March...the time of board exams in India. Oh the the anxiety and the tension that I experienced during my first board exams - the memory of it is still fresh in my mind!!

But above all, the thing I remember the most about that time is the sol kadhi that my mom would keep ready for me everyday when I returned home. Cooling and very refreshing, it was just the thing to have!! And so, to me (as to a lot of people), this is absolute "soul" kadhi!!

Made from dried outer rind of the kokum fruit, sol kadhi is a very popular Konkani drink. Tangy with a hint of sweetness (from the coconut milk), its delicate flavour and what it does to the palate is very tough to describe in words.....this is something you need to drink to really appreciate. Traditionally, it is served as an appetiser before meals, or as a digestive after a particularly heavy meal (especially after a meaty meal) - no matter when you choose to have it, one thing is certain - the delicately tangy flavour of sol kadhi will leave you craving for more!

Kebabs, the finest finger foods one can ever think of, have a not so glamourous origin. Scarcity of cooking fuel meant there was a need to effectively cook meat. Legend has it that kebabs owe their existence to medeival Turkic soldiers who used their swords to grill meat over open field fires (source - Wikipedia).

Of course, from those medieval fires to modern day cuisines, the humble kebab has come a long way and undergone a lot of tranformation - imagine Persian cuisine or Lucknowi cuisine without kebabs!!

I like kebabs for one simple reason - you can make them well in advance and freeze them; just grill them when the craving for something delicious strikes! And so, I am always on the lookout for newer kebab recipes.

When I first concocted the recipe for Berry Pulao, little did I know that the kebabs that went into it would end up being one of our favourites! So now, whenever I make Berry Pulao, I make sure I make some extra kebabs - these are so delicious and delicately flavoured that if I didn't make extra, they would never make it to the pulao!!

The best part about hosting? You get to meet so many bloggers from all over the globe - it is singularly and spectacularly enriching. Thanks Ruth, for giving me this wonderful opportunity of hosting PPN!

And thank you all, for all the wonderful, droolicious entries you sent me. Without further ado, here's what you all made:





Like the flavourful, oriental ramen? Do I hear a loud "yes"? Then head over to Tasty Treats where JZ has some Ramen Vegetable and Steak Stir fry





Food can be such a source of comfort....Gay of A Scientist in the Kitchen fights homesickness by cooking lovely dishes like this super Penne with Fresh vegetables!

The fisherfolk of Mumbai called kolis are the oldest residents of the city - in fact, the name Mumbai derives from the kolis' patron deity, Mumba devi. Living along the coastal areas of Mumbai in small settlements called koliwadas, they are a very a distinct community with their own dialect of Marathi, their manner of dressing, their songs, their deities and customs and of course, their cuisine. And this is one community where the women (called kolins) are as much empowered (if not more) as the men. The division of labour is clear - the men go and fish, the women (called kolins) are entrusted with selling the catch.

The other day, when I went shopping for prawns to the wet market here, I was suddenly reminded of the kolin who we used to buy our fish from. Dressed in garish coloured saris and bedecked with gold, she would haul her basket on her head and walk tall and erect, never once needing her hands to balance the load on her head! Bargaining loudly with the customers, her face would nevertheless break into an easy grin (once the sale was completed, almost always on her terms!) showing not just her tobacco stained broken teeth but more importantly, a glimpse into her warm heartedness beneath the very agressive demeanour.

I had decided to make a very typical Maharashtrian prawn curry, but for some reason, the lure of making a pasta in a creamy shrimp sauce was too irrestible. However, there was very little fresh cream in the fridge - but several packets of coconut cream in the pantry and thus, Prawns in Creamy Coconut Sauce happened. Luxuriously creamy, it is the touch of saffron with a hint of basil that makes this sauce absolutely irrestible!













This is my entry to Presto Pasta Nights # 106 being hosted right here.
Hope you guys are also furiously thinking pasta!!

I am delighted to be your host for PPN # 106 this week, an event started by the amazing Ruth of Once Upon a Feast!





Considering that this the 106th instalment of an event which is now in its 3rd year, I think PPN doesn't need any introduction. This event has a very simple pre-requisite - all you need to do is cook with noodles.

That's it? Well, yes.


"The dish must have some sort of noodle, it doesn't have to be traditional Italian type pasta, it can be hot, cold, salad, soup, main, dessert, or anything else, but it must have some kind of noodle".


Simple enough, isn't it?! Click here for further details.


So just cook with your favourite noodle and post it in your blog mentioning the link to the Presto Pasta Nights website and to the PNN #106 announcement (that would be this post) and send it over to me at:

aquadaze(AT)rediffmail(DOT)com with a copy to Ruth at:
ruth(AT)4everykitchen(DOT)com.


Include the following details in your e-mail:

Your name
Your blog name and URL
URL of your post
A photo of your dish

Not having a blog need not deter you, just send mail me the recipe and the picture!

PPN #106 runs between March 21st - March 26th. The round up will be done on March 27th. So hurry - Ruth and I are eagerly looking forward to your entries!

It is 12:50 at night, and I am staying up because I can't put down this book I'm reading - The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo by Stieg Larsson. Mid-way through the book, I decided to check out what everyone else has been cooking and here I am writing a post! No one has ever managed to tear me away from a book...such is the lure of blogging!

Other than Italian food, Terradaze and I generally tend to agree on all other cuisines and Thai cuisine is one of our favourite; the use of spices and herbs and coconut milk is something that totally suits our palette. Needless to say, Thai food is something that features very regularly on our table. Since I have a book to return to, I will cut the crap and leave you with something I make very very often at home...this one is ridiculously easy to put together resulting a tongue tickling delight of flavours. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

Mince (chicken/pork/meat/beef) - 500 gm (the mince used here is pork, but I have made this with the others as well)
Garlic - 8 cloves
Chillies - 5 birds eye red chillies (adjust according to spice tolerance)
Coriander leaves, stem and root - 6 stalks
Fresh sweet or holy basil leaves - 3/4 cup, firmly packed
Fish Sauce - 1 1/2 tbsp
Oyster Sauce - 1 tbsp
Soy sauce - 1 tsp
Stock - 1/2 cup (or use 1 stock cube in 1/2 cup of water)
Brown Sugar - 1 tsp
Oil - 1 1/2 tbsp
deep fried basil leaves - 1 tbsp, optional, for garnish
(there is no salt in this list of ingredients - the sauces used are very high in salt, so add some only if you need to)

Method:

Wash and pat dry the coriander stalks. Pound the chillies, coriander stalks and garlic together.

Heat oil, fry the paste till fragrant. Turn up the heat to high and then add the mince in small batches - ensure that every batch you add is nicely browned before adding the next batch in; as you stir, the mince will release water. Keep cooking till the water dries up - by this time, the mince would be almost done.

Add all the sauces, sugar and half the basil leaves. Next add the stock, a little at a time and cook till the mince is well done.

Before serving, add in the remaining basil leaves, stir till they wilt. Garnish with the fried basil leaves and some sliced red chillies and serve with steaming hot rice.

Note: I have made the exact same thing with cauliflower. Steam the cauliflower till it is half cooked, mash it into tiny bits and proceed as above, just use vegetarian fish sauce in place of the real thing - it tastes just as good!

Sending this to Yasmeen who is hosting Weekend Herb Blogging this week , a lovely event conceived by Kalyn and now conducted by Halo.

Terradaze calls it payasam. I call it kheer. But as they say, 'a rose by any other name would smell just as sweet'.

And so call it payasam or kheer or payesh or even rice pudding, it is something that has universal appeal. Creamy in texture with the delicate flavour of nuts and cardamom and the sudden burst of flavour of the plumped up raisins, rice kheer is the perfect answer to a no - sweat, easy to make dessert.

"A minute on the lips, forever on the hips," my friend would shake her head disapprovingly and say whenever we went out and I ordered desserts, most often, a slice of cheesecake. But I am a desserts first kinda gal. I love ice creams and cakes, I love mithais and kheers. No, I don't believe in diets. What I do believe in (apart from exercising regularly) is in limiting portion sizes. Which is why when I make things like cheesecakes, I make sure there is crowd I can feed it to. That way it can get to everyone's hips, not just mine!!



New York Cheesecake

Ingredients

for the crust

graham crackers or digestive biscuits or marie biscuits - 200 gms
butter 1oo gms
sugar - to taste, I use about a 1 1/2 tbsps
vanilla essence - 1/2 tsp

for the filling

cream cheese - 450 gms
eggs - 2, lightly beaten
caster sugar - 130 gms
sour cream - 100 gms
lemon rind or vanilla essence - 1 tsp
lemon juice - 30 ml
plain flour - 11/2 tbsp

Method:

Put the biscuits into a ziplock bag or between kitchen towels and run a rolling pin over to crush them to a fine powder. Or, if you are like me, simply process in a mixie. Melt the butter and add to the crushed biscuits, put the sugar and the essence and mix till the mixture takes on the look of wet sand.

Butter a 8 inch springform pan (I only have a 10 inch pan, so my cheesecake looks a lot flatter) and press the mixture over the base and sides of the pan and bake for 5 mins at 250 deg C; refrigerate for 30 mins.

making the filling:

Pre-heat the oven to 250 deg C.

Make sure all the ingredients are at room temperature. When mixing the ingredients for the cheesecake, don't overbeat, just mix until the ingredients are incorporated. First, start by beating the cream cheese for two mins, scrape the sides. Add the sugar in two additions, beat until the sugar is properly incorporated into the cream cheese.

Again, scrape the sides and then add the lemon juice, sour cream, essence and the flour and mix for a couple of minutes. Finally add the eggs and beat until mixed.

Pour the filling into the springform pan on the cooled crust. To release any air bubbles trapped into the filling, lift the pan a few inches off the counter top and drop it (carefully) on the counter - the air bubbles will rise to the surface.

Bake the cheesecake for 10 mins at 250 deg C. Then reduce the temperature to 90 deg C and bake for about an hour or until it is juts set in the centre. One way of knowing if the cheesecake is done is to touch it in the centre, if done, it will spring back.

Leave the cake inside the oven (with the oven door open) for about half an hour. Run a knife along the edges of the pan to release the cake from the side of the pan, cover it with a large bowl or vessel and let cool on the counter top for about a couple of hours. Then, cover the pan with plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 5-6 hours, preferably overnight.

Cooling the cheesecake in such elaborate stages is a test of patience, I know, but this does minimise the risk of the cake cracking as it cools.



However, inspite of all these steps, if your cheesecake does crack, top it off with some strawberry sauce....now you know why mine has it :). Not only does it make the cheesecake look absolutely droolicious, it takes the taste up a few notches.

To make the strawberry sauce ( I eyeballed these, so can't give any quantities), mix strawberries, lime juice and sugar in a vessel and let it rest for about 5 mins. Then, crush the strawberries with your hands to release the juice. Simmer till the sauce starts to bubble. Mix a tablespoon of cornflour in some water and add to the sauce, cook until the sauce thickens. Cool and spread on top of the cheesecake.

Once you've eaten a homemade cheesecake, you're never gonna order it outside, I can assure you!

Drool Alert: before you read this post, get yourselves some tissues. Don't drool all over my post or all over your keyboard :)


Thank you all for this delicious, delicious goodies!!


Cookies and assorted Sweet Treats:

It is embarrassing when you miss someone's entry. And terrible when you do it twice. Sorry Poornima, my sincere apologies for this.

I had absolutely fallen in love with these Chocolate Walnut Bars that Poornima made, take a look at these beauties, don't just drool - make them quick!!





Preety of Preety's Kitchen makes such delicious cookies, I don't even know which one to pick. What is more, each of these cookies, in addition to using the goodness of nuts, uses fruits for the added healthy and flavour twist! Check out her Thick Chewy Chocolate Chip cookies, Oatmeal Cookies with Surprise Inside, and Whole Wheat Soft Banana Cookies.