Chickpea and artichoke paella - and Pinterest, again

Thank you for all your comments about the Pinterest issue!
Jeanette left me a comment with this link and after following Tresa’s instructions I believe the problem is now solved – would you please tell me if the pinning is working?

I like seafood but can’t eat if very often (let’s say my body and seafood don’t see eye to eye) therefore I had never made a paella in my entire life; the minute I

Baked Apple-Blueberry Oatmeal Breakfast Pudding

Rolled oats baked with cinnamon and nutmeg, apples, blueberries, almonds, and whole fat yogurt and milk! Yes, this simple breakfast pudding is not only as delicious as it sounds but it's also a power-packed way to start your day with an energy-rich helping of protein, fats and fiber in addition to a healthy dose of antioxidants, vitamins and minerals too.

Soaking oats overnight in yogurt helps break down the complex proteins in grains, such as avenin, into simpler components that are much more easily digested by the body, and the soaking process causes the grains to bake into a wonderfully soft bread-pudding-like texture. The scent of cinnamon wafting through your breakfast kitchen is also extraordinarily inviting, and the pudding is naturally sweet enough to serve as a treat or dessert — the small amount of added honey or maple syrup is really quite optional. It's a great way to get your kids to start eating oats.

Consider using any combination of baking spices, fresh or dried fruits and nuts in this recipe.

Baked Apple-Blueberry Oatmeal Breakfast Pudding

Recipe by Lisa Turner Published on May 30, 2012 A simple, healthy and naturally sweet baked oat porridge pudding with apples, blueberries and spices Print this recipe Ingredients: 1 1/2 cups rolled oats 2 cups whole fat plain yogurt 1 apple, chopped 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon sea salt 1/4 cup slivered almonds 2 cups whole milk 1/4 cup honey or maple syrup (optional) 1 teaspoon vanilla 1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries Instructions: In a large bowl, combine the oats and yogurt. Cover with a clean dish towel and let stand overnight at room temperature. Generously butter a 9 × 9 ceramic or glass baking or casserole dish. Scatter the chopped apples over the bottom of the dish and bake at 375° for 30 minutes or until tender and lightly browned. Remove from the oven and turn the oven temperature down to 350°. In a small bowl, combine the cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, baking powder, salt, and half the almonds. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the milk, honey or maple syrup if using, and vanilla. Whisk in the dry ingredients until combined. Pour the mixture into the oats and stir to combine. Sprinkle half the blueberries over the apples in the baking dish, and gently spoon in the oat mixture. Scatter the remaining blueberries and almonds over the top, and bake for 40 minutes or until the top is browned and the pudding is slightly set (it will finish setting while it's cooling, but it should not be too liquid-y either). Remove from heat and let stand for 10 minutes. Serve warm with cream, added fruit or nuts, or by itself. Makes 6 servings

More breakfast oat ideas from Lisa's Kitchen:
Apple-Oatmeal Breakfast Streusel Cake
Oat Porridge for Two
Oat Porridge and Fruit
Chai Spice Oatmeal
Lemon Curd Oatmeal

On the top of the reading stack: Browsing the shelves

Audio: Brian Eno

No Croutons Required - The Winner for May

The theme for May was to come up with a salad, soup or curry featuring eggs. The most popular dish is Ren's British Asparagus Mozzarella, Tomato Egg Salad. What a delightful dish to celebrate warmer weather. Congratulations Ren. I just know that would be just one fine meal.

Jacqueline will be hosting the June edition of No Croutons Required. Check back at the beginning of the month for the theme.

Cool tips to stay cool in this summer

The heat is increasing day by day. The water level in our body is getting reduced gradually and we start feeling fatigue. These are the common effects of summer for all of us, specially for them who work under sun. But we have to beat the heat and stay fit to continue our daily work. Otherwise who will support our family. So to stay fit in this summer and increase your stamina we should follow the below few rules:

• Sweating is the most irritating part of this season. And it brings many germs with it. So its better to take bath twice a day. Try to take a bath after coming back from work or before going to the bed.
• Wash your clothes daily as they gets loaded with lot of sweat and germs. Keep them in a separate place if you don't have time to wash them everyday. Make a habit of this, specially if you have kid at home.
• Don't use much deodrant these days. You can use telcom powder. But its better to keep the pores of our skin open as much as possible.
• Take a lot of water, fruit juice, lemon juice or sugar-salt water regularly. With sweating, lot of body moisture and salt goes out from your body. So take plenty of liquid to maintain a balance.
• Those who expose themselves for a long period of time under sun should use sunscreen lotion. You can also cover your bodypart with soft cotton clothes to get rid of direct contact with sun.
• You can use neem water (take few fresh neem leaves, boil & cool the water) to wash your body, twice a week. This will relief you from itching problems or any other skin rashes.
• Try to avoid being in the sun if its not required. Plan your work in such a way, that you spend the most part of the day in a cool place and then in the afternoon you might finish those works. Use sunscreen lotion to protect your skin. 
• Try to have simple meals specially in day time. Like daal roti, rice with simple curry or curd. Try not to have masala or spicy food. Which might take much time to digest in summer.

Be cautious with all these tips and make your own rule to tackle this summer days. As one bad habit may make you sick and which might hamper your office work as well as family atmosphere. Remember you are a key contributor to your family. You have to stay fit!

Keep healthy and stay fit. 

Lemon crumble tart - and Pinterest

I’d like to start this post by telling you that I adore Pinterest: it’s a great way to keep track of interesting things and I usually find my morning humor dose there. Some of you have written to me asking me not to block my photos from being posted on Pinterest, and I tell you: I haven’t done that, and wouldn’t do it. I see no problem in my recipes getting pinned by you, much to the contrary.

Mushroom Curry Simmered in a Fenugreek Cream Sauce with Green Peas

This interesting and somewhat rich curry is inspired from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer. Surely this book is on my list of top five essential Indian cookbooks you must own. There are so many post-it notes adorning the pages that the book has become even thicker than when I got it. This is a much treasured source of inspiration in my kitchen. Traditional recipes with a bit of a spin that are easily followed, with helpful tips and easily accessible ingredients for both novice and experienced cooks alike. As much as I adore cookbooks that have that "coffee table book" presentation, this is a staple book if you want ideas for easy weekday meals or want to make something a little more complicated when you are having guests for dinner or just feel like spending more time in the kitchen.

For the most part, all of the recipes I have tried from this book are made with ease and a minimal amount of preparation and cooking times, and everything that I have made is truly delicious and pleasing to the palate. Simplicity and ease does not mean that you won't be able to turn out meals that taste like they have come from a gourmet restaurant. This book certainly doesn't gather dust on my shelf and I find myself constantly browsing through the pages finding more recipes I can't wait to try — yep, more post-it notes.

Essential spice blends and pastes, appetizers, paneer dishes, legume curries, vegetables curries, rice dishes and accompaniments treat the cook and this book is highly recommended by my kitchen. I have no affiliation with the author but am simply an adoring fan.

I never can get enough mushrooms it seems and they go so well in a creamy sauce like the one in this recipe. Exactly the sort of side dish I wanted to whip up to serve to my friend Basil when he came over for dinner. I sliced the mushrooms into large chunks for an especially satisfying burst of meaty mushroom goodness. I've made this twice already and surely it won't be for the last time either.

Mushroom Curry Simmered in a Fenugreek Cream Sauce with Green Peas

Recipe by Lisa Turner Adapted from 660 Curries Cuisine: Indian Published on May 25, 2012 Spicy, creamy and wonderfully fragrant, this mushroom and pea curry with fenugreek leaves is delicious served on hot fresh cooked white rice or on Indian flatbreads Print this recipe Ingredients: 4 oz dried mushrooms (I used porcini mushrooms) 1/4 cup raw cashews 3 cloves garlic, chopped 4 - 6 green chilies, seeded and chopped 2 tablespoons olive oil 1 medium red onion, finely chopped 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon cayenne, to taste 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin 1 small tomato, finely chopped 8 oz button, cremini or selection of wild mushrooms, halved or sliced 1 cup fresh fenugreek leaves (methi) or 2/3 cup dried fenugreek leaves soaked in water 1 cup frozen peas 1/2 cup whole milk, yogurt or kefir sea salt to taste Instructions: Soak the dried mushrooms in hot water for 20 minutes. Drain and chop, reserving 2/3 cup of the soaking liquid. In a food processor, combine the cashews, garlic and chilies and pulse until you have a coarse mixture (I used my trusty magic bullet for convenience). In a large frying pan or wok, heat the oil over medium-high heat. When hot, add the cashew, chili and garlic blend, along with the onions, and stir and fry for a few minutes. Stir in the spices, fry for another minute, and then stir in the tomato. Continue to stir and fry for another few minutes to let the tomato reduce a litle. Now add the fresh and dried mushrooms to the pan. Stir and fry for another 2 minutes. Pour in the reserved soaking liquid from the soaked mushrooms to deglaze the pan and scrape off any of film that has formed on the bottom of the pan. Squeeze out excess liquid from the dried fenugreek leaves if using, and add to the pan with the peas, milk, yogurt or kefir, and salt. Lower the heat and simmer, uncovered, until the sauce begins to thicken. Stir occasionally. Serve hot as a side dish or over hot fresh cooked rice or Indian flatbreads. Makes 4 servings

More mushroom delights from Lisa's Vegetarian Kitchen:
Chickpea Vindaloo
Paneer Mushroom Masala
Portobello Mushrooms Stuffed with Quinoa
Vegetarian Mushroom Bourguignon

On the top of the reading stack: The Landlady by Dostoyevsky

Audio Accompaniment: silence

Dark chocolate, pear and pistachio cake

A long time ago I told you that I was addicted to IMDb’s movie trivia – I still am, therefore it was a joy for me to find Gabrielle Wee’s gorgeous Tumblr: just be careful because you’ll probably lose track of time reading it (I speak of personal experience). :D

On that same post I also told you how much I loved browsing Gourmet Traveller’s recipes – I still do, and this delicious cake comes

Spicy Mixed Dal

Don't be intimidated by the long list of ingredients for this dish. It really is easy to prepare. Creamy and spicy and a great recipe to go along with some buttered rice with some freshly cracked black pepper. I think my vegan readers would enjoy this, sans the ghee. The mixture of dal and spices surely makes for one healthy meal. I drafted this dish on a anxious day trying to figure out what to make for dinner. Well, anxiety is not always bad when you get results like this. I also recommend serving with some Indian crepes or pancakes.

Spicy Mixed Dal

Recipe by Lisa Turner Cuisine: Indian Published on May 25, 2012 A simple creamy and spicy mixed dal curry great for serving on hot fresh cooked rice or Indian flatbreads Print this recipe Ingredients: 1 cup red lentils 1/2 cup split mung dal 1/2 cup channa dal or yellow split peas 1 tablespoon urad dal 1 teaspoon turmeric 1 tablespoon ghee or sesame oil 1 teaspoon black mustard seeds generous handful of dried curry leaves 1/2 teaspoon asafetida 1 medium tomato, finely chopped 1 teaspoon amchoor (dried mango) powder 1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt fresh parsley, chopped, for garnish Paste: 1 tablespoon coriander seeds 2 teaspoons cumin seeds 5 whole dried red chilies, broken into pieces 3-inch piece cinnamon stick, broken into pieces 5 black peppercorns 3 whole cloves 1-inch piece fresh ginger, chopped 1/2 teaspoon cayenne Instructions: Rinse the dal and soak in enough water to cover for at least 1 hour. Drain and transfer to a large pot, along with 5 cups of water and the turmeric. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer for 40 minutes until the dal is creamy. Remove from heat and set aside. Meanwhile, prepare the paste. In a food processor or blender (I used my trusty Magic Bullet) combine all of the ingredients for the paste along with some water. Process until you have a fairly thick paste. Set aside. Heat the ghee or oil in a skillet over medium heat. When hot, add the mustard seeds and stir and fry until they turn grey and begin to splutter and pop. Now add the the curry leaves and asafetida, Stir for a minute and add the prepared paste. Stir and fry for five minutes. Now add the tomato and amchoor powder and a bit of water. Simmer until the mixture is thickened. Add the paste and spice mixture as well as the salt to the cooked dals and simmer until the mixture is thickened and the flavours are blended. Add more water if necessary to achieve your desired consistency. Garnish with fresh parsley and serve hot along with rice or Indian flatbreads. Makes 6 servings

More dal dishes from Lisa's Vegetarian Kitchen:
Bitter Melon (Bitter Gourd) Sambar
Creamy Mung Dal Curry
Mung Bean and Tamarind Dal
Tarka Dal

On the top of the reading stack: The Landlady by Dostoyevsky

Audio Accompaniment: On Land by Brian Eno

Roast sweet potato and goat’s cheese salad

I was a kid who loved salads and I have my mom to thank for that – I was never the kid who pushed the arugula leaves to the side of the plate, much to the contrary: I was the kid who would eat a tomato as someone would eat an apple between meals. But a whole new world opened up to me when I started collecting cookbooks: it was then that I learned that the salads I already loved could become

Muri Ghanto ( Fish head curry with gobindobhog rice)

As we all know Bengalis love fish very much. But I want to add here, Bengalis love fish head more than that. You can't imagine how many types of recipes are there with fish heads. And they all are just superb.

Today I will share the typical trademark Bengali fish head recipe, "Muri Ghanto". I can bet on that, there will be hardly any Bengali in this world who doesn't like this recipe. This is one of the main dishes of every Bengali marriage. But now a day this recipe is getting changed especially in marriages. 

Anyway, let's discover how to cook this one at home.

Preparation Time: 20 min

Ingredients:

1 big size fish head(Macher Muro)[Katla or Rohu fish head would be best]

1 big Potato cut in cubes

1/2 cup Gobindobhog Rice (If not available you can use Jeera Rice also)

1/2 tbsp Ginger paste

1 chopped tomato

1 tbsp Jeera powder

1 tbsp turmeric powder

1 tbsp dhania powder

3 green chilli slit in between (not chopped)

1 dry chilli

1 bay leaf

Panch foron (Mixture of raw spices

Salt to taste

Pinch of sugar

Mustard oil

Water

How to Cook: 

At First we need to wash the fish head properly and marinate it with turmeric powder and salt. Add mustard oil in a pan. Put the marinated fish head when the oil is hot. Fry both side, break the sides a bit so that it is fried properly. Now keep that aside. 

Add 1 tbsp oil into the pan. Wait till the oil is hot. By the time wash the potato cubes & add them into the pan. Fry the potato cubes with little salt & turmeric powder till they turn golden brown. Take them out of the pan.Add little more oil into the pan. Now add the bay leaf, dried red chili & panch phoron into the oil. As the panch phoron start sputtering, add the washed Gobindobhog rice with little salt & turmeric powder. Be cautious about salt, as you have already add that to the potato cubes & fish head. Stir the rice for 2-3 min.  

Now you can add the chopped tomato and fry it with rice for next 2-3 min. Now add Jeera powder, dhania powder,green chillis, Ginger paste, fried potato cubes & fish head. 

Mix them properly. Fry for 1-2 min & add enough water so that the rice can be cooked prperly. After 10-15 min check whether the rice is cooked properly or not. If you think you need a little more water, then add now. Else if you think water looks a bit extra, then increase the flame.

At last we will check the taste of the gravy and add salt and a pinch of sugar as per requirement. The gravy will be a bit thick. If you want you can make it a bit thinner, as per your choice.

Have this trademark bengali recipe only with steamed rice/bhath.

Enjoy food.

Chickpea Flour Crepes

Yes, the obsession continues. More Indian fried flatbreads for breakfast, brunch and dinner. A batch of these keeps for a few days and is a nourishing accompaniment to a variety of meals and is especially nice with a chutney or some pickles and rice. If you are in a pinch for dinner, I would suggest rolling these up with a paneer cheese filling, served along with a potato dish. More Indian pancakes and crepes are coming soon. As I said, it is an obsession ...

Chickpea Flour Crepes

Recipe by Lisa Turner Cuisine: Indian Published on May 23, 2012 Simple, spicy and savory Indian crepes — roll up your favorite foods inside and enjoy Print this recipe Ingredients: 1 1/2 cups chickpea flour (besan) 1 small onion, finely chopped 1/2 cup fresh parsley, finely chopped 1-inch piece fresh ginger, minced or grated 3 fresh green chilies, seeded and finely chopped 1 tablespoon ground coriander 1 teaspoon sea salt 1/4 teaspoon baking soda dash of cayenne dash of turmeric dash of ground cumin 1 1/2 - 2 cups water sesame oil for frying Instructions: In a medium bowl, combine the chickpea flour, onion, parsley, ginger, chilies, coriander, salt, baking soda, cayenne, turmeric and cumin. Add enough of the water until you have a semi-thick batter and whisk with a fork. Cover and let rest for 30 minutes. In a small non-stick frying pan, heat a few teaspoons of oil over medium heat. When hot, ladle about 1/2 cup into the pan and shape into a circle with the bottom of the ladle. Fry for a few minutes until the ends begin to brown, sprinkle with a bit of oil, and flip and cook for another minute or two. Transfer to a plate and keep warm in a 150° oven. Repeat with the remaining batter. Makes about 13 - 15 3"crepes

More Indian flatbreads you are sure to enjoy from Lisa's Indian Vegetarian Kitchen:
Paratha Stuffed with Sweet Potato and Potato
Rice Flour Pancakes
Savoury Rice and Urad Dal Pancakes

On the top of the reading stack: Ancient Grains for Modern Meals by Maria Speck

Audio Accompaniment: relative silence

Dulce de leche financiers - a genius idea

One of the things I love the most about financiers is how moist and tender they are – their texture is really amazing. Besides that, financiers are a great way to use up frozen egg whites and they’re perfect for a baking urge as well – you don’t have to wait for the butter to soften to make these little beauties.

With a jar of dulce de leche in my pantry – apparently the ddl frenzy hasn’t

Mango : the king of all fruits has finally arrived

The summer is in its peak, days are passing like waiting for some relief. But still we have something to enjoy in these worst days of the year. It’s the season of Mangoes, the king of all fruits. I just can't express my feelings how tough it is for me to wait throughout the year for this lovely juicy fruit. I know most of us are waiting for this fruit as well.

Well mango is not just a simple fruit to taste. Definitely it tastes and soothes a lot, but besides this mango has its own health benefits as well.

I am not a doctor, but yes want to share my knowledge with everyone who follows my blog or who does not like mango. I think hardly there will be anyone who doesn’t like mango.

•  Anyway, mango is a very good food for digestion. If you have problems of indigestion, you can improve your digestive system with having lots of mangoes.
•  It has high vitamin C and fiber which reduces cholesterol.
• Mangoes are very helpful for kids to improve their concentration and boost memory.
•  For girls, mangoes are very good for skin. It clears the dirt of skin and makes it clean. And also a source of iron as well.

There might be many other benefits. But the thing that I want to share is, have lots of mangoes, as it’s available for next few months only.

You can have many recipes with mangoes like milk shake, mango panna and many other lunch/dinner recipes as well. I used to read the magazine "SANANDA" where I found a lot of mango recipes. I might not have tried all of them, but will share them all gradually.

      Finally I want to share few pics of  Mangoes of my native. I spend my childhood with lots of sweet mangoes during summer. We have few mango trees at home. Got few pictures of those yesterday. Can't wait for them, it will take some time for those mangoes to reach me.

Enjoy the pictures and the king of all fruits "MANGO".

Enjoy food enjoy life.

No Croutons Required - Eggs

We are having a lovely spring and I suspect that is why we did not get many entries this month. All the same, the ones here are certainly worth a look. Please vote for your favorite dish in the comment section or via email. Do note that my submission, nor Jacqueline's, is not in the vote.

Our first entry is from Ren of Fabulicious Food. A feast for the eyes and a treat for the tummy, this British Asparagus Mozzarella, Tomato Egg Salad is a must try indeed. Hoping for better weather for a healthy crop of asparagus, here we have asparagus paired with soft boiled eggs, mozzarella cheese, plum tomatoes dressed with fresh lemon juice, olive oil, lemon zest and freshly ground black pepper. Such a perfect salad to celebrate warmer weather. (UK)

I guess maybe the theme this month should have been asparagus. Fiona of London Unattached submits this Warm Asparagus Salad with Quail Eggs and Fennel Pollen. The pairing of eggs and asparagus is extra special here dressed with fresh lemon juice and garnished with fennel pollen. Fiona says the fennel pollen has "tiny flavour explosions of sunshine with just a slight taste of aniseed." I sure would like to try this dish. Simple but full of flavor and a treat for your dinner guests. (London, UK)

My contribution this month is a South Indian Egg Curry. I don't eat eggs all that often, but when the craving hits, I like to spice it up. Lightly boiled eggs are oh so good with mustard seeds, onion, garlic, ginger, green chilies, turmeric, cumin seeds, cayenne, coconut, curry leaves, tomatoes, yogurt and parsley. Easy to prepare and a treat for those that have a spicy palate. (London, Ontario, Canada)

Next up is lovely Susan of The Well Seasoned Cook with this gorgeous Stracciatella - Italian Egg Drop Soup. I am getting hungry just looking at this dish that is comprised of porcini mushrooms, fresh spinach, beaten eggs, garlic, oregano, basil, ditalini (or other small pasta), red pepper flakes, Parmesan and sun-dried tomatoes. I so regret that I don't live next door to Susan. What an amazing dish and the presentation is superb. "And it can be ready in just about the same time as waiting for the guy with the bicycle to come to deliver your pint of the usual."(NY, US)

Now from David who posts on The London Fog we have a spicy dish here. My readers will just know that I could not resist these Eggs in a Creamy Tomato Curry Sauce. Aromatic and a delight to make, soft boiled eggs are included in a wonderful curry sauce made up of cumin seeds, curry leaves, shallots, fresh ginger, tomatoes, green chilies, cayenne, ground cumin, homemade curry powder, yogurt and seasoning. Yet another egg curry to get my appetite going. (London, Ontario, Canada)

Our last submission is from my dear friend Jacqueline and partner for NCR. I have long wanted to make this Carrot & Tiffin Salad with Caesar's Dressing. What is not to like about this salad that contains eggs, grated carrots, onion, curry paste, wholemeal bread whizzed into crumbs, and roasted cashews. To finish, salad leaves, more carrots and basil leaves, and an adaptation of my famous Caesar salad dressing made up of mayonnaise, red wine vinegar, garlic, wholegrain mustard, freshly ground black pepper, olive oil and freshly grated parmesan cheese. (Scotland, Uk)

Jacqueline with be hosting the June edition of No Croutons Required. Check back at the beginning of the month for the theme.

Almond biscotti

This morning I watched the teaser trailer for “Skyfall” and I really liked what I saw: not only the movie has a kick-ass director – I love Sam Mendes! – but Ralph Fiennes is in the movie, too. I mean, Ralph Fiennes and Daniel Craig together, with Judy Dench to boot. As if “The Dark Knight Rises” and “The Hobbit” weren’t making me anxious enough. :)

And since my latest and very expected

Aloo begun diye RUI macher patla jhol (Rohu fish curry with potato & Brinjal)

Today I want to share a very simple recipe of rohu fish that we Bengali used to have 2-3 times in a month. May be much more even. This is so simple recipe and not at all famous or renowned. But we love this recipe as a daily dish.

Its Rui macher patla jhol with aloo and bengan. This is actually a very healthy combo recipe with fish, vegetables with lot of water. Thus it’s called patla jhol. We preferred this one with steamed rice. A very tasty and sada recipe of our kitchen.

Preparation Time: 30 min

Ingredients:

4-5 piece Rui Mach (Pieces of Rohu fish)

1 Brinjal cut in big cubes

1 big Potato cut in cubes

1/2 tbsp Ginger paste

1 tbsp Jeera powder

1 tbsp turmeric powder

1 tbsp dhania powder

3 green chilli slit in between (not chopped)

1 dry chilli

1 bay leaf

Panch foron (Mixture of raw masalas)

Chopped coriander leaves

Salt to taste

little sugar

Mustard oil

How to Cook:

First of we need to wash the fish pieces properly and marinate them with turmeric powder and salt. Add mustard oil in a pan. Put the marinated fish pieces when the oil is hot. Fry the both side of the fish pieces properly and keep them aside. Now add more oil into the pan. Wait till the oil is hot. By the time wash the potato and brinjal cubes properly.

Check out the Rohu fish fry recipe posted earlier.

Now add panch foron masala, bay leaf and dry chilli into the oil and stir them. Now add potato and brinjal cubes in the pan. Add salt and turmeric powder and green chillies. Stir them and mix everything properly. Now cover the lid of the pan. Next 10-15 min we have to check the vegetables and stir them time to time, so that they cook and fry properly.

When they are ready, now we will add ginger paste, jeera powder and dhania powder in it and again stir. Finally we will add water. We need to add a bit extra water so that after adding fish pieces the JHOL remains as we want. Wait for 5 min to mix everything in water and a uniform soup of brinjal and potato with masalas will be ready. Now add the fish pieces and chopped coriander over the curry. Add a pinch of sugar.

Cover the lid and cook for next 5 min. don’t cook more time as the coriander leaves will then overcook and mix much. A simple soupy fish curry. Serve hot with steamed rice and enjoy your meal.

What to eat in dinner to have a sound sleep ?

Do you know a sound sleep completely depends on what we eat just before sleep. But many of us used to have heavy dinner most of the time, specially in evening with family & friends in restaurant.

I have gone through an article somewhere about this. So want to share the same with all my readers as well. It's true and really helpful to carry a healthy life.

Everyday we used to have many types of food. There are some foods which cool down mind & also some which stimulate certain hormones of brain to excite. Foods that generally contain amino acid Triumphant help s us to sleep. In other case foods that contain Tyro sine or Caffeine in food and drinks can perk up the brain or keep you awake. I know most of us love to have a cup of coffee or tea before bed. But thats actually should not be for a sound sleep.

The definition of sound sleep is, the sleep which actually refresh all our fatigue and recharge us for the next day. An incomplete sleep always make us dull for the whole day. We all know the fact.

Lets see the food items of our daily diet chart which we need to include & which not to:

Carbohydrate

This is a food which include lot of amino acid. So we should have this (Rice,Roti) in our dinner. Amino acid is used to produce neurotransmitters Serotonin and Melatonin that helps us to relax and sleep. Insulin is released when we eat a carb rich meal, which helps clearing the blood amino acid and further stop amino acid to reach brain. We can also have some complex carbohydrate & calcium full meal to get relax. Include some protein diet also.

Light dinner

Whatever the food it is , we should not have a huge amount of food. These will make us full and it will take much time to digest the food. Take small meal after evening so that we don't have to eat too much by dinner.

Snacks

We can take some whole-grain cereal with milk or some peanuts or oatmeal before sleep. This is also a good habit before sleep. Do not have any fat item like butter,ghee which ll take much time to digest.

Have these meals in Dinner for better sleep :

• Plain rice with curd or simple veg curry,
• Scrambled Eggs with roti,
• Any less oily sabji/curry with roti,
• Less spicy chicken with vegetables,
• Lot of water
• Have some juice

In todays lifestyle most of us used to go to restaurant, bar at night time only. This simply disturb the habit of a sound sleep in a human body. As most of the time we ate heavy junk food, drinks at dinner time.

To have sound sleep the only mantra is to have less & plain diet at night time so that it digest soon and relax our body soon.

Cornmeal Pine Nut Cookies

My husband was craving cookies and on a chilly afternoon, I decided to whip up a batch of these rather healthy little bites. Adapted from Mollie Katzen's excellent Sunlight Café, she suggests nibbling on them on your morning break with a hot drink. They are also nice to go along with your breakfast for that matter. Not too sweet at all, and flavored with pure maple syrup, complimented by pine nuts, a hint of lemon, vanilla and ginger, I will certainly make these again.

Ms. Katzen has lots of wonderful ideas for a stress-free breakfast, ranging from beverages, fruit creations, grains, quick breads, eggs, vegetables, beans, puddings and condiments and sauces to go along with many of the recipes. Readers will certainly be inspired to rethink their breakfast menus. Too often we get into the habit of eating the same old thing, including boxed cereals that are not especially good for you. Not all of the ideas here would do on a particularly busy morning - though many of the recipes can be prepared ahead of time - and if you have time or wish to have a delightful brunch or lunch, this is an ideal book to consult. Truly, the author offers a fresh approach to breakfast all day and your body will be happy for the range of nourishing ideas presented throughout, along with helpful and interesting information and tips.

Cornmeal Pine Nut Cookies

Recipe by Lisa Turner Adapted from Mollie Katzens Sunlight Café Published on May 18, 2012 Easy, dense and chewy, and just slightly sweetened cornmeal and pine nut cookies flavored with pure maple syrup, a hint of lemon, vanilla and ginger Print this recipe Wet ingredients: 2 large eggs 1/2 teaspoon sea salt 1/4 cup maple syrup 2 tablespoons sesame oil 2/3 teaspoons vanilla Dry ingredients: 1 1/3 cups spelt or unbleached white flour 2/3 cup cornmeal 1 tablespoon grated lemon zest 2/3 cup pine nuts 2 teaspoons ground ginger Xylitol or sugar for sprinkling Instructions: Preheat an oven to 350° and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a large bowl, beat the eggs until smooth. Stir in the salt, maple syrup, sesame oil and vanilla. Stir well to combine. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cornmeal, lemon zest, pine nuts and ginger. Transfer the dry ingredients to the wet mixture and stir until well combined. With damp hands, roll a roughly 2 - 3 teaspoon piece of dough into a small ball. Flatten it into a round, about 1-inch in diameter. Transfer to the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining dough. Sprinkle each of the cookies with Xylitol or sugar. Bake for 15 minutes or until the cookies turn a nice golden color. Cool on a wire rack for another 15 minutes and serve. Makes about 15 cookies or more depending on how thin the dough is rolled.

More cookie recipes from Lisa's Vegetarian Kitchen you are sure to enjoy:
Cayenne Peanut Butter Cookies
Cream Cheese Sugar Cookies
Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
Flourless Peanut Butter Chocolate Cookies

On the top of the reading stack: "Poor Folk" by Dostoyevsky

Audio Accompaniment: "On Land" by Brian Eno

Rugelach - the cookie nightmare of perfectionists

I guess that this recipe tried to teach me a lesson: nothing worse for a perfectionist/control freak like me to realize that no, I won’t be able to shape all the cookies the same way and yes, some will be tiny and others will be huge. At least I waited for a cold day to make these (after the other rugelach fiasco) and despite the problems with the rolling and shaping of the cookies they turned

Home made chocolate cake

Today I will post my first bake recipe. But the bad thing is that I dont have microwave yet. Anyway it will be in my kitchen soon. So I bake this recipe in typical home baking style. I have prepared a very simple cake at home last week. A chocolate cake with egg. It tastes really very well, might be it would have been more better if I could have bake it in oven.

Anyway, this will help those people who are like me. Means dont have microwave yet but love to make a simple cake for your family.

Preparation time : 45 min

Ingredients
Plain flour - 1 cup
Powdered sugar - 1 cup (you can boil the sugar in water and cool down later. Use this liquid sugar)
Egg - 2
Refined oil or plain butter - 1/2 cup (I will say this optional)
Baking soda - 1 tsp
Milk - 1 cup
Liquid Chocolate (melt one small diarymilk)

How to Cook:
Beat the eggs very well so that it looks like smooth batter. Now add maida, sugar liquid and baking powder to it and mix them properly. You have to make sure there is no flour lumph left in the mixture.

Now add milk and liquid chocolate as well. If you like you can add refined oil. But it will not that good for health to eat so much oil. Without oil also you can get a good result. Anyway I have not added.

Finally a light chocolaty mixture will be ready to bake. Now let's see how can we do the baking at home.

We can take a pan and put on a low flame. You can put a layer of sand on that pan and then put the cake container. Or else directly put that also, as I do.

In the container where the batter will be placed, put some melted butter layer. It will save the cake to stick to the bottom of that container.

Now add the batter in that container. It's better to use a alluminium container. At that time I dont have that, as I was not at home while preparing the cake. So less resources.

Anyway, finally cover the whole setup with some other utesil. I used a cooker.

Wait for 30-35 min and cake is ready by that time.

My family liked the taste very much, might be by look its not that attractive. But it works.

Enjoy.