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Barnyard Millet Kesari also called Kuthiraivali Kesari, is a delicious and healthy dessert made with barnyard millet, a gluten-free ancient grain that has been a staple food in many parts of Asia for centuries. Kesari is a traditional Indian sweet dish that is made with semolina, sugar, ghee, and spices. However, this version of Kesari is made with barnyard millet instead of semolina, making it a healthier alternative. The last recipe for this week’s Prep to table theme is this delicious dessert, Barnyard Millet Kesari or Kuthiraivali Kesari....

I have been making these Butter Biscuits for a few years now following my aunt’s recipe and it is a fail-proof one. These cookies require very few ingredients and they can be made very quickly. Traditionally these biscuits have tiny pin-point marks on them, which I made using a fork. This mark defines it as the Butter Biscuit. For the second day under the theme Tea Kadai Menu , I chose to make Butter Biscuits....

If you love the restaurant-style white kurma that they serve with Parotta, then this Chettinad Vegetable Kurma will not disappoint you. It has all the right blend of spices with mixed vegetables and tastes delicious with poori, parotta, or even Idli / dosai. For the first week of the Blogging marathon, I chose to do regional cuisine from a specific state. I am from Tamil Nadu but have never ventured deep into the marvelous Tamil cuisine....

This Chocolate Cupcakes would be any kid’s favorite as well as good for parties. The buttercream recipe was pretty basic and uses melted chocolate instead of cocoa making it a very delicious frosting. I was in no way ready to start baking for the Mega Marathon in February when I baked these amazing chocolate cupcakes with chocolate buttercream frosting. If you know me, it would be evident by now that I don’t make many chocolate recipes....

Masala Pori is a very common street food sold on beaches in India. Churumuri is a perfect after-school snack for the kids that can be made in about 10 minutes. Loaded with fresh vegetables, this puffed rice snack is great for all ages. Churumuri is a popular street food in the state of Karnataka. I have not personally eaten the puffed rice snack in Karnataka, but have eaten this numerous times on beaches in Tamil Nadu....

Gulab jamuns are light golden in color and smaller in size. Kala Jamun or Kalo Jaam is very dark, almost black (as the name says, Kala means black), and is made with paneer (Indian cottage cheese) and Khoa (Milk solids). Today is the grand finale of the Mega Regional Marathon, Indian Food Odyssey and I am very happy to end it on a sweet note. It also happens to be my 400th post on the blog and here is an authentic Bengali sweet for all my readers....

Kunukku is made with leftover Adai batter. Invariably, every time we grind the batter for adai, we end up having extra batter, and this is an amazing way to utilize the batter. It is a wonderful evening snack (If you don’t mind it being deep-fried) or a snack for a rainy day. The batter for this needs to be slightly thicker in texture. We can add rice flour to bring the batter to the required consistency....

This Lemon Chia Seed Muffin is an eggless recipe and can be a good snack or a dessert depending on your mood. This muffin is a good twist to the regular flavors used in muffins. I bought some chia seeds a couple of months ago in the hope of making something with them. After reading about the health benefits of chia seeds, I really wanted to incorporate them into our diet....

Kovakkai / Ivy Gourd happens to be one of our favorite vegetables and this Masala Bhaat is absolutely a recipe to make with. This is a wonderful recipe to make for lunch boxes as well and the freshly ground spices make it even more flavorful. I love cooking one-pot meals and that is often something I make when I run out of ideas. When I was going through all the amazing recipes that my blogging marathon partner Kalyani has, this recipe sounded really flavorful....

This Vegan Mediterranean Chickpea Salad is so delicious and loaded with flavors and colors that will make you return for more. Serve this fresh and easy salad as is or stuffed inside pita bread to make it a shawarma wrap . Anytime I buy English cucumber, my first plan is to make this fresh Chickpeas salad. We love chickpeas in our house and often use them in Indian cuisine. I make an Indian salad almost chat kind called the Chana chat which is one of our favorite evening snacks....

Mozzarella sticks are one of my son’s favorite snacks and he has ordered them many times for lunch as well from the kid’s menu in restaurants. Just because he loves them, I have a batch of frozen mozzarella sticks in my freezer that I heat up in the oven and give as a snack for the boys. It has been in my thoughts for many days now to make the mozzarella sticks myself, but for some reason never got around to making them....

Navaratri, a celebration of power, victory and woman. One of my favorite celebrations that I look forward to every year. Here you will find a collection of Navarathri recipes that could be made including sundal, desserts and rice recipes. Navaratri / Navratri / Navarathri, one of my favorite festival is a celebration of Woman. In the South, we celebrate Goddess Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswathi in all their forms. In Northern India, it is celebrated as Dussera, where the victory of God Rama is celebrated....

Old fashioned Ginger Cookies, are the perfect cookies to bake to go around the neighborhood during the holiday season. The spices in the cookies fill the whole house with a wonderful aroma. The second recipe I chose to redo before the holiday season is one of our favorite Cookies - Old fashioned Ginger Cookies. This is a cookie recipe that I bake every year without fail and in fact, my little one looks forward to the holidays, especially to eating these cookies....

This Poosanikkai kootu or White Pumpkin Kootu is made the traditional South Indian way by cooking the vegetable in tamarind juice and then flavoring it with spices. Ash Gourd Kootu can be a good side for traditional white rice as lunch or dinner Poosanikkai, also known as ash gourd is the newfound happiness for our family. After our move to the South, I can very easily find this vegetable in the local Indian or Asian markets and I have been cooking marathons with this vegetable....

This soft spongy Rasgulla is an ever-favorite and very popular dessert from India. Bengali Rosogulla is made with freshly made cheese/paneer and is simmered in sugar syrup. These Rasgullas are soft and spongy and absolutely the best. I am so happy to be penning my 100th blog recipe today. My Cooking journey so far has been full of delightful events. I would like to take a moment to thank a few people without whom this journey would not have been possible....

Green curry is a variety of curry from central Thailand. In the Thai language, the green curry is called Kaeng Khiao wan which literally means sweet green curry. Thai curries are something we often order when we eat out in restaurants. The spice and richness of coconut milk are often appreciated by our palates. I have tried my hands on Thai red curry and now I decided that I will try Kaeng Khiao Wan....

This Vegetarian Tom Yum Soup is such a wonderful appetizer. Traditionally Tom Yum soup is made with plain water and is flavored exclusively with lemon grass, galangal, and kefir lime leaves. I cannot believe that January has already been sneaked by us and we are in the second month of the New Year. I am still referring to the year as New Year because I am yet to get a hang of writing 2015....

Mulligatawny Soup literally translates into Pepper Water. This broth-like soup is very popular in Indian restaurants and works great as an appetizer. The spices in the soup are so warm for the cold months. This Mulligatawny soup is one of the accompaniments that I look forward to sipping when we go to Indian restaurants for lunch or dinner. We usually choose to go to a buffet when eating at Indian restaurants just so we have a bit of an option to choose from....

The dish I made today, Dubke is a special one made in Kumaon region of the state of Uttarakhand. It is a very simple dal paste made with tuvar dal and the pakoras/dumplings are also made with the same dal. Uttarakhand, formerly Uttaranchal is a state in Northern India. It is often referred to as ’land of gods’ due to many Hindu temples and pilgrimage areas throughout the state. The capital of the state is Dehradun, which is also the largest city....

Kerala Style Peas Masala Curry, is an aromatic, rich and Vegan subzi made with fresh green peas and coconut milk. It can be served with idli , dosai , idiyappam , appam or poori . This recipe for the Vegan Green peas masala is so flavorful and it has one of my very favorite ingredients, coconut milk in it. I love the flavor of coconut milk in kurma and curry....