Ungrateful…..No more…..

Be forewarned…..that this is a really long post….non food related and may be really the thing that puts your insomnia away!!

Before the ones who gave me the honor of some lovely blogging awards and tagged me for some nice meme’s think I am an ungrateful recipient, i had better acknowledge them…….

The Booky MeMe

My namesake, tagged me for a book meme in june……and I wanted to do it…..it was so different from all the other tags going around…..I just didn’t get down to doing it till now…..

The rules:

• Pick up the nearest book.
• Open to page 123.
• Find the fifth sentence.
• Post the next three sentences.
• Tag five people, and acknowledge the person who tagged you.

this passage is from a book called “ I do, Meditation for brides” by Ellen Sue Stern……i picked up in a second hand bookstore….i’d never heard of it….just flipped a couple of pages…dreading some “religious sermon types” and was pleasantly surprised……i spend my quiet mornings with this book….sometimes reading portions for 5-6 days because they are so delightful and full of worldly wisdom!! its made me see ever so clearly that there is humour, friendship, compassion, anger and frustration in marriage….apart from the love we seek…..it makes me cherish this partnership that i entered, and tells me to shut up and lay off when i am being pig headed……tells me to take a hike when k is too polite to do so!!

each day’s portion begins with a quote from sources as varied as indira gandhi to woody allen and mother theresa…..and ends with a statement of affirmation that is mostly tongue in cheek….

This is what page 123 threw up for me……

“We crank up the volume when we sense our words are falling on deaf ears. We pout, scream. Or stomp around until he takes the cotton out and starts responding. “

And I can’t resist typing out the next few lines as well….. “We shouldn’t have to work so hard to get his attention. We also shouldn’t endlessly cover the same ground without regard for his feelings”

i want to know what keeps you company……what books are lying around your den……i am tagging

Deeba: passionate about baking…..fiesty lady, energizer bunny and dear friend….which pages do you flip?

Arundathi: My Food Blog ……..Namesake, petnamesake!! Whats on your table to read?

Manggy: No Special Effects ……. i really want to know what you will dish out

Anitha: Mad Tea Party……it will be interesting to see what makes the cut here!!

Swapna : Cook n Craft….i’ve never known this one without a book….so this tag is crying out for her!!

Musical MeMe

Deeba, this feisty baker lady, tagged me for a musical meme…..here are the rules:

List seven songs you are into right now. No matter what the genre, whether they have words, or even if they’re not any good, but they must be songs you’re really enjoying now, shaping your spring. Post these instructions in your blog along with your 7 songs. Then tag 7 other people to see what they’re listening to.

I bet she thinks i am a compulsive complainer…..and wanted to know what I sing! Give me filmi…..or give me country……..that’s what puts me in my groove and i can’t get enough of Alan Jackson and Don Williams…… you know you are getting old when the only songs you like at a pub are the ones they play on “Retro Night”!! so here it is……when the raves and rants run out….this is what I sing!! Rather loudly …… with little regard to those who’s ear drums may tear!!

Remember when by alan jackson this song is such a complete love song…that for a mush junkie like me…..i can turn on the song and then reach for the tissues!!

Love is on a roll by Don Williams ……….. Great to hum when you are alone…..gives me goosebumps to think someone actually wrote these lyrics

Abba’s Dancing Queen…….one of the first groups I heard and immediately fell in love with….spent many hours in front of the mirror, hairbrush in hand, perfecting the moves!! Still puts a spring in my step…….

when you say nothing at all ronan keating……….I wonder if I like Ronan Keating because of this song, or the song because of Ronan!!

kabhi kabhi aditi by from jaane tu ya jaane na……flavour of the bollywood season….fresh faces and good performances in this teen flick….fabulous music by resident genius composer Rahman and sung by Raashid Ali

Taxi taxi from a r rahman…..Tamil grooves and moves….high energy for when I need a dose… …..this one is seasonal…but hey…I like seasonal!!

katra katra behta hai from ijaazat…..one of my all time favourites…if you can look before the fake sighing in the beginning!!….rekha…..gulzar and RDB!! Of course the singer too!! I’m singing this a lot these days….now that its been raining…..

I tag in return and want to know what gets you into the groove…..

Sig of live to eat, Raaga of the singing chef (with a name like that…how can I not!!), Mallika of quick indian cooking, Bellini Valli of More than burnt toast, Cynthia of tastes like home, Manisha of Indian food rocks, Nupur of One Hot Stove

i love you this much award

Deeba also gave me this award wayyyyyyyyyy back…….i thought better late than never to acknowledge this one……thanks babe….and the feeling’s mutual……I in turn want to pass this on to…..

Raaga, Sig, Kalyn, Amy

Blogging forever friend award

Swapna, fellow hosteller and reader of many books…also doting mom and closet crafter…..has given me two fabulous awards…one blogging forever friend award and one for good luck ….thanks babe……she’s so good for my ego….i would prescribe one of her kind to everyone out there…..she put me right along Martha Stewart as inspiration!! Wowie!! I have heard compliments and then some…..this one is way out of orbit…thanks swapna….

Here are the rules:

· Only 5 people are eligible for this award

· 4 of them followers of your blog

· One has to be new to your blog and live in another part of the world

· You must link back to whoever gave you this award

I’d like to pass this on to Raaga, Arundathi, Deeba, Nupur and Julia: a new reader from Australia who just left me a comment

MAGIC LAMP OF LUCK

Swapna, fellow hosteller and reader of many books…also doting mom and closet crafter…..has given me one fabulous award…for good luck ….thanks babe……she’s so good for my ego….i would prescribe one of her kind to everyone out there…..she put me right along Martha Stewart as inspiration!! Wowie!! I have heard compliments and then some…..this one is way out of orbit…thanks swapna….

The mighty Genie King and the beautiful Genie Princess from the magical Land of Faraway are back! Upon escaping the clutches of their Evil Master after being held captive for 1000 years, the magical genies have been busy flying on their Magical Flying Carpet granting wishes and spreading love throughout the blogosphere.

And now, the genies are back with a special gift for everyone! Behold the sacred,
Magic Lamp of Luck! With this magic lamp, your blog will enjoy much good luck and fortune, warding off all things evil lurking around in the blogosphere. We would like to share this magic lamp with you so please pass on the Magic Lamp of Luck to those in need of some good luck. Remember, do not be greedy or unkind, evil or vengeful and good luck & fortune will always be with you! Join us on another exciting magical adventure as we spread goodwill and good luck to one and all!

1. Add your site(s) to the list once you have received the Magic Lamp of Luck.

2. Pass on the Magic Lamp of Luck to as many people as you like. After all, everyone needs some good luck!

3. Leave a comment HERE once you’ve passed on the Magic Lamp of Luck. Once the Genie King and Genie Princess have visited your site to make sure your links are complete and proper, you will then be added to the Master List

4. To ensure everyone receives equal link benefit, please UPDATE your list regularly!

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I’d like to pass this on to…..Deeba, Raaga, Arundhati, Nandita and Srivalli

Pasta…the forgotten way

Ever since I began working from home, lunches consist of leftovers, or something quickly put together…..minus all the fuss, sometimes I continue working as I eat at the computer…..

err…no this is’nt a claim to an authentic pasta recipe…….on a break just before lunchtime, I chanced upon Aparna’s fabulous pasta salad…..just as I was going over the ingredients and other details of the recipe the power shut off…..all that remained in my mind, was how the dish looked….i came up with this, which is nothing like what Aparna made…..but she was my inspiration nonetheless….So this is my lunch of a few days ago…..the truly Forgotten way!!

It’s a filling meal for one……i tend to overload on the veggies to bulk up the dish and cut out carbs…..it helps me get my full serving of veggies without having anyone turn up their nose at me or painfully pick out the stuff they wont eat (if you haven’t realized by now that k can be a painfully fussy eater…then now you know)…..

this is off to Ammalu’s Kitchen for her herb mania – basil

Fake Subway Sandwiches

Baking with yeast is always an exercise of extreme nerves for me…..and don’t ask me why…I just feel unsettled…..and its not the yeasts fault….i take full responsibility for my cowardice……after bread and some buns….i tried my hand at making rolls, a little larger than the kinds that are used for hot dogs….and a few shaped as dinner rolls……the recipe was a basic brown bread recipe I saw in Goodhousekeeping…… the dinner rolls didn’t keep their shape after the second rise…..but the rolls did…..taste wise they were obviously the same…infact the whole exercise was just so I could make sandwiches, subway style…..

K and I can eat subway sandwiches for most of our meals…..and with all the other greasebowl options for takeaway or dine in around where we live….i was just thankful for the opening of the subway station…..so much so, that for the first month after opening, we were going there every other day!! I love sandwiches and can live on them…..but k wasn’t very enthu about them…..except for the subs that is….so armed with a few sauces and dressings…I worked my way through….but then I am always worried about the extra salt and oil and other stuff that I and he have no business eating…..

I made what I call “fake mayo” with hung yoghurt, crushed mustard and salt for seasoning…..and used a spicy tomato chutney that was on hand (we’d earlier had this with idlies) instead of loading on the sauces…..the result was a fresh and really fantastic sandwich…..minus the guilt….

The next afternoon, I sliced the bread roll in half and made an open sandwich for my lunch….almost the same way, omitting the yogurt spread(there wasn’t any and I was too lazy to make it again) and adding a few freshly shredded thai basil leaves……this I nuked in the micro for 15 seconds…..

this is off to Aparna, her diverse kitchen is hosting Bread Baking Day (BBD), an event started by Zorra at 1x umrühren bitte, dedicated to getting bread makers together every month……..Bread Baking Day # 12 the theme this month is Small Breads……

The best Shrikhand there is ……Jaiphal Shrikhand

sorry Aparna, for not posting this on time

i made this a couple of weeks ago….and don’t ask me why i didn’t post….. its the same story with many other missed deadlines for many foodie events…..i can write another few posts on that…..

shrikhand is one of the most wholesome and yet easy desserts that can be made…..while there are many kinds….both home made and commercial, with dry fruit, fresh fruit and various flavourings…….splattered with nuts and / or slivered fruit….. Jaiphal or Nutmeg Shrikhand is my absolute favourite, without any embelleishments, becuase quite frankly it doesnt need any of those…..and for this, i can fight off any number of people that disagree with me….i mean its pretty simple…..just feed them a spoon……

this is off to Aparna’s Diverse Kitchen, which is guest hosting “Think Spice – Think Nutmeg” this month, this event is the brainchild of Sunita

to make this

2 cups hung / greek yogurt ( i used low fat)

4 T powdered sugar

1/2 t finely grated nutmeg powder

mix all of the ingredients together till well incorporated. chill and serve. i added more grated nutmeg for the picture…..what is given in the recipe is sufficient to flavour it.

Dosakaya pappu

After the sophisticated orange zest cupcakes with chocolate ganache…all dressed up to party somewhere hip, i crash land back to earth with the very earthy and comforting dal….in one of its many avatars………….I was always amazed at the array of lentils that would be cooked in our home as a child….and thought my mother and peddi were some sort of magicians who could stun us with their cooking….

Packed dabba lunches mostly meant rotis and vegetables, lunch times on Saturdays used to be special. Sunday lunches were usually more fancy cooking, the pulavs with a non vegetarian side dish lavished with a rich gravy….but on Saturdays, it would be basic and almost rustic…as we would have some kind of dal along with steaming hot rice and ghee, with papad on the side, we’d never even miss a vegetable if there was none….comfort food at its best….

Dosakaya pappu or lentils cooked with cucumber is a hot favourite…..spicy, tangy and absolutely yummy….paired to perfection with steaming hot rice, ghee and pickle…..whats even better, is that it is very easy and fuss free to make……that makes it a dish after my own lazy heart!!

Packed with protein, this Dal is my entry to eat healthy – protein rich hosted at Art of Cooking Indian Food.

For the dosakaya pappu

2/3 c tuvar dal (arhar or kandi, washed and soaked in water for 10 mins

2 cups of cucumber the oval and yellow indian variety/ dosakaya, deseeded and cut into one inch cubes ( I cook it with the skin, peel if you prefer it skin less)

1 t red chilly powder

¼ t turmeric powder

A pinch of asafetida

Salt to taste

2 T tamarind extract

For the tadka

1 T oil

¼ t mustard seeds

10-12 curry leaves

2-3 dried red chillies

In a pressure cooker, add the washed tuvar dal, cucumber pieces, red chilly powder, turmeric, asafetida and 1 ½ cups of water and cook for 3-4 whistles or till the lentils are cooked.

Open and mix well. Use the back of a spoon to mash the lentils. In a small vessel, heat the oil and splutter the mustard seeds, add the red chillies and fry for a few seconds till they are beginning to turn brown, add the curry leaves. Add this to the cooked lentils, add the salt and tamarind extract and simmer for 3-4 minutes. Add a little water to get the consistency of choice, though it is best when slightly thick. Enjoy with steaming hot rice and ghee.

Vanilla-Orange zest cup cakes with Chocolate Ganache

I have been going cupcake crazy since a while now….and Iove baking these little cups of joy….however, since I don’t live life by the blog….most of what I have been making never makes it here anyways…..its a joyous thing to have them demolished as soon as they are out of the oven (which is happening most of the time) and there is absolutely no chance to take pictures etc…..

these I made to take to a friend’s place and though both k and I like ours plain, on this occasion I dressed them up with some chocolate ganache piped onto it because they were meant for someone else…..the long and short of the story is that we got to honour the invitation we had…..something else came up and we had to cancel…..but thanks to the intended visit, the cupcakes got all dressed up and photographed

pink jimmies on chocolate curls

i went a little berserk with the icing bag in hand!!

While I love doing different things with cupcakes like adding fruit or nuts or different flavours, this time I stuck to plain vanilla with some orange peel….the recipe is from joyofbaking it called for lemon zest which i didnt have on hand (damn bottled lemon juice) so i added orange zest which i had….. it was so comforting and the flavours so uncluttered! The verdict was two thumbs up!!

Happy Birthday!! err Belated………..

The familiar feeling of breaking out into cold panic stricken sweat when you know you have forgotten something vital, doesn’t happen to me that often anymore……I’ve over the years realized that much of what we think is life altering….isn’t so actually…. I could never remember to bring the right text book to class…..when the teacher would ask us to take out our english grammar book, I would rummage in my bag only to find I carried the poetry text…..and then break into cold sweat…..did I also mention that I was painfully shy and would never be able to muster the courage to ask my ‘bench mate’ if I could share their book…..forgotten homework, forgotten games uniform, forgotten test dates, even once forgetting that the scheduled exam was social studies and not science that I had studied for!

I can never remember where I kept the receipt of the electricity bill….and in one shot have “misplaced” my school certificates, voter’s id and driver’s license….which I still haven’t “found”…….forgotten birthdays and anniversaries are another story and will be an unending one……so let me not even get there!! Sure I can always say that I am not the kind who believes in “date wise celebration”……I am more of a “celebrate when in the mood for a celebration” kind of person….and it suits me just fine!!

So let’s just say that forgetting things is part of my DNA…I wouldn’t recognize myself if this changed!! And in a bid to better this trait , I have trained myself to be a little better organized…………I have to do’s and lists and reminders…..and I pretty much try and finish vital stuff immediately so that I don’t forget and screw up!!

Why am I telling you all this?? Because sometime last week I realized that I have been blogging for over a year now……how did I remember?? It was around my birthday last year that I began posting with a little regularity though I started this blog in march……I turned a year older last week…..and as a result also remembered that Escapades too turned one in the very recent past!!

I had been reading several blogs for a whole lot longer than I would like to acknowledge…..totally in awe of what I saw….and often spent time trying to figure out what kind of people wrote them….what they would be like… like a star struck fan….exotic people who whipped up terribly creative stuff, took fantastic pictures, and wrote such good prose…….so even after I began blogging here, for a long time, whenever I posted something, I did so gingerly……like an imposter…..like someone would shoo me away…..i remember the ecstasy when I got my first comment …. when the hit counter registered the first thousand visits to my world……I crossed several milestones since…..i wondered if I should celebrate the number of posts and the number of modest hits……but I guess I haven’t outgrown my painfully shy self, despite the façade….. I still have a really long way to go…..but i feel almost compelled to acknowledge this year gone by…..

I am still nowhere near what I want this to be….infact I don’t quite know what I want it to be…..I remember just wanting to have a url in my name, and I couldn’t do it on another blogging portal and so I turned to wordpress…..i had no idea about widgets, hit counters and category clouds…..i still don’t claim to know very much more than when I began…..

However, this spot in cyber space has become many things to me…..Escapades, really is my getaway….where I have spent obsessive hours in front of the laptop, and sometimes gone without a trace for weeks on end…..it has taught me many lessons….but most importantly, it has allowed me to be myself……to come here and write what I want to….……

Personally and importantly it has helped me shed several ill begotten notions about many things……food sort of does that to you…opens up many worlds……breaks barriers real and imagined………..it has made me a definitely better cook…..it has broadened my vision about food, the people who toil to put it on my table, the ones who cook it and the flavours that burst through your senses……it has made me more sensitive to the world I live in….it makes me think about what I buy and consume and how and from where and at what cost…..

Blogging has infused a lot of joy and happiness into my world…..and somehow calmed me……all my life I had battled people who had some really weird notions about my “type”……the kind who try to put you in a box and stick a label…..This made me so mad!!……I think Escapades has made me calmer now….because I just channel all that energy here…… on the way I have met people I now call friends …..i have received gifts, had a peek into the lives of many I admire, and discovered many more blogs whose writers are people of serious talent……plagued some of them with unending questions that they have always answered gracefully…..

And all the while Escapades imposes nothing on me….i come here to write and post as I want ….yes at some point I did obsess over it, but that too taught me that if I turned this into a chore, it would just die on me……

Coming to think of it, I didn’t think I would last this long……

So cheers to you Escapades and Happy birthday……… I am really sorry you are totally at my mercy!! And thank you all – friends, bloggers and readers for coming here and stopping for a while!!

Let’s just say this is love at first bite – Veggie Fingers!!

I am one of those who doesn’t believe that chips are “har program ka main food” and I am always looking for alternatives to be served as finger food …..k for one loves snacks that have aloo…..especially if it has a crumb crust…..but who doesn’t? Something that is crunchy on the outside and a burst of flavours tucked into the warm insides, is a match made in heaven……..recently, I bought a pack of ready made vegetable fingers from the grocery and we enjoyed these as snacks….these came in a pack and all I had to do was snip the bag, fry the fingers and in less than 10 mins I was ready to sit down and enjoy a conversation…..unfortunately the bag came with just 8 pieces and was over before we could spell V-E-G-G-I-E- F-I-N-G-E-R-S

So a few days ago, I wondered if I could make my own veggie fingers….. I had almost everything I thought I needed…again I used my favourite wonder product aloo mash…but fresh boiled potatoes would do just as well I am sure….i wanted to make them and freeze them, so when we next needed them, all I had to do was take them out of the freezer and into a hot pan with some oil.

The whole exercise from start to freeze took little over 20 minutes and what I had on hand was two dozen of them…(the plate I set them on accommodated only twenty). I packed them into a box and into the freezer where I suppose I can store it for atleast a couple of months though am sure they wont last long. I have already made another batch and for less than a third of what I spent on the readymade product, I got three times as many as I would be able to buy in a single pack. This made sense to me because I used the flakes and all I had to do was mix together the ingredients, shape and bread the fingers and freeze. Apart from being served as a snack….the fingers can double up as an accompaniment to dinner!!

Veggie fingers (makes 24 veggie fingers)

1 ½ c aloo mash flakes (or 1 ½ cup of boiled and mashed potato)

½ c green peas

½ c grated carrot

1 t ginger and garlic paste

2 T chick pea flour (besan)

1 c water

1 t red chilli powder

1 T lime juice

Salt to taste

2/3 c + 2 T bread crumbs

In a microwave safe bowl, place the grated carrot and green peas and zap on high for 2 mins.

To this, add the potato flakes, red chilli powder, bread crumbs, ginger garlic paste, salt and lime juice and adding enough water, mix to a consistency where you can make a tight ball of the mixture without it crumbling. Add a little more bread crumbs and water to bind it well.

Divide into walnut sized balls, roll between your palms and flatten slightly.

Mix the chickpea flour with 3-4 T of water and make sure there are no lumps.

Place about 2 T of breadcrumbs on a plate. Dip the fingers into the chickpea batter and then roll in the crumbs to coat well on all sides.

Set aside on a plate / tray. Repeat till all the veggie fingers are breaded.

Leave to dry for about 5-10 minutes before storing in a freezer bag or container.

If serving immediately, heat 2 T oil in a frying pan / griddle and fry on medium heat till golden brown.

Serve hot with mint chutney / tomato sauce / onion rings with a dash of lime juice. Enjoy!!

Trifle pudding

Amma and her sister peddi were big clippers and collectors of recipes…..peddi worked as the Assistant Librarian of a huge library and often, magazines and periodicals trashed by the library would make it to the house….also at church there was a library run by the womens group….people would borrow books and magazines and also donate what they had already read…..plus there were the recipes in the daily newspapers…..womens weekly, womens world and some other foreign magazines I vividly remember…..i think somewhere on my loft, still is an ageing file with yellowing cutouts from years of this indulgence…..Not just recipes, they would collect knitting patterns, sewing projects and household tips…

Every once in a not so often while we’d have western style puddings, cakes, stewed fruit, jams and marmalades, casseroles, meatloaf, roast etc….….(they said it helped preserve the excitement and exclusivity of the preparation….but I think it was more to do with the time they had and the availability of ingredients….) we’d eagerly wait for a festive occasion, birthdays in particular cos we could request what we wanted….and hope that foreign returning relatives would be invited for a meal where the food laid out would be kicked up a few notches to suitably impress the relatives!! I always loved this extra dressed up meal….the stainless steel utensils would be swapped for my grandmother’s precious dinner set(the guests had to be really important to get this out of the cupboard!!)…or sundry glass bowls would make an appearance …. What we would be eating from was fully dependent on who would be eating with us!!

In all of this, trifle puddings were my absolute favourite…I think it was because it contained almost 4 of my favourite desserts….cake, custard, jelly and fruit!! Think amma also chose it based on the fact that most of it could be made the previous day, and two of them, the jelly and custard is made from a packet….. and simply assembled in a jiffy when needed…..infact the cake would be made a couple of days earlier ..…. I’d hang on…under the guise of “helping”….watching hawk like if any goldspot (fizzy orange drink like fanta….made in india, but the company was bought over by coco cola) was left in the bottle so I could get a few sips…. (no we grew up not surrounded by fizzy drinks…it was a really rare treat)…..extra custard, extra jelly and fruit would be devoured….all this for peeling a few oranges and apples!! I think I developed my sweet jaw from childhood, because I don’t have many memories of food….though all good….but I distinctly remember occasions by the desserts served….and I would wolf down my food (getting as subtle as possible glares from amma) and wait impatiently for dessert…… I think I can choke on the memories (not the custard silly) every time I make a trifle pudding!!

This one was made when we had some friends over for dinner….i could have avoided the cream looking like a lump on top had i not squirted it directly from the carton!! in the hurry to finish taking a picture, I didn’t get the best ones….orange flavoured jelly is my favourite….i siphoned off the leftovers and substituted them for dinner on two consecutive nights!!

Aloo and cheese paranthas with yogurt dip

One dish dinners are my favourite…..err….dishes that dont use rice or pasta too can be one dish right?? On week nights when minimum fuss needs to be endowed upon the kitchen, aloo paranthas to the rescue….they used to be a rare treat when we were growing up, but thanks to that wonder product called aloo mash, and if you have chappati dough on hand, these can be whipped up in no time at all….i added a little grated cheddar cheese to these paranthas because I was feeling particularly happy with the yoghurt dip I churned up……i’d been eying anitha’s recipe for ages now…but as always got down to making it at a time that i least expected to……..it was thick and yummy and i think will make agreat bread spread too…that i guess i will keep for another day!!……..Piping hot, straight off the griddle, aloo paranthas always disappear faster than I give them credit for…..

The paranthas are off to Valli’s roti mela…..its going to be a stampede at the round up!!