cookbypassion

Today's recipe is from my dear friend Srivalli's blog. She is the one who started the  Blogging Marathon  which is basically a food marathon where we all cook and post it in our blogs  according to the themes which we choose to do. We run this marathon every month with different themes. Its almost 61 months since this marathon started and  I am part of this marathon since 5th Edition. So glad to be part of this group. Met many bloggers through this group, we are like a family now. Couldn't  meet any one personally  except Pavani Nandula, but hoping to meet everyone one day. Today is Srivalli's  birthday and we BM family  decided to cook something from her blog and post it. Thought of baking  a cake from her blog  but  as time didn't  permit and kids being sick at home I ended up making"Bread Bhatura" and Chole.  Which  was super tasty, didn't feel like I added bread in  bhatura. Click here for the original rec...

Kalakand is a popular Indian sweet made of solidified  sweetened milk and cottage cheese. This dish is originated in Alwar, Rajasthan.  A huge pan is kept on a flame and large amount  of milk is boiled stirring continuously till it is thickened with sugar and dry fruits. To make thins little easier and to save time I have made this creamy delicacy  or milk burfi  in Microwave with ricotta cheese, butter, sugar and milk powder.  Got this recipe from my very close and dear friend some time ago. Believe me Kalakand which used to take hours of time is just made in  10 minutes. Here goes the final post for BM 61 under the theme "Indian Mithai". Ingredients: Ricotta Cheese 1cup Milk Powder 1 1/2 cup Sugar 3/4 cup Unsalted butter 4 oz Crushed Pistachio 4 spoons Preparation: Place the butter in a microwaveable bowl and heat for 2 minutes. Once the butter is melted add the ricotta cheese, place it in microwave for 2 more minutes. Then Add the milk powder an...

Chirote is a popular and traditional  sweet dish from  Maharashtrian  Cuisine. It is a delicious sweet, dripping sugar syrup in  each bite. This crispy and juicy mithai is made with very few ingredients such as maida / flour, semolina (optional) , butter and sugar syrup. Semolina is added to give this sweet a crispy  and crunchy texture.  In Andhra we use the same process to make Kaaja. In Chirote we cut the into pieces after layering and then roll it to give a poori shape. But for kaaja  we do not roll but fry the pieces as it is and then add them to sugar syrup.  Here is  my Kaaja recipe.   Chirote goes to the 2nd day of BM 61, week 4 under the theme " Indian Mithai". Ingredients: Maida / All purpose flour 1 cup Fine sooji 1/4 cup Butter 1/4 cup Rice flour 4 spoons Oil for deep frying Sugar 1 cup Water 3/4 cup Elachi powder 1/4 spoon Saffron stands 6 to 7 Preparation: Heat 3 spoons oil. In a mixing bowl add maida and sooji mix well and...

Boondi ladoo is a delicious Indian sweet made on special occasions , specially  for religious rituals and for festivals like Diwali and Ganesh Chartuti. Besan / Gram flour is mixed with water to make a smooth batter and poured through  a boondi ladle, through this ladle the batter drops down into hot oil like a small droplets which are called boondi.  After frying these boondi are soaked in sugar syrup for a while and then given a round / ball  shape  to make a ladoo.  You cant go wrong in making  these ladoo if you follow  the exact measurements. Usually the boondi ladoo is in yellow color as the gram flour is yellow color. But today am making this ladoo using 3 different colors. This is a special Marwadi boondi ladoo where they make the ladoo with 3 different colors like yellow, orange and green. Its also called as tirange ladoo, tiranga means 3 and we are using 3 colors.  Motiya ladoo, motiya means pearls. Because the droplets ar...

We think of something and something else happens. Yes, it exactly happened to me today. I wanted to make Sweet potato paratha and made something else.  Never made any dish with sweet potato till date, all I did was boil the potatoes, peel the skin and eat as it is .  When Valli announced this theme to cook with " Root Vegetables", I wanted to make something different with these sweet potatoes. Thought of making Paratha with these yummy potatoes but I  ended up making stuffed poori. I added all the ingredients to the boiled and mashed potato  and later realized that I over cooked the potatoes. Tried making parathas but the stuffing was coming out as I was rolling the paratha. Then I thought of making poori and stuff the potatoes and seal it from all the sides and deep fry them. Believe me or not my daughter who didn't want to eat parathas , had these fried poories  happily. They tasted awesome. Here goes my 3rd and final post for week 2 under the theme ...

As an important source of Carotene, carrot is widely recommended by physicians for innumerable medicinal purposes. Carrots are a goldmine of nutrients and contain Vitamin A, B and C. Its pectin fiber  if  beneficial in lowering the cholesterol level of the body. Raw carrots are an excellent source of vitamin A and potassium, folic acid and magnesium. Where as cooked carrots contain 4 times the recommended daily intake of Vitamin A in form of protective beta carotene, besides containing Vitamin B6, copper, folic acid and magnesium. There are huge number of recipes with Carrots. One of which is my today's post, Carrot and Tomato Dal.  Toor dal cooked along with carrot and tomato and then tempered with chopped onions, green chilies and curry leaves. This recipes goes as my 2nd post for week 2 of BM 61,  under the theme " Root Vegetables ". Ingredients: Carrots 2 large Tomato 1 large Toor dal 1 cup Onion 1 small Green chili 2 chopped Curry leaves 4 Garlic cloves 2 crushe...

Today's recipe is a simple one which my mom used to make it. Simple recipe with very  few ingredients but never got that taste which mom used to make. This yummy dry side dish is made with Taro root which is called as Chama dumpa / Chama gadda in Telugu and Arbi in Hindi.  This root vegetable can be cooked in several ways. Can boil the taro root and cut and just simply fry in oil or make a tangy  gravy curry with onions, tamarind pulp and jaggery. Some times I add boiled eggs too to this tangy curry. You can click here to see the tangy egg and Arbi curry. Today we are starting with 2nd week of BM 61, and my theme for this week is to cook with "Root Vegetables".  There are many root vegetable, some of them which commonly known are Carrots, Onions, Radish, Beet root, Potato , Taro root etc.... Taro root has been one of my favorite vegetable since my childhood. But never used to like the stickiness which come from this vegetable. So my mom always used to make stir fry ...