100th post | Green peas kachori and spicy dum aloo | SNC challenge 5 | Kukskitchen

Hello dearies, its that time of the month again. I can't believe SNC challenge has reached its 5th month. I was so gutted last month as due to work-related reasons I couldn't participate in the Jan challenge. I am so glad I finally made it to this months challenge. Better late than never eh? And what better time to post this recipe than my 100th post :-)

Also, a special thanks to Divya for understanding my circumstances and not kicking my humble-self  out even though I couldn't complete last months challenge. :-)

You guys who follow my blog knows exactly what this challenge is about. Just in case some of you are visiting my blog for the first time, here is a snap shot of what has happened in the SNC family till now.

As you can see, the recurring theme is that the south team wins hands down. he he. What say north team????????

 :P

Kadha ithu vare/ The story so far

Challenge	Year	Month	Northern team		Southern team		Winner
			Recipe	Challenger	Recipe	Challenger
SNC-1	2012	October	Mysore pak	Divya Prakash	Bhel Puri Chat	Shruti Dhingra	Northern team
SNC-2	2012	November	Adhirasam	Yashodha	Gulab Jamun	Pallavi	Southern team
SNC-3	2012	December	Medu Vada	Sherin	Misal Pav	Meena Bhatia	Southern team
SNC-4	2013	January	Vadakari	Ramya	Ghewar	Manjula Bharath	Southern team
SNC-5	2013	February	Green Peas Kachori &Spicy Dum Aloo	Sanoli	Paal Kozhukattai	Tamil	Wait and see

Sanoli, thank you for challenging us southerners with such a yummy combo.  Here is how I made it.

Vanilla cake with strawberry mousse filling and white chocolate ganache icing | Kukskitchen

Valentines day-Time for a special sweet treat eh?

I tried used vanilla extract with seeds for the first time and boy did it make a difference! The simple vanilla cake was a treat in itself.

Unnakkai: Ripe plantain cakes with sweet jaggery coconut filling | Kukskitchen

Unnakkai is a traditional sweet made on special occasions and is one of the gems in the malabar cuisine. My mum made it for one such special occaison; my 'pennu kanal' 

The recipe below is adapted to my palate and is NOT the traditional recipe. I will post the traditional unnakkai recipe soon.

Kovakka ( Ivy gourd) fry | I am back in full oomph | Kukskitchen

It has been an eventful few weeks (months) in my life and I have come out a happy bunny. I certainly have many to thank for. :-) Now, I am back in the blogging world with full oomph.

I have recently also started to contribute to a food column in my college newsletter UK alumni edition. Please check them out here folks.

Now,back to business!

Does deep-fried veggie count towards your five-a-day? May be not, but who cares! They taste so yummy that way.

Deep-fried veggies was something I was introduced to when I got married. My MIL is, and more so her mum was, an expert in that field, says my FIL :-) My dear D is not surprisingly a fan of deep fried veggies especially the likes of kovakka ( ivy gourd), vendakka (okra, lady's finger) and pavakka (bitter gourd). A simple marinade is all that is needed to lift these humble veggies to worthy of centre stage. I very rarely deep fry them as even the thought of deep frying gives me chest pains :-)

Here is how I ( actually my MIL) makes them