Rava kesari OPOS style

When I first stumbled upon the word, OPOS, I was like you all too thinking what in the world is that?
 OPOS stands for One Pot, One Shot a concept initiated and popularized by Mr Ramki.

 The whole concept is cook everything in one pot, a 2 liter pressure cooker with minimal oil. By cooking under pressure, you are locking up a lot of flavors and cooking fast. I searched online and found many people trying out different recipes in a pressure cooker and I was very fascinated by it.

They even have a special face book page for OPOS called UBF ( United By Food).

 So far I have tried making soup, beans poriyal, ghee, pasta, aviyal, chilli paneer in pressure cooker and will share recipes slowly. On the OPOS cooking site, they use a 2 Lt prestige cooker and an induction stove. I have been using my prestige pressure pan and gas stove and have been pleased with the results too.

So, here I am posting my first OPOS recipe for rava kesari. Anyone can make rava kesari is what you are thinking, right? That is why I chose this one as it should be easy and standard. I found a recipe Here and adjusted the sugar for my taste.

Get ready: ( serves 2-3) cooking time 10-15 mins

• 1/2 cup rava
• 1/4 cup ghee
• cashews and raisins as per your taste

For Sugar syrup

• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 & 1/4 cup water
• A pinch of saffron food color
• 1/2 tsp cardamom powder

Go:

• In a pressure cooker bottom, add the water, sugar, saffron color, cardamom powder. Turn the heat on and stir and let it come to a boil.

• Simultaneously, in another  pan add the ghee and roast the cashews and raisins till golden. Add the rava and roast till it is golden brown and aromatic.

• If your sugar syrup is boiling and rava is not roasted, just reduce the flame and let the syrup simmer.
• turn the heat off once rava is roasted and add the ghee, rava, cashew raisin mixture to the pressure cooker.

• It will bubble up, don't panic. turn the pressure cooker off.
• Give a quick stir and cover the pressure cooker with the weight on. Remember the heat is off.

Let the rava sit in the cooker for 20 mins. Control your temptation to open the pressure cooker in between.
After 20 mins, open the cooker and there you have your melt in your mouth rava kesari ready!

• 

Elai Adai

Elai adai is a traditional kerala dish made on special occasions. Rice batter is stuffed with sweet filling of coconut, jaggery, jack fruit, folded in banana leaf and steamed to perfection.  Some people also call it "Valsan". I did not have fresh jack fruit and hence used a table spoon of chakka varatti which I got from India. You can omit this jack fruit and just do with coconut alone. I added some cashews just to give a nice texture and crunch to the poornam. You can see the display of my sweet at the contest, as I did not have time to take close up pictures.

I recently participated in a desert contest where the ingredient that need to be used was rice. I made elai adai and it came out very well and liked by many. I got this recipe from my chithi/ aunt and would like to thank her for encouraging me to do this. One can also use savory filling instead of he sweet one. I made one with sauted onions, corn and zucchini and steamed in banana leaf and it was yummy too.

Get Ready

To make  the rice batter

• 1/2 cup raw rice ( ponni raw rice)
• 1/2 cup parboiled rice ( puzhungal arisi)

Soak the rice in water for at least 3-4 hrs. drain the water and grind them into a very smooth batter without much water. set aside. The batter should be  like the consistency of pancake / idli batter.

Take a tbsp of the batter and add 3-4 tbsp of water in a vessel. Cook on a low flame stirring till the thin rice batter water mix becomes a thick paste or " kanji" like. See the consistency of the batter in the picture.

Let it cool completely and add it to the rice batter. whisk it well without any lumps and set aside. This step will help your outer covering of the adai stay soft for a long time. 

To make the poornam /stuffing

• 1 cup grated jaggery/ vellam
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 cup freshly grated coconut
• 1 tsp cardamom powder
• 2 tbsp  whole cashews, broken into small bite size pieces, roasted golden in ghee
• 1 tsp ghee

In a pan add the jaggery and add water just enough to soak the jaggery.

let the jaggery melt, strain the mixture to remove any dirt.
Return the jaggery water mixture to the stove and let it come to a frothing boil and thick.

Add a drop of the frothing " paagu" to a small bowl of water, you should be able to make a small ball, which will be like the consistency of slime.

Add the coconut, cardamom, cashew pieces and ghee and cook till the stuffing is sticky but also leaves the side of the pan. Turn the heat off & set aside. you can add  1tbsp chakka varatti at this point and mix. This step is optional. Now the poornam is ready.

To make the adai

Banana leaves  rectangular pieces at least 20- 25 cm long. If the leaves are older, it is better to fold them. if you have fresh leaves, just show them on the flame of your gas stove. This is called " elaya vattaradhu". This step will make the leaves more pliable to fold.

Add a small ladle of the rice batter at the center of the banana leaf. Spread it thinly like a small dosa. This is called " maavu ezhudharadhu".

Add a spoon of the  poornam to one side of the rice batter.

 Fold the banana leaf in half. Fold the all sides and flip and keep them aside with the folded side down. 

Arrange these in a idli plate and steam in  the cooker (without weight) for 20 mins. Once steamed, the banana leaf will change color. You can see how I had folded the leaf. By this, the poornam get smeared all over the rice flour.

Once cool, open the leaf packet and enjoy the elai adai. It will taste so good with the smell of banana leaf, jaggery, coconut etc.

Here is a picture of he savory elai adai, opened.

Tiramisu / Eggless Tiramisu

Tiramisu is very popular Italian dessert made with lady fingers dipped in coffee, marsala wine and layered with a mixture of mascaporne cheese, eggs,cream.
I made this recently for a get together and avoided the raw eggs and alcohol. It is very easy to put together and is crowd pleaser.

This can also be made ahead, say a day before and will taste good. I was rushed to get everything ready for the party and could not get very good pictures.
Don't get carried away by the not so great pictures, the final product tastes very very good!


Get Ready

• 1 tub/ 8 oz Mascaporne cheese ( I used Trader joe's)
• Lady finger cookies ( I used whole foods brand, 1.5 packets)
• 1 small carton of heavy whipping cream
• 1 cup Powdered sugar ( adjust sugar as per taste)
• 1 & 1/2 cup warm Coffee/ Coffee decoction to soak the lady fingers ( used Kothas coffee)
• Unsweetened Cocoa powder for dusting the top layer

Go

• Keep the mascaporne cheese on the counter to get soft for about 15- 20 mins

• Make your coffee and add about 1/4 cup of powdered sugar and mix
• Beat the heavy whipping cream and remainder powdered sugar till soft peaks. Took about 10 -12 mins

• Fold the mascaporne cheese into the beater whipped cream mixture.
• Take the bowl/ casserole in which you are going to make the Tiramisu.
• Gently dunk the lady fingers one by one in the slightly warm coffee and arrange on the bottom of the dish. Don't over soak the lady finger s in coffee as they get way too soggy.

• Spread a layer of the cheese and cream mixture over them

• Repeat the lady finger cookies and cheese till the top

• Cover with saran wrap and refridgerate for 6- 8 hrs

• Before serving or 1-2 hrs before serving,dust cocoa powder with a sieve on the top.

Make slices and serve!

How easy is that to make, and trust me it is very easy to eat a lot!

Dates and Nut Energy Balls / Date Choco Nut Balls

I recently saw this recipe Here and had bookmarked it. My DH has an obsession for dates and had got this huge container. He ate most of it and some of it was sitting in my pantry for a while. I used them with available nuts at home and made a healthy and delicious snack in no time.

These are perfect as breakfast balls, after school snack or as a perfect sweet treat after meals!

They will also be great for prasad after bhajans, or pot luck dinners.

Get Ready ( makes about 20 -22 small balls)

• 1 cup pitted and chopped dates ( used about 24 dates)
• 1 & 1/4 cup coarsely chopped nuts ( I used Costco salted cashews and TJ's pistachios)
• 2 Tbsp cocoa powder ( I used TJ's sipping chocolate)
• 2 Tbsp dry dessicated coconut 9 available in Indian stores)
• 1/2 tso Nescafe instant coffee\
• Ghee/ oil to grease your hands for rolling
• few drops of water as needed

I decided to add the coconut at the last minute and hence missing in the initial picture.

Go

1. Microwave the chopped dates for 30 secs, so it becomes soft.  Add this to the blender or food processor with cocoa powder and instant coffee. Blend till the dates are made into a finely coarse paste and the coco powder and coffee powder are well incorporated. I do not have a food process or and used my preethi mixie. It will come out like this. This paste is going to bind all the other ingredients and will be able to hold its shape as a ball.

2. Add the coarsely chopped nuts and coconut, sprinkle some water if needed. grease your (clean ) hands and mix the nuts into the date mixture. Again if you have a food processor, coarsely whizz the nuts. I used my knife to chop them.

3. Apply some ghee to your hands and roll them into balls of desired size.

Other variations:

Use any available nuts.

Adding some cardamom powder will be even better!

Enjoy and let me know how it turned out!

Chakka Pradhaman / Jack Fruit payasam

August,September & October is the month of  festivities in India. Starting with Varalakshmi pooja till navarathri, one will have endless opportunities to make payasam or other offerings to almighty.

So, here is a quick and tasty payasam made out of Chakka!.
Chakka ( malayalam), aka Palapazham ( tamil) or  jack fruit is very native to the south and east of India. Did you know that it is one of the largest fruits to bear on trees.
It is very seasonal mainly during the summer moths in the tropics. Jack fruit may not be available readily here in the US, but have seen all the time in asian supermarkets.

                                                                     Source from here

                                                                 Image courtsey

Jack fruit has a unique aroma which you will either love it or hate it. Apparently the aroma can be described as a combo of apple, pineapple etc. No, you don't eat the green part of the fruit in case you wonder. There is fleshy and fibrous fruit inside which can be cooked raw or eaten ripe as a fruit.

Chakka Varatti/ chakka varatiyathu or jack fruit jam is made by cooking jack fruit in jaggery, ghee with cardamom and other spices till it becomes like a halwa. Varatti has a long shelf life and can be used to prepare, ilayada, payasam etc.
I remember my parents making them at home and tastes super yummy when hot.

My dad had bought his ready made chakka varatti from palakkad, Kerala and I brought here after my recent trip to India. I don't know if it is available in Chennai!

Get ready

• Chakka Varatti 1 packet ( 100 gms)
• 2 Maggi coconut milk powder sachet  ( 100 gms each or 2 cups in total)
• 1 cup warm water to dissolve coconut milk powder
• 1 cup 2% milk
• 2 tbsp broken cashews
• 1 tbsp Ghee/ clarified butter
• 1/4 tsp dry ginger powder aka sukku podi ( optional)
• 1 tbsp small coconut wedges ( optional)

Go

• Whisk the coconut milk powder in water without any clumps and set aside.
• Heat the regular milk in a heavy bottomed pan
• Add the chakkai varatti to the milk. Whisk well and turn of the heat.
• Let it sit for 15 -20 mins as it will help to dissolve the varatti well in milk.
• whisk again till the chakkai vartti is fully dissolved i nthe milk.
• Put the milk back on heat and add the coconut milk.
• Cook on low fire till the mix comes to a boil.
• If it is too thick add some more 2% milk till you get to the right Kheer consitency. It will thicken with time, so don;t make it too thick.
• Turn the heat off. sprinkle ginger powder.
• In another small pan, add the ghee and roast the cashews, coconut wedges till golden.

Serve Hot or cold.

Paalada Pradhaman

Hope you all are enjoying spring! Not so great for people with allergies huh?


Here is an ultimate payasam/ kheer from Kerala. Palada Pradhaman is made with paal (milk), Ada ( partially cooked rice wafers). Ada pradhaman can be made with jaggery and coconut milk too. But My favorite is the milkier version.
You cook the ada in milk and get it reduced. Palada pradhaman has a milky flavor and takes some time to cook. But, let me tell you it is worth that time!

I had bought a packet of Ada from India which I used. I have not seen them in the grocery stores in USA. We enjoyed this for this Vishu/ Tamil new years's day!

Here is the recipe!

Get ready

• 5 cups 2% Milk
• 1 cup water
• 1/3 cup Ada
• 1 can Condensed milk
• Sugar to taste ( i used 4- 5 tsp at the end)

Go

• Cook the ada as per packet instructions. Boil 2 cups of water. turn the heat off and add the ada. cover and let it stand for 20 -25 mins. drain and set aside.
• Take a heavy bottomed pan, i used a small pressure cooker without lid.
• Add the 5 cups of milk, 1 cup of water, drained ada to the pan.
• keep stirring to avoid burning of milk. It will start to boil over. reduce heat and cook by stirring.
• milk has to reduce to almost half it's volume. This may take 25 -30 mins.
• Add the can of condensed milk and stir well.
• Add sugar as desired for taste.
• Let it come to a boil and turn the heat off.

Serving suggestions

No need for garnishing with cardamon, cashews etc.

serve warm or cold.

Diwali Wishes and Rava laddu

 

 image courtsey: diwali cards

Wishing all my super duper blogger friends a fabulous Diwali!

I would like to share a simple rava laddu recipe with you all.

Get Ready:

• 1 cup Rawa/ sooji
• 1 cup sugar
• 2- 2.5 tbsp ghee/ clarified butter
• 2 tbsp milk, or more as needed
• 2 tbsp coconut powder ( available in indian store)
• 1 tbsp golden raisins
• 1-2 tbsp broken cashews and sliced almonds
• 1 tsp cardamom powder.

Go:

• In a non stick pan, add 2- 2.5 tbsp of ghee and add the cashews, almonds and raisins. Fry them on a medium flame till the cashews are oink and the raisins plump up.
• Now add the rava and roast stirring frequently till pink or a nice aroma arises. Remember to have the heat on med to low.
• Add the coconut powder, sugar, cardamom powder and mix till everything is well combined. 
• turn the heat off.
• add the 2 tbsp of milk and mix everything well. it should be the consistency of wet sand so you can make balls.
• If too dry sprinkle a lit bit more milk.
• cover the pan and let it cool for 5 mins.
• Apply some ghee or water to your hands and make them into small balls.
• Let them cool and store in an air tight container.

Enjoy this festive treat with your friends and family!

Appam / Nei Appam /Unni appam

Appam is traditional south Indian sweet made during special holidays. It looks similar to kuzhipaniyaram, except it is made mainly with rice and jaggery. They are always available as prasad in most kerala temples. It's soft and fluffy inside with a slight crisp to bite outside. Adding banana, especially " poovan" variety makes it very soft. Adding ghee to the batter makes it quite flavorful and that's the trade off for frying it in ghee!

I love appams as they are so addictive. I made them today for Aavani Avittam and wanted to share the recipe made in my home with you.

Get Ready:

• 1 cup  rice
• 1 and 1/2 cup powdered jaggery
• 1/3 cup water
• 1 tbsp. ghee
• 1 tbsp. grated coconut
• 1/2 banana
• Oil to fry
• Appakaral or special paniyaram pan

Go!

• Soak the rice in water for about 1-2 hrs.
• Grind the rice with minimum water.
• Add the coconut and 1/2 mashed banana, halfway while grinding to make a fine batter.
• Dissolve the jaggery in water and strain any dirt or impurities.
• Add the jaggery and water to the ground batter.
• Add a tablespoon of ghee and mix the batter well.
• Fill oil in your appakaral and heat on high. Once the oil is hot, reduce heat to medium.
• Add the batter to the holes int he pan filling 3/4.
• Flip them over after one or two mins. and cook on both sides till golden.

Enjoy these delicious appams. Another easy way to do is using equal measures of rice flour and atta and mixed with jaggery.

Happy Indian Independence day to all my fellow blogger 's ! Proud to be an Indian !

White Chocolate and Cranberry Fudge

Everyone is a bit sceptical when making fudge. It's like making mysore pak, I guess. You have to get the right consistency. The traditional way is use milk, sugar getting it to the right temperature to reduce it.

But, hey when you have the easy way of doing it with Condensed milk, why fret over a tedious process.
The first time I tried to make chocolate fudge, was a failure. The taste was good, but it never set.

Tried again this time and it came out perfect. My husband and kids love white chocolate fudge and I made this specially for them. To jazz it a little, I added some pistachios and cranberries.

This is perfect dish to take for parties or as a teacher appreciation gift.

Here is the recipe:

Get ready:

• 1 14 oz. can fat free condensed milk
• 2 x 12 oz. bag white chocolate morsels
• 1 tsp. vanilla extrtact
• A pinch of salt
• 1/2 cup chopped pistachios
• 1/2 cranberries (dried)

Go!

• Line a baking/pyrex pan with foil or parchment paper so that the paper hangs out from the sides
• On medium heat, heat the condensed milk
• Add the chocolate chips and stir till the chocolate melts and combines with the condensed milk
• Turn the heat off
• Add the vanilla extract, salt, nuts, and cranberries and mix well
• Pour into the foil lined baking pan and smoothen the top
• Refrigerate  for 2-3 hrs. for it to set
• Lift the foil and cut into pieces of desired shape

keep them in the refridgerator covered.

Enjoy these sweet babies anytime!

Microwave therattipal

"Therattipal"! It is such a wonderful south indian milk sweet, similar to Khoa I guess! it takes a lot of time to make it on the stove top,as you reduce the milk with sugar and until it almost crumbles!

 I made this in literally 3-4 mins, thanks to the best thing in the world aka "Condensed Milk"
I used to beg my mom to lick that milkmaid tin back home. Condensed milk was used on special occasions to make payasam, when you need that rich taste.
Now my son begs me to lick the can!
To make this therattipal, all you need is a deep bowl and few ingredients!
The cooking time depends on the power level of your microwave. It took me 2 mins and 10 seconds

Get ready:

• 1 can condensed milk
• 1 & 1/2 tbsp yogurt
• 2 tsp Ghee

Go:

• In a micro wave safe bowl, add the condensed milk, yogurt, ghee and mixwell.
• Cook uncovered  for 1 min, open the MW door, stir well
• Cook again for 1 min
• By this time it will start not to stick to the container
• Stir well and cook in increments of 10 seconds till it leaves the sides well.
• Let it cool and enjoy!

Leena of nammaruchi was so sweet to share an award with me! I am so honored and would like to covey my special thanks to her. Do check out her blog as she has some really good recipes!

Feel free to pick this award from here as everyone is my friend!

Coconut Kiss Macaroons

 I am so happy to share with you all that i won the second place in the "Eggless holiday cookie contest" held by Manjula's Kitchen.

I  honestly could not have made it without all your support and I sincerely  thank you all for that.

(Yields 25 cookies)

 Get Ready

•  2 ½ cup sweet grated coconut (One 7 oz. bag)
•  1/3 cup all purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp. cardamom powder 
•  A pinch of salt  
•  4 oz. sweetened fat free condensed milk
•  1 tsp. vanilla extract
•  25 mini milk chocolate morsels

Go: 

• Preheat oven to 350 F.
• Line a cookie sheet with parchment and grease with cooking spray. This step is very important as it prevents the cookies from sticking to the sheet.
• In a bowl, mix the coconut all purpose flour, cardamom powder, and salt.
• Add the condensed milk and vanilla to the coconut mixture and mix well till everything is well blended.
• Cover the mixture and refrigerate for 20 mins.
• After 20 mins., with a teaspoon or using your hands make small balls and spread the cookies on the cookie sheet. These cookies won’t spread and you can arrange them closely.
• Press a mini milk chocolate morsel in the middle of the macaroon and bake for 15 20 mins. or till golden.
• Take the cookie sheet out of the oven and let the macaroons cool for a few minutes on the parchment paper.
• Remove the macaroons and let them cool on a wire rack.

Store and enjoy any time!

Badam Burfi/ Almond Burfi and Diwali wishes!

It's sweets time for Diwali ! I would like to share an easy burfi recipe with you all.
Most of the badam burfi's will tell you to soak the badam for few hours and peel  the skin. I really don't have the patience to peel the skin of 1 whole cup pf almonds.

Here is a very easy badam burfi which can be made with no fuss, no peeling, no soaking.

Get ready:

• 1 cup almonds
• 1/2 cup milk powder
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup water
• a pinch saffron soaked in 1 tbsp warm milk
• 2 tbsp ghee/ clarified butter
• 1/2 tsp cardamom powder

Go:

• Coarsley or finely powder the dry almonds with skin ina blender or spice grinder.
• Mix the milk powder with the powdered badam and set aside.
• In a heavy bottomed pan, add the sugar and 1/4 cup water.
• MAke the sugar syrup to 2 string consistency. It will take about 10 mins.
• Now add the badam, milk powder and mix well on moderate flame.
• Add the  ghee little by little and cook till the mixture doesn't stick to the pan for about 5 mins.
• Grease a plate and pour the badam mixture in it.
• Smoothen the surface with a greased spatula.
• Let it cool, cut into diamond shapes and serve.

It soft, rich and perfect for the festive season.

Wishing you and your family a happy and prosperous diwali!
!

Paneer Payasam/ Paneer Kheer Aka Basundhi

Lots of things to celebrate this week! Onam, Raksha bandhan and Avani Avittam. For people who haven't heard about Avani avittam, it's a special occasion in the south when men have a ritual of adorning the sacred thread on their shoulder. The initial sacred thread ceremony is called "Upanayam". The day after avani avittam is celebrated by chanting the sacred Gayathri mantra for 1008 times! So the menfolk of the house get to eat a feast after patiently chanting these mantras.

This is the only celebration that I know is for men in India! Correct me if there are any.

So I made Kheer with Paneer for my husband, son and dad. Of course, I was the first person to taste it. I had tried this couple of months ago, but i did not reduce the milk longer, It still tasted great, but I wasn't 100% satisfied with the result. This time I reduced the milk longer and the results were well worth the effort.

Paeer kheer is very rich, but easy to prepare. It tastes so wonderful almost like basundhi.

What you need:

1. 1 can evopareted milk (12 0z or 1&  1/2 cups)
2. 3/4 cup grated paneer
3. 1& 1/2 cups milk ( i used 2%)
4. 3/4 th cup sugar
5. 1 tsp ghee or clarified butter
6. 1 tbsp chopped nuts ( almonds, pistachios, cashews)
7. 1 tsp cardamom powder
8. A few golden raisins
9. A heavy bottomed vessel ( i used a small pressure cooker)

How I did it:

• Add the evaporated milk and the regular milk to a heavy bottomed vessel.
• Let it come to a boil.
• Add the grated paneer, keep the flame on medium and let it cook till the mikl is reduced to about 1half to three fourths of the initial quantity. It took be about 20 -25 mins.
• keep stirring the milk in between so that it does get burnt.
• Unfortunately this dish need all your TLC, so don't go away to other chores.
• Once the milk has reduced, add the sugar and keep stirring.
• You may notice that the kheer becoming a bit loose or watery, but don't worry.
• Let it boil for another 5 -7 mins and turn off the fire.
• Add the cardamom powder.
• In another pan, heat ghee and fry the nuts and raisins till golden and add this to the kheer.

It can be enjoyed either hot or serve it chilled! If you do not have a sweet tooth, you can cut down the sugar a bit more!

letz relisshh Paneer




and

festive-food-rakhi-raksha-bandhan-2010

Pineapple kesari & Award time!

Kesari is a very common sweet in the south. In those dinasour days when arranged marriages were very common, like the one I had.  kesari was a staple sweet on the menu when a boy comes to see the girl and their family for the first time.

The belief was the first encounter should begin with sweet memories....if people were expecting beautiful ladies clad in a white angel like clothes to be singing, sorry doesn't happen that way!
Well, it did not happen that way for me though :((

If any one had better experiences please fell free to share!

Anyway enough of my blah.. blah.. Lets get tour kesari.

This is a straight forward kesari with pineapple in it. I guess you can make any fruit flavored kesari wtih mango, banana,strawberry etc...

What I used:

1/2 cup rawa or semolina
1/2 cup pineapple pureed with small chunks ( i used i cup of chopped pineapples to make this)
2 cups hot water water
Yellow food color or very little amount of kesari color. (hard to measure, eyeball till your desired color is obtained)
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup ghee or clarified butter + 2 tsp for roasting the rawa
1 tbsp broken cashew pieces
3- 4 green cardamom seeds powdered.

How I did it:

• In a pan  ( preferrably non stick) roast rawa till light brown or fragrant.
• Add 2 cups of water to the rawa and cook till the rawa is done well. The reason I used hot water is to prevent the rawa from forming clumps.
• Add the kesari color.
• Add the pureed pineapple mixture.
• Once the rawa is well cooked add the sugar and stir well.
• You may notice that the mix becomes thin, bit that's normal.
• Keep stirring or cooking for a few minutes.
• In a nother pan by the side aheat ghee and fry the cashews till golden.
• Add the ghee to the rawa and mix and cook till the kesari does not stick to the pan.
• With non stick pan, it's kinda hard to say, when it does not stick.
• The trick is take a small piece of kesari without burning your fingers and try to roll into a small ball. If it does not stick to your hands, it's done.
• Add cardamom powder and garnish with any nuts you want.

You'll feel a little tartness from the pineapple, but that's what is special about this kesari.

I am so happy and honored to receive this loving blogger award from satya.  This is my first award and i am on cloud 9! She is an excellent blogger and brings out dishes so innovatively! Thank you so much Satya!

I would like to share this with 3 bloggers who admire a lot! It was hard to choose 3 people as there are some excellent bloggers out there!

Mriganayani needs no introduction to bloggers out there. She is amazing and I lover her attention to details. i admire her patience to take step by step pics of evrything that she cooks. I can never do that bcoz when I start to cook, eberyone in my family need me for something or the other.

Ediblegarden has been my teacher about some steps in photography! Constantly used to visit her site before I started blogging! She has really simple and excellent recipes in her space.

Redchillies amazes me with her beautiful pictures and simple and elegant recipes. Again she was one bloggers who inspired me to start food blogging.

Thanks for all your support and encouragements!

BTW I took pics today with my i phone! How does it look??