilly paste,cloves,cinnamon,dried red chillies,channa dal and coriander seeds. Then add the onions and saute for sometime. Then the chopped tomatoes .Saute for sometime. Grind together all the ingredients.
Heat oil in a pan. Add the ground mixture, then a pinch of turmeric powder,hing and salt. Add the brinjals. Cover with a lid and allow it to cook for 10 - 15 minutes till the brinjals absorbs the masala. Serve hot with chapatis.

Bread custard pudding

I was looking for a recipe for bread pudding without egg ,only because I did not have eggs at home that time. I wanted to make something with the available ingredients. I browsed through number of recipes and combined all of them together and finally came upon a very easy recipe with the available ingredients. It tasted ok,not that great, I felt I could have added a little more sugar and made it sweeter. But we had it with a scoop of vanilla icecream, it tasted good. Here's how I made it.

Ingredients-
Bread- 5 to 6 slices
Dryfruits- 1 cup(raisins,cranberries,apricots)
Custard powder of your choice-1tsp
Milk- 1/2litre
Sugar- 2tbspn

Method-

Boil the milk. Dissolve the custard powder in a little milk and add it to the boiled milk. Keep aside. Add sugar if the custard powder is unsweetened.
Lay the bread slices on a flat glassware. Moisten it with milk. You can try adding orange juice too. Then arrange a layer of dry fruits on the slices. Sprinkle with sugar. Pour the custard on the layers now.
Bake this for 20 minutes at 180c.
Chill and serve.

Coconut /thengai Barfi/fudge - diwali sweets recipe

Now I feel more and more confident each time I make barfi ,though I do feel a little nervous judging the consistency when the barfi sets. It came right this time too. I made this on the janmashtami day. Actually, a lot of delicacies are made on this day. It includes appam, murruku,thattai,seedai, aval and many others. I could not make anything more than appam and aval and of course the barfi. I couldn't take pictures of the appam and aval as I made them just before the pooja and then I did not have time later that day to do it.
However I could take pictures of the barfi. Here's how I made the fudge.

Ingredients-
Grated coconut- 2cups (Pl. remove the brown portion thoroughly to get nice white beautiful ones. I did not do it properly.)
Sugar- 1 cup
Milk- 1/2cup
Cardamom powder-1tsp
Ghee- 2tsp

Method-
Add ghee in a thick bottomed vessel. Add the grated coconut and keep stirring till all the moisture is gone. Then add the milk, sugar and cardamom powder and keep on stirring till you get a thick mass. Spread it on a greased plate. Flatten it well with knife. Allow it to cool a little and then cut them into pieces.
I am sending this barfis to Purva and Priti who are hosting the festive food event.

Banana choco shake- drink recipes

This is a very filling drink and I made it for our weekend breakfast. Usually I make it a point to make some fresh fruit juice, smoothie or milkshake during the weekend. So I get the opportunity to try out some different drink or juices with exotic fruits.Rest of the days, we never find time to have a proper breakfast ,it being just bananas or apples,oats or bread. This shake can be had at any time of the day.

Ingredients-
Banana-1 cut into chunks
Vanilla icecream- 3 scoops
Milk- 1cup
Cocoa powder- 2tsp

Method-
Blend all the ingredients together in a mixer till it becomes frothy.Pour in tall glasses and serve.
I am sending this drink to Srilekha's icecreams and milkshakes event.
And this also goes to Meeta's monthly mingle, this month's theme being "chocolate and fruit".

Vegetable Biryani- Restaurant style

       I did not know the difference between pulao and biryani around two years back when I was learning to cook. Then I learned that, in biryani , the rice is cooked seperately and then mixed with the other ingredients and spices. The first biryani , I tried making was with chole/chickpeas, the recipe I adapted ,found here.
Then I tried with the vegetables and came out really good. I followed the same recipe with some changes. Now I make this quite frequently. Its a little time consuming process, but worth all the efforts.It gives a typical restaurant effect. I usually make it on weekends for lunch and serve with plain curds or raitha.
      Definitely not a recipe for weight watchers as you have to be quite generous with the ghee , curd, milk etc. I make it less spicy as my son does not like it that way.

Ingredients-
Basmati rice-2and1/2 cups
Vegetables- (potatoes,cauliflower,carrots,peas,paneer cut into medium sized chunks)
Onions - 2 big sliced
Tomato- 1 cut into pieces
Whole spices-bayleaves-1
                       Cinnamon-1
                       Cloves-4-5
                       Cardamom/elaichi-4
                       Star anise-1
Biryani masala powder(commercially available)- 2tsp or (you can make your own masala..Masala powder recipe here, I have tried making it too and it gives a nice flavour when ground fresh)
Ginger garlic paste- 1tsp
Salt to taste
Turmeric powder -1tsp
Coriander powder- 1tsp
Saffron strands- few
Milk-1 cup
Curd -1 cup
Ghee -1/2tbsp
Oil

        Wash the rice. Add about 4 glasses of water. Add little salt and few drops of lemon. Boil the rice. Allow it to cook for sometime, but not completely. It should still be a kind of raw. Drain the water. Add some ghee to the rice and mix gently. The grains should be seperate.
         Place the saffron strands in milk and keep it aside.
Fry some onion slices in oil till it is golden brown.
        Heat oil/ghee in a pan. Add the whole spices followed by the ginger garlic paste and then the onions(reserve some slices) and keep stirring. Then add the tomatoes and mix well. Add the salt ,turmeric powder,coriander powder and biryani masala ,salt and cook till everything mixes well. Then add the vegetables. Mix and cook it properly. Add the curd and mix well. Switch flame after 4 minutes.
Now for putting it together, it is done in layers.
    Rub some ghee in a  thick bottomed pan(I use the pressure cooker pan). Arrange a layer of the rice Sprinkle some saffron milk on it.. Then spread a layer of vegetable masala along with some fried onions on it. Then a rice layer again with some saffron milk  followed by the gravy and then the fried onions. Arrange another layer of rice. Add a glass of water, cover with a lid . Place this pan on a tava and cook for around 10 minutes till the rice is cooked completely. Switch off the flame.
     Then mix everything properly. Serve hot with raitha.

Notes-
Add a good amount of milk saffron mixture for a nice flavour.
 Add ghee to prevent the rice being very dry.
Add some chilly powder to the gravy if you want it spicier.
You can also bake this in the end. See masoor dal biryani to check the baked version.

Easy Eggless banana bread recipe

After the pooja last weekend, I had so many bananas , a few ripened. So I decided to bake a cake with the ripe ones. I used the ingredients available with me. And it came out nice. It really tasted so good that it was over in no time.


Ingredients-
Self raising flour- 1 and 1/2 cup
Bananas- Mashed 6 small ones(You can reduce the number to 4)
Butter-1tbsp
Granulated sugar-1/2cup
Oil- 1/2 cup
Milk- 1/2 cup


Method-
Mix together sugar and butter till it is creamy. Add the mashed bananas ,oil and milk and mix well. Add the flour and mix well to form a thick batter. Pour it into a loaf pan. Bake in a preheated oven at 180c for 35 minutes. Cool it and cut into slices.

Stuffed snakegourd- Snakegourd recipes

I never knew what to do with snakegourd except making kootu with it. My mom used to make simple dry curry with grated coconut. Its my dad's favourite. However I found it very boring , unless I started making it by adding onions and groundnuts to enhance the taste. And then I saw this recipe in Jaya shenoy's book. Stuffing snakegourd seemed to be a good idea. So I made this and it tasted good - a good side dish for chapatis.

Ingredients-
Snakegourd- 2 medium sized
Potatoes- 6
Green chillies- 10
Red chilli-1
Oil- 4tbsp
Coconut gratings- 2tbspn
Lime-1/4
Rava-
Mustard seeds- 1/2tsp
Oil for roasting
Asafoetida mixed in water

Scrape off snakegourd skin. Cut lengthwise,discarding seeds. Wash ,apply salt and keep aside. Boil potato,peel and mash them. Add salt ,chopped green chillies,coconut gratings,and asafoetida water. Mix well and prepare a stiff dough.Season with red chillies ,mustard in oil. Add a little juice of lime.Make balls of dough and stuff the snake gourd.Smear a pan with oil. Dust each piece with rava and roast till both sides are brown.

Akki roti

I have now come to normal routine after a busy week followed by a busy weekend. First the Varalakshmi vratham , then avani avittam (sacred thread) . I made a typical south indian food for the avani avittam with sambar , rasam, kootu, curry, vadai, payasam. Unfortunately, I couldn't take the photo as I was really tired with the preparations and I was in no mood to do it. However, we dressed up my son in a panchakatcham (dhoti ) and here's the snap!!! Todays post is akki roti. This is a famous karnataka cuisine, which I learned from my cousin who stays in Mysore. I have been wanting to try it since a long time, and finally managed to make it last week. I will be sending this to Anisheetu who is hosting SWC karnataka this month.
Ingredients-
Rice flour- 1cup
Rava- 1cup
green chillies- 2 finely chopped
carrots-1 grated
salt to taste

Method
Mix all the ingredients together and make a firm dough. Make balls of the dough. Flatten the ball to a thin circle (using your fingers) in a kadai as shown in the picture above. Cover with a lid and allo wo cook for sometime. You can easily remove the roti from the kadai. No need to cook on the other side.
Serve hot with chutney.

Karuna of foodie by nature has passed me three awards-Beautiful site (nice pictures) award,Best blog darts thinker and brilliante weblog awards. Thanks a lot karuna.

Vaizhaipoo vadai recipe

Last two days,especially today was really busy for me. We were preparing for the Varalakshmi viratham which was celebrated in a nice manner today. I felt as if I was in India today as I had so many people visiting me for the Vethalai pakku/manja kungamam and I too visited many friends. So I had a wonderful time today. I could not find time to take photos of the food.
Time for today's recipe. I made this Vazhaipoo vadai last week. It was the first time I made something different with vazhaipoo instead of regular kootu and curry. This is how I made.

Ingredients-

Banana flowers- chopped fine. Refer here.
Chana dal- 1 cup

Onions- 1 sliced.

Coriander- Finely chopped.

Green chillies- 1/2 finely chopped

Haldi/turmeric powder- 1tsp

Salt- 1tsp

oil for deep frying.

Method-
Soak chana dal for 2 hours. Grind it coarsely. Add rest of the ingredients. Mix well. Deep fry them .

Serve hot with chutney.

Hurray!!! I baked my first bread- easy home made bread recipe

I was very tempted to bake a bread after seeing many bloggers attempting to make it and
getting wonderful results. But at the same time I was apprehensive about it and thought it was a very messy process and involved lot of work. I look for less work because I can do it only when my baby is sleeping.
Finally I decided one fine day to start my adventure instead of just brooding over it. I got a simple beginner's recipe from here. I started working with the yeast and then the flour. And then I was worried,"what if my dough does not rise? But it did and I regained my confidence.
The bread came out well, smelled good too.
This blogging has really made me enthusiastic. I keep looking for new recipes and certainly make me do things which I had never thought I will be even trying!!
What I learned from my mistakes-The crust was a bit thick due to prolonged baking time. I should reduce the baking time next time when I do it. The inner portion was quite soft and spongy.

Ingredients-
Wheat flour- 3 cups
Active dry yeast- 1 packet
Warm water- 3/4 cup
Milk- 1/2 cup
Butter-1tbsp
Salt- 1tsp
Sugar-1 1/2 tbsp

Method
In a large bowl, add warm water and then the yeast cells. Keep stirring till it dissolves. Then add the salt ,sugar,butter,milk. Mix well.
Then add flour gradually and keep stirring till the dough chases the spoon around the bowl. Keep the dough on a floured surface and knead well using your fingers until you get a smooth , elastic and non sticky dough. Keep this dough in a greased bowl so that the upper surface of the dough is greased.Keep it covered and allow to rise for 1 hour. After an hour , punch the risen dough and knead on a floured surface .
Preheat oven at 180c. Set the dough on a loaf pan. Let it rise again for 30 minutes. Bake the bread for 45 minutes till golden brown. Turn the bread on kitchen towel.

Bisi bela bhaat recipe (BBB)- Karnataka special

A popular cuisine of Karnataka, basically a sambar rice variety is a complete meal in itself. I love this delicious rice and make it very frequently. You can serve this with curds or raita and papads. If you start browsing,you will find different versions of making this rice variety. This is how I make.
Notes-
Use MTR bisi bella masala or you can even make it yourself.
Ingredients
Rice- 2cups
Tuvar dal- 1cup
Mixed vegetables- 1cup(potatoes,carrots,peas,cauliflower)
Onion- 1 chopped
Tamarind paste- 1tbspn
salt to tasteTurmeric powder- 1tsp
Oil- 2tsp
Mustard seeds- 1tsp
Jeera/cumin seeds-1tsp
Fenugreek seeds-1/2tsp
Ghee -1tbsp

Bisi bela masala-
  Use the readymade ones available in markets or try making this one.
Dessicated coconut- 1tbsp (optional)
Cinnamon- 1''
Cloves- 4-5
Whole pepper-4-5
Coriander seeds- 1tbspn
Tuvar dal-1tsp
chana dal-1tsp
Dried red chillies- 3
      Add the masala or  make the ground powder as per requirement. My son does not like it too hot, so I dont add more than 2tsp of the store bought bisi bella masala.
Method
Heat half a teaspoon of oil in a pan. Add tuvar dal,chana dal,coriander seeds,cinnamon,pepper,cloves and coconut. Saute for sometime. Keep it aside. Grind everything together. (if using coconut)
Soak rice and dal for sometime. Drain the water.
Heat rest of the oil in a pressure cooker. Add mustard seeds,cumin seeds and fenugreek seeds.
Then add the onions and saute till they are translucent.
 Then add the cut vegetables and tamarind water followed by turmeric powder and salt. Cook for sometime.
Then add the ground powder or the readymade masala.
Then add  the soaked rice and dal. Add salt. Mix everything properly and cook in the pressure cooker adding water as per requirement. The rice should be mushy(well cooked) and not too dry.
Serve hot with raitha and papad.

Maddur vadai - karnataka special recipe

I have tasted these vadais during my train journeys from Bangalore to Mysore. It used to taste really delicious,crunchy though a bit oily. I was looking for the recipe and I finally found it Jaya Shenoy's Dakshin bharat dishes cook book. I made them this weekend and was really good.
I am sending this to Anisheetu who is hosting SWC karnataka this month.


Ingredients
Chana dal- 1 cup
Cabbage - chopped -1cup
Grated coconut-1/2cup
Green chillies- 2 finely chopped
Til/sesame seeds- 1tbspn
Salt to taste
Oil for deep frying.


Method
Soak chana dal for an hour and then drain the water. Add the chopped cabbage and coconut gratings in it. Grind them together to a coarse paste. Then add sesame seeds ,green chillies and salt and mix well. Make small balls of desired size with the paste. Flatten them and deep fry. Serve hot.

Time for some awards-
Lakshmi, Sireesha and Uma have passed me the "Brilliante Weblog award" . Thanks a lot . I am so glad to receive it.
I would like to pass this award to Asha, Cynthia, Rosie,Chawanmushi, Maria, Sefa firdaus and Lisa.
Uma has also passed me these two beautiful awards.
I would like to pass these two awards to Lakshmi, sireesha, Priyanka, Vanisri, Anisheetu, Srilekha, Sukanya, Priti, Easycrafts. Congrats on your awards!!!

Vaizhaipoo parappu usli

Vaizhaipoo or banana flower/blossom is eaten worldwide and very popular in south Indian homes. It is widely available in Singapore and hence I make this quite frequently though I haven't had this much in India. It is known to be quite healthy also.

I usually make it during the weekends because my hubby helps me to remove the bracts and chop the flowers. Thats bit time consuming!!

Ingredients-

Whole Banana blossom- 1

Diluted buttermilk-1 cup

Tuvar dal- 1cup

Dried red chillies- 4-5

Cumin seeds/jeera- 1tsp

Salt to taste

Oil- 2tsp

Mustard- 1tsp

Udid dal- 1tsp

Channa dal- 2tsp

Method

Remove the outer sheath of the blossom. You will find a bunch of white flowers. Rub the whole bunch on your palms to snap of the white stemy portions(the anthers and stigma)that will not cook well. Chop the remaining portion and keep it in diluted buttermilk or turmeric water so that it doesn't blacken. You will find a pictoral description of how to do this here in case you are not aware.

Soak tuvar dal for 1 hour. Then drain the water. Grind it coarsely along with dried red chillies. Then make them into balls and steam them. Then after they slightly cool, crumble them nicely as shown in the picture below.

Drain the buttermilk from the Flowers. Heat oil in a pan. Add mustard, udid dal and channa dal. Then add the flowers and saute for sometime. Then add the dal and mix well.

Serve hot as a side dish with sambar rice.
Do see my craft bog for hand made magnets.

How to make Magnets with felt cloth!!!

I cut the felt cloth in the desired shape and stitched the sides with embroidery thread using blanket stitch. Then I stuck a small magnet on the back of the cloth. Fridge magnets are ready.
Tell me how you like them. So I made magnets with felt cloth. If you have any other idea on making magnets do share it with me. I will make them and put it here. If you have made magnets , do send me the photos at creativesaga@gmail.com. I will place them here.
Meanwhile , I am planning to make more articles with felt cloth. So keep visiting!!!
An update- Thanks for your comment Veda, I am sending this handmade magnets for your fridge magnet event!!

Vegetable chettinad curry recipe

I had already mentioned in my earlier post about the kitchen connect event we had in our bloggers meet last month. I got my ingredient from Sheetal. It was Khus khus or poppy seeds. She wanted me to make chettinad curry. I made it and it tasted great and the aroma was divine due to the spices in it. Here are the ingredients and procedure just as Sheetal had mentioned.
Ingredients
Boiled vegetables- 2 cups(I used cauliflower, carrots and beans)
Poppy seed- 2 tbspn
Cashewnuts- Broken in small pieces- 1 tbspn
tomatoes- 2 big ones
Curry leaves- 4
Haldi/turmeric powder- 1/2tsp
Red chilli powder- 1/2 tsp
Milk- 1cup
Oil- 3tbspn
salt to taste

For chettinad masala
Freshly grated coconut-1/2 cup
Coriander seeds- 1tsp
Cumin seeds- 1/2tsp
Dry red chillies- 3
Cardamom- 3
Fennel seeds- 1tsp
Cloves- 2
Cinnamon- 1"
Oil- 1tbspn

Method
Heat oil in a pan and fry the ingredients for chettinad masala till you get a roasted aroma. Keep aside. Soak the poppy seeds and cashewnuts in hot water for 5 minutes. Drain and grind it with the roasted masala ingredients to a smooth paste. Boil a vessel of water and dip the tomatoes sor 20 secs. Peel and deseed them .Chop into pieces. Heat the remaining oil in a pan. Add the curry leaves and cabbage. Saute for few minutes and then add the tomatoes, ground paste , Haldi powder, red chilli powder and salt. Cook till tomatoes blend well with the masala and oil seperates on the sides. Mix well and add one cup of water , boile vegetables and milk. Cover and simmer for a few minutes. Serve hot.
She also gave me a lovely box with a quote on friendship on it. Thanks Sheetal and I cherish our friendship forever!!!And I also would like to thank vani for her cute doll she presented me.

I am sending this to Srivalli's curry mela.

7 Cup Burfi/7 cup sweet - diwali recipe

As the name suggests, these burfi requires only seven cups of the total ingredients. I make this very often. It is very easy to make. As I had mentioned in my earlier posts, the only thing that scares me during making burfis is that I am not very sure at what consistency the burfi sets. But practice certainly makes things perfect. Today, I could make the burfi very comfortably without any hassles. I removed it from the flame at correct consistency and they set properly and it was soft and absolutely delicious. I am very happy with the developments in my burfi making ability!!! Begineers can start with this one. I have seen this recipe in many websites and magazines. One can be sure of good results.

Ingredients-

Gram flour/besan- 1 cup

Grated coconut- 1 cup

Milk- 1 cup

Ghee- 1 cup

Sugar- 3 cups( But I use only 1 3/4 cups, I find it sufficient, you can adjust according to your requirements)

Method-

Mix all the ingredients together in a thick bottomed vessel. Keep stirring (takes around 30 minutes) in a medium flame till you get a thick consistency. Pour it on a greased plate. Allow it to cool and cut into pieces.

Arbi Ajwaini- side dish for chapati recipe

Arbi or colocasia is one of the favourites at my home. But is prepared very rarely as I buy them only during my visits to indian shops. During the initial days of my marriage, my hubby used to say that his cousin sis makes the best arbi sabji. And whatever way I tried to make, it never was that good. Then during my recent visits to India, I met her and asked her the recipe for her arbi subji. And now I make it her way most of the times and my hubby is very fond of it. Thanks to my sis in law. She cooks really wonderful food and I got to learn so much from her. It was nice interacting with her, discussing and sharing so many new recipes. We rarely get to meet like minded people. I will post her recipe of arbi subji later.
My post today is a recipe of arbi sabji from Nita mehta's cook book. Arbi is combined with the masala of onion rings and flavoured with carom seeds or ajwain.

Ingredients-
Arbi/colocasia- 1/2 kg
Onions cut into rings - 2
Ginger - chopped fine-1/2"
Haldi-1/4tsp
Tomatoes- chopped- 2
Carom seeds/ajwain- 1tsp
Cumin seeds/jeera- 1/2tsp
Dhania/coriander powder- 1tsp
Salt to taste
Red chilli powder- 1/2 tsp
Amchoor powder- 1/2tsp
Chopped coriander- 1/2 cup

Method-
Pressure cook arbi with 3 cups of water and 2tsp salt to give one whistle. Keep on low flame for 4 minutes . Do not overboil. Peel and flatten each piece between the palms. Heat 2 cups of oil in a pan for frying.Put 4-5 pieces of flattened arbi at one time in oil and fry till golden brown. Remove from oil and keep aside. Heat 2 tbsp of oil in another pan. Add ajwain and jeera. Cook till jeera turns golden. Add onion and cook till soft . Add haldi and mix. Add tomatoes and cook for 2 minutes till soft . Add ginger and stir for sometime. Then add the chilli powder ,amchoor powder, salt and dhania powder. Stir to mix well and add 2-3tbspn water. Boil. Add fried arbi and mix well. Add hara dhania and green chillies .Stir fry for 2 minutes.
And yes happy friendships day to all of you!! I was so touched when priyanka had made such beautiful cards for us for the occasion. I always admire your zeal and enthusasiam for everything!! You inspire me!!!Thanks Priyanka.

Banana chocolate chip muffins recipe

Sweet and simple bakes, the monthly bake recipe , this time was muffins. I was so excited because this was the first time, I made muffins. I always wanted to make this cute cup cakes when I saw the beautiful, mouth watering pictures in other blogs and so got a muffin pan very recently. And wow , this month we had to bake muffins. Thanks to Rosie and marie for such simple recipes which are very useful to people who are baking for the first time.
I followed exactly the same recipe and the muffins turned out really good. They were very soft and spongy. The aroma was great and I loved the banana flavour.

 Ingredients-
3 very ripe bananas
125ml vegetable oil
2 eggs
250g plain flour
100g caster sugar
½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
150g dark/milk chocolate (white chocolate or butterscotch chips/morsels)

Method-
Preheat the oven to 200ºC/180ºC fan oven/gas mark 6 and line a 12-bun muffin tin with muffin papers.

Mash the bananas and set aside for a moment.Pour the oil into a jug and beat in the eggs.

Put the flour, sugar, bicarbonate of soda and baking powder into a large bowl and mix in the beaten-egg-and-oil mixture, followed by the mashed bananas.

Fold in the chocolate morsels, then place equal quantities in the prepared muffin tin and bake in the oven for 20 minutes.

Now I am looking forward for the next bake. Hope its as simple as this, but definitely challenging. I would love to try baking something new.