EVENT: SHHH COOKING SECRETLY THEME: MEGHALAYA CUISINE Megha means clouds and thus this North Eastern State is known as the ‘Abode of the Clouds’. True to its name, its receives plenty of rainfall. The state comprises of Garo, Khasi and Jaintia Hills. Majority of the population are Christians. The neighbors are Assam to the north and Bangladesh to the south. The Nohkalikai falls near Cherrapunji is the highest plunge waterfall in India, 1115 feet. Till 1972 Meghalaya was a part of Assam. The hills have many caves which fast is making Meghalaya a famous destination for cave exploration activities. Meghalaya has many living bridges, roots that are old span waterbodies to form suspension like bridges. Coming to the cuisine of Meghalaya, the staple diet consists…
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Continue ReadingEVENT:FOODIEMONDAY/BLOGHOPTHEME:#185 GLOWING SKIN RECIPES When Amrita who blogs at The Food Samaritan suggested glowing skin recipe, I thought wow, what a topic. We normally tend to ignore the fact that food very much predicts how our skin is going to look or looks. The glowing radiant smooth appearance of the skin comes from within us and not entirely from what cosmetics we use on top of our skin. It is important to use facial creams to combat dryness of the skin due to variation of weather and seasons. I personally am not into buying very expensive creams for my face or skin. I don’t believe that a Rs.5000 plus pot of facial cream rich in Vitamin E or collagen will change my skin in a…
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Continue ReadingEVENT:FOODIEMONDAY/BLOGHOP THEME:#184 PEGAN DIET Nope, its not a spelling mistake the word is definitely PEGAN. When Veena who blogs at Veena’s Veg nation suggested the theme, I too thought that she made a spelling mistake as the nearest I could think of was vegan. She quickly clarified that it was Pegan and sent a link for us to read. Last Monday was the day when we all, except Veena of course discovered a new diet Pegan. I think after the theme was announced most of us spent the evening reading about it and discovering what its all about. Also what followed was endless discussions and I think all of us were trying to figure out what the others are going to make, but all guarded…
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Continue ReadingEVENT: A- Z CHALLENGE THEME : A DISH BEGINNING WITH THE LETTER E 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 January we have to post a recipe using an ingredient that begins with E. I decided to use eggplants. I could have used other ingredients like eggs, elephant yam but stuck with eggplants for one main reason. I make baigan bharta often as my hubby loves it. I serve it either with rotis or bajra rotla. When I had to decide a dish for this challenge I made up my mind that this time my…
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Continue ReadingEVENT: HEALTHY WELLTHY CUISINES THEME: 59 HWCG #WINTER DELIGHTS AT HW Having a hearty bowl of hot piping soup is the most comforting food one can during winter to ward off the cold. As I have mentioned before, I per say do not experience winter where I live. However at the moment I’m in Nairobi, the capital city of Kenya. Usually Dec to March is suppose to hot but the weather here is cold, though the sun comes out. My brother in law was teaching me how to make a sourdough bread(previous attempts have failed as the dough became too soft!) where handling the dough is much easier and the does not require too much kneading. He also has after much experimentation made the dough…
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Continue ReadingEVENT: BREAD BAKERS THEME : MIDDLE EASTERN BREADS RECIPE: MANAKEESH Manakeesh, Manakish, Manaeesh, Manaqish or in singular form Manousheh is the Middle East’s version of a pizza. It is usually topped with herbs, cheese or minced meat and can be served for breakfast or lunch. Very popular in Syria, Lebanon and the Arab Peninsula. Traditionally, the women would bake them in a communal oven early in the morning in time for breakfast. Manaqish is the plural word of the Arabic word manqūshah which means to crave out or sculpt. The dough is rolled into a flat shape and then pressed by fingertips to create dips in which the topping lies in. The cheese usually used for the topping is a soft white cheese called Akawi.…
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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: #156 ANY BUT WHITE RICE One of the reasons why I had bought black rice during my visit to Bali was to try out the simple and yet so flavorful pudding that is so common to find on menus in the restaurants around Bali. Sometime back I had posted a red rice kheer and a black rice salad recipe. I kept on getting comments that fellow bloggers had not used red or black rice. It was my turn to choose the #156th theme. I thought let the group get an opportunity to try out rice other than white which they’ve not used. For me it was simple, out came the packet of forbidden rice as its also called to make the pudding.…
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Continue ReadingEVENT: FOODIEMONDAY/BLOGHOP THEME: #149 SALAD Now that all the Eid festivities are over, its time to get back to some healthy food. Though we don’t as per say celebrate Eid, we just can’t help gorging on the goodies that Muslim friends send home. Usually its sweet stuff and a taste here and a taste there and before you know it, sweets are eaten after lunch and dinner. I don’t know whether its just me or does it happen to all of you, let go off a regular diet and meal plan for a couple of days and I feel like I’ve added a ton of weight! Today, I just had to tell my maid to take all the sweets (mithai).. no more temptation. I’m probably…
