Desserts are my weakness and I am sure many will agree with me. Give this 4 Ingredients Mango Fruit Salad a try to satisfy your sweet tooth along with a good serving of fruit. The 4 ingredients theme is so interesting and it is allowing me to use the ingredients from my pantry and to think out of the box. Lately the Indian restaurants in our region have been serving a fruit salad which has mango pulp in it....

Ajwain Paratha or Carom seeds flatbread is a flaky and flavorful paratha that is a popular choice for lunch boxes, breakfast, or lunch. Ajwain seeds also known as omam in Tamil, Bishop’s weed , or Thymol seeds are very flavorful and healthy. Omam or ajwain is very commonly used in Indian recipes. This paratha is flavored exclusively with carom seeds and tastes great when served with some yogurt on the side....

Badusha / Balushahi is a traditional Indian sweet that is very often made during the Diwali festival . This Flaky and deep-fried pastry that is soaked in sugar syrup to get a glaze resembles the American Donuts. Badusha is a traditional Indian sweet that is very often made during the Deepavali / Diwali festival. We had this sweet as a part of the menu for my father’s 60th Birthday and I was itching to make it since then....

Chow chow carrot kootu is the perfect comfort food when I am craving for some. This delicious kootu made with chayote squash and carrot and a coconut based masala is very quick to make. Cold winter days are making me crave for more comfort foods. This is one of the foods that I love to eat on a lazy day with Sandham and paruppu (Rice and lentils) and a dollop of freshly made ghee....

This Cinnamon Crumb Coffee Cake is one of the most delicious and moist coffee cakes that you will ever bake this holiday season. The cinnamon crumb is the highlight of the cake, and make sure you make plenty to sprinkle. Cinnamon Crumb Coffee Cake has been something on my mind for the longest time, and for no apparent reason, I have never been able to make it. When I chose the BM theme for this week, I knew this was my chance to make this cinnamon crumb coffee cake that has been on my mind for a long time....

Simple and flavorful rice made with a spiced coconut mixture is a delight for lunch. Freshly grated coconut adds a lovely aroma to this Vegan Coconut Rice also known as Thengai Sadam in Tamil. Prepared rice or mixed rice recipe like this Coconut rice, is something I make very often. Not just on regular days, but this is something I make when I have people over for Navaratri. It is a ’ No Onion and No Garlic ’ recipe and is perfect for festival days....

Cranberry Pickle is a spicy Indian style pickle made with fresh Cranberries. Also called Kuruthi Nelli Oorukkai in Tamil, the pickle is sweet, spicy and tart and has something for everyone. Cranberry juice is a common juice found in my refrigerator since my son just loves it. For me, to like it beyond its tart and sour taste, would be a much acquired thing and I have not yet developed that....

These cucumber rolls are a fun bite-size appetizer idea using cucumbers and hummus. These cucumber roll-ups are low-carb and very delicious. It takes only 15 minutes to make and is very easy to put together. These can be great appetizers for parties. Summer is in full swing and I wanted to come up with one more no-cook dish for the bite-size appetizer theme. We love cucumbers and also love the Mediterranean flavors....

Ericha Kuzhambu or Ezhu Kari Kuzhambu or simply, Thiruvathirai Kuzhambu, is a delicious stew made with up to 21 different vegetables is the best combination for the Thiruvathirai Kali made during the auspicious occasion of Arudhra Darshanam or for Sweet Pongal made for Sankranthi. This recipe of Ezhu kari kuzhambu is the best combination for Thiruvathirai Kali. Thiruvadharai or Aarudhra darshanam is celebrated in the month of Margazhi. Ezhu Kari kuzhambu is made of seven vegetables and hence it gets the name....

This multigrain bread is a whole grain bread and is very healthy. It can be an excellent choice for sandwiches or just as a snack. We love the grainy texture and really like the crunch that we get from the pumpkin/sunflower seeds. My family is a huge bread-loving one. We love bread in any shape and form. We love the Multigrain Bread that we buy from the stores. Yes, the bread is very healthy, but apart from that, the main reason we keep going back to eating it is the texture....

Julekake or Julekage is rich holiday bread flavored with cardamom and served at Christmas in many Scandinavian countries. The bread traditionally has citrus peel added along with cardamom and raisins. Wishing all my readers a Very Happy New Year ! Looking forward to yet another great year taking you all through ’ My Cooking Journey ‘. Thanks for all your support and encouragement. This is my first bake for the year....

Uttar Pradesh holds a very special place in my heart. I spent a good part of my child hood in Kanpur and Lucknow and spent time with some amazing people. Our life there was very simple and it was one of the best yet. When we went to UP, none of us knew Hindi. I was like 6 yrs old and did not matter to me until it came to school and all of a sudden I had to deal with this tremendous Hindi learning....

Nilgiris Kurma is a Mixed Vegetable Kurma that pairs well as a side dish for parotta, roti, or naan. Any vegetable, fresh or frozen, can be used for this kurma. I love to try out different side dishes for chapattis/parottas. And I highly favor the mixed vegetable kind because that way I could feed quite a bunch of vegetables to my kids that day. That is when I came across this recipe on Srivalli’s space, and I loved the color of the kurma....

Steel cut oats and coconut milk kheer or Oatmeal Payasam is a delicious Kheer/payasam for any celebration or festival. It is a vegan and gluten-free recipe. Steel Cut Oats is one of my favorites and I use it in every possible way. I was one of those people who hated oats until I started using Steel Cut Oatmeal. I absolutely love the texture of the steel-cut oatmeal and if bought certified gluten-free, this could work great for people looking for a gluten-free grain....

Onion pakoda or pakora is a popular tea-time snack made by deep-frying onion slices in a gluten-free and vegan chickpea flour batter. These snacks can be an entire cuisine category on their own. After a crazy busy day today, I came home to find that I had nothing for dinner and had to make something for the last BM. I had my day planned out differently, and it turned out quite different....

Palak Paneer / Palak Tofu made with fresh spinach leaves and simple masala, is a great side dish with some phulkas, rotis, and rice. This is the third recipe for which I am updating my pictures. It’s always a pleasure to revisit posts from almost six years ago. We had a huge vegetable patch in our backyard, and I had cooked this particular dish from the freshly harvested spinach from our backyard....

This Peynirli Poğaça is a Turkish Poğaça With Feta And Herb. This is common around the Balkan and Turkish regions. These Poğaça are called by different names depending on the region. Poğaça, pronounced as ‘Poh-gha-cha, is a flatbread that is common in the Balkans and Turkey. The flatbread are plain or sometimes stuffed with different fillings. There are different kinds of Poğaça and depending on the region, they are known by different names....

Varalakshmi pooja is an imporatant pooja dedicated to goddess Varalakshmi and is performed by most of the South Indian Women. I am enlisting few of the recipes that we make in our house for this pooja. These recipes are made apart from the regular meal and could vary depending on individual family. I do not have all the recipes photographed, but I will update it soon. Me and my mother performing the pooja in India Pooja in NY Neivedhiyam - Payasam - I am going to be making Badam Kheer this year....

Vazhaipoo Paruppu Usilli is one of the delicacies from Tamil Nadu, India. It is usually paired with a More Kuzhambu but can be combined with any other kuzhambu and/or rasam to make a complete South Indian meal. One of the best things about moving to the South is the ease of finding Indian vegetables. Banana flowers were very hard to find in North East and so we hardly got to it....

This Kettle Corn Popcorn can be made in less than 10 minutes with just 3 ingredients. This kettle Popcorn is a good comfort snack for movie nights at home. I have never popped popcorn beyond the microwave ones. We love popcorn in movie theaters and eat our hearts full when at the movies. A couple of weeks back, I bought some Popcorn corn from the local market and it was sitting on my counter top staring at me ever since....