Cous-Cous salad/Upma

Easy to make, this Moroccan inspired upma is an all-time favorite in our household.

Just a simple recipe with frozen/fresh mixed veggies, and sauted tomatoes, onions can add a nice flavor to this dish.

Idlis...

After a reeaaaaaaaaallly long break, here I am with a plateful of hot, steaming idlis!

Hope you enjoy looking at the full moons, oh ya...not one....but five of them...as described by my daughter, K... :-)

Ciao!

Regional Cuisine - Tamilnadu - Paruppu Rasam, Potato Podimaas

Thoor Dal Rasam/Paruppu Rasam(No tamarind) and Potato Podimaas(Tropical flavor semi-mashed Potato)




This week's Thali: - Paruppu Rasam, Potato Podimas, Rice and Mahali Kizhangu




Recipes coming soon...!

My Cookbook Collection - Spotlight on "Indian Home Cooking" by Suvir Saran

Apologies to my blog readers at Indian Thali. I got utterly swamped with tons of personal work and travel the last two weeks in March. March Madness, literally! My older daughter, Kirthi, was on her spring break. We were traveling in the D.C. area. We had to check out some schools and neighborhoods in order to plan our move to the area this summer. Yep, big move to the Capitol! Anyways, it was difficult to blog the last two weeks with so much going on personally. Couldn't focus.. Hopefully, I can get back and start updating my blog either every wednesday or saturday. I love the routine that Asha ji from Foodie's Hope maintains, which is blogging every wednesday! Truly inspiring, and hope to have a schedule like hers going on at IT too...Let's see...High hopes!



Anyways, wanted to end March Madness by sharing with you my collection of cookbooks that I have sitting on top of my microwave. I got "The Contemporary Encyclopedia of Herbs and Spices" as a gift from one of my friends.

I wanted to write about one of my recent purchases, which is a cookbook by Suvir Saran - titled, "Indian Home Cooking. Suvir Saran is famous chef from New York. He is the chef at a restaurant named Devi, which is supposedly a popular Indian restaurant in NYC.

I got interested in his cooking when I accidentally bumped into his website a couple of years ago while looking for a recipe on how to make homemade paneer. I have greatly enjoyed trying a bunch of different regional recipes from his website, one of which is a Dhal called "Panchkutti Dhal". Cute name, isn't it?Got totally hooked onto his website for months back in 2004, and had to try lots of the recipes he has from different regions of India. Well, those days we didn't have any food blogs and his website was the best I could find.

Suvir's style of cooking is simple and reflects a love for home made food which is reflected in the title - Indian Home Cooking. He has described recipes not only from North India but also the South, which is where I am from. Lot of the recipes he describes are ones that a traditional Indian cook might be totally familiar with.

Suvir's book is like the comfort food of all cookbooks! I have not been disappointed at all. Particularly like the fact that he pays a lot of attention to "Rasam" which many north Indian cooks/chefs don't. You all know, how big a rasam fan I am... In one of the pictures, you find rasam served in a cocktail glass as an appetizer. He devotes his whole "appetizer/soup" section to mostly Rasam - Lemon Rasam, Pepper Rasam, Tomato Rasam etc..Good enough reason for me to purchase this book and drool over the pictures and descriptions! There are a few non-vegetarian recipes, which don't pertain to my cooking style since I am a vegetarian.

Check out www.suvir.com for an interesting read, neat collection of recipes, and colorful pictures . His blog where he writes - http://suvirsaran.typepad.com/. He has also written the foreword for a cookbook that was recently reviewed on Mahanandi: Ammini Ramachandran: Grains, Greens, and Grated Coconuts. He has another book scheduled for release in October, 2007 - American Masala.

On a blog break!

Hi all -

I am traveling this week. Will be back next Sunday.

Please bear with me. Will start posting after I get back!

Thanks and miss you all!

Praba

Lentils with Tomatoes and Brocolli Carrot Vegetable - Tomato Dal/ Sabji - 2

Brocolli-Carrot Curry & Tomato Dal


Tomato Dal:

The recipe for the tomato dal comes from Kodi's Mom

Extra Notes:

When I read the recipes put up by Kodi's Mom, I can clearly see that she pays attention to working with natural, healthy and pure ingredients. There's a clear "health factor" involved in her recipes coupled with a homely touch and simplicity which makes me want to try all of the recipes on "Mummam". The word "Mummam" definitely resonates a sense of love for all things innocent and a reflection of a child like spirit and pure love for food!(mummam in baby's is food - used in tamil speaking households)

I enjoyed making "Tomato Dal" following Mummam's instructions step by step. Very simple set of steps! Loved the taste of the dhal, and I can't agree with her more on what a great combination "tomatoes and masoor dhal" make. In fact, first time, I am making a dhal without the messy sauteing of the "ginger, garlic and onion" combo. I was really impressed with the outcome.

Hailing from a tamil household, we both enjoyed our little discussion of why masoor dhal didn't make it to the SOuth. It was also interesting to read a comment by "Mommyof2" in my previous post about Masoor Dhal.

Anyways, the point is there is lot of mystery surrounding this particular dhal, which itself is a good enough reason for me to explore working with Masoor Dhal in the kitchen. I have made sambhar by using just masoor dhal, and sometimes by mixing thoor and masoor. I love Masoor considering how quick it cooks and how tasty it is despite all the negavities and lack of awareness surrounding this dhal. Three cheers to Masoor! I liked Indira's description of "little red bindies." Work with these babies, and try Kodi's Mom's recipe with tomato combination! Tastes great!

Brocolli-Carrot Dry Curry:

Nothing fancy. I like the combination and the health benefits of this south indian curry/sabji. It is a dry curry with coconut, and a little bit of "cilantro/dhania" & "chilli" powder. Will post the recipe if someone is interested in trying.

Kodi's Mom tagged me for a little fun, visual DNA clipping/widget - my first tag! It was fun doing this for my girls...! First, I didn't quite understand what a visual DNA meant etc., but hopefully, this is what I am supposed to do!

I have it posted on my other family blog - pinkblankie! I will work on mine sometime in case you guys are curious! :-)