For Dry Skin

1. Oatmeal Yogurt: Oatmeal is supposed to be very good for the dry skin. To the fine granules of oatmeal add little yogurt and apply to the face. Leave it for at least 30 minutes before you rinse.
2. Banana honey mask is also very effective for dry skin. Leave this mask for 10 minutes and rinse. Check if honey suits your skin coz my mom landed up with rash when she used honey on skin.
3. Olive oil is also great for dry skin. It has loads of Vitamin K. Use it as a moisturizer and apply before going to bed. I use this for my baby for massaging before bath. I use it only for face.

For Dry Hair

These are result of my tremendous research to find home remedies for dry hair. Hoping you all will add few more to my list.

1. Banana pulp with little curd would act as a good conditioner for dry hair.
   I tried this and it actually works.

2. Olive oil is also very good for dry hair and also fights dandruff. Apply warm oil before going to bed. Next morning shampoo the hair.
3. Hot towel treatment also helps. Apply warm oil to the scalp and tie a hot towel to the hair. Repeat it hot towel treatment for at least 4-5 times before washing.
4. Also hibiscus leaves paste acts really fast on the dry hair. You can make the difference in a single wash but I find difficult to wash the bathroom as the leaves are very sticky and the whole place will be a mess :)

Chicken Roast ~ With Potatoes

When I say Chicken Roast, most of them feel it is a fry dish. But actually it is not.

I like it because there is no heavy masala and oil in it. I love the potatoes more than the chicken.

Ingredients

Chicken – ¼ kg
Potatoes – big 1 no. Remove the skin and cut into 4 pieces
Tomatoes – 2 big no. Chopped
Onion – 1 big no. Chopped
Green/Red chillies – 4 no. Slit them
Whole Pepper – 6 -7 no.
Ginger – 2-inch piece finely chopped
Cinnamon, Cardamom and Cloves - 2 each
Turmeric – 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Oil – ¼ cup

Preparation

In a cooking bowl, add all ingredients except oil with 1 ½ cup water and cook till chicken is tender. Take out the chicken pieces from the rest and set aside.

Take a kadaii and heat the oil. To the oil add the boiled chicken and fry till brown. Once the chicken is fried add the rest of the boiled veggies and leave it on a low flame till thickens. Garnish with green chillies, coriander leaves and onion rings.

Note: If needed bake for 30 minutes. I rarely do that. I prefer the other way.

Dum Ka Murgh

I learned this dish for Benna aunty, amith's aathi. Now i've excelled this dish becoz of her. She was the only person who told me that Dum chicken is once of the easiest chicken dish. I was confused then but now i totally agree with her. Again she is a great cook. Hoping to learn more recipes from her kitchen for all of US.

It is a easy chicken dish when you have guests at home.

Ingredients


Chicken – ½ kg
Onions – big 2 no. (1 chopped, 1 grinded)
Tomatoes – big 2 no. (1 chopped, 1 grinded)
Ginger garlic paste – 1 tbsp
Gram masala – 1 ½ tsp
Chilli powder – 1½ tbsp
Coriander powder – 2 tsp
Chilli sauce – 1 ½ tsp
Soya sauce – 1 tsp
Vinegar – 1 tsp
Red food color – a pinch
Tomato sauce – ½ tsp (Optional) Add this if you want to have with Roti
Jeera and Mustard powder – 1 tsp (Optional)Oil – ½ cup or more. You need little more oil for this recipe



Procedure

Mix in all the ingredients except for the chopped tomatoes and onions. If the chicken pieces are big, pock the chicken using a fork. Allow this to marinate for at least 30 minutes.

In a thick bottom wok, to the warm oil add onions and fry till transparent. Add tomatoes and also the marinated chicken. Allow the chicken to cook under a medium flame till tender and oil starts separating. Transfer this to oven and bake it for 20 to 30 minutes at 150 Deg C. Garnish with Curry leaves, Coriander leaves ,mint leaves and green chillies.

Variation:
You can have a gravy version also. Just add little more paste of tomatoes and onions. And DO NOT bake it. This tastes great with roties.

Groundnut Chutney ~ goes well with Dosa, Idly and vada

This is my favorite chutney that my mom makes and it’s a super hit among my friends.

Ingredients

Groundnuts / Palli – 1 cup
Green chillies – 5 no.
Garlic pods – 4 no.
Cumin/ jeera – 2 tbsp
Tamarind pulp – 2 tbsp
Curry leave – 1 sprig
Red chillies – few
Salt to taste

Procedure:

Fry groundnuts and green chillies in little oil; set aside.

In a blender, add fried groundnuts with chillies, jeera, tamarind, garlic pods and salt to make it to a paste. Season it with cumin, curry leaves and red chillies.

Tastes amazing with dosa, idly and vada :)

Apple Rabdi

I got this recipe from one the cookery sites. I wanted to try it out as it was too simple to make and looked yummy. Hope you also would feel the same.

Ingredients

Apple – 2 peeled and grated
Milk – 2 cups
Sugar – 2 tbsp
Cardamom– 2 no.
Cashew nuts, raisins and almonds – fried in little ghee

Procedure:

Powder sugar and cardamom in a blender and set aside.

In a thick bottom wide pan (I used a non-stick one), pour the milk and allow it to reduce to half the quantity. Add powdered sugar and grated apple. Leave it for few more minutes on low flame till it thickens. Add the dry fruits. Serve hot or cold.

Five things I wanna do…

As every one have plans for their future even I have – a small list. This is not a wish list but the things I WANNA do, WILL do come what may LIST. I’m not a person who believes in planning for the life post retirement. I want to live and then relive those memories in my old age.

I began to write them. I thought it would flow easily because it is MY LIST and that too just five of them. But when I actually started writing down I felt five is a wee number. I was wondering what I did all these years. So, it became more important to write down the things I wanna do.

Believe me it is not easy, but here is the crisp list of 5 THING I WANNA DO…

1.Want to retire on my 40th Birthday so that I can do the rest mentioned below.
2. Publish my cookbooks
3. Learn and own – a car, a piano and a telescope
4. Visit holy land (want to walk on the streets, which Christ did before his crucifixion.), Greece and most of India, if not entire.
5. Last but never the least; want to spend all my time cooking for Amith (my husband), playing with Kyra (my 6 month old daughter who will be grown up by then) and taking care of my mommy and dadda.

If you have any such list – I’m sure every one would have one, please do share with me.