Chocolate Making Classes – 5th Dec, Hyderabad

Hear ye Chocoholics,

register for the next class of basic chocolate making on 5th dec at hyderabad. Leave a comment on this post and i will get back to you. seats on a first come first saved basis only.

Learn to make Exclusively Handcrafted Chocolates in assorted flavours at the Culinary Escapades Workshop.

Location: Hyderabad

Duration of workshop: 2 1/2  hrs

Varieties of chocolate: 12 assorted (dark, milk, white, dry fruits, nuts, flavoured, soft centred)Workshop takeaways: Recipe Booklet, samples of all the chocolates made (250 gms per head)

it is a fully hands on workshop.

Its that time of the year again……..

So, I’ve done the senti post…. I’ve also done the total recall post….all i can say now is… Damn!! where did one more year fly by? Were we flying at each other’s throats, or having so much fun that we didn’t notice?? Whatever it was…. it was damn good!! So my darling K (I will spare you the indignity of squirming from all the mush), whatever hit me on my head that i realized, in that one moment, of having known you all those years, that i wanted to spend my life with you, i just wish it had hit me earlier! Love you Sweetheart… Happy Anniversary!

An Open Letter to Meeta K on her Spiced Pumpkin Cake and other grouses

Dear Meeta,

am sure its not rare for people to compliment the food blog you write and take pictures for. And all that exotic stuff you cook up. you have a lot of readers who admire you and your creations and the care you put into each one of them. Do you have any idea however of how all of this ends?? Mostly on our waistlines…and i wonder if you give this a thought. Take for example, your spiced pumpkin cake…. the minute i saw it, my keyboard got drooled on. This is at work and in full view of my colleagues (ok dont ask me what i was doing looking at food blogs while i was supposed to be working!!). I wrote it down hurriedly on my writing pad and came home to make it. I’ve made it 5 times no less already since you posted it on the 29th of oct. Thats once every two and a half days!! Ridiculous!! in my own baking history!! Is there any greater compliment for the love of a recipe? that it can get made that often and it doesn’t serve as dinner? I just wanted to say thanks for this lovely recipe….I sure as hell am “loving it”

Love…. Me!!

Jokes apart… all of the above is true…. this is a versatile recipe. I’ve of course made many changes to Meeta’s recipe. Making it with Whole wheat flour, jagery and of course egg less. I’ve made it with grated pumpkin and carrots, just pumpkin that’s been steamed and blended, just carrots and carrots and apple. It rocks each time!! this recipe is a keeper. what can i say?

Here’s Meeta’s Original Recipe

This is my version:

2 cups whole wheat flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda/ soda bi carb

3/4 cup grated jagerry/ palm sugar/ brown sugar

3/4 cup vegetable oil

4 tablespoons plain yogurt

2 teaspoon garam masala powder/ substitute with 1/2 tsp each of clove, pepper, cinnamon and nutmeg powder

1/2 cup orange juice( i used readymade squash and this is sugared, so i reduced the amount of sugar used)

zest of one orange ( i used 2 tablespoons of candied orange peel)

pinch of salt

2 packed cups of grated yellow pumpkin

1 scant cup of grated carrot

2/3 cup cranberries (i used a mix of cranberries and golden raisins)

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. grease a baking pan. Place all the dry ingredients except the grated pumpkin and carrots in a bowl and mix well with a whisk. Beat together the oil, yogurt & orange juice. Mix into the dry ingredients to make a thick batter. Fold in the grated pumpkin and carrot. Bake for 40 minutes or till a tester comes out clean. Cool in the pan  for 10 minutes and transfer to  a wire rack to cool completely before slicing.

Note: this is a moist cake. it keeps well about 2-3 days in the refrigerator. If it lasts that long that is!

Versions of the same cake:

Instead of grated pumpkin and carrot, peel, cube and nuke the appropriate amounts in the microwave, and mash them. Add this to the liquid ingredients of the cake and blend into the dry.

substitute the pumpkin with small cubes of apple chopped up with the skin.

Moussaka – not quite!!

Two nights ago i was watching this travel cum cooking show on Travel and Living and saw this lovely lady making moussaka…. she had such a lilt in her voice and was so delighted to be showing how to make this famous greek / arab dish…. K and i looked at each other and he said to me…” I want to eat Moussaka” . This evening, when i was struck at 7 p.m with the question of “what to make for dinner?” i said to myself “Moussaka”. Well i threw in some elbow macaroni to make it a complete meal. So this is my version of vegetarian “Not Quite Moussaka”. This dish was cooked up with a minimum fuss. Its also the first time that i am cooking with fake mince otherwise called soya granules. I was very pleased with the result. This is the first time I’ve made something from a TV show…. try it, you will love it. The paneer in the bechemel sauce was lovely without being too heavy. Since i made many changes to the original recipe, i am not claiming any authenticity

I also fell all over myself and almost broke my camera trying to take pictures of the making of the moussaka so that i could post a step by step….. humour me… while i do this… cos it doenst look likely that i will go through all of this again! Oh and since making the bechemel sauce in itself is difficult to do with the whisking etc, i dont have a step by step of that…. kind of the wrong recipe to choose to do a step by step… but what the hell…. i cant waste all the pictures i took!!

I’ve been off the blogging world radar for way longer than i expected… was just mentioning to my namesake that i am not keeping track of any blog events or participating in them… this moussaka then, goes to JFI- Paneer, the event conceptualised by Indira, being hosted this month at The Spice Who loved me!!

peel and slice the potatoes. Heat about 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet, if like K you cant stand too much olive oil, use any neutral vegetable oil. place the potato slices in a single layer and half cook them on both sides.

Drain out any liquid from the brinjal slices and repeat the half cooking process in the remainder of the oil.Transfer to a plate.

Cook pasta as per the instructions on the package. Plunge in cold water, drain and reserve.

soya granules, soaked in 2 cups of hot boiling water

add the olive oil, add the cinnamon stick, add the chopped onions and garlic and fry till transluscent. add the soya granules and fry for a few minutes. Add the tomato puree, grated fresh tomato, cumin, salt and pepper and red chilli powder and cook till its almost dry.

place a layer of potatoes at the bottom of a buttered baking dish.

at this point, i realised i HAD to clean the counter of the clutter…. with one hand…

Cover the potatoes with a layer of the fried brinjals.

Spread a layer of the cooked pasta. (i added this step to make this a full meal, omit if you are serving this with garlic bread on the side.)

cover this with a layer of the soya ragu.

evenly spread the bechemel sauce on top.

Bake for 30 minutes in the hot oven, or till the top is browning slightly. Leave to settle in the oven about 5-10 minutes after baking. Cut into squares and serve with a light salad on the side.

Here’s the full Recipe

(Serves 4-5 main courses)

8 slices of brinjal (1/4 inch slices of the large bharta variety)

10-12 slices peeled potato (1/4 inch thick)

1 cup of cooked pasta (i used elbow, rigatoni also would do)

Slice the brinjal into 1/4 inch thick pieces and sprinkle with a little salt, leave in a colander to drain about 30 minutes. peel and slice the potatoes. Heat about 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet, if like K you cant stand too much olive oil, use any neutral vegeatble oil. place the potato slices in a single layer and half cook them on both sides. Transfer to a plate and reserve. Drain out any liquid from the brinjal slices and repeat the half cooking process in the remainder of the oil.Transfer to a plate.

Cook pasta as per the instructions on the package. Plunge in cold water, drain and reserve.

for the ragu:

1 cup red onion, chopped fine

10-12 pods of garlic, chopped finely

1/2 cup of soya granules, soaked in 2 cups of hot boiling water

1 cup of tomato puree

1 inch stick of cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon cumin powder

1 teaspoon red chilli powder/ cayenne

1 ripe red tomato, grated

2 tablespoons olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

In the same skillet in which the potatoes and brinjal slices were fried, add the olive oil, add the cinnamon stick, add the chopped onions and garlic and fry till transluscent. add the soya granules and fry for a few minutes. Add the tomato puree, grated fresh tomato, cumin, salt and pepper and red chilli powder and cook till its almost dry.

for the bechemel sauce:

2 tablespoons all purpose flour ( i used whole wheat)

11/2 cup milk (i used low fat)

1 cup of ricotta cheese (i used homemade grated paneer)

1/2 cup cheddar/ parmesan cheese (i omitted this)

2-3 tablespoons of plain yogurt

salt and pepper to taste

1 tablespoon butter

In a heavy bottomed sauce pan, melt the butter and before it starts to brown, add the flour and saute till all the butter is absorbed. ensure neither the flour nor the butter gets burnt. this process needs your full attention. Add the milk, slowly using a whisk to ensure there are no lumps. add the salt and pepper to taste, while it is coming to a simmering point, add the cheese, grated paneer  and yogurt. Mix well. When the sauce has a custard like consistency (about 1-2 mins), turn off the heat. cool it a little before using for the layering.

To assemble the moussaka. butter a 8×8 inch baking dish. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. place a layer of potatoes at the bottom. over that, assemble a layer of the fried brinjals. cover this with a layer of the cooked pasta. i added this step to make this a full meal, omit if you are serving this with garlic bread on the side. cover this with a layer of the soya ragu. evenly spread the bechemel sauce on top. Bake for 30 minutes in the hot oven, or till the top is browning slightly. Leave to settle in the oven about 5-10 minutes after baking. Cut into squares and serve with a light salad on the side.

Bambi – RIP

I guess no one will now know the love and spirit that she had. I am heartbroken beyond words to give you the news that Bambi got run over this morning by a motorist and succumbed. thanks to everyone who read this and spread the word to help find her a home.RIP sweet little girl…

does anyone want love in their lives?

This cutie with the most soulful eyes, hence she’s called Bambi, is up for adoption. She is a roadasian (meaning Indian dog found on our Indian roads). She is also very loving and fond of Parle G biscuits. She’s been given her anti rabies and deworming shots and will be bathed and ready for a home. If you or anyone you know lives in hyderabad/ secunderabad, is agnostic to breeds, are interested in adopting an Indian pet best suited for the Indian weather, who is resilient and who can make your day, everyday with love and licks, please leave on note on my blog or email me at arundati(dot)rao(at)gmail(dot)com

Macaroni Salad – II

This is just one of those simple Pasta dishes that can be put together, when you need to feed yourself and/ or friends urgently, even at 2 a.m under the heavy influence of alcohol…. yeah its that easy. I made this one weekend afternoon when K and I were on a movie watching spree, and didn’t want to be interrupted for too long. And repeated this twice in less than 24 hrs on public demand!! This one was almost like the macaroni salad of Casa Picola that I talked of in this blog post. Minus the chicken of course.

To make this fantastic Macaroni Salad (can be served warm or cold)

1 cup cooked elbow macaroni

1 cup finely chopped steamed veggies of choice (i used carrots, peas, sweet corn kernels)

1 cup skinned and chopped cucumbers (seeds removed) and tomato

freshly crushed pepper and salt to taste

1 Tbsp tomato sauce

1 teaspoon Chinese sweet red chilli sauce

4-5 drops Tabasco sauce

2 tbsp mayonnaise (i used eggless mayo)

2 tbsp finely chopped fresh coriander and basil leaves

Method: heat 3 cups of water in a pan with 1/2 tsp oil and salt to taste. when it comes to a rolling boil, add the elbow macaroni and cook till cooked (about 4-5 mins) stirring frequently. Drain, run under cold water to stop the cooking process and set aside.

while the macaroni is cooking, steam the finely chopped vegetables in the microwave for 2 minutes. If not using the microwave, add the vegetables to the boiling pasta 2 minutes before the pasta is done. Drain and set aside.

Add the remaining ingredients into a medium bowl, mix well, add the cooked macaroni and vegetables, mix well. Season with freshly crushed pepper and salt. Serve warm or at cold.

popular picture?

after the tryst with DC, i did a little search of my food pictures to find that this particular one of the hara bhara kabab is quite popular. attractive enough for it to be used, not once, but twice without permission.

A blogger called hitchwriter, used the same image and when i wrote asking why my picture was used without permission, removed the picture after saying he frequently uses google images. then there’s a site called reciperita who has not replied nor removed my picture despite writing in 3 times. the owner of the site deleted my first comment on the site.

i found an edited picture and the exact recipe of my kalonji aloo on this site…. i’ve left a comment there…. let’s see…

What next? how can one keep tab of where pictures and copy is being used without permission? its irritating and disgusting and totally such a drain on my time.

Deccan Chronicle uses images without permission……. post updated with the reprinted picture and response from DC editor

DC dutifully reprinted the picture. Not quite acknowledging they “used” it without permission, but a picture with my name credited. here it is….

here’s what happened………….

I’d been reading about images and content being used in print media without permission, taken from blogs, online resources and especially pictures taken from online photo sharing sites. at Diwali i noticed pictures from two fellow bloggers being used in the Times of India supplement, i intimated the bloggers and they will take whatever action they deem fit. This morning, I was quite shocked to see one of my pictures being used in the TV guide supplement of Deccan Chronicle in a recipe for Hara Bhara kabab, taken from my flickr stream.

While I am quite flattered that one of the largest circulated english dailies in India thought my picture was worthy enough to print, i am absolutely shocked that they do this without any attempt to seek permission to use the image, compensate and credit the owner of the picture.

I wonder if the editors even know of this practice, or are actually endorsing it. I’ve written to A T Jayanti who is the editor of DC in hyderabad. Am awaiting her response.

there is a blogpost by Twilight fairy that talks of how she dealt with her pictures being published without permission. the issue has since been solved, thanks to her following up of the matter.

Update: the editor of DC was quick to respond. Jayanti wrote back with thanks of bringing this matter to her notice, saying there was no explanation for having used the picture and the “young team” knows it is plagiarism and they know its unethical (pray then, if they know it is, why do they do it?). Also with her sincere apologies, has promised to republish the picture in the next edition of TV Guide with credit given to me.

Everyone said this was normal for newspapers to take pictures off the internet and use them and that i shouldn’t make much of it, and just let it be. I am glad for the fact that I didnt. The question in my mind is this, is an apology enough? Plus lets just see if they keep their word and actually republish the picture with credit to me….

Eggless Wholewheat Banana Choco Chunk Bread

Yeah that title’s quite a mouthful and well worth it too.

Like most others, we end up with a couple of bananas outliving their firm and blemishless skin. Earlier they would land up in the trash can, who wants to deal with the overripe smell of blackened shrivelling bananas in the house. But ever since i realised i could freeze them discreetly and use them straight from the  freezer, i have baked with them happily. This banana loaf too was one such. The original recipe won me over with the lovely brown colour of the loaf, and although it didn’t call for choco chips, i just added them. I know chocolate and banana is a classic combo, but lets just say i’ve arrived rather late at the party!!

I am not very adventurous yet when it comes to baking and i would rather follow a recipe than end up with time and energy (of the appliances too) wasted. This recipe called for eggs, i substituted that with 4 tablespoons of plain homemade yogurt. So you could choose whichever version you want. The slivered almonds were an addition i made in vain. I had them on hand and need to use them before they turn rancid, but K painstakingly picked them out of the cake before he ate it!

The original recipe is adapted from Molly Wizenberg’s “A Homemade Life” and calls for browned butter, in my case that would just be melted ghee that i had at home. The second time i made this (oh yeah its now a favourite and i have made it several times) i just used vegetable oil and trust me, there’s hardly any difference that you will notice.

Its a day late, but you started the trend and now how can i not reciprocate? dear dear friend, name sake and sharer of too many kumbh ka mela type of similarities, Happy Happy birthday and wishing you the best that life has to offer always! and also to my friends S and R who together complete a decade together, with one great creation of A and another very special one to complete your lives….Happy Anniversary and Many more wonderful years together…

the cake tin is courtesy a gift thoughtfully given and carried all the way from the US by P, my friend from school. when she found i was writing this blog, she wrote to me and said she wanted to bring me something that i could use for my cooking / baking. i chose a baking set. her hubby works for this company and she refused to allow me to pay for it. this is my small way of saying thanks….i’ve had it for many months now and am excited each time i use it… thanks babe!!

Brown Butter Banana Bread
the recipe below is my version of the one posted on Amateur Gourmet

Ingredients:

6 Tbs (3 oz.) melted ghee or refined vegetable oil
2 cups Whole wheat atta/ flour
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon candied ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
4 Tblsp plain yogurt
1 1/2 cups mashed bananas (from about 3 large ripe bananas)
1/4 cup well-stirred buttermilk

¼ cup slivered almonds

½ cup of dark chocolate chopped into small chunks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Brown Butter: If you are using browned butter, put butter in a skillet or a small pot and melt it on a relatively low heat. Swirl that pot or pan around as it goes and it’ll foam up and it’ll start browning. When the butter turns a lovely shade of brown, take it off the heat immediately and let cool.

Method:

Preheat the oven to 350. Grease a loaf pan (9 X 5 inches) with cooking spray or butter.

In a large bowl, whisk the flour, the sugar, the baking soda, the salt, the ginger and the cinnamon.

In a separate bowl, beat the yogurt with a fork; then add the mashed banana, the buttermilk, the cooled brown butter, and vanilla and stir to mix well.

Pour the banana mixture into the flour mixture and stir gently with a rubber spatula until it’s just combined (don’t overmix).

Scrape it into the baking pan and smooth the top with the spatula and bake about 50 mins to 1 hr. Testing till a skewer comes out clean

…and bake it in the oven for 50 minutes to 1 hour, until a tester comes out pretty clean. (Mine took more than an hour, actually, and still wasn’t fully clean when tested, but I stopped so the ends didn’t dry out.)

Cool the loaf in the pan on a rack for 5 minutes then tip out on to the rack and, as Molly says, “let it cool completely before slicing–unless you absolutely can’t help yourself, in which case, dig in.”

Festive Fare – Diwali

I know its diwali, cant feel the pulse of it yet. I wonder why.  i look forward to Diwali mostly because I love the oil lamps.  I eagerly look forward to this time of the year to take them off the attic, wash and dry them, make wicks of cotton and light them. the beauty of a flickering gentle light is something to behold….This year with the recent floods in Andhra Pradesh and karnantaka, looks like everyone is feeling sombre. Its sad to see the plight of the people who have lost everything. Relief work isn’t reaching the ones who need it and whatever efforts are being made, aren’t adequate. The stories of donated clothes, most of them unusable, food being dumped or thrown at the displaced people and little or no medical aid reaching them dominate the newspapers. In the midst of all of this, one wonders what kind of celebrations we will have. Should we move on and forget, or be prudent with our festivities and donate what we would have otherwise blown up? I know if I was affected, I would be hoping that people open up their hearts and purses to help in whatever way they can.

K seems to have lost interest and he almost always urges me to treat the festival as yet another day. He cant understand why one needs to be / do something extra special just because its a festival or an occasion. I have stopped trying to reason with him!! I try as best as I can to make something special with as less effort as I can manage!! Am sharing some simple festive fare that I made for dasera last month. As I keep on saying here, I loathe to cook stuff that involves several steps of cooking and elaborate preparation. There’s nothing worse than slaving so much to do something and not having the energy to enjoy it. So here’s my quick fix festive cooking. All done in less than an hour, cant get better than this!

I made gutti vankaya kura. The ultimate Andhra vegetarian celebration dish. The recipe is from Sailu and I didn’t make any changes. There are many recipes for gutti vankaya and I have tried a few, I love this one, it’s never failed me and each time I make it, I can’t even wrangle a picture because everyone wants to polish it off before I can brandish my camera.

The second dish is a potato version of Sanjeev Kapoor’s mutton urndai kuzhambu which translates into mutton kofta curry. This is a south Indian spicy curry and I just swapped the meat ball koftas for boiled potatoes and reduce the quantity of spices to 2/3 of the original recipe. This too is a regular item I make when I am entertaining because the flavours are awesome and it pairs up fabulously with pulavs and other flavoured rice dishes.

The rice is what we call baghara rice. It translates into tempered rice. And though it sounds odd, it has the most fantastic flavour of the whole spices it is cooked with. No vegetable additions to distract you from savouring the rice as it is!

So what are you doing for Diwali? We planned a nice cards party for tonight but called it off last minute. The phirni is already sitting in the fridge, so come and dip in if you are around this side of the world. Also sitting on the counter is a not yet frosted sinister chocolate cake that i made earlier for Aunty E.

All those who are celebrating, have a wonderful and safe Diwali. May you always enjoy the love that surrounds you.

Now for the rice recipe.

Baghara Khana/ Rice (Spiced pulav) – to serve 4
2 Tbsp ghee
2 whole bay leaves, 5-6 cloves, 5-6 cardamoms, 2-3 one inch pieces of cinnamon, 1 tsp shahi jeera (caraway seeds), 2 star anise
½ cup finely sliced onions
2-3 slit green chillies
10-15 mint leaves
1 tsp ginger garlic paste
2 cups basmati rice (I used regular sona masuri), washed and soaked in 4 cups of water for 10-15 minutes
Salt to taste

In a pressure cooker pan, heat the ghee and fry the whole spices for 30 seconds till aromatic. Make sure they do not burn, there’s nothing worse than burnt spices to ruin the delicate flavours of this preparation. Add the sliced onions and green chillies and fry till the onions are just turning golden brown, add the ginger garlic paste and fry till the raw smell disappears. Drain the rice and add to the pan. On a medium flame, fry till the rice turns opaque. Ensure you don’t overdo the stirring bit, cos the grains of rice will break. So gentle is how we do this! Add the salt, mint leaves, 3 cups of hot water and stir gently. Cover with the lid and place the whistle and cook for one whistle, lower the flame and simmer for 4-5 minutes. Turn off the heat, let the pressure release. Open and gently fluff with a fork. Serve with gutti vankaya Kura, potato version of mutton urundai kuzhambu and raitha.