I'm tagged......

Time is really passing at a fast pace. Ever since I came back from my vacation, some pending wood work had to be completed in my house. Hence I couldn't devote much time  by interacting with my blogger friends. Sayantani had tagged me few days back a questioner which would help people know me better. So here are the answers, hopefully would make you know the kind of person I'm. Thanks Sayantani for passing me these set of questions. I enjoyed answering them.
                                                 
1.        What are your favorite regional cuisines or specific foods? 

Being a Bengali and having lived most of my life in North India, I have a liking for both Bengali as well as North Indian cuisine. Specifically Fried Fish and Tandoori chicken are my favourites. 

2.        If you could have any four people, from any where at your place for dinner, who would they be?  

They would be Rahul Dravid, Amartya Sen, Amitabh Bachan and Late Uttam Kumar- undisputed King of Bengali movies.

                                                  Just notice the naughty smile :-)

3.        What made you decide to start your site? 

I am a decent cook myself. But I lacked the enthusiasm to prepare some good dishes regularly for my family. So one day while surfing the net, I came across a couple of cooking blogs. The preparations shared there were delicious and the presentation was beautiful . This motivated me to open up to the world and make new blogger friends while sharing my recipes and learning new cuisines.

                                                        My Sweetheart.....
 
4 Give your Top 4 Food blogs that inspire you the most? 

 I love all the blogs but without being politically correct as of now i like Priya's Easy N Tasty  recipes, US Masala, Sailu's Kitchen and Joy of Baking

5.        How would you describe your site to new readers? 

If you want to look at varied food items all across the world and a blogger who is open to all kind of suggestions and improvement points please do visit my blog. 

                                                      Christmas decoration ....        

6.        What's the best and worst thing about being a food blogger? 

Best thing is being able to interact with so many friends with common passion and learn from each other. Worst thing is Plagiarism. Nothing can match up with the humiliation when your days of hard work is being copied by someone else

                                         Sunset Point at Kovalam Beach                                         

7.        If you could just banish any one food, from the earth, what would it be? 

'Maggot infested cheese'

                                                                

8.        What's the one super power you wish you had? 

Ahh ! I was waiting for this one :-) I wish to have the ability to read people's mind. So that I can understand who have fake faces and who are real.


I would like to pass on the same set of questions of few of my friends as these will help me to know them better.
Simply.Food
Foodelicious
Silence Sings
Love2Cook
Sinfully Spicy
Soma's Ecurry
Veggi Fare
Cooking and Recipes
Collaborative Curry

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Chocolate Coated Corn flaxe

                                                  
Wishing all my blogger Friends a Merry Christmas !!!

                                                                     
I made these chocolate coated cornflakes treats for my friends kids along with rum cake. They simply loved it !
T hough this seems to be a very easy quick treat for children, one has to be very careful to obtain very smooth, shiny melted chocolate. Before putting chocolate on top of the double boiler (water filled container) do break it in tiny pieces as this will melt quickly. 
Since water is the biggest enemy of chocolate, so even a drop of water is enough to ruin your batch. So make sure your top bowl is totally dry. And make sure that the steam is trapped between the bottom filled pan and top bowl that has chocolate.
Chocolate scorches easily so melt it over very slow heat. Never let the water to boil as over heating will make the chocolate lose it's flavour and turn coarse.

                                                                                   
Ingredients:
200 gm of Dark chocolate
2 small boxes of Corn Flakes
Sprinkles of hundreds and thousands


Utensils you need:
1 small Saucepan
1 Heat safe bowl that fits on the saucepan
1 big Tray


Method:
Place a sheet of butter paper on tray or keep paper cups ready. Keep aside.
Put water filled saucepan on low heat. Place tiny pieces of chocolates in heat safe bowl and put it on top of saucepan. 
NOTE: The chocolate bowl should not touch the water. And heat should be minimum. Don't cover with lid on top of chocolate. 

                                                                              
Stir chocolate frequently. When the chocolate appears to be shiny, switch off the heat. Remove from the pot of water and stir the chocolate as it melts and looks glossy. Pour the cornflakes in fast and coat well with chocolate. Quickly spoon this mixture on paper cups or on butter paper directly. Sprinkle hundreds and thousands over these. Refrigerate them for 20-25 minutes. Gift wrap them.

                                                                

read more.. "Chocolate Coated Corn flaxe"

Carrot Pudding Recipe (Gajar ka Halwa) -Traditional Way

 Gajar Halwa or Carrot Halwa is one of the most popular dessert in nortern India during winters. It is made with grated red carrots, milk, sugar and later dry fruits fried in ghee is added to enhance the taste. Traditional way of making gajaw ka halwa is slow cooking, which needs constant stirring and supervision.                                                                           
So today I am sharing with you Gajar Ka Halwa (Carrot Halwa), my all time favourite dessert. Just to add, when my husband had gone to Calcutta on a business trip and asked me what would I like from there, first thing that I asked him is if red coloured carrots were available. Thankfully, they were and here I am posting the recipe of Red carrot Halwa for which I waited till winter season.


Ingredients:
1 kg Carrot (red)
1 ltr Milk
2 tbsp Ghee
300 gms Sugar / according to your taste
1 tsp Cardamom powder
1/2 cup Cashews pista and raisins
Saffron dipped in 2 tsp warm milk (optional)


Method:
Wash, peel and grate the carrots (I use manual grater). In a thick-bottomed vessel, add ghee. Roast the cashews and raisins and keep aside.
In another heavy-bottomed pan boil milk and reduce heat to medium. Stir continiously till the milk reduces to half. Now in that ghee pan, add grated carrots and keep stirring till it gets half cooked. By this time carrots will change it's color slightly. Add milk now and keep stirring occasionally on medium flame till milk is absorbed totally. Add sugar and stir till the ghee leaves the side of the pan. Just before removing it from the flame, add cardamom powder and mix well.
Serve hot with the roasted cashew, raisins and some pista.


User Comments & Tips:

• Adjust the sugar according to your taste. 
• This halwa can be stored upto 15-20 days in refrigerator. 

The shape has been created with the help of fish shaped die cast

     

                                                                                                                                                                

read more.. "Carrot Pudding Recipe (Gajar ka Halwa) -Traditional Way"

Yearly Vacation till 3rd Week of December 10

Dear Blogger Friends
It is that time of the year when me , my husband and my son would take an yearly vacation. Hence I would not be able to make new posts or keep in touch with all of you. No doubt I will miss all your beautiful posts during this period. Hope to be back with recharged spirit and get back to blogging and interacting with all of you after this break.


Regards


Deepa

read more.. "Yearly Vacation till 3rd Week of December 10"

Tandoori Paneer with Onion & Capsicum Rings

                                                                           


A delightful paneer dish that I tried from Nita Mehta's Low Calorie cooking from Indian Kitchen. This dish is very simple and can be served as starter or side dish.  I can guarantee you that this will be a hit amongst your friends when you have a party in evening.


Serves: 4, Cooking time: 10 minutes ,Grilled time: 10 minutes


Ingredients:
250 gms Paneer (cottage cheese) cut into 1" cubes
2 Capsicums- cut into fine rings
2 Onions -cut into fine rings
1 tsp Lemon juice
3/4 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Red chilli powder
1/4 tsp Red color
1 tbsp Oil
1/4 Black salt 
1/4 tsp Salt
2 tsp Tandoori Masala


Grind to paste:
1 1/2" Ginger
2-3 Green chillies
1 tsp Cumin seeds
3-4 flakes Garlic


Method:
Cut paneer pieces into 1" square and keep aside. Grind garlic, jeera and green chillies to a thick paste. Try not to add water while grinding. Add salt, chilli powder and lemon juice to the paste. Add little red color and mix well.
Apply 3/4 of this paste nicely on all the paneer pieces. And keep the left over paste aside. Grill this paneer on a greased wire rack and grill for 10 minutes till it is dry and slightly crispy. Keep aside till serving time.
At serving time, heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan. Fry onion and capsicum rings for a few minutes till onions turn transparent. Now add ginger paste and few drops of lemon juice. Add black salt and adjust the salt too. Add paneer pieces. Sprinkle tandoori masala. Toss it for few minutes till the paneer turns soft and is mixed well with masala. Serve immediately.

                                                              

read more.. "Tandoori Paneer with Onion & Capsicum Rings"