HAPPY BDAY MAHA(Eggless MW Chocolate Cake)

Mahalakshmi and I have been close friends ever since our college days, today is her Birthday hence a virtual cake which compliments your nature--

For you Maha...Cheers to you , Wish you the very Best in Life. HOPE U LIKE IT! 

Am posting this SUPERMOIST MW Cake for you to bake at home...and enjoy your day!

This is a cake from Divya/Easycooking which I loved completely, though the Mocha (coffee) icing is not liked by all, it can be skipped/substituted with cocoa powder. A yummy cake which my kids enjoyed thoroughly despite coffee :D. Thanks Divya for posting this! Would surely bake the cake again! 8 mins is all it takes! 

(The only change I did was to use 160 ml evaporated milk + 40 gms fine white sugar in place of condensed milk and skipped coke altogether. The mw deep dish needs good amount of greasing, which I did with butter flavored veg ghee instead of actual butter..THE CAKE STAYS SUPER MOIST EVEN THE FOLLOWING DAY! )

I used sprinkles in place of nuts as kids find it more attractive. THEY DID! 

HAVE A GREAT YEAR AHEAD MAHA! 

Palak Puris, Idli Fry, Popcorn, MW Orange Streusel Cake

Paalak Puris, the best way to reach spinach in the tiny tummies! :D
These can be consumed as a breakfast or evening snack item, goes well with subzis or plainly with ketchup.

Ingredients :
2 cup wheat flour/atta
1 cup chopped spinach
1 tsp ginger garlic paste
1 finely chopped green chili/half tsp red chili powder
1/4th tsp turmeric/haldi
1/2 tsp ajwain/omam/ova
Salt
Luke warm water
Oil

Method :
In a wide vessel add chopped spinach, ginger garlic paste, chili,haldi,ajwain seeds, salt.
Add one cup of luke warm water to this and mix well, add the flour and make a semi-soft dough kneading well with fingers. Apply few drops of oil and knead again.
In a small kadhai, enough to accomodate one puri, heat oil (you can save oil by this method- I used little less than half a cup of oil for deep frying these 12 puris ).


Make 12 lime sized portions of the dough, roll out into discs or puris, lay out on a newspaper, without stacking them.






Deep fry by immersing in hot oil, use the perforated spoon to press it down slightly till it puffs and rolls over the other side on its own, another few seconds and place the puri on kitchen towel/absorbent paper.




Serve with accompaniment of your choice, mainly...serve to notti kids!








Srivalli, off this post goes to join a Mela/Fair!

Roti Mela- Virtual Palak Puris for you!








Idli Fry


Another snacking item, easy to make from leftover idlis.
Cut 4 idlis into small cubes, season them...
Take a tsp oil in hot kadhai, add two pinches rai, one pinch jeera,
three sliced pearl onions, one red chili-broken into 4, one sprig curry leaves, saute, add salt to this, add the idli cubes saute again for some more time and a serve a spiced idli fry!



Plain Salted Popcorns For Kiddos Snack


Kids love plain salted popcorn (you can flavour them too! Here )

Take a pressure cooker, dry it by heating the base, add one tbspn oil, tilt the cooker base to coat the bottom with oil. Heat it on medium flame, add one third cup of hard corns ensuring to spread over the base, don't crowd them. Cover the lid upside down-ie. the steam release hose to face downward, in one minute popping sounds will be heard, pick the cooker carefully by handles and without disturbing the lid from place, give it upward-down jerks twice or thrice. In three minutes the pop-corn are done : put off the flame, sprinkle salt all over the popcorns and mix well.

Serve on a laaarrrrggggeee plate and watch the kids clean them off with glee!!



Asha's Orange Streusel Microwave Cake (In 5 mins!!!)

This was wonderful cake, came out well and went great with cream! Thanks Asha..





Award Time :

Priyanka of Notyet100 awarded me this lovely one, thankyou for considering me for this lovely Pink award! I Rocked with it, now passing on to bloggers who Rock!


1. Shilpa of Aayis Recipes
2. Deeba of Passionate About Baking
3. Meera of Enjoy Indian Food
4. Asha of Aroma/Foodies Hope
5. Manisha of Indian Food Rocks
6. Maya of Konkan World

(Maybe this is the umpteenth time u guys are recieving this, but I love your Blogs and feel you ROCK)

5. Nanditha Prabhu of Satvika & Miles to Go...
6. Divya of Easy Cooking
7. Ranji of Ranji's Kitchen Corner

And to all you lovely readers and fellow bloggers who truly rock, irrespective of Awards!

.

Humble Breakfast- Normal Steamed Idli & Microwave(MW) Idli

Normal steamed Idli (Left) Microwaved Idli (Right).

What happens when you run out of time and really want to have a replete breakfast? Microwave (mw) comes to aid! Yes the above pic is of a mv'd idli. It truly didn't take much time, considering the fact that the fermented batter was atop my counter. All I did was to pull out glass bowls, grease them with coconut oil, fill two tbsp of batter...mv on high for 1 minute!! That was it and out came the (15 minutes saver) yummy idli...filling enough!

Here is the recipe for normal Idli...

Ingredients :
1 cup urad daal
2 cups dosa rice
2 tbspn cooked rice
Salt to taste
Coconut oil for greasing

Method :
Step I - Washing and soaking. Wash urad daal and dosa rice seperately until clean water flows. In double the water, soak for around 5-6 hours. Preferable complete the soaking procedure for urad daal under refrigeration. (This tip is from my amma to protect the mixer jar and motor from heating up.)

Step II - Grinding. First grind the urad daal with little water into a very very fine paste, giving the mixer a standing time of a minute or two between every run. Touch to feel the silky-satin smooth batter. No grains of urad daal should be felt at this point. Run the mixie again to get a fine batter. Pour this into a vessel. In the mixer jar, take dosa rice with water visible to an inch above it. Mix it till coarse or smooth. If you are not using cooked rice, make it very smooth. If you grind the dosa rice coarsely, making it look like rava or sugar granules, please add cooked rice for fluffyness. Add the cooked rice to mixer jar, blend till it is well mixed and you get a flowing yet sauce consistency batter. Add this to the urad daal batter. Mix well with aid of a spatula or spoon till its homogenous. Leave aside covered with a lid to ferment. Choose a vessel which is large so that this batter is filled up to two third of the vessel. This batter should neither be too liquid nor too thick.

Step III - Fermenting. For places with a temperature of 25 deg C or more, the batter will ferment in 10 hours. For lower temperature areas, leave the batter to ferment for upto 24 hours or till the batter doubles up in volume. Check for fermentation. Add salt.

Step IV - Steaming and Mv Idlis.
For steamer idlis : Take the idli mould...grease it with ghee or coconut oil. Place 1 1/2 tbpsn of batter into each of the four dents of a idli plate. Leave a little place..say a mm so that idli has space to rise on steaming. I use a pressure cooker. My Mil's way. So one cup of water, first goes the idli stand then the idli plates one after the other, carefully without spilling the batter out.
The stove goes on- its kept on a high flame and lid firmly placed, minus the whistle / weight.
After five minutes or just as high steam is seen from the whistle rod, lower the flame to slow and cook exactly for ten minutes. Have to keep a watch on time for this. Put it off. Give 2-3 minutes, open the lid, scoop out the idlis and serve hot with accompaniment which varies from podi, chutney, sambhar, ketchup(yes..thats for my ketchup loving kids!!) etc. Enjoy!
Ideal for a family of 5-6 members as it gives out many idlis at one go.
Time to prepare - 1 + 5 + 10 + 2 = 18 mins - 20 mins approx frm preparing the greased plates to palating it.

For microwave idlis : Six small glass bowls which are microwaveable are needed to be greased with coconut oil or ghee. 1 1/2 tbspn batter into each of the greased bowls. Place the bowls at the brim of the turntables as heat is reflected more around the corners. Microwave high for one minute and idli is ready! Take it out only after 3 minutes as center is cooked later. Depending on the settings of the mw, try one bowl first and note the time. Thereafter you may use that as standard time for mw idlis. Serve immediately.
Ideal for two people. Total time taken - 1 + 1 + 3 = 5 mins. So a real time saver for me!


Enjoy Idlis whichever way you may please!

Badami Burfi (Microwave-mw) /Microwave Almond Burfi

Wishing One and All A Very Happy Navratri!!!

Here's a write up on Meaning and Significance of Navaratri which I wish to include, from a close family friend's brother, Muralianna.
Thanks for writing & sharing such a in-depth article!

Meaning of NAVRATRI

‘Nava’ means nine. It also means ‘fresh’ or ‘new’.
‘Ratri’,‘ra’ means giving solace or rest. ‘Tri’ means three.

There are three types of botherations or problems that may affect a person
- physical, mental, spiritual. That which gives you relief from all these difficulties is ‘ratri’.

‘Ratri’ or night relieves you and brings you comfort. It takes you into its arms and puts you to sleep. Even birds and animals go to sleep at night. The night relaxes everybody, whether happy, unhappy or miserable, everybody goes to sleep.

‘Navaratri’ means the new night or the nine nights that give you rest from all these three types of problems.

The nine days represent the nine months spent by the baby in the mother’s womb. It represents the evolution of the consciousness to a heightened awareness.

In life, there are positive and negative qualities that affect us. Navaratri represents how the negativity can be conquered by the inherent positive qualities in an individual so that one emerges as a divine being.

In the ashram, when such a celebration happens, it is done for the
benefit of all of humanity. It is done with an intention that all the
people should be happy; there should be good rainfall, prosperity in the
country and so on. Many 'homas' are conducted with the chanting of
'mantras' creating an atmosphere of positivity and celebration.

'Mantras' remove fear from the mind. They break the thread of repetitive thoughts and bring the mind to the present moment, which is the field of all possibilities. The sound energy of the mantras charges the atoms positively. These vibrations are absorbed by every atom of our body.

'Homas' are ancient ways of purifying the individual and collective
consciousness. There are three aspects

Devapuja -honoring the divine in all its forms,
Sangatikarana -hastening the process of evolution by bringing together the elements of creation and
Dana -sharing what you have been blessed with.

Women are celebrated during these days. In the Hindu mythology, the
three deities Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswati representing courage, wealth
and wisdom are celebrated.


‘NAVA’ means ‘nine’ and ‘Ratri’ is made up of ‘Ra’ which also means ‘night’ and ‘Tri’ meaning the ‘the three aspects of our life, Body, Mind and Soul. So ‘NAVARATRI’ means ‘giving rest to all the three aspects of our life, for nine days’.

The first three days of NAVARATRI, are ‘Tamasic’ days, followed by three ‘Rajasic’ days and ending with three ‘Sattvic’ days. At night, all the artis are performed for the Devi - the enjoyer of everything. So there is classical dance, music and various musical instruments being played. Each day has special implications, yagnas, poojas and homas are performed.

Our ancestors felt the inadequacy of words and so they expressed themselves with symbols … for instance, we offer flowers and fruit to God. The ‘flower’ is a symbol of what we are - so full, attractive and so light - so beautiful. Fruits are symbols of completeness. In the life cycle of a plant, fruits signify completeness. Also the fruit is the ultimate result. That is how we feel when we offer the symbolic fruit to God with all the gratitude for contentment in life.

We also light lamps. Indian tradition involves tall brass lamps with
a swan carved at the top. This is a very beautiful symbol. It means that with the light of knowledge, one attains ‘Viveka’ a characteristic of the swan. In Sanskrit, it is called ‘Neerakshiraviveka’ meaning a swan can differentiate between milk and water even though both may be mixed.

Similarly, in the context of NAVARATRI, there is a symbolism behind
the ‘bull’ being destroyed by the ‘Devi’. What do we call someone who is very dull, thick skinned and insensitive? A buffalo! Only the Mother Divine can destroy this buffalo with the collective energy of Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh! Just as a baby takes nine months to be born, the Devi took nine days to rest and what was born on the tenth day was pure love and devotion, with which the Devi conquered the buffalo of inertia and dullness! Devi Ma is not somebody holding a big ‘trishool’ in one hand. She is a form of energy, a manifestation of the Divine itself. Therefore, sometimes, the forms taken by this Divine may be that of Ganesha, Chandi (Devi), Vishnu, Shiva….. and the manifestation, in this creation, happens in a mother’s womb…. in silence, secretly. So during these nine days of NAVARATRI when the Master goes into silence, the energy is in the process of getting more and more refined, well-tuned,
to welcome the Mother Divine. This is called ‘Aradhana’.

Ninth day is a day for honoring everything that we have, no matter
how seemingly insignificant, and the tenth day is ‘Vijaya Dashmi’ the
‘victory day’. It is only after we have honored something that we can gain victory over it. This day is celebrated as the victory of the Devi over the evil forces – which is also just ‘Maya’.

The festival of NAVRATRI lasts for nine nights. According to the Hindu calendar NAVRATRI celebration begins from the first day of the bright
fortnight of Ashwin. This festival is fully dedicated to the worship of Goddess Durga Mata and her nine forms. These nine days are celebrated
in all over the country with an ardent zeal and enthusiasm. The devotees all over India celebrate the last three days with much solemnity, calm and joy. But on the tenth day, Dussehra or Vijayadashmi is celebrated to commemorate the victory of Lord Rama over Ravana.

The festival of NAVARATRI is devoted to the Shakti or the Eternal Mother. This worship is so old in India even in the Vedic era. This opinion was confirmed in the vedas and puranas. The festivities commence on
the first night in the month of Ashwin (October). The vibrant festivities last for ten days, of which nine nights are spent in worship, 'NAVARATRI'.

NAVARATRI is divided & devoted for the worship of Trinity of Gods in
a female form - three days for Durga (Goddess of Energy) three days
for Lakshmi (Goddess of Wealth) and three days for Sarswati (Goddess of
Knowledge). On the fifth day, it is traditional to worship Sarswati Mata
to invoke our sprit and knowledge. The eighth and ninth day, it is
traditional to perform Yagna (sacrifice offered to the fire) to honour
Durga Mata and bid her farewell. The 10th day, on which the goddess kills Mahishasura, is celebrated as Dusshera or Vijayadashami as the victory of good over evil.

NAVARATRI is a combination of various themes, with the common theme
of the victory of good over evil. Some opine that Vijayadashami or
Dusshera is celebrated on the day Lord Rama kills Ravana. According to a Puranic legend, the mighty demon Mahisasur vanquished the gods and their king, Indra. They then approached Brahma,Vishnu and Maheshwar, who decided to destroy the demon, so they all combined their energy, and gave rise to Shakti.

They all prayed to the divine mother Durga to do the needful. Equipped with lethal weapons, riding a ferocious lion, the Goddess in all her
awesome majesty, vanquished the evil one without much ado. The 10th
day, on which the goddess kills Mahishasura, is celebrated as Dusshera or
Vijayadashami as the victory of good over evil. Dassera (tenth day) is
one of the significant Hindu festivals, celebrated with much joy in the
entire country.

On the tenth day, the Vijayadasmi day, colossal effigies of Ravana, his brother Kumbhkarna and son Meghnadh are placed in vast open spaces.
Rama, accompanied by his consort Sita and his brother Lakshmana,
arrive and shoot arrows of fire at these effigies, which are stuffed with
explosive material. The result is a deafening blast, enhanced by the
shouts of merriment and triumph from the spectators. It is significant
that the Lord invoked the blessings of the divine mother, Goddess Durga,
before actually going out to battle. In burning the effigies the people
are asked to burn the evil within them, and thus follow the path of
virtue and goodness, bearing in mind the instance of Ravana, who despite all his might and majesty was destroyed for his evil ways. On this day in the famous Ramleela grounds in Delhi huge effigies of the ten-headed demon king Ravana, Meghanath, his son, and Kumbhakarna, his brother, stuffed with crackers are torched by an arrow to symbolize the ultimate triumph of good over evil.

The festival is also celebrated with intense fervour and zest, in
whole India, in the form of Durga Puja. The vibrant festivities last for
ten days, of which nine nights are spent in worship, 'NAVARATRI'. But
this festival varies from place to place.

The most famous NAVARATRI celebrations are held on the western states
of India (Gujarat and Maharashtra) in the form of Dandiya and Garba
dances. While dancing the dancers move around in a circle, with different steps around a lamp, which represent the Eternal Light of the Durga Mata. Generally Gujarati women dance around the circles by clapping their hands or decorated sticks to the rhythm of the
devotional songs. After worshipping and 'Aarti', 'Dandiya raas' is performed all through the night.

In West-Bengal, NAVARATRI is the real lyrics of the Bengali life.
This festival is essentially religious in nature. It is celebrated with
true devotion. In the time of Durga Puja huge idols of the Mata Durga
posed as killing the demon Mahishasura are worshipped . Huge 'pandals' are set up every where to worship Durga Mata (Goddess Durga). The tenth day is devoted to the worship of goddess Durga. She is Shakti, the cosmic energy that animates all beings. Beautiful idols of the Mother Goddess are worshipped in elaborate pandals for nine days, and on the ninth day, these are carried out in procession for immersion (visarjan) in a river or pond.

In Maharashtra, NAVARATRI celebration is slightly different than
other states. Here NAVRATRI is dedicated to Goddess Durga while the
Vijayadashami is dedicated to Saraswati, the goddess of knowledge. This day is considered auspicious to begin education, buy new homes, start new ventures, and weddings.

The Daserra of Mysore is also quite famous where caparisoned elephants lead a colourful procession through the gaily-dressed streets of the city. During NAVARATRI, Chamundi, the royal deity of the Mysore royalty is worshipped with pomp and pageantry.

In the Kulu valley in Himachal Pradesh, the hill- folk celebrate
Daserra with a grand mass ceremony wherein village deities are taken out in elaborate processions. In Punjab, NAVARATRI is taken as a period of fasting.

In Tamil Nadu, the first three days are dedicated to the worship of
Lakshmi, Goddess of wealth and prosperity. The next three days to Saraswati, Goddess of learning and arts and the last three days to Shakti (Durga).

In Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, women arrange 'Bommai Kolu', a special placing of dolls in various costumes decorated with flowers and ornaments on specially prepared steps. Nine young 'kanyas' or virgins are offered new clothes and sweets as the goddesses and married women share flowers, kumkum and snacks among themselves.

Like other festivals in the country, NAVRATRI is a festival that
combines spiritual, cultural and frivolous activities for almost a
fortnight. So it is really an occasion for festivities on a grand scale, which
emanate a genuine feeling of bonhomie and warmth.

NAVRATRI celebrations may vary but the worship of Goddess Durga
remains their sole reason. The deity took different avatars or incarnations, killing nine evil forces or asuras. Each day of NAVRATRI is devoted to one avatar.

The Nine Avatars are

1. Mahakali came into being to kill two rakshasas, Madhu and kaitabh.
After the deluge (Pralay) a lotus grew out of Narayana's navel with
Brahma seated on it. But along with him these two demons were also born -- and they wanted to kill Brahma. In answer to Brahma's frantic prayers,
Mahakali, who stayed in Lord Vishnu's eyes, left him and rose to fight these demons for 500 years. Mahakali changed the demon's mindset and instead of fighting they sought Vishnu's blessings.

2. Once, Mahishasura defeated the gods and began ruling in heaven. The
gods prayed to Lord Vishnu and Shiva. These gods emanated very strong
light from their bodies, which turned into Mahalakshmi (Mahishasuramardhini) and killed Mahishasur.

3. Mahasaraswati or Chamunda eliminated Shumbha and Nishumbha. She was conceived from the powers of God Vishnu. Chamunda also killed another demon, Raktabeej, who could reproduce as many more of himself from each drop of his blood that fell to the ground. But Raktabeej was vanquished with the help of Mahakali who collected his blood on her tongue to stop this senseless reproduction.

4. The fourth avatar safeguarded Krishna from his cruel uncle, Kansa.
Yogamaya was brought to Mathura from Gokul in place of Krishna. In future wars she helped Krishna with her yogic powers, and killed powerful
rakshasas like Chadoor.

5.Then came the ferocious Rakta Dantika who killed Veprachiti Rakshasa.
She drank the demon's blood, hence this name.

6. The sixth avatar was not incarnated to save the usually clumsy demigods. For 100 years, there was a drought on earth. So the sages performed penance and pleased Devi Bhagwati who was born as
Shakumbhari. She brought rain to the parched land.

7. A demon named Durgam had created mayhem. So Lord Vishnu created a goddess. Since she killed Durgam, she was called Durga, and is the most sought after deity. She rides a tiger.

8. A demon named Arun had evil designs on the wives of the demigods so
they changed into wasps and prayed to Durga. Durga changed into a wasp herself and killed the demon. So she came to be known as Bhramari.

9. The last incarnation is Chandika -- she came to kill two demons,
Chanda and Munda.


May you be receipient of Divine Mother's Blessings !

Wishing you success in all your endeavours.
************************************************************************************

Foodies Hope, Asha, posted this highly tempting Badam Burfi recipe which made me run to kitchen and the result was awesome!! It didn't have chewy texture, but soft and melt-in-the -mouth texture and equally matching taste! Thanks a million Asha for this recipe.

This was loved by all at home.

Here goes the recipe :

Ingredients :
1 cup badam(almonds)
3/4th cup powdered sugar
Saffron -few strands
2 tbspn thick cream
2 tsp ghee
1/2 tsp powdered cardamom


Method :
Dry roast the almonds till a slight aroma comes or for five minutes. Cool it.










Grind the roasted almonds into powder. In a microwaveable glass bowl, mix the powdered almonds, sugar, saffron strands, thick cream, ghee together.

Mw on high power for one minute. Take out, stir with spoon. Keep it back, mv on high for 1 min. Take out stir. This time, the mixture will start bubbling a bit. The stirring is done so that heat is evenly spread into the mixture. Mw again for 1 minute or until the entire mixture starts bubbling, avoid burning it by staying near the mv, peeping in and press cancel action at anytime the bubbling starts.
Grease a plate with ghee, using a spatula, evenly spread the mixture. Score it with knife when surface is slightly cooled.


When it cools completely, say in one hour, cut into pieces, garnish with almonds and relish with milk!!!






Our mouthwatering Badam Burfi treat is ready in a jiffy thanks to microwave!!!!