Summer special - Kulfi

Who said summer ended in Chennai? The sun is on full action, even though the humidity has far reduced. And, it wouldn't hurt to dig into something sweet and chilled ;-)

I'd bought these small kulfi moulds from Currimbhoys, Adyar, a few months ago, and they were, for some reason, relegated to the back shelf. As I cleaned the kitchen a couple of months ago, I found them sitting there and had been deciding to put them to use ever since.

So, one evening when I was feeling pretty (oh yes, I feel pretty sometimes :-P), I just paddled around the kitchen - dumping about 3 cups of milk, 1 cup milkmaid, a few spoons of sugar (added later on, because I felt it wasn't sweet enough), some vanilla essence and coarsely pulsed nuts (pista, badam, cashew, pine nuts and whatever else was there in the tin of mixed nuts), and let it thicken on simmer. 45 minutes later, I let it cool, poured it into moulds, covered with foil and gently placed them in the freezer) and conveniently forgot about them. 


S always likes dessert after lunch / dinner and I remembered about the kulfis sitting in the freezer. What I didn't remember was the frequent power cuts ! I'd set the moulds out on the table for a couple of minutes, so I could remove them nicely (this being my first attempt and all). When I inserted the fork to pull the kulfi out, it was then I realized that the power cut had already melted it to an extent, so I could have removed it then and there. Still, I got the pieces out safe and sound.

Served it to S, who was curious as to how I got the liquid that was nicely served around the kulfi ! (haha.. with a sheepish smile, I had to explain the power cut phenomena). And R wanted me to get this to office DUH ! :P


And I got a thumbs up and a pass mark from S (and that's tantamount to vashistar vaayala brahmarishi :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.

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 !

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 !!