Strawberry Jam with love

This is by far one of the easiest recipes to make, the other day while I was on  my usual grocery shopping rounds, I came across some really fresh and good strawberries in the produce isle and needless to add I had strawberry jam on my shopping list , those strawberries looked too tempting so I decided to make it from scratch with fresh strawberries  .

One of the recipes that I followed is pretty straight forward and easy done in 30 mins and gone in 2 days :)

What u Need ~

Strawberries - 2 cups cut up

Sugar - 1 cup

Green granny smith apple - 1/2 apple peeled and cut cube size

Blueberries - 1/2 cup

Lemon juice - 1 table spoon

• Wash and clean the strawberries cut up in cube size and add to a deep set pan . Add the sugar to the strawberries and cook for few mins , keep stirring the pan.
• Add the granny smith apples and the blueberries this adds in the much needed pectin and blueberries gives it a denser color. Cook this for at least 30 mins on medium flame with regular stirring.
• The consistency starts getting thicker , add in the lemon juice , once it has reached to a jam consistency not too thick . Put the stove off let it cool 
• Skim and discard the foam that usually tends to form on the top of the jam mixture .
• Spread it on toast or  scones and Njoy !

Happy Valentine's day !

Beef and potatoes curry

This is one of the traditional kerala beef curry recipe that I have made for years the only change is adding a little meethi leaves towards the end as garnish. Try this out the additional meethi does add a delicious flavor  to the meat and potatoes . You  can always add coconut milk for serving as a breakfast dish or make it a little dry  , it goes well with naan or bread.

What U need :

What u need ~
Beef cut up-1 pound
Red onion - 1 cup chopped length wise
Garlic -1 tablespoon chopped fine
Ginger- 1 tablespoon chopped fine
Potatoes - 1-2 chopped cub size
Curry leaves- 7-8
Turmeric- 1 teaspoon
Chilli pwd -1 teaspoon (add spice as needed)
Garam masala- 1 teaspoon
Black pepper ground- 1 teaspoon
Meethi leaves dried - 1 tablespoon
Oil -2 teaspoon
salt to taste
Bay leaves -2-3

Garam masala ~
Cardamon seeds - 4-5
Cinnamon stick - 1 inch
Star anise -2
Clove - 4-5
Fennel seeds - 2 tablespoon

Clean and cut the meat in bite size pieces add 1/2 cup water , salt , pepper, garlic pods ,  bay leaves, few curry leaves cook in the pressure cooker till at least 2 whistles let it cool down

Meanwhile heat up a thick bottom pan, add 2 teaspoon Oil,  add the chopped red onions and curry leaves cook till translucent.

Add the chopped ginger- garlic till raw smell is gone.

Add the garam masala , black pepper, cook for few mins , then add the cooked beef.

As beef is going to take some time to cook so cover the pan and let it cook on low flame, be sure to be mixing it once in a while so that it does not get burnt .

Add the cub sized potatoes  let it cook down for 5-10 mins till the potatoes are done .

After the beef starts to sweat out the oil , add the dried meethi leaves  .

Add salt as per taste if needed , and serve with hot rice or chapatti. 

NJoy !

Merry Christmas and a very happy and peaceful new year !

May your Christmas sparkle with moments of love, laughter and goodwill, 

And may the year ahead be full of contentment and joy. 

Wishing all my friends in the blog world Happy Holidays !

Cornbread stuffing

Growing up in an south Asian country thanksgiving was a foreign concept to me. The first year-round thanksgiving  I was totally clueless as to what is this holiday exactly about because there was a big fuss about cooking a lot of  food then shopping at crazy hours didn't make sense what are we celebrating ??

Then over the years it started to grow on to you the true reason why we celebrate thanksgiving - a day to give thanks as simple as it sounds is a very humbling and gratifying feeling. Every single day we take a lot of things and people around us for granted not realizing how important  little things are and giving thanks means a lot…a lil' gratitude goes a long way.
So give thanks to one and all .
Wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving !!


OK now to the recipe every one has their favorite mine has evolved over time its the corn bread stuffing YUM !
this is inspired from one of my favorite chefs Ina Garten , I tweaked it a lil' to suit our taste.

What you need  ;

1 cup 1-inch bread cubes I used corn bread 

1/2 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter

1/2 cups medium-diced yellow onion (2 onions)

1/4 cup medium-diced celery (2 stalks)

1 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/4 pound chorizo (spicy sausage)

1 cup chicken stock

1/4 cup dried cranberries

• Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F place the corn bread cubes in a single layer on a sheet pan and bake for 7 minutes. 
• Raise the oven temperature to 350 degrees F. Remove the corn bread cubes to a very large bowl.
• Meanwhile, in a large saute pan, melt the butter and add the onions, celery, parsley, salt and pepper. Saute over medium heat for 10 minutes, until the vegetables are softened. Add to the corn bread cubes.
• In the same saute pan, cook the chorizo over medium heat for about 10 minutes, until browned andcooked through, breaking up the meat with a fork while cooking. Add to the bread cubes and vegetables.
• Add the chicken stock and cranberries to the mixture, mix well, and pour into a 9 by 12-inch baking dish. Bake for 30 minutes, until browned on top and hot in the middle. Serve warm Njoy !

Potatoes and spinach (Aloo palak )

As the weather starts to cool down it feels like winter is almost here, days are getting shorter and gets darker sooner but on the bright side Halloween decoration have started to show up in the neighborhood that is always FUN :)

On days like this feels eating something easy  and comforting and nothing better than potatoes. This is a pretty simple dish can make it with very few ingredients

What U need ~
potatoes - 2-4 peeled and cubed
onions - 1 chopped
ginger - 1/2 inch chopped
cilantro - chopped
spinach - 1/2 cup chopped
green chillies - 1-2 chopped
turmeric - 1/2 teaspoon
oil - to saute
salt as needed
cumin- 1 teaspoon

Heat a pan . add oil until hot add cumin seeds sauté for few mins, add the chopped , chillies, onions let it cook till the onions are soft and a little brown.
Add the chopped cube sized potatoes cook for a few mins.
Add salt , turmeric and let this cook till the potatoes are soft add the spinach towards the end as it cook very quickly.
Garnish with chopped cilantro serve with basmati rice or rotis. Njoy !

San Francisco Trip

One of the most visited cities in the united states, this was on our list for some time , since we live in the greater northwest it wasn't that hard to plan , so this summer we decided to embark into this awesome journey.

Here are a few glimpses of our trip , a snap shot of our sunny days in CA. 

If a picture is worth a thousand words then this should say it all.