EVENT:FOODIEMONDAY/BLOGHOPTHEME:#174 POTLUCKRECIPES What are Potluck Recipes? Potluck is where there is a communal gathering where guests bring a dish to share with others. Potluck dinner, Potluck lunch, spread, bring and share, covered dish, pass on dish etc are some other terms used for food that is prepared by a guest at home and brought to the host’s place to share with others. While most guests prefer to cook something, these the trend is moving to buying food from restaurants or stores and sharing. The overall idea of having guests bring a dish means you land up with a feast. However sometimes these kind of parties can turn into a disaster if the host doesn’t plan well. Here are some guidelines that you may want to…
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Continue ReadingEVENT:FOODIEMONDAY/BLOGHOP THEME:#172 INTERNATIONAL FEAST When it comes to choosing themes for FoodieMonday/Bloghop, the task can be a little difficult as we try to make it a bit challenging and yet feasible for all, with members living in different parts of the world and availability of ingredients. For quite sometime our themes were more or less based on Indian cooking. So to give that a rest and to make something different this week, I challenged the members to identify a country beginning with the first letter of their name and then cook a dish from that country. By this theme hoping that we’ll get a variety of different dishes from different parts of the world and hence the theme name #InternationalFeast. For me the choices were…
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Continue ReadingEVENT: FOODIEMONDAY/BLOGHOP THEME: #171 SAAGSAGA When the #171st theme was decided as saag by the FoodieMonday/Bloghop group members, I was thrilled as I don’t even have one saag recipe on my blog. How did I miss posting it? But then how many times have I really made saag at home? Hardly. Most of the time its enjoyed at a restaurant. What is saag? It basically refers to the leafy greens that are grown or sold in the Indian Sub Continent. The leafy greens which are found in abundance during the winter season may include spinach, amaranth, fenugreek, mustard greens, dill, kale, basella etc. These are used on its own or combined to make a wonderful pureed, partially pureed or finely chopped sabzi or curry. One…
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Continue ReadingEVENT: FOODIEMONDAY/BLOGHOP THEME: #170 DETOX RECIPE After all the Diwali fried snacks, sweets, desserts, heavy meals, its time to give the tummy a rest and give it a good detox. Just the right theme at the right time, well thought out by Kriti who blogs at Krispy Kadhai. So what’s all this hype about detox water, detox soup, detox salad, detox meals, detox smoothies etc, etc. etc? Well, basically its more of a marketing tactic. None of them contain any magic formula or chemical to miraculously detox the body in a matter of 1 or 3 days. Our body is designed to detox regularly, meaning getting rid of toxins on a daily basis. For that to happen our liver and kidneys have to work perfectly.…
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Continue ReadingEVENT: FOODIEMONDAY/BLOGHOP THEME: #168 CHAAT PARTY FOR DIWALI With Diwali, the Festival of Lights, comes not only the poojas and visits to the temples but also party time. Years ago our Diwali was marked with what we back then called ‘jaman’ meaning a meal. Diwali jaman was always at our place and it would be the traditional Gujarati fare with Gur na ladwa, 1 green vegetable, 1 sabji with a gravy and potato sabji, with two farsans like kachori, samosa, arvi na paan or dhokra. And not forgetting the dal, rice, pickles, papad, salad. Though that was a lot of hard work trying to feed around 20 -25 people, we all would look forward to this auspicious day. Nowadays gone are the traditional jamans at…
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Continue ReadingEVENT:FOODIEMONDAY/BLOGHOP THEME: #167 ROOTING FOR ROOTS Mondays come so fast and disappear equally fast. Imagine we’re over and done with Navratri, soon Diwali will be knocking on our doors and we’ll have barely just finished our Diwali celebrations and Christmas will be round the corner. And then the year ends. As fast as it came it will disappear just as fast and will only then be mentioned as history. What will I remember this year for? Well, so far its been an exciting year of meeting up with family and enjoying short holidays with them. In March had a great beach holiday with my side of the family, my dad, kaka, kaki, my fois, my brothers, bhabhis, niece. Then came the amazing albeit short holiday…
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Continue ReadingEVENT: FOODIEMONDAY/BLOGHOP THEME: #166 STIR FRY Stir fries are one of the easiest meals to make. Stir fry literally means cooking tender vegetables or meat, blanched vegetables, or boiled vegetables and meat in a small quantity of oil over high heat. This results in the vegetables becoming a bit crunchy and most of the nutrients is preserved. While some vegetables are easy to stir fry some need to be blanched for a while. What is blanching? Blanching is a cooking method where vegetables or fruits are added to boiling water, allowed to cook for a short time, removed from the hot water and immediately dipped in ice cold water. The way one cuts or chops the vegetables also makes a difference. Certain fish, prawns, shrimps…
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Continue ReadingEVENT: FOODIEMONDAY/BLOGHOP THEME: #165 NAVRATRI SPECIAL RECIPE: FARALI KUTTU KHICHDI/ BUCKWHEAT KHICHDI What is Farali Kuttu Khichdi/ Buckwheat Khichdi For Farali Kuttu Khichdi/ Buckwheat Khichdi, legumes are not used but buckwheat is cooked with potatoes, herbs, spices and nuts. According to the Hindu culture, the word farali refers to any food that is can be used during Fasting Days. Besides the Ekadashi fasting that comes twice a month, Navratri fasting is another one where many communities follow the rule of not consuming grains, pulses, legumes, cereals and certain vegetables.By the way, Kuttu is the Hindi word for Buckwheat. Since buckwheat is not a grain it is a farali ingredient. Usually, khichdi is a dish where any legume and rice are cooked together. What is Navratri? Nav…
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Continue ReadingEVENT: FOODIEMONDAY/BLOGHOP THEME: #162 LEMON AFFAIR RECIPE: LEMON CHUTNEY Lemon Chutney is a versatile, easy to make, flavourful, spicy Indian style chutney. What I like about this recipe is that if you add enough oil, it stays fresh in the fridge for months. It is actually a much quicker version of the Gujarati lemon pickle or limbu nu athanu. You will always find a jar or lemon chutney in my fridge as it is my favourite. Not only that, it is a versatile chutney. Enjoy it with: theplas parathas leftover roti khichdi cheela bhajia as a spread for sandwiches in wraps bajri na dhebra plain rice with main meal bajra na rotla EVENT: FOODIEMONDAY/BLOGHOP The popular saying goes “When Life gives you lemons, make…
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Continue ReadingEVENT: FOODIEMONDAY/BLOGHOP THEME: #161 GANESH CHATURTHI RECIPES FoodieMonday/Bloghop group decided to celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi with recipes. Recipes we would make to offer Lord Ganesha. Undoubtedly its the best time to make the famous Ukadiche Modaks or steamed Modaks. Steam or fry them. I steamed these traditional Maharashtrian mithai. Ganapati Bappa Moriya, Mangal Murti Moriya All those celebrating Ganesh Chaturthi chant the above and get ready for the Ganesh Chaturthi, Vinayak Chaturthi or Vinayak Chavithi festival. To find out what the chanting actually means watch this video. In fact, the festival marks the birthday of Lord Ganesha, the son of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati. The Story: The story goes that when Lord Shiva was away, Goddess Parvati created Ganesha from sandalwood paste to guard the…
