"Snacksgiving"

How to make Chai Tea Latte

noreply@blogger.com (SnacksGiving) — Sat, 24 Aug 2013 06:37:00 +0200

{A Girl At the local Starbucks} Can I have a Chai Tea Latte?
{Ancient} Me : "Chai Tea Latte"? That's "tea tea milk"..? That's like saying Starbucks Starbucks coffee. Or maybe not..Starbucks is a proper noun....Ok so may be its equivalent to saying "Chocolate Chocolate biscotti" or "Whole wheat whole wheat pasta".

Yes, that is what it is equivalent to!

Masala chai is an Indian drink made my adding a blend of aromatic spices in freshly brewed tea and served hot.
Masala = Spices
Chai = Tea
It is a staple in our home and indeed, in most Indian homes. Every family has a different way of preparing their favourite brew. Some alter the ratio of the different spices, some would add more milk than water in this recipe.

While staying in New York, sharing an apartment with 2 other roommates, there would be 3 different types of tea that were made EVERY morning. Even in the morning rush that all of us used to be in, we would not budge and have the tea the other roomie was making. One used to simmer it for very long, which would make it thick and slightly burnt tasting for my liking, one used to have her own special blend of darjeeling tea with honey, and I used to have my good ole spiced chai. I usually grind up a big batch of spices every few weeks for my chai.

RECIPE
Here is what you will need to make 4 cups of Masala Chai

INGREDIENTS

3 Cardamom pods - Discard the outer peel, use only the seeds from the pod
1 Cinnamon stick 1 1/2" stick
few pepper corns
a teaspoon of fennel seeds
1" piece of ginger
2 cups milk
2 cups water
5 teaspoons assam or darjeeling tea
3 and half tablespoons sugar. Brown sugar works beautifully in this recipe, but regular granulated sugar is fine too.

DIRECTIONS

Grind the spices into a powder.
Place the water in a saucepan, and add the tea to it.
Add in the sugar and the ground spices
Grate the ginger piece and put it in the saucepan
Once the concoction comes to a boil, add in the milk
Simmer it all for about a minute or two so that all the flavours combine
When it starts coming to a boil again, take it off the heat and pour it in your tea cups using a sieve.
Enjoy it hot with a biscuit or 2.

P.S: This was last posted on my blog a few years ago, but being the loyal chai enthusiast, I still make it the same way. I reposted as it saddens me to see the blog not tended to for so long. I wrote about what has kept me away here. I am aching to come back to this blogging and writing world, but to be honest, the bills have to be paid, and this blog hasn't helped me on that :-). Not that it was ever the intention, but between a full time job and spending time with a toddler, this space has been pushed down in the list.

Olive straws

noreply@blogger.com (SnacksGiving) — Wed, 9 Nov 2011 11:14:00 +0100

You're hosting a last minute party and are bored of the same old chips and dip and samosa's from the halwai, but have no great kitchen skills to speak of ? Sound familiar? Yeah, we've all been there! Or you want something nice and fresh from the oven, but have neither the patience nor the time?

Puff Pastry! The answer to all of your kitchen troubles! Well, ok ..some of.

Have a load of frozen puff pastry in the freezer - and surely something good will come out of your oven. I guarantee :-)

I mean what is puff pastry - flour and butter. Loads of butter! So much butter that you can't really go wrong with it !

So for this quick snack - get some puff pastry, a bit of all purpose flour (maida), a bit of milk or beaten egg to brush and olives. Just get your choice of olives - green, black, pitted,stuffed -whatever you like.

Roll out a pastry sheet using a bit of flour for dusting, and lay the olives in multiple rows.

Brush a bit of milk/beaten egg in between the rows of olives and along the edges. You could also dip your fingers in milk and sweep them across the empty areas of the pastry sheet.

Cover with another pastry sheet.

Cut across the covered pastry sheet

Umm..is it all sounding too complicated? Just watch this video from Martha Stewart. I forgot to take the pictures while assembling the dish. So its easier with a video I'm sure.

http://www.marthastewart.com/317674/olive-straws

I prefer using pitted olives without any stuffing - simply because they create a smaller bump. While using big fat stuffed olives, the end result looks a bit like ...i dunno..eyes popping out or something..which is not very appetizing for me :))

Anyways, bake the dish at 425 degrees F(218 C) for just about 5 to 6 minutes.

The best thing about this recipe is that it hardly takes about 5-6 minutes to bake. So once you are done with the assembling, (and please do the assembling on the tray you will use in the oven), you can keep the tray in the fridge and bake the dish right in front of your guests. Just do not put the tray in a cold oven. Pre-heat it so the oven is ready for the baking.

Where have I been?

noreply@blogger.com (SnacksGiving) — Sun, 9 Oct 2011 21:35:00 +0200

For all those still checking this space - first of all thank you!

And to answer your question on why and where I have disappeared - well I had a baby :)

Initially the cravings that come with the pregnancy ensured that I stayed away from all food blogs - you know whenever I would visit your blogs and see all those yummy brownies and pies, I would have an instant craving for it. So I decided to stay away in order to curb my cravings and stick to a healthy eating plan.

And now, the cutie pie keeps me busy :) I am very regular now on all your wonderful blogs and sites, and am cooking as well - its just that the effort it usually takes producing nice pictures and presentable food for the blog has been lacking.

So theres my reason. Feel free to mail me if you have any questions and just to say hello :)

Take care.

The winner!

noreply@blogger.com (SnacksGiving) — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 21:13:00 +0200

For the contest sponsored by beso.com, a winner has been chosen.

Comment#7, Avery James Photography is the lucky winner of the $25 gift card.

Congratulations ! You'll be hearing from me soon. Ciao!

Celebrate fall with a $1000 shopping spree!

noreply@blogger.com (SnacksGiving) — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 20:07:00 +0200

Autumn is upon us! And I'm not complaining. I never complain about autumn. It is the winter that drives me crazy.

On the one hand the first few days of autumn feel nice - it reminds me that the holiday season is almost here, and soon there'll be loads of Christmas shopping to do! It reminds of the pumpkin pies and cakes and bakes for Christmas! But once the festive season is gone, the months of grey until we start getting the first signs of spring are the hardest. That is when I complain!

For now, I am just waiting for the first of the chestnut stands - heisse marroni to come up at my favourite spots! Then there is some shopping for the winter to be done - need to buy a new coat, and some boots as well. Of late, my mailbox has been flooding with "10% off fall clothes" or 25% off blah blah if you spend more than blah, and so on. All that talk of the latest trends etc isn't helping me to not hit the stores!

And then I got a mail from one of my favourite stores - beso.com. They have a lucky draw and one person can win a $1000 shopping spree!! Woohoo!

And don't worry, if you can't win that, one of you can always win a $25 gift card from yours truly. That wouldn't buy you much, but it does enter you for that $1000 contest.

Interested? Read on for the few simple steps to enter..

Go to beso.com, and enter the We Love Brands contest
Come back here and include a BESO link in the comments box for one of items you’d purchase if you were the $1,000 winner.
Follow Snacksgiving publicly. Just click on the "Follow" button on the right pane of this blog.

For an 1 extra entry:
• Post the Beso Shopping Widget on your blog found here: http://www.beso.com/blog/beso-shopping-widget/ and post a link of your blog here.

The We Love Brands ends on Oct 6. So you have time to enter until then. On Oct 8, Saturday, I'll pick out a winner of the $25 gift card.

Disclaimer:beso.com offered me a $25 gift card for my efforts in hosting this giveaway

The winner! ..finally!

noreply@blogger.com (SnacksGiving) — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 20:22:00 +0200

Hello my lovely readers! Its so good to be back again and talking...umm..writing to you all! Its been more than a month since I last posted anything on this blog - well it was initially a bit of work pressure, and then a last minute, and soo well deserved vacation! We had a wonderful little break in Spain - Barcelona, where the sun was still shining. Yes, we went chasing summer for a few more days! It was amazing.

Where all did you go this year for your holiday? Let me know!

Anyways, so the long overdue winner of the CSN giveaway is now decided - thanks to random.org. I had initially opened the contest till 4-Sep, but since I couldn't pick the winner until then, I opened the contest for a bit longer, and all the comments posted have been considered. Somehow the response was a bit lukewarm this time around. Summer breaks maybe? Or back-to-school blues?

Ok, so here is the winner ..finally..(guilty, red faced)

**drumroll**

Congratulations Swapna - you'll be hearing from me soon.

So normal *blogging* service resumes now. Thank you all for participating and CSN stores for giving me this opportunity.

Jalebi and a giveaway

noreply@blogger.com (SnacksGiving) — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 21:54:00 +0200

For those who missed out on my last giveaway, here is a chance to win a gift voucher again. CSN stores have offered another chance to our readers to win a £60 gift voucher that can be used on one of their 6 UK websites. They have a huge collection of items on their stores ranging from cookware to lights to furniture. And they even have their summer sale going on, so you can grab a lot more for the money!

The giveaway ends 4-Sep, and the rules are the same as before

Visit CSN stores, and comment here what would you like to win? You don't have to necessarily buy the item in case you are the winner..just ..you know ..no harm dreaming ..

Follow Snacksgiving publicly - Just click on the "Follow" button on the right pane of this blog and leave a comment to this post

To have extra entries

Tweet about this giveaway. Just copy and paste this on twitter.RT @Snacksgiving : Win a gift card from CSN stores http://bit.ly/a8oor2 #giveaway #contest

"Like" Snacksgiving on Facebook. And then comment here again.

Now on to the recipe.

Question: What does a jalebi mean to you?

Heaven on a plate..I could eat a kilo without a blink!
meh..yet another syrupy sweet from India
never heard it, never tried it..

My vote would always go to "Heaven on a plate". And I did eat a kilo. Ok not exactly a kilo, but very close - about 25 pieces of jalebi :-) And I could have eaten more. But there weren't any left. They aren't healthy stuff, but when you have been craving for something for a few days, then healthy , nutritous and all their synonyms just go out-the window.

I had been wanting to eat these, but hadn't found the perfect jalebi in any of the restaurants I had eaten in here in Zurich. This is not something that I have made in the past, so had to search a bit for the perfect recipe. The traditional method involves fermentation for 24 hours (!), but I really didn't have the patience or a long weekend to wait that long. So what did I do? Hmm..I feel guilty saying this on a food blog - but I opened up a packet of "Jalebi mix" :-)

All I had to do then was to add water to make the batter, fry it, and dip it in sugar syrup. But you see, I can't just leave that as the recipe here :-)

So I'll write the recipe that I'll use the next time - I hope that isn't any time soon though. This is from the wonderful Manjula aunty from Manjula's kitchen. Umm..I want to eat them again right now!

INGREDIENTS:

Batter:

1/2 cup All Purpose flour
1 teaspoon besan (gram flour)
1/2 teaspoon yeast
1/2 teaspoon oil
1/2 teaspoon sugar
About 1/3 cup of lukewarm water (as needed)

Syrup:

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
Pinch of cardamom powder
Few strands of saffron
1 teaspoon of lemon juice

Also needed:

Oil to fry

INSTRUCTIONS:

Batter:

Dissolve the yeast in warm water and let it sit for about five minutes.
Mix the flour, besan (gram flour), oil, and sugar together.
Add the yeast solution and mix well, making sure that there are no lumps and the batter is smooth.
Set the batter aside and let it sit in a warm place for one hour.
Make sure the batter is fermented, but do not over ferment. After fermenting batter will be little lacy.

Syrup:

Boil the sugar and water together. Add the lemon juice and saffron and close the heat.

Making Jalebis:

Heat the oil in a flat frying pan about 1 1/2″ deep. To check if the oil is ready, put ont drop of batter in the oil, the batter should sizzle and come up without changing in color right away.
Fill the Jalebi batter into a piping bag with a number 3 nozzle.
Squeeze the Jalebi batter out in the hot oil in a pretzel shape to about 2 inches in diameter.
Fry the Jalebis until golden-brown on both sides.
Transfer into the warm syrup.
Let jalebi soak in the hot syrup for a few seconds and take out.
Serve hot.

Easy Chocolate Chip cookie, and a prelude to a giveaway!

noreply@blogger.com (SnacksGiving) — Mon, 9 Aug 2010 23:53:00 +0200

A food blog can never really be complete without at least one recipe of the 'perfect' chocolate chip cookie, or at least the journey to finding one. I was myself a bit surprised that the one that I had made many moons ago, was not posted yet on the blog. Partly because it wasn't that perfect soft, chewy, decadent, satisfying recipe that I had been on the lookout for. But it was a very very easy recipe . A simple one pot cookie recipe. I picked up this one from 'Two Peas and their pod' , who in turn had adapted it from the book 'The Weekend Baker'

One Pot Chocolate Chip Cookies
Adapted from Abigail Johnson Dodge in The Weekend Baker

Makes 26 cookies

8 tablespoons (4 ounces/113 grams) unsalted butter, cut in 4 pieces
½ cup (4 ounces/113 grams) firmly packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup (2 ½ ounces/71 grams) granulated sugar
1 ½ cups (6 ¾ ounces/191 grams) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
1 large egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup (6 ounces/170 grams) semisweet chocolate chips or if you are in Switzerland aka 'the-land-where-you-cant-buy-chocolate-chips', then a bar of chocolate broken into small chunks would be fine.

1 – Position an oven rack on the middle rung. Heat the oven to 350 degrees (180 C). Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment or nonstick baking liners( eg. Silpat)

2 – Put the butter in a medium saucepan and set over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the butter is melted. Slide the pan from the heat and add the brown sugar and granulated sugar. Whisk until no lumps remain. Set aside to let cool, about 5 minutes.

3 – In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Whisk until well blended. Once the butter mixture has cooled, add the egg and vanilla and whisk until blended. Pour in the flour mixture and stir with a rubber spatula until blended. Stir in the chocolate chips and the nuts, if using.

4 – Using a small ice-cream scoop (about 1 2/3 inches/4.25 cm in diameter) or 2 tablespoons, drop scant 2-tablespoon mounds of the dough onto the prepared cookie sheets, arranging them about 1 1/2 inches (4cm) apart. (At this point, the loaded cookie sheets can be slipped into the freezer until the cookies are frozen, about 1 hour. Then transfer the cookies to heavy-duty freezer bags and freeze for up to 3 months. To bake, remove from the freezer, arrange on lined cookie sheets, and leave on the counter to thaw slightly while the oven heats.)

5 – Bake 1 sheet at a time (make sure to use a cooled sheet for the second batch until the cookies are light golden around the edges and puffed, about 12 minutes. If these cookies are over baked, the won’t come out chewy. Transfer the cookie sheet to a rack to cool for about 10 minutes. Using a spatula, lift the cookies from the sheet onto a rack and let cool completely.

Stay tuned for a giveaway in my next post!

Cherry Crumble

noreply@blogger.com (SnacksGiving) — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 23:25:00 +0200

Hope the summer is finding you happy, eating loads of ice-cream, and planning, or maybe enjoying a good summer break. Or returning from one, and planning for the next one?. Isn't planning for vacation as enjoyable as the vacation itself? I love dreaming about and looking forward to a nice break every few months - it's just what sometimes keeps me sane! Come back from one, and immediately look at the calender for the next available opportunity for another mini- break :-)

This past weekend we had planned for a weekend break to Colmar, but it didn't happen thanks to the rainy Saturday. Instead, we just headed for the very colourful farmer's market later in the day, and loaded up on cherries, blueberries, melons and honey mangoes and ...

I used up most of the cherries in a delicious crumble. Fruit crumble really is such an easy, quick to put together dessert, so versatile, and you can rarely go wrong with it. This cherry crumble is more about the fresh fruit rather than the butter and cream. Just the perfect dessert for a beautiful summer evening.

INGREDIENTS (per ramekin)

7-8 pitted cherries

For the streusel topping/crumble

2 tablespoons rolled oats
1 tablespoon of all purpose flour
2 tablespoons slivered/chopped almonds
1 tablespoon demerara or turbinado sugar. Light brown sugar would also be fine.
a pinch of salt
a pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
a tablespoon of cold butter
softened butter for greasing the cups

INSTRUCTIONS

Generously butter each ramekin
Preheat the oven to 400F
throw in the pitted cherries in the ramekin
In a bowl, add in all the ingredients for the crumble except butter. Mix them slightly with your hands
Now add in the cold butter and combine with the dry ingredients with your fingers. The crumble should look and feel like ..well..a crumble..or coarse bread crumbs.
Place this crumb mixture on top of the fruit in each ramekin
Bake for about 25 minutes

Some of the characteristics and serving suggestions

I love desserts, but I don't like them to be too sweet. When it comes to a crumble, made with summer fruits, eaten on a hot day, I much prefer the dish to be light and fruity, slightly tart served with a good quality vanilla bean ice-cream, rather than a rich and heavy cobbler-esque dessert.
If you are making this dish on a cold winter day, eating it warm straight out of the oven, with a dollop of whipped cream would be perfect.
But on a hot and sunny beautiful summer's say - one of the few that we in Zurich are blessed with this season, I say reduce the sugar, chill the crumble and eat with a scoop of ice cream. Or better, have it for breakfast the next day - that's what we did, and loved it :)

The slight tartness and juiciness of the cherries, the crumbly texture of the streusel topping, and the smoothness and coolness of the ice-cream - now that is a beautiful and refreshing dish that is very satisfying as well!

We have a winner!

noreply@blogger.com (SnacksGiving) — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 19:03:00 +0200

We have a winner! The giveaway from CSN Stores goes to Comment#2 - Umm Mymoonah

She said "Hi, Checked out different products from CSN stores, particularly all bakeware, the one which attracted me is Nordicware Kugelhopf bundt pan, thinking of get this mould for a long time."

Congratulations! We'll be contacting you shortly for sending the gift card.
Thank you all for participating. And thanks to CSN stores for giving me the opportunity for hosting this giveaway.

DMBLGIT June - The winners

noreply@blogger.com (SnacksGiving) — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 23:50:00 +0200

Would you like to win a few dollars for a bit of a shopping spree? Head here for the giveaway currently running on this blog.

Just finished watching the marathon Spain-Netherlands World cup final match. It sure was "Waka Waka" all the way for Paul the Octopus! Wonder what he'll do next now that the amazing World Cup is over.

Anyways, today is also the day I finally upload the DMBLGIT June results. I've been missing in action for a few days now - had some health problems, and then was busy enjoying the sun.

Coming to the event of June, I want to thank all the participants and indeed the judges who helped spread the word about DMBLGIT. I was happy that by the end of it, there are a few more volunteers and that'll ensure it'll go on for another few months at least! We had an over-whelming response this time around - 95 entries in all, and a lot of them from our Italian neighbours. Thanks to them, by now I know that "Fragole" means "Strawberries" and "lamponi" means raspberries..lol

Alright, below are the winners

OVERALL WINNERS

First Place - Aficionado - Green tea macarons

Second place - Cooking Your Dream - Pistachio Ice Cream

Third place shared jointly by

Un déjeuner de soleil for Fraisier with rhubarb and mascarpone

and

My Life, My Child and My Foodfor Cherry buns

Below are the winners in each category

Aesthetics

Qualcosadirosso for Caprese di Fragole

Edibility

Zuccheroeviole for Alfajores

Originality

Lo spilucchino for Peas cocotte with camembert's heart

Thanks again for your participation. I had a lot of fun putting it together. This month's event is being held at Asha's@FSK blog - do visit her and send in your entries.

Madeleines and a Giveaway!

noreply@blogger.com (SnacksGiving) — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 13:50:00 +0200

Another wonderful giveaway! Yay!!

CSN stores would be giving away a gift card worth $60 USD (for a US/Canadian winner), €60 (for a German winner), or £60 for a UK winner! CSN has over 200 stores in their on-line network of stores and they offer a staggering array of products ...from lighting to cookware, counter stoolsto home decor, grills to swing sets, they have it all!

So how can you win the gift card?

Visit CSN stores, and comment here what would you like to win? You don't have to necessarily buy the item in case you are the winner..just ..you know ..no harm dreaming ..

Follow Snacksgiving publicly - Just click on the "Follow" button on the right pane of this blog and leave a comment to this post

To have extra entries

Tweet about this giveaway. Just copy and paste this on twitter.RT @Snacksgiving : Win a gift card from CSN stores http://bit.ly/dqLWn8 #giveaway #contest

"Like" Snacksgiving on Facebook. And then comment here again.

As you can see from the gift card amounts, this giveaway is open to our readers in US, Canada, Germany and UK. Although the number of stores available to the German and UK readers is slightly limited in numbers, but certainly not in choice.

Now to the recipe. Are you with me? :-)

So what are madeleines? Well, these are buttery, delicate and fluffy cakes with a characteristic fluted shell shape and a nice round belly. Did I say it is a cake? Well, make that cookie if you are in America, although the French prefer to refer to them as cakes.

There are loads of variations to the recipe - I have a very basic recipe today where I tried to go traditional with the the use of browned butter, the madeleine mould, no baking powder and refrigerating the batter in order to get that bump. I used my newly bought mini-madeleine silicone moulds, so they were so very tiny! They looked so cute, like a pretty and dainty little babies! These madeleines being very tiny, I guess the bump is not too visible here. I used the recipe from 101 cookbooks.

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 sticks or 3/4 cup unsalted butter
3/4 cups all-purpose flour
4 large eggs
a pinch of salt
2/3 cups sugar
zest of one large lemon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
powdered sugar

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 F/177 C.
Melt the butter in a small pot over medium heat until it's brown and gives off a deliciously nutty aroma, roughly 20 minutes. Strain (using a paper towel over a mesh strainer) - you want to leave the solids behind. Cool the butter to room temperature. By doing the butter first you can complete the rest of the steps while it is cooling.
Put the eggs with the salt in the bowl of an electric mixer with a whisk attachment. Whip on high speed until thick - you are looking for the eggs to roughly double or triple in volume - approximately 3 minutes. Continuing to mix on high speed, slowly add the sugar in a steady stream. Whip for 2 minutes or until mixture is thick and ribbony. Now with a spatula fold in the lemon zest and vanilla (just until mixed).
Sprinkle the flour on top of the egg batter, and gently fold in. Now fold in the butter mixture. Only stirring enough to bring everything together.
Spoon the batter into the molds, filling each mold 2/3 -3/4 full. Place the mould/tray in the freezer for 15 minutes or in refrigerator for about an hour.
Bake the madeleines for 7-10 minutes for the mini versions or 12 - 14 minutes for the regular sized madeleines, or until the edges of the madeleines are golden brown. Remove from oven and unmold immediately. Cool on racks and dust with powdered sugar.

This giveaway is open to addresses in US, Canada, Germany and UK. If your profile doesn't link to your contact info, be sure to leave your email address so we can get in touch with you if you're the winner.

The winner will be randomly selected on Saturday, July 17 at 10am c.e.t. to receive the gift card. The currency will depend on your location. This post is sponsored by CSN Stores. I was not compensated in any way.

Fresh New look

noreply@blogger.com (SnacksGiving) — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 23:21:00 +0200

So a lot of you noticed the change in the header of this blog. Isn't it lovely? Yeah, I think so too. Thank you all of you who commented on how nice it is. Well, the thanks actually goes to a close friend, Usha, who took the time out, and patiently kept altering the header until the picky twosome - that is me and hubs finally said "Yes, now that is what we want!"
Our conversations went something like this "This is too bright", "this one is dull", "font not nice", "make it a little bright", "the background should be hazy", "make it a little casual", "no not like that"....
Hmm..she sure was very patient! And awesome with Photoshop!

Here are some of the earlier headers we used before finally settling with the current one.

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Raspberry Almond tea bread

noreply@blogger.com (SnacksGiving) — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 21:57:00 +0200

Berries are abundantly available this time of the year, and I love to pack some in my weekly grocery shopping. The only downside is that they go bad so quickly, it breaks my heart having to throw away a couple of them. I had picked up different berries in the hope to make a terrine. But I ended up using them in different breads/cakes/pancakes etc. Here is the tea bread - it is actually more like a cake - just not as delicate. This is a wonderful raspberry studded quick bread with some almonds thrown in. We enjoyed it with some whipped cream, although it is good as is.

While using these delicate berries in cake batter, I much prefer to use frozen berries that are not thawed. With fresh ones, I invariably end up crushing a few no matter how gentle I am. And when you cut into a slice - it presents a gooey hot pink blob in the cake. Or with blueberries - the purple colour it lends is usually enough to ward off any unsuspecting guinea pigs!

In this recipe, I used fresh ones raspberries. And managed to find a couple of slices that were quite presentable.

INGREDIENTS

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup butter

1 egg

2/3 cup milk

1-1/2 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 cup chopped almonds

1 cup raspberries (fresh or frozen, unthawed)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F, and grease a loaf pan.

2. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar

3. Add in the liquids - the egg, milk and whip them togethe

4. In a seperate bowl, tip in the flour, baking powder and cinnamon and mix it up

5. Add the dry ingredients into the wet and gently mix until combined

6. Add in the rasperries and almonds and gently mix them into the batter

7. Pour it into the loaf pan and bake for about 60 to 70 minutes

Is there such a thing as too many strawberries?

noreply@blogger.com (SnacksGiving) — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 23:17:00 +0200

Wow! I am loving it! I am loving all the berries around me! Is there such a thing as too many strawberries? I have heard that sentence before - but for chocolate. I read somewhere that when recruiting workers in a chocolate factory, people are encouraged to eat as much chocolate as they can!! Wouldn't that be like heavenly! The idea is that after eating so much chocolate, they would be put off the idea of eating it when they are working with it.

After reading it, I was like, can that ever happen?

Anyways - let us combine two of these bounties - strawberries with chocolate. These days it is one of my favourite after lunch snack. Fresh seasonal strawberries that are not too tart dipped in either whipped cream or chocolate is easily not only one of best looking but also easy to present dishes. Try these, before they disappear!

Giveaway Winner

noreply@blogger.com (SnacksGiving) — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 11:33:00 +0200

We have a winner! The giveaway from beso.com goes to Comment#43 - Shabitha Karthikeyan of "My Home Kitchen recipes". Congratulations! We'll be contacting you shortly.

I used random.org to come up with the winner. We had 65 comments in total.

random.org picked up 43 for the winning comment.

Actually it was a different number that was first given - but when I checked, the person had only left a comment, and not "Liked beso.com on Facebook" or tweeted giveway/followed this blog according to the rules. So to make it a fair giveaway, I went ahead and generated a new number.

Thank you all for participating. And thanks beso.com for giving me the opportunity to host this giveaway.

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Back-art Challenge

noreply@blogger.com (SnacksGiving) — Tue, 8 Jun 2010 23:12:00 +0200

Do not forget to enter for the $100 giveaway on this blog. Open internationally! Link available here!

A couple of days ago, I saw an ad for an online cake supplies store in Switzerland in my google ads. Now I know I shouldn't be clicking my own ads and lay claim on a few cents, but this was the first time I saw a much needed cake supply store based locally. back-art.ch is the name of the store and they have some wonderful baking equipment, moulds, colours and the whole paraphernalia! I contacted them and the wonderful Veronica proposed a challenge - a Bake Art challenge. She sent me some surprise items and asked me to use them all in one recipe.

I waited a couple of days, and there it was in my post - a box of goodies from back-art.ch

What did I find in there? Fondant, cookie cutters and some beautiful peach shimmer. It was lovely - just had a bit of a hitch. The cookie cutters were in the shape of buddha and an elephant. I scratched my head to come up with an idea for a cake using the two. I asked my hubby for ideas - Darling, where would you find an elephant and buddha together? He thought and said "In your blog" Haha..very funny i said.

That didn't help at all!

Veronica again came to my rescue - "Think cookies à la Peggy Porschen". But of course! I can make any shape and size of cookies and still pile them all together - it still is one recipe :-)

So there it was. My homemade cookies as buddha and elephant. Hope you like it.

I made cookie dough with the recipe below, covered buddha with fondant, and made royal icing for the polka dotted cloth on the elephant. Here are the recipes, and thank you back-art.ch for challenging my decoration skills!

What would you all have created if you were presented with this challenge. Let me know!

For the cookie dough

3 cups (390 grams) flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup (227 grams) unsalted butter, softene

1 cup (200 grams) sugar

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

For the Icing

1 and about 2/3 cup softed powdered/icing sugar

1 egg white/15 g meringue powder*
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

* I would much rather prefer the merigue powder since we are not cooking the egg whites. Try to it and if not, pasteurized eggs would be fine too.

For the cookies:

In a bowl whisk together the flour, salt, and baking soda.

In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar with an electric mix (about 3 to 4 minutes). Add the eggs and vanilla extract and beat until combined. Add the flour mixture and beat until you have a smooth dough.

Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for about one hour or until firm enough to roll.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C) and place rack in center of oven. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Remove the chilled dough from the refrigerator and, on a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to a thickness of 1/4 inch (1 cm). Keep turning the dough as you roll, making sure the dough does not stick to the counter. Cut out desired shapes using a lightly floured cookie cutter and transfer cookies to the prepared baking sheet. Work quickly as the dough starts to warm up as you work with it and will tend to crumble apart. You could also place the baking sheets with the unbaked cookies in the refrigerator for 10 to 15 minutes to chill the dough which prevents the cookies from spreading and losing their shape while baking.

Bake cookies for about 10 minutes or until the edges are just starting to brown. Remove from oven and let cookies cool on baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling. Get creative and frost with icing.

Let the frosting dry before storing/serving.

DMBLGIT June 2010 Announcement - the 5th year anniversary!

noreply@blogger.com (SnacksGiving) — Wed, 2 Jun 2010 20:41:00 +0200

Do not forget to enter the giveaway on this blog open till 17-July. Link available here!
Not many months ago, I had the pleasure of hosting the event - Does My blog look good in this - or DMBLGIT. DMBLGIT is a monthly food photography event wherein people submit their best food photos and a team of judges picks out the best of them on the basis of edibility, originality and aesthetics. I have been a fan of the event, and have been following it for many months now. But when I saw that the event is struggling to survive because of a lack of hosts, I figured I should host it again - it was fun the last time anyway!

So people, I need your help. Andrew of Spittoon and Spittoon Extra- and also the administrator of the event has been seeing a decline in entries each month. Coupled with a lack of hosts, the event would die out! So I'd request you to send in your entries and also spread the word so the 5th anniversary is a success!

MEET THE JUDGES

Below are the judges for the event.

All of the below judges have some of the most amazing blogs and I love to go back to their websites for new posts. Go check them all out - I'm sure you'll love to subscribe to them!

Kris of Bake in Paris(although it is written out of Thailand :-) ) - Winner of the DMBLGIT many times, Kris's blog has some of the most beautiful food photography I have seen.
Meeta of Whats for Lunch Honey. The very versatile Meeta who writes this blog from Germany always has me visiting her blog for more. She has multiple feathers in her cap and several mentions of one of the best food blogs in various print and web publications. She is also a speaker at the FBC -2010(Food Blogger Connect) in London this month.
Tania of Dulcis in Furno. What can I say - Her blog has an almost ethereal quality about it! The pictures are beautiful and calming. She is based in italy and writes her posts in both Italian and English.
Yours truly
Veronique of www.delimoon.com

Now having hosted the event in february this year, it would feel like Ground Hog day to me - but well, below are some of the rules to enter

RULES

Here is what you need to do to enter.

1)Send a photo that has appeared on your blog during May 2010. The photo should be food and/or drink related.
2)Your photo must be text-free, please.
3)Only one entry per person.
4)The photograph must have been taken by you (copyright is allowed).
5)Deadline for submissions : June 20, 2010.

Send your entry to snacksgiving[AT]gmail[DOT]com with DMBLGIT in the subject line with the following details:

Your name.
Your location.
Your blog’s name and URL.
The photograph that you wish to enter, of no more than 500 pixels wide.
Your photograph’s title.
URL of the post containing the photograph.
Type of camera used, lens if you wish.

By submitting a photo, you agree to your picture being redisplayed and altered in size on the host’s page and on DMBLGIT page.

JUDGING

The judges will review your entries on the basis of:

Aesthetics: composition, food styling, lighting, focus, etc.
Edibility: “Does the photo make us want to dive in and eat the food?”
Originality: the photograph that catches our attention and makes us want to say wow!, displaying something we might not have seen before.

From these categories, the judges will come up with:
- Overall Winner: top overall scores in all three categories combined.
- There are three overall winners for photographs with the highest point totals in all three categories combined, and one winner in each of the three individual categories.

GALLERY

Every photo entry will be compiled on DMBLGIT June 2010 photo album.
The gallery is updated here - DMBLGIT June 2010 Gallery
Well? What are you waiting for? Come on, send me your gorgeous photo entry. And thanks so much for your participation!

Win a $100 giveaway and a chance to win a Kitchen Aid standmixer!

noreply@blogger.com (SnacksGiving) — Mon, 24 May 2010 22:07:00 +0200

It's almost been a year since Snacksgiving was born. Although I envisioned it to be at a better place that it is today, it doesn't stop us from partying and celebrating.
Joining us in the party are beso.com - an online shopping destination that allows you to browse products at thousands of stores - from big name retailers to exclusive online stores and boutiques. What makes it so user friendly is that you can customize your search options to browse by your favorite category, brand, or store and create your own little gallery - all this at one place rather than browsing each store individually.

For example, here is what I have been browsing - some waffle and bread makers, and some food processors that I have narrowed down by brands.

One lucky winner will get a $100 gift card to their favorite store from the beso.com shop. To enter the giveaway:

Do a search on beso.com for your favorite kitchen or home items and paste the url of your search results in the comments section below. It'd be nice to know why you chose that particular item(s). The link should be from beso.com.
"Like" Beso on Facebook
Follow Snacksgiving publicly - the Google Friend Connect is there to help.
Tweet about this giveaway. Just copy and paste this on twitter. RT @Snacksgiving :Enter a $100 giveaway to your favourite online store - open internationally. http://bit.ly/bNxmAZ #giveaway

For an extra entry.

"Like" Snacksgiving on Facebook. And then comment here again.

The giveaway is open internationally and ends on 12-June-2010 - when we celebrate our birthday!

Oh, and another thing. I'll ask you a question. Do you want to win a Kitchen Aid standmixer?

Do I see a nod? Well of course I do. Who doesn't want a shiny new Kitchen Aid? There is another contest open until 31-May-2010 giving you the chance to win your favourite kitchen gadget. All you need to do it share your favourite summer recipe and tell why you love it, tweet about the contest, and follow beso on twitter. Here is link to enter. 31-May-2010 is the deadline for this contest so hurry up. Good luck!

This giveaway is open to international readers so anyone can enter. if your profile doesn't link to your contact info, be sure to leave your email address so we can get in touch with you if you're the winner.

The winner will be randomly selected on Saturday, June 12 at 10am c.e.t. to receive a $100 gift card to their favorite beso.com shop. This post is sponsored by beso.com. I recieved a $50 gift certificate for my efforts in hosting the giveaway. The final responsibility for the giveaway rests with beso.com

How to make Masala Chai

noreply@blogger.com (SnacksGiving) — Fri, 14 May 2010 17:13:00 +0200

{A Girl At the local Starbucks} Can I have a Chai Tea Latte?
{Ancient} Me : "Chai Tea Latte"? That's "tea tea milk"..? That's like saying Starbucks Starbucks coffee. Or maybe not..Starbucks is a proper noun..chai..no..Ok so may be its equivalent to saying "Chocolate Chocolate biscotti" or "Whole wheat whole wheat pasta".

Yes, that is what it is equivalent to!

Masala chai is an Indian drink made my adding a blend of aromatic spices in freshly brewed tea and served hot.
Masala = Spices
Chai = Tea
It is a staple in our home and indeed, in most Indian homes. Every family has a different way of preparing their favourite brew. Some alter the ratio of the different spices, some would add more milk than water in this recipe.

While staying in New York, sharing an apartment with 2 other roommates, there would be 3 different types of tea that were made EVERY morning. Even in the morning rush that all of us used to be in, we would not budge and have the tea the other roomie was making. One used to simmer it for very long, which would make it thick and slightly burnt tasting for my liking, one used to have her own special blend of darjeeling tea with honey, and I used to have my good ole spiced chai. I usually grind up a big batch of spices every few weeks for my chai.

RECIPE
Here is what you will need to make 4 cups of Masala Chai

INGREDIENTS

3 Cardamom pods - Discard the outer peel, use only the seeds from the pod
1 Cinnamon stick 1 1/2" stick
few pepper corns
a teaspoon of fennel seeds
1" piece of ginger
2 cups milk
2 cups water
5 teaspoons assam or darjeeling tea
3 and half tablespoons sugar. Brown sugar works beautifully in this recipe, but regular granulated sugar is fine too.

DIRECTIONS

Grind the spices into a powder.
Place the water in a saucepan, and add the tea to it.
Add in the sugar and the ground spices
Grate the ginger piece and put it in the saucepan
Once the concoction comes to a boil, add in the milk
Simmer it all for about a minute or two so that all the flavours combine
When it starts coming to a boil again, take it off the heat and pour it in your tea cups using a sieve.
Enjoy it hot with a biscuit or 2.

Cupcakes for Spring

noreply@blogger.com (SnacksGiving) — Sat, 8 May 2010 21:52:00 +0200

Friday night - Late at work. Wrap up work. Thank the lord! Check weekend forecast. Sigh..yet another rainy, cloudy, gloomy weekend.
Saturday morning. In bed. Sun peeps through window. What do you do? Jump out, open all the windows, dance(..sorta..) in your PJs!
Sometimes I love it when these weather forecasts are proven wrong. Easter weekend had a similar story. This weekend was another pleasant surprise.
After days of grey, today anything bright and colourful had such a calming affect on me. Spring is here. Let us celebrate.

Did I tell you I have bought dozens of new silicone moulds? Today was the perfect day to do justice to them. The cupcakes themselves are pretty basic. I refrigerated the batter for an hour while I went out for some grocery shopping - hence the domes.

Cupcakes for Spring
Here is the recipe (from the joyofbaking.com)

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
2/3 cup (130 grams) granulated white sugar
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Zest of 1 large lemon (optional)
1 1/2 cups (195 grams) all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup (60 ml) milk

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C). Brush your muffin tin with butter or line them with cupcake liners. I used silicone moulds.
Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy using an electric mixer. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla extract and lemon zest.
In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and milk, in three additions, beginning and ending with the flour.
Evenly fill the muffin cups with the batter and bake for about 18-20 minutes or until nicely browned and a toothpick inserted into a cupcake comes out clean. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool.

Checkout my latest post : Win a $100 giveaway and a chance to win a Kitchen Aid standmixer!

Really? Is this spring?

noreply@blogger.com (SnacksGiving) — Thu, 6 May 2010 22:57:00 +0200

So how are you all doing? Celebrating Spring? Or like us wearing jackets and mufflers every morning, struggling to get out of bed? To describe zurich weather for the past week, you need 1 word - Rain.
But I wouldn't share a gloomy, cloudy day with you. A short post today. Just realised the blog is going to complete one year of existence next month. I would have liked Snacksgiving to be at a better place than it is today.
But that's ok - I'll survive. Will come up with another Indian recipe soon. For now, I have been going a bit crazy with all the fresh berries showing up again! Woohoo! Made some desserts and smoothies with those babies, and looved it! Be back soon!

Shahi Tukra - Emperor's morsel

noreply@blogger.com (SnacksGiving) — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 23:04:00 +0200

As you can tell, I am still keeping my promise. Another Indian dish. The dish is called "Shahi Tukra" or Emperor's Morsel. The very name speaks of royalty, decadence and richness. It is all of these, only easier than it sounds!

This is a type of bread pudding that has its origins in the Mughlai cuisine. Mughlai cuisine is a South Asian cuisine, influenced by the imperial kitchens of the Mughal Empire. The cuisine is strongly influenced by Persian, and Turkic cuisines of Central Asia.
Shahi Tukra is a rich dessert made with bread, ghee, saffron, sugar, rabri(a cardamom flavored reduction of whole milk), almonds and an optional gold or silver leaf for added opulence!

Another not-so-royal name that it is known with is "Double ka meetha". Double here referring to bread - just an Indian name of bread - Double Roti, while "meetha" meaning sweet.

With a name so rich and opulent sounding, there is no way I am going to try to make it healthy. It must be eaten with all the fat, cream, sugar and white bread that you can eat! So here is the recipe

INGREDIENTS
For the Rabri
• 3 cups whole milk
• 3 Cardamom pods, crushed

For the sugar syrup
• 1/4 cup Sugar
• 1/4 cup Water

• 4 slices Bread
• 3 tbsp Ghee
• 4-5 Pistachios, blanched and chopped
• 4-5 Almonds, toasted and sliced
• 4-5 raisins(optional)
• Few strands of saffron

DIRECTIONS

Cut each slice of bread into 4 pieces . A day or two old bread works best for this recipe. If using fresh bread, keep it in a very low oven for about 10 minutes until the bread dries up a bit. This is in order to avoid the bread from soaking up too much ghee.
To make the sugar syrup, mix sugar and water and set the mixture to boil. Now, simmer the solution for about 10 minutes.
Take a pan and set the milk to boil. Simmer it until it reduces to 1/4th quantity. Keep stirring occasionally so that it does not stick to the pan. Now, add the crushed cardamom, pistachios and few strands of saffron to the thickened milk. This is our rabri.
Add in the ghee to a non-stick pan and lightly fry the bread until golden brown on both sides.
Dip the fried bread in the sugar syrup for about a minute.
Arrange the slices on the serving dish
Now, spread the rabri onto the bread and sprinkle some almonds, and saffron strands over it.

Oh, and before I forget - thanks to the last month's DMBLGIT judges for judging one of our pictures amongst the winners. The "Life After Coffee" picture was awarded the 3rd place in the March 2010 edition of DMBLGIT. Here is a link to the post with all the winners.

Hyderabadi Chicken Biryani

noreply@blogger.com (SnacksGiving) — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 20:00:00 +0200

It's the weekend. Time to chill, relax and eat good food. Even better if I don't have to do the cooking :). No, I am not usually "order from the takeaway" type, and the Lord knows that if you want to have a good "curry" - Curry here being the British invention of the word that is meant to be a synonym for "Indian Food", then Zurich is not the best place for it restaurant-wise. There, I said it! I mean, ok, there are nice Indian restaurants, but, modesty be damned, the food we cook at home is usually a lot better and a lot less greasier, a lot spicier (read tastier ;-p) than the cream laden dishes a lot of Indian places serve.
Anyways, I digressed. Where was I? Weekend - yes. So weekends is when we most certainly make one dish almost unfailingly - Hyderabadi Chicken Biryani. And why is that? It is very simple and easy, quick, and is very very tasty! But most importantly,Darling husband loves to cook this dish! And I couldn't be happier about it :-D

NOTE

It uses a lot of whole spices. I strongly recommend buying the whole spices, rather than store bought powders. It wouldn't be expensive, and once you have made a proper biryani, you'll repeat the recipe so many times (yes, I am sure of that!), that they'll be used up in no time.

It is an easy recipe. But ONLY if you know the pitfalls and how to avoid them. These are mentioned at the end of the post

INGREDIENTS

2 pieces each of cardamom, mace, cloves, cinnamon sticks, green cardamoms
6 pepper corns
salt - to taste
4 bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon cumin powder
1 teaspoon coriander powder
1 tablespoons crushed garlic
2 cups basmati rice
Handful of fried onions (optional)
A handful of chopped coriander(cilantro) leaves
1 stalk of chopped fresh mint leaves
500 grams chicken pieces cut into small pieces
5 green chilli (deseeded if you prefer)
2 + 1 tablespoon oil or ghee(clarified butter)
1 tablespoon finely chopped/grated fresh ginger
1/2 tsp saffron strands soaked in 1 tablespoon warm water(optional)
1 teaspoon turmeric
2 cup full fat yoghurt

DIRECTIONS

1) Soak rice for 30 minutes in enough water to cover
2) In the mean time, marinate the chicken. Take the chicken pieces in a large bowl and add in the 2 tablespoons oil, yoghurt and all the spices mentioned above, except saffron.
3) After 30 minutes, drain the rice
4) Take a pot of water and add the drained rice to it.
5) Add the salt to the rice, and taste it. Adjust the salt to your taste
6) Add in the remaining oil, a teaspoon of cumin seeds and let it cook for about 5 minutes or so.
7) Very important - When the rice is beginning to come to a boil, not a full rolling boil, but just beginning to, take it off the heat and drain. The rice grains should be half cooked.
8)In a deep, heavy bottomed dish, layer all of the marinated chicken. Press it down gently
9) Add the half cooked, drained rice on top of the chicken
10) Add the saffron and saffron soaked water, if using. Also add some chopped cilantro, and sliced onions
11) Cover with a lid and cook. Make sure the lid is a tight one. Cook on medium-high for 5 minutes, medium for 15 minutes, and then 15 minutes on low heat.
You should start getting the sweet aroma of the spices in your kitchen.

Serve with plain youghurt or raita.

PITFALLS & TIPS

Overcooked rice.
Use good quality basmati rice for biryani
Do not soak it for longer than 30 minutes.
Only half cook the rice before layering on to the chicken. To check, take a few grains of rice and apply a little pressure with your fingertips. If it breaks apart - it is half cooked. If it gets squished, it is overcooked for the biryani :(
Burnt chicken
Since chicken forms the bottom layer for the cooking, if left to cook on a high heat, it will get easily burnt.
Use a heavy bottomed pan
Watery Chicken Biryani
Drain the rice before layering on the chicken. The steam within the pot will cook the dish.
Do not use a pressure cooker for this preparation

There it is. A primer for the perfect Hyderabadi Chicken Biryani. A dish that we love. When people go to Hyderabad, India, this is one of the things on every tourist's menu. Traditionally it is server with raita and another very spicy dish called "Mirchi ka Salan". Oh my mouth is watering! There are very few dishes on the planet that I can never say no to. This holds a very high position. Try it. I cannot recommend it enough.

P.S. - Writing this post is almost like making a PowerPoint presentation. That was the last time I used so many bullet points!

Bhindi Do Pyaza

noreply@blogger.com (SnacksGiving) — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 23:38:00 +0200

I am an Indian. Did you know that? No, you did not? Why? 'Coz you freakin hardly ever post any Indian recipes!!! Thats why!

Ok. Got it. Point noted.
(Well, that I hardly ever post *any* recipes would not be far from wrong lately, but we'll leave that for another day)

In my conscious effort to prove my 'desi'ness, and my love of Indian food, there will be some posts on Indian food in the coming days.
Bhindi - Okra or lady's fingers(!!) as it is also known, is a vegetable that I have seen many people shy away from. Too slimy, gooey and slightly messy is their reason. And of course some, who do not know what to use it for. I was surprised when at the grocery store where I was painstakingly choosing each okra for purchase, a Swiss women asked me whether it was a type of chili. Well, we Indians do eat spicy food, but I was loading up like a kilo of okra - surely I'd be just plain mad to be using all that amount of "chili" in a recipe!..Bad joke..

Okra is often used as a thickener in soups and stews in different cuisines. In India, it is often one of the vegetables added to Sambhar - a soup made with dal, tamarind and a few vegetables. In the north, it is generally fried with onions, and sometimes tomatoes.

Bhindi do pyaza is the dish on the menu today.
Bhindi = okra
do = 2 or twice
pyaza = onions
Twice the amount of onions that added in any other similar vegetable preparation.

So the vegetables used are just 2 - okra and onions. And the rest are all spices. This is the dish I have eaten okra in all my life. And I love it! It gets a bit slimy while cooking - but I am quite ok with it. Adding a bit of sourness - like lemon juice or vinegar does help cut the sliminess. So here is the recipe.

INGREDIENTS:
25-30 Okras, washed, dried and cut into 1/4" pieces, or slit lengthwise
2 medium Onions, thinly sliced
3+1 tbsp Oil
1/2 teaspoon cumin seed
1 tsp Turmeric Powder
1 tbsp Lime/Lemon Juice(optional)
1 tsp Jeera/Cumin seeds
Salt to taste
1 tablespoon coriander powder
1 teaspoon red chilly powder, adjust to taste
1/2 teaspoon mango powder (amchoor)
1 and half teaspoon garam masala

RECIPE

- Wash and thoroughly dry the okra
- Cut the tip and a 1/4" from the bottom and discard
- Cut the okra into 1/4" pieces, or slit lengthwise
- Heat 3 tablespoons of oil in a pan
- Add in the okra and stir fry on high heat for 6-7 minutes
- Transfer to a dry plate
- Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in the same pan
- Add in the cumin seeds and allow them to sizzle
- Add the onions and salt and fry them until the become translucent
- Add in the remaining spices and let them cook for a few minutes. Ideally you should see a bit of oil seperating when the spices have cooked
- Mix in the okra and let it all cook for another 2-3 minutes. If it gets too slimy, then add in the lemon juice as well.

TIPS

- Do not be stingy in the amount of oil added
- Keep the heat high while stir frying the okra
- If making okra the first time, you can just try slitting the okra lenghtwise. Chopping into small pieces, while ensures faster cooking, can get a tad messy due to the goo.
- Make sure the okra is completely dry before you get chopping it.
- Only choose the okra that is very fresh, not even slightly wilted. Remember the "painstakingly choosing every okra" reference in the beginning of this post? :)