Cooking Is Easy

Channa Masala is a comfort food for me....I love the combo chole bhatura (channa masala with bhatura). Whenever we go out to have dinner I usually order chole bhatura. The reason why restaurant curry is different from our home cooked one is because they cook the channa with a fat pinch of soda powder.....that gives a unique flavor and makes the channa to be soft when cooked. I made this yesterday for dinner and thought I will share this today. I have mentioned earlier that my mom in law lived in Nainital, Uttarkhand for a pretty long time and she makes this often and I actually learned it from her (most of the North Indian recipes I make has been handed down by her). I love the way she makes phulkas (Indian flatbread) with such ease and love the way they puff up when she puts it on top of fire.... I soaked the channa for about 4 hours and cooked in the pressure cooker for about 7 min with a fat pinch of soda powder and salt. The soda powder also makes it t...

Hi friends....sorry for this short break...I was down with viral fever....it was Cheriyan who brought the so-called-virus home from school and one-by-one all four of us fell sick.....now the best thing about being sick is that when you get sick.....the whole house will be like a war zone....total chaos....and when you go into deep slumber with the antibiotics and the virus playing inside ..... you will be awakened for asking how many tsp of detergent to be put in the washing machine or amma I am getting bored with Kanji (rice porridge) I need something special......while the only thing I would want to do is sleep and sleep and sleep. Finally, I am back on my feet but the house do look like some war struck place and I frankly dont know from where to start.... Now coming to the Swiss Roll or Jam Roll as it is more commonly known in India. Our friends Jaya and Renil whenever they visit us.....they bring this Jam roll from Kanjirappally, a tiny village in Kerala ...it has wo...

Paneer / Cottage Cheese Crescents , .a few days ago while pouring milk to boil ....I accidently poured one packet of curd instead of milk into the pan.....two packets of milk plus one packet of curd....all this happened in the morning rush hour... and when my loud oh! nooooo! exclamations came from the kitchen hubby dear looked into the matter....when he heard what happened....you should have seen his face....all smiles.....because he loves paneer more than anything else.....my mom-in-law used to say that as a young boy...whenever she makes paneer and leave it to set.....Homey used to sneak and have his full of raw paneer....by the time she comes to cook dinner....there will be only the cloth without the paneer!!!. So you can imagine his happiness when I told him that I poured curd accidently into the milk...I could see the twinkle in his eyes....when I started to turn them into paneer. Now both my kids don't like paneer....so when I saw these at Roxana's spac...

Chocolatechip Shortbread The best thing about shortbread is that it takes less time to make compared to making cookies.....(no rolling the dough into a cookie)....cream butter and sugar... add flour...... press into a pan and bake it....yes, thats it!!!...this is one of my kids favorite shortbread ..... and the easiest!!. I love the chocolatechips on top....It gives enough chocolatey flavour....though Nidhi likes to top it with chocolate sauce....either way it is yummy!!! I came  across  this while surfing the net and thought I will share it...it is a brief history of shortbread cookies.........."They started in Scotland way back when cooking, compared to today's standards, was crude.                                         Of course they have evolved over time to what we know today.  The original shortbread cookie recipe probably included ...

Remember that cookie book which I got from the roadside vendor and from which I made whole wheat chocolate chip cookies ...well that cookie book is indeed a treasure house of cookies....this peanut butter cookie is a traditional recipe and I made it last week.....peanut butter cookies are instantly recognizable by their criss cross marks (made by the tines of fork). This one is easy to make and not much effort if using an egg beater.

This week was rather hectic...kids not well...Homey on tour.....and before I knew it was Thursday!!! .....I had made palak paratha a few days ago...I love making parathas with greens...kids love them in their lunch box...today its methi paratha in their lunch box.....the best part is that you can saute the greens and keep in fridge for 2 or 3 days...I usually do this and mix them with wheat flour in the morning ...usually for kids lunch box.

Kozhukattai is a traditional snack of South India...amma used to prepare it as an after soon snack.....It is one of the healthiest snack with rice flour, jaggery, coconut. Hot water is poured into the rice powder, salt, and mixed with a spoon. When it is warm enough to handle, roll into small balls and put a tsp of scarped coconut and jaggery mix into it and again roll it into a ball and steam it. Ingredients: Rice flour: 2 cup.(easily available in Indian Stores). Water: 1 1/2 cups-2 cups. Salt: 1/2 tsp. Grated coconut: 1/2-1 cup. Palm jaggery/jaggery: Grated or crushed, about 1/2 cup. 1 or 2 drops of oil to grease your hand. Cardamom: 1 or 2, crushed. Method: 1. Mix coconut, jaggery, cardamom and keep aside. 2. Boil water with salt in a pan...add 1 or 2 drops of oil...when it is boiled and pour it little by little over the rice flour mixing with a spoon and make it into a soft dough...the water is just enough to make it into a dough. 2. A llow it to cool and...