Shake it the Sharjah way!!

the thing about living in a hostel when you are a student living too far away from your hometown to be able to go back and forth during long weekends is, it exposes you to many things…..some good, some not so….but everything teaches you a lesson that you will never forget for the rest of your life……so the longish weekends I’d have at my disposal, I spent accepting every invitation from friends and classmates to visit their homes……the memories and experiences and some of the pictures that I managed are priceless……it also gave me the fabulous opportunity to partake of many meals lovingly prepared, many conversations and a peek into other people’s lives……..

The first time I visited kerala, was on one such weekend…..i remember it was the easter weekend….and I had my first full scale exposure to the heat, humidity, food, people and festivals of this state…..i was in love!! I can recall almost everything that I did those three days…..the food I ate and the walks on the beaches…..i also first sipped a milkshake in a beer mug!! Sharjah shake …… I don’t know how this drink got this name……I have asked around and checked on the internet….haven’t found any conclusive information….suffice to say that the intriguing name apart, this is one must do – must taste when one is in God’s own country…….apparently the birth of this drink happened in Calicut, circa unknown….and its popularity is spreading all over the state….. the ingredients are simple and available in abundance……made of milk and bananas, and frozen milk that gives it an amazing consistency, it makes for a refreshingly cool

indulgence that good for your bones too……sharjah shake is my entry to Beautiful Bones: an Osteoporosis Food Event, hosted by the lovely Food blogga Susan……the event calls for a calcium rich recipe to be made and posted in the month of may which is the osteoporosis awareness month…….milk is a rich source of calcium and so are bananas…..so Susan, this is being whipped up specially for you!!

To make the Sharjah Shake to serve two in regular glasses or one in a beer mug!!

(This is my version with lesser sugar)

500 mls frozen milk (I used low fat)

2 ripe bananas (about 1 cup of slices)

1-2 t sugar

A pinch of powdered cardamom seeds

1T bournvita (substitute with boost/ drinking chocolate or any malt / chocolate based drink)

In a blender jar, add all of the above ingredients and blend till everything is well incorporated and liquefied. Pour into glasses and serve immediately.

Seasonal twist on an old favourite

i have had the most hectic few weeks in a long time…..sometimes barely being able to meet deadlines and other commitments…..its been a roller coaster….and now that its over….i miss it all!! i miss my momma!!

one of the nicest things about having your mother around is all the food…cooked and served up!! plus there is all the shopping and the talking that goes on without a break!!

with the summers here and my attempt to try and eat what is seasonal (but that is an oxymoron these days!! strawberries in the summer and mangoes in sept!!) i find myself making this chutney a couple of times a week atleast while raw mangoes are still available…..it puts a twist on our favourite idli and dosai accompaniment of fresh coconut chutney and gives it quite a flavour kick!! even k who isnt particulary fond of sour stuff was seen reaching for refills…..tangy, spicy and just the right dose of colour, green mango and coconut chutney is my entry to WBB#22 - May Mango Madness that has come to perch at Escapades for thi s edition after spreading its wings from Saffron Trails where its genesis lies.

WBB#22 Announcement - May Mango Madness

all images in this post courtesy wikimedia commons

Melting moments of May have turned up the heat a notch higher…..Weekend Breakfast Blogging, the event started by the lovely doctor at Saffron trail, stops by at Escapades this month. Yes!! WBB# 22 will spring to you from here…..

The brightest spot in the scorching summer is reserved for the king of fruits – the mango!! That’s what makes the summer all so worth it……summers become mango centric…..when life is all about harvesting, storing, buying, pickling, ripening and digging into this luscious fruit……

Weekend Breakfast Blogging #22 – May Mango Madness

Mangoes – the national fruit of India (and Pakistan, Bangladesh and Philippines – source Wikipedia), is said to have a mention in the Ramayana and Mahabharata…..the mango is believed to be a native of india though it is prolifically grown in most south Asian countries…..a tropical fruit with more than 30 species, the mango is a rich source of nutrients, particularly high vitamins A, C and E and is also a rich source of dietary fiber and carbohydrates. While pages and pages can be written about the taste and texture of the luscious ripe fruit, the raw form of the fruit is also put to use in pickles, chutneys , dried and used as a souring agent (aam chur) etc.

So put fish out your thinking caps then (I doubt it will be needed though)…..and join me in the may mango madness…..send in your recipes which have mangoes as the focal point in a breakfast preparation(vegetarian including eggs)….cooked, raw, sliced, grated, pulped, pureed, cut or squashed….Mangoes of any variety, used in any form…..cakes, muffins, breakfast breads, cookies, beverages, salads, chutneys, salsas…..and am sure much much more that can be done with this king of fruit….. Bring it on….the rules for WBB#22 – May Mango Madness are as below. There is no limit on the number of entries…so go ahead…flood my inbox!!

Guidelines:

• The deadline is Saturday, May 31st and I’ll post the round up on Wednesday, June 4th 2008
• Post a breakfast recipe in the month of May, with Mango in any of its avatars as the main ingredient
• Send in your entries with the following details to arundati.rao(at)gmail(dot)com, with WBB#22 - May Mango Madness in the subject line
• Do send me your name, blog name, the name of the recipe, permalink of the post and a picture of your creation
• Do link back your post to this announcement and feel free to use the logo

For the roundup of WBB#21 - microwave cooking head over here hosted by 100% Microwave Cooking

all images in this post courtesy wikimedia commons

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!!

P’s Chole

Every once in a while, you discover something that surprises you and makes you so happy that you walk around the whole day like a giddy drunk person, with a smile that refuses to go away plastered over the face……like a movie you were dying to watch a few years / months ago appears on TV on the day you are home alone with “absolutely nothing to do”, a call from someone who has been reading your blog…a real call that says nice things about you….the top you were screaming out of fits miraculously and you “haven’t done anything to lose weight”…..i could go on and on and am sure you’d mind…but you get the drift??

So forever I have tried to make chole and rajma and sometimes it turns out better than the last….. K doesn’t like any of the above mentioned….so I cant rely on his feedback either when I venture into this area….and then came diwali and P my neighbor / friend…actually more friend…neighbor is incidental….sent us a bowl of the “most awesome chole” she’d made for diwali…..K just walloped it and I was amazed…since this doesn’t happen very often and I was anyways on the lookout for “the recipe” I bugged her with my book in tow a few days later and as she wrestled to put her toddler to bed, I extracted the recipe out of her….. The usual “some onions, a little ginger garlic” was met with “how many onions?? Big, medium or small…… how much Ginger-garlic? Chopped or whole or paste” such are the ways of food bloggers…can’t help!!

I made the chole on Sunday with puris (yes I know I have been deep frying all the way to heavy hip hell) but some things in life are just meant to be…I don’t think I would be posting this so enthusiastically if I’d had the chole with say bread….it turned out great….and here I am with the recipe…..kind courtesy P. and the puris did puff up, but lost shall we say steam by the time i got down to taking the pictures!! the recipe is as narrated so may seem long drawn….once the masalas are on hand its actually very simple….and yes i did walk around the whole day like a giddy drunk person, with a smile that refuses to go away plastered over my face…

this goes to Anjali’s Chole Mela (thanks Srivalli for telling me) and to Easy crafts for the Powerless Cooking Event.