Tharavu Mappas/ Duck in a Spicy Coconut Gravy

Cooking has not been at its best for the last few months with the summer heat killing my boys' appetite. But with a cool change, I can see their love for and request for food growing. Today's recipe was a special Easter breakfast request from them and though I am down with flu and fever, I simply couldn't ignore it.

Char Siu Bao/ Chinese BBQ Pork Bun

Char Siu Bao is a Cantonese bbq pork filled steamed bun and is the most popular street food in China. Char Siu is bbq pork and Bao is covered or wrapped. Pork meat is marinated in a maltose-hoisin-rose wine sauce and then grilled over the bbq to a charred, savoury, sweet perfection. Then are then chopped and filled inside a yeast-dough, shaped into buns and steamed. They are served hot, straight from the steamer.

Kallumakkaya Ularthiyathu / Mussels Fry

Mussels, commonly referred to in Kerala as Kallumakkaya or Kadukka, is a very popular seafood in the coastal regions of Kerala. It is harvested from the rocks found on the coastal lines. There are different recipes that Kerala has to offer to savour these shell meat. Here is one of the recipes - a lip smacking simple, yet spicy preparation - Kallumakkaya Ularthiyathu. The rich flavour of the mussels are enhanced by the use of chilly powder, pepper powder and fennel powder. And you can't the forget the coconut pieces that you bite into in between. Nothing much can be said about this dish, except that you have to taste it to fall in love with it.

Garlic-Herb Chicken, Spinach and Spring Onion Pizza

Friday evenings are synonymous with lazy evenings. You simply want to gather round with your family for a long chit chat or sit in front of the television to watch some exciting movies. More importantly, you want to wind down yourself after a hectic and heavy week.

Aloo Tikki: Potato Cutlets

Aloo Tikki is a North Indian street food, prepared with mashed potatoes, some herbs and spices. It is a very popular snack found in Chaat stalls. It is usually served with tamarind sauce and coriander-mint sauce and also at times relished, topped with chick peas, yoghurt, onion, green chilly sauce, tamarind sauce, coriander-mint sauce and sev to make a complete Chaat.

Round Up: Flavours of Cuisines - Mexican

It was a real exciting and thrilling experience hosting the Flavours of Cuisines - Mexican Event for Julie of Erivum Puliyum; exciting because of the fabulous blogs I came across through this event and thrilling because of the wonderful recipes that my fellow bloggers posted. I received a total of 57 entries for the event and looking at the list below, you will realize that you are all well on your way to host a Mexican banquet in your own home with entrees, mains, desserts and drinks.
Thanks to Julie for giving me this opportunity and to all bloggers for making this event a success.