Writing from my kitchen

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 ...