Why should we blog???

Why should anyone blog? Is blogging a fashion, is this a trend, is blogging done just to impress your girlfriend or to make others around you look stupid. None of the above is my answer. Why I started blogging? I clearly don't remember but I surely can say that it was my evergrowing curiosity to know what's new. This curiosity of mine has pushed me, rather dragged me into this trade.

Firstly, it was like a hobby for me to write some stupid things in my blog, then entered the new softwares that I used. I even blogged about politics, sports and stuff like that. But in the initial days, I did not take it seriously. But once my audience increased I started blogging on different issues and most of the time the words in the blog came from my heart rather than my mind. But I never thought this to be a fashion, trend or something like that. That's the main reason that I did not tell to anyone about my blog unless asked by them. A very few people know about my blog till date. But let me tell you, who ever knew my blog, they know one thing that there is no unrelevant hatred, questionable voilence, unreasonable use of filthy language.

But these days when I visit some blogs, they are either solely maintained for money or just as a fashion statement. I rarely find genuine blogs except for a few, where the blogger keeps his heart out when he writes something and you can very rarely find an objection in the blogs. But actually why should we blog?

Blogging brings out the inner self in you. You might want to show your anger on some issue, you might want to write what you like about a movie, or you might want to show your feelings on some issue but can't say that publicly. Here is a solution, the blogs help you vent out your anger, spread your love and show your feelings to the entire world. One final word, blog more not to hog the limelight but to flag off your inner feelings and race towards the eternal truth "Living Life King-Size"...

"Thali" - The Rajasthani Way....

This is what I call "The Cuisine". What more can you ask for? With the best foods spread around in your plate, what more are you complaining about? If you taste this food once, you will never ever complain about authentic Indian food. This platter comes from Rajsthan - The land of Kings, India. This is the land where famous battles were fought and more than 40% of the land is covered by the Thar Desert.

If you can name a few of these curries spread around and the accompanying sweets, consider yourself a genius with the foods. This so called "Rajasthani Thali" will cost you around $2 in India and will satiate your hunger of two full meals. If you are lucky enough you can get your hands on this platter in other countries as well but original is always original.

Source: Orkut

How beautiful is your coffee???

How cool is your coffee today? Yes that's my question. How cool looking is your coffee? Like the pics above did you try to have some cool looking coffee. Try it out...

Via rabbyrbest

Dicing onions - The easy way...

I have been using this technique for a while now and I am familiar with how to use this easy way of dicing onions. This is the best way ever to get the onions diced unless you don't have those machines costing you hundreds of dollars just for dicing onions. Just wanted to share with you...

"Kheem Biryani" in the Oven - The easy Way...

ingredients::

rice-250gms

kheema-100gms

red chilli powder- 1 & 1/2 tsp

salt-1 tsp

ginger garlic paste-1 tsp

garam masala-1/4 tsp

dalda-2 tsp

oil-2 tsp

biryani masala-2 tsp

onions-1

coriander-for garnish

Procedure::

* Mix kheema, salt,red chilli powder, ginger garlic paste,garam masala,biryani masala and allow the kheema to marinate for 30 min..

* Wash and soak rice for 30 min

* Then boil the rice

* Take some oil in a microwave safe dish and add the marinated kheema to it and cook at 100% power value for 5 min

* Now add the boiled rice to cooked kheema along with dalda and cook it for 4 more min at 60% power.. keep stirring in between

* Take the bowl out and garnish it with fried onions and cilantro

* Serve it hot with some wine to satiate your taste glands...

Partying kingsize - The Indian Way...

This is one of those umpteen pics from my friends orkut album where he has posted the preparations made for his birthday, which was just two days ago. This pic shows how Indians celebrate their birthdays in style. Man this food is so mouth watering and like out of this world.

I can guess two or three from them, like the egg Biryani which sits right in the center, Gulab Jamoon the sweet on the top left, bhajji on the extreme left and different varities of non-veg curries spread around. This is what I call Partying kingsize and with so many delicious dishes around I am definitely going to loose my calorie count. Of course I wasn't any where near him but still the pics are enough for me to rejoice. Happy birthday again UNIRS...

Via Orkut

Padma Lakshmi controversial ad for Carls JR...

Which one is hot??? The burger or Padma Lakshmi... This one made me do two things, one is that I wanted to eat a whole burger then and there and the second one Padma Lakshmi on my desktop. Man she is hot!!!

Of course she says that she has a love affair with fooooood, but she was more like doing something raunchy with the burger rather than eating it. But the ad definitely made me hungry and not just hunger but hungry for a whole burger with everything in it, lettuce, tomatoes, romaine, onions, ketchup, chicken breast, wow my mouth is watering again...

Via Youtube

SouthIndian "Coconut Rice" Recipe...

A nice and a quick recipe of coconut rice made in south-Indian style. The recipe below is for 4 servings and can be completed within half-an-hour. This is from the indian curry recipes site which I guess is an old site but not many recipes included. Check this out for your mouth is watering I guess.

Ingredients::

* 3 cup long-grain rice

* 4 cup coconut milk

* 1 1/2 cup water

* 1/2 teaspoon salt

* 1 teaspoon sugar

Preperation::

* Wash the rice and drain.

* Place in a heavy pot or a big pan.

* Add the milk, water, salt and sugar amounting to the ingredients list provided above

* Mix, cover and bring to a boil.

* Let it boil for 3 to 5 minutes.

* Reduce the heat to low and cook for 20 minutes or until done.

As the author mentioned in his site,'A rich flavor can be obtained by increasing the amount of coconut milk and decreasing the amount of water. You can serve this with any type of curry.

Pic:: Southdreamz

Via indiancurryrecipes

"Samundari Khazana" - Most expensive curry ever...

Ever heard of a $1000 lobster curry or a $1000 crab curry? Ever did you spend a $1000 for a bowl of some stupid curry? Now is your chance to spend more than $3000 on a single bowl of curry. It has come from the kitchen of Prahlad Hegde, the head chef from London curry house Bombay Brasserie. Prahlad believes that there are still many people who are willing to shell out the extra buck to pamper their taste buds.

The curry is named as "Samundari Khazana" meaning "Treasure from the sea". Most of the other websites have dubbed it wrongly as "Seafood Treasure". Priced at 2000 pounds, this curry is the world's most expensive curry. This contains the most expensive ingredients available which makes it the expensive dish. Devon crab, white truffle, half tomato filled with beluga caviar and dressed with gold leaf, a Scottish Lobster also coated with gold, four abalone, four shelled and hollowed quails' eggs filled with even more caviar are the stuff that made up this dish. Everything in this dish is edible.

Via mostexpensivenet

Healthy Navaratna Kurma recipe...

Here I am presenting to you, another veggie delight in the form of a healthy navaratna kurma sans potato, heavy cream and butter. Hence, it is healthy. Credits to spicesetc blog again. They have become my favorite recipe blog these days.

Ingredients::

Chopped veggies(carrot, beans, capsicum, cauliflower) - 2 cups

Chopped Onion - 3/4 cup

Tomato - 1

Finely chopped garlic - 3 pods

Green chilli - 1

Oil - 2 tbsp

Jeera - 1/2 tsp

Cloves - 4

Cinnamon - 2 inch piece

Cardamom - 3

Bay leaf - 1

Garam masala powder - 1/2 tsp

Salt

Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp

Chilli powder - 1/4 tsp

Coriander powder - 1 tsp

Pineapple pieces - 1/4 cup

Raisins - 2 tsp

Milk - 1/2 cup

Yoghurt - 1/4 cup

Coriander leaves to garnish

To grind to a paste with little water::

Cashews - soak in warm water for 15 minutes - about 20 of them

or almonds - soak in hot water for 30 minutes and peel the skin - 20

Coconut - 2 tbsp

Preperation::

* Heat oil in a pan.

* Add jeera, cloves, cinnamon, cardamom, bay leaf.

* Saute for 10 seconds.

* Add onion, garlic and green chilli.

* Fry till onions turn golden brown.

* Add tomato and other veggies(except capsicum), turmeric powder, chilli powder, coriander powder, garam masala and some salt.

* Saute for a couple of minutes.

* Add 1/4 cup of water.

* Close the pan with a lid and simmer for 5-7 minutes or until the veggies are cooked.

* Add capsicum and saute for 2 minutes.

* Add milk, yoghurt, ground nuts paste, pineapple, raisins and salt(if needed) and cook for 5 minutes.

* Garnish with coriander leaves.

* Serve with rotis or rice.

Hope you enjoy this curry with whatever you like. Let me tell you one thing. This curry would be a delight if you prepare it for a few guests but if the guest list is long and you try it on them, you are going to have hard time, since the ingredients involved are more...

Via Spicesetc

Chicken Chettinad recipe...

Guys I am back with one of those Chicken recipes. Chicken chettinad is one of those chicken curries which I tasted in the recent times. Though it is not that great a taster but still it is worth a try. It is completely off the mill kinda preperation. You can try it out. The credits of this recipe go to indianfoodforever site and I didn't in any way make a contribution to them. But you can try it out, they cannot sue you.

Ingredients::

1 kg chicken

2 tsp poppy seeds

1/2 grated coconut

1 tsp fennel seeds

1 tsp coriander seeds

1/2 tsp cumin seeds

8 whole red chillies

1" stick cinnamon

3 green cardamom

2 cloves

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

1 onion, large

4 tsp ginger garlic paste

1/2 star anise

1 tsp red chilli powder

3 tomatoes

1 lemon

12 curry leaves

fresh coriander garnish

1/2 cup oil

3 tsp salt and add extra to taste

Preparation::

* Clean the chicken, remove the skin and cut into small or medium pieces as you like.

* Chop the onions and tomatoes.

* Roast the whole red chillies, grated coconut, poppy seeds, coriander seeds,cumin seeds, green cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, star anise, fennel seeds in oil and grind to a paste for 20 mts along with ginger garlic paste.

* Heat oil in a vessel and fry the onions till golden.

* Add curry leaves and the groung paste and saute for sometime.

* Add the tomatoes, red chilli powder and turmeric powder and saute.

* Add the chicken, mix and cook for 5 minutes and then add 2 cups of water and lemon juice.

* cover and cook till the chicken is done.

* Serve chicken chettinad hot garnished with coriander leaves and accompained with fried rice, roti or parathas.

Hope you enjoy this preparation. This might take a while but it is worth it.

Pic:: mysamayal

Via Indianfoodforever

Paneer chatpat recipe... One more veggie delight...

Okay this is one more veggie recipe for you guys, don't think I am a vegetarian or something. I am a pure non-vegetarian but I too love some veggie food. Here is one recipe I liked the most. It takes a while to cook may be around 2 hours but the taste is so good that you will not stop licking your fingers even after the entire curry is gone down your throat. Paneer Chatpat is such a good curry for those roti eaters, that you can eat it daily but beware the fat-factor is very high. All the credit of this recipe goes to ndrai website.

Ingredients::

Paneer - 150 gms

Yoghurt - 200 gms

Onion - 1

Tomato - 1

Ginger Garlic paste - 1 tsp

Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tsp

Garam Masala Powder - 3 tsp

Chilli Powder - 4 tsp

Oil - 1 tbsp

Salt - 3 tsp (change according to your taste)

Preparation::

* Cut the paneer into small cubes.

* Take a bowl and add yoghurt, turmeric powder, chilli powder, garam masala and salt in it and mix it well.

* Add the cubes of paneer into this bowl and shake them well.

* Keep the paneer marinated in this stage for an hour.

* Grind onion, tomatoes and ginger garlic paste into a fine paste and keep aside.

* Take out the paneer from the Yoghurt mixture and deep fry them.

* Now take a pan and add some oil and heat it.

* After the oil becomes hot, add the paste into it and fry it nicely until golden brown.

* Add the yoghurt mixture and salt into it and fry it until both mixtures blend.

* Add the fried paneer and boil the curry.

* Now you can serve it with Indian bread or roti or paratha or whatever....

Pic: kadambam

Source:: ndrai

Eggless French Toast... For you veggies...

At last some veggie recipe. I was searching for some nice good veggie recipe(not even egg is allowed) and found this recipe from spicesetc blog and now here I am sharing that recipe with you. This is so easy to make and will be the best evening snack to all. You will miss the non-veg flavor but still come-on guys give the meat a break and kill cholesterol. Full credits of this recipe to spicesetc.

Ingredients::

Bread - 4 slices(each cut into 2 pieces)

Rava/Sooji/Semolina - 1/2 cup

Yogurt - 1/2 cup

Onions diced - 1/2 cup

1/2 Tomato chopped finely

Green chilli chopped

Coriander Leaves chopped - 1 tbsp

salt

Turmeric powder - a pinch

Preparation::

* Except for the bread, mix all the ingredients and make a thick batter.

* Dip each piece of bread in the batter and coat both the sides.

* As the batter is thick, you might have to use your hand to place some veggie-yogurt mixture on the bread.

* Heat a flat non-stick pan.

* Add 1/2 tsp oil.

* Place the bread slice gently. Be careful with the hot oil.

* Add few drops of oil along the edges.

* Cook on medium flame for about 3 minutes. U can change the time according to the state of bread.

* Flip the bread and toast the other side for few more minutes until golden brown.

* Serve with ketchup.

Source:: Spicesetc

Butter chicken recipe...

Butter chicken is one of my favorite recipes and I cook it very very frequently. I always thought that it was very difficult to prepare butter chicken. But once I came to know the recipe, it is just like a clap of hand. You too will feel the same once you go through this recipe of butter chicken. Remember to serve it hot, because colder chicken never tastes good.

Ingredients::

3 tablespoons of butter

1 Onion

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

2 teaspoons crushed garlic

2 teaspoons crushed ginger

1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder

2 teaspoons chilli powder

1 tablespoon of cariander

400gms skinless, boneless chicken breast

1/2 cup ground almonds

225 gms peeled tomatoes

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1/2 cup unsweetened yoghurt

Preparation::

* Trim and cut the chicken into small cubes.

* Slice the onions into thin wedges, just like long thin slices.

* Heat a large fry pan and melt 3 tablespoons of butter until it is foamy.

* Add the onions and cinnamon to the pan and fry lightly.

* When the onions are soft stir in the crushed garlic and ginger.

* Add the turmeric, chilli and coriander and stir over a medium heat.

* Add the cubed chicken and keep stirring constantly until the chicken has turned white.

* Pour in the ground almonds, tomatoes and tomato paste and mix thoroughly.

* Cover and simmer for 20 To 30 minutes.

* Add the yoghurt and heat through.

Or you can just try one more thing. while you are cooking the regular chicken, just add some tomato paste and a quarter pack of Butter chicken masala from any famous brand. You will have the color as well.

Pic:: linkmuslims

Source:: cuisinedumonde

Chick-Fil-A Chicken Sandwich recipe...

Want to eat Chick-Fil-A chicken sandwich on a sunday, but the store is closed or don't want to spend a fortune on that silly sandwich but your heart wants it, then why don't you make it at home with this simple procedure.

Ingredients::

3 c Peanut oil

1 Egg

1 c Flour

1 c Milk

2 1/2 ts powdered sugar

1/2 ts Pepper

2 tb Salt

2 Skinless, boneless chicken breasts - halved

4 Plain hamburger buns

2 ts Melted Butter

8 Dill pickle chips/slices

Preparation::

* Heat oil in a pressure cooker over medium heat to about 400F.

* In small bowl, beat egg and stir in milk.

* In seperate bowl, combine dry ingredients and mix well.

* Dip each piece of chicken in milk until it is fully moistened.

* Roll moistened chicken in flour mixture until completely coated.

* Drop all 4 chicken pieces into hot oil and close pressure cooker.

* When steam starts shoting through the pressure release, set timer for 3 1/2 min.

* While chicken is cooking, spread a coating of melted butter on face of each bun.

* When chicken is done, remove from oil and drain on paper towels.

* Place two pickles on each bottom bun; add a chicken breast, then place the top bun.

This recipe yields 4 sandwiches and you can have it with your regular sauce or ketchups and a can of coke...

pic:: ithforum

Source :: recipetrove

Homemade chocolate ice-cream recipe...

With the sun blasting upon, you definitely want to chill yourself with some cool drinks or ice-creams. But always buying them outside won't help your purse a bit. Here is a solution "why don't you prepare the ice-cream at home???" Here's one of those easy recipes for a clean and neat Chocolate Ice-cream. The preparation time for this is around 20 mins and you may need to freeze it for around 6-7 hours before you can serve it chilled. This preparation is for 12 servings, so make your preparations accordingly.

Ingredients and utensils::

1 (14 ounce) can of sweetened condensed milk

2/3 cup chocolate syrup

2 cups heavy cream

aluminium foil

9X5 inch loaf pan

Preparation:

* Line a 9X5 inch loaf pan with aluminium foil.

* Take the condensed milk and chocolate syrup in a large bowl and stir together until the color of the mixture becomes even.

* In another bowl, whip the cream until stiff peaks form.

* Fold the cream into chocolate mixture and pour all of the mixture into our already prepared pan.

* Cover the pan and freeze it to become firm. Usually the freezing time takes around 6-7 hours and then serve it chilled.

This is one of the easiest methods where you don't need much machinery or time and even the ingredients aren't that hard to find. So just sit back and enjoy your cup of ice-cream. A friend mailed me this recipe and it worked out really well. Thought to share with you.

Pic:: userealbutter

Wanna eat Chicken-65??? Why not cook it...

Chicken 65 is one of my favorite foods and with pride I say that I have been eating it from the past 15 years. I know you PETA guys hate me but that is me. It is definitely not common, that an Indian girl like me, to admit that I am an hardcore non-vegetarian. But rules and principles are made to be broken , right???

OK coming to the Chicken 65 part, these are nothing different from the deep fried chicken nuggets but they are added with that extra flavor from the spieces found exclusively in India and Pakistan. But these days with the globalization Chicken 65 has spread over half of the world.

How Chicken-65 has got its name??? There are lots of theories like - it was first served in 1965, that there are 65 spieces in the recipe, that the chicken is 65 days old!!! and the list goes on but whatever it is, Chicken-65 is a delicious appetizer and a big meal for a girl like me.

If you want to cook this delicious food at home, head over here for one of those delicious recipes of Chicken-65...

KITSCHOW

Want to eat Authentic Hyderabadi Chicken Biryani....

Who doesn't like the world famous Hyderabadi Biryani?? Tell me who. If you have tasted the authentic Hyderabadi Biryani once in your life, then you would agree with me. Just go to some south Indian restaurant and ask him if he has authentic Hyd Biryani. He will say yes but then stress on authentic, and eat in it if and only if he says yes with that confidence in his eyes and the smile on his lips.

But there is one more solution if you can't get your hands on an authentic Hyderabadi Chicken Biryani, make it at home. There is this site which I stumbled upon recently and here the author explained each and every step involved in preparing the Biryani at home during your lazy hours. The author even listed all the ingredients required and hence you find it very easy to get them before you start your cooking. Now you can enjoy the authentic Hyderabadi Biryani without much trouble and just imagine the biryani rice going into your mouth and it will just melt like ice in your mouth with the spieces making you come back to life and thank the heavens for giving you this opportunity to taste such a great food.

Head over here for your Biryani recipe....