Karchikaya / Sweet Somas (Somasi)–Diwali Sweets

A delicious sweet that is prepared for Diwali.. This recipe will make 12 - 16 medium sized somasi and there will extra filling, that you can eat as is or as a stuffing for parathas..  This is a traditional sweet!!!

Big Basket.com - Experience and feedback

Online Shopping is a big hit now and with many of us choosing online to do our shopping, today we walk through the online shopping experience with Big basket.com. Couple of days back, I was contacted by big basket.com to make a review of their website and also share my feedback.

First let me list of the advantages and disadvantages based on my experience. This is a sponsored review and I have given the review and feedback as I have been using bigbasket.com for over an year now.

Logo from bigbasket.com

Advantages :

• 4 Delivery slots - They have 4 delivery slots in a day to choose from
• Delivery charges up to 1000 is only 20 - Delivery charges are free for orders above 1000 but for orders below 1000, the delivery charges are only 20. And they also have a no minimum order
• Vegetables and fruits are mostly fresh and well packed - The fruits and vegetables that are delivered are mostly fresh and well packed.
• Lot of availability - There are so many options with many brands of grocery, home cleaning, vegetables, fruits, cut vegetables and some international foods also.
• Courteous staff and on time delivery - The delivery were always within the window and the customer service staff and the delivery staff were very courteous.
• Thorough Communication - All the communication happens via email and you get periodic SMS about your order from the time it is ordered till the time it is delivered
• Delivery PIN - You need to mention a delivery PIN which is sent via SMS to you to get the order delivered to you. This is an enhanced safety measure.

Disadvantages:

• Delivery slots gets booked soon - This has happened a few times for me where I order today, but all the delivery slots for today could be full and I will have to choose the next day. Sometimes, if you order today, you might not get ur order until tomorrow.
• Changes in the order - There have been changes in the order after it is placed due to non-availability of items.
• Operational in 3 cities only – The service is limited to Bangalore, Mumbai and Hyderabad only.

Do visit www.bigbasket.com to make your grocery and produce shopping easy and comfortable!!!

Godumai Halwa–Tirunelvelli Halwa–Diwali Sweets

This very traditional halwa has been on my list for such a long time.. We make this halwa for Diwali and what a better time to try this one than now.... I fell in love with this halwa and it is so addictive!!! I would not classify this one as easy, but not too hard as I had imagined!! You can eat this as halwa or make it into pieces and enjoy!! Also food color here is optional... If no food color, then it will in rich honey color!!! Cooking time for this quantity was 30 – 40 minutes from the time sugar syrup is started..

Mullu Murukku–Indian Snacks/ Indian Savories - Diwali Recipes

Mullu thenkuzhal is a savory which is a famous South Indian snack. It tastes best when served warm or at room temperature. It goes well as an accompaniment with coffee or juice. This is a quick savory and can be done in less than 30 minutes. This can be stored in an airtight container for at least 2 weeks. This variation is used in occasions like marriages, festivals and celebrations.

Vinayaka Chathurthi Recipes and celebrations!!

Happy Vinayaka Chathurthi!! This year it is celebrated on August 29th!! Happy Birthday to Lord Ganesha!! Ganesh Chathurthi is a very popular festival celebrated in many parts of India and in many ways.. I am sharing our celebration way.. The celebration of this great festival includes Prayer, pooja, arati and nivedhanam. Many varieties of food are made and the Lord Ganesha is also decorated with many flower garlands. Although many types of delicacies are done on this occasion, modak or kozhukattai is the main one. We try to incorporate all the favorite items of Lord Ganesha, much similar to what we do on our kid's birthday. Try to bring all the kid likes.. So we offer some delicious nivedhanam, offer arugam pul, offer erukam poo garland, coconut, banana.. etc

Our nivedhanam menu for this festival includes -

Vella Kozhukattai - http://nivedhanams.blogspot.in/2012/09/vella-kozhukattai.html

Uppu Kozhukattai - http://nivedhanams.blogspot.com/2013/09/uppu-kozhukattaiganesh-chathurthi.html,

Ellu poorna Kozhukattai – Recipe coming Soon,

Kozhukattai Sundal - http://nivedhanams.blogspot.in/2013/08/kozhukattai-sundal-ganesh-chathurthi.html

Paal kozhukattai - http://nivedhanams.blogspot.in/2013/08/paal-kozhukattai-ganesh-chathurthi.html

Kadalai parupu sundal - http://nivedhanams.blogspot.in/2013/07/kadalai-parupu-sundal.html

Ellu urundai - http://nivedhanams.blogspot.com/2013/09/ellu-urundai.html

Thayir pachadi - http://nivedhanams.blogspot.in/2013/04/cucumber-raitha-cucumber-pachadi.html

Medu Vadai - http://nivedhanams.blogspot.in/2012/11/medu-vadai.html

Parupu Payasam - http://nivedhanams.blogspot.in/2012/08/paruppu-payasam.html

Maha neivedhiyam, and recently I added

Oats Sweet Kozhukattai - http://nivedhanams.blogspot.in/2013/09/oats-sweet-kozhukattai.html

Cornmeal kozhukattai - http://nivedhanams.blogspot.com/2013/09/cornmeal-kozhukattai.html ..

Jowar Roti / Cholam Roti / Sorghum Roti

Jowar Roti is a healthy and nutritious roti. You can serve this with any choice of side dish. I served it with tomato onion veg!! This is a great recipe to include millets in your diet as it is easy to do and also very tasty. This is my third choice for this week’s BM – Millets.

Kezhvaragu Dosai / Fingermillet Dosai

Kezhvaragu or raagi dosa is a type of dosa made with Finger millet flour (raagi flour). Finger millet flour is healthy flour and eating it in a dosa form makes it tasty. Health meets taste in this recipe. This dosa will be chocolate brown in color. It is very quick to do and no soaking required. It tastes best when serve hot with tomato pickle. It can also be accompanied by Curd or Sugar.