Crazy Curry

Hoplelessly Romantic

2009-04-28T19:47:00.001-05:00

No, I do not believe in fairy tales, I think a candle light dinner would make me too nervous to speak and I am too old for a hand in hand walk by the shore. Love flicks make me doze off at times and teenage romantic novels get a perfect zero. Neither do I have any love letters or a rose saved amidst the pages of my dairies, nor do I dream of being proposed through an airplane dragging a banner. Well old-fashioned chivalry does win me at times, but then isn’t it a signature of a perfect Englishman.

Reading a book by the window on a rainy day with a cup of tea, ummm…. isn’t that romantic. Of course it is when the book is by Jane Austen and the likes. I do not care if it is mortifying for a 20 something going on to 20 something plus, to live in the Jane Austen world. Having devoured the irony and humor filled books numerous times, falling in and out of love with the characters; I sometimes do try to put life in them with the ones I meet in my daily life. Till date haven’t found anyone like Mr. Darcy though. And I have come to the conclusion that Mr. Darcy only exists in the Austen World.

Jane Austen in a subtle manner has personified the sensibility and the stature of the woman in all the living times. And I think if all gentlemen would read Jane Austen, they would appreciate and understand women better and this would lead to an improved co-existence. The same is applicable to women, who have not read it yet.

We all live in the Austen World and each one of us in their lives must have experienced or would experience a Austen moment. So think twice before you degrade Austen as chick lit, and also understand that the lit in it comes from 'Literature'.

And there is a new truth to be universally accepted that a woman in possession of a Jane Austen novel is a sensible and sensitive woman.

For the book club I read ‘The Watson’s’ an incomplete novel by Jane Austen, and completed by her niece. Austen fans who haven’t read it, would find it interesting at the beginning and dissatisfying at the same time, due to its short length and abrupt turn in the story and too predictable plot. And guess what I did bake a fruit cake; don’t know which book it is from.
I will try to post the pictures if I am able to get any.

Expecto Patronum

2008-09-29T01:34:00.006-05:00

Charmed, yes I am and still under the spell of those super seven. Well, the seven Harry Potter books, that's what. And I must say this, I didn't know what I was missing till I read them all. And now I miss them so much, that it is an agony even to think about it.

Never read any of them, since the 10 years of their existence. A curiosity to read about the much acclaimed,turned into an obsession and sadly enough ended to remain as a passion. And now I can understand the grief of those who have been growing up with Ron's idiosyncrasies, Hermione's adroitness and Harry's bravery. Before, I never understood the need to queue in front of a bookstore on a cold night just to purchase a nth sequel to a kid's book for twice or thrice the original price.

Well I sat through 5 sleepless nights and took me 4 trips to 3 libraries to read all of them in one go. If only I could have said 'Accio' for them to come flying to me. And guess how was I after it ended. Zach thought probably I am a victim of a 'Confoundo' charm. He overdid it though. I just asked him, if it is ok for me to 'apparate' instead of taking the train and also if I can practise 'Wingardium Leviosa' on him........:P. I think he needs to grow up a bit, won't you agree.

Till now, you guys must have guessed that 'Harry Potter' was the Book of the month for September. As for cooking I think I am under 'Impedimenta'. So, today just some talk about it. The lovely spread at dinner, lunch and breakfast cooked by the hardworking elves and the delicious food cooked by Mrs Weasley cannot go unnoticeable. The most difficult part for me was to imagine edible Chocolate Frogs, Peppermint toads and Cockroach Clusters. I found the idea absolutely detesting. The Every Flavor Beans, might be more or less like the Jelly beans with weird flavors. Never knew about a tart made of Treacle, until Hagrid made one and also his rock cakes. The pumpkin pasties, sherbet lemons sound intersting. One thing I want to taste and so to make is the foaming butterbeer, probably some butterscotch/vanilla flavored soda.

For many their childhood or a huge part of it ended with the seventh Harry Potter book, but for me those books are a secret passage to mine, and of course a very handy one. There is a chance for you guys to go back to your childhood as well, we are doing Enid Blyton's Naughtiest Girl this month. The only thing you need to do is post on the last Sunday of October.

Harry Potter did cast a 'Aparecium' spell on Crazy Curry, and I would try my best to make that spell work.

I am right now amidst moving into a new house. The only thing which I wish now is for a wand, so that I can just wave it to pack all my things and use a 'Locomotor' charm to load them in the truck. In case you are wondering, I can do all this and much more, am a RavenClaw for nothing you know.

So I am off in search of my wand. Till then in case you want to try your hands at some spells or charms, you can use this portkey for your journey to the magicland.

The Panmarino

2008-07-31T21:32:00.004-05:00

After making a number a of rolls and cakes, I thought it was time for me to venture further into actual bread baking. Read through a lot of books to understand the whole concept of rising and kneading the bread. The best I found was 'A bread baker's apprentice' by Peter Reinhart. I liked the way he has explained the science behind each and every step in bread baking, so very helpful for a amateur like me. Also the introduction to pre-fermented starters in bread baking helped to understand the alchemy involved in the process.

The first bread I baked was, the Potato-Rosemary bread, Italians call it Panmarino. This is not a very good representation of the rising and kneading of my maiden attempt, still I have tried to capture as much as I could.

The bread is made by using Biga as the pre-fermented starter.

Day 1

For the Biga
1/2tbs instant yeast
25 cup unbleached flour
2/3 cup water

Sift the flour and the mixing bowl. Add the yeast and water. Mix it to make a dough. It will be sticky. Transfer it to a floured surface and knead it for 5-6 min to make it smooth and pliable. Coat it with oil.Let it rest for 3-4 hours at room temperature to ferment.

Knead it to a soft dough, transfer it to a bowl, cover with a plastic wrap and then keep it overnight in the refrigerator.

It will last for 3 days in a refrigerator or for 3 months in a freezer.

Day 2

Approximately 1.5 hour before making the bread dough, remove the biga from the refrigerator, cut into 8-10 pieces and let it sit at room temperature to remove the chill.

For the bread dough

11/4 cup of Biga
3 cups of unbleached flour
1 1/4 tbs instant yeast
3/4 cup water
1 cup mashed potatoes
2 tbs coarsely chopped rosemary
4 tbs roasted garlic
2 tbs olive oil
1 tbs salt
1/2 tbs black pepper

Semolina for dusting

Sift flour and salt in a mixing bowl. Add the biga, mashed potatoes and rosemary. Mix with water and oil to form a sticky dough. Add more flour if the flour is too watery or water if too stiff.

On a floured surface, knead the dough for 10 min. It will be smooth and pliable. Flatten dough. spread roasted garlic over it and again knead the dough to a ball for 1 minute. This is done to let the flour absorb the moisture from the garlic.

First rise: (2 hours)
Coat the dough with oil, place it in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let it ferment at room temperature for about 2 hours.

Remove the dough from the bowl, divide in 2 equal pieces.

Shape the pieces. I had a new loaf pan and wanted to use it, hence I shaped the dough to form a normal loaf.

For that, flatten the dough in a rectangle, then roll it into a cigar, while sealing the edges with each turn. And then place it in a oil coated loaf pan.

Second rise

Coat with oil and let it proof or rise at room temperature for 1 to2 hours or till it doubles in size.

Baking

Preheat the oven at 400F. Brush the roll with oil. I scored the dough with a knife to de-gas. Place the pan in the middle rack of the oven and bake for 20 min. Then rotate the pan and bake for another 10-15 min.

Remove the loaf from the oven, let it cool in the pan for 10 min, then cool on the wire rack for at least an hour.

The Panmarino goes to DK's AWED:Italiano

Current Mood: Baked
Current Music: Another one bites the dust (Queens)
Current Book: Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)

Expedition Extraordinaire

2008-07-27T02:46:00.004-05:00

There is no more thrilling sensation I know of than sailing. It comes as near to flying as man has got to yet - except in dreams.
- Jerome K Jerome (Three men in a boat)

Camping on some desolate rock at the end of the earth. According to Calvin, the place where his parents take him camping every year, and what all things go into building his character.

Calvin's Dad : Ta Da, we're here
Calvin : Good old itchy island, home of the nuclear mosquitoes.
Calvin's Dad : Bug bites build character.
Calvin : YeaH, and last year your said diarrhea builds character

Sleeping, inside a cave, on a newspaper below the stars, on the patio (verandha) of a temple, and at such many places while trekking through the numerous forts built by Shivaji maharaj in the Sahyadris. We carried our own food , climbed hills and mountains on foot, drank water from the flowing streams, have taken rides in a truck to a matador to reach our destination or home.
Don't know whether this has built any character in me, but on one of such expeditions, I met an adorable man. But that story can wait.

Well, lets go and meet the three Victorian young men who are on an expedition in a boat on the river Thames. J, Harris and George, the three musketeers along with a Fox terrier, set on a voyage to sail through the river accompanied by the idiosyncrasies of each other and always finding themselves in situations, not far from the reality.

I am talking about the masterpiece comic book 'Three Men in a Boat' by the author Jerome K Jerome. The book is full of anecdotes which on second thought seem to be real, and happened with us or witnessed by us sometime or the other. The characters, even though fictitious put in us a feeling of knowing someone somewhere who is exactly the way described. Just like Uncle Podger or friend Harris.

Also the food and the cooking incidents are hilarious. The burnt scrapes of scrambled eggs, Irish stew cooked in everything and with anything. And yes, they are those 1870's English gentlemen you love their tarts, apple, jam , rhubarb and more.

So you guessed it right, what's coming next is a tart full of some lovely filling in it.

Recipe for Rhubarb Tart

Ingredients:

For the Crust
1 cup All purpose flour
8 tbs, butter
1/2 tbs, salt
2-3 tbs, sugar
3-4 tbs ice cold water

For the Filling
1 cup Rhubarb Compote

Procedure:

For the Crust

Cut the butter in 1/2 inch pieces, and refrigerate for 5-7 min.
Sift flour, salt and sugar.in a mixing bowl.
Add the butter to the flour to form a crumbled mixture.
Add 2-3 tbs of ice cold water, and form a dough. The dough should not come together. It should be crumbled. Do not knead the dough.

Gather it together and wrap it in a plastic. Refrigerate for at least an hour. Remove the dough from the refrigerator, let it stand for 10 min at room temperature.

Preheat oven at 350F.
Dust with flour and roll out in a desired shape, with a thickness of 1/2 cm. Line the rolled crust on the pie pan, and blind bake it for 20-22 min.

Cool it to room temperature. Pour in the Rhubarb Compote on the baked tart crust. Refrigerate for 15-20 min or till set.

This was our July edition of the Book Club, ideated by Simran of Bombay Foodies.

This time we also had a bunch of other enthusiasts who accompanied us in the reading and cooking. Lets see what have they come up with from this book.

Simran cooks, Harris's Scrambled Egg
Rachel made a Spiced Apple Tart

For the month of August, we are reading 'Anita and Me' an award winning book by Meera Syal. If you are interested to play along, rather read along, just drop in a comment to me or Simran.

Btw, did I tell you guys, that it was that adorable man i met on an expedition, who had introduced me to 'Three Men in a Boat', on the extraordinaire expedition. And there is a sequel 'Three men in a Bummel', for the ones who loved the boat ride.

Pink is my favorite color...

2008-07-24T20:05:00.003-05:00

....not just pink, all those bright colors of orange, blue, yellow and green, just like the 3M Post-it notes. Also the bougainvillea pink which adorns the trees guarding the big bungalows and blankets the earth.

Pink is for girls. Stereotyped feminism, just like the Barbie doll, to such an extent that all the hi-tech gadgets essentially are also launched in Pink. The 2008 Limousine Mini Cooper has a Pink edition. Not that we didn't have the Pink version of such bubble cars.

Probably that's why some Feminists, the ones against the house-wives and blondes, hate Barbies and hence the innocuous color Pink. But then some radical ones, in Scandinavia have reclaimed the color for their use.

Till the 1940's Pink, then considered a masculine color was supposed to be a boy colour and the dainty blue for the sweet girls. Don't know what made this trend turn around. And the course shows that now Pink is more of a GLBT community member.

Pink, a paler shade of red. Red is the color of my bike, so is of every Ferrari. Many phone numbers ago, I had a mobile phone with a pink cover, my boyfriend No. X had gifted it to me (It was his choice, ladies don't stare at me like that). And I had a couple of pink tees, well more than a couple, I bought because I thought I didn't have any in that colour. So Pink is not a new obsession for me.

Does it really make me a Pink fanatic, just like my friends used to call me in that period. But then why do I have to bother about it......even Victoria parades of with her secret in Pink.

I think this is the only thing I have made in Pink. Rhubarb, known as world's favourite pie plant, a vegetable, but most often used as a fruit. I got it from the farmer's market, but took me a while to find a recipe for it. I haven't seen many cookbooks mentioning Rhubarb recipes. Still I managed to make a couple of them.

Recipe for Rhubarb Compote

Ingredients

2.5 cups of Rhubarb stalks, chopped coarsely

2 tbs, lime juice

3/4 cup, sugar

1/2 tbs, salt

1.5 tbs, corn starch

3/4 cup, water

Procedure

In a pan, put the chopped Rhubarb along with the lime juice, salt and 2 tbs of sugar. Let it rest for almost 30 min in a warm place. Rhubarb will start giving out water.

Heat the pan adding to it 1/3 cup of water. Add the remaining sugar and stir. Close and cook on low flame for 2-3 min. Rhubarb will become mushy.

Dissolve corn starch in 2-3 tbs water. Remove the lumps if present. Pour the corn starch mix in the pan. The Rhubarb mix will form a pink thick mass. Cook for a min.

Taste the compote for sugar, if the tartness doesn't suit your palate, add more sugar and stir to dissolve.

Put off the heat, and let the mix cool. Pour it in sterilized glass jars and store in the refrigerator.

These pancakes filled with pink Rhubarb Compote, are going to Sia's WBB Summer Feast.

Also loved it when coupled with vanilla ice-cream.

Note:

The thin, reddish pink stalks of rhubarb give more colour and taste to the preparation.

Current Mood: Tart
Current Music: Jungle Love (Steve Miller)
Current Book: The A.B.C. Murders (Agatha Christie)

Rise and Roll

2008-07-21T23:20:00.001-05:00

"The smell of good bread baking, like the sound of lightly flowing water, is indescribable in its evocation of innocence and delight..."
M. F. K. Fisher, The Art of Eating

According to my roomie, I am experiencing a phenomena of 'Writer's Block'. I disagree. First of all, I ain't no writer so it negates the 'Writer' part out of it. And currently I am too occupied to think of anything to write, so it is not a block but trying to do too many things at a time. Anyways, later on this, right now a feature on baking.

After making all the petty stuff and substituting baking in place of frying to save those innumerable calories (posts to come), I finally thought it was time to gather all my courage and muster my confidence and try to work in equanimity with the barm(yeast), which has failed me more than often.

My fledgling knowledge of baking, I believe didn't qualify me to venture into baking those warm aromatic loaves. Even though I stay in the city ruled by flour mills, still I couldn't make myself to do any flour wastage and hence I first tried my hands at the small dinner rolls. But whatever form of bread, small of big, one is making/baking, it does come with an eternity of wait for the 'Rising'.

Recipe for Dinner Rolls (adopted from Bernard Clayton's Book of small bread)

Ingredients
4-5cups, All Purpose flour
1.5 tbs active dry yeast
2-3 tbs oil
1/2 tbs salt
1 egg
1/4 cup warm water
1 tbs sugar
1/2 cup milk

Procedure
Dissolve sugar and yeast in the lukewarm water and let it stand for a min.
Sift flour and salt in a big mixing bowl. Pour in the yeast-water. Mix.
Now add little milk at a time and knead to form a soft and pliable dough. Use warm water if necessary.

First Rising
Coat the dough with oil and place it in a big bowl. Cover the bowl with a towel or a plastic wrap and let the dough rise for an hour and half. The dough should be more than double its size

Second Rising
Punch down the risen dough and knead again, gently. Again coat with oil, cover the bowl with the towel and let it rise for 45 min.

Third Rising
Punch down the dough again. Divide it into 13-15 balls. Place them in an oil coated baking pan, separated by 1 inch distance.Brush some oil on them. Let them rise for 20 min.

Baking
Place the baking pan in an oven preheated at 375F. Bake for 12-15 min, till the surface has browned a little.
Remove from the oven. Cool.

I made almost 15 medium sized dinner rolls.

Notes:
The rolls can be made ahead of time and then frozen. Wrap the balls after the second rising, tightly in a plastic wrap and place them in a freezer in an airtight plastic container.
Remove from the freezer almost 2 hrs before the baking and thaw at room temperature. Let them rise for at least 30min and then bake.

To shape the dinner rolls, see here.

These are rolled down to BBD#12, Small Breads hosted by dear Aparna.

Current Mood: Crusty

Current Book: Love in the Time of Cholera (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)

Current Music: Norwegian Woods (The Beatles)

Smart and Spicy, Cookie

2008-07-18T00:11:00.001-05:00

“Think what a better world it would be if we all, the whole world, had cookies and milk about three o'clock every afternoon and then lay down on our blankets for a nap.”

Robert Fulghum in 1987 at Middlebury College

I would prefer cookies and lemonade to cookies and milk in this sweltering summer heat.

Wonder, why American cookie has yet not caught the fancy of Indians, who since ages have been snacking on the crisp salty and sweet English 'Biscuits'. With Cookie Man selling cookies at Rs 400/- per kg, these soft delights have to go a long way before they have the energy to fight with the highly patronized Parle G and the likes.

Only read in books and forgotten, cookies seem to be the most favoured baking recipe of the Americans. So as I am still on a baking spree, I thought why not give these a try.

I adapted the recipe from here. It is a melange of numerous flavours, sweet, spicy and hot. The flavours burst in the mouth and one just cannot have enough of it.

Recipe for Spicy Ginger Cookies

Ingredients

2 cups All purpose flour
2 tbs packed grated ginger
1/2 cup olive oil
1 tbs fresh ground pepper
1 tbs cinnamon powder
3-4 cloves
3-4 cardamom pods
1 cup caster sugar
1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup candied ginger*
2 tbs baking soda
a pinch of salt

Procedure

*For Candied Ginger
Heat 1/2 cup of finely sliced and chopped ginger with 1 cup of water for about 30 min till ginger is soft and tender.
Drain the water.
Add the cooked ginger and approximately equal amount of sugar to a pan along with 2-3 tbs of water and cook on medium to slow flame. Keep on stirring till all the liquid is evaporated.
Cool, it will become hard. Toss it in sugar to coat and store in an air-tight container.

For this recipe, I added the candied ginger without cooling to the flour.

For the Spicy Ginger Cookies
Preheat oven at 350F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
Sift flour, salt, baking powder in a mixing bowl. Add the ground ginger and all the spices. Mix well.
In a separate bowl, mix oil and sugar, till white and fluffy. Pour into the flour mixture. Add the candied ginger and mix well.

Add honey and form into a cookie dough
Take small portions and form cookies, flattening by hands. Place on the cookie sheet separated. They grow in size on baking. Bake for about 8-10 min till set. Remove from the oven and cool.

They will be chewy in texture and spicy in taste. I made almost 16 cookies of about 2 inch radius.

Note
The recipe calls for Molasses. They can be replaced by equal amount of honey.
There is also an egg involved in the recipe. I avoided it.

Current Mood: Spiced
Current Music: Kahin to hogi (Jane Tu Ya Jaane Na)
Current Book: Three Men in a Boat (Jerome K Jerome)

Burnt and Baked

2008-07-14T16:16:00.000-05:00

In my 6th std, I baked my first cake, that too without sugar. It was only when my mother reprimanded me on why I didn't use the sugar she had set aside for me on the table, did we realise my goof up. She tried to salvage the doomed cake but to no avail. Nobody touched the cake except for me. It was all soft and cake like, only it was without sugar. Even after so many years I fail to understand what was the big deal for not eating it.

Anyways, I coated the cake with the unused sugar lying on the table, filled it in my lunch box and took it for my class mates. The cake didn't last more than a few milliseconds. Someone asked me why was the cake was coated with sugar and other inquired why the cake was not sweet, and someone marvelled on how smart I am to bake a cake when more than half of the class is still in their half pants. And when I told them that this is my first cake and I had forgotten to add sugar in the first place, there was a wave of deafening laughter and I still hear it sometimes when I meet those guys here and there. I have made and fed all these people with many cakes after this event, but still nobody ever forgets to mention the sugarless cake I had made and the leg pulling that followed, throughout my school life. I still am not sure what was so funny about it. ........:P

Thus began my baking journey which was cut short when I left my home, and probably it has now resumed with the resources being readily available.

So the coming several posts will full of goods baked while burning my fingers.

Recipe for Baked Bakarwadi

Ingredients:

For the dough (inspired from Anu's baked samosa, I halved the butter)
1 cup All purpose flour
2 tbs gram flour
5-6 tbs butter(melted)
1/2 tbs carom seeds
pinch of salt
1/2 cup water

For the filling:
1 tbs of gram flour
1 tbs Goda masala
1/2 tbs sesame seeds
1 1/2 tbs red chili powder
1 1/2 tbs dry coconut flakes
1 tbs fennel seeds and coriander seeds
1 tbs caster sugar
1/2 tbs amchur powder (optional)
1 tbs oil
salt to taste

Procedure

For the dough
Sift the both the flours and salt in a mixing pot. Add the carom seeds. Pour in the butter to give the flour a crumbled texture.
Slowly add the water and knead it in a pliable dough. Coat with oil and cover. Let it rest for an hour.

For the filling
Roast the fennel and coriander seeds in a pan for about 1 min, till they give out a wonderful aroma. Remove and then grind them in a coarse powder.

Heat oil in a pan, add all the ingredients and along with the coriander-fennel powder and stir for a 2-3 min on medium to low flame. Cool

For the Bakarwadi.
Preheat the oven at 425F. Slightly coat the baking sheet with oil.
Divide the dough in three balls. Work with one ball at a time. On a floured surface, roll out a ball into a 3mm thick rectangle.

Brush some butter on the surface. Spread the filling on it and roll into a cigar. Seal the edge by applying butter at the end and light application of pressure.
Apply butter on the outer surface and cut into 1 inch pieces. Repeat the procedure with the remaining dough.
Bake it for about 40-45 min till color changes to slight brown.

Cool and savor. Made almost 28-30

Current Mood: Baked

Current Book: The Hindi Bindi Club (Monica Pradhan)

Current Music: Walk of life (Dire Straits)

Current Movie: Jodha Akbar

'Bing' on target

2008-07-11T14:26:00.010-05:00

What is my favorite take out or eat out food? It definitely is Chinese and its derivatives. The contents depends on the part of the world. It can be anything from Gobi Manchurian and Chili Paneer to Sesame Tofu and Stir Fried Vegetables.

Ironically it is also the most dreaded food coming out of my kitchen space. Me cooking Chinese have perplexing effects on the matters and masses involved in the process. It sends shivers down the spine of the 'kadhai' which serves as an untempered Chinese wok. The vinegar goes sour and the soy sauce spills, the vegetables rot and the onions cry. Stirrers and the spatulas refuse to stand straight and the spices ignore the duties.

Bewildered with this performance even if I muster the courage to cook which would by and far resemble anything but Chinese. It is greeted with wrinkled noses, crumpled faces and twisted tongues. So to save the effort to one and all, I try not to venture into that forbidden area.

This is the only thing which does not involve any alchemy of the spices and the process and hence the most comfortable and easy Chinese 'make at home' thing for me. The "Bing" (Chinese Pancake). Most popular being the Green onion filled pancake known as 'Cong You Bing'.

Recipe for "Bing" (Chinese Green Onion Pancake)

Ingredients:

2 cups of wheat flour and more for rolling
1 cup chopped green onions
1 tbs of roasted sesame seeds
4-5 tbs oil
a pinch of salt
1 cup warm water for kneading the dough

Procedure:

Sift the wheat flour along with salt and sesame seeds in a bowl.
Knead the wheat flour into a soft pliable dough by adding little water at a time.
Pat with some oil, cover and let it rest for an hour.

Take a third of the dough and roll it into a thin large round. Brush it with oil.
Generously sprinkle the chopped green onion on the round. Roll it into a carpet.
With the knife divide the roll into 2 inch long pieces. Work with one piece at a time.

Press the open ends with a finger and a thumb to seal and press vertically to flatten it into a ball.
On a floured surface, roll it into a thin round.
Heat a skillet and pan fry the green onion pancakes by applying oil on both the sides.

Makes 12.

This is my entry to DK's AWED Chinese.

Also it goes to Sia's WBB Summer Feast

Current Mood: Bored
Current Music: Sweet Home Alabama
Current Book: Imaginary Men (Anjali Baneerjee)

Monsoon Delight

2008-07-04T01:04:00.004-05:00

To know India and her people, one had to know the monsoon. It is not enough to read about it in books, or see it on the cinema screen, or hear someone talk about it. It has to be personal experience because nothing short of living through it can fully convey all it means to a people whom it is not only a source of life, but also their most exciting impact with nature.

- Khuswant Singh (I Shall Not Hear The Nightingale)

It is a fun.......fiasco. Monsoon. Road full of puddles, shoes filled in mud, raincoat clad bikers, aunties and uncles hidden in striking umbrellas, people seeking refuge under freshly bathe trees impudent in their new attire of dainty flowers. The sky unzips and pours out, people caught unaware, run helter skelter for some resort, all the blame on the guy from the metrological department.

Love blossoms in monsoon, haven't the movies proved it all the time. Most of the romantic songs are featured in and on rain. Monsoon typifies romance, of rainbows and raindrops, of bewitching smell of wet earth and fragrance of blooming flowers, music of the pitter patter rain and thunder and lightening.

And then how can I forget the hot bhajias, pakodas, wadas savoured along with the piping hot masala chai. For me monsoon is more than this. It is marching on the roads decked up in brightly colored windcheaters in huge groups. Pants folded upto the knees, feet adorned with 'Sandak', monsoon slippers by 'Bata'. Swearing at all the passing cars and autos, who knowing/unknowingly splash the puddle water on us. Finding our way into the nearest ice-cream parlor and treating ourselves with a big scoop. Ummm....loved it.

So, this little melted americanized ice-cream in memory of those rogue days.

The recipe for Blueberry Frozen Yogurt is adapted from 'The Perfect Scoop' by David Lebovitz.

Recipe for Blueberry Yogurt.

Ingredients:

1 cup yogurt (greek style) or 2-3 cups yogurt(normal)
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups fresh blueberries, pitted
1 tbs Brandy
2 tbs lemon juice
a pinch of salt

Procedure:

For the yogurt
I used the normal lowfat yogurt from the grocery store. In a cheese cloth lined strainer, I poured in almost 3 cups of yogurt, squeezed out the water and kept it in the refrigerator for almost 10 hours. It gave me 1 cup of thick yogurt.
In order to avoid this process, you can use greek style yogurt or the European style yogurt available at Trader Joes.

For the Frozen Yogurt
In a mixer or a food processor, blend all the ingredients to form a consistent mixture.
Pour it in a freezer pot and freeze for 4-5 hours. Remove it from the freezer and pass it through a blender once more.
Freeze it in ice-cream pots and serve when firm and set.

If using an ice-cream maker, follow the instructions.

Notes:
The recipe asks for Kirsch, a form of brandy. But I managed with a Brandy, I make myself a drink when I am down with cold.

This Blueberry Frozen Yogurt is going to dear Siri's Frozen Yogurt.
This also is my entry to WTSIM Berried Treasure hosted by Cook Sister.

Dal bhaaji

2008-07-02T01:53:00.003-05:00

As a kid, I used to hate everything my mother cooked, be it potato bhaaji which is a child's favorite or simple khichadi which I love so much. Now when I think of it, I can imagine what a pain I would have been to my mother. But my mother also never entertained my whims and fancies about food or anything. It was compulsory for us(me and my brother) to eat whatever was served on our plate even if it is a bittergourd, doesn't matter how much ever nakharas we do.

As the number of moon rise and sun sets I witnessed increased, my hatred for the food also receded and evetually I started cooking as well as eating food cooked by me. And now after more than half a decade of living alone and having the choice of cooking whatever I desire, it bounces over my head, how I end up cooking those things which I hated then and enjoy them now.

Potato bhaaji, kadhi-khichadi, gourds and squashes, greens, simple daal and rice. They are the ones which are the most commonly cooked on an average at any Indian home. I think the most important reason is their ability to comfort a worn up soul.

Dal bhaaji or Palak daal, is one such dish I keep on making time and again. My mother used to make this all the time, me and my brother used to make faces when it was served to us every afternoon we came home from school. And now it is the ultimate comfort food for me.

Recipe for Dal bhaaji/Spinach daal/Palak daal

Ingredients:

2 cups of Spinach, packed

1 cup of yellow daal (toor daal)

2 tomates, chopped

3-4 red chilies

1 big onion, finely chopped

1/2 tbs of mustard, cumin seeds, turmeric and red chili powder

a pinch of asafoetida

1 tbs of amchur powder (dry mango powder)

1 tbs of ginger and garlic paste

salt to taste

2 tbs of oil

Procedure:

Pressure cook the daal and spinach till tender.

Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pan, add the asafoetida, splutter the cumin and mustard seeds. Add the red chillies.

Pour in the onions and ginger-garlic paste. Cook till onions are tender and transparent.

Add the remaining spices along with the tomatoes, cook for a minute.

Stir in cooked daal and spinach, adjust the consistency and let it simmer for a while.

The Dal bhaji is ready to serve.

Serve hot over a mountain of rice accompanied with papad and mango pickle.

Note:

Amchur powder can be replaced with 1/2 cup tamarind juice or a boiled green mango.

Update : I probably was fancing some invisible stars around me, which made me write urad daal, it actually is toor daal.

Current Mood: Indifferent

Current Music: Humsafar (Strings)

Current Book: Bourne Supremacy

Soccer and Macaroons

2008-07-01T00:42:00.006-05:00

"Cricket is a full time job for us(Indians), we do indulge in other hobbies, soccer is one of them", this is what we replied to a gentleman in orange overalls written 'Nederland' on his cap. He asked why there were so many Indians sitting in a bar on a perfect Sunday afternoon watching a soccer match.

Well the Euro finals were a complete disappointment with Germany losing pitiably to the pseudo-underdogs Spain. The match result was of no consequence to me, but I just felt bad for Michael Ballack, one of my soccer crush.

Macaroon, a french cookie is supposed to have originated in an Italian monastery. France and Italy, both soccer savvy nations. French brought their delightful desserts in India, but why did they fail to get the soccer into our blood ?

Macaroons were brought to my notice by Divya, who hails from Tuticorin famous for the macaroons. I had never tasted these and didn't know any source for obtaining the same, hence decided to go ahead and bake myself.

I made the Coconut-lime macaroons from here, a little increase in the lemon content to suit my palate. These cookies are a quick fix with less number of ingredients and without any butter or egg yolk in them.

Recipe for Coconut-Lemon Macaroons

Ingredients:

2 large egg whites
2 tbs lemon zest
2 tbs sugar
1.5 cup coconut flakes (Note: used the sweetened ones)
2 tbs All purpose flour

Procedure:

Preheat the oven at 350F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

Beat the egg white, sugar, lemon zest with a pinch a salt, till white and fluffy in texture.

Incorporate the coconut flakes and flour. Mix.

Scoop the mixture on the cookie sheet at a distance of 1 cm. They don't bulge in size on baking.

Bake for 15-18 min, till the surface is golden brown in color.

Remove from the oven and cool.

Coconut lemon macaroons can serve as a tea time snack. They go great with rich chocolate ice cream.

These Macaroons are going to Nupur's MBP: Less is More. .
And I hope Suganya accepts my late entry for her event AFAM Coconut.

Current Mood: Restless
Current Music: Koi Aanewala hain (Strings)
Current Book: Bourne Supremacy

Color me chocolate

2008-06-29T02:25:00.006-05:00

All I really need is love, but a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt!"
- Lucy Van Pelt (Peanuts)

The Dairy Milk chocolate bar, the small Eclairs oozing with chocolate inside the mouth, the crunchy Fruit and nut, Temptations, Melody claiming its chocolatey flavour,the stylish 5 star bar, such and many more, the chocolates we as kids were and even as grown ups are tempted for. These now are replaced by the Hershey's, Ferror Rocher's, Reese's and Snickers.

Chocolates for me signify the sweet rememberance of childhood. The only affordable luxury as a child with the meagre pocket money. Something which one wouldn't want to share even with his or her best friend. Quickly gobling down that delectable piece before anyone catches you. Eating too much chocolates and then brushing ones teeth several times to save them from going bad.

The Pralines, truffles, hazelnut clusters, chocolate seashells, sugared violets, venus's nipples mendiants, chocolate and butternut, simmering hot cocoa topped with whipped cream. The sinful chocolate. In the world of grown-ups, chocolates are looked upon as indulgence, atleast that's what Joanne Harris tells in her famed novel 'Chocolat'. Something which one wants but the rules prohibit you from that.

Chocolat, the book manifests how the social rules abstain one from doing things which are a source of pleasures. Joanne Harris, whose writing gives the vibes of Chitra Banerjee Divakruni's 'Mistress of Spices' ,takes the reader on a french culinary adventure and pampers the reader into the chocolate epicurean.

Chocolate brings smile to one's face, haven't seen anyone crying after eating a one.Some might condemn it as an aphrodisiac for some it might sprinkle romanticism, but for me it is a sweet companion. From heart breaks to heart aches, from a bad hair day to a tough day at work, through ex-boy friends and through stressful nights. It works as a best stress busters and a quick fix for a crumpled heart. Belive me, I speak from experience.

If we have to talk about indulgence, then what do you think about, enjoying a book curled up in a quilt in a warm bed, with a simmering cup of hot chocolate topped with whipped cream to keep company.

Simran of Bombay Foodie who loves reading and also doesn't mind my out of the blue mails, came up with a fabulous idea.

Every month we will decide on a book, read it, discuss it and try to cook something out from that book. It was Simran's initiative and she permitted me to tag along.

We welcome those who are interested in joining us, please drop a line in the comment section and we will do the needful....:)

This month's book was Joanne Harris's 'Chocolat'.

The book is full of delicious and delectable french chocolate recipes, but the name 'Pain Au Chocolat' intrigued me. So I tried to make them on my own.

Pain Au Chocolat, is a pastry filled with chocolate and almonds. I googled and found out many different versions of recipes for this, but I wanted to add my own touch to this one, rather I wanted to indulge.

So for the outer covering I followed this recipe. For the the chocolate fillings, I followed my palate.

Recipe for Pain Au Chocolat:

Ingredients:

For the dough:

All purpose flour 2 cups

Wheat flour 1 cup

Milk, 1 cup
Olive oil, 1/2 cup
Egg, 1

Active dry yeast, 1 tbs
salt, sugar 1 tbs

For the filling:

Coconut flakes, 1/2 cup

Crushed or powdered Almonds, 2 tbs

Baking chocolate, 1 bar

Sugar, 1/2 cup

Butter, 1/4 cup, for brushing

Procedure:

Roast the coconut flakes in a hot pan for 2-3 min. Pour in the chocolate and sugar. Stir occasionally for the sugar and chocolate to melt and form a mixture.

For making the dough, in a big mixing bowl, add yeast and warm milk. Let it stand for a minute.

Add the egg white, olive oil, sugar, salt and flour to the bowl and mix to form a pliable dough. Add more flour if the dough is too sticky.

Immediately, divide the dough in 8 parts, roll them into roti like circular shapes. Apply butter on the top part of first piece, put another piece over it. Apply butter to the top piece and put the third piece over it. Repeat the procedure till all the eight pieces are exhausted.

Flour the surface and roll the bunch into a big round shaped roti. Cut into wedges.

Put a spoonful of filling on the wider part and roll it over to form a croissant type shape. Let them stand for 30 min.

Preheat the oven at 350F. Lightly butter a cookie sheet and place the rolls on it. Brush the rolls with egg yolk. I did it with butter. Bake for 25-30 min, till they change color.

Remove from the oven and let them cool on a wire rack. Pains Au Chocolat are ready to savour.

Note:

I used a mixture of All purpose flour and whole wheat flour. Original recipe uses only All purpose flour.

Current Mood: Indulgence
Current Music: Yellow Submarine (Beatles)
Current Book: Life is not all Ha Ha He He (Meera Syal)
Current Movie: Sweeny Todd

RCI: North-East Indian Cuisine Roundup

2008-06-25T12:00:00.013-05:00

In case Google experiences a second quarter revenue increase, it is the food bloggers who need to be thanked for the same. Google being the only source available for this RCI edition, I am sure the otherwise unknown or lesser visited sites must have been elated with the number of hits.

Don't know why the great Indian cooks have completely neglected the North-east region of India in their multi book shelves worth of cookbooks. Anyways, with all the research and cooking we guys did, we have got a book's worth of recipes down here. The food bloggers have done a wonderful job in researching and cooking the unknown recipe of this still a mysterious part of India.

I decided to do the round-up based on the states, but not very sure if this is the best way of presenting the recipes.

Recipes which are common through the seven sisters

Chatkhor Swati sends delicious appetizing Momos
which makes her full even before she goes on to the main course.

These stir fried eggplants are from Linda's garden. She prefer's to classify it as an 'Amalgamation of the seven sisters'.

Shubha sends these lovely Momos along with her chutki bhar pyar.

Desperately in search of a vegeterian recipe from the North-East, she finally thanks God for giving her the steaming Momos . (kidding)

Recipes from the state of Tripura

Meera of Enjoy Indian Food, has done it all. She has posted a recipe for all the seven states. Kudos to Meera. Her entry for the state of Tripura,
Poora Machh , grilled fish.

Recipes from the state of Sikkim

Ragaa, our singing chef, wanted to taste us something from the stalls of Delhi Haat. Instead she decided to add a twist to match her palate with
Kodo Ki Roti

DK seeks a heart-warming soup from Sikkim to console her travel worn heart, Thupka-egg noodle soup

Meera comes with a delicious looking Chambray , a rice preparation from Sikkim.

Ain't she all one's favorite, makes ma a
hot bowl of soup and a tea(TS-Ja) that tastes nothing like but all salt and butter, mind ya, its yak milk in there....

Cham of Spice-club pleases her taste-buds with the savory pan-cake,
Kodo ki roti

JZ, impresses by her adorable picture of the
Thupka bowl , this time it is real meat.

The Mela Queen, Valli, impresses one and all with her,
Sikkim Thalli , man can anyone ask for more.

Ranji amidst all the other things in her life, still found of time to make a delicious Chambray topped with til ko aloo .

Uma makes a
Tomato Achaar from what she calls the Land of Splendor- Sikkim. Well she did it all in a micorwave, Valli are you listening.

Sikkim seems to be a favorite state among the food bloggers, as it has got the maximum number of entries. Probably it the with the most vegetarian state...:). My entry, Til Ko Aloo.

Recipes from the state of Nagaland

Meera comes again with a Kholari Chutney from Nagaland.

Siri wakes up from her dream to make an amazing breakfast recipe from Nagaland, Egg Shoap .

Mesmerized by the beauty of the state, Anu comes up with a delicious looking Tomato Ombal . She recommends, to try this with the Egg Shoap above.

Recipes from the state of Mizoram

After the hot momos, Shubha sends the sweet and savory
koat pitha .

Hmarcha Rawt , a chili chutney comes again from Meera.

The grilled shrimps, Misa Maach Poora from yours truly.

Recipes from the state of Meghalaya

Meera celebrates Meghalaya with the
Red rice recipe from there.

Recipes from the state of Manipur

Priya, cooks up a peas stew from Manipur in her crockpot,
Manipuri Ooti .

Aparna of My Diverse Kitchen, indulges herself in the beautiful Manipur with Manipuri Khichadi and Ooti .

Priya, the Cook again puts her crockpot to use for making
Manipuri Khicadi , rice pudding in her words.

Meera sends in a wonderful Manipuri Ooti from Anthony's blog.

Recipes from the state of Arunachal Pradesh:

The bouncer from Meera for the state of Arunachal Pradesh. She cooks up a tempting fish,
Pa Chao .

All said and done, I had a wonderful time hosting the RCI and also doing the Round-up. Thanks to Laxmi of Veggie Cuisine for giving me this opportunity. Also a special thanks to Deepa of Recipes and More, who exchanged the month for hosting RCI with me.

Thanks to all of you for making this a worthwhile event, without you cooking and sending the entries it aint have been no fun.

The Versatile Roti

2008-06-20T23:58:00.001-05:00

Roll, pat, flour and brush......roast, bake, fry or flip on a griddle....they call them tortilla, blitz, matzoh, pita, and many more........we call them chapati, roti, naan, puri, paratha. Where ever one goes, whatever one calls it, and how ever one makes it, the shape remains the same, the basic ingredient is the flour.

Make them from wheat flour, roll with a pin and brown it on a griddle. Puff it on open fire to make a 'Phulka'. Fry it in hot oil to make a 'Puri', pan fry to make a normal 'Paratha'. Bake it on a tandoor and make a 'Naan'.

Make some twists and turns while rolling, pan fry it to make a 'Paratha', a true Democrat. Stuff it with potatoes before rolling, pan fry it to make it the world renowned 'Aloo Paratha', stuff with cauliflower to make a 'Gobi Paratha'. Actually fill it with anything and call it 'Anything Paratha', hence it is "by the fillings in it, for the fillings in it and of the fillings in it". Serve it with a scoop of butter (ghee), it will taste better than heaven.

Gujjus add some spices to a mix of different flours while kneading to makes 'Theplas', Marathis call it 'Thalipeeth'. The crispy and lighter version of this makes 'Khakra'. Pat a big ball of jowar or bajara dough with your hand, it will shape into a 'Bhakari' and roast it over the hot charcoal to get the authentic feel.

Make it the way you like, add whatever you want and eat with anything and everything, call it rotli, chapati, parotha or naan, it remains the most important component of more than half of people's diet in India. For the flat breads across the world see here.

The world's most delicious parathas are cooked daily in humongous quantities in Pune. Chaitanya a small shop on F.C. Road, one of the stylish and busiest streets of Pune. An assortment of mouth watering parathas are served here daily to hungry mouths which mainly belong to college kids and young professionals. These parathas give the best value for money, one of the reason for their popularity.

My all time favourite at Chaitanya is the huge 'Aloo paratha' which comes with a huge dollop of makhan(butter), green chutney, yogurt and lemonized onion rings. I tried to replicate that Aloo paratha which turned out to be okay, but a little not so round in shape....:)

Recipe for Aloo Paratha:

Ingredients:

For the filling:
3 big potatoes boiled and mashed
4-5 green chilies
1 big onion
1 tbs ground cumin
a small bunch of fresh coriander
salt to taste

For the dough:
3 cups of wheat flour
1/2 tbs salt
1 tbs of oil
water for the dough.
flour for rolling the parathas

oil for pan frying the parathas.

Procedure:

For the dough:
Mix the wheat flour salt and oil. Add water, in small portions at a time and mix to make it in a pliable soft dough. Cover and let it rest for 30 min.

For the filling:
Mash the boiled potatoes.
Clean and finely chop the onion, chilies and coriander. Add them to the potatoes along with the spices.

For the Parathas:
Heat a griddle.
Take a tennis ball size dough and roll it in a small circle.
Put a spoonful of potato filling on it. Enclose the potato filling from all the sides by closing in all sides to make it into a ball again.
Apply some dry flour and now roll it into a chapati.
Shallow fry these parathas on the hot griddle using small amount of oil.

Devour with huge quantities of yogurt and ghee.

Undoubtedly I am sending to dear Valli's Roti Mela.

Current Mood: Settled
Current Music: Somebody to love(Queen)
Current Book: Inheritance of Loss (Kiran Desai)
Current Movie: Sarkar Raj

Misa Maach Poora

2008-06-14T20:24:00.008-05:00

Today (June, 13th), it was a normal day, just like any other. Nice book to read, not so much to care about and no cooking and cleaning, had yesterday's leftover for lunch. Until in the evening everything went berserk. I burnt my fingers, broke my casserole dish and ran out of rice. Also the shrimps I had to cook were the smallest possible in the world.

Well it is Friday, the 13th today. The realisation came only when a lady in the gym was wishing well to everyone for today. And after that when I came home and started making dinner, all the above mentioned things happened. Not that I believe in these things, but my fingers still hurt and my heart weeps for that broken casserole.

I think, I better straightway go to my recipe before I blurt out anything nonsensical and make it worst.

The recipe for Misa Maach Poora is adopted from here. It is basically a Miso way of grilled shrimps. The shrimps are blanched in pepper water and then grilled on open charcoal fire wrapped up in banana leaves. This is only possible for me to achieve in a charcoal grill. But, I am not that well conversed with using grills and it didn't seem to be a viable option either. Hence I grilled the shrimps in my oven.

Recipe for Misa Mach Poora ( Mizoram )

Ingredients:

Precooked Shrimps 2 cups
1/2 tbs turmeric powder, salt
12-15 peppercorns
1 tbs finely chopped coriander
1/2 tbs oil
2 tbs lime juice

Procedure:

Marinate the shrimps with turmeric and salt for 15 min.

In a deep pan, boil 1/2 cup water, add the peppercorns and coriander. Pour in the marinated shrimps and cook for 5 - 10 min.

Drain out the water, cool the shrimps. Pour in the oil and toss to coat well.

Arrange the shrimps on the skewers. Broil them in the oven at 500F for a minute or two.
Turn to cook on the other side.

Shrimps cook very fast in the oven at high temperature, hence care should be taken to avoid burning.

Serve hot with boiled rice.

I served with some roasted vegetables and Polenta.

This is my entry to RCI: North-East Indian cuisine, which I am hosting.

Last date for the entries is 15th June, 08.

Current Mood: Broken
Current Music: Come together (Beatles)
Current Book: Chocolat (Joanne Harris)
Current Movie: No Country For Old Men

Til ko Aloo

2008-06-10T20:58:00.007-05:00

In my first grade I wanted to be a singer, in my 8th standard I wanted to be a journalist and in 10th standard an astronaut. What I went on to become, or what I currently am or the path I am treading on is a different story all together, and not interesting at all. I hope, we all can wait till it is interesting enough to write about.

What I want to talk about is the period between the 'to be singer' and the 'to be journalist'. The period of an aspiring teacher. The summer of 1993, I was vacationing in the north-eastern state of Sikkim , with my parents. We spent almost a week in the capital city of Gangtok. It was the first time I had seen snow with a naked eye. Being on the Tibet border while playing in the snow at the Tsango lake was an experience in itself. Being in two countries at the same time was exciting then, but only now can I understand the significance. An army uncle allowed us kids this opportunity of lifetime. One feet in India and the other one across the border.

There are many residential schools in Gangtok, as is the case with all the hill stations in India. The teachers there were all smart and chic. They wore trousers and high heel shoes, had their hair cut short, unlike my saree laden, teachers then, with pleated hair. I shouldn't be saying more about my teachers, they seriously didn't deserve the hard time we gave them.
So I obiviously was taken by the charm of those young ladies and that's when I decided that I will become a teacher and teach in a school in Gangtok. Well, kids have there own idiosyncrasies and so did I.

The recipe also is from the state of Sikkim, known as Til Ko Aloo. The potatoes are seasoned with sesame seeds only. A nice variation from the everyday cumin-mustard tadka. This is my entry to the RCI: North-East Indian cuisine, hosted by yours truly.

Recipe for Til Ko Aloo (Recipe adapted from here)

Ingredients:

3-4 small potatoes or 2 big ones, peeled and diced

1 small onion diced

2 green chillies, sliced

1 tbs of sesame seeds (can increase the qty)

1/2 tbs of turmeric, red chili powder

salt to taste

2 tbs of oil

Procedure:

Heat the oil in a deep cooking pan. Add the green chillies. sesame seeds and onions, fry till the onions are cooked.

Pour in the potatoes and the spices. Fry the potatoes for 2-3 min.

Add a cup of water and boil the potatoes till perfectly cooked.

Serve with steamed rice.

Current Mood: (still) Musical
Current Music: There she goes (Six pence none the richer)
Current book: Completely taken by Jason Bourne

Siri of Siri's Corner is inviting entries for a wonderful event named Frozen yogurt. Check it out and accompany me there with a cool yogurt delicacy.

Keep those mails coming for RCI: North-East Indian cuisine. Last date 15th June, 08.

An onion of guilt

2008-06-09T01:08:00.004-05:00

For it is every Cook's Opinion, No savory Dish without an Onion
- Jonathan Swift's translation of 'Martial's' Xenia 18

As humble as it is, an onion is quintessential for cooking, in any cuisine worldwide. The deep flavour it adds to the dish cannot be instigated by any other ingredient, may be garlic, but it is too sharp for some.

I come from the country where, onions are eaten raw, probably the only culture where an onion stenched breath after a meal is not taken as an offence. Go to any Indian restaurant, you are welcomed by a bowl of blanched onions and wedges of lemon on the table. Pierce an onion with a fork, squeeze a little lemon juice over it, sprinkle salt and pepper, you will taste the most exciting thing with a melange of flavours tingling your taste buds, all free of cost.

Order a chiken tikka or an achari gobi, these Indian savory appetizers are always accompanied by a plate full of a raw onions rings smeared in a beautiful blend of masala, making that appetizer dish worth of each penny.

I remember my introduction to this kind of onion eating when my father told me how raw onion eating protects from the deadly heat stroke in the hot summer days. In the villages and the rural population, it is still a practise to eat a bread accompanied merely by an onion and salt. So it's bread and onion without the butter, here. Hence the raw onion eating is a habit which developed due to the weather conditions bestowed upon us, now enjoyed for the mere sensuous joy it provides....But you can breathe normally around me, I do not savour a raw onion now a days.

Did you know that there are onion laws? Neither did I, unless I read this.

Now let us come to my guilt. Vegetarian Rogan Josh, a recipe I got from Sra's blog, does not ask for any onion in it. But as a compulsive 'adding onions to everything' me did a complete hula of it.

The point here is, I blindly assumed an onion in the recipe without even rechecking for it, trusting my unruly instinct which had made me add an onion to the Lemon Rice.

So here is my recipe with an onion of guilt in it. I used a squash instead of a pumpkin.

Ingredients:
1 butternut squash
1 big onion, cut into small pieces
6 tbs of oil + 2 tbs of oil
1 tbs of aniseed
1 tbs yogurt
2-3 cloves
1/2 tbs sonth
pinch of asafoedita
1 tbs red chili powder

Procedure:

Peel, wash and cut the squash in big enough pieces ( 1 to 1.5 in).

Heat oil in a pan and deep fry the squash pieces, 2-3 at a time in hot oil till they turn reddish in color. Put them on a tissue paper and drain.

In a deep thick bottomed pan, heat the remaining 2 tbs of oil. Add the asafoedita, let it sizzle in the hot oil. Add the onions and fry them till transparent. Add the squash pieces and cook for 3-5 min on a medium flame.

Add the yogurt and chili powder, stir till a red color appears. Pour in the spices and stir well.

Add about a cup of water to the pan, cover and cook on low to medium flame for about 10-15 min. Add more water if the gravy is too thick.

Current Mood: Musical
Current Music: I'm an Englishman in New york (Sting)
Current Movie: National Treasure 2
Current Book: Bourne Identity (Robert Ludlum)

Round up: This book makes me cook

2008-06-04T18:38:00.020-05:00

Good friends, good books and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life.
- Mark Twain

Mark Twain did miss out to mention about 'good food' as an essential for an ideal life. We cannot blame him, can we, for he hadn't met us food bloggers then.

"This book makes me cook" was a one of event at Crazy Curry, meant to celebrate the first anniversary. Thank you all for sending your lovely entries. Instead of blabbering, for what I am best known for, let us go to the long due round up.

Great minds think alike and so do we. She has that hidden romantic bone in her, shy enough to display. I got to know it only when I read how Nirmala was swept of her feet by La Sa Ra's moon lit dinner party and her yearning for
Moong daal with a twist

She is a pseudo sleuth for her lovely daughter and naughty twins. From Enid Blyton to Nancy Drew and M&B's to Shakespeare, she has done it all. But Mr. Ernest is the one who makes dear Valli cook a totally English breakfast of Cheese cucumber sandwich.
Do not miss her M/W cooking and Roti Mela.

We have another Enid Blyton addict amongst us, goes gaga over the shock toffees and google buns and possess cool cooking gadgets. These days she has got into hard core food porn which inspired Arundathi to make delicious Popovers. Well people, its time to get jealous, she has dined at the French Laundry.

She loves F.R.I.E.N.D.S., and so do we all. A neatness freak, as she calls herself, would be an apt Monica in the making. DK was taken over by the famous Pheobe's grandma's chocolate cookies. She went totally American with these melt in the mouth Chocolate Chip cookies.

She calls me 'bha' as do my chums from school. An enthusiastic food blogger and a very warm hearted human being, she brought back the memories of long forgotten(by me) City of Joy. Ashaji brings a smile to a face by her soft phulkas and spinach daal.

(Offtrack: I had once done a review on 'Freedom at midnight' a favour to an architecture studying friend, it was her assignment for an humanities class, that's how I was introduced to the author, Dominique Lapierre and hence to this wonderful book.)

It makes her senses tickle and knees weak, we are talking about mangoes here. Well mangoes have such effect on people. Her picture even made my mouth water.
Amulya Malladi did it again with her 'The Mango Season' for our lovely Dee and intrigued her to make some tempting Avakaya.

Its time for Bollywood Calling. Inspired by Ashutosh Gowarikar's film Jodha Akbar, our sweet Pooja , created a mouth-watering Rajasthani delicacy, daal bhaati . I think that was a tremendous feat, making daal bhaatis at home.

Reading Enid Blyton is one thing and actually living it another. She has actually achieved that feat. With candle light feasts from the Malory Towers and St Clare's she even quotes Enid Blyton. Foody Guru's heart shaped Almond short-bread cookies made me yearn to go back to those days.

Now it's time for the most handsome cook in the blogosphere, and mind you he knows his baking too. J seems to be inspired by Hanna Swensen, a baker who solves murder mysteries. Under his mother's guidance, J baked these fabulous looking 256 types of cookies. Well ladies, what can I say, he is a wonder boy.

Mysteries are her comfort food and Agatha Christies her childhood companions. I love talking to her because she loves Jane Austen, and I am jealous of her, because she has met Shantaram in person. Still hanging on there for Mr Poirot this time Bombay Foodie has solved the Mystery of the English Crumpet for us.

Chatkhor, as she calls herself, I think of her to be a sweet chum. She can break all the records for talking and also for laughing(as per my sources). Bend it like her, and you would love this Punjabi Tamilian, for the time being it is her authentic punjabi style aloo gobi.

Last but not the least this one come from yours truly. Always trying to know the history geography of certain things, I cooked up this Tomato Shorba, intrigued by a wonderful book, 'The Kite Runner'.

I hope, haven't forgotten anyone in the round up. Please drop a comment in case I have missed you and I will update the post.

Loved doing the round up, it was sheer fun.

Current Mood: longing
Current Music: Na Jane Kyon (Strings)
Current Book: O. Henry Short Stories

Kandyache Thallipeeth

2008-05-31T23:58:00.003-05:00

My 1st std class teacher: You look like a Tamilian.
Me: I am Marathi.

My 4th std Marathi teacher: How do you speak Marathi so well even after being a south Indian? Me: I am a Maharashtrian.

My 5th std English teacher: Aren't south Indians supposed to be good in English, what's wrong with you?
Me: I am from RSS, against westernization. Jai Hind.

My Bharatnatyam teacher: Your eyes are just like south Indians.
Me: What are my long hair like?

My south Indian friend's jealous non-south Indian girl friend: If you are not a south Indian, why do you put kajal in your eyes?
Me: Oh, I am trying to woo your boyfriend.

My nerd college mate: Man, I gotto keep an eye on you. You south Indians study real hard.
Me: Dude, your eyes are going to get sore, I am not a south Indian.

My colleague: Your Hindi is impeccable, first south Indian I have seen with such a nice Hindi.
Me: That means you haven't seen me at all, and I come from the capital of C.P. and Berar state.

My then bf and his stupid friends: We have a bet, he(my bf) says you are a typical Maratha, and we say that you are a Tamilian.
Me: $%#@$#@

And the list goes on and on.

"Looks can be deceptive", says Mr Bond (Die another Day). In my case they are south Indian. A bad joke, I know. But this 'looking south Indian' thing really made me weary of my looks. Once while I had cut my long hair to a sporty boy cut, my mom was the first one to comment that this is just one of my attempts to shade of my southie look. Can you beat that. And yes, for almost all through my college I had stopped putting kajal in my eyes, to the great dismay of my grandmother. But this I actually did to look more what I was. Kind of things people do for vanity...:P

I have that south Indian look in me and I cannot deny that. It does help sometimes when you have a south Indian boyfriend. They really were sold out on my looks.
It is okay, this to come from people who have seen me, but what about the cooking artist and chatkhor , they haven't seen me. Still they thought me to be a southie.

I thought this was it, the call for the 'Marathi Manus Jaga ho' within me is mandatory. Hence the assal(authentic) marathi kandyache thaliepeeth.
These are going to dear Valli's Roti Mela.

Recipe for Kandyache Thalipeeth

Ingredients:

1 cup wheat flour
1/2 cup gram flour
1/2 cup jowar/bajra flour
1 big onion chopped
4-5 green chilies, sliced and halved
1 tbs ginger garlic paste
1 tbs cumin seeds, ajwain, sesame seeds
1 tbs coriander powder, red chilli powder
1/2 tbs turmeric powder
2 tbs yogurt
salt to taste,
coriander sprigs
water for kneading the dough
2tbs oil + oil for frying the thalipeeth

Procedure:

In a big bowl, sieve all the flours together.
Mix the remaining ingredients along with 2 tbs oil, except water.
Add small amount of water at a time and mix the flour to form a chapati dough, soft and pliable. Take a lemon sized dough ball, flatten it, apply some dry wheat flour on both sides and roll it into a chapati.
Heat a girdle, spread 1/4 tbs of oil on it. Fry the chapati on the girdle from both sides. Apply more oil if required.
Makes 10 -12 thalipeeth.

Notes:

Try using other kinds of flour combination. I used what was available with me. Ragi flour or rice flour also viable combinations.

Well, today is the last day of our 15 day run. Believe me, it was sheer fun. I gathered lots of friends and hugs while running and wheezing. All credit to DK and Siri. So with teary eyes(due to sweat dripping all over) I introduce my fellow marathoners. Please give a big round of applause to

Srivalli of Cooking 4 all Seasons

Ranji of Ranji's Kitchen Corner

Raaga of The Singing Chef

Lakshmi of The Yum Blog

DK of Culinary Bazaar

Swati of Chat Khor

Divya Vikram of Dil Se

Arundathi of Arundathi's Food Blog

Siri of Siri's Corner

Asparagi Riso

2008-05-30T23:40:00.007-05:00

There are only two kinds of vegetables in this world, one is Asparagus and the others who wish they were.
- The Noodles Company

A month back, if anybody would have asked me to name a vegetable starting with letter 'A', without thinking I would have answered A for Aloo or can even say A for Apple, one of my those idiosyncrasies. Now, if someone asks me the same question, I would undoubtedly say, A for Asparagus....:D

I admit, first time I saw it at the farmer's market I was repulsed. Second time I dared and bought it, for its omnipresence. But I was not sure what I am going to make out of it. So I just threw the spears in the oven along with other vegetables for roasting. They did turn out well, full of taste, against my skepticism. In India, I have never come across asparagus, not even in frozen form.

Asparagus welcomes the spring and lasts till the end of summer. A Mediterranean native, the name has a Greek origin. It belongs to the family of flower lily and was highly patronized by the Romans. Very easy to cook without any hassles of cleaning and cutting. As the Romans say, 'as quick as cooking asparagus'. Stir fry, barbecue, steam, roast or eat it raw, it will be as delectable as it should be.

Roasted Asparagus spears go well as appetizers with a dip. That was the second thing I tried with them. But tonight I cooked up some Asparagi Risotto.

The original dish, Risotto Alla Milanese, rice cooked with saffron, has a legend associated with it about a boy named saffron. i think I will save the stort for another day. Risotto, basically is italian for coloured rice, mainly saffron. In medival times coloured rice was supposed to be a culinary art prepared specially for guests at special luncheons.

Recipe for Asparagus Risotto

Ingredients:

1 cup Arborio rice
1 pound Asparagus
4-5 cups vegetable stock
1 big onion, chopped
3-4 garlic pods, chopped/minced
1 cup red cooking wine
3 tbs olive oil
1/2 feta cheese
1 tbs chili flakes
salt and pepper

Procedure:

Prepare Asparagus:
Remove the hard woody ends of the asparagus. Clean and wash with warm water.
Cut into 1 inch pieces. Assemble them in a oven proof bowl. Pour in a tbs of olive oil, salt and pepper. Toss, to coat the oil properly.
Put the bowl in the oven at 375F for 15-20 min or till tender.
Remove and cool.

Prepare Risotto:
Prepare Risotto:
Heat the oil in a pan, add the onions and garlic. Cook for a few minutes, till the onions are transparent. Do not let the onions brown, it will give a burnt taste to the Risotto.
Add the rice to the pan and stir properly.
Simultaneously, bring the stock to a simmering state, in another pan. Can be done in the microwave.
Slowly add the wine to the arborio and let it cook on medium to low flame. Let the rice absorb the wine flavour.
While the wine is absorbed completely, add 1/2 cup of the stock. Stir slowly, till the stock is absorbed by the rice. Keep on adding the stock to the rice along with continuous stirring till the stock is completely absorbed.
This process is required for the rice to cook slowly absorbing the flavour from the stock and the wine and give a creamy texture.
Once the rice is completely cooked and lost its transparent nature, add the chili flakes, salt and pepper. Stir in the asparagus and feta cheese.

Serve immediately

Notes:
Add a zing of lemon, for that tangy flavour.
The amount of stock varies. One needs to test the rice by tasting it for its AL Dente nature.
The addition of wine is optional. Drinking wine can also be used.
The addition of cheese is also optional and the choice depends upon the individual.

Update from Recipe Marathon

Srivalli has got another LunchBox series, Arudathi's rolls out some Mushroom Rolls. Ranji's stirred out an Eggplant curry . DK's got bluberry voluvents. Laks's whips a Hot Chocolate. Swati has again got the IPL Fever .Divya ha baked an Orange cake Raaga has made Raspberry Raisin Ring . Siri's comes up with Tali bhindi

Oats, squared

2008-05-29T23:00:00.004-05:00

Riding my Yamaha and Misal pav for breakfast at the office canteen were the two things(of the few others) which used to inspire me to go to office everyday, since last 5 years. I love my breakfast. Okay, a little less than I love having snacks, yes I am very much English in that case. It is kind of a routine for me to have snacks, kind of keeps me from passing out in the gym.

Well, but for the time being lets talk about breakfast. At home it is the and parathas, at my in-laws in Chennai, it is steaming of sambhar with dosas and idlis. But here it is just the cornflakes and oats and pancakes and cinnamon rolls. Everything sweet and unbecoming for my tastebuds, except for the occasional omlet or a sandwich, that too with a limited choices for a vegeteranian. Okay, I am not complaining, and I make my own spicy non-sweet breakfast.

There is this huge box of oats, on our refirgerator. Only my roomie uses it, so I thought let me put those oats to some use. And so tried to bake these 'oats squares/bars'.

Recipe for oat squares/bars

Ingredients:

2 cups oats
1 cup nuts
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup shredded coconut
1 egg
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup honey (optional)

Procedure:

Mix oats, nuts, coconut and flour. Roast them on the gas in a thick pan on medium flame for 10-12 min.
Preheat the oven to 320F. Line a baking pan.
Melt the butter in a separate bowl, whisk in sugar, egg and honey. Make a homogeneous mixture and frothy.
Add the roasted oats mix to the butter bowl. Form a mixture.
Transfer the contents to the baking pan. Bake for about 20 min.
The upper surface will be browned. Take care not to char the oats.
Remove from the oven and cool completely.
With a sharp knife cut into pieces of desired shape.

They turned out real well. Crunchy from outside and chewy in the middle. Perfect for tea/coffee time snacks.

The oat squares, as I call them, were a little fragile. Next time I will try with a little more flour to add some stiffness

Update from Recipe Marathon
Arundathi's Mooli and Aloo Parathas
Laks Mor Kootu
Valli's Chicken Masti
Ranji's Chocolate Chip Banana bread
Swati's Aloo and Parwal
Siri's Mango art and cabbage porial
Divya's black eyed beans curry

P.S. The pics are hopeless, I know. I lost the memory card of my camera, hence had to use the mobile phone one.

Chitrannam

2008-05-27T23:32:00.005-05:00

The title of the post comes from my past bf, my only source for Telugu and Tamil thesaurus. This was my first time preparing lemon rice, an idea sprung into my mind with a mountain of leftover rice. I would have easily asked my friend's mother to provide me with the recipe and would have got the 'Just like my mother' from him, but still I decided to direct and choreograph it myself.

For Lemon Rice

Ingredients:

3-4 cups cooked rice

7-8 curry leaves

1 small onion, chopped

lemon juice from 2-3 lemons

1/2 tbs of mustard seeds, cumin seeds and turmeric powder

5-6 red chilies

1/4 cup of channa daal and urad daal

2 tbs of oil

1/4 cup of nuts ( i used peanuts and cashews)

Procedure:

Spread the lemon juice over the cooked rice and mix properly.

Heat oil in a pan, splutter the mustard seeds and the cumin seeds.

Add the channa and urad daal, let them fry and then throw in the curry leaves and nuts.

Let in the onion and fry till soft and transparent. Add the turmeric for the yellow colour.

Now add the rice and mix properly. Add salt according to taste.

Mix and let cook for a minute or two over a low to medium flame.

Serve hot.

Update from the Recipe Marathon

Siri's Eggplant Rice

Dk's quick swirls with spinach

Valli's bajara roti

Arundathi's Tosca Cake

Lakshmi's white chocolate truffle

Raaga's Potato Mushroom cakes

Swati's arbi nuggets

Ranji's fish cutlet

Divya's carrot muffins

Tzatziki, who?

2008-05-26T23:15:00.003-05:00

Tzatziki is a Greek name for a dish prepared from yoghurt and cucumber. Tzatziki, the Greek word is supposed to have derived from a Turkish word Cacık, which means 'chutney'. It does share is a close resemblance to the Indian 'raita' which is a side dish married to Biriyani (pilaf) and its likes.

Tzatziki, as a Greek dish seems to be long going through a lot of identity and geographical crisis with respect to its origin and its preparation type. Wiki claims that tzatziki is a Greek dish of Turkish origin, and the Greek word is derived from a Turkish word 'Cacık' which means a chutney and has the same method of preparation.

The Indians call the preparation as 'Raita' and is considered as a side dish, where as the Albanians, Macedonians and Bulgarians call is Tarator, supposedly a cold soup. The Greeks term it as an appetizer or to be more specific as a salad, and in Iran it served as a appetizer with alcohol. Many consider it as a sauce, a dip or a spread.

The Ottoman Empire, later formed as Republic of Turkey, ruled over Greece from 16Th century till World War 1. During this time period, it was mandatory to give Turkish names to all the Greek foods, and hence many Greek dishes still have their names of Turkish origin. This gastronomic melange might explain Tzatziki's regional confusion.

Tzatziki, does have a Mediterranean/middle eastern origin. Biriyani which came to India from the Arabian countries through the Moghuls or via the Arab traders, has an affiliation with 'Raita'. Yogurt, seems to have originated in the Balkan province or the medieval Turkey, which still makes it Mediterranean by birth.

With whatever studies done about this Mr Tzatziki, it does seem to me that it is a middle eastern side dish, well known to the world with a Greek name.The middle eastern invasion did lead on to the spread of their cuisine and the remnants of it can still be seen in those countries in the form of kebabs, Biriyani and of course the cool cucumber and yogurt mix.

Different names for the same combination in different regions, well only the linguistics would be able to explain.

Ingredients:

2 cups yogurt/curd

1 big cucumber ( 2 small)
2-3 garlic cloves

1 tbs cumin seeds

1 tbs of red chili powder
salt to taste

1 tbs olive oil

Procedure:

Peel the cucumber and grate it. Mince the garlic cloves.

Mix the oil, salt, garlic, yoghurt and grated cucumber.

Roast the cumin seeds on a hot pan. Grind the cumin seeds to powder.

Incorporate the fresh ground cumin and red chilli powder.

Keep it in the refrigerator till it is time to serve.

Cool cucumber 'Raita' or Tzatziki sauce/dip is ready.

Notes:

Freshly ground cumin, incorporates a wonderful taste to the Raita and also spreads an inviting aroma.
I used the European style yoghurt from Trader Joes. Its smooth and dense as compared to Dayton.

Instead of grating the cucumber, it can be cut into small pieces, but I personally like the texture of the Raita with grated cucumber.

This is my entry to AWED: Middle Eastern hosted by Siri.

Update from Recipe Marathon

Siri's health drink

Valli's Dosa

DK's choco walnut brownie

Arundathi's risotto

Ranji's chicken drumettes

Lakshmi's eggplant wafers

Divya's bhindi

Swati's Chole-bhature

Tofu-Coconut soup

2008-05-25T21:41:00.002-05:00

It is a long weekend here, I am sitting at home on my couch alone, reading 'Short stories by O'Henry'. The only time I left my house in these last two days was to go to the deserted gym and to the equally abandoned library. I have a proclivity of visiting such otherwise busy places during holidays. The trainer takes it easy on you and the librarian is without a frown when you ask her to find a certain book by Marcel Proust

The most satisfying way for me to spend such rare days of solitude is a by lazing around on the couch, my nose stuck in a book, with Dean Martin or Frank Sinatra shooing away the dreadful silence. I sincerely do try to avoid the company of salt-vinegar chips and cola bottles. But, I didn't want a big hassle with cooking and hence made a tub full of this soup. Yummy, as it was I still have a little leftover.

Ingredients:

1 cup of soft firm tofu pieces (1/2 pkt of tofu)

1 small onion

3-4 cloves of garlic

1 tbs ginger, grated or minced

1 cup of any vegetables from the refrigerator ( i used cauliflower and green onions)

1/2 cup of dry coconut

1 small can of tomato sauce

2 tbs of vinegar and soy sauce

4-5 cups of vegetable stock

1 tbs of black pepper

salt to taste

2 tbs of olive oil

Procedure

Clean and cut the vegetables.
Heat oil in a pan, add garlic, ginger, tofu and the vegetables. Close the pan and cook for a min.
Add the vinegar and soy sauce along with the dry coconut, close the pan and cook for 3-4 min.
Pour in the tomato sauce, stock, pepper and salt. Stir and let it simmer on medium to low flame.
Remove from heat once it starts boiling.

The soup is rich in taste, goes well with rice or just bread.

Try coconut milk instead of dry coconut.
Add a little Thai curry paste and the taste will give it the touch
Seafood can be a welcomed addition.

Update from Recipe Marathon:
Siri's home fries.
Ranji's Dal Makhani n jeera rice
Divya's ginger chutney
DK's masala oil
Arundathi's cutlets
Swati's Oat Upma
Valli's Sadda Garallu

Make my own: Mustard sauce

2008-05-24T23:15:00.003-05:00

Sea side, pool tide

tank tops, Flip flops
Lemonade, to quench the thirst
Colourful trees, clear skies, cool nights
Water sports and eye candies

Ice creams, pops and pina coladas
tanned skins and whisked hair

All are set to have a good summer time

Ya, and with all this comes the weekend barbecue parties. And so here is a recipe for a basic mustard sauce, which I had made at a friend's place for a barbecue party. Well it does go good with sandwiches also.

Ingredients:

1 cup of whole mustard
1/2 cup of white vinegar
1/2 cup wine ( i used red cooking wine, any kind can be used)
1 small onion chopped
1 tbs black pepper
a pinch of salt

Procedure:

Mix all ingredients in a bowl for about 2-3 hours. To cut on the waiting time, heat this mixture for 10 min, and let it rest for an hour or so.
Pass this through a grinder till it becomes a fine paste. If it is too liquid, then keep grinding for another 30 sec or so to achieve the required viscosity.
Fresh mustard sauce smells great. This can be stored in an airtight container and refrigerated for use.
This recipe gives a basic mustard sauce and can be modified for obtaining desired flavours according to the taste.
Great with sandwiches, salads and roasted potatoes.

Update from the recipe marathon

Siri's has a cool Sunshine Punch, Divya's got hot Chilli Bajjis , Arundhati makes a perfect channa masala. Srivalli makes a delicious Rava Upma. Swati has whisked in a super cool beery Bronco. Raaga has a heartwarming soup, Ranji comes in with a Mango Kulfi and DK makes the evergreen Rajma Chawal.

How i got hooked to.....

2008-05-23T23:51:00.004-05:00

How I got hooked to baingan/eggplant/brinjal/aubergine and all the brothers, sisters and relatives belonging to the family of Solanum melongena?

I could'nt stand it as a kid and the feelings grew as I grew up. It is a frequent on my parent's dining table, sometimes as varhadi bharleli vangi or the qunitessential baingan bharta. I never touched it.

It was the new year's eve of 2004. One of my friend had got married and stayed in Mumbai. I was in Pune and had no date for the new year's eve, I feel really ashamed about it now. Somehow, my friend thought of inviting me to mumbai, and me without even thinking of the repurcussions accepted it.

It is not about what we did on the new year's eve, it is about, what happened the next day. Well, her MIL had gone for shopping and had got some big eggplants and ordered my friend to make bharta for lunch. And this was the start of it.....a situation where I had to undergo remittance for the hatred of this king of vegetables. I not only ate the baingan bharta that time, but also had more or less cooked it. I had to eat it because, I cannot nourish my whims and fancies infront of my friend's MIL, when it was not even 2 months pass her marriage. So I had to save the day and undergo the torture. But, it was not bad, after all I had cooked it.

And here, for a veggie it is really a must to like eggplant if eating outside. Italian restaurants to pizza kitchens eggplant preparation decorates their vegetarian menu.

I am not sure how and from where my brother has developed this liking for the baingan bharta, that once in two weeks there is a request for a baingan bharta from him. It is even cooked for his friends, on special request.

So you see, how I was hooked, knotted and tied to the eggplant. Today the only place where I can say that 'I hate eggplant' is when my mother asks me about it.

Ingredients:

1 big eggplant
2 small onions
1 big tomato
4-5 green chillies
1/2 tbs of methi, mustard and cumin seeds
1 tbs ginger-garlic paste
2 tbs yoghurt
turmeric, red chilli powder and salt
2 tbs oil

Procedure:

Brush a little oil over the eggplant. Give long shallow cuts all over it. Roast is in the oven at 350F for 30 min or till it is soft and done. Let it cool and then peel and de-seed the eggplant. Cut or mash the flesh.
Clean, wash and chop the onions, tomato and green chillies.
Heat oil in a heavy pan, and splutter the mustard, cumin and methi seeds. Pour in the onions, chillies and the garlic-ginger paste.Cook till done, and add the tomatoes and the eggplant flesh.
Also put in the turmeric, red-chill powder, salt and the yoghurt.
Stir well and close the pan to cook for 10-15 min on low to medium flame.
Garnish with chopped cilantro.
I gobbled it down with the matzoh I had baked yesterday and it was a hearty meal.

Update from Recipe Marathon
Siri bakes Egg puffs. Arundati steams Wantons. Laksmi makes Pudina Rice. Srivalli packs a Lunch Box . Ranji pans up a Papdi Pizza. DK grinds up a beet humus. Swati has her Dimsums. Divya makes adorable Reva Kesari

Baked Chapati: Matzoh

2008-05-22T23:49:00.002-05:00

Matzoh is a simple Israeli bread, just like the Indian Chapati. It is a brittle flat bread which is baked in an oven before the dough rises. There are many concepts related to the Passover and Matzoh. It is the basic food during the passover and is made without salt.

According the Peter Reinhart in his book 'Crust and Crumb' Chapati and matzoh are both from the the era of Babel and were once called by the same name: bread.

I had to write a little about it because if I hadn't then it would have been thought of as one of those crazy ideas of mine.
Well, and I know what my brother is going to say about this baked chappati, "I understand that we have got new bakeware, but that doesn't mean that each and everything should be baked.'
I know there is no rescue.

Matzoh is made up of all purpose flour, but I am not a big fan of it, so I substituted half its quantity by whole wheat flour.

Ingredients:

1.5 cups Whole wheat flour
1.5 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbs salt
1 cup water for kneading

Procedure:

Combine the flours and salt. Stir in the water and mix to form a dough ball. Knead the dough on a floured surface to get a soft and pliable texture.

Preheat the oven to 475F.

Take a lemon sized ball from the dough and roll it on a floured surface to make it into a thin chappati.

Use a fork to prick hole all over the it, from both the sides.

Place it on a lines cookie sheet, and bake it in the oven for 2-3 min, till the edges brown, and the matzoh is crisp.

Transfer the Matzoh to a cooling rack. Do not pile till they have cooled down, else the crispiness will be gone.

The Matzoh can be stored in dry, air tight jars for upto a week.

Matzoh for the basic ingredient for many other recipes, such as Matzoh balls and brie. Matzoh makes a very good accompaniment with the soups.

These crispy Matzoh's are going to Srivalli's Roti Mela .

And now update from the Recipe Marathon

Arundathi made some utterly delicious Raspberry and Blueberry Muffins. Srivalli rolls in with Onion chapathis. Lakshmi chips in a valuable Kashayam. Raaga makes Vegetable Focaccia. Divya's got Cauliflower-Peas Poriyal. Siri whips up aTomato-coconut chutney. Dk's got vegetable chips. Swati mints in Dhaniya Pudina chutney

Triangularly yours, Spanakopitta

2008-05-21T23:15:00.008-05:00

Food and the shapes and sizes it comes in. Well a big post can come out about it. But right now I am in search of something else. The only triangle shaped food I have commonly eaten, as far as I can remeber is the veg puff, which I have been hogging on since school days. First it was the bakery near the school and in college it was the canteen.

The closest to being triangle is the samosa, but that is more of a pyramid, kaju katli and the other mithais(sweets) are diamond shaped. Even the shankar palli, my mother makes, they are also diamond shaped.

Spanakopitta, is a greek snack, a puff pastry filled with spinach and cheese. It is the same as our veg puff with the spinach replacing the potatoes. So in that sense it is a healtier version, and so this is on my food hit list.

By the way, can anyone tell me any other food which normally comes in triangle shape.

Ingredients:

10-12 phyllo sheets, thawed overnight
1.5 cup frozen spinach, thawed and drained
1 onion, diced
1 cup feta cheese
1 tbs ground pepper
salt and other herbs to taste.
2 tbs olive oil
1 stick of butter melted

Procedure

In a bowl mix olive oil, herbs and pepper. Add the onions, spinach and feta cheese. Mix thoroughly.

Brush each phyllo sheet with butter. The phyllo sheets have the tendency to dry. Hence it is advised to work fast with them and to keep them in a wet towel while waiting to be used.

Work with two sheets at a time. Join them together, and cut them into 3-4 inch wide strips.
Place a spoonful of spinach-cheese mixture on one end of the sheet, and fold along diagonally to make a triangular shape. Fold once more, to form a thick outer covering. Apply butter to the surfaces of the pastry while folding it.

Place the triangular pies on lined baking sheet. Bake at 375F for 20-25 min or till the edges get brown.

Tuck in.

Recipe Marathon updates for the 5th day,
Lakshmi's Mango fool
Arundathi's Bell Peppery curry.
Srivalli's Andhra Mutton Pepper Fry.
DK's Fried Herb Mozarella
Swati's Aloo n Gobhi
Divya's Carrot rice
Ranji's Banana Chips
Siri's Hash Brown Melt

These Spanakopittas are going to Manasi' Monthly MingleAppetizers and Hors'Doeuvres

Lucky number seven

2008-05-20T23:16:00.014-05:00

Back there in school, during the exams I had this weird habit of repeating my prayers twice in a particular order. I had a belief that by doing so, the question paper will have only those questions for which I have studied. I followed this habit through whole of my college and even now when I am getting ready for an exam or a presentation I follow it. As crazy as it may sound, it has seldom failed.

Everyone has their own idiosyncratic ways of bringing luck to them. Just like the custom of eating curd before going for the exam. I don't know whether it's a custom or just a practise, but my mother used to insist on me eating it. Oh, how I loathed curd at that time.

But it is not just the orthodox bunch in the subcontinent. The southern American Hoppin' John, Hungarian cabbage rolls, and the Scottish black bun. Fortune cookie, which has all the weirdest possible ideas of being lucky encrypted inside it.

The New year lunches are the best demonstration of lucky foods which are prepared and served in the hope to surpass the anticipation of the sealed year ahead. Most of the food prepared for this dinner is shaped in forms of money. Just like the southerners serve collard greens representing dollar bills and the Chinese emblemize spring rolls as bars of gold.

The Moroccans have an interesting way of bringing luck to their food. Couscous which is their national dish is cooked with seven different vegetables and meat. Seven is supposed to be their lucky number.

So to bring me luck, I also cooked this dish with seven vegetables and replaced meat with tofu.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup olive oil
1 cup couscous
1 cup vegetable broth
1/4 cup of red wine
2 tbs vinegar
2tbs ground pepper
salt to taste
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 big carrots
2 celery stalks
1 cup broccoli florets
a bunch of asparagus
2 big tomatoes
4-5 mushrooms
1 cup french beans
1 cup tofu pieces

Procedure:

Clean and peel the vegetables. Dice them into 1/2 to 1/4 inch pieces.
Heat oil in a deep, thick pot. Add the tofu pieces along with the vinegar and wine. Let it cook for 5 min.
Pour in all the vegetables and cook them till tender.
At this stage add the couscous and mix well. Add the vegetable stock, pepper and salt. Let the couscous bulge and soften in the stock. For this cook it on medium to low flame with constant stirring.
Before serving stir in the lemon juice and garnish with cilantro or basil.

Well, one reason I cooked this dish and that too with seven veegtables, was to clear my refrigerator of all the last of veggies. And the other, I was born on seventh and probably cooking this in the Moroccan way might bring me some luck. What says you?

Update from the Recipe Marathon

Srivalli trying to get lucky with her camera by Kasara Kaya Vepudu. Lakshmi gets in to find luck to Indian way by making some Curd. DK baked up a bread today. Arundathi has dipping sauces . Swati tried her luck with Methi wali Kaddu ki Sabzi. Divya gets some snack Moong Dal Sundal and Ranji played with Methi Dosa . Siri also tried her luck the Moroccan way by Spaghetti . Raaga marches in with her vegetable-dosa

Stock it

2008-05-19T22:40:00.006-05:00

“From time immemorial, soups and broths have been the worldwide medium for utilizing what we call the kitchen byproducts or as the French call them, the 'dessertes de la table' (leftovers), or 'les parties interieures de la bete'”
- Louis DeGouy, The Soup book

They say Stock to a cook is like voice to a singer. Stock, vegetable or otherwise forms a base of almost all the soups and for cooking many dishes for them to absorb the flavor. Stock is supposed to be a fundamental ingredient of French cooking.

Stock also known as broth or bouillon, has an history span of almost three and a half centuries. And even before that the nomadic way of life was to carrying portable soups with them, a necessity. The stocks or broths were carried at the sea to serve the sea-sick sailors. In England, stock was supposed to be found only in the houses of frugal housewives.

The French old school, give a frugal nature to the stock by adding every potato and carrot peel. Now a days the attitude towards the stock cooking has been through a massive evolution. Extraction of the flavors from the vegetables and the meat or fish is the key in a full bodied, flavorful stock. The basic reason why stock pots are tall, cylindrical and less wide.

Stocking the vegetables, meat or fish can never be done through a specific recipe. The soup or the dish for which the stock is required, and the season in which the stock in being prepared are the points which come into consideration while stocking. Of course the bone remains in case of chicken stock and the vegetables of the season in general and the one lying in your refrigerator should decide the course of the stock.

Just like clear soups require a skimmed and highly flavorful stock, in the same way stews are made from sauce like broth. In case of meat, poultry and seafood, the bony and less tender parts such as the marrowbones, shins, shoulders and necks make the richest of soups. Storing these parts in the freezer till the time it is to stock them, is also recommended.

Onions, garlics, shallots, celery and carrots, the indispensable for a vegetable stock. All the other vegetables which are there in the seasons, such as asparagus, artichokes for the spring soups and tomatoes in the summer for the gazpacho. Herbs and spices give that flavorful touch to the stocks. Fresh herbs or the dried spices all go into that simmering pot depending on the intensity of flavor desired.

The market canned stocks or broth also can be used but they nullify the age old purpose of frugality which is associated with the very existence of the stock. While it does come from the chefs themselves that a homemade stock is the best for the flavor and body it gives to the soup.

The process of stocking for me also synchronizes with clearing of my refrigerator with tiny bits and remaining half cut pieces of the vegetables. Meat or seafood is a rarity in my refrigerator and even when they are cooked, I take care that no remains are left. Hence for me the appropriate and the most used stock in my kitchen is the vegetable stock. And this is how I made it.

Ingredients:
2 medium sized yellow onions
4-5 carrots
4-5 fresh white mushrooms
1 big red bell pepper
3 stalks of celery
4-5 cloves of garlic
1 cup broccoli florets
a bunch of coriander
1 tbs white peppercorn
2-3 bay leaves
1/2 tbs cloves
2-3 tbs olive oil

Procedure:

I prefer making a dark rich vegetable stock from roasted vegetables. Well the kind of stock depends upon what one intends to put it at use.

Clean all the vegetables thoroughly. Peel and cut the vegetables in approximate size of 1/2 to 1 inch pieces.

Heat olive oil in a deep,thick pot(stock pot), stir in the vegetables until they are brown (15-20 min). Browning the vegetables imparts a sweet flavor the vegetables. One can roast the vegetables and then use them in the stock, as well.

Pour in the water to just cover the vegetables. Mix the herbs and spices. Simmer the pot over medium to low heat, for about 3-4 hours. The flavor can be obtained even after 1 hour of heating. But an intense full-bodied stock is obtained with slow and longer heating of the vegetables. It is more important to extract the flavors from the ingredients.

Filter the stock through the fine sieve to collect the liquid. I even squeeze out the liquid from the vegetables. I believe this increases the flavor concentration. Use this stock immediately for cooking. In case it needs to be stored, cool it and store it in the refrigerator for a week or in the freezer for 3-4 months.

For using the frozen stock, thaw it in the refrigerator or directly heat it in a pan.

All kind of roots and leafy vegetables can be added. Potatoes, tomatoes, turnips, leeks, parsnips all make a healthy broth. Well, for me it depends what is lying there in my refrigerator at that given time. This is the third time I have made a vegetable stock, and never have I ever used a leafy vegetable in it. I think it would give the stock a dark colour and an undesirable flavour to my risotto.
A day of stocking will pay high returns when it will really matter. In cold winters and rainy days, the stock will be an handy ingredient to soothe the soul and the stomach. The aroma it fills the home with is an additional perk. They do not say it for nothing, 'Stock it for a cold day'.

Well into the third day of Recipe marathon,

DK completes it with a Spicy-Roti , Lakshmi with Onion kulchas. Siri has done it again with Fatayer Bisabanikh Spinach Pastry and Srivalli with her spicy Dahi Mirchi or Mor Malaghai. Ranji comes in with a delectable Blueberry Muffin. Raaga with Jackfruit Curry and Divya comes with my favourite Cranberry Muffins. The chatkhor Swati has done it all with Shimla mirch paneer bhurji. Arundathi enters with her Grape Jam,

Update: The 'This book makes me cook' event has been extended till 25th May.

A very late entry: Coffee cake

2008-05-18T23:40:00.006-05:00

A very busy weekend and a trip up north. Well, I am not used to posting everyday, hence I am trying to overcome the inertia. Warming up for the long stretch ahead.
This recipe was on one of the pancake mix packets. I modified it for my own sake depending on the ingredients available at hand.

Ingredients:

For the cake
2 cups of Pankcake mix
2 eggs
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup milk

For the crunch topping:
1 cup oats
1/3 cup sugar
1 -2 baking chocolate blocks
5 tbs butter
1/4 cup choped nuts

Procedure:

Cream the butter and sugar. Add the eggs and whisk to make a smooth mix. Add it to the pancake mix along with the milk and make a smooth batter.
Preheat the oven at 350F.
Melt the chocolate blocks and the butter. Cream in the sugar. Mix all the remaining ingredients with this.
Crumble the toppings over the coffee cake mix.
Bake the cake for 20-25 min or till toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Goes well with coffee or tea.

My late night entry for the Recipe Marathon Day2.

How are all others warming up

Lakshmi with her Coconut Dosa and Raaga with her Chickpea Sundal.
Srivalli's opened up with Sambhar Powder and Dhivya with Peas Pulao
Swatis Sunday afternoon was spent with the yummy Bread Upma . And last but not the least Siri with her Koshimbiri

Reminder: Last two days remaining for 'This book makes me cook' event. Keep those mails coming.

In the Soup

2008-05-17T00:25:00.007-05:00

“It breathes reassurance, it offers consolation; after a weary day, it promotes sociability… There is nothing like a bowl of hot soup…”
~ Louis DeGouy, The Soup Book

Soup, as the word goes, is supposed to be of unknown origin. One theory which is now widely followed states that 'Soup' originates from a word 'Sop', which is today bread meant for dipping in the soup.
There are some others who quote this 'the word soup of Gothic\English of unknown origin, a cognate of Soopa (Sanskrit) is likely a cognate of Persian/Arabic, shorba/shurba/sherbet.'
Shorba can be differentiated as shor meaning salty, and ba meaning water.
Well, as a whole, shorba has its roots in Persia and it came to India along with the Mughals. Biriyani, which is a native of Persia, the meat is to be cooked in shorba (broth).

Well there is someone, who seems to think that shorba is a maharashtrian dish, and it makes me wonder.

The first time I read about Shorba was while reading Khaleed Hosseini's 'The Kite Runner'. In the last century, during Eid, people in Afghanistan used to cook shorba with red meat, and bake fresh bread to go with it. This used to be taken to the mosque for the praying people to have. After reading about it in the book, the only thing I wanted to have was Tomato shorba and the easiest way of having it was to cook it myself. For that, the first thing I required was the recipe which I got from Cooking at Pragyan's .

Tomato shorba as compared to tomato soup is very light and spicier with a lot more herbs in it. The basic difference is the addition of coconut.

I made my own with a few variations though.

Ingredients:

3-4 large tomatoes
1 tbs gram flour
1/2 cup desiccated coconut
2-3 bay leaves
3-4 green chilies
1/4 tbs cumin seeds
1-2 cloves
3-4 cloves of minced garlic
1/2 tbs ground pepper
1 tbs oil
Salt to taste
1 tbs lemon juice or 1 tbs tamarind paste diluted in 1/4 cup water
Coriander sprigs for garnishing

Procedure:

Heat 1 cup of water in a pan. Dice the tomatoes in large cubes and add them to the pan. Also add the bay leaves, cloves, garlic and coconut. Let this simmer till tomatoes become soft. As the ingredients boil they give out a delightful aroma which fills up the kitchen.

Dissolve gram flour in 2 tbs of water. No lumps.

Once the tomatoes have softened, let the pan cool down. I prefer to pass the mixture directly though the blender. In case you do not like the tomato seeds, de-seed the tomatoes while dicing them.

Heat oil in a thick bottomed pan. Splutter cumin seeds. Add the green chilies. Pour in the mixture from the blender along with the dissolved gram flour. Also the lemon juice or diluted tamarind. Let the mixture boil for a minute or two.
Add salt and pepper. Garnish with chopped coriander.

This is my entry to
1. My own event This book makes me cook
2. Ragaa's MBP: soups and salads MBP: Soups and Salads

3. Spicy Tasty's Fortune Cooking Contest. I pick up Aries and Tomatoes.
4. Also is my inaugural post for the Recipe marathon, organized by Siri and DK.

Update from the ladies participating in the Recipe Marathon
Recipe Marathon Day 1 - Menu:

Siri has entered with Baked cauliflower in Marinara sauce

DK with her Bhindi Jaipuri
Swati come with Dum Ka Murg Zafrani
Divya Vikram with a Peas Kurma
Srivalli gets Chicken Semi Gravy.
Raaga gets her Masala Lauki Chana Dal

Current mood: .......

Current song: Lemon Tree (Sting)

Current book: Wuthering Heights

RCI: North-East Indian Cuisine

2008-05-14T16:34:00.009-05:00

Almost a year back Lakshmi of Veggie Cuisine had started the event Regional Cuisine of India. And almost a year later than its inception I have got the privilege of hosting it. Thank you, Lakshmi, for giving me the opportunity.

"If India was the Jewel in the Crown of the British Empire, the remote North East of that country is its Hidden Jewel"
-Tony Howard

Before we go ahead and talk about the event, why not, for sometime, let us go back to our social science textbooks.

The contiguous seven sister states and the state Sikkim together form the north-eastern part of India. With no written history and connected to India through a mere 22 km wide corridor these states have their own identity, cultures and languages. Home to a huge number of ethnic groups arrived at different time and from different direction, each group has its distinct identity with respect to race, language and socio culture structure.
Christianity is the main religion in the states of Mizoram, Meghalaya and Nagaland; the remaining states show a considerable amount of Hindu population with minor but substantial Buddhist populace.

Difficult to relate to the Indian way, the people are highly influenced by the foreign culture, but the Brahmaputra River merges them with the rest of India. Many of the states have been in existence since ages and have been ruled by Indo-Mongolian dynasties.
Nagaland, Manipur and Tripura find their mentions in the Puranas and the epics. In Mahabharata Arjuna had married Chitrangadha, the princess of Manipur and their son was coronated the king of Manipur.

Locally brewed tea, beer and wine, the handmade musical instruments like bamboo flute, and a rich handicraft industry characterize these states. Dancing is the way of the day and martial arts with handmade weapons, a favorite sport. Rice, fish and meat form the staple diet, and agriculture drives the economy. Covered by dense forest, the tribal have made these forests their home and the wild surrounding their friend.

Many distinct and diverse mongoloid groups settled in the mountain ranges and formed various tribes and their derivatives. There are 145 tribal communities known so far of which the Bodos, Khasis, Khynriams and Pnars, Garos are a few predominant ones.
Even though these states are identified more as ‘North-East’ of India, each one of them stand apart from the rest in various aspects.

Arunachal Pradesh (The Land Of Rising Sun):
The state was initially a part of Assam. It achieved the status of a fully fledged state in 1987. One of the rainiest state, 60 percent of the state is covered by evergreen forest. It boasts a wide variety of orchids. The state house around 26 major tribes and the main occupation is agriculture.
The major festivals are celebrated in spring, like Losar festival (New Year celebration), Reh festival, Ojale Festival. Dances form the main part of the celebration.
Mainly non-vegetarians, rice and meat is the staple food. Green leafy vegetables and maize are cooked along with fish and eggs. Apong, a popular drink among the locals is made from rice or millet. The food is non-spicy and bland, bamboo shoots and herbs are used for seasoning. Chinese food is a favorite.
Yak momos, thupka, thainthuk are some of the dishes with Tibetan influence. Pa Chao is a kind of fish curry. (Some recipe links: here)

Mizoram: (Land Of Highlanders)
Mizos, the locals are known to be of Chinese descent. The states is situated nearly 6500 ft above the sea level and covered with Blue Mountains and carved by many rivers. Mizos are mainly tribal and follow Christianity. They have an undaunting enthusiasm for dancing; they dance to end their day. Bamboo dance, Cheraw performed during celebrations and festivals. Agriculture drives the economy; still it is the second highest literate state in India, with literacy rate being 88.5-90.2.
The food is less spicy and cooked in order to retain its nutritive value. Local wine is a favorite and ‘Zu’ a kind of tea is a popular drink. Soups made from bamboo shoots and black mushrooms. Sawhchair, bai, Misa mach poora, koat pitha, panch phoran tarkari, are some of the mizo preparations.
(Some recipe links: here and here)

Meghalaya: (Abode of Clouds)
The local tribes are of Mongolian or Tibet- Burma origin. Matriarchal law of inheritance, where the property is passed from the mother to the youngest daughter, is followed in all the tribes. Agrarian economy and the domestic industry indulges major workforce of the state.
The food preparation mainly consists of rice, vegetable curries, fish and meat. The popular dishes are Jadoh, Ki Kpu, Tung Toh and pickled bamboo shoots. Fermented soya is one of the most important dishes.
More on Meghalaya recipes here

Manipur: (Land of Jewels)
Better known for its dance ‘Ras Leela’ and the handicrafts, the state is one of the smallest in India. People speak Tibeto-Burmese dialects and follow Hinduism. Japanese has acquired Imphal during the Second World War.
Chinchu is a delicious Manipuri salad made up of vegetables and seasoned with lots of herbs (Recipe link: here)
Eromba is a special fish preparation, while Kabok is a dessert from molasses or rice. Shekmai is a locally made wine. Ironba made up of smashed potatoes and fermented fish.
(Some recipe link: here)

Nagaland
The tribal state of India, agriculture is the way of life with minimal industrialization. Nagas are mainly Christians with a high literacy rate. The folk dances of the Nagas are the main attractions.
Nagas eat everything and anything. They utilize all the creatures in their vicinity as a source of food, from a frog to dog. Snails boiled in bamboo shoots and spiders are a specialty of the Naga food. Jalokia a chili grown in Nagaland is supposed to be the hottest chili in the world.
(Some recipes: here)

Sikkim: (A place of Peace)
It is the least populated stated of India, where Nepali as its official language. Even with a diverse population, harmony prevails. Buddhism is highly followed religion in the state. Chogyal dynasty ruled the state of Sikkim before it was merged in the India Union. It is an agriculture state with high ore deposits and emerging industry.
Sikkim cuisine is influenced by the Nepali and Tibetan food habits. Momos and tomato chutney are the favorite snacks.
(Some recipes: here)

Tripura
The early mention of the kingdom of Tripura can be found on Asoka pillars. The kingdom was ruled by Manikya dynasty of Indo-Mongolian origin, till it was merged with the Indian Union. It also finds a mention in Mahabharata. It is just 2 km away from Bangladesh. Most of the people live in villages and are tribal. Sustaining on the agrarian economy, the festivals, music and the dance are related to the farming season cycle.
Rice, fish and meat are the main ingredients of the local diet. They use different kinds of rice namely Maisa, Mamiand Guriya. All kinds of meat such as pork, chicken fish, frog, dogs and turtle are cooked with spices and coconut.
(Some recipes: here)

Assam: We are not doing state of Assam in this RCI, as Priya of FoodandLaughter is planning to do Assamese cuisine in October. So save it till then.

That was a lot of history, geography and economics there. We all know the rules, still just a recap.

1. From now until 15th June, write a post on your blog that features North-east Indian cuisine.
2. Mail me at itscrazycurry@gmail.com ( with the mail subject as RCI)
- the permalink/url of your post
- the state to which the cuisine belongs
- Name of the dish
3. If possible include a link to this post so that your readers can play along.
4. If you desire, then include a photo of the dish in the mail, else I can always get it from your posts.

I didn’t have the textbooks handy to go through them, so I had to search the World Wide Web.

My sources:

www.focustoindia.com/
www.wikipedia.org/
www.window2india.com/

The source for the logo, http://www.daylife.com/photo/0gmG2Uc5Lw8rp

Hope to see many new and interesting creations during the month, and also the history and geography behind them...:P

Crazy Curry original: thai curry pasta

2008-05-09T01:29:00.004-05:00

Many cuisines of the world have evolved from a confluence of other cuisines, which are geographically, culturally or economically related. For instance the Tex-Mex cuisine was evolved with the Texas Mexico railway establishment.

A menu at the CPK would really make any gastronomically uneducated to wonder to which part of the globe does this pizza belong to. Well, one can really order a southern Cajun Pizza to all desi Tandoori Mango pizza, going all the way ahead and order a Thai chicken pizza. Well I do not even blame the people at Smokin Joes for having the ones they have on their menu.

This is just not the case with our darling slice of pizza. Chinese cuisine undergoes a plastic surgery in every country it is cooked. Well Manchurian, a favorite in India, is only known as a name of a place in other countries. And in countries like thailand and Malaysia, it merges with the local cuisine to form new epicurean delights. Chilli paratha and chilli idli, to me register as the founding members of the south-indian and chinese melange.

And take the case of the harmless looking dosai. A soft, melt in the mouth,crepe\pancake made up of rice and lentils. It might have more variations than the number of stars in the sky. Well, do we need more proof than the Dosa Mela.

Last time I read somewhere. from someone about something called as 'dosa stuffed with lobsters in bechameal sauce'. Well hello, please leave my dosa alone.

With all this and much more, I thought why not pasta married to cheese rule and make new relationships. So here it goes...

Ingredients:
12 to 16 oz dry pasta ( I preferred spaghetti)
1 cup coconut milk
3-4 green chillies
1 tbs lemon juice
1 tbs red thai curry paste
1 onion, chopped
1 big carrot, chopped ( substitute with any other vegetables like peppers, cauliflower, or any seafood like shrimps)
half a bunch of green onions
2 garlic cloves, minced
few sprigs of coriander/parsley
turmeric, red chilli powder, salt
2 tbs sugar ( if unsweetened coconut milk)
2 tbs of olive oil

Preparation:
Cook the pasta according to the instructions on the packet.
Heat olive oil in a skillet. Fry the green chillies, onion and garlic till well cooked.
Add in the spices along with the curry paste. Cook for a while.
Throw in all the chopped vegetables. Pour in the coconut milk. Allow to cook for about 10 min on medium fame.
Add the lemon juice, sugar and chopped coriander.

Take a portion of cooked pasta in a big soup bowl. Laddle the curry over the pasta and enjoy it hot. Accompany wine.

Thanks Srivalli, for passing on the Yummy Blog award.

P.S. It has been 17 months, since I have watched television.
P.P.S. Trying to recover from my laziness.

Current Mood: indifferent
Current Book: Fourth Comings ( Megan McCafferty)
Current Music: Lemon Tree ( The Sting)
Current Movie: Still no access

Two fingers and a thumb

2008-05-05T01:18:00.004-05:00

‘It tastes the best when eaten with hands ' was my reply to a certain gentleman who asked me what is that makes us (Indians) eat our food with our hands.

Well to someone who has used all kinds of instruments which maneuver the food before one eats it, using hands to do so certainly seem as an old adage in this robotic world.

But I bet it really takes some part of one’s heart to be Indian in order to break a small part of chapatti, roti or naan with just two fingers and a thumb. Guess even robots would find it difficult to achieve this feat. And also please forgive the squeamishness, for I cannot help but mention slurping the rice flooded with daal and curry, to utmost satisfaction, with those fingers.

Indeed there is an alternative for everything. And so is one for the use of those two fingers and the thumb. Well the cooks are one of the most intelligent of their kind. And hence for those who were not too keen on dirtying their hands they invented kinds of the Burritos, the Quesadillas and yes, Calcutta Rolls, the only kind of affordable fast food we used to during my college days.

Well, ever tried doing this with your left hand. Fold a napkin loosely around the little finger. Hold a wine glass between the thumb and the index finger. And then try balancing a plate with the help of your ring finger and middle finger. The first job I had, they spent a day’s time in perfecting us in this act. Probably an easier task for the robots.

The way I make Quesadillas:

Base: Tortillas, can be replaced by chapatti (I usually use the left over one)

Fillings: Anything and everything can go in there.
- Left over Indian vegetable preparation
- Sautéed vegetables like cauliflower, green pepper, green onions, tomatoes
- Roasted vegetables or meat

Procedure

Heat an iron pan. Warm the tortilla on the pan. Spread a little oil on the tortilla on both sides while flipping.
Air is filled up in the tortilla and it rises, spread a generous amount of grated cheese on the tortilla, along with the vegetable or meat fillings.
Let the cheese melt on low heat. Cover the pan, if desired.
Once the cheese has melted, flip one side of the tortilla over another, the sides should have been browned by now.
Cut into wedges and serve with salsa

For the fillings I used sautéed mushrooms, cauliflower and green pepper with olives.

These Quesadillas are going to DK's A.W.E.D. Mexican

Thank you Shubha, who thought this blog to be yummy and passed on the Yum blog award to Crazy Curry.

P.S. Well we are still working on our wardrobe and furniture.

P.P.S. I have become very lazy......:(

Current Mood: lazy
Current Book: ……laziness has got the worst out of me
Current Movie: ……no access to them

Please do not mind, we are changing

2008-04-25T16:43:00.003-05:00

While on your visits at Crazy Curry, if you find that things are not in shape or are looking utterly ugly, please do not mind, because Crazy Curry is right now changing.

We sure will be back up running fine and firm at your service as soon as we decide upon our wardrobe.

So long then.

Please keep sending those entries for the one of event, This book makes me cook.

This book makes me cook

2008-04-24T01:33:00.003-05:00

An apricot glazed lamb followed by an orange-chocolate soufflé, with a sorbet in between the courses, an expensive menu is it not? It comes out straight from Sophie Kinsella's undomestic goddess's kitchen though. The rosemary chicken filled tarts and the roasted fish, it makes my mouth water and also makes me think if possibly I can try and cook anything out of this.

This and many such books read, have introduced me to new recipes and cuisines. Just like The Kite Runner forced me into cooking tomato shorba as also Amulya Maladdi's serving crazy with curry lead me to cook tomato rasam.

Of course this is not a recent yearning. It has been going on since ages. The Pop biscuits, Toffee shocks, Google buns and the likes, Enid Blytons has always lured me into the epicurean adventures.I actually have researched a lot to get some breakthrough in making anyone of these.

This must have happened to everyone of us. May be it was while reading a book or watching a movie. A fleeting desire to have something you just read or watched on the dvd, like I wanted to have Lemon meringue while watching one of Diane Keaten's movie.

So while I was down with fever for whole of the last week, and while I read books and watched movies, this fab idea struck me. An event to celebrate the first anniversary of food blogging.

Why not do it a little differently. Instead of the traditional cook books why not cook from our novels and books we read. I understand not all read books, so for those, why not cook something from the movies, just like Ratatouille.

For the time being, this is what one has to do:

1. Try and cook, from a book or a novel or a movie. (Please refrain from Cookbooks and Cooking shows). It can be also something which Marie keeps on cooking for Raymond.(ELR), or Monica cooks for the parties (Friends).

2. Write about it and also the recipe and if possible capture it in a photo.

3. Send me the link of the post, the photo, along with the name of the blog at itscrazycurry@gmail.com on or before 20th May 2008.

4. You don’t have a blog, or rather don’t have a food blog, but still would like to join in the party; you are welcome to post it on my blog. Just email me.

I thought of calling the event as "This book makes me cook" for its rhyming. ( Logo coming in a short while, suggestions welcome)

Hope to see many interesting recipes and read a lot more interesting stories behind them.

Thank you all for your wishes. All my apologies for not being able to reply to you before.

Current Mood : Sick
Current Book: Remember Me (Sophie Kinsella)
Current Music: The Who

P.S. As for my earlier post the only mail I received was from Nupur, thanks a lot for that mail, Nupur. I do hope to receive many more this time.

Quarter Life Crisis

2008-04-05T07:31:00.001-06:00

Some are employed and others just have a job, some are alone and others feel lonely in the crowd. Life takes turns ad U-turns and side turns and yet one is left directionless. Future seems bleak and self-realization suddenly hits the top of the charts. Hanging out with friends seems a waste of time, ‘grow-up’ is the most common advise one gives and flirting seems to be a cheap thing to do. One suddenly starts reconnecting with those long lost friends of yester years because those are the only one with whom one can relate.

Running the rat race seems to be stupid and the urge to stand away from the crowd makes the way. The job one is doing since last 5 years is not even close to what he or she wanted to do. One feels undervalued, isolated and inferior. The never-ending job interviews take the toll and the feeling that one is at the bottom most segment of the pyramid is scary. Change seems the enemy and one still clings to the glorious college days. The nostalgia brings more confusion to the otherwise tumultuous life.

One becomes philosophical and opinions become stronger. Fountainhead, Atlas Shrugged and the likes are read and re-read, the philosophies taken seriously.
One wants to settle in life, but loans, mortgages and EMI gives one those nightmares.

Do not all these things happen in those twenty-something years?

We term them as quarter life crisis. Knowingly or unknowingly everyone goes through them. But if one gives due consideration then these are the best as well as the worst of the times. Trying oneself every moment to get the better out of life.

Well, in the next two days, one more year of my quarter life is coming to an end and the next one beginning with almost the same feelings.

By the way, it is also will mark one year for Crazy Curry. In this one year Crazy Curry has traveled half the globe, tried numerous cuisines and served various recipes.
Well at times it is lack of laziness and at times it is unavailability of resources due to which Crazy Curry has not featured regularly on your dining tables.

I am currently occupied and so not able to think of what special can be done to mark this one-year. So I seek your help.

Send me a crazy and exciting idea, which you think would be an ideal way of celebrating the 1st birthday anniversary of Crazy Curry in the blogoshere.

Please mail them to itscrazycurry@gmail.com on or before 13th April 2008.

There are no rules to follow and no mail etiquettes to abide by. Prizes and judges, both are coming to the party. Hence it is worth putting on your thinking caps.

Current Mood: Numb
Current Book: War and Peace (Leo Tolstoy)
Current Music: Comfortably Numb (Pink Floyd)

P.S. It is the 7th.

It was a time please

2008-03-28T23:29:00.014-06:00

Earlier it was the new job I had undertaken which kept me away from the keypad and now it is an old friend who is keeping me away from cooking.

Nik's was here for his celebrated vacation to India. Hence so got the job of being a personal assistant to him. Planning trips, booking tickets, shopping and accompanying him to places, deep in the south was indeed tiresome. But the perks were attractive indeed. Visiting places never heard about, romancing the hills of Kodai, hopping temples was fun. Also got a good PR job done for crazy curry...:P

With an absence of more than three weeks, the work had piled up both at home and office fo my fatigue ridden body and lonesome mind. That was when this long lost friend, as cliché as it might sound, appeared in my life, as a blessing in disguise.

Once things were under control at work, days were spent in catching up and reliving those 15 years….Yes, we have been there for those many years……..we ourselves can’t believe, that we have grown this old….:P

The best thing about us is that, we both are Aries, and have been treated in almost the same way by life, so we can relate to each other pretty well.

With these people coming and going in and out of my life, I could hardly find time to write……lame excuse, I know.

Thanks Sra, for tagging me, but I have already done my MEME here .

Pravs, thanks for bestowing me with the Nice Matter award.

Amidst everything we didn’t forget to cook….

Gajar ka Halwa:

Ingredients:
Carrots 1.5 Kg
Milk 1 Litre
Sugar 1 cup (according to your taste)
Dry fruits 1 cup
Ghee ¼ cup

Procedure:
1. Peel and shred the carrots. If you can make yourself do this, then the rest is a cake walk.
2. In a deep cooking pan, simmer the milk and pour in the shredded carrots. Cook the carrots till soft.
3. Cook the mixture in the pan, till all the liquid has evaporated and carrots have become dark red.
4. Add the sugar, cook till the sugar stops giving out water.
5. In the end, add the ghee and cook the mixture, till it smells good, and your mouth starts watering.
6. Cool the halwa and throw in the dry fruits.

What else, dug in your spoons and cure your sweet craving....:)

We devised this method of halwa making, due to ease in acquiring the ingredients required.

Current Mood: Unfathomable
Current Book: A Long Way Gone (Ishmael Beah)................a must read
Current Song: Seekho Na (Shobha Mugdal)
Current Movie: Iqbal

P.S. Not able to think of anything

P.P.S I think now I would not be taking a time please for a long time.

P.P.P.S. Please dont give up on me, I will try to be punctual to the best of my ability.

A never ending affair

2008-02-15T01:58:00.003-06:00

Two pigtails hanging down with red ribbons, a khaki tunic over a white shirt, I sat in the school library with my nose stuck in an abridged version of Emma. Neither the time was conducive nor were the circumstances. The Sun God glaring over spitting the heat, the city was preparing itself for the onset of a rigid summer. The librarian refused to issue me the book, rules forbade us from reading any books apart from those of the curriculum during the exams. But as they say, there is no stopping when true love beckons, and hence I spent my whole noon in that hot air cocoon.

The year was 1995, and it has a special mention in the history because it was during this time I had the first crush of my life, the only handsome, and mature and level headed, the male of the specie I had come across, Mr Knightley. And that summer was the beginning of my surreal sequence of affairs. Straightway jumping from the Archers and the Sheldons to the Austens and Brontes was not a difficult task for a teenage love smitten heart of mine. The classic fictitious heroes were the first gentlemen I gave my heart to, yes, the idiosyncratic boys at schools bored me to hell.
The insolent Mr. Darcy, timid Mr Bingley, genteel Edward Ferrars, full of vengeance Mr. Heathcliffe, highly confused Edmund Bertram, all these and many more. My vulnerable heart was mesmerized by the propriety and grandeur of these English men. No wonder, I always am so biased towards the scrupulous English.

But the picture hasn’t changed much even today. I still wear pigtails; though without a ribbon, the number has reduced to one. Books are still borrowed from the library; the then old school library has been replaced by the air conditioned British Council library. An evening spent in a quilt with a book is still and was always preferred over a dinner date. They ask me what my plans are for Valentine’s Day. I say, I am going to read Mansfield Park today. They give me that total gone case look and move away. No, I don’t blame them; they haven’t met these handsome guys yet.

So while I was admiring the younger of two Bertram brothers, I remembered a promise I had made to myself, and that was writing something for Pooja’s event.

As George Bernard Shaw says, "There is no love sincerer than the love of food" so here is my love in the form of food...: P

Hash Browns:
There was only one positive outcome of me spending my last summer in Atlanta. I was introduced to the delectable breakfast preparation of potatoes, Hash Browns. The first time I had them was at Waffel house and the last time I had them was also at Waffle House . In between I tried it at many other places, like The Pancake House somewhere near the Smokies, and ofcourse at IHOP, but the Waffle house one’s reigned.

I got the Waffle House HashBrown recipe from here, but I edited it to suit my style and economy of time.

Ingredients:
1 big potato, peeled and grated
1 tbs oil or butter
1 cup ice
Salt to taste

Method of Preparation:
1. Place the grated potatoes, covered with ice and water, for 15-20 min. Stir in salt.
2. Drain the potatoes on a tissue paper.
3. Heat a griddle, spread oil to form a thin layer over it.
4. Spread the drained potatoes on the griddle and fry them in the oil, till the edges are brown.
5. Turn over without stirring and cook the other side.

To Serve, the Waffle House Way:
Scattered : Just potatoes fried on the griddle
Smothered: Fried with onions
Covered: Cheese added to it
Chunked: Cooked with meat (generally ham)
Diced: Fried with tomatoes
Peppered: Fried with green pepper
Capped: Fried with mushrooms

This was a very half-hearted attempt from my side, and haven't done enough justice to it.
But still with my salvaged pride I would like to send this to Dhivya's Potato Feast and Sia's Ode to Potato

And the below heart shaped Hash Brown preparation goes as a last minute entry to Pooja's Valentine Day Event and to Zorra for Heart of your Valentine event.

P.S. Happy Valentine's Day to you all.

Current Music: Every Breath you take (Sting)
Current Book: Mansfield Park (Jane Austen)
Current Mood: Dull

Almost Single

2008-02-10T11:20:00.005-06:00

Thirty plus, single and ready to mingle, female of the species looking for husbands and trying to make the most out of their and other people's lives, is what the recent book by Advaita Kala is all about. Even though the book is well written with witty anecdotes, hilarious situations and all that, but still it doesn't do enough justice to the title, 'Almost Single'.

To me the title suggests the book to be about the life of someone who is coupled and decoupled and recoupled time and again. Just like the economies all around the world are planning to, in order to save themselves from catching cold. Derailing from the topic, ain't I?

An aunt who spent the prime period of her marriage away from her husband, for her job and with the sole motive of giving her kids a better life. A favorite librarian, whose husband served in merchant navy, all through their married life. My best friend's parents, still live in different cities doing their respective jobs, they underwent the separation to earn a decent living for their families and also to be able to marry off their three daughters. All these and many such individuals who have spent their life alone with a married tag to bind them and force them to shoulder the responsibilities of Grihastashram, would better fit into the 'Almost Single' club.

Living this engaged single life, now for almost two years, these are some of the things which I love to hate and sometimes hate to love of single life.

The perks:
1. Eating whatever and whenever you feel like, like endless tubs of ice-creams
2. Hanging out with your friends both girls and boys and have a gala time without even a pinch of guilt
3. Shopping endlessly and shamelessly, no one to take away your credit cards
4. Feasting on the eye candies roaming around you anywhere and everywhere...:P
5. Making your married friends feel jealous, (oh, how I love doing this all the time.)
6. No one to compel you to exercise over the weekend.
7. Getting preference in anything and everything from the aunties and grannies.

The vetoes:
1. Friends bore you by worrying about your future all the time.
2. They keep on empathizing with you and waste the valuable fun time
4. Aunties planning to be mothers-in-law, keep on inquiring about you at the marriages and parties. This news when reaches your mother, you have to face the music and you can’t even hang up your phone.
5. When you tell them you are enagaged, gorgeous guys ask you to come up with a better excuse.
6. Your house owner keeps on asking you about your to-be all the time and you have to give all kind of assurances and explanations just to have a roof over your head which otherwise is meant for families only.

There are many more additions to both the lists, but I think it is better for me to stop here.

If you can endure it a little more of this, no one would make fun of you when you fry quarter circled Mathris instead of round ones.....you will understand what I mean, as you proceed.

Mathri

Ingredients:
1 cup of maida (all purpose flour)
2-3 tbs ghee
1 tbs ajwain
Salt to taste
2-3 Pepper corn, crushed
Oil for frying

Procedure:
Mix flour, salt, pepper corn and ajwain.
Add the ghee to the flour and mix to get a crumbled texture.
Add cold water to this mix and knead into a stiff dough.
Apply oil to your hands and take a small ball of the dough.
Roll into a small round puris.
Prick it with the help of the fork. (to save it from bulging into a puri while frying)
Deep fry in hot oil, till golden brown in color and crispy in texture.

Drain it over a tissue paper.

It would have taken eternity for me to roll small round puris from the mountain sized dough, so I increased the size of the puri and divided it into four parts. Please don’t give up on me, I can do better than this.

A perfect tea/coffee time snack.

Update:
It was from Asha's this post, I understood that Mythili of Vindu is hosting RCI:Gujrat.
So guess I am going to the party with my not so heart shaped and not so round Mathri.

P.S. One day, I would like to write my own version of 'Almost Single', NOM towards the author.

P.P.S. The sole motivation in writing this post, I thought the pics were fantastic......now stop giving me that look.

Not so relevant
P.P.P.S. I think Life in a Metro is the best hindi movie of 2007, after Chak de India (a die hard SRK fan, I am). Also. I think the album of the film is mindblowing.

Current Music: Ajnabi Khwab main (O.S.T. Superstar)
Current Book: Partner in Crime ( Agatha Christe)
Current Movie: Borat ( simply disgusting )
Current Mood: Rebellious

This time of the year

2008-01-31T22:58:00.001-06:00

I like these cold, gray winter days. Days like these let you savor a bad mood.
- Bill Watterson

This is the time of the year when one wants to remain snuggled in the quilt forever. One wishes that the clock stops ticking and doesn’t need to get out of the warmth to take a bath and go out in the cold. The otherwise skimpy tops are suddenly replaced by the thick sweaters and long coats. People are found more in the cafes sipping coffee or tea, rather than at their work places. Coffee and tea consumption doubles or probably trebles, forgive my insensitivity towards statistics.

It is when one can see people carrying a kerchief, and it is certainly not to make a fashion statement. Flowing nose and teary eyes, sniffles, coughs and the most dreadful sneezes. The Common Cold, reigns.

Recently I was affected by this Mr Common Cold and had two dreadful days. The most hateful thing about this Common cold is it being so common. One cannot even make an excuse out of it to stay at home and rest. The boss says with a smirk on his face, ‘don’t be a sissy; a common cold is no reason to keep you away from work’. And Mr. Common Cold, still reigns undefeated.

No use visiting a doctor, this one is cureless. Last time I went to the doctor to equip myself against cold, doc says, “you take medicine it will cure in a week, you don’t it will be cured in seven days “, and Mr. Cold is again a champion.

Anyways, now I have given up fighting it and I concentrate all my energy in making myself comfortable in anguish. For me the most comforting thing to have when in this distress is a cup full of hot soup. Due to the living out of a suitcase life we cannot afford the luxury of having a soup bowl, so a cup of soup.

I found this recipe while browsing the foodie section on our intranet, by a colleague Preeti. I added my own tinge of variation.

Cheese-Cauliflower Soup

Ingredients:
1 cup of cauliflower florets
1 small onion, chopped
2-3 green chillies, chopped
1 cube of cheese, grated
A pinch of salt and pepper powder

Procedure:
1. Heat a tbs of oil in a pan, fry the onions and green chillies.
2. Add the cauliflower florets and fry for a while.
3. Pour in a cup of water and boil the cauliflower till it softens.
4. Pass this mixture through a grinder once.
5. Heat it again while adding the grated cheese, salt and pepper powder.
6. Mix properly and add water to get the desired viscosity.

I had a boiled potato lying in the refrigerator, added it to this mix as well. The cauliflower-cheese taste was awesome. According to Preeti, the soup tastes fabulous after 3 to 4 hours; the time makes the tastes to blend well. But I cannot keep my patience waiting this long.

I enjoyed this with my favorite toasted bread. The soup was a blessing for my weekend in anguish

This is my entry to Meeta's Monthly Mingle : Comfort foods.

P.S. Phoebe loved common cold, she thought it made her sound sexy while singing. (Friends Episode here)

_______________________________________________________________________
Current Music: Valentine song
Current Book: I Shall Not Hear The Nightingale (Khushwant Singh)
Current Mood: Restless
_______________________________________________________________________

Let's go to the movies

2008-01-23T10:02:00.001-06:00

The khans, the kapoors, the kumars and many more,
Six pack built, supple moves and handsome enamor,
I sit in the darkness, enchanted with the larger life
Honey, let’s go to the movies, and wait and see, and forget the worries

Beauties and beast all, twist and turn alike,
Sari, kurtas, pants, skirts, anklets and bikes,
I sit in the darkness, mesmerized by the site,
Baby, let’s go to the movies, and wait and see, and have fun

Songs they sing along, of love and hurt
Bhangra, rap, disco and remix with perk
I sit in the darkness, fascinated by the conception
Lola, let’s go to the movies, and wait and see, and laugh a bun

The plot, the romance, the drama
The action, the thrill, the scenes and the panorama,
I sit in the darkness, popcorn on my lap
Dude, let’s go to the movies, and wait and see and dream, holding hands

Yes, let all of us go to the movies,
To see the stars, thousands on par,
Happys Endings and life with no scar,
Let’s go to the movies, to buy to feel happy.

Unabashed, I admit, that I am bewitched by the tinsel charm of these Hindi Movies. Yes, I am a bollywood movie buff; to the core of my sustenance even though this is the first time I have mustered the courage to accept it. The colors, the dances, the songs, the fights, the romance attract me; I just can never have enough of them. Watching the jhoomkas, thumkas and dhishoom dhishoom is a source of unabated joy. And I am pretty sure, it is just not me who is so eccentric about movies, there are many more who must have been beguiled by these embellished shows.

To accompany me to the movies, I carry with me unprecedented pack of popcorn. Whether I am watching a movie in the theater or have converted my creaky bedroom in one for a matinee show, a bag/bowl of popcorn is always by the side. Especially when I am at home I venture in popping it myself. It’s easy.

And this is how I do it.

Ingredients:
1 cup dried corn seeds (100 gms approx)
2 tbs oil or butter
1 tbs turmeric powder (optional)
Salt to taste

Method:

Heat oil or butter in a cooker pot. Put, one or two corn seeds in it, to check the temperature of the oil. Wait till the corn pops.
Pour in the whole of the corn seeds and cover the cooker with a little vent to let off the air. This is required to maintain the crispiness of the popcorn.
The corn will start popping. At this point carefully add the turmeric and salt. Shake the cooker at regular intervals for proper distribution of heat.
Maintain the gas temperature medium to low, to avoid charring the corn seeds.
As the popping lessens considerably, remove the cooker from the heat and let it cool for a while and empty it in a bowl.

You can add the seasonings of choice. I like it the classic style.

It goes well with a cup of coffee and a SRK movie.

P.S.
Recently, I was blessed with an opportunity to watch a number of high caliber movies from around the world at the 6th Pune International Film Festival , a grand treat for the mind and soul.

P.P.S.
The poem was inspired from this.

P.P.P.S.

Ideas welcome., to make this recipe more interesting in taste.

____________________________________________________________

Current Book: Partners in Crime (Agatha Christie)
Current Music: In dino (Life in a Metro)
Current Mood: Calm
____________________________________________________________

Taste of Malabar

2008-01-09T00:11:00.002-06:00

The year is 2050. The story of a young man named Vasco from a third world country who comes in search of India, the land of opportunities…..and lands somewhere in the southwestern coast, in the city of Kozhikode………..he swims the Arabian Sea to reach the Malabar coast, after his visa application gets rejected in the lottery.

Ok, I cut my sad story short and get on with my recipe.

Ingredients:
1 Potato, peeled and cut into pieces
Cauliflower florets amounting to 1 cup
1 Carrot, peeled and cut
1 small green pepper
1 cup fresh green peas
1 onion chopped
1 tomato
3-4 green chilies
1 cup coconut milk
10-12 curry leaves
6-8 Cashew nuts
½ cup grated coconut
4-5 garlic pods
Small piece of ginger
1 tbs of cumin seeds, mustard seeds, turmeric powder, chili powder, garam masala and salt
1-2 tbs oil

Procedure:
Clean and cut all the vegetables.
Heat oil in a cooking pan, splutter the mustard seeds and jeera seeds and the curry leaves.
Add the onions, green chilies and potato, cook for 5-7 min.
Mince together to form a coarse paste of cashew-nuts, grated coconut, garlic and ginger. Add this to the pan.
Cook till the paste is properly done.
Pour in all the vegetables and add the spices. Incorporate the coconut milk.
Cover and cook for 10 min on low-medium flame.
Garnish with coriander and lemon juice.

Vegetable Kurma is ready to be served with Parathas or rice.

But I was too lazy to make any parathas and due to my roomie’s diet consciousness, rice is a strict no for evening meals. So we had Vegetable Kurma accompanied by the warm and crisp dosas.

It was at a small Indian restaurant (India Cafe) in Minneapolis, that I had tasted this delicacy. I liked it so much that I went ahead and asked the owner for the recipe and he had happily obliged.

Vegetable kurma goes to RCI Kerala hosted by dear Jyothsna of Currybazaar .

P.S.
My new year resolutions for blogging
1. Stop being lazy in posting, try to post atleast 1 post a week
2. Try to participate in more number of events
3. Try to host atleast 1 or 2 events in 2008, I haven’t hosted any….:(
4. Try to change to blog template.
5. Try to increase the post count as much as possible by blog anniversary.
6. Most Important: Trying doesn't hurt, but why should one take chances.

P.P.S.
By the way, Vasco goes on to become a world renowned chef in malabari delicacies and he names his restaurant ‘Taste of Malabar’

P.P.P.S.
Gaurav is an aspiring author and a promising one too. He is looking for a publisher for his book. The extract of his book, ‘This One Time’ can be read here . Do rate his book. Who knows you might be reading the work of a future Khaleed Hosseini.

Arusuvai Friendship Chain

2008-01-02T08:11:00.001-06:00

Life they say comes in packets; I got friendship in a packet…:)
Yes, I had got my packet of friendship, long back from Nags. It was lying there at my friend’s place since a week. No, it was not laziness; people here call it as non-allocation of time and memory in the CPU for an unscheduled thread ……okay, lots of blabbering from my side, and I know you guys are excited to know what I have got from Nags …but before that let me wish you a very Happy New Year 2008.

I spent my New Year eve with my school buddies, Ms Mots and Ms Mini. They got drunk and I, their chauffer drove them all over the town to color it pink. We were also accompanied by Ms Mots’s cute boyfriend, who also happens to be my college junior…can you believe it?
Yeah, you can call me a blind stupid ignorant fool or just unlucky for not being able to notice his cuteness, when in college. Only if I would have let my common sense exceed my sense of humor and utilized it at that the time when it actually mattered, today it would have been a different story altogether….*sulk, sulk, sulk*….now don’t you guys think that I am jealous or something. Even if you do, then let me tell you the truth, yes, I am …. :(

Okay, don’t hate me and stop calling me names. I did something to nullify my covetousness; I invited the gang over to my place for a New Year brunch. I cooked for them even when I was high with envy. Now at least I deserve points for this, don’t I?

Till now Ragi was an explored ingredient for me, as a matter of fact I was unaware of the fact that I might have eaten Nachani (marathi for Ragi) bhakaris . When I searched the blogsphere for Ragi recipes, I found out that Lakshmi of TheYumBlog had made dosas from Ragi floor. That’s when it stuck me and my search took me here . And the rest as they say, was my brunch menu.

For the crepes :
2 cups of Ragi flour
1 cup milk
1 cup cold water
2 eggs
1 tbs sugar
2 tbs butter/oil
salt, chilly flakes and pepper to taste

Mix all the ingredients and form a smooth batter. Let it stand for 2-3 hours.
Heat a flat pan, spread oil/butter over it. Pour a ladle full of batter on the pan. Tilt the pan in all the directions so that the batter spreads evenly on all sides. Cook for a minute. Remove from the pan.
Make a pile of them.
Crepes can be made a day in advance and stored in the refrigerator.

For the filling :
1 bunch of Spinach
1 cup of fresh green peas
1 cup milk
2-3 tbs corn floor
1 onion, finely chopped
3 tbs olive oil
1 tbs butter
salt, chilly flakes and pepper to taste

This is completely inspired from Nupur’s. I have added a pinch of variation.

Clean and finely chop the spinach. In a pan heat the oil, add the onions and fry. Pour in the spinach and green peas and let them cook.
In a bowl, mix the remaining ingredients, to make a homogenous mixture. Incorporate this mixture with the spinach, in the cooking pan. Add water/corn floor, if necessary, to achieve the required viscosity.
The Spinach-peas filling for the Ragi-crepes is ready.

Scoop a spoonful or two of the filling in the crepes and serve. (Warm the refirgerated crepes.)

I hope, Nags, I have met your expectations and done justice to your intentions of sending me Ragi floor. Its highly possible that, if it had not been for you, I would have never tried using Ragi in my kitchen, thanks for introducing it to me.

Now its my turn to extend the Arusuvai Friendship Chain, and I have sent my friendship packets to,

Kajal of KajalDreams. We all know what a good cook she is and also about her other unmatchable talents. She resides in Gandhinagar, Gujarat and is a lecturer in a college there. I envy all her student, for the obvious reasons.

Sukanya, a timid cook, is what she calls herself. A very lovable cook and can impress anyone with her cooking talents. I discovered her through google and would be happy to let you guys discover her through my blog. She is from Delhi and can be spotted cooking at TimidCook .

Grinderless in my kitchen

2007-12-25T12:33:00.001-06:00

I want to write, words fail me

I want to paint, colors fail me

I want to sing, music fails me

I want to read, books fail me

I want to see, view fails me

I want to cry, tears fail me

I want to say, sentences fail me

I want to roam, places fail me

I want to buy, money fails me

I want to dance, steps fail me

I want to think, thoughts fail me

And when,

I want to cook .....grinder fails me :)

As a matter of fact there is no grinder in my kitchen. Living out of a suitcase and changing houses, cities and countries at regular intervals have not allowed me the luxury of a full fledged house since I started living on my own. In my bedroom except for me, one could find a laptop lying in a corner, a modem to put life in it, a mattress, couple of suitcases mounted on with my books and dvds and an overflowing cupboard......it leaves enough space to play 'tikkar billa'( a game indian kid girls play with seven boxes drawn on the ground and a flat stone). Living room, me and my friends use it for our dance practise, which means it is literally empty. A refrigerator, a stove-cylinder, quintessential utensils for cooking and some plastic jars and packets, thats what consists of a place termed as kitchen in our house.

So when there was a call for grindless gravies, I was excited....

Things needed:

1. Paneer - 200 gms

2. Potatoes - 2, peeled and cut in small pieces

3. fresh green peas - 1 cup

4. Grated coconut - 2 tbs

5. 1 big onion, chopped

6. 2 big tomatoes, chopped in fine pieces

7. Garlic and ginger, cut into small pieces

8. 1 tbs of chilli powder, turmeric, cumin seeds

1. Cut paneer into 1 inch pieces and fry them in butter.

2. In a pressure cooker, add 2 tbs oil, splutter cumin seeds, add garlic-ginger, potatoes and onions. cook them for 5 min

3. Add the chilli powder, turmeric and grated coconut. Add salt according to taste

4. Pour in the chopped tomatoes and add a little water to let the tomatoes cook and form a paste.

5. Incorporate the Paneer pieces in this, add 2-3 cups of water.

6. Pressure cook this for 25 min ( 2 whistles).

A red coloured, gravy-ceaous, Aloo Mutter Paneer is ready to be gobbled down with warm, soft rotis.
For making a gravy filled vegetable, I always incorporate 1-2 tbs of grated coconut, it gives the much needed viscosity to the gravy when there is no grind or mixer available.

This is my last mintue entry to sweet Sra's one-off event Grindless Gravies.

Other grindless gravies on Crazy Curry:

Egg Curry

Shrimp Curry

P.S. Have recieved my secret packet from Nags for the Arusuvai Friendship chain. Stay tuned to see what comes out from it.

P.P.S

Current Music: Come Undone (Duran Duran)

Current Book: The Kite Runner ( Khaleed Hosseini)

Current Mood: Sleepy

Bachelor tadka

2007-11-27T11:25:00.002-06:00

Ever been a guest to a dwelling inhabitated by a group of bachelors....and I mean bachelors exclusive.

Yeah, I have been there, not once but ample of times.

Once you enter the house, you are welcomed by a queue of shoes, badly in need of being used. All of them stuffed with smelly soiled socks. The stink is enough to discourage even a mighty heart. If you are able to survive the smell and still have the will enough to march ahead, you meet huge mountains and mountains of clothes waiting their turn for ablution. You certainly would prefer to ignore them, but you can't as they are lying all over the place. You are too afraid of the sideeffects that may occur if you should/could touch them. So you prefer to stand and wait for your shorts clad hosts to take it as a signal and make some space for you to sit. But to no avail.

A dusty pile of old newspaper in one corner, neighboured by a books and magazines. The kind and genre of books and newspaper depends upon the guys who read them. The daily range from Economic times to the local hindi newspaper. If there is an Economic times in the house, then it has to be paired with thick piles of business magzines and India today. The likes of Playboy though present in the vicinity are not visible. Bachelors are gentlemen otherwise, believe me.

An ideal and the easiest way to fill their always empty stomach other than eating out, is cooking Dal-chawal. Everytime I managed to make it to the dinning table (if there is any), always was greeted with a simmering pot of yellow dal and hills of rice. These people do appreciate the Cajun way of cooking....:)

When Linda announced her JFI ingredient, I was pretty sure about my entry.....:D

The dudes in my life, on numerous occasions have treated me with their Masala Dal Tadka. They have oblidged me with allowing me to prepare their signature dish, otherwise exclusive only for the single maritians.

What we need:

1 cup Toor Dal

1 big onion, chopped

1 tomato chopped

3-4 red chillies

1/2 tbs turmeric powder, chilli powder, cumin seeds, mustard seeds

1 big spoon of desi ghee

1 tbs of Kitchen king masala

5-6 sprigs of coriander, chopped.

What needs to be done:

1. Heat a Pressure cooker pan. Put a generous dab of desi ghee in it. Melt the ghee.

2. Add a tbs of mustard seeds, let them splutter.

3. Drop in 2-3 red chillies. Add a big pinch of cumin seeds.

4. Add a big onion, cook for a while

5. Add the spices and masala powders.

5. Then the tomatoes go into the pan.

6. Pour in the washed toor dal. Add water, 4-5 times in quantity of daal.

7. Pressure cook the dal.

8. Let off the steam and cool the cooker.

9. Add the chopped coriander

Serve over a mountain of rice with mango pickle by the side.

With this I am going over to the very desi Linda's for JFI-ToorDal.

Capturing the Colours

2007-11-08T12:28:00.000-06:00

So what was i busy doing when i am not cooking and writing at crazycurry...
1. Catching up (read chatting) with friends who are located in
- Ghana
- Italy
- Tokyo
- Ambejogai...a village in Maharashtra
- Pune
2. Absorbing all the Carbon monoxide and such other gases coming out of the vehicles around when i am doing dhoom machale dhoom on my bike. Also honking at people, the art i had forgotten while driving else where.
3. Cooking Dahi chicken for Ms Mots.
4. Standing in the queue for the tickets of Jab We Met, cause I watched it for consecutive three days over the last weekend in the theater...I am completely bowled over by SK (mind you, only in this movie...otherwise I never had noticed him).Just got to know that he is single, due to his recent breakup.
5. And also, trying to catch the colours....:)

For the last 10-11 months i have been leading a life of a peripathetic. 3 countries, 19 states and innumerous cities. At times alone, sometimes accompanied.

Wherever I went, there were certain things which made me miss the country I live, apart from food. The energy, the youth, the race against time, confidence, the fight for survival and ofcourse the boisterous colours flowing everywhere.

While I was meandering over my RX135, I tried capturing these audacious colours, which somehow signify life to me.

The Colours for life

The Colours of Art

The Colours of light

The Colourful People themselves

'Diwali is a festival of lights', the first line of my essay on My favourite festival in 3rd grade.

Now Diwali to me seems to be truly a festival of colours, the colours of prosperity and happiness.

Happy Diwali.

Wrong time, wrong place, wrong thing

2007-10-15T13:18:00.001-05:00

There's a kind of luck that's not much more than being in the right place at the right time, a kind of inspiration that's not much more than doing the right thing in the right way, and both only really happen to you when you empty your heart of ambition, purpose, and plan; when you give yourself, completely, to the golden, fate-filled moment.
- Gregory David Roberts in 'Shantaram'

That's very well said by Mr Roberts. Though the lady luck has not smiled on me yet and I am still waiting for God to tear the ceiling of my room to shower his blessings on me (hell, I live in a rented house). The reasons for the charming Lady's and the revered Mr God's lack of attention towards my dilapidated state of being could be innumerable. For instance, being in the wrong place at the wrong time, like I watched Dil Dosti Etc, alone with a group of male friends...believe me, I never have seen such traumatized bunch of boys watching a rouge movie. And about doing the wrong thing in the wrong way, well I am always doing it. So the only option left to impress these guys is to empty my heart of ambition, purpose and plan. I dont think that it would be too difficult for me to achieve, given for the fact, I am working in the same company since last 4.5 years and earning almost the same salary with every passing year.
Update:
Ok,I went a little extreme about my prof status quo... now dont scream at me....:D

Well now lets get out of this wrong timing at the wrong place about the wrong things and do something nice and sweet.

Apples, I have experimented with them a lot and one of them can be seen here.

Last time I tried making a creamy sorbet had resulted in a grainy Granita. But this timeI had decided to do everything right.

So this is how I went with my Apple-Ginger Sorbet.

Take about 4-5 apples, cored, peeled and chopped in a saucepan. Boil them in about 1.5 cups of water, 1 cup of sugar with 2 spoons of grated ginger, till tender. Pass this mixture through a blender till you get a homogeneous mixture.

Freeze the mix in a shallow container for about 2-3 hours.

Again, scrap the firm solid and pass it through the blender and freeze again. Repeat the procedure once or twice, till you get a soft creamy texture of a frozen sorbet.

What else, scoop it!!!

Cooking something South Indian

2007-09-27T21:45:00.004-05:00

For someone as dilettante, as I am, cooking something which is generalized as South Indian is easy, than to cook something which is specific to the culinary specialties of the specific region or state. Dosai, vadai, upma, uttapam, idli, pulihora, cocnut chutney and the likes, according to me are all south indan and doesnt need further classification. I am completely naive when it comes to the specialities which I witness across the blog world, mainly when she, and they and she cook. Not that I have admitted it openly anyone, but I never found a reason to do so in the past. It was the RCI Karnataka event which made me do it.

So to cook a little kannada way, I made this upma, but instead of the usual semiya or rava, I used corn meal.

What we need:
1 cup corn meal
3/4 cup curd
1 onion, 4-5 green chillies, 2-3 red chillies
2-3 sprigs of coriander
1 tbs, mustard seeds, cumin seeds, urad dal
2 tbs oil
4 cups warm water

What we do:
Heat oil in a thick bottomed pan, pour in the onion, reen chillies, red chillies, urad dal, mustard and cumin seeds and the coriander. Saute it till onions turn transparent. Add the corn meal and mix. Roast this mixture on low flame for about 10-15 min, till it starts getting a little brown in colour. Incorporate curd and mix properly. Pour in warm water, salt and cook the corn meal.
Serve with coriander and grated coconut.

Though a little late, I am going with this to Asha's for the RCI Karnataka event.

Wait, there is still more .....

The Tomato pickle, which i fondly made for a friend, when I was visiting him. I wanted to make something which can be had with rice and dosa and at times with bread, when in dire straits. So, I made this Tomato pickle, a recipe from my mother.

What I used:

Tomatoes, 16-18 big firm red tomatoes

1 tbs methi seeds

1/2 cup mustard seeds

1 1/2 cup oil

1 cup vinegar

5-6 cloves of garlic, 2tbs grated ginger, 10-12 curry leaves

2 tbs turmeric powder, chilli powder and salt

What I did:

Cut the tomatoes in big pieces and smear them with turmeric powder.

Grind the garlic, ginger and curry leaves along with the vinegar to a coarse paste

In a big thick bottomed pan, heat the oil and splutter the mustard seeds. Add methi at this stage.

Pour in the paste, and let it cook for a while. Add in chilli powder and salt.

Incorporate the tomato pieces and mix properly. Cook till the oil startes seperating. This is when the pickle is properly cooked.

Cool and store in a clean sterlized glass jar

I made it to fill a 2 quartz jar. This was my first ever pickle. Hope it survives.

This I am sending to Sunita's for her ThinkSpice Think Mustard event.

Of Crostini and Canapés

2007-09-18T21:27:00.000-05:00

Italian food, the thought of it makes one drool and the sight of it makes one go hungry, even after a heavy lunch. A scoop of pasta or a slice of pizza, one can never have enough of it. For most of us, Italian food is symbolised by spaghetti and pizza. But there is more to Italian food than these. There is a whole range of appetizers Antipasto, a range of sandwiches such as Focchacia, Panini & Bruschetta.

Antipasto (meaning: before meal) are served before the meal, as accompaniments for drinks. Mainly made up of smoked meat, vegetables, cheese, olive oil and balsamic vinegar These are those little somethings to get you started with.

One of the regional cuisne in Italy is the Tuscany cuisine. Extensive use of fresh vegetables, grown locally, with the first choice of meat and fish, this cuisine epitomizes the easy going lifestyle of the rural Italy. Canapés and Crostini form an eternal part of the tuscan cuisine. Made from the white tuscan bread, topped with vegetable, meat, vinegar and cheese, they serve as ideal antipasto for a festive meal in the local household.

Well as, I have got my kitchen back, and have been successful in getting my hands free for a short time, I somehow managed to throw a small party. In short, I was on a cooking spree after a haitus. For the main course, I made paneer and paratha, dahi wada, rice and dal makhani. As with the appetizers to go with the merlot, I prepared these colorful Canapés.

Things we need:

1. Bread slices, 10-12

2. 1 big potato, boiled and mashed

3. 5-6 Jalapeno peppers, cut into circles.

4. Tomatoes, sliced in thin circles

5. 1 spoonful of dry chives, chaat masala, jeera powder, salt, pepper

6. 1/2 cup of grated cheese

7. sprigs of coriander or parsley

8. Olive oil

Things to do:

Preheat oven at 350F. Cut the bread slices in circular shape, with the help of a steel bowl. Brush the bread pieces with olive oil and bake them for 7-10 min , or till they get toasted and crunchy in texture. Take care not to char the bread due to over baking. Remove from the oven and cool. These can be made a day ahead of the party and stored in a dry cool place.

Mix the spices with the mashed potato.

Take one slice of toasted bread, place a circle of tomato over it. Spread the potato mixture on the tomato slices. Place one or two jalapeno circle on the assembly along with the coriander. Generously sprinkle the grated cheese.

Serve as accompaniments with wine or champagne.

Jambalaya, the Cajun way

2007-08-29T23:17:00.000-05:00

Food is one of the main ingredient which epitomizes the culture of a region. Food traditions can be said to be the most persistent of all traditions. One reason can be, people resist changing their food patterns, so food delineates the cultural identity of the region or a community. The diffusion or blend of different cultures can be depicted through the cuisine prevalent in the area, evolved over the years, through the food habits of the various inhabitants of the place.

One such cuisine I have experienced is the cuisine of the Southern United States. Influences of the various indigenous and migrants can be depicted in it. French, British, African, Native American, Spanish, a blend of all these and many. Creole and Cajun are the two most adored examples of Southern cuisine. Both of them use the local grown ingredients, Creole is the city cooking while Cajun signifies the rural cooking. Creole is known for its delicacy where as Cajun is known for its spiciness.

Cajun food is a amalgam of the Southern food and the French sauces. It is cooked in a big cast iron pot where all ingredients are mixed. If it is not made in one pot, then it is not Cajun. Rice dominates the cuisine along with okra and corn.
One such Cajun specialty is Jambalaya, made up of rice and meat and spices.

Ingredients:
2 cups Converted/Parboiled rice
1 cup tomato paste
1 onion, chopped
2-3 cloves or garlic
1 tbs paprika powder
1 tbs pepper
1 tbs oregano
4-5 green chillies chopped
2 tbs hot sauce
2 tbs worchestershire sauce
2 tbs olive oil

Procedure:
Heat oil in a pan, saute the onions, garlic and green chillies. Add the rice and the spices and sauces to the pan and saute it for about 10 min. Pour in the tomato paste and let it cook for a while. Add about 2 cups of water. Reduce heat, simmer it for some time and cover. Keep on stirring occasionally to avoid rice from sticking to the bottom. Add salt to taste.
This is the basic Jambalaya rice recipe.

Jambalaya, is a preparation made up of rice and sauted meat, especially pork. For that cut the meat pieces. In a seperate pan, saute them to oil, to be brown.
For a vegetarian Jambalaya, a variety of vegetables can be used, such as bell pepper, celery, zucchini and okra. Saute these vegetables in a seperate in oil. After the rice is cooked for 10 min add the meat/vegetables and cook. I used tofu, due to unavailability of the vegetables.

I made this recently, in my current kitchenless condition (I still have my spices) and hence please forgive the inadequacies. I still bolster the courage to go with this for JFI-Rice at Sharmi's Neivedyam

Gonzales, Louisiana supposedly the Jambalaya capital of the world, hosts the Jambalaya Festival every year in the month of May, where in the cooks compete with their simmering pots of rice and meat smeared in huge chuncks of spices and cajun sauces.
Cajun, though is now supposed to have originated in Louisiana, is acutally english for Acadians, the french farmers who were driven out from their settlements at the foothills of the Great Smoky mountains.
So next time, see you at the Smokies.
So long then.

The Name Game

2007-08-22T23:31:00.001-05:00

Every name tells a story. A person is known by a different name, everywhere he or she goes. In school, he has a different name, in college another, one at work. At home there is always that sweet name everyone is embarrased to let his friends know.

Chinku, Pinky, Chotu, Baby, Bunty, Soni, Golu, Guddu, Minu, Tinu and the list goes on. Each one of have been either called by one of these names in childhood or have known one of then or have played gilli danda with few of them and some are still there for you. I know a Tinu since last 15 years and a Minu is still there living in the same neighbourhood, I grew up playing bhatukali with.

As we go to school and further on to college, rather as we grow up our nomenclature becomes more stylish and is personified with our physical or psychological qualities. The name endowed to us, succinctly says all about us.

Just like, a certain gentleman I know is still called "Churik", retroflexion of his high school beau's name. A sweet girlfriend of mine was denominated "Roxy", symbolizing a character in film Pyar mein kabhi kabhi. "White snake", for some one too thin and too fair, "mumfalli" for another, reason dont remember. "Reddy in demand", for who was never in demand and always wanted to create one. "Shiru Mama", for a classmate who actually behaved like an old uncle. "Polar bear", for a guy whose growing up hormones were working overtime on his byssus and tache, and he never cared bout his becoming a hirsute. "Aaj ka gunda raaj", for a group of belligerent hegemons, we had all kinds.

I know someone who is known as Piggy, for his name initials (P.G.), guess how P.G. Wodehouse would have reacted to this, by the way he was called Plum by friends.

"Nicknames stick to people, and the most ridiculous are the most adhesive."
~Thomas C. Haliburton

For me, the easiest way to satisfy the scream for an ice-cream is to make a Sorbet or a Granita. Though both are prepared in the same way, difference lies in the way they are frozen and the proportion of sugar used. A post on the differences between the two and their origins and bla bla..., is saved for some other day.
So, during those days when I had the luxury of having a well eqipped kitchen (dont even ask about this), I experimented and came up with recipes like this, I rendered upon to make something which resembled close to what French call as Sorbet. But eventually whatever came out jibed more with what Italians call as Granita. Probably it came out to be a mixture of both, but it was surely worth the effort and the scrapping.

Things we need:
Blueberries - 2 cups
1/4 cup lemon zest
1 cup water
2 shots of liquor, (I used dry Martini, it was handy, flavoured liqour can also be used)
3/4 cup sugar

Things to be done:
Thaw the Bluberries, if you are using the frozen ones. Boil them with water till they got all soft and pulpy. In a blender,add the bluberries along with the other ingredients. Blend to form a smooth mixture.
Freeze this mixture in a shallow pan for an hour or so till it becomes firm, but not solid. Take it out, scrape it with a fork, and freeze it again. Repeat the procedure every hour till whole of the liquid has solidifed with a crystalline texture.
Serve frozen...of course, do I even need to say this.

*************************************************************************************************

There is an addition to the our school sorority, a very sweet girl friend gave birth to a wonderful daughter few days back. Its her a birthday today.

Also, a benchmate of mine for 5 years, and the most beautiful girl I have ever known in my life, just celebrated her birthday some days ago. From my sources, I got to know that she also has bought a new house.

So here it goes to the sweet Roxy, the junior Roxy and the beautiful Saps.

Happy Birthday Gorgeous!!!

( For Saps and Roxy, this one was hogged by the Madz and Ravi on your behalf.)

*********************************************************************************************

An Apple a day......nay

2007-08-08T05:39:00.000-05:00

Eve ate the apple and consequently gained the knowledge of good and bad, and we mortals are suffering the aftermath even today. The forbidden fruit, aint it? And also the first word a child learns, atleast alphabetically, A for an APPLE, a comedy of errors indeed.

Oh, this is not for what I came here. I keeping a little busy now days, coz of this huge exam approximately after 10 days and so am trying to keep myself off blogging. But then........

Anyways I had this huge bag of green apples lying in the refrigerator, untouched by the person who bought it and it somehow comes upon me to use everything before it is completely unuseable.

I am not at all an apple a day person and sometimes I completely despise having one, coz I think its a messy fruit. So guess, if I had been in place of Eve, earth would have been free of evils....who knows.

But then I had to something with those apples lying there beneath my nose.

And so I did this, and it didnt take me more than 2o min to set the dinner on the table.

Things I used and did:

I used 3-4 green apples, washed and cut into a little bigger pieces.

In a pan, melted unsalted butter, 2tbs, added sesame seeds and dry chives. Poured in the apple pieces, roasted the appled till they get a little brown in colour. Sprinkled with lemon juice.

Spread over a little bit of grated cheese over the apples.

As this was not enough for a dinner, so to go with this I sauted a range of colourful vegetables from the refrigerator and pantry.

Butternut squash, new red potatoes, green beans, green plaintain, bell pepper, onions and Spinach.

Chopped the vegetables, sauted them in a pan with a tbs of olive oil. Sprinkled with salt, pepper, hot sauce.

Roasted them well enough to have that burnt look, like the vegetables in the sizzler entree.

With my Butter Roasted Apples and Stir fried vegetables, I am off to Mallugirl's Summer Express Cooking.

Crazy Curry, would be soon back on track with lots of crazy ideas and themes.

And yes, I wouldn't like to keep my doctor away, because he probably is the 'Apple' of my eye....:)

Cooking from Linda's Garden

2007-08-02T17:40:00.000-05:00

Impressing with seasoned fried chicken,
And jumbo bowls of gumbo,
Spicy chops smothered in love,
Ice-cream to mend a broken heart,
Soup to warm up an aching soul,
Spring rolls for the laughter and,
Chocolate pie to soothe the anger.
(adopted from Robbyne Kaamil's Poem)

There is a recipe for, to mend every ailment affecting body and mind. And a recipe to fit every occasion of life, every emotion of heart.

I had this butternut squash lying in my refrigerator, and everytime I open the fridge it stared at me with indignation. So, to get rid of the outrage, I cooked it Linda's way as she had did this, with a little modifications.

Things to be used:
1. 1 butternut squash, cut into somewhat thick circular pieces
2. 1 tbs masala powder
3. 2 tbs ghee ( Linda's advice to indulge)
4. a pinch of hinge
5. a bigger pinch of salt
6. 1 tbs lemon juice

Things to be done:
Melt the ghee in a flat pan, add hinge. Spread the masala powder over the squash pieces. Use masala powder of your choice, I used a mix of Pav bhaji masala and Sambar powder.
Allow the pieces to cook for a minute or two, till they soften and get little brown in colour.
Sprinkle salt over them while cooking. Spread the lemon juice over the pieces and serve.
I served them as a side dish with dal-rice. They would go well with parathas also.

Thanks Linda for the recipe and it truly made my meal delicious. Now, I think you would agree for sure, that I am too lazy a girl.

Pav Bhaji masala powder, a misfit for MBP Preserve

2007-07-28T20:35:00.001-05:00

My father is a terrific cook and whenever he used to be in the kitchen, everyone in the family would be happy. My mother, coz she is spared from cooking that day and we because there is something special for dinner. My father has a passion for food and when he cooks he, does it meticulously well. I believe I have picked up my culinary skills from him, though I have never said it infront of my mother.

Every second saturday dinner was allocated for my father's cooking and his specialities included dishes like, dhirde (tomato omlet), basundi, mung dal khichadi and kadhi, and he has sometimes dwelled to the extremes of trying palak paneer as well. Now a days, he is busy inventing new ways of cooking maggi noodles.

His speciality is still the lip smacking Pav bhaji, a favorite of the whole family, even today.

So, with a loaded refrigerator and a pack of dinner rolls lying in the pantry, I decided go for it. There was one hitch though, I didnt have the pav bhaji masala powder.

So first,I had to grind the masala powder, and for that I used 1-2 tbs each of,
Cumin seeds,
methi,
fennel seeds,
coriander seeds,
pepper,
ajwain,
chilli flakes,
cinnamon,
cardamon,
tamarind powder (didnt have amchur powder, so used this)
dry garlic
3-4 cloves and 1 tbs from a packet labelled 'all spices powder' which was lying inconspicuosly in my spices box, since months.

I roasted the spices mix on hot pan for 10 min and ground it to powder.

And now for the Pav bhaji,

I used and did the following:

Wash and chop the vegetables you would like to use in the bhaji. I used cauliflower, which I pressure cooked with salt and turmeric powder, 2 big boiled potatoes, 1 cup chopped beans, 1 cup green peas, 1 cup chopped green pepper and 1 beetroot, grated.

Heat 2 tbs of oil or butter in a flat pan. Add 1 tbs of garlic, ginger, 1 onion and 3-4 green chillies chopped and cook till the onions become transparent. Add 2 finely cut tomatoes, 1 tbs turmeric powder, chilli powder, 1 tbs garam masala(optional) and 3-4 tbs pav bhaji masala. Add water, if required and make a paste.

Incorporate all the bolied and cut vegetables to the pan and mix well enough with the help of a potato smasher. In India, we have a circular wooden smasher, specially used for mixing the bhaji on the pan or tava. To save time here, you can run the vegetable once through a food processor, for a very short time.

The pavs/buns/dinner rolls, slit them in between and toast them on a pan smeared with butter, till crisp and brown.

Serve the pav bhaji topped with a piece of butter and finely chopped onions and lemon, on the side.

Even Google was goggled, when I tried to find a pav-bhaji masala powder recipe. The only one I could find was this and so this one did not go over to Coffee for MBP Preserve.

It is amazing, how food is a main ingredient of the memories and the relationships we gather along the way.

The zing thing..........

2007-07-24T14:17:00.000-05:00

Does anyone remember what all thirst quenchers we had in India before the advent of Cola giants. Let me see....yeah, the zing thing Gold spot, Citra Super cooler, thums up- taste the thunder, Fresh and juicy mango Frooti........and who can forget those jingles and those commercials.

The limca ad, with the girl cautioning the guy about the contents in the limca he was drinking, and the guy says he doesn't care about the isotonic salts or something in it. I had to study chemical engineering to understand what isotonic salts were. The lime and lemony limca was a huge hit and was a tough competitor to Pepsi and Coke, when the Indian gates were opened to them.

Mango Frooti, still has sustained the foreign competition, with its cute little tetra paks. I dont remember whether it came in the orange and pineapple flavours, as well.

Thums up, without a 'b' in it (i realised it just now) has still maintained its strong and macho look. I remember the ad, a guy riding the bike and then he jumps off a cliff and belies the law of gravitation just because he is holding a 'thums up' bottle in his hand. Taste the thunder.
Gold Spot, I think was the first one of the lot to have a jingle in english and it appealed to the masses as much as the drink.
There were many others a little less famous like dixie cola and Campa cola which came in those orange flavours.

Some of them were taken over either by Pepsi or Coke, and some just lost to the tough competition. But they have given that generation that something which would last forever. They also made these firangi cola sellers to fight for them, fight over them and also fight them.
I was trying to find any of those old commercial videos, but just found the lastest ones. What I could get was the golden Gold Spot Ad featuring Kittu Gidwani (Airhostess, Swabhimaan). It still is fresh and catchy.
These ads have mesmerized the people and they mark that golden era of Indian mind innovating at its best when the resources were minimal.

Now is the time to go over to Bee and Jai for AFAM Watermelon with my Watermelon Iced Tea.
Things needed:
1. 2 tbs tea powder
2. 1 cup watermelon pieces (seedless)
3. 2 tbs sugar
4. 2 cups water
5. 1 tbs lemon juice

Things to be done:
Bring water to a boil, and add tea to it. Close the pan with a lid, switch off the burner and let the tea brew for 5 min. Drain the tea and cool to room temperature.
Blend the watermelon pieces with the tea and sugar. Add the lemon juice.
Serve chilled.

I fell in love with ice tea first time I had it at 'Hot Breads' a bakery-cafe at the cricket ground in Nagpur. And then I started brewing my own, and the whole family loved it. I have tried it at Pizza hut as well, but it didnt appeal my gustation.

Oat Barn Upma

2007-07-17T13:45:00.002-05:00

Healthy eating and me never go hand in hand. I like all the fried savoury food, cakes and pastries, chocolates and ice-creams. I also have the indomitable sweet tooth of mine, which always keeps me hunting for sweet little things to eat or to drink.

Generally people visit Starbucks for a cup of coffee, but whenever I visit starbucks I try all the new cakes and pastries they have florid in their racks. Not a very big fan of coffee....sorry folks and can't even stand the smell of that filter coffee we get here. Many still keep on quizing me on how I pass my day in the office without a cup of black fluid drenched through my throat, and some people are really waiting to catch me dozing, red handed. But they dont know since last 4 years I have an infallible record.

So, to wash off the stigma on me, of not being cautious with what I eat or rather hog on, and to prove my health conscious friend, that I can work wonders even with things I detest, and here it refers to Oats, this weekend I made him Oat Meal Upma.

Things to be used:

1 cup oatmeal (grinded it into coarse powder) or else Oat Barn can also be used

1 cup curd

4-5 green chillies, 1 onion, 2 cloves of garlic and a few coriander leaves chopped

1 tbs of turmeric, red chilli powder, cumin seeds

2 tbs of oil for cooking

salt according to taste

1 cup warm water

Things to be done:

Roast the coarsely ground oatmeal powder for 10-15 min. Take care not to burn the powder.

Heat oil in the pan and add all the condiments and the seasoning, cook till the onions become light brown in colour. Pour in the oatmeal power and mix properly. Incorporate the Curd and keep on stirring, as curd makes it very sticky.

Pour in the warm water as and when required with continuous stirring.

Enough stirring and mixing in required so that there are no dry lumps of oats in the pan. Amount of water can be increased if the contents look too dry. Excess water is never a problem as most of it evaporates or is absorbed.

Add salt to taste.

My mother makes upma from Wheat flour, coz she thinks rava is not a conducive ingredient for health and good to be avoided as much as possible. And guess what my MIL also has same views and she never allows to have rava-dosa which I love of all the south-indian food.

My friend was obviously not able to guess what I cooked this upma of and was very impressed when he found out the reality.

This is my entry to WBB13-July at sweet Madhuli's, My FoodCourt.

Quintessential Quiche

2007-07-13T01:09:00.002-05:00

When I took my vacation , this time I went to Chennai with my colleagues and there we explored the southern beaches of Mahabalipuram and Kanchipuram. And before that a few audacious ones of us dwelled on a journey to the western coast of Maharashtra, taking a round trip to whole of konkan strip on foot, trolleys, buses and trains. And before that I went to the most memorable Goa trip with my school sorority, as a sort of reunion. We are happy that we went for it that time , as now everyone is married and spread all over the globe, a trip to goa would be out of reality.
So you see what a beachaholic I am !

There are three reasons I made the Quiche for our lunch yesterday
1) I have had it at IFM Dekalb, and it tasted amazing.
2) I always have wanted to go French while cooking.
3) I was bored of rolling chapatis.

Things I used:
1. Spinach, 2 cups
2. Grated cheese, 1/2 cup
3. Milk, 1 cup
4. 2 eggs
5. 1 tbs oil
6. a tbs of rosemary, chives and basil
7. 6-7 phyllo sheets
8. 2 Tomatoes, chopped in circles

Things I did:
Preheated the oven to 475F
Squeezed out water from the spinach, fried it in a tbs of oil and added grated cheese, allowed it to melt and then mixed well.
Whisked milk and eggs till homogeneous and added all the spices and a pinch of salt, chilli flakes.
In a lined baking pan, folded the phyllo sheets one over the other in a criss cross manner to cover the pan and form a base for the Quiche.
Spooned the spinach cheese mix on the phyllo sheets and spread. Arranged tomatoes.
Poured in the milk egg mixture over it.
This went into the preheated oven and remained there for 40-45 min, till it was set in the center. Removed the extra sheet and served as wedges.

For the phyllo sheets, apply oil on the phyllo sheets before arranging them one over the other.
A partially baked pie is generally used for a Quiche, which I obviously didnt have and so I tried making a pie out of the phyllo sheets. A blind baked puff pastry can be used for the crust.

Though Quiche is a quintessential part of French Cuisine, it was adopted from Germany, where it means Cake. Initially Quiche was a totally vegan dish and later on the french went ahead and started baking it with ham and bacon.

Paneer Chole

2007-07-06T02:38:00.002-05:00

According to my mother, there are only two things which keep me at home. First exams, which she opines that I appear for the sole reason of avoiding work (can you believe it...). And the second, cooking so that I can blog about it....she is just impossible. :):)
I know I cannot argue with her on the second one. For the first one as long the results are positive, who cares.
To pacify her a little, I cooked her favourite paneer coupled with chole and parathas.

Ingredients:
2 cups chickpeas (soaked overnight in water)
1 cup paneer pieces

For ground masala:
1 big onion, 4-5 green chillies, 2-3 tomatoes, chopped
2-3 garlic cloves, 1 tbs grated ginger, 1/4 cup coriander leaves and grated coc0nut
1 tbs turmeric, red chilli powder, garam masala, methi seeds

Pressure cook the chickpeas till tender. Fry the paneer pieces in a tbs of butter till brown.
Roast the spices, onion and tomatoes, chillies and grated coconut in a pan over medium heat for 10 min. Grind the contents of th pan along with 1/2 cup of pressure cooked chikpeas to a smooth paste.

Heat 2 tbs oil in a pan and add 2-3 cloves of cinnamon, bay leaves, cardamon pieces (optional).
Add 1 tbs of cumin seeds and splutter. Pour in the ground masala paste and cook till it gives out oil. Pour water if required. Incorporate the chickpeas and paneer pieces in the pan and cook for 15-20 min on medium heat. Add salt to taste.
Garnish with coriander and grated coconut.

Frying paneer pieces in butter before cooking them, picked it from my mom.
Grinding the masala along with a quantity of chickpeas, to get a thick gravy, picked it from my mom.
Roasting the spices, onions and tomatoes before they go into the grinder, picked it from my mom.
Substituting parathas for puris, when your boyfriend is too health conscious, picked it by instinct.
And making her agree to pay for your back to school venture, an achievement in itself...dont know where I picked it from.

This is my entry to the RCI Punjab hosted by the beautiful Richa of As Dear As Salt.

Independence Day Salad

2007-07-05T03:01:00.001-05:00

'I have a dream...' these words changed the chapters of the history books and also of the modern era. But, is it not that such great words from people of great perspective and propriety have led to the formation of society we live in, and also have led us to the cherish dreams which otherwise would have been impossible. Haven't people like Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela not only have been instrumental in freeing the society form a dominion rule, but also have led to the freedom of numerous individual minds. They were able to achieve a state where a humane mind has got the freedom to think and percept the veracity of the environment it is living in.

An Independence day of an alien country for me marks the independence of the various thoughts and dreams which have been thought and dreamt there today by the people of that country, the free will excercised and the choices made. Independence, does it not mean to be aware of the consequences of one's actions and ready to take the responsibilities of them. Those who are yet not able to do this, are they not still in the slavery of their own conscience.

I think, mez getting too philosophical about all this Independence talk. Why not I just get on with my salad recipe.

Ingredients:

1. 1/2 packet of macaroni pasta boiled al dente.

2. 1/2 cup of chopped cabbage

3. 1 green pepper, in pieces
4. 1/2 onion chopped

5. 1 tbs garlic grain

6. 1 tbs dried chives

7. 1 tbs dried rosemary

8. 1/2 cup corn

9. 4-5 green chillies

10 1 cup grated cheese

11. 2 large Chards leaves

12. 2-3 tbs olive oil to cook

13. 2 loaves of bread

Procedure:

1. Heat oil in a pan, add all the spices and all the vegetables. Cook till tender. Add salt to taste.

2. Fry the bread pieces in a tbs of oil, add a tbs of sesame seeds to them and cook till light brown.

3. In a baking pan, spread the Chard leaves, so that whole surface is covered by them.

4. Spread some oil over them, and pour all the cooked vegetables.

5. Impart the cooked macaroni, bread pieces, add pepper and cover with grated cheese.

6. This goes into a preheated oven. Bake untill the cheese is all melted the aroma fills the kitchen. It would take approx 20-25 min. I baked it at 250-300F.

Vegetable Macaroni salad is ready. Any type of vegetables can be put into effect and to achieve a chic taste the Macaroni can be touched with a bit of truffle oil.

This salad was a preparation for the Club house assembly today, and so 'Independence Day Salad' , goes as the appellation for it.

A Pizza story

2007-06-21T09:51:00.000-05:00

I'm making a pizza the size of the sun,
a pizza that's sure to weigh more than a ton,
a pizza too massive to pick up and toss,
a pizza resplendent with oceans of sauce.

A million slices of pizzas are served and eaten around the world and is a staple food for many. Its history of origin goes back to the times of Persian empire, though it's assumed that Pizza is a native of Italy.

In India we used to have the Indian style pizza by Smokin Joe's. Just how sumptuous a pizza can be, you wanna know this, you gotta try the Smokin Joe's pizza. Even the international pizza gaints are not able to match Smokin Joe's in case of variety and flavour.

Ok, I will stop with my free advertisement and review of the Smokin Joes pizza, and get ahead with my pizza recipe.

I am also making a pizza, probably not the size of the sun,
it surely wouldnt weigh more than a box of bun,
a pizza so easy to slice and be eaten,
and resplendent with all the vegetables and spices and meat none.
-bhags

Part 1: Pizza base

Ingredients:

500 gms flour

2 tbs dry active yeast

5 tbs oil

2 tbs salt

warm water

1. Take the flour on the kneading surface.

2. Dissolve the dry yeast in luke warm water, and keep it for 10 min for it to triple in volume.

3. This is how it looks after yeast increases in volume

4. Add oil, salt and yeast to the flour, knead it into a dough with warm water.

5. Cover the dough and rest it for an hour or two. The dough will rise in volume and will become fluffy.

While the dough rests, lets do some preparations.

Part 2: The sauce for the pizza, also called as pizzaiola.

Ingredients:

2 cups of tomato paste
2 tbs olive oil
1 onion, cut into pieces
3-4 pods of garlic

Heat olive oil in a pan, fry onions, garlic and pour in the tomato paste. Simmer it for 20 min. I also added chilli flakes and ground pepper to make it hot.

The pizza dough must have been ready by now. Take a sizeable part of the dough and roll it into a flat shape. I didnt have the pizza pan, so I rolled it over the aluminium foil in a somewhat square shape.

Step 3: Toppings

I made two pizzas. One with toppings of paneer, pepper and onions, the other one with corn and pineapples.

For the Tandoori Paneer Pizza:
1. Apply the sauce over the pizza base.

2. Spread the pieces of paneer , onions and pepper.

3. Drizzle a sufficient amount of Tandoori masala over it.

4. Add, some shredded mozzarella cheese. I added cheese just for the sake of it. Cheese can be avoided.

For the Pineapple-corn pizza:

1. Apply the sauce over the pizza base.
2. Spread the pieces of pinapple, corn and pepper.

3. Drizzle shredded mozzarella cheese.

Part 4. Bake the Pizza

Preheat the oven to 400-450 F. Bake the pizza base for 20-25 min, or till crispy crust. Remove the pizza from the oven as soon as after the baking to avoid the base from getting soggy.

The Tandoori Paneer Pizza was for Mr Kanth.

And the Pineapple corn toppings for me.

Any toppings can be used. The idea was to suggest te preparation of a perfectly Indianized pizza.

So here is the end of my pizza story, probably a beginning to some one's.

The oven is hot, I believe it will take,
a year and a half for my pizza to bake.
I hardly can wait till my pizza is done,
my wonderful pizza the size of the sun.
-Jack Prelutsky

Of Bitz and Dipz

2007-06-19T13:18:00.001-05:00

A visit to a market and my health conscious friend's insistence on buying leafy vegetables, made me buy spinach, methi collard greens and also introduced me to Chards, also known as Swiss Chards. The chards were bought, stuffed in the refrigerator, but I had no idea of what is to be done with them. The vegetable looked beautiful with big green leaves and red stem and everytime my eyes fell on it, I feared of it getting wasted for my ignorance. Though chards are just like spinach, but my oblivion to using chards in nomal sabzi.

So yesterday afternoon, I searched the net and got hold of this recipe by Elise.

I adopted the idea, and went ahead with my version of the dip.

For the dip, I used:

1 cup finely chopped red chards

1 tbs sesame

2 tbs olive oil

1/2 tbs garlic grain

1 cup cold yoghurt

Salt, pepper and basil

What I did:

1. I boiled chards in the microwave for 1-2 min, for them to soften.

2. Heated olive oil in a pan, added sesame, chards, salt, pepper and basil.

3. Sauteed the contents in the pan for a min or two.

4. Poured everthing from the pan, into a bowl of cold yoghurt.

5. With a spoon, mixed it.

6. Covered it and kept it in the refrigerator till serving time.

Elise served it with Pita wedges. I baked the bread to make Chive-Sesame bread stickz...

What I did for bread stickz:

1. I cut the loafes of bread lengthwise pieces, put them in a lid container.

2. Sprinkled, Olive oil, salt, chives and sesame on the bread.

3. Closed the lid of the container and shook the container well enough for the bread pieces to get properly coated with oil and the seasonings.

4. In a baking pan arranged the pieces in one layer and baked for 10-15 min at 300-350 degrees, till crisp.

Chards are available around the year, during summer they are at their bests. They belong to the family of Spinach and share the same taste and nutrient contents.

More information about chards can be found @ whfoods.

The yoghurt-chard dip can be stored in the refrigerator for 3-5 days and the bread stickz can be stored in an air tight container to retain their crunchy taste.

So that you are always ready with a lite snackz.

This is my entry to the Monthly Blog Patrol June hosted by Coffee of thespicecafe.

Aaji cha Kairi Panha

2007-05-06T17:47:00.002-05:00

zhug zhug agin gadi
dhulanchya rega havet padi
padati zade pahu ya
mamchya gawala jau ya.......

Me and my brother Shank, we used to sing this song all the way long when we used to visit our uncle (mama) during summer holidays as kids. That one month used to be the time we cousins would have been looking forward to, all the year long. How we played all day long in the sorching sun in the fields and orchards, how we used to steal mangoes, oranges, sugarcane from the fields and enjoy the exploits. the way we used to play bahtukali and luka chuppi....Oh! the days were just amazing.
And to these days is attached the mango story of my life.
I have this inqusitive dislike for mangoes....ripe yellow mangoes. Yeah!, I nauseate even at the thought of yellow mango juice, milk shake or the most desirable (by maharashtrains), ambyacha ras.....I know its a sin to dislike mangoes thats what my father says me all the time, but you know, I cant help it.
For me, it was always the green mango drink, Kairi Panha, which my grand-mother used to make specially for me. And its because of her that I have atleast restored the taste for the green tart mango. She still makes it for me even today when she has grown so old whenever I visit them.
And so whenever I listen to this song, I remember the abundant chilled kairi panha in the fridge which used to be always there for me whenever I visited my uncle's home.

My grand-mom's Kairi Panha receipe

1. She takes 2 big green mangoes newly arrived from her Ambyachi baag.
2. Boils them in the cooker upto 2-3 whistles.
3. After the mangoes have cooled, seperates the pulp from the skin and the seed.
4. Mashes the pulp, adds cold water, jaggery and salt to it, according to taste.
5. She then, adds cardamom powder and freshly roasted jeera powder to it.
6. And serves me in a big glass...tambyacha pelyat.

Instead of jaggery, you can use sugar, and also can try rock salt for a different taste instead of normal salt. The quantity of jaggery/sugar and water to be added depends upon the tartness of the mango.

This is my entry to AFAM Mango hosted by Deepa
http://recipesnmore.blogspot.com/2007/04/afam-event.html

JFI Greens : Patudi/sambar vadi

2007-04-29T23:05:00.002-05:00

I know it is late for the JFI event for the month of April, but still i want to give it a try. I hope I am better late than never.
The green leafy vegetable I have here, is our own favorite Coriander. Yeah, the one without which the receipes loss their palatability. The best of curries and vegetable preparations won't taste the same, if not garnished with coriander.

Known as Dhania,Cilantro, Chinese parsley or Mexican parsley this leafy vegetable used as a spice acts as an antioxidant, subdues the oxidation of animal and vegetable fat in acid on intake and has number of medicinal properties.

In Nagpur, the place where I was born and brought up, coriander is known as 'sambar' and the preparation which I am going to state is here is known as Patudi or Sambar vadi.

Ingredients

For the dough:
1/2 cup gram flour
1 cup wheat flour
1 tbs ajwain, til, salt, red cilli powder and turmeric
1 tbs oil

I mixed all the ingredients with water and kneaded it in a soft dough and rested it for sometime.

For the fillings:
2 bunches of coriander
4-5 green chillies, chopped
1 medium sized onion, chopped
3/4 cup grated coconut
1 tbs panch puran
2 cloves of garlic
1 tbs grated ginger
2 tbs oil

Oil for frying

Procedure:

For the filling, wash the corainder, clean and remove the unwanted parts. Leave them on a paper for 10-15 min to remove the water.
I fried add onions, chillies and the spices in a pan with a tbs of oil.
Added grated coconut and coriander to it and cooked for sometime.
Took a sizeble portion of dough and rolled it into a chapati. Placed a table spoon of corainder fillings on the chapati and roll it into a rectangle shape.

Fry in hot oil.

Patudi/sambar vadi is ready. I wanted to go my Nagpurian way, where it is served with hot kadhi.

For Kadhi, I mixed a tbs of besan in a 1/2 cup curd and 1/2 cup water.
In a pan heated a tbs of oil, popped some mustard seeds and fried some onions, garlic, red chillies, added turmeric powder, little bit of sugar and salt. To this added the besan-curd mixture and cooked till it started boiling.

A wonderful treat for the stomach as well as the eyes.

My entry to Mahanadi's JFIGreen leafy vegetables( http://www.nandyala.org/mahanandi/archives/2007/04/02/)