Soft Idly or Crispy Dosas

Idly or dosas is a very comman breakfast dish. To be eaten with sambar, chutneys or even gojju.
Here is the perfect recipe that I came up with from experimenting with various combinations.

Idly

Ingredients:-
4 cups of Idly rice
1 cup of whole Urad dal
5-6 fenugreek seeds
1 tbsp salt

Method:-
1. Soak the rice with fenugreek seeds together; soak urad dal seperately for 6 hours.
2. Grind the drained urad dal first, only adding 1/2 cup of water till fluffy and pour into a large flat bottom pot.
3. Grind the drained rice with the salt till smooth adding 2 cups of water only.
4. Pour the smooth rice batter in with the urad dal and mix well by hand.
5. Cover the pot and place something heavy over the cover and leave to ferment for at least 12 hours.
6. After 12 hours, take as much batter as required and add water as wanted for required texture and make either dosas or idlys

And I thought they were naturally thin !

Read this today

http://sg.news.yahoo.com/-seeking--thinspiration--part-2----%E2%80%9Cthinspo%E2%80%9D-girls-and-their-secret-cult-of-self-starvation-.html

And here I was thinking that some girls were gifted to be 'naturally' thin.
I have recently come to a conclusion that I am not eating right and I have willed myself to go for a healthier diet of oats, fruits, cereals. I have been cutting out rice totally for 5 days a week and only allowing myself to have it on the weekends. It is frustrating and sometimes I just want to give up but I tell myself slow and steady wins the race. Starving seems like a good choice as I am sure I will be losing weight VERY QUICKLY. But at the cost of malnutrition, do I have to be that skinny?
There seems to be a skinny person inside me waiting to burst free. I want to be slimmer and healthier. I have my objectives set. Losing weight is for my own self and my health as I am not getting younger as the days pass.
I am glad not to be obsessed with weight. And I surely feel sad for these young girls.
Peers and pressure to look good is slowly killing them. Food affects us in all ways. Everything in moderation.
Websites and personal blogs of this horrid trend must be banned.
The black hole of the world wide web constantly poses more situations for young girls to fall into. Not knowing whether it is right or good for them they blindly follow.
I will continue to cook and eat good healthy food and that being what my food blog is all about.

Honeydew Sago Dessert

This here is a simple dessert that you possibly can't go wrong with at any sort of parties. Children and adults ask for seconds of this yummy dessert.

Honeydew Sago


Ingredients:-
1 medium ripe honeydew - cubed
1/2 cup sago - rinse, soak for 20 mins and drain
4 pandan leaves - tied in a knot
6 tablespoons of sugar (increase or lessen to your taste)
3 cups of coconut cream (increase or lessen to your taste, full cream milk can be substituted i.e 2 cups full cream milk and 1 cup of coconut milk)
2 cups of water

Method:-
1. Bring to boil the 2 cups of water and add in the sago and knotted pandan leaves.
2. Once the sago is transparent add in the coconut milk and sugar.
3. Keep on low flame. Turn off the stove before the coconut milk starts to boil.
4. Transfer to another container and allow to cool before placing in the fridge to cool for at least 6 hours.
5. Add in the honeydew to the coconut soup just serving.

Enjoy this yummilicious dessert especiall on a blistering hot day!!!

Food For Thought!

Food!
Our basic necessity to live. Like we need air and water, food is an essential part of life.
Earliest memory of food is one that mum feeds us. In my case my mum and periamma fed me. I remember; waking up to the best breakfast on Sunday mornings. It would be a hot meal of LOVE.
My grandma and aunts were awesome cooks. They made anything from simple soups to Kuehs to noodles to biryanis. They even made their own masala powder mixes. They didnt have strict recipes and asking them a recipe would mean them telling ' put this little bit, put that more' which to a novice seemed ridiculous.
But that's just it, cooking comes from the heart. We cook by sight and taste and the feel of it.
I love to cook for the people I love. Anything simple to complex that makes someone say YUMMY just makes my day.
My children enjoy my cooking and asking for seconds or thirds is not uncommon.
My recipes are a mixture of my mum, periamma and cookbooks, that I have tweaked to my family's tastes.
So here we go!