Masala dosa!!

Though being a southie, dosas and idlis are not a reglar feature at my place. Thats because of my laziness probably, I never bother to make the batter.But last weekend ,we decided to make dosas. So my hubby got the batter ready. I should tell the truth. He did everything while I just relaxed. We had it for our sunday lunch or brunch..whatever you call it!!! It was very delicious. This is the recipe.

Ingredients-
For dosa batter
Raw rice- 2 cups
Boiled rice- 1 cup
Whole udid dal- 1 cup
fenugreek seeds- 1tbspn
Method-
Soak rice and dal seperately along with fenugreek seeds. Rice has to be soaked for around 5 to 6 hours and dal for 2 hours. Grind the rice along with fenugreek seeds and then the dal and mix them adding salt.

For potato/aloo subji
Ingredients-
pototoes- 5 to 6 medium sized(cooked and mashed well)
Onions- 1finely chopped
Green chillies- 2 nos finely chopped
salt to taste
oil - 1tbspn
Turmeric powder- 1tsp
Method
Heat oil in a pan. Add the green chillies and then onion and fry till they get translucent. Then add turmeric powder and salt . Add the mashed potatoes and mix well.

Chutney spread
Ingredients
Onions- 1 chopped
Red chilies- 3-4
Garlic- 4 to 5
Tamarind- a small lump
Channa dal/gram dal- 1 tbspn
Oil- 2tsp

Method
Heat oil in a pan. Add the channa dal and red chillies. Stir for sometime. Add the onion and fry for sometime. Blend everything together with a little tamarind.
Heat a dosa tava. Pour the batter and spread it. Allow it to cook on one side. Then Spread the chutney on the upper side and lay the potato masala on the center.

Fold it as shown in the picture below. Serve hot with chutney and/or sambar.

Indeed delicious. Thanks to my hubby!!!

Maheshwari , sireesha and anisheetu had tagged me for a Meme. You can see it here.

Karuna and Priyanka have passed me the magic lamp of luck. Thanks a lot,dears!!!
And a update in my craft blog, I have posted some flowers and sending them to vani. Do have a look at them.

Watermelon with honey and blogger's meet!!!!!

Yes we met again. This time with more foodies. We had a great time. It was nice to meet so many like minded people. We had the kitchen connect event organised by lakshmi. Each of us left with a secret ingredient. My ingredient was from Sheetal and she gave me "khus khus" or poppy seeds. I will be posting my recipe soon. Vani also presented a beautiful handmade doll. I will put up all the pictures in my post with the "kitchen connect" recipe. You can see the pictures in Priyanka's blog.
Yesterday, we had melon salad for breakfast. I got the recipe from a book of wholefood cooking by Margaret fulton. It was simply wonderful and can be had anytime either as breakfast or dessert. Here's the recipe.
Ingredients-
Watermelon - yellow or red - 1/2
Clear honey- 2 tbspn
Lemon juice- 1tbspn
Almond flakes roasted- 1/4 cup
Sherry- 2tbspn(in the original recipe)- I looked for a substitute for sherry and I found pineapple or orange juice or vanilla extract could be used. I just added a few drops of vanilla essence.

Method-
Scoop the flesh out of watermelon discarding the seeds and cut into cubes. Mix together the honey ,lemon juice and the sherry/ juice . Then fold in the melon.Chill for 1 hour. Spoon into glasses and sprinkle with the almond to serve.

Beetroot burfi

I love burfis, but am scared of making them. Making burfis has always been a disappointment for me. I am never sure when to stop stirring and at what consistency, it would set properly. Most of the times, I stop the stirring too early and it does not set. Then I have to again repeat the process. This way , it is either ok or I burn a portion of it. So it has been a very long time, I did not dare to make them. I have been thinking of making halwa with beetroot for sometime. So I thought of attempting it today. But then as I had not made burfi for a long time, I made burfi instead of halwa and it was a big challenge for me. And hurray, it came out good in the first attempt itself. I am not sure whether I was lucky today to get it right or I have learned making burfis!!!!!I know they are still not that great, but am happy that it was ok the first time itself. Anyway, I think I will try making more of burfis now . So friends , be prepared to see lot of burfi varieties now. And if anyone has a better idea of how to know when the burfi is ready to be set,please do share it here and give me some tip!!!
It is my 50th post today and I am happy to be a part of this blogging world till now.50 may not be a big deal for many, but for me it certainly is. I never hoped to reach 50.I sometimes get so busy with other activities that I don't get enough time for blogging or even cooking something special. I hope to do many more posts and your comments and kind words keep encouraging me. I hope you continue to inspire me the same way to do more.

Ingredients-
Beetroot - 1cup grated
Ghee- 1tbspn
Milk- 1/2 cup
Granulated Sugar-3/4 cup(Use 1 cup if using grain sugar)
Cardamom powder-1tsp
cashew for decoration

Method-
Add ghee in a pan. Add the grated beetroot and stir for sometime till it gets a bit dry. Then add the milk and keep stirring till the beetroot gets cooked well. Stir in the sugar and cardamom powder and mix well. Keep stirring till it becomes a thick mass. Spread this on a greased plate. Cut into the shape you desire with a greased knife.Cool and make the pieces.

Navrathna pulao!!!!

This is a mughlai variety of rice which is quite rich and delicately spiced. I took the recipe from Tarla dalal's joys of vegetarian cooking. It tasted great and the aroma was simply superb and the frangrance lasted for a long long time. Certainly will be liked by people who enjoy less spicy food.

Ingredients-
Basmati rice- 2 cups
Cashewnuts - 1tbspn
Raisin- 1tbspn(i did not use them)
Onion- 1 sliced
Paneer- 2 tbspn
Green peas- 1 cup
Carrot- 1 diced and boiled
Shahjira- 1 tsp
Cinnamon- 1stick
Cloves- 2
Cardamom- 3
Fruit pieces - 1tbspn stewed(I used apple)
Saffron- 1/4tsp
Ghee- 4tbspn
Salt- to taste
Ginger garlic green chilly paste- 1tbspn

Method-
Cook the rice. The grains should be seperate. Heat ghee in a pan. Add cashewnuts.Fry and keep them aside. Then add raisins(if using). Fry and keep them aside.Fry the onions till they are golden brown and keep aside. Add the shahjira,cinnamon, cloves and cardamoms to the ghee and fry again. Add the rice, paneer,green peas,carrots , fruit pieces, paste , salt and mix well. Warm the saffron a little , rub in a little warm water and add it to rice. Decorate with the fried cashews,raisins and onions.
You can serve with spicy curds.

Tags and awards-
LG of taste of mysore and Sukanya of sukanya's musings have passed me this magic lamp of luck!!!!
The mighty Genie King and the beautiful Genie Princess from the magical Land of Faraway are back! Upon escaping the clutches of their Evil Master after being held captive for 1000 years, the magical genies have been busy flying on their Magical Flying Carpet, granting wishes and spreading love throughout the blogosphere.And now, the genies are back with a special gift for everyone! Behold the sacred, Magic Lamp of Luck! With this magic lamp, your blog will enjoy much good luck and fortune, warding off all things evil lurking around in the blogosphere. We would like to share this magic lamp with you so please pass on the Magic Lamp of Luck to those in need of some good luck. Remember, do not be greedy or unkind, evil or vengeful and good luck & fortune will always be with you! Join us on another exciting magical adventure as we spread goodwill and good luck to one and all!* Start Copy Here*1. Add your site(s) to the list once you have received the Magic Lamp of Luck.2. Pass on the Magic Lamp of Luck to as many people as you like. After all, everyone needs some good luck!3. Leave a comment HERE once you’ve passed on the Magic Lamp of Luck. Once the Genie King and Genie Princess have visited your site to make sure your links are complete and proper, you will then be added to the Master List.4. To ensure everyone receives equal link benefit, please UPDATE your list regularly!1-Mariuca 2-First Time Dad 3-Mariuca's Perfume Gallery 4-Emila's Illustrated Blog 5-The Other Side of Emila 6-My Sweet Escape 7-Bay Head Blog 8-Roxiticus Desperate Housewives 9-LadyJava's Lounge 10-Petty Ramblings of a Petty Queen 11-The Real Deal 12-Pinay Mommy Online 13-Perpustakaan 14-LadyJava Life's Pages 15-Make Money Online 16-Cat Tales 17-LadyJava's Food Paradise 18-Being Woman 19-Spicybug 20-Biz-N-Honey 21-Aeirin's Collections 22-Sasha Says 23-Project Heavy Traffic 24-Picture Clusters 25-My Wanderings 26-Maiylah's Snippets 27-Moments of Colours 28-Life Quest 29-BigMoneyList 30-The Best Parts 31-Morphed 32-Buhay Pinoy 33-Galatayo 34-Blogging Tips 35-Apples Of The Eyes 36-My Own Utopia 37-Sasha's Corner 38-Under One Roof 39-Say Cheese 40-A Great Pleasure 41-A Life in Bloom 42-Because Life is a Blessing 43-Digiscraptology 44-Xixi 45-Ode to Adrienne 46-CrankyDave 47-Simple Life 48-Dew Drops 49-The Journey 50-Mastering Your PC 51-Day Break 52-A Little Girl Talk 53-Mom Knows Everything 54-Day to Day 55-1 of a Kind Wis 56-It's a woman's world! 57-Breather 58-Photo Hook 59-Letterbox 60-Asian Mutt International 61-Dream Doe Philosophy 62-MommyAlehs Up-Close And Personal 63-Livin' the Life! 64-Restnrileks 65-English Corner 66-English Grammar 67-Bodybuilding & Fitness 68-Everything you need 69-One Stop Games 70-Blockbluster Movie Trailers 71-Bodybuilding & Human Growth Hormone 72-World of Tennis 73-Men's Health & Tips 74-Internet Marketing Strategy & Tips 75-Latest Technology 76-Tentang Binaraga 77-Berita Seputar Selebriti 78-Panduan Kesehatan 79-Insurance For You 80-Crissy's Zone 81-Crissy's Library 82-Crissy's Haven 83-sHeNzEe's wOrLd 84-Voice Of The Spirit 85-Best Cuisine Recipes 86-Stand My Ground 87-SeeNRead 88-This Is A Miracle 89-I AM KCAT 90-Traipsey Turvey 91-GBeX & DOm 92-Spun By A Seanachie 93-ISL Family 94-D' Cooking Mudra 95-'Story' the Great 96-UmmiRosma 97-Munirah Abd 98-Atie 99-Hit-or-Miss 100-Twisted Sister 101-Laketrees Artist 102-Blessed Sanctuary 103-Comedy Plus 104-Blogging By Sandee 105-Living Life to the Fullest 106-Speech-Less 107-Happy Life 108-My Discoveries 109-Strangely Out Of Place 110-Rooms of My Heart 111-The Paper Vision 112-Luxurious Retreats 113-Reef 114-Weekend Snapshot 115-Blessie's Finds 116-Confessions of An Army Wife 117-My Pooch Life 118-Five Martini Lunch 119-TIPS FROM THE TRAILER 120-PoeARTica 121-STAY AT HOME MOM 122-Rantings of a Woman 123-Sjtl's Weblog 124-Turn-u-Off 125-My World in My Own Word 126-Shawie 127-A New Saga 128-Janeth Vicy's Life Journey 129-Simple Reveries 130-Berry Blog 131-Touts4u 132-My So Called Life 133-La Vida es Hermosa 134-Speedcat Hollydale Page 135-mangosteenskin 136-Choc Mint Girl 137-Of Colors And Styles 138-Pinaymama's Diary 139-My Life's Rollercoaster Ride 140-My Life...My Journey! 141-Bonoriau 142-Jenny and Belle 143-Read My Mind 144-A Sweet Taste Of Life 145-Shopping Blog 146-Precious Moments 147-Feydakin 148-Hot Shit Form Here 149-A Mother's Simple Thoughts 150-Daily Ramblings Rendezvous 151-Miss Moneypenny's Comical Posts Undercover 152-My Precious Niche 153-FunFierceFabulous 154-Colorful World of Shiela 155-Me,myself+2 156-Ozzy's Mom 157-Let's talk about MJ 158-Great people make us feel we can become great 159-A Family Man 160-Just the way it is... 161-In Depth 162-Attitude, the ULTIMATE POWER 163-Are You Grateful? 164-Complain Complain Complain 165-My Little Black Pot 166-Notes By Marvic 167-Aku Pelukis 168-Jiwasintetik 169-Foster Me Up 170-Life: Thoughts & Inspirations 171-The Callalily Space 172-Mommyhood and Me 173-Bits and Pieces 174-La Place de Cherie 175-Through The Rain 176-Blogfixes 177-New England Lighthouse Treasures 178-Chez Francine 179-Tsinay 180-Hailey's Domain 181-Hailey's Beats and Bits 182-My So-Called Life 183-Kai Kriye 184-Easycrafts 185- My creations 186- My Kraft 187- Cooking Station 188- Creative saga 189- you next

I would like to pass the magic luck to Sireesha, lavi, maheshwari, trupti, medhaa.

LG and sukanya have also passed me the Friendship award. Thanks a lot. Your friendship is special to me. Thanks a lot. Devipriya has passed me the Nice matters award. Thanks a lot.

Zebra cake and the surprise!!!

After seeing so many bloggers trying out this cake, I was also tempted to try this. Some called it zebra,others tiger or leopard. But whatever it was called, it definitely looked good and each time I saw it the more I was tempted to try it. Somehow I never found time or did not have one or the other ingredient or thought it was very difficult and did not have the patience and above all I was lazy!!!

But when I saw recently in Divya's blog, I thought of trying soon and managed to do yesterday when I found time and my hubby looked after our baby and I could work in solitude in my kitchen. I was not really happy with the result as I did not get the perfect stripes. But wasn't that disappointed because I definitely got the striped pattern, but not a symmetrical wavy one. The cake was very soft , spongy and moist.But the preparation was quite easy and I understood where I went wrong and should have added more layers to get the perfect pattern.

So I had to console myself saying that practice makes man (A woman...A baker!!!!):)) perfect. I still have a long way to go to become a good baker.

I loved this recipe from Farida's blog. She says that she has tried many times and quantity of ingredients is just perfect and one can go ahead with confidence. And I certainly agree with this. So do check out her blog if you are interested in making this cake.

Ingredients-

All purpose flour- 2 cups

Baking powder- 1tbsp

Eggs- 4

Granualated sugar- 1cup

Sunflower oil- 1 cup

Milk- 1 cup

Vanilla essence- 1tsp

Cocoa powder- 2tbsp

Method-

Combine sugar and eggs and beat till it becomes creamy. Then add Milk and oil and beat again.Then add the sieved flour and baking powder and mix well .Add the essence. Divide the batter in two equal portions. Add cocoa powder in one portion , the other kept as it is(plain)

Now in a baking pan, add a scoopful of plain batter in the centre of the pan. Then add the batter with chocolate on the top of the plain batter. Repeat the procedure with rest of the batter. Bake in a preheated oven at 180c for 40 minutes.

The cake is really worth trying and I really enjoyed making this cake. I am going to make this again and will post a better picture of the cake later.

I had already mentioned in my last post that Lakshmi of taste of mysore sent me a cute card and bookmark . I was thrilled when I recieved it. She has also invited me to the next bloggers meet where we are going to have our event called "Kitchen connect".Tell you more about it later. Thanks Lakshmi for the beautiful surprise and am looking forward for the event.

Thanks Lakshmi!! It's so cute!!! I am proud of our friendship.

An update- I made the zebra cake again and got the perfect stripes this time. You can see the picture in this post.

Poli- The maharashtrian way and kairi panha

Spending almost twenty five years of my life in Maharashtra, I have tasted every kind of Maharashtrian food. I am so fond of all the delicacies and though being a south indian, the cuisine was accepted by us as a staple food. I love puranpolis, sheera ,amti,dalbaati,thalipeeth,sabudana, varan bhaath etc. Groundnut is used in a large scale. They are roasted and powdered and added to the vegetables and salads.
I was always fascinated by the way they made polis. It used to be so soft and remained the same for a long time. And the aroma during poli preperation is just divine. So thought of posting basic steps for preparing poli. Though many might be aware of this basic recipe, but surely must be useful post for some of them who haven't tried.
Another thing which I used to love in their cuisine was Kairi panha , a raw mango drink flavoured with cardamom,widely prepared during the summer. Kairi in marathi means raw mango. The sweet tangy drink is so refreshing during the hot summers. So here are the pictures and recipes for these dishes.

Poli
Ingredients-
Wheat flour- 2cups
salt - 2tsp
oil- 1tbsp

Method-
1. Make a dough with wheat flour. Add oil and the dough should be very soft.
2. Make small balls of the dough. Roll a ball into a circle.
3. Brush oil on the surface.
4. Fold it twice to form a triangle as shown in picture.
5.Roll this to a circle again.
6. Heat a girdle/tava. Cook on one side. Brush little oil on the surface. Flip and cook on the other side.

Kairi Panha-
Ingredients-
Raw mango- 1
Sugar- 2tbsp
Cardamom- 1tsp

Method-
Chop the mango into small pieces. Pressure cook them till they become soft. Mix sugar and cardamom and 2 glasses of water. You can also add few strands of Saffron. Blend them together.
Serve chilled.
This dishes goes to the Swc-Maharashtra hosted by Neha , the monthly event initiated by Lakshmi.
Kairi panha also goes to -
1.WBB- Summer feast.
2.Summer splash by nalabakham
3.WYF ice creams and juices
4.Sweet series- cool desserts by paajaka recipes

I have updated my craft blog today in case you are interested in seeing roses made of chart paper.
And a sweet note, I was so so ggggg.. glad to recieve a cute friendship card from LG of taste of mysore. I will write about it in detail in my next post. Till then take care everyone.

Peanut butter chocolate squares.

When I was browsing some international food blogs, I came upon Lisa's kitchen. I found it very interesting with lovely recipes..some of them really easy and the main part was it was all vegetarian. I saw this recipe of delicious squares and it was quite easy and since I had some guests , I decided to make them immediately.It came out nice and tasted so good , my guest asked me to pack some for him to take home.
I did not make major changes to the ingredients. You can find the original recipe here.But here is the list of my ingredients and method.

Ingredients-

Digestive biscuits by mcvities's- 1and 1/2 cup

Smooth peanut butter- 1 cup

Icing sugar-1 3/4 cup

Butter-1/2 cup

dark chocolate- 1 cup

Smooth peanut butter(for topping)-3/4 cup

Method-

Mix crushed digestive biscuits, peanut butter , icing sugar and butter in a medium sized bowl properly.Press into a greased glass pan.

Melt the chocolate and mix well with peanut butter till smooth. Drizzle over the bottom layer and smooth it even with a spatula.

Chill and cut them into pieces.

As this recipe contains only five ingredients, I am sending this to MBP- less is more July 08' being hosted by Nupur of one hot stove, the monthly event started by coffee.

And now on the sweet note, Sukanya of Sukanya's musings has passed me the good chat blog award. Thanks a lot,Sukanya. I am so glad.

Tofu pilaf/tofu rice

I had bookmarked many recipes with tofu, but never manged to make any of them. After a long time, I decided to make pulao/pilaf with the tofu I brought sometime ago. I took the basic idea for the recipe from here.

Ingredients-

Firm Toufu/bean curd- 100gms.
Basmati rice- 1 cup
Frozen vegetables- (peas, carrots, corns)- 1/2 cup
Onions- 1 finely cut
Ginger, garlis greenchilli paste- 1 tsp
Bayleaves- 1
Cinnamon- 1 small piece
Cumin seeds- 1tsp
Light Soya sauce- Around 1tbsp
Oil- 1tbsp and for deep frying.
Salt to taste

Method-
Cut the tofu in small cubes and marinade them with soya sauce. Keep it aside for around 30 minutes. Tofu is porous and hence will absorb any spice added to it. Then deep fry them . Wash the rice, drain the water and leave it on the sieve for sometime.
In another pan, heat oil and add cumin seeds. Then add the cinnamon and bayleaves. Then goes the garlic ginger and green chilli paste. Add the onions and saute for sometime. Mix in the frozen vegetables and then the rice and stir well. Then add the deep fried tofu. Add salt. Add around 2 cups of water and pressure cook.
Serve hot with raitha .

Tofu is rich in protein. It consists of around 42% protein or a half cup serving of firm tofu has 10.1 gms of proteins.

I have another tofu dish called Spicy tofu subzi in one of my old posts.
Spicy tofu subzi and tofu pilaf goes to "protein rich healthy food" a monthly event hosted by Sangeeth.

A sweet note - Easycrafts of Simple Indian food has passed me the symbol of friendship and the Yum yum award. I am proud of my friendship and grateful to her for everything. Thanks a lot. See the picture of the award here.
Have a look at some crochet designs in my new craft blog.

Fruit kesari

I am bored of baking cakes? No..thats not the truth. The baking bug has bitten me. I would want to make cakes and cookies everyday. My blog seemed like some baking blog one day(I would't mind that). Not only that , my family also got bored of eating cakes frequently. And I too needed a change.I decided to stop baking for sometime and try making other sweets and desserts. I have bookmarked so many of them. So when it was my birthday last month, I made this fruit kesari and for my hubby's birthday last week, I made carrot halwa. But could not take a photograph, so will be posting the next time I make it . This kesari was definitely good, a small change from the regular , plain one.

Ingredients-
Rava/sooji/semolina- 1 cup
Granulated sugar- 3/4 cup
Apple- 1 small, peeled and cut into fine pieces.
Cranberries- a few
Almonds - 5
Cashews- 5
Raisins- 5
Milk - 1 cup
Yellow edible food colour- a pinch dissolved in the milk
Ghee- 1tbspn

Method-
Heat the ghee in a pan. Add all the fruits/dry fruits and saute for few minutes. Then add the rava and keep stirring till it just begins to get slightly golden in colour and gives out a nice aroma. Then mix sugar in it and stir for sometimes. Add the milk (with dissolved edible colour). Add a cup of water if needed and stir till it becomes thick. Serve hot.

Cream of Mushroom soup

I never tried using mushrooms at home. But always wanted to buy them,but never had the guts. What if no one liked? My hubby is not too fond of them especially on his pizza. And then when I finally decided to give it a try, I saw a varieties of them in the super market and was confused on which one to buy. Finally someone told me white button mushrooms are a good option. I got them and decided to make a soup. Everyone liked it and I decided to try out other mushroom recipes too in future. This soup is another Tarla Dalal's delicious recipe.

Ingredients-

White button mushrooms- 200gms

Onions- 2 nos

Potato- 1 no

Fresh cream- 100gms

Butter- 2tbspns

Salt and pepper to taste

Method-

Chop the mushrooms, onions and potato. Heat butter and fry the onions and mushrooms for 5 to 6 minutes. take out and keep aside a little of the mushroom and onion mixture. Add the potato and fry them for 3 to 4 minutes. Add 6 tea cups water and cook in a pressure cooker. When cooked blend in a liquidiser and strain. Add the balance muchrooms and onion mixture to the soup and boil for 10 minutes. Add salt ,pepper and cream. You can ganish with chopped parsley.

Some appreciations-

Vanisri and Indranee passed me the cute yum yum award.Thanks a lot vani , Indranee .

Priyanka and srilekha passed me the lovely symbol of friendship. Thanks for your friendship too and am very proud of it.

Laxmi passed me the "You make my day award". Thanks a lot laxmi.

I pass this award of friendship to Sireesha, LG, Vani, Priyanka, Lavi, Uma, Usha,Srilekha and kalai.

Lauki/doodhi/bottlegourd paratha and kheer

If you have a passion for good food and hospitality, a strong work ethic and business know-how, a restaurant management job could be a perfect fit for you. Get started on your career with an online bachelor degree in hospitality restaurant management.

I was never too fond of bottlegourd until I tasted the parathas our Maharashtrian friend made for us one evening. It is a regular thing at my place now. It tastes delicious, easy to make, less time consuming and taken with spicy curds/raitha.

Doodhi/lauki /bottlegourd paratha -

Ingredients-
Bottlegourd- grated -1 cup
Wheat flour- 2 cup
salt- to taste
chilly- 2 chopped fine
turmeric powder- 1tsp
coriander- chopped fine.
Method-
Mix all the ingredients together and make a soft dough adding little oil. There will be no necessity to add water as grated bottle gourd will be quite watery. Make small balls of the dough and roll them out to small circles. Heat a tava/girdle and cook the parathas on both the sides. Brush little ghee on it. Serve hot.

Kheer with bottlegourd?? yes ...indeed..I saw this recipe in Tarla dalal's book on microwave cooking. And made this in the microwave. It was creamy and delicious, a hit at my place.
Doodhi kheer-
Ingredients-
Grated bottlegourd- 1 cup
Sugar- 1/3 cup
Milk powder- 1/2 cup
Milk- 1 cup
Cardamom powder- a pinch
Ghee- 1tbspn
Almonds- 1 tbspn slivered
Method
Squeeze out all the excess water from the bottlegourd and keep aside. In a bowl, mix together the sugar, milk powder, milk, and cardamom powder. Keep aside.
In a microwave safe bowl , mix together the ghee and bottlegourd and microwave on high for 3 minutes,stirring once after 2 minutes. Add the milk mixture , mix well and microwave on high for 5 minutes ,stirring once in between after 2 1/2 minutes . Serve hot garnished with slivered almonds.

Both this dishes goes to VoW bottlegourd , a monthly event hosted by Pooja of My creative ideas.

Ultimate double chocolate cookies

A note- If you liked my wheat cake...Pl. do vote for me at dining hall here.
I began my baking adventures very recently. And just a month back when two wonderful bakers have started a blog Sweet and simple bakes where they have shared lot of things on baking which is very useful for people like me who are new to baking. I could not make flapjacks last month which was their challenge for the last month. But I did not want to miss it this month.
This month , it was turn to make lovely cookies. I followed the recipe they have mentioned here. I added very little cocoa powder, so the colour of my cookies are not so dark as theirs. But they tasted delicious. Thanks Rosie and marie for the wonderful blog. Hope to learn a lot from you every month. I will be surely trying the flapjacks which you made last month.

Some appreciations-
Sireesha and Rekha has passed me the "blogging with the purpose award" Thanks for the award. I would like to forward this to Lg, priyanka, Haripriya,vani, Srilekha, Usha. Congratulations!!!
And Vani and Sireesha have passed me a bear hug. Thanks for the big hug full of warmth. Srilekha passes me the Yummy blog award. Thank you so much.
See the sidebars for the award.