Watermelon Basil Lemonade , the perfect summer drink

Summer is here!!!! And there is nothing more refreshing than fresh watermelon juice on a hot summer day. I love watermelon and it is one of my favourite summer fruit.

 Now watermelon season is everywhere. I often make juice or  lemonade with this. This time i tried to infuse the basil leaves to my regular watermelon lemonade recipe. I simply loved the delicate flavour of basil in the watermelon lemonade. Try this, you will enjoy!!.

The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf { Food Tasting and Review }

"If you are cold, tea will warm you. If you are too heated, it will cool you.

      If you are depressed, it will cheer you.  If you are excited, it will calm you." 

                                                                                   -  William Gladstone

Relaxing atmosphere, aroma of coffee beans, Chocolate treats, Gourmet Foods....want all this at one place...... then the place is The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf.  This year it is celebrating 50 years of heritage and passion for Coffee and Tea. I got an invitation from Coffee Beans and Tea leaf, 1 MG mall, Bangalore to be part of their 50 years of celebrations.

Pomegranate, Orange and Basil Salad | Simple and Quick Salad recipe

Some days back in Bangalore there was heavy rain. It had rained heavily in the night and had stopped by morning. As usual i got up and opened my door to take the milk packets. It has just stopped raining. When i came near the gate to take the milk packets, i looked out and everything around me  looked so fresh and clean.  The trees, small garden in front of my house, my terrace garden looked even more green and sparkling. Then i took out my little gadget (camera ) and shot some pictures. When i was   coming down from my terrace i saw some little boys playing and enjoying in their own way. They saw me clicking photos of them, they invited their other little friends and wanted me to click the photos of all.

Mad Over Donuts - M.O.D {Food Tasting and Review}

  When i got an invite from Mad Over Donuts, i thought whether i should go or not. Because i never tasted donuts in my life and never thought of buying it even if i pass the outlet/store. I always thought it would be more sugary, rubbery, hard and very sweet. Then i had asked my friends +Lubna Karim  and +Satrupa dash , they said it will be soft and yummy and has less sweet. They also said try once you will love it.Finally i decided i will try donuts atleast once in my lifetime. And you know what, when i tasted it i completely gone mad over donuts.

Pan Roasted Chicken Strips

When ever i don't feel like cooking, it is my hubby who cooks for me. Mostly he cooks non vegetarian and Chinese food. This is one of his signature recipe which i like most. This is easy to make, very quick and if you have barbecue then this is the perfect recipe. As i don't have barbecue grill, i used dosa tawa and cooked it. It hardly took 8 min's to cook. Try this, you will surely love it.

Preparation Time : 15 Min's | Marination Time : 30 Min's | Cooking time : 8 Min's approx

Serves 3 persons | Makes 12 Chicken Strips
Pan Roasted Chicken Strips with step by step pictures

Ingredients

• 1/4 kg Chicken fillets
• 2 tbsp Chilly powder
• 1/2 tsp Turmeric powder
• 2 tbsp Fennel seeds
• Egg white from 1 large Egg
• Salt to taste
• 3 tbsp of Olive Oil

Method

• Wash the chicken fillets thoroughly and wipe with the kitchen towel . Slice the chicken fillets into flat/thin strips. Pound or beat each strips gently with the back of the knife to flatten them and keep aside.

• Place the fennel seeds in mortar and pestle and ground to a coarse powder. In a large bowl place chilly powder, turmeric powder, ground fennel seeds, salt and mix well. Add egg white to the spice mixture and make it to a thick batter consistency.

• Take the chicken strips one by one and coat them with the batter evenly.

• Heat the flat tawa and spread 1 tbsp of oil over the tawa. Place the chicken strips without touching each other and drizzle 1/2 tbsp oil over the chicken cook for 4 minutes. Then flip the other side and drizzle the remaining oil over the chicken and cook till its done or for another 3 min's.

• When cooked transfer to a plate and squeeze lemon juice over the hot chicken strips and serve immediately.

P.S :

• While cooking the chicken strips do not press them with the spatula, it will make chicken hard.
• Taste best when served hot.

Roundup and Winner of Cook Eat Delicious Event - Walnuts

Hi friends, thank you all for participating in the event Cook Eat Delicious 18 - walnuts and sending your entries. Also i would like to thank Raven of Cook Eat Delicious for giving me the opportunity to host this event. Sorry for the delay. Here is the round up of the event.

1. Dates Walnut Loaf cake  2. Banana walnut Bundt cake  3. Dates and Nutes Burfi with Nutella  4. Eggless Banana Walnut Cake  5. Eggless Walnut Muffins  6. Egg Less Banana Walnut Bread  7. cream cheese spirals  8. Pumpkin Walnut Muffins  9. Chocolate Walnut Brownie  10. Crunchy Aromatic filled Apple Strudel  11. Chocolatey Brownies  12. Date-Walnut Truffles  13. Walnut crumb  14. Walnut Snowball Cookies  15. Nutella Walnut Brownies

And the lucky winner chosen randomly by Raven is  Lubna of Yummy food. Congrats to the winner and thanks again everyone for their contribution.

Congratulation to the winner. Please send me your mailing address and you will receive the give-away :)

Britannia Masala Chaas {Product Review}

Britannia Industries Ltd, the most trusted brands in India and also one of the leading food companies in the field of bakery and dairy segments has recently launched Masala Chaas Buttermilk - a light milk based beverage to expand its health food portfolio.

Eat Healthy Think Better

Aloo Bhindi Stir Fry (Potato and Lady Finger )

Aloo Bhindi is a simple side dish recipe yet very delicious too.Whenever i get ladiesfinger from market, i usually end up frying it. This time i thought of making stir fry with it. Also i had leftover boiled baby  potatoes in my fridge. So i thought i will combine with bhindi. It was absolutely delicious.  Enjoyed this side dish with ridgegourd sambar, rasam and curd.

Ingredients

• 1 Onion, medium sized, chopped
• 1 Tomato, medium sized, chopped
• 1/2 kg Lady Fingers / Okra / Bhindi
• 50 gms of Boiled Baby Potatoes
• 1/2 tsp Mustard Seeds
• 1 tsp Channa Dal / Split Chick Peas
• a pinch of Turmeric powder,
• 3 Green Chllies, slit
• 1 tbsp of Hudson Canola Oil
• Salt to taste

Method

1. Heat oil in heavy bottomed kadai/wok, when hot add channa dal and fry, then add mustard seeds and allow it to splutter.
2. Add onions, green chillies and fry till it becomes light golden brown in colour.
3. Next add tomatoes and stir fry till it turns soft.
4. Add the chopped ladies finger to it and mix well, cover the oak with a lid and continue stir fry for 12 minutes or until the ladies finger are 3/4th done. In between sprinkle water and continue stir frying it.
5. Then add the boiled potatoes to it, and saute for 3 minutes or until bhindi is completely cooked.
6. Serve with rice or roti.

Review : CP Food's " Five Star Chicken"

 Few days back i got a mail from Priyanka to visit and review about Five Star Chicken at SJR Tech Park. A new joint in town for street food lovers. Me and my blogger friends dropped into SJR Tech park and  Mr . Shankar, five star chicken kiosks owner,SJR Techpark and Mr Sanjeev Pant - Vice President, CP Foods gave a warm welcome to me and my pals. They took us to the food court to sample their  creation.

Shashi's Five Star Chicken Kiosk, SJR Tech Park

Aloo Stuffed Bajra Paratha

I always try to incorporate millets into my diet. They are healthy and nutritious  So in today's recipe I have used bajra flour (pearl millet flour/ Kambu maavu in tamil) along with whole wheat flour and made stuffed parathas. I have used potatoes for the stuffing, instead, you can use radish, broccoli etc. as you wish. Serve this paratha with onion raitha or with your favorite gravy.

Makes 12 medium-sized parathas

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup of Bajra Flour
• 1 1/2 cups of Wheat Flour
• Water to knead the dough
• Salt to taste

For the Filling

• 2 Potatoes, cooked and mashed
• 1 Onion, medium-sized, finely chopped
• 1 Green Chilly, finely chopped
• 1/4 tsp Red Chilly Powder
• 1/4 tsp Cumin powder
• Few Coriander leaves, finely chopped
• Salt to taste

Method

1. In a bowl mix all the ingredients for the stuffing and keep aside.
2. Mix the Bajra flour, wheat flour, and salt in another bowl. Add the water gradually and knead into a soft dough. Cover and keep aside for 15 minutes.
3. Flatten a ball of dough and roll it. Place a small portion(say lemon-sized) of the stuffing at the center, bring the edges towards the center and roll the dough gently by dusting the flour.
4. Heat the tawa, place the paratha, grease some oil and cook on both sides. Repeat with the remaining dough. Serve with your favorite gravy, raitha, etc...

Also, check the following roti/paratha recipes

Oats and Dill Leaves Paratha

Broccoli Stuffed paratha

Mint Roti

Stuffed Cauliflower parathas

Chocolate Butterfly CupCakes

Hi friends, hope you are all doing good. I was not quite regular in blogging for the past couple of months. So many things kept me away from blogging, but i'm back now. So i'm starting this New Year with a cupcake post. I love chocolate and so here is one of my favourite chocolate butterfly cupcake recipe. Its very easy to prepare and and i'm sure kids will love this and also, it is a perfect recipe to bake with kids.

Event and Giveaway

Hello Friends, Wish you all a very Happy new Year. I'm hosting an event this month. Thanks to Raven - CookEatDelicious for this opportunity. I welcome you all to participate and make this event a great success.Thank you. The information about the event follows.

Life without Desserts is no life at all! Desserts create smiles, laughter, and sweet aromas
that fill the house with deliciousness.

This month I am hosting the Monthly Food Blog Event and Giveaway,
“Cook.Eat.Delicious-Desserts!” This month’s theme is Walnuts!

The event runs from January 1st-31st

A random recipe will be chosen to win the Giveaway.
Round-up and Winner announcement will be posted on February 5th.

CookEatDelicious.com has started this great event.

Here are the RULES:
1. Cook up any dessert your heart desires, as long as Walnuts are the star!
2. Link back to this announcement and to CookEatDelicious.com in your blog post (Use
of logo is optional but appreciated)
3. New entries are preferred, with archived ones being re-posted.
4. Multiple entries accepted with only one going towards the Giveaway.
5. Non-bloggers are welcome to send in their entry. Please attach a photo and full recipe and send to my email id.
6. After your recipe is posted, add it using the Linky Tool below. If you have issues linking up, you could send it via email to valar(dot)sanju (at)gmail(dot)com.
7.  Post a comment in this post after linking the post or emailing me!
8.  You can also email your submission by January 31st, 2013 to valar (dot) sanju (at) gmail (dot) com
with “CEDD 18″ in the subject line and the following information:
Your Name:
Your Location:
Blog Name:
Recipe Name:
Recipe URL:
1 Dessert Photo

Now the GIVEAWAY:

Walnut Greats: Delicious Walnut Recipes, The Top 100 Walnut Recipes

If you love walnuts you will definitely love Walnut Greats Cookbook! Walnut
Greats is full of 100 delicious recipes each featuring walnuts in one way or
another. Impress your friends with these gorgeous and yummy recipes!

By Jo Frank