A trip to San Fran

I've been to San Fran about 4-5 years back. Hmm just before I got married - those were the days. I still remember the late nights & the taco bell dinners. It is a pleasure to work with like-minded colleagues. That is one project I shall remember for a long long time.

Am going all over the place, aren't I? So, where was I? We went to San Fran to visit our cousin & her family for the weekend. Visited the usual tourist spots. Here's a picture of the Golden Gate bridge.

We had a wonderful time playing with her two little boys, chatting late into the night & I should certainly mention all the great food. What I really enjoyed about our little visit was going shopping with our cousin. Oh it was so good to have a ladies night out. Really enjoyed it & got to know my cousin too in the bargain. Picked up some great clothes too.

Another thing we really enjoyed was dinner from saravanabhavan. We decided to do take out so that the kids can have fun too. While there, I started chatting with the cashier - yes, I am a chatterbox. I was asking him why there are no Karnataka dishes in their menu. He asked me to make some suggestions, while I was thinking, our cousin told him he should visit my blog! Gosh, was I surprised, it never occurred to me to suggest that. God bless her!!! :D The manager has taken the details from me. Isn't that simply wonderful?

Away we go...

We are off to San Francisco this weekend. Will come back with lots of pictures. Meanwhile, who's going to take care of my darling plants, I wonder?

Till I post next ... Take care.. Have fun & keep smiling!!!

Coconuts....

I decided to grate fresh coconut to make the kozhakattais. Little did I know what I was getting into!!! Bought this cute looking gizmo from the local indian store & spent the better part of an hour grating a single coconut!!!


Not that I haven't grated a coconut before. Many a time have I had that pleasure back home. But then it took only about 10-15 minutes. After I got married, our maid used to grate it.

Hmmm, but in all honesty, the problem wasn't with the device. It was the size of the coconut!!! I just couldn't hold it in one palm. This will work a lot better with an indian sized coconut.

Or maybe, just maybe, I was using it all wrong!!! Having lived a year in Japan, I now understand why P says if using a japanese device is difficult, you are probably using it wrong!!!

Roses bloomed...

Bought my first rose plant a few days back. And it bloomed... Today.... On Ganesh Chathurthi!!! I am so very happy...

Alright, alright... I'll stop... Just that these look so beautiful!!! Happy Ganesh Chathurthi!!!

South Indian Meal

Made beetroot stem upperi (Dry beetroot stem side dish), pavakkai kara kari (Dry spicy bitter gourd side), vellaripazha (ripe cucumber) sambar (indian lentil based curry). Since, I had already made so much, thought I'll also fry some papads / vadams as a treat. We never fry papads, prefer to microwave them.

Took this a step further, and made it a proper south indian plate meal (South Indian Thaali), with mango juice on the side. Of course, it is missing a few things, but I liked the picture.



What do you think? A nice start to the month of September!!!

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!!!