IndianSimmer - Indian food made easy plus more!

Indian Simmer Loves- Family Fresh Cooking

noreply@blogger.com (Prerna) — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 18:11:00 +0000

A dear friend came over to spend the night with us while her husband was away on a trip. Little A was so excited to see her maasi (aunt in hindi) entering the door that she practically jumped off her high chair with a mouth full of rajma chawal. She was a "husband's close friend's wife" 5 years back when we first met and I don't even remember us acknowledging each other for the first time. But now she is one of the closer than the closest. That's what happens when you spend time with the right person. One such friend that I am proud to know and love, thanks to my blog, is Marla from Family Fresh Cooking. We were virtual friends for quite sometime before we met for the first time face to face at a blogger conference. The moment I met her the first thing that came to my mind was- fire cracker, because that's what she is! She is always bursting with energy, wearing a smile on her face she loves to listen to what you have to say and is one of the wittiest people I know. The only thing you need to do to love her is to meet her or in our case, read her blog. Family Fresh Cooking is all what Marla is- colorful, fun and informative. So let me present to you Marla Meredith and her beautiful blog because Indian Simmer loves Family Fresh Cooking.

Hi there! I am beyond thrilled to be guest posting here on Indian Simmer today! I'm Marla Meridith & I publish the blog Family Fresh Cooking. Some of us might all ready know each other and I hope others of you might become new friends. I love making new friends around the web! When I was contacted by Prerna about the wonderful opportunity to guest post on her beautiful blog I leapt at the chance. Today i'll tell you a little bit about myself and share a few of our favorite recipes.

Tell us about yourself and what you would say is your food philosophy? I grew up in NY and spent my life there until my mid 20's. NY is such a vibrant place. People take each and every meal very seriously. We always poke fun at my dad because he is always planning the next meal....I realize I have become the exact same way! We also spent a good part of my youth at my family's organic dairy farm in Devon, England. It was in the UK and my mother's passion for cooking that built the awareness and passion that I have for food today. I am all about using whole food ingredients in my cooking and participating in mindful eating behaviors.

Mindful to me means savoring each and every bite. Sitting down and really enjoying a meal. Spending time together with loved ones and friends over great food. Completely nourishing the mind, body and spirit with each and every bite. For myself and my family food should taste wonderful, but it should also make us feel our best. This is why I steer away from refined, processed ingredients. For us the benefits from eating whole food ingredients is the most mindful practice we can do. I select organic, sustainable ingredients when available.

Thankfully in our house we do not have food allergies, but I do however post many vegan and gluten free recipes. I like to mix things up in our kitchen and share my colorful recipes with all of you!

What led you to starting a food blog? At 26 I moved to Southern California and worked as a freelance textile and graphic designer for the likes of Walt Disney, Warner Bros. and many other fun kids based brands. In 2003 I had my daughter and then in 2006 my son. Being a mom is the most gratifying job I have ever had. My creative passions took a back seat for a while and then I realized how much I missed that part of my life.

I launched FamilyFreshCooking.com in 2009 as a fun little space to share healthy, creative recipes for active families and for all people no matter what stage of their life they are in. When I started out, my photos were taken with my iPhone and I had really had no idea what Twitter, Facebook or blogging were really about. I never would have thought in my wildest dreams that my blog would become more than a full time job and the most amazing portal for creative expression.

These days food, travel and lifestyle photography has become a giant passion. Along with sharing my creative recipes with all of you.

What would you say "Family Fresh Cooking" is all about and please share a recipe that best describes your blog? Family Fresh Cooking is all about embracing all of the colors of life through delicious, healthy food and a vibrant active lifestyle. Lately my readers have been very engaged in Project Lunch Box. An online event I created to get people packing their own homemade meals for work, school and travel.

The recipe I am sharing today is for Chai Carrot Pear Muffins. These are based off a delightful Chai Carrot Pear Sauce I came up with. The sauce is wonderful on it's own or in a yogurt parfait. It is also great to use in baking, as it is used in these muffins. This sauce can be integrated as you would applesauce in baked goods. It adds a nice sweetness, subtle flavor and allows you to reduce the amount of fat you use. These recipes keeps us fueled for a busy day at school, hiking with camera gear or skiing the slopes of Telluride. It is tasty for breakfast, brunch or snacks throughout the day. Also great tucked inside your lunchbox.

Here is the recipe for the Chai Pear Carrot Muffins and you can dash on over to my blog for the Chai Pear Carrot Sauce recipe:

Ingredients

Yield: 12 standard sized Muffins

1 cup Gluten Free Oat Flour or Quinoa Flour
1 cup blanched Almond Flour
3/4 teaspoon Baking Soda
3/4 teaspoon fine Sea Salt
1/8 teaspoon ground Cardamom
1/2 teaspoon ground Cinnamon
1 cup Chai Pear Carrot Sauce
1 cup light Unsweetened Coconut Milk
2 tablespoons unrefined Coconut Oil, melted
1 teaspoon Almond or Vanilla Extract
3-4 droppers full of Vanilla Stevia Drops Adjust to taste
1 large Carrot, peeled and finely shredded

Optional Toppings

Your favorite nuts
Raisins
unsweetened Coconut Flake

Method

Pre heat oven to 350 degrees F with the rack in the middle. Prepare standard sized muffin tins with liners or cooking spray. Whisk together dry ingredients in a bowl. Stir together wet ingredients in a separate bowl. Combine the wet and dry ingredients, stirring well. Fold in the shredded carrots last. Adjust spices and sweetness if desired.
Fill muffin cups evenly with batter. Top with pistachios or other nuts if desired. Bake for 26-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out virtually crumb free.
Enjoy with whipped cream, thick yogurt and/or coconut flake.

Notes

You can also use homemade or store bought pear or applesauce in this recipe. The spices add the chai flavor.

Let's stay in touch! Visit me at Family Fresh Cooking and I am all over the web: on Pinterest, Twitter, Facebook, StumbleUpon & Instagram too!

Palak Kachori and What Took Me So Long

noreply@blogger.com (Prerna) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 19:13:00 +0000

We spent the New Year's eve with some of our closest friends. We did nothing but chatted, ate some simple home cooked meal, shared stories while cardamom tea was simmering on the stovetop, laughed with each other and quietly ate some sitafal ice-cream while baby monitor in the background could tell that the kids are asleep. Next morning over breakfast we were discussing our new year's resolution. Answering the question I realized how important this blog has become to me and how important all my readers have become to me. In the past few months a lot of things happened (and still happening) in my personal and "professional" life as a food writer. Those things have been keeping me so busy that the time I spend here on my blog and in connecting with you has suffered. Irrespective of that, you have been very patient and supportive of me, but you might have to bear with me for a little more. Why? Well, let me tell you the story then!

So one fine morning the publishers came knocking on the door. I opened the door and asked how I can help them. They asked, "can you write a book for us"? I looked behind, left and right and checked if they were actually talking to me. After a lot of affirmation when I finally believed that it was actually a real proposal I was ecstatic. I might have screamed a little harder, but who cares! The next thing I know I am testing recipes and writing a proposal. Proposal for a BOOK that I am going to WRITE! I can't believe that I just wrote those three words together. Its been sometime since I said yes and I still cannot believe that its happening. You have no idea how tough it was to keep all of this from you. But now that its out of my chest I can sleep soundly today. So my friends, that is what kept me busy and away from Indian Simmer all this time and the move (yes, I moved again!) and a vacation and a mad family! Well, story behind that might ask for another post(s).

But before anything else, today I just want to take a moment and say Thank You to each and everyone of you who have always supported me. Thanks for taking some valuable minutes of your day to come and read my blog. Thanks for being appreciative and for your constructive criticism of whatever I put forward on Indian Simmer. Two years ago I would not have thought in my wildest dreams that one day I will be a cookbook author and it has all happened just because of You so thanks so much for being there for me. And I really hope that you will be by my side all along this ride!

Now lets put the mushy talk aside and talk food, shall we? A lovely blogger friend reached out to me sometime back and asked if I would be able to contribute something to her beautiful blog. After much long email exchanges, we finally decided to dig back again to my childhood and bring back something with which will tag along a lot of memories. So I chose Palak (Spinach) ki Kachori, a simple crispy deep fried bread but packed with love and healthy goodness.

My mom used to make them when we were little and me and my brother ate them so much that I promise we still have some spinach stuck in our teeth. They are easy to make and just ask for a few basic ingredients like water, flour, salt.. Oh, and spinach. You can either make them plain or stuff something inside and fry them. Trust me however hard you try you will not be able to mess them up! So please hop over to Sandhya's Kitchen for the recipe.

Starting 2012 with Pure Vegetarian by Lakshmi- Indian Simmer Loves

noreply@blogger.com (Prerna) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 17:46:00 +0000

This blog and my readers(you people!) have been one of the most important part of my life for the past almost two years. You laugh with me when I laugh, you are excited on my achievement, you are worried when my little one falls sick, and you always lend you ears when I want to talk. But for the past one year I always regretted that because of a busy and unpredictable schedule I was not a very good listener to you guys. I was not not able to respond to your emails as promptly and was not able to keep this space up and running as you would have expected me to. Then again family and some demanding food writing projects made things even busier and crazier by the leg of 2011. Some residual is still here but stepping into 2012 I promised myself to change that. So cheers to that and wishing all you extended family a Very Happy New Year!
What better way to start the new year with a post by a person who's images have the ability to take you to a different place and recipes will leave you drooling! Today I present to you Pure Vegetarian by Lakshmi. With her flawless writing, dreamy photographs, yogi lifestyle and a pure heart I promise you will love her because Indian Simmer loves Pure Vegetarian by Lakshmi!

Going Raw!

When Prerna kindly asked me to write a guest post, I hesitated. I’m on a break from blogging for good reasons. One of them is that I saturated myself with sugar during the autumn while baking and making sweets more than necessary. By December I reached my limit of tolerance and took time to adjust and reform my diet. As I’m writing now, I’m sipping delicious green smoothie made of broccoli, spinach, avocado, sunflower seeds and simple spices. I’m going raw.
Don’t worry; it is a temporary phase of detox to balance the metabolism! It is perfect. It gives such clarity and vitality. My digestive system is relaxed and satisfied. I’m mentally alert, focused and enthusiastic. For a long time I haven’t felt physically so content. Combined with regular exercise in the fresh winter air, life couldn’t be better! Welcome New Year!

Tell us about yourself and what you would say is your food philosophy?Cooking and relationship with food have interested me since childhood. I grew up eating home cooked meals by my mother. She is an austere person and our breakfasts, lunches and dinners reflected the mood. There was enough to eat – and it was tasty – but there was an underlining reverence that kept the act of eating on a serious side. We never indulged.

As a teenager I turned vegetarian for ethical reasons. I ate raw vegan food for many years. When I came in contact with the Vedic culture and philosophy of India, cooking, serving and eating revealed a sacred dimension unparallel to anything I had been aware of. Preparing food became one of the most important spiritual practices and an integral part of the yoga process to me. It is an easy, concrete way to approach divine through consciousness.

As a bhakti-yogi I am a servant of Krishna. Krishna is a Sanskrit name for God introduced in the ancient yoga literature. It means “all attractive”. Everything belongs to God and is godly by nature. It is a paradigm 100% opposite to materialism that is rooted in the idea of me, the living entity, possessing and controlling everything. In the Western tradition God, at best, is providing for our needs: “...please forgive our sins and give us our daily bread”. In the Eastern tradition, man is the one who owns nothing and whatever is given under his care or has any value to him, he offers back to God. It is the way to sanctify life by cultivating virtues like selflessness and humility. And it is the path and perfection of yoga, connecting with God with love and devotion.

Yoga-lifestyle is different from the secular way of living in regards of the state of mind. Externally it looks the same. There are many vegetarians in the world and we may share the same recipes, but the thoughts, feelings and motivations that drive us while cooking produce different results. In our line of discipline, we want to connect the cow who gives the milk and the plant that bears the berry, fruit or vegetable also to God. It is done via mantra, a prayer, uttered with sincerity. Whatever is accepted by God, we enjoy as prashad, mercy. It is a blissful reciprocation.

What led you to starting a food blog?
Cooking makes me happy. It is an intimate dialogue with Krishna. It is a meditation and allows me to be who I am in the deepest sense of understanding.

I bought a camera and started to photograph what I cooked in order to share my gratitude and happiness with others. It was a surprise there are people who like the pictures. Having had posted on Flickr for a year, I felt a need for a dining room in the Cyberspace where I could better serve visitors.

Attached to Flickr and other social media there is lot of extra package: psychological hang-ups, egos and ambitions that border unhealthy traits of interaction at times. I have a constant inner-conflict of how much I want to be part of and contribute to that. A blog is naturally more peaceful venue to meet and get to know people because I can set the content and mood to correspond the values that nourish me, and hopefully others, too.

What would you say "Pure Vegetarian By Lakshmi" is all about and please share a recipe that best describes your blog?
I’ve been blogging for a short time, six months to be exact. I’m not able to define what Pure Vegetarian By Lakshmi is about better than a work in progress. It is a partial documentation and by-product of a simple, meaningful life that I live. I live to live; not to blog. Whatever I do, I aspire to be physically, mentally, intellectually and spiritually present and do it as well as I can, because every moment spent in hankering, lamenting or dreaming of something else, better or more is a moment lost. Self-satisfaction and gratitude in all circumstances open unexpected opportunities even in situations that seem doomed and insignificant. Therefore I don’t go out of my way to look for exotic ingredients or fancy recipes, but utilise whatever there is at hand.

For today’s recipe here at Indian Simmer I made raw pastry as a sweet treat. When you stay away from sugar long enough, taste buds will celebrate the natural sweetness of fresh and dried fruits! Sophisticated beauty may not be the foremost character of these sweets, but they are oozing peppiness and energy. After eating them, you feel empowered and light, as opposite to dull and heavy caused by regular sugar.

Because I had leftover filling, I made a refreshing smoothie by adding rice milk to it. What a wonderful lunch!

Raw Pastry (makes about 6-8)

2,5 dl (250 ml = 1 Cup) whole almonds (with skins)
1 dl (100 ml = 0,4 Cup) walnuts
200 g dry dates, pitted
4 tablespoons carob powder
Juice and zest of one small orange

For handling the dough:
1 dl (100 ml = 0,4 Cup) hazelnut powder

Filling:
2 bananas
1/3 pineapple
1 carrot
1 large, juicy orange

Instructions:
Mix the pastry ingredients in a blender until smooth.
Sprinkle the pastry dough with hazelnut powder for easier handling.
Line small pastry forms with the dough.
Make sweet balls from the leftover dough, rolled in carob powder.
Mix the filling ingredients in a blender.
Fill the pastries.

Smoothie:
Mix the leftover filling with enough rice milk to get a running consistency of your liking.

Nankhatai (Indian Spiced Cookies) for the Holidays and a Food Network UK Feature

noreply@blogger.com (Prerna) — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 05:49:00 +0000

I have not been very good at posting anything on this space lately. And your endless emails and messages have made it clear that you are not exactly liking it. After months of crazy, busy schedule, Abhishek got a few weeks off from school and work, so without missing a moment we immediately got into party mode. We are trying to spend as much family time as possible. Doing things that we were waiting to do together for months like taking a long walk, going to the park, watching a late night movie and house hunting and a vacation thrown into the mix.

I am in Mexico right now with the two best people of my life. When you wake up every morning to beauty like this then you sort of want to just stay in the moment and not come out of it. That's what's happening with me and so my blog and the whole blogging thing has taken a back seat for now. Hope you will pardon me for that.

Mexico is a beautiful country. So vibrant and colorful on one hand and serene and peaceful on the other. Sitting by the pool, overlooking the ocean and listening to bursting waves while sipping on hot tea has been our daily morning ritual lately. Life is a lot slower here, no one's running after anything and people take time to know each other. I have been soaking it all in as much as I can in a few short days.

I will tell you all about it once I am back home but today I am mainly here to wish all you fabulous people a very happy holidays! All set to welcome Santa? Making cookies and baking cakes while humming Christmas carols playing in the background? I and the little one baked some cookies too before leaving home which Food Network UK very kindly featured on their website along with a quick interview of yours truly! You can check in out here.

These are Indian shortbread cookies called Nankhatai. Nankhatai is a simple eggless cookie with butter, flour and sugar as the main ingredients. Some spice is added to give the cookies an extra zing. I used a mixture of besan (gram flour), all purpose flour and semolina (cream of wheat) as base. Black pepper adds warmth to these sweet buttery cookies and a little bit of fruity jam or almond on top gives these thumbprint cookies their last finishing touch. You can use any kind of nut or jam of choice. This holiday season treat Santa with some of these nankhatais and a warm glass of milk or chai if he prefers that!

Ingredients: Yields 30-35 cookies. I made 16 cookies with almonds and 16 thumb print jam cookies.
2 1/2 cups besan (gram flour)
1 cups all purpose flour
1/2 semolina
1 cup unsalted butter (room temperature/softened)
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp crushed black pepper
1 tsp baking soda
16-18 halved almonds
2 tbsp any fruit jam

Method:
Whisk together softened butter and sugar. Beat until its light and pale yellow in colour. Set aside.
In a separate bowl sift together all the flours and also salt, pepper and baking powder. Mix flour mixture into the sugar and butter mixture, little at a time until everything is mixed well together to form soft dough. Knead the dough for a couple minutes to form a smooth big ball. If it’s a little sticky, wrap it in a cling film and refrigerate for about half an hour.
After about half hour take the dough out of the refrigerator and knead again for a couple minutes. The warmth of your hands will soften the butter in the dough slightly.
Now divide the dough into equal parts. With this measurement it should make about 30-35 cookies.
Make smooth balls out of each portion. Because of the butter, the cookies flatten and crack when baked so make sure your dough balls are smooth with no cracks in order to make pretty cookies.
Place dough balls on a lined cookie sheet and bake then at 350deg. F for 20-22 minutes or until the bottom of cookies are golden in color.
Enjoy warm cookies with chai or you can also store them in air tight containers for several weeks.

Happy Holidays everyone! Wish you a Merry Christmas and a Very Happy New Year!

Frog's Leap

noreply@blogger.com (Prerna) — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 08:10:00 +0000

A few weeks back a very dear friend of mine was visiting California. With another lovely friend of ours we went for a day trip to Napa. It was a beautiful day, everything was perfect and we together had a fabulous time but a part of me was sulking through out the day. Why? Because I forgot to bring my camera with me and if you are a blogger then you know that in a blogger's world that is a crime! Then my friend decides to take us to a winery which turned out to be THE most gorgeous and peaceful place I had been to in a while. I sulked more!
Going back to Frog's Leap again went straight to the top on my to-do list. That's what we did this Thanksgiving. We took a trip to Napa with family and some close friends. This time I slept with my camera a night before we were supposed to go, making sure I don't commit the same "crime" again. So sharing some photos I took at Frog's Leap Winery.

And finally this cute little guy who I was seriously hoping not to miss and I didn't. He was still there lounging on his chair by the fireplace. This photograph makes me so sleepy.

Oh, and I did not forget about the giveaway. The winner is Lynn. Congratulations!
Please send me an email with your address and your choice of one of Martha Stewart Professional Cookware item.

Easy Chinese Recipes Cookbook Giveaway Winner

noreply@blogger.com (Prerna) — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 17:31:00 +0000

I selected a winner for the Easy Chinese Recipe Cookbook giveaway by RANDOM.ORG and the winner is Ing.
ing said... thanks for the chance. i am a filipino and chimese foods are close to my heart. i would love to learn to cook lots of chinese dishes in the future.

Congratulations! Please send me an email claiming your win.
Have a great rest of the long weekend!

Goat Curry with Five Whole Spices

noreply@blogger.com (Prerna) — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 08:35:00 +0000

My friends Rachael and Barb held a cross blog event "Goatrie" a couple months back celebrating all things goat. Many of my friends joined them. I too wanted to support my friends and decided to cook a traditional Indian dish that asked for goat meat (or mutton as we call it) but could just not find the meat to begin with! But I kept looking and finally found it at my local meat market recently. Although my sore throat would barely let me speak that day but I promise the moment I saw it I screamed with joy on the inside. That's how psyched I was!

Then lovely people at Macy's approached me and asked if I would be interested in taking part in their mBlog Recipe Showcase where I could share one of my family's favorite holiday recipe. I knew I wanted to share the recipe for this Goat Curry that my Papa used to make using whole spices. This was not necessarily a holiday recipe but whenever he would cook this one, that day would call for a celebration. He is a fabulous cook, my father and his goat curry? No-one can beat him on this one! He takes his cooking very seriously and would only use the freshest of ingredients. Then he would spend hours slow cooking his meat until it gets that dark brown color and masala is absorbed well to the core of meat. The smell of whole spices blends beautifully with sliced onions which melt on being cooked slowly over low heat. That aroma brings back a lot of memories so I decided I'd share those memories through this recipe. Well, that was the plan.

But unfortunately bad health kept me from meeting the deadlines to the contest. But guess what, I still have news for you! Doesn't matter if I missed a deadline, Macy's is inviting its fans and all you fabulous cooks out their to share a favorite recipe with them at their Facebook fan page for a chance to win a dinner with a renowned Macy’s Culinary Council chef, including Emeril Lagasse, Wolfgang Puck, Cat Cora or Todd English. How cool is that?!
And yes, there's a giveaway involved in this too. People at Macy's were kind enough to offer a choice of one of three Martha Stewart Professional Cookware items as a giveaway for you. Now you have to decide if you want a Ceramic Covered Casserole Dish, Hand Anodized Fry Pans (set of 3) or a Stainless Steel 15” Roaster with Roasting Rack. If any of the items become unavailable, they’ll gladly offer another choice of a Martha Stewart Professional Cookware item (up to $40 in value).
Rules for the giveaway:
Leave a comment telling us which out of the three Martha Stewart Professional Cookware item are you interested in.
For an extra entry:
"like" Indian Simmer on Facebook. Come back and leave a comment stating that.
"like" Macy's on Facebook. Come back and leave a comment stating that.
"Follow" @indiansimmer on Twitter. Come back and leave a comment stating that.
Giveaway open to U.S residents only. Entries to this giveaway open until November 30th.

Ingredients:
1.5 lbs goat meat (with bone cut into pieces)
1.5 cups thinly slices onion (preferably red onion)
1 tbsp ginger+garlic paste (preferably fresh other you can use the bottled one)
1 cup tomato (one cut into 8)
1.5 tbsp coriander powder
1.5 tsp whole peppercorn (coarsely crushed)
1 stick cinnamon
2 bay leaves
2 whole black cardamom
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 tbsp oil
Salt

Method:

Heat oil in a thick bottom pan. Add all the whole spices. Once its fragrant add ginger garlic paste and sliced onion. Cook until the onions begin to get translucent and turn into light golden brown in color.
Add meat. Cook until meat turn dark in color. Both onion and meat will loose a lot of water but keep stirring occasionally and cook it in medium low flame until meat is half cooked.
Add salt, coriander powder and tomato. You can also add turmeric is wanted.
Give everything a nice stir and cover with a lid. Let it simmer for about 25-30 minutes until meat is completely cooked. You can also pressure cook at this point if you want.
Once the meat is cooked through turn off the heat. This dish is very close to a dry dish so cook off any extra liquid if left in the pan after the meat is cooked.
Serve with steamed rice, any bread or it even tastes wonderful with couscous or quinoa.

Black Bean Sauce Chicken and Easy Chinese Recipes Book Review/Giveaway

noreply@blogger.com (Prerna) — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 07:59:00 +0000

I must have told you about this little farm stand behind my house. That was one of the hidden jewels I discovered when we moved here. Although I do not necessarily like the apartment that we are living in right now but changing it would mean moving farther from my farm stand and that will make me sad! But anyway, the other day I stopped by the place to pick up a few things and found these little cuties. At first I was not sure what they were but when the lady told that they are bell peppers and I was surprised. They sure looked like miniature bell peppers and definitely tasted 10 times better than the gigantic ones I get from the super market.

Since then I have roasted them, baked them, stir fried them and have used them for several recipes from Bee from Rasa Malaysia's book Easy Chinese Recipes. Out of all those Homestyle Chow Mein Noodles and Black Bean Sauce Chicken has been our family favorite. And by family favorite I mean the little picky eater in the family cleans up the plate in 15 minutes if that's for dinner so you can imagine it must be good. Its very easy to cook as well, or maybe its the way Bee has explained everything in the book that it looks super easy.

Growing up in India I was more used to Indo-Chinese food (yes, a cuisine like that exists and I will get to that some other time). The real Chinese food (or that's what I believe) I ate when we moved to the US. But still it was mostly limited to take outs or once in a while, a nice splurge at this fancy Chinese restaurant that we would go to. Then an year later we went to Hong Kong on a trip and I think that's when we really got to know more about the whole cuisine and the rich history and culture behind it. Then fast forwarded a few more years and I started food blogging. I remember those were the first couple weeks of me being a blogger that I discovered Rasa Malaysia and I said to myself, "this is how you make a foreign cuisine look not so foreign to everyone!". In the past year and half I got to know more of Rasa Malayasia and became friends with Bee.

I don't think I need to say anything about Rasa Malaysia because the whole world knows that it is one of the most popular Asian food blogs but I sure want to say about Bee as a person. She is warm, always supporting of others and she knows a hell lot about Asian cuisine! Bee recently came out her first cookbook Easy Chinese Recipes. As the name suggests and as Bee's background tells that with this book she has tried to get the terror out of Chinese cooking.

I like that there's no seemingly scary recipe with a bucket list of ingredients that atleast scares me away from trying the recipe. All the recipes are very simple, with steps broken down to make them easier to understand and uses some basic Chinese ingredients many of which I could find at a normal grocery store. Some recipes were new to me and had a couple ingredients that I was reluctant to try but when I anyways tried them, really liked them and made again. I specially liked the beginning of the book where Bee in a beautiful way tells her readers about what it is like to grow up in a traditional Chinese family. That is followed by some very useful tips and techniques of cooking which might seem simple to a seasoned cook but can be very helpful to someone starting. She also in a very elaborate way explains things like basic tools and utensils used and also several sauces and spices which are an integral part of Chinese cooking.

All in all I really liked the book and guess what, almost all the photography in the book is done by Bee as well which again is gorgeous and adds to the whole homey feel of the book. So I can say that she has put in a lot of effort into the book and it clearly shows through its each an every page. If you are someone like me who likes a good Chinese food but tongue twisting and intimidating names of techniques and ingredients kept you from doing so then you should buy this book. It will help you!

Well Bee is helping make it a little easier for you because she is giving away a copy of her book to one lucky Indian Simmer reader. All you have to do is just leave a comment below and share your experience with Chinese food or cooking and get a chance to win a free copy of Easy Chinese Recipes. Entries to the giveaway will be open til next Friday, 25th Nov. and I will announce the winner in my Saturday, Nov. 26th post. Giveaway open to US residents only.

Now the recipe for Black Bean Sauce Chicken:
Ingredients: Serves 2

8 oz (250gm) skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into bite-sized cubes
1 tbsp Chinese rice wine or sherry
1 tsp cornstarch
2 1/2 tbsp oil
One 1 inch (2.5cm) piece fresh ginger, peeled and sliced into thin pieces
3 cloves garlic, finely minced
2 tbsp fermented black beans (douchi), rinsed and coarsely chopped
1/2 small green bell pepper, deseeded and cut into pieces
1/2 small red bell pepper, deseeded and cut into pieces
1 red finger- length chili, deseeded and cut into pieces
1/2 small onion, quartered
Salt to taste

Sauce:
2 tsp soy sauce
1 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp sesame oil
3 dashes white pepper
2 tbsp water
1 tsp cornstarch

Method:
Tenderize chicken according to the tips on "how to tenderize meat' section in the book. (This works!)
Marinate the chicken with the rice wine or sherry and cornstarch. Set aside for 10 minutes.
Mix all the ingredients for the sauce in a small bowl. Set aside.
Heat 1/2 tbsp of the oil in a wok or skillet over high heat. Add the chicken and stir-fry until half-cooked or the surface turns opaque. Dish out and set aside.
Heat the remaining oil in a wok or skillet over high heat. Add the ginger and garlic, stir fry until they turn light brown. Stir in the fermented black beans, peppers, red chili , and onion. Stir0fry until aromatic, about 1-2 minutes.
Return the chicken to the wok or skillet, stir and blend well with all the ingredients in the wok, about 1 minute. Add the sauce and continue stirring until the chicken is cooked through. Add salt to taste. Dish out and serve immediately with steamed rice.

Gulkand (Rose Petal Jam) Ice Cream

noreply@blogger.com (Prerna) — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 09:00:00 +0000

Verma was our live-in house help for all our childhood and probably for all my teenage life. My mother would tell us that he came to live with us when I was 6 months old and was there until I left for college. We would call him Ganga. Ganga is a part of many of mine and my brother's childhood memories. One of them definitely has to be him picking up a tall stainless steel flask every evening. He would take out his bicycle (or bike as you may call) that my Papa bought for him, would have my brother sit in front, me in the back on top of the carrier and all of us would ride up to the local dairy a couple kilometers from our place. He would hold both of our hands, patiently answering all our stupid questions while waiting in line for our turn. Sometimes the guy who owned that dairy and other times times his wife would milk the cows in front of us. We would get a liter or two, as mummy would have directed Ganga to do and then head back home. We come back home and very soon two glasses of steaming hot milk mixed with a little sugar would be in front of us two. My brother was a milk lover and he would finish his share up in a single breath, me, not so much! "Drink it bhaiya, its good for you", Ganga would say. Not convincing enough for me. "If you do I might let you ride my bicycle", he would promise. And I would hold my breath and take biggest gulps as I could and finish the milk.

I just never liked the smell of that milk. The smell of warm, organic cream topped milk. Fresh milk from grass fed cows living free out in the farm. That was almost as good as it can get. Now I wish I wouldn't have held my breath back then and would have appreciated what I had, because today when I go out looking for milk for my daughter I search for that aroma.Then after looking for it for six years here in the US, some 6 months back I finally found a milk which smelled and tasted if not the same, but very close to that milk.

I discovered Straus milk at one of my local grocer's. I ended up buying Straus milk that day because the store had run out of the brand that I would usually buy. In the whole dairy section that milk stood out because it was in glass bottles. I thought of giving it a try mostly because I did not want to drive around looking for my usual brand and I have to say that after that I never went back to my "usual" brand again. Straus Family Creamery is a family owned organic dairy farm located in the north of San Francisco. I did a fair share of research on the company and their believes and practices made me trust them and their product. I will not lecture you on what they are and who they are (you can learn so by visiting their website) but if you do believe in organic and sustainable practices then you might want to check them out.

Recently people at Straus found out about my love for their products and asked if I would be willing to develop or share some recipes for them. I happily agreed! I found this as a great opportunity to pull out the ice cream maker that sadly sat in my storage throughout summer and thought of trying this recipe for ice cream... Gulkand (rose petal jam) ice cream.

Rose petal jam or gulkand is a sweet preserve that I believe originated from Pakistan and is very popular in North of India. Wild rose petals are layered with sugar and placed in air tight containers and left in sunlight for a few weeks, being stirred after every few days until it turns into a thick and chunky jam like preserve. Its used for many Ayurvedic purposes but very commonly used as a mouth freshener wrapped in paan (betel leaf). I stirred it into an ice cream and a magic happened! It turned into one of the most addictive ice creams I have ever eaten. I taste tested it with a couple blogger friends of mine as well and I ~~hope~~ think they agreed. So lets get to the recipe.

Ingredients:
2 cups whole milk
2 cups heavy whipping cream
4 large egg yolks
5 tablespoons gulkand (rose petal jam)
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp rose water (optional)
1/2 cup coarsely chopped almonds

Method:
Heat milk and cream in a saucepan for a few minutes just below the boiling point. Set aside.
Whisk together egg yolks, sugar and vanilla extract until its smooth.
Now whisk in the mixture into the mixture of milk and cream stirring continuously so that the eggs don't scramble.
Turn the heat to low and keep whisking until the mixture thickens.
Turn off the heat and whisk in gulkand and rose water if using. Let it sit for 15- 20 minutes and then transfer it into the refrigerator until it cools completely.
After a couple hours pour the mixture into an ice cream maker (if using) and follow the instructions of the manufacturer. Add almonds close to the last 5 minutes when ice cream is almost done.
If you do not have an ice cream maker pour the batter into a flat 2-3 inches tall dish. Freeze the mixture in your freezer. Keep an eye and after a few hours just before the ice cream is hard, take it out, blend it in your blender and freezer again. Repeat the process again and this time mix almonds before freezing. This process might be a little longer than using an ice cream maker but results are very much the same.
Enjoy!

Indian Simmer Loves- Jenn Cuisine and a giveaway winner

noreply@blogger.com (Prerna) — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 07:29:00 +0000

Yes, this post is here again! I am now kinda looking forward to the Indian Simmer loves posts now. There are so many people that I have come to know in the past year and a half while blogging. People who are super talented and are fabulous person too and so I want you to know about them! The person I am featuring today is a friend and a very talented photographer/blogger. Jenn from Jenn Cuisine is an American living in Switzerland with her lovely husband and writes a gluten free blog. If you do not know her yet then trust me you are missing on a LOT of gorgeousness in the blogoshphere! C'mon lets meet Jenn and know a bit about her and the beautiful blog that she writes.

Thanks so much to Prerna for inviting me to guest post here on Indian Simmer! We've become lovely internet friends through sharing our passion for food, cooking, and photography, and it is an absolute honor to be able to share with you all :)

Tell us about yourself and what you would say is your food philosophy?
I am a scientist and share a passion for food and cooking with my gluten free husband - our philosophy has always been to use ingredients that capture and highlight the flavors of a dish - we've had a lot of fun over the years learning and experimenting together in the kitchen as we learn how to cook flavorful beautiful and tasty GF dishes.

What led you to starting a food blog?
I originally started a food blog to document my cooking, so no matter where I was I could go back and see what I made, what worked, and what didn't - then a community began to evolve as I got to know some of the lovely people in the food blogging community, and now it is as much for those I share with as it is for myself.

Please share a recipe that best describes your blog?
One of my favorite things about the upcoming holidays is that essentially from now until the New Year for my family it is all about tradition. Favorited treasured recipes that only get made once a year, as everyone eagerly awaits the familiar aromas wafting throughout the kitchen. There's always such a buzz of energy and excitement in the air, no matter what crazy weather/fallen trees/power outages Mother Nature decides to bring on my family's New England home over the past Halloween.

Every year that we've celebrated Christmas with my grandparents, Christmas dinner has involved baked chicken and noodles as the highlight of the meal. It's not so fancy, it's not extravagant, a dish that would probably never be found in a high-end restaurant, but my grandparents have been making it for decades on Christmas, and it's 100% pure happiness on the plate. Seriously, comfort food doesn't get any more satisfying than this. But with every tradition comes the natural evolution of recipes, and while there may be a little pressure to keep a dish exactly how everyone remembers it, I cannot help but play. This year, I'm taking our family Christmas dinner tradition and bringing it to Thanksgiving.

Changing the holiday isn't the only dramatic switch I did with this tradition - I added in a little Thanksgiving essence by incorporating pumpkin, but I also made it completely gluten free so that this year, my husband would be able to enjoy it too. There were two main alterations that were necessary to make this dish gluten free, but the good news is that with either any all purpose GF mix will do. The first is making the pasta, and the second, the roux for the sauce. I thought I would share a few tips on each, in case you have gluten free friends or family that you also would like to accommodate holiday traditions for.

Gluten free pasta from scratch is not so different from conventional pasta, and is a lot simpler to make than it sounds. The key is to make sure to substitute your ingredients by weight rather than volume so that the ratios remain the same - many gluten free flours have different densities than wheat based flour, and so cup measurements are not necessarily equal. Else, the basic process is the same - add all the flour to a bowl, make a well in the center to add the eggs, and gradually with your hands bring in the flour to the eggs until you have a ball of dough. The differences after this mainly have to do with handling the dough - it tends to be a bit more fragile than regular pasta dough, and I've noticed can dry out more quickly - so I wrap up the dough with plastic wrap when I'm not ready to use it yet, and work in batches. I roll it out with a rolling pin between two pieces of parchment paper, and dust often and liberally with GF flour to make sure it doesn't stick too much, and then cut the noodles using my longest chef's knife. No fancy rollers or machines needed, just a decent working space on a kitchen counter. It makes for a good methods for thicker eggy noodles, perfect in a baked casserole like this one :)

Roux is the basis of many sauces, essentially an equal parts fat to flour whisked constantly while cooked until a desired color - only a few minutes for white cream based sauces, or several minutes for the dark colored roux that characterizes rich thick stews like gumbo. And again, any old all purpose GF flour mix will do, making for a super easy substitution.

Add in a little pumpkin and thyme and sprinkle some grated parmesan on top, and this humble Christmas family tradition has been effectively transformed into an Autumnal celebration, perfect for the coming Thanksgiving, and easily made gluten free so that everyone in our family can take part and enjoy - some traditions are meant to stay around forever unchanged, and some are meant to evolve - will this dish find a new home in the coming years on my family's Thanksgiving table? Only time will tell, but so far this holiday season it's off to a good start :)

Baked Chicken and Noodles (makes about 8 servings)

Ingredients:
For the Pasta:
250 g (1/2 lb) all purpose GF flour mix*
pinch salt
175g eggs (about 3 - 4 eggs), beaten
olive oil
For the Casserole:
1 chicken, roasted, or 1 kg (2 lbs) of your favorite poultry cuts, cooked how you like, chopped into bite size pieces
50 g (2 oz.) butter
50 g (2 oz.) all purpose GF flour mix*
1 onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
a couple spoonfuls of pumpkin puree
salt & pepper
2 cups (500 mL) chicken broth, room temp or slightly heated (not chilled)
4 oz. parmesan, grated
fresh thyme

*Note - if you do not need to make this gluten free, feel free to use your usual all purpose flour

Method:
In a large bowl combine flour and salt and make a well in the center with your hands. Add the eggs into the well and slowly combine in the flour until it is incorporated and comes into a ball of dough. Depending on the flours you choose, you may need a little more flour, or a little less, so just watch the consistency and moisture content of your dough. You want it to not be so sticky, but not cracking either.
Fold it over a couple of times, and then wrap in plastic wrap and let rest in the fridge for an hour. (This is also a great time to start cooking your chicken if you haven’t already).
After the dough has rested, take it out of the fridge and cut it into 2 equal sections, and wrap each of them in plastic wrap to keep their moisture locked in. Take one and pat out with your hands onto well floured parchment paper (using the same GF flour mix is fine, I typically will use tapioca starch). Flour the dough and place another sheet of parchment paper on top. Roll out with a rolling pin, flipping occasionally and adding more flour as needed to ensure it doesn't stick. Roll out to desired thickness, about 1/8". Then cut into long strips for your noodles about 1/3" wide, and separate them a little bit from each other so that they do not clump together.
Bring a pot of salted water to a low boil and cook the pasta in batches, for a couple minutes at a time until tender. Rinse with cold water, and then add to a large bowl and toss with a couple drizzles of olive oil to keep them from sticking to each other.
Add the prepared chicken to the noodles, and preheat the oven to 180C (350F).
Melt the butter in a medium saucepan to start the roux - once the butter has melted and is hot, whisk in the flour. On medium heat whisk for 2-3 minutes until the flour has had a chance to cook but not to starch coloring. Add in the onions, garlic, and pumpkin and some salt & pepper and continue to whisk for another couple minutes.
At this point add in the broth to the roux, about half a cup at a time, stirring so that the roux mixes completely with the broth - this will help ensure that the sauce stays smooth. Bring to a simmer and then cook until smooth and thickened, stirring frequently. If much volume was lost feel free to add in a little more water or even some milk to make up the difference.
Pour the sauce over the chicken and noodles and transfer to a casserole dish, and sprinkle parmesan on top. Bake for about an hour (depending on the thickness of the casserole/size of the dish). Garnish with fresh thyme, serve and enjoy.

Winner of the "400 Best Sandwich Recipes cookbook is Maneet Jassal Gupta.
Congratulations Maneet! Please get in touch with me via email.

400 Best Sandwich Recipes Book Giveaway and Winners

noreply@blogger.com (Prerna) — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 06:00:00 +0000

Before I say anything else I first owe you a huge apology. This post should have come on Saturday but I never realized before how busy festivals, specially a festival like Halloween gets with a toddler at home. Driving her to a party, then driving back from the party, picking costumes for her and for the rest of us "not so important people", trick or treating and then after party- those were some busy busy past three days. I am still sleep deprived and heavily caffeinated but its fun to be running around with a camera even though your lady bug couldn't see anything beyond candies and pumpkins. So moral of the story is that I got very busy and couldn't come to you with the post that I had promised and I apologize. But I am hoping that the giveaway I have come with today will be able to make up for that.

I have said this before and I am sure many of you bloggers out there share the same feeling, that the best part of blogging is the people you come in touch with through it. You get to know people whom you never would have known before if it was not because of the blog that you write. There are some bloggers who even though live oceans apart from me and I have never met before but still have become such close friends of mine. Then there are some people who I first met face to face before even knowing that we belonged to the same blogging community.

Californian Sandwich

Alison Lewis is one such friend. I met Alison a little over an year back while I was attending my first food conference. I had recently started as a food blogger and did not know a thing about it. No one knew Indian Simmer, let alone Prerna Singh. That conference was my first introduction to the blogging community. I remember sitting at a table having lunch with a few fellow bloggers and in came Alison looking for a friend sitting with us. We started talking and slowly I got to know more about her career as a recipe developer, magazine and internet journalist and the owner of Ingredients, Inc. At the time she was working on her first cookbook and that really intrigued me because she was the first cookbook author I was talking to. When you talk to her you will agree that she is one of the most down to earth, true to herself and simple woman. It has been more than a year and Alison has reached greater heights since then but she is still the same simple, easy going and my "go-to" person for any food writing/blogging advice.

Strawberry and Mascarpone Sandwich

Her first book 400 Best Sandwich Recipes- From Classics & Burgers to Wraps & Condiments was launched a few months back. I was in the middle of a move and settling down at a new place when I got my copy in mail. That UPS delivery that day made me very happy, not just because this was my friend's first cookbook but because I could see Alison Lewis in the book. She is all about developing simple yet exotic and healthy yet likeable recipes that all of us can make in our kitchen with easily accessible ingredients. 400 Best Sandwich Recipes makes that possible for you.

Prepping to make Mu Shu Chicken Sandwich

If you like sandwiches then you HAVE to have this book and if you do not then beware because after this you might start liking them! This cookbook has recipes for all kinds of sandwiches from breakfast sandwich to lunch boxes, classics to regional and from wraps to international sandwiches like Steak Chimichurri Sandwich & Mu Shu Chicken sandwich which has become my latest obsession. You can find more than 20 ways to make a cheese sandwich and the dessert section is outrageously yummy. I just wish there were more photos in the book too but that is just the visual person in me speaking! All in all its a great book and I have been cooking a lot with it lately.
You should definitely add this one to your cookbook collection and to make that a little easier I have a copy for you today. I am giving away a copy of 400 Best sandwich Recipes on my blog. All you have to do is post a comment below and tell me about your favorite kind of sandwich.
Entries to this giveaway are open till Sunday, November 6th. Winners will be announced on my Monday, November 7th post. This giveaway is open to only the residents of USA.

Now winners of the Shutterfly giveaway are-
San
Seema
Sarah L
Congratulations guys! Please send me an email at indiansimmer[at]gmail[dot]com so that I can send you your free coupons.

Kaju Katli Revisited (Vegan and Glutenfree Cashew thins and truffles) for Diwali

noreply@blogger.com (Prerna) — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 07:06:00 +0000

This post was supposed to come on Monday before Diwali and for the Food Day. I support Meatless Monday so this was going to be my contribution to the website for the Food Day celebration. But then I pulled a back muscle real nice and landed on the bed. Well, this recipe was kind of the culprit in that too but hey I cannot complain! That's what festivals are all about, isn't it? Unless you have a few pulled muscles, a couple cuts and burns here and there, a few broken dishes and a lot of chaos, how can you make memories? Isn't that the best part about celebrations? In spite of all such small mishaps and those family dramas which I am sure every family has (at least mine did and still does), all we remember later is that everyone got together, had a few laughs, enjoyed a meal and celebrated each other. Yes, that is what a festival is all about. Its about telling them that you care and you cherish them!

While I am sitting here on my couch next to a big pile of unfolded laundry and two empty coffee mugs writing this, miles away my mummy, papa, my kid brother and a lot of people I care about must be busy celebrating one of the biggest festivals of India. Its Diwali in India today and the whole country will be dressed up like a new bride. There must be colored luminescent lights hanging on every balcony and yard. Mithaiwalas (sweet shop owners) would be up before sunrise prepping for the big day - as soon as they open the shop, they will not have a second to catch a breath. Mummy and all my aunties will get together to cook some Diwali treats. But mainly they would want to know who is wearing what and mentally plan how to outdo each other. The male members couldn't care less and must be sitting together sipping on some hot chai that ladies will be sending out every hour with those treats, perfuming the entire house.

In the evening everyone dresses up in a traditional attire, meet at someone's place (usually the eldest one) and do Diwali pooja (prayers). As soon as they will be done with pooja and step out of the house, there will be diwali lights everywhere. Every nook and corner of the city will be illuminated and so will every face. There will be fireworks, old stories, some tears and a lot of laughter. That is Diwali, the festival of lights as they say.

When Lord Rama, after freeing his wife Sita from the hands of evil Ravana, came back home along with his beloved brother Lakshmana after 14 years of banishment, he was welcomed home with diyas (ghee lamps). The entire city lit ghee lamps to show how much they loved him and were happy to have him back. Ever since, the day is celebrated as Deepavali which literally means "row of lamps". The main essence of this festival is to celebrate your inner light and take pleasure in simple things in life that have the most meaning after all.

Now if you would excuse me, I should go get the house ready so that when the little one wakes up in the morning, we are all ready to make our own memories of Diwali. Leaving you with a traditional Indian sweet recipe which happens to be my all time favorite. This one again counts as one of my recipes with the smallest ingredient list. I tried to give an old favorite Kaju Katli (sweet cashew thins) a new modern face but the essence and taste is still the same. Check out the recipe!

Ingredients: (Makes approx. 35 kaju katli and 10 truffles)

1/2 pounds dried cashews (soaked in water overnight)
1 cup sugar (I like it mildly sweet, you can increase the amount of sugar if you like it sweeter)
1 tbsp ghee (clarified butter) (add a vegan substitute for ghee like margarine for a vegan version)
Powdered sugar for dusting (optional)

Method:
Soak cashews in water overnight (or atleast 6-8 hours). They will look puffed up and should have lost oil which should float in water.
Drain out the water and wash the cashews thoroughly.
Now grind them in a blender using very little oil. Just enough to let the blades move, making a smooth paste. Paste should be very thick.
Mix sugar to the cashew paste and transfer it to a wide pan and my friends brace yourself for some hard work. And when I say hard work then I REALLY mean hard work because I have to admit I underestimated the fact when I took up this task, I ended up pulling a muscle. But again laying on the bed when I was munching on those Kaju Katli truffles, I couldn't feel any pain!
So transfer the contents to a wide pan and turn on the heat and keep it to medium low.
Two things stay constant in the cooking of Kaju Katli paste- medium low heat and constant stirring. If you increase heat a little it will start burning and if you stop stirring for long then also it starts sticking to the pan.
When starting the process of cooking the mixture of cashew paste and sugar the mixture will be very loose and easy to stir. Using a rubber spatula or a whisk (if you are not using a non stick pan) should make the process easier.
After cooking for a few minutes the mixture starts getting thicker and darkens in color. Continue the process for 15-20 minutes and a point will come when the paste starts to become very thick and sticky almost like a dough. Add ghee/butter at this point. You will be losing energy by this time but keep going because you are now very close to the end.
By adding ghee, the paste will again start getting lighter and will be sticking to the spatula (add a vegan substitute for ghee like margarine for a vegan version or can omit completely if you want) Keep stirring until it starts to turn into a ball. When you press it with a finger or back of a spoon it should not stick to your finger. The paste is now ready.
Take it out and place it over a greased surface (baking sheet or kitchen counter). Let it cool for 10-15 minutes until its easy to handle.
Using your hands, make a big ball off of the dough.
You can either place it between two sheets of a plastic wrap or lay it on a greased work station and roll it out using a greased rolling pin or you can make small balls off of it.
Roll it out to the thickness of a thin pizza crust. Using a pizza cutter or knife, cut the rolled out sheet into squares or diamond shapes. Dust them with powdered sugar if you want. Enjoy them right away or store them in refrigerator.

Wishing you all a Very Happy and Prosperous Diwali!

Starting a Holiday Giveaway Series - Shutterfly Holiday Cards Giveaway

noreply@blogger.com (Prerna) — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 06:29:00 +0000

It's no secret that holiday season is here. We are taking notes of the stuff that we "like" in order to send hints to people about what we want as holiday gifts. Retail stores are putting on the holiday songs and red, green and yellow decorations are appearing on the display racks. Right now its all about pumpkins then slowly chocolate and peppermint will come into picture. Even for us Indians we are right in the prime of the holiday season. We celebrated Eid and Dussehra a little while back, Diwali is right around the corner and also warming up for Christmas and Lohri.

What do you do when holiday season arrives? Well, apart from cooking and eating! Shop. Decorate the house, prepare invitations and buy gifts for the loved ones. Doesn't it make sense that I send you, my loved ones some gifts too? So I thought of organizing this small series of giveaways (of course with the help of some of the brands that I love) where I can share some love with you. Every week, for the next few weeks you will have a chance at winning a gift which is sponsored by a company of my choice.

To kick start the event today I have giveaway sponsored by the fine people at Shutterfly. I don't think Shutterfly needs an introduction but just in case you did not know, this is a one stop shop for you to take your memories from a digital camera straight in your hands. They help you store those countless photos in your hard disk at a safe online storage, they print them for you, help you share them with your loved ones and deliver them at your doorsteps if you want.

I love it that you can turn your favorite family photo into an invitation or holiday card and send it to friends and family, create a custom address label for the invitations or greetings. And if you are like me who cannot decide which one to pick out of the whole bunch of your favorite photos of the little munchkin or snaps from a trip, worry not, they can turn them all into a photo book.

I recently ordered a beautiful photo book with my little monster's photographs from birth to till date and a batch of holiday cards. You can do that too. The folks at Shutterfly were kind enough to giveaway three lucky readers of Indian Simmer 25 free holiday cards each. You can customize them in whatever way you want and use it this holiday season to show much you love someone. Just leave a comment below in the comment section. And if you are a blogger, you have another chance to get 25 free holiday cards, just register here.

Entries for this giveaway are open till 28th of October and its open for the residents of USA only. Results will be announced on 29th October.

Disclaimer: This giveaway is sponsored by Shutterfly but the views in the post are my own.

Phirni (Ground Rice Pudding) with Pomegranate Seeds and Karwa Chauth

noreply@blogger.com (Prerna) — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 15:25:00 +0000

Sitting in the balcony I would look at all those women wrapped in beautiful red sarees, sparkling their gold jewellery, with the best makeup on, holding pooja ki thali (a big plate with all necessities for pooja) with both their hands heading towards the shiva temple right behind my hostel. I was young at that time but old enough to dream that one day when I will really fall in love with someone and do what women in India have been doing for ages - pray to god for their husband's, better half's, significant other's long and healthy lives. I found it such a romantic and selfless way to show how much you love someone - fasting for an entire day with no food, or even a single drop of water and watching the moon come up with the person you love and then eating from his hand. That is what Karwa Chauth was to me and I always waited for the day when I will have someone to do that for.

Then came my turn, I married the person I loved and it was time to follow the same rituals. But I lived so far from home and my own country, where mothers send a huge basket with clothes and jewellery to be worn that day. Where mothers-in-law take you shopping and buy you everything you need for the pooja and very carefully direct new bride through the rituals. I thought I lived too far for all that to happen with me! Until the phone kept ringing every few hours with my mother checking if I received the packet with the red saree she had sent to me all the way from India. And my mother-in-law checking on how I was doing with no food or water for the first time in my life. I did fine and followed all the steps for rituals that my mother in law made my husband write on a sheet of paper, very diligently.

Then it was dusk. I pulled out the red saree that my mother had sent, its silver crystals glittering all along the border and tried my best to wrap it around me, and failing every time. This was the first time I was trying to put one on with no help whatsoever. Then the husband came to rescue. No, he did not try to wrap it himself but came with a youtube tutorial "how to wrap a saree - for dummies!". That helped because after 20 more minutes I was wrapped beautifully in a saree just like a new bride with bangles on and a big bindi on my forehead. And then began the waiting game. The moon somehow decides to show up a little late than usual on every Karwa Chauth. This one was no different. Again the mothers kept calling asking me to eat if the moon rise was late but I wanted a long life for my husband and hence waited. Waiting paid off and the moon showed up with its full beauty. We, the new couple cried with joy, thanked god for our togetherness and he raised a glass of water and I took a big gulp from it. He took a spoonful of firni and I ate. We hugged, kissed and ran straight to the dinner table where food was ready to be served.

That was my first karwa chauth with him, today it is sixth. It has been six years and today I love him more than I did on my first karwa chauth. I made some firni today just like I did on my first karwa chauth. Firni is very much like kheer (rice pudding) where you cook rice with milk reducing it to a creamy rich texture. Only that for Firni, a thick paste of ground rice and cashews is used instead of whole rice. Sugar is used as a sweetener and saffron and/or crushed cardamom seeds are used for aroma. You can garnish it with dry fruits of your choice. Almonds, pistachio or cashews are some common nuts people use in Indian rice pudding. I thought of fall and the vibrant colors of pomegranate. Felt like giving it a try and realized the tartness of pomegranate seeds go very well with the sweet and rich flavors of phirni.

I have seen my aunts and mom serving the dessert in little clay pots. Once the cooking process would finish they would pour the pudding using a big ladle into these clay pots and store them in a cold place. After a few hours clay would absorb all the extra water in the pudding making it thick and creamy. Unfortunately I did not have the luxury of those clay pots but if you do then I'd suggest use this method and you will know the difference.

Ingredients: Serves 8-10
1/2 gallon whole milk
1/2 cup uncooked rice
1/2 cashew nuts
1 tsp cardamom seeds (crushed)
1-2 pinches of saffron
1 cup half n half
1 cup sugar
1 cup pomegranate seeds

Method:
Thoroughly clean rice with water. Mix cashews and rice together and soak in water for a couple hours.
Strain all the excess water and using a food processor or blender make a paste of rice and cashews. (Paste should not be very smooth but granular so that you can feel the texture when rubbed with fingers). Set aside.
Heat milk in a thick bottom pan or deep dish. Bring it to boil and reduce temperature once milk starts bubbling.
Cook milk at low temperature stirring frequently until the milk reduces to its 3/4th quantity.
Now add the rice and cashew paste, saffron and half n half. Stir frequently until the pudding starts to thicken which will not take long after you add rice mixture to milk.
Once the thickening process starts, add sugar and cardamom seeds. Keep stirring.
Once all the sugar is dissolved and rice and cashews are cooked, the pudding is ready.
Now you can choose the consistency of your pudding. If you like it a little loose and flowing then turn off the heat. If like it thicker like I do then cook a little further.
Once you turn of the heat, let it cool a little. Stir it every once in a while preventing it from forming a thick layer on top.
Once the pudding has cooled down a little but is still warm, transfer it to serving dishes and either let it chill before serving or you can also serve it warm garnished with pomegranate seeds.

Indian Simmer loves..... Sinfully Spicy!

noreply@blogger.com (Prerna) — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 07:08:00 +0000

I have been asked this question over and over again...what blogs do you read? Would you recommend a blog? What are the blogs that Indian Simmer loves? Every interview I do, any research or survey I am a part of, every person I meet who happens to know that I am a food blogger. Through emails, online chats or in person this question has been asked to me way too many times that I thought I better start making the answer more public than I already do. Hence came into existence the idea for this new series named, "Indian Simmer loves.....". There are so many beautiful blogs in the blogosphere and so many people doing some exceptional work through their websites. Through this series I simply want to let you know what Indian Simmer reads and loves. And when the lovely people behind those blogs agreed to help I thought why wait? Let's start it from today itself, shall we?

As a part of this series I will showcase one of my favorite blogs/bloggers each month. To kickstart the series I have a very dear friend of mine who like me hails from India and shares her stories, experiences and recipes from the country. I just like the refreshing feel of her blog. Her simplistic writing accompanied by the gorgeous photography is just a breath of fresh air. Will not waste time because she is the one who is going to do all the talking today. Let me introduce you to Tanvi of Sinfully Spicy and lets show my homegirl some love!

Prerna is one person who never fails to fascinate me with her warmth & energy. Always full of excitement, I would say that she is one of the most cheerful lady I have met in the blogging world. They say that you need an eye for beauty, as much as I have known her, I feel that the kind of emotions & personality you carry around in life tend to reflect in everything you do - be it words, lens or recipes. Beautiful people make beautiful blogs - Indian Simmer is a testimonial of exactly that! Her lens is what personifies indian cuisine to the root - Vibrant, colorful & mouthwatering.
I was honored when she asked me to guest post on her blog. Thank you so much, Prerna! Among many of her creative ideas, she came up with this series where she wants to feature her favorite blogs. Well, the thought of kick starting the series is jaw dropping for me! Thank you so much again Prerna for inviting me here. To make the series fun, she posed me with a little questionnaire, which I tried my best to answer. Please keep in mind that this is the first time EVER in my life that someone interviewed me, don’t mind if I got carried away at places :)

Tell us about yourself and what you would say is your food philosophy?
Hi, I m Tanvi & I blog at Sinfully Spicy. I grew up in Delhi, India in a food loving, big joint family. No points for guessing that cooking caught my interest interested right from childhood. Indian families have this tradition where elders give money or gifts to kids as a token of appreciation for any good deed done.With my grandma, cooking always scored; what started as a hobby to fill up my piggy bank, slowly turned into a passion. Whatever I have learnt in kitchen, I owe it to her & my mom, who are two of the greatest cooks I have come across in my life.

My food philosophy is very simple - I like to cook from seasonal ingredients, include lots of whole grains & legumes in our daily diet and follow portion control. I hardly buy any canned produce and stick to natural (and sometimes organic) food items. I maintain that meals cooked with fresh ingredients & good mood always come out delicious. My family likes food with spice level spiked up; our daily meals are full of flavors from Indian spices but low on oil & cream. While weekdays are mostly home cooked meals, on weekends, we like to experiment with different cuisines when eating out.

What led you to starting a food blog?
Before shifting to USA, I led a very busy corporate life & believe me that I had never heard of a food blog! After coming to USA as a dependent wife, my life became as slow & boring as it could be. Just to kill the boredom of lazy afternoons, one day I reached out for the camera & starting taking pictures of the meals I cooked. It went on for a week before my husband spotted the images in my laptop & suggested that I should document them somewhere & share the recipes, the blog was born within an hour & as they say rest is history!

What would you say is "Sinfully Spicy" all about and please share a recipe that best describes your blog?
Sinfully Spicy is my humble effort to showcase the magical world of Indian spices & share how to use them creatively in preparing delicious indian recipes. Usually people think that spicy food necessarily has to be “hot”, it’s my sincere wish to clear this misconception with this blog. As with the rest of the world, the only “ hot” spice in Indian cuisine is red chili powder, all other spices are to enhance taste & flavor. Spices need not add heat to food always, they are as diverse as moods of life - warm, sweet, pungent, comforting, sour, bitter and when used in the right proportion, make food tasty and not fiery.

Paneer Jalfrezi is a spicy indian stir-fry made with bell peppers, onions, tomatoes & spices. As with many Indian dishes, Jalfrezi is not a dish in itself but a cooking method. You substitute paneer with rotisserie chicken or shrimp and make your own version. The idea is to make a quick stir-fry with ingredients, which require less cooking time. The dish was initially created by The British to use left over meats but, over the years, it has evolved as a popular side dish in Indian restaurants. Jalfrezi dishes are colorful, have pronounced use of chilies and the texture of vegetables is crunchy. You can add stock or cream & make a sauce & serve as a main dish but I like to prepare it a dry curry.

Ingredients (Serves 2):

3 tbsp canola/olive/sunflower oil
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp coriander seeds, lightly crushed
1 large onion, sliced
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
1" fresh gingershoot, minced
2 Thai green chilies, chopped
2 medium roma tomatoes, quartered & sliced
3/4 tsp turmeric powder
1.5 tbsp red chili flakes (adjust to tolerance)
1 cup sliced bell peppers (use any colored peppers of choice)
7 oz / (200gm) paneer (Indian cheese), sliced into 2” batons
Salt to taste
½ tsp garam masala
1.5 tbsp white vinegar / fresh lemon juice
¼ tsp sugar
Chopped Cilantro for garnish

Method:

Heat oil in a cast iron skillet or pan /wok/kadhai on high. Once smoking, add cumin & coriander seeds and fry for 30 seconds or so till they crackle.
Next, add the minced ginger & garlic along with green chilies and cook for another 30 seconds till you smell the aroma.
Reduce heat to medium and add sliced onions next to the pan and fry till soft and translucent. About 2-3 minutes.
Add sliced tomatoes, turmeric powder & red chili flakes to the pan next and fry for 5-7 minutes till tomatoes begin to sweat & soften but do not turn mushy. You will see oil separating on sides of the pan. Stir frequently to prevent tomatoes from sticking to the bottom of the pan. Add the sliced peppers next, stir and fry them for 5-8 minutes so that they cook slightly but still hold their shape & are crunchy.
Add the paneer next along with salt, increase heat to high and cook for 2-3 minutes with gentle tossing so as not to break the cheese.
Remove from heat, sprinkle the garam masala, sugar & top up with vinegar. Combine well. Garnish with chopped cilantro & serve with steamed rice or Indian breads.

Dahi Ke Aloo (Potato and Yogurt Soup) for Navratri and a guest post on Eat Live Run

noreply@blogger.com (Prerna) — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 07:27:00 +0000

That time of year is here again. Back home this was the time when monsoon would begin to wave a bye bye. After days and weeks of playing hide and seek, sun would finally decide to show up and umbrellas would go back to the closet giving way to woolen pullovers and shawls. This would tell its time for festivals and celebrations. And right now we are in the middle of one such celebration or as someone recently said, "in the middle of celebration of mother!". The time when we celebrate Maa the embodiment of strength, knowledge, prosperity, nurture and Shakti. For nine days we celebrate that mother - the reason for our very being! At the end of nine days, we do a small pooja at home and invite little girls over to our house for a treat and pooja meal. I wrote a whole post on pooja meal last year.

Today I did the same. Cooked a simple meal for the little girls who are considered goddesses. I made some traditional dishes and here is the recipe for one today. This is something very simple, goes well with the pooja meal because it doesn't ask for strong spices, onion or garlic and as my husband says, its very carby. So perfect for a meal after a day of fasting.

Ok, raise your hand if you don’t like potatoes … everyone loves potatoes! At least I do, or maybe I like them a little more than I should but I don’t regret it. As a child I was the pickiest eater and potato was the only vegetable I could eat (does that count as a true vegetable?). But now that I am past that phase, potatoes still remain a favorite because you can do so much with them. Especially in Indian cooking when you can make something as royal as a Mughlai Aloo Dum or a simple stir fry, potatoes will always shine. The recipe I am sharing today is one such recipe.

Dahi is hindi for yogurt and Aloo means potatoes. When potatoes are cooked in tangy and creamy yogurt with few simple spices they become Dahi Ke Aloo. I call it potato and yogurt soup. My mom serves it with hot and crisp fresh out of the griddle rotis, I served it with some fresh baguettes.

But if you want to take it up a notch then serve them with nice and crisp parathas (pan fried flatbreads). Even better if you do it with lachha paratha. A layered and flaky Indian flatbread which is pan fried in some ghee and is in itself an art form! I am guest posting today on my dear friend Jenna's beautiful blog Eat Live Run and there I made some lachha paratha for you. Go check it out! But again, whatever you call this soup or whichever way you serve them, they still remain classic comfort food and an easy quick fix dish.

Ingredients: (As I guest posted on Veggy Belly)
4 medium size potatoes (boiled, peeled)
2 cups yogurt (room temperature)
2 cups water
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp red pepper flakes (a little extra if you want to garnish)
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 ½ tsp coriander powder
Salt to taste
1 tbsp. olive oil (extra to drizzle on top of your soup)

Method:
Mash the potatoes. Thoroughly mash one and mash the others to bite size pieces. Set aside.
In a bowl whisk together yogurt and water leaving no lumps.
Heat oil in a medium size pot. Add cumin seeds. Once they start to pop, add turmeric and coriander powder.
Mix the spices together and add potatoes immediately. Mix spices well with the potatoes.
Stir in the thinned yogurt. Mix it well together with the potatoes.
Wait till the soup comes to a nice rolling boil and then add salt.
You can serve it hot. I like mine lukewarm with some extra virgin olive oil drizzled and some red pepper flakes sprinkled on top.

To all my friends who celebrate, wishing you all Shubh Navratri!

Rajma Masala

noreply@blogger.com (Prerna) — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 21:20:00 +0000

During the initial days of our married lives when I had just moved to the US, Abhishek used to cook a lot. Not sure if that was to impress his new bride or because the new bride's cooking was not as "edible" as it is now, but he'd cook. I would wake up to a nicely set table with cumin scented scrambled eggs, crisp brown toast smothered with buttered and cardamom tea boiling in a copper pot perfuming the whole house. Ahh, those blissful newly-wed days! That did not last very long but yes it happened to me. I always say to myself that maybe I very quickly evolved to be a "fabulous" cook and he realized that its time to move out of the kitchen to make home on the couch in front of the television.

One of the very first things that he cooked for me was a Rajma Masala, red kidney beans cooked with several spices long enough for all the spices to blend together and enter each and every bean in the pot. Rajma Masala he cooked that day was good and he very excitedly told me it was his all time favorite meal, rajma masala drizzled with ghee and steamy puffed rotis on the side. I still wonder why he made his favorite meal to impress me but maybe that was something he knew he will not go wrong with, and he did not. Even today (well until he reads this!) he does not know rajma masala was one of my least favorite dishes until that day. Maybe no one cooked it for me with so much excitement and love before. And now whether it is an occasion or not, if it has anything even remotely to do with making Mr. Singh happy then there has to be Rajma Masala somewhere. If I am making it at home then it should be enough for him to last the next two three meals.

When we were planning a small birthday celebration for him last week this one had to be on the menu. I cooked it as usual and everyone liked it as usual. Now when people ask me for a recipe they assume that they can just check it out on my blog. That's when it hit me that a dish which is my favorite person's favorite meal and is so close to me, I do not have its recipe up on my blog. That is just not right. So I made amends as soon as I could. Hence sharing the recipe for Rajma Masala and wishing the husband a very belated happy birthday!

Well, the recipe coming up must be the shortest recipe directions/method that I might have written in this entire blog! And if you had read my last post on Indian Curry paste then you might just know the reason why. As I told you in my last post that if you know how to make Indian Curry paste then you can easily make half the curries with no effort. This is what I did with my rajma masala. Just added curry paste to boiled rajma (red kidney beans) and I was good to go. Instead of using canned beans I buy dry beans from the super market, soak them for 6-8 hours and then boil them with salt and cloves. If you think that is too much work for you then you can you use canned beans and you life will be even easier. Just clean your canned beans with water thoroughly before using and give it a nice boil with curry paste and some water. That's how easy this recipe is. So check it out-

Ingredients:

1cup dry red kidney beans (or two 8 oz canned red kidney beans)
2-3 cloves
Salt to taste.
3/4 cup curry paste (recipe in detail here)

Method:
Wash dry beans with water, then soak them in water three times the quantity of beans. In this case I used 3 cups of water. Let it soak in water for 6-8 hours or overnight depending on how fast your beans absorb water and get soft.
Drain all the water. Add fresh water, this time four times the quantity of beans (in this case 4 cups).
Add cloves, salt and pressure cook until the beans are cooked.
If you don't have a pressure cooker I would say using canned beans would be more convenient because it will take you long to cook dry ones. But if you want to do it from scratch then add water enough for the beans to cook in a pot and boil until they are tender.
Once the beans are cooked, add curry paste. Give it another quick boil.
Turn off the heat. Garnish with chopped cilantro and serve with warm steamed rice.

Indian Curry Paste

noreply@blogger.com (Prerna) — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 06:55:00 +0000

Saturday was fun and interesting. It was Abhishek's birthday but he had to go to school so he left early leaving me and the little monster with enough time to plan something nice for him. I took this as a good opportunity to go meet a few blogger friends of mine. Spent a lovely afternoon with them talking about food, food blogging and the rest of the world while watching the kids play. All of that was so much fun that I almost forgot that there is a party at my house in the evening and a birthday cake needs to be made. There needs to be a whole post to tell you the story about that birthday and the birthday cake which probably I will do later! But while deciding his birthday menu I realized one thing. One of the most common masala mixture (spice mix) that is used in Indian curries is a curry paste and I never shared a post on it. So I thought before sharing what I cooked for his birthday I should share this basic recipe for curry paste whose variation is present in almost all Indian curries. That might make the next post and many other curry posts easier.

Like I have said before every Indian household has its own recipe for any Indian dish and same goes with the curry paste. I come from the northern part of India where curry paste is mostly tomato based. In South Indian kitchens use of curry leaves, coconut, some kind of lentil or tamarind will be prominent. Mughlai cuisine is comprised of whole or ground spices and an addition of cream or a dairy product to make the sauce rich and creamy. Then what you are going to use the curry paste for also makes a difference. If you are going to add meat to your curry, making a rice dish like biryani or tahiri or using it to make a vegetable curry. There are several variations and several ingredients that you can add or remove but I do not want to confuse you with all that. Lets take it a little slow and today talk about the basic Indian Curry Paste recipe which can be used to make almost all kinds of Indian curries. This is a tomato based curry paste recipe which you can also use to make Mughlai curries by adding some extra ingredients. You can add curry leaves too and a few more ingredients and make a South Indian curry with this too.

To make an Indian curry paste you need two kinds of masala or mix. One is a wet mix and the other is dry mix. Wet mix is made of fresh ingredients from your pantry which you blend together to make a paste and then later cook with the dry ingredients. The four main ingredients for the wet mix are onions, garlic, ginger and chilis. You can use thai green chili, jalapeno peppers, any other kind of hot peppers or even dried red chili peppers all you want is some heat. If you don't want it hot you can completely omit this ingredient.

Now the dry spices used here are basically the spices used to make a garam masala powder. Again many cooks use a few extra spices and some might use a few lesser spices for their garam masala, this is how my family does it. The spices I use to make a garam masala powder are black cardamom, cinnamon, cumin, coriander seeds, cloves, black pepper and bay leaves. Grind all the spices mentioned into a powder and mix it with the wet mix and then cook together. Then finally tomato puree or diced tomatoes are added and cooked until it looses all its water.

Now before getting to the recipe I have to tell you about my friend Joy of Joylicious and this exciting project that has been working on. She is one of the most talented food photographers/bloggers I have come across and is one heck of a girl! Joy and her friends have been working hard at developing a new cooking show geared towards singles and couples. Main goal of this show would be to encourage people to get back in the kitchen and equip them with the confidence and skills to become an efficient home chef. You can learn more about the show by clicking on this link and watching the kickstarter. Joy is trying to raise some money that would help her and her friends get the episodes to gear. So I'd love for you to click on the link, checkout what Joy wants to say and maybe help her spread the word or raise some money.
Alright and now lets come back to the Curry Paste recipe. Here's my recipe for Indian Curry Paste, do you care to share yours?

Ingredients:- (Makes approx. 1.5 cups of curry paste)
(wet paste)
1 cup chopped onion
1 inch ginger
3-4 cloves of garlic
2-3 green chilis (or any chili pepper of your choice)

(dry spice powder)- Only half of it will be used in this recipe for curry paste. You can store the rest in an air tight container for later.
2-3 bay leaves
2 tsp cloves
2 tsp peppercorn
3-4 black cardamom
1/2 Cinnamon stick
1/2 tbsp cumin seeds
3 tbsp coriander seeds (you can use 2/2.5 tbsp coriander powder if you don't have seeds)

other ingredients:
1 tsp turmeric
2 tbsp oil
1 tsp ghee (optional)
Salt to taste
1 cup diced tomato

Method:
Grind together ingredients for the wet mix in a food processor or blender/grinder. Use about 3-4 tbsp of water if necessary for the blades to rotate. Set aside.
Grind together all the dry ingredients in a spice or coffee grinder. Set aside.
Heat oil in a thick bottom pan, add wet mix.
Cook it on medium high heat until all the water has evaporated. Once the paste starts getting thicker reduce the heat to medium low, add salt and turmeric.
Cook until the paste starts changing color and gets golden brown in color.
Add ghee. Very soon oil will start to separate.
Add diced tomato. First the tomatoes begin to melt then slowly all the liquid will evaporate. Cook until the mixture has no liquid left.
Now add dry ingredients. Mix everything well together.
Your curry paste is ready.
Now you can add vegetables if you are making a vegetable curry. Add browned, baked, stir fried or deep fried meat to make a meat curry. You can also add it to rice with a few vegetables and make a tahiri (spicy rice pilaf)
This curry paste can be stored in a refrigerator for weeks. All you have to do is let the paste cool down completely and then transfer it to an air tight container and freeze.

Looking Back- My 7 links & Gojee Feature

noreply@blogger.com (Prerna) — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 07:46:00 +0000

A couple weeks back my lovely friend Jenn from gorgeous Jenn Cuisine sent an email to me telling about this fun, kind of a relay post thread floating around the blogosphere called My 7 links. In this post you basically answer a few questions which are mainly about your blog and then hand it over to other bloggers who you love for them to take it forward. Jenn asked if I would want to join. I thought it would be interesting and maybe fun to look back at all those posts that you very carefully collected together for the past sometime. So very excitedly I said yes. But little did I know how difficult it is to comment on your own work. Every post that you put forward on your blog has a little bit of you so to pick a few from the whole bunch is difficult. It took me sometime to answer these very simple questions and although I am still not sure the answers are correct, still I am sharing it with you today.

Most Beautiful Post:-

I am one of those people who always criticize their own work. Every photograph I take, every dish I make and every post that I share I find some or the other flaw which I later think should have noticed before. So you can only imagine how difficult it must be to answer the very first question in the series. That being said I would say I felt pretty good about one of my very early posts about Pasta in creamy tomato sauce with pumpkin seeds. Not sure if that was my most beautiful post but I had fun shooting each and every photo from that post and looking back I realize that there was some effort that went into it.

As you know I have a series that I run on my blog called Wordless Wednesday which is basically a non-recipe photography post where I share with you some of my photographs. From that series the post that is really close to my heart is the post where I shared the photos I took at Chandani Chowk. Post was named Colors of Chandani Chowk (India). I can't stop staring at all the vibrant, full of life and colorful images from the day when I just walked on one of the most crowded yet popular streets of India.

Most Popular Post:-

Most popular post on my blog has to the Homemade Naan with Malai Kofta. It was not before I shared this post on Indian Simmer and I looked at the response of people that I realized how much a simple flatbread that I never gave credit to was so popular all around. I am not a huge fan of the use of yeast in my flatbreads so I usually make my naan without one using different methods. I thought it would go well with Malai Kofta so I shared it here and expected people to like the malai kofta recipe. But instead everyone was more excited about the homemade naan recipe. This post is the one that has been featured in many other blogs and websites. It has been the most searchable post of mine so far, got the most comments and I still get emails from people telling me that they tried the recipe and liked it.

Most Controversial Post:

I am always open to people's criticism/feedback and always appreciate it either its good or bad. I have been so lucky to always have had a good response from my readers. Once in a while someone would say not so good things about you but I choose to never delete even those from the comment section of my blog. But with my Chicken Tikka Masala and Cumin Scented Rice Pulao there was a different kind of objection that some "anonymous" readers had. The use of a particular beverage which I very innocently used as a prop disturbed some and that created a bit of a discussion. If you know me then you know that I am just not a confrontational kind of a person but those comments hurt me a little because they questioned my ethics. I responded to those comments but as usual the "anonymous" commenter stayed anonymous!

Most Helpful Post:

Turns out my readers love homemade food and they always appreciate when I share a way to make something that they usually buy from a store, at home. Another homemade recipe that I shared was of Paneer (Indian Cottage Cheese). After naan this has to be another post that I always have people writing to me about. They are amazed at how easy it can be to make paneer at home and they say the post helped them change the way they look at Indian cheeses now. That is a huge compliment!

Although it has has been pending for a long time now but I started a series named Food Photography- My Process on my blog. The very first post from the series got a great response and feedback from my readers was that it has helped them take a different approach on food photography. In the post I spoke about my planning process and the use of light in food photography. I am so bummed that I am not able to publish the next post from the series and still have readers/friends ask me to work on one. Today I promise I will work on the next post from the series and will share with you soon.

Post Whose Success Surprised me:-

Another question that is difficult for me to answer. I always think that you, my readers have always been so appreciative of me and always give me a positive feedback. But the following two posts were the ones that I never would have thought that you will like so much. One was A Simple Hindu Pooja Meal. This post I wrote almost an year back, somewhere around the auspicious days of Navratri. Navratri (which literally means nine nights) are nine days when Hindus worship the goddess of strength, prosperity, patience and kindness. The several aspects of woman and we believe goddess Durga is an epitome of that. We cook some dishes that use close to none spices and are called pooja meal. The recipe from this post have again been featured in several places including the one I am going to talk about later in this post and also got a great feedback.

Another post which I never thought would get such great response was that of Molten Chocolate Liquor Cake.

Post that did not get attention it deserved:

I might have said before that the belief that Indiasn eat naan everyday at home is not really true. We love naan that is for sure but the bread that we eat everyday at home is not naan but something even simpler like a phulka, dosa, paratha or roti. That is what my grandma used to make everyday, and her grandma AND her grandma! I shared a recipe for the easiest and quickest Indian flatbread on the planet a while back. This post was one of my very early posts when no one knew who Prerna or Indian Simmer was. Maybe that's why it never got the attention of people but I think if you like Indian food and want to learn about it then you should know Roti- An Indian Staple!

Post I am proud of:-

The day I try a recipe that my dad loves, or a dish that no can cook better than my mom, or the day I master my husband's favorite dish that he thinks his mom makes best that day is a "I feel proud of myself" day for me. These are the little achievements that make me want to try new things and cook something for my family that they have never eaten before. But then someday you cook for a cause, you cook to show how much you care about something and to show your support. When those dishes and those posts get the support of readers like you that makes me feel prouder. One such post is Rose Panna Cotta- Celebrating Pinktober. I have many close friends and family who have been touched by cancer so the topic is personal to me. I will do anything to spread awareness about the topic, this was one such effort.

So here are my 7 links. Hope you liked them. I would also want to nominate five blogger friends of mine who run absolutely gorgeous blogs. I know you would love them if you don't already know them.
Kulsum from Journey Kitchen
Joy from Joylicious
Sabrina from the Tomato Tart
Radhika from Food For the 7 Stages of Life
Sala from Veggie Belly

And now the other news that I am excited about lately. Gojee.com approached me a while back and asked if I would like to be a featured contributor to their website. My answer was, "hell to the yeah!". I have been a fan of the website ever since they launched it. They are fun people and that shows through. Today they are revealing the contributors on their website which includes some very well known names and the little me too! Check out Gojee its one of the coolest recipe sites out there.

Kadhi Pakora

noreply@blogger.com (Prerna) — Sun, 11 Sep 2011 15:07:00 +0000

It has been close to six years since I left homeland and started my own family and a kitchen. There were quite a few initial challenges and kitchen disasters but slowly I think I got a hang of it and started cooking some decent edible food. But there are two things that still make my legs weak when someone asks me to make - Indian pickles or a kadhi. A very close friend of ours is pregnant and the mommy-to-be has been craving kadhi, a lot! Lucky enough for me an Indian restaurant close to our place makes really good kadhi. Every few days I have to make a trip there. But after a few trips I realized I better face this fear and try to perfect the art of making kadhi myself.

There is no right way to make kadhi and you can find tens and hundreds of recipes out there. A Gujarati kadhi (popular in the state of Gujarat), Maharashtrian Kadhi (from the state of Maharshtra), Pujabi kadhi (coming from the state of Punjab), Aunty Sheila’s kadhi, mom’s kadhi and so on… A perfect example of what a traditional Indian food is, everyone has their own version with a few tweaks here and there but fundamentally they are all the same. Simple comfort food that fills up your belly, warms up your heart and you can never have enough of it!

Kadhi is simply a spiced soup that you make with thinning out yogurt with water and cooking it with some chickpea flour. Yes, that is all what kadhi is and then you can add whatever you want to it and make it your own. Some like to make it with some deep fried chickpea fritters, some add veggies or some like my mom make it with tomatoes. Some like to add more water and make it really thin, some don’t and so they add a little more flour to make it denser. Then the use of spices also varies from region to region. In some parts of the country mustard seeds and curry leaves are very important when making kadhi, while in other parts spices like fenugreek seeds and whole dried red chili pepper are used.

My mom makes it in one way and my mom in law makes it in another so when I try a recipe like this I take the middle route. Some of hers and some of hers! Some might find this recipe a little closer to the Punjabi kadhi and I would say those frequent trips to the Indian restaurant might have to do with that too. For the tempering, I used the spices that my mom uses and for the consistency I went with my mom in law’s style. I made some deep fried chickpea battered fritters and also some with vegetables. I am sharing the recipe with no vegetables here because that is what is commonly used for kadhi. If these fritters don’t look perfect or they look sloppy to you then please pardon me. Making gorgeous looking and perfectly shaped bhajia is just not my forte so I say “I kinda like them that way!”

Check out the recipe over at 6 Bittersweets, a gorgeous blog by one of my very good friends Xiaolu. You must remember Xiaolu from one of the most beautiful guest posts on Indian Simmer, the recipe post for orange grand marnier souffle. She is a very talented photographer, blogger and one of the most beautiful blogger friends that I have. Few weeks back she asked me to do a guest post for me and requested I make some kadhi for her and I did! So please head over to 6 Bittersweets for my guest post that I did a couple days back.

Pickled Red Chili Peppers

noreply@blogger.com (Prerna) — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 22:21:00 +0000

After two weeks of crying, whining and emotional blackmailing, today was the first day our little monster and I had a calm ride up to the daycare. It is a little tough to see that "maa why are you doing this to me/us?" look in her eyes but slowly things are getting better (at least beginning to!). Abhishek aka A started his business school a few weeks back which got him busier and hence made it even tougher for me to answer all her questions, verbal and non-verbal. Where are we going? Why are we going? When will we get back? and now adding to the list, Is Papa coming? Why not? Why does he need to study? How long will he study?! Papa is the one who tells her all the ~~stupid~~ imaginative stories and answers all her questions. When he is not around Maa becomes clueless. I am neither imaginative nor a good story teller for a two year old! But after a month of exercising immense patience and perseverance, I am slowly getting a hang of that too (at least beginning to!). This is what kept me from coming here and sharing stories with you on Indian Simmer. After all the lion, mouse and dragon stories, I was left with no creativity by the end of the day and I did not want to write a post just for the heck of it. So I kept quiet here and tried to take care of one part of my life first. Hope you missed me because I missed you like nothing else!

Not a lot happened here on my blog but there was still a lot going on in the kitchen. There were some new recipes developed, some new flavors tasted and some old school Indian recipes that I tried to learn. Some of them that I am really proud of are my mother-in-law's kadhi that now I can tell her that I have mastered and a few pickles that my mom makes. My take on mummy's aam ka aachar, pickeled raw mangoes in which I used green apples instead (will share the recipe soon) and pickled red chili peppers.

My mother might not be the most adventurous cook in the world but there are few things that no one can ever, ever cook better than her. She makes okra fry that I have never tasted anywhere else and I have eaten a lot of okras! And no one can pickle red chili peppers like her. I am not saying this because she is my mom and her food will always be the best in my eyes, but seriously she just knows how to do it right! I have tried a lot of her pickle recipes but never tried pickling red chili peppers because I never found the peppers that looked like the ones she uses to make hers in India.

But few days back I got lucky when I entered a small grocery store run by a Mexican family. They have the freshest and gorgeous looking produce from the local farms right in their tiny store. And I fell in love with the place the moment I saw those red chili peppers lying on a brown jute basket underneath the shelves. I swear I screamed when I saw them, grabbed as many as I could, brought them home and did what I had wanted to do with them for the past six years. Filled several jars with pickled red chili peppers.

Although according to my mom you should not eat it until its been in there for at least a couple months. They say the longer you keep Indian pickles sealed and stored in a cool, dry place the better they taste. Longer they are allowed to blend in with the spices the more they absorb flavors and taste better. If stored in favorable conditions they stay good for years. But I couldn't resist and a half jar is already gone. So beware, they can be hot, spicy and way too much addictive!

Ingredients:
About 45-50 medium sized red chili peppers (I used Fresno peppers)
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 tsp fenugreek seeds
1 tsp Nigella
50 grms fennel seeds (approx. 2 oz)
50 grms coriander seeds (approx. 2 oz)
50 grms mustard seeds (approx. 2 oz)
50 grms Aamchur (dried mango powder) (approx. 2 oz)
200grms Salt (approx. 7 oz)
8 oz virgin mustard oil.

Method:

Thoroughly clean the peppers with water, pat dry them, spread it on a baking sheet or something similar and lay it out in open sun to dehydrate a little. 4-5 hours of nice hot sun or an hour in the oven at 170 deg. F should be just right. You just want the outer skin just to get a few wrinkles.
Clean the jars you are going to use for canning and let them air dry as well.
In a pan roast fennel seeds, cumin, fenugreek seeds and nigella over medium high heat just for 3-5 minutes until begin to smell the spices. Turn of the heat, set it aside and let it cool.
Coarsely grind all the spices mix it with half (around 4 oz) of oil.
To fill the peppers you can do it in two ways, either make a long slit lengthwise and fill it with the spices or chop the head off, take out the seeds from inside and then fill it with the prepared spices. I do the latter and I also mix the seeds I take out from inside of the peppers into the spice mix and fill it into the peppers.
After filling the pepers you can either dip each pepper in oil and then place it in the jar or fill the jar with the stuffed peppers and then pour oil over it.
Airtight the jars and store in cool, dry place.
Every couple days shake the jars a little so the oil slowly coats all the peppers.
You can dig into the pickles in a couple weeks time but ideal would be to open the jars not before at least a month.

Wordless Wednesday: Colors of Chandni Chowk (India)

noreply@blogger.com (Prerna) — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 07:18:00 +0000

I know I have been out of sight for a long long time now and must have kept you all wondering. Got some vote of confidence that I have your love and support even if I choose to stay quiet for a while or try to take a little break. Also received a few emails and messages from some lovely friends checking on me which never ceases to warm up my heart. Thanks so much!
Just so you know I am doing very well, so is the family and the little monster. Just trying to get comfortable with a few changes in the day today life about which I will tell you later. Today I am here to quietly share some photos which somehow managed to escape my eyes. Photos from my last trip to India and an afternoon at Chandani Chowk, one of the busiest and most popular market of India. Hope you enjoy!

Eid Mubarak everyone!

Rabdi infused with saffron over summer berries

noreply@blogger.com (Prerna) — Sun, 14 Aug 2011 16:06:00 +0000

A couple months back we moved to this town in the suburbs of San Francisco. California was the first place we called home after I and the husband got married. We started with a small one bedroom apartment that had these huge windows with tall sheer white curtains and a stream running outside, just a few feet away from our patio. We made so many memories with this place and so many friends here before moving to a different part of the country. We lived there longer than we did in California but I always felt this place was home and I knew I will come back. And I did!

Now we are here again, closer to the places we loved and also discovering new places that we never knew existed. One such place that I discovered and I am so glad I did is this cute little farm blocks away from our new place. It’s a tiny little farm, nothing fancy, run by a cute little family. They grow seasonal fruits and vegetables and sell it right outside their gate by the street under a small shade. And that fruit stand is like a godsend to me. I mean where else can you just drive up, ask the fruit seller for cherries and he steps into the farm, picks some straight off the tree and hands them to you? Taste of the produce increases manifold when it is still warm with the hot sun falling on the tree. To be honest, I never knew that peaches can be so juicy, plum and peachy!

These days the farm is loaded with fresh berries and so is my refrigerator and fruit basket. Bonus, the little one is crazy about them too. She can have them all day long seven days a week and still won’t get bored. So the perks of trying something new and just throwing berries in it are even more. And I have come to realize that berries make everything taste good. And when you add it to something as good as a rabdi then I can’t even tell you how good the result is!

When you cook sweetened milk at low temperature until it thickens to a creamy and rich texture, it becomes rabdi. To step it up a notch and to add another layer of flavor and aroma, cardamom powder or saffron is added. This is a hugely popular dessert in India and is usually accompanied with rasgulla (cheese balls cooked in a sugar syrup), jalebi or eaten as is. A friend once told me how they add clementine wedges to it. So I started adding any fruit that had a bit of a tang to it and I have to say berries work best. It is rich and creamy, and saffron gives it the perfect warmth. The best part is that its super easy to make.

How easy you ask? Find out at the merry gorumet. A beautiful blog by my friend Merry-Jennifer. She is right now with her friend Jennifer Perillo who is hurting . The moment she learned that her Jennie is in pain Merry-Jennifer did what friends do, she packed her bags and flew to comfort her. Merry-Jennifer asked if I could fill in for her in the meantime and I said yes. So please head over to the blog of this wonderful person where I am proud to be guest posting!

Lamb Kofta Curry

noreply@blogger.com (Prerna) — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 06:10:00 +0000

I made some malai kofta a while back. People loved it but that was a vegetarian version and so my carnivore friends felt a little left out with that. I got emails asking for a meaty kofta curry. When Dara from Cook in Canuck invited me for a guest post and demanded the same thing I thought this might be the perfect opportunity to make some. So I am here sharing the recipe for my mom’s Lamb Kofta Curry. Don’t even get intimidated with the name because this is nothing but an Indian version of meatballs. Meatballs cooked in a creamy and spicy curry sauce. A few ingredients or spices must be different but the comfort and warmth you get with those meatballs you will find the same here.

Kofta is hindi name for meatballs. In this case I am using ground lamb to make koftas but you can definitely use any meat of your liking. Cooking time will change according to the kind of meat you are using. Now the curry sauce is prepared the same way as you do in any other Indian curry with onion, ginger and garlic as the base. Then later different spices are added to form layers of flavors that burst in your mouth. But in this case there’s a simple ingredient which gives it a little twist. Cashews. Cashews are blanched and then ground into a smooth paste, mixed with some heavy cream and is added to the curry at the end. This gives the sauce its creamy and rich taste.

Another ingredient that I try never to miss when I am making a mughlai dish is kasuri methi (dried fenugreek leaves). Don’t ask me why. If you find it, just throw a couple tablespoons in there and that earthy taste in your curry sauce will tell you why. Its super inexpensive. You can find it at any Indian store for maybe a couple bucks and it lasts me forever. So if you can find it put it, if you can’t then no worries the earth will still survive!

To check out my recipe for a Lamb Kofta Curry head over to Dara's gorgeous blog Cook in Canuck where I am guest posting today. While you are there don't forget to check out how-to posts which are some kitchen simple techniques she shares every week, I find them very educative. So hurry up to Cook in Canuck and enjoy your time there!

The Art of Making Crisp Dosa

noreply@blogger.com (Prerna) — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 20:38:00 +0000

I told you there has been a lot going on behind the scenes of Indian Simmer! One of the things that is keeping me busy are the guest posts that I have been doing for some very special friends of mine. One such friend is Shulie from gorgeous blog Food Wanderings. I and Shulie were talking a while back. It all started with a casual conversation and like with all the food lovers, it ended up being about food. I told her about my lack of ability to cook a beautiful loaf of bread and she empathized with me. She told me how her family, especially her better half, loves dosa and I shared how easy it is to make. The conversation went on and by the end of it somehow we were deciding on dates when we should share those recipes with each other. What better way to share a recipe with a food blogger than through the blogs. So for you fabulous readers and for a bit of our own selfish need we thought lets guest post on each other’s blog and share the recipes we both love so much. Last week Shulie came as a guest on my blog to share her recipe of a perfect and ah so gorgeous Challah. Today she very generously invited me over to her space to share my recipe for a crisp, golden brown and comforting dosa.

For those who are not very familiar with dosa, it is an Indian style crepe or thin pancake. While in the north India roti or bread made usually with wheat is popular, dosa is a southern favorite. It is usually made by mixing rice and lentils in a particular ratio and then ground and fermented before making crepes out of it.

I come from the northern part of India, the part where rotis are more of a staple than dosas. Although I do make dosas at home all the time but I wanted to learn more about them so I took a quick lesson from my friends Vijitha and Rose. Dosa is kind of their forte and they did teach me a lot about several varieties of dosas common in a South Indian family. Some dosas are savory and some are sweet. Some are thicker and soft while others are thinner and crisp. They can be made with wheat flour, a lentil based batter, semolina based batter and what not. But to share with you here I decided to pick the kind that is most common and also popular. The kind you can find at any Indian restaurant and the kind that is made with a two simple ingredients - Rice and Urad dal (Split black gram).

I have realized that making dosa is no rocket science! Just two main things to keep in mind – one, the ratio of rice and lentils must be accurate and second, fermentation has to be done carefully. Ratio between rice and urad dal for a dosa should be 3:1. Three parts parboiled rice and 1 part washed split black gram. The two are soaked separately in water for a few hours or overnight. Then the two are ground into a flowing batter later to be left to ferment in a warm dry place. Usually I let it ferment overnight, so technically getting a dosa batter ready to finally make the crepes takes at least 24 hours. But if you own an oven or enjoying some warm weather then you might be in luck and things might speed up a little for you!

To learn how to make paper thin, crispy and golden dosas check out Shulie's blog Food Wanderings where I am guest posting today. Look out for some little tips on how to make a crispy thin dosa which I have discussed with you. But I have to add that everyone has their own little tricks for making dosas, these are mine and I am sharing because they work for me. If you have any other tricks up your sleeve feel free to share and educate us!And while you are already there feel free to surf around because I know there's so much great things to learn from her blog.