【印式杏仁牛奶】Almond Milk （Badam Milk)

这款杏仁牛奶冷饮热饮都很好喝，香浓甜美，是素食者的好选择。小朋友也很喜欢噢！

I like Badam milk,  and used to have it when I was in India.

It was more than 100 F here in NJ for the past few days, I decided to make the cold badam milk to cool it off !

Green Chickpea （Hara Channa)

Green Chickpea is the raw chickpea (Channa/Chole) in pods, it is easier to prepare compared to the dried version and very nutritious!

Being in NJ means we got choices of very nice and fresh Indian food ingredients, which of course includes this beautiful and delicious raw/green chickpeas!

Aiyu Jelly 【爱玉冰】

I went to Taiwan with my parents en route USA, it was fun and we had lots of great food there...

One of the street food that I really enjoyed was this Aiyu jelly. I liked it so much that I decided to buy some Aiyu seeds to make this home. 

Apparently it is very easy to make, and it requires no cooking at all!

这次回乡的时候和父母去了一趟台湾玩，好久没和父母一起旅行，虽然因为孕吐胃口还是不好，没能尝试很多台湾美食， 但是旅程还是很尽兴的。

爱玉冰是少数我在台湾的时候能吃，也爱吃的小点，因为好奇也因为很喜欢，就买了些爱玉子回来自己做。原来做爱玉冰真的完全不用起炊，是个简单健康又好吃的冰点喔！

【自制红曲米酒和红糟】Home-Made Chinese Red Yeast Rice Wine and Vinesse （Foo Chow Ang Jiu & Ang Chow)

我阿嬷在生的时候每每家里有媳妇孙子要生孩子的时候，她都会亲手酿制米酒给子孙做月子，老人家每次都会多酿好几瓶给我妈，就因为知道我爱吃姜酒鸡。我阿姨那天才调侃我说，我妈坐月子的时候，一吃饭我就爱挨着妈妈讨鸡肉块吃。

现在阿嬷不在了，再也没有人给我酿米酒啦！我阿嬷不识字，食谱都是用记的，每次材料都让我妈帮忙买，所以我就打电话问妈妈材料，再根据网上的资料，生平第一次酿了红米酒。

妈妈在电话里很遗憾地说，你阿嬷在生的时候你不生孩子，不然，她都可以酿给你做月子呢！说完我们两个就沉默了。

三年半前我怀着俊宝大约六个月的时候，我就开始自己酿制红麴米酒，给自己的月子做准备。当时分几次酿制了十瓶的酒和好多的红糟。红糟我送了不少给朋友们，酒月子里只吃了几瓶，剩下的越来越醇厚，酒味越来越浓，做菜比买来的料酒香很多，非常棒！

Grandma used to make this homemade rice wine for anyone who is due for baby in the family, it is an essential for the lady's confinement we used it in every dish we cooked for the mother within 30 days after the baby is born, this period is called confinement period.

Grandma also made sure to make a few more bottles of this wine for my house, my brothers and I are big fan of Rice wine chicken.

My aunt was teasing me the other day that she remembers me asking for mum's confinement foods when mom gave birth to my youngest brother....

Now that grandma is no more. I just feel that this increasingly disappearing tradition should be remembered and recorded.

Nagaimo/Chinese Yam with Mulberry Jam Dessert

I made some mulberry jam a few days ago, and mum thought of the dessert she had in Shanghai before.

It was made with Dioscorea opposita (nagaimo, Chinese yam, Korean yam) and some fruit jam, she liked it very much as it was very nice and crunchy.

Coincidently the same day when we shop for our grocery at the local supermarket, we saw that the workers were busy displaying the fresh nagaimo/Chinese yam! We immediately bought two to try out this recipe!

Mulberry Jam

I went home to Malaysia for almost three months around Feb-April 2012. It was fun spending time with family. We celebrated my youngest brother's wedding, and welcome another bundle of joy in the family --- my first brother's youngest son, Timothy... it was such a good time back home that I almost feel bad coming back to the states.

The only good thing is that I brought mum with me this time... she wasn't used to the quietness and space here at first. She misses home so bad that she even cried one day.Thank god that as the weather gets better, gardening and walking outdoor keeps her occupied and she started to enjoy the lifestyle here...

Matar Paneer (Indian Cottage Cheese with Green Peas) 【豌豆奶豆腐 】

今天介绍的这道菜是印度的奶豆腐煮豌豆，这个奶豆腐（Paneer）的制作方法和蒙古的“苏恩呼日德”相似，也很接近云南的奶饼。口感吃起来柔软，有浓厚的奶香味。

奶豆腐是印度素食里一个不可或缺的食材，是婚宴节庆的珍贵食物。奶豆腐的营养价值和一般的奶酪相似，这我就不多啰嗦了。

我偶尔也会在家里自制奶豆腐，但是工序比较麻烦，现在商店里都可以买到很好的Paneer,所以我就不再自己鼓捣了。。

Paneer is a well loved cooking ingredient in many indian families, cooking with green peas is one of the most common way to use paneer.

Making this dish with homemade paneer will taste even better!

Happy Holi 【洒红节甜点 -- 甜角】Karanji/Gujiya

今年的三月八日是印度的Holi，也叫洒红节，这一天，人们用不同的颜色粉，直接或者加水喷洒或者涂抹认识或不认识的人。这个节日特别能够体现印度人轻松，欢乐的精神。

家里的妇女也会在这一天准备好吃的茶点让玩得累了的家人孩子填饱肚子，然后继续欢乐。这个甜角就是其中一个Holi要准备的传统点心。

维基百科抄来有关Holi的来源：

胡里节，也叫洒红节，是印度人和印度教徒的重要节日，也是印度傳統新年(新印度曆新年於春分日)。在印度，尼泊尔，苏里南，圭亚那，特立尼达，英国，毛里求斯和斐济等地都是重要节日。

傳說從前有一個暴君不允許人民信奉大神毗濕奴。他的兒子卻堅持敬奉大神。暴君便指使自己的妹妹、女妖霍利卡在一個月圓之夜燒死王子。翌日清晨，當國中的百姓帶著盛水的器具趕去救人時，卻發現王子安然無恙，而霍利卡已化作灰燼。這是大神毗濕奴保佑的結果，人們便將7種顏色的水潑向王子以示慶祝。

捉弄人和盡情歡樂是灑紅節的精神所在，通常較低種姓的人將粉和顏料灑向高種姓的人，暫時忘記階級的差異。灑紅節的第二天，人們便用水和各種顏料互相潑撒、塗抹。夜晚，人們把用草和紙紮的霍利卡像拋入火堆中燒燬。印度人在灑紅節期間還要喝一種乳白色飲料，據說可保來年平安健康。在尼泊爾，慶典的開始是豎竹竿儀式。節日為期一周，人們互相拋灑紅粉，投擲水球。第八天時，人們將竹竿燒掉，節日結束。在節日期間，大家互相投擲彩色粉末和有顏色的水，以示慶祝春天的到來。

It is Holi in India  today, as I am not in India to celebrate the colorful festival, I decided to make the snack well loved and eaten during this colorful day.... Gujiya...