Chennai Chronicles 2 | Post 20

Tags

chennai chronicles, food, highway travels, memories, NaBloPoMo

Continued from here

So after we reached to aunt’s place after battling with the Chennai traffic we indulged in some delicious home cooked lunch, I wish I had pictures to show you how yummy it was but really we were so hungry that we attacked the food without giving much thought to anything else… there was veg briyani, sambhar, rasam, papadam, pickle and rice and yes the most important part of meal in chennai thayir sadam…. After pigging out totally we decided to take a small nap and what a bliss it was in a AC room on a summer afternoon after a good and filling rice meal.

Unfortunately I had to get up in the middle of the nap and it was a torture specially because N and ojas were still sleeping as I had promised to meet some lovely ladies around 4 at The Zha Cafe, I entered the place around 4:10 or so thinking as usual I will the first one going By Namma Bengaluru standards but I was super shocked to see everyone already present…. hugs and hello’s were exchanged with the lovely blogging pals – Meera, Lavs and Laks…. and when all that was done I observed what a pretty place we sat in…  Our table was designed on the snakes and ladder theme, the cafe is basically an old house converted, each room done up with a different theme, there was one based on bollywood and had cute chairs marked as director, actor etc, the walls line with posters and film reels.  There was one which was based on Kerala and the table was modelled on the kerala boat, all in all a lovely place where we had loads of fun talking over bhajis and bondas, sandwiches and garlic toasts and sukku coffee the best thing on the menu there.

Post this lovely time I was picked up by N along with P and Ojas and we headed out to meet N’s aunt in the other part of the city. The drive was about an hour long and me drained out from Chennai heat though the weather was actually pleasant and raining now and then u see I had finally managed to get the rains of Bangalore to Chennai too along with me and I took a nice nap in the car atleast as much I could with Ojas fresh from his long afternoon nap would allow me too

The plan was to finish meeting the aunt quickly and head to Fisherman’s Cove for dinner about which we had heard so much but unfortunately when we finished meeting the aunt it was pretty late and it was raining they had closed the outside sitting we were told and had no table for that day Sulking a little and after discussing many options cousin P suggested to us a place where u get good sizzlers, since sizzlers are one of the most favourite foods of N it was promptly approved. We ordered chicken and prawn sizzlers and prawn fried for the child and the child totally proved that he is my son as polished off the plate of prawns all by himself

After a hearty meal and a seeing good chennai rains we decided to have an early night and wake up at 5am in the morning and visit the beach before the sun rises and it becomes unbearably hot to enjoy the beach….

TO BE CONTINUED…

The F- Word : Book Review

Tags

book, book review, food, food writing, review

 

The first time I heard of this book was from Kiran who said that this book got her into kitchen 🙂 she was all praises of the book and being a foodie having cooking as one of the hobbies it promptly went into my must reading list…I bought it on the first chance I had and went along with Mita for a ride in her world….

BTW if u are still confused the F in the F-Word is Food 😉 The book is about the life and culinary journey of a woman who loves to cook and loves to feed people, loves to explore street food and get lost while talking to the person making it and noting down the recipe… Damn that is a description that fits me well too

CM, I’ll eat salad for dinner, just go easy on the veggies.’

‘But kebabs are meant to be minced mutton, Mom!’

‘Has CM cooked today? If she has, it must be diet food and I’m not eating!’

CM is the lead lady in the book BTW, the book is a mad account of a working women who manages the different tastes of everyone in a joint family… juggling between peanuts, pappad and kebabs she takes us through the culinary journey which can almost be termed “Sexy”. The story in the book is interwined with some out standing recipes from all over over… from Luckhnow to Rajasthan, from Thailand to Europe… a ride which I love taking

Summary : If you love food reading this is a book you will love

Rating 4/5

Book The F- Word

Authors Mita Kapur

Price Rs 599 (available on flipkart at Rs 485)

PS: Have u checked out my WW and TC on my all photo blog….

Day 18: Yumminess

Tags

food, nokia x6, photography, picture, project 365

Nutella Cheese and nuts pizza…. I saw this dessert pizza for the first time in Pizzeria and ordered it.. yumminess and the desire to make it at home ASAP were the results

Day 2 : WW28 : Guess What?

Tags

food, guess what?, picture, project 365, wordless wednesday

Thursday Photo Challenge : Food

Tags

food, pictures, thursday photo challenge

The theme for this week’s Thursday Challenge is

FOOD (Farmers Market, Vegetables, Meat, Cooking, Restaurant,…)

Needless to say I have many option for the same 😉 but I wanted to keep it simple yet vibrant… so here is my entry….stir fry veggies for hakka noodles 😀

WW17

Tags

diwali basket, diwali sweets, food, homemade, homemade sweets, wordless wednesday

WW13

Tags

Delhi, drool, food, street food, the joy of delhi food, wordless wednesday, yummy

Rim Jhim Rim Jhim Rum Jhum Rum Jhum – Post 29

Tags

Delhi, food, ghaziabad, memories, music, NaBloPoMo, papdi chat, personal, rain, upsc

Rains make me happy…

Rains sometimes make me sad too…

Rains make me nostalgic…

Rains make me musical…

Rains bring out the romantic in me like no other times…

Rains also bring out the foodie in me like no other times…

Rains makes me love the smells that are around…

Rains make me want to dance…

Rains make me want to love…

I love rains…

They make me myself….

So when I saw this post my Pixie, I couldn’t help but whisking it away 😉

The earliest of my rain memory is not really a memory but a collection of the rain times when we were really small in school and if u were in Delhi than you would know that when it used to rain it use to rain like crazy… sometimes days all together… and we used to wait for that because that would mean no school and endless time making boats and letting them float in the endless water streams that would have come up in ever y corner…. because that would be mean the yummiest of pakoras and halwas made by granny… the freshly roasted bhutas but lots of lemon and masala we would eat…. endless getting wet in rain and then catching a cold and later in the night getting a scolding from mom along with the yummy besan seera served in bed to cure the cold… those were the days

We grew old, school turned into college and with that started our regular travel in DTC buses… gosh anyone in delhi would agree to how horrible they are… but ok I am digressing once again… so on the way from our college was a chat-wallah a very famous chat wallah… the one who sits outside UPSC… yes I see all delihities nodding here 😉 so one afternoon it was raining and some 5 of us decided to get down from a direct bus to eat that chat… and there we stood getting drenched in rain and eating papdi-chat, gol-gappas and what not and then we decided to walk upto India Gate all the while getting wet in the rain…What fun was had and when we finished admiring India Gate and chatting we were so soaked that even auto wallah’s refused to take us home 😉

Then when I went ahead to do my PG from a college in Ghaziabad, we were located outside the city and I used to daily up-down from delhi to Ghaziabad in those ALT buses… and then take those 8-wheeler fatfatatis if anyone knows what I am taking about and just when u were reaching the outskirts of the city was our college with nothing but a small shack selling tea, bread pakoras and samosas to us every hungry souls and like all shacks it had a tin roof… and every time I would rain our gang would bunk class and have tea and bread pakoras endlessly there… the soft splutter of the rain on tin would be visible… with a high tea we would keep on playing some stupid game or the other or just chat away… what fun college days are….

Phew I don’t know whether I should put this one up here, its a memory I have with ex but than just because they have become ex now doesn’t make the memory any less dearer isn’t it? or just because they have become an ex the memory doesn’t get wiped away from the brain… So the ex and me used to work in same office and one day he had brought his bike to work, and we were going back home together and it started raining most unexpectedly… and raining really heavy, we were drenched in like 2-3 minutes and then we took refuge in one road side dhabha and hot cup of steaming chai all the time lost in that butterflies in the stomach feeling… the feeling that only a person in love can understand, we were there in that place for abour 45 minutes till the rain slowed down, we drank some 4 cups of tea and by the time we went to pay the bill… the dhabha owner in very filmi style told us “are bachon sahi hai romance chalo rakho… tum logon ko dhekh ke hamein meri jawani yaad gayee… tumse main paise nahin loonga”… we had to really force him to take money for those cup of teas really…

And after some time I moved to blore and rains became a regular affair but still so dear… I remember me and N had just started going around and I was going to meet some of his friends for the first time and that evening it was raining really heavily just as it does in june-july in bangalore…. N had come to pick me up in his car but it was parked a little far away and I had just one umbrella at home… I still remember the way we walked together under one umbrella…N’s arm around me tightly to give me a hold and make me feel better… lovers under one umbrella is not over-rated trust me on that 😉

Another rainy day which is going to stay with me for a long long time now is the wet sunday we had recently… introducing Ojas to paper boats was so much fun…

Gosh I have so many memories with rain I could go on and on and on… like the one with Iya recently where we had calcutta rolls in a rain, or with a friend P when we had ice cream in rain, or here when we had besan chillas on a lovely evening after rains… so what are your favorite rain memories? and did u notice that every memory of me has the mention of some food in it 😉

PS: u need proof of my love on rains see I did a post on rain songs last time I did NaBloPoMo too… and search rain on my blog to see how many posts come up 😉

Chole Bhature : Post 18

Tags

bhatura, breakfast, chole, chole-bhature, food, Friday Feast, indian, indian main course, NaBloPoMo, punjabi, recipe, sinful food

chole bhature is my second most favorite food in the whole world… ofcourse nothing can beat kadhi-chawal, but I like this one too a lot but everything about this one qualifies as sinful… fully sinful so its made very very rarely at our household… The chole is made pretty often and I have been thinking of posting them for a long time but somehow chole without the bhature seemed incomplete, so last sunday the sin was done when guests were over, so this post had to be this Friday… it couldn’t wait any longer 😉

Now that you have drooled at the above picture, here is the recipe

Ingredients

For the chole

• 1 1/2 chick peas soaked overnight
• 5-6 dry gooseberries (dry black amla)
• 1 medium onion grated
• 1 large tomato pureed
• 1″ cinnamon stick
• 3-4 cloves
• 4-5 peppercons
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 big black cardamom
• 2 green chillies
• 1 tsp coriander powder
• 1 tsp dry mango powder
• 2-4 tsp channa masala (depending on how spicy and masaledar u like ur channa)
• salt to taste
• 2 tsp oil

for garnishing chole

• 2 onions cut in thin rings
• 1 tomato cut in thin rings
• a handful of coriander

For the side aalo

• 3 large potatoes
• 3 tsp coriander powder
• 1 tsp chilli powder
• 1 tsp dry mango powder
• 1/2 tsp garam masala
• 1/2 tsp channa masala
• 1 tsp tava fry masala (this is optional skip if u dont have)
• salt to taste
• 1 tbsp oil

for the side mirchi

• 5-6 green chillies slit
• salt to taste
• 1/2 tsp dry mango powder
• 1 tsp coriander powder

for the bhatura

• 2 cups maida
• 1 cup curd
• 1/2 tsp ajwain
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• salt to taste
• water to knead

Method

the chole

• Boil the soaked cholas with some salt, dry gooseberries and a pinch of turmeric in pressure cooker. After one whistle lower the flame and let it cook for about 15 minutes
• Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pan and add cumin seeds to it
• After they turn brown add all the sabut masala (bay leaves, cloves, crushed black cardamom, cinnamon, peppercons). Fry for 2 minutes
• Add the green chillies and fry for 1 min
• Add grated onion and fry till golden brown
• Add the tomato puree and fry for about 5 minutes
• Add all the dry masalas and fry for another minute or so
• Take out some of the boiled channas and mash them well and roast for about 2 minutes or so
• Add the rest of the boiled channas (don’t add the water yet) and mash very little and roast for another 5 mins.
• Now add water and cook for another 5 mins
• Garnish with cut onion and tomato rings and top with some fresh corrainder

the aalu

• Boil the potatoes in pressure cooker
• Peel and cut them in cubes
• Heat oil in pan, add all dry masalas.Roast for 1 min
• Add potatoes and mix well
• Fry for 5 minutes or so

the chillies

• Slit the green chillies from the center, dont remove the stalk, If u dont like it very spicy remove the seeds else leave them.
• Mix all the dry masalas together and roll the green chillies in that
• Deep fry to 2 minutes in hot oil

bhature

• Mix all the ingredients together and using water and knead to form a soft dough.
• Cover with a damp cloth and leave aside for atleast 1 hour or so
• Make round balls and roll like chapatis and deep fry in hot oil

And now put them all together in a plate, add some green chutney and attack 😀

Also now that I have your full attention please read this too… Apu of the brilliant blog Apu’s World started a online magazine and online community called womensweb sometime back which I am sure you all are aware of. She is having this lovely contest out there on Mommy Guilt something which I am sure all of us mom’s relate to and those who are not mom’s and those lovely fathers that read my blog yet have seen their mom’s and spouse’s guilt…. have u got a story to share? some motivation or words for others dealing with mommy guilt… please go ahead and do the post… U might end up winning Rs 500/- gift voucher of another lovely site Flipkart.

So what are you waiting for? Go write your entry now… details here

Kadhi Chawal

Tags

food, Friday Feast, kadhi, kadhi chawal, pakoras, paniyaram pan, recipe

Now that I have come back from home I have yet another mom’s special with me… and this time its kadhi chawal…

I have already told you guys how much just how much I love the kadhi that mom makes and now here is the recipe… but I can bet you cant make it as well as she does 😀 😀

so drool first and then read he he

Ingredients

for the kadhi

• Sour Curd – 3 cups
• Gram flour/besan – 1 cup
• 2-3 cloves
• 3-4 peppercons
• 1 badi elaichi
• 1 tsp methi seeds
• 1 tsp mustard seeds (sarsoon not rai)
• 2-3 green chillies
• 1 tsp turmeric
• salt and chilli powder to taste
• 2 tsp oil
• handful of coriander leaves to garnish

for the pakoras

• 1 cup gram flour
• 1 chopped onion
• 1/ cup chopped mix vegies (optional, traditionally they are made of just onions but me and mom both like to add a little bit of veggies to it)
• 1/2 tsp dhaniya powder
• 1 /2 tsp garam masala
• salt and chilli powder to taste
• oil for frying

Method

for the kadhi

• beat the sour curd and the besan together, u can use a blender or mix them using the whipper
• heat the oil and add mustard seeds
• when they start to crackle add methi seeds and the rest of the sabut masalas
• fry for about 2 minutes and when they start to brown add chilli powder and turmeric
• add the sour curd and besan mixture and keep stirring for 5 mins
• Let it simmer for about 30- 45 minutes stirring in between till it leaves a nice aroma
• in the meanwhile get ur pakoras ready

for the pakoras

• mix all the ingredients together and deep fry in hot oil

interestingly this is where I have found a way to keep this healthier and avoid the deep frying (that is all I can thing of these days, N is so scared that I will change the way all his favorite food look and taste 😛 ) coming back to point… I make the batter a little thicker than normal and instead of deep frying them I fry them using a non stick paniyaram pan… uses much less oil…

• Now add the pakoras to the kadhi simmer for about 2 mins
• garnish with corriander leaves and serve with steamy hot rice

and did I tell u guys that one day old kadhi tastes absolutely yummilicous with hot paranthas… try it if u havent….