Thai Sticky Rice with Mango

We are exploring the beautiful northern part of Thailand for this month's 'International Food Challenge'. Northern Thailand is blessed with the best scenery in the kingdom, it is the region with forests and mountains, rivers and waterfalls. It is the home to Thailand's hill tribes, whose conventions and customs differ from mainstream Thai culture. 

Rice is the staple of this region and they use both ordinary and glutinous varieties. Food is seasoned with fish sauce and chili peppers. Our host for this month, Sangeetha Priya, gave us some amazing Northern Thai dishes to try.

Individual Summer Berry Trifles

This is the 4th dessert I'm posting in 4 days (cupcakes, cheesecakes and ice cream cake). My blog is definitely on sugar high more than the people eating them, because they were made at 4 different times and most of them were given away (thankfully!!). I actually have another dessert coming up on the blog later today. I think I will have to stop thinking about desserts and sugar for a while now.

Today's dessert is a great make ahead dish that is perfect to serve at summer parties. With the berry season in full swing, this is a great dessert to put them to use.

Ice Cream Cake

Today's dessert is so simple to make that I feel silly posting a recipe for it. But it tasted amazing, so I felt I should share it here just so I remember to make it in the future. So if you are curious to know what it is, then let me tell you that it's nothing but softened ice cream with candy, cookies and nuts mixed in. 

I made this ice cream cake to serve the kids at our BBQ party last weekend. As I was looking for recipes, I found Nigella Lawson's ice cream cake and I loved the idea of mixing crunchy and chewy mix-ins into good old vanilla ice cream. Come to think of it, vanilla ice cream is like a blank canvas that can be flavored with just about anything.

Individual No-Bake Chocolate Cheesecakes (in a bottle)

Summer is officially here and we are already in the middle of serious Grilling season. With 4th of July approaching real fast, I thought I will share some of my favorite dishes that can be made for your next backyard bbq or bring them to a potluck or even a picnic. 

First up is a no-bake cheesecake with layers of cookie crumbs, chocolate cheesecake filling, toffee bits and chopped nuts. Doesn't that sound delicious. These are a big hit every time I served them at parties. They are easy to make and can be made ahead of time, so you are ready to chill and enjoy your party.

Boston Cream Cupcakes

I made these cupcakes back in February and it took me this much time to post the recipe. Recipe is from 'the big book of Cupcakes' cookbook. The pictures were too tempting and the thought of having one of my favorite donut flavors in a cupcake was very exciting. 

The creamy 'Boston Cream' part of the cupcake is made vanilla instant pudding mix, which makes it quick and easy to make. I made my basic Vegan vanilla cupcakes recipe and then filled them with the custard and topped them with chocolate icing. These cupcakes were a big hit with both kids and adults.

Apple-Orange Mocktail

Blogging Marathon# 41: Week 4/ Day 3
Theme: BM Pair (Sujatha Ram)
Dish: Apple-Orange Mocktail

For the final day of this month's marathon, I have a very simple mocktail from Sujatha's blog. I hardly ever make juices at home, I'm just too lazy to make them. Because it takes quite a bit of effort to make these juices and takes mere seconds to finish them. Sigh!! Its better for everyone to just eat their fruits than drink them. This is totally my personal opinion, no offense meant to anyone.

But this particular mocktail caught my eye on Sujatha's blog. I loved her clicks and the combination of apple and orange with ginger sounded interesting. So I made it for my kids, but I guess I was the one enjoying it the most. The weather in our neck of woods has been quite summer like and this drink was very refreshing on a hot afternoon.

Thengai Paal Kootu (Mixed Vegetables in Coconut Milk Gravy)

Blogging Marathon# 41: Week 4/ Day 2
Theme: BM Pair (Sujatha Ram)
Dish: Thengai Paal Kootu

Today's dish from Sujatha's blog is a super simple, yet very delicious mixed veg curry cooked in coconut milk. Veggies are cooked in coconut milk and flavored with sambar powder -- it's that simple, but the flavor both these ingredients infuse into the veggies is just amazing.

I wanted to speed up the process a little, so I precooked the veggies in the microwave and then finished cooking on the stove with coconut milk. This dish is very similar to the Kerala vegetable stew, but the sambar powder makes this a completely different dish.

Carrot-Onion Chutney

Blogging Marathon# 41: Week 4/ Day 1
Theme: BM Pair (Sujatha Ram)
Dish: Carrot-Onion Chutney

For the last week of marathon, we are cooking from our fellow marathoner. I got paired with Sujatha Ram who blogs at Indian Veg Kitchen. Sujatha is a relatively new blogger, but has quite a few authentic and delicious vegetarian dishes. I have many of her traditional desserts bookmarked and wanted to make at least one for this week, but with my husband travelling, I didn't want to eat the calories all by myself.

So for the first day, I made this Carrot chutney based on Sujatha's carrot-small onion chutney. I wanted to make something different to go along with the masala idlis and this carrot chutney sounded perfect to me. Also my son doesn't eat carrot and I wanted him to try this. He didn't know that it had carrot and ate it without complaint. Even my husband and sister didn't know that it was carrot chutney and liked it a lot.

Palak Paneer (Curried Spinach & Cottage Cheese)

Palak Paneer is probably one dish that is on ALL Indian restaurant menu cards around the world. Restaurant can be South Indian, North Indian or any Indian cuisine at all, I'm sure all of them have Saag Paneer or Palak Paneer on their menu. It is that famous and if you are an Indian food aficionado, you probably tasted it at least once. 

There are quite a few recipes on the internet for palak paneer. Each one using different spice blends and some blend the spinach to a paste and some use it just as is. I like my palak paneer creamy and smooth. 

Tomato Rasam using Pomi Chopped Tomatoes

Recently Pomi tomatoes contacted me to try their tomatoes and post recipes using their product for my readers. I like Pomi and buy them quite often. Pomi is an all natural brand of boxed tomatoes from Italy. I love the simplicity of the product as well as it's pure ingredients. Pomi's tomatoes are grown naturally in Italy and they abide by the European standards for farming. More importantly, Pomi's ingredients contain nothing more than pure tomatoes. No added salt, water, citric acid or preservatives. The only ingredient on the label is tomatoes! Pomi is 100% all natural and because it is packaged in a box, it is BPA-free.

All that said, pomi tomatoes taste so fresh and don't have the lingering after taste of metal as in other canned tomatoes. This makes them perfect to be used in recipes that usually call for fresh tomatoes.

Vegetarian McMuffin Sandwich

Blogging Marathon# 41: Week 3/ Day 1
Theme: E-N Breakfast Items
Dish: M for McMuffin -- Vegetarian McMuffin Sandwich

For the final day of breakfast week for blogging marathon, I made M for McMuffin. McMuffin is a family of sandwiches served at the famous fast food restaurant chain McDonald's. The egg mcmuffin is the signature breakfast sandwich.

Unfortunately in the US, there are very limited options for vegetarians. It has been years when I last went to McD's. But I've heard that the Indian McD's have quite a few vegetarian options. My son is looking forward to his India trip this summer to visit Indian McD's.

Masala Vegetable Idli (Idli with a twist)

Blogging Marathon# 41: Week 3/ Day 1
Theme: E-N Breakfast Items
Dish: I for Idli -- Masala Idli

I picked an easy one for day 2, I for Idli. For those of you who have never heard the word idli, here's a little background info: Idli is a very traditional South Indian breakfast. It is a steamed cake made of fermented black lentils (urad dal) and rice.It is one of the most balanced breakfasts with the perfect combination of carbs and protein. Also the fermenting process adds good bacteria that aids in digestion.

I don't make idlis often since the batter doesn't ferment well in winters and I'm too lazy and forgetful to soak the lentil and rice for the rest of the year. Well anyway I made sure I remembered to soak, grind and ferment the batter. Thanks to the lovely warm weather we have been having lately, my batter fermented nicely in about 12 hours and the idlis turned out soft and fluffy.

Plain idlis are quite common, but today's masala idlis are a really nice variation. I saved an article on Idlis from a Telugu newspaper in 2006. One of the recipe in that article is this 'Masala Idli'. The addition of vegetables and the masala gives these idlis a nice spicy kick.

Ingredients:
For the Idli Batter:
Black Lentils (Urad dal) - 1cup
Idli Rawa - 2½cups
Fenugreek seeds - 1tsp
Salt - to taste

To make Masala Idlis:
Potato - 1 small, peeled & finely diced
Carrot - 1 small, peeled and finely diced
Onion - 1 small, finely chopped
Green Peas - 3tbsp
Tomato - 1 small, finely chopped
Cashews - 2tbsp, finely chopped
Green chilies - 3 (adjust as per taste)
Roasted gram (putnalu) - 1tbsp
Grated Coconut - 2tbsp (fresh or dry)
Cilantro - 3tbsp
Mustard seeds - 1tsp
Urad dal - 1tsp
Curry leaves - 8~10
Salt - to taste

Method:

• Make the Idli Batter: Soak urad dal & fenugreek seeds in a bowl and idli rawa in another bowl for at least 4 hours. Grind dal into a smooth paste. Drain and squeeze the water from the rawa and add it to the dal along with salt. Mix well and set the batter aside to ferment in a warm place for 8~12 hours.
• Make the Veggie Mixture: Microwave potato and carrot until tender. Alternately they can be boiled or steamed also.
• Grind the coconut, roasted gram, green chilies and cilantro into a smooth paste.
• Heat 2tsp oil in a saute pan; add mustard seeds, urad dal and curry leaves; once the seeds start to splutter add onions and cashews. Cook till the onions turn translucent.
• Next add tomatoes and the other cooked veggies. Cook until tomatoes turn mushy.
• Add the masala paste and salt. Mix well and cook for 2 minutes. Turn off the heat and let cool for a few minutes.
• Then add this mixture to the idli batter. Mix well and distribute the batter evenly in the idli molds, steam for 12~15 minutes. Serve hot with chutney of choice.

All the veggies tend to sink to the bottom, so here's the cross-sectional view of a masala idli :-)

Lets check out what my fellow marathoners have cooked up today for BM# 41.

Wholewheat Waffles

Blogging Marathon# 41: Week 3/ Day 1
Theme: E-N Breakfast Items
Dish: E for Eggo -- Wholewheat Waffles

My theme for this week's marathon is very interesting. Valli gave a list of breakfast items and asked us to cook dishes starting with the letters from E-N. Breakfast is probably the least thought out meal of the day in our household. I eat breakfast everyday, but it is something really quick: pb&j sandwich, oatmeal or just cereal. I usually make a little elaborate breakfast on the weekends, my son loves pancakes and waffles, so I make them at least 2~3 times a month.

So for the first day of the marathon, I picked E for Eggo. Eggo is a frozen waffles brand in the US. Once I bought the waffle iron,  I stopped buying frozen waffles or even store bought mixes to make waffles. They have way too many preservatives and extra ingredients that are not really healthy.

Amritsari Aloo Kulcha (Potato Stuffed Indian Bread) for ICC

For this month's Indian Cooking Challenge (ICC), Valli wanted us to make an Indian bread, Amritsari Aloo Kulcha. After the April mega marathon where explored the dishes from all the Indian states, I've decided not to skip any ICC editions because it is a good opportunity to learn regional dishes from different parts of India. Also Valli always makes it a point to challenge us to try dishes that are unique and tries to get authentic recipes of the same.

This month's challenge fit right into our meal plan. While my in-laws were here we ate rotis at least 3~4 times a week, so these stuffed parathas fit right in. If it's just us, I make rotis may be once a week, since my husband travels almost weekly. 

Hummus Bread

I had no plans of baking bread this morning. When I woke up, it was foggy and raining heavily -- I didn't feel like doing anything at all. Then I opened my Facebook account and saw one of the groups having a 'Baking with yeast' event this weekend. Sun finally peeked out and I decided to bake something for the event.

I got my 'King Arthur Flour: Whole Grain Baking' book out and after looking through some amazing breads, I narrowed it down to this yummy looking Hummus bread. I had a container of store-bought  spicy black bean hummus that needed to used up and that went right into the bread. I was concerned if the bread will turn out too spicy, but it was just perfect.

Andhra style Greens & Chickpea Curry (Chukkakura & Gongura Senagala Kura)

It is always amazing to see how fast kids bond with their grandparents even if they never met them before. My in-laws were visiting us for couple of weeks and they were seeing my little one for the first time. But it took her just a few hours to get to know them and in no time she was playing with them as if she's known them forever.

So my kids had a great time playing and having fun with the grandparents and we had great time enjoying the yummy dishes my MIL cooked. She made some new and interesting dishes and I made sure I clicked them and wrote the recipes down, so I don't forget. 

Fabulous Feast Friday# 19

Welcome to this week’s edition of Fabulous Feast Friday. What are you feasting on this weekend? Join the Link Up Party so we can all feast with you! 

My blogger friends and I have teamed up so that every week there are two link up parties – One for Vegetarian Recipes ONLY and one for All Recipes. Vegetarian Recipes can link up to both parties. 

Let’s meet the team:

This week’s hosts are me for 100% Vegetarian recipes and Usha for any and all recipes.

There’s only a few simple steps to join the party: 

• Your post must include a recipe with at least one photo.

• You must follow all of the Hosting Team on one social media platform, per your preference. 

o Mireille Twitter Facebook Pinterest Google+ Blog Lovin’ 

o Sandhya Twitter Facebook Pinterest Google+ Stumble Upon 

o Srivalli Twitter Facebook Pinterest 

o Prachi Facebook Pinterest Blog Lovin’ 

o Usha Twitter Facebook Pinterest Google+

o Pavani Twitter Facebook Pinterest Google+ 

o Saras Twitter Facebook Pinterest Google+ 

o Priya Twitter Facebook Google+ 

• Please insert our logo either in the post or somewhere on your site. 

• Add your post using the Linky Tool below. 

• Support each other by visiting and commenting on a few blogs. Vote for your favorite recipes of the week. Each week the top 3 recipes will be featured.

Broccoli Chickpea Salad

Blogging Marathon# 41: Week 2/ Day 3
Theme: Picnic Hamper Dishes
Dish: Broccoli Chickpea Salad

It has been an a busy week and I didn't have anything ready for day 3 of the marathon. I wanted to make simple cucumber sandwiches, but of course, I didn't have any sandwich bread at home. As I was wondering what to make, I remembered seeing this simple broccoli-chickpea salad recipe by Sarah Carey and thought it would be perfect to make for a picnic. 

This salad is very simple to make and is almost a no-cook one, except for steaming the broccoli (and cooking the chickpeas if you are not using the ones from the can), there is not much cooking involved. But for the minimum effort involved, it tasted amazing -- I was snacking on it while making it and then for lunch and then the leftovers for snack.

Middle Eastern Date & Honey Cake

We are travelling to the Middle East for this month's 'Home Baker's Challenge'. Rafeeda, our lovely host for this month gave us some delicious sweet and savory dishes from Arabia to choose from. Since my family loves sweets, I made a deliciously sweet Arabic cake.
I wanted to bake this cake last month itself, but I ran out of dates and the whole month passed by before I realized it was the deadline to post for the event. So I rushed and bought some dates and made this cake last night. My husband who has a very big sweet tooth, absolutely LOVED it. It was a little too sweet for me, since it has all the sugars you can possibly think of. May be next time I cut down on the other sugars and use only honey.

Quinoa Tabbouleh

Blogging Marathon# 41: Week 2/ Day 2
Theme: Picnic Hamper Dishes
Dish: Quinoa Tabbouleh

Salads are really perfect to take along for picnics, especially the ones made with grains or pasta. They can be made ahead of time and the resting gives the grains a chance to absorb all the flavors. And the biggest advantage of all is they can be served at room temperature without any problem.

Today's dish for 'Picnic Hamper' is another healthy and delicious salad (check out yesterday's Bread Salad). Tabbouleh is traditionally made with bulgur, but I made it with quinoa instead. It is very flavorful with the addition of fresh herbs, mint and parsley, and veggies, cucumber and tomato.

Greek Panzanella (Bread Salad)

Blogging Marathon# 41: Week 2/ Day 1
Theme: Picnic Hamper Dishes
Dish: Greek Panzanella (Bread Salad)

We are starting our 2nd week of blogging marathon today and my theme for this week is 'Picnic Hamper dishes'. Warm weather is finally here, which means its time for picnics, camping, beaches and all things related to the outdoors.

One of our dear friends organizes a picnic every year and that is one picnic all of us look forward to. There is always so much food and it is a great time to hang out in the sun and chat with friends. This year we had a Mother's day picnic in May and here are some pictures of the food and the beautiful views.

Sprouts Mixed Vegetable Pulao

Today's recipe is from a Telugu cooking show and I have made it a number of times since I watched the show. It is a healthy and delicious dish with sprouts, mixed vegetables and spicy masala paste. This is a great way to use sprouts and with the addition of mixed vegetables, it is a balanced dish to serve for lunch or dinner. It also reheats really well making it perfect for lunchboxes. 

Banana Nutella Milkshake

Blogging Marathon# 41: Week 1/ Day 3
Theme: Summer Specials
Dish: Banana Nutella Milkshake

For the 3rd and final day of BM# 41, I have a very simple and delicious kid friendly drink. It is calorie rich, and hence should be taken occasionally. Both my kids loved this creamy drink.

As I was thinking about this post's introduction, I was lost for a little bit since there is not much to write about the milkshake itself, apart from the fact that it is super simple to make and tastes amazing. So instead of me writing about something, I thought why not ask my readers a question and have you share your thoughts.

Mango Fool

Blogging Marathon# 41: Week 1/ Day 2
Theme: Summer Specials
Dish: Mango Fool

Summer and Mangoes are like night and darkness (at least in my mind :-) I wait for summer to enjoy mangoes to its fullest. There is only one person I know who doesn't like mango or at least he thinks he doesn't like them because he never tasted them -- my super picky 6 year old son. He is reluctant to even taste it, but he LOVES mango lassi, so I'm sure when he tastes a good mango he'll like it -- hopefully that happens soon. My daughter on the other hand loves mangoes (along with most other fruits).

Butterscotch Ice Cream with Almond Praline topping (Eggless Recipe)

Blogging Marathon# 41: Week 1/ Day 1
Theme: Summer Specials
Dish: Butterscotch Ice Cream with Almond Praline topping (Eggless Recipe)

We are starting another edition of blogging marathon today. Can't believe we are almost at the mid year mark and before we know it, it will be holiday season and a brand new year again. Hmmmm... time sure is flying. Coming back to the present, we have been enjoying nice warm temperatures for the past couple of days and hopefully this weather is here to stay.

My theme for this week is 'Summer Specials' and for the first day I have a sweet and cool ice cream. I think it was my sister who once asked for a ice cream with nuts and I started looking for recipes online. One of the search led me to Sruthi's Part time chef blog and her butterscotch ice cream got me with her amazing clicks. I made the ice cream right away.