Oats Uttapam

This one's quite simple..
Take equal quantities of urad dal and oats. Soak the urad dal for atleast 1/2 an hour. Grind it to a thick paste with some water.
Dry roast the oats and grind along with some curry leaves, jeera into the urad dal paste.
Add salt to taste, and cook like a normal uttapam! My 18 month old baby Sana has it too!

Of Crumpets and Scones….With Love Great Britain

British food has not been discussed enough in media and in reality too.Infact if you ask a layman about British food, he would be clueless.So was I, til I visited UK in 2011 Summer

So far I had just heard about Fish and Chips.Which is like the vada pao of UK.The most commonly available. Basically it consists of fish (usually fried in a batter made of water and flour with a little baking soda).Chips refers to what the ameican call as” fries”Mind you..The British refer to fries (French fries) as chips and chips(like lays or wafers) as “crips”.This is staple dish of UK and you will get it at joints and outlets

Then comes macaroni cheese.The best food for vegeterians.Its a rather bland version of what we get here.Good to have as a side dish.

The next possible food which I ate without thinking was the baked beans.And I loved them .Somewhat like a westernized distant cousin of our home made Rajma .This particular dish is generally sold frozen.It is typically made in tomato puree and sugar is added for a little flavour.Tradtionally it is eaten with a bread

Next comes a famous English food item.”Crumpet”.This was completely new to me.This is a kind of pancake or a bread.It can be compared to a small uttapa. Usually the size of a small pancake.It is circular in shape having a flat top with many small pores. Crumpets are generally eaten hot with butter, , honey, jam, marmalade, peanut butter, cheese, Nutella. The Scottish variety of Crumpet is a little different.It may contain raisins in between

Scones as the English call it is pronounced as “Skawns”.Generally a favorite for afternoon tea time. These are light, buttery quickbreads made with flour, sugar, butter, milk or cream, and eggs, besides a leavening agent such as baking powder and are are usually round in shape,

My personal favorite was Hashbrowns .When I tasted them I thoughts it’s a cheese bread or something but actually they are cooked potatoes, fried until brown.The mixture is usually pressed down into a flat cake in the pan and browned on one side, then turned and browned on the other. It's sometimes only browned on one side. Other ingredients such as chopped onion and green pepper are often added for flavor excitement.

Think Scotland Think Haggis.
Haggis is a very old Scottish dish, which combines meats, spices and oatmeal to create a a delicious feast. Its description is a little weird and hence people may not experiment.
In fact, its simply delicious. If you haven't tried authentic Scottish Haggis...you must

The famous Scotsman Poet Robert Burns has made a special poem on Haggis”Address to Haggis” thus considering it an integral part of Scottish Culture

Fair fa' your honest, sonsie face,
Great chieftain o' the puddin-race!
Aboon them a' ye tak your place
(Translated as :Fair is your honest happy face,Great chieftain of the pudding race,Above them all you take your place)

Haggis is tradionally to be had with Neep and Tatties.”Neeps” is a shortened form of Turnip and “Tattties” is shortened for potatoes

Oh dear..last but not the least...Tea is an important part of the british cuisine.I couldn’t understand the difference between “builders tea” or “breakfast tea” and “afternoon tea”..but they really savoutr tea.They have it with meals and serve it either with milk and sugar or honey and lime.

All said and done..Just 10 days were not enough to know about this beautiful country and its lovely food.After eating all this I returned back home thinking that I will cook it sometime,but the day hasn’t dawned yet.Lets hope it happens soon

Whenever this happens will post the recipe on the blog

Babycorn Walnut salad

The most quickest and the yummiest salad known to humankind.
This is my sister's recipe and is a superhit in my ,mom's and sister's circle

Cut/slice babycorns to round small pieces. And boil them
For the dressing:
Olive oil+ Squeezed fresh lime juice+ sugar+ Salt+Pepper powder
Add the above dressing to boiled Babycorn
Break walnuts into small chunks and top them up on the Babycorn + dressing.

Fun with Cornflakes-Health recipes

Cornflakes as we know are the best kind of food which we can go for low cal food.
Some easy recipes for cornflakes

1)Mix dried raisins,almonds,walnuts,apricots,pitachios in cornflakes.Add cold milk n serve

2)Mix cornflakes with cut fresh strawberries,apples,peaches,kiwi basically any fruits you like and add cold milk

3)Mix cornflakes with boiled carrots, ,olives,babycorn.Add salt and pepper.

4) Add Cornflakes to oatmeal Porridge.Add nutmeg

5)Add Sweetcorn,corn,babycorn,chat masala,red chilly powder,salt and lemon juice .Add cornflakes.Top up with haldirams moong dal

6)Add some curd/yogurt..mix well and give a tadka of mustard,jeera and curry leaves

On having a pani puri

The excitement begins since the moment we are given plates to eat.This is just any other roadside stall where I have been with my 5 more foodie friends.But we have been eating here since we were very little.We all stand there with plates in our hands.My hearbeats start increasing as one by one we get one ‘puri’ each.It is filled with cooked white peas, tamarind chutney and a spicy warm liquid made of jeera ,chilly and black salt.As we all get the puri..our tastebuds rejoice.The sweet,tangy,spicy,salty,warm crunchy,crisp hits us.

Again and again we are served a more puris each..as if it’s a marathon.We all savour each and every puri..Finally the last puri comes..we all eat a little slow .as it is the last puri :-(..We still relish it..enjoy it ..but it hurts a bit because that’s the end of our pani puri marathon…Now we are just looking forward to only one last thing “the Masala Puri”

After we all had our six puris each..we get the last masala puri..it is a dry puri with the white peas,salt,chat masala and some dry sev..We relish it..we have almost reached “Gastronomic Nirvana”

We make the payment and with a heavy heart..walk home.But we ll soon come again for another plate of Pani Puri

Amla Squash

I'd stocked up on a bit of fresh Amla, and was wondering what to do with it..
So I took 1/4 kg of Amla, pressure cooked it. Deseeded, blended it and kept it aside.
Then took equal quantity of Jaggery, and dissolved it in water over the flame. Once dissolved, I strained it, cos jaggery generally has some dirt particles.
Mixed the jaggery water and amla paste, and added to it jeera power and kala namak powder and cooked on slow flame till thick.
Excellent, healthy and cooling squash, that can be refridgerated and used diluted as a refreshing drink!

Masala for various food

I've recently cooked Mushrooms, Soyachunks and Paneer in the masala from this prawn masala
And it tastes yumm!!! Worth a try :)

-Naina

Carrot Coriander Soup

I'm back after very long.. My baby is a 14 month naughty toddler now.. and she loves to eat :) So that's sure to get me back to innovating and blogging!

She was a bit unwell yesterday, & I thought a soup would do her good.

No tomatoes, no spinach, for the standard soups that I can whip up easily, so took one carrot, a bunch of coriander leaves a fistful of yellow corn & 2-3 peppercorns & salt for seasoning.. Cooked in the pressure cooker and blended in the mixie. Made it a bit watery.

Needless to say, Sana baby loved it!

-Naina

Peanut Sauce

Recently I have become a fan of Thai/Malay food.This si a very simple recipe and taste yummmy with Thai Noodles or Satay dishes

Ingredients
Oil
Onions Chopped
Peanut powder
Brown sugar
Garlic
Soy Sauce
Tamarind sauce
Coconut milk
Salt to taste
Water

Heat oil in a pan. Add onion and . Add peanuts powder and water and cook. Add brown sugar, salt, crushed garlic,Taamrind sauce, coconut milk and mix. Add soy sauce and mix well. Add water and cook till the mixture gets a sauce consistency.Grind in a blender
Bon Appetit
Ash

Veracruz Sauce

Yes you all guessed it right.the latest fascination has been Mexican food.So for all Saynors and Senoritas reading this blog,this is the one.
I just tasted Mexican food last week and since then have been smitten.Yes you can call me smitten because inspite of the summer temperatures soaring high,nothing is stopping me from eating Mexican food.
I tried this simple sauce which is really tasty but also very spicy.It can be best used for meat and fish dishes as a sauce or as ad ip

The Veracruz Sauce is a traditional Mexican Gulf Coast sauce.Veracruz is a port situated in East Mexico and the cuisine of the state is unique


Ingredients:
Olive Oil
Garlic cloves
Tomatoes peeled and blanched
Green and Red bell peppers
Paprika dried
Capers
Green Olives
Jalapenos
Salt
Dried Thyme or Oregano

Procedure:
Heat Olive Oil in a pan. Add the garlic cloves.Let the he the aroma savour,now add tomatoes.Let it cook till tender.Add rest of the ingredients.Let it cook well.put it in a blender till smooth.

Serve with Roasted Chicken/Grilled fish or even with boiled vegetables like corn,cabbage etc.

Bon Appetit
Ash

Restaurant Recommendation -Peninsula Sion,Mumbai

I have been there before twice.But this time I found them having great international cuisinea nd had a great experience overall

I would recommend chicken dishes of any kind.The chicken was cooked extremely well.The Non veg Platter included Chicken Tikka,Chicken Reshmi,Chicken Pahari and Chicken Banjara with Mutton Seekh Kebab.Each and every item was finger licking good.We also tried the craem of Chicken soup which appealed to my Taste buds.

Dont forget to try mouth watering" Quesadillas"
It literally takes form from the word Queso meaning cheese in spanish.
A quesadilla is usually made with a corn tortilla and is filled primarily with cheese and other ingredients such as cooked meat, refried beans, and vegetablesThe filled tortilla is then toasted under a boiler or fried, usually until the cheese is melted. Once the quesadilla is cooked, it is traditionally cut into slices, or wedges.
We tried the chicken ones and it was just too good.Perhaps the best Mexican food item I had ever had.They served with 3 various mexican dips including sour cream.I unfortunately could not identify the other 2 dips..could be Guacamole and Veracruz..not very sure
The drinks Menu has both alchohol and non alchohol varieties.
In the Desserts,we tasted the Honey Noodles with Ice Cream which was good enough.They also have I ce Creams, Chocolate Mousse,Rabdi and Sizzling Brownie.

Ambience is fairly good but food overtakes all.
In short..its a must try place for all

Bon Appetit,
Ash

Prawns in Butter Garlic pepper

Ingredients: Prawns Cleaned and Deveined Garlic Paste Pepper Powder Salt Corn Flour/Maida for binding Rawa Lemon grass Sticks Mint Procedure Make a batter of Garlic paste Pepper Powder n salt. Add the Prawns and let it marinate for about 20 mins.Just before Frying apply the Cornflour/Maida and Rawa on the Marinated Prawns. In a heated frying pan add some butter.Add Mint leaves and lemon grass. Switch off the Flame and Cover the Pan for about 4-5 mins for getting the aroma. After 5 mins again switch on the flame and now place the prawns.Fry till golden. Serve on Toothpicks. Decorate with Mint leaves

Egg Bites

Make the same base you make for burji & instead of adding eggs into the onion-tomato-spices masala----
---boil eggs, cut into halves, mix the yolk into the onion-tomato-spices masala & fill the masala into the egg white.
Top each piece with coriander & Serve! Yummy Egg-bites!!!