Food better be Good

Khoya Aloo Mutter

2016-06-16T23:35:00.000+05:30

I have woken up late. It is a holiday. I don’t go downstairs to the kitchen because I want to scrub myself clean today after a week of 5-min showers. Actually I want to avoid the late-comer scene. There may be no dialogue but those scenes are usually the worst. I put it off for later.

I massage copious amounts of oil on kids’ heads trying to make up for instant noodles, lollipops, smartphones and excessive T.V. I hope I am making up in some way. I scrub them up, dress them and send them downstairs so I can wallow in the bathroom in peace. I massage oil, apply the face pack for good measure and think of soaking my feet but begin to feel I am taking too long. I then try to relax but hurry along at the same time.

It is some auspicious day. When I finally descend downstairs feeling clean, smelling nice for a change, I am ravenous. I eye the kids in the hall watching TV and eating from banana leaves. I head to the kitchen. Nobody’s around. I find some vadais are already fried, payasam made, sambar, rice and potato thokku ready by the side. I grab a vadai and bite into it. There’s no salt in it I realize. I go out with the half eaten vadai and see that there’s no banana leaf in the Pooja room. Poojai is not over yet.

You don’t eat before the poojai (Kids don’t count).

I turn back to the kitchen and try to find a nook to hide my half eaten vadai in. I also know that there’s no salt in it. At that moment, somehow everybody emerges ready for Poojai. Maamiyaar heads to the kitchen to fry more vadais. I have just enough time to snuck the vadai in a corner. I walk out trying to look innocent, casual and purposeful. I don’t want to be stopped.

I hold the terrible truth about the salt-less vadai batter. It breaks me to think I’d have to eat salt-less vadais. My mind races on how best to expose this truth before the vadais are fried.

Just telling her is not an option. That’s not how we roll here.

I ask the kids about the vadai. They haven’t eaten it yet. They’re too engrossed in TV.

I manage to corner Jagan in the hall, I lower my voice and explain in great detail my catch-22 situtation, and reveal that there is no salt in the vadai. He nods sagely and then turns and shouts to his mother in the kitchen “Vadai le uppu illayam” (It seems there is no salt in the vadai).

I look around for the best place to hide and finding nothing, fuss around the kids and try to fit in with them.

Ever happened to you?

My life is filled with diplomatic challenges like these every day.

I had made up my mind to make this Khoya Aloo mutter on Saturday. I walked to the kitchen in the morning mentally going through the best bowl, camera angle for the dish. The house was already abuzz with activity. The ‘coconut tree climber man’ was there hurling down tender coconuts. The maid was busy scooping the tender coconut flesh “vazhikkai” into bowls. The Maamiyaar was busy running around giving instructions.

Drawing as little notice as possible, I went about prepping for the Khoya Aloo mutter. She came in saying “I’ve made Aappam batter. Making Aappam and coconut milk for breakfast”.

I mutter “Oh.. ok” and continue while thinking how to best position Khoya Aloo mutter alongside Aappam.

She asks “Is that for lunch?”

“Yeah, yeah.. Correct. Yeah, it is for lunch.”

I went on to make Garlic Naan to go with the Khoya Aloo Mutter for lunch. I loved the combination. Jagan loved it. Hasini loved it. The Mamiyaar liked it too I am led to think.

The Khoya/khoa is the key ingredient. It lifts the regular Aloo mutter to a new creamy, luscious, dreamy level. You could stir it into any of your curries – Gobi, Aloo, mushroom or peas with wonderful results. The resulting curry is rich without being too heavy, full bodied and absolutely delectable. Think of it as the more sophisticated substitute for cream. It is a wonderful curry to make for a dinner party or if you are just in the mood for some dreamy curry. I would recommend having a block of unsweetened khoa in your fridge for times like these.

Prep time: 10 mins
Cooking time: 20 mins
Serves: 5

Ingredients

Khoya/Unsweetened khoa – 200 gm crumbled or grated
Fresh Green Peas – 200 gm
Potatoes – 3 medium boiled, peeled and cubed
Onions – 2 medium chopped roughly
Tomatoes -2 medium chopped roughly
Garlic – 5 cloves
Ginger – 1 tbsp chopped
Red chilli powder – 2 tsp
Cumin powder – ¾ tsp
Coriander powder – ½ tsp
Turmeric powder – ½ tsp
Garam Masala powder – ¾ tsp
Salt to taste
Oil – 1 tbsp
Unsalted butter – 2 tbsp
Sugar – ½ tsp – 1 tsp (adjust)
Water – 2 cups

Method

1. Heat a medium pan. Pour 1 cup of water. Add the chopped onions, tomatoes, garlic and ginger and bring to a boil. Wait till the water is mostly gone and the onions and tomatoes are soft and cooked through. Transfer the onion-tomato mixture to a mixer grinder. Cool and puree the mixture. Set aside.

2. To the same pan, add a tbsp. of oil. When the oil is hot, add the crumbled/grated khoa and fry for 2-3 mins or till the khoa is sort of melted and halwa like. Remove the fried khoa to a plate. Set aside.

3. To the same pan, add back the pureed onion-tomato mixture. Add all the spice powders and salt and mix well. Tip in the boiled, peeled and cubed potatoes into the pan. Add in the peas also. Add a cup of water. Mix everything well. Cover and simmer for 10-15 minutes or till the flavours have blended nicely and the oil has separated.

4. Uncover. Stir in the fried khoa. Mix well to break up any lumps. Add a little water if necessary to get the gravy to your desired consistency. Add sugar. Taste and adjust seasoning. Simmer for 2-4 minutes more. Switch off stove.

5. Serve hot with poori, roti, naan or pulav.

Masala Sundal

2016-06-09T23:19:00.000+05:30

Day 2 of school today. I drop them and come home. I feel an amazing sense of calm, at once peaceful and serene. I do some wall push-ups, a couple of surya namaskars and sit down to sip my lemon and honey while reading the days paper.

I remember an instance when I mentioned to a fellow mom (a house-wife) that it’s good that children will be away at school and she quickly retorted “For you maybe. You will anyway be away at office.” I didn’t understand then. And I don’t understand now. ‘Kids going to school’ is the best alternative for any mom, whether stay at home or office going, wouldn’t you think? It seems logical.

Why would you prefer to watch Hattori, referee their fights and remind them for the 48^th time to finish what’s on the plate? Over reading a book, or just being? It beats me.

Did you wonder about the wall push ups? I am going to tell you anyways.

I can't explain but I find doing push-ups one of the coolest things ever. I have never managed to myself. That scene in Irudhi suttru where Madhi does her one-handed push ups is one of my most favourite scenes. So my latest goal is to do push-ups, proper boxer kind of push ups, on the floor. I have given myself 30 days to do that. I am starting with wall push ups. I will then move on to inclined push ups and finally to real push ups. I read something in a book recently, something simple and inherently logical that suddenly made tremendous sense to me. If you were to pick something you want to learn, anything at all and if you do it every day for 30 days, at the end of that period, you would have mastered it. Don’t pick Bharatanatyam (this is no Shankar movie) or Karate. Pick something small, something specific. It could be making perfectly cooked rice (my Maamiyaar still doesn’t think I make it right), it could be waking up early, it could be reading 100 pages each day, it could be learning to whistle, it could be anything.

I will let you know how it goes with the push ups.

In the meantime, here is a recipe to the much loved Masala sundal sold at roadside kadais and at the beach. It is so simple to make in a pressure cooker, I don’t know why I don’t make it more often. I combine everything together in a pressure cooker and cook until the peas are soft and easily mashable. I may then cook it down a little further if it needs to be thicker. But that is it. It is all done in one pot.

God is in the garnishing – Stir in chopped coriander leaves, broken papdi, torn up pooris that turned biscuit like instead of puffing up or cut up pieces of crisp roasted rotis. These add heft to your Masala Sundal and wonderful texture. Top with finely chopped onions. Squeeze a little lemon juice if you wish. Serve hot. I served the roasted roti wedges alongside the sundal to scoop up the sundal with. You could go any which way you please with this.

Prep time: 15 mins
Cooking time: 30 mins
Serves: 5

Ingredients

Dried White peas – 1-1/2 cups soaked overnight
Onions – 2 medium chopped fine
Tomato – 1 large chopped fine
Tomato – 1 pureed
Ginger – 1-1/2 tsp grated
Green chillies – 2 tsp crushed
Kashmiri red chilli powder – 2 tsp
Coriander powder – 1 tsp
Cumin powder – 1 tsp
Turmeric – ½ tsp
Salt to taste
Water as necessary

Garnishing & Toppings

Coriander leaves – ½ cup chopped
Onion – 1 large finely chopped
Broken papdi/Torn up pooris/cut up toasted roti pieces – 1 cup

Method

1. Soak white peas overnight. Rinse peas a couple of times in the morning and transfer to a pressure cooker.

2. Add chopped onions, chopped tomatoes, crushed ginger and green chillies and the spice powders. Add sufficient water to cover the peas mixture (roughly twice the volume of the peas or slightly more). Mix well. Taste the water and add salt accordingly. Mix well.

3. Pressure cook for 15-20 minutes or till the peas are soft and easily mashable. If the mixture is too runny, bring the sundal to a boil and simmer till the sundal has thickened to your desired consistency. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.

4. Switch off. Top with desired garnishes and serve hot. Enjoy!

Travel Post - Vintage charm at Chidambaram and Tranquebar

2016-06-01T17:48:00.000+05:30

I enjoy reminding Yuvan that school starts in just a few weeks, just about a week now. And that I am really excited that he will be starting full working days. It irritates him no end. He’d charge at me. Now he pretends he hasn’t heard.

Although the beginning of the school year brings joy and an overwhelming respect for school teachers, I am also worried I may break the school’s record for late-coming, that Hasini may turn me in and the principal may punish me, make me stand in the verandah/on the bench, for being the most incorrigible parent. I am too ingrained in the summer holiday routine now. We haven’t started on any of the holiday assignments. They whiled away the summer holidays, colouring, watching cartoons, playing at the beach, in the swimming pool, decoding everyone’s mobile pins and using up their data plans, hijacking the ice-cream vandi and not letting the lady move until somebody bought them ice-creams. I whiled away the holidays contented not to have to sit through homework time.

We happened to go on a small vacation at the beginning of the holidays in April. We were going to a dear friend’s wedding in Chidambaram and we decided to turn it into a mini vacation. I’ve been waiting ever since to share some of that experience here with you guys. This is a photo-heavy post. Please be warned.

I don’t know if you know that I am mad about antique stuff. Antique rosewood tables, grandpa clocks and typewriters make me weak in the knees. Dressers and Almirahs make me dizzy. Brass vessels, high ceilings and cane armchairs make me babble in joy. This particular vacation had most of these elements, which is why I thought I had to share.

There is a small heritage bungalow just off Chidambaram called “Lakshmi Vilas Heritage hotel” that must have been some zamindar’s place long time ago. It has been beautifully converted into a heritage hotel complete with “Ammi kallu” (traditional grinding machine of Tamil Nadu) and Ural and Ulakku lining the corridors, the reception desk at the entrance set beside a large spacious thinnai, a wooden swing at the far end and a couple of employees stretched out beside it. The staff were all one family, really. The receptionist was a petite girl in her early twenties from the same locality. The security cum general helpers were her uncles and mamas. Just like those olden days, when entire families worked in one house, one farm.

They have a large lake adjoining the property where you can try your hand at fishing if you wish to. They’ll provide you with fishing rods. They’ll also tell you that you stand a chance only early mornings or evenings. Nevertheless we tried at noon with the sun glaring down at us. A couple of boys from the nearby village who dived in, swam over and watched us for some time and then adviced us how to go about it. We didn’t expect to catch any fish. We didn’t.

The roof-top dining area is a classic piece of 1980’s village hotel/tea stall scene. A tea kadai boiler sits atop a table lined with cinema poster. Nearby a radio set on a bench plays tamil movie songs. The terrace walls are lined with pretty pink flowers.

A small air-condidtioned dining room is at the centre of the terrace with more seating space outside all around the terrace. We chose to sit inside. Summer – TamilNadu! We looked around while the girl (the receptionist) set up our table for lunch. The biryani was from their hotel in Chidambaram town. It was a wonderful setting. A large dining table surrounded by lovely wooden chairs with arm rests, tall ceilings with madras style terrace, glass panels above doors, vintage lamp shades and black and white photos here and there on the walls. I felt transported back in time to my Vitto Periamma’s dining room in Katpadi.

This is a great place to go if you like a nice, quiet place with loads of vintage charm.

While in Chidambaram we visited the Nataraja temple, old, beautiful and un-touched by modern day flourishes. There aren't numerous counters, long queues, barricades and crushing crowds. It is still an old world temple, run down in places, overgrown grass in the outer praharam with a few stray dogs lazing around, cool stone floors inside the temple and all the time in the world for you to gape at the beauty of it all. No hurry.

After the wedding in Chidambaram, we reluctantly checked out of Lakshmi Vilas and headed over to Tranquebar about 1.5 hours – 2 hours away. Tranquebar or Tharangambadi as it is locally called is a small town on the east coast of Tamil Nadu, an erstwhile Danish town. It is a small heritage town, quiet, quaint and laid-back. It is a very tiny version of Pondicherry but un-adultered and non-touristy. We stayed at the bungalow on the beach (part of Neemrana group of hotels) in Tranquebar. The Bungalow on the beach is.. well, on the beach. Sitting in the balcony in our white wicker chairs, we watched the waves crashing below. We’d remain seated that way for hours at a stretch. It was mesmerizing.

The hotel building was originally a Governor’s bungalow during the colonial period, a magnificent structure, which changed hands in more recent times to the Taj group of hotels and then to the present Neemrana group of hotels.

Our room was on the first floor. The rooms on the first floor open out on to a verandah that runs around the circumference of the building. Lovely white wicker chairs and tables sit outside each of the rooms. The rooms have sky high ceilings and massive walls so thick, it was naturally cool inside without even the air conditioner. I was absolutely smitten by the rosewood table/dresser in the corner of the room. Beautiful ceramic tiles adorned either side of the mirror. I wanted to sit down and write my next book there. I couldn’t find my fountain pen. Or I would have.

The little blue cupboard and the blue bed curtains seemed to bring in the sea. A lovely easy chair in the corner completed the picture.

The swimming pool was mostly empty and we spent most of the evening at the pool. Hasini and Yuvi enjoyed the pool thoroughly. You can see the beach from the swimming pool. That for some reason seemed very cool to me.

We returned to our room, changed and headed over to the beach for a walk. Just off the beach is the Danish fort that houses a small museum. There was a small crowd on the beach, kids hanging around sweet corn stalls, ice cream carts, a woman frying vadai, a lone camel being led by a tall wiry old man that took kids on rides. We had ice cream. We went back to the hotel for dinner.

If not for the food, this hotel would be my most favourite hotel ever. The food at the hotel was abysmal. It was undeniably poor. That is really a shame for a hotel that looks so beautiful.

The next morning, we woke up before dawn to watch the sun rise. Miracle right there! We heated up some water in the kettle and made ourselves some tea, earl grey tea for Jagan and ginger tea for me and took it out to the verandah. We were not taking a chance with room service. We sat there and watched a couple of DSLR enthusiasts with their tripods, waiting on the beach to capture the sunrise. A few fishing boats bobbed in the distance. We wondered how different the fisherman’s daily routine was. Their job was done by the time we were up.

We sipped tea and talked. We watched as the sky transformed from a grey to a violet-pink and then to a fiery orange. The kind of meditative quiet that makes you close your eyes, makes you feel un-tethered and free, that makes you reflect on life, change direction maybe, fall asleep. Beautiful!

Thai Green curry

2016-05-18T00:51:00.000+05:30

After 12 long years of ups and downs, happiness and sorrow, after 12 summers, 12 diwalis, 12 pongals, 12 Aadi thizhuvizhas and innumerable “everydays”, she broke up. I missed her when she was away, more than I missed Jagan when he was away on business. She completed us. She knew where Yuvi’s black hotwheels car was, that the uniforms were not ironed, that the umbrella was broken. She knew where was what. She was the silent lever that kept the whole house running like clockwork. I cannot believe she is gone and I cannot imagine how I am to go on.

Not a day would pass without looking for her arrival each morning. I doubt you’ll understand the pain I went through when she did not turn up someday. I’d run my conversations over and over in my head to be sure I had not irked her in some way. Now she is gone for good.

Where am I to find a maid like her? Ok, I admit it. I may have feelings for her.

Ever since she broke up (I’d say quit if I didn’t care about her), I’ve been running around the house like a mad woman, racing against time trying to multi-task at a multi-level – loading the washing machine while rice, idli and tadka (tempering) pan are on the stove, and running out to pluck some curry leaves and running back to a blackened pan to throw in the curry leaves, scrubbing the vessels while sambar is simmering, ignoring the calling bell (go back, come back in 2 months) making N coffee/teas one at a time (morning coffee/tea drinkers never preferring to converge, each inevitably asks for theirs at a unique time), taking out the compost and absentmindedly opening the lid without knocking and jumping at the sight of the lizard and running all around the house and coming back to check if it is gone, all the while yelling to the kids to brush teeth, bathe themselves, water the money plant and get the hell down here to help me with the lizard.

In spite of this great loss, I managed to make this Thai green curry last weekend. I had to move on. I needed to treat myself after a hell of a week. Thai food is among my most favourite foods. I absolutely love Thai curries. Thai green curry has been on my list ever since I made Thai red curry at home to a rousing applause (mine mostly, and Jagan’s). So here it is. I used the recipe in Nita Mehta’s book as a base and tweaked it ever so slightly. You can make this a vegetarian one by skipping the chicken and using more vegetables instead. I did a combo version with some veggies and some chicken. You could go either way. The shrimp paste adds that wonderful umami punch although you could do away with it too.

The great thing about this recipe is it doesn’t use any hard-to-find expensive ingredients. You wouldn’t have to import anything from Thailand. But it tastes just as incredible – fresh and aromatic with a strong lemony, herby note yet luscious and mellow with all that lovely coconut milk. Spoon it over hot steamed rice. Enjoy!

Prep time: 25 mins
Cooking time: 20 mins
Serves: 4-5

Ingredients – Thai green curry paste
Green chillies – 10 (stalks removed)
Chopped Ginger – 2 tbsp
Peeled Garlic – 2 tbsp
Shallots – 5-7 peeled
Coriander roots and stems chopped – ½ cup
Coriander leaves – ½ cup loosely packed + 2 tbsp for garnish
Fresh lemon grass or lemon grass powder – 3 tbsp (if using fresh lemon grass, use the tender inner stem only)
Lemon leaves – 10 leaves (chiffonade – roll up tightly and slice them)
Shrimp paste – ¼ tsp (optional)
Whole Coriander seeds – 2 tbsp
Cumin seeds – 1 tbsp
Whole black peppercorns – ½ tbsp.

Ingredients – curry

Chopped Vegetables (fairly large pieces) – 2 cups (I used mushrooms, capsicum and babycorn)
Chicken – 2 breast pieces cut into cubes (If you want to make a veg version, skip the chicken and add one more cup of veggies)
Salt to taste
Brown sugar – 1/2 tsp (optional)
Coconut milk – from 1 whole coconut (about 2-3 cups, keep the first thick extract and the second thin extract separate)
Fresh basil/ Basil powder – 1 tbsp (for garnish)
Coriander leaves – 2 tbsp (for garnish)
Lemon leaves – 5 (for garnish)
Oil – 3 tbsp

Method

1. Toast whole coriander seeds, cumin seeds and whole black peppercorns in a pan until fragrant and toasted. Set aside.

2. Combine all ingredients called for under curry paste in a mixer/grinder along with the toasted spices and grind to a fine paste adding a little water to help along.

3. To a deep pan, add the 3 tbsp oil. When the oil is hot, stir in the curry paste. Fry the curry paste for about 3-4 minutes, stirring every now and then to prevent it from burning.

4. Throw in the chopped vegetables and chicken if using. Stir everything, cover and simmer for 10-15 minutes or till vegetables and chicken are cooked through.

5. Pour in the second extract of the coconut milk – the thinner one, stir gently to incorporate the spice paste into the coconut milk. Add salt and brown sugar. Add a couple of lemon leaves. Add basil leaves/basil powder now. Taste and adjust seasoning. Increase heat to medium and let curry come to a boil.

6. Lower heat and pour in the first thick extract of the coconut milk. Stir everything. Taste and adjust seasoning. When curry comes to a boil, switch off. Garnish with coriander leaves and more lemon leaves. Serve hot with steamed long grained rice. Enjoy!

Chicken Pasta salad with creamy mayo dressing

2016-05-06T12:59:00.001+05:30

“STOP FIGHTING and STOP SHOUTING. Why do you shout that way? I don’t like shouting” – I shout, louder than both of them.

“I don’t want to hear any complaints about each other. Go, brush your teeth. Your teacher also says the same thing? Yes, she is right. I don’t want complaints either. Be friends. Better, stay away from each other. Brush your teeth. I don’t know where the white race car with the skull sticker is. Find it yourself. No, I will not buy ice cream again today. No, I am not giving my phone instead. Switch off the TV. Brush your teeth. Close the fridge. I can’t make lemon juice now. Close the freezer. No Poori. Same tiffen for everybody. Brush your teeth. I don’t have time. No, I have to go to office. I can’t stay at home. Brush your teeth.”

Yes, Summer vacation.

I think back to my summer holidays. What ever was I doing? Cartoons were only on Sunday – Duck tales and Mickey mouse in the morning, He-Man in the evening. What did I do the rest of the time? I played out in the sun the whole day, running about, making up games, leaves were money, the Ashoka tree was the shop, the gate was the school. Nobody called us in for lunch. We were on our own. We fought, ran, chased each other, fell down, scratched our knees, got up and ran again. We could play carom pauper the whole afternoon and not be bored.

What is really weird is that the grandparents of our little ones, the same ones who didn’t bother to check on us while we sweated outside in the sun, the ones who didn’t check if we had eaten lunch, the ones who bought us one Mango 2-in-one bar once in 6 months, stops the Kwality Walls vandi every day to buy Jiggly jelly and Cornetto for our kids. Strange.

We are the in-between generation bewildered, muddled trying to please everyone, satisfying no one.

Summer is pushing me towards salads, muskmelon juice, mangoes and lassis. I am always trying to simplify meals - one-pot meals, one dish meals. I had a wonderful idea of making an all-in-one Chicken pasta salad that could be a meal in itself – chicken, pasta, fresh crisp vegetables and creamy mayonnaise dressing. I could have the whole thing done in 20 minutes and be done with the day’s kitchen duty. But remember, we’re the in-between generation. We have to please everybody. So I made a regular south-Indian lunch too by the side. So there was Sambar, rice, Chicken pasta salad and cabbage poriyal.

I loved the Chicken pasta salad as did the kids and Jagan. The pasta makes it hearty and filling and the stir-fried chicken adds that wonderful chicken-ness that chicken lovers swear by. The Mayo-lemon-honey dressing is just the right amount of creamy yet light and fresh. Taste and adjust the components to your liking. If you want to make a veggie version, just skip the chicken and increase the veggies. Substitute regular mayo with the veg Mayo if you want to go that far.

The best thing about this kid-approved, Maamiyaar frowned chicken pasta salad is that it tastes great at room temperature or served cold, which means it can be made ahead, which means it is a great option for parties too. Enjoy!

Prep Time: 15 mins
Cooking time: 5 mins
Serves: 4

Ingredients - Salad

Chicken breast – 300 gm cut into cubes
Bowtie Pasta – 100 gm cooked according to package instructions (substitute any pasta shape of your choice except spaghetti)
Olive oil – 1 tbsp
Red Onion – 1 sliced
Red pepper/capsicum – 1 diced
Yellow pepper/ capsicum – 1 diced
Celery stems & leaves – about 4 stems chopped fine (stems and leaves chopped separately)
Chopped Olives – 2 tbsp

Ingredients – Dressing

Mayonnaise – ¼ cup
Lemon juice – t tbsp (from one lemon)
Honey – 3 tbsp
Salt to taste
Black pepper powder – ¾ tsp
Basil powder – 1 tsp

Method

1. Start by preparing the chicken. Heat a pan, add 1 tbsp olive oil. Drop in the chopped chicken pieces and fry for about 2-3 minutes or till the chicken is cooked through, turns light golden around the edges. Remove the cooked chicken to a plate and let it cool down.

2. Prepare the pasta. Drop the pasta into salted boiling water. When the pasta is al-dente, switch off, strain the pasta, rinse in cold water and set aside.

3. Make the dressing. Combine all ingredients called for under dressing and mix well. Taste and adjust seasoning. Set aside.

4. To make the salad, in a large bowl, combine sliced onions, cooked pasta, diced peppers and celery stems. Add the cooked chicken. Toss to mix everything up. Mix in the olives and chopped celery leaves. Add the dressing and fold it in so it coats everything nicely. Serve at room temperature or chilled.

Banana Foster Cake

2016-04-22T00:52:00.002+05:30

Every year my sister and I buy shirts for our father’s birthday. Every year he asks us “Why do you waste money on this?” It is his way of saying “Aawww”.

Every year we make a big deal of surprising him. We steal out of the house and when he asks us where we’re going, we explain in elaborate detail where we’re going to buy what for whom while usually we’d say “out” or “shopping”. He knows we’re going to buy him shirts. He has even noticed that we have taken one of his shirts for size reference. He doesn’t show. He plays along. Once we’re back he asks much like Hasini “I know you have bought me shirts. I know.” We act like he is crazy. It is a surprise. Next day we give him the shirts. He says he had known all along. He wears it and finds it is too tight or too large. We go back to the store with him and exchange. This is the birthday ritual.

Another recent addition to the ritual is the cake I bake for him. I bake him a birthday cake, usually a simple, hearty old-school cake without frosting, glaze etc. He refuses to be photographed cutting the cake, scolds us for singing “Happy birthday” and generally fusses around.

This year I made banana foster cake. The recipe is from foodnetwork. It is simple, easy and a treat for banana lovers. I love that you brush the cake with rum when it is still warm. It adds a lovely depth of flavour. The caramel and sliced bananas that you line the bottom of the pan with becomes the top once baked and inverted - a lovely molten, crimson top. The cake itself is soft with a beautiful crumb. This is a beautiful cake to bake as a dessert for a party. I wouldn’t make this much ahead of time though as the caramel-banana top tends to discolour a bit when chilled. It still tastes yummy. It just doesn’t look as glamorous.

Enjoy!

Prep time: 20 mins
Baking time: 50 mins – 1 hour
Serves: 12 slices

Ingredients – Cake

Bananas – 4 sliced on a slight bias
All purpose flour – 1-3/4 cup
Baking soda – 1 tsp
Salt – ½ tsp
Eggs – 2
Milk – ¾ cup
Yogurt – ¼ cup
Butter – 8 tbsp
Granulated white Sugar – 1 cup
Vanilla essence – 1 tsp
Rum – 25 ml for brushing cake

Ingredients – Caramel syup

Sugar – 2/3 cup
Water – 1/3 cup
Butter – 1 tbsp

Method

1. Butter the sides of a 9 inch round cake pan. Set aside. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees centigrade.

2. Prepare the caramel. Combine sugar and water in a small saucepan and heat. Wait for the sugar to dissolve and for the solution to turn amber in colour. Do not stir. You may swirl the pan if necessary.

3. Stir in the tablespoon of butter into the caramel. Pour the caramel into the prepared cake pan. The pan will be hot. You could swirl the pan so that the caramel covers the bottom of the pan.

4. Arrange the banana slices over the caramel layer in tight concentric circles to cover the entire base of the pan. Set aside.

5. Beat butter and sugar for about 4 minutes till light and fluffy. Add eggs one by one beating after each addition. Add vanilla essence and beat.

6. Combine yogurt and milk and set aside.

7. Sift flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

8. Add flour mixture and yogurt mixture alternately beating just enough to incorporated all the dry ingredients.

9. Pour the batter into the prepared pan over the banana layer. Level the batter and bake in the middle rack of the oven for 50-60 minutes or till the top is golden and springs back when touched.

10. Remove cake from oven and let cool. Use a thin knife to loosen the edges of the cake from the pan. Brush the cake with rum. Let cake cool completely. Don’t invert the pan until the cake is completely cool as the cake tends to break.

11. Invert a large plate (serving platter) over the top of the pan and invert the entire setup so that the pan now lies inverted over the plate. Gently lift the pan, tapping lightly to release the cake.

Sprouts Stuffed Paratha

2016-04-05T00:46:00.003+05:30

I always feel responsible when my maamiyaar seems cross. She may have had some disagreement with Jagan. She may be upset that the maid retorted defiantly. Relatives may be giving her grief. She may have an upset stomach. I still feel responsible. Most times I don’t know the reason but because I feel responsible I don’t ask.

I need to know though. So I rewind and play the day’s happenings in my mind stopping to scrutinize at every step –

Did I say the truth?

Did I make seppankezhangu fry?

Did I not react cheerily enough to something?

Did I react cheerily to something?

Last week she seemed particularly morose. I felt I was responsible. I didn’t ask. But I worried. I pondered aloud to Jagan who admonished me for being irrational and dismissed me as an obsessive worrier.

He triumphantly told me later that day “She was unwell. She had had an upset stomach yesterday night and that is the reason she looks dismal. I told you, you are wrong. This is the way you screw up things.” Taking the opportunity, Jagan went on about how my instincts were not always right. I needed to be more chatty, I needed to text her, call her and generally act sweet.

Sweet?! How do ya be that to the Maamiyaar? Somebody please (don’t) teach me.

Hmm, Maybe I am overanxious. Maybe, I am over-reacting to everything.

Knowing it wasn’t me I asked her that night “I heard you were sick. What happened?”

“Was a terrible case of food poisoning. It was the tamarind rice I had at lunch.”

I stutter “Puli Puli sadam? Maybe it was the medhu pakoda we bought yesterday”.

I had made the tamarind rice (puli sadam) the day before.

“No, it must be the Puli sadam. The Puli kaachal in the fridge was too old. I should have thrown it out.”

“Hmm.. Oh” I slink off.

I had not made the puli kaachal. She had. I had used the leftover puli kaachal sitting in the fridge. I had wronged.

She had an upset stomach and I was responsible.

I made these sprouts stuffed parathas in a fit of health consciousness. I realized I wasn’t replacing everything with millets. I wasn’t substituting all purpose flour and granulated sugar with ragi and beetroots. I reckoned a little bit of sprouts stuffed inside parathas would compensate in some way.

I mixed bean sprouts in with boiled mashed potatoes, minced green chillies and cumin and stuffed that into whole wheat dough balls and rolled them out crunching the sprouts under my rolling pin. Cook the parathas on a hot tawa smearing with oil or butter. Chill leftover parathas and warm the on a tawa just before eating. They taste even better.

Prep time: 20 mins
Cooking time: 15 mins
Makes: 6-8 parathas

Ingredients - Dough

Whole wheat flour – 2 cups
Salt to taste
Water as necessary to make a dough
Oil – 1 tsp

Ingredients – Sprouts potato stuffing

Mixed bean sprouts – 1 cup
Potatoes – 2 large boiled, peeled and mashed
Green chillies – 2-3 minced
Cumin powder – 2 tsp
Coriander leaves – a handful chopped
Salt to taste
Oil/Butter – 6 tbsp for frying the parathas

Method

1. Prepare the dough. Mix flour and salt in a bowl. Add water little at a time to make a smooth, soft dough. Add oil, knead it it and let the dough ball rest.

2. Prepare the filling. Combined mashed potato, bean sprouts, salt, minced green chillies, coriander leaves and cumin powder. Mix well and set aside.

3. Pinch a large lemon sized ball of the dough. Dust your working surface with flour and roll out the dough ball to a small circle. Place a ball of the stuffing inside. Pinch edges of the dough ball together , flatten and roll out again to make a large paratha. You may need to press and crush the sprouts a bit.

4. Heat a tawa. Place rolled out paratha on the tawa. Cook on medium flame till golden spots appear on the bottom. Flip and cook the other side also to golden brown, smearing oil or butter all around the paratha. Serve hot with yogurt, pickle or gravy of your choice.

Banana buttermilk pancakes

2016-03-28T22:50:00.000+05:30

In the mornings, Hasini likes to lay on the bed and sing while I am in the toilet. I like to listen to her while she sings like nobody is listening. She sings songs I didn’t realize she had memorized, songs from another time, some of my favourite songs which I like to play but didn’t think she’d remember. This morning she sang “Saathi malli poocharame” followed by “Rasathi en usiru ennathilla OOOOOO” complete with the deep throated “OOOOOOO”. I chuckled inside.

Yuvan woke up a little later. Together they strolled out of the bedroom on to the “dhallam” heading downstairs to watch Ninja Hattori like they usually do. They stopped midway. There was the unmistakable aroma of mango wafting over and a series of loud thuds on the asbestos above the carpark. They ran over to peek. There was Venkatesan up on the tree plucking mangoes and tossing them into the bucket on the ground. It was mango picking day today.

“Manga parikaranga… Manga Manga….. yaaayyy” they went hollering downstairs to catch the mangoes being tossed. They ran up to the terrace to climb on chairs and pluck those low hanging mangoes they had been eyeing for a long time. I asked for a small basket of mangaoes to be set aside for my pickle experimentations.

We’re enjoying the summer holidays, revelling in the homework free evenings, late mornings and leisurely breakfasts. One such morning I made these banana buttermilk pancakes although it doesn’t take too long at all to whip up.

In fact these banana buttermilk pancakes are super quick and super easy to make. I cannot believe how soft, moist and absolutely delicious they turned out. I am a sucker for sweet breakfasts. I loved these. I made these without eggs. You could add eggs for fluffier results if you wish. These pancakes are a great way to use up your over-ripe bananas. Go on, make these. Top with pancake syrup, caramel, chopped bananas or whatever makes you close your eyes and say “Hmmmmmmm”. Enjoy!

Prep time: 10 mins
Cooking time: 2 mins per pancake
Makes: 6-7 small pancakes

Ingredients

Ripe Bananas – 3 or 4 pureed (1/2 cup)
Buttermilk – ½ cup
Butter (melted) – 1/8 cup
Granulated sugar – 1/8 cup or less
All purpose flour – ¾ cup (I used whole wheat & APF in 50:50 ratio)
Baking powder – ½ tsp
Baking soda – ½ tsp
Salt – a pinch
Vanilla – 1 tsp

Method

1. Combine all dry ingredients together in a large bowl and whisk together. Pour in the melted butter, buttermilk and pureed banana and whisk to make a lump free pancake batter. Add a little water or milk if necessary to reach a thick slow flowing pancake consistency. Set aside.

2. Heat a griddle. Brush with butter and ladle about a ¼ cup of the pancake batter on the pan. Cook on low heat for 1 minute or till the underside is nice and golden. Gently flip over and cook the other side for another minute. Remove the pancake to a plate.

3. Continue to make pancakes with the rest of the batter. Stack pancakes, top with syrup or chopped fruit. Enjoy.

Summer plans

2016-03-10T21:24:00.001+05:30

The heat is on in Chennai. I am feeling thirsty all day, every day. I am craving tall glasses of chilled fruit juices but I don’t want to pick out seeds, strain the pulp and wash all these dishes for a single glass of juice. I will also complain that juice shops charge exorbitant rates for a single glass of juice.

And I just can’t seem to resist Watermelon juice and Jagan beer.

Don’t worry. This is not a recipe post for Watermelon juice.

It is not a recipe post because Vitamix, Hamilton and Kitchenaid and even Preethi mixie said they don’t want to sponsor this post.

And I trust you my readers to chop up the watermelon, discard the green pith and blend the chopped watermelon to a juice. Promise me you won’t go wrong.

Also since many of you told me you look forward to my stories more than my recipes, I decided to skip the watermelon juice recipe this time.

I have big plans and bigger dilemmas come summer.

I have a long list of vadams and pickles that I plan to make on my weekend dates with mambalam maami friends that I need someone to organize for me. I try to get out of calling people. I am not social enough.

Before that I need to go shopping for the maa vadus (tiny tender mangoes) and ingredients. I need to make lists. Every time I look at the lovely low hanging mangoes in our terrace, I remind myself I need to go buy some maa vadu.

I have two Hattori/Motu Patlu binge watchers at home that I need to keep from scraping their already battered knees doing cycle races through their very own dirt track over the siphon, into the puddle and through the mud track between the road and the pavement. I need to keep them away from the TV, away from all the smartphones in the house; pins and passcodes of all of which they have memorized. I need to keep them from razing all the crayons down to wax powder, from drawing on the newly painted walls, from raiding the cookie boxes and feeding the extras to crows, from drenching themselves under the garden tap, from bringing the garden into the house, from cooking their leaves and dirt curry in my non-stick kadai, from coating the living room floor in biscuit crumbs, sticky lollipop sticks, hot wheels cars, gum and torn paper.

I like it that summer camps somewhat reduce duty time but I am beset by memories of my own idle summer holidays and I can’t make up my mind if summer camps are better for them or not. They are better for me, I know.

Slightly cleaner floors and a little organized activity and learning

un-restrained childhood summers and potential memories

I am un-decided.

What do you think?

We officially welcomed summer by breaking out the inflatable pool last weekend. Hasini claimed she finally felt calm and peaceful soaking in the water. She excitedly waved to a couple of inquisitive kids who stared from the neighbouring apartment’s balcony. I joined Hasini and Yuvi in the pool and lay there making plans for the summer.

Cheese Crackers

2016-03-03T20:23:00.000+05:30

The elastic on the socks is long gone. The socks no longer hug the little calves. They are loose and dangly. The canvas shoes are frayed in places. The brown covers on the books are tattered. I try to convince Hasini “It doesn’t matter. It is just a few weeks more” to get out of wrapping those books again in brown paper. I throw in images of the imminent holidays, long days of playing, colouring and cartoons. She acquiesces distractedly.

I cannot believe that an entire school year has passed. I cannot believe I managed to drop Yuvan exactly 5 minutes….

after the bell, every day of the school year. Hmm.

It takes a lot of precision, a lifetime of alarm-abuse (snooze forever) and a supportive family. I could not have made it without the support of my family. My mother who’d shove breakfast into my mouth while I combed my hair getting ready for college, my maamiyaar who cooks when I sleep in, Jagan who sleep-competes with me and Yuvi who if I wake up early, wails, tracks me down to the kitchen/bathroom and drags me back into bed.

My dad was the lone crusader. In school/college, he’d pour mugs of cold water over my sleeping head. I remember being enraged at the rude, cold awakening, grabbing a towel to wipe my face, turning over the pillow and going back to sleep, in revenge. Ha.

I started out the school year vowing not to buy cookies and cream biscuits and bread loaves. I was going to home-make all of them with quality ingredients, with love and care.

By end of the year, I am the single largest Oreo buyer in my neighbourhood store. I stock a miniature version of the store’s cookie shelf at home. I unthinkingly pull out a cookie packet and fill up snack boxes in the morning. Yes, me the food blogger. I am very human.

There were little periods in between when I’d take time in between making dosai and rasam to bake some cashew cookies or cheese crackers that I could have with my morning lemon and honey, that I could pack for the kids snack boxes. These periods were few and far between.

These cheese crackers are for the cheese lovers. It is easy, quick and totally fool-proof. Just dump everything in a mixer to make a dough, roll out, cut, bake and you’re done. This recipe works great with cheddar and with processed cheese if you can’t find anything else near you. These are wonderful to munch on anytime of the day. Top with your favourite ingredients and you have some chic party appetizers.

Prep Time: 20 mins

Baking time: 15-20 mins

Makes: 50 – 60 small crackers

Ingredients

Cheese – 200 gm (cheddar or even processed cheese (8 cubes make 200 gm) would do

All purpose flour – ¾ cup (96 gm)

Butter – ¼ cup (57 gm)

Salt – ¼ tsp

Cayenne pepper – ¼ tsp (optional)

Cold water – 1-2 tbsp (if necessary to bring the dough together

Method

1. Preheat an oven to 200 degrees centigrade. Line 2 baking sheets with aluminium foil. Set aside.

2. Break up the cheese into small bits or grate it up.

3. Dump everything except the water into a mixer grinder/food processor and pulse till all the ingredients come together as a dough. Add cold water 1 teaspoon at a time if the mixture is dry and hasn’t formed a dough. You may not need to add the water at all.

4. Scrape the dough out into a bowl and shape into a ball.

5. Flour your working surface and roll out the dough to ¼ inch thick sheet. Use a pizza cutter to cut the dough into squares. Use a fork to poke holes into each of the squares.

6. Transfer the squares to the foil lined baking sheets. Place the baking sheets in the middle racks of the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes or until browned on the underside. Remove from the oven. Cool and store in an airtight box for up to a week.

Basil Pesto Pasta with mushrooms and lemony chicken

2016-02-17T10:52:00.003+05:30

In other updates, I’ve been wildly successful this year in getting things done. I got myself a new scooter. I’ve started composting at home. And I got a scooter.

I bought myself a pretty little notebook-cum-planner that I am constantly jotting down things in. I am so excited to cross things off that sometimes I haven’t listed a task at all but I’ve completed it. I go back and write it in and strike it off because I’ve rocked and I need to register it somewhere.

Call up hasini’s friend’s mom - done
order idli rice – done
make idli – done
pack idli – done
eat idli – done
transfer money for gift – done
Trim eyebrows – not done

I like to believe I’ve been productive. I strongly urge all of you to get yourself a planner. Marking off things gives a great sense of accomplishment.

Apart from making uncomfortable calls, I managed to wade through my stash of card pins and change my card pin, collect my old books and drop them off and even score off a couple of small DIY projects I’ve been postponing forever - I made a thennai olai broom (coming soon on the blog) and made a batch of homemade orange peel face pack. Would you believe that?

All this buoyancy could also be the effect of having completed the tax formalities for the year. It always gives me a high.

I managed to score off this basil pesto pasta which has been on my to-try list for as long as I’ve known pasta and pesto. If you don’t have basil on hand, you can use coriander but it won’t be the same. The aroma of the pesto is breathtaking. It’s fresh, herby flavours marry well with the sharp lemony chicken and I love the way fried mushrooms round out everything. I would put fried mushrooms on anything, just as I’d put a fried egg on anything. I did just that with the leftover pasta. I reheated the pasta stove top, added bonus was the golden fried cheese, plonked a fried egg on top and devoured it. Just skip the chicken if you want to make it vegetarian. You could easily substitute cauliflower (parboiled and marinated) or paneer for the chicken.

Making the pesto is the easiest part. Just combine everything together and grind to a smooth paste. For day-in-day-out professional chutney makers like us, pesto comes naturally. If you are not serving immediately, refrigerate the pesto. I recommend assembling the pasta just before serving time. Have all your components ready – cooked pasta, fried mushrooms, stir-fried chicken, sliced olives and grated cheese. Just before you serve, toss the pasta in olive oil, a dash of butter and the pesto, combine the mushrooms, chicken and olives, top with cheese and serve hot.

Prep time: 20 mins
Cooking time: 30 mins
Serves: 3-4

Ingredients – Basil Pesto

Basil leaves – 1 cup
Walnuts – 2 tbsp
Olive oil – ¼ cup or less
Garlic – 1 large clove chopped roughly
Salt to taste

Ingredients – Pasta

Fusili (or your choice pasta) – 200 gm
Mushrooms – 2 cups rinsed and sliced
Chicken (boneless pieces) – chopped into 1/2 inch pieces to make about ¾ cup
Lemon juice – 1 tbsp
Salt as necessary
Black pepper powder – 2 tsp
Olive oil – 2 tbsp
Butter – 3 tbsp
Sliced Olives – ¼ cup
Parmesan cheese – ½ cup grated

Method

1. Cook pasta as per packet instructions. Boil plenty of salted water, plonk pasta in and drain when al dente. Set aside. Cover to avoid the pasta drying out.

2. Marinate the chicken in lemon juice, salt and pepper. Leave undisturbed for 30 mins to 1 hour.

3. To make the pesto, combine all ingredients called for under pesto in a mixer grinder/food processor, except the olive oil and grind to a fine paste. Add olive oil, little at a time, scraping the sides till the pesto is a fine uniform paste. You can thin it if you want with more love oil. Set aside. You may have a little leftover pesto after making this pasta which you can store in an airtight container in the fridge.

4. To prepare the mushrooms, heat a pan. Add 1tbsp butter and then toss in the mushrooms. Cook on high heat and wait for all the liquid to evaporate. Lower heat to medium low and fry for 2-3 minutes or till the mushrooms are nice and golden. Remove fried mushrooms on to a plate.

5. To the same pan, add 1 tbsp butter and then the marinated chicken pieces. Stir fry on high heat till the chicken is golden around the edges – about 3-4 minutes. Remove the fried chicken on to a plate.

6. To assemble the pasta, heat the same pan. Add butter and olive oil. On low heat stir in 3-4 tablespoons of the pesto. Immediately throw in the pasta and toss to coat well. Add in the fried mushrooms and stir fried chicken and mix. Taste and adjust seasoning. Add more pesto if desired. Throw in the sliced olives and top with grated parmesan cheese. Switch off. Serve hot.

Cashew Cookies

2016-02-11T02:10:00.000+05:30

We have a guest over one evening. I offer to make dosai for tiffen. She says “No no no, don’t bother”. I go on into the kitchen to make the dosai.

Hasini follows me inside asking loudly “Why are you making tiffen, when she says No?”

I can’t help smiling. She doesn’t get polite-speak, my girl. I didn’t too for a very long time.

I worry about her.

Her friend in school had told Hasini to stop jabbering, that she was not in the mood.

I asked Hasini “Why do you continue to talk to her if she is rude to you?”

Hasini simply says “She is my friend”.

How will I protect my little cream-bun?

After Rajini in “Thalapathi”, Hasini.

She wouldn’t show you the dance steps she learnt in her bharatnatyam class if you ask. But she’d dance while climbing the stairs, while sharpening the pencil, when she’s talking to me in the kitchen knocking over the bournvita on the counter.

And we are always fighting about something. We can’t agree on lunch or snacks or TV channel or school bag or story book or jatti.

I thought it must be my fault. According to an article I read, I am authoritative, uninvolved, docile, stifling, lenient and rude. I decided to take a few small steps.

I am going to let her choose her “Frozen” exam board and not try to steer her to the subtler tiny flowers printed one I liked.

I am going to wait till she loses her entire stash of pencils before I lose it.

I am going to have to make her an eraser-holder-gripper-tracer to use during homework time.

I am going to try doing pranayama before starting homework.

I am going to give her a menu card to let her decide what she wants for lunch, breakfast and dinner the next day. She cannot have podi idli every day. She can choose one item only once per week. I am going to list oothappam 3 times, sandwich 4 times and not list sambar at all.

I promise to pack bourbon biscuits if she chooses them over my cashew cookies. I will not try to sell her my cookies so I can say “my kids took these scrumptious cookies to school too” on my blog.

I loved these cashew cookies though.

These cashew cookies are reminiscent of Kaju katlis - but in cookie form. These cookies are wonderfully cashew scented, not too sweet and perfect with a glass of milk or alongside your evening tea or just on their own. These cookies can be chewy if you want them to be. Bake them just until the underside is browned. They can be crispier if you want them to be. Bake them slightly longer. They’ll turn a deep chocolate brown.

These are made from scratch. You’ll make your own cashew meal - toasting cashews and grinding them with cornflour and sugar (to absorb those nut oils) to a fine powder. They’re great for kids’ snack boxes (if your kids agree), with your tea or for that little midnight snack.

Prep Time: 25 mins
Baking time: 15-25 mins
Makes: 18-22 cookies

Ingredients

Unsalted, unroasted Cashews – ¾ cup (100 gm)
Cornflour – 2 tsp
Granulated white sugar – 2 tsp
All purpose flour – ¾ cup (100 gm)
Baking powder – ½ tsp
Butter (softened) – ¼ cup (57 gm)
Brown sugar – ¼ cup (55 gm)
Granulated white sugar – ¼ cup (50 gm)
Milk – 2-3 tbsp
Vanilla – 1 tsp

Method

1. Preheat an oven to 200 degrees centigrade and lightly grease two un-lined baking sheets.

2. Toast cashews in a dry pan on low heat, tossing frequently until they’re toasted. They won’t turn golden all over, not necessary. Just toast marks here and there would do. Transfer to a plate and cool completely. Set aside about 7-8 cashews for garnish. Chop these cashews into little pieces and set aside.

3. Transfer the cooled cashews to a mixer grinder along with two teaspoons of each of granulated sugar and cornflour. Grind the mixture to a fine powder. Set aside.

4. Combine all purpose flour, baking powder and ground cashew mixture and whisk to combine well. Set aside.

5. In a medium bowl, beat butter with a whisk or electric mixer until soft - about a minute or so. Add the two sugars and beat for about 2-3 minutes or until well mixed.

6. Add vanilla and mix well.

7. Add the flour mixture and beat just until the flour is incorporated.

8. Add milk one tablespoon at a time and beat lightly until it is incorporated. The mixture will attain a slow dropping cookie dough consistency, will be slightly sticky and almost like fudgy caramel.

9. Use a tablespoon or a melon scooper to scoop the cookie dough and drop it on the baking sheets. Lightly flatten the dough to your desired diameter/thickness and use a pizza cutter to draw vertical and horizontal lines across the cookie to make a lattice pattern. Gently press in a few pieces of chopped cashew on each of the cookies.

10. Proceed with the rest of the dough to make more cookies.

11. Bake in the middle rack of the oven for 15 minutes turning the baking sheets around halfway through. The base should be light golden. Let cool completely before transferring to an air-tight container. At 15 minutes, these cookies are slightly chewier. If you like them crisp and brittle, bake them for another 10 minutes.

12. Enjoy with a cup of tea or a glass of milk. These cookies keep well for up to 2 weeks.

Vegetable kurma – restaurant style

2016-02-02T10:13:00.001+05:30

I am trying to mentally note down little pieces of dialogue that kids happen to say, to narrate later. Over weekends, I am adjusting the web-cam to fit everyone into the skype window or scouring the country’s Amazon website for the best deals that I can get without shipping and exchange rate overheads.

I do what a wife-of-frequent-traveller-husband does best.

For a short period, I live a slightly lame bad-ass, almost-single-but-with-kids-and-domestic-duties kind of life. I while away weekends, play loud music, defraud dinner, read the day’s papers first, in its original folding from the living room instead of the toilet, get around to my long-lost to-do list & re-do that list and command kids freely.

I schedule my best laid plans for the husband-away days. Finally I have the remote, but I’ve lost touch. So TV remains off. The Bose player is on throughout starting with M.S. Subbulakshmi’s Suprabatham in the morning to “Saathi Malli poocharame” in the evening. I plan my vathal and pickle learning sessions, parlour appointments, family visits, pondy bazaar shopping trips and meetings with friends during these times.

I make Mor Kuzhambu, keerai masiyal, dal and rice with abandon. No Mor Kuzhambu opposition party to accommodate.

I read into the night in full glow of the CFL.

I write through the night, I’d like to think. I am staring at the blank document, watching cake decorating tutorials on youtube, staring at the document, scrolling facebook and staring at the document.

I make vegetable pulav, vegetable curry and order vegetarian pizza because Jagan is a strict non-vegetarian.

I make different iterations of vegetable kurma (This recipe is from the canteen maami. Thank you!) I test and re-test. I make again till it tastes like this. It is hot and heady aromatic pulling you from wherever you are to the kitchen, is full bodied enough to scoop with a piece of roti or mop up with some idiyappam and you eat an extra roti/idiyappam for the kurma. That to me is a true tribute to the kurma. This vegetable kurma is that kind of kurma. Enjoy!

Prep time: 15 mins
Cooking time: 30 mins
Serves: 5

Ingredients

Chopped vegetables – 3 cups (I used carrots, turnips and potatoes. You could use cauliflower, peas or beans too)
Salt to taste
Bay leaf – 2
Cinnamon – 2 inch piece
Cardamom – 4
Cloves – 5
Kashmiri Red chilli powder – 1 tbsp
Oil – 3 tbsp
Ghee – 1 tbsp (optional)

Ingredients - Spice pastes

Onions – 2 large, ground to a paste
Tomatoes – 2 large, ground to a puree
Green chillies – 3-4 ground to a paste
Ginger-garlic paste – 1 inch piece ginger + 5 large cloves garlic ground to a paste
Coconut-poppy seed paste – ½ a coconut grated + 2 tbsp poppy seed soaked in water for 10 minutes, ground to a paste

Method

1. Pressure cook vegetables with salt and water till tender but not mushy. You could cook then in a kadai too. Set aside.

2. While the vegetables are cooking, prepare the spice pastes. Grind onions separately to a paste. Set aside. Grind green chillies to a paste. Grind ginger and garlic to a paste. Set aside. Grind tomatoes to a puree. Grind coconut and poppy seeds to a paste. Grind each of these separately and set aside.

3. To a large kadai, add oil and ghee if using. When hot, add the whole spices – bay leaves, cinnamon, cloves and cardamom. When the spices turn fragrant add the ground onion paste. Sauté for 2-3 minutes or till it changes colour and doesn’t smell raw. Add in green chilli paste and saute for 1 minute. Follow with ginger garlic paste and saute for 1-2 minutes. If the pastes stick to the kadai, add in a tablespoon of water.

4. Add in pureed tomato and mix well. Cook on high heat for about 2 minutes stirring frequently. Add Kashmiri red chilli powder and mix well. Tip in the cooked vegetables along with any liquid. Add 1-2 cups of water and stir everything together. Taste and adjust salt. Cover and cook for 5-7 minutes on low till the flavours have blended.

5. Pour in the coconut-poppy seed paste, stir well. Add a little water if the kurma is too thick. Cover and simmer for 5-7 minutes or till oil separates. Switch off. Serve hot with Idiyappam or roti.

Kadalai Paruppu chutney

2016-01-25T09:27:00.000+05:30

If I pounce on the special music season supplementary pages from the day’s newspapers, skip the kutchery reviews, concert schedules and artiste interviews and turn to the last page to read the article on the canteen specials at sabhas, what will JKB (SindhuBhairavi movie) make of me? I worry sometimes.

Does that make me a Gnyanasoonyam too?

On trips to forests, Jagan looks for the tusker and I look out for the little shack that sells tea and Maggi. What does that make me? Apart from fat?

I love road trips and early morning ones at that. I am excited and talkative. I am upbeat and positive. I continue this way until the breakfast stop at a highway hotel - fluffy idlis, fragrant ghee roast and crispy ulundhu vadais with sambar, an assortment of chutneys and piping hot filter coffee. I am contented and ready to sleep the rest of the journey but I am usually not allowed to.

I love it that I get to eat breakfast at the table along with the rest of the family. And those freshly ground chutnies are my favourites - each piece dunked in a different chutney. I collect chutney recipes like I collect hmm.. biryani recipes, like others might collect shoes or stamps. I've never thought twice to walk up to someone and ask for their chutney recipe.

You cannot have too many chutney recipes. This Kadalai paruppu chutney however comes from my Maamiyaar’s repertoire. You can vary it a few different ways by switching the red chillies for fresh green chillies or throwing in one or two pods of garlic instead of ginger and so on and still make a great chutney every time irrespective of how you change it up.

Scoop up this chutney with idlis, dosai or upma. Enjoy!

Prep TIme: 5 mins

Cooking time: 5 mins

Serves: 4-5

Ingredients - Chutney
Kadalai paruppu/Channa dal – 2 tbsp
Grated Coconut – 1 whole coconut
Whole dry red chillies – 5 (you could substitute green chillies instead)
Curry leaves – from 2 stems
Urad dal – 1 tbsp
Ginger – 1 inch piece peeled and chopped
Tamarind – ¼ tsp sized
Salt to taste
Oil – 2 tbsp

Ingredients – Tempering

Oil – 1 tbsp
Mustard seeds – ½ tsp
Urad dal – 1 tsp
Curry leaves – 1 stem
Asafoetida – a pinch

Method

1. Heat a pan. Add 2 tbsp oil. When the oil is hot, add urad dal and channa dal and fry for 1-2 minutes on low to medium heat. Add chillies and curry leaves and fry for a minute. Add grated coconut, chopped ginger and tamarind and fry on low heat till the coconut is nicely roasted – about 3-4 minutes. Switch off. Cool, add salt and grind adding water as necessary to your desired chutney consistency.

2. To the same pan add 1 tbsp oil. When oil is hot, add mustard seeds, urad dal, curry leaves and asafoetida. When the dal turns golden, remove from heat pour the mixture over the ground chutney and mix well. Serve with idli, dosai or upma.

Chocolate truffle cake

2016-01-14T00:06:00.001+05:30

The inspiration behind this beautiful cake is Jagan. The reason for this beautiful cake is my sister. The creator of this beautiful recipe is not me. Must be a genius at bbcgoodfood who came up with this recipe.

Where (Why) do I come in? The maker of this beautiful cake is me. The one who made this cake from start to finish, the one who peeled the parchment paper off an un-chilled super-moist cake before transferring to cake board and paid hell, the one who made indigenous crème fraiche substituting a substitute for a substitute, the one who forgot to add in the said indigenous crème fraiche and then swirled it in the cake pans. Still, this cake was stunning, in-spite of all the madness. I write this to tell you what not to do in making this gorgeous cake, and to tell you that even the hand-mixer wielding, Amul fresh cream using, birthday baker like you and me can make this cake. And you will be known ever after as the one who makes the best chocolate truffle cake.

Recently at a coffee shop, Jagan asked me why I’ve never made Chocolate truffle cake like the one they have there.

Why? I didn’t know. So I set out to make one. My sister’s birthday was the right occasion for a Chocolate truffle cake because it was the one coming up next. Then I found this recipe. I figured you couldn’t go wrong with 800 grams of chocolate plus cocoa and more than a pound of butter. I immediately decided this was the recipe I was going to go with.

This is my best chocolate cake so far and it is going to be my new most favourite chocolate cake to make for a long time to come. It turned out absolutely fantastic – rich, fudgy-moist and so so chocolatey interlaced with velvety chocolate frosting and finished off with a luscious smooth chocolate ganache. Oh My! Perfection!

Make this for Valentine's day, for a birthday or for a celebration. It is a special occassion cake.

Prep time: 2.5 hours
Baking time: 30-40 mins
Serves: 12-15

Ingredients – Cake

Bittersweet Chocolate – 283 gm (10 ounces) chopped fine divided into two portions – 170 gm + 113 gm
Butter – ½ cup
Vanilla – 1 tbsp
Cocoa powder – 1/3 cup
Water – 1 cup
Crème fraiche – 2/3 cup (recipe below to make your own)
Eggs – 3 whole
Egg yolks – 2
Granulated white Sugar – 1-1/2 cups
Brown sugar – ½ cup
All purpose flour/Maida – 1-1/4 cups
Baking soda – 1 tbsp
Baking powder – 2 tsp
Salt – 1 tsp

Ingredients – Frosting

Bittersweet chocolate – 113 gm chopped fine
Sugar – ¼ cup
Cocoa powder – 6 tbsp
Water – ¼ cup + 2 tbsp
Instant coffee granules – 1 tbsp (optional)
Butter – 2 cups
Icing sugar – ¾ cup

Ingredients – Ganache

Bittersweet chocolate – 283 gm chopped fine
Heavy cream – 1-1/3 cup

Ingredients – Chocolate hearts (for decorating)

Semisweet chocolate - 120 gm chopped fine
Margarine – 1 tbsp

Method – Chocolate hearts

1. Start off by making the chocolate hearts. Place an upturned cookie tray by the side. Combine chopped chocolate and margarine in a small saucepan over low heat. When most of the chocolate is melted, remove from heat, whisk till smooth and immediately spread the melted chocolate on the tray using an offset spatula. Make the layer as thin as ¼ inch. Put the cookie tray in the fridge for about 15-20 minutes or so. Your chocolate should have set but not too hard (should be like chilled cookie dough). Use heart shaped cookie cutters to cut out the chocolate stars. Place these hearts in a single layer on a plate or cookie sheet and freeze. If the chocolate is too hard, just wait for 5 minutes and try again.

Method – Chocolate Ganache

1. Next, make the ganache. Place chopped chocolate in bowl. In a small saucepan, heat heavy cream until it steams and small bubbles appear around the edges. Pour hot cream over the chopped chocolate. Whisk until smooth. Chill in refrigerator until cake decorating time.

Method – Chocolate Frosting

1. Make the chocolate frosting. You’ll use this to fill and frost the cake. Melt chocolate over low heat. Whisk until smooth and set aside. In a saucepan, combine sugar, water, cocoa powder and coffee (if using) and heat, whisking continuously. Bring to a boil. Switch off. Mix in melted chocolate, whisk to incorporate and let cool.

2. Beat butter until light and fluffy, add cooled chocolate mixture and beat to combine well. Add icing sugar and beat on low speed till it is your desired spreading consistency. Chill till frosting time.

Method – Chocolate truffle cake

1. Finally the cake. These cakes are baked in 2 shallow jelly roll pans. My jelly roll pans measured 11x7.5 inches. I decided to cut the 2 cakes in half and stack them – so I ended up with 4 rectangular layers, each measuring 5.5X3.75. I was fine with a rectangular cake of not-so-usual dimensions. If you are particular about a square cake, measure your pans and calculate accordingly. These cakes are meant to be baked in shallow jelly roll pans. They’re very moist and can easily break by handling. I don’t recommend switching other pans or dumping all the batter into one pan. Apart from being difficult to handle, the texture may not be the same too if you substitute other pans. Line the bottom and sides of the jelly roll pans with parchment paper and butter the paper. Leave a slight overhang for easy lifting later on. Set aside. Preheat oven to 180 degrees centigrade.

2. Sift All purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

3. If you don’t have crème fraiche, you can make your own. To make 1 cup of crème fraiche, add 3 tbsp buttermilk to 1 cup of heavy cream. Stir to mix well. Let sit overnight (I used mine in a few hours though). I substituted yogurt for buttermilk (substitute for substitute!). Cake came out so so moist, I have no complaints. Measure out 2/3 cup of crème fraiche for the cake.

4. Melt 170 grams of the chocolate, whisk till smooth and cool. In a saucepan, combine butter, vanilla, cocoa powder and water and cook on medium-low heat whisking continuously until it comes to a low boil. Switch off and cool.

5. Stir the melted chocolate into the butter-cocoa mixture and whisk till smooth. Set aside.

6. Combine eggs and sugars in a large bowl and beat on high for a solid 5 minutes. Pour in the chocolate cocoa mixture and beat on low to incorporate. Add in crème fraiche and beat on low just until incorporated.

7. Stir in the sifted dry ingredients into the chocolate mixture and beat on low just until the dry ingredients are incorporated.

8. Divide the batter equally between the two jelly roll pans. Sprinkle the remaining 113 gm chocolate equally on the batter in the two pans. Bake in the middle two racks of the oven for 30-35 minutes or till a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Don’t overbake. Halfway through, rotate the pans between the racks.

Method – Cake assembly

1. Once baked, let cakes cool completely in the pans. Don’t remove cakes from the pans. Freeze the cakes in their pans for a couple of hours. Remove from fridge, slide a knife around the edges of the cake, place a rectangular plate/cutting board that covers the pan completely, invert and tap lightly to loosen the cake from the pan. When the cake has slid out, remove pan but don’t peel away the parchement paper.

2. Using a sharp knife, slice the cake down the middle along with the parchment paper to make two layers. Place another rectangular plate/cutting board over the sliced cakes and invert carefully on to the new board, so the two cake layers are now paper side down. Do the same with the cake in the other jelly roll pan to make two more cake layers.

3. Have your cake board ready with a little dab of frosting in the centre. Carefully lift one cake layer, invert and place on the cake board and peel away the parchment paper. Spread a layer of the chocolate frosting. Now place the other cake layer, the same way inverting it over the frosted cake layer and peel away the parchment paper. Spread chocolate frosting on this layer as well. Continue stacking the remaining two cake layers and frosting. Once all four layers are stacked, spread frosting on the sides as well. Chill cake for about 30 minutes to 1 hour.

4. Beat chilled ganache before slathering it on the top and sides of the chilled frosted cake.

5. Insert the chocolate hearts into the cake. Chill cake until serving time. Remove cake from fridge about 30 minutes before serving time. Enjoy!

Stuffed Bhindi

2016-01-07T22:34:00.001+05:30

Yesterday I did what no fat mommy should do. I looked through my wedding albums (after 7 years). So much younger, half the width, half the circumference… Everybody else seemed to have aged too, which was comforting. There were some who had since lost weight. That irked us a bit and in a fit of childish competitiveness, Jagan and I decided we had to exercise twice a day and eat once a day.

I decided also,

To not buy jeans till I lose weight. That I can’t find one that fits, and if I do and if I wear it, my behind looks like a huge parentheses is immaterial.

To not wear said parantheses jeans in the name of social good.

To not buy new clothes as they may be too large once I’ve lost weight.

To not attend parties & weddings until I lose weight.

To stay out of selfies, to avoid having to shoot 100s of photos, to avoid turning sideways or hide behind someone or hold my breath or photoshop the hell out of it.

To camouflage my fitness tracker. I wear a Garmin vivofit fitness tracker all the time. I like to believe I am fitness conscious. I am conscious that I am not doing anything about my fitness every time I look at my fitness band. Wearing it though has given me great grief. Everyone and I mean EVERYONE asks me what I am wearing and once I’ve explaied - how much I’ve walked and how much weight I’ve lost. Once they hear I’ve not achieved much yet, their reactions go from smug satisfaction to ridicule to advice. One very thoughtful lady went as far as to ask why I would even try, beyond this point, suggesting that I am married, a mommy and that I am old and I should settle into my parantheses. I will meet her once I’ve lost weight. Till then I am not telling anyone it is a fitness tracker.

Very important. To not look at the wedding albums till I lose weight.

That felt like therapy, like a pact to myself. Thanks for hanging in there. Now on to today’s recipe.

This recipe for stuffed okra/stuffed bhindi is really close to my heart. It is easy, slightly time consuming than your regular okra stir fry but totally worth it. I love the stuffing in this one. It is crispy, nutty, flavour bursting and absolutely gorgeous. Don’t skip any of the ingredients in the stuffing. It just won’t be the same without the roasted peanuts that bestow the wonderful nuttiness, grated coconut that adds body or the jaggery that adds a subtle sweetness and rounds out the flavours. If you don’t like even the slightest sweet note in your stuffed bhindi, you can try the very slightly different bhindi sambhariya recipe on my blog.

These would work great for parties or potlucks too. The stuffed okras can be refrigerated a day or two ahead and fried just before the party. Serve as a side dish with rice or rotis. Enjoy.

Prep time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 30 mins
Serves: 4

Ingredients

Ladies finger/okra/bhindi – ½ kilo washed, patted dry, ends cut and slit lengthwise
Oil – 4-5 tbsp for frying

Ingredients - Stuffing

Green chilli – 1-2 chopped
Ginger – 1 inch piece scraped and chopped
Grated coconut – ¼ cup
Cumin seeds – 1 tbsp
Peanuts – 2 1/2 tbsp
Sesame seeds – 1 tbsp
Coriander seeds – 2 tbsp
Garam masala powder – 1 pinch
Red chilli powder – ½ tsp
Jaggery – 1 tbsp (adjust as per taste)
Coriander leaves – ¼ cup loosely packed, chopped
Salt to taste
Water – 1-2 tbsp

Method

1. Prepare okra. Wash and pat dry. Lop off the tops and tails and make a vertical slit down each okra taking care not to cut it all the way through. You are creating a pocket for the filling. Set aside.

2. Dry roast peanuts, sesame seeds, coriander seeds and cumin seeds in a pan until nicely toasted and hot.

3. Transfer the toasted ingredients to a mixer jar along with the rest of the ingredients (except water and coriander leaves) called for under stuffing. Grind to a coarse mixture adding water little at a time and scraping the sides of the jar. Transfer the stuffing to a bowl and mix in the chopped coriander leaves.

4. Stuff the filling into each of the okras.

5. Heat a pan and add about a tablespoon or two of oil. Place stuffed okras in a single layer on the pan and cover with a lid. Cook on medium-high, open after 3-4 minutes, if the undersides of the okras are dark and shrivelled, then flip them over and cook the other sides for another 3-4 minutes. When the okras are cooked on all sides and the filling is nice and crispy, remove on to a plate. Continue with the next batch of stuffed okras, adding more oil as necessary and shallow frying.

6. Serve hot alongside rice or rotis.

Brahmin style Vathal kuzhambu

2016-01-05T01:23:00.002+05:30

I re-read my resolutions for 2014 and cringed. Mediocre writing apart, I had been so naïve. I decided not to write any for this year although in my mind I still believe I can wake up early every day, exercise, lose weight and save all my medical bills, if only I will myself to do it. I am innocent that way.

I made an ambitious to-do list today that started with the little chores I wanted to get done today and ended up having everything I wanted to do over the past year. I felt tired reading it. But writing things down always makes me feel I’ve emptied my mind of all the lists on to the book and my mind is free for other tasks. I realized it had been 3 weeks since I blogged last. Ouch!

Strangely I’ve been cooking more often these past few weeks than I was before. The newer ways I find to use up leftover rice, my family will make more rice to leave us with more leftovers. I am trying hard not to turn into the kitchen sink momma.

Don’t be the kitchen sink momma. If today you eat the extra helping of pulav, the two spoons of poriyal and the tiny piece of cake because it’s too little to store in the fridge, because it is easier to pop them into your mouth than to find little dabbas to store them in, you will do so every day. Once a kitchen sink momma, always a kitchen sink momma. That my friends, is the single biggest reason behind the Indian woman’s disparate shape (top 20: bottom 80).

Making a lip-smacking vathal kuzhambu is a wonderful way to eat up your rice. There are some food combinations that make us go glassy eyed, shake our heads in amazement and recall long lost memories. Vathal kuzhambu ladled over hot rice, drizzled with some warm gingelly oil or ghee, eaten with crunchy rice appalams will always be a classic.

I followed this easy recipe and I was mighty pleased with the results. I love that we add a tiny bit of jaggery to round out the flavours. Make sure not to skip it. You may adjust the quantity to your liking. This kuzhambu keeps well in the fridge for a week or even more.

Wishing all my readers a very happy 2016!

Prep time: 15 mins
Cooking time: 20 mins
Serves: 5-7

Ingredients

Sundakkai vathal/Dried turkey berry – ½ cup (substitute with any other sun-dried vegetable)
Sambar onions/Shallots – 1 cup peeled and halved
Curry leaves – 1 sprig
Mustard seeds – ¾ tsp
Tamarind extract – from a lemon sized ball
Turmeric powder
Salt to taste
Jaggery – 2 tbsp grated (adjust as per taste)
Gingelly oil – 3 tsp

Spice powder

Whole dry red chillies – 4
Toor dal – 1 tbsp
Urad dal – 1 tbsp
Coriander seeds – 1 tbsp
Whole pepper seeds – 1 tbsp
Asafoetida – ½ tsp
Raw rice – ½ tbsp.
Fenugreek seeds – 1 tsp

Method

1. Heat a heavy bottomed pan and dry roast the ingredients given under spice paste till the dals turn golden and the ingredients are nicely toasted. Cool. Grind to a fine paste adding very little water.

2. To the same pan, add gingelly oil. When hot, add mustard seeds and let splutter. Add in the chopped shallots and curry leaves and fry till the shallots turn translucent.

3. Add in the sundakkai vathal (or any other sun-dried vegetable of choice) and fry for a minute.

4. Pour in the tamarind extract. Add turmeric powder and salt and bring to a boil. Lower heat to medium-low and let the mixture simmer for 5-10 minutes.

5. Stir in the spice paste and mix well to incorporate into the boiling tamarind mixture. Add a little water if it is too thick. Adjust to your desired consistency. Add in grated jiggery. Mix well. Taste and adjust seasoning.

6. Switch off. You could finish with a tempering of gingelly oil if you wish. Serve hot with rice and appalam.

Carrot beetroot chutney

2015-12-13T02:33:00.000+05:30

My biggest gripe during the Chennai rains was that Jagan was away for the most part of it. I would have loved to see him unarmed, unplugged and unwired - without his phone, TV and laptop, forced to turn around and talk to fellow humans. Result: He just doesn’t seem as moved and emotional about the whole Chennai humanity outpouring situation.

Honestly, my feel-good quotient is wearing out too and I think it’s time for people to get back to work. Muggings of volunteers, harassment of women volunteers and looting of relief material surely means everything’s back to normal. Too much of a good thing never is good. I am a pathological cynic. That explains everything. “Feel-good’ers”, don’t crucify me for this.

Since we’ve all already imbibed the life lessons that the Chennai rains have taught us that ‘money doesn’t matter but people do’, and since I am a cynic, and since I am no good at feel-good, I’ll restrict myself to the small day-to-day lessons that I have learnt.

1. I have been postponing composting at home because I haven’t found the right bin. Un-pardonable, I know. I know I am responsible too for the garbage bags that clog the dump yards. It’s time for me to start segregating the waste at home, to compost. Here is a wonderful presentation on composting that my friend Ashwin shared a while back. I am starting this week. You should give it a try too.

2. I am going to carry my own water bottles everywhere. I just haven’t done this consistently enough. Read the story of the bottled water here.

3. Choose sustainable at every step. Choose wooden tops and handmade toys over battery powered ones, use jute bags for your grocery shopping, take a cloth bag everywhere you go – you never know when you’ll need to shop, walk more – drive less. I am no undercover agent of United nations environment programme. I know nothing about climate change. I am far from perfect. I just know we can make small changes in the everyday things we do. And yes, they matter.

4. Wasting food is criminal. Make smaller portions if unsure. Upcycle, get creative. I did just that with this carrot beetroot chutney. Beetroot poriyal is hugely infamous in our home and has never been finished in its history. So I roasted yesterday’s beetroot poriyal along with some grated carrot and coconut, with channa dal for added body and flavour and ground it into a pretty chutney for this morning’s idlis. You could grind up your left over cabbage poriyal or carrot poriyal the same way too. If you’re combing veggies just choose veggies that go well together. Nobody guessed. And the chutney was gone.

You need advice to tackle inquisitive questions about your upcycled chutney? Just don’t tell anyone if you think people will fuss. Lie if you’re good at it. Or act like you didn’t hear. Or ask them an uncomfortable question in return. With my kids, I ask if they realized school re-opens on Monday, if they shouldn’t be revising their alphabet and numbers. They scamper away. With the husband, I just start “Your mother.. “ and he’s gone too. With the mother-in-law, I am usually gone.

Reach out to me if you need further advice on evading questions.

Prep time: 5 mins
Cooking time: 20 mins
Serves: 4

Ingredients - chutney

Carrot – 1 grated
Beetroot – ½ a medium sized one or 1 small grated
Coconut – ½ a coconut grated
Channa dal – 2 tbsp
Urad dal – 2 tbsp
Garlic – 2 big cloves peeled
Ginger – 1 inch piece peeled and chopped
Whole dry red chillies – 4-5 (4 if you like it medium hot, more if you’d like it hotter)
Coriander leaves with stem - a handful chopped
Salt to taste
Oil – 2 tbsp

Ingredients – Tadka

Oil – 1 tbsp
Mustard seeds – ½ tsp
Urad dal – 1 tsp
Curry leaves – 4-5
Asafoetida – a pinch (optional)

Method

1. Heat a pan. When hot, add 1 tbsp oil. Add urad dal, channa dal, garlic cloves, ginger and whole dry red chillies. Fry for a minute or two. Squeeze out the juices from the grated carrot and beetroot and add the squeezed veggies to the pan. Sauté for 7-10 minutes on low to medium flame till the vegetables are quite dry.

2. Add the grated coconut and chopped coriander fry for a further 5 minutes on low to medium flame stirring often to ensure the mixture doesn’t burn till the mixture is nicely toasted. Add another tbsp of oil to help along the way.

3. Let mixture cool down. Transfer to a mixie jar, add salt and grind without any water till the mixture is coarsely ground. Add water little at a time and grind to the desired consistency. I ground it to a slightly coarse structure. Pour the ground chutney into a bowl.

4. For the tadka, use the same pan. Heat oil. When hot add the mustard seeds and let splutter. Then add the urad dal, curry leaves and asafoetida and switch off when the dal turns golden and the curry leaves are nearly crisp. Pour the tadka over the chutney, mix and serve alongside idli, dosai or upma.

Chennai - Namme ooru pole varuma!

2015-12-04T01:30:00.000+05:30

The frogs are getting too loud. I eye the long handled mop I’ve kept near the door to make sure I know exactly where it is when I need to grab it and clobber the snake that I’d seen earlier in the night slithering through the water outside our gate pausing to turn and wolf down a frog before gliding under my car parked outside, if it decides to return.

I am terribly fortunate. I have electricity and internet, my phone is charged, I have clean drinking water and food and the frogs and snakes are still OUTSIDE my home.

I am thankful.

And I am terribly proud of this city and its people.

Rains will no longer conjure up images of hot bajjis and pakodas, long drives or rain songs on radio. It will be a long time before rains would be #romantic or #awesome. Over the last couple of weeks, Chennai, the rain loving little city has seen nothing but rains, unrelenting rains that have battered the city, wrecked the roads, filled up canals, reservoirs, broken walls and flooded roads and houses. We never expected it would come to this. We never thought we’d have to travel by boats on our roads. We never thought we’d go without power for days together, unable to reach family and friends, that we’d need relief, that we’d be marking ourselves safe on facebook. These were things that happened to far off lands, never to Chennai. So we thought.

We have seen nothing like this ever before.

But these rains have brought to the fore this strange, most beautiful thing. I am getting all choked up. I am shocked and choked. People have been cooking extra meals for strangers, venturing out on to water logged roads driving over to donate things, passing on important and useful information on social media, connecting people through, welcoming people into their homes and caring for each other.

We have seen nothing like this ever before.

I always had a strong unexplainable gravitation to my city. I had to always come back. This was my land. My gravitation has only got stronger. I am pretty sure it’ll take more than these floods to make me or any of my fellow Chennaivasis budge from this city.

I can hear my sister say “When you have power, internet and TV, you bloody well won’t feel like moving your fat ass”.

True. Still, true.

I am proud of us. Namme ooru pole Varuma!

Shahi Paneer

2015-11-06T02:44:00.001+05:30

Somebody please explain to me what’s with all the Halloween themed dress up parties here in India, spooky deserts and special Halloween themed menus at restaurants. I am at a loss here. I understand Indians living abroad dressing up their kids and showcasing for us on facebook. They’ve got to get along. But here in India? Why ya?

There is only so much pumpkin spice anybody can take.

And you guys do know we get pumpkin all year round around here. Does Kasi Halwa ring any bell?

I am not on the beef banning side, mind you, in case you start to think I am a saffron propagandist.

I am all for embracing other cultures but I really wish we were more aware of our own rituals and festivals.

Embrace local. Take pride. Learn about them or they may be lost forever until Americans patent them and National geographic makes a documentary.

Did you know about the Maasana Kollai festival? I bet 8 out of 10 wouldn’t know. It is an ancient Tamil ritual that is at once scary and fascinating.

Dr. Lakshmi, our family friend often recounted tales of how she’d stay up all night during Shivaratri playing Dhaaya kattai with her sisters and cousins. It sounded like fun but I have never stayed up during Shivaratri. I don’t stay up for New year’s eve either. I generally don’t stay up.

When I was a little girl, still in school, we once went to the beach during Chitra-pournami in a huge group of family and friends with a big picnic hamper of lemon rice, tamarind rice, curd rice, vadam, mor milagai and maavadu. It was a fun outing.

I wish I'd stayed up for shivaratri, I'd woken up for Vaikunta yegadesi, accompanied my mother for the golu round-ups and learnt to make adhirasam from Ammama. I wish I'd slept less.

You know what I’ve been making lately?

I didn’t make pumpkin spice anything, you’d know.

Bread toast and bulls eye. I can’t seem to tire of it, ever. I can safely say I've mastered it.

One of the days, I made Shahi paneer along with mushroom pulav for Hasini’s lunch. I’ve unknowingly reared a paneer fiend here. The little girl will order paneer anything anywhere anyday. So paneer finds its way into our menu at least once every week. This is a Sanjeev kapoor’s version of Shahi paneer, minus the yogurt and cardamom powder, plus my favourite kasoori methi and butter. This Shahi paneer is rich, creamy and mildly spiced, perfect for special occasions too.

Prep time: 10 mins
Cooking time: 15 mins
Serves: 4-5

Ingredients

Paneer/Cottage cheese – 200 gm cut into cubes
Onion – 2 medium sized, chopped roughly
Green chillies – 3 slit lengthwise
Cashews – a handful soaked in ½ cup milk for about 15 minutes
Ginger-garlic paste – ¾ tsp
Whole peppercorns – ¼ tsp
Cinnamon stick – 2 inch piece
Cloves - 2
Kasoori methi – 1-1/2 tsp crushed between fingers
Fresh cream – ½ cup
Butter – 2 tbsp
Salt to taste

Method

1. Heat a thick bottomed pan. Pour in about ½ a cup of water. Throw in the roughly chopped onions and let the water boil away till the onions are softened and all the water has dried up. Switch off. Let boiled onions cool down completely. Grind along with ginger to a fine paste. Set aside.

2. Grind soaked cashews and milk to a fine paste. Set aside.

3. To the same pan, add butter and wait for it to melt. Then add the whole peppercorns, cloves and cinnamon stick. When they turn fragrant, add the ginger garlic paste and green chillies and fry for a couple of minutes.

4. Scoop in the onion paste, pour some water and stir it all in. Let the mixture come to a boil. Turn heat down to low, cover and cook for about 7-10 minutes checking in between to make sure the mixture doesn’t burn.

5. Stir in the cashew paste. Pour in the fresh cream. Stir it all up. Add salt. Taste and adjust seasoning. Keep heat down low.

6. When the mixture comes to a boil, drop in the paneer cubes and sprinkle a generous helping of kasoori methi. Switch off after a minute. Serve hot with rotis or rice.

Spiced Bhindi and baby potato fry

2015-10-28T23:01:00.002+05:30

You know how you instantly like the turquoise blue saree in Sundari Silks, you shortlist it, set it aside lest anybody buys it and then go over the rest of the shop to make sure that you are right. You then realize that this shop is not the universal set. So you drag your mother/husband/friend to RMKV, Pothys, Nalli and Kumaran Silks and go over their inventory. You shortlist some at each place but can’t take your mind off the turquoise blue saree you saw first. So you go back to Sundari Silks, and ask for your shortlisted turquoise blue saree. You decide that this is the one. You ask the salesperson to bill it. Then a peacock blue saree catches your eye. You ask him for that saree. Meanwhile the lady next to you pulls up the turquoise blue saree, inspects it and asks the salesperson to open it up. You decide immediately that turquoise blue saree it is. You swiftly pay for it and leave.

My shopping dilemmas are worse now.

I spent the better part of a Sunday scrolling through 845231 dresses across multiple sites, filtering, comparing, measuring Hasini every which way, poring over size charts, saving/liking the dresses (the online shortlisting equivalent), turning the dresses around and inside out and finally deciding on a couple of them. It is late afternoon and I already have a throbbing head-ache.

Then my sister tells me I ought to check if there are coupons I can use. I appreciate her presence of mind. I check and I find that there is a 25% off coupon if only I bought for 700 rupees more. Wow. There is something to all this online shopping thing after all.

So we scroll through 6549 dresses for my sister, filtering, comparing, measuring, checking with size charts, saving/liking dresses and turning them around and inside out and finally deciding on one. We add it to the cart triumphantly.

We key in the coupon code. It said “coupon not applicable on these items, choose from our list”. I empty the cart, close all windows and shut down my system.

If I am out shopping, I am thinking I might get a better deal online, I might have more choice. If I am online, I always feel the material is going to be cheap, it is going to look nothing like what it looks on the screen.

It is not easy, people. It is not at all easy.

What is easier is this spiced okra, baby potato fry. I like to fry the okra, potatoes and onions one at a time so that they’re each cooked through but not over-cooked, they still have some bite. I cook the spice paste and then mix in the fried veggies and add a generous dash of lovely earthy kasoori methi. I stir in quartered tomatoes just before I switch off. There. What you see is what you get! Simple, earthy, spiced bhindi and baby potato fry that can rock your roti or your rice and dal.

Happy Diwali shopping to all of you!

Prep time: 15 mins

Cooking time: 30 mins

Serves: 4

Ingredients

Okra/Ladies finger/Bhindi – ¼ kilo, chopped into 1 inch pieces
Baby potatoes - ¼ kilo boiled, peeled and quartered (substitute regular potatoes if you wish)
Tomato – 1 medium quartered
Tomato – 1 small sized pureed
Water – 3 tbsp
Onion – 1 medium sizes quartered and layers separated
Red chilli powder – 1 tsp
Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp
Salt to taste
Kasoori methi (dry fenugreek leaves) - 2 tbsp crushed with fingers
Oil – 3 tbsp

Method

1. Rinse okra, pat dry, lop off ends and chop into 1 inch pieces.

2. Boil potatoes till cooked through but not mushy. Peel and quarter them.

3. Heat a flat bottomed non-stick pan. When hot, add a tablespoon of oil. Tip in the chopped okra and fry for a couple of minutes. Cover, lower heat to minimum and cook for 10-12 minutes. Pierce an okra with a knife to check if it is cooked through. The knife should slide in easily. Remove the fried okra to a plate.

4. To the same pan, add another tablespoon of oil and the quartered potatoes. Move things around a bit. Cover and cook on low for about 10 minutes or till the edges of the potatoes are browned. Transfer the fried potatoes to the same plate.

5. To the same pan, now add quartered onions and fry for 1-2 minutes or just until it starts to turn translucent but still has a nice bite to it. Transfer to the plate.

6. Turn heat to high, pour in about 3 tbsp of water, scrape the pan to loosen up the fried bits. Pour in the tomato puree and stir well. Add the spice powders and salt and mix well. When most of the water has evaporated and the masala has reduced to a thickish paste – about 1-2 minutes, add the crushed kasoori methi and mix well.

7. Return the fried okra, potatoes and onions back to the pan and gently mix everything up. Cook for 1-2 minutes to let the flavours blend.

8. Stir in the quartered tomatoes and switch off.

9. Serve hot with rotis or rice and dal.

White vegetable kurma

2015-10-20T09:48:00.003+05:30

I had my dream holiday a couple of weeks back – alone at home, husband away on a business trip, kids off to school and everybody else in the family away on a trip. Whoa!

One entire kitchen all to myself, nobody to defer to on the menu, no one to please, no one to cook up a competing second menu, no one to fill up the fridge.

I was king.

It was too precious. I couldn’t afford to waste even a minute of it. I had to plan well. I couldn’t be making sambar nor lemon rice. I had to do all the things I could never do. I could make any crazy, wildass dish I wanted and not have to explain and not fret that no one ate it.

I wanted to slowly doze off into an afternoon nap while reading a book and sleep un-disturbed without kids climbing over me, without anybody waking me up for filter coffee or oreo.

I also wanted to straighten out all my cupboards.

I wanted to change the curtains, hang up a chalkboard on the kitchen door, revamp the garden, clear out the lofts and lose 5 kilos weight – in one week.

I was getting ahead of me.

First things first. I emptied the fridge, the dining table and the counter top of ages old murukku, disfigured pomegranates, teeny tiny portions of sambar, kuzhambu, chutnies and assorted poriyals. The chickens in our backyard (we have real chickens in our backyard), thought I was crazy. They got half the loot. The rest went into the bin.

The first day I made spaghetti in a creamy alfredo sauce with green peas, corn and mushrooms. That was the craziest wildass dish of the week. I made other memorable, lazy ass meals that Hasini, Yuvi and I enjoyed that week. They’ll always be special.

Then I did what I didn’t believe I would. I made rava kheer, sambar, vadai, rice and poriyal that week when I noticed that it was Yegadesi that day. I thought to myself while frying the vadais that my maamiyaar’d be thinking I’d miss it, that I am a lazy ass, that I probably made something as blasphemous as lasagne and how I had proved her wrong. And when I very proudly recounted later to my maamiyaar when she returned, she simply replied that she never considers Yegadesi during theipirai (period when moon is waning).

What I did, didn’t count.

Here I absolutely have to quote Vadivelu’s dialogue. It is classic, my friends and always always relevant –

“Nee pudungaradhi puravume thevai illadhe aani dhaan”

Unfortunately no translation would do it justice, my non-tamil speaking readers. Please watch the scene.

And so I formally give up. It’s a milestone.

I decide to make only what I believe in. So I make a white vegetable kurma, the kind of kurma that they serve in Grahapravesams, weddings and special occasions as a side for idiyappam, chappathi or vegetable pulav. I had gleaned from a server in a Grahapravesam after much prodding that it has poppy seeds and coconut and coconut and poppy seeds. He repeated the two items over and over and wouldn’t reveal anymore. I asked for extra helpings of the kurma to reverse engineer the rest of the recipe.

It turned out quicker than I thought and very, very simple. I love this kurma with idiyappam or vegetable pulav.

And no, I didn’t get my afternoon nap.

Prep time: 15 mins
Cooking time: 20 mins
Serves: 5

Ingredients

Carrots – 2 chopped fine
French beans – chopped fine to make 1-1/2 cups
Potato – 1 large peeled and chopped
Onion – 1 medium chopped fine
Curry leaves – 1 sprig
Salt to taste
Oil – 2 tsp
Cinnamon – 1 inch piece
Cloves – 2
Mustard seeds – ¼ tsp

Ingredients – spice paste

Green chillies – 2
Ginger – ½ inch piece peeled and chopped
Cardamom – 1
Poppy seeds/Khasa Khasa – 1 tsp
Cashewnuts - 4
Grated coconut – ¾ cup

Method

1. Grind together all ingredients called for under spice paste to a fine paste. Set aside.

2. Heat a kadai. Add oil to it. When hot, add cinnamon and cloves. When they turn fragrant add mustard seeds and let splutter. Then add the chopped onions and curry leaves and fry until the onions turn translucent.

3. Add the chopped vegetables and fry for 2 minutes.

4. Add the ground spice paste and salt and mix well. Add 2-3 cups water and bring to a boil. Turn heat down to low, cover and simmer till the vegetables are cooked through – about 15 minutes.

5. Open, give it a good stir and switch off after a minute.

6. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves. Serve as a side dish with Idiyappam, poori or chappati or alongside pulav.

Maida Dosai

2015-10-08T20:39:00.000+05:30

I didn’t go on a trip to Europe. I didn’t have a baby. I didn’t get a book deal. I didn’t even lose a kilo of weight. In case you missed me, in case you were wondering why I was gone.

I was buried in work.

I’ve found that that is never reason enough, never glamorous enough.

So for your interest, our water purifier was down yet again and I was wondering when and why we moved from boiled tap water, my kids’ colds are back again, they lie glibly that they didn’t eat ice cream and I have absolutely no control, and I end up with the most unexciting health issues that are not serious enough to get admitted but still a pain and its official now - even my doctor has declared that I need to lose weight.

Now don’t you think “buried in work” sounds more interesting?

Among other things, I am contemplating changing up a few things on Foodbetterbegood, having some regular themes – diet friendly recipes, one-pot meals and make-ahead meals being top on my list. Do chime in if you’ve got any ideas.

I did cook but in spurts, for guests, for occasions but not the daily grind. I eased into the daily routine with this easy, not-instant but nearly so Maida dosai. There is only one way to eat it and that is hot, right off the stove with some freshly ground coconut chutney or milagai podi (gun powder) mixed with gingelly oil. This maida dosai is a bit stretchy, unlike your regular dosai. I like to add a load of chopped onions and green chillies to the batter just before I am going to make the dosai.

This dosai works in a pinch when you are out of dosai batter, when you are wont to change into something decent to go buy dosai batter and when upma evokes shrieks and swearing. This Maida dosai is for those times.

Prep time: 10 mins
Cooking time: 2 mins for each dosai
Makes:

Maida Dosai

Ingredients

Maida – 1 cup
Rice flour – 1-1/2 cups
Rava/Sooji – 3/4 cup
Water – 5 cups or more to make a very watery batter
Green chillies – 2-3 chopped fine
Onion – 2 large chopped fine
Jeera/Cumin seeds – 1 tsp
Whole black peppercorns – ½ tsp
Curry leaves – 2 stems
Salt to taste
Oil as necessary to fry dosais

Method

1. Mix maida, rice flour and rava in a large bowl. Pour water little at a time and mix to make a thick, lump-free paste. Pour water to make a thin watery batter. Add cumin seeds, black peppercorns, curry leaves, chopped onions and green chillies and mix well.

2. Let batter rest for 1 hour.

3. Heat a tawa till hot. Stir the batter well every time before ladling out batter as the flours tend to sink to the bottom. Ladle about a ¼ cup of batter and pour on the tawa to make a rough circle. This batter doesn’t lend itself to spreading like regular dosai batter, so pour slowly in a rough circle filling out gaps. It doesn’t have to be perfect. Mine never are.

4. Drizzle a little oil all around the dosai. Cook till the underside is crisp and golden. Flip over and cook for half a minute.

5. Serve hot with coconut chutney.

Chicken Kheema Pav Bhaji

2015-09-10T00:39:00.001+05:30

Something I read yesterday on Facebook hit me hard –

“I am being forced to not eat meat to respect you. What if you’re forced to eat meat to respect me?”

Bang on!

Please answer, judgers, the right wing vegetarian converters and especially the born again vegetarian converts out to sermonize the barbaric chicken tikka eaters at the other end of the table.

Before you call me names, before you judge, let me explain.

I am a mostly vegetarian, occasional meat eater who can’t live without eggs. I am neither, yet I am both.

I don’t think vegetarian food is tasteless. In fact I think it is vastly under-rated and I think it can be as tasty as the cook wants it to be. I never chastise vegetarians for uprooting living, thriving greens (keerai), leaves, roots and all, for yanking cute little carrot tops out of their homes, for coldly cutting off all water to the rice paddy fields to let the plants dry so that they can be killed (ouch)/ harvested. To me, a chicken’s life is as precious as a turnip’s as a cow’s as fenugreek greens’ as a dinasaur’s as a carrot’s.

We are finding newer, more dangerous ways of one-upping one another, of being the more righteous group, the more moral group, the more correct group, the better group; in the food we eat, in the books we read, in what we speak, in the cartoons we laugh at, in how well behaved we have our women. Scary.

Someone who today supports the meat ban in Maharashtra today, may have been shocked by the ban on AIB roast and may be outraged if alcohol is banned tomorrow. Many of us are missing the larger conformist angle because the particular conformist action now fits us, because “I am a vegetarian and I am better” or “because I can’t appreciate literary freedom, I can’t accept non-conformism even in a story, I need to burn the book, hound the author and make him promise to behave, to think proper, to write decent”.

I am pained that this one-upping had to move into what we should and shouldn’t be eating, and what others should be eating. I am as surprised as you are that this post turned out as sombre as it did. I needed to say this though.

I love me my vegetarian readers and my meat eating readers. I care about our freedom to eat what we want when we want to. Living in a joint family has enough constraints built in. I don’t need more. I hope you never have to eat to the state’s dictate, that you can try the Iftar pack too even if you’re not a muslim, that you can continue to drink milk during Maatu Pongal without offending the cows and Amul, that you don’t have to fast during Karwa Chauth because your north-indian friends in Sowcarpet do, that you can eat a bar of English bournville on Indian Independence day, that you can eat biryani when your heart desires it, that you can eat Masala kadalai and Molaga bajji when you want to.

Ironically I took a normally vegetarian Pav Bhaji and made a non-veg Chicken Kheema version of it, contrary to general tolerant practices of substituting vegetarian options in a non-veg dish. It was not by design, by sheer innovation only.

I amped up my Chicken Kheema bhaji with potatoes, peas and capsicum. Diced mushrooms or finely diced cauliflower would be lovely too. It can be varied any which way. Make it your own.

Prep time: 15 mins
Cooking time: 30 mins
Serves: 4-5

Ingredients

Pav buns – 2-3 sets of 4 pav buns
Chicken Kheema – 450 gm
Green peas – 1 cup
Potatoes – 2 medium, peeled and diced
Capsicum – 1 seeded and diced
Onion – 2 medium sized chopped fine
Ginger-Garlic paste – 2 tbsp
Green chilli – 1 chopped fine
Tomato – 1 large pureed
Cinnamon – 1 inch stick
Red chilli powder – 2 tbsp
Pav Bhaji Masala – 1-1/2 tbsp
Salt to taste
Turmeric powder – ½ tsp
Oil - 1 tbsp
Butter – 2 tbsp + 4 tbsp

Method

1. For the kheema, heat up a thick bottomed pan or kadai. Add oil and when it is hot, drop in the cinnamon stick. Wait until it turns fragrant.

2. Add the chopped capsicum and fry for 1-2 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon to a plate. To the same pan, add the chopped onions and green chilli and fry until the onions turn translucent.

3. Add the chicken mince and cook until they’re cooked through and slightly browned – a good 4-5 minutes, scraping once in between.

4. Add the ginger garlic paste and tomato puree, mix well and cook for a minute. Add in the chopped potato and peas. Add the spice powders – red chilli powder, turmeric powder, salt and pav bhaji masala. Pour in about 2 cups of water. Mix well and bring to a boil.

5. Reduce heat to low, cover and cook for 15-20 minutes or till the potatoes are soft and most of the liquid has evaporated. Alternately you can stir boiled mashed potatoes at this stage if you don’t want to cook potatoes along with the chicken mince and you prefer a more homogenous texture.

6. Open, stir well, taste and adjust seasoning. Stir in a dab of butter if you wish. Alternately you can top each serving of the kheema with a dab of butter. Switch off. Stir in fried capsicum.

7. Slice pav buns across, smear butter and toast the buttered side on a hot tawa until golden – 1 minute. Serve hot with chicken kheema mince garnished with chopped onions and a lemon wedge. Enjoy.

Cheesy potato tomato sandwich

2015-09-08T23:40:00.001+05:30

The day I work out, I feel I am obligated to have that Cadbury or eat Queen’s toffee at Ibaco. As compensation. And like that, I maintain status quo, never missing a chance to level it off.

The other day after I’d done my 5 minute plank routine in 2 minutes and was resting face down, sprawled on the floor I discovered my long lost pen under the bed, a couple of hot wheels cars under the wooden almirah, Hasini’s time-table sheet, a comb, hair pins and a pencil. I closed my eyes, inhaled deeply and pretended I’d not seen any of it. I couldn’t interrupt my 10-minute rest time. I couldn’t crawl under, on my elbows and knees; that would be too much work.

I remember to not take the lift at office, I take the stairs. And when I take the stairs at office, I feel I must eat the masala vadai at tea time.

I’ve become somewhat of an expert on energy conservation.

I realize I am trying hard to maintain status quo. I am afraid of change. I realize I need to meet it head on. But I don’t trust myself. I cannot trust myself to add a touch of cheese, I will smother in cheese like I did with this cheesy potato tomato sandwich. I cannot indulge responsibly, I cannot eat a small square of chocolate. I have to compulsively finish that bar of chocolate. I cannot exercise portion control with biryani. Can anyone?

So I joined a gym yesterday. I wanted to hand myself over to the instructor, tell him to work me all-out no matter what I say later, no matter the excuses I give. It was his duty to reduce me by 1/6^th. I didn’t want to scare him the first day. I kept my mouth shut.

This cheesy potato tomato sandwich is one of those healthy sandwiches that turned out a bit cheesy. If you’re master of your will, you can leave out the cheese. But I wouldn’t recommend that. Nevermind my recommendation if you are master of your will.

I smear a thin layer of green chutney spread on bread slices, arrange sliced onions, sliced tomatoes and boiled, sliced potatoes, season with salt and pepper and top with a dash of cheese. I slather (you can lightly brush if you like) butter on both sides of the sandwich and toast to crisp, goldenness. Enjoy!

Speaking of change, there is a lot of change coming up on Foodbetterbegood. I’ll keep you posted on all of those.

Prep time: 15 mins

Cooking time: 15 mins

Makes: 6-8 sandwiches

Ingredients

Bread – 1 loaf
Green chutney spread – 3/4 cup
Onion – 1 sliced into thin rounds
Tomato – 1 sliced into thin rounds
Potatoes – 2 boiled, peeled, sliced into rounds
Salt to taste
Black pepper powder – a pinch per sandwich (substitute chat powder if you wish)
Grated cheese (any variety) – 2 cups
Butter – ¼ cup

Method

1. Ready all the components and have them handy – sliced veggies, bread slices, butter, grated cheese, chutney spread and seasoning.

2. Lay out 6 bread slices on a cutting board in two rows. Spread the chutney spread on all the bread slices. On the 3 bread slices in the top row, arrange a couple of sliced onions, tomatoes and potatoes. Sprinkle salt and black pepper powder or chat masala powder. Top with a generous helping of grated cheese. Use the slices in the bottom row to cover up the ones in the top row to make the sandwich. Press lightly and gently spread a large dab of butter on the top of the sandwich.

3. Heat a tawa.

4. Slide a flat spatula underneath the sandwich and flip it on to the tawa quickly so that the buttered side is down. Now butter the unbuttered top of the sandwich. When the bottom is golden brown, flip and cook till the other side is golden too. Repeat with all the sandwiches.

5. Serve hot.