B2B roundup, finally

This time around I broke one of my cardinal rules about hosting an event on DSM. I have been late, very late, in posting the roundup. When I made that promise a year and some months ago, I did not realize that the roundup would coincide with me writing a pneumatic brief on Enuma Elish and cramming for a geology test on minerals. But that is what happened and hence my deepest apologies for being way beyond tardy.

Now, for the roundup:

Spandana made Sambhar Powder and blogged about it after her husband’s attempt at making sambhar resulted in a stew of vegetables, tamarind and powder sans the dal.

Divya gives us the secret to spice up even the simplest of recipes using this curry powder.

Straight from her mom’s secret arsenal, Minoti reveals the intense process that goes in the making of garam masala.

Vaishali shares a sweet, tangy and spicy peanut chutney called Chataaka.

Krithi makes a curry leaf powder with freshly picked leaves from her garden and in the process also shares her grandma’s organic hair oil recipe.

It took a while for Vardhini to warm up to the idea of eating podis with rice but now that she has, this coriander seed podi can always be found in her pantry.

Settling down in India has been an adventure for Siri and she celebrated it last month with Vara Lakshmi Vratham. Her parents came over for a visit during the time and her “awesome-a-cook” mom made this spice powder for her to sprinkle on dry curries.

Just five ingredients, a whiz in the grinder and Usha’s coconut-garlic powder is ready for those lazy days when one doesn’t want to sweat in the kitchen.

A big fan of bisi bele bhath, Denny started making this comfort food at home with store bought powder and then switched to grinding his spice powder at home to enhance the flavors. He has not looked back since.

Harini-Jaya found this balti masala in Raghavan Iyer’s 660 curries and she is so impressed with the masala that it has now replaced the store bought garam masala in her pantry.

Mom Chef sent me not one but three spice powders – a curry leaf powder, idli dosa molagapudi and paruppu podi. There is a reason her kids call her a chef.

PJ always manages to seduce my taste buds. This time, she decided to do it with homemade channa masala powder and a dried neem flower spice mix.

Richa got some secret ingredients from a fellow blogger and made a flaxseed sesame powder. She also sent a recipe for a basic Indian curry powder that her mom made in the cool winter months.

Sreevalli found some gongura leaves in the Indian store and she had to make this chili garlic powder to season the gongura dal with.

Kalyani makes this rasam powder in enough quantity to last her for a couple of months.

DSM made the dhana-jeera powder after much deliberation on fb about its proportions which everyone except I seemed to have it right. She was also going to post a chole masala she made last month but the same reasons that delayed the roundup, delayed the post. It is for another day.

If I have missed any entrees, please let me know and I will do the needful with a contrite apology.

Siri is hosting the next B2B with wet chutneys as the theme. Do visit her blog and check out the rules. She will also be more prompt in posting the roundup.

Guernesy literary potato peel and pie society and

a dash of cilanto-mint chutney

It is 1946. World War II has ended. London is trying to resurrect itself from the ashes of destruction and Juliet is trying to get her writer’s mojo back. A successful columnist during the war, she is now on a publicity tour of her book, a compilation of her war-time columns.

Juliet is a liberated woman for her times, who dumps her fiancé the day before their wedding. His offense, you ask? Emptying her bookshelf and boxing up her books to make room for his hunting and sports trophies. So this then is our liberated heroine, a lover of books, who is searching for a subject that will inspire her to take up writing again.

Enter The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. A group of mismatched citizens of Chanel Island who inadvertently end up forming a book club and lifelong friendships in order to hide their roast pig dinner from the occupying Germans. Her interest piqued by a certain Mr. Dawsey Adams of the aforementioned club, Juliet starts corresponding with the various members of the club. Her correspondence with the literature loving simple folks inspires her to sail down to the island and find the inspiration for her book and a treasure trove of war time stories – of children separated from their parents for the duration of war, of famine and hunger, of the German’s cruelty and generosity, of the islanders’ struggle of survival in the midst of eating nothing but potatoes and turnips.

If this isn’t enough of a gist, savor the fact that this is Mary Ann Shaffer’s first and last book. Written as a series of sometimes witty, often times poignant and almost always revealing letters between Juliet and various characters in the book, it takes a few letters to grasp all the characters. Once you do, you can’t stop reading till you have read them all. It is almost like a guilty pleasure to read someone’s private letters but at the same time, the book makes you want to pick up a pen and paper and write a letter back home instead of shooting off an email.

The rava idlis that accompany the chutney were made from a box, and not from scratch.

For our book club, This Book Makes me Cook, I decided to go the way of our ancestors and tried to think up how they came up with green chutney made by grinding some abundantly growing cilantro and mint in their backyard. To be honest, I was stuck by the islander’s use of sea water in their cooking as a substitute to salt. This led me to think that maybe one of the older women pottering in the yard chanced upon some cilantro or mint and thought, “Hmm, this smells nice. Maybe if I grind it with some green chili and some garlic, it will spice up the bland rice?” In the same spirit of honesty I will also admit that the chutney is what I made in the morning and got a decent photo of it.

The recipe for this green cilantro-mint chutney is simple, really, but you can adjust it according to your taste. Increase the amount of mint to cilantro ratio or make it spicier by adding more chilies or creamier by increasing the crushed peanuts. This essential condiment in every North Indian kitchen requires the basic skill of pressing down the blender button. For this reason, the chutney goes to Aqua, who is hosting B2B this month for me. If you would like to host it for me for the coming months, send me an email here.

Cliantro-Mint Chutney

Ingredients
1 cup washed and clean cilantro/ coriander
1-2 sprigs of mint
1 green chili
1 clove of garlic
1 tsp of cumin seeds
1 tbsp of roasted, crushed peanuts
Salt to taste

Method:
Grind everything to a smooth paste, adding water as necessary.

Coming up in the next few posts: The roundup of Of Chalks and Chopsticks and the second part of my story, It takes two to err… marry.

Global Kadai -- Indianize Tofu roundup

It is time for another roundup of the monthly Global Kadai, envisioned by Cilantro and hosted by me for the month of August. For all intents and purposes, this blog will not host another event for some time. Without further ado, I present the GK roundup, showcasing numerous ways to use tofu in Indian dishes.

PJ at Seduce Your Taste Buds, lives in the land of tofu. Was it a surprise she sent not one but three ways to Indianize this bland but nutritious hunk of vegan meat. Check out her Tofu Peas Pulao, Tofu Bhurji and Southwest Tofu Scramble.

Sangeetha of Sangi’s Food World sent in these delicious tofu spring rolls and spicy tofu masala.

Priya of Priya’s EasynTasty Recipes will show you four different ways to cook tofu. Microwave Tandoori Tofu, Tomato Tofu Pulao, Capsicum Tofu Zunka and Tandoori Tofu Kababs.

Denise of Oh Taste and See used the humble tofu to not only make a tofu bread kofta curry but also added it to whole wheat flour to make these lauki tofu parathas.

If you haven’t visited Soma at eCurry, I suggest you do so immediately and check out her delicious recipes and cool clicks, especially of the Tandoori Tofu.

Aparna at Apycooking decided to stuff multi colored bell peppers with a spicy tofu mix and bake it.

Satya at Satya’s Super Yummy recipes sent in a Chili Tofu Wrap that looked so yummy I wanted to make one for myself. In addition, she also made an Indian style tofu hotdog and some yummy stuffed tofu parathas.

That, ladies and gentlemen, is the end of the roundup. I know it is on the lean side but it is the nutrients content that counts. The above entrees Indianized tofu and then some! So, if you thought tofu wasn't for you, check out these entrees and try some of them. I am positive you will be a convert or you get a free link on this blog.

Coming up this month will be another short but wonderful roundup of Of Chalks and Chopsticks and I will try to post it by the middle of next week. So if you have an idea percolating or have a food fiction on your blog, send it in.

As to my resolve of not hosting another event for a while, it still stands but Sra has graciously agreed to host Back to Basics for the month of Sept. It is being hosted at Aqua’s as we speak and the deadline is still a couple of days away. On a parting note, if you would like to host B2B, send me a mail here.

PS: If you are wondering what happened to the second part of my fiction, It takes two to err... marry, I am at a roadblock. But I am trying my best to finish it and post it as soon as possible.

Back to Basics roundup

An idea born out of an impulse turned into a Basic event. I was honored to receive so many entrees and due to personal health problems couldn’t post the roundup earlier. Here it is at last, clubbed into categories. But first, a special mention:

PJ, who likes to seduce our taste buds with her delectable dishes, gets the top billing for sending not one, not two but eight kitchen basics. Her basics are enough to get a novice started on Indian cooking and then some more. So taking a cue from her first entry, we will kick off with

Podis and Chutneys:

PJ’s Kootu Podi is a spice mix for Kootu, and the recipe is her mom’s.

A staple in every South Indian kitchen, PJ’s Milagai Podi is loved by her family and eaten with everything from idlis and dosas to rice.

Another spice mix from PJ, this time a multipurpose mix for those times when the regular podis are out of stock and there is no time to cook a side dish.

A fresh coconut brought back memories of her mom’s chammanthi podi. Swathi tried to recreate it with a recipe from Vanitha magazine and came out a winner.

RC’s talent for cooking appetizing food and clicking gorgeous pictures is surpassed by her generosity. She took time out of her busy schedule to share an old family recipe passed down from her husband’s grandmother. This traditional recipe of Chitranna Gojju, mixed with some warm rice will transport you back to simpler times.

She goes by the letter J and swears by her mom’s green chutney. It is a staple in her kitchen and she pairs it with everything from chaats to dal bhaat.

I have to mention Soma’s radish, cilantro, mint chutney which she entrusted to me before going on vacation. If you haven’t checked this creative lady’s recipes and clicks, you are missing out on a delicious culinary feast she offers every week on her beautiful blog.

Freezing and canning:

If you get an abundance of peas every summer Pari will teach you how to freeze fresh peas so you can enjoy them long after the season is gone.

Her food really rocks and so do her adventures in the mountains. But then she mixed up dates and sent me her tip a month early. Little did she know that her early entry saved me some limes and pennies going down the drain? Check out Manisha’s tip on what to do with sad looking lemons and an awesome margarita recipe.

If blueberries or any other kind of fruits are a scarcity in your part of the world, you may want to freeze some when they go on sale. That’s what Aqua does when she scores a stash. Check out her tips and a delicious recipe for blueberry pancakes.

If pancakes are not up your alley, her hearty mushroom stock certainly is. Find out how Aqua makes a big batch and freezes it for future use.

If you thought freezing stops at stocks, fruits and juices, think again.

Nivedita will show you how to make tomato rasam and freeze it.

Radha asked me if a guest post by her sister-in-law would qualify. It not only qualified but passed with flying colors. Homemade salsa, canned at home and available all year round with the twist of a lid. You bet!

Butters, vegan and non-vegan:

The very first entry, received hours after the event was announced, was sent by the very creative and talented Sunshinemom. Here are her instructions for making coconut butter and cream from scratch. If you don’t have the patience for the extraction process, still head on over to her blog and check out her beautiful clicks.

This second post of Nivedita's goes to show what happens when I make a snarky comment (name one Indie blog that hasn’t posted a recipe on how to make ghee?). She not only made the ghee, she made it from scratch. If, like me, you have been making ghee from butter, you are taking the easy way out. Witness how to collect the cream for a number of days, churn it, make butter, wash it, heat it and reap the rewards of a pot of pure gold goodness that even the gods can’t refuse.

Then PJ sent me her much simpler but fragrant version of making ghee and I had to eat my ghee words. She adds a special touch to her ghee by adding a curry leaf and a few fenugreek seeds. And now I do it too.


Lemons, jackfruits, poppy seeds and filter coffee:

She literally made lemonade when life gave her lemons. With this basic lemonade concentrate, RV relives memories of her childhood vacations at her grandparent’s home and serves a chilled glass of nostalgia in the harsh summer heat.

This master of words didn’t think she had anything to contribute. Then Sra remembered and sent me the instructions for ‘Operation Jackfruit’.

When the master chef and expert event organizer, Srivalli, checks your rules twice before sending an entry you can’t help but feel flattered. Check out her tips for roasting, grinding and storing poppy seeds paste.

Everyone’s favorite Bong Mom, with a song in her heart and magic in her fingers, spins a telling tale of childhood rebellion, ritual and poppy seed fritters. Can you ask for more on a rainy day?

I was in love with filter coffee on the sip. If you are like me, check out Nivedita’s step by step clicks to make the decoction and then prepare a cup of Joe that will give Starbucks a run for its money.


Basic recipes and preps for the Indian kitchen:

Just when my idli batter was refusing to ferment, Niloufer sent this basic idli batter recipe. Check out her creative soccer idlis she made inspired by the world cup.

Diyva’s grandma taught her this basic masoor dal and passed on the secret ingredient to give it that special touch. Head on over to her blog to find out what it is.

She decided to chronicle her basic recipes for her kids when they were no longer content with staying on the other side of the kitchen counter. The Cooker, shares with them how to make rice on the stove top and in the cooker.

If you like bananas but didn't know you could eat their blossoms too, PJ will tell you how to prepare banana blossoms.


Did you know you could also cook the banana stems? Again, PJ will enlighten you how.

Need to blanch tomatoes in a jiffy? PJ will show you her trick. All you need is a microwave, water and some tomatoes.

I almost missed my own event but managed at the last minute with a vegetable stock flavored with fennel, cinammon and cloves, made by him every weekend.

If I have missed one or misplaced an entry, please accept my apology and reach me here or leave a comment below. I will promptly add you to the roundup.

An excellent roundup, already up for a couple of days, is at Sra’s. Pop on over to read some appetizing food fiction Of Chalks and Chopsticks.

Vegetable Stock for the soul and of Chalks and Chopsticks

If you missed me talking about my tale of tardy and of begging hosts for a couple of days past the deadline, here’s another one for the record. I have been late for my own event. I had grandiose plans of posting not only how to make a basic vegetable stock but how to make pasta at home and toss it with pesto made from home grown basil.

All I have managed before the grace period (Aug 5th) expires is to post this robust vegetable stock which has the distinction of being made by him. It is a part of his weekend ritual to chop and dice carrots, celery, onions and any other veggies that may have been left over from the week. He will then proceed to make a simple stock that will last us a week. 

Unlike store bought stocks, you can adjust the amount of salt you put in and this is a fat-free version of the more buttery stocks, where the veggies are first sautéed in butter before being boiled in water.

I have never frozen the stock because it gets added to soups, dals, risottos, curries, khichdis and pulaos I make for the family over the week. The picky eater is unaware that the khichdi he is eating has concentrates from carrots, celery, mushrooms and onions.

Here’s his (not the kid but the spouse) simple but delicious vegetable stock that adds a layer of flavor to everything it gets added to.

Vegetable Stock (adapted from the book, Zuppe, Risotti, Polenta!)

Ingredients:
1 medium onion, chopped in big pieces
1 carrot or 8-10 baby carrots (chop the big carrots in 3-4 pieces)
2 celery stalks, chopped in fours
A few stalks of cilantro (optional)
Leftover veggies like spinach, greens of every kind, broccoli, mushrooms, peas and cabbage.*

Whole spices: (add more of the following for a spicier version)
4-6 black peppercorns
1-2 cloves
1/2 stick of cinnamon
1 tsp of fennel seeds
1 bay leaf (optional)
Salt

Method:
Put all the ingredients together in 4 ½ pints of lightly salted water. Bring to a gentle boil, lower the heat and simmer for an hour. The stock will reduce and get a dark tinge brown to tan, depending on the veggies used.

Let cool, before straining and transferring to air tight containers. Keep in the refrigerator for up to ten days. I always use up the stock by the then so I can’t vouch for the stocks fridge shelf life. If you do not have immediate plans to use it all up, freeze it in ice cube trays. Once frozen, remove and transfer to a freezer container or Ziploc bag.

*Avoid starchy vegetables like potatoes and do not overdo the broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower, for obvious reasons.

Other vegetable stock recipes:

Aqua’s Mushroom Stock
Sunshinemom’s Vegetable Stock

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Of Chalks and Chopsticks

If you are wondering why I am announcing two events in the same month, in back to back posts, I chalk it to my obsession with multi-tasking and my inability to be organized. I had committed to hosting Global Kadai at the beginning of the year and promptly forgot about it. And how could I not get obsessed with Chalks and Chopsticks? I was itching to host it since it started and so I begged the trio who started it all. The three gracious ladies,  Aqua, Sra and Bong Mom , agreed to pass the baton on to me and there was no way I was going to pass it up. Since the announcement is three days into the month, I will take some self-imposed liberty and make the deadline three days late, or better still five days, just so it is easy to remember.


If you haven’t heard of (and I can’t imagine you not having heard of it by now) Of Chalks and Chopsticks, let me clue you in. This is a monthly event, conceived by Aqua and calls for food inspired fiction or fiction inspired by food, whichever way you want to looks at it, from bloggers and non-bloggers alike. Here are the rules:

Send in your entries at this address by September 5th.

The subject line should say: Of Chalks and Chopsticks – 4

The email should provide:

The Blogger’s name

Title and URL of the post

Some information, borrowed from earlier editions

The writing should be original, i.e. yours.

There is no word limit or theme – you can write on anything as long as the story has food as a centerpiece. That is, a food related/ themed story.

The story could be based on real life, just make it sound like a story and not a regular post.

Old posts are accepted but a new one is always more exciting.

These posts can be shared with other events.

Link you post to this and Aqua’s post.

PS: This is not a part of the original rules but I will make one anyway. Try to pen an intelligent, cogent piece of writing, even if it is just a paragraph. If you have a great story idea but are not sure of your writing skills or coherence of the story, send it to me or one of the writers for a look over. We can give you suggestions and help you out the best we can. And please, keep the use of excessive exclamations out!

For inspiration and some excellent stories, stay tuned for Sra's roundup.

Back to basics

Yesterday, Sra announced the 3rd edition of Chalks and Chopsticks, an event I myself have hopes of  hosting in the future. On the heels of Sra’s announcement came Srivalli’s post on a basic technique of cooking toor dal which I used to follow too, before I discovered the joy of one pot dal.

However, Valli’s post made me think of some of the basic techniques I had posted in my early days of blogging, namely how to make ghee (name one Indie blog which hasn’t posted it?), my masala dabba and my MIL’s secret. The failure to browse as many blogs as possible in search of basic cooking techniques prompted the idea of back to basics event.

What am I looking for:

1. How to and tips on how you make your life easier in the kitchen, by grinding pastes or freezing seasonal fruits and vegetables.

2. Recipes for rubs, marinades and masalas: garam masala, goda masala, dhana jeera powder (corrainder cumin), etc.

3. Posts like the above mentioned 'cooking toor dal for the week and storing in the fridge'.

4. Recipes for concentrates like this lemon concentrate used to make lemonade.

5. A food recipe that goes with the above is totally optional but welcome.

If you got the drift, start posting the kitchen secrets. Here are the rules:

Rule No. 1: The entrees must be original. If inspired or copied from another source, please give credit or Madhuri, our desi Nancy Drew will not only catch you but shut you down.

Rule No. 2: Follow the general guideline listed under: In what I am looking for.

Rule No. 3: Link your post to this post.

Rule No. 4: Older entrees are fine as long as you link them here.

Rule No. 5: Keep the usage of exclamation points (!) to the minimum and totally avoid them in the title, if you can. (This is an original rule from here and I respect it).

No need to send a picture. I am going to follow Nupur and Manisha’s lead and do the roundup without the clicks.

Send it to me at this address or leave a link in the comment section below.

The last date is July 31st plus a grace period of five more days (my summer school gets over on Aug 5th).

And just like my last event, here are the rules that apply to me:

Rule No. 1: I will post the roundup in a timely fashion, before second week of August, barring any unfortunate circumstances.

Rule No. 2: I will not solicit anyone’s blog for participation in my event.

Rule No. 3: I will not insist that you “must” be a follower of my blog in order to participate. In fact I urge you not to follow unless you intend to visit regularly.

Rule No. 4: I will not brag/ sulk about the no. of entrees I receive or don't receive.

The ball is in your kitchens foodies.