EVENT: A- Z RECIPE CHALLENGE THEME : A DISH BEGINNING WITH THE LETTER H What is the A- Z Challenge? Well, we’re a Facebook group and every alternate month the participants make a dish with the relevant letter. The group was started in May 2018 by Jolly Makkar and Vidya Narayan. For the month of July we have to post a recipe using an ingredient that begins with H. This is one challenge where when I’m, making any new dish that’s not for any groups I’m part of then its goes straight into my draft file for later use. Before leaving for Bangalore, I had baked a Honey and Nut Cake. However, I just can’t find the photos and I don’t have time to bake another…
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Continue ReadingEVENT: SHHH COOKING SECRETLY THEME: PUNJABI CUISINE Land of the Golden Temple, land of lassi, land of golden wheat, the land of the five rivers that is Punjab. Its the area where first civilization flourished around 2500BC, The Indus Civilization. Punjab is named after the five rivers, “Punj” means five and “aab” means water in Persian. The five rivers are Beas, Ravi, Chenab, Sutlej and Jehlum. Sikhism was founded in Punjab. Guru Nanak Dev laid the foundation of Sikhism in the late 15th Century. Did you know that Punjab and Haryana share the same capital city, Chandigarh? I didn’t till I read up a bit about Punjab. A state of colorful festivals and dances, then food from that place has to be awesome. Punjabi Cuisine…
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Continue ReadingEVENT: FOODIEMONDAY/BLOGHOP THEME: #201 JAMVA CHALO JI Any religious or happy occasion like Diwali, weddings, birth of babies, etc begins with kansar in a typical Gujarati home. Kansar varies from region to region in Gujarat. For most regions kansar is what we call lapsi. Usually broken wheat is boiled in water with jaggery. However kansar that is made by the Patel community of Gujarat is totally different. We use either semolina or slightly coarse wheat and its steamed. Its then served with melted ghee and powdered sugar. The most important and vital ingredient in kansar is a bit of jaggery and ghee (clarified butter). These two are added as important religious items. It’s believed that jaggery and ghee has purifying power. Just as we begin…
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Continue ReadingEVENT: SHHH COOKING SECRETLY THEME: ODIA CUISINE May is when participants of Shhhh Cooking Secretly had to find an apt dish from the Odia Cuisine with the ingredients given by their partners.Orissa as it was known before and now known as Odisha, is a state that I’d love to visit one day. When one talks of Odisha then Bhubaneswar and Puri , the land of Jagannath Temple comes to mind. Other reasons to visit the state is for the art and craft, the beaches, the wildlife and Kalinga Architecture, home to both the white and Bengal tigers, to watch Odissi dances and to enjoy the cuisine. Odisha borders four states, Jharkhand in the north, West Bengal in northeast, Andhra Pradesh in the southwest and Chhattisgarh…
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Continue ReadingEVENT: FOODIEMONDAY/BLOGHOP THEME: #195 THIRD LETTER MAGIC My first taste of an absolutely tasty red Thai curry was in Bali when I visited it for the first time in 2017. The curry was served in a coconut shell. As I had complained that I was not able to taste a veggie version of the Thai cuisine, my hubby’s best friend and his wife who live in Bangkok made sure that I would not leave Thailand without tasting some good Thai curries. Just the night before we were to leave Bangkok, they treated us to a vegan restaurant called Veganerie at the Silom Complex. While they didn’t want to eat Thai food, hubby and I ordered Thai curries. I ordered green Thai curry with aubergine and…
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Continue ReadingEVENT: SHHH COOKING SECRETLY THEME: NAGALAND CUISINE Nagaland, one of the seven sister state is mountainous state bordering Myanmar in the east, Arunachal Pradesh and Assam to the north, Assam to the west and Manipur to the south. Home to diverse indigenous tribes, their markets and festivals celebrate diverse cultures. I had no idea that the capital city of the state, Kohima, suffered heavy fighting during World War 2. Nagaland is one of the smallest states of India, but by no means backward. Literacy rate is 79.55% and the official language is English. Though the 16 different tribes may have different cultures, ethnic dresses and different languages, the official language unifies them as one. Majority of the people from Nagaland are Christians by faith. 20%…
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Continue ReadingEVENT: SHHH COOKING SECRETLY THEME: MIZO CUISINE The Seven Sister States have been a challenge where the cuisine is concerned. All these states depend on locally grown vegetables, fruits and herbs. So far we cooked from the states of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya and now its Mizoram. Still got two more to go Nagaland and Tripura. The states we have covered so far tend to use quite a bit of meat for their everyday meals. Mizoram is no exception. Mizo Vawksa made from pork, Misa Mach Poora, made from shrimps, Paanch Phoron Torkari is a veg and non veg dish, Bai a dish whereby pork and veggies are mixed, Swahchiar a rice dish cooked with meat, fish or chicken. Koat pitha is popular in…
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Continue ReadingEVENT:FOODIEMONDAY/BLOGHOP THEME:#188 IDLY MEDLEY What is Idli? Idli or Idly is a popular South Indian savory steamed cake which is usually made from rice and black lentils(urad dal). The batter is allowed to ferment overnight without yeast or other raising agents. Next day its steamed in a idli stand or in small bowls. Its a popular breakfast dish and is served with usually with a coconut chutney and sambhar. Sambhar is a lentil stew or dal, with some vegetables and spices added to it. The idli is soaked in the sambhar, topped with chutney and enjoyed. There are a variety of instant Idlis which requires no fermenting and can be made within 30-40 minutes. The most common one is made using semolina but these days…
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Continue ReadingEVENT:FOODIEMONDAY/BLOGHOP THEME:#187 DESI TWIST When this interesting theme was announced by Kalyani who blogs at Sizzling Tastebuds, I was a little confused. Do we cook a western dish with some desi twist to it or cook a desi (Indian) dish and give it a western twist. Fortunately she explained what she wanted us to do, give the Indian dish a western twist. Confused still?? I’m still frowning and thinking. However the recipe below will explain how I understood the theme. Coming to Kalyani’s blog, its worth a visit as she has many healthy and vegan recipes. Find some interesting egg free bakes too. When I had to decide what to make, my choice was limited to the ingredients present in my kitchen as soon I’ll…
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Continue ReadingEVENT:FOODIEMONDAY/BLOGHOPTHEME:#186 PLANT BASED MILK RECIPES What is all this hype about consuming non dairy products? Nowadays vegan cheese, yogurt, milk, spreads, cream cheese, etc are readily available in the supermarkets in the western countries. These all have been developed for people who follow the vegan diet. People who follow vegan diets do not consume anything that is made or comes out of an animal. So that means they do not consume normal or dairy milk and its products. While I personally still need a lot of convincing to become a vegan, I don’t frown or look down on those who follow the diet. Follow what your heart and mind says. What I find nigglingly irritating is that most airlines now presume that if your meal…
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