Kunaffa ???..are you sure ???

Id was in the air...and still is (see the needle on the clock nearing 2 pm, and it was time to leave the office for the whole of last month, hummm.....got to wait 3 long hours more till next year, same time......till then, Ramadhan,.....I miss you!!!)

All the stores and markets will be piled up with sweets, and one think which I noticed, apart from Indian sweets, you see a lot of Vermicilli in use(the thinnest of the lot) .

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I remember, my previous manager, Dr. Ward, who was a Briton, trying to explain to a guest who was also from UK, about Arabic sweets, and calling them "sugar-strands!!".

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Apart from the regular use of Vermicilli in Kerala as in Semiya payasam, or Uppma....their use was very much limited, till I came to see all these sweets over here.

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So, this is one such ***** I prepared, with the sole aim of using Wards' so called "sugar strands",which I had purchased not knowing exactly what to do with it, except the determination that it will not end up in a bowl of milk as Payasam!

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Clue 1 : http://www.flickr.com/photos/nescafe/254186513/

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Clue 2 : http://www.flickr.com/photos/adventuressheart/424168483/in/photostream/

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I presented it to a friend of mine, who is in Kuwait for over a decade, and she was at first glance "Oh, you know to make Kunaffa, Sona!!!...can you give me the recipie, please...."

Reply : "Kunaffa ????...so..sooo..."

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Any guess guys, whats my kunaffa is all about ???....

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Till then, see you on Sunday, as its weekend here Friday and Saturday.

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Pizzas-de-assorted !!!

Craving for Pizza ????...craving for some fun and excitement in your lab ???
There you gooo !!

These are my mini-pizza's, but without the usual pizz base...
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Too lazy to bake the base, alright, there's the burger buns for your rescue...!..An easy readymade softy pizza base,..just slice a bun into two, apply tomato/pizza sauce onto the base, and let your creativity fly with the ingredients!!!
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Pizza No I : Egg Pizza ...heard that before?..I haven't...

Sliced quail eggs, with chopped spring onions, dash of salt and pepper, scraped cheese ....

straight to the Microwave on 40% Power for 2 minutes (per Piece)

Pizza No II, Sausage Pizza (for a Pepperoni effect)

I dont have to say more, should I ???

Pizza No III, ...Extra-Spicy Super Supreme (my version, that is !)...a total mix ...chicken "scraps", mushroom, baby corn, bell pepper, tomato, anything that i could lay my hand on...with a lavish dash of pepper, and dry-parsley.

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and finally, my true baby...A Fruit Pizza !!!.....

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....never have seen one in any other blogs, so just takes the default patent for it...

All the veggies and non's get replaced by grapes, tiny pieces of mango, pinepple, apple, banana...see the difference..its lovely!!!

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now thats what experimenting is all about, after all !!!

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This is my contribution to the MEC -Snacks. Hope you all liked by Quickie Pizzas.

UPDATE: I am sending this also off to the Leftover Tuesday's event.

Spaghetti nest, for a rest....

Jai and bee of Jugalbandi has come up with this interesting photography event with this month theme being Eggs. At first place, the thought goes to egg inside a nest, but where in this desert-country-flat building of mine, as I gonna find some hay straws and stuff???

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Well....there was no choice to that, but I could rather come up with something, similar to a nest!!!

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First things first...NO LOGICAL THOUGHTS ON THIS SNAP PLEASE!!!

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Anyone out there, if have wondered,..gosh!..how did that bird land up with such huge an egg....hee hee...look closely at the eyes of the bird. Think a mother bird to look at its egg that way???...Naaeeehh ..!!

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Its an intruder!!...

.The mother quail is right after me, for stealing her other baby eggs for the omlette event, the brainbaby of Kanchana, of Married to a Desi...cruel me!!

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Hope the images just speaks the preparation.

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Usually, I cook spaghetti the whole pack with salt, ginger garlic paste, soya sauce and chillie sauce, a portion of it is added with sliced veggies and stuff, as a veg-version, couple of days later, it goes with non'es, to be served as a mixed plate.

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As always the story, a portion of the cooked spaghetti gets left behind, not the least sufficient to make a serving, and hence this time, ended up as shown.

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Curl the spaghetti around a wooden fork onto a paper cup.( I used two cups together for better stability), spread it a bit to fill in the cup, place a boiled quail egg in the centre, sprinkle pepper powder on top og the egg and the nest, cover the edges of the cup with cilantro leaves..and off for a presentation!

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Keeping the mother bird next to the egg, or an intruder ....is all upto you.

Thats the pack I had used, the heart-healthy, whole grain wheat organic brand, and hence this post also goes to the WYF-Diet Food event by Hima of SnackORama.

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At this point, I go back to our childhood Christmas time, when we make cribs at home...many years back, one of our older cousin brother used to make one for us, and he used to cut patches of a green grass from our "neighbour's" backyard, for the original look for the crib. ..

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Years passed, he left to the Gulf, and it was upto me and my brother to do it. By that time, our father passed a law of the crib to be placed in our home-patio, not outdoors, ..as our dogs(3 of them!!) , to our greatest horror, very merrily used to make the grass bed their "mattress" each night, and Mother Mary and Baby Jesus would be at different poles of the garden!!!

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So, the crib took it place from then on indoors, the green gress gets replaced by straw, next year it is replaced by paper scraps, and the next year..its just green felt paper to lay the small figurines !!!

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One of my brothers' friend had come home the day we were making the crib, and commented "Ohh, your Jesus, is laid on paper!!!...ours is on Plywood"!!!

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Here, from a twig-straw nest..the egg gets laid on a Spaghetti nest............. Happy nesting!!!

Update : This is also my entry to the Presto Pasta Nights event, by Ruth of 4everykitchen.

does this look like a hard burnt cookie with a cream n jelly topping???

well....not exactly !!!!.. can call it a "Dal-cookie" if you need to...

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Our ordinary "Paripuvadai" but served, with a difference !!! ....atleast, at first glance, the on-looker gets a suspicious look on their face, "what is this"????

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A south indian preparation of moong-dal soaked in water for a couple of hours, and ground coarsely in the blender, mixed with chopped green chillie, curry leaves, onions , salt to taste...and off to fry.

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(i dont think onions are a part of their original recipie..but as I didnt have an exact recipie to it, just went forward to give a try..but what I have learnt from this trial, is to better keep away from onions or shallots as the dal takes more time to cook compared to the onions, and the latter has the chance to get burnt. Few of my vadas did get burnt too, and had to dispose it.

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Refer the images for the "slightly burnt effect" of the onions)

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Vadai's are not anything special, as a south-indian snack, but with a difference in presentation...they are special !!!
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I served it with a small spread of chutney(I used mango chutney, as it was already available in my freezer, so didnt have to make it all over again) on the top, and ketchup too (again for a difference!)

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For the mango chutney, grind raw mango along with coconut scrapings, green chillie, ginger, cumin seeds, shallos , salt to taste and a touch of water.
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I quote my Office manager here ...

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"Anything that is right, but doesn't look right...is not right...

but...

anything that is not right, but looks right.....will be considered as right!!!

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U get what I mean??...Thats it!!..Mine was not the right recipie, but it looked good, and hence got the compliment "Good" too !!! Thats all thats needed to make my day, and it did !

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I am sending this over to the TCI Event on Tamil Festival foods organised by Viji of Vcuisine.

2 dozen posts in a month!!..yuppiee..presenting, The Mighty "Kappa" had a great fall....

The Kappa Remake (Tapioca or Cassava Root) , or rather..the greatest injustice to the royal kappa..from its mighty place from a main dish, to a noble side server!!

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Its really surprising, how physical distances of just a couple of kilometers even within the same region, brings about such drastic variations to taste and modes of preparation of food.

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My husband hails from the district of Kottayam, which is more agricultural in nature. Almost every home in this region will have "Kappa's" in their backyard, and hence is an inevitable part of the main diet, usually as the main dish, along with Fish-curry.

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Bharathy, of Spicy Chillie, who also hails from Kottayam has a very detailed description of the making of the fish -curry here. Thanks Bharathy, it saved me a lot of effort in tying it all out!!

Myself, on the other hand, is from Kochi, the bussiieee-urban city bout 80 kms from Kottayam, where our homes just get the barest luxury to have "sample cultivations", ie, just one item each of plants..if ever one is interested in gardening or cultivating own crops, this is!!!

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So, kappa's are all purchased from the markets, as far as "Kochi-nivasi's" are concerned, this item just stays as smaller servings, along with "Puttu" for breakfasts. (or atlest, thats how my mom used to prepare it).

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I had purchased a pack of frozen Kappa and prepared it as a "Special -homeward bound-treat" for Santho, last weekend, which was consumed with the greatest of pleasure!

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The same menu was served twice, but got not a sign of rejection..but again, few pieces of the boiled kappa was left behind, which looked too unworthy (as of my thoughts!!) to be served as a main server, and hence..readily settled down for a remake , by chopping it into pieces, and the rest is what you call....the "demobilization" of the "crown prince"!!!

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Pop mustard seeds in oil, saut together chopped onions, ginger, garlic, curry leaves...add in the powders (chillie and turmeric) , the chopped kappa's, salt to taste in little water, brought to boil till it attains a thick consistency.

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There was a can of green peas in my freezer, which I had opened the previous day, so what was left went straight in too, and the can to the bin, of course!

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This was served with Chappathi for dinner...very well knowing what would be the exact comments to come out from my husband.

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I know most bloggers, who say about the appreciation they get for their dishes, but here I am who is the least ashamed to boast about the "distressed look" that my hubby had on his face, to see their royal "Kappa" in this state, all chopped to pieces!!!

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.He had no other choice, but to have it. "Gosh, how can you ever do this "..was what was in his mind. But for me, it was just a warm treat, a taste going back to my mom's kitchen...and once again, taking me back to my...principle "Of girls to learn cooking not from our mothers, but from our mother-in-laws!!!" This is a proof to it"..Hummm, will it be injustice to say so???..or rather I will put in this way.."Girls better learn cooking from that person, whose food your husnabd likes the best! (that's better , isnt it?)

...atleast, I like the way my mom cooks, so had a great dinner!

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This is also my entry to Nandita's Leftover Remake Event.Hope she accepts it, as I am one day late for submission.

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Grapes Kebab, stuffed Grapes...stretched out grapes..you name it..

Knew that there was an event coming up on Grapes, but had lost track of it...and somehow, just landed up in the blog Swad of Swapna..and there it was!!..Grapes..Grapes..Grapes. I had prepared this dessert to post for the same, but had not got the time to prepare the presentation, and kept in lagging behind, and to my surprise..gosh!!!..today, is the last day for submission....

So, got a quick presentation done, and its still 1: 25 pm, noon..here in Kuwait..so, still on time..better late than never !!..(As usual, my true self...always late!!)

So, this is my simple, quick grape dessert ...a slight change in the order of arrangement and presentation of dessert, makes a world of difference.

Usually, with fruits on board the dessert plate, they tend to land on top of the custard under the head " Fruit salad", alongside with any ice cream of your choice. This time, I wanted some change to it...and there was born, my fruit kebab. Its not my patent baby thou..have seen it here and there, quite a number of times..but it was the first time I really tried it out.

Using 6 inch bamboo skewers, pin all the sliced fruits together..grapes, apple, pineapple, banana, orange...whichever is available. Roll the skewer in condensed milk, then in dessicated coconut....chill for a couple of hours....and off to serve!!!! Easssiieeee...

I tried adding in a piece of Galaxy chocolate too..(but it just wouldn't stay ....breaks off). Can pin in a cube of cake piece for a change, if you want..I didn't have any at that time, hence not on my fruit kebab.

The Kebab was served with a scoop of strawberry ice-cream, and a slice of custard topped with a thin slice of (can you guess what it is.....hee..hee...its just strawberry jam!!!)..nothing official about it, and my "so-so" chocolate curls. Peeled the edge of a chocolate (I used one from my kid's Galaxy choc-box....and very heartly, finished the leftover) using a veg peeler.

This dessert goes out to the "Fresh Product of the Month" event organised by Marta of Chemcookit

MW Basic, Entry II @ Avial and Weekend Lunch

My second entry to the MW Basic event.....the making of a typical kerala vegetable side-dish, "Avial". It basically consists of all sorts of vegetables, steamed and mixed with a coconut paste/chutney and cooked for a couple of minutes.

While preparing Avial (0r any dish which involves different vegetables that require diffrent levels of cooking time) in a MW, the only thing which we need to keep in mind is the arrangement of the veggies.

As shown in the picture above, arrange the "tough" veggies - yam, potatoes, raw banana, drumsticks, radish, ....all around the outer edge of the MW safe bowl, and the "less tougher" ones like okra (lady's finger), tomato, pumpkin, beans, brinjal, cucumber, ivy gourd, green chillie...all to the centre of the bowl for even cooking. No need to add water. They will cook by itself!

Power: 70-75 %

Time : 4-5 minutes. (Keep for some more time if they are not tender yet. Do not change the power setting.)

For the coconut paste, grind together..coconut scraping, garlic, ginger, cumin and baby onions coarsely in the grinder with just a couple of teaspoons of water.

Add the paste to the cooked vegetables, salt to taste, and keep back in the below setting.

Power: 70-75 %
Time : 2-3 minutes.

Give about 5 minutes standing time . Mix 1 tbs of cooking oil. Avial is done!

A portion of the coconut paste was left behind...didn't have the mind to throw it off..and hence used it to make this tomato-curry...which was my "all time favourite", right from childhood..as its is not hot or spicy, at all. This was done on the stove, simultaneously as the avial was taking form in the MW.

Boil few tomatoes, onions(sliced the way you like...I prefer to cut both as thin circles) in water along with some green chillie, salt and turmeric powder.

Add half a cup of yougurt to the coconut paste, give one run in the mixer to blend it properly, and add to the cooked tomato and bring till boil, or infact, just till bubbles start to form. Do not over boil, lest the coconut and yougurt gets churned.

Pop mustard seeds in oil along with red chillie flakes and curry leaves (a few), and pour over the tomato charu-curry, and mix well. That's it!

just go ahead and have it striaght hot with rice.

That's how I presented the weekend lunch for Santho (hubby), who comes home from work to have lunch. No, not that I dont go for work, of course I do!!..but, I get the luxury of a 2 day weekend (friday and saturday), while he, likle most other private company staffs, gets just one day and a half.

So, last saturday lunch platter was so laid in front of him with rice to be taken along with Avial, Tomato-charu-curry, carrot thoran (just similar to my previous post on Spinach(Palak) thoran, and hence not taking the pain to type the making once again) and cucumber salad.

But guess what...all I got from him was a " Hummm, oookkk" !!

"Whattt, I had prepared all these, fresh and served straight from the pan..and not a single word of appreciation!!!!!...Mmmyy!!..

"Ooh, well....I know how to cheer him up.....

......push the rice aside a bit, and lay this yummy thing just next to it !!!

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That is all what's needed to make his day !!!...happy lunch, deary!