Cooking Is Easy

Raw Mango Rice is one of the easiest quick meal that I whip up in the morning for my kids lunch box.  Raw mango or green mangoes are grated and mixed with rice. In Kerala we call it as "pacha manga choru". The best thing about living in Kerala is the abundance of raw mangoes during summers; I like to use them as much as possible. Do check out mango recipes for more. Left over rice is a must for me once school starts especially for my son. He has suddenly started to grow so tall and he needs some good carbs for lunch at school. His sudden "growth sprout" is making him more hungry and he keeps raiding my pantry when not at school. Well, if you have a 12or 13 year old son at home, you might understand me better. Mango rice can be done in about 7 min flat for me (remember I am super fast) yes, the grating of raw mango does take in a bit of time, I admit that....but as usual, I use my food processor for grating....and that does make me super fast when I...

Hello and hope you all had a wonderful week! Though mine was pretty bad! was down with a really bad chest infection and fever and body-ache. But, this cake made me better and cheered me up pretty fast. Yesterday, I became a year older and my kids surprised me with this at night. Really, birthdays does make you very special; even if you are ill and such pure tender love will make you glow inside out. And believe, me I really felt so good more than I felt in about 3 days! These days, my hubs tell me that I am very clumsy (well, that is not my fault entirely; its the ageing factor that is to be blamed, ha!) I dropped my clutch purse a couple of times while walking in the city along with my credit cards, drivers licence etc etc .....and since poor hubs was behind me; he picked it up and later gave me and warned me to be careful....but the same thing happened again in the next couple of days. Being a soft spoken person (I am the loud kind; opposites attract, wink! wink!) he again ge...

How To Make (Bake) Cake In A Pressure Cooker or how to make cake without an oven is a query I get often and though I prefer my OTG oven over everything else. I was forced to take my pressure cooker to bake this best-ever-easy chocolate cake. Want to hear more of this no oven cake? Let me clarify that I never imagined I will post this, this just happened due to some unforeseen circumstances. I am sure a few of my readers like Thaseen would be very happy that God made me into baking in a pressure cooker. You see, sometimes things never go as we plan; its decided by HIM. Monsoons, bring in a kind of chill and crispness to the weather here in Kerala, though I love rains, monsoon is my favorite season; it also brings in power outrages. At times the weather plays havoc with rains and wind lashing out, it is very common to experience power cuts due to snapping off lines by a fallen tree in the wind. And the day I decided to bake some more Texas sheet cake ; power snapped its  l...

Sunday at last! Hope you guys had a wonderful week.  As usual, I am at my lazy self and wished I could roam the whole day in my PJs, with the weather a bit cooler and crispier... Sunday is loved to its fullest, by me.  Like my friend Mitha mentioned I too wished there were two Sundays in a week! I have a confession to make; its just that I do not use microwave...Period!  I get tons of mails and messages regarding microwave cooking and tips. Sorry guys, but I just do not use them; I like to cook my food the real conventional way as much as possible. I just cannot consume microwaved food. I feel they are slowly destroying the nutrients in the food. I like to feed my family the conventional way. My daughter, Nidhi turned 17 last Friday (still cant believe that she is 17, how time flies!) and I made 3 batches of Texas Sheet Cake for her friends and another "special" cake for the birthday girl.                   ...

Delicious  Texas Sheet Cake with chocolate fudge frosting topped with salted peanuts  is a rich, melt-in-the-mouth, best chocolate cake ever! Seriously, this is one cake; which you cannot stop at one single piece. Lets talk about Texas sheet cake; you know I am addicted to sheet cakes ; I simply adore them; mainly because it is easy to make and its a one bowl cake  and the best part is you can pour the frosting over and serve from the pan itself  I am crazy over these types of easy cakes. Did you know sheet cakes are best for a party or crowd. If you make this for a party, just bake it in a thin jelly roll pan (11 x 15 inch) slice into small squares and serve in a cupcake liner or a platter. Sheet cakes are traditionally made thin; but since I do not have the above mentioned size pan; I baked in a much smaller pan and thus the cake is not as thin as it should be traditionally expected...but yes, that makes this cake extra dangerous. This is total destruction...

Batter fried fish; fish fillets coated with batter and deep fried is an ideal appetizer or snack which kids and adults would love. These crispy batter fried fish is so easy to make that it probably takes just about 15 minutes to get it done. You could say these fried fish, has one of the crispiest and lightest batter .....and there is ONE secret ingredient that makes it so .....its plain milk that makes all the difference . Yes, the addition of milk makes the batter when fried light and crisp. I have had friends and relatives complain that when they batter fry, it sometimes turns soggy and may end up with oil seeping in. You really do not need much of expertise to make this, its so easy!. Once you make this, you will never order fish and chips again.....believe me its that good! Author: Nisa Homey Cooking Time: 15 min. Serves: 3 to 4. Ingredients: Fish (boneless): 250 gms, cubed into small pieces. All purpose flour: 1/2 cup. Cornflour: 1/4 cup. Pepper Powder: 1/2...

How To Preserve Raw Mangoes; Kerala Style Uppilitta Manga or Mangoes in brine is one the ways of storing raw organic mangoes. Though traditionally, it is "kanni manga" or "tender mangoes" that are are salted or  preserved. A few months back we went for a short holiday to Nelliyampathy Hills , on the way back I bought these tender mangoes (kanni manga) from Palghat and put them in brine as soon as I reached home....and then completely forgot about them, until the day I remembered about it and decided to click some pics for the blog. What awaited me was an empty bottle!! Well, my kids confessed to the crime along with my hubby......okay! so as usual I forgave them and wanted to make another batch; but then tender mango was no where to be found; so when I got these raw mangoes from a friend's backyard, I thought why not make with it? For you first timers who want to preserve raw mangoes; let me tell you that there is no such recipe for this....ye...

Hello! and its Sunday!! I hope you all had a wonderful week. Happy Fathers day to all the wonderful dads out there, I just called mine and yes! that really made his day. Anybody watching FIFA World Cup?? Well, I am not much of a game watcher. Here in North Kerala, Monsoons started....though a bit weak at the moment; but the weather is so cool and refreshing. The best thing about Sunday is the laid back attitude everybody at home has, personally, I am at my most laziest self.....sometimes, I wish every day is a Sunday! Dont you too? I am enjoying this tender coconut, the best thing about living in Kerala is the availability of fresh tender coconut all through the year. With kids back to school; I am on look out for "after school snacks" though Nidhi loves these garlic rolls , and I did try these onion strings  for a change and my kids loved it! When I saw this oreo ice cream pie ; I wanted so very badly to make them, but some of the ingredients are not avail...

Chicken samosa is a traditional snack of Muslims of Kozhikode. This easy Malabar chicken samosa is a favorite during Ramadan and a must have snack at Iftar parties. If you have ever visited Kozhikode (Calicut) I am sure, you must have tasted the famous Kozhikodan chicken samosa. I have some good Muslim friends and it is through them that I get to taste and learn Malabar Cuisine. It was Nidhi, who bought some chicken samosa from school, which her friend had given her....I still remember the first bite....and all I could say was OMG! it was so good, the flavors were so different from the cutlets I make. I decided at that moment that I should ask Nidhi's friend's mom for the recipe, and I did....after a few phone calls; I was staring at the roughly written Malabar chicken samosa recipe. I have a neighbor friend, Shini.....who also introduce me to Malabar cuisine....so, I asked her how she makes chicken samosa and to my surprise, the recipe was almost the same.....an...