Meet the bakers - Part 8

Cleaner, chef, dish washer, stylist, photographer, manager and odd-job jack - Meet Aysha Shanaz Abdulla of Ma Baker

Lovely creations and even prettier packing boxes got me curious. Clumsy as she might be (and even having a ganache on her ceiling and a 2 year old creating havoc in the house), I think her creations are absolutely brilliant. I'm actually proud to do this post on Aysha, for she is a recluse but she thought answering my questions was going to be fun ! Read on..

Excerpts:

D: Any reason why this name - Ma Baker?
ASA: I'm a full time ma to my children, bitten very hard by the baking bug. So the old Boney M song title seemed appropriate.  (True that ! )


D: Where do you source your ingredients from? Is there something you don't get in India?
ASA: There's hardly anything you don't find in India these days but the quality is very inconsistent and therefore unreliable, especially in stores that sell in bulk. Most of my stuff comes from the States, brought back by my family who travel pretty often and are willing to carry anything I need. But now with more stores that carry specialty ingredients opening up, things are getting easier. 


D: What's the most difficult part in baking in humid conditions?
ASA: The most difficult part is that you get cooked before your cakes get cooked! Its just so exhausting! Other than that there are the challenges of the butter falling flat and the frosting looking wilted but there's no point complaining and we have to just find ways to work around it, like working after sun-down.


D: What's your theme for the fest?
ASA: I don't really have a theme in mind, I'm just planning to stick to my strong points and bake what I've always got good reviews for. I may introduce one new item as a trial but it really depends on how well I manage time on the days running up to the 30th. With a 2 year old in the house and me being a one man army, its a circus around these parts on most days. Did I mention I've already had a couple of panic attacks thinking about the 30th? Yes, I'm confident like that! (haha, I am sure you are going to whip up a storm)


D: On that note, I loved the little boxes that housed those single cup cakes. Did you design those boxes?
ASA: I found a box design that I loved and then painstakingly cut out the template and handmade a box as a sample for the person who makes my other boxes. So technically I did not design the boxes myself but there was no way I could make my box supplier comprehend what I needed without actually making one and showing it to him!

I couldn't convince Aysha to let me use a picture of hers on the blog (she refrains from having her pictures published, and I respect her decision) and instead of the awesome baker, I do have one of her creations here ! :)

Cheers Aysha and look forward to seeing you on the 30th ! (Can't hide there :P)

The Great Biriyani Cookout - Yay !

Finally, the day arrived and Dinesh was kind enough to pick me up so close to home. We made our way to Adyar Cafe Coffee Day, waiting to pick up the rest of the junta. (Carpooling it was). PG, Aswin, Sruti, Tasneem, Shivani and few more arrived, and we headed towards Lakshmi Farms on ECR. Nish had mentioned it was right after the toll and we would be able to see balloons. :P And we were looking out for the balloons and went up to Mayajaal. (Little did we know that the balloons arrived after us ! :P ) Dinesh - Thanks #1

Rajab Nisha was absolutely brilliant. She, with her tremendous experience, made this huge cookout seemingly so easy ! And not to mention Asma, who with her dazzling smile, was so delightful to watch in the make-shift kitchen. Thanks #2

The cookout started off with bread halwa, and Kamalika and I were already drooling. It was a bright and sunny day and the Arabian tent did serve the purpose to an extent, but Chennai heat at its full glory took its toll. RO iced water and soft drinks did little to ease the heat, but what did actually make us all feel better was the amazing food and the enthusiastic group. So, Thanks #3!

Bread halwa was followed by batter making for chicken and gobi 65. They were left to marinate, and we moved on to the baingan salan (aka ennai kathrikkai, baghara baingan, kathrikai thokku). Totally tempting (I did shudder at the amount of oil, but I guess it has to be made that way!)

This was followed by making the gravy for the biriyani. It is the base for all types of biriyani. It would later be split into 3 parts to accommodate veg, chicken and mutton varieties.

The sweetened rice was on the stove and whilst that was cooking, we took a break to rest our muddy feet and quench our parched throats.

That done, the veg biriyani got its opportunity to get cooked, followed by chicken and mutton. Meanwhile, on a stove, the gobi 65 started to fry, followed by chicken.

The group was impatient, and hunger pangs began to pass. I was worried if I would be able to do justice to this amazing cook out. We couldn't wait for the table to be set and that done, we dug in.

It was truly a delicious cookout, and I can't wait to try all this at home. (S - please note :P) I have the bread halwa and sweetened rice saved, and will be eaten with lunch tomorrow.

Rajab Nisha's tips were amazing, and I know a few people have diligently taken down detailed notes. Jaya: Please share :)

Jaya was the official translator, for people who couldn't see what was happening, and PG was the official kinder (mixer :P). Even Chef Rajab Nisha commented "avar karandi pudichu verum pose thanga kudukaraaru" :P

Oh, and thanks #4  to Nigar Sultana of Dawat-e-Biriyani for her silent support and being the associate sponsor of this event. She has graciously signed our certificates and has given each of us a 15% off voucher on all orders (valid for 3 months).

What a way to spend a Saturday. Truly memorable. Way to go Ali and Nish. Look forward to many more such cookouts and workshops. Thanks #5

and Lastly, Thanks #6 Aswin, for dropping me home, with a free tour of the city ! :P ;-)

Meet the bakers - Part 7

Flying mighty high on cakes is our very own pretty and charming Neha Gugaliya. What I loved about her cakes are the concept cakes so to speak. I couldn't pick a favorite, as I was telling her. Loved the Cindrella story, Louis Vuitton Purse and the football field (If only liverpool was featured on there, I'd have ordered it for S :-P)

Excerpts:

D: Where do you source your ingredients from?
NG: I get them from walltax road, Passionate baking off late, and few of my moulds n cutters are from abroad..... where ever i find any awesome stuff relating to baking and even for chocolate bouquets i get them... Off late even my relatives and friends hunt gifts related to these!!!

D: What do you feel about this fest? How far, as a home baker, do you think it's going to help you?
NG: Very Happy to be a part of this show .. its a great initiative from Bala and Nanditha. It's been only an year and a half that High On Cakes is a part of my life, and I see a lot of home bakers who have been doing such great stuff for sooooo many years... for me it will be a lottttt (ok.. she actually stressed on the "lot" :P) of learning from this event... and this is surely gonna help me a lot...... 


D: Would you like to open a store soon?
NG: Yuppyyyy opening up a store is my dream, and in future u'll see HIGH ON CAKES store somewhere around Chennai!!


D: What does High on Cakes specialize in?
NG:  I do only egg less stuff.... None of my products have egg or any non-veg related items.... I do cakes, muffins, cookies, chocolates.... There are a lot of concept cakes, muffins and cookies that I'm doing off late and I'm really loving doing them..... My customers too love them:-) Apart from all these I also do Chocolate Bouquets , Chocolate sticks and Chocolate Trays... Now I'm trying my hands on Sugar craft flowers and wedding cakes!!!!


D: And your theme for the bake fest?
NG: There is no theme kind of thing, Gonna bring cakes, Flavored Muffins, Customized Cookies, Chocolate Bouquets and New variety of chocolate trays ... I'm veryyy happpyy to be a part of this event, its gonna be a gala evening meeting all expert bakers of the town , learning and having a happy fun loving evening :-)

I could totally imagine the smile on her face in each line of her email. I'm sure she was hyperventilating and she's sure verrrry happy to be a happy part of this happy event ! A happy go lucky girl ! :-)


Here's to opening High on Cakes soon in the city ! Cheers!

Meet the bakers - Part 6

I was sailing on a small fluffy cupcake, floating high in the air, looking around the clouds, dreaming... mmmm..  That's what Rivka's email did to me - by far the best compliment I have ever received for the Meet the Baker series - quoting her verbatim - "Yes, I’ve seen and read all your blog posts and have been anxiously waiting for this mail from you! "

Meet Little miss muffet... er.. sorry Lil' Miss Kitchen's Rivka Maria Shahani, owner, baker, delivery girl, dishwasher and everything else that you can think of.

For someone who has been dabbling in various forms of arts - music, an MA in Fine Arts, logo design, photography, baking is a piece of cake (er.. ! does that make sense? :-) ) Rivka now sings with her church choir.

Excerpts:


D: Do you make your own pasta from scratch? Or are they store bought? If so, where do you source your ingredients from?
RMS: For my lasagna, I make my own pasta sheets, as the taste is unbeatable. But for my pasta bakes, since it’s not really viable to make penne/fusilli/smaller pasta shapes, I use store bought pasta. I source all my ingredients locally, supporting the small shop owners in Kilpauk. They have surprised me with their products like you’d never imagine!


D: Do you customize based on individual tastes?
RMS: Yes, 99% of the time.. I cook what I love to eat and it’s only fair that I feed people what they love to eat, but there is a limit as to how far I will go.. I never compromise on my basic recipes.


D: Your thoughts on the Bake Fest?
RMS: It’s a superb plan... I think KP Balakumar and Nanditha have been quite fantastic in bringing all of us together... It’s going to be extremely beneficial to us bakers, as we’re reaching out to an audience that we might not have had a chance to encounter, if it wasn’t for this. And it’s healthy to stand side by side with others who might be considered “competition” and be supportive of them and they of you... it’s going to be quite a show!


D: Your theme for this fest?
RMS: As you might’ve noticed on my page, my philosophy with my Kitchen is “Good food, made with love.” and that’s all it is. I like to keep things simple, I love my food and I want to share it.



D: Would you like to open a store sometime?
RMS: I’d love to... that is the eventual plan... for now I’m very content with working from home… since I have no professional training and since I do it all on my own, I’m growing with the Kitchen… it’s a good process for me, I’m taking my time and I think that’s the way to go… there’s no rush.

Signs off Rivka, Food is what occupies my days now… it’s extremely satisfying when you hear that a 2 year old squealed with delight and gobbled up her birthday cake that you’ve put a load of love into... it’s no longer about the time or effort it takes... it’s all about the love.

And someday, somewhere, I will have a space for likeminded people to come and share in these 3 loves of my life… and it will be beautiful.

Thank  you Rivka and I so look forward to meeting you on 30th. Love, Hugs, xx. 

Meet the bakers - Part 5

First off, this post is long overdue. Work was all consuming and then a couple of Showcase meets happened :)

So I was writing to each of these bakeraanis and this time, I picked the enthu cutlet - Suma Satish. That's how I am going to call her, because her email to me was bubbling with excitement and thrill and I couldn't resist responding immediately. There weren't many details on her FB page, so I had to throw random questions at her. And then, after reading her email I realized, even if I didn't ask her any question, I would have still ended up with reams of information ! :D That's Suma for you - a bundle of excitement of a little kid.

Suma is absolutely talented; she calls herself jack of all trades, king of none (shouldn't it be queen? :P) but I think it's amazing that she can knit, paint, crochet, and apparently play a bit of flute (but stopped because the neighbor complained ! :P). As I was wondering who is she going to knit for in Chennai, her next line sent me into peals of laughter - she could perhaps knit bikinis in Chennai :P

Excerpts:

D: What got you into baking? Is this full time or do you work elsewhere?
SS: My mom used to bake when my sis and I were little. She made cookies and cakes for our birthdays. She used to break the eggs with a butter knife (we are vegetarians) resulting in shells all over the batter and 30 mins to pick the shells off LOL! So I kinda knew what went into making a cake and how it was done, but my experiments with baking started when I got married and moved to the US- no work, no friends, a humongous oven, an easy access to raw materials and some super awesome baking websites/books made my baking life simpler  And the biggest plus point was that my mom was not around so if one cake flopped I could *cough* chuck it and without her glaring at me  I took some Wilton cake decorating classes etc and since I lived in Maryland I could not operate out of a home kitchen (they have some mental law) so I used to chumma timepass bake and decorate cakes and send it free to Jay's office. We just moved back to India last month and my full time job is running after my 2yr old. (Note to self: Ask SS later about mental law? :P haha )


D: Where do you source your ingredients? and do you think you find all you need in Chennai / India? If not, what do you think that's missing and can stores like Gormei can source it for us?
SS: I have just been to Currimbhoys, Poppat Jamals ad Nuts and spices. Thanks to the Bakers Guild I have gathered a LOT of information about other stores. What I really (and I think most Home bakers would agree) is have a store like the ones in US- where they carry everything related to baking from icing sugar to colours, to cake boxes to fondant/gum paste/modeling chocolates. It would make our life so much easier. But I think Passionate Baking is doing something along those lines. I am really pleased to know that there are stores like Gormei that carry exotic stuff, I can't wait to raid their store :-P


D: What's your theme for the fest?
SS: Theme for the fest hmm... I will be keeping it real simple (no frosting or anything fancy) because I have a toddler (who loves running around the house throwing spoons and bowls from the balcony and stuffing his toys into the fridge sigh) it is challenging to make complicated things  But what I'll bring shall remain a secret (only because I'm yet to try out those recipes LOL).  (haha, girl - can't really wait to see what you are going to bring and I do hope your little one is tagging along with you !  Please do bring him:) )

D: Future plans?
SS:  Oh yeah, I plan to teach baking. I mean why buy cakes when you can bake right? Home Bakers don't shoot me  But 1st I need to figure out how to contact Jayalalitha and tell her to put an end to these damned power cuts  It will take some time for me to set it up (because I plan to teach in my house, only weekends) but I can assure you it will not be the run of mill baking classes, it will be fun because hey you are making cake- what is there to be serious about?!? (Absolutely, and let me know when you talk to JJ ;-) I will put gosham for you - SS vaazhga types :P)

She so wanted me to use this picture, so here you go ! BTW, this multi talented pretty lady also blogs at http://masalavade.blogspot.in/. And I was doubling in laughter at the uterus post ! Seriously screw loose ! :P 

Sim...Sim...Simar

It was a hot day and the evening only became hotter. The CFG Showcase was on this evening, and I had to reach KNK Road by 1930. As I crossed the tree covered Poes Garden, I smelt wet earth and then without a warning, it started pouring. A big respite from the simmering heat, it sure was.

As I entered Simar, a restaurant that claims to serve North West Frontier cuisine, I couldn't fail to observe the painstakingly done interiors. Shades of black, white and grey everywhere, right from the ceiling to the table mats, talked of a theme. I'd also identified black with charcoal cooking, that's a predominant part of North West Frontier Province cuisine.

I'd already googled for what constituted this type of cuisine, so I knew what to expect. But, I must warn you, it's best to get in here with the least expectation.

We were 5 veggies and 6 non vegetarians. I will be concentrating on the vegetarian spread in this post.

The kebabs started off on a decent note. The veg sheekh kebab had an overpowering taste of some spice, which we couldn't quite put our finger (or should we say tongue) on. NWF Cuisine usually uses minimal spice, but simmered for longer hours, that flavors the dish. That was clearly missing here. The mushroom filled with spinach kebab was mindblowing. Simply loved it to bits (literally).

And then we waited and waited and waited... and waited... ah there it was, the mango yoghurt. Tasted more like a mango milk shake to me. The sourness (is there a word like that?) of the yoghurt was super minimal. Was this supposed to be a palate cleanser? It did its job, but it also filled the tummy, if you weren't smart enough to drink it one sip at a time.

Further waiting ensued, and some of the girls had to get home. (Oh well they work too hard and had to take calls at 10 pm ;-) ) And then suddenly, like the rain that poured without a warning, the table was filled with baingan barta, paneer butter masala, lacha parantha, pudina parantha, (or were they rotis?) and peas pulao. 

Baingan bartha is one of my favorite dishes and sadly, this one was a let down. I'd expect the bartha to have a very smoky flavor, which is perhaps very distinct to these kind of dishes. Especially, the North West Frontier cuisine, is charcoaled over a longer duration and one would expect some amount of smokiness in the food. That was missing in the bartha. 

Paneer butter masala is a done to death dish that's now available in most Indian, Chinese, Tandoori, Multi-cuisine restaurants and I did see a little bit of butter on the dish. Paneer was succulent, and the gravy is nothing to rave about. 

Peas pulao was bland, the peas were not shelled from fresh pods. It appeared to be the store bought artificially colored frozen peas. (Simar - please correct me if I am wrong here, but all of us did notice this one)

And finally, when I almost finished my meal, the dal did arrive. I was expecting a dal bukhara - a very peshawari special with black lentils. But what came was a yellow colored salty dal.  On that note, this place should go easy on salt. There was too much salt in everything.

Oh and finally again, the raita also arrived. I'd finished my meal though. I couldn't wait to get my hands on the dessert, could someone ever go wrong with the gulab jamun and rabdi ! And when it arrived, I realized, yes people can go wrong ! 

Super sweet gulab jamun and some kind of crumbly textured rabdi, totally bland. (Aarti said the texture was like dosai maavu and I agree with her) I understand that the jamun and rabdi are to be eaten together, but the taste has to balance in itself, and not only as a combination.

As a final note, as the group departed, one thing that we all agree on - it's an interesting idea, but it's back to the drawing board (stealing these words from Sreehari :-)) for Simar, to re-design the menu and service. We hope to see great food coming out of this kitchen very soon ! 

As I headed back home, the rains sure were a welcome respite ! ;-)

The Great Biriyani Cookout - Yummm

Image courtesy: Wiki

Biriyani, biriani, beryani or beriani is a set of rice-based foods made with spices, rice (usually basmati) and meat, fish, eggs or vegetables. The name is derived from the Persian word beryā(n) (بریان) which means "fried" or "roasted" (courtesy wiki).

So when Ali took a "hands up" count of who wanted to be in, naturally I raised my hands, but then noticed he'd mentioned mutton / chicken. And then, with the sudden spurt in response for veggie biriyani, he was kind enough to include that as part of the session. I was so prepared to do a dharna in front of his house if he hadn't said okay to a veggie session ;-)


So, if you want to learn how to make authentic muslim biriyani, (and impress your girl friends / wives / boy friends / husbands and the rest of the world), all you need to do is to go here and register.

Mr Rajab, with over 15 years of experience in the biriyani industry (er.. if I can call it that), has graciously consented to teach a bunch of us curious folks how to make this divine dish. And it's not just biriyani on the cards. Check out the event page for complete details.

You only need to bring your cutting board and knife, and rest is organized by CFG.

The event happens next Saturday (23 Jun 2012), from 1130-1530, at Lakshmi Farms, ECR. At 1499 per person, this is a great way to meet fellow foodizens, cook and eat to your hearts' and tummies' content. :-)

Look forward to seeing you all at the mother of all events and hogging on some awesome biriyani ! (bah.. diet goes for a toss ;-) but who cares !!!)