Flowers

I've been wanting to buy some flowering plants for a while now. Actually from after visiting my sister who has a very beautiful patio with an assortment of lovely flowers. That inspired me to get some for myself.

Finally, went and bought hibiscus & rose plants. The hibiscus bloomed today. Just wanted to share the excitement!!!

Isn't it a lovely color?

Real Food Daily

Had lunch at Real Food Daily a couple of days back. Nice restaurant, ambience and a very interesting menu. It's vegan cuisine. And a vegetarians delite. They use oraganic products. The portions were huge though. Take a look at their site - http://www.realfood.com/. I recommend a visit.

Dream Parade

We visited Disney Land in March 08, with my sis, bro-in-law & cute little niece - to celebrate my birthday actually. And I got the cutest pink leopard from build-a-bear as a present!!!

My niece enjoyed some of the rides, and meeting the disney princesses. She also enjoyed the Parade of Dreams.

My husband & bro-in-law had company in each other to do the "scary" rides, while we sisters watched them.. It was great to have my sis around - we kept each other company while the guys did their stuff... :)

The highlight of the trip was having dinner at 'Ariel's Grotto' and meeting all the Disney Princesses - for adults and kids alike!!!

Click the picture to view the full album.

Gokulashtami

Gokulashtami has always been a special festival for me as it is to celebrate the birth of Lord Krishna. This year, I made the usual preparations of uppu cheedai, vella cheedai, thenkozhal & vella avil for naivedyam. Here's a picture of the offerings -



Happy Gokulashtami to you all!!! Will post my mother's recipes for these dishes at The Fragrant Kitchen soon.

Another one

I created another blog he he he .... I have so many recipes to post, so I think it will be better organized in a separate blog rather than put them in this one... :)

Usually, when I cook, I concentrate on the flavors & aroma. If you think about it, the first taste of any dish is not when u put a bite in your mouth, but when u get that whiff of smell when u open the pot or serve the dish.

I asked my family for suggestions to name the blog. I wanted it to be something about cooking, about me & "my" cooking... The word that jumped to their minds was aroma / flavor with respect to my kitchen. Hence, the blog is called The Fragrant Kitchen.

I will be posting one recipe each day with or without photos. Jump in and start cooking :).. but beyond all that Happy Eating!!!!

What's cooking?

Well, over the last few days, I find myself getting back to the groove! I haven't been cooking all that much for various reasons... but now I am back... :)

I tried 2 of the 3 neer dosai recipes - and both were really good :)... It was so nice to make and enjoy one of my favourite dishes. Apart from that I also made mysore bondas - once again a favourite. These items were on friday and saturday.

Then on monday I made a sauteed spinach & garlic rice which was delicious (so my husband said), tuesday it was channa masala & chhapathis, and today rice & methi dal... I have surprised myself.

Why am I posting about all these dishes, that too without the recipes, you wonder.. Wonder no more - recipes shall come over the next week or so... I need to make the same dishes again, make a note of the measurements & take pictures... I usually don't measure and cook - so this is also going to be a learning experience - and pray God that it is a 'fun' learning experience!!!

So, coming soon are these delicious dishes which can be cooked in under 45 mins - yes, that's right, including the preparation (not the soaking time) time! I shall check the time too when I make them next... :)

I have a few other recipes - I should call them ideas for dishes or dishy ideas - running around in my head.... Looks like I am going to be cooking up a storm!!!

San Diego - Sea World

I visited the Sea World at San Diego with my sis, niece & husband in July 2007.. Oh what a day it was... Started off from home early in the moring.. and was my niece excited.. She was really looking forward to seeing the dolphins and all the other fishes.

My husband & I have also been to Sea Worlds in Tokyo & Australia. I think our best experience was at Australia. The shows there were spectacular & I still remember them.

Having said all that, I have very fond memories of our trip to San Diego. Having my little niece around made a fun day an extraordinary experience. It was fun to look at the fishes and other animals from her perspective.

Walking in the underwater tunnels to view the sharks / sting rays etc was a magical time for her and hence for the adults too. Here's a picture from that trip, click on the picture to view the complete album.

Grand Canyon

My husband & I went to Las Vegas last month. While there, we did a couple of shows and did a helicopter tour of the grand canyon - apart from gambling that is!!!

As part of the tour we landed on the Grand Canyon, and all we could see in every direction was the GC. It is a great experience.

I was hesitant to go, as the idea of flying off in a helicopter wasn't my first choice of ways to spend a morning... :) But having gone, I am very glad I made the trip.

The picture on the right, was our first view of the Canyon, and it is little wonder that it is called the Grand Canyon.

Uploaded the pictures from the Grand Canyon tour to flickr. Also got some interesting pictures of the strip & have posted those pictures too on flickr. Click the picture in the blog to view the entire album.

Have you had neer dosai?

Neer dosai is a mangalore or konkani recipe. I have had it in Commercial St, B'lore at Shiv Sagar and have always enjoyed it. While chatting with a friend a few days back, he mentioned that he made this dosa often. And gave me the recipe too.

Hmm I thought I'd try it this weekend, "tweak" the recipe if required and then post it. However, a certain chat with said friend earlier this evening bade me overcome my good intentions!!! Once I try it, will make amendments as needed (if and only if) and include some pictures too.

While doing some research on this dosai, I came across another konkani dish - paan pole. This looks exactly like a neer dosai and the ingredients are similar too.

They are different as my friend's recipe includes urad dal while the paan pole does not - surprisingly I didn't find any recipes that included urad dal. So, I must try both & see which I like best. While doing my 'research' I came across a suggestion - half an onion gives great flavour to this recipe. Hmmmm, so now that makes it 3 neer dosai recipes to try!!

This dish is traditionally eaten with jaggery syrup, I read. I have always had it with coriander and tomato chutneys. And of course the sambar! Other accompaniments are also suggested.

Made the neer dosai - one batch with urad dal & another with coconut. And a third with 1 & 3 mixed. They were all equally tasty. I loved it with jaggery and my husband with molagai podi.

Find my recipe for this dish here - Neer Dosai.

Its the 1st!!

Well, after much thinking, postponing, hemming & hawing - I've finally done it... Donno wot possessed me to do it... but here's the thing - I created my blog and this is my first post.. The easy part is over, now to figure out what shall I post about first? Time to don the thinking hat!!!

After some consideration, I have picked the topic - Anything, Everything & Nothing - that is wot my blog is gonna be about... You wonder wot I mean by that? Well, I have many and varied interests and if I were to create a blog about each of them, that wud be no fun at all... so this blog is gonna be about my various interests that range from weight loss, fitness, cooking, music, tv shows, languages, books, movies, and travel. That's not all of my interests, but the top 9... and they are not listed in order of importance.

Will be posting recipes sometime soon ... Keep coming!!!