My Life & Spice

Eggless vanilla Sponge Cake- for bookmarked recipes

2012-01-24T06:45:00.001-05:00

Baking is not something that comes to me naturally- I am tempted to try on everything that I read about, but am too much of a chicken to do. What does appeal to me a lot are the eggless recipes.

A and the kids eat eggs, and I am pretty impartial to using eggs in baking. But if I can lay my hands on any eggless recipes, I am absolutely eager to try them out. My main incentive being that my MIL comes to visit, and eggs get banned out of the kitchen, I can still sustain the kids hankering for a home-baked cake. I recently came across this recipe for an eggless sponge cake that I had to try. I made this on Sunday to take to for the kids after-class-snack in Hindi school. As fate would have it, we missed Sunday Class (they changed venue quite suddenly), and I was left with a cake, but no kids!! My girls, a friend (one of the hindi class kids' mom) and I polished off half the cake and I brought back the remaining to A. He wolfed it down in less time than it took to mix the batter :-))

Daily Dinner (11): Meal- for- one- Vegetable Pulao

2012-01-19T21:23:00.007-05:00

A's been travelling a lot recently. Don't get me wrong- it's not that I miss him when he's gone or anything like that (we've been married too long for me to be missing him- like really missing him).....I'm just telling you that he's been gone a lot recently. Although he doesn't do anything to help me around the house (as if I hadn't told you that a zillion times already); when he's gone, my tasks get multiplied 10-fold (just can't figure that one out for the life of me). With him away, I find myself over exhausted and more irritated than usual (which he'll tell you isn't possible- the irritable part, I mean). With him gone, I also lose my reason, and my motivation, to cook. When he leaves, we spend the first couple of days polishing off the leftovers. By the third day or so, my girls get to choose between Maggi noodles or takeout Pizza (which makes them jump with undisguised joy, and makes me wonder why I spend so much time in the kitchen at all....). If he still isn't back, the girls get to eat cookies-and ice-cream for dinner while I make myself another cup of chai and glare morosely at my dried out toast (which dried because it sat too long while I sorted out which of the two girls had a bigger scoop of ice-cream in her bowl). Most times, that is when fate intervenes and A comes back home - after calling me from the airport to let me know that he didn't get to eat lunch either (I'm not making this up- he always says that...) - and I thankfully gather my pots and pans and plan a menu in my head again.

Holiday Fudge- for Black & White Wednesday.

2012-01-11T20:32:00.002-05:00

Our next door neighbors are the sweetest, most adorable, couple ever. Ever since we moved into this house five years ago, they've been our family away from home for us. Little thoughtful things that they do for us - like moving the trashcan out of the driveway, watching out for Anya if we're running late coming back from work, even helping us fix our old house as needed has pretty much made them absolutely indispensable to us. Seeing them potter around their home (and ours), it is hard to believe that they're on the other side of their 80's.

Mrs. L brought me her first box of fudge on Christmas eve 2006. I didn't think much of it then, except that it looked so pretty. She'd arranged the evenly cut pieces into an alternating pattern of dark and white chocolate fudge; and wrapped up the white box with a cute red and green ribbon. Then I tasted it....and it tasted even better than it looked. I've been hounding Mrs. L for her recipe ever since. But she refuses to share. Apparently, one of her sons owns a restaurant; and this fudge is a highlight of his menu. He made Mrs. L promise not to give the recipe to anyone else. But she makes up for it by giving me a box, sometimes two, for Christmas every year.

Munch bowl: Sprouted chana chaat

2011-12-08T18:50:00.001-05:00

A common saying I've grown up with, is that sprouting whole legumes makes it easier to digest them.

Back in India, my mom did a lot of sprouting; especially during the monsoons - our favorites being whole green moong beans, moth bean (Turkish gram) and kala chana (Bengal gram). While I loved to eat mung and moth sprouts raw, the chana was another story. Even after being sprouted and slightly sautee-ed; the gram is extremely chewy. And the lazy bum that I was (am); I dismissed chana sprouts by justifying that the effort-to-satiation index was (is) just not worth it.

Moong dal recipes- reposting for CWS- Mung beans.

2011-11-29T18:55:00.013-05:00

It's gray and rainy and miserable outside. It is also pretty- when take a minute to pause. I've been sitting here by the window staring at the droplets falling across my window (dangerous to have an office with a window at work.....), trying to get some work done and only succeeding in craving for some chai and pakoras instead. I start to look back through my blog, and get hungrier by the minute. So finally, I decide to repost some old entries for an event that I really wanted to participate in, but missed .

A treat for your tastebuds! Nargisi kofta

2011-11-28T07:30:00.007-05:00

I am so deprived of tools required to be blogging....

These past months havs been absolutely catastrophic. First, baby P, in one of her naughty moods, started to run off with my camera, tripped over the carpet and dropped my very prized possession. I was so upset that I actually gave her a time out before realizing that I'd to ask if she was hurt in the fall as well:-)) Since that day, I can't seem to get clear pictures with this Canon that I'd spent days researching before I bought it. But I've plodded along- photoshopping a lot, trying to get my pictures to look sort of like they're supposed to. While waiting to decide whether to buy a new camera or not, I transferred the old pictures out of there and drafted a few posts with genuine intentions of clearing up the back log.

Blackeyed Pea Soup for a rainy day

2011-11-23T16:55:00.005-05:00

The days are definitely shorter now; not entirely due to turning back the clock to end daylight savings time either. There's a nip to the morning air, trees are more bare than beautiful and this past week, my drive to work has been accented with lots of rain and fog. We're definitely getting to the days where a hearty bowl of hot soup can cheer up even the hungriest of the back from work/school crowd. I am not really a huge 'soup' person. Mostly, I feel that the 'daals' I make every night should pass off as 'soups'......if you know what I mean. So my occassional real-soup-making is limited to weekends when the family rambles in with a "we're hungry again"....like maybe 10 minutes after eating lunch! The girls like only tomato soup and will pick out everything that they can; till I get sneaky and add in an occassional carrot and puree it in there. A doesn't care. Sometimes I feel like he eats just like he does everything else...with a wandering mind. Which is why when his eyes actually focus on what's in front of him is my cue that he liked his food. With this bowl of black eyed pea soup, I got A's focus everytime, plus a clean plate from Anya AND a request for "white ball daal" for two consequetive days from baby P!

Coconut macaroons: and our Halloween Pumpkins

2011-10-30T20:05:00.045-04:00

Just as the Diwali excitement seemed to be dying down, I got swamped with "What are we doing for Halloween" concerns. My uninterested "nothing" for an answer did not go very well with little anxious hearts. "Can we at least go trick-or-treating with Vienna?" asked Anya. "Yes mommy. I be a butterfly with Bienna", chimed in baby P. A and I exchanged a look, 2 looks actually. One with a "no" (yours truly); and the other with a "let them go" (A, of course). And the decision was made. I called Vienna's parents to ask about the plans, and got invited to a pre-trick-or-treating sweet tooth affair. Which meant that instead of getting to spend a lazy Sunday, I had to come up with something to take to their place.

Khasta Kachori: and our Diwali memoirs!

2011-10-28T09:15:00.008-04:00

The other day, a friend and I got talking about traditions - especially surrounding our festival season. We reminised about all the preperations that went into Diwali celebrations back home; and then about all the short cuts we take trying to celebrate this huge day after work; in the US. Kind of sad, but true.

I loved Diwali back home. I can still relate to the excitement that preceeded the days between Dussehra and Diwali. School life came to a virtual standstill; as we were too excited to be learning anything. So instead, we had a week of talent shows, fancy dress competitions, traditional wear days, and arts day where we created numerous rangolis, kandils (paper lanterns) and diyas for our home. Mom got busy with superloads of laundry that included everything from drapes to bed covers. She was a good

Rajasthani Khatta Kadhi: A meal out nothing (almost)!

2011-10-25T19:51:00.008-04:00

A friend who fasts one day a week was contemplating the other day about her dinner options - restricted as she was by the rules of her fast. She said she was bored out of her mind eating aloo-tamatar every time that she fasted. And somehow, in trying to brainstorm onion and garlic free choices for dinner with her, the topic of Kadhi came up. I suggested it; and she looked shocked. Apparently, she's never made this North Indian staple without the quintessential onion. And as far as I can think, in my home, we've never used onion in Kadhi. Yes, you could add onion pakoras in it, if making Punjabi Kadhi. But it isn't required, and tastes just as awesome. In fact, the Rajasthani version of Kadhi, known as the Khatta Kadhi in my home, is a lighter, more liquidy dish than the Punjabi Kadhi so popular in Delhi. It is also my go to dish on the days that my fridge is glaringly empty of all vegetables - including potatoes and onions!! A very simple, 2 ingredient dish (you basically need yogurt and a few Tbsp of besan to make this), this is a hands down winner in my choices for onion-less meals. And I really recommend this friend of mine to try it some time....

(Hi)Story of Spaghetti....Squash

2011-10-16T19:54:00.014-04:00

There is a history between me and Spaghetti Squash: a fall vegetable that looks like a smallish, oblong fruit I knew of as 'phoot (or fruit) kakdi' in Rajasthan. My extensive googling has not got any hit to explain this fruit (the phhot kakdi; I mean) to you. So, to draw for you a mental picture, imagine a dull orange colored obling/ elliptical, smooth skinned fruit (sometimes with dark brown stripes along its length), about 8 inches in diameter at its widest. When cut open, the insides reveal very thin skin, bright orange, melony-flavored flesh and a core that looks just like a melon. The taste, is somewhat in between that of a kakdi (not cucumber- but the long, light green kakdis of North India), and a not-so-sweet melon. Or, if you know a spaghetti squash; then imagine that on the outside and a not-so-sweet melon on the inside.

Diwali party: starring Kesari Phirni!!

2011-10-07T20:46:00.015-04:00

It's the season again. If we've just started thinking about Dussehera in past tense, can Diwali be far behind? The countdown to India's brightest festival has begun: clean and shine.

Meet and greet.

Feast and diet.

Lost and found!!

I'm talking about this picture now, if you're wondering. This picture from last year's Diwali season resurfaced a couple weeks ago as I was cleaning up my desktop to make a move out of my then-job. As I looked at the picture, I remembered how proud I'd been the day I clicked this. It was for a Diwali potluck at A's friend's. I

Sinfully sweet: Shakkarpara for Dusshera

2011-10-02T19:42:00.018-04:00

Oftentimes, my everyday life is accented by memories of past that flash out of nowhere. I am, where I was in a different avatar long ago, and I just want to turn the clock back and be what I was and do what I did then. At times, this happens because I'm missing those days. More often than not, I feel like I want my children to experience the little things in life that marked my childhood. And never does this desire hit me harder than during the traditional Indian Holidays, when I think about the celebrations as they used to be - the sights, the sounds and the smells that ushered in our Holidays.

Daily Dinner (10):Another Fasting Thali; and 3 recipes in one!

2011-09-29T12:17:00.087-04:00

It's that time of the year again.

Six months ago, on this very space, I'd ranted about how fasting during Navratris makes me fixated about food. Now, you're going to hear some more of the same :-)). And before you judge me, I don't fast out of coercion. I do believe in all that Navratris stand for. Plus I also feel like, in terms of science, these twice-yearly fasts are a good cleansing for your system. Religion and science put together are a very forceful impact on my mind.

But then again; this entire universe conspires against me when I'm fasting. How else would you explain that the morning of my first day of fast; my eyes get drawn to a box of gol -gappas that A had bought ages ago? And why did these gol-gappas chose this morning to make my mouth drool? As if this wasn't all that bad, a colleague at work brought in munchkins at 9am; another one brought in some absolutely yum looking chocolate chip cookie bars at 11am and the noon seminar had an array of delicious sandwiches. At the seminar, they never have enough vegetarian options to choose from; but yesterday.....someone was trying real hard to tempt me - is all I can say! That's my rant of the day....

Mix it up: Black Bean Salsa

2011-09-25T20:34:00.017-04:00

I find entertaining to be very stressful. Don't get me wrong- I love company. I just hate the little jiggles of worry that come with planned partying. I worry about the house not being clean, about things not being right before the guests arrive. Most of all, I worry about not having enough food on my table. With that in mind, chips and store bought salsa and/ or guacamole.is a staple, as well as an emergency go to, for my entertaining. Then last year, a dear friend introduced me to her black bean salsa....and I fell in love. When I asked her what went in the salsa, her response was very characteristic of her - "beans, and corn; then keep tasting and adding things till it tastes right...."! Knowing her, this is probably what she does. And actually, the first couple of times I made it, that was the approach I took. Lately though, my right brain has been niggling at me to standardize the recipe - that's my training in science; sometimes it interferes at home. As a result of this cross-boundary interference, the last couple of times I made this salad/salsa; I actually noted down what I put in there. And as with any good standardization that I do at work, today I figured it was time to document a protocol for this :-)) Here goes....

Black & White Wednesday: Ceramic jug

2011-09-21T10:24:00.004-04:00

I like souvenirs- just about as much as A hates them. I love exploring the little trinket stores on the boardwalk, antique stores in little towns along the route as we drive to our destination and even the touristy, brightly lit stores designated as "Souvenir stores". A will go to great lengths to avoid my souvenir shopping. An exception to this was his trip to Miami and Key West, right after Anya was born. I asked him to get me a souvenir from there; and he obliged by bringing me this ceramic jug....

Ceramic Jug

....it's a beautiful jug; with yellow-beaked black birds and shining green leaves. Yellow-green vines make it's spout and handle. I just haven't figured out what it's meant for. There are no marks to show where it is from. A was prudent enough to throw out the packing before giving it to me, so I don't even know if it's supposed to be used or not. The spout is closed off, so it can't be used for pouring liquids - that I tried. As a result, it's sat there in my kitchen cabinet, the lone shot of color amidst my stark white dishes - and a reminder of the time when A went shopping for my souvenir.

Today, I've decided to show it to you via Susan's Black & White Wednesday. Feel free to let me know your thoughts on what it could be used for...

Tried and conquered! Besan ka Dhokla

2011-09-19T07:25:00.080-04:00

It isn't easy for me to tell you this. Actually, the confession downright hurts. The recipe that you are going to read about here; is as basic as it gets. However, it has taken me years to get it to work. The fact of the matter is that I am not very kitchen savvy (here is your cue to humor me and insist that I am.....)! What I am, is tenacious. Sometimes I can make things work - like the dhokla below- and then I get to show you a pretty picture and gloat about it through your words. Often times, things don't go as expected, and I just hush the matter up and you go on thinking that I'm a genius at work.Which I totally am. I insist you to go on believing that and reaffirming it to me. But let's come back to this later. First the dhokla story.

Baingan-ka- bharta: Bring on Brinjals!!

2011-09-15T07:25:00.006-04:00

It took me a while to start calling a baingan; an eggplant. Back in India it was always Brinjal in English. My dad was actually pretty convinced that the English derived the word Brinjal from Hindi baingan. Knowing my dad, he probably made up that assumption. But he sure believed it. When I told him that Americans called baingan an eggplant because it sort of looks like an egg; he dismissed it with his typical 'oh what do you know voice'. His arguement; 'baingan may be long, or short, skinny or fat, round or egg shaped; BUT they're PURPLE. Hence, they don't look like eggs!' Sometimes, I wish I'd had a chance to show him the white eggplant that I used for my stuffed roundels recipe. That would have scored with him somewhat...I think....!!

Once upon a vacation.....and an open palm chair for B & W Wednesday

2011-09-07T07:25:00.018-04:00

We've had quite a slow summer this year. Being sick and recuperating took away most of the season. The girls have been pretty forgiving most of the time. But when Anya saw summer slowly ticking away, she asked to go to the beach 'just one time before school'. Thanks to Irene and a last minute cancellation, we found a 4-day rental in Ocean City, Maryland. I wasn't completely convinced of getting good beach weather so soon after the hurricane, but we took our chance. The ocean was surprisingly calm, and blue skies dotted with kites.

Weekend Chronicles- with Bread Pakora

2011-08-30T07:50:00.014-04:00

Quite an eventful week it turned out to be.

First came the earth-shaking excitement of a 5.9 magnitude earthquake in the middle of the work week. Nobody could figure out what was responsible for our jiggling PowerPoint, shaking building and electricity blink during our weekly meeting. Of the various explanations put forth, the first one was that a plane had crashed into our building; afraid of a WTC repeat, most people prepared to jump out the windows (thank goodness everyone in the group is scared of heights- even if it is just the 4th floor). Then we moved on to an equally outrageous subway explosion (the lines do run under our building) and a relatively sensible truck-crash with our building's loading dock (that happens to sit right below the conference room). The truck story also assumed explosive proportions by speculating that it might be a gas-tank truck: the one which brings huge cylinders of oxygen, nitogen and other medical gases to us. It was a breathless-with-fear South American colleague that mentioned an earthquake. The excitement that followed was astronomical! The rest of the meeting, we brainstormed whether we sat on dynamic earth plates, if End of the World Prediction included August 2011 and whether to evacuate or not!!

The Sweet Fruits of Summer: Black and White Wednesday

2011-08-24T16:57:00.006-04:00

My vegetable patch has been a late bloomer this summer, and a slow one. It isn't producing nearly as much, or as often as I'd like it to. But whatever I get, is precious. And I always archive my harvest in pictures. Here's my first attempt at documenting my trophies with black and white photography! This tomato was the star of my salad, while the pepper went into the aloo-shimla mirch ki sabzi.

Sweet Fruits of Summer:
A bell pepper; and an heirloom tomato.

Posting for Black and White Wednesday

Daily Dinner (9): A Festive Thali: and Chana Masala my way.

2011-08-23T07:17:00.009-04:00

Back in North India, you'll often hear the saying that the month of saawan, along with cooling Monsoons, also ushers in the festive season. Almost every week from now on till summer, we see an array of festivities, and an alternating pattern of Fasting and Feasting. As a child, I waited anxiously for the first rains - looking forward just as much to an uninhibited soaking in those much-awaited showers as to the other fun things - Mehendi on my hands, fragrant mogra in the hair, a home-made swing in the doorway leading out on to our terrace and tons of goodies from my mom's kitchen. Everything came alive during the rains; and I loved the smell of summer-baked earth and new grass. Then came those vendors with baskets on their bicycles selling all sorts of seasonal delicacies- phalsa, jamun, fire-roasted bhutta with tons of lemon and masala and sand-popped popcorn.

Echoes of Silence

2011-08-16T20:30:00.006-04:00

I skipped along, marching step for step.

My tiny hand curled around your finger tight.

Innocent and bright-eyed, happy and free,

Every time I looked up at you,

I saw you smile down at me.

A vision flashed across my eye, I didn’t care,

Two year birthday, Rakshabandhan....and Besan-ka-Laddu.

2011-08-10T20:30:00.021-04:00

Time flies...literally. Can't believe I started writing this blog two years ago today. I haven't really marked any milestones for my writing till now. But today, as I sat here penning my thoughts, I realized that my first post on this blog also celebrated the festival of Rakshabandhan. A nostalgic look back, and I realize that I wrote down the recipe for Paneer Nargisi exactly two years ago. So let me begin by thanking you all for your readership and support. I've made many new friends through this blog, and have gained a lot of exposure in the blogosphere. It couldn't have been possible about you all.

Another co-incidence is that my recipe for today is a Mithai (sweet) - just what we need to celebrate both a festival and a birthday.

When life hands you lemons.....For Chalks and Chopsticks

2011-08-08T19:30:00.031-04:00

I've been a silent reader of a food-fiction event called Of Chalks and Chopsticks for a very long time now. I'd like to say that I've pretty much read every piece of writing that appeared on this platform. I've even made up a bunch of stories; and imagined myself winning kudos from all those awesome writers in this group. If you haven't heard of me till now, that's probably because you can't get in my head. Today, my heart won. This is my first entry to celebrate the revival of Of Chalks & Chopsticks. Hope you like it...and if you don't; I'll just make Shikanji out of all the lemons you throw at me!

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Nimit gazed up at the sky. And sighed. What was it- like maybe his millionth sigh. He'd been sitting out here in the scorching sun for hours...it sure felt like hours. He'd tried reasoning with Malini through closed doors...and porch screen...and then through the kitchen window. He'd even threatened to break down the doors if she didn't let him back in. She just turned on her heels and went about whatever she was doing on the stove.