Bazaar buys - entry for Click:au naturel

every week i trot off to this small shop in the neighbourhood called “Shantamma kirana and general stores” to buy vegetables….when we moved to our apartment three years ago, this was the only shop and lifeline….they stock groceries, vegetables, milk and dairy and other stuff needed to run a household….we’d buy everything from here…with the software dollars being pumped into this area we live in now….we’re spoilt for choice…..from exotic veggies flown from across the world, to groceries and flowers too…we have more than a couple of chic retail stores around….i still trot off to Shantamma’s every week….if you go early enough they will still be unloading it off the trolleys….not just is the produce absolutely fresh…its locally grown…..and they dont shove every thing into individual plastic bags before weighing…..most people bring their own bags….i use one of the bags from the huge Saree shops in Hyderabad, made of jute…..this pic was taken after one such trip…..weekly supplies of fruit and veggies, just the tomatoes nestled in a carry bag to ensure they don’t get squashed!!…. this is my entry for click:au naturel is the theme this month…. click the photo event is the brainchild of this fabulously innovative couple at jugalbandi

Baking Escapade # 15 - Giving a gift….of love

One of the things I have been thinking about increasingly, is how people lived before technology completely took over their lives…..put me within closed doors for a day with no internet, telephone and oh ok…as a last option, the television and you will come back to a really mad person….. I myself am a product of the generation before and after cell phones….i should know!! Hell I worked in telecom for a good 6 years!! and am amazed, that for a nation that took almost a century to get used to a landline phone, we took to cell phones with a vengeance….yet I don’t think life will come to a standstill with or without one of these gizmos…. For one till a few months ago I refused to carry one after quitting my telecom job where it was company given and hence compulsory……….( I am referring to cell phones merely as a technological application that’s become integral to our lives…..i am sure the internet, ipods and other such have as big starring roles)

Have you off late observed people when they wait? At coffee shops, airport lounges, bus stops, on the road, at malls, at theatres…just about anywhere at all…..9 out of 10 times, they will be talking, messaging, playing a game on or simply fiddling with their phones (most likely) or laptops or ipods if they are carrying one…..no one just sits fiddling with nothing (and no we won’t consider pocket billiards played by the men folk)…doing nothing…. Just plain and simple waiting….have we become unable to manage our time, or solitude? I don’t know….. I know I get damn restless if I don’t have my phone nearby, cos I don’t know what the day entails (I am a queen of to – do’s remember?), what reminders I have set for myself…..what a disaster the day will be if I don’t remember them all….

So at such a time……when you can’t deny that technology has made it so much easier ( hell I am a blogger no??) ……….it’s such a refreshing thing to celebrate the birthday of my aunt….my mother’s cousin…she completed 86 years a few weeks ago…..lets call her E……a remarkable lady, now frail but (touchwood) in great health….she’s someone I marvel at….except for shaky teeth and very little hair, and of course wrinkled skin, she has no ailments….no diabetes or blood pressure or even a problem with her eyesight!! She’s lived a tough life….bringing up and supporting a large family of siblings, taking whatever lemons life threw at her and making lemonade…..marrying, having children, seeing them grow and spread their wings……they are grandparents now…..rarely will you see her without her smile…..always a kind word….she will even enquire if my mother in law’s maid is regular ( and not in an intrusive manner)….full of love and concern…go to visit her and every other sentence will be punctuated with “what will you eat ma? Have something no?”…what I find most remarkable about her is her ability to remember dates, wedding anniversaries, death anniversaries, birthdays etc of more than 100 people….without any calendar, reminder or to do list……anyone in the family is sick and E is the first one to make an appearance, bearing fruit (or whatever else you can eat)…..death in the family and she will be by your side to keep vigil and comfort you….and difficult as it may be…..has been faithfully attending church twice every week for almost all her life…..and I am not talking about lip service….she will kneel and pray for family and the huge extensions for more than an hour twice a day…..i don’t look at it as a question of faith or the lack of it…even as a practice, imagine kneeling!! For an hour…..imagine that kind of passion for what you believe in!! She’s like a ready reckoner!! If you are confused about how you are related to so and so…..can’t remember an important date or occasion, need a ear to listen to you or anything else that others don’t have the time for, E is my one stop shop….my lady for all seasons!!

I baked this cake for her…and she couldn’t believe I made it at home….she doesn’t know that I blog, so I didn’t tell her she will be making an appearance….happy birthday!!

p.s: Aunty E’s birthday was on the 25th of march….and i wrote this post, overwhelmed by our meeting a day later…..it lay languishing in my drafts, till yesterday, i saw the theme for JFI which is love…..i think there can be not better entry from me than this….so off this goes….to JFI which is celebrating Love….what a fantastic theme…what is food if not prepared with love?? JFI is the brainchild of Indira, this month being hosted by two wonderful women Pratibha and Jigyasa at Pedatha…..

p.s: in other stories (which will make this post even more lengthy!!) i have been swamped, stumped and drowned with love and appreciation!! this beautiful lady and i have discovered each other with a vengeance, a day is incomplete without us saying hello…and much time has been spent chatting (on the internet) on stuff which makes us believe we are in the same room, sitting accross each other with cups of chai (hurrah for the virtual world….err i know this is in total contradiction to how my post began)…..i got this wonderful package with some heady stuff from her….methkoot powder (in the bottle, sans the lid….i had to open it before i could take the pic…my mother was hounding me for a taste), some yummy sesame-peanut chutney powder, mango murrabba (which is a sun dried pickle), an assortment of flavoured teas, and seeds of african marigold which she says “will bloom into the brightest of orange flowers” (amen)….when they do nan, they will fill my home with your love…..thanks….

the second one was most unexpected…..my dear namesake, tantalised me with a comment, then on

chat,shealso called me and i didnt believe it was her, also i was in the middle of some shopping, so i think i was a tad rude…..but the gift from gurgaon stumped me totally….i came home after an ill planned afternoon(scorching at 41 degrees C) shopping trip, dehydrated by the heat and disgusted by the autowallahs to find a parcel on the table…..for a flash second i thought it was self addressed….then realised it was not….apart from the same name, we share the most bizzarely similar emotional and personal qualities…..down to our handwriting!! she saw this post of mine and wanted to let me know….and built the package around it!! a pack of my beloved potato flakes, some all purpose cooking paste, fake chicken legs (oh!! she remembered from our first conversation!!) and home made yummy nankhatais (which again didnt make it to the pic cos they got demolished)

and now to Deeba, my dear dear friend, inspirational baker, super mom and enthusiastic comrade!! one mail and i was presented with a gift of the most wondrous Thai basil….and before i could write a post to thank her, she gives me this award…with some kind words too…..the basil is growing well and so is my admiration for her…..this is the second award from Deeba…thank you girl!! you sure sent me into the orbit of happiness with this one!! muaah!! (there will be another post to pass this on…)

woo hooo…i think this is enough love to spin me around for a while….so i will put a fullstop here and leave you with the recipe for the cake!!

Lemon Vermicelli

There are times when I get tired of the idli dosa combos and crave something different for breakfast….K isn’t too happy at these times and I have to mask something I like with atleast one element of a dish that he likes to get him to even look at it…(bah!! And people complain only about fussy kids!!) i love vermicelli, but K doesn’t care much for it….. one such discovery was lemon semia….i have never eaten this anywhere else, though I am sure I haven’t exactly pioneered it to shout out eureka!! This is inspired by the lemon idiappam I have had that my MIL makes…..i’ve just substituted vermicelli instead of idiappam….its done in a jiffy and if you have lemons or lemon juice at hand, can be made in as much time as it takes to boil the vermicelli!! So for the days when you need a really quick snack or breakfast, this is a good option. I use the pre roasted vermicelli, it gives it a different flavor and more importantly doesn’t stick together like a stubbornly gummy vermicelli.

this can be made on the stove top and microwave…here is the microwave version…which is off to WBB - microwave foods, hosted this month by Easycrafts ….. WBB is the spell on blogging breakfasts, first cast by the good doctor Nandita at Saffron Trail

Lemon Semia

(To serve 2)

1 cup roasted vermicelli

1 t oil

½ t mustard seeds

1 t urad dal (shelled black gram)

1 t channa dal (split bengal gram)

A few curry leaves

1 T cashew nuts (broken into pieces, totally optional)

A pinch of turmeric

Salt to taste

2 T lemon juice

2 green chillies slit lengthwise

1 T freshly grated coconut for the garnish

in a microwave safe bowl, place 1 1/2 cups water, 1 cuproasted vermicelli, salt to taste. cover, and microwave on high for 5-6 mins (that’s how long it takes in my oven, check and adjust the time accordingly). the semia will be just cooked, fluff with a fork and set aside.

in another microwave safe bowl, add the oil, mustard seeds, urad and channa dals, turmeric, curry leaves, green chillies, cashew nuts (if using) and zap covered on high for a minute till the mustard splutters. take out, add the lemon juice, cooked vermicelli, grated coconut, mix well. Serve hot with pickle / chutney or plain. yes….the method ends here…it is that simple!!

Cure for an overdose - Instant Mango Pickle

Is there such a thing as food overdose?? I don’t know….what I do know is that this isn’t the first time I have been accused of it….by whom? K of course….food is a big part of my life!! Little wonder then that I blog about it!! but it isn’t a recent phenomenon…its always been there…..just got an outlet now……through the blog I mean….and this isn’t the end all and be all of my life either….just a substantial chunk…..to hell with labels and compartments….i love food and all things associated with it…did you know I can shop in a grocery store / kirana shop/ vegetable market for hours? this is the only time I don’t complain about carrying heavy bags!! And I read recipe books in bed? Or that I am addicted to certain food programs…..oh yeah!! I think there is an overdose!!

A certain friend’s mother has been plying me with the most amazing homemade avakkai pickle for the last few years…..i don’t know who looks forward to it more…she or i!! i crave mango pickle…..above all the kinds of pickle there can be…this one is my favourite….avakkai…which self respecting andhrite will not love it? hot and spicy, with the tang of mustard powder…..and raw mango……with plain steamed rice (with or without ghee), with dal, curd rice….upma, dosa, biryani too!! my mouth is watering as I type this!! and I hit rock bottom the other day…..it will be sometime before I can get a fresh stock of it….just in time I saw this recipe. Raw mangoes have been in the market for a while now….and I picked up a few a couple of days ago…..

So I decided to make something for myself…..sulking as I was at k’s remark…he of course meant it in jest….but it was a great opportunity to capitalize some more attention!!

i followed the recipe from 365 days vegetarian….didnt make any changes and followed it to the T……

The process is so easy….it was my first ever attempt at pickle making….and hence the ease earns brownie points….i was done in less time than it took for me to sulk!!

The pictures speak for themselves….and I had to slap my hand away from ….after bottling, I mopped up the remains of the masala from the pan with a piece of bread……totally drool worthy!!

Sweet Offerings and Nice too - Rasmalai for RCI:Bengal

when there is that odd free afternoon when I am home alone….with nothing much to do, I most often than not, find myself pottering in the kitchen…..four things led me to making rasmalai this afternoon….i have more milk lying in the fridge than I dare think about…..k was ever so subtlely telling me he was temporarily not interested in any more cakes /muffins or cookies…..rci Bengal was still well within the deadline…..and I have been dying to try to make rasmalai at home

somewhere in the archives of my blog you will read, that my participation in most foodie events on the blogosphere is limited to checking out the roundups and saving it as a bookmark for future use….imagine i tell a friend who cooked up some Gujarati delicacy to send it to RCI Gujarat and she gently reminds me that it was many months ago!! Such is my stupor…….

although i almost always fantasise about rustling up some fabulous creation that looks good and tastes fabulous…when in the act, I usually am fighting a race a

gainst time, and a losing battle i fight with daylight….most of the cooking I do is during the evening and doesn’t get photographed, or posted here….

Anyways, I tried to make this sweet temptation as healthy as an indian dessert loaded with a ton of sugar can be made without compromising on the taste (ha!! Tall order…don’t you think) by using toned milk (less than 3% fat) although all the recipes I went through called for full cream milk. The whole thing from start to finish takes about an hour, so you have to have that much time on your hands (remember I was totally jobless in the afternoon) ….to say that I am thrilled with the results is an understatement….they turned out beautifully and were devoured within a few minutes of serving….last I heard, k was campaigning hard in a bid for me to win ‘Domestic Goddess’….

This goes to Sandeepa, better known as the lady behind Bong mom’s cookbook for RCI Bengal….also to Barabara who said it was ok to send in another entry for Livestrong with a taste of yellow….More power

on a personal note, Rupa has bestowed on me a Nice award and said some very kind words…..i dont really know if I am totally deserving of such praise…..thank you lovely!! she and I were hostel mates and spent some time….mostly in corridors of the hostels, passing each other while en route the Mess…but mostly because we carried stuff for each other from our families….we were both from hyderabad…..i finished my Master’s and left the hostel…and naturally in course of time….we lost touch…..till one day she sent me a couple of mails with details….and then we both realised who we’d been writing to….she of course attended my class…we chatted a while…and reconnected….that’s one thing i love about the internet!! its totally replaced the Kumbh ka mela to find long lost people!!

Rasmalai

Time taken (1 hour)

Makes 12

What you need

1.5 litres of milk (I used low fat, use full cream if your hips permit)

2 t white vinegar / lemon juice or 1 t citric acid crystals

4 T sugar

4 green cardamoms, powdered and skins discarded

2 T powdered cahews

1 T cornflour

½ t saffron strands

for the syrup:

1.5 cups water

3/4 (or more) cups sugar

In a thick bottomed pan, boil the milk.

To make the chenna, Remove 1 litre to another vessel, set it on the heat, add the vinegar / lemon juice / citric acid crystals and continue to heat through stirring, till the milk curdles and the whey is almost clear. Leave for a few minutes. Strain through a thin muslin cloth or a fine sieve. Let it drain for atleast 10 minutes till most of the water drains away. Cool (I left it under a fan for 2-3 mins)

When the chenna is cool, knead / mash with your fingers and squash well. It must become a smooth mash like creamy mashed potatoes. Am not sure if this can be done in a blender, I just got one hell of a forearm workout!!

Divide into 12 equal parts, roll into smooth round balls and flatten slightly

While you wait for the whey to drain out of the curdled milk and then cool etc, add the cashew powder, cardamom powder, sugar and most of the saffron (keep some for garnishing) to the half litre of boiled milk. Cook till it thickens and check for sweetness and adjust. Dissolve the cornflour in a few tablespoons of water, slowly add this to the milk, stirring constantly. Cook till the milk mixture till it thickens. Should take about 3-4 minutes. Make sure you don’t stop stirring, and that the milk is in a really thick bottomed pan, to prevent it from burning.

to a pan, add the water and sugar and make a syrup, let it come to a rolling boil. cook the chenna balls in this for 5-6 mins till they float on top….dont crowd them in…..add only as many as your pan can accomodate leaving enough space for them to swim around……dont stir…as this will break them.

When the cheese / chenna balls are cooked, drop them into the milk mixture, and cook, gently moving them around for 3-4 minutes on low heat. (at this stage, instead of stove top,I transferred the contents to a glass bowl and cooked on high for 3 minutes in the microwave oven)

Let cool. Refrigerate, serve into individual bowls granish with a few strands of saffron and enjoy!!

Baking Escapade # 14 - Going Savoury for a Change with Veggie Crescents

I was so inspired when I saw this post of sunita’s that I scampered off to the kitchen to try them out….on previous occasions, I have had the urge to eat something savoury…and stuffed with some surprises……. and I ended up with a hole in my mouth…read about it here……so all the while, telling myself to count to 500 before I pop anything into my mouth, I read and re-read the recipe….

What I loved about this recipe is that it is so versatile and can be adapted to whatever vegetables are available on hand…given my temperamental stocking of groceries and vegetables, that is a big plus!! Yeast is a beast that has me all knotted up….maybe because the little boxes of yeast that are available here are all dowdy and packed in a most depressing shade of brown, making you wonder if it was made in the prehistoric ages…..anyways, you should see me watch eagle eyed, almost willing the damn pellets to froth up and overflow already!! It’s tragic-comic at the least….anyways, this recipe of Sunitha’s called for yeast…so I braced myself…but then I am not someone who accepts defeat easily if at all…..

The stuffing was made out of whatever I had on hand….which was loads of little bits of veggies….and minimal cheese….we’re trying to keep it healthy here….i used cheddar, but I think mozzarella will be awesome too…..we had them for dinner one night, and promptly the next day, made smaller ones and sliced diagonally to serve as starters / short eats….

adai - dosa’s cousin

i first had this at my in laws….amma makes it a point to cook up all of K’s favourites while we are visiting…and rest be assured that adai will be on the breakfast menu atleast twice….initially, for someone who felt even rava dosa was a contamination of dosas, it was a shock!! (ofcourse, now K claims that i can make a dosa out of water even!!………….quite a compliment me thinks!!) …..the flavours and texture of adai was so different from what i was used to….then i tried making friends and savouring the flavours instead of battling them…..i also don’t quite get the formula right because for me it is a matter of what is easily available on hand….so this isn’t true to the recipe that amma follows….I just throw together 2-3 dals in equal proportions with ½ cup of rice that’s it….it’s also a great way of using up the small measures of leftover dals….i love the convenience of a dal dosa, because there is no process of fermentation. the dals have to be soaked for a couple of hours and the batter when ground is ready to use immeditely. not just this, since it is full of lentils, it is high on proteins and makes for a filling a nutritious breakfast…..i also looked at and was immediately hooked on to shyam’s tomato chutney.… this is what we had the adai with, and a spot of kobbari kaaram….the combination is great and the tangy sharpness of the chutney really enhanced the flavour of the adai. So here goes…this one’s off to the dosa mela….in a sense I am kind of dreading the roundup….being the dosa freak that I am….i might want to try them all out!!

Pears in orange sauce with custard

i am not a procrastinator….more like a get it over and done with kind of person…….in-fact when people comment that i am very quick in the kitchen, i always think…..i don’t like to think of myself as someone who slaves in the kitchen….cooking or pottering around is a relaxing event for me….and i don’t think i would enjoy it as much if i spent eons of time….considering my span of attention is what it is (that of a flash and it will change!!) its a good thing that i don’t linger over anything…..but sometimes, its as if all the forces (including your enthusiasm) seem to work against you….while two weeks ago there was a flurry of activity in my kitchen and on my blog…its sort of gone back to its lazy pace again…. works been good, the heat’s been awful and i went without replenishing fruit and vegetables for the longest time since i began running a household!!

food events on blogosphere are something that i always fantasise i have enthusiastically taken part in….and finally fret that i have not been able to send in a single entry and make do with a Mooney look at all the round ups…. i was telling k that mostly my participation in a foodie blog event is going through the round up and bookmarking it for future use!!

but this was one i couldn’t miss….this singing chef, is hosting AFAM this month, and we’ve been striking such chords on chat, that i was in serious danger of getting my sorry behind flogged if i didn’t send in an entry…. the event which is fruit centred is the brainchild of Maheshwari of Beyond the Usual and this month it is pears.. … i had something on hand, but i felt it wasn’t befitting of the event she was hosting (i don’t know if what i came up with is….but well, its prettier at-least)….i think in the ‘nick of time’ is how i will think of this….albeit i discovered a dessert that can be put together pretty easily and is very versatile…that’s something that gains brownie points from me in a recipe……

i went through a lot of recipes on-line and finally did my own thing (as always!!)……..needless to say, i had to scrape the platter to serve up seconds!!

since the custard is yellow, i am sending this off to Barbara, she is a true representative of living life at its fullest….she’s hosting Livestrong with a taste of yellow in support of Livestrong day which is 13th of may….go over to show your support, and do post a recipe with yellow….

i guess i wont have the time to do something else for Monthly Mingle, Meeta’s fun event, this month guest hosted by Abby, the theme is Summer Fruit Sensations…..