Hot Chocolate

I saw this recipe demonstrated on the Food Food Television. It was so easy that I can make it like I make my daily coffee.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder

1 tbsp corn flour

3/4 cup White Sugar

4 cups Hot milk

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

1 tsp Cinnamon Powder

Whipped cream

Method:

Mix the Cocoa powder, sugar and cornflour in a bowl.

Add about 1/4 cup of milk to a pan and heat it. Do not bring it boil.

Add the cocoa powder mixture to the milk and mix well. Take care that it does not scorch. Keep stirring bridfly until all the sugar dissolves.

Remove from flame, pour into a bowl and mix the remaining milk, Vanilla essence and Cinnamon Powder. Whip well until it froths.

Garnish with whipped cream and Sugar. Serve hot with Biscuits.

Dresser

I have always been fond of recyling thigs around the house, be it cooking or home decor. As one of my teacher's says, 'Even a wrong clock shows the right time twice a day.' If not here, it can be put to to use somewhere. Thanks to this ideology, I have been quite infamous in my circles to be conserving a lot of waste, that I believe can be put to use in some way.

One such thing in my collection was a hook, I got with a book shelf. It was meant to be used to hang the shelf on the wall. But I din't use them as I liked it on the floor. Now here, I have used it to hang my necklace and beads. Not only does it help the beads from not entangling into each other's length, but also add a lot of character to my dresser. Not to forget, how easier it has got for me to pick my choice of neck-braces while on the go.

Windows

Windows do matter a lot to a bedroom. How do you cover them, the fabric you choose, the color, the combinations.... all matter to getting the desired look on the window. After all, that is where the Sun rises every morning into your bedroom. No wonder, it happens to be the focal point of making a Bedroom.

The Green Shade

I have always loved having indoor plants. I call them babies, as they are that fond to me.

This a Bamboo lying on a desk below the television. It is over a foot-long.

This a cactus you cannot miss, as this lies on the Shoe Rack bang at the Entrance. My little belief: let this absorb all the evil thoughts one might have had before entering the home

Wedding Gifts

This is from my home in Bangalore.

I have received some varied kinds of gifts at my wedding. Here are a few that I have preserved in my living room.

The Nataraja (Hindu Deity) staute is made of Gun metal and was gifted by my Aunt for my wedding.

The statues of women holding, called Paavai Vilakku in Tamil is also made of Gun metal was bought in Hyderabad when I was shopping for my wedding. I have placed to cup candles in the lamps to avoid the grease and dirt that might accumaulate if I use oil and vik to light the same.

In the centre lies a polished coconut made of Bell metal. This belongs to my great grandmother passed on to me through my grandmother, as a gift for my wedding.

The silver-coated low stool was bought for my wedding to serve as a seat for me and my husband to perform the rituals.

Right in the front of the stool, lie a game called Pazhankuli. It is an ancient game of the southern states of Tamil Nadu and still played in many villages. My mother and I used to play a lot of this during my growing-up years. The coins used for this game are mostly tiny sea shells called Sozhi in tamil. Sometimes, even tamarind seeds are used. All the sea shells of this set have been purchased from Rameswaram.

These two wooden dolls are called Marapaachi Bommai. It is mandatory in my family to gift this to their daughter for her wedding.

Both the lamps (the tall and the tiny one) are made of Bell Metal. The taller one is from my mother-in-law's collection from Kochi.

I had decorated my living room entirely on the floor level, mainly because I had floor seating at the centre. I din't want to break the floor level attention.

Mysore Rasam/ Arachuvitta Rasam

This is another dish I made today, also live-tweeted. The speciality of this Rasam, is the freshly ground powder. Adding coconut and jaggery is also one of main ingredients to match the authentic taste, although I've given these two a miss here. But this rasam is a slightly thicker version of the usual running consistency of an regular Rasam.

Ingredients:

Tamarind - one medium lemon sized marianted in water

1 tomato - chopped into medium sized cubes

1 tsp turmeric powder

Toor dal - 1/2 cup

2 tbsps - Coriander seeds

2 tbsps Cumin seeds

1 tbsp Split Garbenzo beans

1-2 dried red chillies

4-5 black peppercorns

1 tbsp mustard seeds

a dash of aesofatida

Salt to taste

water

Ghee/ Clarified butter

1 cup finely chopped Cilantro

Method:

Pressure cook toor dal in 1 cup of water for 4-5 whistles on medium flame.

Dry roast all of these until brown and grind them into a fine powder:

2 tbsps Coriander Seeds

1 tbsp Cumin Seeds

1 tsps Garbenzo beans

1-2 dried red chillies

4-5 black peppercorns 

In a saucepan, add the tamarind pulp, about 3 cups of water, the tomatoes, turmeric powder, salt to taste and simmer till the raw smell of tamarind goes.

Add the freshly ground rasam powder, cooked toor dal and a dash of aesofatida. Simmer for a few more minutes until froth collects on top.

Temper the mustard seeds, a tbsp of jeera seeds and curry leaves in a tsp of clarified butter.

Garnish with a cup of finely chopped fresh Cilantro.

Serve hot with steamed rice.

Secret Tip:

Add about a tsp of Mustard powder, to retain the running consistency of the rasam till the end.

Note:

This can be served as soup by skipping to temper and most importantly, puree everything before serving. If your intending to serve as a soup, you could even use split deskinned green grams (moong dal) instead of toor dal.

Radish Stir-Fry

I had live-tweeted this dish as I was cooking. So here I listed it from my twitter page with lot more of detailing of course.

Ingredients:

2 radishes - peeled and chopped into cubes

 1 cup grated cocunut

ginger paste - 1 tsp

red chilli powder - 1 tsp

turmeric powder - 1tsp

curry powder- 1 tbsp

dried red chillies - 4-5 nos

curry leaves - 10-12 nos

mustard seeds - 1tsp

Split deskinned black lentils - 1 tsp

split deskinnes garbenzo beans - 1tsp

Salt to taste

Oil

a dash of Aesofatida

Method:

Temper mustard seeds, Chana dal, urad dal, dried red chillies and curry leaves in a tbsp of oil. Add chilli powder, turmeric powder, curry powder, a dash of aesofatida and salt.

Close the lid of the pan while stirring in between. In about 2-3 minutes, the radish should be cooked. 

 Add the grated coconut and stir briefly. Remove from heat and serve hot.

Note:

If you want to retain the color of radish, then skip the turmeric powder. This goes best with sambar or rasam.