Recipe of the month: Chocolate, Peanut Butter and Raspberry Overnight Oats

Wishing all my readers a very 

Happy New Year 2017

I never thought the day would come when I would feature an overnights oats recipe on the blog 😛 But ever since I returned to work, time for preparing elaborate meals has become a luxury I just don't have. So, until I magically acquire a time turner, sprout two extra pair of limbs or crack the code on how to clone myself, simple recipes are the way forward. Speaking of keeping things simple, drinks have also been a heavily neglected segment on the blog so I may feature more of those too.

This is how mornings unfold in my household - with my current schedule, I need to be out of the house by 8:20 am (yes, it is that precise), on a work week. On the bright side, the sun is out (pun intended). My husband drives me to work every day and the blessed route we take bypasses all the rush-hour traffic snarls which gets me in record time, so I guess I don't have much to complain about there. But mornings are always a bit manic with me waking up early to go for a swim or to the gym and then coming back to delegate instructions to our helper regarding our toddlers' meals or else doing the prep work myself and then making a dozen mental checklists for the day. After that, it leaves just enough time to get showered, dressed, caffeinated and say goodbye to two clingy kids. With all this going on, I sometimes don't have time to have breakfast or other times I simply can't be bothered.

I have a collection of quick breakfast essentials (read: cornflakes, granola bars and fruit) at my workplace but when my to-do list seems longer than the Nile, I find it a herculean effort to put something together and then clean up after. The easy way out is to just skip breakfast altogether.

Having said that, I understand the importance of a good breakfast and therefore came up with a contingency plan. I decided to keep a mason jar of overnight oats ready in the fridge whenever I feel like the next morning is going to swallow me whole. The best thing about overnight oats is that they are great to eat right out of the fridge, convenient to grab on the go, taste delicious, comprise (mostly) of ingredients that are good for you and will keep you fuelled up till lunch time. I can go a good five hours without feeling hungry which from personal experience, enhances productivity at work.

This recipe has rolled oats, peanut butter, chocolate, fresh fruit and nuts. Even though I will gladly shun sweet breakfasts for the savory kind, breakfast that tastes like dessert is pretty hard to pass over. I usually have some time to myself after the kids go to bed (I call it my 'happy hour' 😝) so all I have to do is set aside 5-10 minutes of that time, put together a jar of overnight oats and stash it in the fridge. The next day is just grab and go. The best way to kickstart a busy mum's day, don't you think? And pssst.... it's not just for mum.... daddy and the kids like it too.

Watch out for more delicious and easy overnight oats recipe that I will be experimenting with in the coming few months. Till then, don't underestimate the power of a good breakfast and try this recipe to start your day right 💪

Christmas Special: Two Ingredient Chocolate Cake

You guys....I have such a fab dessert for you today. It is perfect for the holidays.

I'm sure everyone is gearing up to welcome the festive season. One of the highlights of this time of year for me (aside from the obvious feasting, presents, home trip and the cool weather that comes with it) is that I'm humming "jingle bells" all day instead of the usual "the wheels on the bus go round and round" 😝

Christmas Cake and Christmas Pudding have already been featured on the blog. This year I was torn between Gingersnap Cookies and Mini Fruit Tarts. Then I realized that I may not have time to do anything and so I abandoned the idea of doing a Christmas special blog post altogether. But then without warning, this chocolate cake came into my life and tweaked the course of my holiday baking.

In early November, I kept a jar of dry fruits soaking in liquor in my fridge in order to bake a Christmas cake for my colleagues and family back home. The cake was supposed to be ready by the first week of December but unfortunately my attention got diverted with my little ones taking turns contracting HFMD (which put them out of action for two weeks) and the husband having to go away for a week on a business trip soon after. I began panicking if I could make time for the Christmas cake given I had to tie up several loose ends at work, finish my Christmas gift shopping, invite a few friends over for a gathering, make a hundred lists, sort out a bunch of stuff at home and complete a mountain of packing but then in a rare (ok...not so rare) fit of insanity, I baked this two ingredient chocolate cake because it was too hard to resist 😁

On the bright side, fast forward to today, save for the packing, all my plans are done and dusted 😏 I'm going to start cramming our suitcases at lightning speed this weekend so wish me luck.

I stumbled across this recipe on Instagram from a blogger whose sugar work I really admire. It looked kinda too good to be true so I had to check it out.

This cake has two ingredients......just TWO. Say WHAAAT? 😮 No flour, no butter, no added sugar, no milk....nought/nil/nada. Just good ol' chocolate and eggs you guys. The two come together in a culinary duet to create something special. Eggs are the magic ingredient of this recipe so unless you want me to tear my hair out, please don't ask for a substitute. If you don't consume eggs or don't prefer to use them in your desserts, then this recipe simply isn't for you.

I actually cheated a bit and added a tsp of vanilla extract even though it wasn't mentioned in the original recipe. Whenever a recipe calls for egg yolks to be mixed in separately, I always add in vanilla extract along with it to prevent any 'egginess' in the finished product. I have listed vanilla extract as an optional ingredient so it's your call. 

I didn't have high expectations with regards to taste considering the recipe had only two ingredients but I was so stunned by how it turned out. I was finding it hard to tell that there wasn't any flour in the cake! Gluten-free advocates will be mighty pleased. And the cake was soft, moist and had that melt in the mouth texture to it. Most cakes have that sugary sweetness but this one doesn't. It is just mildly sweet which I think would be appealing to people who don't like their desserts cloyingly sweet. I dusted the cake generously with icing sugar because my palette felt it was needed and topped them with fresh strawberries. I think fresh raspberries would work too. Ice-cream on the side would be a nice touch too but it's not mandatory.....the cake can stand up for itself.

If you haven't got around to holiday baking yet, grab a giant bar of chocolate and eggs and get this lovely looking, guilt-free dessert on the tables in under an hour. You will shine brighter than that star sitting on top of the Christmas tree 💥

Recipe of the month: Ragi Dosa (Finger Millet Crepe)

If you have lived in India, particularly South India, chances are, you are familiar with ragi (also called finger millet, madua or nachni).

A generation or two ago, ragi featured commonly in the Indian states where the crop is cultivated. The once well-known cereal is however diminishing from the urban Indian diet today. It is unfortunate, considering the nutritive and therapeutic value of ragi towards health and well-being. Ragi has high protein content, is a rich source of minerals, helps control diabetes, keeps weight in check, battles anemia, reduces "bad" cholesterol and has anti-cancer properties. I can't think of a single reason why we shouldn't incorporate ragi into our diet. I'm telling you, it won't be long before this nutrient-rich grain commands recognition in the International 'superfoods' list which has become quite the fad in recent years. And when that happens, I will promptly proceed to roll my eyes 🙄

Despite hailing from Karnataka and living most of my life in Mysore, ragi is not something that I'm accustomed to eating. The reason being that ragi isn't originally a part of Udupi-style cuisine. Ragi mudde, ragi dosa and ragi rotti are some dishes that I used to see most of my friends and neighbours in Mysore eating. I was curious about the dark brown ragi dishes that didn't look appetizing to me at all back then. 

As I grew older, my mum did start experimenting with ragi by making ragi rotti once in a while, but I wasn't too keen on it back then. Ragi is definitely an acquired taste so over the years, in the form of rotti and dosa (I'm still not a fan of mudde), I've somewhat grown accustomed to it.

This is the instant version of ragi dosa that I am sharing with you which means no fermentation required (yay!). At first, I tried making ragi dosas using just ragi flour, but it felt like something wasn't quite right. I then started adding in a little bit of this and that to make the taste and texture better. I found that incorporating semolina, rice flour and whole wheat flour made the dosas much more palatable. After several trials, I arrived at this particular recipe one fine day and it has been my go-to recipe ever since. It appears on our breakfast table during the weekends very frequently even replacing rava dosa which was a previous favourite. Maybe calling it ragi dosa would be a bit unjustified since it contains other grain-based flours as well, but we'll just go with the name ragi dosa, because I say so, okay? 

Restaurant review: Set Lunch at Tandoor (Holiday Inn), Singapore

OMG it is December already. The unanimously favourite time of the year. I cannot believe how fast this year has zoomed by 😲 

This year has been great for me personally and to keep things consistent, I'm looking forward to end it on a high. I have a very eventful holiday season ahead of me and I cannot wait to pack my bags and be homeward-bound. I don't have much time to blog this month (I finished this particular post in under an hour) but I still hope to end this year with at least one or two more posts 😊

Tandoor has been established in Singapore's Indian culinary scene since 1985. Over the years, this award-winning restaurant (a part of Holiday Inn located at Orchard City Centre) has garnered a reputation of being synonymous with authentically prepared, traditional Indian cuisine.

My parents arrived in Singapore last month, around the time of the twins second birthday. They wanted in on the celebration and we were more than delighted to have them with us. During the eventful birthday week, we wanted to sneak in time for a family lunch and having frequented most of the Indian restaurants in Singapore, we settled on Tandoor which was one of the few that we hadn't paid a visit yet. We proceeded to make a reservation on one lazy Saturday afternoon.

The menu at Tandoor reflects the aromatic spreads of India's diverse regions covering the coastal areas of Goa, Mangalore, Lucknow, Punjab and more thereby paying homage to the colourful stories that make up India’s rich gastronomic heritage. Keeping in mind their diner's palates, some of the dishes are touted to carry regional cultural influences and healthier preparation methods while retaining their original Indian legacy.


Contemporary yet laced with tradition, the restaurant offers an inviting ambience for families, groups of friends and working professionals.

The color palette of the restaurant, lighting, artwork and table settings are crisp, refreshing and bestows an aura of opulence. The vibe of the restaurants is chic and sophisticated. I was quite impressed when I walked in and I can say the same for the rest of my family as well.

The restaurant offers an ala carte menu, lunch & dinner set meals as well as Sunday brunch. We originally wanted to sample the Sunday brunch but that didn't work out and instead we found ourselves at the restaurant a day earlier. We browsed through their selection of lunch gourmet trails and went for the vegetarian counterpart of the one below,

LUNCH GOURMET TRAIL $48
Which included chaat, soup, kebabs, main course & dessert.

The compilation of dishes were to our liking and we even got to choose between the two paneer-based gravies listed under the main course. The waiter offered to get us a mixed bread basket to go around which I think was a good suggestion.

I was a bit disappointed to discover that a drink is not included in the Set Lunch (which by the way I think it should be *hint* *hint*) so we had to order the drinks separately. We each chose between mango lassi and salted lassi as a fitting accompaniment to our Indian meal.

The little ones were promptly seated in high chairs and child-friendly cutlery was provided for them (which helped to keep them engaged for a while). We immediately placed an order for cheese naan for the them and it arrived quickly much to my relief.

Our orders were brought to the table in the following sequence. And may I just add that the plates were so pretty.