Writing from my kitchen

Come January and one starts to notice little white flowers, peeping out from the dense foliage of mango trees. They seemed to reassure the departure of frost and welcome the spring which would later wither into a great Indian summer. These little flowers also hold promises of greater pleasures sweet or sour. Not too long ago, most yards around Indian homes would shelter at least one if not more mango trees. We grew up accepting this tree and its fruit as a granted aspect of everyday living. The canopy that threw a blanket of shade under which children could play in the sunniest of afternoons, strong branches that supported swings, dense greenery of the leaves where parrots played hide and seek, and the sweet anticipation of the fruit, once the blossoms begin to show. These days, I point out a mango tree to my four year old, for her to comprehend that her favourite fruit is born to this beautifully green tree. Yet I wouldn’t be surprised, if anyone asks her “where do you ge...

A quarter of a large brinjal, a 5 inch triangle of yellow pumpkin, handful of spinach leaves on the verge of wilting, a peeled potato, half a large tomato and a cup of defrosted shrimps. There was nothing I could do with them alone and I had no idea what to do with them together. If I dumped them back in the chiller, I did not have anything else, to churn out a decent dinner for three of us at home. Well as they say 'necessity is the mother of all inventions' and in this case the creator of something nice and new!! Cut the Brinjal into large cubes, smear with oil and lay on a pan on slow fire to brown them well on each side....keep aside Saute the shrimps with some chilli powder, salt and turmeric....keep aside The pumpkin, potato and tomato cut into similar cubes but no grilling done Heat half a teaspoon of oil, toss in some onion seeds (black jeera/ kalonji), break a chilli and add to it. Wait for the smoky smell and put together the potato, pumpkin and tomatoes ...

I am the owner of a new camera and armed with this weapon, last Saturday as I cooked, I snapped. So! today I can proudly post my blog with ample pictures. Chicken is the easiest available meat..white meat, to cook, to serve and to eat especially when impromptu dinner with guests happen. Well my last Saturday was a more planned entertaining spree but this chicken dish is easy enough if your gathering is a la minute. Just ensure that there is enough curd/yoghurt in the fridge before you venture out. Clean and rub medium size pieces of chicken with salt and allow to stand Saute chopped onions in oil until golden Add two tablespoons of finely crushed ginger and garlic When the onions, ginger and garlic are browned well add the salt marinated chicken Continue to stir the chicken till all the mixture is evenly coated and at this point add a teaspoon of chilly powder, three tablespoons of coriander powder and two teaspoon of turmeric powder, salt to taste and stir. A...

Wishing all my followers and readers an exciting and positive 2012 ahead. I know this is a little late, considering that we have already crossed the half mark on the first month on the calendar. But nevertheless wishes, warm from the heart always abundant!! My new year eve had everything to do with food, wine and happiness. A barbecue evening with close family, chill in the air that needed lots of wine to warm up, a 12 year old chef wanting to go all the way from marinating meat, lighting the coals to barbecuing the meat, and just feeling happy about everything was an awesome prelude to a new year. The 12 year old chef being none other than my son, did this really cool asian drumsticks over the coals which really stole the show. I have swapped the recipe with him for something I really do not want to reveal and here it is all Marinate 12 chicken drumsticks with the given marinade Two tablespoons of honey Two tablespoons of dark soy sauce Two teaspoons of ginger and garlic...

I grew up loving my fish!....please, don't get me wrong; I still favor my mom's spicy fish curry above all else. But like I started to say...I grew up loving my fish and couldn't savor my lunch or dinner without it. Vegetables were tolerated as second cousins to the fish but if the hero itself was missing I'd rather starve than put myself through the torture of a boring mealtime. Then something changed in my life. I lived in Calcutta for a while, met my husband and learnt that vegetables may be not so boring or in fact very interesting. The moringa ..... or drumstick as I have always called it suddenly became very appetizing. When mom in law made it in a mustard gravy it no longer stood shyly behind but suddenly took centre stage at the dining table. Then recently my mom made it her way and I loved it!, just that and steaming rice. Talk about changes! Wash and scrape about two thick and fleshy drumsticks and cut them into three inch length pieces.... ( if the drumsti...

After a number of trials I have finally mastered the art of making momos. These aren't really as perfect as the ones you would find made by the deft hands of ladies from tibet or nepal, but they were passable and did have quite the zing of the standard street fare. The recipe is quite simple and does not require learning much technicalities, but the route to perfection definitely lies in the precision and care taken while preparing each element. The kneading of the dough, its rest and the mixing of the filling all have a purpose to it which finally adds to the end product. Knead a cup of all purpose flour with cold water to a soft, smooth and pliable dough Leave the dough to rest under a wet napkin.....(the wet napkin is to make sure that the dough doesn't dry out) Mix about two cups of mince chicken along with two cups of minced onions, and a tablespoon of chopped coriander leaves......(substitute the chicken with mince of mushrooms, bean sprouts/ cabbage and carrots an...

The title of this blog was born out a telephone call between me and my aunt a couple of weeks ago. I have been wanting to put it down since then but the though kind of shifted to back of my mind only to resurface today. She wanted to know if she could do something with eggs for an eggetarian lunch party. I kept rolling out a couple of standard egg dishes but she kept ruling them out. Finally out of sheer desperation to get ahead in our telecon I blurted out "how about that egg n coconut concoction" and she was thrilled. Thankfully the call ended and I got on with my life. But my 10 year old suddenly pounced on me and demanded that I make the egg n coconut concoction for him. I wondered why and soon was rewarded with an answer..."you never make different desserts"...this is not a dessert,..it is as spicy as you want to make it. Boil four eggs to perfection....( perfection is indicated by a clear white and a well formed but soft yolk) Grind to a coarse paste four ...

I got a call from a dear friend and distant relative today. She wanted to know how I make the pea and spinach soup. I am sure I must have told her this before, but nevertheless I recited the entire recipe methodology, little tips and all to her over again. Secretly, I enjoy doing it.  Gives me a boost to run home and blog it out. The soup happened out of sheer desperation when my daughter went through a pea phase in her diet. Give her anything with peas and she would pick out the peas and eat them, the rest of the food on her plate would be fed to the dustbin. There was such harmony at the dining table. My son would diligently pick all the 'uggghh'!! peas out of his food and trade it for the 'yummier' egg or chicken in her plate.....I have never seen such love before or after!...so with love I dished out this soup for her and it sure was appreciated by a lot of people. Sadly my daughter has grown out of the pea phase and hence then the recipe and its production in m...

Pumpkin is not many a persons dream vegetable. Even a vegetarian tends to pass by this vegetable without as much as a glance. But what attracts me to this squash is the very ability to lend a twist of sweetness to any dish without changing its character much. True the squashy nature could be a put off especially when you have it coating practically every taste bud and blocking all other senses with its mushy texture and sweetly bland taste. But the colour is so beautiful that when made well, it stands apart in a dish like art work. That is precisely why I chose to make do of its rich yellow on a background of dark green spinach and top with the golden of roasted crushed peanuts. Now it suddenly has transformed itself from the ugly frog to the handsome prince. Cut the pumpkin into 2” size wedges, marinate with salt and ginger juice(…ginger juice is no mystery…just grate fresh ginger and squeeze out the juice between your thumb and fore finger) Pan fry the pumpkin wedges on...

Anybody who has lived in KolKata better known as Calcutta or even been a frequent visitor to that eccentric city would love to talk about it. Everyone has endless stories about places and people. , which invariably ends with a “that’s Calcutta” . The mob, floods, polluting taxis and everyone who would rather tend to your business even when he is not sure of his own is what makes that city memorable. Mind you it is not the same reading about it. You need to spend a few days and the city grows upon you with all its quirkiness and whole hearted warmth. I am very happy living in Bangalore but Calcutta and its memories come by almost every other day. Another aspect of Calcutta not to miss of course is its food. From the Puchkas off the street , to Indo-Chinese at Tangra, or the good old Biriyani from Aminia, it’s a festival on your palate. The Biriyani is not to be missed at all. Served in old time china plates most of which may be chipped at the edges, looks pretty bland and pl...

After a year and two months of oblivion, it is a little unnerving to start writing again. The past year of no blogging has been full of other activities, some involving food and most involving people. They have ranged from weddings, starting a new occupation, moving home, and much more. My kitchen is as busy as it always has been when I’m around, though with my new occupation the time I manage to keep it busy is a little limited. Now I get a day in the week to explore, create and recreate ideas and translate them into interesting food. Nevertheless the effort and the exercise is still full on. Last week I was visiting a good friend for dinner and she casually mentioned to her other guests that I am good at churning out variety of dips and chutneys. I was beaming inside but of course in all humility had to brush it aside as “it is really nothing”. The truth is, that in a number of instances these dips are creations that evolve out of necessity of putting something together to...

Lately Bangalore has been facing the Sun God’s wrath. Let’s face it, no longer is it cool to go shopping on Sunday afternoons, nor do I have the strength to walk out to my nearby fresh market. I may leave my home looking like Cinderella dressed for the ball, but am sure to return like she did after the clock struck twelve!! Yet the moment the sun says bye, Bangalore is the coolest place to be.  The only grace of this weather seems to be the abundance of papayas and melons of all variety, I see on the roadside handcarts. The dark green with perfectly spaced orange stripes looks absolutely picturesque! One even wonders if they were actually hand painted. The fragrance of a ripe melon transports me to green islands fringed with blue waters.  Growing up my mother used to urge me to bite into juicy ripe papayas; but they were just not for me. As a child and a teenager I simply detested the fruit. I guess adulthood changed my opinion and today I can’t seem to start my...

Last night I watched the movie Julie and Julia. It was a nice movie;  nice especially for food lovers like me. The main character of the movie was a ‘Mr Boeuf Bourgignon’ ! Among, the various scenes and dialogues all involving cooking, feeding and eating, laced with glimpses of marital problems and difficulties in the way of success, I could not but help agree, with the wonderful adulation shown towards butter! She says “at the heart of anything that tastes so good…it has to be butter.” With all due respects to healthy food and those who are constantly in quest of all things healthy, I reiterate “butter is just so delicious!” But what has health got anything to do with taste. Health and taste to me are two variants of cooking. Healthy food may taste nice, but in front of tasty fare that has been cooked with an abandoned passion and no regrets, it kind of falls flat. If you disagree then close your eyes and think about; freshly baked bread with a generous pat of yello...

“ Say hello to yellow and swing with the blues”… these are not my words. A leading home décor magazine has quoted ‘Pantone’ the global authority on colours, who directs fashion and design industry on colour trends. According to him, the colour of year 2010 is blue. And! Mind you, not any blue but the hue that is a cusp between blue and green, which we all dearly call turquoise. Experts are supposed to have applauded this choice of colour, as it is known to lend serenity to your surroundings. They say turquoise, creates calm, peace and a sense of well being in your everyday atmosphere……. (Well, I do wonder how calming it would be to the senses, if I lay out turquoise cushions on a purple upholstered background!)  I don’t know if it happens to anyone else, but colours evoke images of certain foods in my mind and turquoise equates to the blue of Mediterranean seas. The colourful vegetables, healthily grilled meats and fish, different cheeses all swim before my eyes when I ...

I have a great liking for this dip or spread, whatever it can be classified as. Having lived in the Middle East a good part of my child hood, initiated me to this bean dip very early in my life. Later,  after I was married and I was entertaining, I have often chosen to serve this to my guests. It took a number of tries before I came close to the original taste, my tastebuds still remember. There are umpteen different recipes one finds with slight variations . The prominent ingredients are of course standard. After much research done as part of my effort to perfect my recipe I have come to the conclusion that Hummus is of two varieties one basically very Greek and less popular, while the more popular is a Lebanese or Middle Eastern recipe. Soak 1/2 a teacup of sesame seeds for about an hour. Drain and pulverise to a fine smooth, using as little water as possible (this is sold in supermarkets as tahini…) Add 2 cloves of garlic along with the paste and grind...

Sunday afternoons have been ‘lamb and rice’ lunch at my home ever since I can remember. And when I got married it, it was comfortable to know that there was a similar pattern there too. My mother’s lamb curry flavoured with  Indian spices and finished with coconut milk was as delectable as my Mother in law’s ‘Kosha Mangsho’ where the lamb was braised in a simple ginger garlic and onion gravy, until dark in colour and tender in texture. Lamb, or mutton which it is better known as in the Indian culinary arena, has always been a delicacy or a higher end meat than any other. It is interesting to note that, all festivities where any form of meat would be served, mutton was always called for. My earliest memories of mutton and festivities was of a ‘mutton curry and Idli’ breakfast on Diwali morning. Here I speak of a simple, easy to make, yet out of the normal recipe which my husband’s late aunt would always make when we visited her. It has a predominantly Bengali t...