I do not have elephants memory, but some things stay with me forever.
My personal favorite quotes from one of the most amazing people (see my vocabulary, I cannot find good Gandhi-appropriate adjectives for the Mahatma).
Here you go:
- “Genuine laughter is true eloquence.”
- “Be the change you want to see in the world.” (do not know the exact words)
Just thought we all must stop, take a step back and linger on these for a few moments.
Here’s what I ate today… see see, look look… it was divine!!
Sauteed Baby bella mushrooms, chicken kebab, fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, salad leaves, hmmm.. hmm…hmm..
… actually more like Yesterday, because the next post, is what I ate today…
so here you go guys…
Chicken Shawarma (I have left it open to show u the inside), but then instead of rolling the pita, I just folded half pita over the chicken.
Reshmi Chicken Tikka..
Thank you, thank you dear Tehs!
(One more brilliant recipe from Tehsin, tried it today, and yes they taste as good as they look in the picture! 
)
Tehsin, You are the best, in case you didn’t know it already!
Chipotle is not too expensive, but homemade rocks any day right? You have control over the salt, oil, butter etc.
Also, especially if you have a large family or a group of friends over for dinner, its an awesome idea for build your own burrito, huh, that’s what is my next theme for a dinner party.
Till then, how about I break down Tehsin’s recipe for Make-your-own-burrito.
Ingredients:
For Tomato salsa: fresh tomatoes, salt, pepper, lemon juice, cilantro, green hot peppers (optional grated garlic)
For Corn salsa: Frozen Corn (microwaved and ready to use), salt, pepper, lemon juice, cilantro
Black Kidney Beans (Use a ready to use can and heat it, or follow my recipe for making ‘raajma’, use black beans instead of red ones)
Chicken cut in cubes (Preferable grilled chicken, but if you dont have grill, no problem, follow my chicken Tandoori recipe)
Green Bell peppers and Red Onions, cut length wise
Sour cream or I like just plain whole fat Yogurt (‘dahi’)
Mozzarella cheese shredded (I just use the one from Kraft, which is already shredded)
For rice: Cooked white rice, cilantro, lemon juice, salt and a little bit oil
Tortilla (store-bought, or homemade using all purpose flour (‘maida’) – Optional
Method:
1) Mix all the ingredients to make the tomato salsa (If using the garlic, I would recommend following my salsa recipe, where you would just mix the ingredients and boil for a few minutes)
2) For the corn salsa, mix all the ingredients and keep in a bowl.
3) Please follow the recipe if you like to make your own beans too.
4) Chicken, keep it hot after its cooked.
5) First stir fry the onions then the green bell peppers. They should not lose their crunch, so do this on a high heat.
6) Mozzarella and Sour cream or Yogurt are ready to use
7) For the rice, make rice, and then quickly toss the chopped cilantro, lemon juice, salt and a little oil. (Oil prevents the rice from becoming sticky)
Just create an assembly line (like in a factory). We like to make burrito bowl, instead of rolling up in a tortilla, trust me, looks pretty too, see the picture.
Enjoy!
Tandoori chicken burger with salsa (and leftover beans and rice from Chipotle on the side)
Looks good huh?
Well it tasted even better than it looks. And guess what I whipped it up in a couple minutes.
Yesterday I had marinated a couple chicken breasts in Shan’s Tandoori masala (but you can use any brand you have). And cooked in after about 4 hours of marination at room temperature (If its too hot where you live, you may want to refrigerate the marinade). This is Tehsins idea. She said you have to cook the entire breast in the pan for about 4-5 minutes on each side. And just to be extra sure its cooked, I let the chicken hang out at the end in the pan with the lid on for about 3-5 minutes.
Once the chicken is cool enough, you can make cubes of it or use half of it, as I did today, on my chicken burger.
So there you go:
Bun, a layer of mayonnaise, lettuce leaves, tomato slice (I didn’t have any today, hence I had to improvise, and I ended up using salsa, which turned out to be Fabulous-O!), a cheese slice, of course the chicken, and some salt and pepper. Ta-da!
Enjoy, and think of me, when you are devouring this sandwich!
…last weekend. Or maybe that was a couple weekends back. But, it was a blast!
Okay why is it important for us? Because we had lots of good food, met good ol’ friends, had a good time! Isn’t that what we are all about: Good food, Good friends, and a Good life!
So, let me recap what all happened, and then I will follow up with the new recipes. I am sooooo excited!
First stop: Harrisburg, PA. Let me say one thing, wow, for a small little place, it is power packed! Has lots of good stores for shopping, good deals, lots of good grocery stores, lots of Indian grocery stores.
We lived with Maira jaan and her parents. Maira is so gorgeous! Maira’s mom, Sadia, is such an awesome cook. She is a great artist too. I will post some of her recipes.
They took us to Hershey town. While I have been to the Chocolate Factory long back, its always been in the winter. But it is Maira loves it, and Sadia says its much more fun in the summer with the rides and stuff.
From Harrisburg we went to Baltimore, to dear friend Tehsins. She has a new house! Its so lovely. Its purrrfect!
And the food she cooked; Oh, oh! Thai Curry with chicken, Chicken manchurian, super simple fried rice (ofcourse, its all Indian-ized!).
In Baltimore, Tehsin treated us to the Aquarium located in the downtown, right at the Inner Bay (I think that’s what it is called). It was so much fun! The highlight was definitely the Dolphin show and the 3-D movie theater which was playing our sons favorite movie ‘Diego’!
Did lots of grocery shopping, again awesome Indian and Chinese grocery stores!
So, I know even though its winter up here in Northeast Ohio; its still possible to have fun. Just take the effort and drive to a little bit warmer place. This way you get to meet your friends, spend some time with them, (of course remember to invite them to your place too), enjoy good food (also help them however you can, so its less taxing to the host), and have a good time!
Gotta go, I have to cook lunch now (planning to cook the Thai curry with chicken now, and then use the Shan Chicken Ginger masala).
I will come back and post the super awesome recipes, and promise they are super simple too.
Till then, take care!
If Indians (living anywhere in the world) had to make a list of their favorite comfort food, guess what would be in every list?
Maggi! (yes, you bet, maggi noodles, the 2 minute wonder which was introduced in India decades ago, and it spread like wild fire all across the country in no time)
Nestle rocks, first Nescafe, milk, chocolates, Maggi noodles… go Nestle go! *
Indians, no matter, young or old, love Maggi noodles, (it is like Top ramen noodles, only so much more tastier, and the flavors are crazy, plus they are making the whole grain ones these days – win win!)
I have so much cooked food in our refrigerator, but tonight we both just wanted to eat Maggi noodles.
Hmm, yummy!
Do you agree?
*Please note: I am uncertain of the order in which the products debuted in India.
Tehsin gave me this recipe earlier, but I had not taken it down. And yes, I do make kadhi, but it is never perfect, so this time I wrote it down. My son loves yogurt. So he likes to eat this kadhi with Moong khichdi.
Ingredients:
1 bowl yogurt,
2-3 tsp chickpea flour (besan),
turmeric,
corriander seeds (dhania) pdr,
cumin (jeera) pdr,
red chilli pdr,
salt,
oil for cooking,
fenugreek (methi) seeds,
cumin (jeera) or mustard (rai) seeds,
optional chopped tomatoes, curry leaves, chopped onion, fresh green hot peppers, fresh cilantro (dhania)
Method:
Mix all the above ingredients up to salt, and keep it ready in a bowl.
In oil, fry methi seeds, till brown, add rai or jeera, then onion chopped (optional), and cook till translucent.
Add curry leaves, and tomatoes(optional), green chilli.
Add yogurt mixture, add water, cook till done. Stir continuously.
Fresh cilantro or coriander for garnish.
Note: Once I did not have chickpea flour, and I used all purpose flour instead, and it worked fine.
I think doodhi is gourd in English, if not I am sorry, please correct me.
In India, I kept hearing that doodhi is some sort of a super vegetable, for heart, for dieters, for babies, for old people, for everyone. So, these days, I mostly buy it, and make soup with it, but today I wanted to try what my mother makes with it. This is super duper easy, so yummy, and so quick. Oh man! Why didn’t someone tell me this earlier.
So, here you go:
Ingredients:
Potatoes (2 or 3 small, peeled, and chopped in large bite size)
‘Doodhi’ (1 medium sized, peeled, seeds removed, and chopped in same size as potatoes)
fried onions, about 2 tbsp (or you can chop and fry 1 small onion)
1 tomato diced
1 tsp whole cumin seeds (jeera)
3-4 curry leaves (optional, but I am in love with them these days, or the fragrance, hmmm….)
spice mix: salt, 1/2 tsp red chilli powder, 1/4 tsp garam masala, 1/2 tsp corriander ‘dhania’ powder, 1/4 tsp cumin ‘jeera’ powder)
3 tbsp oil, (less is fine too)
1 glass water for cooking
Method:
I used a pressure cooker, but any pan is alright, though cooking with pressure cooker is less time in kitchen.
So, start with heating the oil, drop the cumin seeds, then, the curry leaves, add the tomatoes, and a little salt. Cook till the tomatoes are almost tender, add the chopped doodhi, and potatoes, and then sprinkle the spice mix. Saute the mixture, for a bit. Then add the fried onions, and a glass of water. Now pressure cook for about 2 whistles ( I think about 7-10 mins), or till the vegetables are tender.
Thats it, done. Eat with rice, or chapatis, or if on a diet, with some yogurt. Yummy!
Optional: Add lots of chopped fresh cilantro (hara dhania) for color, and some more vitamins.
Note: If using fresh onion, fry them till they are brown before adding the tomatoes.
Update: Also, to make it protein rich, add washed and soaked chana daal along with the cut vegetables. Delish!