Cooking Is Easy

Kaddu ki sabzi, is a quick an easy no onion-garlic pumpkin curry. A very mildly flavored easy pumpkin dish perfect with poori and roti. Pumpkin is known as " kaddu" in Hindi and "mathanga" in Malayalam, my husband just loves this dish so much that my mother-in-law says, while growing up Homey never liked any curry which has a slight sweetness to it. But once, he tasted kaddu in his Punjabi friends house while living in Haldawani (Nainital) he was so smitten with this curry that whenever she makes poori, kaddu ki sabzi is a must for him. I do often make for him and these days he has with phulka, the best part of this sabzi/curry is that the ease at which it can be made. No onions or tomatoes to be cut....the pure simplicity of this curry always amaze me. Pumpkin has a slight sweetness in itself, so to balance that Kashmiri red chili powder and green chilies are added along with other spices. The main flavor of this curry comes from the addition of fenugre...

Hershey's Brownies, is my favorite brownie and since I have found that I never looked further as it is perfect! Crunchy outside and ooey gooe inside. These brownies never failed me and I have made them countless times, I have also tweaked them a bit by adding some rum and raisins during Christmas time and also used as a base for my ice cream brownie pie . I have to tell you that these brownies are the BEST! and you got to try them ASAP. For the perfect brownie/cake, you should make sure that all the ingredients are brought to room temp and preheat oven. Do not place the batter in a cold oven and always understand your oven as each one is different. I always try to use the freshest ingredients while making cakes or brownies....and make sure that they are cooked through with the help of a toothpick. Though for brownies a slightly under-cooked texture is preferred....but the crust should be crisp...it also depends on personal tastes. This past Saturday, I celebrated 4...

Mathi (sardine) Mulakittathu is an easy Malabar fish curry . Nadan mathi mulakittathu is a special Kozhikodan dish, also known as meen mulakittathu or nadan meen curry. Meen mulakittathu is a typical Malabar style fish curry; if you have visited Kozhikode or live here, you might be familiar with this everyday curry. I first got introduced to meen mulakittathu a year ago; what stands out from the fish curry of my native place, Kottayam is that for sourness, tamarind water is used in Malabar fish curry. In our home, we are used to kudampuli or kokum and tamarind is mostly for sambar and rasam. Once, I learnt to make meen mulakittathu, I started using tamarind and was surprised to find my family loving the curry so much, and make when ever I get fresh sardines. Since, sardines (mathi) are in season now; and full of fat, it is best to make curry with fresh fish. The best thing about living in Kerala, is fresh fish all the year around. Sardines are cheap and full of omega-3,...

Strawberry Slab Pie. Slab pies makes you happy because it is so easy and fun to make! Seriously, this is something you should try out! Slab pie filled with strawberry jam is one of the easiest dessert, I love to make. The best thing about slab pies are the ease at which it can be made and served. For those who have not heard of slab pies; its simply a pie that you bake in a baking sheet or on a baking mat like I did. Unlike a tart, it is fuss-free and easy to put together. I took the tart base recipe of my Rustic Apple Tart . Spread out in rectangle, trimmed the edges and slathered some strawberry jam on one side of the rectangle, closed them and pressed the sides with a fork....and pricked them all over....and baked! I have this fetish for strawberries and strawberry jams are my comfort binge! You can try with fresh strawberries if you have them around (I envy you); just slice or chop them up (about 1 cup), mix in 2 or 3 tbsp of sugar and a tbsp of corn starch and a das...

Raw Mango Rice is one of the easiest quick meal that I whip up in the morning for my kids lunch box.  Raw mango or green mangoes are grated and mixed with rice. In Kerala we call it as "pacha manga choru". The best thing about living in Kerala is the abundance of raw mangoes during summers; I like to use them as much as possible. Do check out mango recipes for more. Left over rice is a must for me once school starts especially for my son. He has suddenly started to grow so tall and he needs some good carbs for lunch at school. His sudden "growth sprout" is making him more hungry and he keeps raiding my pantry when not at school. Well, if you have a 12or 13 year old son at home, you might understand me better. Mango rice can be done in about 7 min flat for me (remember I am super fast) yes, the grating of raw mango does take in a bit of time, I admit that....but as usual, I use my food processor for grating....and that does make me super fast when I...

Hello and hope you all had a wonderful week! Though mine was pretty bad! was down with a really bad chest infection and fever and body-ache. But, this cake made me better and cheered me up pretty fast. Yesterday, I became a year older and my kids surprised me with this at night. Really, birthdays does make you very special; even if you are ill and such pure tender love will make you glow inside out. And believe, me I really felt so good more than I felt in about 3 days! These days, my hubs tell me that I am very clumsy (well, that is not my fault entirely; its the ageing factor that is to be blamed, ha!) I dropped my clutch purse a couple of times while walking in the city along with my credit cards, drivers licence etc etc .....and since poor hubs was behind me; he picked it up and later gave me and warned me to be careful....but the same thing happened again in the next couple of days. Being a soft spoken person (I am the loud kind; opposites attract, wink! wink!) he again ge...

How To Make (Bake) Cake In A Pressure Cooker or how to make cake without an oven is a query I get often and though I prefer my OTG oven over everything else. I was forced to take my pressure cooker to bake this best-ever-easy chocolate cake. Want to hear more of this no oven cake? Let me clarify that I never imagined I will post this, this just happened due to some unforeseen circumstances. I am sure a few of my readers like Thaseen would be very happy that God made me into baking in a pressure cooker. You see, sometimes things never go as we plan; its decided by HIM. Monsoons, bring in a kind of chill and crispness to the weather here in Kerala, though I love rains, monsoon is my favorite season; it also brings in power outrages. At times the weather plays havoc with rains and wind lashing out, it is very common to experience power cuts due to snapping off lines by a fallen tree in the wind. And the day I decided to bake some more Texas sheet cake ; power snapped its  l...