No-Cook Strawberry Icecream

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Motherhood is rewarding and challenging in many ways. If you are a mother then am sure you will agree with me.

For me pregnancy was full of various emotions - joy,anxiety,nervousness and occasional bouts of depression. Before motherhood it was all about me and myself. Visits to the mall and eating out were a weekend ritual. I surprise myself these days how I do not enjoy these things any more. Shopping has now become an occasional activity. Eating out has been restricted to kid-friendly places.

I enjoy being home and playing with Aamod. His soft touch, his innocent actions and sneaky little grin all lighten up our home these days. With him around the house is in a chaotic state. But I absolutely do not mind it. We can find the strangest of things in the weirdest of places. Just yesterday I found my wireless mouse in the dish washer !!

Being a mother is a privilege though it does come with a fair share of hardwork.

One of my good neighbourhood  friends is stepping into the mommy world. A couple of friends and myself had a babyshower for her this week. My contribution was this luscious Strawberry Icecream. I love strawberry in any form. If you love fruit then this icecream is for you.

This no-cook egg-free icecream is inspired from this recipe on Kitchen Parade. For the amount of effort this one needs the results are gorgeous !.

Here's my version of it :-

1C whole milk

1/2C cream

4oz cream-cheese cut into chunks

16oz strawberries chopped

1C sugar ( you can reduce it to 3/4C if your strawberries are tart)

1tbsp lime juice

1. Blend all the ingredients in a blender. Freeze in an air-tight container.

2. Once the mixture starts freezing from the side then blend using an hand-blender.You can use an ice-cream maker at this stage. Repeat this step 3 times to avoid ice-crystals.

3. Tastes best as a soft serve.

 The original recipe called for 8oz cream-cheese though I just had 4oz on hand. This ice-cream bursts of strawberry flavor though is not as creamy as the mango ice cream I previously  posted. You can increase the quantity of cream to make it all the more creamy. It has nice pink color without any addition of additional food colors.

Homemade Granola

Pin It Now! For quite sometime now I was like most grocery shoppers who would walk up to the cereal aisle and mindlessly pick up their favourite brand of cereal and put it into their shopping cart. I was always under the impression that cereal was healthy. Until I read how much sugar the oats, the bran and corn flakes were dunked in.
We have switched to the healthiest option now - Plain Oldfashioned Oats. With a handful of fresh berries and nuts these make a very healthy breakfast.

However recently I learned making another healthy version of granola. With just a few tbsp of honey this granola had become an instant favorite in my house.
I actually got inspired from this blog that has many variations of granola. I have bookmarked almost all of them for me to try out. This weekend I made this version substituting with some of the ingredients I meant to use up.

 Homemade Granola
 ===============

•  Combine :-    

                            2 C old-fashioned oats
                            1/2 C diced nuts ( I used a mix of almonds,peanuts and walnuts)
                            1/4 C dessicated coconut
          Roast over medium heat till nicely toasted. About 7-8 min. Keep close eye to avoid burning.

• In a saucepan combine :                              
                              2 tbsp vegetable oil
                              3 tbsp honey.
                              pinch of salt
  Stir over medium heat till it comes to a boil. Add 1/2 tsp vanilla.
   
• Pour the honey-oil mixture over the oats and nuts mixture. Toss to coat well.
• Spread onto a baking pan and bake at 350deg F for 5-7 min till slightly brown.
• Add 1/4 C of dried fruit ( I added raisins and dates), 4 tbsp of wheat germ(optional) to it.

• Cool and then store in an airtight container. Enjoy with some milk or yogurt for a breakfast or snack.
  
  
  

Tomato Chutney - South Indian Style

Pin It Now! Last weekend was packed with several potlucks and birthday parties. That left no time for me to do any grocery shopping. Besides pantry staples like onions , tomato there were not many veggies at home. So the challenge for yours truly - to get by a week without grocery shopping.
     Every evening the pantry would be ransacked to find whatever needed to be used up. Actually its pretty amazing what you discover to make a wonderful meal. I found several different legumes ,cheese.frozen pesto and flours.

     For a weekend brunch I used an instant uttapam packet to make some onion uttappams. To go with that there was tomato chutney south indian style. And its recipe is what I shall share with you today.

The original recipe is from DK of Chef In You. I am fillled with much gratitude everytime we enjoy this one. Its made its appeareance quite a few times now.

Now for the recipe :-

 3 tomatoes diced
 1 onion diced
 1/2 an inch ginger
 4-5 tbsp fresh coconut ( I use the frozen one )
 2 crushed red chillies ( more if you like spicy )
 1 tsp sambar powder
 1/2 tsp chilli powder
 salt to taste
 2 tbsp oil

 For tempering :-
 1 tsp mustard seeds
 2 tsp urad dal
 5-7 curry leaves
 2 tbsp oil

 1 tbsp finely chopped cilantro

1. In a pan heat some oil. Add the tomatoes,onions,ginger and dry red chillies and saute till tomatoes are cooked. Let cook for sometime.
2. In a blender add the above mixture,coconut,salt, sambar powder and chilli powder. Blend till a smooth paste. Transfer to a bowl.
3. Splutter the mustard seeds in oil. Add the urad dal, curry leaves and allow the urad dal to brown.
4. Add the tempering and cilantro to the blended mixture. Check for salt. Serve with dosa or idli.

We love the smoky and burnt taste of the urad dal. It pairs very well with the tangy tomato. You can add more ginger to get a nice hot chutney.

Want some ?

 Goes to this month's Healing Food - Tomato event started by Siri of Siri's Corner.

Indian Quesadillas with roasted tomato salsa

Pin It Now! Using the words 'Indian' and Quesadillas in the same line would raise eyebrows. Isnt it ? But actually I do not like the grocery store tortillas.They have some kind of bitter after-taste that puts me off.
So this week I tried masquerading rotis as tortillas and made some Spinach,Goat Cheese and Caramelized onion quesadillas with some roasted tomato salsa. Quite a mouthful of title but a flavorful one !

Quesadillas and Salsa

 

This was a fun-meal a nice change from the usual dal,sabzi,rotis.

Roasted Tomato Salsa

1. Cut 4-5 tomatoes in half and sprinkle salt,pepper and 2-3 tbsp of olive oil. Add 5-6 cloves of garlic and coat the tomatoes and garlic nicely with olive oil and the spices. Spread on baking tray (lined with foil for easy cleanup) cut side up. Bake for 20 mins till the tomatoes have wilted and turned brown from below.

2. When cooled finely chop the tomatoes and garlic.To this add :

                 1/2 an onion finely chopped

                  salt to taste

                 crushed red chillies ( amount depending on how spicy you want)

                 handful of cilantro

3. Enjoy with your favorite chips or with the quesadillas below.

The amount of tomatoes and garlic is approximate. I just use what ever  leftovers I have in the crisper. And when I see tomatoes at 88c/lb I cant wait to make more of this salsa. I have made it a couple of times now and we are always craving for more. Actually its the flavor of the roasted tomatoes and garlic that we enjoy very much.

 

Now to the quesadillas - 

This recipe is more of just assembling and then letting the quesadillas cook themselves.

1. Finely cut 1 onion into thin strips and saute for a few minutes till lightly brown and caramelized. 

2. Place a roti ( I used the frozen one from Costco) onto a hot pan and let it cook on both sides.

3. Now spread some of salsa(recipe above),caramelized onions and the baby spinach(store bought works best) and finely chopped sun-dried tomatoes(optional).

4.Spread some crumbled goat cheese and place another cooked roti. Press down.

5. Cut into wedges and serve with roasted tomato salsa.

This quesadillas is really an explosion of flavours. The sweetness from the onions, creaminess from the goat cheese and slightly tart tomatoes and salsa.If you have never tried goat cheese before then try picking some at your next trip to the grocery store. Use them where you would use your other cheeses and see if you like it.

See ya !

Alphonso Mango Icecream

Pin It Now! Summer vacations in my childhood were marked by frequent visits to my favorite ice-cream shop located in the heart of Pune,India - Kawre Colddrinks. This place served all the summer flavours - mango,anjeer(figs),pistachioand so many more. My favourite was the Mango Icecream using the freshest Alphonso mangoes of the season.
The hapus(alphonso) mango is one of the sweetest varierty of mango. Its extremely popular in the state of maharastra speically in the konkan region.

 source : Wikipedia

More about it here.

Though we do not get alphonso(hapus) in Houston what we get is the tinned mango pulp.Not that good as fresh mango but we still love it.
This week I invited few of my very dear friends for tea party. I kept the menu simple but flavourful - sweet and spicy dabeli, crispy-crunchy chivda,date cake for the ones with a sweet tooth and to wrap it up - mango ice-cream. The mango-icecream was oh-so-good. It replicated the Kawre magic quite easily.

So without further adieu here's the recipe.

Adapted from Jugalbandi's Express Mango Ice-cream.

Ingredients:-

1 14oz can sweetened condensed
1 can kesar mango pulp (one avalaible in indian grocery store)
 1 8oz container of cool-whip (fat-free ok)

1. Mix the pulp and the condensed milk to smooth.
2.Now add the cool-whip and blend with a hand blender till the mixture is smooth. To avoid spluttering blend first at low speed and be sure to use a tall container.Alternately you can also blend in a jar blender.
3. Freeze in a air-tight container until set. Makes about 2 quarts

This is so soft creamy thatI did not get much time to take the pics before it started melting.Also everytime one of us open the freezer we stop to have a spoonful of it ! This recipe is a keeper. Thank you Jai and Bee for this wonderful recipe.

Taste Of Yellow - Mango Crumble

Pin It Now! The rain gods have played havoc here in Houston today. Its been quite sometime since I experienced the fierce side of Mother Nature. And while I kept my little one occupied with rain songs like "Yere Yere Pausa.." (rain rain come again.. if you mean to translate it literally) I certainly did not mean it. For firstly I had to drive and second that it was the long weekend and I really did not want to spend it at home.

But still it was a good break from the sultry sticky humid weather that we have been experiencing lately. As with every weekend I had a dessert planned for this one too. A nice warm mango crumble to complement the cool outsides. The moment I saw it on this site I knew it was my kind of dessert - simple,fruity and not overly sweet.

I did not have enough mangoes to fill up my ramekins so I added a few strawberries. The end result was really a treat !
Here's how I made it :-

Ingredients

2 (or more) ramekins full of chopped mango and strawberry
1/2 tsp cinnamon powder
1/2 tsp crushed red chillies
2 tbsp honey

For the topping :-
1 tbsp whole wheat flour (atta)
2 tbsp coursely crushed almonds
1 tbsp vegetable/canola oil
2 tbsp turbinado sugar ( any brown sugar would be equally good)

1. Mix the fruits,cinnamon powder and the honey and toss gently. Fill into individual ramekins.
2. Mix the ingredients for the topping until the mixture resemble course breadcrumbs.
3. Top the ramekins with topping mixture.
4. Bake at 350F for 10-12 mins till mixture is bubbly and top browns. Take cake not to dry out the mixture by baking it longer.

It was so good. The sweetness from the honey and the heat from the mangoes,a perfect combination.

 

Thanks Sunita for yet another wonderful recipe !

Stuffed Spinach (Palak) Parathas

Pin It Now! What do I do when I have a big batch of washed, freshly cut spinach to use up ? I make us some stuffed spinach parathas.
Actually I am a big fan of all kinds of stuffed parathas - Aloo,Muli,Methi..the list goes on. Fan as in the eating kind not the making one.. I have tried my hands a couple of time and the result was just satisfactory - not great , just fair.

This time I attempted some again and the result was more than just satisfactory making them blog-worthy. Actually these parathas are much easier to handle than any of the other kinds I tried before.

The recipe comes from my aai (mom). She always packed them for lunch with some cilantro chutney. As a kid I loved them because of their green color and enjoyed them with some pickle and yogurt.
Here is my recipe for them : -

For the Stuffing :-
1 or more bunches of chopped spinach
2 cloves of garlic
4-5 tbsp of gram flour
1-2 tbsp chilli powder
oil to fry
salt to taste

 For the dough
 1-2 C whole wheat flour (atta)
 water for kneading
 2 tbsp oil

To make the dough
1. Mix all the ingredients for the dough and make a soft dough.
 Keep aside for 30 min.

To make the stuffing
1. Heat some oil in a pan and add garlic.
2. When garlic turns brown add the spinach, salt, chilli powder and mix well.The mixture releases moisture.Cover and cook till the spinach has wilted.
3.Open the lid and add gram flour. Mix well. Gram flour will absorb all the moisture. Simmer and cook for another5-7 minutes till mixture is dry and lumpy.
4. Cook on high heat if required and allow the mixture to cool before making parathas.

To make the parathas :-
 1. Take agolf ball sized ball of dough and place 1tbsp of mixture in center.Bring the edges together to make ball. Press down and roll carefully into parathas.
 2. Parathas might be thick at first but make sure that the filling does not spill out.
 3. Fry on tava till golden brown with some oil.

I served mine with some garlic chutney. Great for kids lunches !.
Goes to the Kids Delight event hosted by Srivalli at Spice your life .

Summer Dessert - Date Walnut Kulfi

Pin It Now! As a child summer vacations were marked by a visit by the Kulfiwallah in the afternoon. And mind you not any kulfiwallah. This particular one patronized by everyone in my neighbourhood sold the creamiest and nuttiest of the kulfis. But as time passed our summer vacations were replaced by summer classes and later by full-time jobs. The childhood kulfiwallah too found another lucky neighbourhood.

I never thought that I would be making this dessert at home. But I did ! And it turned out to be exactly similar to the kulfi I relished a few years back.
The recipe is very simple. Just mix and freeze ! Result is a creamy,nutty and absolutely delicious dessert.

Ingredients
 12 oz can evaporated milk
 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
 1 C heavy whipping cream
 1/4 C chopped walnuts
 1/2 C chopped pitted dates ( I used the pitted dates sold at Walmarts)

1. Line a round or rectangular baking tray with cling wrap (plastic wrap). This makes it easier to remove the kulfi.
2. Soak the dates in 1/2 C milk or water and let stand for 5-10min till cooled.
3. In a blender pulse 1/2 of the walnuts and dates till the mixture is smooth.
4. Add the evaporated and condensed milk,cream and pulse till the mixture is smooth and creamy.
5. Pour into a baking tray and freeze for 6-7hours till set.

Unlike other ice-creams it is not required to pulse the mixture every few hours to remove the sugar crystals. Cut into slices and enjoy !
I served this kulfi at a Chaat Party hosted for some dear friends. The leftovers were a huge hit at work !
Sending this childhood favorite dessert to be Monthly Mingle - Sweet Treats hosted by Erin at The Apartment Kitchen and started by Meeta of What's for Lunch Honey.

Our Anniversary and some curry...

Pin It Now! Yes, it was our anniversary this month. Five years back on a pleasant day we promised to be with each other through thick and thin. Ever since, its been a whole new life for both of us. There was laughter and there were tears. But for most part there was love and understanding. And today even though I do miss the warmth of my family back home I feel truly blessed to be with him. Who else could have put up with so many kitchen experiments ?
Like this baby corn and green beans curry. It was rustled up with whatever caught my fancy at that moment. Nonetheless it resulted in a dish I was proud of.

Cashews are the new cream here.The whole spices lend their wonderful sweet aroma to the dish. The crunchy vegetablse get along very well with the thick gravy making it perfect for dinner or lunch.

For now here is a recipe for baby corn and green beans curry : -


1.  Make a paste of following :- 

• 1/2 an onion diced
• 2 green chillies
• 1/4 inch ginger
• 7-8 cashew

2. In pan add oil and add : 1 bayleaf, 2-3 cardamoms, 1/2 inch piece of cinnamon
3. Add the onion paste and fry for 1 min. To this mixture add the following:-

• 1 tomato chopped
• 1-2 tsp chilli powder

4. Chop baby corn and green beans into 1/2 inch pieces or shorter if you prefer. Add them to the pan.
5. Mix well and add water to get the desired consistency.Add 1-2 tbsp of thick yogurt to get a creamy texture.
6. Bring it to a boil and garnish with chopped cilantro.

The vegetables should have a slight crunch and must not get mushy. Serve hot  with rotis or rice

Madhur Jaffrey Style Chicken Korma

Pin It Now! I do not make chicken curry often. When I do I try to experiment with a different recipe each time. This time I tried this Chicken Korma from BongMom's Cookbook.

She has patiently narrated her vesion of the recipe along with orginal one which is by Madhur Jaffrey.
I was surprised to find that the curry did not use any form of tomato(paste or whole). The base of rich gravy was rather a paste of almonds and spiced up yoghurt.

I followed Madhur Jaffrey's recipe. The result was a mildly spicy yet flavourful curry.

We had it with some rotis and raita for a nice weekend meal.
Thank you BongMom for the recipe.

A Simple Dal Fry

Pin It Now! Dal at my typical maharashtrian home was called "Varan" and it was simply toor dal cooked with a few minimalist ingredients - turmeric and hing. After adding salt and water it was served on top of hot rice for a comforting "Varan-bhat" that we relish till today.

 Recently I gave a new twist by adding some veggies and fruit. Also went in is a tadka of pure ghee, cumin and a handful of jaggery taking the simple "varan" to a whole new level.

 Here's how I make it :-

 1. Pressure cook 1/4 C toor dal or red lentils with :-

• pinch of hing
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1/4 chopped apple\mango (optional)
• 2-3 tbsp chopped vegetables ( I use a mix of carrots,peas,green beans and corn

2.  Make a tadka with 2-3 tbsp ghee. When the ghee is hot add the following:

• 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
• 1-2 small pieces of green chillies 

3. Mash the toor dal and add water to get desired consistency. Add :-

• 2 tbsp chopped tomatoes
• handful of cilantro
• 1 tbsp chopped jaggery
• salt to taste

4. Finally add the tadka. Microwave on high for about 2-3 minutes till the jaggery melts.


There you have it. We have this dal with some pickle and rice for a comforting end to a meal.
Sending this dal to Delicious Dals event started by Suma of Veggie Platter. I cannot wait to see the round up here.

Raspberry Preserves and some cake

Pin It Now! What's lurking in my kitchen ? - Raspberry Preserves ! They have been lying their untouched for months now. They are still good though but they are not finding their way into our systems. Actually it so happens that since the birth of our son we have somehow lost our sweettooth. So the jam-bread that I loved as breakfast has been replaced by a warm bowl of oats.

I found this recipe for jam cake on Framed.Its a very straightforward recipe and did not take long to assemble.

 The result was an absolute indulgence. The crumb was sweet and slightly tart and complements very well with the vanilla cake below.
 Here's how I made it :-

Jam Cake ( Adapted from this recipe at Framed)

2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup butter
1 egg, beaten
3/4 cup milk 
1/2 tsp vanilla essence

1C Red Raspberry preserves ( anyother preserves or jam like strawberry or apricot will also work)

Topping:

2/3 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
2 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup chopped almonds

1. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Pour in melted butter and mix until mixture is crumbly.

2. Add egg,vanilla and milk and fold in until all the mixture is incorporated.

3. Pour batter into a buttered 9-inch square baking pan. Spoon the jam over the batter, then swirl through the batter with a knife.

4. Mix topping ingredients until crumbly and sprinkle evenly over batter.

5. Bake at 400° for 25 to 30 minutes. Cut into squares and serve while still warm. 

The cake was ready in almost 23 mins. If kept longer the top browns up. The cake can be served warm with a scoop of vanilla icecream or some whipped cream for a quick dessert !

This cake goes to BlogBytes 4 - What's lurking in the kitchen ? started by Nupur of OneHotStove . Nupur, I join you in this trip in using up the lurkers in the kitchen. Thanks for the excellent idea !

Punjabi Aloo Bhindi

Pin It Now! Okra was something I loved while in India. The one sold in India was always fresh and tender.But here in the US its not as fresh and is not easily available in grocery stores. So whenever I find some fresh and tender okra I always pick it up. I remember my mom making fry bhindi that use to be crispy and a stuffed bhindi that we kids called as "Crocodile".

A few months back though I learned another way of making it. Like the way they make it in restaurants and call it as Bhindi Masala. I took the recipe for "punjabi aloo" from this website and added okra with the aloo. 

The result was delicious !

Punjabi Aloo Bhindi

Recipe:-

10-12 okra/ladyfingers cut into 1 inch pieces

1-2 potatoes boiled and roughly chopped

1-2 tsp chilli powder

1 tomato roughly chopped

2-3 tbsp curd/yoghurt

oil to fry

2 tsp cumin seeds

Make a paste of the following w/o using  water:-

1-2 green chillies

1 tbsp grated ginger

1 onion sliced

1. Heat oil in kadai. Add cumin. Once seeds sizzle add the onion paste and chilli powder.Fry for a minute till mixture leaves oil

2. Now add the okra and toss to coat with the mixture. Fry for 2-3 min.Do not cover.

3. Mixture will become sticky so add yoghurt. And mix again.

4. Once stickiness reduces add the tomatoes and potatoes and salt. Taste and adjust the seasoning. You can also add 1-2 tsp of coriander powder to make it more spicy.

5. Fry for a few more minutes till okra becomes slightly soft but not mushy. It should still have a bite/crunch.

6. Serve hot with rotis.

This recipe goes to the event Blog Bites: Adaptation Edition hosted by Nupur of One Hot Stove.

Hotel Sambhar on a rainy day

Pin It Now! The rains are good not when you are on the road but when you are at home, its a weekend and you have planned for a nice hot brunch. Perfect. Somehow I love the combination of idlis with piping hot sambhar on a rainy morning. The slightly cold outside and the warm feeling inside is very relaxing to me. This was one such weekend where the weather gods smiled at us and showered some much needed moisture. It was a great welcome after the hot days we have had so far.

This time rather than using my own recipe to make sambhar  I thought to try the "Hotel Sambhar" recipe on this site.I made it in my rice cooker and set it on warm setting to have a continuous supply of hot sambhar throughout saturday morning. This slow cooking not only improves its taste but saves the in and out from the microwave.

Here is my version of the recipe- 


1C Toor Dal pressure coked with pinch of turmeric and hing
1/2 onion sliced
1 tomato chopped
lime sized tamarind ball soaked in hot water for 10min
1tsp mustard seeds
1-2 tsp sambhar powder
some jaggery/gur
2-3C water
Paste of 1tsp coconut + 1 garlic clove+ 1/2 inch ginger+1tsp jeera


1.In a rice cooker or a pot heat 3C of water and add the tamarind pulp. You can use store-bought tamarind paste also. Let it come to a rolling boil.


2. Then add the sliced onions,tomatoes and let it cook for 10 mins or so.


3. Once the raw smell of tamarind is lost add the tur dal,salt,sambhar powder and gur. You can 1-2 tsp of chilli powder to make it more spicy.


4. Then add the coconut-ginger-garlic paste to the mixture and let it cook for 10-15 mins. Taste and adjust the seasonings.


5. Heat oil in a small kadai and add mustard seeds. When seeds cracked add curry leaves and whole red chillies.Pour over the rice cooked. I did not use curry leaves since i did not have those at hand.


6. Serve with warm idlis.

We had ours with some rava idlis for a satisfying brunch. 

Rice Paper Rolls and my latest food obsession

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Patience - that's what I am cultivating and loads of it, enough to handle all the pranks and discoveries of a one year old. Needless to say am also looking to spend less time in the kitchen without compromising on variety and quality. To satisfy my craving for quick and healthy recipes I made this quick appetizer over the weekend.

It so happened that I brought back a bag of rice paper sheets on my recent visit to an International grocery store. I was eying them for quite sometime now. You see, for the past few years we often ordered these rolls at Thai restaurants. They were sold for almost $2.50 a piece so i often thought that they were really time-consuming to make. 

However I was pleasantly surprised when I realized that they are actually very easy and healthy too.  They are everything you want an appetizer to be - easy, quick,healthy,make-ahead and simply superb for the summer since they can be served cold.

What you need is : -

2C shredded vegetables( I used a mix of red cabbage,carrots,spinach leaves)

1/4C finely chopped cilantro and mint

Rice paper sheets

Warm water and a napkin

 Hot and sweet dipping sauce

1. Pour warm water on a shallow plate and place the rice paper for 20s till it becomes soft.

2. Now spread the rice paper on a cutting board lined with a clean kitchen towel

3. Place the veggies and cilantro-mint mixture.

4. Carefully fold the edges and bring together in a roll.

5. Chill in fridge for 1 hour and then serve with dipping sauce

There are endless combinations of fillings for this roll. Like this one on One Hot Stove that uses Tofu or this one that uses chickpeas. 

This almost a no-cook recipe that can be assembled in less that 20mins for a regular home cook. So this goes to Twenty-20 Cooking Event hosted at Kitchen Samraj.

And now my latest food obsession - Sun dried tomatoes. I picked up a jar this weekend and ever since the ingredient is finding its way in most of my cooking.

 

I am loving its sweet,tangy and moist  flavor. So far I have used it in salads and sandwiches. I will post some blog-worthy recipe soon. Have you been using it for any other recipes ??