lassi with rabdi for Mahashivratri

Today is Mahashivratri

 day dedicated for the worship of Lord Shiva

 I started the day with a bowl of roasted lotus seeds and chai had to eat something to start the day went to Shiva temple with a friend to pray and did Jal Abhishek

 and for dinner I am planning to prepare  Kuttu Paratha ,alloo bhaji and chach.
As its too hot here in Singapore I thought of preparing Lassi today noon time  had some rabdi in the freeze which I had prepared few days back so thought of topping the lassi with the rabdi and I am so glad I did this lassi with rabdi reminded me of the lassi which we get in our hometown tall kulhad with thick lassi topped with rabdi ya guys during festival I am nostalgic and I try to create the food which we used to have during our childhood days...

recipe name Lassi with Rabdi 
ingredient 
curd one cup
ice cubes
sugar half tsp
rabdi one tsp ( recipe of rabdi blogged here )
saffron pinch
chopped pistachio half tsp

procedure
churn yogurt ,sugar and ice cubes in a blender
top it with rabdi ,saffron strand and chopped pistachio
indulge and feel blissed :-)
other lassi recipes blogged on Asan Khana
Malai wala Lassi
Gulabi Lassi
Kulhad wala Lassi
Phalahar /Fasting recipes are blogged here 

wish all the readers of Asan Khana happy Festival ,
take care and happy blogging

weekend cooking - Palak Paneer

This post is again a  weekend story which was again harried one  becuase Advay was down with the flu bug so after  closing all the windows so that he is not exposed to the breeze I tiptoed in the kitchen thinking of preparing the palak paneer curry, as in anticipation of the weekend I had prepared the paste of spinach and kept it in the fridge ya doing this makes life easy specially on weekends so while the curry simmered and the panner was taken out of the freezer to be thawed I prepared chapathis no side dish no salad  this frugal meal of saag paneer and chapathi satiated us like anything :-)

Recipe Name Palak Paneer /Saag Paneer /Cottage cheese cooked in curried spinach sauce 
Recipe source kitchen experiement 
Ingredient 
One whole pack of spinach
250 gm cottage cheese cubes
for the curry 
onion two choped coarsely into four pieces
ginger half inch
garlic clove five
tomato one chopped coarsely
salt as per taste
one tsp each of red chili,coriander and turmeric powder
cumin seeds half tsp,
pinch of asafoetida
for the tempering
ghee one tsp
cumin seeds half tsp
asafoetida one fourth tsp
dried red chili crushed two
Preparation
-boil water in a sauce pan and once the water is boiling add spinach leaves
cook the spinach leaves till they are tender ,drain the water and let it cool
prepare paste of the spinach leaves and keep aside .
-thaw cottage cheese cubes by keeping them in a bowl of water
- make coarse paste of onion ginger and garlic
- make paste of tomato and mix red chili,coriander and turmeric powder
Procedure 
heat oil in non stick wok add cumin seeds and asafoetida and let it splutter
add the onion ginger garlic paste and keep stirring till it starts becoming brown
add the spiced up tomato paste and stir till oil is seen on the sides
add the pureed spinach and salt and let it simmer for 10 minutes
Before serving
add the thawed cottage cheese to cooked spinach puree
mix thoroughly add one tsp of garam masala powder
in another small pan heat one tsp of ghee once warm
add half tsp of cumin seeds,dried red chili one crushed and pinch of asafoetida
pour the tempering on the cooked sag paneer
serve warm with chapathis

.and the next day baked pizza with the same curry as I had the dough ready in the freezer ya life becomes easy if you have some curry ,pizza dough and cheese specially on the weekends

this is what I did - smeared the curry sauce on the base crumbled cottage cheese few slices of onion and tomato and topped it with mozarella cheese thats all :-)

Thats all friends,wish you all happy week ahead
take care and happy blogging

Baking for kids - Cakes :-)

Last week during swiming class Advay's friend started crying so to console her I told her that I gonna bake a cake for her the next class ,I asked her whether she likes blueberries she said no aunty I dont like blueberries,I like strawberry I said okay will bake the same .
Advay who was listening to our conversation said that Mummy you can't bake starwberry cake because you are not a chef :( I was like okay we will see...

Come wednesday I searched for recipe on the internet and zeroed in for a particular recipe from the internet 

Advay comes back from school and sees the cake ,

Advay -"Mummy you have baked cake for her not for me ."

Me" but you guys can share this cake. "

Advay-" I want to eat chcocolate cake ."

Me-" okay will bake for you next week :-(."

\thankfully he eats the strawberry cake 

two days later again I am searching on blogosphere for chocolate cake  recipe   I bake the cake with my own modifiavtion and ya  the cake was devoured till the last crumb.
sharing with you all both the cake recipe which I have modified

Recipe Name Eggless Strawberry Cake
Recipe adapted from kurry leaves and eggless cooking 
baking time 20 minutes 
baking temperature 110 degree centigrade
Ingredient 
Dry Ingredient
All purpose flour one cup
sugar half cup
salt pinch
baking soda half tsp
Wet Ingredient 
Crushed starwberry /pureed strawberry half cup
oil one fourth cup
vinegar half tbsp
strawberry essence one tsp
Preparation 
preheat the oven to 110 degree centigrade
prepare the baking tray by rubbing few drops of oil ,keep aside .

Procedure 
In a mixing bowl mix all the dry ingredients and keep aside.
In another mixing bowl mix all the wet ingredients .
Add the strawberry mix to the dry ingredients ,gently mix.
Pour the mix into the cake pan and bake for twenty minutes .

Recipe Name Eggless Chocolate Cake with Choco Chips
Recipe adapted from Mery Tummy
baking time 15 minutes
baking temperature 110 degree centigrade
Ingredient
Dry Ingredient
all purpose flour one cup
cocoa powder two tbsp
salt pinch
baking powder half tsp
Wet Ingredinet 
sugar half cup
butter one fourth cup
curd half cup
chocolate chips one tbsp
Preparation
preheat the oven to 110 degree centigrade
prepare a cake pan and keep aside

Procedure
Sift the flour ,cocoa powder ,salt and baking powder in a mixing bowl,keep aside.
beat sugar and butter in a mixing bowl till its frothy
add yogurt and mix further for few minutes
fold in the flour mixture followed by the choco chips
 pour the batter in the prepared pan and bake for 15 to 20 minutes.
The strawberry cake was packed for the little girl

Linking this post to 
Lets Cook sweet treats for Valentines hosted by Simply Food.
Kids Delight event hosted by Nivedhanam ,event started by Srivalli .
Theme for this month being After School Snack.
Thats all guys,wish you all happy week ahead.
take care and happy blogging.

yet another harried weekend cooking story

These days I don't remember whats the date ,only when I am making my son do his homework I check the  phone for the date or I ask him,ya life has been so busy lately but still I manage to read books,listen to songs,paint and do other things which make my soul happy :-)
When my weekdays are like this you guys can imagine about weekend I have to time everything this much time for cooking ,then two hours for sitting with my son for the homework and test preparation and thus it goes on, this weekend I thought of preparing masala omelet as had some wholewheat buns so the breakfast was planned in a minute thankfully had some eggs in the fridge and green mango and mint chutney paired with a big mug of coffee

by noon after slogging off with my son for two hours I had to plan the lunch ,had thawed goat meat so thought of preparing the same ,this one is a real simple recipe with Shan Pulao Biryani Masala which I always keep in the pantry for such situations this is how I prepared the curry
Recipe name Mutton Curry with Shan Pulao Biryani Masala 

Ingredient for the marination 
goat meat 500 gm
half packed of shan pulao biryani masala
curd half cup
Ingredient for the curry 
paste of two onion
sliced onion one
ginger paste three tbsp
garlic paste three tsbp
tomato one cubed
green chili one sliced
cumin seeds half tsp
oil to cook one tbsp
Preparation 
In a mixing bowl mix the goat meat with the shan pulao biryani masala and curd ,
keep aside.

Procedure
heat oil in non stick wok ,once hot lower the flame add cumin seeds,
once it starts spluttering add the ginger garlic paste
keep stirring till it starts changing colour
once it is brown add the sliced onion followed by the onion paste
keep stirring till it becomes brown and oil is seen along the sides
add the marinated goat meat and keep stirring for 5 to 10 minutes
cover and cook for 15 minutes
(,in those 15 minutes prepare rice,clean utensils and cut salad)
after 15 minutes add the cubed tomato and green chili let it simmer for 10 minutes
transfer the content to a pressure cooker and pressure cook for one to two whistles
(dont wash the wok in which meat was cooked if preparing jeera rice )
serve warm with bowl of Jeera rice and readymade paratha :-)
ready made paratha is always there for such situations in my fridge :-)

For the Jeera rice 
cooked rice one cup
onion one sliced
cumin seeds half tsp
salt as per taste
oil to cook
how I prepared
heat one tsp oil in the same wok in which meat was cooked add cumin seeds and let it splutter
add sliced onion and let it brown evenly add pinch of salt and cooked rice
fry for five minutes and serve warm with the curry.

If by any chance you have leftover meat curry use it next day as pizza topping just the way I did,
thaw the dough for two hrs,roll it out spread pizza sauce on it followed by shredded curried goat meat and mozarella cheese
bake in a preheated oven for 10 minutes till its done.

and ya after having this my son was satiated.:-)
thus this ends another harried weekend cooking story
thats all guys see you all soon
wish ya great week ahead

baking for Advay - home baked pizza topped with sausage

These days my night ends with plan of what to prepare for Advay's breakfast and by the time he is back from school I have to keep something ready for him which according to him should be yummy ,:-)
ya friends apart from daily chores I have to plan for his meal too and  for such appealing meal   I keep pizza dough in the freezer, so whenever I am out of idea I just thaw the dough think of some interesting topping and in few minutes the pizza is ready for him to be devoured ya thats one of his favourite food
.Sharing with you all a simple recipe of Pizza which just needs three ingredient

Recipe name pizza topped with chicken sausage 
ingredient 
home made pizza dough thawed
mozarella cheese one tbsp
pizza sauce one tbsp
chicken sausage two
Preparation
thaw and slice the sausage and keep aside
heat half tsp oil in non stick pan
stir fry the sausage till they become slightly brown from both sides
drain on kitchen towel and keep aside.
preheat oven to 100 degree centigrade for 10 minutes

Procedure
roll out the pizza dough ,spread a layer of tomato paste
arrange the sausage slice on top of it
sprinkle mozarella cheese and bake in the oven till the crust is brown and crispy .
serve warm.
recipe of pizza sauce blogged here 
recipe of pizza dough inspired from here I have taken two cups of all purpose flour and one cup of whole wheat flour.

thats all friends ,wish you all great week ahead
take care and happy blogging.

sandesh for basant panchami

Whenever I am sad or depressed I just go in the kitchen and start cooking or you can say  thats  the best way for me take out my grief, last weekend my maternal grandmother was hospitalised for grade three burn injury since then I am shaken to the core I can just pray from here that she be fine soon.
Yesterday being Basant Panchami I thought of preparing something simple for Bhog ,had been preparing sweet saffron rice since past few years but yesterday instead of that just prepared this simple sweet delicacy called Sandesh from BongMom Cookbook spaces

.I had to tell Advay about the festival ,for which goddess the sweet is being prepared and ya I did forgot my grief for some time when he was there helping me in the kitchen and asking me" mummy how will we prepare mithai ?"

Traditions have to be followed and life has to go on with a silent prayer in my heart I conclude this post .
this pic of Saraswati Pooja was sent to me by my cousin

thats all friends,wish you all blessed week ahead
take care and happy blogging.