Trying to come back...

Hi Friends,

It's been so long that I was away from Blogging. In fact, I am checking my blog after almost 3 months. Never guessed that so much time has passed and I really missed you, all my blogger buddies and your recipes.

Many things happened in between, some good some bad, that took away a lot of time but I am trying to come back to the blogging world pretty soon. I hope you all have enjoyed the great festival season that just passed, Navrathri, Dassera, Diwali. We had a blast on Diwali with all the great decorations and food but all others were quiet.

And thank you so much Richa and Tee for the Rocking girl award you gave me. It truly made me happy.

Aamir Khan's Blog

Do you know Aamir Khan has started blogging on movies? I was trying to post this from long but atlast doing it now. Enjoy!

http://aamirkhan.com

Proud to be an Indian - Happy Independance Day!

My friend Sudhakar from Singapore has forwarded me these pictures. I thought I will share these with you.

PROUD TO BE AN INDIAN

JAI HIND

Aug. 15, 1947: Mountbatten swears Nehru in as Prime Minister of India

TRAIN TO PAKISTAN; India 1947. Trains packed with refugees - Hindus and Sikhs headed for India, and Muslims headed for Pakistan - were convenient targets for gangs of killers on both sides of the border. Inadequately protected 'Refugee Specials' were typically stopped, and the occupants butchered, several times in the course of the journey.

The dead - Punjab, 1947

1971: Indira Gandhi reviews the troops, in the context of military and diplomatic preparations for the Bangladesh War.

Ghandhiji Addressing people

Nehru and Gandhi at AICC meeting, July 1946

Mountbatten arrives at Delhi airport; received by Nehru and Liaquat Ali. March 25, 1947




1948: The news of Gandhi's assassination hits the streets. A stunned crowd gathers in Calcutta.




1948: Crowds in New Delhi wait for a glimpse of Gandhi's funeral procession.

A Library being divided at the time of partition. Heart trembles to see this sight and it is tough to imagine the state of the nation at the moment when people needed to hold hands.

This is our 60th Independence Day!
Freedom is not a Right but a Feeling!
Let's be proud to feel the Freedom!
Let's say loud we are INDIANS!!!
Let all of us get to-gather &
Let's Celebrate Our Freedom!

It is our duty to preserve this Freedom!
Carry this forward to the future!
We did, We do, We will do!!!

Set the celebration on Air, Share your Joy, You're Free to do it, Send this to every Indian, to say

Vande Mataram!

PS: Friends, I lost my Camera when we had gone to Virginia Tech's Alumni picnic. That is the reason for not posting any recipes, hopefully I will find it soon and start posting recipes again.

Phool Makhani Masala

Many have asked me about Phool Makhana, and they are basically puffed lotus seeds. I will try to take a picture of Phool makhana and post to the site in a day or two. My roommate (Punjabi but from Hyd) used to make a variety of dishes using this. You can even make Kheer with these. It somehow stuck me at the last minute and I thought why not cook this for RCI-Punjab.

This preparation takes sometime but not like other masala curries.

You need..

2 cups of phool makhana

1 large onion, chopped

2 medium tomato, chopped

1 cup yogurt

1/4 cup poppy seeds/khus Khus, roasted

1/2 cup coconut

2 or 3 green chillies, sliced

2 tsp ginger garlic paste

1 tsp chilli powder

1 tsp garam masala

a pinch of turmeric

salt to taste

coriander leaves, chopped

oil for deep frying

3 tbsp oil for the gravy

1. Heat oil and deep fry Phool Makhana until light brown.


2. Heat 3 tsbp oil and fry onions until brown. Add ginger garlic paste, green chillies and fry for one more minute.


3. Add tomatoes, turmeric, red chilli powder and cook for 3-4 minutes.


4. In the mean while, blend poppy seeds and coconut for the gravy.


5. Add this gravy to the onion mixture and mix.


6. Lower the heat and add yogurt, garam masala and cook for 5-10 minutes. Or until you see oil floating on the sides and on the top.


7. Add phool makhana , salt and cook for 3-4 minuts. Garnish with cilantro at the end.
   

Serve with Pulao.

Corn and Palak Rice

This is a simple dish that anyone can make. I never liked the bland taste of Palak except in Palak Paneer. And with this dish, the flavor of palak came out and the taste was awesome. Enjoy.


Fry onions in oil, add little shahjeera, mint, ginger garlic paste and green chillies. Add 2 cups of spinach and 1/2 cup of corn and fry for somemore time. Add 1 1/2 cup basmati rice and mix for a minute. Add 3 cups of water and cook until done.
You can even add bay leaves, cardammon and cloves to it while frying.

Evelyn's Favorite Pasta...tried at home

EVELYN'S FAVORITE PASTA Penne Tossed with Broccoli, Oven-Dried Tomato, Roasted Eggplant, Peppers, Artichoke, Kalamata Olives, Basil, Garlic, Pine Nuts and Parmesan Cheese

We went to Cheesecake Factory for the first time, couple of weeks ago. We were actually giving farewell to a friend of ours who was leaving to India for good. We decided to go to Thai first but one of our friends mentioned that they use Fish oil in cooking. And being complete vegetarians, this was alarming. I called up all the Thai restaurants I ate in and around RTP and everyone said the same thing “yes, we use fish oil, but if you don’t want it, please let us know”. It was our fault that we should have asked but who knew they would use that…so, we cancelled our plan to Thai and went to Cheesecake Factory instead. We thought there will be less number of vegetarian dishes or none and went with the idea of eating a salad.

We ordered Eggplant Burger, Cheese Quesadilla and this pasta. We loved them all and thought of going there again but it never worked out . So I made this at home by bringing all the necessary ingredients. The only difference was that they added roasted brinjal and I didn’t. But, still the taste was close. I omitted Artichoke, Kalamata Olives, Basil and Parmesan Cheese and instead of pine nuts, I added walnuts.

You need…

2 cups of veggies-broccoli, oven-dried tomatoes, red and yellow peppers, eggplant, all chopped
1 cup of penne pasta
4 or 5 tbsp olive oil
About 5 or 6 walnuts
2 or 3 garlic cloves.
1 tbsp Italian seasoning
Salt to taste

1. Heat oil in a pan, add cloves and fry them till light brown. Add a little pepper to it while cloves are frying.
2. Add all the veggies and stir fry them.
3. In the mean while, cook penne pasta till al-dente.
4. Drain pasta and add to the veggies and mix.
5. Add Italian seasoning, walnuts and salt and mix everything for 1-2 minutes and remove.
   

Serve hot.