WHAT DO I MAKE...

A BIG thank you to all our readers and friends for contributing to the Valentine's Heart Drive! We apologize for the unfortunate delay in publishing some of your posts but here's a final(lly!!) Recipe Round Up from the drive. Cranberry Sauce Coffee Cake     Honey Wheat Bread with Oats Arachu Vitta Kaara Kozhambu Hyderabadi Biryani Vanilla Berry Rosette Cake Eggless Red Velvet Heart Cake Vegetarian Shepherd's Pie Dal Makhani Sprinkles Cake Whole Wheat Pesto Pizza Poondu Kozhambu Bell Pepper Fajitas and Guacamole

Another guest baker - Maha Ramani - shares her V-day baking adventure. Maha lives in Baltimore, MD and here are some of the pictures of her valentine cake! Thank you, Maha.

Here's another post from Hema. Dal Makhani is a crowd pleaser yet there are so many varieties of this Indian delicacy. I wanted to  surprise my hubby with something different today and remembered having urad dal (black lentils) in my  pantry, so that was a start. I managed to keep it heart healthy by cutting down on the usage of butter  and cream, but making sure the taste was intact. As always Google came to my rescue and I have tried so many versions.  To name a few: Adding “dals" (lentils) to a onion + tomato + ginger gravy Slow cook the lentils in onion and tomato and let it turn into a gravy But this particular recipe claimed to be from the chefs at Oberoi and I thought that should be great! So  here we go with my version. I call it  made easy  since it’s a simple 3 step process Cook the dals Cook the gravy Mix the 2 A few tips before you start: The dals soaking calls for overnight or at least 6 hours. I made it simple by letting th...

Here's another guest contribution, from Archana. Archana lives in Singapore and we are glad she found time to share some pictures amidst her busy schedule settling down in a new city and managing her two little kids. Thank you, Archana. Eggless Red Velvet "heart" Cake Adapted from: Heritage Red Velvet Cake by Heather @ Sprinkle Bakes Icing: orange flavored cream cheese and heavy cream icing right out of the oven!

Our guest contributor, Hema sent another interesting recipe for Hyderabadi biryani that definitely qualifies as a heart healthy recipe for all the fresh vegetables and potent spices it has. Take a look at the recipe below. Another way to win your sweetheart would be a BIRIYANI, a no-brainer! Sunday morning and hubby's like "I feel like eating Biriyani". Luckily,  I had all the spices in my pantry and researched a few recipes online. I added a few extra spices on my own and came up with the Biriyani paste which I guess is the 'secret to success'. Enjoy!!!!! Hyderabadi Biriyani Inspired by Hyderabadi Kitchen's RECIPE Ingredients:  .  Basmati rice - 2-3 cups (this depends on the ratio of “rice to veggies” that you like)  .  Jeera seeds – 2 tbsp ·    Sliced onions – 2 ·    Carrot and peas – 2-3 cups ·    Ginger garlic paste – 2 tbsp ·    Coriander leaves – for the garnish ·    Mint corian...

Here's our first guest post for the Valentine's Heart Drive. We are pleased to introduce our readers to our guest contributor, Hema Srinivasan, who lives in LA and is passionate about all things FOOD! Here is the post in her own words. When Anuja asked me to contribute towards the Valentine's Heart Drive, Italian was the first cuisine that came to mind. But  then I thought, why not Indian. In fact South Indian, only because there is no other better way to win my sweetheart's attention!  Heart healthy was sure an option, but I'd say its safe to take this exception, cause it sure was worth it :) So, my first contribution here is a Arachu Vitta Kaara Kozhambu (spicy stew made with a ground paste). As a foodie, I have always loved   South Indian cuisine in particular and kaara kozhambu has always been a top favorite.  I researched online quite a bit and also took recipes from a friend.  I am yet to make that 'Perfect' Kuzhambu in my books, but safe to say th...

Happy navaratri everyone! I am sure most of our readers need no introduction to this festival but for all others,  navaratri ( "nava" means 9, "ratri" means night ) is a Hindu festival that celebrates the 9 forms of Shakti  - the female divine force in Hinduism. While the festival is celebrated all over India, each region and each community has it's own traditions. From Durga Puja in the east to Kolu in the south, from Gharba in the west to Dussehra in the north, the rituals are quite varied!  Our Kolu for this year is all ready and I decided to make a sweet dish to mark the beginning of navaratri today. Maha and I are veterans at combined cooking through the phone, 3000 miles apart! We usually pick South Indian dishes that are complicated or simple/common recipes that we haven't tried or been able to master yet. Our pick for today was Kesari.  Kesari (or  sojji ) is also known as Sheera in Maharashtra and Sooji ka Halwa in North India. K...

Here are some pictures of the Vegan Cake shared by Shilpa ... thank you :)

Ingredients For the stuffing and gravy Group - 1 Coriander seeds (dhaniya) – 1 ½ tsp Chana dal (Kadalai parupu) – 1 ½ tsp Red Chillies (Sigapu neela milagai) – 5 (add more according to taste) Cloves (Krambu) – 5 Urad dal (Ulutham parupu) – ½ tsp Coconut (thengai)– dry or fresh – 2 tsp Curry leaves (karuvepiali)- little Group - 2 Til (Ellu) – 1 tsp Peanut (ver kadalai) – 2 tsp (dry roast- remove skin) (optional – skip if you don't like the flavor) Group - 3 Onion (vengayam) – Half an onion sliced Tomato (Thakkali) – 2 – cubed Garlic (Poondu) – 1 (big size) Ginger (Inji) – a small piece (Make it little big if you like its flavor) Others Turmeric powder (manjal podi) – ½ tsp Salt (uppu)– suit to taste Sugar (chakkarai) ½ tsp (optional) Small to medium sized violet Brinjals (Kathrikai) – 6 Ingredients For the stuffing and gravy Heat Kadai and add the til to it and dry roast it till you get nice aroma Remove from stove and let it cool. Do the same with peanut. Heat a tsp of oil in mediu...

Here's another yummy recipe from Anusha. A good alternative to regular adai . It takes a little longer to prepare and make these but definitely worth the effort. Thanks Anusha. Ingredients Idli rice / par-boiled rice - 1 cup Tuvar dal - 1/2 cup Black urad dal - 1/2 cup Red chillies - 5 or 6 (can substitute with green chillies too) Coriander Optional ingredient Onions - finely chopped - 1/2 cup Soak rice for 6-8 hours. Soak the dals separately for 4 hours. (If using red chillies soak with the dals; if using green chillies add while grinding) Grind them together to a smooth paste. Allow to ferment for about 6-8 hrs. Add chopped onions, salt and corainder leaves. Mix well and dilute if necessary (it should be little runny and easy to spread). Heat tawa and pour batter; spread thin and cook well on both sides. The adai gets crispy very quickly and does not fill you up (unlike regular all-dal adai ). Enjoy with molaga-podi or aviyal! Note: I used finely chopped cabbage (1/2 cup) inst...

Ingredients 2 cups Besan (Gram flour) 2 cups sugar 4 cups water pinch of saffron 1 tbsp cardamom 2 tbsp cashew nuts 2 tbsp raisins 3 tbs kalkandu (rock candy crystals) a pinch of cooking camphor (pachai karpuram in tamil) 2 tbsp ghee (clarified butter) oil for deep frying Optional ingredient: kesar food color Preparation 1) For boondi - sift the flour and add 2 cups of water to it. The batter should be of dosa batter consistency (not too watery). Set aside. 2) Simultaneously, prepare the sugar syrup by adding 2 cups of water to 2 cups of sugar. On medium heat prepare the sugar syrup. The consistency of syrup should be of single string. If you are adding food color, add it to the syrup along with saffron strands. Cover the syrup with a lid so that the it does not crystallize. 3) In a pan heat ghee and fry the cashew nuts and raisins till golden brown. To this add crushed cardamom powder and cooking camphor (mesmerizing aroma spreads all over your house). 4) In a deep bottomed pa...

Post # 18 If you grew up in Tamil Nadu, you have probably heard of "kothu parotta" - "kothu" means minced/scrambled and "parotta" (different from the North Indian paratha) is a layered bread made with maida (all-purpose flour). This dish is a popular road side delicacy and is made by scrambling parotta and egg and is served with "salna" (a spicy side dish which looks like sambhar). Chilli Parotta is a vegan version of this dish and thanks to Maha, I got to taste it for the first time! Maha is good friend and being-a-good-cook is just one of her many creative talents. Apart from my mom, she is one of the handfuls I know that pays attention to "presentation" and "eye appeal"! Now on to her recipe... Chilli Parotta By Maha Ramani Serving size: 2 Ingredients: Maharani's Choice Parotta - 1 box (contains 10 small parottas) Onion - 2-3 medium, ground to paste Tomato - 2-3 medium, ground to paste Onion - 1/2 mediu...

  Post # 17 Here's a contribution from Hema - a foodie buddy - one thing that connects us (and I am sure she will concur) is FOOD!!! During a casual chat (most part of which is usually food and recipes) yesterday, I happened to share a potato roast recipe with her and she tried it pronto, with some minor twists. So, read on below for her first contribution to "What's Cooking..." - Thanks Hema!! Ingredients 1. Golden Baby Potatoes - 15-20 2. Red Onion - 1 small - cut into medium length vertical slices 3. Oil - 10 tbsp 3. Urad dal - 1 tbsp 4. Mustard seeds - 1 tbsp 5. Garlic cloves - 5, chopped into small pieces For the marinade 1. Yogurt - 1 small cup 2. Garlic cloves 5, chopped into small pieces 3. Spice mix - 1Tbsp (each) of the following spices: Red Chill powder Cumin powder Coriander powder Tumeric powder Garam masala Rasam powder Sambar powder 4. Chopped Coriander - 10Tbsp (You can use some of this for the garnish) Preparation 1. ...