Sesame flavored beetroot & edamame parathas

Sesame flavored beetroot & edamame parathas

I have read many recipes where lot of different ingredients are mixed together to make varieties of parathas. So I wanted to make my own variation. I decided to combine beetroots and edamame and see how it works. Luckily the combination worked well together and our hunger pangs were satisfied.
For people who don't know what is edamame, it is young soybeans. They are green in color, soft and edible. Usually used in Japanese cooking. It very nutritious as well. 1 cup of cooked edamame contains 17gms of protein while only 8gms of fat. So for vegetarians, this is a very good option to include some healthy food in their diet.

Protein Pulav

Protein Pulav

As South Indians, we are primarily rice eaters and have a weakness for it specially when on a diet. As all the famous diets tell you to avoid white rice completely for obvious reasons, we are left with not much choice. We have tried avoiding rice completely but in vain. So we decided to try brown rice and thankfully have not been disappointed. Both, me and my husband the veg pulav made in brown rice. I usually flavor the rice so much that it doesn't feel any different. Yesterday I tried to make the traditional soya pulav with this twist.

Bombay Special - Vada Pav

Bombay Special - Vada Pav

It will always be Bombay for me. Mumbai doesn't connect with me as much as Bombay does. Well, I am true Bombayite!! If you have obviously been to Bombay or lived there, you would not have missed tasting this extremely famous street food called Vada pav. It looks like an easy dish to make, I mean, after all, its just a batata vada in a water roll (pav). Actually, its quite a process to make this dish a success. First, if you are out of Bombay, missing your home, missing this delicacy, you have to emotionally prepare yourself to make this yourself and also to the fact that you are not going to be able to order it from a local food stall near your house. The next stage is when you begin to feel nostalgic about your days back then, when your dad used to get these hot vada pavs on his way home from work for the entire family, no evening walks with friends were complete without gorging onto atleast two vada pavs if not three or just enjoying it as part of your main course dinner! The last step is actually making it. You know, we had a local vendor near our house, who made the most awesome vada pav. We knew him by his first name and since we were his regulars, we had an account with him and he even gave us free home delivery! So today this post is dedicated to him.. :)
My husband loves it too, in fact that is the first thing we have when we land in Bombay. Well, I can go on and on about my love for vada pav to an extent that this may sound like an essay on it. So let me shut up and straight away go to method of making it. That is why you are here after all!

Baby Corn Mushroom Peas Masala

Baby Corn Mushroom Peas Masala

Myself and my husband have been sick since last two weeks and have been surviving on khichdi, dal rice and rasam rice. We were both craving for some restaurant food. Since we didn't feel right to venture out for a meal, I decided to cook something for us restaurant style! I had two cans of baby corn. So I decided to make something with it. I am happy with the turnout and my husband is not complaining as well. No more bland food, at-least for today! :)

Supremely spicy Mushroom toast

Supremely spicy Mushroom toast

I was craving to have something very spicy for my breakfast. I had some leftover mushrooms I had got for making pasta,  which I made yesterday. Mushrooms are my favorite because of their unique taste, the flavor it gives to any dish and also that it is very easy to cook. Plus it also has its own health benefits. So I decided to make mushroom toast.

Parsley paneer mutter masala

Parsley Paneer Mutter Masala

This is your conventional paneer mutter masala recipe with a twist. I have added parsley in it. I wanted to experiment with it and see how it turns out. Parsley does add its unique taste to this dish and makes it different from the regular. So here is it..

How to train your dragon themed birthday party for a 5 year old

I got to know that this 5 year old boy loved dragons and his favorite movie currently was - How to train your dragon. So the mom who is also my good friend wanted to plan his milestone birthday in that theme and also that she wanted me to help her do it. There was only 1 glitch in this..I had not seen this movie at all nor was I into dragons! I mean this was a very unusual theme and I was not sure if I could pull this off. I still took this up as a challenge and as a learning curve. First things first, my husband made me watch the movie. We both thought this would help me understand the theme better and plan accordingly. So yes, I watched the movie and completely got hooked onto it. I loved the movie. Now I was even more excited in planning this party.





I had only 5 days to plan this party. I checked amazon to see what all is available in this theme for a birthday party. I found all the party supplies there. Paper plates, glasses, dessert plates, balloons, backdrop, table cloth, viking party hats and napkins. I also got him a themed t shirt to wear that day.

Healthy Falafel cooked in appe pan

Healthy Falafel cooked in Appe pan

Have been wanting to try falafel for a long time now. I was initially planning to bake these falafels but my husband suggested that we try using the appe pan instead. I mean after all it is so much easier than baking for me! So this turned out healthy as expected.

Kurmura Chiwda

Kurmura Chiwda

A very quick and easy snack to make for those lazy afternoons where you are tempted to hog on to all those unhealthy fried snacks. Try this instead. This snack takes me back to my childhood where during diwali, every second house was filled with the aroma of this snack in the making. I used to keep checking with my mom on when this chiwda would be ready from me to eat. Now I make this with just a little variation, I don't add peanuts, curry leaves. dried coconut or raisins. You may add if you wish to. 

Mutter Palak paratha

Mutter Palak paratha

I love eating parathas at a restaurant or when my mother makes me one, however just the thought of making it on my own daunts me. Post marriage, I always kept the idea of making parathas at a two arm distance even though my hubby is a foodie and would eat anything I cook. I deprived him of  these yummy little thing called parathas. Well, before the bollywood in me overcomes my personality and I get more melodramatic, let me stop here ;)

Coming back to parathas, well I just felt that I needed a paratha recipe on my blog and I might as well make my husband happier by making it for him. So as always in my obsessive need to keep most of our weekday meals healthy, I decided to make these parathas diet friendly. Now I must say that I am totally hooked on to making parathas and I plan to try out different varieties soon. Anyways, here is my recipe of Mutter palak paratha. Happy cooking!