When I got married and moved here, I didn’t think too much about having K’s sister and her family live in the same locality as well. Over time, we have grown to cherish each other’s presence in our lives, look up to each other for guidance / advice and forged a lovely relationship. Her husband likes to be called Nalan (of the famous Nala-Damayanthi story who is supposed to be a great cook), atleast in the blogosphere and not without reason. He is an awesome cook; his vegetable biryani is to die for and he makes one of the best (home-made from scratch) pizza, I have ever had.
K and I land up in their house almost every other weekend (if not every) under some pretext or the other; why would we not when we get awesome food every time we go there 
He had made this pasta for a potluck family night dinner and when I tasted it, I knew I had to post this on my blog. It is such an easy, simple and healthy dish that is extremely kid-friendly; my nephew and niece will attest to that.
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I am a big fan of curd (Indian yogurt) - every desi meal is squared off with a liberal dose of curd at the end, be it idli or pongal or roti. If I refuse to eat a dish, add some curd to it, and chances are I will finish it without any complaint. What are the odds that this curd-eater (or over-eater) would find a guy who doesn’t touch curd with a 10 foott pole? Well, that is what happened; I married someone who doesn’t eat curd, smell curd and prefers to not even see curd So my favorite dishes like mor kozhambu and avial are rarely made, as I am too lazy to make two dishes for the two of us. When I have people over for lunch or dinner, however, the rules of the game are different. I don’t think too much about making a dish or two that my husband would skip.
Dakshin by Chandra Padmanabhan has some authentic Tam-Bram recipes and when I looked at her Mor kootu, I knew this was something that could not go wrong. All the goodness of kootu with the tangy taste of curd, this is sure to be a hit in any crowd.
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The second book chosen for both Cook’s book club and Thoughtful Thursdays were coincidentally the same - A Thousand Splendid Suns. After having read and liked The KiteRunner, I was curious to read the second book by Khaled Hosseini. It is one thing to impress with a well-written first book, after all there is no reputation at stake, but quite another to keep that up and come up with a winner the second time over. While I wouldn’t call this a winner, Khaled did not flatter to deceive.
The book, again set in Afghanistan, is the story of two very different women, one old enough to be the mother of the other, and whose life touches and by a twist of fate, merges. The book, written from the perspective of Mariam and Laila alternatively, gives us a sneak-peak into a woman’s life in war-torn Kabul. The two women, married to the same man and forced to live together, slowly accept the presence of each other in their life, bond with each other over tea and end up caring for each other when the husband becomes their common nemesis.
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Growing up, I remember my mom always cooked food by combinations - if it was keerai masiyal (mashed spinach), it has to be eaten with vetha kozhambu (Note: Sambar without lentils is usually called kozhambu) . If you had paruppu usili (crumbled cooked lentils), then mor kozhambu is a must. How can you have paruppu thogaiyal without jeera rasam? Another such match made in my mom’s kitchen is pongal with gotsu.
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Ever since I saw Giada making this on Food network, I have been meaning to try this. This is a dish that can make a super elegant presence on your dinner table when you have guests or for a simple weekday dinner.
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Ever since I saw this recipe at TasteTinkerer, my friendly neighborhood blog, I have been meaning to try this grilled sandwich with a Mexican twist. High in protein with very little fat aka nutritious and can be fixed in under 30 minutes, making it a perfect weekday dinner candidate.
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Inspired by the roll-up that Nandita made for the WBB - Balanced Breakfast, I made this wrap for dinner (as you can tell, I am not too much of a breakfast cooking person) couple of nights ago. This is super easy to make, extremely delicious and highly nutritious - definitely a keeper. Thanks Nandita!
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