Happy Vinayaka Chaturthi
Happy Vinayaka Chaturthi to all our readers. For those unaware, Ganesha Chaturthi, also known as Vinayaka Chaturthi is the Hindu festival of Ganesha, the elephant-headed son of Shiva and Parvati, who is believed to bestow his presence on earth for all his devotees in the duration of this festival. It is the birthday of Lord Ganesha who is widely worshipped as the god of wisdom, prosperity and good fortune. The festival is observed in the Hindu calendar month of Bhaadrapada, starting on the shukla chaturthi (fourth day of the waxing moon period). The date usually falls between 20 August and 15 September. The festival lasts for 10 days, ending on Anant Chaturdashi (fourteenth day of the waxing moon period). While celebrated all over India, it is most elaborate in Maharashtra, Goa, Gujarat, Orissa, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh....
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Swiss Chard Avial (Curry)
Recently I started eating lot of greens. And I have been trying different recipes using greens. I adapted this recipe from YummyOYummy blog by yummy team. I made a few changes and tried it out. It came out really good. Ingredients: Swiss chard white : 1 Bunch Onions : 1 (Medium) (Finely Chopped) Green Chilies : 3-4 ( According to your spice level) Oil : 1 tbsp Cumin seeds : 1/2 tsp Turmeric Powder : 1/4 tsp Chili Powder : 1 tsp Grated Coconut : 1/4 cup Salt : to taste Curry Leaves : 4-5 Method Of Preparation: Grind coconut with cumin seeds into smooth paste and put it aside. Now wash the greens and chop them, also chop the stems into fine pieces. Now in wide pan add the chopped onions and fry them for few minutes. After...
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Karthik’s Spicy Chicken Curry
If you are wondering who is Karthik, he is my husband. You might wonder why I named a dish after him? Actually, I didn’t. His friend, Matt Jabs did! 🙂 Matt & Karthik were roommates a few years back and they had a few ‘curry nights’ when Karthik would make this chicken curry. Fact is, Karthik can’t make the same dish twice in the same way. But, Matt had wrote down the recipe as Karthik was making the chicken curry one night and named it after him. Matt has been making chicken curry ever since and his wife and Matt always speak highly of this recipe. Recently he typed it up and sent it to us with pictures. How can I not publish this awesome effort? I haven’t had this curry myself yet but the hubby was so impressed...
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Carrot & Beans Stir Fry (Poriyal)
Carrot and Beans stir fry is one of the easiest stir fries to cook. It’s healthy and you can make it real quick. In South India it’s must to have porial (Stir fry ) in your meal. It’s really easy to make and good for your health too. This stir fry is one of my favorites and I make it atleast once in a week. It goes well with sambar rice, appalam poo kozhambhu etc.. Preparation Time : 30 mins No of servings : 3-4 Spice level : 2 out of 5 Ingredients : Carrot : 3 (chopped into small pieces ) Beans : 200gms (Chopped into small pieces) Green Peas : 1/2 cup (optional) Onion: 1(medium) (Finely chopped) Green Chilies : 3-4 (According to your spice level) Coconut : 1/2 cup (shredded) Oil : 1 tbsp Mustard seeds...
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Thakkali Thokku – Tomato Pickle
Ever year we plant some vegetables in our garden. This year we planted Tomatoes, Green chilies, coriander and Mint. I’ve made this thokku (pickle) from our garden picked fresh tomatoes. I din’t know what to do with lots of tomatoes we are harvesting so I’ve made thokku this time since I can store this for a long time in the fridge. This can go as a great side dish with idly, dosa or chapathi. Ingredients: Tomatoes : 8 Garlic : 7-8 (pressed) Oil : 1/4 cup Mustard seeds : 1/2 tsp Urad dal : 1/2 tsp Asafoetida / Hing : a pinch Red chili powder : 1 tbsp ( according to your spice level) Turmeric Powder : 1 tsp Method Of Preapartion: Make tomato puree out of the tomatoes and keep it aside. Heat 1/4 cup of oil in...
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Sprouted Green Gram (Moong) Stir Fry
I adapted this recipe from vazhayila.com by Sarah and totally loved it. I have always loved green gram, which is, lucky for me (and you) – is healthy and nutritious. I was totally impressed by this recipe and made it with sprouted moong (Green Gram), it really came out very tasty. Thanks to Sarah for sharing this wonderful recipe. Ingredients: Sprouted Moong (Green Gram) :2 cups Onion : 1/2 (medium) (finely chopped) Garlic : 3 (cloves) (pressed) Green Chilies : 3-4 Shredded coconut : 1/2 cup Crushed Peppercorns : 1 tsp Turmeric Powder : 1/4 tsp Mustard Seeds : 1/2 tsp Urad dal : 1/2 tsp Curry Leaves : 4-5 Salt : according to taste Method Of Preparation : Heat oil in a kadai (a fry pan) add mustard seeds, urad dal and curry leaves. Once it sputters add...
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Top 10 Uses of Vinegar in Kitchen
Image Credit by : uberculture Flickr Clean the Drains: Pour 1/2 cup baking soda in the drain, followed by 1/2 cup vinegar, foam will starts to come as it cleans and deodorizes. Use every few weeks to keep drains clean. Soften the tender Meat: Vinegar is always use to soften the tender meat. Just mariande the 1lb meat overnight with a tbsp of vinegar. Salty Food: If you added extra salt in your food while cooking, add a bit of vinegar. You won’t taste the vinegar and it cuts the taste of salt. Poaching eggs: When you are poaching eggs, add a tbsp of vinegar to keep the white of the egg from running. Coffee and Tea stain: Coffee and tea stains from cups can be easily removed by cleaning with a mixture of half vinegar and half salt....
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Cuisinart CEK-40 Electric Knife for $28.99 Shipped
Amazon has this Cuisinart CEK-40 Electric Knife for $ 28.99 with free shipping. I’ve just Ordered one. Cuisinart products are always a great ones without any doubt. It has some good reviews on amazon. So hurry up buy this product for a great value!!! Product Features High quality stainless steel blades Wood block storage tray Includes bread blade, carving blade Also includes butcher block holding tray Ergonomic...
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Grilled Chicken Fajita
Chicken Fajitas are one of our favorite Mexican dishes. There is something about the juicy grilled chicken in combination with sauteed bell peppers and onions wrapped in warm flour or corn tortilla. It is heavenly. We just bought a new grill this summer and have been cooking on it a lot lately. I’ve bought some fresh tortilla at the store the other day and decided to make Chicken Fajitas. What other dish could scream summer like colors of the bell peppers and the grilled chicken. You could also use the same recipe to make Steak fajitas too. Preparation Time : 30 mins No of servings: 3-4 Ingredients: Chicken Breasts/Thighs : 1 1/2 pounds Salt and pepper Onion : 1 ( large) ( cut into 1/4 inch strips) Bell peppers : 3 ( yellow, red and green) ( cut into...
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Strawberry Milkshake
If you are craving for a refreshing cool drink that is healthy as well in the summer, this strawberry milkshake will hit the spot. You could make it a little decadent if you add a scoop of fat free vanilla or strawberry icecream at the top. This is a perfect refreshing summer drink! Preparation Time : 10 minutes No of servings: 2 Ingredients: Fresh Strawberry or Frozen strawberry : 8 ounces, hulled and sliced Granulated Sugar : 2 tbsp (according to your sweet level ) Fat free milk or 1% organic milk : 1/2 cup Vanilla extract : 1tsp Fat free Vanilla ice cream : 1/4 cup Ice cubes : 1 cup ( crushed) Method Of Preparation: In a bowl add sliced strawberries, sugar, vanilla extract and combine them all well. Set it aside for 10-15 minutes. After that add...
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Sprouted Moong Salad
Sprouts are always healthy and even tasty when it’s done right. It contains proteins and vitamins. I love sprouts and make it atleast once in two weeks. It’s very easy to make and you can serve it as a lunch or even a snack. It can make a healthy alternative to any oily snacks. Also if you are dieting you should definitely consider this for one of your meals. It’s a very refreshing and healthy salad. Preparation Time for salad: 30 mins No of servings : 2-3 Spice level : 1 out of 5 Ingredients: Moong sprouts : 2 cups Onion : 1(medium) Tomato : 1/2 Carrot : 1 cup (shredded) Curry Leaves : 4-5 Lime juice : 1 tbsp Whole red chilies : 2-3 For Seasonings : Oil : 1/2 tbsp Mustard seeds : 1 tsp Urad dal...
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Ten Gourmet Meals for $10 or less
Img credit : Mint I came across this interesting article in Mint website. It’s always a big challenge when you cook a new recipe. We spend a lot of money for the ingredients we use in each dish. It usually is still cheaper than eating in a restaurant. But it’s really hard to make a gourmet meal under $ 10 or less. Do you think you can pull it off? This article from Mint shows us how we can make 10 gourmet meals for $10 or...
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World Cuisine Tri-Blade Plastic Spiral Vegetable Slicer for $35.95 shipped
Amazon has this World Cuisine Tri-Blade Plastic Spiral Vegetable Slicer for $35.95 with free shipping. It has some good reviews in amazon too. Product Description: Great for making fancy spiral vegetable garnishes for salads as well as making curly fries from potatoes, the easy-to-use World Cuisine Tri-Blade Plastic Spiral Vegetable Slicer is made of durable plastic and comes with three sets of interchangeable blades. Just place your fruit or vegetable onto the prongs and turn the while pushing base toward the blade to make continuous spiral strands. It includes three sets of blades: one with 1/8-inch spacing, one with 1/4-inch spacing, and one straight blade for ribbon cuts or curly, ribbon-like slices. It measures 12 by 10 by 6 inches (LxWxH) and is dishwasher safe. Backed by a 1-year warranty. Product Feature: Make quick work of fancy vegetable peeling...
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Spicy Shrimp Curry
Shrimp or prawn curry is one of the most popular south India non-vegetarian dishes. I’ve learnt this recipe from aspecial person in my family. Her shrimp curry has to be the tastiest shrimp I’ve had. It goes very well chapathi, sambar rice and rasam. You can make this in different consistencies depending on your taste. You could make it as a gravy so it goes well with chapathi or naan or you could make it as a dry dish by leaving it in low heat for a long time. Have fun cooking this spicy shrimp curry and let me know if you try this recipe. Preparation Time : 45 minutes No of servings : 3-4 Spice level : 3 out of 5 Ingredients: Shrimp : 500gms (washed and cleaned) (deshelled) Onion : 1(large)(finely chopped) Tomatoes :2 (finely chopped) Ginger...
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2010 Sizzling Summer Contest Winners + Recipes RoundUp
We want to extend our heartfelt thanks to all of you, who participated in the Spicy Tasty Sizzling Summer Contest. We were thrilled by your response and loved all 82 Entries we’ve received for the contest. Even though we are announcing just two winners we appreciated every recipe you all shared with us. It’s time to announce the winners. Drum rolls please!!!!!!! Sizzling Summer Photo Contest Winner We hope you had a fun week voting in the photo contest watching different recipes stay at different spots. It was a close race in the photo contest voting and we are happy to announce that “Yummy Team’s Fried Ice Cream” Photograph won the contest with 221 votes, with just a difference of 5 votes over Hari Chandana’s “Tomato Flavored Sago Papad” Photograph. Thank you everyone for voting! Congratulations Yummy Team!!!!! We...
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Mango Pachadi – Mango curry
Mango pachadi is one of those dishes that shouts out summer like no other dish! I’ve learned this recipe from my mom. In back home, every summer our house is filled with lots of raw mangoes which are freshly picked from our garden. My mom used to make this pachadi and I simply love it. I still remember those days begging my mom to make this pachadi. It’s one of my favorite recipes. I am lucky that my husband also love this dish. I made it recently and it came out really good. Preparation Time: 30mins No of servings: 2-3 Spice level : 2 out of 5 Ingredients: Raw Mango : 2 (Shredded) Onion : 1(medium) (Finely chopped) Tomato : 1/2 (finely chopped) Whole red chilies : 4-5 (according to your spice level) Jaggery powder : 4 tbsp water...
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Vote for Best Sizzling Summer Photo Contest
Sizzling summer contest comes to an end. Thanks for everyone sending your entries and making this contest a huge success!! We’ve received over 80 entries for the contest. About the photo contest , we mentioned that we are going to select 10 of our favorite photographs. But the response was so great and we have selected 12 photographs from all your submissions. Please vote for your favorite photograph from the below 12 using the voting option at the bottom of this post. Note : Leaving a comment as a vote will not count. Also lets keep this voting process clean and fair. We have procedures in place to detect vote fraud and it is our sole discretion to eliminate an entry from the contest if we detect an attempt to fraud the system. “We have only published photos of...
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Presto Professional CoolDaddy Electric Deep Fryer for $39.99 shipped
I was looking for an Electric fryer and I found Presto Professional CoolDaddy Electric Deep Fryer and it’s pretty cool. I’ve always love the presto products. Amazon has this product for $39.99 shipped. This is really a great product for the money. Features: Wash all parts by hand; 13-1/2 by 10 by 11-1/2 inches; 1-year warranty Electric deep fryer for up to 6 servings of chicken, shrimp, or fries Adjustable thermostat from 250 to 375 degrees F with bright ready light Cool touch exterior; splash-free handle release; removable nonstick interior Includes wire basket and charcoal filter to reduce frying odors I would highly recommend this product. Amazon has some good reviews and 4 star for this product. Hurry up before the offers...
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Thakkali Rasam – Spicy Tomato Soup
Rasam is a comfort food in south India. It’s a very traditional dish and everyone in south India almost used to make it everyday. It is considered as a second main course and can be eaten with white rice. It’s very good for health, because lots of different spices are used in it. You can just drink it like a soup or as an appetizer too. Rasam can be cooked in different ways. Milagu (pepper) rasam, Dal(Lentil) rasam. Preparation Time: 30 mins No of servings : 3-4 Spice level : 2 out of 5 Ingredients : Tomatoes : 2 Coriander Leaves : a handful ( chopped finely) Green chilies : 2-3 Garlic : 2-3 Peppercorns: 10 Cumin seeds : 2 tsp Fennel seeds : 1 tsp Curry leaves : 6-7 Tamarind : lemon sized ball ( if you using...
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Sizzling Summer Contest: Have You Entered Yet?
We have had some excellent entries in the Spicy Tasty Sizzling Summer Contest. Thank you for all the lovely entries so far. We just wanted to send a reminder that this contest will be coming to end on July 6th. There are 2 $50 prizes to be won – one for the recipe and one for the best picture. If you haven’t had a chance to send in your entries yet, please do so this week. You can read all about the contest requirements in the Sizzling Summer Contest...
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