Dedicated to Janaki Paati

H- Horsegram Vadai

noreply@blogger.com (A Kamalika Krishmy) — Sat, 09 Apr 2016 15:31:00 +0000

Wow, 8 days done in this marathon. I'm pretty pleased with myself with my recipes and blogging. I know that you must be hearing a lot about my grandmother and her influence on my cooking. Here is another blast from the past. She never lets any vegetable cooked go waste. It will promptly be convereted into another dish, which you cannot obviously figure out. So i guess it was during one navrathri that she had made kolu sundal. The next day morning, this vadai was made. I liked it very much and did not even think of asking what was it made of.

Later during the day, I came to know that is was made with horsegram. AWWW... was awestruck. Learnt from that lady that you should not waste food and through your knowledge you can create your own recipe. So here goes the best of excess food recipe/ Horsegram Vadai

Ingredients

Horsegram - 1cup

Onions - 1 nos

Curry leaves - a few

Oil for deep frying

Salt to taste

Method

Soak the horsegram overnight after washing it for three or four times

Finely chop the onions and green chillies

In the blender, take the soaked horsegram and pulse it two or three times.

It should be a coarse mixture like what we do for a masala vadai.

Take this in a bowl.

Add finely chopped onions and chillies.

Adjust salt, mix well.

Make small patties and deep fry them in hot oil

Serve with sauce or coconut chutney

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G - Godhumai Rava Payasam

noreply@blogger.com (A Kamalika Krishmy) — Fri, 08 Apr 2016 09:28:00 +0000

My first sweet dish of the season. Godumai Rava Payasam And a very Happy Ugadi to all you folks out there. Every dish that I am making for this series has a connection with my family either my mother or my grandmothers or some family tradition that we follow.

This payasam, was made by my grandmother when I was in college. She made this to pep me up when I was down for some reason. This was made in a jiffy and sure did bring a smile on to my face. These days I realise that my cooking is highly influenced by my grandmother.

Off to the recipe

Ingredients

Wheat rava - 1 cup

Jaggery - 1 cup ( broken into small pieces )

Cashew and raisin - 2 tbsp

Ghee - 2 tbsp

Boiled and cooled milk - 1 cup

Method

In a heavy bottomed vessel, cook the wheat rava in minimal water.

When the rava is cooked well, add the broken jaggery and keep mixing well

When the jaggery and rava are mixed well

Take it away from the flame and let it cool

In another pan, heat a little ghee and roast the raisins first followed by the cashews.

PS: Always roast them seperately and not together

Add this to the rava jaggery mixture and mix well

When it is completely cooled add the boiled milk and mix well again

Serve chilled

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F - Fenugreek leaves stir fry

noreply@blogger.com (A Kamalika Krishmy) — Thu, 07 Apr 2016 09:24:00 +0000

Today we are cooking a very healthy stir fry. Fenugreek leaves are very abundant in the season of summer. I love the ones which come in very small bundle. Especially when I am cooking only for myself only. This stir fry is very easy to make and can go with rasam, dal or even curd rice.

On to the recipe and the things needed to make it

Ingredients

Fenugreek leaves - 2 cups

Small onions - 3

Red Chilli- 1

Coconut Scrappings - 2 tbsp ( optional )

Salt to taste

Oil and Mustard seeds for tempering

Method

Clean the fenugreek leaves thoroughly three to four times
Its very important to clean it well as there are chances that mud might stay between the leaves
Peel the onions and chop them into fine pieces
Cut the red chilli into two piece and keep them aside
In a frying pan add a little oil
Once the oil is heated add mustard seeds and red chilli
Followed by the chopped small onions
Saute them over small flame and add salt to this.
Add fenugreek leaves and saute further.
Just drizzle water over the leaves and mix well.
Cook over low flame for about ten minutes and your stir fry is done
If you want add coconut scrapping towards the end and mix well

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E - Eral Pepper Fry

noreply@blogger.com (A Kamalika Krishmy) — Tue, 05 Apr 2016 18:30:00 +0000

I am a vegetarian who often indulges in egg but no meat. That definitely does not stop me from cooking meat, for my loved ones. Oh yes and I do love cooking non vegetarian, Its a emotional satisfaction that you get when the food you cooked tastes good though you cant taste it. Yaay... And what is more when my appa gives me a nod it is equivalent to 100s Michelin stars bestowed upon me. Did I ever tell you, he was the one who honed my cooking skills by being my guinea pig.

Today's recipe is a very favorite thing for appa and is very simple to make. You just need prawns handy to make this. Baby corn, potatoes, mushrooms, brocolli or cauliflower can be replaced in this dish instead of prawns.

On to the recipe.

Ingredients

Prawns ( cleaned and de veined ) - 2 cups

Onion - 1 sliced

Green chilies - 3 ( slit into two )

Pepper - 2 tbsp

Salt to taste

Oil - for stir fry

Method

In a mixer, make a coarse paste of pepper corns and a little onions.

Take a pan and add little oil

When the oil is hot add the sliced onions followed by green chillies and saute well

Adjust salt and continue to saute

Add the coarse paste of pepper and onions..

Now stir in the prawns and cook on low flame for about ten minutes.

Spicy yummy and easy prawn fry ready

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C - carrot poriyal

noreply@blogger.com (A Kamalika Krishmy) — Sun, 03 Apr 2016 18:30:00 +0000

Day 3 and here I am with a healty and simple stir fry. Carrot Poriyal. This dish has the flavor of coconut along with green chillies. The addition of coconut is something that I have seen in my household. This carrot poryal is always made with the addition of moong dal and named as a carrot kosambari. I realised that this dish is quite unique, when this was packed in my lunch box in school or college.

For people who have seen or been through my blog will know what a sucker I am for vegetables. Shopping for clothes and accessories will not excite me as much as I get excited when am in a vegetable market, surrounded by fresh vegetables and herbs. Carrots are always ( Read Capital, Bold and Italic ) on my vegetable shopping list.

Let me jump onto the recipe for this yummilicious carrot poriyal. My personal choice to have this with a bowl of creamy curd rice. or with coconut rice.

Ingredients

Carrots - 1/2 kg

Coconut scrapings - 1/2 cup

Green Chilies or Red Chilies - 3 nos

Oil and mustard seeds - for tempering

Salt - to taste

Method

Cut the carrot into small cubes and put them to boil

After they are done, strain it and keep it aside.

In a frying pan, add a little oil

When the oil is hot add mustard seeds followed by the chilies

Add the coconut scrapings as well and stir it under low flame

Lower the flame well and the add the steamed carrot cubes.

Mix well and adjust salt.

Remove on to a bowl and serve with meals or curd rice

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B-Bajji

noreply@blogger.com (A Kamalika Krishmy) — Sat, 02 Apr 2016 14:48:00 +0000

This is my post for the second day. My grandmother use to make this whenever I had asked her for something crunchy to eat. Sometimes a whole bowl of creamy curd rice with hot bajjis will be waiting for me when I come home from school. This is also a dish that is made when a groom goes to see a bride, this is served along side Rava Kesari and Filter Coffee. This combination is called bajji soji. Going to the preparation of the same. Simple ingredients off the pantry at your kitchen no fancy stuff as well.

Ingredients

Besan flour aka Kadalai Maavu - 1 cup

Red Chilli powder - 2 tsp

Salt to taste

Raw Banana - cut into slices about 10 or 12

Oil for deep frying

Method

In a bowl, take the besan flour, red chilli powder and salt.

Add little water and make it into a good smooth paste.

Cut the raw banana into thin slices and set them aside.

Heat oil in a heavy bottomed wok.

When the oil is heated up, get ready to deep fry the raw banana slices

Dip each side of the raw banana, in the besan flour mixture

Deep fry till the bajji is cooked well

Serve hot with coconut chutney and hot cup of coffee

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A- Arakeerai masiyal

noreply@blogger.com (A Kamalika Krishmy) — Fri, 01 Apr 2016 16:52:00 +0000

The month of April is always time for marathon of cooking and blogging. This month we have chosen one cuisine to blog about and and at the same time follow a pattern of A-Z. I am super excited because this is the very first time that I was ready with all my dishes before the D-Day.

Throughout this month I will present to you simple day to day dishes, that has been in my household for a long time. All these dishes are very special since I have learnt them from my grandmother and mother. Cooking at my home is dominated by the flavors and aroma from Tirunelveli District. This is a small district towards the south most tip of India. I have my roots from this place, It is a place where my grandparents lived and my parents grew up.

Today I bring to your plates, a very simple side dish made from the greens available near our homes. It is called Arakeerai Masiyal. Very simple to make and at the same time, loaded with Vitamin A. This can be mixed with rice or eaten along with sambhar rice. This masiyal tastes the best with kara Kulambu. Ooh.. delicious.

Now on to the recipe, of the very easy Arakeerai Masiyal

Ingredients

Arakeerai - 2 cups

Garlic pods - 2

Green Chillies - 2

For tempering - oil, mustard seeds and red chilies

Salt to taste

Method

Clean the greens and boil them along with garlic pods and green chillies

Let it cool down completely

Take the cooked greens in a blender and add salt to it

Make a smooth paste from the greens

In a seperate pan, add a little oil and mustard seeds

Add the red chillies and wait till they sputter.

Pour this tempered mixture over the smooth paste of greens

Serve this with sambhar or eat it as such with rice.

I had it with pepper potato and papad with steamed rice.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 63

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 63

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Eggless vanilla cupcakes - a new beginning

noreply@blogger.com (A Kamalika Krishmy) — Mon, 18 Jan 2016 20:30:00 +0000

Another area where I did not wanna showcase are my cupcakes. Yes I do a lot of cooking, but baking somehow I dont feel that it can be mastered. Yet, this year, have decided to try many experiments in this area and conquer it also. So this is a batch of egg less vanilla cupcakes with a chocolate ganache frosting and silver balls to decorate them. This was for a little party and the kids loved em. So this little space of mine is gonna have a lot of baked goods starting from this year. Keep watching.

Baking cakes for near and dear ones

noreply@blogger.com (A Kamalika Krishmy) — Mon, 18 Jan 2016 04:59:00 +0000

I started baking cakes for near and dear ones about a year ago, but have never dared to take a picture and showcase it... Seeing creations from various bakers at different forums, I dont even want to put up a picture anywhere. So this year I want to harness my baking skills and make sure that I share the pictures of the bakes that I recently did. After all everybody starts somewhere right.

First among these, is a cake that I baked for a kuti darling niece of mine. It is an egg less butterscotch flavored cake with vanilla fresh cream frosting. Went ahead an tried to make a very amateur two tier cake. It was decent to look and tasted good. Should really appreciate my friends for having giving me the chance to bake a cake for their kid. She was excited to see the cake and made my day for sure

Second on the list is am egg less pineapple cake, with fresh cream frosting layered between finely chopped pineapple. This was a big cake which weighed about 3 kg. Had to bake two tiers separately and then used generous portions of fresh cream mixed with pineapple as the filling between them.

Last on the list but never the least, an egg less chocolate cake with ganache filling and sprinkles on top. This cake is special in many ways. I baked this for my mother on her birthday, baked it with my niece ( who is barely 4 years old) and sister and the icing was done by her using a spoon. The time I took from baking to cutting of the cake was flat 2 hours 10 minutes. My family relished the cake a lot. It was moist and chocolaty. Had fun making this cake

Chocolate mousse

noreply@blogger.com (A Kamalika Krishmy) — Sat, 16 Jan 2016 18:30:00 +0000

One of the challenges, I set for myself in 2016, is to be regular on the blog and to try something out new, along with the day to day cooking dishes. I wanted to start of with a simple dish, A Chocolate Mousse. I have been reading a lot of blogs and see a lot of versions of this simple chocolate mousse..

Everybody, literally everybody likes chocolate in some or the other form. And when offered no one says no. Who can say no to silken, smooth, chocolate, that slides through you throat and cools your tummy.

This dish is a party pleaser. It can be made ahead of time, Very easy to make and only three ingredients...Fresh cream, Melted chocolate, silver sprinkles.

Ingredients

Fresh Cream - 1 pack

Melted Chocolates - 1 1/2 cups

Silver Sprinkles for decoration

Method

Whip fresh cream until it forms stiff peaks

Store it in the refrigerator until you use it.

Melt chocolate in a microwave or on a double boiler .

Allow the chocolate to cool well,

Mix it with the fresh cream in batches and chill it.

Pipe them into small cups and top it with a fresh cream blob.

Sprinkle silver balls for a classy finish

Put them back into the fridge and serve after dinner.

Enjoy the praises, as you enjoy a cup of the dessert

Viratha Prasadam

noreply@blogger.com (A Kamalika Krishmy) — Tue, 05 Jan 2016 09:07:00 +0000

Ok today I have successfully completed one week in the monthly blogging marathon. It feels so good. Really a space that I was not able to give attention to and for which I made a resolution to work on religiously. Am proud of myself. A treat awaits me when I finish the other three weeks as well.

Any viratham pooja we do at our home. This is the regular offering that is done. Its a platter to God, comprising of paal payasam , some vareity rice and crispy vadai.

This was a platter i made for last year varalakshmi viratham poojai. Easy to make and put together. Though the recipes are already there on my blog I wish to write them again here.

Let me start of with lemon rice

Ingredients

Cooked rice - 1 cup

Juice of one lemon

Turmeric powder - a pinch

Salt to taste

Mustard seeds, Channa dal, Curry Leaves for tempering

Method

In a small bowl, take the juice of a lemon

Add a pinch of turmeric powder and salt to it

Keep aside

Cut green chilies into very small pieces

In a wok, add a little oil and saute some peanuts and cashew nuts.

In the same wok, add a little oil,

When I mean little, its like one tablespoon, not more than that

When the oil is hot, add mustard seeds, channa dal

Allow the mustard to sputter and channa dal to roast well

Switch of the heat

Add the lemon juice mixture

One should not heat the lime juice, as it will turn the tangy taste into a bad one

Mix the cooked rice and fluff it a bit.

Garnish with curry leaves and it is ready to serve

Masala Vadai

Ingredients

Channa dal - 1 cup ( soaked for 2 hours in warm water )

Finely chopped onions - 1/2 cup

Finely chopped chilies - 1 tbsp

Finely chopped curry leaves - 1 tbsp

Oil - for deep fry

Salt to taste

Method

Blend the soaked channa into a coarse paste

In a bowl mix the paste, onions and greenchillies along with required salt

Make small balls out of the batter and flatten them

Heat oil in a deep wok, and drop the flat channa patties in the oil and fry them till golden brown

You can eat it as such or with coconut chutney

Pal Payasam

This is the most simple and easy dish that you can do.

There is no actual measurement to be used.

And no matter the measurement, it turns out to be a delicacy

Measurements I used

Cooked rice - 1 cup

Sugar - 2 cups

Milk - 4 cups

Cardamo powder a pinch

Roasted cashew and raisins ( optional )

Method

In a heavy bottomed vessel. mix the cooked rice and sugar

Bring it to a boil until the sugar dissolves

Add milk and let it boil well

Make sure the whole thing is done on low flame

This is to ensure that the condensation of milk happens as the flavor enhances

Dust in some cardamom powder and roasted nuts if you need to.

Else you can have it just like that.

New Year Lunch

noreply@blogger.com (A Kamalika Krishmy) — Sun, 03 Jan 2016 18:30:00 +0000

New Year Day always calls for celebration at my place. Two reasons, one being my mother's birthday and two it is a time that the whole family comes together and spends the whole day. What is more better than kickoff the new year with your loved ones. Paati always says only if you spend less time in the kitchen can you spend time talking with our family and relatives, hence lunch during such days are always simple and tasty ones.

This year was no different. We had the whole family gathered for New Year and the lunch was as follows.

Vendakkai Sambhar

Kerala Style Avial

Potato peas curry

Pudhina Thogaiyal

Tomato Rasam

Kerala Adai Payasam

Appalam

My cooking has a heavy influence from the neighboring state of Kerala. Paati was born and brought up in Nagercoil, which is mini Kerala in TamilNadu. Hence the influence.

Kerala Adai Payasam is a regular at home , so is the Avial as well. It is not a festival food alone, we make it atleast thrice a month, when the fridge needs to be cleared of the excess vegetables that I have stocked up.

Here in this post, we are gonna see two recipes. Vendakai Sambhar and Pudhina Thogaiyal

Vendakai Sambhar ( Lady's Finger dunked in spicy and tangy lentil soup )

Ingredients

Toor Dal - 1 cup
Red Chilli powder - 3 tbsp
Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
Lady s Finger (chopped into 1 inch pieces) - 1 cup
Tamarind Pulp - 1/2 cup
Salt to taste
Curry leaves and Coriander leaves
Onion - 1/2 cut into thin slices
Oil and mustard seeds for tempering
Hing - a pinch

Method

Pressure cook the Toor Dal with Curry leaves, Coriander leaves and a pinch of Turmeric Powder
Slice the Lady s finger into 1 inch pieces and saute it in a little oil separately
Soak tamarind in half cup of water
In a heavy bottomed kadai, take some oil and heat it
When it is hot enough add the mustard seeds followed by curry leaves
After mustard seeds have sputtered add the sliced onions and saute well
Add the tamarind pulp, sauteed Lady's Finger, red chili powder, turmeric powder and salt
Mix well and let this mixture boil well till the raw flavor of red chili powder is gone
After about 15 minutes, add the boiled Toor Dal and adjust salt
At this stage add hing for flavoring. Be careful not to add more
Let the sambhar boil well, you will now be able to get the flavor of sambhar.
Went it is done, garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with rice.

Pudhina Thogaiyal

Let me throw some light on the difference between thogaiyal and chutney. A little dry consistency of a chutney is thogaiyal. When we make a chutney, you need not worry about the amount of water that goes into it. As chutney is supposed to be in a runny consistency. But thogaiyal is to be a like a paste, It should be wet but not runny.

My mom would instruct me umpteen times, when I make a thogaiyal to make sure that I add very little water while grinding it in the blender.

This pudhina thogaiyal is a good combination to rasam sadham and thayir sadham.

Ingredients

Pudhina - 1 cup

Cilantro - 1 cup

Green chillies - 4 to 5 nos

Coconut - 1/2 cup

Salt - as per taste

For tempering - Mustard seeds, Urad Dal and little oil

Method:
Wash thoroughly Cilantro and pudhina, let the water drip off. In a blender add all the ingredients except the ones for tempering and blend well.

Urundai kolambu

noreply@blogger.com (A Kamalika Krishmy) — Sat, 02 Jan 2016 18:30:00 +0000

Wishing all my readers a very happy new year.. Its the year 2016 hence have a sweet sixteen year.. Age height weight are all numbers so let us loose all those and have a wonderful year ahead.

Im blogging nearly after an year I guess. 2015 did have its share of ups and downs. A lot of changes in my life and relationships.. everything aside I look forward to a wonderful year ahead.

New Year is all about a new outlook a new regime, new goals and a new hope for a better tomorrow. One of my goals for the year was to give more attention to the space that helped me grow in terms of my knowledge of cooking and the network that I got. It has been a great help. Its time I show gratitude to this space which gave me a platform to grow in the field of my dream and passion.

To kick of the new year, I am penning about a dish that was taught by my grandmother. I always always cherish the time I spent with her. She was my mentor, in more than many ways. A child that enjoys the warmth, affection and care of grandparents are the most lucky ones. I was abundantly blessed in this. I owe all my cooking skills to my grandmothers.

On to the recipe, this is a traditional parupu urundai kulambu, which my grandmother used to make. Most often when the whole family is bored of sambhar , rasam and poriyal type lunches.

The taste of deep fried balls of dal and onion dunked in a spicy and tangy sauce, is just too enticing. These days we make the urundai batter in the mixie. My grandmother used to make it using a ammi kal. Which was much more tasty. Though time consuming the taste is definitely worth the effort..

Ingredients

Chana dal ( kadalai parupu ) - 1 cup

Finely chopped onions - 1/2 cup

Green Chilli - 2 nos

Red Chilli powder - 2 tbsp

Coriander Powder - 1 tbsp

Salt - to taste

Oil to deep fry

Tamarind paste - 2tbsp

Mustard seeds and curry leaves for tempering

Method

Soak the channa dal for about two hours in water.

Wash them well before soaking

After two hours, drain the water and coarsely blend it in a mixie or on an ammi kal.

In a bowl mix together the coarsely blend dal, onions, greenchillies and salt.

Mix well and make small rounds

In the meanwhile, heat a kadai with oil.

Deep fry the urundais in the hot oil and set it aside.

In another deep kadai, heat some oil

Add mustard seeds and curry leaves for tempering.

When the seeds sputter add the tamarind paste, followed by red chilli and coriander powders

Adjust salt and let this come to a boil

Add the deep fried urundais when the sauce is done.

Serve hot with steamed rice and appalam. It is a perfect rainy day lunch. spicy , crunchy and tangy.

Habanero : A Mexican Fiesta

noreply@blogger.com (A Kamalika Krishmy) — Mon, 21 Sep 2015 18:12:00 +0000

I am a huge fan of Mexican cuisine. And has always wanted to check places that offer this cuisine, Habanero was on the list.

We were greeted by men who were dressed up in Mexican attire and really huge hats. One such guy, showed us a demo of making a Guacamole. He used a different kind of mortar and pestle. Yes it did taste good, spicy and tangy and creamy as a guacamole should be.

Avocado being scrapped out.

Mortar and Pestle

It paired up well with the nachos

Another live demo was to be given to us by the Chef

The tomatillo sauce , made for us live. This served as a base on which the zucchini fritters were served.

Zucchini Fritters being pan fried

Chef showing us how to pan fry the fritters

Zucchini fritters served on Tomatillo sauce, with fresh sour cream and tomato.

Succulent and juicy chicken skewers

Their signature dish " Fish en Pibil with Cilantro Pesto" A steamed basa fish over vegetables and Mexican rice on sides with cilantro pesto.

Tres leche cake

Churros with chocolate sauce.

All the dishes had a wonderful medley of flavours.

Habanero, is located in Phoenix Market City, Velachery.

Do check out the variety of dishes on their menu and relish them too.

Hard Rock Cafe : Rocking all the way

noreply@blogger.com (A Kamalika Krishmy) — Fri, 18 Sep 2015 15:53:00 +0000

After a long day at work, I was headed to the bloggers meet at Phoenix city mall. We were to be as guest in two restaurants, one of which is Hard Rock Cafe. Located in the middle of the mall, it has a wonderful ambience to have a relaxed meal and get yourself refreshed even in the middle of the day or week.

The evening began with a glass of wonderful drink made from cranberry juice, pomegranate and lemon. The sweet level was that enough while the tanginess along with the salt on the rim of the glass took it to another level

A platter that contains vegetarian spring rolls , bruschetta , onion rings and garlic bread was served next. The sauces along with were very tasty. That is the JUMBO Platter for you.

Hard Rock Nachos , served with Sour Cream, Chopped green Onions and Spicy Jalapenos along with Hard Rock special fresh Salsa. . Chicken can be added as an extra topping

The perfectly balanced Mediterranean linguine, Hard Rock gives you a choice of grilled shrimp or grilled chicken breast or grilled tenderloin along with some fresh vegetables like artichoke, green beans and mushrooms. The sauce used in this dish is a white wine garlic sauce. The side for this is a mildly toasted garlic bread.

Like every fashion show, you need to wait for the showstopper. Behold here comes the legendary burger from Hard Rock Café, its the signature dish of theirs. And famous the world over. Made from meat and topped with bacon, fried onions, tomato served with pickles and fries. Its quite huge and takes a large appetite to finish it off.

The vegetarians were served a creamy twisted mac, with cottage cheese and garlic bread. It was real creamy and YUMMY.

Dessert was straight from heaven I should say, it was a Hot Fudge Brownie Sundae, Its a tasty heap of vanilla ice-cream topped with chocolaty fudge sauce and garnished with nuts, fresh cream and cherry

Hard Rock Café is located in Phoenix Market city, Velachery

A special mention to the ambience and décor of the place. So thoughtfully done with contributes from various people in the music and film industry.

Will I go back, definitely, for the service and the way they can customise your food. Hard Rock Café is not only for non vegetarian lovers but also for people who are vegetarians. They do have options and ensure that our taste buds are satisfied too.

Kudos to team Hard Rock Café.

Coast to Coast - Mangalore Food Festival

noreply@blogger.com (A Kamalika Krishmy) — Mon, 22 Jun 2015 00:08:00 +0000

Mangalore cuisine is heavily influenced by south indian cuisine. A majority of dishes has seafood in it, owing to the proximity to thw coasts on both the sides of mangalore.

The vegetarian dishes are however influenced from Udipi cuisine. I was very curious on what would be on the vegetarian platter. The Coast to Coast food festival happening at The Raintree, Mount Road is best place to check it out.

A quick chat with Chef Prabakar who is the brain child behind the festival got us some interesting facts like how the spices of Mangalorean cuisine is blended with a chilli called Begdi. It is a spicy chilli which is also used to give color to dish to which it is added. The use of coconut milk and coconut oil gave a hint of the influence from

Kerala cusine.

To start off we were served sweet and savory snacks. A sweet maida biscuit along with rice flour murukus

The soup was a mildly tempered tomato soup along with some Mangalore bonda and Masala vada

The condiments was a wonderful combination of color and taste. Coconut chutney white in color , beetroot chutney dark pink in color , pineapple chutney yellow is color

When deciding on a spread for lunch or dinner, I usually give equal importance to the colorfulness of the dishes and their taste. Should say I was pretty impressed with the condiments part

On the non vegetarian starters we had lady fish fry and a mildly spiced south indian chicken fry. Every dish did have a taste of the Mangolorean chilli in it. It blended well with the mildly spiced mutton soup

Neer dosa was so light and soft. You can just about cut it with two fingers. Appam was mildly sweet and tasted awesome with vegetable stew

Thalis are famous in this food festival. The vegetarian thali has two stir fries typical of manglorean style of uppukari and spicy fry. A vegetable briyani which is made with coconut milk and spices sauted in mild coconut oil. Also was a sambhar and spicy eggpant tamarind gravy to go with red rice.

Non vegetarian thali had gravies of mutton, chicken and fish. Along side with some briyani and curd rice. Both the thalis had dal tempered with ghee and roasted baby potato

Dessert platter had my favorite elaneer payasam. Vannila icecream and a Goan pancake Bibinca. The blend of flavors in bibinca was very nice. It had egg, butter, coconut milk and little flour along with sugar. It was kind of a layered crepes cut into small pieces.

The Raintree mount road is having this food festival till 28th of this month. If you are a foodie this is a definite place to explore and enjoy your food

Salades santé from Park Hyatt

noreply@blogger.com (A Kamalika Krishmy) — Fri, 24 Apr 2015 15:39:00 +0000

Its the "Healthy Week" at The Dining Area in Park Hyatt, Velachery. They bring on to the plate, five healthy salads, made from seasonal produce, minimal dressing and in a deconstructed format.

In the sense that they are served in the regular salad bowls, instead in plates in which you can actually see what are the ingredients in each salad.

Each salad has a different method in which they are made. Each salad is cooked in a particular way. Tossed, Blanched, Grilled, Mashed and Roasted.

These salads are the brainchild of Chef Megha, who comes up with very unique and beautiful plating for the salads as well as yummy purees ( fruit and vegetable )

First to be served was nice bread, crusty on the outside and soft on the inside. Tasted good along with butter.

Roasted Salad : Baby Beetroot, with fennel, stripes of apple, wedges of juicy orange, celery, roasted walnuts and goat cheese melt. Walnuts were mounted on a tasty beetroot puree. What I liked about this salad was the blend of flavors along with the puree and the walnut of course.

For the meat lovers, meat is served on the side, you have choice of Smoked Salmon, Seered Japanese Tuna, Poached Egg and Chicken Breast to choose

Tossed Salad : Quinoa along with cherry tomatoes, avocado, parsley , mint and sunflower crese.

This salad has a generous portion of toasted Pumpkin seeds.

Smashed Salad : A salad which had Edamame, Broccoli, Pumpernickel toast, along with cucumber and a garlic lemon ricotta. The presentation was very tempting with long strips of cucumber on a bed of lemon ricotta. The Rye bread garnish was very crispy and added color to the whole salad.

Blanched Salad: Springs of Carrot, along with big slices of seasonal mangoes, asparagus, snow peas and toasted hazelnuts were layered over passion fruit dressing, which is sweet and sour. It was a vibrant salad, with lovely colors and tasted yummy. The dressing especially was too good.

Grilled Salad: A spicy combination of Grilled eggplant, chickpeas, glazed dates, with pearls of pomegranate, cubes of feta cheese along with roasted pine nuts and fresh herbs. This is a very different combination that reminded me of baba ganoush.

One distinct factor across their salads was the addition of nuts in all of them. Nuts is a very important part of nutrition, which many of us tend to ignore. And yes, there is a myth that they are fattening. Taken in the right quantities and in the right way, they give you great energy levels and feeds your body with the essential proteins. If you notice, all the nuts are toasted or roasted not deep fried.

Watermelon Smoothie: Made from fresh deseeded watermelon, honey and yogurt.

Energiser: A refreshing combo of Kiwi, Apple, Spinach, Lime , Celery and honey.

Skin Tonic: Refreshing one again . Good for the skin, made from Romaine Lettuce, Cilantro, Lime and Pineapple.

Bello: A whole meal in itself made from banana, coconut cream, cashew and spinach

Spark : Banana, Vanilla, Spinach smoothie in Almond Milk.

The Healthy Week is on from April 24th 2015 to April 28th 2015 at Park Hyatt

A meal for two would cost approximately Rs 1600/-

All the way from Kongunadu on your platter

noreply@blogger.com (A Kamalika Krishmy) — Tue, 21 Apr 2015 10:55:00 +0000

Yet another visit to Hablis, this was to Skillet, where the " Kongunadu Festival " was happening. Kongunadu cuisine was made popular by Late Chef Jacob, who has actually done a lot of research on this cuisine. The names of the dishes, reminded me of his recipes and preparation. Incidentally during a conversation with the Chef of the festival. Chef Saravanan, was a student of Chef Jacob and says he dedicates the whole range of dishes to his mentor.

A lot of pre work and planning has gone into making this festival. The masalas and podis used for every dish is prepared inhouse and not sourced from the market. The chef himself from GobichettiPalayam, one can actually see a distinct taste and variant in the dishes served.

One thing that struck me initially was that the dishes were served in earthen pots. It kind off gives you a feeling of dining in a village

Now on to the dishes served and my take on them

We started off with a soup, for Vegetarians it was Vallarai Rasam whilst for the Non Vegetarians it was Crab Soup. Vallarai soup was very appetizing and the taste was good.

Starters, Ooty KaiKari Varuval was crispy and went well with the soup. Kuzhi Paniyaram was little bland for my palates as I usual take in a high spice level.

Mutton Sukka was the star of the day, with a second helping being asked. The mutton was cooked to perfection so was the spice level and seasonings.

For Vegetarians the dishes that were served are

Vendakka Podi Varuval

Urlai Vazhapoo Perattal

Poondu Pavakai Masala

Pallipayalam Kalan Kozhambu

Pacha Payaru Kadaisal

Kootanchoru

Kootanchoru was closest to what my mother makes at home. It tasted well with pickle and papad.

Vendakai Podi varuval, got me curious as I asked the chef as to what "Podi" refers to here, so the masala for the dish, is made from channa dal, urad dal, jeera and red chillies. Sautéed and powdered.

For a person who does not like bittergoud I liked the way garlic and veggie blended.

Kalan kulambu was a coconut based gravy with mushroom and mild spicing. It was good to have with Phulkas.

Urlai Vazhapoo Perattal. I had this reserved to be had with curd rice, and it did not disappoint me with the taste.

Last on the vegetarian menu, the Pachai Payaru kadasal. It was loaded with protein and is very healthy. Though quite heavy on the tummy, was tasting good with steamed rice and papad.

The Non Vegetarian list was

Natha Kadaiyur Eral Masala

Palla Patti Kozhi Piratal

Dindugal Kozhi Curry

Nilagri Meen Kulambu

Karur Mutton Briyani

Vallarai Rasam

Mutton Sukka

Kuzhi Paniyaram

Ooty KaiKari Varuval

Kootanchoru

Poondu Pavakai Masala

Urlai Vazhapoo Perattal

Vendakka Podi Varuval

Karur Mutton Briyani

Nilagri Meen Kulambu

Dindugal Kozhi Curry

Natha Kadaiyur Eral Masala

Palla Patti Kozhi Piratal

Desserts are all specialities from the region

Mambala Paneer Kheer

Rajma Halwa

Ragi Millet Mittai

Banana Dosai

The Kongunadu Food Festival is on till this Sunday, 26th April 2015. They are open for Lunch and Dinner . Buffet costs around 1000/head.

Hablis is located on GST Road, close to Kathipara Junction and near Guindy Railway Station.

Phone: 044 2233 4000

Tranquility in the middle of Chennai : Hab Life

noreply@blogger.com (A Kamalika Krishmy) — Fri, 10 Apr 2015 07:13:00 +0000

How would you want to unwind after a long tiring week or day. Mine would be to relax in a breezy place, with the food that I like, mild music and good company of course.

The moment I stepped on to the rooftop in Hablis, I was awestruck. The pool and the breeze and the view of the city from the 9th floor was too too good. What is very much appealing is having a quite place to sit and eat in the most busy junctions of Chennai. With a non stop trains on one side, to the ever bustling activities in the bus stand to the entry of one of the main National Highways in Chennai.

This roof top is named as " Hab Life" It has a open gym area. Pool gym, Spa Center, a juice bar that offers a variety of juices and combination that will actually help you improve your health. One of its kind in Chennai am sure its gonna be a super hit.

Our evening started with a welcome drink, It was called Blue Sky. It was a combination of Lemon juice, Blue crosoau and topped with pineapple. Was very refreshing indeed.

The soups arrived in time, hot and nice.

Asparagus, corn soup. It had small pieces of asparagus and corn with perfect flavoring of herbs.

Minced chicken soup was again with the correct consistency and flavoring

Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce and Red Chili Sauce was perfectly plated. Must mention about plating. Which was very artistically done. And of course being a huge fan of crockery I could not stop admiring at those small wine glasses which was used to carry the sauces

Tofu Satay with sautéed peppers was a treat to my palates

I am a huge fan of sushi, but being a vegetarian, I do not get much of Vegetarian sushi in Chennai. Had a chance to taste the vegetarian sushi made specially for us. It was a cucumber sushi

Vegetarian momo, with spicy sauce to go with it. It was a perfectly folded momo.

My favorite part of the whole dinner was , Thai Green Curry with loads of vegetables and hot steaming rice. The best part was that, in the morning I was craving for thai green curry and vola, I get it served to me for dinner.. Was totally surprised and shocked. Enjoyed every morsel of the rice and curry

To end this wonderful dinner, we had wasabi cheesecake. It was a different flavor, something that I have not tried before. Nevertheless, I liked it and it was polished off clean.

I would strongly recommend this place, for a nice and quite dinner. The ambience is awesome. Service is good and Food tastes perfect. You are sure to be relaxed and refreshed by this place and the by the side of the pool.

Millet Kheer / Millet Payasam

noreply@blogger.com (A Kamalika Krishmy) — Wed, 18 Mar 2015 17:51:00 +0000

Next in the series of Super grains is Millet/Thinnai Payasam.

Super easy and healthy dessert too.

It is vey flavorful and can be made using almond milk or coconut milk also

Ingredients

Millets/ Thinnai - 1 cup

Coconut milk - 1 cup

Jaggery water - 2 cups

Cashews and raisins - for garnish

Ghee - 1 cup

Method

Fry the super grain for a couple of minutes in ghee.

Pour milk or water in it and let is boil till the millet is cooked completely

Let this mixture cool

In the meanwhile, powder jiggery and mix well in limited water

Let it dissolve completely.

Strain the jiggery syrup and pour it on the cooked millet mixture.

Let this boil at a very low flame.

Add almond milk or Coconut milk or normal milk to this mixture

Now , be very careful not to let it boil.

It should cook in low flame, until it reaches a Kheer consistency

In another pan, heat ghee and fry raisins first followed by cashews

Fry them till golden brown and add it to the Kheer

This can be served warm or chilled.

Millet Vegetable Fried Rice

noreply@blogger.com (A Kamalika Krishmy) — Tue, 17 Mar 2015 15:04:00 +0000

One of the goodies that we had given to some of our blogger buddies from North was a packet of Millets, and Thinnai. The immediate prompt question that came across was for recipes to include these super grains in day to day cooking. That is when I decided to choose this as my theme for Choose one ingredient and cook three dishes. First dish with millets is a simple flavorful vegetable rice

Ingredients

3 cups cooked Millet

1/4 cup minced Spring Onions

1/4 cup Green Beans

1/4 cup Carrots

1 tbsp Garlic, minced

1 tbsp Ginger, peeled and minced

Pepper and Salt - to taste

Oil for sauté

Method

Cook the millets and keep it separately

In a wok, heat oil and stir in the garlic and ginger pieces

Add salt followed by finely chopped vegetables

When they are sautéed add a dash of soy sauce and mix well

Adjust Pepper and Salt according to your taste

Take it off fire and add the millets

Stir well and garnish with some spring onions

Chennai's Best Kept Secret - On the Rocks.

noreply@blogger.com (A Kamalika Krishmy) — Thu, 12 Mar 2015 11:24:00 +0000

Yes, this is Chennai s best kept secret as far as at least some people are concerned. On the Rocks is an awesome bar cum resto which is celebrating its 6th Anniversary this month. I had the wonderful opportunity to dine there and have a long chat with Chef Rohit, the brain behind OTR s menu.

The ambience is serene and apt for a quite evening dinner with wine and long chats with your friends or loved ones

Some interesting information about OTR before I start with the menu.

They change the menu every 14 days. Some dishes are added and some removed. They try to maintain a balance of flavors and tastes to cater to every diner.

Any new dish that makes it way to the menu card is tried , tested and then approved to be on the menu. I particularly like the way the flavors are blended in each of their dishes. Kudos to Chef Rohit.

First to be served was yummy soft foacacia bread with a carrot apply pathay. An awesome combo of apple and carrot. The sweet and sour flavors complimented each other so much.

Our starters was Baked Cacumber with honey and garlic reduction, Enoki Mushroom, bluecheese sauce with greens and balsamic paint , semolina gnocchi with wild mushrrom , baby spinach confit garlic and pine nut. The cheese that was served to us was imported from France

Baked Cacumber with honey and garlic reduction

Semolina gnocchi with wild mushroom,baby spinach confit garlic and pine nut

Enoki Mushroom, bluecheese sauce with greens and balsamic paint

Soup was served in a Soup Torne. This is the first time I have seen it, so was a fascinated. Soup Torne is the way soup is served in France. Both the vegetarian and non vegetarian soups tasted very good. I personally would recommend the asparagus soup. Non Vegetarian soup was Chicken Sitaci Mushroom soup

The most interesting wine cellar is located at the back racks of OTR. Oh my what a collection of wines they have. The shelves run to two floors. And they have wines from 3K to 1.4 Lac a bottle.

I personally liked their champagne.

Was totally awed with their wine glass collection

Wine cellar that runs to two floors.

The highlight of the evening was to get to cook meat on a Lava stone from Australia. The concept is cook meat on this stone, which has been heated to 400 degrees in a special oven for 6 hours and served with a variety of sauces that can be used as a dip to eat the meat. The meats that can be cooked varies from chicken , to fish to mutton. You can choose the meat and the sauce on the side. It is an experience on its own and it totally fun.

This meat is served with two sauces of our choice, mashed potatoes and assortment of veggies

Vegetarian Main course was Tortilla wrapped kidney bean pico de gallo , tortilla crush, sour cream , tomato salsa and pickled greens

Crème Brulee and English Pudding was served as dessert. A dash of lit rum on crème brulee was a visual treat indeed. and the taste was too good.

English Pudding was the BEST I have ever had. So soft and spongy .

As a person who is crockery crazy, every piece of crockery in which the food was served deserves a mention, be it the main course or the soup or the dessert. Their crockery was EXQUISITE and ADMIRABLE.

Towards the end of your meal, you will be served a chocolate shot which is flavored with coconut or cinnamon or mint. You will have to figure out the flavor. We were served coconut flavored one. And it was quite nice.

On the Rocks Anniversary celebrations are on till 31st March. So visit and experience the spectacular menu that Chef Rohit and his team has put together. They are open only for Dinner.

Spiralli Pasta in my ever favorite Arabiatta Sauce

noreply@blogger.com (A Kamalika Krishmy) — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 11:36:00 +0000

Earlier, before I started exploring the world of spices and sauces, days ago when I never knew that a yummy Italian dish could be created in our very own kitchen.

I would always always order this when I had a chance. After I knew how easy it was to make it at home, its always a different order at Italian Restaurants.

This is the most easiest sauces to make pasta in.

Ingredients

1 teaspoon olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
4 cloves garlic, minced
3/8 cup red wine
1 tablespoon white sugar
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 cups peeled and diced tomatoes ( after being blanched)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Method

Blanch tomatoes in hot water.

Remove them and make them into a coarse paste

Heat oil in a large skillet or saucepan over medium heat.

Saute onion and garlic in oil for 5 minutes.

Stir in wine, sugar, basil, red pepper, tomato paste, Italian seasoning, black pepper and tomatoes; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium, and simmer uncovered about 15 minutes.

Pour over cooked pasta and throw in some black olives.

Garnish with grated cheese to add to flavor.

Somasi with Tutty Frutty Filling

noreply@blogger.com (A Kamalika Krishmy) — Thu, 05 Mar 2015 03:31:00 +0000

I had planned to make something and landed making this. But still am happy of the dish, as my friends daughter ate two of them straight after this shoot.

This is a very traditional somasi with a different filling. Instead of the usual coconut and sugar filling I put in a spoon of multi colored tutty frutty. It tasted a little less sweet and had to bite into the small pieces of filling.

Ingredients

Maida - 1 cup

Oil for deep frying

Tutty Frutty - 1/2 cup

Method

Make a dough using Maida and water.

It should be in the consistency of a chapatti dough

In a cup take the multi color tutty frutty

Roll out small rounds from the dough , fill it with the tutty frutty

And close it in a semi circle shape

Heat oil in a kadai and deep fry the filled somasi

I personally loved the taste, though I thought only one to eat.

Chikki Custard Jamun - An easy dessert to light up your dinner table.

noreply@blogger.com (A Kamalika Krishmy) — Wed, 04 Mar 2015 03:07:00 +0000

When the year began, I really really wanted to put up my to do list for the year and wanted to work them out. I am happy that some are shaping up well. One of them is blogging. I am happy doing this second post for Blogging Marathon #50 - Colorful dishes for kids.

My second creation is a different one. Cant imagine this dish was conceptualized in my dreams and executed in reality. for my fellow bloggers dearies... They loved it and the innovation that went into it. Made it with simple ingredients but made it sound fancy !!

Evil Na !!

Ingredients

Jamun - 5 pieces

Chikki - 1 cup ( broken into small pieces )

Vanilla Custard - 2 cups ( I used Brown and Poisson)

Method

Prepare the custard as per the instructions on the pack and cool it in the refrigerator

Crush the chikki ( peanut candy ) and layer it on the bottom of the glass in which you are gonna serve the dessert

Spoon some custard over it and place a jamun in the center

Now spoon some more custard around the jamun

Garnish with chopped chikki and serve chilled