Vegetable Khurma

If someone asks me, “have you ever tried making parathas?”
I wouldn’t say a blunt 'No'!.

Yes, I have, with my sister in law about a decade ago!.

It was our first joint attempt of making the same and came out with at least 3 dozens of real hot parathas after 3 long hours of hard labour(otherwise for the preparation of the dough,which SIL patiently took up)
Once we were through, I should mention, my SIL bluntly remarked.."hmmff I'm never going to attempt this again..
"Yup, bet!.. me too!"!I replied with a sigh!!..
Well, always good at keeping my words ;) I’ve never dared to make ‘em since then.

At least for me, I believe- it’s quite a tiring job!..though my friend Renuka, an expert in preparing parathas, never admits! :).

So, the yummy hot parathas were brought home by my better half and for sure the side-dish here is the fruit of my own effort : )
Again, the recipe of Khurma is my own creation since it’s a mix up of my mom’s and ma in law’s.

Srivalli, this is for your great event of Curry Mela.

Get ready with:

Vegetables- potatoes, carrots, peas, cauliflower- diced, not too small pieces- 2 large cups
Big Onion-medium sized, sliced lenghthwise- 1
Garlic-sliced lengthwise-5-6 cloves
Spices-cloves,cardamom and cinnamon- 2 each
Oil-a tbsp
Thick n creamy coconut milk-1/2 cup
Bay leaves-2-3 nos
Chopped cilantro-to garnish
Salt-to taste

To Grind:
Coconut-1/2 cup
Ginger-an inch piece
Garlic-2 cloves
Green Chillies-3-4 nos
Roasted gram/pottukkadalai-2 tsps
Fennel seeds/saunf-a tsp
Khus khus/poppy seeds-a tsp
Coriander powder-a tsp

Method:

1. Cook vegetables till half done, one by one in just enough salted water according to their respective cooking timings.

2. Grind the listed ingredients to a smooth paste.

3. Heat oil in the utensil intended to make the curry.Throw in the spices. Sauté sliced onions till translucent.Transfer the ground paste along with enough water.Bring to boil and simmer for a few minutes.Transfer the cooked vegetables together to the simmering curry and let it simmer again for a few minutes.Add the bay leaves and salt.

4. Remove from fire when the khurma reaches the semi thick consistency.Blend in coconut milk gently.Garnish with finely chopped cilantro. Serve hot with Parathas.

A few more awards I now need to brag about, though accepted late, are :) :-

Great bear hugs from Divya, Suma and Prajusha.

Prajusha, thankyou again for the Yum Yum award.

Proud to receive the inspirational award from dear Lathamma.

The following rules apply to this award:
1. Only 5 people are allowed to receive this award
2. 4 of them followers of your blog.
3. One has to be new to your blog and live in another part of the world.
4. You must link back to who ever gave you the award.

I'd like to pass on this award to these blogging friends -

Prajusha, Lathamma, Divya, Renuka and Lavanya.



Blogging Friends Forever, Best blog darts thinker and Beautiful site awards are presented by Suma Rajesh.


I’ve been seriously thinking of changing my old fashioned, stale template style here while I was presented this wonderful award from Pallavi and Suma, again.

Brilliant Weblog is a prize given to sites and blogs that are smart and brilliant both in their content and their design. The purpose of the prize is to promote as many blogs as possible in the blogsphere.

Here are the rules to follow:
When you receive the prize you must write a post showing it, together with the name of who has given it to you, and link them back.
Choose a minimum of 7 blogs (or even more) that you find brilliant in their content or design.
Show their names and links and leave them a comment informing they were prized with ‘Brilliant Weblog’.
Show a picture of those who awarded you and those you give the prize (optional).

I would like to pass all my other awards(except BFF which is listed above) to-

Prajusha, Divya, Nags, Srivalli, Lathamma and Lakshmi, Renuka, Suganya, Sra, Aparna, Pallavi, Lavanya and Mitr (except the 'yum yum award' as she is not a food blogger:))

P.S- Ignore the ones you are already awarded.

No words to Thank my lovely pals for fondly remembering me to pass over these wonderful awards to me even when I was away from blogging..

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Plagiarism- Never Ends!!...

Though I had not been blogging for a while, I had been painfully knowing a lot about cyber stalking and plagiarism happening around my blogger pals.

Unfortunately and unexpectedly I found myself a victim of this act by a blogger here.

The plagiarised contents,

1.

The original post of mine and the link.

2.

The picture of Potato bondas which has been blatantly copied from my original post here.

3.

The image of Mango Icecream copied from my original post, here!!!..


The same blog owner has lifted pictures from other blogs, adding his/her own version of recipes, side by side attempting to earn through Google AdSense!!..

I have already left comments in there to remove them, in the most polite way, though there is no response till now.

Sincere and heartfelt thanks to,

• Karthik, for his timely assistance.




• Mishmash, who brought this to my notice.
  Her pictures are also copied without permission by the same site; detailed post here!.

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Karakkuzhambu -The Chettinad way.

Who can say a ‘no’ to this spicy, tangy Chettinad Kara Kuzhambu or Vathal Kuzhambu?
With the medley of garlic, onions, vatral, the aromatic Kuzhambu proves to be a feast by itself and is also known as Poondu Vengaya Kuzhambu.The yummy gravy goes well with steamed rice, dosa, idly or with any main food.

This is for Sig, who hosts JFI-Tamarind for the month :).

Ingredients:
Gingelly seed Oil-A tbsp
Garlic- peeled- ½ cup(slice length wise into halves if the pods are large)
Shallots/small onions-sliced into halves1/2 cup
Dhania powder/malli thool-1 tbsp
Turmeric powder-1/2 tsp
Kuzhambu milagai thool-I use Aachi brand to get that distinct Chettinad flavour- 1 tbsp
Tamarind- a small lime sized ball
Salt-to taste

To Season:
Gingelly seed Oil-1 tbsp
Mustard seeds
Urad dal or Bengal gram dal-a tsp
Methi seeds-1/2 tsp
Dried Sundakkai or Manathakkali Vatral(optional)- A tbsp
Curry leaves-a sprig

Method:
1. Soak tamarind in half a cup of warm water and extract juice as thick as possible.Keep aside.Generally I use a little aged tamarind, blackish brown in colour.This enhances the taste of any Kuzhambu and gives that blackish brown colour too.

2. Heat oil in a thick bottomed deep vessel. Sauté garlic and onions till they turn golden brown, say for abt half a minute. Add tamarind extract followed by the 3 powders.(you can also use sambhar powder or just chilly powder instead of Kuzhambu milagai thool.)Mix well to avoid any lumps. Add salt. Bring this to a boil and reduce flame to simmer till it reduces to a semi-thick paste.Refer picture for consistency.If you prefer a little watery, take off from fire a little earlier, accordingly.

3. In a separate kadai, heat oil, season with mustard seeds, urad or bengal gram dal & Methi seeds. Sauté Vatral of your choice for 3-5 seconds and throw in curry leaves. Pour over to the Kuzhambu, bring to another boil, mix well and remove from fire.

Note- Keep the pan open till it cools down.(If the pan is closed the kuzhambu turns more watery by the evaporated water dripping in from the inside of the lid).This has a good shelf life and stays well for even a month if refrigerated. Dilute with warm water to make instant kuzhambu or mix with hot rice to make the Kuzhambu sadam, a yummy and simple pack away lunch.If you need to place this as a preserve, definitely add liberal amounts of oil while seasoning, as seen in the picture.

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Back, after the Summer Break!..

After being almost out of blogging for about 3 months, it required much effort, to shake away the so called 'laziness' and pull myself back in :)....I know I'd not been doing justice with my posts, but for sure had been doing my best, responding to each and every comment dropped any where here and to those ‘concerned’ mails I’d been receiving from my lovely friends..each of them making me feel proud and special; the way one would feel, when you induce someone with that feeling, that you're ‘missed’!!.. Thanks a ton, friends…

After the round up of Arusuvai, in the month of April, I'd been away to my native, for my sister’s wedding. Should admit the fact, that I enjoyed each and every moment, taking up the responsibilities, even though turning green every now and then when 'the bride at home' was found busy shooting around dishes and blogging in a cool and easy way..;)..but believe me, she proved to be smarter by treating the family, by cooking up all those wonderful dishes from the blogs which I had book marked and would have never tried otherwise!!!...:)

Month of May proved to be pretty eventful as we had the great “Chennai Bloggers Meet” on the very first day. Since I was the last one to turn up for the meet, I'm the last one spared to mention about it too ;)…I have an excuse for that too coz I was away holidaying with my family to Scotland till the month end..

June?..well, children back to school, weddings, lots of travelling, had been keeping me occupied….
Did all the above explain my reasons for not blogging so far, ?? :D..

I'm grateful to my wonderful pals for having considered me, even during my 'hibernation period', to gift me with these cute awards..



From the talented, smart n efficient blogger, Srivalli..

From the cute, loving n affectionate blogger, Nanditha..

From the sweet, affectionate n caring, Suma..

Hugs to you, girls!! :)..

So, where’s the recipe now???
Err.. hmm…may I postpone it to my next post, pls???
.. coz I’m still not away from a few important commitments that might slow down blogging for a while, again..

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The Birth of Arusuvai - an inside story and the participants in India!...

Arusuvai, the friendship chain is known to most of us by now, spreading its wings reaching each and every eagerly waiting blogger with pleasant surprises and budding new friendships.

I would like to share a few facts about Arusuvai.

The Birth of the Chain

The Amish friendship chain started by Mandira of Ahaar was in its peak in the US in mid 2007.Unfortunately the bloggers residing outside the country could not be a part of this great chain.This made us think, why not we start a chain like this in India as well??..

The idea sparked in the month of Oct when Bhags sent a packet of yeast to Nags quite casually as a mark of friendship, where I noted Lakshmi’s comment mentioning her need to start a friendship chain.The very next moment I found out the mom n daughter’s profound interest to put a start of the same, in India. Mails sped to and fro. Lakshmi was up with the logo and Lathamma,who beautifully named the chain 'arusuvai', was all set to send her surprise packets to Renuka and me!. Soon the first packages were on its way in the very first week of Nov’07!..which reached us on the Diwali eve…

As anyone would have easily noticed, most of the active Indian food bloggers reside outside India.We hoped this chain would bring out the bloggers in India to identify one another and develop a network of friendship and fun.For this reason the chain was restricted to the mother land, initially.
To our surprise we met with many interested bloggers from different parts of India, eager to join with amazing co-operation!..

Co-ordination of Arusuvai

This had been the most important, difficult, time consuming yet interesting part of the whole episode.
Lakshmi and Lathamma were on a break. However, initially the chain went well with the predominant bloggers who knew one another. One more month to go and there was scarcity of recipients as many of the bloggers confronted with the same problem- who to send next??..

Srivalli, held out both her arms now and needless to mention, she did an amazing job of searching and fishing out interested bloggers, co-ordinating the donors on one side and the recipients on the other.This was indeed the most hectic job which both of us did willingly and sincerely to our extend.We merged perfectly, every where!.

Five months have passed since the start and Srivalli and myself have exchanged at least 500 mails pertaining Arusuvai co-ordination!!(no exaggeration here:))

We feel proud to have identified about 50 food bloggers residing in different parts of Hindustan and successfully bringing them together with the help of Arusuvai.

The Arusuvai Participants in India

By stating so I really do not mean to segregate the bloggers residing in India and abroad.The truth is that I was unable to keep a track of the donors and the recipients in the US, as you girls proved to be ‘ultra fast’ and ‘extra smart’ :D.

The Arusuvai Team is grateful to all the participants contributing their parts, supporting the chain in India and abroad.Your deep interest and gorgeous support are undoubtedly the simple reasons of this great success..making each link of the chain, strong and rigid!!

Below is the list of participants in India..


Lathamma- Renuka & Bharathy

Renuka - Srivalli & Arundati Rao

Bharathy - Lissie & Lakshmi

Srivalli - Anita & Kamini

Lissie- Rachel & Lathamma(back)

Lakshmi - Raaga & Nags

Nags - Bhags

Raaga - Nanditha Iyer

Rachel- Shella

Bhags - Kajal & Sukanya

Anita- Reeta & Deepshika

Shella- Priyadarshini & Aparna

Kamini- Nirmala & Perspective

Kajal- Priya Mahesh

Nirmala - Jayashree M

Arundati Rao - Deeba & Gaurav

Deeba - Miri

Aparna-Bindiya Singh

Deepshika-Gayathri H & Nanditha

Sukanya -SMN

SMN - Manidipa

Gaurav - Jayasree

Jayashree - Kamalika

Jayasree- Sunshinemom

Miri - Ramki (transit)

Perspective- Simran(transit)

Kamalika - DG(transit)

Priya Mahesh-Archana(transit)

Archana- Swati(plan)

Ramki- Divya(plan)

Sunshinemom - Arundathi (plan)

While all of the 'women' came out with one great post each, this wonderful ‘Man’ rocked with three!!!

Click here, here and here for his 3 different creations with the same ingredient.

Three cheers to you Gaurav!..:)

And now, pls check here for Srivalli's version of round up! :)..

No words to thank Latha of Masala Magic for having initiated arusuvai in US…we are again much amazed to see how fast it keeps spreading there!!..

* A few bloggers are yet to come up with their arusuvai posts. I have linked their corresponding blogs instead.

A Year of Blogging and a Summer Break

By the way, it has been a year since I started blogging, today marking the first birthday.
Have not hosted any event so far.Not a hit of lakh , not even 100 posts!..
…Still I feel extremely happy, contended and proud to be in the team, initiating and co-ordinating Arusuvai!!..

Let me extend my very sincere gratitude to each n every visitor in this place and also to my dear readers dropping by with so much of encouraging words filling the comment boxes, backing me throughout, without which my days would never be complete...

Thank you ALL :)

And to quote last,

I will be on a summer break for a couple of months.
Miss you all !!

Happy Blogging!!

Love,
Bharathy :)

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