Ladled

Meringue Nation

Chicken tikka masala and smashed parathas . How to make jamie olivers homemade paratha

I dont think I have ever ordered rava dosa at a restaurant. The only reason being that any time, I am there, I already have a tough time choosing between Dosa and Uttapam. My friend used to make them over weekends. And then I realised that this dosa has holes and is easier to make than the rest. With Onion rava dosa , once the pan got hot, I could see the holes as soon as the batter hit the pan. Usually I dont like raw onions, but since they get a little cooked, they add a nice flavor to the rava dosa an remind me of the uttapam studded with onions and vegetables. Chettinad tomato chutney   on the side. A friend was telling recently about how they pack seasoned tamarind paste on trips and add it to moistened poha. tamarind poha is on the same lines. You know the tamarind quantity is right, when you can smell it. poha pulao sounds interesting.

This mat is fun to stare at and color with the pens. It wipes off easy too with a damp cloth. the packing too is very cute. The mat can be folded 3 times, occupying very little space, should you want to carry it to a picnic or restaurant. The stain glass look of neat black and white is empting even for an adult to paint within the lines.

The sweet potato chips taste just like Banana chips from Kerala.

Festive Dip Spring pilaf with salmon asparagus Salmon Couscous Supper Grilled bean burgers Grilled eggplant pepper sandwiches Indian spiced chickpea wraps Cuban black beans Vegetable pad thai Asparagus with mushrooms Asparagus with Tofu Peppered corn fritters Apricot almond tea rings German black forest cake

In The Culinary Imagination Book, there's a menu for a state dinner which has Fairy toast in it. But a recipe for Fairy toast is from Mrs Rorer's Diet for the Sick book. Fairy bread . Wiki points to  R.L Stevenson's poem  Fairy bread as possible inspiration.

Dakshin means South. Dakshin Express is a train from Hyderabad to Delhi and back.It takes an arduous 36hrs to get there. I have never heard of Buttermilk Sambhar , if it is different from More kurzhambu .

The Cranberry Pomegranate tea colours up dark pink and tastes tart in a good way.

I appreciated having this noodles hot for lunch, so much that even though it seemed in need of salt, I lapped it up happy.

The stuffing of  Onion Samosa is an interesting thing. onions with poha.

Baguette recipe Bakery world cup

Apicius Hon zo cookbook Homeric Hymn to Demeter

The white sauce is mild creamy. Tastes good.

Falka roll Egg rolls are fun. Having made one, for the costco rotis, one egg does not spread enough. And now, a crepe of moong dal in a chapathi. I soaked split moong dal for making Falka roll. But it is also that much close to making  Pesarattu . And then I read about MLA Pesarattu which has upma in pesarattu. All that was missing from the show is chutney. Peanut,onion, tomato chutney. I had a done chapathi, which I pressed onto the pesarattu while it was cooking, and Viola, we have a chapathi with pesarattu on it. Choose what you like to eat - pesarattu with roti inside it or roti with pesarattu in it, with a side of lickety chutney. And you could do this with other cheele's - with besan or wheat flour. Wheat flour cheele happens to be one of the things that I tried in high school after looking at a TV cooking show.

My neighbour bought some sweets from Nepal. she said you couldnt find the  Pustakari  anywhere else in the world. When she said hard candy, I was about to bite into it. She forbade me from doing that and asked me to just put it in my mouth. It slowly melts. Not too sweet. Slowly you can taste the coconut. Laakha mari  is a work of art.

A colleague gave me a sample of Kimberley's Bakershoppe Granola from Sam's Club. It tastes sweet, nutty and like he said, "Its more like a cookie!".

Deconstructed Caesar salad Sweet Potato Fries   French breakfast puffs I had only 1 cup of all purpose flour so used wheat flour for the rest 1/2 cup. I skipped the dipping butter and sugar step.

Ragi Upma

I was surprised when a friend said that she made pani puri by frying ready made discs at home.She also shared an interesting story about a shoe company workers strike in Japan making only left shoes

Wadiyan

All eggs are not equal

I am a fan of miniature stuff. My husband got some of these mini  tabasco bottles from his Vegas trip. I shared one with my neighbour. Her toddler who has just learnt all about nail polish, asked her mom if it was a nail polish. Finger licking. yes you could use it for that, if mild.

It was after a summer break in undergrad, my friends shared some snacks with me. Now thats what friends do. But thats when I also learnt that my friends  made those Pootharekulu and Murukulu themselves. Seeing others achieve a culinary feat is one step closer to you doing the same. Thats also when my friend explained he arduous process involved in making pootharekulu. And also that its stuffed with fine powdered sugar. So imagine my surprise when I saw these brown speckled pootharekulu. I was imagining if the brown had something to do with the health wagon. And then I learnt that it is that and another wagon, craze - dry fruit. The switch to dry fruit sweets seems to stem from safety reasons .

For its name, this video of  Kothu Paratha at about 5 in shows you how beaten it is with a steel glass.

If you feel like aloo tikki and sandwich, then there's Crispy Potato Sandwich . Alternatively if you feel like bread pakora but run out of besan, this is what you'll end up with.

I wanted to make Kathi rolls with cabbage. And add a bit of beaten egg like in the Baida Roti . In the Zaiqa roll that I have seen made on friday's at Noida mall, he guy soread the beaten egg, all on the roti. but really if its gonna be folded, then ay be pouring it over the stuffing should do it too. Vahrehvah  suggests folding the chapati twice to make a pocket. I didnt have the patience to wait for the egg to cook, then I thought Cornish pasty but the recipes are all so confusing with butter and lard and shortening, that I thought Cornish pasty wraps was a cool middle ground. And then I remembered the  recipe starter for Verde enchiladas  from Kraft. We enjoyed the Salmon enchiladas. and next time it shall be Chicken/Veg Enchiladas with mint chutney as the tomatillo sauce that is used at the bottom and top of the enchiladas.

Indian with a Bengali twist Labra kebab - a mix of many types of Kebabs for Labra has been called Bengali Ratatouille. Chicken Chat Tandoori Shazani jalzala and shatkora Chicken silsila Mispelling chicken reminded me of Chikan embroidery , a light orange dress.

After looking at  Kachi yakhni biryani,  I was interested in making it. This morning while thinking of making Goduma rava upma, I thought why not Biryani with it in Yakhni style. The paste tastes like Pudina Chutney. I used cauliflower in the place of Chicken. So next time for a quick Bryani, if you already have some mint chutney, you can cook a vegetable of your choice in that and then layer the vegetable, rice and paste and cook it on low for a while. Later I thought about how I enjoyed this Goduma rava Biryani and wondered how sometimes you have to eat lot of bland food to feel full and sometimes juts eat even a bit of very tasty food and feel very content.

Mirchi qorma

Reading for Food Writing

Mathri, Papdi, Chana dal from  Chat pats are all worth a try for not having a preservative or industrial taste.

100 verbs for recipes from Julia Child

When do you know when you like some food.  When as a guest you ask for the food even if it has not been just prepared, kept aside not for your 'guestly' consumption. Gunta ponganalu When you have already had dinner and a fresh batch of them comes in, only to be consumed in no time. Their perfect shape, the secret message in the browning. Mysore Bonda. Soft in the inside and nice crunch on the outside with bits of spice from the cut green chillies.

"If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe." - Carl Sagan (Cosmos) When you think you made something from scratch and announce it so, you become venerated. But if you were to make the Universe .. And on the way if butter runs out

Ideal chocolate chip cookie

I have read many books about restaurants but never of any by a married couple. This book starts from the idea of starting a restaurant to actually get it thriving. Reading of the Pizzeria Bianco, I could imagine the who scene, having been there in the waiting line for too long. Like the author says, their daily diet of Pizza might be a kids dream but the work they had to do for it isnt envious. Its a humorous look at the whole, coming up with ideas and going on the wild goose chase they take you on.

When our friends were talking of kurma, I thought they were referring to the savory Korma but they were referring to the sweet kurma and now the word Sheer khurma makes sense.