Soulful Creations

For dinner tonight, Puli Aval (Tamarind based flattened rice) Spicy Cauliflower Sabji Yogurt Pannacotta with Blueberries and honey Recipe inspiration my favorite blog Smitten Kitchen ; except I used equal amount of agar instead of gelatin A truly quick and healthy dessert recipe In my defense I did not make this today- this was made on Saturday for guests. Not sure if they enjoyed it, but they are friends so who else was I going to experiment on...)

  This past week, we had friends over- friends of ours who had moved recently- yeah and they are quite close to us now! The sambar sadam- thayir (yogurt) sadam (rice) combo sounded perfect for a houseful of 7 hungry people. This was the perfect opportunity to try my hand at bisibele bhath. As usual I turned to the trusted world of food blogs and there was I staring at this really simple recipe from Mysoorean .  Ingredients 2 cups rice (uncooked) 1.5 cups toor dal (uncooked) 4 cups vegetables (potatoes, peas, beans and carrots) lemon-sized tamarind, pulp squeezed 11 cups Water Masala 1 cup grated dried coconut 4 tsp Sambar Powder 4 Tbsp Coriander Seeds 1" Cinnamon 3 Cloves 2 Cardamom 2 tsp Khus Khus Asafoetida 1 sprig Curry leaves Tadka 3 Tbsp Oil 6 Red Chillies 3 tsp Mustard Seeds Turmeric Method Fry the masala ingredients in about a tbsp of hot oil, I added the coconut and the sambar powder after I turned the heat off. Grind to a paste with a little water...

I love the combination of yogurt, fruit and nuts. And there is no other better time for this delight than in the morning- this combination has a wonderful cooling and calming effect. What more it is healthy. I am sure all of us make parfaits in different combinations and here is one of my versions with the ingredients I had at hand. The original idea came from dine and dish blog, but as I was reading the various parfait recipes from bloggers I realized I did not have many of the ingredients they have listed, so I had to sort of come up with my own Here it goes Ingredients 1 cup low-fat yogurt 1-2 ripe bananas 1 tbsp ginger a good swish of honey For the fruits, I had apples, pears and grapes which are in season now I used dried cranberries, prunes, sliced almonds and pistachios Blend the first four ingredients together Then layer the fruits (dried and fresh), nuts and yogurt mixture alternatively. Garnish with some cranberries and almonds. I think I will send this really easy recipe to...