Happy's Cook

Monday, January 09, 2017

Vegetable Kurma Recipe | Mixed Vegetable Kurma | Veg Kurma for Chapathi/Roti | Hotel Style Veg Kurma for Chapathi | My 350th Post

Hope everyone is back from the Christmas and New year vacation. We had a great and memorable vacation here in Sydney. Also, most of the days my Kitchen was closed and I had a break from regular cooking. I have not tried any new recipe for the last 2 weeks and it was a much-needed break. I relished lots of new food from restaurants and I have plans to try few dishes at home. In a week, we are heading to India, for another long vacation. Hopefully, I will be keeping the blog active even during my vacation with the posts from my drafts. Today's post is about a comforting and rich veg Kuruma. I received many request from readers for this recipe and hence I thought of posting it. I will be posting Kerala-based vegetable stew too. Let us move on to the recipe:
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Friday, January 06, 2017

Special Non-Veg Lunch Menu | Special Weekend Lunch Menu | Lunch Menu - 1 | Lunch Ideas

I am starting a Lunch Menu Series from today and hopefully, I will be posting the lunch ideas every Friday. Also, I will share both the veg and non-veg dishes as a part of this series. To start with, I am sharing a complete non-veg lunch that I prepared for Jany's Birthday last November. The menu has his favourite mutton, chicken and fish items that I make at home. However, you can tweak the items according to your personal preference. I have explained the steps I followed in preparing this elaborate meal. Making many dishes at the same time is a little hard work for me since I am not exposed in preparing an elaborate meal more often. With a lot of preparations, I achieved this end result and Jany was very much impressed😆💕 with this lunch on his birthday. Let us see the preparations involved in this menu: 
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Thursday, January 05, 2017

Methi Thepla Recipe | Gujarati Methi Thepla | Fenugreek Paratha | Vendhaya Keerai Roti

I always like to explore stuffed parathas and all other kinds of parathas since Happy prefers it more than rice. I have already posted Aloo Paratha and Broccoli Paratha. To add on to this list, I am here with another interesting and healthy recipe. I love to add Fenugreek/Vendhaya Keerai/Methi in my cooking considering its health benefits. Whenever I see a bunch of fresh methi leaves in the supermarket, I grab it and mix it with the dough while making Chapathi. After coming to Sydney, I came to know about this Methi Thepla through few North Indian cooking groups. Also, I talked to a friend/teacher Nidhi in Happy's playschool and got the recipe. This goes well with curd and pickle, it can be packed for lunch box, picnics or train travel. Without further delay, let us move on to the recipe.
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Monday, January 02, 2017

Kara Kuzhambu Recipe | Kara Kuzhambu with Brinjal & Drumstick | Gravy for Rice

In my hometown (Nagercoil), Kara Kuzhambu is not a common gravy for rice since we eat fish most of the days. Other than fish, we make Paruppu Kuzhambu, Sambhar and Mor Kuzhambu. Also, we make a special curry called Veran Curry or Thengai Kuzhambu to go along with fish kuzhambu made without coconut. However, Aachi who stayed with us in my childhood days for helping mum makes Kara Kuzhambu and many other similar curries. Though mum doesn't make it, I like this curry very much and used to ask the cook we had in Chennai for the recipe. I learned this recipe from her and I am making it quite frequently now.  
Final pictures updated on 25/Jan/2021
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Sunday, January 01, 2017

Makkan Peda Recipe | Arcot Makkan Peda | Malai Kaajaa | Welcome 2017

Hello All, Wishing you and your family Happy Sparkling New Year 2017. May the new year be the best you have ever had. Yet, another milestone for Happy's Cook, yes!!, we have crossed 20,000+ Likes in Facebook page. I am really excited about this achievement and special thanks to everyone for the support. Do support me in the future and spread the page among your friends to help me reach more heights. To celebrate the special occasion and the new year, I am here with a sweet recipe. I followed the recipe from Rak's Kitchen and it turned out super awesome. This makkan peda is similar to Gulab Jamun with Khoya and stuffed with fruits, Nuts. It is famous in Arcot, a place in Vellore district of Tamilnadu and hence the name. Do check out my similar recipe of Bread Gulab Jamun and other Sweets too. Off to the recipe:

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Saturday, December 31, 2016

Ginger Cardamom Tea Recipe | Ginger Tea | Kitchen Basics | Goodbye 2016

Another year is almost gone and I am here with the last post of the year. A year with many exciting moments and some not so. In the personal life, I had taken a big decision to resign my first ever job with TCS, after 8 years of wonderful experience. Though it hurt me at times, I had taken the decision because of our move to Sydney. This temporary break from full-time office work has given me a lot of learning about life and people. I got enough time to spend with my daughter and the blog. I was blogging for almost 3+ years now and this is the first year I am very much active in the blogging world. (Posted 106 recipes this year😍)
Happy's Cook heals me from the pain of losing my beautiful mum and it gives me so many refreshing memories about mum every time I cook and write a post. It is the place where I relax and think only about my passion. Happy's cook has brought out the talent in me and has moulded me to a good cook. I have failures and still I am learning small things from each of my disaster dishes. 
I have achieved many milestones this year in blogging and I am extremely thankful to the readers and family who trust and support me. I am not very much active in social media other than posting my recipes because of no time. Hopefully, I will focus in the coming year. Also, I received good feedback about my clicks in few of the posts and I will be concentrating more on that area too. I am really proud about few of my recipes which turned out super awesome and proved to me that I am showing improvements in my cooking skills. Some of my personal favourites are Traditional Christmas Cake, Homemade Grape Wine, Chettinad Mutton Kuzhambu, Broccoli Paratha, Tirunelveli Halwa, Sweet Diamond Cuts, Butter Murukku, Hara Bara Kebab, Boondhi Ladoo, Fairy Bread and Banana Bread.
Let me conclude my stories here and wish you all a Happy & Prosperous New Year 2017 in advance. I am not having enough time because of vacation and hence I am concluding the year with a simple post. Let us move on to the recipe. 
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Friday, December 30, 2016

Basic Pancake Recipe | Soft and Fluffy Pancakes | Easy Breakfast Recipe

I always relate Crepes and Pancakes as mildly sweetened versions of our dosa😛. When I was in Paris, I had tasted a variety of Crepes since it is very common in Cafes for breakfast. I have tried it at home quite a few times and they are super awesome. It didn't make it to the blog since I was not satisfied with the pictures. In Sydney, these Pancakes and Waffles are famous in Cafes. I have tasted it in few places and I wanted to post a basic pancake before trying other variations. Both the pancakes and crepes can be served as breakfast along with a cup of milk or coffee.
Happy is a huge fan of Peppa Pig series and in that she loves an episode where Daddy Pig makes pancake by flipping it high. So, she always asks me to make the pancakes and flip it high😆. Though we will not flip it high like Daddy pig, she enjoys making it.  Stories apart, let us move on to the recipe:
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Recipes from the Kitchen

Sakkarai Pongal
Poosanikai Halwa (white Pumpkin)/Ash Gourd Halwa
Rava Kesari
Aval Urundai with Jaggery/Poha Balls
Aval Payasam(with Jaggery)/Poha Payasam
Paal Kozhukattai(with Sugar)
Ellu Urundai/ Sesame Seed balls
Vella Kozhukattai / Modhagam (Modak)
Pasi Paruppu Payasam/ Moong Dal Payasam (Kheer)
Unniyappam/Neyyappam
Semiya Payasam/Vermicelli Kheer
Suzhiyam/Susiyan
Motichoor ladoo
Paruppu Poli/ Puran Poli
Corn Flour Halwa
Adhirasam
Carrot Halwa/Gajar Ka Halwa
Mysore Pak(Krishna Sweets style)
Gulab Jamun(with Khoya)
Paal Payasam
Maa Ladoo/Pottukadalai Urundai
Sakkarai Pongal(without milk)/Sweet pongal
Sweet Pidi Kozhukattai
Thengai Poorna Kozhukattai
Chakka Pradhaman
Sarkara Varatti(Sweet Banana Chips)
Ada Pradhaman
Chakka Varatti(Jackfruit Jam)
Rasgulla
Thirattipal(Palkova)
Rasamalai
Vattayeppam
Kalkandu Pongal
Akkaravadisal
Pazham Pori
Banana Dosa(Chef Venkatesh Bhat Recipe)
Rava Ladoo
Ellu Poorna Kozhukattai
Ragi Kozhukattai
Badam Halwa
Aval Kesari
Besan Ladoo
Peanut Butter Marshmallow Fudge
Khajoor Ka Halwa(Chef Venkatesh Bhat Recipe)
Semiya Kesari
Poha Ghee Ladoo(Aval)
Palada Pradhaman
Milk Kesari
Pachaipayaru(Green Gram) Suzhiyam
Pachaipayaru(Green Gram) Ladoo
Malai(Paneer) Ladoo
Boondi Ladoo
Bread Gulab Jamun
Tirunelveli Wheat Halwa
Coconut Burfi
Sweet Bonda(Wheat Flour Unniyappam)
Munthiri Kothu
Achu Murukku(Achhappam)
Sweet Diamond Cuts
Wheat Rava Sweet Pongal
Makkan Peda
Wheat Flour Kesari
Green Gram Poli
Paneer Kheer
Green Gram Sago Payasam
Pineapple Kesari
Vella Seedai
Jackfruit Ela Ada
Therali Kozhukattai
Jackfruit Appam
Kaju Kathli
Vettu Cake(MuttaiKose)
Ashoka Halwa
Samai Sweet pongal
Health Mix Ladoo
Mango Kesari