Mon

"Hyderabadi chicken" kulambu
Rice
dry aloo gobi(with just a little gobi)

Sun

pizza

sat

aloo paratha and egg curry.
actually it was more like boiled egg with chutney.
i've taken a photo but have to find the cord to upload it :p

edit: uploaded the pic!

friday

appetizers from Chili's. that was our dinner.

Thurs

a light dinner, but a good one. Tried two new things...

First is savory scallion scones from here . Its the first time I baked or even tasted scones but they were terrific. I used lowfat cream cheese and skim milk and still they were great. Im definitely going to try more varieties of scones in the future.

We had this along with cauliflower soup. It was much tastier than it sounds!

Finished off with peach milkshake :)

Wed

Chayote squash and carrot sambhar
potato, capsicum fry
rice

Tues

black bean curry
cabbage and green bean poriyal
beet root raita
rice

The rest of this week....

Mon- we went out of town(few hours away only), since it was a holiday, so dinner was out too... at a place called Carrabas. It was really good actually. One of the best "american/italian" dinners out Ive had in a long time.
Sun- heavy lunch (buffet) at Hoysala's. Very nice "homestyle" food. But for dinner we just had a sandwich and tomato soup because we werent very hungry.
Sat- I cooked veg fried rice and scrambled egg for lunch
Later we went to friends house and for dinner they
ordered pizza(papa john's)
Fri- indian-chinese and ras malai from our fav sweet shop
Thurs- barbeque

wed

kadai paneer
kohlrabi greens/saag
paratha(store bought)

Sweets for the sweet

I wanted to make a nice sweet for my husband that was also somewhat simple to prepare, so I decided on lauki(bottle gourd) halwa. The first time I made this, my husband had never heard of using bottle gourd for halwa and thought it is my invention. Nope, unfortunately it isnt.... but it is very yummy and we prefer it to the ubiquitous gajar halwa.

Im not very good at writing out recipes, since im a "little of this, little of that" kind of cook... but I did manage to take a picture!

Lauki halwa

1 bottle gourd- peeled and grated
some sugar or jaggery(i used white sugar)- maybe half cup?
ricotta cheese
cardamom-powdered
pistacios and almonds chopped
ghee

Heat ghee slightly in a large pan and add the bottle gourd. Stir frequently and dont allow it to brown. Once it is softened and almost cooked add the ricotta cheese. keep stirring and stirring this until it pulls away from the sides of the pan and starts to become dry. once that happens add the sugar. it will become more wet again, and once it starts to turn light brown, it is done. add the cardamom powder.
Top with pistas and badam. Serve warm.

Enjoy!

This is my contribution to Meena's From My Rasoi

:)

happy val day

ok, i admit...... im not a romantic. i really dont find anything to celebrate in valentines day, except as a gimmick for companies to make money off flowers and chocolates and sometimes teddy bears which will only clutter up my place. i would personally feel getting a single rose in my favourite colour on a day which is NOT val day, to be more romantic than doing something thats expected. i also dont like to spend a lot of money, so in a way sometimes i think i have spoiled things that my husband would have wanted to surprise me with(by telling him dont spend on gifts for me). anyway, i did decide to make a nice dinner at least. ordinary but nice....

however, since i have taken so long to write abt this, unfortunately, ive forgotten all that i cooked...

I know there was
brinjal bhaji
kohlrabi sambhar
rice
rava dosa

-i forget what else :(

monday

went out to olive garden. im not sure why we did that since we werent in the mood. oh well.

Snowed in, part two

Sunday started with B making breakfast:eggs, potatoes, and toast.

Then we had a big lunch of avocado chapati, mutton curry, and a new red pumpkin and potato recipe which I found here. Im not very fond of pumpkin/hard winter squash usually, but this came out surprisingly good! I typically cannot stick to a recipe, but besides not measuring, I followed accurately, and it was a hit. I did make it drier, left out nigella, and I used kabocha squash/pumpkin and yukon gold potatoes. which were on sale at 5lbs for 99 cents. Nice!

Dinner was rava dosai and coconut chutney.

As if that wasnt enough, I also made Lauki(bottle gourd) halwa :p

Snowed In.... and pigging out

We got pummelled for more than a foot of snow this weekend. In preparation for it, we went to the grocery store and stocked up a lot. too much, really.

What better way to wait out the storm than with a little indulgence?

So, on Saturday we had bhel puri for lunch. Yippee!

Just a quick dinner of (frozen) fish and pasta with tomato sauce.

But then the dessert! Pineapple upside down cake :)

Nice and Simple

Today I went to an Amish market that Ive been wanting to check out for a while.
I got fresh "homemade" yogurt and butter, organic milk, and jalepeno jam(mmm!).

Dinner tonight was masoor dal cooked with zucchini, tomato, and butter. Stir fried carrot and kohlrabi. Cucumber and onion raita. With rice.

Thurs

Dinner was baby-bella mushroom-tomato curry with angelhair noodles.

Dessert: rose lassi

Lunch: Pho Ga(vietnamese)

Wednesday

-fish fry(white snapper)
-rice
-baingan bharta
-kala channa with methi leaves
-bathura

Tues dinner

Kootu with Chayote
(also called chow chow or bangalore kathrikkai(eggplant)
Vendakai pulikulambhu(bhindi/okra tamarind curry)
Rice
Yogurt
Appalam

Celebration continues

To celebrate the Steelers win(or thats just an excuse) I made "black and gold" muffins. Lemon and black poppyseed that is :) I meant to take a pic, but theyre all gone. Ooops!

Monday night, ordered pizza for dinner

Superbowl Snacking

I hate sports. Yes, hate is a strong word. I especially hate football.

But my DH likes it. And since we met/married/lived in Pittsburgh, he is a BIG Steelers fan.

Oooh, just found out at this minute, they won :)

Friends were supposed to come but in the end werent able to. So we had too much junk food :p

we had:
7 layer taco dip - with tortilla chips
spinach in pastry shells
mini samosas(frozen store bought)

Was pleasantly surprised with the taco dip. I thought this is good enough to share the recipe...

1st layer- can of vegetarian refried mexican beans, or make pintobeans masala- mashed
2nd avocado guacamole- just mash the avo. with lime juice and salt
3rd one 16oz container of sour cream mixed with a packet of taco seasoning
4th jar of hot/medium/mild salsa
5th spring onions chopped
6th shredded cheddar cheese
7th sliced jalepenos

saturday

Our friends had a birthday party for their son(1yearold).

We had a really nice time, and good food of course.

They had pakoras, poori, veg pulao, kadai paneer, veg korma, boondi raita, chicken kulambhu, palak gosht.

Friday

Hubby and I went out to Ming again. It was good, but not as good as last time. Should have stuck to the same order, hehe.

Wed

Butter chicken, capsicum, green peas subji and rice.

Penne Pasta Bake

Next to Indian food, my fav cuisine would be Italian. I LOVE tomatoes, and combined with olive oil, garlic and fresh herbs-- tossed together with pasta-- its heavenly.

1lb penne pasta(or ziti)

2-3T EV olive oil*
1 small red onion or half 1 vidalia- chopped
3-4 cloves of garlic(we like a lot)
fresh tomato puree or 28oz can of crushed tomatoes.
fresh basil leaves if possible**
dried thyme
dried basil
red chili powder
1t honey(optional)
black pepper
kosher salt
a handful of romano cheese(or parmesan)
8 oz or so of fresh mozzarella sliced(soft, moist, not rubbery) or regular shredded mozz

Boil the pasta while making the sauce, drain
preheat oven to 375-400
butter the bottom and sides of a large baking dish(9x13?)


Heat oil in a large pot. Add garlic, fry for a minute then add the onions and cook till lt brown. Add in the herbs and spices, then the tomatoes. Cover and simmer for about 10 mins. Turn off the heat and stir in the romano/parmesan cheese. Then mix the pasta into this. Pour it into the baking dish and top with mozzarella slices or shreds. For variation you could also use feta cheese. Bake around 30 mins or until cheese is melted.


*(be sure to use "extra virgin"olive oil which is the first pressing of the olives, and retains the most flavour, and is better quality, less processed)
** I make a chutney of basil leaves, some coriander leaves, lime juice, salt, and blend in a little olive oil. Then I freeze some. Its great to use later in recipes, when there is no fresh basil available.



If you are very ambitious, you can make your own fresh mozzarella!

tues

Penne pasta baked with tomato sauce and cheese.
Black olive tapenade with toasted italian bread
Broccoli

Mon- and a recipe

Dosa
sambhar
pork curry

We rarely eat pork. Maybe twice a year, if that.
But one day while grocery shopping there it was. On sale. Pretty and pink. So, I bought it, not having a plan of what to do with it.
Now, I had this pork to use up and a lot of dosai batter.
So, I thought what spices will go well with pork and this is what I came up with...

(measurements approximate- I never measure)

marinate the pork(cubed small) in some ginger and lots of garlic, a
little mustard paste and tumeric powder.
chop one large onion and one large tomato
1T coriander powder
1-2t cumin powder
red chili powder
fenugreek powder(not much. maybe half teaspoon)
lots of black pepper powder
mustard seeds
3cloves, cassia
curry leaves

-grinded coconut paste -optional- Or a little vinegar for sourness.

Put oil in pan and add mustard seeds,cloves,cassia and curry leaves. Add
onion and fry till translucent. Add pork and cook till outside changes
color. Add spices, tomatoes, and salt. Cook down the tomatoes and mash
with cooking spoon. Add some water, maybe a cup, cook
till desired thickness. I had abt a tablespoon of coconut chutney from
the night before so i added that in at the end! it was really good. We
had it with dosa but im sure it would be good with rice or roti too.

This is the second time Ive made it. It was excellent with the dosai!