Showing posts with label book club. Show all posts
Showing posts with label book club. Show all posts
Monday, August 23, 2010
Mango Salsa
Most of us travel in a set manner - visit a place, take in the sights and return back home. Our travels are for a fixed time duration at the end of which we have that desire to go back home and sleep in our own beds.
There are a few people, however, who travel for years together, moving from one place to another. With no fixed address and with no fixed travel route, they seem to live the life of a nomad. Meet one such nomad - Rita Golden Gelman.
A woman who has travelled the world over the past 15 odd years moving from one country to another with no possessions other than those that she can carry in her backpack. A woman for who the end of a 23 year old marriage marked the beginning of an entirely new way of life.
Yes, this is about the book the book club read this month - Tales of a Female Nomad by Rita Golden Gelman, a collection of essays detailing her travel experiences from around the world.
From staying in a Zapotec village, to studying orangutans deep in the jungles in Borneo, to finding spiritual enlightenment in Bali, to trekking in Irian Jaya, to seeking her roots in Israel, to simply living in New Zealand, her travel experiences are phenomenal and often, not something that many of us would be able to or willing to imitate.
She goes from feeling vulnerable at having to travel and eat alone to being supremely confident in the seeking company of fellow travellers on the road. She never lets an opportunity to savour newer experiences slip by her; often times, she employs absolute ingenuity in creating opportunities for herself.
However, the sense of wonder and awe that one normally has when visiting new places (and especially those that are often not accessible to many travellers) is not there in the book. That is because this is not really a travelogue. So, don't read it if what you are looking for is a travelogue in the classic sense. She doesn't really describe or wax eloquent about the places she has been to.
Travels of a Female Nomad is more about how Gelman made her way into people's homes and then their hearts, her interactions with people and her response to the diverse cultures she encountered.
But more than anything else, it is a testament to the fact that it is never to late to live the life that you truly want to lead. As you flip the pages, you start to share her conviction that most of the times, if you only open your heart and mind to people, place your trust in them and simply go with the flow, life's experiences can be very enjoyable.
For that and that alone, this is a book that is a must read.
For some reason, from the time I started reading about her trip to Mexico, I was hoping there'd be some mango salsa somewhere in the book. There was none, but toward the end of the book, there was this salad that she made in Thailand.
So this is what I made: A mango salsa with a hint of Thai flavours.
Just cut some mangoes into cubes and slice some shallots and red chillies as well. Toss them in a dressing made with a few tbsps of pineapple juice, lime juice, sugar and salt. Garnish with some fresh coriander leaves and thinly shredded basil leaves and kaffir limes. Chill for about 30 mins, taste to check the balance of flavours and chill again for 30 mins before serving.
Serve this alongside some grilled chicken; I loved having it with some curd rice.
Edited to add: I recently re-made this salsa with 1.5 cups mango cubes + zest of 1 lemon + juice of 1/2 a lime + a tsp of sugar +2 small shallots, sliced + 1/2 tsp of freshly cracked pepper + salt to taste + 1.5 tbsps of chopped coriander leaves.
This is my entry to Yameen's Health Nut Challenge 7 : Tropical Fruits.
There are a few people, however, who travel for years together, moving from one place to another. With no fixed address and with no fixed travel route, they seem to live the life of a nomad. Meet one such nomad - Rita Golden Gelman.
A woman who has travelled the world over the past 15 odd years moving from one country to another with no possessions other than those that she can carry in her backpack. A woman for who the end of a 23 year old marriage marked the beginning of an entirely new way of life.
Yes, this is about the book the book club read this month - Tales of a Female Nomad by Rita Golden Gelman, a collection of essays detailing her travel experiences from around the world.
From staying in a Zapotec village, to studying orangutans deep in the jungles in Borneo, to finding spiritual enlightenment in Bali, to trekking in Irian Jaya, to seeking her roots in Israel, to simply living in New Zealand, her travel experiences are phenomenal and often, not something that many of us would be able to or willing to imitate.
She goes from feeling vulnerable at having to travel and eat alone to being supremely confident in the seeking company of fellow travellers on the road. She never lets an opportunity to savour newer experiences slip by her; often times, she employs absolute ingenuity in creating opportunities for herself.
However, the sense of wonder and awe that one normally has when visiting new places (and especially those that are often not accessible to many travellers) is not there in the book. That is because this is not really a travelogue. So, don't read it if what you are looking for is a travelogue in the classic sense. She doesn't really describe or wax eloquent about the places she has been to.
Travels of a Female Nomad is more about how Gelman made her way into people's homes and then their hearts, her interactions with people and her response to the diverse cultures she encountered.
But more than anything else, it is a testament to the fact that it is never to late to live the life that you truly want to lead. As you flip the pages, you start to share her conviction that most of the times, if you only open your heart and mind to people, place your trust in them and simply go with the flow, life's experiences can be very enjoyable.
For that and that alone, this is a book that is a must read.
For some reason, from the time I started reading about her trip to Mexico, I was hoping there'd be some mango salsa somewhere in the book. There was none, but toward the end of the book, there was this salad that she made in Thailand.
So this is what I made: A mango salsa with a hint of Thai flavours.
Just cut some mangoes into cubes and slice some shallots and red chillies as well. Toss them in a dressing made with a few tbsps of pineapple juice, lime juice, sugar and salt. Garnish with some fresh coriander leaves and thinly shredded basil leaves and kaffir limes. Chill for about 30 mins, taste to check the balance of flavours and chill again for 30 mins before serving.
Serve this alongside some grilled chicken; I loved having it with some curd rice.
Edited to add: I recently re-made this salsa with 1.5 cups mango cubes + zest of 1 lemon + juice of 1/2 a lime + a tsp of sugar +2 small shallots, sliced + 1/2 tsp of freshly cracked pepper + salt to taste + 1.5 tbsps of chopped coriander leaves.
This is my entry to Yameen's Health Nut Challenge 7 : Tropical Fruits.
Friday, July 9, 2010
Asparagus, Mushroom and Green Peas Risotto
Knowing a food critic is dining in the restaurant, 'everthing improves: the seating, the service, the size of the portions.' Therefore, the one thing a food critic really needs - in addition to a healthy appetite and a willingness to sample different foods - is anonymity.
As a seasoned restaurant critic, Ruth Reichl is very aware of this. But she also learns, much to her dismay, that even before she has occupied her desk as food critic for The New York Times, the restaurants in New York have been gathering all information on her. Reportedly, they even have her picture posted in the kitchen with cash rewards offered for adavance intimation of her visit.
Under such circumstances, how does she ensure that she gives her readers an objective and unbiased view of the restaurants she's eating in?
The book club pick for June, Garlic and Sapphires: The secret life of a food critic in disguise, tells just how Ruth Reichl manages to hoodwink the restaurateurs - with the help of one of her mother's friends, she disguises herself - thereby giving the masses an honest insight into what they could really expect from the total experience of dining out.
"You shouldn't be writing reviews for the people who dine in fancy restaurants, but for all the ones who wish they could."
When three quarters of the stock has been absorbed, stir in the asparagus and the green peas.
Add the remaining and cook another 7-10 minutes till the rice is completely cooked; once cooked, stir in the parmesan cheese and the butter, adjust the seasonings and serve.
Making the mushroom stock:
Very often, when I made risotto, I would use ready - made stock cubes. After all, risotto is something that I cook more as a 'on the spur of the moment' meal; often times, I'd have no patience to spend extra time in the kitchen to make the stock.
It all changed when I experimented and came up this way of making 'instant' noodles. It has been a hit at home and that gave me the confidence to also make and freeze some basic mushroom and vegetable stock. Not only is it convenient, it tastes way better than the readymade stock cubes.
To make the basic mushroom stock, slice about 12-15 large mushrooms, toss in one sliced onion and a chopped carrot. Add these to 2 lts of water. Season with salt, pepper and some fresh herbs ( I used rosemary and parsley) and bring to boil. Reduce to a low heat and simmer till the water has reduced to half.
I normally freeze my stock in ice trays and once set, transfer the ice cubes into re-sealable bags. I use these when when cooking pasta, for making risottos and for making soups and stews.
Frozen mushroom stock is my entry to Jaya's event, Back to Basics.
As a seasoned restaurant critic, Ruth Reichl is very aware of this. But she also learns, much to her dismay, that even before she has occupied her desk as food critic for The New York Times, the restaurants in New York have been gathering all information on her. Reportedly, they even have her picture posted in the kitchen with cash rewards offered for adavance intimation of her visit.
Under such circumstances, how does she ensure that she gives her readers an objective and unbiased view of the restaurants she's eating in?
The book club pick for June, Garlic and Sapphires: The secret life of a food critic in disguise, tells just how Ruth Reichl manages to hoodwink the restaurateurs - with the help of one of her mother's friends, she disguises herself - thereby giving the masses an honest insight into what they could really expect from the total experience of dining out.
"You shouldn't be writing reviews for the people who dine in fancy restaurants, but for all the ones who wish they could."
In keeping with that line of thought, the disguises she dons are very representative of the ordinary diner: she starts off as Molly, a meek, former school teacher, then, she is Miriam, inspired by her own cantankerous and opinionated mother. There is also Chloe, a sexy, divorced blond, Betty, an old spinster who no one pays much attention to; her favourite is Brenda a warm -hearted and friendly red-head, and she is most horrified by the brusque and unkind Emily. The disguises are more than just outward appearances - each has a personality of her own and with every disguise she dons, she learns something about herself.
She eats in fancy schmancy restaurants and smaller, lesser known ones with equal enthusiasm and derives as much satisfaction nibbling on foie gras as she does slurping on soba noodles, much to the chagrin of some colleagues and readers.
The city was filled with people who did not think that Shanghai dumpling parlors, Korean barbeque places, and sushi bars merited serious consideration. They did not want these restaurants taking up the space that properly belonged to the French, Italian and Continental establishments they were accustomed to seeing reviewed in their Friday morning paper. But I was determined to give Asian, Indian and Latino restaurants the respect they deserved.
Garlic and Sapphires is an extremely entertaining and insightful read into the world of a restaurant critic. The one thing I particularly liked was that Reichl minces no words when she talks about the restaurants she reviewed, her colleagues or even herself. What makes the book particularly appealing is the way the stories about her various disguises are interspersed with actual restaurant reviews and some recipes. Now, if only she'd included pictures of herself in all those disguises!
With so much food on almost every page, coupled with some very interesting recipes, deciding what to make wasn't very easy. In the end, I zeroed in on the risotto simply because I hadn't made any in a long time!
Ingredients:
Arborio rice: 3/4 cup
Onion: 1 medium sized, finely chopped
Garlic: 1 clove, finely minced
Mushrooms: 10-12, chopped
Green Peas: 3/4 cup
Asparagus spears: 10-12
White wine: 1/2 cup (at room temperature)
Mushroom stock: 2 - 3 cups
Olive oil: 2 tbsps
Butter: 1 tbsp
Parmesan cheese: 2 tbsps (optional)
Method:
Heat the oil and add the garlic and onions, cook till the onions turn pink. Add the mushrooms and saute for a couple of minutes - I had some bacon bits that were fast approaching the expiry date and threw those in with the mushrooms.
Next, add the rice and stir till the grains are evenly coated with oil. Then, add the dry white wine and simmer over low heat until all the wine has been absorbed.
Now add the stock, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring constantly till all the stock has been absorbed. Continue adding the stock, 1/2 cup each time, allowing each addition to be completely absorbed before adding in the next.
When three quarters of the stock has been absorbed, stir in the asparagus and the green peas.
Add the remaining and cook another 7-10 minutes till the rice is completely cooked; once cooked, stir in the parmesan cheese and the butter, adjust the seasonings and serve.
Making the mushroom stock:
Very often, when I made risotto, I would use ready - made stock cubes. After all, risotto is something that I cook more as a 'on the spur of the moment' meal; often times, I'd have no patience to spend extra time in the kitchen to make the stock.
It all changed when I experimented and came up this way of making 'instant' noodles. It has been a hit at home and that gave me the confidence to also make and freeze some basic mushroom and vegetable stock. Not only is it convenient, it tastes way better than the readymade stock cubes.
To make the basic mushroom stock, slice about 12-15 large mushrooms, toss in one sliced onion and a chopped carrot. Add these to 2 lts of water. Season with salt, pepper and some fresh herbs ( I used rosemary and parsley) and bring to boil. Reduce to a low heat and simmer till the water has reduced to half.
I normally freeze my stock in ice trays and once set, transfer the ice cubes into re-sealable bags. I use these when when cooking pasta, for making risottos and for making soups and stews.
Frozen mushroom stock is my entry to Jaya's event, Back to Basics.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Eggless Butter Cookies
Remember the time when we were kids and read stories that started with 'once upon a time' and ended with 'happily ever after'? Remember those stories where good always begot good, where magic and miracles happened?
If you miss the 'feel good' factor of those books or if you miss that world of enchantment or if you bemoan the fact that no one writes such stories for adults, then A Redbird Christmas by Fannie Flagg is a novel you should waste no time and read.
Faced with a bleak prognosis from his doctor of his rapidly worsening emphysema, 52 year old Oswald T. Campbell has no option but to leave the harsh Chicago winter and head to some place warmer in order to prolong his life.
So, if you can suspend disbelief and stow away cynicism, then this book will leave you with a smile on your face and a warm, fuzzy feeling. It will make you believe that sometimes, life does give you second chances.
But most importantly, it will create in you a longing to go and spend a few idyllic days in a place as beautiful as Lost River.
Just before I started reading the book, I had baked a batch of these eggless butter cookies - cookies that were made out of a recipe adapted from Fannie Flagg's Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe (and yes, I will confess, that was the book I originally intended to review and hence the cookies).
If you miss the 'feel good' factor of those books or if you miss that world of enchantment or if you bemoan the fact that no one writes such stories for adults, then A Redbird Christmas by Fannie Flagg is a novel you should waste no time and read.
Faced with a bleak prognosis from his doctor of his rapidly worsening emphysema, 52 year old Oswald T. Campbell has no option but to leave the harsh Chicago winter and head to some place warmer in order to prolong his life.
He lands in the southernmost part of Alabama - in picture perfect Lost River with its neat little bungalows, bushes of flowers in every yard and streets canopied by fat oak trees. A place where the weather is warm and sunny even in the peak of winter, where the community of just 80 people live in perfect harmony with each other.
Living amid the amiable people, in a temperate climate and eating delicious, hot meals served by his landlady, Oswald soon starts to feel a lot better. He goes on to build a fine camaraderie with the mailman Claude Underwood who delivers the community's mail (on a boat), the heart broken Roy who runs the only general store in the town and the widowed Frances who helped Oswald find his lodgings in Lost River.
But the one person he is especially close to is Patsy, an undernourished, crippled girl who lives with her foster family on the fringes of Lost River in a trailer park. The foster family habitually neglects her and Patsy spends most of her time at the store with Jack, the injured and therefore flightless redbird rescued by Roy.
Soon, the townspeople, including Oswald, find themselves involved in Patsy's well-being.....
The ending was a bit too far-fetched for my liking and the characters in a 'too good to be true' mould - I mean, imagine a town that doesn't even have people gossiping occasionally at street corners or when they meet in the general store!
In the hands of a lesser author, the story could have easily degenerated into something extremely maudlin and sentimental, but Fannie Flagg, with her inimitable style and wit, leaves the reader engrossed till the very last page.
So, if you can suspend disbelief and stow away cynicism, then this book will leave you with a smile on your face and a warm, fuzzy feeling. It will make you believe that sometimes, life does give you second chances.
But most importantly, it will create in you a longing to go and spend a few idyllic days in a place as beautiful as Lost River.
Just before I started reading the book, I had baked a batch of these eggless butter cookies - cookies that were made out of a recipe adapted from Fannie Flagg's Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe (and yes, I will confess, that was the book I originally intended to review and hence the cookies).
The aroma of the freshly baked cookies wafted through the house and I blissfully nibbled on the flaky, buttery and crumbly cookies as I flipped the pages of the book.
Eggless Butter Cookies
Ingredients:
All purpose flour: 1/2 cup
Whole wheat pastry flour: 1/2 cup
Baking powder: 1 tsp
Baking soda: 1/8 tsp
Salt: 1/2 tsp
Sugar: 1/4 cup
Butter: 1/4 cup
Buttermilk: 4 tbsps
Vanilla essence: 1/4 tsp
Butter essence: 1/4 tsp
Method:
Sift all the dry ingredients twice.
Cream the butter and sugar till pale and creamy. Add both the essences to the butter-sugar mixture and beat a further 2 minutes. Then rub it into the dry ingredients till the mixture resembles bread crumbs.
Add the buttermilk, a tbsp at a time, till you get a firm dough. I needed 3 tbps of buttermilk.
Chill for an hour in a plastic wrap.
Pre-heat the oven to 200 deg C. Line a baking tray with parchment paper.
Roll the dough to 1/4 inch thick. Using cookie cutters, cut out to desired shapes. Bake for about 10-15 minutes or until the edges start to turn golden. Cool completely before eating.
Our book club turned two years this month; Fannie Flagg was the author Simran picked to celebrate the second anniversary. The book club has its own blog now - This Book makes me Cook - hop on there to check what the other members read and were inspired to make. You could also leave a comment there if you want to read and cook with us.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Healthy Muesli Bars
Being part of a book club is a great way of reading books I otherwise might not have. And therefore, I was very excited about the book club's choice this month, Sophie Kinsella's "Can You Keep a Secret ?".
Emma is a 25 year old assistant marketing executive in Panther Corporation who aspires to get a promotion soon so that she can prove herself to her parents. Sent to represent her company to finalise a promotional arrangement, she sees this opportunity as a turning point her career. However, the deal falls through and with that, her hope of securing a promotion also comes crashing down and she's left consoling herself with a couple of vodkas at the airport.
Already a little tipsy and terrified of flying, when the plane encounters mid-air turbulence, fearing the worst, she starts blabbering and ends up spilling out all her secrets to a handsome man sitting next to her.
"...put Math GCSE grade 'A' on my CV, when I really only got a 'C'."
"...always have a glass of sweet sherry before a date, to calm my nerves."
"...coffee at work is the most disgusting stuff you've ever drunk, absolute poison."
Basically harmless, but very embarrassing little details about herself. The plane lands safely and she's horrified at having revealed so much about herself, but then she tells herself that she is unlikely to run into that stranger again in her life.
Surprise, surprise - the handsome stranger turns out to be Jack Harper, the founder of the company she works for....who doesn't let her forget that he remembers every single thing she told him on the flight.
So what do I say about a book that I read in one sitting, in about 6 hours flat?!
Yes, it was a page turner. Yes, there are some funny moments in the book.
But, it was very reminiscent of Bridget Jones. And though the initial premise was engaging - that of spilling your secrets to a complete stranger, the real plot was extremely flimsy and frankly, quite unrealistic.
Food-wise, there wasn't really too much to be inspired about, but this caught my eye..."I've got some Panther bars for you," I say, nodding to my box. Grandpa is completely addicted to Panther energy bars...."
Now, I've wanted to make cereal bars forever, but somehow, never got into the kitchen armed with a recipe or for that matter, an intention of making them! Cooking for the book club read seemed like the perfect excuse to finally make some cereal bars.
Here's what the other members made:
Aparna made a 5 minute chocolate cake, Bhagyashri made Shortbread Triangles, Sweatha made Cheddar Cheese Crisps, PJ made Suralichi Wadi, Jayasri made Mango Smoothie and Simran made a Pink Pina Colada.
Emma is a 25 year old assistant marketing executive in Panther Corporation who aspires to get a promotion soon so that she can prove herself to her parents. Sent to represent her company to finalise a promotional arrangement, she sees this opportunity as a turning point her career. However, the deal falls through and with that, her hope of securing a promotion also comes crashing down and she's left consoling herself with a couple of vodkas at the airport.
Already a little tipsy and terrified of flying, when the plane encounters mid-air turbulence, fearing the worst, she starts blabbering and ends up spilling out all her secrets to a handsome man sitting next to her.
"...put Math GCSE grade 'A' on my CV, when I really only got a 'C'."
"...always have a glass of sweet sherry before a date, to calm my nerves."
"...coffee at work is the most disgusting stuff you've ever drunk, absolute poison."
Basically harmless, but very embarrassing little details about herself. The plane lands safely and she's horrified at having revealed so much about herself, but then she tells herself that she is unlikely to run into that stranger again in her life.
Surprise, surprise - the handsome stranger turns out to be Jack Harper, the founder of the company she works for....who doesn't let her forget that he remembers every single thing she told him on the flight.
Emma's life will never be the same again.....
So what do I say about a book that I read in one sitting, in about 6 hours flat?!
Yes, it was a page turner. Yes, there are some funny moments in the book.
But, it was very reminiscent of Bridget Jones. And though the initial premise was engaging - that of spilling your secrets to a complete stranger, the real plot was extremely flimsy and frankly, quite unrealistic.
Food-wise, there wasn't really too much to be inspired about, but this caught my eye..."I've got some Panther bars for you," I say, nodding to my box. Grandpa is completely addicted to Panther energy bars...."
Now, I've wanted to make cereal bars forever, but somehow, never got into the kitchen armed with a recipe or for that matter, an intention of making them! Cooking for the book club read seemed like the perfect excuse to finally make some cereal bars.
Mixed n matched a lot of recipes that came up after a Google search to come up with this version of healthy cereal bars.
Ingredients:
Muesli: 1and 1/4 cup
Wholemeal flour: 1/2 cup
Plain flour: 1/4 cup
Dates: 1 cup, de-seeded and chopped
Apple: 1/2, chopped
Walnuts: 1/4 cup, chopped
Oil: 1/4 cup
Apple juice: 1/2 cup
Juice of half a lemon
Cinnamon: 1/2 tsp
Salt: 1/4 tsp
Grated ginger/lemon rind: 1/2 tsp, optional
Honey/brown sugar: 3 tbsps (I used only honey, but I think a combination of the two would be better)
Method:
Place the dates in a pan alongwith the honey/brown sugar, lemon juice and the apple juice. Simmer till the dates turn soft and mushy, about 5 minutes.
Once cool, combine with the muesli, plain and wholemeal flours. Toss in the chopped apple and walnuts, cinnamon, salt and grated ginger and mix well.
Finally, pour in the oil to get a crumbly mixture.
Grease and line a 8" square cake pan with baking paper. Transfer the mixture in to the pan, press down to get an even layer.
Pre-heat the oven for 10 mins at 180 deg C and bake till the top is golden brown and the sides start to pull away from the edges of the pan, about 35-40 minutes.
With a sharp knife, cut into bars. Allow to cool before separating the bars.
Crunchy but not crumbly, soft and not chewy or dense, these cereal bars are a high energy treat. Perfect for a grab and go breakfast or an energy boost before a workout. Something that I am certain I will make more often now!
Here's what the other members made:
Aparna made a 5 minute chocolate cake, Bhagyashri made Shortbread Triangles, Sweatha made Cheddar Cheese Crisps, PJ made Suralichi Wadi, Jayasri made Mango Smoothie and Simran made a Pink Pina Colada.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Pears in Red Wine
Anyone who has set up their house from scratch will nod in agreement when I say that setting up a house is a labour of love.
But when you buy a huge villa which happens to be in a foreign country whose language you are not fluent at and moreover, when the said villa is dilapidated and has been abandoned for a long time and you set about remodelling and restoring it, the labour and the love (and the money) it demands from you multiplies many times over.
Under The Tuscan Sun, the book club's choice this month, chronicles the author Frances Mayes' first four years in Italy. At its heart is the villa Bramasole that she and her partner, Ed purchase. Though it is completely run down from years of neglect, they dream of turning it into their home. With both of them working full-time in San Francisco, the going is very tough. Amid trips back and forth every summer and winter, they have to wade their way through a labyrinth of work: from negotiations with contractors, liaising with the workers through faxes and telephones to finally rolling up their sleeves to get the work done in time to host a friend's wedding, as a reader, you really do feel very impressed at their effort and commitment in restoring Bramasole's splendour.
However, after a point, reading about the work in progress (or the lack of progress) does get tedious. Fortunately, her memoirs do go beyond the villa renovation - as she travels into the area around Cortona, she paints a very beautiful and vivid picture of the region and delves into the history and culture of Tuscany. Sadly, her impressions of Italians and their life cling to the oft repeated cliches and while it is very interesting to read about the Etruscan civilisation, a different and scarcely known aspect of Italian history, after a point in time, the repeated references to the Etruscans made it seem like she was plain obsessed with them.
I started reading the book with a lot of enthusiasm because going to Tuscany has been on my wish list for long. However, towards the last third of the book, I found it quite laborious to plod through the pages. And had it not been a book club read, I am certain I would have stopped reading it!
Her prose is beautiful, lyrical almost and her philosophical introspections are definitely thought provoking. My favourite parts of the book were where she takes the reader through the markets in Cortona, lined with freshly picked fruit and vegetables and when she dips bread into a bowl olive oil extracted from olive plucked out of their land. The bounty of the land and the sheer labour it takes to put something on the table really shine through in these parts of the book.
Which brings me to the food: plenty and more of it, till you would almost get indigestion and heartburn just from reading! The recipes, earthy and simple to make, are divided into summer and winter in keeping with the seasonality of ingredients.
The red wine poached pears look stunning and are ridiculously easy to make. Make these a day or two ahead of time, so that the pears can absorb all the flavours from the spices; also the colour intensifies with time.
Ingredients:
Pears: 2
Red wine*: 400 ml (I used merlot, but having made these, I would highly recommend a marsala)
Sugar: 1/2 cup
Cinnamon: a 2" piece
Ginger: 1" piece, julienned
Star anise: 1
Crushed peppercorn: 1/2 tsp
Vanilla pod: 1, split lengthwise
Lemon zest: 1 tsp
(*for those who don't use alcohol, substitute the wine with grape juice and cranberry juice in the ratio of 2:1 and add a couple of tbsps of balsamic vinegar when making the syrup).
Put the red wine, sugar and all the spices into a saucepan and bring to a boil. Simmer till the sugar dissolves.
Place the pears upright into the wine; they should be completely submerged into the wine. Simmer for a further 20-30 minutes or until they are cooked through, such that a toothpick inserted into the thickest part of the pear goes through easily.
Let the pears cool and then refrigerate them. Just before serving, remove the pears from the liquid, then reduce the liquid till it reaches a syrupy consistency.
Slice the pears, drizzle the syrup over them and serve with some vanilla ice cream.
Here's what the other book clubbers made:
Sweatha made Basil Mint Sorbet, Ann made a pizza with onion confit, grilled sausage and peppers and Simran made Caponata.
Next month, we are reading a chic-lit, Can You Keep a Secret by Sophie Kinsella. Drop a line to Simran - bombayfoodie(at)gmail(dot)com if you'd like to join us.
But when you buy a huge villa which happens to be in a foreign country whose language you are not fluent at and moreover, when the said villa is dilapidated and has been abandoned for a long time and you set about remodelling and restoring it, the labour and the love (and the money) it demands from you multiplies many times over.
Under The Tuscan Sun, the book club's choice this month, chronicles the author Frances Mayes' first four years in Italy. At its heart is the villa Bramasole that she and her partner, Ed purchase. Though it is completely run down from years of neglect, they dream of turning it into their home. With both of them working full-time in San Francisco, the going is very tough. Amid trips back and forth every summer and winter, they have to wade their way through a labyrinth of work: from negotiations with contractors, liaising with the workers through faxes and telephones to finally rolling up their sleeves to get the work done in time to host a friend's wedding, as a reader, you really do feel very impressed at their effort and commitment in restoring Bramasole's splendour.
However, after a point, reading about the work in progress (or the lack of progress) does get tedious. Fortunately, her memoirs do go beyond the villa renovation - as she travels into the area around Cortona, she paints a very beautiful and vivid picture of the region and delves into the history and culture of Tuscany. Sadly, her impressions of Italians and their life cling to the oft repeated cliches and while it is very interesting to read about the Etruscan civilisation, a different and scarcely known aspect of Italian history, after a point in time, the repeated references to the Etruscans made it seem like she was plain obsessed with them.
I started reading the book with a lot of enthusiasm because going to Tuscany has been on my wish list for long. However, towards the last third of the book, I found it quite laborious to plod through the pages. And had it not been a book club read, I am certain I would have stopped reading it!
Her prose is beautiful, lyrical almost and her philosophical introspections are definitely thought provoking. My favourite parts of the book were where she takes the reader through the markets in Cortona, lined with freshly picked fruit and vegetables and when she dips bread into a bowl olive oil extracted from olive plucked out of their land. The bounty of the land and the sheer labour it takes to put something on the table really shine through in these parts of the book.
Which brings me to the food: plenty and more of it, till you would almost get indigestion and heartburn just from reading! The recipes, earthy and simple to make, are divided into summer and winter in keeping with the seasonality of ingredients.
Poaching pears in red wine is something I have been wanting to do for a long time. I didn't use the recipe in the book as I didn't quite fancy the idea of using currants with the pears. Instead I picked up a few ideas from a couple of websites to come up with this method.
The red wine poached pears look stunning and are ridiculously easy to make. Make these a day or two ahead of time, so that the pears can absorb all the flavours from the spices; also the colour intensifies with time.
Ingredients:
Pears: 2
Red wine*: 400 ml (I used merlot, but having made these, I would highly recommend a marsala)
Sugar: 1/2 cup
Cinnamon: a 2" piece
Ginger: 1" piece, julienned
Star anise: 1
Crushed peppercorn: 1/2 tsp
Vanilla pod: 1, split lengthwise
Lemon zest: 1 tsp
(*for those who don't use alcohol, substitute the wine with grape juice and cranberry juice in the ratio of 2:1 and add a couple of tbsps of balsamic vinegar when making the syrup).
Put the red wine, sugar and all the spices into a saucepan and bring to a boil. Simmer till the sugar dissolves.
Meanwhile, peel the pears, cut off a small disc from the bottom so that the pears can stand upright. Do leave the stalks on.
Place the pears upright into the wine; they should be completely submerged into the wine. Simmer for a further 20-30 minutes or until they are cooked through, such that a toothpick inserted into the thickest part of the pear goes through easily.
Let the pears cool and then refrigerate them. Just before serving, remove the pears from the liquid, then reduce the liquid till it reaches a syrupy consistency.
Slice the pears, drizzle the syrup over them and serve with some vanilla ice cream.
Here's what the other book clubbers made:
Sweatha made Basil Mint Sorbet, Ann made a pizza with onion confit, grilled sausage and peppers and Simran made Caponata.
Next month, we are reading a chic-lit, Can You Keep a Secret by Sophie Kinsella. Drop a line to Simran - bombayfoodie(at)gmail(dot)com if you'd like to join us.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Tahiri (Rice with Peas)
This month, the book club read Climbing the Mango Trees by Madhur Jaffrey.
What a lovely, powerful title it is! To me, it instantly conjured images of kids running amok in the hot summer months. And sure enough, the memoir is about Madhur Jaffrey's growing up years.
A fun filled childhood, one spent in a family bustling with relatives, of picnics and annual family migrations to the hills to escape the hot Delhi summers, of daily family dinners and festivals celebrated with aplomb; Madhur's description of her early years leaves the reader enthralled. By any measure, this was a very privileged life she led, spent in the lap of luxury. I mean, imagine staying in a sprawling house on a street that has been named after your grand-father!!
"During my childhood, it didn't occur to me that families came in sizes smaller than 30 people."
"What was becoming clearer to me as I was getting older was that there were two distinct types of Indians. There was my kind of Indian, a privileged product of British colonial India who spoke English fluently but also spoke Hindi. We ate at a table with napkins, knives and forks, but would eat with our hands when we wished. We were avid cinema-goers who watched both Western and Indian films, and we could talk about Tudor England just as easily as about Moghul India. One part of us was completely Indian but there was this sophisticated Western overlay, a familiarity and ease with the West that set us apart."
Neatly inter-laced with her own family's history, Jaffrey even shows the reader brief glimpses into India's history, starting with the Moghul rule right up to the partition of the country.
Jaffrey is recognised world over as an authority on Indian cooking and not surprisingly, food forms the leitmotif of her memoir. There is so much food in the book that it made me very very hungry! From kebabs and pakoras, to dahi baras and pooris and parathas, mangoes and litchis and guavas, she makes food sound very delectable. Reading about how the food in Delhi evolved to its present day form was eye-opening. But it was her description of daulat ki chaat that made me go absolutely weak in the knees!
"Yes, balanced there, on a round brass tray, were dozens of mutkainas, terra-cotta cups, filled with daulat ki chaat, which could be translated as “a snack of wealth.” Some cynic who assumed that all wealth was ephemeral must have named it. It was, indeed, the most ephemeral of fairy dishes, a frothy evanescence that disappeared as soon it touched the tongue, a winter specialty requiring dew as an ingredient. "
However, much as the memoir is evocative, the narrative does need some getting used to. At times, it is riveting, at other times, it seemed quite a haphazard. Somehow, it comes across as if pages and paragraphs were pulled in from here n there.
Her prose is rather matter-of-fact, bereft of too much emotion and I was very thankful for that. But on the flip side, at no point did I ever get a sense of what Madhur Jaffrey was feeling. Where that really comes across as strange is when she describes her sister's illness and the ensuing treatment. The sense of anguish that Jaffrey obviously must have felt does not reach the reader.
And I felt very frustrated at the way the memoir ended. Abrupt, to say the least. In fact, I didn't quite believe that the book had ended. Since I borrowed the book from the library, initially, I thought that some pages in between were probably missing - and so I looked up the page nos. The pages were in sequence and it was indeed the ending that was very abrupt!
But then, the inclusion of authentic family recipes- 32 of them - more than made up for any disappointment I had with the end!
There was a time when I couldn't make soft and fluffy rice - It would always end up sticky and lumpy. Try as I did, I never got it right. Then, a friend gave me this recipe. "It is a Madhur Jaffrey recipe, just follow the instructions and you'll be OK."
And this recipe worked like magic - no lumpy rice any longer!
When I checked out the recipes in the book, there was no doubt on what I'd be making! Over time, I've made a few itsy bitsy changes to the recipe, those are in italics.
Ingredients:
Basmati Rice - 400gms
Bay leaves - 3
Black cardamom - 2
Black pepper - 8
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
Onion - 1, thinly sliced
Frozen green peas - 140 gms
Turmeric - 1/2 tsp (I omitted this)
Oil - 2 tbsps ( I used ghee)
Salt
Water - 650 ml
Sugar - 1.5 tsp
Saffron - a pinch
Fried onion - a fistful
Method:
Wash the rice and then soak it in water for about 30 mins. Drain the rice and leave it in a strainer for about 5 mins.
At the same time, soak the saffron in a tbsp of water.
Set the water to boil and at the same time, in another pan, heat the ghee and put in the bay leaves, black cardamom and peppercorns and cumin seeds. When the cumin seeds crackle, add the onions and a dash of sugar. Fry till the onions turn reddish.
Turn down the heat and add the drain rice. Ever so gently, stir it around so that the ghee coats the grains - about 2 minutes. (If you are using the turmeric, add it along with the rice).
Then add the boiling water and the salt to the rice. Let it come to a boil again, the cover the pan with a tight fitting lid, turn down the heat to the lowest setting and cook the rice - about 25 mins (it takes me a lot less time, so keep an eye on the rice).
Meanwhile, cook the peas - I boil mine with a tsp of sugar till the peas become soft in the centre and then drain the water.
Add the peas to the cooked rice and mix it up a bit.
Then add the saffron to the rice - do this a tsp at a time - and mix it with a fork as you add it in. Sprinkle the fried onions on top, cover the lid and let the rice rest for about 5 mins on very very low heat.
(Madhur adds the peas and covers the pan and lets the rice rest for 10 mins, but she turns the heat off).
Looks like this time we have a full meal from the book club....here's what the others have made:
Simran made Phirni, Curry Leaf made Roz Ki Gobi, Sheba made Cauliflower with cheese, Janaki made Palak Gosht and Jaya made Potatoes with Tomatoes.
Next month, we are reading Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances mayes. Want to join us? Write in to Simran - bombayfoodie (at) gmail (dot) com.
This is my entry to Silpa's event , APS - Rice.
What a lovely, powerful title it is! To me, it instantly conjured images of kids running amok in the hot summer months. And sure enough, the memoir is about Madhur Jaffrey's growing up years.
A fun filled childhood, one spent in a family bustling with relatives, of picnics and annual family migrations to the hills to escape the hot Delhi summers, of daily family dinners and festivals celebrated with aplomb; Madhur's description of her early years leaves the reader enthralled. By any measure, this was a very privileged life she led, spent in the lap of luxury. I mean, imagine staying in a sprawling house on a street that has been named after your grand-father!!
"During my childhood, it didn't occur to me that families came in sizes smaller than 30 people."
"What was becoming clearer to me as I was getting older was that there were two distinct types of Indians. There was my kind of Indian, a privileged product of British colonial India who spoke English fluently but also spoke Hindi. We ate at a table with napkins, knives and forks, but would eat with our hands when we wished. We were avid cinema-goers who watched both Western and Indian films, and we could talk about Tudor England just as easily as about Moghul India. One part of us was completely Indian but there was this sophisticated Western overlay, a familiarity and ease with the West that set us apart."
Neatly inter-laced with her own family's history, Jaffrey even shows the reader brief glimpses into India's history, starting with the Moghul rule right up to the partition of the country.
Jaffrey is recognised world over as an authority on Indian cooking and not surprisingly, food forms the leitmotif of her memoir. There is so much food in the book that it made me very very hungry! From kebabs and pakoras, to dahi baras and pooris and parathas, mangoes and litchis and guavas, she makes food sound very delectable. Reading about how the food in Delhi evolved to its present day form was eye-opening. But it was her description of daulat ki chaat that made me go absolutely weak in the knees!
"Yes, balanced there, on a round brass tray, were dozens of mutkainas, terra-cotta cups, filled with daulat ki chaat, which could be translated as “a snack of wealth.” Some cynic who assumed that all wealth was ephemeral must have named it. It was, indeed, the most ephemeral of fairy dishes, a frothy evanescence that disappeared as soon it touched the tongue, a winter specialty requiring dew as an ingredient. "
However, much as the memoir is evocative, the narrative does need some getting used to. At times, it is riveting, at other times, it seemed quite a haphazard. Somehow, it comes across as if pages and paragraphs were pulled in from here n there.
Her prose is rather matter-of-fact, bereft of too much emotion and I was very thankful for that. But on the flip side, at no point did I ever get a sense of what Madhur Jaffrey was feeling. Where that really comes across as strange is when she describes her sister's illness and the ensuing treatment. The sense of anguish that Jaffrey obviously must have felt does not reach the reader.
And I felt very frustrated at the way the memoir ended. Abrupt, to say the least. In fact, I didn't quite believe that the book had ended. Since I borrowed the book from the library, initially, I thought that some pages in between were probably missing - and so I looked up the page nos. The pages were in sequence and it was indeed the ending that was very abrupt!
But then, the inclusion of authentic family recipes- 32 of them - more than made up for any disappointment I had with the end!
There was a time when I couldn't make soft and fluffy rice - It would always end up sticky and lumpy. Try as I did, I never got it right. Then, a friend gave me this recipe. "It is a Madhur Jaffrey recipe, just follow the instructions and you'll be OK."
And this recipe worked like magic - no lumpy rice any longer!
When I checked out the recipes in the book, there was no doubt on what I'd be making! Over time, I've made a few itsy bitsy changes to the recipe, those are in italics.
Ingredients:
Basmati Rice - 400gms
Bay leaves - 3
Black cardamom - 2
Black pepper - 8
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
Onion - 1, thinly sliced
Frozen green peas - 140 gms
Turmeric - 1/2 tsp (I omitted this)
Oil - 2 tbsps ( I used ghee)
Salt
Water - 650 ml
Sugar - 1.5 tsp
Saffron - a pinch
Fried onion - a fistful
Method:
Wash the rice and then soak it in water for about 30 mins. Drain the rice and leave it in a strainer for about 5 mins.
At the same time, soak the saffron in a tbsp of water.
Set the water to boil and at the same time, in another pan, heat the ghee and put in the bay leaves, black cardamom and peppercorns and cumin seeds. When the cumin seeds crackle, add the onions and a dash of sugar. Fry till the onions turn reddish.
Turn down the heat and add the drain rice. Ever so gently, stir it around so that the ghee coats the grains - about 2 minutes. (If you are using the turmeric, add it along with the rice).
Then add the boiling water and the salt to the rice. Let it come to a boil again, the cover the pan with a tight fitting lid, turn down the heat to the lowest setting and cook the rice - about 25 mins (it takes me a lot less time, so keep an eye on the rice).
Meanwhile, cook the peas - I boil mine with a tsp of sugar till the peas become soft in the centre and then drain the water.
Add the peas to the cooked rice and mix it up a bit.
Then add the saffron to the rice - do this a tsp at a time - and mix it with a fork as you add it in. Sprinkle the fried onions on top, cover the lid and let the rice rest for about 5 mins on very very low heat.
(Madhur adds the peas and covers the pan and lets the rice rest for 10 mins, but she turns the heat off).
Looks like this time we have a full meal from the book club....here's what the others have made:
Simran made Phirni, Curry Leaf made Roz Ki Gobi, Sheba made Cauliflower with cheese, Janaki made Palak Gosht and Jaya made Potatoes with Tomatoes.
Next month, we are reading Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances mayes. Want to join us? Write in to Simran - bombayfoodie (at) gmail (dot) com.
This is my entry to Silpa's event , APS - Rice.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Basic White Bread
Bread Alone (by Judith Ryan Hendricks) was a book that I had never heard of before. When the book club chose this book for November, I skimmed through the reviews on the net and decided, before I'd even read the first line in the book, that I wasn't going to like it.
31 year old Wyn, married to a upwardly mobile executive David, leads a life of leisure and luxury. Till the day when David announces that the seven year old marriage seems to cage him and wants out of it.
Stunned and devastated, Wyn moves to Seattle, where her best friend lives. As she fritters away most of her time at a nearby bakery - cafe, the aroma of freshly baked bread re-kindles her own love of bread baking. Many years ago, as a teenager, Wyn had spent a summer in Toulouse baking bread. The desire to pursue her passion is irresistible and for a paltry amount of $8 an hour, she starts working at the bakery and begins life anew in Seattle.
Somewhere down the road, she re-discovers herself and what she would like to do with her life and in the process, comes to terms with the people and other issues in her life.
Surprisingly, though, I rather enjoyed reading Bread Alone.
Yes, it is an out and out chic-lit. Yes, the plot is familiar and the ending is rather expected. And yes, sometimes, the story seems to simply drag its feet.
Yet, something worked for me and that something is the way Judith Hendricks has built the characters in the novel. More than anything else, I really liked her for coming up with a protagonist like Wyn. She wallows in self pity when her husband dumps her, clutches at the straws in the naive hope that he will come grovelling back to her, throws away her self respect when she tries to desperately seduce him, behaves petulantly when her mother decides to re-marry. In other words, here is a protagonist who is seriously flawed but has the courage to accept it and therefore, comes across as very real, as very human.
The other thing that I loved was the way bread was woven through the fabric of the story - the aroma of freshly baked bread literally wafted through the pages of the novel. No surprise then that I just had to bake a loaf!
Method:
Stir the yeast and the sugar in 3 bsps of water and let it sit for about 15-20 mins.
Finally, add in the salt ("because salt strengthens the gluten and makes the dough fight you") and knead for a few minutes more.
Oil a large (glass) bowl, turn the dough over in the oil so that the entire surface is oiled, cover it with a damp tea cloth and leave it to rise.
I left my dough out for 2 hours and then put it in the fridge overnight. Next morning, I let it rise for about 4 hrs after which I turned it on the kitchen counter and punched out all the air and kneaded it for a few minutes. Shaped it into a loaf, put it into the tin and left it to rise.
After about 3 hrs ( I lost track of time here), lightly glaze the top with some water and bake it at 200 deg C for about 30 mins or till the top is browned and the loaf sounds hollow when tapped from below.
The bread was awesome - it smelt heavenly, there was no trace of any yeast scent. If you've never baked before, go ahead now and bake a loaf, this is truly worth the effort!
31 year old Wyn, married to a upwardly mobile executive David, leads a life of leisure and luxury. Till the day when David announces that the seven year old marriage seems to cage him and wants out of it.
Stunned and devastated, Wyn moves to Seattle, where her best friend lives. As she fritters away most of her time at a nearby bakery - cafe, the aroma of freshly baked bread re-kindles her own love of bread baking. Many years ago, as a teenager, Wyn had spent a summer in Toulouse baking bread. The desire to pursue her passion is irresistible and for a paltry amount of $8 an hour, she starts working at the bakery and begins life anew in Seattle.
Somewhere down the road, she re-discovers herself and what she would like to do with her life and in the process, comes to terms with the people and other issues in her life.
Surprisingly, though, I rather enjoyed reading Bread Alone.
Yes, it is an out and out chic-lit. Yes, the plot is familiar and the ending is rather expected. And yes, sometimes, the story seems to simply drag its feet.
Yet, something worked for me and that something is the way Judith Hendricks has built the characters in the novel. More than anything else, I really liked her for coming up with a protagonist like Wyn. She wallows in self pity when her husband dumps her, clutches at the straws in the naive hope that he will come grovelling back to her, throws away her self respect when she tries to desperately seduce him, behaves petulantly when her mother decides to re-marry. In other words, here is a protagonist who is seriously flawed but has the courage to accept it and therefore, comes across as very real, as very human.
The other thing that I loved was the way bread was woven through the fabric of the story - the aroma of freshly baked bread literally wafted through the pages of the novel. No surprise then that I just had to bake a loaf!
I've just started baking bread; however, Wyn's method of halving the yeast and thereby doubling the rising time intrigued me. I followed the 'plain old bread' recipe from the novel, but halved it.
Ingredients:
bread flour - 3.5 cups
warm water - 1 cup ( I used 1 cup and about 2 tbsps)
active dry yeast - 1.5 tsp
sugar - 2 tsps
salt - 1.5 tsp
Method:
Stir the yeast and the sugar in 3 bsps of water and let it sit for about 15-20 mins.
Put the flour in a large mixing bowl, make a well in the centre and pour in the water and the yeast mixture and begin kneading.
When it clumps together, turn it onto the kitchen counter and knead for a further 10 - 12 mins, adding some flour if needed.
Finally, add in the salt ("because salt strengthens the gluten and makes the dough fight you") and knead for a few minutes more.
Oil a large (glass) bowl, turn the dough over in the oil so that the entire surface is oiled, cover it with a damp tea cloth and leave it to rise.
I left my dough out for 2 hours and then put it in the fridge overnight. Next morning, I let it rise for about 4 hrs after which I turned it on the kitchen counter and punched out all the air and kneaded it for a few minutes. Shaped it into a loaf, put it into the tin and left it to rise.
After about 3 hrs ( I lost track of time here), lightly glaze the top with some water and bake it at 200 deg C for about 30 mins or till the top is browned and the loaf sounds hollow when tapped from below.
The bread was awesome - it smelt heavenly, there was no trace of any yeast scent. If you've never baked before, go ahead now and bake a loaf, this is truly worth the effort!
Monday, October 26, 2009
Samosas
I don't know anything about the publication business, but I do know this much - that before a novel gets published, the draft gets read and proof read several times after which the novel gets into print.
And so, here's a question to Monica Pradhan, the author of The Hindi Bindi Club and all the others who must've worked on that novel : how did this horror of an error slip into the novel?
Starting at one end of the sari, she tucked the corner into the waistband of my petticoat at my naval, instructed me to hold it there, circled behind me, and returned to my naval.
Naval? Really? How?!!
Now, I don't have too many years of experience in wearing a sari, but I always thought that I needed to tuck in the sari at the navel.
Sorry for the nit-picking, but then this one (which means there are a couple of others) really blew me away! Anyway, lets get on to the book, shall we?
The Hindi Bindi Club essentially deals with the trials, the tribulations and the triumps of three immigrant Indian women and their American born daughters. But more than that, it is a story of the delicate mother - daughter relationships, of friendships among women and in many ways, a return to ones roots.
Meenal, Saroj and Uma hail from very different backgrounds but bond together when they find themselves away from their desh in the U.S of A. Together the trio are nicknamed The Hindi Bindi Club by their daughters, Kiran, Preity and Rani. As children, the girls would meet whenever the trio met; however their bond is nowhere as close as the one their mothers have formed.
Kiran Desai, a doctor by profession, is returning home after 5 years of estrangement with her parents over her marriage and subsequent divorce to a wannabe rock star. With her biological clock ticking fast, Kiran now wonders whether the traditional arranged marriage that she had once scoffed upon could be the thing for her. Meenal, having had to go through a crisis herself in the past year, wants to reach out to her daughter in every way she can, but has to struggle to make Yash, her husband, accept the daughter Kiran is rather than daughter he wants her to be.
Saroj Chawla, who hails from Punjab is a cook par excellence and runs a very successful catering business. Having lived through the partition, she struggles to come to terms with the past and her resulting prejudices. Her daughter Preity Chawla Lindstorm lives an almost fairy tale life - a perfect daughter, a good job, happily married with two children , she couldn't ask for anything more from her life. Yet, the memories of a past love and thoughts on 'what might have been' give her sleepless nights.
Uma Basu McGuiness has defied convention in coming to the US to pursue further studies. But when she marries an American, her father disowns her, refusing to forgive her even on his death-bed. Consequently, and sometimes, much to the chagrin of her friends, she gives her daughter Rani a lot of freedom in making her own decisions. A rocket scientist turned artist, Rani deals with the fear of artistic expression turning repetitive and with her husband, Bryan's fallen morale owing to some work related matters.
Now, the three girls are back home for the holidays, each dealing with her own demons. As they re-connect, they begin to look at each other in a new light, in the process breaking down the walls that separated them in childhood.
Every character in the book tells her own story in her own voice in alternating chapters, while e-mails and letters give it a great continuity as the narrative moves effortlessly from one person to the other and between past and present. Also, the mother-daughter relationships and the women's friendships are dealt with very sensitively.
However, though the novel started off well, somewhere down the line, it disintegrated into finding a suitable groom for Kiran and her subsequent marriage and therefore, was a bit of a let down. Moreover, I got the feeling that the author tried to fit in too many stories into one novel and then had to hastily finish it off; the story lines of Saroj - Preity and Uma-Rani seemed quite abrupt and therefore, incomplete. Also, there were parts that read more like speeches - the one where Saroj's guest waxes eloquent about how to solve the Indo-Pak problem was downright amateurish.
Nevertheless, The Hindi Bindi Club was an engaging and heart-warming read.
There are some very interesting recipes at the end of every chapter and since I've never made samosas before, I tried out Saroj's Famous Samosas.
Ingredients (for the crust)
All purpose flour - 1 cup
Butter and shortening - 2.5 tbsps each, chilled
Ice cold water - 2 tbsps
Ajwain - 1/2 tsp
Salt
Method:
Rub the butter and shortening into the dry ingredients (flour, salt and ajwain) till it ressembles biscuit crumbs.
Add in the water, a little at a time, till the dough holds together.
Knead for a further 5 mins or till the dough looks smooth and shiny. Wrap in a cling wrap and chill for an hour.
Ingredients (for the stuffing):
Potatoes - 2 medium, boiled and cut into cubes
Green peas - 1/2 cup
Ginger - 2 tsps, grated
Cumin seeds and fennel seeds - 3/4 tsp each
Dry masalas - cumin powder, coriander powder, garam masala, red chilli powder, turmeric and aamchoor powder - as per your taste
Sugar - 1/2 tsp
Salt
Fresh coriander leaves - 2 tbsps, chopped
Method:
Heat oil and add in the cumin seeds and the fennel seeds. When the start to crackle, add the potatoes and the peas, followed by the ginger and all the dry masalas, as well as the salt and sugar. Mix till the veggies are evenly coated by the masalas.
Reduce the heat to a minimum, cover and cook for a further 2 minutes. Add in the coriander leaves and allow the mixture to cool completely.
Assembling and making the samosas:
Knead the chilled dough for about 5 minutes and then divide into 4 portions.
Roll each ball of dough into a 6 - inch circle and divide it into two, so that you have 2 half- moons. Repeat with all the remaining balls of the dough.
Spoon about 1.5 tbsps of the stuffing into the centre of each half moon, then fold the left and right corners to form a cone.
Fold the top end to form an inverted pyramid and seal all the edges carefully, using some water if necessary.
Deep fry till golden brown and serve hot with any chutney of your choice.
Here is what the other members of the book club made:
Simran and Aparna made Chocolate Sandesh Truffles while Ann made Bengali Grilled Salmon with Panch Phoran.
Join us again next month, we are reading Bread Alone by Judith Ryan Hendricks.
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Eat Cake
Now I am the kind of air traveller who cannot sleep a wink on a flight. Not a wink. But I also am that wierdo who can't watch movies on flights. No matter that some of the airlines have excellent in-flight entertainment.
Books - now that is an entirely different story. Nothing like a good book on a flight. So, when we went for our vacation last month, Eat Cake by Jeanne Ray seemed like the perfect book to keep me company on the 10 hr flight.
Bad Choice. Very bad choice. There you are, thousands of feet above sea level, with nothing but some (good) sandwiches and chips to eat, reading about a book that has some cake or the other on almost every page of the book. That is a very sad situation, is it not?
So, when you read this book, make sure that you have some cake squirelled away somewhere. You're going to want to eat some.
For Ruth, the protagonist of the novel, baking is the best way to relax and unwind. Living with a rebellious teeanged daughter and her sometimes cantankerous mother, it does seem that she needs a lot of cake to maintain her sanity. In this already chaotic household, things come to head a when her husband, Sam, is given the pink slip and her estranged father, left physically helpless after a fall, has to move in with them.
Under subtle encouragement from the father-in-law, Sam loses sight of the urgency to look for another job and instead tries to 'discover' himself. With the monetary situation starting to look grim, Ruth decides to turn her avocation into her means of livelihood.
I simply loved this book. Firstly, because I love baking and this book celebrates eating cake. "A slice of cake never made anyone fat."
And just like the icing makes cakes even sweeter, everything works out very nicely for Ruth making it a typical 'happily ever after' book - and I think that was precisely the reason I loved reading it. After all who wants anything but a easy-breezy read at the start of a vacation!
I just wished Ruth to be more like a normal woman - one who raves and rants - at least sometimes. She was just too accomodating all through the book!
The last few pages of the book are all cake recipes. Yes, I read them first and was wondering which one to make...till I read this:
"the cakes I made for my children, especially before they were old enough to ask me to tone it down a little, were tributes to the architectural abilities of frosting. Any mother who brought her child to our parties must have left our house shaking her head. Poor, bored woman, they must have thought. That was the height of my frosting phase. I made trains and pine trees, tracks that spelled out Happy Birthday, Wyatt. Ballerinas that pirouetted over Happy Birthday Camille. The bigger the sheet cake, the bigger the canvas. Mine were enormous."
That sounded terribly familiar. So, instead of baking anything, I will leave you with some cakes that I have baked:
The above 3 are the ones I made for my daughter's birthdays while the ones that follow were baked for some friends' daughters.
Do join us next month, we are reading Hindi Bindi Club by Monica Pradhan in October.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Dugh - a yogurt drink
This month, we at the book club read Marsha Mehran's Pomegranate Soup.
So how does one make - I mean - write a novel call Pomegranate Soup?
Method:
You need 3 Aminpour sisters - Marjan, Bahar and Layla - who come to a small, not a melting pot kind of town called Ballinacroagh in Ireland.
Throw in a widowed, motherly Italian lady, Estelle Delmonico from whom they lease the premises for their restaurant - Babylon Cafe. As foreigners, they are looked upon with suspicion; cooking a cuisine that is decidedly exotic only serves to feed the gossip.
Now, add in a villan to the broth in the form of Thomas McGuire who for long has unsuccessfully tried to acquire Estelle's cafe to expand his own business and therefore tries to create trouble for the 3 sisters.
Cardamom, cinnamon, saffron, rosewater - soon enough, the townspeople are drawn in by the exotic scented food and the cafe is well on its way to becoming popular.
Now, add in some more spice to further enhance the broth: the Aminpour sisters have fled Iran seven years ago and started life anew in London. But when the echoes from their past threatened to reach out into the present, they seek refuge Ireland . However, it seems that the past is going to hound them, yet again.
Now, that sure sounds like the recipe for a great book, doesn't it?
However....
For starters, Marsha Mehran's Pomegranate Soup has very distinct echoes of Joanne Hariis' Chocolat - strangers coming into a town and winning over suspicious residents with the magic of the food they cook.
And then, the stereotypes: the motherly Italian lady, the beefy villain, the friendly priest, the exotic youngest sister Layla with her "natural cinnamon rose" perfume.
But the biggest drawback was the story telling. The plot had plenty of drama and therefore the potential for a tale with a lot of twists - the sisters fleeing Iran even as the country is engulfed in the Islamic revolution, the ghost of their past, the undercurrent of conflict with Thomas McGuire - but was all squandered away by the narrative that didn't deliver any punch and the rather abrupt way in which things fall into place all through the book, finishing finally with an end that was too neatly tied up for my liking.
Where the author really excels is the way the recipes are woven into the very fabric of the story. You can actually picture the sisters in the kitchen frying the elephants ears or chopping the mint leaves for the dugh or stuffing and rolling the grape leaves for the dolmeh.
Every chapter in the novel begins with a recipe. Dugh - a yogurt drink is what I decided to make. It is something very similar to masala chaas - with mint added.
Pound together mint (lots of it), a couple of green chillies and a small piece of ginger. Add it to the buttermilk (if you don't have buttermilk, just thin yogurt with some water) alongwith some ground cumin and rock salt. Pour this into a bottle or a cocktail shaker and shake vigorously till the buttermilk takes a pale green colour (I really had to shake it for long for this, at the end of which my arms were killing me!).
Serve topped with some ice.
This is really, really yummy. Truth be told, I made it just for this post - I know, you aren't surprised, for don't we all cook for the blog - but we loved it so much that I've made it a couple of times again.
Here's what the other members of the book club made:
Simran made lavash bread, Jaya made lentil soup and Sweatha served us some Pomegranate Soup!!
If you want to Eat Cake with us - for that's the title of the book we are reading next month - Jeanne Ray's Eat Cake, do drop in a line to Simran whose email is bombayfoodie(at)gmail(dot)com
So how does one make - I mean - write a novel call Pomegranate Soup?
Method:
You need 3 Aminpour sisters - Marjan, Bahar and Layla - who come to a small, not a melting pot kind of town called Ballinacroagh in Ireland.
Throw in a widowed, motherly Italian lady, Estelle Delmonico from whom they lease the premises for their restaurant - Babylon Cafe. As foreigners, they are looked upon with suspicion; cooking a cuisine that is decidedly exotic only serves to feed the gossip.
Now, add in a villan to the broth in the form of Thomas McGuire who for long has unsuccessfully tried to acquire Estelle's cafe to expand his own business and therefore tries to create trouble for the 3 sisters.
Cardamom, cinnamon, saffron, rosewater - soon enough, the townspeople are drawn in by the exotic scented food and the cafe is well on its way to becoming popular.
Now, add in some more spice to further enhance the broth: the Aminpour sisters have fled Iran seven years ago and started life anew in London. But when the echoes from their past threatened to reach out into the present, they seek refuge Ireland . However, it seems that the past is going to hound them, yet again.
Now, that sure sounds like the recipe for a great book, doesn't it?
However....
For starters, Marsha Mehran's Pomegranate Soup has very distinct echoes of Joanne Hariis' Chocolat - strangers coming into a town and winning over suspicious residents with the magic of the food they cook.
And then, the stereotypes: the motherly Italian lady, the beefy villain, the friendly priest, the exotic youngest sister Layla with her "natural cinnamon rose" perfume.
But the biggest drawback was the story telling. The plot had plenty of drama and therefore the potential for a tale with a lot of twists - the sisters fleeing Iran even as the country is engulfed in the Islamic revolution, the ghost of their past, the undercurrent of conflict with Thomas McGuire - but was all squandered away by the narrative that didn't deliver any punch and the rather abrupt way in which things fall into place all through the book, finishing finally with an end that was too neatly tied up for my liking.
Where the author really excels is the way the recipes are woven into the very fabric of the story. You can actually picture the sisters in the kitchen frying the elephants ears or chopping the mint leaves for the dugh or stuffing and rolling the grape leaves for the dolmeh.
Every chapter in the novel begins with a recipe. Dugh - a yogurt drink is what I decided to make. It is something very similar to masala chaas - with mint added.
Pound together mint (lots of it), a couple of green chillies and a small piece of ginger. Add it to the buttermilk (if you don't have buttermilk, just thin yogurt with some water) alongwith some ground cumin and rock salt. Pour this into a bottle or a cocktail shaker and shake vigorously till the buttermilk takes a pale green colour (I really had to shake it for long for this, at the end of which my arms were killing me!).
Serve topped with some ice.
This is really, really yummy. Truth be told, I made it just for this post - I know, you aren't surprised, for don't we all cook for the blog - but we loved it so much that I've made it a couple of times again.
Here's what the other members of the book club made:
Simran made lavash bread, Jaya made lentil soup and Sweatha served us some Pomegranate Soup!!
If you want to Eat Cake with us - for that's the title of the book we are reading next month - Jeanne Ray's Eat Cake, do drop in a line to Simran whose email is bombayfoodie(at)gmail(dot)com
Monday, July 27, 2009
Vegetable Dhansak
Characters are the backbone of any book.
There are books where, as you turn the pages, you form a mental picture of the characters in the story; every page you read adds to that picture.
And then, there are books where the protagonists and the situations seem so real that you don't need to form any mental picture - right from the first page of the book, you feel as if you know them or that you've met them before.
The Space between Us by Thrity Umrigar falls in the second category. The novel revolves around the two main characters in the story, Sera Dubash and her domestic help, Bhima who has worked in the Dubash household for more than 20 years. And over the passage of so many years, the two women have been witness to each other's travails and triumphs in life's ups and downs.
The novel opens to a time where Sera is a widowed upper middle class Parsi woman living with her pregnant daughter and son - in - law. Even as Sera leads now leads a contented life, the memories of emotional and domestic abuse at the hands of her mother-in-law and husband occasionally cloud her happiness.
Bhima, on the other hand, lives in a slum with her orphaned grand-daughter Maya. She is a precocious girl and Bhima's hopes for a better future out of the slums are all pinned on Maya's education which Sera has financed.
However, Maya gets pregnant out of a wedlock and to make matters worse, refuses to divulge the name of the father. Bhima has faced many a difficult situations in her life, but has always managed to overcome those situations in her fight for survival.
Let's come to food part, shall we? So, we have Sera shedding tears over onions that she has to chop for making omelets, Bhima tucking into batata wadas at the market, Sera and Bhima's families accidentally meeting at Chowpaty where they've gone for having some bhelpuri, a very cholesterol laden meal at a bethrotal etc.
Lentils - 3/4 cup (I use 1/4 cup each of Tur, Masoor and Moong)
Pumpkin/Squash - 1 1/2 cups
Eggplant - 1 cup
Fresh methi leaves - 1 1/4 cup, loosely packed
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Hing - a pinch
Onion - 1 cup, sliced
Tomato - 1 1/2 cup, chopped
Ginger and Garlic paste - 2 tsps each
Dhansak Masala - 2-3 tbsps
Cumin powder - 1 tsp
Coriander seed powder - 3/4 tsp
Curry leaves - 12-15 (mine were very small)
Tamarind juice - as per the tartness you desire; I used 1/4 cup of very dilute tamarind juice
or
Amchur powder - 1/4 tsp
Ghee - 2 tbsps (don't substitute with oil/butter, ghee gives it an amazing flavour)
optional:
chicken/mutton - 250 gms
potatoes - 1/2 cup
Method:
(this makes enough for about 4-6 people, so adjust your quantities accordingly)
Pressure cook the lentils and the vegetables with tumeric and hing. Once cooked, you may puree this in a blender - I don't. Firstly, I like my dhansak chunky. Moreover, as you stir and cook the dhansak, the vegetables do tend to get mashed.
(If using chicken/mutton, marinate it with some ginger - garlic paste and red chilli powder. Pressure cook alongwith the lentils. Set aside if pureeing the dals, then add the meat back.
And though I love my meats, believe me vegetarian dhansak tastes as good as the non -veg version. In fact, I don't add any meat any more to my dhansak).
Heat ghee and stir fry the ginger garlic paste till fragrant. Add the sliced onions and fry for a further 3-4 mins.
Next, add in the tomatoes and saute till soft and mushy, mashing the tomatoes with the back of the spoon as you stir.
Add in all the dry masalas and the curry leaves, followed by the pressure cooked lentils and the tamarind juice.
Simmer for about 15 mins.
Easy isn't it?!!
Serve it with rotis or pulao; I served it with this Berry Pulao.
Oh and here's what the other members of the book club made:
Dee made the very Parsi Akuri , Curry Leaf made Akuri with Tofu and Simran headed to Chowpatty to enjoy a plate of Bhelpuri!!
Next month, we are reading Pomegranate Soup by Marsha Mehran. Join us, won't you?? To join the book club, just drop a line to Simran, her e-mail is: bombayfoodie(at)gmail(dot)com
There are books where, as you turn the pages, you form a mental picture of the characters in the story; every page you read adds to that picture.
And then, there are books where the protagonists and the situations seem so real that you don't need to form any mental picture - right from the first page of the book, you feel as if you know them or that you've met them before.
The Space between Us by Thrity Umrigar falls in the second category. The novel revolves around the two main characters in the story, Sera Dubash and her domestic help, Bhima who has worked in the Dubash household for more than 20 years. And over the passage of so many years, the two women have been witness to each other's travails and triumphs in life's ups and downs.
The novel opens to a time where Sera is a widowed upper middle class Parsi woman living with her pregnant daughter and son - in - law. Even as Sera leads now leads a contented life, the memories of emotional and domestic abuse at the hands of her mother-in-law and husband occasionally cloud her happiness.
Bhima, on the other hand, lives in a slum with her orphaned grand-daughter Maya. She is a precocious girl and Bhima's hopes for a better future out of the slums are all pinned on Maya's education which Sera has financed.
However, Maya gets pregnant out of a wedlock and to make matters worse, refuses to divulge the name of the father. Bhima has faced many a difficult situations in her life, but has always managed to overcome those situations in her fight for survival.
How will she fight this crushing blow? And what role will Sera, who has never hesitated in coming to Bhima's help, play?
Admittedly, it is a plot that, at times, sounds very predictable. However, Thrity Umrigar is a very engaging story teller. The plot flits effortlessly between the present lives of Sera and Bhima and their reminisces of the days gone by. It is this narrative and the finely crafted characters and the nuances of their very complex relationship that made The Space Between Us a very compelling read for me.
Let's come to food part, shall we? So, we have Sera shedding tears over onions that she has to chop for making omelets, Bhima tucking into batata wadas at the market, Sera and Bhima's families accidentally meeting at Chowpaty where they've gone for having some bhelpuri, a very cholesterol laden meal at a bethrotal etc.
But, that was not enough for me.....problem was, I had already blogged about bhelpuri and batata wada. No, actually the problem was that I had already decided that I was going to make Dhansak before I had even read the book. After all, the book had Parsi characters in it, there just had to be Dhansak!
But all I got was this:
"Threw it with such force, Sera, it bounced off the table and into Feroz's dhansak".
That would do for me!!
Vegetable Dhansak
(adapted from Saffron Trail and EuphoRhea).
Ingredients:Lentils - 3/4 cup (I use 1/4 cup each of Tur, Masoor and Moong)
Pumpkin/Squash - 1 1/2 cups
Eggplant - 1 cup
Fresh methi leaves - 1 1/4 cup, loosely packed
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Hing - a pinch
Onion - 1 cup, sliced
Tomato - 1 1/2 cup, chopped
Ginger and Garlic paste - 2 tsps each
Dhansak Masala - 2-3 tbsps
Cumin powder - 1 tsp
Coriander seed powder - 3/4 tsp
Curry leaves - 12-15 (mine were very small)
Tamarind juice - as per the tartness you desire; I used 1/4 cup of very dilute tamarind juice
or
Amchur powder - 1/4 tsp
Ghee - 2 tbsps (don't substitute with oil/butter, ghee gives it an amazing flavour)
optional:
chicken/mutton - 250 gms
potatoes - 1/2 cup
Method:
(this makes enough for about 4-6 people, so adjust your quantities accordingly)
Pressure cook the lentils and the vegetables with tumeric and hing. Once cooked, you may puree this in a blender - I don't. Firstly, I like my dhansak chunky. Moreover, as you stir and cook the dhansak, the vegetables do tend to get mashed.
(If using chicken/mutton, marinate it with some ginger - garlic paste and red chilli powder. Pressure cook alongwith the lentils. Set aside if pureeing the dals, then add the meat back.
And though I love my meats, believe me vegetarian dhansak tastes as good as the non -veg version. In fact, I don't add any meat any more to my dhansak).
Heat ghee and stir fry the ginger garlic paste till fragrant. Add the sliced onions and fry for a further 3-4 mins.
Next, add in the tomatoes and saute till soft and mushy, mashing the tomatoes with the back of the spoon as you stir.
Add in all the dry masalas and the curry leaves, followed by the pressure cooked lentils and the tamarind juice.
Simmer for about 15 mins.
Easy isn't it?!!
Serve it with rotis or pulao; I served it with this Berry Pulao.
Oh and here's what the other members of the book club made:
Dee made the very Parsi Akuri , Curry Leaf made Akuri with Tofu and Simran headed to Chowpatty to enjoy a plate of Bhelpuri!!
Next month, we are reading Pomegranate Soup by Marsha Mehran. Join us, won't you?? To join the book club, just drop a line to Simran, her e-mail is: bombayfoodie(at)gmail(dot)com
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Spanish Omelette
The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon is definitely one of the most entertaining books I've read in recent times.
Suspense, intrigue, revenge, love (of books, unrequited love, lost love, first flush of love ), the difficult journey from childhood to adulthood - this page turner has it all.
10 year old Daniel Sempere is introduced by his father to the Cemetery Of Forgotten Books - an old and secret place that houses books that even time seems to have forgotten. This is a place that is not many are privy to and the tradition here is that the first time someone visits the place, he must choose any book he likes and then become its caretaker, so to speak.
Daniel chooses a novel Shadow of the Wind by Julian Carax - though this is an author that he, the son of a book shop owner, has never heard of, it seems to him that this book has been waiting all along for him. It is a novel that makes its way to his heart and soon, Daniel is seeking out other works by Carax.
To his dismay and shock, he discovers that someone has been systematically destroying every single copy of every novel that Julian Carax has ever written. In fact, the one copy that he has of the Shadow of the Wind seems to be the only one that has survived and someone seems to be intent on getting that from him as well.
Why is this person so keen on destroying Carax's work and who is Julian Carax? Daniel's curiosity is piqued and he starts to find out all he can about the mysterious and elusive Carax. But what starts as simple curiosity of an admirer leads him over the course of the following 10 years to a labyrinth of secrets, lies and revenge. As he delves deeper and deeper into the mystery of Carax's life, Daniel soon realises that he and those closest to him might be in great danger...
There are several food references throughout the book - Fermin Romero de Torres, Daniel's friend and mentor, has a voracious appetite - ham croquettes, brioches with butter, sandwiches, omelettes, chocolates and sugus sweets - he seems to be able to wolf down large quantities of food with great alacrity.....
"Did you hear that?" Fremin suddenly said. "Sounded like a drumroll for a somersault."
"No."
"Yours truly's rumblings. Look, I'm suddenly terribly hungry...."
I wanted to make patata bravas but in the end, I was too lazy and ended up with the Spanish Omelette which is something we have pretty regularly at home.
"Would you object to a stop at the bar in Plaza de Sarria to polish off two well-endowed omelette sandwiches, plus trimmings?"
The tortilla de patatas or Spanish omelette - is a typical Spanish dish consisting of an egg omelette with fried potatoes and is one of the most popular tapas in Spain. In fact different regions in Spain have their own ways of making this omelette, here's how I make Spanish Omelette at home.
Suspense, intrigue, revenge, love (of books, unrequited love, lost love, first flush of love ), the difficult journey from childhood to adulthood - this page turner has it all.
10 year old Daniel Sempere is introduced by his father to the Cemetery Of Forgotten Books - an old and secret place that houses books that even time seems to have forgotten. This is a place that is not many are privy to and the tradition here is that the first time someone visits the place, he must choose any book he likes and then become its caretaker, so to speak.
Daniel chooses a novel Shadow of the Wind by Julian Carax - though this is an author that he, the son of a book shop owner, has never heard of, it seems to him that this book has been waiting all along for him. It is a novel that makes its way to his heart and soon, Daniel is seeking out other works by Carax.
To his dismay and shock, he discovers that someone has been systematically destroying every single copy of every novel that Julian Carax has ever written. In fact, the one copy that he has of the Shadow of the Wind seems to be the only one that has survived and someone seems to be intent on getting that from him as well.
Why is this person so keen on destroying Carax's work and who is Julian Carax? Daniel's curiosity is piqued and he starts to find out all he can about the mysterious and elusive Carax. But what starts as simple curiosity of an admirer leads him over the course of the following 10 years to a labyrinth of secrets, lies and revenge. As he delves deeper and deeper into the mystery of Carax's life, Daniel soon realises that he and those closest to him might be in great danger...
There are several food references throughout the book - Fermin Romero de Torres, Daniel's friend and mentor, has a voracious appetite - ham croquettes, brioches with butter, sandwiches, omelettes, chocolates and sugus sweets - he seems to be able to wolf down large quantities of food with great alacrity.....
"Did you hear that?" Fremin suddenly said. "Sounded like a drumroll for a somersault."
"No."
"Yours truly's rumblings. Look, I'm suddenly terribly hungry...."
I wanted to make patata bravas but in the end, I was too lazy and ended up with the Spanish Omelette which is something we have pretty regularly at home.
"Would you object to a stop at the bar in Plaza de Sarria to polish off two well-endowed omelette sandwiches, plus trimmings?"
The tortilla de patatas or Spanish omelette - is a typical Spanish dish consisting of an egg omelette with fried potatoes and is one of the most popular tapas in Spain. In fact different regions in Spain have their own ways of making this omelette, here's how I make Spanish Omelette at home.
Spanish Omelette
Ingredients:
Eggs - 3
Potato - 1 large
Bell pepper, red - 1/2, chopped
Onion - 1/2, chopped
Coriander leaves - 1 tbsp, chopped
Green Chillies - 2, chopped
Olive oil - 1.5 tbsp
Salt and pepper
Method:
Parboil the potato and slice it into circles. Heat oil and fry the potato slices till done.
(Traditionally, raw potatoes are fried in a couple of tablespoons of oil, the idea being that the potatoes should be stewed in the oil - I balk at the idea of using too much oil and so parboil mine).
When the potatoes are nearly done, add the onions and fry them till pink.
As the onions fry, gently beat the eggs and add the remaining ingredients. When the potatoes and the onions are done, transfer them into the eggs in the bowl and mix gently.
Tip the eggs into the pan and cook, covered, on very low heat till done.
Cut into wedges and eat as is or with some salad or bread.
Here's what the other members of the Book Club made:
Simran made Swiss Hot Chocolate and Curry Leaf made Patata Bravas with Citrusy Sangria
Next month, we are reading "A Space between Us" by Thrity Umrigar. Want to join us? Write in to Simran!!
Monday, June 1, 2009
Chicken Stew
This month, the Book Club read Joanne Harris' Five Quarters of the Orange.
First, the title: Five Quarters of an Orange. Five? Quarters?? Doesn't make any mathematical sense, does it? But it all makes sense when you read the book. No, no, no - I won't spoil it for you by writing all about it here, if it intrigues you, go ahead and pick up the book. It is an awesome read.
So what is this book all about?
It is a story that runs between present day France and an occupied France during WWII. It also a story of how seemingly innocent childhood obsessions, infatuations and selfishness could snowball into unexpected horrors.
At its heart is its main protagonist, a 65 year old widow Francoise Simon who moves to Les Laveuses, a small village on the banks of the Loire. There, she runs a creperie, dishing out food largely based on the recipes that she inherited from her mother.
But, she hides a dark secret - she is actually Framboise Dartigen who lived on the same farm many years ago with her widowed mother, Mirabelle and a brother Cassis and sister Reinette - and she does not wish the villagers to know her true identity. For, their family is much abhorred in the village.
But her veil of disguise is a thin one that threatens to unravel with the growing popularity of her creperie.
As she deciphers the cryptic notes scribbled alongside recipes in her mother's recipe book, Framboise finally gets the full picture of what really happened on the farm when she was 9 and more importantly, her role in triggering the chain of events that led to the family being so maligned.
In terms of food, I was spoilt for choice...there is just so much food here, with brief recipes thrown in as well! In the end, I decided to make what Mirabelle Dartigen put on the table the day that the ball started rolling.
First, the title: Five Quarters of an Orange. Five? Quarters?? Doesn't make any mathematical sense, does it? But it all makes sense when you read the book. No, no, no - I won't spoil it for you by writing all about it here, if it intrigues you, go ahead and pick up the book. It is an awesome read.
So what is this book all about?
It is a story that runs between present day France and an occupied France during WWII. It also a story of how seemingly innocent childhood obsessions, infatuations and selfishness could snowball into unexpected horrors.
At its heart is its main protagonist, a 65 year old widow Francoise Simon who moves to Les Laveuses, a small village on the banks of the Loire. There, she runs a creperie, dishing out food largely based on the recipes that she inherited from her mother.
But, she hides a dark secret - she is actually Framboise Dartigen who lived on the same farm many years ago with her widowed mother, Mirabelle and a brother Cassis and sister Reinette - and she does not wish the villagers to know her true identity. For, their family is much abhorred in the village.
But her veil of disguise is a thin one that threatens to unravel with the growing popularity of her creperie.
As she deciphers the cryptic notes scribbled alongside recipes in her mother's recipe book, Framboise finally gets the full picture of what really happened on the farm when she was 9 and more importantly, her role in triggering the chain of events that led to the family being so maligned.
In terms of food, I was spoilt for choice...there is just so much food here, with brief recipes thrown in as well! In the end, I decided to make what Mirabelle Dartigen put on the table the day that the ball started rolling.
"She was making fish stew with the scraps from the market, and I could smell the rich aroma of rosemary and garlic and tomatoes and frying oil coming from the kitchen".
"The stew was good; red onions and tomatoes cooked in garlic and herbs and a cupful of white wine, the fish scraps simmering tenderly amongst fried potatoes and whole shallots".
Terradaze is allergic to fish and so I made chicken stew instead, but this stew is something that you can make with chicken or fish or meat....or even only with lots of veggies. It is a very healthy and flavourful stew, you'll love it!
Chicken Stew
Ingredients:
Chicken - 250 gms, with the bone
Garlic - 3 cloves, sliced
Tomato - 1 large
Onion - 1, cut into cubes, layers separated
Mixed vegetables (I used 2 carrots, 2 sweet potatoes, 1 cup cauliflower, 1/2 cup celery)
White wine - 1/2 cup
Apple cider vinegar - 2 tbsps
Rosemary (fresh or dried) - 2 tbsps (or more if you want)
Mixed Italian seasoning - 1 1/2 tbsp (more or less according to your taste)
Peppercorn
Salt
Olive oil
Method:
Make the base stock - Heat oil and fry the garlic till it turns brown. Add the chicken and stir for about 5 mins. Add water, finely chopped tomato, herbs, peppercorn and salt and boil till the chicken cooks. Mash the tomato with the back of a spoon intermittently. Simmer for about 15 mins.
Strain the stock and de- bone the chicken.
Add the vegetables (except the celery) and onion to the stock, toss in some herbs and peppercorn and cook till the vegetables are just cooked. Now add the shredded chicken, celery, the white wine and the vinegar and simmer for another 5 minutes. Adjust the salt and the pepper to your taste.
For those of you who are vegetarians, just skip the chicken in the base stock and add some mushrooms instead. Teetotalers, substitute white wine with 2 tbsps of grape vinegar.
Serve hot with some warm dinner rolls.
In June, we are reading one of my all time favourite books, The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. I risk doing the entire review right here and now, but I will just stop at saying this - even if you are not a member of the book club, this is one book that is a MUST READ for any book lover. And if you want to read this book and cook with it as part of the book club, write in to Simran.
In June, we are reading one of my all time favourite books, The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. I risk doing the entire review right here and now, but I will just stop at saying this - even if you are not a member of the book club, this is one book that is a MUST READ for any book lover. And if you want to read this book and cook with it as part of the book club, write in to Simran.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Butter Cake
He had been around for many years but I first met him when I had just turned a teenager. At that time, he seemed to be the epitome of 'ideal' man, if there ever existed such a thing. He was, of course, the dream of many a girls and during our recess hour in school, there'd be groups of giggly girls oohing and aahing over what he'd done and said.
Over the course of the next 3 years, I kept meeting him over and over again, remaining ever so impressed by him each time I met him. Of course, like all crushes, this one too ran its course and somewhere down the road, he was finally forgotten.
Then, one day, as I was blog-hopping this post on Siri's blog caught my attention - the book club was planning to read Jane Austen this month. The chance to meet him - Fitzwilliam Darcy- again was too tempting and I soon found myself immersed in Pride and Prejudice.
This is one of my all time favourites - anyone who likes to read romantic novels should read it at least once. A simple love story made extraordinary by the way it is written, the very Victorian style of writing peppered by quick repartee and wit .
When a wealthy bachelor, Mr Bingley, moves to their neighbourhood, Mrs Bennet, mother to 5 daughters dreams of arranging a match between her beautiful eldest daughter Jane and him. The story however revolves around Elizabeth Bennet, the second of the 5 Bennet sisters, an intelligent and witty girl and Mr. Bingley's friend, Fitzwilliam Darcy, a rich, handsome but reserved and rather snobbish.
The acquaintance of Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth gets off to a bad start when he refuses to dance with her, citing her rather plain looks. However, as he gets to know her wit and intelligence, inspite of himself, he falls in love with her. Elizabeth, on the other hand, dislikes him more and more; her prejudice fuelled by untruths and misunderstandings rather than fact.
So how does love happen? Read the book to find out how they journey from dislike to love.
The one thing that I really love about this book is: here's a heroine of a novel set in the 18th century who has a mind of her own and is more importantly, is not afraid to speak her mind. Here is a heroine who is bashful, yet not sickeningly coy. Years ago, Mr. Darcy would make me smile, yet when I read this book after so many years, Elizabeth, inspite of your obvious flaws, I wanted to hug you!
Of course, this time around when I was reading the novel, I was also reading it from the food perspective....there were several teas and lunches and dinners that happened- however very few specific references to food - and those that were there didn't quite make me head off to the kitchen!
In the end, I decided to go with the tea theme - so here's some butter cake and masala chai for you guys :)
Over the course of the next 3 years, I kept meeting him over and over again, remaining ever so impressed by him each time I met him. Of course, like all crushes, this one too ran its course and somewhere down the road, he was finally forgotten.
Then, one day, as I was blog-hopping this post on Siri's blog caught my attention - the book club was planning to read Jane Austen this month. The chance to meet him - Fitzwilliam Darcy- again was too tempting and I soon found myself immersed in Pride and Prejudice.
This is one of my all time favourites - anyone who likes to read romantic novels should read it at least once. A simple love story made extraordinary by the way it is written, the very Victorian style of writing peppered by quick repartee and wit .
When a wealthy bachelor, Mr Bingley, moves to their neighbourhood, Mrs Bennet, mother to 5 daughters dreams of arranging a match between her beautiful eldest daughter Jane and him. The story however revolves around Elizabeth Bennet, the second of the 5 Bennet sisters, an intelligent and witty girl and Mr. Bingley's friend, Fitzwilliam Darcy, a rich, handsome but reserved and rather snobbish.
The acquaintance of Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth gets off to a bad start when he refuses to dance with her, citing her rather plain looks. However, as he gets to know her wit and intelligence, inspite of himself, he falls in love with her. Elizabeth, on the other hand, dislikes him more and more; her prejudice fuelled by untruths and misunderstandings rather than fact.
So how does love happen? Read the book to find out how they journey from dislike to love.
The one thing that I really love about this book is: here's a heroine of a novel set in the 18th century who has a mind of her own and is more importantly, is not afraid to speak her mind. Here is a heroine who is bashful, yet not sickeningly coy. Years ago, Mr. Darcy would make me smile, yet when I read this book after so many years, Elizabeth, inspite of your obvious flaws, I wanted to hug you!
Of course, this time around when I was reading the novel, I was also reading it from the food perspective....there were several teas and lunches and dinners that happened- however very few specific references to food - and those that were there didn't quite make me head off to the kitchen!
In the end, I decided to go with the tea theme - so here's some butter cake and masala chai for you guys :)
Butter Cake:
I collect butter cake recipes - I know 10 ways of making a butter cake: one is grossly unhealthy - talk about 8 yolks in a cake; one requires a lot of effort - make sugar syrup, beat egg whites; one uses only egg whites - leaving me wondering what to do with all the egg yolks.
This particular recipe, however, is the one I make most often. It is the easiest butter cake to make; soft, buttery and moist, it tastes and looks like you've really toiled to get such a perfect crumb! For anyone who has always wanted to bake and cake and yet never has, this butter cake is something that will not fail you.
Ingredients:
Unsalted Butter - 175 gms
Caster Sugar - 175 gms (if you plan to frost the cake, reduce sugar to 160 g)
Eggs - 3
All purpose flour - 150 gms
Cornflour - 30 gms
Baking powder - 1 tsp
Milk/Buttermilk - 90 ml
Vanilla essence - 1 tsp
Salt - 1/4 tsp (omit if using salted butter)
Method:
Pre-heat the oven to 175 deg C. Grease and line a loaf pan or an 8" round/square pan.
Sift together (3 times) flour, cornflour, caster sugar, baking powder and salt.
Cream the butter for 2 minutes, then add all the ingredients - all at once - to the mixing bowl. Beat until pale and creamy - about 10 -12 mins, scrapping the sides of the mixing bowl a couple of times.
Bake for 40 mins or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.
Ice it with simple buttercream, though personally, I much prefer to have butter cake without any frosting - perfect with a cup of masala chai!
Masala Chai:
Boil 1 1/2 teacups of water and add to it 1" ginger (crushed), 4 cardamom pods, 4 cloves, 1" cinnamon and 4 peppercorns. Bring to a boil, add tea leaves and simmer for a couple of minutes.
Simultaneously, boil 1/2 teacup of milk with some sugar. Add the milk to the tea, strain and serve.
Here's what the other members made:
Simran made Tropical Fruit Tart and Aparna came up with the very English Crumpets.
Next month, we are reading Five Quarters of Orange by Joanne Harris. Drop in a line to Simran if you would like to be part of the Book Club.
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