OUR HOLI CELEBRATIONS WITH NATURAL COLOURS

Hi  Friends,
                 I wish you all a very happy and colourful holi.

CELEBRATING HOLI WITH NATURAL COLOURS


Harmful chemical colors spoil the happiness of Holi. Have you ever wondered how to make the festival of colors natural and healthy for our environment and ourselves? Did you know that Holi can be fun and harmless if you play with environment-friendly natural colors. These are not only cheap but can also be made easily at home.

Explore the fascinating world of natural colors. Experiment with different flowers, fruits and vegetables (like black grapes, dried fruits of amla/gooseberry), leaves (eucalyptus), plants (arandi/castor). Encourage the use of eco-friendly natural colors and motivate our friends to do so.

We used beetroot  for red colour.
turmeric for yellow colour.
coriander leaves for green colour.
oranges for orange colour.

 Here is my kiddoo suki busy with his holi celebrations
 

 I was successfull  in applying all the colours to veeru's face.
 

THE  NATURAL PATTERN FORMED ON THE FLOOR  DUE TO OUR HOLI CELEBRATIONS

HAPPYYYYYYYYYYYYYY HOLIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

SALSA

INGREDIENTS:  Onions - 2 chopped finely
                               Tomatoes - 4 chopped finely
                               Green chillies - 2 chopped finely
                               Coriander leaves - 1tbsp chopped finely
                                Salt - 1/4tsp
                                Lemon juice - 1tbsp


METHOD:  Chop onion,tomatoes,greenchillies.coriander, finely.
                      Mix all these chopped vegetables in a bowl
                      Add salt, lemon juice and mix well.

               Grnish it with coriander leaves.............
serve it with tortilla chipss.................

  

TORTILLA CHIPS WITH SALSA

                                               TORTILLA CHIPS
 
INREDIENTS: Maida - 1/2cup
                         Maize flour(makai ka atta) - 1cup
                         Salt - 1/2tsp
                         Ajwani (vamu) - 1/4tsp


METHOD: 1. Sift both the flours together.
2. Add ajwani and mix well.
3. Boil 1/2 cup water make it just little warm.
4. Knead to a stiff dough (like chapati dough).

5. Keep aside for atleast 1/2 an hour.
6. Make a small marble sized ball roll out into thin chappati.
7. Prick the chappati with the fork all over.

8. Cut the chappati to long strips and cut each strip like a small triangle pieces.

9. Deep fry 10 pieces on medium flame till they turn golden brown  in colour.
10. Fry all the chips

11. Dont make them dark.

NOTE: THEY CAN BE STORED IN AIRTIGHT CONTAINER FOR A WEEK.

11.Serve with salsa.

MEXICAN MENU

HI,
    My hubby dear loves mexican food. yesturday i arranged him a surprise mexican menu as a treat for him.

It came out really very good.
Even my little kid enjoyed the feast...............
As a start up i gave them a mexican drink   
here am going to share all the recipes that i have prepared for them

SOUTHERN BELLE
Treat starts with this refreshing juice
INGREDIENTS: Lemon juice - 3lemons (if small or 2 if big in size)
                            Fresh ginger - 3tbsp grated
                            Sugar - according to the sweetness you consume (i took 12tbsp)
                            Pudina leaves - 4tsp chopped
                            Soda chilled - 500ml
                            I ce cubes

FOR GARNISHING: Pudina leaves
                                  Lemon slice

METHOD:1. Clean the fresh ginger,wash and peal the skin.
                  2. Grate it with the help of grater and keep aside.
                  3. Chop pudina  leaves.
                  4. Squeeze the juice from 2 lemons.
5. In a jar mix grated ginger,chopped pudina,lemon juice,salt,sugar amd mix well until the  sugar dissolves.
                  6. keep the mixture in fridge till seving time.
7. Take a tall glass add 2tbsp of ginger mix, a lemon thinly sliced, ice cubes and pour chilled soda water  and mix well.
8. Garnish with chopped pudina leaves.
9. Cut lemon slice a little and press on to the rim of the glass till it gets fixed.

         serve chilled.........................

COCONUT CHUTNEY

INGREDIENTS: Coconut grated - 1cup
                            Green chillies - 3-4
                            Salt - 1/2tsp
                            Curd - 2tbsp

FOR TEMPERING: Mustard seeds - 1/4tsp
                                 Jeera - 1/4 tsp
                                 Curry leaves - few
                                 Hing - a pinch
                                 Redchillies - 2

METHOD: 1. Grate the coconut.
                   2. In mixy jar add grated coconut, green chillies, salt,curd and grind them coarsely.
                   3. Transfer it to the serving bowl.
                   4. Heat 1tsp oil in tadka pan when it becomes hot add mustard seeds,jeera and let them
                           splutter.
                   5. Add curryleaves,redchillies.hing
                   6. Pour it on the chutney and mix well
                   7. coconut chutney is ready to serve.

serve it with hot hot uttapam

SOUTH INDIAN PIZZA (SOOJI UTTAPAM)

INGREDIENTS: Sooji -2cups

                            Curd - 1 1/2cups

                            Salt - 1/2tsp

                            Water - if needed

 

mix all these together and ferment it for 2hrs.

FOR TOPPING: Onion - 2 finely chopped

                             Greenchilles - 4 finely chopped

                             Tomatoes - 2 finely chopped

                             Coriander leaves -1/4cup chopped

                             Chilli power - 2tbsp (just to sprinkle on top of uttapam)

                              Vegetables like carrot,french beans,capsicum,anything you can add (finely chopped)

METHOD:1. Add sooji, curd,salt and mix well if needed add some water. the batter should little thick than the dosa batter.

2. Allow it to ferment for 2hrs.

3. chop all the vegetables needed for the topping.

4. Heat a dosa tawa pour 1spoon of batter and make a small round. the dosa should be thick.

5. Pour some oli on it after 1minute add all the toppings and press little with the laddle.

6. Sprinkle redchilli powder.

7. Cover the dosa with lid and leave it for 1min

8. Turn the dosa to the other side.

9.Let it cook and serve hot

10. This goes well with coconut chutney.....

MUSHROOM AND VEGETABLE DUM BIRYANI

INGREDIENTS: Rice - 200gms basmati washed and kept in strainer for 30mins.

     
Bayleaf ( tej patta) - 3
Lavangalu ( cloves) - 6
Illachi ( cardamon) - 5
Turmeric 1/4 tsp
Salt - according to taste.
Lemon juice - 1tbsp
Water - 10 cups
Kesar - 1/2 tsp (soaked in 1tbsp warm water)

VEGETABLES: Carrot - 1 ( round slices)
                             Beans(french) - 10 (cut into 1/4 pieces)
                             Peas - 1/2 cup
                             Ghobi ( cauliflower) cut into small florets - 1/4 cup
                             Mushroom - 10-20 ( sliced thinly)

CURD MIX: Coriander chopped - 1tbsp                                                                                         

Mint chopped - 1tbsp                                                                         

Curd - 1 1/4  cup                                                                                     

                             Salt - 1/4tsp mix all these together and keep aside.

Kesar - 1/2tsp dissolved in warm milk

OTHER INGREDIENTS: Ghee + Oil - 5tbsp                                                                                       

Ginger garlic paste - 3tbsp                              

Red chilli powder - 1tsp                                 

 Onion - 1 sliced                                              

Shah jeera - 1/2tsp                                       

 Illachi - 1                                                       

Dalchini - 2                                                  

Bay leaf - 2                                                 

                                                 

                                    

FOR GARNISH: Cashew -10

                               Raisins - 1tsp

METHOD:1.  Wash rice. Strain.Let it be in the strainer for 3o mins.

                   2. Boil 10 cups of water with all ingredients given under rice ( except kesar).

                   3. When water boils add the rice and stir. Boil just for 5 mins or 3/4th cooked.

   

4.Remove from fire. Let it be in the strainer for 10 mins. Sprinkle the kesar on rice. Mix gentle to colour some grains of rice orange.

5. Heat ghee+oil add all the spices- shahjeera, illachi,dalchini,bay leaf. fry for  a minute.

6. Add onion and stir till golden brown.Add ginger garlic paste mix well add redchilli pwdr,salt.

7. Add vegetables, mushroom and saute for 5mins.

8. Reduce heat add 1/2 curd mixing leave the other half to put on rice later.

9. Stir to mix well. cooking on low heat till the vegetables are half cooked. the gavy should be semi dry.

10. Off the stove and keep the gravy aside.

TO ASSEMBLE BIRYANI:11. Take a handi or baking dish. spread 1/2 of the vegetables with some gravy at the bottom.

12. Put half the rice on the vegetables. spoon 1/2 of the curd mix on the rice.

13. Repeat the vegetable layer. spread rice. spoon curd on it.

14. Cover with the foil.

15. Keep in oven for dum at 150c for 30 mins.

16. If you dont have oven keep on very low heat in tawa for 20 mins.

17. Cook for 20mins and mix well.
18. Fry cashew and rasins in ghee and mix them with the rice.

  Hot Hot mushroom and vegetable dum biryani is ready to serveeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

TIPS TO A HAPPY MARRIAGE LIFE

HI,
   Today am going to share few tips from my personal experience to have a happy married life. Have you ever wondered "WAT IS THE SECRET TOA LONG AND A HAPPY MARRIAGE?" my collection of tried and true marriage tips will help you to answer that question!

1. Start your day with a kiss
2. Laugh together - When you share good laughs together,the fun grows in the relationship and you grow stronger and closer everyday.
3. Say "I LOVE YOU" everyday.
4. Give gifts for each other - nice cute gifts are appreciated every once in a while.
5. Encourage - positive support and being there for one another is also very important.seek their support and give them yours and be generous.
6. Show respect - all the time, whether you are alone or with others,showing respect is  more important than showing love.
7. Celebrate each others birthdays - that does'nt mean to celebrate  in a grand way, just show them that you care on their personal occasions.
8. Accept differences - no one is perfect,healthy arguments are good for the relationship,the most important thing would be learning how to compromise with one another.
9. Talk about your dreams or future - if you dont share your dreams with your  spouse then who else  will you share with?
10. Call during the day - but don't over do it and be obsessed with calling him/her.give them their space but also show them that you think of them by a 2minute phone call saying"how are you"
11. Ask for each others opinion - your decisions will reflect both your lives and not only your own,so their opinion is important for you to make a right move.
12. Respond quickly to the other persons request - show them that you are doing this is because you care for them the most.
13. Pray for each other daily.
14. Welcome the other person home - show enthusiasm when they come home and greet them,this means that you are happy because they are home now and you were waiting for them.

15. End  the day with a hugggggggggggggggg.....................................

TRADITIONAL ANDHRA RECIPE KARAPU PUSA (SEV)

INGREDIENTS: Sanagapindi(besan flour) - 200gms
                              Salt - to taste
                              Butter - 1tbsp
                              Lemon salt - a pinch(optional) dissolved in water.

FOR PASTE: Green chilles - 10
                        Ginger 1/2inch grind both of them together to a fine paste add water and filter it.
                        Collect the juice and keep aside.

METHOD: Take a bowl add all dry ingredients together besan and salt.
                     Melt butter and add to the besan flour, lemon salt dissolved in 1tbsp water.
                     Add the chilli juice and mix the dough like chappati dough.
                     And take little quantity of it and keep in the sev machine.

             

                                                

this is the machine...............................

Heat oil for deep fry and by the help of this machine prepare sev directly in oil and deep fry till golden brown.............

                             

hot hot sev is ready

have it wit a sip of hot garam chai.....................

MY 7TH MARRIAGE ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS

Hi friends,
               Iam sharing my 7th anniversary celebrations with you all. Dec 14th 2009 was such a wonderful and a memorable day in my life. oh sorry i forgot to introduce one of
 the special guest and is the highlight for this celebrations. He is my lovable hubby "VEERU"
Iam so lucky to get a hubby like VEERU who is so understanding and supportive.
And he is the one who supported me to start this

blog. "LETS COOK SOMETHING'

Every year veeru plans something special on our

anniversary. He surprises me a lot...............

This year the day started like this:

As soon as i got up from my bed i went for brushing my teeth, when i was above to wash my face i saw some paper  sticked on the mirror in front of me

HI DARLING,

                      Today is our 7th marriage anniversary......................when we look back these 7 years have gone by very fastly..........even today when i look at you i still see the same sparkle in your eyes and the same freshness in your smile....................i still wonder are we 7 years old couple??are we newly married??How would i express my love towards you on this very special day?? I thought a lot about it...........so, today you have seven surprises/gifts waiting for you...........and to start go downstairs.......................only after brushing your tooth................

This was written in that paper. after brushing my teeth i went rushing downstairs eagerly to see wat was that surprise. again there was  a note there in that............

In front of you you find an expression of my love with 7 different fruits........ 

and a bouquet with 7 different colours of roses

.......

....hope you liked 

 it.......................

with every gift you will find a card with a special thought for you.................................

now, for the first gift you look under the table................yeah......................you got it......................

this was the 1st note of his love and on back of it he wrote me these words

DARLING,

i just want to hold you in my arms &kiss you, let the time stand still................

.only you and me in this whole world................

and nothing else matters....................................love u lots.............

                                                                                                        chinnu

and this was his 1st gift  a ceramic candle holder...............he brought this for me from "BEAUTIFUL CITY PARIS"

now wait through out the day for the remaining 6 gifts......................

My day started like this i went up took bath and wore a new dress and came dowmstairs for praying to god. I am praying to god after opening my eyes i could see a diamond bracelet near god with love note............ i was so surprised

and this was his not card.............. he wrote on back of this

SEELI, ur a mother,when you care about me,

ur a lover,when u share sweet nothings to me,

ur a teacher when u advice me good&bad........

ur an angel,when you protect me with your wings..........

ur my friend,when we fight for petty things.....

ur my mistress,when we do the naughtiest things.

thankyou for playing all the roles perfectly for me.............

thankyou for all the sacrifices in life...............

could'nt express my thankfull ness in words................

love u lots...............

We went to the temple and came home had breakfast together......

one more special thing was the breakfast was prepared by "veeru".

veeru is a very gud cook....................myself and my little one loves veeru's food

  We planned to go out for lunch

we both had a very gud chat till the lunch time and at 12:00 noon we planned to start for lunch as it is bit far and v need to travel 45 mins...........

We planned to  start and i locked the door everything and again veeru went inside the home

and he brought me a gift and gave it to my hand. A beautiful silver chain with a glass bottle pendant in it a rice grain on that it was written

VEERU

VIJU it was realllllllllllyyyyyyyyyyyy so beautifullllllllll......................

and this was the note of love..............

                                                                     

DARLING, you are my cute little angel.................i will protect you with my wings.........till the last breath of my life..............love u forever..............................chinnu .This was his 3rd gift

And we went to hotel to barbeque nation t.nagar

it was very nice hotel  and we enjoyed very nicely............

we came back home dropped my kid in the day carer. we both are chatting i felt sleepy and went up to sleep for some time. veeru was downstaris watching t.v

after some time he came up and kept side of me note of love and a gift on my bed whenb i got up from sleep i can see something beside me.

sleeping beauty...................

last night i woke up all of a sudden...................

you...my sleeping beauty besides me...........

your face has the calmness of moon.............

your cheeks have the radiance of star...........

your lips are red,red,red, than the red rose.................

i thought of kissing you on your lips........but i did'nt

as i don't want to disturb ur sleep

i could stay awake all the night...........

just to stare at my sleeping beauty................

love you...........

                        chinnu

and with this note he gifted me a designer earing...............................

All this was a unique collection and was selcted by my loving hubby veeru. He has a very good tasteeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

I came down ant there again i can see one more surprise waiting for me..................

a champaig

he brought it for mr from PARIS

actually it was my dreamto drink with veeru

we opened the bottle and splashed it all over it was funnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn

this was the bottle and now am keeping cute money plant in it ........................as i wann to store this bottle.

And this was the love note....and on back of this he wrote  me.........................................you have strong sensuality&femininety................

you diverse & open minded.................

you are the goddess of beauty&love..........

                                                                  chinnu

In the evening he again gave me a 6th gift.................

He gave me a collection of nailpolishes and glosses.

so sexy and different colourssssssssssssssssss

and  these are the nail polishes

and  with this he gave a note of love cardddddddddddddddddddddd

DARLING,

often you tell me that you are'nt beautiful........................

but wat is beauty??Is it only for the body??

you are'nt the same after 10 years. Then wat is beauty?

beauty is wat lies within yourself.....................

the purity of the soul and the kindness of the heart....................

you are beautiful.............i love ur inner beauty

now & forever.................

that's why you are the "MONALISA OF MY LIFE"

keep smiling.........................

                                           with love

                              chinnu

Nght we went to hotel am just eagerly waiting for my 7th surpriseeeeeeee

and now i got it to my hand...................

it was so cute red heart shaped key chain..............

i was wondering why veeru gave me a keychain.........................?

but later i got the reason for the key chain gift

and with this he gave me this note of love card

seeli,, no bady knew that  EIFFEL would reach to its current height......

no one even guessed that it would be the highest visited paid monument of the world............

people might not recoginze your talents now......but one day they will realize your importance..............
you will reach greater heights one day..............you just need to be patient & keep confidence in you

i wish you a great success in life................................................

                                love u  darling...................................

this  is my lovely hubby

                                                                                             chinnu thank you. you have brought so much happiness in my life...........

yeah i for got to tell you

early i told i was surprised why he gave me a key chain  this is bcoz...............................................

he brought me a new bike honda activa new model and presented me on jan 1st 2010

hope you all will like my marriage anniversary celebrationss................

CRISPY PANEER WITH PEANUT SAUCE

FOR CRISPY PANEER:

INGREDIENTS:
Maida - 4tbsp
Corn flour - 4tbsp
Salt - a pinch
Chilli powder - 1tsp
Soya sauce - 1tsp
Pepper powder - 1/2 tsp
Water
FOR TOSSING:
Sooji - 1/4 cup
sesame seeds(nuvulu) - 2tsp
Bread crumbs - 1cup

PANEER MARINATION:
Take paneer and cut them like fingure shape long.
Take them in a plate apply little salt and black pepper powder on top and let it marinate.

METHOD:
Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl  and add
little water and make like dosa batter & keep it a side.
1. Take a frying pan, add oil for deep frying.
2. Take marinated paneer piece and dip in the maida batter.
3. Roll them in bread crumbs, rava, and sesame sedds,
4. Keep them in oil and deep fry till golden brown colour.
5. Arrange them in a serving plate.

FOR PEANUT SAUCE:
INGREDIENTS:
Peanut sauce - 1/2 cup(readily avaliable in the market)
Salt - a pinch
Pepper pwdr - 1/2tsp
Chilli pwdr - 1tsp
Coriander leaves - 2tbsp (finely chopped )
Pudina leaves - 2tbsp (finely chopped )
Garlic - 1 clove or pod

1. keep all these ingredients in a blender and grind little  like paste.
2. In a sauce pan add 1/4 cup of water and let it boil.
3. Take the boiled water and add it to the grinded paste and mix well until the desired thickness is reached.
4. Peanut sauce is ready to serve.

5. Transfer it to the serving bowl and serve it with crispy fried paneer.
6. Peanut sauce is used for dipping paneer fingures.

Yummy n Crispy paneer with peanut sauce is ready to be served hot.

Note: Instead of paneer you can even cook this dish with tofu..............