Friday, September 11, 2009
See you all....iss break ke baad!!
Not updated my blog in over two weeks - YES
Visited all your lovely blogs only sporadically - YES
Not participated in events - YES
Posted entries for events and not mailed them on time - YES
Doesn't this happen when one is on a break?
Hmmm....I have been really busy and though every night I'd sit with the laptop willing myself to update the blog and go blog hopping, all I really wanted to do was sleep!!
Guess this means that I am on a break! I will see you all in the first week of October. Till then, happy cooking!
Visited all your lovely blogs only sporadically - YES
Not participated in events - YES
Posted entries for events and not mailed them on time - YES
Doesn't this happen when one is on a break?
Hmmm....I have been really busy and though every night I'd sit with the laptop willing myself to update the blog and go blog hopping, all I really wanted to do was sleep!!
Guess this means that I am on a break! I will see you all in the first week of October. Till then, happy cooking!
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
Friday, August 28, 2009
Coconut Burfi or Naaralachi Wadi
Many many moons ago, I knew a boy. He would wait for me patiently every single evening. He would be impatient and would sulk if I were even a little late. As he heard me come up the stairs, he would run down and carry my bag for me.
"Hurry up, let's go", he would order me. "I've been waiting so long for you".
I was six, he was five and we were the best of playmates. His school finished in the afternoon, mine started in the afternoon and I would be back home around 6 in the evening. And so, playtime in evening was really very precious. Not a moment to be wasted.
And though I'd also be hungry, I didn't have time to eat. So my mum would have some atte ke ladoo or vadis or coconut burfi (we call it naaralachi wadi) always ready on hand. A glass of milk and a couple of ladoos or wadis in each hand and I'd be out of the door.
Naaral wadi is something that I still love very much and I make a batch of this pretty often.
Also sending this to Sanghi's FIL: Milk.
"Hurry up, let's go", he would order me. "I've been waiting so long for you".
I was six, he was five and we were the best of playmates. His school finished in the afternoon, mine started in the afternoon and I would be back home around 6 in the evening. And so, playtime in evening was really very precious. Not a moment to be wasted.
And though I'd also be hungry, I didn't have time to eat. So my mum would have some atte ke ladoo or vadis or coconut burfi (we call it naaralachi wadi) always ready on hand. A glass of milk and a couple of ladoos or wadis in each hand and I'd be out of the door.
Naaral wadi is something that I still love very much and I make a batch of this pretty often.
Ingredients:
Scrapped coconut: 1.5 cups
Milk: 1.5 cups
Sugar:1 cup sugar (I put about 3/4 cup and was quite happy with the sweetness)
Almond powder: 1/4 cup (you could also substitute this with pistachio or cashewnut powder)
for flavouring:
powdered cardamom
saffron (optional)
or
rose essence: 1/4 tsp
pink food colour
Method:
Combine the scrapped coconut and milk in a wide wok. (Also add the saffron, if using). Cook, stirring occasionally, till the milk thickens.
Then add in the sugar and the almond powder and continue to stir and cook the mixture. As the mixture reduces, it tends to splutter so do have your gloves on!
When it leaves the sides of the pan and converges to the centre of the pan, add in the cardamom powder. If you opt to make rose flavoured burfis, then skip the cardamom powder and add the rose essence and the pink food colour. Stir for a bit more till it becomes a little dry around the outside edges.
Layer the mixture on a plate lined with butter paper - I use my 9" round cake pan for this. Grease the back of a flat plate with some ghee and run it over the layer to get an even finish.
The size of the layer is entirely upto you, just remember, the thicker the layer, the longer it will take for the wadi to set. I normally make a one cm thick layer.
After about half an hour, when the mixture is at room temperature, cut into squares or diamonds and let the wadi cool further for about 4 hrs (patience, patience), after which, peel off the butter paper, separate the pieces and store in an airtight container.
I store mine in the fridge.
This wadi is highly addictive, you just can't stop at one!! And, packed with the goodness of milk and almond powder, with sugar to give the added energy boost, these are the ideal grab and go evening energy snack!
So, this is my entry to Cooking For Kids: Evening Snacks hosted by Divya, event started by Sharmi of Neivedyam.
Also sending this to Sanghi's FIL: Milk.
Monday, August 24, 2009
Butter Rolls
I've been so so busy lately that blogging and visiting other blogs has had to take a complete back seat!
Though I have neglected everything else (read paying bills, exercising, returning calls, replying to emails - yes, I've really been mean), my kitchen, fortunately, has been buzzing with activity!
My latest craze is bread baking. I've been forcing, no, sweetly coaxing the husband to eat more bread so that I can bake more of it. Doesn't look like he has any complaints - homemade bread is really something else.
Seriously, I've had to wonder why I didn't bake bread all these years. I seem to have fallen in love with the whole process of kneading the shaggy mess into a smooth dough, to watching it rise and to punching it down, only to watch it rise once again and then have my entire house infused with the lovely aroma of freshly baked bread. This is something magical - no amount of words can even start to describe the phenomenon that is bread baking. You just have to experience it to understand it!
Butter Rolls:
Ingredients:
Bread flour: 2.5 cups
OR
Bread flour: 1.5 cups and strong whole wheat bread flour: 1 cup
Egg: 1
Lukewarm Milk: 1/2 cup (you might need about a tbsp more if you are using a combination of whole wheat and white bread flour)
Sugar : 3 tsps
Salt: 3/4 tsp
Yeast: 1 tsp
Water: 1 tbsp
Butter: 3 tbsps
for glazing and topping:
1 tbsp milk
1 tsp egg
sesame seeds, sugar, mixed herbs, coarsely ground pepper (optional)
Method:
Dissolve yeast and 1 tsp of sugar in lukewarm water. Cover and leave for about 15 mins at the end of which it will look creamy and frothy.
Beat the egg, reserve about a tsp of the beaten egg for the glaze and whisk the remaining egg with the milk.
Mix the flours with the remaining sugar and salt. Make a well in the centre of the vessel, add in the yeast mixture and the milk and egg mixture.
Add in the butter and knead till it is all incorporated into the dough. At this point, it will seem like there is too much butter and the dough will keep sliding out from between your fingers, but it will feel wonderfully soft as all the butter gets kneaded in.
Transfer the dough on to a well floured surface and knead for a further 15 mins. To ensure that the dough has been kneaded enough, here's what I do:
Transfer the dough to a well oiled glass vessel, cover and leave it to rise till it has doubled in volume. This usually takes me about an hour and a half.
Knock back the dough and knead again for a minute or two. Cut it into 8 or 10 or 12 (basically, as many as you want - I normally make 8) evenly sized pieces and roll each piece on a floured surface pressing the air out till you have an evenly shaped round ball.
Cover and let the rolls double in size - this takes me about 40-45 mins.
Preheat the oven to 200 deg C .
Mix in the reserved tsp of egg with a tbsp of milk to prepare the glaze - you can also leave out the egg and use just the milk. Just before baking them, glaze the rolls with a soft pastry brush. Add any topping you want, I normally top half the batch with sesame seeds.
Bake the rolls for about 15 mins or till the top is golden brown and the rolls sound hollow when tapped underneath.
Divine. Absolutely divine!!
Though I have neglected everything else (read paying bills, exercising, returning calls, replying to emails - yes, I've really been mean), my kitchen, fortunately, has been buzzing with activity!
My latest craze is bread baking. I've been forcing, no, sweetly coaxing the husband to eat more bread so that I can bake more of it. Doesn't look like he has any complaints - homemade bread is really something else.
Seriously, I've had to wonder why I didn't bake bread all these years. I seem to have fallen in love with the whole process of kneading the shaggy mess into a smooth dough, to watching it rise and to punching it down, only to watch it rise once again and then have my entire house infused with the lovely aroma of freshly baked bread. This is something magical - no amount of words can even start to describe the phenomenon that is bread baking. You just have to experience it to understand it!
Butter Rolls:
Ingredients:
Bread flour: 2.5 cups
OR
Bread flour: 1.5 cups and strong whole wheat bread flour: 1 cup
Egg: 1
Lukewarm Milk: 1/2 cup (you might need about a tbsp more if you are using a combination of whole wheat and white bread flour)
Sugar : 3 tsps
Salt: 3/4 tsp
Yeast: 1 tsp
Water: 1 tbsp
Butter: 3 tbsps
for glazing and topping:
1 tbsp milk
1 tsp egg
sesame seeds, sugar, mixed herbs, coarsely ground pepper (optional)
Method:
Dissolve yeast and 1 tsp of sugar in lukewarm water. Cover and leave for about 15 mins at the end of which it will look creamy and frothy.
Beat the egg, reserve about a tsp of the beaten egg for the glaze and whisk the remaining egg with the milk.
Mix the flours with the remaining sugar and salt. Make a well in the centre of the vessel, add in the yeast mixture and the milk and egg mixture.
Add in the butter and knead till it is all incorporated into the dough. At this point, it will seem like there is too much butter and the dough will keep sliding out from between your fingers, but it will feel wonderfully soft as all the butter gets kneaded in.
Transfer the dough on to a well floured surface and knead for a further 15 mins. To ensure that the dough has been kneaded enough, here's what I do:
1. Stretch a small ball of dough between your fingers. If you have kneaded the dough enough, the stretched dough will ressemble a blown bubblegum - translucent and thin, the dough will not tear as you stretch it. This is also called as the windowpane test.
2. Press your finger into the dough, if it springs back, the dough has been kneaded enough.
Transfer the dough to a well oiled glass vessel, cover and leave it to rise till it has doubled in volume. This usually takes me about an hour and a half.
Knock back the dough and knead again for a minute or two. Cut it into 8 or 10 or 12 (basically, as many as you want - I normally make 8) evenly sized pieces and roll each piece on a floured surface pressing the air out till you have an evenly shaped round ball.
Cover and let the rolls double in size - this takes me about 40-45 mins.
Preheat the oven to 200 deg C .
Mix in the reserved tsp of egg with a tbsp of milk to prepare the glaze - you can also leave out the egg and use just the milk. Just before baking them, glaze the rolls with a soft pastry brush. Add any topping you want, I normally top half the batch with sesame seeds.
Bake the rolls for about 15 mins or till the top is golden brown and the rolls sound hollow when tapped underneath.
Divine. Absolutely divine!!
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Plagiarism!!
Just a short note - I read Malar's post and obviously followed the link - only to find my creamy egg curry picture (I left a message and the picture has since been taken off).
I don't even want to start to rant about the lack of ethics of such people.
And, here's the irony - blogs such as this one don't deserve to be visited and yet, it is important that you do take a peep and see if any of your pictures have been lifted!
http://www.samayalblog.com/
I don't even want to start to rant about the lack of ethics of such people.
And, here's the irony - blogs such as this one don't deserve to be visited and yet, it is important that you do take a peep and see if any of your pictures have been lifted!
http://www.samayalblog.com/
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