When busy and lazy days are  ahead i just think about recipes with only veggies i mean no onions, tomatoes and ginger garlic!  Here is one of them.

All u need is

2 small potatoes cut into small cubes

1/2 of a cauliflower cut into small pieces

1 small piece of capsicum cut into small pieces

1/4 cup frozen peas

oil for frying 1/4 tsp jeera

jeera powder/ cumin powder 1/2 to 1 tsp or can increase or decrease according to your taste

turmeric powder 1/2 tsp or more

redchilli powder (optional according to your taste)

chaat masala (optional to sprinkle)

how to make:

Heat oil in a skillet and add jeera to it. When its brownish add potatoes and fry till the sides are brown. Add capsicum, cauliflowr, and all masalas to it and little water for the masalas to mix and well coat all the veggies. Close and cook till the veggies are done or till the water drains away. Add the green peas and close again till its soft. Garnish with corriander and mint leaves.

What i usually do with this subzi is roll it inside a roti, sprinkle chaat masala on top of the subzi and have it yummm! Its easy to stuff into hubbys lunch box as well!

i also prepare this during iftaar and saves me from the gastric pains due to the heavy dose of masalas in other curries!

Now to the award from my blogger fried Fajida. Thanks a lot dear!

Im passing this award to my wonderful blogger friends

1. Suhaina

2. Priti

3. Raks

4. Shabs

5.Faiza

6. Priya

7.Nilofer

8.Lissie

9.Umm Mymoonah

10. Deepa

11.Yummy Team

This post also goes to Akilas kitchen’s event DNSW:A and Ayeesha’s iftarmoments:hijri 1431

Neyyada is more or less like Chattipathi but the only difference is in Chattipathiri the thin pancakes are made first and then layered with eggs. But in Neyyada each layer is steamed and when it is done the next layer is poured on top and cooked. Here goes another malabar recipe we make during Iftaar.

oil 3 tbsp

Maida/all purpose flour – 1 cup

eggs 8

sugar to taste

cardamom 1/4-1/2 tsp

cashew nuts and raisins – 1/4 cup fried in oil

• Mix maida with water,salt and sugar as per your taste. The mix should not be watery or thich.

• Beat eggs with a fork add sugar, a pinch of salt, cardamom powder.

• In a non stick sauce pan or stew pan pour a ladle of the maida mix. When it is cooked pour another layer of egg mix and add cashew nuts,raisins and little oil on top. Like this each layer should be cooked before pouring the next layer.
• Make sure that the flame is low and keep a flame tamer or heat diffuser or this type (i have the first type)  under the pan so that the heat is evenly distributed and wont get burned. I use it for all my egg palaharams!

Alternatively u can also steam layer by layer in a vessal on your stove top thats how we used to do in India but i think the non stick way is much more easier.

This post goes to Ayeesha’s Event Please do visit her blog for more yummy Iftaar recipes!

When my Ob told me to do the GTT i was pretty confident that i wont have GD because i never did have it for my last 2 pregnancies.. but when i failed the 2 hr test i was so unhappy! Im blaming on myself because i used to have hot fudge from McDonald’s every day during my 24-28th week and no wonder i gained 4 kgs/8.8 lbs in 4 weeks! LOL!

ok once your told you have GD how was your reaction? mine was like this was it!! This was the end of all my favorite things i used to gobble down! Did i mention pregnancy makes me eat like a pig! All my 3 pregnancies i have eaten a lot of sweet things and i was like ohh nooo.. and i didnt have this for my last 2 pregnancies.I never did know that the third pregnancies are so very tough.. apart from my GD i had many challenges the past 7 months.

What is Gestational Diabetics?

Gestational diabetes (GD) is high blood sugar or glucose levels during pregnancy. About 4% of pregnant women will suffer from gestational diabetes. Not every mother will need to be screened using blood work, there are guidelines as to who needs to be screened with blood work. This is typically screened for in the 28th week of pregnancy, if you need additional screening with a glucose tolerance test (GTT) it will be done at this point.

What Causes Gestational Diabetics?

The absolute cause of gestational diabetes is still being researched. We do know that the hormonal involvement of the pregnancy can cause problems with the mother’s ability to block the insulin, known as insulin resistance. Therefore the your body doesn’t have its normal ability to use the insulin, this means you needs up to three times the amount of insulin as normal.

So when your body is unable to make and use the insulin in pregnancy it is called gestational diabetes. When you don’t have that ability to use insulin you cannot process glucose (sugar) in the blood. Therefore the blood has a high level of sugar.

What happens to the baby?

Gestational diabetes tends to occur in later pregnancy, meaning the types of problems associated with gestational diabetes are not major bodily malformations like you would associate with problems in early pregnancy.

The real issue is untreated or not well controlled gestational diabetes. Because your body isn’t able to process the insulin and your blood sugar goes up, your baby’s blood sugar also goes up. This forces your baby’s pancreas to work overtime to reduce his blood sugar. Because of the added energy (sugar) the baby than it needs, it is stored as fat. The extra fat can lead to macrosomia, or a large baby. This has the potential to make birth more difficult, but not always, like increasing the cesarean section rate.

A baby who is born after a pregnancy with gestational diabetes has a greater incidence of low blood sugar or hypoglycemia. You may also find that these babies have more breathing difficulties at birth. Later in life these babies are at a greater risk for obesity and subsequently Type 2 Diabetes.

Treating Gestational Diabetes

Treatment for gestational diabetes will be started immediately upon diagnosis. The goal is to keep your blood sugars low. Your treatment will usually include:

• Nutritionist
  A discussion of healthy foods and how to make choices that keep your blood sugars at normal levels. This meal planning advice will include how to snack well and plan meals.
• Blood Sugar Monitoring
  How often you test your blood sugar through finger pricks will depend on the protocol used in your practice, but it is typically several times a day. You will be taught how to do this on your own.
• Insulin Injections
  Not every mother will need to use insulin. Many mothers are able to control the blood sugars by using diet and exercise alone. Your practitioner will monitor your blood sugars to allow you to know if you need additional help form insulin injections.

Courtesy : http://pregnancy.about.com/od/diabetes/a/gestdiabetes.htm

So after failing the GTT i was told to meet a dietitian which i put off for another 4 weeks but finally my OB told i have to go right away. Finally after a 12 hr fasting i went to see my dietitian. Buy hey it was not bad at all! i get to eat a lot of things but of course no sugar or any other types of sugar. I have to test my blood sugar level 7 times a day that might be a bit hectic because i have to do it in the given timings. Suitable for Indian diet too.

So here is my Meal Plan : 1800 calories/day

Breakfast

Wholemeal bread – 2 slices  (SEE LIST A for ALTERNATIVES)

Egg – 1 (SEE LIST C for ALTERNATIVES)

Milk – 1 cup (240ml) (SEE LIST D for ALTERNATIVES)

Margarine – 2 tsp

Mid-Morning

Snack – 1 (SEE LIST B for ALTERNATIVES)

Milk – 1 cup (SEE LIST D for ALTERNATIVES)

Lunch

Rice – 1 bowl or 12 tablespoons (SEE LIST A for ALTERNATIVES)

Meat/chicken/fish – 100 grms or a palm size (SEE LIST C for ALTERNATIVES)

Large portion of vegetables

Fruit – 1 (SEE LIST E for ALTERNATIVES)

Oil in cooking – 2 tsp per person

Mid-Afternoon

Snack – 1 (SEE LIST B for ALTERNATIVES)

Milk – 1 cup (SEE LIST D for ALTERNATIVES)

Dinner

Rice – 1 bowl or 12 tablespoons (SEE LIST A for ALTERNATIVES)

Meat/chicken/fish – 100 grms or a palm size (SEE LIST C for ALTERNATIVES)

Large portion of vegetables

Fruit – 1 (SEE LIST E for ALTERNATIVES)

Oil in cooking – 2 tsp per person

Supper

Snack – 1 (SEE LIST B for ALTERNATIVES)

Milk – 1 cup (SEE LIST D for ALTERNATIVES)

ALTERNATIVES

List A

2 slices of wholemeal bread is equivalent to :

2 small saucer sized chapatis

2 idlies

1 plain disa

6 tbsp of oats (measured before cooking)

1 medium bowl plain cornflakes or plain  bran flakes

6 whole wheat crackers

I medium bowl of rice id equivalent to

12 tbsp of rice

3 slices of bread

3 small chapatis

11/2 plain dosa

3 idlis

1 medium bowl pasta

1/3 medium bowl or 4 tbsp of rice can be substituted with :

1 egg size potato, sweet potato,yam,tapiocapumpkin ot 1/2 steamed.boiled corn cob

LIST B – SNACKS

1 slice wholemeal bread

1 small chapati

1/2 plain dosa

3 whole wheat crackers

1/2 steamed/boiled corn cob

3 tbsps red or green bean boiledand unsweetened

1/2 cup cooked chickpeas

1 small vada

3 tabsps oats measured before cooking

1/2 medium bowl corn flakes or bran flakes

LIST C – PROTEIN FOODS

1 egg is equal to

1 slice cheese

1 slice ham

1 small sardine fish

2 tbaps canned tuna in water or brine

100grm or meat/chicken/fish  is equal to

1 palm sized 4 dessert sized of meat chicken ,fish

1 chicken drumstick

1 medium fish

6 medium prawns

3 dessert spoons of cooked pulses

tofu 11/2 block + 3 dessert spoons of cooked pulses

Meat/chicken/fish 50 grms + 3 dessert spoons of cooked pulses

LIST D -  MILK

1 cup milk 240 ml is equle to

200grm plain yogurt

1 cup high calcium soyamilk unsweetened

LIST E – FRUITS

1 piece of fruit is equal to any 1 of the following fruits

1 small apple, pear, orange, banana, star friut, chiku, peach

1 slice papaya, honey dew, watermelon, pineapple, rock melon

1 small or 1/2 medium mango

1/2 medium grapr fruit,persimmon or guava

4 small jack fruits

2 mall or 1 medium plum

4 small mangosteens

6 lychees or rambutans

10 longans

10 small or 8 large grapes

12 charries

10 strawberries

1/4 dragon fruit.

Notes

• If your drinking soup no cream soup please only clear soup.
• No fried meat/chicken/fish. Grilled and baked is allowed
• No coconut or coconut milk substitute with low fat yogurt or low fat/skim milk
• No fruit juice

So this is it! im on a healthy diet now! Sure miss my cakes and cookies and puddings but 6 more weeks now insha allah im hoping to get rid of this GD thing and get my sweet tooth back!

If you have any doubts on this please feel free to contact me.

I wanted to bake this cake right away when i saw it on Taste Spotting. But then because of my GD i kept on thinking and thinking and i didnt have cream cheese at home. So finally today i decided i cannot stand it any more and baked it. This came out really nice and soft and i’ll make this again and again after my lil one arrives.. insha allah less than 8 weeks to go now!

I halved the recipe and also i used only 1/2 cup sugar for the halved recipe. I didn’t want my sugar levels to go up! LOL! Also as i didnt have raspberries i did it with only with blueberries.  I wanted to do do the lemon glaze but my daughter was very impatient to eat the cake so i thought ok next time!

Here is the original recipe.

2 sticks (225g) unsalted butter, softened, but not quite room temperature
1 8 ounce (225g) package of cream cheese, softened slightly
1 1/2 (285g) cups sugar
4 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 cups (250g) unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
6 ounces raspberries
6 ounces fresh blueberries
lemon glaze (recipe follows)

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees (165 degrees celsius). Spray four mini loaf pans with non-stick cooking spray, and place on a cookie sheet.

2. In a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter and cream cheese. Pour in sugar and mix until smooth. Add in eggs, one at a time, mixing well until each is incorporated.

3. While ingredients are mixing, whisk together four, baking powder, and salt in a separate bowl. Slowly add flour mixture to the wet ingredients.

4. Divided batter into two bowls. Fold raspberries into one, and the blueberries into the other. (Or you can skip dividing the batter and just fold both kinds of berries into one batter).

4. Distribute batter evenly among the four pans and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 35-50 minutes.  Drizzle with lemon glaze and let cool completely. Wrap any extras tightly in plastic wrap and freeze for up to one month.

Lemon Glaze

2 cups powdered sugar
juice of 1 lemon
2-3 tablespoons heavy cream

Mix all ingredients together until smooth. Add more juice or cream as necessary to achieve desired consistency.

2 pairs of anxious hands waiting to finish the cake!

“the yummiest and most softest (she meant moist) chocolate cake i ever had” : According to my 6 yr old!

“me too!” : my almost 4 yr old backing his sis!

and it was finished in 15mts time. DH was saying thank god i came early today other wise i would have never seen this! LOL! This is one of my favorite cakes now. I halved the recipe as i was doing it for the first time, but next time i’ll do the full recipe.

Here is the recipe.

• 2 cups sugar
• 1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup HERSHEY’S Cocoa
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup boiling water

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans.

2. Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans.

3. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. Frost with “PERFECTLY CHOCOLATE” CHOCOLATE FROSTING. 10 to 12 servings.

VARIATIONS:
ONE-PAN CAKE: Grease and flour 13x9x2-inch baking pan. Heat oven to 350° F. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 35 to 40 minutes. Cool completely. Frost.

THREE LAYER CAKE: Grease and flour three 8-inch round baking pans. Heat oven to 350°F. Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake 30 to 35 minutes. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. Frost.

BUNDT CAKE: Grease and flour 12-cup Bundt pan. Heat oven to 350°F. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 50 to 55 minutes. Cool 15 minutes; remove from pan to wire rack. Cool completely. Frost.

CUPCAKES: Line muffin cups (2-1/2 inches in diameter) with paper bake cups. Heat oven to 350°F. Fill cups 2/3 full with batter. Bake 22 to 25 minutes. Cool completely. Frost. About 30 cupcakes.

“PERFECTLY CHOCOLATE” CHOCOLATE FROSTING

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine2/3 cup HERSHEY’S Cocoa3 cups powdered sugar1/3 cup milk1 teaspoon vanilla extractMelt butter. Stir in cocoa. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating to spreading consistency. Add small amount additional milk, if needed. Stir in vanilla. About 2 cups frosting.

Till now my attempt to make Sambar has been a vain. It never comes in the right texture or taste. Sometimes it will be watery sometimes sour sometimes thick the list goes on! So today i tried Srivalli’s sambar recipe and it came out perfect. It is so easy to follow and with very less ingredients.You can find more yummy sambar reicpes here in her blog.

here is the recipe. I followed the recipe blindly and made some minor changes

Drumstick Sambar

Preparation Time : 15 mins
Cooking Time : 15 mins

Ingredients Needed

Toor Dal – 1 cup
Drumstick / Munnakaya / Murungakai – 1 or 2 nos (i added a medium sized potato too)
Sambar Onions – 100 gms
Sambar Powder – 1 tsp (i used Eastern so i added more than a tsp till the sambar taste came.)
Tomatoes – 2 medium
Tamarind pulp – small lime size (i used 1 tbsp tamarind pulp)
Coriander Leaves – few chopped
Oil – 1 tbsp (i used coconut oil)
Salt to Taste
Turmeric a pinch

For Seasoning

Mustard Seeds + Urud Dal + Fenugreek – 1/2 tsp
Curry Leaves – few
Garlic – 4 pods

Method to Prepare:

Clean Toor Dal and pressure cook it with 2 drops of Oil and turmeric. This makes it cook fast. Keep it for 2 whistle.

Soak tamarind and extract pulp from it.

Chop onions, tomatoes, keep aside. Chop drumstick, the outer skin is also very healthy, so should not be peeled. Chop them into finger length pieces

Boil a cup of water and once it starts boiling, drop in drumstick and potato and cook till its tender. This should not be pressure cooked as it gets over cooked.

To the cooked Dal, add the chopped tomatoes and Sambar powder, salt. Cook for another whistle. Finally add the tamarind pulp along with required water. Bring to boil. simmer it while you temper with seasonings.

Heat oil in a pan, add the seasoning ingredients. Then add chopped onions, Once they are golden in colour, add to the simmering dal along with cooked drumstick pieces.

Cook on high flame for 5 mins, then simmer for 10 mins till its cooked well. Garnish with coriander leaves.

Serve with rice, dosa,idle

Now a days it takes forever for me to cook and i think i dont have to mention it takes more than that to click and post here. But a giveaway made me greedy and i clicked and posted as soon as it was ready! This recipe is from Shaheen’s blog a different type of Malabari chicken varatiyath she calls it Ulli Kozhi. i make it very differently so i thought why not give a try her style and it was very very yummy. There are a lot of recipes – veg and non veg in her blog to try out. I made some mild changes in the recipe.. mainly just reduced the oil.

here goes the recipe.

Chicken -1 kg cut in pieces

Onion- 3 cups thinly sliced

Tomatoes – 3 cut into small pieces

Juice of 1 lime
Potato – 1 large cubed

Salt to taste

Grind together:

Red chili powder- 2 1/2 tsp
Turmeric- ½ tsp
Ginger- ½ inch piece
Garlic- 4 cloves
Cinnamon- 1 inch piece
Cardamom -3
Pepper -1 tbsp
Oil -1/4 cup more or less (i used coconut oil recommended by the recipe owner)
Curry leaves- A handful
Coriander leaves – A Handful

Preparation:

• Marinate the chicken with ½ teaspoon chill powder, turmeric, salt , lemon juice for 1/2 hr.

• Heat oil, add the onion and fry them on medium heat till golden brown and crisp. Make sure they don’t burn.
• Remove the onions and keep aside.
• In the same oil  fry the tomatoes till softkeep aside.
• Then add the ground masala and fry on low heat until the oil runs clear.
• Now add the marinated chicken, potatoes, fried tomatoes, onions to the masala ,mix well and let the water come out of the chicken. If there is not enough wateradd a little bit. But not too much.
• Cover and cook on low heat. The chicken should get cooked in about 15 minutes on low heat, but keep checking and stirring.

This goes well with appam, rotis, rice. I’m going to have this with Ghee Rice.

This recipe goes to Priya’s event Healing Foods-Onion, a event started by Siri and  Padma‘s Cooking with Seeds-Pepper, started by Priya

Since my daughter started school shes very excited around mothers day and fathers day! So as her vacations are going on she wanted to make something special for Fathers Day this time and surprise him. Her options were something with chocolate as usual! So here goes a simple chocolate pudding recipe from A Charmed Life

Chocolate Pudding
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 large egg yolks
3 1/2 cups whole milk
7 oz fine-quality bittersweet chocolate
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla

Whisk together sugar, cornstarch, salt, and yolks in a 3-quart heavy saucepan until combined well, then add milk in a stream, whisking. Bring to a boil over moderate heat, whisking, then reduce heat and simmer, whisking, 1 minute .
Force filling through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl, then whisk in chocolates, butter, and vanilla. Spoon into serving containers of your choice. Cover surface of filling with plastic wrap.
Chill at least 6 hours.

**Warning** this is very chocolaty!

Top with whipped cream or Vanilla ice cream. If you want more chocolaty top with chocolate ice cream or chocolate syrup.

School holidays sure make you busy! No matter what kids demand a lot of things to eat or should i say they eat a lot of unhealthy snacks at this time. So i opt to make healthier versions at home.  these Big and Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies is adapted from Farenheit 350 i made a few changes in the recipe to make it more healthier because i have been baking a lot during the holidays so i didn’t want my kids to eat more sugar and plain flour.

Hot from the oven the first batch i didnt even get to see them lined up properly!! Both of them finished it with in minutes!

1 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup creamy peanut butter
½ cup honey
Cream together until smooth

Add:
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
Whip together until light and fluffy

Stir in:

2 cups flour

1/2 cup  wheat germ
1/2 cup ground flax seeds

½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda

Drop spoonfuls or half spoonfuls as you want and bake for 7-9 mts at 180 C

If you are making crispy cookies bake longer. My kids like chewy ones so i dont bake them longer.  Also if you are making big ones you might need to bake longer.

The first batch i made was chewy ones the second batch crispy which got burned a bit after baking longer! All the crispy ones are left now and i cant even find a chewy one to eat!

Did i ever mention in my blog the only thing my hubby knows to make is Tea? And he has made poha and Kheer for me only because Preeti started this Event

Usually when he starts to make tea he never ever measures anything. Nor the milk or the water or tea powder.. So yesterday when he was making tea i told him to measure everything! He was so confused how to do it. So with some help from me i got him to measure the all the ingredient. I should say when he measured it his tea was not upto the mark but ok.. I guess somethings never change! LOL! I prefer his unmeasured tea

For masala tea:

1/4 cup milk

3/4 cup water

1/4 tsp cardamon powder

1/4 tsp dry ginger powder

1 1/2 tsp tea powder (we use Brook Bond Red lable)

sugar to taste

Add cardamon and ginger powder to milk and water bring to a boiling point. Add tea powder and sugar to it and let it boil for some time.

Strain the tea and have it with your favorite cookie or cake!