A Bite to Remember

When your away from your home country, you miss a lot of things, family, friends, the home you grew up in, but food is something that tops the list too. Or at least for me. Somehow it does not matter how many Indian restaurants or take outs there are, it just does not replace the real deal, not to mention having to drive all the way to get them in the first place. 

This past week we've been missing our home town, especially the evening South Indian snacks :) How we miss having easy access to tasty tea time snacks, mainly the savoury ones. Bhajis, Bondas, vadais, Samosas, Egg puffs, chaats, LOL the list goes on. Don't get me wrong I love the food here, but its sometime just too sweet and we end up longing for something spicy to cleanse the palate. And that's when we miss home even more, we end up talking about how awesome it is back home, how easy it is to get something you wish. Even our sweet shops and bakeries have something savoury. 

So today I made one the easiest South Indian snack, the Bhaji :) (with potatoes) just to cherish and calm my taste buds :)

 

I'm not writing the recipe cos there are hundreds of them on the internet. But if any of you want it, let me know.

Apple - Banana Cake

What do you do when you have over ripe bananas, not fit to eat?  - You bake a Banana cake.  Or at least that’s when I bake them.  I had a recipe that used apple sauce and yogurt (curd) instead of too much butter, but like I mentioned in one of my previous posts, I lost all my recipes when we moved.  So I thought why not bake an apple - banana cake, hoping my son who hates fruits will somehow get some fruits into him. A part of me thought I was a genius to have come up with the idea of an apple-banana cake :D, but there were hundreds of recipes online for it. As usual, I didn’t have to look beyond 2 links. I found an easy and simple one, here is the recipe for the apple-banana cake.  I just made some changes to it.   Well, did my son eat it? – Nope :(

Actual recipe	Changes made
2 cups white sugar	1.5 cups brown sugar
2 tsp cinnamon	1 tsp cinnamon
2 cups all-purpose flour	1 cup all-purpose flour + 1 cup whole wheat flour
4 cups grated apple	3 cups grated apple
2 tsp baking soda	1.5 tsp baking soda

The 1st Birthday!

My baby boy turned 1 on June 5th, 2012. We wanted to have a party, to celebrate and praise God for this huge blessing He has showered upon us.

 I was inspired by my talented sister-in-law Rebekah to make her famous Martha Stewart pom poms as decorations. I first saw the pom poms on my baby shower, which my SIL and close friends Kezia and Sarah threw for me. They are so simple and pretty. I had bought a Birthday banner, and used it to pull the colors from and made these colorful pom poms :) Simple, pretty and cheap ;)

The Party in a  snapshot.

Quick and easy Chicken

I've realized that my brain works best when in a hurry :) Here's a really quick and easy chicken recipe I made on the fly this Sunday. I did not have the time to chop onion or tomatoes so I just threw in some ginger garlic paste, salt, chili powder, a spoon of yogurt (curd) for some body and a dash of lime juice stirred in the chicken and let it cook. And the result was a super tasty chicken. 

Here's what you need

• Oil - 2 tsp
• Chicken desired amount (I used boneless)
• Ginger garlic paste - 2tsp
• salt to taste
• Chili powder to taste
• Chicken masala - 1tsp if available
• Yogurt/curd - 1 tsp
• Juice of half lime (optional - for a tangy taste)

Method:

• Heat oil in a large pan (larger the pan, faster the cooking time). When hot add the ginger garlic paste, salt, chili powder, chicken masala and stir.
• Add chicken and keep stirring till all pieces are covered in the mixture. Add yogurt and stir.
• Add a splash of water and close the pan. Let it cook. 
• Open add the lime juice stir and close. Add a bit more water if the dish dries up before the chicken is cooked.
• If you need gravy just add more water and cook to the desired consistency. If you like it dry like in the picture, just let it cook without the lid till the water evaporates and dries up.

It goes really well with rice and sambar :) Or make it as a gravy and enjoy with rotis.