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 response from DC editor

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.

Fusion Thai – Massamun Curry

Each of the times i buy baby corn, i almost always promise myself i will use it differently and not chop it up for a salad. while there is nothing wrong with a salad having baby corn, there is definitely more dishes i could use it. Thai and Chinese recipes rightaway fall in the category that accommodates baby corn well and thats exactly where the thought of this thai curry came from. There’s something so exotic and comforting at the same time about Thai food. The colours are spectacular and the flavours so delicate. I enjoy them when we eat out. Hyderabad just got its very own exclusively thai restaurant called Isda thai that i would highly recommend. But for now, let me recommend to you this Massamun curry i made off the jugalbandits blog. I made a few changes to accommodate the ingredients i had on hand. But it was kickass all the same!! If you have lower heat / spice threshold, then by all means reduce the spice quantity. I have fresh and abundant supply of thai basil thanks to Deeba, and this curry made full use of it. I just found the tofu a bit stinky. Maybe the quality we get here in Hyderabad isn’t good enough. I haven’t yet sworn off this bean curd tho. I want to give it a couple more tries before i swear off it.

We had this with plain steamed rice for a Sunday special lunch. Try it, you’ll be hooked too.

Here is Jugalbandi’s recipe with my changes in brackets

THAI MASSAMUN CURRY PASTE (Namprik Gaeng Massamun)

Makes 1 cup

6 large red dried chillies (i used regular Andhra dried red chillies)

2 tsps whole coriander seeds
2 tsps whole cumin seeds
5 whole green cardamoms
1 small cinnamon stick
half whole nutmeg
5 whole cloves
1 tsp black peppercorns
3 tablespoons chopped onion
2 tablespoons chopped lemongrass (fleshy midsection)
2 tablespoons chopped garlic
1 tablespoon chopped galangal (i used fresh ginger)
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro leaves and stems ( i left this out as i didn’t have any)
2 tsps chopped kaffir lime leaves (i used regular lime leaves)
2 tsps fermented bean curds (i left this out)

1. Stem and seed the chillies. Chop them with kitchen scissors and soak them in hot water for 10-15 minutes. Discard the bitter water, and squeeze the chillies dry.

2. Roast the cumin and coriander seeds, cardamom, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and peppercorns until fragrant (3 to 4 minutes on medium heat in a dry pan).

3. Using a food processor, blend all the ingredients to a smooth paste, using a little water if necessary.

Massamun Curry

1/3 cup namprik gaeng massamun (massamun curry paste)
200 ml coconut milk (i used Dabur’s hommade coconut milk)
about 1 cup coconut milk (low-fat is fine)
1 cup cubed tofu
2.5 cups assorted veggies
(onions, carrots, baby corn, red and green bell peppers and ½ cup roughly cut bok choy)
1/2 cup thick tamarind paste
1/4 cup lite soy sauce
2 tablespoons sugar
3 whole green cardamoms
1 cinnamon stick

5-6 thai basil leaves
salt to taste

1. Heat 1/2 cup of the coconut cream on medium heat and cook the curry paste in it for 3 to 5 minutes until fragrant.

2. Add everything else except the bok choy and bring to a boil. (Do not add salt as the soy sauce has salt in it. Add it only after tasting at the end.)

3. Simmer covered until the veggies are cooked. Add the bok choy.

4. Check the seasonings. Add salt if you need it.

5. Garnish with the basil leaves and serve with steamed rice.

Idly and Sambhar

Idlies are a staple in our home. We can eat them for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Sometimes on the same day!! I try and make the batter on Sunday so as to see me through 3 meals. It saves precious time and energy when you would rather be doing something else than tearing you hair out over a menu option. Depending on its availability, i use regular sona masuri or boiled idly rice. The results with the idly rice are far superior as the idlies turn out real fluffy. The key to making good idlies is to have well fermented batter at room temperature. And a good robust steamer. Steaming hot idlies with sambhar, chutney or podi. Yum!

I was looking at my dal/ sambhar category, I realised I didn’t have a post with sambhar. Now, Sambhar is like biryani, everyone has their own recipe. I didn’t know what the fuss was all about. In my home, there was no Holy Grail for sambhar. Soon after we got married, K craved for his mom’s version even though I used the very fabulous MTR sambhar powder. On the next trip we made to his parents place, I got down to work and got myself the recipe. Amma makes it fresh each time, but I am a bag of lazy bones and I will have none of the roasting and grinding, especially when pressed for time. While I sometimes still use a combination of readymade dry powders, this masala can be made fresh coconut and all, stocked in the freezer to be had at a moments notice. I also add an assortment of whatever vegetables I have on hand. At K’s parents place, its one veggie at a time. So it will either be shallots, ladies finger (okra) or drumsticks but not a combination. Sambhar is best paired with hot steamed rice, idlies or as in my case, bread.

Its been raining steadily in Hyderabad over the last few weeks and i am loving the weather. Nothing like a bowl of steaming hot idlies, sambhar with a dollop of ghee to get you off to a good start. The pictures are of breakfast on a recent morning. I shot it for my photoblog, where i am hoping to capture everyday moments of my life. Read on for the recipes.

Idlies (makes 16 idlies)

½ cup skinned urad dal/ black gram

1 ½ cups of rice (i use boiled rice, sona masuri works fine too

½ teaspoon whole fenugreek seeds

Soak all of the above for atleast 6 hrs. Grind with 1-1/2 cups water to a smooth batter. Some would ask you to grind the lentils and rice separately and mix, but i cant be bothered about this and i have not had bad results to make me want to try. I grind mine in a wet grinder but a regular food processor works fine too. Again i speak from experience.

Transfer to a large vessel and leave to ferment for 5-6 hours. Add salt to taste and Mix well.

In a large pot with a lid/ steamer/ pressure cooker without the whistle, pour 3-4 cups of water and bring to a boil. Grease the idly plates with a dab of oil, spoon out 1/3 – ¼ cup of batter or according to your mould. Stack the plates and place in the steamer. Make sure the water doesn’t come above the lowest plate. Steam for 12-15 minutes. Cool and unmould using a blunt knife. Serve hot with podi / chutney or sambhar

Drumstick / Munagakaya/ Murungakai Sambhar

1 c tur dal/ kandi pappu/ yellow pigeon peas

¼ teaspoon of asafoetida/ hing/ inguva

¼ teaspoon of turmeric/ haldi / pasupu

6-8  2 inch pieces of drumstick/ munagakaya/ murungakai

1 c tamarind extract, made from a lemon sized ball of tamarind, soaked in hot water and pulp extracted

½ c sambhar powder (recipe follows)

Salt to taste

For the tempering

1 teaspoon oil

8-10 curry leaves

2 small dried red chillies (or one long one broken into two)

½ teaspoon mustard seeds

Pressure cook the dal/ lentils with the turmeric and asafoetida and 1 c water till well cooked. After the pressure releases from the cooker, open and mash the cooked lentils with the back of a spoon till smooth. Steam the drumstick pieces in 1 c water on a stove top or microwave (about 6-7 minutes) till just cooked. Discard the, water they were cooked in. Combine the tamarind extract, sambar powder and cooked dal, drumsticks and 1-1½ cups of water and return to the stove. Bring to a boil and simmer gently for about 3-4 minutes. In a small pan, heat the oil, add the ingredients for tempering, heat through till the mustard seeds pop and add to the sambhar. Serve hot with idlies or rice and a dry vegetable dish.

Vegetables for sambhar: any vegetable that will not turn to mush can be used for sambhar. some of the more popular choices individually as in K’s home or a combination (i like a medley) are:

shallots/ sambhar onions/ pearl onions, okra/ bhindi / vendakkai/ bendakaya, radish, drumsticks, brinjal, carrots, beans, yellow pumpkin, bottle gourd, etc. tomatoes can be added in addition to the vegetables.

Sambhar powder

2 tablespoons whole coriander seeds

2 tablespoons Bengal gram / chana dal

1 teaspoon fenugreek . methi seeds

¼ teaspoon asafoetida/ hing

3-4 dried red chillies (adjust according to your spice tolerance)

½ c freshly grated coconut

1 teaspoon oil

Heat a heavy bottomed pan with the oil. Add the coriander seeds and Bengal gram and roast them for about 1 minute or till they turn golden. Make sure they do not burn or it will spoil the flavour of the sambhar. Remove to a plate. In the same pan, add the dried red chillies, fenugreek seeds and asafoetida and roast stirring all the time, about 20 seconds till golden, remove onto the same plate as the Bengal gram. To the same pan, add the scraped coconut and roast till just turning golden. Remove onto the plate with the other roasted spices. Leave it to cool.  Grind all together with ½ cup water to make a smooth and thick aromatic paste.

To store this sambhar masala: Roast and cool all the masalas and dry grind it along with the freshly grated coconut in a spice grinder. This can be stored in an airtight container or ziplock bag in the freezer for upto 2 months. Before using, remove from the freezer, add ½ cup water at room temperature and pulse for a few seconds before adding it to the cooked dal / lentils mix. I increase the ingredients proportionately about 5 times to make this in bulk.

Starting over….this time with pictures

After a lot of dilly dallying…. here is 365 days of mine. After words, here i hope to post pictures of the various things that fill my world. Tell me what you think!

Jeera Rice – Cumin Tempered Rice

Jeera rice is something my brother loves. He most likely will always order this, especially if it is at a Dhaba or a place that serves punjabi style food. I’ve been largely agnostic to this one. I make it sometimes when i feel it will pair well with the other items on the menu or at times when I am running on “zilch” in the vegetables department! This is a one pot rice dish that is adequate with just a raita on the side, or a nice vegetable side dish if you are feeling particularly domestically inclined. I’ve always made Jeera rice like a pulav for the sake of convenience. When ordered at a restaurant, i always see it made like a fried rice (cooked rice added to seasonings) which has a nuttier taste.

Jeera Rice / Pulav (Serves 2)

1 cup long grained rice ( i used sona masoori), washed and soaked in water for 5-10 mins

1 large onion, sliced thin

2 green chillies, slit lenghtwise

1 tsp ginger garlic paste

8-10 curry leaves

salt to taste

2 cups water

for the tempering:

2 small sticks of cinnamon, 2-3 cloves, 2 green cardamom, 1 tsp black cumin/ shahi jeera, 1 tsp cumin / jeera

2 Tablespoons refined oil

Method:

In a pressure cooker (or heavy bottomed pan), heat the oil and add the whole spices for the tempering and saute till aromatics. Add the sliced onion and green chillies and curry leaves and fry till the onions turn golden. Add the ginger garlic paste and fry till the raw smell reduces. Drain the soaking rice and add to the pan. stir gently and fry for a couple of minutes till the rice is well coated with the spices. add the salt and the 2 cups of water and bring to a boil (do not stir too much). Close the lid of the cooker and cook for 2 whistles. if not using a pressure cooker, cover with a well fitted lid and cook till the water is absorbed and the rice is cooked through (about 7-10 minutes). Allow the pressure to release. Fluff with a fork and serve hot with raita or a gravy vegetable side dish.