Kokum Chitranna

We love Puliogare, and when you have eaten the best at Melkote you crave for the authentic once in awhile. However everyone keeps telling tamarind is not good for the bones and muscles, especially if you do not want to aggravate arthritis and other inflammatory diseases. Unlike Tamarind, Kokum is safe and has a lot of medicinal properties without any harmful effects.

I wanted to try Kanda Lasun masala in an unusual recipe. Also the Kokum agal was up in my mind just because Nupur found it so irresistable. So here is an original creation from My Kitchen Lab.

Ingredients

4 cups steam cooked Kolam rice

2 tablespoons oil

1 teaspoon mustard seeds

handful of curry leaves

2-3 tablespoons Kanda Lasun Masala(Buy it here)

1/4 cup lightly crushed shelled peanuts

1/4 cup Kokum agal or home made extract

1 teaspoon of sugar for balancing the sourness (optional)

Heat oil in a wok. Splutter the mustard seeds and curry leaves. Add the shelled crushed peanuts and fry till golden. Fluff up the steam cooked Kolam rice. Add it to the wok. Sprinkle the Kanda lasun masala over it. Mix well. Cover and cook for 5 mins.

Lastly drizzle Kokum agal over the rice. Give it a nice stir with a delicate hand. Ensure you are not breaking the grains of rice. Sprinkle a teaspoon of sugar to balance the sourness of Kokum only if you must. Cover and cook for another 5 mins so the rice gets the faint pink color of Kokum. Switch of the heat and give a single stir.

Enjoy the Kokum Chitranna hot or cold either way it tastes delicious.

Notes:

1. Strength of agal varies with brand so add tablespoon by tablespoon at a time and check for souring quotient in the rice. Mine is quite a sour agal.

2. We are wimps when it comes to spice, you can hike up the spice level with as much as Kanda lasun masala you want or less. Again same trick add a teaspoon at a time and keep tasting as you mix.

How to make Kokum extract at home:

Soak the required quantity of kokum in boiling hot water and leave it for 30 mins. Squeeze out the extract. Sieve it to remove any fruit skin in the extract. Use as required.

Malvani Vade

Mumbai's immigrants during the textile boom came from Malvan, Kokan. They came to the city in hordes to work in the textile mills. Most mills were located in the Parel, Lalbaug and BhaikhaLa/ Byculla areas. That is where the chawl culture came into being. Pigeon holes for living, cramping groups of 10 men in the kholis. The Malvani workers came to Mumbai as bachelors or left behind their families in the villages if they were married. The Chakarmaani as the workers were known earned meager wages for back breaking work of 12 hours in the mills. At the end of the day making their own meals was a huge task. So women who had accompanied their Chakarmaani to Mumbai came up with an enterprising idea of feeding these workers in their own homes. Thus Parel, Lalbaug and BhaikhaLa saw the mushrooming of Khanavali, simply put places to eat.

The Khanaval was a blessing for the workers, for a small sum paid monthly, they got good home cooked food to sustain them in this city. The women who ran them were loving called Kaku/ Maushi/ Vahini by these men. The atmosphere was homely and men were made to sit in rows on the floor or pangats just like in joint families and served lovingly. There would be a fixed menu each day rotating through the weeks. The workers could request for a certain dish of their liking and depending on the majority vote it would be made for them mostly on Sundays. Oh yes and like any family Sunday meals were special in the Khanaval. The Khanavalwali Kaku would ensure that there was mutton or chicken cooked in onion coconut masala in the traditional Malvani style. These had to be accompanied by a fried bread made from rice and lentils and made aromatic with spices, the Vade. The combo of Kombdi Vade were bliss for the Chakarmaani, after which I am sure he went back to his kholi and had a siesta dreaming about life back home in Malvan and even doing a Pandu Hawaldar sequence with his wife.

Later these same areas saw the rising of little Malvani eateries and Kombi vade became popular beyond the Chakarmaani. People from other communities started patronizing these places too. This combo became so famous that many people who had not tasted it wondered what Kombdi Vade was? Is it a single dish? Are the Vade stuffed with chicken? So let me deconstruct it for you, the Kombdi in the name stands for the chicken gravy which is mopped up with the fried bread or Vade, which is the second part of the name.

Many a times I received requests from readers for a recipe of Malvani Vade and I have taken it a step further to give you a wonderful product from AnnaParaBrahma. So here's to the launch of Malvani Vade peeth!

Procedure :

1. All you have to do is snip the packet open. 
2. For 1 cup of Peeth/ Flour add 3/4 cup of boiling water to it.
3. Knead the dough.
4. Cover and keep aside for 30 mins.
5. After this oil your palm and fingers. 
6. Pinch out lemon sized balls of the dough and make a smooth one.
7. Pat out the dough ball into a round disc thicker than you would for a puri. You can also use a plastic paper to pat out the vade if you find the dough is sticking to your hands.
8. Heat oil and on medium heat fry until golden.
9. Remove and drain on a paper napkin.

Serve the Vade with a chicken curry in the traditional Malvani style or for the vegetarians like me any gravy dish with your favorite veggies. I made Suran bhaaji on this day as a mock chicken curry that works really well with the Vade.

A self respecting Malvani swears by Kombi Vade his Mum makes. Now you can have the same magic in your own hands too. It's on the E-shop check it out. Send me a mail to annaparabrahma@gmail.com to buy it now. 

A Recognition In Femina, page 66, Oct 2014 Issue

This is the cover of the Oct 2014 Issue in which the article 'Life beyond curry' by Kalyan Karmakar of Finelychopped is published. He does a regular feature called Belly crawl in Femina on all things food.

In this article he talks about how the Indian food representation in restaurants across the world and for that matter even in India is so singularly Punjabi.

He has wonderfully explained with references from his own Bengali cuisine how everything Indian is not a curry. Kalyan shares the stories of five bloggers who document their unique regional cuisines and traditions. He spans the Bengali, Parsee, Koli, Assamese and Tamil cuisines in this article highlighting the rich variation across the country.  Along with me are Sandeepa (Bong Mom's cook book) , Nandita (Saffron Trail), Perzen (Bawi Bride) and Gitika (Gitika's Pakghor). 

I got a copy for myself that's going to be treasured. I have been a reader of Femina since teenage and it feels awesome to see my name printed in it along with all the other lovely bloggers.

A special edition of 'Koli yet Veg' class for Nupur

Thanks for a fantastic time Anjali! Your Dad is wonderful n Gauri was superb company. Will write again from the US.
Hugs
Nupur

As soon as Nupur went back home she wrote this note to me. A testimonial of the wonderful time we had together.

We have known Nupur for almost 9 years through her blog, One Hot Stove. Her A-Z Maharashtrian cooking series was a hit, it ran from Sep 2005 till Mar 2006. The blogs have bound us through shared stories of our pets, families, hobbies, passions and life. So meeting her was a natural extension of our online friendship.

She was here in India after almost 5yrs to be with family. I feel honored that she planned in advance with me for this class. As I write this she would be on her way back to the US.

She had requested me to do a short version of the class and so we decided on 4 dishes to be taught. I suggested the dishes and she chose the menu from it.

Here is what we cooked ...

1. Valacha Birda
2. Rice Roti
3. Kokum saar
4. Potato onion bhaaji

5. Vali Lasun chutney

What's a meal without...

6. Rice
7. Badampak er Shengdanepak
8. Rice Papad and Mirgund

So these completed the lunch menu but not in the picture.

My architect friend Gauri joined us for the class and her daughter Srishti gave company for lunch.

We talked so much that the time just flew by and before we knew we were saying good byes and farewells. Partings are incomplete without gifts isn't it? So we exchanged food gifts what else do you expect food bloggers to do. Nupur gifted me spicy mango, chipotles and Habanero pepper seeds quite a lovely chili theme in addition to Basil seeds and her favorite oatmeal soap and like a true voracious reader that she is an Agatha Christie. 

My gifts to her, Vaal, rice papads, Badampak er Shengdanepak and my chai masala.

As always people who attend my class always ask for my masalas, Nupur too bought my Koli Masala and can't wait to see what she churns up with it.

Updated : Read here Nupur's post about her experience of this session of the 'Koli yet Veg' class.

Delicious and Healthy that's Soulfull for you!

It was a day of running around and I do it only on the weekends when the driver is available. It aint easy traveling from Navi Mumbai to Kalyan to meet our friend's family who had just lost his father then to Chembur to see my Mothe Baba and Mothi Aai who are homebound and as we were passing by we popped in at another friend's. By the time I was home I was dead tired. These days I do not have much stamina, I realize that I cannot go on like I used to in my younger days. 

My friend had packed some stuffed brinjals for us and all I needed to make is something to go with it. Roti was out of question. Just in time I remembered I had a pouch of Adai mix from Soulfull from the goody bag which we received at IFBM2014.

I had one look at the nutrition panel and felt happy that this was something that fits my criteria of healthy. Here is a link on how to read the Nutrition panel that you may find useful.

Now was the taste test. For me the first thing is smell. I have a sharp sense of it and I do depend on it to tell me if the packaged food is good or bad. I cut open the Adai mix packet and it smelt of fresh toasted dals that reminded me of chutney pudi. I love chutney pudi BTW and this was promising.

I followed the instructions on the package and made the batter. Spreading out the batter on a heated nonstick griddle, drizzled some ghee and cooked it until brown on both sides. It tasted lovely but since the batter is not fermented I did not like much the thick pancake style adai. I am talking texture here.

Instead I thinned down the mix by adding additional amount of water almost 2 cups plus more to an almost buttermilk like consistency. It was the rava dosa that was dancing in my head, I wanted something crisp, lacy and delicious to boot. 

So on a hot non stick girddle I sprinkled little cold water and it sizzled some more as the water drops danced on it. Then with a deft hand I poured the batter quickly to form a nice lacy coat on the griddle. It looked so beautiful, just what I wanted and as it cooked I drizzled some ghee. The dals in the mix and the chili made my taste buds all so ready to taste. It was perfect! 

You could actually eat it without any chutney but we had stuffed brinjal so we ate with it. Unusual combo but tasty and Soulfull nevertheless.

Adai is a traditional breakfast dish but I think its a perfect mini meal when you are hungry anytime of the day. A Soulfull packet makes it an instant meal, cut open, add water and make in 5 mins.

On another day. After my pranayam which I do for 45 mins I was feeling starved. I had no patience to put together a breakfast and I am not a person who can start a day with a glass of milk. I found another tiny pack of Chocofills from Soulfull. I muched on them while I watched my tea boil on the stove almost meditatively. I could not believe that the cover was delicious ragi and it was filled with silky chocolate. Yum, you can give it to kids too.

I know for sure Soulfull has ingredients packed into pouches just like I would do it myself. You know it that I am a person who cooks from scratch and for me to like this brand they surely must be working well on their product.

This is not a paid review. Though the products reviewed here were given complimentary to us at IFBM2014.  I genuinely found them good so had to share it with you. We all like to have some products in our pantry that make our life easy, this is definitely one brand that you can depend on. They have an online shop for your convenient ordering.

Storage and Handling of Dried Fish

Detailing here the procedure for storage of dried fish.

The increasing fascination for exotic foods has led people to try cooking with dried fish. You spend a handsome amount on buying or importing it. However many are not aware about how to store and care for it. So here are some tips.

1. Always ensure that you are handling dried fish with absolutely dry hands. 
2. Always measure out quantity of dried fish you need for a recipe and keep back the rest while your hands are still dry.
3. Ensure that you wrap the dried fish in newspaper.  It helps to keep it dry.
4. Store in airtight container.
5. Once in a fortnight zap the dried fish in a microwave for 30secs; 250 gms at a time. Mircowaving helps disinfection and increases shelf life. Always spread it on a tray and do not pile up. Let is cool completely and put it back in the airtight container.

Remember dried fish you buy from AnnaParaBrahma is sundried in natural form. We do not use any preservatives, we do not do sulphurization. Hence as a natural process it undergoes degradation just like any of your pantry staples like grains, pulses, flours, pickles etc. If you take proper care you will enjoy the stock of dried fish for a longer time.

Enjoy the natural goodness!

What was the Day 2 like at the #IFBM2014?

 A corner piece at Aloft Cessna Park, Bangalore our venue for IFBM2014

Day 2 Started with raised expectations from the previous day.

From our horrid experience of getting stuck in the Marathahalli traffic for 2hrs the previous night we decided to first reach Aloft Cessna Park and have breakfast at their restaurant, The Nook. The breakfast buffet was really large and varied with Indian as well as continental items. I enjoyed the croissant with my coffee a lot and was all set for a full day like the schedule promised.

I am glad to share that I won a two day bed and breakfast plan at Four Point Sheraton, Vashi for reviewing Aloft Cessna Park in my last post on Day 1 at IFBM2014. Thank you! Starwood Hotels, looking forward to enjoying your hospitality once again.

The day began with a professional guidance session on Search engine optimization (SEO) by Ashish Verma. It was one session that the bloggers totally focused on like they were in a classroom in college. There was lots to learn for everyone, from tools to analytics and tips. Hoping to use them well to market the blog and tune well with my audience.

Following it was a session by Rushina Munshaw Ghildiyal on Good food writing. She had structured the contents well and gave some good tips for writing. She pointed out how crucial it is to be able to describe a flavor and that the experience around food is only secondary. Not just that she was the only one of the speakers to hand out notes. Just as we were looking into the brown paper envelops to refer to the notes as she begun; the room was filled with squeals of joy. Rushina had gifted each one of us 4 of her foodles, yes those food doodles that she is famous for. I plan to get them laminated and use them as table-mats and recipe cards too.

After these two lovely learning heavy sessions we were moved to the Refuel corner, its supposed to be Aloft's grab and go offering but by now we were slowly getting used to the lingering. Once again an elaborate spread of freshly made apple crumble, blue berry cheesecake, passion fruit almond financier, Pineapple cake, Rum and raisin fruit cake, sandwiches etc. were laid out for the bloggers. We were learning the trick now of trying to taste more than to eat more. So we picked a few things we liked and shared a few morsels of different items from others plates to avoid wastage.

Post tea was a session by Aparna Jain of Partrige Publishing. This turned out to be my most favorite session. Aparna's honest experience sharing on publishing her own 'The Sood Family Cookbook' and the travails and (not so many) tribulations of a cookbook writer. Her hilarious style of presentation got the audiences engaged and involved too in her stories on self publishing vs finding a publisher. OK and she also busted some myths, like I could become rich by writing a cook book. My dream, my poor dream, I heard a voice hum continuously in my head somewhere. Ha! but I will still write even if I publish or don't. Readers I am asking you, would you buy my book?

We carried this light mood into The Nook. All the aspiring cookbook writers in the avatar of food bloggers had got a reality check and yet our energies were high. High enough to devour the lavish buffet. Aloft Cessna Park yet again was sweeping us off with their hospitality. These here are just the starters...



Thank god! after lunch it was an interactive panel discussion with food bloggers from within the community. They were up there at center stage to discuss the scene beyond blogging. It was interesting to hear how Sanjeeta KK of Lite Bite has blossomed into a professional food stylist, Kalyan Karmakar is now full time into food walks and how his market research background still helps him get some other assignments.

There was Harini Prakash, who made us privy to her dream which is soon to be a reality.  The Tadka Pasta girls who shared their story on getting their book published and they are already onto their second one!  Then ofcourse there was Rushina again this time to share her story of setting up the A perfect bite cook studio. A totally inspiring session as most bloggers are trying to go professional with avenues thrown open by blogging.

I would like to mention here, if you have missed my past posts on my Experience with me sessions. Check them out. I do Koli food and culture events and if you are in Mumbai I'd be glad to do it for you. 

Also hope you have already noticed the E-Shop tab on top of this page. There are some truely authentic ingredients there that you will die to have in your pantry. If you haven't ordered yet you must now!

The final was with a Master class by Aloft Cessna Park's own Executive chef Sameer Luthra. The set up for this masterclass was very well thought out. Unlike the last one bloggers did not have to clamber to get a view of what was cooking. Bloggers were seated at a level higher than the workstation for the chef. The camera projected a view of the work area and so we could watch larger than life display. Chef Sameer created two dishes Eggs baked in hash browns with glazed bacon and Sole en pappillote. Pappilote is a techinque to cook in paper. The bloggers requested me to explain to them what Sole fish (follow my #knowyourseafood on Fb and twitter) was, so I spoke on how to identify, its habitat and availability. This was my moment of respect from the bloggers as a expert on Fish, felt chuffed about it!

It was time for the team that took care of the food fests at Aloft to take a bow.

With that ended the 2 days of Indian Food Bloggers Meet. We were loaded with gifts from our 24 sponsors and this is how my friend displays it before we packed it into my check-in luggage.

This entire event was excellently organized by our Fab4. Take a bow ladies...

Finally we hugged and parted with promises to do it again and again. So long farewell, until the next time.

The Great Indian Food Bloggers Meet 2014: Day 1

It has taken me two weeks to recover from #IFBM2014 and the magical experience!

Meeting the bloggers in person after knowing some of them over years, I mean almost 8 years! Learning quite a bit from experience sharing sessions to professional sessions and cooking Master classes. There is so much to share with you, my readers and will do it day-wise as it happened at the meet, while I relive those moments and put it down here to go back to the sweet memories later.

It began in June, when Arundati (Escapades) introduced the idea of a Bloggers meet to me on chat. I was then thinking well, its been 2.5 yrs since I visited BLR and this will be a good reason to go back. I was naive to think it will be like a re-union or I mean first-union of online friends, you know what I mean eat, talk and have fun. OR that it would be like the Business conferences that I have been so used to, everyone sells their gyan and wares and goes back home smiling, I feared this though.

Boy! I was wrong. Arundati had teamed up with Aparna (My Diverse Kitchen), Revati (Hungry & Excited) and Nandita (Saffron Trail). We loving call them the Fab4 now and they got a huge applause and numerous hugs for outdoing themselves in giving us bloggers this experience that we will cherish for many years to come.

As I prepped for my trip, there was a  news flash saying there would be a Bandh in Karnataka on 31st July. Ha! exciting start I thought, as I winced. I landed is BLR to find the city's airport quite and Vayu Vajra had changed colors from the flaming red to a calming green, I'm talking about the airport bus service. In an hour of a pleasant, traffic free ride the polite conductor dropped me at the Domlur bus stand. I dragged my bags to Aranha homes which was just around.

After hugs and kisses with Deeba, Madhuli and Sanjeeta who were already there I knew I was in good company. Then walked in Harini (we had met before in Mumbai), Jayashree and few more. There was non stop chatter, inquiring about  each others families and pets like old friends do, it did not seem like we had just met. It was the beginning of the riotous nights we had at Aranha. Sanjeeta, who had taken on the duty of organizing our stay there paid personal attention to everyone's comfort and we had to tell her to just chill.

The first day at IFBM began with meeting the 40 participants. Known names were put faces to and before we knew Arundati took her position as the mistress of the mic and welcomed the participants and opened the Conference. The general manager of our venue welcomed all the guests and told us to ask for anything we needed and that there was only a YES in his dictionary. Wow!

The opening session was by a name that most bloggers are in awe of, Deeba Rajpal, she talked on her forte, Food-O-graphy. Generously tipped us on going seasonal,  looking for beauty in props that don't cost the moon and using the same props to different effect, keeping the palette neat yet artistic, using ingredients along with finished dishes. Some tips to lift up the spirits of the food using some tricks to make them look freshest and if the food demand steaming hot, then what to do. Did I hear the bloggers drool over her collection of props or what when she projected a final shot on the screen!

That set the tone for the next session on food photography by Aparna Balasubramanian. We all love her pictures clean and bright.She acknowledged how food styling and food photography go hand in. It was great to see the different styles in photography as in Deeba's and Aparna's. One moody one bright. We love both. Aparna's session was a fundamental one for a food blogger. The tips to look for light and shadows and how to beat them to our advantage. While on reflectors Harini who is also a wonderful photographer shared that wearing a white T-shirt is a great idea when shooting the pictures. We Indians love our steel and metals and some times its just plain convenient to shoot a food picture in the utensil that you use daily. I have always been worried about them outshining the food in the pictures, you know what I mean. Well its simple said Aparna, just apply toothpaste on the surfaces to rid them of extra shine. Through the session she reminded us to read the manual well, to get to know the camera after all visuals are so important to a food blog.

In walked a red turban, initially I thought he is trying to be funny but he was plain talking down to participants and that was totally uncalled for! Not one blogger liked his attitude. During the demo, we were left thinking if he had ever used some of the KitchenAid's products. One of our fabulous bloggers had to help out with the cordless hand blender. Another moment of revelation was when he said the tomatoes were blanched and later said they were fire roasted and deskinned. From my experience in food I could tell that they were blanched from a distance of a few feet! He made the Kaer Sangri roti which was lovely and flaky but the Tchaman Kut or paneer balls in tomato sauce showed that it was hurriedly put together, I blame it on that time bound demo. However the tomatoes should have been bhunoed, the blanched tomatoes did not work in that gravy. He even dropped the tomatoes on the counter and messed for which he needed the sous chef to clean, I can understand performing in front of 40 India's best food bloggers can be a lot of pressure sometimes. Just Kidding, for Chef Surjan Singh has a Jolly good sense of humor.

Both the recipes of Tchaman Kut and Kaer Sangri Roti are on Burrp, the online partners for IFBM2014.

The winners of the pre-Meet KitchenAid contest were awarded after this 'Master class' and they took home the mini choppers. I missed it and was hoping to win waiting for further announcement of the results of  rest of the contests.

During the Master Class there was a rush around the workstation and many could not see what was going on. The hospitality guys wheeled in a platform so the ones behind could jump on to it and get a clear view of the cooking. I would like to mention here a Thank you! for Team Aloft for providing service perceptively.

Post lunch Nandita Iyer shared her user perspective about social media for food bloggers. She is one food blogger who uses social media very effectively to market her blog and beyond. Archana pitched in with her experience too. I am ashamed to say that I do not use social media to my own advantage even though I am a social media specialist (besides many other things) who has done considerable corporate work, now that's changing for sure and I hope you are noticing it, I know you are as we interact more on the AnnaParaBrahma FB page and twitter @AnnaParaBrahma. Keep that going and show me more love please!

Wine appreciation, one of the things that has fascinated me. I had waited until that moment when I would learn a few things about wine and taste it too. As a food blogger I did not want to say no to this experience. Aneesh Bhasin of Hipcask did a wonderful job on explaining to us about the different wines, about serving them in the right glasses, he demoed the swirl, the gurgle and the happiness of pulling out the stopper and every one had a whopper! We were served a lovely rose wine all the participants agreed. Alas, I found out that I did not have a taste for wine.

After this, the schedule said the launch of the 'Spice Sorcery' by Husna Rahaman. The lady walked in stylishly late. We were educated about a book written by her grandmother and except Deeba  none of us had heard about. (Since Deeba was supposed to be interviewing the author and had read a pdf of the Spice Sorcery even after all our naughtiness at Aranha the previous night.) The author talked how easily she had got the book deal, no how it had fallen into her lap and how wonderful a book it is for us (mere) food bloggers. After the session I went and personally congratulated our Deeba for being a wonderfully prepared interviewer and being totally professional at the given task. Every author out there should know that when you face your audience who just might convert to being your reader, you just cannot take them casually. There was no hard copy nor e-book that was even shown to the bloggers. There was no reading of excerpts that we would have loved to listen to. It's a lost opportunity to make your mark when you have a room full of bloggers from across the country and a few from other continents sitting and listening to you and you don't do anything for them. Team Harper Collins are you listening?

That was the end of the first day. I want to conclude this post with the wonderful experience we had with Aloft Cessna Park, Bangalore. When Mr. Faiz Alam Ansari, GM welcomed us in the morning to the venue on behalf of his team, one would have thought it to be customary. By the end of Day 1 we were already spoilt by the pampering of Team Aloft. They had planned theme based food for the two days.

Our first tea was dramatic as the name suggest, "Honey I love you". Tall beehives, cave shaped cake buzzing with bees, petite glasses of desserts, tarts, pastries, cup cakes and little pots of creme brulee all made with honey became a hive for the buzzing blogger bees. My most favorite was a truffle that bursted into the mouth and honey oozed out with a bite.

The lunch was 'Mumbai mela' complete with cuts-outs of Hritik and Shah rukh and Ganapati Bappa too! Bhel basket on a cycle and carts vending chaats, vada pao, ragda pattice and a corner for Gola and Kulfi Falooda. Majority of the bloggers were non Mumbaikars and I could see the glee on their faces. I did selective eating and slurped on my fave Kala khatta gola.



For the evening tea it was "Bengali Adda" There was Ghoti gorom, Alu kabuli, Jhal mudi, Kathi rolls, Tele Bhaja, Momos and Thupka. People were raving about the Thupka. I was too full from the morning and afternoon so I just had a Jhal mudi, the splash of mustard exciting my taste buds. It was end of the day almost and I missed clicking pictures of this spread as I was tired.

Aloft is a fabulous venue the colorful modern decor cheers you up as soon as you spot it from the posh glass walled reception. As you enter and look up you are filled with glee of standing under a Yellow and black Cessna hanging from the ceiling that you see ^ up above in this post. You get into the lift and want to dance on the liquid tiles. Walking past huge colorful bean bags, a pool table and yet another large model of a Cessna on the first floor. We did that many times in two days. Enjoying the hospitality...

Come back again to read about Day 2, won't you?

Creamy Corn and Scallions Tart for Freedom Tree Baking Contest at IFBM 2014

Corn is supposed to be first cultivated in Mexico and then spread across to the other continents through Europe. However the dish I have made today is inspired by a very Indian rather Indoori Bhutte ka kees which I absolutely adore. I have given it my own twist and done a fusion that you will surely enjoy.

This recipe is an entry for Freedom Tree Baking Contest at IFBM 2014.

Before we go to the recipe, I must share a wonderful story that we used in Knowledge Management. Many of you have wondered what I did for a living. Well that is what I did I was a Knowledge Manager, mutter the names of few IT companies that you can think of 1-2-3 stop, I used to work for one of it. Going back to the story...

There was a farmer in Mexico who grew the best quality corn. His fame was such that one day a North American journalist decided to dig out the secret to the quality of the corn. He came prepared with a team of scientist to analyse the quality of the grain and soil. The soil did not show any outstanding characteristics but the grain did. They found the farmer cared for his crop a lot and yet when other farmers came to him for help or request for seed he happily shared it with them. That surprised the N. American journalist. 

He thought let me educate the farmer. He went on to advice, you must protect your grain, do not distribute. You must have monopoly of the best corn in Mexico. Which means you will earn the highest. Soon the journalist returned to his country.

The next year again the N. American journalist decided to do an interview of the farmer thinking that this time the farmer would be a richer man. To his surprise the farmer was still the same.

On further insisting why he had not monopolised the corn this is the answer the farmer gave to the N. American journalist. "My corn is best because the neighbors grow good corn too with the seeds I share. I work harder to protect my corn from diseases but the pollination happens by wind. If the pollens from my neighboring fields was bad quality the quality of my corn will also drop. That is the reason I share not just my seeds but also my knowledge.

The N. American journalist's face fell at how petty his thoughts had been and took back with him not just the secret to the great corn grown by the Mexican farmer but also a lesson in nobility. 

(I am not able to trace the origins of this story but it has been retold so many times with everyone adding their own touch)

At the Indian Food Bloggers Meet 2014 this story is what you will see unfold, learn from the community members who are generous enough to share and from professionals outside the community who have given the time to share their knowledge with us. I am all set. What about you?

Now tune in here as I share this recipe. I wish I win the exclusive bakeware hamper from Freedom Tree!

Ingredients

For the Corn Tart shell

1/2 cup makkai ka atta/ milled corn flour
3/4 cup maida / all purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
100 gms salted butter (Amul)

Melt the butter. In a large bowl measure out the makkai ka atta and maida. Add the sugar to it. Pour the melted butter over it and knead. It should form a soft dough. 

Tip : If required add about 2 tablespoon of chilled water to bind the flours. I did not use water at all as I was using bake and serve tart plates and there was no need to demoulded it.

In two 6 inch bake and serve tart plates press the Corn Tart dough to evenly line the bottom. Cover with cling wrap and keep in the fridge for 30 mins. While it is chilling prep for the Creamy corn.

Preheat oven to 180 deg celcius and blind bake Corn Tart shell for 25 mins till golden.

For the Creamy Corn

2 sweet corns
2 scallion with bulbs
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon cumin
15-20 curry leaves
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon asafoetida
2 tablespoon butter

With a scissor snip the scallions into small bits. Keep bulbs aside for garnishing.

Remove kernels of corn and keep aside, about 1/2 cup. Grate the remaining one full corn plus the remaining half. It should yield a cup of grated corn, keep the liquid too which releases while grating.

Now heat the butter till it melts in a wok. Add asafoetida, then cumin, brown it till fragrant. Add the curry leaves. Now add the whole corn kernels first. Pour milk into the wok. Cook for 5 mins. Then add the grated corn. Keep stirring as it thickens a bit but is still creamy about 3 mins. Finally add the scallion greens. Salt the dish. 

For garnish
scallion bulbs ( I had 5)
cashews
raisins

Assembling the tart

In the blind baked Corn Tart shell fill the Creamy corn. Level it out evenly with a spoon. Garnish with scallion bulbs, cashew and raisins.

Bake again for 15 to 18 mins to let the creamy corn set in the tart shell.

Remove from oven and serve warm. Though I served it with ketchup and mustard sauce none of us touched it. The tart was so good on its own!

To explain the taste, the shell is crunchy with the sugar and makkai atta, quite buttery. The creamy corn is sweetish savory with slight pungency from the scallions when you bite into a snipping. The cumin and butter perfumes the creamy corn along with the asafoetida and curry leaves.

Note: I haven't use green or red chilli in this dish though it is savory. If you wish to add heat feel free to do so.

Kokan Nexus for Urban Dazzle's Contest at IFBM 2014

Urbandazzle- Indian Food Bloggers Meet Monsoon/ Summer Cocktail (or Mocktail) Contest

was announced and I was excited about creating a drink that can make me a winner!

They say the best creation is under duress so here I am waiting until last minute to creat and post. With motivation and inspiration from Urban Dazzle's product range I have chosen flavors from the land I come, Kokan or coastal Maharashtra. Hapoos, Coconut and Pomegranate spiced with black pepper and mustard seeds.Yes mustard seeds taste the mocktail and I'd love to hear what you think of it. 

Besides this I have brought the lush green of the Kokan into this drink by using sprigs of mint both to flavor and to dress it up. The pomegrante bejewels the mocktail and elevates it further. 

Won't you want to make it with me now?

Servings 2

Ingredients

The Pomegranate Jewels

1/2 cup pomegranate seeds

water

Make pomegranate jewels in advance and keep them available when you plan to make this mocktail.

Fill an ice tray with pomegranate arils and top it with water. Freeze overnight to get lovely ruby ice cubes. I used an ice tray with small cells for this as they look dainty than the standard large ones.

The paste and extract

2-3 tablespoons fresh grated coconut

1 teaspoon black mustard seeds

100 ml water

Make a paste with coconut, mustard seeds and 100ml water. Strain it thru a fine sieve to extract the thick liquid. Discard the cake left behind after extraction. Keep aside the extract.

The rest of the mocktail

150 ml Hapoos mango pulp (from my Eshop)

100 ml water

30 ml honey

1/2 teaspoon pink salt

1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper

In a drink shaker measure out exactly mango pulp, water and honey. Add salt and pepper. Shake vigorously to ensure honey is dissolved completely and the salt and pepper is homogenized.

At this point add the 100 ml coconut and mustard extract. Just shake once to mix.

Pour out the mocktail in a measuring cup. You will have a total of aproximately 380ml liquid.

The Final Touch

2 sprigs of fresh mint (from my Window Grill Box)

Prepare 2 elegant tumblers (350 ml) by adding to them the Pomegranate Jewels, 20 of the small cubes in each.

Take the sprigs of fresh mint in hand. Except the top 3-4 leaves remove rest of the leaves and drop them into the tumbler. Place the sprig of mint standing in the tumbler which now looks like a tree.

Divide the mocktail into the 2 tumblers, 190 ml each.

Serve immediately to your family or guests and see them enjoy every sip.

To enjoy the drink, sip slowly move it around in the mouth feel the smoothness of Hapoos and coconut. Crunch on the Pomegranate jewels and the mint leaves. Take another sip notice the faint pungency of mustard seeds. Wait and feel your throat warm up to the black pepper. Enjoy the slow sips over wonderful conversations or go to your favorite nook at home and sit with a book.

I would love to serve it in the Urban Dazzle's Longchamp Highball Tumbler 360ml. It is the right volume for this mocktail and the design is regal so it goes with my theme of jeweled ice cubes and the smoothness and warmth of my Konkan Nexus!

My Plum and Cheese Crescents go to KitchenAid Contest at IFBM 2014

These Plum and cheese crescents are going to the KitchenAid India Plum Challenge at IFBM 2014.

Look at this recipe in two parts and pace it over two days. Infact it's two recipes I am sharing here. We are talking slow life here, it also means ease.

We make the Plum jam first and then roll up the crescents.

Day 1 : Making Plum and Honey Jam with Star Anise

Ingredients

6 Plums, ripe yet firm

1/2 cup water

6  nos. star anise

1/2 cup honey

In a saucepan measure out the water and set it to boil. Meanwhile slice and dice the plums discard the seeds. Once it starts rolling add the diced plums into the water. Drop in the Star anise. Let it cook till the diced fruit is soft about 10 -15 mins. At this point scoop out the Star anise and discard. Pass the cooked plums thru a medium mesh to get a puree. I put back the fruit skin but if you don't like remove it now.

Add the honey and boil on slow to reduce the liquid. We need a thick jam to be used as filling for the crescents. So boil until a spoon dipped in it gets a thick coat of jam clinging to it. Or do this test. Chill a plate in the fridge and drop the boiling jam on it. If it forms a skin immediately the jam is done. Remove from heat.

I poured it into a plate. After cooling completely, set the plate to chill in the fridge overnight.

So there you have the first recipe for Plum and Honey Jam with Star Anise.

Incase you are making a large batch just multiply the proportions of the ingredients. After making the jam cool it to room temperature and store in a clean dry jar. It should stay good for atleast a month. For longer preservation you may want to do canning.

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The second part is the basic recipe for Crescent rolls that are so versatile. However since this recipe is going to KitchenAid India's Plum Challenge we are going to use the Plum jam along with cheese for the filling. The Crescent rolls are eggless and like us if you are vegetarians you will love this recipe.

So sleep well at night and the next day when you have time for a 2-3 hour stretch or when you are working on other things in the kitchen start with the dough for the crescents. Its a simple no nonsense dough.

Day 2 : Making my Plum and Cheese Crescents

Ingredients

The dough
2 cups of all purpose flour

1/4 cup butter (I use Amul which is salted butter)

1/4 cup sugar

3 tablespoon curd

3/4th tablespoon instant yeast

1/2 cup water

1/8 cup butter for rolling and brushing

Warm the water add the yeast to it to dissolve. In the Food Processor bowl measure out the all purpose flour and follow in with sugar and butter. Run the FP on slow to let the butter form crumbs with the flour and sugar. Now add the curd and yeast liquid. Run the FP on medium to form a ball. The dough will feel slightly sticky as it has sugar but that is ok. Cover and keep till the dough doubles. This is the first proofing of the dough.  It may take 30 mins to 40 mins (In Mumbai its warm and humid) elsewhere look at the doubled volume and not time.

After the first rise. Punch down the dough to remove air. On a clean counter spread some butter. Roll out the dough into a 15 inch circle. Cut out 16 wedges from the circle.

The steps for Filling
16 nos. 1 inch squares of processed cheese (Amul)
Plum and Honey Jam with Star Anise

Take each wedge and roll it out a bit thin. Put a spoonful of Plum jam at the broad end of the triangle leaving about an inch of space for rolling. Top it with a cube of cheese. Now start rolling from the broad end so you have the pointed end closing in. Bend a little bit to give it a crescent shape. 

These days I use my low and high oven racks to bake by covering them with aluminium foil. That way I maximize the space utilization as well as power consumption. You can also follow the standard practice of using a baking sheet or tray. Line up the crescents on the foil covered racks or tray. Let the crescents proof to double up, this is the second rise for the dough.

Preheat oven to 200 deg Celsius.

Bake the rolls for 15 mins or till they are slightly golden. Remove from the oven and brush the rolls with butter. Allow to cool for 10 mins. 

Best enjoyed when still warm. But watch out don't pop them in your mouth hot, the oozing plum jam can scald the tongue! When you bite into the Plum and Cheese Crescents, the first bite is buttery roll filled with Plum jam and mild notes of Star anise when you hit the cheese its different, slightly savoury bite. Together its deliciousness. That's why I use the cheese cubes instead of grating it. There is a surprise factor to it which makes every bite enjoyable.

The home smelt awesome with the warm baking aromas of buttery dough, plum jam and the mild notes of star anise. I took a tray full to my music class to share. Everyone enjoyed it and Snehal even asked for a piece to take home for her daughter. The smiles said it all.