1.
Place milk, sugar, eggs, oil and vanilla in the blender. Add flour and baking powder. Blend until smooth.
2.
Heat a lightly oiled frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the pan, using approximately 4 tablespoons for each pancake. Brown on both sides and serve hot.
I found this recipe online while searching for easy choclate cake recipes.. After reading through it, I was dubious.. A cake in 2 minutes ? And that too in a single cup ? This is too good to be true !! So I wrote it down dutifully.. And tried it out the next day. .. And I was awestruck !! It really worked !!
I just took a coffee cup, added all the ingredients, gave it a stir with a spoon.Kept it in the microwave .. Set for 2 minutes.. Shrugged to myself.. And pressed the start button. .and what do you know ? I had a little cake in my cup !!MAGIC!! Theres no other word for it other than that !
This is a perfect recipe for a cute dessert .. Or for those times you need to whip up a snack fast ... So go on.. Try zapping this up in your microwave and see the magic for yourself !!
The other day, I was baking cookies.. And my husband walked in asking, are you baking something ? It smells yum !
.. Which led to a long discussion about how the sense of smell affects our taste too..
Did you know that there's a school for smell? it helps you in developing your sense of smell.
.And we all started listing our favorite smells.. Raise your hands if you find any of your favorites in the list below !
Freshly brewed coffee..especially on cold winter mornings or while it's raing cats and dogs
The citrusy scent you get when you start peeling an orange
I used to wonder why, at the very mention ofthe words “school holidays”,grown women would turn pale and suppressshudders..I used to wonder , because I remembered the school holidays,especially summer hols , as a time of fun and joy, endless days to play in thegarden and fields, trips to hillstations..I’m sure those famous words” umma ,i’m bored!”never passed my lips..
But memory can be tricky..Ask my mother,andshe’ll give you another version of my story..and no doubt it’s all true..Shebears the emotional scars as proof..and now that I have also got a trio ofschoolkids stuck at home..am busily acquiring the abovementioned scars too!!
I don’t begrudge the teachers theirholidays..I’m sure they need them. Nodoubt they would have ticked off the last days of school in the same desperateway that we mums count the last days of summer holidays....But, faced with myown kids all day long, and the eternal problem of keeping them entertained..Iam eagerly awaiting the start of school ..Hats off to the present dayteachers...they can settle my kids into the quietest lambs, while I , amrunning ragged and weary !!
Aah...There’s nothing like summer holidays tomake you long for the routine of school days...sigh...
AppleSlab Cake
Sugar 1 1/2 cup
Chopped apples 3 cups
Maida 2 cups
Baking soda 1 tsp
Cinnamonpowder 1 1/2 tsp
Oil 1/2 cup
Ghee 1/2 cup
Egg 3
Vanillaessence 1 tsp
Cashew nutchopped 1 cup
1.Preheat oven Take1/2 cup sugar in a heavy bottom pan and heat till it turns golden brown. Leaveto cool.
2.Sift together maida, soda, and cinnamon powder .
3.Beat the balance sugar, oil and ghee together.
4.Add eggs one by one. Beat well.add essence.
5Add maida mix, and mix till joined together.
6.Lastly, add the apples and nuts and the caramel ,stir once ,
7.Bake in a greased tray till done. (30 to 40 mi ns approx)
This new year has been chockablock with so many things that i never had a minute to even sit and look at my blog..I started cookery classes at kochi as well as Muvattupuzha..So. less talk, more work...This is one of the recipes I will be doing for my next class next week..
MINI PUFFS WITH SWEET/SPICY FILLING
Ingredients:
Water ¼ cup
Milk ¼ cup
Butter ¼ cup
Salt a
pinch(1/8 tsp)
Nutmeg/vanilla a pinch
savoury/sweet
Maida 11 tbsp
Soda bicarb ½ tsp
Baking powder ¼ tsp
Eggs 3
Method:
Mix together the flour,soda bicarb, and
baking powder.
Mix together water, milk,butter,salt, and
the nutmeg or vanilla. Boil this , add
the flour mix and remove from heat.
Cool for 5 minutes. Then add an egg, beat
well, then add the next egg. Beat till well mixed.
Pipe/scoop little mounds of the batter onto a
greased baking tray and bake in a
preheated oven for 20-25 minutes.
When cool, slice in half and add some
filling in between and serve.
Savoury filling
Cheesespread /mayonnaise 4 tbsp
Chives/spring onion chopped 1 tbsp
Onion chopped fine 1
Cheese grated /chopped 2-3 tbsp
Milk 2
tbsp
Pepper ½ tsp
Salt if needed
Mix well and use
Sweet filling
Chocolate 100
gm
Cream/milk 2
tbsp
Melt chocolate in a double boiler, then
remove from heat. Add cream and stir
well. Use as sweet filling for mini puffs.
.... And the title of lazybones 2010 goes to mrs. Reshma Nooh !! what can i say ? Been so busy .. And the little time I do get as free time , I would prefer to be in my kitchen , experimenting , or curled up with a book .. No blogging , no dieting , no exercise , .... Hmmmm... Haven't I been a baaad baaad girl .. Errr female ? On the plus side , I did make time to do something I've been longing to do for ages .. I went for some cookery classes in Cochin .. I know cooking , yes , but it's always been a trialand error method .. Self taught or advice handed down by the generations before me ..but to learn about the finer nuances .. Authentic cntinental and Italian style... This was what I had always wanted ... So I went to mrs Anita Isaac 's cookery school once a month ( 2 days ) and ... And learnt how to make a perfect ganache .. The secrets of fondant icing ... Advanced icing techniques ... What not ! And so , for the past few months... The boys and anyone who walks into my home .. Have been gorging on continental and Italian food. And they have loved the diversion from pizzas to lasagne .. From frenchfries to roast chicken .. With her permission , here I am passing on one of mrs Anita Isaac 's recipes..
Lava cake
Six ouncegrated dark choclate Melt in microwave 1min or double boil Add butter six ounces Stir well
Half cup sugar plus eggs3 plus a tsp vanilla essence Beat till foamy
Add warm choclate mix well 1/3cup maida remove-2tsp Add two tsp cocoa Sieve tegether fold into choclate mix Pour into silicon cups Leave around half inchspace on top Bake in oven @160c
I was leafing through a Vanitha, the leading malayalam women's magazine here, when i ran across the entry coupon for a cookery contest..and i thought..why not?So I filled in the application form, sent in my entries for ,a veg sidedish, a non veg side dish, and a dessert..Lazybones that I am...I selected recipes which were the shortest to write..without much thought or idea..
...And..what happened was that I got selected for the preliminary round! I was asked to join a zonal competition with 15 other ladies from around Kochi..and told to make the veg recipe i had sent in..Cool!I had sent SPINACH ROULADE as the veg entree..Got thruough the first round..was selected as one of five finalists from Kochi zone ..Yesterday was the finals, where fifteen women from all over Kerala battled it out for the title of Paachakarani 2010.
Having made it to the finals, I didnt have much hope for getting anything other than a consolation price(snifff!) since (as i told you guys earlier)the recipes I had sent in were selected by me for their brevity in writing..not for dramatic cooking.
Anyway..so there I was.. making a simpleNUTELLA CUSTARD and an equally easy to make MALLU CHILLICHICKEN , while all around me fourteen expert cooks made comlex koftas, variety puddings, fusion curries and pies....Sigh!not even a snowball's chance in heaven!!
So I decided to relax ..two and a half hours time to do my easy to make dishes!way too much time!
Anyways..net result, a perfectly set mousse pudding and well cooked chicken, which netted me the 2nd place..and ten thousand rupees worth goodies from whirlpool!!!!
wow!!
But it wasn't that which got me excited..it was the fact that, for the first time in my life, I was in a totally different environment..where food production,perfection , is of utmost importance..where every single person in that hall was a foodie through and through.It wasn't just me..all the other fourteen particapants, the three celebrity judges(Lakshmi Nair, Tv cookery expert, Mr Raheem,executive chef of the Taj group of hotels, and a home science professor)the organisers..we were all equally passionate about cooking!
I still haven't come down from the high I experienced when I chatted with a real live chef...when he asked me if I am a professional chef...(teehee!!)when about 50 other strangers descended on the dishes that I had made and pronounced them yummy...That was the real prize..everything else pales in comparison .
P ut the biscuits in a mixie and crush till finely powdered. Rub in soft butter till it resembles bread crumbs. Press down into a pie dish and keep in fridge to set.
Beat together nutella and cream , then pour onto the hardened base, refrigerate again.
Soak chinagrass in 1 cup of water, melt till smooth.
Mix together the milk, custard powder, and condensed milk and heat in a saucepan, stirring well till slightly thick .
Mix this with the melted chinagrass .
. Combine cream, vanilla essence, and sugar, and whip till softly peaking.
Fold the cream into the custard mixture gently, then pour onto Nutella layer. Leave to set in fridge. Garnish with choclate shavings and serve cold.
not my own pic,obviously! this is how it looks, though..
Today, J1 and J2 start boarding school. For the past two days I have been in a frenzy of packing and planning so they have everything they need when they are away from me. Sniff...I am not going to cry..But God...I hope they will be fine..life, as they have known it, will change..there will be a lot of adjustments they have to make..
As exboarders ourselves, both my husband and I can understand what is happening, and we can predict exactly when homesickness will start to set in..my only tension is this...suppose they don't feel any homesickness and are perfectly happy ...no ..more happy in hostel?
Aaaargh...how would I feel then...?Aah..no use thinking too much..kids will be kids..one can never predict how they'll turn out or what they will do next..hey? Anyways..my whole family..being ex Boarders themselves are in an uproar about this...an excited uproar..actually..my parents are calling up with tips on packing..my two brothers S1 and S2 are waxing nostalgic about the golden days of hostel..Resh...are you packing their clothes in trunks ? Reshma..pass the phone to J1 and J2...hey guys..are you excited to be off to boarding school? have loads of fun.. J1 is like..."what's all the fuss about?boarding is no big deal..honestly , I can't understand you all.."J2 has gone all cool and quiet..i just hope this is not the calm before the storm..
..and I was feeling quite sentimental yesterday after all the packing was done..so..
Sunday yesterday, I made pasta for brunch, since it was one of the boys' favorite dishesThey loved it , and proclaimed me as the best Cooker(grammatically wrong, i know..but who am I to argue with little boys?) in the world..at which moment, I fell upon them, hugging and kissing them...in fact, doing all the things they reaallyy hate...for this mistake on my part...the award of best cooker was retracted and they walked out of the kitchen in a huff, wiping away kisses and mumbling about gross females...hmmm...
My house is filled with the lovely fragrance of baking..and it's not just any cake, it's a butterscotch cake.. So..Let's be boring today and go straight to the recipe..ok?
BUTTERSCOTCH CAKE
Ingredients:
Butter 3/4 cup
Sugar 1 1/2 cup(powdered)
Maida 2 cups
Eggs 3 ( seperated)
Milk 1 cup
Vanilla essence 1 tsp
Sugar 2 dsp(granules)
Baking powder 2 tsp
Baking soda 1/2 tsp
Method:
1. Preheat oven at 175C .
2. Beat together butter and powdered sugar till fluffy and soft.
3. Seperate eggs, add the yolks to above mix one by one, beating well in between.
4. Add maida and milk alternatively, beating in between all the time.
5. Add essence and stiffly beaten egg whites . Stir well by hand.
6. Before the froth goes down, add sugar granules, mix again, and pour into greased baking tray.
7. Bake till done(about 30 minutes)Cool and pour icing on top.
Icing:
Ingredients:
Butter 1/2 cup
caramelised sugar 1 cup
milk 1/4 cup
Powdered sugar 1 cup
Method:
1. Heat butter, add caramelised sugar.
2. Mix well on low heat, then add milk. Mix.
3. Remove from heat, then add powdered sugar.
4. Pour over and spread onto the cake.
Perfect for special tea times or those chilly winter evenings ....
Another cookery class over..and it's been a long time since I blogged. This recipe is a very easy one which I normally make when it's very hot and I'm too lazy to make a complicated dessert. You could make the jelly early (it keeps for at least a week in the refrigerator )and just whip up the sauce about ten minutes before serving..
Tender Coconut Jelly with Coconut cream sauce
Ingredients:
Tender coconut water 2 1/2 cups China grass 1 packet(10gms) Sugar 6 tbsp
Coconut grated 3 cups water 1 1/2 cup Condensed milk 1/2 tin(200gm)
Method:
1. Tear up china grass into thin strips. Soak the china grass in tendercoconut water for about ten minutes.
2. Add sugar to this, stir well, and heat .
3. Boil till the china grass is fully melted.
4. Now pour this into a shallow pie dish and leave to set in the refrigerator.
5. Blend together the coconut, water and condensed milk. Strain . 6. Add vanilla essence to this thick cream and chill. 7. The tender coconut jelly will have set within 20 minutes. Chop into small pieces .
8. Serve the jelly pieces with the cream sauce poured liberally on top.
Yes...it has been such a long time since i did a blog post..almost a month...no? Vacation had started , and I lost no time in packing my bags and hightailing it to my hometown in Kollam for some long awaited TLC and R&R . I spent ten days with my parents..then a couple of days bonding with cousins at a gettogether in Cochin, took a short trip to a Beach resort in Kovalam (thank you, vappa and umma!!)and was back home by the fifth of April.
Then why the long absence from the blog? you might ask.. It's wedding season in Kerala now...and I've been running around attending weddings and pre wedding parties for the past two weeks . It's been good fun though, since I really enjoy dressing up. In kerala, we go all out for the weddings..garish heavy jewellery, kanjeevaram and silk saris, jasmine flowers, ...though I must add that of late, there has been a trend towards designer saris and diamond jewellery.
My niece ,A,( the one who loves my carrot cake,remember?)is getting married on May 3rd..and the whole family (my husband's family) have all been so busy shopping for her trousseau and for all of our outfits too...It's been a tradition in our family to do the shopping together...so you can just imagine the mayhem we create when all seven daughter in laws , one sister in law, one mother in law, and twelve to fifteen kids descend upon a shop!!
So you can see how busy I have been, (tee hee!!)For now, I'm posting a very special recipe which is very close to my heart. An old time favorite, a traditional snack, Sarkara Ada. My maternal grandmother, Amma, used to make these for us, whenever we would go to her house for the vacations. Ada, Diamond cuts , Elayappam or chakka ada, these were her specials. THe other two recipes, I will be posting soon...(as soon as I get around to making them and taking a pic!) but today is for
AMMA'S SARKARA ADA
Ingredients
For the Ada Rice flour 1 cup Salt 1/2 tsp Water 1 cup A drop of coconut oil (optional)
For the filling Jaggery 250 gms Coconut 3/4 cup Cardamom 3 Cumin seeds 1 tsp Salt a pinch
Method:
For the filling... 1. Melt jaggery in 1/4 th cup of water, cool and strain. Heat again till thick and sticky. 2. Add coconut, salt, and powdered cardamom and cuminseeds.(tasty tip:heat the cardamom and cuminseeds together either in a pan or inthe microwave before powdering..this brings out extra flavour and smell)
3. Mix well.
For the Ada...
1. Boil water and salt . Add rice powder to the boiling water, all the while stirring briskly with a spoon, till the water dries completely and you get a lumpy scrambled mass of cooked rice flour. Leave to cool 2. When the dough has cooled a bit, scrape onto a thali or a flat surface, and knead well with wet hands(this helps in easy kneading) Warning...don't use too much water on your hands...then the dough will become too sticky!! When fully kneaded, add a pinch of coconut oil on your palms and knead one last time for extra softness.
3. Make medium size balls out of the dough. Take one ball at a time and place it in either a pathiri press or your palm. Press it till it is thin and round . Keep this on a small piece of banana leaf or oil paper. 4. Place 1-2 tsp of the filling in the middle of each ada, then fold in half. Press lightly at the semicircular ends to seal the filling in . Fold banana leaf too on top. Do like this with the rest of the balls. 5. Steam for 15 minutes, and serve hot or cold..personally, I like it hot!!
Summer is upon us and the heat is unbearable . It's like an oven out there. The minute I step out of my cool house, ( which is very cool due to the fact that we have built it according to the traditional Kerala style which allows for a lot of air circulation, etc.,) the heat hits me in the face like a slap. Not at all discouraged, I still venture out ,thinking that as a hardy true blue mallu, I ought to be able to handle such trifling things as a little heat. Famous last words!! I should have just stayed home. By the time I reached home after two three hours, I was literally wilting! The minute I reached home, I changed out of my sticky and sweaty clothes, and dashed into the kitchen to make my lunch. I knew just the perfect antidote for the summer heat! Curd rice! Easy to make and soo yummy! Healthy too. So good for my diet also. So here I am , comfortably ensconced in my cooool room,watching a movie with a bowl of curd rice and a large chilled glass of watermelon juice by my side. Aaaahhh...bliss...!
CURD RICE
Ingredients:
Curd 1 cup Cooked rice 2 -3 cups Asafoetida a pinch Salt to taste Shallots /Button onions chopped 5-6 nos. Greenchillies slit 2 Red chillies 1 Curry leaves 1 stalk Coriander leaves/cilantro a few Ginger crushed a pinch Mustard seeds 1 tsp Oil/ghee 2 tsp Method:
1. Mix together the cooked (should not be hot),salt, green chillies and asafoetida together, and keep in the fridge to chill.
2. Heat a pan, add oil, splutter the mustard seeds. Turn heat to low.
3. Add the curry leaves, shallots, and the red chilly. Saute for a minute and turn off the flame.
4. Add this to the rice along with chopped cilantro.
5. Chill and serve cold with a dash of red chilli powder and cilantro as garnish. Optional. Tip: If you want to add more richness and taste , add 1 tbsp of fresh cream to the rice along with curd. Not recommended if you're dieting, though!!
Isold my little red car (Alto Lxi) yesterday.According to N, it was time we sold it, before it's price goes crashing down. O.K., fine, we had been talking about this for the past six months on and of, but it still was a wrench to see it being driven off by some other guy! So what? you might say- What's the big deal about such a tiny car? But it was special to me, sentimental fool that I am..It was my very first car- my very own! So great was my agitation (which I had carefully hidden bebeath a pokerface)that, instead of pouring dosa(pancake) batter onto the hot griddle, I poured sambar (curry!) on it!!Can you imagine? N was in splits, laughing and teasing me about that!! Anyway,now that my depression has worn off, we are on the lookout for my new car(so much more fun than greiving ,no?)Hopefully, by this time next month, I 'll be tooling around in a shiny new swift! Toodle-oo!
DOSA AND SAMBAR Ingredients:
Dosa- Pachari (raw plain rice) 1 cup Rose Ari(parboiled red rice) 1 cup Ponni ari(Iddli rice) 1 cup Uzhunnu(black gram dal) 1 cup Boiled rice 1 tbsp Salt 2 tsp Sugar a pinch Sodabicarb 1/2 tsp Water as needed
Method:
1. Soak all the rices and dal overnight.
2. Put all ingredients in a blender or grinder. Add just enough water so it can be ground well.
3. Grind for at least 20 to 30 minutes till everything is well blended and the batter is thick.
4. Remove to a covered container and leave for fermenting .( at least 6-8 hours)
5. Heat a griddle, pour one spoonful of batter onto this, then spread out in circular motions till you have a flat pancake.
6. When golden in colour, add half a tsp of ghee, spread on it, and remove from griddle.
7. Serve hot with sambar ,chutney,or....have you tried chicken curry with this?just great!!
SAMBAR :
Ingredients: toor dal 1 cup onion, chopped 1 tomato, chopped 1 drumsticks, chopped 2 Brinjal ,chopped 2(eggplant) Carrot , chopped 1 Potato ,chopped 1 Green chilli ,slit 5 Turmeric powder 1 tsp chilli powder 1 tsp coriander powder 1tsp Asafoetida powder 1/2 tsp Salt to taste. Tamarind paste 1/2 tsp Coriander leaves a handful(cilantro leaves) Cumin seeds 1 tbsp oil 2 Tbsp mustard seeds 1tbsp red chillies 3 curry leaves 10 A pinch of asafoetida/hing
Method: 1. Cook the dal with turmeric, onion and 1 cup water until soft & mushy and keep aside.
2. Add the chopped vegetables and some more water, if needed, and cook till tender. You could use a pressure cooker..saves time.
3. Add the powders & mix well. Cover and cook for 2-3 minutes before adding the tamarind paste. Cook for another 2 minutes.
4. Heat oil, add mustear, let int splutter, then add curryleaves, red chilly, and a pinch of asafoetida.
5. Add to sambar,along with coriander leaves, stir, boil, then serve steaming hot.
Life goes on...pretty much as usual.. still on my diet...(sigh) ..with occasional lapses (ummm..okay...not occasional...make that every two days...but what can I do when that choclate cake grins wickedly at me?) hmmm..then, I started going for yoga...the day after i started, the instructor informed us that she would be on a vacation for the next one week, so please come back in a week's time....boohooo...think of my state..I had stretched all my muscles and my whole body was a mass of aches , which might have eased of if I had been able to continue uninterrupted...but now... I could do it at home..no?Ugh..don't get me started on that story...The minute I change into my sweats and roll out my yoga mat, someone will ring the doorbell or the phone starts ringing. Sheesh!I think the whole world is in on this conspiracy to not let me slim down!! One motivation for me to lose a few kilograms is this....the other day, me eldest,Junaid was sitting and watching me get all dressed up to go for a party, and I asked him.."why so quiet?what are you thinking da?" and he replied.."Umma, you look so beautiful when you get dressed like that...but you need to be a bit more thin..that would make you so glamorous!"OOOf!Out of the mouths of babes....what words come tripping out!glamour, indeed!Then I decide...if not fo me, let me do this for him....so here's to you , my darling junu...let's see if you can motivate me to lose afew kilos!~
Today, I'm posting this easy recipe for American chopsuey...an instant hit with the young and old alike..I must say that it's one of my star creations...it looks so colorful!!
AMERICAN CHOPSUEY
Ingredients:
noodles 1/2 packet Cornflour 2 tbsp Oil to deepfry Onion 1 chopped Capsicum 1/2 sliced as thin strips Carrot 1/2 sliced as thin strips Garlic 1 tbsp chopped Ginger a pinch celery 1 tbsp chopped Cabbage 2 tbsp shredded thin Chicken 1 breast piece or other boneless piece cut as thin strips Water 2 cups Ketchup 1 tbsp Pepper 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 tsp sugar a pinch Ajinomoto a pinch Egg 1
Method:
1. Boil and drain noodles. Spread on a flat surface and sprinkle 1tbsp of the cornflour onto the noodles.
2. Deep fry in hot oil till golden in colour and crisp. Keep in an airtight box.
3. Saute all the vegetables in 2 tbsp oil. When soft, add all other ingredients except cornflour. Boil.
4. When chicken pieces are well cooked (5 minutes)add cornflour. Let it thicken a bit, then turn off heat.
5. Just before serving, fry the egg (bull's eye).
6. To serve, arrange the fried noodles on a platter, pour steaming hot sauce over this, then place th fried egg on top. Serve immediately.
Tip: 1. You could fry the noodles a day before if you want...just make sure you keep it in an airtight box, so it will still be crunchy. 2. The ajinomoto is optional,if you want, you can add half a chickenstock cube. I also add a dash of red chilli powder to make it more palatable for us Indians!
This year has started badly for me...no.the first week was okay..a whirlwind round of parties and weddings...but then, on the 6th, my father in law was admitted to the hospital in an emergency situation..he was in the intensive care unit for a week, then transferred to another hospital, where he still is.. the whole family (all 8 of us...we're a single unit)have rallied around, and we have been living our lives around the hospital..then my niece started complaining of stomach pains..which turned out to be a large ovarian cyst..so she had to have an emergency operation..all of us have been dispirited and tired these past few days...so my husband, running on very little sleep managed to bust his car on a post day before yesterday..thankfully, he wasn't hurt...
thinking about all this, I was quite scared to drive my car, and decided to be more careful(since we'd been having a slew of bad luck)And what should happen? you guessed it right! I had a run in with a biker yesterday morning...Thankfully, nothing much happened..There i was, toodling alng, when a biker cuts into my lane, and goes right under my car!You can just imagine my state!I jumped out of the car, saw that he was okay, then started bawling....boo hooo...All my pent up fear and thoughts of bad luck and releif that I didn't kill him....made me cry.. Net result?finally the guy who I knocked over had to comfort me, saying, It's ok...no problem,I'm fine...see, You didn't hurt me..no hard feelings!!OOOf!!what a day! So now, here we are, all still flitting between hospitals, hoping that things will take a turn for the better...Just not in a mood for blogging or posting a recipe, but still...
CHEEMATO SOUP
Ingredients:
Tomatoes chopped 2 medium size Carrots chopped 3 medium size Water 5 cups Onion chopped 1 Pumpkin/cabbage/capsicum 1 cup(optional ) Chicken stock cube 1 Cheese slice 2 or cheese spread 3 tbsp Pepper as needed Basil or oregano 1 tsp
Method:
1. Put onion, tomatoe,carrot and other veggies if you are using them, along with water in a pressure cooker and cook for 5 minutes or till you hear 4 or 5 whistles.
2. Cool, then blend in a blender till there are no chunks floating around.
3. Pour into a saucepan, add the stock cube (powdered),pepper, and cheese.Heat till the soup is thick and the cheese has melted.
The other day, I was baking cookies.. And my husband walked in asking, are you baking something ? It smells yum ! 
Aaaargh...how would I feel then...?Aah..no use thinking too much..kids will be kids..one can never predict how they'll turn out or what they will do next..hey? Anyways..my whole family..being ex Boarders themselves are in an uproar about this...an excited uproar..actually..my parents are calling up with tips on packing..my two brothers S1 and S2 are waxing nostalgic about the golden days of hostel..Resh...are you packing their clothes in trunks ? Reshma..pass the phone to J1 and J2...hey guys..are you excited to be off to boarding school? have loads of fun.. J1 is like..."what's all the fuss about?boarding is no big deal..honestly , I can't understand you all.."J2 has gone all cool and quiet..i just hope this is not the calm before the storm..
BUTTERSCOTCH CAKE
It's been good fun though, since I really enjoy dressing up. In kerala, we go all out for the weddings..garish heavy jewellery, kanjeevaram and silk saris, jasmine flowers, ...though I must add that of late, there has been a trend towards designer saris and diamond jewellery.
or your palm. Press it till it is thin and round . Keep this on a small piece of banana leaf or oil paper.
