The humble upma - Comfort food

As I started off from work, I read the last tweet from Raj Ganpath that said I am sure all of you are planning your dinner menu. What's on the workout platter? Wonder how he read my mind - I was delayed at work and the first thing on my mind was dinner plans. Should I order something, should I buy something on the way, perhaps make Maggi (R - I'm sure you are drooling at the mere mention of this word :D)

I had some left overs in the fridge, but I wanted to eat something tasty, spicy and something that doesn't require too much of an effort to cook.  Oh what I can say, but every time I think of the above options, upma is the only dish that appeals to me. 

I can eat upma plain without any side dish (provided it's made properly), or if I am a little too ambitious, I can pair it up with chutney, sambar, thokku, pickle or even potato curry ! 

Few things to be noted while making upma:

a. If possible, make it in the traditional iron kadai. That way you'll get the extra-dried and fried bits (kaandhal) that you can scrape off! (S loves this)

b. The ulutham paruppu (urad dal) and kadala paruppu (channa dal) are to be roasted nicely until golden brown. They should NEVER become black. 

c. Roast the rava (sooji) in the same oil as the onions, ginger, chillies and dal. There's no need to roast it separately.

d. Make sure you do not rub your eyes after chopping green chillies and ginger. (That's my trademark; rubbbing the eyes, that is)

e. Add enough hot water, to the roasted rava. How much is enough? Add water just until the rava is submerged. Not more not less.

f. Cook covered, for a few minutes.

g. Open the lid, and then cook on low heat for a few more minutes. 

h. Upma should be "non sticky" and "non-pasty". (As they say in tamil - பொல பொல னு இருக்கணும்)

i. Add a dash of lemon and garnish with coriander. 

Variations:

a. You may add vegetables and make it a vegetable kichdi. Note: Kichdi in South India means vegetable upma, not the gujju dal kichdi.

b. You may add a little turmeric powder to make it look pretty.

c. Instead of onion / green chillies / ginger, add sugar and orange color to make rava kesari :P

Paneer-o-mania

It's been a week since I actually cooked. I had been terribly lazy and was actually eating curd rice for lunch and dosa for dinner almost all week. And ever since I started writing here, I feel guilty if I don't cook.

So yesterday, with the IPL finals and Monaco race and French Open happening, I was suddenly in a mood to put some effort towards making today's lunch. Well, yeah, I prep things ahead, usually the previous night, because the mornings are rushed and I like my precious time early morning to sit in the balcony and sip my coffee, and dream dreamy things.

I raided my fridge and found a pack of paneer wanting to be picked up. Fine, I love paneer and have made it many times in the past (especially for S) but I certainly was in no mood to make matar paneer, aloo matar paneer, paneer butter masala or any other such variation. Naturally I googled to see if I can find some interesting paneer recipe.

Now, I made this dish, because I was stunned, not by the dish, but by the name - Embassy Paneer. DUH, Seriously? I tried to get the etymology and all I could find was variations of this recipe, but no history of the incident or geography of the accident. Perhaps, they made this at all embassies? Or was it a standard menu at most parties? If any of you know, do please let me know.

Here's how we make it

Chop paneer into cubes. Melt about 2 tbsp butter in a kadai, add finely chopped onions, ginger, 2 green chillies and saute until translucent. Add 1/2 tsp maida, mix well and cook for a minute or so. Mix 1/2 cup milk and 1/2 cup water, add to the onion mixture, and stir well. It would take a few minutes for it to thicken, and once it does, add a couple of finely chopped tomatoes, 1/2 tsp ground pepper and salt, and cook for a few minutes. Add the cubed paneer and mix well. 


Finally add 1/2 tsp garam masala and chilli powder and finely chopped coriander. 


Serve hot with chapatis.


Note: You can make variations by adding mushrooms, capsicum and perhaps peas? 
Note 2: My measurements aren't exact; (er... the measurements of the ingredients, I mean) I don't go by tsp or gms, it's more of what feels right. So you might want to alter this to suit your taste buds ! :-)

I must have been really adventurous last night to even think of making something so outrageous, but surprisingly it turned out pretty well. (Obviously, else I wouldn't have blogged about it). And it was absolutely perfect for lunch today.

IPL and Kuzhi Paniyaram

Weekend begins, and begins brilliantly, with CSK posting the highest total :) Shanky and Santoshi had invited us over to their house. Also, Karthik wanted to shop for his girl friend and I'd promised to take him to Style One, stone's throw from Shanky's apartment.

I was super thirsty and Santoshi promptly produced a glass of chilled juice. I hate watermelon and without realizing I'd gulped down the entire glass. As an after thought, I'd asked her if it was watermelon :D Too late, but the juice was inviting ! And Shreyas, their year old little one, was a major source of entertainment. 

We all settled down to watch the match and Shanky has set it up beautifully - a projector projects (DUH obviously) the game on the wall - what a way to watch CSK thrash DD all over Chepauk. The garma garam kuzhi paniyarams making their way with yummy coconut chutney, and Shreyas settling down on my lap for bites of paniyarams, it was a Friday evening worth every minute. We finished off the innings (pun intended) with store-bought dark chocolate ice cream.

Santoshi's paniyaram recipe - Add finely chopped onions and green chillies to dosai maavu. Add few drops of oil to each hole and pour the batter in the paniyaram pan. Cook covered for a few minutes, use a fork to turn them over to the other side. Cook for a few minutes. Remove from pan, and serve hot with coconut chutney. 

PS: As I finish this post, CSK win by a massive 86 runs and move into the IPL finals for the 4th time.

Eco Cafe, Chamiers - Eat more with your eyes

Chamiers has always held fond memories for me. My first time there was at the property right opposite to where it is now. The outdoors were amazing especially post monsoons.

It was at the Eco Cafe that I had my first sip of spicy hot chocolate after wading through some heavy rains way back in November 2010.

Today was very hot in Chennai and I was too sleepy. I'd left work early so I could catch up on some sleep before I headed to Eco Cafe. I woke up with a start, to find that it was already quarter past 6. I didn't want to rush through the traffic, with what me being an almost-victim to an unabashed auto driver yesterday. Surprisingly all lights turned green and I just zoomed ahead and had reached Chamiers in under 15 minutes.

First one to arrive, I just wandered a bit, trying to get some pictures. Slowly the foodies trickled in. There were an overload of DSLRs around. There was a tripod and Doc had the external flash too. It was tricky shooting inside the cafe, as it was dimly lit in yellow. Flash made things worse, and I was a little rusty to shoot without flash. So, pardon my jaundiced pictures. (Kamalika - picasa link here - https://picasaweb.google.com/103933428096344757675/EcoCafe)

If I had to rate the food based on presentation, Eco Cafe would score a perfect 10. Unfortunately, we just can't eat with our eyes. :-)

The food was ordered in random; obviously we weren't fine dining.

The veg chowder soup, was crumbly and the right temperature. (The soup bowl was chipped. Chamiers to take note - you really DO NOT serve in chipped bowls). Bruschetta was crisp and thankfully didn't soak with the tomatoes. I quite couldn't figure out what the other toppings were. You just can't go wrong with the potatoes - the wedges were perfect. (Eh.. well, I did mess up the aloo capsicum once and S was kind enough to tell me it was okay, but I felt super guilty throughout that day)

The chocolate almond milk was too nutty with the almond flavor overpowering everything else.

I'd always liked a pasta salad, and the ingredients here were interesting. Roasted aubergines, zucchini, bell peppers, thyme and balsamic. It was total let down when a forkful was eased into the mouth. The aubergines weren't roasted and were completely raw. Pasta was under cooked (I know pasta has to be al-dente, but this was one below al-dente). Neither was there thyme, nor balsamic. The flavor was lacking.

The cinnamon-apple cake is usually an all time favorite but today's piece was cold and probably old as well. It didn't feel fresh. But hey, the spicy hot chocolate was just perfect as always ! The waffles were right on the money - neither too crunchy nor too soft, with the honey doing the honors. The pancakes were good, so was the maple syrup. The chocolate sauce on the waffles had a benadryl-y flavor. Something was just not right with the chocolate sauce.

The club sandwich was decent. The penne pasta with mushrooms and pesto had too much pesto and olives. In a nutshell, every dish had one ingredient that was over powering (mostly the pesto / olives) and we couldn't quite catch the flavor of the other ingredients.

That said, the mushroom risotto with ratatouille was perfect. Perfect risotto, not too soggy not too dry and not too many mushrooms. The caramel custard with oranges by the side, was pleasing to the eye, and to the taste buds as well.

I'd go there again for the spicy hot chocolate and perhaps for the sandwiches and the waffles and of course for the laid back ambiance. Slightly over priced, and over powering flavors in some of the dishes could be a sore point with the Eco Cafe. Having said that, I'd certainly recommend Chamiers for the sheer joy of sitting in a quiet environment and sipping the hot chocolate on a rainy day.

Crimson Chakra - Encore

First off, there are no pictures to this post, as I was more intent on eating and having fun. This post is an after thought. :)

The whole gang was meeting after ages and catching up for dinner was the best option. Ever since we decided it would be dinner, I was chanting "Crimson", "Crimson". Couple of them from the group had been there only last month and wanted to check out some other place. But yay, Crimson prevails.

We were given an entire corner to ourselves, with what 7 adults and 2 little ones in the group. There was no need to look at the menu card as I knew what I wanted. Glancing at the menu was a mere formality. All of us love Crimson and we quickly decided what we wanted.

The courses were well paced, the staff unobtrusive and quiet. We had plenty time to feed the babies, take them for a walk, click a few pictures and gossip around.

The little ones were just interested in the cooler rack that housed the soft drinks. Colorful and cool that it was, they just wanted to be near it and rub their cheeks against the cool glass :) It was a cute sight.

The soup was perfect and so was the lasagne. The kaikari urundai and nachos were yum. I couldn't wait to finish my main course so I could lay my hands on the elaneer souffle. I swear by this one dessert. After chocolate desserts, the next favorite is this. (S, you would love this. And Nikhil, Thanks for making this on-the-house)

It's unusual that little ones enjoy an atmosphere like this, and towards the end of the dinner, one kid became sleepy and restless, broke a pepper vial and had some in her eyes too. She was wailing away to glory; and the efficient staff was sensible enough to switch off the fan and clean up the pepper. Her mom and dad took her out, while K settled the bill because we all blessed him (that he would enjoy his singledom and wouldn't get married anytime soon).

A yummy end to a Sunday and satisfied souls and tummies all around. :-)

Hormones, Chocolates and Some Hugs

Thanks Sridevi for this fridge magnet. Every time I feel low, I look at this, open the fridge, eat a piece of Lindt (Thanks S, I still have the Lindt) or Hershey's Kisses (Thanks R, Yes I still have these). And today, I ate a piece of Lindt. I want to eat another, but I need to keep this in stock until S buys me more.

The days when your hormones simply can't handle themselves are those days that you crave for a little nice word, a warm hug and chocolates. (And surely, that nice little word and a hug will also produce a barrage of tears. As S says, dam opened ! :-P )

I still remember, Shanky used to take me to Anokhee, at Chamiers, for the spicy hot chocolate, with extra cinnamon and chocolate, when I was low.

And who cares about calories when it's chocolates and feeling good.

I always wonder what it is about chocolate that makes us girls feel so kicked about. A chocolate can even give you an orgasm - who needs a boy friend? (Er.. Well... not always... :-P)

Chocolates apparently increase levels of something called serotonin in the brain. This serotonin controls most of the cells in the brain, and is responsible for all things related to mood swings, sexual desire and all that.

A chocolate-y Sunday it is !

Expensive street food - Spoonbill

Spoonbill, nestled in a corner of the bustling TTK Road, Alwarpet, opened today. The whole concept of street food interested me as I always love eating from the street vendors, especially in Mumbai and Pune. Spoonbill's website boasted of street food from Germany, France, Turkey and India. A very interesting write up in the website makes anyone want to visit the place.

The interiors were neatly done, an abstract painting on one wall, some nice framed pictures similar to the ones on the website and a live counter in the middle. It works on a self service model - you order - pay - collect your trays - sit - eat - have fun !

OK, now let's get down to the food. A quick look at the menu card told me my options were limited - there were 2 vegetarian dishes in Indian and 3 in French. The rest all were non-veg. Of course, there were veg burritos. Obviously I had to choose from this list. Not a big decision maker when it comes to food, I asked them to suggest and a corn spinach cheese crepe it was, from the French menu.

I'd dragged along a friend who had come down from Delhi, and he'd ordered a lamb bratwurst from the German menu. Priced at INR 280, it had about 12 1-inch pieces of sausage, and a bun and some onions. He loved the dish but not the price.

The French crepe was nicely wrapped and I settled comfortably in a chair, overlooking the busy road. The first bite was a little too sweet and as I munched along, I could taste the corn and cheese, but my taste buds couldn't catch the spinach. It was also a little too salty for my liking.

There were loads of sweet crepes, with various options including double strawberry, mangoes, nutella, chocolate et al. I decided to skip that and have a chocolate muffin. Two things about the muffin - a. was a tad dry and b. was over priced. INR 150 for a muffin is just too much.

While totally innovative and creative, it's ironical that street food should be quite pricey. We spent over INR 600 for 3 dishes, on the standard category. Had this been a meal or jumbo, the price would have touched INR 800+. The meal / jumbo includes fries and a drink.

I'd like to try the sweet crepes sometime. And I wish there were more options in the vegetarian category.

I understand that opening a restaurant / food joint is a highly difficult task; there's so much hard work and there's the effort of so many people right from setting up, management, sourcing the ingredients, facing bureaucracy; this review is only meant to improve the service and certainly not as a dampener.

Fresca Pizzeria - Pre-launch dinner

It's a privilege to be dining in a restaurant before it's thrown open for public. And this is not the first time I've done this. It's a pleasure and a surprise each time because you don't know what's on the menu and there aren't many reviews to go by except the credibility of the restaurateur, in this case, Sandesh Reddy. He's already famous for his chocolates and desserts at Sandy's.

Fresca is located in the basement of United Colors of Benetton / Cascade, on KNK Road, Nungambakkam. A white board outside proudly announces "Opening Shortly".

Red ceilings, well set deep brown tables, white crockery, silver cutlery and black napkins - loved the color combination and the interiors. And, the overhead lamps were quite good. (S - you'll like the lamps and of course the food too)

The evening started off with Sandesh explaining the items on the menu card (there were 2 cards - 1 for the eggie-veggies and one for the non-vegetarians. There isn't much for the non-egg eating vegetarians.) There were 4 courses and each course had 2 items to choose from. (Of course, this is only for the pre-launch dinner. Once the restaurant opens, the menu card is going to be exhaustive) K and I decided to order one dish each and taste, so we get a feel of all the dishes in the menu. Whatte idea sirji!

We started off with small pieces of poached pears with blue cheese and I didn't realize pears can taste so good. It was served in a small cubical shot glass. The cutlery were replaced each time - truly fine dining.

Course 1 consisted of a cold soup - Ajo Blanco and a salad consisting of stewed figs, bocconcini, zucchini and honey balsamic. My pick - the salad. A big fan of cheese, I found the bocconcini chewy, yet soft and melting in the mouth. Perfect ! Not that the soup was any less better !

Each course was well paced; it allowed conversation to flow freely, as also prepared your taste buds for the next course.

Course 2 consisted of Three cheese ravioli and spinach gnocchi. The buttermilk in the spinach gnocchi was a magic touch, subtle yet flavorful. The cheese from the three cheese ravioli did a delectable dance in the tongue, making us feel as if there was a fourth cheese :-)

As we moved on to course 3, it was past 1 hour. In times where restaurants look at chasing out people  and having waiters hover around, it was quite a refreshing change. (Sandesh - would you let us dine for 2 hours even after you have thrown it open for public?)

Course 3 was pizzaaaaa. When the interiors suddenly became hot, we realized the pizza was in the oven. And I knew the pizza was ready, because I could smell something charred. I'd ordered the margherita - the traditional pizza and K ordered the quattro fromaggi - four cheese pizza. Each of us were served half a pizza. The pizzas were thin, like an appalam, and the cheese dripping from them - mmmmm - just loved it. The crust of the margherita was good. On a couple of slices the corners became dry. You could see curved corners of the pizza left out on most plates. Perhaps this is the difference between wood-fired pizzas and oven made ones?. I've eaten wood fired pizzas and the corner crust is soft, even when the pizza is taken out of the fridge.

The pesto with artichoke pizza made its round to the table. It was too pesto-y, garlic-y, olive-y and Sandesh felt this could be because of the lack of cheese. This would be an awesome pizza if we toned down the pesto, garlic and olive flavors. It just hit me right there, and I couldn't eat more than one bite. Of course, this was harried cook's favorite. Ah taste buds :)

And it was time for dessert. Without a second thought, I ordered a Tiramisu. K ordered a bocca negra.

As we waited for the dessert to be served, came in small cups - the palate cleansers - made of green apple and lime - it just cleansed your tongue of all the cheese and olive oil, and had it fresh and ready for the dessert.

Tiramisu had the perfect blend of alcohol, well soaked in the sponge; And it also had nutella :-D. I sure could have managed one more, but will keep it for another day. Loved the texture of the bocca negra - There's nothing called too much chocolate :-)

Commenting on the non-vegetarian dishes would be un-fair and I'd leave that to those who sampled those dishes.

Sandesh - take a bow ! We'll drop by again once you open for public !

(Do pardon the quality of photographs - I didn't take my Nikon with me, and had to make do with my Samsung phone)

What's for lunch

It's a question that stumps me every day. I'm decent at decision making, especially at work,  but when it comes deciding clothes or menu, I am stuck. I look up to S or R for support, and then have never failed me.

Today was one of those days when I was just so exhausted and despite having a fully stocked fridge, was just not able to get myself to make an interesting dabba. As I rummaged through the fridge, I did find a bowl of left over sprouts salad.

The sprouts salad was made by tossing together 100 gm of boiled sprouts, 1/2 finely chopped onion, 1/4 finely chopped capsicum, lots of coriander and a little salt.

This was very easily converted into sabzi, by simply heating oil, seasoning with jeera, 1 finely chopped tomato, 1/2 tsp ginger garlic paste, and dumping the salad into the kadai, and cook covered for about 10 minutes !

Squeeze a few drops of lemon and we now have a good healthy sabzi to eat with hot soft chapatis. I don't have a picture of this, as I was too lazy to do one, when I finished cooking. So may be another day !

Happy lunch-boxing !

Know your knife

Most of us love to cook, but how many of us actually look at the equipment we use?   Most often, I use a knife that's comfortable to hold and is sharp, until S pointed out that I need to use a proper knife, so I chop the veggies and not my finger. As they say in management, right person for the right job; similarly the knives should suit the task in hand.

There are so many varieties of knives, and I can't seem to differentiate one from the other. There's a paring knife, bread knife, chef knife etc etc.

I used to hate to peel vegetables, and there are people that like potatoes peeled. And there are vegetables like raw banana that need to be peeled. I'd most often overlooked vegetables like raw banana for the sheer effort of peeling them. And then, when my friend and partner-in-crime, R, came back from the US, I'd asked her to get me a Farberware Pro peeler. Suffice to say, I now love peeling. (As a side note, R doesn't know to use a peeler and uses a knife. DUH )

What's equally important in every kitchen is a knife sharpener. It's very rare these days to see the guy doing rounds with his machine to sharpen knives. I remember those summer vacations, when I used to stand next to him, and watch the sparks fly as he sharpened our knives.

Thanks to S for these links

Skip the knife set and buy knives that suit your style of cooking. For example, a vegetarian house hold wouldn't need a butcher knife.

Various types of knives and a comprehensive price list - from Godrej Cartini

As important as knives and peelers are cutting boards. My dad still uses the ancient wooden cutting board, which is better than any of the plastic boards. It's said wooden cutting boards are anti-bacterial . At least two good bamboo / wooden cutting boards are essential in every kitchen.

Happy & Safe chopping !

Masterchef Australia....

...is back and I can't wait for India telecast. It's crazy to be following it on the website, because by the time they telecast here, I would have known the results.

This is by far the best cookery show, there's lots of authentic cooking, judging, drama and even penalizing a contestant for not abiding by the house rules. The judges are calm, encouraging and smiling, and sometimes even help the contestants by providing valuable tips.

George, Gary and Matt set the example for being the best judges I have ever seen on a cookery show. They have not only raised the bar for the contestants every time, they have also raised the bar for every judge.

On the contrary, with due respect to Gordon Ramsey, Masterchef USA is too much drama, highly predictable, and loaded with more cuss words than food. And I'd be wasting precious space here if I even mentioned Masterchef India.















Image courtesy: http://www.theage.com.au/ and http://happygoyummy.wordpress.com/masterchef-australia/

The why and how...

There are so many food blogs around. Lots of recipes, lovely photographs - then why one more? No particular reason actually. So many thoughts were flowing through my mind and I thought I had to write it all down ! This will not just be a food blog, but the experiences that go with it, and some emotions that blend with the food.

The recipes will not just be mine; there are recipes from mom, friends, recipes customized to suit tastes, recipes that happened by chance, recipes adapted from other recipes, so on and so forth.

The blog will not only talk about recipes, but also about other food, kitchen and health related topics.

I have spent most of my time in the kitchen, in the last one month. I cooked for someone I loved to cook for. I didn't mind the sweltering heat, even after a hard day at work. Cooking was a pleasure, when you had someone special to share the food with. And no, I didn't make anything that special. It was routine cooking, a typical day in a tambrahm household. Yet, I loved every moment in the kitchen.

The kitchen was always my stress buster. If I was pissed or bugged or mad, I would go into the kitchen and try to whip up something. The slicing, dicing, chopping removes all the stress (and some blood - I'm known for cutting my fingers when I chop vegetables - especially beetroot and then the cutting board would be so red, that we wouldn't know if it was the blood or the beetroot)

I love appliances and and have a small kitchen well equipped with a food processor, microwave oven, electric cooker, a 4 burner stove and chimney. I also have an induction stove, on which I sustained for 1 year before I got a gas connection.

This blog may not have photographs initially, but will try and add as I go on.

With some time on my hands now, I'll try and pen down the recipes that I have made in the last one month and beyond.

Cheers !!