Stream of Consciousness..

We have moved

2009-11-14T10:39:00.000-08:00

We have redesigned our website and moved to a new domain and new look. Clicking on the image will take you to the new website if you are not automatically redirected in 10 seconds.All posts have been transferred to the new site.

Sunday's with Marlena Spieler - Libyan Spicy Pumpkin Dip

2009-11-08T00:20:00.000-08:00

Sunday's with Marlena Spieler is a fun project that three of us will continue till we finish cooking the complete cookbook called Jewish Cooking by Marlena Spieler. The cook book is educative to start with, giving the reader a peep into the history and tradition of the Jews.

This is a Sephardi dip from a Libyan Jewish restaurant. I have made a few changes to the recipe- can I restrain myself from doing that, Nah!.

Jews who settled in lberian peninsula (Modern Spain & Portugal) are called Sephardi Jews. Living in distant lands and mingling with different cultures, a cuisine emerged with influences from these regions. Sephardi cooking uses olive oil, garlic and fresh herbs.

The original recipe called for ground ginger,cumin and curry powder. I decided to use fresh ginger. When I saw curry powder, I started researching on what spices make a curry powder and some of the common ingredients were cardamom, turmeric powder, coriander seeds, cumin seeds and cayenne. I made my own :), ( 1 T- cardamom seeds, 1 T- Cumin, 1/2 tsp- Coriander seeds. Dry roast the three spices and powder along with cayenne and turmeric)

This recipe is perfect for Thanksgiving and to use your left over pumpkin from Halloween.

Olive Oil- 2 T

Red Onion - 1/2, finely chopped

Garlic- 5 pods, minced

Pumpkin- 1 1/2 lbs, peeled and chopped

Fresh ginger- 1/4 tsp, minced

Curry Powder- 1 tsp

Canned Tomatoes- 1/4 cup

Jalapeno- 1, finely chopped ( I did not remove seeds)

Lemon Juice- 2 tsp

Cilantro - 1 tsp, finely chopped

Heat oil in a saute pan, add onion and garlic.
Cook until the onion turn soft, immediately add the pumpkin and cover with a lid. Let it cook on medium low for about 15 minutes.
Add rest of the spices and cook for about 2-3 minutes.
Stir in the canned tomatoes and cook until the water has completely evaporated.
When the pumpkin is tender, mash the pumpkin coarsely with a masher.
Squeeze lemon juice over the pumpkin and stir well.
Check for seasonings and adjust per taste.
Garnish with chopped cilantro.

I served the dip with pita bread. We simply loved this dip. I would eat this even with a steaming cup of rice.

You can buy Marlena's cookbook here. For more fun recipes from Marlena's cook book , check Mel & Eileen's blog.

An Update

2009-11-01T23:30:00.000-08:00

Hello Everyone, There are no good reasons for our laziness to blog. We enjoyed the warm summer with a few trips- Cascade Falls in Lake Tahoe, Camping@ Burney Falls, a weekend getaway to Mammoth Lake. Each of these trips were memorable and loads of fun.

I am not making lame promises of "trying to be more regular", because now I have made a commitment to blog every Sunday with two of my good buddies. This is how it started ..Mel posts on her FB (Melody- Beginning my effort to cook my way thru this cookbook...and blog about it. Bet that is a new concept!) , Eileen & I start talking with Mel and we decided to do it together,that simple! So the cookbook we are going to cook our way through is Marlena Spieler’s Jewish Cooking . Thanks Mel, for letting us join you:) in this culinary journey and lessons about Jewish culture and cuisine.

This is going to be fun learning experience for all of us and a fantastic way for our friendship to grow. We have all gone through the cook book, devoured every page with our eyes and have divied up the recipes amongst us. The cook book is truly enjoyable and while some are familiar, there are a few I have never heard about. So watch for our posts every Sunday. More about it here & Eileen will post soon after she takes care of the newest addition in her daughter's family. We will try to make you proud, Marlena!

An update from Rajesh

My attempt at gardening this year started quite late in the year , and was using some seeds that I had saved off a heirloom tomato that Shankari's student gave her last year. This was my first attempt at saving the seed, and as I was quite unsure of the germination rate to expect I used all the seeds that I had saved off. I think I had a 100% success rate and replanted seedlings. We also picked up a few thai pepper plants from the farmers market for a buck and I experimented with DIY grow bag made out of recycled juice containers.

I am harvesting both tomatoes and thai green chillies now. Not too bad for the minimal attention I have given the plants. Watering regularly was the only work done.What surprises me that the plants are still flowering and producing new fruit. I did get some unwelcome visitors. No pesticides were used to keep pests out. I might use BT (Bacillus thuringiensis) next year. The size of the crawler was quite amazing, some how the pic I uploaded through picasa did not make it and I will need to manually upload the pics.

I neglected the real plants & blogging playing farmville, but that is now past. Look at the size of the green bugger, I have a quarter as reference. He It (If I said he BEE from jugalbandi would be sure to ask how I could be so sure its a he) was quite fiesty when I plucked it off my plant.

In any case, I am still having some chillies and tomatoes inspite of the weather fluctuating between 40 and 75 and this is real harvest compared to virtual crops on farmville.

Spicy Corn Soup with Jalapenos & Roasted Bell Pepper

2009-10-14T11:25:00.000-07:00

When the weather is stormy, winds blowing and leaves are strewn all over the place., the only type of food that beckons me is soup and mind you, it should be spicy and hot. Soup has the tendency to warm your heart and soul. I am trying to empty my refrigerator before I buy the next round of veggies. I had four cobs of corn, one bell pepper, one green tomato and a couple sticks of celery. So here is the recipe. You don't have to worry about the size and shape when you chop them, coz they are going to blended anyway :) Olive oil- 1 T Garlic- 1 tsp, chopped Corn- 4, scraped from the cob Red Bell Pepper - 1 Green Tomato- 1 Celery- 1 cup, chopped Thai Red Chilly- 2, chopped Pickled jalapenos- 1 tsp Stock or water- 4 cups Basil- 1 tsp, finely chopped Salt & Pepper- to taste

Roast bell pepper or use the bottled kind, if you are in a particularly lazy mood ( I roasted mine directly over the gas stove flame and then let in rest in a brown bag, before I removed the skin off)
Heat a saute pan and add oil. When the oil is hot, saute garlic for 30 seconds.
Stir in the corn, green tomato, celery and red chilly and stir well.
Allow it cook for about 5 minutes.
In the meanwhile, peel the skin off the bell pepper and roughly chop it.
Add the pickled jalapenos, roasted bell pepper , salt and pepper.
Add the stock and bring it a boil.
you can either use a hand blender or transfer the contents to a blend and blend until it is smooth in texture.
Transfer back to the saute pan and let the soup simmer for another 5 minutes, check for seasoning and garnish with basil.
Serve with warm garlic bread.

Curried Chicken Salad

2009-08-14T08:50:00.000-07:00

The first time I had this kind of a salad was when my friend, Cyndi made this for July 4th block party. R & I both loved it and as always, I asked for her the recipe. She gave it to me, I made it a couple of times and then lost the recipe. This is what I came up with . And yes, I know this recipe calls for curry powder, but who claimed this recipe was Indian??:) wink wink

Curried Chicken Salad

Oil – 1 T

Onion – 1 cup, Sliced

1 rotisserie chicken, skin removed and meat chopped or shredded & chilled

Celery- 1 cup, chopped

Grapes – 1 cup (mix green and purple)

Mango- 1 cut in small cubes

Ginger- 1 tsp, grated

Dressing

1 1/2 cups plain Greek Yogurt

Mango Chutney- 1 tsp

Curry paste/powder- 2 tsp (add more or less per your taste)

Salt & pepper – to taste

Garnish

Slivered Almonds- ½ cup

Roasted Sunflower seeds- ¼ cup

Heat a sauté pan with oil and cook the onions until they turn golden brown.
Set it aside in a bowl and let it cool.
In a bowl, mix all the ingredients for the dressing and whisk well.
Add the onions and the rest of the ingredients and stir gently.
Garnish with almonds and sunflower seeds and serve chilled or at room temperature.

Jicama,Cucumber, Watermelon and Orange Salad

2009-07-20T07:23:00.000-07:00

The temperatures have been soaring here ( we are talking triple digits here) and I have no inclination to stand in front of the stove. We try to cook early in the morning and if we miss that, then we make do with salads, sandwiches, fruit juices etc.

We love the crispness of Jicama, but have never used it myself. This is a refreshing salad and I love that Jicama does not turn soft or soggy even after you refrigerate the salad and have it after a day or two.

English Cucumber - 1
Jicama- 1 cup
Watermelon- 2 cups, Chopped in large chunks
Orange - 1/2 an orange, cut in segments
Orange Juice- Juice the other half
Orange Zest- 1/4 tsp
Basil- 2 tsp ( I used Daregal)
Sugar- 1/2 tsp
Sea salt - to taste

We used the pampered chef Julienne peeler to peel Jicama and English cucumber. It has perfect texture, size and consistency when you use it and most importantly looks pretty!

In a bowl, whisk orange juice, orange zest, sugar, basil and salt well.
Toss all the other ingredients and stir gently.
Check for seasonings and adjust to your taste.

Serve chilled!

Can a recipe be even simpler?Stay cool!

I missed my early morning mark to cook since I was blogging, so leftovers today:)
Updated with link to what Jicama is for those unfamiliar to this tuberous root.

Dolled Up Dill on TV

2009-07-13T15:17:00.000-07:00

When we hear of near and dear ones fighting cancer- the emotions we got through typically is that of fear, sadness and mostly a helpless feeling- wondering what we can do to ease their pain and fears.

We have been experiencing this a lot in the last two years. Close family members, friends and blogger friends trying to fight this disease. We take food over,call them, email jokes to them to put a smile on their face, but still go through this turmoil of what we can do more. I know for a fact that I do NOT have the brains to find a cure for cancer..darn, wish I had paid more attention in class, but what can I do about it now.

So how can I help? Do what I love doing - (drum roll please)- Cooking!! And if that can help me win a contest, God Bless you Daregal Gourmet. I came up with a simple recipe, posted it and all of you kindly voted and ta dah! I won the contest and the money goes to Susan G Komen, Race for the Cure. Thanks to all of you who voted for me. I won $500 and Daregal Gourmet was kind enough to match my donation. So I presented a check of $1000 to the Executive Director of Susan G Komen, Donna Sanderson today.

Giving is not just about money, as John D Rockefeller Jr said "Think of giving not as a duty, but as a privilege"

It could be a hug, or a meal, or an offer to baby sit, a ride to the hospital. If you are not sure ask them. What might seem tiny or insignificant might make a big difference.

At the end of the segment, Mark was giving away preview tickets to Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Thank you Mark Allen!

On another note, again related to cooking, here are a few of my upcoming classes.

Sacramento Natural Foods Co-o p
July 25th 2009, 10am-12:30pm
Seasonal Indian Recipes

channa dal with green mango salad—split chick pea, bell peppers and green mango with a hint of spice;
Grilled paneer—paneer marinated in spices and grilled
Grilled corn with spicy butter
Pea soup with ginger,
Fresh squash with ginger.

Tuesday, July 28th@ WholeFoods, Sacramento.

Indian Summer Faire,6:00 p.m. $45

Learn to make memorable side dishes that will delight your palate and dazzle your guests. Includes a discussion of Indian spices. Menu: Spiced Chick Pea and Spinach Salad, Eggplant grilled and sautéed with Indian spices - a perfect dip with naan or pita chips, Green Beans sautéed with garlic and a dash of heat, Grilled Corn with spicy butter, and Cracked Wheat Kheer- a chilled healthy dessert with cardamom and ground almonds.

July 30th - 6:00pm - 8:30pm ,Sacramento Natural Foods Co-o p

Explore the exotic flavors of African cuisine with Shankari! You’ll learn simple and delicious recipes from various and diverse countries in this vast continent.

Ethiopian Flavors class

Savory spiced chicken
Ethiopian couscous
Spicy lentil stew.
Ethiopian spiced butter
Berbere, traditional Ethiopian spice mixture.



x All Recurrences Single Recurrence

YEE HAW from Folsom

2009-07-03T01:55:00.000-07:00

Garcinia mangostana

2009-06-30T15:10:00.000-07:00

Wild rice salad

2009-06-11T10:18:00.000-07:00

Thanks to everyone for you who voted for me. More info here

Wild rice – 1 cup

Vegetable Stock – 2 ¼ cups
Olive Oil – 2 T

Garlic – 1 clove, minced

Shallots – ½ cup, chopped

Red Bell Pepper – 1 cup, diced

Cumin Powder – ½ tsp

Candied Pecan – ½ cup
Carrot – 1 cup, grated

Dried cranberries – ½ cup

Firm Ripe Mango – 1 cup, Cut in large chunks
Salt and Pepper

Method

Add vegetable stock in heavy bottomed pan with a lid. When it comes to a boil, add the wild rice and let it cook covered on medium low for 40- 45 or until the rice is cooked completely.
Stir the rice frequently so that it does not stick to the bottom of the pan.
Set the rice aside.
Heat a sauté pan with olive oil. When the oil is hot, stir in the garlic and shallots and cook until the shallot turn translucent.
Add the red bell pepper and cumin powder. Cook for another minute. Turn off the stove.
Add the cooked rice to the sauté pan and mix it all well
Stir in the candied pecans, grated carrots and cranberries and mix well so that they are well incorporated. Transfer to a large serving bowl.
Check for seasonings. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Garnish with mango and serve.

Serve at room temperature or chilled.

Dolled up Roasted Dill Potatoes

2009-05-03T17:13:00.000-07:00

Update:

I have entered this recipe for a contest- please vote for me here.

The prize money is $500 and if I win this, the entire proceeds will go to Susan G Komen, Race for the Cure in honor of my friend Tina Macuha. Tina has supported the blogging community a lot. When we did the virtual fundraiser for Bri, she immediately agreed to help us promote it. Tina, We wish you well and hope you get better real soon!

When Matt sent me some herbs, I was not sure how they would taste, because I am all for fresh herbs and I was in for a surprise. The herbs smell and taste fresh and is really a crowning glory for the dish. Daregal herbs are packed within three hours from the time they are harvested and thus all the flavors are still fresh. It is like having a virtual herb garden in your freezer. My personal favorites are Dill, Original Blend, Oregano,Grilling blend and the Italian Blend. The Italian blend was my lifesaver when I was called to give a TV demo last moment.

I made this last week, when I just did not want to cook, but yet eat something flavorful. So here is an easy, no mess, no fuss recipe. We enjoyed the flavor of Dill. I used Daregal Dill for my Tsatziki salad and we could not tell the difference from the fresh VS the frozen. And the biggest advantage in my books is that I don't have to buy a big bunch and then being forced to have a Dill Week..:)

Red Potatoes - 6 ( Chop them or crinkle cut them)
Sea Salt - 1.2 tsp
Daregal Dill - 2 T
Olive Oil - 1 T

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Place the potatoes in a large bowl and add all the ingredients.
Take a whiff of the aroma of herbs and potatoes ( yes this is a must in the process)
Place them on the baking tray and bake for 20-25 minutes until you see it yurn golden brown on the sides.
You can add another sprinkling of herbs after they come out of the oven too.

Fresh produce

2009-04-26T21:02:00.000-07:00

After my last post on broccoli, I was quite sure it would take atleast a few weeks before I ventured to get more broccoli. Well I couldnt have been more wrong.

This morning Shankari & I went shopping for our veggies and fruits, the farmers market was busier than in the past weeks, with more stands and choices. The first broccoli I saw looked quite fresh, and I could not resist picking it up and searching for u know what, if you have seen my previous post. well since it looked great I picked up a couple.

The nice thing about this place is the chit chat with the friendly vendors, whose faces are now familiar after few months of our bi-weekly shopping trips.

Here is all we got this morning for a grand total of $18.85
20 lemons -$3.00
Cherries $3.00
Broccoli $0.85
Fava Beans $1.00
Cauliflower $1.00
Chives $1.00
Shallots $1.00
2 Large red onions with the sprouts $1.00 ( this was not on the list, but I thought this would make a great picture
apples $1.00
radish $1.00
Kiwi $1.00
oranges $2.00
thai bird chille plants x 7 $2.00
-----------------------------------------
total $18.85
-----------------------------------------

Well hope this makes up a bit for the gross pics of the bugs I put out yesterday. The trick to farmers market shopping is to going there with plenty of time to be able to check and examine the produce patiently.

Enriched broccol

2009-04-26T00:30:00.000-07:00

April submission for the jugalbandi click event, this is a broccoli floret taken with my home made macro. Carrot slices were intended to complete the salad, is the orange in the background.

While I was really happy with the rich color and contrast I got on my XTi and home made macro, I was not too pleased to find the extra protein source that came free. BTW I am recently a lacto-ovo-veggie some times I am a "social veggie" dont mind sampling the sauce of a meat dish, or pick the meat off a dish. We this broccoli from our local farmers market.

While I am a fear factor fan, I do not fancy these for my protein, I am content with soy, cheese & lentils. The broccoli was rinsed thoroughly after separating the florets, and soaked in warm salt water, and the bugs below are from just one tiny floret which I pushed off the floret using a toothpick, as they were quite stubbornly stuck to the floret. Needless to say that the entire batch of broccoli went to my compost bin. Now whether I want to choose between pesticide laden bug free produce, or "protein enriched broccoli" for future is quite simple. ~~No more broccoli for me, and definitely not from a restaurant. Sorry broccoli growers, this simply grossed me out to the core.~~ So broccoli fans, examine your broccoli when you shop. You might get more than you were expecting !

Update => Today was the usual farmers market day, and the first broccoli I saw looked fine, and had no bugs and needless to say I picked up some. Yes I am very forgiving and like Shankari say's never say never.
For those of you interested in the details of how I took these pictures, it was using my home made macro. Focus is by moving distance between the subject and the lens, and the camera is set to Tv mode where I can control the shutter speed. The lens has manual aperture setting ring and was set to 11 (quite narrow aperture, almost at minimum setting). I did not mind the really small aperture, as I had the camera on a tripod and was using a cable release. My camera was at ISO 400 and shutter was at 1/5s. I had 2 florescent 5k lamps for lighting up the broccoli. None of these pictures are cropped.

Gobi Manchurian

2009-04-24T13:49:00.000-07:00

Indian Chinese cuisine is the adaptation of Chinese seasoning and cooking techniques to Indian tastes. It is said to have been developed by the tiny Chinese community that has lived in Kolkata (formerly Calcutta) for over a century.Indeed, in a curious twist, Indian Chinese has followed the mainstream Indian expatriate community as they have spread across the world, providing expatriate Indians with a taste of authentic Indian Chinese.- Wikipedia

Gobi (Cauliflower) Manchurian is one such dish which has a slight Chinese influence with the use of soy sauce and garnished with scallions.

I first had Gobi Manchurian in Salem, India in an Indo-Chinese restaurant and was hooked to it. Mom never made it at home and in Chennai, Chinese road side vendors sold Gobi Manchurian along with Chowmein. I have tried various recipes and we personally like this one the best.

When we started breaking the cauliflower into florets we realized we did not have tomato ketchup, scallions or bell pepper which are some key ingredients, but we made do without it, and did not miss a thing.

All purpose flour – 4 T
Corn Starch – 4 T
Farina/Rava - 2 T
Chill Garlic sauce – 1 T (use sparingly, if you want it less spicy)
Ginger – 2 tsp (finely minced)
Garlic – 2 tsp (finely minced)
Salt to taste
Water to make a batter – ½ cup, approx
Large Cauliflower – Broken into florets.
Vegetable oil for deep drying

For the Sauce

Oil – 3 T
Onion – 1 cup, thinly sliced
Serrano chillies – 2, thinly sliced (remove seeds if you can’t take the heat)
Ginger – 1 T, chopped finely
Garlic – 3 pods, chopped finely
Tomato paste – 2 T
Apple Cider Vinegar – 1 tsp
Jaggery – 3 T ( use brown sugar if you don’t have jaggery)
Chilli Garlic Sauce – 1 T or more to suit your taste.
Soy Sauce – 2 tsp

We prefer making the sauce first and then went on to deep fry the cauliflower.

Heat oil in a wok or a pan and when the oil is hot, start sauteing the onions and after a minute, add the chillies, ginger and garlic and saute until the onions turn translucent. This takes about 2-3 minutes.
Add the tomato paste and stir well, so that you have no lumps of the tomato and it is well incorporated with the onion.
Stir in the cides vinegar, jaggery, chilli garlic sauce and soy sauce and cook on medium low until the jaggery has melted and your house smells divine.
Check for seasoning, if you want more heat, add some more chilli garlic paste.
Set this aside.
Heat oil in a pan and while the oil is getting hot, start working on the cauliflower.
In a medium sized bowl, add all the dry ingredients first, followed by ginger, garlic and red chilli paste. Mix well and slowly start mixing in little water at a time to make a smooth batter.
Dip the cauliflower in the batter and immediately start deep frying. Add as many florets as your pan can hold.
Deep fry until they tirn golden brown and set it on a paper towel to drain all the oil.
After you complete frying all the florest add it to the sauce and saute on medium high for about 3 minutes.
If you have scallions, you can garnish with them.

This is a great appetizer to serve, but I don't think I have the patience to deep fry a whole batch :). Gobi Manchurian taste best when it served piping hot!

Eileen and Sue, this is for you. Thank you for all your support and your friendship.

Mirch Paneer- Paneer in Bell Pepper gravy

2009-04-17T13:14:00.000-07:00

When we begin to enjoy cooking, the tendency is to start experimenting and throwing ingredients together to create a dish which warms your palate and your heart. I truly believe that this recipe from Raghavan Iyer is one such recipe. This is from his cookbook 660 Curries.

The recipe is simple, easy to follow and it makes you wonder how a dish can taste so good with just a few ingredients. I taught this in my class last night and everyone loved it. One of my students who ardently hates bell pepper, tried it and she is making this again at her home. There is not a thing you want to change.

Water – 2 cups

Raw Cashew Nuts – ½ cup

Red Bell pepper – 1 lb, cut into 1 inch pieces

Green Cardamom pods- 6

Green Chilies (Thai or Serrano – 2 (do not remove seeds)

Salt – 1 ½ tsp

Chilli powder – 1 tsp

Paneer – 8 oz, cut in 1 inch cubes and fried.

Cilantro – 2 T, finely chopped

Pour 2 cups water in a medium size saucepan, and add the cashews, bell peppers, cardamom pods and chilies.
Bring to a boil over medium high heat. Reduce the heat to medium low and cover the pan with a lid and cook until fork tender – for about 20 minutes.
Blend the peppers along with the water to a fine puree until smooth in texture or you can use an immersion blender as well.
Pour the mixture back into the saucepan and stir in the salt, cayenne and paneer and cooked covered over medium low heat for 5 minutes until the paneer is heated through.
Garnish with cilantro and serve with plain or flavored basmati rice.

Optional: Make this a completely OIL FREE dish by not frying the paneer.

Dosa

2009-03-23T16:05:00.000-07:00

If you have a bucket list, be sure to add- eat masala dosa at a South India home. To us, dosa is anytime food, meaning we can eat it for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Back home, amma makes dosa for breakfast and they have them occasionally for dinner too. The best combination that we like is masala dosa, tomato chutney and sambar. If you want to add a whole different level to it, sprinkle some home made idli powder over the dosa. A morsel of dosa and a sip of coffee- food fit for the gods. Please no french vanilla or caramel machiattos please :)

Watch the TV segment that broadcast live March 28th 2009, on CBS13 Sacramento

If you want to serve dosas on a Saturday morning, the process begins on Friday. Soak the lentils and rice on Friday morning and grind the batter on Friday evening. Let it ferment in the oven all night and you will have the batter ready for Saturday morning. Traditionally batter is made for the whole week. So take as much as needed and leave the rest to be used the next day.

Ingredients

Rice (any kind) – 4 cups

Fenugreek Seeds – ¼ tsp

Black gram lentil (skin peeled and whole) – 1 cup

Method

· Soak the rice and lentil separately in water for about 6 hours.

· Add the fenugreek seeds with the rice to soak.

· After 4-6 hours, rinse the rice and lentils well before you start grinding in a blender.

· Grind the lentils in a blender with as little water as possible. They almost get the consistency of a soft peak, like when we beat the egg whites.

· Pour the batter in a large bowl, and without washing the blender start blending the rice.

· You can add a little bit more water to grind the rice to a very smooth consistency.

· The consistency of the batter is that of a pancake batter.

· Pour the batter into the same bowl.

· Add 1 tbsp of salt and mix the batter with your hands. The warmth of your hands helps to ferment the batter faster.

· Close the bowl and place it a warm corner in the kitchen or even in the oven with the lights on.

· Let it sit undisturbed overnight and the dosas are ready to be made the next day.

Tips: In the winter months, warm the oven for a little while and place the batter in the oven. You don’t need to do this in summer it is already warm.

How to make the dosas????

· Heat a griddle (you can use a non-stick pan).

· Pour one ladle full of batter over the griddle.

· Spread the batter using the bottom of the ladle evenly into a circle.

· Drizzle oil/butter/ghee around the edges and a little bit in the center of the dosa and let it cook on medium heat.

· The dosa should turn light brown. The dosa generally takes 2 minutes to cook on medium heat. Take care not to burn it.

· Flip the dosa over to cook on the other side.

· Once cooked, flip it over, spoon a tablespoon of the potato filling on one side and fold it in half.

My mom would brush some ghee on top before she served us.

Thopukarnam ; yoga for the brain

2009-03-16T20:05:00.000-07:00

Praying to lord Ganesha the God of intellect and wisdom, can actually cure Alzheimer's and make you brainier.

When praying to Ganesha, we were taught to pinch our earlobes with opposite hands and do sit ups. Recent research has shown that our age old Indian traditional ritual, actually stimulates the brain by activating pressure points.

This video has made me appreciate our Indian traditional ways which many scoff and consider superstitious, but made the few of us who did follow a bit better. My Dad who is 84 still does this every morning when he prays. Shankari just remembered her teacher make her do this for not paying attention in class, as a punishment.

Thai Inspired Coconut & Pandan Custard

2009-02-24T10:51:00.000-08:00

This is a recipe by Carolyn Kumpe of EBRS. Carolyn taught this recipe when we did a Thai cooking class together. There were 21 students in class and absolute fun! After the class was over and we sat down to eat, I had the dessert first. It was a spoonful of heaven..really very delicate and extremely light too. The garnish is pandan cake we found at the Asian Market in Sacramento. Here is a little info on Pandan

The culinary center offers fun cooking classes and the store is akin to Disneyland for me. Their selection of kitchen tools and pots and pans is simply mind blowing. Please check out classes in March

2 large eggs
1 1/4 cups coconut milk
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup heavy cream
Pinch sea salt
¼ teaspoon natural pandan extract (Don’t by the artificial flavored pandan! Available in Asian Markets)

Directions
•Preheat oven to 325 degrees
•In a medium mixing bowl, beat the two eggs with a whisk.
•Add the sugar, sea salt, coconut milk and pandan extract.
•Strain through a sieve.
•Pour into 4 large or 6 small custard cups. Set custard cups into a large baking dish.
•Pour hot water ½ ways up the custard cups, not spilling the water into the custard.
•Cover entire dish with foil.
•Bake in a preheated oven 325 until set about 45 minutes.
•Remove baked custard from the water.
•Allow to come to room temperature. Refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight. Serve within 3 days

live learn and pass it on

2009-02-05T12:19:00.000-08:00

Saw this poster on someone's wall, when we were house hunting for our friend K, and as we were in a hurry, I took a quick snap using my blackberry. Click on the image to enlarge.

Thanks to Mythree who took the pains to type this out

People ages 5 to 95 share what they've learned about life, love and other good stuff.

I've learned that most of the things I worry about never happen,
I've learned that every great achievement was once considered impossible.
I've learned that you can't hide a piece of broccoli in a glass of milk.
I've learned that I should make the little decisions with my head and big decisions with my heart.
I've learned that to love and be loved is the greatest joy in the world.
I've learned that if there were no problems there would be no opportunities.
I've learned that it doesn't cost anything to be nice.
I've learned that the important thing is not what others think of me but what I think of me.
I've learned that in every face-to-face encounter regardless of how brief we leave something behind.
I've learned that regardless of color or age, we all need about the same amount of love.
I've learned that you should keep you promises no matter what.
I've learned that education, experience and memories are three things that no one can take away from you.
I've learned that the simple things are often the most satisfying.
I've learned that if you laugh and drink soda pop at the same time, it will come out your nose. I've learned that children are the best teachers of creativity, persistence and unconditional love.
I've learned that successful living is like playing a violin. It must be practiced daily.
I've learned that a sunroof is worth the extra cost.
I've learned that happiness is like perfume, you can't give it away without getting a little on yourself..
I've learned that if you smile at people, they will almost always smile back.
I've learned that homemade Toll house cookies should be eaten while still warm.
I've learned that goldfish don't like jell-o.
I've learned that you shouldn't expect life's very best if you are not giving it your very best.
I've learned never to underestimate the potential and power of human spirit.
I've learned I still have a lot to learn.

Tom Khaa Kai- Here is the recipe

2009-01-14T23:04:00.001-08:00

We invariably order this soup every time we are in a Thai restaurant. I have done various versions of this recipe and they were made guessing what the ingredients might be. While I was pretty close to what was in the soup, the one ingredient that was missing all this while was the fish sauce. I am not a big fan of sea food and hence vary of adding fish sauce to my dish and this time decided to be brave enough to use it. It truly did not smell or taste fishy.

My friend "M" was visiting Thailand and I requested him to buy me an authentic Thai cookbook, my friend "S" carried it from India for me. While I was eagerly waiting for this cookbook, I chanced upon a couple of Thai cookbooks in the library and since I was in a hurry checked both of them hurriedly, only to realize that they were the exact same cookbooks, one was hardcover and the other, paperback. A week later my friend gives me the cookbook "M" picked up and what are the chances that it is 3rd copy I have in the house????

Coconut Milk- 3 cups from the can diluted with 3 cups water
lemon Grass- 2 (white part only, bruised)
Galangal- 1 inch, minced
Shallots - 4 (smashed with a pestle)
Skinless chicken breast - 14 oz (cut in thin slices)
Fish Sauce - 1 T
Jaggery or dark brown sugar - 1 T
Tomatoes - 2 ( roughly chopped)
Mushrooms - 2/3 cup
Lime Juice - 3 T
Kaffir lime leaves - 6 (torn in half)
Green chillies - 5 (thinly sliced)
Cilantro - for garnish

Put the coconut milk, galangal and shallots in a saucepan over medium heat and bring it to a boil.
Add the chicken,fish sauce and jaggery and simmer until the chicken is cooked through, this takes about 5-8 minutes.
Add the mushrooms and tomatoes and simmer for 2-3 minutes.
Add the lime juice,kaffir lime leaves and tomatoes in the last few seconds. But take care that the tomatoes do not lose their shape.
Check for seasonings and adjust per taste

Notes:

Make this soup vegetarian by adding more mushrooms, julienned carrots and very thinly sliced red bell peppers.
The soup will and is supposed to split- so dont freak out :)
The soup is supposed to have a a good balance of sour,sweet and salt and not overwhelmingly hot.
You can add shrimp as well.

I reduced or added a little bit more of few ingredients to our liking. But the recipe is from the book, " The Food Of Thailand - A Journey For Food Lovers"

Happy New Year ! Start the year with a laugh

2009-01-04T00:12:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year friends, I found this on a jokes forum. Enjoy. My favorites 8, 12, and 14

Here is The Washington Post's Mensa Invitational, which once again asked readers to take any word from the dictionary, alter it by adding, subtracting, or changing one letter, and supply a new definition. Here are the winners:

1. Cashtration (n.): The act of buying a house, which renders the subject financially impotent for an indefinite period of time.

2. Ignoranus : A person who's both stupid and an asshole.

3. Intaxication : Euphoria at getting a tax refund, which lasts until you realize it was your money to start with.

4. Reintarnation : Coming back to life as a hillbilly.

5. Bozone ( n.): The substance surrounding stupid people that stops bright ideas from penetrating. The bozone layer, unfortunately, shows little sign of breaking down in the near future.

6. Foreploy : Any misrepresentation about yourself for the purpose of getting laid.

7. Giraffiti : Vandalism spray-painted very, very high.

8. Sarchasm : The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the person who doesn't get it.

9. Inoculatte : To take coffee intravenously when you are running late.

10. Osteopornosis : A degenerate disease. (This one got extra credit.)

11. Karmageddon : It's like, when everybody is sending off all these really bad vibes, right? And then, like, the Earth explodes and it's like, a serious bummer.

12. Decafalon (n.): The gruelling event of getting through the day consuming only things that are good for you.

13. Glibido : All talk and no action.

14. Dopeler Effect: The tendency of stupid ideas to seem smarter when they come at you rapidly.

15. Arachnoleptic Fit (n.): The frantic dance performed just after you've accidentally walked through a spider web.

16. Beelzebug (n.): Satan in the form of a mosquito, that gets into your bedroom at three in the morning and cannot be cast out.

17. Caterpallor ( n): The color you turn after finding half a worm in the fruit you're eating.

Happy Holidays!

2008-12-24T11:39:00.001-08:00

Briana Marie Brownlow - A Celebration of her life.

2008-12-15T09:34:00.000-08:00

We celebrated the life of Bri in Santa Rosa yesterday. I don't think I can do justice in describing how beautiful the it was, I can only try.

The hall was filled with people who loved Bri dearly. We cried a little, laughed a bit, and it was unanimous that we can never forget Bri. I write this post to let all of you know that her friends and family thanked the blogging community profusely. A farmer from the local farmer's market was there, her insurance agent- she was their customer, but you can tell how she touched their lives. Her insurance agent said that Bri changed her life. The farmer said Bri would have been happy to see him bringing a larger variety of vegetables.Her uncle remembered visiting Bri & her mom when she was a child. Bri would tread into the the living room on her toes, so she does'nt disturb her uncle's sleep to watch her favorite cartoons.

It was touching to hear Cynthe tell us about Bri's concern for all around her and especially for Marc, Bri asked, "Will Marc be ok?"

Bri's friend, Corie was overcome with emotions when she talked. She said, she kpt praying for Bri, praying for a miracle to happen and then realized that Bri is the Miracle. Marc had created a beautiful audio visual of her life- It said it all. I read the tributes from a few bloggers and some readers.
Nicisme
Jen Yu
Anita
Bee

Pictures taken by Anita (Married with dinner)

Here is a slideshow from yesterday and my tribute to her...
I was introduced to Bri in April of last year when another blogger friend Bee sent me an email to ask if I would be willing to work with her to conduct a fundraiser for Bri. Reading Bri's blog I felt connected to this wonderful person, whose enthusiasm and passion for life was simply contagious.

I got to know Bri & Cynthe more through emails and a few phone calls. What impressed me was the determination and courage that we saw in Bri in the circumstances and the strength, encouragement and love that Marc, Cynthe & bill showered on her. Along with Bee & jai, we visited Bri in September.When we met in person, I was even more humbled by her personality At that time, Her neck was in a cast because of the hairline compression fractures caused to her spine after the cancer metastasized to her bones. While I was worried that I might cry when I see her, she changed the mood to that of a happy reunion . She remained calm,serene, and remembered to ask Bee of her trip to Grand Teton, to ask us of our adoption journey, of my cooking classes and said she was hoping to come to Sacramento to take a few of my Indian cooking classes. I asked her how she she was doing she said,"I am doing great this hour". I learnt a few life lessons in that very short time. She taught me to enjoy life one minute at a time and be thankful with everything we have and not worry about what we don't. I will end my part of the tribute with a quote which sums up who Bri was to me

“I am not afraid of tomorrow, for I have seen yesterday and I love today.”- William Allen White

We miss you Bri.

Tis the Season - Cranberry Chutney with an Indian Kick

2008-11-22T20:58:00.000-08:00

I had never tasted cranberries until two days ago. While I wonder how I could have missed it, I am happy that I atleast tried now. OK, I was not all adventurous to go buy some personally. This came as a part of our weekly produce from Farm Fresh to You. I tasted one, it was tart and I love tart. Here is the recipe of the chutney I made. We had it with Cumin Rice and even over bread.

Fresh Cranberries - 2.5 cups
Apple - 1 ( chopped into bite sized pieces)
Ginger - 1 T (finely MInced)
Green Chillies - 4 (finely chopped)
Water - 1/2 cup
Lemon Zest - 1/8th tsp
Lemon Juice- 1 T
Brown Sugar - 2/3 cup+ 2 tsp sugar ( I did this coz I needed it more sweeter)
Garam Masala - 1 tsp
Red Chilli powder - 1 tsp
Turmeric Cpower - 1 tsp
Salt to taste

This is the easy party, add all the ingredients to a pan and let it cook on medium high for about 10 minutes. It is fun to watch the cranberries pop. The chutney begins to thicken. You will know when it done, I promise! The house will be filled with the aroma of this chutney.

Happy Thanksgiving !!!!

Thalipeeth

2008-11-17T14:34:00.000-08:00

I have vague memories of having thalipeeth at home. My sis would come home after visiting her friends and try new recipes that she learnt from them..ah the joy of being the youngest. Thalipeeth was one of them. While I remembered the name distinctly, I had forgetten how it tasted.

The wonderful world of blogging refreshed my memory and I decided to make this at home and when it was a huge success, I decided to teach this in my class well. I looked at a few recipes and made my own. My inspiration came from Nupur's thalipeeth

Chickpea/Garbanzo flour- 1/2 cup
Rice flour- 1/2 cup
Whole-wheat flour - 1/2 cup
Semolina- 2 T
English Cucumber - 1 (grated)
Spinach- 1/4 cup (finely chopped)
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Coriander powder - 1 tsp
Red onion - 2 T (finely chopped)
Serrano green chilliy - 1 (finely minced)
Cilantro - 2 T (finely chopped)
salt to taste
vegetable oil for cooking

Method:

Mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl to make a soft pliable dough, adding water only if necessary ( The water content in the cucmber should be more than sufficient).
The dough will be sticky. I tried patting them on a plastic sheet and transferring to the griddle. But found the traditional far more convenient.
Take a golf ball sized ball of dough and start patting it to a round disc on the griddle.
Have a toothpick next to the griddle and immediately make three to four holes on the thalipeeth.
Drizzle with oil into the holes and around and cook for a minute and then turn and cook.
Cook until they are golden brown on both sides.

Everyone in my class, made their own thalipeeth and had it with thick yogurt. I might add grated carrots to it next time.

Sauteed Plantains

2008-11-03T08:48:00.000-08:00

Growing up, this simple sauteed plantains or Steamed plantains was a after school snack that mom would make for this. During my last trip to India, I had amma make both of them on the same day. At the Co-Op, our original plan was to just make steamed plantains and when we had extra plantains, we decided to make this as well. Ironically, most folks liked this better than the steamed ones. I personally love both. When I am in the mood for healthy foods - steamed plantain is the choice and when I want to really indulge in a dessert that brings back memories and loaded with ghee and sugar, this is the one I want.

This is traditionally made with Jaggery, but we made it with dark brown sugar in the class and it turned out just fine. You can serve this hot with a dollop of Vanilla ice cream too.

Enjoy the video from the tv segment on CBS 13

Ripe Plantains - 2
Butter/Ghee - 4 T
Brown Sugar - About 5 T or per your taste
Cardamom powder - 1/8th tsp

Peel the plantains and cut them in half inch thick rounds.
Heat the butter in a skillet on medium low heat and wait for the butter to melt completely.
Place the thin rounds of plantain on the skillet and cook on both sides till the plantain changes to a golden brown color.
Sprinkle the cardamom powder and brown sugar and cook for a few seconds until the brown sugar melts over the plantains.

On another note, I have two classes at Whole Foods this month.

Monday, November 10th
Vegetarian with an Indian Flair
6:00 p.m. $45
With Guest Chef Shankari Easwaran
If you want new tasty items for Thanksgiving dinner, look no farther. Classic dishes are taken to a new taste level in this class. On the menu: Kabocha Squash Soup with exotic spices; Kadhai Paneer (an Indian cheese cooked with seasonal vegetables); Cranberry Pilaf (an excellent jazzed up side dish for your Thanksgiving dinner); Shahi Bread Pudding infused with cardamom, nutmeg and cinnamon.

Sign up for both Indian classes (11/10 and 11/17) and get $15 off! Must sign up in-store or via telephone. Hands-on class, must be 18 to attend.

Monday, November 17th

Tour of India

6:00 p.m. $45

With Guest Chef Shankari Easwaran
Start fresh or continue on your Tour with Shankari, chef and food blogger. She will cover the world of Indian spices and show you how to make the following:

Crispy Fish with Chilly Mayo - Strips of tilapia dredged in a spiced flour mixture served with a kicked-up sauce
Chicken Tikka Masala - Every Indian restaurant has this on their menu and you'll learn to make this easy breezy dish in a jiffy
Cumin Rice Pilaf
Tropical Fruit Salad with Chili Lime Vinaigrette - dessert with a twist

You Will be Missed Dear Bri

2008-10-27T14:50:00.000-07:00

We will miss you Bri.

Deepavali Wishes to All of You

2008-10-24T11:11:00.000-07:00

Diwali this year is kind of low key. We miss the festivities of last year in India. Our family got together, amma had an iyer come home and make sweets and savories and we bought loads of fireworks, since it had been years we had celebrated Diwali in that fashion.

Coming back to this year, what you see is all we made. Rava Ladoo, Murukku and Badam Halwa. This year, I made it a point to follow only amma's recipes coz of hmmm nostalgia of last year.

If any of you want a recipe for any of the above, send me an email to indianfood.cooking@gmail.com.

Have a safe and Happy Deepavali

Sweet & Spicy Tomato Chutney

2008-10-08T22:24:00.000-07:00

I know I know, this recipe should have been posted when tomatoes were in season. But those of you who have tomatoes still growing in your backyard, I urge you to try this.

Even my picky friend J liked it a lot.The chutney goes well with dosas, pakodas, bread toast and even kichdi.We have basically been having it as a side with everything we can think of.

This is a recipe from the book,"The Art of Indian Vegetarian Cooking " by Yamuna Devi.

Oil - 3 T
Fennel - 1/2 tsp
Cloves - 1
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Bay leaf - 1
Dried red chillies - 4
Ripe Tomatoes - 1 1/2 cups chopped
Jaggery or maple sugar - 1/3 cup
Raisins - 1/3 cup
Turmeric - 1/2 tsp
Salt - 1/2 tsp

Heat oil in a large pan and when it is hot (should not smoke) add fennel, cumin, cloves and mustard seeds.
When the mustard begins to pop, add the bay leaf and red chillies broken int to two.
Immediately add the tomatoes and cook over low heat for about 10 -12 minutes.
Add the rest of the ingredients and cookfor another 20 minutes until the chutney is fairly thick.
Serve at room temperature.

The only change I made to the recipe was to substitute oil for ghee and to add more red chillies and less raisins. The author says it can be stored for 5 days in the fridge. I made a double batch and have stored it for more than a week.

A review on Dosa

2008-10-03T07:35:00.000-07:00

Our minds were fogged up after an intense workshop in San Francisco for 5 hours. The plan was to have dinner and then head back on our 2 hour drive home. Dosa has been on our list of restaurants to visit in SF and there was no other day better suited than that day. We needed our dosai and filter kaapi.

We were early and Dosa was not opened yet, so we strolled around Valencia Street, and discovered a tiny book store called Dog Eared Books. If you have not visited this place, we encourage you to. We were both delighted at the variety of used/new books available and bought a few. When we looked out the window, it was 5:10pm and there was line beginning to form outside the restaurant. Rajesh took a pic and we headed to the restaurant, in time for them to open the doors.

We were greeted by the host (you can see her in the window) and the waitress and were taken to a table for two by the window. Rajesh was delighted to get the widow, as he wanted to try his hand at panning , while I was salivating looking at the menu. The menu is not a melting pot of dishes from all over the country. While they do have a channa masala, they sure focus on South Indian food.

We were given the menu cards and pappadums were served. We took our time to go through the menu while we munched the pappadum. We started off with an appetizer called Chennai Chicken - Boneless chicken marinated in Strauss organic yogurt, spiced with coriander & cumin, and deep fried. The chicken was perfectly cooked – Soft, not chewy and crisp on the outside and spicy with the fragrance of curry leaves. One can tell that this was made fresh and served immediately. The chicken was a sure winner and we were now excited about our main course. Rajesh ordered the Rava Masala dosa and I had the Mysore Masala dosa. We never look forward to the coconut chutneys just because they taste like coconut oil, and we were pleasantly surprised with the freshness of the coconut and tomato chutney. The rava dosa was very crisp and tasty. The masala dosa was not as crisp as I wanted it to be, but everything was so good that it did not bother me much. The sambar was awesome, and Rajesh polished off both the left over cup remnant's. The service was excellent, empty plates were whisked away fast, glasses were always full and the waiters had a smile on their faces. Oh yeah, the restaurant has a lot of dishes for those of you who want the food wheat free and also a lot of vegan choices.

For those of you who would like a glass of wine, they have quite a huge list to choose from. Be prepared to wait as the restaurant gets filled very fast. But you will not be pressured to leave soon. If you don’t mind, you can get seated right away at the bar.

We finished off our dinner with a strong cup of Madras Filter coffee which kept us awake for the long drive back home. After many years in the US, I think this was the first time I felt that when I crave for home made dosas and I don’t want to make them, I will be at Dosa.

Damage to our pockets - less than $45 Portion Size - Huge Satisfaction - 5 stars Taste, service & portion size compensated for the price.

Fusion Cauliflower - One with no oil & one with a tad bit

2008-09-25T07:20:00.000-07:00

It has been a chaotic with cooking classes and parties to attend. I wanted to be served, rather than serve anyone any food, be it frozen or even sticking in the microwave, so off we went to our favorite hole in the wall Mexican resturant and that immediately gives me the boost I want and then off to cooking in our tiny kitchen.

We have recently begun to buy vegetables and fruits from here and it is such a delight that we do not have to go shopping to any store, forget saving gas, we save some moolah from not buying spices and "stuff" that has to patiently wait for it's turn.

We got some cauliflower in our box last week and decided to make Cauliflower Manchurian. Now, we have a spice mix that we got from Salem. The vegetable vendor, who carries a large basket over her head is quite the entrepreneur, when you buy a Cauliflower, she asks if you would like the Manchurian mix and sells that as well. Kind of like Amazon saying, "if you buy this, you may also like this"

We mixed a batch of some blanched cauliflower with that spice mix and baked it in the oven at 350 for about 15 minutes and then broiled for 5. With no oil, we must say the results were fantastic, but the spice mix was SPICY!

Another batch, here is what we did

AP Flour - 1/4 cup
Corn Starch - 2 T
Red Chili Powder - 1 tsp
Ginger - 1 T (minced)
Garlic - 1 pod (minced)
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Water - a couple of tablespoons

Make a smooth batter and add the cauliflower & mix till they are well coated. Let it sit for atleast 30 minutes.

In the meanwhile do this..

Onion - 1/2 cup thinly sliced
Green Chillies - 1 slit in two
Bell Pepper - 1 (chopped)

Heat about 2 T oil in a pan, and start shallow frying the cauliflower until it turns dark brown. Flip it over and do the same. Repeat the process for the entire batch and set it aside on a paper towel.

In the same pan, add the onions, green chilly and bell pepper and saute for a few minutes.

Add

Regular ketchup - 1 tsp
Hot Ketchup - 1 tsp
Soy Sauce - a sprinkle
Red Chili paste - 1 tsp

Combine the sauces with the cauliflower and serve!

This is all we had for dinner last night - two different versions of the cauliflower along with some fruits.

Pistachio Burfi

2008-09-16T14:50:00.000-07:00

When Rajesh & I were newly weds, he would look at me like I was crazy when I would narrate incidents of what dishes I ate on a certain day, when I was 10 at so & so's house. I can remember what amma cooked for me on special occasions. Pista burfi is one such sweet that I had at a friend's place for Diwali and I came home and was mad at amma that she has never made them for me. I was really upset that I had lost so many years of my life not tasting pista burfi :).

I taught this sweet recently at class and my niece V was here at that time. She and Rajesh enjoyed the sweet a lot. I made the burfi in the morning, so I can measure and write the recipe down. When I came home from work, there were a couple piece left for me.

Unsalted Pistachios – 2 cups
Milk- 2 cups
Sugar – ¾ cup
Rose water – 3 T
Ghee – 1T +1/2 tsp to grease the tray

In a food processor, pulse the pistachios to a fine powder or use a blender to do the same.
In a heavy bottomed pan combine the milk and sugar and cook on high heat stirring continuously until it comes to a boil.
Then reduce the heat, and let it simmer until the milk reduces in half.
Increase the heat to medium high and add the pistachios and ghee and start stirring continuously till you see the mixture forms into a soft ball.
Add the rose water and give it a quick stir and transfer the burfi to a greased baking tray.
Smoothen the top with a spatula.
When it is cool, cut in to 1 1/4 inch squares
Store in an air tight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. ( If it lasts for that long in your house)

Salad to Cool Off..

2008-09-11T21:51:00.000-07:00

Folsom can get really hot in summers and when were not in the mood to turn on the stove in the house, this was a welcome salad at home. The tanginess of the lemon juice against the garam masala and ginger was very interesting. You can serve this salad at room temperature or chilled. We liked it both ways. This is an excellent potluck dish.

Garbanzo and Ginger Salad

Garbanzo Beans – 2 cups (cooked)
Ginger – 2 inch piece
Lemon juice – 2 T
Garam Masala – ½ tsp
Salt – ½ tsp
Ground Black Pepper – ½ tsp
Lettuce – 1/2
Mint - 1 T (finely chopped)

If using canned Garbanzo beans, drain and wash the beans and place in a large bowl.
Peel the ginger and cut them in to very thin rounds and then julienne them thin and add it to the beans.
Drizzle lemon juice over the salad and all the other ingredients and combine well.
Place the salad on a lettuce leaf and serve.

Slow food nation

2008-09-05T22:14:00.001-07:00

We were in food heaven on Sunday, August 31st,a day at Slow food Nation. It was a culinary adventure, a feast to our eyes and our palate. Every pavilion was designed with a lot of thought, we loved the pickles and chutney pavilion with the floating "mason jar lid canopy" the best.There were about 15 pavilions in all, chocolates, wines, spirits, pickles, bread, ice creams and more.

A few months ago, when I did a TV demo of Vegetable Upma, Michelle was watching me do the demo and she was keenly looking at the lemon pickles I had on the side for upma. She tasted it and fell in love with it. She enthusiastically asked me if I can help her make some pickles for slow food nation and I was thrilled to be a part of this prestigious convention in a very small way. The recipe was a combination of Manisha's and my mom's and the result was fantastic. Folks who tasted the pickles loved it and even came for seconds. Mind it people, this is not samples that you get in Costco for free, you pay each time you sample it with slow food dough (a coupon with 20 credits, each sample needing 1 - 3 credits). Almost all of the pickles were homemade.

Michelle was the curator of the pickles pavilion was awesome in managing the entire show. She was never tired of patiently naming the pickles or chutneys that folks queued up to sample, the sampler consisted of a plate of yogurt rice with lime pickle, carrot and raisin pickle, pappads tomato and date pickle, 4 chutneys . We were blown away by the different kind of pickles that were showcased. Japanese pickles,Dill,Cucumber, carrot & raisin, Tomato & date, our lemon pickle to name a few. I volunteered to be in the pavilion on Sunday and can I forget volunteering Rajesh too? He came with his camera and clicked away and people made way for him, when they saw him with the camera..not fair!!!!

Shankari making batches of Raitha, with Carolyn Kumpe of East bay resturant supply.The pavilions
Hand worked meat slicer in action

Shankari with Niloufer Ichaporia King, the author of My Bombay Kitchen.People queing up for the gates to open

From the right - Kim, Carolyn Kumpe, Shankari
Naan PlaceLook at these breads!

A brief hiatus due to some fun in the sun

2008-09-01T23:28:00.000-07:00

Back from Mexico, where we had some fun. Shankari parasailing above, and me on a wake board.

Beer bath

2008-07-21T11:13:00.000-07:00

[Post by Rajesh]
The mint patch in our backyard kept getting attacked by snails, and not wanting to use pesticides I kept ignoring them.(yea there's snail bait, but I dont know what's in it and too lazy to go to the garden store)

Last week an organic farmer came to kid's cooking camp that Shankari was teaching, and I was talking to him as to how they handled snails in his farm, and it was quite staight forward and easy.
Beer!
was the answer, I find atleast a couple of dead drunk snails every morning in the cut-off yogurt tub.

So here's your excuse to get beer and test them if the snails will like them.

Cooking Classes

2008-07-03T20:05:00.000-07:00

Class at Whole Foods

I will begin giving cooking classes at East Bay Restaurant Supply store starting this month along with my classes at Whole Foods and Sac-Coop. Walking in to this store is like being in Disneyland for me. All the pots,pans and amazing kitchen gadgets. I already have a list of things I am looking to buy and the best thing is the prices are not steep and it is open to public.

All of the cooking schools I teach at have very unique offerings. Take a look and you will not be dissapointed.

Classes at East Bay

Saturday 12:30 - 3:30 pm

Reservations: (916) 440-0623 or email Carolynk@ebrs.net

Join Shankari Easwaran on a culinary tour to her country, India. Learn about the rich culture of India and understand the different spices of India. Shankari will help you understand the elements of curry along with interesting stories of her culinary adventure in her mother' s kitchen.

Class 1 - July 12th

Naan - Learn how to make this ever-popular Indian bread.>
Channa Masala- A wonderful "comfort food " also called Chole. Channa masala is garbanzo beans cooked in a tangy tomato sauce
Chicken Curry- Chicken cooked in an aromatic sauce infused with poppy seeds, fennel and coconut.
Raitha - Cool off with a tomato yogurt salad with a hint of mint

Classes at Whole Foods

The Global Scene: Tour of India - Vegetarian

July 9th 6:00 p.m.

Jump onto the tour of India with Shankari! Fresh vegetables are a staple of this cuisine. Learn how to make unbelievably tasty dishes utilizing Indian spices and techniques, as well as the wonderful produce our area has to offer.

Vegetable Pakoda (Fritters)
Rasam - A tangy, southern Indian comfort soup made with tomatoes, tamarind and seasonings.
Potato Curry - A simple and delicious side dish.
Carrot Halwa- A sweet spiced and dessert with nuts.

July 14th -6:00pm

Join Shankari and experience the cuisine of Southern India, the land of coconuts and rice. Watch her cook as she talks to you about the unique flavors that make up the popular cuisine from this area.

Vegetable Cutlets - A healthy appetizer made with fresh vegetables and cooked with very little oil.
Chicken Ishtoo - Chicken cooked in just the right amount of spices and coconut milk, presented to you from the State of Kerala.
Coconut Rice- Grated coconut roasted and garnished over rice.
Mango and Yogurt Cream- The perfect dessert after an Indian meal!

Classes at Co-op

Indian Vegetable Specialties
Thursday, July 31 -6:00pm

Shankari will kick off the series by familiarizing you with a variety of Indian flavors and
spices. We’ll make gingered chickpea salad, minted basmati rice pulao garnished with
baby potatoes, spicy cauliflower with braised tomato, date and raisin chutney, and pista
burfi, a simple creamy pistachio fudge for dessert.

Bri - A special Click, A prayer!

2008-06-30T22:18:00.000-07:00

This yellow lemon lamp has a religious significance in our household. Mom would light this lamp when she prayed for someone. The juice of the lemon would be used to make an offering to God.

Bri, there are ton of friends praying for you and I am one of them. Here is a lamp that we lit for you. We pray you get well soon!

We are sending this to Bee for Click.

A special Thank You to all our friends who generously donated.

Thanks a ton George for donating$50 gift certificate to myfolsom.com members. The lucky winner is Tanya.

Thanks Sheena! You immediately responded to us that you will help us in anyway you can, and you did!

Puran Poli

2008-06-30T16:55:00.000-07:00

The only kind of poli I have had as a child, is the the stuffing with coconut and jaggery and was not a big fan of it, just coz it was kind of gooey. I liked the filling by itself, but not rolled as a poli.
When we moved to Belgaum, an ajji next door used to make the best poli I have ever had. She knew my love for these polis and would invite me home as she was making the polis on the tava. She would serve it on a plate with a dollop of ghee and cold milk. I still remember telling my mom that she has to learn making polis from ajji :)

Ingredients
All Purpose flour - 1.5 cups
Turmeric Powder - 1/8 tsp
Salt- 1/8 tsp
Water - to make a pliable dough
Channa Dal - 1 cup
Jaggery - 1/2 cup (powdered)
Sugar - 1/2 cup
Nutmeg- a very tiny pinch
Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp
Oil - 2 tsp

Make the dough by mixing flour,salt and turmeric first. Slowly add water to make a soft dough. Drizzle oil over the dough and cover with saran wrap for an hour.
Cook the dal in a pressure cooker or in stock pot filled with water. If using a pressure cooker, takes about 4 to 5 whistles. If you are using a stock pot, bring water (about 2.5 cups)to a boil, add the dal and close it with a lid and let it simmer for about 45 minutes or until it is soft to the touch,but does not turn mushy,
Drain the water completely and let it cool. Grind the jaggery and dal to a fine paste. please do not add any water. If you think the filling is wet, saute in a pan to remove the moisture. Mix the filling with the nutmeg and cardamom powder.
Divide the filling to make about 14 to 15 balls. Do the same with your dough as well.
Roll the dough to the size of your palm, and place the filling inside the dough and cover on all sides.
Flatten and roll it, about 12 inches in diameter.
Place an iron skillet on the stove and once hot, cook the poli on both sides, drizzle some ghee and serve.

Bee has an excellent step by step guide on how to make these cuties. When Mythreyee and I were chatting, we spoke about love for sweets and we moved on to poli. I just could not resist myself and made them the very same day. I sent her a picture of the poli on gtalk and she said I have send this as an entry to her sweet series. So Mythreyee here you go, Polis just for you!

Nupur's Pav Bhaji & Pav from scratch!

2008-06-24T16:14:00.000-07:00

Nupur's blog is one of the first blogs I visited when I just started. This is one of the 1st recipes I have tried and many more. Nupur, you are truly an inspiration.Zlamushka has started a wonderful event called Tried and tested and dish goes to her and to Sia for Street Food MBP

Nothing else says Street food more than Pav Bhaji. Let me tell you a little secret, my dad would refuse to let us have them from the street carts. While my sisters could sneak out with friends and enjoy Pav Bhaji, I was too little to go on my own with friends.My earliest memories of Pav Bhaji is watching the guy mashing the bhaji on a huge tava( Round iron pan). The tak tak tak sound of mashing the potato was music to my ears. Now here is a secret, hope appa is not reading this :).

Amma would let us have pav bhaji for dinner when appa had to travel out of town on work. We would eagerly wait for that one dinner that we would get rarely. My sisters and mom made it at home, but nothing like standing next to a stall, enjoying the music, drool while others are eating and wait impatiently for your turn. A dollop of butter on the top with freshly chopped onions..aha I drool again!

I followed Nupur’s recipe and made no changes. I made the paav from scratch and it is real easy guys. For the recipe click here. When you think Mumbai, or what the heck, just crave street food, try making Pav Bhaji at home and you will not be disappointed.

Masala Trail Mix

2008-06-20T17:20:00.000-07:00

Summer time is synonymous with hiking and camping for us. We have not begun to camp or hike yet, but will soon start. I would like give it a kick start with Hari Nayak's Masala Trail Mix. I have tried this recipe twice and have loved it.

I own a copy of his cookbook and I must say, I love it( I swear he did not pay me to say this:))It is a cookbook for a person who is not used to Indian cooking.While some of the techniques are very common is most cuisines, he gently introduces spices to a novice in Indian cooking. For example, everyone is familiar with trail mix, now introduce masala to it. That is neat, I simply love the concept, especially since I give cooking classes. This was in our menu for our last week's class and it was a hit!

Here is the recipe. I substituted garam masala for Chaat masala.

Cumin seeds – 2 tsp ( dry roasted & coarsely Ground)
Garam Masala – 2 tsp
Chilli powder – 1 ½ tsp
Salt – 1 tsp
Oil – 3/4 cup
Almonds – 1 cup
Cashew nuts – 1 cup
Pistachios – 1 cup
Peanuts – 1 cup
Hazel nuts- ½ cup
Macadamia nuts – ½ cup
Raisins- ½ cup
Dried Mint – 1 tsp

•Mix together the ground cumin powder, garam masala, chilli powder and salt.
•Heat oil in a pan. When the oil is hot, fry the nuts until they turn golden. This takes about 2 minutes.
•Drain the oil with a slotted spoon and transfer to a bowl ( do not drain in paper towel)
•Fry the raisins for a few seconds and add it to the nuts
•Quickly mix the spice mix to the nuts and toss so that the nuts are coated well.
•Add the dried mint and toss.
•Store in a air tight container after it cools completely.

On another note, If you ever come to Folsom,CA, do not forget to pay a visit to GoodFellas
This is an awesome family owned Italian restaurant. George, the owner was kind enough to donate $50 gift certificate to one lucky winner of Folsom, who donates $25.

On a day you are frustrated about what the world has come to, think of this wonderful event, where people from around the world have come together.

Kufli Made Easy

2008-06-15T18:35:00.000-07:00

A slice of heaven in my mouth, an elegant dance of flavors, that is how I feel with every spoonful of kulfi.You can tell now, what it does to me :)

As a child, I would beg my parents for the road side Kulfi only to be vehemently refused. So I decided try this at home and here is my version, it is real easy. I post this recipe just in time for the hot summer days when kids want something cold, so here you go...

Whole Milk - 5 cups
Condensed Milk - 1 can
Heavy Cream - 1 cup
Saffron - a small pinch
Cardamom - 3 pods, powdered finely
Pistachios - 1 tbsp (finely chopped)
Almond - 1 tbsp (finely chopped)
Rose water - 1/4 cup

Heat whole milk in a pan and let it simmer until it reduces to approximately three cups.

Add saffron and cardamom when the milk simmers.

Switch off the stove and let the milk cool down completely.

Stir in the rest of the ingredients and let it chill in the fridge for a little while and then use your ice cream maker.

OR you can pour the content in a stainless steel dish,cover and freeze overnight.

If you try this recipe at home, let me know how you like it.

The Power of Blogging

2008-06-04T09:39:00.000-07:00

"If a friend is in trouble, don't annoy him by asking if there is anything you can do. Think up something appropriate and do it." ~Edgar Watson Howe

Jai& Bee did it!

We are delighted by the stupendous response of people from different walks of life from across the world joining hands to help Bri. Most of us have not even met her. But we know what a warm person she is, through her blog and that is more than enough.

Thank you for your overwhelming generosity in response to the CLICK for Bri fundraiser. We are truly grateful for your help. 51% down. 49% to go. Please help us keep up the momentum.

On June 5, 2008, Garrett will be talking about the CLICK for Bri event on CBS 13/CW31, Sacramento at the 12:00 noon news program. Be sure to check in for an easy and delicious summer cupcake recipe.

Whole Foods has agreed to donate the ingredients and use of its premises for a cooking class by me to two lucky folks. I have done a few TV demos before. You can see one at ‘Good Day Sacramento’ HERE.

Ann of Sacatomato has also put up as a prize a copy of her cookbook. You can bid for my cooking class or a host of other cool prizes HERE.

CLICK for Bri

2008-05-30T12:10:00.000-07:00

"Think of helping not as a duty but as a privilege."

This is an appeal on behalf of a group of food bloggers who are friends of Briana Brownlow @ Figs With Bri.

Bri was diagnosed with breast cancer two and half years ago. A mastectomy, chemotherapy and two years of relatively good health later, the cancer is back. It has metastasized to other parts of her body. At the age of 15, Bri lost her 41-year old mother to the disease. Now, she’s waging her own war against breast cancer. More about it here.

She is going through intensive chemo and other treatments and needs to focus single-mindedly on healing and finding what treatment works best for her. Her health insurance, unfortunately, does not cover holistic alternatives which she would like to try. Bri and her husband Marc have enough on their plates right now in addition to worrying about her medical bills.

The team organising the JUNE edition of CLICK at Jugalbandi has organised a fundraiser to help Bri and her family meet her out-of-pocket medical costs for ONE YEAR.

CLICK is a monthly theme-based photography contest hosted by Jugalbandi. This month’s theme is: YELLOW for Bri

Yellow is the colour of hope. Through the work of the LiveStrong Foundation, it has also come to signify the fight against cancer.

The entries can be viewed HERE. The deadline for entries is June 30, 2008. The fundraiser will extend until July 15, 2008.

The target amount is 12,000 U.S. dollars. We appeal to our fellow bloggers and readers to help us achieve this. Bri deserves a chance to explore all options, even if her insurance company thinks otherwise.

There’s a raffle with exciting prizes on offer. After viewing the list, you may make your donation HERE or at the Chip-In button on any participating site.

Your donation can be made securely through credit card or Pay Pal and goes directly to Bri’s account.

This month’s photo contest also has some prizes. Details HERE.

You can support this campaign by donating to the fundraiser, by participating in CLICK: the photo event, and by publicising this campaign.

Comfort Food

2008-05-27T15:33:00.000-07:00

Nothing spells comfort food to most tamilians like rice and yogurt. After a few days of eating out, I want to run back to the comfort of thayir saadam aka rice and yogurt.

Come summer, my mom would cook rice in the morning and after it cools down, soak the cooked rice in a wee bit of buttermilk, water, salt, hing and curry leaves. We would have this for dinner with a whole bunch of accompaniments. This is traditionally made with rice a day old. But since it was such a big hit in our home, mom had to make it this way.This is called palaya saadam in tamil and the literal translation being old rice. Soaking the rice in a clay pot will keep the rice cool and make it even more refreshing.

In the blistering heat of summer, palaya saadam soothes your throat and your soul. The foodies that we were, we were not happy with just the rice. So lets talk about the accompaniments. We would definitely have ripe mango cubed, appalam, onion vadagam, more mozhada ( chillies soak in buttermilk, dried and deep fried), freshly made mango pickles,thovayal ( a thick chutney). On special occasions, we would take all of this to our terrace and dad would sit in the center and all of us around him with small plates with all the fixings that we wanted. He would give us a handful in our cupped fingers - that was absolute fun. We would eat a lot more than we normally did. I remember trying to swallow the food as fast as possible so that I can stretch my hands for more.

Our lunch today was this simple food and an egg curry as well. Nothing can be more simple than this meal and yet it is the most fulfilling.

The Best Gift...Teacher's Day

2008-05-18T20:43:00.000-07:00

When I was writing this post in my mind, I was toying with different titles . But really what my students cooked over the weekend was truly a delight We decided to have an Indian themed potluck party at my house and we all had a blast talking about food and eating all the delicious goodies.

Now this is the kind of group where you can talk about food for hours and no one thinks you are on crack :)

We had invited a whole bunch of students from my cooking class and a few bloggers. My students decided to cook something that I had taught them. So the menu was something like this, I am sure you will drooling starting NOW

Appetizers

Vegetable Puff made by Mona and Brynn

Pani Puri by Eileen

Aloo channa salad - Carolyn & Gary

Puffed Rice - Us

Boiled Peanuts - Us

Salad

Cucumber Salad with peanuts - Ann

Cucumber Raitha - Us

Onion Raitha - Us

Breads

All kinds of Bread - I call him our Bread man - Roger

Entree

Bell Pepper Curry - Karen

Lamb & Pork Vindaloo - Mona

Buccaneer Chicken - Mel

Vegetable Biriyani - Us

Dessert

Almond Torte with Raspberry Sauce - Stephen ( I know not Indian, but complemented what we ate)

Mango & Yogurt Cream - Us

Can you tell that we were stuffed? The food was absolutely delicious. It was the best gift ever to see all my students having cooked what I taught them and so well. I was not this happy when I got my first pay check. ! Thanks to all of you for having made my day.

More about the potluck at Eileens

Rave about Chicken Biriyani

2008-04-27T15:33:00.000-07:00

Since I do not have a family recipe to follow for this wonderful dish, I have always asked friends for recipes and guess what? Just like I give recipes, they tell me throw in a bit of this or a bit of that and it never tasted we wanted it to until Revathi shared with me her family recipe.

We IM a lot and when I told her about being on TV, she suggested this recipe and you will not believe how many times I have tried this recipe and it is definitely a fool proof recipe.

Thanks Revathi and a bigger thanks to your mom. This is her tried and tested recipe of 35 years, so how can it go wrong?

Recipe
Basmati Rice – 1.5 cups
Chicken breast/thigh – 1 lb (cleaned and cubed)
Onion – 1 thinly sliced.
Mint – 1 bunch
Salt – 1 tsp
Oil – 2 tbsp

Make a paste of
Tomato – 1 (roughly chopped)
Cilantro – ½ cup (chopped)
Garlic - two pods
Ginger – 1 tsp grated

To Powder (use mortar pestle/coffee grinder)
Fennel seeds - 3 tsp
Cloves - 3
Green Cardamom - 4
Cinnamon -1 inch (do not use powder)
Black pepper -10
Dried red chillies (add more if you like spicy) – 4

Rinse the basmati rice in water and set it aside.
Clean and cube a pound of chicken
Vertically slice one large onion
Heat oil in heavy bottomed cook pot.
Add onions and sauté for 5 minutes until they turn brown, but take care not to burn it.
Add the ingredients that was powdered and sauté for a minute.
Add the paste and continue to sauté for another 5 minutes. At this point there should be no liquid in the pan.
Add the chicken a give it a quick stir, the rice and stir in 2.5 cupsof water.
When it comes to a rolling boil, close the pot with a tight lid and cook for 10-12 minutes.

I have done the stove top version and pressure cooker and both of them turn out fantastic. While making it on the stove top, please ensure that you have a tight fitting lid and you dont want the steam to come out.

Serve this with raitha.

Just a Tsp?

2008-04-21T17:52:00.000-07:00

If you have not visited this this website, go take a look. They have a wonderful array of spices and what is great is that you don't have to buy a spice rack to store the spices. The spices are fresh in their little sachets. I own the Spice Basics collections which can be used in Indian cooking. And still better, they are all organic.

I have never smelt turmeric so fresh other than the real deal. And that holds true for all the other spices as well. I wanted to make a recipe that uses all of the spices.

Okra - 1 lb (cut in thin long strips)
Chilli Pepper - 2 tsp
Coriander Powder - 1 tsp
Cumin powder - 1 tsp
Fennel - 1 tsp
Ginger Powder - 1 tsp
Turmeric - 1 tsp
Salt - 1 tsp
Oil - 1 tbsp

Preheat oven to 350.
In a small bowl, add all the spices, salt and oil together and mix well, such that they are well incorporated.
Coat the spices mixture evenly over the okra.
Grease a baking tray with cooking spray and lay the okra in the tray and bake for 15 to 20 minutes.
Serve with rotis.

Verdict: The taste was simply superb, I would add a dash of lime juice after taking it out of the oven.

Winners!

2008-04-20T18:37:00.001-07:00

I am really sorry for the delay. But without further ado the winners are

1. whiteonricecouple

2. DK

3. mitrideas

4. Melody

5. Meera

Please send me an email with your address and we will mail you the tea that you requested

It is Tea Time!

2008-04-09T09:36:00.000-07:00

Yeah, I have been in sleep mode in the virtual world for quite sometime. The real world took me on a tour of myriad thoughts and decisions to make. On such days, nothing helps but a cuppa of hot masala chai.

When Halidrams USA contacted me to review their products, I was more than happy to do it for them. Having never been disappointed with the "A" class quality of products, I was intrigued by their masala chai and cardamom tea.

On days when R & I are competing on who can push the other to make that hot cup of tea, this will definitely come to the rescue. They have both sweetened and unsweetened version. I personally prefer the unsweetend coz you can add as much sugar as you want. Masala chai is my favorite and for those who like just the flavor of cardamom, go for it!

Steps to make Masala Chai

Cut open the sachet and empty contents to a cup.
Add a cup of water and microwave for a minute.
Add sugar and enjoy with a snack.

Go online and order their products. I compare buying them online from their store to buying veggies at the farmer's market. How much better can it get!

Please leave a comment if you are interested in getting a box of Masala chai or Cardamom tea. Let me know which flavor you would like. We will choose 5 random winners.Haldirams will ship it to you directly. The last day to leave a comment is April 16th. This is open for US bloggers only. Sorry, cant ship to India at this point in time.

Upcoming Cooking Classes in Spring

2008-03-18T11:57:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone,

These are my upcoming classes in Spring at Sac Co-op and Whole Foods market. The classes are going to be very exciting, coz I am going to be teaching a few dishes from my blogger friends and a few from Hari Nayak's, Modern Indian Cooking and rest my mom's recipes.

The text from here on is completely from the flyers from Whole Foods and Sac Co op

Classes at the Co-op

Vegetarian Indian Dhals and Lentils - Monday, May 19, 6-8:30 pm

Lentils make up a huge part of the vegetarian Indian diet because they are high in protein and endlessly versatile. This class features a variety of lentil dishes including khichdi – basmati rice cooked with mung dhal seasoned with ginger, onion and tomatoes; moogambat – sprouted green mung beans cooked in roasted coconut sauce, and toor dhal chutney – roasted lentils ground with chili and tamarind. We will also enjoy a cool tomato raita and a seasonal fruit chaat for something sweet.

Cool Indian Dishes for Hot Sacramento Nights – Vegetarian
Monday, June 2, 6-8:30 pm

These dishes are sweet and spicy and sure to cool you off on those days when the mercury rises. We’ll make mango milkshakes seasoned with a dash of cardamom; pineapple raita sprinkled with cayenne; strawberry shrikand – puréed strawberries in yogurt and honey garnished with pistachios; and chickpea sundal – split chickpeas boiled and sautéed with coconut, cumin and seasoned with red chili. Bonus recipe: watermelon pancakes – a regional Indian specialty.

The Indian Oven
Tuesdays, April 29, May 13 and June 17, 6-8:30 pm

Exotic Indian Flavors
May 13
Menu: Aromatic ground lamb with fresh green peas and cumin; eggplant relish; curried eggs, and saffron rice with raisins and silvered almonds

Indian Specialties
June 17
Menu: Masala spiced nut mix; Egg biryani; Prawns balchao; yogurt relish and sweet pineapple kesari

Call the co-op @ 916-455-2667 to register for classes.

Designer Oatmeal?

2008-03-15T23:09:00.000-07:00

Who says you cant dress up an ugly duckling? I was from the school that oat meal was meant for horses and should stay that way, until I decided to use my imagination. I should say the ugly duckling looks pretty. All of you who staunchly believe that you wont ever touch oatmeal, try this option with an open mind and see how you feel.

After having resisted oatmeal for 7 years, this is the first time that I have been regularly having oatmeal for breakfast.

Water - 1 cup

Quaker Oats -1/2 cup

Raisins - 1 tbsp

Milk - 1/3 cup

Brown Sugar - 1 tsp

Saffron - 2 strands

Pistachio - 1 tsp chopped

Bring water to a boil.
Add the oats and raisins to boiling water.
Cook the oats on medium low (takes 3 to 4 minutes)
Now stir in the milk and brown sugar
Crush saffron between your fingers and add that to the oatmeal as well.
Let the saffron infuse into the oatmeal
Garnish with pistachio and serve.

The other option is to add a dash of cardamom. Try this and I hope we have more oatmeal converts :)

This designer Oatmeal goes to Mansi who is hosting WBB, short for Weekend Breakfast Blogging, an event started by Nandita of Saffron Trail. The theme for this edition is Balanced Breakfast.

Vegetable Cutlets and on live TV

2008-03-07T13:11:00.000-08:00

With the TV show host Tina Macua from CBS13/CW31, before the broadcast. Tina is a very lively anchor full of energy, and fun to work with. Here is the link to the TV website.

When CBS13/CW31 sent me an email that they would be interested in having me do a TV segment, I was thrilled to bits. Cooking gives me happiness and promoting Indian cooking makes me even more happier.

We thought about what I should showcase to the audience and singled out Vegetable Cutlets, for the simple reason that it has simple ingredients, easy to make, something that everyone can relate to(burger?). Gave a quick call to amma to verify the recipe ( I always need that) and I was ready to rock and roll.

Vegetable Cutlets

Mashed potato – 1 cup
Onion – ½ cup finely chopped
Carrots – ½ cup finely chopped
Peas – ¼ cup
Green Beans – ¼ cup finely chopped
Ginger – ¼ tsp minced
Garlic – ½ tsp minced
Oil – 3 tbsp
Garam Masala – ¼ tsp
Cayenne powder – ¼ tsp
Turmeric powder – ½ tsp
Salt – ½ tsp
All purpose Flour – 1/3 cup
Water – ½ cup
Bread crumbs – ½ cup

Boil and mash the potatoes finely and set aside.
Chop or use a food processor and mince all the vegetables separately.
Heat a non stick pan with one tablespoon of oil.
When the oil is hot, start by adding the ginger and garlic first and cook for 30 seconds
Then add the onions and cook until they turn translucent
Add the salt, cayenne, turmeric, garam masala and saute for 30 seconds.
Now add the vegetables except the potato and cook for 2 minutes and switch off the stove.
Mix the mashed potatoes with the other vegetables until they come together.
Let the mixture cool. Make small round patties and flatten them between the palm of your hands with 2 tbsp of the mixture.
In the meanwhile whisk the flour in water until there are no lumps. It would look like a crepe batter.
Heat 2 tbsp of oil in a non stick pan or cast iron skillet.
When the oil is hot, dip the patties quickly in the all purpose flour batter and dredge it with bread crumbs and let the cutlets cook on each side for 2 minutes or until they turn golden brown.

Serve with ketchup on the side
Yield: Makes 8 to 9 cutlets

Other options:

Make larger patties and serve them as a burger for kids.
You can make the patties and store in the freezer until you are ready to cook them. When you are ready to cook, dip them in the flour batter, dredge in bread crumbs and cook.
For a healthier version, spray the cutlets with Pam spray and bake in a preheated oven (350) for 15 minutes.

Chilly Idli

2008-02-27T22:20:00.000-08:00

How do I know that we are back to normal, We start craving for spicy food. Yeah we just need a reason right? We had leftover idlis from last night that was sitting in the fridge. I wanted something crispy and I know R will like anything spicy, so decided to make chilly idli that will satisfy both our cravings.

Idli - 6
Ginger - 1 tsp (finely chopped)
Garlic - 1 tsp (finely chopped)
Green Chillies - 2 thinly sliced
Red Bell Pepper - 1/4 cup thinly sliced
Onions - 1/4 cup thinly sliced
Maggie hot sauce - 2 tbsps Cilantro - For garnish
Pam Spray

Cut each idly into four pieces.
Heat oven to 350 and place the idli in cookie sheet and spray the pam spray over the idli
Bake for 10 to 15 minutes or until they have turned golden brown.
In a saute pan, heat some oil and start by adding ginger, then garlic, green chillies and before the garlic turns brown add the onion and bell pepper and cook for 5 minutes
Add the baked idli and ketchup and give it a cook stir.
Garnish with cilantro and serve hot.

We loved the texture of the idly and I will be motivated to make idli batter more often!

The bug has got me~

2008-02-18T23:16:00.000-08:00

I am down with the flu and a cough that will make you run a few miles away. .See you soon when I can think,talk and dream food.

Brocolli Carrot Soup

2008-02-03T14:13:00.000-08:00

We have been trying; I repeat just” trying" to eat healthy. So this weekend our brunch was Broccoli carrot soup, Sautéed Cauliflower and Grilled chicken. We wanted to cook everything with minimal spices and see if we still achieve a flavorful dish. We were happy with results and so were our tummies :).

When Revathi and I got chatting, I told her our menu for the weekend and she wanted the recipe, so here you go.

Broccoli Carrot Soup

Broccoli - 2 (heads cut into florets)
Carrots - 2 (Peeled and cut in rounds)
Ginger - 1 tbsp (grated)
Chilly Flakes - 1 tbsp
Oil - 1 tsp
Stock - 3 cups or water+ chicken bouillon
Salt - 1 tsp

In a pot, heat oil add the ginger and let it cook until the flavor of ginger is infused in the oil. It takes about 2 minutes.
Now add the chilly flakes and sauté for another minute.
Throw in the carrots and broccoli and let it cook for 3 minutes.
Add the water/stock and cook it until it comes to a rapid boil and then simmer for 10 minutes.
The vegetables should be soft and tender.
Using a hand blender, blend to a smooth consistency.

For the grilled chicken - Marinate the chicken with a couple tbsps yogurt, chilly powder, garam masala and salt. We marinated it overnight and grilled it in our steam grill.

Healthy Spring Rolls

2008-01-30T17:24:00.000-08:00

I was introduced to Vietnamese spring rolls by one of my colleagues. I was hooked! I bought these spring roll wrappers 7 years ago thinking they were the one for deep frying and was sadly diasspointed. But you know what, they taste like rice papad if you deep fry them. Sprinle with chaat masala and it is a whole different appetizer.

Just loved the refreshing burst of flavors and that there is no after effects of feeling bloated. A simple and very light appetizer that anyone will love. The recipe is really very easy. All you have to really do is set all veggies and noodles in an assembly line and you are ready to go. We made this an hour ago and had them in the refrigerator until we were ready to serve.

We made about 12 spring rolls

Vietnamese egg roll wrapper - 12
Rice noodle or bean thread - two handful ( soak in warm water and drain)
Julienned carrots - 1 cup
Green Onions - 3 finely chopped( I used only the green part)
Mint leaves - 1/4 cup
Bean Sprouts - 1/4 cup
Cilantro - 1/4 cup
Crushed peanuts - A handful
Serrano chilies - 2 to 3 cut in thin long strips

We really dont know if this is an authentic recipe, but we love it made this way.

Place all the ingredients in individual small bowls or in a plate.
Have a large bowl with cold water.
Dip the wrapper in cold water
The wrapper gets kind of soft, start assembling everything on it starting with the noodles.
Wrap the noodles like you see in the picture.

We served ours with a spicy peanut sauce. For one cup of creamy beanut butter, add three tbsps of chilli garlic sauce, a dash of tamarind paste. Mix well and serve with the rolls. Best of all NO DEEP

Update: A lot of you have mentioned about having eaten the one's in Costco..that wrapper and this one are completely different. The rolls we have made cannot be deep fried.

Eileen and Sue are caterers, please read what they have to say,"Be sure not to keep them too long after making..they wil get hard like rice that has been refridgerated..I wouldn't make them more than a couple of hours before serving and cover well to keep the air out. You did a good job.. they look great! There is a difference between those rice paper wrappers and the regular egg roll wrappers.. you can't use the egg roll wrappers without frying."

Steamed Nenthram Pazham - Steamed Plantain

2008-01-24T09:00:00.000-08:00

My mom learnt this from our neighbor, Mrs. Varghese. They had this for breakfast and shared it with us. I was a baby then and have no memories of it. But it became a regular in our home when my mom could get a hold of nenthram pazham. When we went to India this time, my mom made it for me...the aroma of steamed plantain with coconut jaggery wafts in the air..yum

I made this at home one day for brunch after we found it our natural food store. The recipe is simple and very filling too.

Ripe Plantain - 2

Jaggery - 1/2 cup

Coconut - 1 cup

Cardamom- 1 (powdered)

Slit the plantain without separating it with the skin on.
Mix the coconut,shredded jaggery and cardamom in a bowl.
Slowly fill the plantain with the mixture and then tie the open end of the plantain.
Place the plantains in a steamer and let it steam for 15 minutes.
Untie the plantain, take the peel off and serve hot.

This goes to Jyothsna of CurryBazaar for RCI - Cuisine of Kerala.

Pani Puri - Indian Crack?

2008-01-21T21:13:00.000-08:00

We had loads of fun in our cooking class this month. The class was about Indian street food. what better then Pani Puri and Aloo tikki right? We also made Kaara pori (churmura).

I thought it was an acquired taste, but trust me when I say everyone loved it. The students made everything from scratch . The puris were perfect and I served it to everyone just like in India. Dunked the puri in the pani and they all waited in line to have them.

One of my students came to me and says,"this is Indian crack! I am addicted!" Now that is a compliment and I know she is hooked. One of them is planning on serving it for a party. I thoroughly enjoyed giving this class. It was a blast!

If you are interested to get the recipe, please send me an email.

Protein Laden Paniyaram

2008-01-18T08:01:00.001-08:00

When I started giving cooking classes, I arranged different lentils in a glass to showcase the different lentil we use in our cooking..now what do I with them? So this was my brainwave last week.

Black eyed peas - 2 tbsp
Masoor dhal - 2 tbsp
Yellow Moong Dhal - 2 tbsp
Channa Dhal - 2 tbsp
Green moong dhal - 2 tbsp
Whole uradh dhal (skin on) - 1/2 cup
Red Chilly - 3 to 4
Ginger - 1 inch
Curry Leaves - 2 sprigs

Soak all of the above except the ginger and curry leaves for about an hour.
Grind it to a smooth batter along with the ginger adding water as needed.
Chop the curry leaves and mix it with the batter.
Add salt to taste.
Let the batter sit in room temperature for about 5 hours.
Heat a paniyram skillet (Aebleskiver pan) .
Pour a ladle of batter and drizzle some oil over each of them .
Cook until both sides are golden brown.

I happened to see a similar skillet in Solvang, if you would like to purchase one, here is a link

http://www.aebleskiver.com/norwegian.htm

Judy's Cafe - A must eat place in San Francisco

2008-01-11T14:12:00.000-08:00

Eating at this restaurant was not on our game plan at all. The idea was to go to China town and guess what? We were LOST with our GPS yelling,”keep to the left”, “turn left”, “please make a legal turn”…Hello we are in San Francisco where the streets are mostly one way. We ended turning onto Chestnut Street and we were definitely not disappointed.

I was magnanimous to let Rajesh choose the restaurant, there were a bee line of them. I first thought it was a big mistake coz my stomach was growling and it looked like we were walking towards the residential area, we then turned around and looked at the menu cards in a few restaurants... Nah! We were not impressed. We then stepped in to Judy’s Café, we were handed the menu card and the man told us,” we own no microwaves, everything is made from scratch” Those words were magic to our ears, we were SOLD! The menu card says,” Oversized portions will challenge the hearty eater” and they are right. We had a whole lot of left overs.

The restaurant is small, and we sat by the window. Being the weekend before Christmas, the streets were buzzing with activity. The walls were filled with interesting photos of famous personalities who have visited the restaurant. Tiny as it may seem, it was filled with a lot of help. The manager, Devika came by to enquire if this was our first time and explained that most of the ingredients are organic and since they cook only after they receive the order it may take a little time depending on what we order.. The menu was divided in to Omelets, sweet inspirations, egg breakfast, and sandwiches, soup & salads and beverages of course.

My eyes and heart were set on sweet inspirations….I ordered Sourdough French toast – sourdough French bread grilled in butter and sprinkled with powdered sugar and topped with bananas and served with a generous amount of warm syrup on the side. It was to die for. Rajesh ordered the Huevo Grande – Scrambled eggs covered with cheese, salsa, sour cream, homefried potatoes and nine grain toast. He savored every morsel of it. The only thing different I would next time is, order one tea rather than two, since it is two whole pots of tea that we could not finish.

For both of us, it was a feast. I watched the owner having his lunch there and that makes me comfortable. After his lunch, the owner came by as I had a question about who is who standing with him in the pictures. Charles has visited India and we think he knows a lot more about Hinduism then we do ;)

We noticed that there seemed to be a lot of regulars, almost every customer who walked in knew the manager and the owner. The home fried potatoes is a secret recipe of theirs, I know it had some herbs in it. I am going to keep going back to try and replicate the recipe….

I am so glad we missed our way to China Town :)

Verdict: Great place to visit.
Service: excellent, you cannot ask for anything better.
Price: It is on the expensive side, but we pay a price when you want nothing but the best, right?
Worth a second visit: Definitely.
Hours: open 365 days, Monday to Friday: 7:45 am to 2:15pm, Saturday, Sunday & all holidays: 7:45 am to 3:00pm
Address: 2268 Chestnut Street San Francisco, CA 94123 (415) 922-4588

Comfort Food after the Storm

2008-01-05T15:19:00.001-08:00

After one day of huddling in bed under a warm comforter, it was time for some comfort food. What is better than piping hot rasam with rice, romanesca (cauliflower) fry, radish salad,dried chillis and vadagam.

We saw this beautiful vegetable at the co-op and R decided to buy it immediately for the love of taking pictures. The grocer told us it was called Romanesca.I just baked it with potatoes and onion after marinating it in some spices.

I thought the Romaesca taste a lot like cauliflower. The grocer told us that it was a cross between cauliflower and brocolli.

Fried Plantains and A Review

2007-12-28T14:39:00.000-08:00

While we were in San Francisco last weekend, it was a photo shoot session for Rajesh and a culinary adventure for me . We both did our most favorite things.

We both enjoy each other's hobbies which is great. We went to quite a few restaurants, but we will review those we liked the most. We decided to try a restaurant in Berkeley which serves fine African food, Tropical Paradise Restaurant. After I looked at the menu online, I was drooling just thinking of the fried plantains.

We reached the restaurant on Saturday at around 10:30 pm, there were two other tables occupied by people who spoke the same language as the chef..that said OK, the food must be authentic.

Now while we don't know if the authentic, it definitely was tasty. We loved the service and liked the fact that we could see the kitchen. The only disappointment for me was that they did not have the fried plantains.

We ordered the Chicken Chichinga Dinner and we were in for a treat. "Entrees are served with jollof rice (cooked in a tomato based cassarole with bay leaves, anise & nutmeg), ginger fried plantains ( ripe plantains seasoned with ginger, herbs and spices, deep fried in soy bean oil) with your choice of spinach stew (spinach cooked in a tomato casserole with melon seeds, herbs and mild spices) or Finger licking black-eyed peas cooked in a tomato based casserole with health herbs and mild spices."

Since they were out of fried plantains we were served with both sides, spinach stew and black eyed peas. The stews were for sure cooked for a very long time. The chicken was tender and cooked to perfection. I ordered a tropical non alcoholic drink which had guava juice and the ginger gave it that punch. It was an excellent accompaniment to the food.

There was nice music playing in the background and the chef was dancing to the music as he was grilling our chicken, which was fun to watch :)

This is a must go place for those who like to try different ethnic food.

Service: Excellent

Food: Excellent

Price: For under $15 this was a treat!

Address: Tropical Paradise Restaurant 2021 University Ave Berkeley, CA. 94704

Phone # 510-665-4380

Remember that they are closed Sunday and Monday.

Now comes the fried plantain, since I missed eating them there, I recreated this recipe at home after googling..http://www.africa.upenn.edu/Miscellany/Recipes_from_12913.html

Plantain - 1
Lemon juice - A dash
Salt - a pinch
Fresh Ginger - 2 tbsp (grated)
Chilli Powder - 2 tbsp
Oil for frying

Chop the plantain into 1/2 inch rounds.
Sprinkle Lemon juice.
Rub the ginger, chilli powder and salt over the plantains
Heat oil and deep fry the plantains

Try it and let me know what you think. Our verdict was it reminded us of nethram pazham and was nostalagic.

Little Bundles of Joy!

2007-12-19T17:06:00.000-08:00

While I wanted to do something special for my students who I give classes to, I also wanted it to be food related and be Indian at the same time. Where else can I look for ideas other then our blog world and lo & behold I found this wonderful blog ,where she made this gift for her MIL.

I was thrilled to bits and was sure that everyone in my class will love it. I did not have the time to dehydrate the ginger. I ground ginger powder, cinnamon, a small teaspoon of fennel seeds, cloves and cardamom and mixed it with the tea leaves I brought from India. I used a silk cloth at home to make these bundles. I printed out the recipe to make the tea as well!

Thank you for a wonderful year in the blog world. While we have been facing a lot of challenges in our life, blogging and reading other blogs has been a breath of fresh air from everything . We are really thankful for having made good friends who have helped us in many ways.

Have a wonderful year ahead and be safe!

Hara Bara Kebabs

2007-12-10T18:01:00.001-08:00

Inspired by Indira's Hara kababs, I tried my hand at these with a twist and I was very happy with the outcome.

When I was in Mumbai recently I saw this on the menu and every time I wanted to order it, the guy would go,"time lagega"(it takes time to make it). I would go nah and order something else. On the last day, I called and ordered 45 minutes before lunch and thus got to have this tasty treat.

I asked the guy who served me to find out what were the ingredients in the dish was and he looked at me like I was out of my mind. In a place like Mumbai where everything is so fast paced, here I was asking him the recipe. He came back and said the chef is busy, but it has peas, channa and potatoes.

I followed Indira's recipe , but added cooked spinach and green peas to white garbanzo beans and cooked it longer and did not add besan.

Dates Raitha

2007-12-06T04:55:00.000-08:00

This is one the easiest recipes and tastes great. We made this in our cooking classes. The menu was basmati rice, chicken vindaloo, palak paneer and dates raitha. This salad cooled off the hot vindaloo.! I found this recipe in a cook book at the library, I cant seem to remember who the author is :)

Ingredients

Dates – 10 chopped finely
Raisins – 2 tbsp
Green apple – 1 chopped
Yogurt – 1 cup
Salt & pepper to taste
Ground cumin – 1 tsp

Combine all the ingredients and serve chilled. This will keep well for about 2 days if stored in the refrigerator. Add fresh grapes for that added crunch.

If chandrika accepts this late an entry, I will submit this for http://akshayapatra.blogspot.com/2007/11/afam-november-dates.html

sucker

2007-11-27T08:01:00.000-08:00

Fall colors in california
Its food related, somebody is getting a meal :)
-Rajesh

Madras Shrimp Curry

2007-11-19T21:49:00.000-08:00

Was a superhot hit at Shankari's cooking class.

Shrimp – 1 lb de-veined and tail off

Garlic – 1 whole

Turmeric powder – 1 tsp

Chilly powder – 1 tsp

Ginger & Garlic paste – 1 tbsp

Red onion – 2

Oil – 2 tbsp

Curry leaves – 12 to 15

Salt – to taste

Clean the shrimp, de-vein and take the tail off.
Take the skin off the garlic and keep it aside.
Slice the onions thin
In a warm pan, heat the oil. When the oil is smoking hot, add the garlic and cook till tender.
Add the onions and cook till they are caramelized and they almost look like it is sauce.
Add the ginger garlic paste along with the onions
After the onions have caramelized, add the salt, curry leaves, turmeric powder and chilly powder.
Cook for 5 minutes.
Toss the shrimp in the curry and let it cook for 10-15 minutes.

Lovely Lively waters

2007-11-15T23:58:00.000-08:00

We collected some pebbles, sand and seawater in an empty soda bottle from Anjuna beach in Goa, and back in the resort discovered we had brought back a mini aQuarium. Live worms squirming up and down and the spawn. It was beautiful and showed how rich the sea was with life.

Blast of a time

2007-11-11T22:52:00.000-08:00

Happy Deepavali friends.

We had a blast, celebrating Deepavali for in India. For myself this was after being abroad for 10 years, and for Shankari 7 years. Tons of home made sweets, new clothes ofcourse and plenty of crackers.

Reviewing the pictures later was when I realized how dangerous crackers really are. These pictures tell the story. Luckily all of us were fine.

The immense blast caught on camera in this next shot was not observed by any of us when we were bursting the crackers. I had my camera on a fast frame mode, and felt lucky to have caught this snap.
The tube you see is a sturdy cardboard roll that the friendly photolab assistant gave me to safely travel pack some enlargements I had ordered from the lab. I needed only one tube, and so we had the other to play with. We had a blast launching the plastic ring that went on the end of the tube. This flew quite high atleast 40-50 ft or about 3 stories high.

Notice the sparks flying randomly in all directions in the first frame. Imagine one of these hitting the eye. Safety goggles will help, but will we spend to get them.

As kids, my parents always warned us of the dangers, these pictures were an eye opener. Something to remember and to heed to the instructions, they are there for a purpose. The tube survived intact even after multiple reuse, and probably directed any sparks and flames safely upward.

Pray for safe and injury free Deepavali's for all for the future!

Pooris Galore!

2007-10-05T06:48:00.000-07:00

I know I know, Independence day party is long gone. But this is what we cooked in our cooking class yesterday. Yesterday's class was an intimate group of 12 and everyone had loads of fun rolling the pooris. We made our regular pooris and spinach pooris. I am not posting the recipe here, since we have loads of versions here.

What I enjoyed most was when I heard from the students that they have tried out a lot of the
recipes I taught, which means our Indian cooking is spreading it's wings and a few told me that they have decided to dish up some of the Indian dishes for Thanksgiving! That thrilled me to bits and got me all misty eyed.

Some of them tell me their spouses dont like Indian food and after they cook some of the recipes we cooked in class, they send me an email that,"We have another convert", and that makes my day, that someone who did not like Indian food has begun to like it.

We made about 80 pooris...no no..just 12 students did not clean up 80 pooris, a few folks from the cooking school, R & I also had our share of the dinner. The menu was absolute comfort food

Poori

Spinach Poori

Channa Masala

Onion Relish

Shrikand

Just see all the hands involved in making the pooris and remember it was their first time rolling them :) . The class was a blast!

Kneads No Introduction

2007-09-29T09:42:00.000-07:00

Yeah I have been infected by the baking fairy. Needs no recipe since this is all over the blog world :). R & I enjoyed the bread. This is one bread that does not need a "baker". It is fun and tastes great.

The only thing I would do different next time, is add a pod of garlic and a tbsp of rosemary!

Savory buns

2007-09-26T21:40:00.000-07:00

I walked down memory lane when I saw pu siva's coconut bun. As a child, my mom got them from Iyengar bakery..I liked spicy food even then. Buns that were made with green chillies,curry leaves and cilantro. I used pusiva's recipe, but made a few changes not because of my imagination mind you, just because of the lack of ingredients. But yes, the plan was kaara buns and kaara buns it was. R & I were extremely happy with the results.

http://pusiva.blogspot.com/2006/08/weekend-baking-session-24.html

The recipe needed two cups of AP flour, I used 1.5 cups of AP and 1/2 cup of cake flour. I did not have butter, so used ghee instead. Reduce the amount of sugar if you plan to make it savory. chopped green chillies (4) and a tbsp of chopped curry leaves and cilantro made this buns just the way I remembered having them.

Hope you try her recipe and enjoy it as much as we did. Thank you.....

Distanceitis

2007-09-20T09:26:00.000-07:00

Distanceitis : Psychological condition where the brain is frozen at snapshot from last vist to homeland.

Symptoms : Expectations that the persons we are interacting with are exactly as we last saw them, and that their opinions, feelings thoughts are all eXactly in the same frame as we last left them.

Diagnosis: That inner smile or shrug with disdain from the the other person when you talk to them, or relate that was once a favorite joke or saying which does not elicit the same reaction as before and awaited.

Remedy : Need for an open mind to accept that mind evolves with time. As much as your brain and thoughts evolve so does rest of the world.

This is not a posting by me, but by Rajesh....:)

God's Own Creation

2007-09-16T18:11:00.000-07:00

It is food related :)

Live on NBC's KCRA3

2007-09-05T21:51:00.001-07:00

Shankari was on NBC's local channel today, and demonstrated chicken kofta during the afternoon news broadcast, live from the KCRA 3 studio in Sacramento.

Mango Chutney

2007-08-28T13:55:00.001-07:00

The king of fruits, Mango is a welcome guest in our house be it green or yellow. I buy the green variety with the intention of making this chutney and always end up chopping them and eating them with salt and chilli powder. I braved the strong desire to eat it that way and made the chutney which can be eaten as is.

It is a great accompaniment to dosas,idli, rotis and bread.

This recipe again is from the cookbook by Shehzad Husain & Raft Fernandez

Unripe mango peeled and cubed - 4 cups

Vinegar - 4 tbsp

Chilli Flakes - 1/2 tsp ( I used a little more and the variety we use to top on pizzas)

Cloves - 6

Whole Black pepper - 6

Roasted Cumin seeds - 1 tsp

Sugar - 3/4 cup

Ginger - Finely sliced 2 inch long

Garlic- 2 cloves crushed

Salt to taste

Heat the vinegar and sugar in a saucepan along with all ingredients except mango,ginger and garlic.
Simmer on very low heat for about 7 minutes.
Add the mango,ginger and garlic and simmer until the mango is mushy and vinegar has evaporated.
Cool and store in a air tight container.

The recipe says leave it for a few days before serving. But I did not have the patience and started having it on the pretext of tasting it.

Potatoes on fire or is it your tongue :)

2007-08-20T16:35:00.001-07:00

Warning: This is not a dish for someone who like their food bland. Roll up your sleeves and try this fiery potatoes. It is a wonderful accompaniment to rotis.
I followed the recipe to the T from a cookbook by Shhzad husain and Rafi Fernandez.

Ingredients

Small New potatoes - 1 lb
Dried red chilly - 1 oz
Cumin Seeds - 1.5 tsp
Garlic - 4 cloves
Oil - 6 tbsp
Tomato Paste - 2 tbsp
Tamarind paste - 1 tsp
Curry leaves - 5 to 6
Sugar -1 tsp
Hing - a pinch
Salt to taste
Cilantro for garnish

Boil potatoes until tender and drain.

Soak the chillies in water for 5 minutes. Drain and grind with cumin and garlic to a coarse paste.

Heat the oil in a pan. Fry all ingredients, except the potatoes until the oil seperates.

Add potatoes and cook for another 7- 10 minutes in reduced heat and covered.
Garnish with cilantro.

On another note, Rajesh has been posting a lot of pictures on my blog and have been asking him to seperate it, so here is his blog and his passion
http://paithyakara.blogspot.com/

Thanks Manisha for the wonderful award. I am a little under the weather and today R coaxed me to post this recipe so I forget my ailments and start typing furiously:)

Luscious

2007-08-11T21:29:00.000-07:00

Luscious

Astrophotography

2007-08-09T22:12:00.000-07:00

My first attempt at astrophotography, using a Celestron telescope and my trusty ole PenTaX optio 450

Update: 8/29/07
For those of you who wanted to know how I did this, and want to try it out on the nearly full moon now.

Setup : Very very simple. Optically coupled the eyepiece of the telescope and my pentax optio 450 with scotch tape. Set the camera to manual focus and reduced the exposure compensation.

Enjoy.

My short flight

2007-07-17T07:49:00.000-07:00

Warning ! This sport will plaster a silly grin on your face , and this symptom lasts about 48 hours, and cannot be wiped off. Other symptoms include insomnia and high levels of excitedness.

My video package included an
online streaming service of the dvd, so incase any one wants to see me going cRaaaaazY, here is the link

-Rajesh

60 seconds which felt like a lifetime, and at the same time felt too short.

My exhillarating experience of free fall for about 60 seconds, from 13000 ft to 5500 ft, at which I pulled the ripcord, and floated down to earth guided by my very skillful guide SooTek, who has done more than 2500 jumps, and thanks to Dan for these pictures.

Definetly a thrill of a life time, which I have always wanted to do since I was a kid.

Potatoes on fire

2007-06-30T07:34:00.000-07:00

In her element

2007-06-25T21:10:00.000-07:00

Doing what she loves the most !

Shankari teaching this fun group of eager students the art of dosa, sambar and chutney's.

Update: Many of you have asked where and how I got into this. I contacted community centers and cooking schools in the area. It is a time consuming process, but worth the effort. You would have to send a proposal, meet them in person and the most important attributes that they look for are excellent presentation & communication skills.

I am Back!

2007-06-22T12:07:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the looooong procrastinated time off from the blog world. Though I did not blog, I visited blogs and was vey much a part of blog duniya. My heart was not set in blogging, like I said prorities..But I am back.

Updates: I have started giving cooking classes at a cooking school. It is the most wonderful experience.....

Sayanora

2007-01-01T14:59:00.000-08:00

Wishing you all a Wonderful New Year!

Thanks to all of you for your kind enquiries! I would not be blogging for sometime, I am trying to focus on things that are in the top three of my priority list. I love being a part of the blog world, but plan on taking a short break.

Will see you soon! Adios

Thanksgiving Cooking!

2006-11-28T18:03:00.000-08:00

Few of the things I cooked up during the long weekend, Moroccon Soup & Creme Brulee. Both were an instant hit! I was chatting with K, and she said she was planning to make Moroccan soup, I did not have the time to ask her how she made it, so browsed around and got this recipe.
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/moroccan-lentil-soup/detail.aspx. I changed the quantity of garlic and ginger, added a lot more cayenne and very little cardamom. I did a rough puree of the entire soup and sqeezed a little bit of lime, oh yeah, I also added finely chopped celery for extra crunch.

Moroccan Soup

INGREDIENTS
1 onions, chopped
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
4 cups water
1 cup Masoor Dhal
1 (15 ounce) can garbanzo beans, drained
1 (19 ounce) can cannellini beans
1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes
1/2 cup diced carrots
1/2 cup chopped celery
1 teaspoon garam masala
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cardamom
1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon olive oil
DIRECTIONS

In large pot saute; the onions, garlic, and ginger in a little olive oil for about 5 minutes.

Add the water, lentils, chick peas, white kidney beans, diced tomatoes, carrots, celery, garam masala, cardamom, cayenne pepper and cumin.

Bring to a boil for a few minutes then simmer for an hour or longer, until the lentils are soft.

Puree half the soup in a food processor or blender. Return the pureed soup to the pot, stir and enjoy!

Its raining in Chennai

2006-11-19T01:28:00.000-08:00

Its been continously raining in Chennai, and I wonder about these people living on the footpath.

Count your blessings, help some one who can use a helping hand. What goes around comes around.

Pic was taken from a pallavan transport bus, 1c when I was on my way to central station to join Shankari who was in Salem. (picture was taken when we were in India in September 06)

Love these One Liners

2006-11-07T09:47:00.000-08:00

I found these somewhere and loved it and sharing it with you....

In the interest of time, Let's just assume I'm right (All husbands out there, read this a hundred times)

Gone crazy...Will be back soon

This is not Burger King, You will have it my way!

I am only a beautician, not a MAGICIAN

I am not spoiled, just well taken care of

I dont look for choclate, it finds me (fitness centers dont find me tho)

A great fisherman lives here with the catch of his life

Born to golf, forced to work

I'm blonde, what's your excuse?

In my next life, I am having more memory installed

One post and Two Tags!

2006-11-02T09:12:00.000-08:00

What can I say, I dont want to cry like our friend Syam here about tags, it is fun.Patty and http://mitrideas.blogspot.com/ had tagged me , since there was a lot going on at home, did not get a chance to do them, but here it goes....

1. Psycho in me: Hmmmm..that is me! (or that is what R calls me) When the house is not cleaned...the other avatar of me comes to light

2. Thinni pandaram: My blog is an example by itself...love all foods and am always looking to try new cuisines and food. I tried lobster yesterday and liked it..

3. Kids: Love them, but definitely dont like the kids who liein the middle of a shopping mall throwing tantrums

4. Dreams: Have the most wierdest dreams and I remember vividly the once I have had in my chilhood too (some of them)

5. No weird: ??????

6. Bore factor: Cleaning dishes and folding clothes

This one is from Patty

Smells I love
Smell of citrus flavors
Fresh coffee brewing
Sandalwood

Smells I hate
Sometimes the smell of chicken cooking,
Fish
Bad body odor

Jobs that I have had in my life
Admin manager
Bank teller
Relationship Associate in a bank.

Movies that I could watch over and over
Roja
Roman Holiday
My Fair Lady

Fond memories
My childhood
Living by myself for the 1st time
holidays with RajeshH

Jobs I would love to have - I take up jobs that I love, so .....

Places that I have lived
Belgaum
Pune
Chennai

Things I like to do
Cook
Eat
spend time with Rajesh (not necessarily in that order)

3 Of my favorite foods
Rasam & potato,
Sodhi
Indian style chicken

3 Places I would like to be right now
My home
My mom's place
Hawaii

3 Websites that I visit daily
Immigrant in Canada's blog
Craigslist.com
My office website

3 Things that make me cry
When I am blamed for things I did not do.
Hunger
When I miss my parents

Rendang Chicken!

2006-10-27T13:17:00.000-07:00

I just love most foods that originates from Malaysia, Thailand and the likes. My neighbor "K" is a malaysian and our conversations have been aroundfood since Diwali (with me it is all the time). She had mentioned that it is their family tradition to make rendang chicken for Diwali and I could not taste as hers as I was not in town that day :(

I asked K and our friend Sarah from Immigrant in Canada. They both readily gave me the recipe and it was a super hit with R. The flavors of lemon grass, galangal and fresh turmeric just bursts in your mouth. Try this recipe and you would say the same things. Thanks a ton to you Sarah and K.

Ingredients

Chicken (boneless) - 1.5lbs
Coconut milk - 1 can
Star Anise - 1
Cinnamon - small stick
Coriander powder - 1/4 tsp
Tamarind paste - 1 tsp
Kaffir lime leaves - A couple ( I did not have any and so used 2 regular lime leaves and a teaspoon of lime zest)

To make into a paste

Red Chillies - 10 to 12
Galangal - 1 inch piece thinly sliced
Fresh turmeric - 1 inch piece thinly sliced
Shallots - 4 to 5 chopped
Garlic - 2 pods
Lemon grass - 2 pieces

Method
In a thick bottomed vessel with oil, add the star anise and cinnamon.
Add the ground paste ( the paste should be ground with little water as possible)
Saute this for about 5 to 7 minutes until the raw smell goes away (now you kitchen will smell fragrant with the lemon grass)
In the meanwhile have the chicken diced into cubes.
Add the chicken and saute until it looks a little cooked.
Top the chicken with coriander powder and the tamarind paste ( I dilued the tamarind paste in a little water.
Add the coconut milk ( I reserved about 1/3 of a cup)
Let this simmer on medium low. K told me let it cook on medium low for an hour atleast until the coconut milk reduces and you get a thick gravy. When she called me while I was cooking, she asked me to add a handful of ground peanuts for the texture and was kind of enough to drop some off to me as I did not have any. So I pounded a fistful and added it to the curry.
I kept stirring the curry as I browsed through blogs. Since I had some more groundnuts left I sauted them with salt and chilli powder and a little bit of oil.
I cooked the rice along with the some coconut milk, a small piece of lemon grass. The smell of rice was fragrant.

Happy Diwali!

2006-10-19T22:32:00.000-07:00

From Center - Coconut Burfi, Chakli, Thick Sev (omapodi),Ribbon Bakoda, Kaju Kathli, Badam Halwa rolled into bite Size pieces

Diwali always brings nostalgic memories of childhood, as a child I always wanted to know how much fireworks I could buy, if I can burst some as my older sisters always got a better share of them, I really did not care much for new clothes, but more concerned about what sweets and savories were made at home.

On D-day, We used to wake as early as possible and my mom would have woken up before us to arrange everything in the pooja room, the clothes,sweets and the fireworks , my mom will keep a little kumkum on the new clothes and we would return to the pooja room after a hot bath with oil and shikakai and then the fun began. We would run outside to compete with the neighbors on who would burst the most fireworks.

I miss that here but ah well, one cant have everything in life. This Diwali, I decided to make 6 snacks to denote the 6 years of our married life , so three sweets and three savories.

Sweets - Badam Halwa, Kaju Kathli and Coconut Burfi.
(I rolled the badam Halwa into bite size pieces , thanks Saffron for the neat idea)
Savories - Butter Murukku (Chakli), Ribbon Bakoda, Kara Chev

I decided to submit Ribbon Bakoda for the JFI. This is a recipe that I got from my mom as soon as I got married and it has been R's favorite ever since. Don't omit the garlic in this recipe, it makes it aromatic and tastes great! http://keeptrying.wordpress.com/2006/10/01/special-edition-jihva/
Here goes the recipe...

Ingredients

Rice Flour - 2 Cups
Channa Dhal flour - 1.5 cups
Dalia(pottu Kadalai) powdered - 1/2 cup
Garlic pods - 4
Whole red chillies - 6 to 7
Hing - A pinch
Salt - to taste
Butter - 1 Tbsp
Oil for deep frying

Mix all the flours together with salt and hing
Add the butter
Grind the garlic and red chilly finely with water to make a paste (strain it , so that you don't have the seeds in the way)
Add the strained water to the flour and bring them altogether as much as water is needed to make a dough (same consistency as chapathi dough)

Now using the tubular press, you can start frying them in hot oil.
Once they are fried, let the bakodas rest on a paper towel and then store in air tight container.

Happy Diwali to all of you and may this year bring all of us peace and all that we pray for.

Spot me if you can

2006-10-18T01:03:00.000-07:00

On our last trip to India when Shankari was in Salem, while I was in Chennai with Mom & Dad and I had gotten into this habit of eating fresh neem leaves. I almost jumped when this leaf started moving. I went down to the house and came back with my camera praying this magnificient specimen would still be there, and most importantly that I would be able to spot it.

Some one told me eating neem leaves would clean and clear my system T so, I religiously consumed about 10 leaves every morning for about 4 or 5 days....Glad this grasshopper did not end up like a "Fear Factor meal"

A Medley of thoughts..

2006-10-13T18:24:00.000-07:00

I warn you folks just as the title suggests this is a "gumbo" of all my thoughts and is as my blog goes a stream of consciousness.

Our recent trip to India was an enjoyable one, but it also got me confused as to where my loyalties were. I call US home while in India and when having conversations with friends and colleague's the US call India my home

I don't know if many of you feel the way I do, when we come here to the US the thoughts,incidents that are imprinted in our minds is that of what happened years ago. Like for instance my nostalgic memory of waking up was to the sizzling noise of boiling water that my mom would pour into the coffee filter and today she uses a electric one..

I expect my parents to be as energetic as they were when I left them and shocked to see them old and silver hair sticking out reminding me hey they are growing old too.
My sisters son who loved to have his face in every picture is all grown up now...Our tenants have changed, the neighbours have moved and little kids are now in college.

It is wonderful to see a lot of change, and while talking I hear stories about this aunt and another uncle and so on and wonder why they did not tell me all this when I call them, I always ask them what else is going on? But to think of it they would think that is rather not very important to discuss on an international phone call. But I still feel like I miss everything going in my parents day to day lives. And then a small flicker of thought, should I go back to India?

I look at how we celebrate Diwali here with as much enthusiasm we can muster, try to go to the temple,attend parties,make sweets from scratch and I see parents explaining to children what Diwali as relive what we all have celebrated as kids, but in India I see many people going to Grand Snack(sweet shop in Chennai) and the likes to buy the sweets and they don't have the time to make the sweet and one glance at the teenagers around you and you can tell that they are westernised and I think to myself it is all the same ...

Do you guys feel that way or I am just weird????

Why are you staring ?

2006-10-09T17:33:00.001-07:00

Egg A Meal!

2006-10-05T14:20:00.000-07:00

Today was one of those days when I was craving for something spicy ( I can hear R say," what today, you crave for something everyday") Aw well, so be it.
I started browsing on the web and happened to find this website of pakistani dishes and decided to give this recipe a try
http://www.angelfire.com/country/fauziaspakistan/eggbiryani.html

I followed the recipe to the T, except for the Kopra as I did not have some, but it did not feel like I missed anything. R loved this biryani, it was hot and tasted great.

I served it along with Raitha and fried eggs. I added grated carrots, chopped onions, salt, pepper,cilantro and yogurt for the raitha.

I had two left over boiled eggs and so sliced them and in a hot pan with two teaspoons of oil, added some mustard seeds,uradh dhal, salt, pepper,chilli powder and turmeric powder, after a few seconds add the sliced eggs and let it brown on both sides. It turns out crisp on the outside and soft in the inside ( I removed the yellow of the egg for health reasons). All in all a hearty meal and I should now work out..bye folks!

Wave riding Dog on Kattu-maram (tied wood) and the crabbers

2006-10-03T01:27:00.000-07:00

Still jet lagged. S is more or less back to a regular routine.
My dad's house is very close to the beach. I was there at the beach a lot in the early hours, trying to catch the rising sun, when I saw the kattu-maram (the word catamaran originates from the kattumaram or tied wood) coming into the shore, I didnt give it much thought. Just another fisherman I thought...

Check out the cool dawg......
as the kattumaram rides the swells to come ashore

Was I glad my camera was switched on, as within seconds the action was all over.

The only modernization to the ancient craft was a diesel outboard motor !

Meet the crabbers !

This guy was incredible nimble, the time between selecting a crab hole and digging in to grab his was within 10's of seconds.

I am back!

2006-09-27T15:01:00.000-07:00

After a short and sweet vacation I am back..It was fun and yet I missed blogging, but managed to read a few blogs every once in a while. In a time span of three week, we managed to squeeze in an much as possible.

So here goes the places I visited, 1st to Chennai @ my inlaws, Salem to visit my parents, Dharmapuri to be with my sister, Hogennakal (beautiful waterfalls),Yercaud (hill station close to Salem), Mangalore, Subramanya ( visit to a temple) and back to Chennai again!

At Chennai, I was blessed to be a part of my FIL's 80th borthday celebrations. The religious custom is called Sathaabhishekam and it was fun, met with family and ate proper wedding food on a plantain leaf (it all comes back to food eh?) My FIL is a super sport, after the religious rituals were over, we had made a video of all the pictures of my inlaws (rajesh scanned every picture,he could lay his hands on) and then the fun part began, All his children decided to sing songs and my FIL picked up the mike first and surprised us by singing a song and he dedicated it to my MIL, it was sooo touching and then ofcourse we all sang, including my mom and other family members
Another highlight was that I spoke to Shanti, a fellow blogger and now friend. It was fun talking to her

At Salem, Rajesh & I visited the orphanage and were suprised to see how some of the kids had grown in 1.5 years. One of them jumped on to my mom's lap (she knows my mom well)and started reciting all the nursery rhymes she knows and another kid, who we saw as a baby started chatting with me. It was really nice to see that they are all so well taken care of and smiling. We handed over all the checks that you were kind enough to send to us. After a cup of tea with them and after finding more of what they do we left back home with a heavy heart how their parents had the heart to leave these children in trash can and bus stands?
On the lighter side, I ate like a pig and gained a few pounds,shopped a little and spent quality time with our folks. More anecdotes a little later...c ya .

At Subramanya, near Managlore.

At Hogennakal Waterfalls, near Dharmapuri

An Aerial view of Salem from Yercaud.

My food loot from India!!!!

Adiós,Tschüss, Adieu ,Ciao,Tata...

2006-08-30T23:10:00.000-07:00

I will be going on a tiny trip to India for three weeks, will be back with stories to tell,pictures to post and my love affair with food, until then...Bye & Take care

About me,me and only me

2006-08-30T10:12:00.000-07:00

I am thinking about : What I have to do before I leave on my vacation!
I said : I can do it!
I want to : achieve the things that I have been dreaming of....
I wish : I can resolve all our family problems
I regret : saying things in anger that I dont mean one bit
I hear : the clock ticking
I am : what you see, nothing different
I dance : when I am really in the mood to do so
I sing : very well
I cry : when people accuse me of something I am not
I am not : a person who can say things subtly
I am with my hands: always typing away on my laptop or cooking
I write: my list of things to do (do I complete them, that is a different post all together)
I confuse : hmmm if I say it, I will get in trouble
I need : to get over some of my fears
I tag : Sudha

Thank You, Nandri, Gracias!

2006-08-28T16:16:00.000-07:00

I have begun to enjoy blogging so much that, I am sure when I go to India I will try to log in as much as possible, I am just hooked on to it now!

Just like visiting friends , I have been hopping to various blogs and become friends with many. I have learnt to cook a whole lot of new recipe and R has been a happy camper enjoying all the food I make or should I say guinea pig...

I am trying to remember all that I made from various blogs. The fun thing I did a couple of weekends ago was to cook our weekend meal only from various blogs. So here goes the menu

Appetizer

Shredded chicken from Inji Pennu
This dish was so simple to make and yet to delectable.
http://injimanga.blogspot.com/2006/08/shredded-chicken.html
Soup

Corn and Bell Pepper soup from Krithika
The soup had the sweetness of the corn and the pepper made it spicy. It is a great accompaniment on a cold winter day!
http://manpasand.blogspot.com/2006/08/corn-and-red-bellpepper-soup.html

Curry

Ginger Chicken from Karthi Kannan
This was a super hit in our home, R licked the dish clean.
http://kitchenmate.blogspot.com/2006/08/ingi-chicken-ginger-chicken.html
Dessert

Parupu Payasam from Sudha
It disappeared in a jiffy, no left overs, so you can tell how tasty it was.
http://mysamayal.blogspot.com/2006/08/parupu-payasam.html

On days when I bored of eating my own food (poor R), I browsed through blogs and made a few dishes

I made Nabeela 's Cluster beans , but used regular beans instead, guys this is a must try dish. It was a superb hit!
http://trialsnerror.blogspot.com/2006/08/gawar-ki-phalli-cluster-beans-moms.html
I also made Krithika's wheat dosa, R mastered the art of making them super crispy in an iron skillet, so I savored every bite with molaga podi.
I know I have made more , but just cant get to recollect.

On another note, I had posted about an orphanage sometime ago, and guess what , I have collected nearly $500! Thanks to all of you who mailed out the checks to me. I will update you with pictures and stories when I am back from India.