Thursday Eve dinner - Hummus and Pita

Thursday Eve dinner - Hummus and Pita....

Yes, it is Hummus and Pita :).. Hummus takes the precedence. I love trying recipes that are quick, easy and filling. One of my favorite is Hummus, its a Indianized hummus with rich Indian flavor. Try it out , it is yummy , I assure .

Traditional Hummus only have these key ingredients - Chickpeas, Garlic, Sesame/Tahini, Olive Oil, Yoghurt, Salt, Paprika, and Lemon Juice.

My version of Hummus has few more ingredients to make it more Indian - A bit of garam masala powder, ginger , mint leaves, and grilled red pepper.

How to make:

Ingredients :

•  1 Can of ChickPeas
•  Sesame seeds/Tahini paste - 2 tsp
•  Yoghurt - 3-4 spoons
•  Garam Masala Powder - 1 tbsp
•  Olive Oil - 3 tbsp
•  Lemon Juice - 2 tbsp
•  Garlic - 2 cloves
•  Ginger grated - tbsp
•   5-6 mint leaves
•   1 Red pepper - Grilled 
•   Salt to taste

How to make :

1) Grill the Red Pepper in the Oven for few minutes and when it is slightly grilled, remove from oven.
2) In a Blender/Mixer, add a can of Chick peas, few drops of Olive oil , grilled red pepper and rest of the ingredients and blend them well to make a thick paste like consistency.
3) Add more lemon juice if needed .
4) Hurray - Hummus is ready !!!!!

5) Transfer the Hummus into a bowl, make a small depression in the center and add the olive oil. Add fresh black olives, and sprinkle some paprika powder.

6) Heat the Pitas, and enjoy with the yummy Hummus :)...

Namma Mane - Part 2

Floating shelves - Aren't they pretty ?

I love collecting artifacts whenever we travel, especially if they are handicrafts and clay or wooden stuff with bright colors. Me being a big fan of Indian handicrafts have been collecting some cool ones for a long time now.

This is one of my favorite corner of the house with two floating shelves and with my favorite collection from India, Sri Lanka, Mexico, Thailand, and Dominican Republic. I tried to place them well to show the bright colors. Can't wait to have more floating shelves .

The cute elephant family from Sri Lanka

The amazing wooden collection from Chennapatna, India

Ceramic miniature pot collection from Mexico

Namma Mane - Our home in Kannada ..

Namma Mane - Our home in Kanada ..

I finally decided to blog on our house decor ,, We haven't spent too much on our home decor with the kiddo around.  I have been reading soo many blogs on interior design and Indian themed home decor , and tried to incorporate some design ideas in our home.

The last few years away from India has made me so nostalgic about back home and I wanted to incorporate every bit of India and its colour and soul in our home , so that I can finally say that this is my  home. I  have been living outside for the last 4 years and till today , I can never call the place we live as "Home". The home feeling never seems to sink-in and I always feel that there is something definitely missing here . When I visit our friends houses here and see some of their Indian artifacts, I get so nostalgic and start relating to my grand-mom's house in Chennai.

My grand-mom's house is a cozee little house in the heart of Chennai. Even though it is small in size, there was everything to that house. Every inch of that house had a soul and every inch of the house spoke to me and missed me when I was away. The comfortable and relaxed feeling I have when I am there is something that I will miss for a long time.

My grandmom , and I fondly called her Ajji had a small kitchen garden . She always worked so hard to make the garden look so pretty. She had the lovely Tulasi plants in the backyard . And the lovely December and Parijatham flowers. We used to share a mango tree with the neighbours and the my most favourite tree. The Gooseberries tree. Even now, when I go to India, I get so excited by just watching these trees. These trees have been there for years and they grew with me.

Huh, miss her and the lovely house. The more I think and write, the more nostalgic I get and the more I yearn to go to India.

Anyways, I wanted to showcase some of my favourite corners of our house. I loved this Indian design and got it painted at the entrance of the house. I love the huge Vilaku and the hanging Vilaku (Lamps). I bought few of them from India this time and placed it in our house.

We wanted to celebrate Diwali exactly the way we do in India and I incorporated a small Pooja place to bring the Diwali colour and spirit.

More corners to come soon ....