J's thoughts

Ease of preparation: very easy Taste: Delicious I didn't have heavy cream at hand so I just used an equal amount of cow milk :) An ideal dish during christmas lent and the winter season. Recipe adapted from  http://atastychallenge.blogspot.com/2011/04/paneer-masala.html

Milk Peda I saw my friends Instagram post on Diwali and then realisation dawned that pedas can be made at home too :). A search on the internet and stumbled upon this easy recipe from Sharmispassions . She has very clearly written down the step by step instructions and also pics to guide the cooking process. My pedas were a tiny bit sticky but tasted good...as good as store bought ones. Ah well, it was the first time for me. This is definitely a keeper recipe.

This is an easy and tasty dip recipe.  Goes awesomely well with any chips. Nachos are my favourite. Ingredients: 1. Labneh - 1 packet 2. Cream cheese - 3 or 4 tbsp 3. Garlic pods - 2 or 3 4. Pepper - as per taste 5. Salt- as required 6. Tabasco sauce -1/4 tsp {optional; add before serving} Blend. Pour the mixture into a small bowl.  Dip the chips in it. Enjoy. Recipe courtesy:  a friend

Recipe courtesy: Mrs. Lakshmi Nair's cookery show Ingredients: 1. Beetroot - 1 2. Coconut (grated) - 1.5 cup     Cumin seeds - 3/4 tsp     green chillies -3 3. Curd - 1.5 cups 4. Mustard seeds- 1 tsp 5. Dry red chilli - 2 6. Curry leaves -  a sprig 7. Oil - 3 tbsp Method: Boil the beetroot in lots of water and grate it. Make a paste of items in 2. Combine the beetroot and the coconut paste in a bowl.  Add salt to taste. To this add 1.5 cups of curd and mix well. In a small pan, add oil, splutter the mustard seeds,add red chilli and curry leaves.  Pour this over the beetroot-coconut-curd mixture.

Ingredients: 1. Beetroot(grated) - 1 cup 2. Yoghurt - 1.5 cups 3. Shallots - 5 4. Green chilli - 3 5. Mustard seeds - 1 tsp 6. Cumin Seeds - 1/2 tsp 7. Coconut oil (preferably) - 3 tbsp 8. Curry leaves - a sprig 9. Salt - as required Method: In a deep pan, add the oil and when it is warm add the mustard seeds. When it splutters, add the cumin seeds, then the green chilli and the curry leaves. Give a stir and add the shallots. When the shallots turn translucent, add the beetroot and saute it till its 90% cooked. Allow the whole mixture to cool down and add the yoghurt and salt and mix well.

I had been wanting to try out the food and snacks in AAB ever since they opened up in Salmiya. But never could. The place would be full every time we passed by. AAB had a small outlet in Salmiya and now they have opened a second branch in Salmiya itself (opposite to Al-Qabass arabic school; the bestow bakala lane).  This place has more seats since there is no snacks section.We checked in for a brunch :). The decor is nice and there is three kinds of chutneys on the table - red ,green and white [coconut and onion, corinader, simple coconut]. Very pretty colors indeed. That's the plain dosa I ordered. It was crisp and light and tasted good. Masala Dosa The masala dosa came folded in a rectangular shape. The filter coffee was served in bronze utensil(I am guessing it's bronze). It was sweet and tasted so good. Now I am pretty impressed with the food except for the sambar. The sambar isn't suited to my spicy-tamarindy-asafoetidy-dark colore...

muringa ela koottu curry I came across this recipe in Vanitha magazine. It was an easy recipe and tastes good and not to forget the health benefits of muringa or  moringa leaves. A simple search on the internet can give you an idea of the health benefits associated with the whole moringa  plant. And my favourite body butter from TBS is the moringa body butter.

Now one can order fish online in Kuwait :) They have cash on delivery and also a 5% cash back policy if you pre-order your fish. I thought they had free delivery but read in   248am   that they charge 750fils for delivery. They have fresh fish, live fish (limited options when i checked website) and cooked fish. I for one would be hesitant to buy fish online but when you are hard pressed for time or due to some reason  can't visit the fish market, this is a great option. Their website is www.kuwaitfreshfish.com and facebook page is also there.

Corn and paneer chaat This is a colorful chaat. A bit sweet, a bit tangy but tastes good nonetheless.  This can be a mid-morning snack or an evening snack.  It is easy to prepare and healthy as well. Ingredients: 1. Corn - 2 cups 2. Paneer-15 cubes  3. Red onion - 1  4. Tomato - 1 5. Salt- as per taste 6. Pepper - as per taste 7. Lemon juice - 1/2 of a lime  8. Chaat masala - as per taste Method: Steam the corn. Pan fry the paneer Chop the onion and tomato Mix everything together. Add the salt, pepper, lime juice and chaat masala. Toss well.  Enjoy. Recipe adapted from indian healthy recipes

It is by accident that you stumble upon good restaurants. This was one such find. 

Green grapes juice You need to eat fruits. Everyday. That's what moms and health professionals scream out every day; day in and day out. So now what to do when you bought some seedless green grapes and you  end up with some left over sitting in the fruit bowl the second day also? think think....juice them off course. Put the grapes in a blender (no hassles of removing seeds since they are seedless) and done.  You can add a little water if the consistency is too thick for you. There is no need to add extra sugar; the sweetness of the grapes suffices. But if the juice isn't that sweet, add a bit of sugar. Add a couple of ice cubes and enjoy the drink. Alternatively you can add the ice cubes into the blender along with the grapes instead of adding water. A healthy drink which is tasty is a sure winner. Ingredients 1. Green grapes - 1 cup 2. Water - 1/4 cup (optional) 3. Sugar - 1/2 tsp (optional) 4. Ice cubes - 2 Method Blend. Pour i...

Ingredients required: 1. Cherries (pitted) - 1 cup [I used fresh cherries; no, none of those frozen stuff for me] 2. Milk - 1 cup That's it. Put everything in the blender and wham,a tasty milkshake is ready. For those of you who will not be satisfied with the sweetness of the milkshake can add teaspoon of sugar or a couple of pitted dates. There are a zillion other ways to make a smoothie or a milkshake but I prefer mine clean - meaning no sugar,ice cream, chocolate etc. Now the downside is (if you think it is) is the time in spending pitting the cherries, but consider that as therapeutic :) :P and also a bit of staining on the finger nails. Cherries are available only for a short season and so make the most of it while its still available. 

What to make for breakfast? A nerve wracking thought for all moms (everyone). Especially when you are hard pressed for time. And you had enough of boxed cereals and oats. Come on, even those 'healthy' cereals are loaded with sugar.  Steamed plantain is one of those easy breakfast items , as long as I can remember. It can be eaten just like that or with a chutney of crushed shallots, green chilli and salt in a bit of water. Oh nostalgia. But, I always felt hungry after an hour. A chit chat with my friend over this topic and she suggested having a boiled egg and a piece of toast (or plain bread) to go with the plantain. And yes, you have a delicious, filling and nutritious breakfast. And doesn't take much time at alllllll.

Well, paniyarams are not exactly a new invention :) only thing is that I never really ventured to try out this recipe. What you need is just some idli batter and viola, a delicious and healthy evening snack is ready. There is spicy and sweet versions of this. Here goes the spicy version of paniyarams. Ingredients: 1. Idli batter - 2 cups 2. Shallots - 6 3. Green chilli - 1 4. Ginger paste - 1/2 tsp 5. Urad dal - 1/4 tsp 6. Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp 7. Oil (Coconut/sunflower) - as needed 8. Curry Leaves - a sprig 9. Coriander leaves - 2 Tbsp (optional) Method: In a pan, add about 1.5 tsp of oil and when it is hot, add the mustard seeds. When they start crackling, add the ginger paste and chopped green chilli. Saute for a minute; and then add the chopped shallots. When the shallots are slighltly browned, add the curry leaves. Switch off the flame and add the coriander leaves. Let this cool off and add it into the idli batter. Add enough salt. Viola...paniy...

It was a lazy saturday evening and we were wondering where to go out for dinner. And we finally ended up at Five Guys which is located in Al-Tijaria tower (opposite to Al-Shaheed park). Man, the crowd there is insane. I have not seen such a busy burger joint; other than the ones located in the malls. One of my friend, whose office is in the same building, was telling me that the queue will be well outside the burger joint on most days.

This recipe was taken from Vanitha magazine (forgot which edition though). I had put my name for a cooking competition held by one of the associations in Kuwait and guess what, this pudding won the third prize :) :) :).  Thanks to Vanitha and the author of this recipe. Here is how it is prepared: INGREDIENTS: First Layer: 1. Apricots – 20 2. Water – 3 cup 3. Sugar – 1 cup Second Layer: 4. China grass – 8gm      Water – 1 ½ cup 5. Condensed milk – 1 tin      Milk – 5 cups      Sugar – 5 tbsp 6. Vanilla Essence – 1 tsp Third Layer: 7. China grass – 7gm     Water – 1 ½ cup 8. Fresh Orange juice – 3 cups     Lemon juice – a little     Sugar – as required METHOD: 1. De-seed the apricots and cook it with water. Add the sugar after the apricots are        cooked well and mix it well. 2. Onc...

This is one of those perfect ‘cheat day’ options. The tiny packet costs .050 fils and is the size of the palm of your hand. Considering the fact that most chips packet is filled 3/4 th with air (:p), one would end up eating only a few chips; just enough to curb the cravings. [Well if you buy a lot of those tiny packets and end up eating all, then don’t blame me]

I love pizzas and was a hard core fan of one of the leading Pizza chains in the world (don't want to take any names here). No other brand could replace it. Their pizzas were tasty and the salads were yum. Until I came across Pappa Johns pizza. It was an eye opener. The crust and the flavors were much much better compared to my all time favourite pizza chain. Sigh! I ordered 'All the meats' this time. Its my all time favourite. The pizza comes with a garlic sauce dip and a pickled chilli. Not a very fancy presentation but they do make the best pizzas in Kuwait. One can easily gobble up up to 4 pieces ;). yep, no joking here.  They do have a wide range of selection.  You can order through their hotline number(1827272) or order through Talabat.com( http://www.talabat.com/kw/en/menu/9/1389/papa-johns-salmiya )

Appam made of wheat flour? What? Huh? Really? - this was the expression on my face as I saw a friend's post on the social media. It looked like a doable kind of recipe and the curious me who likes to experiment wanted to try it out. And what say, the end result was a soft appam that didn't have the taste of wheat at all. I ngredients 1) Wheat flour – 2 cups 2) Milk – 3 tbsp 3) Sugar – 5 tsp 4) Yeast – ½ tsp 5) Salt – as required 6) Coconut milk – as required 7) Warm water - as required Method To lukewarm milk, add one teaspoon of sugar, stir till it dissolves and add the yeast. Close it and keep it aside for 10 - 15 minutes for the yeast to come alive and do its magic. Add the wheat flour into a deep bowl. Add the salt and the rest of the sugar (5tsp) into the wheat flour and mix it well. To this, add the fermented yeast. Mix well by adding warm water. You need to get a thick batter; not runny but very very thick batter without any lumps. Ke...