Microwave and its use in Indian Rasoi.....

I am born in times when the kitchen is no less than a laboratry and occupies a important place and different gadgets are there to help modern living.If your child watches 'Doremon' then the cat in that series gives gadget to help the male character and things are solved scientifically.I think Microwave is something which is new for indian cooking and we need to take a step forward and make it really work for us,not just heating or reheating food.
How about listing procedures which can make our life easy and quick.
1)Cooking rice without mashing (20 minutes are good)
2)Boiling tomato with water for puree
3)Taking out clarified butter(ghee) from malai,heating it for good 15 minutes and the seperation is non fussy
4)We can set curd with the help of microwave
5)How about getting onion fried for gravy,take oil heat and then add onions and let it get golden
6)For palak paneer,green spinach puree is quick after microwaving spinach with water and blending
7)Try extracting paneer when heating milk in microwave with lemon.
8)Try gajar halwa with easy doing grated gajar(carrot)with milk in microwave.
9)Blanching almonds to remove skin.
10)Roasting papad is my favourite.1minute and it is hasslefree
11)Roasting nuts like cashew without oil,so healthy way of life.
12)How about boiling potatoes it takes  5 minutes for washed and pricked potatoes.
13)We can even freshen our chips and biscuits in a minute
14)Try making bread crumbs with convection mode
15)Drying mint, fenugreek in 4 minutes and then cooling for 2minutes
16)For new moms or moms to be try warming baby milk and even try microwave bags for sterlisation.
17)Dissolving gelatin in 15-20seconds

I am sure all this would help in making things quick and one pot cooking could be possible with less utensils involved.Try inventing new things in your kitchen and share your original idea with all.
I have tried cooking veggies and I tell you with less oil  tastier dishes come out!!!!

Karva chauth and Traditional recipe....

Being an Indian wife I am celebrating  important day of my married life and cheerfully fasting all day for well being  of my husband.Its different and gives you immense pleasure for selflessly praying to God for best wishes.
I am excited and would end my day after moon shines in the sky and blesses us for another year.So festive mood and food go together.I would be sharing a traditional recipe to mark the day.
The recipe is common in Northen Indian households and is simple yet special.I am sharing a potato curry recipe which goes well with poori(deep fried wheat flour)The recipe goes for non garlic and non onion fasting ones!!!
Ingredients:
1)4 potato  boiled and peeled
2)2 Tomatoes finely chopped
3)1inch of Ginger scrapped and finely chopped
4)Green chillies sliced
5)Green coriander for garnishing
6)Dry masala powders-Hing(asafoetida 1 pinch),Turmericpowder,Jeera seeds for tempering,Dry Coriander tablespoon,Jeera powder 1/2 tablespoon,Red chilli as per taste,saunf(fennel)powder1/2 tablespoon,Amchur powder(dry mango)as per taste
7)Salt to taste
8)Desi ghee/Butter is preferred for cooking
9)Curd for thickening the gravy 1/2 cup

We begin with tempering in a kadhai  (pan).Add ghee and once hot add hing and jeera.Add all dry masala powders except amchur and into add tomatoes chopped,further add ginger,green chillies and roast the mixture till oil leaves onto the surface.Now we will add potates which we have peeled and break with our hands in kadhai.Mix the additions and then put salt.We would add water mixed with curd and let the  gravy boil for 10 minutes. For final touches add amchur powder and green coriander.
This goes very well with kaddu (pumpkin)ki sabzi , poori and kachori.This recipe serves two adults.
Traditional north Indian platter is incomplete without this recipe.So have a great day and remember good olden days of our grandmother cooking....

Food and hair fall control!!!

Being a mom I am sure lot of us face issue of hair fall and I am no far from it.After birth of my daughter I realised after few months that hair were going in bunch.Well how to fight hair fall in todays time,I am one of those who has got a cure after loosing precious tresses of mine.Few things would just fix all of us who are suffering from problem.A change in food and extra vitamins for hair would let us catch up with less fall.
1)Incorporate more greens like eating spinach and fenugreek,soaking fenugreek overnight  in water and drinking the extract helps a lot.

2)Eating egg whites and  even topical application on hair helps hair follicles.

3)Eating nuts like almonds,cashewnuts ,walnut also help get essential oils.
4)Drinking carrot juice and even eating raw carrots works.
5)Fish eaters are the happiest,baked fish dish a week is one of the best ways.
6)I have tried taking fish oil capsules daily as omega-3 fatty acids are the ones to be incorporated in diet

7)Any supplements with zinc and biotin has to be taken every day so mushrooms and oats help u with that.

8)Wheat germ juice and sesame seeds also are growth boost.
9) Applying curd into hair roots helps
10)Drink honey and tulsi water.






Hope this helps you all and even shampoos with fenugreek extract(himalaya)and repair damage serums are  good (dove).Have a healthy diet and good sleep......good hair are byproducts!!!

500 views!!!! Time to celebrate with shopping ideas..

I am a new blogger and with this new step of 500 views I want to share my dream places for shopping in Bangalore or anywhere,as lots of online portals for finding great deals.I think any young person on earth is on Facebook and that is another medium for new enterpreneurs to look for.I would list few of my personal favourites for shopping indian traditional crafts or apparels.

1)Fabindia-A great place to shop for lovely kurtas,stoles,home furnishings and even nice cotton kids wear which is my personal favourite.I love the blockprints and you find them on kurtas,curtains and dining sets.This time I did find lots of jewellery pieces which were to die for.Cute bangles for your daughter and even organic eatables are making their presence felt there.So make a visit if looking for ethnic classy stuff.

2)Anokhi-A brand which is rajasthani in origin but very cosmopolitan,I feel every piece of stuff is worth looking at.Gorgeous collection of homedecor and smart garments.Colour coded store attracts you to shop till u drop.
They do have kids cotton stuff and mini salwarsuits for girls are cutest in their place.Silk stoles and silk quilted jackets are their brand special,Do drop in and enjoy India going International.

3)Mother earth-The store which works on handicrafts of Varanasi and Puducherry .A collection of jute and silk bordered stuff dominates the range.Earthen touch and colours are attractive and pottery and lots of other home decor things make u go shopping.

4)Karigari jewellery from hyderabad-Every piece is unique and I personally love the pieces of their collection,designed for todays young lady its modern and contemporary.You can shop at yebhi.com for this brand.

5)Anek designs-The brand owned by husband and wife can be shopped for online at shopo and etsy and their personal website.Its different and unique in its own way,a new outlook to textile and colour use.

6)Mish mash designs-A place for kitsch,find the quirkiest and dark colours imbibed in things for complete bohemian designs.find bags,cushions in old world charm meeting todays world.
Lot more fun to catch at Matsya,Happilyunmarried,the Color caravan,India kitsch,Pitaara,Zilpika,Morataara..




Never ending list of todays market found online..genext shopping just a click away at portals which offer the best and one of a kind experience....

Simplest cheese cake recipe!!!

Few things bring smile on my daughters face and she finishes the whole slice with happiness,thats cheese cake

I love to experiment with flavours but our favourite is lemon.The lemon cheese cake is near to my heart as it has history to it,that was something my in laws enjoyed when we met first.My experiments with  food go way back as I started browsing new thing to be cooked each day with my mother.I donot like montony and hence new thing for new day,just a little bit difference makes me go excited.The recipe is simple and yet very nice to be done in a quickfix situation.So check out the ingredients and start cooking:

1)Lemon juice of three good ones 

2)Milkmaid tin(condensed milk)

3)A gelatin or jelly lemon flavoured or plain one

4)Marie biscuits packet

5)Butter 50 gms

6)Lemon rinds to be decorated and garnished

7)Cherry on top

So the recipe begins with crust formation of cheese cake.We take Marie biscuits and crush them in gritty texture and simultaneously melt butter in a pot.The crushed biscuits are  mixed with melted butter.Now we take  the service dish (ususally round glass dish) in which we set our cheese cake and put the mixture on the base.We press the mixture and  level it to a height uniformly and make a biscuit base.Keep it to refrigerate.This helps in setting butter and biscuit to good thick crustly thing.

Next we begin for upper creamier lemony topping ,We take our gelatin and dissolve it in warm water directly or indirect double boiler method (here we put gelatin in water in one pan and this pan is put in other larger pan with boiling water).Now once gelatin dissolved we add milkmaid , gelatin and lemon juice in mixer.Our aim is to nicely mix the three ingredients to good thick creamy mix.Now pour all this on biscuit  base and level it.

Finally all this goes in refrigerator for few hours, good if at least six hours.Decorate with lemon yellow rind or cherry and enjoy cold yummy soft cheese cake .....

Tips

• We could use mango puree for flavour too
• We could decorate with mint sprigs
• We are making no bake cheese cake
• Milkmaid makes easy go recipe as all sugar and milk incorporated there

Tandoori fruits with tangy sauce

I love fruits as their freshness and colouful presence adds an extra touch to daily dose.I try bringing all  seasonal ones as scientists say its right to include seasonal veggies and fruits in your diet, it equalises the needs like watermelon fulfills the need of water diet in summers and fights dehydration.So these days we do get anything and everything all year round but natural ones of particular times are essential to incorporate.Tandoori food is healthy be it veggies or chicken as least use of oil and right cooking technique turns it healthiest options to go for.So why not try fruits this way.Collect all your favourite ones but not banana and papaya.
Ingredients:
1)Pineapple chunks
2)Cantaloupe chunks
3)Apple chunks
4)Black grapes and Kiwi
5)Strawberries
6)Bellpepper all colours
7)Lemon juice
8)Honey
9)Green chilli and Mint paste
10)Salt(preferably blacksalt)
11)Tamarind extract
First we marinate the chunks of fruits with tamarindpaste ,honey,chilli and mint paste and salt.Honey's sweetness and tamarind's tangyness adds great flavours to evening snack time.
Then dipped marinated fruits are put on skewer and put in oven for roasting or grill.
We do that till they are golden shrunken  with blackened edges.
Serve hot with any tangy chutney and lemon juice over it.
Children would love it for its taste and colour,I' m sure mummies are happy too!!!!

Navratri-I am a Happy Puppy!!!

Puppies love to play, snuggle, eat and take nap...and I am one of those kinds on weekend.Weekend means soul food and enjoying the time to gear up for the week ahead.Since its Navratri time I take special care of being total Vegeterian and live pure eight days.I tell you this time is really different from other festive times as it brings lots of fresh and pious renewal to life.

My navratri days remind me of 'pooja' and 'havan' performed in celebrating the mightiness and strength of 'goddess Durga'..I being fond of Prasad use to wait for mornings to start my day with yummy God food.Some delicacies are specially meant for this time and are hearty ones.Use of Sabudana(pearl sago) ,potato, kuttu(buck wheat), peanut, fruits and Sendha namak(rocksalt) is more during these auspicious eight days.The idea is to have no use of cereals and pulses and have different flavours cooked particularly.The fasting time ends with feeding 8 girls in number and worship them as goddess.
So I would be sharing a Sabudana Vada recipe which can be consumed in vrat.
Ingredients:
1)Sabudana 250 gm
2)Potato boiled and mashed
3)Green coriander finely chopped
4)Green chillies two in number chopped
5)Sendha namak to taste
6)Singhara(Indian water chestnut fruit that is dried and powdered) flour for binding few tablespoons
7)Oil for frying
So we start with soaking sabudana in water after washing and let it go plump and translucent.Then we add boiled and mashed potatoes to it and mix well.We add chillies,coriander and salt .Adding singhara flour makes the mix bind properly.Check the consistency and would make balls out of it.Heat the oil and put balls one by one.Golden brown balls are taken out on serving plate.Great to enjoy with coriander chutney.
tips:
-Making balls clingwrapping them and storing in fridge for one hour turns then crispier while frying.
-Adding roasted peanuts to vada dough adds nuttiness

Thai style veg curry

My favourite cuisine is Thai and I like the use of Tamarind and Red chilli in their food to make it spicy and tangy.
The food is quite similar in taste to Indian and Chinese and is unique in its own way.I like to take the technique and put my touches to make a dish which is wonderful to have with soft rice,usually enjoyed with jasmine rice.
The flavours I try to infuse are going to make you want for more and anyone can change it according to your palate.

Few precooking things to do are:
-Soaking of tamarind and sieve the pulp for use
-Fresh coconut milk/dissolve coconut milk powder in water
-Peeling off garlic cloves
-Use of coriander stalks.
-Roasted peanuts

Ingredients:
1)Tamarind pulp 2 tablespoon
2)Coconut milk 1 cup
3)Fresh green coriander with stalks
4)Mix vegetables block chopped  (carrots,green and red bell pepper,baby corn,cauliflower,brocolli,tofu).
5)Salt
6)Honey one tablespoon
7)Red chillies as per your hot levels
8)Garlic 5-6 cloves and Ginger 1 inch
9)Basil for herb seasoning
10)Oil for cooking

We start with taking cloves of garlic,ginger, red chillies and coriander stalks and grind them to paste.Then we blanch our veggies that is put in hot water and then plunge in cold water immediately.We take oil in pan and add paste made then add basil and salt.Add veggies in this roasting paste and add honey and tamarind pulp.Add little water and let it boil for few minutes,then add coconut milk .We wont boil the curry for long after adding coconut milk.It is enjoyed with boiled rice and best tastes when served hot.Garnish with coriander leaves and peanuts.

In original thai curry use of galangal(thai ginger),kaffir lime leaves, lemon grass and fish sauce are essential ingredients but we have tried using our own ingredients and make out our version of curry.Try and enjoy!!!

Trip to Shivasamudram ,Sangam and Mekedatu

Last weekend we had one day trip with my husband and his team to list of waterfalls around Bangalore.Best List of lovely places for water lovers out there.We started our trip morning 7 and got breakfast packets.While going we enjoyed the lush green corridor of Bangalore and game of Dumb-charades,Well!We acted on funniest of movies and thoroughly brain stormed our knowledge on movies to make the boys loose, the game ended tie.

I didnt realise when we reached Sangam where the river Arkavati confluences with river Kaveri .The ride of beautiful round handmade boats called Parisal take us to other side of river.The boats are ones which I had seen in movie 'Roja'.Cute ride as water level not very deep and one could slowely reach the place of great natural beauty.The right place to experience water and take a relaxing dip to cool oneself.My daughter had a great time there in her diapers.She didnot want to come out and that made our trip memorable.I noticed people cooking marinating chicken and enjoying country style food,I tell you aroma was too tempting.

From there we head to Mekedatu ,Meke(goat) datu(leap).A gorge 3.5 km downstream drive from there all along the river course. It is a cascading waterfall gushing through a narrow gorge and flowing through a ravine of granite rocks and hence one of the favourite spots for people.There is a staircase taking you down there and mindyou donot carry food, monkeys follow you if u donot share your chips.We enjoyed the great gush of
river Kaveri and scenic view down there from rocks which were hot and shining.

We had our lunch coming back at a place right at entrance where hot fresh food made us recharge for further
journey to Shivasamudram falls from there.We take Malavelli route from there and it is 20km from Malavelli,lies in Mandya district and one of the majestic falls of Karnataka.There are Bharachukki(western) and Gaganachukki(eastern) falls which are must for real time experience. Shivasamudra was first hydroelectric power plant for Asia.The city of Bangalore was the first to get power in India.Is it not amazing??We enjoyed a local sour fruit and headed back to home and day was successfully closed with good night sleep.

Distance in kms-
1)Sangam 89 km from Bangalore via Kanakpura
2)Mekadatu 4km from Sangam
3)Shivasamudram falls 125km from Bangalore and 60km from Mysore

A humble request to all you people out there,Please do not leave plastic waste,we being educated crowd are doing lot of harm by throwing bottles and packets there and destroying our gifted natural wealth.......

Science of cutting vegetable!!!!

Have you wondered why we are told by all chefs and cooking sessions to cut vegetable in certain size and shape.Its science or just tried and tested habitual way of cooking certain dish.Well if u ask a chemistry student they might say surface area philosophy that is smaller the size and better quicker cooking.

What I have come up with is that cutting vegetable in certain way brings a distinct taste to that particular dish and hence we are doing that for years eg.shredded carrots for noodles.Well may be we try to bring the veggie similar to the core dish that is noodles, that might be enhancing the taste.Why not try cutting on your way and cook the dish.I did that and I tell u the taste changes.                                                                                                      

-Instead of cutting Ladyfinger in usual roundlets try cutting it straight slit and cook.

-I tried cutting Onions in dices and chopped ones and sauteed the taste is different.

-Well change of taste we are aware and evident to us is of Potato(square,long,circle,mashed)

-How about trying this thoery of mine in salad cutting thats practical and immediate tasting.

-Salsa is yummy when we have veggies in tiny form in tomatoes

-Chopping coriander and adding is another evidence of particular taste imparted.

-Chillies cut or slit are different.

-Grating brings different flavours to cucumber and carrots

-Ginger is tasting different in all forms.

-Minced,chopped,diced Garlic all impart different taste .
 Well once I was watching a cookery show in which chefs had to cut certain size veggies and there was a certain measurement done to mark their success,bringing on the idea forward that size and shape does matter in cooking.I suppose thats one reason of molecular gastronomy coming in scene and getting its space in coming of age restaurants.

I hope my shapes and taste theory does have a relevance to all readers and you would do your experiments to check that out!!!Do share your fundamentals here and make my scientific approach gain relevance.

Why would we like lettuce cut in certain shreds in our burgers??????

Mummas recipe...Radish leaves with roots!!!!!

This recipe speaks of memories with my mother when I was small and she would feed me after I came from school.Its again a simple humble dish of use of all parts of radish but flavours are new and make u want more.
I remember one of my school mate ate my tiffin without me knowing and liked it .He would ask me to carry specially for him and so this was something I can relate to when childhood memories come to me.The veggie goes best with chapatti and is easy to prepare.
Ingredients:
1)4 Radish(mulli)with green leaves
2)Green chillies two diced
3)Salt to taste
4)Ajwain (caraway)1 teaspoon for tempering
5)Mustard oil goes well/any oil for tempering
6)Hing (asafoetida)pinch
To start with, Cut the leaves and radish finely and boil it. Squeeze the boiled vegetable and prepare for tempering it.So we take oil and let it heat add pinch of hing and caraway.Once spluttering add squeezed radish leaves and green chillies.Add salt to taste and let it bhunofy for 10 minutes.The dish is ready to gulp with hot soft chapatti.I personally dont add turmeric but its your choice to go with it.The dish serves two adults and good source of vitamin C and antioxidants.

Humble Beans Southern India style!!!

I am not very fond of beans and try to avoid picking on my grocery shopping but my daughter loves all greens and so I came up with this simple every day recipe with a twist.There is a huge variety of greens out there so pick what strikes your palate.I have used french beans and given it a makeover.The show on fox channel these days by Chef Vineet Bhatia also talks of twist in taste and that inspired me for this new recipe in my kitchen.Do not expect gourmet dish it is humble routine one with nice tangy soft flavour.
Ingredients:
1)250 gm frenchbeans
2)10-12 chanda daal for tempering
3)Mustard seeds for tempering
4)Curry leaves for tempering
5)Dry red chilli for tempering
6)Two tablespoon of Tamarind extract
7)Oil for cooking
8)Salt to taste
9)Fresh coconut grated two tablespoon
10)Coriander greens for garnish
11)Turmeric powder pinch
So we start with a pan and put oil for tempering,Once oil is hot add mustard seeds and pinch of turmeric,let mustard splutter then add dry red chillies and curry leaves.Add chana daal seeds and then after they leave aroma add beans which are chopped to your acceptable size.Add salt and let it soften for few minutes.Then add tamarind extract once beans are nicely done.Add coconut once all done and mixed.Finally lid the pan for few minutes and serve with garnishing coriander.Enjoy with chapatti.

Food Revolution in India

Its an exciting time to be in India for a foodie.The industry is in experimental mode and newer cuisines are catching customers attention.Even our own humble regional cuisines are coming out of four walls and becoming talk of town.The fusion of different cuisine is happening and world is coming closer with one sense organ that is 'taste'.With the normal people like me sharing their recipes on blog and Enterpreneurs trying new ideas for their eateries,a new food channel for 24 hours,food shows touching all sorts of dimensions and our chefs trained abroad are bringing with them a whole new world of food I believe the country is obsessed with food now.

I think now Indian kitchen has whole lot of various new members in pantry, Olive oil is one such welcomed one. Herbs our mothers never heard of are almost essential to us now (oregano,basil.parsley,chives,thyme)
Baking is one such new introduction to us ,a humble cake is being added by homecooked various
muffins,cupcakes,fudges and cookies.Talking of chinese it is our cousin cuisine now.Thai food quite similar to our own taste is becoming a rage .Italian cuisine is something people opt to go out for dining formally.Different  variety of 'cheese' are securing their place in refrigerator and various salad dressings are ready to be consumed out there.

Television is playing a pivotal role in bringing shows on road side eateries by Rocky and Mayur(highway on my plate),Kaccha Rasta by Aditya Bal is trying to bring hidden regional food right in front of million viewers.Career in food is another door opened for the youngsters of India and we are comfortable in looking with pride at our future chefs.Even 'food photography' is one new option opened for various magazines and sites,wanting a delicate mouth watering beautifully crafted dish to appeal the readers.Now when I step to eat out I do check food reviews on the decided place and that opens a door to food review websites listing all good places in various cities.So finally we have arrived to a whole new India ready to experiment and  become a part of gastronomical journey.
The Indian ladies are replacing sushi with snack in kitty parties and Thai curry with Indian meals for dining out.
Its funtime now!!!!

Chinese Manchurian Balls in hot garlic sauce...

I am fond of Chinese cuisine and it is one thing that can bring my mood on right notes,the food offers flavours what i like to eat......little bit of everything from sweet,sour,spicy to tangy.I have been trying to cook the softest crispiest balls from long and putting efforts as an Italian puts for Spaghetti and meatballs.Well the Manchurian balls could be had like a starter and mixed with curry too.They go very well with garlic noodles and fried rice of your choice.
So before starting we would check our pantry for ingredients and then would begin our quest for lovely mouth watering dish to make us go want for more and more.
Ingredients:
1)Green bell pepper small one in number
2)Cabbage shredded thin 1 cup
3)Carrots shredded thin 1 cup
4)Mushrooms,beans and other veggie of your choice 1 cup
5)Bread as binder and brings crispiness too
6)Salt and black pepper for seasoning
7)Corn flour 2 tablespoon for binding
8)Ginger and garlic paste 1 tablespoon
9)Cooking oil for frying

Method for cooking balls:
We take a mixing bowl and start putting our ingredients one by one ,first our veggies then bread and then cornflour and finally ginger garlic paste.The moisture content of veggies gets balanced with bread and cornflour.Finally seasoning of your choice and making round perfect balls out of the mixed batter.One can even add Paneer/Cottagecheese for extra flavour to balls.The balls need to be soft and manageably round.Then we heat our oil and add the balls to the piping hot kadhai/frying pan.
We get golden brown balls ready to be eaten or dipped in sauce of choice. The balls recipe serves two people.

Ingredients for garlic sauce:
1)Tomato puree 2 cups
2)Garlic paste 1 tablespoon
3)Corn flour 1 tablespoon dissolved in water
4)Chilliflakes for seasoning
5)Soya sauce 1 teaspoon
6)Salt to season
7)Oil to cook
8)Chilli sauce if u like hot
Method:
First we take a pan and put oil,then we put add garlic to it and after that we add tomatopuree to it.Let the mixture boil for five minutes and then add chilliflakes ,soya sauce,salt and then after a  boil add corn flour dissolved in water.Once the sauce thickens to our requirement add other sauces u like,even some hint of sugar/honey and vinegar adds flavour .So do as your palate likes.

Serve balls with hot garlic sauce poured over and enjoy with rice or noodles...

'Amazing youth'-An NGO with Difference

My morning started with an article on a twenty year old Animesh Sarangi running a profit earning company as CEO of Amazing Youth an NGO in Bhubaneshwar.A village in Orissa not even spotted in limelight ever has come up with an organisation where rural youth are being trained and employed.The idea began with 1500 rupees has become a crore turnover company across.I was impressed with the confidence and belief with which this boy in his 17 years of age had come up with.

With such people around I feel Indian future is in right hands,dont we all feel positive living in India right at this moment.Animesh got his first account with a company asking for call centre and he provided youth trained in villages to go and work in cities.He earned his first 25000 from there.Then he was asked for security personnel and he provided young boys ...and no looking  back after that. He now has staff of 5 people who train weavers,technicians,healthcare providers,house keeping staff and carpenters etc.He has been placing30-40 people every three months since then.He has 30clients now and is showing his presence in all major cities of India.Till now he has  placed 4500 people and his Moblie shoppe job helps youth get jobs as well.

Being a young company they have not invested in infrastucture and are using online medium and social networking sites.He now shows his presence in Bangalore,Chennai,Delhi,Westbengal and more places.
He is even thinking of entering USA in future.He has won many prestigious awards for his work on ruralIndia.

Goodjob and well done!!!

Organic food....Latest trend!!

Word 'Organic' brings to our mind the very basic food produced with no chemicals involved.Well that is what we Indians had been doing  in the past years,Our culture boasts of being natural growers and healthy eaters but westernisation has led us to follow their steps and use chemicals to increase yield.Now fresh pure produce is back but with newtag called 'organic'.I think anything gets precious once it has a tag of being healthy.So returning back to our old trend is picking up heat.Urban life and use of farm fresh grown products are being dealt by these farm growers who out of city limits are growing their special local produce and treating us with manure used ingredients.It also uses the idea of recycling kitchen waste and hence 100% no wastage model.

Well I have done some field trips in America where they have a trend to go to farms and do fruit,veggie and flower picking too.That is that farmers invite city people to come in harvest time and pick their favourite produce and buy their own picked ones and carry them home. Its interesting for us as an experience and brings child education too.We with our family spend quality time together doing fun and health.Imagine u go out for strawberry,cherry and plum picking and then coming back you prepare a dessert,how perfect!!

Now farmers have picked trend to even sell homemade jams ,jellies ,pickles,pulses,veggies too at their place.So going out to farm can be for more reasons than one.I had visited a Mexican one and enjoyed fresh salsa bottles of peach and pineapple,yummy stuff there and rare one too.How about taking our choice corn/carrots and eating it too right  in the fields.

How about finding nearest farm to your place and checking out what it offers to you!! In USA 'whole foods'chain is doing the job as an organic store where everything  from sandwich to juice is organic.I must say increasing trend of gastrointestinal cancers and ailments like ulcers has attracted people to go organic way of life.
Heres a list of farms in Bangalore where one can enjoy the life I suggested on weekends:

• Narayan Reddys farm half an hour drive from city
• Vanashree farms Maralwadi 50km from Bangalore(bird watching and rain water harvesting tech are added advantage to learn there)
• Gaia is located near Chokkasandra village near DPS off sarjapur road
• Jayshree and Ganesh of Healthy living have a new outlet where they sell all organic pastry,pasta and juices
• Silveroak farm Homestay run by Khannas an hour from (56km)Bangalore near Nandi hills (they offer trips for silkyarn production and pottery village)
• Lumiere in Marathalli for their first organic restaurant and shop
• Gerry Martin farm call 9886169698
• Grasshopper farm on your way to zoo

So I wish pesticide free,non artificial,biodiverse,animal welfaring,soilpreserving,better taste,better health for all.

Do try WHEATGERM juice shot at places,full of antioxidant and vitamins,rare and great way to health.......

Raita(yogurt based) - An Indian Accompaniment

We Indians love our home fixed curd and the 'add on' which I am sure all house holds from north to south would be doing.I am today going to list all lovely combinations which can be tried and enjoyed by all.A list of vegetables,fruits and dry fruits that can be added to curd to give it a name called raita.

 1)Vegetables that can be used are- Onion finely chopped, Tomato finely chopped, Boiled potato chopped      
     Cucumber chopped/grated, Boiled Bottlegourd (doodhi/lauki), Grated Carrots,Spinach boiled mashed
     Grated beet root,Roasted brinjal,Boiled corn,Deepfried ladyfinger.

  2)Fruits that can be used -Pineapple chopped,Banana chopped, Apple chopped,Grapes,Pomegrante
  3)Herbs used-Fresh green coriander,Mint, Bathua( white hen/goosefoot)boiled and mashed .
  4)Savouries -Boondi (Besan flour fried balls),
  5)Dry fruits- Raisins,Almonds, Makhane(foxnut), Cashewnut.

•    Basic preparation needs the curd to be whisked and salted to your taste.
•    We can add sugar when sweet fruit Raita to be done.
•    Adding dry roasted Jeera powder!!! adds wonderful flavour
•    Adding black salt !!!too adds nice flavour and fragrance
•   Usually veggies to be added are grated/chopped finely before.
•   Coriander green adds freshness to all raitas .
•   Mint raita requires mint to be grinded in paste form and one tea spoon adds distinct colour n flavour.
•   Makhana raita requires presoaking of the nut in water and then squeezed to be added. 

•   Mixed raita is done by incorporating onion,tomato,cucumber all chopped and added.
•   Combos done are- Mintcucumber, Potatoonion,    Oniontomato, Pineappleanddryfruits
•   How about adding roasted peanuts!!
•   Adding beet root grated brings nice pink colour
•   All veggies boiled are squeezed to be added to curd
•   Enjoy fruits raita sprinkled with green cardamom powder
•   Crispy bhindi raita is also great with veg biryani.
•   Hung curd is utilised for dips with salad.
•   Blended curd forms lassi favourite yogurt drink.

Tempered Raitas-Sometimes we can temper with Jeera/Mustard seeds and Curry leaves to enhance flavour,In Winters it brings warmth to palate too.

Bathua raita recipe-
We boil the herb and mash it and add  to yogurt and adding jeera powder and black salt makes it yummy.
green colour and subtle flavour makes it  my favourite one in winters to be accompanied with paranthas.

 Serve chilled and enjoy with all kinds of your favourite food!!!

                                            

Tibetian soup..Thenthuk!!!!!

Our visit to Namdroling Monastry made us experience a soup which is named 'Thenthuk'(pull noodles), is wholesome to be enjoyed in lieu of main dinner.It is vegeterian with use of lots of veggies and is having a distinct flavour to it.The soup can be accompanied with garlic bread and soup sticks,as lighter meals at night gives good sleep.

Ingredients:
1)Green beans-100g
2)Radish-100g
3)Cabbage-100g
4)Garlic and Ginger minced for two tablespoon
5)Green Coriander
6)Tomatoes two chopped
7)Spinach one bunch chopped
8)If prefer meat masala powder/garam masala powder
9)Salt to taste
10)One teaspoon sugar
11)Cooking oil
12)Water for liquidity
13)Blackpepper freshly grounded
14) Flour dough for fresh noodle to be boiled along(using 'maida' which is nicely soft and flexible)

For preparation we start with a pan adding a tablespoon oil.Add ginger garlic mince and let it brown and
then add masala powder and salt.Once golden add beans chopped,cabbage,radish.Mix well and once soften add tomatoes.Add sugar and put 1 litre of water and let it boil .When it is in good boiling state,we prepare to be added fresh pasta shaped noodle out of kneaded flour.Take the dough roll a circular roti out of it.Cut small chunks of pieces of prefered shape and add to boiling soup fast.Adding this makes the consistency thick and finally add spinach and coriander and boil for another five ten minutes.Your thenthuk  is ready to slurrp!!!!

Successful trial of Baked Mushrooms!!!!!!

Yesterday I was thinking of doing something different with my mushroom bag as I wanted a healthy starter out of it.So thinking healthy, chose to bake the dish and having spinach and cheese in my kitchen thought of stuffing that in the inverted concavity of the little button mushroom.If you are those kinds who dont like cheese can do with paneer(cottage cheese) also.This starter is really easy to have and its different!!!Just like Maggi hot and sweet chilli sauce , goes well with it....
Ingredients:
1)Ten-twelve mushrooms
2)1 cup spinach washed and chopped
3)Four-five cloves of Garlic
4)1/2 cup of milk
5)Black pepper fresh to sprinkle
6)Salt to taste
7)Oregano to flavour/ any Indian herb like coriander
8)Butter is must to cook the filling
9)Cheese /Paneer 1 cup
10)Grated cheese to garnish
11)Bread two slices
We preheat our oven at 200 for 5 minutes.During that time start our filling prep.We take pan and add butter and garlic to saute.(to avoid burning of butter add drops of oil into it).One twist to this dish is that we save the stock of mushroom and finely chop it and is added to the mixture to be filled.Then we add small chunks of bread slices and spinach.Season it with pinch of salt and black pepper.Finally add milk and stir the mix till thick creamy texture.Add cheese and let the mix cool for some minutes.Then we would fill our mushrooms with it
Put the little buttons on baking tray and bake for 15 minutes and see if all juices are evaporated and mushrooms look golden brown and smells yummy!!!!
Try this with evening soup and I am sure its a hit!!!!

Comfort Food.....Family which dines together lives together!!!

When we Indians get married 'guna' are matched, between groom and bride as a horoscope match. Don't know anything else except that we matched with our comfort food and till date I know what brings smile on his face on a hectic day.Meals which we as family enjoy together and feel contempted. For each his own, but our one of the comfort dishes to be fully relished is 'Rajma chawal'.From being a punjabi background we love it dotingly and have made it our fixed menu for sunday lunch.This also helps in no wastage of time in deciding what to cook.....
Rajma chawal:
Ingredients for Rajma(red kidney beans)
1)Rajma two cups
2)11/2 medium Onions
3)2  red juicy tomatoes
4)1 tablespoon of ginger and 1 tablespoon of garlic paste
5)Green chillies as per taste
6)Dry masala powders like red chilli,coriander powder 2 teaspoon,jeera 1tea spoon
7)Recommended MDH rajma masala powder
8)Green leafy coriander chopped
9)Cooking oil
10)Salt
We start with our best friend pressure cooker and put oil for tempering.We need to prepare our rajma by soaking overnight.Add jeera once oil is hot.Add onions finely chopped ,let it be brown and then add ginger and garlic paste.Add tomatoes once its all brown and add salt.
Let the mix leave oil at periphery and then add all dry powders and add 2 tea spoon of rajmamasala powder too.You will find nice glaze and oil bubbling around then add your soaked rajma to it.
Put lots of water almost covering the whole masala mix.Add half cut coriander greens and leave rest for garnishing
Close the lid and let 6 whistles blow...Well try giving more whistles as hardwater takes more time.
Serve hot with steamed hot rice.
People do boil rajma first and then add to masala, thats other variation but do try one pot cooking and enjoy My version of rajma....enjoy!!

Maiyas......A Sister Restaurant of MTR

Being in Jayanagar a visit to Maiyas is worth the queue wait. How about getting old world food tradition and contemporary ambience together at one place, it is seriously to try for...Whenever I crossed the place a long standing queue attracted my attention,so why not?? Silver ware juice serve, vegetarian 40course meal one must be really hungry for it....The food menu and quality is same as MTR and some additives too are there and equally satisfying experience.. must say Bangalore has kept the culture intact.

We went there for lunch on weekend and had lovely afternoon with  family.Lots of variety and unlimited food makes your tummy happy too.They start with soup,we got tomato home style and my daughter loved i,then the series of vegetables dry(bhindi,potato,beans,beetroot) and curry with Pooris, Then there is one salad of Mung daal with grated Carrots which is nutritous to have. Pickles,chutney,homemade chips and vada add as accompaniment. Bisibelebhath and raita go hand in hand.You are served with pakodas and then mention of 'desighee' which is added as per your intake levels to whatever you eat.

Well! you get a great nap after that sumptuous food.Sweets and curd are served in the end.Special mention of sweet curd in smallbowls where it is set right is really nice.A meetha pan  finishes the meal ..Great place to have earthy meals and heart filled spread.

One can try packing sweets of huge variety even sugarfree ones , there is a bakery down there and a shake corner too.If u like gujrati food one of  the floors are devoted to that,and even north indian food is given its place there with the name 'dancing kadhai ' at other floors.

happy binging!!

Yummy nutritious Soups

I am trying to invent recipes to feed my daughter the best available ingredients and talking of colour and sense organs I try to distract her to eat while playing.We mums are pretty after the child for eating and the day really goes good  when they eat as per our wish.Yesterday was such day when i cooked for her soup and she loved it,liked the colour and flavour and so it has become our evening family break.
I would be giving away my two favourite recipes...
1)Spinach corn milk soup
2)Carrot tomato ginger/garlic soup

Spinach soup ingredients:
-A bunch of spinach
-A cup of corn boiled and mashed(cream of corn works well)
-A cup of milk
-Salt to taste
-Butter
-Black pepper freshly grounded (not for baby)

So we begin with the blanching(washed spinach is put in hot water and then in cold  water) and pureeing the spinach for base.We take a pan add 1/2 tea spoon of  butter and add spinach puree and then add corn which was mashed and boiled.Saute the mix and then after two three minutes add milk to it .give it a boil and serve hot with pepper .It tastes great and is really nice for kids.

Carrot,tomato with ginger/garlic soup ingredients:
-Three caroots
-Five tomatoes
-Ginger/garlic shreds of almost half tablespoon
-Butter
-Freshly ground pepper


This healthy treat is simple yet tasty to gulp,sweetness of  carrots neutralise the acidity of tomatoes and your choice of flavour of  either ginger or garlic adds another twist.One step cooking ,take a  pressure cooker add all veggies washed and thickly chopped with water approximately two glasses of volume.After three whistles take the hot mixture  out and blend it in mixer.Finally strain and boil for few minutes.Serve with  butter and salt
to taste.Add pepper as per your heat intake.
Happy souping!!!

Matsya...A Journey To Traditional Indian Crafts

I love our own rich traditional handicrafts...My quest to collect the beautiful colourful pieces introduced me to a online craft place...Matsya....the founder is a bridge between rural artisans and urban customers and is providing platform to crafts and fulfilling the appetite of contemporary tastebuds of customers.Neha Gandhi the name behind is an artist,a potter and a craft lover.The student of J.J school of arts Mumbai and Studio pottery at Pondicherry, is now trying to preserve,revive and expand the richness of classic art of Gujarat and Maharashtra.Neha organises crafts tour,undertakes crafts documentation,works with NGOs and is trying to get trade fair certification.
Matsya is a team of marketers, design enthusiasts,art lovers and wellwishers working together.When I went through her work online I loved the pieces and i am sure u would too.....finger puppets, danglerstrings ,jadu patta crafts, paper masche crafts ,fridge magnets, madhubani arts,ceramic urlis, coloured teracotta lamps, warli paintings, kaavad and lots and lots of bright chunky pieces of healthy crafts.

Next time you want to gift try shopping online at matsya....Lets do our bit to help artisans...

Trip to lush green Coorg...Untouched world..

Long weekend and my family packed for much needed break for three days..My daughter had great fun and we made the most of those three days with a supportive toddler.We had booked with a coffee estate and drove from Bangalore on 31 august at  6:30 am.Our final destination was 266 km and Mysore was another attraction on our mid way.We touched the city of 'silk'-Ramanagram also famous for movie 'sholay' the chartbuster.Driving from there we touched Channapatna-city of 'toys' famous for its wooden toys and lacquerware at around 60km from Bangalore.Well our daughter bought her kitchen ware and is loving it...We drove to Mandya-city of 'sugar' which is 100 km from Bangalore.Our driver and guide recommended us the place  for breakfast 'Shivalli ' restaurant where the famous 'glass idli' is served.We enjoyed the hot dosa and idli platter and drove to another famous city of Srirangapatna - Fort of TipuSultan is the attraction.Then finally we touched the city of Mysore where we decided to visit Chamundi hills Temple.Beautiful drive on a hill and great view of the city from that height,my hubby captured the Mysore Palace from there.

FAMOUS SHIVALLI  GLASS IDLI

CHAMUNDI  HILLS TEMPLE

HUBBY AND AVIKA 

NAMDROLING MONASTERY

DUBARE ELEPHANT CAMP

Our drive to never ending green Coorg began from here,We  reached Periyapatna and then it was a drive which  is unforgettable,I have not seen such lush dense greenery in my life,it was driving in a coffee and blackpepper plantation for miles and miles to see  glimpse of people.We loved the place and were amazed by its beauty and life there.We reached Biddanda estate and surprised to find a nice cosy dwelling called  'Elephant Corridor'.Our hosts Mr Viju and Mrs Nimmi were there to welcome us with hot tea..our daughter chose her place and was swinging and singing her rhymes .

Elbowpasta layered with veggies and white sauce topping.......

I was just not coming to conclusion of what to cook,so after checking my pantry and refrigerator...I was on an experiment of baking my pasta today.It happens with we people to decide each passing day of what to cook?The most difficult question I have to face every day,sometimes hubby helps or sometimes my daughters desire,but usually I have to speed my brain before hunger fuses the top corner.To cook something different and appetising  made me bring out my ingredients on the working table of my lab....

Check out for pasta ,any shape size u prefer.
Check favourite veggies like mushrooms bell pepper,olives,carrots,brocolli,baby corn
Check herbs like oregano,basil
Check fresh ground blackpepper
when u have all this then start your journey through italian dish my style.

First we boil pasta 'aldente' and leave aside while we saute our veggies in a pan.Add herbs and blackpepper as your taste,finally add salt.
Ingredients for White Sauce:
1)Butter one tablespoon
2)Maida(all purpose flour)-one tablespoon
3)Milk 1/2cup
4)Cheese of your preference
First take butter and flour ,mix in pan and let it leave aroma,add milk and keep whisking,dont let it solidify with granules and.bring to saucy consistency. Grate cheese on top of it and switch off heat.Mix the cheese with rest of mix and let it cool

Now comes layering the pasta for bake.Doesnt it remind of lasagne...
Take baking tray.Add layers of pasta with veggies and then finally white cheesy sauce to give final finish
Bake for 20 minutes....Let the top layer go golden...
Dig the dish with hearty spoon...Im sure  u will love it...