Happy Dussehra - 2016

Happy Dussehra to all the readers of my blog!!!! This is thali I made as prasadam for ammavaru today. It has Kesar Baaath (Kesar annam), Bellam annam (Jaggery Rice), Daddojanam (Yogurt Rice), Nimmakaya pulihora (Lemon Rice), Kobbari annam (Coconut Rice), Neyyi annam (Ghee Rice )

Happy Sankranthi

Happy Sankrathi to all the viewers of this Blog....

My first ever Bommala koluvu at my home. 

Happy New Year 2012

Many more wishes for a new, joyous and happy new year. This is the first time I made the cake with frosting/decoration. Decoration was simple and light from my side. I have added whipped cream and had melted little chocolate to write "Happy New Year: and the lines in between. Cherries and chocolate chips made the rest of the decoration. Hope you all have a wonderful new year. 

India trip

I am leaving for a month of India trip tomorrow Morning. I have couple of functions (parties) to attend at home. I am hopeful that I will be able to  share some of the variety or authentic recipes. Will update you all when I have some photos with me. Till then Enjoy the summer folks!!!

Happy Pongal (2010) and Happy New Year 2010

Happy Diwali (2010)

Hope you all have a happy, joyous Diwali with the blessings all the goddesses on you and your family. 

Happy Diwali

Happy Ugadi

Happy Ugadi to all the visitors.
May this new year bring lots of happiness, prosperity and good health in all our lives.

उगादी की शुभ कामनाएं
ಹ್ಯಾಪಿ ಯುಗಾದಿ
ഹാപ്പി ഉഗാദി
ஹாப்பி உகாதி
అందరికి ఉగాది శుభాకాంక్షలు. ఈ నూతన సంవత్సరం అందరికి సంతోషం, ఆరోగ్యం, వృద్ధిని తేవాలని ఆశిస్తున్నాను.

Vacation

Hi all

I went to a small vacation to India. You can imagine how busy the life will be when on vacation to India along with two infants. But the trip went well. Major trips we went in India were Vijayawada, Basara and Thirupathi. We had our son's second birthday party celebrated grandly at Hotel Peppermint (Lakdi Ka Pool) in Hyderabad.

While we are still in jetlag, I posted some pics from India in my other blog - shireesha.blogspot.com. Will be back with lot more recipes soon. My cousin (Soni) generously has given me some quick healthy and tasty recipes. I am going to post them intermittently along with my other recipes, until then Namaskar for now.

Happy New Year 2010

Happy New Year 2010

Happy Holidays

Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Holidays to all....... Hope you will all have a blast.

Special food on Janmashtami

Mirchi Bajji:
Vankaya Pachadi:
Thali on Janmashtami:

Happy Sriramanavami

Hi all,

Happy Srirama navami to all of you.

Happy Ugadi

I wish you all and your families a very happy and prosperous Ugadi. Hope you all have a wonderful year coming.

Sarvadhari Nama Nutana Samvatsara Shubhakankshalu.

New addition to my family

Its been so long that I wrote something in my blog. Wanted to share the good news that, we now have a new addition in our family, my son Ishaan born on Feb 5th.

Some Tips - 1

Jeera
Jeera is good for digestion. I am a fan of Jeera that is the reason. You can add it in most of the recipes except for sweets though :)

Mustard Seeds Powder
When you prepare mustard seeds powder, use it immediately otherwise the powder does not take much time to taste bitter. One of my friends suggested to store it along wiht salt, so that you dont get the bitter taste and no need to do it fresh everytime. Will try it and let you know....

More to come soon.....

Happy Diwali

Wishing all a Very Happy and Prosperous Diwali....



Today I gave Niwali (Mangala Harathi) to my brothers. Wanted to share that special tradition with everyone. This might be famous in other places also, but we Manthani people do it for sure in the following way.

The day before or the same day of Diwali(depending on the moon sign day), Sisters show Mangala Harathi (aarthi) to their brothers. The tradition starts early morning, before taking shower. Sisters apply coconut oil on the head of the brother for 3 times. Then comes the nazar utaro section, where the girl will take two laddoo type things (made from either besan or wheat flour with pinch of turmeric added), and turns them in one direction around the whole family. Same thing is done again with different set of laddoo type in the reverse direction. Finally they show aarthi to brothers and then to rest of the family.

Brother's give gifts to their sisters on two occasions for sure. One is Rakhi and other is Niwali, which I mentioned above. After the above thing is done, then we enjoy the special snacks prepared by mom. Peni, Madugulu (also called Jantikalu in andhra side), Chakkilaalu with Ghee and Tamarind Pickle. But the taste that we have on the food after niwali is total different from normal times.

Then the Diwali season comes, which everybody know that we all will have blasts.... new clothes, Special food, Crackers, Fire works .... Earthware Diya's.

Lot of unforgettable memories. As soon as the evening happens we wait to lite the earth ware diya's and decorate it around the home. Before the dinner have lot of fun with fireworks. and then finally the day ends with Laxmi Puja before having dinner. It is considered auspicious to do Laxmi puja on Diwali.

The following is a mangal aarthi which I am copying from another site, thoda modified so that we can sing it like OM JAI JAGADEESH HARE song:

Link: http://festivals.iloveindia.com/diwali/maa-lakshmi-aarti.html
GODDESS LAKSHMI AARTI

Jai lakshmi maataa, maiyaa jai lakshmi maataa
tumko nishadin dhyaavta, hara vishnu vidhaataa
brahmaani, rudraani, kamlaa, tu hi hai jaga maataa
Om Jai lakshmi maataa

surya chandramaa dhyaavata, naarada rishi gaataa
durgaa rupa nirantara, sukha sampati daataa
Om Jai lakshmi maataa

jo koi tumko dhyaavata, riddhi siddhi dhan paataa
tu hi hai paatala basanti, tu hi shubha daataa
Om Jai lakshmi maataa

karma prabhaava prakaashaka, jaganidhi ke traataa
jis ghar mein tum rahati, sada sadguna aataa
Om Jai lakshmi maataa

kara sake koii kara le, mann nahin ghabaraataa
tuma bina yagya na hove, vastra na koii paataa
Om Jai lakshmi maataa

khaana paana ka vaibhava, sab tumse hi aataa
shubha guna mandira sundara, kshirodadhi jaataa
ratana chaturdasha tuma hi, koii nahin paataa
Jai lakshmi maataa, maiyaa jai lakshmi maataa

aartii lakshmii ji ki, jo koii nar gaataa
ura aananda umanga ati, paap utar jaataa
Om Jai lakshmi maataa

Hope you all will also have blast on Diwali.....

My Items on Diwali:

Sweets we got from outside:


Cucumber Raita


Peel the cucumber and grate it. Squeeze the juice out of it. Add salt, green chillies, Dahivada raita powder(my fav), and ofcourse curd to it. Mix it well. Add tadka with oil, 1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds, curry leaves and 1 tea spoon urad dal on top.
Traditionally, we dont add the Dahivada raita powder, we use 1/2 teaspoon of mustard seeds powder. Try it..


Vegetable baath recipe from Asha's blog


Our Dinner:
Cucumber Raita, Mango and Amaranth leaves Lentil, Spicy Potato Curry, Vegetable Baath with white rice.

Coming back again....

Hi all,

Its been really long time I posted something on the blog. We recently bought a home, and then India trip and good news of my pregnancy....

Lot of things were happenning around. So I am hoping to get back to post something on this blog again.. Good luck to me :)

In-Laws Visit

I have my in-laws with us for over 2 months now. And I am all excited learning the new items from my Mother-In-Law. Basically I am from Telangana(a part of A.P) and my in-laws are from Andhra. So I am learning new techniques from her. As soon as I get a chance I will definitely share my new experiances with you all....

Till then...

Have fun and Have a nice time

Gongura Recipes

Hi folks.....

I was quite busy with parties and work so could not post any new recipes. But this time I am going to post recipes on Gongura (Sour Greens).

I made Gongura Dal(Pappu), Gongura Curry with Onions, Gongura Pulusu. Will post the recipes soon with pictures.. till then enjoy.

Gongura Leaves Blanched


Gongura Leaf