Chatti Pathiri

For this month's Indian Cooking Challenge, Srivalli chose a multi layered sweet from Kerala. Chatti Pathiri - sweet version is from Anita of Slice Of My Life. Usually chatti pathiri is made as a savory dish with layers of pathiri sandwiched between meat fillings. It is like the Indian version of Lasagna. The fillings differ in the sweet version. Lots of nuts and coconut are added to make this delicious and rich treat. Both hubby and daughter liked it but we couldn't have more than a small portion as it is very heavy because of the nuts, coconut, coconut milk and poppy seeds. Refrigerate the remaining chatti pathiri. If you have many guests, then it would be the perfect treat for them.

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Patequeta - Valencia's Orchard Traditional Bread

For this month's Baking Partners challenge, Marisa of Thermofan suggested this very traditional bread from Spain. I will give you a short introduction to this bread. This is a traditional bread of the city Valencia in Spain. The origin dates back to seventeenth century. The inhabitants of Valencia's Orchard used to bake this bread in a moorish oven (click on link to see the image of a moorish oven) or in the wooden stoves. Patequetas are baked for their important festival Fallas. Most Valencia's bakers are requested to make patequetas during March. Marisa wanted to introduce this bread to all of us and in turn you readers will also know about this bread. When I first saw the recipe, I searched the web for any other details, but there was no other link with this name. So this recipe can be used for your future reference and I am so happy for having made this very traditional bread... 

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Eggless Chocolate Chip Cookies

Happy Children's Day

Yesterday when my daughter returned from school, she was so much excited. As there was going to be children's day celebration at school, it was a no bag day today and she was so happy that it was going to be her special day. She was talking about the day the entire evening. I told her about Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and how he is uncle for me and for her too. She asked me not to scold her today and I told her not do do any mischief today. When she went to school, she wanted me to prepare something which she likes the most. I accepted it and dropped her at the bus stop. I had to attend a marriage today and when I returned home by 12:30 PM, there was no power. Then at 2:00 PM it was restored and I started making these cookies from Tarla Dalal's Chocolate Cook Book. It took me 30 minutes from start to finish and after baking these and arranging them on a wire rack I went to bring Sruti home from bus stop. She asked me whether her treat was ready, and when I said yes, she was very happy. After coming home, I made her close her eyes and placed a cookie on her hand, she saw it and made a happy dance as the cookie was loaded with her most favourite chocolate chips. Finally I was very happy as it ended well after so many hurdles. These cookies are very crispy and the chips add a nice crunch to them. It is very easy to put them together. Switch on the oven and start preparing the dough. By the time the oven is preheated, you will have the cookies shaped, bake for 10-12 minutes and your delicious cookies are ready...

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Varagu Rice/ Varagu Saadam - World Diabetes Day

Diabetes is a metabolic disease in which the person has high blood sugar levels because of inadequate insulin or the body's cells does not respond to insulin or both. There are three types of Diabetes - Type 1, Type 2 and Gestational Diabetes. Type 2 is the most common diabetes found all over the world. I have a family history of Diabetes. My mom, my MIL, my aunts all are diabetics. They try to keep the blood sugar levels by controlling the food intake. It is very easy to control the blood sugar level by controlling the food you consume along with some exercise and medication. Both mom and MIL did not take any medications but had the blood sugar levels controlled through perfect diet. I have not seen them doing exercise but they used to do all the house hold works and kept very busy from morning till night. My MIL used to take Murungaikeerai Soup every week which is very good to keep the blood sugar levels controlled. She also used to take bitter gourd, avoided sugar in her coffee and completely avoided sweets. Mom almost did the same and both successfully had their blood sugar level under control.
Avoid food items that are white in colour - White sugar, maida, white rice, white bread and so on...

                                          

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Ringna Bateta Ni Kachri - A Tribute To Tarla Dalal

Last week, November 6th Wednesday, I was so shocked when I opened my FB page for updates. One of my FB friends posted that Tarla Dalalji is no more. I just couldn't believe it. I searched for so long and after an hour, many updates started coming on friend's walls about the sad news. I am a great fan of Tarla Dalalji and I have been collecting her books for the past two years. Whenever I have a doubt regarding any recipe, I first search the books written by her, then her website and only then I go for any other alternative. If you are a foodie, you would surely be familiar with her recipes. My most favourite Tarla Dalal's book is Mithai. She has listed so many sweets and if you try them you surely can master the art of sweet making. I have bought so many of her books for giveaways in my blog and I will continue to do so. She will be remembered forever...

Logo By Preeti

We at the Blogging Marathon group wanted to post a tribute to her. The idea was given by Padma and every one wanted to be a part. So Preethi designed this logo for the post. We thought of trying one of her recipes which would be a perfect tribute to her. Tarla Dalal gives perfect recipes with accurate proportions. You can never fail with her recipe and that is why her recipes are a great hit among bloggers. This recipe is from her Gujarathi Cook book. It is a simple yet tasty dish and can be made in a jiffy. 

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Capsicum Dhal

As I have said earlier, I like adding capsicum in many recipes. One such recipe is dhal/ paruppu. While sauteing onions I add the capsicum along with it to give dhal the capsicum flavour. It is quite easy to make and I have been keeping from posting this recipe as it is very simple. But it is apt for the theme I have chosen for this Blogging Marathon so decided to post it. Day before yesterday I made this dhal along with varagu rice and an eggplant curry. It was a wonderful combination and we had a hearty lunch. For dinner, I added sambar powder and amchur powder and converted this dhal to sambar and it went well with oats dosa. 

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Capsicum Rava Upma

If you are a capsicum lover cum upma lover like me, then this recipe is just for you. I have already narrated how much hubby dear hated upma but now the scene is changing. He has accepted the fact that his wife loves upma and is trying to enjoy it nowadays. Even Sruti has changed her taste and eats it with out increasing my blood pressure. So for the second day of Blogging Marathon #34, under Cooking With Capsicum, I selected my favourite upma. Usually I add so many vegetables but as this is capsicum special, I didn't want to add other veggies. The flavour of capsicum is prominent and it tasted delicious!!! Sruti had it with sugar and DH had it with coconut chutney. I had it as it is because didn't want to suppress the taste of upma with accompaniments. Do give it a try to know how yummy it is... 

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Eggless Oats Chocolate Biscotti

For this month's Home Baker's challenge, Priya is our host and she selected the theme Biscotti. Biscotti are double baked crunchy and light biscuits from Italy. Biscotti uses eggs for binding and when ever I make an eggless biscotti I face a problem. The top cracks and it is very difficult to get perfect oblong biscotti.  For this month Priya provided us four recipes and one among those was an eggless recipe. She had got perfectly shaped biscotti and so I wanted to try that recipe. But still I didn't get the shape but it tasted delicious. Super light and super crisp it was super hit at my house. Though it doesn't look beautiful, it tasted divine and in two days all the 22 pieces were gone. My daughter needs more but as I am out of chocolate I have postponed the preparation. So don't be fooled by the look of this biscotti. Try it and enjoy it as we did.

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Capsicum Chutney

Today we are beginning the second week of Blogging Marathon #34. I will be posting under Cooking With Capsicum for the three days. Whenever I see capsicum in store, I buy it. I add it in all my recipes as it adds a nice colour and taste to the final dish. I love the mild taste it gives to the dishes. This chutney is one of the dishes I make with capsicum. It goes well with idlis and dosas.  I have used only two green chillies so that even my daughter can enjoy this chutney. Feel free to use as many chillies you want.  I paired with solam / Jowar dosai and it was very tasty. It is quite easy to make. Today is the first Sunday of the month and I am also linking this post to Lets Brunch on Sundays

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Eggless Orange Tutti Frutti Cake

This cake has been in my draft folder for so long. When I saw this recipe at Srivalli's Blog during the A-Z Blogging Marathon, I book marked it and made it for the next month's Cooking From Other Blog theme. But as I opted out of that Blogging Marathon, this has been lying in my drafts since then. The texture came out very different from Srivalli's cake but it tasted very delicious. The orange flavour was so strong and the tutti frutti added a nice colour and crunch to the cake. I served it topped with the caramel syrup. Never forget to mix the tutti frutti with flour, otherwise all the tutti frutti will sink to the bottom of the cake. 

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Diwali Special - Round up and Winner Announcement

Last month I announced a Special event for Diwali. I hope the recipes in the collection would be very helpful for your upcoming celebrations. Though this Diwali is over, there are many more festivals to come and this list would be an online cook book for many of you including me. There are 85 delicious sweets and savouries in this list and I hope you enjoy the same. And it is time for the announcement of winner in this event. I selected a lucky winner using random number generator. It is entry number 78 - Ragi Ribbon Pakoda from Nandoos Kitchen. Congratulations Nandoo. Please mail me your Indian address along with the phone number to gayathriraani@gmail.com to claim the gift.. 

Pear and Apple Crumble

For the third day of cooking with fruits, in the Blogging Marathon, I made this delicious crumble combining apple and pear. I have become so lazy nowadays. I tend to prepare for any event on the final day and at the last minute I blog about it. Though I am not missing any of the events, I am making my life very hectic with this type of activity. I need to plan every thing beforehand to avoid such situations. For the past two days, I am sort of depressed. Our jet pump, the only source of water stopped working and I have been living on the stored water for the past two days. After so many calls to the electrician, he is still busy and I am still depressed. It is raining heavily and from morning there was a power shut down. So all my plans to make the crumble in the morning crashed heavily. I thought of skipping the post today but I didn't want to do it. And finally power was retained at 3 pm and I started working on my crumble. It is quite easy to prepare the crumble. With very little water left, I have accumulated a pile of dishes in the sink and this crumble added some more to it. It took just 45 minutes to get the crumble out of the oven and finally I am enjoying the rain with the hot crumble. I am missing out on the ice cream but it is OK. After 2 days, I am little happy now for the crumble turned out delicious. The top was crunchy and the inside was gooey. I thought of adding chocolate chips to the topping but while working on the topping, I completely forgot about it. Next time I will be adding some chocolate chips to make it more delicious...

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Nutty Pear and Carrot Salad

For today's Blogging Marathon with the theme Cooking with Fruits - I made this simple yet satisfying sald pairing the pears with carrot and nuts. When you crave for some snacks in the evening but do not want to stack up calories, this salad would be a wonderful choice. It takes just 5 minutes to make this salad and is very light on your tummy. If you want you can also chill it and serve it with a scoop of ice cream for a rich dessert. The addition of honey gives the sweetness and the black pepper and cumin powder give the punch. My hubby liked it very much and I was happy to have served it...

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Eggless Pear Upside Down Cake

After a month long gap I am back in the Blogging Marathon. This is the Blogging Marathon #34 and I will be doing all the four weeks. For the first week, it is cooking with fruits. I chose Pear as the fruit and I am posting the very first recipe made with pear. As mentioned in my earlier post, I celebrated my birthday before two days. And for that I made this soft delicious cake with a nice caramel soaked pear topping. It has been my dream to try out upside down cake and it came true with this cake. Upside down cake is one in which the fruit layer is arranged at the bottom of the cake tin and the batter is poured on top. After baking the cake is flipped up side down and the fruits will become the topping. Caramel is added at the fruit layer and it gives a nice finish to the cake. I saw so many pear upside down cake recipes but finally went with my usual cake recipe. This recipe is best when done in a 9" or 10" pan. As I didn't have one I made it in an 8" pan and I was so nervous while it was in oven. But due to luck, the batter didn't over flow and it saved my day. The cake turned out so soft, moist and delicious. The caramel soaked pears were so soft and just melted in the mouth. We all loved the cake so much and Sruti was double happy as I made this for my birthday. 

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Winner of WTML October and Announcement of WTML November

Walk Through Memory Lane was started to bring out all those childhood memories and recreating them. This event has been successfully running for nearly two years and thanks to all the bloggers who have guest hosted the event and made it successful. Every month a lucky winner is chosen and is awarded with a cook book from a famous chef/ author. Last month's guest host Asiya of My Healthy Happy Kitchen has done a wonderful job in hosting the event and she is even ready with the round up. But lazy me, because of so many preparations going on for Diwali, I couldn't get enough time to draft this post. Let me first announce the winner of October event before going to the November announcement.I selected an entry from the 148 total entries received using random number generator. It is entry number 27-Paruppu Chutney by Sathya Priya of My Kitchen Odyssey. Congrats Sathya Priya. Please contact me with your Indian address and telephone number to claim the book by Sanjeev Kapoor.

And now coming to this month's host, Shailaja of Sahasra's Recipes is hosting the event this month. Please visit her page for more details and linking up your entries.. For this month the book I have chosen for the giveaway is The Pondicherry Kitchen by Lourdes Tirouvanziam-Louis. Please send in your entries and get a chance to win this wonderful book full of Pondicherry's Authentic recipes.

Gulab Jamun - With Milk Powder

Today is a very special day and I will talk about it later. This post is also very special as the South Vs North Challenge I participate every month has completed a year. This challenge was started by Divya of You Too Can Cook and it is very interesting. The whole group is divided into North and South Teams. Every month north team member challenges the south team with an authentic north Indian recipe whereas a south team member challenges the North team with an authentic South Indian recipe. For the completion of a year this month members were asked to do a challenge which they missed out and I had three or four in my list. I missed last month's challenge but the other three were there before I joined the group. I chose Gulab Jamunas I haven't got this version right before. Last time I tried making jamuns with milk powder and it was an utter flop. So I always stay away from milk powder jamun recipe. This time I neede to do it right and I went through the posts of all the bloggers who took part in that challenge. All of them have got good results. So with fingers crossed, I tried them yesterday. Though little on the harder side, they tasted absolutely delicious and my hubby after returning from work devoured them. He even asked me why I made them so tasty that he couldn't stop eating. The recipe is from Pallavi of Though Shalt Cook.

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Eggless Pinacolada Cake

Pina Colada is the official beverage of Puerto Rico since 1978 according to WIKI. It is a drink made with pine apple juice and cream of coconut. There are so many variations of this drink and there are also so many cake and cupcake recipes based on this drink. I didn't know about the ingredients in Pina Colada until Meena suggested the Pinacolada cake for the monthly Baking Eggless challenge for this month. The recipe she suggested was in Polish and I translated it using Google Translate. The rewcipe had so many ingredients including cream of coconut which is not available at Madurai. So I googled Pina Colada cake and came upon so many variations. So I made my own version incorporating both pineapple and coconut which resulted in this rich cake. To my surprise this cake was liked by all the adult members of my family and kids didn't like it very much. Though Sruti ate a whole slice, she didn't come for a second serving. 

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Rice Sevai Upma

Can you believe that I am cooking with rice sevai for the first time? Rice sevai is readily available in market and all you need to do is boil it, strain it and prepare any dish you want with it. You can make lemon sevai, puli sevai, upma and so on. You can substitute vermicelli with this rice sevai in so many dishes. Today I made a simple breakfast using this rice sevai and believe me it is so easy and was completed within 30 minutes. The only point in making this rice sevai is that you need to boil it perfectly. If you over cook they will turn mushy and I think it will not be that great. It tastes just like idiyappam but it is slightly thicker. I used the MTR brand rice sevai for this upma. I served this upma with Rajasthani Malai Mirch (recipe later) and it was absolutely delicious...

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Paneer Burfi

How many of you have started your Diwali preparations? I started it yesterday with this delicious burfi. This is a cross between kalakand and milk burfi. I prepared paneer with 4 lts of milk yesterday with a plan to make kalakand. But after preparing kalakand so many times, I just wanted to make something different.

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Raj Kachori

It has been nearly a week since I last posted here. My daughter was on her vacation and I was feeling so lazy to do any cooking, clicking or posting. For this month's Indian Cooking Challenge, which was supposed to be posted on 15th, I am posting it a week later. But it is better late than never. Srivalli  chose the famous Rajasthani Raj Kachori for this month on Vaishali's suggestion. Before marriage, I used to make Raj Kachori frequently. Even my brother's friends would come home with family and we used to relish it a lot. But after marriage, it was a shock that PK was not a great fan of chaats ( I am talking about 9 years earlier, but now he is a great fan of the chaats I prepare at home). He hated pani puris and the only chaat he used to eat was the masala puri from a nearby vendor but it never tasted like masala puri. I was so sad that I even stopped eating chaat. But when I started blogging, the chaat fan in me came to life and I started preparing varieties at home. I was not worried that PK will not eat but atleast I could eat. The scene changed drastically and PK became a great fan of my home made chaats. And when Valli announce this month's ICC, I remembered the good old days. But what I used to prepare was a little different from Vaishali's recipe. As Vaishali is the queen of chaats in our group, I just followed her recipe without altering. Will be posting my version later. The chaat turned out delicious and we devoured it happily. Sruti even tasted it but with out any chutneys. I made it according to her wish. She chose the fillings and topping. Kids today know how to get mama to the job...

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Diwali Special Sweets and Snacks

Here is a compilation of some of the sweets and savouries you could make for this Diwali. Have a happy time going through all the dishes....
Click on the name of the dishes for the complete recipe and instructions...

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Eggless Butterless Pumpkin Bread

As I told you before, the blogs are full of pumpkin recipes for the Halloween. And in Baking Partners group challenges, it is a pumpkin recipe this month. Swathi had given two pumpin recipes as per Tamy's suggestions, one is this quick bread and the other an yeasted bread. As I wanted a quick recipe as I was pressed for time, I opted this. When first I started blogging, I used to be skeptical in using oil in cake and bread recipes. I thought only butter could give the required texture. But I was wrong. Oil makes the bread very moist and soft and the moistness is retained for 3 days without drying it out. And there will not be the taste of oil. I have done some recipes using oil and each and every recipe has turned out awesome. And making the cake is also easy as it doesn't require a lot of beating. So when I saw this recipe, I was very much pleased. And it turned out absolutely soft, moist and delicious. This cake was supposed to be vegan. But I didn't have an ingredient to veganize this bread. The recipe asked for pure maple syrup which is not available at my place. So I substituted it with honey so my bread turned out to be a non vegan bread. So if you want to try out the perfect vegan pumpkin bread, then use maple syrup instead of honey. The cake is very spicy with lots of spices added to it. Add or leave according to your wish. 

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Navrathri Day 6 - Nilakadalai Paruppu/ Peanuts Sundal

Though it is Navrathri's 8th day, I am posting the 6th day recipes. Morning I made Malai Laddu and Ven pongal and for evening, I made sundal with peanuts. Malai laddu is one of the sweets which gets so much praise in my home. Whoever I have served it with have liked it. My daughter is a great fan of malai laddu. I had lots of paneer at home, and when I was thinking about a sweet to prepare on Navrathri, I remembered this. I have made it with out the food colour so they turned out white in colour. I also shared it with our neighbour. Ven Pongal is also our family favourite. It is quite easy to make and makes a delicious breakfast. Add lots of cashewnuts for a finger licking experience...

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Eggless Spooky Witches' Fingers

When October arrives, Haloween craze sets among the bloggers around the world. There will be pumpkin recipes, spooky finger recipes, mummy cup cake recipes and so on going around the blogosphere. We are not different. In the Home Baker's Group started by Priya, this month's host Nalini suggested four Halloween recipes. One among those was this spooky witches' fingers. When I first saw the snaps of these cookies, I was so afraid to try. They were scary and really spooky. I have never tried these type of recipes. So I kept postponing the making of this recipe. One fine day gathering up my courage, I made these finger cookies. 

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Navrathri Day5 - Beetroot Halwa

The fifth day has arrived and only 4 more days to go. For the fifth day of Navrathri I made beetroot halwa, Lemon rice for morning neivedhyam and White channa sundal with sesame spice paste for the evening. Yesterday as I visited my sister, I came home very tired and couldn't make any sweet for the evening neivedhyam. So made only the sundal. Today fortunately there was no power shut down and I was happy as I could do pooja with the lights on. 

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Navrathri Day 4 - Sweet Idiyappam

Yesterday was the fourth day of Navrathri and from the 4th day till 6th day Goddess Lakshmi is worshiped. Fortunately I got a lotus yesterday and it made a nice decoration to the kolam I drew before the Kalasam. For the morning I made Rava Laddu and Mandakki Oggarane, leaving the onions in oggarane as it was for neivedhyam. Evening it rained heavily and there was a power shut down. So it was completely dark inside the house and I couldn't take the snaps of the evening neivedhyam. I used two lamps to take the shot but was not quite satisfied. And the kalasam looked beautiful in the glow of the lamps lit. As a photographer, I couldn't resist taking a snap in that settings. So Goddess came into the camera. See how divine this looks. And I also deleted my morning snaps by mistake. When the power returned, I took the snaps of the evening neivedhyam. Due to lack of natural light, it may not be up to the mark. But something is better than nothing, Right? For the morning dishes I used my old photos as I had already posted the recipes.

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Navrathri Day 3 - Semiya Payasam

It is the third day of Navrathri festival and Sakti is worshipped on this day. Tomorrow it will be Goddess Lakshmi. For the final day of Sakti worship I made 4 dishes, two in the morning and two in the evening. For the sweet I made Semiya Payasam and for the variety rice I made Carrot Saadam. During evening I made Nei puttu and Paasiparuppu sundal. When I started my blogging I started it with Navrathri racipes. Now when I revisit my posts of the earlier days, I have a feeling that my photos are looking very bad. So when ever I get an opportunity, I need to go back and change the snaps. Today I did it with one post, Paasiparuppu Sundal. Celebrating Navrathri and sharing my dishes with you readers has been an awesome experience so far. Hope I complete this series with out any hurdles.

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Navarathri- Day 2 With Sojjappam

For the second day of Navrathri, I prepared 4 dishes, 2 for the morning neivedhyam and 2 for the evening. For the morning offering, I made coconut rice and Sojjapppam and for the evening I made green gram sundal and Puttu cups. My days are growing hectic with Sruti on holidays and celebrating Navrathri at the same time. As it was Sunday yesterday, my nephews and BIL also visited us. Sruti enjoyed the day by playing with her cousins and she was extremely happy. 

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Puttarisi Puttu Urundai

Puttu urundai made with sivappu puttarisi are very nutritious. I have given the preparation of the flour in my basics blog. If you are keen on preparing this at home, please go through the step wise pictures there. Here is the link for the recipe. I made this yesterday for the day 1 of Navrathri as an offering to Goddess Sakti during evening. This is very easy to make and quite addictive. Here is the Navarathri Day 1 Post.

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Navarathri- Day 1 - White Channa Sundal and Puttu

Happy Navarathri To All My Readers

Yesterday was the start of the famous Indian festival navrathri. Navrathri means 9 nights and the festival is completed on the 10th day with Vijayadashami. I am not very good at telling stories but my mom used to tell us nice stories about navrathri. Goddess Sakti fights the evil rakshash Mahishasura for 9 days and victory comes on the 10th day. Durga is worshipped for the first three days, Lakshmi the next three and Saraswathi the final three. There is a tradition of keeping golu during the 9 days and I love to visit golu and see all the arrangements but personally I have never attempted at keeping golu. Every year I think of making golu but looking at all the wonderful golus around the city, I feel like I will not do justice. So every time I skip it and you can call me lazy.

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A-Z Blogging Marathon #32 - A short Recap

When Srivalli announced this A-Z themed Mega Marathon, we had 4 months to prepare for it. The surprising fact is that even I started preparing for BM #32 4 months before and completed nearly 16 recipes. Then due to some personal reasons I couldn't continue the preparations. And finally when the day arrived I was not at all sure whther I could do this BM. But I needed to do it as I was in need of divertion from my problems. So with a brave heart, I started posting. Last month has been hectic, as I had guests and a function at home. But still I managed to post all the 26 recipes along with the other challenge recipes last month. If you have missed out my blog last month, then this is the post for you. This is a short recap of all the recipes I posted for the A-Z Blogging Marathon. There were 4 themes provided by Valli and each theme must have 6 posts. And only one theme i.e., street food theme needed 8 posts. I hope I did justice to the selected themes and the blogging marathon. I would like to thank Valli for setting up the bar higher so that we BMers can improve our cooking and blogging skills. I am very proud to be part of this wonderful group and I promise you that I will give better posts in the future...

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Diwali Special Announcement and Mom's Special Winner

After Mom's Special as a tribute to my mom, I thought of doing another special event this month. Diwali falls on November 2nd and during the month of October, I will be busy making some sweets and snacks. As a blogger I know you will also be busy with preparations and main thing is that all your beautiful blogs will be full of Diwali special recipes. 

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Walk Through Memory lane- October Announcement and September Winner

Last month has been so hectic for me. As I started Blogging Marathon #32 A-Z theme, I never once imagined that I would complete it successfully. But by God's grace I completed it successfully along with some other challenges of that month. I skipped two challenges as I couldn't squeeze the posts in between. I am planning to do those challenges this month. And it is already first of October and it is time to announce the Walk Through Memory Lane host. This month Asiya of My Healthy Happy Kitchen is hosting the event at her space. And there is a give away this month too. I will select a lucky winner on November 1st and will be giving away a book by Sanjeev Kapoor - Every Day Cooking. As Diwali falls on November 2nd, the winner will be getting this book as her Diwali Gift from me. So what are you waiting for? Take a look at Asiya's page for the details of the event and please link up your lovely entries at her space. 

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Eggless Ferrero Rocher Tart

Last month I skipped the challenge due to my mom's sudden demise. This month I didn't want to miss the challenge. Priya Srinivasan of Enveetu Kitchen suggested this tart recipe from Trissalious. This tart is inspired by the famous Ferrero Rocher. My daughter loves Ferrero Rocher and I was sure that she would love this tart. This tart has so many elemnts combined together. The tart base is a chocolate based crust. The filling is hazelnut mousse. The topping is caramelized hazelnut and chocolate combined together and the whole assembly is topped with a caramelized hazelnut. As hazelnut is not available at Madurai, I substituted it with almonds. The hazelnut mousse is actually made with nutella spread and so I didn't have any problems with that. The mousse had eggs in it and I just substituted it with whipped cream and gelatin was replaced by china grass. I halved the recipe and got 12 delicious tarts. As I was doing so many works together, I didn't note down the cup measurements. I just weighed all the ingredients as given in the original recpie and used it.

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Zebra Cake (Eggless)

Zebra cake is a combination of vanilla and chocolate cakes and the pattern is got by pouring the batters in a pan alternately. I have been trying to get the perfect zebra pattern but I am very sad that I have not yet succeeded. Actually I wanted more of the vanilla batter and less of the chocolate batter so that the lines are clean and neat. So I divided the batter into 3 parts, one for the chocolate batter and 2 for the vanilla batter. Even then I ended up with this not so good looking zebra cake. Though I missed the pattern, the taste was awesome and my daughter fell for this cake. She was so happy that mom has finally made it. This is the final post for the Blogging Marathon # 32, under cooking with alphabets and bakes theme. Finally I am so happy that I have completed this marathon successfully and I need to thank Srivalli for this wonderful idea. The cake batter is my usual condensed milk vanilla cake batter. Once when I prepared this cake the chocolate was looking very dull. I couldn't understand why it was happening. And one day I tried a chocolate cake with instant coffee powder added to it and the cake came out so dark and chocolatey. And this time I added a teaspoon of Nescafe instant coffee powder and look at the colour of the chocolate portion. It is nice and dark and very very chocolatey..

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Yam Roast

During my school days my mom prepares this a lot and we were all a great fan of this simple side dish. When ever we had a simple lunch, just rasam and poriyal, mom made this to accompany rasam rice and it would be a satisfying meal. The only work in this side dish is to slice yam into tiny cubes. But nowadays with a knife and a board, that also has become very easy. And it has to be served straight from the pan otherwise the cubes will become soft. So usually mom starts cooking this only 15 minutes prior to serving time. You need to use a lot of oil to get a nice crispy roast and sometimes I bake it in oven too for a guilt free version. But this is what mom used to make and I am so happy to recreate it in my kitchen. I served it along with paruppu kootu, rasam and curd. What else do we need??? For the Blogging Marathon A-Z Series, today is the day for alphabet Y and this is what came to my mind for Y paired with regional dishes.

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X-Cookies/ Sicilian Cucidati

Yesterday it was so hectic. Apart from doing all the house works, I prepared two elaborate recipes which needed so much of preparations. I will talk about the other recipe later. Coming to this X Cookies, it is a Sicilian cookie, also known as Cucidati. It has a cookie dough and a tangy sweet filling made of dried figs. I bought all the ingredients but kept on postponing until the last day. Nowadays I am procrastinating a lot. Need to change that. The cookie dough is so buttery and is prepared like a pie crust with cold butter so that the cookie turns out buttery and flaky.  The filling has figs and apart from that it has lots of candied orange peel, chocolate, apricots and raisins. As I didn't have orange peel and raisins I added lots of apricots instead of the other two. The filling itself was very tasty and beware, you could finish it off before you roll out the cookie. So keep it away from kiddos until you finish baking. They turned out so delicious, though the shaping was quite a job. I am posting this for the alphabet X for Blogging Marathon #32.

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Wattakka Kalu Pol Maluwa

The very first time I heard of this curry was while watching Peter Kuruvita's Srilanka which airs on Fox Traveller. I usually watch all the cookery shows and in one episode, I saw this recipe. Seeing that the name starts with W, I at once noted it down for the Blogging Marathon A-Z theme. Wattakka is the yellow pumpkin and this is a curry with pumpkin and is coconut based. As Srilankan curry powder is not available here, I searched for the recipe and prepared the spice powder at home. It was very tasty and I served it with multigrain dosa for breakfast one day. I also served it for lunch with rice and both the combinations were good. The Srilankan curry powder was very flavourful and it gave a nice aroma to the dish.

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