Molten Chocolate Lava Cake

Today, I finally got some time to catch up on blogs and the first two posts I happened to check were Tanvi's Saffron Rice Pilaf with Chicken Balls and Kulsum's Molten Chococlate Lava Cake. Both recipes were like love at first sight. It was exactly when I was thinking about what to make for the Valentine's day that I found these two recipes. We generally tend to eat out on special occasions like Valentine's day. But this year I decided to make some good food at home. With busy schedules, eating out has become a norm these days, so special occasions call for good home made food. So after looking at the above mentioned recipes from Tanvi...

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Stuffed Dondakaya/Tindora Curry

Here I come after a long break from blogging. Okay, this time the break is not because I was not cooking, but because I was not finding time to take pictures, edit and upload them. Finally today I got some free time to post this recipe for Stuffed Tindora curry. This recipe is originally from my mom and it has been altered a bit by my sister. The original recipe had just the channa dal, cumin seeds, garlic and red chillies for stuffing. Coconut and poppy seeds were my sister's additions. Ingredients: Tindora/Dondakaya: 20-25(Chop ends and make slits length wise for stuffing) For Stuffing: Channa Dal: 4 tbsp Cumin Seeds: 1 tsp Coriander...

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Pav Bhaji

Pav Bhaji is a popular street food in India. Pav means bun and bhaji is curry made with different vegetables.  The bhaji is a blend of different vegetables in an onion and tomato based gravy spiced with the aromatic pav bhaji masala. It is easy to prepare and is nutritious too as it consists of number of vegetables. It is traditionally made with butter and is topped with butter before serving. To make it healthy I cook with oil and just top with little butter before serving. Sometimes I avoid that too. Ingredients: Potatoes(cut in cubes): 1 large Peas: 1/2 cup Carrots(chopped): 2 Beans(cut in pieces): 1/2 cup Bell Pepper(cut...

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Mango Pie

I know it has been a while that I posted a recipe on FoodZone. These days I haven't cooked much, and even if I cooked, those recipes were already there on the blog. I wanted to post some special recipe for Christmas but couldn't and then thought of doing that for new year and that did not happen either. Holidays have been busy with friends, parties and travelling around. Hope you all had a merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year. My cousin 'S' sent me this Mango pie recipe and pictures to put on my blog on the last day of the last year :) I wanted to add it to the blog immediately as a new year post, but I...

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Mysore Bonda

Mysore is the name of a city in India and Bonda is a deep fried flour dumpling. I have no clue why this is called Mysore bonda. May be the recipe originated in Mysore and got that name. This is a perfect snack for the chilly evenings. All purpose flour is mixed with sour yogurt and the dumplings are deep fried in oil. Mysore bonda is a popular street food in South India - often sold along with Mirchi Bajjis(green peppers dipped in chickpea flour and deep fried in oil) in portable stalls on the street corners. Ingredients: All purpose flour: 2 cups Sour yogurt: 1 cup Onions, finely chopped: 1/2 cup(optional) Cilantro,...

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Cranberry Rice

Hope you all had a very good Thanksgiving. We had a very relaxing Thanksgiving this year. Most of the time we make travel plans during thanksgiving. But, this year we decided to stay home and relax. Moreover we got back from a trip to a beautiful resort just last week and did not want to travel again. We had a potluck at a friend's place and I made the curry leaf chicken and this cranberry rice. Sometimes it feels so good just to sit back and relax. So, do you have any cranberries left from the cranberry sauce you made for Thanksgiving? If so, you can try your hands at this simple cranberry rice. This is a colorful and vibrant...

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Red Beer - Hubby's recipe

Do you like beer? I hate beer. If you are a person like me who doesn't like drinking beer then this is for you. In this house 'P' is a beer person and I am the wine person. Yes, I don't like beer and he doesn't like wine. Red beer is something we both like and we occasionally make this. Bloody mary mix is combined with beer along with hot sauce, salt and pepper making it taste more like spicy tomato juice than beer. 'P' is not very fond of cooking. I am the one who cooks and he is the one who cleans(....once in a while). The only time he enters the kitchen to make something from scratch is to make this "Red Beer"(Oh...he can make...

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