<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?><?xml-stylesheet href="http://www.blogger.com/styles/atom.css" type="text/css"?><feed xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom' xmlns:openSearch='http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearchrss/1.0/' xmlns:georss='http://www.georss.org/georss'><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3878475609315528052</id><updated>2009-10-13T02:30:37.362-04:00</updated><title type='text'>The Search for Ambrosia ( Food of the Gods )</title><subtitle type='html'></subtitle><link rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#feed' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://diningpleasure.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/3878475609315528052/posts/default'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://diningpleasure.blogspot.com/'/><link rel='hub' href='http://pubsubhubbub.appspot.com/'/><author><name>Swati</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/10677276261593052527</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email></author><generator version='7.00' uri='http://www.blogger.com'>Blogger</generator><openSearch:totalResults>12</openSearch:totalResults><openSearch:startIndex>1</openSearch:startIndex><openSearch:itemsPerPage>25</openSearch:itemsPerPage><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3878475609315528052.post-8087896889055165652</id><published>2009-08-27T10:19:00.001-04:00</published><updated>2009-08-27T10:22:45.284-04:00</updated><title type='text'>After so so so long!!</title><content type='html'>After totally giving up on updating  this blog, I am motivated again to post some new recipes Soon!! This weekend we are planning on making Paneer Tikkas ( Grilled cottage cheese)  and Puri Sabji ! So, I will post the recipe and some pictures :)&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3878475609315528052-8087896889055165652?l=diningpleasure.blogspot.com'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://diningpleasure.blogspot.com/feeds/8087896889055165652/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=3878475609315528052&amp;postID=8087896889055165652' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/3878475609315528052/posts/default/8087896889055165652'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/3878475609315528052/posts/default/8087896889055165652'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://diningpleasure.blogspot.com/2009/08/after-so-so-so-long.html' title='After so so so long!!'/><author><name>Swati</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/10677276261593052527</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='06065035769966249021'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3878475609315528052.post-9933573239277383</id><published>2008-05-28T23:05:00.004-04:00</published><updated>2008-06-12T17:12:01.200-04:00</updated><title type='text'>Lunch Break?</title><content type='html'>&lt;div style="text-align: justify;"&gt;Lunch is usually a mid day meal and most people have it while at work. I like bringing my own lunch from home instead of buying a crappy sandwich or other kinds of unhealthy lunch options available. I call them unhealthy because anything filled with fried chicken, cheese, white bread, sugar, butter is unhealthy for me. I love lunch time and hate to skip it because if I do, the afternoon definitely turns out to be bad for me cos I feel really sleepy zzzzzz......&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Sometimes I wake up about 20-20 minutes earlier in the day to make my lunch or I cook my lunch before I sleep at night and pack my lunch box ( This happens when I am feeling very energetic :P) So! Here are some of my favorite lunch ideas! I discovered most of these recipes randomly in desperation :P&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Idea 1: Pita bread Sandwich&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Ingredients:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Whole Wheat Pita Bread&lt;br /&gt;Left Over Rice&lt;br /&gt;Green Lettuce&lt;br /&gt;Hummus ( My friend Krishna gave me the recipe for a very good home made hummus which is amazingly awesome! But ready made hummus is also available in grocery stores)&lt;br /&gt;Yoghurt Dip ( Optional, this is a greek dip, and extremely easy to make)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Method:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;1) Heat the pita bread, cut it from the top so that you can fill stuff in it. (It is hollow from inside)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;2) On one side, apply Hummus, on the other side apply yogurt dip. Apply both of them generously :D&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;3) Now put some cut lettuce leaves in it and then fill it up with rice and pack it in an aluminum foil and you are done!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;P.S I will post the Hummus recipe and the Yoghurt Dip Recipe right now I feel too lazy to do that :D&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Idea 2: Green Pepper and Potato Patty Sandwich&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Ingredients:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Green Pepper&lt;br /&gt;Onion and spring Onion would be better, I use whatever is available&lt;br /&gt;Oregano&lt;br /&gt;Sale &amp;amp; Pepper&lt;br /&gt;Boiled Potatoes&lt;br /&gt;Mayo&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Method:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;1) Heat some olive oil, saute Spring Oinions/yellow onions/red onions and Green pepper till both are about half cooked, then add some salt, pepper and Oregano according to your taste.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;2) Now, mash the boiled potatoes and add some salt in it and shape it in the form of a round patty/or cutlet as we call it in India.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;3) Take 2 slices of bread, you can toast them if you like.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;4) For the sandwich filing: Put the Potato patty on one slice of bread, put the potato patty on top of it and then spread some Mayo to stick everything together and cover with the second bread slice and you are done.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Idea 3: ( My favorite!!!) Turkey and Cheese Bagel Sandwich : This can be had as a breakfast also instead of lunch&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Ingredients:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Turkey Slice&lt;br /&gt;Cheese Slice&lt;br /&gt;Bagel ( I use any kind of whole wheat bagel )&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Method:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;1) Toast the Bagel  in a toaster&lt;br /&gt;2) Roast the turkey slice on a pan till its a little brownish&lt;br /&gt;3) Filling for the toasted Bagel : Turkey slice and cheese slice&lt;br /&gt;4) OMG Yum!!!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Idea 4: Indian Patty - Extremely simple to make&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;Ingredients:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Bread ( I use whole wheat bread)&lt;br /&gt;Left over veggies&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Method:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;1) To make this, you need asandwich maker, which is quite cheap, I got it for about 15 bucks&lt;br /&gt;2) Just take the bread and fill it with any kind of left over veggies and use the sandwich maker to make the patties!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Idea 5: Quick Microwave rava idlis&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;If you made Sambhar last night and if you hate having cold rice with sambhar and have nothing else in the fridge, this is the option you should try! It takes 5 minutes if you have a microwavable  idli maker.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Ingredients:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Sooji&lt;br /&gt;Curd&lt;br /&gt;Salt&lt;br /&gt;Eno&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Method&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;1) Take about 2 cups idli, add 3-4 tablespoon curd in it and enough water to make an idli batter. ( it's a little thicker than pakora batter I guess :D)&lt;br /&gt;2) Add about a tablespoon of eno just before pouring the batter in the idli maker&lt;br /&gt;2) Fill in the idli maker and don't forget to put some water on the bottom of the idli holders because we want to cook the idlis in steam.&lt;br /&gt;3) Put the idli maker in the microwave for 4 minutes you idlis are ready to go.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;You can take the Sambhar in a separate box and wrap the idlis in an aluminum foil. This is the way I do it :)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Idea 6: Tomato Rice&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;While you take a shower in the morning you can put about 1 cup rice in the microwave for about 15 minutes if you do not have left over rice.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Ingredients&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Rice&lt;br /&gt;1/2 Chopped Onion&lt;br /&gt;1/2 Chopped Tomato&lt;br /&gt;1/2 Tsp Garam Masala&lt;br /&gt;1/4 Tsp Red Chilli Powder&lt;br /&gt;1 Table Spoon Lemon water&lt;br /&gt;1/4th of a cup Coriander leaves&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Method:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;1) Heat oil in a pan, saute the oinion and tomatoes together for about 2-3 minutes or until they are half cooked.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;2) Add salt, garam masala, Red Chilli powder and again saute for about 2 minutes until the tomatoes look cooked.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;3) Mix the rice in it together with the lemon juice&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;4) Add the coriander leaves and mix for about a minute&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;5) Pack in your favorite lunch box !&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So, these are some of my favorite lunch ideas. Try them and tell me about it! And increase the list. I so hate spending about 6-10 bucks every afternoon on lunch which is not even healthy! But there are some places which do not make me feel that guilty about spending on lunch at least once a week ( Even I need a break and be lazy sometimes!) So these are places Like Panera bread, subway or Atlanta bread. And When I really feel like having unhealthy but extremely yummy food, its definitely Noodles and Company ( Japanese Pan noodles and Penne rosa being my favs!), Panda (Because of the Fried Orange Chicken!) And yes! who can forget Chipotle Burrito Bol!( I don't know how healthy it is, but is is yummy!)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3878475609315528052-9933573239277383?l=diningpleasure.blogspot.com'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://diningpleasure.blogspot.com/feeds/9933573239277383/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=3878475609315528052&amp;postID=9933573239277383' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/3878475609315528052/posts/default/9933573239277383'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/3878475609315528052/posts/default/9933573239277383'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://diningpleasure.blogspot.com/2008/05/lunch-break.html' title='Lunch Break?'/><author><name>Swati</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/10677276261593052527</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='06065035769966249021'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3878475609315528052.post-8237192519886073922</id><published>2008-05-01T18:20:00.000-04:00</published><updated>2008-05-14T13:25:04.728-04:00</updated><title type='text'>gluab jamun............Sweeeeeeeeeeet</title><content type='html'>Ok not a biggy any one can do it, what i used was a pre-mix powder from gits. It was 100gm packet, to get really good results few precautions&lt;br /&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Don't over heat the oil, start with medium heat and when half done reduce to low&lt;/li&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;to check heat just drop a small piece of dough it should immediately float&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Don't make big round balls, diameter should be approx 3/4 of an inch&lt;/li&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;i chose to make cylindrical shape &lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;(approx half the size of AAA battery)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Double check the consistency of the sugar syrup&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;Ok Follow the instructions on back of the Pre-mix packet, while making dough don't add water in one go, add half of the suggested amount first mix, then add the remaining half of water, Mix, and keep doing so till u get dough together after that just sprinkle little by little if needed.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;what is correct softness of dough, well just like the clay or little less&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Deep Fry  - instructions above&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Now for sugar syrup boil&lt;br /&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;really sweet  2 parts of sugar+1 part of Water&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Not so Sweet 1 parts of sugar + 1 parts of water (problem gulab jamuns will become soggy)&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;add Kesar, cardamom(elaichi) if desired, Soak for 10-15 min and u r good to go!!&lt;br /&gt;don't add in boiling syrup, it should be warm&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Enjoy!!!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;PS: dont have a picture they eaten by the time i wrote this :)&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3878475609315528052-8237192519886073922?l=diningpleasure.blogspot.com'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://diningpleasure.blogspot.com/feeds/8237192519886073922/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=3878475609315528052&amp;postID=8237192519886073922' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/3878475609315528052/posts/default/8237192519886073922'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/3878475609315528052/posts/default/8237192519886073922'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://diningpleasure.blogspot.com/2008/05/gluab-jamunsweeeeeeeeeeet.html' title='gluab jamun............Sweeeeeeeeeeet'/><author><name>sandy</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/06732758283089757359</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='15887233998414022711'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3878475609315528052.post-9078353710223139939</id><published>2008-04-17T10:00:00.003-04:00</published><updated>2008-04-17T11:02:21.563-04:00</updated><title type='text'>Skipping Breakfast and Lunch - A BIG NO NO</title><content type='html'>I am sure many of my friends skip lunch, at least most of the people I know do so. I recently read an article and according to that, it is very unhealthy to skip breakfast and lunch. In fact, it says that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Having breakfast in the morning is the key to perform better physical ad mental activity. People who have a healthy breakfast are able to maintain a more healthier weight than those who do not. And I feel this all makes sense! Since, if you skip breakfast, you keep feeling hungry all day and eventually end up gorging food when its time for dinner!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I never miss breakfast, and the day I do, I literally can not stand on my feet! I think this is all because of my mother, who has spoilt me as people say (:P), but I believe its more like a good eating habit. So, now when I am here in the US, away from home and all my luxuries of just sitting on the dining table ready to eat food, I have to cook my own breakfast and being a graduate student, I definitely do not have the time to cook a royal breakfast :P, but I got some ideas for a quick and almost healthy breakfast. So here are some of my breakfast ideas :&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;IDEA 1: Cereals!! ( Easy and healthy!)&lt;br /&gt;IDEA 2 : A glass of milk ( with Nesquick :D) and toasted bread slice with a turkey slice and a cheese slice and an orange.&lt;br /&gt;IDEA 3: Toast and Omelet. I don't think there is anyone who does not know how quick it is to make an omelet!&lt;br /&gt;IDEA 4: Banana and glass of milk.&lt;br /&gt;IDEA5: Bagel with cream cheese&lt;br /&gt;IDEA 6: Toast and peanut butter&lt;br /&gt;IDEA 7: Boiled eggs&lt;br /&gt;Keep suggesting ideas, I really want to increase this list :)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Also, keep this is mind that having breakfast might make you hungry earlier in the day, this only means that your metabolism has been stimulated and you body needs more food. So, wait till its time for lunch. And yes, skipping lunch is also unhealthy. You need lunch to feel good and  all afternoon. I will post more health benefits of having lunch and some cool and quick lunch recipes.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3878475609315528052-9078353710223139939?l=diningpleasure.blogspot.com'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://diningpleasure.blogspot.com/feeds/9078353710223139939/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=3878475609315528052&amp;postID=9078353710223139939' title='11 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/3878475609315528052/posts/default/9078353710223139939'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/3878475609315528052/posts/default/9078353710223139939'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://diningpleasure.blogspot.com/2008/04/skipping-breakfast-and-lunch-big-no-no.html' title='Skipping Breakfast and Lunch - A BIG NO NO'/><author><name>Swati</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/10677276261593052527</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='06065035769966249021'/></author><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>11</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3878475609315528052.post-1561954960555060438</id><published>2008-04-16T09:25:00.006-04:00</published><updated>2008-04-17T09:58:51.288-04:00</updated><title type='text'>South Indian</title><content type='html'>&lt;div style="text-align: justify;"&gt;If people are expecting me to cook south Indian food from scratch, then this is probably the wrong place! But if students like me are reading this, then it should be obvious that I am planning to cook South Indian food from the ready made Dosa dough available at Patels.  But yes, I have cooked Sambhar  and the coconut chutney from scratch! &lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;Making the dosa is pretty simple. You just have to follow the instructions at the back , and look how yummy these dosas look in the picture below :&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_WBJyyCCD8OQ/SAdNgwU8osI/AAAAAAAAADQ/BhNpw70tRgs/s1600-h/DSC02119.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 226px; height: 169px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_WBJyyCCD8OQ/SAdNgwU8osI/AAAAAAAAADQ/BhNpw70tRgs/s320/DSC02119.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5190202320691700418" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;But, the 'Sambhar' was a challege! But I am sure that I did a pretty good job in making sambhar for the first time. So, here goes the recipe. Please people, suggest me some improvements!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Ingredients:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;2-3 Tsp Sambhar Masala&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;2  cups Vegetable I used: Carrots, Peas, Potatos, french beans. You might also want to use  other veggies like brinjals, pumpkin, drumstics etc. depending on personal choice (and availability!)&lt;br /&gt;1/2 cup tuvar daal&lt;br /&gt;1/2 Tsp Fenugreek seeds&lt;br /&gt;3 dry red chillies&lt;br /&gt;1 Tsp Urad Daal&lt;br /&gt;8-10 Curry Leaves&lt;br /&gt;1/2 Tsp Mustard seeds&lt;br /&gt;1 Pinch hing powder&lt;br /&gt;2 Tbs Tamarind paste&lt;br /&gt;1 or 2 Tbs Oil&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Method&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;1)  Boil Tuvar daal, vegetables and salt according to taste together in a pressure cooker and then mash partially.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;2) In a pan, heat oil, add the fenugreek leaves and fry till they look reddish, then add the urad daal and saute until color change.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;3) Now, add Mustard seeds, hing powder, red chili and curry leaves and let them splutter.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;4) Just add this mixture of spices along with the sambhar masala and the tamarind paste to the boiled tuvar daal and keep on ow fire for about 20 minutes till a nice consistency is achieved. Add water if the sambhar seems too thick.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I think this sambhar did not turn out to be all that spicy but still was pretty decent. I am gonna try again and keep trying till I get that perfect Sambhar!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Now, we have sambhar, dosa ready, we can NOT miss the coconut chutney!!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Ingredients:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;1 cup Grated coconut&lt;br /&gt;2 dry red chilies&lt;br /&gt;1 Tsp Mustard seeds&lt;br /&gt;2 tsp urad daal&lt;br /&gt;5 curry leaves&lt;br /&gt;Salt to taste&lt;br /&gt;Chopped coriander ( optional, but i really like to add this )&lt;br /&gt;A pinch of hing powder&lt;br /&gt;Oil&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Method:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;1) Blend coconut, coriandder leaves, salt in a blender and add a little water if too thick.&lt;br /&gt;2) Heat oil, add mustard seeds, red chili, urad daal, hing, and fry for a minute and add curry leaves.&lt;br /&gt;3) Add this mixture of spices to the blended coconut mixture.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Enjoy!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Well, now when I made all this, I felt Hey! This meal can not be complete without the Aloo (potato) masala for the dosas!!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Ingredients:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;1) Boiled potatoes&lt;br /&gt;2) All ingredients of coconut chutney above except the grated coc0nut.&lt;br /&gt;3) 1/2 Tsp Turmeric powder&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;Method:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;1) Extremely simple!&lt;br /&gt;2) Mash partially the boiled potatoes with a fork.&lt;br /&gt;3) Just make the mixture of spices in oil as above.&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;4) Add the mashed potatoes to the mixture of spices, add the turmeric powder and salt and saute for 2-3 minutes&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;And you all have to believe me that the person for whom I cooked all this food was definitely in a bliss ( I hope!!!!). No, but seriously, you all got to try out all this!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_WBJyyCCD8OQ/SAdVwQU8otI/AAAAAAAAADY/lOSOFcGNvSM/s1600-h/DSC02123.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_WBJyyCCD8OQ/SAdVwQU8otI/AAAAAAAAADY/lOSOFcGNvSM/s320/DSC02123.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5190211383072694994" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3878475609315528052-1561954960555060438?l=diningpleasure.blogspot.com'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://diningpleasure.blogspot.com/feeds/1561954960555060438/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=3878475609315528052&amp;postID=1561954960555060438' title='6 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/3878475609315528052/posts/default/1561954960555060438'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/3878475609315528052/posts/default/1561954960555060438'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://diningpleasure.blogspot.com/2008/04/south-indian.html' title='South Indian'/><author><name>Swati</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/10677276261593052527</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='06065035769966249021'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_WBJyyCCD8OQ/SAdNgwU8osI/AAAAAAAAADQ/BhNpw70tRgs/s72-c/DSC02119.JPG' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>6</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3878475609315528052.post-2250623477431302491</id><published>2008-03-23T12:10:00.007-04:00</published><updated>2008-03-25T09:47:02.318-04:00</updated><title type='text'>Rajma, Chawal, Aloo Gobhi!  Need I say more??</title><content type='html'>&lt;div style="text-align: justify;"&gt;A must have North Indian delight - Rajma, Chawal and Aloo Gobhi . These are the most common dishes in most of the get-together's and parties at my home in india. Awesome food, cooked by my mom! She sometime replaces Rajma ( Made with Red kidney beans) with 'Dal Makhani' ( made with Black Gram and Red Kidney Beans ). An exact explanation of dal is given at wikipedia at the following link:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dal&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;1. Rajma:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Rajma is a very famous North Indian cuisine. It is made from red Kidney Beans and Indian spices (of course!)  I tried cooking it the way my mom does. I learned the recipe from her when I went to India last which is in January this year. Rajma and Rice tastes really good, but some people also have it with Paranthas ( North Indian bread). So here goes the recipe:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Ingredients:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;2 Cups Red Kidney Beans&lt;br /&gt;1 Pinch Turmeric Powder&lt;br /&gt;1-2 Tablespoon Ginger Garlic Powder&lt;br /&gt;2 Onions Chopped&lt;br /&gt;3 Tomatoes Chopped&lt;br /&gt;1-2 Green Chillies Chopped&lt;br /&gt;1/2 teaspoon Red Chilli Powder&lt;br /&gt;Garam Masala&lt;br /&gt;1 or 2 Whole Red Chili&lt;br /&gt;1 Cinnamon Sticks&lt;br /&gt;1-2 Cloves&lt;br /&gt;1-2 Black Cardamom&lt;br /&gt;2 Tablespoons Oil&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Method:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;1. Soak Red Kidney beans overnight.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;2. Boil the Beans in 4 times more water in a pressure cooker with about 1 tablespoon of added salt.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;3. Heat 2 tablespoon of oil in a pan and saute chopped onions until they turn golden brown in color.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;4. Now add chopped tomatoes to the pan and saute for 2-3 minutes. After that put the onion and tomatoes in a blender and puree.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;5. Heat oil in pan, add cinnamon sticks, Black cardamom, cloves, whole red chili, till all these spices sputter ( it will take  about 1.5 minutes). Now add the pureed onion and tomato mixture to this pan and mix well for about 15 minutes on low fire until you see oil separating out from tomatoes.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;6. Now add this to the boiled Kidney beans in the cooker and mix well, and keep on low fire and mash some of the beans from your spatula so that the curry gets thicker ( Keep on low fore for about 15-20 minutes).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Done!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;2. Aloo Gobhi&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Aloo gobhi ( Potato and cauliflower cooked in Indian spices) is again a North Indian recipe.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Ingredients:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;1 Large Cauliflower cut evenly ( I used 1 packet of frozen cauliflower :D)&lt;br /&gt;2-3 Potatoes cut in cubes&lt;br /&gt;2 large onions chopped&lt;br /&gt;1-2 Chopped Green Chili's&lt;br /&gt;1 Tablespoon ginger-garlic paste&lt;br /&gt;1 Teaspoon Garam Masala ( Indian spice)&lt;br /&gt;1 Teaspoon cumin seeds&lt;br /&gt;1/2 Teaspoon turmeric powder&lt;br /&gt;Fresh Coriander chopped&lt;br /&gt;2 Tablespoons vegetable oil&lt;br /&gt;Salt to taste&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Method:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;1) Heat oil in a wok, add cumin seeds&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;2) When cumin seeds splutter, add chopped onions and saute till onions get light brown.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;3) Add cut green chilli, and ginger-garlic paste, garam masala, turmeric powder, salt according to your taste ( I would add about 1.5 tablespoon) and mix and saute for about 1-2 minutes.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;4) Now add potatoes and cauliflower to this mixture , mix thoroughly and cook  covered on low flame. Keep stirring in between ( after every 5 or 10 minutes to ensure that it is not burning! and add water if it is sticking to the wok).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;6) When its cooked, add the coriander leaves and mix and its ready!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Hope you all enjoy this food and for that you have to stop being lazy which means stop eating out all week, be a little enthusiastic and start cooking ! Home cooked food is always a healthy option according to my opinion. Eating out all the time is no fun. I read an article called '8 Sneaky things That Could be Making You fat' by Kathleen M. ZelMan which tells you about the factors that tigger you to overeat. It says that only if people eat when they are hungry and stop when they were full, there would be no obesity problem! To read the full article follow the link below:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/8-sneaky-things-that-could-be-making-you-fat&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Now time for the picture of my hardwork :D!! Tada!!!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_WBJyyCCD8OQ/R-kAejE4KOI/AAAAAAAAADE/x3Cj4mvSURY/s1600-h/DSC02029.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_WBJyyCCD8OQ/R-kAejE4KOI/AAAAAAAAADE/x3Cj4mvSURY/s400/DSC02029.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5181673371078240482" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3878475609315528052-2250623477431302491?l=diningpleasure.blogspot.com'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://diningpleasure.blogspot.com/feeds/2250623477431302491/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=3878475609315528052&amp;postID=2250623477431302491' title='8 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/3878475609315528052/posts/default/2250623477431302491'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/3878475609315528052/posts/default/2250623477431302491'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://diningpleasure.blogspot.com/2008/03/rajma-chawal-aloo-gobhi-need-i-say-more.html' title='Rajma, Chawal, Aloo Gobhi!  Need I say more??'/><author><name>Swati</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/10677276261593052527</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='06065035769966249021'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_WBJyyCCD8OQ/R-kAejE4KOI/AAAAAAAAADE/x3Cj4mvSURY/s72-c/DSC02029.JPG' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>8</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3878475609315528052.post-8233272168967091417</id><published>2008-02-24T16:34:00.007-05:00</published><updated>2008-03-11T01:36:56.646-04:00</updated><title type='text'>Vegetable Chowmein</title><content type='html'>&lt;div style="text-align: justify;"&gt;Perfect Sunday afternoon lunch, is how I describe Chowmein. Having  Daal (Lentil), rice, Chapattis (Indian Bread) daily drains my energy eventually leads to loss of interest! (I am just exaggerating a bit here :P). Nevertheless, I  really love the Indian version of Chinese food which includes vegetarian or chicken Manchurian, Manchow Soup, Fried Rice, Chili Chicken and  of course Vegetarian Chowmein. I read on Wikipedia that Chinese food in India was developed by the Chinese community living in Calcutta/Kolkata for over a century now. Chow mein is essentially stir fry noodles with vegetables and sauces like Soy souce and Chili sauce. You can read more about the types of Chowmein, how if differs from country to country by following the link below:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chow_mein"&gt;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chow_mein&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I have tried Chow mein at Yum's express at the College Park Market place which is just next to Star Bucks. I usually get some Chinese packed from Yum's on days when I really do not want to cook and also crave for some Chinese food. If you plan to try it, make sure that you tell them to make your meal extra spicy ( This advice is for spice lovers )! You can find the address for Yum's at the following link:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.merchantcircle.com/business/Yums.Express.301-313-0828"&gt;http://www.merchantcircle.com/business/Yums.Express.301-313-0828&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;However! this is my version of everyone's favorite Vegetable Chowmein.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Ingredients:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Boiled Noodles&lt;br /&gt;Spring onion ( substitute : Red Onion)&lt;br /&gt;Carrots ( Cut into matchstick shapes)&lt;br /&gt;Capsicum ( Cut into matchstick shapes)&lt;br /&gt;French Beans ( Chopped )&lt;br /&gt;Cabbage ( Chopped)&lt;br /&gt;1/2 - 1 Tsp Green Chilli Sauce&lt;br /&gt;2-3 Garlic ( Chopped )&lt;br /&gt;Soya Sauce&lt;br /&gt;1-2 Tsp White vinegar&lt;br /&gt;Pepper&lt;br /&gt;Olive Oil&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Method:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;1) Heat some Olive oil in a wok, add cut garlic and stir fry until the oil realy gets perfumed with garlic fragrance.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;2) The add all the chopped vegetables and salt according to your taste. Keep on low fire until the vegetables are about half cooked. Sprinkle some red chili pepper flakes.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;3) Now add about a tablespoon soya sauce to the vegetables and stir fry for 1-2 minutes. Then add about 1/2 teaspoon green chilli sauce,  1 Tablespoon vinegar and stir fry for 4-5 minutes.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;4) Add the boiled noodles to the vegetables and saute for 4-5 minutes. Add more soya sauce if needed.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;For people who are wondering where to get all the sauces from, here is some more information:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Soya Sauce: Any grocery store in the international section, or from the Indian grocery store.&lt;br /&gt;Green Chilli Sauce: Indian Grocery Store (Patel's)&lt;br /&gt;White Vinegar  Any Grocery store&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Try this recipe and let me know of how it turned out to be!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_WBJyyCCD8OQ/R9YWLbkjpaI/AAAAAAAAAC8/KtC0idSiyIQ/s1600-h/DSC01991.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_WBJyyCCD8OQ/R9YWLbkjpaI/AAAAAAAAAC8/KtC0idSiyIQ/s400/DSC01991.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5176349207344424354" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3878475609315528052-8233272168967091417?l=diningpleasure.blogspot.com'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://diningpleasure.blogspot.com/feeds/8233272168967091417/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=3878475609315528052&amp;postID=8233272168967091417' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/3878475609315528052/posts/default/8233272168967091417'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/3878475609315528052/posts/default/8233272168967091417'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://diningpleasure.blogspot.com/2008/02/vegetable-chowmein.html' title='Vegetable Chowmein'/><author><name>Swati</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/10677276261593052527</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='06065035769966249021'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_WBJyyCCD8OQ/R9YWLbkjpaI/AAAAAAAAAC8/KtC0idSiyIQ/s72-c/DSC01991.JPG' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3878475609315528052.post-1570556574249062037</id><published>2008-02-19T22:11:00.003-05:00</published><updated>2008-02-19T22:38:14.882-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Go green!</title><content type='html'>&lt;div style="text-align: justify;"&gt;Green beans! Does 'Green' sound scary, boring, tasteless ? You should definitely try this green bean recipe with coconut. This is a south Indian recipe. My mom used to make it when I was a kid and my dad was posted in Bangalore. This dish is healthy, easy to make and really tasty! I used cut frozen beans, and I had a packet of shredded coconut ( It is easily available at any Indian Grocery store).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Ingredients:&lt;br /&gt;1/2 Tsp Mustard seeds&lt;br /&gt;1/2 Tsp Dhaniya seeds&lt;br /&gt;1 Whole Red Chili&lt;br /&gt;1-2 Green Chillies&lt;br /&gt;3-4 Curry Leaves&lt;br /&gt;2 Tsp Urad Daal&lt;br /&gt;1/2 Tsp Turmeric Powder&lt;br /&gt;3-4 Tsp Shredded Coconut&lt;br /&gt;Cut Green Beans ( I used 1 medium sized frozen beans packet)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Method:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;1. Heat oil in a wok, add mustard seeds, dhaniya seeds, Urad daal and let them splutter.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;2. After the seeds get brownish, add Red chilli, and curry leaves, and let them splutter for about a minute. Add a Little turmeric powder and add the green beans and salt according to your taste.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;3. Saute the vegetable on medium gas for 2-3 minutes and then cover for about 5 minutes. Then check to see of the vegetables are partially cooked, if they are , then add the shredded coconut and mix.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;4. Keep on medium flame and saute for about 3-4 minutes till you think the vegetables are almost cooked. Do not over cook.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;And its done! It took me about 20 minutes to cook this. I had this with Cumin and onion flavored rice with some 'Daal Makhani'. I can post The recipe for rice and Daal Makahni the next time I plan to cook them.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_WBJyyCCD8OQ/R7ugGDChPrI/AAAAAAAAAC0/AfD1Rst8-uo/s1600-h/DSC01984.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_WBJyyCCD8OQ/R7ugGDChPrI/AAAAAAAAAC0/AfD1Rst8-uo/s320/DSC01984.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5168901023093309106" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3878475609315528052-1570556574249062037?l=diningpleasure.blogspot.com'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://diningpleasure.blogspot.com/feeds/1570556574249062037/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=3878475609315528052&amp;postID=1570556574249062037' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/3878475609315528052/posts/default/1570556574249062037'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/3878475609315528052/posts/default/1570556574249062037'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://diningpleasure.blogspot.com/2008/02/go-green.html' title='Go green!'/><author><name>Swati</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/10677276261593052527</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='06065035769966249021'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_WBJyyCCD8OQ/R7ugGDChPrI/AAAAAAAAAC0/AfD1Rst8-uo/s72-c/DSC01984.JPG' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3878475609315528052.post-982604251771616362</id><published>2008-02-14T14:19:00.011-05:00</published><updated>2008-02-14T15:16:52.348-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Love for fruit cream!</title><content type='html'>&lt;div style="text-align: justify;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WBJyyCCD8OQ/R7SZ9DChPnI/AAAAAAAAACU/5VqKr9seUdc/s1600-h/DSC01970.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 102px; height: 161px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WBJyyCCD8OQ/R7SZ9DChPnI/AAAAAAAAACU/5VqKr9seUdc/s200/DSC01970.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5166923946567745138" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;Caution: Not healthy!! Lot of fat and calories!! This is a valentines day special recipe. I don't think there can be anyone who is not in love with fruit cream! And imagine, it is extremely easy to make. So here it goes:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Ingredients:&lt;br /&gt;1. Cream ( I used Richfood heavy whipping cream which is easily available in Shoppers near the milk section)&lt;br /&gt;2. Fruits! ( Strawberries, kiwi, apple,orange. You can also put grapes, bananas etc.&lt;br /&gt;3. Sugar&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WBJyyCCD8OQ/R7Sa_DChPpI/AAAAAAAAACk/rXTIK_j23g4/s1600-h/DSC01968.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="cursor: pointer; width: 137px; height: 103px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WBJyyCCD8OQ/R7Sa_DChPpI/AAAAAAAAACk/rXTIK_j23g4/s200/DSC01968.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5166925080439111314" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Method:&lt;br /&gt;Whip the cream with sugar in the blender. Be generous and add a lot of sugar, taste and keep adding sugar until you feel perfection! And then add and mix all the cut fruits in it. Keep it in the refrigerator for about an hour, so the fruit flavor gets blended in the cream. And its done!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_WBJyyCCD8OQ/R7SbgTChPqI/AAAAAAAAACs/N33mJxZUnPE/s1600-h/DSC01975.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_WBJyyCCD8OQ/R7SbgTChPqI/AAAAAAAAACs/N33mJxZUnPE/s320/DSC01975.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5166925651669761698" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3878475609315528052-982604251771616362?l=diningpleasure.blogspot.com'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://diningpleasure.blogspot.com/feeds/982604251771616362/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=3878475609315528052&amp;postID=982604251771616362' title='5 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/3878475609315528052/posts/default/982604251771616362'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/3878475609315528052/posts/default/982604251771616362'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://diningpleasure.blogspot.com/2008/02/love-for-fruit-cream.html' title='Love for fruit cream!'/><author><name>Swati</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/10677276261593052527</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='06065035769966249021'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WBJyyCCD8OQ/R7SZ9DChPnI/AAAAAAAAACU/5VqKr9seUdc/s72-c/DSC01970.JPG' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>5</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3878475609315528052.post-2518125162448471132</id><published>2008-02-12T00:52:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2008-02-12T01:47:11.124-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Kung Pao Tofu!</title><content type='html'>I finally got enthusiastic about cooking dinner, and cooked tofu. This is a correction to my earlier post where I mentioned that I will plan to cook teriyaki tofu, it turns out that I have Kung Pao sauce in my fridge! Now this recipe is not authentic Kung Pao, it is basically to save time! I would give it 8/10.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: justify;"&gt;Ingredients:&lt;br /&gt;1. Tofu ( I used Firm tofu ) You can get Tofu in Indian supermarkets too. My mom has seen Sanjeev kapoor use Tofu in his cookery shows, so I am sure it is available, otherwise chicken/paneer is obviously a substitute.&lt;br /&gt;2. All your favorite vegetables: Mushrooms, carrots, green pepper, spring onion, brocolli ( My favorites)&lt;br /&gt;3. Ginger and Garlic cut into the shape of match sticks&lt;br /&gt;4. Kung Pao Sauce ( I used dynasty spicy hot Kung Pao sauce)&lt;br /&gt;5. Olive Oil&lt;br /&gt;6. Any kind of oil (e.g. peanut oil or any vegetable oil) to make the tofu cubes golden brown in color&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Method:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_WBJyyCCD8OQ/R7E8cTChPhI/AAAAAAAAABk/IXrRveNsomQ/s1600-h/DSC01953.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_WBJyyCCD8OQ/R7E8cTChPhI/AAAAAAAAABk/IXrRveNsomQ/s200/DSC01953.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5165976704415514130" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;1. Cut the Tofu into cubes. In the frying pan, put some oil and put the tofu cubes into it to make them golden brown in color. Keep it aside. ( See Picture)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;2. Heat the olive oil in a wok, put the ginger and garlic for about 1 minute so the oil gets perfumed.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;3. Add all the vegetables and saute and then add salt according to taste. The ideal thing is to add the harder vegetables like carrots first, cook them for 2-3 minutes and them later add vegetables that cook easily. This preserves the vitamins.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WBJyyCCD8OQ/R7E87zChPiI/AAAAAAAAABs/f1Kj0o0jAHE/s1600-h/DSC01957.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WBJyyCCD8OQ/R7E87zChPiI/AAAAAAAAABs/f1Kj0o0jAHE/s200/DSC01957.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5165977245581393442" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;4. After the vegetables get cooked, add the golden Tofu and some Kung Pao sauce according to the desired thickness. Let the tofu and the vegetables absorb the sauce  so stir fry for about 3-4 minutes.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Voila! your Kung Pao Tofu is ready. I think it was pretty decent for the first time. I felt that may be after I make the tofu golden brown, I should put it in the sauce so that it gets marinated, but not sure about this! You guys might want to experiment and let me know!!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_WBJyyCCD8OQ/R7E5njChPfI/AAAAAAAAABU/XVr_U5pW_-Y/s1600-h/DSC01958.JPG"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_WBJyyCCD8OQ/R7E5njChPfI/AAAAAAAAABU/XVr_U5pW_-Y/s200/DSC01958.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5165973599154159090" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3878475609315528052-2518125162448471132?l=diningpleasure.blogspot.com'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://diningpleasure.blogspot.com/feeds/2518125162448471132/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=3878475609315528052&amp;postID=2518125162448471132' title='5 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/3878475609315528052/posts/default/2518125162448471132'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/3878475609315528052/posts/default/2518125162448471132'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://diningpleasure.blogspot.com/2008/02/kung-pao-tofu.html' title='Kung Pao Tofu!'/><author><name>Swati</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/10677276261593052527</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='06065035769966249021'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_WBJyyCCD8OQ/R7E8cTChPhI/AAAAAAAAABk/IXrRveNsomQ/s72-c/DSC01953.JPG' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>5</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3878475609315528052.post-8822554622542015328</id><published>2008-02-10T18:50:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2008-02-10T20:34:52.701-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Penang</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_WBJyyCCD8OQ/R6-loDChPdI/AAAAAAAAABE/izf57HgBcJs/s1600-h/penang1.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_WBJyyCCD8OQ/R6-loDChPdI/AAAAAAAAABE/izf57HgBcJs/s200/penang1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5165529405046472146" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://penangusa.com/"&gt;Penang Malaysian Cuisine&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: justify;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;geocode=&amp;amp;q=4933,+Bethesda+Ave.+Bethesda,+MD+-+20814&amp;amp;sll=39.219487,-77.102051&amp;amp;sspn=0.876675,2.570801&amp;amp;ie=UTF8&amp;amp;ll=38.98188,-77.099175&amp;amp;spn=0.006872,0.020084&amp;amp;z=16&amp;amp;om=0"&gt;4933, Bethesda Ave.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;geocode=&amp;amp;q=4933,+Bethesda+Ave.+Bethesda,+MD+-+20814&amp;amp;sll=39.219487,-77.102051&amp;amp;sspn=0.876675,2.570801&amp;amp;ie=UTF8&amp;amp;ll=38.98188,-77.099175&amp;amp;spn=0.006872,0.020084&amp;amp;z=16&amp;amp;om=0"&gt;Bethesda, MD - 20814&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Ambiance: 9/10&lt;br /&gt;Food: 8/10&lt;br /&gt;Service: 10/10                                                                         &lt;br /&gt;Price Range: Medium&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Today was a friend's birthday, so the plan was to have a nice Sunday Malaysian lunch at Penang, Bethesda. It is a good place, I have been there before, and it is definitely not a place to be missed !! Most of the food is very close to Indian cuisine in taste, so a bliss for my spicy lover Indian friends. For the vegetarians, the good news is that most of the entree's in the 'House Special' section of the menu can be made vegetarian. You just have to tell them to substitute chicken/beef/lamb by Tofu. Tofu is a vegetarian ingredient, you can Google and get more information on it. The place is a little bit expensive for the student community since most of the entree's are $9.95 to $20.95, but I think special occasions do call for a treat!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WBJyyCCD8OQ/R6-lzTChPeI/AAAAAAAAABM/ogy01q9mhzo/s1600-h/rengdan1.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WBJyyCCD8OQ/R6-lzTChPeI/AAAAAAAAABM/ogy01q9mhzo/s200/rengdan1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5165529598320000482" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;So now it is the time to order ! In drinks, I have always ordered a lichi drink, which I think is the best non-alcoholic drink. In appetizers, 'Roti Canai' is simply too good and is exactly like the menu says 'IT's A MUST'!! In the main course I ordered 'Kambing Rengdan' which is basically lamb cooked in coconut milk. Now this was not a very good choice. It was not that bad, but I feel that the meat was a little hard, and there was not much curry. It was tasty, but its chicken counterpart which is 'Ayam Rengdan' (picture at the left) is much better. In case veggie lovers are feeling disappointed, remember the option to convert your dish into a vegetarian dish! Also, they might want to try the 'Kari Sayur' which is the best vegetarian dish in my opinion. Other popular choices are the mango based entree's such as 'Thai Mango Chicken/tofu' which is a little bit sweet, so not for the spice lovers!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;But lunching today with friends was great! I loved the ambience and the people are also very nice. A tip for a better experience is that if you plan to go there in a group of  9-10 people, then just take the round rotating cricket, its pretty neat, you can rotate it and sharing is easy! A funny tip, but trust me its the best table there.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I am so full now, that I am thinking of skipping dinner. This actually means procrastinating cooking the Tofu!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3878475609315528052-8822554622542015328?l=diningpleasure.blogspot.com'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://diningpleasure.blogspot.com/feeds/8822554622542015328/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=3878475609315528052&amp;postID=8822554622542015328' title='4 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/3878475609315528052/posts/default/8822554622542015328'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/3878475609315528052/posts/default/8822554622542015328'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://diningpleasure.blogspot.com/2008/02/penang.html' title='Penang'/><author><name>Swati</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/10677276261593052527</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='06065035769966249021'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_WBJyyCCD8OQ/R6-loDChPdI/AAAAAAAAABE/izf57HgBcJs/s72-c/penang1.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>4</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3878475609315528052.post-6718022986272138441</id><published>2008-02-09T19:10:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2008-02-10T01:33:58.471-05:00</updated><title type='text'>A few lines..</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_WBJyyCCD8OQ/R65UGTChPZI/AAAAAAAAAAk/kJZpdibq-e8/s1600-h/aug-wine.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_WBJyyCCD8OQ/R65UGTChPZI/AAAAAAAAAAk/kJZpdibq-e8/s200/aug-wine.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5165158289807326610" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: justify;"&gt;Compulsory blogging for a course that I have taken in my final semester. Sounds like fun? It sure does to me! obvious, since I did not drop the course!! For a change I am going to forget the usual network protocols, routers, switches and blah blah and actually write about food and all the awesome and sometimes not so awesome restaurants that I have been to. I also plan to post recipes of all my favorite food, and you all might want to try some and give me your reviews :)  There is just so much to talk about!!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;On my trip back home (Delhi, India) during the winter break (2007), I decided to get my old recipe books, and planned to cook and try out new recipes. For example, soon I plan to cook Tofu, which I have neither cooked before nor have I ever had any Tofu dish. I am more of a Non-vegetarian fan ( Most of my Indian friends would not appreciate me for this!). I have read about tofu being a very healthy food, so I bought it this time as a substitute of paneer (Cottage cheese)/chicken. So, I am sure you all will wait eagerly for my next post which is going to have picture of my first Tofu and Teriyaki sauce recipe ( success or failure I am going to post the pictures!!)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Cheers!&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/3878475609315528052-6718022986272138441?l=diningpleasure.blogspot.com'/&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://diningpleasure.blogspot.com/feeds/6718022986272138441/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=3878475609315528052&amp;postID=6718022986272138441' title='7 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/3878475609315528052/posts/default/6718022986272138441'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/3878475609315528052/posts/default/6718022986272138441'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://diningpleasure.blogspot.com/2008/02/few-lines.html' title='A few lines..'/><author><name>Swati</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/10677276261593052527</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:extendedProperty xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' name='OpenSocialUserId' value='06065035769966249021'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_WBJyyCCD8OQ/R65UGTChPZI/AAAAAAAAAAk/kJZpdibq-e8/s72-c/aug-wine.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'>7</thr:total></entry></feed>