EVENT: FOODIEMONDAY/BLOGHOP THEME: #235 BEST FROM WASTE Best from Waste: A much required but hardly ever discussed topic. How can we reduce kitchen waste? Our Grandmothers and Mothers were a frugal lot, hardly ever passing off anything as waste when it comes to kitchen waste. What do we mean by kitchen waste? Its not all the wrappings that come with your food but green waste. Watch any cookery show and you will see chefs peeling away thick layers from a fruit and vegetable and throwing it away, trimming food to make it appear perfect, and in the process wasting food. Have you noticed how a huge chunk is cut off from carrots, cucumbers, beetroots, tomatoes… that’s not called trimming! Trimming means cutting a thin slice…
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Continue ReadingEVENT: FOODIEMONDAY/BLOGHOP THEME: #231 CONDIMENTS MAGIC What are Condiments? A condiment is a spice, sauce or any preparation of several ingredients that is generally served with a dish to enhance or compliment the flavour of the dish or food preparation. For example different sauces or gravies are made to enhance the flavour of vegetables, meat, fish, pasta etc. When we make dips, dressings, chutneys, spice blends, they help to compliment a dish for example when we made podi masala to enjoy with rice, idlis, dosa etc. Condiments can also be simple ingredients like salt, pepper powder, chili powder etc. FoodieMonday/Bloghop Group The reason my topic today is on condiments is because this week’s FoodieMonday Group theme is Creative Condiments. Renu requested that we…
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Continue ReadingEVENT: A- Z RECIPE CHALLENGE THEME : A DISH BEGINNING WITH THE LETTER K WHAT IS A-Z CHALLENGE? It’s group started by Jolly Makkar and Vidya Narayan. What is required of in this group? Nothing too difficult but to cook a dish using an ingredient whose English name begins with the designated letter. This month we’re suppose to choose an ingredient that begins with K. My choice is Kiwi, the famous soft, seedy green fruit. While my favorite way to have kiwi is one its own, sometimes I make a cool healthy chia seed pudding to take care of my sweet tooth. A BIT ABOUT KIWI FRUIT We all normally presume that Kiwi fruit or Chinese Gooseberry originates from New Zealand. However, it actually grew in…
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Continue ReadingMY BEST, MY WORST AND EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN – 8 YEARS AS A FOOD BLOGGER Since I began my journey as a Food Blogger, my Blogging Anniversaries have come and gone without much celebration or pomp as it usually gets shadowed by new Year Celebrations. As a matter of fact, I started blogging on 2nd January 2012. As some of you may know, there were a couple of reasons I began the blog: A place where family and friends could access recipes world over To create recipes and jot them somewhere, recipes that I learnt from my dear mum, my mother in law who we fondly call Nunu and my aunt, my kaki to me. Having stopped working as a teacher, I had to put…
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Continue ReadingEVENT: FOODIEMONDAY/BLOGHOP THEME: #212 SALAD STORIES Salads, what are salads? Salads are a combination of ingredients put together like grains, vegetables, fruits, meats, nuts,seeds. Vegetables and fruits are usually cut into small pieces, grained used are cooked, meats are usually boiled or roasted and nuts and seeds are either added raw or roasted lightly. A salad is usually enjoyed as a starter, as a light meal or with a main dish. Its the best way to eat your daily required vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. If a salad is consumed as a meal then its necessary to get your protein, carbs and good fat included in it. The more colorful a salad is the more tempting and attractive it is, making it a meal or side…
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Continue ReadingEVENT: SHHH COOKING SECRETLY THEME: SIKKIMESE CUISINE About this Group: As most of my regular readers may have noticed that through the Shhh Cooking Secretly Group we are taking each state of India every month and preparing a dish pertaining to that state’s cuisine. August was when the participating members cooked different dishes from the state of Sikkim. Get to know Sikkim Sikkim, one of the seven sister states of North East India is situated in the lap of the Himalayas. The third highest peak of the Himalayas, Kanchenjunga can be seen from Sikkim. Sikkim was annexed to India in 1975. 11 languages are spoken in this tiny mountain state, English being the official language.Its the home to the second highest suspension bridge in Asia, Singshore…
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Continue ReadingEVENT: FOODIEMONDAY/BLOGHOP THEME: #207 HERBALICIOUS What are herbs? Herbs are plants with seeds, flowers and leaves where the leaves and green parts are used for flavoring, as part of food, as medicine and also used in some perfumes to enhance the aroma. In cooking, usually the leafy greens of herbs are used not as a main dish but as a part of a dish. So you may say that we use spinach, fresh fenugreek, fresh mustard leaves too and they too are leafy greens so why are they considered vegetables and not herbs? Well, for one these leafy greens are usually prepared on its own or with other vegetables as a curry or used in salads in big quantities. Usually herbs are used in small…
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Continue ReadingEVENT: FOODIEMONDAY/BLOGHOP THEME: #197 GET IN SHAPE The #197th theme for FoodieMonday/Bloghop group, Get in Shape is nothing to do about us getting into shape with some healthy diet or workout. However, as Kalyani suggested, its all about presenting food in a geometrical fashion. Kalyani blogs at Sizzling Buds. Her blog is full of vegetarian recipes and many are vegan. Her endeavor to present world cuisine in a more healthier manner for her family is commendable. When the theme was suggested, I got excited. I would have loved to bake a bread or tart to really give due credit to this theme (you know the type where slices are arranged in concentric circle or even or semi circles on a square pie), but limited resources meant…
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Continue ReadingThe word Shorba originates from the word chorba, sorpa, shurpa. This soup is widely enjoyed in the Middle Eastern Countries, some parts of Europe, Asia and Africa. It is believed that the soup originates from Persia. Hot salted water with added meats, vegetables made this a versatile dish that even travelers could make. No wonder popularity of this healthy and easy to make dish spread far and wide. India was introduced to Shorba during the Mughal Era. Vegetarians then came up with their version of shorba. My favorite is a tomato shorba anytime, which I tend to make so often. When I made some Qubani Naan, I wanted to pair it with a curry. However, hubby insisted that I make a soup and before I…
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Continue ReadingEVENT: FOODIEMONDAY/BLOGHOPTHEME: #194 SUMMER FRUIT FEST This week’s theme was suggested by Swaty who blogs at Food – Trails. Swaty’s blog is full of fun recipes from appetizers to desserts. I love her photography. Check out her blog for some exciting delicious recipes. When Swaty suggested using summer fruits to create a recipe, I was happy as I was in the right place to enjoy really colorful summer fruits – Thailand. You’ll find many fruit vendors on the streets selling cut ripe mangoes, cut raw mangoes, water melons, dragon fruits, other melons, pineapples, peeled pomelo, durian, rambutan, rose apple slices, papaya, guava, coconut and longan. A really colorful smoothie bowl would have been the ideal recipe for this theme, but I couldn’t make the smoothie as…
