Last weekend was a treat for my taste buds!
Last Thursday, a friend brought over a bowl of freshly prepared dosa batter. I had given up on home-made dosas after all my experimentation. So it was with a lot of trepidation that I kept her batter for fermentation. For the uninformed, my dosa batter just refuses to ferment. I have tried everything, including the tips that you guys gave me in this post. So I had given up on dosas altogether. This time, turns out, the dosa gods were rather benevolent. The batter fermented beautifully!
We had a lovely feast on Saturday morning. It was delicious! Before we could digest it, we had a birthday party of husband’s colleague to attend to. It was a lunch buffet at a lovely restaurant, which has this wonderful spread of starters! I could fill myself up on just the starters, when I spotted the huge selection of deserts! Cakes, puddings and even fruit pieces that could be dunked in chocolate at the chocolate fountain! In short , my food heaven! I could stay there and hog forever, if we were not kicked out at 2:30 – the restaurant closes at 2:30.. I am just waiting to get back there. I am also trying to convince my husband on the need for a chocolate fountain at home. What fun that would be! Chocolate at the ready – anytime I want it ! Guess, I will also need a whole new wardrobe to go with my chocolate fountain too.
Saturday ended, with me vowing, not to eat anything heavy again, when another dear friend, dropped in with her delicious Chicken Biryani! Now, for some reason, I never get to eat good chicken biryani here. Every time I try it at restaurants here, I just end up disappointed. So last time we went to London, I actually did a takeaway to enjoy at home. My friend, the dear thing that she is, knew about this and she brought over some, because she knew how much I liked it. Needless to say, I forgot all about my vow and ate it all up.
The best part of the weekend was, that I ended up eating all this delicious food and none of it, made by me, I guess that must have made it even more tasty! We ended the weekend with a pizza, made by daughter. Leaving you with pictures of the little chef preparing her pizza.
Sprinkling the sweetcorn.
And the all important cheese!
PS: I think I have finally figured out how to get my dosa batter ferment. I tried using Sona Masuri rice (instead of Basmati) and it worked last night! Keeping my fingers crossed and praying hard to the Dosa god 🙂
Any Excuse to Write... 
akhe food mazhamanello 🙂 .I neither like dosa nor like biriyanis, don’t know why 😦
Good 2 hear u got some delicious dishes.(Even i had some delicious arab food from a arab restaurant on yesterday 😀 )
You don’t? These are my favourites 🙂 Arab food? I have never tried Arab food – see on more in the list:)
Poohi also started haaa……nice 🙂 …..reminds me my childhood days . mom used to cook and bake a lot on those days, when me and my sis was so young…so when we were 8-10 years , we also started to try
something with her 😀 😀
Oh my mom used to too! I used to love those days! It is such fun, isn’t it?
Do try kebabs from Arab hotels 🙂
It is such fun, isn’t it? that is the one reason i hate growing up 😀 :D…..wish i’m still a small kid …. sigh
Between loved the caption in apron 😀 😀
Oh I used sona mussorie too but it still doesnt rise.. can you send me your recipe please?
Welcome here, Doli! Will send you the recipe 🙂
My wife makes awesome Biryani 🙂 and she’s making it tonight 😀
Oh wow! If you lived near here, I would have gate-crashed 🙂
And just look at all that cheese…
Cheese is Poohi’s fav food. Anything will be eaten if it contains cheese 🙂
Aptly named “yummy TUMMY” coz. the yum will go but the TUM will remain 😛
Now that is true 🙂 My perpetual problem – tum always remains 😦
looks like I’m third… now let me read the post!
oh sona masuri definitely works on the dosa batter. that is what i use and my dosas come out pretty good…
I used to use Basmati rice..and I think that was what was not working.. But then, basmati rice worked fine when we were in London.
last weekend, even I did not prepare a single meal at home and still managed to fill myself with mind blowing
food… 🙂
That is the best kind of weekend , isn’t it 🙂
i love ur daughter’s apron!
me too 🙂
Mummy’s little helper? 😉
You should be reported to child services for child labor!!!! 😉
LOL! See, I bring trouble on myself 🙂
Oooo I’m loving the lil apron!!!!! Its soooo cute…..I’m getting my lil girl one (but I think I should wait some more years for that :P)
It is cute, isn’t it 🙂 The downside of it, is that she wants to wear it all the time and ‘help’ me 🙂
awww so sweet she made the pizza i wanna eat too I love the homemade pizzas
Yes, and it tasted surprisingly tasty 🙂 I was never one for homemade pizzas but this one changed my mind 🙂
Poohie’s apron is soooo damn cute!!! And I can understand how happy u must have felt after getting to eat Dosa after such a long time!!
Yes, it was wonderful to eat dosas after ages 🙂 Her apron – I love it – I tried wearing it – but it was too small for me 😦
And No I won’t talk about calories! Nah!
Dosas atleast were low calorie ones – I make oil-less dosas on the non-stick – but I made up for it with everything else I ate 🙂
You tried wearing ur daughter’s apron??? ROFL!!! And u even thought it would fit you??? 😀 😀
I had high hopes 🙂
And yes Pizza alone is sufficient enough for all calorie intake 😀
Yes, it sure did! With all that cheese 🙂
Kali kaalam….you tried wearing poohi kutty’s Apron? what will you try next? 🙄
If I had any hopes of fitting into her clothes – I would have tried 😉 Wait for her to be a teenager, then I am going to wear all her clothes hoping to recapture my youth 😉
I loved loved loved Poohikutty’s apron 🙂 Just so cute Smithu 🙂 That pizza must have been the yummiest of them all 🙂 Hugs to Mommy’s helper 🙂
That apron is cute, isn’t it? I wanted one like that for myself – but they just don’t make such cute ones for grown-ups 🙂
Am drooling over the choco-fountain Smithu 😛 Wish u get one soon 😉
Yes, and when we all come back to Bangalore, we can use them in our parties 🙂
That ws indeed an awesome weekend 🙂 Nice title there 🙂
It was a fun weekend.
Oh I know! Y dont we get these cute ones 😛
LOL @’chocolate fountain at home’
You do get the little ones for parties – and I am dying to buy one 🙂
You used basmati rice for making dosas? Why? Don’t you get idli rice out there? I had once mistakenly soaked basmati rice instead of idli rice for the batter and hubby had given me an earful the next day. I had absolutely no experience with making dosas at the time.
We do get idli rice but my mixie broke after I used it – so I switched to Basmati. Now it looks like Sona Masuri is the answer 🙂
Your lil one made the pizza, thats great! She is a wonderful helper yeah?
Oh yes, she has learnt all these things at the nursery – they keep doing these things 🙂
what a yummy weekend i say! 😀
🙂 It was 🙂
awww poohi’s going the mummy way as far as cooking is concerned! 🙂 good good… let her experiment.
I would rather she does not go my way – I am a horrible cook 😦
and do let us know if the dosa experiment went well….
Yes, it did go well -it fermented and tasted yum!
Now I am hungry 😦
Me : 🙂
aa paavam kuttiye kondu veetile motham pani eduppicholo !!! kashtam !!! 😀 😀 😀 😀
and seriously Smitha, you shouldnt have written about all the food up there !! you have no heart ! 😦 😦 😦
That’s why we had her, Vimmuuu 😉 Veetile pani edukkan aarengillum vende?
hmmm…so tomorrow when you have a bigger house to handle ??? 😀 😀 😀 😀
That’s it! That is the arguement I can use to convince husband 😉
I wanna understand this now 😛 What did u say Vims??
Swar he is giving Smithu family planning lecture
see the nerve of this guy!!!!
Its only natural,Saksh that Vimmu would be giving family planning lecture!! That is all he must be reading and updating himself about with the D-day nearing,na 😛 😛
LOL! That must be true, Deeps 🙂 All this sudden interest in family planning 🙂
Ayyyyooooo enne Vimmuuu tallaan varunney….rakshikkaneyyyyy 😈
Don’t worry, Deeps, we will save you – all we need to do is tell Vimmuuu’s fiancee what he is upto here in the blogworld 🙂
Ha…ha..ha.. it is fun to read Vimmu’s Malayalam comments. The one on OG’s was howlarious that I spilled my chai while reading it.
Vimmuuu’s malayalam comments are classic 🙂
Elllam aaa pavam kochinte vidhi aliya 😀 😀 ….apart from doing all the works ,she also has to test all her recipes,salt’y’ biscuits…..paaavam ……..
P.S : Smitha chechi , don’t waste your time looking for me.You can’t find me out 😀 😀 😀
ROFLMAO!!!
Mouth watering . I just swallowed as I typed this 😀
Me : 🙂
That is cutie pie Poohi chakkara. Little chef at work! 🙂 Yum Yum!
Smi, I never use Basmati for Idli/Dosa. If I knew you were using that then I would have told you. I use it only for Biryani. I don’t like Basmati rice with dal/sambhar etc. I use Sona Masoori rice. These days though I use Idli rice + Urad Dal for both Idli and Dosa. For Dosa I ferment batter overnight and for Idli just 8 hours.
I used to use Basmati earlier. But my friend told me that she uses this – so gave it a try and it worked 🙂 Thank God! I had got tired of throwing off unfermented or spoilt batter. I tried idly rice, but my mixie broke -so donot want to take any more chances 🙂
BTW I noticed that cutie pie is wearing Pink. She loves her Pink. Doesn’t she? 😀
Did she ask for a pink bowl and spoon?
If she can get everything in pink – her day is made 🙂 She even wants a pink christmas tree! God save me from this pink invasion 🙂
Apparently all her friends are the same too!
ROFL did she ask for a pink pizza too? Saman wrinkles his nose even at chocolates wrapped in pink 😦 No prize for guessing who eats up all the pink chocolates
Thankfully, apart from pink cakes – she is ok with non-pink food 🙂 ‘Saman wrinkles his nose even at chocolates wrapped in pink ‘ – Wow! And she tells me that all blue toys are ‘boys’ toys! Where do they get these ideas from???
You lucky girl! Eating all those chocs and still remaining as skinny as you are!!!!
what a weekend! and the best part was that you didnt need to cook:)…I dont feellike cooking on weekends except breakfast.
This was a yummy post and love love love your daughter’s apron!! Not cooking and still getting to eat……oh I miss those days!
Aww… the apron on Poohi!! How cute is that??!! 🙂
So, did the dosas come out well? 🙂
Gosh-Dosa, Biryani, Pizza AND a lunch buffet! A yummy weekend by any standard. The pizza looked the best-as does the little chef apron.
‘. I am also trying to convince my husband on the need for a chocolate fountain at home. What fun that would be! Chocolate at the ready – anytime I want it ! Guess, I will also need a whole new wardrobe to go with my chocolate fountain too’. hmmmm…now I know how you are putting on weight.
I too eat well if I am not the cook, Smitha! Poohi in pink again. I thought the pizza toppings also will be pink…I am just thinking …what edible topping is there in pink?! Great…’mommy’s little helper’!
Poohi’s appron is damm cute…. 🙂 🙂
lil one helping mom..choo chweet 😉 Hugs to poohi 🙂
After reading ur post…feeling hungry…do you have poohi’s pizza left or not…want to invade ur house rightaway 🙂
Chocolate fountain at home,give me ur address will send pinkuda there,she won’t live the fountain till she finishes it off.She is crazy about the cocolates (for chocolates)
I use basmati and my dosa batter rises maybe it is related to the weather here and i have to keep it in the fridge as soon as possible or else the taste changes.
Little chef in making hugs to poohi pappa,varu shows interest when i bake cakes,she goes to mv 100 times when the cake is in the mv.
Loved poohi apron,so cute she.Share snaps of her doing the pizza in fc.
Hmm .. its the heat! Ferments at its best here in Hyd 😉 I have always used Sona Masuri, but accidentally added Basmati last time 😛 But, it turned out pretty well. Hyderabad temp. helps that one thing atleast 😉
Salem rice is the best Smithu if u cn find it … Sona Masuri works really well, but this one just tops it all!
Wow! so you had a yummy week with lots of goodies to feast on.
Thanks for the Dosa rice tip. I’ll try the Sona Masuri next time I try dosas.
Loved your daughter’s cute apron. You’ve made me tempted to cook something yummy tonight. I too love the Biryani but since I had a hectic day at work maybe I’ll try the pizza at home.
Keep up the wonderful work.
Cheers!!
yumm!
Such lovely frnds u have Smitha! all those yummy food and now Poohi is also loving you with her cooking..
a cute little helper you have!
even I have had success with Biriyani rice.. but not all the time and this morning my Appam batter did not rise and I had to settle for something else… the temperature is also a factor and here it is now cold at night…
Awwww….the little chef is sooo sweet!!
I read till the chocolate fountain and stopped right there to scroll down to request you in advance! Please please please invite me when you build that chocolate fountain,Smits….you and I can have a gala time with the girls,I guarantee you that!!
Ok now going back up to read the rest of the post 🙂
I love Poohi’s apron! That stands out for sure and I know you brought it for her for just that purpose only…am I not right :P..
And that pizza looks yummy yummy yum yum..pls ask poohimol if she will make the same for me and namnam when we come there next year ?
The post was quite a sumptuous one,Smits..my tummy is already full 🙂
Geez… why did I come to this post… ! 😛 😛 😛
ur kid’s precious pizza looks awesome !!!!!!! 😛 😛 😛
Adorable apron! I say, why do none of my friends feel the urge to feed me oftener? 😦
Try hinting, until they get tired of listening to the ‘subtle hints ‘ 😉
I can’t look beyond the cute apron and cuter poohi kutty 😛 You had an enviable week haan? This is my idea of a productive week too…eating food not cooked by myself
I know! Food cooked by others taste yumm, don’t they? My husband heartily agrees too – any food not cooked by me is delicious, acc to him 😉
Am gonna stuff myself throughout my India trip and won’t even offer to make Chai
I am so so jealous!!!
Hey, first time here.
Welcome here, Anand 🙂
Food and food plates on blogs….not my thing to see, read or try making. But then again, since Im biased towards Cheeze (mmm love it), I jus had to write here. The plate with cheeze on it looks kinda delicious. hehe.
I promise – I write about things other than food and food plates 🙂 So you like cheesy platters 😉
Ill be back soon.
Anand.
Please do 🙂
Oye Andy pandy you are here and trying to portray urself as the good guy next door?? 🙄 😯 Pahhhhhhhh Yahan ke hum pehle se hi khiladi hai 🙄 ….so you just wait and see until I open up in public all your kaale Karthooth :mrgreen; Gosh I couldn’t really believe it was you when i saw this seedha saadha comment. Had to click your link to believe that it’s the devil himself 😛
Smitha don’t tell later that I never warned you
After all what are friends for…dontcha agree Andy pandy?? 😆
What Saksh – you are trying to scare away the few readers that I have????????
🙂 So is Anand your friend 🙂
wow mouth watering dishes ahh….good to know about delicious dosa!!!!
It was a nice tasty weekend for a change 🙂
Sakshi aka Sexy. Listen, ok agreed i may not be the gud guy next door but….. a few yards away arright?? Hmmph.
U cum in my space and Ill get u evicted out of G3. Jus u wait.
🙂 You guys seem to be very good friends indeed 🙂
And khiladi?? Beta, jis se tumne khelna seekha hum vohi teacher hain, samjhe??
Hey Smita, dontcha worry…Sexy and me go long back. She’s my nemesis. Me being the gud guy ofcourse – the mighty hero who will save and free the world of her evil wrath in the end.
Oh wow! I have super heroes landing on my blog 🙂 Honored 😉 Welcome here, Anand 🙂
Hey cutie, I just read one of your writings. Its so sweet, eat more work less.just searched on the internet and got hold of you
Thank you 🙂 and welcome here!
chef preparing pizza is too cute… can i borrow her for a weekend? may be she’l make me yummy pizzas too! 🙂
i guess u have already got enuf tips on dosa batter.. but i just had to give u my own.. this is wat i do with the bread dough in the rains in bbay (thats like our winter , u know!:P the tempratures in the monsoon are as low as they every get in the yr).. i make my dough..switch on the oven for a few minutes to warm it… switch it off..and then put my dough in the oven for sometime to make it rise..the same funda shud work with rice too… u basically need a warm place to keep ur batter in…by simple logic, the oven trick shud work . 🙂
Sure yoiu can, Mandira – borrow her for a whol week while I go and get myself booked in a relaxing spa 🙂
The oven trick – I used to do that in London and it uesd to work like a charm – nothing seemed to work in Leeds -until I changed the rice.. Have to give it another shot – prob over the weekend 🙂
I missed this post somehow. This post leaves me hungry! Poohi’s pizza looks awesome.
And glad that you have figured out a solution to your dosa puzzle 😉
Lol @ dosa puzzle. Yes, but I will know for sure only if I can repeat it 🙂
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thats poohi in pic..she looks so cute with the apron 😀 the pizza looks yumm..you don put veggies in it?
Yes, it is. We do put veggies in it – she was in the mood for just sweet corn that day – so I let her have it her way for a change 🙂
Cheesse…. cheese… loads of cheese, my mouth is watering now 🙂
Welcome here, Manjunath 🙂